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minniesmelody · 2 years

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Substitute

𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 : Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 : Dustin’s sister comes down to Hawkins for summer break, Dustin explains how his friend Lucas can’t make it to the campaign Dustin is part of and asks you to be the Substitute for him. But will their leader Eddie Munson let you?

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 : a cuss word, and mentions of eye fucking

𝗣𝗢𝗩: first person- Y/n

•••••

“Y/n please, Lucas has his basketball game tonight so he can’t make it, I’ve asked everyone that I could think of and no one wants to, please you are my last hope, our last hope” Dustin pleaded to me, saying it as if he would get murdered if he didn’t find someone to substitute Lucas’s place to play dungeons and dragons.

I wasn’t quite used to this to be honest. I wasn’t used to be around Dustin at all for a fact. After our parents split and the divorce papers were officially signed, dad had moved away to New York, bringing me with him. So I moved away with dad and Dustin stayed with mom in Hawkins. We saw each other 3 times a year, once during spring break, another during August, and one more time during winter break.

I graduated almost 2 years ago, now working with dad and his buddies in his car shop while going to school for art, I was also the crafty type, drawing constantly and easily making a straw and shoe lace become a bracelet.

Whenever I did have time to call or visit, Dustin always made at least 3 comments about Dungeons and Dragons and the campaign he is with some others from school. Which lead me here, him begging me to be a substitute since his friend Lucas can’t play tonight.

I wasn’t the biggest player of D&D but I need know some stuff from watching Dustin play so many times, watching for afar though, never actually playing myself.

“What’s in it for me?” I asked, I wasn’t just gonna play for nothing, especially when I’m not really experienced.

“I-ummm” he said while his eyes searched the ground, trying to think of a answer, until his eyes lit up and looked back up to me “you can finally meet Eddie, if I can recall correctly you kept asking me about him and who he was after seeing pictures of the whole hellfire club” he had a smirk plastered on his face.

He wasn’t wrong and I’ll be honest about it too, I got sent copies of some pictures from mom to show what him and her have been up too, one picture catching my eye. The picture of him and everyone in his little club. One boy catching my eye, their leader, Eddie Munson.

I never met him and I wasn’t even sure if he even knew I existed, if he was ever informed of Dustin having a sister. But when I saw him for the first time, I thought I was in love. Even with the picture being in black and white.

I studied Dustins face for a few seconds, should I agree to this? I don’t even really know how to play. But then again… screw it you only live once.

“fine” I said a fake huff, trying to show as if I was frustrated by it but inside I was actually pretty excited.

We rode off on our bikes to Hawkins high where the campaign took place. Getting there the same time Dustins friend Mike did.

“Hey Mike” I said with a small wave.

“Y/n, that’s who you got? Does she even know how to play?” Okay um- ouch, not even hi back?

“Well did you find someone else better than her? Any ideas?” Dustin asked Mike, Mike didn’t really have an answer back, just kept stuttering before letting out a big huff and walking with Dustin, me following behind them.

We walked into a room with different colored lights, a few different people and a big table.

Heads turned towards us as Dustin and Mike dragged me to one side of the table, looking at Dustin and Mike before looking straight ahead of me.

And there he sat, the same boy that was in the picture, the same boy I was slightly crushing on after just seeing that one picture of him, he looked so much better in person.

He looked me straight in the eye, just staring at me for a few seconds while I did the same back.

“Absolutely not.”

Oh.

“You asked for a sub, we delivered” Dustin said while pointing at you.

“This is Hellfire club, not fashion school” he said, I looked down at my outfit, I did put lots of effort into my outfits as I really enjoyed fashion, but that was simply not needed to be said.

So I spoke up about it.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I asked, I was wearing a blue denim skirt, a blue top that did make my cleavage slightly show, some white sneakers and a gold necklace to make things extra.

He looked me up and down a few times before looking back at my face.

“Nothing it’s just- you don’t seem like the type to play well this kinda of game” as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not really but that doesn’t mean I don’t have no interest in it” I snapped back at him.

“So then-“ he said standing up from the throne like chair he was sit on and walking around the table towards me.

“What’s your name sweetheart?”

“Y/n Henderson, I’m saying your Eddie”

His eyes widened, not widely widened but just slightly to show a small reaction.

“Henderson? Dustin you never said you had a sister” just as I thought, he never even knew who I was.

“Well do I, before you ask she doesn’t really know how to play-“ Dustin said before getting cut off.

“That’s okay, you can learn while we go” he said, now he is suddenly nice? Huh?

He stared at you boy saying or anything else after that, just looking at you, and you looked back, neither of you saying anything or moving.

He had brown chocolate colored eyes, his face features so unique and beautiful, his hair helped his appearance, the urge to touch it just gre-

“Are you guys gonna eye fuck each other all night or are we gonna play?” Dustin said while getting comfortable in one of the chairs.

“I- um- right- w-welcome to hellfire Y/n” Eddie said with a hand stretched out which I gently took in mine and shook.

We played for almost an hour, the more the game went of the more I understood it. We ended up killing vecna in the end of the game thanks to me rolling a 20.

Everyone happy and excited about our win, jumping up and down. Everyone except Eddie who looked at me as if he just seen god for the first time.

It was quite a fun scene to see.

Everyone started leaving, me following Dustin until Eddie asked me to stay back and have a “chat with him” Dustin asking us not to anything stupid that ends up with me getting pregnant.

As if Dustin, as if.

“What is it?” I asked him trying to sound annoyed.

“You were good for a first timer, you did impress me I won’t lie about that” he while playing with rings on his hand while looking up at me.

He licked his lips before saying something else.

“You don’t live here do you?” He asked

I shook my head no “me and Dustins parents aren’t together, I live with our father in New York, i come to visit a few times a year”

He nodded his head, understanding what I was saying. “How much longer do you think you will be here, in Hawkins?” He asked.

“I’m here for the week or so, maybe I’ll talk my dad into being here for longer, maybe 2 weeks” I said, now fiddling with my own fingers.

“Well I sure hope so cause I would like to hang out with you sometime before you go, and maybe get your number, I was really impressed maybe you want to play another game or two as well before you leave”

I didn’t really know what to say so I just smiled and simply said “yeah, yeah I’d like that”

He gave a smile back “well do you want a ride home? I highly doubt your little brother is still outside” He offered.

“I would love one but I rode one of Dustins spare bikes so-“

“That’s okay, I have a van, I mean it’s not like the best working van in the world but you can put the bike in the back and sit in the front with me, I mean that’s only if you wa-“

“No, no, yeah no I’d- just, I’d really like that”

“Well great, let me clean up and let me grab my keys, I’ll met you outside in about 3 minutes” he said while I nodded and walked outside to wait for him.

Thank you Dustin for asking me to be the sub and thank you Lucas for needing a Sub.

•••••

A/n : not much to say, I thought this was a cute idea, I was thinking about continuing it but I’m not sure if I will or won’t, I probably won’t but who knows :)

#eddie munson #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson smut #fanfic #imagine #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things smut #eddie munson x reader #dustin henderson #eddie munson masterlist #dungeon and daddies #dungeons and dragons #hellfire club

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chaoticcollectivenightmare · 1 year

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Being a young vampire hunter and meeting Mikaelson would involve... (Part 1)

⭕️Not proofread

⭕️Not spell or grammer checked.

⭕️Translated with Google translator [German into English]

⭕Part 1

⭕️My first Headcanons contribution since Not so strict.

🔴Y/N - Your Name

🔴Y/N/N- Your Surname

🔴S/Y/N- Your Sister Name

Ship that are included:

⚜ Elijah Mikaelson X Big Sister! Reader

⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜

Now the headcanons / mini story?

⚜Your family members are mostly vampire hunters. mostly? Well, as a vampire hunter you would have to do an induction ritual in your family and often people don't make it. In the past they would have died but now they are excluded from the vampire hunter existence.

⚜Your older sister (25) didn't pass this initiation ritual but you (17) did.

⚜You would now be trained to be a Vampire Hunter.

⚜Your father took over the training, which isn't that hard because you do boxing.

⚜Your grandma would teach you because she is very experienced with vampires and their weaknesses.

⚜This would be your first hearing about the legendary Mikealson Family.

⚜Well you only knew about vampires but when you find out there are more than vampires you were amazed.

⚜You hate vampires but are interested in werewolves.

⚜ You have a neutral relationship with witches.

⚜ Your sister has come to terms with not being a vampire hunter. She had never had much interest in hunting.

⚜She was more interested in studying vampires.

⚜That's why she went to New Orleans. Well not because of that. She should only get materials for weapons from a witch shop, but stayed longer because of "problems".

⚜Even if New Orleans is only a maximum of 2 hours from your home, your parents "allowed" it.

⚜Well one day would become 2 weeks. Your parents were worried about it and so were you. But suddenly your sister was back.

⚜Your parents wanted to call her the second she walked in.

⚜ Everyone was relieved and started to live normal lives as before.

⚜ Your sister didn't tell your parents what the problems were but you did.

⚜"(Y/N), I FELT IN LOVE" she said one night when it was just you and her at home.

⚜"Oh great who is he...she?" you ask in vain.

⚜ "I can't tell you but he would like to meet you" she said excitedly.

⚜ "Why me?" you ask.

⚜"I can't introduce him to our parents because they would freak out but you won't a hundred percent!" she said in her normal voice.

⚜"Okay..." you finally say.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

⚜ Months passed and on Saturday you had your meeting at a nearby posh restaurant. Your sister wore a red dress when you wore a black suit.

⚜You arrived early and were already seated at the mysterious man's reserved table. Even if your sister didn't want it, you ordered a drink.

⚜ Your sister had raved about him for months but always said he was punctual. Probably not today. You should have met 30 minutes ago.

⚜ Your sister kept looking at the phone and you tried to calm her down.

⚜But then the door opened.

⚜ Your sister jumped up and ran to the person. You were still sitting there, examining the person in the shadows.

⚜You had a neutral feeling until the person walked into the light.

⚜ Suddenly you were scared of the person.

⚜"(Y/N), I would like to introduce you to a special person... Elijah Mikealson"

⚜ From staring at Elijah, your gaze went to your sister.

⚜ You saw how both people had to kick you and you came out of the rigidity.

⚜ "Sorry, I'm (Y/N) (Y/N/N)."

⚜Elijah wanted to shake your hand but you refused.

⚜There were so many questions in your head like : DOES SHE KNOW THAT HE IS A VAMPIRE?!?! DO YOU KNOW HE IS FROM THE MIKEALSON FAMILY!?!?!.

⚜ You all sat down and you had to pull yourself together not to scream.

⚜ You used to be so chilled but THIS IS F*CKING AN ORIGINAL VAMPIRE !!!!!

⚜And then came the small talk.

⚜"And (Y/N) what high school do you go to?" Elijah asked you.

⚜ You were thinking. If you tell him that now he can visit you and kill you.

⚜"To a public high school," you mumbled, sipping your drink.

⚜Your sister giggled and Elijah was confused.

⚜ That's how it went. If Elijah asked you a question, you bypassed it.

⚜ The evening passed and all 3 people left the restaurant.

⚜Elijah kissed your sister on the cheek and you gave him a kind of death look.

⚜Elijah asked if he should take you home but you and your sister say at the same time "NO YOU DON'T NEED IT".

⚜On the way home you plucked up courage and asked your sister.

⚜"(S/Y/N)....."

⚜"I know that he is an original"

⚜" YOU KNOW IT ?!?!?!""

⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜⚜

That's it for now

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darkhymns-fic · 3 months

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Their Gifts

Presea, the girl left behind by time, is finally getting older. So, naturally, she needs an outfit change. Her friends help her along the way.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Presea Combatir, Regal Bryant, Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel, Raine Sage, Genis Sage, Sheena Fujibayashi, Zelos Wilder Rating: G Word Count: 5174 Mirror: AO3 Notes: A gift for @slammingsuns for a Symphonia secret santa! Presea always needs more fics.

Her shoes no longer fit her.

Presea tilted her head at the realization. She was sitting on the foot of her bed, pulling on the leather before she felt the resistance. The sunlight streamed through her window, bringing a warmth to her skin to offset the morning chill. She struggled for another moment or two before she finally relented, dropping her hands onto the sheets while letting the boot fall to the wooden floor.

So. She would need new shoes.

But perhaps that wasn’t the only thing.

Presea had noted other things too—her dress continually had rips in them, and even with the amount of sewing and stitching, it was soon becoming clear that her clothes were getting too small. She had tried to deny it, remembering her dress being a gift from her father. Still, a quick look at a nearby mirror, just a small one fitted onto the wall, showed that there were differences now. She had grown an inch within the past year, or perhaps more. The twintails for her hair now reached just past her shoulders, and even something in her face looked quite different.

She was getting older, and so, her body was finally changing. It was finally aging.

Presea had to sit there silently, soaking in the revelation along with the morning sunshine.

Regal turned to her, his expression curious. “New clothes?”

He visited Ozette often, his funding efforts helping move along the reconstruction of the village. And as always, he visited Presea, who aided in such efforts.

She passed him his cup of black tea across the dining table. It was a comfortable routine whenever he came by, one that she could honestly say she looked forward to. Even as Ozette was slowly being rebuilt, she rarely had any other visitors.

“It would be suitable, wouldn’t it?” she reasoned, taking her seat opposite his. “Especially since I have worn these same clothes for much longer than intended.”

“True. I suppose the only new things you purchased on our previous travels were weapons and armor.” He held the cup gingerly by its handle, watching the tea leaves on the bottom shift with the motion. “I think even Genis got himself some new shoes.”

“He complained that they were too loose,” Presea recalled with a smile. Then paused. “I believe Colette gave me a ribbon once…but it was lost during a battle.”

She tried to recall its appearance, what color it was, if it had any unique designs on it. But, the memory was hazy, perhaps because she was still regaining her sense of self back then—her humanity. It had been hard to appreciate those small things just yet.

Unconsciously, she reached to tap against the Key Crest she wore, surrounding her Exsphere. For over a decade, this gem had kept her body in stasis, had stripped away her memories until all she could do was follow simple commands, could only see things in black and white. And then, one day, suddenly it was like everything had bloomed into color.

Even so, it had been a steady process; of unlearning her emotionless manner of speech, of only assessing things for their use, not for their pleasure. Years of staying in one place had stagnated her growth in so many ways. Even now, she still lacked in many ways.

But she was growing. This was an indisputable fact.

“If it’s new clothes you need, I would always be more than happy to help.” Regal’s voice brought her out of her musings. He had changed too from when she first met him. His hair was carefully arranged in a loose knot, and he wore a clean-pressed suit instead of the prison rags he once had—and, of course, the shackles were now gone. Still, she saw echoes of his own stagnation, imprisoned for as long as she was trapped in her very own self.

“Though, admittedly, I have never been very apt when it comes to fashion,” he added with a small cough. “Perhaps that would be more of Zelos’ forte, if you would like to ask him.”

Presea silently thought on his words for a bit. She then took a sip from the tea she poured for herself, the warmth making its way through her limbs. A few years back, she wouldn’t have felt this. She wouldn’t have even comprehended the sensation of it, the desire to drink pleasant warm tea with a friend, in the comfort her own home.

“Alicia had always been the one to know more about clothing and accessories. Are you saying she didn’t rub off on you?”

At that, Regal paused, the fluttering of a bird near the window heard as it flew towards a nearby tree. Then, he chuckled, his eyes far off, recalling. “Unfortunately not, though she tried many times to teach me color coordination.”

Once, mentioning her sister would have brought her waves of pain and guilt—the first feelings she had felt when she finally woke from her prison. But, maybe this meant time was finally moving for her. Saying Alicia’s name now brought warm and pleasant memories, of her father coming into the house long after dark, of Alicia setting up pillows on the floor for her and Presea to play dolls on, of the stove crackling with fire, for the nights, alive with the sounds of birds and insects, would still be chill.

For Regal, it seemed to do the same, with pleasant memories of Alicia of his own. Time moved for him as well as for her.

“You want to take fashion advice from Zelos?” Sheena grimaced, then shook her head. “I wouldn’t risk it. Before you know it, he’ll try to dress you up to be like the rest of his weird fan club.”

Mizuho was a village that Presea visited often, it’s closeness to Ozette a welcome retreat, and Sheena always eager to host. They walked together by the small stream that cut through the village during the early evening, hearing the occasional clack of the deer scarer that echoed in the air.

“It might still be worth a try.” Presea watched her steps carefully as she walked. She’d had to grab another pair of shoes for herself—a leftover that was her father’s old work boots, leaving her the result of somewhat loose-fitting shoes that plodded a bit as she walked. “I can’t continue to keep wearing the same thing.”

“I suppose so… I wish I could help you out, but we only have Mizuho-styles clothing here. Which would be perfect if you’re planning on living here.”

There was a certain pride in Sheena’s voice as she said so, one that hadn’t been as plainly obvious before. Once before, Sheena would walk through this village with her eyes lowered, enduring whispers that even Presea, in her muted state, had noticed and overheard. But time had moved on, and Sheena held an air of confidence, and grace, and gentle happiness as she walked through this village that she vowed to protect.

Presea smiled at the sight of it, as well as her kind offer. “It would be an interesting change of style, at the very least.” Her eyes traveled to homes nearby, to those within with pins in their hair, or an occasional charm wrapped to their wrist. She couldn’t help but also sneak a glance at the purple ribbon that was still tailored to Sheena’s gi, even in her new role as Chief. Small things that brought out a person’s inner feelings. Perhaps she could carve a charm for herself to wear, but would it be suitable enough for someone who was growing?

She felt something press into the palm of her hand, and looked down. A brightly-colored bracelet made of threads, the ends of it forming a ribbon-shape. “Sheena?”

“I know this isn’t exactly a new outfit but, maybe a small accessory to help out?” Sheena laughed with a flush in her cheeks. “This is popular with a lot of the young women here. Supposed to bring you a fair amount of luck. Heck, maybe it’ll help you deal with that blockhead later.”

Presea quietly slipped it on over her wrist, gazing at the alternating colors of red and violet, with the occasional gold-colored stitching. It fit her well, not too tightly, but not loose enough to slip off her hand.

“…And you know, I heard Raine and Genis are heading to Altamira pretty soon.” Sheena tried to say it as nonchalantly as she could, but the red hadn’t left her face. It even matched the bracelet that she was wearing herself, half-hidden within the sleeves of her outfit. “You’re heading there next soon, right? Maybe they can help out.”

Before she met both Raine and Genis in the lobby of the Altamira hotel, she wondered then just how Genis must have grown. It seemed that for elves, and even half-elves, time moved slower for them than most.

But Genis seemed to have the same question in mind, his eyes scanning the top of Presea’s when she arrived. “Hey! You’re taller than me now!”

“Only by half an inch,” Raine helpfully supplied with a half-smile next to him. There was a very subtle difference in Raine, a bit surer in her posture, the ends of her hair curving to frame her face. Genis himself had almost reached her shoulder, his hair now longer, catching the rays of the sun with a silver sheen. In fact, it was tied back, similar to Regal’s own hair, though with a little less finesse.

It took a while for her to say anything—following to their room on the top floor, the suite given to them by Regal and his generosity, despite how much Raine had tried to decline. Even as Genis spoke about his and Raine’s travels, Presea couldn’t help but keep noticing something about him.

Eventually, Genis noticed. “Do I…got something on my face for you to keep looking at me like that?”

Room service had brought up a lunch platter for the three, and perhaps Presea may have paused in her eating for a full minute to stare, her food already getting cold.

“Your hair,” she said softly. “It looks different on you. But very nice, too.”

Genis blinked, a slow and creeping red rising to his cheeks. “Th…thanks! Your…hair looks good too.”

She tilted her head. “But I didn’t change anything about it.” Then idly pulled at one of her twintails, the hair feeling a bit heavier than it used to. “I still look the same.”

“Not that much! Um… did you want to change it? M-maybe…maybe you need a new style too!”

Presea blinked. “What do you mean?”

Genis’ face was bright red, which was something that hadn’t changed much, she realized. She was so used to that expression on him, complete with some stutters, even though he was older now. Genis tried to clear his throat, and then patted down his hair as if it had just caught on fire.

“You know, f-for your hair! You should let it down! Or…maybe a ponytail…like me…”

She considered, but it did intrigue her. How long had she fitted her hair this way?

“You think I would look good with my hair down, Genis?”

A furious nodding, followed by an ecstatic, “A-absolutely!”

She placed a finger on her chin. “Loose hair might get caught onto branches and such, but a ponytail would be safer.”

“I-I mean… you can always let your hair down when you’re not cutting down trees, too.”

Still, she was grateful for the idea, and even more so when Raine offered to help her find her style.

“I’ve had to fix up Genis’ hair quite a bit myself.” She carefully untied the hidden ribbons that held up Presea’s hair, running her fingers through the strands, untangling any stray knots with ease. “So, a ponytail? Or maybe something a little more?”

Presea thought on it, her hands placed on her knees. “Like… a braid?” she asked.

“Oh!” Genis stood up excitedly. “A braid would look amazing!”

Raine was a little less high energy, but Presea heard the softness in her tone. “That sounds lovely.”

And it was quite relaxing, to just sit in the suite room with Raine gently fixing up her hair, arranging the pleats with small explanations to Presea so that she could do it herself later on. The weight on her head seemed to shift, and she could feel better the sea breeze on her neck that blew in from the open balcony.

It didn’t take long, for in the end it was just a simple change. But when Presea turned to look at Genis, he seemed speechless before he finally had the idea to hand her a small hand mirror. “C-Check it out! Even Raine can’t mess this up.”

Presea didn’t really hear the two siblings playfully bicker with the other at the comment, but she examined the pleated braid that was thrown over her shoulder. She could see more of her face, and how her hair caught the sun’s rays in the alternating patterns that were made. The end of the braid was tightened with a small hair tie that had a tiny star charm hanging off it. A small gift from Raine?

She looked different, but not unrecognizable. It suits me, she thought with a smile.

It was eventual that she would happen to be in Meltokio later on—she acted as a sort of middleman for the Lezareno Company and their cooperation with the kingdom there for minimizing Exsphere usage. So, it only seemed logical that she would finally seek some advice from Zelos, even if it somewhat contradicted Sheena’s own advice. But she still thought it was worth a try.

Though even she was surprised by Zelos’ enthusiasm when she knocked at his front door.

“My precious rosebud!!” he said in such a lilting tone that at first, she had no idea what to say. Zelos solved that for her by taking one of her hands and immediately guiding her down the steps. “Nice new hairdo. Also, Regal told me everything. Let’s get you some new fancy threads!”

“Regal?” Presea asked, but then connected the dots in her head. It was fair to assume that Regal must have sent a letter to Zelos in the interim, as he regularly sent information to the ex-Chosen. “I only meant to ask about what would be best—”

“That’s right! We’re going on a shopping spree!” Zelos spoke as if he hadn’t heard her, which was very possible. “All the best for my rosebud. This shop down at the market is what all my hunnies are raving about these days, so I’m sure we’ll find something for you. Money is no object!”

Well. It was quite nice that Zelos was far more enthusiastic about this, even as she still wondered about just what it was she exactly wanted for herself. Her dress still fit her, though it tightened around her shoulders, and she was being careful not to accidentally rip it in her travels.

…Although, she soon realized that she and Zelos had very, very different tastes in fashion.

“Zelos, can I make a suggestion?” she asked, holding up the dresses he had deposited into her arms. He was taking whatever he could from the racks around them in a shop that looked much too fragile in its white décor and fanciful chandeliers up top. She had truly thought at first this had been someone’s mansion instead of a clothing boutique when they first arrived. “Can I not have any clothes with sequins on them?”

“Huh? You don’t like them?” He pulled at another dress from a nearby rack, a flick of his hair sending a nearby servicewoman in a swoon. “But this one’s pink! Or do you want more of the ruffles then? That seems to be more of the trend these days.”

Presea looked back at the clothes Zelos offered her; much of it reminded her of the dress she wore at that party back then for rescuing the princess, decorated with ribbons and frills, and how light it had made her feel. But, in the end, such a dress had been for a child, as fancy and expensive as it was.

And though the clothes she held now would fit her well, their fabrics felt too soft, their brightness a little too distracting for the eye. The sequins would easily fall off when she needed to work, or catch onto the bushes she had to traverse through to delve deeper into the forest. The frills would be ripped, the ruffles unraveled, and anything shiny would soon lose its luster if she tried to wear it for daily use.

Or, perhaps she was still thinking in practical terms.

“…This ain’t working out for ya, huh?”

She looked up to see Zelos look at her in full seriousness, which might have been a bit of a ludicrous look on someone who was holding fancy fur cloaks on his shoulders, which also sported pearl necklaces and other shiny accoutrements.

“I suppose our tastes are just a bit too different. Sheena did tell me so.”

At that, Zelos sighed, then shrugged his fur-covered shoulders. “Aw, you’re just gonna let her cloud your opinion of me like that? You know my clothing choice is impeccable and I look damn good!”

He did have a point—his own clothes did suit him very well. Though that also made her reach a certain conclusion. “Is that so? I noticed the lack of sequins on your clothes.”

“I mean…they’re a little flashy for me, you know?”

Presea looked at him blank-faced with all the sequined dresses she could physically hold.

“Hey, I thought they’d look nice on you! But fine, fine.” Zelos quickly put away the fur, along with the diamond-studded cloaks he had also been carrying. “So does anything in here look good to you?”

She thought it was fair to at least give this store a bit more of a chance, so she scanned her vision across the floor. Some women were trying on large, feather-topped hats, while others had wrapped fur scarves around their necks. Others were putting on high-heels, which looked quite fragile, with ruby-red jewels in its center, and even more swirled around dresses with those popular ruffles.

She turned back to Zelos and shook her head.

“What?! Man, is it the whole country thing that’s…?” He snapped his fingers. “That’s it. It’s the whole country thing. I should have known.”

Presea tilted her head. “Where I’m raised has an effect on my taste?”

“Of course it does! At least, it certainly does for those two lovebirds…” Zelos sighed. “I know some country gals that would have leaped at the chance to get one of these new dresses or shoes, but you ain’t one of them. And here I was, thinking I would show you a world full of beauty and be transformed into a lovely lady that would rival even the princess’ beauty!”

Presea knew that if Sheena were here at this moment, she would have rebuked Zelos for his words (or slapped him). But in the bravado, she heard a genuine kindness, an eagerness to help, a longing for it. “Maybe I need to grow a little more before I can do that?” she offered as a vague hope.

Zelos brushed it off. “Nah, I know when I’m beaten. But hey, can I at least do one thing for you?” He pointed at the boots she wore, their heels more than scuffed and still threatening to fall off her feet. “Let me buy you new shoes. You can choose them. We have plenty of regular, boring-looking ones down the street if you really can’t stand the ones here.”

How could she refuse it? Still, she made sure to carry along her father’s old work boots, even as she wore new ones outlined in fur trimming, with thick leather soles that could endure miles-long treks through the wilderness. Zelos insisted on paying for the new boots himself, already predicting she would get this certain pair over the other, more decadent-looking footwear.

But she knew he was grateful that he could at least help add to her new outfit now.

Perhaps, though, the boots had been an example of Zelos’ foresight. It was colder than usual in Flanoir this year, and even on the slick roads she was able to keep her footing without any tumbles into a nearby snowbank.

She clutched at her cloak to wrap around her frame—a simple traveling one, the same she had worn back on their search for the Tethe’allan seals. It had unfortunately frayed since then, no longer as thick enough to shield her from the chill and brief winds, and her hair was soon growing wet from the drizzling snowflakes overhead, the hood a bit too small to fully pull over her head.

But even in the mini snowstorm, she could never miss the bright red in the distance.

“Hey! Presea!! Over here!!”

Lloyd’s voice carried with the wind, bringing it so close that it almost felt he was right next to her. Through the flurries, she headed in his direction, just near a balcony that overlooked the entire snowy city. The wind picked up his cloak, which was just clasped at his collar, revealing his red jacket like a fiery sunset in a field of white. She had almost missed Colette, who was more bundled, with some extra white trim around her collar.

They were…taller as well, Presea noted. Lloyd was closely ever reaching a height that she associated with adulthood, his hair growing out and nearly falling over his face, with Colette not far behind in height. But there was something else; like the newly fashioned belts along Lloyd’s waist, the brown leather a bit darker, and new gloves that sported a black stripe along their sides. And what she could see of Colette’s dress, it was no longer just the pure white of her once Chosen outfit. Though she could see the familiar overcoat, there were other colors of the dress hidden underneath. A hint of green that would form the hem of her dress, filigreed with gentle gold. It was more bold—braver, in a sense.

“We’re so glad you wanted to come visit us! Oh! And you even changed your hair a little.” Colette smiled wide, reaching to grab Presea’s hand with hers. “It’s hard to meet up with the others when we’re traveling. I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

“Regal helps with the expenses. I’ve had to come here on behalf of the company anyway.” A bit of a white lie—she had just really wanted to see them, and she wondered if either of them would suspect a little.

“Oh yeah, we got Zelos’ letter too,” Lloyd said. “Something about getting you new clothes? He said we could help but not like…how, exactly.” He moved the hair away from his eyes with a bit of a huff. Did he just neglect to get a haircut for a long while? “It’s mostly winter stuff here to wear, I think?”

“It can get chilly in Ozette,” she said. However, maybe Lloyd had a point. Was it really that logical to have traveled such a long way just to obtain an outfit, and one that would probably not even be suitable for back home?

Or, maybe she had just really wanted to see more of her friends that badly.

“Oh, but I’m sure we can at least get you something really pretty!” Colette was on her tiptoes, eyes brighter than Presea was really used to. She seemed more open than before, something freeing in her voice, a smile that held no air of caution. Because Colette used to have her own shackles, didn’t she? “Like a really shiny bow! And maybe some mittens, too.”

“Oh yeah, you probably need those for here at least,” Lloyd interjected. “I know they sell those ones with those paw pad designs at that one shop.”

Presea’s heart beat a little rapidly then. “Paw pads?”

“Yeah, paw pads!” Colette jumped a bit on her toes, as if she would soon start flying. “They also have very cute winter hats with those doggy ears too.”

“Does the hat also have a paw pad design on it?”

Lloyd paled a bit. “Isn’t that…kind of a bit much maybe? It’s already got the doggy ears.”

“Ohh, but what if it also has a little doggy tail?” Colette clasped her hands together, a small silver bracelet hanging from her right wrist. It was so detailed, and it made Presea wonder if this was Lloyd’s handiwork. “Wouldn’t that be great? Lloyd, let’s get some for us, too. Maybe there’s one that looks like Noishe!”

Lloyd looked like he was about to protest until she mentioned Noishe, which made him pause. “Huh, well it has to have the right ears for sure…”

But as Presea continued to listen, another concern rose up in her. She shifted her new boots on the pavement, then said, “Is this type of clothing usually meant for children though? I doubt it would even fit me…”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you can still wear whatever you want! If Zelos said anything weird, don’t listen to him. He still makes fun of my jacket but I’m still wearing it anyway! And my dad fixed it up with new buttons and stitches, so it’s even better now!”

“Yep! Lloyd looks even cooler!”

“Twice as cool even! Haha… Huh. That sounded better in my head.”

Presea giggled, despite the cold she was feeling. Even so, something about Lloyd and Colette’s talk was comforting. Just as it had been with Regal, as it had been with Sheena, and Zelos, and Genis and Raine.

She adjusted the threaded bracelet around her wrist more securely, staring at how the snowflakes caught onto it. They didn’t melt, not just yet.

“I think I would still like a doggy hat,” she said, then raised her eyes to them. “And one with a tail.”

At that, Colette grinned so brightly, and so new. It looked wonderful on her. “We can even match!”

In the end, it was a simple thing she did, and nothing worth any true fanfare. The shops in Flanoir were, as Lloyd had mentioned, really meant for winter. Knitted hats that hung on the walls, along with scarves dyed a bright red (to Lloyd’s approval) or fanciful blue, with frills at the end for certain ones. She did buy mittens for her stay in Flanoir, the paw prints exceptionally made, as well as a hat with flaps for the ears, and a small, knitted nub on the back that served for a tail.

Oh, it had been so very cute… but then Colette waved her over, holding something in her arms.

Presea walked towards her and was then handed over a cloak, one of a dark green color, with white trimming at the top. It felt so very warm in her hands, and the threading was professional, where rips or tears could easily form.

“I noticed your other cloak might be a little old now, so, how about a new one?” Colette smiled as she tightened the one she wore herself. “It’s a bit similar to mine, but I think you’d like it? Oh, and the top of the hood is made from Penguinist quills! So it’s really warm!”

Presea looked at the clothing before she finally wrapped it around herself, making sure to unclasp the old cloak beforehand. It settled on her shoulders comfortably, and surprisingly not too heavy. The quills did feel so nice against her neck and chin, and she raised up her gaze to Colette with gratitude. “I love this. But…” Then, she giggled. “I also still want the doggy hat.”

She had probably never seen Colette look so happy then. “Yeah, of course! We still gotta match!”

Then, off near the back of the store, they both heard Lloyd’s voice give a tremendous shout.

“Whoa!! Come check this out, Colette! They really do have a Noishe hat!!”

Curiously, when she arrived back in Ozette, still wearing her new hat (which really was well-made. It survived the turbulence of a Rheaird that Lloyd and Colette had loaned to her), she saw something at her front door.

It was a package, fitted in an oak box that she could already tell had a familiar logo on its front—one that belonged to the Lezareno Company.

Regal? she thought. Is it for the reconstruction project?

It was early morning as she took the box inside, the weather making her skin raise goosebumps from the chill. The wind seemed to cut right through her dress, only helped by the cloak she still wore around her shoulders.

She didn’t really understand what Regal could have given to her until she finally opened the box, and saw the carefully arranged treasure inside.

It wasn’t an outwardly bright piece of clothing, like the ones Zelos seemed to favor. But the blue was deep-set, a pink ribbon pinned at the center. Also, unlike her current one, this was long-sleeved, which felt inviting to see on a cold morning. There were also stitches of designs at the hem, such as trees and flowers, the same kind that were from Ozette itself. As she held it in her hands, the fabric wasn’t as fragile as she feared, despite some of its embellishments. It could endure a day-long trek or more through the forest, with enough insulation in its threading to keep her warm for when the fogs of the deeper parts of the forest were too chill.

Most importantly, though, it was just in her size.

At the bottom of the box, she saw a note with Regal’s handwriting.

Dear Presea,

I hope this present finds you well. After some discussion with our friends, I had this dress tailored. Please only accept it if it suits your needs.

P.S

Also, I hope I have finally gotten better at my color coordination.

Presea couldn’t help but laugh a little at the comment.

It was only kind to at least try on the dress, with its braided leather belt, and the clasps at the collar to keep it well-fitted. But she had already decided what she would do before she even finished brushing out the hem of her dress. It wasn’t flashy, but it wasn’t dull either. There was life in the stitching, and the colors that could fit well against Ozette’s greenery. Presea stood there in the morning sunshine, looking at herself—at how she had changed, with all the gifts she had received from her friends.

Still, when she looked at herself, she saw someone who wasn’t left behind by time, but slowly going along with it. Older, more comfortable, and content.

“Thank you,” she said, already wondering when she could go see her friends again.

#tales of symphonia #presea combatir #regal bryant #lloyd irving #colette brunel #fanfiction #one shot

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strangerthingsfanfics · 2 years

Text

Famous Couple

Pair: Joseph Quinn X reader

Warning: none

Summary: You’ve been filming for a new up coming Marvel movie, and your boyfriend Joseph visit you while on set.

A/N: this was requested by @reader-fangirl and not my photo.

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You’re two months into filming the newest Marvel movie, and you were homesick and really missed Joseph. Y’all call each other almost every night, but since season four of Stranger Things, it’s now every other night. Which is fine to you and him since y’all have crazy schedules and have been away from each other months on end. Joseph had an amazing idea to visit you while you were shooting. He had everything planned and was on his way to California.

Once he got to California, he met up with one your costars and they got everything they needed to make this surprise special.

“You think they’ll love it?”.

“Oh, I know they will. I got everything they like from their favorite flowers and an outfit I know they’ll look amazing in for tonight.”. Joseph said while smiling.

When Joseph and your costar got to your hotel room, they set everything up. Joseph took of the flowers and left a trail of them from the door to where he would be standing. He place’s everything in a perfect spot.

“I’m gonna go get Y/N, I’ll text you when we’re heading over here.”

“Okay thank you!”

Joseph was happy to see you again but nervous at the same time. He gets butterflies every time he sees you after some time apart. It makes him fall in love with you all over again. While getting lost in his thoughts your costar texted him, telling him they’re on the back to the hotel.

(Your pov)

“Why are you rushing back to the hotel?”

“I’m not! I’m just tired and wanna go to sleep.”. Your costar said while laughing.

“Uhuh sure you do. Your wife waiting for you at your hotel?”

“No, but I wish she was.”

Once you and your costar got to your hotel, you noticed your costar had the biggest smile ever and couldn’t stop moving.

“You okay?”

“Yes, I’m just tired”

“Uhuh, sure you are.”

“We are here! Hey do you have any pimple patches? I’m starting to get one and I ran out yesterday.”

“I do, let’s get it from my room!”

Once you got to your room, you noticed that your costar was recording and kept smiling really big. You thought they probably did some type of prank on you. When you opened the door you were surprised to see the flowers in the ground. Your heart started to beat fast as you walked further into the room. Once you got to the middle of the room, you saw Joseph standing there with your favorite flowers in his hands.

“Hello love, I missed you so much. I couldn’t wait longer to see you!”. Joseph said while pulling you for a hug.

Your costar said “I’m gonna go and give you guys some time.”. You said goodbye and pulled Joseph into another hug.

“I missed you and this so much!”

“I missed you too! I have dinner reservations at this amazing restaurant, so go get cleaned up and I brought you an outfit that would look amazing on you.”. Joseph said while staring into your eyes and give you kiss.

Once you and Joseph got ready y’all headed to the restaurant and you realized it was on the beach and he booked the whole roof out for both of you. It was pretty with the sunset in the background with the lights hanging from the ceiling and your favorite song playing the background.

“Joe, this is so pretty, thank you!”.

“You’re welcome love! Let’s go sit down.”

While at the table both you talked about everything and anything. It was perfect and an amazing way to spend the rest of the day with the love of your life.

Joseph got up and said “may I have this dance?”.

You got up and smiled and gave him your hand. Joseph pulled you into a slow dance to your favorite love song. He kept whispering sweet things into your ear and giving your many kisses either on your lips or forehead.

“I can picture us doing this on our wedding day with our family and friends just watching us. It would be an amazing day.”. Joseph said while looking into your eyes and giving you soft smile and a kiss on the lips. You were surprised when he said that and you couldn’t stop smiling when he said that.

“I can’t wait to get married to the love my life.”. You said while smiling and looking into his eyes. He smiled back at you and gave you the sweetest kiss ever.

Once y’all were done eating, Joseph drove back to the hotel and when y’all got to the hotel Joseph helped you get ready for bed. Once ready Joseph carried you to bed and put your head in his chest. “Goodnight my love.” He said while pulling you for one last kiss of the day. “Goodnight Joseph.” You said.

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A/N: I wanted to add smut but I didn’t want to ruin the cute part. If y’all want smut comment down and I’ll write the smut part.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #joseph quinn x reader #joseph Quinn

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ladyantiheroine · 6 months

Text

What I Didn’t Say

Summary: Renfield tries to protect Y/N, but things get complicated.

Pairing: Renfield x fem!reader

Request by @kpopgirlbtssvt

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How much longer are going to let this go on, Renfield?

The immortal assistant was seated at cafe across from Y/N, a girl he’d met at a support meeting. She was new in town, new to the group, and Renfield had been entranced by her since they met. Beautiful, intelligent, kind. Not the kind of woman that Renfield expected to be interested in him.

And yet, she’d invited him out to coffee after their frist group meeting together. Since then, it became their ritual each week. They always ordered the same drinks, sat at the same table beneath the autumn tree by the street.

From the first day, after she told her story to the group, Renfield had considered her as a potential meal for Dracula. She’d recently broken up with a narcissistic partner (an event that brought her to the group) and she had a distant relationship with her family. She was alone in a new city. In other words, she was the right kind of vulnerable and invisible that would make it easy for her to suddenly disappear.

That was several weeks ago. Despite Dracula’s hungry moans, Renfield kept putting off killing Y/N. He wasn’t used to being this resistant. After centuries of murder, he thought eh finally gre immune to empathy or guilt or other things that may hinder such acts. But Y/N had reminded him that despite Dracula’s efforts, Renfield was still very much human deep down.

And to make matters worse, the longer Renfield spent time with Y/N, the harder and harder it was for him to imagine bringing her bloody corpse to his master…

“Robby?”

Y/N’s voice snapped Renfield from his thought. He lifted his face from his lukewarm copy. Y/N gave him a playful smile.

“I don’t know what’s in your coffee, but it can’t be that interesting,” she said.

Y/N giggled and Renfield eased into a smile.

He loved spending time with her.

But how much longer could he let this go on, until something went wrong?

Renfield knew there was only two ways this could end. Either Y/N would discover his true intentions, or he would have to abandon their relationship. The former was dangerous, the latter was unthinkable.

But fate made the choice for him.

After weeks, Dracula was getting hungrier. He kept leaving notes and letters around for Renfield to find, tormenting him with reminders of his blood thirst. A few of these letter made it into the hands of Y/N during her many visits to his apartment.

“What the fuck are these?!” Y/N yelled ast him. “You’re fixing to feed me to…some kind of cannibal killer?”

“He’s not a cannibal,” Renfield said. He tried to keep his voice calm, but his temple was sweating and his heart was racing. “I swear, he’s Dracula. The Dracula.”

“Oh, you really think I’m going to believe that?” Y/N snapped, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Whatever he is, you were going to feed him to me. That’s all our relationship is? I’m just a lamb to the slaughter to you?”

“Y/N, you’re not,” Renfield said, his voice desperate. “Please, if you just let me explain…”

“I never want to see you again,” Y/N said through blubbering tears. “If I see your face again, I’m calling the cops.”

With that, Renfield watched his only love slam out the door.

Renfiled felt like he had shattered to pieces. He imagined himself transformed into a stone statue and slowly cracking into rocky pieces on the ground. Hours passed and with each on he knew Y/N was going further away, only to ever remember him as a cruel liar.

He knew there was no point in winning her back. The best thing to do now was pack his things,c convince Dracula it was time to move locations again, and get as far from her as possible. But he didn’t want her to remember him as someone who didn’t care for her, who merely saw her as meat for the beast.

So, he wrote her a note.

My dearest Y/N,

There’s a good chance you won’t even read this. Perhaps this note may just be a crumpled up note in a waste bin. But on the chance that you are reading this, I want to explain myself to you, if you’ll do me the kindness of listening.

I must begin with the deepest apologies for everything. For my dishonesty, for my endangerment of you, for watsing your time. I know saying this will not absolve me of my actions, but an apology is in order regardless. I should have never filled up your heart only to use it so carelessly.

It’s true. I did indeed to feed you to my master, as I have done with many humans over the centuries. But the longer we spent together, the more I couldn’t bare the thought of it. You’ve reminded me what it is to love, to care for, to worry over again. Such things I’d long believe I couldn’t feel anymore. For that, I owe you a thank you. A thank you for teaching me once again hat it is to be human.

I’m leaving the city with Dracula tonight. I have not told him about you. I will get him as far from you as possible, assure that he never sees you long enough to hurt you. I will allow every other human on earth to die before he can get his claws on you.

I won’t ask for forgiveness. All I ask is that you understand that I will spend eternity keeping this beast away from you. I only hope you can sleep better now.

Always yours,

Robert Montague Renfield.

Y/N’s hand shook as she finished reading the note. She stumbled backwards into a chair in her apartment. It was all too impossible to believe. But it had to be true. Renfield was not the type to lie. He couldn’t if he tried.

If this was all true…

Y/N clenched the note in her fist and dropped her head down. A sob crawled up her throat and her eyes well with tears.

“Robby…” she whimpered. “I’m…”

Then, Y/N jumped when she heard a sudden knock on her door. She sniffled and wiped her eyes dry. The clock on the wall said it was pasr midnight. Who the hell could here at this ungodly hour?

Y/N stood up and approached the door. A warm nighttime breeze greeted her when she opened it up. Along with the wet, coppery scent of fresh blood.

Renfield stood before her, his face and purple sweater dripping with crimson. His face was twisted in sorrow and his eyes dripped with tears. Y/N’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“Y/N,” Renfield said, his voice shivering. “I…I’m sorry…I…”

He looked like a baby deer that had been struck by a car. Y/N’s heart squelched in her chest. Yes, Renfield was far from normal. Yes, maybe he’d been a victim of a monster that had in turned tried to make him into a monster.

But he was still Robby. Your Robby.

You took Renfield’s face in your hands. You used yout thumbs to wipe away the tears and blood trickling down his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” you told him. “It’s okay.”

With that, you pressed your lips to his. You tasted the metallic liquid on his face but you didn’t care. You kissed him and he kissed you. And as you did, a single thought passed through Renfield’s head.

I’m free. She’s made me finally, finally free.

#renfield #fanfic

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evita-shelby · 8 months

Text

Love's a state of mind

Chapter 4

Cw: mentions of past trauma, mentions of death in childbirth, research about abortion

Gif by @celebritiesandmovies

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta

He could lie and say he’s over her, but his resolve breaks the moment he turns and finds unresponsive on the floor.

Her PA had wanted to sweep this under the rug only for him to point out she hit the side of the table on the way down.

To let his ex-girlfriend have some dignity, no paramedics had been called and Rob was going to have Chrissy say whatever Eva was hiding while she drove them to the nearest emergency room.

It was far too easy; Chrissy had always been very chatty. Eva didn’t like silence and kept her no matter how many times she spilled any secret of her boss because while you could get Chrissy Gutierrez to speak, an extractor couldn’t rob them blind.

All Riley and Fischer Morrow employees with any access were trained against extractions, as a precaution. Everyone knows if you want to make it into the next decade you have to get on with the times.

“She’s been sick for a few days, after this meeting she’s supposed to go to the doctor.” The assistant isn’t lying, but he’s been around her enough to know there’s something else.

“Chrissy.” he warns as takes the backseat with a still unconscious Eva. The things he does for this woman, this fucking woman who used him and has him crawling back to her without any effort from her part.

“Six pregnancy tests, fifty percent chance it’s another scare.” The plucky assistant admits knowing he was there the last time.

Eva hadn’t told him; he’d found out on his own when she left the test in their bathroom. He had been nervous and a bit excited at the prospect of a life with her and their hypothetical children. She had been relieved when her doctor told them it was a false positive.

Her sister had died from childbirth complications, Eva was terrified of it happening to her. They’d talked about it that night, sitting on the rug with their backs to the bed. To think all of it was a fucking lie, maybe she just didn’t want to have kids with him.

Everything was as real as you and me, her words hadn’t left his head since she spoke them making him doubt his new perception of her.

He had kissed her thinking it would not be like the ones before and feel nothing after, and yet it had the opposite effect.

Robert had gone there with every intention of taking that wind park that gave her company its name and destroying it just as Uncle Peter had been meaning too. He had folded, not because she seduced him, but because she had told the truth.

He’s known her for a year, Eva’s a good liar but not good enough when she’s not firing on all cylinders. She hadn’t had a hair out of place, but he could tell from the way she tried to get the meeting over with and how pale she was at the end.

He was petty and taught to exploit his opponents’ weaknesses. Robert’s just never been as good as his father nor Uncle Peter.

Never good enough.

“Chrissy, you’re fired.” Eva keeps her eyes shut and mutters something in Spanish when she opens them to see him hovering over her.

“I’m fine.” She says and refuses his help as she moves as far as she can in Chrissy’s little sedan. “If there is anything you should know, I will tell you. If I don’t it’s because its none of your fucking business, Rob.”

Stubborn as always, even as she is shaking off the effects of a minor concussion and a fainting spell, Eva is as stubborn as a pack mule.

He always liked that about her, even in moments when it grated him.

Like now.

“I think it’s my fucking business, Evie, it is our baby you might be having.” He points out and she threatens Chrissy with a bad reference for running her mouth like that.

“Don’t you have a plane to catch?” Eva asks knowing he’d delayed his bimonthly visits home for this fucking meeting alone.

“No, my schedule is perfectly clear.” Just for you. “Besides, if that fifty percent chance turns out to be true, I would rather be here with you than in Sydney with my dad.”

“How sweet of you. What do you want me to do now? Give you a pat on the back? Feed you a treat, give you a belly rub and call you a good boy?" She mocks him, hitting every button she knows so he leaves and takes that fucking private jet to Sydney and all it does is have Chrissy call her out on being such a bitch.

But he won’t. His dad was right to be disappointed in him, Robert thinks as he shoots down every protest his ex throws at him as she tries to get him to leave.

Robert gets that look on his face like he did that time months ago when he thought she was pregnant as well. That dopey one that is already seeing them settle in some picture-perfect place with perfect kids and a perfect life.

Save for their bickering, you couldn’t tell they were over. He stood by her every fucking second and even told Chrissy ---told her as if he had any right to run her life--- he’d be taking her home before she left.

Eva hadn’t been in a good mood in days, while Robert was the perfect patient when he busted his knee when they went hiking one time, Eva was the worst.

“It’s pretty impossible for me pregnant, just so you know.” She says breaking him out of his thoughts as they wait for the ER doctor and the results of all her tests. “Even when we weren’t playing it safe, I never slipped up.”

“It surprises me that you didn’t jump at the opportunity to baby trap me.” He countered making her falter when he looked at her too intently.

“Please, your damn eyes had the guilt eating me up inside the whole time, its why I couldn’t say yes to a lifelong commitment to you. As much I ended up loving you, I just couldn’t look you in the eye without knowing I had used you.” Eva admits and now he’s the one looking away feeling conflicted.

Rob had been told the worst of her and his family couldn’t help but fan the flames of his loathing for her after they were proven right.

And yet he is here because there is a thin thread tying them back together like a red string of fate and Robert’s held to it like a lifeline.

It makes her heart hurt to know that she spent most of last night researching whether she could end her pregnancy at eight to ten weeks in the state of California. The answer was yes, she could.

“I thought you liked my eyes.” Robert says knowing she’s been very appreciative of his inhumanly blue eyes. Poetry, specific paint hues and a pendant he got her with the exact shade of blue as his eyes.

“I do, it’s one of the reasons actually.” She responds and both forget its over between them. Eva could taste him in her mouth still and burned to feel him under her hands and mar his fair skin with love bites. “Made me feel as if I was naked before you.”

Bad choice of words, she thinks when his pupils dilate and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed no doubt remembering their very extensive history.

Eva had no issue with physical nakedness, especially around him. Several times she’d surprise him at work by wearing nothing under her coat or wearing nothing at all when he came home. She’d worn nothing underneath her coat the day they left on his private jet to New York. Eva would bet her wind park that was what brings them here today.

But neither Eva nor Robert can seem to speak or do anything than stare at each other as they both come to the same realization: despite the way things ended, their feelings for each other are as strong as they were then, if not stronger.

I still love you; his eyes say just as the obstetrician comes in at last.

#eva smith riley #robert fischer x oc #robert fischer #robert fischer x reader #robert fischer x eva smith #love's a state of mind fic

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mayumiiyuu · 2 years

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iv. normalcy.

the kaleidoscope project masterlist

July, 1979, Hawkins, Indiana

It had been month or so since I had been placed under foster care. Dr. Willows always kept her promise, visiting me around twice every week. I felt more comfortable with her now, slowly but surely trusting her. Still, I never told her much about myself, just aspects I thought would be relevant to her as an act of self preservation; just because I was starting to trust her didn't mean I had to let go of all my reservations. I was still most likely a wanted person. So I tried my best to blend in, keep my abilities to myself. I told not a soul, shut my eyes whenever I felt my emotions trigger some sort of reaction, stayed on the sidelines while the others played and made lively conversation; afraid that if I had made the wrong move, let myself go, that my emotions would take charge and my powers would spin out of control.

I spent most of my days drawing, reading the books Dr. Willows would let me borrow from her.

"This one has to be my favorite," she places a thick book on the table, its cover as worn as the pages within, but the title remained in tact: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. "I used to stay up late at night reading it, I think you'll find the world here fascinating."

I skim through the pages, my eyes widening slightly with just how many chapters there were. "This seems..long."

She throws her head back slightly, laughing. "Yes, it is, to top it off there are two more after that."

I looked at her incredulously, my eyebrows raised. "Two? Are they just as long?"

She nods her head. "About the same length, yes, but hey, it'll be sure to keep you busy. Maybe you can draw the characters, sketch out what you envision them to look like."

I did just that after finishing the book in a week, unable to put it down as I was immersed in stories of hobbits, elves, wizards, and magic; a realm like no other with its own unique kingdoms and lands with sprawling forests and other fantastical creatures.

The next time we had met I had shown her drawings of Rivendell as I had imagined it, with its crashing waterfalls and flowing rivers, along with a sketch of what Galadriel looked like, the Lady of the Light in all her elegance and ethereal beauty.

"These are amazing, Scar," she beamed at me. "This is exactly what I imagined when I read the book!"

I felt my cheeks warm from her words, shifting awkwardly in my seat, not used to such praise outside of my abilities, never having been complimented for something that didn't serve purpose to others.

"By the way," she places the sketchbook down on the table between us. "Do you know when you'll be going to school?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "School?"

"I'm sure that you've been enrolled somewhere by now, haven't you?"

"Not that I know of.." I mumble, picking at my lower lip nervously. I hadn't even considered that, of course most of the children in the outside world went to school, my only education had been by our Teacher, provided to us by the lab. Would going to someplace as public as that even be safe? Did I even have any documents for me to be able to be enrolled in a school?

"I'm sure they'll handle it," she glances around, biting her lip as if in deep thought. "Scarlet, tell me: has anyone visited you apart from me? Met you, inquired about maybe fostering you?"

I shake my head. I had seen other people come in to meet the younger kids, always the younger ones. I noticed how the older kids looked on with jealousy, whispering amongst themselves, making bets on who'll get into a foster home first. There were a few who were my age that had left, some returned, and those who didn't were gossiped about.

"I heard Hannah was adopted by her foster family." One of the others had said during lunch, picking at his food as he spoke.

"Lucky." Came the reply of another who leaned their head on the table.

The best thing about being quiet and keeping to yourself meant that people hardly noticed you, it was as if I was under my own invisibility spell; unaware that despite how my eyes were glued to the book I read, I was still very much there, listening and observing.

Dr. Willows, or Irene, as she had asked me to call her at one point, sighed, smoothening out her dress.

"How—how would you feel if I told you I wanted to foster you?"

Her question takes me aback, my eyelids blinking rapidly, I tuck my hands under my thighs, briefly looking away from her as I felt the familiar tingle in my eyes. My heartbeat sped up, whether it was from nervousness or excitement, I didn't know.

"I.." I start, taking in a breath to still my pulsating heart before I turned to look at her, still on edge but calmer than before. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to spring onto you with a question like that, but I just thought, maybe I could give you more opportunities, a better life—not to say that living here is a bad thing! It's just, I'm not sure if it's the best environment for you to grow up in, constantly having to see people come and go from your life, switching from family to family, not really having a home, not yet at least. But that's what I want to give you—a, a home, someplace where you feel safe from the craziness of life." She chuckled as she saw my confused face, she had been talking as fast as a mile a minute.

"Sorry, sorry, I was rambling. Bad habit of mine, I guess," she inhales then exhales slowly, as if to relax her mind in order to find the right words. I smile, I know exactly what that was like. "I could foster you for a while, then it'll be up to you if you want to make that arrangement permanent, for me to uh, adopt you? Yes, that's usually how the process for these sort of things goes. I didn't want for you to randomly get a call from the administrator, take you by surprise, I wanted to tell you first, to make sure you were comfortable with that. Is..is that okay with you?"

I look to the floor, deep in thought. Irene had shown me the most genuine kindness I had ever experienced in my life, never expecting anything in return. She took her time to understand me, she was always gentle and patient with me the moment we first met. Her compassion was almost overwhelming, with how she constantly visited me, made sure I was doing alright, indulged in my interests and newfound hobbies, kept me in her thoughts throughout the day as she saved fun stories for her to tell me. Since that day I first showed her my drawing of Frankenstein, we had grown considerably close. Although I was still hesitant, still guarded, I had always thought about finally letting my guard down around her, not to be suspicious of any ulterior motives from her, because so far she gave me no reason to doubt her.

I hope she doesn't ever give me a reason to.

After a while of scanning my thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I think I'd like that."

Irene exhales, as if she had been holding her breath for my answer.

"Okay," she nods, smiling.

....

I was surprised with how, in a span of barely a week, I had been placed under the care of Irene, despite having been told that it could take some time before I found a family to foster me.

I heard my roommates whispering to themselves the night before I had left, thinking I was sleeping underneath the covers.

"Can't believe she's already got a foster family for her so soon." Came the grumbling tone of a girl.

"Heard that she's being fostered by that lady that always comes to visit her." Piped another.

"You think she might be a relative or something?"

As I peek from my blanket, I see the third girl shake her head, the same girl who had given me a snarky remark when I first came here.

"No, don't think so. Anyway, how long do you guys bet it'll take for her to get back here?"

"A week." Another girl snorts.

"I say three days." The snarky girl giggles, the other following along.

I toss over in my bed, turning around so my back faced them, burying my face in my pillow. The light from the bedside table flickered as I grit my teeth, sucking in a breath while I clenched my hands into fists. My eyes clamped shut as I willed myself to drift into dreamless sleep.

"Scarlet? Are you alright?"

I tear my gaze from the window, blinking rapidly as I snapped myself out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm okay, thank you."

Irene smiles at me as she gently touches my shoulder.

"It's okay if you feel nervous about this, it's normal, but I promise you that I'll make you as comfortable as I can—say the word and I'll be there, 'kay?"

I nod my head, negative thoughts dissipating with her reassurance. Eventually, we pull up to a drive way, parking in front of a house that was painted a soft, mossy green. The lawn in front was dotted with flowers, the white porch was lined with bushes and an array of flowerbeds. It looked homely, hospitable and welcoming as it bathed in the afternoon sun.

Irene helped me gather my things, even when I told her didn't need her help with how light my bag was. As we walked closer I noticed that the front door was painted crimson red with a diamond shaped window on it. Memories of the lab replayed in my mind, causing me to flex my hand involuntarily.

As she opened the door to let me in, the inside seemed just as cozy as I had expected it to be, the smell of cedar hitting my nose as I walked into the small foyer.

I was given a small tour of the house, the living room was quaint, a brick fireplace sat on one side of the room, I noticed she didn't have a television, but guessed her main form of entertainment must be the immense collection of books that sat atop the large shelves that took up most of the wall space. Wherever there weren't any books there were trinkets and small potted plants. There was one short shelf pushed against the wall, containing various disks of vinyls, a record player painted green was placed atop it. Seems like someone had a favorite color.

Back in the hallway, she led me towards the kitchen that opened out into the humble dining room, a vase of flowers adorning the dark stained table. I especially liked the fridge she had, various pictures and postcards hung on its door with magnets that I assumed she had taken as souvenirs from her travels, observing that some of them had names of various places.

Finally, she led me to my room. Of all the other rooms in the house, this felt the coziest. The walls were painted a creamy white, the bed was pushed to one side of the room towards a window so I could peek out of it to see the sprawling garden at the back. A wooden chest sat at the foot of it, delicately carved with elegant patterns of vines and blooming flowers. A desk was placed on the left side of the room, underneath another window, already stacked with various notebooks, decorated with various cups and containers filled with colored pencils and paintbrushes, a small colorful box set in the middle of it. Right beside the desk stood a bookshelf, again, already lined with various books, decorated with ceramic figures of birds and fairytale creatures.

I gazed at the room with wonder, my mouth ajar. All the rooms I had ever had were always bare, meant to be a place for me to sleep and only that. But this room felt different somehow, it felt comfy and cozy, a stark contrast to the concrete walls and the utter bareness of my previous ones.

"You can decorate it however you want, we can paint it a different color too, if you'd like," Irene smiles as she leans on the doorway, before walking her way towards the shelf, gesturing to all the books within it as she spoke. "All these books are yours now, some of them were ones I've had since high school, so I hope you don't mind that they're a little worn."

She hands me one of the books, Little Women, bound in green leather, I let my thumbs trace over the gold lettering of the title, admiring the small illustration of four girls huddled together, walking side by side with their backs turned.

"My grandmother gave me this book, one of the oldest I've got, actually. Some of the margins have writings in them, annotations by her."

I cock my head to the side. "Annotations?"

"Think of it as adding your own thoughts to the story, what you observed and how you feel about the passage."

Nodding, my eyes trail over towards the various trinkets on the shelf, fixating on one made of porcelain, a delicate unicorn with its head gently tucked to its side, greeting a rabbit with its nose.

"I'll let you get settled," Irene says, shoving her hands in her cardigan's pockets. "Call me if you need anything, feel free to explore the house too, if you want."

She slipped out of the door, flashing me one more warm smile before shutting it gently.

Left alone to my own devices, I sat on the bed. My eyes widen with surprise at the softness of the mattress, running my hands along the crocheted blanket thrown over it. I bounced on the bed a bit, still sitting down, giggling as I did so.

My eyes soon landed on the desk, curiosity taking over me as I remembered the colorful box that sat atop it.

Shuffling towards the desk, I lifted the lid off of the box, revealing a set of paints and what seemed to be crayons, one set that felt oily, the other one more dry and dusty.

I wasn't quite in the mood to draw or paint anything just yet, so I decided to read the book she had handed me for inspiration, but before I did so, I opened the window, a soft summer breeze flitting through the air. I propped a pillow up against the window as I plopped down onto the bed and began to read.

Before I knew it, dusk came rolling in, daylight fading away as the sky turned into various shades of orange and then a purplish blue. Just as I had gotten up to turn on the lamp at my bedside table, I heard a knock at my door.

"Yes?" I called out.

Irene opened the door, poking her head through the gap. "Dinner's ready!"

As we sat at the dinner table, despite having no clue on what the dish was, I couldn't help my mouth as it watered at the inviting smell of the food she had placed before me. I swallowed, eyeing Irene for a second so I could copy her mannerisms, how one was supposed to eat this food.

She notices my stare and chuckles. "Go on, dig in, it's spaghetti."

"Spaghetti." I repeated, watching how she twirled her fork so that the noodles wrapped around it, I quickly follow her lead. As soon as it enters my mouth, flavors I had never even thought were real exploded on my tongue. Savory, herby, slightly sour, I tried to make out each taste, eventually disregarding that as I began to eat voraciously.

"Do you like it?" She asks, wiping the sauce on her mouth with a napkin.

I nod my head frantically, chewing quickly and swallowing so I could compliment here. "It's really really good. I've..I've never had anything like this before."

"I'd be glad to introduce you to new foods then," she cocks an eyebrows at me. "Have you ever had a cheeseburger before?"

"No? What's that?"

Her eyes widen. "Okay, that's it, first thing tomorrow, as soon as I'm free, I'm taking you to town to my favorite diner. They've got all sorts of food, they even have cheeseburgers with bacon, and the best chocolate milkshake in Hawkins!"

I shut my eyes as I felt them sparkle with excitement, breathing out through my nose to pacify my sudden burst of emotion. Once I open them again, I grin at her. "I'd like that."

"Oh, and if you want I can teach you how to cook—you look like you're old enough to handle being in a kitchen, I think," she paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "How old are you again?"

Panicked, I tried to rack my brain for answers, an excuse, if I told her I didn't know that would have been strange, but I remember one of the social workers' discussions about me.

'I don't know, she looks around 10-12 years old.'

"I'm 11." I blurted out.

"Oh, do you know when your birthday is?"

"Um," I furrow my eyebrows, rubbing my forehead as I did so to feign a headache. "I don't know, no one ever told me, I've never celebrated it."

She leans forward, putting her fork down. "No one's ever celebrated your birthday with you? Not even when you were little?"

I shake my head. "I don't remember."

"Well," she starts, poking at her food. "How about we pretend it's your birthday tomorrow? We can do whatever you want, I can even give you little gift and a cake, we can blow out your candles and you can make a wish! Sound good?"

I smile, genuinely, wholly, and truly happy, I look down, making sure she didn't see the way my eyes flickered, placed my hands on my lap under the table as they twitched with energy.

"Yes, sounds good."

....

The next day, we rode into town, I couldn't count how many times I had to close my eyes and even my breathing to calm myself down. I practically plastered my head to the passenger door window as I observed the buildings downtown, the various shops that lined the streets and the people who went about their day.

Irene had to help me out of the seatbelt, both of us giggling at how I couldn't figure out how to unbuckle myself due to my excitement. As we strolled down the streets, I felt a sudden timidness take over me as we walked past people, instinctively taking hold of Irene's skirt while my eyes scanned over them curiously. Some of them gave me strange looks, while other smiles and waved.

She took me shopping for clothes first, letting me pick out whatever I wanted. Finding nothing but basic articles of clothing in one shop, she led me elsewhere.

"There's a shop I like to go to, my favorite one, best thing about them is all of their earnings go back to charity." She stated as she pushed the glass doors open. I looked at the shop with wonder, aisles of clothing hung on racks, sparking my curiosity at the different materials they were made from.

I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to keep them from twinkling red as I saw an article of clothing that caught my interest.

Following my gaze, Irene nudges me with a smile. "You like that? Go on, get it, show it to me."

I run over to fetch it, admiring its bold red color. It was a leather jacket with silver embellishments, it's size most definitely didn't fit me as it was fairly large on my frame when I put it on, bashfully walking back to Irene.

But she doesn't poke fun at me, doesn't laugh and tell me to put it back. She just smiles. "If you like it we can get it."

"I like it, it looks.." I pause, struggling to find the right word.

"Cool." She finishes my sentence with a nod.

"Yeah, cool!" I exclaim, loving how the word sounded, how it rolled off my tongue.

After that, we passed by a couple of bookshops, picking up a few books that interested me. She led me towards a bakery where she let me pick my own cake, I tapped my finger on the glass at a white frosted cake decorated with colorful sprinkles. Through it all, I felt completely at ease with her, knowing now that she never had any ulterior motives, all she wanted was to see me happy, to care for me. She didn't know about my powers, she took care of me because she wanted to, gave me gifts because she said I deserved it.

We enter a shop filled with a myriad of instruments, not because I knew how to play, I didn't know anything about music, having only ever listened to it recently as she played cassette tapes in the car, I admired the melody of her voice as she hummed along to the songs. I knew them and there I wanted to listen to more music now.

I stared around curiously, brushing my hands over the strings of an instrument with a long handle and a rounded end. I read the label, cocking my head at the name of it. "A banjo?" I whispered.

"No hate to you if you’re into that kind of music, but that one over there's sure to make better sound."

I spun around, only to be greeted by a boy around my age, with short, buzzed hair and a toothy grin.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He raises his hands in surrender. I can't help but furrow my brows at him, searching my thoughts, my memories as I had felt I had seen him before.

"I'm Eddie, by the way." He holds a hand out in front of me, a handshake.

"Hi." I mutter, shaking it cautiously.

"You have any music you like?"

I shake my head, to which he widens his eyes at.

"Really? Come on, everyone's got some sort of favorite song or something."

I stammer, trying to find the right words to say. "I've only gotten interested in music just recently, so.." I fidgeted with my fingers, averting my gaze shyly.

"I've got a few bands in mind if you wanna listen to 'em." He offers with a shrug.

"I, um, bands?" Out of the corner of my eye I see Irene approaching me.

"Hey, Scar," her gaze turns to Eddie. "Who's this? Your friend?"

I glance at him, unsure, but he only grins at me.

"Yeah, we can be friends if you want."

"Sure.." I trail off, shuffling my feet.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry to cut in but I'm feeling a bit hungry, how about you?" Irene turns to look at me, placing a hand at my back.

"Yes, I'm hungry too. Let's go." I grab her hand and rush out the door.

"Wait, I never got to know your—" the door shuts behind us, I glance back at him one more time, guilt we sighing on my stomach as I see his dejected face. I furrow my eyebrows as I closed my eyes, scolding myself in my head for how flustered I had reacted.

Eventually, Irene and I were sat at a booth in the diner, looking over the menu. A waitress walks towards us, a notepad in hand as she reaches for the pen tucked upon her ear.

"Two cheeseburgers and two chocolate milkshakes please." Irene says before she looks at me.

"You're going to love the food here, I promise."

I grin at her. "Don't worry, I believe you."

She chuckles before she catches something from her peripheral vision, a woman had just walked in along with two boys, one looked to be younger than me while the other looked to be around my age.

"Joyce!" Irene exclaims as she stands to greet them, while I sit by and watch.

"Irene? Hey! Fancy seeing you here." The woman, Joyce, replies as they engulf each other in a hug.

"You remember Will and Jonathan, don't you?" She gestures towards the two boys who give Irene a shy wave.

"Of course I do! My goodness, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you." Irene chuckles. Joyce's eyes find mine, I responded by looking down, pretending to read the menu.

"And who's this lovely girl with you?" She smiles at me kindly.

Irene glances at me. "Oh, this is Scarlet, well, um, that's what we call her, it's a nickname really," she chuckles, and I do too, quietly as I heard her ramble. "I uh, just started fostering her recently."

"That great, 'Rene," Joyce lowers her voice, but I lean my head ever so slightly to listen. I'm an eavesdropper, sue me. "I know how long you've been wanting to adopt since.."

Irene shakes her head. "I know, but it's fine, baby steps, right? Besides, she's been with me less than a day, I don't wanna take it too fast. Gotta let her adjust," she looks back at me, her gaze softening. "But yeah, she's a great kid."

"I can tell." Joyce nods, squeezing Irene's hand comfortingly.

"Actually, we're celebrating her birthday today, she's never really uh, celebrated it, so I thought maybe you all would like to join?" Irene steps towards me, kneeling down to my level. "How about it, Scar? You wanna have guests to your birthday party? It's okay if you don't want to." She rubs my shoulder reassuringly as I look towards the family. If Irene trusted them, I figured I could too. I push away any doubts that swirled around my mind, any weariness and hesitations before I nodded, a smile on my face.

"Sure."

Soon, we were all sat on the table, me and Will sat in the booth together while Joyce and Irene sat in front of us. Jonathan settled on a chair on the side, since the shopping bags from earlier took up most of the space on the booth.

While we waited for our food, Joyce had given Will a small box of crayons and a few scraps of paper from her bag. Noticing my gaze on him as he drew, Joyce spoke.

"You wanna color too, sweetheart? I'm sure Will wouldn't mind sharing."

I shake my head. "It's alright, I can watch."

Will nudges the box of crayons towards me, sliding a scrap of paper my way as well.

"It's okay," he insists. "I'll share, we can draw together."

I small smile creeps it's way on my face as I take a crayon. "Thank you."

Shortly after that, we were both conversing, Jonathan piping up now and again with his own comments as we both drew and compared our drawings. I pointed to his paper.

"What's that?"

"It's a spaceship." He grins, holding it up to let me see it better.

"A spaceship?"

"Yeah, it's for astronauts and stuff—and look! They're fighting aliens."

I nod my head. "Why? What did the aliens do to them?"

He continued to explain his drawings to me, and soon I became entranced with the way his mind worked, how easily he could weave stories from his imagination. I admired his creativity. I used to think I could only draw inspiration from books, that those were the only stories worth telling, but as I listened to him, I discovered there was more to it than that, that I could create my own stories and characters.

The food had arrived, and Irene was right, not that I ever doubted her, I finished the burger in a matter of minutes, relishing in the juiciness of the meat and the taste of cheese. I sipped on my milkshake eagerly, the taste of it reminded me of the chocolate truffles I used to be given by Dr. Peters, but that memory seemed so far away now as I was surrounded by people who were kind to me, not a hint of malice behind their words.

For the first time in my life, I was having fun, carefree, serene fun, without a worry in the world. In that moment, none of my past memories came to haunt me, no thoughts of scientists and doctors jabbing needles into my skin flooded my mind.

As I readied to blow out my candles, they all sang to me, clapping their hands along to the rhythm, no matter how out of tune they may have been, I laughed giddily as I closed my eyes to make a wish. As soon as the candles were blown out they cheered for me, giving me their best wishes. Irene reached her hand towards mine, I don't flinch or pull my hand away as she holds it, thumb gently stroking mine in affection as she whispered a small 'happy birthday' to me.

That night as we returned home, Irene tucked me in, and I slept the most peacefully I ever had, dreaming of happy things and fun filled adventures with my new friends; my real friends, not people who wanted to use me for their own selfish desires.

I was happy, and I never wanted to let that feeling go.

....

December, 1979, Hawkins, Indiana

Despite being of age to enter school, I had been assessed by social workers and they determined I needed to meet certain requirements in order to enroll, having never been in an educational institution in the past. Their solution was to provide me a tutor in order to complete the requirements. I picked up most of the subjects easily, apart from math and science. Although I had been educated by the Teacher provided for us by the lab, they had only taught us the basics, such as reading, writing, and simple math, only ever going in depth in foreign languages.

Irene was with me every step of the way, comforting me and encouraging me whenever I flunked a test, praising me whenever I got a good grade, and helping me figure out my homework when I didn't understand it.

One night, we sat at the dinner table. It was my first time helping her out in the kitchen, she remained patient with me as she showed me how to carefully use a knife to cut vegetables, and eventually we had both made the most delicious soup I'd ever tasted.

"Scarlet, I was thinking," she started, swirling her spoon around in the bowl. "Would..would you like it if I adopted you?"

I almost choke on my soup in surprise as she said so, coughing furiously. Irene was quick to be at my side, patting my back gently while she filled my glass with water.

"Sorry, sorry, shouldn't have dropped it on you like that, should've eased in slowly, but I mean, if you don't want to I completely understand, which is why I wanted to ask you, but not like that, definitely not—"

"Irene," I said with a chuckle as I wiped water from my mouth.

"Yes? Oh sorry, I was rambling again, wasn't I?" She laughs at herself, shaking her head as she hid her face in her hands.

"Yeah, you were," I laugh along with her before clearing my throat. "But, to answer your question..yes, yes, I'd love that. I'd really, really love that."

Her eyes widen at my words as a grin spreads on her lips, I see her eyes grow glossy as they started to water.

"You mean it?" She says, lowering her voice. "You—you'd like for, for me to be your mom?" The volume of her voice trailed off until it was above a whisper.

I nod my head, closing my eyes as I felt my own eyes prick with tears, happy ones. Because finally, finally I could have a home, a permanent one, with someone who took care of me and was truly concerned with my well-being.

"Yes." I reply with a small chuckle.

She lets out a breath as she reaches in to hug me. In spite of having lived with her for so long, we had never been this close, most of our forms of affection had been small; holding her hand while we passed through crowded areas, leaning my head on her shoulder as I yawned when we would read together, her rubbing circles into my back to comfort me. It was strange, not in a bad way, the complete opposite, it was the most comforting feeling in the world to me, being wrapped securely in her arms in a loving embrace.

I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck. I felt safe with her, the house we lived in wasn't just a space to me anymore, a roof to have over my head to keep me from the elements. It was a home. Somewhere I could always return to for comfort, not someplace I was shackled to, forcibly trapped in. She let me make my choices, she guided me along the way, never explicitly telling me what to do or what to choose, she left that entirely up to me. I had never felt so free before.

Colors weren't meant to form any attachments. We were trained for war and dutifully stuck to our purpose that would be dictated to us by whoever would own us. We weren't meant to have a family or friends. We had been taught to keep our guards up and to keep our distance.

But as she held me in her arms, so lovingly and affectionately, I let what they had etched into my brain fade away, unscrambling the neurons in my brain to forget them, to throw them out the window and never let them come back.

Despite what I had been taught, I had become attached to the normalcy I had begun to be accustomed to, letting myself pretend that I was just like everyone around me, no powers, no dark past, not some runaway escapee.

I let myself be me as a I found myself, and Irene had continuously loved me through it all.

And that was all I ever needed.

....

"Scarlet!" Came Irene's distant voice.

"Coming!" I replied, swirling my paintbrush in water to clean it before I raced out of my door and entered the kitchen, where I found Irene hunched over a few documents concerning my adoption.

She smiles as she looked up at me, gesturing for me to take a seat, so I pulled out the chair beside her, plopping down.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking," she drums the pen in her hand against the table. "Since we'll be changing your last name to mine, what do you think about changing your first name? Should we leave it as Scarlet, or would you like to switch to something else?"

I propped my elbow on the table, resting my chin on my knuckle as my tongue slightly poked out of my mouth, deep in thought.

"I wanted your input, since you told me that Scarlet was only your nickname and all," she glanced at the papers before she looked at me. "Maybe you'd like a different name, to mark a new start in your life, or not, it's up to you, you can even pick your name if you want, but I've gotta say, I have a few ones in mind."

I chuckle, easing an eyebrow at her. "Can I maybe hear this list of names?"

"Okay well first of all I thought about Rose, since your nickname is Scarlet I thought it'd pay a nice homage, then I realized that was the name of that creepy lady who worked the cash register who kept accusing you of stealing," we both guffawed as we remembered that strange incident. "And then of course there's Arwen, because who wouldn't want to be her? And Galadriel, Amy, Elizabeth, and Lessa."

I giggled as she mentioned my favorite heroines and badass female characters from the books I read.

"But you know, it's always up to you."

I fidget with my fingers as my hands fall to my lap, closing my eyes as I felt whispers and muffled voices, distant memories swirl around my mind.

"Please, give her back! No— (Y/N)!" A woman's voice screams.

"Sleep, little (Y/N), on the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock." Came a soothing, gentle voice as it hummed a lullaby.

I opened my eyes, having made my decision.

"I want to be called (Y/N)."

....

taglist: @preciousbabypeter @justaproudlslytherpuff @iiheartbowie @beebeerockknot @nightless @lovelydivs @r-royce

#eddie munson x reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things season 4 #eddie munson #stranger things fic #eddie munson smut #stranger things smut

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bananafishdepression · 2 years

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Recently, I've been thinking a lot about Eiji's backstory before Banana Fish events happened since we don't get much from "Fly Boy", so I tried to make up some on my own to go along from what we already know (for those who don't know, Eiji's dad is sick and spends all his time in the hospital, while it's implied his mom was unloyal to his dad)

Warning: mention of violence, blood, SA

Let's say Eiji was around 13-14 when his dad got stuck in the hospital. This was the beginning of the downhill of Eiji's mental health. Any time they could, Eiji, his mom and sister went to the hospital to visit him. But the more time went by, the less his mom went to visits, and it was mostly just Eiji and his sister there.

Eiji didn't want to think much of it, and kept visiting him. But, he noticed his mom's behaviour changed. She would often leave outside work and stay late. She would spend all the time on her phone smilling. Most of the time, it was Eiji who cooked, cleaned and took care of his sister since his mom wasn't present.

But then, one day, Eiji gets home earlier than usual and sees it- some dude was fucking his mom, and they wouldn't stop even when they noticed him there.

Eiji went mad. Like, insane mad. First, he started yelling at him, directing all his anger at him. Then, he picked up that man's clothes from the floor and kicked him out. His mom went crazy, trying to make Eiji stop from kicking that man out, but no use. Once he kicked him out, he turned to his mom and lashed it all out at her. Firstly- he was mad how she cheated on his dad, and secondly- he couldn't belive she would bring some guy at their house, when his little sister could come from school at any time and see them like that. His mom, of course, never apologised or ever thought of that- she kept yelling back at him, calling him ungrateful for giving him life and a roof to live under and screaming at him for controling her life.

Fed up with her, Eiji goes to his room and refuses to leave it unless he has to go to school. He thought, maybe, after everything he just said to her, she would stop cheating, or at least bringing other men at their house.

But it only got worse from then.

Now, his mom would bring in other men whenever she felt like it. Morning. Day. Night. When the kids were in our out. It didn't matter. Her kids already knew what she's doing, she might as well do it whenever she wants.

And Eiji wasn't calm about it at all. Most of the time, he would physically attack those men to make them leave. If he was too tired that day and couldn't force himself to fight them, he would just insult them. He'd make sure to tell them to fuck off, how he didn't like them sitting on the chair his dad used to sit on, or just tell them he finds them annoying.

And the fights with his mom never stopped. Every day/night, they spent yelling at each other for a whole year, and his little sister was too young to know how to react, so she just sat down somewhere, hugged her knees and cried. But, the fights became much worse after each one of them. At some point, it turned physical.

In the middle of a fight, Eiji told his mom how she's probably the reason his dad is at the hospital now. After all, being able to only see yourself and think you're the only good guy in this situation is so egoistic. At that moment she snapped. She started slapping Eiji across his face, dragging him onto the wall and pushing him onto the ground. Eiji tried to defend himself, but that was literally impossible since he would have to hit her back, which he wasn't willing to do.

At one point, his mom got so aggressive, she picked him up and threw him on their glass table. The glass shattered to pieces, and there was a loud noice after the break.

Eiji didn't move.

His clothets were cut into so many little pieces randomly, and you could see blood coming out of those places. Some pieces of the glass took time to fall off, but the ones under Eiji's body were crushing him. Still, Eiji wasn't moving or talking at all. At some point, the pain from his mom's hits made him go unconscious, and he wasn't conscious long enough to feel the glass cutting trough his skin, making him bleed.

His mom couldn't process what just happened, but his sister called an ambulance right away.

He was sent to the same hospital his dad stayed at. When he woke up, he decided he needed to tell his dad everything that was happening to their family in the last year. He sat down next to his dad's bed and started talking. He admited everything- her cheating all this time, him defending himself and his sister, how some of those men tried to get close to his sister when their mom wasn't paying attention, some of them were even flirting with Eiji, touching his thighs, his hair, telling him he looked much younger and innocent than he was and was their type.

Unable to even speak properly because of the tears, he finished speaking about the abuse he's been experiencing for the last year, and just sat there, sobbing quietly.

What broke down Eiji even more is his dad confessing of knowing what Eiji's mom been doing this time. It wasn' just this time, really. She's been at this for years, but his dad never spoke up about it, being afraid of their family falling apart, or even worse, them divorcing and her taking the kids.

Eiji was completely lost. Now, he didn't know if he should be crying, fighting or just screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn't know what to do anymore.

And then his dad told him what. Firstly, Eiji needs to finish high school if he wants at least a chance in succeeding in life. He needed to choose something he could make a living out of one day, or at least a hobby that could grant him greater future. Right after high school, he would go to college. At first, he would probably have to stay at their house, but he'd get a job, find himself a small apartment, take his sister in and try to live as normally as they could.

Until then, Eiji must stop picking fights with his mom.

Until now, those fights led to nothing but danger, and they surely won't change anything from now on either.

At first, it fell really hard on Eiji. Everytime he saw those men using his dad's stuff, walking around freely or giving him looks, he wanted to kick them out so hard.

But he couldn't anymore. He was getting so tired, and after a while, he stopped caring. The looks, the flirting- he became numb to it all. As long as they had no business with his sister, he didn't mind them doing whatever the fuck they wanted.

At least, now he could pay a better attention to school and what he was going to do after. He passed every subject very well, but he knew he wasn't smart enough to focus on one or two subjects and study only those once he goes to college.

And then he saw it, on a random gym class - pole vaulting. The people who were jumping over- they looked so care-free. He wanted to be equal to them, to see what it feels like to be flying.

At first- it was so hard. Like, no reallly. The amount of excercise he had to do was insane. And he wasn't even allowed to do actual pole-vault for the first couple months. Not even the small heights. He spent an hour or two everyday training to be able to put up all of his weight into that pole and jump over that wire.

And eventually- he did it. The height wasn't that big, but it was there and Eiji did it, and now he can train even more to able to jump over higher wires, which he did. After more training, he was able to do it with so much confidence, and the feeling being up in the air felt so refreshing.

And, after a while, pole vaulting became his ticket to entering a college. People started noticing him as he became a massive deal. But now, he was getting numb to it too. What used to be just a hobby and something to escape from the reality to is now his only purpose in life, and around that time, he met Ibe san and the rest is history.

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stephaniegaunt · 1 year

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The Keeper and The Snake

Original fanfic written my me

Can also read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46517485

Summary: Sequel to Hogwarts Legacy (so, many many spoilers warning). My original MC Seraphine Vector invites her friend Ominis Gaunt to spend a summer with her.

Fluff, romance, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers, and a whole lot of angst ensues.

CHAPTER 1: Year’s End

Chapter 1: Year's end

For the first time in a long while your house, Ravenclaw, won the House Cup. You passed your O.W.L.s with flying colors and finally felt relieved. This time last year Professor Fig was sent by the ministry to teach you traditional magic and you didn’t have a single boring moment since. Ranrok was defeated. Rookwood was dead. Harlow was in Azkaban. There were no more enemies, you could finally go home.

You felt a tap on your shoulder. You barely turned around when you felt Poppy embrace you.

“Congratulations!” she shouted while pulling away. “What will you do now? Any vigilante activities planned this summer?”

“No,” you answered with a sigh. “I think I need some time away from all the action. Will just go home, I missed my parents. What about you?”

“Well, I might have something exciting happen to me. Natty said she might teach me how to become an animagus, would you like to join?”

“That does sound tempting, do you live anywhere near London?”

“No, but we can still visit each other!”

Your conversation was interrupted by Garreth Weasley beckoning both of you over. Next to him was Natty, but before you could head their way someone else grabbed your hand.

“A minute, please, Seraphine,” you heard Leander Prewett say.

“Yes?”

“I heard you said you live in London, well, so do I, so I thought maybe if you’re not too busy this summer, fighting trolls, or whatever it is you do, maybe you’d like to meet up sometime?” he was strangely nervous and avoided looking directly into your eyes. “We probably won’t be able to play Summoner's Court, but we can still do something Ministry-approved…”

“Sure,” you smiled kindly, though you were surprised where this sudden friendliness came from, as you both barely interacted over the whole year. “Just send me an owl and we can arrange something.”

Leander perked up, then awkwardly shook your hand and scurried away. You were about to head towards Poppy, Natty, and Garreth, who all seemed to be having a lively discussion, but someone else caught your eye. It was Ominis Gaunt, standing next to the Slytherin table, having a conversation with Sebastian. This was the first time you saw both of them interact since you decided not to turn Sebastian in. They both seemed quite upset and instinctually you moved towards them.

“…We might not get to stay at my home, but we can still find a place together, Ominis. I mailed our neighbors in Feldcroft, they moved to Hogsmeade a few months ago and they say they’d appreciate it if I kept their house in good shape. We could stay there, and Anne would be nearby.” You heard Sebastian say.

But Ominis’ face was gloomily pointed down. “I appreciate you looking out for me, Sebastian, but I don’t think I’m ready for us to get back on those terms. Nor do I want to impose myself on Anne. And you should be giving her space, too,” his voice was firm when he said it. Only then he felt your presence and faced you, his expression softening. “Oh, Seraphine, congratulations on a House Cup win. Well deserved.”

“Thank you, Ominis,” you smiled at him. “Sebastian,” you addressed the other boy with a more formal tone. You were great friends this whole year, but what he did definitely turned the relationship sour, and you weren’t ready to fully forgive and forget. He let out a faint smile at you and excused himself, leaving you and Ominis alone, in silence.

“He told me about your family situation,” you decided to break the silence first. “And I just want you to know, that you don’t have to go back there. Nor do you have to stay with Sebastian if you’re not ready. You are more than welcome to stay with me.”

Ominis seemed deeply touched by your words, but quickly got more serious. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides, maybe your parents would not approve,” he shook his head.

“I already asked them, it’s truly alright if you stayed with us,” you lied, but you were sure they wouldn’t mind. Your parents have always been very understanding, even when you first showed signs of magic, or when Professor Fig practically stayed all summer helping you to catch up with your studies.

You could see Ominis’ internal debate, somewhat hoping that he would agree. You liked Ominis. Out of him and Sebastian, he was definitely a calmer, more sensitive, far more reasonable one. Besides, after the little that you knew about his family there was no way you could’ve let him return to them.

“But, and please do not take it the wrong way,” he finally spoke, “but are your parents not Muggles? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just wondering how they would feel with a wizard, and a boy too, staying with them.” He blushed a little, but you understood what he meant.

“Do not worry, we have a spare room that Professor Fig stayed in, so they’re used to magic and magical guests,” you answered with a smile.

“But…” he struggled to find the right words, shuffling uncomfortably in one spot. “I never interacted with Muggles before… besides… you know… Maybe it’s best that I don’t.”

You realized what he was so afraid of. His only interactions with Muggles were his family’s torture sessions. But Ominis was nothing like that, you knew that the moment he revealed his history with Crucio in Slytherin’s Scriptorium.

“Yes, they are a bit different from wizards, but I swear this is the only issue you’ll encounter. I’m sorry, Ominis, but there is absolutely no reason you could give me that would prove to me that you’d rather spend a whole summer with your family than with us. So, quit with excuses and just say yes,” you responded firmly.

His face showed concern, but you saw that your words definitely had an effect.

“Alright then, if they truly don’t mind, I would appreciate it,” he finally relented.

But before you could say anything else you were approached by Professors Weasley, Hecat, Ronen, and Sharp. “Seraphine, may we speak with you, just in the nearby room,” Weasley addressed you in a friendly tone.

You quickly said goodbye to Ominis and followed the professors to a secluded room near the Great Hall.

“Is anything the matter, professor?” you asked, feeling anxiety build up. What could it be now?

Professors looked at each other, seeing which one will speak first. It was Professor Weasley, “You definitely proved yourself very capable this last year, defeating foes that few adult wizards could handle. But we fear that there are still enough enemies that would gladly see their leaders avenged.”

“Aurors are working on catching the rest of Ranrok’s rebels and Rookwood’s gang, but there are many more out there,” Professor Sharp interrupted. “We do not think it is safe for you to go back home.”

“What?” you gasped.

“Don’t worry, we already contacted your parents and prepared a safe and comfortable place for you all to stay in. The one that dark goblins and wizards would know nothing about,” Professor Ronen spoke, with his usual positive demeanor. “Just think of it as a holiday in a new place… and with fewer chances to socialize.”

Noticing your confused face Professor Hecat explained, “We put powerful protection charms around the safe house where you and your parents will be staying. It just means that neither of you will be able to go wandering about, but the place is sufficient in size…”

“And has a lovely garden,” Professor Ronen added.

“Yes,” Professor Hecat glared at him, “plenty of space for you all to stay comfortably until it is deemed safe, and you can get back to school for your 6th year.”

It was clear from their demeanor that this meeting was just to inform you, not to wait for your agreement, but noticing your concerned face Professor Weasley asked, “Is there anything else you might want to ask?”

“Yes… In fact, it’s more of a request,” you answered, choosing your words carefully. “I have already promised Ominis Gaunt that he will be able to stay with me… my family… this summer. I don’t know if any of you are aware…”

“Yes, you don’t have to explain anything about Gaunts,” Professor Hecat cut you off.

“Well,” you continued, “then you do understand why I might be reluctant to let my friend down. We may be going to a new place, but I hope that Ominis could still stay as our guest.”

Professors all exchanged looks. It was impossible to guess their answer.

“Is Ominis aware of your… special situation?” Professor Weasley inquired.

“He knows a fair bit,” you answered coyly, realizing that none of them know about your adventures with him and Sallow.

“Most importantly, would you be able to explain to him the importance of following our safety rules?” Professor Hecat asked.

But before you could answer Professor Sharp interrupted, “Ominis Gaunt is a capable and dutiful young man, very principled and good-natured. Nothing like what his family name might suggest. I see no reason, if he is alright with our terms, for him to not be able to have a friendly stay at Miss Vector’s.”

After a pause, Professor Weasley said, “Well, then, you may ask Ominis to join you, and if he agrees, and most importantly if your family will, he can stay as your guest. But you both must obey the safety guidelines, understood?”

“Yes, Professor,” you said excitedly.

“Very well, then. You may go and celebrate with your friends and let us know if Mr. Gaunt will be joining you. We shall arrange your safe passage.”

All the professors left the room, Professor Ronen even giving you a friendly wink, and you realized that it might be a bit more difficult persuading Ominis to stay over now.

A few days passed, and you got a letter from your parents saying that they truly do not mind Ominis Gaunt staying with you all summer. You had to give them Muggle-friendly reasoning as to why he couldn’t go back home so that part was easy. Talking Ominis through changed circumstances was a bit more difficult, but after some persuasion, he agreed, and you both now sat awkwardly aboard Hogwarts Express. Next to you was Professor Hecat. Next to Ominis was Professor Sharp. With such company, the only thing left to safely discuss was the view outside the window, but you doubted that Ominis could contribute much.

Instead, you reflected on your past year. Experiencing Crucio, Sebastian killing his uncle, Professor Fig dying… And then having to sit through exams, too. Just after them, you were visited by a few Ministry people, who were thoroughly interested in your abilities to see traces of Ancient Magic. But you didn’t tell them that you chose to hide the Repository in a secret location, instead lying that Ranrok used it up before you defeated him. They were still curious about your abilities and you weren’t sure if it won’t prove to be a problem later. But that was something to worry about in the future. You still had a whole summer to look forward to, and two more years of Hogwarts.

The safe house wasn’t as spacious as your parent’s townhouse in London, but it was still a cozy place with a back garden and river view. The house was on the edge of a cute, tiny Cotswolds village, with no wizards around, as Hecat pointed out. Downstairs had a lovely kitchen, drawing room, dining room, bathroom, as well as your parent’s master bedroom. Upstairs were both your and Ominis’ bedrooms. The first evening you two barely had a chance to speak, as your parents wanted to know everything about Hogwarts. You had already told Ominis to avoid any stories about the dangerous adventures you had, but he was too busy observing everything around to talk much.

Your mom’s cooking was the most fascinating thing for him. It took solid ten minutes for her to even begin, as he insisted on helping out, but she was adamant that “poor blind boy”, as she called him in a letter, would not exert himself over anything. Your dad was fascinated by Ominis’ ability to freely move around by using his wand for guidance.

“So, does that stick help you to see?” he asked during dinner.

“Not quite, it’s a bit difficult to describe,” Ominis answered.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” you swiftly reassured your friend. “Father, we already talked about this, it’s just magic.”

“No, it’s alright, I can try,” Ominis rushed to correct you. “A wizard forms a special bond with their wand. It has some sort of sentience, but not many notice it. My wand guides me, it feels like a gentle pull. Sometimes I can tell the shape of a person or an object. So, I am sort of aware of my surroundings, including the people. Just cannot see their features, or colors, like eyes or hair. I can also read by feeling the letters pressed into parchment.”

“So, this is how you recognized me outside the Undercroft!” you exclaimed.

He smiled, apologetically, “Yes, you do have quite a different shape from Sebastian.”

Your mom clapped excitedly, “Oh, how wonderful! If only cousin Bertie had your wand, the poor man couldn’t find his way in his own house.”

“I don’t see why, he lived there for 50 years before getting cataracts,” your father scoffed.

Dinner went by pleasantly and you both retired upstairs to your respective rooms. But before he disappeared you spoke, “Just in case you want to know, I have auburn hair. And violet eyes. They’re not very common, our family doctor called it a mutation. Maybe that’s why I was such a late bloomer, magically…”

You saw a tiny smile form at the corners of his lips. “Thank you,” he said in a low, gentle voice, “I was wondering. Goodnight, Seraphine.”

“Goodnight, Ominis.”

#forgive mistakes #not a native english speaker #ominis gaunt #fanfic #slow burn #hogwarts legacy #romance #ominis gaunt x reader #sebastian sallow #anne sallow #poppy sweeting #leander prewett #natsai onai #hogwarts #ominis gaunt x female mc

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starkdirewolflove · 2 years

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House of the Dragon

This week’s episode had lots going on and a few parallels to the very first episode. When we first see Rhaenyra she’s soaring on her dragon loving life and when she goes to visit her pregnant mother, Aemma tells her that the birthing bed will be her battlefield while Rhaenyra would rather have adventures on her dragon. So our first scene with the new adult Rhaenyra is her giving birth to her third healthy son in contrast to her mothers many stillborns and death in childbirth.

The Princess and The Queen was very much Rhaenyra vs Alicent with each trying to dominate any situation they are in. Alicent as the Queen demands to see Rhaenyra’s baby the moment he is born, forcing her to walk through the castle and up flights of stairs knowing she’ll be in agony and leaving a trail of blood in her wake to humiliate her. Then the situation shifts to Rhaenyra’s favour when Viserys fawns over his daughter and new grandson, Laenor is there to support her and cradle the son that he named after his dead lover and Viserys coos that he has his fathers nose. Alicent is so done because it’s blatantly obvious that none of Rhaenyra’s sons are fathered by her husband (even Daemon who’s spent the last 10 years in Pentos knows they’re Ser Harwin’s). I’m glad they kept her iconic line from the book, “do keep trying, Ser Laenor sooner or late you might get one that looks like you.” Then we see that Alicent and Ser Criston are the founding members of the I Hate Rhaenyra club, he just sounds like a bitter ex boyfriend and even Alicent glares at him when he calls the princess a spoiled cunt. When it comes to the small council meeting both Rhaenyra and Alicent have a seat at the table and seem to be the ones in charge. Alicent calls out Daemon leaving the Stepstones undefended for 10 years and now the Triarchy have allied with the Martell’s to retake the region, Viserys laments the situation and hoped that it would all resolve itself, Rhaenyra says the crown should’ve defended the region, built outposts and ships to guard from pirates. Then the dispute in the riverlands, Alicent wants to let House Tully sort out the fighting with the Brackens and Blackwoods but Rhaenyra disagrees and the council sides with her “of course.” Alicent dismisses the council but Rhaenyra tells them to wait so they obey, she holds out an olive branch to Alicent apologising for the bad blood with their children, reminds her that they used to be friends and are all one family, proposes a betrothal between her eldest son Jace and Princess Helaena and offers Aemond a dragon egg since he’s the only Targaryen without a dragon. Instead of replying Alicent just points out that Rhaenyra is leaking breast milk and embarrasses her, Viserys is more receptive to the idea but as soon as they leave Alicent basically says over her dead body will her daughter marry Rhaenyra’s bastard. Rhaenyra herself seems to realise that she should just cut her losses in Kings Landing, after Ser Criston encouraged Prince Aegon to beat up his defenceless nephew when they were sparring and baited Ser Harwin into attacking him the whispers about her kids parentage started to get out of hand. Poor Harwin, you can see how much he loves his sons and acts like their father even though he has to pretend he’s just a friend of their mother, Jace seemed to know who he really is to them which made it so much sadder when Harwin got sent to Harrenhal and they had to say goodbye, “I’ll return, I promise.” “We’ll exchange letters by Raven. Won’t that be fun.” So sad for Rhaenyra, she’s not just losing her baby daddy but one of the few men she can rely on and who loves her and her children. When she decides to go to Dragonstone after ordering Laenor earlier that he had to remain in Kingslanding with her she tells him to bring his new lover with him “we’ll need every sword.” She knows that Alicent will start a war over the succession when Viserys dies and she’s preparing for it. It seems like that is Alicent’s endgame since she’s telling Aegon that Rhaenyra will kill him if she ascends the throne to make him want to be king and having Criston Cole bully Rhaenyra’s sons in the training yard, getting them to fight their uncle even though they’re both kids under 10 while Aegon is a teenager.

Alicent’s friendship with Larys the clubfoot took a dark turn. They’ve obviously shared many meals together over the years and he provides a sympathetic ear while she rages about the injustice of Rhaenyra getting to do whatever she wants, flaunting her illegitimate children at court, and everyone turning a blind eye to it while she wishes her father was Hand of the King since at least someone in authority would be on her side. Larys takes her words and spins a web of courtly intrigue by getting a group of prisoners from the black cells that are due to be executed, commuting their sentence if they agree to have their tongues cut out and set fire to Harrenhal, thereby killing his father and brother, making him Lord of Harrenhal, getting rid of Rhaenyra’s lover, creating a vacancy for Otto Hightower to return as Hand of the King and having the Queen in his debt. Fair play to Alicent she hasn’t went full villain yet since she was horrified with what the Clubfoot did even though he pointed out she got what she wanted she didn’t want anyone killed. This will be her walking a fine line with the “honour and decency” she spoke to Criston about earlier.

When it comes to the children, Alicent’s aren’t perfect compared to Rhaneryra’s: Aegon is a bully who doesn’t care about being king and would be at home in the street of silk, Aemond is an angry mama’s boy obsessed with claiming a dragon and Helaena is an adorable weird kid fascinated by insects. There really is no mother/daughter bond with Alicent and Helaena, you could see when she was a baby that Alicent couldn’t be bothered with her and always sent her off with the nannies whereas she’s very motherly and comforting to Aemond when he comes in after running through the dragon pit and upset about the prank Aegon and the boys pulled on him. This causes Alicent to complain to Viserys about Jace and Luce being beasts and bullies but Viserys rightfully guesses that it was Aegon’s idea even though he blames it on his nephews.

Then we get to Daemon who has been living in Essos with his wife Lady Laena and their twin daughters, enjoying being an honoured guests of the prince of Pentos who offers Daemon and his family a mansion, lands and livestock if they and their dragons will fight the triacrhy for him. Laena wants to go back home to Driftmark, see her family, give birth to her next child there and die the death of a dragon rider. She knows that Daemon is not happy there he’s just hiding from all his family troubles back home but he refuses to acknowledge it. We also get a glimpse of Daemon’s daughters, Baela is already a dragon rider and her father is teaching her to speak Valyrian whereas Rhaena fells left out because she only has an egg and Daemon ignores her, Laena comforts her by telling her she didn’t have a dragon until she was 15 and now she rides the oldest and biggest one of all: Vhagar. In a throwback to the first episode Daemon is put in the same position as Viserys, his wife is in labour but the baby won’t come out, the maester could cut it out but the mother wouldn’t live. Daemon’s main concern was his wife over the child but Laena made the choice herself, she staggered out to the yard with Daemon chasing after her and knelt at her dragons feet screaming “dracharys.” Vhagar knew what Laena was doing and was reluctant to obey but when they locked eyes it was like a moment of understanding between the two and Laena got to die by dragon fire instead of lying in the birthing bed. Such a bittersweet ending to a character we hardly got the time to know.

All the pieces are moving in the game now and they’ll all be together for Laena’s funeral. Daemon and his daughters will be back in Westeros putting him and Rhaenyra together again for the first time in over a decade but both as matured adults with children of their own. Viserys with his children, angry queen and failing health. The Sea Snake with his wife and their grief for their daughter, and war in the stepstones about to break out again.

#house of the dragon #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #harwin strong #criston cole #viserys targaryen #daemon targaryen #laena velaryon #laenor velaryon #larys strong #aegon targaryen #aemond targaryen #helaena targaryen #lucerys velaryon #jacaerys velaryon #baela targaryen #rhaena targaryen

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storiesbyjes2g · 2 years

Text

When we got back to the rental, everyone commented about how pretty the slopes were lit up by colored lights. No sooner than the words came out of our mouths, music in the distance grabbed my ear. I walked a few steps toward the street to find where it came from and saw more lights off in the distance. Something was happening, and I beckoned my family to follow me as I walked toward the lights.

The closer we got, I realized it was yet another festival! Looks like we came on the right weekend. They decorated the area in front of the ski lift with festive lights. Tall statues made to look like snow sculptures illuminated by colorful lights towered above us. Of course, the food vendors were there, too. Every now and then, fireworks would go off. Whatever they celebrated, I wanted in!

Turns out they celebrated the snow! How appropriate seeing as how it's always around. Plus, it's the biggest reason people even travel to this world.

Alessia grabbed my hand and dragged me with her.

"Let's build a snow pal," she shouted.

Later, I saw Luca and Ali having a snowball fight. Luca was so mad because Ali kept tagging him. He even got him in the face a few times! I wanted to call foul because I can't have my boy's cute face messed up. But Ali was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. That put a smile on my face. Besides, let that be a lesson for Luca. Never underestimate your elders!

Less and I finished our snow pal. She went for a punk style. It was pretty rad, heh.

"Let's make snow angels!"

I love her excitement right now. She's like a little kid again, and it's giving me life! I'm soooooo glad I got the idea for this trip. It's just what we needed.

I chose a spot away from her and our snow punk rocker to make my snow angel. It just happened to be right in center of the action, but I didn't care. All snow is fair game!

"Ummm... You do realize you're in the line of fire, right?" Ali asked.

"Ha! My son would NEVER throw snow at me!"

He snorted. "Oooookaaaaaay!"

"Let's switch sides," Luca said.

"See? He loves me," I said.

But their switching sides meant I was now in Ali's line of fire, so I got out of there quickly. I'm sure he'd love to hurl a few balls at me even in jest.

Alessia sat at a table, sipping hot tea from the vending machine. She's already super gorgeous, but when she smiles... I love to see it!

"This place is really cool, Mom. Thanks for taking us here."

"Of course, babe. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Can we come back?"

"Sure! We'll visit again whenever you want."

"Sweet!"

She ran off to the vending machine to purchase something else.

While she was gone, I checked my messages since I hadn't looked at my phone all day. Dwayne had sent me an encouraging message this morning. He probably assumed we'd be on the slopes again. Isn't it crazy that I had convinced myself for so many years that I could never be in a relationship with him and made up all kinds of excuses for why we would never work, but now I'm sending him heart emojis and telling him how much I miss him. Life is funny that way.

#ISBI challenge #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay #sims story #adolting #adolting gen 2 #Emerald Pope #Alessia Amina Murillo #Ali Murillo #Luca Winston Murillo

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tale-as-old-as-time-au · 1 year

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"-…So, I was thinking about building a moving platform for the bitties to change floors without needing to climb all the stairs - Chara declared from her side of the dinner table, addressing Alphys and Undyne.

The lizard woman took it personally.

-WHY would we need this? - she grunted, showing up all her tiny sharp teeth - Are you patronizing us just because we are small??

-Oh, no!! - Chara immediately denied it - I know YOU don't need it, Alphys. I was actually thinking about the kids. They said they wished they could visit their friends at the aquarium more, but going up so many stairs is hard for them.

After the curse started, the bitties built smaller steps between the regular steps of the stairs, so they could use it with their short legs. But that meant the new stairs were hundreds of steps long. Not an easy obstacle if you were not Alphys.

Napstaton looked at the girls over his glass of wine.

-It really is hard for the kids - he stated - And, you know, for the ones of us who don't have legs anymore. I haven't left this floor since forever.

He tilted the glass into the gap between his doors. Chara always finds it fascinating when object-type bitties eat or drink.

-I can give you rides while the platform isn't finished, you just have to ask me! - she told the wardrobe. He clasped his hands together in excitement.

-Oh my, thank you, beautiful! I appreciate it.

-B-but, Chara… - Undyne started, fidgeting - D-do you really know how to do this? A moving platform?

-Well, I have made some simple mechanisms at home to help with the housework, so I think I can do it! I feel like I should contribute to the castle somehow, since I'm also living here and eating your food and all.

-You don't have to, my dear - Toriel affirmed, kindly - You are our guest.

-But I want to…

-I get you, Chara!! - Sans turned to join the conversation, enthusiastic as usual - They always say I don't need to work since I'm royalty, but I never let it stop me! It's not good to feel useless!

-Yes, that's right! - the girl agreed, cheerful - Hey, you can help me if you want to!

-Wowzers!! I would love to!!

After a few minutes, Sans looked at Papyrus' plate.

-You are done, good! - the bitty grinned - You should be a gentleman and escort Chara to her room to make sure she doesn't get lost!

-Lost? - Papyrus frowned, confused. Chara had been living with them for a few weeks then, she couldn't STILL be getting lost on the way to her room… Could she?

-Oh, it's ok, you don't have to! - the girl said, embarrassed - I… I rarely pick the wrong path now.

-He insists!!

And that's how, a minute later, they were both walking through the castle's corridors. They were having a light talk about their day and Chara was excitedly telling the king about how the kids took her to meet the aquarium and the monsters who lived there. On the inside though, Papyrus was a nerve wreck.

He knew he was supposed to be doing something to charm Chara. “Tell her she look pretty”, "smile", "be a gentleman", "stand straight and look tall", all the crap the others kept telling him whenever the girl was not around. But, heck… He sucked at that. His only experience with women had involved a few escorts before the curse started and it had been fine, but… Let's be honest… You don't need to try hard with escorts. You just need money, and he was literally royalty.

Also, he was a handsome young human by then and now he was a big, scary monster. That surely didn't help his confidence.

Papyrus looked at Chara, who was still cheerfully talking about the aquarium. Welp, at least she didn't seem to think he was scary anymore. That was good. She seemed to like him. And he liked her. He just needed to make her see that their unusual friendship could become something more.

They had arrived at Chara's room. The girl smiled at him while opening her door.

-Thanks for bringing me here, Papyrus! Good night.

-G… good night - crap, she was closing the door, he had to do something - Hey, wait.

Chara stopped, looking up at him with curious eyes. Papyrus placed one hand on the door's frame, nervously sweating.

-Chara, I… I know being stuck in this castle sucks and all - he blurted, mentally kicking himself. Why was that so damn hard?! - It's just… I just want you to know that things have been sucking a lot less since you got here.

The girl blinked, stupified.

-Oh - she blinked once more, at a loss of words - Oh. I…

-Good night.

Just like that, the king turned around and walked away, his whole skull burning in embarrassment. HOW do people even do this?? If he wasn't born rich and couldn't pay for it, he probably would have never gotten any woman in his life.

Hell… What a shitty thing to realize about himself.

Chara kept looking at Papyrus' back as he walked away, completely petrified.

What the hell was that??”

Masterpost

ML SPEAKING

Chara, he's doing his best!! Be nice with our guy!

If you really think about it, it's so weird that everyone - including the Beast / Papyrus - knows that he needs to fall in love with the new girl. Like… You can't control your emotions. All you can really do is set a mood and hope for the best.

#TAOAT #Tale as old as time #story #Papara #Underswap #Fellswap #Chara #Papyrus #Sans #I don't wanna tag all the others #beauty and the beast #crossover

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mya-and-me · 9 months

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Hi! My name is Kimie. I am a 30-something-year-old woman from Montreal, Québec and this is the story of Mya and me.

To give you a little more context on me, I never had a dog growing up but for as long as I can remember, I always wanted one.

I am a proud first generation Canadian. My parents immigrated here in the 70s – my mom from El Salvador and my dad from Colombia.

Whenever I asked for a dog, my parents always said, “No, dogs are not meant to be kept in houses”. This is how it was for them back home – dogs would just roam around their neighbourhoods or be left in people’s front yard as guard dogs back then.

Fast forward to my early twenties…

I was working my first full-time job. The mall that I worked at had a pet store and I would walk in regularly to see all the animals they had – my main attraction were always the dogs. I walked in one day and walked out with my first dog, a Shih Tzu named Chewy.

I am not going to lie; I was scared to bring him home that day. I knew my parents’ stance on dogs, but he was the cutest fluff I had ever seen and figured they would love him anyways and that’s exactly what happened.

Chewy lived to be 14 years old – he passed away in March of this year (RIP little one). He was the best first dog anyone can ask for. When I moved out, my mom and I shared custody of Chewy. She would have him on days that she didn’t work, and I would have him on the days that she worked.

When the 1st wave of Covid-19 broke out here in March 2020, everything went on lock down. My mom was laid off from her job of over 30 years with just a couple of years left before retiring. At this time, Chewy became her full-time companion (up until very recently).

Chewy suffered all his life with stomach sensitivities and food intolerances. We were always very careful with what food we were giving him; he rarely ate any table food and we always listened to vet recommendations. Still, this was not enough.

We noticed a significant weight loss from December to February this year. He went from his standard 13 lbs to just 9lbs in 2 months! He had been 13-14 lbs for as long as we can remember. Things started deteriorating very rapidly in February: his bowels started becoming very irregular, he was not holding in any of the food we were giving him. After several visits to the vets, the vets put him on antibiotics and ordered some blood work – the blood work was inconclusive therefore, we had to get an ultrasound done. The results from the ultrasound were not favourable – he had cancer in his intestines.

Time was ticking after that news – Chewy was on borrowed time and we had to get our ducks in a row. We needed to give him the best quality of life possible with the time he had left but it was too little, too late.

- we gave up the vet diet (as that was not doing him any good anymore).

- we started incorporating pre and probiotics with his food.

- we got together and researched what food we could cook for him that wouldn’t deteriorate his state further.

We cooked him a batch of turkey with quinoa, carrots, sweet potatoes and spinach. He loved this food, we could tell!

Maybe we should have been feeding him that type of diet since we found out about his food sensitivities? Maybe we should have done more research? Maybe we should have incorporated more vitamins and supplements to his diet from the onset? We had so many questions after we found out he was sick and we were devasted knowing that one day soon, he would no longer be with us but Chewy was still his happy, go-lucky self until his last day. His energy, his sweetness, his affection never faltered. This blog is dedicated to Chewy – the best first dog.

Let’s get back on track…

Although this blog is dedicated to Chewy, this blog is about Mya and me. This is our story, and it is only the beginning.

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#dog blog #doggo #dogs #shibainu #shibalove #Shiba #shibaarmy #shih tzu #healthy dogs #personal blog #intro post #introduction #Instagram

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martianbugsbunny · 2 years

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I Could Drink A Case Of You (I Would Still Be On My Feet)--A Spones Fic

Martian’s first fic! Thanks to the advice of @peter-is-a-bean I’ve decided to take the plunge. Short, amateur, and unread by anyone but me until now. Based on A Case Of You, one of the prettiest songs I’ve heard in a while. Check out the James Blake version if you want to hear it at its best. Fic is below the cut. Neither the song nor the characters are mine. Enjoy!

Just before our love got lost you said "I am as constant as a northern star" And I said, "Constantly in the darkness Where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar" On the back of a cartoon coaster In the blue TV screen light I drew a map of Canada Oh, Canada With your face sketched on it twice

“I do not understand,” Spock said, his face carefully neutral. Were he human, his forehead would’ve been creased—but he expressed confusion differently. Which was to say, not at all. “I am as constant as a northern star.”

“Constantly in the darkness,” McCoy muttered. “Where’s that at?” He turned away, but Spock laid a hand gently on his shoulder.

“Explain, Leonard,” he commanded.

McCoy sighed, his shoulders falling. “It’s hard to be in a relationship with someone who is in continual denial about an entire half of himself. I’m not saying we’re through, I’m just saying…I need time to think. Maybe you do, too. If you want me I’ll be in the bar.”

Spock watched him walk down the hall towards the Enterprise’s cantina.

Hours later, McCoy sat alone at a table, a glass sitting before him. He exhaled heavily, fiddling with a spare coaster…the table had been set for two. There was a pen in the bag he’d been carrying since that day’s away mission, so he began to draw on the back of the coaster. The ink wandered over the small cardboard circle with no plan in mind, illuminated by the blue light of the screen on the wall; but when McCoy grew tired of drawing, he realized that he had drawn a country from Earth. It was one the Captain often visited for shore leave, and McCoy had heard many stories about it over the years. And in the features of the land he saw Spock’s eyes.

McCoy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He set down a few credits on the table and left.

I am a lonely painter I live in a box of paints I'm frightened by the devil And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid

Spock stared at the line of compounds in their glass containers on his shelf. He kept them around to study, to use in experiments. He was, after all, a science officer. Chemicals and molecules and atomic makeups were his art. His life was colored and stained with them. They were all around him; in every place he looked there was metal or stone or a life form to be analyzed for its pieces.

But the doctor was right. All of him was devoted to science, both Vulcan and human alike, and yet the Vulcan side would keep him from ever saying he loved science.

And he did. He felt drawn to it in a way that logic could not explain. It made his heart sing. It filled him deeply, pouring into places which were previously empty.

Why could he not say things like this to McCoy? Let alone an expression of love for him—what about speaking of science in the lyrical terms he felt for it? He knew the doctor would understand; that was, after all, how McCoy felt about being a doctor. (Spock knew because McCoy spoke of his medical processes in the same way Spock thought about science.)

Spock was terrified of his human side. The emotion and tumult that it brought, and the darkness in those…his Vulcan side, so strong and stoic, skirted away from them. Was it only that he feared the pain his Vulcan strength could cause his beautifully human partner? Perhaps. Or perhaps it was that he had been raised in the same way a full Vulcan would, and he had never known what to do for his humanity, and therefore kept it at a manageable distance.

The people he found himself most drawn to were the ones who didn’t fear those demons. Captain Kirk, the man both he and McCoy would consider their closest friend, was a man of volatile, yet fragile, emotions. Spock found him fascinating. And McCoy himself was a shining example of humanity. He was acerbic, at times, which was certainly jarring, but he was also a deeply passionate and loving man. Spock had witnessed his beaming highs, after a successful rescue mission; and his sobbing lows, after the loss of a patient. Spock was allured by it all.

I remember that time you told me You said, "Love is touching souls" But surely you touched mine 'Cause part of you pours out of me In these lines from time to time

Once, McCoy had been able to draw Spock into a conversation on love. It was after one of Jim’s unsuccessful flings—it had caused Jim some heartache (for a few days, anyway) but to McCoy it was worth it, to get that discussion out of Spock.

“I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what love is,” McCoy had said, staring into the coffee in his mug. The answer would never be found there. “And I gotta tell you, Spock, Jim doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Love is touching souls,” Spock said without hesitation. McCoy startled, setting down his mug, and turned in his seat to look Spock in the eyes. “Are you surprised I should be so poetic, Leonard?”

McCoy smiled, getting up from his chair to stand right in front of Spock. He studied those dark, stunning eyes carefully. “A bit,” he replied, taking Spock’s hand. “Then again, as you’ve reminded me before, you’ve read Byron.”

“And Shakespeare,” Spock added. “And they have led to me to one conclusion: love means leaving a piece of yourself inside someone else. From their perspective and yours.”

McCoy paused to think. There was a bit of Spock in him, surely. Although it irritated him to no end when all Spock would come up with to say was “fascinating,” he found himself saying it more and more often. And he had without a doubt given a piece of himself to Spock. “You’re right,” he conceded. Spock raised his eyebrow, which was the equivalent of anyone else smirking. “And you just know it drives me crazy that you figured it out first.”

Spock nodded solemnly. There was a rare glint in his eyes. “I look forward to tormenting you with this information for years to come,” he said quietly, brushing McCoy’s hair back from his face. “Our shift starts in fifteen minutes. If you want to be ready on time, you had better get moving.”

And just like that, the conversation was over, but McCoy would remember it for the rest of his life.

I met a woman She had a mouth like yours She knew your life She knew your devils and your deeds And she said, "Go to him, stay with him if you can But be prepared to bleed"

Spock could’ve sworn that girl looked like McCoy; he thought she had his smile. He must’ve been imagining it—for some reason, he imagined McCoy everywhere. Logic was failing him.

Then he remembered McCoy had a daughter from his failed marriage. And since it was an Earth holiday, there was a decent chance she had been allowed to visit. “Joanna?” he ventured.

“Yes.” She was subdued, unlike her father. Perhaps that was because McCoy had told her about his relationship troubles. Then she smiled. She really did have a smile like her father’s. “You’re Spock. The man my dad loves.”

“Perhaps.” Joanna nodded. “He’s afraid that’s not how you feel about him,” she said. “He would be infuriated if he knew I was telling you this—he likes to keep his demons to himself—but his marriage to my mom did a number on him. He hasn’t trusted a person since. Not the way he trusts you.”

“It does not seem that he trusts me,” Spock replied, unusually perturbed. “Perhaps you have read him incorrectly.”

“It’s his trust in you that frightens him,” she returned matter-of-factly. Was it all McCoys who refused to let him be right? “He worries that you’re so determined to keep your humanity under lock and key, you’ll betray him in the end for your Vulcan disciplines.”

Spock understood what Joanna was trying to say. “If he did not trust me, he would not care,” he guessed.

“Bingo,” Joanna said. “He’s worth it, Spock. Go to him, stay with him if you can.” Spock finally thought he could. The puzzle wasn’t missing pieces anymore. “But be prepared to bleed,” Joanna added.

Human metaphors were often strange to Spock, but he had spent enough time among them to know what Joanna meant. It was something he had already figured out. He would have to cut his own heart open and let Leonard see the humanity deep within him.

Oh, but you are in my blood You're my holy wine You taste so bitter and so sweet Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling And I would still be on my feet Oh, I would still be on my feet

Spock went to McCoy’s quarters and knocked humbly on the door, not quite expecting an answer. Yes, McCoy had been the one to put a pause in their relationship, but it was because Spock had been wearing him down. Not anymore.

McCoy finally did answer. He stepped to one side to allow Spock in. Hands uncharacteristically trembling, Spock entered the room, taking a position only five strides inside. McCoy closed the door again; Spock wasn’t sure if it was sign he wanted to be alone with Spock, or if he simply didn’t want their coming argument to be overheard.

“I’ve come to ask your forgiveness,” Spock said softly.

“I could forgive you for almost anything,” McCoy answered. He wasn’t typically so gentle, but there was no room for pretense in the moment. “It isn’t forgiveness that concerns me. I don’t think I trust that you…love me.” His voice shook like Spock’s hands, as though he was ashamed to say it.

Spock responded quickly and ardently, to push that feeling from McCoy’s mind. “Oh, but you are in my blood,” he insisted. The passion in his voice was genuine. McCoy finally met his eyes. “You’re my holy wine,” Spock said, reaching for McCoy while maintaining the eye contact. He had always loved those eyes, bright and blue and full of light.

McCoy blinked back tears as he allowed Spock to hold him loosely by the shoulders. He had waited, waited, for an eternity he had waited to hear Spock say anything like that. For him to admit that the part of him that was just as human as McCoy was equally in love, too.

He tilted his head up to kiss Spock. A brief peck on the lips, really; Spock was still skittish about prolonged intimate touch. There were equal measures of cautious humanity and stubborn Vulcanness in Spock’s response; for him and for McCoy, it was both bitter and sweet.

McCoy had been given the greatest gift he would ever know. His partner had chosen him over fear. He wanted nothing more than to return the favor. And if Spock could use illogical, idiomatic language, so could he. “I could drink a case of you, darling,” he whispered, wrapping his arms lightly around Spock’s waist. “And I would still be on my feet. I love all of you—I love your shining moments of humanity and I love your deeply-ingrained Vulcan strength. You’re what keeps me standing.”

“And I love you,” Spock murmured back. Despite McCoy’s claims, he felt light-headed at hearing those exact words from Spock. Maybe Spock knocked him off his feet just as much as he kept him on them.

“I love you.”

#martianbugsbunny writes fic #spones #Star Trek #Star Trek tos #TOS #spock #leonard McCoy #tos mccoy #tos Spock #tos spones #for fic's sake

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bagsybaggins · 1 year

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Chapter 4: A Thimble Between Us

Perhaps, I should have noticed the signs during my first year at Hogwarts.

Or at the very least, not overlooked them.

"Then do this for Anne, please."

His words trapped me, like tree sap to a mosquito. I couldn't deny him this; I promised him. I promised that I would help him.

I opened my eyes, and turned to him, while looking over my shoulder, and nodded. And my heart; How it clenched, how it paused for a moment as his face broke into that relieved smile. Quickly turning back to the paintings in front of me, I faintly hear Sebastian walking away, as my head is clouded with so many thoughts and worries.

Shaking my head, I try to focus on what I need to do next. But both my mind and my thoughts kept traveling back to him.

He killed his Uncle. Anne left him. Everything was happening so fast, I couldn't think.

"You saw him, didn't you? He was going to ruin her life! He attacked us! I- I had to use the killing curse. You know I did." He paces back and forth in front of me, moving his hands to express his words. "If I hadn't known how to cast it-"

I step forward, my thoughts racing at a mile per minute. Sebastian wasn't acting like himself. I wanted to help him, to calm him down. I needed him to calm down.

"He did attack us," I start, managing to catch his eyes as he stops pacing. "You had no choice. It was brave, Sebastian. You clearly care about Anne more than your Uncle ever did."

His eyes widened and he grinned as a look of relief poured over him. "I knew you'd understand." He paused and looked at the ground, reassuring himself. "I did do the right thing."

There was a turning in my stomach, and a slight flutter in my heart at the sight of his smile.

"You did." A smile pulled my cheeks as I nodded in reassurance. "I would have done the same, if I knew how."

Dark honey eyes meet mine, their depths drawing me in yet again. A gentle breeze swept past us, his hair tussling slightly as he turned to the ground irresolutely. "I-," he swallowed thickly as he turned back to me, "could teach you."

The familiar turning in my stomach bubbled again, the sudden feeling of apprehension, that saying yes would be a mistake. Because I would change yet again. Yet, I knew that I had changed so much already, since the moment I learned that I could do magic. I turned down learning Crucio, and Imperio. But taking a life, with just a whisper and a wand movement.

No, I couldn't do it. I can't do it.

"Thank you, Sebastian. But perhaps now is not the time." I could hear myself say, and the guilt faded just a little.

I had done what I wanted, which was him knowing that I still cared for him, and stood by him. Even if I couldn't ever do the same thing he had done. I hoped I wouldn't change more, to even feel the need to learn that spell.

But only time would tell.

SIXTH YEAR

First year's chattered nervously amongst themselves, as they sat down at their new house tables, introducing themselves to the other years that were near them. Poppy sat beside me, her plate already full of Scottish Pie, and her elbow quickly nudging into my ribs. As I turn to look at her, she erupts into laughter without any explanation, tears dotting the corner of her eyes.

"It seems that you're not used to having long hair." She manages to say through her giggles, pointing a finger at my hair that was now in my mashed potatoes.

I groan, grasping at the napkin beside my plate, and try to get the potatoes out. "I had forgotten to pack a tie to keep it back. And I was going to cut it, but then the only barber in our town had died, and I didn't trust their son to cut my hair."

Poppy shook her head, "You could go visit Hogsmeade and get it cut, but I have a feeling you might want to delay that."

When I turn to her, she points a finger across the Great Hall. Furrowing my brows, as I focus on what she could be pointing at, my grey eyes collide with warm brown. Sebastian sat at the Slytherin table, beside Ominis, with a stunned expression sitting on his face, adorned in his black and green robes. His hair was slightly overgrown from last year, but styled in the exact same way, except for the long strand that fell forward. His jaw was more defined, and his shoulders were a little broader too.

Poppy snickered beside me as Sebastian's cheeks tinted a soft pink glow, and he turned to look down at his plate. My heart stuttered against my ribcage, and my throat closed in on itself as I turned away. Resisting the urge to glance back at the Slytherin table, to glance back at Sebastian, I grabbed my goblet and drank to clear my throat.

My cheeks felt warmer, my whole face felt as if I was next to an open flame. Godric, I can't tell if I'm embarrassed or-

Poppy interrupted my thoughts as she tapped my shoulder, her wand pulled out. "Here, I can fix your hair."

Pulling the napkin away from my hair, she silently muttered an incantation, and with a flick of her wand, I could feel my hair lose the potatoes that mingled with it.

"Cheers Poppy, you'll have to teach me that one later."

She grinned in reply, "My gran taught me that one after I had fallen asleep with some Puffskiens in a den near our house. My hair was in a right state."

"I can imagine."

She hums in response as she turns back to her plate, "Do you think we could go and visit Highwing tomorrow after class? Or do you think we'll have too much work to sort through?"

"I think we might be swamped, I know I will be, with the advanced potions class. I don't think Professor Sharp will be going easy on us. Did you sign up for Herbology and- What was that?" I ask as I feel something bounce off the top of my head, and hit the ground behind me.

A crumpled-up paper ball sat on the ground just behind me, and I turned to share a look of confusion with Poppy. Picking it up I turn it in my hand as I turn back around.

"Well, open it!" Poppy interrupts before nervously chuckling, "Sorry."

Narrowing my eyes at her, I question her. "Do you know something about this?"

She bites her lip, her eyes darting at the paper and me, and then she lifts her fork and stuffs her mouth full of her Scottish Pie. "Sorry, can't talk now-" She mumbles through her food, causing some to escape.

"You are foul, Poppy." I shake my head with a small smile, turning back to the paper ball in my hand.

Turning it over in my hand, I carefully start to peel it open, not wanting to rip the paper. Poppy glances at me, and I lean back as I unfold it fully.

'Meet me in the Undercroft, tonight. -S'

Instinctively, my head turns up, and I peer over the tables toward his table. However, he was already looking at me. He raises his brow silently, and with a soft inhale I nod in agreement. The air left my lungs as a bright smile spread across his cheeks as he nodded back, and I couldn't stop the smile that crossed my face.

Poppy glanced back and forth between us as I returned to my food, the unending smile staying in place as I picked up my fork.

"What was that? What did he say?"

A laugh escaped me and I bumped my shoulder into hers. "I'll tell you later, promise."

"You better Atropos or I will be devastated."

"We wouldn't want that to happen."

Walking down the last steps, I inhaled softly as the iron gate lifted, and Sebastian's form turned around from the table in front of him. Silence overtook the room, with the sound of my footsteps echoing throughout the Undercroft. He was almost a foot taller than me, we both had grown over the summer. I stopped just to his right beside him, within arm's reach of him, my fingers brushing against the wooden tabletop. My eyes scanned the familiar shadowed walls of the Undercroft, the piles of boxes, and old chairs.

"You never mentioned anything about growing it out." He spoke, and I held my breath, not expecting his voice to have changed and grown deeper over the short summer. "I almost thought you would keep it shorter than mine."

Turning my head up to my left, I looked up at him with my brow furrowed with a small frown. "You don't like it?" I ask, as the dryness in my throat becomes more apparent.

And then he steps forward, the space between us becoming mere inches as I look up at him through my lashes. His breath mingles with mine, warming my skin, and my heart constricts beneath my chest. In the corner of my eyes, I see his right hand lifting up, and his fingers brush against the side of my face, tracing my cheekbone.

He shakes his head, "No. That's the thing Atropos." My mind begins going numb as he brushes a lock of hair behind my ear, his face getting closer to mine as his hand moves to cup my face.

"I think I prefer it." He grins softly down at me, his brown eyes almost black like the night sky, and the flame from the candles becoming sparkling stars in the reflection in his eyes.

My eyes dart between his as I slowly get control of my breathing, trying to ignore the consistent butterfly swarming in my stomach. Lifting my hand, I hold the wrist that was cupping my face, and I clear my throat.

"So, you like it?"

He chuckles deeply and nods his head, and then he licks his lips, such a subtle movement that was gone in an instant. But my eyes were drawn down to his lips for a moment.

"Like it? I do Atty, I think you look amazing." He pauses, and his eyes shift between my own. "You always have, even when you beat me in that duel in Defence against the dark arts."

I grin at the mention of our first meeting. "Really? Even when I took you down a peg or two?"

He shakes his head with a smile, "Yes, even then!"

A boost of confidence hit my stomach, and I raised my right hand to his head, tangling my fingers in his hair. "You never mentioned that you grew out your mane."

"My mane! I think you're confusing me with a certain Weasley." He laughs and takes another step forward, his other hand settling just above my hip.

"Garrath's hair has gotten a lot longer, I almost thought he was a girl for a moment before he turned around." I grin, my brows raising as my hand dips down to his neck.

Another laugh is shared between us before it goes silent again. It wasn't uncomfortable, instead, it was calm and warm.

"I think it suits you-" I start before he stops me.

"Can I kiss you?"

Time freezes and the blood rushing in my ears makes me almost believe that I misheard him. But as I stare into his eyes in shock, his eyes move down to my lips and back up to my eyes.

"You want to kiss me?"

The nod sends my heart into palpitations and a soft whisper. "May I kiss you, please?"

Stuttering an exhale, I answer with a breathy and shaky, "Yes."

Lips melded against mine, messy and uncertain, but warm and soft. His left hand pulls me closer while his right-hand tilts my head back, and I could feel my knees beginning to go weak. Our foreheads rest together as our lips part, his teeth gently pulling my bottom lip before letting go. Open my eyes, I grin at the flushed look across his face, really bringing out his freckles. He looked perfect.

"I've wanted to do that," He exhales heavily, his breath brushing against my cheek as his thumb moves against my cheek. "Since you took me down a peg or two."

I shake my head with a wide smile on my lips, "What was it you told me when we met? 'Something about a Hogwarts Welcome?"

His chest vibrates as he laughs, and nods. "A proper Hogwarts welcome."

"It was quite the welcome, I've never won a duel that fast before." I try to bite back the smile, but I let it fall into place as he laughs and shakes his head.

"Oh really? That's what you're going to say? Not, 'Sebastian, I've wanted to kiss you since then too!' Or, 'Our duel made me realize how amazing you are-'"

With my right hand, I pull his face back down, our noses just brushing against each other. His eyes were blown wide as the smile was frozen on his face.

"Sebastian, be quiet and kiss me."

"Gladly."

Tip-toeing back up the stairs and opening the dorm room door, I wince as it creaks shut.

"Atropos? Are you just now getting back?" I hear Poppy whisper as she opens the curtains around her bed.

"Yes, I'm sorry if I woke you," I whisper back as I sit on my bed and remove my shoes.

When I feel movement on my bed, I turn to look at Poppy who was pulling the curtains shut and casting Muffiato.

"Tell me everything."

Staring at her for a moment in the dull light, I slowly start to grin.

"We kissed. Sebastian and I."

She shrieks loudly and wraps me into a hug. "I'm so happy for you! I knew he liked you!"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell! Now tell me everything!"

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