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middleearthpixie · 2 years

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Playing With Fire ~ Chapter Thirty-Six

Dunraven Pub - Modern AU

Summary: Thorin Durin likes his life just the way it is—his pub is successful, he’s happily playing the field when it comes to women. He wouldn’t change a damn thing about it. At least, not until he meets Leda Andrews, who stops to help him when his car dies on the side of the road.

Leda is new in town, and late for a job interview when she stops to help a guy with his broken down old car. The last thing she expected was for him to be the same guy who owns the pub where she’s applied to be a bartender, never mind to be one of the hottest men she’s ever seen.

Sparks fly, and while Leda’s got a few ground rules that Thorin is more than willing to abide by, neither one of them expected their fling to turn into anything more serious, or that they would be faced with a situation neither one is prepared for. So, what happens when a no-strings-attached affair teeters on becoming the real thing…

Summary: Leda goes into labor, and of course things don’t quite go as planned…

Pairings: Pairing: Modern!Thorin x OC Female

Characters:Thorin, Leda, Dr. Cherot, Nurse Freda

Warnings: Childbirth (nothing graphic, I promise)

Rating: T

Word Count: 4,958

Khuzdul Translation:

Mimûna - little one

Raklûn - precious, darling one

Tag List: @tschrist1 @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knitastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @ggfamert @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here.

Over the next several weeks, winter gave way to spring and when summer finally arrived, Leda despaired of ever being able to see her feet again. She was tired of all of it—tired of her back aching, tired of not being able to find a comfortable sleeping position, tired of not being able to see if her shoes matched. And although Thorin did his best to try to help, she grew more short tempered as the heat and humidity rose and she grew nearer the end of her pregnancy. She couldn’t help it. She was just flat out miserable, waddling everywhere, with everyone asking her, “Haven’t you had those babies yet?” as if she was just putting it off for as long as possible to make everyone around her ask stupid questions.When she passed her due date without a single contraction, she wanted to cry. She just wanted the whole thing over with.

Halfway through July, she sat in her OB’s office, explaining that while all she’d had to eat that day was a single graham cracker and a cup of coffee, she wasn’t actively trying to lose weight.

“There’s just no place to put any food,” she said, rubbing the side of her belly. She felt as if she’d swollen to the size of a house and if Thorin had shot girls at the Dunraven now, she’d probably flat out kill one of them. Maybe more than one. Just on general principle.

“So, you aren’t trying to lose weight?” Dr. Cherot asked, a hint of a frown creasing between her thin eyebrows.

“No! I just… I can’t eat anything more. Look at me! I’m all baby!”

Dr. Cherot offered up a warm smile. “If you don’t go into labor by Monday, we’ll see about inducing you.”

“Monday!” Leda’s eyes stung with unexpected tears of frustration. “But that’s, like, four days from now… seriously? I’m already a week overdue as it is. With twins. And everyone insisted I’d be early because of that…”

“I know, and a lot of the time, that is the case. But, you are the exception to the rule and Monday is the demarcation day. If you haven’t gone by then, we’ll admit you to the hospital and get the ball rolling.”

Leda sank back in her chair, her spirits flattened, eyes stinging. She was so fucking tired of being pregnant. If Thorin thought they were having any more kids after this, he was fucking crazy. She was not doing this again if she could help it.

One of the babies wedged a foot into the bottom of her lung and she winced at the sudden feeling of breathlessness. “Four more days, though?”

“You can do it, Leda. You’ve come this far.” Dr. Cherot closed her file and stood. “It will be over soon, and in the meantime, a glass of red wine a night might help kick things into gear. And if you feel up to it, have sex. That can also trigger labor in some women.”

“What?”

The doctor nodded. “No one is exactly sure why, but red wine seems to help in getting labor started. Anyway, a glass won’t hurt at this point. And sex? If nothing else, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Why do I doubt that?” Leda sighed as she rubbed her forehead. “I’m desperate, Dr. Cherot. I’ll try anything at this point.”

The doctor smiled. “I know. The last few weeks are by far the worst, but you’ll get through it. You’ll see. So, I will see you on Monday if not before.”

Leda nodded and sighed when the doctor left the room. She was already eight days beyond her due date and this was fucking irritating as hell. She was tired and grouchy and all she wanted was to get labor and delivery over with.

As she stood, she reached for her purse, only to knock in on the floor, and she just stared down at in in horror, trying to figure out just how she’d pick it up. She felt so huge, she was convinced she’d face plant if she leaned over, so instead, she squatted.

Her knees crunched and as she leaned slightly, a sudden kink took her breath from her lungs. She breathed through it, grabbing her purse as the pain faded and straightened up once more. By the time she was out and in her car—a black Honda Accord that she still wasn’t used to driving—the pain had subsided entirely.

Or so she thought.

Instead, it came back by the time she was home, and as time passed, it grew more and more uncomfortable. Thorin was at the Dunraven until ten, but by as the day wore on, Leda couldn’t stand it any more. She’d done everything the doctor recommended—she walked, she drank water until her back teeth floated—all for naught. The pain grew steadier and harder and by nine o’clock, she was on the phone with Dr. Cherot.

By ten-fifteen, the Dunraven was busier than it had been in weeks. Thorin leaned back against the shelves of liquor bottles, sipping a glass of ginger ale as Zana said, “If you want to go, Thorin, we can close up for you.”

“No way. Leda’s on the warpath at the moment. She’s done with being pregnant.”

“I don’t blame her,” Zana said. “The last few weeks are the worst. I hope you’re bending over backwards to make life easier for her.”

“For her and for me. She’s liable to kill me in my sleep otherwise.” He met Zane’s stare. “I’m trying, Zane. But there’s only so much I can do and even that just seems to piss her off.”

“It’s uncomfortable and her hormones are driving her nuts. She’ll go back to her usual self eventually. But,” she leaned closer, “you be careful around that blonde down there. She’s been undressing you with her eyes since she sat down.”

He glanced over at the blonde at the far end of the bar, who promptly offered up a slow smile. Once upon a time, he’d have been all over that but now? Now, he said, “You take care of her. I’m not in the mood to deal with it.”

“And that’s something I never thought I’d ever hear from Thorin Durin,” she said with a playful bump of her hip against his.

“I’ve got the girl I want.” He glanced down at the heavy wedding ring on his finger. He was finally accustomed to the weight of it, and it no longer felt quite so strange.

What he had noticed, however, was how it seemed to draw women instead of repelling them. In the four and a half months since he and Leda got married, more women hit on him than he had in the year before he’d met her. And where once upon a time he’d have done his best to accommodate all of them, now he just wanted them to leave him alone.

Zana winked as she passed by him. “Call your wife and see if she needs you to bring anything home, then go home and pamper her. We’ve got this.”

“I’ll think ab—” His cell rang and he dug it from his pocket. “Hey, Motorcycle Girl, what’s up?”

“It’s time, Thorin,” she said, sounding more than a little out of breath.

His spine stiffened of its own. “What?”

“I just got off the phone with Dr. Cherot and she said it’s time for me to go to the hospital. I’m in labor.”

“Oh, fuck…”

She let out a soft laugh. “It’s okay. I’m going to have an Uber take me there and you can meet me, okay?”

He glanced down at his watch. “You sure, baby? I can come—”

“I’m positive. Please just meet me there.”

“If you’re—”

“Thorin!”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll meet you in the ER?”

Zana looked up at that and mouthed, “The babies?”

He nodded as Leda said, “Yes, the ER. I’ll see you there?”

“Do you think I’d say no?”

“Thorin.”

“I’ll be there, mesmel. I’m leaving now. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now get here.”

She clicked off and he looked up to see Zana staring at him with wide, shiny eyes. “Oh, no,” he said softly, shaking his head, “do not cry, Zane. I need you to hold down the fort, okay?”

She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy for the two of you, you know that, right?”

“Thank you.” He gave her a quick squeeze, then gently extracted himself from her grasp. “And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to actually be there when my boys are born.”

“Oh, right. Yes!” Zana stepped back, wiping her eyes. “Call us as soon as you have the vitals—sex, weight, length, and names.”

“I will.”

He shoved his phone into his back pocket as he moved around the bar, pausing when Jimmy said, “Hey, Durin?”

Thorin paused. “Yeah?”

“Give Miss Leda a kiss and tell her good job.”

“I will, man.”

Jimmy bobbed his head, held up his Bud as if in a toast and Thorin grinned as he left the taproom to go to his office and grab his keys. Dwalin appeared in the doorway. “Zana said Leda’s in labor?”

“Yeah. If you need me—”

“We’ve got this. Go and be with your wife, Thorin. And congratulations, man.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know.” He brushed by Dwalin and hurried out to the parking lot. Thankfully, the Mustang turned right over and he carefully backed from his space. It certainly wouldn’t do any good to get into an accident now.

He pulled into the Emergency parking deck, found a spot, killed the engine, and hurried inside. At the reception desk, a nurse looked up at him. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. My wife should’ve come through here. She’s in labor. Leda Durin.”

The nurse typed something into the computer and nodded. “She was taken up to Labor and Delivery. Sixth floor.”

“Thank you.” He practically sprinted to the elevator bank and had to keep himself from pacing as it seemed the cars were taking forever. Finally, the light lit, the chime chimed, and the elevator moved quick enough for him, and it was only a few minutes before he was at the reception desk there saying, “My wife is here—Leda Durin?”

“Ah… yes, she’s in Room Six-Oh-Four. Come with me, Mr. Durin.”

He followed the nurse down the hallway and as he caught sight of Room Six-Oh-Four, his eyes began to sting. Holy fuck, Leda was finally having the babies and it hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks.

He slowed, then stopped as emotion overwhelmed him. The nurse paused and turned to him. “Are you all right, Mr. Durin?”

He nodded, his throat so tight, he couldn't speak. He drew in a deep breath, swallowed hard, and managed to whisper, “Yeah. I just… I’m… It’s… I…”

She moved closer, patting his shoulder. “It’s okay, Mr. Durin. It’s a big thing, you know.”

“Yeah. I—I know.” He inhaled deeply once more and nodded. “I’m good now.”

She smiled. “Good. Come on then, before your wife throws something at you.”

He grinned and followed her into the spacious room. Leda was already in bed, an IV in place, fetal monitor around her belly, and as he came thought the doorway, she said, “I thought maybe you’d gotten lost.”

He moved over to slip his hand into hers. “Sorry, mesmel. I got blindsided by the enormity of this.”

Her hand gathered about his. “Yeah, I know.”

Then she sucked in a sharp breath and her fingers tightened about his. He brought her hand up to his lips and with his free hand, smoothed her hair back. As her fingers relaxed, he said, “When did it start?”

“Believe it or not, in Dr. Cherot’s office,” she said, sinking back into the pillows. “She was talking about inducing me by Monday and I bent over to pick up my purse and it hurt.”

“Why didn't you call me then, mimûna?”

She shot him a look, but then said, “There was no reason to. I thought it was just me bending funny. So, I went home and walked around and drank water like camel, and the pain not only didn't go away, but got worse, and here we are.”

“Here we are,” he murmured, kissing the back of her hand once more. Maybe it was just the emotion of the moment, but he’d swear he’d never seen her look as beautiful as she did right then.

He leaned over and brushed her lips with his. “I love you, Motorcycle Girl.”

She smiled, tucking her head against him. “I love you, too, Mustang Boy.”

“You’ve got this, Leda,” Dr. Cherot coached, looking up over Leda’s knees. “Give it all you’ve got and push this baby out.”

Leda shook her head. “No. I think I’m done. I don’t want to do this any more…”

Thorin winced as her fingers tightened about his hand. She’d been in labor for most of the night and looked utterly spent even as she squeezed his hand with enough force that he expected the bones to crunch at any moment. Still, he squeezed back—more gently—and said, “You’re almost there, mesmel.”

“You shut up,” she growled, glaring at him. “This is all your fault, you know.”

“I know, I know. All my fault.” He squeeze her hand again. “You can do this, amrâlimê. I know you can.”

She glowered at him, drew in a deep breath and then almost crushed his hand. Dr. Cherot encouraged her. He encouraged her. And just when he thought his hand would shatter, Dr. Cherot said, “Wait! Stop pushing, Leda!”

She waited a beat, then said, “Go!”

And with that, a scream filled the room and Thorin’s eyes misted over as the doctor held up a small, wrinkly, red-faced, squalling plucked chicken who sported a full head of black hair, and said, “It’s a boy!”

Leda sank back against her pillows, panting and sweating as she whispered, “Thank fuck…”

The nurse brought him over to place on Leda’s chest. Tears spilled over her lower lashes as she cradled the baby closer. “Oh my god… Thorin… we did it…”

“You did it,” he managed to whisper, his throat tightening as he bent to press a kiss into her forehead. “He’s perfect, mesmel. Absolutely perfect.”

She smiled up at him, her lips trembling and in that moment, he’d never seen a more beautiful woman. She smoothed a hand over the baby’s head and whispered, “Hello there, little man… I’ve been waiting to meet you, you know.”

“Dad, would you like to cut the cord?”

Thorin’s gut kinked and his mouth went dry as he stood and said, “Yeah, I—I think so, sure…”

“Okay.” Dr. Cherot passed him a pair of surgical scissors. “Right between the clamps.”

He closed the bladed about the cord and with a deep breath, cut through it. His vision blurred, his gut lurched a bit more, and for a moment, he thought he might pass out. But then he turned to look over at Leda and their son, and all of that vanished as he took in the sight.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Leda was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

And their son was the most beautiful baby ever born.

Leda looked up and as he met her gaze, Thorin almost stepped backward at the rush of emotion that slammed into him. No one told him what this moment would be like, how it would hit him so hard, and even if they had, he wouldn’t have believed it. Nothing could have prepared him for this moment. No one could. Not Frerin. Not Dís. Not Zana.

He moved back to her, and bent over to kiss her full on the lips, and when he drew back, he whispered, “You have no idea how much I love you, mesmel. He’s perfect.”

He smoothed a hand over the baby’s head of silky black hair. The red, wrinkled face scrunched, but his cries quieted as he lay against his mother. Leda leaned her head against Thorin’s chest and whispered, “We work well together, Mustang Boy.”

“Did you think we wouldn’t?”

A soft laugh rose to his ears and he kissed the top of her head again. The nurse came over to fasten an ID band about the baby’s ankle, and then wrapped him in a blanket. “We’re just going to weigh him and measure him and give him a bath, Mom. Then we’ll bring him back. Maybe his brother will be here by then.”

“Okay.” Leda swiped at the tears still streaking down her cheeks. “He needs a name, Thorin. Are you sure you don’t want to name him Thorin as well?”

“I’m positive,” he said softly, watching the nurse like a hawk as she carried the baby into the next room.

“So, what should we name him, then?”

He sank back onto his stool and reached over to smooth his hand over her head, along her damp hair. Damn, there were no words to describe this moment, to describe the emotions twisting and ribboning through him, the emotions that made his eyes sting and brought a lump to his throat. There simply weren’t. “I don’t know. We never got past the kidding around part of trying to come up with names. What was your dad’s name?”

“James.”

“Then let’s name him for his grandfathers—James Thráin.”

She smiled. “James Thráin it is.”

“And,” he sat back and let his hand come to rest on her belly, “maybe Andrew Thrór for this one?”

“Andrew?”

“Yeah. For you.” He brushed his thumb along her cheek. “You did all the work, so why not?”

She leaned into his touch. “Why not, indeed.”

The monitor around her belly began bleating and both he and Leda tensed while the nurse came around and said, “The baby must have moved. That’s all.” She adjusted it and the bleating stopped.

Dr. Cherot came back into the room with the hospital bassinet. She and the nurse checked the ID band about his ankle with the one Leda wore, reading the numbers aloud before Dr. Cherot asked, “Have you decided on a name for him?”

Leda nodded. “Meet James.”

“James.” The doctor nodded. “That’s one of my favorite names. Dad, would you like to hold him?”

Thorin turned slowly on his stool. “I would, absolutely.”

“Sure.” She bent to lift the infant from his bassinet and brought him over. “Just make sure to support his head and you’ll be fine.”

Thorin held his breath as she placed James in his arms and the baby’s face went blurry as his eyes misted over for the umpteenth time that night. “Hey there,” he said softly, gazing down into his son’s deep slate blue eyes, “it’s nice to finally meet you.”

James stared up at him, those slate eyes wide and unblinking and Thorin couldn't hold back his smile if he tried. He immediately fell even more in love.

“Dr. Cherot, her water broke.”

“Okay.” Dr. Cherot smiled. “You ready for round two, Leda?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay. Freda, please take James into the nursery so Mom and Dad can concentrate?”

Freda nodded. “Of course.” She smiled at Thorin, then Leda. “Congratulations, Mom and Dad. He really is beautiful.”

Thorin caught Leda’s hand in his. “Ready, mesmel?”

She nodded and winced, her fingers tightening about his. She drew in a deep breath and a few minutes later, the fun started all over again. Only this time, it went far more quickly and it seemed like no time at all had passed before a wail filled the air once more and Dr. Cherot said, “And we have—wait…”

But then, her forehead wrinkled and she looked up. “Leda?”

A chill ran down Thorin’s back as Leda said, “What?”

“Well…” Dr. Cherot smiled, “you know how we didn't know you were carrying twins at first because one was hiding behind the other?”

“Yes…”

“Apparently that wasn’t all she was hiding.”

“She?” Thorin and Leda said at the same time.

Dr. Cherot nodded. “Congratulations, Mom, Dad, you have a daughter as well.”

“What the…” Leda burst out laughing as she leaned into his chest. “I’ll be damned, Thorin…”

Dr. Cherot held up the baby, who screamed her lungs out. Like her brother, she’d been born with a headful of black hair and just as he had, she quieted the moment she was placed in her mother’s arms.

“We have a baby girl, Thorin,” she whispered, pulling the baby closer. “A boy and a girl and are you okay?”

He just stared at his daughter, for like his son, she was perfect. And like with James, he was head over heels, completely in love. “I’m fine, amrâlimê, just a little surprised, is all,” he managed to whisper, looking from the baby to her. “I love you,” he added, leaning in to brush her lips with his.

“She needs a name,” Leda said softly. “I don’t think Andrew Thrór is going to work.”

He grinned. “No, definitely not.”

“What about Dawn?” She looked up at him. “Since she was born at the buttcrack of dawn.”

“Dawn Durin?”

“Oh… right… okay…”

“We could name her Andrea instead of Andrew,” he said.

“But Thrór?”

“Yeah that doesn’t work, either. Why not Andrea Dawn?”

She smiled. “I like that.”

“Dad, you have quite the audience out there and it’s growing by the hour,” Freda said with a grin as she reached for the baby. “Let us finish up here, while you go give the details and then we’ll get Leda to her room and if she’s up to it, they can all come and visit. In shifts.”

Thorin smiled, his spirits higher than they’d been in years. “Yeah. Sure. I can do that.”

“Thorin?” Leda caught him by the wrist. “Can you do me a favor?”

He turned to her. “Sure. What?”

“Call my mom and tell her she’s a grandmother.”

He nodded, then bent to kiss her again. It was long and lingering and when he drew back, he nuzzled her and whispered, “I do love you, Motorcycle Girl.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered back, her eyes sparkling as she added, “Mustang Boy.”

He swiped at his eyes as he turned and made his way out into the hallway. At the far end, in the waiting area, it seemed everyone he’d ever met had taken it over. Frerin and the kids were there, Zana, Dwalin, Jimmy was even there.

He smiled as he said, “Hey, everyone. Uh… James Thráin Durin arrived at six-ten this morning, weighing six pounds, two ounces and eighteen inches in length. And his sister—”

“Sister?” Zana broke in with a grin.

“Yes. It turns out his brother is actually his sister, Andrea Dawn, arrived at six-forty, weighing six pounds even and seventeen inches long. Leda’s amazing and she’ll be up to visitors soon. Dad’s still in a bit of shock, but I don’t think it’s a permanent condition.”

“Just you wait, Dad,” Zana said before hugging him. “Just you wait.”

****

Thorin gazed down at the infant asleep again his chest, and then over at Leda, who was asleep as well. The only light in the room was from the hallway, and all was quiet. The last of their visitors left hours earlier and now, Thorin held his daughter while his son slept peacefully in the hospital bassinet.

His daughter.

His son.

He smiled, smoothing a hand over Andrea’s head, smiling as she smacked her lips in her sleep. “Oh, mimûna, you were a surprise, you know. I mean, you and your brother were both surprises, but you were an even greater surprise, because we thought you were going to be a boy. Now, don’t think that means we aren’t happy you’re a girl, raklûn, because we are. Happy, but definitely surprised.”

Andrea slept on, obvious to her father’s whisperings. He shifted slightly in the chair alongside Leda’s bed. In the span of a few hours, they’d gone from a couple to a family, and he still marveled at the ten little fingers and ten little toes, and the perfect little faces and everything else about James and Andrea. His son. His daughter.

His children.

Their children.

“Thorin?”

He looked up at Frerin’s whisper and smiled. “Come on in, but be quiet. Leda’s asleep and so are the babies.”

Frerin came into the room. “How is she feeling?”

“Leda? She’s tired, but okay otherwise.” He glanced over at her. “It was an amazing thing to witness, Frer. I never expected to feel the way I did, the way I do, but damn… I’m in awe of her right now. You should’ve seen her. It was just… amazing. There’s no other way to describe it.”

“Yeah. I remember.” Frerin came over and sank onto the wide arm of the recliner. “Which one is this?”

“Andrea.” Thorin grinned. “My daughter.”

“Heh, you’re in for it now, old man. Just wait until a guy like you shows up to take her out in about fifteen years or so.”

“Bite your tongue.” Thorin shifted Andrea gently against him. “No way in hell I’m letting a horny teenage boy anywhere near my little girl.”

“I’ll bet Leda’s dad said the same thing about her once.”

Thorin sighed softly. “Thanks for everything, man. From the beginning.”

“I take it you don’t mind so much that Plan B failed, huh?”

“I also don’t mind that I couldn’t find a doc willing to give me a vasectomy.”

“You wanted one?”

“Yeah. You remember Talia McDonald?”

“Yeah. You dated her in college. Cute cheerleader.”

“Yeah.” Thorin traced his thumb lightly along the back of Andrea’s head. Her baby hair was so silky soft, he couldn’t resist it. “We had a scare. She thought she was pregnant and the last thing I wanted or needed was a kid. We were lucky, turned out she was only late, but that was enough for me. I didn't want kids then and I didn't ever want to be in that position again, so I decided I wanted to get snipped. But no doctor would do it for me. They all said I was too young and I’d change my mind.”

“They were right.”

“No,” Thorin shook his head, “they weren’t. I hadn’t changed my mind, Frer. Leda and I… we weren’t going to be anything serious. Fuck buddies. That’s all. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“Thorin.”

“We were.” He glanced over at James, still sound asleep. “She had all these rules and I followed them to the letter, even as I was falling in love with her. Then the condom slipped off and I got her pregnant. But, this time, I wasn't so sure I didn't want them. I knew I wanted her. I’d have agreed to anything she wanted to have her.”

He looked over at Frerin now. “She was going to have an abortion, but she changed her mind at the last minute.”

“Even knowing how you felt?”

“I didn't tell her how I felt. I said I’d support her regardless of her decision, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted her to have the baby. But I couldn’t insist on it and she seemed dead set on ending it, so what else was I going to do?

“Then she changed her mind and she was almost afraid to tell me. Thought I’d be furious with her. But it gave me the push—gave us the push—we needed to see if there was something else, something more, between us. I was falling for her and apparently she was falling for me at the same time. It took these two to give us the guts to do something about it.” He pressed a soft kiss into the top of Andrea’s head. “I owe everything to these two gremlins,” he whispered, smiling up at his brother. “I can’t even imagine my life without Leda in it now. And I’m already in love with both of my kids, which is something I never thought I’d say. But I am. And look at me now—husband, father… I guess I’m finally an adult.”

Frerin chuckled. “It took you long enough.”

“Yeah, I know. But I wanted to be sure and now I am. And it’s all because a fucking condom slipped off. A mistake.”

“Sometimes mistakes are good things.” Frerin reached down to touch Andrea’s cheek. She instinctively turned toward him. “They’re both beautiful, by the way.”

“I know. They take after their mother.”

“You beat me to it.” Vinyl rustled as he stood. “I’m on the overnight so I’ll pass through again. You should try to get some sleep now because you won’t be getting much in the next couple of weeks.”

“Right now, I don’t think I could sleep if I tried.” Thorin shook his head. “I keep just counting fingers and toes and marveling over them.”

“Trust me, you want to sleep now.” Frerin moved to the doorway. “And Thorin?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m happy for you, man. You deserve all of this.”

“Thanks, Frer.”

“Sure.”

The door closed without a sound and Thorin sighed softly as Andrea snuggled closer to him. It was funny, how what he thought could be the worst thing in the world turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. Some men would happily swap their lives for someone else’s, but not Thorin Durin. He liked his life exactly the way it was and wouldn’t change a damn thing, thank you very much.

The End

#Richard Armitage #The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fic #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction #Thorin x OC #AU #Thorin Fic #Is it hot in here?#Romance #Modern AU #Pub AU

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lemm-moxx · 27 days

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goofy poster type drawing

@karineverse @kredena-dark (thanks for the ideas nerds)

(plus a bonus sketch )

(Horrortale created by sourapplestudios)

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soeurdelune · 3 months

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si vous tombez sur des ressources, des citations, des guides, des avatars, des gifs, des icons ou quoi que ce soit d'autre qui vous plaise, pensez à les reblogger! 🌟

les likes ça fait plaisir, mais sur tumblr hormis pour se souvenir qu'on a déjà vu un billet ça ne sert pas à grand chose, ce site est avant tout conçu pour partager les choses que vous voyez et que vous aimez!

je reblog souvent les avatars, rp prompts etc. que j'apprécie ou qui m'inspirent et c'est bête mais quand je vois après dans mon activité d'autres gens liker/rb ces billets, je me dit que c'est super d'avoir amené tout ça dans leur feed, et que ça peut potentiellement faire découvrir des créateurices, des univers, des fandoms à d'autres personnes! c'est à ça que servent les reblogs, les likes ne boostent pas les billets et n'aident pas vraiment les créateurices sous-côté.e.s à se faire connaître! ce sont les reblogs qui font la différence!

si vous avez peur de reblogger quelque chose parce que vous pensez que ça fera hors-sujet avec le thème de votre blog, sachez que vous pouvez faire autant de sideblogs (blogs secondaires) sur tumblr que vous le souhaitez sans nécessité de créer un nouveau compte. c'est quand même bien fait ✨

#bien entendu je dicte à personne comment iel doit se servir de ce site!#vous faites ce que vous voulez #toutefois #ça me frustre un peu quand je vois d'excellent forums poster des pubs #et que les gens se contentent de liker au lieu de reblogger #le like n'aide pas à promouvoir ce forum parce que tumblr n'est pas instagram!#le système de tumblr privilégie les reblogs aux likes!#les tags aussi font la différence quand vous postez quelque chose mais c'est un tout autre sujet #en tout cas c'est juste un petit rappel ♡#si vous aimez un billet partagez le en le rebloggant! ♡

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ughgoaway · 5 months

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I'm just thinking of Annie losing her first tooth and showing you very proudly at drop off. You notice mattys being a bit weird, so you catch him before he leaves.

Annie just ran into the classroom, leaving just you two chatting on your own, "Sorry if this is overstepping, but you seem a bit off today. is everything okay?" you ask softly, stroking his bicep lightly.

matty gives you a sad but grateful smile and waves off your concerns, "No, it's not overstepping at all, don't worry. Annie losing her tooth has just made me realise she's growing up, you know? it seems like just last week, she was a baby crawling around the studio. or a toddler bashing the drums and dying laughing. just making me feel old"

he laughs it off but you can tell he's feeling really off about it so you slide your hand down and hold his, giving it a squeeze before saying, "I get it, she really is growing up. but I can promise you're not old, I saw one of the other dads talking to their kid about when he was a kid and the tv was black and white, so trust me - you're one of the cool young ones"

matty laughs and squeezes your hand back before walking away, feeling a little bit less emo lol

Annie is also VERY excited about telling everyone and showing them the £5 note that the tooth fairy left her.

(Once you and matty officially get together, you jokingly scold him for giving her too much money, "£5 I didn't think dirty hit had the funds for that," and he just goes "OI! cheeky...""

#okay but also her telling the boys about it... they also get emo.#that night they all get pissed at the pub and cry about how shes growing up and how they remember wearing her on their chests #they try to drunkenly call densie to talk to her but its 11pm and annie is asleep #matty gets scolded by her- “matthew! what are you getting drunk and crying for? and youve roped the others into it!”#teacher au!

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handholdinglion · 9 months

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okay witcher thoughts

I’m watching this program abt rewilding the Lake District and there’s a sheep farmer who is against it as it destroys his livelihood & the farming communities way of life + it’s future !

so what I’m saying is…

- sheep farmer / wild horse caretaker eskel who’s family have farmed on the fells for generations. it’s not an easy life and it doesn’t really make any profit, but it makes him happy. Waking up each morning to check on the sheep (they roam pretty freely but he still likes to make sure nothing has happened over night), to feed the few chickens and hens and to groom any foals he’s currently raising

- baker / brewer lambert who continues in his foster families foot steps of producing the best bread + baked goods in the whole of the lakes (well that’s what the locals say) and has started his own brewery on the side (as it’s just the same as baking just with greater rewards)

- conservationist/ environmentalist geralt who was brought up in an old industrial town and found freedom from his mums family in a hidden patch of greenery amongst derelict red-bricked buildings. After passing his apprenticeship and spending years advocating for more green / wildlife spaces in towns and cities, he’s looking forward to an ‘easy project’. Cause how hard will it be to convince farmers about the benefits of nature

- journalist / blogger jaskier who’s hoping this placement year project writing and documenting for the National Trust will finally show his family why doing a joint honours in journalism was a good thing and far more important than (idk law ? politics ? business management ?)

they’re literally in my head 24/7 I’m sorry, everything comes back to them especially nature tv shows (or anything based in the north of the UK)

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dilf-rights-activist · 10 months

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Another Life: part 2

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x gender neutral reader, Platonic Hobie Brown & reader

Summary: A sad Miguel O’Hara returns to run his company with slumped shoulders and a cloud over his head. In a somewhat lame attempt to lift his spirits, his assistant, Lyla, runs to a local cafe to get the office some drinks, where she meets a kind barista with a stained apron and tired eyes. Or, the one where you drag your exhausted corpse to your second job to meet Lyla, only to find out her boss had recently been dumped. After work, you settle into the floor of your cozy apartment with your eccentric roommate: one Hobie Brown.

Word count: 3.7k

Content: eventual sugar daddy AU, coffee shop au, no use of (y/n), the slowest of burns (we’re not even gathering fire wood yet), sfw, Hobie being cool, descriptions of financial hardship, swearing, aged up Hobie

AO3 part 1 part 3 part 4

Miguel’s office chair creaked dangerously when he leaned back and breathed out a large sigh. The conference call had been done for ten minutes now, and he was still feeling a little drowsy from his early morning. He looked out his office window just in time to see Jessica scrub a hand over her face, eyes droopy and tired looking. He watched as she stood up and stretched her lower back to release the tension that’s been building there. She sighed and rested a delicate hand on her round belly, rubbing soothing circles before sitting back down again. Miguel has been urging her to take her maternity leave early, but she refuses him every time, stating that he could never survive without her. This wasn’t entirely true but still. Miguel frowned to himself before straightening up at the knock at his door.

“Miguel?” came a high-pitched voice on the other side of the wood.

“Yes?”

The door opened slowly to reveal a young, freckled face smiling brightly at him. “Hey, Miguel! I have the reports you wanted.”

Miguel smiled at his assistant and held out his hand to receive them. “Thanks, Lyla.”

“You got it.” Lyla was a student at Columbia that works part time as Miguel’s assistant. Her cheerful demeanor easily lifted those around her. If he was being honest, he thinks Lyla goofed off a little too much, but she was the best assistant he’s had in a decade. She was quick as a whip, and helped him with everything from managing his allergies to figuring out the best energy source for his nano tech. Plus, Lyla was the only one who could handle him when he was sleep deprived and hangry (which was all the time).

The brunette fell silent as he looked down at the reports in his hands, not really paying enough attention to process any of the words he read.

“Hey, Miguel?”

He startled and looked up at Lyla, she was still here? He must have really been out of it.

“Yeah?”

Lyla’s big brown eyes peered at him pensively before sighing through her nose “You doing okay, boss?” Her glossy pink lips were pulled into a small frown. “You look…tired. Like, way more than usual.”

Miguel huffed softly and blew a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Alright, One: I am tired. And Two:” He looked at her sternly, pointing a strong finger to emphasize his point. “I am fine.” He said a little too quickly. Lyla rolled her eyes and groaned dramatically.

“C’mon, Miguel! You can tell me!” She walked up to his heavy desk and placed both hands atop its smooth surface. “What? Did the Mets lose a game?”

“The season is over-“

“A pigeon poop on your Porsche?”

“No-“

“Did Tony call you ‘Dark Garfield’ again?”

“No!”

“You get dumped?”

Miguel’s jaw shut promptly and he pursed his lips into a tight sneer. He looked at his grinning assistant, who had clearly said that as a joke. She blinked a couple times at his silence, slowly picking up her hands from his desk as she straightened a little.

“Oh shit. Really?” She said softly, almost feeling bad for bringing it up so casually. “I’m…sorry to hear that.”

The large man let out a soft laugh and waved his hand in the air. “It’s fine, Lyla. Really, it is.” he sighed, was he trying to convince Lyla or himself?

The girl looked at her sneakers and shuffled awkwardly for a second, “Is there anything I can do for you? Cancel your appointments? Get you coffee?”

Miguel visibly perked up at that. “Yeah, that would be great, actually. There’s actually a specific place I’d like you to go to…”

---

A heavy sigh left your lips as you bent forward and leaned onto the counter in front of you, limbs going unpleasantly numb from overuse. You stayed there for a couple moments, contemplating just how you let your life get to this particularly pathetic point. Peter was right, the morning rush had been bad. Exhausted students and working class New Yorkers alike came in by the truck load, shooting order after order at you and your boss with little sympathy.

You glanced down at Peter, who was currently squatting behind the counter and wolfing down a croissant like his life depended on it.

“Slow down or you’re gonna choke, stupid.”

The brunette looked at you like a man possessed. “Shut up! I haven’t eaten anything today!”

You laughed softly and flexed your fingers, wincing as they cracked and popped. “Christ, I’m tired. And it’s only,” you glanced at your watch and held back a groan. “8 am.”

Peter looked at you and wiped the crumbs off of his frowning face. “You sleep any last night?”

“Only the usual four hours.” you grimaced and put your head down again. “Some dude came in last minute to drink last night.”

“Damn.” Peter sighed from his place on the floor. “I wish I could help somehow. I’d do anything for you, y’know.”

You smiled and peeked at him through your arms. You met Peter during your second year of college. He remembered you frequenting his cafe as a freshman to fuel up on caffeine and use his Wi-Fi. He always welcomed you with ease (and not just because you were a good tipper). Eventually, he offered you a job, and you’ve been working with him ever since. You opened your mouth to say something before the bell at the door chimed through the cafe, signifying that someone walked in.

“Customers!” Peter almost shrieked, tucking more into himself on the floor. “Don’t let them see me! I’m not here!”

So much for doing anything for you!

You shot him a look before straightening up to see a girl with a large white coat and fluffy brown hair peer up at the chalkboard menu above you.

“Hey, welcome in.” you smiled and lightly kicked Peter’s side behind the counter. The quiet “Ow!” wasn’t heard by the girl in front of you as her large eyes darted from her phone to the menu at an alarming rate.

“Hi!”

After exchanging pleasantries you nodded as she relayed her lengthy order, talking at 100 words a minute.

Her hazel eyes blinked behind her heart shaped lenses. “Sorry for the large order! These are for my office.”

“It’s no problem!” You lied through your teeth. “What’s your name?”

“Lyla.”

“Lieee-Luh.” you repeated slowly you wrote her name on the empty cups before you, making sure to draw little hearts on her’s. “Got it! I’ll have these out in a little bit.” Lyla gave you a million watt smile and nodded eagerly, making his way to the end of the bar where her drinks were to be deposited. You went through the motions of drink making with ease, humming lightly to yourself to keep you focused. You looked at Peter, who has yet to move from his position on the floor. You flipped him off quickly and capped Lyla’s drinks, ignoring the over dramatic look of hurt the musician shot you.

“Thank you so much,” Lyla looked at you from across the bar and smiled.

“It’s really no problem, it’s literally my job.”

“Yeah, but still…” she chuckled to herself. “I think this’ll really help.”

That caught your attention and you looked up from the carmel drizzle you were working on. “Yeah? With what?”

A small crease appeared between Lyla’s worried brows as she smiled sadly. “My boss got dumped yesterday.” You pulled a face, Yikes, you thought, not a good season for the lovers. Your mind immediately drifted to the heart broken man that came into the restaurant last night. His entire demeanor was depressed with loneliness, even his hair seemed to droop slightly in sadness. You didn’t know the man very well, but you could tell that he was a person who would go out of his way to help someone, someone that wouldn’t hesitate to do the right thing. You hoped he was okay.

“Oh…” you started lamely, because how the fuck were you supposed to respond? “That sucks.” Lyla’s head snapped up at your abrupt reply. You blinked, realizing that you must have been more tired than you thought because what the fuck? You can’t talk to customers like that! You pressed your lips together and quickly thought of an apology. “I’m-”

“It does suck, right?” She smiled lopsidedly and let out a laugh. You breathed out a sigh, relieved that she wasn’t going to write Aunt May a strongly worded letter or trash the cafe on Yelp. You finished the rest of the drinks with ease, handing Lyla her order in two cup holders.

“Thanks a bunch!” She took his order with a grin and began to turn towards the exit.

“Ah, wait one second!” You said before sidestepping a still squatting Peter (who had somehow gotten another croissant) to quickly shove a few pastries into two paper bags. You stood there in thought for a second before grabbing a sharpie from the cash register, scribbling something on one of them.

“Thank you for being patient with me.” you said, handing Lyla the baked goods. “One of those is for you, good luck at the office!”

If you thought the girl’s smile was blinding before it really had nothing on her expression now. “Really?”

“For sure.”

Lyla’s heart shrouded eyes blinked at you for a moment, as if studying you. Her pink lips spread into a grin before turning to you fully. “What’s your name?”

You smiled back at her and gave her your name as you dusted your hands on your apron. “The other one is for your boss, tell them to take it easy, okay?”

---

Miguel stared at the city’s activity below him from his office window. People milled about on the sidewalk below, interacting with one another throughout their day. The large man took a bite out of his scone thoughtfully, admiring the subtle vanilla flavor. Lyla came in with his coffee order not too long ago, bringing a small pastry bag as a surprise. He said that a nice barista gave it to him, ordering her to tell him to “take it easy”. Miguel accepted the treats gratefully, promising Lyla that he was fine (really, he was).

Probably.

He popped the last of the scone in his mouth and moved to toss the bag in the trash before something caught his eye. Looking at the pastry bag more carefully, he could see that the barista left him a small note.

Everything’s gonna be okay. If it’s not okay, that’s okay too.

Miguel dusted his crummy mouth as he stared at the piece of paper, chuckling softly to himself. The barista also drew him a cute little bunny giving him a thumbs up in encouragement.

The brunette’s thick brows knitted as he carefully tore his little note away from the rest of the bag. Miguel placed the note in one of his desk drawers after making sure that there were no remaining crumbs sticking to it and threw the rest away (he hated ants).

“Looks like I’ve got someone looking out for me.”

---

You tapped your pencil against the page in front of you in annoyance and took a large sip of your tea. You started doing your homework over an hour ago and barely made any progress due to its difficulty. You huffed, recalling just how little you paid attention in class due to always falling asleep.

You stared at the equations in front of you, and they glared back just as intensely. You looked up from your staring contest to glance at your roommate, Hobie, who was humming quietly to himself as he created the setlist for his next show. You met Hobie when you first moved to the city for school. He was born in Camden Town, London, and was literally the coolest person you have ever met. He came to New York to work on his music and study fashion. His time was split between that, antagonizing fascists, being a part-time runway model, and working at the bar with you. You saw him sneaking shots for both himself and some of his regulars, but never told a soul. You knew Hobie hated working there, hated being a cog in the system, but he had bills to pay (you both did). The two of you shared a cozy space nestled in the center of New York City’s ChinaTown, right below the smog covered stars, and right above Timmy Chan’s Hong Kong Style Dim Sum (a favorite lunch time spot you frequented together).

“Hey, Hobie. Could you help me a little?”

He looked up from his notes, pen cap stuck in between his lips and grinned.

”Yeah, sure. What is it?”

You smiled gratefully, picking up the page and walking over to him. You crossed your legs and sat on the floor at his side as his eyes skimmed the page, nodding as he read along.

“You daft?” Hobie elbowed your side gently. “Integral calculus? This is bright and breezy.”

You looked up at his big brown eyes and pouted. “I’ve been falling asleep in class.” you said with a huff. Hobie’s pierced brows creased with concern at this, shuffling slightly to wrap an arm around you.

“Again?”

“Again.” you sighed. You looked to the ground, idly picking at the fraying carpet you two sat on. You knew Hobie worried about you and how hard you’ve been pushing yourself. He could see how the stress from work and school were affecting your health and it was beginning to concern him.

“Y’right?”

You looked up at him wryly, bringing a hand up to flick his shoulder lightly.

“I’m alright.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Hobie squinted at you before turning back to the page in his hands, deciding to drop the subject for now. “Whatever. You’d tell me otherwise, yeah?”

You leaned on his shoulder and nuzzled his bicep playfully, yawning obnoxiously before saying, “Of course.”

He gazed upon your drooping form, pursing his lips. “You said you only hit the sack for, what? Four hours?”

“Just about, yeah.”

Hobie huffed and straightened out the piece of paper in his hands. “Right, some dick walked in right before closing and demanded to be served.”

“He wasn’t a dick he was just…” you adjusted yourself on his shoulder. “Sad.”

“A sad dick?”

“No!” you smacked him lightly and you could feel yourself shake with the rumble of Hobie’s chest as he chuckled warmly. You thought about the man that came into your life the other night, it amazed you how someone so large managed to look so small.

“He just got dumped.”

“Bliiiiimey.” He pulled a face.

“That’s what I said!”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, not that exactly!” You huffed out a sigh. “He looked like a kicked puppy. Which is hilarious, because the man is like a building with feet.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! His arms are like tree trunks! I think he could kill me with a flick of his wrist.” You shook Hobie’s lean arm lightly to illustrate your point. “He just looked so...hurt. And he just, like, accepted it, y’know? Like he’s been hurt like this before.” you blinked and lowered your eyes, hugging Hobie’s arm a little tighter. “I hope he’s okay.”

Dark eyes shifted from the paper and onto the top of your head, Hobie huffed out a small laugh. “Aw, you fancy him.”

You pulled back from your friend’s arm sharply and gaped up at him. “I do not!” Fancy him? You only just met the guy and knew nothing about him. Fancy him!

Hobie threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “You do!”

“I don’t, I just-“ you huffed out a breath and paused to collect your thoughts. “I dunno, there was just something…about him, y’know? He seemed like someone who had a lot to offer the world, to offer someone. He looked like he had given up. Seeing him crushed like that just doesn’t sit right with me.”

He side eyed you skeptically and let out a sigh through his nose. You were always pushing yourself so hard, always putting others first (often at a detriment to yourself). Between the two (sometimes three) jobs and school, he had no idea how you were functioning. Hobie grimaced, thinking about the multiple occasions where you were so overwhelmed you sat on the floor eating (his) instant noodles while crying, too stressed to even tell him what was wrong. Other times, he’d go days without seeing you as you’d lock yourself in your apartment to focus on schoolwork, scaring him half to death with your lack of response. He physically kicked in the door of your room only to find you half dead and twitchy in your hyper-focused state. He never wanted to see you like that again.

“Yeah, well” he shrugged and you whined as the movement jostled you on his bicep. “Just don’t bugger off with your fit bev and leave me with your rent.” You laughed softly and pressed your cheek into his arm, smiling against it.

“I could never, Hobie.”

You assumed he accepted your response, as he nodded and turned his attention back to your math homework.”Right, the integral of 2xd is x squared, yeah? You plug that in here at the top and subtract the bottom.”

You breathed deeply and closed your eyes, already feeling yourself start to doze off again. You knew you should be paying attention, but you were too content with snuggling up to Hobie’s arm for some (not so) well deserved sleep.

“Thirteen squared is 169, minus ten squared is…Oi. Oi, you listenin’? Do your homework!” he jostled you gently.

“Yeah...of course…” you mumbled quietly.

Hobie looked down at you with a frown, already knowing that any attempt he made at waking you would be in vain. He sighed as he picked up his pen from its abandoned spot on the floor, deciding to finish your homework for you.

“Hopefully I can mimic your rubbish handwriting.” he sighed.

“Y’can’t do math homework in pen,” you mumbled.

“I don’t believe in conformity.” He sniffed before twirling the pen in his fingers. He tenaciously began to scribble perfect arithmetic on your page, stopping only to smile when you let out a sleepy “thanks” against his arm.

“Anytime, love.”

---

The long days turned into longer weeks as time went by. Miguel went through the motions of his position of CEO with relative ease, meticulously leading his company to further success.

That’s what he told himself, anyway.

Large shoulders sagged as Miguel sighed into the palms of his hands before peeking through his fingers to blearily peer at the clock in his desktop monitor.

8:43 pm

Jesus Christ, was it already that late? The brunette looked up through his office windows to find that yes, it really was that late, as the building’s lights had shut off and everyone had long gone home. Miguel has since changed into more comfortable clothing to ease him into his work night. The soft material of his oversized gray hoodie combined with the relaxed fit of his favorite pair of loose joggers were the perfect combination for his frequent occasional over night stays in the office. The man let out a yawn as he stretched his arms high above his head before rising from his chair, ready to call it a day. Grabbing his coat and phone, Miguel left the building, letting the automatic doors lock behind him with a soft click.

The brunette inhaled the Autumn air with a light hum before beginning his commute back to his apartment, occasionally picking up litter as he went because why not. He listened to the sounds of the bustling city; the distant sirens, the blaring music from strangers’ headphones as they walked past, the clinking of ceramic in cozy cafes.

Oh. Miguel slowed his stride to a stop in front of a small coffee shop lit warmly within, the same shop he sent Lyla on a coffee run to. Turning fully to face the entrance, the brunette spotted the same nice looking man he saw the first time he laid eyes on the shop. Miguel checked his watch to glance at the time before walking through the wooden door that led to the sweet smelling cafe.

Notes: I deadass spent over an hour learning about the English Cockney accent and have two (2) tabs open with English to Cockney translators. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make Hobie sound more in character PLEASE let me know. Part of me wants to really lean into the rhyming slang, but I’m afraid no one will be able to understand him (but that’s, like, part of his character right?), he’s in his early twenties here.

The answer to the equation Hobie was solving is 69 lol

#miguel x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o’hara fic #miguel x you #miguel spiderverse #miguel o’hara x you #across the spiderverse fanfiction #sugar daddy au #coffee shop au #bar/pub au #platonic Hobie brown #i hate tagging these like its humiliating lmao #writing

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sitp-recs · 11 months

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Hey liv! Do you know any fics that have Draco (or Harry) as a bartender or that are set mostly in a bar? Thanks in advance! :)

Hi anon! Sure thing, here are some recs:

Thanks for all the Fish by dracogotgame (T, 2k)

Harry's latest break up with Ginny gives him food for thought.

The Mispronunciations of Draco Malfoy by daisymondays (T, 4.6k)

'Muggle AU where Harry is a barista and bartender and keeps running into his most stuck-up customer’ aka ‘All the times Harry managed to mispronounce Draco and the one time he got it right.’

Pub Night by sdk (E, 7k)

In a cramped loo at The Bitter End, what Harry and Draco do is only about one thing: getting off. ...Isn't it?

An Aching Soul by writcraft (M, 14k)

Draco Malfoy escapes to the Muggle world to avoid his parents, memories of the war and Harry Potter. However, some things prove harder to escape than others as Draco realises when his favourite Muggle haunt is rudely invaded by a post-war Harry who is struggling to cope with grief, growing up and the battle with his inner demons.

It's Friday (I'm in Love) by punk_rock_yuppie (E, 16k)

At first, Draco only hangs out with them on Fridays after work; then he starts shagging Potter after pub nights. Then all the rest of the gang tries to befriend Draco and even worse, Potter tries to date him. It’s an absolute disaster, if you ask Draco.

Take These Lies by pennygalleon (E, 20k)

There’s a portrait of his godfather in Draco Malfoy’s potions shop and Harry needs to know why. But that’s not why he keeps coming back.

Midnight in the City of a Hundred Spires by shiftylinguini (E, 25k)

Harry Potter is a missing person. Draco Malfoy is a vampire. They are the last two people one would expect to bump into each other in a Creature Bar in Prague, yet to Draco’s absolute shock that is definitely Harry fucking Potter sitting across from him. Even more surprising is that Potter may have a case for him.

Saviour of the Seas by Booktopus (E, 45k)

For the 10th Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic has chosen to celebrate with a cruise to Norway to view the Northern Lights aboard the Savior of the Seas. Did they actually think Harry would want a bloody cruise ship named after him?

The Pure and Simple Truth by lettered (G, 65k)

Harry, Draco, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, and Pansy go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Pansy, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, and Pansy―you guessed it―go to a pub. I could go on. In fact, I did. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Ron, Blaise, Luna, Goyle, Neville, and Theodore Nott go to a pub. In various combinations.

Chasing Shadows by manixzen (E, 93k)

The murder of Lucius Malfoy seems impossible—no cause of death, no traces of spell-work, no potions in his system. The only leads Harry and his partner have are the trail of missing wizards the deeper they go. That and the help of the victim’s estranged son who now spends his time bartending at a queer-friendly Muggle pub.

#asks #anon #Drarry reclist #bartender AU #pub fics

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esfordays · 7 months

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I have no idea what a tradie is in the context you're using but I'm all here for Jason and Roy both having their jukebox privileges revoked in your story idea.

Dick and Alfred the only members of the batfam allowed to touch it, and and even then, only under supervision

For context, a tradie is a tradesman (so a builder, electrician, plumber, etc)

#e #e’s growing insanity #jayroy #pub au #asks

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mihrsuri · 4 months

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A Tudors OT3 verse in universe tumblr post about The Tudors in that universe. Very much inspired by @nocompromise-noregrets to whom Ellie belongs.

I regret to inform the tumblr that I have sunk into depths of clownery previously thought of as impossible. I am the Mariana Trench of Fail. I am not serving cunt, I am serving nothing.

It starts with going to my girlfriends cousin regular pub quiz because they were out a person and I know Some Things and also hey, free snacks!

At the start of this I want to note this was pre Unmasked Part I airing and I had No Fucking Idea. I was just there, sexualising Rupert Graves and James Frain and thinking oh what a great enemies ship need to smush their faces together and also their dicks.

[insert that meme about being in hell looking for Fail King Hugh Norwich here in retrospect also thee iconic post by dansemacabrebutts, Ioan I am in your clown shoes]

So I was chatting to one of the quiz team and turns out she’s (a) watching the show and (b) definitely a Fandom Person and we get on to shipping at some point and so I open my mouth like “isn’t the sexual energy between Norwich and Cromwell off the charts charged? Can’t wait to write porn about them”

She looks at me with the kind of pained expression that I have only seen in parents of small children watching them spill paint on themselves for the fourth time - in the awareness that really, it’s their fault for trusting them with the paint. At first I thought oh maybe it’s an anti thing? (She’s not a restorationist which was my second notion because my girlfriends family would Kick The Fuck Off and listen, Restorationists do not carry Tolkien merch at all - especially not that gorgeous print of the wedding of Bard and Thranduil from the estate)

“I think that’s something you’ll have to wait and see about” she says and my cousin in law is looking at me like they want to disown my entire family line back fifteen generations.

I think oh that’s an odd answer and kind of shrug and change the subject awkwardly and we don’t really talk. And then like a week later I watch Unmasked Part I. And then they have the after show interviews and:

GUYS THAT WAS THE ELLIE WHO DISCOVERED NORWICHS PAPERS. YES THAT ELLIE. I WILL BE MORTIFIED ON MY DEATH BED. I WAS NORWICH GLORIFYING TO THE PERSON WHO WAS THE VERY FIRST PERSON WHO HAD TO READ HIS WORKS. MY COUSIN IN LAW IS RIGHT TO DISOWN ME DISHONOUR UPON MY NON EXISTENT COWS. I am putting on the clown makeup and the shoes as we speak.

truffleboyenjoyer

300,000 notes

Update. I am glad you all enjoyed my MORTIFICATION.

#fic #lil and her ridiculous aus #ot3: political power trio #the canon barduil is a small injoke for my friend #(tolkien in this universe is different but also not different)#i need to give the pub a name #anyway i love this fandom member #(i think i have backstories forming for op and girlfriend and cousin in law)#(also the pub and pub quiz team)

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enbysiriusblack · 6 months

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the best 'raising hari' dynamic is about 15 early twenty year olds all collectively raising him. it takes a village.

#no one dies au where practically everyone raises hari fr #hari hanging with lily and some friends during healing lectures at her uni #hari at peter's pub watching live music #hari going to several different professional quidditch teams practices #hari sitting on a stool at the counter for various shops #hari starting hogwarts with half of his professors being the people who raised him #marauders era #marauders #hari potter

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random0lover · 1 year

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Bar/Pub Owners!141, Los Vaqueros, König, and Kate Laswell Head Canon’s

Word Count: 943

Warnings: talk of drunk people, liquor, harassment is mentioned, blood is mentioned one time. I think that’s it, if not please let me know!

Notes:So I’m watching Drink Master’s on Netflix right now and all I can thing about bar/pub owners!141 with los vaqueros, Kate and König. I also keep imagining it to be like a high end type of bar (so expensive af) and they even have a kitchen but it’s limited menu.

More Notes: This is so random and I literally sat and wrote this down in a spur of the moment. Also haven’t posted anything in a bit and kinda feel bad about it but I promise I’m working on a request and the next part to Open Wounds (both the fluff part and the angst one). This is slightly edited but not really.

Gaz and Soap would 100% be bartending. They get the people relaxed and everyone feeling comfortable. Definitely a lot of laughter coming from the bar! They also have a wide range on non-alcoholic drinks to and are very adamant about no one feeling pressured to drink. Also, for the people that don’t know or just don’t have a lot of knowledge on drinks, they keep cute little menu’s that have descriptions of the drinks sat out in little baskets that anyone can grab form incase you are to nervous to ask about drinks! (This was totally König’s idea and no one can convince me otherwise. Oh! And Soap is the one that drew out the designs for them!)

Rudy and Alejandro do all the cooking (y’know they make some bomb ass food- don’t even try to lie) They go all out with presentation and flavors are always top notch. Difference between their food and other high end bars is they don’t serve plates of food that only the center of the plate has food on it, no their food covers the whole plate. So if you’re paying 40 dollars for one plate, it’s definitely worth it all the way.

Ghost and König are kinda like security but instead of making it obvious that they are security they try to just blend in with the crowd by sitting at a table with a drink or ordering from the bar. They do this because people tend to be more stupid when they think that there is no one watching them so it makes it easier for them to pin point who the idiots are pretty early. Definitely have kicked plenty of people out that get to handsy with people that don’t want that type of attention! They’ve had to call plenty of Ubers for people that were a little to drunk. So their job is really just to keep an eye on everyone to make sure everyone is okay!

Kate likes to go around and mingle with everyone so I feel like she would totally plan some themed events from time to time! Definitely makes friends (or just gets to know) with the regulars, probably does background checks on the people that linger around or people that give weird vibes. She is also all about safety for everyone so she does the best she can to take those steps like having the drink covers available at the bar where only open part of the cover is where the straw comes through, they definitely do the key word things like an angel shot or words that have different meaning on them, is very adamant about people not leaving alone or driving drunk so they are totally open to covering peoples Ubers as long as they are going home.

Price in my opinion would kinda be like the main guy over things (Kate would totally be half owner too btw) so generally he’ll be up in his office or making rounds talking to everyone to make sure everything is running smoothly. He would also try to get to know the regulars. Also, he’s definitely “went out for a cigar” and came back in with bloody knuckles after knocking some sense into a guy that was harassing a group of women (no one talk about it Soap just hands him some bandages from underneath the bar and Rudy gets him a random frozen bag of something from the freezer). If there is ever a group of women harassing a group of guys he gets Kate to deal with it if the women won’t listen to him.

Could also see Ghost filling in for either Gaz or Soap if they ever need to take a sick day or anything. He honestly makes amazing drinks just doesn’t prefer being center of attention like that and prefers being able to just observe everyone.

Any food that is left over from the night either gets distributed to everyone, given out for free, or it’ll get packed into to-go containers to be given out to the homeless… (I can totally see Rudy doing this. Man is such a sweetheart)

König has walked many people to their cars. Don’t ask I just know he does. Oh, he also had a girl ask him to do the thing where he pretends to be their boyfriend, man was so flustered but was so concerned about their safety that he pushed it aside and got the kicked out after. (They definitely did not go on a date after that 🤭)

For my GhostSoap people- Johnny 100% winks at Simon through the night and when everything’s closed down and their the last two there for the night Johnny and Simon will slow dance to whatever song is playing through the speakers.

Alejandro definitely gets distracted when taking people their food sometimes (bro is to busy flirting sometimes and taking compliments about the food) and Rudy will come out all exasperated giving him a pissed off look and will start to cuss him out in Spanish as their walking back into the kitchen 💀

Soap and Gaz will do competitions sometimes on who can make the most tips or who can make the better drink. Emphasis on the drink competitions- things will be slow as shit and they’ll randomly pull either a small group or a couple that is there and will offer them the drinks for free if they’ll just humor them. (Price gets so pissed about this sometimes because they’ll give out hundreds of dollars worth of drinks and liquor is not cheap… he’s not really mad though, he’s just happy everyone is having a good time.)

Hi, my lovelies, I hope you liked this random little hc! Feedback is appreciated but not necessary. Anyways I hope you all have an amazing day <3

Requests are open! I can not promise when or if I will write them, but I do prefer requests that are slightly more specific as I find them a little bit easier to write but it's not required. Thanks for reading my darlings ♡

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middleearthpixie · 2 years

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Playing With Fire ~ Chapter Thirty-Three

Dunraven Pub - Modern AU

Summary: Thorin goes to retrieve Flynn, meanwhile Toni shows up and she and Leda have a heart to heart, and the truth about Frerin and Toni’s marriage comes out…

Pairings: Pairing: Modern!Thorin x OC Female

Characters:Thorin, Leda, Frerin, Flynn, Toni

Warnings: Deep secrets are revealed.

Rating: T

Word Count: 4,105

Tag List: @tschrist1 @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knitastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @ggfamert @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here.

Traffic on Route Twenty-Two was stop and go and Thorin tried not to grow too impatient as it seemed like he’d never get to the Blue Star shopping plaza. The last thing he wanted was for Flynn to just give up waiting and leave. If he managed to make his way into New York City, finding him would be almost impossible.

Relief flooded him as he turned into the first row of parking lots and saw his nephew down by an Ulta. He angled the Mustang into a slot, killed the engine, and climbed out. “Flynn!”

Flynn looked up and Thorin’s eyes stung at the relief in his nephew’s face as Flynn crossed the roadway. “Uncle Thor…”

Thorin wrapped him in a bear hug, lifting him off his feet as he said, “You damn fool! What were you thinking?”

“I just couldn’t stand it anymore, Uncle Thor.” Flynn’s voice was muffled by Thorin’s hair. “They’re both idiots.”

“Yeah, well… for what it’s worth, adults don’t always know what they’re doing. Even if they try to convince you otherwise,” Thorin said, setting Flynn back on his feet. He stepped back and reached out to brush Flynn’s dark hair away from his forehead. He had the Durin blue eyes, and the Durin’s gift for growing a beard seemingly overnight, and he looked exhausted, but all right otherwise. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

“I don’t want to go home,” Flynn shook his head, “I can’t stand listening to them fight any more. And school’s a mess and I probably got myself kicked off the baseball team and for what?”

“Defending your mother, is what.”

“Don’t remind me.” Flynn scowled. “I hate her, Uncle Thor. I hate both of them right now, if you want the truth. I don’t care if I ever go back home.”

“Yeah, I know.” Thorin draped his arm about Flynn’s shoulders and steered him back to the Mustang. “It’s a tough lesson to learn, when you find out your parents are just regular people, and they’ve got flaws and faults just like you.”

Flynn threw himself into the passenger seat. “I already knew that. This is way worse. You have no idea.”

“No, I don’t, really.” Thorin slid the key into the ignition and turned over the engine. “But, yeah, it’s worse and I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, but I don’t.” He eased the transmission into reverse and backed out of the slot, then shifted into first and pulled back into the road.

“I just hate that everyone in school knows, you know? That’s the worst thing about it,” Flynn said softly, staring out the window at the storefronts as they rolled by. “It’s bad enough Mom and Dad are breaking up, but to have kids at school saying shit to me about it. I mean, dude, that’s my mom. I don’t want to hear that shit about her.”

“I know.” Thorin glanced over at him as he eased to a stop at the light at Twenty-Two. “And again, I really don’t have any words of wisdom aside from it will die down eventually.”

“Yeah. When Rory Crenshaw gets tired of her and moves on. But damn, everyone knows. They all know. And Riley is eating it up and I just want to fucking punch his face in.”

Thorin bit back the urge to scold him about his language. It really wasn’t worth it. The kid was hurting, let him vent. He reached over and patted Flynn’s shoulder. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you already punch his face in?”

Flynn chuckled. “Yeah. I did.” His laugh melted into a sigh. “And Coach benched me for it. Dad wanted to talk to him, but can you just imagine what he’d say? Oh, give him a break, His mother is screwing his teammate’s brother. Somehow, I think that would just make it worse.”

“You want me to talk to him?”

“You?” Flynn shifted on his seat to look at him. The light turned green and Thorin eased out onto the highway as Flynn added, “You’ve got your own stuff to worry about.”

“Don’t worry about that, Flynn. If you think it’ll help, I’ll be happy to step up.”

His phone rang then and when he restored the car, Thorin installed a satellite radio and Bluetooth and so just hit the button on the phone screen. “What’s up, Frer?”

“Have you heard from Flynn?”

“Yeah. I’ve got him. He’s with me.”

“Oh, thank Christ…” Frerin sighed heavily. He sounded absolutely wiped out and Thorin could just see hm rubbing his forehead, the way he did when he was frustrated or pissed off about something. “Where are you?”

“Watchung.”

“Watchung?”

Thorin and Flynn winced in unison as Frerin’s voice shot up at least two octaves. Then, with a sigh, Flynn said, “I’m alright, Dad. Just tired.”

“What the fuck were you doing in Watchung and how did you get there?”

“I hitched and don’t even scream at me. I’m tired of listening to you yell, Dad. You and Mom and I don’t want to listen to it any more, okay?” Flynn sank into the seat, a hand over his eyes. “I’m sick of it, man. I’m sick of guys at school telling me what my mom is doing with one of them, sick of having to hear about it, just sick of all of it.”

Thorin winced at the raw pain in Flynn’s voice. “I’m going to bring him back to the house, Frerin. Why don’t you let him stay with me and Leda for a few days?”

Frerin went quiet. “I’ll meet you and we can talk about it. Okay, Flynn?”

Flynn nodded, his, “Yeah, sure, whatever,” airy and thin.

“Okay.” Frerin said, sounding just as weary. “I’ll see you guys later. And Flynn? I love you, buddy. It’ll be okay eventually. I promise.”

“Yeah, sure it will.”

“It will. You’ll see. I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

Frerin clicked off and Flynn leaned his head back. “You sure Aunt Leda won’t mind me being there?”

“She won’t.” At least, he hoped she wouldn’t. Somehow, he couldn't see her refusing to allow Flynn to stay with them for a few days.

“She’s cool.” Flynn sounded half-asleep and when Thorin glanced over, it was to see his nephew’s eyes closed. “I’m glad you found her. I like her.”

“Yeah? I like her, too.”

“Aunt Dís says you should marry her.”

“Aunt Dís is too bossy for her own good.” Thorin slowed for a red light. “But, she’s also right. I should. And I will.”

Flynn nodded and then went quiet and Thorin just let him sleep. They still had a long ride ahead of them.

Leda frowned at Toni, who was once again on their doorstep. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Toni,” she said for what seemed like the thousandth time. “All I know is Flynn called Thorin and Thorin went to get him.”

“He’s my son, Leda. Not yours and not Thorin’s—”

“I’m well aware of that, but neither one of them is here. Look,” she gestured in the general direction of the driveway. “Do you see his car? No. No, you don’t and do you know why? Because he’s not here.”

Toni just stared at her through the glass in the storm door. “I’m not leaving until I see my son.”

Leda didn't even try to keep from rolling her eyes. “Fine.”

“I’m worried about him.”

“Worried?” Leda snorted, pressing a hand to her belly as one of the babies kicked. “You should worry, Toni. You should stew in it. Both you and Frerin and your inability to act like adults!”

Toni sighed, reaching up to rub her eyes with one hand. “I know. I don’t even know how it all got to this point. I really don’t.”

“Are you serious? It started—”

“I know when it started, Leda, thank you.”

“Hey, don’t give me shit because you fucked up, Toni. I had nothing to do with this.”

“No, I know… and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it.” Wood creaked as Toni turned around and sank onto the top porch step and buried her face in her hands.

Leda sighed softly. She almost felt sorry for Toni, sitting out in the bitter February cold. Thorin would be pissed, but she opened the door and said, “Come in out of the cold. Besides, my back hurts if I stand up for too long now.”

Toni slowly rose and turned. “How are you feeling otherwise?”

“I’m fine otherwise. Just the size of a house. I can only imagine what I’ll look like closer to July.”

She held open the door and Toni came into the family room. Conan, curled up on his bed near the television, looked up, barked once, and put his head back down to go back to sleep. Apparently he sensed no threat from Toni.

“Thank you, Leda.”

“Come on in and have a cup of coffee.” Leda led her into the kitchen and fired up the Keurig while Toni sank into one of the kitchen chairs.

“You know, I never started out to have an affair,” Toni said softly as Leda went to the pantry to take out two Tim Horton’s coffee pods. “I didn’t even like Rory all that much at first. He was a wiseass and expected me to do all of our lab work and that I’d just let him share the credit.”

“He sounds lovely.”

“I know.” Toni shook her head, her corkscrew curls bouncing in all directions. “I called him out on it while we were studying in the library before our midterm. He gave me some bullshit story about why I should just help him out a little and then he… God, I feel so fucking stupid, Leda. It was all a lie. He used me so I’d do the work and he’d get the grade. And I let him. I let him. He said all the rights things and made me feel like I was twenty again, like I did when I was twenty. And I liked it. I wasn’t just Frerin’s wife, or Flynn’s mother. I was me, my own person. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. I forgot what it was like to feel that way.”

Leda popped a pod into the Keurig and as it brewed, brought half and half and sugar over to the table. “He sounds like an asshole.”

“He is an asshole. He never wanted to go out, you know? Never wanted to go anywhere like the movies or to dinner or anywhere out in public. It was always sneaking around and motels and my house when Frerin wasn’t home and when I asked him if we were ever going to do what other couples did, he laughed. He laughed. Said he wasn't going to be seen out with someone people would mistake for his mother. We had a fight about it and later that night, I went to return some books I’d taken out for my Con History class, and I caught him in that same fucking library, in a dark corner, with another girl from our class.” She traced a forefinger along the woodgrain pattern in the table. “And I suppose I had that coming.”

Leda set a cup of coffee in front of her. “You kind of did.”

“I know.” She sighed softly. “But, Frerin isn’t as innocent as he wants everyone to think, either. He’s been cheating on me with an OR nurse for the last two years. And before that, an X-ray tech. And before that, a charge nurse.”

Leda brewed herself a cup and sat down across from her. “Really?”

Toni nodded. “And that’s just since Jake came along We’d been having problems long before that and we’d talked about separating, but then decided to try to work things out. I stupidly thought a baby would help, but it didn’t. It just pushed us further apart.” She went quiet for a moment, just studying the tabletop, then, she drew in a slightly shaky breath, exhaled slowly, and confessed, “To be honest, I don’t know that he ever really wanted to marry me to begin with.” She shrugged. “We’d only been seeing each other a short time and I got pregnant with Flynn and that was that. There was no way he wasn’t marrying me.”

Leda sat up straighter. Toni and Frerin’s story bore so many similarities to their story, it was almost uncanny, like a Durin family trait. The difference was, she’d turned Thorin’s proposal down. “Why was that?”

“My father would have killed him. Seriously.” Toni offered up a sad smile. “And I loved Frerin so much back then. We met as freshmen at Princeton and I thought he was just the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen. He was a lot like Thorin, you know? He was so hot. And he was one of those guys who usually looked right past girls like me. He could’ve had any girl on campus he wanted, but he chose me. He chose me and for once, other girls wished they were me. He was funny and charming and sexy as hell and I fell in love with him probably on our first date. He loved to play and have fun and a wife and family were not on his list of things to do.

“But then I got pregnant. We were barely twenty years old, but, he asked me to marry him and we managed to make it work for a little while. My dad made it possible for me to stay home while Frerin finished school, finished medical school, and the plan was that when Flynn started school full time, I’d go back and finish my degree. But, the timing just never seemed right. And then, Frerin started picking up extra shifts at the hospital, he went to more conferences, things like that. Then strange charges showed up on our credit card statements—the usual red flags. By then, I was pregnant with Moira, and then Jake and now? It’s too late. We stopped trying years ago. I’ve probably done us both a favor, in reality.”

“Maybe, but your children don’t see it that way. And Moira and Flynn have it far worse than Jake.”

“I know. Frerin told me. And Christ, I just feel like such an ass, Leda. I really do. I thought Rory really cared about me. I fell for his bullshit because I really wanted to believe it. My husband wasn’t interested in me, my kids didn't really need me any longer, I fell old and dumpy and useless and then this hot young guy comes along and tells me all the things I want to hear. And I want to hear them so badly, my bullshit meter stops working and I believe him. It as just like being nineteen again, only this time, I had the freedom I didn’t have back then.”

She traced her finger along the cup’s handle and in that moment, sympathy washed over Leda. Toni looked positively broken. And for reasons she couldn't explain, Leda believed her. Maybe it was because she knew Thorin, knew what he was like before she’d come into his life. It was easy to see Frerin being the same way. He was a good-looking man, in a position of power—she noticed how each woman Toni ticked off was in a more subordinate position and not a single one was another doctor.

“I’m sorry,” Leda said softly, sipping her coffee. “But maybe this is for the best. I mean, you should’ve handled it a lot differently, but—”

“What was Flynn’s teammate saying to him? Frerin wouldn’t tell me. All he’d say was that he thought Flynn was most likely going to get kicked off the team.”

“I think you and Frerin need to discuss that between yourself, calmly. I think you need to talk out a lot of things, to be honest.”

Toni nodded. “I know.”

Gravel crunched and Leda got up to move to the window to peer through it. Thorin’s Mustang rolled to a stop at the garage and she said, “Stay here and let me just let Thorin know you’re here.”

Toni nodded. Leda braced herself for the cold and tugged open the kitchen door as Thorin and Flynn emerged from the car.

Thorin frowned. “Leda, what’re you doing? Trying to give yourself pneumonia?”

“I’m fine.” She wrapped her arms about herself, stepping down into the yard. “Toni’s here.”

Both Thorin and Flynn stared at her. “What?” Thorin growled, his hand coming down onto Flynn’s shoulder.

“She was worried about you,” she said to Flynn, and to Thorin, said, “And I think you need to listen to her and then go talk to your brother.”

“Frerin? Why?”

Before she could answer, the kitchen door opened again and Toni came out onto the porch. Flynn’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

Before Toni could say anything, another car roared down the drive. A silver Infiniti. Leda held her breath as Frerin jammed on the brakes to send a cloud of reddish dust swirling about them. He jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and hurried around to engulf Flynn in a bear hug.

“Dad, let go,” Flynn grumbled, jerking free of his father’s arms. “Leave me alone. Both of you, just leave me alone!” He stormed past both his father and his mother and into the house.

Frerin glared at Toni. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s my son, too, Frerin. I know you’d like to pretend he’s not, but—”

“You’re the reason he took off yesterday!”

“No,” Thorin broke in calmly, “you’re both why he took off. Look, I don’t pretend to know what’s been going on between the two of you and honestly? I don’t give a damn. That’s between you two and only you two. And that’s where it should stay. And you both need to knock it the fuck off already.”

“Did you tell him about the tech, Frerin?” Toni asked, her voice void of any emotion. “Or the nurses? Or the med student? Or did you just let me be the villain in this scenario because it makes you look like father of the year?”

Leda bit the inside of her cheek as Frerin’s eyebrows shot up, and his glower faded. Thorin turned to him. “Is that true, man? Have you been cheating on her as well?”

Frerin sank against the Infiniti’s fender, rubbing his eyes with one hand. Lowering his hand, he nodded and sighed softly. “Yeah. It’s true.”

Toni pressed her lips together, her eyes shiny. “Thank you,” she told him softly, then turned to Leda and hugged her. “And thank you for listening.”

Leda didn’t really know what to say back, so she just returned the embrace and murmured, “I’m so sorry. For all of you.”

Thorin cleared his throat. “Flynn’s going to stay with us for a few days, Leda, if you don’t mind.”

“No,” Frerin broke in softly, “he’s not, Thorin. I think maybe we need to sit down with him and Moira and listen to them,” he looked over at Toni, “so he should come home with me.”

Toni nodded. “Maybe we can go see a counsellor or something.” As Frerin opened his mouth to protest, she added, “One not at the hospital.”

Frerin closed his mouth and nodded slowly. “That’s probably not a bad idea. And maybe the kids can see one without us. I mean, if they want to.”

Thorin looked from Frerin to Toni and back again. “All right. Let me go get him.”

Frerin managed sad smile. “Thanks, Thorin. And you, too, Leda. For everything.”

“Thorin?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you know Frerin was fooling around as well?”

“Truth?”

“Truth.”

He swept his fingertips lightly along her arm as they lay snuggled together under the covers, her head comfortable against his chest. A soft sigh and he said, “Yeah. I knew about the x-ray tech and the charge nurse. But I didn't know about the med student or the OR nurse.”

She traced a small circle over his chest. “She told me the only reason they got married was because she was pregnant with Flynn. And they were so young.”

“It was the spring of his freshman year in college and all I knew was that she was pregnant at their wedding, but…” His fingers went still. “Wait… do you still think that’s why I asked you to marry me?”

She didn’t answer right away, but continued circling her way across his chest. The sheets rustled as he pulled away and sat up. “Leda? Is that what you think? Still?”

“You told me you didn't want to get married and that you didn't want kids. And then all of the sudden you wanted both?”

He sighed, shaking his head. “That’s not why I asked you. I asked you because I love you. Because I want us to be together.”

“Would you have asked me if I wasn't pregnant?”

“I can’t believe you’d even ask me that, Leda. Not now.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“You didn’t want to get married, either, remember? You didn’t want to be exclusive, you didn’t want me spending the night, all you wanted was to fuck and go on your merry way.”

Heat crept into his voice with each word, and she shrugged. “You were the same way, so don’t try to act like you weren’t.”

“Jesus, Leda, we’ve been together for months now. We live together. And now you think that’s because what? I feel some sort of obligation to you?”

She sighed softly, shaking her head. “No. I guess… I don’t know… I… God., I’m just being a jackass, Thorin. I’m sorry.”

He sank against the headboard, catching a handful of his hair to toss out of his eyes. “I’m not my brother, mesmel. I’m not going to fuck around with anymore bartenders or shot girls or anyone not you. I asked you to marry me because I wanted to marry you. And I still do. And when you decide you’re ready, I’ll ask again.”

“You will?”

“Yeah, I will. I haven’t changed my mind, you know. I’m just waiting for you to change yours. And take as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thorin.”

“What?” The sheets rustled again as he slid down and then leaned over to brush her lips with his. “I’m not. I’m where I belong. And I have every intention of staying right here.”

She rolled onto her side, tucking one hand beneath her cheek. “It’s just the parallels are eerie, Thorin. You and your brother. Me and Toni.”

“The difference is, we aren’t kids. And I didn't have your father behind me with the proverbial shotgun. I’m almost forty. You’re catching up to me—” he grinned as she smacked him lightly in the chest—“and I’m happy with you. I’m happy here, like this, and I never thought that would happen. I look forward to meeting our boys, and I am dead serious when I say I would marry you tomorrow, Leda, because I would.”

She looked up to meet his soft blue eyes and her heart sped up as she whispered, “Thorin?”

“What?”

“Ask me again.”

“What?”

She couldn’t keep from smiling as she said, “Ask me to marry you again.”

“Leda? Are you serious?”

She nodded. “I am, yeah.”

For a moment, he just stared, but then, her mouth went dry as he sat up and slid to the edge of the bed to stand. Her heart raced again as he moved to his dresser and opened a top drawer to take something out.

“I’ve had this since before Christmas,” he said, coming back to stand beside the bed. “And if you’re sure you want me to ask,” he smiled and sank to one knee, creaking the box open in the same motion, “will you marry me?”

Her eyes stung as she gazed down at the ring nestled in white velvet. It was utterly stunning—princess cut diamond set in platinum with smaller round diamonds along the band. “Oh… Thorin… this is… holy shit…”

“What? I told you I was serious.” He plucked the ring from the velvet and caught her by the hand to slip it onto her ring finger. “Will you marry me? You haven’t answered me yet, you know.”

Her eyes stung as the stones glittered brilliantly and when she looked up and met his gaze, she smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

#Richard Armitage #The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fic #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction #Thorin x OC #AU #Thorin Fic #Is it hot in here?#Romance #Modern AU #Pub AU

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