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blitzendoggo · 1 year

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Under Love’s Heavy Burden do I Sink

Garrick and Erik Whitman are Wecland's Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers that fell in love despite it all, but they both hold a secret. The marriage was for convenience and their love is an act, or is it?

Warning for mature acts

Garrick Whitman/Erik Statton (7527 words)

***

“I now pronounce you lawfully wedded husbands. You may kiss the groom.”

“The game begins now, please follow me,” the Gerald’s monotone voice echoes through Whitman’s quiet dorm.

“Da hell you say to me, tin can?” Garrick grumbles, his thick Wecland accent almost too heavy for the construct to understand.

“The game begins now, please follow me,” it repeats. Garrick glares daggers through the machine as he pushes his messy black hair from his eyes. The Gerald does not waver under his intense gaze and instead waits silently for the dwarf to get out of bed. Each of the Geralds looks slightly different, with minor markings that help their “owners” distinguish them from the other constructs. Whitman’s is made of a slightly darker stone with shining silver and gold details lining the body. The construct rolls to the door, waiting as Whitman gets dressed in his normal black suit and fixes his hair into place with practiced ease. He stalks up to the construct, grumbling obscenities about how the only reason a dwarf should be up this early would be to take someone swimming with concrete. The Gerald blinks at him apathetically before whirling off down the corridor.

When Whitman follows him, smoothing his haphazardly thrown-on suit as he does, he is slightly startled to see all of the other contestants following their respective Geralds.

“Guess everyone’s gotta put up with this shit, huh?” a certain red tiefling says as he appears next to Garrick. In his hands, he is carrying a plate of simple breakfast foods which he eats sparingly. Erik is dressed in gray sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt, a very casual look compared to Whitman’s all-black suit. Scattered around both of their necks are thin bruises, ones not left from Fight Night. The dwarf stares at him, drinking in his morning look until the tiefling flashes him a nervous smile. “Everything okay, love?” he asks, emphasizing the pet name.

Whitman blinks slowly before smiling tiredly. “Yeah, sorry sweets, didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, and now we gotta get up before the fuckin’ birds to do God knows what,” he gripes, gesturing wildly with his hands and with a seemingly permanent scowl stuck to his face. The horned man takes his hand and runs his thumb over the back of it, soothing Garrick enough for him to be just below seething.

Erik snickers and offers some of his food to the dwarf. “Ya know, if they would’ve just roomed us together like we’d asked, this wouldn’t be a problem,” he gripes softly so that the other contestants can’t overhear. “It ain’t like we’re married or nothin’.”

Sariya and Twist giggle at them as they stride past, Skog tiredly lumbering after the human. Neither of the men pays them any mind. The ring of bruises would catch anyone’s eye, and they are used to drawing attention regardless of that. They are the infamous star-crossed lovers of Wecland, Garrick from old money Northside and Erik from no money Southside. They are the inspiration for many young queer lovers to step into the light, a fact that they take great pride in. Their story is a news sinsation because they were married in secret before being forced into the harsh public eye by a nosey journalist. Their names are synonymous with Wecland, triumph, and true love, and who could ask for more?

Erik watches in amusement as the dwarf swipes most of the bacon off of his plate. He laughs softly as he says, “I take it they didn’t feed you?”

“No they fucking didn’t,” Garrick says hotly but none of the heat is directed at the tiefling, as he shovels the bacon into his mouth. “Mm,” he groans, “that’s the good shit.”

Erik laughs again. “Did you even taste that?” he teases, flicking his tail out to swipe against the back of Whitman’s suit. Garrick picks up an apple slice and presses it to Erik’s lips who takes a bite of it with a smile.

“No, I just need it in my fuckin’ stomach, I don’t need to taste it,” Garrick quips back. Erik rolls his eyes and gently pulls his hand away. He sticks it into his sweatpants’ pocket before quickly pulling it out and putting it in the other one. A look of brief concern flashes across his face as he begins to quickly touch every pocket on his being several times over, becoming increasingly frantic as he does. “Somethin’ wrong, toots?”

“Damn Gerald ran me out of my damn room before I could get one of my pops,” Erik hisses, the plate tittering in one hand as he frantically pats his pockets.

Garrick tsks before reaching a hand into his jacket liner pocket. He pulls out a single green apple sucker before presenting it to the suddenly less frantic tiefling. “Lotta ‘em probably left shit in their rooms, making us wake up like this,” Garrick says dismissively as Erik takes the sucker.

“You carry these for me?” he asks, genuinely taken back.

“Only after you almost started chewing on me at that fancy dinner two months back,” the dwarf chuckles, remembering how antsy his poor husband had been. For the first time in their marriage, Erik had forgotten to grab something to chew on before leaving the house. He had kept grating his teeth or trying to chew on his nails to which Garrick had responded by holding one. This didn’t stop Erik as he just tried to then chew on the dwarf’s hands.

Erik gives Whitman a smile that seems too soft, too genuine to be seen in these mildly crowded halls before quietly saying, “thank you, Garrick. You didn’t have to do this.”

Garrick almost gawks at the amount of emotion that drips from the statement, but the moment is quickly shattered as their Geralds begin to go different directions, forcing them apart. The Geralds leads him down elegant hallways, taking twists and turns that Garrick hadn’t even known existed before arriving at a simple room. The dwarf tentatively enters and tries not to panic when the Gerald shuts the door behind them. In the center of the room is a beautiful wooden table with a chair opposite the door. The Gerald rolls to the side opposite the chair before calmly saying, “please take a seat the game is about to begin.”

“Are you gonna explain what the fucks goin’ on?” Whitman huffs. He is mostly bark, but it’s gotten him through most situations in life. The Gerald does not respond this time and Garrick begrudgingly sits down in the lavish chair.

Once he has sat down the Gerald places a fairly ordinary button on the table and the speaker system crackles to life. “Hello, hello everyone!” the gamemaster’s voice rings out. “And welcome to ‘The Billionaire's Dilemma’! In the months leading up to the Business Venture, we hired a large variety of detectives, spies, and private investigators to dig up as much dirt on you as possible.”

“The hell?” Whitman growls, but the Gamemaster’s voice does not stop.

“As a testament of how much we know, you can refer to those beautiful poems I wrote for you yesterday.”

Garrick touches his breast pocket where he shoved the shredded note, mentally reciting the words.

“Two Wecland boys with their heads held high, Unable to stop their deadly lies.

A spider’s web of golden rings Bind their hands to hospital wings

Cupid will strike with deadly aim Shot through the heart and it’s too late

Wedding vows to sign a paper Become ever harder to waver”

“Now in our files, we have secrets about you and your business, ones that I have no doubt that you would not want the general public to know, and in front of you is a button.

“Every contestant is hearing my same speech at the same time and will receive the same rules of the game. The rules are as follows: rule number one, if nobody pushes the button all secrets are kept secret; rule number two, if any mix of contestants push the button, the secrets of those who did not push the button will be revealed, any button pushers secrets will be kept secret; however, rule number three, if all contestants push the button, seven of you will be chosen at random and will have your secret revealed to the world.

“So to recap, if nobody pushes the button, there’s a hundred percent chance that your secret is safe with me, the Gamemaster, but if everybody pushes it there is a one in eight chance that your secret is safe, and if a mix of contestants push the button only those who push it will be safe. The question is, will you push the button?

“Your Gerald will now answer any questions you may have, but please understand that they may not be able to answer everything. You have five minutes. Have fun.”

Garrick sits in a dumbfounded silence before slowly looking over to the Gerald. “What in the hell did we do to deserve this?”

“I am unsure, sir,” the Gerald responds in a flat monotone. “It is just a part of the game.”

He slumps in his chair, running a hand over his face over and over until his hair is messed up.

“This ain’t fuckin’ fair,” he growls. “It ain’t just my secret that I’m protecting!” He pushes his chair back and begins pacing, kicking the table as he passes it.

“One minute, sir,” the Gerald warns.

Garrick snarls at the machine before running a hand through his hair, tearing it further out of place before returning to the table.

“I hope you’re fuckin’ happy,” he seethes as he slams his palm down on the button. He stalks out of the room, not bothering to fix his hair or attitude. He passes a deranged Arliss, muttering incoherently to the staff in their hands, as he stomps to his room. He throws open his door, wanting nothing more than to drink all his liquor bottles dry, and is startled to find Erik leaning against his table. “Fuck you doin’ in-”

“Shut the door, Whitman,” Erik cuts him off. The lollipop stick hangs from his mouth, but his scowl is no sweeter for it.

Garrick steps in through the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“Did you press the button?” Erik asks bluntly. “Because I did.”

The wind is taken from his sails and he deflates, as he takes small, tired steps toward Erik. “Of course I fuckin’ did, it wasn’t just my secret I was protecting,” he grumbles. They sit in silence before Whitman cautiously asks, “what was on your poem anyway?”

Erik tenses before he begins to fidget with the golden band on his finger. Garrick had hand-made the matching rings with the tiny jewels having been picked out by Erik. The bands were originally silver, but Erik demanded they be gold because “it looks better”.

“Just suggested that they knew the real reason I got married to you,” he says lowly. His hand falls from the ring and raises to his throat where his fingertips ghost over the hickies.

A silence falls over them once more, much heavier than before.

“I’m going to the bar,” Erik says as he goes to the door.

“What are the odds of us getting out of this without getting caught?” Garrick asks before he can get out the door.

The tiefling laughs cynically. “How much do you want me to lie to you, love?” The pet name was meant to be ironic, but it stings Garrick somewhere that feels dangerously like his heart.

“That’s what I thought,” he sighs, stalking to his liquor cabinet. The door behind him shuts quietly as he pours himself a stiff drink of whiskey. He downs the glass in one go and pours himself a second, looking skyward as he does. “Ma, what have I gotten myself into?” he pleads as he downs the second drink, already knowing he’ll regret it soon. He laughs maniacally as he reaches for the bottle again. “I fell in love with my husband, and he has no idea.”

“No ‘cause you shoulda seen them when they left that damn room!” Erik whisper-shouts. “Now I ain’t one to judge-”

“Really now?” Garrick teases, taking another sip of his whiskey.

“I ain’t! But I know Skog is hung like a damn horse-”

“Woah, you checkin’ out other men?” Garrick asks, feigning anger and protectiveness.

“I don’t wanna hear shit from you! You know I’m right! You are fuckin’ eye-level with his crotch, you gotta see what I’m seein’!” Erik shoots back, clearly drunk off his ass. Garrick drunkenly laughs, nodding to the statement. It is one of the unfortunate realities of being five-foot-tall that he is often crotch- or tit-level with the other races. “And all I’m sayin’ is that Twist ain’t a big girl!”

“What does that matter?” the dwarf asks, using his drink to kill the last of his giggles.

“‘Cause I share a wall with the damn orc and I ain’t listenin’ to hamster-banana all night!”

Garrick chokes on his whiskey, spitting it out across the bar as he roars with laughter. He knows he’s a little drunk, but damn he hasn’t laughed like this in years. He laughs for a full minute before he can get enough air in to form a sentence. “God,” he sighs, “ya know, I’m never gonna unsee that?”

“I ain’t ever gonna un-hear it!” Erik shoots back.

“Why don’t you just stay the night with me?” the dwarf asks.

The tiefling tilts his head to the side before making a “sure-why-not” face. He takes a drink of his fruity little mix before seeming to get a devilish idea. The smell of alcohol rolls off the horned man as he leans in close to Garrick, his lips ghosting over the shell of the dwarf’s ear. “If you are goin’ to bed me, you’re goin’ to have to work for it.” Before Garrick can respond, Erik shoots down his drink and disappears into the crowd with a beckoning gesture.

Garrick laughs before downing the rest of his drink. “You are going to be the death of me,” he laughs as he follows his husband through the crowd. They are dressed in lavish, matching suits which make them stand out in the sea of people. Erik is wearing all black with gold accents on his buttons and lining his jacket. He has gloves on, but his ring is displayed proudly on his left horn. Garrick is wearing a solid white suit with similar golden accents. He has no gloves, so his ring shines in the flashing lights of the asteroids.

The most noticeable aspect of their outfits is the matching filigree sprouting from the wounds they were forced to inflict on each other during the fight night. Gold and white patterns swirl from Erik’s neck and up into his hairline and spreading across the entire left side of his face like a tattoo and sprouting from both shoulders of his suit jacket. The detailing swirls and grows, connecting over his heart in a simple infinity shape. Garrick has the same pattern in black and gold dancing up the side of his stomach and down from the right side of the base of his neck, connecting in the same infinity symbol over his heart. The detailing is illusion magic since they had no way to get these suits done in the short time they had to get dressed, but the symbolism of it doesn’t escape the guests who turn and stare at the pair.

It’s not easy for the short man to track his husband in the crowd, so he tracks the glinting gold of his ring. Suddenly Erik stops in the center of the dance floor.

“If you wanted to dance, you coulda just said that,” Garrick teases as he steps up to his husband.

“I doubt that,” the taller counters before grabbing two drinks off a passing tray. “Champagne?”

Garrick looks at him unamused. “You know I don’t drink that shit unless I gotta.”

Erik shrugs and downs both glasses. “More for me then,” he slurs stepping a little too close to the dwarf.

“Oh, come on, you ain’t a lightweight,” Garrick says, adjusting his hold on his husband so they can dance around with the rest of the crowd.

“Correct,” Erik nods before giving him a lopsided grin, “but I’ve had a lot of liquor tonight.”

Their dancing isn’t good by any imagination of the word. They aren’t in time, and neither of them actually knows how to dance, but that doesn’t stop them. With both of them clearly being too drunk to even try to dance properly, they giggle at every misstep and tease at every wrong turn.

Suddenly the music becomes much slower, and the slow dances begin. It’s more elegant than the actual dancing which, considering slow dancing consists of swaying side to side, isn’t much of a surprise.

It’s no secret that Garrick thinks the tiefling is handsome, or at least it shouldn’t be. Their love is famous across all of the Sublime Union, and they openly dote on each other in public, but to each other the love is fake. Erik doesn’t know how much his husband actually adores him, he doesn’t know how much Garrick would give up to make the tiefling happy. His eyes trace every detail in his handsome face, mentally cursing how his beautiful eyes are hidden behind his damn sunglasses, and follows the filigree down his face, settling on the almost deadly wound on his neck.

“I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to shoot you in the neck,” Garrick purrs, running his fingers up his neck, tracing the intricate details. His voice is low and just barely audible in the loud room.

Erik leans into the touch, his eyes flittering shut. “I know, mafia,” he says, using the old nickname to tease the shorter.

Instead of answering him, Garrick leans up on his tiptoes and gently kisses the mark. Erik goes still, and, for a moment, Garrick worries he’s crossed a line, but then the tiefling relaxes, bringing one of his hands up to bury it in the dwarf’s slicked hair. He presses Garrick’s face further into his neck, rolling his head back as he does to give the shorter more access. The dwarf continues to mouth along Erik’s neck, encouraged by the breathy sounds escaping the tiefling’s mouth.

Erik suddenly pulls him back and before Garrick can get a word out, their mouths are smashed together. The kiss is messy, with teeth and tongue in places Garrick didn’t know were possible.

“Let’s go,” Erik whispers between kisses, and the dwarf wastes no time taking him by the hand and dragging them to his room. The entire walk, Erik won’t keep his hands -or mouth- to himself as he runs them all over Garrick’s body. It feels like ages before the door to his room closes behind him, and the moment it does, Erik is trying to rip the fancy suits off of them as he practically pushes Garrick to the bed.

Garrick stops his hands before they undo both belts.

“How drunk are you,” he asks between pants.

“Why the hell does that matter?” Erik says breathily as he mouths along the dwarf’s short-cut beard.

“Because I think you don’t know what you’re doing,” Garrick says softly.

The tiefling raises his head and glares at the dwarf, an effect which is broken by his wide-blown pupils. “I know what I’m doing,” he says simply before returning to trying to undo both belts while marking up Garrick’s neck.

Whitman raises a hand and gently grabs Erik’s neck, pulling him away from his neck and pulling him into another filthy kiss.

“How about a deal, pretty boy?” he whispers once they separate, their lips only a hair’s breadth apart.

“What now?” Erik whines, both at the nickname and the lack of lips on his.

“Deal is, we wait until you’re sober that way, I don’t feel like I’m taking advantage of you.” He gives Erik another kiss before asking again, “how does that sound to you?”

“I’m sober enough now,” he whines, trying to kiss Garrick again.

“Ah, ah, ah,” the dwarf tsks, tightening his hold on his neck. He can feel Erik’s pulse quicken under his fingers. “That’s not the deal, handsome.”

“That’s not fair,” the tiefling whimpers, clearly not thinking with his full brain power.

“What’s not fair, angel?”

He whines again, and this time Garrick can time his quickening pulse to his words.

“Oh, you like pet names, don’t you?” The tiefling doesn’t answer with intelligible words, just breathy noises. “With your words, Erik.”

“Not fair,” he pants again.

“It doesn’t have to be fair.” Garrick licks a stripe up the younger’s neck. “But it does give me a leg up for when you are sober enough to continue.”

“Fine, fine,” he concedes, “but I swear to God, I better get some in the morning.”

Whitman smirks up at him. “Good boy.”

Erik groans. “You and you’re damn conscious,” he grumbles before standing up and taking off the suit jacket.

“Aye, the deal,” Garrick says while the tiefling continues to undress.

“Yeah, I heard the deal, but I’m not sleeping in a Goddamn suit.” He drops his jacket and button-up on the table and begins to dig through his husband’s clothes. “I’m stealing one of your shirts.” He stands up with what Garrick knows is the younger’s favorite lounge shirt. He quickly pulls it on and kicks off his pants. He sees the dwarf’s questioning stare and shrugs. “You know I don’t sleep in a lot of clothes.”

Without another word, he crawls into bed. Garrick gives him a moment to settle before he stands up, ignoring how uncomfortable it is to stand in his tight suit pants and digs out his pajamas. He changes quickly and gets into his bed with Erik, who is already snoring, instantly cuddling up to him.

He never realizes how easy it is for him to fall asleep with his husband curled around him until he wakes up around three AM cold and alone. He knows Erik won’t remember what actually happened in the morning. He never does.

The clock strikes noon and Whitman’s Gerald wakes him from his drunken stupor.

“I apologize sir, but it is time to cast the votes,” the construct says as it holds out a bottle of foul-smelling liquid.

“The fuck is that?” Whitman growls.

“A tonic to remove the hangover you are experiencing,” it replies bluntly. The dwarf snatches the bottle and downs it quickly, gagging at the taste, as he stands up from the table. He picks up the empty whiskey bottles and drops them into the trash can. He gives himself a once over in the mirror, fixing his hair and straightening his suit before following his Gerald to the Voting Hall.

Erik is already sitting in their regular seats, an open one left for Garrick.

“You look like shit, no offense,” the tiefling says quietly.

“I was drinking before this and my tin can gave me somethin’ for the hangover,” he grumbles but his voice softens when he sees Erik visibly flinch from his harsh tone. “Sorry, baby, just nervous is all.”

Erik gives him a small, nervous smile before linking their hands together, more out of habit than out of want. He pulls the dwarf’s hand into his lap, turning it over so he can fidget with his fingers.

Before they can say anything else, the Gamemaster bounds to the podium with his typical enthusiasm as he says, “ladies and gentlemen! Behind closed doors the game has already begun and ended. All of these contestants were brought into separate rooms, outside of any influence, and were told -er, asked rather, to push a button or not. Now in the past, the Business Venture and the Glove of Good Fortune went to whoever got the most votes, and this was a good system for a while and it still is; however, the way we went about getting those votes was frankly flawed, and recent events, such as the war between Kongpine and Yaw, truly helped shed light on how businesses can affect the lives of real people.

“So, you have all noticed that this year’s Business Ventures is very different. In the months prior, I hired a series of private investigators and spies to reveal as much information about the contestants as I could. As proof of this information, yesterday morning each of the contestants awoke to a poem laying on their floor. This poem revealed the information collected, and interestingly every contestant destroyed or hid the poem in one way or another.

“This morning, the contestants were awoken from their sleep and brought into separate rooms where they had to make a gamble. If they all pushed the button, seven of the eight secrets would be revealed. If none of them pushed the button, all of their secrets would be safe. If any combination of the players pushed the button, the ones who did not would have their secret revealed to the world.

“And now the results are in. Who pushed the button? Who did not push the button? Whose secrets will be revealed?”

Behind the Gamemaster, a list of the players' names is projected along the back wall. The air is sucked out of the room as the Gamemaster continues, “Arliss Blackstone pushed the button. Garrick Whitman pushed the button.” The dwarf flashes a nervous glance to Erik who meets it with an equally uncomfortable stare. “Juniper Grail pushed the button. Philip J. Munson pushed the button. Erik Statton pushed the button.” Erik squeezes his hand before the Gamemaster continues. “Sariya Venleth pushed the button. Skog Abdurus pushed the button. And Twist Floramora,” there is an audible creek of the chairs as people lean forward to hear the Gamemaster finish, “pushed the button.”

Hushed whispers rush through the crowd, prayers and swears fall from the player’s mouths, and the Gamemaster is polite enough to let them feel out their panic before continuing, “With that, we have randomly selected one contestant whose secret is safe, the rest, however, will have much explaining to do.

“As for who is safe.” The hall falls silent again as the Gamemaster smirks. “Arliss Blackstone is exempt from the ridicule.” Before he had finished his sentence, Arliss had fallen from their chair speaking quickly in celestial, seeming to praise some entity, probably Mo’tis. “The rest of you, however,” he looks up to smile at the players in varying degrees of distress, “I hope you have a good PR team.”

“We’re fucked,” Erik hisses, “we are so fucked!”

Garrick tightens his grip on the tiefling’s hand. “It’ll be okay, alright?”

Erik looks at him panicked before swallowing hard, “it’ll fuckin’ have to be.”

“Let’s begin with the Whitmans’ secret,” the Gamemaster says, breaking their brief moment of forced calm.

“Shit,” Garrick and Erik say simultaneously, causing some of the nearby crowd to quietly giggle at them.

“They are Wecland’s Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers, who fell in love despite it all. For you see, it is common knowledge that Erik and Garrick Whitman have been happily married for just over three years, but it is not public knowledge why they were married in the first place.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Erik swears.

“Shh,” the dwarf soothes. “It’ll be fine.”

“The poster children of Wecland, the powerful businessmen, running different and yet successful businesses while still being deeply in love were married for convenience.” A gasp rips through the crowd and the other contestants turn to stare at them slack-jawed. “Yes, it is true! The love story that has inspired so many young adults was fabricated to get Erik’s business off the ground and to supply insurance for Whitman and Smirk. But that is not all, folks! There is a second part of their secret that must be known.”

“Don’t you fucking say it,” Garrick seethes. Erik tries in vain to calm him down, running his hands across his arms and whispering quiet words of comfort.

“For you see, it is common knowledge that Tronsan Smirk infamously has a varying number of health issues that have gotten worse in recent months. The cause of this, it would seem, was a blow dealt to his head during an argument he had with Mr. Whitman over his marriage.”

“You mother fucker!” He roars, shooting out of his chair. “Keep my brother’s name out of your mouth!”

“Only if you keep your axe handles away from his head, Mr. Whitman,” the Gamemaster snaps back without missing a beat.

Erik’s eyes snap to the Gamemaster in disbelief, a clear mistake as the moment that Garrick is not being held in place by his husband, he roars in anger. “I didn’t get on this Goddamn ship to be disrespected!” He stomps away, b-lining for the exit. The Geralds attempt to stop him, but he pushes them hard into the walls, some of them becoming almost unnaturally still with an audible crunch.

“Garrick!” Erik calls. “Garrick, wait!”

He doesn’t respond as he throws open the doors.

It has been a long day for everyone. Socialite parties are draining, to say the least, and Erik looks as dead as Garrick feels.

“Come on, baby, let’s get you to bed,” the dwarf says quietly. He has to be careful to maintain his “loving husband” persona, even when in the house. There are a number of servants still milling about the (honestly gaudy) mansion that he and Tronsan inherited.

Erik doesn’t respond instead choosing to limply hold onto his hand as Garrick guides them up the stairs. Right before they can get into their room, Smirk rounds the corner.

“We need to talk,” Smirk says gruffly. The smell of alcohol rolls off of him in waves, almost making Garrick drunk just by standing close to him.

Whitman looks at him confused as he glances at his watch. “Can’t it wait ‘til morning? It's like 2 in the mornin’.”

“No, we gotta talk about it now,” Smirk all but hisses.

Whitman blinks slowly at him, tired brain not quite keeping track of the brief conversation before looking up at the tiefling and back to his brother. “Yeah, okay, we can talk, let me just make sure he makes it to bed, and then-”

“No,” Smirk snaps. “The tiefling comes too.”

“What involves all of us?” Erik tiredly slurs, resting his head on top of Garrick’s as he fights to stay awake.

“Your marriage and our business,” Smirk says lowly. “Now open the door and let's talk.”

Erik gives Garrick a questioning look only for the dwarf to shrug and open the door. Their bedroom is decorated with elegant pictures and a number of weapons made by Whitman and his father over the years. Shades of rich red, and rusty brown line the walls with black and gold accents on the fixtures. There’s a massive desk with scrolls and papers scattered about which sits under an even larger window. The room is draped in shadows, illuminated by only the moonlight, giving it an ominous presence.

“Light,” Garrick commands, and the magic torches on the walls spark to life, bathing the room in a warm glow as Smirk closes the door behind them.

“When were you gonna tell me?” He asks hotly.

The husbands share a confused look before Garrick asks, “tell you what?”

Smirk doesn’t respond, choosing instead to gesture at them.

“Yeah sorry, but I don’t know what,” Erik mimics Smirks gesture, “means.”

“I mean,” Smirk hisses, “when were you gonna tell me about the marriage?”

“How drunk are you?” Garrick asks, slightly concerned about the safety of the other dwarf. “You know we’re married. You were my best man in the fancy-ass wedding.”

“Yeah, I was, but you fuckin’ lied to me!” Smirk takes a step forward and Whitman instinctively puts himself between his husband and his brother, holding his arms out in a defensive manner. His brother’s temper can easily get the better of him, especially if he’s drunk, and he’s prone to starting physical fights. The last thing Garrick wants is for Smirk to hurt his husband. Only because it would look bad for him. No other reason.

“Tronsan, what are you talking about?” Whitman asks.

Smirk sticks a hand into his suit jacket and pulls out an envelope, throwing it down in front of the other dwarf. Whitman’s eyes don’t leave Smirk as he crouches to grab the letter.

“I ain’t a damn animal, just read the fuckin’ letter, Whitman,” Smirk growls like an animal backed into a corner.

Garrick opens the letter, skimming it over as he watches his brother breathe raggedly in the corner of his eye.

Whitman’s mouth goes dry and behind him, Erik’s breath hitches as he reads the document over his shoulder. It's the written legal agreement discussing the reason for their marriage. It details the tax exemptions, the insurance provided to Whitman and Smirk should something happen to Garrick, and how the arrangement will allow Erik to get his company off the ground. Details that were not supposed to be known outside of Garrick, Erik, and their lawyer. Whitman takes the papers and stuffs them into his pocket.

“Care to explain that?” Smirk seethes, cocking his head to the side as he takes another predatory step toward them.

“Smirk, I have no fuckin’ clue what’s special about them,” Whitman tries.

“Don’t pull that shit on me,” the dwarf growls.

“Its just a normal business ledger,” Erik doubles down, yawning before pulling a disgusted expression as he sniffs the air. “How much booze did ya have?”

“I know what I fuckin’ read!” Smirk roars. Erik visibly flinches back, backing up towards the far wall, more awake than he was moments ago.

“Smirk calm down, you’re fuckin’ drunk,” Whitman says again, trying to keep a full fight from breaking out. “We can talk about this when you can see straight.”

“I can see straight through your damn lies!” He lunges forward, trying to grab Whitman by the lapels of his jacket. Whitman dodges to the left but does not escape Smirk’s second attack as they fall to the hardwood floor. They grapple for a full minute before Whitman gets the upper hand on the drunk dwarf and throws him off.

“Tronsan, what the hell are you talking about?” He yells, staggering to his feet and putting space between them, but never leaving his position in front of Erik. “You never cared about our marriage before!”

“Because I thought you were in love, Whitman!” He clumsily raises to his feet, blood dripping sluggishly from his nose. “I can look past all the shit he does, everything I hate about him, for my brother to be happy!” He takes an unsteady step towards Garrick, who, in turn, lowers into a defensive stance.

“Smirk, you’re drunk, you don’t know what you are talking about!” Whitman yells back, not willing to let him know the game’s up.

“You married a fucking southside kid for money!” The dwarf screams. “Where is your pride?!”

Before Whitman can respond, Smirk is on top of him again with his hands around his neck. Whitman digs his nails into Smirk’s wrists, but he doesn’t let up, causing Garrick’s head to swim.

“Smirk, get the fuck off him, you’re killing him!” Erik screams, still standing close to the back wall. There’s a slew of curses accompanied by quick footsteps before Smirk is thrown off of Garrick. Erik grabs his husband by the lapels of his jacket and pulls him away from the insane dwarf. “What the fuck is your problem, man?!”

“You fuckin’ Southside hooker!” Smirk’s fist connects with Erik’s jaw, sending him stumbling back before the tiefling comes back swinging with a vengeance. Erik grew-up southside, infamously gang- and drug-ridden, so he’d been in plenty of fights before, but there’s one thing that holds true no matter where you fight: drunk people never go down. They trade hits, but Erik is tired and not very strong while Smirk is drunk and works in a forge for days at a time, the fight was never winnable for the younger man.

“Get the fuck away from my husband!” Whitman yells as he rips his brother away. He throws him to the side, causing him to careen into the wall. Above Smirk’s head, a handmade axe rattles in its holder, and Garrick and Erik watch in fear as it topples off the wall, slamming into the drunkard’s head, handle first.

The dwarf runs over, dropping onto his knees as he inspects the other, searching for a pulse first and blood second. A cut bleeds sluggishly from the crown of his head, but his pulse is mostly steady under Garrick’s shaking fingers.

“Oh fuck, oh shit,” Erik swears, taking steps back. “Is he?”

“He’s alive, thank fuckin’ God,” Garrick says quietly. “But we need to get him to a doc.”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Erik runs into the hall, yelling for a servant to send for a doctor. He comes back in and shuts the door behind him. “Garrick?” he asks tentatively.

“What?” the dwarf snaps, still cradling Smirk’s head in his lap.

“What are we gonna do?” the tiefling asks quietly. He hovers a few feet away from Garrick, obviously wanting to give him his space.

“What do you mean ‘what are we gonna do’?! We’re gonna take him to a doc, that’s what we’re gonna fucking do!” he snaps back.

Erik holds his hands up submissively. “I meant after that.” The dwarf looks at him questioningly, so he continues, “what are we gonna tell the cops? More importantly, what are we gonna tell him when he wakes up? Everyone’s gonna have questions.”

There’s a heavy silence permeating the air as Garrick desperately tries to remain calm while wading through a storm of conflicting emotions.

“We’ll say he came in drunk off his ass tryin’ to start shit. There was a scuffle and I pushed him into the wall, the axe fell, and here we are.”

“Okay, but what about your brother? What if he remembers the papers?” Erik is fidgeting with his ring and his collar while looking around the room anxiously.

Garrick sighs and reaches into his pocket where he stuffed the papers after reading them. “Stick these under the mattress or some shit. We’ll just get different papers and fuckin’ gaslight him.” Erik tentatively takes the papers and hides them under the mattress.

“Garrick I-”

A knock at the door cuts him off. He opens the door, revealing a medic dressed in clean white garments. “May I come in, Mr. Whitman?” Erik doesn’t respond, simply stepping to the side and allowing the doctor to come in. The doctor at once begins to inspect Smirk before looking at them through the corner of her glasses. “How did this happen?” she asks in a foreign accent.

The husbands look at each other before Garrick clears his throat. He taps Erik’s arm and when the tiefling raises it, he leans into his side, using his arm like a safety blanket. This sure as hell isn’t the first time they’ve played “worried and protective” so they’ve got the pattern down.

“I don’t know where to start doc,” he begins quietly, cueing Erik to run a hand through his hair. “He was drunk off his ass and tryin’ to start shit with me…”

His warpath doesn’t stop until he is in his room, pacing back and forth between the door and the far wall. He’s punched multiple holes in the wall and has uttered enough swears to make a sailor blush, and yet his anger has not waned in hours.

“Stupid fuckin’ game-”

His several-hour-long rant is cut short by a quiet knock at his door.

“The hell you want?!” He roars, throwing open the door to reveal a miserable-looking Erik. His anger is temporarily put to the side and is swiftly replaced with confusion.

“The voting was hell,” he says softly, exhaustion seeping into every word. “But Twist’s a vampire apparently.” He looks up from the floor and attempts a tired grin at Garrick. “So, there’s that.”

“Erik what-?”

“Can I come in?” he asks, intentionally cutting him off.

“You’re my husband, you don’t need to ask to come into our room,” Garrick says impulsively as he steps to the side, opening the door wider for the younger man to walk through.

Erik laughs as he walks to the table centered in the room. “That’s the problem, Garrick, we ain’t actually married.”

The dwarf gets an indignant look on his face. “Just because we got married for different reasons don’t mean we ain’t married!” he says harshly, but his voice doesn’t raise. “We can’t just ignore the three years we spent together.”

“But it wasn’t out of love! It was out of requirement!” Erik hisses.

“What if it was out of love?” almost slips from the dwarf’s mouth but he catches it just in time. “And? You’re still my husband! You still live with me! We’ve still spent three fuckin’ years together!” his voice raises incrementally with each sentence.

“But you don’t love me, Garrick! Not like I-” the tiefling shouts before slapping a hand over his mouth, fear clear in his eyes even if the rest of his face shows indignant defiance.

The anger is stripped from the dwarf as he swallows thickly. “Finish your sentence,” he says softer than anything before it, keeping a carefully neutral expression on his face.

“No,” he says quietly.

“Finish your sentence, Erik,” the other says more forcibly.

“I don’t have to tell you shit, Whitman,” he hisses before spinning on his heels and walking just short of sprinting to the door.

“No, you don’t,” Garrick says, pointedly ignoring the stinging feeling of being called by their last name. At his words, Erik stops. “You don’t have to tell me, but if it was that you’re in love with me…” the doorknob creaks as Erik tightens his grip on it. “Well, I got news for you, I’ve been in love with you for damn near two years now.”

They stand in silence, neither of them looking at each other, as they process the newly revealed information. There’s a rattle of metal accompanied by footsteps approaching the dwarf.

“Garrick, look at me,” Erik says, more uncertain than he’s sounded in years.

Garrick complies, turning slowly to look his husband in the eye. The tiefling opens his mouth as if to speak before it slowly shuts again. He brings a hand up to run through his hair before quietly muttering, “fuck it” and grabbing Whitman by the front of his suit, and instead of throwing him -which is what Whitman had thought would happen- he crashes their lips together, kissing with a fierceness that is unheard of for their sober kisses. They kiss like the other is about to go to war, like they’ve just been reunited after the war has ended, like they are dying and the only cure is the other, like their lover is their religion and this is how they pray, and god damn it felt good to finally kiss like they loved each other.

Once a stupid thing called oxygen gets in the way, they pull apart only far enough to breathe as they rest their foreheads against each other’s (which means that Erik is still bent just low enough to be uncomfortable, but he could not give less of a shit at this exact moment) just existing happily together.

“Did ya mean it?” Erik asks quietly, trying to preserve the soft moment.

“Mean what?” Garrick asks, brain still too fogged with serotonin to think properly.

“That you’ve been in love with me for two years?”

Garrick presses a more chaste kiss to his lips before pulling back, smiling. “I’d never lie to you.”

“Good because I’ve been in love with you for a while.” Erik brings up a hand to mess with Garrick’s hair, eyes following the strands as they fall out of place. “I don’t think I coulda handled a rejection today.”

Garrick cups the tiefling’s cheek and guides him down for another kiss. “Now I can do that whenever I feel like it.” Erik blushes, which is not visible on his red skin, but Garrick can feel the heat under his palm.

They sit in a comfortable silence, staring at each other like love-sick puppies, and trading kisses as often as they feel like it.

Erik chuckles as he runs his hands through Garrick’s hair, reveling in the way his hair looks once it gets mused. “You know there’s gonna be a media shit storm, right?” Erik asks.

“Yeah, I know, but we can take it,” Garrick jokes. “We’ll just have to avoid the public eye for a little bit.”

“That is fine with me!” Erik responds a little too quickly. “I hate bein’ in public.”

Garrick laughs and gives him a soft kiss. “I know.”

“Hey, Garrick?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

#d&dorks #business ventures #fanfic #repost #FYI new followers this is my fic I'm not stealing lmao #I just cross post #erik statton #garrick whitman #business ventures cast #tronsan smirk

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aadmelioraa · 2 years

Note

Dealer's choice: Pinky swear or grabbing the other’s hand so they don’t fall for Aldrik

Uhhhh so I did the former and it ended up in vaguely 18th century trappings. Just imagine them in silly little waistcoats and breeches. Also the subtext is Aldrikflaed, which will surprise no one.

The tower of playing cards wavers slightly, then steadies. Erik holds his breath, and gently places the last card on top. It’s as lofty a structure as he’s ever managed, and he barely restrains a cry of victory when he pulls back his hand and the tower remains intact.

His victory is short-lived, for the door opens suddenly and a gust of air from the hallway sending the cards flying.

“I see you’re making as good a use of your time as ever,” Aldhelm says, lifting his eyebrow in a devastating fashion—well, it would have been devastating, had Erik still been capable of caring what Aldhelm thought of him. That ship had sailed some time ago—the day after Erik had arrived at the palace, in fact.

Erik grins, unbothered. “Admit it, you're jealous of my skill as an architect.”

Aldhelm rolls his gaze towards the ceiling. “I can assure you that is not the case.”

“Well, if not to admire my talents, why are you here?”

“I am sent to bid you to Princess Aethelflaed’s parlour,” the long-suffering advisor replies. Erik covers his laugh with a cough. Aldhelm’s expression does not change. “If you intend to decline—“

“I don’t,” Erik says, rounding the table. “You’re in a mood.” He tugs at his lapels as he passes Aldhelm, who steps back to allow him a wide berth. “And what sort of mood is she in today?”

“Monitoring Princess Aethelflaed’s moods is hardly my responsibility,” Aldhelm replies coolly, falling into step beside him.

“I would have thought it was your primary responsibility.”

“It is not, nor is minding her childish suitors.”

“You remain bitter that I number among them and you do not.”

Aldhelm is surely, at this point, wearing an unbearably haughty expression. “It may be difficult for you to imagine, but the princess and I have primarily political dealings. It’s an insult to her to imply otherwise.”

Erik turns on his heel towards Aldhelm. “If politics are all you care about, you must admit I’m the best choice she could make in a husband. No other alliance could provide her with the stability and resources that I can. That must have occurred to you.”

Aldhelm blinks slowly, his expression stoic. “There are certainly worse options, personal attributes aside.”

“Very well, then,” Erik says, tilting his head. “If I'm not sent packing by the end of the week—which I won’t be—and another better candidate doesn’t appear—which he won’t—then you will agree to help me win her over.”

Aldhelm breathes a half-hearted laugh, his eyes narrowing. “What makes you so sure I’ll agree to this?”

“It’s inevitable,” Erik says, clapping Aldhelm on the shoulder. “You and I both know that she’s wasting her time with these other princes. And I do find you useful, if unpleasant to look at. I won’t attempt to undermine you, which is not true of the others.”

“You’re hardly clever enough to undermine me, even if you wanted to.”

“Exactly.” Erik bares his teeth in a smile and holds up his right hand, extending the smallest finger. “Let’s swear to help each other, if we both survive the week.”

Aldhelm gives him a look which is more grimace than smile, but he matches Erik’s gesture and they twine their extended fingers together. “Very well then.”

They hold the pose for a moment, eyes locked on each other, Erik still grinning, Aldhelm glaring, then proceed towards their destination as allies.

#the last kingdom #tlk fic #kat writes #aldhelm x erik #honestly this would be a fun au

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eristic-kaleidoscope · 1 year

Text

Them the Breaks | Erik A | Trial 3.2 | Re: Eureka, KOKONE, END, Byrne, Kenshin | ATTN: Other groups

Admittedly, Erik A only barely manage to refrain from bursting out laughing at Adrik's recount of just how much they'd fucked up, snickers kept more to himself than making it the group's problem to deal with. He could use the momentary levity, honestly, even if he'd take the rest of this seriously.

And of course, already arguments had started up, as seemed to be the way of things here. He understood, of course, how most people might react when someone close to them died. Hell, this was the second trial in a row where someone he’d considered himself closer to in this group had been a victim, so he wasn’t even an outsider looking in in that sense. Even if it’s not explosive quite yet, he can sense the feeling behind things starting to show but by bit, and honestly there’s not much he can do about that besides carry on how he does. He can hope that it doesn’t get as bad as previous trials have been, but with actual lives on the line here he’s sure things will come to a head regardless eventually.

Even if someone close to him had died yet again, it didn’t hit him quite as hard as it did other people, huh? Or maybe… it just didn’t show as much on the surface, affecting him in less obvious ways. It was hard to say, even for him. People were just different, like that.

His eyes first flick to Eureka, then to KOKONE about the laptop, then to the hosts sitting here before he looks back to the group as a whole.

“Obviously losing the laptop sucks, but honestly I can’t even necessarily blame Eureka for it. I’m pretty damn confident that An’s using Eureka’s mistake as an excuse to take it instead of actually having just figured out that’s where it was. If it hadn’t been then, it could have been any other point in the near future. A convenient excuse, I’d bet. I don’t know what the agenda was of leaving that shit out, but that’s my two cents at least,” he says with a shrug. It was certainly suspicious how long it had been accessible, and he had to wonder Why.

Then, of course, KOKONE’s final comment, which Erik A tilts his head at for a moment, considering if he should add on more to how Byrne replies to it. A little, he decides.

“As for thanking whoever killed Chen… Dunno how much you mean that, but nah, absolutely not. No matter who did it, I can't say I’m a personally a fan of celebrating deciding who deserves to live and die like that for starters, even if they’ve done some fucked shit.” That was an awful lot like sinking to her level too, and he would never claim to be down for it. “And for another, killing her meant that a trial would happen no matter what, and another person would die. Either the killer themself would face execution, or they’d try and get away with it to sacrifice one of us instead. I’m not going to go thanking anyone for that, even if it stopped the motive from continuing.”

He says it perfectly calmly rather than with force, but it’s not something he’s going to waver on. Simply a personal opinion, horribly mixed feelings as he might have on a lot of this, many more of which he’s keeping to himself. This wasn’t something worthy of thanks, it was just a fucking tragedy.

And after that… he turns to END for a moment.

“I know this is probably hard to talk about, cuz it’s not like hearing about any of this shit is fun in the least, in fact it's absolutely gonna keep sucking, but figuring out what the hell happened here on both ends is the only way we’re gonna get to the bottom of both who killed Ae-ra too, and also the bottom of solving both these cases so we don’t mistrial on either vote.

I dunno if there’s a way to prove that Ae-ra definitely did or didn’t write the notes, but we have to at least consider the possibility to figure out how this shit might have all started, you know? ‘Course, the rest of us should all be considering possibilities besides her too to make sure we don’t get tunnel vision about it too,” he acknowledges.

All in all, Erik A was a much more logic driven person than an emotional one, but hopefully that sentiment still got across, blunt as it was. He could understand the anger, but working through this anyways was still needed overall as a group.

That said, Erik A turns and gives a nod to Byrne in thanks for some of the comments there, and in agreement as well, given his own similar thoughts.

“And hey, don’t sell yourself short, that was plenty fucking smart to bring up. Ae-ra being dry does imply what time she had to be at least in the fountain room before 5:30, because even if she… I dunno, used a raft as a makeshift umbrella or something in the rain, that’d still have been walking through the mud that got created, and I didn’t see any of that on her shoes either.” Acknowledgement for Byrne-

Erik A snaps his fingers too, having a thought about the final thing that Byrne said, before addressing everyone as a whole.

“Right! Those mud tracks in the fountain room sure aren’t accounted for with what people have said, but my group at least gave a comparison with some of our shoe sizes, and I have a picture reference as proof if anyone needs it. Basically, it seemed like the prints were barely too small to be mine, unless you wanna be more generous with it, and just about the right size to possibly fit KOKONE’s shoe size, which I think we have a fair amount of people around the size of given the shoe size options we’ve had on other floors in places.” The bowling alley, for instance.

He considers for a moment leaving what he’s saying off there, but another thought strikes him, and he hums, looking back at Kenshin.

(CW: Suicide/hanging discussion)

“Also… back to what Kenshin said before, I want to know both where the noose originally was and if anything else on the scene was disturbed by the groups that got to the scene first, since my group wasn’t around as things were first looked at.

And as for its use… I have to consider the possibility that it wasn’t always in the shape that it was, since I don’t think that Chen was actually hung by it, and there’s no practical reason to choke someone out with the noose shape over just the long part. The only place that would have made sense to actually hang it from would have been the ceiling fan, but I got Kenshin to check that out and confirm it didn’t seem touched, if he needs to vouch on that. So there’s the question of why it was in that shape to begin with, and then why a different method was used for Ae-ra if the noose rope had already been prepared by someone.”

(cw end)

As per usual, these kinds of topics seemed to come much more easily to Erik A than it did to most people, horribly morbid as it was. Thanks buddy.

#Erik A #chapter3 #trial3 #submission

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mazm-imagines · 1 year

Text

I posted 166 times in 2022

That's 166 more posts than 2021!

160 posts created (96%)

6 posts reblogged (4%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gwaaaaar

@mazm-imagines

@whiteeevee996

antiv3nom

I tagged 161 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#mazm - 102 posts

#answered ask - 88 posts

#mazm hyde and seek - 75 posts

#mod gwaaaaar - 70 posts

#mazm jekyll and hyde - 34 posts

#mihir saha - 20 posts

#ask game - 18 posts

#alan brown - 16 posts

#edward hyde - 15 posts

#mazm thy creature - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#hwgsnshhejeh i want to do them it just takes me a bit to make banners and such meanwhile with alan everytime hes on the screen i just take

My Top Posts in 2022:

ask for hyde: mr. hyde what kind of music do you like? or do you like music after all?

"Bug off, I'm not tellin you shit."

Hyde crossed his arms and gave a haughty huff before his resolve wavered.

"Fine. I'll tell you since you wanna be so stubborn. I don't have any favorites! Except the screams of small children."

That was not a socially acceptable thing to say but when was he socially acceptable?

"Not satisfying enough? Gah, fine. Whatever performer costs much that day. I'm a big spender and expect bang for my buck. Happy? I'm off to kick some puppies."

Really he could've just said he hated music, but he's far too stubborn to say something that makes sense.

22 notes - Posted June 23, 2022

Lanyon! I love your iconic floofy beard, makes me wonder if people have ever mistaken you for Father Christmas! I was wondering, if I could touch your beard please? ^^

Anyways, have a good day Santa!

Hehehe

"Hahaha, why thank you! I think Father Christmas is a new one! That makes me feel a bit better about my old age. At least something good comes from it."

Lanyon gave a laugh at the comparison. Instinctively he stroked his beard in amusement.

"My beard is not as luscious as his, but it still requires maintenance. Well since you're so jolly yourself, you may touch it once."

The tall man leaned forward as an invitation. His gentle smile and rosy cheeks reminiscent of Santa.

24 notes - Posted August 23, 2022

MazM Week day 1 prompt for love! Ngl this is a little ugly but it's something hm. I promise tomorrow's will be better! I also... wrote a little something a little over 500 words... So I will keep it under the cut :)

Badump badump badump.

The beating of Raoul's heart echoed in his ears. Every beat was the same as it was in childhood. No matter how many times he saw Christine, it always felt as if it was the first. The beating and the clacking of the train made the quiet room noisier to him.

Christine was nuzzled into his chest, a look of anxiety on her face. Raoul only wished to be her comfort, but after all he had done he didn't think he had the right to.

He invaded her personal space and pushed her, all out of his own paranoia.

He could still be better couldn't he? He could try.

"Dear Christine, if it isn't too invasive to inquire…" She looked up at him, her blue eyes reflecting his. It looked as if she was more at peace just by his gaze.

"Yes Raoul? You can ask me anything."

"Well I-" She was just far too beautiful for him to form words. Her smile was enough to tie his tongue. Raoul's bashfulness didn't go past her however.

"What's wrong? Your face is red-"

"It's fine! Just a little hot is all- but I didn't mean to ask you that… I wanted to ask if you were alright."

“Hm hm~” Christine gave a little giggle at his stuttering, much to Raoul’s embarrassment.

"Thank you for asking."

As much as she wanted to forget Erik, she couldn't. At one point she feared Raoul would become just like him, self absorbed and possessive. But how could she forget?

The unmistakable difference was Raoul held consideration for her. He only acted in a way to benefit her, even if it would've killed him.

He asked what she wanted as a person, not what she wanted tangibly. Erik's concern did not address her personhood, rather if she ate or slept. It wasn't a love she could live on.

She did care for Erik as a person, and in the end he refused her help. That was fine by her, she was not his angel nor a devil.

"Is it really okay for me to leave everyone… Sorelli, Jammes, Meg, Mama…"

She already missed them, the tears welling in her eyes brought him heartache.

"There there Christine… It'll be alright, I promise you." Raoul pulled her in, placing his warm hand on top of hers. The one placed across her shoulder gave a sense of security.

"You asked to run away as far as possible. And I trust your resolve. You should trust it too."

"'Wherever we may go, I will keep you safe and make you happy.'"

"That was what I promised back then, correct? I do not know if I could bring you the same happiness as your loved ones. But, if you need anything, I will do anything to make you the happiest woman alive."

"Thank you… thank you…" She used a free hand to wipe her tears away before turning back towards him.

“I love you Raoul… you already make me so happy.”

“As do I Christine… you make me the happiest man alive.”

25 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

Ask for Mr. Hyde: May I ask your opinion about Jack the ripper?

"Creepy fellow, he's killing all the hookers!"

Realizing that is not a normal thing to say, he blushed im embarrassment.

"Yeah yeah, kill people or whatever, but don't ruin people's day!"

Not as if he was any better.

"Okay fine what happened that time was an accident! I got a little drunk with power and-"

There was something in his heart telling him what he was doing was wrong. But it's not as if he can stop now.

"Look, the Bishop goons would beat people with hammers! Beating someone to death with a cane isn't so bad! If that Jack the Ripper thinks he's so much better than a common prostitute, do I have news for him. Take pride in what you do or don't do it at all!"

27 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey Hyde, have you ever considered going to therapy...? Or anger management..?

No offence... But you do act rather harshly sometimes.

"Bah thats shite! Therapy... All I need is to kick children!"

Hyde pouted before putting his hands on his hips like a child.

"It's none of your buisness how I act! How about how you act?! Huh?! Huh?!"

He pointed as if that was enough to divert the blame.

"This is my night off! I can manage my anger just fine!"

33 notes - Posted September 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#mod gwaaaaar

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randomshyperson · 3 years

Text

The Scarlet Witch Prophecy - Chapter IX (9) - The Fifth Year (Part III)

Gif was made by my friend @abimess

Summary: As the youngest daughter of Howard Stark, you have ordinary expectations for your years at Hogwarts. Little do you know what adventures await you when your destiny is intertwined with the legendary Scarlet Witch.

Warnings: +16. Adaptation of the Harry Potter Saga, Magical Thematic, Prophecies, Mentions of Violence, Torture and dark magic, Language (swearing and minor/major offenses), manipulation of will, Underage kissing, insinuation of smut with minors, Smut (overage), descriptions of death, aggression, obscurity, angst, fluffy, soulmates analogies. Chapters Warnings: Sexual insinuations with minors, kissing.

A/N> I don't know just good luck.

Series Masterlist || Read on AO3 || All Works Masterlist

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Chapter 9 - The Fifth Year (Part III)

Professor Erik is very uneasy when you meet him, but you were more concerned with blocking out your thoughts that seemed to scream what had happened a few minutes ago in the Three Broomsticks bathroom, and you didn't want Erik having a view of that. It would be embarrassing enough.

As you begin to walk toward the Shrieking Shack, Fury meets you halfway.

"We'd better take our conversation somewhere more private, Professor." He says to Erik after greeting you briefly. And then you are walking back to the farthest part of the village.

Fury led you to a bar that was dark because of poor lighting, and was quite empty. The sign "The Hog's Head" was old and rotten, and you guessed that it was not the kind of establishment that would care to ask your age.

You were a little surprised to find Professor Maria Rambeau sitting at a table in the back with Carol Danvers, but the way everyone was nervous encouraged you not to say anything.

"Good afternoon, Miss Stark." Greeted Maria politely as soon as you reached the table, and you nodded shyly to your teacher and the auror, who smiled at you. Professor Erik looked around, and even though you were already at the farthest table in the place, he seemed to want to make sure that none of the few suspicious-looking and illegal witches in the place would be listening.

"Let's talk quickly, the students need to get back to the castle before dark." Said Fury as he signaled for you to take a seat on one of the stools.

Erik was the next to speak, and for at least fifteen minutes. He told everyone about your vision, and about how he was preparing you in case the worst happened, and you were very surprised when the subject came up around the Avengers' Army, shocked to learn that some of the professors had known about it, and were more than willing to keep it from the ministry.

"You should know that the students are making some noise." Fury commented seriously and you bit the inside of your cheek. "I would expect no less from someone like Tony Stark if you ask me."

"Nick, we've talked about this." It was Professor Monica who spoke up. "They are just kids. It's appreciable that older students like Stark or Romanoff are helping the minors, but recruiting them into the order is insane."

You widened your eyes, surprised at the idea. But none of the adults were talking directly to you.

Fury chuckled.

"You were their age when you joined." He retorted and Professor Erik sighed in dissatisfaction.

"We were at war, none of us had a choice." He accused, but Fury's expression did not waver.

"And you don't think we're in one now, Mr. Lehnsherr?" Ironized the man. "Every minute we waste trying to get some clue from Mephisto, he grows stronger. And it's not our place to stop young wizards from fighting for what they believe in."

"Don't pull that crap on me, Fury!" Erik squawked angrily. "We will not put children to fight. Not again."

"They are not powerless, Erik." Fury argued in the same tone. "They're not like Ma-"

"Don't you dare!" The professor interrupted as he slammed the table, making you jump in fright. Fury sighed and you looked at the whole scene with confusion.

Erik stood up in a rage, and gave Fury an angry look before leaving. You hesitated to follow him, but Carol touched your forearm and you figured you should stay.

"You shouldn't have brought Magna into the conversation, Fury." Carol scolded him sternly. You blinked in confusion, wondering if it was really Wanda's mother they were talking about. "Now go apologize while I talk to Miss Stark."

Fury stood up, and touched your shoulder briefly as a sign of apology for the confusion, before heading for the exit behind Professor Erik. You shifted in your seat uncomfortably.

"Sorry about that, Stark." Carol said taking a sip of her drink. Only now did you notice the thin cut marks on her hands.

"This Magna that Professor Fury mentioned, Carol...is this Wanda and Pietro's mother?" You ask as you look away from the auror's hands. The blonde exchanges a look with Maria, as if deciding whether to tell you about it, and you hasten to add. "Please don't lie. I may not be an auror, but I don't want to be lied to."

"That's in the past, Miss." Carol says. "When Erik and your father joined the order, their wives didn't really approve. But Magna got too involved, she wanted to help." She tells you and you try not to be intimidated by Maria's upset expression, which seemed to be remembering how it was back then. "Since Magna had only good intentions, but no magic, Fury didn't agree. And Erik obviously didn't either, but if you want my opinion, she wasn't the type to obey. Maybe that's why Mephisto found her so easily."

"Carol." Maria says in a warning tone, and the woman clears her throat. You frown, and then your teacher settles into her seat, speaking again. "Look, Miss Stark, many things that happened back then are confusing. What you should be concerned about is the present and the future of the wizarding world. And right now I think you are our best alternative to finding Mephisto."

You want to ask what this means, but Fury and Erik are back. You are surprised that Erik looked like he was crying, but he looks away from you quickly.

"We need to get back to the castle." He says. "I'll keep in touch, and you guys keep me posted on the ministry situation."

You think this is your cue to get up, and so you do, waving lightly in farewell to your teachers and Carol. Erik walks you halfway down the path.

"Go back to the castle, Miss Stark." He asks. "I still have business to attend to."

"Professor, I have questions." You tell him immediately, but Erik just puts a hand on your shoulder.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" He insists, and you sigh. Erik looks at something behind you, and clears his throat. "Apologize to Miss Quinn, please."

You frown in confusion, but Erik adds with a small smile. "It's not her fault that my daughter is a jealous one."

At the mention of Wanda's name, you look away quickly, but Erik doesn't seem to notice. He waves good-bye again, and this time you don't insist.

You turn to look at the trail back to the castle, and hurry to catch up with Harley when you notice her a few yards ahead.

"Hey, I was looking for you." You announce as you touch her on the shoulder lightly. Harley blinks in surprise.

"You found me." She comments amused, you blink in confusion. She looks strange.

"Where did you go after the Three Broomsticks?"

Harley giggles.

"I have no idea." She confesses slightly thoughtfully. You look at her with concern. "I remember I was talking to you, and then I blinked and was practically at the entrance of the castle again."

"What?"

Harley laughs again, seeming to find the whole thing an adventure.

"I know it sounds weird, but one minute I said hello to Wanda and the next..."

"You talked to Wanda?" You interrupt and she murmurs in agreement. And then you let out a short laugh, wishing that the idea you had was wrong. "What did she say to you?"

"I don't know, but I think she thought we were on a date or something." Harley comments. You are almost reaching the castle again. "Do you think she knows why I got lost?"

"Oh, she might have some idea." You mutter with amusement. You didn't know exactly how to feel about the possibility of Wanda bewitching Harley because she was jealous of you, so you decided to just push the issue and try to talk to your friend about the rest of the tour.

When you reached the castle again, you could hardly remember any more.

//-//-//-//

Your Sunday was a strange one.

First because you started having not very innocent dreams about Wanda as soon as you tried to fall asleep, around midnight, and after waking up for the third time during the night, sweating and out of breath, you decided to go down to the communal hall, and found Mantis on the couch.

"Hey, can't you sleep too?" You asked as you addressed the drawers where the students were leaving their snack storage. Mantis was slightly startled by your presence, but smiled. You noticed the sleeping figure of Groot on her lap.

"No, but I think it's because of the moon." She replies and you frown slightly.

"The moon?"

Mantis mutters and you sit down in one of the armchairs, a packet of snacks in your hands, which you offer to Mantis but she refuses with a wave.

"It's her alignment period, so everything gets noisy." Mantis declares and you don't understand what she means, but nods as you chew. "Soon I'll be able to harvest the Fluxweed from the greenhouse."

"Are you trying to make polyjuice potion, Mantis?" You tease with a smile and Mantis laughs.

"Of course not, Y/N." She denies it. "Professor T'Challa asked for it. I believe it is for our O.W.L.'s."

You murmur in understanding and you are silent for a moment, before Mantis speaks again.

"Why can't you sleep? "She asks and you look away to the fire.

"I kissed Wanda."

Mantis takes her gaze off the book in her hands immediately, and looks at you in surprise.

"I thought you two broke up."

"We did." You say and then clear your throat. "But...I.... well, I still care about her. And well, she cares about me too I guess."

"Of course she does." She adds tenderly, making you look at her with flushed cheeks. "Wanda always seems worried about you."

"Really?"

Mantis makes a noise with her mouth, becoming thoughtful for a few moments.

"She always asks about you when we talk." She counters and you feel your cheeks flush. "I think even though you're not together anymore, she wants to make sure you're okay."

"That's good to know." You mutter in embarrassment, feeling your chest heat up.

"I just don't understand why you two don't get back together at once." She adds next, and you bite the inside of your cheek, "I liked it when we were all friends."

"I miss that." You say slightly nostalgically. You put down the packet of snacks on the table to hug your legs. "I wish I could have that back."

"Why don't you try to work things out with Wanda?"

"Because it's better this way." You retort without believing your own words. "At least for now, it's better that we're not together."

"It doesn't seem right, if you ask me." Mantis insists, settling Groot on her lap. "It doesn't seem right that you two continue to suffer apart. I can't think of anything that justifies it."

You sink your face against your knees, murmuring. You wanted so much to tell someone about everything. But you couldn't, and all that was left was to miss Wanda and your friends.

"Hey, I know things are weird right now, because of the army and the ministry." Mantis speaks after a moment, and you are surprised by the kindness in her gaze. "But you know we're always going to be friends, right?"

You think you might cry, but you just nod, a shy smile.

"I'll remember this, Mantis." You assure her, and she nods before moving to lift Groot up and carry him into the bedroom.

"I'll try to get some sleep, I still have some lessons with Professor Hermitall tomorrow and I don't want to get sleepy during the tutoring." She explains and you wish her good night. She does the same before returning to her room.

You are preparing to go upstairs as well when your vision darkens.

It is different from your other visions, and it starts with the fact that it is the Slytherin dormitory that you see. You recognize the ceiling, and the green sheets, because they are the same as Wanda's. You have half a second to be shocked, when you feel a twinge in your stomach and lose your breath.

Your body is tingling from head to toe, but it is a feeling of absolute pleasure.

You gasp, and find it hard to keep your eyes open. And when the tightness in the pit of your stomach gets too strong, you are back in the Hufflepuff room.

With your face very red, and your breathing out of rhythm, you feel your heart racing and your body trembling.

You know what the heat inside your pants means, because it's the same feeling you get when Wanda kisses you. And it doesn't even take two seconds for you to understand that she has just climaxed and taken you with her.

In a mixture of embarrassment and excitement, you stand up, deciding to take a cold shower, and thinking about how you would explain the matter to your professor in case he asked if you were having visions again.

//-///-//-//

You didn't have to look for the professor this morning, because he approached you outside the dorm, just as you left for breakfast.

Exchanging a quick glance with Mantis and Harley, you followed Professor Erik to one of the corners of the hallway, and he looked around before leaning in slightly

"I don't have good news, unfortunately, Miss Stark." He said seriously and you felt your heart soar. "I talked with Professor Harkness last night, we discussed your visions and your mental connection to Wanda. She feels that you two should avoid any kind of proximity as much as possible."

You bit your tongue to avoid saying "too late for that" and limited yourself to just widening your eyes. Seeing your expression, the professor gave you a sad smile.

"But don't be so distressed." He urges. "Agatha has assured us that she only needs to teach Wanda how to block that connection first. She should teach her about magical influence and that sort of thing over the next few weeks. Maybe you should learn the same."

Before Erik can turn around, you clear your throat.

"Professor, there's something else." You say, remembering to block his mind so that he doesn't have access to the memories of the night before. "I think Wanda can get inside my head too."

Erik blinks in surprise.

"Are you sure?"

You nod, avoiding his gaze because you know your cheeks are blushing.

"Okay." He says thoughtfully. "I'm going to talk to Agatha about this. In the meantime, stay away from Wanda, okay?"

"Okay."

You lied.

In reality, you think you told the truth. But over coffee, Wanda met your gaze from across the room, a little corner smile as if she knew exactly what she had caused you the night before. You almost knocked over the cereal, and Mantis asked you if everything was all right, and all you could do was mumble in embarrassment.

During the third period break, you were laughing at a Harley joke when Wanda ran into you in the hallway.

"Hello girls." She greeted you, Mantis and Quinn politely, her gaze on you.

"Wanda!" Mantis greeted excitedly. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

Wanda smiled, looking away to her friend.

"Yeah, i'm good." She said. "I just need to borrow Miss Stark for a minute, head girl business."

Mantis and Harley smiled in understanding and waved good-bye to you, letting you know that they were waiting for you in the classroom for your History of Magic class.

You swallowed dryly when you were left alone with Wanda in the hallway, but barely had time to process the information when the girl pulled you by the forearm to the first broom closet she could find.

"What you-humpf" Your voice turned into a sigh as Wanda's lips met yours, and she pushed you against the closed door. Throwing your backpack to the floor, you raised your hands to her waist to match the kiss in the same intensity.

Wanda was absolutely intoxicating and no matter how many times you kissed her, it always seemed to get even better.

She slid her tongue against yours in a rapid rhythm, devouring you and making your head spin. You think she missed you like you missed her. Her hands squeezed your shoulders before she pulled away to breathe.

"Hi." She gasped breathlessly against your lips, looking at you adoringly. The dark irises glowing with lust.

"Hi." You replied in the same tone, leaning your forehead against hers. Wanda kissed you again, now slower and just as delicious, and you thanked for the door behind you, because your knees were weak.

When you took a breath and separated your mouths, she began to kiss your jaw and down your neck, one of her hands reaching inside your uniform and pulling at your tie. You felt your neck heat up, and closed your eyes, your skin burning and tingling where Wanda was touching.

"Wanda." You gasped her name in an affected way, and felt her smile against your neck before murmuring indicating that you were listening. Her wet kisses against your sensitive skin made it hard to reason, but you were trying. "I...oh....Wanda, I...I need to say something."

Your tone sounded hoarse and completely affected, and she just muttered again.

"Then say it." She whispered against your skin. You tightened your fingers around her waist, trying not to give in to the feeling of having Wanda so close completely.

"We shouldn't." You handle warning between one sigh and another, but you don't sound the least bit convinced of your own words. Wanda grumbles against your skin, her hand invading your blouse and making you shiver. "We... oh, merlin... we can't..."

Wanda bit a sensitive spot on your neck at the same moment her fingers reached your left breast from inside your blouse, and you let out an affected whimper, your head spinning with the sensation.

She gasped, slightly surprised by the noise, and pulled her face away from your neck. You were going to apologize, but she brought your lips together in a firm kiss that took all your thinking ability away.

As quickly as she approached, she pulled away. Her hand came out from inside your blouse so that she rested her arms on your shoulders again, a shy smile on her lips.

"Why shouldn't we?" She asked in a husky voice, your noses brushing against each other as she looked at your mouth. You were trying to recover from the new touch still. "That feels so good. How can it be wrong?"

You sighed, trying to clear your thoughts. Wanda just waited.

"It's for our safety." You state and she blinks in confusion. You take a deep breath. "Your father thinks it's best if we don't see each other anymore."

Wanda's confident gaze wavers, but she doesn't pull away. You lift one of your hands to her face, caressing her cheek and enjoying how she leans into the touch.

"He thinks it could be dangerous, Wanda." You say, choosing your words cautiously. She must not know that your life is tied to hers. You want to carry that responsibility alone. "He thinks I might...show signs that I am connected to you if we continue to see each other."

"Why would that be a problem?"

You shake your head, looking away and knowing that you couldn't lie to her if you were looking. Wanda frowns, loosening her hold and pulling away. You miss her warmth immediately.

"It's better this way." You say. "No one has to know."

"You're ashamed of the bond, aren't you?"

Her accusation makes you widen your eyes and look at her immediately

"What? Of course not!"

"Then why?" she questions again. "Why can't anyone know?"

"Wanda..."

Your speech turns into a surprised exclamation as the door behind you opens and you fall backwards onto the floor.

"I imagine the ladies have a very good explanation for being inside a broom closet instead of the classroom." Professor Kaecilius said with a serious expression.

You felt your face heat up and stood up quickly, taking a step to the side when Wanda pushed you lightly to get out from inside the closet.

"Sorry, Professor." She spoke mechanically before you could think of anything. "I was merely orienting Miss Stark on the new castle regulations, sir."

"Do you take me for a fool, Miss Maximoff?" He retorts with his arms behind his back. You watch the interaction with slightly wide eyes, but Wanda's posture does not flinch. "I was a young man once, Miss. I know full well what crumpled clothes and puffy lips mean."

"She needed some punishment, sir."

You almost choke, turning your head to Wanda quickly, and can hardly believe the little corner smile she has. Professor Kaecilius however, doesn't see it as funny at all.

"This kind of behavior is exactly what was driving this school to ruin." He declares seriously. "It's a good thing that the ministry acted soon. Go back to your classrooms immediately. I will talk to the heads of Hufflepuff and Slytherin about such an occurrence, and trust that the penalties will be enforced."

You and Wanda grumbled in understanding, and as you bent down to pick up your bag from the floor, she hurried to leave.

You sighed impatiently, rushing to catch up with her.

"Wanda, wait!" You complained and only when you turned the corner did she stop. " Can we talk, please? Later, I mean."

"No." She retorted with her arms crossed and you sighed, squaring your bag on your shoulders.

"Wanda, please." You insisted. "I didn't mean..."

"You're right." She interrupted with a serious expression. "My father is right, too. This was a mistake. When the bond is gone, you won't even care about me anymore so it' s better..."

"Wow, wow, where did that come from?" It is your turn to interrupt, and you are startled by the tears in Wanda's eyes. Softening your expression, you move closer, placing your hands on her shoulders. "I thought you understood. Wanda, I love you. The bond has nothing to do with it."

"But..."

"No, Wanda." You cut in with a shy smile, and though your confessions and the look in her eyes make your stomach fill with butterflies, you don't flinch. "I've already talked to your father about it. No magic can create love. My feelings are real, always have been. I should have told you before, I'm sorry. And I..."

Wanda interrupts you with a kiss. You immediately forget what you were talking about, but she quickly pulls away, a relieved laugh escaping her lips. You laugh too, wiping away her tears as you feel your own eyes water.

"I thought you knew, darling." You whisper fondly. "I love you, Wanda."

"I love you too." She confesses with a smile, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. She gives a little giggle as she mimics your movement and wipes away your tears. You worry as her expression slowly falls away, and she leaves her thumbs on your cheek, massaging the skin slowly. "I don't want to be away from you."

"I know, but..."

"I trust you." She interrupts seriously. "I will trust that you know what you are doing. And that you'll come back to me when you can."

You swallow dryly and sigh, moving closer to lean your foreheads together. You both close your eyes, and Wanda sighs against your lips.

"I will." You assure. "I promise. As fast as I can."

When she kisses you again, you feel her smile and her tears.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Erik is not happy to hear about your detention.

Professor Heimdall, who is head of the Hufflepuff house, gives you a talk about chivalry and posture in the school environment, and you don't take a word of it seriously because you are too affected by the way Wanda is looking at you from across the room, also not paying much attention to whatever Professor Lehnsherr is saying.

You get detention for a whole month overnight after the last class. So no time to train Occlumency, or anything else with Erik. He's not at all pleased, but he can't disagree with Hermidall's orders without raising suspicion for what you were doing, so all he does is give you a disappointed look and leave the room. You feel bad about this, but Wanda gives you a little smile and you forget about it immediately.

Things get worse when Professor Kaecilius announces the new castle rules, stupid forbidding rules about relationships, such as students being forbidden to be within three feet of each other. Gatherings, games in the corridors, items from witchcraft stores like Zonko 's are banned as well, and your colleagues are as unhappy as you are.

You think your routine was going to be kind of miserable now that you didn't have Erik's classes, and couldn't be around Wanda, and things actually get worse.

And all because you talk to Tony about the Avengers Army.

"I know you told me to stay out of it, but some teachers know what you guys are doing." You tell him after you have invited your brother to take a walk on the lake. You stand facing each other, and Tony leaves his hands in his pockets in a nonchalant posture, although his expression is one of seriousness. "That's why I want you to keep the cloak."

"Excuse me?"

You sigh, taking the object from inside your backpack.

"Dad's invisibility cloak, Tony." You clarify. "It can help you and the others move around the castle without being seen. If Fury and Rambeau figured it out, it's only a matter of time before the others do too."

"Why are you helping me?"

"You are my brother." You say with a frown, slightly offended at the lack of trustworthiness. But you sigh, insisting that he take the object. Tony grabs the cloak the next moment, muttering a thank you.

Before you turn back, he touches your forearm.

"If you like, you can join the avengers."

You hesitate and he barely interprets, but you rush to add.

"Don't make that face." You ask. "I can't, but I'd like to."

"Why can't you?"

"I can't tell."

Tony rolls his eyes, and starts walking again. You swallow dryly and hurry to get in front of him.

"Wait." You ask and he sighs, but obeyed. "I'm sorry for not telling you everything. It's better that way."

"I don't trust you anymore, Y/N." He declares and you feel your heart break, looking away to the floor. "All you've done since we've been back is hide things from me. I am your family, how can you do that?"

"I..."

"And then you help me, out of the blue." He continues impatiently. "Damn, I don't know what to think. One hour you're having secrets and the next you're worried about my business. You need to decide which side you're on."

"It's not that simple, Tony." You retort crossing your arms defensively, Tony rolls his eyes impatiently.

"Why don't you trust me?"

"I do."

"Stop lying!" He accuses angrily and you stare at the lake. "You know what, do whatever you want. Thanks for the cloak."

You let him go. And you sit on the edge at the lake, letting the water soak your shoes. Your shirt gets wet too, but that's because you're crying.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Kaecilius cancels Quidditch.

Honestly, you are not surprised.

He is suspicious about the Avengers's Army, but has no way to prove it, and all attempts to find out about these possible meetings are completely thwarted because you gave Tony the invisibility cloak.

It seems like every day a new rule is instituted in the castle, but you don't care about that.

In your month of detention, all you do is help Professor T'Challa and Mantis in the greenhouses, and you end up learning a thing or two about herbology, while getting closer to your friend again.

At the end of the month, it doesn't even seem like you two were ever apart.

It takes another two weeks for things to get back on track between you, Gamora and Nebula.

It is because your classes with Professor Lehnsherr return, but with the new rules, clubs are forbidden, so the professor helps you with a potion of concealment so that you can pass between the corridors at night.

On one of these days, you are coming out of the dungeons at the same moment that your sisters are coming out of one of the Avengers meetings, and that is exactly when Professor Kaecilius is patrolling the castle.

You watch as Nebula trips over the cloak and falls to the floor, exposing her, Gamora, and two other Slytherin boys you don't know, but who look older. They look at you wide-eyed, and it is in the same second that you recognize the familiar whistle of the professor, and see his shadow approaching from around the corner.

The repel spell is enough to push the group to the end of the corridor, and you rush to cause a small explosion in the light fixtures on the wall, leaving the room dark enough for everyone to cover themselves with their cloak immediately.

Of course, Professor Kaecilius is an experienced enough magician to control magic quickly and catch up with you halfway down the hall, but you don't care. You can no longer see the group, so you know that they have managed to hide in the cloak.

"What were you doing wandering here alone at night, Miss Stark?" He asks earnestly, the tightness in your cape not loosening.

" I am a sleepwalker."

You end up with another month of detention.

But that's okay, because Gamora and Nebula are calling you to have breakfast with them the next morning.

It's as if no time has passed, and you are talking again.

In your third Potions period, Professor Erik asks you to wait because he wants to talk to you.

"Detention again, Stark?" He questions annoyed, you shift your weight between your feet uncomfortably.

"Sorry, professor.

"I'm beginning to think you don't want to have your lessons anymore."

"It's not that, professor." You assure. "It's not my fault if the new rules are absurd."

The professor sighs, uncrossing his arms.

"I have nothing left to teach anyway." He declares as he moves around the room and you frown, watching him use his wand to move the cauldrons and ingredients to the countertops.

"Sir?"

"For now, I think you know everything I was supposed to teach you." He clarifies. "I'll let you use the rest of the year to focus on your OWL'S, Miss."

"But sir...?"

"Don't worry." He interrupts with a short smile. "You know more than enough, even if you don't know all that is necessary. But you are only fifteen years old. There are magics that your physiognomy is simply not ready to learn."

You don't know exactly what to say about this, so you just nod in agreement. The professor moves some potion bottles back to the cabinets, and you speak again:

"Sir, what about Wanda?" You ask and look away when he raises an eyebrow. "I miss her and would like to see her again."

"We've talked about this."

"You said it would be temporary."

Erik sighs, and with a flick of his wand, all the chairs used by the students in the previous class return to their places.

He walks over to you and touches your shoulder. Only when you look at him he starts speaking again.

"Wanda has been having nightmares." He says and you frown worriedly. "About you. And about the Hydra mark. Professor Harkness insists that you two should stay apart for as long as possible."

"Why didn't I feel anything, sir?"

"Because Agatha has managed to teach Wanda to block her thoughts." He clarifies and you swallow dryly. "Which was a big step forward, because Wanda has been really disturbed these past few months."

You push Erik's arm away and he looks at you in surprise.

"And you didn't think to tell me this before?" You accuse angrily.

"Calm down, Miss Stark." He asks seriously, but you feel your body heating up with anger. "Everything is under control."

"Wanda was going through this alone all this time!" You retort annoyed. "I was supposed to be on her side and..."

"She's not alone." He interrupts. "She has Pietro, and me, and all her friends in the avenger's army."

You blink in surprise.

"W-wanda is in the avengers?"

"She joined as soon as the nightmares started." He says. "Agatha does not teach her dueling spells, because that is not the purpose of her training. Wanda has been having visions of you getting hurt, so she reached out for help to learn how to fight properly. I only found out that she was training with your brother because she allowed me into her mind to calm her down after a particularly difficult bad dream."

"Why didn't you tell me that sir?" You ask in an affected voice.

"Because Wanda asked me to."

You take a step back, confused by all the statements. Erik sighs, looking at the door.

"Mr. Strange, good morning. May I help you?" He asks and you try to disguise your current emotional state.

"Sorry to interrupt." Stephen asks as he enters the room. His gaze lingers on you for a second. "I need to talk to you Erik."

Professor Lehnsherr looks like he wanted to say something to you, but you shake your head, quickly saying goodbye as you turn to go back into the communal hall.

You don't understand why Wanda has kept things from you, but it would be hypocritical to demand anything from her. It doesn't mean that you don't feel upset, and it's all you can think about for the rest of the week.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Your O.W.L.S are a complete joke.

You are amazed that they can even be called exams.

The teachers are just as bothered by the approved material as the students, but at least the tests are easy and you don't have to worry about reviewing any content once you have the first Charms assessment, and all you have to do is simple conjurations and incantations.

It is the quietest exam season you have ever had, and you use almost the entire period to rest.

You have decided not to confront Wanda about the nightmares, because she seems to run away from you every time you try to signal that you intend to talk to her, so you respect her decision, knowing that you have no right to demand anything different.

Your relationship with Tony gradually improved as you started talking to your friends again, and because even without being part of the Avengers, you did everything in your power to get in the way of Professor Kaecilius' investigations into this.

Whether it was causing noisy and laborious distractions with the various incantations you eventually learned, or with the most absurd false gossip you could think of to share with your colleagues, which always led to pointless investigations that prevented him from having concrete proof that the army even existed.

Tony wasn't exactly talking to you yet, but he wasn't ignoring you, so that was a good sign.

As the end of the school year approached, you hoped that things would improve once you all got back home.

Your last exam took place on wednesday afternoon.

"Please sit in pairs." Asked Professor Lehnsherr the class as soon as you entered the room.

Everyone moved quickly, and you exchanged a glance with your sisters, who sat together at the bench next to yours.

"Mr.Groot, please come sit in my chair." Erik quickly warned when he noticed the little being hanging on Mantis' leg, and the class gave a chuckle at the cute way Groot ran to join the teacher. "Page Seven, please. Execute the potion accurately by the end of class."

The class fell silent after that. The potion on page seven was a simple poisoning antidote, but since these were OWL'S, it should be executed perfectly to acquire the best grades.

When you finished putting in the ingredients, and needed to wait for the mixture to boil for seven minutes, you ventured a look at the rest of the class.

Gamora and Nebula seemed to be getting along quite well, and even Harley, who was notably a disaster at potions, gave you a little smile from across the room.

Mantis's mixture was different from the oriented color in the book, and you looked at Professor Erik, checking to see if he was distracted by Groot's behavior enough before signaling with your fingers on the table for Mantis to mash the bezoar instead of cutting.

When time ran out, you and your friend had perfect potions.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

You went to join the Slytherin table at lunch, and only didn't look for Wanda because Peter Parker tripped over his own cape and you helped him stand before sitting down.

While you were eating, Peter Quill stormed into the room on a firebolt.

Many students screamed in surprise, but the noise was drowned out by fireworks that were attached to the broomstick and burst into the air.

Before anyone could say anything else, another witch flew into the room, and you widened your eyes when you noticed that it was Pietro.

"Is that...?" Gamora started but you were already getting up to follow the crowd out of the hall, following the explosions and the brooms in the air.

You ended up outside, laughing as you watched Pietro and Quill conjure various colorful incantations in the air.

"Stop this immediately!" Shouted Professor Kaecilius to the wizards in the air, but his voice was completely muffled by the fireworks and exclamations of celebration from the crowd of students in the courtyard.

"No more books!" Pietro announced to the crowd, a flick of his wand and several pages of what you imagined to be the magic books from the backpack hanging from his broomstick flew through the air.

"No more exams!" Quill shouted next, and increased the fireworks. You think he threw some Zonkos items into the crowd, and Gamora nudged you in the ribs to show you that Professor Rambeau was hiding a giggle from Kaecilius' fury.

"No more rules!" Pietro finally completed, and with the flick of his wand, the fireworks dragon plunged toward Professor Kaecilius, who took off running, but was caught in the middle of the hall. The crowd erupted in laughter, and you watched Quill and Pietro wave before they flew off beyond the castle.

The little commotion in the courtyard was not the only prank Quill and Pietro pulled.

You eventually discover that even with the prohibitions, all your classmates have been doing this year is breaking the rules.

There were a significant amount of magical items smuggled into the school, and Pietro and Quill had scattered dozens of miniature enchanted swamps all over the castle, which were so difficult to remove that Professor Stephen gave up on extracting the enchantments, and earned an annoyed look from Kaecilius.

Besides this, you had no idea where they got them, but at least three cages full of the little creatures, the Horned Devils, were loose in the castle, and no one has been able to find them all yet.

Many paintings were vandalized with enchanted paint, which moved away when they tried to clean it up, and many objects from the top floors, such as tables and chairs, were enchanted to walk around the castle.

The teaching staff would have a busy last week of the end of the year, but you and the rest of the students were having a great time with it all.

"I heard that Professor Lehnsherr turned red as a tomato when they said Pietro ran away from school." Gamora tells you as soon as you meet to spend some time at the lake, since the castle is not the most friendly place after so many incantations.

It's Sunday, and it's hot and muggy, so you roll up your t-shirt sleeves.

"Speaking of the Maximoffs, how are things between you and Wanda?" Nebula asks once you stop laughing at Gamora's comment.

Mantis is playing a game of throwing rocks into the lake with Groot and Harley, but you notice that they are also paying attention to your words.

"We're not back together if that's what you're asking." You grumble as you pull at bits of the grass with your fingers. "And I haven't talked to her in a while."

"I thought you were going to join the Avengers with her." Nebula adds in a not so low tone. You know it's because everyone there was part of the group, and there were no other students around.

"I didn't know she was going to join the Avengers." You try to skirt the issue, and it seems to be enough. "Now the year is ending, if things keep going like this, maybe I'll join next year."

Your sisters smile at your statement, and you lie on the ground, enjoying the sun against your skin.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Professor Erik asks you to talk once you get back to the castle.

"I talked to Hermitall about making you a head girl next year." He tells you and you look at him with raised eyebrows.

"I've got at least three detentions this year, sir." You argue and Erik gives a chuckle.

"Allies in the most unlikely places, Miss Stark." He replies mysteriously, and you frown. "We don't know how the ministry will continue to interfere at Hogwarts, and we'll need an excuse for your classes to continue. A headgirl has a different agenda."

"Okay, professor." You mutter. "Thanks for the warning."

"Stark." He calls out just as you turn around. And you look at him curiously. "Did you know Pietro was going to leave school?"

You are surprised by the question, but you just deny it with your head. Erik sighs.

"Wanda didn't either, but I feel like she wouldn't tell me if she knew." He adds and you put your hands in your pockets. "I shouldn't recommend it, but I think she'll be happy if you go talk to her. Just this once, okay?"

You widen your eyes, but Erik doesn't need to repeat himself and you are already running toward the Slytherin's communal hall.

You don't know exactly what you want to say to Wanda, or if you just want to hug her, but your feet move quickly and you don't have time to think about it too much.

Your smile falters when you bump into Headmistress Harkness halfway.

"Sorry, professor." You ask clumsily, taking a step back. She looks at you as if appraising you. "Excuse me..."

"Where are you going?"

You look down the hallway at the Slytherin Hall and then at her.

"To see Tony."

"You are lying better now I see it." She declares and you widen your eyes slightly. "Erik has been doing a good job."

"I'm not..."

"Come with me, Miss." She says with a wave but you don't move.

"I'm busy."

"I wasn't asking, Miss Stark."

You swallow dryly, looking down the hallway once again, and thinking about the chances of running off.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Agatha adds seriously. "A simple immobilus and you would stumble before you reached the corner."

"You're threatening me, Professor?" You retort with a frown and the woman giggles.

"Of course not, miss Stark." She says. "It was just a harmless joke. Now, be a good girl and come along with me. You'll have plenty of time to hook up with Miss Maximoff later."

You are very embarrassed by the tease, and grumble in understanding before following the professor. Something in the corner of your mind is begging you to go to Wanda, but you assume it is the longing and the chance to see her without worrying that you are breaking some rule.

//-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-////-//

Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife || @nervoustrack

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda x yn #wanda maximoff x yn #wanda maximoff x you #The Scarlet Witch Prophecy #avengers imagines #wanda maximoff imagines #Scarlet Witch x Reader

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supersizemeplz · 3 years

Text

We Meet Again

Incubus!Erik Stevens x Black PlusSized Female

Another #supersizedfic Halloween fic. I know, I know. It isn’t October yet but I wanted this to jumpstart my writings for it. I definitely want to push out more creepy/scary fics around that month. Let’s call this practice. Also, I’m calling him an incubus but I’m not sure if he fits that category fully in this. Idk. Enjoy!

Song suggestion: Algorhythm by Childish Gambino

"Come on down to Moreen's Super Savin-" The commercial was clipped short as the screen went black. It had to be the millionth time it'd came on in the past two weeks and it was becoming repetitive. The young woman sat the remote on the glass coffee table before she stood. Her adoring pet took that as her cue to hop down as well and follow her owner close.

"How about a snack, Mina? We deserve that right?" She spoke to the puppy as if she'd reply. Well she kind of did with a bark and shake of her tail. Sierra made her way to the fridge and pulled open the freezer. Only to be met with ice trays and frozen meats. Frowning a bit, she looked down to her animal companion.

"Looks like we're out, mamas." Closing the door, she made her way to the dining room table. Grabbing her keys from atop a local Moreen's Super Savings ad paper. She took a quick look in the hallway mirror and made a quick 180 to head up the stairs to her bedroom. "I guess I need something to cover up, huh."

Keys jingled in a hurried dance as she moved, sounding along with the calmed patter of the loyal four little paws. Out of the bedroom once she'd grabbed a hoodie, through the hallway, and down the stairs. Sierra slipped her braids into a bun atop her head, adjusting the silk headband that protected her edges.

Turning to the eager little bichon frise at her feet, she squatted to talk to the puppy. Mina. "Mommy will be back, ok? I'll get us some snacks from the store." She chuckled as Mina barked her reply. With a soft head rub, Mina turned away satisfied as she went back to play with her toys.

Locking the door behind her, Sierra made her way to her car. She was craving vanilla wafers and ice cream. The wind was a bit chilly as she got further from the house, picking up just a little. Fall was slowly making its way and she was amped for the holidays to start rolling in.

With a soft close of the car door, her right index finger pressed the start button to bring the car to life. The time on the radio read twenty minutes until ten o'clock which was just enough time for her to make it before the store's closing. Once she'd set the radio to a slow R&B jam, she was on her way.

A quick ten minute ride was all it took to reach the store since traffic was basically non-existent. Weird but not impossible. She pulled into the nearly empty parking lot without a second thought and turned off the car. "Out and in, two minutes." The words were a mumble as they left her lips, more so a reminder that the store would close soon and she needed not to slow poke.

"Welcome to Moreen's Super Savings." A lone cashier spoke to her as soon as she entered. She smiled with a polite greeting in reply before heading off to the frozen section. Her house shoes made little noise as she found the ice cream selection with ease. A glance to her watch showed she had eight minutes until closing. She had to hurry.

"Hi, how are you?" Her southern hospitality showed as she passed a man that occupied the aisle as well. Not really paying attention to any of his details. Her mission was ice cream, not a man. He gave a polite smile and simple reply, looking over to her once he heard her voice. From her quick glance, she could see his hands were empty though he seemed to be looking for a frozen dessert as well.

The moment between them came and went as she began her quick search once again. "Ah-ha." She spoke the small victory, grabbing the last personal sized vanilla blue bell pint. "Now to the cookies and then something for Mina." With a quick stride she went over two aisles to find the large variety of cookies.

Squatting down to look at the vanilla wafers on the bottom shelf, she saw someone standing at the end of the aisle out of her peripheral. She thought nothing of that as well until a weird feeling fell over her. And the figure was still there. Raising a brow, she looked over to where the figured stood. Or where it should've been. No one was there.

"Hmm." She gave a quick hum of confusion as she stood from her current position. With her choice of cookies in hand. Her head turned both ways to see if she was just imagining things and after seeing that no one was really there, she decided she was. A quick shoulder shrug ended the paranoid thought and she went on her way to get her last items. Coming to the end of the aisle, she stopped to look for the overhead sign to direct her to the pet aisle. Moreen's was kind of new to the town and she had only been here a total of three times, including now.

"Household, paper products, pets." She began her lengthy walk across the store, passing three aisles before she noticed that someone was mirroring her from the other end of the aisles. It could be ignored and pushed aside as a coincidence until she stopped to pretend that her sock needed adjusting. Only for the figure at the other end to stop as well. "What the hell?" She stood quickly to see who was the asshole sending her paranoia through the roof. She knew this store gave off weird vibes. Just as she looked up to see his face, the store went dark and its usual cheery pop songs went silent.

Her gasp was caught in her throat as her grip tightened on the old container of ice cream. She didn't even register the thought of it slowly attempting to escape its containment. Those big brown eyes of hers kept looking to the spot where the man had stood before the power cut.

"Shit." A short curse left her lips as the once frozen dessert made a mess of her hand. Giving one last glance to the spot, she slowly stepped backwards towards the registers before hurrying to it. Her eyes darted around the area to make sure she was still alone as she attempted to rid her hands of the sticky sweet. "There is no way they closed this damn store with me still inside. The cashier literally spoke to me when I walked in the door."

The door.

Sierra discarded the paper towel that was little help as she looked to the large glass double doors. Her exit. She almost scolded herself for getting so worked up, letting her fear of being in the dark affect her sense. Putting pep in her step, she made her way to the door with a quickness. A quick tug to the handle was supposed to ease her heart rate but it sent it soaring. Locked? Why in the hell is it locked? Oh no. She was trapped here, in the dark with her paranoia. Her back turned to press against the doors. "I just had to watch those damn scary movies today."

The dark aisles seemed to mock her as she scanned across them as quick as she could from where she stood. The light that came in from the windows of the store front could only reach so far. With a shivering hand, she fumbled to pull her phone from her pockets. "No, no, no!" She whisper yelled, holding the side buttons to try and make the screen come to life. Only to be met with the screen that told her that her phone was dead. "You were just on fifty percent. How the fuck could you be dead?"

A loud thud from her left caught her off guard, causing her to tense up and her phone to fall to the ground with a soft clap. She looked frantically to the direction of the noise as it's echo sent chills over her. "H-Hello?" Her words stuttered out as she slowly bent to pick up your phone. Maybe it's an employee? "I think you guys locked me in by accident.."

Still like a tree planted by the water, she didn't move. No one answered her call but she had an eerie feeling that she wasn't alone. "Come on, girl. You're stronger than this, remember what Dr. Hamina said.. Fears are nothing more than a state of mind. You're ok." Finally pulling her feet from the invisible glue that held them, she took a slow step forward. "There has to be an emergency door around here somewhere."

In the distance, just barely behind a faraway aisle, those four familiar red letters caught her eyes. "Exit." Hope sparked in her mind and she was happy to know there was another way out. The trick now was getting to the other side without being caught by the man that lurked in the shadows.

As if he'd known she'd thought of him, his voice surrounded her like a cloud. "Sierraaa. Don't be afraid of me, beautiful.." A sudden, single light cut on in the center of the aisles. Close enough to the back that she was directly across the supermarket from him. The soft buzz of the light could faintly be heard from where she stood. She squeezed her phone this time to cope with the fear piercing her as she took another step backwards towards the door.

"How do you know my name? W-Who are you?" She couldn't hide her fear if she wanted to. The waver of her voice gave it away and she hated that it. Because he chuckled at her. His back was to her and she could just make out him looking over his shoulder back at her. In an instant, the light cut out and it was darkness again before a different light popped on. This one was closer than the last but she still couldn't make him out fully. It was only his clothes that gave away his identity as the man that she'd spoken to on the ice cream aisle when she'd came in earlier.

"You don't remember me, sweetness?" He pretended to be offended, finally turning to reveal his face before the lights turned off. It popping back on with him closer. "All the nights we spent together during your college years, just as you were finding yourself. The nights we spent together.. in your dreams, sweetness." That name, that voice. That face.

"E-Erik?" His voice suddenly found its place in her mind. In those memories she'd locked away. "You're not real? H-How are you-? How did you-?"

She'd went through a weird patch in her early stages of youth and adulthood. Her grandmother had called it 'spirit soaring'. The gift ran through the women in her family, but she seemed to be the only one who couldn't keep her control of it. The first few times were innocent during her teen years with short trips around the home for just a minute. That soon crept up to her soul venturing around her neighborhood to see what night could bring. Snowballing into a faint obsession.

Her grandmother had warned her plenty times before of the addictions of her lucid dreaming. But she'd assured herself she could control it. Then she'd met Erik, the man of her dreams, literally. He'd resembled an actor she'd adored and that was his bait. Everything was perfect between the two until it would inch closer to her having to leave him. And he didn't like that, he wanted her company full time. He'd began to find ways to prolong her visits with him.

She began to notice that he wasn't under her control like everything else in her dreams. It honestly scared her. His demeanor changed and he became obsessed with her, finding ways to pull her under when she'd fall asleep. Passive aggressive and manipulating were his sudden traits. The last time she'd seen him ended with a scuffle. Scarring his left eye and her getting away by a hair.

"How I found you?" He spoke her thoughts, finally allowing her to see his face. That familiar scar was healed now. Making him look like a monster from some horror film. "I never lost you, sweetness. I've just waited patiently.. watching you from the shadows..." He took a step towards her, taking in the sweet scent of her fear. "Never..out of..reach."

The lights began to flicker and her adrenaline started pumping. Sierra began to rack her mind for an escape. The exit sign. It was the same escape route she'd use in her dreams long ago. Her feet started their movement before it fully registered in her mind. "Just make it to the door."

Erik's laughter filled the air around her, loud and mocking as she kept her quick pace. "You can run, but you can't hide. Escape is inevitable.." His words were chilling to hear. He really wanted her for himself.

The door seemed to be getting further away. Like she was running backwards. Tears began to gloss her eyes as she became weaker. Her legs were getting tired, but she pressed on. Just make it to the door. Still the door grew smaller with every attempt to reach it.

"Nooo!" Her knees hit the ground below her, meeting the cold tile floor. "It can't end like this.. Leave me ALONE!!" She screamed into the darkness. A last effort to fight her attacker.

The air was still once her echos silenced. Her eyes moved around as best they could in the darkness. The light above her popped on and the slow echo of footsteps in the darkness came towards her. She trembled where she sat, trying to crawl to the door as best she could.

Erik emerged from the darkness like a villain and stopped just before her. "When will you learn sweetness? Running will only tire you out.." He squatted before her, bringing a hand to her cheek to rid it of a stray tear. "Stay with me and we can spend this life together. Happily. Forever."

"This moment.." He spoke lowly, eyes glazed with lust. "I have been waiting for this moment for so long, my sweetness, to have you all to myself.." He rolled his shoulders as he hummed. "..And here we are. Alone, at last. Destined to be brought together as one."

Licking his lips, he held a smirk at the corner of his lips. "Isn't this what we once dreamed for? To be together forever?" His smile widened at her drooping eyes as they fought to stay open. "Well, I did. At least."

Her lips tried to speaks but all her energy was being drained. His voice began to sound distorted to her. She didn't want him to win this time. Have to..stay..awake. Darkness.

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Can you hear me?" The voice was far off in the darkness, barely audible. Sierra fought to make out the words on her mind. Please don't let him win. Her body wouldn't listen to her in her struggle. She screamed internally at herself to wake up, wanting whoever was trying to talk to her know that she could hear them. It seemed to take forever. "There you go. Breathe."

She had shot up to a seated position, breathing heavily and looking around to see if he was still there. Her eyes held worry as she was only met with two E.M.T. and a small group of employees in the distance. The female E.M.T gave an assuring smile to ease her nerves, though it didn't help much. Though it did calm her a little to see a friendly face. "An employee found you laying in the aisle, nearly unresponsive. So we're gonna take you to the hospital and make sure everything is okay. Are you alright with that, hunny?"

All Sierra could do was nod, needing to get out of this damned store. She'd never come back here, that was for damned sure. The medical duo eased her onto a stretcher and gave her a water for her throat. Since she hadn't uttered a word since she came to. "We'll do a few check ups in the truck on the way there. You just let me know if anything feels weird suddenly or hurts. Ok..."

Tears blurred Sierra's vision as she was lifted into the ambulance, listening to the distant sounds of the medical personnel that assured that she would be just fine. Her mouth didn't open and their words didn't register as she looked forward. Not directly looking to the group of employees that watched her being taken away, but more so to what was behind them where he stood. He was relaxed as he watched her with a smirk. His words rung off in her head as she noticed him vanish behind the passing of employees heading back inside. "Alone, at last. Destined to brought together as one.." She was stuck with him forever.

#black reader #erik stevens #erik x reader #oneshot #halloween fic #supersize the spooky

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platoniclokiimagines · 3 years

Note

All the Avengers a lil iffy with Loki after IW, but Loki meets Jane, and Valkyrie again and they fucking sprint to him and squish him in a hug and everyone’s confused cause... dangerous murderer Loki is getting hugged, and having his hair pulled by Bruce and just... ugh??? Fluffy stuff. Making dinner together. Group cuddles. Helping Bruce with his dumb science stuff. Ugh. Please

WC: 1417

Rating: G

TW: none

A/N: Each idea you posed made me So happy that I couldn’t just pick one to focus on so this is just a hypercut of each of these moments fleshed out a teeny tiny little bit. Also this is just a Complete AU in which the snap Did happen but afterwards was just Different mostly because I don’t want to deal with having to figure out the logistics of my own au l o l. But I hope you enjoy it~

It was shortly after the events of the Decimation that youjoined what was left of the Avengers. The team was in all but rags aftereverything that had happened, and you, left with no one else to go to with yourpowers, had sought out the Compound and pled your case, and since they’d beeneffectively cut in half in number, they’d let you stick around withoutquestion.

The first few days afterward had been the hardest. Everyonewas still in shock, and in various stages of mourning what had happened whilealso worrying about the unknowns. Tony, Strange, and Peter and the rest of theGuardians were in space, and no one had any way to contact them to see if theywere okay, so no one knew who, if any of them, were alive.

You weren’t the only one that had joined up with the group.A lot of old friends of some of the Avengers had sought them out, as well,seeking something familiar in the chaos the world had turned into. Thisincluded people like Jane Foster and Erik Selvig, and a bunch of other peopleyou’d never heard of before anything had happened. And once the refugee shipshad managed to make it to earth, Valkyrie was around, as well, doing what shecould to try to drag Thor out of his guilt-spawned depression.

Everyone was just trying.

But no one expectedthe day that Loki appeared out of thin air in the middle of the living room.

It had taken everyone a second to realize what they were looking at, when it happened. Loki didn’tquite look like the Loki they knew, or the one you had seen on the televisionall those years ago when the Chitauri had attacked New York. Loki looked sick,and weak. Their clothes were tattered, they looked like they hadn’t seen thelight of days in weeks, and they hadthe most horrible black and purple bruises around their throat.

It had taken a solid minute of staring before people startedreacting, the entire group split between looking surprised to see them andlooking ready to fight them.

“…we thought you were dead.” Steve was the first to speak,voice calm, but demeanor showing that he was ready to punch Loki, if necessary,and most of the original Avengers that were left looked the same, save forThor, who looked like he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating.

But before anyone else could say or do anything, Loki wasall but tackled by Valkyrie, so forcefully that they gave a startled little “oof”in response.

“You’re a right idiot, you know that?” Val’s annoyedresponse was betrayed by the waver in her voice, and the way she practicallyclung to Loki.

No sooner did she let go of them enough to give them spaceto breathe than did Loki become engulfed in another hug, this time from, of allthe people you expected would want to hug Loki, Jane Foster.

“You’re still a jerk for whatever happened on Svartalfheim,but I’m glad to see you back.”

Loki managed a weak, raspy little huff of a laugh. “Iseverything everyone says going to be preceded by something mean, then?”

“Well, I’m justhappy to see you,” Bruce stated as he approached Loki, and rather than offer ahug, he just smiled, and awkwardly tugged Loki’s hair in a gesture you couldonly assume was meant to be affectionate. “You look like you’ve seen betterdays. And could use a nice bath.”

Loki laughed again, a little more genuinely, though stillstrained. “…and a doctor, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Well, I’m not that kind of doctor, but I’ll see what I cando.”

Bruce stepped back a bit, then, and nodded, but in the nextsecond, Loki had been lifted from the ground in what looked like an absolutelyspine-crushing hug from Thor, who was somehow both laughing and sobbinguncontrollably.

He didn’t say anything, but really, he didn’t need to, andeveryone just watched in silence, with varying levels of confusion at thesudden and strange turn of events.

“…several of the people in thisroom have some explaining to do right about now,” Nat finally declared, and forthe first time, in a long time, everyone in the room laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~

It took several months for Loki to make the closest to afull recovery that they could. While everything physically had been healed,mentally Loki was still extremely troubled, and their vocal chords had sufferedpretty extensive damage from being crushed by Thanos, resulting in a change oftheir voice that really only went noticed by those that had been closest tothem.

But every day, they were healing.

You and Loki had become fast friends. You had always feltlike an outsider with the rest of the team, and it was obvious Loki felt thesame, and the two of you had found solace in your shared distance from thegroup, and the two of you did almost everything together that you could manage.

This included, much to the eternal excitement of the rest ofthe team, cooking together.

You’d helped Loki learn to cook as a way to cope morehealthily with some of their self-deprecating thoughts and tendencies, hopingthat, with having something to do for others, it might help Loki feel betterabout themself sometimes, and it had really worked a treat. Loki just had a wayin the kitchen that even you couldn’t match, despite teaching them everythingyou knew, and the two of you working together was just a different kind of magic.

Everyone always lovedwhen it was your turn to make dinner for the group, as the two of you were, asdeclared by the rest of the team, simply the best cooks out of the entirety ofthem all, and thus that meant dinner would always be better.

And you had to admit, it felt good to be gassed up all nightwhile you were both in the kitchen, and everyone else was excitedly setting thetable and pouring drinks and getting ready to eat.

And you knew that Loki, though they never showed it,secretly enjoyed the positive attention, as well.

It was just niceto be appreciated and wanted around, something you knew Loki had neverexperienced much of.

You hoped it would last for along time.

~~~~~~~~~~

One afternoon, when you and Loki had intended to spend sometime in the training room to work on freshening up the both of your trainingskills, you’d realized you had no idea where Loki was at all.

After checking all of Loki’s normal hiding places, youfinally checked Thor’s room, only to find quite the sight.

While you’d expected, at the very least, Thor and maybe Loki, if you were lucky, you foundnot only them, but Val and Bruce as well, all four of them absolutely cuddledup together on the floor, and all four of them fast asleep.

You didn’t have the heart towake them up, and a nap didn’t sound so bad to yourself, either, so rather thantry to wake Loki and wrestle the group apart, you just settled yourselfcomfortably in the middle of the cuddle puddle, and let the warmth of thedogpile lull you to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Another time, you went looking for Loki and were completely surprisedto find them sitting in Bruce’s lab, writing down notes as the two of themworked on an equation that Bruce had written on a whiteboard.

“So, if we look at it from this perspective… Take thatnumber instead of that one, and see where that gets us with the isotopecompound.” Bruce hadn’t even noticed you as he was talking, too busy watchingLoki scribble something down.

“The effectivity rate nearly doubles entirely-”

“Giving us exactly the reaction that we want!”

You had absolutely no idea what on earth they were talking about, but you didn’t have the heart tointerrupt them, so you just stood in the doorway and watched them geek out overwhatever it was that had them so excited, taking the moment to be grateful forhow long Loki had come in the short time since they had arrived at theCompound.

They had been through so much, and had suffered even more,but here they were, making friends and having fun, and being appreciated by theothers.

You couldn’t have been more proud.

#Loki imagine #platonic Loki imagine #Loki #Loki Laufeyson #Loki Odinson #Loki x reader #platonic!Loki x reader #anonymous #ask #answered #fluff #this is Soft #I'm Soft #feat. Bruce #feat. Thor #feat. Jane Foster #feat. Valkyrie

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gerec · 3 years

Text

AU-gust 2021 Prompts

1. Ancient Gods AU - Part 5 of 7 (okay I give up on guessing how long this will actually go lol)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Cherik, Greek mythology au; inspired by the myth of Medusa. No warnings apply.

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Erik had not truly expected the stranger to accept his offer, thinking that at any moment, Charles would reveal his true motive, or attempt to cleave off his head. But as time passed, and Charles proved himself kindly and forthright – helping with meals and mending the fishing nets – Erik’s steely reticence began to waver. He found himself sharing snippets of his life before; his tradesman father and a mother who made pottery, and two younger sisters not yet out of their teens. In turn, Charles told of his own childhood and a terrible prophecy foretold; one that ended nearly in his death and that of his mother’s, the two locked in a casket and thrown out to sea.

And eventually, in the dead of night, when only the old fisherman was awake to steer the boat ever westward, Erik spoke of his life as the White Queen’s acolyte. How he worshipped at Her temple and took vows of devotion, and how he’d planned a life of good works in Her name. Finally, he told of his violation by the Black King and how even death was denied, then waking in a new body made to take life and never to live it.

Only after the tale was told did he realize Charles was weeping, his tears seeping into the folds of Erik’s great cloak. It warmed his cold heart to receive such sympathy and concern for his suffering, for Erik’s existence had been bereft of care and kindness since that fateful night.

“Do not weep for me, my friend,” Erik said, “for I have long been resigned to my fate.”

“How could the gods have allowed such a thing,” Charles cried, clutching desperately at Erik’s hand. “Such a terrible injustice has befallen you, and yet you have been made to bear the pain!”

He laughed bitterly, and shook his head. “It was the gods who did this to me, Charles. What recourse can a mortal have, over the acts of those who control the tides of our fortune?”

“Even so…”

They spoke no other words that night, and Erik fell into a fitful slumber with Charles leaning against his shoulder. When he woke next, Charles’ head had shifted to lay on his torso, and his arms were wrapped protectively around Erik’s tail. It startled him enough that he immediately jerked away, for he could not bear to frighten his only friend, who could only be disgusted with the shape of Erik’s transformed body.

But Charles managed to surprise him yet again, for instead of showing any fear, he said, “I’m sorry Erik, for I should not have touched you in my sleep, and while you were unaware. Please know that you have nothing to fear from me, for I would sooner die than ever harm you, I swear.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Erik answered, “Are you not revolted, Charles? By the thing that I am beneath this cloak?”

“Never!” Charles grasped his arms tenderly, and placed a reverent kiss upon each of his hands. “You are beautiful to me, for the kindness and mercy that lives in your heart, even after all that you’ve endured. Never doubt that I mean everything I say, for I—”

Erik did not hear the rest of his words, for the sea suddenly began to boil, and a monstrous serpent burst from the waves.

#gerec writes #cherik #ancient gods au #medusa au #greek mythology au #part 5 #au-gust 2021 #there's really probably just two more parts #i'm anxious to get to the end!#also this is so mushy ugh

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victoria-daydreams · 3 years

Text

Of Vices and Virtues

Chapter One: The Queen of Hearts

AN: At first, I was going to delete this story because it wasn’t gaining any traction, which was disappointing, but as the days passed the notes started coming in I decided to keep it posted. Thank you to everyone that’s read this fic so far.

Trigger Warnings: subtle racism

Word Count: 4.6k

Chapter Two: Division X

The car journey was slow and tedious, it had only been three hours since the three of us had set off. I was dozing off in the back seat cocooned in my tan wool coat as my head used the window as a pillow, listening to Charles and Erik talk softly amongst themselves, they must have thought I was fully asleep.

"Why recruit an empath?" Erik asked curiously. "Why not recruit someone with a more destructive power?"

"You forget Claudia is also telekinetic," Charles answered. "I mean did you see her? When she lifted that knife, her eyes, it was as if they were glowing. It was beautiful to look at!" Charles exclaimed, and I could envision a brilliant smile on his face.

"You find her attractive, don't you?" Erik asked, almost amused. "I'm sure Agent MacTaggert will understand," Erik continued, still in a teasing tone.

Charles chuckled delightfully, "I'm not going to comment on that," Charles stated, clearing his throat and changing the topic. "But do not discount her empathy as not a destructive gift, that particular ability can enhance her mind and body to be nearly superhuman if she wished it to do so, along with projecting her emotions to other people. Empathy can be extremely dangerous,"

"Do you think she has used it in a dangerous way?" Erik questioned. Erik's question hung in the air for a while. "Charles?" he prompted.

"There is danger within her," Charles answered softly.

His voice, hazy as the air in summertime, seemed to come from somewhere outside of himself. The two of them were silent then, knowing and sharing this sudden, troubling observation. Just as my eyes felt heavy and I felt myself drifting into a peaceful sleep when Erik's voice startled me.

"Charles, do you really think that this is a good idea?"

"Erik, if I didn't have faith in how powerful her abilities are then I never would have allowed her to get mixed up in this in the first place," Charles assured.

"And just how powerful are her abilities, Charles? I feel like there's something you're hiding. What more can she do?"

"She's more powerful than even she knows. You've only sampled a small amount of the power she possesses. But I think that she's holding back what she can do, so until she tells us, we'll have to wait,"

My mind became fuzzy and I soon drifted off into total and calm oblivion.

~~~x~~~

When I woke up, my head was still resting on the window. I lifted my head from my makeshift pillow and saw Erik looking at me, through the rear view mirror, with a mixture of emotions that I didn't recognize. I shifted slightly and sat up slowly, my limbs groaning in protest. It was now early afternoon, as we made the drive to the CIA headquarters.

My eyes shifted between the back of Erik's seat and the back of Charles seat every few minutes. Charles looked at the mirror, shifting his eyes slightly so he can still see the road and keep eye contact with me.

"So Claudia," he began in attempt to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen on the car now that I was awake. "What did you do at your job?" Charles asked politely.

My eye twitched as I stared at the mirror, "Clearly, I was in maintenance," I retorted sleep still heavy in my voice, as I gestured at my dress underneath my coat.

Erik's eyes moved from the passenger side window back to the mirror, looking at me, "Sarcasm won't be the best way to pass time," he turned his attention back to the road.

We sit in a tense silence, I never was one for small talk. I just left my home and job only a few hours ago to help two strangers I just met. They worked for the government, which raised my suspicion, but the fact that they knew how to find me so easily and knew what I could do was unnerving. I believe that I deserved to be left alone with my thoughts, this was a lot for me.

After a few minutes of more tense silence I spoke up again, "Psychologist," I answered, causing the two men to look back at me. "I was a psychologist's assistant, I only have my bachelor's degree," I explained.

It was the perfect cover, I gave mental support to patients and their families. No one really knew what I was and what I could do if I was given the chance. Secretly, I always hoped something would happen that'd make me use my powers for a cause bigger than myself.

Charles smiled at me, "Where did you attend college?"

My voice turned monotone, "Howard University, but you probably already knew that and my whole life story," I remarked.

"Contrary to your belief, I am not one to betray someone's trust. You asked me to stay out of your head, so until I have your permission, I won't reach out for you telepathically," Charles looked at the rear view mirror again, catching my eyes again.

Regret flashed in my eyes as I dropped my gaze, playing with my hands, "My apologies,"

"There's no need to apologize to me, Claudia,"

I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable, I glanced out the window, "Where are we?" I asked, changing the subject.

"We're coming up to the headquarters now," Charles answered, gesturing to the large building looming up ahead of us.

I looked out of the window to see the headquarters. It was made up of one huge tan stone building surrounded by acres of clean, green fields and deciduous trees, with a rather odd looking satellite to the left of it that looked like a large golf ball atop of a tee. It was quite remarkable and imposing, but also very conspicuous.

"I would have thought that it would be more camouflaged, being a government building and all," I quipped, and Erik let out a light chuckle.

The car came to a gradual stop before we pulled up to the curb and we all stepped out of the car.

"Home sweet home," Erik noted dryly.

The air had turned cold and bitter and I shrugged my coat closer to me in an attempt to keep warm, before I grabbed my suit case out of the black car. Charles, Erik, and I had gone back to my apartment after I was recruited to gather my clothes and valuables into my suitcase. I smiled inwardly thinking back on how Erik ordered me to hurry up and pack my belongings and I did just the exact opposite just to piss him off.

"I thought I told you to make it quick," Erik grumbled, trying to steer me out of my own apartment.

"You did. I just didn't listen," I answered simply, before latching onto Charles' arm, and he guided me out the apartment.

"Claudia, Erik. Please. Do try to get on. We have a six hour car journey ahead of us and I don't think that my sanity will be able to stand you two bickering for that length of time," Charles groaned.

"My, my, is he always like that?" I asked, looking over my shoulder with a wry grin and Erik just glared at me.

"Erik?"

"Who else?" I retorted, rolling my eyes. "Is he always so hostile towards people?"

"I would say not trusting in your case, my dear," Charles corrected. "Just give him time and he will come around, probably not entirely, but I trust he will not try to kill you," Charles stated sending me a reassuring smile, that I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to.

"I'd like to see him try,"

It was starting to become fun, arguing with Erik. He had a quick wit, not unlike myself. We could keep up with each other. Shaking my head out of my daze, I closed the car door. Charles came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder and slowly guided me towards the front door.

"Now Claudia, there are six more people here just like us. You will meet them shortly," Charles informed, as I walked beside him with suitcase in hand.

"Ah, Charles, Erik, welcome back. I see you have brought one more recruit," A large, more plump man greeted us, sporting a black suit, wore square glasses, and had jet black hair. "Welcome to my facility, the CIA's new Mutant Division," he welcomed as I looked on impressed. He extended his hand out to me, I was shocked by the gesture. "I'm Agent Platt, and I promise you I'm on your side,"

"Claudia Walker," I greeted back smiling while giving his hand a firm shake. "And by that I hope you mean you support us, because you aren't a mutant," I hinted, my smile never wavered. Agent Platt raised his eyebrows, glancing to Charles uncomfortably. "I'm an empath Mr. Platt. I might not know what you're thinking, but rest assured I know what you're feeling," the man smiled, his cheeks scrunching up.

"Well, anyway, let's introduce you to your new partners, Claudia. You'll be with them for a...long while, so might as well get acquainted," Agent Platt stated.

"We are actually are on their way Agent Platt," Charles informed, shoving his hands in pocket. "We got it from here," Charles stated.

Mr. Platt nodded, "It was nice meeting you, Claudia," I gave small wave and the man twisted around and walked away from us.

As we moved around the halls, which were full of CIA agents, some of them had stopped in their tracks, watching as the three of us made our way through. Some had disgusted looks on their faces, like they had smelled something awful. Others had smirks plastered on their face, and I could see it in their eyes that they were working on plans on how to make my life miserable. It wouldn't be hard, those stares were enough to make me feel uncomfortable.

Charles and Erik seemingly ignored the stares and both pointed out places. It had already become easy to tell who really was fully into this, and that was Charles. As we moved into the laboratories, he lit up with explaining ideas of mutations in genes and all sort of things that revolved around an expansion of the human race. His hope for this new sort of combined world was almost infectious. And then there was Erik, the gruffer of the two who just sort of nodded along, ignoring the mutations speeches, but pointed of the more relevant things like the bathroom and kitchen. Both had their positives and negatives, and you could tell that they were good friends that filled in what the other was lacking a bit.

"Here is where you'll be staying," Charles pushed open the door to the small simple room. "All of us are staying in this hallway. Welcome to your new home Claudia," I looked at Charles smile and internally shake my head.

This was hardly my home. All it was was a big, white, cold building that stuck out like a neon flashing light. It might as well say "Mutants helping the CIA are here. Come check them out!"

I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but changed my mind, "Thanks," I smiled to him as I stepped in and put my bag on the bed.

"Do you mind if I change. Sleeping and sitting in this dress for six hours was incredibly uncomfortable," I explained.

"Of course, we'll be right outside the door," Charles replied, and he left the room.

My eyes scanned over the room once more, my bedroom looked like a stereotypical military barrack. Grey walls, grey prickly carpet, grey, bland itchy bed covers, a lumpy mattress, standard chest of drawers and a small desk with a small desk lamp. No personality. At. All. It was definitely going to need a change, because this would not do.

"Alright," I shrugged and turned to unpack my suitcase. Flipping it open I started pulling out my perfectly folded clothing and shoes. It was then as I started stooped down and lined my shoes up along the end of my bed that I realized Erik was still there, because he started chuckling.

"Can I help you, Chuckles?" I questioned, glancing back up at him.

"Nope, just wondering where the crack is in that perfect exterior you've built," he shrugged. "I mean, from what I've seen, all of us have one," he reasoned and I knew that he wasn't just talking of the human race, but specifically mutants.

"You tell me yours and I'll possibly tell you mine," I smirked as he raised an eyebrow to me and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

"I'm a survivor of the Holocaust," he replied with a look that silently tested me to freak out or something with this information.

This man wanted a reaction and I wasn't going to give it to him.

"That's one enormous crack," I turned back to him unconsciously rubbing my wrist, a motion that Erik did not miss as he raised a curious eyebrow.

"You're telling me," he replied dryly. "So...come on. You've got the Miss Perfect act down to a 'T', so where is it?" Erik asked, his eyes scanning over me.

"I don't if I should say now, yours would trump mine any day," I explained, as I ran my hand down my neck uncomfortably. I cleared my throat hoping to dispel the suffocating atmosphere that was closing in on me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change," I reminded, and Erik shot annoyed glance and grunted, before leaving the room.

I turned back to my suitcase and searched through my clothes to change into some more comfortable clothing. After finally deciding on what to wear I had changed into a pair of black cropped pants, flats, and a red turtleneck sweater. I walked out of my room, to see Erik and Charles waiting next to my door.

"Did you get lost in there?" Erik asked irritatedly.

"No. Beauty takes time, didn't you know?" I retorted, and Erik rolled his eyes. "Now, where are the other mutants, Charles?" I asked, focusing my gaze on Charles now.

"Follow me," Charles said, extending his arm out.

We had taken several corridors before finally coming to the room where the others were being kept. I grimaced at my thoughts, I made them sound like caged animals.

Charles stopped at the doors and turned to me, "Can you make sure they don't get into too much trouble? Charles requested.

I nodded slightly curious to see who I'm working with, "I'll be sure to," I answered.

As we stood in front of the door I took a moment to compose myself. I smoothed out the wrinkles in my pants and made sure my hair was in place though it was loose, I wanted make sure it wasn't all over the place. After all, first impressions were everything.

Charles pushed open the double doors and walked in. Erik followed with me in tow. I looked around the room. It was quite large with chairs and tables, couches in the middle and a fish tank against a wall. Two large windows were on either side of the room and it looked out towards the grounds.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet our final recruit,"

I then noticed the other people in the room. They were all younger than me, and staring at me.

"This is Claudia Walker and I hope you treat her well. Now if you would excuse Erik and I, we have some matters to discuss," he announced.

My head snapped up and glared at Charles' retreating form. I lifted my barrier slightly.

"Feed me to the dogs why don't you,"

Charles left with a laugh and several confused glances before he and Erik were finally out of the room. A stunning blonde ran up to me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I stepped back a little startled. Admittedly, I enjoyed being wrapped in her arms, it had been a long time since I last had a friend.

"I'm Raven, Charles' sister," she introduced, pulling away.

"I didn't know he had one," I replied, letting out a laugh.

"Well, he's barely here anymore to talk," Raven sighed, and then flashed me a fake smile. "Anyway, come and meet the others!" Her faux smile turned into a grin as she dragged me to the sofa. "Okay, this is Armando, but he prefers to be called Darwin," Raven started, nodding towards a slim, dark skinned man, clearly the oldest of the group of teens. "Angel," she named, nodding at a beautiful, tan skinned girl, with pitch black hair, and sultry, dark brown eyes. "Sean," my eyes moving to Sean, a pale, ginger, and rather lanky boy.

Sean stood up and took my hand, kissing it, "Sean Cassidy. Sixteen years old, I like fish, and pretty girls with black hair," he hinted. Raven and I exchanged amused looks that said, "Is he serious?"

"Teenage boys and their hormones. It's like being back in high school," I thought.

A muscular, blond boy pulled Sean back into his seat by his shirt, "Alright Casanova," he said dryly, and a laugh escaped me. "Get over it, man. She's out of your league, and probably older than you," the blond boy did a double take, his hand still fisted in Sean's shirt, "Wait, how old are you?" he questioned.

"Twenty-two," I answered.

"Six years older, man," the blond boy pointed to Sean before letting him go.

"I can take older women!" Sean protested.

The boy rolled his eyes and turned to me, "Excuse Ginger's-"

"Hey!" Sean interjected.

"Sad and obvious excuse to get you in a closet, a date, or in his bed...but I'm Alex. Alex Summers," he introduced, a smile forming on his face.

"And finally, Hank," Raven continued, motioning to the last guy left, clearly the nerd of the group, with his glasses and dorky jumper.

Hank reached out a hand, that I briefly shook, knowing it made Raven uncomfortable. She clearly liked him, it wasn't that I couldn't see where she was coming from. He was cute in a way, but just not my type.

"Now we're government agents, we should have code names," Raven suggested. "I want to be called Mystique," she announced, clearly having previously thought about it.

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique," Sean protested, faking disappointment. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head.

"Well, tough I called it," Raven laughed.

In seconds, blue scales trickled down her body before feathering into a perfect replica of Sean. Sean was taken aback, nearly spilling his drink. After the initial shocked faded, Sean began to study himself. We couldn't help but gape, it was truly amazing.

"Besides, I'm way more mysterious than you," Raven added, everyone broke into laughter, giving Raven a round of applause, as Sean turned back into a rather bashful Raven.

"Darwin, what about you?" Raven asked, taking her applause modestly.

"Well Darwin is already a nickname and it kind of fits," he nodded at us. "Adapt to survive an' all. Check this out,"

Darwin strode over to the fish tank, I couldn't help but wonder what he was about to do. He dunked his head into to the water of the fish tank, we didn't even have to blink before newly formed gills appeared on his face. We began to cheer, as he opened his mouth, impersonating a fish. The gills disappeared as he took his head out of the tank, shaking off the water, before signalling to Sean.

"What about you?" he inquired.

Sean pressed his hands together, taking a moment to decide.

"I'm going to be...Banshee," Sean decided.

I was about to open my mouth to speak before I was interrupted by Hank.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" he wondered, taking the words straight from my lips, I nodded in agreement.

"You might wanna cover your ears," Sean warned, getting up from his chair, revealing his full height, winking directly at me and I rolled my eyes.

All of us frowned in sheer confusion before reluctantly covering our ears. Sean bent down, keeping us in suspense. Letting out a high pitch whistling noise, shattering the glass window. Sean winced slightly when he saw the damage he had done before joining in with the others laughter. I gazed in horror at it.

"Charles is going to murder me," I thought to myself.

Maybe I would be able to...fix it, but I knew it was a useless thought.

"Your turn," Sean signaled at Angel, returning to his previous seat.

"My stage name was Angel," she began, standing up, sliding the leather jacket down her arms, revealing her bare back. Sean let out a wolf whistle and Alex shifted uncomfortably, clearly affected. "It kinda fits," Angel turned around revealing tattooed wings on her back slowly peeling off, starting to flutter effortlessly.

"You can fly?!" Raven gaped, mesmerized by her pixie wings.

"Uhuh and..." she bent over, and spat out a ball of what appeared to be acid onto the top of the statues head.

I had to suppress another groan at the damage inflicted upon the statue. Somehow I knew that the night was only going to get more destructive.

"That's disgusting," I muttered under my breath, thinking no one could hear me.

"Well what can you do," Angel challenged me, since I wasn't that impressed with her display.

I smirked and stood up, straightening myself out, "Well, I'm an empath. I can detect other peoples feelings and manipulate them, Watch," I instructed.

I walked over to Darwin and place my hand on his arm, "Amazement," I named, before moving over to Sean. I touched his arm, wrinkling my nose a little. "Lust. Ew," I commented, as everyone laughed and Sean turned a light shade of pink. "And..." I walked towards Alex, about to do my trick on him, when I see him tense up.

The emotions I feel are mixed, there is a hint of happiness, but it is over shadowed by a depressing, dark feeling. I looked into his eyes and there is so much mystery, so much hurt, that I am compelled not to reveal this boy's current emotional state to the entire group.

"... You get the picture," I finished, walking away. I might've been mistaken, but I swear I felt a slight sense of gratitude radiating off of Alex. I took a seat across from Angel, sitting at the edge of it, focusing on Angel's brain. "What I'm doing right now is accessing the hippocampus of Angel's brain, having that send messages to the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for emotions. I have to choose an emotion then release and Angel will act the way that emotion wants her to," I explained, looking at everyone.

My choice was to make her really sad, I don't know why but it was just for no reason. When I released her brain, she started to cry hysterically. She could probably fill a bathtub with her tears. Releasing my control over Angel, she calmed down after few minutes, everyone choked with laughter, and Angel glared at me.

"Ask and you shall receive," I stated, returning an innocent smile with a shrug.

"Oh, and I can also-" I broke off, as I pointed towards Sean's glass that he was about to take a drink out of. It took itself out of his hand surrounded in a violet aura and hovered just out of his reach. They all looked up at me in amazement. Sean whistled, clapping. I gave a small smile, bowing in my seat.

"Hmm...what about...Blithe? But spelt B-l-y-t-h-e!" Raven said excitedly.

"I don't get it," Sean stated, confusion evident in his expression.

"It means to be happy and carefree," Hank explained, quietly but all of us heard him and we turned to look at him. He cleared his throat before carrying on looking at me. "It also means to show a casual and cheerful indifference, not that I'm trying to say that you do-" Hank starting to ramble.

"It's fine, no offense taken," I reassured, cutting him off and he looked up at me. "I love it," I looked back over to Raven. "Blythe...It's got a nice ring to it," I carry on smiling at her.

"What's your name?" Raven asked. Hank looked down, embarrassed.

Alex choked on his drink, "How about Bigfoot?" he sniggered.

Raven turned her head to glare at him. I shot a disapproving look at Alex, it was like he had shattered the little confidence, Hank actually had.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet," Raven started, looking down to Alex's feet, I frowned in confusion. Hanks mutation was big feet? "And yours look kind of small," Raven's tone turning spiteful. I couldn't help but laugh along with the others including Alex, all except Raven and Hank, who sat in an awkward silence.

"Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Darwin asked, motioning to him before leaning back into the sofa.

"Uh it's not...um, I can't do it, I can't do it in here," Alex stuttered, avoiding everyone's gaze.

My own gaze softened, I found myself feeling sorry for him, "Guys," I started, looking at him in sympathy. "Let's leave him be,"

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, gesturing out the window.

"Darwin!" I exclaimed, making him look abashed. But it was too late, the idea had already caught fire.

"Why don't you just do it out there?" Raven said, her eyes alight with mischief.

"Come on!"

The room erupted into cheers of Alex's name. Leaning back in my seat, I sighed heavily. This is fantastic. Soon giving into the calls, Alex stood up. They cheered, Raven laughing.

"Get down when I tell you," Alex ordered, looking deadly serious. He seemed deathly afraid of his own powers, whatever those were. We got up from our spots on the sofas and piled along the edge of the window. Alex was outside, a little to the side of us.

"Get back," he warned. We ducked back into the room, before peeking our heads out once again. He had a determined expression on his face and his arms were slightly outstretched in front of him.

"Get back!" He ordered, and they repeated their action from before, while I didn't. However, after a moment, they joined me once more. "Whatever," Alex grumbled.

Alex began to circle his hips, in a way that would make you think he knew what he was doing, as three red rings appeared. Letting go, the rings flew in different directions, one of the other beams came dangerously close to hitting Raven another one sliced through the statue, clean in half. When he did, I groaned loudly, clapping a hand to my forehead. The others clapped and cheered, impressed more likely at the destruction of the statue, more than Alex's power.

He split the thing in half! How do you even do that? Giving up, I marched back over to my seat, collapsing in it.

"Sorry Charles," I apologized in advance. "I wasn't a very good caretaker,"

"You know what this party needs?" Darwin asked rhetorically, standing up, "Alcohol," He pulled out a bottle of tequila out of the cabinet.

He was met with cheers as everyone besides me rushed to get some.

"Well," Angel began. "I think we deserve a little music," she suggested.

Rolling my eyes to myself, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I predicted more damage. Sighing, I sat down in my spot, leaving the others to their antics.

They already caused a large amount of damage, what more could they do?

Chapter Three: Budding Relationships

#x-men fanfiction #black fanfiction #x-men fanfic #charles xavier fanfiction #charles xavier x oc #black!oc #magneto x oc #charles xavier #erik lehnsherr #erik lehnsherr fanfiction #erik lehnsherr x reader #erik lehnsherr x oc #black!reader #x men fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #marvel imagine

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kittehkwrites-backup · 4 years

Text

You Believe That?

Summary: This draft was based on this gif

Images and gifs aren’t mine

Warning: Sad, mentions of blood, bit of fluff near the end.

A/N: As I said, which ever number is commented first, I’ll post it. This is #4 from my drafts.

Thanks to the anon for replying.

You were able to get to Erik and T’Challa but the sight broke you.

Erik. On his knees. The barbed spear rammed in his chest.

You wanted to scream but you pushed to him faster running towards the two at a speed that resembled a track star.

“Baby?”

You heard him sniffle before his head moved slightly in your direction.

“No. Stop. I’ll come round so you don’t have to move. Ok?

He still jerked his head and released a grunt as an indication to him saying he understood.

You saw the look on his face.

Pain. Hurt. Sadness

“Hey Princess. Who let you down here?” He still managed to put that silly smirk on his face but you could still see the pain in his eyes. It didn’t help that you saw the few tears running down his face either.

You wanted to laugh at him but his voice scared you even more then before. You’re baby was hurt and you didn’t know what to do.

“Baby. You’ll be ok. Alright? We’ll get you some hel-” You had started wiping the tears off his face. Your head turning from his pained expression to the face of the undead king, his cousin, T’challa. Your eyes pleading to the king for an answer as to what to do in this situation.

Before you could finish your sentence he placed his hand over yours which had moved down to the one near his chest- “No need for that.”- he cut in and squeezed your hand.

“Huh?” You almost fell down from your kneeling position next to him.

In that moment you felt like your whole world was crashing down.

To hear the man you love talk as if he was finished living when he was in a land where technology was so advanced you were sure they would figure out what to do in order to save him.

You watched as his head raised and his eyes pierced yours with that final glare he had when he made his mind up. You heard his gruff voice release the low toned utterance -“You heard me”- before looking down at his chest seeing more blood come out and staying his tactical suit.

“Eri-”this time it was T’challa who spoke to the wounded man.

He wanted to save his cousin. He knew he wasn’t at fault in a way and that if given another chance, things would be different.

He didn’t want to continue this generational destruction which his father had stated with his own uncle.

“Don’t say shit to me.” His voice wasn’t exclamatory. It was a final statement to those that heard. He didn’t want to hear anything else from the one who did this to him, eventhough he knew he set these events in motion. He just wanted him to feel guilty once he heard the roughness in his voice.

When Erik looked back into your eyes was when the damn broke. The tears came down his face uncontrollable like a waterfall. An unstoppable force and it was you that brought that emotion out of him.

Not the spear in his chest. Not the fact that his dad was killed by his uncle. Not that a promise from his youth was broken before the ink could dry on the page of his fathers journal. No it wasn’t any of that.

It was you.

“He promised he was gonna show it to me one day....” All you could do was hold him the best you could without causing more pain to him or be the reason more blood was to pour out of the wound.

You knew this was tough to confess, even without the spear in his chest you knew this was something hard to talk about for him. You were the only one he’d open up to when you were growing up.

He sniffled before continuing, knowing you’d stay silent and knowing his cousin would feel even more like an ansshole then he himself felt during this whole ordeal. “You believe that? A kid from Oakland running around and believing in fairytales” His voice watery but his face attempting to show the comical disbelief that he himself even believers that at his young age.

“Baby. You can’t just give up. Ok?” You heard as his breathe grew shaken and watched as his inhales were getting shorter. This was hurting him and you knew you couldn’t do much for him if he didn’t want you to. The saying you can take a horse to the water but you can’t force it to drink was something you knew best fit Erik’s persona. If he didn’t want to, you couldn’t force him. You’d be able to attempt to convince him otherwise you’d just be there silenced by his final resolve on a matter.

“I ain’t giving up” The cough that came from his throat after, the small dribble of blood on the side of his mouth that appeared, made you tear up even more at watching the “love of your life”, as he would say, die in your arms.

“Yes you are” Now it was your turn to have the wavering voice at watching him sit there instead of getting the help he knew would be available to him if he really wanted it

“Baby girl, liste-”

“No you listen. I love you, okay?”

“I can’t lose you. You’re all I got left. I need you to get better for yourself instead of finding the easy way out, okay?” She had a fake smile on her face to persuade him to think about what he was doing and who he was leaving behind.

You weren’t trying to sound selfish. But you couldn’t lose him. You just knew it’d be too much to take on.

“Yea you may have done wrong, but you’re here now. You’re here and you have that family your younger self would’ve dreamt of.” Your hold on him tighter as you held the eye contact with him.

“The sunsets you said your dad promised you? It’s here and we’ve watched them since the time we’ve arrived here.” Each time you spoke, your voice grew softer from fighting the full on breakdown that was sure to ensue in that moment.

“Baby. There may be punishment but at least they’ll understand.” He knew that tone of voice.

She was negotiating with a stubborn man. Bargaining with the devil, if you may.

“Just don’t leave me. Please?” She was gripping him harder. His sight clouded by the tears he had no control of at the sound of his girl in distress over him.

“Please don’t leave us” a whisper and her face coming closer to his at the way he only looked forward, as if he had made up his mind and was ignoring her completely.

She didn’t like that and he knew that but it was getting to be too much for him.

His sight was going and he kept seeing this bright light. It was getting to him and so he asked out loud- “Why is it so bright?”- voice soft and would’ve gone unheard had your cries been any louder or the carriers been passing during that time.

“Erik?” You had heard him and sniffled before finally looking into his face and seeing the faraway look he was sporting.

“Erik?!” The panic in her voice made his eyes turn to her before they completely rolled back and all she could see was the white of his eyes, head dropped back and body limped.

“Baby?! Baby wake up!” You shook him at the realisation that he passed out with an essentially life threatening, critical wound, in an underground transportation area.

T’challa could barely watch the heart wrenching scene in front of him between the two, yet he was quick to jump at the change in your voices pitch and tone. On one knee he gripped the shoulders of the beefy male who had fallen on to you, raising his voice-“Do not close your eyes cousin!”- taking the dead weight of his cousins body off of your shaken form.

“Baby?” You still followed the movement of eriks body, even if T’challa did raise him up off of you, you still wanted to be near him. He was your person. You didn’t want the last moments he had to be of you crying over him and pleading for him to stay.

The voices became harder to focus on for Erik.

It was as if he was underwater and he could hear the muffled sounds, the blood pumping in his ears and a sharp ringing was the last thing he heard before his eyes completely rolled back and the last thing he remembered seeing was your face with tears running down your cheeks in panic.

Beep

The groan he released was so dry and soft but you heard it and rushed to his side once you saw him attempting to move.

Then he felt the presence of someone near hun and heard the voice that reminded him of a time in his life where he was at peace.

“Relax big guy” You grabbed his hand and watched as he turned to you, confusion on his face at not only the room he was in but why you were there also.

“Here. Have some water” The contemplative expression on his face gave you enough time to grasp onto any pending tears and handed him the water near his bed side which you had got for yourself, but now was of more use to him then you.

“I know you said you didn’t want any help, but when your eyes rolled back, I couldn’t help but ask him to bring you here so they could at least try and save you” it was the way your voice sounded to meek and wobbly that his eyes softened at the sight of you.

At that moment Erik saw his cousin come through the door with his sister and mother who now came near his bed.

“How are you feeling cousin?” T’Challa approached him slowly and cautiously. Understanding that it may be overwhelming to just wake up and be surrounded by people.

“Like shit.” his voice came out hoarse and deep. Almost as if he was just waking up.

You pinched his hand and he let out a sharp hiss to you before turning and seeing that tight smile on your face, telling him to behave.

“What?” The small whine he let out made you want to hug him but slap him at the same time because of his snarky nature.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the mans antics.

“Queen mother. Shuri. I can leave if you would want to talk to him alone” Unlike your man who was near death yet still rude after the fact he’s survived, You were going to continue to be respectful towards the royal family, the family that Erik is apart of.

“Oh nonsense. You are practically family” Romonda still had that motherly aura to her even after the events that took place. Just like her son, she knew it was not entirely Erik to blame for the fight which broke out.

“Where you goin?” Erik kept his sight on them until he felt your hand moving away from his. The warmth you brought leaving slowly and he didn’t like that.

“To mind the business that pays me.” You kept that smile on your face and he knew it was a look that read ‘don’t play with me’.

“She hasn’t left your side since you have been in here.” His aunts voice broke the stare off between the couple and she could see how Erik’s eyes brightened slightly at the mention of his girl staying by his side. Even if wasn’t for long, she was still there and that’s all he cared about.

He then looked at you, spotting the little differences in your face compared to the last time he saw you.

You had a certain glow and softness that he hadn’t seen before with you. It made him ask the next question, no regard to those in the room with him.

“When you said don’t leave us, who’s us?” His voice was lowered slightly and not as harsh as when he was responding to the King.

“Uh” the look in your eyes made him hold your hand tighter as he knew you’d probably distance yourself once the question left his mouth.

“We can leave, if you’d like?” Shuri’s voice came out and it took your attention away from Erik to her breifly before he was able to bring your face back towards his.

“Princess?” He was looking deep in your eyes again.

Intense. Everything was intense with him. That energy was so dominating when directed to you that you couldn’t help but look away, your interlocked hands more interesting then his brown orbs.

“Us as in me and the life I’m carrying” You were unsure of the outcome to your response so your voice was soft and near to a child that had been caught taking from the sweet jar.

The look on his face was priceless as he watched you place your smaller hand over his and bringing it to your rounding belly which he had yet to notice, under one of his looser shirts.

“Us?” He asked again but this time, hopeful. His eyes were shining like diamonds.

“Us.” You repeated with some more certainty in your tone. No sense in being afraid when he seemed so hopeful rather than scared or disgusted.

The two stared into eachothers eyes, having their moment before hearing an excited voice

“So what I’m hearing is there will be a baby in the palace?!”

“Shuri!”

“Sorry mother” the young Princess couldn’t help but jump up and hug you even after being scolded by her mother. The news was just too good to hold her squeals in.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the young girl.

“Aye back up.” The sharpness laced in eriks voice made Shuri detach from you so quickly. All of you turning to him, unsure of the reason for his outburst since he knew that the young girl wouldn’t harm you in anyway.

“Carrying precious cargo in there” The eye roll energy was strong in that room.

You kissed your teeth before lightly slapping his arm and placing your arm over the youngests shoulders, bringing her closer to eriks bed and on the other side, T’Challa and Queen Mother did the same.

The closeness and family Erik craved as a child was now in his grasp, it was even better that he was having children of his own with the love of his life which made the moment even sweeter.

And since then, the bond of the udaku royal family became stronger with the coming of the youngest member, or members you should say, Jhayda and Joseph Udaku-Stevens. Born in august to the newly married couple Prince N’jadaka and Princess Y/N Udaku-Stevens.

After 13hrs of labour, the twins were born.

“Hey mommies babies.” The sight almost made you tear up. The added hormones weren’t helping but it was a cute sight.

“Welcome to the world.” Hovering over the bassinets stood Eriks hulking stature to the small newborns swaddled.

“Who would’ve thought.” You couldn’t help but move closer to them, and moving the little knit caps over their heads down more. Their soft breathing let you know that they were out of it.

“I knew we would’ve made some cute ass babies. Look at them. Bout to be some heartbreakers.” You couldn’t help but let out a snort at your husbands little monologue

“Erik.” The look you gave him made him chuckle.

He stopped when he heard the deep inhale of Jhayda, looking back at her as she stared up at him. Mouth moving yet not open and so he figured she was sucking on her tongue.

He picked her up and handed her to you before getting his son and holding him in his arms as he moved to sit near your thighs on the bed.

“I know. You hungry huh?” You said as you fixed yourself to feed the baby girl.

“I’m a father.” You heard your husband say as he watched his little boy in his arms. So enthralled by the little person that was made of you and he.

“Got two kids already and a beautiful wife.” He kept on going as you continued to feed your daughter and softly brush the top of her head as a calming tactic to help get her back to sleep faster.

You watched the tears coming to his eyes once you heard the sniffle coming from the man.

“You believe that?” His voice came out watery as he brought the baby closer to his face, angling him so that their foreheads touched but still supporting his neck and being careful to not drop him.

“Yes.” You said, watching the man you love, your husband, hold your first born son in his hands while you fed his first born daughter.

He moved up closer, you moving to give him more space near you and your baby girl, so you could both watch over them.

Guess I did have a right to believe in fairytales. He looked at you watching over the two newest additions to the family.

This is my happy ending. He thought as he saw your eyes closing. He placed your son in the bassinet first before reaching for your daughter and placing her near her brother.

Once they were settled, he made his way back to you and got in the bed with you and take a nap.

Who would believe the lonely kid from Oakland would have such a beautiful family? He thought before kissing your crown and shutting his eyes.

Hope you guys like this:)))

I’m trying to get back into writing and so this is my first short so leave feedback or like&reblog if you liked it.

Love you and hope y’all are staying safe and healthy during these times.

-K❤️

#black!reader #marvel #black reader #killmonger x oc #erik killmonger #erik stevens #black panther #erik stevens x reader

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timebird84 · 3 years

Text

🎄 PotO Advent Calendar 2020 🎄

By @flora-gray

The Gift Exchange

(Rated T)

Erik was wrong.

It was a rare occurrence, in Christine’s experience, but even geniuses don’t know everything about everything, and he certainly didn’t seem to know much about anything when it came to love.

He had insisted that the distraction of a suitor would interfere with her studies — it had not. She hadn’t missed a single one of their covert lessons, but had continued to put in the endless hours of practice he demanded, with irreproachable focus and without complaint.

He had been adamant that a man of nobility could not be trusted to do right by her, yet here they were, six months on, an engagement ring on Christine’s finger and a gift in Raoul’s hands, carefully wrapped in bright red paper trimmed in gold.

After all those summers at the seaside, this was their first Christmas together, the first of what Raoul promised would be a lifetime of many. Christine chewed at her thumbnail — a nasty habit, Erik would say whenever he caught her — as her fiancé ripped open the paper, a smile twitching on her lips.

“Oh, Christine!” Raoul exclaimed as he pulled a little ribbon-wrapped bundle from the box. The spicy-clean scent of peppermint filled the air. “Polkagris? Wherever did you find this?” He pulled a candy stick from the bundle, the glossy swirls of red and white glistening in the dressing room’s soft lamplight. “I haven’t had polkagris since we were children! I can’t believe you remembered how much I used to love them.” A smile beaming on his face, he tucked the candy back into the box and pulled her into an embrace. “Christine, you truly are the most thoughtful person I’ve ever known.”

“It’s just a little thing,” she replied, her cheeks glowing a warm rosy pink. “I remembered how you used to beg Papa for them, and I happened upon a candy shop run by a Swedish family.”

“Well, I’m afraid mine will seem rather uninspired compared to yours,” Raoul said, speaking up over the sound of rustling paper as he dug into the bag next to him, “but I do hope you’ll like it anyway. I’ve hardly been able to stand having to wait all week — I had to hide it away in a closet so I wouldn’t be tempted to give it to you early!” He placed a box on her lap and rubbed his hands together, nearly bouncing in his seat.

The package was large and flat and covered in thick, heavy paper printed all over with shining silver arabesques, topped with an elaborately tied white satin bow. “It’s so beautifully wrapped, I almost don’t want to open it,” Christine said, trailing her fingers over the soft, shimmery ribbon before tugging it loose. Gingerly, she slid a nail around the edge to loosen the paper.

“You needn’t be so careful with it, I have plenty more of the stuff back at home. It’s all yours, if you like it so much,” Raoul laughed, his eyes lit up with anticipation.

“Good,” she smiled teasingly back at him. “Then I’ll expect you to wrap up everything you ever give me just like this from now on.” The paper fell away and she lifted the lid.

Layers of impossibly thin tissue paper covered the contents, and she peeled them back, one by one.

On top was a fine linen handkerchief trimmed in lace, embellished with intricate embroidery. “It’s lovely Raoul!” Christine breathed, lifting it from the package and letting her fingers glide along the underside of the smooth fabric, all the while wondering vaguely if she’d ever stop feeling uncomfortable with such fine things.

Raoul’s casual displays of wealth, though never snobbish, were evidence of the privilege he’d been raised with, so different from her early life of scraping by, of simple meals of bread and cheese and rough muslin against her skin. And even now, she was acutely aware of the gulf that lay between them. It was impossible not to, when she was occasionally mistaken for a shop girl while they strolled Le Bon Marché together, an experience he found much more amusing than she did. Even once they married and she went from Christine Daaé to Vicomtess de Chagny, she doubted she’d ever truly fit in amongst the fine ladies who’d been raised with finishing school and balls, who sat and enjoyed operas from velvet-lined boxes rather than performed them, sweating under the hot lights for a modest salary. And though Raoul was insistent that he loved her just as she was, that certainly didn’t seem to stop him from trying to outfit her like somebody else.

Unfolding the handkerchief which likely cost more than her entire dress, Christine spread it open to admire its details. “I’ve never seen such gorgeous lace!” she gushed. “And are these our—”

“Yes, our initials!” Raoul finished triumphantly.

Christine’s brow furrowed. “Actually…” She brought the handkerchief up to her eyes and squinted at the letters. Her heartbeat began to quicken. “It says R, and...” She blinked, but the letter stubbornly stayed the same. “And...V.”

“What? Let me see!” Raoul’s hand shot out and yanked the handkerchief from her slack fingers. Turning it over and over, he examined every inch of it, shaking his head. “There must have been some mistake! Perhaps the girl at the shop heard me wrong — I suppose the letters do sound the same.” He looked up at her, eyes anxious and searching. “I’m so sorry, my love, I can’t believe I didn’t notice! I can have it remade right away.”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” she said, her lips forming the words automatically. A formless sense of unease was slithering its way into the back of her mind, but, with a firm shove, she pushed the feeling away; there was no reason to let a simple mistake ruin their first Christmas. “Really,” she insisted, arranging her lips into a smile that was only a little forced.

Beneath the next layer of paper, enclosed in its own small, shallow box, was a pile of silk, white as snow and with that same incomparable look, as though it were delicate enough to melt under her fingertips. This new luxury unfurled as she raised it up between them, the folds falling, forming the shape of...a pair of ladies’ drawers?

The breath escaped from her lungs in a sharp gasp. Heat flamed at the edge of her ears as she dragged her eyes up to where her fiancé sat, stock still.

A red flush was creeping up from under his collar.

His voice wavered. “That— that’s not a shawl?”

“No, Raoul,” she replied evenly, despite the queasy fluttering in her stomach. “It is not.”

“Are those…?” He dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Yes, they are.”

“I—” Raoul squirmed in his seat. The flush was working its way up his neck, spreading across his face, leaving beads of sweat in its wake. “It was meant to be a shawl. I would have never—” His words fell away and he looked up at her with pleading eyes.

“I know you wouldn’t have,” said Christine quickly. She jammed the drawers back into their box and shoved it all to the side, eager to leave the subject behind.

And it was true, she could not think of a less likely thing for him to give her. Their relationship had been quite chaste, almost to the point of frustration, with nothing more than sweet, sinless kisses, always broken off far too soon. He’d never given any indication that he so much as even thought about what lay under her skirts, let alone considered the subject enough to buy her such intimate garments. The mistake would almost be funny in its outlandishness, if it weren’t so mortifying — and such an unpleasant reminder of her most secret insecurity: the fear that though he undoubtedly seemed to love her, perhaps he did not desire her. That perhaps he held her up against those lovely ladies of high society he’d been pushed for years to accept, with their bosoms spilling from their silk dresses and their ample hips swaying beneath their skirts, and found nothing inspiring about her waiflike frame.

But no, he was just being a gentleman, wasn’t he? He wasn’t like the other men of the aristocracy, who took mistresses and visited brothels — no, no, he would never. Raoul, that sweet, brave boy from the salt-kissed seaside was now a respectful and honorable man, and he loved her for herself, not her body. There was nothing wrong with that.

But of course this was the last thing she wanted to be thinking about right now; Christine shook her head to fling away the thought and refocused the entirety of her attention back on the box in her lap.

“Oh, look! There’s still something left,” she said, infusing her tone with much more enthusiasm than she felt, and she lifted a red velvet pouch from where it lay, heavy, at the bottom of the box.

Raoul sprang forward. “Actually, why don’t you just give that back to me,” he said, his voice tight and trembling, reaching to take it from her hands. “This has turned out horribly so far, and I—”

“Darling, please.” Christine pulled the object out of his reach. “Certainly one of the three will be as you intended. Your luck can’t be that bad,” she laughed, though in the pit of her stomach sat a sour, sick feeling.

Grasping the pouch in one hand, she reached in with the other and slowly began to pull out a thick pillar of ivory, sculpted and polished, heavy as a candlestick — but not shaped like any candlestick she’d ever seen. It was too irregularly formed, the contours somehow too carnal, and her cheeks were already inexplicably burning before she’d even finished withdrawing it from its velvet enclosure.

It couldn’t be…

She’d heard that such things existed, but she never—

Too late she realized she should stop — not that she was sure she could have — but her hand kept moving, pulling the thing free from its covering to stand tall and proud in her clenched fist, absurdly large and luridly detailed — each vein, each curve of ivory flesh on display as she held it high, an obscene trophy.

Not a sound could be heard in the room. Not even a breath — not from her, and not from Raoul, who was looking at her, slack-jawed, with complete and utter horror written in every line of his face.

A minute passed, and then time unfroze.

Gasping as though she’d surfaced from deep underwater, Christine’s fingers flew open, loosing their grip on the vile thing; it hit the carpet with a muffled thud. Then she was on her feet, groping blindly for her cloak and gloves.

Raoul didn’t move from his seat; pale and trembling, he sat staring at the now empty gift box. “I don’t understand...”

Christine rounded on him, hot tears pricking at her eyes. “You don’t understand?” That formless unease had now taken a sinister, serpentine form, snaking itself around her heart, which spasmed within its crushing coils. “What was all that, Raoul?”

“I don’t know! It doesn’t make any sense. I wrapped it myself — that wasn’t in there!”

He stumbled to his feet, reaching for her hands; she pulled them away, pressing her clenched fists against her turning stomach. “What’s the explanation, then? Are you implying that the contents of the box were just magically replaced without you knowing?”

“No of course not! I mean, I don’t think so…”

One desperate, near-hysterical sob wrenched itself from Christine’s throat, and she fell silent. The painful throbbing of her heart had ceased. That place within her chest was cooling, hardening until it was as cool and hard as the piece of ivory which lay on the carpet, that disgusting thing which forced her to admit the truth to herself, a truth she’d been trying to deny since the moment she saw those embroidered initials.

How could she have been so stupid? This never could have worked out. He was highborn, she was practically a peasant. Perhaps he did love her, but likely it was a love born of nostalgia and pity, the love of a brother for his sister — and even if he had been willing to marry her, that kind of love isn’t the only kind men need. And perhaps...perhaps he really wasn’t different from other men, after all.

Christine gathered her cloak and gloves into a bundle and shoved it under her arm. “Goodbye, Raoul,” she said with finality, and steeling herself, she turned her back on the man she thought she loved.

“Christine!” Raoul gripped her arm in a wide-eyed panic. “You can’t believe that I would ever give you such a thing!”

Shaking off his hand, she held her head high. “No, Raoul, I don’t believe you would.” She could not look at him, not if she wanted to hold onto the last scraps of her tattered pride. “Do you know what I believe?” Despite her best efforts, tears were beginning to leak from her eyes, making the words thick and strained. “I believe that gift was intended for another woman.”

“What?” he cried, nearly choking on the word. “No!”

“The wrong initials,” she sobbed, no longer able to hold back the tide; bitter tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “I may be naive, but I’m not stupid, Raoul! Who is she? How long has this been going on?” Christine tugged the gold and diamond band off her finger. “Is she wearing one of these, too?” she demanded, brandishing the ring in his face.

“Christine…” Tears welled in Raoul’s beautiful blue eyes, but she would not be swayed by the obvious ploy meant to prey on her sympathy.

She flung the little piece of gold at him, and it bounced off his chest and fell to the floor with a pathetic clink.

“I should have listened to Erik!” she cried, and slammed the door behind her.

*****

Erik was right.

But then again, he usually was.

It was never going to work out between Christine and the boy; affairs between the nobility and the bourgeois rarely do, she had to know that. Really, it would be a mercy for it to end sooner rather than later. It was inevitable. And hadn’t he tried to warn her?

Still, he pretended surprise when she showed up at his door, red-eyed and sniffling, her ring finger blessedly bare.

Wordlessly, he brought her inside, wrapped her in a blanket and sat her down by the fire, brought her hot tea and let her pour out her heart — along with a steady stream of tears. Eventually, she slept, and Erik carried her to her room, tucking her into the bed he’d readied for her. He brushed the curls away from her face, now so hot and raw from crying, but no less beautiful.

He hated to see her in such pain, but someday she would understand, and she would have to agree that it was for the best. Erik always knew what was best for her.

Just like he knew that idiot boy would never notice a few feet of missing wrapping paper.

#PotO Advent Calendar #PotO #Phantom of the Opera #Door 22

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theficplug · 4 years

Text

|Next Lifetime|Erik Killmonger|

previous chapters : Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

erik killmonger x black reader

|part 4|

warnings: um definitely smut this chapter at the end. so 18+ for this chapter! and a possible trigger warning for grief but i promise it gets better and its a romcom.

synopsis: reader grieves Erik until she doesn’t (i’m trying not give too much away). This one is a long ass chapter. So, grab you a snack and something to drink! I hope y’all like it.

“You promised on our birthday that you would give me something far more special than the charms you would gift to me. In 2018, you wanted to avenge your birth parents and you went off and did something foolish and when you- when they returned you to me you were-.” you struggle for a bit to find the words to explain it all to him as he takes a step back to gather himself.

He rubs his eyes before grabbing your arms gently and massaging them . He leans down to look you in your eyes before asking “Ma, did you take something before I came to pick you up? You alright? Cause what you saying don’t make no sense at all... Your pupils don't look dilated though.”

“I know how this must sound. Batshit crazy. I know it sounds crazy to me too. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m losing my own damn mind. I don’t know how or why. I just know that you came back to me.” you say to him and he shakes his head.

“Erik. You’re talking about your ex boyfriend...The one that passed... . Alright, I’m going to take you home now... I still don’t understand what’s going on here and I’ve had about all I can take of trying to understand what’s going on here.” N’Jadaka says quietly to you before going around and opening your car door.

The drive was silent as you picked at your nails and let the soft r&b roll over the tension between the two of you.

Your own thoughts were going in about a billion different directions again. It didn’t feel right to just sit on all of that and not say anything at all. As ripped from a science fiction film as it sounded at least he knows.

He was never one to think quietly because you could practically read his thoughts with the changing of expressions across his face.

The relief of seeing your building washed over you as he offered to walk you to your door.

It was bittersweet because there was still so much of him in this different version of him. Even when he was upset with you or livid with whatever ghost that was haunting him back then, he still showed nothing but tenderness to you.

You nod and give him a small smile before following him up the stairs , to your elevator, and finally your door.

“I know that this is a lot. I mean who in their right mind would be able to process all of that.I wish there was any other way to say it... But thank you, I had a really nice time.” your soft words snap him out of staring at your face as if he was trying to piece it all together.

He knew deep down that there was something about you and what happened that weekend while dreaming in colours and other worlds but he couldn’t wrap his head around all of this happening in real life.

You lean up to kiss his cheek and he grabs your shoulders softly. “With all due respect. You seem like a lovely person and a good woman, but I just - this all a lil too weird for me and I don’t think it’s a good idea that we continue seeing each other.”

He kisses your hand and leaves with one look over your shoulder as you call out “Meet me at our spot. If you are still anywhere in there. You’ll know what I mean.”

“What the hell happened ? I didn’t expect you back until tomorrow morning?” Iri says as she settles on the other side of the sofa and patted the spot next to her as you kick off the sandals and lay your head on her lap with tears already prickling your eyes.

“Oh you didn’t? Please don’t tell me you told him about the soulmate reincarnation thing? Sweets, you probably scared the hell out of that man. We needed you to keep that waaay down in the vault.” Tiki adds as she pops the cork off the bottle of wine in her hand and pauses the movie playing on the screen in the background.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do . You’re gonna text him and tell him that you had just gotten your wisdom teeth removed earlier today and the meds had you unexpectedly zooted as fuck. “ Iri suggests and you chuckle softly.

---

Meanwhile at N’Jadaka’s house he was already being pestered by Lina and Penn for some type of details about what happened during the date. Orleans was already in the kitchen cooking and ear hustling but went back to his conversation on the phone with Big Mike when he realized there wasn’t any tea.

“I don’t feel good. I’m finna go lay down. I’ll talk to y’all in the morning”. He says simply to them before trudging his way to his part of the house.

They had been friends since college and just got used to the idea of living together as they did in the dorms so they made it work after graduation.

It helped them save money for when they finally separated and all of their schedules kept them busy so they didn't have time to get sick of each other. They also knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him and to leave him alone when he gets this moody.

"What the fuck?" He whispered under his breath

"What the fuck was all that?" He continues talking to himself as he strips and walks past the bathroom mirror to the shower.

He stops when something catches his eye. He sees a birthmark on his chest that almost resembles the shape of claw marks. He lets his fingers linger over the mark for a second. Thoughts of a panther mask clouded his memories for a moment before he shook his head and entered the shower.

---

A few hours later of talking through it with your girls about possibly seeing a therapist about all that's going on and you were ready for bed.

It didn't take long to drift off, you were ready to put the whole thing behind you.

The familiar setting of purples , pinks, and hues of blue came into focus and you looked around letting the butterflies land on you again.

You walk through the flowers and find Erik sitting by a stream of water weaving some of the flowers together.

"What the hell, E?" You ask as you run over to him and wrap your arms around his neck

He turns to you and smiles big , his dimples on full display before shrugging.

"It ain't perfect but it's the best I could do. They said it's like a do-over or something like that. I get a second chance but as a result of the way I did things the first time it's a lil different. Like when you restore a computer and it lose all it's files and shit. I get a new life but I'm still kinda stuck. I kinda like it though. I don't remember all the other shit when I'm awake. It really is like starting over. Shits crazy to explain when you think about it. But for you , you already know. I'd find you in this life and the next and the one after that. I don’t think I’mma ever fully remember what happened with all of that when i’m awake. I’m cool with it. It ain’t something I’m tryna remember." He says tipping your chin up to look at you and kissing you softly

"I know. At least I get to hold you in the real world. It's just different. But guess what I saw today? I seen that bench that you and me signed all them years back. It's still there." You say to him and he places the lil flower bracelet around your wrist as y'all sit and talk for the rest of the night.

By the time you wake up with the aroma of breakfast wavering throughout the loft you feel a little better about the whole situation with Erik, not Erik.

You opened your phone and sent him an I'm sorry gif with a few extra words inspired by Tina's wisdom tooth lie.

After easing into the kitchen and standing in the doorway you see the two lovebirds dancing around the kitchen singing to each other and laying food on the plates.

"Morning lil sleepy head. Don't forget that I'll still be coming down to the center with you today for the seminar. You hungry?" Iris asks as she places the plate in your hands with a kiss to the top of the head.

"Of course. There's a young girl, Sophie there that I really think would love to talk to you. She's just starting her transition. And her parents are wonderful but they don't really have much money. She hasn't really had the chance to get more “feminine” presenting clothes and she likes makeup. " You say and she nods catching your drift.

"Well it'd brighten anybody's day seeing a beautiful successful trans woman like myself honey. But let's lift her spirits even more. I'm gonna bring some of the makeup I got from pr packages and some of the clothes from this collection. I really hope it helps." She answers and Tika just saunters over to her proclaiming her love for her.

"Alright alright alright. I get it. I'm single as hell." You say laughing softly

---

Two weeks ticked by with radio silence on N'Jadaka's end. After the 4th day when he gave you the cold shoulder at a coffee shop, you decided to stop trying.

Maybe it wasn't fate and maybe you were just believing what you wanted to believe.

You reason with yourself as you walked around the loft making notes about the new housing project you were working on.

Finally having the house to yourself with the lovebirds gone for the day on a little adventure. You got to work budgeting and calling different areas to rent out apartments to you for women and lgbtq+ with housing insecurities.

Your ramblings and thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door , thinking that Iri or Tika left something behind.

"I told you to take your sunscre- Daka?" You question as he stands in front of you

You cross your arms and furrow your brows while waiting for an answer from him.

He stands for a moment like he’s trying to gather all of his thoughts together in a way that makes sense to both of you.

"What're you doing here?" You ask putting your hand on your hip.

He drops his shoulders and lets out a soft sigh before looking at you.

"I didn't wanna believe it. What you said that night cause like how the fuck does something like that happen? I’mma be honest. I wanted to just believe that you were a lil off and leave it at that but something keeps telling me that you right. I can't remember shit before college and all I wanted to do was be with you. From the moment I met you in the store. I was like, this is it. This is what's missing. A piece to a puzzle that's all jumbled up." He admits and you nod slowly before letting him in.

You walk around the kitchen getting a cup of tea for yourself and sitting a cup of coffee down on the counter for him.

“Don’t worry it’s black, I know you dont like it sweet.”

"You know I didn't exactly expect my fiancee that I buried months before to show up at a damn supermarket of all places. This isn't some movie or fanfiction. These kind of things don't happen in real life. Daka you, you had claw marks all over you. The last time I laid eyes on you. And now you're here in front of me. I thought that I was losing my mind." You say and he starts to unbutton his shirt.

"These." He says peeling his shirt off and showing you the birthmarks on his chest and shoulder.

You trace your fingers over it before leaning your head on his shoulder.

"I asked my parents about my childhood and when I passed by my old neighborhood a few days ago andI remembered some things. I remember what happened to my other parents, in pieces. Shit’s brutal." He says dropping his gaze

"It's okay." You whisper to him and wrap your arms around him. You rocked him for a moment letting him let all of those feelings wash over him.

He embraced you for a moment before kissing you tenderly. You tug at his bottom lip before deepening the kiss when he press you against the counter.

"We'll figure it out... Something telling me I'd be a fuckin fool to lose you again." He says quietly against yours lips.

"Are you gonna make love to me or are you going to keep looking at me like that?" You ask as he studies your whole face like he's looking at art.

"A memory. It's you. We stood right here and I kissed you the same way. You were saying something like "you bring yourself home to me"." He says and you nod frantically, holding him closer to you.

"I did. It was right before you left." You admit and he nods before lifting you up onto the counter and kissing you heatedly this time. He kisses down to your breasts before looking up at permission from you to unhook your bra.

Always a man that knows what he's doing. He takes kisses around your breasts and nipples. He takes his time to lick and caress you until he works his way down.

You shake your head yes before moving to slide off your panties but his kisses and his mouth is already beating you to it as he kisses down to your thigh.

He slides your panties off with his teeth and tosses them over his shoulder.

You tilt your head back as you feel him wasting no time massaging over your clit and working you over with his fingers, curling them and stroking you gently.

Your soft moans fill the room when he hooks your leg over his shoulder and begins to suckle your clit softly , swirling his tongue over it.

"Tika will kil- Ooh god. How does your tongue feel like it's vibrating?" You ask and he only chuckles and grips onto your cheeks to bring you closer to him.

He was feasting on and devouring you like he was going to lose again and you could grind your hips down against his tongue and moan his name sweetly.

He didn't stop his tongue or fingers working in you until your legs are shaking and you're gripping at his head.

"You have- fuck. I'm a squir-" you moan his name brokenly while trying to get out your words and lean back for a moment licking his lips before realizing what you're trying to say.

"Hold that for me. I wanna come with you." He says to you and you pout and protest as he removes his fingers. He picks you up off the counter and carries you bridal style asking you which room is yours.

"Left , left." You giggle into his shoulder as he helps you slide your dress off and you unbutton his jeans for him.

You capture him in a kiss for a moment feeling his soft plump lips against yours again for the first time in what feels like forever.

"It's been a long time since I've done all of this. . . Gentle." You say and he runs a calloused finger over your cheek moving a curl away from your face as he looks at you.

He gets a quick flash of a memory of you and him in bed. You wore a smile on your face before telling him "happy anniversary".

He trailed his fingers down your body remembering almost every scar , every moment.

When Erik got to a scar at your side. He chuckled, unlocking a memory of you two running from the neighborhood rottweiler , Smokey.

That old ass dog hated you and he hoisted you over the fence first after being out late one night in high school. The gate had caught your side when you jumped.

Erik felt so bad he brought you food from anywhere you wanted everyday from to school for a month.

He leans down to place open mouthed kisses to it.

He traced over your thighs to the cellulite and stretch marks remembering when you first got them.

He was moving homes at the time and he wasn't ready to be further away from you yet. You two just sat for hours at the park in the grass, talking.

" You know white men behind all of that anyways. They want y'all to feel like you gotta look the same way. That's how they make them billions. My mama had 'em . Yo mama , and generations back. And it ain't ever stop them from being the women they are. Besides if any dirtneck nigga ever try you , just tell me. Imma handle it." He would say as you sat with your head on his lap, staring at the sun setting, knowing good and well your grandparents were gonna ground you for being late when you get home.

They never did though cause you were with Erik they knew you were gonna be alright.

"Nothing to worry about. I… I've never done any of that stuff before…Have you?" you question hesitantly as you stare off.

"Tisha. From Ms. Wilkes class. We was coming from the kick back-"

"Uh uh . That's your business , you ain't gotta tell me all of that." You say slightly upset at the fact that Tisha of all people was his first.

----

"I got you." He says kissing your forehead then your nose before hooking your leg over his hip and easing into you slowly while his lips are still on yours. His eyes never left yours as he cupped your face sweetly like he didn't want to lose you again.

In this moment he gets a glimpse of prom night and how things changed between the both of you forever.

He wraps his hands around your waist. One of his hands splayed across your belly.

He remembers the pregnancy scare you both had afterwards with him holding your hand and telling you no matter what happens he wanna be there for both of you.

Luckily, nothing came of it but you were definitely closer because of it.

You let out an open mouthed gasp at the feeling of being so full of him after so long.

You rest your hands on his neck and shoulder and he bottoms out fully settling into you as he moves his arms next to balance himself.

You close your eyes as he begins to stroke into you trying to set a rhythm for you as his praises for you fall from his lips.

He kisses his way down your neck licking the marks that are already starting to form there.

"My lil baby." He mutters out after licking a freshly formed hickey forming on top of your breasts.

You open your eyes slowly , looking at him and the way he's looking at you .

"It's been way too long since I've heard that from you. You're remembering?" You ask quietly as you let out a soft moan.

N'Jadaka's muscles flex and tighten as he picks up his pace. His abs clenched as he pulls out almost completely and filled you at a different angle.

The sounds of your moans filling the room with every stride and stroke of his hips, it seems like you're closer to floating in space. The man was fucking you like his life depended on it and at this point all you could do is wrap your arms around him again to comfort you as he shutters and rolls his hips deeper into you. Your walls tighten around him as you relish in the feeling of him.

"Fuck. I remember all of it." He says half chuckling at the way it's coming to him and half nearly in tears cause he really missed being with you.

"I also remember that this is your favourite position cause you like to see my face." He teases before leaning down to kiss you again with them plump ass lips.

"E?" You ask , grabbing his face with trembling hands.

"Baby?" You ask again

He moves his hands from your waist and places your hands in his. Then moving them above your head as he flashes in between making love to you for the last time and now.

You roll over with him and place your hands on your chest riding him slowly getting the rhythm as he strokes into you from below.

He laughs softly when he realizes what you're doing.

"Are you spelling my fucking name , baby?" He asks and you tell him that you can spell both.

You let out a whimper when he brushes your spot and let him take over as he runs his hands over your thighs to your butt and over your back as he strokes into you.

He plants his feet on the bed and work your hips in rhythm with him.

It didn't take long for you to orgasm with a loud shriek of his name . You had forgotten how he gets when he's close as his hands on gripping all over your thighs and your back. You were already feeling sensitive with your second orgasm coming through and this man felt like he was trying to put it in your belly.

He rolls you onto your side giving it to you deeply.

With a loud hiss and panting from him he cums , holding you in his arms.

"I don't think it has felt like that since our birthday last year." He says into your ear as he pulls you closer into his arms.

He engulfs you fully in his embrace and presses a kiss to the side of your head.

You laugh softly and roll over to face him , resting your forehead against his.

"I remember. You took me to Paris. I had never been and at the time I was obsessed with everything Parisian. We fucked on the balcony and somehow I ended up popping the straps to my favorite dress. You still owe me by the way." You tease and he shakes his head laughing.

"I think we ended up saving they marriage from across the way though. They was arguing the whole time. Then they gon watch us like we ain't see them." Erik says laughing as he squeezes your thigh playfully.

"I know they was trying some things." You joke

"I missed you so much. You don't even understand." You admit with a somehow saddened and relieved expression.

"I know. I want to start over this time. All of that Erik Killmonger shit is over with. I wanna keep the name N'Jadaka and just start over. All of that was too heavy on me to carry. I wanna let it all go. I wanna do it right with you." He explains

"Good because if you put me through that again. Wakanda will be the least of your damn worries." You say to him and he nods giving you his word, sealed with a kiss.

"It'll be alright. Everything happens for a reason. And I think that right now a bath needs to happen and I'm gonna need you to do that thing again that you did in the kitchen cause I'm tryna figure out when you learned that-"

At some point after the bubble bath/ shower combo you were both out like a light until Iri and Tika decide to come busting in like they usually do with little gifts and food for you.

"Guess who's your fave- SHE GOT A WHOLEASS MAN IN HER BED" Iri announces to Tika before your pillow hits the door as she closes it.

"Sorry about that. This is kinda our cuddle hour so they're used to just coming on in." You say sleepily and he just laughs it off while holding you closer.

"It's all good. I remember that I ain't know them much before but when we did spend time with them, they were good people." He says, still trying to piece it together.

----

You fell asleep more peacefully than you had in a long time. Now granted, good sex didn't fix the many layers of issues and mysticism surrounding everything.

But for now, you knew that you had him, you had your girls, family and your business. Everything felt alright again.

Right up until the point of sleeping through the first alarm to meet the property owners.

"Bae. Bae your phone going off." N'Jadaka whispers in the dark room , voice still riddled with sleep and grogginess.

"Shit. Shit. I'm gonna be so late." You call out , quickly jumping out of bed and stumbling around the room.

It takes you about 25 minutes to speed through getting dressed in your best skirt suit.

N'Jadaka sits on the end of the bed putting on his shoes and watching you shuffle around.

He had offered to drive you there and stay with you and check out the property with you.

He slows you down by grabbing you by your arms gently and placing a kiss to your lips.

"Good morning, handsome. Let's go"

You walk through the living room with Iri and Tika already posted up in the kitchen placing two breakfast burritos in a container to grab and go.

You grab your things from the counter all while thanking them and jetting towards the door.

"Good luck pooh!" Tika calls after you.

"Byyyyeeee Dakaaaa" they call out after him

---

"Here it is . These are the apartments. I know they don't look like much now from the outside. But from the pictures it looks great. And they'll be safe and comfortable here-" you babble on to N'Jadaka while you both stand outside of the building where Erik grew up , until you notice two women walking to a car that clearly wasn't from this area.

You notice Shuri and your breath hitches in your throat.

Frozen in your anxiety, the seconds ticked by and it was too late to leave. She looked you dead in the eye and then at N'Jadaka like she had seen a ghost.

She gasped and Nakia followed the eyes before back into the car.

"SHURI WAIT - PLEASE" you yell out to them but the car was already speeding away.

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#black panther #erik killmonger #black panther smut #erik killmonger smut #Erik killmonger x Reader #fanfic for black girls

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