#also the hop where jack gets smacked with the branch and just looks over like 'the FUCK you doing' sends me every time

[fighting-naturalist]

Daniel hopping his way (twice intentionally, once less so) through “Deadman Switch”

#stargate #stargateedit #sg-1 #daniel jackson #michael shanks #BLESS for the fact that they used the take where he tripped #it's such a charming little daniel moment #also the hop where jack gets smacked with the branch and just looks over like 'the FUCK you doing' sends me every time #***edits

[chuuyas--boo]

Ghosts.

An: Read the tags before continuing. Block tags you're triggered by, and don't complain if YOU chose to keep reading and get bothered.

Jack giggled as Riley gently pushed her younger brother on the swing, hanging from a thick, strong tree branch. The two would often visit this area especially if their mother was drunk or high and could avoid being around her for a while. It was one of those times. Mrs. Morgan had started yelling at Riley, so Riley grabbed her younger brother and left.

Suddenly Jack dragged his feet on the ground, slowing the swing down until it stopped.

"Jack?...Jackie what's wrong?!"

Jack hopped off the swing and stood in front of Riley, smiling, but blood slowly ran down his face from a fatal gash in his head.

"Why? You said it wouldn't hurt...you said everything would stop hurting! So why does it still hurt? It hurts real bad Rie..."

Jack's emerald green eyes looked dead, clouded and empty, any innocence in his gaze had faded. It was just like an empty void.

Riley collapsed on her knees, tears started streaming down her face, sobs wracking her body violently. "I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Jack..." Riley choked on her words as her face heated up and tears ran down her face faster.

"Riley! Riley wake up!"

Riley woke up to Eddie gently shaking her. Tears started running down her face as she looked at him.

"H-hey what's wrong? Why're you crying?!" Eddie's pretty emerald green eyes gleamed with worry as the ginger girl started crying even harder.

Eddie's gaze softened and he hugged Riley "Did you have a nightmare?" Riley quietly nodded "I'm such a horrible person..." she hissed under her breath "No you're not! What's wrong...?" "I hurt Jack...and he said it hurt..." Eddie tilted his head but then remembered how Riley had a younger brother "Ah! You're not a horrible person just for that! You were helping him!" Riley just stared blankly at the floor "I said it wouldn't hurt...but he said it did...he was scared!" Eddie gently wiped the tears off her cheeks and hugged her again. "You're still not a horrible person, you're a very lovely girl, it was just a nightmare! I'm sure Jack's happy and safe~! You should hurry up and go downstairs though! There's pancakes and everyone's worrieddd"

Well...almost everyone.

Eddie got up and quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. Riley glanced outside, the sun had already risen most of the way, but there were streaks of pink still in the sky, that looked almost like blood smears. Down on the ground, under the thick of the forest where sunlight barely reached, there were two pale, misty figures, one looked like a woman in a wedding dress and the other looked sickeningly similar to Jack. After changing into a gray t-shirt, shorts, brushing her hair, and putting it into a ponytail, Riley ran downstairs, past the kitchen, to where the burlap masks, gloves, and boots were kept. She quickly put her boots on and ran outside. "Rie-Rieeee! Aren't you gonna eat?!" Riley glanced back, stopping at the door. "Not hungry!" and then ran off into the forest, not paying any attention to the outdoor animals, she had to see if she truly saw ghosts or if it was just her imagination.

***

Riley stood in the forest, heart pounding, feeling like giving up. "It was just my imagination..."

Something quickly darted past, catching Riley's gaze. "Something wrong sis? You look sad!"

Riley's heart dropped, she recognized that sweet, childish voice, but it almost sounded as if in pain now. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, but tears started to well in her eyes as she looked at the small ghostly figure.

"Don't cry! I'm safe...since you killed me...!"

Riley's gaze fell to the ground as the small ghostly figure got closer to her "You're scary Rie...it really hurt! And you said it wouldn't..."

"Jack...I'm sorry..."

"Are you really? If you were you wouldn't have killed anyone else. If you really were sorry you'd have learned from what you did to me."

"B-but you asked me to! You told me to!"

Jack's once pretty, innocent eyes looked cold, and empty in death, though still innocent.

Jack quietly glanced back, looking at the other ghostly figure, which appeared to be a woman in a wedding dress, as if getting married. Riley's gaze followed Jack's glance.

After a few moments of silence, both of the pale, ghostly figures disappeared. Riley sighed deeply and then sat against a tree silently.

***

"Riley! ...Rileyyyyy....!" Riley's gaze jerked towards where she heard Albert's voice nearby, she'd been sitting under the tree for a while, watching random bugs and butterflies. She got up and ran over. "Al!" "What're you doing out here-?" "O-oh! Umm, nothing!"

Albert's ivy green gaze met Riley's mismatched gaze "What were you actually doing? You've been out here for over an hour."

Riley wiggled her foot in the dirt, staring at the ground.

"Look at me." Albert's voice was firm but also somehow soft, knowing Riley'd flinch if he raised his voice, he kept it somewhat calm and quiet, though worried.

Riley glanced up at him nervously, fiddling with her fingers.

"H-hey! Don't look so scared! Just tell me what you were doing.." "Ghosts." That single word sent a shiver down Albert's spine "What..?" "Ghosts," Riley repeated, not saying anything else.

"I'm gonna need you to elaborate, Riley."

"My brother and some woman..."

Albert sighed. "let's go back"

The two of them walked back to the house in silence.

***

"Where have you been?"

Riley ignored the question, not caring since it was Henry who asked.

"Answer me bitch."

Riley stopped and silently glared at him. "I was outside, mind your own business.."

And with that, Riley went to her room. Taking her boots off, Riley sat by the window and watched the branches and leaves dance in the wind outside.

"RILEY ELIZABETH MORGAN GET DOWN HERE!"

Riley felt her heart drop, suddenly scared.

"C-coming...!"

She got up and quickly ran downstairs.

Eddie and George were playing with one of the dogs, Carl was in his room playing video games, and Albert was watching tv.

Riley hesitantly walked into the kitchen and immediately cringed at the strong stench of alcohol, she was used to it but it's not the most pleasant thing.

"Listen here you little bitch, you can respect me or leave. Don't ever ignore me again, I'll beat your ugly little ass"

"I-Im sorry..."

"SORRY DOESN'T FIX SHIT! AND DON'T INTERFERE WITH THE TRADITION-"

"Again with the tradition shit..?" Riley hissed under her breath.

"SHUT UP YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS!"

Riley's hands slowly balled into fists as she looked at the man infront of her, refraining from yelling so to avoid drawing any attention to herself. It was too late to avoid drawing any attention to her, both Eddie and Albert stopped what they were doing and their gazes were filed in the direction of the kitchen.

"A stupid tradition shouldn't be put before the well being and mental health of YOUR FUCKING FAMILY"

Henry's drunken glare was piercing as he glared at Riley.

"Don't have anything to say because I'm right."

Without any sort of warning, Henry smacks Riley, hard.

Albert heard Riley's wince, hesitating, not wanting to get involved, but at the same time not wanting her to get hurt. Albert's hesitation was longer than he thought, both Eddie and George had already gotten up and ran into the kitchen after hesitating as well.

***

When Albert had gotten up and ran into the kitchen, Riley was standing with one hand over her nose, blood trickling down her face and tears in her eyes.

"D-dad stop! She's crying!"

Riley shot George an icy glare as it telling him not to bother.

"Well she can fucking cry! She's a pussy and needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut!"

Whatever was keeping Riley from yelling again snapped. "YOU'RE THE PUSSY! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAN'T DO ANYTHING AND HAS TO FORCE HIS CHILDREN TO DO SHIT AT AN AGE WHERE THEY SHOULDN'T BE SEEING DEAD BODIES! THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SEE THEM AT ALL BUT YOU'RE TOO STUPID AND SELF-CENTERED TO CARE ABOUT ANYONE OR ANYTHING BESIDES YOURSELF AND SOME STUPID FUCKING TRADITION YOU COULD'VE FUCKING MADE UP! AND YOU WONDER WHY WE ALL FUCKING HATE YOU!"

Everyone's gaze was fixed on Riley, Carl had come downstairs to see what was happening, all the brothers stared at Riley in shock. Riley stood there breathing heavily, she had moved her hand away from her face, letting blood run down her face faster and off of her hand, her breath hitched as she stared at Henry.

"Get the fuck out. NOW-"

Riley didn't need to be told twice, she ran outside. Albert ran after her "Riley!"

Riley glanced back at him, "What?" Her tone sounded weirdly pissed off still, which was shocking, she never used that tone towards Albert, but her eyes looked apologetic.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about."

That was obviously a lie, her nose was bleeding heavily, lip was busted, has some bruises on her arms and a dark red mark on her cheek.

"You're obviously not fine"

Riley sighed "I'm fine, I've been through worse, it doesn't even hurt"

Albert's gaze filled with doubt, as he gently touched one of the bruises and Riley flinched.

"So you're fine huh?"

Riley let out a huff of slight annoyance. "Yes Al, I'm fine"

"Shut up and let's get you bandaged up"

***

Days had passed, Riley refused to eat and when she did she'd immediately go make herself throw up, when anyone would ask her if she's okay or of something's wrong shed just say "I'm fine", or "Nope. Nothing's wrong".

Those several days, Albert would check on her before he went to bed to ask her if she was going to sleep as well, which she always replied "Yes" even though she didn't, she stayed awake and watched out the window watching the ghostly figures, sometimes going outside to walk around in the forest.

Eventually she gave up and decided to sleep in Albert's room, the two of them cuddled until Riley fell asleep.

#death ment tw #Murder tw #Oc: Riley Morgan #Oc: Jack Morgan #Oc: Ghost Bride #Edward Mason #Carl Mason #George Mason #Albert Mason #Angels of Death #Angels of Death oc #AU #Abuse tw #Eating disorder tw

[allofthisnonsenseplease]

Another fairy tale with Gabe and Jack. This time, it’s “The Frog Prince” =)

Also, Sombra is in this one.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom that had lost its king to war and then its queen to illness only a few short years after. The royal couple had left behind a young daughter, Princess Sombra, who would officially ascend to the throne on her eighteenth birthday. Until that time, the country was in the hands of her uncle, Lord Gabriel, who had been appointed to serve as regent until his niece was prepared to take on the burden of leadership. Gabriel had done his best, for he loved Sombra just as dearly as he had loved her mother, his sister, but his niece could be headstrong and capricious. He believed that she would make a good queen, for she was intelligent, intuitive, and tough as nails, but her flippancy and occasional bouts of selfishness gave him pause. Still, it wasn't in his heart to be harsher on her for those slight failings, as she had known terrible loss at such a young age. Certain that her heart was in the right place, Gabriel served her and their country well and faithfully in preparation for the day that she would be crowned queen.

One lovely summer day, having decided that she'd earned a break from her studies, Sombra went for a walk in the palace gardens. The gardens were extensive, a labyrinth of intersecting pathways and hidden arbors, sculpted hedges and well-tended flowerbeds, statues and fountains and a small hedge maze. She wandered the familiar paths, making a game out of avoiding the army of gardeners, slipping past them unseen. She liked to pretend that she was a sorceress, and that her treasure—the beautiful golden ball her parents had given her for the last of her birthdays when they'd all been together—was the source of her power, or sometimes the magical box she'd hidden her heart in so that she could never be killed as long as it remained whole. The ball was her most prized possession, a link to what she had lost, although she would never admit to the depth of attachment she felt for a mere object.

She had the golden ball with her that day, and played with it as she went: letting it run down the length of her arm, roll over the backs of her fingers and right around into her palm as she turned her hand beneath it, setting it to spinning on a fingertip, or tossing it into the air to see how it almost hovered for a moment at the apex of its arc before plummeting back into her waiting hand. It was only when she needed to be stealthy that she stilled it, hid it away in her skirts, and pretended it had the power to make her unnoticeable. She played this way all through the garden, feet leading her ever closer to the secluded south corner and the shady pond awaiting her there.

Few people came to the pond. It had been left to grow somewhat wild, and had no comfortable places to sit and host a tea, unlike the rest of the meticulously clipped and shaped gardens. It was one of Sombra's favorite places to go when she wanted to be alone, and she sighed as she reached the cool, humid shadows beneath the willow overlooking the water. Under its trailing branches, she was screened from sight, and she dropped quickly to sit on the grass, heedless of her dress.

As she sat there, thoughts still wrapped up in all her lessons and duties as princess, she toyed absently with the golden ball. She was so accustomed to the feel of it in her hands, that the possibility of dropping it didn't even occur to her until after she had fumbled it and watched it roll down the bank, bounce off a small uneven patch of earth, and splash down below the surface of the lake.

Belatedly, she scrambled to the water's edge, staring in disbelief at the place where the ball had disappeared. She had lost it in a heartbeat, and all of a sudden, it really did feel as if her heart had been stowed away inside. Maybe in all those old tales it had been safer for the witch to hide it away somewhere, but nowhere had they mentioned that the separation would hurt.

Sombra cursed up a blue streak, covering up an unexpectedly cutting sorrow at the loss with simple anger over her own carelessness. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she tried hard not to think about how she had just thrown away the last gift her father had ever given her.

“Need some help?”

The rough, unfamiliar voice startled a gasp out of her, and she shot to her feet, searching for the speaker. There was no one around, however, the secluded pond as deserted as it had been when she had arrived. Just as she was wondering if she had imagined the voice, it came again.

“Easy, Princess. Didn't mean to startle you. I'm down here.”

She looked down toward where the voice had come from, expecting to see a man swimming in the pond. Instead, all she saw was a particularly large, spotted frog. Staring at him, her surprise quickly turned to hope.

“You showed up just in time, little frog! I need you to swim down and bring back my golden ball for me, all right? I'll owe you big time.”

“If it's that important, how about we make a bargain?”

Intrigued, she leaned a little closer. “Name your terms, Hoppy.”

“Fetching that ball isn't going to be easy for me. It's heavy for one thing, and between the water and my skin, it's going to be slippery. Not only that, but this pond is deeper than it looks. I'll fetch it back up for you, and if you ever drop it here again I'll do the same. In exchange, I want a nicer place to live.”

“You want me to have the gardeners clean this place up?”

“Hardly. No, I want to come live with you in the palace: eat in the grand hall with you off your golden plates, drink from your golden cups, and sleep in a royal suite on your silken pillows.”

“That's a lot to ask for, Hoppy,” Sombra said, crossing her arms.

“You try living in a pond. And quit calling me 'Hoppy.' Do we have a deal?”

She smiled crookedly, deciding that she liked the cranky little frog. “Sure thing.”

Immediately, the frog turned and leapt into the pond, as if afraid she might change her mind. He disappeared beneath the dark surface, and was gone for so long that Sombra actually started to nod off. She jerked awake, wondering if maybe she had actually fallen asleep and dreamed the entire thing. Just as she was considering going back to the palace, however, the frog broke the surface, mouth stretched wide around the golden ball.

Delighted, Sombra clapped her hands, and reached to snatch up the ball the moment the frog spat it out. She wiped it on the grass, cleaning off the mud and frog slime, and cradled it protectively against her chest.

The frog worked his jaw, rubbing at it with his stubby arms, then said: “I've fulfilled my half of the bargain. Now you can carry me up to the palace to fulfill yours.”

Sombra laughed. “You're a funny guy, little frog. I don't remember promising to carry you anywhere.”

“You said—!”

“I know what I said, Freckles, and our bargain didn't include transportation. Hop on up to the palace whenever you're ready to move in,” she said with a smile, and reached out to touch a fingertip to his nose. “Boop!” Then she was off, laughing as she raced back through the garden.

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

Hours later, as Sombra and her uncle and the royal court were just beginning their dinner, a harried-looking page hurried up to Gabriel with a message. There was...an individual just outside, insisting that he had been personally invited by the Princess to dine at the royal table. Gabriel turned to his niece with a raised eyebrow.

“Sombra?”

“Little fellow?” Sombra asked, not even trying to contain her grin. “Spotty complexion?”

“Y-yes, Your Highness.”

“I was wondering how long it would take for him to get here!” Her eyes glittered with amusement. “What he says is true. I made a bargain.”

Gabriel sighed. “If the Princess has given her word, then she is bound by it. See the man in.”

“Er. Yes. My Lord.” The page turned tail and fled. Gabriel watched him go, considered the look on Sombra's face, and wondered what his niece had gotten into this time.

Gabriel was a difficult man to surprise, but even he had not expected the frog. The assembled nobility fell quiet as the door was held open and the frog announced to the company. The faint smack of his webbed feet against the floor was clearly audible in the otherwise silent room. Every eye was trained on the frog's slow, steady progress as he hopped closer and closer to the dais at the head of the room. Sneaking a glance at Sombra, Gabriel saw the glee in her face at having engineered something so startlingly unusual.

Finally, the frog made it up to the dais. He crouched there, so near that he was barely visible across the table, and made a sort of bow to Sombra.

“Princess, I have made my own way to the castle, as you can see. I trust you'll be keeping to our bargain.”

“Sure thing, Tiny. Can you hop up onto a chair, or should we have a plate set down for you?”

“Sombra!” Gabriel itched to swat the back of her head, but such a reprimand was not one to be seen by the entire court. “If you've invited him here, then mind your manners. Help your guest up to the table.”

She laughed and waved her hand airily, dismissing his orders. “Nah, Uncle Gabe. Bargaining's a little different from inviting, don't you think? And Freckles and me, we've already had a talk about how much help he can expect from me while he's living here.” She smiled at the frog and winked.

With a sigh, Gabriel rose from his seat and came around the table. He knelt before the frog and offered a hand.

“It seems there's a story here, and I'd like to hear your version of events along with my niece's. I'll assist you up to the table and have an extra setting brought out.” When the frog hesitated to climb onto his hand, Gabriel was reminded that some found his size and his scars intimidating. “Not as clumsy as I look. You'll be fine. Unless it's beneath your dignity to be carried.”

“No,” the frog said, his voice coming out as a chirp. He croaked and tried again, and his voice was gruff once more. “No, I've got no problems with that.” So saying, he climbed onto Gabriel's hand, and let himself be lifted and carried to the table where he was sat down gently between the regent and the princess.

“As to the plate,” the frog said as Gabriel motioned to a servant, “the Princess promised me that I could eat from her own plate and drink from her own cup.”

“They're all my plates, Leaps. Who do you think owns this place?”

“Sombra,” Gabriel warned. He couldn't quite keep a smile from tugging at the corners of his lips, however. “It sounds like my niece might have gotten the better of you. I'm interested to hear the story.”

A separate plate and goblet were brought out, and Gabriel ate while listening to Sombra tell the tale with a few interruptions from the frog. At the end, he chuckled, and looked down at their guest.

“That's the trouble with bargaining with girls who think they're sorceresses—it's never going to end up the way you want. Her word is good. I'll back it up, myself. You can consider the palace your home for as long as you like. You can dine with us here and live in the royal quarters. No special arrangements are going to be made outside of that, however. You've bargained your way into a place not built to your scale. Stay as long as you can manage, but any difficulties are yours to work out. Sombra has enough to do without being your guardian into the bargain.”

“I don't need a guardian. If I made a bad deal, then that's on me. I accept that. But I'm not about to give up over a little inconvenience.”

“That's the spirit, Spot!” Sombra cheered.

When the frog turned to look at her, Gabriel drowned a smile in a sip of wine. It was hard to gauge the expression on the frog's face, but he was almost certain that he was seeing exasperation there. Sombra could try the patience of stone when she wanted to, and, from the looks of things, she had decided that the frog was going to be her new...pet project. Gabriel would be surprised if her payment for his favor lasted three days before the frog gave up and went home. He almost felt sorry for the creature.

After the meal was over, Sombra rose to leave, but was stopped as the frog hopped closer to her.

“Before you go, Princess, tell me which of the rooms is to be mine, as I assume you won't be sharing. Remember, you did promise me a royal suite.”

For the first time, Sombra looked less than pleased with herself over the bargain. The only unoccupied rooms in the wing of the palace reserved for royalty had belonged to her parents, and she wasn't about to let a frog lay claim to those. She hesitated, staring down at him and feeling the first spark of anger over his presumption.

Gabriel guessed her dilemma and offered a solution. “You can share my rooms, Frog. I'll even give you a lift there, just this once.”

He rested his hand palm-up on the table as the frog stared up at him, considering. The frog would have been a fool to refuse the offer, but he still hesitated long enough that Gabriel nearly withdrew his hand. He wondered if the frog was afraid of him after all, and afraid of being carried away from witnesses. In the end, however, the frog climbed onto his palm without further prompting, and Gabriel set off for his quarters, carrying his unexpected guest carefully.

It wasn't long before he realized that the frog was staring at him, rather than watching to see where they were going. Gabriel ignored it for most of the way, but as they neared his door, he halted and looked at the frog.

“You're staring,” he accused. “Scared I'll turn out to be as evil a bastard as I look?”

“I was thinking that you're rather handsome, actually.”

Now, it was Gabriel's turn to stare. Was he really seeing a flush of darker skin across the frog's nose? Laughing, he let himself into his room.

“I like my men a bit taller. Besides, I'm not sure if being considered handsome by a frog is a compliment or not.”

“I meant it as one.”

“I could tell as much.” He ran a finger over the scars marring his right cheek, unaccountably pleased. “I've got some work to finish up. Anything you need for now?”

“My skin is getting dry. Could I have a bowl of water to soak in?”

“Certainly.”

Gabriel set the frog down on his desk, and filled the basin on his washstand with fresh water from the ewer. He brought it over and set it out of the way on the far corner so that the frog could have his soak nearby. Then, he settled in and got to work reviewing all the reports and new developments that had come in during the day while he'd been occupied with other things.

It was hours later when he finished, and he leaned back in his chair to stretch. The frog was watching him when he relaxed, and might have been watching for some time for all that Gabriel had been paying attention.

“Sorry if I haven't been the best host.”

“Not like I have anything to offer you by way of a distraction.”

“What, no exciting tales about life in the pond?”

“I haven't lived there long.”

“Made a bad bargain at your last castle?”

“Something like that.”

Gabriel grinned at him. “I'll wish you the best of luck here. I think you'll need it. For now, though, what we probably both need is a good night's sleep.” He fetched a pillow off his bed, and placed it on the chair in front of the desk so that the frog could easily get to the basin again if he needed another soak in the middle of the night.

“The bed would have been fine.”

“Trust me, you don't want to share with me. I'm a restless sleeper.”

It wasn't quite a lie. The night terrors he'd suffered from ever since returning home from the war that had cost the country its king did indeed make him a restless, violent sleeper. The frog would be far safer away from the bed.

“The Princess promised me a kiss, as well. Will you be filling in for that, too?”

Gabriel arched a brow. “I don't recall that being included in her account earlier.” It took him a moment to recognize the trilling sound the frog made as a laugh.

“Figured it couldn't hurt to try.”

They said their good nights and settled into their respective beds. Smiling to himself, Gabriel hoped that he had been wrong in his initial assessment of the frog's chances. It seemed like it might be amusing to have him around.

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

In the wee hours of the morning, the frog was woken by the sounds of groans, unintelligible shouts, and thrashing. He had suspected that Gabriel had either been lying to him about being a restless sleeper, or else vastly exaggerating the issue, but he recognized the night terrors for what they were, and his heart went out to the man. Feeling that he couldn't leave Gabriel in such a state, he hopped from the chair to the floor, then onto the bench at the foot of the bed, then onto the great heaving ocean of sheets that covered the struggling regent.

“Gabriel,” he called, hopping carefully up towards the head of the bed. “Wake up, Gabriel. You're home in bed. You're safe.”

When Gabriel began to calm, the frog made the mistake of thinking that it was safe to get closer. He made one more leap, and landed partially on Gabriel's neck when the man shifted. With a shout, Gabriel's eyes flew open. Still caught in the grip of whatever awful memories had clawed their way through his sleeping mind, he snatched the frog off his throat, and flung him away as hard as he could. There was a horrible, final-sounding thump, then only the sounds of Gabriel's ragged breathing as his rational mind slowly reasserted itself.

As he came around, Gabriel eventually noticed a sense of coolness on his throat. Touching his skin, he felt dampness there, but although his fingers glistened faintly when he drew them away, there was no blood.

“What...?” Memory returned in a rush, and, with it, realization. “Frog!”

Gabriel threw back the covers and was out of bed in a heartbeat. He found the frog lying limp and belly-up on the floor, and knelt before it. The tiny body was still and cold as he lifted it up.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered, sick at heart over what he had done. “I should have warned you. I'm sorry.” Gently, he kissed the tip of the frog's nose.

There was a blinding flash of light and the crack of a small thunderclap. Gabriel was buffeted by a gust of displaced air, and suddenly felt something heavy across his thighs. As his vision cleared, he found himself with his hands cupping the face of a very startled-looking blond man, a man who was currently straddling his lap while quite naked.

“It worked?” the man asked dazedly. Then, blue eyes gaining focus as a smile broke out across a face as thickly dusted with freckles as the frog had been with spots, he exclaimed: “It worked!Gabriel, you did it! You broke the curse! I'm human again! I—!” Looking down, he noticed his complete lack of clothing and laughed self-consciously. “I guess I should have seen that coming.”

Gabriel gaped at him openly. “You're not a frog,” he managed.

No, the man sitting on his lap was most definitely not a frog. Gabriel's gaze roamed over his face, strong-featured and open beneath a thatch of blond hair. He had broad shoulders sprinkled with freckles, a chest that was practically begging to be touched, toned stomach, trim waist.... Gabriel forced himself to look up. He saw that his hands were still holding the former frog's face, and he let go with an effort. Running the country had kept him too busy for personal relationships for years, and he felt as if he was being unfairly tested by the delicious treat that had just dropped into his lap.

“Crown Prince, actually. Name's Jack. Um, Gabriel. I was just wondering, if it's not too impertinent to ask—” Jack's impish smile said that he didn't care if it was. “—am I tall enough to catch your interest now?”

#cornfuck and the reaper #fanfiction #i had originally had Gabe's shoujo bubbles vision at the end there describe Jack as 'gorgeous' but omg such lies #that chin makes him look like a shoebill