Tumgik
#we’re once again falling deep for another one lads
inkclover · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
funky wall man hello there 🟨
628 notes · View notes
graphitesatellite · 3 years
Note
hcs on what greek god/mythology character are the main 6?(ex:achilles,icarus,the fates,zeus,aphrodite)
ohhhhh dear requester how you spoil me -w-
buckle up kids cuz I have So Many Opinions
Asra
Hecate and Selene popped into my head immediately, being goddesses of magic/witchcraft and the moon, respectively. Hecate also has strong ties with the spiritual world and death and the moon (and necromancy oh-la-la), which seems to give her the most in common with Asra, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Hypnos, sleep incarnate, as a candidate, if only because I’ve been comparing the two in my head ever since I started playing Hades, but once again it really doesn’t go that deep.
You could also make a case for Astraeus, titan god of the stars, father of the traveling stars and the four winds.
But my official pick is gonna have to be Hermes, messenger of the gods, patron of travelers, roads, and astrology, notorious trickster, and the only Olympian capable of crossing the border between the living and the dead. Hermes, like Asra, was a precocious child, but his easy charm and resourcefulness made him very likeable. He’s commonly portrayed as an athletic, beardless youth, and one of his main symbols besides his winged sandals is the caduceus, a staff entwined by two snakes that’s able to wake one up or put them to sleep. Seems like a perfect fit to me.
Nadia
Okay we’re all thinking it so let’s just get it out of the way: Nadia is Athena. Association with owls, wisdom, strategy, handcrafts, creator of the olive branch (the OG peace offering), dispenser of the best advice, universally revered and feared — she is Athena. The only thing that doesn’t track is Athena is a maiden goddess and Nadia absolutely fucks.
So in that way we can compare her to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty who also fucks. And Hera probably deserves a mention as the queen of Olympus.
For fun we can compare her to Artemis, the great huntress, or Themis, the prophetic titan goddess of divine order. If I had to pick anyone other than Athena, I would have to go with Themis. She checks the most boxes.
But yeah we all know it’s Athena.
Julian
Asclepius is the god of medicine, used to be a mortal doctor, so that’s pretty self-explanatory. And while he does have strong associations with snakes (nudge nudge) and bringing people back/coming back from the dead, I’m not entirely convinced he’s the best candidate. Where’s the Stress? The Drama?
Dionysus is a plausible choice seeing as he was also brought back to life after a violent death. Not to mention the drinking habit and the giant group of fanatic female devotees (I’m looking at you, The Fandom.) And honestly, Dionysus is pretty selfless for a god, having not only rescued his mother from the underworld but also the princess Ariadne (who he later married) from the island where Theseus abandoned her. I mostly hesitate because as the god of wine, he’s also associated with rage and violence, which are not things I can really see for Julian. He’s not a mad lad, he’s a sad lad.
He and Prometheus do share qualities of rebelliousness and self-sacrifice, but imo this one falls apart as soon as you realize Prometheus is the titan god of forethought. You could also try to link him to Apollo, father of Asclepius, another god of medicine, through his association with crows, but the story of Coronis doesn’t match up well with Julian either.
His time during the plague, especially around when Lucio died, makes me think of Daedalus, the master craftsman who built the labyrinth and was imprisoned in a tower by King Minos (it’s not important why). They both did manage to escape their situations and go on the run. It’s either Daedalus or Asclepius for Julian, hard for me to choose just one for him.
Muriel
I think of Muriel, I think of Atlas, mainly due to the tremendous burden they both carry. I think of Hephaestus and his somewhat self-imposed isolation (if I were him I wouldn’t wanna hang out with the Olympus fam either). I even think of Hades, bound to the underworld by shitty luck. But none of those quiet hit the target.
Artemis is a little bit closer, if only because of her connection to animals and nature. Pan might work if he wasn’t so jovial. This is a toughie, not a lot of Greek figures isolate themselves the way Muriel does, nor do they harbor so much guilt and self-hatred.
So the Minotaur is the next logical step I think. This is based less on the actual mythology and more on my interpretation of Asterius' story. Like Muriel, he was treated as if he was more beast than man, and he was eventually trapped in a bloody arena where his sole purpose was to kill.
Yeah I’d have to go with either an even more shredded Artemis or Asterius. You could make a good argument for Hephaestus but I personally prefer the other two.
Portia
My first thought for Portia is Atalanta, y’know the girl who was literally raised by bears. I feel like they have a similar feral energy, very fierce, very powerful, very determined. Unfortunately Atalanta is like, the only female Greek hero. I’ll include Artemis too, she and Atalanta were into a lot of the same stuff.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Hestia, goddess of the hearth, feast, and sacrificial fire. I honestly think Hestia is too static of a character to properly represent Portia, but there is something to be said about her associations with fire, home, and food. There’s a facet of Portia that is very domestic, but it’s just a part of her overall personality. (And once again, maiden goddess, but Portia definitely fucks.)
Similarly, you could compare her to Hebe, the goddess of youth and cupbearer to the gods, but really only on the grounds that she’s one of the younger LIs, and that she’s spent time as a servant.
After some more digging around it’s pretty clear that Atalanta is my favorite option, I’m gonna have to go with her.
Lucio
The most obvious choice is Pan, I’m sure we can all agree on that. Literal party animal, literal goat man. Dionysus is also up there, but he’s really too good of a guy for Lucio, which is kind of nuts to say. You know you suck when a Greek god has the moral high ground over you. I feel like there are more and better options to explore.
For instance, Poseidon! A temperamental dick who does whatever he wants because he’s usually too dangerous for anyone to stop him. Literally all Poseidon does is hold grudges and cause violence for attention. Sounds a lot like someone we know, huh?
Then there’s Epimetheus, titan god of afterthought, father of excuses. One of the most mocked Greek figures, and for good reason. He’s the embodiment of a fool, not to be confused with The Fool. A fool as in an idiot. Like Lucio.
Zeus is also worth considering, because like Lucio, even though he’s in charge, he’s just the worst, literally the worst. Unfaithful, belligerent, narcissistic. Oh, Narcissus would also work now that I think about it. Let’s say it’s either Narcissus, or maybe Pan after all, since Pan is one of the only gods who’s ever been “declared” dead.
73 notes · View notes
ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years
Text
Learn to Fly
CW: Self-loathing, some internalized victim-blaming, references to parental death and grief, VERY vague reference to past noncon once or twice
Note: I made a decision to switch a little of the timeline around, so Laken and Chris’s breakup at this point happens after the original conversations about the Speak Out Arc start happening but before the Olympics themselves. I’m folding this bit into the larger Speak Out Arc.
Follows Time Apart and It Doesn’t Work As Well As You’d Hoped
-
He curls up on the couch in the coffeeshop, sipping something warm he barely tastes. It might have coffee in it - he feels a little drowsy, and that usually happens when there’s just a little caffeine.
Maybe that’s just because he hasn’t slept since Jake was hurt, not really. And he’s slept even less since... since he and Laken broke up.
Outside, there's unseasonable heavy rain. The clouds are low and heavy, a deep gunmetal gray that blocks out the light and has the streetlights on at 9:30 in the morning. The raindrops seem less to fall than to slam into the ground with terrible violence. 
The baristas talk in low voices about how grateful they are for the rain, burying the wildfires outside the city in a deluge the heat can’t overcome. Chris likes the rain, too, if only because it reflects the inside of him, suggests that the world can tell he is a storm within himself and reflects it to him.
He takes another sip.
He hasn’t showered in three days. His hair is dulled with it, like a penny left too long in the dirt.  He’s dressed himself like he used to, back before when he was still learning he was a person and not a pet - in one of Jake’s hooded sweatshirts over his compression shirt, so oversized on him it’s nearly a tunic, and a pair of mesh basketball shorts. His knees still look knobby, he thinks.
He can see the ghosts of the bruises there that used to never quite heal before his Sir sent him to his knees and made new ones to lay over them. He can see a couple of scars, some from training when the baton would crack into the backs of his legs and send him dropping like a stone, some from gymnastics, some from just being a kid.
Chris’s eyes lower, to look at his own hands holding his coffee cup. He put star stickers on his nails last night, and a few of them have already peeled off. Those that remain glitter, just a little. 
Something about the sight of it - the memory of when he put star stickers on Laken’s cheekbones at a concert until they sparkled under the starlight, laughing, a blur of bright eyes and dark hair - makes his throat nearly close, sends a new rush of tears to burn hot behind his eyes.
He has to close them to hold them back.
“You’ve had a hard time of late, have you, then?”
The voice is a rumble, cracked with decades of cigarettes and too much liquor, but Chris remembers it, anyway. At least, he remembers it now.
He turns to look up at the old man, in his shirt and slacks, a bit bent with age. There’s a merry twinkle in his slightly rheumy eyes, though, that shows that a young man is still there, under an old man’s experiences. There’s a slight smile on his face, warm and welcoming. 
Chris swallows, struggling to find the words. They flit away from him, he has to chase them down, but eventually he manages to clear his throat and says, “I, I, um. I know you. You, you, you knew my dad.”
“I did, at that. Worked with him for years.” The old man settles onto the other end of the couch, giving Chris plenty of space, a nice wide berth for safety. “What’s got you looking like a television commercial for depression, hm, Tristan?”
No one calls him that. 
Chris feels his heart twist, a little. 
By the time they saw the meteor, Tris, it was already too late for anything but a blink or two. When it touched down into land, it was so big the end of it was still in space. Can you imagine anything so big? Can you?
No, Dad.
 The earthquakes alone would have been immense thousands of miles away. Imagine, you’re eating leaves, living your life, and you see a shadow - and then in an instant, the world is shaking and you’re breathing glass. How does life go on after that?
I, I, I don’t know, um, um... how how does it?
It just does. That’s what’s amazing, Tris. It just goes on.
“Nothing. I, I, I broke up with my, my partner is all.”
“Hm, that nice young person who comes with you to the shops?” The old man nods, slowly. He’s got his own cup of coffee, plain black, steaming gently into the air-conditioning. Outside, the rain creates a curtain that walls them off from everything else. Chris can’t even see all the way across the street. He can barely see a woman with an umbrella racing from her car into the nail salon place off to the side. 
“Yeah, them. I’m, um. It wasn’t anything they they they did.”
It’s something I did.
It’s something I am.
It’s something I’ll never stop being.
“Well, breakups do happen now and again. Usually the one who does the leaving isn’t the one who does the moping about and staring at rain, though.”
“I didn’t want to.” Chris sits back, keeping his coffee cup in one hand. The other drops to his stomach, to tap, soothing his nerves at being so close to a man he knows and doesn’t-know. His memories are there, fuzzy and hazy from being overwritten by fear and pain, but they’re there. He knows this man, Mr. Malley, who would watch him sometimes when his parents went out, or when his father needed to stop by work.
The memories are there, but they still hurt. 
His head starts to throb, a pulsing pain behind his temples. 
“I didn’t-... I, I love them, I d-didn’t want to.”
“Well, now, that’s a conundrum, isn’t it? Are you moving, then, Tristan?”
It hurts to hear his name, but it hurts in a way that feels good. He was that person, too, before he was Chris. He hums, low under his breath. “No. I, I, I just… you know, um, I’m just. I’m… hard. Difficult. To, to, to, to be with, to, um, to-... there’s a bunch wrong with-... with me.”
“You sound like your dad.” Mr. Malley laughs, a deep chuckle that rumbles more in his chest than out of his throat. “You know that? You sound just like him.”
Chris ignores the pain in his head and he turns, now, to look fully at Mr. Malley, blinking rapidly. “My, my, my dad?”
“Yep. Paul was a good man, and a good dad, but before he was that he was a scared boy with a baby on the way and a plan that might not work.” Mr. Malley sighs. “A scared boy who’d always had it a little rough, trying to make the world work for him when it did nothing but work against him. You were always his spitting image. He’d probably be tickled to see you still are.”
There is a sense, in Chris’s mind, of a blurry man with short red hair, sitting near him but not quite touching him, speaking with animation about how there are dinosaurs that lived closer to human beings than they did to other dinosaurs.
He remembers a man whose eyes sparkled with animated focus when he talked about the world millions of years ago, who loved him by sharing the information he held within his own mind.
He and his dad had understood each other, in ways that no one else did but his mother, and Chris was beginning to see that it had been her determination to know him that had fueled his mother’s actions, her endless support. The same way Jake and Nat were determined, and stubborn, and kept trying even when they got it wrong. 
Everyone gets it wrong sometimes, but that doesn’t… that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying. 
Maybe he got it wrong.
“He never broke up with your mom, but oh, he thought about it. You know, when he came to work with us, he had a plan. But plans… they have a way of going off the road and into a ditch. He worried he couldn’t make it work, he worried that it would be too hard for Ronnie to be with him and have a child, too.”
Ronnie.
Chris’s throat closes up, and he closes his eyes. 
All right, Tris, I got you these so the noise won’t bother you so much. We’re going to have a good day at the parade, okay?
“Her family never liked him, for one. That’s a rough spot to be in, I think.” Mr. Malley is quiet for a moment, sipping his coffee and watching the rain fall. “Ronnie didn’t see it that way, of course. That woman was a freight train and God help anyone who got in the way. My late wife, God rest her soul, helped Ronnie with some things when her own family wouldn’t. She’d come over big as a house, eyes sparkling. You were a kicker, she used to say, kept her up all hours of the night. Just a girl, still, your mom, but she had a steel spine and she wasn’t going to live any life but the one she wanted. But your dad… he worried, that it would be too hard on her.”
“Having, um, having me would?”
“No. Having him. Paul was a smart man, you know. He knew his job would be trouble. He gave her chance after chance to go, if she wanted. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? She didn’t.”
Chris looks at his phone, lying on the little table in front of the couch. There’s some text messages he hasn’t looked at. Couple of voicemails he hasn’t listened to. 
“Maybe he, he, he didn’t want to keep hurting her,” Chris whispers. 
“Hurt’s a part of living, lad, take it from someone who’s given out his fair share of it and more.” Mr. Malley hums. Outside, a car pulls up, almost bumping the curb. “Perhaps you’re meant to separate from your young partner, Tristan, perhaps not. It’s like I told your dad, way back in the Stone Age. You choose if you love someone, to be sure, but they choose if they love you back. You can’t decide that for them.”
“But, but I’m-... but, but I’ve been… what I am, it’s-”
“I know what you’ve been made to do,” Mr. Malley says gently. “You don’t have to explain, lad. We knew.”
Chris’s lips tremble. He doesn’t want his coffee any longer. He sets it down next to his phone, on the little table. The baristas talk quietly about a date that one went on the night before, there’s a low sound of machinery. It all filters into Chris’s mind, a cacophony of sound he picks apart or doesn’t. Right now it’s hard for him to think around all the sound, but he tries. “Then, then, then why… if you knew, um, why… didn’t you-”
He can’t finish the question. 
Why didn’t you save me from it?
“We couldn’t. It’s shite, is what it is, but we couldn’t. And by the time we could, you were with that nice young man who you live with now. I’m sorry for the time you lost, Tristan, and sorrier still I can’t give it back to you somehow. You’re your dad’s child through and through, but you’ve got your mother in you, too. You know what Ronnie did when there was something she couldn’t get through?”
Chris turns to look at this man, who knew his mother and father in ways he never could have. He swallows. “What?”
“She went over it. Or around it. Or blew it to smithereens and went through the wreckage. Whatever it took. They tried to kick you out of school when you were a wean, she fought them ‘til they realized they’d never win against her. They tried to tell her you wouldn’t read, she told them to go, well, to go sit on a thing or two and not to tell her what her boy could or couldn’t do.”
Chris thinks of Nat sitting next to him on the floor, patiently encouraging him to keep trying to turn the letters into words, despite his headaches, his tears, his certainty he’d never get reading back.
You will, Chris. I know you will. Just keep fighting for it. They won’t take anything from you forever, I won’t let them and you won’t let them either.
Don’t let them keep you from yourself.
“They told her she’d never have a happy life, having a wee one so young, but she built that happy life anyway with her own two hands and dared anyone to try and knock it down.”
“Someone… some, someone did, though.” The gunshots, his mother’s eyes going dull and blank, her whispered I love you so much, Tris…
“Sure. Yes.” Mr. Malley’s expression goes serious, and sad. “But it took breaking into her house at midnight and bullets to stop her. You’ve got plenty of your mom in you, lad. Plenty of your dad, too, he was always a stubborn git himself. Do you love this person you’ve broken up with? Hm?”
“Yes.” The answer comes without hesitation, even though his voice shakes and his heart races. “I, I, I do. That’s, that’s why I don’t want to-to keep hurting them by, by, by by being messed up from what, um, from what happened to me, I don’t… I don’t want to keep h-hurting them-”
“Let them decide how they feel about that,” Mr. Malley says, voice gentle and low. “Plenty of people are hurt and find their way forward together after.”
Jake and Kauri, laughing in the kitchen as Jake spins Kauri around in a circle, dips him backwards, presses a kiss to his nose that has him giggling. 
Antoni at the stove, sighing but with a smile on his face, watching them. Being pulled into the hug not quite against his will, all three of them laughing then. Kauri bright and sparkling, Jake a deeper harmony, Antoni soft and genuine. 
“Maybe it won’t last, maybe it will - but don’t let a hard past keep you from the people who love you. I’ve seen many ruined by believing you may only be loved if you’ve no pain inside you. We’ve all got pain, lad. Carrying it together’s a sight easier than trying to go it alone.”
From the car parked right outside, an elderly man unfolds himself, opening an umbrella to shield from the driving rain. Mr. Malley looks up and smiles. “Ah, right on time, must be ten sharp. That’ll be Cilly. D’you remember Cilly, lad?”
Chris looks as the man shuffles his way inside, pushing open the door. The little bell over the top jingles and the baristas cut off their conversation, standing up straight to call out a familiar greeting to a regular customer. 
He squints.
“Not… not very well,” He confesses, a little ashamed.
“Ah, well, that’s not a problem. He and I’ve known each other a long time. I was an angry man for a while after my wife died, you know. Seemed a crime that I should outlive her, when Christa deserved to live to a hundred and six if she so wished. Cilly helped me carry that anger when I needed to be angry, and he helped me put it down later on.” 
He gives a wave to the man - to Cilly - who looks at Chris and then back to Mr. Malley with clear surprise, then heads towards the counter to make his own order. 
“Be angry, Tristan,” Mr. Malley says, a little heavily, leaning over to him on the leg as he pushes himself, with a grunt of effort to his feet. “You may need your anger, in the days ahead. But if you’ve a love to help you carry it, who wants to help you carry it and who will be angry right there with you, and you love them back… well… don’t let the wickedness of others keep you from the happiness you could have. You’ll be a poorer person for it.”
Mr. Malley walks away without another word, leaving Chris by himself again on the couch, tapping at his stomach, thinking. He keeps looking at his phone, thinking about all the texts he hasn’t read, the way he’s refused to call them back when Laken kept trying to reach him.
He leans over to reach out.
He stops, hand hovering just above the plastic with its colorful case, the sensory sticker on the back of it that Laken had bought him. 
What happened after all the dinosaurs died, Tristan?
I, I, I don’t know, Dad.
Trick question, buddy. They didn’t. Paul’s eyes, bright and vibrant, gesturing to a bird in a tree nearby. Nothing stays the same and lives forever except alligators and sharks.
Right because, because they’re perfect.
Exactly. Dinosaurs died, sure, but they didn’t die, too. They just changed to suit the world after the one they knew how to live in was gone. Imagine, Tris. 
Imagine what?
Imagine the world destroyed and in darkness, buried in ash. Everything you know is gone, ruined, wrecked beyond repair. And imagine… imagine that you learn to eat seeds and little mice instead of big animals and leaves. Imagine you become smaller and smaller. Imagine that your arms turn to wings, that your bones hollow out to carry you higher above the piles of ash that turn to grass and to life again.
What? I, I, I don’t, um, I don’t understand-... Dad, um, I don’t, I don’t... know what you mean.
Right, sorry. Just... imagine you’re a dinosaur.
He’d laughed. Okay.
Now imagine your dinosaur family is gone, and you have to become something else. What do you become? Being a dinosaur means dying, right?
Um. Right.
So imagine that you look at death and say, no thanks. No, you’re not going to be over. This isn’t it for you. Even a meteor the size of the entire sky can’t end you. Instead of dying out, no, you look at history, at geological time, and you say…
Paul had trailed off.
Say what? What, what do I say?
Don’t tell your mom but-... you look at the end of the world and you say... fuck this, I’m going to learn to fly.
Chris picks up his phone, finds Laken’s name and photo in his contacts. It’s a photo of the two of them together, Chris and Laken smiling and laughing as he smears whipped cream on their nose and they smear a cross of fluffy white into his forehead. 
He dials.
They pick up on the third ring.
“Chris? Oh my God, Chris, are you okay? Are you-... are you okay, baby?” Their voice shakes, and he closes his eyes. 
This time, he lets the tears slip out and run down his face. “H-Hey, Laken, um, I, I, I-... I’m… I wondered if you, um, if you could, uh… are you busy?”
“Am I-... Chris, where are you?”
“The, um, the coffeeshop-”
“I’m on my way. Don’t you dare fucking move.”
At their usual table, at their usual time, Cilly and Sean Malley start to talk amicably about the week ahead. But he keeps an eye on Paul’s boy, where he speaks a few sentences and then hangs up the phone, looking out the window at the rain.
It’s twenty minutes before a new car pulls up outside, and umbrella-less, the partner Sean has seen with Tristan before comes racing inside, a blur of black clothes and black hair and brown skin. Paul’s boy stands, and his partner throws themself at him so hard the two of them fall backwards onto the couch.
They start laughing, and shortly after to cry. 
Their hands come up to either side of Tristan’s face, and they lean forward to kiss the scar on his forehead. He can’t hear what they say to each other, but he doesn’t need to. 
Ronnie, he thinks, would like this spitfire person that Paul’s boy is so in love with. 
That’s one wrong put right, at least for the moment.
One more to go.
Sean smiles and sips his cooling coffee.
-
@burtlederp @finder-of-rings @endless-whump @astrobly @newandfiguringitout @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @boxboysandotherwhump @oops-its-whump @cubeswhump @whump-tr0pes @downriver914 @whumptywhumpdump @whumpiary @orchidscript @nonsensical-whump @outofangband @eatyourdamnpears
Just Go On from Kimmy Schmidt
182 notes · View notes
onlydreamofmysoul · 4 years
Text
Wanna Be Kissed (Wolfstar)
Okay! So I’ve decided to start bringing some of my fics from Ao3 over here, mostly because I think it makes it a lil easier for people to find! Here’s the first one anyways! (Side note - any remus/sirius transferred will be wolfstar, not coops)
Sirius Black has never kissed a girl. In fact, Sirius Black has never kissed anyone, ever.
It’s not that the opportunity hadn’t presented itself, because Merlin, it had. Sirius was infamous in Hogwarts, the brooding Black boy, the first to not be sorted into Slytherin. The boy who ran away from home. The leather jacket wearing, wild haired, grey eyed mystery man.
Apparently girls were into that, if Sirius’s friends were to be trusted.
“What about Lucy Lancaster?” Peter whispered as the Marauders sat curled up in a corner, their corner, of the Gryffindor common room.
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, looking across the room to the blonde girl in question. “The fourth year?”
Peter nodded, “Yeah, I mean, she’s only one year younger than us and she’s really pretty and smart.” He gushed.
Sirius looked over at his friend. “I think she sounds more like your kind of girl Wormy.” He said, standing up and moving to sit closer to the fire, grabbing his book off the coffee table as he went. He curled up on the cushy red sofa, but had barely opened the book to the latest page when James Potter himself flopped down next to him.
“I know there’s someone you fancy.”
Sirius didn’t look up from his book. “Do you now?” He didn’t need to look at James to know his friend was flushing a little red.
“Okay well, I don’t know.” He admitted. “But I do suspect.”
Sirius met his eyes, amused. “There’s a fair bit of a difference between knowing and suspecting Prongs. For example, I know that you’re one hundred percent head-over-heels in love with Lily Evans, but I only suspect that you were the one who put itching powder in Lucius Malfoy’s quidditch robes.”
“It wasn’t me.” James grumbled and continued when Sirius looked at him disbelievingly. “Really it wasn’t. That’s not my style… anymore.”
Sirius laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “Yeah I know, Evans wouldn’t approve.”
“Yeah but also I just think we’re a bit too mature for stuff like itching powder when our time could be much more productively dedicated to tasks such as perfecting the map.”
Both boys sighed longingly. The map, their pride and joy. It wasn’t quite perfect yet - they still had a few passages to fill in, but it was getting pretty close.
James shifted in his seat to face Sirius properly, and Sirius mirrored his movements.
“In all seriousness though Pads, you know you can talk to me, right?”
Sirius smiled at his friend in a way that he could only pray was reassuring and nodded. “Of course I know James. I promise if there was anything to know, I would tell you.”
James nodded and stood up. “Good. Okay, I’ll uh, leave you to your reading.”
James retreated back to the others and Sirius watched him go, watched him sit down next to Remus. Watched as Remus offered him a chocolate frog.
Sirius hadn’t been lying to James, unless you counted a lie of omission. There really was nothing to tell - nothing had happened per se. Nothing had happened… recently. Because Sirius Black had been in love with Remus Lupin for a long time.
Remus-motherfucking-Lupin. The bane of Sirius’s existence. The love of Sirius’s life. He had known for years. Known that the love he felt for James and Peter was very, very different to the love he felt for Remus. He didn’t imagine James kissing him. He didn’t take a deep breath whenever Peter hugged him, trying to memorise his scent. So yeah, Sirius has never kissed anyone, simply because it wouldn’t be fair. Not to anyone. Not when Sirius’s heart was no longer his own to give away.
“Pads, we’re playing exploding snap, do you wanna join?” Remus called from where they were all laughing and Sirius sighed, already standing up. He’d never been able to say no to his tawny haired friend.
“Deal me in.”
****
“Fuck!”
Sirius’s head whipped up at the sound of Remus cursing. “Moons?” He called, swinging his legs off the side of his bed and drawing back his curtains, “Are you okay?”
Remus sat on his own bed, a dripping mug in his hand. “Yeah sorry,” he grumbled. “I’m just a twat, I spilled my tea all over myself.”
Sirius but his lip laughing even as he grabbed his wand and spelled away the puddle on the floor. Remus caught the back of his t-shirt and pulled it off over his head in one swift movement that took Sirius’s breath away.
“I cast a cleaning charm.” Sirius stuttered uselessly, his eyes focused on Remus’s lightly tanned skin, the faint whisper of shining scars that moved as Remus stood up.
“I know.” Remus shrugged and Sirius just gazed at those powerful shoulders. “But I still feel it, you know? I just need a new shirt.”
Sirius nodded helplessly as Remus walked to the trunk at the end of his bed and pulled out another shirt. Sirius thanked Merlin that the other boy was faced away from him because there was no way he could disguise his gawking at the dips of Remus’s shoulder blades, the curved run of his spine. Fuck, Sirius would give anything to trace his fingers over that soft skin.
Remus tugged the shirt over his head and crawled back onto his bed leisurely. Sirius’s heart rate was anything but. Everyone assumed that Remus was super scrawny, and they had been right, at least at first. When Remus had arrived at Hogwarts, that’s exactly what he had been - a stick thin little boy with big caramel eyes. But a wonderful combination of a solid three meals a day, a growth spurt and having to stay fit in order to help him recover from his monthly adventures had resulted in Remus Lupin looking like he starred in wet dreams.
(Never mind the fact that he starred in all of Sirius’s dreams).
“G’night guys.” Peter called from behind his curtains, the rest of the Marauders chorused a sleepy response and once again, the dorm room was silent, unlike Sirius’s brain. No, his traitorous thoughts just kept thinking about what it would be like to make Remus shout ‘fuck’ again in a non-tea related incident.
(They were some pretty good thoughts).
****
“Hey Sirius.”
Sirius looked up from his breakfast to see Anna O’ Connell sliding onto the bench next to him.
“Hi?”
“There’s a trip to Hogsmeade today.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Sirius couldn’t quite decipher the look on Anna’s face at his response.
“So… are you going?” She asked, reaching forward and touching Sirius’s wrist lightly. Sirius looked over at the other Marauders who had all stopped eating to listen in.
“Yeah we’re all going.” Sirius said nodding his head at the others. “Aren’t we lads?”
Sirius could see James looking at him with wide eyes and a ‘what the hell are you doing?’ expression and Remus wasn’t looking at him at all. Peter looked nervously between Anna and Sirius for a moment before nodding. “Yeah we are.”
“Oh right, yeah okay.” Anna said, beginning to stand up. “I guess I might see you there so.”
Sirius shrugged. “I guess so.”
Anna walked away and before she was even out of hearing range, James punched his shoulder not-so-lightly. “Mate, what the hell?”
Sirius rubber his throbbing arm. “What was that for?”
“She was obviously asking you out!”
Sirius choked on his pumpkin juice. “Well apparently it wasn’t that obvious, cause I didn't know about it.”
Remus finally met his eyes, wincing slightly. “It was pretty blatant.”
Sirius sighed and slumped forward, resting his head in his hands. “Oh my god I’m so dumb.”
James nodded in agreement. “Yeah you are. But if you went after her now and just explained what happened I’m sure she’ll still go out with you.”
Sirius shook his head. “No I don’t want to go out with her. I just wish I could tell when people are asking me out. I feel like it’s probably something I should be aware of.”
Remus smirked and Sirius’s gut twisted. He loved that little twitch of the other boys lips. “Probably.”
Peter patted Sirius’s shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it Pads, I’m sure you’ll get it the next time.”
Sirius just stared down at his now-cold toast. “Yeah.” He mumbled. “Next time.”
Sirius sat down on his bed and fell back dramatically, staring up at the rafters of the dorm. His radar for girls asking him out had not improved, according to his friends a grand total of five girls approached him that week alone. He had only known one of them asked him out on a date.
(That was only because she said “Hey, wanna go on a date with me?”)
He had politely declined.
Sirius sighed and grabbed his little red ball he kept on his locker and threw it up in the air as he lay on the bed, finding the steady rise and fall soothing. Most of Gryffindor, most of the castle really, were all outdoors enjoying the first properly sunny day in a long while. He knew if he looked out the window, he could probably spot James, Peter and Remus all sitting under the oak tree they tended to frequent.
There was a knock on the door. “Sirius?” Remus asked, poking his head in.
Or maybe Sirius wouldn’t find them all outside after all.
“Hey.” Sirius said, stopping throwing the ball but not sitting up.
Remus lay down next to him. On the small bed, their shoulders were pressing together and Sirius could feel the heat radiating off the other boy.
“Why aren’t you outside?”
Sirius shrugged. “Just wanted to think I guess.”
“Will I leave you alone?”
If it had been anyone else asking? Yes, Sirius wanted to be alone. But for Remus?
“No, you can stay.”
Sirius resumed throwing the ball, every so often passing it to Remus to give him a go. They lay side by side in silence for several minutes before Remus spoke again.
“Hey Pads? Could I… ask you something?”
Sirius turned his head slightly just for a second to glance at him. “You can ask me anything.”
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Remus biting his lip for a moment as if choosing his words carefully.
“Why do you… why do you never say yes to any of those girls?”
Sirius’s heart stuttered for a moment but he took a steadying breath. “I just don’t fancy any of them.”
“But isn’t that the point of dating? To see if you could maybe fancy someone?”
Sirius laughed nervously. “I guess I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been on a date.”
Remus fiddled with the fraying cuff of his jumper. “Yeah me neither.”
They were quiet again for a moment before Remus started talking again. “Do you think you’ll ever ask one of them out?”
“The girls?”
“Yeah.”
Sirius shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it wouldn’t be fair.”
Remus huffed our a breath. “Come on Pads, that’s a non-answer.”
Sirius rolled his eyes at the typical Remus response, but his lips twitched. “I don’t fancy girls.”
He held his breath, waiting for Remus’s response. He didn’t think it would be bad exactly - he knew his friends! He knew he could trust them, he knew they loved him but sometimes no matter how much logic dictates otherwise, a tiny inkling of doubt can creep in.
“I’m not so sure I do either.”
Sirius wasn’t sure what kind of response he was expecting but it definitely was not that. He turned his head to see Moony already staring at him. They didn’t say anything - they didn’t need to, the look that flashed between them said enough. A quiet understanding. Remus’s lips quirked and Sirius’s eyes followed the movement before they resumed speaking.
“So is there a guy you fancy?”
Fuck this was dangerous territory. But Sirius couldn’t lie, not to Remus.
“Yeah.”
This time it was Remus who rolled his eyes. “Wow that was so descriptive.”
Sirius’s eyebrow arched. “It was a yes or no question.”
Remus huffed. “Fine, fine, don’t tell me.”
Sirius bit his lip. And rolled onto his side to face Remus. The taller boy did the same. “I don’t just fancy him, I’m in love with him.”
Remus’s breathing sounded uneven. “He must be incredible if you feel that way.”
It felt like there was an elephant standing on Sirius’s chest. “Merlin yes. He’s kind and thoughtful and I could get lost in his eyes forever. He runs his fingers through his hair when he’s thinking, when he’s studying I know he bites the top of his quill even though he denies it and when he’s nervous he plays with the cuffs on his jumper and it’s so cute and I -“
Sirius cut off as Remus’s hands stilled. Hands that had been fiddling with the cuff of his jumper.
“-And he’s one of my best friends in the entire world. He’s brave and strong and the best person I know. I would do anything for him.”
Remus stared into his eyes for, Sirius couldn’t even tell how long. It could have been seconds or hours but to be frank, Sirius couldn’t give a fuck either way. Remus’s honey eyes had flecks of dark brown in them and all Sirius wanted to do was map the splash of freckles on his nose. Remus bit his lip so hard Sirius was nearly worried he’d draw blood before his eyes became steadier, more decided. Sirius watched as Remus’s chest rose unsteadily as he took a breath.
“He’d do anything for you too.”
And fuck if Sirius didn’t want to cry. Or jump around laughing. Or shout with delight from the tower. But most of all, he wanted Remus.
Cautiously, so cautiously, he reached his hand out and traced the cheekbones he had so often admired, Remus shivering lightly under his touch. His hand dropped lower as he ran his thumb over Remus’s ever so slightly parted lips, able to feel his hot breath on his skin.
“Are you ever going to kiss me or am I going to have to do it myself?”
“Merlin, I love you.” Sirius breathed before doing exactly that. He leaned down and connected their lips, at first, just a bare brush, Sirius was being so careful, waiting to see if Moony would decide that, actually no, he wouldn’t be making out with one of his best mates today, but that never happened. Instead, Remus tangled one hand in Sirius’s hair and wrapped the other tightly around his waist.
“Kiss me properly you wanker.” Remus demanded and Sirius smirked before pressing his lips against Remus’s and for a moment, that was all he knew. The world could have exploded but all Sirius would have registered was the hot force of Remus’s lips on his own, the fingers curling in his hair and the hand pressing steadily into his waist.
They pulled away gasping, Sirius looking at Remus’s swollen lips with a smug delight. He had always wondered what Remus would look like after a good snog. Now he knew.
“I love you too.” Remus said simply, cupping Sirius’s jaw in his hand and caressing thumb over Sirius’s cheekbone. Sirius’s heart just about exploded and he quickly leaned down to reconnect their lips, gasping as he felt Moony’s leg wrap tightly around his waist and he pressed himself impossibly closer.
“I love you.” He murmured against Remus’s lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Sirius has never kissed a girl. But he has kissed someone. The best someone in his opinion. The only someone really. Remus-motherfucking-Lupin; no longer the bane of Sirius’s existence.
(But still the love of his life).
554 notes · View notes
lovely-jily · 3 years
Text
"you realize that you drive me absolutely mad, right?"
hello friends, as promised here is a little follow up to that fun banter in that last fic that i wrote (if you haven't read it, it's not entirely important but i would suggest it. here's the link)
warning or maybe this is good news, this is a steamy scene, although it's nothing insane.
anyways, here you go you adorable and horny little cuties, luv u<3
James looked up at the sound of high heels walking towards him, a nervous heartbeat echoing its way throughout his entire body.
When she rounded the corner, he felt a short breath escape his lungs as he took the sight of her in.
She was still in her dress, hair still loosely tied up in a low updo. She briefly brushed her soft strands of hair that were framing her face out of the way as she looked at him, leaning against the wall in all his glory.
He was so attractive.
She walked towards him as he stood to his full height and waited for her to meet him, smiling. He was nervous, wondering how this was going to go about and how he would do this smoothly because he was determined to impress this girl.
James had his hands hiding in his pockets, knowing that if they weren't that they would be shaking. "You look- You look nice."
Out of all the things, you settle with 'You look nice"?! James mentally kicked himself, not very pleased with the unwanted reminder that he was not only an idiot but an idiot who was all too entirely smitten with this girl.
While he was making this awareness so much worse, but she honestly had such a calming effect on him it was almost like he didn't realize how much of a mess he was.
Lily placed her hands on her hips; the connection of their eye contact felt magnetic. Her head was tilted slightly, and an all too familiar glint was gleaming in her eye, her face barely lit up from the torches. It was late, well past curfew, but being Head Boy and Girl had its perks. She chuckled and seemed to be debating on whether to address his awkwardness. She seemed to decide to not address it but not let him off the hook either.
"James," She reached out, grabbing his tie securely and used it to pull his body into hers. Because she was pulling his tie into her, their faces were mere centimeters apart, "I'd say that it's best if we skip the whole pointless and awkward small talk and just get to a nice song, yeah?"
He felt his heartbeat pick up as he looked at her, astonished at her directness once again. He loved the way she kept him on his toes and kept him in check. He needed that balance.
"If you insist," He smirked as he quickly and wordlessly picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder as she let out her cackle that he adored so much.
"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" She said, still laughing as he did the code to get into the office.
He set her down, pulling her by her waist into him as his other hand cupped her cheek, "You like it."
She rolled her eyes just as he started kissing her, suddenly forgetting the nervousness that crippled him just seconds before.
His lips were hungry, not wasting time with his tongue, his hands grabbing her as if her body were water and he was dying of dehydration. She returned his energy, tugging at his hair and pulling at his dress robes with a newfound enthusiasm. They were both unaware of how much the other person craved them until this moment.
"How did the rest of your night go?" He asked, bringing his lips to her jawline. He kissed down her neck and onto her chest as Lily let out a heavy breath. His left hand found its way to her waist, the other tightly grasping at her thigh through the slit of her dress.
"It was alright. Yours?" She breathed out, clearly not thinking about whether she actually had an alright night. She was concerned about other things at the moment.
Hearing her heavy breath, noticing how she released her head back only fueled his desire to make her feel good. He had the power to do that to her, he was the one who could give her that release.
James pulled away from her and shrugged, "Turns out that Sirius is a lousy date. The bloke spent more time flirting with people than he spent with me."
She pulled her lips into a soft smile of amusement, her cheeks flushed. James made a mental note to never forget how she looked in this moment, face flushed, lips slightly turned pink from his scruff, and her chest was quickly rising and falling from the quick acceleration in their movements.
"You can't tell me that you're surprised by that."
He sighed, taking the sight of her in, wondering how he was lucky enough to even be in this situation, his hands still planted on her waist, touching her, pleasing her, feeling her. He was a lucky man.
"And you think that Biers is better?"
"Hey," She smirked, tangling her fingers into his curls, "He's honestly quite nice."
"So is Flitwick, but you don't see me trying to get into his pants," James brought one of his hands to her jawline, resting his thumb on her cheek as that inevitable smirk curled up onto where Lily's lips just were.
She let out an overdramatic gasp and looked as though she had never been more shocked by anything ever in her life, "No way! All this time, I thought that you were entirely smitten with him."
"No, he's not really my type," James, getting tired of his lips feeling lonely and cold, pressed them to the corner of her jawline. He noted how warm, soft, and all too inviting her skin was.
"And who is?" Lily, unable to hide the pleasure James was giving her, still had a slight bubbly and giggle in her voice.
"Definitely Hagrid," James whispered in her ear, pulling at her hair with his other hand and smelling her light scent, smiling through whiffs of vanilla and flowers, "He makes me so-"
Lily pushed his chest back slightly, so his face was in front of hers, and he noted the way she was miserably failing to hide her enjoyment, "Do you normally talk about Hagrid in your foreplay?"
"Well, is it working?" James asked, eyes lighting up in delight that she was enjoying his jokes. That used to never happen.
She gave him another eye roll as an answer, shoving his jaw away from her with her hand, "You never fail to astonish me with how thick you are, did you know that, Potter?"
He brought his fingers to her ear, rubbing the top of it slightly in between his fingers, smiling wider this time, "Did I just hear that I astonish you?"
"Can we get back to the important stuff now?" She grabbed his robes by the front of his chest, pulling him in, and crashed her lips into his again.
His hand snaked its way from her waist to wrap around her lower back, enabling him to lift her into him. Keeping his hand on her thigh that she then wrapped around his waist, he carried her to the neatly organized desk. He thanked himself for tidying up his work from earlier.
She kept her legs around him as it allowed her to better press her body into his, shedding the jacket off of his dress robes off of his shoulders, untucking his shirt from his pants, and feeling his abdomen muscles. This brought up a deep growl from the back of James's throat that Lily thoroughly enjoyed, forgetting how much she loved to tease the lad.
He brought his hand from her lower back to her breast over her dress, something he had wanted to do for hours now, and his hand on her thigh conveyed his enjoyment of this as it squeezed eagerly.
Lily pulled away and smirked at him, pushing him back with her heeled foot on his chest. His hazel eyes were darkened with desire, and his hair was a disaster.
"Something wrong?" He asked, clearly not understanding her sudden removal. His hands were on his hips as he tried to steady his breathing.
"We've been moving at a rather quick pace," Lily responded, leaning back on her palms as her head tilted to the side, not trying to hide her amusement. It felt so good having someone want her in this way.
James raised his eyebrows, wondering if he hadn't adequately gone about this and hoping that it was all consensual, "Lily- Are you saying- We don't have to go as far as we have in the past, whatever you're-"
She gave a slight snicker, clearly endeared by his concern for her, "While I'm thrilled that you are concerned about proper consent, I'm talking about the actual tempo, not boundaries. Don't worry," She lowered her voice back to one of seduction, "I still very much want you to touch me."
James's face relaxed, cocking his head to the side and simpering as he put his hands on her ankle, running them up and down her calf, "Is that so?"
She nodded, head still tilted. She seemed to be waiting for him to make the next move. He was happy to supply.
"And you said," He slowly started moving his hands to gently take off her silver heels on both feet. His movements were light, delicate, yet secure. The anxiety that filled him earlier was forgotten entirely.
After he got one of her heels off, he carelessly dropped it to the floor, repeating it with the other. He then rubbed his hands over her legs as he pulled himself closer to her, leaning against the desk so that their lips were only millimeters apart.
"And you said that we're moving too quickly? What's the issue in that?" His breath was soft on her face, and he could barely see the light blush that was on her cheeks. He was sure that she noticed his excitement as well.
She shrugged, giving him a look that nearly made James come undone right then and there, rubbing her nose up his face slightly. "I just think that the best things happen slowly."
He closed the gap with his forehead, touching them together as he looked down at their lips that were so close, feeling her breath hit his skin.
"You realize that you drive me absolutely mad, right?"
"Oh, yes," She smiled, bringing her hand to his cheek, "Not only do I know it, but I love it."
152 notes · View notes
persephone-plasmids · 3 years
Text
Debriefing
Deacon and Sole fanfic.
[AO3]
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]
Debriefing
Deacon and Sole walked in complete  silence through the abandoned Nuka-World park. Not because they were worried they’d attract the attention of ferals, but because neither of them seemed to be mature enough to address the incredible kiss they’d both just shared. Of course, nearly having Sole kill him when she got poisoned by HalluciGen and meeting a super dramatic Ghoul named Oswald had also distracted them. But Deacon was fairly certain the kiss was the real reason for the silent treatment he was currently getting.
I shouldn’t have done it, Deacon thought to himself. Although even as he thought this, his mind replayed the sensation of Sole’s lips against his and he felt his cheeks flush.
Sole was walking ever-so-slightly ahead of him, her hips swaying back and forth in a way that Deacon tried to ignore.
Right. He needed to fix this. To get things back to normal.
“Hey Charmer, did I ever tell you about the time I went undercover as Magnolia for an entire week?”
Sole slowed her pace a bit so that Deacon could fall in step beside her. “Go on,” she said, raising an eyebrow with an amused look in her eye.
“I did the whole shebang. Donned the red dress, wore a black wig, sang all the songs.”
“Flirted with the patrons?” She asked.
“That was my favorite part,” Deacon said. “You wouldn't believe how many free drinks I got that week. It’s amazing what people will do for a pretty face.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Sole’s lips, but the action just brought Deacon’s attention right back to the very area he was trying to forget.
He cleared his throat nervously before continuing. “I'll tell you, though. I’m not a fan of shaving my legs. I could never quite get that little area behind my knee.”
At this, Sole snorted, trying to suppress her laugh and failing miserably. “How do you even come up with these ridiculous lies?”
She still wasn’t looking at him, but he preferred it that way. If she wasn’t looking at him, then they weren’t in danger of suddenly kissing each other.
“Who says that’s a lie?” Deacon asked, his voice easily slipping back into its smooth unconcerned cadence.
“Literally anyone who’s ever met you,” she said, looking down at the ground as they walked. “I can read you most of the time. But I’m finding it harder and harder these days.”
“Oh?” Deacon asked.
He wanted to know what she’d meant by that, but he never did get his answer. Instead, he heard the familiar clomp, clomp, clomp of power armor approaching them. Deacon rolled his eyes at the Paladin’s lack of subtlety and Sole moved a bit further away from Deacon.
The motion would have been almost imperceptible to anyone but him. But it still gave him complicated feelings. Was he hurt that she didn’t want to be seen being this familiar with him? Or did it give him hope that she was feeling that same connection to him, even if she was trying to ignore it.
“Soldier,” Danse said, nodding to Sole before turning to Deacon. “Liar.”
“Ouch,” Deacon said, placing a hand over his heart and stumbling back a few paces dramatically. “Shots fired, Paladin. Right out the gate too.”
“Told you everyone knows you’re a liar,” Sole said under her breath, grinning as she looked at Danse.
MacCready appeared suddenly beside Danse, out of breath and wiping blood from his hands. “There’s a serious Bloodworm infestation here. I think we should get out of Dry Rock Gulch. It’s not worth the effort.”
“That’s just as well,” Sole said. “The Synth isn’t in Nuka-World. They’ve already made it out of The Commonwealth.”
“Is that so?” Danse asked. “Outstanding!”
“Bingo!” Deacon shouted.
Everyone stopped and turned to look at him in confusion.
“Danse said ‘outstanding’. That’s the last square I needed on my boy scout bingo card.”
No one said anything. Instead, Sole’s cheeks immediately flushed a dark shade of scarlet as her eyes grew as wide as saucers. She stared at Deacon in horror and had she not immediately looked away from him again, he would have thought there was a Deathclaw behind him.
Danse cleared his throat uncomfortably before Sole began loudly speaking. “So, I think we’re all done here. The Synth is safe and we’re all alive. Let’s head out.”
Sole’s voice sounded unnatural. And the way Danse turned away from Deacon with a stronger look of annoyance on his face than normal, told him that something was wrong.
As Sole and Danse began walking away, Mac sidled up beside Deacon and said in a low voice, “Not really your color, is it?” Before snickering and joining Sole and the tin can.
Deacon brought his hand up to his lips. When he pulled them away, he could see that they were stained with Sole’s red lipstick.
“Perfect,” he groaned.
--------
Things back at Railroad HQ had been normal when Sole and Deacon returned to report to Desdamona. Painfully normal. The kind of normal you got when you were trying too hard to make things seem normal. Sole was still avoiding eye contact with Deacon, but when she thought he wasn’t looking, he’d catch her staring.
Again, his sunglasses proved beneficial for more than just his Railroad missions.
“Thank you both for your continued efforts on behalf of The Railroad,” Desdemona said, after they’d given her the news concerning the Synth in Nuka-World. “Charmer, you’re getting much more efficient in your debriefings.”
“Charmer can debrief me any time,” Deacon said, giving her finger guns as Sole just shook her head in exasperation.
“Deacon, do I need to refresh your memory on the no fraternization rule?” Desdamona asked.
“Oh come on, that was funny,” Deacon insisted.
“Deacon?” Desdamona was still waiting for him to answer.
“No Des. I’ll do my best to shield your ears from my incredible wit. But just know you’ll be missing out.”
“I think I’ll survive,” Des said shortly. “You’re both dismissed.”
And with that, the imposing woman walked away.
“Sheesh, tough crowd,” Deacon said, pulling on the collar of his white shirt for effect as he smiled over at Sole.
“I mean… she is right though,” Sole said, looking down at her hands instead of at Deacon. “We probably shouldn’t joke about stuff like that.”
“Are you… we joke about that kind of stuff all the time,” Deacon said incredulously. “I mean… if it makes you uncomfortable of course I’ll stop. I just… thought that was sort of our thing.”
Deacon could feel his cheeks heating up as he desperately tried to save the situation. If Sole was uncomfortable with their joking, it was news to him. She was usually the one to start the innuendos. But he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
The kiss may have tarnished their friendship a bit, mostly because it made it impossible for Deacon to keep lying to himself about his feelings. But he didn’t want it to completely ruin what they already had.
“I just… don’t want people to talk,” Sole said simply, still looking down at her hands.
“Yeah, of course, Boss. Whatever you say,” Deacon answered, rubbing the back of his neck before trying to assume a nonchalant posture. “Just trying to keep things light. I’ll resort to the old failsafes instead. You know… the nuclear apocalypse… the hopelessness of our existence… Danse’s extensive grooming routine.”
Sole almost smiled at this last bit. He could tell from the way her jaw tensed. But instead of smiling she just nodded. “Thanks, Deeks.”
Without another word, Sole gave Deacon a curt smile, turned on her heel, and walked away, leaving him totally and utterly confused about where they stood.
Idiot, he thought. Did I seriously think I could kiss Sole without things getting weird? Do I really want to throw away my closest friendship just because I… what? Feel something for her? Big deal. I feel something for Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and I’m not making moves on them.
Deacon refrained from letting out the gigantic sigh that had settled in his chest, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Instead, he ducked into the escape tunnel and out the back door into the small underground room just beyond the main section of Railroad HQ.
Pulling out a cigarette, Deacon nearly jumped out of his skin when Sole lit a match beside him.
“Geez! Are you kidding me?” Deacon whisper-shouted at her, jumping back against the wall and hitting his head in the process.
He dropped his unlit cigarette to the ground and rubbed the back of his head where it had made contact with the bricks.
“I thought you were always aware of your surroundings.”
“And I thought you were a baby Deathclaw about to drag me off to mommy like a bleeding morbid trophy,” he said, still whisper-shouting. “Why are you back here, Sole?”
“I needed some alone time,” she said, her face slightly amused as she watched him come down from his scare. “And then you just followed right behind me.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Deacon said. “I didn’t even see you come back here. Trust me, I don’t go around looking for humiliation more than once a day.”
“Excuse me?” Sole asked, her eyes narrowing at his words.
Deacon swallowed, realizing he was being too honest again. He didn’t want her to know he was hurt. Hell, he didn’t even want her to know he had actual feelings for her.
“I mean… I have gone looking for humiliation in the past,” he began, trying to think up a lie funny enough to distract Sole from his honesty. “Like this one time--.”
“Deacon, stop,” Sole said, shaking her head. “Sorry, I just… I can’t do this.”
“Yep, no problem,” Deacon said automatically, without really knowing what she was talking about specifically.
Odds were, he probably didn’t want to know. He’d made a point of detaching himself from the people around him. It was a necessity in The Railroad. But it had also been crucial for his survival after Barbara. Sole broke down that resolve and made him feel out of control in a way that he both loved and hated.
Sole turned to leave but stopped herself and instead faced Deacon once more, looking at the ground with a deep sigh.
“I’m just going to say it, okay?” she began, now looking up to meet his eyes before frowning. “Geez, Deeks, will you please take those sunglasses off so I can actually see you?”
Panic.
He needed his sunglasses. Otherwise Sole might find out just what a terrible bluffer he actually was.
“You know what? Never mind. This might actually be easier if I can’t see you.”
Her words were doing nothing to comfort him and he was desperately trying to quell the mild panic attack that was rising in his chest. “Sole, if I’m dying, you really need to just rip off the bandaid and tell me.”
He grinned at her, but they both knew it was a facade to mask his panic.
“I appreciate you telling me about Barbara. That took a lot of trust to open up to me about her.”
Well this wasn’t looking good.
“And I felt instantly connected to you because of it. We… we both knew what it was like to experience loss.” Sole frowned but pushed through it. “And honestly, after everything with Nate, I didn’t think I’d ever… feel anything for someone again.”
Deacon had to stop this conversation. He’d made her uncomfortable. And he hated himself for that.
“You don’t need to say anything else, Boss. I got it loud and clear,” Deacon said.
But Sole wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily.
“I don’t think you do,” Sole said. “I get that you flirt. It’s what you do. And it was always fine with me but… I can’t keep putting myself out there just to find out that this whole thing is a big joke to you. I’m not like that. It… it hurts too much.”
Deacon’s heart twisted inside of him. Had he misunderstood this situation completely? There was no way. Because as much as he’d dreamed about Sole reciprocating his feelings, he never thought it would actually happen.
Deacon had been a bigot back in his youth. Someone had died. He’d been a violent man. Sure he’d changed, but there was no way someone as good as Sole would be able to look completely past that. She may say his past wasn’t important, but she was just being polite. That’s who Sole was.
There was no way she could ever truly forgive him. He knew that. And he didn’t think he’d deserve that kind of forgiveness even if she did offer it.
“I respect you too much to break up our team, because we really do work well together… I just need the flirting to stop,” Sole said, looking down at her hands again as she twisted them together. “I want… I want you, Deacon. And it’s fine that I can’t have you. Really. I can learn to live with that. I’m a big girl. But… I’m not good at differentiating your joking with what’s real. I never have been. You know that.”
Deacon was staring at Sole now with the most shocked expression he’d ever worn.
She was saying that she had feelings for him. Wasn’t she?
Of course, he could just ask her for clarification, but that went against every instinct inside of him that was screaming at him to make a joke.
He realized a bit too late that he had been staring at her in silence for quite a while. She looked up at him uncomfortably with a wince. “So… are we good?” she asked. “Even though… you know… I just told you I have a crush on you like some five-year-old on the playground?”
There it was. The confirmation.
Deacon’s mouth might have actually dropped open in shock. He wasn’t sure.
“Okay, well… this has been sufficiently awkward. But I said what I needed to say. So…” she gave him a soft awkward slug on the shoulder. “Good talk, Sport.”
She instantly shook her head in embarrassment at her own words.
“Yeah, I’m going to leave now,” she mumbled, ducking her head down and turning to walk away.
“Wait, hold up just a minute,” Deacon said, finally regaining control of his brain. At least partially.
Sole turned around slowly and reluctantly.
“I swear if you make fun of me for this, Deeks, I will fill your pillowcase with cayenne pepper while you sleep.”
“Whoa,” he said, raising his hands up in surrender. “That escalated way faster than it probably should have.”
Deacon reached down and hesitantly took Sole’s hand in his own.
“I just… are you actually saying you have feelings for me?” Deacon asked.
Sole’s cheeks flushed at his straightforward words. Deacon was never straightforward. Except for the time he’d told Sole about Barbara.
“Seriously, Deacon? You’re going to make me say it again?”
“You feel things for me?” Deacon repeated, trying to rephrase his question so that there was no confusion. He wasn’t doing a great job. “Not like the way Danse has feelings for his power armor, right?”
“I mean, I’ve seen the way he looks at his power armor. So, maybe,” Sole said, that ghost of a smile returning to her lips. “Seriously, can I go now? I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this humiliated. This is worse than the dream where I show up to school naked.”
Deacon’s eyes grew wide behind his sunglasses at this statement. “Okay, well I’d definitely like to hear more about that in a minute,” Deacon began. “But I just… I feel like I need to be absolutely certain. You, the perfect, beautiful, compassionate, smart, brave, sexy, savior of The Commonwealth, have romantic feelings towards a former-bigot, current-man-child, broken, immature, and hopelessly lost human?”
Realization seemed to dawn on Sole in that moment. At his words she could see the insecurity dripping off of him, cleverly disguised by jokes and a devil-may-care attitude.
He felt the shift between them. Felt the way she squeezed his hand with confidence now, knowing that his flirting wasn’t a joke. That his casual contact wasn’t all that casual.
“Well… the jury’s still out on whether or not you’re a human or a synth,” she whispered with a grin. “I still haven’t tried your recall code on you.”
With that, Sole pressed her lips to Deacon’s. He hadn’t kissed Sole many times, so he didn’t have much to compare it to, but this kiss definitely felt different. Her hesitation was gone. Her lips were confident as they moved over his, and he smiled at her touch.
“Can we go back to that whole, dream business you were talking about a second ago?” Deacon asked, but Sole instantly silenced him with another kiss, which he was just fine with.
Her hands roamed slowly up his chest, as if she were taking her time to enjoy the moment. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin at her touch.
As she gently bit his bottom lip, something he definitely hadn’t expected from her, he couldn’t stop himself from being too aware of their surroundings. He wanted to melt into the kiss. He wanted to thoroughly enjoy this moment. There weren’t any more questions between them. They both understood each other finally.
But they were also in Railroad HQ. Anti-fraternization Zone Number 1. They may have been in the escape tunnel, but agents regularly used it as an overflow for the headquarters.
“Hey,” Deacon said, pulling away from Sole regretfully. Confusion lined her features. “So… I want this. You have absolutely no idea how much,” he began. “But… we’re not really in the best place for… grown up bonding time.”
Sole smiled up at him. “Doesn’t that sort of make it more exciting?” she asked.
What? Where had this Sole come from?
Not waiting for his response, she kissed him again, harder this time. He tried to exercise restraint.
He failed.
Instead, he pushed Sole up against the wall, parting her lips with his tongue and pressing his body against hers. Every fiber of his being burned to be even closer to her, but even with this bold new Sole that stood before him, he knew she wasn’t that type. She’d want to take things somewhat slow. And he was fine with that.
Besides, after years of being completely touch-starved, any contact was like a revelation for Deacon.
His hands found her waist, softly kneading the smooth skin there as his mouth moved against hers. She made a little noise that encouraged him further, prompting him to trail his kisses down to her collarbone instead.
She grabbed his hair in a slightly painful manner, but he didn’t mind. Instead, he focused on the very important work he was doing on her neck while her hands pulled him more firmly against her.
“Deeks,” she said breathlessly, though he hardly heard her. His lips were too preoccupied with just how perfect her neck seemed to be. How had he not noticed before? “Dea-con,” she said again, still just as breathless.
This time he heard her. And he loved the way his name sounded when she was the one saying it. The way her breath hitched at the end of the first syllable when he’d nipped at her neck. That desperate quality to her voice.
“Mmm?” he mumbled, now slowly moving his lips back towards hers.
“You…” but her words were cut off by another kiss. “Said we should be careful here?” she finally managed, between kisses. “About Des?”
This was more like the reserved Sole he knew. But he was enjoying himself too much. He was finally kissing her. Really kissing her. Not just for fun. Not as part of a ruse for a mission. Not in some psychotic funhouse where he wasn’t sure if she really wanted to or if it was just some weird trick of the drugs in Kiddie Kingdom.
Being able to touch someone after so long was like an oasis in a desert. And she saw him. Really saw him. That was normally the last thing he wanted from someone. But it was all he wanted with Sole.
“Screw it,” Sole said between another kiss before she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him harder against her body, shuddering as they crashed together.
“I already told you, I left a backup in the escape tunnel,” Tinker Tom said from somewhere near the room’s entrance. “Now if y’all would give me two seconds, I could actually go get it.”
Sole instantly broke the kiss, looking wide-eyed at Deacon in a panic. He pressed a finger against her lips and grabbed her hand. Without a word, Deacon pulled her towards the exit at the far end of the room. It would lead them out into the cool night air of The Commonwealth.
As he held her hand and pulled her behind him, he couldn’t stop the embarrassing little smile that broke across his face. He heard Sole giggle behind him and it only added to the pure unadulterated joy that was beginning to permeate his very being.
She saw him. She saw all of him. And she still wanted him.
------
Note: This fic makes me seem like I don’t like Danse. I actually love him! I just like to make fun of him :)
Also, if you enjoy my writing, I’m an author IRL. I’ve got 13 published books, but my favorite is Parrish. You should check it out if you like ghosts and love stories between weirdos.
57 notes · View notes
skiyoosmi · 4 years
Text
if fate permits
⤷ chapter nineteen: when it's too late
previous < masterpost > next
Tumblr media
YN'S POV
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
ATSUMU'S POV
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
TWO DAYS LATER...
[THE FOUR IDIOTS’ APARTMENT, 6:55PM]
Kiyoomi only watched as your eyes became melancholier, as if it were not already in the first place, the longer you stared at the screen of his phone. Probably rereading his conversation with Atsumu, he thinks. Initially, he wasn’t really planning on showing it to you but just like any other day, you decided to be the whipped soulmate (or more like an idiot, at least to him) you were, all while saying “Atsumu is important to me, should I really leave this apartment while not making amends with him?” He almost retched, is this girl really fixated on becoming a saint? How could someone be this lenient? He has no idea. And so, he showed you– that even after all this time, the piss-haired boy will remain as he is; that no matter how many years may pass, Miya Atsumu will be Miya Atsumu.
And he was the exact opposite of you: he was self-centered, conceited, prideful, juvenile, and so many more that it would take Kiyoomi more than a day to list all the things he detested from the boy. He can only remember how much he loathed the boy upon their first proper meeting; not that he likes meeting new people anyway. Kiyoomi was no genius but he knew, right at that moment, that Atsumu was far from being the ‘knight-in-shining-armor’ soulmate his dearest sister was so engrossed to have.
Kiyoomi also knew that he was not the best brother in the world; hell, he is way too far from being a good one even. He couldn’t care less if you have an admirer from afar (like that Iwaizumi who seems to be around you all the time these days), nor when you finally get yourself a suitable boyfriend, not even when you finally get wedded to someone. He wasn’t overprotective... or at least that’s what he believed. But he was only human, after all– now that he contemplates about it, he realizes that he isn’t really fond of seeing you cry.
“Stop hurting yourself over and over again, you fool of a sister,” he said, clicking his tongue afterwards and grabbing your bags after hearing your father call from downstairs, “Know your worth a little, will you? It’s kind of painful for me to watch you get hurt too, you know. It’s not just mom and dad.”
And with that, he left the room, leaving you to tend to your other belongings and perhaps, say goodbye to this little house that managed to etch itself to your heart. Compared to your childhood home, it wasn’t enough to make you sob your heart out dry. But for some reason, tears still found its way on the corner of your eyes as you remembered the fond memories you’ve made here with your boys – the moment you stumbled upon this house when you four were trying to find a place to stay, the smile on your face when you decided that this was the one (cue Atsumu literally hauling you three towards the agent to settle the down payment), the moving day when Kiyoomi and Osamu brawled for the first time in their lives because they both wanted that bedroom that was the only one downstairs, “to be away from the idiot disease” as what they said. You can only wonder if you could make new memories as happy as those in your future home.
“Ah… you really are a fool of a sister, YN,” you whispered to yourself, wiping the tears away and getting the last of your things before proceeding downstairs, finding your father standing by the front door, arms crossed with a face mask adorning his face (you never really questioned where your brother got his traits, it was as clear as the day), “Kiyoomi is already in the car but I think you should bid Osamu-kun a proper farewell first. He’s in the kitchen. We’ll be waiting so just take your time.”
You nodded before proceeding to the said area, finding the gray-haired with his arms already wide open. Your lips quivered before jumping at him, “I’m gonna miss you.”
“We’ll still be seeing each other at school, you damn gorilla,” he chuckled before burying his face in your neck. You clicked your tongue, pouting at his very much realistic reply, “But it’s different! Eating breakfasts together, going to school together, going home together… and drinking wine until we’re brains out! I’m pretty sure my dad won’t let me do that at his house!”
He cackled, releasing you from his hold and flicking you on your forehead, “what an alcoholic woman! Are you sure you’re going to be a student in a prestige university abroad? You’ll be left behind by your classmates if you keep on prioritizing your wines before your studies.”
“Hah! You’ll see, Osamu. Those red wines will be the reason I even become one of the most famous writers in the world. You better wait and I’ll release an autobiography saying a man named Miya Osamu used to bully me to death,” you huffed, smirking after you saw him stare at you in disbelief. Your smile gradually disappeared upon the realization that the center of your heart was not home… even when I’m already leaving, huh?
Osamu frowned as well, scratching the back of his neck because of the sudden silence that indicated your little recognition, “I’m sorry. I told him to go home before 7 but…”
“It’s fine, Samu. We’re still not in the best terms so it’s probably better this way – a more peaceful way of farewell, you know? No fighting or anything else. Besides, I couldn’t tell him anything about my moving, scholarship, and so many things,” The lad didn’t miss the way you quickly wiped your tears away though. Damn you, Atsumu, why are you always making her cry, he thought.
“I’ll see you at school then, Samu. I’ll miss the dinners you cook,” you smiled, walking quietly outside, and shutting the front door. At the same time, a chime resonated from your phone that was in your pocket. Opening it, you released a long sigh… of relief? of anxiety? You didn’t know.
[Haji, 7:15PM]: I did it, YN. My thread, it’s… black.
You looked up at the night sky, finding stars twinkling as if they were gazing back at you.
Should I start moving on too, Haji?
Tumblr media
[TOKYO UNIVERSITY GYMNASIUM, 7:20PM]
For the umpteenth time this week, Atsumu heaved yet another deep sigh, hands weaving itself with his hair to ruffle it out of frustration. Today, he couldn’t care less about the girls lurking around the university gym… because for the umpteenth time this week as well, his twin brother expressed his disappointment towards the boy, leaving him in the said place with the same words he had uttered yesterday and even the day before that, accompanied by a threat this time: “You’re such an immature asshole I wouldn’t be surprised if YN finally gives up on being your friend. You better come home before 7PM or else, I will drag you by your feet with my own two hands.”
Clicking his tongue, he grabbed another ball, gripping it so hard his nails almost left a dent on it. 7PM? He only scoffs. No, he won’t go home yet. He doesn’t care if Osamu gets furious at him and drags him nor if you give up on your friendship; all he thinks right now is that he wants to spike this ball straight onto the other side of the court, make it burst if it was even possible. It wasn’t his fault he got mad at you, he’s entitled to his feelings; he’s right, Kiyoomi’s mistaken… you shouldn’t have promised something you would just break in a span of less than thirty seconds. You shouldn’t hav–
But is it really her fault though? A voice in his head refuted him, or is it just because you’re really an immature asshole who can’t be happy for her?
Of course, it’s her fault, he argues. Immature? Him? He’s almost twenty-two, for god’s sake! He has been living in this world for more than two decades, how could Osamu call him underdeveloped? He swears he’s going to give his twin brother a good punch or two once he gets home.
… But she’s just trying to reach for her dreams, why are you not supporting her? She always does that when it comes to you, doesn’t she? Or have you already forgotten?
And at that, everything went perfectly still. The sound of the ball falling from his hands resonated throughout the quiet gym. Even with just hearing words from something or someone he can’t even identify, Atsumu felt as if he was hit on his head with a ton of bricks.
“E-eh…? W-why… why am I crying?” He whispered, fingers going up to touch his cheeks and furrowing his eyebrows when he felt the dampness of the said area.
Because you know you don’t deserve her. You know that it’s your fault. It has ALWAYS been your fault.
“Shut up,” he said to no one, plopping down the floor while he clutched his ears this time to shut the voice out. As it kept talking, he tried hitting his head with his hand, tried talking over it, tried retorting savage remarks back; however, everything was futile for it kept talking, kept torturing his mind with nothing but the truth.
You hurt her, then apologize, then do it again. What are you playing, a tug-of-war? How selfish of you, Miya Atsumu! Are you really her best friend?
“Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!” He screamed, his throat feeling as if it was getting scratched from the rawness of his voice. There was no way he was gonna have a voice tomorrow.
You’re so aggravated whenever you think about losing YN, are you sure you’re not in love with her or something? Yanno… have you never thought about the fact that maybe she’s your sou–
“Atsumu-kun! Wake up!” A voice yelled while grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him awake, finally bringing him out of his… dream? Was that even considered a dream? Because Atsumu was sure as hell that what happened was just plain torture to him.
“Are you okay, Atsumu-kun? You were having a nightmare,” turning to the girl who kept her hold on him, he finds Yui, who was looking back at him as if he lost the screws in his head. He starts to believe that he, in fact, did after all that weirdness. After all, who in the world would randomly just fall asleep in the middle of an empty gym then proceed to have a nightmare while on it. Surely, there would be no one except for him. How in the world did it happen anyway? As far as he could remember, he was just practicing his serves and tosses a while ago.
“Yui, why are you still here? It’s getting late,” he asks the girl whose eyes just lit up, for some reason, at his question before lifting her hand up and showing… what? She continued to smile though and waved the same hand right in front of Atsumu’s face, much to his slight annoyance. He wasn’t really in the best mood to play guessing games right now, so he only sighs exasperatedly, “Just get to the point, Yui-chan. I’m feeling the exhaustion now.”
“I told you before that I could see my thread, right? Well, it turned black! Me and my soulmate met up a while ago and turns out, he was a Moira, so we performed the mini ritual, which is so weird by the way, before cutting it. He said one of us has to ‘affirm’ their desire to cut the thread, so I did! As far as I know, based on my previous researches about soulmates, it doesn’t really matter because the ‘gods’ know the deepest desires of our hearts but you know, I don’t really care because I’m free!” She exclaimed, squealing afterwards, and flinging her arms around Atsumu’s neck to give him a hug. But the boy stayed still and gaped because how can someone afford to be happy at this situation? His arms remained motionless at his sides, confusing him; wasn’t he just itching to have this weeks ago? In fact, he was just dreaming about it about three days ago. So why? Why couldn’t he bring himself to hug her back?
“Your soulmate cut it. How can you be happy, Yui-chan….?” Before he knew it, his mouth spoke for him faster than his brain could process. He removed himself from the girl’s embrace, watching as confusion begin to form on her face; though it only took her milliseconds before an odd smile showed up on her face once more.
“Because that means I could finally date you without feeling guilty for my soulmate, silly!”
Tumblr media
Atsumu felt like a hundred years had passed in just a single night and yet again, he sighed. If anyone sees him right now, they will probably laugh at his rather pathetic-looking state. Never in his life has he felt this exhausted, not even when Kita Shinsuke would force him to do an unreasonable number of receives and then make him clean the whole gym with the said captain; no, not even that could beat this fatigue and strangely, it makes him miss the captain.
Maybe he should’ve just gone home before 7PM, like Osamu said. He then shudders as he remembers that he still has to face his twin’s wrath.
“Can’t I just go back to being a toddler… like the brats that have no problem in the world?” He whines to himself quietly, relief spreading throughout his whole body as he sees your shared apartment; can already smell the meal Osamu cooked for you four; can visualize the disgusted look your brother will give him once he enters the house, all sweaty and gross-looking. Though, he thinks it’s odd that upon looking at the window of your room and Kiyoomi’s, he finds that they weren’t lit up unlike the usual. Maybe they’re already asleep, he shrugs given that you both love getting your beauty rest as much as you can. Twins, you are.
As careful as possible, he opens the front door, wincing when it makes a sound that would possibly wake up the very sensitive ears of Sakusa Kiyoomi from his room downstairs.
“Don’t bother trying to be quiet, Atsumu. You’re not going to wake anyone up in this house,” The voice of Osamu startles him. Fastly recovering from the mini-scare, he turns to his twin to glare while clutching his chest in hopes to calm his heart down, only to stop when he finds his brother glowering at him with a much worse scowl on his face.
“Samu, I’m sorry. I just got caught up with som–”
“You know, Tsumu, it’s kind of ironic, don’t you think? You always come around when it’s already too late,” Osamu speaks, trying to find the right words to say, “YN and Kiyoomi… they left and went back to their parents’ home. They will be staying there until YN and her mom leaves for abroad which would be in less than a month, right after this semester ends.”
Miya Atsumu was self-centered, conceited, prideful, juvenile, and so many more that it would take Kiyoomi more than a day to list all the things he detested from the boy. He didn’t care if you gave up and break off your friendship with him… at least that’s what he believed. But like Sakusa Kiyoomi, he was also human – and at that moment, as his brother stares at him and waits for a reply, he only stays still. Why is it that instead of the volleyball he was holding at the gym moments ago, it’s his heart that’s about to burst?
Tumblr media
⤷ notes. we didn't have internet connection for a whole day and phew.. this was the result of me being bored out of my wits, i guess? and i apologize in advance for the pain that i keep on giving and WILL keep on giving :>
452 notes · View notes
comfortwriting · 3 years
Text
Ashtray Part 4 - D.M
Masterlist, Requesting Rules, Writing Prompts
This is Part 4 of my Draco Malfoy Mini Series, please read parts 1, 2, and 3. 
Warnings: swearing, smoking, mention of food and eating. 
“Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.” Snape’s voice echoed in the back of your mind whilst you flicked through your Romeo and Juliet GCSE muggle study materials, forgetting about charms, divination, and hexes, and learning about Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men instead.
The spring breeze brushed against your tender neck and cheek, causing your hair to blow out of place, the pages in your books flicking over, your bookmark sliding out of the crook and onto the grass.
Sighing, with a cigarette clamped between your lips in the corner of your mouth, you quickly grabbed on to your book, trying to find the page you were on, battling against the strong and unsteady breeze which started to resemble a billion hands, trying to push you away all at once.
Reaching the page you were on, you picked up your bookmark and shoved it back into the crook, sucking on your cigarette and inhaling, you stuffed the books into your bag and rested your head against the giant birch tree you pressed your back up against, looking up at the long, thick branches that welcomed new leaves and blossoming flowers.
“Are you bloody mental?” A familiar voice called out, footsteps stomping towards you.
Choking on your breath, you spluttered, the cigarette shooting out of your mouth and onto the grass, the wind blowing it away before you could pick it up or put it out.
The group of footsteps got closer and then stopped, you stared at the familiar mucky and well-worn shoes that stood out next to the shiny pointed flats in perfect condition, looking up, you were faced with Ron and Hermione.
Feeling your heart drop in your stomach and bracing yourself for another lecture, you continued to stare at them, darting from one pair of eyes to another.
“What do you want?” you sighed, too tired to argue, too drained to explain yourself all over again.
Ron squinted at you “leaving Hogwarts just as you’re about to start your O.W.Ls, Y/N, have you gone mad?”
Your heart started to pound, your stomach suffering fatal blows with each heavy beat.
“It’s nothing to do with you” you replied “I told you that last week!”
Hermione held Ron back from losing his temper, flashing him a look and pulling him behind her. She looked down at your book filled bag and pouted for a moment, pondering her thoughts.
“But why?”
But why? are you kidding me!
Rolling your eyes, you scoffed and laughed lightly, grabbing your bag and slinging it over your shoulder as you got to your feet.
“You’re a smart girl, Hermione.” you glared “don’t ask stupid questions.”
Turning away from her and walking away in the other direction, Ron pushed past his girlfriend and grabbed hold of your wrist, pulling you back, his other hand gripping the wand in his pocket tightly.
“Ron!” Hermione hissed.
“No!” You raised your voice “It’s alright, I’ll give you what you bloody want.” You snatched your wrist away from Ron and pushed him away from you, almost causing him to fall onto the grass.
Hermione tried to speak, so did Ron but the fire burning in your stomach became uncontrollable and the embers that flew off spread around your body like wildfire.
Draco, Pansy, Blaise, and his other cronies strolled down the path towards the lake, your raised voice catching their attention and pulling them into the spider web you were accidentally forming around you.
“I fell in love with Draco and he happened to already like me back!” you yelled “I got to know him better than anyone, better than Pansy, better than Blaise, better than Snape!”
Hermione still tried to speak, but only managed to stutter.
“That lad has been treated like shit by his father, he has been forced to do terrible things he didn’t want to do, he was never given a choice and still can’t decide what he wants to do with his own life for himself!”
The fire in your stomach shot up and travelled past your ribs, Draco’s mouth hung wide open, his heart pumping like it never had before in his life, Pansy stared at him out of the corner of her eye.
“He isn’t a death eater by choice! I am not a death eater for helping him gain the courage he so desperately needs to break away from the poison in his life!” you walked towards Hermione and Ron, your index finger pointing at them. “I didn’t decide to fall in love with him, it just happened, I could smell his green apples in my bloody love potion, he could smell my fucking cigarettes!”
You inched closer and closer, now trembling with fury.
“Is this true, Draco?” Pansy snapped, staring at him in horror.
“Well don’t just stare at it, what can you smell?” Snape droned on at you, gliding down the empty classroom.
You closed your eyes and swallowed hard, allowing the scent of green apples and expensive shoe polish to engulf your senses, drowning you.
The scent pulled you away from reality and forced you to relive the picnic with Draco, the perfectly sliced green apples sitting on a plate before you were pulled from that moment and thrust into his arms as the two of you danced slowly and silently in the dark and empty courtyard, his expensive shoes shining in the moonlight, the smell of his shoe polish breaking out into the cold air.
You cleared your throat “I can smell Draco, Professor.” taking a deep breath you opened your eyes and stared into Snape’s pits of darkness “I can smell the green apples he eats, and the expensive shoe polish his dad buys for him.”
The corner of Snape’s mouth curled into a rare smile - a sign of approval rather - Snape’s hand rested on your desk, his eyes focusing hard on your cauldron.
“I want you to hold up your bag” he ordered, watching as you did so “and I want you to take out your Marlboro Cigarettes.”
You felt the air get snatched out of your lungs as you were pulling out the exact cigarette brand.
“How did you-”
“When I asked Malfoy what he could smell” Snape paused for a moment, the corner of his mouth curling upwards even more “he pulled a disapproving face and said the same cigarettes in your hands; Draco could smell you.”
“I had no idea that Harry had feelings for me, he never hinted at such a thing, he never told me, and when you thought I was becoming Mrs Malfoy with a burning desire to pledge allegiance to Voldemort-” you bit down hard on your tongue, having never said his name out loud “before I had a chance to explain everything, you publicly shunned me! the whole of Hogwarts shunned me!”
Hermione and Ron’s faces dropped, other students passing by stopped and stared at you, listening in to every word that flew out of your mouth, Harry could hear everything as he ran towards you, his scar prickling, nausea polluting his system, the vision as clear as day in his mind.
“I can’t eat in the great hall - I have to sit with the bloody house-elves in the kitchens! I can’t go into my own common room, or sleep in my own fucking bed!” Your yelling turned into loud screeches, your throat incredibly raw and sore as if you had swallowed the worlds tiniest razor blades.
Harry reached closer and closer towards you all, panting, desperate to catch his breath and spill everything he had just witnesses, the hairs standing up on his back, fear consuming him and guilt suffocating him.
“Everyone hates me! I hesitated for one moment when Draco asked if I were to choose him over you, my best friends, and when I said it wouldn’t come to that, he shunned me too!”
Tears filled Hermione’s eyes, making her vision go glassy, mirroring you, she had never felt so guilty and wrong in her whole life. Harry fell to his knees, gasping for air and pulling on Ron’s sleeve, trying to speak, gasping as he babbled.
“He’s coming-”
“Harry, take deep breaths mate, I can’t understand what you’re saying”
Breaking out of your rant, you noticed everyone circled around you and watching everything unfold in the distance, Draco stood and stared at you, his heart clawing through his bones and flesh to pull you into his arms where you belonged, but his head cursing you and seeing nothing but red for exposing his vulnerabilities to his peers.
“So now you all know why I’m leaving!” you yelled, addressing everyone, getting on your tiptoes, your arms stretched out as you spun around in a circle “and the best news is that I’m leaving earlier than expected!”
“He’s going to attack-” Harry gasped whilst Ron rubbed his back, concern splashed upon his face, trying to put the pieces together.
“Y/N, we’re sorry!” Hermione cried out, her voice shaking.
“No!” you yelled “you’re not! none of you are!” turning your back to everyone you took off in the other direction, your throat burning like your stomach, your eyes stinging from the tears “and after tomorrow it won’t matter!” you yelled again “I’ll be gone when the morning comes!”
Storming off, your bag bounced and bashed against your back, the heaviness of the books pushing you along with each slam, you could feel Draco’s icy grey eyes carve holes into your spine, your heart yearning out and crying for him.
but it didn’t matter anymore, you were moving on with your life and so would he.
“He’s going to attack her-” Harry gasped, finally catching his breath.
“Who-”
“Voldemort-”
“Who is he going to attack? Hermione-”
“No!” Harry shook his head, burying his hands into the grass, pulling on it, everyone now staring at him “Voldemort is going to attack Y/N!”
Draco’s world stopped, his grey eyes focused on Harry - as Harry’s green eyes that belonged to his mother looked back at the lad he hated with every ounce of his being.
“We need to help her” Harry stressed “both of us.”
Tag list: @amourtentiaa @reeophidian @alwaysnforeverfangirl @inglourious-imagines @sycathorn-slush @blackqueens01 @astramalfoy @yesimsleepdeprived @fredshufflepuff @a-dusty-emerald @samineisntmyname @hogwartsbroom
96 notes · View notes
yandere-society · 4 years
Text
Moonlight
Tumblr media
Pairing: Taehyung x Female Reader
Synopsis: Taehyung was a man of many things: handsome, young, rich, the reigning lord of the Kim manor. He was a man adored, a man respected. But beneath the studly exterior, he held a dark, demonic secret that floated towards the surface once every full moon. It was this secret that would unknowingly entangle you in his claws until there was no way out.
Word Count: 7.2k
Warnings: Yandere themes, Possessive Tae, Werewolves, Kidnapping mention, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, also it’s unedited cause I hate myself
Headline: Beast Of The Night Strikes Again! 2 Dead, Several Injured
Admin: @roses-ruby​
_
The town suffers through another full moon of terror as the one described as the ‘dog beast’ struck again late last night. Lawmen are baffled at the carnage, describing the victims torn limbs and missing hearts as an act- “most definitely inhumane.” Townsfolk have stated that they heard the creature growl and moan for hours on end until it seemingly disappeared near the Kim manor. As for the owner of the manor, Kim Taehyung - an attractive bachelor who inherited his great grandfather’s land - refused to comment and dismissed the claims of such a being as “ludicrous and delusional.” Whatsoever it may be, the fact of the matter is that there is someone or something raging with bloodlust every time the moon shines its brightest and it might just be out for your heart next.
“It is truly incredible how some of the most credible news sources have begun to sound so half-witted these days… ‘attractive bachelor?’ Seems like you’re up for auction in the middle of this tragic incident…”
“It is a small town with unusually large tales…they’ll do anything to sell their trashy story…” He runs his fingers through his long black locks, a small huff of irritation leaving his lips.
“A story that will keep children up past midnight I’m sure…” The older gentleman places today’s paper back on the table and walks up to where the younger stood, matching his distant stare out the window. “The flowers were exceptionally beautiful in this year’s bloom. Such a shame they’ll be dead soon.”
It was a passive observation, one he didn’t have to respond to; however, it was his nature to always hold a firm stance on even the slightest of interactions. He hums in agreement, gazing out towards the colorfully green garden that his study overlooked. But rather than admiring the beauty of the large field, his eyes were instead hooked on a small figure bustling about the grounds in a long black dress.
“Master,” A calm voice interrupted him from his trance, “Shall I adjust your schedule in case you were to head into town today?”
His long-time butler, Seung, bowed quietly in his direction.
“No need.” He replies mindlessly.
“Now, now,” His uncle next him chuckled, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening, “It would do you good to show your handsome bust among the public. Your presence as Lord might provide some comfort…”
As if he should be the one comforting weeping mothers and terrified children.
He was about to decline the smiling face of this man who bore him nothing but animosity, but he was interrupted by his uncle’s careless gaze suddenly modifying into something additionally sinister.
“Or is it that you’re too tired for such a simple task? You look as if you have not slept in ages. Are you doing alright, perhaps?”
Other than the shiver that ran down Taehyung’s spine at his foxiness, he was unfazed by the weighty question. Usually, his feigned concern would make him chuckle, if he wasn’t so emotionally exhausted from last night’s events.
“I’m fine.” He turns to Seung without missing a beat, “Uncle is right. Get the carriage ready, I will be heading into town today.”
“Yes, Master.” Seung bows, but before he could quietly leave the room, Taehyung calls for him again. “And get my Uncle’s carriage ready for departure as well. I am sure at his age he would love nothing more than to be resting at home this very moment.”
There was a small confrontational silence between the senior and him after his loaded remark. But it vanished the very next second when his Uncle began to chuckle loudly, as if there was nothing but mirth between the two of them.
“You are right on the mark, young lad. As sharp as ever I see.” He spins around, walking back to the table he once sat at “I shall be out of your hair soon.”
Taehyung watches him as he picks up the paper he had been scrutinizing before he commences his departure from the chamber.
“Are you perhaps interested in the dog beast?”
“Why, not at all,” He responds calmly, turning to the younger with the same somber expression as before, “I just need some entertainment for the road. Surely, you don’t mind?”
He did not. For now, he desired his uncle’s departure the most. It was not as if he could see his own forthcoming demise stained in the ink of that paper.
Autumn’s cool breeze surrounds your body as you tend to the large grounds of the Kim manor, trimming off uneven stems from a massive rose bush.
“___,” A frantic voice suddenly calls your name, capturing your attention as your gaze falls down onto a petite figure dressed in a similar maid’s uniform running towards you, “___! Did you hear?”
“About?”
“Today’s paper!” Seulgi spoke out of breath, like it was the most obvious thing, “Those men…aren’t they the same lads who-”
“SSHHH!” You hiss, blocking her loudmouth with your palm. Her whines against your hand were similar to that of an adolescent as you whirled your head around the garden, making sure no one was near your vicinity. “I told you not to speak a word of that!”
Seulgi successfully tugs you off of her, “I know! But is it not bizarre? That beast attacked those men!”
“There is no beast!” You growled, “Everyone in town was aware that Wan and his men were good-for-nothing hooligans! They probably wandered into the forest late at night, drunk and belligerent, and attracted a bear!”
“Hmm, perhaps…” Seulgi pouts, “But what about the articles? All those farmers who lost their cattle the same exact way… with their hearts missin-”
“I’m sure those are nothing but carnivorous rodents.” You huff in irritation, picking up the sheers to return to your work. The girl besides you threw a tantrum using her feet, and you wonder when exactly it was that you befriended such a child. “Are you even done with your station or will I have to do that for you again after the Housekeeper is done scolding you?”
This manages to scare her off, and you watch her retreating figure in slight humor before turning back to the rosebush. As you snap another set of leaves, you manage to take a glance at the window of the lord’s study, apprehensively watching his back disappear further into his room.
All you’ve wanted from this manor and its lords was a chance to toil quietly – in peace. Your simple servant status does not offend you, rather it provides you security in relations with the world. You were not interested in meddling with anyone’s affair, especially with those who lived in powerful and dangerous realities. So, it does not matter.
What you saw last night, near the clearing behind the manor does not matter. It had nothing to do with you, and you were planning on keeping it that way.
_
Lord Kim was annoyed.
Really though, when was he not? As the carriage decelerates into the gates of his estate, his exhaustion only multiplies. Faking a straight face and an empty gaze took its toll on him, even if he had been playing theater his whole life. It was hard enough to keep up with this perfect charade as the lord of the manor, but it had just gotten worse with time…and with the incidents.
He was reluctant to head into town, leer over dismembered bodies and chat with the commissioner, but did so anyway thanks to his uncle’s instigation. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice - any sign of weakness would invite his extended family to sink their teeth and claws into him, wringing him dry within a matter of minutes. His father died too early and Taehyung did not bear a successor yet, so whoever would be the first to either exhaust, kill or seduce him would eventually take his place as lord. After being unfortunate enough to witness countless amounts of cruelty from them since age eight, he knew he had to keep his farce strong.
Common folk would think he was protecting his blessed birthright. But in a deep, hidden corner of his mind, the reality loomed that neither this life nor this manor was blessed in the slightest.
“We’re home, my lord.” His thoughts are interrupted as the carriage stops, the door opening to reveal a flawlessly still Seung waiting for him to disembark.
As he exited his carriage, his shoulders drooping and head spinning, his eyes managed to fall on you in the distance. You stood far away, underneath the stone canopy of the servant’s quarters, next to that bumbling friend of yours with your head bowed as the housekeeper shouted herself silly at the both you. It seems that you have once again found trouble thanks to the petite nitwit by your side.
Yet still, even with your gaze downcast, he could sense the poise in your stance. An aura of composure and self-confidence that has never left your being no matter where you stood, or who stood over you. At first, he just happened to relate to you and the notion of keeping together a tough act. But over time, he came to realize that you weren’t acting at all – that you, a mere servant, were as perfectly assured as you seemed.
It made him envious.
“Master?” Seung pulled him back to reality.
He turned away, scuffing his expensive shoes amongst the gravel to head into the direction of his manor. Yet still, after the small sight of you, he couldn’t help but smile to himself for the first time that night.
“Dinner is served.”
A tray was lifted to reveal a large pot of thick, saucy white soup. He had wanted something light ever since the previous night, and the chef had delivered quite nicely. Taehyung sits patiently, waiting to be served as the maidservants walk into the room with the housekeeper. His eyes immediately land on you out if habit, and he wonders if you were to tend to him tonight. But to his surprise, it’s your friend who comes up to the table to oblige him his dinner instead. She takes a ladle and dips it into the soup – just a minute, she forgot to pick up his soup bowl?
Realizing she forgot the bowl; she looks startled for a bit before she hovers a hand underneath the ladle and walks closer to his direction. He has to try really hard not to burst out into a fit of laughter as he witnesses you shake in fear at her antics. Seems like he was not the only one distracted because the very next second your friend trips over her own foot on the way to his bowl and loses her grip on the soup-filled ladle, which flies towards him.
And in an instant, his whole head was wet and runny with his dinner. It was quiet for the first minute – which appeared to have stretched out into hours for the servants – until many different voices began shouting at once.
“Y-young Master! T-Towel- I shall fetch a towel!”
“MY LORD!”
“My lord! I-I-I apologize I-!”
He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. Your face was stiff in horror as you watched the creamy soup drip off his hair. Seung ran back into the room with a towel in his arm as the housekeeper bellowed at your friend.
Before Seung could wipe his hair, Taehyung held his wrist and took the towel into his own hands. Then he stood up, surprising the whole room, even the shrieking housekeeper, shut. He lightly wiped the edges of his bangs for a minute in silence, feeling the wet soup drool into his shirt before he turned towards your friend.
“Well, what a mess…” He stated absentmindedly, watching the girl shrink under his gaze until she became as small as a pebble. She seemed to be trying her utter best not to cry.
“Lord…” A soft, but confident voice interrupted the dead silence of the room. You stepped up next to your friend, your head down as you cleared your throat, “It…It is my fault actually…”
Your friend turns to you in shock. Everyone in the room was now glancing at you; the servants with petrified eyes and Taehyung with amused ones.
“Explain yourself.”
“Th-that…I spoke about the dog beast who was in today’s paper to miss Kang and…and I seem to have frightened her which is why she’s been a bit distracted…b-but it is my fault, so I deserve the punishment.”
“N-no!” You friend suddenly cries in a strained voice and you elbow her to keep shut. She opens and closes her mouth like a fish, before complying to your implication with her eyes squeezed shut tight. The servants all held their breath, waiting for the lord’s next move. They all seem to flinch when he sighs,
“…I see…” Taehyung holds in a chuckle, “You’re right miss ___, this indeed seems to be your fault…”
Seulgi quietly whines in her throat and you wish she could for once read your mind and jam her loud trap.
“…Well then,” Taehyung’s deep voice captures your full attention, “Meet me in my room an hour before midnight. I shall decide on your punishment by then.”
No one said anything further, but they all seemed to be thinking of the exact same thing. Even Seung appeared disturbed. But…it just couldn’t be… The lord has never even taken an interest in women much less bed with one. You, too astonished to remember your place, straightened your posture and stared at him straight in the eye for the very first time. There wasn’t any hint of jest or error, which left you further baffled at the Lord’s request.
No, perhaps it was just you who misunderstood.
“Y-yes Lord.” You manage to spit out.
At your approval the lord smiles, which startles you out of your insolence. You return to your humble position as the Lord begins to walk away from the room.
“Seung, prepare my bath.” Taehyung calls out in glee.
“…Yes, master…”
_
You sigh, standing in front of the thick wooden door of your Lord’s master chamber.
“Well, there goes the goal of keeping from trouble…” You whisper to yourself in defeat. And thanks to that gigantic fool Seulgi, you were late to your own punishment trial. She would not stop crying and apologizing, even though you told her it was now your problem, so she has nothing to be sorry about.
Still, the main dilemma for you in this moment was not her, but your current circumstances. Why were you called out to the Lord’s chamber an hour before midnight? The sensitive time frame would provide anyone the wrong impression, not just you. If he really were to ask you to…bed with him…what then?
You quickly shake your head no. It was not healthy for you to have such thoughts about your Lord. Since adolescence, you had been a reasonable girl who was guided by logic. There was no rationality in this idea and you’re sure Lord Kim had a good excuse for calling you out so late – an excuse that has nothing to do with...whatever you were just thinking. After pulling yourself together with a deep breath, you knock on the wood three times.
“Come in.” You immediately hear, which allows you to nervously turn the handle and push open the door.
There stood Lord Kim, by the end of the bed, in his sleepwear. His hair was a mess of slight, drooping curls, possibly the aftermath of his bath, and his stare was a lot more lax than normal. You gulped quietly under his gaze, stepping into the room and letting the door shut behind you.
“You’re late, miss ___.” His voice was deep, but soft. It felt as if he was trying to jester you.
“I-I apologize, my Lord. I was held up by the housekeeper…”
It was a lie and you did feel guilty, but it would also be immensely satisfying to witness that old witch being chided.
“My, my, it seems like she is always after you and that friend of yours,” You could hear what sounded like mischief in his tone, “Which reminds me, she came to speak to me.”
“The housekeeper?”
“No, your friend. She told me you lied for her.”
That was the last straw. You were going to kill that idiot.
“I…I…S…” What were you to say now? Should you apologize for your dishonesty?
“I think it’s commendable.” You were interrupted from your thoughts by your Lord’s words. When you meet his eyes, you see him smiling gently in your direction. “You tried to protect your friend. It takes a good heart for that.”
“Thank you, sire…” You weren’t sure how to adequately respond - if he really was complimenting you. Your uncertainty stemmed from your upbringing; rather than a trait to compensate, behaving and caring for your younger siblings was regarded as your duty. It was also why maid work came so easily to you. And Seulgi, with her childish nature yet endearing personality, reminded you of those you tended to back home, so you considered looking after her a mere responsibility.
“I do like that nature of yours.” He proceeds casually, making you blush. “But I still have to punish you for your dishonesty.”
You nod your head, eyes falling to the floor. Even without gaping at him, you were aware of how strong his gaze was. It was only natural to get disciplined as a servant, but for it to come from Lord Kim himself made you fearful.
“Miss ___, sleep with me.”
Your head whirls up to meet his stare, shock painting your face.
“W-”
“Please don’t misunderstand me.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair, “Although you’re quite beautiful, I only desire your lap.”
What?
“I-” Your Lord stutters, facing away from you and crossing arms in embarrassment, “I just…these days I have been having some trouble sleeping. Many peers have remarked on my dark circles and laxing attitude. This won’t do! As the Lord of the Kim manor, I have to appear fully rested and in the best condition at all times or else.”
He turns back to your direction,
“W…when I was a young lad…I would sleep on my mother’s lap. It was the most comforting of places to me and sleep was never a cause for concern back then. Which is why…I wanted to seek that same comfort once more…so that I may be able to rest heartedly and prepare myself to face the world of politics tomorrow. I just…I was wondering if I could borrow your lap for a few nights?”
It was quiet after his explanation. Your mind gradually processing all the information in his tale. He appeared to be immensely nervous, as if waiting for you to decline. You had to hide your amusement.
“I am ready for my punishment, my Lord.”
The young Lord smiles, which has your heart racing. Surely, he was a beautiful man.
“Thank you. Please sit on the bed, near my headboard.” He orders bashfully.
_
You swung another sheet over the clothing line.
Days had passed since your initial ‘punishment,’ and today would mark the first whole month of you lending your lap to your Lord. Your nightly time with the Lord had become an occurrence you cherished. There was so much you managed to learn about the man who rested on you – like how he scrunches his nose when he encounters a nightmare or how he moans only when he is in his deepest of slumbers. He was different than how you originally imagined; his cold exterior was nothing but a farce. In reality, he was so childlike and so innocent.
So different from other men.
Yes, that’s right, he was nothing like Wan. Remembering that scoundrel had you shivering in your legs from disgust. You usually didn’t have the most pleasant encounters with the men in town, but Wan had been a special case. Although you did not wish to think ill of the dead, there was nothing ever good about that man, and frankly you’re not very upset that he’s gone.
You remember the day much too clearly; it was a week before he would meet his demise. The housekeeper had sent you and Seulgi into town on a shopping errand – she wanted you to pick up meat and vegetables for dinner. It wouldn’t be the first time you went into town for a chore, but it would certainly be the most unpleasant.
As you and Seulgi stepped out of the farmer’s store carrying a load of groceries in a paper bag you held with both arms, you spotted Wan and his friends walking towards you from the opposite direction. They were cackling loudly, drunk in the middle of the day and out of their minds. You paid them no attention, ready to head back to the manor but your unwitty friend stared straight at them until Wan eventually made eye contact with her.
“Well, well, well,” He slurred in your direction, catching your gaze, “If it isn’t the whores of Kim manor!”
Because of his brash nature, everyone’s regard fell on the two of you. You tried to look unfazed by his disgusting behavior, taking Seulgi by the hand and leading her around the men. But Wan interjected your path as his friends laughed on.
“We need to get back. Leave us alone.” You stated calmly
“Why, we won’t keep you for long,” He grinned, and you recoiled from the alcohol in his breath, “Besides, they won’t miss you- them rich folk. Isn’t that right, fellas?”
His friends began to shout and woo, enclosing in on you almost completely, and you could feel Seulgi shaking behind you.
“We need…to get back.” You say once again, cursing at yourself when your voice cracks. Wan throws his head back and laughs as hard as he could while the townsfolk just observe the show. Anger begins to well up alongside the fear and you purse your lips, picking up your feet and tugging Seulgi along.
It didn’t matter if you had to bulldoze through him, you were going to get back to Kim manor no matter what. So you step close, ready to collide into him before he suddenly sidesteps. Thinking he was distracted; you weren’t prepared for his swift movement and you certainly weren’t prepared to feel a hard thwack on your backside. A breath of surprise leaves your throat and the feeling in your arms disappear, which lets the paper bag fall out of your grasp, spilling its contents along the street. You stare at the ground, paralyzed by shock as Seulgi meekly cries out your name.
“Wan, you mad lad!” Someone from his group yells, clasping their hand into his in jest while they all express their amusement at your humiliation. The group aggressively howls, making perverse remarks before eventually continuing down the road, fully disregarding your presence. They left, without any consequences. As if they didn’t just horribly disgrace you.
“___...” Seulgi steps up to your side, crying her eyes out in worry. If this was another time you would console her – scold her for being a crybaby – but at the moment you could think of nothing. You had been a maidservant for almost a decade now and even then, you had never been treated so awfully. What’s worse is that they all saw…they all saw and said nothing.
Not wanting to waste a minute further, you fall to your knees and start gathering the vegetables that fell about. Seulgi calls your name again but you focus on your task. You have to stay composed, you have to stay composed – you repeat it to yourself like mantra. But that sensation of emptiness returns, and you freeze. Before you knew it, you were trembling on the floor with tears streaming down your face and everyone still watched on.
“___.” Seulgi wrapped herself around you tightly. For a moment your fortitude was shattered as you cried in her arms on that dirty street.
Wan was most definitely scum, you conclude with a huff as you finish straightening the laundered bedsheet. But still, you halt, dying the way he did…it’s something you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Your mind wanders back to that paper, torn limbs and missing hearts. Could it possibly be related to what you saw that night on the previous full moon? With a frown, you stare up at the sky, watching the whiffs of white clouds swirl through the blue fabric.
“___!” You hear the familiar shouts of your name and turn to see Seulgi running towards you. “___, there you are!”
“What is it this time?” You sigh as she encloses in on you
“___, is it true that you are consummating with the Lord?”
Dropping the sheet out of your hands, you spin towards the loudmouthed idiot, “W-w-w-where did you hear that?”
“The other maidservants were whispering on it,” She replies with an innocent grin, “Is he as good as the rumors say?”
“A-a-a-as the w-what? What rumors- what- consummate- a-are you out of your mind?” You were blushing from head to toe.
Seulgi looks dejected at your response, “So it isn’t true?”
“Of course not!”
“Ohh,” She groans sullenly, “But I guess it would be impossible for a lord to take interest in maidservants like us.”
Your bashfulness vanishes in an instant. She was correct, there is absolutely no reason for you to find yourself special. Lord Kim had made it clear that he has no interest in you, he just requires a lap and is too proud to ask someone close. This was originally a punishment for you and nothing more – you shouldn’t become too attached.
“___?” Seulgi’s voice was low, “Are you alright? You seem down…”
“…I’m fine.” You mutter, composing yourself, “But more importantly…why are you here to ask me about baseless gossip? Are you done with your station? Remember you have to use the right tools- just scrubbing vigorously doesn’t work-”
“Oh my god- yes, yes, yes!” She responds by childishly covering her ears, “I have to use the coil sponge not the foam one, I get it!”
You begin to scold her as she laughs, prancing around the grass without a care. But soon the humor dies down and it was time to return to work. Before she leaves for her station, she makes a passive comment.
“Tonight’s another full moon. In the night of Samhain.” There was something dim about her tone as she gazes up towards the sky. You join her, wondering if she somehow had the same bad premonition as you did.
_
While you were chatting with your friend, Taehyung was having tea with a man he’d rather throw into a river.
“What brings you here?”
“My, do you sound cold.” His uncle chuckles, taking another sip of his tea, “Am I not allowed to visit my nephew out of fondness?”
“Well, after twenty-so years, consider me surprised.” Taehyung deadpans, which only further humors the elder.
“Perhaps I do have a motive.” He grins for a moment before all signs of amusement vanish from his expression. “I could not help but toil my mind over that paper from before. The townsfolk swore they heard the dog beast growl late into the night before fading behind Kim manor.”
“I thought we agreed the paper was nothing more than gossip fodder.”
“And perhaps that’s all it is.” His uncle’s smile was innocent but held such contempt. “However, as a gentleman who resides in the city, I find myself quite inclined by the mysteries of small towns such as this.”
“What nonsense,” Taehyung scoffs, “Are you saying you wish to investigate this supernatural rubbish the townsfolks gripe about?
“Indeed! The dog beast is nothing but rubbish!” The elder’s laughter was hearty, “But then, there is the question of who killed those men?”
The room was silent, drowning in the animosity the two men felt for one another. Neither one spoke – his Uncle because he had nothing more to say and Taehyung because he felt his throat clogging. He wanted to decline, desperate to splurge words of refusal, but then the fact that he had something to hide becomes too apparent.
“Surely, you won’t mind me staying? Just for one night?”
“Stay as you wish, uncle.”
You were already situated on his bed when your Lord swung the door open.
The sound made you jump, and you immediately rose to your feet to show respect. He began walking towards you in a fast, heavy pace with his feet striking the wood. His face had you unnerved – anger in his frown as well as what you could only describe as dismay in his eyes. Before you could open your mouth to react, you were taken into his arms in a sudden and swift motion.
It left your mind blank.
He squeezed himself onto you, his chest colliding with yours as his scent surrounded your senses. Your arms were hovering his back while your fingers curled into themselves, unsure of your position at the moment. Lord Kim hugged you tight, as if he was afraid.
“M-my Lo-”
“Tonight.” He interjected, muffling into neck as he laid his head on your shoulder, “Do not let me go tonight, whatever you do. Hold onto me as tight as you possibly can, do you hear me? Do not let me wander, I beg you.”
His tone broke your heart. He sounded so frightened – so desperate and you had no clue on how to help him. The Lord has always been the strength of this household. No one had ever witnessed him so distressed, not even at the previous Lord’s funeral. Hesitantly, you placed your fingers against his vertebrate and sat back on the mattress, guiding him gently down with you.
“I won’t let you go, my Lord.” You didn’t know what else to say.
He placed his head on your lap, arms still clinging onto you like a child. His mind seemed to be in the middle of a warzone against himself. The memory of a young man sitting in front of his father’s casket, immobile and silent as a rock, was still so vivid to you. You had only been at Kim Manor for a few months back then, and you remember being disturbed by his attitude – wondering if he had any feelings at all. But after learning about how often his extended family plotted against him, to the point of kidnapping him as an eight-year-old, you began to view that tearless boy with pity.
Watching him tremble in your lap has you reaching out to him. Your digits tread into his soft hair and you slowly move them about to calm his tremors. He seems to respond; his quivers coming to a slight halt at your touch.
You don’t know for how long you rubbed his head, listening to him breath.
You don’t know when you fell asleep.
_
His whole body was aching as he walked towards the grass, trying to ease the sharp pain in his head.
He had been taught that the best place to alter was out in an open, murky environment. Somewhere you could feel the air on your skin as the patches of hair slit through your pores like needles through fabric. Yet still, somewhere impenetrable through the naked eye. There was an area like so behind Kim manor – a clearing that was connected to a large acre of uninhabited woods. And among those acres laid several swamps and bogs, which formed a thick layer of fog around the grounds of the manor – most prominent on the night of the full moon.
It was the perfect place for him, who had been poisoned with this modification.
With his mind as cloudy as the fog, he thinks back to the first time he witnessed his father alter. He was far too young, a month away from ten, when he was brought out to this clearing and visually counseled on his dreadful future. More than anything he wanted to look away, he did not wish to see his beloved father become this monster, but Seung held his hand tight and told him to hold witness for his very own sake. And he witnessed – witnessed his father thrash about as if he wanted to claw his own brains out and he cried.
He cried along with his father. But there was never any other option for him than to tolerate the dread from his place as heir to Kim manor.
It was always painful, every moment his heart pumped blood into his body, he moaned in agony. While the night raged on, he noticed his panting grew deeper by the second – tone sinking to a gruff growl which rips through his chest. His eyes and sense of smell grew keener, large nails grotesquely rip through his skin and his teeth began to enlarge. The image of the moonlight basking on his skin was the only thing offering him refuge.
If he had a choice, he would have chosen to stay inside with the warm you, stare enchantedly at your resting face like the many instants he’s done before. But his changes weren’t just physical. In this state he was bigger, louder, hairier, teethier – more aggressive. His desire for blood was intense but ever since he met you, so was this raw lust. As a rational man with a sense of morals, this perverse craving ashamed him, yet the beast inside did not care for his customs. It wanted to possess you, every ounce of you, thoroughly. To mate with you in a way that wasn’t meant for humans. Being around you in this condition would break the mental leash he chains this deviant with.
Although every time he alters, he feels it loosening. There was something wrong with him – his father and grandfather were able to restrain the beast from rampaging throughout town. But he, on the other hand, had been consuming the town as his sole hunting grounds for some months now. Which is why the “dog beast,” once a mere legend mentioned every decade, was printed in previous months paper.  
It is as if the creature wishes to mock him and the slipping control.
Drenched in sweat and agony, he knew the transformation was almost complete when he suddenly heard a small noise. He immediately spun around and met the petrified eyes of his uncle.
Neither of the men spoke – both gaping at each other with pure, unfiltered fear. The chill of the night establishes its presence in the worst moment possible. Taehyung was afraid for reasons too many, none he could not lucidly list. He recalls what occurred the last time the beast was enraged by someone and he desperately wishes not to hurt anyone ever again in this form.  
Opposite from him stood his uncle, wondering just one thought out of an infinite. How does a normal man, one untouched by the knowledge of this being, react in this situation?
A normal man would run. A normal man would cower in fear. A normal man would beg for his life. But he, the rightful heir to the manor, declined to let this young bastard trample him in such a way. It wasn’t that his uncle was a man without fear. And it wasn’t that he held great courage either, but rather, the very oxygen that burned through him was fueled purely by his stubbornness. He has spent the majority of his life trying to crush first his brother and now his nephew, so when this chance has presented itself so deliciously, he refuses to let it slip through his fingers.
“Y…” His voice was hoarse, throat achingly dry, “What are you?”
Taehyung stands there quietly, unresponsive to the question. Although he was the larger one, he felt so scared and so small. No one had ever spoken to him in this form which is why he was unsure of what to do. He had been a fool, he thought if he could sleep in your arms and you held him tight, he would be able to stop himself from altering tonight.
But now he understood, there was nothing that could.
“You killed those men.” His uncle continues, all on his own. As if he’s suddenly reached enlightenment.
“You do not…understand…” Taehyung shakes his head like a child about to be punished. He didn’t mean to kill anyone. He’s never hurt someone in his whole life. That night, on the previous full moon, it all occurred without any of his own authority.
Taehyung was a despicable man. Wan had hurt you, and he saw it. But rather than step in and intervene – rather than protect you from that scum – he instead just stood by and watched it transpire. No matter how many times he thinks back to it, no matter how often he racks his brain for an answer, he still does not understand why he did nothing. Perhaps he was paralyzed from his own traumas and forced himself to retain his composure – however the beast did not care for his pathetic reasons. It taunted him the whole week leading up to the full moon. Hurt him with insults he knew he merited.
“You’re weak.” It growled, “Weak and puny. I shall protect her myself.”
And then, for the very first time, Taehyung took the life of another human being without any cognizance. What’s worse is that he enjoyed it. That thought alone petrifies him.
“No, I do not understand you. And I do not wish to.”
“Please…” Taehyung begged as he held out his deformed hand to plead with the elder. Did this man think Taehyung desired this life? Did he think he desired this hundred year old curse - originating from a place long before his time - that was forced upon him and on any man who dared to reign over Kim manor. Perhaps despicable, but Taehyung was still softhearted. The reason why he tried so hard to keep his title as Lord was so that no one else would further suffer this abomination, even if it concerned his bastard uncle. 
And it’s also the reason he made peace with dying alone, without a bride and without children. He was meant to stand alone. That is...until he met you.
“How dare you. How dare you grovel to me, you servant of the devil.” The disgust and venom in his uncle’s tone made him recoil.
“No-” It was only a matter of time before the beast consumed him whole and he was certain, like before, it would not spare any mercy. The adversity is something Taehyung direly yearns not to repeat.
“I shall bring the priest and the commissioner. I shall tell them what you did. You shall be brought to justice for what you did to those men. You shall suffer in hell when they burn you at the stake!”
“Please- uncle- please listen TO ME-” He clasped his claws against his mouth when his voice became utterly inhumane. The beast was crawling out of his throat and his sanity was slipping. No longer was he able to see what was in front of him and once again he began to fade, like he did all those times before.
“Run!”
Taehyung with the last of his conscious tried his hardest to warn the man and take a dash for the woods but it was far too late.
The last thing he heard was his uncle’s shrill scream, and then all silence for him.
_
You woke up to a thump.
Or at least you were certain that was what you heard as you sit up on the bed. Your vision was groggy, mind still half asleep as you look in the direction of the sound’s origin. For a minute it was soundless, and then there was another thump. You weren’t sure what it was, but you stood up nonetheless, slowly walking towards the door. Still unaware of your surroundings, you stop in front of the wood, distracted by your own dizziness.
In the tranquility of the room, you caught a noise so faint, you thought perhaps you were still in your nightmare from before. It was immensely faint, but you heard it. The rapid breathing behind the door. Unhurdled by emotions such as caution and reasoning for once, you swung the door open in confusion. And as soon as you did, your own awareness came back to you at full force.
A clothless man stood before you, covered from head to toe in blood and gore. Your breath was stuck in your throat, eyes widening into saucers once you saw the length of his fangs. It took you a full minute realize that it was Lord Kim.
“W…what…” You step back in horror. Perhaps you were still dreaming.
The fear had snuck up around your waist and grabbed you by the throat, leaving you without the ability to move. He gazed at you with eyes that were a bright yellow, yet darker than any man’s you have ever looked into. Your orbs travel down his body as you absorb in his abnormal height, his ripping muscles, his long fingernails and…and his hand.
There was a heart. In his hand, he gripped a fleshy and large organ and you knew it was a heart.
Missing hearts.
“Nooo…please.” You quiver, crying without him ever speaking a word. All signs of alarm were raised in your mind and you don’t even remember what it was for that you came here. Only Seulgi’s words about the dog beast reigned in your ear. The world was spinning as your Lord…as he began to walk towards you. Your life started to flash by your eyes, and you closed them shut tight, so you would no longer have to witness this terror.
“Shhh.” You heard a deep growl before you felt cold and abnormally large fingers on your face. A gasp escapes your throat as he caresses your cheek.
The next thing you knew, you were floating. Your eyes flew open and you saw yourself being carried by him. There was no moment for you to react, as you were subsequently placed upright onto the bed. No longer restrained by his arms, you shifted about in a frenzy.
“Ah…uh…”  
“You are mine.” He states as if it was a fact.
Then he comes over you – wrapping his enormous, dirtied limbs around you as you squeak. He lays his head in your lap and you feel the tears leave your eyes as he yet again resembles your Lord. What you had thought of as just a hallucination from the fog was actually reality. That night, on the previous full moon, you woke up and strolled the grounds to clear your head of Wan. It was then that you saw the most horrid of things – you saw a giant dog shrink into a small human who resembled the Lord.
And you had told yourself lies. Told yourself it wasn’t true and told yourself to forget. But all logic was failing you now as a creature from hell winds down on your very own body. You muffle your cries and fear – too afraid to awaken the beast.
Taehyung laid peacefully in your arms; his mind detached from every other thing that did not concern you. The heart he held in his hand had stopped beating a long time ago, but he could still feel it slipping through his fingers. He is not sure, even as a beast, as to why he takes the hearts of victims. Perhaps it has something to do with how it’s his heart that hurts more than anything else each time he alters.
Well, it did not matter now, he thinks as his perception starts to drift. Nothing mattered at the moment – not the heart, nor his uncle’s body, not even your reaction. For this moment, more than anything, he just wants to rest.
To sleep, in your lap, under this cold, beautiful moonlight.
________
A/N: Okay so I really hate this I apologize. I had intended for it to be longer but well :) October has officially been 2020′s busiest month for me...but I hope you enjoy this garbage lmk what you thought!
338 notes · View notes
elizabeethan · 3 years
Text
Never Nothing- Extra # 2
Another little extra for one of my favorite series!! Soft domestic fluff meets angst... There will be a follow up to this one, eventually.
For @the-darkdragonfly who wanted this to be a 12 part series… we’re halfway there baby
Rated T, mostly for language 
~4300 words
Get added to my tag list (I keep one for everything!)
Read on Ao3
Read the rest of the series
Read my other stuff
~~~~
“Stop it.”
 “I’m only trying--”
 “No, stop it.” 
 “My love, if you’d just--”
 “I don’t want to!” 
 “--you may find that you feel better.”
 “I won’t. I will never feel better, ever, for as long as I live. I will feel exactly this horrible every second for the rest of my miserable life.” 
 Killian sighs softly, smiling at her despite how much it pisses her off and running his hand through her hair. “I’m sorry you’re feeling so uncomfortable.”
 “Having a baby in August is not a good plan.” 
 “No,” he agrees. “I’m sure you must be feeling rather miserable.” 
 She nods, pouting. “Extremely miserable.” 
 He softly kisses the tip of her nose, taking out the sunscreen he’s been begging her to wear and squirting some into his hands. “Now, just imagine how hot you’d be if we were still in Phoenix.” 
 “Shut up,” she grumbles, leaning forward just enough for him to get her back. 
 “You’re the one who suggested we come to the beach.”
 She glares up at him, her lips pressed into a tight line and her brows covering her eyes almost completely. “You’re on thin ice.”
 “I think you’ll find there’s no ice this time of year, my darling. It’s very hot out; it would melt.” 
He can’t blame her for being miserable. At 37 weeks pregnant in late July, she can’t seem to ever get comfortable. Her back hurts her endlessly, her hips are sore, she’s been suffering with horrible heartburn, and the mood swings are difficult to keep up with. 
 He wouldn’t have it any other way, though. 
 “Why don’t we get into the water? A bit of buoyancy is sure to help your back.”  
 She sighs in defeat and says, “I’ll probably just get sea sick. Or eaten by a shark. Or stung by a jellyfish.”
 He kisses her nose once more and takes her hand, hoisting her off of the chaise lounge and placing his palm on the small of her back where he knows she’s sore. “I’ll fight off the sharks and the jellyfish, my love.” 
 “Promise?” she asks as she waddles towards the shore with him. 
 “Of course.”
 She squeals as she tries to get into the chilly water, but once they’re in and she’s used to the cold, she relaxes a bit. His heart flutters when she leans back against his chest, letting him bear her weight as he runs his hand along her bump and presses a kiss to her shoulder. 
 Feeling her pressed against him makes the blood rush through his veins, and he’s glad for the cold water keeping any obvious signs of his arousal at bay. He’s always found her unbelievably sexy, but seeing her in her yellow bikini, her bump on full display, is enough for him to have almost kept her home today. 
 “I know what you’re thinking,” she grumbles, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the waves. “And no, we’re not doing it in the ocean.” 
 “I would perish at the thought of sullying your purity on a public beach, love.”
 “Purity,” she scoffs. “I’m knocked up at 22. Nothing pure about it.” 
 He kisses her neck, then her cheek, and holds her close to himself, his bare wrist pressed to the side of her belly and his hand holding it tenderly. “We've talked about this, love,” he murmurs against her skin. “How this child has come to be is not important. What’s important is how fiercely the two of us love him.”
 “I know,” she agrees softly, dropping her head to his shoulder and sighing as she lets herself relax further into his hold and into the gentle current of the sea. “I just wish… sometimes I just wish you were his dad.”
 He sways the two of them together gently, letting the waves carry them, and reminds her, “I fully intend to be. Biology isn’t really a factor here, my love.”
 She hums happily as she lets him support every ounce of her, effectively floating just below the surface with him holding her up. “I just feel… I love this baby more than anything. I don’t regret having him, I just kind of wish you'd been the one to knock me up.”
 “Me too,” he laughs, “but it’s alright, because this child will be as much my son as any that I sire.” 
 “I love you. Sorry I’m a bitch.” 
 “You’re the furthest thing from it, darling. I’ll not hear you talking about yourself in such a way.” 
 She hums again and shrugs. “I could probably chill out a bit. I’ve been pretty snappy.”
 “Well, you’re nine months pregnant.”
 “Maybe I’ll keep being bitchy after the baby’s born.”
 “I hope so. I like you when you’re fired up.”
 She lies in his arms for a while, content to float almost weightlessly in the water as the pressure of the babe she carries is finally relieved. He feels the lad kicking about beneath the water, likely entranced by the dancing waves, and chuckles softly each time he gets a strike to his palm. 
 “What would you like for dinner, my love?” he asks after a long silence falls between them. 
 “Chinese food,” she answers immediately. 
 “That’s a nice dream. What do you actually want, Miss High Blood Pressure?”
 “Baaaabe,” she groans, tossing her head back against his shoulder again and gripping his forearms. “I don’t want grilled chicken.”
 “You don’t have to have grilled chicken. We can stop for fish.”
 “The baby wants lo mein.”
 “He can have some after he’s born and his mother isn’t at risk for preeclampsia.” 
 She grumbles some more, her words incoherent and inaudible over the sound of the water lapping around them. “Chicken,” she finally concedes. “But only if you make that sauce you made last week.”
 With a snort, he asks, “you mean the one with the bacon in it?” 
 “That’s the one.”
 “Alright, love. Let’s get you out of the water before you give birth to a raisin.”
 “You’ve gotta work on your dad jokes.” 
 ~~~~
 The days seem to be getting longer and longer, time refusing to pass at a normal pace as she lives in constant torture and betrayal of her own body. She loves being pregnant, honestly, but it’s becoming a bit tiring. The baby she’s hauling around is heavy, and her back is killing her. Killian’s being very wary of her slightly elevated blood pressure when all she wants is Chinese food and chicken nuggets. Her mom still remembers her days as a perinatal nurse and won’t stop accidentally scaring her when she talks about what she’s seen during labor. 
 Killian’s looking forward to the delivery, and she tries not to let that piss her off. Of course, she’s more than elated to see him so excited for their child to be born, and she’s so lucky to have a partner who will be there for her throughout the whole thing. But each time he tries to show her something he’s read in a book, or a breathing exercise they can try together during contractions, she wants to chuck something at him. After all, she doesn’t believe that he’s truly ready for what her body will be doing in just a few short weeks. 
 “During a contraction, I can try to massage your lower back if you’re standing. How does that sound?”
 “Standing?” she asks doubtfully. “I can barely stand during cramps.”
 “Don’t let him fool you; the massages don’t help,” Granny says ominously while she places her plate before her. While he’s been very strict about her diet, Killian can’t keep her from getting her French toast from Granny’s on Sunday mornings. 
 “And did you have a walking epidural when you delivered in the Enchanted Forest, Granny?” he asks, his tone sarcastic. 
 She rolls her eyes as she places his eggs in front of him. 
 Taking a deep breath with her eyes squeezed shut, Emma places her hand on the top of her bump as a zip of hot pain rushes up her chest and into her throat. Killian’s silent and still as he watches her, holding his fork above his plate as his brows furrow while she waits for it to pass. Once the pain subsides, he asks, “alright?” 
 “Heartburn,” she breathes. He pushes her glass of water towards her encouragingly as she breathes steadily. “Damn.”
 “It won’t be long, love.”
 “Yeah, he better make an appearance soon. I wanna meet him so bad, and I wouldn’t mind if the indigestion went away.”
 “Morning,” Ruby says happily as she refills Killian’s mug, much to Emma’s jealous vexation. 
 “Morning Ruby. What’s the report for this week?” he asks, happily going along with her perception of herself as the town crier. 
 “Not much, but there’s someone new in town. Can you believe that? The dwarves are doing some research to find out if that means we can leave.” 
 “Well, that will certainly be interesting,” he agrees, giving Emma a happy smile. They haven’t even bothered to attempt to leave themselves, although it’s suspected that they can. 
 “And everyone is excited to have a newcomer.”
 “I’m sure he must be a really interesting character, what with him wanting to come to Storybrooke.” 
 Emma snorts, digging into her breakfast once her least favorite pregnancy symptom subsides completely. 
 “I haven’t met him, but I’ve heard he is kind of an ass.”
 Moments later, her parents bustle into the diner and greet her with a broad smile as they approach them. “Hi honey!” her mom says happily. 
 “Morning,” she smiles. 
 “How are you feeling?” she asks as she and David scoot the two of them down in their booths. “How’s my sweet little grandson?” 
 Mary Margaret places a gentle hand over Emma’s bump and she stiffens just a bit. It always feels weird to have anyone but Killian put their hands on her belly. “Okay. He keeps flopping around and giving me heartburn.” 
 She hums in understanding, patting her belly. “Have you heard about someone new being in town?”
 “We were just briefed by Ruby,” Killian answers. 
 “Well, I met him very briefly. He’s handsome and very charming.” 
 “I don’t think Emma or Hook care much about that, Snow,” David says, and Emma nods. 
 “Well, I heard he’s coming here for breakfast today. Isn’t that exciting? You two won’t be the newcomers anymore.” 
 Emma laughs and nods through another bite. “I guess that’s true.” 
 They continue to chat through their meal, David talking about his job as an animal control officer. Apparently, they’re thinking about adopting a dog he’d rescued a week ago, and Emma’s only seen him beam like this a few times in the short time she’s known him. Things are good, the French toast isn’t giving her heartburn, she thinks she’s going to have a good day. 
 Until the bell above the door rings. 
 And he walks in. 
 She takes in a gasping breath, her eyes bugging out of her head as she swings her head away from the door. “Alright?” Killian asks her softly, leaning over the table and taking her hand. 
 She shakes her head and feels his body go rigid with panic. If they weren’t trapped in the booth by her parents, she would grab his hand and run out the back door of the diner to escape him. 
 “Heartburn?” Killian asks softly, not yet alerting her parents of her sudden shift in mood. “Braxton Hicks? Contractions?!”
 “No,” she croaks. 
 “What is it, angel? Talk to me.”
 She chances a look towards the door and sees him talking with Ruby, probably flirting with her shamelessly. Then, she looks back at Killian and whispers, “Neal.”
 He raises a brow in thought and then she watches as the pieces of the puzzle click into place. He nods once, looking towards the door and grimacing. Ruby starts to guide Neal towards a table and Mary Margaret gives him a friendly, excited wave before Emma can stop her. She wants to put her head through the table; maybe he won’t see her if she does that. 
 The only saving grace is the fact that she can spread her legs out and tuck her bump under the table. The last thing she wants right now is for him to find out that he fertilized the egg that became her son. 
 “Mary Margaret, right? Hi,” he greets casually. “And this must be your husband, and--”
 He’s staring, but not at her. He’s gaping at Killian. 
 “What the… Hook?”
 Killian looks as baffled as Emma must, and he gives her a look of confusion that tells her he has no idea what’s going on. Only, when he looks at her, so does Neal. 
 “Emma?!”
 “You two know each other?”
 “Oh my god,” she grumbles, dropping her head to her folded arms on the table. She’d pushed her plate away, unable to eat anything more as the stress of her sperm donor making an appearance in her life eats away at her. 
 “Darling, perhaps we should--” Before he can continue, she kicks him under the table, not wishing to let Neal know anything personal about her, especially the fact that she and Killian are together and that she’s expecting a baby in a few weeks. 
 “Darling? Are you two, like, dating or something?” 
 “Emma and Ho-- Killian live together,” her mother supplies, and Emma rolls her eyes. 
 “Huh,” Neal says in response. “You sure do move on fast.” 
 “Mate, that’s not--”
 “I’m not your mate, pirate.”
 Killian chuckles awkwardly and asks, “do we know each other?” 
 Neal looks like he’s ready to snap, perhaps jump across the table and strangle Killian at his cocky response, but he’s interrupted by the door opening again and Mr. Gold entering the diner. “Bae,” he calls, not yet taking notice of what he’s doing or who he’s talking to. “What are you doing?”
 “Bae,” Killian breathes, staring up at Neal and Mr. Gold in astonishment. “You… you’re Neal?”
 “What is going on?” Emma asks through gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than to escape. The position she’s put herself in in order to hide her bump is horribly uncomfortable on her back (and she probably looks ridiculous), and all she wants to do now is go home and sit on her new couch. 
 “What’s going on is your boyfriend is a piece of shit,” Neal spits at her. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” 
 “What, like I picked you? Lot of good that did me, what with the police, and the court hearings, and the community service, and the--”
 “Honey… This is Neal? I thought your name was Bae.” 
 “It was,” Neal grumbles back, turning towards his father and then back to Emma. “You told your parents about me?” 
 “Well, she kind of had to,” David responds condescendingly. “What with the--”
 “Dad. Please stop.” 
 “The what?”
 “Son, let’s go enjoy our breakfast and leave the family drama for later.” 
 The baby starts wiggling just as another bout of heartburn curses her, and she hisses, pushing her fist against her chest and leaning forward even more until she’s in an awkward position. “Honey, you need some tums. I told you, they’re safe for the ba--”
 “I’m fine,” she seethes, swallowing and breathing deeply through the feeling of lava crawling up her throat. She wants to leave so badly, but the moment she moves to stand, her pregnancy will become more than obvious. 
 “Family drama,” Neal laughs. “That’s rich, isn’t it, Hook? First my mom and now my girlfriend?”
 Emma glares up at him, practicing her mom-look. “Go away,” she insists.
 He scoffs and says, “Ems, come on. Let's get you out of here.” 
 “Excuse me?” 
 “Bae is Neal?” Killian asks through continued astonishment, looking down at his hand with his mouth agape, his brows furrowed. 
 “Stop calling me that,” Neal snaps. “You lost your right to talk to me when you killed my mother and sold me to Pan.” 
 Emma knows this isn’t true; Killian told her the story about the Crocodile murdering his first love in front of him. He told her about how he found her son years later and wanted to raise him as his own. She just had no idea that her son was… Neal. Evidently, Killian didn’t either. 
 “Neal, go away. Leave us alone like you left me to rot.”
 “I did that for your own good. You had to break the curse.” 
 “Right,” she scoffs. She wants nothing more than to rub in his face the fact that he abandoned her, homeless and poor and pregnant, but she holds in her anger. Truthfully, Neal leaving was one of the better things to have happened to her. It gave her Killian and their baby. It brought her to her family. It helped her find out who she is.
 Those facts don't make his betrayal sting any less, though.
 “Killian, maybe you should take Emma home,” her mother suggests through the haze of anger and confusion surrounding the table. He looks up at Snow, his jaw still dropped towards the floor and his eyes swimming with the guilt of his past, and nods. 
 “Aye,” he agrees, shaking his head and taking Emma’s hands. “Come, love. Let’s sail away.” 
 She wants nothing more than to agree, to nod and smile at him, taking his hands and letting him lead her out of the diner, but Neal remains firmly planted outside of their booth. If she stands now, she’ll reveal herself. She looks at Killian meaningfully with wide eyes, then glances down towards her belly and up in Neal’s direction. 
 He understands effortlessly and turns towards Neal, asking, “do you mind, mate? We’d like to head out.” 
 Neal rolls his eyes and concedes, stepping away from their booth and towards his father, and Mary Margaret and David stand to give them a path out of their seats. They're almost home free-- she can see the light at the end of the diner-- Killian leading the way and effectively hiding the evidence of her pregnancy. Or so she thinks. 
 Just as Killian’s hand reaches the door, about to push it open and gain their sweet escape, Ruby cuts them off with an excited greeting to Emma, reaching to give her a hug as she usually does and asking, “how’s my favorite little nephew doing? What is it now; three weeks to go?” 
 Emma freezes, eyes wide and face pale as Killian’s back goes stiff in front of her. The diner is silent, the early breakfast rush long over, and she knows Neal heard her. It’s confirmed when she hears the scratch of the chair against the floor as he stands and calls, “what, so he knocked you up, too? What a stand-up guy.” 
 The blood in her veins chills at his statements. Her jaw starts hurting with how forcefully she’s clenching it. She watches Killian turn around and fears that he’s going to confront Neal with the truth. In reality, though, he turns and looks only at her, taking her hands in his easily despite the fact that one is missing, courtesy of her ex’s father. “It’s alright,” he whispers, showing her just how much he understands her. Showing her that he can tell exactly what she’s thinking; can read the fear in her eyes at the thought of Neal finding out that this child is technically a part of him. “We can go,” he tells her. 
 She can’t help but to spin around, half turning to face Neal with tearfilled eyes, looking at him just once so that she can remind herself of the mistakes she’s made in her past. So that she can compare the despair he brought her with the joy that Killian brings so effortlessly. But it’s a mistake. She watches as his face falls, seemingly seeing just how pregnant she really is. 
 “Is that… are you…” He looks up at the ceiling, flexing his fingers as if counting on them. Counting the months since they were last together. Realizing it’s been almost nine months since their last encounter. Taking in just how large her bump is. “Emma…?”
 She should just turn around and leave, or ignore him; refuse to give attention to his thoughts so that she doesn't spur them on. But instead, she lets out a choked sob and buries her face in her hands as her tears flow freely. 
 Killian’s hand is on her back immediately, running soothing circles along her skin as he moves to stand in front of her and blocks her view of the rest of the world, consuming her with only his ocean-blue eyes. “It’s alright,” he whispers again. 
 “Did she say three weeks left? Is that…”
 “It’s okay,” he murmurs, and although Neal’s voice cuts through the air between them like a knife, all she sees is Killian. 
 “I wanna go home,” she cries softly, clinging to his hand and hook. 
 “We will,” he promises. 
 “Emma, is that my kid?”
 She can’t respond. All she can do is tilt her body slightly so that she’s looking past Killian’s right into Neal’s eyes, showing him the truth in her own. She can’t tell him with words that he fathered a child with her, but she knows that the look on her face is enough confirmation when his own pales and he drops back down in his chair. 
 He only stays there for a second before forcefully standing again, the chair colliding with the floor. Gold begs, “Bae,” reaching his hand towards his son, and Neal violently rips away from his father. 
 “Don’t!” He shouts. “Fuck.” 
 Before anyone can say anything, Neal is stalking towards Emma and Killian, and she almost feels nervous for a second, until he brushes past the two of them and slams his way out the door. 
 ~~~~
 Her lip trembles as he shuts the door, and she spins into his arms the second he locks it, bursting into tears easily. “He’s gonna take him,” she cries. 
 “Emma, no. That isn’t going to happen, love.” 
 She sobs some more, gripping his shirt with white knuckles, nodding into his neck and pulling him as close to herself as she possibly can with the bump between them. “He is.” 
 “You saw his face when he found out, darling. He has no interest. He’s already running.”
 “Everything was so perfect. Now it’s ruined.”
 “Nothing is ruined, my love,” he argues. “What makes you even say that?”
 She shudders in his arms, whimpering pathetically as the hormones take over and the fear of losing her child consumes her. “I wanted--” she chokes. “I wanted you to be his dad.” 
 When he pulls away from her, forcing her face from his neck, she cries out again, pained at the thought that she’s losing him, too. “Angel,” he murmurs softly, soothingly. “I am his dad. Perhaps the lad will simply be lucky enough to have two.”
 The violence behind her choked breathing is palpable between the two of them, showing him just how distraught she truly is as she asks, “you mean-- you mean you’re not leaving?”
 “You silly thing,” he breathes through a gentle laugh, pressing their foreheads together. “Do you really believe that that fool coming into our lives will sway me? I love you. Both of you.” 
 Her bottom lip trembles again as his hand slides along the side of her belly, the baby kicking against his palm in greeting. The fact that he didn’t stir when faced with his biological father doesn’t get past her as he wiggles against his dad lovingly. She lets out one last soft, whimpering sob and sniffles before saying, “I love you. We both love you.”
 He kisses her gently despite the tears and snot, making her laugh lightly. “Bae knows what it is to have an absent father, love. I’m… I’m truly shocked to know that the boy who lived on my ship all those years ago has done this to you. But I do believe that, now that he knows, he’ll do what he can to support you and the little lad. I believe he’ll do the right thing.”
 “Maybe I don’t want him to,” she pouts. 
 He smiles, cupping her cheek, and says, “that’s valid. And I know you're scared. But we’ll just have to sort out what’s best for the little one.” 
 With a heaving sigh, she drops her forehead to his chest and shuts her eyes. “Right now, what’s best for the little one is a nap.”
 “It’s only 10:30,” he jests, but despite his argument, he places his hand on the small of her back and guides her towards their bedroom. “Need a snack?”
 “More French toast.”
 “No. An apple.”
 “Never mind,” she grumbles, pouting as she collapses on the bed and holds up her feet until he starts pulling her sandals off. He shakes his head as he laughs lightly, running his thumb over her swollen feet and kissing her cankles. “Killian?” she whispers quietly. 
 “Aye, love?” he asks, almost as softly as he crawls up towards her and helps her lean back onto the bed. 
 She grunts unattractively as her swollen body flops like a fish across the mattress, drawing a soft smile from his lips. “I’m scared,” she whispers when his front wraps around her back. 
 “Aye, love. I know.” His hand slides across her giant bump, the baby kicking him gently, and kisses just behind her ear. “But you’re going to be fantastic. You’re so strong, and smart, and capable of anything you set your mind to.”
 “Then why can’t I just magic him out of here?”
 “Bae?” he asks with a surprised laugh. 
 “Yeah, I’ve been trying since we got home.”
 “You are a silly thing. And I love you very much.”
 With a contented hum, she pulls him closer to her despite the heat. “I love you, but let me sleep now.”
 “As you wish, my angel.”
~~~~
~~~~
@courtorderedcake​​​​ @kmomof4​​​​ @stahlop​​​​ @klynn-stormz​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​ @emelizabeth88​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​​​​ @kday426​​​​ @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story​​​​ @captain-emmajones​​​​ @gingerpolyglot​​​​​ @ebcaver​​​​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​​​​ @teamhook​​​​​ @superchocovian​​​​​ @itsfabianadocarmo​​​​​ @tiganasummertree​​​​​ @gingerchangeling​​​​​ @jrob64​​​​​ @onceratheart18​​​​​ @xhookswenchx​​​​​ @winterbaby89​​​​​ @swampmedusa​​​​​ @ultraluckycatnd​​​​​ @dancingnancyy​​​​​ @love-with-you-i-have-everything​​​​​ @shireness-says​​​​​ @snowbellewells​​​​​ @hollyethecurious​​​​​ @ouatpost​​​​​ @daxx04​​​​​ @the-darkdragonfly​​​​​ @donteattheappleshook​​​​​ @therooksshiningknight @eeteeaytay​​​​​ @xsajx​​​​​ @itsfridaysomewhere​​​​​ @alexa-fangirl-forever​​​​​ @jonesfandomfanatic​​​​​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​​​​​ @qualitycoffeethings​​​​​ @rapunzelsghosts​​​​​ @spaceconveyor @badcats-andmice​​​​​ @batana54​​​​ @sailtoafarawayland​​ @deckerstarblanche​​ @zaharadessert​​ @xarandomdreamx
41 notes · View notes
Text
@sicktember Prompt # 27: Blankets
Title: Sick Day Spells
Fandom: N/A
Based on an ask box prompt. The prompt: “It’s all well and good until the cleric gets really sick.” 
What does a party of adventures do when their cleric is forced to take a sick day after a battle? Featuring a Halfling Rogue, a Dwarf Fighter, an Elf Sorcerer, and a Human Cleric.
(Author’s note: Holy crap this was fun to write, and I’m thrilled with how it came out! I can’t believe it took me so long to write a D & D-based story. This is the first time I can say with confidence that you will almost certainly see these OCs again. I loved them way too much to let them go. And there's three more people here for me to whump in all ways magical and physical. So keep your eyes peeled for them again soon!)
They say pride comes before the fall, but most people like to think that applies to everyone except them. Still, perhaps the adventuring party should have kept their pride in check, or else watched more vigilantly for the possibility of falling. 
The party of four were riding out of the village they had simultaneously saved and partially destroyed. True, they had fought off a school of necromancers that were terrorizing the local area and destroyed the necromancers' constructs, but the fireball they had used to wipe out the zombies had also wiped out the entire market and half of the residential district. Still, collateral damage was to be expected, and the slightly-singed foursome were in high spirits as they left the smoking town in their wake.
Their calamity came from a very unexpected source, and it started with a sneeze. The party always traveled in pairs of two, with the fighter and the sorcerer in front and the cleric and the rogue in the back. This meant that Filius and Kandry were generally surrounded by a cloud of dust while on the road, but they didn't usually mind, both being the hearty sort.  
Today though, the dust began to make Filius sneeze even before they'd left the town. After two sets of three sneezes nearly back to back, Lorellyn turned, looking at him with concern.
"Are you all right, Fil? Your cold is still bothering you, isn't it?"
"I suppose. Honestly I'm so tired I barely notice it right now. I just want to get back to camp and sleep for a day or two," said the cleric, congested and hoarse, trying not to cough.
"Well yeh certainly earned it. It seemed yeh were everywhere at once ou’ there, throwin' out healin' spells left an' right, an' destroyin' th' zombies in droves, plus flingin' necromancers here an' there with tha' mace o' yourn," Gundor said.
"He's right. We couldn't have done this without you," Lorellyn said earnestly. "You're the hero of the day."
Filius smiled tiredly, but before he could reply, a sickly green bolt of energy hit him in the back, making him spasm. He froze, then slowly his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped forward on his horse. 
The other three jumped into action immediately. Kandry leapt off of her mount and onto the back of Filius’ with flawless acrobatics, somehow managing to prevent him from falling off of his horse and take control of the steed immediately, though she couldn't reach the stirrups. 
Lorellyn whipped around, immediately shooting a firebolt from her palm, aimed at the bush from which the offensive spell had come. The dry bush caught fire immediately, causing the pair of tiny goblin mages hiding inside it to run out shrieking, heading toward the smoking village. Gundor was already off of his mount and chasing them down with rage in his eyes, ending them with his axe before they knew what hit them. 
Gundor and Lorellyn were at Kandry's side as soon as the threat was eliminated. The halfling was anxiously checking Filius over for visible injuries.
"He's burning up!" she cried. "What did they hit him with?"
"It was a wimpy Ray of Sickness. I saw it out of the corner of my eye," Lorellyn said, taking over assessing the cleric. "Those mages were barely second level. I'm surprised they were able to hit him at all. There's no way this is just from that. There's something else."
"Well can't you figure it out?" Kandry snapped.
"I'm trying! But divination is Filius' specialty, not mine!" Lorellyn snapped back. 
"Let's jus’ get ‘im back ta camp. We need ta get off th' road. We're too exposed, an' distracted ta boot," Gundor said, looking around worriedly. "Yeh can look ‘im over there just as well as here."
The other two quickly agreed. They hastened back to their base, with Filius slumped in the saddle in front of Lorellyn, and Gundor leading Filius' horse behind his own. 
The ride was somber, the high spirits from their successful battle all but forgotten. Filius had a raging fever and was dead asleep, unable to be woken, but seemed to be in the throes of terrible nightmares, for he writhed and cried out the whole time they were moving. Whenever he would yell, it would send him into an awful coughing fit that left him panting and sweating. Lorellyn tried her best to soothe him, but she was clearly distressed, especially when it seemed to have no effect, and she had tears in her eyes most of the trip.
Arriving at their camp, they made a makeshift stretcher for him from a blanket, gently carrying the tall man to his tent and laying him down on his mat. They lingered at his side, unsure how to proceed.
"Why don't you do a healing spell on him or something?" Kandry snapped at the sorcerer. "There's got to be something we can do!"
"I don't have any spells left after that battle," Lorellyn hissed. "I need to rest my magic! And anyway, sorcerers can't do healing spells. Our magic is too chaotic. Bad things would happen if I tried. Do either of you have any healing potions?”
"I never waste time with that. They're too heavy to bother with. You all always carry them... Or Filius takes care of it," Kandry mumbled. 
"I gave mine ta th’ villagers tha' got hurt in th' blast," Gundor said sheepishly. "Filius planned ta brew some more, so I wagered I wouldn't need 'em."
"Some adventurers we are," Kandry groaned. "We can't even take care of our cleric."
Lorellyn wrapped Kandry in a hug, which the halfling immediately tried to wriggle out of, but the elf was stronger. 
"We'll figure something out. It will be fine," Lorellyn said bravely. 
At that moment, the party heard a commotion on the highway, with many people screaming and yelling loud enough to be heard at the camp, though they were well away from the road. The three healthy members of the party gave each other worried looks. Lorellyn attuned her hearing to better assess the situation while Kandry and Gundor waited breathlessly.
"It's a green dragon," Lorellyn gasped after a moment. "Something angered it and now it's flying around, attacking randomly. It's already killed dozens of people." 
"It's all well and good until the cleric gets really sick," Kandry groaned, covering her face.
They didn't have time to make any sort of plan, for immediately they heard the sound of running footsteps approaching their camp. A young man with wild-looking eyes dashed into their midst.
“Adventurers!” he gasped. “Have you heard? There’s a dragon terrorizing us! We need your aid to defeat it!”
Gundor stepped forward. “We hadn’t heard o’ this trouble. O’ course we’ll do what’s necessary in this time o’ danger.”
“So you’ll come? We must go right away!”
“Give us time ta make our necessary preparations. Leave us fer now.”
The lad nodded, hurrying away again. 
Gundor, Lorellyn, and Kandry shared a look. Without a word, they quickly began to break down their camp, hastily packing their things and snuffing out the fire under cover of Lorellyn’s disillusionment cantrips, and taking full advantage of Kandry’s stealth. In minutes they had packed their belongings on their horses and were heading in the opposite direction of the main road, deeper into the forest. Through it all, Filius remained unconscious, mumbling and sweating and weak with fever. 
After another hour or two’s ride, having hidden themselves deep in the forest, Kandry found a secure cave in which they could hide out. The party was in no shape to fight a dragon right now. Here, they wouldn’t be in danger, or be run out of town for not assisting with the dragon. Gundor secured the perimeter while Lorellyn attended to the sick cleric, laying him out gently on his bedroll once more and bathing his sweat-slicked face with a wet rag while Kandry saw to the rest of the camp preparations. The cool water slowly brought Filius to consciousness, with much coughing and trembling. However, wakefulness did not bring awareness with it. He looked around dully, his eyes heavy-lidded and fever-bright, but seemed to take in little of what he saw. He closed his eyes again wearily without acknowledging his companions hovering over him worriedly. Shivers wracked his body.
“ ‘m so cold,” he coughed. “Thirsty….” 
Kandry rushed to get him a mug of water while Lorellyn snatched the blankets off of each of the other bedrolls and brought them over, covering him in all of them. They seemed to have no effect though, and he continued to shiver violently. Gundor built up the fire frantically, but it took a while to catch, and the smoke only made the sick human cough more. After drinking two mugs of water, Filius fell back asleep, which was somehow both a relief and a worry to his friends. His fever never changed, neither going lower nor higher.
“I’ll run ta th’ village ta get ‘im some kind o’ potion,” Gundor murmured over supper. “I can’t watch ‘im suffer like this.”
“And risk being seen, or worse attacked by a dragon?” Kandry scoffed. “After all the trouble we went to to find this place and stay hidden? Please don’t.”
“She’s right,” Lorellyn said. “That’s at least two hours' ride, and one of us will be left alone and vulnerable. At least wait until morning, when our health and spells are back up. If he’s the same or worse, then go. We’ll see how he does through the night.”
Once night fell, with nothing else to do, the party tried to sleep, rotating 6 hour shifts keeping watch, as usual. However, even when not on guard duty, the party members found they couldn’t settle, and kept lifting their heads to shoot worried glances at their cleric, or make sure he hadn’t worsened. Gundor had had the first watch, and when it came time for him to rest, he settled on his bedroll, but then tossed and turned for a long time. He was usually snoring like a bear within moments of shutting his eyes, so this had the ladies on high alert. Finally, the dwarf got up with a huff, picked up his bedroll and carried it over to Filius’ side, dropping it there. When he lay back down, he was close enough that his shoulder touched the cleric’s. The dwarf then pulled a corner of one of the blankets over himself and rolled to his side, pressing up against the human, and immediately falling asleep with a weary snore. 
Lorellyn had the second watch, and she kept shooting tender, but envious looks at the sleeping men. Filius never woke, but he seemed to sleep more peacefully after Gundor had joined him. As soon as her watch was finished, she followed the dwarf’s lead, pushing her bedroll up against the other side of the sick human, sliding under the blankets, and resuming her meditation. 
Kandry was not so easily swayed, and tried to ignore the thoughtless sharing of germs happening behind her as she took her turn at the watch. However, when no one was looking, she surreptitiously slid her bedroll around to the other side of the fire, placing her closer to her companions.
Had Gundor and Lorellyn been aware of their surroundings, they would have noticed that in the wee hours of the morning Filius began to sweat profusely. He had hardly moved after the other two had settled in with him to share their body heat, but he began to mutter and toss a bit once more. Finally, just as dawn was creeping over the horizon, he woke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright with a hacking cough. Lorellyn and Gundor were instantly awakened as well, and Kandry was at their side in an instant. Filius tried to catch his breath, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes. 
“Where ‘m I?” he croaked. “What happened?”
Lorellyn leaned over to press the back of her hand to his forehead, then his neck. “We’re safely hidden in the forest. Are you alright? How are you feeling?”
“Awful,” Filius groaned. “Sick. How long have I been asleep?” He yawned hugely. 
“Almost a day,” Kandry said, pressing a mug of water into his hands. “You scared us half to death. You got hit with a Ray of Sickness and you just… passed out.”
“I did?” he said worriedly, looking confused. “I don’t remember that….”
“Yeah. Did you have some poison in your system too or something? I’ve never seen Ray of Sickness do that,” Kandry said accusingly. 
“Not that I know of. Might have to do with me already being sick when it hit me. Just exacerbated everything, made it worse temporarily.” He coughed roughly into his shoulder, wincing, then downed the mug of water. 
“Well your fever is much better,” Lorellyn said happily. “Let’s hope you’re on the mend now!”
“I’d be on the mend faster if I got some whiskey,” Filius sniffled, looking meaningfully at Gundor. The sleepy dwarf readily got up and shuffled to his pack. Finding what he was looking for, he returned with an amber-colored bottle and handed it to the cleric, who took several unceremonious gulps. 
“Good ta have yeh back, mate,” Gundor rumbled happily, reclaiming the bottle and taking several swigs of his own. 
“What are you all doing over here anyway?” Filius said after a moment, yawning again. “This cave is plenty big enough for all of us.”
“You were freezing, so we shared our blankets with you,” Lorellyn said.
“Really? You mean you slept here all night?”
“Tha’ we did. ‘Twas a mighty fine night’s rest, too,” Gundor said. “Matter o’ fact, I could use some more shuteye if it’s all th’ same ta you lot.” With that, he lay back down right where he was, pressing up against Filius once more and closing his eyes. The cleric looked surprised, though not unhappy with this development. 
“Some more rest would be nice. Filius, are you able to put up some protection spells so we can all relax for another day? I hate to ask so much of you--” Lorellyn began.
“No, it’s fine,” he said, coughing chestily. “I can manage.” He grasped his talisman of Njord and closed his eyes, his brow furrowing. After a moment, an opaque barrier appeared over the cave’s entryway. No creature, magical or otherwise, would be able to pass through. Looking exhausted now, he lay back down alongside Gundor and shut his eyes, a tiny smile appearing on his face as the dwarf shifted cozily against him and Lorellyn too pressed closer. 
Lorellyn was also grinning. “Come join us, Kandry.”
The halfling rolled her eyes. “I don’t cuddle.”
“I don’t either, but here we are,” Filius mumbled, almost asleep. “Just call it team bonding.”
Kandry almost declined again… but it really did look very cozy to be surrounded by blankets and pillows and teammates. With a little sigh, she shuffled over and slotted herself in, with Filius’ long legs on one side of her, and Lorellyn’s on the other. 
They spent the rest of the day just like that, sleeping and eating and talking, content to take a day to simply enjoy each other’s company as they let their cleric take a sick day.
20 notes · View notes
ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years
Note
Prompt: Vampire Chris drunk on blood?
CW: Drunkenness, drug addiction, blood drinking, vampirism, creepy abusive comfort, WWI-period-appropriate xenophobia and brief vague possible homophobia reference, dehumanization, war whump
"Now, that'll get you blotto faster'n French liquor," Kirk says, sinking back against the muddy trench wall, careless for the dirt caking itself into the hair at the nape of his neck.
His helmet lay beside him upside down on the ground, and his brown hair was free to explode in its wealth of curls, a kind of halo around his head. He had one arm out, sleeve rolled back. His hands were caked in mud and smeared with drying dirt - above the line of his sleeve, though, the skin was paper-white, almost clammy.
It was this white skin that the vampire's fangs were buried in.
"Shit, Holden, y'gotta have 'im bite you, too." Kirk's grin widens. The shells had gone silent but every man flinches, now and then, hearing a phantom sound or feeling a rumble beneath their feet.
At least it's finally stopped goddamn raining.
The venom rolls through Kirk's veins, soothing his jangled nerves. He can barely feel the trembling in his hands and it feels like his mind, when it's in him. He's a farm kid from western Nebraska, the second son and not needed so much as the first to bring the crops in. So here he is, learning to love the feeling of teeth in his skin.
Maybe when he gets shipped back home he'll stick to the cities. They say the vampires have their dens there, where they can hide. You can buy venom enough to quiet your mind for a day or two, the city boys tell him.
They're in it as deep as he is, now.
Feels like half the American army is itching for venom these days.
"No thank you. I'm not gonna get sent home and start chasing fangs like the rest of you." Holden squints, looking up into the dark sky, the rolling clouds that seem far too close to the ground. "It'll rain again soon."
"When isn't it going to rain again soon? Oh, right, when it's already bloody raining." That's a Brit, they just call him Tommy. No one knows his real name.
He claims to hate them all, but since half his unit was blasted apart two days ago, he's hung with the 'Yanks' close enough. Kirk thinks he's fond of them, even if he won't admit it. Or just scared to be alone. He can understand that. He's terrified of the thought himself. "Shove the little vamp over to me, Kirk, I want some."
The vampire pulls his fangs free, licking over the wounds he's made until they close. He's a skinny little thing, pale as paper with bright red hair they stuff under his helmet when he's running medic checks in No Man's Land, trying to make him less obvious. Sure, he can't die from gas, but he can be blown to bits by a whizz-bang fast as any living soldier can.
"Please," The vampire says, turning big green eyes up to Kirk. "I, I, I'm tired, please, can I sleep?"
He's got heavy dark circles under his eyes. It's kind of cute.
"No," Kirk answers, curt, shoving the vampire away by his head, watching him fall into the mud. His uniform is marked with it, now, a dab of dirt over the 'V' sewn next to his medic's cross. There's a satisfaction, in Kirk, just in seeing the little thing laid low.
He won't die in this war, and Kirk probably will, but before that happens he can at least hurt something he can see. You can't see old Fritz when you fire on him from a distance - but you can see a vampire flinch in the dirt. It's not much.
It's something.
"Must be daytime," Holden speaks up, still staring up at the clouds. "You can't tell, weather like this, but if the fangs're tryin' to sleep, must be day."
"He sleeps when we're done with him, and not a moment before." Kirk's voice is a murmur, eyes half-closed. He's drifting in it, the way the venom dulls and deadens the eternal ache in his back and legs. The Germans could come roaring over the bags right this second and Kirk wouldn't give a damn at all. Let them kill him, at least he can go with venom in his veins, not as a basket case carried off the field. "Not a second before. Go on, bloodsucker. Get over to Tommy and help him get some shut-eye, huh?"
"I've been drinking all night, pulled some rations off someone," Tommy groans, rubbing his fingers at his temples. "It's done no good at all." It's a funny little gesture, so oddly normal and casual. Reminds Kirk of home.
His throat tries to close, homesickness bowling him over. The wish to return to his mother's worn smile, sit down to dinner and have her ask him about his day, when his problems revolved around the harvest and the hard backs of the pews in church-
He takes a breath, forcing it back, and gives the vampire a vicious kick in the ribs, listening to his high-pitched cry and how he curls around himself with a smile of his own.
Oh, he'll die, probably. The others from his town already have. But he can remind himself he's still alive, for now. One way or another. He can cause pain he can't feel himself, for once.
"I said get over to Tommy and smooth out his sharp bits, bloodfuck."
"Yes, um, y-yes, Kirk," The vampire says, pulling himself onto his hands and knees. His fingers are smashed into the mud deep enough to nearly disappear. If they could only get a few days of sunlight to dry out all this dirt, it wouldn't be such hell.
As it is, his socks've been damp for weeks, his boots feel like they're caging his feet in a swamp. He's worried about trenchfoot and trying not to think about it. He stole these boots off a dead German when his own started to fall apart, anyway.
He could've probably gotten new ones, but... it had felt good, taking something from Fritz after Fritz took so much from him.
Kirk tries not to remember that the German soldiers he fights have never caused him a single moment's harm on purpose. They're only fighting for the same reasons he is - because someone higher up who doesn't give a damn about them said to.
Kirk had been all gung-ho for the war until he'd been sent over here to fight it. All those articles in the newspapers, all the speeches given by men standing in town squares... it had all made it seem so patriotic.
They never tell you, Kirk thinks bitterly, that you'll be sent into a slaughterhouse. They don't tell you you'll spend your day breaking a vampire's fingers one by one just to watch them heal back into place and listen to his little cries.
Just to pass the time.
"Trade me your flask while the fangs takes care of you," Kirk says, and Tommy hands it over easy enough.
He watches Tommy grab the vampire by one arm and yank him over, vicious and violent, making the vampire boy cry out again. The sound is starting to grate on Kirk's nerves. It makes him sound too human. He hates being reminded that every vampire used to be a person.
He drinks whatever's in the Brit's flask, and it burns down his throat just the way he needs it to. Wipes out his worries, relaxes shoulders that seem always to be tensed up nearly to his chin.
His mama's a teetotaler, back in Nebraska. He'd been one, too, until the first bombardment. Now he drinks anything he could get his hands on, and the officers mostly looked the other way.
"Bite," Tommy orders. Kirk raises his eyebrows when Tommy doesn't roll up his sleeve but pushes the vampire's face instead towards his neck, turning his head to the side to bare it.
His eyes meet Kirk's, and he smiles, bitterly. "Works faster this way," He explains. Kirk just watches as the vampire's fangs glint in the eternal dim twilight, hesitating before they bury themselves in Tommy's skin.
The little monster's back arches, pressing them chest-to-chest. A low rumble comes from somewhere deep inside, the animal sound the vampire makes during a good feed. He doesn't do it much with the regular unit any longer, they mocked him for it and one day he stopped.
The vampire's throat works as he drinks, and Tommy's arm slides around the monster's thin shoulders, forcing him closer. He's nearly kissing his forehead, this way.
It's an embrace, and altogether more intimate of one than Kirk thought he'd ever see from the cold, standoffish Brit. He feels a blush creeping up his neck and his cheeks as Tommy lets his head fall back, groaning softly in a kind of contentment as the venom hits. The sound isn't quite like a groan at all, it's more like-
"Fucking hell, Tommy, are you an invert?"
"Invert suggests I give a damn what bites me," Tommy replies, without opening his eyes. His slurred speech deepens, goes slow. His hand curves around the vampire's shoulder, holding him tightly. "I'm after oblivion, lads. I don't care what parts the fangs have that give it to me."
"Fang-chaser," Holden says, good-naturedly. Clearly not bothered the way Kirk is. Maybe that's just his farmboy past talking, that he's even unsettled at all. Maybe Tommy's got a point - who cares what's between a vampire's legs if you're only interested in the damn thing's mouth in the first place? "Fucking fang-chaser, that's what you are. End up in a den getting your hips bit like Oscar Wilde."
"Who's Oscar Wilde?"
Holden laughs. "You should try reading a book or three sometime, Kirk."
"Sure, sure, whenever I get the damn time in-between running over this blasted nothing. In any case, Tommy's definitely a fang-chaser."
"Guilty as charged... just like you two." Tommy's hand slides up into the vampire's hair, gripping tight and gently pulling backwards. The vampire's fangs slide free, and it laps at the wounds, rapidly. Tommy groans again. Kirk finds himself unable to look away at the bob of Tommy's throat. How good does it feel, in the neck? He's never thought to try it. He thinks about it now. "Turn me in to face discipline for unnatural relations with the fangs and I'll do the same to you."
"Yeah, yeah, we got it. Fucking Limey bastard." There's no real animosity in Kirk's voice. He's too distracted, drunkenly considering the vampire boy's mouth. Wondering if he knows how to kiss. "You shared your liquor, I shared our bloodsucker, we're both of us in it to our necks."
"Not me," Holden says, innocent and pure as the driven snow. As if he weren't the one to give Kirk the idea to use the venom in the first place.
Kirk throws a clot of mud at him, which he dodges, laughing. They're all laughing, soon enough, except for the fangs.
The vampire lays there, his head pressed to Tommy's chest and forcibly held in place by his arm. His eyes are slightly wide, unfocused, and Kirk leans forward.
"What's this, then? What'd you do to the fangs, Tommy?"
"Hm? Nothing. Oh, I'm pissed as can be, do they feel the liquor in your blood?"
"I'm guessing they sure do. You drunk, fangs?"
The vampire's eyes drift over to Kirk, move too far to one side, come back again. He swallows, thickly. "I... I think I, I, I am," He says, and tries to push back against Tommy's chest, to free himself.
The Brit's arm crushes him back into place, his other hand moving up to run through the vampire boy's dirt red hair, petting him like one of the ambulance dogs. Kirk and Holden laugh at the vampire's weakness. "Stay right where you are," Tommy murmurs. "Or I'll run you through with my bayonet and let you squirm all day."
"Christ," Kirk says, blinking. "That's a bit rough, isn't it?"
"He's not alive, what does it matter?" Tommy lets out a bitter little laugh. "Might as well get a preview of our own ends, shouldn't we?"
"You two, maybe." Holden crawls into the dugout, the little bed-space, a kind of cave dug in underneath the upper layers of the trench. He lays down on his back, closing his eyes, hands behind his head. "I'm going to go back home and never think of you lot ever again."
"I pray every night to make it home," Kirk says, nodding along. "Not sure anyone's listening, but I got to try, don't I?"
"What happens to the fangs, anyway?" The Brit looks up, rocking a little back and forth. As if the bloodsucker were a baby needing soothing. The vampire boy has relaxed against him, the liquor-laced blood he drank lulling him into a complacent bonelessness. Kirk watches the vampire boy's fingers start to tap over the Brit's chest, a strange movement he's seen the boy do before in his few relaxed moments between the scream of the shells. He hums, low in his throat, tuneless.
"Huh?" Kirk blinks. "What d'you mean, what happens to him?"
"After the war's done. What are they gonna do with the bloodsuckers? Can't exactly pin a bloody ribbon for valor on them and send them on their way, now can they?"
"Nope. I don't know what happens. Maybe they'll just stake them all and have done with them."
The vampire shudders, giving a little whimper. Tommy leans down, lips moving against the vampire's hair. "Ssssshhhh. Not to worry, little fangs. War's not over just yet, now is it?"
"N-... no. Not, not, not, not yet." The vampire's eyes close, pink-tinged tears creating pale tracks in his dirty face. He's a sad drunk, then, Kirk figures.
Aren't they all, these days.
"Maybe you'll outlive us all, and make fools of us for keeping you." Tommy speaks with a patronizing affection, as mocking as it is tender, petting through the creature's hair still. It's... unsettling to watch. Kirk had figured the Brits and French probably killed all their vamps, since they were all disturbed by the sight of the vampire medics when the doughboys first arrived in Europe.
This, though... this makes it seem like Tommy's known a vampire or two himself, in his life. And he's sure as fuck not unfamiliar to what venom is good for outside of giving relief from agony to the injured.
Kirk frowns, thoughtful.
He's turned into a thoughtful drunk, too, thanks to this goddamn war. Sad and thoughtful. What a fucking waste.
"Sleep," Tommy says, almost gently, to the drunk little vampire. "I've got you. Sleep, little one."
The vampire's eyes slip closed. He doesn't breathe - there's no sense of his chest rising and falling. Kirk has to look away before the sense of wrongness, watching Tommy cuddle a corpse, makes him sick.
He takes a long, long draught from the flask, and relishes the burn that reminds him he's human, and alive.
His own eyes slip shut, and he prays for an hour or two of sleep before the next screaming shell bursts overhead.
-
@mylifeisonthebookshelf @insaneinthepaingame @keeper-of-all-the-random-things @burtlederp @finder-of-rings @astrobly @newandfiguringitout @pretty-face-breaker @endless-whump @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @doveotions @boxboysandotherwhump @oops-its-whump @cubeswhump @whump-tr0pes @downriver914 @whumptywhumpdump @whumpiary @orchidscript @nonsensical-whump @outofangband @what-a-whump
136 notes · View notes
beigehearts · 4 years
Note
So I'm not sure if you're comfortable writing for these kinds of things so if you aren't then you can just ignore this.
You can write it with Hisoka, Chrollo, Illumi, one or all of them I don't mind (preferably Hisoka)
But I've got issues with eating, not a full out eating disorder (at least not that I know of, I haven't been to a doctor for it) but I find it intimidating to eat full meals, and I normally only eat a couple things daily. Maybe an apple here and an orange for later.
And because of that I've sworn off having kids until I can get it under control (its been 4 years and doesn't seem to get better, I just keep losing weight) last time I weighed myself I was 112 which is getting pretty close to underweight for my height and age.
So could you please do a trio (or individual) x fem reader where she's been bullied about her weight by her mom and peers and has a hard time eating, and because of that she doesn't want to get pregnant and risk having a baby born premature or extremely unhealthy, or die. But somehow she manages to get pregnant (maybe failed contraceptives) so Hisoka/Illumi/Chrollo tries helping her get better about eating. Setting timers and having thought out meals for the day that includes all the food groups needed.
I've always been told to eat more or that all I ever eat is junk food but I'm not fat, I'm not extremely skinny, I just wish there would've been somebody telling me that everything would be fine and help me through it. Nobody has yet though, everybodys first reaction to me saying I rarely eat is that I should eat more when I literally cannot force myself to do so.
I really do apologize for this being long, and if you don't write this I can always find somebody else.
No I completely understand! I’ve struggled with my eating in the past and I sympathize. I know that hearing “just eat” and what not doesn’t help and I know it’s hard- but all you can do is try your hardest to get better- the journey is just as important as the result I’m more than happy to do this request- I really appreciate it because I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while. I tried to get this done asap because I feel like its important I really hope you like it!!
Alright let’s get started lads fem!reader CW: eating disorder, pregnancy
Tumblr media
Illumi
It’s been days since you had your last meal. As his future wife and a future mother it has worried him sick. And at some points you wonder if he’s only concerned about the baby. You’ve been on birth control for months after having a long talk with Illumi that children would need to wait a bit until you have yourself under control. He’s been acting strangely, he’s been pacing which he has never done before, and snapping at his brothers, sister, and mother.
You sit on the balcony, a heavy rain pounding down, the awning above you barely protecting you. You look into the distance and rub your belly, as if trying to wish away the baby. It’s not that you don’t want children, you really do, and you also want to for Illumi’s sake. But it’s not time. You’re not ready. Your body is too frail and your hips cannot hold a child. The mere thought of something going wrong with your precious baby, is enough to make you sick. You’ve been brewing in bad thoughts for days since you found out- but this isn’t time to sulk...
Illumi opens the sliding door to the balcony, staring at you for a long while before sitting on the ground next to your chair. He grabs your hand on your belly and rubs it gently- with so much affection you feel like he’s a different person.
“Y/n.” He looks up at you with his big, dark eyes. “It’s scary.” He pauses, being unusually sensitive. “I can’t wait for the baby. But I need you right now.” He seems very out of his element, he’s not exactly the type to share his emotions. Though he can tell he needs to put himself aside for the well being of his future wife and future child. “We’re going to get through this together.” He nods to himself, and places his cheek on your hand, “You don’t have to do this alone. You have me now. I apologize that I have not been doing my best for you- but we’ll do it.”
He stands up, bringing you with him, pressing you against his chest. He holds your head against him, then pats your head gently. “We’ll set a schedule. We’ll eat together at every meal. I promise to be here now.” He begins playing with your hair and wraps an arm around your waist, “It’ll be just like training.”
You tilt your head up to him and frown at the training part.
He stutters and says, “No, it’ll be a process.” A sign of small smile makes it’s way onto his face, “Our baby will be just fine.”  
Illumi has never shown you such a sensitive side of him and you begin to wonder if he’s gone through this too. Either way, his comforting head pats and warm chest are enough for you in this moment.
Tumblr media
Hisoka
Sometimes your boyfriend could be just so oblivious. He always cares and pays attention to you but sometimes things go over his head. He equates your morning sickness which is just dry heaving with being dehydrated. Though maybe telling him would just make it easier. You’ve been telling Hisoka that you want to get better. You’re tired of this burden on you constantly. Tired of food looking like poison. He’s done his best to help you. Though he’s somewhat lost in how to do so.
He loves you dearly and honestly how much he loves you sometimes scares you. You try not to think about what lengths he’s gone for you.
Hisoka is laying in bed, shuffling cards and twirling them on his finger.  He’s quite good with his hands. Quiet music plays from the radio- some new hip hop hit. He averts his eyes from his cards, to look at you. It’s been a month and it’s about time he knows why your belly has a small bulge- it not being from you eating better or more.
You spit it out- wasting no time and getting to the point. “I’m pregnant.” You close your eyes, as if scared he’s gonna lash out or break something. But none of that happens, it’s silence.
You peek one eye open to see him doe eyed, caught in head lights. The cards fall out of his hands. He clears his throat and fixes his face, “Come here baby.” You obey him and sit down next to him on the bed, he pulls you onto his lap and holds your face in his hands.
“I wish you told me sooner. I could have prepared.”
Eyes begin swelling in your eyes and he once again looks stunned. You burst into tears and hold onto his shirt, nuzzling your head into his neck. Through broken sobs you manage to say, “I’m no good as a mother. I can’t take care of it! I’m no good Hisoka- what if I kill it? I’m no good.” Sobs rack your body, leaving your trembling against his own body.
Hands grab your shoulders and he pushes you up, then wipes the tears from your face. “You’re perfect to hold a baby. What is it you’re worried about?”
You begin to hyperventilate after you have no more tears to cry. Through each breath you gasp out, “I’m... too... small... what if... I have a...” At the mere thought of your next words your heart begins pounding, “Miscarriage?” You let out one last sob of a word, “I can’t feed me and my baby...”
He shushes you and pushes some hair behind your ear, “Oh honey. You’ve been working so hard on getting better. You’re sick and that’s okay. We just have to work harder? Right?”
Nodding but you still can’t control your breathing, he says, “Come on take a deep breath.” Listening to his directions you do. “It’s gonna be alright. You’ll be a great mother. You work so hard. We just have to keep pushing.”
You nod, and collapse against his chest and whisper, “Is the baby going to be okay?”
“Yes, and so will you.”
Tumblr media
Chrollo
Once the both of you found out you were pregnant, it was pure confusion. You were taking contraceptives and Chrollo knows how much you don’t want a baby right now. It was a long conversation you had when you got contraceptives. Despite wanting a child, he wanted nothing more than you to be happy and healthy. It’s been months, four months to be precise. You lost 3 pounds in that time no matter what you did. You just couldn’t make yourself eat and when you did you felt terrible, guilty.
It was mealtime, all though you haven’t eaten at mealtime in weeks, Chrollo keeps trying. He made a light salad, with tomatoes and olives, that’s all. He knows how the sight of big meals only discourages you.
He steps around the table with a small plate in his hand, and sets it in front of you. A small plate with a few bites of salad. It should be easy. But it’s not. He kisses your forehead and sits on the other side of the table. A candle is lit and a single rose is in a vase. He tries to make every meal seem like a feast but lacking the food. He has a normal size bowl full of salad and he smiles at you from across the table.
“Time to eat.” He takes a bite of his salad- not pressuring you in any way to eat. The plate itself is enough pressure. You pick up the fork like you’ve practiced so many times and stare at the green leaves beneath you. The fork picks up a single leaf and you bring it to your mouth, opening and hesitantly placing it inside. Chewing is almost the worst part- but the worst part is swallowing. You swallow the leaf and look up at Chrollo. You can tell he’s trying to mask his excitement as not to overwhelm you.
The most you manage is another six single leaves, and a single, half cut cherry tomato.
You look up to him once again, shame taking over you, “That’s all I can do...”
His eyes go wide and you wonder if he’s upset that you didn’t keep going. Instead he leaps out of his chair and around the table. He picks you up into his arms and spins you around while laughing. He gently places you back down on the floor and can’t contain his smile.
“Oh darling you’re doing so great. I’m so proud of you.” Tears being to prick at your eyes when hearing his words, “You’re so good, let’s try again tomorrow okay?”
He squeezes you tightly and shakes you side to side, “You’re just so wonderful. I’m so proud.” No one has ever said they’re proud of you besides him. It’s such a blissful sound to your ears.
90 notes · View notes
Text
My Love| Echo (12)
Note: kinda short but important at the same time also Sonju hitting on the reader (cough)
Warnings: talks loosely about past trauma
Reader: Male
Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Masterlist
Tumblr media
Echo smiled, laying next to Y/n on the bunk, body bare and only covered by a blanket, sharing with Y/n.
"That..." Y/n spoke with a deep breath, "Was...new..."
Echo chuckled, he had finally gotten back to Y/n, and things returned to how they were almost immediately.
"So were you," Echo spoke rubbing his shoulders and neck, prominent bite marks had scabbed over quickly where Y/n once drank sips of his blood.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Y/n apologized.
"Don't apologize," Echo told him, "I'm not saying I didn't like it."
Leaning up he kissed Y/n's lips, Y/n returning the favor. Echo pulled away with a chuckle.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
Echo smiled, Y/n shifting under him slightly to get more comfortable, his arm around Echo's shoulder one arm behind his head relaxing, his eyes even closing as if he was going to sleep.
"Y/n," Echo grabbed his attention.
"Hm?" he asked with closed eyes, chest rising and falling steadily, skin warm.
"Can, we talk about it?"
"Bout what baby?" Y/n questioned.
Baby, that nickname, returning from the grave, he had never thought he'd hear that come from Y/n's chest, "About, our past, like we use to."
Y/n rubbed Echo's shoulder, "There's still not much to talk about."
Echo frowned, not much to talk about? Perhaps he just didn't want to talk about it, but Y/n taught him you had to talk about everything, the sooner the better, or it would catch up to you. It was silent, Echo not wanting to pry.
"I was put away for a while," Y/n started out of nowhere, "The Corasaunt guard with Tarkin as their director stormed the house after a conversation with my parents, we were hauled away in cages rather than cuffs, I didn't understand, tried to keep the kids safe the best I could, but we were split up, I had managed to keep Princess in the cage with me."
Echo looked up at him, listening to every word that fell from Y/n's lips
"but when we got to the research facility, we were split up. I didn't know what happened to everyone until I escaped with Sonju and Mijuka." Y/n spoke, "After the incident with Dogma."
Echo frowned, but let his fingers rub over Y/n's exposed chest, over some puckering scars.
"I had learned from archives that most of my brothers and sisters had died, there was only one left." Y/n spoke, "You remember Princess?"
Echo nodded, Princess the sweet little girl that had done his "much needed" makeup all the time out of fun.
"I had run to grab her from her cell but, well it seemed her death was more than just experimenting wise, they had her in a tube, filled with flowers and red liquid, turns out they had just sold her and she hadn't been marked as dead yet," Y/n told him.
"Y/n, I," Echo tried to empathize, sympathize, anything, but it was even hard for him to comprehend, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Y/n spoke, "I'm not too sad about it anymore, she's with the family somewhere else now, I just hope they're happy wherever they may be."
Echo snuggled up to Y/n more to comfort him, "I'll never see how you'll do it, be able to accept it, especially so fast."
"I haven't been able to accept it, but I know, that I can't keep dwelling on it, when we broke the kids out of the physic section in that lab I realized, I had to be a big brother again." Y/n let out.
"I'm here now, you can lean on me now," Echo spoke, Y/n smiling smally in response, "I want to help you like you've helped me."
"Thank you Echo," Y/n told him, kissing the top of his head, "You've helped by being accepting."
Echo ran his hand through Y/n's hair soothing the male, his hand from the top of his hand ran down to his cheek where he rubbed a thumb over Y/n's cheek. They stayed like that for a few more moments, relived in each other's arms.
"Hey, Roslyn!" Sonju called banging on his door, "Dinner!"
Y/n sat up, quickly throwing joggers on and walking to the door, where he let it slide open, his frame blocking the doorway.
"Alright, I'll be out," Y/n commented, Sonju seeing Echo's form in the background immediately, the clone covering himself up some more.
Sonju looked back down at Y/n acting as if he hadn't seen anything, "And what's this thing with everyone calling you Y/n? Weren't gonna tell me?"
Y/n shrugged, "Didn't know you needed to know." he replied sarcastically.
Sonju chuckled, hands upon the top of the door frame supporting his leaning down the body which rests at Y/n's eye level, leaning in Y/n rolled his eyes.
"You, smell different." Sonju teased, "Want me to change that?"
"Want me to rearrange your insides, and not in a fun way," Y/n argued arms crossed.
Sonju chuckled, "Well then hurry your ass to dinner before I drag you there."
Y/n waved him off Sonju walking off with a shrug as Y/n closed the door locking it once again with a push of a button.
"Come on, let's go eat," Y/n told Echo.
Echo nodded, getting out of bed he dressed, Y/n redressing himself in something more suitable as they walked out together, everyone in the common room eating.
"Your food," Connor spoke handing the bowl to Y/n.
"Thank you." Y/n thanked taking the food.
"Here your's as well," Isabella spoke handing the bowl to Echo.
"Oh, thank you." Echo spoke, the two finding seats on the floor more comfortable than the seats as they leaned up against the curved booth.
"Ooo! y/n! Y/n!" Emma cheered, "Ray has-"
Emma was elbowed hard by Ray, "Hey!"
"I don't have anything," Ray defended as Emma frowned.
"But you just told us that-"
"no, I didn't" Ray argued jerking his head towards Echo who was looking down at his food and eating.
"Oh,"
"Anything you wanna say ray?" Y/n questioned with a smile.
"Emma has a crush on the bandanna guy!"
"I DO NOT!"
"YES, YOU DO!"
"YEAH!? WELL, YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON THAT BLONDE GIRL AT LEAST THAT'S TRUE!"
Echo almost choked on his food at the burst of conversation, wait way- OMEGA!?
The two continued to bicker, the elders laughing, "Remember when you had a crush on a certain someone Sonju." Mujika teased.
"Yeah well, I ended up eating her so," Sonju spoke taking a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth.
"That's news to my ears." Y/n spoke, "Her?"
"I like options," Sonju spoke another big spoon of potatoes into his mouth.
"Relationships are a waste of time," Connor spoke.
"Well, you did try and stab your dad to, death," Evie spoke.
"Damn imagine having parents." Jacob chimed in.
"Jacob!" Evie argued, "Really!?"
"Oh was this not trama circle and dinner?" Jacob questioned, "Let's just unpack it all why don't we."
"we rather not," Isabella spoke eating her stew.
"But I'd bloody love to." Jacob spoke, then turned toward Echo, "So what's your story lad?"
Echo looked up food in his mouth pointing to himself in question.
"Please don't entice my brother with stories," Evie spoke.
"Oh uh," Echo spoke, "I'm a clone, that's all really do it."
"You fought in the clone wars?" Norman asked sitting across from Echo as he nodded.
"ARC Trooper, previously at least," Echo spoke. "Not much of a trooper anymore anyways,"
Echo let his words sink in then quickly corrected them, "You know!- with the empire, and all..."
"The clone wars were pretty brutal on the creed." Evie spoke, "Moraled Assassins because ruthless bounty hunters, the republic didn't take nicely to the Creed not taking a side, neither did the separatist."
"So, neutrality destroyed your people?" Echo questioned.
"Yes," Evie spoke. "Very much so,"
"Order 66 destroyed the clones and Jedi, did it not?" Connor questioned.
Echo nodded in response, "It killed a lot of good men, soldiers, Jedi, and Clone."
"Title doesn't do you much good now," Sonju commented, "We're all the same in the ground"
Y/n sat up from his leaning state and grabbed two drinks off the table, handing one to Echo. The rest of the dinner was quiet, eating is the main task, it reminded him of Y/n's house, everyone talked letting out whatever they wished to at the beginning of dinner and then everyone becoming silent as they ate and filled their stomachs.
21 notes · View notes
mitsukui · 3 years
Note
CONGRATS ON 2K FOLLOWERS!!!
you deserve it so much, your writing is perfect and you are such a lovely person.
💭a blurb with Remus (or Sirius if you would like to write for him🥺) where readers’ voice calms him down so for ex. she sings love songs to him to help him fall asleep or simply relax or reads him his book. his head is on her lap or her chest as she plays with his hair
join my 2k followers celebration! ♡
💭 — blurbs!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SWEET WORDS, MY LOVE!!! thank you for your support! ❤️
i decided to go with sirius for this one because i realized i have never written for him like???? and i listened to this while writing it, so it might be a good option for you, too! hope you like it ❤️
Word Count: 372.
There had been another fight, and it had been a big one that time. Sirius used to go around bragging about how much his disagreements with his family did not bother him. However, deep down inside, both of you knew there was not much truth in that.
At the age of 16, Sirius Black was nothing more than a young lad secretly seeking acceptance and love. And, although there was not much space for him to find that at home, he knew he could find it in you.
The morning was rainy and honestly speaking, neither one of you had enough energy to face hours of lecturing and sitting in class. You decided to escape to an empty classroom instead. Away from Peeves, professors, and even the other Marauders themselves, you were in peace together.
Bodies splashed down on the floor, your back leaned against a wall, his head nuzzled up to your lap, and your fingers gently scratching his scalp. It did not sound that bad, after all.
A heavy sigh escaped from his lips and the fact that he was still upset hurt you a bit. You had already offered him all of the possible comforting words, but he needed more.
Then, you decided to give him what he claimed to love the most about you: your voice.
It started as a shy and quiet hum, but it slowly became a sweet and calming melody. And, in the blink of an eye, Sirius' heart seemed to find a peace he had almost forgotten he had it within him.
"...we're living in a world of fools breaking us down, when they all should let us be, we belong to you and me..."
His lips curled up in a small smile at your singing voice. It was not the best one, both of you had to admit it. But it was echoing in his ears for him and him only. And that was enough.
Once the song was over, you leaned in and pressed your lips against the tip of his perfectly shaped nose. His chest moved up and down in a short chuckle, and you pecked his skin again.
"Apparently, these muggles really do know how to sing about love, huh?"
52 notes · View notes
raelly-writing · 3 years
Text
Comfort - Thancred/fWoL
Some indulgent post-5.5 Part 1 fluff.
Nudity and some very tired adults being a bit flirty, but nothing NSFW or smutty in of itself.
----
“Did you ask for this?”
“In so many words, I suppose,” Thancred chuckled. The dull thud of the door being shut behind them was followed by the soft clang of him setting down their gunblades in a stand by it.
The wooden tub standing in his room was large enough to comfortably fit an elezen - or two hyurs. Lazy swirls of steam rose from the water, carrying with it a soft herbal scent that was oddly soothing after such a long and hectic day in an arid climate. On top of a stool was a pile of towels already laid out along with soaps. Thancred’s hand pressed into the space at the small of her back between her cuirass and belts as he came to stand next to her. Letting her breath rush out in a slow exhale, she turned her head to look at him.
Though there was a faint smile playing on his lips, there was no denying the fatigue etched into the lines around his eyes, the effect magnified by the smears of dirt clinging to his skin. Not that it was unexpected - even with that brief rest he’d had, he and Urianger had gone from Garlemald nearly straight onto the battlefield in Paglth’an.
“Remind me to thank Tataru then,” she spoke softly. Merely raising her hand to brush her fingers along the back of his neck made her muscles scream in protest as every scrape and bruise from the day made themselves known loud and clear. Sweat and dust had matted his hair, and it was tempting to run her fingers through it and try to untangle some of the knots.
Rather than pulling at her, Thancred stepped closer to her side, his hand light as he let it slide to rest on her hip. Viana turned into his embrace, eager for the contact, and let her eyes fall shut as she rested her cheek against his hair. Gods, she was so tired. It was tempting to just find the nearest soft horizontal surface and lay down to hide in the oblivion of sleep for a few precious bells.
“I’ll make sure to accidentally misplace a box of her favourite sweets in her desk’s drawer,” Thancred murmured against her neck.
Viana huffed out a short, weary laugh and nodded slowly. “That sounds good.”
The turmoil in her chest settled ever so slightly under the comforting weight of his arms around her waist. After the chaos of the day, the stillness of the room settled like a comforting blanket around them. The relief to finally be alone together, with no need to keep up their professional distance in front of the others was palpable. They leaned into each other, like the other was the only thing still keeping them on their feet.
Thancred’s slow breaths tickled her skin, his arms tight around her like he didn’t want to let go anytime soon. Viana idly brushed her fingers through his hair, earning a pleased sigh from him as he buried his face against her neck. The immediate feeling that he’d missed her made warmth creep up over her cheeks while a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
But it was hard to hold onto the momentary mirth. With her every breath, the scent of smoke and dry sand, blood, sweat and aether filled her nose, suffocating all but the faintest traces of his cologne that still managed to break through here and there. The bitter taste of helplessness that was all too familiar on her tongue, still lingered, her heart heavy knowing that there was nothing they could do to help Arenvald. A deep sigh made her shoulders slump further.
She hated this… the unknown, half expecting bad news to arrive at any moment, all while hoping for something good but not daring to think too much of it. She’d had enough of this feeling for a lifetime while they’d all been lying comatose in the infirmary, their souls on another world with no guarantee they’d be able to return.
Gods, Arenvald was still too young. Too hopeful...
“He’ll pull through,” Thancred said firmly, as though he knew where her thoughts were straying. “The lad’s strong. And too stubborn.”
Again, she nodded while making a low noise of acknowledgment at the back of her throat. “I hope so.”
He squeezed her waist, and they slowly untangled themselves from each other. “Come now,” he said with a quiet, comforting tone, “let’s get cleaned up.”
Taking a deep breath, she mustered a smile and leaned down to brush her lips to his. Despite what he said, Thancred quickly cupped the back of her head, holding her in place for a longer, firmer kiss that made her feel all the weeks he’d been away in Garlemald as keenly as a dragon smacking her into a rock wall. Thancred’s arm grew tighter around her waist, her heart fluttering in her chest as she all but melted into his embrace once more.
“There,” he murmured against her lips with a low, satisfied voice. “Missed that while in Garlemald.”
Laughing under her breath, Viana nuzzled her nose against his. “I missed you too,” she replied as she began to push his coat off his shoulders.
Thancred made a curious sound deep in his throat while standing still for her. “Oh, do tell, my dear” he drawled, his warm voice pitching down into a familiar rumble that had definitively haunted her dreams more than once while he’d been gone. Despite it, she could tell from the lack of its usual heat that it was more a jest than a serious suggestion - merely the comfort of familiar banter.
With a thoughtful hum, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll tell you,” she teased while stepping away from him, with his coat in her hands. “Later.”
Thancred’s low chuckle made her chest feel warm as he followed to where she could hang up his coat on a hook. Even with her armour in the way, there was something reassuring about the weight of his hand on the small of her back as he leaned against her. “I look forward to it,” he rumbled, but then reached up to begin easing her jacket off her shoulders.
Viana stood still and let him help her out of it, failing to bite back a wince at some of the twinges of sore muscles. “Thank you, love.”
“Hrrm, always do enjoy helping you out of your clothes,” he muse, but then instantly grunted and paused halfway to hanging up her jacket. “That sounded terrible.”
Viana laughed under her breath as she began removing one of her vambraces. “I think you’re excused of any lack of eloquence today.”
The weight of his hand returned to her hip, pulling her back around to face him. “Suppose we should save any strenuous activities for when we’re not so banged up,” he sighed while he busied himself with the clasps on her cuirass.
There was a thoughtful wrinkle between his brows, and she just barely resisted the urge to lean down and press a kiss to it. She had missed him, a lot, but as enjoyable as the thought was, the mere notion of anything but rest made her entire tense up in objection. No, all she wanted right now was to soak in a hot bath with him. Then have some food. Maybe a nap, if the time allowed it, before the inevitable discussions would begin of what the Scions should do next. “Probably best, yes.”
It was a relief to feel the pressure lighten around her body. The stiff leather sections had been pressing against and rubbing over what she was sure was large bruises and portions of skin still raw and sensitive from healing magic. While it was hardly the heaviest armour she’d worn, it was a relief nonetheless to be rid of the weight. Just as he eased it off her, a twinge of pain in her shoulder made her wince and tense up.
A concerned frown immediately darkened his features. “Does it still hurt?” he asked as he raised a hand to gently touch it.
Mustering a reassuring smile, Viana took her cuirass from his hand and set it aside. “It’s just a little stiff,” she replied, “Alphinaud said it’d probably be the case.”
“Hrrm… who knew fighting dragons in narrow canyons would lead to some scuffling,” he muttered. He began to undo the clasps on his own cuirass, but she firmly nudged away his hands.
“Here, let me,” she murmured.
He looked like he was about to object, but then he sighed with fond resignation and turned his attention to his vambraces instead. A comfortable silence settled over them as they continued helping each other out of their remaining gear, setting aside bags and potion satchels to be refilled later. They were both covered in dust and more than a few armour pieces seemed in need of repairs after too close calls with snapping jaws and sharp claws, or glancing blows from magitek arms, but for now, they just piled it all up in one place. They could deal with it later.
With a tired groan, Thancred finally tugged off his undershirt. Frowning, Viana brushed her fingers over the yellowed bruise still visible at his flank. Urianger’s magic had sped up the healing process to the point that it looked days old, but it was still large and nasty looking, with splotches of purple still visible.
“I’m fine,” he spoke up before she had a chance to voice her concern.
Viana glanced up to meet his gaze. “‘Looks worse than it is’, hm?”
Hells, fighting dragons in wide open areas was bad enough, but such large creatures had made the narrow ravines of Paglth’an seem even smaller. It had scared her half to death when a dragon had suddenly swung around to face attacks from somewhere else, and the wide arc of its tail had caught him off guard.
Thankfully it hadn’t been with full force, or he would have had more severe injuries to show for it.
Her glum thoughts were interrupted by Thancred leaning up to press a kiss to her jaw, his fingers already pleasantly distracting as they slipped under her shirt to dance up her sides. “Arms up, darling,” he hummed.
With a small, tired laugh she obeyed. “As you wish, ser.”
“Mmhm, I thought we agreed on saving that for later,” he chided while carefully pulling her shirt off, making sure not to jostle her bruised shoulder in the process.
“My apologies,” she chuckled, “couldn’t help it.”
Thancred gave her a crooked smile, but it faltered and turned more sombre as he gave her own bruises a critical onceover. Raising his hand, he let it gently rest over the worst one on her hip before pressing a lingering kiss to the slope of her neck. The simple gesture spoke volumes in of itself, and a comfortable affection warmed her chest as she brushed her fingers along the back of his neck and turned her head to press a kiss to his hair.
Bearing the brunt of their enemies’ ire was a burden they shared, but it did little to lessen the pain of seeing the other injured in any manner.
His hand skimmed over her waist, a small, careful tug urging her along towards the tub. They lingered together as they moved, exchanging small, brief kisses while they let their remaining clothes fall wherever they landed on the floor.
“Easy there,” Thancred murmured as he held her hand while she stepped into the tub.
Viana chuckled to mask the pleased noise threatening to rise from her throat - the water was just the right temperature, promising to soothe and relax every dull ache in her body. Mindful of her shoulder, she carefully settled down at one end of the tub. Thanks to the high edge, the water came up to her collarbones, fully enveloping her in the warmth. Immediately, it was like the last of her energy fled her body. Leaning back against the edge, her eyes fell shut as her breath rushed out in a sigh.
“Well, you sound quite pleased.”
Cracking open an eye, she gave Thancred an appreciative once over as he fished out a small canister from the water. The fire shards within clattered when he casually set it aside on the floor.
“Join me, and I’ll be even more so,” she replied with a little smile.
Thancred hummed and eyed her with an amused spark in his eyes. “I wasn’t planning on standing around in the nude.”
“Well, when you put it like that I suppose I wouldn’t complain about the view if you did,” she laughed and drew her legs close to her chest to give him room as he settled down on the other end, facing her.
A low, warm laugh rose from Thancred’s chest ebbed out in a satisfied sigh of his own as he leaned back. Viana watched fondly as his eyes drifted close and his entire body relaxed into the water with his deep exhale.
The muffled sounds of the bustle outside from Revenant’s Toll was a reassuring murmur in the background, but it did nothing to disrupt the comfortable silence that settled around them. Thancred’s chest rose with slow, even breaths, his head tilted slightly to the side. He must be more worn out than he’d let on.
Viana’s hand found his shin under the water and brushed her fingers up and down in an idle caress. “Tired?”
He blinked his eyes open and shot her a crooked smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to fall asleep on you,” he drawled.
She raised an eyebrow as an amused smile spread on her lips. “You say that now, love, but you seem quite fond of using me as your pillow,” she teased gently.
Leaning forward, he loosely grasped one of her ankles and pulled her foot back to him. “And I have very much missed doing so while away,” he replied with a dramatic sigh. “Most dreadful change of pace, having to sleep on the cold, hard ground while using my pack as a pillow once more. These old bones of mine can’t handle it anymore.”
Laughing, Viana started to respond, but his nimble fingers began to press into the arch and heel of her foot, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to bite back a deep groan at the sensation. “Oh Hells,” she breathed, eyelashes fluttering. before her eyes slid shut with a content hum
The comfortable silence was only broken by Thancred’s quiet chuckle. While being crammed into the tub together maybe wasn’t the most comfortable of places, with the warm water and long day at her back, and Thancred slowly soothing the dull aches, it felt like a real, tangible risk that she’d fall asleep right on the spot.
How long it was until he, with another firm swipe of his thumb up the length of her foot that coaxed a long groan from her, at last switched to her other foot, she didn't know.
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.”
Viana huffed out a laugh - she didn’t need to look at him to know there was a self satisfied tilt to his smile. For a moment, she struggled against the warm, haze that’d laid itself over her mind to find the energy to speak, but finally she murmured, “Didn’t know you knew how to do this.”
“Hmmhm, I am a man of many talents.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Leaning her arm on the edge of the tub, she rested her cheek against her hand and opened her eyes to regard him. It was nice to see him so relaxed and at ease.
“Glad it hasn’t escaped your notice,” he drawled with a wink.
In a fit of juvenile playfulness, she wiggled her toes at him. Thancred snorted and gave one a little tug, coaxing a squeak from her.
His smile was infectious, mirth dancing in his brown eyes. All at once, she felt keenly aware of how her heart and mind felt so much lighter in his presence compared to the weeks that had passed since he’d left for Garlemald. How strange that they’d spent years knowing each other, yet it was just now that being apart made it feel like she’s missing a part of herself. Or had that sensation always been there before his soul had been ripped away to the First, and she’d just been too damned stubborn to acknowledge how much she missed him whenever their duties sent them in different directions?
“What’s on your mind?”
His question stirred Viana from her thoughts. Carefully, she pulled her foot from his grip. Thancred paused, his searching, questioning look softening when she shuffled to her knees. Any other day, when her muscles didn’t scream in protest at the effort of her movements, the appreciative sweep of his gaze following the trickle of water down her body would have sent a familiar heat curling through her veins.
Instead, she leaned forward, weight braced on the hand that wouldn’t upset her injured shoulder, and caught his lips in a chaste, tender kiss.
“Viana-,” he whispered against her lips, before his wet hand curled over the back of her neck, fingers pressing gently against the back of her skull. His other hand gave her waist a small pull, and with some shifting about, she soon reclined with her back against his chest and his arms around her. Viana tilted her head back to meet him when he nuzzled her cheek, the faint rasp of his stubble tickling her skin, then trailed a few lingering kisses to the slope of her shoulder. “We should probably get washed up, hm?” he murmured into her ear.
They probably should. Food was bound to be ready for them soon, with others coming calling for them. But she had no wish to move - she’d missed his embrace too much. Viana covered one of his hands with her own and raised the other to touch his cheek, then turned her head to press a kiss to his jaw. “I think we can afford to linger for a little while longer.”
Thancred made a quiet sound of acknowledgement, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles in her skin. “Then let’s do so.”
39 notes · View notes