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thosehallowedhalls · 2 months

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Home Without, Part 4

Book: Crimes of Passion

Pairing: M!Trystan Thorne x Emma Rose (F!MC)

Rating: Teen

Word count: ~2000

Summary: Trystan and Emma have cut off all contact. Will they finally move on?

A/N: We've made it to the final part! I hope it does justice to the previous three. Thank you all for following Trystan and Emma on this little adventure. They only needed a little competency to unlock this AU 🤭

Submission for @choicesmonthlychallenge, prompt: I never thought I'd see you again. @choicesficwriterscreations

Series masterlist

And then she does what she should have done from the beginning: she blocks his number.

This whole debacle has made one thing abundantly clear: she can’t move on if the temptation to contact him is always there. And she thinks the same applies to him. So really, she’s doing them both a favor.

Which is not to say it doesn’t hurt like hell.

But she doesn’t cry. She won’t let herself cry. Trystan was always going to marry royalty. At the very least, an aristocrat like Juliana. Isn’t that why she ended their relationship in the first place? Still, she might as well have stayed in Drakovia for all the distance she put between them over the past two months. She only has herself to blame for where she is now.

Never too late to rectify things, she decides, ignoring the little voice in her heart that whispers it won’t be so easy as all that.

If she thought that Trystan’s name and face were everywhere upon his recoronation, it’s nothing compared to what an all but confirmed royal engagement does. A handsome prince and a beautiful princess are tabloid catnip, especially with Trystan’s storied history to spice things up. The whole world can’t seem to get enough of him.

Emma can relate.

To combat it, she devotes herself to her work with renewed zest. She doesn’t check any social media, and she avoids looking at any and all magazine stands. She lasts four days before she cracks and, in a jumbled mix of morbid curiosity and jealousy, googles Trystan’s would-be fiancée. She spends fifteen minutes reading her Wikipedia page and an assortment of articles, before embarrassment, sorrow, and self-directed anger snap her out of it.

Still, she’s seen enough.

Princess Jia is beautiful, and she has a reputation for wit and kindness that Emma finds profoundly annoying. She wonders what Trystan thinks of her. After all, he fell in love with the last woman he entered into an arranged engagement with. Perhaps history will repeat itself.

She knows she should like that idea. Trystan deserves love in his life. She wonders if it’s a moral failing that she can’t bring herself to wish for it.

She openly changes the subject every time Luke and Ruby talk about him, subtlety be damned. It isn’t hard – Ruby picks up the baton after the first few times and begins to steer Luke away from the topic of Trystan whenever his name comes up. Still, she doesn’t talk to Emma about him, for which she’s grateful.

Until she does.

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Trystan?” She asks, lifting a hand when Emma opens her mouth. “Please don’t insult my intelligence by pretending not to know what I’m talking about.”

They’re sitting at a table in their favorite café, a hopelessly tacky place whose kitschy appearance only a true New Yorker would know to look beyond to the gem it truly is. It has the best coffee in the city, and it’s one of Emma and Ruby’s favorite places to hang out together.

“I wasn’t going to. I was just going to say I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ruby’s shoulders slump. “He really hurt you, didn’t he?”

It would be easier if she could say yes, but she shakes her head. “He didn’t hurt me. The circumstances did.”

Her friend sighs. “I really thought he would come back. He wanted to. It was obvious every time we saw him.”

“Yeah, well.” Emma sips her coffee. “It’s not about what he wants anymore.”

“Do you think he’ll be happy?”

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

“And you?”

Her smile is forced, but it’s there. “Oh, you know me. I always bounce back.”

She does at that, but it’s so hard this time. She thought she could adapt to being without Trystan again – she’s known him for all of five months, for God’s sake. Why does it feel like part of herself is missing? What kind of messed up codependency is that?

Except that she knows, deep down, it’s not about codependency. She can take care of herself without any issues; she doesn’t need Trystan. But she wants him. So much. And being without him now feels like a dagger through the heart, so consistent that she no longer remembers what it’s like to not feel its steady, piercing stab. It’s this soul-deep, unrelenting pain that drives one truth home: she loves Trystan. Perhaps she has always loved Trystan.

She tells herself she’s being an idiot. She’s known him for such a short time, and she was with him even less than that. But Emma knows love, and she knows what it's like when it’s ripped away from you. She may not have that much experience with this particular type, but she doesn’t need to understand it in order to feel it.

Six weeks to the day after she returned from Drakovia a second time, she’s not made any meaningful strides towards moving on. She’s beginning to wonder if she ever will, if Trystan will always be an open wound, hidden beneath layers of time and life.

With a sigh, she refocuses her attention on the case file she’s been examining. She’s barely reread the basic intel when her phone rings. With a frown, she accepts the call. “Uncle Tommy? Is something wrong?”

“Uh… Kid? There’s someone looking for you down here.”

“Now? What do they want?”

“You should probably come over and see,” he hedges.

She sighs. “I’ll be right there.”

Her mind is still on the file as she makes her way down the stairs and into the bar, but her mind goes blank and her heart lodges in her throat when she sees the man sitting at the counter alone, a glass of whiskey sitting untouched in front of him.

Trystan.

She doesn’t realize she said his name out loud until he turns to face her.

“Emma.” It’s barely more than a whisper, but she feels it down to her toes.

“W-what are you doing here? I never thought I’d see you again.”

He stands. “I had to see you.”

“So I gather. What I don’t get is why. Don’t you have a country to rule? Or a wedding to plan?”

Tommy looks between the two of them and turns to the patrons in the bar. “We’re closed, people! Drinks are on the house, now move it!” He gives Trystan one pointed glare before looking at Emma again. “Say the word and I’ll kick him out.”

“It’s fine. His Majesty here won’t be long.”

Tommy nods. “In that case I’ll just… go for a walk.”

When they’re left alone, Trystan and Emma only look at each other. He takes a tiny step forward, his hand raising as if to touch her, before he remembers that they’re not exactly on those terms anymore.

“I would’ve called, but you blocked my number.” At her skeptical look, he sighs. “And I was afraid you’d tell me not to come if I did call.”

“I would have.”

“Yes, I know. Can we talk?”

“Is that not what we’re doing?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, actually, I don’t. What’s going on, Trystan?”

He takes a deep breath. “I abdicated.”

She goes completely still. She isn’t sure she’s not hallucinating.

“Emma?”

“What did you just say?”

“I abdicated.”

Hearing it a second time snaps her synapses back into working order. “What do you mean you abdicated?”

His lips twitch, as if he can’t help but smile with her. “I mean I gave up the throne.”

“I’m not asking for the Merriam Webster definition, and you know it,” she says impatiently. “Just… why did you do that?”

He gives her a look. An I-can’t-believe-you-just-asked-me-that look. “What do you think?”

“You don’t mean me.”

“Of course I mean you.” He takes one step closer, then another, until they’re close enough to touch. “I did it because I love you. Because I’m in love with you. And I’m done pretending you're not the most important part of my life.”

She wouldn’t be able to speak past the knot in her throat if her life depended on it.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at a loss for words. It’s either enormously flattering, or a terrible sign for all my hopes and dreams.”

“What the hell happened? The last time we talked, you were adamant that staying in Drakovia was what you had to do.”

“You removed yourself from my life,” he says quietly. “Once you did, it became obvious that you’re the best part of it. I found myself hating the very country I was supposed to rule because it stood in the way of us. Hating myself for thinking there was ever any other choice but you.”

“Trystan,” she manages. “This is insane.”

“What’s insane is that it took me so long to figure out I would make a terrible king. Drakovia’s ruler ought to love her above all else. That was never going to be me, Emma. The one thing I love above all else is you.”

“You really mean it,” she whispers. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“What about your princess?”

A smile lights up his face. “First of all, she was never my princess. Second, she’s desperately relieved. It turns out that she’s in love with her childhood best friend but doesn’t know how to tell her parents yet. There’s a not inconsiderable chance she would have jilted me at the altar.”

A surprised laugh escapes her. “That must sting.”

He takes one more step forward. They’re only inches apart now. “Not at all. The only thing that would sting – that would break my heart– is if you don’t want me anymore.”

She’s pretty sure she resembles a cartoon character right now, what with the hearts she can feel in her eyes. But she takes a stab at one last half-hearted objection. “Aren’t you worried about leaving the country in Lydea’s hands?”

“Not in the slightest. I have you to thank for finally making things right with my sister. She will make a great queen. And I… well. I know Mafalda didn’t end up hiring anyone, so I’m hoping I still have a job.”

“Oh, you do, don’t you?”

“Mmhmm. But not nearly as much as I’m hoping I still have you.” He takes a deep breath. With a mounting sense of wonder, she realizes that he’s scared she’ll say no. “What do you say?”

She can only choke out three words. Then again, they’re the only words that matter. “I love you.”

His eyes glimmer with sudden tears. “Emma.”

“Are you honestly telling me you’re surprised?”

He grins. It’s the widest, most joyous smile she’s ever seen. “Maybe a little. Say it again.”

“I love you, Trystan. Bad jokes, concerning ego, and all.”

He laughs, a purely happy sound, before he frames her face in his hands. When he kisses her, it’s slow, achingly slow, even as it grows in intensity. Their breaths mingling, their mouths melding together… they both revel in the intimacy, neither in any rush to end this moment. When they break apart, he rests his forehead on hers, eyes closed, smiling slightly. Just… relishing each other.

Reveling in what they never thought they would have.

“I love you, too." His voice grows hoarse. "You're the love of my life, Emma. I want to spend what's left of it proving it to you."

She presses a soft kiss to his jaw. "I guess I could be persuaded to let you. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You let me do the same."

His smile is so full of joy, it makes her heart tremble. "You got yourself a deal, detective."

#trystan x emma #trystan x mc #crimes of passion #home without #playchoices

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retquits · 3 months

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1.6 is coming—see you march 19th!!! 🥹🌱

#stardew valley #can you imagine pouring blood sweat & tears into a game #releasing it for like $15 #and then working for 8 more years to add more content without asking for a cent more #for what could have easily been several dlc packs #i love you stardew valley i love you concernedape i love you indie games thank you for being my home all these years #EDIT: added image ID in the alt!!

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thatrandomblogsays · 5 months

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Annabeth: I, a child, had to earn Thalia’s love, that’s how the world works! I have to earn my moms love. Love is transactional, you gotta be worthy of it first silly :)

Percy, listening to this on the train

#STOP TRAUMATIZING THIS CHILD PLEASE #this is what it’s like when you were raised in a loving home and you find out your friend wasn’t #but they don’t know they weren’t #so you’re like um hey that’s fucked up and sometimes a crime?#you tell them parents are supposed to love you as is without earning it and they don’t believe you #you can hear the therapy bill racking up #annabeth chase #Percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #pjo series #pjo tv show #mine #adding on to my tags because some people are debating if that’s how love works #love is meant to be a mutual exchange and something that grows over time between two people as their bond grows #whereas how Annabeth says it #in my opinion at least #she had to do XY and Z to be worthy of thalias love before receiving it #like with her mother #she has to be amazing before Athena is proud of her #vs Athena being proud of her just for being her daughter #that being said I’m not hating on a traumatized child having potentially negative and toxic patterns #more pointing out the comedy of the scene from Percy’s perspective who has a good grasp on healthy vs unhealthy relationships

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refugeed-kim · 2 months

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YES YES I NEED THIS SIGN IN EVERY SINGLE PARK PLEASE

This is my daily struggle, I had so many arguments with people with off-leash dogs (in a mandatory leash area!!!). Thanks to this behavior I'm struggling with Kim being anxious/aggressive with other females as she often gets involved in unpleased interactions with free females while on leash. And every single time that I ask for the dog to be at least recalled, I'm being called names and insulted of course.

Also 9 out of 10 their dog isn't really that friendly at all.

#dogblr #dog #dog training #petblr #the most unpleasant part of owning a dog is having to deal with awful dog owners...#the richer the neighbourhood the worst are the owners #but of course the only park that isn't a hour-long drive from home it's full of this kind of people #I want to live in a city where there is enough space to actually walk without meeting anyone if we don't feel like it

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lazylittledragon · 5 months

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the only thing scarier than vampire lords/mind flayers/death cults is meeting the in-laws

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #tavstarion #i feel like he’s good at schmoozing but i’m not sure how much he would actually Enjoy it #he gives me extroverted introvert #being surrounded by a few hundred very pretty wood elves for a weekend is probably quite nice though #he might have a bitch sesh with dorian’s sisters #also i will keep making his outfits cuntier if it kills me #what’s that post about how wyll is the only character you could realistically bring home without disaster

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 30 days

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An unbothered queen has entered, and subsequently left.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wen qing #wen ning #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #In the audio drama she quite literally opens the door and then leaves after seeing them without breaking conversation.#It is both so impressive and deeply funny to me.#I imagine her just literally pivoting in one foot and walking right out.#She came home after a long day at work and in 0.5 seconds went “I would rather go back to the office than deal with this right now”.#Besides tickling me to near tears - this scene is also a great introduction to Wen Qing - her first instinct is to protect!#She lives by the code of 'I don't care who you are - if you need help I will lend it.' a true doctor and professional.#Sure she is *mad* that Wen Ning puts himself (and her to a lesser extent) at risk by helping 'the enemy' but she gives in quick.#I love Wen Qing a lot - she is such an unsung hero in this story.#Sorry that her first appearance on this blog was...what it was. I'll let your curiosity take you down that path...

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sketchquill · 19 days

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Howdy and Poppy role swap 🐛🥧

Here’s a bit of extra art of their designs for you guys ☆ ～('▽^人)

#Help I dunno how to draw a shirt on Poppy without it looking goofy 😭#welcome home #howdy pillar #poppy partridge #julie joyful #hiya pillar #biya pillar #welcome home howdy #welcome home poppy #welcome home julie #welcome home hiya #welcome home biya #welcome home fanart #welcome home puppet show #my art

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mobileleprechaun · 2 months

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The Pea

I'm very hung up on the symbolism of this dish, particularly with how it pertains to Eddie and his episode of severe emotional distress.

Eddie was all alone in his post office when we found him. Although he refused to state this outright, it was clear he was feeling excluded and forgotten by his neighbors. We have often seen him pushed to the margins of the community, only sought out for his utility to the others.

Barnaby openly delights in scaring and tormenting him, Howdy overworks him without sparing a second thought to his needs, Julie only calls upon him when she someone who's easy to drag into a game, Sally refuses to address him by name and treats his attempts at social connection with disdain, Wally and Poppy only have fleeting interactions with him, and Frank hides his burgeoning fondness behind a facade of cordial indifference.

The pea is alone, too, isolated on the stark white backdrop of the plate.

"Take care not to place them too close together." Even if there are more "peas" at this party, Eddie sits alone in Home's chair, denied the basic creature comforts of intimacy as he watches the others mingle.

The pea is also a pittance to Eddie. It is presented to him right after Sally's single, small attempt to show him goodwill, which she only bothers to do because it's a holiday.

She still does not address him by his name. The gesture, the pea, and the seat are all mere crumbs – too little, too late for a neglected outsider who struggles to make sense of the lonely, awful torment of his life in this Neighborhood, one which he cannot properly articulate for fear of sounding ungrateful.

Home stares him down from his lonely seat. Its presence is monolithic and ominous, a towering figure that only makes him feel more small and alone.

Is it intruding on his mind on purpose, trying to hurt him? Personally, I don't think so, though it still remains to be seen. His words to Frank at the end are telling, though. "I want to go home."

Whether it means to or not, Home torments him with its very being. It's both the elephant and the room. Eddie is an outsider. Eddie can't remember where he's from. Eddie sleeps in a post office after thanklessly running himself ragged every day. Home is the very reason for this holiday, and Eddie is homeless. It's staring him down because it's a symbol of everything he aches for, but cannot have.

Eddie is the single pea on Home's plate. Take care not to place him too close to anyone else.

#welcome home #eddie dear #home welcome home #welcome home analysis #this got a little loose at the end lol #had to get it out cuz it was tormenting me #goes without saying but the whole team deserves our praise for this beautiful update #welcome home spoilers #welcome home update

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monstermonger · 9 months

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A Night Sky in the Woods

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lastflowerofyourhouse · 5 months

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let me paint you a picture.

harrowhark nonagesimus is seventeen years old. a young seventeen. a horribly old seventeen. she has known one home in her entire life. she exists wholly and completely to protect it, and she has never treated it with anything but complete and ardent love. these people are not good, they have not been good to her or for her, but they are her family and she is their gaurdian, and it is home. she is a creature of habits and routines, and drearburh is everything she's ever known. she is seventeen.

and she recieves a letter. it offers her everything she needs. a way to protect her family, to save her home, to ensure that everything she knows and loves is safe and prosperous, and that they will never again need as desperately as they needed her. but she has to leave them. she has to leave them for the first time in her entire life, and she may never come back.

she is permitted to bring one person from home. only one. she may not bring the man who raised her, or the woman who advised her, or the vulnerable elderly whose lives she has been carefully extending since she was a child.

she has a cavalier, though. he is the very model of a drearburh cavalier. he is precisely what her competition will be expecting, and he will do whatever she asks of him. she knows he will try to escape, of course, because she knows they've got a shuttle coming. he and his mother will try to steal the shuttle, inevitably, if it arrives.

the solution is simple. cancel the shuttle. bar ortus's mother from the room when the announcement is made. there's nothing the mother can do.

but harrow doesn't do that. she doesn't cancel the shuttle. she wants them to take it. she doesn't want ortus. instead, she spends an entire night wrecking her hands in hard dirt, doesn't even use a shovel in her desperation. she doesn't want ortus.

harrowhark nonagesimus is going to be alone, in an unfamiliar environment, for the first time in her entire life. she is going to be barred from her only home, perhaps forever. she is seventeen years old.

and she wants gideon nav.

#thinking about how the last thing she said to gideon was “don't leave me” in this chilis tonight #“i am undone without you”#“i cannont concieve of a universe without you in it”#she was never going to leave home if she couldn't take gideon with her #harrow nonagesimus #griddlehark #the locked tomb #tlt #my post

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thosehallowedhalls · 3 months

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Home Without, Part 3

Book: Crimes of Passion

Pairing: M!Trystan Thorne x Emma Rose (F!MC)

Rating: Teen

Word count: ~2500

Summary: After their too brief reunion, Emma is headed back to New York. Will they cut off all contact again or will they find a way to remain in each other's lives?

A/N: One more part to go after this one! And, er, I apologize in advance.

Series masterlist

Emma testifies in court the next morning. It isn’t her first time being a witness, but she makes sure to be extra prepared. Vasili isn’t getting away with either murder - or with framing Trystan - on her watch.

Nonetheless, she doubts that this trial is anything more than a formality. Not only is Queen Viktoria convinced of his guilt, but they also have a roomful of Thornes ready to testify that Vasili admitted to everything. Most of the Thornes are in it for their own benefit, of course. But still.

When she’s done, Trystan asks her to leave with him.

“Shouldn’t we stay here? What if they need us?”

“They won’t. I testified two days ago, and you’ve already been questioned by the prosecution and cross-examined by the defense. Besides, if they need us, we’ll be a ten-minute drive away.”

“But don’t you have other things to do?” She insists even as he takes hold of her elbow and steers her along. “You’re kind of a big deal around here.”

“I would, but I cleared the next three days.”

She stops dead in her tracks. Trystan merely tugs a little harder. “You’re kidding.”

“My darling detective, do I look like the kidding type?” He raises an imperious hand when she opens her mouth. “Rhetorical question. I don’t know why you’re surprised. Didn’t we say we’d make the most of our days together?”

She waits until she’s sure the privacy partition is safely in place. “I didn’t realize that meant you were going to cancel everything. Aren’t you supposed to be ruling a country or something?”

“Drakovia is getting the rest of my life,” he says, a hint of bitterness peeking through. “It can give me three days.”

Her heart does a long, slow roll. “Trystan.”

His hand finds hers, but he doesn’t answer. Emma clears her throat. “Where are we going?”

“To one of my favorite places in Drakovia.” He gives her a sidelong glance. “The last place I visited before I was exiled.”

When she sees the zoo, she thinks she understands. She squeezes his hand. “It’s beautiful. Have you come here since you’ve been back?”

“Only once. It… wasn’t what I remembered.”

“What do you mean?”

“I usually came alone. It was my way of destressing.” He takes a deep breath, searching for the right words. “I enjoyed the solitude. I got so little of it; it was a relief to come here and be completely alone.”

“It is pretty empty.” She looks around. “Make that completely empty. Shouldn’t there be more people? It’s Friday.”

“There would be if I hadn’t told the director to clear the building.”

“That’s… rude, actually.”

He laughs. “You know, other people would think it was romantic.”

“Two things can be true. What about the people who made plans to come here today?”

“They can choose any other day.” A muscle goes off in his cheek. “We only have three days, Emma. I intend to make them count.” He holds out a hand. “Shall we?”

She looks him in the eye. Then she puts her hand in his. “Let’s. Tell me, what’s your favorite thing about this place?”

“That would be the otter enclosure.”

She gasps. “Otters? There are otters here?”

Trystan laughs again. “I knew it. Come on, let me show you.”

“So, you always came alone.”

They’re sitting on the edge of the pool, watching the otters play and somersault together under the clear June sky. Part of Emma is so delighted that she feels like a little kid. But the rest of her, most of her, zeroes in on what he was going to say.

“Hm?”

“Earlier, you said that you always came alone.”

“Yes. It gave me a chance to escape from all the people. All the expectations. A week after you left, I came here, hoping that at least this one part would be the same. But it wasn’t.” He turns intense eyes on her. “I didn’t want to be alone this time. I wanted to be with you.”

Her heart in her throat, she shakes her head. “Trystan…”

“I know. I just…” He trails a finger down her cheek. “I wish things were different.”

“So do I.”

Their gazes hold, a hundred unsaid things passing between them. But neither dares to vocalize them.

“How is the agency?” He asks finally. She isn’t sure if he’s changing the subject or trying to fulfill his longing for his old life. Maybe it’s both.

“Busy. Mafalda is talking about hiring somebody else. You know, to pick up the slack.”

“In other words, to replace me.”

“To fill an empty position.” She nudges him. “There is no replacing you.”

“Funny, I’ve been thinking the same thing about you.”

It’s a dangerous path to trod, but she can’t help herself. Perhaps she doesn’t want to. “Oh? How long have you been thinking this?”

“Since about one point five seconds since you got into that plane, so… a little over two months.”

“That long, huh?”

“Actively, yes. But I knew you were irreplaceable when you attempted to defeat me that first day, so maybe I should say four months.”

“Attempted? Please. I won fair and square.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” He exhales. “God, I’ve missed talking to you.”

“Me too. Have you… not had anyone to talk to here?”

“Well, there’s Mags, of course. But for all that she’s brilliant…”

“She’s still your little sister?”

He shakes his head. “She’s not you.”

Emma takes a deep breath. They can’t go further down this road. She’s already let herself venture deeper into it than she should have. “I understand the royal mascot is here as well?”

He gives her a knowing look but doesn’t call her out on the obvious attempt to change the subject. “That would be Orlenna, yes. This way.”

The next two days fly by.

Emma has never wished she could stop time as much as she does now, but that only seems to make it pass all the faster. Although they spend a good deal of their time with Ruby and Luke, Trystan whisks her away for at least a couple of hours every day. They visit the woods again, and he shows her all the places he used to sneak away to as a kid. A maze outside the opera house, a tower in the cathedral, a couple of cafés. The nights they always spend lost in each other.

Still, this time, beautiful as it is, is tinged by melancholy. The knowledge that these are the last days they’ll ever spend together looms large, casting a pall on every moment. They’re both careful not to acknowledge it – if there’s a thing they’re both good at, it’s dancing around the edges of a conversation.

Inevitably, the day comes when Trystan escorts them to the airport.

He's chatting with Luke and Ruby, and he's doing a great job of pretending not to feel anything but mild regret at seeing his friends go. But Emma, for all her training, can’t bring herself to fake cheeriness.

Then again, nobody ever expects cheeriness from her.

“You must be pretty busy now that we’re leaving,” Ruby says. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed you basically took three days off to show us around.”

Emma feels the weight of Trystan’s gaze on her before he answers the question. “Oh, you know. Meetings to attend, ribbons to cut, pets to knight. Nothing of any real consequence.”

“I’m pretty sure,” Emma cuts in, “that there’s a little bit more to ruling a country than meetings and ribbons.”

“My parents are the ones ruling. I’m just an apprentice.”

“When does the big upgrade kick in, anyway?” Luke asks. “On your coronation, the bishop said that your father will be abdicating when he hits sixty-five. It can’t be much longer.”

It feels like being punched in the solar plexus.

“Oh, not for a while just yet. How about I buy you a coffee? You three can’t face a twelve-hour flight without caffeine.”

“I’m sure we can manage,” Emma says lightly. “But don’t leave us in suspense. When can we say our friend the prince is our friend the king?”

A pause. Then, “Five weeks.”

The sudden drop in the pit of her stomach makes no sense. Trystan as king won’t be any more out of reach than Trystan as crown prince. But for some reason, it gives their separation a sense of finality that she isn’t ready for. “Well, we’ll get to say we knew you when.”

Ruby chimes in. “Oh! Look at that! They sell… what did you call it, Trystan? Belladi? Luke, we need to try it.”

She drags him away, leaving Trystan and Emma alone. With the small portion of her brain that isn’t wholly caught up in him, Emma files that away for further thought. It’s unfortunately clear that Ruby knows more than she thought.

The two remain silent, gazing at each other, until Trystan speaks. “Do you want me to keep you up to date on how the trial is going?”

They both know that she can easily search for updates online if she’s so inclined. She opens her mouth to say so, but what comes out is something else entirely. “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

She knows, even as she says the words, that she’ll come to regret them.

Being back in New York is different this time. Trystan texts her once a day, telling her who has testified and how it went. Within a week, he sends her the text she’s been waiting for.

She puts the phone down with mixed feelings. It’s a relief to know that Vasili has been convicted. But… the trial was her last link to Trystan. Now that it’s over, she doesn’t have a reason to stay in touch with him. And she has to get used to not having him in her life all over again.

Until her phone chimes the next afternoon. Her heart leaps when she sees the sender. She considers not answering, but... Well, who is she kidding?

The following morning, feeling herself on the verge of screaming, she picks up her phone before she can second-guess herself. She needs to talk to someone.

No. She needs to talk to Trystan.

An unspoken agreement passes between them. From then on, they stop pretending that the texting has anything to do with the trial.

Two days later, there's another text.

The tone of the texts is always lighthearted, and they’re both careful not to talk about them, both somehow aware that they're walking a tightrope that requires a delicate balance.

Which is why she’s so surprised when she receives a particular text on a Saturday afternoon.

Their communication ends after that. She doesn't understand what brought this on in the first place. Trystan seemed as eager as she was to keep their conversations platonic, regardless of whatever… undertone they couldn’t fully keep out of them. However unspoken the understanding, they've both always known it was either keep it friendly or end all contact.

It's her own fault, she thinks, for thinking they could ever be just friends. He wants more. She wants more. But regardless of their feelings, their circumstances remain unchanged. This was always going to happen.

Even as she begins to grieve their relationship yet again, she can't help but wonder why it happened so abruptly. What changed?

She gets her answer less than 24 hours later.

Emma’s waiting in line for coffee, when the group of women behind her makes the bottom drop out of her stomach.

“I can’t believe this guy went from exiled prince to king-to-be. Talk about a glow-up.”

“Well, he was framed. Looks like he deserves it.”

Another woman snorts. “Yeah, poor little rich boy. I’ll be exiled too if it means I can live the high life in a Manhattan penthouse.”

When the friends leave, Emma walks to the magazine stand they were browsing. There, on the cover of People, is a picture of Trystan with a beautiful woman in regal clothes. The headline knocks the breath out of her.

Trystan Thorne is engaged!

#trystan x emma #trystan x mc #trystan thorne #emma rose #crimes of passion #playchoices #home without

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puppetmaster13u · 4 months

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Prompt 169

Danny is from a world where everyone has wings, even if most have long since lost the ability to fly. Something about loading and aspect ratio, wings being too small, body too heavy, now mostly used as display, whatever.

It doesn’t matter even if he had blueprints from when he was like six of a jetpack to help fly. It won’t work anyway and hey, he has his ghost form! Which uh, might be perhaps, affecting his wings which were maybe sort of scorched black and practically down to the bone thanks to the accident.

It doesn’t matter, he swears. Though he’s admittedly relieved to see the new feathers growing in are different from Dan’s angry sunset. Even if they’re not even supposed to be able to grow back. Alright, this is fine, no one is going to notice! It’s not like everyone knows about the poor Fenton kid whose wings were absolutely destroyed thanks to an accident! It’s fine.

He’s not flying in a half-panic towards the Far Frozen while crying because his wings are coming back and he’s so scared. He didn’t panic and instantly fled the moment Jazz pointed them out while changing the bandages.

He definitely didn’t trip over something while wiping away said tears and blacking out from all the stress and all of his problems that he definitely mentioned to someone and isn’t keeping a secret. Definitely.

Hawkwoman and Hawkman would like everyone to know that neither of them were expecting a very small child to be spat out of the villain of that week’s machine that should definitely not be a portal. A very small child, maybe nine or ten, with a multitude of concerning wounds both old and fresh. Which isn’t even beginning to touch on the wings.

Feathered, like baby down despite the gnarled scars, unlike their own metallic, with the beginning of tiny specklings like stars amidst the darker fuzz peeking from the wounded flesh.

Who?! Who dared?! It’s (at least to the forever reincarnating duo) a literal baby! They still have down! Tiny baby fuzz! Was it the portal?! Oh this villain is going to taste their maces for causing this if that’s the case!

The rest of the Justice League would honestly like to know what just happened and are honestly unsure on if they should stop the two…

#dcxdp #dpxdc #prompts #wing au #Shayera & Carter: THAT IS A BABY #Danny who is still very distressed when he wakes up: I don’t know what’s going on & might start crying at any moment #He got brought to the Watchtower #Y’know what make it where his world is similar to a Flashpoint timeline & that’s why JL never came #He has no idea why he’s tiny and just wanted to go to one of his caretakers #The League is trying to figure out how to get this kid home but also subtly asking how his home life is #Danny: Oh I guess my bio-parent’s house is dangerous but my caretaker’s homes are really cool and safe!#The JL now think this child is in foster care of some sort in his world #Danny does nothing to dissuade this assumption #Honestly it’s really freaky for him to see people without wings & maybe clings to Hawkwoman & Hawkman #Look their wings might be metallic but at least they have them & he can actually recognize their body language #How can anyone deal with not being able to express with wings?!#Even if his were completely scorched from the Accident he could still move them and such!

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