#her friends completely ostracizing her after she came back to life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ultrainfinitepit · 7 months

Note

🏵️🍃🥀 for the emoji ask list!

🏵️ [ROSETTE] What flower symbolizes your OC best and why? What does the flower mean in floriography?

Sam is fireweed. It’s a flower that grows in areas that have previously been burned by fire. It’s a symbol of rebirth and resilience, which suits Sam well. And the name is very fitting, Sam would be a weed if he was a flower: something that people disdain as useless or annoying but is still beautiful to the right person.

Lily is lily of the valley. She lives in Puddle which is in a valley, and her name is Lily. It’s a sweet flower that looks like something out of a fantasy novel. It’s a symbol of joy, sincerity, and luck, which suits Lily well. It’s one of my personal favorites!

Cale is dandelion. Like Cale, dandelions change shape. They are symbols of hope and perseverance. And dandelions are delightful flowers: they are edible, fun to play with, and bring joy to people. But yet they are humble as well, just like Cale.

Zeke is forget-me-not. It’s all in the name for this flower. Zeke has no memory of his past. Memory, remembrance, and forgetfulness are all important parts of his character. Forget-me-nots are delicate and sophisticated, which suits Zeke well. They are symbols of true love and respect, two things that form the basis of all the relationships Zeke treasures the most.

Mick is sycamore. It’s his last name so it seems fitting! He’s dependable and strong like a sycamore tree. They are symbols of divinity which aligns with Mick’s angelic nature.

Vivian is red poppy. I’ve picked this flower for her more for the color than anything else. Red is Vivian’s color, and the black center of the poppy hints a little at her dark nature as a vampire. It’s also a flower to symbolize the threshold between life and death, and as a vampire and forensic pathologist, Vivian embodies that threshold as well. Relatedly, if Vivian was a fruit she’d be a pomegranate.

Pat is white clover. This is perhaps a rather stereotypical choice for Pat, it’s the national flower of Ireland and he’s Irish. But I feel like it suits him too well to pick anything else. It’s another humble flower, it’s a symbol of luck, protection, and lightheartedness - all which Pat seems to either have, or have need of throughout his story. If Pat had a house with a lawn, he’d want a clover lawn for his kids to play on but also to provide food for bees.

🍃 [FALLEN LEAF] What’s the darkest period of time your OC has been through?

The hardest life for Sam was the life after his adoptive family were killed. We call this the Evil Sam life because he became completely rebellious and murderous and it ended in a very horrible way for him and his Keeper. He was in terrible grief over losing his family and it was further fueled by bad influences around him. Looking back, Sam hates this lifetime the most, he sees that version of himself as senseless and cruel.

However, not far behind this life, is the life right after he was forced to forget his soulmate, Zipporah. We call this the Cult Leader Sam life, because Sam started a doomsday cult. That lifetime was one where Sam felt a deep-seated emptiness so terrible, it twisted his entire worldview into one where he felt the entire world should simply cease to exist, so he could cease too. That emptiness would carry over in part from this life to the next and so on, even into his Puddle life where at last it would be filled by Zipporah’s memory once more.

The only reason I say that life is not his darkest period is that, when Sam looks back on it, he feels it was the correct reaction to losing Zipporah. A world without Zipporah in it simply has no right to continue existing. We are very lucky Sam tried to do something about it back when he was in a lame human body, and we should hope he doesn’t try the same thing after he gets his full angelic form back!

Before Sam came to Puddle, Lily was relentlessly bullied and all her friends turned on her. She was ostracized for her weird behavior. While Lily felt she was much the same it was like suddenly everyone else was different. We could say this is because she was growing into her witch powers, but I think even if Lily wasn’t a witch this still would have happened. Lily felt she couldn’t talk to her parents about any of this, and had to handle it on her own. Some days all her secrets and troubles felt like too much. She considered running away without a word. But she loves her parents too much to do that. Luckily Sam, Cale, and Zeke come into her life and become her new friends, who love Lily and her weirdness.

When Cale is much older, his best friend Lily passes away of old age. They both had lots of time together and they were both prepared for this, but even still it hurts Cale a lot. At the same time, Cale’s friend Zeke is off somewhere in the world fighting his personal demons; and Sam is dead and gone (once again) so Cale can’t talk to him. Cale leans a little bit on his new Puddle friends and family for support, but there’s only so much they can say. The people who would understand Cale best in this difficult time, Zeke and Sam, aren’t around. So for a while, Cale stays in the woods in the form of a bear or sometimes a dog. He roams far and wide through the valley and even beyond it. He lives each day looking ahead only at the next one, thinking like a beast and not a man, until finally he’s ready to return to town.

Zeke’s life before he was Zeke was awful. He was named Cain then. Cain had a hard upbringing, and ended up on a dark path filled with loss and selfishness. His own hubris resulted in the death of his boyfriend Isaiah, and then later his own death.

But if we say Cain’s life is separate from Zeke’s, then Zeke’s darkest time is after his wife Delphinia is killed. This starts a chain of events that leads to Zeke’s imprisonment in a magical coffin, which is a tortuous time in his life; and then to the death of his son Samuel, in the same way Cain and Isaiah were killed as well. Zeke doesn’t even get a chance to breathe before a war starts and he’s tossed into that. He pretty much completely loses touch with his humanity, and embraces undeath fully as a way to numb himself to the pain and deal it out onto others instead. Zeke eventually comes back from this dark time, but the effects of it linger on him and he’s never quite the same person after.

Mick’s a pretty steady guy. He’s gone through dark times, arguably most of his human lives under control of the Order are dark times, but he’s a good little soldier about it and if he’s got any hard feelings about them he just files them away quietly.

I think there’s maybe two exceptions to this: in one lifetime, Mick had to execute Lucy, the nephilim child of the angels Ash and Orpheus. Lucy was Sam’s adoptive sister as well. While Lucy was evil and had to be stopped, she was still very young and much loved by all the angels, and it hurt Mick a great deal to have to be the one to stop her.

In a subsequent life, Mick was the mentor of Adam, the nephilim child of Sami and Zach. One day Mick and Adam got into a fight with the corrupted angel Gabriel, resulting in Adam’s death by their hand. Mick has since blamed himself for Adam’s death, and Sami’s subsequent descent into madness and mourning.

These deaths shook Mick to his core, and affect him even into the present.

Vivian had a rough childhood. In the beginning it was not so bad, she has vague happy memories of her father and mother. But after her mother was discovered to be a vampire, Vivian’s happy life was ripped away. Her mother ran away with her and then basically abandoned her to live in the care of a lodging house manager, who treated Vivian like a worker rather than a child. Vivian got so desperate that she jumped at the first chance at freedom, even if it would land her in a pirate crew of bloodthirsty vampires. So Vivian would probably consider this early part of her life her darkest time, and say everything following it was a breeze.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses from then on. After Vivian was turned into a vampire by Teutho, their relationship began to sour. She spent decades being miserable, yet there were enough good times stringed together where she convinced herself, it was not so bad and she was happy. Finally she realized she no longer loved Teutho, and left to go pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor - which would fail, but she was still happier failing at her dreams than not chasing them. If I had to pick I would say this was Vivian’s darkest period, even if she doesn’t see it that way. It was a time of emotional abuse and manipulation that left a deep impression on her.

When he was younger, Pat was rebellious and reckless, and developed a heavy reliance on alcohol. He fell in love with his wife Martha and they had two sons, and Pat began having a creeping feeling of deja vu. He was determined not to be like his father. He made an effort to always greet his boys with smiles and laughter, but it started being too much with his work and the alcohol and the bills piling up. One day Pat blacked out, he lost an entire day and when he woke up, he was in the hospital and told he had gone drinking, and various things happened, and he had been dead for a full minute. Pat did not want his sons to see him like this, but Martha brought them anyway. The looks on their faces was the wake up call he needed, and Pat sought out a therapist through his church, and went away to rehab. That day in the hospital was the worst day of Pat’s life, and he was determined never to repeat it. Since then, he tries very hard not to drink, and he’s learned to talk about his problems instead of bottle them up.

🥀 [WILTED ROSE] How good is your OC at meeting deadlines? What motivates them?

Sam waits until the last minute to start anything, he needs that deadline panic to really motivate him. If it’s something important he will do it to an excellent standard, it will appear as if he has been diligently working on it up to the deadline. If it’s something unimportant, which is totally up to Sam’s judgment, he will leave it unfinished or give up and then somehow blame the person who gave him the task in the first place.

Lily has the potential to be just as bad as Sam, but deadline panic makes her flustered and she is prone to making mistakes when flustered. Lily learns she does her best work when she makes a plan at the start and follows each step carefully. She motivates herself by tracking her progress using a log book, ribbons, and other cute things so the task turns into something fun rather than work. She will usually cajole one of her friends into giving her a reward, or treat herself to something nice, as a further motivation to finish things on time.

Cale was raised to be hard working and obedient, so if he really commits to something he will always get it done on time. The way he does this varies wildly on the day and the task. Sometimes Cale does things bit by bit over time, other times he’ll rush everything at the end much like Sam. However, Cale is only motivated to do things if he sees the real, practical value in the task. If it’s something too vague or frivolous, he will simply ignore it, which can be a problem sometimes. His friends and family often rely on Cale’s desire to please them to motivate him. It becomes a game of asking Cale to do something in just the right way, with clear enough instructions for him to see the end goal.

Ezekiel always meets his deadlines. He lays out a plan for every step of his task and then follows through on it flawlessly. If he has to, he will sacrifice sleep, socializing, and food to meet his deadline. Zeke prides himself on being perfect and dependable, this is all the motivation he needs. If he’s competing with someone, that’s even better motivation because Zeke loves to prove his superiority to others. He’s the type to get extra motivated if there’s some kind of ranking system or medal at the end.

Mick is very disciplined and always meets his deadlines. He might not write down a plan but he will certainly have one in his head that he’s following. He’s very stubborn about his plans, and it’s hard for him to adjust to surprises. He will stay on his plan and follow it until the task is complete, with some time right before the deadline for any last minute changes. He’s only learned to add that time recently after many lifetimes of dealing with unpredictable people. Other people are the bane of Mick’s existence when he’s working on something, he always finds himself in the project leader role and no one ever meets his standards. Mick is motivated by his innate willpower, but also, secretly, his desire to impress people.

Vivian can also be very disciplined like Mick, but she writes her plans down. She has journals that she uses to make plans very neatly, she enjoys stealing pens in different colors that she uses to make these plans. She’ll collect notes and do research as much as possible so she has everything she needs to execute her plan on time. But she doesn’t always meet her deadlines. Vivian’s flaw is that she needs to have a certain amount of work on her plate or she’ll lose all her motivation. Too little and she won’t feel sufficient pressure to follow through on all her careful plans. Too much and she gets overwhelmed, her plans go out the window and suddenly she’s not getting anything done. This is why Vivian often has little background projects going on, such as writing a paper or trying to piece together a cold case; she needs this extra bit of work in her schedule to motivate her to do everything else.

Pat is average. He usually meets his deadlines, if he doesn’t he has a good excuse such as family. Pat will work overtime if he has to, to stick to his commitments. He’s not as rigid as Mick in his approach to work, nor does he require the same workload balancing act as Vivian to stay motivated. Pat is simply the type to do his work on time to the best of his ability. He considers himself a man of his word, and if he promises something he’ll try his hardest to fulfill it.

#town of puddle #ocs #ask #long post #these were fun to answer #thanks for sending them!

20 notes · View notes

likeafairytale · 9 months

Note

“ I learned that she's just a girl. That... she lost her mom too young, and... she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her. And when all is said and done, there is nothing more important than the bond of family to her. ” – Yasmeen to Morgana, overheard by Calypso

When Calypso arrived at the throne room, she wasn't expected to see Yasmeen there, talking to Morgana about her. She was summoned by the High Queen and although she would have loved to turn down the invitation, she knew she couldn't. It wasn't even Yasmeen, who usually was always around her, who delivered her the message, so what surprised it was to see her maid here. And talking about her to the High Queen.

She arrived at mid-sentence, and only Morgana seemed to have noticed her, because she was facing her, but also Calypso was quiet, not because she was trained to, but because she didn't wear shoes, so obviously barefeet on the floor was noiseless. Only the smell of the ocean that she was always carrying with her, like a perfume, was what gave her away, and Yasmeen was used to this scent so much that she turned around, frowning, once she was done talking. All Calypso could do was watching the woman she thought was her friend, after she gave away her biggest weakness; her loyalty to her family and people she loved.

The mermaid only felt betrayal once before. When she trusted Aeron, and gave him her bracelet. Biggest mistake of her life, she won't deny it. But this betrayal was worst for her. Like a cold shower. Worst because she thought she was done trusting people too easily. That Aeron was the only one who would have been able to fool her. She should have known better. And being betrayed by a friend seemed to hurt way more than being betrayed by a so-called lover.

❝Oh, Calypso, it is lovely to see you here!❞ The High Queen said, but the young girl knew she wasn't really sincere. Morgana couldn't lie but somehow, Calypso knew it was one. Sort of.

❝You asked for me, Your Majesty.❞ Those last words were very hard for her to say because she never was used to say them. Morgana's smile became bigger to the fact that she came to the right moment. But the mermaid couldn't tell, her eyes full of sadness and confusion were back on Yasmeen again who didn't move.

❝Did I? Oh... My servant must have done a mistake, I didn't plan a meeting with you...❞ She seemed sorry, but once again, Calypso knew she wasn't completely sincere.

All the girl did was nodded. What was she supposed to say anyway? She just witnessed who she thought was her friend talking behind her back. Somehow she knew it was all Morgana's doing. She didn't know why, maybe she wanted to make Calypso suffer even more, to ostracize her as if she wasn't enough already. The girl of the sea didn't move. She felt her heart beating faster in her chest, and her eyes starting to hurt because she wanted to cry, but she couldn't let that happened, so she blinked so many times that her head started to spin. Morgana was talking but she didn't listen, all she did was looking at Yasmeen who couldn't even look her in the eyes right now, because she was ashamed? Or because she was embarrassed? Calypso couldn't tell.

❝... Anyway, you both can go now.❞

Morgana didn't have to say it twice. Calypso walked so fast that her feet hurt but she didn't care, she just wanted to be out of this place. She was followed by Yasmeen, who said her name a few times, but the Princess didn't plan on replying now, it was only once they were out of the throne room reached that she turned away, facing Yasmeen.

❝What was that?!❞ She realized only now that with each footsteps she took her sadness and feeling of betrayal became anger. It's only when she heard the tone of her voice that she noticed that she wasn't sad. She was mad.

❝I... I just...❞ Yasmeen started but either she couldn't say the words, or she was forbidden to say them, or Calypso was too impatient listen to her words right now.

❝Are you spying on me?! For the Queen?❞

❝That's not what I-❞ Yasmeen started again, but then she sighed and nodded.

This silent answer hurt Calypso even more. She was hoping she was mistaken. That there were another explanation. To be honest, Yasmeen could have come with any lie she would have found, and the Princess of the ocean would have believed her. This is how lonely she felt and how badly she needed a friend, and the idea of knowing her only real friend, besides the little Princess Lyra, was spying on her this whole time was unbearable.

❝That's on me, isn't it? After all, I ‘love blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes me.’ right?❞ She quoted Yasmeen with a sad laugh, and the very urge to not let her precious tears fell on her cheek. Instead, it started to softly rain outside, a way for her to not cry. ❝Everyone warned me to be more careful here but I didn't listen. I stupidly thought you were different. But I guess I was wrong all this time.❞

Her voice broke the more she talked, and she couldn't even looked at Yasmeen's face right now. Because she couldn't read her, know what she was truly thinking or feeling and it was the hardest; she was too clueless on how to handle it, to what to say or do. So instead, the mermaid turned back and started walking again, not knowing if Yasmeen was following or not. All she could think was this proverb her father used to tell her; Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. And maybe, Triton was right on this one. Shame on her for not learning the first time that not every was here to be her friend.

#calypso le fey #calypso x yasmeen #caleen #calypso writing prompt #writing prompt #i do not like it that much #but i was looking at my asks and felt the urge to answer this one #bc i totally see this happening that way #and it's sad but it needs to happen #icanbeyourgenie

4 notes · View notes

ponderingthepassion · 1 year

Text

One. Meet The Beatles.

Harry Nilsson said that 1 was the loneliest number. Yet, as an eccentric 10-year-old, I was not alone anymore.

It was Christmas Eve, 2010. I had not been a 10-year-old except for three weeks but was eccentric for as long as I remember. With my odd personality, making friends was not my strong suit. Naturally, I felt ostracized. At this point, I had been questioning what was wrong with me for years.

I grew up as a child of divorced parents, so holidays were full of planning and logistics while it seemed that my brother and I were tossed from one home to the other. That Christmas though, we would stay Christmas Eve night with my dad and have Christmas morning with him, after having spent the earlier part of the day with our maternal grandparents. Then, we would pack up the presents we wanted to bring back to our primary home and spend the rest of the festive day with our mom.

Explaining the logistics still has my head in a spin. The important part was that I was under the care of my dad on this very day because it seemed that the universe aligned so perfectly.

As my brother and I spent the afternoon awaiting the night to come so we could fall asleep and bring on the morning faster, my father's girlfriend at the time stopped by for a little bit. Being together was not bizarre because while they were together, they spent ample time together. My father and his girlfriend never married and the relationship fizzled out, she became a second mom to me. I knew then and still know that she cares about me, even if it has been years since I've seen her.

During her visit, she brought along Target gift cards for my brother and me. We were weird kids with weird interests and I look back now and think about how impossible it was to buy gifts for us. The gift cards made sense. For my dad, she naturally brought more personalized gifts.

He was no musician and was a hobby guitar player if you could even say that. Yet, he was more passionate about music than some trained musicians that I have met. His passion was more of an obsession. It shaped me naturally as I took on his genetics, as he immersed me into his little world. My youngest memories are of sitting in his music room on the upper level of our house before my parents divorced. The radio blared with the likes of many Elvis tunes, Boris the Spider by The Who, and I stayed mesmerized and amused. I learned the lyrics almost subconsciously to some of my favorite songs.

A CD seemed to be a good gift for someone so musical (this was before he lugged his record collection back out, which would come a few years later). My dad had a vast collection, with the most noteworthy titles being his copies of the complete Elvis masters. The addition of a greatest hits compilation by one of the few artists that rivaled Elvis' success did not seem to be anything extraordinary.

For me, that one CD was life-changing. The CD did not present itself as anything more than a greatest-hits package. The red and yellow design was more reminiscent of that of a fast food company, rather than something fitting of what could be hailed as the greatest band of all time. Regardless of any physical appearance, my dad asked if I had heard of The Beatles.

Sure, I had heard of them, or at least I thought I had. I could not name any of their songs, but at least the name sounded familiar. Even if I had heard of their name, my dad wanted to play me the CD. So, I sat back on the couch and listened.

This was different. This was unlike anything I had heard before. One Direction had been formed by Simon Cowell on the X-Factor only a few months prior. Justin Bieber’s “Baby” could not be ignored, no matter what anyone did. The music that came from my dad’s stereo was captivating. It was different.

It was as if everything in my life clicked for once. With my awkward nature, I was eager to find something I could cling to. I did not want this CD to stop. I knew my dad only wanted to listen to a few songs. After all, we had to go to bed soon so Christmas could arrive in the morning.

It would be fitting to mention that I could not remember any gifts I received that Christmas. However, the gift of listening to that CD is one that I still hold so close. This simple CD catalyzed my musical obsession. This was not some pre-teen phase.

Many might have thought that I would be obsessed with The Beatles for a few short months and then abandon them and start listening to the music my peers listened to. Yet, that did not happen. The obsession grew over the years and now. Being obsessed with music and being discussed as a walking encyclopedia of music became a part of my demeanor. It was very evident that the obsession did not fizzle out at all. In fact, it got more intense.

However, the CD was what I needed. My brain still recognizes the track listing with Eleanor Rigby being followed by Penny Lane. For instance, listening to Revolver and hearing Eleanor Rigby, not hearing the starting lyrics of Penny Lane follow, is still a bit jarring, even in the present day. The familiarity, as a lonely ten-year-old became so comforting.

That same lonely ten-year-old clung to The Beatles like the friends she never had. I am still not certain as to why I became so obsessive. Yet, trying to decipher the whys and looking back with a more mature perspective seems to offer that I engrossed myself like this. If I occupied myself and my time so heavily, I would not feel alone. These artists could not judge or avoid me, but I could invite them into my life when I wanted to. I had control. After all, up until the last year, it seemed like these musicians were mere characters.

At a point, it became more than just a hobby to fill a void. At a point, it became almost life-saving. I wanted to engross myself more in the stories behind the music I listened to, and read. I read a lot. It did not matter. I read so many books, but I would not be limited to books, but also articles, and learning what others had learned and decided to share. I was an information sponge.

Yet, through this pursuit of knowledge, I learned of the humanity of these musicians. Their humanity, tinged with negative experiences, was not unlike those I faced as a hopeless adolescent. Yet, becoming aware of the humanistic struggles of these musicians gave me some hope back. They seemed larger than life and unreal, but they were just people.

I needed that hope to get through the hand I had at my disposal. Growing up was not happy, but the music and the stories behind the music could bring me moments of fleeting bliss and contentment. I needed anything to help me make it through. I still lean on music as a primary coping mechanism. I let it revitalize and rejuvenate me when I feel detached from myself and my surroundings.

Some individuals do not believe in miracles, and I am not quite sure where I stand. Yet, divine timing is evident. Something out there knew of the hardships and the journey that I was about to endure and knew what I would need to make it through on the other side.

When introduced to The Beatles, I was ten and had already experienced some evils of the world. I knew of the horrible ways in which some individuals presented themselves. I was not coping well with this exposure, but I had been gifted hope in the form of a CD. The world was not all nasty.

After all, art was still present and was not tarnished. I had a gift in the ability to enjoy it. I also had a gift with my passion and earnest ability to go into something with everything in my soul that I had, which included something as mundane as liking a band.

I was still odd and eccentric, but so were the musicians I listened to and read about. They made it okay to be weird because if they had not been unique, they would not have made it. I needed that confirmation. I needed confirmation that I would make it out of the other side because at times, I did not think that would ever happen. Yet, I can say that it did happen.

It is very safe to say that after all this time, I have grown, both physically as I am no longer a ten-year-old little girl, but also within myself and my passions. Twelve years have passed (as of writing), since that Christmas Eve. I am now confident that my main passion in life is music and to do something with it, whatever it could be, is my main desire.

It could seem silly to say that a CD changed my life, but at last, I was not alone anymore and I never would be again.

(EDIT: I started this piece sometime last year and would like to say that I have since reconnected with my father, but did not want to edit the above to reflect that, to keep the integrity of my feelings throughout the entire writing process. I have also since then seen my “second mom” and she is still as lovely as she was back then.)

#music #beatles #thebeatles #writing #creativewriting #narrative #cd #melanchonic #lonesome #loneliness #growingup #adolescence #comingofage #musicblog #blogging #blog

10 notes · View notes

vlvttt · 1 year

Text

The Glorious Days Have Gone

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Part one

WC: 2,099

Cecilia Ida Harrington had always known who she was. Self-assured and confident- nothing could possibly drag her down. However, moving to a small town from the city that never sleeps can be quite a rough transition.

—----------

1985

Staring out the window had never been more interesting. Stacked boxes filled the room to the brim- stripping the room bare and rendering it lifeless. I felt as though I had no right to feel this way; I mean anybody would be upset if they were told they were leaving their friends, their school, and their entire life behind- right?

I’ll admit; I’m bitter. Not exactly at my parents, that would be unfair, though- I can’t help but feel a little bit of resentment. The cloud of dread that floated above me was starting to become more and more unbearable as the seconds went by. I decided to stand up and finally finish packing so I wouldn’t sink through the floor and fall into an overwhelming depression.

I thanked the gods that I’d been gradually putting all my things away throughout the week; lord knows I definitely wouldn’t have gotten anything done today. There was a small spark of excitement deep inside of me despite the awful feelings that rippled through me. I guess a change of environment would be nice, although the chaos of the city was oddly comforting a change of pace would do me good. Moving to Hawkins also meant that I would be closer to family- well not really. From what I’ve been told my cousin spent most of his time at home alone, his parents were never really around much and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. In my head, my parents are the complete opposite, they’re incredibly kind and compassionate and I wish he had the same pillars of support I did. I think being practically ostracized by most of your family for becoming a parent at the age of 15 has debilitating effects on your psyche.

My father and uncle never lost touch, and even helped my mom and dad out a little when they were really desperate. I didn’t really hold the rest of my family to high standards, however. They were repulsive, self-centered, money-hungry people who came flocking back to my father's feet when success came. I don’t communicate much with them, except for Steve.

Time went by quickly and suddenly I was sitting in the backseat of the car and we were on our way to Indiana.

----

The trip was long and I desperately wanted to smash my head against the concrete. After nearly half a day, we finally arrived in the quaint town.

“Alright, shouldn’t be too long now.” I somehow managed to catch my dad saying through my headphones.

We finally arrived at our new home, it felt a little odd since I was used to apartment complexes and tightly packed buildings but it did feel more welcoming in a way. The promise of a garden is what kept me going since my parents broke the news that we were leaving the city for some small town in the midwest.

“I’m gonna go look around.” Without waiting for a response I walked off and went past the front gate and into the backyard. At that moment, I decided I wouldn’t allow myself to be miserable, the sight before me was wonderful and I could immediately feel my mood rising much higher than ever before.

“Cecilia!” I heard my mom shout, over and over since once was not enough I guess. I made my way back toward the front of the house to where she was standing. “Ceci- Oh hey, can you help your father unload the boxes? I need to get this moving shit figured out.”

I nodded with a slight chuckle and began to help the ancient man in dire need of assistance. “So whadya think so far? Pretty nice right?” he said with a grunt as he lifted the heavier of the boxes. “Yup, not as terrible as I thought it would be honestly.” We made our way past the front door and into the living room. “At least there won’t be a lingering scent of shit and piss everywhere you go- this town seems to be less primitive in that aspect.”

–

Later in the day, we made our way to my uncle’s house and I was buzzing with excitement since that meant I got to see Steve. This would be the highlight of my day- my week even. It felt like I was receiving bad news after bad news and I really needed a moment to be able to sit back and do nothing.

“Steve!”

“Cecilia!” I catapulted myself into his arms and he spun me around, setting me down with a kiss on the cheek. “Geez- you almost knocked me down there. I could’ve died.” I rolled my eyes as I took a step back, “Well I would’ve been the last thing you saw before your untimely death, but I digress, I haven’t seen you in the flesh in so long-” taking a step back I took a good look at him, “how have you been dingus?” With a grin, he lead me into the house and into the living room, but not before I greeted my aunt and uncle. He plopped himself on the couch and I followed suit.

“Well, I got a job- and I’m miserable, but what can you do.” Steve let out a heavy sigh, I remembered our past phone calls and I pitied him, he definitely didn’t deserve to feel the way he did.

“God I can’t believe your dad’s really punishing you like this.” I glanced at him, “you don’t deserve that.”

“It builds character though! But it’s so dehumanizing, you could say I’m a changed man.”

A giggle left my mouth and I was about to reply but was rudely interrupted by my aunt announcing that dinner was ready, “We’ll talk later.”

–--

A couple of days after moving to town was the day I would begin school. At the only high school in a 15 mile radius. God take me now.

Steve had offered to drop me off and of course, I took him up on that offer- I’ll be damned if I took the bus to school. Sometimes I missed that you could walk anywhere and everywhere and it was normal, but you could walk along the street here and people would look at you like you had three heads.

Stepping out of the car and into the building I couldn’t ignore the number of stares I was receiving, I was suddenly hyper-aware of myself and everything surrounding me.

Arriving at the front office, I stepped into the dull room to retrieve my schedule. I stood awkwardly for a few moments, “Can I help you?” the seemingly kind middle-aged woman questioned. “Uh, I’m new here. I need my schedule.” She looked at me expectantly, “Sorry, um- Cecilia Harrington.” With a nod, she stood from where she was sitting and went to the filing cabinet at her right.

“Here you go, do you need someone to help you find your way around?”

“No thank you I think I’ll manage.” I left the office and studied the piece of paper in my hands, ‘English for first period? Great.’ The first warning bell rang loud and produced the first headache of my day, I decided I might as well find that class now so I wouldn’t get lost like a dumbass in this tiny school. When I finally managed to find the class I found a seat in the back of the room that was right by the window, just in time as the final bell rang.

The teacher, whose name I learned was Mrs.O’Donnell, began to make some sort of announcement that I couldn’t really care less for. “Before I forget! We have a new student! Why don’t you introduce yourself?” She motioned for me to make my way to the front of the class and I felt targeted, but what can you do? “I’m Cecilia Harrington, just moved from New York City. I hope to become friends with you all!” I have never been more fake in my life, I thought. I’ve learned that the only way to survive in the grueling environment of public schools was to pretend to be someone you’re not, and hopefully, I could play the part. I definitely wouldn’t become friends with half of the people in this room, not to be judgy or whatever but they seemed like assholes at a glance.

Just as I sat back down, someone burst into the room, “Late again Mr.Munson” the teacher said pointedly, “take a seat.” Without a word the brooding teenager (although he looked a little too old to be here- so that’s up for question) sat down in the only empty seat, which just so happened to be the one beside me. I couldn’t help but glance at his outfit, it was pretty cool honestly. Distressed jeans embellished with chains, a band t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Pretty fucking sick if you ask me. As my eyes made my way up, I realized he was staring at me as well. I gave him a slight smile and diverted my attention to the teacher.

—-

The time for lunch finally came around. Fortunately, I met a sweet girl, Clarissa? Christine? Chrissy! I felt a little guilty that I couldn’t really remember her name but I did have quite a lot on my mind. For example: where am I going to get my weed from now? New York was huge, there was always someone who knew someone, who knew someone else, and so on and so forth. But I was currently in the middle of butt fuck nowhere, and I was genuinely stressing.

Anyway, Chrissy had invited me to sit with her and her friends at their table. I’d be stupid to not accept that offer unless I wanted to be a loser with no friends, so I went and sat with them.

They honestly weren’t bad, I try not to have any biases, but a table full of cheerleaders and jocks is quite intimidating and I thought they would all be mindless jackasses but they, unfortunately, proved me wrong. I couldn’t help but feel like I had some sort of advantage, however. I mean I’m completely aware of the fact that I'm a Harrington, and I’m sure people know a lot more than they should about my family.

I turned to face Chrissy to hopefully find some answers for my needs, “Hey, I know we literally just met today and this may be a bit forward but- do you know anyone who sells weed?” She let out a little giggle, which I thought was quite endearing honestly, and turned to whisper in my ear.

“You see that guy over there?” she pointed towards a table, “the guy with long hair, his names eddie, he’s who you’re looking for.”

With a dramatic gasp, I looked her in the eyes and grabbed her hands, “I owe you my life.”

—-

I may or may not have asked around on where I could find Eddie on this fine friday afternoon. To my luck, I didn’t need to ask much and I tried to formulate a plan on how to approach him.

I stalked outside the drama room like a weirdo attempting to conjure any possible path for me to take into the drama room. I mean, I had no business here. I didn’t have theater, I wasn’t a drama kid, so what could I possibly be doing here? I didn’t hear the sound of the door opening, and I definitely didn’t hear the sounds of the steps coming my way as I paced back and forth in the hallway.

I practically slammed myself into this person’s chest, “Holy shit, my bad,” they said as they grabbed me by the arms to balance me. “Oh my god I’m so sorry, that was totally my fault- Actually,” I paused, “you’re just who I was looking for.”

He raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“You’re eddie, right? I’ve heard about your- uh- business endeavors.” I looked up at him, hoping that he got what I was saying. “Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah that’d be me. Uh, you looking to buy?” I nodded. He was cute. Hot even. I couldn’t help but stare a little, “Okay, well uh- meet me by the bleachers later today, 5:30?” I almost didn’t reply but I caught myself before I looked like a fucking fool, “yeah that’s cool,” I made my way past him, looking over my shoulder with a smile painting my face, “see ya around, eddie.”

I knew then I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him.

—-

A/N:

yassssss my very first fanfic omgggggg. 😜

This first part may be a lil short but think of it as an introductory chapter

Also, I fucking suck at dialogue so bear with me please.

Feedback is always appreciated!!!

I’ll be on my knees kissing ur feet if u comment or reblog <3

19 notes · View notes

inherstars · 3 months

Text

Character Profile: Corporal Isaac Eames

A quick character sketch.

Isaac was the first born and only son of humble, working-class parents. He was 3 when his little sister Jewel was born, and 5 when their father died. Their mother took every part time job she could find -- waiting tables, tending bar, grocery store checkout and even assembly work. She relied on Isaac to look after his little sister, and he took up the mantle of “man of the house” as best a small child could.

Jewel called him “Isa”, he called her brat, pest, beast, dog breath. He loved her fiercely.

Their living conditions were not always the best; they lived where they could afford, moving from apartment to apartment in what little public housing was available. Cats were frequently kept by the family’s various neighbors to help with mice and rats, and -- especially because they could not afford a pet of their own -- Isaac and his sister enjoyed befriending and playing with them, wherever they went.

Their mother met the man who would become their stepfather when Isaac was 9 and Jewel 6. Jewel had no memory of their real father, and tried to form a bond with him, but they weren’t a happy family. Their new stepfather was a veteran of the Pendulum Wars, and drank to excess, but his behavior was largely covered up or excused by his very pro-military support system. Their mother clung to him like a rock at high tide, terrified of going back to a hand-to-mouth existence, and particularly because she’d be ostracized by the other Gear wives. Surely, anything would be better than that.

The relationship deteriorated into physical abuse, first to their mother and then to the children. Isaac acted as a bulwark as best he could, particularly for his sister, but as he got older and bigger his stepfather’s abuse towards him grew far more verbal and emotional than physical. Isaac grew hateful toward his stepfather and cold towards his mother for allowing the abuse to happen.

When Isaac was 12, during a particularly bad fight between their parents, he took Jewel into the basement and out of the warpath. They heard gunshots, screaming, a body hitting the floor above. Isaac restrained his sister from going back upstairs, but she struggled free and ran for the steps. Their stepfather was at the door before Isaac could get to her, and he saw the bullet go through her.

She was nine years old.

The screaming and gunshots alerted their neighbors, and it was by sheer luck that someone came to the front door before his stepfather could kill him, as well.

He entered Tyra’s foster system, and was shuffled from group home to group home, foster family to foster family, along with thousands of others orphans of war. He loathed the military machine that had created the man who killed his mother and sister, but when he aged out of the system there were no other options for him than to become a Gear.

He has no real love for the military, although he’s aware that he’s a good soldier, and he enjoys having a job and a clear set of instructions to follow. He’s made many loyal allies over his years of service, but -- until Easy Company came along -- no actual friends, and he seems to prefer it that way. Particularly with the ease that friends are lost in the Locust War, keeping people at a distance is far, far easier. Having spent a long time enduring both verbal and emotional abuse, he’s very, very good at knowing precisely what to say to make enemies.

Isaac doesn’t love what he is, or what he’s become. He doesn’t precisely blame himself for what happened to his mother or sister, but there is definitely a level of loathing he feels he deserves, as unspoken penance.

Kindness or softness completely throws him off balance, and causes the defensive part of his brain to shut down and withdraw, and it’s one of the few times he seems capable of self-reflection and emotional repair. It’s a rare glimpse into the man he might have grown into, had life been a little kinder.

He has a soft spot for children of any age, and although he isn’t necessarily “sweet” or outgoing with them, they are instinctively drawn to him. If there’s a group of children around, he’s the one they’re going to be following, and hounding, and playing near while he stands vigilant guard.

Although Isaac will give a hard time to literally anyone, for any reason, completely unprovoked, he is also vengeful in his oversight and protection of those he perceives as smaller, gentler, or weaker than himself. Despite being an all-around asshole to everyone he knows, he is 100% bark. He’s taken more punches than he can count, purely for being a jackass, and holds no grudges after the fact. He's had multiple bones in his face broken, several times.

When he does feel the need to step up and fight, he will absolutely fight dirty. The kind of fighter that will forget to stop punching after he's broken his hand. He's a good guy to have in your corner when you need him, and kind of a miserable guy to have anywhere else in your vicinity all the rest of the time, unless you really know him.

#gears of war #character profile

0 notes

nefariouscryptid · 1 year

Note

Regarding the Valentinos, I was always curious about how did they actually meet? For the first time I mean. How did things develop among themselves and why exactly them? Weren't there any other alternatives ever in their lives? Did they have any serious past relationships before their throuple?

Highschool! They’re highschool sweethearts, but they met their junior year ish. Started with Brian actually being friends with both Plethora and Cassandra, then introducing them. All of them were very unpopular in school, Brian is this tall antisocial violent kid who everyone thought was going to shoot up the school, Cassandra ended up being heavily bullied and ostracized after everyone found out that her dad is dating his own brother, and Plethora was just deemed as this masculine lesbian which in Texas in the 90s is dangerous (plus racism). So they all just banded together due to mutual interests and hatred for society.

Brian was actually dating someone while they were all friends and his girlfriend was a dick. Cassandra and Plethora HATED her. She was regularly borderline abusive, pushy for PDA and these large proclamations of love (which for Brian at the time was very unnatural since he was way more introverted and deadpan) and was very nit picky and kept calling him a pussy if he didn’t defend her and get mad like all the other girls boyfriends did. He was miserable but just figured that this is what’s normal. He knew early on that he loved both Cassandra and Plethora but it broke him cause the chances of them loving him back, much less having both of them for himself was slim.

Brian and Cassandra were the first people Plethora came out to. Once again this was the 90s so discussion of being trans was very minimal and misunderstood. Brian just thought that Plethora was a lesbian and was upset, meanwhile Cassandra was rethinking her whole identity. He explained it more, which was more just explaining how he felt with no filter, and then they understood what he was trying to say. They’re not perfect they didn’t get it at first but to both of them they’re like “yeah why not. You look like a dude anyway.” Plus as time goes on they just see him as a guy regardless of what people say.

“Would you of hated me if I was a lesbian?”

“No I was upset cause I thought my chance with you was over. Turns out you are a guy and I’m very bisexual.”

“And I would of just accepted I liked a woman and became a lesbian for you. Or bi… whatever would of swooned you the most.”

Cassandra would literally sneak out almost every night to their houses (Brian’s was easier) and hang out with them. She’d get ballsy and cuddle with them or say shit like “ugh I wish you were my boyfriend…” which made Plethora and Brian nearly die. They were her escape and somewhere she felt completely safe and hidden with.

So now you have three people who are all in love with each other and they are getting mutually pissed off at each other for the constant “mixed signals”. One argument later and they all realize oh shit we ALL LIKE EACH OTHER?! You’d think they’d all be ecstatic, which they were, but now they’re confused on where to go. Plethora is terrified of people finding out cause he’s already got the walking target of being Trans on him, Cassandra is scared because she’s already been mocked for her dad having a gross relationship and she doesn’t want to be compared to him, and Brian still has his girlfriend. But ultimately it was actually Cassandras idea to just be a throuple. Which was unheard of back then. And everyone agreed.

Brian never officially dumped his girlfriend so she screamed at him in public once she found out, which just lead to Cassandra fighting her and breaking her nose. And then it was the three of them, an unstoppable force who no longer gave a shit about what people think. They didn’t want to work for society and they wanted to get rich and live a perfect life together. Which lead them to where they are now.

Communication for them was easy from the start since they’re all just really open books. But obviously like every single relationship in existence people have tendencies to keep secrets out of fear or just don’t know how to talk to people. But for a relationship to work they get over it and talk and be there for each other. So that’s why they have such a strong foundation and are willing to literally murder people for each other if necessary

#my ocs #alex banters #brian valentino #cassandra valentino #plethora valentino

1 note · View note

drarrily-we-row-along · 3 years

Text

Day 87: Personality Swap

"Gentleman! That is enough," McGonagall snapped and the fist that Harry had been throwing at Malfoy's face came to a screeching halt. "Get off of the floor, both of you."

Malfoy shoved Harry off of him and climbed to his feet, wiping a bit of blood from his nose. Harry winced as he used his sore wrist to push himself to his feet as well, just noticing that one of the lenses in his glasses was chipped.

"My office," she said. "Immediately."

She started off with the air of someone who knew they had complete control, an army captain perhaps, and Harry was powerless to do anything but follow. He may have killed Voldemort but that didn't mean he wasn't still terrified of her wrath.

"Right," she said, once they arrived at her office, "sit."

They did, Harry pointedly refused to look over at Malfoy.

"Enough is enough, gentlemen. How many fights have I broken up this month alone?" she asked.

It was a rhetorical question but Harry knew it had been seven (and that wasn't counting the ones she hadn't broken up).

She sighed and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes wearily. "I know the past year was harder on the both of you than it was on many other students. I won't pretend to understand your feelings and I won't try to tell you how to process and heal, but this can't continue."

Harry looked down at his hands, concentrating very hard on his thumbnail to try and counteract the way the world felt like it was shrinking in on him.

(Read more below the cut)

"So let's talk about it," she said reasonably.

Harry and Malfoy both groaned simultaneously, "But Professor-"

"No buts," she said cutting him off. "Mr. Potter, you go first. What is bothering you so about Mr. Malfoy?"

"I don't know," he grumbled, glaring down at his finger. "He's just," he trailed off uncertainly.

After a moment of silence she turned to the other boy. "Mr. Malfoy, same question."

"Honestly?" he said.

"That would be a refreshing change of pace," she replied.

"He's such an arrogant arse. Like, yes, you defeated the Dark Lord; great. Thanks so much and all, but can you stop rubbing it in everyone's faces all the time. We bloody know."

"I don't rub it in anyone's face!" Harry exploded because honestly, if everyone could just forget about it that would be preferable.

"Mr. Potter," she interrupted, "Would you like another chance at answering?"

Apparently the fire filling his veins would, "You were literally a death eater!" he exploded. "But you walk around with your nose in the air, acting like you're better than everyone else."

Malfoy inhaled but McGonagall cut him off, "I think I know what can solve this. Neither of you will believe the other unless you've experienced what their life is like," she mused. Then she rose from her desk and went to a cabinet filled with potions, "Here we are," she murmured as she picked up one that looked suspiciously like a polyjuice potion. "Give me one of your hairs, both of you."

Harry swallowed nervously but didn't dare disobey. Malfoy must have felt the same because he plucked a hair from his head and handed it over as well.

"This particular potion is brewed to last for about three hours," she said. "I'll expect you both in my office at that time," she informed them as she measured out two portions. "In the meantime, I want you to go and experience what life is like for the other. I'll inform Miss Parkinson, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger; we'll keep the three of them out of this experiment."

"You can't be serious, Professor!" Harry protested.

"I'm quite serious, Mr. Potter. It's either this or I make the two of you walk around holding hands during every waking moment for the next week."

At least the potion would be over in a few hours, Harry thought glumly. "Fine," he huffed.

"I thought you'd see it that way," she said as she nudged the two glasses across the table. "Bottoms up, gentlemen."

Harry took his and blew out a nervous huff before swallowing it down. It was awful but it somehow wasn't quite as terrible as he'd remembered it being. When he looked down at his hands, he saw that his skin had lightened, his fingers had lengthened, and everything felt a bit wrong.

"Off you pop," she said and Harry finally chanced a glance over to see his own image sitting in the chair next to him, squinting.

"Merlin, Potter, you're completely blind. Give me your hideous glasses."

He rolled his eyes, wondering if he looked as arrogant as Malfoy normally did, but handed his glasses over.

"Go," McGonagall said, "I'll see you in three hours. Good luck, gentlemen." As they started out, Harry could have sworn he heard her mutter, "You're going to need it."

----------

Harry had been ostracized by the school before. There had been times when people hadn't trusted him, when they'd believed rubbish printed about him, and when they'd wanted to stay as far away as they could.

Nothing had prepared him for what it was like to be Draco Malfoy.

For three hours people muttered unkind things under their breath, sent minor hexes flying at him when he back was turned, moved away from him the moment he sat down, had two drinks dumped on him, had a pile of books knocked from his arms, and all manner of other unpleasant things.

At first, Harry had still been angry enough that he felt like Malfoy deserved it. But as the three hours dragged on he started to feel more and more isolated, more and more alone. In all of the time he spent as Draco Malfoy, not one kind word was spoken to him and the kindest thing that anyone did was leave him alone.

He started back about five minutes early, only to run into Malfoy at the staircase. They stared at one another for a long moment before both of them blurted, "I'm sorry," at the same time.

Malfoy shook his head, "I-"

"No, let me go first," Harry insisted. "I thought that the reason you always acted so aloof was because you thought you were better than everyone else," he said, "but that's not why, is it?"

"It used to be," he said with a pained looking shrug.

"But not now," Harry said as he nodded slowly, "it must be lonely."

"Not any more than it is to be you," the other boy protested. "You're surrounded by people all day long who are fawning over you but it's impossible to know who is being genuine and who is just trying to get a piece of you because you're the savior."

As he finished saying that, the potion began to wear off and Harry watched as the boy in front of him returned to his body.

When he felt like himself again, Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, it's not a walk in the park being Harry Potter. Still," he said, "I think it's harder being you."

"I'm not so sure," the other boy laughed, "I think I'll take the animosity. At least I know where people stand."

He hummed, "I think I'm changing my mind on where I stand," Harry replied. "Do you think there might be room to stand beside you?"

A smile flickered across his face before it disappeared, "I don't know, with all of your adoring fans I think it's you we ought to be worried about."

"Maybe you'll scare them away," Harry laughed.

"One can only hope," Malfoy replied.

Harry gave him a little smile, "Could we try again?"

"I'd like that."

After a moment he held out his hand, "Harry Potter, don't believe a word you hear about me, I'm not half of the things people say I am."

The other boy stared at his hand for a long moment before taking it. "Draco Malfoy," he replied, "I probably was most of the things that people say I am but I'm trying hard to be better."

"Friends?"

"Friends."

---------

Day 86: Sixth Anniversary | Day 87: Heels, Make Up, Glitter, Gold

sorry friends, this one's a bit rough. It should really be fleshed out a bit more but I can't today. Someday I'll get back into the swing of things, I promise.

#drarry drabbles #drarry ficlets #100 drarry drabbles in 100 days #hogwarts 8th year

204 notes · View notes

thefairyletters · 3 years

Text

NaruSaku Fanfics

I wouldn't say much – I love NaruSaku and I hate to see great works shadowed behind the piles of popular NS stories that I never have liked as much except for a few, which also I'll drop below in the list.

I'll update this list whenever I come across a story that I particularly enjoy or finds worth spreading word across. So be sure to like and reblog this post so you can revisit it to add new story in your reading pile later.

Also, genres vary and are not mentioned, but does it make any difference as long as the story is good?

Warning: super long post featuring beautiful, beautiful stories that you wouldn't regret reading. I swear. I'm positive. Contains SNS and other side pairings.

Without further ado;

How I fell in love with my best friend: Krapo || ff.net || M || complete

How the little blond boy Sakura had always known had changed, changing as well her feelings. The unfolding of their life, while Naruto worked to become the best Hokage and she faced her own emotions. Growing Love.

(I have nothing but upmost reverence for this story. This author writes one of the nest NS and I have loved all. NS is beautiful and Sakura is badass. Everything we already know is here and more.)

Dangerous infiltration mission: Krapo || ff.net || M || complete

Naruto and Sakura are send by the Hokage for a difficult infiltration mission. They will have to face more than just the danger itself as they will have to keep their cover to be fake husband and wife credible. how it will impact the relationship between the two ninja. Growing Love. Misunderstanding.

(If you loved the aforementioned story, you'll love this one too. Mutual pining.)

All over again: Krapo || ff.net || M || post-war || complete

Sasuke come back, Team seven is reunited. But Sakura has lost Naruto. How will she make him fall in love with her again? What other difficulties lies ahead of them?

(Naruto loses memory. SasuSaku angst but not in romantic sense and I loved it all. Misunderstanding and more mutual pining. And I'm in love with this story too.)

Hit the floor running: Sakurablossom009 || A03 || M (but unnecessary) || Modern Hitman/Robbers AU || complete

Life was going great, Sakura thought. She was penniless, stranded in Europe without a way home, her fiancee had just dumped her for another woman AND her new companion was quite possibly a thief. How could things get any worse? Wait...was that guy pointing a gun at her?

(Now, personally, I don't prefer modern AU, but this story really had interesting characterisation and more character depth. NaruSaku is pretty spot on. It also features SasuHina and bamf!Hinata)

The greatest pretenders: snowyseas || ff.net || M || Borutoverse || ongoing

Fifteen years is a long time to not talk to someone you consider your best friend, and is made even more difficult when they (and you) are married. The things Sakura should have confronted Naruto about never came to fruition, but as an old saying goes, "the truth will always be revealed".

(Your typical I-made-a-wrong-choice-but-now-can-be-done story but unlike many other stories in this they don't admit their love for each chapter at the first chapter itself. In fact, it feels so canon and you can almost superimpose it upon the canon. Sakura is mentally strong and knows what's right. )

He was the sun: SavageTrickster || ff.net || T || Canonverse || ongoing

He had come a long way - from a lonely orphan ostracized by everyone to a loved hero. He deserved all these. His Hokage dream to come true. All the ramen he could eat. - Her eyes fell on a certain Hyuuga seated close enough for accidental touches. Her heart sank a little at a harsh whisper of reminder - And a deserving girl...who could give him all her love.

(So far so good. It's ongoing, and is at chapter 3. Sakura leaves Konoha much like how Naruto did, to explore the world aka seeing my headcanon in writing.)

Wilderness: Kanji no Sakka || M || canondivergent || ongoing

As the war screeches to a temporary halt, Naruto leaves the battlefield on a unique mission only he can complete. Sakura is ordered to go with him. In the days that follow their bond is changed forever.

(Although I hate any explicit stories that involve characters below age 17, I give this a pass because of the uniqueness of plot and characterisation. It has fine lemons that comes with a good plot.)

How It Should Have Been: OfPaintAndOil || ff.net || T || canon divergent || oneshot

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Sasuke was supposed to be the dark one, the unredeemable one. Naruto was the bright one, the good one. It wasn't supposed to be like this, with blood on his hands and glowing red eyes and a grin. Naruto was supposed to make everything better, and maybe he did, in the end, but Sakura had never expected the end to look quite like this.

(Featuring Yandere!Naruto. It leaves you wanting for more and is a fascinating read. It's dark themed so proceed with caution as your favorite character might or might not be dead.)

The Best Dates are the Cheap Ones: Shivakashi || ff.net || T || post!Timeskip || Oneshot

The whole point was to get the best date; that meant the richest and classiest guy, right? Sakura realizes what she has taken for granted and Ino learns a lesson in value.

(Sakura learns her lesson and snatches her boy. InoNaru is worth noting. Not the best characterisation of Sakura but bear with her jealousy for that is the reason why NS fluff exists. Story itself is very light and entertaining.)

mangoes and strawberries: ohthelinsanity || ff.net || T || postwar || oneshot

Sakura Haruno was elbow deep in Naruto Uzumaki's guts when he asked her to marry him. It was so not the right time. But she still said yes.

(This story just screams NS upon every single line. Diabetes warning. Too cute for this world. One of the best NS fluff I've read thus far. It kinda sticks to you forever!)

18 minutes, 23 seconds: ohthelinsanity || ff.net || T || postwar || oneshot

in which Naruto asks Sakura about that time she literally reached into his chest and grabbed his heart with her bare hand.

(Heartwarming. We all know how Sakura held Naruto's heart on her palms and how we love that moment. This is memory of that moment reminisced by our cutie pies.)

One Big Uzumaki Family: John Smith || ff.net || T || postwar || Complete

A set of drabbles revolving around Naruto, Sakura, and their children. It turns out that, when the war ends, these two get busy. Real busy.

(IF YOU DON'T READ THIS MASTERPIECE HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF NS FAN?!!! READ!!! This story should be on the top of your reading list.

UNDERRATED AF!

R e a d t h i s s t o r y and cry with me for this should have been canon. 100%)

My Life Would Suck Without You: peanutbutter126 || ff.net || T || oneshot collection

Sometimes it's the smallest things that matter the most.

(Read this and then One big Uzumaki family. You'll feel super satisfied. I promise.)

Colors and Carousels: Folle Sakura || ff.net || T || oneshot

She couldn't count the number of times she'd been mistaken for Naruto's girlfriend. Not that she minded. But Naruto acted like it was so… so… offensive.

(No words for this one. Just read and enjoy the confusion.)

Let's Get Married: luvtoshi || ff.net || M || postwar || complete

It was supposed to be a simple solution to their immediate problems. But maybe they took more than they can chew?

(This is one of my few favorites that is also popular. Spot on characterization and beautiful relationship growth. This is one of the few stories that always stuck to me.)

Chasing Smoke with Bare Hands: soulaire || ff.net || T || oneshot

"I could have loved her," Sasuke says flatly. "If she'd just given me the chance—" "Sakura gave you all the chances in the world," Kakashi cuts in, stern. "You underestimated her. And you underestimated her ability to walk away from you. At the core of it all, that's where things went wrong."

(This story is for those who loves both SS and NS but thinks Sakura deserves happier life than what she got in canon. Features NS and slight SS.)

Touch: ohthelinsanity || ff.net || T || oneshot

Kakashi watches as his student grow to be more physically comfortable with one another. He finds it kinda ridiculous.

(Fluff. Feelings. Kakashi's fed up and might have diabetes from all the observation.)

Moonlight shadows: luvtoshi || ff.net || T || oneshot

Sometimes, the moon brings out hidden feelings to the surface.

(Beautiful literature. NS feels. You can almost mistake it for canon with the way characters are written.)

Seriously Serious: Damsel in Shining Armor || ff.net || T || modern AU || oneshot

He confessed to her when they first met. He confessed to her years after. He confessed to her almost everyday. Her response was almost always positive... So why the heck was he still single? "I love you." "Love you too. So is Sasuke-kun taken or not?"

(The only reason why I even picked this story is that it is a oneshot. I have very little interest in modern AU. But this one makes another exception. Pining. Love at first sight.)

It was always you: luvtoshi || ff.net || M || postwar || complete

The war is long over. They have both grown. Now it's time to conclude their story. Naruto and Sakura.

(You know what, all stories from this author are just, Chef's kiss. )

A Safe Pair of Hands: Kanji no Sakka || ff.net || T || oneshot

Sakura heeds a stern warning to make it clear how she feels about Naruto.

(Feels. You'll love this if you like first person pov. This story told from Sakura's pov.)

Other Dreams: tricksie || ff.net || M || oneshot

"Naruto, you shouldn't endanger yourself—" "Stop it," he snapped. Dropping his arm to hook under her seat, Naruto pulled her firmly onto his hip, locking her to him. Sakura gasped, suddenly aware of just how very close they were.

(Sexual tension. Romance. Leaves you wanting. Also, high on feels and lust on equal measure.)

Heaven Unexpected: Folle || ff.net || M || oneshot

Because nothing can happen; it's Naruto. He always comes back. He's practically indestructible.

(Heavy on feels. There are chances that it might rain. Actually there are high chances. But oh well, it's beautiful and one of my favourites so here it goes.)

Shade of the Leaf: Ravyn || ff.net || T || canon divergent || complete

Sasuke is back. Naruto has joined ANBU. Sakura is spending more time in the hospital than in the field. Team 7 struggles to redefine itself, because sometimes you don't know what you really want after all.

(Featuring Mature but still in-character!Naruto, Badass!Sakura, (Bit)Supportive!Sasuke along with Team 7 friendship. Mutual pining. Ending but with a lot loose ends.)

Breaking Up Isn't that Hard to Do: Narf-for-the-Garthoc || ff.net || T || oneshot

This is not an epic tale of action, suspense and true love. Yeah, I'm disappointed, too.

(This is pure comedy. With a dash of romance. And insanity.)

Steamy Encounters: Narf-for-the-Garthoc || ff.net || T || oneshot

A flurry of coincidences and fateful machinations bring Naruto and Sakura together at the local baths. Can they rein in their animal passions? And do you really think that's the kind of story I write?

(Just r e a d. Please.)

Garden of Sanctuary: Nes Mikel || ff.net || T || Canon divergent || oneshot

An alternate ending to Naruto. The Heavens describe the Garden a peaceful paradise. The Hells describe the Garden a baneful prison. In here... which is it?

(This is part of a series which you can follow from the author's profile. This is the second part, but can be read exclusively. As far as the AU goes, this story and settings is brilliant and heartbreaking. This is told from Naruto's pov. To look at things from Sakura's, read the first part. It is multi-chaptered.)

Complications: Geno Calamari || ff.net || T || canon divergent || oneshot

While capturing the Kyuubi, Uchiha Itachi finds true adversaries in the form of Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto.

(Wanna see NaruSaku teamwork? This is it! You wouldn't find it anywhere better. Strong!Naruto, Strong!Sakura versus Itachi Uchiha)

Life is a waving feather: jusrecht || AO3 || T || AU || oneshot

Everyone thought they were inevitable.

(There's beauty in subtlety and this is that. Also, mentions of character death.)

Home: kirabook || AO3 || T || AU || complete

Shinachiku finds himself in a strange place with little to no explanation. Everyone he knows is there, but why are they acting so strangely? Why do they seem so different? And where is his home?

(Cute and heartwrenching at the same time. Cameo Stalker. Read this for NS family feels pre-marriage.)

Things we never say: thekatthatbarks || AO3 || T || oneshot

She wished she knew how to hold things lightly. There were some things she was terrified of breaking. Whether it be from an honest misstep or simply because she could.

(Reminds you why we love NS so much.)

Open seasons: sazzafraz || AO3 || T || SNS || postwar || oneshot

The way Sasuke comes home is less myth and more devastatingly embarrassing happenstance.

(Featuring badass!Sakura, obedient!Naruto and normal!Sasuke, as well as Sakura's commentary on her life)

Five things Sakura will never tell Naruto: sowell || AO3 || T || AU || oneshot

Kunoichi know how to keep their secrets.

(NS relationship analysis story.)

Artistic purposes: StormyInk || AO3 || M || AU || Oneshot

Sai finds his favorite drawing subjects a bit lacking of late, and he sets a plan into motion to draw his team mates together. Simply for the sake of his art, of course.

(Aka Sai is fed up from seeing his teammates dancing around each other and decides to help them get laid–the story. You gotta admit Sai is the best wingman.)

I collect my tears (so I can drown you in them): amako || AO3 || T || AU || complete

The hardest thing is letting go. Or Sakura sees Naruto falling in love with Shikamaru a little more every day, and she does the only thing she can think of. Then it's only a matter of learning how to stop loving Naruto.

(Sakura and Angst that has nothing to do with Sasuke. Featuring Sakura-sensei. And Shikamaru. It's a great story if you know when to let go of canon)

Stranger than the wild: kiddattwell || AO3 || M || SNS || postwar || Ongoing

The war is over and Sasuke is home for good, but Sakura can't choose between the boys she loves. Sasuke still has his demons and Naruto still fights them and Sakura still follows them both, but this time down a path that none of them expected.

(This is canon. It is the best SNS story I've ever read. Story told in SNS POV in rotation. Slow burn, pining and relationship complication. YOU GOTTA READ THIS, I INSIST!!!! Also features SaiIno and InoShika.)

Bringing Back Sasuke: Blue Jeans || ff.net || T || post war || oneshot

Naruto brings Sasuke back to Sakura. Many, many times over. Sasuke does not appreciate; not the blood and definitely not the angst.

(I've read this story multiple times and it gets funnier and makes your heart hurt and swell simultaneously each time. NaruSaku wouldn't be blissfully happy together without Sasuke thrown somewhere in the mix, that's exactly why I love SNS. This story perfectly represents the dynamic of team 7.)

Yurei: Kanji no Sakka || ff.net || T || AU || oneshot

The past should stay dead and buried, but it won't if Naruto can't let go.

(Not exactly my favourite story, but I liked the concept. We all know how stubborn Naruto is once decides on something. If he wants to become Hokage, he will become Hokage. If he believes in Sasuke, he will believe in him forever. If he loves Sakura, he will marry her – uh, or should have, very OCC of him that he didn't.)

Tag NS fan you know so they don't miss any of this!

#naruto #sakura haruno #naruto fanfiction #uzumaki naruto #fanfics #fanfiction #fanfiction reccomendations #fanfiction rec list #fanfiction recommendation #ff.net #ao3 #narusaku #i ship narusasusaku #i ship these two so much #naruto x sakura #sasusaku #kakashi hakate #shikasaku

961 notes · View notes

hannah-the-red-head · 3 years

Text

A Third Submission to the Imagines Society”

(League of villains meets an Autistic child with a quirk that is the definition of too good for this world and then some)

You were a tiny thing when Twice, Toga and Magne stumbled across you at the park, staring intently at what looked like your shoes with your back turned.

Magne summarized that you were most likely around 5 or 6 years old based on the kindergarten uniform you wore, the adorable hat hanging on your back while your (h/l), (h/s) (h/c) was out and about. Usually, the tree would lose interest after a while and go about their merry way.

But there was something about you that made them stay, Toga’s curiosity getting the best of her as she skipped over to where you were on your knees, she then peeked over a shoulder to see you staring in awe at butterfly that was softly moving it’s wings while resting on the petals of a blossom planted in the nearby garden.

It was one that she had never seen before, well at least in real life, but the sandy blonde remembered that she had once seen it on the internet somewhere.

It was a monarch butterfly, and last she or anyone else knew, the species were hanging by a thread and close to extinction over the last 56 years. She had admit that the pictures were close to nothing compared to the real thing as Toga watched with starry eyes at how the orange colors splashed with black and white glowed in the sunlight.

Magne herself, followed by Twice then decided to follow toga’s lead when she began to giggle like an actual schoolgirl instead of the blood obsessed vampire they knew and loved. The two peeking at the sight of both you and Toga being the surprising perches of a collection of what looked to be more Monarch butterflies that seemingly appeared out of no where.

And one of them was perched right on the tip of Toga’s nose.

Meanwhile, you had taken notice that you had a butterfly watching buddy the second you felt her crouched down next to you, your glowing (e/c) eyes staring at her with curiosity before deciding that she was interesting enough for you to deem her harmless, despite not knowing the truth.

Because in your young and innocent head, anyone that appreciated butterflies as much as you did was a good person and/or possible friend in your book.

She looked at you when she felt your eyes on her and gave you a big smile, which from what you learned meant that she was happy. So that meant that she likes you too. You smiled widely back and a series of bright rainbow colored balls of light lifted themselves off your little form, your quirk creating more butterflies from them while your new friend’s eyes sparkled.

Your quirk was called Wonder, the specialist who gave it that name having been inspired by the same emotion felt after witnessing you use your quirk at first hand to bring a rat back to life after it had been killed by a mousetrap, and later on when they returned back to the room to see that it had been filled with butterflies flying beautifully above them.

Nowadays, you mainly used your quirk to create butterflies.

Why?

Because butterflies made you happy, they made you calm, they took your worries away... and watching them was akin to what your therapist at the orphanage called stimming, your hand movements if you easily became overwhelmed resembling a butterfly flapping it’s delicate wings.

You were also fond of anything that felt like the texture closest to what you thought butterfly wings looked. However, this obsession was also the reason why your were ostracized by the other children, ignored completely by them at the worst despite how hard the workers at the orphanage tried to explain what your condition was.

You didn’t understand why the workers had the need to get the other kids to like you, if you wanted friends, you’d get some yourself on your own.

And you never understood why you had to take speech therapy, wasn’t writing in your notebook enough? You hated loud noises, they scared away things, things that are... nice.

Things like butterflies and rats and rabbits and deer, which meant that you couldn’t appreciate them anymore if they left.

So, why was there a need to make noise or let alone talk? You could never control how loud your voice was anyways. You didn’t care about how sometimes you overheard the caretakers at the orphanage whispered things about how alien you acted.

Which led to where you were now, little you having completely forgotten that you were separated from the other children heading back towards the orphanage after school had finished when you eyes spotted a flower that looked familiar until your quirk manifested the butterfly.

They sounded as if you were broken as a human.

When in reality you weren’t, you weren’t broken and needed to be fixed. At first it made you believe those words, but the moments where your eyes caught onto anything relating to those paper thin wings that radiated with the colors of the rainbow, you’re mind went to an alternate world where those who spoke about your strangeness were nonexistent.

It was then that you remembered seeing the same flower from the picture book at your school, the pink and green flora being the type of chosen roost for the orange, white and black insect to rest on if they got tired.

You never knew how much time passed when you felt your new friend’s presence near you until you turned around silently to see a schoolgirl older than your smiling peacefully at your creation, who then smiled at you.

Smiles meant something good, right?

Your quirk activated instinctually, your subconscious telling you to make your friend happy again by creating more things that made her happy, like how butterflies made you happy. You watched as the manifested insects flew over to the girl and rested on her shoulders, two nestled on the wild hair of her twin buns and one on her nose, the sensation of it’s delicate wings tickling her skin bringing a giggle out of her.

You copied her, giggling as well as you knew that laughing is what friends did. The exchange between you two led to a pair of others appearing behind your friend, the both of them watching in awe at how gentle you were.

Meanwhile in their perspective, Twice and big sis Magne were in awe.

This was a side of Toga that the pair had never seen before, so their interest in you grew steadily as they approached you both, seeing that the number of butterflies had grown the closer the became, the same orbs of light appearing to change into other species before the skies above the park had clouds of multicolored wings flying above like a piece of artwork created by nature.

It felt like a blessing to witness a sight like this, a much desired peace accomplished after so many months of being on the run from heroes and the police.

Twice jumped up and began to comically twirl about among the flocks of winged bugs, his splitting personalities having been silenced by the Nirvana he felt surrounding him, only stopping when he heard a few giggles left your mouth while you tried to keep up with him and Toga’s free styling dances without a care in the world.

The four of you not caring that you were getting strange looks and even scowls from those who crossed your paths in order to get a better look at the butterflies conjured by your beautiful quirk.

By the time the sun had set, you and your new friends had collapsed onto the grass, laughing in between breaths from all the fun you shared in those hours of innocent fun.

And you were the one to give that sense of childhood purity of fun back to them without realizing it. In your mind, you were happy that you had finally made friends by yourself as with a kick of your short legs you sat up and turned to the one closest to you, a tall woman with sunglasses and short hair the other two called “Big Sis Mag”.

You poked her cheek and she turned her face towards yours. Taking a deep breath, you decided to try something new that you hadn’t done or were comfortable with.

You: (Yy...yourrr n....nnamme!).... (Your Name)!

It was hard at first, being silent for most of your childhood being the reason as to why you sounded like a newborn attempting to say their first word. But the pride you felt as you pointed to yourself when you said your name clearly on the second try was amazing.

“Big Sis’” eyebrows shot up in surprise, and you understood why she was shocked as the only noises you made were giggles and squeals.

You: (Your name)!.... B-big sissy... Mmmmmag! Fr...friends! T-t-too...Toga! Fri..ends! Twi...Twice! Friends!

All three had unknown expressions present while you gave them a wide toothy grin that you had never given anyone except for your mama.

Twice: I think I’m gonna cry.... No, I’m not! Grow a pair!

Twice cartoonishly wept through his mask, tears that would only exist within an Animé pouring from the eyes of his black and grey mask before stopping almost immediately, his face changing to that of a stoic man drawn in comic books.

Toga just smiled at Twice, before a weak tug on her cardigan pulled her attentions to you, your arms held out wide and with an excited glow to you. You always remembered the warmth your mother’s hugs were growing up, how safe and loved you felt when your adorable self tackled her leg in a weak koala hug before she pulled you into her own arms.

Toga: Oh does (y/n)-chan want a hug?

You nodded and tackled the blonde, arms wrapped around her neck with you cheek pressed against hers, something your mother called “cuddle bumps” as you hated it when someone kissed you.

You: C-cu-cuddle bu-bumps!

Twice: I want cuddle bumps! No, I don’t that’s weird!

You nuzzled your cheek against hers, the teenage girl internally squealing and hugging you back as she was overcome with a sense of some maternal need to protect you and the light your little self emanated, both figuratively and literally as your quirk caused you to glow a warm pink color.

Toga playfully stuck out her tongue towards him, when an idea came to her.

—————

Shigaraki: And the most logical thing that you could ever think of in that moment.... was to bring this brat home?!

Toga’s cheeks puffed up as she hugged your little form from behind while you fiddled with your quirk, a manifested butterfly perched in the palm of your hand. You loved the feeling of your big sister’s soft cardigan as she hugged you.

Toga: Of course, Shiggy! I mean they’re an orphan left behind by those “caretakers”, we even waited to see if anyone would come looking.

Twice: Yeah, it was so nerve wracking! I was bored beyond belief....

Shigaraki let out an aggravated sigh, knowing that you had wormed your way into the hearts of the most in the league, Dabi being the first to cave when you used your quirk to soothe the pain in his burnt skin. He didn’t know why, but the fire quirk user’s eyes softened when you gazed up at his skin and your smile faded, a look of genuine worry that he possibly never experienced in some time as your tiny hand went up to hold his hand with the both of yours.

The rest of the already shocked league watching as an aura glowed from your small form, the glow then moving up your arms and finally covering Dabi in the glow before then pulling away into orbs that popped like soap bubbles filled with fireflies.

Dabi reacted in a way that not even he could describe as all the unbearable burning pain his scars brought him disappeared, a strange surge of.... calm washed over him.

It was the kind of calm that one would feel when a powerful storm dissipates, allowing the warm sun to bathe the earth once again.

And it was the type of calm that brought a heavy exhale out of Dabi, almost as if he had finally learned to breathe, tears falling down his cheeks and startling him, a hand shooting up to touch his wet face and pulling it away to see what was falling from his eyes.

This... made the tears fall harder.

Dabi had long forgotten what it felt like to cry actual salt water tears instead of blood. A relieved upwards tilt pulled at his lips as he fell to his knees before you, no words exchanged, just glances and a gentle grip of your joined hands.

You: No pain?

Your concern overweighed your struggling speech, your free hand raising up to hover next to his cheek. He chuckled softly, allowing you to place your hands onto his face.

Dabi: No pain. All better.

Your quirk was befitting for such a gentle, caring and kind being as you.

To put it simply, you could restore a person’s injuries, negative outlook on life due to traumatic experiences, and even their lost sense of morality via through your touch, being in your presence, or even by witnessing your creations first hand.

This was your power, a quirk that purified the evil living within this cruel world.

You could literally restore a person or persons lost sense of morality, your quirk changing a sociopathic killer into a saint seeking redemption just by spending an hour with you.

Your quirk also allowed you to heal any kind of wound or cure any illness, it could even replace missing limbs and the like as long as you kept your focus.

And it was meant to be protected.

Which is why you were taken into the protection of the league of villains, the only group of people who were the first to actually care for you after your mama’s passing, and didn’t speak badly of you or your condition.

Because they didn’t mind that you were autistic, they didn’t see you as broken or wrong. How did you know that they didn’t ostracize you?

They told you.

Twice: You, broken? Ha, that’s fresh! At least you don’t have more than one voice in your head...

Toga: My quirk needs me to drink the blood of the person i’m going to transform into in order for it to work, and because of that, I was pushed away by everyone for how creepy it made me look.

Magne: Anyone would be proud to call you their kid with a drop of a hat. So what if your special needs, it doesn’t make you any less human, sweetie.

Dabi didn’t say anything when you asked, in your broken speech, if you were broken. Instead, he just ruffled your hair and let you wear his jacket all day.

Compress: This world is filled with imperfections, but who is to say that imperfections are ugly and unwanted. To me, imperfections are where true beauty lies as it shows that despite their flaws, they try again and again to make themselves better.

Spinner: Kid, I am a walking talking lizard with pink hair and a desire to follow Stain’s path to create a society where only those who embody the traits of true heroes like All Might are allowed to become heroes.

You didn’t know how to react as he continued.

Spinner: If anything, you are the most normal out of all of us, so don’t go hating on yourself because you’re brain is wired differently. You’re perfect just the way you are.

Magne: Aww, that’s so sweet of you to say, Spinner!

Spinner: BIG SIS MAGNE?!?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?!

Toga: Enough to know that you give the best pep talks!~

436 notes · View notes

sfb123 · 3 years

Text

The Final Goodbye - Chapter 4 (Finale)

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 2

Pairing: Liam x Riley

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Description: In a slight canon divergence from book 2, Riley reaches her breaking point with the engagement tour and decides to restart her life when the court gets to NYC. Can the rest of the group clear her name, and convince her to come back before it’s too late?

Catch Up Here

Rating: PG (I think there are a few swear words in there, very angsty, but otherwise pretty mild)

Word Count: 2,525 (sorry, this is like twice as long as the others, but it’s worth it, I promise!)

A/N: We’ve made it to the end of the story. I appreciate you all so much for indulging me in this. I guess, technically, this is my first completed series (I promise, I’ll get back to Sapere Aude and A Taste of Cordonia soon!), so that’s a pretty exciting milestone for me. I really hope that at the end of this, you consider it worth your time.

I gush way too much over her, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop, because I’m truly blessed that we stumbled upon each other, so shout out @jessiembruno for all of your help with this, and with everything. I may have in person friends I go for walks with, but you’re still at the top of my list.

Tags: Listed below. If you’d like to be added or removed, just let me know!

Maxwell, Drake, and Hana sat in silence on the couch in Riley’s hotel room, reflecting on the day’s events. Bertrand had told Maxwell that he found her, but nobody else had seen or heard from her since. They weren’t sure if she had seen Tariq’s statement, and were even less sure it would matter.

Hana broke the silence. “I can’t believe we did it.”

“I can’t believe Riley isn’t here. We should all be victory dancing right now.” Maxwell replied.

Drake patted Maxwell on the back. “She’ll be back, she has to be. There’s no way she went through all of this just to give up in the home stretch.”

There was a gentle knock at the door, all three of them jumped up in the hopes that it was Riley. Maxwell ran to answer it, revealing Liam on the other side. “Oh, Liam. Hey.” Maxwell stepped back, allowing Liam to enter.

Unable to contain his grin, Liam entered the room and approached the group. “I had a feeling you all would come here. I came to see you as soon as I could.” He looked around, noticing that Riley wasn’t with them he turned back to Maxwell and noticed his nervous expression. “Where is the woman of the hour? I wanted to personally offer my congratulations.” His face fell as he noticed his friends fidgeting, unable to make eye contact with him. Even without his years of training, he was easily able to read the tone of the room. He knew something was wrong.

“Liam...why don’t you sit down for a minute.” Drake placed a hand on his shoulder and attempted to guide him toward the couch. Liam shrugged him off.

“No thank you Drake, I came to see Riley. If she’s not here, just tell me where she is and I will go to her.”

“We ah...we don’t know.” Drake awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, unable to meet Liam’s gaze. “This morning, after you left, Maxwell and I came to check on her and she wasn’t here. It looks like she never came back to the hotel last night.”

Liam felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He took a moment to compose himself, looking around the room at the sad faces of his friends. “She...she’s gone?” His voice barely above a whisper as he took a seat, afraid his legs were going to give out. “But you found Tariq, it’s over. Her name has been cleared. We finally have our chance to…” He dropped his head, cradling it in his hands. Hana sat beside him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. Drake and Maxwell looked at each other. Nobody knew what the next move was.

Liam sat in silence, his mind reeling with countless thoughts. All of the things he should have said, should have done. From the coronation, where he should have called her name, despite everything; to the previous night when he should have run after her the second she stepped off that stage. Maybe if he had gotten to her, he could have convinced her to stay just a little longer. He was so focused on retracing his mistakes over the last several weeks, that he did not hear the sound of a throat clearing at the door. It did get the attention of everyone else in the room, however. Their heads all snapped over to see Riley leaning against the doorframe, an awkward smile spread across her face. “Hey guys, what did I miss?”

The sound of her voice broke him from his thoughts. He looked up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Watching as she addressed the room, he took note that she was not meeting his eyes. He was preparing himself for the heartbreak that was about to come. She was only here to get her things, he was sure of it.

“Riley! You came back!” Maxwell ran to her full speed, pulling her into a hug so aggressive that her feet lifted off the ground. Once she was standing again, he pulled away and took her hand, rushing her toward the group. “What happened? We were afraid you were gone forever.”

There was an apprehension in Riley’s face that they hadn’t seen since the early days of the social season as her eyes scanned the room. She was trying to collect her thoughts and explain herself without letting it all explode out of her at once. As her eyes traveled in Liam’s direction, she moved her attention to the floor. She was sure he was upset with her, and if she saw any kind of sadness or disappointment in his face, she knew she would completely lose it. She focused her attention back on Maxwell, “You thought I was gone, and you still went through all of that trouble to go get Tariq and get him to make a statement?”

“Of course we did. You’re our friend, and we promised to help you.” Maxwell replied.

Riley took a shaky breath, trying to keep a handle on all of the emotions rushing through her at that moment. “I gave up on myself, and you guys kept fighting. I don’t think I will ever be able to thank you for that.”

She approached her friends individually, hugging them and speaking softly to each. Liam’s heart raced as he watched her move closer and closer to him, afraid for what that moment would bring. As Riley and Hana separated, Liam stood from his spot on the couch, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for what was about to come. For the first time since she had arrived, Riley and Liam locked eyes.

“Hi.” It was barely audible, but it was all Riley was able to choke out at that moment.

“Hello Riley.”

Tension filled the room as Liam and Riley stared into each other's eyes, each afraid to start the conversation. Drake, Maxwell, and Hana looked at eachother. “Alright, we’re going to take off. Brooks, good to have you back. We’ll see you in the morning.”

Drake and Hana walked toward the door, while Maxwell approached Riley. “Celebratory field trip to Coney Island tomorrow, Little Blossom. It’s going to be great!”

“MAXWELL!” He jumped at the sound of Drake’s voice, and rushed out of the room. Shutting the door behind him.

Liam decided to make the first move, he motioned toward the couch, “Would you like to sit?” Riley nodded and sat on the couch, turning her body so she was facing Liam, he did the same. “So...you left.” Riley nodded again, still struggling to speak. Liam needed to get the question out there, if this was going to be it, he needed to know now. “Do you...does that mean...have you changed your mind? About us?”

Riley’s eyes went wide, she wasn’t sure what to expect when they spoke, but she was not prepared to hear Liam question her love for him. “Liam, no! This wasn’t about us, about you even. It was about me.”

He reached for her hands as he took a brief sigh of relief. “Then talk to me Riley, what happened? Why did you leave?”

“It was just becoming too much, we were at that UN thing last night, another night where I had to watch her on your arm. She had sent me earlier in the day to pick up her wedding ring. I guess that was kind of like a reality check for me, that the wedding was coming. Time was running out. You’re supposed to be getting married in less than a week. Finding Tariq was starting to feel impossible. I was going to have to go back to Cordonia and watch you marry her. I know I told you that I would want to be in your life regardless, but as we got closer to a reality where I was going to have to live as your secret, I realized that I couldn’t do it. I can’t live my life like that, in a country where I have been ostracized, just to have little glimpses of a life with you. I love you more than anything, but I couldn’t live the rest of my life like that. I figured, since we’re already in New York, it would be easier to just break away now and try to restart.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me? Tell me you were feeling this way, we could have talked through it together. You just disappeared.” He brought a hand to her cheek, brushing away the tears that had fallen as she was speaking.

“I couldn’t tell you, I wouldn’t have been able to follow through with it if I did. You would have looked at me with those eyes, and said all those beautiful words that make me all mushy inside and I would have agreed to anything you said.”

The tears Liam had been trying to hold back slowly began to break free with her confession. He never wanted her to feel forced into anything, especially not by him. This whole thing had been his fault. She didn’t feel like she could be open with him, or she felt like when she was, he would railroad her into choosing his wants and needs above her own. That was never the life he wanted for either of them. “Riley, I am so sorry. The last thing I ever want is for you to feel like you can’t talk to me. I know that it has been...difficult for us to find moments to truly connect, but I had hoped that in those moments, we were being the best versions of ourselves. I had no idea I was so far off.”

“Liam, remember during the social season, all of the times where we would sneak away, or you’d spend an extra couple of minutes with me? You would always tell me how you were being unfair to the other suitors, and you were breaking the rules.” He nodded, a small smile playing across his face at the memories of their time together. “Your feelings for me were making you do things that you never would have done before. That’s what this engagement tour has been for me. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would never be ‘the other woman’, I would never come in between someone else’s relationship…”

“But you were never…”

She put a hand up to stop him from finishing his sentence. “...I was never the other woman, because your heart belongs to me. I know, that was your way of rationalizing it, and I love you so much that I started seeing it that way too. I would make excuses, that it was only temporary until we found Tariq, that Madeline had told you it would be ok. And I know she did, but I shouldn't have been ok with it. I compromised who I was, who I have been my whole life, because of my feelings for you. That’s not ok.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Liam, I want to be with you, more than anything, but not if you’re married to someone else. I deserve to be the only woman in your life, and on your arm, for show or otherwise. If you can’t give me that, I need to walk away.”

“Riley, my feelings for you have never changed, nor have my intentions. Now that the scandal is behind you, we can look forward to a future together, just the two of us. There are a few arrangements that need to be made, some conversations that I will need to have, but I need you to understand that everything is going to change from here. Our moment is right around the corner, if you can just stick with me a little longer.”

There was a rawness and vulnerability in his eyes that caused Riley to completely break down. As she began sobbing, Liam pulled her to her chest, his own tears falling freely. They sat there for several moments, purging the emotions they had been working so hard to hold back.

When they pulled away, Liam held Riley’s face in his hands staring deeply, desperately into her eyes. “Please Riley, just bear with me until the court leaves New York. If you are not satisfied with where things stand at that time, I will completely understand and support your decision to stay here.”

Riley blinked away the last of her tears as she considered Liam’s proposition. She slowly nodded her head, which was still being cradled in Liam’s hands. “Ok.”

He could barely hear the words escape her lips, but it was all he needed. Liam kissed the tear stains on each of her cheeks before placing a tender, lingering kiss on her lips. “I love you Riley, I love you so much. I promise, we’re going to get our forever.”

Riley wrapped her arms around Liam’s neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. He brought his arms around her, gently rubbing her back. “I love you too, Liam.” They sat in each other's arms, each comforting the other without saying a word.

“I should head to my room and try to get some sleep.” Liam broke the silence, standing and extending his hand to Riley. “Walk me to the door?”

She nodded, taking his hand and standing, leading him to the door. “You could stay here if you wanted.” She looked at him coyly.

“Riley my love, there is nothing I want more right now, but I can’t do that to you.” He brought her hand to his lips. “You’re right, you deserve to be the only woman in my life, and I am still technically engaged to Madeleine. I heard everything you said, and if anything more we’re to happen tonight, it wouldn’t be fair to you. To either of us. Just know that you will be the only thing on my mind until we are together again.” He leaned down, kissing her deeply, as he wrapped his free hand around her waist.

“Will you at least come with us to Coney Island tomorrow?” She asked hopefully.

“Only if you promise to ride with me on the Ferris wheel.”

She smiled, and Liam felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. It was at that moment that he knew they were going to be ok. “I think that can be arranged.”

He pulled her close for one last lingering hug. “Then I will be counting down the seconds.” He pulled away, kissing her on the cheek. “Goodnight, Riley.”

“Goodnight Liam.”

They shared a final smile before Liam exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Riley changed into her pajamas and got into bed. That night, she slept better than she had during the entire tour. She knew there was still a lot that needed to be figured out, and that it would likely be an uphill battle, but she was one step closer to walking up that hill hand in hand with Liam, and that’s all she had ever wanted in the first place.

Permatag:

@anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @bbrandy2002 @chemist-ana @choicesficwriterscreations @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @emkay512 @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @tessa-liam @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

The Final Goodbye:

@ao719 @burnsoslow @busywoman @itsjustwinter @ladyangel70 @mainstreetreader @shanzay44

Liam x Riley:

@jared2612

Liam:

@amandablink

115 notes · View notes

lesbianlenas · 3 years

Text

ok real quick let me just make a case for all of u why kara comes across as a lesbian even with supercorp completely out of the picture (and it is entirely the writers’ faults). if we look at season 1 and her relationship w james she pines for him for the entire season until he finally breaks up w lucy so they can go on a date together. the second that james openly returns her affections and wants to date her kara suddenly backs down and claims that she doesn’t have the time for a relationship. outside of the show we know why this happened but in universe this is a prime example of comp het ie having a crush on a guy but rejecting him once he actually signals towards returning the affection bc the crush is not really real. and james was a great target for kara to have this sort of a comp het crush on bc from the very beginning he admired her as supergirl and inspired her to want to be a hero even more and soon becomes a very good friend and is also unavailable. whereas winn made it very clear that he liked kara which immediately made her unable to form these feelings towards him bc she already knew he reciprocated and she did not want that. want to clarify here that i am saying kara is doing this subconsciously not intentionally.

now if we go to season 2 w monel kara is completely uninterested in monel and that is very obvious for the first half of the season. they don’t get along he degrades her and won’t listen to her and that is exactly the type of guy that kara would never want to be with. when he tells her he likes her she reacts with open discomfort and puts her face in her hands and rejects him. she only gives monel a chance after alex convinces her that she should and that it will be good for her so she can have smth like her and maggie did. which deep down is exactly what kara wants in the fact that alex is with another woman. so kara agrees to date monel bc 1. she can’t justify to alex why she shouldn’t and why she doesn’t like him and she can’t justify it to herself either so she needs to date him bc of course she likes guys! and he likes her so why should she say no when alex thinks they’d be good together 2. she DOES want what alex and maggie have and she is misdirecting that desire to be with another woman onto having a relationship in general w a man in the same way that alex is doing bc she doesn’t see herself as able to have any other options. the rest of their relationship notwithstanding notice how kara is unable to tell monel she loves him until he is being sent away 1. as a pity goodbye 2. bc she knows that she won’t have to deal w the consequences of saying it so it doesn’t HAVE to mean anything. season 3 kara doesn’t try to break him up w his wife bc she doesn’t want to. and she doesn’t ask him to stay bc she doesn’t want him to either. everything she felt for him was obviously entirely surface level and there was no true emotional connection there.

and then last we have the william situation which is another perfect example of this. william asks kara on a date and she says no bc she doesn’t want to go on a date w him. nia and alex both encourage her to date him and kara finally agrees. alex tells kara she looks good in blue and to wear that and kara wears purple. the date is awkward and they have no chemistry w each other whatsoever. and once again it’s bc kara doesn’t want it to work out. she doesn’t want william to think she looks good or to have a great time w her. she’s only going out w him bc the ppl she cares abt told her to and she feels like it’s expected of her and she has no real reason not to.

so basically my conclusion here is to say that kara has always been different bc she’s an alien and has never quite felt normal or human. and kara has done a lot of things and repressed herself in many ways so that she can feel like she’s human and pretend that she is despite not actually being human. one of the most fundamental “normal” human woman experiences is to date and fall in love with a man and i’m sure that this is smth that kara has had drilled into her head not just on earth but on krypton as well. to be a lesbian would be another way that kara isn’t normal and that she’s ostracized from society for smth abt herself that she can’t change. so it’s easier for her to put on a front (just like she has done ever since she came to earth all the time) and pretend to like guys and to date them bc it’s what her friends and family expect of her and she needs just one part of herself that can “fit in” even if the rest of her doesn’t. and she already bears the burden of coming out as an alien and as supergirl and to be gay too is just too much. i also think there is a case to be made for krypton likely being heavily conservative (perhaps the reason for kara’s reaction to alex’s coming out ie “but we aren’t allowed to accept those feelings about ourselves”) which means that kara will have been raised her entire life believing this part of her to be wrong and that she’d be letting down her family if she were to act on her desires and she already has enough guilt in that area. in any case the sg writers being the worst ever at writing romances has in my opinion led to a very convincing case that kara is just experiencing comp het towards men and is a lesbian.

#michelle speaks #i said real quick and then i spent like 20 mins typing this. and for what? my own appeasement?#this is the reason why i always write kara as a lesbian in my fics aside from the fact that i am a lesbian and i like her a lot #like she has this intricate development of comp het just interwoven into her narrative. i can’t see her w/o seeing that #& i mean there is still more i could say this is only part of it. but i think u get the idea from this.

117 notes · View notes

emkay512 · 3 years

Text

Once Upon A Time

Chapter 1

Summary: This starts at the beginning of TRR book 2 with the Fydelia ball but with a different series of events. This AU is based off the show Once Upon a Time with Riley and Liam mirroring Snow and Charming. Characters belong to Pixelberry.

A/N: This is my FIRST EVER post and it’s literal trash 😅 I’ve never written before I found you all, and I’ve never had so much fun reading all the stories I found. If you read this please know I’m a complete rookie and I have no idea what I’m doing haha. I welcome and encourage any thoughts and feedback!

A/N 2: my biggest thank you’s to @queenrileyrose and @bbrandy2002 for pre-reading and giving me endless boosts of confidence!!! This first ever, cherry popping post, is in honor of you ❤️

Warnings: This will contain NSFW adult language and content. By reading, you acknowledge you are 18 and over.

I’m tagging those I’ve connected with and thought would be interested. Please let me know if you do or don’t want to be tagged!

@burnsoslow @ao719 @kat-tia801 @callmeellabella @charlotteg234 @neotericthemis

The welcome ball had been exhausting. Riley finally saw them, all of them, the good and the bad. Mostly bad with Liam being the exception.. except the fact that with him came his stupid fiancée. She was forced to deal with the Penelope’s and Kiara’s of the court, and got none of the Olivia’s and Drake’s of the world, with Olivia blackmailed and Drake most likely avoiding the court. Majority of the conversations she had to deal with throughout the night consisted of her rebutting all the allegations against her, most people believing that she had jilted their king. At least she had Maxwell and Bertrand, her home away from home. With the maybe two seconds she had Liam to herself and the amount of work and effort she had to put into her first public appearance, she was completely drained and changed from a gown and into more comfortable leggings and tank after she got back to her room of the Fydelia estate. Just as she was decompressing from the stress of her night, there was a knock on the door. She opened the door to see a particular grin on the face of one Maxwell Beaumont carrying a vase of two dozen roses.

“Greetings, little blossom! One of the staff members stopped me on the way of delivering these, asking what room you were in and I insisted on catching you myself.” Maxwell invited himself into her room after handing her the arrangement. Riley pressed the roses to her nose, inhaling the beautiful scent, and she noticed a note wrapped around one of the stems. She unwrapped the note and turned to Maxwell, who had already cozied himself up on her bed, clearly excited to hear what was on the note. “I noticed the paper in the arrangement too, it’s clearly from Liam isn’t it? You did so great tonight and he had the biggest puppy dog eyes on you, I knew his Prince Charming ass would pull off something like this.. well, go on! Read it!”

Riley quickly unwrapped and read Liam’s note, she had no idea the girlish grin she had plastered on and Maxwell was beaming. He had hated these past few weeks so much, he had been watching one of his closest friends, his makeshift sister, live in desperate torment, questioning her worth after hearing nothing from those she cared most about. She put the roses down and placed the note down next to them and looked up at Maxwell, “He wants me to meet him on his balcony in 20 minutes..”

“That is charmingly romantic, but did he slip in his royal socks and tumble down Madeleine’s overly buffed stairs?? He’s clear across the estate, it’s way too dangerous for you to get out of here alone.”

Riley sighed and collapsed onto the bed with Maxwell, “I don’t know Max, his note is sweet and remorseful, but.. maybe this isn’t about getting back together.. maybe I should just focus on helping house Beaumont and getting home..”

Maxwell stretched across to Riley and smacked her across her head, “Come on, Riles! You have been unable to go a single day without asking about him.. at least twice a day! You NEED to go meet him, otherwise I think both of your little fairy tale hearts will die.”

Riley smirked and rolled her eyes, “You’re so dramatic! And please tell me what fairy tale involved a half nude photo scandal and public humiliation leading to a bullshit engagement between a king and the only ice queen that would rival both Olivia and Elsa while singing let it go? Plus, didn’t you just mention that it’d be too dangerous for me to get to him?”

“Hellooooooo?? Ok first of all, literally all fairy tales are structured that way, couple meets and falls in love, and a public enemy curses them with a dramatic, heartbreaking lie, and then they defile all enemies and live happily ever after.. you’re just living the 21st century version of that! Nudes are basically the most vanilla scandal these days anyway. And secondly, have you JUST met mr covert ops extraordinaire, Maxwell Beaumont!? I said it’d be too dangerous for you to go out alone. Let’s just simply walk out together, and if we get any questions, we can just say we’re meeting my brother for.. you know.. this and that diplomacy reason.. whatever, I’ll wing it. Plus, look at you, you’re already dressed for stealth. I just need to get you outside, and then you can scamper over to Liam’s side of the building. Whaddya say, blossom?”

Riley was exhilarated. Maxwell always knew how to say the right things. She locked eyes with him, pointed straight to his chest and said, “You son of a bitch, I’m in.” They shared a mischievous smile and giggled their way out of her room, totally giddy without even shutting the door all the way. They were completely unaware of the royal guard that had been manning her room and slipped inside.

Thanks to Maxwell, Riley had successfully snuck out of the estate and crept to below the balcony of Liam’s room. She had to think fast as to how the hell she’d get up there, and then she spotted the flower vine growing on a trellis against the building, and she let out a small victorious, “Yes!”

But as soon as she took a step in that direction, a hand grabbed her shoulder and jerked her around so she was facing one of the royal guards. “I don’t think so, lady Riley,” he put a heavy sarcastic emphasis on the term lady, as he was clearly disgusted by her newfound tarnished reputation. “You’re coming with us.”

“Us?” And then from behind her, another guard bagged her head and she felt the grip of two men on each of her arms as they forced her to their destination, practically dragging her as they went. Riley’s heart was thundering in her chest. Where were they taking her? Back to the airport? A jail cell? A dungeon? A firing squad? She wasn’t at all expecting what she got. She was sat on a decently comfortable chair. The guards removed the bag and revealed to see she was in a study. A large one. And there before her on the opposite end of a mighty desk, was the king father, Constantine.

Constantine nodded a dismal to both the guards, and they took their leave. “Well, well. If it isn’t the disgraced American.” Riley was utterly confused and could feel the former kings command in the mood of the room. He did not like her, and she could feel his dislike radiating off of him. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you, you foolish girl?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“You had your exit, your out. You were scandled. Ostracized! I even had you as far as at the airport gates. But no, you came back. You came back and left me back at square one on how to get rid of you!”

Realization dawned to her, “It was YOU!” Riley leapt to her feet. She felt no fear, only anger coursing through her. “YOU staged those photos, YOU unleashed Tariq on me.. and you timed the release of those photos, at the most prime time allowing maximum humiliation and zero time in between Liam’s announcement. You’re despicable, I bet you’re even disappointed that Tariq’s attack on me didn’t end.. didn’t end up the way he planned.” She had deliberately slowed her speech as each new revelation came to play in her head, she had lowered her voice with disdain and disgust.

Constantine let out a scoff-laugh at what he considered to be a poor attempt of exerting dominance. “You’re right, and quite honestly I don’t care what that pompous buffoon would have done to you, but I must say, those pictures certainly did deliver.” Constantine was teasing and patronizing her, “And now you’re here, still trying to get to my son.”

Riley crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him, “I don’t know what you’re tal-“

“Enough. I know everything.” He waved in front of her the very note that Liam had written inviting her to his balcony that he got from one of the guards. “You poisoned his heart, and now his marriage. And with that, the entire kingdom is poisoned, all because your feelings.” He spit the last word out as if he found it vile.

“I wish feelings could be helped, but they can’t.”

“Of course they can. Love is a disease, and like all diseases, it can be vanquished in one of two ways. A cure, or death.” Constantine stood and leaned both of his palms flat on the surface of the desk. “Do you know where your beloved is right now? He’s right down that hallway, he should be packing for his new life, prepared to take on his engagement tour to unify two Cordonian houses and assume the responsibilities and sacrifices it takes to be king. But no.. He’s pining for you. Awaiting your arrival.”

“And I suppose you intend to keep him that way? Waiting for me, only to be rejected, never knowing I came for him?” Riley’s voice was desperate, but still cunning in reality. She needed him to know her questionnaire was not doubtful, but challenging. That she hated his deliberate intentions.

“No. In fact, you’re gonna walk down that hallway. You’re gonna sneak in and tell him you got his note,” Constantine slid the note across the table, no longer wanting it in his possession, and Riley picked it up. “You’re gonna tell him why you answered his call.. Because you don’t love him. It’ll break his heart.. And that will cure him.”

Wide eyed, Riley could only assume the consequence if she didn’t do as he said, “Or you’ll kill me.” She stated with no question in her mind.

“Oh no. I’ll kill him. Killing you would only make him love you more. And the marriage and kingdom would ultimately crumble.”

“And what about your precious Madeleine? I know how this works this is all about mergers and business transactions. How else would you get Godfrey and his house to join with yours?”

“Please, if Liam were to die at an assassin’s hand, he would die a martyr. Godfrey would forgive, even laud, the death. And the merger would be complete.”

“You would do that to your own son?”

“I’m doing it FOR my son.” Love was once Constantine's weakness and it led to Eleanor’s death. It scarred him and he became brainwashed. Convinced love was the enemy. And now, the product of his foolish love, was Liam, who he groomed to be the perfect king. Constantine applauded himself all these years. It was clear as day that even Leo knew the job belonged to Liam, so Constantine did everything to assuage any of Liam’s hesitation into taking on his duty. He always planned on Liam being the logical one, ready to take on the duty and a loveless union. Then that damn New York trip happened. And that damn Riley came in the picture. Immediately Constantine couldn’t tell if he actually hated Riley, or if he hated the idea that Riley was basically the new version of Eleanor that he’d never have.

#the royal romance #TRR #choices #liam x riley #choices trr #liam x mc #king liam

83 notes · View notes

teatitty · 3 years

Note

*rolls up sleeves* As you wish! This is a long one though, so buckle up! ☆

So, in Lostbelt 6 we finally got Beryl's backstory. And it was every bit as awful as a lot of people had been surmising, if not worse. He did horrible things to Mash, and the worst part of all is it was justified in his mind through his "love" for her. But the crowning jewel of it all was it being confirmed that when Roman booted Beryl from Mash's room during the infamous "sneaking in incident" itself, he didn't do it kindly. It was also implied pretty strongly that not only was he not calm about throwing Beryl out, but that it was a miracle that Beryl walked away from the experience at all. This fits nicely with the "Romani is super protective of the people he cares about, almost to a fault, and can be absolutely vicious about it if pushed hard enough" vibe, which is cool. Very validating to see the doc getting to be more three-dimensional as a character. But we also know Roman is suuuper hard on himself, and tends to earnestly gather the opinions of others to assess who he is as a person. So I'd imagine he'd be a little out of sorts following such a huge event, especially since there's part of him that knows if he still had his clairvoyance, he could have prevented the entire thing from happening at all. But he's still a bit green as a normal human, and so not very good at hiding his emotions, and the turbulence he's feeling towards Beryl and himself and everything else is written aaalll over his face. And between the blaze in his eyes and the rumors spreading around Chaldea like wildfire, a lot of people start to... steer clear of him. Cautionary whispers start to circulate that it's best not to anger the Director's favorite doctor, that he's secretly a loose canon just waiting to unload on the next unfortunate soul to give him a chance. No one could be that sincere anyway, they reason, so it makes sense that Roman's bubbly facade was hiding something nasty beneath it. And Roman's seen this behavior before. The whispering, the distance, all of it. Being the King of Mages illicited similar reactions, after all, and he was no stranger to being, well, a stranger. So he settles in to the notion of a second life of isolation, and draws back from the people around him. It was only a matter of time before the jig was up anyway.

At least, that's what he was thinking before he was startled halfway back to the Throne by the resounding clink of a coffee cup being set down beside him. The clang was loud enough that the whole cafeteria came to a halt, the spotlight suddenly placed securely on the secluded little corner Romani had been brooding in, and truthfully he was half-afraid to look for fear that the empty cup of his own he'd been ignoring had shattered on its own. That was honestly the last thing he needed right now, more evidence that he was frothing at the mouth, right? But then a laugh like bells reached his ears, and he turned to see Leo standing there with the warmest, softest look he'd ever seen her wear. She looked angelic, absolutely ethereal, and the slight crease at her eyes seemed to say "it's all going to be okay now." Naturally, he blinked and it was gone, and with perfect timing Leonardo had slid into one of the seats opposed to him with a flourish, loudly proclaiming to the shock of the onlookers that it was near criminal to mope in the presence of a genius, especially one who'd brought coffee to share. Beside himself, Romani could only gawk, blinking owlishly at the Heroic Spirit who, up until this point, seemed to only regard him with frustration and mild annoyance at best. But if Da Vinci recollected such experiences, she didn't show it, her gaze instead regarding him as if they were the oldest of friends before sweeping around challengingly across her audience, daring them to speak against her judgement. And though it was a bit awkward at first, it was... nice to have someone to talk to, Roman thought. (Even someone who liked coffee with not nearly enough sugar in it).

Of course, that was hardly the end of it. And when the rumors spread to Leo, hissed in secret by concerned staff, suddenly people find that green wasn't quite so scary a color as blue. She listens to the stir with a smile sharp as the talons drumming idly on the table in front of her, and the look in her dazzling doe eyes threatens them to give her every last detail they know. The picture of poise, her champagne tone is so thick with murder you could paint with it, and yet crafted so artfully it leaves the gossipers wondering if they've hallucinated the malicious aura around them or not. But a genius knows the value of patience when weaving a trap, and so she waits, and she waits, and she waits. She provides polite insight, little nods that she was paying attention, and little else, little more. Just a friendly conversation.... until the gossipers have so thoroughly locked themselves in with lies it's almost too easy to obliterate them in their tracks.

You see, what nobody knew was that Leo was there when Roman through Beryl out, her instincts as a high ranking Heroic Spirit tipping her off to the sudden tidal wave of of mana coming from Mash's quarters in the medbay. She saw it all, from start to bloody finish, her presence missed among the commotion, and where others had found something to fear, Leo had felt the stir of an emotion far more ginger. How many times in her natural life had she wished for someone to protect her from the evils of the world like that? How many times had she wished in her cell for someone to sweep in and decimate the people who'd wronged her like that? Broader still, how many times had she borne witness to someone shaking their head sadly, or lamenting because yet another little girl had fallen prey to a predator who wielded too much power to ever be stopped? And yet here was this strange little pushover of a man, completely obliterating one of the Director's prized A-Team members to protect a little girl many had considered a pet project at most. She couldn't be sure about a lot of what she saw— mainly the mana where there should be none, or the strange, golden glint to Roman's eyes. But she knew she had witnessed something done in pure altruism, and that there was one less innocent who went undefended because of it. Leo was also quite used to being ostracized to various degrees herself, not that she took it personally of course! (aha...) Being such an eccentric, beautiful, charismatic, talented genius was a tough existence, after all! Not many could keep up with her, and insecure people get so mean sometimes. (Not to mention that it was even tougher when she was still back in Italy, and often twice as lonely.) So, seeing as she is also so very compassionate and wise, she simply could not allow the same fate to happen to Roman! Especially not over something like this! It was only right to rescue him from infinite exile. Anyone with a conscience would have done the same!

(But oh, if only she'd known how he'd rescue her too, and how preciously love could bloom, even in the arctic, even at the end of the world.)

GRIPS YOU TIGHTLY

ANON WE ARE ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH WITH THESE TWO, YOU UNDERSTAND WHY ME AND LYRE WERE ROMAVINCI STANS THE FIRST TIME WE SAW THEM TOGETHER, THEY ARE M A R R I E D BUT EVEN OUTSIDE OF THAT YES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS BEAUTIFUL META ON THEIR CHARACTERS AND HOW THEY INTERACT WITH PEOPLE AND ALSO FUCK BERYL LIVES ACTUALLY LMAOOO

#fgo spoilers #long post #romavinci nerd #romavinci #added the tag u suggested too since u wanted it uwu #amen to asks having longer word limits now btw #I wish i had better words to share #but i am instead flailing and squealing with delight #Anonymous #asks

25 notes · View notes

angelanimedesaray · 3 years

Text

Wings in the Dark Chapter 5: Camaraderie

AN: More Cat and Mouse. I swear its gonna start to crescendo, guys, we’re almost there XD There’s just so much to establish!

Characters: Fem!Vampire!Reader, Levi, Petra, Oluo, Gunther, Eld

Pairing: (Eventual) Levi x Fem!Vampire!Reader

Warnings: Language, Loneliness, Depressed Thoughts

Word Count: 8146

<----Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter---->

*Reader’s POV*

While it wasn’t the most shocking thing that had ever happened to you, being instated as a member, but not technically a member, of the Special Operations Squad was definitely up there on your list of most surprising things that had happened to you. The weird in-between position they gave you to try and mediate how unprecedented it was to have a rookie join Levi Squad after just one expedition may have been a glorified lackey, but it was still a position with Captain Levi’s Squad.

Of course, right now, that consisted of doing the menial chores, message delivery, and other small tasks like that, but you were still a part of the team. They’d only given you this aid position they’d made on the spot because you were so new, and it did a decent job of putting you at the bottom of the food chain until you were more seasoned. However, you were still considered part of Captain Levi’s Squad--you had your own private chambers and everything, which meant you wouldn’t have to worry about not waking up anyone while you snuck out of the barracks every once in a while to get something to eat.

Also, now that you were officially being placed with a squad, you knew what people you had to try and made friends with. Before you’d been hesitant--sure, you understood that the Scouts operated in a way that was going to make teamwork and camaraderie important, so you were going to have to be more social, but you still wanted to be careful about who you let get close. You still had an instinct to keep everyone at an arm’s length besides those you /had/ to keep close, which you had rationalized would include whoever you were put under and the rest of your squad.

While you’d known Levi was watching you and the rumors had been running rampant that a rookie would be joining his squad, you’d been well aware that he wasn’t watching you because he wanted to add you to the group--he was suspicious of you. That sparring match you’d had with him had tipped him off, and he hadn’t relented in his pursuit ever since then. In fact, when he’d told you that you were going to be a part of his squad, he didn’t look entirely pleased about it. Sure, Captain Levi was usually hard to read and usually appeared distant or unapproachable, but the look in his eyes had been...colder. It made you suspicious that having you on the squad had not been his decision, or at the very least it had been one he’d made despite his reservations.

Keep your enemies close, right?

Once it was on the table that this might be a position meant solely as an excuse to keep a closer eye on you, it made your skin crawl, and you approached every situation with caution. You had to watch every step, like you were walking across a tightrope and would drown if you slipped and fell into the waters down below.

When you’d joined the Scouts, you knew that it was going to be difficult to balance being a Scout with hiding your true nature, but this was far beyond what you had expected. It made you dearly wish that you had thrown that match back on the training grounds, that he’d never gotten a sense that you were hiding something so fiercely.

Soon, you were going to be kept up at night with an internal struggle to either stick it out and try to endure so you could do what you came here to do, or if you should just take off and slink back into the shadows.

But you couldn’t bear the thought of going back to that life, as much as it might have been ‘safer’ in a way. You wanted desperately to be here--but did you want it bad enough that you were going to throw all caution to the wind, risk the Captain getting too close to your secret. In the past, before you’d joined the military, you’d killed the people who came too close to exposing you. But that wasn’t an option, here. You knew how valuable Captain Levi was to the Scouts--humanity couldn’t afford to lose him, so you couldn’t afford to touch him. Your only choice was to play this god forsaken cat and mouse game and pray that you came out on top.

Thankfully, the other members of the squad weren’t aware of the cat and mouse you and Levi were caught up in--not yet, anyway. Though they were understandably confused and even a little irritated at the inclusion of a still-green rookie, even if it was as an aid. Maybe the aid position caused a bit more tension, because a new position had been created just so you could be added to the group.

Give it time, you told yourself as you continued cleaning your private room that had been assigned to you, currently working on cleaning the desk off until it had a polished shine to it. Even if Levi hadn’t added you to the squad because he necessarily wanted you here, you were still going to prove that you could belong here, if they would let you.

“Did you finish with the stables?”

“Yes, sir. Mucked out, equipment cleaned, horses fed, watered, and brushed, shoes cleaned, all of it.”

“What about cleaning inside, have you done all the tasks you were assigned?”

“All except what Oluo asked me to do. I haven’t got there yet."

"Well, get to it. And when you're done come down to the training grounds for some training."

"Yes, sir!"

As you walked away from Eld, your ears picked up on a passing comment he made to Gunther when he thought you were out of earshot.

“Is it just me, or is it frustrating how easily and quickly she tends to get all of her tasks done? I can’t even find anything wrong with it, so I can’t claim she’s rushing through it!”

"You too? I thought it was just Oluo complaining about that."

Just as you'd suspected. The others weren't pleased with your easy access to this position. They weren't going to say anything because they trusted Levi’s judgement and as far as they knew it was his decision, but that didn't mean they weren't going to be at least a little irritated. How long had it taken before they'd been added to Levi’s squad? How many expeditions, how much hard work? By all accounts, it looked like you'd had smooth and effortless sailing into a position among the elite.

The fact they kept having you do the shit chores was just a way to kick you back in the dirt and remind you that you were still a rookie, and they were the veterans with experience.

However, you didn't complain. You could do the jobs faster than anyone without loosing accuracy because of it. Not to mention you felt it might be cathartic for their frustrations. Though, now it seemed they had a new reason to be frustrated.

You'd tone it back to appease them, but Levi already knew what your full effort looked like with the cleaning jobs--he'd know you were holding back, and you highly doubted he'd appreciate that when it came to cleaning, knowing his standards.

Quickly, you made your way back inside and up to Oluo's chambers, stopping outside the door and giving a firm knock.

"Who's there?"

"It's L/N, you said you had a job for me to do?"

"It's about time you showed up. Get in here!"

After he'd officially invited you inside, you opened the door, stepping inside and expecting to see paperwork or supplies or something else you would have to deliver or put away.

Nope. Oluo was standing there with cleaning supplies presented in the middle of the room. You immediately knew where this was going, and even you could tell it wasn't going to end well.

"Start cleaning, rookie. I've got more important things I have to get done, and I want it shining by the time I get back," Oluo ordered, complete with a puffed out chest.

You were supposed to follow their orders without question, but you knew Oluo was taking advantage of that fact. Maybe he was hoping having you clean his quarters before Levi inspected them later today would help him look better to the Captain. But you were also certain that Levi would recognize that it was your work and not Oluo's

For Oluo's sake, since you were certain he would be the one getting in trouble, you pushed back slightly.

"Doesn't Captain Levi prefer if we clean our own spaces?" You asked as you picked up the broom. Oluo turned by the door, fixing you with the imitation of an expression befitting a superior who'd just heard a subordinate talk back.

"Huh? How long have you been here, rookie, compared to me?" Oluo challenged. You shrugged, turning back to the cleaning supplies and the room you were supposed to clean.

His funeral.

The window was open to let in natural light and try to chase away the gloomy atmosphere in your room, silence filling the space except for the birds outside and the scratching against the paper you were currently drawing on. Your eyes, however, were unfocused, looking past the piece you were drawing and instead getting lost in the sea of your depressed thoughts.

For three years you’d been back among people, mingling and being a part of society, but never had you felt so...ostracized. You were among people, but you weren’t close to anyone. Your peers thought you were a haughty perfectionist ice queen and were irritated by how easily everything came to you, Captain Levi was suspicious that there was something you were hiding and was watching your every move with a coldness in his eyes, and your new squad mates were currently using you as the gopher to dump all the chores they didn’t want to do onto you while giving you examining, dubious looks from a distance trying to figure out why you were even here.

You sat alone at meals, you didn’t go anywhere on your days off--the closest thing you had to a companion were the horses, and most of them were still frightened by you.

You wanted to be here, but...it was getting so hard just to be here. Was it really worth it if you were going to spend your days feeling like this?

On the paper spread out in front of you, you had a picture drawn from the mental image in your mind’s eye--a single flower in a barren spot surrounded by lush field. The sun shone everywhere else, but this single spot was cast in shadow. Despite the barren ground and the lack of sunlight, the flower was trying to bloom, partially budded, some petals trying to uncurl, but ice covered it’s petals and held prisoner it’s stem, restraining it in the icy chill, needing assistance but nothing around it willing or able to help.

You put down what you were drawing with, a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes as you headed over to your bed and stretched out on top of the neatly made covers, arms digging under the pillow you buried your face in before tears could overflow.

You were surrounded by people, but you’d never felt so lonely, and you wanted it to change. Even though you’d signed up for this and known it would be difficult, you couldn’t take living like this anymore. Something had to change. You didn’t know how you were going to keep your secret while trying to let people in enough to form bonds, but it was the only real option that you had.

The guys were all dubious of you, you could tell from overheard conversations and the looks in their eyes, but Petra...well, you thought if you were going to start trying to build a friendship somewhere, she might be the one to go to. She’d been a bit more...open, about the whole arrangement, and she was actually asking for help and trying to get a feel for you while everyone else seemed to be going out of their way to remind you that you were at the bottom of the food chain right now.

Starting tomorrow...you were going to try and be a companion and hopefully manage to find some friendship. Starting with Petra.

*Petra’s POV*

The mess hall was noisy as ever, making it a little surprising that Captain Levi was still sitting with them at the table after repeating the lecture he'd given Oluo later about doing his own cleaning. Now that Oluo had attempted to have the rookie clean his space and then pass it off as his own, the rest of them got to get the warning to do their own responsibilities without shoving them all off on the new girl.

Petra had felt bad that she seemed to be getting all the crap jobs nobody wanted to do and then some while the others seemed determined to make sure she knew her place, but she hadn't said anything because not once had the woman complained or looked the least bit upset by it. Until today, Petra had been unsure how to even approach her, something about her making her seem closed off and unreachable.

However, today she had approached Petra, quietly asking Petra if she would teach her the nuances for how everything was cleaned around here. Preferences of soaps and organization, what went where and the like. You could clean till everything shone like a new coin, bur preferences had to be taught or learned. She'd been aware of it, and she had been humble enough to approach Petra for answers.

It was only when she was approached that Petra suddenly realized how alone the woman seemed. She never ate with them--in fact she was certain she ate alone--and she was never seen around anyone from her years as a cadet, she didn't seem to leave headquarters to visit family, and if you needed to find her she was either alone in her room or with the horses in the stable. She was never with someone unless she was doing her job.

The thing that made Petra realize all this was how she was approached. The woman shifted her weight, a white knuckle grip on the broom in her hand despite visible restraint, her eyes fixed down and to the side, a slight tremble in her hand and a hunch of her shoulders like she was anticipating some negative reaction, or at least reluctance.

It wasn't right. She was part of their squad, and it was their job to make sure she felt included. Captain Levi must have felt that she was ready on some level to be here, and they were her comrades. At the very least, she should have a place among them--she shouldn't be so alone.

So, while everyone else was chatting as usual around the table, Petra kept an eye out for their new squad member. It took a while, but when the woman finally appeared and left the line to get her food, Petra attempted to catch her attention without the others noticing.

They locked gazes, and Y/N hesitated before she approached their table, making the others look up as she came astride the table.

"May I sit here?" she asked hesitantly, gaze flickering around at the others and lingering briefly on Captain Levi at the head of the table.

"Of course," Petra said instantly, gesturing to an empty seat beside her and flashing a look at the others daring them to disagree while Y/N was taking her seat. "It's about time you started sitting with your squad."

Her cheeks tinged pink in mild embarrassment, Y/N took a few bites of her meal, clearly uncertain about what to do next.

Well, if everyone else was just going to sit here in awkward silence, and Y/N wasn’t going to take the initiative because she wasn’t sure how, Petra would just have to do it herself.

“So, where are you from?” Petra asked her. It was probably the best, simple answer to get the ball rolling on conversation.

“A small town in Wall Rose--it tends to get overlooked, and it's usually quiet around there except the occasional scandal.”

“Do you have much family back home?”

“No, it’s just me.”

The way she said it was short, clearly ending the topic there, but she managed to not make it sound mean--just that she wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about it, which made sense. Petra continued to chat with her, asking simple questions to try and learn more about her, basing some off her observations of the woman--like if she was good with animals. Apparently animals weren’t always that fond of her, but she had a soft spot for them despite some animals distaste of her. She thought she might be good with cats or birds, but hadn’t really had the opportunity to test her theory out.

After a bit of back and forth between Petra and Y/N about their lives and learning about one another, the others started to join in as well--aside from Captain Levi, who seemed content to just focus on his meal and listen while everyone talked around him. As the conversation flowed a little more naturally, Y/N started to loosen up and relax, taking charge of the conversation a few times to ask about the others as well as she bloomed from a closed off background character in a novel to a more outgoing and engaging individual. It was quite the change to witness. She still withdrew into herself with more personal questions, especially about her past before joining the Scouts, which gave Petra the impression that the Scouts were a sort of fresh start for the woman. She shared with them why she’d joined the Scouts, which none of them could deny was a valid enough reason after seeing her in action. She had skill, and if she wanted those skills to be put to use, the Scouts were arguably the best place for them, and the faction of the military with the strongest need for them. Besides, who didn’t want to feel useful? Unfortunately, many Scouts died, and some died so quickly it was easy to wonder if their deaths ever had any meaning to begin with, if it had been worth it. However, Petra had the feeling this one wasn’t going to be one of those recruits that appeared and disappeared without ever leaving much of a mark. She just might be around for a while, especially if she was going to take the time to learn from the elites she’d been placed with and stayed grounded, level-headed, and smart.

As the questions drifted away from the personal, in part because of Y/N’s continued reluctance to delve too deeply into the personal, they started peppering her with the twenty-questions kinds of inquiries. What were her likes and dislikes, favorites, hobbies, fears, aspirations, that kind of thing. Some she was able to answer relatively quickly, even if it wasn’t simple, such as having no clear favorite because she liked so many, and other times she hesitated, such as when she was asked aspirations, because she hadn’t given it much thought, being so focused on this current stage of her life.

“What about biggest fears?”

“Oluo!” Petra protested, giving him a dirty look. They were all eating, and this question alone could get extremely dark considering the horrors they faced every day outside the wall.

“What? It’s a legitimate question. Some people are scared of spiders, others heights--though you don’t get much of that one in the military, I think--it could be all kinds of things.”

"I think the answer to that is a little too morbid for dinner conversation," Y/N said with a slightly weak smile, which made Petra think it might actually be something to do with Titans. If it was, it was probably best they didn’t hear it, just in case.

"Nah, it's fine, we're sharing--so what is it? Fire? Dolls? Dead fish?" Oluo asked cheekily.

"Um...being buried alive, actually," Y/N answered, looking down and picking at her food.

"Damn, that is a pretty scary thought. Wasn't expecting that one," Oluo muttered. Petra wasn’t paying attention to him--she was reading Y/N’s body language, how she’d seemed to withdraw into herself and her hand was trembling as she pushed around the food left on her plate. It was most likely at the thought of this fear of hers, if Petra had to guess. The mental imagery alone was terrifying.

At the other end of the table, Levi was staring at Y/N intently, having noticed the same things, and a little more.

“Now that Oluo has officially tried to sabotage the evening, let’s try some gossip: I hear you had a knack for sneaking out in the Cadet Corps and never got caught. What were you doing? I’ve heard some interesting theories,” Gunther said with a perceiving glint in his eyes. Y/N sighed even as everyone’s attention centered on her.

“God damn those rumors are going to follow me for the rest of my life, aren’t they?” she mused, not denying that she snuck out as she took a slow drink.

“Well, Rookie? Care to share?” Oluo asked as she sat down her drink.

She turned to look at the rest of the group, and then with an unreadable expression and in a completely deadpan tone, stated, "I strip naked in the pale moonlight and conduct blood rituals to achieve perfection."

There was a heartbeat, and then snorts, chuckles, a ripple of amusement through the group at the joke.

"Rookie's got a sense of humor," Oluo mused.

Y/N’s lips quirked towards a half smile, taking another drink. "Wish I could say the same for you."

There was a bit more laughter this time, even as Oluo scowled, no one bothering to hide their amusement at the comment.

"And some snark, to boot," Gunther snickered as Oluo sulked. “But really, though, what were you doing?”

Y/N sighed, setting down her drink again. “It wasn’t...actually, you know what,” she said with a sparkle in her eye and a mischievous smile. “I hear there’s a pot for the theories. Place bets on it, maybe one day I’ll actually tell you. Maybe I won’t.”

“Oh, come on,” Oluo complained loudly.

“Now that’s just mean,” Petra said with a cluck of her tongue and a shake of her head while Y/N settled back down, visibly proud of her teasing.

Caught up in their banter and companionable discussion, no one noticed how at the head of the table, laid back in his chair, Levi showed no sign of amusement, his gaze fixated on Y/N with a sharp, cold look.

*Reader’s POV*

After you’d taken your first steps towards developing a warmer relationship with your squad mates, things started to go a bit easier for you. You were still at the bottom of the food chain, and the responsibilities as an aid hadn’t changed, but you didn’t think you were getting as much shit dumped on you. It probably helped that Captain Levi had apparently given them a lecture about doing their own chores instead of getting lazy and shoving them all off on her.

For the most part, it was Petra that you were getting close to. The others were becoming cordial, and you had even approached Eld asking him if he could give you lessons on ODM gear technique after hearing he was quite skilled at utilizing the ODM gear. That seemed to have helped the relationship there--frankly, whenever you showed a bit of humility about still having a lot to learn, they warmed up a bit more.

It seemed there had been concerns that you would be an arrogant big headed pain in their asses with how quickly you’d shot into the elite squad, and showing them that you still considered yourself in a learning position and not above anyone helped assuage those fears.

Captain Levi...was as suspicious of you as ever. Except now you were around him enough to feel the chill in his gaze even after you left his presence. That was a relationship you weren’t sure you were in a position to improve. You’d given him plenty of reasons to be suspicious of you, but you were still trying your damnedest not to give him a reason to mistrust you. Maybe it would just take time to prove yourself in his eyes, but at this rate, it was looking like a /deep/ hole you were going to have to climb out of, and for some reason, it just kept getting deeper.

Since it was going to be the more difficult task, you resolved to worry about making a better relationship with Captain Levi later and instead focus on improving the relationship with your squad mates. Firstly, you didn’t want to be a kiss ass, especially cause you knew it would be obvious. Second, ideally by the time you set about improving your relationship with the Captain, he might have warmed up a bit to you.

At the very least, it would be nice if that chill wasn’t in his gaze anymore.

Right now, Petra was the closest thing to a confidant and friend that you had. After you had initially approached her about learning the nuances for cleaning, she’d taken the initiative to help you learn the ropes and adjust to the other nuances of being in Levi Squad, which involved a lot of dos and don’ts. She’d even pulled you aside one evening and sat you down so she could teach you how to properly make Captain Levi’s tea how he liked it, so that if or when he asked for it--and apparently he eventually asked everyone at some point, at least to gauge their tea making skills--you would be ready. You’d been down in the kitchen for a surprisingly long time for that one, since apparently Levi liked his black tea made a very specific way, and additives weren’t usually his preference, so there would be no masking any off taste.

Shortly after, you’d decided to let Petra know about your secret little garden with your tea making herbs. You’d gone when you both had some free time to spare, crouching down beside the garden and talking with her about the different herbs for your blends you’d added and why, complete with a prepared excuse about why the white sage was so far away from the rest and why you wore gloves when handling the plans at all times.

The white sage you told her needed to stay separate because it was aggressive and you didn’t want it taking over the smaller herbs, when you really kept it separate because it burned at the touch and you didn’t want to risk even accidentally brushing against it while you were working on this hobby of yours. As for the gloves, it was the same concept--it let you handle the sage safely without harming yourself, though you told her it was for cleanliness and to keep your natural oils off of the tea herb plants.

As you’d chatted about the herbs in your garden and potential additions (With Petra suggesting adding the plants necessary to make some black tea blends of your own), you’d caught a familiar scent on the breeze, which led you to hone your senses on the individual’s breathing and heartbeat. They were staying a safe distance away so as not to be noticed, but close enough that if something happened they would be there in an instant. They were tense and cautious, listening intently to what was being discussed.

It seemed Captain Levi had reached the point he didn’t trust you alone with the other members of Squad Levi in places that were hidden from the public eye. Your best guess for his presence was that it was out of concern for Petra, wanting to make sure the other woman was truly safe in your presence.

Once again, you understood his cautiousness, and he wasn’t wrong to be cautious...but the level of distrust still cut.

After about a week or so spent developing a stronger bond with your new squad mates, as the time for another feed drew closer, you decided to confide in some of your concerns with Petra regarding Captain Levi--that you felt you might have made a bad impression on him early on and wanted a way to thaw some of the ice between you two that wouldn’t look like bribery or like you were trying to kiss ass. You’d tossed a couple ideas around, already reassuring her that you were already intending to let time tell and let your own personality and abilities do most of the work, but that the chill was getting a little too uncomfortable on your end for you to keep going without making some kind of first step.

With an upcoming holiday and a debate about the best approach, you’d eventually settled on putting together a small gift of personalized tea blends. Since you didn’t have anything mature in your garden for black tea, you had to go into town to get missing ingredients, going with Petra to get her opinion on the best leaves, best tea bags, any additions that you didn’t have in your garden back with the Scouts or that hadn’t matured enough to use anything from it yet like your rosebush. After you had all of your materials, you’d headed back to HQ and stowed yourselves away in the kitchen to get to work.

Petra had the idea to make a couple different variations--there would be plain black tea, of course, but you’d also had some personal blends that you two decided on, mostly based off of Petra’s experience making Levi his tea when asked to, and her past observations of the few times he’d added something to it. You would have to divide and label the different teas in the container, but it would make it a little more personal.

However, you got her attention when you brought out the white sage, gloved hands grinding the herb up into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle.

“What’s that for?” she asked with a slight frown, watching you intently grinding at the white sage to make sure it was all powder and there weren’t any chunks left.

“I’m going...to add a light dusting of the white sage over the tea bags. Hopefully not enough to alter the taste, but it will still be in there,” you murmured, covered fingers running through the powder to check how fine you’d made it.

“I know there’s superstitions about white sage cleansing of evil and bad spirits, but I know the Captain isn’t, and you didn’t take me for the superstitious type. I just figured you had a fancy taste in tea,” Petra mused. You almost snorted, but stopped yourself short considering you were currently directly over the powdered sage and didn’t want it to go everywhere.

“While I’m sure the superstitious intent of cleansing and warding off evil adds a bit more personal good intent, the short version is that it’s also supposed to do wonders for your health. At least according to that book that’s still stashed in my desk,” you chuckled.

“I didn’t know that...a fine addition, then. You really pay attention to that herbology book of yours,” Petra quipped with a friendly smile, which you returned before setting the white sage aside for later, when your tea bags were finished.

Though only you would know it, if he kept the tea and used it frequently--which was fairly likely with how much tea he drank--then he would have white sage in his system frequently. That alone would protect him substantially from any other vampires lurking in the darkness. You couldn’t predict the actions of other vampires, especially with how impulsive they could sometimes be, but if you were this deep in the Scouts, you would rather be safe than sorry, especially if someone with ill intentions managed to work their way in.

Sure, white sage helped with general health, but the real reason you were adding it was for your own peace of mind to help protect Captain Levi. Why not take the opportunity to do so now that it had presented itself. If you were in the position to, you would give similar gifts of secret protection to more than just him, but you only had so much white sage, and right now, he was the one you had an excuse to do this for.

Now you just had to hope he would accept it.

*Levi’s POV*

As much as Erwin had a point about being able to keep a closer eye on L/N by having her in his squad, Levi was finding the arrangement to be...complicating. The way she presented herself, interacted with the others, the hard work she was putting in, he kept finding himself softening towards her because of it. She was a good soldier who truly put in the effort and then some, and she was quickly growing on the rest of the team. She was observant and thoughtful, and she paid close attention to the needs and preferences of the people around her. She wasn’t boastful or arrogant, and apparently was trying to learn something from every member of the squad. Petra had already taken her in like the natural mother hen she was and was around her quite often, but L/N could be seen around the others as well, just not as much.

For fuck’s sake, she’d even befriended his goddamn horse--he’d caught her in the stables sneaking him some oats and getting playfully nuzzled in return. From her track record, he knew she had to have put in the effort for that to happen, too, considering the horses started off at least spooked by her.

But he knew she was hiding something. He couldn’t ignore the signs he’d picked up on until now, how she dodged the personal and tried to keep her past hidden and buried, couldn’t forget the smell of the Underground and blood on her cape, her lack of a past, her unexplained, effortless natural skills, the regular sneaking out to do who knew what. Maybe it wasn’t as insidious as he kept thinking it might be, maybe he should ease up a bit instead of freezing her out and treating her like an already convicted traitor. But he couldn’t shake this feeling that whatever she was hiding was far from innocent, and he didn’t want to risk the betrayal, or getting his squad any more mixed up in it than they already were.

Though how well they were starting to take to her and how she was already being included into the fold, he was starting to get the sense that he was on a time limit before uncovering her as a traitor or something else terrible would cause unexpected damage.

Of course, he could take the paranoid route and assume that it was all clever, carefully planned movements, actions, and words meant to manipulate everyone around her into trusting her and letting their guards down. Unfortunately, not only was that extremely paranoid, but she didn’t lack the sincerity behind much of what she did like certain psychopaths he’d met in the past. She was very clearly hiding things, and she knew she was being watched, but her sincerity didn’t ring hollow because of it.

Fuck, he hated being in this position. And he really hated that he’d agreed to Erwin’s idea to put him in this situation. Even he knew he was being especially cold to her as if it would help put some distance between himself and the warm individual who was working her ass off for him and his squad in case the worst happened. If he was wrong, though, and what she was hiding wasn’t as malicious as he felt it might be, then he was going to have a lot of reparations to deal with going forward, especially since she was already on the fast track to be a part of his squad for a long time moving forward so long as she continued to survive the expeditions.

It would be so much easier if she just came clean. They wouldn’t have to do all this back and forth, cat and mouse, and they could move on. Unfortunately, even though she knew she was being watched and Levi was suspicious, she wasn’t saying anything beyond that comment she’d made the night before the expedition. Just another reason to believe whatever she was hiding was ugly.

There was a knock on his door, and his gaze flickered up to the shut door across from his desk, a faint frown on his face and Erwin’s findings about L/N spread out in front of him as he was in the middle of contemplating next moves.

“What?” he asked, squinting slightly at the door.

“It’s Y/N L/N. May I come in, Captain?”

Instinctively, Levi covered the documents he’d been looking at with anything that didn’t have to do with her, from supply shortage lists, reports from Hange and Erwin about the Scouts in general, anything but what he was looking at about her, knowing she had a sharp eye and not wanting to risk her seeing just how much he was aware of.

“Fine, come in,” Levi muttered, arm lying against the desk as the door opened after he spoke, and L/N came in hesitantly, something in hand.

A delivery, then. It was too much to hope she’d come to finally confess her secret to put an end to their unspoken chase. A pity.

As she approached, Levi noticed that she was rather fidgety, obviously nervous or at least a little embarrassed, and she was clutching the tin box in her hand rather rightly. What the hell was this about that suddenly she was a nervous cadet instead of the relatively calm and steady individual he’d been chasing secrets over up until now?

And then he remembered what day it was.

You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me...

As understanding lit up in his eyes, he held up a hand. “If this is an attempt at a bribe, L/N--”

“It’s not,” she said firmly, and Levi had to give credit to the balls she had to cut him off like that. She didn’t even seem to regret it, plowing forward before he could start down the path of rejection again.

“It’s a gift, no strings attached or anything like that. Petra and I put it together, it’s for the holiday...and it’s also partially a thank you, on my part,” she said before taking a deep breath, setting the box down on his desk neatly on a clean space front and center before stepping away. “I know I haven’t made the best impression, and you didn’t have to put me with your squad in any capacity, but you did, and I intend to make sure it’s not something you end up regretting.”

It seemed they were both well aware of the game they were trapped in, and she was well aware of her position. He had to give her credit for not bolting, if she knew the position she was in and how much scrutiny she was under. Either she didn’t feel what she had to hide was that serious, which wasn’t likely with how hard she was trying to hide it, or she was that confident in her abilities to keep the truth hidden.

He still wasn’t sure he could entirely believe that this wasn’t a bribe, though. It could very easily be taken as one, or at least a thinly veiled attempt to get him to like her--or at least not be as cold with her. And she’d involved Petra. It was almost like she’d name dropped the other woman in order to prevent him from immediately rejecting the gift, because it wasn’t just her that had put effort into it.

Levi stared her up and down intently, eyes narrowed slightly out of suspicion as he tried to gauge her intentions and sincerity. After a few tense moments where she simply endured his piercing stare without so much as a tremble--there was the collected individual he’d seen up until now--he looked away, down at the papers across his desk.

“If that’s all, you can go,” he said bluntly as a way of dismissal. She was lucky he wasn’t telling her to take it back. He wasn’t openly accepting it, either, he was still going to decide what to do with it, but he wasn’t sending it back with her, either.

It was the closest she was going to get to accepting a gift right now.

L/N snapped a salute, apparently deciding it was better not to say anything and to just take the semi-win and leave. Once the door shut behind her, Levi waited a few more moments before he put the random papers he’d grabbed back where they belonged, pulling the tin close so he could get a look at what was inside now that she’d left.

Opening the tin, the fragrance that escaped immediately told him what the gift was--black tea, but a variety of different blends. And it was good tea, too, if the scent was anything to go by. Groups of the tea bags were sectioned off, labeled by the variant they were, such as the one blend that included lemon, or the one that seemed to have blackberries in it. The tea bags were definitely homemade, telling him the blends were specially made by her and Petra, thought going into the ingredients. There was a white powder dusted over all the tea bags that turned out to be white sage upon closer inspection.

An odd choice...especially since it was on every tea bag and not certain blends.

The wild thought crossed his mind that they might be poisoned, and he scowled, attempting to brush aside the paranoia with the thought that it would be far too bold and obvious of a move, especially with Petra helping put it together. He doubted she would have been able to get such a thing past Petra, too, considering the woman’s experience making Levi’s tea.

I’m going fucking crazy, he thought to himself as, despite his rationalization, he pulled out one of the tea bags and started methodically pulling it apart piece by piece to make sure there wasn’t anything fatal slipped into the homemade blend. He made sure to avoid touching it as little as possible so it was still usable when he was done, shifting through the ingredients in the blend and making sure he recognized every one.

Nothing suspicious about it. Aside from the odd choice of white sage.

If it really was meant to be a bribe, though, did he want to take it? He didn’t want to waste the tea, so he wasn’t going to just throw it out. He could re-gift it to Hange or Erwin, but he knew that would be a slight, and L/N hadn’t been the only one to make it--Petra had helped.

Dammit…

He’d just have to let it sit there until he could figure out what he was going to do with it. He could speculate on conspiracy theories about what it was meant to be, if it really was anything more than a gift, until he figured out how he was going to handle it.

It really could be what she said, though--a gift for the holidays and a thank you, maybe even a peace offering in the hopes things wouldn’t continue to be so tense between them. The contention would continue, though, until he found out what she was hiding.

Levi settled back into what he’d been doing before she came to his office, looking over the details Erwin had provided him, a small frown on his face as he looked over official documents and police reports that were roughly forty years old about a double homicide in the town that had spawned local legends and horror stories to frighten children. Why was this included in the report Erwin gave him? One of the two victims was the girl that L/N shared a first name with, the only thing resembling a tangible connection to the town she claimed as her hometown that Erwin could find.

He was going to have to talk to Erwin and try to get a day or two off so he could go investigate in person. He needed more information than what was in these reports, and he would only find what he wanted by going there in person.

Once more, there was a knock on the door, this time followed immediately by a familiar voice calling, “Captain?”

Ah, this was a meeting he’d been waiting for.

“You can come in, Petra,” he called, finally putting away Erwin’s reports in a safe place as Petra entered the room and headed for Levi’s desk. She didn’t bother asking why he asked her to meet him, simply took a seat and waited for him to speak.

“What do you think about our new member?” Levi asked after he got settled in his seat. Petra’s surprised eyes wandered to the gift still sitting on the desk, a questioning look in her eyes even though she complied to answering his question.

“Do you mean in skills or compatibility?” Petra asked for clarification after a moment’s hesitation.

“Compatibility.”

He was already well aware of her skills--she wouldn’t have even been placed as an aid in the squad if she didn’t have skills to become one of the elite. Skill was one of the first things he looked at when choosing squad members.

Petra seemed even more confused that he was asking after her personality more than anything, but again, she didn’t question him.

“She’s quiet and reserved, for the most part, but after spending a couple weeks with her, once you manage to get her to open up she has a warm and caring personality. She’s a little socially timid, though, I’m sure you’ve noticed; like she’s thinking of how she should act before she does or says something. At least at first, before she gets more comfortable and gets into the flow of conversation.”

Petra paused to consider, a small frown on her face. “She’s a creature of habit, that’s for sure--she’s always wearing the same necklace, all the time--I’ve never seen her without it, and there’s certain places she’s always at during certain times of the day. I’m a little worried about her health, though. I didn’t notice it at first, but she hardly seems to eat. She doesn’t get much on her plate, and she’s always smuggling things that are safe for horses to eat to the stables to bribe the horses instead of eating it herself. She doesn’t seem affected, not yet anyway, but I’m still worried about it.”

Taking the mental notes for later in case that information proved important, Levi pressed a little further. “What about the others? It seems like she’s fitting in well.”

Petra nodded. “She’s getting lessons of some kind from almost everyone, and she’s been a lot better about being social. She’s making a genuine effort to be a part of the squad, and to be perfectly honest, I like having her around.”

“Anything else?”

Petra’s gaze flickered over to the box sitting on the desk again. “If it’s not too presumptuous, Captain--I don’t know what impression she made when you two first met. She mentioned it may not have been the best first impression, but...she really is trying to be worth the chance she’s been given to be a part of this squad, and her attempts appear genuine to me. Perhaps give her another chance to make a better impression.”

Levi didn’t answer her, and he kept his expression unreadable so she wouldn’t see his reaction to her words. It was more incentive for him to close this messy chapter, and it helped clear up his thoughts on how to act going forward if this secret didn’t turn out to be something crazy like treason or murder.

“Thank you, Petra. You can go, now,” Levi finally answered in an indifferent voice. Petra got up and gave a quick salute, then quietly left the room without any further comment. Once she was gone, Levi got to his feet with a slight sigh.

He needed to see Erwin.

Next Chapter---->

Levi Tags: @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier@whalerus @sunny-flo @thirstyforsometea

Wings in the Dark Tags: @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs @sociallyanxiousmouse

116 notes · View notes