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waveypedia · 3 years

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A Day in the Life of Gyro Gearloose

Ao3

Gyro arrives at the lab at six A.M. on the dot, two hours before call time. The lab is empty, for once. He slips through the elevator doors and darts around the lab, putting on coffee (even though he’s already had two cups at home), and arranging his papers.

At last, he settles down at his desk, fully prepared to get a good amount of work done before Fenton and Manny bustle in with their noise and cheer that used to bother Gyro oh so much.

He’s excited to have the lab to himself, for once. Even Lil’ Bulb is still charging, as it’s too early for him too.

Gyro lifts his pencil, ready to write… and lowers it, unable to think of a concrete idea.

He struggles to put words and calculations on paper, and only gets a couple steps in before he inevitably loses focus again.

“This is ridiculous,” Gyro spits at the empty air, startling a sleepy Lil’ Bulb out of his slumber. “I am Doctor Gyro Gearloose. I do not lose focus.”

Missing the rest of your team? Lil’ Bulb flashed at him in Morse code.

It’s a testament to how far Gyro’s come since Fenton’s original hiring that he only crosses his arms indignantly and mutters a quiet “Maybe.”

It’s not physically possible, but Gyro knows Lil’ Bulb is smirking, somehow.

He busies himself by bustling around the lab, taking inventory of mundane machines and ordinary tools. The lab is still uncharacteristically silent, but at least with Gyro’s manually manufactured noise it’s somewhat bearable.

Fenton, bless him and his errant punctuality, arrives a blissful seven minutes early.

“Good morning, Dr. Gearloose!” he chirps, dropping his bag on the floor with a thud that would’ve made the Gyro of a year ago scoff, but today’s Gyro just sighs in relief. “How are you today?”

“Unproductive,” Gyro grumbles. He’s reluctant to admit the supposed cause of his unproductivity, but knowing Fenton it’ll come out sooner or later.

Fenton hums in response. “Sorry about that. Hopefully you’ll escape your funk! In my experience, a refreshing walk always clears my head!”

Gyro snorts. “I’m not going outside, Doctor Intern.”

“I’ll get you out there someday,” Fenton replies, not swayed in the slightest.

“Whatever you say,” Gyro says, waving him off and turning back to his workstation. Fenton’s presence in the lab is noisy, which used to bother Gyro to no avail. Now, it seems, he can’t focus without it.

“Huey’s coming later today,” Fenton calls over as he makes coffee. “He has a promising project he’s presenting.”

Gyro snorts goodnaturedly. “You make it sound like a school assignment.”

Fenton shrugs. “Huey’s words, not mine. Besides, I think that format works well for him. It does for me, too.”

Gyro snorts in lieu of a reply. He actively chooses not to tell Fenton it works for him as well.

As their conversation fades out, Gyro settles down at his desk. With his coworkers’ chatter floating around him, he slides easily into a focused headspace. In fifteen minutes, he’s made more progress than he had in the hour before his coworkers arrived.

While Gyro tinkers with a gadget, he’s vaguely aware of Fenton getting up and crossing to Manny’s desk. Usually he’d pay more attention, but he’s busy cursing ridiculously small screws.

“Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton calls. It only half registers, and Gyro hums in response, waving a hand dismissively.

“Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton says, a little more insistently this time.

Gyro starts. He blinks down at his project, which is nearly completed. “What do you want, Doctor Intern?”

Fenton quirks a brow. “Can you look this over?”

“We’re having trouble with it,” Manny clops via Morse Code. “Could use an extra eye. Or four.”

Gyro rolls his eyes behind his aforementioned glasses. “What are you, six? I’ve never heard that used outside the elementary school playground.” But he acquiesces, crossing the lab and settling his hands on his hips as he eyes the gizmo Manny’s been working with.

“It’s the double-sided shrink ray,” Manny says, pushing it towards Gyro with his hooves.

“We were able to activate the shrinking command upon request, but it’s unstable,” Fenton says, carding a hand through his swoopy hair. “The beta waves are successfully translating into gamma rays, but some of the neutrons are glitching.”

Gyro pushes closer to the table. “Let me see.”

“That’s why we called you over,” Manny clops, but steps back. Fenton chuckles softly, making Gyro roll his eyes.

He picks up the device and squints at it, examining it from all angles. After a little while of tinkering, he drags a nearby chair over. Fenton drops a cup of coffee next to him, but he barely notices it.

The lab falls back into its quiet - but not silent - rhythm while Gyro works. It’s comforting.

During the second dissection attempt, Gyro lets out a small “Aha!” and tweaks a few wires. Triumphantly, he leaps out of his chair and holds the device out to Manny, puffing out his chest. “That should do it!”

Manny twists the device sideways and fires. Simultaneously, an apple and a pile of paperwork shrink into almost-nothingness.

“You did it!” Fenton’s grin splits his face in two. “Thank you, Dr. Gearloose!”

Gyro still finds it difficult to meet Fenton’s gaze when he’s so openly enthusiastic and supportive, even now. He settles for glaring at the coffee maker behind him, pointedly not looking at Manny either, even though he’s laughing. “Of course. It was nothing.”

Fenton’s smile softens, but it’s no less genuine. “Well, we still appreciate it.”

Gyro crosses back to his desk. “Well. It was nice to actually get some work done.”

Fenton frowns, dropping his pencil to focus on Gyro. “What do you mean?”

Gyro drops his gaze, gritting his teeth. “Well… maybe… I’ve unfortunately gotten used to your incessant, needless background noise,” he finishes in a rush, scowling. “It was too quiet this morning.”

Fenton beams back at him. “Aww, Dr. Gearloose! That’s so sweet!”

“It is merely an observation,” Gyro grits out.

“Admit it, “ Manny says. “You love us.”

Gyro only huffs in response.

“Well, it’s nice to work with you too,” Fenton says, still smiling widely. Gyro would say his grin is too wide, but for some reason it doesn’t quite bother him like it used to.

He’s grown fond of it. He’s grown fond of them all.

ii.

There are three constants in life. Change. Death. Gyro Gearloose’s inability to leave the underground lab for long periods of time.

Della texts him just often enough to be a nuisance, but not often enough for him to justify blocking her (it would result with a very angry Della in his lab, a volatile variable he’d rather not contend with, especially when Fenton, Launchpad, and Scrooge fulfill that dangerous category as well. He knows this from experience.). The familiar buzz of Gyro’s phone, once startling from disuse, is now a surprisingly comforting constant of the background noise in the lab. Gyro’s a scientist working under Scrooge McDuck, with Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera and Manny the Headless Manhorse in his lab - he has to be able to tune out the white noise.

You. Me. Coffee. Della texts. She leaves no room for argument, which frustrates Gyro to no end even though he’s the exact same way. He sighs, tucks his phone under a towering pile of papers, and resolves to ignore her until the time she’s set for their gathering has passed.

But Della cannot be swayed that easily. Nothing can stop Della Duck.

At five minutes to their set meeting time, the elevator doors open with a ding. All of the lab’s primary occupants are present, but Gyro is too buried in his work to notice.

He does, however, notice the next noise. It’s impossible to ignore.

“Heeeeyyy, G-Man!!!” Della chortles, all exuberance and energy. She’s next to Gyro’s desk before he can say “Blathering Blatherskite!” (Hey, it was his catchphrase before it was Fenton’s!). She slams her hands on his desk, sending papers flying. Gyro squawks in protest, but Della ignores him.

Della shoves her face in his personal space, grinning like a maniac. Gyro maintains his death glare for a moment longer before slumping into his chair, dropping his head into his arms.

“I’m not going for coffee with you,” Gyro groans. “I have enough on my plate right now,”

“Enough of that,” Della nags, smacking his shoulder lightly. Gyro just groans in response. “You prooomiiised!”

Gyro’s head snaps up. “I did nothing of that sort,” he hisses, low and dangerous. “I didn’t even reply!”

Della smirks triumphantly. “But you did see it,” she says, tugging on Gyro’s perfectly pressed shirt. “So you were ignoring me! Now you have to go.”

“Of course I was ignoring you,” Gyro replies matter-of-factly. “I hate you.”

Della grins at him. “C’mooooon, you looooove me. Now let’s get going!”

Gyro turns pleading eyes back towards his crew. “Tell her! Tell her we have work to do!”

Fenton smiles at him apologetically. “Dr. Gearloose, you worked really hard today and got a lot done. You deserve a break!”

“Yeah,” Manny clops. “Also, I’m kind of tired of hearing your inhuman screeches whenever something goes mildly wrong. No offense.”

At that, Gyro treats his coworkers to one of said inhuman screeches. None of them enjoyed it very much, it seems.

Which is how Fenton, Manny, and Lil’ Bulb (betrayal!) ended up bodily shoving Gyro into the elevator with Della dragging him by the shirt and pressing the buttons for him, Gyro glowering furiously all the way.

“You’ll regret this!” he vowed, shaking his fist. “You will rue the day! The great Dr. Gyro Gearloose will never forget this act of betrayal!”

“Aw, you care!” Della says flatly as she opens the elevator door. “Now c’mon, let’s get some coffee in you that’s not from your lab machine. You look like you need it.”

—

By the time they’ve arrived at Della’s fancy coffee shop across town, ordered, and gotten their drinks, Gyro has calmed down considerably. Nursing two coffees that will be sure to give Gyro a heart attack someday, he settles in across from Della on the patio. Outside the thin fence separating the restaurant from the sidewalk, passerby flit along on their way through the city. Downtown Duckburg is usually far too crowded and populated for Gyro’s taste, but today, separated from the hustle and bustle of the crowd and sated by the infuriatingly good (if ridiculously expensive) coffee, it is… palatable. Almost enjoyable, although there’s no way he’s telling Della that.

Della grins at him like she can read his mind. (Did Mr. McDuck mention anything about a mind-reading artifact last time he stopped by the lab? Or did the Narration 3000 reach her hands? He could’ve sworn he sold it for scrap metal…)

“So.” Della sets down her coffee on the table and leans forward with her head resting on her hands. “Gy-man. Nerd. Mr. Mad Scientist. Bearer of Bad Taste.”

Gyro frowns. “Excuse me? Bad taste? I’ll have you know that black licorice is objectively the finest taste in existence. You have bad taste.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, buddy,” Della says, lazy and lethargic, smirking like she just won a presidential debate.

Gyro huffs and crosses his arms, turning sideways in his seat to face away from Della as much as he can. She cackles.

“You’re a dummy,” Della says, smiling fondly.

“I’m a world-renowned scientific genius,” Gyro replies, rolling his eyes.

Della snorts. “I know. You’re still a dummy.”

“Impossible.” Gyro wants to say more, but Della laughs and laughs. They dance easily between insults and compliments, toeing the line between teasing and hurt. Their arguments continue, sometimes flitting dangerously towards genuine. They both revel in the fact that an average eavesdropper wouldn’t be able to tell if they’re friends or not.

Sometimes Gyro himself can’t tell if they’re friendly or not. But he knows for certain they’re friends, at least.

Before he knows it, his coffee cup is empty.

iii.

After Della returns to the mansion for Dewey’s flight lesson (a phrase that made Gyro want to flee into an underground bunker for a year) Gyro heads back to the lab and vows to actually get something done for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, in his life, things rarely go the way he wants them to.

Even with Huey in the lab (why did Fenton agree to work with him once a week anyway? Why did Gyro agree?) and Manny, a surprising force of calm, out for lunch, they make it an entire hour without incident. Before things inevitably go wrong.

The first sign of trouble is the explosion that rocks the Money Bin.

It takes all of them by surprise. Gyro and Huey scramble to save their projects while Fenton calls for the Gizmosuit. With the Gizmosuit’s enhanced strength, Gizmoduck shoves aside debris and forces open the elevator doors only to find a supervillain already there.

To their credit, the supervillain, a broad-shouldered orange lizard with medieval-style armor, seems just as surprised as Fenton.

They narrow their eyes at Gizmoduck behind their mask and drop into a fighting stance, their fists raised and their weight centered beneath them. “I don’t know how you predicted that I, the Liliputan Lizard, would raid Scrooge McDuck’s coveted lab. But now that you’re here, we will have a battle for the ages!”

While the villain monologues, Gizmoduck’s head snaps around to stare at Gyro and Huey. He can feel Fenton’s piercing gaze through the impenetrable visor.

“Get to safety!” Fenton hisses through his teeth, flapping a frantic, dismissive hand.

“But-” Huey steps forward, raising something he’s holding, but Gizmoduck just shakes his head and turns back around, readying for the villain’s attack.

The force of their gadget knocks Gizmoduck into one of the side tables. Taking advantage of the chaos, Gyro snags Huey’s arm and hightails it into an all-too-familiar closet.

“Dr. Gearloose!” Huey yelps, stumbling along at his heels. “Wait!”

“Blathering blatherskite,” Gyro scowls, peering frustratedly through the tiny gap in the closet door. “I’ll never get anything done at this rate. They’re going to ruin all my projects!”

“Dr. Gearloose,” Huey snaps, tugging at Gyro’s sleeve insistently.

Gyro spins around. “What, kid.”

Huey clutches whatever he grabbed close to his chest and peers up at Gyro with wide eyes. “We have to go out there and help! I have-”

“No way,” Gyro says, cutting him off. “That would mean too many variables. I’m not about to see another project crushed to bits because you want to get in the way.” He glares out into the fray, fists clenched. “Although I have half a mind to go out there and punch that guy for messing with my work.”

Huey presses up onto his tiptoes to peer around him. “But I can make a difference,” he insists, impassioned. “Look.”

Huey holds up his object, and Gyro reluctantly turns away from the fight to examine it. He pushes his glasses up on his beak to get a better look.

A short, stiff antenna pokes out from a small rectangular box with a big red button in the middle. As far as gadgets go, it doesn’t look very impressive - but looks can be deceiving.

Gyro adjusts his glasses. “Did you make this?”

“Fenton helped,” Huey confirms bashfully. “It discharges electricity, in both large bursts and streamlined blasts. Theoretically, it can reprogram circuits and switches, although I haven’t had any chances to test it out yet.”

“Just my luck,” Gyro grumbles, dragging a hand down his face. So that’s what they’ve been working on. “Well, I’ll tell you a secret, kid. I test all my inventions to the nines, and they all seem to blow up in my face. It’s worth a shot. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, anyway.”

“Not all of them,” Huey says, smiling in a way that’s far too knowing for a twelve-year-old boy. He steps in front of the doors, readying the remote.

Gyro reaches for the unlock button he’d painstakingly installed after one too many times of getting stuck in this closet.

Huey steps around Gyro to peer through the gap. “If we cross behind these tables here and Manny’s desk, we’ll have a clear shot at the elevator. I can use my remote on it.”

He glances up at Gyro, eyes wide. “Is that good?”

Despite himself, Gyro’s beak quirks up. “Yeah. Let’s get these jokers out of my lab.”

Huey’s face lights up. Gyro snaps his head away, unwilling to let the sappy moment go on for any longer, and punches the unlock button with far more force than necessary.

They duck out of the closet (with an undignified sigh of relief from Gyro) and behind the worktables. Almost unconsciously, Gyro scampers just ahead to slip closer to the tables, keeping his body between Huey and the fight. (With the tables between him and the fight, of course.)

Within seconds, they clear the worktables and duck behind Manny’s desk. Huey steps out, angling his remote to the most precise degree. He’s got a clear shot - but he’s also out in the open.

Gyro’s fingertips hover just over the hem of Huey’s sleeve, not quite holding on. But if anything happens, he’ll pull Huey back to safety.

Hopefully.

At that moment, Fenton dives towards them to avoid an oncoming attack. Gyro can tell the moment he sets eyes on the pair - his jaw tenses and his shoulders flick back. In the back of his mind, Gyro wonders if it’s even noticeable to others. The supervillain certainly doesn’t seem to notice.

Does he really know Fenton so well he can read the nuances in his body language?

It feels nice.

The softness blossoming in Gyro’s chest is unfortunately overridden with adrenaline and fear, and he barely registers it. Gyro gives Fenton a tiny nod towards Huey, who waves his remote.

Gyro can see Fenton grapple with the situation internally, before eventually giving up and turning to distract the Liliputan Lizard. He grabs them by their shoulders and spins them, hauling the villain so his back is to Gyro and Huey.

Gyro nods begrudgingly. Smart.

With the window Fenton’s given them, Huey lunges forward and blasts a stream of electricity at the elevator. It dings, and the floor numbers at the top whir and whir. They don’t settle.

The Liliputan Lizard’s head snaps up. “Huh?”

Huey frowns, deep in thought. Gyro doesn’t mirror his cliché thinking pose, but they’re both pondering the same dilemma: What now?

A fresh surge of adrenaline pumps through Gyro’s veins, and, on impulse, he jumps out and does something twelve months ago he wouldn’t even have considered.

“My lab is filled with dangerous, votile inventions,” Gyro snaps, intentionally drawing out his words with more annoyance than he feels. He steps out from behind the desk, away from the elevator. “You just messed up my project! You’ve doomed us all!”

He points an accusing finger at the supervillain and wills it not to shake. “Don’t you see what you’ve done?!”

The Liliputan Lizard shoves Gizmoduck away (no easy feat) and strides towards Gyro, slow and confident. His tail lashes behind him, knocking a vial of bubbling fluid to the floor, but they don’t even flinch. Gyro drops his hands at his side and clenches them into fists.

“Ah, Gyro Gearloose,” the villain says, smirking. “I almost forgot the reason I came here in the first place. Thank you for reminding me.”

“It’s Doctor Gyro Gearloose, actually,” Gyro intones, holding up a finger. “And what is that oh-so-important reason? Surely it cannot be more important than my projects. Which, may I remind you, you’ve ruined!”

The Liliputan Lizard is close enough to touch now. They stop an arm’s length away from Gyro and settle into a wide second position with their weight centered. It’s a position of power.

“The double-sided shrink ray,” the villain drawls. “Hand it over.”

Gyro narrows his eyes. “And why should I do that?”

“Well, I’ll trash your precious lab, for one,” the Liliputan Lizard says, gesturing lazily to the already trashed-lab. Gyro growls. “More than I already have, of course.”

Gyro takes an unwilling step back, his feet moving of their own accord. Something hard brushes against his back. His hands hesitantly fall on the edge of Manny’s desk.

“So what’ll it be, Dr. Gearloose?” The Liliputan Lizard mocks, stepping forward into Gyro’s personal space again. He snarls.

Gyro chances a glance behind him. On Manny’s desk, glinting underneath the overhead lights, lies the famed double-sided shrink ray.

Oh, if only he hadn’t given it to Manny for the finishing touches today. Today, of all days!

Gyro chances a glance back at the scene before him. Fenton’s still on the ground, and Gyro staunchly refuses to acknowledge Huey in case the villain will see him.

Is it worth it?

Gyro’s fingers graze the corners of it.

“Hey!” A bolt of electricity, sparking blue, arcs into the villain’s side. They double over, revealing Huey behind them. “Leave Dr. Gearloose alone!”

Fenton rises to his feet just in time and cracks his knuckles. “All right. Playtime’s over.”

The Liliputan Lizard whirls around, snarling, as Gyro twists and steps sideways. “Like you can stop me! I’m getting this shrink ray, like it or nooooooooooooooooooooot!”

Tinny screeches pierce Gyro’s ears, but it’s the most damage he takes. The once-mighty Liliputan Lizard stands tiny on the lab floor, joined by Manny’s desk lamp.

Slowly, Gyro lowers the shrink ray. “Stay out of my lab,” he snaps, sharp and biting as always, but with a rather uncharacteristically dark undertone. “Stay away from us.”

Gizmoduck scoops the tiny figure up in his gloved hands, muffling any protests. “I’ll get him out of your feathers, Dr. Gearloose!” he says with the awkward, stiffly polite manner they use to protect Fenton’s identity.

Gyro nods once sharply as Gizmoduck leaves. All of his adrenaline leaves him in a rush, and he sinks heavily into the nearest chair (which happens to be Manny’s, but he’s out for lunch and Gyro can’t bring himself to care).

“Dr. Gearloose!” Huey scampers over to him, eyes wide. “Are you okay?” He bustles around to Gyro’s side, not waiting for a reply. “The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook advises to rest after stress.

Gyro takes a deep breath. “Yeah, well, I did have a quiet day planned. Mostly.”

“With your track record, that’s highly inaccurate,” Huey snorts, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” Gyro grumbles. “All my excitement was planned for later, thank you very much. I’ll take a quiet rest of the day.”

iv.

Except things are never quiet in McDuck Industries’ Research and Development.

It’s a surprise when the elevator dings, signifying an arrival, but the figure that emerges is no surprise at all.

The elevator is still in pieces and sparking with remnants of Huey’s electrical blast, but that’s never stopped Scrooge McDuck. In fact, he probably finds the challenge appealing.

“Gyro, my boy!” Scrooge says, spreading his arms open wide. “

“Mr. McDuck,” Gyro acknowledges his boss with a nod. “What do you need? Progress checks?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Scrooge saunters over to Gyro’s desk, glancing around the lab. He smiles to himself, the kind of smile only a secret brings, like a joke just before the punchline.

“I thought you could accompany me out, eh?” Scrooge says, light and lilting. “I’ll let you choose where we go~”

“I sense a conspiracy,” Gyro grumbles, dropping his chin. He levels a fierce glare at Fenton, who hides a triumphant giggle behind his hand.

Scrooge tugs on Gyro’s arm, gentle but forceful. “Come on. It’ll do you good, laddie!”

“I already had one spontaneous outing today,” Gyro grumbles. “With your niece.”

Scrooge only beams brighter. “Ah, good lass!”

With a little more poking and prodding, Gyro begrudgingly allows Scrooge to drag him out the door and into his car. True to his word, Scrooge lets Gyro choose where they go. For a while he drives around aimlessly, with the intent of wasting time until Scrooge gets bored and lets them go back. But before Gyro can see his plan to fruition, he spots somewhere he’d actually like to go.

“Ah, the library. Good choice, lad!” Scrooge praises as they step out of the car. “All the wee lads and lassies prefer that blasted telly to good, old-fashioned books.”

Gyro frowns at Scrooge. “I’m not one of your kids.”

Scrooge just snorts and brushes past him, leaving Gyro to run in his footsteps.

When Gyro catches up to Scrooge, he finds the older duck humming to himself in front of a displayed stack of books about Inducknesia. Planning for a new adventure, probably. Gyro laments the lack of science books in the front and starts to head to the back in his search.

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice pipes up. “This book will likely interest you, Dr. Gearloose.”

Curious. Of course everyone should know the name of Dr. Gyro Gearloose, acclaimed inventor and mad scientist, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. Yet.

So just who is this mysterious stranger?

Gyro whirls around to find a familiar-looking child, holding a thick leather-bound book patiently out to him. He squints at her.

“Violet Sabrewing,” she supplies helpfully after a minute of dead silence.

“Ah.” Gyro nods awkwardly at her. Isn’t she one of Pink Niece’s friends?

Scrooge wanders over, likely to check that Gyro hasn’t somehow set the building on fire in the five minutes he’s been gone. His gaze lights up at the sight of Violet. God, all the Duck-McDucks are weak for children. “Ah, Violet! What brings you to the library today?”

“Hello, Mr. McDuck,” Violet says politely. “I’m looking for references on micronanite portal technology.”

“Ah, micronanite portal technology!” Scrooge says blusteringly, grinning wide to hide his confusion. Gyro snorts.

Violet’s smile flattens. “You have no idea what that means, do you?”

“I’m afraid not,” Scrooge confesses abashedly.

“It uses miniscule robotic parts to create wormholes in time and space,” Gyro jumps in flatly, earning him a nod of approval from Violet. Gyro tries not to sneer, since Mr. McDuck would likely chastise him for it. He doesn’t need approval from a child.

Even if it is a very, very smart child. Who’s working with micronanites, which Gyro didn’t get to study until he was working under Dr. Akita. Who’s also friends with the Niblings.

Scrooge chuckles softly. “Thank you, Gyro.”

Gyro nods sharply.

Scrooge turns his attention back to Violet. “That sounds… interesting! I look forward to seeing your adventure with this technology,” he says kindly. “

As they converse, Gyro wanders away to peruse the library. Every so often, he passes by Scrooge and Violet, deep in conversation.

Eventually, Violet leaves, and Scrooge finds Gyro flipping through a book of scientific theoreticals. “I’d say it’s about time we left, eh, laddie?”

“Finally,” Gyro mutters, but he makes them stop to check the book out. Scrooge smirks knowingly at him.

On the drive back, Scrooge prattles on about his latest adventure. The constant socialization is zapping Gyro’s energy exponentially by the minute, but Scrooge seems content to fill the silence himself.

It’s only when they’re walking into the Money Bin does Gyro finally initiate conversation.

“You have a weakness for children,” Gyro tells Scrooge flatly as he walks into the elevator. “You should spend more time humoring them instead of me.”

Scrooge smirks at him. “Really,” he says teasingly. Gyro feels like he’s somehow fighting a losing battle, although he has no recollection of entering any kind of argument. “Aren’t I, though?”

“I’m not a child,” Gyro tells him again.

“Neither are Donald and Della,” Scrooge responds immediately.

Oh. Oh.

Quick as a flash, Gyro spins away from Scrooge, pressing a fist to his beak. Behind him, Scrooge laughs heartily.

After he’s composed himself, Gyro steps away from the episode. Scrooge pats him on the back, harder than he usually does. Gyro stands there frozen for a moment, hesitant, before giving into his instincts and pulling Scrooge into a tight, impulsive hug.

Scrooge lets out a grunt and coughs dramatically, but he hugs Gyro back just as tightly.

Just then, the elevator doors open with a ding and out steps Gyro’s favorite person in the whole world.

“Hi, Dr. Gearloose!” Boyd chirps. “I went down to the lab to see Huey, but he just went home, and Dr. Fenton said you’d be up here!”

Gyro smiles fondly and turns away from Scrooge. “I was just about to head down there, but now I guess I don’t need to.”

Boyd takes Gyro’s hand as they leave. Gyro smiles down at it, soft and loving. Lil’ Bulb hops from Boyd’s shoulder to Gyro’s, and he keeps carefully still as Lil’ Bulb clambers across his head to perch on his favorite shoulder.

As they pass, Gyro turns to say goodbye to Scrooge, who looks like the cat that caught the canary. Gyro raises a questioning eyebrow.

Scrooge’s triumphant smirk turns into an all-out, unabashed grin. “Where do you think you got it from, lad?”

Gyro looks at Boyd blissfully clinging to his hand and Lil’ Bulb contentedly perched on his shoulder, and chokes.

Within minutes, Boyd and Lil’ Bulb are safely packed away into Gyro’s rickety car and on the road. Gyro slides in one of his cassette tapes Boyd likes, one of the eighties soft rock tracks his dad gave him. Lil’ Bulb perches on the dashboard, fiddling with the volume dials. They coast through the streets of Duckberg with Boyd’s bright chatter and electric guitar notes floating through the car.

Gyro relaxes at the wheel, slumping back in his chair and exhaling gently. He’s often the personification of road rage. It feels odd to not white-knuckle the steering wheel today. But when Boyd came back into his life, and subsequently into his car, he has made a conscious effort to not let frustration get the better of him. At least, not when he’s driving a two thousand pound death machine with a child inside (robotic child or no).

But to Gyro’s delighted surprise, he’s found that Boyd’s mere presence calms him more than any of Donald’s breathing exercises or Dickie’s yoga classes. When he’s with Boyd, he loses tension he didn’t even realize he had.

After a quick drive, Gyro pulls into an offshoot of the Duckburg Mall. Boyd’s out of the car before Gyro’s fully parked, making the chicken roll his eyes and grumble under his breath. When he’s ready, he steps out of the car with the full intention to admonish Boyd. But one look at his excited face and the way he bounces eagerly on his toes, and all feelings of frustration vanish.

On Gyro’s shoulder, Lil Bulb cackles via Morse code. Gyro pointedly does not look at his other son as he takes Boyd’s hand and lets him lead them to their destination.

“Huey and I come here all the time,” Boyd babbles as they cross the parking lot. “We always get the Sugar-Free Butter Pecan, because Huey doesn’t do well with sugar.”

Gyro ruffles where Boyd’s head feathers would be. It’s metal, but warm to the touch, just like Boyd. “You can have sugar, though.”

“Yeah,” Boyd replies, unperturbed. “But I like the routine.”

Gyro nods in understanding. They reach the ice cream shop and peer up at the menu. “Do you want to get that today?”

“Hmm.” Boyd puts a finger to his chin, contemplating. After a moment, he brightens like a lightbulb - somehow more than the actual lightbulb on Gyro’s shoulder. “I think I’ll try something new today! I’m not with Huey, after all.”

Gyro hums in agreement and examines the menu himself. They order and choose a small table outside the restaurant, overlooking the parking lot.

“Did you have a good day?” Boyd asks, digging in with his spoon.

Gyro thinks about how his day started crappy and unproductive, but immediately flipped when Fenton and Manny came into the lab. He thinks about how Della’s impromptu visit, for all of his frustration at the break in routine, provided a much needed excuse to see his friend. He thinks about his terror and fury when a supervillain entered the lab, and the rush of adrenalinic joy helping Gizmoduck gave him. He thinks about his quiet afternoon out with Mr. McDuck, and how he’d missed researching in libraries as well as hands-on in labs. He thinks about how the people he cares about shaped his day.

He turns his gaze towards Boyd and Lil’ Bulb, who fit perfectly into that category.

“Yeah,” he says, smiling softly. “I did.”

Behind Boyd, the sun is setting, with pinks and purples blossoming across the tangerine sky and seemingly setting the clouds ablaze. The grapefruit-orange light of the setting sun makes Boyd and Lil’ Bulb shine. Gyro’s heart clenches and aches, but it’s with love.

Boyd beams back at him. “I’m glad.”

“You’re my favorite person,” Boyd says, tilting his head back to gaze unflinchingly into Gyro’s eyes. Although the self-deprecating side of Gyro vehemently denies the sentiment, but somehow his words ring with a truth Gyro can’t deny. He may not believe in himself, but Boyd does wholeheartedly.

Gyro splutters and coughs, still unused to open affection after all this time. After a minute of struggling to cope, he settles on setting his ice cream down so he won’t squeeze the cone so hard it cracks. (It’s happened before, but it was fueled by anger, as many things are in Gyro’s life.)

Boyd reaches up to take Gyro’s free hand. “You don’t have to say anything. I know this is hard for you. But I want you to know how I feel.”

Gyro bites the inside of his beak and rubs his thumb over Boyd’s hand. “I… I wish it wasn’t,” he whispers, surprising even himself with the rare display of vulnerability.

Boyd scoots his chair over next to Gyro’s and leans against him. Gyro exhales, feeling a knot of tension leave his chest, and leans back.

Lil’ Bulb, already perched on Gyro’s shoulder, scampers over his head to settle on Boyd’s shoulder. He rests his head against Gyro’s shoulder, settling directly between them.

Gyro squeezes Boyd’s hand tighter. Boyd squeezes back.

“You are loved,” Boyd says.

Gyro smiles. “I know.”

“Thank you.”

this is my piece for the Gyro Gearloose zine run by @georgiarose and glo.draws! I had a wonderful time working on this zine, and there are so many amazing pieces in it! It’s free to download, and we’re asking for donations to the Crisis Text Line in lieu of payment. I highly recommend checking out the entire zine!

For this piece, I wanted to explore the variety of relationships Gyro has with the people around him. he’s such a fun character and i love writing for him so much!

both the micronanites and huey's gadget are references to existing tech in disney animation (which i probably spent too much time researching to represent accurately akfghak). cookies if you can guess them!

thank you to @mrpinniped for the beta and to the entire Gyro Zine server for the lovely encouragement and feedback!

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #gyro gearloose #fenton crackshell-cabrera #della duck #huey duck #scrooge mcduck #gyro gearloose zine #manny the headless man-horse #lil bulb #violet sabrewing #wavey writes #ducktales fanfiction

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itssuppertim3 · 3 years

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Second Chance (Miraak x Reader) Part 4:

The truth,

Before we knew it, a week had already flown by. Much like a mother educating her child, I taught Bjorn many things he might've forgotten about the world. I reminded him about the war, to which he was thoroughly shocked over, I demonstrated how to plant various plants and crops, and I even gave him a few spell tones to study.

The two of us sat in the shade for a while, chatting away. I remembered Elsbeth throwing several mischievous glances my way throughout the week. In my own confusion, I let it be and pretended to act aloof. "Did you know that you can even heal plants?" I flipped over to a certain page in the book and ran my finger across the wording.

I provided him a quick example by plucking a dandelion from the ground and snapping its stem in two. I focused a small percentage of healing magic over the damage and let the energy flow from my palm. With a swipe of my hand, the flower was replenished in seconds. "How interesting, though I fail to see how it can be beneficial," he confessed. "It usually helps with alchemy, but judging from how skilled you become, you could even fasten plant growth and create a barrier for defense!" He truly seemed to be intrigued by the lesson. "You're a good teacher, Y/n." My cheeks burned at his compliment and I scratched the back of my neck bashfully. "I'm really not that good. I just read a lot and work hard. Plus, there's still so much I need to learn," I clipped. "Hey, you two! I have some jobs for you to do," Elsbeth called from the porch. Bjorn rose to his feet and lended me a hand, which I gladly took.

Once we made it back to the cottage, we were both given a task. Bjorn was requested to cook dinner, and I was sent to feed the chickens. One would only think our roles would be the opposite. "I'm gonna visit Alvor for some supplies before it gets too late. Don't let me down!" We waved her goodbye as she slowly retreated down the hill. "Would you like for me to help you with the feed?" he asked. "No. I think I can manage," I laughed. "Just make sure not to set the kitchen on fire."

When he retreated into the house, I went to fetch the chicken feed. Roosters and hens combined, they swarmed around my feet, demanding their supper. "Alright, Alright! No need to get aggressive!" Their attention diverted in a flash as soon as I began to scatter their food around. While they were busy pecking away, I exited the pen and headed back towards the cottage. Before I could reach it however, I saw two figures approaching.

It seemed to be a woman and a man dressed in gawdy uniforms. "You there," the man snapped. I stood my ground and flashed a cautious smile. "Yes? Can I help you?" They both stopped just feet in front of me. Now that I could see them more clearly, they looked like something straight out of a nightmare! Their apparel was oddly fashioned, both torn and sloppily stitched. But what frightened me the most were the masks they wore over their faces. I gulped and tried to remain calm.

The woman retrieved a rolled up slip of paper from her pocket and held it to my face. My stomach flipped upon examining the illustration of a character with the very same mask that I still had in my bag. "Have you seen someone who looks like this?" he interrogated. I was somewhat able to maintain my stoic facade, though I could feel it cracking. "No. I haven't," I said, stiff as a log. "She lies, just as that deceiver did," the woman hissed. "I will ask again." I yelped when he grasped my shoulder. I sucked in a breath after feeling a dangerous heat emitting from his hand. "Where is our Master Miraak?" My eyes grew as wide as stones at his words.

"What...?"

My blood ran cold as he ignited a flame into his other hand. My shoulder started to burn painfully. "I don't know what you're talking about," I whimpered. Still, the man refused to release his hold on me. My heart drummed against my ribs and my throat ran dry. These people were going to kill me. I didn't even have enough time to watch my life play out in front of me.

Suddenly, I heard the door open from behind me and a heavy pair of footsteps marched over to us. The two culprits beamed in delight at his presence. "Master Miraak--!" A large hand swooped in and clutched the exterior of the man's face, while another shielded my eyes. I could hear my attacker kick and squirm under my savior's deadly grip. I flinched in terror as his entire body burst into flames. The heat completely overwhelmed me, licking my face as it did. And oh, the screaming. That agonizing screaming. My ears couldn't take anymore.

I knew the other one had been running by now. I cringed at the thought of being forced to endure the same awful shrieks of pain again. I tried to claw my way to safety, but I couldn't move. I was completely and utterly paralyzed under Bjorn’s touch.. "Fus, Ro Dah!" A deafening force reverberated through my very bones and melted through my skin. I couldn't even begin to comprehend it. Was that what a shout sounded like?

Although I was finally granted permission to see, I didn't dare open my eyes. I couldn't. But eventually, I did. All that remained was a pile of ashes, though there were no signs of a second one. Bjorn, or Miraak, had already left my side and was now facing away from me. I peered at him in a mixture of fear and disbelief, and something else. Sadness. I was sad. I was so terribly sad because I knew he was going to leave us; he was going to leave me. Now that his secret was out, there was no reason to stay. We were both aware that I was scared, but I wasn't scared of him. I was scared for his safety, I was scared of those people that were after him. But most importantly, I was scared for myself. I didn't want to say goodbye to someone who had brought so much light into my tiny world. And I was selfish for it.

On impulse, I ran forward and threw my arms around him. He stiffened sharply, but didn't utter a word. "Don't leave. Please don't leave." My voice was barely above a whisper, so I was certain that his ears didn't catch my plea. But he eventually tilted his head down at me in a sullen silence. My chest panged at the sight of his face. He didn't want to leave, but his words spoke the opposite. "There will be more. Your life has already been endangered once, and I can't let that happen again. Let me go, Y/n," he demanded. "I won't," I cried. I only held him tighter. "I know I'm selfish and naive and foolish, but I won't let you go!" One by one, tears slid down my cheeks and bled through the fabric of Miraak's shirt. I always loathed the way I sobbed. They were a loud and ugly mess, but that didn't stop me regardless of how embarrassing it was.

I soon found myself trembling on the ground with my hand now clutching the hem of his trousers. The tall ravenette slowly crouched to my level and reached out. However, he stopped himself and went to retract his arm away. Before he could, I grabbed his hand and held it against my damp cheek. He traced his thumb over my eyelid to rid of my tears, but frowned at his unsuccess. "What would your sister think? She'd have my head for making you cry like this," he said suddenly. "Yeah, she probably would. Don't tell me that's why you're so eager to run away," I jested. He was relieved to see me revert back to my cheerful self, but the corners of his lips flattened once again.

"You are hurt because of me. If I stay, then..."

His sentence escaped him when I shuffled closer to where we were only a breath apart. "Then take me with you." I then leaned in and softly connected our lips. I was fairly inexperienced with kissing, so I didn't know if I was doing it right. All I could do was scrunch my eyes shut and pray that he understood. My heart leapt when he returned the kiss. His lips were chapped and his scruff tickled my cheek. Everything felt so surreal. It was as if I was under some sort of hazy hypnosis. Miraak's hand cupped the back of my head while his other squeezed the small of my waist. I enclosed my arms around his neck in wild euphoria. We both seperated with great reluctance, exhaling heavily. I giggled as he began to peck every inch of skin of my face starting from my jaw to my temple. Knowing him, he probably hadn’t even held a woman in centuries.

I grimaced, instantly reminded of my current delima. Miraak threw his arms back as if he was the cause for my pain. "Come, let's go back," he recommended. I nearly released a squeal when he hoisted me into his fit arms. "What are you--what are you doing?" I stammered, face as red as the evening sky. I knew our body comparisons were different in both height and size, but this was the first time he made me feel so tiny. "I am carrying you," he stated a-matter-of-factly. "It's just my shoulder. I-I can still walk!"

“You’re still injured. It’d be shameful of me not to at least take you off your feet for a short while. Such a gentleman! Miraak's bicep curved against my back and my other shoulder bounced against his broad chest as he walked. I wasn't convinced that my face could get any redder! After acting so boldly a moment ago, I should've expected the embarrassment to catch up with me. I couldn't help but voice out a squeak after his fingers slid a bit further past the bend of my knee. "Are you alright?" It was an easy question to answer, but my mind was so scrambled I couldn't form a single syllable!

I buried my face into his shirt and shook my head. "Are you in any pain?" How could I be? I was far too distracted by my current situation, I couldn't focus on anything else! Again, I managed a silent 'no'. Miraak stood in contemplation before resuming towards the porch steps. He placed me down with great care before sitting down beside me. I avoided eye contact as he closely examined my face and held his forehead against my own. "You're warm. You must be running a fever," he concluded. I fidgeted under his touch. "Um, I don't think I have a fever," I timidly denied. Miraak's confusion roused. "Then why are you so red?" He was so close, it was like he was trying to see through my soul! "I just--," I stumbled. "I'm just a little embarrassed, is all..." He sat there a minute before also averting his gaze. "Oh. I see." The First Dragonborn cleared his throat. The two of us sat there quietly, a blushing mess.

Once Miraak was able to regain his composure, he slowly etched forward once more. He then directed his finger to my shoulder. "May I?" I nodded curtly and steered my sights to the floor. Miraak gingerly tugged at the neckline of my blouse and inspected the raw burn on my skin. I waited with interest to see how skilled he was with Restoration magic. He probably had hundreds of years’ worth of experience. A soothing warmth enveloped the entirety of my arm. It reminded me of the many hugs and kisses Pa gave me on the days before he left for yet another journey. The nostalgia brought a smile to my lips as I continued to reminisce back on my childhood.

Alas, with a snap of a finger that warmth had abandoned me. I peeked at my injury, which vanished without a trace. "If I would've known how good you are, I wouldn't have wasted time teaching you things you already know," I chuckled. The man hung a light smirk over his features before drawing me in for another kiss. "You've taught me many things, Y/n. And I am hoping for you to teach me many more." By now, the only thing I could hear was a high-pitched ringing with Elsbeth's voice echoing in the background. Wait, Elsbeth's voice? "Well, well~! I'm hardly gone for thirty minutes and you two are all over each other," she taunted, clearly amused by the display in front of her. Miraak and I both jolted away from one another and fiddled our fingers in ungodly embarrassment. “El...! When—when did you get back?” I stammered. “Oh, not long. But just in time to see the juicy bit! Tell me, how long have you been together?” Knowing that she had already seen him kiss me was humiliating enough, and she wouldn’t be my sister if she didn’t make it worse by talking about it!

That night, I told her everything, well, almost everything. Miraak and I decided that it would only complicate matters further by revealing the truth to her. Even now, she was terrified of the stories. I couldn’t even begin to imagine her reaction after realizing that it was him the entire time. I neglected to mention the assaulters, as well as the ash pile on the ground outside. As odd as it was, Elsbeth was completely unbothered by our newly founded relationship. “Y/n, you’re my little sister. Sure, I’m mad. I’m mad that a man succeeded in stealing your heart, but I’m not Pa. If you two are in love, who am I to stop you? I want you to live a full life, as well as a happy one,” she had said. In a matter of seconds, I took her into my arms and thanked her profusely. In addition, she even consented in allowing me to travel with him.

Although Miraak was paranoid, we stayed at the ranch for another week before packing our gear. I searched around my room, collecting an assortment of knickknacks and storing them into my bag. As I opened my satchel, a certain mask greeted me. I held it gingerly in my hands. The eye slits peered up at me in such an eerie way, yet I felt no fear. If anything, staring down at the pitiful thing made me feel almost melancholy. That damaged wood carving was once a shell of such a wonderful person. I brought the mask to my chest and held it there a moment with a somber smile. “Is something the matter?” I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn around. “No, I’m good. You’ll probably be needing this back, huh? I’m sorry I kept it so long,” I chuckled. Miraak examined the worn face piece with uncertainty. He ran his thumbs along every edge and crease and even tipped it upside down. “How do you feel?” I asked him. His green orbs met mine in a look of puzzlement. “I feel... nothing,” he stated simply. “Seeing this mask after so long, I imagined I would be more impacted. But instead it just feels silly to be haunted by it for so long. It all feels like a tucked-away nightmare.” My lips stretched into a grin as I leaned forth and wrapped my arms snuggly around him. "And that’s exactly what it is. It’s all a tucked-away nightmare.” Miraak hummed, smiling at me with adoration. He then bent down to my level and gave me a soft Eskimo kiss.

When we left home that day, we bid our farewells to Elsbeth and I made sure to do the same with all of the cows, goats, chickens, and pigs as we went. Once we reached the gate, I looked back at the ranch one last time. I thought about all of the many times I walked past this gate thinking about how extraordinarily dull my life was. Everyday, I fantasized about romance and adventure. I didn’t think someone with my position would be blessed with such an opportunity, but here I was, madly in love and on my way to start an adventurous life of my own. “Did you leave something behind?” I faced him and shook my head. “No. Let’s go!”

——————————————————————————

Yayy, finally finished the 4th part (this took me freaking forever)

#miraak #skyrim #fdb #elder scrolls #fanfiction #part 4 #romance #x reader #y/n

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wrenhyperfixates · 3 years

Text

Of All the Places

Epilogue

Pairing: Loki x reader Series Summary: Washing up in a small town in Oklahoma was definitely not part of Loki’s plan when he came to conquer Midgard. There is one good thing about it, though: No one recognizes him as the one who just wreaked havoc in New York. So, Loki plans to recover from the battle and move on with his life. The only problem? He’s not sure he can leave you. Chapter Summary: Loki reflects on his new life with you. Chapter Warnings: straight fluff peeps A/N: Here it is, the very end of the story! The last chapter posted a few moments ago, so make sure to check that out before this. To everyone who’s taken the time to read, comment, like, reblog, theorize, or talk to me about this story at all, I’m honestly honored. It’s been a wild ride and, seriously, y’all are the best! Well, I hope you enjoy! Happy reading friends :)

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant @lunarmoon8 @twhiddlestonsstuff @marvelousdaydreams @andromedasstarship @lokistan @thelokiimaginechroniclesficrecs @sourpatchspinster @gaitwae @whatafuckingdumbass

✥ Start at Beginning ✥ | ← Previous Chapter

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

“Loki? When is mommy coming home?” Matt asked the god whose lap he was currently sitting on.

“Any second now, little one. Do not fret,” he replied with a smile.

Months after the Battle of Oklahoma City, Loki was happily living with you and your family once again. It took a considerable amount of convincing to get Director Fury to agree, but eventually he did. Even worse was having to talk Odin into the arrangement. Did it hurt to be exiled from his childhood home? Of course, but Frigga came down to Midgard to visit when she could. And being banished to go live with his beloved wasn’t so bad, either. Still, Odin had thought that it was a fitting punishment for him to have to spend his days among the mortals he once intended to conquer.

Thor was his brother’s biggest advocate, somewhat surprisingly, and Loki would be forever grateful. While Loki hadn’t actually been there for the negotiations, supposedly Thor fought every charge brought against him with impressive intelligence and eloquence. Loki was pretty sure he was exaggerating as he was so wont to do, but who knows? The world is full of surprises, after all.

Speaking of surprises, your family just had a huge one. Ana had given birth to twins! She and John had been prepared for that, but they hadn’t told the rest of you. Loki would forever remember the way your face lit up when you heard the news. Your smile was, well, there was no other way to describe it than angelic. And the look you’d given him when he held one of the newborns completely melted his heart. Now you were all waiting for John to drive his wife and two new kids home from the hospital. As far as Loki was concerned, life was perfect. Well, almost.

Thanos was still out there, which did cause some concern for the trickster god. But Thor was looking for him right at the very moment, so Loki would have to put his trust in his brother. Once he found that evil Titan, though, Loki would be first in line to join the troops in the battle against him. Even help lead them, perhaps. Thanos’s very existence was a threat to you and your family, which Loki held so dear. He’d stop at nothing to thwart the villain.

Ah yes, villainy. A concept Loki had struggled with for so long. Was he one or just the victim of bad circumstances? According to you, who Loki was inclined to believe, he was a hero. Once he’d told you the whole truth, you were quick to reassure him it was not his fault. Did he plot against his brother and father to take the throne of Asgard? Well, yes, that he was guilty of, but even then his motives were understandable. It did help ease his guilt, but that feeling would gnaw at his heart every now and again. Whenever it did, though, you made sure to pepper his face with kisses, hug him close, and tell him he’d saved Midgard. That he saved you. That he was a hero.

“Hey, handsome,” you greeted sitting down next to him. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, my darling. Just thinking, is all.”

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh, I am just thinking about life. It is a beautiful thing, I realize now,” he said, taking your hand to place a kiss to it. “And thanking the Norns that I am luckiest man alive.”

You’d made it very clear to Denzel that you did not want to be with him anymore. Once you and Loki were officially together, he did back off. It was somewhat reluctant, but he did it nonetheless. And he even managed to be pleasant and friendly when you and Loki ran into him in town. But the bottom line is, there was no one trying to come between you and your prince anymore.

“And why is that?” you asked, resting your head on his shoulder.

“Because I somehow won your heart.”

“Loki,” you gushed. “You have to stop taking all of these cliches or there will be none left for me! But still, thanks, my knight in shining armor.”

“See, there are plenty for you! But as you wish, my love,” he laughed. “I will just have to write you poems and serenades instead.”

You got very flustered at that. He had sung for you once, as promised, and his voice was even more beautiful than you had imagined. The thought of him singing something of his own creation made you swoon, especially if it was written for you. You poked him for laughing at your embarrassment, but before you could tease him back, the front door opened.

“Mommy!” Matt cheered, pulling himself away from the TV show he was immersed in. “Daddy! Did you bring the babies?”

“Yes, small fry,” John laughed. “We brought your new brother and sister.”

“Yay! I wanna see! I wanna see!”

Ana went to sit on the couch with her daughter, and John followed with their two sons. Matt’s new younger siblings laughed as he waved to them. It made the four-year-old smile.

“This is your little sister, Scarlett,” Ana told Matt. “And your little brother. James.”

You teared up a little hearing that. You’d already been told, of course, that they named him after your brother, but it still made you emotional. Loki pulled you into a hug, kissing the top of your head. He looked at the happy family and let himself imagine having a family with you for a second. He’d been thinking about it a lot recently, and he realized he wanted to adopt. It was ironic, sure, given his own history. Then again, maybe it made perfect sense. He wanted to be able to give some kid what he hadn’t. Maybe he couldn’t change what happened to him, but he could stop it from happening again. Either way, he would wait until Thanos has been dealt with. After all, he didn’t want the child to be in any danger.

Mama and Papa came out of the kitchen carrying a cake, which Loki was very happy to say he had helped baked. Helped Mama bake it, as a matter of fact. Things were still tense, to say the very least, when he’d first come back to the farm. They were still working on it a little even now, but it was better overall. She was certainly more accepting and picked fewer fights. Mama was happier now, too, something that seemed to take a weight off your shoulders.

Ana made a joke about how she should be trying to get her figure back, but still happily accepted a slice. Your family stayed there until that evening, talking, laughing. The babies were surprisingly quiet, and Loki slowly rocked Scarlett back and forth as she slept, his ability to be nurturing still somewhat shocking him. James was in your arms, and you looked at your nephew with hope in your eyes. After such a dark time, the future was looking bright indeed.

“My darling,” Loki said later that night as you were sitting together on the porch, enjoying each other’s company. “I want to thank you.”

“Oh? What for?” you asked, snuggling close to him.

“For showing me another way. For helping me move on. For accepting me. For everything you’ve ever done. For loving me. All of it. You, my little mortal, are my angel, my savior, my whole heart. And for saving me from myself, I thank you.”

“Oh, Loki. You don’t have to thank me for that. Believe me, it is my pleasure. You’ve saved me so much, too. But you’re right, I do love you, and I always will.”

He whispered your name against your lips in the seconds before he kissed you. Just like every one before and every one after, it was perfect. A promise of love and loyalty. Of trust. It was everything he had ever wanted. You were everything he needed.

Of all the places in the universe the Tesseract could have taken him, it made sense that it chose here. With you, Loki knew he was safe. He knew he was home.

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spencersawkward · 3 years

Text

switchblade faith//spencer reid - chapter 7

summary: one month after joining the BAU, Clea is still settling in. between solving murders and getting acclimated to DC, the only comfortable thing in her life is her friendship with Dr. Spencer Reid.

relationship: Fem!OC/Spencer

word count: 4.3k

idc if i've used this gif before it's AMAZING and i love it.

masterlist

somewhat unfortunately, Halloween rolls around. between the most intense case of my career and the rest of the ones that have come in, the meaningless holiday has barely crossed my mind. it's only Penny's eager reminder to find a costume that brings it to the front of my mind. I could half-ass it and pick something stupid, but then I would feel bad. everyone else in the office is just so excited about it, I don't want to be a sour influence.

plus, we deserve to have some fun.

I decide on a simple costume and on the 31st of October, I find myself in Penelope Garcia's bathroom with a tube of cherry red lip gloss and a somewhat reluctant expression.

"oh, c'mon." her voice is muffled through the door.

"quick question," I tighten the scarlet string around my neck, looking at myself in the mirror. "how full-out did you go?"

"baby, you know I only go to the extreme." she quips. I roll my eyes playfully, then open the bathroom door, stepping into the purple hallway with what can only be feigned confidence.

it's not that I don't look pretty; I think I look good. but it's the sheer silliness of it that makes my walk a little less than proud. I stopped dressing up for Halloween before I hit twelve. and now I'm twirling (at Penelope's command) in a short dress.

"I'm not even joking, Little Red: you look hot." she says, eyeing me up and down. there's an enormous purple seashell clipped in her blonde curls, sparkles all over her skin. she looks exactly like herself-- beautiful and whimsical in every aspect.

"thanks." I blush.

"come show us!" JJ calls from the living room. Emily would be with us, but she said she had to run an errand beforehand. I glance at Penelope once and widen my eyes. why am I so nervous? I'm acting like a child.

"go on, then!" Pen practically shoves me forward and I stumble a bit in my heels before walking out of the hallway and making my grand entrance by the couch. JJ is holding an enormous bowl of popcorn, dressed like Britney Spears. her jaw drops.

"do a spin!" she squeals. I do so, and the red cape flutters around me like the petals of a blooming flower. she sets the bowl down, claps. "I love it!"

"thanks." when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror on her wall, my cheeks are rosy. my hair tumbles over my shoulders and the cut of my dress is a bit low, but the cleavage is actually kind of a good addition. red ribbon falls just to my décolletage, a slight tease.

"we should head out soon, though," JJ checks her phone. "wouldn't want Hotch to leave by the time we arrive."

"is he even coming?" I ask.

"said he would. Pen made quite the case for herself." JJ pops a kernel into her mouth and I look to the tech analyst, who has a mischievous smirk on her candy pink lips. she raises an eyebrow.

"I told him I'd bring candy corn."

"seriously?" I can't keep the surprise out of my voice. didn't realize someone that serious could be plied with the promise of candy.

"yes, now come on." Penny scoops up her purse, which is shaped like a giant pearl, and goes to her cabinet to grab the candy corn. before long, we're out the door, chattering aimlessly on our way to the office.

when we get there, I start to get nervous. although I'm not sure why, I get self-conscious about my dress and hood, about the secret black garter around my thigh. it's my personal secret, something I wore for myself.

there are a few decorations up. some people from around the office are talking, and everyone is dressed to the nines. Garcia opens the door for me and I head straight for Emily's desk, where the rest of the team is gathered. Rossi works his way through a handful of hard candies in his palm. Emily is stunning in her black cat costume.

"hey, you guys." she breaks into a grin when she sees JJ and Pen and me, the rest of the group parting to look at us. my eyes snag on Spencer, with his Frankenstein mask resting on the top of his head so he can talk normally. even Hotch is pleased to see the three of us.

"thanks, Garcia!" he cheers as she hands him the bag of candy corn.

"you know, you're lucky he left the house for that." Rossi raises his eyebrows and points at the unit chief.

"oh, we know." JJ smirks.

"you look great!" Emily gives each of us a hug. she smells like something slightly spicy and warm, a nice scent that makes me want to hold on tighter. I don't know how to explain it; Prentiss has a very calming presence to me. I always find myself hanging around her whenever I need to decompress after cases, even if it just means talking about regular life.

"you do, too!" I grab a handful of caramel corn from the bowl she offers. "it looks pretty nice in here, actually."

"don't sound so surprised. think we couldn't handle a few decorations and snacks?" Rossi questions. it's getting easier to be around him now, honestly. despite my initial hesitance about his seniority, he's never made me feel small for my lack of experience in this specific field.

"she's against the whole holiday." Garcia makes a face as she berates me. Spencer shakes his head like I'm insane.

"that's not true!" I protest. "I never said I was against it, I just don't get why people are so excited about Halloween every year."

"because it's fun." Spencer speaks up. I roll my eyes.

"I'm not convinced."

"well, I'm glad you said so, because I've actually planned a little activity for us!" Garcia is practically bursting with excitement as she says it, like she's been holding it in the whole evening. she probably has.

my stomach twists. to be honest, I had been hoping for a relaxing evening and then an early night. an "activity" sounds like it'll interrupt those plans. but she's so elated that I can't help smiling.

"what is it?" Prentiss feigns wariness.

"well," Garcia simpers in a way that makes me think we're in for an interesting night. "I took the liberty of hiding certain candies around the office last night before we went home."

"hiding them?" JJ repeats with a smirk.

"in little plastic pumpkin cases. they're absolutely adorable, like Easter egg size--"

"you're sending us on an Easter egg hunt?" Rossi looks at her disbelievingly. I let out a nonplussed noise. Penelope is ready to defend herself, however, pointing a finger at him and sounding as firm as she can manage.

"it's going to be cute, dammit. whoever gets the most candies gets a special surprise at the end."

"what's the surprise?" Emily asks.

"it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" Penelope replies.

there's a silence in the circle as we all try to figure out how to react. it's childish, for sure. nobody is arguing that point; but it also sounds kind of not that bad to me.

"oh come on, guys!" she addresses our lack of enthusiasm. "we've had a hard couple of weeks. let's at least try and have some fun."

JJ starts to laugh, putting her arm around the tech analyst's waist while she snuggles into her shoulder.

"if it'll make you happy, Pen."

"it will!" Garcia nods vigorously and turns to us. I catch myself breaking into a smile. there are much worse things than going on a Halloween candy hunt, especially given the usual circumstances of being in the office.

"alright!" I throw up my hands and Emily is next to concede. Spencer has been quiet this whole time, but he straightens up from his usual slouching position and tries to hide the grin spreading over his lips. Rossi and Hotch glance at each other.

"alright." the Italian shrugs.

"what do we have to do, then?" I ask.

"well, there are a bunch of pumpkins hidden all over. you'll know them when you see them." she clasps her hands together. "I'm timing you, too, so you're going to have half an hour."

"wait a second," Emily frowns. "what if some of the other people who aren't in on it find the candies first?"

there's a sound of general assent from all of us. we aren't the only employees here. Penelope doesn't seem bothered by this, however.

"then I guess you'd better move fast." she pulls out her phone and presses a button, and we disperse with a quickness that really does make me feel like a kid again. I never did Easter egg hunts as a child, but this is a welcome distraction. low stakes competition.

I start to wander around, starting at my desk. there's a pumpkin behind my computer monitor, and one in my desk drawer, although that's it for my personal workspace. my feet carry me to other place around the office, my fingers trailing over the tops of cabinets and under desks. Penelope sits in Prentiss' chair with a sucker-- a smug, luminous mermaid as she watches all of us scramble.

"you got Hotch to search for hidden candy. impressive." I pass her on my way to Anderson's desk. she hasn't hidden anything in too private a place, but maybe there's something in his paperclip dish.

"I'm a witch." she wiggles her brows.

"I thought you were a mermaid." I wink. she grabs the hem of my dress and tugs on it.

"just go find your candy, silly."

"is there anything in Hotch's office?" I nod towards the almost intimidating room. her eyes flicker around to see who might be around us. fortunately, everyone is too wrapped up in their current task to even look our way. I look like I'm just wasting time.

"you didn't hear it from me," she whispers. "but yes."

a sparkle of satisfaction burns in my chest.

"love you, Penny." I make my way towards the office. the door is shut and the actual usual inhabitant of it hasn't gone inside, so he must have overlooked the idea that Garcia would hide candy in there. I'm sure they'll be easy finds, too, since she's terrified of crossing any boundaries with him and wouldn't press her luck by touching his things.

I head over to the couch by the door and see a plastic pumpkin resting on the table next to it, nestled between the wall and the surface.

"ha!" I snatch the thing up, then keep poking around. there's another one on the bookshelf. without anywhere else to put them, I put the found objects in the hood of my cape, dropping them in before moving onto the next.

I'm under the desk when I hear the door get pushed open slightly more. my head pops up from the inconspicuous spot and there's Reid, pockets stuffed while he peers around the space.

"hey." I say. he jumps when he sees me kneeling on the floor.

"oh, hi," he frowns. "why are you on the ground?"

I grab the little orange pumpkin package that's tucked against one of the desk legs, then show him smugly. "winning."

"how many do you have?" he pretends to be curious, but I can sense an undercurrent of competitiveness. I stand and shrug. he eyes my costume to see if I have any spots that hint at a candy stash. he doesn't think to check the hood of my cape.

"that's for me to know and you to find out."

Spencer squints briefly. "are you secretly good at this?"

"am I?" I raise my eyebrows. "don't try to profile me, Reid."

"I'm not profiling you!" he lets out one of those rare laughs, the musical sound that lives in his throat. I wish he would laugh more; there's something kind of cute about his face when he does.

"mhmm." I say doubtfully and come to stand in front of him. "let's see it, then."

"see what?"

"what you have so far." I say the words and he immediately places his hands over his pockets.

"no way! you didn't show me yours." he protests quickly. I wrinkle my nose.

"oh come on, Reid." I roll my eyes. "if you show me yours, I'll show you where I keep mine."

he watches me skeptically again. "why?"

"because I think we could be allies."

there's a silence after the suggestion. truthfully, the idea just popped into my head. we could win pretty easily, though, if we coordinate.

"really?" the corners of his lips flicker upwards. he's unsure whether or not he should give in.

"are you kidding? with your smartness and my generally conniving nature, we could really do some damage." I tease. he giggles.

"I've never heard someone describe themselves as conniving."

"call it self-awareness," I smirk. "are you in or not?"

he glances behind him at the bullpen, our friends still searching for the pumpkin packages while Garcia twists a pen between her fingers. when she wants to, she can look intimidating. I raise an eyebrow and wait for Spencer's response. his face turns to mine. those irises are such a pretty shade.

"okay."

"alright, boy genius!" I cheer, then reach up to undo my cape. he looks slightly panicked for a second as I undo the red ribbon, but relaxes when I grab the hood and show him the stash of pumpkins. "see?"

it’s crammed with orange packages.

“that's pretty smart." he admits with an impressed smile.

"right?" I agree. "come on, then. I think I've practically swept this place clean."

he follows me out the door in our search.

...

by the time the thirty minutes are up, Spencer and I have made shocking progress in consolidating our supply. we've decided that if we beat everyone, we'll share the surprise. if it's something we can't split, we'll rock-paper-scissors for victory (two out of three, of course). but I'm not too concerned about it.

when we wander over to Penelope's spot at the desk, we're practically strutting.

"someone's confident." she notes. I take my cape off again and slam the thing down on the surface. Spencer has an amused look on his face.

we ended up spending a lot of time arguing about the best spots to hide candy, though I mostly let him take the lead— in terms of hiding places, he's been here longer and knows more than I do. and, unrelated, but he's pretty funny when he's not busy thinking about a case. his references are a little nerdy, but I kind of enjoy listening to the explanations.

"we kicked ass." I cross my arms over my chest and Spencer nods. everyone around us is suspicious; JJ points between us.

"did you two team up?"

"maybe." I glance at Spencer, who's already looking at me to gauge my reaction to the question.

"that's cheating!" JJ laughs. Spencer shakes his head.

"actually, Garcia never laid out any formal rules for the game."

"mhmm!" I nod in agreement, grateful to have him there with his factual authority. JJ sighs, but nobody can stay mad at Spencer. we share a grin before Emily eyes the separate piles on the desk.

Garcia went out of her way to hide a lot of treats. that said, it's clear that the combined amount from Reid and me beats out everyone else's. we high five once she announces us the official winners.

"what's our prize?" Spencer asks as everyone lightheartedly boo's our victory.

"a gift card to that new fried chicken place that we ordered from a while ago." Garcia presents a shiny plastic card to me. it's a great treat, honestly, becuase I'm hungry and takeout is one of my favorite things in the world.

the team congratulates us on our win and things start to wind down. Hotch makes an excuse to get home and Rossi muses about a pack of cigars that await him. I feel the energy in the office start to dissipate, but now I feel like I'm on a bit of a victory high. I got all dressed up and now everyone wants to leave? disappointing.

as Prentiss and JJ shrug on their coats, I run my fingertip over the edge of the gift card. Spencer is packing some extra books into his bag. he told me to keep the gift card and that it wasn't a big deal, but I don't feel right not sharing. especially not when we didn’t rock-paper-scissors for it.

"Reid." I walk over to his spot, lean against the desk. he glances up in surprise.

"yeah?"

"do you wanna share this with me?" I wave the reward in the air. his brows draw together for a fraction of a second. he seems confused.

"right now?"

"sure, why not?" I gesture to the bullpen, which is emptying quickly. "it's not even that late."

he checks his watch as if to confirm my assertion, then stuffs his slim wrists into his pockets and stares at me for a second. I start to get the sense he’s going to say no, and something in me sinks. his tongue darts out over his bottom lip. he's got his mouth open a lot. "y-yeah, that sounds fun."

I nod at the good news. "okay, cool. I'm too lazy to actually drive there, so I'll just order delivery?"

"okay." he gives me a small smile while I pull out my phone to call the place. I'm a little bit glad that it's just us.

...

"try it." I pop the plastic cover off the sauce cup before setting it next to him.

"that looks gross." Spencer shakes his head quickly through a mouthful of food. my jaw drops and I snatch the sauce right back, dipping the chicken into it and taking a hefty bite.

"it's literally the perfect combination of salty and smooth." I protest. Reid looks dubious, however, and leans his head back against the side of the desk. we started the evening in the swivel chairs, but we're both fidgety at heart and now we're on the floor.

he takes a swig of his drink. "I never knew lemonade could taste so good."

"same." I laugh. "can I have your sauce thing, then?"

he responds by dismissively pushing the thing over to me. we're sitting side-by-side, and somehow I think that's easier for him. we don't have to look each other in the eyes as we talk.

"I'm proud of us." I announce. Spencer snorts.

"why?"

"we found so much candy! which we can now eat for dessert." I reach up to grab my cape off my desk, and the hood thuds to the ground.

"we're a good team." he says it lightheartedly. Spencer is right, though; we work really well together on cases. it makes sense that it would translate into candy hunts. he's way smarter than I am, but it functions well.

"we should do the Amazing Race."

"I don't think either of us would like that." he takes a bite of his fry and I finish up the last of my chicken.

"you wanna hear a secret?" my head turns to his.

"what?" he reciprocates. his features appear especially delicate right now, almost suspended. I can see a darkness in his lids that contradicts the youth of his mien. I'm so close, I could kiss his nose if I wanted to. I don't, but I could.

"aside from the team aspect, I don't really know what the Amazing Race is." I giggle. Spencer breaks into a laugh and turns away again, filling the office with the sound. I blush.

"then why did you bring it up?" his voice gets slightly high-pitched when he tries to speak through it.

"I don't know, I feel like people say that all the time."

"nobody has ever asked me to be in the Amazing Race with them." Spencer is still giggling when he looks over at me. I bite my lip before asking the thing that plagues me.

"so, what is it?"

"the Amazing Race?"

"no, Newton's Laws." I deadpan. "yes, the Amazing Race."

he throws his hands up and I chuckle. he straightens.

"it's a reality game show where they race to travel the world."

"that's it? no stats for me, genius boy?" I gesture for him to elaborate. Spencer shrugs.

"I don't really care about reality shows."

"you don't--" I blink exaggeratedly, as if the fact is shocking. "you don't care about reality shows?"

"we get enough reality here as it is."

"oh, Spence...." I sigh. "there are few things faker than reality tv."

"why do you like them?" he's genuinely curious. I see the glimmer of the Work Spencer with which I've become familiar. always trying to get under the surface, digging for answers even when they don't seem immediately relevant.

"I like to turn my brain off sometimes, you know?" I close the lid of my food and take a drink of my lemonade while I wait for him to respond. although he doesn't look at me as he nods, I can tell he understands what I mean. if anything, he knows the feeling better than I do.

"yeah, I get that."

"everyone just acts really stupid and they care way too much about things that usually, like, don't even matter. it's sort of comforting in a weird, depressing, god-I'm-glad-that's-not-me way."

"that's interesting," he peeks over at me for just a second. "you know, there's actually been studies done that show people with higher annual incomes suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety."

"I believe it." I make a noncommittal sound and reach into the hood of my cape to grab a piece of candy. with the movement, I shift and the hem of my dress lifts enough to expose the garter on my thigh, and the object tucked within it. Reid's eyes pass briefly over me, but he does a double-take when he sees the thing.

"is that--?" he points at my leg. I hitch up the garment a little so I can remove the knife that's been pressed to my thigh the whole evening.

"a weapon? yeah, technically." I chuckle. Spencer's jaw drops in disbelief. even as I hold it in my hands, he seems afraid to touch it.

it's not really a weapon. I got it from one of my friends as a gift a while ago, a lovely little resin dagger that's filled with red flower petals and gold flakes. it glints under the office lights.

"you're really not supposed to have that in here." he gulps, glances up at the corners of the room, where I'm sure security cameras are mounted. I hand it to him, pressing the blade into his palm.

"then stop looking at all the cameras so suspiciously." I scoff. he turns a bit to look at the thing, tilts the edges under the glow to examine it with a strange expression. his long, elegant fingers move over the handle.

"where did you get this?"

"it was a present. it's not dangerous." I shrug. the edges are pretty dull; it's more of a decorative piece. I would equate its actual risk level to that of a particularly pointy pen.

"why did you bring it?" he hands it to me gingerly, our hands touching briefly before I slide it back into the garter on my thigh. his eyes follow my movements, and something in my stomach flips unexpectedly.

"I collect them."

"knives?" he doesn't seem taken aback, only interested, judging by the way he frowns quizzically. I nod and face him.

"yeah. I started as a kid, but I have a whole variety of them-- antique, new, ornate, plain-- I love 'em all." I explain enthusiastically. Spencer opens his mouth and I realize that he must have a million questions. he always has a million questions.

"why knives?"

I pull my mouth to the side of my face. it's not like there's some deep, dark reason behind my predilection for collecting sharp objects. and I’ve tried to answer that question myself, always coming up empty. some things people just... like. "I don't know."

like I've put a damper over the conversation.

"o-oh." Spencer's eyes drop into his lap, where he's been fidgeting with his hands for the past couple minutes. he thinks I'm withholding, that he's crossed some sort of line. my heart sinks.

"I'm serious, Reid-- I don't know." I laugh it off. "I just think they're cool the same way that you think math is cool."

"math is cool." he looks up for a second to smile. I nudge his shoulder with mine. his slight frame means he almost tips over and I laugh.

"hard disagree, but sure."

Spencer stretches his legs out before him, and I'm reminded of how tall he is. he's prone to slouching, so it's easy to forget that his body is actually pretty lengthy. when he taps his Converse together absently, I notice the different colors of his socks. one has watermelon slices and the other has the Road Runner on them.

"I like your mask, by the way." I compliment.

"oh, you mean this?" he tugs the thing down over his face. it's gruesome, really, tinged green with baggy skin below the eye holes. I make a disgusted face and push his shoulder away from me.

"ew!"

"something wrong?" he uses a funny monster voice when he says it, wiggling his fingers playfully. I cackle. he’s never done that.

"god, that thing is ugly."

Spencer removes the mask again, a ghost of a grin on his face. for all of his shyness, he's enjoying himself right now.

we sit there in silence for a bit, cracking open the plastic pumpkin packages that Garcia has stuffed with all sorts of candy. we trade jelly beans like currency, blue raspberry for orange and anything remotely citrus-flavored that he loves. he doesn't mind taking them from my open palm, which fills me with a strangely warm feeling.

I realize that there's more to Spencer's anxiety than germs, a thin layer of something that he lays between each person and himself. we don't talk about weighty subjects; we aren't friends like that-- not yet, anyway. but I'm glad that he feels alright with this kind of proximity.

#spencer reid #spencer reid fic #criminal minds fic #best friends to lovers #fanfic

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backtobackbakubabe · 4 years

Text

I am the Alpha Now Part 10

Bakugo X Reader

Words : 2559

Masterlist

Reader is from America and somewhat of a delinquent with an alpha quirk that allows her to turn into a wolf as well as bond with dogs. She is sent to UA to straighten out her attitude. She ends up in a power struggle with none other than our favorite hot head. Words in Italics are words said telepathically

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

“Focus! Look him in eye and focus your thoughts towards him. Think in his direction.”

“What the fuck does that even mean? Think in his direction?! That makes no fucking sense!”

You and Bakugo had been working for almost an hour now to see if he could talk to Mercy. It was something you did almost every night right before you went to bed. He’s been slowly bonding with you over the course of the last week. The emotional thing you had down, much to his annoyance. Until now he had been very good at hiding his emotions, but that wasn’t even possible anymore.

Just this morning he had threatened to spank you if you didn’t get your ass out of bed. But just one peek into the bond and you could tell he didn’t mean it. In fact, you could feel his longing to join you. So instead of doing as he asked, you reached out and pulled him down to your level and begged him for ten more minutes.

He had groaned and rolled his eyes before wrapping a reluctant arm around you and pulling you to him. He wanted to be annoyed, but you could feel the love and comfort radiating from him. He wasn’t nearly as intimidating as you had once thought.

This brings you back to tonight. You sat there in one of his t-shirts laying between his legs with your head on his shoulder as he sat on the edge of the bed staring at Mercy. You could feel the determination quickly followed by disappointment. “Hey babe it’s okay, it’ll come. It took us a loooooong time before we could speak to each other.”

He threw his body back onto the bed in frustration, “Yeah, but you also had to basically teach him English from scratch.”

You shrugged, “It’ll come to you eventually. Just keep practicing. You’ve got the emotional and physical part down.”

The bond goes both ways… which means he felt the spike in your emotions when you said “physical” He sat up and his hand quickly found your hip, “Oh I know I got the physical part down… I know if I put my hand here…” He moved his hand closer to your inner thigh. “…you heart rate begins to pick up. But if I put it here…” He moved it cup your boob. “You start to melt into my hands like putty.” He kissed your neck as he moved to pinch one of your nipples between his fingers. Your back arched as you bit your lip, “But this…. This is the quickest way to make you lose your mind.”

You had started to reach for pants when he flipped you both over, so you were now on your stomach with him on your back. “It’s so much better when I can feel how excited you are. It’s like you were literally the missing puzzle piece from my life.” He leaned back to take his shirt off, “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you… or this bond.”

You wiggled your ass underneath him, “Awww are you saying I complete you?”

His only response to that was a quick slap to the ass, but you could feel his amusement through the bond. He started to slowly drag your underwear down when Mercy yelped, “PLEASE STOP!”

You groaned as you tapped out, letting Bakugo know you needed to get up.

Confused and a little concerned he let you up, “Shit I didn’t slap you that hard, did I? I didn’t feel any unusual pain in the bond?”

You put a hand on his chest to reassure him, “No it’s Mercy. We need to let him out if we’re going to you know… be physical.”

His eyes widened in understanding, “Oh shit... yeah… duh. Okay hold on I’ll let him out really quick.”

He walked across your room without a shirt on to let Mercy out while you remained sitting on the bed in nothing but one of his t-shirts. Right as he reached the door your wolf senses picked up footsteps outside in the hallway right outside your room, “Bakugo WA-“

He threw the door open before you could finish and was met with a characteristically bored looking Aizawa. You scrambled to cover yourself with a blanket “Hmmm I figured I’d find you here… It’s well past curfew…”

Bakugo bowed, “Yes sir, My apologies… it was my fault… uh you see…”

Aizawa just raised his hand to cut him off, “A quick reminder that Y/n is here on a probationary basis. She was sent here to straighten out her attitude and get her act together. Your job is supposed to be helping her get her life together…” He glanced at Bakugo’s shitless chest in front of him, “I can tell the two of you have become… close. But you only have a few months before graduation… then you can do whatever the hell you want. But until then, can you at least try to pretend to follow the rules.”

Bakugo nodded, “Yes sir, my apologies again sir. I was just about to take Mercy for a quick run if that is okay?”

Aizawa looked at Mercy was wagging his tail next to Bakugo, “Make it a leisurely walk and how about I join you… for safety reasons.”

Bakugo narrowed his eyes, “No offense sir, but I think I can handle a quick walk around campus by myself…”

Aizawa smiled, “I’m sure you could, but then how would we continue our conversation about rule breaking?”

Bakugo grunted as he grabbed the jacket he had left hanging by the door, “I’ll bring him right back y/n, get some sleep. Come on Mercy lets go.”

You just silently nodded as the door slammed behind him… “Shit…”

“Mercy, is it okay of I watch and listen to their conversation though you?”

“UGH! But I actually wanted to run!”

You rolled your eyes even though no one was around to see it, “Oh don’t lie. I know you’re just as nosy as I am!”

“And your point?”

“My point is I’ll run with you tomorrow AND I’ll make Bakugo cook you a giant steak for dinner…”

“DEAL!”

You tuned into Mercy senses and saw Aizawa and Bakugo walking right in front of you or rather right in front of Mercy.

“Bakugo I need you to understand something. When I say I can see you two getting close, I mean that quite literally. My quirk allows me to see and turn off other quirks. When I see you two especially when you are close, I can see this weird aura. It used to just be y/n and Mercy, but it’s now consumed you too.” He stopped to see the tips of Bakugo’s ear turning pink, “Now I’m no idiot. I think I’ve put two and two together. It has something to do with her alpha quirk doesn’t it?”

Bakugo rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah… It’s hard to explain though. I just… clicked with her or something and now I’m a part of her pack. Me her and Mercy.” He glanced down and gave Mercy a pat on the head.

Aizawa nodded, “I have to admit I think it has had an impact on you both and probably for the better. You give her structure and dedication. She gives you empathy and compassion. It’s evident you are good for each other… I just need you to be careful.”

Bakugo narrowed his eyes, “Careful? Careful of what?”

Aizawa sighed as he stopped walking, “I just worry you might grow too attached to her, but I’m now beginning to think you already have.”

“Tch, what’s that supposed to mean? I obviously love her, why would getting attached to her be a bad thing? You just said we were good for each other?”

“Well she is from America and you live here. Have you discussed what you want to do after graduation? Will she move here? Will you move there? Will you… part ways?”

Mercy whined at the thought of the new member of his pack leaving them. You felt your heart break a little at the thought as well.

Bakugo leaned down and got on Mercy’s level. “Hey now stop crying, that’s not going to happen.” He kissed Mercy’s forehead and whispered, “I told you to go to bed…”

He must have felt your panic and knew you were listening. “We haven’t talked about it yet… but with all due respect that’s a conversation that will be between us. That’s our private life you know?”

Aizawa nodded and ran his hand through his hair, “I understand but please just try to be careful. I see how attached you already. It’s like you’re addicted to her presence, to her happiness. I can see that you get visibly uncomfortable when she’s not close by and I fear the day you might… well for lack of a better words… go through withdrawal. It’s like she’s a drug to you.”

Bakugo tensed up, “Look… like I said before it’s our private life…but…” He took a look at Mercy, probably debating saying anything knowing that I was listening. “I do feel this pull to her. She is quite literally the center of my universe… but you know what. I don’t care. She’ll be the first to tell you who wears the pants in the relationship… and that’s neither of us. We have a deep respect for each other. We listen, we care, we communicate. I take care of her just as much as she takes care of me. She might have an alpha quirk, but I’m not her bitch.”

Aizawa’s eyes widened, “Bakugo you misunderstand me. I didn’t mean to insinuate that she was controlling you, I just didn’t want to see you guys get hurt.”

Bakugo was starting to get mad now, “Well we’re not! Okay! I can’t explain it, but this connection we have… it’s permanent. It’s not going anywhere!”

Aizawa almost looked sad, “Okay… but how do you know?”

You could feel your anger (or possibly Bakugo’s) boiling over and you just wanted to hit something. “BECAUSE WE FUCKING DO! FUCK OFF!”

Bakugo snorted and then bit his lip. He looked to Mercy, “Your mother has a potty mouth.” He looked at a confused Aizawa and without explaining himself at all he turned to head back to the dorms, “Come on Mercy, you know y/n can’t sleep without you, and she seems a little restless right now.”

Aizawa called out after him, “Last night I’m allowing you to get away with this, next time it’s detention do you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah whatever… like you said it’s only for a few more months anyways. We’ll survive.”

You could hear Bakugo’s footsteps approaching the door and you tried to pretend like you had been asleep.

“OI! Don’t even fucking try. I know you were listening the entire time. Not only could I feel you, but I fucking heard you! How did you do that! It was so fucking weird, it’s like I could hear you, but your voice was a little different. It had more of an echo or something and… oi are you even listening?” He threw a pillow at your still “sleeping” figure.

You fake yawned and stretched, “Oh hi Bakugo. Back from your walk already?”

He tackled you to the bed, “You’re such a brat!”

You giggled as you kissed his cheek, “Ah yes, but I’m your brat.”

He settled into bed next to you and kissed your forehead, “How I got stuck with you I have no idea.” He ran his fingers through your hair, “But I’m glad I did… now can we please talk about earlier?”

You sighed, “About what in particular?”

“Well for one I know you were listening. Your emotions were all over the place…”

You shrugged, “I was watching Gilmoe Girls… gets me every time.”

He swatted at your ass, “Come on pup be serious. I really want to talk about it. Do you have plans after graduation?”

You snuggled deeper into him, “I mean not really… I had thought I’d go back to America and get a job there doing private security.”

“You could always do that here instead though. There’s tons of jobs here especially for graduates of UA.”

You bit your lip, “I don’t know. I mean going to school here is hard enough. I still feel like my Japanese sucks, and you already know English…”

“Your Japanese gets better every day! I can practice with you more if you think it’ll help!”

“I just... I don’t know right this moment. And that’s okay right? I mean we have a few months, right?”

He ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah I guess... but y/n, I need you to know. I can’t see myself leaving Japan. My only goal for the past few years has been to be Japans number one hero. It would be kind of hard to do that from America.”

Your eyes lit up, “Talk to All Might! He did a few years in America and he became the number one hero! Just ask him about it!”

He could feel how worked up you were getting so he gave your forehead another kiss, “Okay, okay, I’ll talk to him… on to the next thing… I heard you in my head… how?”

You shook your head, “I honestly don’t know. I said it like I would normally talk to Mercy, but I didn’t direct it at Mercy. I was surprised you heard it. I was also extra emotional though.”

“Tch. I heard it alright. If I wasn’t so caught off guard, I would have laughed my ass off.”

“Do you think he meant it when he said tonight was the last night you could sleep here? I don’t want to sleep alone.”

“WHAT AM I CHOPPED LIVER!” Mercy was now in the bed trying to get in between you two.

“Oi! I Herd that! Mercy say something else!”

“Something else!”

“Just as sassy as I thought you’d be, but I kind of imagined you’re voice to be… I don’t know softer. You actually sound kind of like a boss.”

“Yes, that would be because I am a boss. You may be in this pack now but respect the food chain asshole!”

Bakugo looked at you, “You gonna let him talk to me that way?”

You just shrugged, “I mean he has a point. He was here first.”

He pushed Mercy out of the way and bearhugged you, “No, no, no, no, we agreed at the tea shop! I am the alpha now remember?”

You rolled your eyes and shook your head, “Whatever helps you sleep at night babe.”

Mercy started growling from where Bakugo had pushed him, “I’ll help you sleep alright, by putting you in a coma! HOW DARE YOU PUSH ME OUT OF MY OWN BED!”

The rest of the night was filled with wrestling and your boys fighting and joking. Despite his attitude you could tell Mercy was ecstatic to have a new friend to talk to. You watched as they rolled around on the floor and your heart swelled with love. Bakugo paused for and looked over to you when he felt it. He made eye contact and with all his will power he managed to say “I love you too…”

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

Tags : @tspice283 , @realityisoftendisapointing , @imbi-101 , @thoughtfulpandazine2 , @hotarumorikawa , @huh-iwasntpayingattention , @starfishlovingbnha , @weebnumber3622 , @mixedfeeelings , @munchmunch01 , @inumorph

#bakugo katsuki #bakugo #Katsuki Bakugō #bhna bakugou #mha bakugou #bakugo imagine #bakugo x reader #bakugo x y/n #mha #mha imagines #mha bakugo katsuki #mha x reader #my hero academia #Alpha #i am the alpha now

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angst-fairygodmother · 3 years

Note

(i'm not sure if you're actually taking requests so ignore this if you aren't, oops) “You don’t know anything about her/him!” with Diego?? Thank you have a good day :)

A/N: Sorry for the confusion darling, I was indeed open for requests (and most likely would not have ignored you anyway). I hope you have a good day too, and enjoy the fic. 😊 Word Count: 2283 Content Warnings: Reginald Hargreeves (and his usual emotional abuse/manipulation bullshit)

Diego wrapped his arms around you from behind, nuzzling his face into the side of your neck.

“Hi baby,” you hummed, leaning back against him while you stirred some scrambled eggs on the stove. “What’s the occasion that’s got you all snuggly?”

“Does there need to be an occasion?”

“Need, no,” you turned off the stove and turned around in his arms, looping yours around his neck. “But there usually is one anyway.”

He smiled, kissing you tenderly and you melted into his touch.

“I was thinking…” he said eventually, reluctant to part from you.

You turned back around to dish out breakfast, laughing. “Oh? That’s never a good sentence. Especially when you end trailing off like that.”

He rolled his eyes, pouting at you from over your shoulder.

“Are you going to share, or leave me hanging?”

“My father is the featured speaker at some ceremony thing tonight, so he won’t be home.”

“Mhm?” you hummed, turning raising an eyebrow, gesturing for the two of you to shuffle together toward the island so you could set down plates and eat.

“I want you to m-m-m…”

The ceramic in your hand clacked heavily against the counter. Your hands came up to cup his face as you locked eyes with him.

“Deep breaths baby,” you murmured coaxingly. “It’s alright.”

He flashed you a grateful smile.

“I wantyoutomeetmymom,” he blurted out as one word, unintelligible gibberish seeming better in his mind than stuttering.

You stared at him, blinking twice in shock. “It sounded like you just said you want me to meet your mom?”

He nodded sheepishly, as best he could with his head still between your palms.

“Really? I mean that’s a big step. Are you sure?”

“I love you, Y/N. And I want the two most important people to me to know each other.”

You bit your lip and slowly smiled. “Okay. Sure. I’d like that a lot.”

The Umbrella Academy towered over you, somehow managing to be even bigger and more intimidating in real life than you could have imagined, especially in the fading light of afternoon. You and Diego laced your fingers with one another, looking at each other nervously before he reached up to knock on the massive double doors. There was a long pause, and you were tempted to suggest that he knock again, or that no one was home. Just as you opened your mouth though, the door swung open.

“Master Diego!” the man-monkey on the other side greeted, sounding shocked. “Were we expecting you today? Master Hargreeves is not home at the moment.”

“Hey Pogo,” Diego answered casually, a half smile on his face, and you tried your best not to stare too much. “Actually, we’re here to see Mom. I tried to call ahead but no one answered.”

“I see. Of course. Grace is in the kitchen, and I’m sure she’ll be delighted to see you.”

Diego nodded and moved to lead you in past the apparent butler.

“Who is this?” Pogo asked.

Diego looked startled. He had momentarily forgotten that you were new to this part of his world and hadn’t always been a part of it.

“Right. Pogo, this is Y/N. My...Y/N. Y/N, this is Pogo. He’s…” he shrugged, unable to clearly put labels or titles on either of you for the other’s benefit.

“I work for Master Hargreeves as a personal assistant and butler,” Pogo explained. “And I helped in the day to day care of the children.”

You nodded. “Right, Diego’s told me about you. Or told me stories and you were in them. Which is kind of the same. I’m...dating Diego. We’ve been together for a while.” You hesitated, not sure if he’d want you to mention that the two of you had just moved in.

“I see,” Pogo smiled somewhat stiffly. “Congratulations. It’s always a pleasure to know that one of the children has found someone who makes them happy.”

You smiled in return, and Diego cleared his throat.

“You said Mom was in the kitchen?” he asked, hating how exposed he felt there in the foyer, as if his father might appear at any moment and ruin everything.

“Yes, I believe she is,” Pogo answered with a nod. “Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

With that he turned and walked off, disappearing into another room.

Diego sighed, gripping your hand a little tighter as he led you down the hall.

As you walked down the flight of stairs into the kitchen, it was like you were entering an entirely different house. Despite being what looked like a converted butcher’s shop or maybe bakery, it had a warm, welcoming air. You suspected most of that feeling was coming from the smell of fresh pastry permeating the air, or perhaps the bright smile of the elegantly dressed woman who had looked up with a gasp of surprise and enveloped you and Diego both in a warm, tight hug almost immediately when you crossed the threshold.

“Hi, Mom,” Diego said, face lighting up.

“Diego, dear,” she said cheerfully as she backed up again, holding Diego by the shoulders to look him over. “It’s so good to see you! And you brought a friend! Your father isn’t here right now. Were we expecting you?”

“No, Mom, you weren’t. But I wanted to come over and introduce you to Y/N,” he said softly.

You gave an awkward little wave with your free hand. “Hello.”

Grace looked knowingly between the two of you, eyes falling to your joined hands. She winked at you.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N,” she said. “Both of you sit. Dinner should be ready soon.”

He glanced at you nervously. You shrugged, hoping that he understood you were leaving it up to him and his comfort level.

Dinner turned out to be lovely, and even though she didn’t eat, Grace sat across the wooden-plank table from the two of you, asking polite questions like any other mother. You found yourself surprisingly comfortable in her presence and in the room, and were glad to see that as the evening wore on, Diego was relaxing too.

Suddenly all of the peace was shattered.

“Number Two!” a sharp voice called and you watched your boyfriend flinch.

You turned to see a tall, slim man silhouetted in the stairwell. You slipped your hand into Diego’s, squeezing comfortingly and he turned back to you to flash you a grateful smile.

“Mr. Hargreeves!” Grace said cheerfully, a smile on her face somehow managing to be forced even though you knew it was programmed, colder but no less bright than the ones you had received all night, making her even more into the quintessential housewife. “I didn’t think you would be joining us. We can move dinner to the dining room if you’d like?”

“No. I don’t intend to stay. I’m only here to inquire what Number Two was thinking in allowing that vulture into this house.” He pointed to you harshly, his gaze pinning you like a frog on a dissection tray.

“Vulture?” you demanded. “Who are you calling a vulture?”

“Are you simple as well as opportunistic? Obviously I am referring to you and your attempts to gain access to my house and secrets.”

“By having dinner with my boyfriend and his mother? I must be a lot dumber than I think because I don’t see how that’s part of some grand evil scheme?”

“I am not interested in playing games. I will request, politely for now, that you leave. I know what you’re up to, and will not waste my time bandying words with you, or refrain from taking action if you persist.”

“You don’t know anything about them!” Diego shouted suddenly, pointing a finger at his father and turning in his seat as if to position himself between you and his father.

You looked at him, surprised by his outburst. Clearly he understood more of his father’s veiled implications than you did, and whatever they were, they upset him. You didn’t even care what Hargreeves was saying, hating him by reputation alone, just that Diego was suffering for it, trembling under your still linked fingers.

“What is there to know? A journalist, if you can call anyone who works for that particular publication such a thing, happens to develop a romance with one of the famed Umbrella Academy. One who, for all his myriad failings, is at least attempting some mediocre facsimile of continuing the works he was born for. The only thing I do not know, and it hardly matters in the grand scheme, is whether fame or fortune is the primary motivator.”

You frowned, opening your mouth to protest, but Diego cut in again before you could. He jumped out of his chair, only held back from lunging at Reginald by the fact that he hadn’t released hold of your hand, and you weren’t about to let him now.

“You’re wrong!” he shouted.

“Am I, Number Two?” Reginald raised an eyebrow, stepping forward as if challenging Diego. “What do you actually know about this person?”

Diego hesitated, and you felt your heart breaking. It was true that not only were you a journalist, but that you had met while you were reporting on a home invasion he had helped to stop, saving all six people in the household, and that your initial interest in him was professional. It was true that you still hadn’t admitted every life’s detail to each other yet, but for how long you’d been together it was a fair number of things, and you knew that you both still had secrets. That was normal in a relationship.

Surely he knew that you loved him, as much as you knew in the core of your heart that he loved you?

“Diego…” you murmured, trying to coax him around to look at you instead of his father.

If he did, he would see in your eyes how much he meant, how obviously full of shit his father was. Why wouldn’t he look at you?

You felt a gentle hand on your shoulder and looked up to find Grace gazing sadly back down at you, an attempt at comfort from someone more familiar with disagreements between the two men than you ever wanted to be.

“You...don’t know what you’re talking about,” Diego argued again, voice soft and hurt.

Reginald’s eyes slid past his son to lock with you, still sitting at the kitchen table. You glared a challenge back. Grace’s hand tightened, as if she sensed that you were about to do something reckless, and she might have been right.

“Last chance,” Hargreeves said. “Leave now. Or I will make you leave.”

Diego growled and you stood up, moving to stand beside him, despite his noise of protest and attempt to hold you back with an arm.

“I love Diego,” you hissed. “I don’t need to prove that to you or to anyone else. I don’t care what you think of me. You’re just a sad, bitter old man who thinks because you have no love for anyone but yourself that everyone must be similarly self-serving, and if you want to project that onto me, go right ahead.”

Diego shifted, drawing you closer to his side and wrapping an arm protectively around your shoulders, since you wouldn’t let him stand in front of you. Reginald glared and Diego returned the look, jaw tightening.

“If you threaten Y/N again,” he started.

“You’ll what, Number Two?”

You felt him trembling and wrapped your arm around his waist. “It’s okay Diego, we can just leave…” you murmured.

“No,” he took a deep breath to steady his voice. “No it’s not. He’s not allowed to speak to you like that. To assume that…” he sighed. “I love you, Y/N. And I shouldn’t let my father or anyone attack you.”

“Truly touching,” Hargreeves said, rolling his eyes. “Get. Out.”

“Fine,” Diego said, and you both turned, headed for the back door. “But we won’t come back. Either of us. Ever.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Reginald says.

You had to practically run to keep up with Diego’s long, angry strides, trying to get away from Reginald as quickly as possible. You paused, dragging him to a stop to hug Grace warmly.

“It was really nice meeting you,” you said to her with a smile. “I can really see where Diego gets his heart from.”

“Hey,” you said when you and Diego had gotten back in the car. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

He turned to look at you. “I’m sorry.”

“Diego, relax,” you said. “I knew he was a dick.”

“But you deserve better than that. And...I let him get into my head. I doubted you for a second.”

“Diego Hargreeves, you listen here,” you said sternly, trapping his face between your hands so he couldn’t look away. “I love you. And I do not care if you doubt it, or if you need me to prove it every single day. Because I will.”

“Y/N…”

“You spent your entire childhood being manipulated and controlled by him. So of course, he got back into your head. And a second’s doubt doesn’t scare me. Because you stood up to him.”

He frowned. “I…”

“Like, actually stood up to him. That took guts baby. And I’m so proud of you.”

“Proud of me? Brave?” he laughed. “No, no. Honey, it was only because I had you there with me.”

You opened your mouth to protest when he leaned across the center console, tucking a finger under your chin.

“Thank you,” he murmured before pressing his lips to yours tenderly.

#this was a lot of fun to write #I couldn't resist making it another in my set of 'meet the family' fics for Diego #although it can stand alone pretty easily too #Diego Hargreeves x reader #The Umbrella Academy fic

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rohad93 · 4 years

Text

Moonlit Masquerade: Read all about it! Pt 1

Part 10 of the Moonlit Masquerade Series

Enjoy

It's a normal Monday after school following the fall break, and Luz is still sitting in the potions classroom after the bell.

The rest of the class had already left, but her teacher wanted to speak to her.

So Luz sits, long after the bell has screamed, waiting for her potions professor to come back, she had to run a quick errand, but she wanted to speak to Luz before she left for the day.

She's nervous. She can only assume this is about the test they had today. Luz had been pretty confident in her performance, she thought she did really well, nothing exploded and all her potions came out perfect, or at least she thought so, so she can't imagine what the professor wants to speak to her about.

She taps her foot nervously on the floor as the seconds' tick by. She knows Amity is waiting for her, but considering what a fanatic her girlfriend is when it comes to grades she would probably excuse her delay to talk to the teacher.

She waits about twenty minutes before her professor finally returns.

"Forgive the delay, Miss. Noceda, I had something urgent to take care of. Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I wished to speak with you, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am." Luz nods and gulps. The professor seems to catch on to her worry and smiles.

"No need to look so grim," she laughs. "I wanted to tell you that you scored perfectly on our test today," she says, and Luz blinks for a second before brightening.

"Really?" She holds her hands up to her mouth, but they can't hide the bright grin that splits her face.

"Really, your potions were exemplary, the highest quality I've seen in some time." The older witch holds her hands behind her back and nods.

Luz can't help but squeal at that. She tries to give her all to her many tracks, but some come more easily than others. She still struggles with abominations due to the nature of their summoning, illusions, and plants can be tricky too, but the rest of her courses go fairly well the majority of the time, but she seems to excel at beast keeping and potions. So, while most of her classmates abhor Mondays, they're one of Luz's favorite days of the week, a close second only to Tuesday, because while she may not be great at abomination magic, it's still the one day of the week she has class with Amity, which edges out the accomplished feeling she has at the end of her Monday classes.

"Yes!" she cheers, jumping up, and her teacher chuckles.

"Yes, indeed. Actually, what I really wished to tell you was that your performance over the last few months has been a steady upward climb since the explosion you caused during your first week in my classes," she goes on and Luz chuckles awkwardly at that.

No one was going to forget that little incident with the rash potion gone wrong it seemed.

"In fact, in past weeks, you have worked yourself up to being the top student in the track, despite you only having potions one day a week." She lifts a hand making a spell circle appear, and a small gold star poof's its way to the front of Luz’s uniform. The words 'top student' spelled out across it.

Luz is stunned by that. For once in a handful of times in her life, she's stunned speechless. She always did fairly well in school back in the human world, but she was never exactly going to be the valedictorian. She knows at the magic schools, it's a coveted thing, to be at the top of your track. She never thought too much about it, she just wanted to study magic, she certainly hadn't been aspiring to reach the top of any of her classes; she never even considered it possible. A lot of her friends were at the top of their tracks, Amity was the top student of the abominations track and Willow in plants, and the twins in illusions.

Now she was the top student in potions?

"I… I'm the top student in potions, me?" She points at herself disbelievingly.

Her teacher nods.

"Yes, you, Miss Noceda. I have few students who work as diligently in my class as you. You should be very proud." She smiles.

"I… I am! Thank you." Luz beams proudly, vibrating with energy. Some days it feels like she'll never be a real witch, but today? Today she knows she is.

She's the top student in the potions track, Luz Noceda, human witch!

She doesn't think she's ever felt so accomplished. Now she somewhat understands why Amity went bananas about her top student star the day they met.

Her teacher nods.

"Yes, in fact, I was hoping I might be able to convince you to switch solely into the potions track. You would learn so much more if you were in my class all week as opposed to just Mondays," she says.

"Oh…," Luz says, frowning. Her teacher is right of course, if she focused on one track she would probably do even better. She really likes all her other classes too though. If she switched into potions from multitrack, she wouldn't have plants with Willow, illusions with Gus, or abominations with Amity anymore.

She chews her lips.

Her professor seems to catch on to her reluctance.

"It's not a decision you would need to make now, or anytime soon, of course. I'd just like you to know that the offer is always open, you would excel even more if you exclusively studied potions, but so long as you remain diligent in class, one day a week seems to be sufficient," she says and Luz is smiling again.

"Of course, thank you." She nods.

"Have a good day, Miss. Noceda," she dismisses and Luz grabs her bag and runs out of the classroom, dashing down the halls with a wide grin.

She has to tell Amity!

She hurries down the front steps and finds her girlfriend's waiting just to the side of them, out in the open. School has been over for about half an hour, so the courtyard is deserted.

"Luz, what took you so long?" she asks, blinking, she can practically see the roiling energy coming off her.

"My potions teacher wanted to talk to me! I'm the top student in the potions track!" She gushes proudly, pointing at her star badge, and Amity gasps.

"Luz, that's great!" She smiles, jumping to hug her. Luz is grinning hard and wraps her arms around Amity's waist, lifting her off the ground, they both laugh as she spins them around in dizzying, gleeful circles.

Luz finally sets her down and they're both still grinning madly.

Amity knows better than anyone how Luz struggles with feeling like she belongs, like her struggles are worth it, like she's a real witch making progress, and she can tell how happy she is.

She can't help herself and grabs Luz’s cheeks, pressing a heartfelt kiss to her girlfriend's lips.

"I'm so proud of you, Luz," she says, pressing her forehead against hers. She can see the surprise in those bright, chocolate-colored eyes.

As though she hadn't been happy before, those words make Luz's heart swell, and then she leans in to kiss Amity again, making the green-haired girl giggle against her mouth. She's just so excited and the energy rubs off on the other girl easily. If Luz is happy, so is she.

"Thanks… I can't wait to tell Willow and Gus! You guys are at the top of your tracks, now I am too! I'm a witch too!" She bounced excitedly on her toes and Amity smiled at her.

"You were already a witch, querida," she says and Luz just grins, and no one's sure who leans in again first, but then they’re kissing again before finally heading around the building to the portal glyph, giggling.

"Mom!" Luz shouts as she practically kicks the door open to the owl house.

Lilith and Eda are sitting on the couch with King when she bursts through the door. They all jump up when it slams open.

"What, what is it? What's on fire? Who died, do I need to hide a body?!" Eda shouts, but then Luz is in front of her, jumping up and down excitedly and grabbing hold of the front of her dress.

"I did it, me!" she shouts.

Eda blinks at her, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

"What, what did you do?" She puts her hands on Luz's shoulders to stop the bouncing, the kid is making her dizzy.

"I'm the top student in the potions track!" She grins brightly up at her, and Eda's eyes zero in on the little gold star pinned to her kid's chest.

"Congratulations, Luz!" Lilith is the first to catch on and smiles at the girl.

Luz beams at her before turning back to Eda.

Eda still has mixed feelings about school as a whole, but the fact that it's her kid, her inherently magicless kid, who is top of one of the tracks, beating out all the other kids, born with magic, makes her chest swell with pride.

"Hey, that's great, Luz!" she says and Luz's grin doubles as she throws herself at Eda in a hug, who squeezes her back. King wraps himself around one of her legs too.

"We should celebrate!" Eda declares. "It's not every day you beat out all those other little snot-nosed brats," she says. Lilith rolls her eyes at that but agrees to the first half of the sentiment.

"I believe we have some gorgon fruit in the kitchen…," she trails off and Luz gasps.

"Amity's Tostones?" She looks up at them, starry-eyed and Eda chuckles. She'd had to nearly bribe the youngest Blight to get her recipe for Luz. She had been very reluctant to part with it, but even Amity Blight had her price.

"Tostones!" She says.

"Tostones!" King shouts, and he and Luz race into the kitchen.

~ Luz couldn't be happier as she walks to school Tuesday morning.

She is the top student in the potions track and she has class with Amity today. Could it be a better day?

She happily kicks at the crunchy, wilted leaves on her path to school. It's cold today and her cheeks feel numb, but no measly cold weather can bring her down today!

When she gets to school Gus and Willow are waiting out front, but her girlfriend is nowhere in sight. It's still quite early, and few students have arrived yet, but it's weird Amity isn't there yet.

"Hey, guys." She grins and waves as she runs up to them. "Notice anything different about me today?" She asks with a grin, puffing out her chest where her top student badge is displayed.

Gus hums, tapping a finger to his chin as he looks at her with squinted eyes.

"Did you get a haircut?" he asks.

"Uh, no…," she says, Willow notices the little badge immediately though and gasps.

"You got a top student badge!" She shouts and Gus sees it and gasps, slapping both his hands to his cheeks and Luz grins brightly.

"In which track?!" he asks.

"Potions," she says.

"Congratulations!" Her friends grab her and squeeze, and Luz laughs, hugging them back.

"What's with all the hugging, should we be hugging you too?" A voice startles them apart and they turn to see the Blight twins walking up to them.

"Oh, hey Ed, Em," Luz greets the twins.

"We were just congratulating Luz on making top student in the potions track," Willow tells them.

"Hey, congrats!" Ed high fives her.

"Yeah, nice!" Emira smiles.

"Thanks, what are you guys doing here? You're not usually here this early."

"We are mere emissaries, come bearing a message for our fair sisters' lady love." Edric bows dramatically and Emira rolls her eyes.

"Amity is at home, she has a cold, she wanted us to let you know so you wouldn't worry," Emira says and Edric pouts.

"You're no fun," he mumbles.

"Aw, it's Tuesday too… well, I'll call her later," Luz says. The twins' smile and nod.

"Guess we might as well head in then," Gus says and she nods they head inside with the twins.

They don't get more than a few feet into the main hall when they see all the posters posted up on the walls.

"Something going on?" Luz blinks, these weren't here yesterday after school.

Ed walks to the nearest one and pulls it off the wall and looks at it. His eyes blow wide and his mouth drops open in absolute horror.

"What, are they auctioning off another teacher?" Emira asks, looking at it over his shoulder, and any words she was about to say die in her throat, both twins have gone pale and they look up at Luz. The three underclassmen are worried now.

"What, what is it?" Luz grabs the paper from Ed's limp grip. Willow and Gus crowd in to look over her shoulder.

Luz thinks her heart has stopped, and her blood is like ice in her veins, chilling her to the core.

Plastered front and center on the poster is a picture of her.

Her and Amity, kissing next to the stairs yesterday after school.

The letters, in big, bold, black calligraphy letters read simply: 'HUMAN KISSER'

Her hand is shaking and her head whips up to really look at the posters on the walls, and the same poster is pasted everywhere, on the lockers and every wall.

Willow and Gus stare at the paper for a long time before turning to Luz who looks like a ghost, and they're not even sure she's breathing, except her whole body is trembling.

"They're everywhere!" Edric is the first to speak, eyes darting wildly across the hall at the papers.

"Luz…," Willow says, shocking her out of her stupor. It takes a moment to make her tongue form words.

"Pull them down…," she croaks.

"What?" Gus asks.

"Pull them down, pull them all down!" she screams, taking off at a run and ripping down any poster in her reach as she goes.

The twins jerk and look at each other, nodding before twirling their fingers and several clones pop into existence, and they take off running, ripping down the posters as quickly as they can.

Gus and Willow follow, running up and down the halls of the building. There are literally hundreds of the things pasted to every surface. Vines and clones of the younger illusion student rip down the halls, grabbing them as quickly as they can.

Emira rips several posters down from the stables near the beast keeping track and runs right by her girlfriend and her other two multitrack friends.

"Em?" Viney blinks as her girlfriend runs by with a look of panic etched into her face, but Emira doesn't have the time and tosses one of the posters to Viney as she runs by.

"Take them down!" she shouts as she shoots down another hall.

Viney looks at the poster, Jerbo, and Barkus lean in to look and their eyes go wide. Viney looks up, panicked.

"Guys, run, pull down any of these you see!" She yells as she takes off down another hall and starts ripping the posters down as she goes. The other two multitrackers nod and take off in opposite directions.

"They're fucking everywhere!" Edric shouts as he runs past his sister.

They are, the posters are pasted to every surface from the main halls to the beast keeping stables all the way to the greenhouse and the grudgby field.

They all dash madly across campus, pulling down as many as they can.

Eventually, more students start to come in and see the posters, they just can't get to them all in time.

The whispering starts quickly, and it won't take long before the whole school knows about Luz and Amity.

They meet back out in front of the school where they find the human sitting on the front steps, a pile of crumpled posters at her feet, and her head buried in her hands, her shoulders are shaking.

Gus and Willow don't know what to say as they look down at their friend sadly, and the twins only frown, clutching the posters in their hands. Viney clenches a shaking fist. Jerbo and Barkus are trustworthy, and she had already told them about her girlfriend and their friends' secret girlfriend. They feel for their younger fellow multitrack student, they know from Viney's relationship with Emira just what this means. They stand around looking awkwardly at each other, hoping someone will say something.

No one knows what to say to Luz.

"Morning, losers."

All of them except Luz look up at Boscha, standing in front of the steps and smiling at them.

"Go away, Boscha." Willow spits, none of them are in the mood for the school's resident bully.

"And miss out on this? In your dreams. Where's Amity, she already run home crying?" She asks looking around. "Guess she didn't like my surprise." She grins.

Luz's head snaps up at that, tears are running silently down her cheeks.

"You did this?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.

"Why?!" Gus shouts. Boscha rolled her eyes.

"Pfft, Amity thinks she's all that, well it was time to teach her a lesson, bring her down a peg or two," she flips a lock of hair over her shoulder.

Edric and Emira both snarl at the younger girl, lips pulled back over fangs. Willow and Gus shake with rage.

"So when I saw that sickening display in the courtyard after school yesterday, I figured this was perfect. I mean, her and the human?” She laughs, pointing at Luz. “Her reputation will never recover from this," she huffs with a smirk, and the bell chooses that moment to scream it's first warning. "Well, later losers."

She struts past them up and stairs toward the door.

Luz's heart is pounding in her ears and her breathing is quick and shallow.

Boscha did this…

Because of her, Amity's parents were going to know.

They're going to make it so she can never see her again.

The one person she loves more than anything...

She shoots to her feet and with a strangled scream, bolts up the stairs toward Boscha, who turns around to look with wide, fearful eyes at the human about to pounce on her.

Before Luz can reach her and start pummeling her face in, Gus and Willow tackle her.

"No, Luz, you can't fight at school!" Willow shouts.

"You just made top student, you'll lose it if you bash in her stupid face!" Gus yells.

Luz hears them, but she doesn't care, all she can see is red, and all she feels is the intense desire to make Boscha hurt as much as she is right now.

"I don't care, let me go!" she snarls, thrashing against their hold and almost breaks free until Viney and the other multi trackers grab hold of her.

Boscha sneers at her but quickly retreats into the school when the twins take a menacing step forward.

When she's gone, all the anger seems to drain out of Luz, and she slumps to her knees on the stairs, feeling lifeless as tears drip from the corners of her eyes. Gus and Willow hold her tightly.

Her friends huddle around her, not saying anything for a long while till she's quieted. The bell has long since started class.

"I have to tell Amity…," she finally sniffles. "Before she sees it on penstagram or something stupid like that," she bites.

The twins glanced at each other before turning to her.

"We'll take you to the house, right now," Emira says and Edric nods

Luz nods, wiping at her eyes with the back of her arm.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Willow asks quietly. Luz shakes her head and reaches down to pick up one of the scattered posters.

"I need to do this alone… and I don't know how Amity is going to react." That's a bald-faced lie and she knows it, they all do. She knows exactly how her girlfriend is going to react to this, and all their friends don't need to be there to see it.

"We'll burn these." Viney gestures to the piles of posters they've collected.

Luz nods before pulling away and runs down the steps without another word with the twins on her heels. She zips around the side of the school to her portal glyph and holds her hands to it, thinking intently of the front yard of Blight manner and it blazes to life.

When they step through, they're standing on the front steps of Blight Manor and the twins let her in.

The house is quiet and empty, with their parents at work and Amity upstairs in her room in bed.

They walk up the stairs to her room and stop outside the closed door. Luz swallows thickly. She feels heavy, every step feels harder than the last.

She lets out a shuddering sigh and reaches up to knock, but stops.

This feels like a death sentence… she wants so badly to just turn and run, hoping that if she never tells her that Amity won't know, but she knows that the whole school probably knows by now, that Boscha has made sure of it and her parents will know soon after. She can’t let her be blindsided by it, nor let her find out from someone tagging her on their penstagram. No, Luz has to be the one to tell her, and maybe, just maybe, she can mitigate some of the damage.

The twins stand behind her saying nothing. They’re in no rush to go in there and break this news to their sister. They dread it as much as Luz. So, if she needs a minute or two they're not going to say anything. They hear a sneeze from behind the door that makes Luz jolt back into the present.

"Just… let me be the one to talk to her, okay?" she asks, voice thick and low, still staring at the unopened door.

"Yeah,"

"Okay," the twins say quietly.

Luz takes a breath and does her best to pull herself together. She has to be strong for Amity, no matter how much she wants to break down herself; one of them has to hold it together right now.

She knocks and there's a pause before a voice answers back.

"Yes?" comes the uncertain call.

"It's us, Mittens…," Emira says.

"Come in." Luz opens the door and sees Amity sitting in her bed with a box of tissues.

She sees the three of them and looks surprised.

"Luz! What are you doing here?" She moves to get up but Luz holds up a hand, halting her as she walks into the room. The twins stay outside the door, in the hall. They want to give them their privacy but want to be nearby if they need them.

"I… something happened at school this morning…," she says quietly and then Amity really looks at her, she looks worried and her eyes are red like she's been crying.

"What happened, are you okay?!" She sits up straighter.

"I… no… not really…," she admits, walking over and sitting gently on the bed next to her, clutching the poster in one of her hands, the way she’s looking at her, so solemn and serious is very unlike her and it makes a pit of worry yawn open in Amity’s gut.

"You're scaring me…" Amity frowns, for Luz to skip school and come here of all places is very worrying. She glances between her sullen girlfriend and the twins lingering in the doorway, both frowning and looking somber too. "What is it?" she asks quietly, reaching out to lay a hand over one of Luz’s. She turns her hand over and laces their fingers together.

Luz sighs silently and straightens up, looking at her, brown locking onto worried gold. She has to rip off the bandaid, nothing she could say will soften this.

"Boscha saw us yesterday, in the courtyard after school…," she finally says, and Amity's eyes blow wide, she knows exactly what Luz means and panic immediately starts to boil inside her.

"What?" Her voice is barely above a whisper and Luz bites her lip, but nods.

"W-who did she tell?!" She finally finds her voice and Luz winces and licks her dry lips, looking at the paper in her hand.

"....everyone." She holds the paper out to Amity, who takes it in trembling hands. Gold eyes grow wider as she reads it and stares at the large, full-color photo of the two of them, kissing by the stairs in front of the school. "These were posted all over the school this morning…"

They all wait on bated breath as Amity stares at it, they're not really sure what kind of reaction they're waiting for, but the waiting is killing Luz, her body tense and on edge.

Amity feels numb, her mind is racing, still trying to process this. Boscha knows, she told the whole school…

Her parents were going to know…

They would force them apart just like with Willow… she was going to lose Luz.

That thought hits her like a swift kick in the gut.

Amity's breathing is shallow and her hands are shaking as it comes out in quicker and quicker breaths, and her vision starts to blur, Luz can feel her quaking and watches the tears quickly welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly she can't breathe fast enough to actually take in air and cry at the same time. She clutches the paper tightly and her grip on Luz is vice-like, while her heart beats a hundred miles a minute. All she can hear is the blood pounding in her ears as the paper crunches in her fist and her breath sticks to her throat.

"Amity? Amity!" Luz calls, but she doesn't seem to hear over her shuddering cries and choking breaths.

"Shit…," Edric hisses and moves to go into the room, but Emira pulls him back by the arm.

"Don’t… not yet…," his sister whispers, and Edric grits his teeth but waits.

Luz pulls her hand free and scrambles into the bed behind Amity and wraps her arms loosely around her shaking form as she struggles for breath.

"Hey, hey, It's okay," she says quietly as Amity chokes on a sob. Between crying and her already clogged sinuses from her cold, there's just not enough air. Luz figures out quickly what’s going on, she’d been tested for ADD and anxiety before, and she’s long known that her girlfriend definitely has the later and is now hyperventilating.

“Can you hear me?” she asks, and Amity nods shakingly and her tears only seem to intensify. Could she breathe, Luz is sure she’d be wailing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Luz remembers a medical lecture she’d been forced to attend with her mom once as a kid, and one thing they had talked about was hyperventilating, she hadn’t even really been paying attention, but for some reason, she remembers the parts about how to help it.

Luz grabs her hands and forces them up to cup over her mouth, Amity’s whole body is a coiled muscle, tense, as she tries to breathe and cry all at once and accomplishing neither except short, gasping sobs. The twins are twitching with anxiety in the doorway, they want to run in and do something, but they don’t even know what.

“Breathe, Amity, slowly, please,” she says quietly against her neck. Amity manages to suck in half a breath before another cry cuts it short. “Again, slowly.” Luz prods her gently. The warm breath against her neck and the arms wrapped around her help ground her and she tries to take another breath, even though all she wants to do is sob.

It takes twenty long minutes before Amity can regulate her breathing again, the sobs and gasping quiet, but tears continue to fall as she lays, exhausted against Luz, clutching her hands tightly in hers and sniffling. Once it looks like Luz has everything handled the twins quietly wander away.

“Call if you need anything…,” Edric tells them quietly before they head elsewhere in the house, shutting the door behind them.

“It’s going to be okay, mi amor.” Luz squeezes the smaller hand in her tightly, face buried in her neck, and Amity hiccups.

“How?” she chokes, voice scratchy. “Everyone knows…my parents are going to find out...” she clenches her eyes shut and more tears stream down her cheeks. Luz just holds her tightly, nuzzling her face against her and Amity leans into the touch, trying to get as close as possible.

“We’ll figure it out… we always do…,” she says quietly.

They don’t speak much, just stay like they are, wrapped up in each other for hours, Luz occasionally handing her tissues, for her tears and her snotty nose; what a miserable day to have a cold. What a miserable day in general.

Emira pops her head in around lunchtime to ask if they’re hungry and they both shake their heads and she just nods and leaves them.

Luz doesn’t leave until Amity mumbles that her parents will be home soon and she really needs to go, even as she clings to her tightly. She’s right, the last thing they need is for her parents to catch her here.

She slowly extracts herself from Amity, who finally, reluctantly, lets her go. Her limbs are stiff from laying in one place for so long. Luz lingers at the bedside for a minute and Amity wants so badly to kiss her, because who knows what tomorrow will bring and when she may ever have the chance again, but she has a cold.

Luz seems to know what she wants by the way she’s clenching and unclenching her hands into the blankets and looking up at her from beneath her lashes. She kneels halfway on the bed and leans in close, but Amity turns her head, albeit, reluctantly.

“I have a cold,” she reminds, frowning. Normally, Luz would agree with her, but today, she could not care less, if she catches it then so be it; she is not leaving until she kisses her girlfriend.

“I don’t care,” is the resolute reply.

Amity needs no further prompting than that to wrap her hands around the back of Luz’s head, fingers digging into her hair, and kiss her, this one is unlike the many that have come before. This one feels desperate in its intensity, because it is, and has a distinct saltiness to it that only tears can bring. Luz wraps her fingers around the back of Amity’s neck, holding her close and tight, neither wants to let go, but eventually, they have to. They don’t go far, foreheads pressed together gently and Luz can see tears again starting to well up in those golden irises she adores.

“We’ll figure it, I promise,” she says, pressing another, quicker kiss, against her lips. Amity looks unsure, so Luz goes on. “Even if I have to sneak in through that window every night,” she says, and for the first time that day, a smile cracks across Amity’s face.

“You would…,” she mumbles and Luz grinned.

“You know I would,” she agrees. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” If nothing else, Amity will still be at school. She nods, and Luz finally stands and goes to the door, she tells herself not to, but she can’t help but look back at Amity over her shoulder, and the absolutely heartbroken look that’s directed at her causes a stab of pain in her chest that is so visceral she barely stays standing, but she manages and pulls what little of herself is left together, for Amity, and smiles, waving, before she walks out, closing the door behind her.

The twins are in the living room when she walks down the stairs.

“Thanks for everything, guys. I’ll see you later,” she says and waves as she walks to the door.

“Luz” Edric’s voice stops her and both twins walk over. “If you need anything, let us know, okay?” he asks. Luz nods.

“Yeah, actually, if you could… keep an eye on her for me?” Luz asks.

“Of course.” Emira nods

“We always do.” Edric nods and they both smile sadly at her as she leaves. “What a mess…,” he grumbles bitterly once she’s gone, shoulders slumping.

Emira nods, crossing her arms, and glares at nothing, fingers digging into her arms.

“If that three-eyed bitch thinks we’re just going to let her walk away from this, she has another thing coming,” she sneers, lips pulling back over her fangs as she turns to him and Ed’s face darkens, mirroring the look.

“Oh, you got that right…,” he grits out.

The walk home is long and cold as Luz meanders along at a snail's pace. She feels heavy and exhausted, feet dragging as she heads home.

She almost lost it a few times today, but managed to pull herself together at the last second. Amity needed her to be strong, and by the grace of whatever power was out there, she managed, but now the events of the morning are catching up to her, coupled with the aftermath of her girlfriend's breakdown and that look; the one she'd seen over her shoulder.

She runs her tongue over her lip and swears she can still taste the salty sorrow of Amity’s kiss. She tries not to think of it as such, but it had felt so final, like a goodbye kiss.

Her eyes burn with unshed tears and her chest is tight, but not here, not in the middle of the dirt road that leads home.

She holds her cracked pieces together though, letting the cold mid-autumn air bite at her face, she barely feels it anyway.

Eventually, the owl house comes into view.

"Luz, you're home!" Hooty greets her brightly and it's grating in her ears.

"Hi Hooty…," she mumbles, pushing open the door. She closes it quietly behind her and stands there in the entryway. The house is warm and brightly lit. She can hear someone rummaging around in the kitchen.

"Hey, Luz!" King calls from the couch, sitting next to Lilith who smiles at her. "You're late!" He points an accusatory paw at her. "Where have you been, smooching your girlfriend?" He makes a disgusted face. Lilith seems to notice the tight look on her face and frowns.

"Are you all right, Luz?" she asks.

The pieces fall apart at last.

Her lip trembled and her vision swims with quickly pooling tears as her breath hitches in her chest. She chokes on it as they start to drip down her cheeks.

Her legs are weak and she drops to her knees inhaling a shaky breath that exhales as a loud, wailing cry. The damn breaks, and then she can't stop the loud, ugly sobs that wrack her body.

King stares wide-eyed and Lilith shoots to her feet, she doesn't even need to call out. There's a loud crash of shattering glass being dropped on the floor and then Eda is dashing out of the kitchen.

"Luz!" She hurries over, dropping to her knees in front of the sobbing girl. "What happened?!" Eda asks, panicked.

Luz can't even begin to form words, she only weeps harder, her whole body shuddering with every one of the heaving sobs that rips out of her throat. King and Lilith hurry over to kneel on the floor.

Eda finally just wraps her arms around her and sits on the floor, tugging the girl in close, arms curled tightly around her, and Luz buries her face in her chest and cries.

She cries for a long time.

#Moonlit Masquerade #lumity #Luz Noceda #Amity Blight #Willow Park #Gus Porter #Edric Blight #Emira Blight #Eda Clawthorne #Lilith clawthorne #Boscha #fic #gay #the owl house #TOH #Viney

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writefightandflightclub · 4 years

Text

Indivisible: Part 3

Poe Dameron x reader? Finn x reader? Finn x Poe?

Summary: Finn is your wonderful boyfriend, and Poe is your wonderful best friend. But when Poe begins to look at you differently, you wonder if there’s another way to arrange the pieces of your heart to make it whole.

Time for the fated movie night, everyone! It’s a date!

Part one: here two: here

Author’s note: We’ve had Poe’s POV, and reader’s POV, now we get Finn’s. And of course, I got carried away with Finn and so this is by far the longest of all four parts. I think this is pretty darn cute, so I hope you like it. Finn is a precious, anxious bean in this, I’m soft and can’t deal. Also my first time writing a Finn POV, let me know how I did!

Word count: 4.5k ish

Warnings: TEEN rating for pretty suggestive and steamy themes but nothing explicit. SO MUCH FLUFF tbh.

STUNNING GIF by @horrorgay, which, could this gif be more perfect for this chapter, I-

“I am calm!”, Finn insists to Bb-8 as he fumbles with the cushions and blankets he’s arranged and rearranged a number of times already.

Bb-8 rolls the dome of his head and, somehow, makes binary sound indignant as he responds to Finn, pointing out that if he was calm, that his heart rate wouldn’t be reading so high now, would it?

“Has anyone ever told you you’re too sassy for an astromech? You can tell exactly who your dad is, droid.”

Bb-8 beeps again as Finn crouches to compulsively shuffle cushions around, trying to make everything just right.

“I’m not sweating! You’re sweating!” Finn defends weakly, wiping his (sweaty) brow with the back of his hand.

Bb-8 beeps more softly this time, and Finn looks over at the droid with hopeful eyes as he fans out a blanket.

“You really think the room looks good?” The small rec room is nothing special, but Finn has done his best to set out a cosy, makeshift seating area on the floor opposite the holoscreen, replacing the scattered and stiff tables and chairs with something more befitting a movie night. Snapped light sticks scattered here and there deliver an ambient glow to the room too.

Finn gulps, starting to wonder if it’s all a little too… romantic, as Bb-8 delivers his animated reply. Still, he lies across the soft furnishings to test it out, nodding to himself in satisfaction as he discovers that his improvised floor couch is pretty damn comfy, actually.

“Ok, I know you didn’t say it looks good, Beebs- I know you said logically laid out, but that still means a lot, my round friend.”

Finn’s eyes scan around the space, grateful for the reassurance, and trying to use the moment to muster a deep, calming breath.

Finn is renowned for panicking. But he’s not entirely sure why he’s quite so panicked about the prospect of movie night with you and Poe. And he’s somewhat reluctant to pull at that thread. Finn has managed to survive most of the terrifying situations he’s found himself in via a lot of big talk and bluster (and a lot of heart), but tonight, he’s filled with a nervous energy that he can’t shake. A nervous energy which has had him pacing the floor, and apparently rearranging cushions a bunch.

Even though you’ve made it abundantly clear to Finn, time and again, that you care deeply for him, Finn has only recently stopped being nervous around you. He’s starting to understand -after you gently pointed it out to him- that he has a people-pleasing streak; probably something to do with the fact that he’s never really had any people to call his… not until the Resistance. And now that he does, not only is he very eager to impress and to be liked, he’s also terrified that you’ll unmask him as unworthy. Finn just can’t quite see just how special he really is, and he thinks you’re amazing, so he’s a little terrified that he’ll lose you, if he’s honest. A little disbelieving, albeit proud, that he has you at all.

There’s also a second, more shrouded reason that Finn is nervous. One that he’s less inclined to admit to. The reason on the end of that string that he doesn’t want to pull on. Poe Dameron is coming to the movie night. Finn is good friends with Poe. It’s not unusual that Finn and Poe forged such an instant, intense attachment. The man had named Finn, for kriff’s sake. The man had been the first one to see him. Really see him. He’d saved his life. Yet, for all Finn admires Poe, the thing that is really making Finn nervous about him coming along? Poe Dameron is hella cute, and he can’t help thinking with the addition of each fluffed cushion and softly shining light stick, that this seemed awfully like a… date.

And, dates? You guessed it- they made Finn nervous.

With that thought, and the spike of guilt which follows the realisation, and the fear that he’s a terrible boyfriend and that he’s going to lose you, the nerves churn in Finn’s stomach all over again. He doesn’t have time to deal with them, however, as you and Poe burst through the door at that moment, causing Finn to spring to his feet.

You boot the door open first, your arms full with snacks boosted from the supply store (using those “commander privileges”), and Poe follows, similarly laden, but with the addition of a big bag of Greedos chips clasped in between his teeth.

Finn notices that you’ve both changed out of your flight suits (Finn will never understand how you make that outfit look so good) and into your comfy Resistance pyjamas- variations on plain tees and shorts, matching Finn’s own attire.

“Hey, sexy!”, you greet Finn, and when you dip your head to press a soft kiss on Finn’s cheek a huge swathe of his nervousness evaporates. “The room looks great! This is so cosy, babe!” You’re like a calming wave of relief, and Finn’s eyes dance happily over you in your cute little shorts. He likes seeing you with your legs on display.

“Hey, sexy!”, Poe echoes around the bag of chips in his mouth with an accompanying pump of his eyebrows, his eyes glinting mischievously. Ok, Finn’s nervousness skyrockets right back up again. Especially when you complain about Poe’s spit being on the bag and Finn knows that should definitely gross him out but that it definitely doesn’t.

Still, Finn gathers himself, as you and Poe dance around unloading and decanting snacks and drinks and getting the holomovie set-up. You buzz around Finn, moving from place to place, and your hand circles his sturdy waist whenever you need to wheel around him. Finn doesn’t pick-up on how automatically you touch him, just wanting to be in contact. He just notices the way you interact with Poe as you busy about, communicating in that shorthand you two have - something which Finn remains just a little envious of. You two barely need to say full words -never mind full sentences- to one another to communicate. You’ve spent so much time together that everything is effortless. That’s yet another reason Finn is nervous about this. He tries so hard to be the perfect boyfriend for you (and he doesn’t need to try), but he feels like Poe could be so much better for you. He knows it’s irrational, and it comes from his insecurity, but he can’t help but be a little… jealous, on ocassion.

Finn adds that thought to his cycling, growing list of Things to Worry About, and prepares to settle down before the makeshift screening area. Too late to back-out now, he supposes. Plus, this setting is definitely romantic enough that he doesn’t fancy leaving you and Poe alone here. He trusts you; he really does. He just doesn’t trust his own thoughts and would rather spare himself the mental torture.

Finn is about to plonk himself down next to you on the makeshift couch of sorts, when you halt him with a palm on his ass, pushing him back to standing.

“I promised Poe he could be in the middle. That ok, babe?” You wink up at Finn and he reluctantly agrees, plonking himself on the other side of Poe instead. He doesn’t want you to think he’s clingy, after all, so he tries his best to be Super Chill Finn as he takes his position.

Once Finn is seated beside Poe, you dish out some bowls of snacks. Seeing what you’ve bagged, Finn excitedly leans forward and talks across Poe to you. “You got popcorn, baby? Oh damn, I love you!”

You lean similarly forward to talk across the pilot, however, your jaw drops, and, from your reaction, Finn clocks the words that just left his mouth. Ohhhh boyyy. Finn does; he loves you, but he hasn’t said it to you out loud yet. And it’s somehow plainly obvious that he didn’t mean it only in relation to the popcorn.

It could and should be awkward with Poe sandwiched between the two of you, but, weirdly, Finn is thankful that he’s there to relieve the tension, because Finn is a feeling a little out of his depth here, and Poe always knows what to say to make people feel calm. You can rely on Poe to fill silences, that’s a given.

“Is that the first time you’ve said that?”, Poe asks, not shy about wading in, and flicking his head between the both of your apprehensive faces. Poe obnoxiously munches on his popcorn in the middle of you both, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Cute.”, he grins, stuffing more cloud-like snacks into his mouth. “Honoured to be present for this beautiful moment. Not ruining it am I?” he breezes, munching down as loudly as possible on another handful. As neither of you speak, Poe continues to fill the gaps. “I don’t even need the movie to watch with you two here - this is great entertainment.” , he adds, around another succession of crunching.

Poe then exclaims an “ow!” as if you’ve just elbowed him in the ribs, less than subtly. You probably have.

“I love you too, Finn.”, you respond, finally, and Finn swears his heart might radiate out of his chest like daybreak over the horizon. You certainly are his sunshine, and there’s no denying that.

If Finn isn’t mistaken, a little sadness pools in Poe’s eyes at your words, a liquid, hazy glow like moonshine. Finn feels empathy for the pilot. He certainly wouldn’t wish loneliness on anyone. He knows too much about what it’s like. Still, Poe’s reaction confirms a suspicion that Finn has long harboured- that Poe wanted a little more from you than he lets on. Or a lot more, maybe.

Regardless, Poe continues bravely on with his bluster, like a bigshot. Finn knows all about bluster.

“Do you two wanna kiss? Just pretend I’m not here, you can lean over me if you like. I’ve had worse views.”

“That’s a hard nope!” Finn quickly responds, growing flustered, and keen not to put himself in any more situations which might make him nervous. Leaning across Poe Dameron’s lap certainly falls in that category.

You agree to just stick the movie on, and you all snuggle down together under the liberal blankets, getting comfy. Finn smiles softly as the movie starts playing, and Poe’s commentary on literally everything that happens begins. It transpires that you’ve selected a horror for the viewing, and it seems that Poe is already feeling creeped out just a short amount of time into watching.

Finn smiles softly. That’s ok. Horror movies are one thing he knows he can handle without panicking. Finally, there’s something!

Finn casts his eyes over to you fondly as you noisily munch on your popcorn and cackle, partly at the faux gore of the movie, and partly because Poe jumps out of his skin at the sight of a holo-skeleton emerging abruptly from out of the screen.

Ah, that’s right. Finn seems to remember that Poe really doesn’t like bones.

“You’re heartless.” Poe scolds as you laugh at him, and Finn notes that the pilot has clamped his hand down on to your thigh, purely out of instinct. When Poe does that, suddenly you don’t seem to find anything quite as funny, and he can almost see the breath catch in your chest as you glance down at his hand there. Finn doesn’t spike at the sight like he might have expected though, the observation simply flows through him and is gone.

“You won’t find any sympathy with that one. Completely ruthless.” Finn confirms with a smirk. “Don’t worry, though. Big, strong Finn will protect you from the skeletons.”. Yeah. Horror film? Pah. Finn’s got this.

At that, when the next jumpy moment comes around, Poe throws his head into Finn’s chest -out of instinct-, shielding his eyes from the onslaught, shuddering against him as a chill runs down his spine. Finn tips his head back in an open-mouthed laugh, chuckling warmly at the usually fearless pilot, but he slips his arm around Poe without thinking -out of instinct- and clasps him close.

Poe continues to muffle complaints into Finn’s chest, peeking at the screen at intervals. “Ugh, I really don’t like it.” Poe complains, but he’s laughing intermittently through his jitters, as are you. With the appearance of a giant skull on the screen, Poe draws his knees up to his chest and is practically sitting on Finn’s lap.

“Bravest pilot in the Resistance, everyone.”, you announce, laughing fondly at your friend and patting him soothingly on the back, Finn infers, from the sound of some percussive taps. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t remember the skeletons. Hilarious as this is, shall we fast-forward for you?” you offer.

“No way. I’ve got this.” Poe insists, even though his head is still buried into Finn’s chest.

Speaking of that.

Ohhhh boyyyy, Finn is panicking again. He feels frozen. He can’t bring himself to unhook his arm from around Poe. He certainly can’t bring himself to pull him any closer, even though… he wants to?

Finn feels like his heart is beating so hard that Poe must surely be able to feel it through his chest. So hard that surely you must be able to hear it, even from where you’re sat. Surely? What’s worse, is that Poe’s divinely soft curls are brushing up under his chin, so close that Finn can smell his kriffing shampoo. And, oh boy, it smells good. What’s more, Poe’s warm, steady palm is resting on Finn’s chest, the weight of it there through the rise and fall of his breath as the pilot remains nestled there. If Bb-8 comes at him with some kinda comment about his heart rate right now, he swears…

“I hate you, Sunshine. Why did you choose this movie?” Poe moans into Finn’s chest, the pilot’s curls still tickling his jawline, his breath warm through the thin fabric of his tee. Finn squirms uncomfortably in his seat, feeling out of his depth, not for the first time this evening.

When he realises his predicament, Finn gulps and helplessly looks over to you. You notice the movement in your periphery and look away from the screen toward your boyfriend. And then you are examining Finn’s face steadily, watching all of this unfold, and the two of you exchange a meaningful glance without words. Maybe you two do have your own unique form of shorthand after all. Finn feels like you can see through him, because if there’s one thing Finn is bad at, it’s lying. Especially with you, Finn is an open-book. He wants it that way, sometimes even when it’s to his detriment. And so, he can barely even make a thin attempt to conceal it. In fact, Finn feels like he’s transmitting his feelings for Poe like a flare, for all present to see.

The longer you stare at Finn, the more he feels his face becomes laden with… apology. He definitely doesn’t want to lose the best thing that ever happened to him. That’s you, by the way. If Finn is reading this right though, if his instincts are right, you’re not mad. In fact, if he’s reading this right, you… want this too?

“Maybe we wanted an excuse to snuggle you.”, you suggest, in answer to Poe’s question, your eyes still steady on Finn as you raise a suggestive eyebrow, and settle your hand on top of his where it rests on the pilot’s shoulder, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

When Finn’s voice comes out next it is high-pitched. “Can I talk to you over there for a second?”. If he wasn’t before, he’s definitely sweating now.

You excuse yourself from Poe momentarily as Finn extricates himself and shuffles you over to the corner, under the guise of something or other. Poe’s light complaints remain audible in the background as the movie continues rolling, and Finn sees that at least he’s still chatting away to Beebs, the droid wobbling away excitably as the events on screen, hopefully drowning out the conversation about to unfold.

“What are you up to?” Finn asks you outright, coming at you way more offensively than intended. “You’re being damn sketchy, and I need to know what’s-“. Don’t they say that offence is the best form of defence?

You interrupt with a gentle, knowing smile and a caress of your palm to the side of Finn’s face, countering his rising panic with softness, like you’ve gotten so good at doing. “I know how you feel about me, Finn. I also know you like him.” You say straight, speaking plainly and slowly, and Finn pinches his full lips together. Still, he can’t bring himself to deny it. He can’t lie to you. Couldn’t possibly.

“Baby...”, he begins, grappling for words he doesn’t know how to find. Finn had spent so long with no-one, no-one at all to call his, and suddenly he felt like he had two people he wanted to belong to. What were the chances of them both wanting the same thing as well? He didn’t want to lose you over this. Not ever, not over anything, in fact.

“It’s ok.”, you reassure. “I... I like him too.” You nibble on your lip with your admission, as if unsure of how this might go down. Still, your eyes remain calm and steady, and something in them communicates a… good feeling to Finn. Although you’re admitting this, it doesn’t feel like you’re moving further away from him. If anything, Finn’s never felt you closer. It’s like he’s finally seeing the truth of you, feeling the Force slip through you freely, along its true path, without kinks or tangles. Love, free to gain momentum. To flow.

Finn examines your eyes for tricks or hidden agendas but finds you as honest and as straightforward as ever, looking at him with the full force of your love. He interrupts your train of thought with the pad of his thumb on your bottom lip. “-You’re deadass?”

“Serious.” you promise, with a bob of your head. “So... I’m sorry about the shitty timing of this conversation- I didn’t know Poe was practically going to jump into your lap- but, if he wanted to...” you ask, interlocking your fingers into Finn’s and tipping your head subtly back towards Poe “...which I’m pretty confident he does, by the way… Do you want to?”

Finn searches your eyes again, and when he gulps at that thought, he sees you backpedal. “No pressure, no rush.”

Finn frowns, seeking to get this exactly right. “You mean, like… me and him and you?” He swallows thickly.

You grip on to his hands more tightly. “I mean, like, all three of us.”. There’s something about your phrasing compared to Finn’s that just hits different. Like you’re not separate points on a triangle, but all part of one single shape.

Suddenly, strangely, Finn is as calm as he’s ever felt. For a moment, it’s as though everything in the galaxy has aligned. He smooths his thumbs over your hand where he holds you. He nods his head in response and you echo the certainty in his eyes. “Hell to the yes.”, he says with conviction, and, as he plants the softest, most loving kiss to your lips, both your faces split into broad grins.

“Guys!” Poe’s voice cuts through the room, and Finn and you both spin towards him in sync, anticipating another complaint about skeletons.

That’s not what you get. Nowhere near.

“If you’re gonna make-out can you at least include me, already?” Poe says with a wayward smirk, one arm folded elaborately behind his head, and the other continuing to shuttle popcorn into his smug mouth.

He looks with amusement between Finn’s confused face and yours, his pretty eyes half-lidded.

“Forgettin’ I have a droid with super hearing, huh? Whisper about banging me at your peril.” Poe sets the popcorn aside and folds both of his arms behind his head now, looking between you both sweetly. Hungrily. The suggestive quirk of his eyebrow which follows, as an invitation, is almost too much for Finn to handle. Is this really about to happen?

Finn grips your hand for reassurance (his own reassurance, no point trying to disguise it). Finn isn’t afraid to show vulnerability, after all. He’s pleased, though, when you supply a firm squeeze to his now sweaty palm in return.

Making his farewells, Bb-8 takes his definite cue to roll the hell out of the room, before he sees things he’d have to request a data wipe for. The droid skedaddles, and then it really is just the three of you.

The three of you.

“Wait, you heard that? And you’re ok with this?”, Finn asks Poe in auto-disbelief.

Poe simply continues to languish, dramatically kicking off his blanket and revealing him laid out in his pyjama shorts and tee. Looking pretty damn appealing in them too, especially as the tee rides up his tan torso, revealing a light trail of hair heading down beneath his shorts. Those thick thighs stretched out in front of him. “Do your worst. I’m all yours.”, he announces. “And yours.”

You and Finn both notice Poe’s pyjama shorts tenting at the same moment, even before he does. When he follows the direction of your eyes, he looks down at himself almost apologetically. Almost.

You grin, and Finn sees your eyes seethe with lust. “Mmm. Maybe we can help you with that, Poe Dameron. Finn? What do you think?”

“Hell to the yes.”, Finn enthuses, as you both pad across to the makeshift seating area… which is now suddenly looking a lot like a makeshift bed to Finn’s eyes. Guess he did do with a good job with the room after all.

You exchange a heated, conspiratorial look with Finn before your eyes converge on Poe.

“Oh oh!”, Poe says, but the devious grin which spreads on his face suggests he’s gonna love every bit of what he’s in for, his eyes darkening with desire as you and Finn move to him in tandem.

Finn watches you drop to your knees on the blankets and crawl to Poe’s side, your eyes blazing like suns and his soft like moonlight. He hesitates before coming towards you both, simply to drink in the beauty of this for a moment, marvelling at you two as if you’re planets the galaxy has caught in its net, each trying to find something to orbit. Planets now finally slotting into their rightful trajectory amongst the stars. Finding their place.

Finn takes up his position to the other side of Poe, and he could easily become nervous. But you and Poe each take one of his hands, and he feels entirely safe, especially as the pilot’s eyes fall on him, and then you, soft and warm as he speaks in that rich, smooth tone of his. “Nothing happens that you don’t want, ‘kay? You want it to stop, we stop. How about we start this slow?”

“I understand.”. Finn’s voice is calm and certain, gathering conviction. He trusts both of you, and he knows exactly where he wants this to start. “Do you want to kiss Poe, baby?”, he suggests to you, and your teeth clamp down on your bottom lip before you respond with a breathy, unhinged “Yes.”

“Kiss him then.”, Finn encourages, a gentle, reassuring squeeze to your hand before he releases you. Knowing that you’re not going anywhere. Not getting any further away from him, only closer.

“Yeah? Can I kiss you?”, Poe asks you expectantly, as your gaze melds with his, locking-on like a starship caught by gravity. A gulp trails down his throat as you respond, voice hollowed out by how full with emotion you are.

“Yeah, you can kiss me, Poe.”

And, as soon as he has confirmation, Poe’s hands come to your hips and he abruptly and easily drags you onto his lap, your folded legs finding their place either side of his torso, your arms flying around his neck as his sudden motion knocks you off balance. Your momentum carries you through, enough that your foreheads are almost touching, your head hovering slightly above his. Poe’s strong, secure arms circle you as you straddle him, your butt seated comfortably on top of him, where his bare thighs press hot on yours.

If he pulled you to him abruptly, held you to him instantly, his lips seem to take an eternity to find yours, your stunted breaths mingling in the tight space between one another. His head tips up to you achingly slowly as your breath hitches, hands clinging desperately to one another, so many years of friendship about to collapse in on itself; not to die, but to emerge in a supernova. Poe’s lips hover, then brush feather light over yours at first, as if he has waited so long for this that he has forgotten how to do anything but wait. His tongue probes next, sliding experimentally along your bottom lip, your hands fisting in each other’s shirts as your mouth parts to grant him access.

The full kiss which blooms next is a certainly an explosion. An impassioned, tender, hungry press of lips and fingers winding in hair and hips writhing against one another as tongues mingle wildly and bodies embrace. This is a kiss fuelled by emotion, where desire suddenly learns to becomes physicality. Where souls so connected grasp to translate the language they’ve spoken together for so long into their bodies. Where you and Poe rewrite your practiced shorthand and speak to one another in a new tongue.

You break, breathless, and your eyes filled with tears. Poe looks up at you, eyes shining similarly, his brow furrowing in concern as he sees the emotion evident. Still, he doesn’t have to ask if you’re good, even as a tear rolls down your cheek, because it is accompanied by a broad smile, just like sunshine, the rays of it warming him all the way to his bones. (But he doesn’t want to think about bones.)

Smiling, still holding each other, you lean your foreheads together and swivel your gaze towards Finn.

“Oh damn, that’s was… beautiful.”, Finn expresses softly, emotion glinting in his eyes too.

You reach a palm out to Finn’s cheek again, drinking-in the sight of him in the low light as if you are blown away by him. “Your eyes look like Starshine, baby.”

Sunshine, Moonshine, and Starshine.

Yeah, that could work, Finn thinks. That could definitely work, alright.

Finn’s smile beams back at you. “Also, that was hot. Damn hot. Oh damn.”

You laugh warmly and happily, the sound lilting over both Poe and Finn’s.

You look down at Poe as he delivers a gentle hum, and proceeds in an equally gentle yet chiding tone. “Oh, Finn. Honey. There’s so much more where that came from.”

Poe looks at Finn ravenously, and you shift obligingly off of the pilot’s lap so he can move to him, with a look in his eyes which tells you the parting will be short lived.

Both men come to stand on their knees, pressing their bodies together, stomach to stomach, chest to chest. Poe deliberately winds his hand around the nape of Finn’s neck and grips him firmly there as asks the same, breathy question he had to you. “Can I kiss you?”.

Finn responds keenly, affirmatively, and Poe dives in, the kiss sinking all the way through Finn just like moonshine, warming and blazing all the way to the pit of him until he feels like a shooting star has trailed right through his body and left its tailing glow behind. Before too long, Finn feels your weight shifting on the makeshift bed too as his mouth continues to moves hungrily against Poe’s. Finn and Poe break as you rise from your position, coming to press your chest against Poe’s back and hooking your head over his shoulder as your arms circle your two boys.

Poe looks made-up to be sandwiched in between the two of you, Finn notices, before he leans over the pilot’s shoulder to kiss you just as hungrily. In fact, Poe looks positively delighted to be smack bang in the middle of your togetherness. Between you, but not as a barrier.

Poe practically growls as the wet, delicate smacks of yours and Finn’s tongues and lips working against each other filter straight into the shell of his ear. He groans deliciously as you add light hums of satisfaction, the kiss expanding outward, like the galaxy, to engulf him too. “If you two keep making those delicious noises in my ear than you’re going to get me excited.”

Finn breaks from you to smile at Poe, gently pressing his hips forward, up against the pilot’s arousal. “You mean this isn’t you excited already?”, Finn grins, with a tick of his eyebrow.

“Just warming up, Starshine.”, Poe purrs, eyes half-moons from beneath his long lashes.

Finn beams at the new nickname, his chest shaking lightly with a deep, rumbling laughter as he trails his lips over Poe’s in a kiss once again. As lips meld once more, Finn realises that while some people may search for their other half, he had been searching for his two-thirds. He has found two people he wants to belong to, to have belong to him. And now that he has found them, he feels entirely complete.

After so long with no-one, if anyone deserves two someones it has to be Finn. And his heart is certainly big enough to love this much. He’s been waiting a long time for somewhere to put all the love he saved up, while he was in that place where nobody loved anything. Now, it’s finally overflowing.

The three of you dissolve into one another, feeling like you’re on to something good. Something very good indeed.

To be continued (concluding part up next)

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#poe dameron x reader #finn x reader #poe x finn #polyamorous!poe #finnpoe #stormpilot #finn fluff #poe dameron fluff #star wars fluff #star wars x reader #poe dameron #poe x finn x reader #poe x male reader #finn x male reader #poe x fem reader #finn x fem reader #poe x gender neutral reader #finn x gender neutral reader

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jodiereedus22 · 4 years

Text

Trapped

A/N: hey guys!!!! thank you so much for all the love on my latest oneshot New Life !!! I was so moved!!!! I hope you all enjoy this one too!!!! as always thank you to @crossbowking for being an amazing support!!!

Word Count: 3111

Warnings: Injury

You had been living in Alexandria for a little while now, long enough to know the people, but probably not long enough to trust them completely.

They were here, at the end of the world, but they survived through luck and good timing, none of these people had seen the brutality of the outside world, and so you were reluctant to call them survivors.

They didn’t know what it was like to go hungry or thirsty but still having to keep moving, they didn’t know what it was like to live with the fear of losing the ones you love, with the fear of losing yourself.

It was easy to succumb to the animalistic nature of the end of the world, to forgo any and all humanity, it was harder to keep both sides, to be brutal, to cut off some humanity, but to be able to find it again, that was when you knew you were a true survivor.

You were lucky to have your family with you, they grounded you and helped you not to lose the survivor in you and the instincts that kept you and your family alive, but they were always there to bring your humanity back.

But living here meant you had to somewhat mingle with the residents, but you kept it to a small circle; Aaron and Eric, they were the first people you had met, that brought you here. Denise, she was the new doctor since Pete was killed and Deanna and her family, she was the leader here, although you still followed Rick. And her family? That only consisted of Spencer now, her husband, Reg, was murdered by Pete and Aiden, her son, was killed on a supply run.

Your saving grace in this world was Daryl Dixon. You had been together for a while now, since the prison. A lot had happened on the road to where you are now, but despite being separated multiple times, you always found your way back to each other again and you both got stronger from it.

You both struggled a bit at the beginning of the transition into the Alexandrian way of life, both with the new life there and the new life together, letting more people see your relationship was something that caused Daryl to try and pull away but you didn’t let him and as always came out stronger the other side.

One of the qualities you loved most about Daryl was his protectiveness, it would be easy to let it constrict you, but you knew there was nothing you could do to stop Daryl protecting you. So you embraced it and you loved him all the more for it.

It was just another “normal” day in Alexandria and you decided you needed to get out for a while so you decided to do a perimeter check.

“By yerself?” Daryl asked worried.

“Yes, by myself, it’s just a perimeter check, I’ll barely be gone an hour,” you reassured Daryl.

He looked into your eyes, deciding if this was a good decision and whether he could let you go.

You stared back at him, giving him the `I’ll be fine look` he’d come to know and accept, he’d come to know there wasn't really any point arguing with you.

Daryl finally relented, stepping in closer to you until there was no more room left, your noses touching from the proximity, placing both of his hands on either side of your face and placed a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Be careful,” Daryl pleaded, looking deep into your eyes.

“Always,” you said with a small smile, placing a quick kiss on his lips and left for the door.

You turned back one last time, seeing a blush creep upon his face all the way to the tops of his ears. You smiled at him, seeing him blush at your actions always made your heart flutter, and with that image in your mind, you walked out of the front door.

Making your way to the gate, you heard someone call out your name.

You stopped and turned around to see Spencer walking towards you.

“Hey, (Y/N), are you heading out?” Spencer asked.

“Yep, about to do a perimeter check,” you answered him.

“I was wondering, could I come with you?” Spencer requested.

“Erm, Spencer, look…” you started.

“I won't get in your way please (Y/N), I need to learn. I've lost so much, I need to be able to defend what I have left,” Spencer implored.

You stood for a moment, you never really liked going out with Alexandrians, they were so inexperienced, a liability, out of the two brothers Spencer was more on an indoor cat, Aiden was the outdoor cat, but he wasn’t here anymore and you understood Spencer's point.

“Fine,” you sighed. “You can come, but stay close and be prepared, I'm not a babysitter. Got it?” you told him sternly.

“Got it,” Spencer said with a victorious grin.

You continued your way to the gate with Spencer in tow.

You liked being out of the walls, it was so much more familiar than being in Alexandria. When no walkers were roaming around the stillness of the forest instilled a sense of calm within you which of course was shattered by bigfoot behind you who, somehow, managed to step on every branch on the floor.

You sighed to yourself, rolling your eyes, wondering to yourself no wonder these people barely left the comfort of their walls.

You got a comfortable distance outside the walls when you started doing your perimeter check.

“Just keep your eyes and ears open for walkers, that’s all you got to do,” you instructed Spencer.

“That’s it? I got this,” Spencer said cockily.

Again, you just rolled your eyes. This is gonna be interesting.

“Just get walking,” you demanded Spencer.

You walked for a while, you were just about halfway around and so far, no walkers to deal with but of course, nothing good ever lasts out here.

Three walkers were skulking around, walkers you had to take out.

“Right, you ready? It's just three, you good?” you asked Spencer.

You could see the slight hesitation in his face.

“Hey, I'm gonna help, I'm right here, this is something you have to learn okay?” you reassured him with a softer tone than you would normally use.

Spencer nodded as you both made your way towards the walkers. You walked slightly ahead of Spencer, a plan formulating in your head. You decided you would take out two of the walkers and leave one for Spencer, that way you could easily intervene if you had to.

You put your hand up signalling Spencer to stop, as he did so you walked straight up to the walkers, drawing them away one by one, putting the first two down quickly and with ease leaving one still hobbling towards you.

You looked back at Spencer.

“All yours, you can handle this,” you stood beside him, nudging him to move forward, with the hint he slowly moved towards the remaining walker.

All of a sudden Spencer stopped with the walker still gaining on him, looking at his body language from behind him you saw one of his feet move backwards.

“Spencer, don’t. Just do it!” you warned him.

But before you could say anything else, he took faster steps back, stumbling towards you in fear, crashing into you, sending you off balance as the walker now made its way to you instead.

You got your knife ready, still a little off-balance, you took the walker out, plunging your knife into its skull but when the walker fell limp it set your already questionable balance straight off sending you falling backwards.

The scream you let out shattered the somewhat serenity of the forest, birds that once occupied the treetops scattered in flight as you looked down your body to see the source of the worst pain you'd ever felt only to see a bear trap encasing your leg, blood seeping out from every tooth hole.

“Oh my god,” you managed to hear Spencer’s voice over the pounding of your heart.

You picked your head up from the ground, the pain striking your body with every movement to see Spencer hovering over you, sheer panic showing across his features.

His face then turned into the back of his head as he started quickly walking away.

“Wait, where are you going?” you screamed at him.

“I… um… I need to go,” spender stuttered.

“What? You can't leave me!” you were in so much pain you didn’t even care that you were begging Spencer for help.

“Help. I'll go get help,” Spencer blurted out, and without another word Spencer ran off, leaving you alone, bleeding out, in the middle of the forest.

“SPENCER!” you screamed once again, but nothing, he was gone.

Your head collapsed onto the ground your energy wearing out.

You didn’t know how long you were there laying on the ground, helpless to everything, when you heard footsteps. Panic set in, knowing you had no way of defending yourself, then you saw who it was.

Daryl.

Daryl walked up to you, crouching down beside you.

“Daryl,” you whispered.

“I'm here, you need to try and get up (Y/N),” Daryl said calmly.

“I can't, I can't move, it hurts too much,” you choked out, tears rolling down your cheeks.

“You need to try, for me,” Daryl begged.

You gathered up any strength you had left as you tried to raise yourself into a sitting position, but as you did the pain spread through your whole body like a raging wildfire as you screamed in pain, collapsing back down to the ground.

“I can't, I'm sorry,” you cried breathlessly, looking over to Daryl to find him gone, he was nowhere to be seen.

“DARYL,” you screamed for him, tears now streaming down your face as you received no answer.

More time passed, the days light slowly fading into dusk, you had lost all sense of time, all sense of being, you couldn’t feel your body anymore, you couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

When once more footsteps sounded through your ears, you didn’t move you didn’t even open your eyes.

“(Y/N),” you heard your name once more grace the lips of the man you loved.

“Hey, hey, open your eyes for me (Y/N),” Daryl begged, sounded the most distressed you had ever heard him sound as he placed a hand on your cheek.

“You're not real,” you whispered, more to yourself, you couldn't fall into this delusion as you refused to open your eyes.

“I am real (Y/N). I'm righ’ ‘ere,” Daryl spoke softly and reassuringly.

You tentatively and slowly opened your eyes, seeing Daryl looking down at you. You reached a hand out to him, your hand landing on a solid figure, on Daryl's arm.

“You are real,” you whimpered.

“We’re gonna get ya home,” Daryl professed.

It was only then you realised he was not alone, that Glenn was with him, turning your head back to Daryl you nodded.

Daryl disappeared from your vision as he made his way to your leg. You could see their lips moving, but with the pain circulating you couldn't focus on anything until a sudden pain shot up from your leg seeing Glenn and Daryl trying to free you from the trap.

“Please, please don’t, it hurts, you pleaded through the tears.

“Okay, okay (Y/N), you're gonna be okay,” Daryl comforted you.

“We’re gonna lift ya, okay? It’s gonna hurt, but ya gotta be brave for a little while okay?” Daryl informed you.

You nodded, you saw Daryl move to your head and Glenn to your legs as they counted down from three and lifted you up, constant pain throbbing throughout all of your body as you finally found yourself on a solid surface, the bed of the truck.

The air that blew past you was somewhat comforting, but the main source of comfort was Daryl's hand in yours, the warmth of his hand giving you a sense of home, it calmed you like a balm as Daryl kept a watchful eye over you.

The comfort soon disappearing as you were once again being carried this time into the infirmary. You were placed tenderly down on the bed as people rushed around you.

Daryl's hand still firmly gripped in yours carried on providing as much comfort as it could as Denise spoke.

“We need to get this off of her. Glenn, Rick both grab a side of the trap. Daryl, you hold her down.” Denise instructed.

Everyone rushed into their positions, dread setting down deep in your stomach.

“It’s gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay,” Daryl whispered to you so only you could hear as he placed a soothing kiss on your forehead.

The countdown to three, you knew, would only lead to severe pain, but nothing could prepare you for this pain, feeling Rick and Glenn pry the trap off your leg, feeling like they were pulling your leg off at the same time, you could feel everything, the numb feeling you once felt disappeared as your vision went blurry and you started shaking.

“(Y/N),” Daryl exclaimed catching everyone's attention, but to you, everything sounding as though you were underwater, all you could hear were sounds, nothing specific, your vision speckled like a static tv.

“She's going into shock. Maggie grab some pillows and that silver blanket,” Denise ordered as Rick and Glenn placed the trap onto the floor and Denise put pressure on your leg.

“Daryl wrap this around her,” Denise directed him, he places the blanket around your shaking form, hands lingering on your body wanting so much to do more to help you.

“I've got to elevate her legs,” Denise said as she kept the pressure on your leg at the same time as placing a stack of pillows under your legs.

Denise didn’t say another word as she went about sewing up your wounds, it was a long arduous procedure, but a success. You came out of the shock and you were stable, unconscious, but stable.

“She's gonna be okay Daryl, she was lucky, I managed to save her leg, but she’ll need lots of rest and physio when she's able,” Denise informed Daryl.

“Thank you,” Daryl said gratefully.

Daryl looked down at your unconscious form, feeling relief at your recovery but feeling anger at this happening to you, without being able to control himself he marched out of the infirmary, fuming, knowing exactly where he needed to go. He didn’t get far before Rick was standing in front of him, Rick’s hands placed on both of Daryl's shoulders.

“Daryl you need to calm down,” Rick told him, staring him down.

“Nah you heard what Denise said, she was lucky to keep her leg let alone her life. I'm gonna kill ‘im,” Daryl declared, trying to make his way past Rick.

Rick followed him and got into the exact same position as a moment ago, trying to block Daryl’s path.

“But she is okay Daryl, she's gonna be okay,” Rick reassured Daryl.

“She could’a died, she nearly did, you wan’ me ta jus’ let tha’ go,” Daryl ranted his voice getting louder with every word.

“No. I want you to go back in there and be with her while I sort this out,” Rick told Daryl.

Daryl paused for a second, letting everything sink in, he wanted nothing more than to be by your side, he also wanted to beat the living shit out of Spencer.

He peered at Rick, he trusted him to deal with Spencer, it wouldn't be in the same way Daryl had planned to deal with him, but he needed to be with you.

He nodded to Rick and headed back into the infirmary. seeing you lying there, your leg heavily bandaged broke his heart. He should have gone with you, if he had known Spencer had tagged along with you, he would have gone with you, or wouldn’t have let you go.

He sat in the chair next to your bed linking his hand with yours as he gently grasped a piece of hair that had fallen over your face and tucked it behind your ear as he heard a soft whimper come from you.

Looking down he saw your eyes start to flutter open.

“Daryl?” You asked out.

“I'm here,” Daryl answered.

“Is it still there?” you asked him, scared to know the answer, or even to look, all you knew right now was that whatever painkillers Denise gave you had your whole body numb.

Daryl looked slightly confused at you.

“My leg. Is it still there?” You clarified, starting to tear up at the possible answer.

“Yes (Y/N), you're gonna be jus’ fine,” Daryl informed you.

“I'm sorry,” Daryl blurted out.

“It wasn’t your fault,” you told him, once again Daryl carrying the guilt on his shoulders as always.

“I should’a been there,” Daryl admitted.

“You were,” you told him, gripping onto his hand harder.

“Not quickly enough,” Daryl confessed.

“No, I saw you. I know it wasn’t real now, but you came to me, in my heart and in my mind, Daryl you're always here with me,” you declared.

Daryl leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on your lips as you felt a tear land on your cheek.

As Daryl pulled away you took his face in your hands, wiping away the tears that he had shed.

“I love ya (Y/N),” Daryl professed.

“I love you too Daryl,” you reciprocated.

A couple of days had passed, and you were finally strong enough to leave the infirmary and continue your recovery at the home that you and Daryl shared.

“Let's get ya home,” Daryl said as he went to lift you up.

“I can walk Daryl, well hobble at least,” you said with a smirk on your face.

“Ya don’ have ta,” Daryl told you, picking you up bridal style and started walking you back to your house.

“My hero,” you flirted with him, placing a kiss on his cheek and watching a blush once again creep upon his face as he smiled down at you.

You always knew you and Daryl would be together, but this experience, more than any of the others, showed you that both psychically and spiritually. Daryl would always be your rock, your comfort, your home and you wouldn’t have it any other way and knowing Daryl felt the exact same way made this whole new world bearable. Daryl would love you for the rest of your lives together and you would love him

Please, like, comment and reblog!!! I'd love to hear peoples thoughts!! Thank you!!

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#daryl dixon x reader #daryl x reader #daryl dixon #DarylDixon #daryl dixon fanfic #twd daryl #The Walking Dead #the walking dead fanfiction #twd #twd daryl dixon #walking dead fanfiction #daryldixonfanfiction #dixon #reader insert

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soranis-sunshadow · 4 years

Text

My first attempt at fanfiction

I’ve had this stuck in my head ever since that interesting post about how Hordak’s brothers would react to him but not being a native speaker and being so self conscious about my writing has made me somewhat reluctant about posting it. I hope it doesn’t suck. Anyway.. here it goes...

Constructive criticism is always welcome, just, please be gentle. It’s my first attempt at this and if you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me. Pretty please.

Through a mirror, darkly

The castle of Dryl loomed in the distance, perched on the side of a mountain, it bore witness to the new settlement that had sprouted at its base seemingly overnight. The once lonely monolith was now surrounded by scaffolds and life. Where once it had stood alone, isolated and self-sufficient, both a technical marvel and a monument to eras passed, it now had a following of dwellings in various states of construction growing all around it. It would never be alone again.

Following the war, Entrapta had invited Prime’s clones to Dryl. The offer had been made to them in the hopes that they might find a new home and a new purpose and Princess Entrapta herself was, for whatever reason, quite fond of them. Some of them had instantly accepted the offer. They had an instinctive reaction to comply with most requests. Others had accepted because Entrapta already had two of their brothers at her side, it felt natural for more to follow. Some accepted because this new direction was better than the nothing and silence that followed them every day after Prime’s demise and the abolition of the hive mind. A few reluctantly accepted because they had no other real choice. Not many other kingdoms were as willing and the ships in orbit were not pilotable without input form the hive mind. For better or worse, they were stuck on this world for the foreseeable future.

It had been a few months since the war and in the time passed, some of the clones had started manifesting unique personalities. Preferences and choices were still difficult, but individuality was budding all the same sometimes, even despite the wishes of the clones themselves. Some had been named by the locals, others have given themselves names and some still refused to be called anything other than Brother.

Yudi was one of the former. A local cat person had called him terrible and an utter disaster and despite his best efforts to make them stop, the moniker of Utter Disaster, shortened to UD had stuck to him like thistle to clothing and just like thistle it was infuriating at the best of times. Despite his “prickly” personality, Yudi, was one of his more functional brothers. Some were still shy or lost, some were confused and some were paralyzed by all this new “choice” that had been forced upon them.

There was no time to panic, no time to wallow and no time to lick wounds. His brothers needed accommodations, supplies they needed safety and Yudi had chosen to tackle the problem head on instead of wallowing at its magnitude.

Without the hive mind, information was not as readily accessible and the better solutions to his problems were hard to find. Where once there had been thousands of voices, all working together to achieve the same goal, all in harmony, now he was left with either numbing silence or the dissonance of his own lonely thoughts. Doing things by himself was hard, but he would get better at it, he had to get better at it. His more vulnerable brothers relied on him getting better at it. Not to say that he was the only brother tackling the construction project or the long term agricultural goals or even establishing some form of production and economy for the kingdom of Dryl.

There were others here too and amongst them was his least favorite brother, the runt that had stranded them here in the first place. It didn’t help that the defect had apparently learned a thing or two in its exile and had started to put the knowledge to use leading to a sort of grudging admiration from some of his other brothers. He handled the planning of the new settlement, the logistics and even the construction itself through the use of the robotic drones. He had found a way to coordinate them through the use of some sort of neural interface but remained tight lipped on how exactly it functioned when asked about it directly. He would deny the existence of a neural link and maintain that the implant device he was utilizing was merely a long distance communicator with which he coordinated the drones. He insisted that should Yudi himself need the drones to assist with any task, he had to verbally communicate the task in explicit detail to the drones. Verbal communications was still hard. Yudi hated it and resented its necessity.

The things were clumsy and rather stupid and Yudi himself thought that he would do a far better job than the runt ever could with coordinating them. But no, Hordak had to be difficult about it.

A bubbly voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Greetings brother!” came from behind him, “I hope the day finds you in good spirit!” It was Kadroh, one of the more outgoing and functional of his brothers. He had been a calming, guiding influence throughout the ordeal on all of them. It was hard to be anything but calm in his presence.

“Day, is a measurement of time, it can’t find me. It’s an abstract notion” Yudi had said without turning towards his fellow clone. “and you know I think spirits are nonsense”. He put down the electrical power panel he was working on and turned to face his sibling. “Greetings brother!”

Kadroh lets out a laugh “it’s a figure of speech brother” then smiles at him, “ I meant I hope your day is going well”

“Things could be going better, can’t concentrate on the electrical grid of this dwelling without these damn drones interrupting me when they get stuck in loops. How am I supposed to get anything done like this?”

“Peace brother, it will be done when it’s done, we are not on a schedule.” Kadroh puts a hand on his shoulder and looks at him with a disarming smile. “We are comfortable at the moment in the camp and Entrapta is almost done deactivating all of the traps in the castle.” He added enthusiastically. “Everything will be fine, no need to push yourself so hard”. He let go of his shoulder and bent down to the basket at his feet to take a package out of it. “Have you had anything to eat today, or drink?”

“I knew I kept forgetting something” he reached out for the package and took it gingerly from Kadroh’s outstretched hand.

“The locals call these sandwiches” he bent down and pulled a bottle of colored water out of the basket next. “what a silly name for a food, they have absolutely nothing to do with sand or magic, the Etherians are usually literal in their naming conventions but apparently, sandwich is one of those exceptions that proves the rule.” He chuckled and smiled broadly at him and then handed him the beverage.

“How would an exception prove a rule?” Yudi said through bites. He had been hungry. His brother seemed to have a knack for providing sustenance whenever he forgot about that bothersome need himself. Kadroh acted like a caretaker for most of them, always there to help and to listen to guide and to comfort.

“The argument states that if an exception exists or has to be stated, then this exception proves that there must be some rule to which the case is an exception to.” came from behind him in a haughty voice. How could they all have the same voice and yet sound so different? By the Light Yudi hated that particular voice.

“Greetings brother!” Kadroh piped in. “You look glum, are you feeling all right?”

“Hey defect” Yudi added with a sneering tone.

The runt regarded Yudi with a blank expression at first then raised a brow ridge and tiled his head slightly to the side. One of his ears twitched and he coughed in his hand. “Why would I not be feeling all right?” then stared with his uncanny red eyes at Kadroh.

After the abolition of the hivemind and being weaned off the amniotic fluid, the eye color of most of his brothers started changing from green to yellow. Apparently, san’s Prime’s influence, their natural eye color had been a golden yellow glow. Some had different shades, of yellow like lime, or saffron but the defect had uncanny glowing red eyes. Even the defect’s defective creation had the right colored eyes. That walking fetus may have been stunted and released from gestation before maturation but at least when it looked at you; it didn’t instill the same uncanny eeriness that the defect himself exuded. What’s worse was that the runt insisted on highlighting the difference by painting the area around his eyes black. He was proud of being broken and that provoked Yudi even further.

“Oh, you know” Kadroh said absently “ you’ve been working yourself awfully hard brother” he shrugged "you could use a break and a sandwich” he walked between Yudi and the defect, blocking them off form each other and extending his hand towards Hordak, holding the packaged food out. “something tells me you too forgot to eat today”.

Hordak frowned at the offering. “I can’t be bothered with that now, I’m leaving tostart on the reparations project for Salineas in a few days and there are still drones that I haven’t had a chance to update to the new firmware.”

“Brother!” Kadroh said reproachfully “eating, hydrating and resting aren’t things you should be putting off” he looked at him pleadingly. “please eat this” he jerked the food towards him once more “for me?”

Hordak huffed and took the food bundle then started unpacking it. He took small bites out of it while standing and surveying the area. He eyed the electric panel that Yudi had been working on.

“Something to say?” Yudi pierced him with his golden glare.

“You are using uninsulated cables.” the runt said between bites. “The whole panel will be unstable,” he takes another small bite then swallows “prone to overheating and shorting out” he takes another bite “Perhaps I could assist you in making it more stable, it won’t take long.”

“I don’t need your help with this.”Yudi stated flatly. Oh but the defect sure had gumption!

Hordak simply blinked slowly and added. “But you do require assistance, this task is too complex to handle by yourself. A second pair of eyes might highlight minor issues you that might have gone unnoticed. The uninsulated cables are a simple mistake, it could have happened to anyone, no need to be defensive about it.”

Yudi straightened to his full height, walked around Kadroh and faced Hordak completely. “Perhaps I do need assistance, just not YOUR assistance. I don’t trust your ability to aid me in this task.” He snapped dismissively.

“Brothers!” Kadroh tried to interject in a calming tone but was interrupted.

“I’ve been stranded on this planet for decades, in the interim; I’ve handled far more complex operations than this.” Hordak said while gesturing with his hand at the buildings around them, his tone flat and gravely. He regarded his bother with half closed eyes, mimicking indifference but the slight wilting of his ears gave him away.

“Please!” Kadroh tried to squeeze in, his tone now urgent.

“As if anything you’ve done here hasn’t been failure after failure!” Yudi pressed on with gleeful mockery.

“THIS! He started in a harsh tone, then stopped and continued in a forced calm “is something that I have already successfully accomplished before, I built a whole city with nothing but my broken ship. If you weren’t so obstinate to fight me at every turn, this job would be done so much quicker.”

Yudi puffed up and, without really thinking, immediately bit back with “Prime gave you one job, defect! to die! And you couldn’t even get that right!!! Why should I trust you with anything else?” It came out sounding more like a bark than a shout.

The sound of shattered glass broke them both out of it. Kadroh was panting besides them having dropped the glasses and the drinks. He’s looking at Yudi with pleading, warm golden eyes. He tried to say something but all that came out was gasps. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

Hordak lets out a feral growl, bearing his crimson teeth at them and clenches his fists, the rest of the sandwich dropped on the ground, forgotten. He too takes in a sharp breath, preparing to shout but then, all of a sudden, he stops himself, his grimace flattens to a neutral expression and he unclenches his fists. The only thing that comes out of his mouth is a tired sigh. He looks away from them “I don’t have time for this.” He then turns around completely and walks away leaving Yudi alone with Kadroh in the deafening silence that hangs around his departure for a few minutes.

“Brother! That was completely uncalled for!” Kadroh says with a reproachful tone after having calmed down. Great, now his brother is angry with him because of the defect. And Yudi thought this day was already terrible enough. Apparently there’s always room for more terrible.

“Was it?” he said to Kadroh’s face, eyeing him with squinting eyes. ”Was it really? It’s his fault we’re all in this mess, his fault Prime found this planet and didn’t glass the damn thing form orbit” he started adding faster “it’s he’s fault we’re stuck here, stranded and at the mercy of these creatures on this ridiculous planet, it’s his fault Prime got distracted at the end, and it’s his fault Prime’s DEAD! his fault we’re all alone now!”

“YES! Prime’s dead! And the universe is better for it!” Kadroh shouted at him snapping Yudi out of his rant. In a meeker voice he added “we’re better for it.” He looks away “If Hordak hadn’t done what he’d done, you wouldn’t be here to resent him for it. None of us would.”

“Brother I” Yudi tried to deflect but Kadroh interrupted him “That was cruel, brother! That was cruel and it was wrong!” he crossed his arms. “And I’m crossed with you.”

“I don’t want to fight with you brother” Yudi said, deflating. “please, forgive my outburst.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” Kadroh added then turned around and left in a brusque pace.

#hordak #wrong hordak #Yudi #spop #spop fanfiction

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 4 years

Text

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E5; Chapter Five, Dig Dug - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

After a run-in with Will, a troubled Y/n teams up with an unlikely ally in her search for answers. “Bob the Brain” tackles a difficult problem.

||3rd Person POV||

El opens her eyes, finding herself in the familiar dark and damp setting. In the distance, she sees a bed. The covers are hanging off the mattress and grazing the water only she can see. She walks forward towards the bed cautiously, unsure if the figure lying in it is awake. As she approaches the bed she can make out more details.

The comforter is dotted with leaves and vines, intricate flowers in various hues sprinkle the vines and there a few embroidered pillows that look older and handed down. The figure on the mattress is lost in sleep, her limbs splayed out in many different directions. The figure is still dressed, clothes El has seen at least once before. The girl wearing them is hugging her pillow, a small frown etched on her face as she is troubled and tired.

El is in front of her now, just at her bedside and she can't help but take note of the drying circles on her pillow where the girl had been crying.

What could have happened? And would she be making it worse if she were to wake her and share with her what she had to share? El couldn't help but wonder.

But she also knew she would want to know. And she did miss her friend terribly. After all, they were from the same place and Y/n had every right to know about her own past as much as El did.

Not waiting any longer, she reached out and laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. Nothing happened and so she gently shook her. Much to her delight Y/n moved slightly, which meant it was working. She shook again and only then did she allow herself to speak.

"Y/n? Y/n!"

Her eyes fluttered open and she caught sight of El. She peered up at her through her lashes, a groggy and confused look on her face.

"El?"

She nodded, a weak smile on her face.

"What are you doing here? Am I dreaming?"

She shook her head no.

"No. But I am real."

"I-I don't understand."

"I found my Mama."

"Wait, what? You found your mom? That's great," Y/n mumbled, fighting consciousness.

She was trying desperately to maintain conversation but the truth was she was very tired and she couldn't be sure what she was seeing or hearing was real.

"There's something else."

Y/n applied all the strength she could muster to keep her eyes open, they felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. She hummed a 'what' in response, indicating for El to continue.

"Proof."

"I don't understand. What proof, El?"

"Where you come from."

×××

Will bolts up straight in a cold sweat, gasping for air. His bangs cling to his forehead and he is gasping for breath.

"Will?"

Mike sits up startled from his nest on the floor, looking up worriedly at his best friend. He is still dressed in his clothes from the previous day, his hood perched on his head.

"What's wrong?"

Will looks to Mike, fear in his eyes.

Joyce sits in the middle of her living room, lost in a trance as she gazes at the maze of paper tunnels. The small calls for her from Will are lost to her, and it is not until she feels a light touch on her shoulders that she is pulled from this trance.

"Mom?"

Joyce gasped in surprise but readjusts quickly for her son.

"Yeah?"

Will was crouching down, concern etched in his features and Mike stands just a few feet away.

"I saw him," Will says gravely.

"You saw who, baby?"

"Hopper," Joyce frowns slightly, and she can feel her blood run cold at her son's words. "I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die."

×××

Hopper gasps for air as he is ripped from unconsciousness. He looks around, the memories of what had happened come flooding back. Collecting himself to the best of his ability, he scrambles to his feet. The man knows he can't last long without fresh air and the particles floating amongst the smog would do him no good. His senses overwhelm him and already his body is rejecting the environment and toxic air. He doubles over as his body ejects the contents of his stomach.

Hopper grunts in disgust, the bile burning his throat and tongue. Though he doesn't allow himself any more time to waste, knowing he had to find the exit. He grabs his hat, returning it to his head and finds the flashlight beside him as he climbs to his feet. Hopper runs his free hand along the ceiling of the slimy dank tunnels as he speeds down the familiar path. Just as he had feared, he found no breaks, the hole he had dug had in fact closed up and he now stands at a dead end.

"Shit!"

Hopper reminds himself to steady his breathing. He knows now he has no immediate way out. No source of fresh oxygen and he knew he must save his breath. He is able to subdue the sporadic thoughts of panic racing in his mind, and he all he allows himself to think about is his oxygen intake. Even if he slowed his breathing he was still at risk for the toxic spores hanging in the air.

A little light bulb goes off in his head and he takes out his pocket knife, opening it up and raising it to his shoulder. He has to place the flashlight between his teeth in order to make a clean cut, but he is able to create a rip in the fabric. With one swift movement, Hopper tears the left sleeve off his uniform. Removing the flashlight from his mouth, he ties the sleeve over his face crafting a crude air filtration, somewhat safe from the deadly spores around him.

Calming his racing heart he treads on in the direction he had come. But he comes to a reluctant stop, the beam from his flashlight shifting uncertainly between a fork in the tunnel. He could not remember where he had come from. Hopper does not know why but his mind takes him to El. The familiar feeling of warmth and joy she brought to his dull life sparks in his chest and a terrible thought strikes him.

What if I never see her again?

Their last interaction would be the terrible words exchanged and the mess left behind. And worst of all, she would be alone and in danger. He couldn't let that happen, and he promised himself he would get himself out. And apologize, work things out like he should have the prior morning. They would play games together again, do puzzles and even fix up the TV and continue their western marathons. He would read to her again every night, hell maybe he could find some more of Sarah's old books and-

Hansel and Gretel. He chuckles lightly under his breath. Half in relief and a half in disbelief for not thinking of it before. Hopper reaches into his left breast pocket and retrieves the stash of cigarettes. He's thankful he had grabbed a fresh pack. He took a single stick in his fingers and broke it in half, discarding the piece on the path, beginning his trail.

×××

Mrs. Henderson shivers as she steps into her front room. She had spent all morning looking for Mews, she even shook brought the felines favorite toy, shaking the bell attached knowing she usually came running. Her spirits perked when she saw Dustin on the phone.

"Dusty, baby, you're sure she's not in your room."

Dustin gulped, thankful his back was to his mother and she could not see his widened eyes. He holds a finger out for a pause, mindlessly mumbling an 'uh-huh'.

He does his best to ignore the operator on the line as he pretends to be taking a phone call. He hoped it was enough to fool his mother.

"Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true life-saver. Thank you... All right. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now... All right... you too."

Mrs. Henderson felt a wave of relief wash over her hearing her son's words.

"Alright, great news," Dustin said, turning to her and hanging up the phone.

"They found her?" Her voice shook as she spoke.

"No," he said gently, stepping towards her mother. "But they saw her, wandering Loch Nora,"

Even her breath was trembling as she fought back sobs of relief.

"How did the poor baby get all the way over there?"

"I don't know, lost I guess," Dustin cooed. "But they're gonna look for her and I'll stay here, just in case they call again. And you're gonna go help look? Yeah?"

He tried to ignore the clenching feeling of guilt around his heart, giving his mother false hope like this. She smiled through her sobs and nodded eagerly.

"Give me a hug, give me a hug," She gratefully hugged her son, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. "You're gonna find her, alright?"

Mrs. Henderson backed away eagerly, nodding her head trying to convince herself that would find her beloved cat.

"We can find her." He said reassuringly.

"We can find her." She repeated eagerly.

Mrs. Henderson grabbed her keys off the counter and headed towards the door.

She looked to her only son and sniffled, her voice was still slightly shaky.

"Dusty," another sniffle. "Honey, check on your sister, sweetie. She came home awfully upset again, and-and let you let her know where I'm going okay?"

"Of course, yeah, uh-huh."

"C-cause, I'm sure she'll be glad to hear they saw Mews. You let her know, okay baby?"

"Of course. I will go check on her right now. Okay. Hey,"

She paused in the front door, looking back at her son.

"I love you." Dustin blew a kiss at his mother, a fake smile plastered on her face.

She reciprocated, unknowingly the only genuine.

"I love you,"

"I love you"

"I love you,"

"Alright go, alright," He eased her out the door with encouragement and a thumbs up.

His smile did not falter until she had closed the front door.

Now to get Y/n out of the house.

||Reader's POV||

I nearly lost my balance as I slip the left shoe over my foot. I grabbed my bag and rifled through it once more making sure I had everything I needed.

I still can't believe I'm doing this. I just hope it really was real, and I'm not just doing this for nothing. But it had to be real, it had to be.

"Meet me at nine four five. Outside Mirk-wood."

"El?"

"Don't tell. Anyone."

She vanished before I could say anything else. I vaguely remember seeing her in my room, but at the same time, she wasn't completely real. She almost looks transparent. The only thing convincing about all this was what she had said to me at the school. She had a way of contacting me. This must be it.

Everything was in my bag, by now I have triple checked my bag but I still don't feel quite ready. Then again, I don't know if I'll ever be prepared to find out what happened to me, but I don't want to let that stop me.

I took a deep breath, willing away the nerves bubbling in my stomach to the best of my ability. My bag over my shoulder, I turned the doorknob and the door swung open. I flinched when I saw Dustin on the other side. His first hung in the air, ready to knock and he seemed surprised.

My eyes dropped to my bag nervously before fleeting back to his. I gulped.

"I'm going to Will's. Mike and I are gonna stay the night with him, and make sure he's alright."

Dustin seemed to process this but he blinked soon enough, shaking himself from shock. I could have sworn he seemed relieved, and I could feel relief myself.

"That's great, you should do that. He really needs you."

As if this morning wasn't already perfectly strange, Dustin was talking in a weird soothing voice and he walked me to the door. I didn't linger on it too much before I started worrying about what I was about to do. I was so excited at the possibility of seeing El again, but where are we going and how long would I be gone?

I realized we were nearing the door and I hadn't even registered that he had been talking to me.

"...at Loch Nora, looking. And don't worry, I'll man the phones. You just worry about Will, alright?"

I mindlessly mumbled an "uh-huh" and I turned to home when I reach the door.

"Dustin?"

He blinked lightly and continued in that weird soothing voice. His mannerisms reminded me of something you'd see from a spa worker. I shrugged it off, too wracked with guilt that I was basically leaving my family, who loved and cared for me to find someone I didn't even know.

I looked him in the eye, and I felt something rare. Rare for the two of us at least. Genuine admiration. I thought of all the fun and harmless little pranks we'd pull on Mom together. Or the times he looked out for me, and how much he genuinely cared about me.

"I love you,"

Before I could acknowledge any odd looks from him I wrapped him in a hug and he reciprocated.

"I love you too. Don't worry, we'll find her."

My eyes opened, still locked in an embrace with my brother and I frowned.

What?

"What? Find who?"

We both pulled away and it was his turn to look confused.

"Mews."

"Mews is missing? When?"

"I just- I just told you." He blinked several times but shook his head, slowly gesturing me out the door once more. "It's no big deal. Mews got out the other night and long story short, someone saw her wandering around in Loch Nora and Mom is headed there now. Don't even worry about it, okay?"

I nodded, my mind still racing. My eyes and hand fell to the doorknob and I gave my brother one last glance before I disappear out the front door.

||3rd Person POV||

Unbeknownst to the two of them, the Henderson children stood on either side of the door, simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

Y/n tightens the grip on her bag and began walking towards the garage out of habit until she saw her bike laying in the grass where she had left it last night. She sighed and grabbed her bike only to realize the rubber around handlebars were melted down in the center. A rough and messy shape of where her hands had been was clear, underneath it all was the metal core of the bike's structure. She gasped, examining the odd sight until her mind wandered to the previous night.

Was that why they seemed wet? Holy crap, I melted my bike.

Y/n shook her head in disbelief before she checked the time. Nine twenty, she had to get moving. Mounting her bike, she cast one last longing glance at her home, reassuring herself that what she was doing was right. Not a moment longer she disappeared around the corner and into a path amongst the trees.

Dustin lay on his hands and knees below the front window. He winced at the slight prickling feeling of rug burn that had managed to get to him through his jeans. As Y/n had retrieved her bike from the grass, he sped to the window, waiting for confirmation that she had finally left.

Unfortunately for him, she turned and looked back at the house, and he cursed himself for allowing himself the vulnerability. He had to drop down onto the floor to avoid being seen by his sister, but luckily she had just missed him. Moments passed and when he heard her soft but identifiable footsteps nearing the porch he knew it was safe to peek. Sure enough, he saw her disappear around the corner down the road, a small cluster of autumn leaves flying off the ground at her climbing speed.

He jumped to his feet and ran outside through the back door. He ripped open the cellar doors and retreated back into the house. He didn't stop running until he reached the hall closet and ripped them open. He turned on the light, the metal chain swinging back and forth, even hitting him as he bent down to retrieve his gear.

He was grateful he kept his and Y/n's old baseball stuff. He remembered the day him and Y/n saw a program on TV and the kids were playing baseball. That same day, the pair begged and pleaded their mother for the gear and when she finally caved, Y/n and Dustin spent all of summer break out in their backyard. Granted they were new to it and barely managed to hit the ball more than five times between the two of them but they had a blast. Of course, they usually played with the rest of the party, and Dustin was almost always the umpire, given he had gear for it. As for Y/n, she had a pretty decent arm, she made the best pitcher out of the group. Naturally though, school rolled around again and the following summer was when they officially formed the party for their very first campaign.

Dustin was thankful him and his sister had been so damn stubborn and he was certainly very thankful his mother had gotten them what they had so desperately wanted. Now he had protection from Dart.

He tossed everything in the living room and went to the kitchen. Ripping open the fridge door he grabbed every variety of meat he could find. His confident urgency waved only slightly when he approached his closed door. He began the trail of meat outside his room and all the way out to the cellar. He closed every other door in the house as a precaution and suites up. His usual hat lay discarded on the living room chair in exchange for his umpire helmet. To top it all off he adorned his mother's pair of oven mitts. Not ideal for the situation but was the best he could find.

Now completely geared up, he grabbed his hockey stick just for short measure. He stood outside his room, careful not to step on the trail of bologna and got ready to run.

"Alright, Dart," He called. "Breakfast time,"

Not allowing himself to think about it any longer he ripped open the door and starting running. A mantra slipped from his mouth as he wobbled through the house, his gear restricting his speed.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

He was outside now, and he had already heard light thumps of wet feet behind him. He did his best to speed up and before he knew it he was safe in the shed.

Panting heavily and still trying to calm his racing heart, Dustin stepped towards the shed door. He peered through a slit in the boards and waited for the slimy figure to emerge from the open door.

"Come on, I know you're hungry" he mumbled.

Dustin gasped when he saw Dart trudge down the steps. Just as he had predicted, Dart was happily gobbling up every slice of bologna and ham in the trail Dustin laid out.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," he mumbled.

He had to move around the shed in order to see Dart approach the open cellar doors. Everything had been going so smoothly. Up until Dart whipped around and faced Dustin.

His eyes widened and he gasped in fear, hoping Dart hadn't seen him. Like with Y/n, he waited a moment. There was no sign of movement and he stepped forward. Only to find Dart just outside the shed. He jumped back, his own back to the wall of the shed and he gripped the hockey stick closer to his chest.

Dustin could now hear the pitter-patter of Dart's small webbed feet and he knew it was now or never. It was his fault for bringing Dart into the house, and it was his fault for ignoring the other's logic and lying about Dart's whereabouts. And it was time to fix it. Taking several deep breaths, Dustin ripped open the shed door, startling Dart in the process and charged after his once pet.

Dart retreated frightfully, an image that instilled more guilt in Dustin's heart. Nevertheless, with a scream tearing from his throat, Dustin swung at the creature. He felt the hockey stick strike Dart and he went flying, miraculously Dart hit the open cellar door and tumbled inside.

He himself ran to the cellar, and just as he began closing the doors, an angry and betrayed Dart charged up the stairs after him. Feeling guilty, frightened and exhausted, Dustin collapsed on the closed cellar doors. He could feel his body jerk and move as Dart attempted to break the doors down but it was no use. Dustin was grateful he wearing leg padding, he could feel his shins digging into the steel edge of the cellar entrance.

"I'm sorry," he said, ignoring the chitters from the cellar. "But you ate my cat."

||Reader's POV||

My eyes scan the trees as I breeze down Mirkwood. I feel a chill run down my spine but I can't tell if it's from the cold autumn air or what's to come. I almost miss it, but I break on my bike quickly when I see a small figure standing amongst the trees. Its El. She's dressed in brown and grays and her dark hair blends in with the bark of the trees.

My bike makes an awful screech as the tires skid across the pavement and I cringe. So does El, I notice. She steps forward out of the trees and I dismount the bike, propping it up on its kickstand.

We meet in an embrace and I smile at the contact. She hugs me tightly and we separate.

"I'm so glad you're really here. I was worried I dreamt it all. How are you? Is everything okay?"

She nodded, and the smallest of excited smiles tugged at her lips.

"I found Mama."

"So you really did find your mom, huh?" I ask hopefully.

El's smile grew only slightly and she nodded once more.

"I also found something else."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"The 'Missing Experiment'."

A silence hung in the air and I gulped.

"Is that... ?" I felt the words die on my tongue and I try again. "So, I really am...?"

El looked at me, sympathy in her eyes and she nodded again.

"Yes," she croaked.

I ran a hand down my face, not realizing I had teared up until I felt my hand grow wet. The small droplets on my palm magnified the harsh sting of the cold air and I wiped my hands on my pants, sniffling.

"I think," she continued. "Mama might be able to tell us more. Maybe."

"Well," I said, taking a breath to collect myself. "We better go then, huh?"

||3rd Person POV||

El nodded, and Y/n returned to her bike, El following noiselessly behind. Y/n perked up at the memory and she looked back to El, patting her bike.

"After I lost my bike in the chase last year, my mom got me a new one for Christmas! I have an extra seat, just like Mike's!"

El smiled and stepped forward, and Y/n turned her bike around so it was facing the road. She looked at El once more.

"So, where are we headed?"

"Five-On-Five, Larrabe"

"Um," Timid confusion crossed Y/n's features. "Do you by any chance know what part of town that is?"

El thought about it for a moment but shook her head. Y/n pressed her lips into a firm line as she thought about it aloud.

"Well, we could always ask for directions, I mean I would, so you could stay hidden. I think there's a-"

"Hitch-hike!" El said suddenly as the idea came to her.

"What?"

"Hitch-hike! Like TV,"

Y/n blinked several times, searching her brain for one of millions to begin as to why that was such a bad idea. All she could do was shake her head, sputtering.

"El, we can't-"

But El was too focused on her mission, and much to her delight - and Y/n's chagrin - she heard the deep rumbles of an engine growing louder. She walked past Y/n and stood on the edge of the concrete and stuck her thumb out.

"El, what are you doing? They'll see you, never mind that, do you know how dangerous that is for us?"

Her thumb still out, El turned to look at her friend, a confused look on her face.

"Why us?"

Once again, Y/n was at a loss for words. Without a response, she returned her attention back to the road, where a large truck came to slow. Y/n's heart began to pound faster and in a desperate attempt to save her friend and herself, she dropped her bike and stepped forward to stop El. But El was one step ahead and Y/n's eyes widened when she stopped abruptly, her feet rooted to the ground.

She looked to her feet in fear, and back to El, gaping.

"El! What the hell?" Y/n tried to remain calm, but it was a challenging feat seeing the truck grow closer, words tumbled out of her in a hurry. "El, I promise you we can find another way but this is not a good idea, trust me. He could hurt us,"

El turned back to look at Y/n and gave her an incredulous smile.

"Y/n," she eased. "We can defend ourselves, remember?"

Y/n felt the invisible hold on her legs release and she tied her best not to stumble forward in an awkward fashion. Before she could get another word in, the truck pulled to a stop in front of El and the passenger window rolled down. It was a man with a beard and trucker hat. He looked at the pair with genuine worry for them, which put Y/n's mind at ease in just the slightest.

"You ladies alright?"

El was quick to answer before Y/n could protest.

"We need a ride home. Five-one-five Larrabee"

The man seemed taken aback, and he gave a look around for any sign of the girls' parents.

"Well, uh, sure I guess. You guys a long way from home?"

El nodded and stepped forward. She felt a hand on her wrist and she looked to Y/n gave her one last pleading look.

El lowered her voice and spoke to her friend gently.

"It will be okay, we can protect ourselves. But I'm going Y/n, you can come if you want."

With that, she stepped forward and stood on the tips of her toes to open the passenger door. Y/n felt the surge of anxiety in her stomach, everything warning her against this. But El was getting into a big truck with a strange man, she knew she couldn't stop her, but she had to make sure she was okay. Y/n kicked herself for what she was about to do, never more angered by any decision she has ever made.

And against her better judgment, Y/n climbed into the truck after El.

+++

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nananaptime · 4 years

Text

Poppies

My idea was promising in my head, then something happened as I wrote it down.... no but it’s good just not as good as it could’ve been

Written for the July prompt on Up10tion Honey10 Amino

Masterlist Rules

Genre: Fluuuuuffff

Word count: 2 710

Summary: Being royalty entails not always putting your own feelings first, but what if those feelings happen to merge into your duties?

Had I been five years old, I would’ve been dragged in kicking and screaming. Sadly, that was not the case. Instead, I had to hold my chin high and enter the royal palace with dignity worthy of the next queen. I knew this was coming my entire life. Having your parents reigning in the south, benefiting from the warmth of the sun, helping our crops grow all the while being watered by the many villagers occupying the houses throughout the country, it was pressuring to be born into a family so beloved by the people. To ensure maximum happiness for our people and grab the opportunity to merge with the neighbouring kingdom to the west. A kingdom which had a market much bigger than ours, a market which would benefit our people greatly. My parents only saw one solution; arrange a marriage between their one and only daughter to the crown prince, this without consulting their daughter on the matter first.

You could understand my aversion to cooperation.

The doors to the throne room were opened from the inside after a signalling knock from the outside guard. It was rather dramatic, I must admit, leaving my stubborn self in awe for a second. Until that is, I saw the current king and queen perched on their thrones at the end of the big room, instantly reminding me of the day’s endeavours.

My mother discreetly cleared her voice, nudging me with her elbow to get me moving once again. With a small pout on my lips, we approached the reigning couple, making sure to kneel once we arrived at their feet.

“Oh, no, dear friends!” The king threw us a big, beaming smile and started walking down the steps towards us. “We are to be family, no need for that kind of respectful action.” He grabbed my father’s hand in his and pulled him from the floor, straight into a hug while laughing gleefully. My mother rose hesitantly, only to be embraced by the queen who had just descended the steps. I watched with a slightly awkward demeanour, not knowing whether to step into their newfound circle of friendship or stay out of it to avoid being babied.

“They’re awfully friendly, aren’t they?” I jumped out of my skin at the voice coming from beside me. Looking towards the source, I was met with eyes as soft as the fur I was wearing across my shoulders, a smile which caused my tense muscles to relax on their own accord. It was when I took in the rest of the person that it returned with doubled force. He was wearing an outfit only one kind of person would wear in a palace; one of the royal family. The fact that his black hair was adorned with a small golden crown should’ve given it away the second I laid eyes on him. However, his friendly face had caught my attention almost instantly.

I let out a sound between a sigh and a grown. He raised an eyebrow, the smile still portrayed on his lips.

“Please tell me you’re the younger brother or something.” A small chuckle left his lips and he graciously extended his hand, placing his other hand behind his back and his behind the other, causing him to stand in a somewhat bowing position.

“Prince Wooseok, to your service.” He must’ve caught the small eye-roll I had made as he chuckled again after straightening back up. “Why? Am I not what you expected?” I gave him a side-eye, not bothering to provide an answer.

I know I was acting like a stuck-up child, but I was not happy about the limited say I had on this matter.

“Ah! Wooseok, I didn’t notice you coming in, but I see you met Y/N already.”

“I did father, she’s as delightful as she was described.” I cringed at the pleasant way he was talking to his father, as if he was doing his all to keep him pleased, not once giving way to his real emotions. “I don’t think I’m as loved, however.” At that, I heard my mother sigh.

“Y/N is still taking time to adapt to the arrangement, but I’m sure after you’ve spent some time together, she will be just as pleased with your company as you are with hers.”

“I have no doubt.” I could feel Wooseok’s eyes on me, exploring my face, looking for something other than the obvious unhappiness I was displaying.

“Well, dinner will be ready in just half an hour, I’ll have some servants take your bags to your rooms while we show you around, I can assure you we have an excellent library and if I remember correctly, you do know your literature, don’t you Mary.” My mother’s face had lit up at the word library and soon she and the queen were making their way out of the room, arms hooked.

At the same time, the king had offered to show my father view from the backside of the palace as my father enjoyed the world’s natural art. Soon enough, I was alone with Wooseok in the big throne room, not knowing where to look. We stood there in silence for a while, me feeling rather awkward and Wooseok observing me with a small, playful smile. Eventually, he broke the silence with the offer to show me the gardens, making promises about their grandeur. I accepted with reluctance, not knowing what else to do and starting to feel guilty about treating him with such disrespect, especially considering his never-ending politeness.

The gardens were truly splendid, stretching far and wide with flowers, bushes and hedges, creating the perfect scenery for a walk. Wooseok spent the time talking about the different flowers, explaining how many of them were used in medicine while others were perfect for perfume. More often than not, he leaned down for a whiff of their scent as he finished his sentence, enjoying what nature had to give him. Then he stood again and gave me a small smile, mentioning that he enjoyed the floral aspects of the environment, marvelling at the bright colours they could provide to an otherwise green covered canvas.

“I do enjoy the flowers in our gardens as well, they’re very much like this one, however, not nearly as big.” Wooseok let out a chuckle once again before looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

“I’m sure you won’t find the grand colour scheme of our flower arrangements anywhere in the world, not even in the gardens of your palace, but I’m sure they’re very pleasant.” His smile made it obvious that he was trying to get a rise out of me and against my better judgement, I took the bait.

“You seem very certain of your statement even though you’ve never laid eyes on the gardens of my country, who’s marvellous colour is accentuated by the warming sun which rarely leaves our skies. I can assure you, my royal court triumphs over yours in many aspects other than on the floral level.” His smile never left his lips as he challenged my statement, causing me to go deeper into my arguments. “Say, how many horses do you have?”

“30,” he said after some thinking.

“My court has 50 horses in the stables, and almost all of them are used for both competitions and fieldwork in the woods with our knights.” He laughed and shook his head at me.

“There are things more important than horse competitions and knightly work. For example, this palace houses some of the rarest artworks in history, all originals.” He gave a happy sigh as he turned to gaze at the palace, pride obvious in his eyes. “Walking through our halls is like walking through history.”

“Well, my country has more sunny days than any other I can think of, from what I gather, you have more rain than sun within a week.” He laughed at my exaggeration.

“You’ve never spent a day in the library, enjoying a good book while the rain on the window soothes your nerves? No wonder you’re so uptight.”

“Hey!” I gave his shoulder a light punch at his words, laughing all the while. He smiled at me, no more words coming from his lips. His intense gaze caused me to turn around, not wanting to display the redness which had suddenly covered my cheeks.

This is not how it was supposed to go, I was supposed to reject the prince, causing possible embarrassment to my parents and put an end to this arrangement as soon as possible, not find myself blushing in the middle of the grandest garden I’ve ever seen with a prince who’s politeness and kindness makes him impossible to dislike.

The light touch of his fingers to my ear pulled me from my thoughts and I froze. He brushed my hair behind my ear, placing a flower there to keep it in place.

“My favourite flower,” he whispered. I reached up to grab it as I felt it falling off. In my hand, lay a poppy, one of the reddest colour I’d ever seen.

“It’s beautiful.” I found myself unable to ruin the serious atmosphere, so my voice came out just as soft and quiet as his.

“Just like you.” And there the moment was ruined, I punched his shoulder again in an attempt to distract from the heat making its way up my cheeks. He just laughed before mentioning that we should get back as dinner was soon to be served.

The weeks passed by with my walls coming down faster than I’d like to admit. Wooseok had a way to make me forget everything that was going on, I forgot about the arranged marriage, I forgot about my parents, I forgot about everything other than him. It scared me, but in those moments, I would do anything to keep the happiness I felt in my body.

It was only when our parents called for a meeting, announcing the date for the ceremony, the ceremony that would tie our family to his, and my independence would be out the window.

I ran out, ignoring the calls from my parents, from the king and the queen, and from Wooseok. I ignored the fact that it was pouring outside and the fact that I had neither an umbrella nor a raincoat. I ignored the fact that my heart was screaming at me to turn back, to throw myself into his arms and to stay there.

Once I finally stopped running, I found myself in the middle of the garden, surrounded in every direction by poppies, it was like destiny had brought to that exact location, to the location where my feelings had started to take another shape.

I heard my name being called again but I was too tired to run. Instead, I let myself fall to my knees as the tears fell down my face at the nonexistent say I had in my life. It wasn’t long before I felt arms wrap around my body and my body leaned back into his chest on its own accord. Soon, there were no more tears to cry and my body stopped convulsing. I was wet to the bone but didn’t want to move, I was in his arms and I wanted to stay there.

During the crying, Wooseok had whispered his understandings and his apologies. He understood how I felt, he understood why I was upset, he was sorry for both our parent’s unwillingness to see us as adults. When he leaned to the side and looked at me, I caught the recognizable playful glint in his eyes which I had seen so many times during the last couple of weeks and I knew he was going to turn the atmosphere.

“Am I really that ugly?” I laughed because of course, he’s not ugly. He’s the epitome of beauty, if you looked up beauty in the dictionary, a picture of Wooseok would be displayed beside the definition.

He helped me up and dried my tears, then we walked back towards the castle to once again forget the entire situation until it was thrown in our faces.

I was the night before the wedding, and I was once again in the gardens. For some reason, I always found myself drawn to the flowers located there, no matter if I was in the east with the roses of the west with the sunflowers. I was seated on the edge of a well, picking the petals of a daisy. They flew away with the wind, settling in a faraway place and I wished they could take me with them.

I wasn’t opposed to the wedding anymore, which scared me even more than the wedding ever had done. However, I felt like I had no control, like I’d never had any control, it caused a whirlpool of emotions in my belly and I was losing myself in the preparations, in the feelings, in him.

I had never been in love. I had wanted it, badly, but the arrangement had convinced me of it being an impossibility. I was to be married off for political benefits, not for the wants and needs of my own heart. Never had I expected to actually fall for the man whom I was forced to marry but to my horror, I had noticed my heart beating slightly faster in his presence, I had noticed the need to be closer to him more often than not, I had noticed the intense pull he had on me. Now, as I was sitting in the moonlight, I knew beyond a doubt, I could never love anyone the way I loved Wooseok, and I was scared that love would not be reciprocated. He had always been polite and forthcoming from the start, the playful nature of his heart had been evident, and he was always kind to everyone in the royal court. I did not know if what he was feeling towards me was mere affection for another member of the royal court or something more.

I don’t know if I wanted to know.

“I knew I would find you here.” I looked up at the sound of his voice, trying to calm my beating heart. At my expression, he opened his mouth again. “I was up by your chamber to talk to you, but it was vacant.” He sat down beside me, close enough for our arms to brush against each other. He watched me for a while. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?” I nodded, not trusting my own voice. “Me too, but I’m also excited.” I gave him a wondering look, prompting him to explain his statement. “I’m looking forward to ruling by your side.”

“Oh,” I said, letting my gaze travel down to my hands in my lap. As he grabbed my hand, I looked up to him once again, surprised at his action.

“I’m happy it’s you and not someone else. From the first time I saw you in the throne room, I was done for. All I could do was imagine us up in my parents’ seats, making the world a better place. I wanted to show you the garden because it’s my favourite place on the grounds and I wanted to share that with you, to let you see something which represents a great part of me, to open up, because I wanted you to see me for who I was, not for the fact that I’m a prince.” He took a pause and looked up at the moon before standing up and pulling me with him towards the poppies, basking in the moonlight. “I wanted to say this to you before we get married tomorrow, I want to know what type of marriage I’m getting myself into and I wanted you to know how I feel.” He took a deep breath before turning to me, gazing into my eyes. “I love you, Y/N.”

I was like the world stopped. The only people who mattered were Wooseok and I in this moment. I didn’t notice myself drifting forward but as the words left my lips in a whisper, we both closed our eyes and let our lips collide in a meeting arranged by destiny.

#up10tion #kpop #up10tion scenarios #kpop scenarios #scenarios #wooseok #kim wooseok #up10tion wooseok #honey10 #music #nananaptime

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shipmistress9 · 5 years

Text

FTLOAP: Chapter 44: Love Is A Shield To Hide Behind

Fandom: HTTYD

Theme: Hiccstrid - Medieval-style AU - Romance - Angst/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Reduced to little more than a stable boy, Hiccup, despite his noble birth, has few prospects for more in life. But when he meets a girl who came to look at the horses, being a stable boy might not be enough anymore. Together, they have tough choices to make and great risks to navigate if they want to survive and be together.

Rating: Explicit

FF-net - AO3 -

Discord-server for discussions and questions

Part 1: Prologue; Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11;

Part 2: Chapter 12; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Interlude 1; Chapter 15; Chapter 16; Chapter 17; Chapter 18; Chapter 19; Chapter 20; Chapter 21; Chapter 22; Chapter 23; Chapter 24; Chapter 25; Chapter 26; Interlude 2; Chapter 27: Chapter 28 ; Chapter 29 ; Chapter 30; Chapter 31; Chapter 32; Interlude 3; Bonus 1; Chapter 33

Part 3: Chapter 34; Chapter 35; Chapter 36; Interlude 4; Chapter 37; Chapter 38; Chapter 39; Chapter 40; Interlude 5; Chapter 41; Chapter 42; Chapter 43

Alpha/Co-author: @athingofvikings

. – * – _ . o O o . _ – * – .

AN: Ah, here we finally are with the new chapter. Again sorry that I couldn't update last week, but well... Life...

Anyway, a huge THANK YOU to you all and your congratulations on my pregnancy! I really didn't expect that strong a response and it completely overwhelmed me. But also on this point and maybe to soothe some worries: this is already my third pregnancy; I already have to kids at the age of 6 and 8. So this isn't my first and I already have a good idea of what awaits me once the baby is there. Yes, I'm probably going to have even less time and nerves to write for a while. But I picked writing as a hobby because of my kids. Because it gives me the chance to be something else than just a mother all day. So I definitely won't stop writing! :)

And also: Another BIG Thank you to @ mintyfreshness ,@hey-its-laura-again ,@tally21112 ,@oneleggeddork , @thepixiedustfactory , @heathenvampires ,@haddocktree and @angelstar1st for your support and your kind words a little while ago. I still struggle with those same issues, but thanks to you all, I’m doing a lot better now. :)

In this chapter now, things happen that have been planned for ages again, and I'm really excited that we've reached this point by now.

This chapter's title comes from 'Love Is A Shield' by Camouflage. It wasn't a title I'd decided on before and for a while, I actually struggled with how to name this chapter. But when I heard the song on the radio a few days back, it all clicked into place and afterwards, the chapter went through some heavy editing again. xD But I really like how it turned out now.

Furthermore on the topic music: I also stumbled across the song 'Brother' by Kodaline (again, I should add. I know that I've heard it before). And I feel like it's the perfect song to describe our Chaos Squad.

. o O o .

Only slowly, awareness seeped back into Astrid’s mind as she woke. She was someplace soft, with someone holding her, and a familiar scent in her nose. Denial almost rose in her, but then the memories of the previous night came back as well. She wasn’t dreaming that she was in Hiccup’s arms, his warmth seeping into her, his shallow breathing ruffling her hair.

With a sigh, she turned in his arms and cuddled closer against his chest, basking in his closeness. Everything would be okay. These horrible two weeks of separation were over, and from now on, they wouldn’t let go of each other ever again. She didn’t know how they’d manage that yet and last night’s discussion hadn’t brought up anything either, as far as she’d noticed at least. But she just knew that it would work out. Everything else was unacceptable.

For a short while, Astrid just watched him sleep. It was something she’d rarely seen before, with how they’d usually been equally exhausted when falling asleep and in a hurry when they’d woken up. But now, she had the time to really look at him, the light of early dawn falling through the window. He looked so peaceful and soft, as if nothing could bother him, and she wasn’t able to put into words how… how soothing that sight was. There had been so much pain and hurt and desperation on his face lately, so much sorrow – but now, it was all gone.

Unable to hold back, she reached up and brushed a strand of his unruly hair out of his face. At her touch, Hiccup stirred with a soft grunt. His arms around her tightened as if on reflex, before he slowly opened his eyes, his lips stretching into a warm smile at her sight.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, blinking a few times before his eyes were truly able to focus and his mind seemed to clear a little. “So last night wasn’t a dream after all. Or am I still dreaming?”

Chuckling, Astrid shook her head. “No, you’re not,” she murmured back and caressed his face to prove that she was real.

His smile widened and he leaned closer to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Astrid closed her eyes, humming at the intimate gesture, before she stretched to seek his lips with her own. When they kissed, it was calm and reassuring, his hand eventually roaming upwards to cradle her face. Smiling against his lips, she basked in the familiar touch, content in the perfection of this moment.

But just like every moment, it had to end eventually.

Too soon, a knock sounded from the door before it carefully got pushed open and Rachel poked her head inside. “Milady, it’s time,” she said in a low but urgent voice. “It won’t be long now before the rest of the castle wakes up.”

Astrid didn’t want to go, but she understood why it was necessary. Reluctantly, she peeled herself out of the nest of blankets and limbs she and Hiccup had slept in. It didn’t take her too long to get ready to leave, despite frequently getting distracted by his hands on her arms or his lips on her skin. And if Ruff minded the delay, she didn’t say anything for which Astrid was incredibly grateful.

“When can we meet like this again?” she eventually asked as they were about to leave, unsure whether she’d meant to ask Hiccup or Ruff. Since Hiccup could only shrug with a somewhat insecure expression, it was Ruff who answered after a short pause.

“Dagur and Eret suggested to meet again in two or three nights; we all need rest tonight and also need time to think or look up other options. And don’t look at me like that, young lady,” she added when Astrid’s face fell, “I know perfectly well that you can’t wait to get under his clothes again.” With a sly smirk, she glanced from her to Hiccup and back again. “I mean, I know that we won’t be able to keep you apart. But after all the sneaking through the castle you already did, I’d rather you’re meeting somewhere safe from now on. Tuff and I are looking into options there. The easiest would probably be to sneak him,” she nodded at Hiccup who had a somewhat stony expression on his face, ”into your rooms. Nobody goes into your bedroom without my say-so anyway.”

“And what if someone does?” Hiccup asked.

“Well, there’s space under the bed. I’ll knock and give you time to hide, and sneak you out later.”

Tuff snorted from outside the room. “Putting the cart before the horse, sis. How do you plan to get him in there in the first place?”

“I have an idea. But no promises for tonight,” Ruff rebutted.

Astrid nodded, trying to express her gratefulness, even as waiting for another day or two felt like an eternity. But at least she would be able to spend more time in Hiccup’s arms again. That was all that mattered. She turned to Hiccup again and stretched to give him a hurried kiss goodbye, giggling at the contrast of his soft lips and the rough scraping of his stubbles.

His hands held her tight though, unwilling to let her go just yet. “See you later,” he rasped into her ear, his fingers at her waist twitching.

Again, Astrid nodded as she retreated enough to look at him, her fingers raised to trace his lower lip. “Yes, later,” she breathed before she retreated for good.

Later meant today’s tournament. They wouldn’t be able to interact in any meaningful way, but at least they would see each other. That – and the memories of this wonderful and peaceful morning – would have to be enough for now.

. o O o .

Yes, she was certain that, eventually, she would need the reminder of waking up in Hiccup’s arms to cheer herself up. But for a while, everything was fine. After Ruff had escorted her back into her rooms, she’d lain down to get a little more sleep, before she was to meet everyone for breakfast again.

“I can’t believe how much your mood improved,” Tuff muttered as they walked down the corridors and stairs, her steps lighter than she’d felt in a very long time. “I mean, it’s not as if you’ve actually found a solution to your problem yet.”

He spoke quietly so as not to risk anyone overhearing them, and Astrid replied in the same manner. “Oh, I know we haven’t yet. But I’m positive that we will find one eventually.” Despite Eret’s warning and Hiccup’s reluctance, she hadn’t yet ruled out simply running away. Maybe Eret was right and they would have to somehow prepare their disappearance – somehow avert all the consequences he’d painted out – but that would certainly be manageable… somehow. Either way, she would not let anything come between her and Hiccup ever again, would trust in their love and in the certainty that it would overcome everything. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was important. She wasn’t the heir to the throne, the one who would have to lead the Kingdom one day. No, she was only the spare, nothing less – but also nothing more.

With something of a fond snort, Tuff shook his head but didn’t comment further. They’d almost reached the breakfast room by now, and from some side corridor in front of them, hissed voices could be heard. Curiously, Astrid threw a glance in that direction as they passed the opening and was surprised to spot Snot and his father standing a little distance away. From the way Spitelout towered over his son and Snot’s stony expression, it looked like a scolding. The sight surprised her, but Astrid quickly averted her gaze and hurried on. What happened between Snot and his father wasn’t her business. Although… maybe, if Snot’s behaviour really had returned to that of her joking and funny brother, she’d ask him about it later.

With the truest smile in what felt like ages, she entered the breakfast room and found everyone else already in their seats. After cheerfully greeting the assembled men, she took her seat next to Eret, and gladly accepted the bread roll, butter, and honey as he handed her one after the other. It wasn’t that much different from how he’d usually behaved, but she was aware of the fond smiles the older men threw them, of how their interactions would look to them. When she tore into her food with gusto – not even remembering when she’d last eaten, much less when she’d enjoyed eating anything – it even earned her some low but friendly chuckling from the end of the table where her father and the Grand Dukes sat. But she didn’t pay them any attention either. Of course, they thought her good mood originated from Eret, and for now, Astrid was happy to keep it that way. Well… it wasn’t her fault when they drew the wrong conclusions, was it? It meant that nobody would pay Hiccup any mind, that he was safe.

Thinking about him made her smile even brighter, remembering how she’d spend this night, short as it was, safely encased in his arms. She really hoped Ruff’s idea to get them more nights like this together again would work. She couldn’t wait to go back to him, his warmth, the soothing reassurance that they wouldn’t part again. And, to be honest, she also couldn’t wait to feel him again, his hands and lips on her skin, searching and exploring, pouring heat and pleasure into her body until she couldn’t take any more. She didn’t fool herself, knew that they would need a little time to reconnect to that part of their relationship – not to mention the mortifying realisation about how Tuff must have overheard them in the past and how she wouldn’t want to risk that again. But all that were questions for later.

“I’m glad to see you smile like this again, Astrid,” came her father’s voice, tearing her out of her daydreaming. “Up until yesterday, I was truly worried about you.”

His words made her grimace, which she quickly hid behind taking a sip of her tea. Yesterday… The ride… Markor… Her heart stuttered painfully at the reminder, but she quickly fought down the pain and instead retrieved the happy memory of her morning with Hiccup, of his kisses and caresses, his smile. She even preferred thinking about the awkward ride back to the castle, about how much easier that could have been if only she’d given in to the urge to lean back against him and let his closeness comfort her.

The distraction helped her focus again. With everything else that happened, she didn’t yet have time to truly mourn Markor’s death, the loss like a bitter taste in the back of her throat now. But now was not the right time either.

With a bit of effort and Eret nudging her beneath the table, she managed to smile back at her father and reassure him that she felt much better than yesterday too. Which was true in its own way. And… she had to admit to herself that lying to her father didn’t bother her as much as it used to. Deep down in her heart, she understood that he hadn’t meant to hurt her. But that didn’t mean that she was yet ready to forgive him or forget about it.

After this small exchange, the breakfast continued uneventful for another couple of minutes, until the door opened again and Snot and his father entered the room.

“Good morning, everyone,” Spite greeted them as they looked up, a tired smile on his face. ”I apologise for the delay; looks like I slept in. Though, after last night, I don’t think you can blame me.” He laughed, followed by consenting chuckling from all around the table.

Astrid, however, frowned. Why was he lying? Her eyes wandered to Snotlout behind his father; his expression was plain, not showing any reaction, not as they walked along the table and not as he took his seat next to her.

Well, maybe Uncle Spite was just being lenient, she mused as she reached for another roll. Whatever he’d scolded Snot for, there probably was no reason to expatiate on that here in front of everyone again.

Her gaze glided over the table, trying to decide what to put on her roll this time, when Snot all of a sudden held out a pot filled with red jam to her.

“Here, I recommend you try this,” he said with a smile that was too smooth for her taste. “It only arrived last week with a merchant. The berries used for this only grow in the higher regions of Westhill and are considered a delicacy.”

Astrid took the pot, even if a little hesitant. The jam smelled delicious, sweet with a slightly tart note in it, and she wasn’t averse to giving it a try. However, what bothered her was the way Snot was again advertising his home �� and thus himself – with this recommendation. Was he still trying to flirt with her? She’d thought that, after last night, he’d given up, that she’d made it clear that she wouldn’t choose him. But apparently, she’d been wrong…

The jam was as tasty as it smelled, and with a tense smile, she thanked Snot, but then directly turned toward Eret on her other side, engaging him in some Smalltalk or other. Hopefully, Snot would eventually stop these fruitless advances. Last night, she’d been happy to have him back as simply her brother, but that seemed to have been a little premature.

. o O o .

The tournament that day was a good opportunity to talk to Eret in relative privacy. Though talking about any sensitive topics in her open pavilion still wouldn’t be prudent, and even though Astrid wished she could also invite Dagur and Hiccup, she couldn’t do that without it seeming odd. So instead, she brought up another topic, hoping to get some clarification from Eret. But it seemed as if he was just as bewildered by their brother’s behaviour as she was.

“I don’t really know what’s up with Snot either,” Eret said with a shrug. “He hasn’t really talked to either of us since all this started, and only runs around in a bad mood all the time. He’s not his usual self.”

Astrid nodded, noticing the deep-seated confusion on Eret’s face. Apparently, Snot’s behaviour didn’t make any sense to him either and was possibly even more confusing to him. She knew that the boys had always been a tight group; Snot not talking to anyone these days was just weird.

“I just don’t get it,” she eventually sighed. “I didn’t have the impression that he was in love with me, not like that. There never were any indications, were there?”

Eret shook his head, though hesitantly. “I… don’t think so. But from what I’ve got, he hasn’t flirted with a single woman except for you these past two weeks – which is odd as you have to admit. And even though I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, it almost seems as if he’s serious about wanting to marry you, for… for better reasons than mine or Dagur’s…” He sighed, a sad expression on his face, but then frowned. “Except... that makes even less sense given his past behaviour. I mean, he vehemently refused to spend a night with Cami, and...” he trailed off, frowning at that memory, but then shook his head again. “No, I can’t even guess what’s on his mind lately.”

The thought made Astrid sad somehow. Had Snot, her brother, really harboured some hidden crush on her all these years? The idea felt weird, but given how little experience Astrid had had on that matter before she’d met Hiccup, who was she to tell? But even if… Even if her heart wasn’t bound to Hiccup’s in so many ways, the idea of marrying Snot of all people had never even crossed her mind.

She kept brooding over the thought in silence, comparing Snot’s too-smooth smile this morning with Hiccup’s warm and loving one, until Eret sitting up straighter drew her attention. He was avidly watching the fighting ground below them, making Astrid pay it more attention for once, too. Today, the participants got paired randomly and were supposed to fight two versus two, showing how well they worked with a partner. And now, it apparently was Dagur’s turn. They watched him entering the arena with three other men, watched them pull coloured marbles from a small bag to decide on the pairings, watched the men take their positions.

Next to her, Eret grew visibly tense, and Astrid couldn’t help herself but place a comforting hand on his upper arm. Dagur was a good fighter; surely he would make it out of this unscathed.

And he did. He and his partner fought well, working together to keep each other’s backs clear while the other two just tried to gain their own advantage. The duel was over quickly, Dagur and his partner the undisputed winners of the match.

“Did you really doubt his skills?” Astrid teased Eret as he relaxed again.

Eret snorted. “These fights aren’t just about skill,” he emphasised. “Sure, having it helps, but it’s also a lot about luck. And, in this case especially, about your partner and how well you work together. And no matter how much luck or skill one has, injuries or worse are always a possibility.”

Astrid nodded, grimacing at the point. She’d grown a little numb in this regard over the last two weeks but that reminder had torn off the bandage anew. Eret was right, of course. Injuries and accidents were possible; she’d even seen them happening practically every day during this tournament; one man just this morning had slipped in the mud and gotten run through by his opponent’s sword. Said opponent had been shocked and jumped back from the dying man as if burned. And in the melee the day before yesterday, another man had lost his eye, gashed open by his opponent’s shield. Still others had lost fingers or toes or worse. Fortunately – if such a word could be used to describe such waste – these accidents mainly seemed to happen to men she didn’t care about at all, and who weren’t the most loyal vassals anyway, according to Eret.

“Right, I need to get ready now,” Eret interrupted her musings as he got up from his seat. “It’s supposed to be my turn soon. Wish me luck that I get a sensible partner,” he added with a wink that probably was meant to be reassuring and cheerful.

Astrid grimaced; after his words from only minutes before, this now wasn’t exactly encouraging. But she played along, if only to not make him nervous now. “Oh, don’t you dare get killed on me now, Sir Eret,” she called after him, making him grin before he slipped out of sight and into the tent where Hiccup would be waiting with his gear.

Exhaling deeply, she sat back into her comfortable armchair and watched the current fight with little interest. Oh, how she wished these fights and tournaments and hunts would stop now that she’d supposedly chosen her future husband. She wasn’t going to change her mind, not because of some man or other proving to be an impressive fighter, at least. If only Hiccup could somehow be allowed to participate. It would be a long shot; to make her change of mind believable, he’d have to be outstanding – which, according to his own words, he wasn’t. But it would at least be a possibility.

With a soft shake of her head, she let out a sigh. There had to be a way! Hiccup had yet to tell her what exactly he’d seen in his vision, but if it had been enough to revive his hope, then it was enough for her, too. There was a way, a solution. They just had to find it.

For a little while longer, she pondered and brooded until Eret entered the arena, followed by Hiccup who carried his spare shield and weapon – and also followed by Snot and his squire Gustav!

Astrid felt herself sit up straighter in surprise at that; she hadn’t thought it possible for two of the ducal heirs to end up together in one of these duels. But then, even that decision came by drawing lots, and it had happened before already with Eret and Dagur fighting together in that melee a week ago.

However, she had a bad feeling about this, somehow. If they ended up as opponents, would Eret be able to fight Snot for real? Only last months, she would have laughed about such a coincidence; her brothers were used to sparring with each other, after all. They’d probably knock out the other two fighters and turn it into one of their usual training fights.

But that had been then. Today, Astrid had no idea how Snot would behave. Anxiously, she awaited the drawing of the marbles – and exhaled in relief when it turned out that Snot and Eret would fight together instead of against each other. A little calmer now, she leaned forward, watching as all four men took their places and the referee gave them the go to begin. This was the best option she could’ve hoped for. She didn’t want her brothers to actually fight against each other, especially not with Snot’s weird behaviour lately. But if they stood together to fight, then nothing could go wrong, right?

Except that Snot didn’t stand with Eret.

It only took a couple of seconds before it became clear that Snot had no intentions to work with Eret in this. He charged forward at his opponent, leaving Eret to fend on his own against his. She could even hear Eret’s curse as he realised what had happened, saw the surprise and then the anger on his face, even through his helmet’s visor. Yes, fights like these didn’t only depend on skill, but also on luck and on your partner. And at least in that last regard, Eret had just lost.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Astrid hissed under her breath, her eyes never leaving the fighting men below her. Anxiously, her hands clenched at her skirts, her whole body moving along with every one of Eret’s parries, dodges, and strikes. Damn it, this wasn’t the first time she had to watch him fight, and so far, he had yet to be beaten by anyone. Why was she so nervous now? But even though Snot’s stupidity gave the match a bad taste, Eret seemed to stand his ground just as well as usual – in the beginning, at least.

Astrid only saw it from the corner of her eye, her focus on Eret. But from one moment to the other, Snot was on the ground. He wasn’t bleeding, wasn’t even unconscious. But he’d lost his weapon, and judging by the uncoordinated way he tried to get back on his feet, his head must have been hit pretty hard. His opponent didn’t waste any time. He kicked Snot into the side, sending him back to the ground, then charged to where Eret and the other man were still fighting. Before anyone truly realised what had happened, he attacked Eret’s unguarded back. Astrid yelled out a warning, but it came too late, was only enough for Eret to turn but not enough for him to fully evade the blow.

Astrid’s scream of denial was drowned out in the general uproar that ran through the crowd as blood splattered the ground. It all happened incredibly fast. Eret whirled at her shout and saw the man coming up at him. He parried, desperately, and the man’s sword, which would have buried itself in his back, cut across his chest instead. Astrid saw his chainmail part under the blow.

But Eret’s parry was a masterstroke. Operating on what had to be reflex, his blade sliced open the other man’s arm down to the red-stained bone from his wrist to his elbow.

Gasping, Eret stood, his blade at the ready, even as his shirt and mail were stained with his own blood, and watched his other opponent warily. The man that had attacked him was bleeding profusely and had dropped his sword.

Dimly, Astrid became aware of the referee’s horn blowing, and he and his men, members of the King’s Guard, waded in to separate the fighters, as they always did when the tournament turned bloody, followed by Hiccup and Dagur. They carried Eret off to the healer’s tent, his arms slung over their shoulders, Eret’s opponent getting similar treatment from the guards, as the judges conferred on the scoring.

As order was restored, she was, at first, stunned and shocked. This shouldn’t have happened! Eret had said it so often, had been so sure that his rank as ducal heir would keep him safe from such an open attack. But the risk had come from ‘accidents and injuries happened.’ And not even men of high rank were safe from those.

And that hadn’t been an accident, anyway.

With her head spinning, she got up on shaky legs, her arms reaching out for something to stabilise her as she stumbled away from her chair. She had to get to Eret, had to know that he was okay. This was her fault; by singling him out, she’d painted a target on his back. A target the man he’d fought – some firstborn son of a count from Westhill, she vaguely recalled – had tried to score on.

“I have to get to the healer’s tent,” she muttered as Tuff tried to bar her from leaving her pavilion.

He didn’t seem happy about that idea. “Milady, I don’t think–”

But she cut him off directly with a determined gesture of her hand. She could imagine all the reasons he might come up with for why that wasn’t a good idea. This tournament was for her, and she should stay here and watch. A healer’s workspace could be an ugly place with blood everywhere – not the right surroundings for a lady. And since the patient was her public betrothed-to-be, she would do good at staying away when he very likely got stripped to get treated – for both propriety’s sake and to keep that target from getting bigger.

But none of that mattered.

“Get me to Eret!” she ordered, and there had to have been something in her voice or her expression that kept Tuff from objecting further. It also kept any guards and servants from blocking her way, even made the men outside the healer’s tent step aside as she approached with sure strides.

“How bad is it?” she blurted out as soon as she entered the tent, even before she could take in anything else. Offhandedly, she registered the scene in front of her; Eret was lying on a bench in the middle of the room, naked from the waist upwards and groaning in pain, with Fishlegs examining the gash on his upper chest and Hiccup hurrying about, his arms laden with healing supplies – while Dagur was sitting on Eret’s other side, holding his hand and murmuring encouragements.

Right… Fishlegs might not officially know about Eret’s and Dagur’s feelings for each other, but thanks to Heather they certainly weren’t a secret to him either. At least in this regard, they wouldn’t have to keep up appearances around him.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Fishlegs commented absentmindedly, still entirely concentrated on his work at hand as he reached for a piece of cloth to clean the wound. “It’s a deep cut, but luckily nothing but a flesh wound. The ribs beneath are unharmed and no sinews or major blood vessels were hit, either. It’ll scar, but he’ll live, barring infection."

The words were reassuring and part of her former tension floated out of her. She stepped a little closer, her eyes trying to examine the wound herself. But even though she understood the meaning of Fishlegs’ explanations, all of his lessons had only been theoretical so far, and all she saw was a gaping wound and too much blood. She thought about sitting down at his side as well to lend him support and comfort, but quickly decided against it. Dagur was doing a great job there already, clearly enough.

So there was little she could do but watch in silence as Fishlegs cleaned the wound, flinching every time Eret grunted or groaned in pain. A part of her, the part that she’d tried to ignore during the past two weeks and that now was stronger than ever, was acutely aware of Hiccup’s presence, of him standing only a few steps away now that Fishlegs had everything he needed to treat his patient. But this wasn’t really the moment to seek his closeness, not while Fishlegs could notice and not when all she could worry about was Eret and his wound.

The only warning then was Fishlegs throwing a quick telling glance up at Dagur before he applied a good amount of willow bark tincture onto the wound. Before, Eret had been able to stay relatively quiet despite the pain he had to be in, but with the sting and burn of the tincture, he couldn't do so any longer.

"Oh, fuck!" he cursed, his entire body going rigid, trembling with the effort to at least hold still.

Astrid whimpered, her hands clenching at her skirts. "I'm so sorry!" she whined once Eret’s shouting had calmed down to laboured panting only. "This is my fault. If I hadn't chosen you, hadn’t put that target on–"

"Nonsense," Eret interrupted her through gritted teeth. “Accidents happen in tournaments.”

“Bullshit,” she spat. “I know that, but that's not what I'm talking about. This man, he was trying to kill you. I saw him! He went straight for you after he knocked Snot down.”

“Given that I was fighting his partner, of course he did! He’d already taken Snot out, as you said–”

“Eret, you didn’t see him, he was going to stab you in the back!”

Eret scowled. “Maybe. And thanks for the warning, by the way. But it could have just been the heat of the moment, with his blood up. It wasn’t necessarily about you.”

She scowled and crossed her arms. “Uh-huh. Complete coincidence that the man publically favoured as the Princess’ betrothed-to-be almost comes down with a bad case of ‘sword in the back’? Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.”

“He is right in one thing, though,” Fishlegs threw in, and she turned to glare at him. He met her gaze with equanimity. "It could have just been the heat of the fight," he continued, rummaging about with his tools. "I've certainly seen worse wounds lately, without such a possible motivation. It’s pure luck that neither of you got injured before, if you ask me."

"That’s true. Or if that’s not good enough for you, Swanja: it also could have been purely politically motivated," Eret added, grimacing as Fishlegs probed his chest. "Could you be a little more gentle there, my good healer?”

“I’ll go get my feather-needles,” Fishlegs deadpanned, and Eret snorted.

“Just keep the red stuff on the inside,” he joked, and Astrid rolled her eyes.

Dagur smirked. “This is an excellent opportunity to prove something I’ve been wondering for a while, actually.”

“What’s that?” Astrid asked. She threw Dagur a quick glance, and saw that he was feeling just like she did: not in the mood for joking at all, but playing along for Eret’s sake.

“Well, we know his granddad doesn’t have a heart, and his dad has pragmatism instead of blood, so...”

“I think I can say that I have both,” Eret grunted, and looked back to Astrid. “Look, it might have just been someone stupid enough to think that taking out a ducal heir would gain him some recognition. Instead, he'll probably get excluded from the tournaments, maybe even punished further.”

Fishlegs, threading a needle with a focused look, said, “No need for that.”

“What do you mean?” Eret asked.

“I saw his arm when he was carried in,” Fishlegs said. “Why do you think the junior healer is attending to you, Sir Eret, ducal heir of a grand duchy, and not the senior healer? t’s near-certain that the man who attacked you will lose the arm, and also possibly his life if the bleeding can’t be brought under control,” Fishlegs said grimly.

Silence reigned for a moment, and Astrid wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Another unnecessary death, one that also might or might not be her fault… but it certainly wasn’t hitting an innocent man!

Then Eret coughed, thankfully breaking the silence. “Either way, the only one to blame for me getting hurt is that man, and probably myself – but definitely not you, Swanja. I should have paid better attention to the entire fight and not just my opponent."

"Or, if you want to put the blame on somebody else," Dagur growled, "then my suggestion would be Snot. What was that idiot thinking? It's not as if he doesn't know how duels like these work. Thor, we've done play fights like this with Daniel ever since we were able to hold sticks. There's literally no sane reason for why he fought on his own like that. Gods, I want to head over and punch him in the face for this idiocy!" At that, everyone just grunted in agreement.

Biting her lip, Astrid didn't object any further; she knew that they would only come up with more reassurances anyway. But that sense of guilt still lingered.

When Fishlegs was done with his preparations, he handed Eret a sturdy piece of leather with bite marks on it already, and when she spotted him holding a needle and a thread covered in more willow bark tincture in his hand, she realised what would come next. Her anxiety grew as she saw Eret bracing himself against the pain, clutching more firmly at Dagur’s hand, and she tensed as well.

“I’m so sorry,” she repeated, urgently, half expecting to get told off again. But with the leather already between his teeth, Eret couldn’t say anything, only rolled his eyes and threw a strange nod in her general direction. Astrid didn’t know what to make of it, but as soon as Fishlegs had turned all his attention to Eret’s wound again, she understood that the gesture hadn’t been meant for her at all.

She jumped as a pair of arms wound around her shoulders and waist and pulled her to the back of the tent, though not out of direct fear as she recognised them as Hiccup’s right away. No, it was the fear of how Fishlegs would react as Hiccup pulled her into his arms and against his chest that made her want to draw back at first. But, of course, Fishlegs was too absorbed by his work to notice anything else right now and he had his back toward them anyway, so she gave in.

Hiccup held her tightly, turning her so she couldn’t watch and murmuring reassurances into her ear to drown out Eret’s noises of pain. They all knew that it was necessary to suture the gash, but that didn’t make it any easier – for anyone. No, all she could do was try to not make it harder for Eret by showing how much his pain affected her too.

Instead, she pressed harder into Hiccup’s embrace, clinging to his formal squire outfit, and let his presence soothe her. A small voice inside her head was scolding her for this, for seeking Hiccup’s comfort when Eret was suffering because of her, of them. But she vehemently pushed it aside; Eret’s pain certainly wasn’t Hiccup’s fault. The target on Eret’s back was there, regardless of whether her choosing him was real or not.

She fought to calm herself, but no matter how sensible all their reasoning before had sounded, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Eret getting wounded today was her fault, and hers alone. It didn’t matter whether one wanted to put the blame on Snot or Eret's attacker; in both cases, the reason behind it certainly was Astrid’s choice. She didn’t believe in an otherwise politically motivated attack, not with this impeccable timing.

Thuggory had even warned her that something would happen to her chosen if she didn’t choose him. Was it possible that he somehow was behind this? Eret had been lucky in that the attack had only caused such a relatively light wound, but so easily it could have been a lethal blow. And obviously, his high rank wouldn’t have saved him either.

She didn’t get the chance to further ponder on this, though. Hiccup did his best to distract her from such gloomy thoughts. Despite her worries over Eret’s well-being and flinching at every muffled noise of pain, she eventually gave in to Hiccup’s efforts. She made herself focus on every single one of his light touches and even enjoyed the way he caressed her and covered her face and hair with soft soothing kisses. It wasn’t enough to forget what was happening behind her or why – but it felt good nonetheless.

She wasn’t sure for how long she stood like this, closely encased in Hiccup’s arms and with his lips on her ear murmuring sweet nothings, with Fishlegs patching up the wound with moss and a tight bandage, with Dagur and Eret engaging him in a conversation to keep him from paying much attention to his surroundings, and with Tuff conveniently standing in the way should Fishlegs turn around anyway. It could have been only minutes or maybe it was over an hour. She knew that she was pushing her luck by refusing to step away, but she just felt as if she needed Hiccup’s closeness to cope. Last night and this morning had been good, but it had been far from enough to fully chase away the anxiousness and the pain of their separation before. It might have been her worries for Eret that had made her come here, but now that she knew he would be okay – and already was fairly okay with Dagur comforting him – she couldn’t help but give in and bask in Hiccup’s warmth. Their love was like a shield to ward off all the pain and misery around them, impenetrable and keeping them safe no matter what.

But she really shouldn’t have pushed her luck.

She didn’t even notice as the entrance of the tent flapped open and someone came in. In fact, nobody seemed to notice at first, the men caught up in their conversation, until a loud exclamation and the noise of a plate breaking on the floor drew all their attention.

“No!”

With a spark of her old panic, Astrid whirled around and away from Hiccup, just as everyone else turned toward the newcomer as well. Tuff even made a hasty step to the side to stand between her and Hiccup and the entrance, but it was too late.

Heather had seen enough to understand and, judging by the anger on her face, didn’t like what she saw. Before anyone could react, she stormed through the tent and grabbed Astrid by her arm. “Don’t you dare,” she shrieked, apparently not caring for her rank in the slightest as she pulled her away from Hiccup’s side with enough force that it hurt. “Don’t you dare ruin this.”

Astrid could do little but stumble along, bewildered when she spotted tears forming in Heather’s eyes, accusation and a kind of pain on her face that made her tremble. But before she could even try to make any rhyme or reason of her behaviour, Heather let go of her arm, nearly causing her to fall if Tuff hadn’t caught her, and turned toward Hiccup instead.

“And you,” she continued without pause, making a baffled Hiccup take a step backwards at her approach. “Stay away from the Princess. I don’t care how impressive your seduction skills might be; she’s not for you! Do you hear me? Get lost, there’s nothing to gain here for you except the noose!”

At that, Astrid froze, eyes wide in panic. No! No, Heather couldn’t tell anyone, couldn’t get Hiccup punished, not now. She couldn’t! She wanted to interrupt Heather’s tirade, wanted to order her to be quiet, to make her understand. She wasn’t sure why Heather was reacting that strongly or what it was exactly she could do to keep her from running directly to her father, but she just had to do something. However, before she could make any attempt at getting her body to react as it was supposed to, Dagur beat her to it.

“Heather, what–” he tried to interfere, to distract or even to calm his half-sister. But all it gained him was her turning on him and Eret next. Her angry expression grew even more intense as she stomped through the tent until she loomed over them, ignoring her brother and glaring down at Eret instead.

“I can’t believe it,” she hissed. “I know it’s all just an act, but still. Setting your squire up to seduce your bride, using him as some kind of bait or toyboy for her to fool around with, and all just because you’re not interested and don’t want to face reality – you should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Heather, calm down,” Dagur interrupted her again, more firmly this time. “That’s not what this is about at all. Listen, I–”

But he got no chance to explain further.

From one second to the other, Heather became eerily quiet, and even though Astrid couldn’t see her face, it had to be quite intimidating as not only Dagur but also Eret and even Fishlegs clamped their mouths shut as she turned toward him.

“Don’t you dare!” she spat. She was shaking now with livid rage. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down or that this is not what it looks like. I know exactly what this is about. It’s about you being a selfish ass, about to ruin my life without even batting an eye. Or can you look me in the eye and swear on all that’s sacred to you that this is not about you all pretending for Astrid and Eret to get married, when in truth, you’re only looking for a way to circumvent your responsibilities.”

A stunned silence spread through the tent. Dagur had his mouth open to protest, but couldn’t get a single word out. And Astrid couldn’t even blame him. Heather had nailed it – even though in a completely different way than she thought. His eyes darted from Heather to Eret then to her and Hiccup and back to Heather before he closed his mouth again

“That’s what I thought,” she said bitterly. “But if you think I’m just going to stand and watch then you’re wrong.”

She turned and was about to leave when Dagur caught himself again. “No, wait!” he exclaimed, reaching out and catching her by the arm. She fought against his hold, but he wouldn’t budge, even pulled her back until he had his arms around her.

“Let me go,” she wailed. She was still fighting her brother, but without any true force anymore. Instead, she looked as if she was about to burst out into tears at any moment.

“Not until you tell me what all this is about,” he grunted. “What do you mean by ‘ruining your life’? I’d never do something to harm you, don’t you know that?” Still holding her tight, Dagur turned her around in his arms as Heather seemed to deflate until her head leaned against his chest and her tears were soaking his tunic.

After all of these years married, Astrid guessed that Fishlegs knew by now that it was better for him to keep out of any arguments between the siblings. But even as he’d clearly wanted to support his wife just now, still being busy with Eret’s wound had kept him from interfering – until now. “It’s… because of your father,” he threw in, cautiously. “And the succession.”

Astrid was on edge, watching the scene in front of her intently. Dagur seemed to have Heather under control for now and he certainly was the best one suited here to talk sense into her anyway – but that didn’t mean that Astrid would let her ruin everything. She was tense, trembling even, and ready to jump in should Heather make another attempt to run away.

So, at first, she didn’t quite appreciate Hiccup approaching her again, much less wrapping one arm around her waist from where he stood half behind her and half to her side. Didn’t he understand how much was at stake right not? But when she turned to look at him, to make him understand why she had to interfere, he shook his head.

“Let Dagur handle this,” he whispered with a strange expression in his eyes. “If it’s about their father, you can’t do anything here.”

She wanted to argue – but after only one heartbeat, she closed her mouth again and nodded. He was right; if this was in some way about House Berserker and their family, then they had to clear this up themselves.

Still ready to interfere if needed, she let Hiccup pull her closer to him. It wasn’t an obvious gesture that would draw Heather’s attention again, but still soothing enough, and only now did Astrid realise how much she’d been shaking. And despite the disturbing scene in front of them, she couldn’t help but lean even more into him, seeking his closeness as she tried to make sense.

What was all this about? House Berserker’s line of succession? How was there any room for arguments? Dagur was the sole heir and that was it. Wasn’t it? Astrid was relieved that Heather didn’t seem to care about her and Hiccup directly, but that only eased the situation so much.

Dagur seemed equally puzzled though. “What?” he asked, bewildered, and kept glancing from Fishlegs to Heather and back again. “What’s that supposed to mean? What has Father to do with any of this?”

Heather scoffed, her eyes growing hooded and angry. "You don’t get it, do you?” She pushed herself away from him again, and this time he let her as it was clear that she wasn’t about to run away again. Not yet at least. “If you know how and where to listen, the rumours are clear enough. Even I have heard about you moaning into a cup of ale by now, about how you’d rather get a clean death on the battlefield then die slowly of a broken heart married to someone you don’t love.” She laughed bitterly. “So, of course, Father heard about that too, that you’re considering taking the warrior way out. He even came up with an emergency plan already, a loophole. And a while ago, he came to our home to tell me about it.” She made a subconscious step toward Fishlegs, one arm wrapped tightly around herself. “If you died or,” she glanced at Eret, “did something else that would keep you from inheriting, then my child will be on hook to take your place.”

Astrid’s eyes widened in disbelief, and judging by the silence that followed her words, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Y-your child?” Dagur eventually inquired, puzzled. “But that doesn’t make any sense. If you or any other of our sibling could inherit then there wouldn’t be a problem at all. Aren alone would make for an excellent leader in my stead,” he went on, referring to their younger brother who’d joined the Order of Odin, if Astrid remembered correctly.

Heather sobbed, even though she still sounded angry. “Yeah, we can’t inherit. We might be his acknowledged children, but the Law says that any child born out of wedlock or by an Ástir cannot inherit, or be a part of a noble House,” she spat bitterly.

Dagur shook his head, confused. “But… you’ve known that, and you’ve even told me that you’re happy about that. Haven’t you said – more than once if I recall – that you’re even glad not to be noble, with all those puffed-up lords and ladies in Southshore?”

“Aye. And that’s still true,” Heather huffed. “But think it through, brother. Children born out of wedlock or by an Ástir can’t inherit.”

Dagur nodded hesitantly, obviously trying to find what the loophole was. Then Astrid had to muffle a gasp when it hit her.

“Yes, the Princess got it,” Heather said sourly. “My child wouldn’t be the child of an Ástir.”

“Just a former one,” Astrid said numbly.

“And born in wedlock and an undisputed descendant of our father... apparently that’s good enough,” Heather confirmed in a bleak voice before it grew thick with tears. “He said he’d only... only take them if you were to die on the battlefield before you produced an heir, but…” again, her eyes flickered to Eret, “but we both know that’s not the main problem. You don’t want to marry, ever, so it’s inevitable. He’ll take my baby away from me! Justin and I wouldn’t even be allowed to come too; he’d just take them away and raise them as his own. And all just because you are too selfish to stand up to your responsibilities!”

Her voice had become thinner with every word, and for another heartbeat or three, all that could be heard was her sobbing before Dagur apparently caught himself again. “I didn’t know that,” he muttered, a troubled grimace on his face. Then he shook his head. “It’s true that I said something like that once, but… but I didn’t mean it!” Heather just stared at him with teary eyes, and he started to babble. “Odin! I’d never actively try to kill myself, no matter what. And even though I’m not exactly looking forward to a political marriage, I know about my responsibilities. But with knowing this, I have even more reason to stand up to them. I-I will take my place and prove to Father that he doesn’t need to bother you with this. Believe me, Heather, I won’t let anyone take your child away should you ever have one; not even our father!”

Another sob tore itself from her throat, louder and more urgent. Fishlegs, who’d just finished patching Eret up and had cleaned his hands, finally stood up, and Heather accepted his embrace gladly. She muttered something that sounded like “But that’ll be too late,” though Astrid wasn’t quite sure whether she’d understood it right. Dagur seemed equally confused, but before he could react, Eret preempted him.

“You’re already pregnant, aren’t you?” he said quietly. His skin was still covered in cold sweat from before, but despite the slightly dazed expression on his face, there was a clarity in his eyes that left no room for doubts. And it made sense, Astrid realised. The way Heather had begged her to marry Dagur or Eret, to separate them so that they would focus on their duties as heir instead. But also how she’d been overly tired, how she would wrap her arm around her midst in something of a protective gesture, how Fishlegs would jump up and prepare a cup of tea for her whenever he thought she needed one, and even the fact that he hadn’t needed that box of moss meant to deal with moonblood anymore – it all made sense now.

Weakly, Heather nodded. “Five months now,” she breathed. “We didn’t even plan for it to happen, knew how risky it was ever since he visited us. But when it did happen… we were so happy.” She leaned closer against Fishlegs, snuggling into his embrace in a way Astrid could emphasise all too well. “We were worried how Father would react if he learned about it, but when Astrid’s wedding was announced… I thought that was a sign from my Goddess herself, a reassurance that I wouldn’t need to be afraid anymore. That everything would be fine, that I would get to keep my child. But now…” She broke off again as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

With a heavy sigh, Dagur stepped closer to them, his hand reaching for that of his sister. “I’m truly sorry, Heather. I didn’t know any of that. But… but I promise you don’t need to be afraid, okay? You’re my sister and I’d do everything for you. I meant what I said and I gladly repeat it again for you. I vow, by the life of the woman who raised us both and who we both love dearly, that I won’t let anyone take your child away from you!”

A faint smile crossed Heather’s face but didn’t reach her eyes. “I’d like to believe you,” she whispered, and then glanced at Eret on his bench. “And yet, here you are, still holding on to your impossible feelings for each other and even luring Astrid into your charade to cover for you. All just to stave off the only option that won’t end in even more people getting hurt. It’s only a few months now, why-why can’t you just accept it?”

Dagur opened his mouth to reply but closed it again right away. And what was he supposed to say anyway? Astrid vividly remembered Dagur placing his weapon to Eret’s feet during the tournament a week ago, remembered the short conversation they’d had afterwards. Eret and Dagur already had accepted their fate, long ago. Their love wasn’t what Heather needed to be concerned about...

“But he’s right,” she interjected on Dagur’s behalf, drawing everyone’s attention. Maybe it would be better to let Heather believe what she’d just said… but she owed it to Eret and Dagur to set this right. “What you saw… that wasn’t about Dagur and Eret at all. It… it’s my fault. It’s me who…” She trailed off again, unsure what she even wanted to say. It was her fault that everything was so complicated – because she couldn’t bear the thought of a life other than at Hiccup’s side.

Trying to make a point, she blindly reached for his hand on her shoulder, weaving her fingers through his as she held Heather’s gaze. She wanted her to understand. That she loved Hiccup, that he was more than just a distraction, her end of a deal. He was her soulmate. They loved each other, couldn’t live without each other. This had nothing to do with Eret or Dagur or her or anyone else.

And really, there was understanding in Heather’s eyes – but not the slightest hint of compassion. Mutely, she wound herself out of her husband’s arms, crouched down to pick up the shards of the plate she’d dropped earlier, and then turned to leave.

“Wait!” Dagur quickly caught her by the arm again, not with as much force as before but still enough to make her pause. “What are you going to do now? Will you… tell anyone?”

Oh, please not! Astrid prayed inwardly. If Heather told anyone… No, that couldn’t be happening. They had to stop her, somehow, just–

But Heather shook her head. “No,” she said in a bleak voice. “No, I won’t spill your secrets. I… I trust in your integrity, Dagur, that I can rely on your promise. But just to make this clear: if I ever have to choose between my hard-earned happiness and my loyalty to you nobles who wouldn’t stand up to your responsibilities… then I know my choice already.” She gave them all a last hard glare, then pulled her arm out of Dagur’s hold and left the tent. And even though Astrid wanted to be angry at her for this clear show of defiance... some deeply buried part of her couldn’t even blame her.

Responsibilities…

Yes, they all had a lot of them. Their lives came with many privileges compared to those of lower birth, and even though it wasn’t always easy, it certainly was simpler than that of many others. But this life came with a price, with responsibilities they all had to the people. They had to keep up stability and peace, had to follow the rules…

Needing his support, she turned to look at Hiccup again. She hoped to find comfort in his eyes, the reassurance that their love would endure every storm. As long as they had each other, nothing could go wrong, their love shielding them from everything.

But instead of that reassurance and comfort, all she could find in his eyes were desperation and pain.

He didn’t give her the chance to drown in those emotions, though. Instead, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his panted breaths heaving against her neck – but Astrid had seen enough, understood.

What had just happened with Heather… it didn’t affect her and Hiccup, not directly at least. Marrying Dagur had never really been an option and she fully trusted in his integrity anyway, so her and Hiccup looking for a way to be together didn’t make a difference there.

But that wasn’t the point anyway.

Their last resort… it wasn’t something they could do for real, she understood that now. Hiccup’s reluctance and Eret’s warning from last night, it all made sense to her now. No matter how strong her love for Hiccup was, it wasn’t worth everything. Even though she might want to, she couldn’t just run away from her responsibilities, not when that meant putting others in harm’s way.

And Eret had been right. Eloping just like that would not just be risky and most likely not work; it would also cause some serious political consequences, for House Jag’r but also for the Crown in general. Maybe things were different, maybe nobody would suffer from her actions as directly as Heather might suffer if Dagur wouldn’t be able to keep his promise. But that didn’t mean that she could take that risk lightly. There would be accusations and possibly even actions against Eret and his House, and people would lose their trust in House Hofferson too, in her Father and in Daniel. No, those weren’t things she could risk. Their love might be like a shield, but that didn’t mean she could hide behind it and ignore everything else.

With a low whimper, she pressed herself closer to Hiccup’s chest, felt how his arms around her tightened. A future without him wasn’t an option, but how could they reach it, that vision of their simple home?

More of Eret’s words from last night crossed her mind, about how there might be ways to prepare their disappearance. So far, she hadn’t let herself think about that too much, but now… How could they prepare her running away with Hiccup without it causing such a political uproar?

The answer was as simple as it was impossible. The only way for her to escape her golden cage was the same Dagur had apparently also already thought about. She’d have to die – except not for real, of course. Because in opposition to Dagur, her death wouldn’t harm anyone. She’d only have to fake it convincingly enough so that nobody would have any doubts.

Something like a hysterical laugh escaped her, one that directly changed into quiet sobbing. How were they supposed to pull that off? How could she make people believe that she was dead without a body? Because killing someone else who vaguely resembled her and mutilate their body to hide the differences was out of the question.

No, this wasn’t a sensible option either. She’d probably ponder more on this, but…

She pulled back, catching Hiccup’s wondering gaze for a heartbeat before she stretched to press her lips to his. He caught up to her mood without a pause, hurling her as close as was physically possible and kissing her with the same desperation she felt, too.

There had to be a solution! There had to be a way to make her choosing Hiccup as her husband possible. There still would be people who’d complain, but as long as he was legally eligible that wouldn’t matter.

They just had to find it…

. o O o .

So, erm... that was that. I honestly never thought the day would come where I shed even one tear for Heather... But writing this chapter certainly made me do so a lot!

#FTLOAP #For The Love Of A Princess #Hiccstrid #Hiccstrid fanfiction #fanfiction #httyd #httyd fanfiction #medieval au #Hiccstrid Medieval AU #royalty au #hiccstrid royal au #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #httyd romance

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