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dreamerschroniclesofstories · 5 months

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Hey love ! Hope you’re having a wonderful day/night 🩷

Could you please do a Tommy X reader where the reader works for him ( it could be his maid or secretary) and someone says something mean to them and they feel so humiliated that they leave. At first Tommy doesn’t know what happened until someone tells him and he goes ballistic and ends up defending her then they end up together 🩷 it could be angst to fluff please :) thank you so much

Sorry for any mistake !! English is not my first language

Hey lovelie! Thank you so much for your ask, I can definitely do that for you!. Hope you guys enjoy.

This fic will be based around season three, this means that Tommy and grace do not get married, in this she had Charles then left Tommy. Also, in this Lizzie is a bitch but its only for the purpose in the fic x.

Summery: request above

Word count: 2,321

When you were twenty, you had graduated from bed-ford college, which was very uncommon since not many people could read or write, but luckily your mother learnt you from a young age how to both which allowed you to complete your studies.

However, this meant that when people found out you were from London and had gone to one of the most prestigious colleges for young women, you were judged. Most people thought you were a privileged woman from a rich family. Unknownst to anyone but yourself, you aren't. You lived in a one bedroom apartment with your mother and two younger sisters. Your father had left your mother ,after your youngest sister was born, for a younger woman.

As you grew up, your mother had become ill, she had began to suffer from Melancholia, as her doctor described it. She never recovered from it and died when you had moved back home after graduating. When your mother died, your young sisters were left in your care and you decided you wanted to leave London and find somewhere else for your sisters to grow up. After nearly four years, you found your current home, Birmingham.

You loved your job, all you had to do was respond to letters for Tommy, make sure his schedule was up to date, make sure there weren’t any over laps and make meetings on his behalf. The only bad part of the job was sharing the room with tommys other secretary, Lizzie stark. At first, when she had started working two weeks after you started. She was nice, you spoke everyday, had lunch together whilst on break but once you started to get closer to Tommy she began to change.

At the beginning, you pretended not to notice, thinking maybe she was just having a bad day but every time you went into tommys office without knocking or every time Tommy comes in work, he stops to speak to you and asks you how your weekends been and how you sisters are, Lizzie would grumble under her breath and when you weren't looking would steal the paperwork Tommy gave you to sort out so she could do it and claim you weren't.

Today was one of the days that Lizzie was being extremely bitchy, it was a Friday afternoon which meant Tommy wasn't in the office most of the day. He was either at a meeting or in the betting shop. This left you and Lizzie alone.

You had just gone into tommys office to put the paperwork Tommy needed on his desk when Lizzie walks in as well.

“ Tommy has a lot of whores, one for each month, which one are you?”she sits down at the round oak table, getting out a cigarette then lights it.

You turn around to look at Lizzie and frowns, not understanding the purpose of this conversation “ what Mr Shelby does in his personal life is none of my business”

“don't act dumb, you know what i'm talking about Y/N” Lizzie spits, venom lacing her voice.

“ i don't think we should be having this conversation when Mr Shelby isn't here, its not appropriate” you asserted, picking up another pile of paperwork, being to walk back to the double doors that leads out to you desk and Lizzie.

The sound of scuffing catches your attention, making you stop walking and look towards Lizzie once again “ get off your high horse Y/N, this is Birmingham everyone is a whore, they don’t have money to act like they are better then everyone” Lizzie barked, pointing a finger at you.

Your heart begins to race, the blood running through your veins begin to rush to your face, causing your cheeks to begin to heat up, it was like someone had turned up your internal thermostat to the maximum and now your face is a shade of red that would make a tomato jealous.

“ i'm sorry if i offended you in some way, i did not intend too” you apologise, you knew you hadn't said anything offensive but you didn't like confrontation and you wanted to avoid yelling in any possible way.

Lizzie takes a drag of her cigarette “ you are so insufferable, i dont know how your family deals with you” she chuckles under her breath.

At the mention of your family, you take a shakey breath and turn away from lizzie “ i need to start this paperwork” . As soon as you sit back at your desk, you began to look through the paperwork but you couldn't concentrate. what Lizzie said to you runs laps in your head, making your chin begin to quiver as your eyes begin to fill with tears.

Unfortunately, at the same time polly walks through the main doors into the building, she walks over to you. Wiping under your eyes quickly,putting a smile on your face.

“ hello Polly, what can i do for you?” you ask softly, your voice breaking slightly as you try to hold in your emotions.

Polly raises an eyebrow and places her purse down on your desk, watching as Lizzie walks out of tommys office with a smirk on her face but as soon as she sees Polly, she quickly covers it with a smile.

“whats happened?” Polly asks, suspicion filling her words, looking between Lizzie and you.

“ nothing pol, just talking business” Lizzie puts on a smile and looks towards you, her eyes widening for a second to tell you not to say anything.

“yes, just business” you agree, nodding slightly.

Polly hums “ if you say so, anyway is Tommy free in the afternoon this week” she asks.

You grab his schedule from your draw and begins to look through this weeks page he's free Wednesday afternoon from two o'clock onwards” you grab your pen “would you like me to write you in for a meeting with him”

Polly smiles and grabs her purse again “ yes, thank you Y/N, your a doll” she kisses your cheek softly then leaves.

The visit from Polly, helped you distract yourself from the situation with Lizzie, you smile happily as you begin to write down the information bout polly's meeting in tommys schedule. As you begin to write in the book, the ink tub falls onto the page causing you to gasp.

You look up and see Lizzie standing in front of your desk, smirking. she lights another cigarette “opps, i guess you'll have to tell Tommy you ruined his book” she tuts, shaking her head.

Once again, your pulse begins to race, your heart starts to beat so incredibly loudly, louder then gunshots. Your hands shake as you begin to try and pat the ink with her handkerchief but it wasn't working.

“no,no,no” your eyes begin to well up with tears for the second time, in less them an hour. You look up at Lizzie, disbelief in your eyes.

“ why would you do that, this has all of Tommy's schedules” you ask astonished.

“ you don't belong here, I've known Tommy before you even were in Birmingham, i should be sat in your chair. Everyday i have to see you prim and proper, giggling at Tommy” Lizzie rants angrily.

Unknownst, to both of them. Polly was still behind the door listening to the conversation. she knew something was wrong so she wanted to listen in case they were hiding something.

Polly leaves the office, determined to find Tommy to tell him what she heard between his secretaries. however, she couldn't find him.

It had been a few hours since the incident, you were quiet s you write a letter to Tommy, you have decided to leave your position of head secretary, you couldn't cope with the daily taunting from Lizzie.

The sound of the door opening and close catches both of the women's attention, you stand up immediately when you see Tommy.

“ Mr Shelby, i need to speak with you if that's alright” you ask softly as you walk around your desk, to stand beside Tommy.

Tommy nods and lights the cigarette that was resting between his lips “ come through to my office miss Y/N” he gently places his hand on the small of your back as you begin to walk to his office with him.

As the door to his office closes, you didn't notice Lizzie watching you. Her eyes like daggers.

“please sit” Tommy nods to the chair by his desk as he sits in his own chair, slowly blowing out the smoke from his mouth. You gulp and nod, sitting down slowly on the cold brown leather seat. the coldness helping to cool down your skin.

“ I've been thinking for the past couple of weeks, and i didn't want to do this but its the best thing for me” you explain, nervously fiddling with the letter in your hands. Your hand shake as you give Tommy the letter “ i'm giving in my notice as Secretary, i will be leaving this company after we finish this conversation”

Tommy frowns, taking the letter gently “ may i ask why” he raises an eyebrow, looking towards your direction. you end up making eye contact for the first time during this conversation.

You smile slightly, your eyes showing that you were distressed “ no reason, i just feel ready to move on”

The next day

Tommy had organised a company/ family meeting, he had some business to talk about. Lizzie had to sit in the meeting since you use to but now you had left your position, no one else can do it.

Tommy had ordered two peaky blinders to watch your flat, wanting you to be protected since people knew you were associated with them.

The meeting had started nearly half an hour ago, however Polly just noticed Lizzie sitting at the table. She frowns “ Thomas, where is Y/N?”

Tommy sighs and leans against the wall, taking out his cigarette holder then opens it “Y/N has decided to move on with her career and no longer work for me” he announces.

Polly raises an eyebrow, glancing at Lizzie, seeing her smirk slightly “ have something to say Lizzie?” her voice full of bitter.

Lizzie shakes her head, no saying anything. Tommy nods and lights his cigarette “ Lizzie, by tomorrow afternoon i need an advert in the paper for a new head secretary” he explains.

Lizzie frowns “you're looking for someone else, i thought i would take that position” she admits.

Polly chuckles and shakes her head “ is that why you forced Y/N to leave? or is it because you want to fuck Thomas?” she quizzes.

Lizzie blushes slightly as Tommy raises an eyebrow and looks towards her.

“is that right Lizzie?” he asks, his eyes turning cold.

“ it wasn't fair Thomas, she came in and you gave her the job straight away without even knowing her” she snaps, putting down her pen. The room went quiet after lizzies confession.

“you were jealous of her so you made her feel bad about herself so much that she left her job? ey? are you fucking proud of yourself” his voice begins to rise as he speaks.

“it wasn't-” Lizzie begins to defend herself when Tommy interrupts her.

“ By the end of today, i want your desk cleared and you stuff gone, you're fired” he points to the door as he speaks, Polly smirking as she watches Lizzie stand up and rush out of the door. As soon as Lizzie left, a blinder rushes into the room.

“Tommy, shes leaving. we followed her to the train station. shes got bags and her sisters are with her as well” he states, catching his breath.

Tommy immediately grabs his coat and cap, rushing out of the betting shop.

At the train station

The sound of people yelling and rushing to and from trains fills your ears as you carry your bags, your sisters infront of her, walking towards the platform where your train back to London would arrive. The clunking and screeching of train engines makes you flinch slightly, you never get use to that sound.

Your train was due for another hour but you wanted to have enough time for your sisters to say goodbye to their friends before you went to the train station.

As you sat on the bench with your sisters, you didn’t hear Tommy calling your name since the platform was extremely loud. However, in the corner of your eye you see him walking over.

“ girls, stay here” you instruct, standing up.

You walk over to Tommy, looking up at him as you both stand infront of each other. However, you didn’t have time to say anything before Tommy kisses you. You didn’t know what to do at first but after a few seconds you felt your shoulders relax as you ease into the kiss.

Time slows, your lips felt like they were made to connect with each other. The feeling of Tommys hand on your cheek causes goosebumps to arrise on your skin. You had wanted his mouth on your for months, but now it’s happening, you want to savour the moment.

Your lips part softly, chasing tommys as he pulls away “ what was that for?” You whisper, biting your lip ever so softly.

“ I should have done it awhile ago” he whispers, stroking your cheek bone gently “ come back, I know what happened, lizzies gone” he explains, looking into his eyes. His pupils blown.

You smile, chuckling under your breath “ okay” you whisper, putting your hand over his.

Tommy brushes his pad of his thumb over your bottom lip. A silent harmony parts your lips as a soundless breath leaves your mouth. Your eye lids slide shut as Tommy leans in, brushing his lips across yours, feeling the coldness of his skin, like snowflakes trundling down from the sky. The soft pillow of your mouth gives Tommy the pressure that he longed for.

This is the light at the end of the tunnel, and you’re so glad you survived.

A/N: hey guys, I don’t really like this one. It feels rushed and it’s unedited so there are a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes. Please do like and comment, I appreciate all of your support ❤️

#peaky blinders fanfic #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby imagines #peaky blinders masterlist #peaky blinders x reader #tommy shelby angst #tommy shelby x reader #thomas shelby fic #thomas shelby imagine #thomas shelby fanfic

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justmystical · 2 months

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The Forgotten-2

Pairing: Lucifer X Butterfly!fem!reader

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel x Star vs the forces of evil

Warnings: this takes place before Season 1, Alternative Universe,

One| Two |Three |Navigation

A few months has passed since you met a man under a tree, now knowing his name as Lucifer Morningstar. You instantly became friends with him because of some shared interest.

You always sneak out of the Castle because of this.Loving spending time with your new friend.

Always meeting up under the Apple tree and tell stories about your day. Well sometimes there were day's he didn't show up and you never questioned it , after all he didn't say anything about his life and you didn't tell about yours. Only about neutral things.

Another days ,you just got back from the Earth Dimension and still no sign of your Beloved friend Lucifer.

You sighed

"Princess (Name) Butterfly!" You heard someone call out , you turned around to see Glossaryck and felt sweat drip down on your face.

"hey Glossaryck"you smiled awkwardly and did gunfingers to him. You didn't attend your lessons today and ran away to meet up with Lucifer unfortunately he wasn't there.

"running away are we Your Highness? learning magic is important as Princess of Mewni blah blah"he said but the end you felt your ears shut down to see your sister and you heard Glossaryck sigh

"Eclipsa!"you said running and waving hand to her as Glossaryck,She smiled when she spotted you.

"hello (Name)"You smile faltered, Your sister doesn't call you by your name,only your Nickname that was given to you by your Father.

"My Queen"Glossaryck bowed

"ahh Glossaryck can you give some privacy for a moment?"he looked at you with hesitation "Don't worry Glossaryck I won't run off somewhere " you explained and he sighed but nodded.

As Glossaryck left ,you and your sister were alone in the hallway.

"ok,tell me what got you down?"you saw a her having an inner battle in her head.

"what do you mean (Name)?"she asked faking her confusion.

"Eclipse, I'm your Little sister and one of your closest friends . infact your only friend so , i know when something upsets you" You told her and she bit her lip. You waited patiently for answer.

"well umm , it's just that..."she hesitated "as you know our family has the tradition to pass the wand down to an heir and-"

"YOUR PREGNANT?!?"You cut her off and saw her laughed.

"heaven's no! But the people were wondering when will there be introduce to another Princess in the Palace..."

"A new heir...?"you questioned

"wait with Shastacan?"you saw her face pale.

"SHASTACAN?!"

"well who else would be..."

"uhh, he's such a narcissist!" You ranted about how bad her Husband is and Eclipsa face grew paler than before.

You noticed this and stopped "Sorry Eclipse..."you felt bad for her she didn't even want to marry Shastacan but it was your mother's dying wish.

After that, you were about to go Glossaryck for your lessons but you passed a familiar room.

The Rooms of Queen Tapestry.. eh you didn't really know what this was room was called.

You walked in, seeing all of your ancestors and you uncle,your uncle became king when you mother died. Since you and Eclipsa are still very young,he took over for awhile. Next to his was...

Your Mother.. Solaria the Monster Carver.

You did miss you mother Truly, you didn't even felt Keekee transform and now she was comforting you.

"mother, hopefully you had a good reason for Eclipse to marry Shastacan,right?"you told her but no one answered.

You felt bad when you found out about this dying wish of your mother. You knew Eclipsa was inlove with someone else but didn't know who?

You wanted your sister to marry and have children with someone she loves, not someone who she was forced with. You walked around to see your sister's Tapestry about to be begin.

A Lot of people were confused of why it hasn't even begun yet when Eclipsa became Queen. You eyes widened as it as being made.

Does this mean Eclipsa's fate has been written?

Keekee followed you as you meet up with Glossaryck, you were learning some spells and read about a butterfly form.

"i thought we we're done with that mewberty butterfly form ?" You asked.

"that is , well how do i explain this to...ehh basically different from Mewberty and it's more powerful when you are in this form" Glossaryck explained.

More powerful?

Can only unlock in time of need?

You feel like this could help you defend your sister from monsters."I'll keep you safe Eclipse..."you muttered

"huh?"

"nothing!"

After another day you snuck out and went back to earth.

And finally you saw him

"Lucifer Morningstar! Where have you been?!"he heard you and flinched.

"hey n/n"he smiled awkwardly as you walked to him with arms crossed on your chest.

"okay before you kill me..."he said grabbing something from his bag and it was a...

Duck?

"i was making this for you,i made it to looked like you a little also putting some details like the marks on your cheeks-" you cut him off with a hug.

"thanks Luci"he was stunned and now very red.

"y-your w-welcome"he stutter and tried to hides his blushing face from you.

"are you blushing?"

"am not"

"yes you are~"

"stop~"

"hehe"

A/n: sorry if its short , and has little Lucifer content but don't worry in the future 🥹

#hazbin hotel x you #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel keekee #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer x reader #lucifer x reader #lucifer morningstar #svtfoe #eclipsa butterfly #star vs the forces of evil #the forgotten

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pinkthrone445 · 4 months

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hii i love your fics so much. i wanted to request a melissa x reader. where they both work at abbott and have been dating for over a year now. they are somewhat private about their relationship but the abbott crew want to surprise them for their anniversary together.

maybe lots of fluff and some smut when mel and reader get alone time

-Since words are not enough to explain how much I love you, let me show you-

Pairing:Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Gender:Smut, fluff, soft sex

Warnings:explicit sex, detailed oral(Mel Receiving)

Summary:When you celebrate a year as a couple, your colleagues at Abbott decide to surprise you two with a party to get to know you better.

Au:Hi lovely anon, I'm so sorry for making Melissa and reader like a married couple and not like they'd been dating for a year, I misread and before I knew it, I had already written everything. I hope you still like it and enjoy it. Remember that petitions are still open

Undoubtedly, being a teacher was a remunerative job and at the same time very tiring, there were days when you see them learn new things and get excited about that, it made you very happy, and other days when they didn't pay attention to you at all and there was no way to control them and that was very tiring.

The good thing was that your wife was also a teacher and that she understood your situation very well and always gave you very good advice since she had more experience than you.

You and Melissa were about to celebrate a year of marriage and more than three years of living together, at school you were quite private about your private life, if someone had not paid close attention to you two, they would not have realized that you were wives.

The only ones from the school who were invited to the wedding a year ago were Barbara, who was Melissa's maid of honor, and Ava, who was your maid of honor since she had known you for years, got you the job at Abbott and was a very close friend of yours, also she was the first one who introduced you to Melissa when you two first met.

The others had not yet come to work at Abbott's school at the time the two of you were being married. A month later they started working so they didn't get a chance to attend the wedding. They had already found out that you and Melissa were married, but they had no idea that your anniversary was approaching.

As you walked down the aisle with your purse on your arm, you were talking to Ava, who seemed very interested in remembering your wedding and how beautiful it had been. Remembering how at your wedding Barbara dedicated a song to you two and Ava dedicated you a dance, a loud laugh escaped your lips just as you entered the teachers' break room where everyone else was already there. Ava pretended to be offended by jokingly slapping your shoulder when you teased her by repeating her dance, which would have been great if Ava hadn't already been drunk at the time of doing it, tripping over her own dress.

Everyone followed the interaction with their eyes, but especially your wife, who every time you laughed was entranced and couldn't stop looking at you adoringly. When your laughter died down and you were able to breathe normally, you greeted everyone and sat down at the table with the redhead and Barbara.

When your wife handed you your lunch box, you thanked her and kissed her forehead briefly, the redhead smiled and continued to eat, glad that you were by her side, while the three of you talked about what had happened in the day.

That kiss on the forehead and holding hands at the time of leaving work was the greatest sign of affection that your co-workers could notice at school. At home you were both very affectionate, especially Mel who needed to have her hands touching some part of you at all times, Barbara and Ava knew how affectionate you could be, even cloying, but the other teachers, especially the new ones, had not seen that part of you, and since they loved the couple that you and Mel made, they were always paying attention to the minimal love interaction that you and the redhead had.

While Mel, Barbara and you talked, the redhead caressed your hand gently without realizing it, you knew that these days she had been more affectionate at school because your anniversary was approaching, as it didn't bother you, you let her do it enjoying the extra attention and her caresses

-"What was it that you were talking about with Ava that made you laugh so much?" - Barbara asked, and you laughed again at the memory

-"We were remembering the dance she did at our wedding"-you said between laughs and your wife also started laughing, Barbara tried to control herself but couldn't do it

-"I still have the video saved on my phone" - Melissa commented, pulling out her cell phone to look for it, and Barbara shook her head

-"I can't believe it's already been a year since the wedding, time goes by so fast... And you look even more in love than you did that day" - Melissa's friend commented and you looked at the redhead who already had her eyes on you making you blush a little, you were about to answer but Jeannine's voice cut the moment short

-"What?! What?! You are about to celebrate your first wedding anniversaryand we didn't knew? We should all celebrate together, since we couldn't be at the wedding, it would be something nice to share and also get to know more about you two as a couple"-The young woman commented with a lot of emotion and Melissa rolled her eyes

-"No thanks, I'm okay with no one else meddling in our life as a couple" - She said seriously and you squeezed her hand in warning not to be aggressive, you knew that Jeannine was saying that with good intentions. Carefully you got up from the table grabbing your purse because your students were about to return to the classroom and you had to be there before them, before you left, you grabbed your wife's jaw carefully but firmly and looked her straight in the eye

-"What have I said about aggressive comments to people who just want to do something nice for you or someone else?" - You asked your wife and she sighed, avoiding your gaze

-"That I shouldn't respond in a bad way and appreciate their good intentions even if it's something I don't like" - She muttered under her breath and you smiled kissing his forehead

-"Alright, remember that next time... See you later"-You commented before you left the room. Barbara laughed seeing her friend

-"Only one year of marriage and she already got you around her finger, Schemmenti" - Her friend commented, sipping a new cup of coffee

-"Shut up Barb" - The redhead commented seriously and then laughed.

The next few days no one talked again about the anniversary. But at home, you and Mel started making plans to celebrate in some way.

The two of you were sitting on the couch in the living room, Mel was behind you and you were sitting in front of her with your head resting on her shoulder, one of her hands was on your abdomen and the other inside your bra grabbing one of your boobs. It wasn't sexual at all, the two of you were watching a movie and the redhead just put her hand in there as always to keep you close and because it conveyed heat, you let her do it.

The movie was interesting, but your head was somewhere else

-"Love, what do you want for our anniversary?" - You asked her looking sideways at her as she thought

-"I don't think I need anything... I don't know what you can give me"-She replied truthfully and you rolled your eyes

-"We've been living together for almost four years and whenever I ask you what you want, you always say the same thing" - You complained and she laughed

-"It's just that it's not that easy to think right now about it, let's see, tell me what you want"-She challenged you

-"Easy, I want you on our bed or right here, completely naked with just a gift bow on top" - You responded by laughing at the sight of your wife's face, no doubt she wasn't expecting that answer

-"Now that you say it, I want the same thing too"-Your wife responded by making you laugh, you kissed her and continued watching the movie.

A couple more days passed and the date of your anniversary arrived, Mel and you had planned something quiet, you would go out to dinner, go to the movies and then at home you would see how things progressed. You were really excited about those plans, you couldn't see the time when the doorbell would ring and you could go home with your wife.

When the bell rang, you grabbed your purse and excitedly walked out into your wife's classroom. Mel was still saying goodbye to some of her students and you waited for her leaning against the door frame, when she saw you, her eyes lit up and she walked over to you as she said goodbye to her last student. You briefly gave her a kiss on her lips and held her hand smiling

-"Ready to go?" - You commented and she nodded walking to the exit, but before she could open the door, Barbara called out to you

-"Girls! Gerald and I wanted to invite you to dinner for your anniversary, do you want to go with us? Or did you already have plans?"-Melissa looked at you with a big smile when she heard her friend's invitation, she loved going out with the couple, to tell the truth, you liked it too and you always had a great time together.

-"We'd love to"-You confessed and saw Melissa smile grew even more

-"Send us the address, we'll change and we'll meet you there"-Your wife commented, and Barbara nodded, sending her the address. After an hour, you were already changed and in the address Barbara sent you. You were a little surprised to notice that it wasn't a restaurant, but a party hall. Taking your wife's hand, the two of you entered finding everything off, when you were about to turn to ask Mel if this was the right direction, the lights came on showing about 60 guests who all in unison shouted happy anniversary very excited.

You were surprised to see Barbara, Ava and the rest of the Abbott crew there, they had also invited your family and Mel's. After you had greeted everyone, you approached Ava and Jeanine, still holding hands with your wife

-"I thought you'd give up on the party after Mel's answer at school" - You commented looking at the younger one and she laughed a little, blushing at the attention of you and your wife

-"I thought you wouldn't like it, but after Barbara and Ava joined the plan, there was no turning back"-Jeannine commented, and you saw Melissa get closer to her, intimidating her a little

-"I love this, thank you, everything is beautiful and I appreciate your efforts, especially for inviting our families"-The redhead commented, and you, Ava, and Jeanine were surprised by the affection her words held. Jeanine smiled a lot and Mel excused herself to go with Barbara, Ava came closer to you smiling

-"No doubt you've tamed her, it's rare to see her so kind and without sarcasm. It's scarier than when she is aggressive"-Your friend commented, making you laugh as you watched Mel from afar.

The party lasted several hours, there was delicious food and sweet drinks, funny anecdotes and good music to dance to (if there was one thing you loved about Mel it was how well she danced), the others had chosen the waltz you had played at the wedding to recreate the dance, thing that made you very happy, reliving how your wife looked at you adoringly as you danced with her, feeling safe in her arms. By the time it was getting very late, several of the guests had left and only you and your fellow Abbott were left, playing trivia couple games.

-"Who started the first kiss?" - They asked and you both replied that it was you remembering the moment

-"Who said I love you first?" - Again, you both agreed, saying that it was you because Mel was too scared to say it first

-"Who cooks better?" - you both replied that it was Mel, a fairly obvious answer

-"Who gets angry the most?"-Ava asked, and you and your wife held up a sign that said Mel on it

-"Who apologizes first after a fight?" - You and Mel said it was the redhead, mainly because she was the one who started the arguments in the first place

-"Who is the neatest?"-They asked, and again and you both raised your name. Melissa was neat and clean, but she preferred to leave things in their original packaging so she didn't have to clean up so much, instead you liked to tidy and clean more than she did

-"Who's the horninest?"-The two of you held up the sign at the same time, agreeing that you were both like that.

The reason you and Mel were quite secretive about your relationship at school is because at the slightest temptation or insinuation, you would both get very horny and needy jumping on each other, specially you being younger and having such a beautiful woman by your side.

-"Who's the loudest in bed?"-Ava asked again, and Mel held up a sign agreeing that it was you making you blush.

Then followed a game of truths, it was all an excuse to get to know you more as a couple, and since you and Mel had already had several drinks, you were answering very sincerely.

-"Favorite thing to do when you're alone?" - First question

-"Snuggle and have sex or cook together" - Mel replied and you nodded

-"(Y/N), what is your favorite physical part of your wife and vice versa?" -They asked, and Mel smiled at you letting you answer

-"Her mesmerizing eyes... And her breasts, I could spend my life with my face between them"-You replied by looking at Mel with desire and love, the redhead hurried to answer as well

-"Her thighs, especially when they're around my head" - Your wife replied and you blushed laughing when you heard everyone's screams, especially Ava that loved kinky stuff

-"What's the most daring place you've ever had sex?" - You heard the question and answered

-"At the cinema" - Your short answer raised more questions

-"What? How?" - Jeannine asked in surprise, but your wife shook her head

-"You only asked where, we won't give any more details" - The redhead replied and you laughed

-"Favorite memory together?"-They asked and you smiled, there were so many

-"Our first new year together with our families" - You replied and Mel nodded in agreement

The game went on like this for a long time, until it was very late and it was time to go home. After saying goodbye to your friends and thanking once again, you and Mel went to the car, you let the redhead drive because she hadn't drunk as much as you.

While your wife was driving, you looked at her silly and smiling, especially when you felt the gentle caresses that Mel gave on your thigh

-"I had a good time tonight" - Your wife spoke and you nodded

-"Me too, I had a lot of fun, I like to remember our magical night and see you happy"-You answered and watched as she parked in the house. As soon as Mel opened the door, you walked straight to the couch and sat there doing little hands for her to come with you. Honestly, you had had a great time, but dancing and laughing so much had exhausted your body and you didn't even feel like going up the stairs to your room. Your wife sat on the couch next to you and you smiled at her sitting on her lap, the redhead placed her hands on your hips, smiling. Carefully you began to open the buttons of her shirt, slowly as if all the time in the world was for you two to enjoy. The redhead's breasts, restricted by the bra, were fully visible and you began to salivate. You very gently gave small kisses on your wife's lips making her smile, then on her neck, and also on the valley of her breasts as you completely removed her shirt and threw it to the ground. Her skin was soft under your lips and tasted a bit like perfume and sweat from dancing all night. Her skin, white as the moon, was tinged a little red from the soft bites you took here and there. Each gentle bite was accompanied by a small moan that escaped from the redhead's lips. The room was almost completely dark, only illuminated by the small light that came from the hallway of the house, just a ray of light hit her eyes and extended to her chest highlighting her beautiful skin, her hair in this light seemed to be even redder than normal.

With skillful and soft hands, you detached her bra leaving her breasts completely bare, her pink nipples stood proudly at the slightest touch you gave to her skin. The redhead looked like a vision, her head thrown back against the couch, her breasts bouncing gently with every deep breath she took, her neck decorated with tiny marks you made, her soft abdomen and warm skin under your hands, the little moans and insults that her thick lips let out. Everything was perfect, she was perfect.

Your kisses continued to run down her body, there was no rush at all, Mel wanted to savor the moment and you wanted to savor her.

Your lips rested on one of her breasts, you licked it slowly, sucked on her nipple and gently bit it and suck it again, then repeated your actions on her other breast until all her skin was glowing with your saliva.

Your kisses continued to descend reaching her abdomen, which you filled with kisses, Melissa was a few years older than you and without a doubt her body show it, she was far from being a teenager, but every mark, every stretch mark, every soft part of her body, only drove you crazier. Your lips clung to her soft abdomen, biting and leaving marks there while you peeled off and removed her pants. The redhead lifted her hips slightly so you could remove the garment. With gentle hands, you guided her to the edge of the couch and removed her wet underwear as well.

Immediately her scent reached your nose, that scent that drove you crazy and made you lose all sense of decency, that scent that made you want more and more of her. Your kisses spread across her thighs as you took her legs and put them on your shoulder, caressing her soft skin with your fingertips while still kissing her legs.

Melissa didn't take this as a never-ending temptation because of how slow you were going, but she took it for what it was, a complete adoration of her body.

Finally you dared to look at her crotch and moaned as you saw her juices glistening in the little light that reached the room. Usually, because of her age, it was better to use some lubricant on the redhead, especially when you used toys, but that night she was so wet that she was even dripping a little. She was even clenching around noting.

Almost no words were said at that moment, the room was just filled with moans and heavy breathing, everything you wanted to say to her, the love you wanted to show her, you were doing it with your actions and gentle caresses and your wife was understanding it perfectly. It was a rare occasion when everything was so slow and delicate, consuming her being with passion but also with love.

Finally your lips reached your wife's crotch, your hands positioned themselves on her ass bringing her closer to your face, your tongue played gently between her folds, a moan in unison escaped your lips and hers, Melissa tasted intoxicatingly good, you'd never get tired of it.

Her hands went to your hair, tangling delicately, without making too much force and letting you go at your own pace, she only did it to somehow feel closer to you. Her other hand went to the cushions, squeezing harder and harder as you sucked on her delicate button.

Finally your tongue went to her entrance and you slowly made your way in, feeling her body hug your tongue. Your nose was pressing against her clit and your tongue was slowly dancing inside her. You were moving slowly but strongly, you didn't expect the redhead to come fast with this rhythm, but when you started lapping with more strength, a high-pitched scream came out of your wife's mouth, her nails scraped the back of your neck, and her hips rose against your face, her thighs trapping you in place and their juices bathing your chin without warning. You followed your movements for a few more seconds, amazed at how fast she had come, opening your eyes to see the sight of your beautiful wife enjoying her orgasm bliss while one of her hands massaged her own breasts. One of your hands moved up her body positioning itself over hers and also massaging her breasts with your intertwined fingers, while you still savored and cleaned her swollen crotch with your tongue.

Mel continued with her eyes closed and head back savoring the sweet sensation after the orgasm, her breathing was still altered but slowly calming down, you could feel it in the way her chest moved, her legs were still shaking a little as you gave her soft kisses on her thighs. Carefully you got up from the floor and returned to your original position by sitting back on her lap, with your fingertips you caressed her cheek and arranged her hair a little, especially the small strips that were stuck on her sweaty forehead. You gently gave her a kiss on her forehead to stop her from frowning and relax her body completely, you also kissed the tip of her nose making her smile and gently kissed her lips making her taste herself on your lips, the redhead moaned as she felt herself and grabbed your waist again, giving small circular caresses on your abdomen under your blouse. Her hands went to undo your pants but you stopped her grabbing her wrist, you just wanted to see her like this, calm and relaxed for a longer. Your wife barely opened her eyes and looked at you confused, making you smile tenderly

-"I'm fine Mel... I just want to be like this with you for a little while longer..."-You said lying on her bare chest listening to her heartbeat, she hugged you tighter against her body

-"But I want you to enjoy it too, I wanna taste you too"-Your wife replied in her hoarse but still a little agitated voice

-"I know, but I want to enjoy this moment as it is, we will keep going when you recover your breath, or tomorrow, there's no rush, it's just you and me"-You whispered in her chest, feeling your wife kiss your forehead and close her eyes again, resting her head on top of yours, enjoying having you close.

-"I love you so much..."-Melissa whispered with complete sincerity, without even having thought to say it, she didn't think about it, but she felt it with her whole being, she in did loved you with all her being. And after how you had treated her, she knew that you loved her the same way.

#melissa schemmenti smut #melissa schemmenti x you #melissa schemmenti fanfic #melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti #abbott elementary fanfic #abbott elementary #melissa schemmenti abott elementary #soft lesbian love #wlw love #lesbian

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tojiwrd · 9 months

Text

2: fate is fickle ; gojo satoru

summary when satoru breaks off your engagement, you understand and accept it. but when he marries someone else, you don't understand because he didn't want to be tied down.

warnings swearing, gojo emotional constipation, lots of crying, mourning, death

word count 2k

a/n part 2 so we can feel smt

send requests ↞ prev next ↠ to be added to taglist

You took a breath—a long and deep one that filled nearly every corner of your shaking body—as you raised your foot to lightly push against Satoru’s shin and send him stumbling back. If you were to keep this tapestry of being healed up for him to see, him being a hair’s breadth away from you would make it extremely difficult.

“I don’t wanna talk about anything, Gojo.” You paused, teeth fiddling with your lip before you looked up to meet his gaze that was steadfast and focused directly on you. “We broke up and you got married, remember?”

His jaw clenched like a person who was in a play and the character in the scene messed up their dialogue and now he had to improvise. In fact, that was surely what happened.

“I know—fuck, I know. I was there.”

“Good, then that means we’re on the same page.”

This was the part where you grabbed your phone from the glass table beside you and walked past him to go to your room. And your body was itching in every part, waiting for you to do so, but your feet remained stationary on the ground. You were strong and you could walk away from Satoru, walk away from him like he did you. But a part of you was curious in a way you couldn’t explain. In your mind, there truly was nothing to explain on Satoru’s end except he was being a major asshole and messed up real bad. Still, the questions you’d thrown away out of nothing but embarrassment when you called him and Hana picked up lingered on your tongue once again.

Nothing was said, though, and the pale moonlight coating both your figures remained the only source to prove you and him were there. Together. Alone. After so long. You reached down to grab your phone in an attempt to do exactly what you should’ve done minutes ago.

Satoru, sensing that his time was running out, reached out to you, almost encasing your arms with his fingers before he pulled back. “Listen, Y/N. I just don’t want you to hate me.” Your lips parted in shock at his words, rendering you completely and utterly speechless once again. “You were the first person who—” He paused, closing his eyes as he threw his head back in frustration. “You were the first person who loved me and I can’t go on knowing that you hate me.” There was a gleaming twinkle in his eyes as he reminded you of what you both once were, of what could’ve done.

The words flew out of your mouth quickly. “Satoru, what’s done is done. It’s selfish to hold onto how I was the first person who loved you because people change.” You sure did. Quickly. You kept those words to yourself, not wanting to show resentment over his actions and laying your heart completely on your sleeve, ripe for the picking. “And I think you need to be okay with people not liking you because that’s the way life is.”

The twinkle died. Not in burning, scorching flames, but in the gentlest way one’s shine could completely disappear from their visage. Like a wilted petal that slowly falls off its stem, the wind carrying it away. He was now looking at you with not hope, not pleading, but with complete and utter sadness—it was the same sadness you carried on your face for months while images of the two of you ran rampant through your mind. And there wasn’t a shred of you that could find itself to feel any form of sympathy for him because he never felt it for you.

“Y/N…” Your name was like a prayer that came out of his mouth, and you could see his eyes blinking furiously like they did when he was scrambling for any idea, any words to stop you from walking away. “I’m…”

You waited. Truly, you did, but the apology never came. It reminded you of all the times you’d argued with Satoru, and ended up taking him back in your arms once you cooled down and he diverted your mind from the matter. He never apologized, though, and you always realized that much after you took him back, once the wound was healed enough that a doctor would turn you away if you came asking for a checkup.

Nothing had changed, and when you walked away from the balcony, the empty glass of wine heavy in one hand and phone in another, you felt at ease. Because nothing had changed and Satoru wasn’t your problem anymore.

“That’s—he’s so, ugh!” Reina said, exasperated, once you recounted the events to her. You had to physically guide her to your bed and make her sit down with her hands on your lap while you thought about handcuffing her so she wouldn’t run to Satoru and Hana’s house and physically strangle him. But you glossed over it, severely underestimating your friend.

You rolled your eyes, perfectly showing her you agree, but she still asked, “You promise me that was it? That you walked away and didn’t like, I don’t know, run to him and kiss him like he’d just gotten back from war?”

You narrowed your eyes, moderately offended she could even suggest that after everything that went down between the two of you. “Fuck you,” you replied, chuckling as you swatted her on the arm.

She turned her body to face you more, and you gathered all your courage to hear what she was preparing herself to say. “No matter what. No matter what, babe, you aren’t going to hear him out because he deserves none of your time and, in fact, doesn’t even deserve to do so much as breathe in your direction.” Her arms flailed around, an action that always occurred when she was giving you her honesty (and to smack the sense and direction you knew you needed into you). “And.” She took in a breath, as if it was taking everything in her to say the words. “He has a girl at home—he had a girl at home waiting for him the night of the dinner, too. And you don’t want to fall into the trap of a taken man, Y/N, trust me.”

When your mother walked into your room, eyes filled with steel determination, you braced yourself for a lecture about something you’d done recently.

“I’m not giving Takayashi the company,” she said, words laced with venom as your eyes narrowed. You knew she was hardballing, trying to get the Gojo’s to cough up every penny they could, but you thought that she’d sign it over—at least half of it—because it was built on your dad and Takayashi’s foundation.

“Ma—”

“I don’t want to hear any debate about this, sweetheart. I’m doing exactly as your father would’ve wanted me to do, even if it means going throat to throat with a man as deadset as him. I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn’t hear it from word of mouth.”

You swallowed, confusion tangling into the web of emotions in your mind. “Papa was good friends with Mr. Gojo, wasn’t he? He only took the company because Mr. Gojo was dealing with legal problems?” Your words didn’t sound too sure, and it was because you remembered how your father spent the last few months of his life badmouthing the eldest of the Gojo family. “Or am I missing something?”

“He…” She began, feet padding across the floor as she reached your bed and took a seat on the edge. Her fingers traced the minimal pattern of the baby’s breath flowers on the blanket before she continued, “Takayashi, he tried to frame your father, in some way.” You gasped, a hand reaching over and cupping your mouth. “I know, I thought the same. But it’s truly a miracle what a man behind bars would do, the straws he would cling onto. Though he was soon proven to be lying, of course, and served his time.”

“Mama.”

“I know he was probably trying to save his own skin and didn’t mean to betray your father, sweetheart, but this… this company is the last I have left of him. I can’t give it away for a wad of cash.”

Your lips trembled, and in that moment you realized you were looking into not just the eyes of your mother who’d sung lullabies to you and pretended as if the green vegetables were actually fancy chocolate to get you to eat them, but a woman who had been holding her husband as he paused in the middle of talking as his eyes grew as wide as saucers. She was the woman that willed to keep him breathing, breathing all he could as she hoped there was more—more time, more breath, you weren’t sure because you weren’t there—until he whispered his last words to her. She was the woman that cradled her own husband as he died because his last words were let me as he weakly cupped her jaw. She didn’t jump to call an ambulance because the small part—the realistic part—in her told her that this was it, and she’d heard too many stories of people losing their loved ones while they were stammering their words to a complete stranger over the phone, willing them to come at light speed.

You knew how difficult grief was, and only had your mother to truly depend on after your father died. But your pain wasn’t the same as hers, and you understood. She’d lost the man she vowed to spend the rest of her life with, the man that she had been bound to for so long she couldn’t even look at another man as anything but a nuisance in her life.

“Mama, it’s okay,” you soothed. Your voice cracked as you realized how difficult it must’ve been for her to sit across the same man that betrayed her dead husband.

She shook her head, as if she was physically trying to will away her thoughts, before she asked, “Are you? Okay, I mean.”

You nodded, a little too quickly. “Of course. Aside from, you know, papa…”

“I’m sorry you had to be around Satoru for so long.”

“Mama, please. I told you it’s nothing.” You giggled, a horrid attempt at not physically recoiling at how easily she’d caught onto everything. You had told her it was nothing, too, a few days after the wedding invitations arrived and she spotted the pink rhinestone underneath your desk, right next to your books, and asked you if you were okay.

“I know you told me it’s nothing but could you tell me what happened? Only if you want to, of course. I may have heard you and Reina talking about Satoru the other day when I walked past your room; I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, of course, I only heard a bit of what Reina said.”

You grimaced, and decided to hell with it. “We were—” you hiccuped before you could even let out the next word. Your mother moved closer to you, eyes wary and attentive. You thought about it, thought about how your mother would’ve put her entire soul into making sure you and Satoru had the perfect wedding. “Mama, I can’t.”

A sob wracked through your entire body, and for a moment, you felt like you were seven once again and had just seen your crush spend recess with another girl as your body doubled over and your head was guided to her lap. Her fingers brushed through the strands of your hair, a touch that could only ever be a mother’s, as she used her soft, gentle voice to calm you down.

“Mama, we were engaged.”

Her fingers stopped midway through your hair, and underneath your skin, you felt her body go rigid. She was floored, and rightfully so. It wasn’t something she could’ve guessed, especially not after she’d seen the two of you at dinner the other day, so silent and indifferent it would be hard to imagine you were once ready to spend the entirety of your lives with each other.

“Oh, baby.” You didn’t dare look up to see her expression, knowing it was marred with sorrow and pity. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The air was thick, and you were sure it would be hard for you to breathe because the air had been sucked out of the room the moment you told your mother about the engagement.

#gojo satoru x reader #gojo angst #gojo x reader #gojo satoru angst #jjk #jjk angst #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen angst

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brxttydevil · 8 months

Text

You dying Scenario

MHA Scenarios Masterlist (no link yet)

Characters: Toga, Eri, Miruko, Dabi, Izuku and Aizawa

Tags: Angst, Nightmares (Eri)

Toga

Toga always remembered what she said to you. She said that you two would get married afterward. She had everything planned out and just waiting till after this hero attack. When you died, it was right in front of her. You got badly injured. She tried to stop the blood but it kept flowing into her arms. So she ran somewhere else. You deserve a better place to die. All you wanted was just to be in her arms. She knew nobody could do anything. But she wished someone could.

After you died, Toga had you buried in the flower area she wanted to marry to you in. She would come regularly with your favorite flower and planted it right beside you. Every fight she did, she dedicated it to you and knew one day she would be with you

I will always love you my pretty angel - Toga

Eri

She wouldn’t have known you died until Aizawa came back without you. She would be searching around the house calling out for your name only to not get a response back. Aizawa finally had the courage to tell her you died. She broke down crying. She was crying in Aizawa arms begging him to bring you back.

When your funeral happened she wanted to stay with your body. She knew she can’t but she wished she had seen you longer. She started to have worse nightmares of her life. It would always include you and she would always try to run to you but you end up faded away and just leaving her alone. This kept happening to the point she stayed sleeping with Aizawa and Present Mic. One dream had you in it but you stayed. You actually talked to her till she woke up. That made her smile and cry.

Don’t go. Please. I miss you - Eri

Miruko

You died in the hospital. When she saw you was deadly injured after the fight she took you straight to the hospital. She stayed by your side when she could. She would always come with something new for you. And stay the whole time when she isn’t being a pro hero. You died when she was bringing you a rose and a matching ring for the both of you. And that’s when the nurse broke the news. She went towards your room and saw you there with no heartbeat. She cried and then went to Hawks house to tell him everything while crying.

Your funeral had all the pics you took with your friends and her. She also cried during this time and had to leave because she kept crying too much. She would stay at your grave and tell you things that happened. She buried your ring in with you. And wore her ring as well.

At least you are safe forever bunny - Miruko

Aizawa

He watched you die in front of him. You saved his life from behind and when he turned around he saw your dead body in front of him. His eyes went wide and he held you close to him. He would start being more closed off and sometimes forget to eat just because you usually remind him.

He would sometimes get thoughts about you. And how much you did for him. He smiles sometimes when he sees things that remind him of you and would tell Eri those sweet memories. As well as his students/children.

You still continue to shine like gold in my memories - Aizawa

Izuku

Izuku went out of it. He used his powers to the fullest because you weren't there to stop him. He wanted to defeat every single villain that was near your body when he found you. It was a villain attack.

He would just stay near your grave and Bakugou+ would have to grab him and pull him up to take him back to the dorms to eat and sleep but he would always end up where your body lies.

It should have been me - Izuku

Dabi

He had heard your scream, the last scream you had. It was you calling out for him. He burned everything in his path to reach you. But he was too late. You were halfway gone when he got there. He held you in his arms. With your last breath, you touched his face, smiled at him, and said you love him. Then your body slowly lost its will and you closed your eyes.

It made him go on a rampage and burned a lot of things down. He hunted down those who killed you and gave them a brutal death. He always remembers you and would look at the picture of you every time he thinks about you. No one could tell him what to do at this point.

You idiot. I told you to wait for me - Dabi

#my hero acedamia #mha x reader #dabi x reader #toga x reader #mha eri #miruko x reader #aizawa x reader #izuku x reader

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cultofdixon · 1 year

Text

Falling for the archer

What dating / being married to Daryl Dixon would be like • Grimes’ little sister!reader / Eldest Greene sister!reader [doin’ both cuz why tf not] • ANGST/SFW/NSFW

Requested by: @witch-of-letters

Rick Grimes’ Little Sister

Dating

Let’s be real, Rick Grimes would wish he was still in a coma if he saw you—his little sister—with a man that tried to kill him for what he did to his older brother

But when you look a little deeper in that situation, he would’ve reacted the same way if someone had done that to you

But y’all weren’t together in the quarry. People assumed such by how comfortable Daryl was around you.

The man gave you an ounce of his trust in the very beginning because you didn’t treat him like an asshole [like a certain home wrecker cop…]

It grew from there and had its moments. Daryl didn’t want to act on this feeling growing inside of him until he knew that you felt the same way.

But you were also struggling with the same brewing feelings that you’ve had since the ambush on the quarry campsite. Daryl knew you had the strength to defend yourself, but the second he arrived he took out every sicko that came your way. That when it was all over, the archer quickly scanned your person to make sure you were alright

The two of you really wanted to ignore your feelings because of the whole “end of the world who would have time for this?” spiel but the universe had other plans.

2 incidents happened

Daryl drunkenly confessed his brewing feelings the night at the CDC and given that the man was drunk and you were in shock hearing that come from him, he simply wished he died right then and there thinking he must’ve scared you off. But when waking the next day to the worse hangover, he saw you sleeping on the couch across from him and a glass of water with some pain killers were placed on the table for him. He indeed didn’t scare you off but was afraid he ruined something

But the other incident was at the farm when the “walker” got shot and revealed itself to be Daryl. Rick had to pry you off Andrea when you managed to get a hold of her. Daryl heard about the incident from Glenn after he left the Greene house and went to recover in the comforts of his tent.

He had to go look for you once it was night enough to get some alone time with you.

“You’re a crazy son of a bitch for picking a fight”

“Maybe if you didn’t get hurt, didn’t get lost, and didn’t get shot by Ms. Trigger Happy—I wouldn’t have had to give her a piece of my mind”

“Why do you care so much for somebody like me?”

“Because I can! And I’m falling in love with you! I’m done ignoring my feelings…I couldn’t…I wouldn’t live with myself if you died without knowing how I felt”

Typical for the other party to confess their feelings first with Daryl Dixon. But all he needed was that confirmation before closing the space between the two of you and pressing his lips firmly against yours.

Yeah. Rick shouldn’t have been on watch that night cuz he saw y’all kissing. But given how you almost beat Andrea to a pulp, he wasn’t going to get in the way right away.

Daryl didn’t want to stop kissing you, or let you go for the matter. But he knew if you didn’t go back to your tent that night, someone would come looking for you. And he didn’t want anybody else in those moments that he just wanted it to be the two of you.

The two of you found small moments to be by yourselves and admire the other. Even when their time at the farm was getting cut short by a number of events.

Sophia…Dale…Shane…the fire

When the fire happened and everyone’s first thought was to get the hell out of there, that was when Rick knew for himself that Daryl wouldn’t do any harm given how protective the archer was when you were last to join back on the highway. He met you halfway checking every part of you before pulling you into his embrace and squeezing the life outta yea.

Guess you can say when the “indirect seal of approval” from Rick Grimes came into play, that you started dating Daryl.

Or whatever dating is in the apocalypse.

Daryl isn’t one to be flashy in the relationship and you respected that, but that didn’t stop him from at least trying.

He always wanted to be close to you in any sort of way, for the most part it was sitting next to you by the fire…on the overturn car keeping watch…in your cell…the list could go on.

Sometimes Daryl would take your hand when you’d least expect it and it brought on the butterflies. His hands made yours feel extremely small and brought on a lot of thoughts that were proven later.

The times you would be more intimate even if it was just a short kiss was when no one was around. As stated before. Daryl likes having these moments in private.

Daryl knew it could be a bit unfair, he didn’t want anyone else in your bubble and he especially didn’t like the way those who didn’t know about the two of you—look at you like your fair game. Really only the farm group knows.

But he will say he was amused by how you handled those situations.

“Hey good looking wanna—-“

“Nope. Go away” Y/N got up from the tables in the prison trying to physically leave and when the man cornered her. Daryl was about to to take care of this guy and reveal to everybody about the two, but suddenly the man met the concrete floor after Y/N grabbed the book she was reading off the table and using it as a weapon.

“Crazy bi—-“ he was cut off by her dropping her book on his face and walking away.

That lead to Daryl wanting to take a leap of faith one day.

“Y/N”

“Oh hey D. I just finished getting the truck ready for the run with Sasha later. Did yea—“

Daryl cut her off by pressing his lips against hers feeling her arms instinctively wrap around his neck.

To the Woodbury folk, it came as a shock. Meanwhile, Carol got Glenn’s oatmeal packets for the bet they made about how long it would take for them to be out and open about it.

Since then he’s been a bit more open to public affection.

He’s still not the biggest about it being public but he secretly likes it. Especially when he hears you talk about how great of a man he is to Maggie. Even if part of him doesn’t believe it.

It still takes what feels like forever to get Daryl to believe the words you say to him. He gets the warm feeling in his chest during the moment and you can tell when he starts to feel his insecurities get the best of him.

Which brings into discussion—his scars

He never wanted you to see them and you never pry.

There was a moment in Alexandria where you walked in on him changing and he felt his whole body tense when the door opened. But he instantly relaxed when he heard you say that you were turning around. He didn’t even get his shirt on when he approached you and wanting to get closer to you by letting you see what he’s most ashamed of.

That leap, lead to more. You’ve always felt loved with Daryl even when he doesn’t say it often, and with that moment of him showing his scars…his anxieties about losing you to someone better has washed away.

Now to be a bit more chaotic…

Daryl respected your boundaries and went at your speed when it came to sex. But according to you, he has a look that would get yea going and there was one time he unintentionally did said look when you were talking to your older brother

“Y/N yea listening?” Rick waves his hand in front of your face as you were focused on Daryl looking your direction.

Daryl was waiting to go on a run with you and didn’t know that he was giving you that “look” when you were trying to take down what Rick needed.

“Y/N!” Rick yells only for his sister to sock him in the gut in response.

“I heard you! Now I gotta take fucking care of something before we go” You state before approaching Daryl and grabbing him by the arm heading back inside to take care of “business”.

[A/N: I used pronouns and then didn’t use pronouns in this,,,so my bad]

“The look” is really just taking up any opportunity. Not that Daryl’s complaining.

But there was one morning when you woke before Daryl could leave the bedroom first because Rick knows y’all are dating but doesn’t know y’all share a bedroom…

Bc you didn’t in the prison to respect Daryl’s feelings about feeling confined in a cell

You entered the living room without checking if Daryl left your bed or not and was about to get some water when Rick asked what you were doing last night.

Then cue Daryl coming down thinking Rick wouldn’t be in there and being met with the man’s attention.

“That’s what you were doin’ last night”

“…Yes”

“Yknow four people live in this place right”

“Yes”

“Y/N—-“

“Does Carl know about you and Michonne?”

“Okay. I’m just gonna ignore this so you don’t use that against me”

Engaged to Married

Daryl’s thing when going on runs is finding trinkets or anything that’ll make you smile. That was the one thing you’ve kept with you since the fall of the prison to after the wolves attack.

Daryl found you placing the things he found you on the shelves in your shared room because they bring you joy.

That one day, you went into your room after a long day and saw a small box. Being confused by the new item, you picked it up and opened it.

Only for all of Alexandria to hear you scream off the top of your lungs. If Daryl didn’t inform some…yeah people would think someone broke in again

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

Daryl stood at the gazebo watching Y/N approach him with the ring box in hand.

“Why didn’t you do this the right way?!”

“Uhm. Because…” Daryl took the box and instantly got down on one knee to open it presenting it to Y/N. “I planned this out…and I’m asking you now. Will yea marry me?”

“Yes! I will always say yes!”

Daryl didn’t have to ask for Rick’s blessing, because the two went on a run together when the archer found the ring and was like “You should propose with that, when yea ready”

As much as the group literally had a pastor—-the two of you wanted Rick to officiate and you kept it intimate. With only the group you first came to Alexandria with. And Aaron and Eric. The only Alexandrians Daryl trusted so far.

Being married, honestly didn’t feel very different to Daryl. Except that you two now have a place for yourselves and he really didn’t have to worry about any other guy looking your direction.

Besides. The man likes to leave marks in obvious places. Even slightly before y’all got married, no one even tried because you were marked and Daryl scared most of the men.

Waking up next to you in your own place was the best. Daryl didn’t have to get up right away and not alone for the matter. He’d roll over if he wasn’t already facing you and bring you close that you tiredly wrap yourself around him. The morning sex is a bonus too

You would always take his sweatshirts which were his least worn shirt until much later. He loved seeing you in his shirts but more specifically when he’d come home to you wearing only his shirt.

The two of you gained a routine where either of you would always throw up “I love you” in sign language whenever he went on runs or you would see him during your break from the infirmary. Daryl signed such to you when he was being whisked away by the Saviors and that was the only time it broke you.

Even when all the bad happened and you reunited, the promise Daryl made the day you were married…you made again when he latched onto you the second you walked through Hilltop’s doors.

I will always be by your side until the end, even if someone or something gets in the way. I will always find my way back to you.

The Eldest Greene Sister

Dating

Hershel wasn’t the only one to not like the new comers. But you were more open to bringing people in than he was.

“You don’t know what they’ll do”

“I know for a fact that they wanted to save their kid. What happens next? We’ll approach it with an open mind, old man”

“Don’t talk to me like that. Please”

“Sorry dad”

You and your sister Maggie were the only open minded ones when it came to the two officers and an injured child, multiplying into a whole group.

And Maggie wasn’t the only one that gained an interest in someone in their group.

But you were more risky with the whole “take on the biggest man in the room” in a literal and non-literal sense.

Daryl noticed how relaxed you were when things got heated with the group vs the Greene family. But also noticed a part of you didn’t really care for what your family argued. Guess you were also the black sheep in your family.

The first time the two of you ever talked was about trying to find Sophia. The group wanting to rest up while the archer wanted to go back out there and given the few protests. You figured you’d help the guy without any of them knowing.

Little did you know that he’d take your stubborn bitch of a horse.

The group that came knew Daryl had left to look for Sophia but the Greene family didn’t know that you went out after him. Because again, your horse is easily startled. Finding Daryl wasn’t the hardest thing in the world because these were your woods, your solitude even in this new hell. You ignored your horse completely when you realized that its rider is no longer on him or in the surrounding area.

Daryl thought he was hallucinating when you found him. Given he’s been seeing Merle. You were instantly stressed out given the arrow in his side and didn’t even think about bringing any form of first aid.

“Are you an Angel?”

Y/N laughs to the question as she pressed down on the bleeding wound making him grip onto her arm. “Far from it, honey”

That pet name stuck.

As you were helping Daryl walk back to the farm after several moments of him talking to the blood loss. You heard the yelling and thought nothing of it but when a few of the men from his group came running toward the two. It clicked that he must’ve been labeled as a Walker by their lookout. As the group got closer and it was revealed to them who it was…your anxiety got the best of you shoving Daryl quickly to the ground and that’s when the shot rang through.

Daryl groans from impact and heard the thud beside him seeing the eldest Greene sister through blurred vision gripping her arm.

Who woulda thought almost dying is what brought y’all together

I’m kidding.

But it did show to Daryl that you weren’t a threat of any kind. Even if you did prove that to him a few times already.

The two of you grew close when it was revealed that Sophia was one of the walkers in the barn. He didn’t think he had to hear what you had to say…let alone be vulnerable

“Why do yea care?”

“Are you serious?”

“Look sunshine—I don’t need to fucking hear some “it happens for a reason” bullshit out your ranch hand mouth just le—-“

“Nah. You listen here, sugar.” Y/N shoved Daryl back knowing damn well he was still recovering. Hell so was she. “A fuckton of my family was in there and I didn’t know what my bitch of an old man was doing until the rest of y’all knew. I’ve lost enough of people to know that shit happens at random. But as long as I knew…it wouldn’t eat me alive for the rest of my life. I hated not knowing what happened but sometimes that just happens too…isn’t it better to know that this happened instead of beating yourself up for not findin’ her?”

“…She wasn’t even mine”

“Doesn’t mean it don’t hurt yea too”

Something about what you said, glued him to your side and you weren’t complaining. Because who woulda thought at the end of the world you found someone that understands yea. Even if some of the things you say, worries the guy.

You’re an honest person and everyone appreciates that. Daryl especially.

But sometimes your honesty sparks unwanted anxiety and made few turn a bit resentful even if you were also the one that would do anything and everything to provide for the group.

Even before y’all became official, Daryl found himself silently checking up on you and one night at the prison before the infusion of new people…You sat beside him outside the prison leaning against him and letting him keep you close.

The prison era is when y’all confessed. Or more so Daryl did…and you returned once you “returned”

The medicine got to their people in time before anymore could go through death’s door. But as the others woke up, you still laid unconscious. Daryl never left your side the second the medicine got in and his anxiety got the best of him when your breathing would stop for strange periods that made him think he’d have to do CPR.

“You can’t leave me…you can’t. I won’t forgive yea” Daryl frowns bringing your unconscious form into his arms bringing her close. “How could yea. How could yea come into my life and made me feel a certain way that I have never felt—just for you to leave me. This isn’t better. Waiting isn’t great. I need to know if yea with me til the end or not…”

“Mm…ain’t gettin rid of me, honey”

Hershel was about to check on you when he heard sobbing. He thought you died and your old man held a lot of regret for how he treated you but when he saw Daryl holding you in his embrace sobbing even harder when you held onto him.

It always takes stressful situations to bring few together.

You were official in that moment but neither you or Daryl did more than hold hands until Carol needed a favor in getting your archer to take a shower.

“D, you busy?”

“Yea gonna force me to be nice to people too?”

“Nah. I don’t trust it here that much either. But the house is empty”

Daryl looks at you confused but quick to notice you were only wearing a robe.

“And what are yea planning with an empty house?”

“Fuck if I know…but no one would be around to hear me screaming your name in the shower…” You smirk heading back inside as Daryl sat there for a second longer before leaving his crossbow and following after you.

Daryl wasn’t the only one to bear scars from his past. You knew about his before you saw them as did he. The two of you would talk a lot at night just watching the stars from the prison so you knew what his father did and he knew what yours did…but also yourself.

He didn’t hold back with worshiping your body and making you feel loved every second of every day since that moment.

Married

Alexandria made the two you feel safe in a slow manner but you had each other and that’s what is important.

Neither of you wanted anything fancy or really a ceremony. You two just. Found some rings and went from there. He loves calling you his wife whenever he got the chance to do so.

Maggie was mad that you gave her a wedding and you didn’t let her give you one.

Being married was being more intimate. Your dating phase was more so becoming even closer with the other.

Marriage didn’t feel different. Except for the fact that you two were given a place of your own and y’all decided to christen every room in the place.

You were more of a jealous person when the two of you became husband and wife compared to girlfriend and boyfriend. People were once afraid of Daryl. Now he’s a provider and some of the ladies would stare at the man. But little did he know that he had an attack dog.

It was hot how jealous you can get but not when you start threatening to hit people.

Your jealousy level is about the same equivalence to Daryl’s over protectiveness. Man needs to know where you’re at when you’re not right beside him. And tying the knot did have y’all doing a lot of shut together. But sometimes Daryl would find himself panicking when he hasn’t found you within the first hour of returning home after a run.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothin’”

“…If you want to join me in the shower you could just do so instead of sitting on the bathroom sink waiting for me to finish”

________

Author’s note:

Me: *writing this*

Internet history: *eight closed tabs about different definitions for the word “Headcanon”*

This is my first one…like. Ever. I hope I did it justice

#cultofdixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon #daryl dixon headcanon

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earenwen-leafwhisper · 7 months

Text

Not wanted (part 1)

Pairing : Daemon Targaryen x Chubby fem reader

Summer : "The silver hair of the prince was blown by the slight breeze, his purplish gaze burned with an anger worthy of his dragon. Y/n although set back could observe the scene unfolding in front of her eyes. Daemon was in front of her father, Dark sister in hand."

Author’s note: hello, I post the first part of "Not wanted" now, so you don’t wait as much. Part two will probably be published during the week or else it will be two publications on Sunday. I hope you enjoy this first part. Enjoy your reading.

Trigger warning: mistakes have undoubtedly had to pass my vigilance, English not being my mother tongue they will be corrected.

Ao3 profile : Earenwen_Leafwhisper

---

There is a feeling, or will it be instinct, which tells you quietly that you are not wanted in a place, it can happen everywhere, whether in school, in the street, at work, but also in the family.

This feeling grows over time and it is not pleasant, the worst being the evening when the truth comes out. When your father is drunk with all the alcohol he has drunk since the beginning of the afternoon explains to you that you will never be born, that your life you owe to your mother who wanted more than anything in the world a child. That explains, a lot of things, like never having a "congratulations" when you achieve something, or a "I’m proud of you, I love you my daughter". No. Never, just "Did you see how fat you are?" "Stop reading", "Why don’t you read?" , being cut off at every moment, "Shut up!" followed by "Why don’t you answer me?". Little by little, all your self-esteem eventually crumbles, by a member of your closest family. There is also this question, "What would I do alone?" The moments when you imagine running away.

Being born on Westeros is not a dream life, whether we are peasants or nobles, we have our own personal hell. Yours is your father. Although not wanted, your father decided to do something with you, and marrying a second-rate lord was a good solution. His son, born of a first union, was already married to a lady from your region, strengthening the ties of the two families.

His son, he saw it differently, for him he had nothing to reproach himself. But to all the others, he was a frightful asshole, who amused himself by threatening servants and lords of smaller house than yours. Manipulating everyone around you, going so far as to threaten you, morally and physically, explaining clearly, that the day your father died, he would put you at the door of your castle. But you were just a ball and chain. Your father did not want to marry you, at the very beginning, prefer that no one speaks of you or shows interest, waiting for the coming years, he ends up wanting to see you leave with a lord, he could not see you when he was drunk, insulting you with various sentences, more or less painful, explaining that nobody would want you, the least that nothing. Deep down, he was bubbling, refusing to accept that someone was interested in you.

During the various tournaments in which he participated as spectator, he tried to find you a husband in vain, he reproached you, while it was his fault, because no lords had seen you in the flesh. The lords are trying hard to convince him to get you out of the castle, wanting to see who this misterieuse young woman was.

A date was chosen, those of the games organized by Lord Baratheon, for the adoubement of his eldest son.

---

To say that you were surprised would have been an understatement, your father, one morning sober, warned you or rather ordered you to be present at the games organize for the son Baratheon. Your mind worked very quickly, you felt fear mounted within you, your whole body became warm, your heart throbbing, you felt your blood flowing at the level of your temples, your hands became sweatly. With time you had learned not to believe the good news coming from your father because to each of them, hid a dark face, turning against you.

You instinctively understood that something was wrong. He had never wanted you to accompany the "family", you learned to appreciate the fact of not participating in banquets, the only semblance of banquets in which you had participated was in your very young childhood, during which only the houses vassal to yours participated and at the same time make your acquaintance, having seen you as a child at your mother’s side. Whether it was a courtesy visit or in the most difficult moments, you, the child who tried to do well to please his parents, but ended up seeing his father drunk, yelling at the guests who contradicted him on anything, (whether on the land or on the alcohol he ate) and who fell asleep on one of the benches aligned against a wall of the room, a knight winning up to your nurse in order to sleep safely.

As you grew up, you would stay back, observing in the dark the rare events taking place in your castle, seeing from your apartments, your brother’s wedding, do not participate in the festivities. In a sense you were grateful, you did not want to play this open-air play, where false pretenses were common, you could only wish good luck to the servants, knowing more than very well, that their work and reprimands would be much more severe than usual

Now you had to participate, was it a new way to humiliate yourself? To have you away from the castle so that your brother could make it his stronghold and abandon you in a place that you were unknown?

All possible reasons paraded in your mind, not even trying to find optimism in them.

---

The area of your family was quite far from the stromlands, the journey was long and winding, the summer was coming to an end, the roads formed of a mixture of earth and large stones, you avoided the forests anticipate the slightest attack of bandits who could have hidden in the trees and depths of the forest. You were traveling for the first time outside your castle and your father did not want to worry about looting in addition to having you nearby.

There were two carriages, in the first was your father, a mestre and his advisor. You were present in the second, more modest, made only of wood, without ornaments, made of the rest of the wood of an old carriage, a servant was at your side, helping you to sew a new dress, for the dinner in which you and your father would participate, dinner to help you find a husband. «New», was not the right word, you used fabric of old dresses that belonged to you to make your work. The jerky movements of the carriage made it difficult to sew, more than once you had pricked your fingers, fortunately there was no taste of blood spilled.

Your journey was calm, you stayed in the carriage most of the time, leaving only when you had no choice, escorted by your servant and a knight, you avoid your father, who over the days used up the small reserve of wine he took with him when you left. The less alcohol there was and the faster he started to be irritable. The slightest thing that was contrary to his desires was directly criticized, whether it was the singing of birds early in the morning, the wind blowing a little too loudly, or a knight of one’s armor needed to be oiled. Everything was a pretext for his moods, the rare moments when he was sober and asked how you lived the journey, and his drinking crises where he remembered for an eternal time painful moments for all and reproaching you, even if you had nothing in it.

---

After more than a fortnight of travel, you finally arrived on the edge of the ramparts of Storm’s End, gave you the impression of being gloomy, all its shades of dark color, made you think of the tales that your nanny told you before going to sleep. Your servant looked through the opening of the carriage opposite to yours, observing the little distance that separated you from your destination.

"My lady! Look! In the sky!"

Surprised by her sudden change in behavior, you looked, trying to understand why she had reacted in this way.

You squinted slightly, trying to look towards the clouds that were beginning to gather above the stromlands. It was just clouds, nothing new, just big gray clouds with white reflections. Whatever… There you seemed to see a darker point, moving, appearing and disappearing, moving in movements that did not seem to come from the wind. The more you concentrated, the more you had the impression that it was getting bigger and bigger. Your throbbing heart, you didn’t understand what you see.

"Sir Percival, do you see this form moving in the clouds?"

Sir Percival was a knight of of family who was loyal to yours for several generations, long before the conquest of Westeros by Aegon the conqueror. Percival seemed to be close to your father’s age, as far as you could remember, you had always known her. He had always encouraged you when you were a child doing a task that seemed impossible to you, unlike your father who always found subject to criticism.

Sir Percival mounted on his horse’s saddle, lifted his head, you could see from his profile that he was concentrating, you could see fine wrinkles forming in the corner of the eye that you could see.

“It seems Lady Y/n, that it is, a dragon.”

"A dragon?"

“Lady Rhaenys Targaryen is a cousin of the Baratheon House through her mother. It would not surprise me that other Targaryen would have been invited. Although tensions are still high between the two houses, with regard to the iron thrones. "

“Thank you Sir”

"With pleasure Lady Y/n"

When you put your head in the carriage you began to imagine how big the shape could become, what their dragon riders might look like. Lost in your thoughts, you whispered a sweet.

“Dragons…”

---

Tents stood against the ramparts of the city that was facing the castle. The long and heavy linen fabrics covered them, a ballet of color paraded on both sides of the central aisle. Shades of blue, green, yellow and other warm and cold colors contrasted against the walls of an anthracite gray. The tents closest to the doors were intended for the most noble houses and more precisely for their knights, small paths were formed between the tents, taking visitors in the direction of the tents of the vassal houses, whose tents became increasingly modest according to their ranks and riches.

From inside the carriage, you and your servant could smell scents of roasted meats, grilled vegetables and soups. The smells came from the outskirts of the enormous camp, where servants of vassal houses prepared meals on oak tables, suspended above the campfires, stood pots where various soups and stews marinated. Looking from the openings of the carriage, you could see the knights helping from their squires moving armor, swords, masses and shields towards the forges moving from the city to the camp. The noises they heard were a mixture of words, metal clapping, the neighing of horses and clogs clapping on the ground.

The coach stopped slowly arriving at the level of the places defined at the location of the future tents. Your house was not one of the largest houses of Westeros, but had known to keep its independence from the largest houses, bend the knee only in front of the Targaryen house, after several years of fierce war. Some people in your family had kept a deep resentment towards silver hair, prefer to have links with other houses in Westeros, hence their placement. Coming out of the carriage, you looked around, taking the time to remember every moment, knowing that she would risk being married to a person she did not know at the end of the games.

Your house was placed between the Stark and Tully houses. You had never met a person of the two houses, hearing of them only by the few bits of words coming from messenger or by the books about the conquest of Aegon. The people coming out of the main tent of the Stark house were preparing the beds, moving the weapon and armor racks, they too had to arrive shortly before you.

"You do not speak without permission, you do not look a lord or a lady in the eye, keep your head down, and most importantly! Don’t make me ashamed!"

The words of your father came out of your thoughts, since your departure from the castle, he had not spoken to you directly, you understood that he would not speak to you more, and kissed the head you understood that it was the best solution for the moment, no one present knew you except the knights of your house, no one would have stood up for you.

Sir Percival descended from his horse, standing beside you. He put his hand against your shoulder.

"Don’t worry Lady Y/n, I’m here."

You sighed softly, feeling the weight of the years under your father’s yoke continue to pressure you.

"Shall I wait here until the tents are up?"

"No my lady, your father allows you to go around the camp, under the supervision of a knight."

"In that case, will you be prepared to accompany Sir Percival?"

"Of course."

Sir Percival, bowed gently in the direction of the young woman, letting his young squire take the reins of his horse, helmet under his arm, the knight began to walk beside the young woman, understanding more than his lord that the young woman needed it.

---

You felt several glances resting on you, despite everything you tried to keep your head high, constantly repeating to you, that your father did not see you, that he could not have concrete proof on your posture. The lord closest to your father looked at Sir Percival, recognizing the knight who at times accompanied Lord Y/f/n, they all watched the young woman round, recognizing for the most observant, the few features she shared with her father. So she was the young woman?

Murmurs began to roam the tents, first of all the less noble houses, clearly understanding that it was their chance to assert their houses in order to win ranks to theirs. The noblest houses were the most reluctant, the lords knew enough Y/f/n to know that your presence was hiding something. Never had your father talked about you, no hint, nothing. You could be legitimate just like a bastard they knew nothing about. A union between the two families by your blood did not guarantee the loyalty of the Y/h/n family, or even your legitimacy. There was still a positive point, your house, was known to have stood up to the Targaryen, it was powerful, but the disadvantage came from one man. Lord Y/f/n Y/h/n. Your father. Who of his problems with alcohol, became one of the most detestable men of Westeros, be it his words invaded with a hatred towards any man not thinking in the same way as him, refusing the slightest annoyance, and his bad manners, he turned and farted without any shame, whether during dinners, the shawl or in interviews when they took place at night.

Some shameless lords were already beginning to want to bring their sons closer, thinking they understood that your father could be overthrown quickly in case of an alliance, but the knight accompanying you watched over the grain, He threw black glances at people who observed too insistently his protégé. Fortunately all the families present were not insistent, greeting you simply out of politeness, resuming their activities just after.

From your walk in the central aisle, you could see the affinities of noble houses from their positions, the north remained mainly between them, the south with the south and then there were some houses that did not remain according to their geolocations on Westeros, But by their wedding rings, the children came and went from tents to tents, laughing at each other in a game that annoyed adults.

Looking at them you felt a slight pinch in the heart, you had never known a real moment of innocence to play with other children except one or two children of servants who ended up punished. Only your nanny and some knights kept you company, trying to alleviate the boredom of the little girl you were.

But of all the looks on you, you could never have imagined that one of them would have made you miss a heartbeat.

---

From both ends of the long alley stood two very large tents, of red and black color. From the location that the house Y/h/n, moving in the direction of the right stood the largest and most flamboyant in its shades of red, it was almost contiguous to the large door, this one raised flags of a red tricephal dragon on a black background. Many knights and servants moved in and around the tent, but no silver heads were visible.

“The king is very weak, he must have sent fighters on his behalf for the games.”

It was Percival, who saw the curiosity in your eyes, had spoken.

“In this case, who owns the second tent? It also carries the dragon.”

Percival concentrated, trying to understand why the Targaryen could have been divided into two parts. The Velaryons stood between the royal tent and the knights fighting under the banner of the Baratheon. In this case, the crown wanted to show that the union between the houses was maintained, although the princess was not the future queen. Who was in the second tent? To this Percival had no answer.

"I’m afraid I don’t know, lady Y/n. "

“It is nothing, we will probably learn in the coming days.”

You were right, when you returned to the tent of your house, you could see the second Targaryen tent grow. Unlike the royal tent, it was mainly composed of linen from a jet black. Two banners in the colors of the Targaryen were placed on both sides of the opening. There was very little movement around, the tent seemed almost deserted.

Almost.

A snap of armor was heard, you turned around at the same time as Percival and saw several knights walking quickly in your direction, Percival just had time to grab your arm and shoot at him, preventing you from being rushed. Slightly under the surprise, you did not pay much attention to the number of knights, or even to the fact that they did not apologize. The only thing that captivated your attention was a hair color that you had never seen beyond book to screen, silver hair, your eyes very easily found those that belonged to the person with silver hair. The purple eyes were almost hypnotic, you never thought possible that it exists, it took you a few seconds to turn away, not without fighting. In front of you, a man who seemed barely older walked, he was dressed in black with small touches of dark red. If at first the man’s gaze was surprised, it was quickly changed by a smirk. You felt your breath stay in your throat, time seemed to you to last an eternity. Although in reality your exchange of gaze did not last more than two minutes.

Percival with his protective arm around you, looked at the man younger than him, he growled. He understood why a second tent was present. Prince Daemon Targaryen would participate in his games, and this no longer in Percival. The prince since the appointment of Viserys as successor to the throne, was in dispute with the royal family, rumors about his adventures in the bordelles spanked numerous as his disrespect for people he did not see as his equal, refusing the arranged marriage with Lady Rhea Royce. The rogue prince was not someone the fathers wanted their daughters to meet. Percival though merely your protector feared that the prince would fall under his spell, not for the punishment he would have had, but he only wanted to protect you.

---

On the first night, Y/f/n ordered his knights and servants to keep you inside your tent, refusing to let you speak to anyone before he begins the bargain of your future marriage. He didn’t want you to undermine his progress, not noticing your look lost in the void.

Although you could not get out of the tent, the servants kept the entrance open allowing everyone to see what was happening outside, finding agreements with the servants of the nearby noble houses to say nothing to their lords.

You were sitting near the entrance and looking out, seeing that the movements of the day had faded by the time the noblest houses had come to the opening dinner of the games. You kept hoping you could see the silver-haired man again before your father came back, but he didn’t seem to have left his tent.

This is what you believed, because under a cloak with the hood up, the young prince was out, wanting to enjoy the night outside the large camp. He saw you from the corner of his eye, a servant was taking care of your hair (long/short, thin/thick, lise/curly/frizzy, etc.) y/hair/c.

Daemon was intrigued, he had already met your father on very rare occasions, as well as your half-brother. Oh more than once, the desire for murder had risen in his mind, he could still bear the Baratheons, but these two men, were detestable. Daemon wondered who this round young woman was, having never heard of her. Something in her attracted him, but he did not know what it was and he did not like it.

---

The night gave way to the days, the first games started at dawn, the archery tournament was on the outskirts of the city, long lines of targets next to each other butted in front of wooden bleachers. Ropes prevented the peasants from meeting the nobles. Your house was divided in two, the closest to the ground you were sitting with your servant, you had to keep your head low, feeling the heavy look of your father in the back, this one was two rows above you.

Daemon, from his place, standing back from the royal family, held a goblet of wine in his left hand, he tried to keep his gaze in the direction of the archers who were advancing, but was without hope. His gaze turned away at the slightest opportunity in your direction, he could see that since night, your posture had changed. From a straight posture, you had bent the spine letting appear some curves that he had not yet seen and which did not displease him, observing what was behind you, he saw Y/f/n, of which the black look was directed in your direction, while he seemed to speak with the lord next to him. Daemon despised this scene.

“You seem to be more interested in the Y/h/n house than in the tournament, my prince.” a lord who Daemon had forgotten the name, just spoken.

"If you please, my prince, it would seem that Lord Y/h/n wishes to bride his daugther although with her age I doubt that the lords are interested, they prefer them younger."

This lord annoyed Daemon, whether by his words or by his innuendo.

“At the same time, what did he think of his daughter, she only whas the second child, and of a second wife, his son will inherit everything.”

The second child… Daemon knew what it was like to be the second, more than anyone else.

---

#daemon x reader #daemon targaryen x chubby reader #daemon x chubby reader #daemon targeryen x reader #house of the dragon fanfiction

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alovesongtheywrote · 3 months

Note

i miss reid :(

♥ Summary: Me too lmao- hey, speaking of which! In this chapter of Nightmare Academia, you and Spencer are separated. Neither of you take it well. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: i can't remember any, if you find something, lmk

♥ Word Count: 1864

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

Spencer didn’t come back. Once the Federal Bureau of Investigations had him in their grasp, they really didn’t want to let him go- and you were pretty sure he didn’t want to leave. That thought left a gaping black hole somewhere inside you; an all consuming celestial body that devoured your organs day in and day out.

You weren’t sure why that was.

Reid only returned to the university once after Gideon died. He didn’t stay long. He just stopped by to administer final exams, officially announce his leave of absence, and take The Narrative of John Smith back home. He made this return on a Monday. A Monday after the murder of his mentor was solved.

He didn’t see you. You didn’t see him. After that, you decided you would try to push aside your sudden kinship with Prometheus and carry on with life as if he had never existed.

You failed.

And you failed for a few reasons.

For one thing, the ghost hadn’t left. If anything, they had only gotten stronger. Somehow, you didn’t find this as exciting as it was before. On the bright side, the ghost was trying to teach you chess. That was cool.

(Spencer kept a chess board in his office. He didn’t take it with him. The morning after he left, the pieces started to move on their own. You had to do a bit of googling, but eventually, you could move them back. Thus began the saga of your chess match with a ghost.)

Another thing was just how dull your life became without Spencer around. There were no mugs to steal, and no classes to send a typewriter to. There was no one to talk to you for hours about Doctor Who and why you should watch it and which companions you would like the most. There was no one to challenge you- no one to crawl under your skin, irritate the living hell out of you, and then show you kindness.

You were moving through an incomplete world. There was some vital piece missing. Reid’s absence left gaps behind. You didn’t even bother trying to fill them.

Then there was the guilt. You had always been a bit of a bitch to Spencer. Sometimes he deserved it. Sometimes he didn’t. It was completely reasonable to assume that he had left because of you. Now, you were alone. Your office only housed one professor. And it was all your fault.

The people around you noticed that something was wrong. Your students could see a hollowness behind your eyes when you gave your (still excellent) lectures. They whispered in the halls, not even bothering to speculate, but stating with certainty that Dr. Reid’s absence had caused some sort of change in you.

“They were so married- what the hell happened?”

“Fuck, this must be their divorce era.”

“The make-up sex is gonna be insane.”

Your coworkers noticed that you hadn’t moved out of Spencer’s office, and you didn’t seem to plan on doing so. You didn’t. You had pack bonded with the ghost. Besides, you had already replaced each and every book in the office with some smutty romance novel, and you didn’t feel like changing the books back for the next inhabitant. They could have your old office. You would keep this one- the one that you and Spencer shared with a spirit. The one that still felt kind of like a home.

Your community at the community center picked up on the silent sadness that clung to your body like the world’s most fucked up cling wrap.

They noticed. They all noticed. But if/when they confronted you about it, you told them that everything was fine. You acted like everything was fine.

And then somebody got shot.

The second Spencer left the university, he immediately wanted to go back. He wanted to grieve in peace (with you beside him and without worrying about Gideon’s killer hurting someone else) but to do that, he would have to help his team put said killer behind bars.

And he did. The BAU found the man who killed Gideon. The BAU killed the man who killed Gideon. Donnie Mallick would never harm another person ever again. Spencer should’ve been free, but like always, the cases kept coming.

For every killer the BAU took down, at least three others appeared on their radar, and that was on a good day. On a bad one, Callahan’s niece got kidnapped, or a witness would vanish mid-case, or a black market for serial killers was uncovered, or an entire underworld of hitmen twirled into the spotlight.

The BAU was having a lot of bad days. And they were short on agents. And Spencer wanted to leave. He wanted to go and grieve, in peace, with you, without worrying about serial killers.

But Spencer didn’t get back to the university for a very long time.

On some level, most of the team knew that something was up. It was hard not to realize something was up. Spencer spent a lot of time staring into the middle distance or forlornly glaring at his mugs. He was a little on edge, and the purple marks beneath his eyes were somehow darker than usual.

No one really questioned it. If anything, the team was sympathetic. Spencer had finally left the trauma and tragedy of the BAU behind him only to be dragged back in by another trauma/tragedy hybrid. He’d found some light in the dark, dark world just to be pulled away from it and forced to wander through the black.

It sucked. It sucked hard, and everyone knew it, and the team knew there were other places their Boy Wonder wanted to be. (A few of them guessed there was someone in particular that their Boy Wonder wanted to be with.)

And it wasn’t that Spencer didn’t want to help. Solving crimes and saving people still gave him a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. He was happy to be back at the BAU, and happy to be keeping the public safe, but there were a few things that he couldn’t get off his mind.

He felt like some part of him was missing- some integral, mug-stealing parasite part of him that he could barely function without. Some part of him that challenged him on a casual level. Some part of him that looked out for all the other parts of him.

Spencer was not good at hiding this.

Spencer was especially not good at hiding this around the BAU.

I really wish that I could tell you that the whole team was helpful and supportive about this- but it’s the BAU, man. Hotch and Rossi did what they could, helping in small ways, but when you’re chasing down serial killers, emotional turmoil kind of takes a back seat.

(Or a window seat on a fuel guzzling private jet. Yeah, the use of the jet was one of the things on Spencer’s mind. What of it?)

Morgan and Garcia were, by technical definition, “helpful and supportive.” By practical definition, however, they were complete and utter nuisances. Spencer couldn’t walk two feet without one of them (probably Morgan) hitting him with a: “Ohhhh, Pretty Boy misses Professor (L/N).”

Or a, “Cheer up, kid, you’ll see that professor of yours again, soon.”

Or a, “Can we say that Boy Wonder is hot for teacher? Is that a thing? Are we saying that thing?”

(That last one was more Garcia than Morgan.)

JJ was, again, busy having an actual child. If she hadn’t been, she probably would’ve given a, “That’s rough, buddy.” She would’ve been right, honestly. Callahan peaced out of the BAU, so she didn’t have an opinion, but Spencer had one about her, and it’s that he was kind of jealous. She got to go home and be happy with the people she loved and Spencer just got more trauma. Delightful.

Tara Lewis had no clue what the fuck was going on with Spencer, though it didn’t take her too long to figure out his particular brand of mysteries. Between the knowledge that Spencer had spent an extended stint of time professing at a university, the various jabs that Derek and Penelope sent his way, and the amount of time Spencer spent staring sadly out of windows, it wasn’t exactly difficult to deduce what was on his mind. It came especially easy to someone like Tara Lewis, a woman in possession of many brain cells.

The various other agents and officers surrounding the BAU, however, were fucking confused as shit. With a few exceptions, they remained clueless. They would see that sad wet cat of a man drift through offices and bullpens, and the only thing they could usually think to say was, “Oh my god, who hurt that sad wet cat man?”

One agent- a blonde woman who had been at Quantico for a while- had a lot of questions. Decent questions. Questions that didn’t infer that Spencer was the saddest wettest cat in the whole FBI (which he was, let’s be honest.) And while it was kind of weird for her to have so many queries about Dr. Spencer Reid, the team kind of assumed she was the mouthpiece for all the non-BAU agents around them.

“Is Dr. Reid okay?” the agent would ask, “Will Dr. Reid be contributing to this case?” “What happened to Dr. Reid to make him so… distant?“

Morgan and Garcia did their best to answer her, but again, they were kind of unhelpful. They usually met her queries with, “Pretty boy’s in love,” “Our dear Dr. Reid has a crush.” One time, Garcia said, “He knows everything, except for the fact that he loves them, and that, my dear, is why he is so distant.” That was a good one.

The agent was never satisfied though. One question always led to a thousand more, and Morgan’s question was, “Are we sure Agent Caddel isn’t an undercover reporter?” He didn’t actually verbalize that to anybody but Garcia.

Hotch once dignified Caddel’s pondering with a, “Reid’s mind is still at the university. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Meanwhile, Spencer had not realized that he was the subject of a million questions. He, himself had a question, though, and that was, “Do you ever notice that the police forces we visit are really into tunnel vision based fallacies these days?”

He didn’t verbalize that at all. He just stared at his mugs while the people around him whispered questions about whether his mind was really on the case at hand. Sometimes it was. Other times he would glare at the default desktop screen of the tablet in front of him, wishing you would call him.

And then you did.

And Spencer missed the call.

It wasn’t really his fault. He’d been mid-case in a different time zone, but that didn’t stop Spencer from feeling like an absolute idiot. After he listened to your message, that feeling got worse.

The next thing his team saw was their doctor sprinting for the fucking door. Not even Caddel had enough time to form a question about that.

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie, @iiheartbowie, @digitalhearts, @corpsebridenightamare, @ghostatrixx, @reiding-writing, @mywellspringoflife, @80katie, @ms-ks-world, if you asked to be tagged and i forgot, pls let me know!! if you would like to be tagged and aren't, also let me know!!

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x gn!reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #x reader #nightmare academia

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romione-trope-fest · 2 months

Text

Speak Now

Title: Speak Now

Author: adenei

Selected Trope: Weasley Weddings

Summary: In the midst of trying to navigate what life looks like following the defeat of Voldemort, and the loss of so many, there’s one thing glaringly missing. The irony of it all is it takes someone else’s wedding to give Ron the kick in the pants he needs to go after what—or rather *who*—he wants.

Word Count: 1988

Rating: G

TW: mentions of character death (all canon)

“Ron, I need to ask you for a favor.” Ron’s hand stops on the doorknob, the floorboards creaking under his feet.

The thick piece of wood is the only thing separating him from a much needed afternoon nap. Sleep has been evading him. Nightmares torturing his mind as he tosses and turns on the lumpy old mattress that’s been his for as long as he can remember.

He shoots his brother a withering look, letting go of the handle as he turns to face him. “Right now?”

It’s been two weeks since the Battle of Hogwarts. Two weeks since Fred died. Two weeks since Harry defeated Voldemort. And two weeks since he and Hermione kissed.

Every waking moment has been filled with funerals or meetings, and helping around the Burrow to ease the load on his mum, who’s completely overwhelmed with grief. And if he’s not doing his part to ensure the household is running smoothly, he’s taking a shift with George, making sure he doesn’t do anything rash or stupid as he navigates a world without his twin.

Because of all that, he’s barely seen Hermione, let alone had a chance to sit down with her. Every time they cross paths at the Burrow, he feels like he’s not making enough of an effort to make her a priority, yet how can he when everything else is just as important right now? She always smiles and nods in understanding when he’s pulled here or there, but sometimes he wishes she’d speak up and be selfish, asking him to come with her for once instead.

“Yes, right now.”

Ron sighs, trying to prevent the eye roll that sneaks out anyway. “Can’t you ask—”

“No. Bill is with George, and this really needs to be addressed by the end of the day.”

“Fine,” he groans, opening the door wide enough to welcome Percy inside his room.

He’s so busy ushering Percy inside that he doesn’t notice that there’s someone else already occupying the space—more specifically, his bed.

“Oh! Hi, um, sorry. I was just waiting for—do you need me to go?” Hermione’s brows knit with worry.

Ron could curse Percy all over again for needing him now—especially if he’s missing another opportunity to talk to Hermione. His brother stares at the girl he longs to be his girlfriend, contemplating her presence until he finally decides.

“No, actually, I’d like you to stay. I think that would be best.”

“Percy, what is going—”

The uptight redhead straightens his tie and clears his throat. “I have an appointment at the courthouse in Devon in thirty minutes, and I need someone to come with me.”

Ron’s not sure why, but he suddenly realizes that Percy’s dressed up—in Muggle garb.

“What did you do?” Hermione’s eyes widen as the question slips out of her mouth.

“I—nothing. I’m—er—getting married.”

“What?” He and Hermione both exclaim in tandem.

“But you’re not even seeing someone! Right?”

“I—I know it seems rash and maybe rushed, but it’s not. I’ve been seeing a—a Muggle for about two years now. Her name is Audrey, and I truly love her. She knows about me and our world. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing, dating her amidst the war, but—now that things are, well, over, I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Ron balks at him. “You’re seriously going to get married without the rest of the family knowing?”

“Er, no. They don’t. And that’s the thing. I do want to tell everyone…eventually, but Audrey and I had talked about eloping before things got really bad. We’ve been living in a Fidelius protected home and I had to be so careful not to get caught. Otherwise, I would have tried to make amends sooner too. But—Merlin forbid something were to happen again, I don’t want to miss my chance.”

Percy rarely gets flustered, but when he does, he is very much like Hermione. His train of thought tends to bounce all over the place and he doesn’t always make sense. Ron shakes his head.

“That still didn’t answer the question.”

“I am going to tell them. When the time is right. And we can have a reception or whatever else Mum wants to plan when she’s ready, but right now, I just need it to be me and her. We don’t want the fanfare.”

“So, why are you asking me to come with you?”

“Because we need a witness. Her best friend was supposed to come, but when I got the paperwork this morning to file the marriage license with the Ministry, we realized the witness needs to be magical for our end of things. Lara is still planning on attending, but…please, Ron?”

Ron stares at his brother, who looks at him with pleading, hopeful eyes before his gaze flits to Hermione. She nods gently.

“Fine. But I don’t have—”

“Oh, Merlin, thank you! Here.” Percy pulls his wand out and Accios something from the other room. It’s another muggle suit. “Hermione, you can come too, but I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you to—”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“No, please, I’d like you there. It would make me feel a little better knowing that some of my family can be there.”

Ron’s heart constricts in his chest. Does Percy really consider Hermione family? Even though they aren’t even together?

“I—I’ll go look in Ginny’s room to see what I can find.” Her cheeks are rosy as she climbs off the bed and slips between them, exiting the room without so much as a backwards glance at either of them.

Percy looks back to Ron. “I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”

“It’s fine. You…didn’t.”

Not technically, anyway.

“Er, right. Well, I do appreciate this. Truly. Thank you. I promise it won’t be long.” Percy glances down at his watch. “We need to leave in ten minutes. I’ll meet you in the garden and we can Side-Along?”

Ron nods. “Sure.”

As Percy disappears into the hall, shutting the door behind him, Ron has trouble wrapping his head around everything.

Percy’s getting married. To a girl no other Weasley has ever met before—a muggle. And he and Hermione are the ones being asked to bear witness to it all.

* * *

The ceremony is just as Percy said it would be: brief, quiet, and intimate. For someone who always wanted all the pomp and circumstance of whatever position he held, this is uncharacteristically unassuming and private. And Ron can’t help but feel a little guilty upon seeing how the war—and the estrangement from his family—has changed Percy.

But when the justice of the peace asks them to say their vows, there’s a spark that comes to life in Percy’s eyes when he looks at Audrey, and even though Ron thinks his brother’s rushing things, it’s obvious they share something special. He doesn’t blame Percy for not wanting to wait anymore.

After all, hadn’t he said as much to Hermione in the Room of Requirement? ‘It’s now or never?’ Except it’s turned into ‘it was now, but then we had to wait a few weeks and he’s starting to think it might be never.’

Ron glances at his best friend, whose eyes are glassy with unshed tears as she watches Percy and Audrey share their promises with each other. He’s struck with an overwhelming feeling that he can’t quite place. Relief, maybe? Hope? Maybe it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have the word to describe it. Until it’s obvious.

Love.

It’s against all odds—the fact that they’re here. They made it. Even when one, or perhaps both, probably shouldn’t have. Ron’s been so caught up mourning the loss of everyone who gave their lives to protect their world that he’s forgotten why they died in the first place. Fred, Tonks, Remus…they wouldn’t want everyone to grieve them so much they can’t get on with their lives. What good would all that fighting have been for?

Maybe Percy has the right idea, marrying Audrey. Perhaps this is part of his journey of healing and moving forward on his own, and eventually he’ll find a way to fuse his life with Audrey to the one he’s working to repair with his family. Ron wonders if he should follow in his brother’s footsteps, and find his way to happiness again.

As Percy and Audrey are pronounced man and wife, Ron knows exactly what he has to do. He offers a genuine smile as they share their first kiss, signs the documentation as their witness, and congratulates them.

“Thank you for being here,” Percy extends his gratitude again as they walk down the steps exiting the courthouse.

“No problem. Just, er, maybe don’t keep this from the rest of the family for too long. I think they could probably use something happy to latch onto.”

Percy’s mouth forms into a thin line as he nods curtly. “I’ll…try not to.” Then, he turns to his new bride. “We’re going to head back to our flat, unless you need help getting home?”

And there’s Pompous Percy, back to play.

Ron rolls his eyes. “I think we’ll manage.”

Percy and Audrey wander off down the road as Ron eyes the park nearby and nods to it. “Care for a walk?”

“Sure,” Hermione agrees.

They meander side by side, and all of the things Ron wants to say storm through to the front of his mind, but he can’t latch onto a single one long enough to start a conversation. After harboring his feelings for years, how is he supposed to finally tell Hermione how he feels?

Their fingers brush as they walk, and Ron brazenly slides his hand into hers the next time the sway of their arms sync up.

“That was unexpected,” Hermione offers.

“It was.”

“But also really sweet.”

“Yeah.”

Hermione slows her pace and turns toward him, forehead crinkled in concern. “Are you alright?”

“I—yeah—”

“I feel like we’ve barely seen each other, let alone spoken since—”

“I know.” The hand that isn’t still holding hers moves to slip around her waist. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“No, but—I’ve wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

Us. The kiss. The locket. What happened at Malfoy’s. Shell Cottage. Everything that’s ever happened between us since the fucking Yule Ball and what it could possibly mean. All of it.

He supposes any of those could be a good starting point, but that’s not what slips out of his mouth. “I want what they have—Percy and Audrey.”

“Oh?” The singular syllable catches in her throat as she looks at him in surprise.

“With you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He’s not sure how, but Hermione manages to move her body closer to his. “Me too,” she breathes. “I’ve been hoping—”

But Ron doesn’t give her a chance to finish. Dropping her hand, he brings it to her face, tilting her chin up as his lips graze hers. It’s much more gentle, tentative even, than their first kiss, and he relishes every second of the leap they’re taking.

“I never thought…” she starts to say when they finally break apart, but the words drift off and she bites her lip instead.

He knows exactly what she means though, even without saying it. “I know. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” she agrees.

“Reckon we probably shouldn’t jump to marriage right away though,” Ron jokes. It’s the first time he’s genuinely been able to since—well, before they broke into the Ministry.

The crack brings a smile to Hermione’s lips. Merlin, he’s missed making her smile. “No, probably not. But I don’t see a problem with dating.”

“Neither do I.”

“So, it’s settled then.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Then, a wide grin spreads across his face and happiness bubbles up from his heart. “I finally get to call you my girlfriend.”

She nuzzles her head into his chest. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.” He kisses the top of her head.

For now.

#submission #Weasley weddings #romione #percy/audrey

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robininthelabyrinth · 1 year

Text

Darlings - ao3

Summary:

“Clarity would not work to fix Chifeng-zun,” Lan Wangji opined.

Nie Huaisang resisted the urge to kick him – Lan Wangji wouldn’t stick his foot in somewhere it wasn’t wanted if he didn’t actually have relevant information – but even Lan Qiren frowned at him.

“You seem remarkably certain about that, Wangji,” he said. “But why not? While it’s not appropriate for every circumstance, it’s an extremely powerful song. I would think that it would be at least worth an attempt.

”Lan Wangji looked distinctly shame-faced, though perhaps only someone who knew him very well would recognize that particular flavor of it.

“I see,” Lan Qiren said. “And what exactly has your brother done that he doesn’t want me to know about?”

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

“I’m bored,” Nie Huaisang complained, and his brother’s eye twitched. “And don’t say ‘go train’, I’m not in the mood.”

“You’re never in the mood,” his brother said, his voice harsher than it usually was. It was often too harsh these days; the version of his brother that Nie Huaisang liked best, teasing and thoughtful and amused despite himself, seemed to have gotten rarer and rarer in appearance. “That’s the problem.”

“Not the point,” Nie Huaisang said. “The point is more fundamental than that. The Unclean Realm is boring! All these years, we’ve kept to ourselves because of the war – limited visits to friends, only going to places that are safe, that sort of thing. But the war’s over, right? So I should be able to go visit whoever I want.”

His brother grunted. Still unamused, when normally Nie Huaisang’s nonsense arguments amused him more than anything else.

Annoyed, Nie Huaisang changed his original plan, which had been to wheedle out permission for a visit to the Lotus Pier to see poor Jiang Cheng who was all alone now that his sister had married off, and instead said, “I want to go visit Wei-xiong!”

“Absolutely not,” his brother said, unsurprisingly. “He’s an outlaw for a reason, Huaisang. He murdered those Jin sect cultivators without warning, didn’t he? Who’s to say he wouldn’t murder you, too?”

“All sorts of reasons,” Nie Huaisang argued back. “Listen, what if –”

“I said no,” his brother thundered, leaping to his feet and slamming his hands against the desk. “You will listen to me, Huaisang, and if you don’t –”

“Why are you always yelling?” Nie Huaisang shouted back, losing his own temper. He was a Nie as well, after all. “Why do you always take everything so seriously? I was just suggesting –”

“It was a stupid suggestion –”

“Even if it’s stupid, you don’t have to hit things –”

“You wouldn’t be so afraid of me hitting things if you’d actually train the way you’re supposed to –”

“I shouldn’t have to worry about it at all!” Nie Huaisang screamed. “You’re my da-ge! You’re not supposed to act like – like – like Father!”

His brother, who was about to yell back, stopped, stricken.

Equally stricken by what he’d just said, Nie Huaisang stared at him.

“It’s not like Father,” he said, because it couldn’t be. It wasn’t allowed to be. Nie sect leaders died young, yes, everyone knew that, even (especially) him no matter how much he pretended that he didn’t, but – but their father had been older than his brother was now, and he’d been fine right up until the time he’d been murdered. If it hadn’t been for Wen Ruohan, they would’ve had him for another decade or two, easy, and he was nearly as good a cultivator as Nie Mingjue was…though he hadn’t had to fight a war on that sort of scale, either. Nie Mingjue’s cultivation had gotten scarily good the past few years. “It’s – it’s not, right?”

His brother said nothing for a long moment.

Then, at last, he sighed and sat down heavily on his chair with a thump.

“We can go visit the Lan sect,” he said, which wasn’t what Nie Huaisang had wanted at all, but for some reason the thought of arguing any further tasted like ashes in Nie Huaisang’s mouth.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go visit the Lan sect.”

The one good thing about visiting the Lan sect, Nie Huaisang thought bitterly, and in fact the only good thing was Lan Xichen.

Lan Xichen was nice and friendly and gentle, indulgent the way a big brother ought to be, always thinking first about Nie Huaisang’s comfort and happiness. He would buy him thoughtful gifts, he would take him out on outings to new parts of the mountain where there were beautiful views, he would sit and paint with him and listen to him very seriously even when he was talking nonsense. He would even avert his eyes if Nie Huaisang brought out one of his own books to read during study time, smiling and blushing a little in a very fetching fashion – Lan Xichen wasn’t the most desirable bachelor of the cultivation world for nothing, his face earned all its accolades fair and square in Nie Huaisang’s opinion – and they had long conversations that covered everything and anything.

Fewer these days, since Lan Xichen was busy with rebuilding and with Jin Guangyao, who apparently needed quite a lot of support even as he managed to talk his sect into providing the Lan sect with support of a more financial nature, but Nie Huaisang had been sure that a nice visit to the Lan sect with no politics behind it would give him the opportunity to finally have Lan Xichen all to himself again.

Except, of course, that Lan Xichen wasn’t there.

“Off to the Jin sect again,” Nie Mingjue grumbled acidly under his voice as they walked up to the center of the Lan sect from the gateway where they’d received the bad news from one of the door guards. “Big surprise.”

Nie Huaisang, in an equally bad mood, agreed wholeheartedly. It wasn’t like he’d come here for the food or anything…but now that they were here, there was nothing for it but to grit their teeth and bear it. They hadn’t sent word in advance of their arrival, like a bunch of barbarians, even though they really should have. But the decision to go had been very spontaneous and in all honesty Nie Huaisang had been a bit worried that his brother would change his mind if they didn’t follow through on the decision right away, so here they were, visiting the Lan sect, and it was on their own heads that the main attraction of the Lan sect was not there to greet them.

Instead, they were going to have to deal with…the rest of them.

Nie Huaisang tormented himself briefly by wondering if they’d be greeted by Lan Qiren, that terrifyingly stern and rule-abiding teacher that even Nie Mingjue was a bit afraid of, or if it would be that menace Lan Wangji, who everyone praised as the upstanding and noble Hanguang-jun, perfect in every way, but who when approached alone was definitely still that horrible little hellion Lan Zhan who when they were children used to bite Nie Huaisang any time he didn’t get his way.

The answer, it turned out, was both.

Actually, the answer turned out to be Lan Qiren loudly scolding Lan Wangji, who to untrained eyes looked obedient and submissive and to those in the know looked completely unrepentant.

Lan Qiren knew it no less than anyone else, of course, which was presumably why he was still scolding him quite so fiercely – so fiercely, in fact, that it was pretty obvious he hadn’t noticed any of the lingering Lan disciples who’d clearly come to give him the heads up that there were visitors. He was currently going hard on the subject of responsibility, whether to the sect and to the self, and not being impulsive, and also how going to dangerous places, especially without telling people first, was completely beyond the pale of impulsive, especially extremely dangerous places like –

“Hey, wait, that’s not fair!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, affronted. “Why does Lan Zhan get to go to visit the Burial Mounds and I don’t?!”

His brother glared at him even as both Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji twisted their heads to stare at their guests in surprise and unhappiness – Lan Qiren presumably because he’d been caught lecturing his perfect Lan Wangji in front of outsiders, and Lan Wangji presumably because Nie Huaisang had slipped up and called him Lan Zhan again, which he’d been banned from doing ever since Lan Wangji had turned ten and insufferable.

“He did not get to go,” Lan Qiren said, retreating into stiffness as he always did when he was embarrassed, but that just made the expression on Lan Wangji’s face change straight back into mulishness.

“There were no serious threats there,” he said flatly.

Lan Qiren promptly puffed up in rage again. “No serious threats – it’s the Burial Mounds! Even putting aside Wei-gongzi’s presence, the resentful energy in the air alone –”

“What do you mean there weren’t any serious threats?” Nie Mingjue demanded, overriding even his old teacher in a bout of rather uncharacteristic rudeness. “All the reports I’ve gotten is that Wei Wuxian has prepared the mountain as if for a siege, surrounding himself with arrays and corpses. Is that not true?”

Lan Wangji shook his head firmly.

That made even Lan Qiren started frowning. “Similar news had come to Xichen and myself,” he said. “The Jin sect said they sent several envoys seeking peace and were repulsed with violence, did they not? Wangji, are you saying you were able to go there with no difficulty?”

“That is correct, shufu. The greatest difficulty I encountered was Wei Ying forgetting to pay for lunch.”

“Good man,” Nie Huaisang said approvingly. “He always knew how to sponge a meal like the best of them. Did he manage to get you to pay for anyone else, too?”

Lan Wangji hesitated, which meant yes.

“One of the Wens?” Nie Huaisang’s brother asked, and his voice had dropped down to a forbidding register.

Lan Wangji straightened his back. “I will not apologize for associating with a child of two,” he said icily. “Regardless of his surname –”

“A child of two?!” Lan Qiren exclaimed, horrified, and even Nie Mingjue’s seeming ever-present anger broke for a moment, leaving him looking aghast. “In the Burial Mounds?!”

“Oh, woe is us,” Nie Huaisang said, delighted by this turn of events, which proved to be far more entertaining than what he thought was in store for him on a visit to the Cloud Recesses. “Clearly we’ll all have to go to see for ourselves, right? Right?”

When they got to the Burial Mounds, a lot of things happened in extremely rapid succession.

First, Nie Huaisang’s brother acted like even more of a beast than usual, getting irritated by the defensive arrays and deciding to just smash them open with his saber and march up the hill instead of listening to Lan Qiren’s perfectly reasonable suggestion of just knocking and seeing what would happen.

Second, the Wen sect’s camp on the Burial Mounds, and Wei Wuxian’s ‘fortress’, turned out to be a lot less fearsome than the rumors had advertised, with even the sign on the big cave that read ‘Demon-Slaughtering Cave’ being written in a jaunty and cheerful manner as if it were advertising a wine shop – and the sign was crooked, too. This was a matter of great displeasure to just about everyone, although Nie Huaisang suspected he was the only one disappointed in not finding anything more interesting rather than being upset about how they’d been misled about the dangers involved. Said dangers seemed to be limited to a bunch of elderly folk puttering about in a radish field, Wen Ning the Ghost General who would have probably been a lot scarier if he hadn’t consented to being buried in said radish field by the previously mentioned child of two and had gotten in so deep that he couldn’t easily wiggle out, and a shocked-looking Wei-Wuxian himself who looked as if he’d just been woken up out of an afternoon nap and who had come to yell at the intruders to go away.

Third, there had been an awful lot of yelling, mostly on the part of Wei Wuxian and, of course, Nie Mingjue, who was being awfully shouty even for him. Matters had very quickly deteriorated at that point no matter how much the Lans present (and Nie Huaisang) tried to calm the situation, with Nie Mingjue pulling out Baxia and Wei Wuxian responding by pulling out the Tiger Seal. It probably would have escalated still further – even Wen Ning had managed to crawl out of the dirt by this point, and he was hanging around ominously with white in his eyes – except that when Nie Mingjue stepped forward and lifted up his saber to actually strike his host, an overreaction of such massive extent that even Nie Huaisang couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it was actually happening, Wen Qing had come out of the cave, taken one look at what was going on, and shouted, “He’s having a qi deviation!”

Fourth, Nie Mingjue was definitely having a qi deviation.

Fifth, Nie Huaisang immediately had a panic attack in response to his brother showing symptoms of qi deviation, because qi deviations were what killed Nie sect leaders and Nie Huaisang remembered what they had done to his father in those horrible last few months of his life following his murder.

Sixth, Nie Mingjue’s concern over Nie Huaisang’s panic attack apparently managed to bring him back to himself enough that he apparently willed down the qi deviation, which, according to Wen Qing, was –

“Completely fucking impossible.”

“…Wen Qing, you just swore,” Wei Wuxian said, sounding dazed. “You never swear.”

“Oh, I swear all right,” she said, though her blush suggested she did not, in fact, make a habit of swearing even in the most extreme of circumstances. Not really a surprise, given that she’d been raised as a proper young lady. “At least I do when I encountered the utterly impossible. Advanced surgery that’s never been tried before? Risky, but within the realm of expectation. Reversing a qi deviation out of sheer brotherly worry? That’s just – just – it’s just weird!”

“Can we stop talking about how weird it is and focus on making my da-ge get better?!” Nie Huaisang demanded, clutching his brother’s sleeve. The second Nie Mingjue had put down Baxia and turned to focus on calming Nie Huaisang down, Wen Qing had gotten him in the back of the neck with four needles and he was now completely unconscious, which was probably for the best, really, but which was causing Nie Huaisang no end of distress.

“Nie Huaisang is correct,” Lan Qiren said crisply, and stepped forward towards Nie Mingjue, waving some sort of fancy array into existence that immediately got Wen Qing’s attention.

“That’s way more advanced than the usual diagnostic array,” she said, sounding affronted and also fascinated. “Wait – is that actually measuring the amount of spiritual energy in a given meridian? I thought everyone said that was impossible to track!”

“It’s a matter of resonance,” Lan Qiren said, with a slight melt to his usual frostiness towards all people surnamed Wen – quite justifiable in Nie Huaisang’s mind, given what had happened to the Cloud Recesses. Even Nie Huaisang, who considered himself an amiable and forgiving sort of person, wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the people who helped Wen Ruohan kill his father and, later, lots of his friends and also very nearly his brother. “A number of my sect members specialize in the medical arts, and they invented it while serving as battlefield medics. It’s not actually tracking the spiritual energy directly, which is in fact impossible, but rather tracking the effect of the movement of spiritual energy as it reacts.”

“Reacts to what? Oh, wait, is that what that low droning sound is for? I thought it was a side effect of putting in too much spiritual energy, as it is with most arrays. But instead you’ve actually harnessed the excess sound using your musical cultivation –”

“Can! We! Focus! On! Fixing! My! Da-ge?!” Nie Huaisang interjected. Loudly.

That got them to shut up and focus for a while. Lan Qiren had been the general leading the Lan sect’s forces and managing the back end for most of the war, so he had a lot of personal experience in playing battlefield medic, and Wen Qing herself had of course been well known for her medical skill even before everything had gone down, so the two of them put their heads together over Nie Mingjue and started up a very technical conversation that no one else understood.

In the meantime, the rest of them – Nie Huaisang, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and Wen Ning – just looked at each other.

“Wei-gongzi, are we just going to stand here while they work?” Wen Ning asked Wei Wuxian in an undertone, ignoring (or maybe not understanding) the suddenly hostile tilt of Lan Wangji’s eyebrows.

“Yes we are,” Nie Huaisang said loudly, then glared at Wen Ning. “Anyway, aren’t you her brother? Don’t you know anything about medicine yourself?”

Wen Ning looked taken aback. “Uh,” he said. “Not – not that much? I was only ever her assistant –”

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Nie Huaisang demanded, and jabbed a finger towards where they were working. “Go assist!”

Wen Ning tried to look at Wei Wuxian for permission, but Nie Huaisang hissed at him until he picked up his heels and trotted guiltily over to inquire if there was anything he could do, then promptly got recruited to run errands – which showed he clearly had been needed, and therefore should have been there doing that in the first place.

“Hey, Nie-xiong, have you ever seen those animal traders that come from the far south?” Wei Wuxian asked. “The ones that sometimes have those long ferret-badgers, you know the ones, they always hiss at large creatures and they can fight snakes –”

“…the mongoose?”

“Yeah, the mongoose!” Wei Wuxian nodded, then grinned toothily at him. “Has anyone ever told you, Nie-xiong, that you sometimes resemble a mongoose?”

“This is definitely the first time, Wei-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “Definitely the first time.”

“Maybe that should be your nickname! You’re the only one who doesn’t have one, right? I’m the Yiling Patriarch, Lan Zhan here’s Hanguang-jun – you can be the Stubborn Mongoose!”

Lan Wangji’s eye twitched. Why he was getting irritated over Nie Huaisang getting a stupid nickname, Nie Huaisang had no idea, since he was pretty sure Lan Wangji didn’t want to be called ‘Stubborn Mongoose’ himself when he already had a perfectly good title.

Maybe he was just jealous of Nie Huaisang getting Wei Wuxian’s attention. Well, if so, Nie Huaisang was more than willing to throw it right back onto him.

“No thanks, Wei-xiong,” he said, and smiled (somewhat toothily) right back at him. “I’ve had a dislike for animal-related nicknames ever since I was a child – you see, I went over to visit the Lan sect a few times and their precious ‘little Rabbit Bun’ bit me.”

He tilted his head pointedly in Lan Wangji’s direction.

Lan Wangji gave Nie Huaisang a death glare.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, looked as if his entire life had been improved by at least six degrees. “Lan Zhan?” he gasped. “Your childhood nickname was Little Rabbit Bun? That’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard! You must have been so cute!”

Lan Wangji glanced at him, his ears going red, and then glanced back at Nie Huaisang, who gave him a smug You owe me expression before saying, very virtuously, “Wei-xiong, don’t be silly. Wouldn’t you agree that our Hanguang-jun is still very cute?”

“No, he’s not cute, he’s handsome!” Wei Wuxian objected. “You can’t be ‘cute’ when you’re as dashing and bold as Lan Zhan is –”

“Being handsome doesn’t mean you can’t be cute at the same time! Haven’t you seen him when he’s smiling?”

Wei Wuxian looked stricken. “He smiles? You’ve seen him smile, Nie-xiong? Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, that’s not fair! You have to smile for me, I have to see it – you can’t smile at Nie Huaisang and not at me, okay, that’s just wrong, I’m the one who wanted to be your friend –”

Nie Huaisang bared his teeth at Lan Wangji – see I’m still better at managing people than you! – and Lan Wangji gave him a half-hearted glare back, too distracted by the way Wei Wuxian was tugging at his sleeve to really put any real heat into it. Or maybe he really did like Wei Wuxian bugging him all the time, who knew?

(Actually, the last time Nie Huaisang had seen Lan Wangji smile, they’d both been at least a decade younger, but he wasn’t about to let facts get in the way of a good taunt.)

The entire thing probably would have continued in that vein for a while, only then Lan Qiren and Wen Qing suddenly got up and that got Nie Huaisang’s attention entirely; he promptly forgot about what the two idiots he was waiting alongside were doing and rushed over.

“Is he all right?” he asked anxiously. “Can you make him better?”

“It will be difficult,” Lan Qiren said, and Wen Qing nodded.

“His meridians are in a bad state,” she said. “His situation was severely aggravated on account of the sheer amount of resentful energy in the Burial Mounds, and then driven into complete crisis when Wei-gongzi unveiled the Tiger Seal, but he was already doing quite poorly. You must have noticed his temper getting worse, less patience, more irrationality…”

Nie Huaisang didn’t want to hear about that. “We’re surnamed Nie, that’s not too weird,” he said shortly. “Anyway, can you fix it?”

“We’ve stabilized him for now,” Lan Qiren said. “There’s no immediate danger.”

Nie Huaisang exhaled. That was – not ideal, but still something. Better something than nothing.

“There are a number of techniques that can be applied to try to correct the deviation,” Wen Qing said. “Including surgery to straight his meridians out again, which I can do. But that’s a one-time fix, and he’s in a state of deterioration; even if I fixed him up, he’d only continue to spiral again, and all the fixes for that take a lot more time and effort and continuous supervision. If it were just me, I’d say there wasn’t anything we could do short of cutting off his access to his golden core for a while – and that’s incredibly dangerous in its own right – but Teacher Lan here says that the Lan sect has some extremely powerful music spells that might be able to do something.”

Lan Qiren nodded. “There is one in particular,” he said. “The Song of Clarity –”

“Clarity would not work to fix Chifeng-zun,” Lan Wangji opined.

Lan Wangji looked distinctly shame-faced, though perhaps only someone who knew him very well would recognize that particular flavor of it.

“I see,” Lan Qiren said, visibly resisting the urge to sigh and offer Lan Wangji a conciliatory candy the way he had when Lan Wangji had been young enough to still think that all problems could be fixed by biting. Possibly it was just Nie Huaisang that recognized that very particular expression, having seen it the most often out of all available non-Lan sect members – he’d been Lan Wangji’s favorite target, after all. “And what exactly has your brother done that he doesn’t want me to know about?”

“How did he know?” Wei Wuxian whispered to Wen Ning in an undertone barely louder than a breath, though not quite enough to escape being overheard by Nie Huaisang, who standing right next to them. “Did Lan Zhan even change expressions just now? Is there some secret sign language involved?”

Clearly Nie Huaisang needed to give Wei Wuxian a crash course in ‘understanding Lan Wangji body language’, Nie Huaisang decided – beneficently, of course. It definitely wasn’t so that Wei Wuxian could more effectively annoy Lan Wangji to death, no, absolutely not.

(Anyway, Lan Wangji seemed like he enjoyed being annoyed to death by Wei Wuxian, so maybe it really was beneficent after all.)

Facing all of their gazes, Lan Wangji squared his shoulders. “Xiongzhang has been concerned regarding Chifeng-zun’s health,” he said. “Particularly in regard to his family’s tendency towards qi deviations, which xiongzhang fears may be aggravated by Chifeng-zun’s powerful cultivation and the ravages of war. He has been playing him Clarity as a course of treatment.”

“As a course of treatment?” Lan Qiren asked, looking startled, and – oops. Had Lan Xichen not told his uncle about what he was doing? Sneaky sneaky! Yet more proof that Lan Xichen was obviously the finest and most superior of all Lans. “Impossible. A few times at full strength, perhaps…”

Lan Wangji was shaking his head in denial.

“It’s impossible,” Lan Qiren insisted. “As an actual course of treatment, he would need to play for him at least once every fortnight – every week, if possible. Xichen is sect leader now. He simply doesn’t have the time or the freedom to depart from the Cloud Recesses on such a regular basis.”

“Brother said a course of treatment,” Lan Wangj insisted back, stubborn as a mule.

“I would have noticed if your brother were slipping away every half-month, Wangji!”

“Anyway, it’s impossible for another reason,” Wen Qing put in. “If Chifeng-zun were getting regular treatment to help clear his meridians, we would have noticed that when we examined him in depth just now, and he definitely hasn’t been.”

“No, that’s wrong,” Nie Huaisang said, and now they were all looking at him, great. “I mean, he is getting regular treatment, and has been for the last few months. And, uh, sorry, Teacher Lan, it is the Song of Clarity. Only it’s not er-ge playing it for him – as you said, he’s way too busy to come to the Unclean Realm as often as that – but rather san-ge who’s doing the playing. Er-ge taught him how to do it…”

Judging by the color that Lan Qiren’s face just turned, Lan Xichen probably shouldn’t have done that, either. Nie Huaisang mentally apologized to Lan Xichen for the horrible scolding he was going to get when Lan Qiren got ahold of him again, but he figured Lan Xichen would forgive him – it was for Nie Mingjue’s health, after all! The people treating him had to know everything, after all, or else they wouldn’t be able to take proper care of him.

“Well, that’s still bizarre,” Wen Qing said. “Either your sect’s song-spell isn’t nearly as powerful as you think it is, Teacher Lan, which seems unlikely, or else whatever-his-name is playing it completely wrong. Judging from the evidence, Chifeng-zun’s state has deteriorated the past few months, not improved.”

She frowned.

“Actually, now that I think about it…” she said, trailing off, and turned to poke at the diagnostic array still hovering over Nie Mingjue’s body. “Teacher Lan, look here, at the lower levels – think of it as a way of mapping the evidence of what happened over time, the way stone does when it’s being worn away, like by a riverbed. His spiritual veins are strong, and then the deterioration is very slow, then faster but still not fast, and then, here, it suddenly starts going very fast all at once…”

“A few months ago,” Lan Qiren said, studying the array. “Yes, you’re right, that’s when the severe downturn began.”

“Hey, Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian said, sounding artificially light-hearted – extremely artificial, actually, and maybe Nie Huaisang wouldn’t have noticed except that he’d said the exact same words earlier when he was actually being light-hearted and the contrast between the two couldn’t be clearer. “When did you say Lianfang-zun started playing the Song of Clarity for your brother?”

“A few months ago…no, no, you’ve got it all wrong!” Nie Huaisang said quickly, realizing what Wei Wuxian was implying. “San-ge has been playing it for him for over half a year! He was getting better!”

Lan Wangji cleared his throat.

They all look at him.

“There is the matter of the Jin sect,” he said. “And their proposal regarding the position of Chief Cultivator.”

“Chief Cultivator?” Wei Wuxian asked, looking amused. “What’s that? How can there be a chief? We’re all different sects, aren’t we…? Well, excluding rogue cultivators like me, I guess.”

“That is how it has always been, yes,” Lan Qiren said. “However, in the interest of preventing another Wen sect and another Sunshot Campaign, the Jin sect has proposed creating a position of Chief Cultivator, which would act as an arbiter for the cultivation world – solving problems, settling disputes, that sort of thing.”

“My brother thinks the idea’s complete trash,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “He says that we didn’t go to all that trouble to make sure Wen Ruohan couldn’t make himself the lord over all of us using his armies just to let Ji– uh, to let Sect Leader Jin do it using his money.”

“Has he said this publicly?” Wei Qing asked, and Nie Huaisang gave her a strange look for a moment.

Then it occurred to him that she probably didn’t know his brother that well, or even his reputation, so he clarified, “Yes, of course. My brother isn’t the sort of person who says one thing in private and another in public. He’s very straightforward.”

“That’s not what I was getting at,” she said. “It was more…when did he say it in public? I don’t suppose – a few months ago?”

“Well, yes, it was – I mean –” Nie Huaisang hesitated.

“I get what you’re saying,” Wei Wuxian said, and his face was hard, back in the lines that had been cut into it during the Sunshot Campaign. “Nie-xiong, would you say that that whole argument happened right around – or maybe right before – the time your da-ge stopped getting better whenever your san-ge came to play for him, and started getting worse much faster?”

“Lianfang-zun,” Wen Ning murmured. “Jin Guangyao.”

“But – but – they’re sworn brothers!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed. “He wouldn’t!”

“Wouldn’t he?” Lan Qiren asked. He looked older, suddenly, and tired. “Are you sure?”

Nie Huaisang wanted to say yes, he really did, he really really did –

But he couldn’t.

“You know, when I said I was bored and that the Unclean Realm was boring, I really was trying to use it as an excuse to go somewhere else,” Nie Huaisang said. “Ideally the Lotus Pier, which has both good food and good shopping and Jiang Cheng, who is pretty funny sometimes – usually not on purpose – but I was willing to settle for the Cloud Recesses because then I’d get to see er-ge. But either way, I hadn’t intended for the end result to be to liven up the Unclean Realm. Or at least, you know, not quite so much, you know?”

“You’re getting exactly what you deserve, you noxious little brat,” his brother said. He was still lying in bed, although he had a desk on his lap that contained all his work. He looked a lot better now that he’d had the immediate intervention surgery Wen Qing had done to straight his meridians out and after both Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji had played him the Song of Clarity – the real Song of Clarity, not whatever messed up version Jin Guangyao must have been using on him – a half-dozen times over the course of as many days. He was even smiling again. “Don’t pretend like you aren’t enjoying it.”

Nie Huaisang was loving it. His home had never been so rowdy, not for as long as he could remember it, and it was already a pretty rowdy place to begin with – but anything got more rowdy when you threw in Wen Qing, who was there to supervise the aftereffects of the surgery, Wen Ning, who was there to assist her, Wei Wuxian, who was there to watch over the still-somewhat-unstable Wen Ning, the rest of the remaining Wen sect, who couldn’t be left on their own and undefended, and of course also Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji in all their grumpy majesty.

And it was going to stay that way.

Well, Lan Qiren, at least, was planning on returning back to the Cloud Recesses, since they were very firmly in the process of rebuilding and he was concerned that Lan Xichen couldn’t do the rest of the work without him, but Lan Wangji was being assigned to the Unclean Realm on a semi-permanent basis since both Wen Qing and Lan Qiren had agreed that Nie Mingjue needed to continue with a daily regimen of Clarity for at least a month, then shift over to three times a week, then two, then weekly, and eventually twice-monthly and monthly before finally, hopefully, tapering off for good. Lan Qiren planned to come back to visit on a regular basis to supervise the musical aspects, and Wen Qing wanted to remain on hand in the event of another crisis – and to study the medical implications of musical cultivation, which was apparently an area she’d completely neglected in her previous studies on account of the Wen sect not teaching much in the way of music.

And if Wen Qing was staying, then obviously Wei Wuxian was going to have to stay as well, a fact that very obviously delighted Lan Wangji to no end. The two of them were completely unbearable when together in a way that made Nie Huaisang pretend to gag and Lan Qiren start heaving long sighs and grumbling about not wanting to deal with matchmakers – which Nie Huaisang hadn’t gotten at first until he suddenly did, at which point he started pretend-gagging even more, just for the principle of the thing.

Possibly Nie Huaisang was also occasionally going and dropping a lit torch into a fire-starting array any time they were showing signs of getting boring, like how just that morning he’d oh-so-casually reminded Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji used to like to bite people and how everyone used to say it was the way he showed affection, knowing that it would make the ever-competitive (though not as competitive as Jiang Cheng) Wei Wuxian start bugging Lan Wangji about whether or not he would have bitten him –

Nie Huaisang had hope that all that teasing would eventually make it through Lan Wangji’s otherwise impenetrable Lan sect reserve and he’d finally just drag Wei Wuxian into a bedroom and give him the biting he was asking for, but only time would tell.

“I admit to nothing,” Nie Huaisang said righteously, and hopped into the bed to curl up next to Nie Mingjue like he hadn’t since he was much younger. “You like it too. Don’t you?”

“I don’t like the political headache that comes with it,” Nie Mingjue pretended to grumble. “Not to mention that we’re now suffering an undoubtedly permanent infestation of those surnamed Wen – ugh.”

That complaint was probably genuine, Nie Huaisang reflected, since his brother had had to suffer the original Wen sect a lot more than Nie Huaisang ever had, but saving Nie Mingjue’s life meant they owed Wen Qing a life-debt. To pay it off, his brother, good and righteous person that he was, had officially buried his sect’s blood feud with hers, making them equal again, and now they had no grounds to be pissy with them or kick them out. The rest of the Nie sect loved their sect leader enough to begrudgingly forgive them as well, at least provisionally, but provisionally went an awful long way with the Nie sect. Unlike the Lan sect, they didn’t have a rule against bearing grudges, though they did it very well, thank you. It was just that they didn’t have the temperaments to do it more than once or twice in a lifetime, and the rest of the time they tended to forget about their wrongs pretty quickly and move on towards making friends.

All that, of course, meant that the Wen sect now had two places in the cultivation world that they could live – the rest of the cultivation world wasn’t exactly as incentivized to forgive them, obviously – and since the Burial Mounds were in fact pretty terrible, it was no surprise that they were much happier in the Unclean Realm.

“You can distract yourself by watching the Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian circus, like I do,” Nie Huaisang comforted his brother. “It’s really funny. And soon we’ll be able to host a wedding, won’t that be fun? And it won’t even have to be one for either you or me!”

“…that does sound fun,” Nie Mingjue allowed. “Everyone would enjoy that, and it’d be good for commerce, all the things you’d need for that – the Lan sect is still mostly investing in rebuilding, but I can’t imagine they’d allow their Second Jade to be married in anything less than the best.”

“I’ll paint them a nice couple set of fans as a wedding gift,” Nie Huaisang decided. “And you can make them a pair of supplemental spiritual weapons to match – you haven’t done that in ages, da-ge, and it used to be the thing you loved the most.”

Nie Mingjue looked seriously tempted, or at least he did to someone who knew him as well as Nie Huaisang did. His brother wasn’t actually an ascetic, the way Jin Guangyao had once or twice joked in a not-quite-joking tone he was; he just had different vices and hobbies than most men. No wine, women, or song for Nie Huaisang’s quixotic big brother, no – he liked steel, and forging, and sometimes dancing when he thought he could get away with it without losing face. Also those stupid overly complicated puzzles that Nie Huaisang needed to hunt up more of for him.

“I don’t know,” Nie Mingjue said, still hesitating. “My health –”

“I’ll get you cleared by Wen Qing,” Nie Huaisang assured him. “I’m sure she’ll say it’s good for you to engage in your hobbies more often, since you’ve been so bored without training Baxia so often.”

“I need to start doing that, too.”

“Ah, but you can only do that under supervision of doctors, and only in limited quantities until your qi improves. You need to fill your day with something that isn’t work, da-ge – doctor’s orders!”

Lan Qiren’s orders, to be more accurate. He’d been shoved into the role of sect leader, too, though he’d been older than Nie Mingjue was when it’d happened; he was now rigid to the point of unyielding on insisting that Nie Mingjue not allow himself to be swallowed up by it any more than he already had.

Anyway, his brother had already been very pointedly avoiding anything to do with sect business outside the sect, and in specific in relation to the Jin sect, and Jin Guangyao, which Nie Huaisang fully understood and supported. His brother might be tough on the outside, but he had a soft heart, and Jin Guangyao’s actions had broken it – it was better for Nie Mingjue’s health that he not think about it, at least for now.

Nie Huaisang had instead taken responsibility for external affairs into his own hands for the time being.

He wasn’t necessarily very good at it, he wasn’t good at much, but he was extremely capable of being very annoying and given the Nie sect’s current ascendant position in the cultivation world, that was all he needed to be to keep the Jin sect so busy guessing what he was up to that they’d (hopefully) be too busy to scheme any more.

And if Nie Huaisang had a scheme or two he was planning on trying back on them…well, that was his own business, right? Even if it failed, no one would be too surprised, he was just the stupid and useless second young master of Qinghe, after all.

No one broke his brother’s heart and got away with it. No one!

(Also, being in charge of external affairs meant that Nie Huaisang got to spend quite a bit of time sequestered with Lan Xichen, nominally ‘discussing sect business’, and it was great. They barely did any work at all!)

“All right, all right,” Nie Mingjue said. “You win, as you always do. Don’t you have anything better to do than attach yourself to me like some sort of parasite?”

“Nope! Cleared my entire morning just for this.” Nie Huaisang burrowed in more. “I’m going to steal all your heat away, da-ge, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Huaisang…”

“And later,” Nie Huaisang interrupted, marching all over his brother’s half-hearted protest, “you’re going to tell all the things you haven’t been telling me about our family’s cultivation style, and the saber tombs, and all of that.” His brother went very still. “You’re going to tell me, and then we’re going to figure out what we’re going to do about it together. All right?”

He waited to hear his brother’s response.

Instead, he felt the light touch of his brother’s palm on his hair.

“All right, Huaisang,” his brother said. “That sounds good. I’ll listen to you.”

“As you should,” Nie Huaisang said. “As you always should!”

“I’m not buying you any more fans, and you still need to train your saber.”

“Awww, but da-ge…!”

#mdzs #nie huaisang #nie mingjue #lan qiren #lan wangji #wen ning #wen qing #wei wuxian #my fic #this is an old one from the vaults #I THINK I never got around to posting it #if it's actually a duplicate let me know #my fics

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