#i did this manip once before

[elejahfanfic]

Amelia x Oliver_

@darknightfrombeyond

#amelia queen #oliver queen #ocappreciation #oc amelia queen #alternative universe #fanfiction #arrowverse #manip #a gift #there is still room fir dessert...😉 #time out #i did this manip once before #i think this one is better #amiver

[mechformers]

Reypaytun

[Reypaytun [ˈɾɛj.paj.tun] - Blood red (color) ]

6.7k words | Masterpost |

Tsu'tey x Human Reader

Summary: Tsu'tey wakes up after a night of vigorous lovemaking to blood smeared between your thighs. He does not take it well, panicking hard as he "flees the scene", effectively leaving you behind. Eventually, he learns what really happened and once he does, Tsu'tey is not afraid anymore.

Content warning: Period blood, Period, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Period Sex, Period Cunnilingus, Period Fingering, Squirting, Stomach/Belly Bulge, Size Difference, Na'vi/Human. Idk I feel like "Tsu'tey is not afraid anymore" should be a tag of its own lol

Authors Note: So this was supposed to be pure, filthy porking and nothing more. BUT(!) as with most things that I do, it caught a case of the feels and it became both angsty and filthy, and way out of hand... Sorry? lol Also, I stared too long at that manip and now it just looks stupid and wrong all over lol Might add it on a later date though, if I can find a way to make it look okay, and most definitely to Ao3 when that day comes lol Sorry, I know it won the poll T.T

Tsu'tey didn’t know how he managed to end up where he currently was, curled up behind you, a sky demon, after a long night of intense lovemaking. For months, he had battled with his own emotions, punished himself for the sheer betrayal his heart was pushing on him once he realized what the speeding of his heart actually meant. At first, he had thought it was a side effect of surviving the war with the sky demons - after falling from such a great height. But in the end, he had to be honest with himself that the speeding of his heart had happened long before the war officially came to a head.

No, Jakesully was to blame for this, and no one else. He had brought you with him when he convinced Eytukan and Mo’at to welcome Grace Augustine back into the clan. Along this Normspellman person, you had walked in beside them, a tiny little creature, speeding as fast as you could with your ridiculously small legs to keep up. You had been so helpless and pathetic that the sheer sight of you had made Tsu’tey angry at Jakesully to have allowed you to even join them. Had you been present with Jakesully and Grace Augustine when his betrayal was revealed, however, Tsu’tey knew that he would not have dealt with the situation as reasonably as he had. As it was, however, he ended up falling from the metallic flying machine, littered with bullet holes. Crashing through the forest to the ground, the sky demons greeted him with even more horror. When he came to again, it was your small hands that tended to him until Jakesully and Neytiri could bring him to Mo’at.

After losing his kuru, Tsu’tey had not been kind to anyone, but especially not to you in particular. The words he had said, the strength with which he had grabbed or shoved you, were beneath him, but the fact that it had happened, he could never hide from. And nor did he. Once he got his feet under himself again, once his mind cleared enough for him to realize a thing or two about this new life of his - he had nothing but the wellbeing of the clan and you on his mind. Convincing you to forgive him, to give him a chance, however, had not been easy. In fact, it had demanded all of Tsu’tey’s spare time to prove himself worthy of your affection.

In the end, you reluctantly agreed to date him - a sky people invention where two or more people become mates on a trial basis, to see if you’re compatible. It pained Tsu’tey to no extent to know that this was all you were willing to give him, that you trusted him just about as far as you could throw him. But he had done this, had caused this situation, he needed to stand steady in it or leave you be. Now, Tsu’tey was a lot of things, but a quitter, he had never been.

The courting process - the dating - had been long and difficult, but eventually, you had agreed to live with him in the kelku he had made specifically with you in mind. it had everything you needed within it and although you had been skeptical at first, after seeing all the hard work he had laid down with you in mind, something seemed to click right for once. It made Tsu’tey relax a little, made his anxiousness calm down enough for him to noticeably lighten up again. The first time he had cracked a joke or two, laughing joyfully, Jakesully had choked with surprise. It had been a very good feeling indeed.

With you in his life, everything just seemed easier. Laughter came easier to him, his normally stressed and harsh demeanor mellowed out and despite the fact that you are a sky person, Tsu’tey has never been happier in his life. It’s probably why he lets himself lose control while making love to you. The sounds you make beneath him, the gasped whispers of endearment as you cling to him only fuels his need for you further. For hours, he plows into you, driving you over the edge time and time again until you’re a sweaty mess beneath him, your skin slick and salty, and warm. As his cock presses as far as it can go into you, bulging your stomach enough that he can feel himself, Tsu’tey knows that there is nowhere he would rather be than right here in your arms.

Releasing one last time inside of you, Tsu’tey kisses your lips so softly, it makes you whine. Smiling down at you, he notices how your eyes glitter as you stare up at him. The right thing to do would be to clean you up, to bathe your sore muscles, but at that moment, Tsu’tey loses against the voice in the back of his head that’s telling him to let his scent seep into the very pores of your skin. You fall asleep in each other's arms like that, with loving words and soft kisses on your lips. It is the best few hours of sleep Tsu’tey has had in ages, the best sleep he has had in the month you have lived in their kelku.

But when Tsu'tey awakens early the next morning there's something wrong. Distantly, he registers an iron scent on the air that he knows all too well, but as his mind is slowly waking up, he doesn't pay it much mind. Instead, he runs his large hand over your small body, grabbing your small breast in his large hands as he kisses your shoulder, smiling into your skin as you too awake with a positively satisfied sigh. Tsu’tey runs his hand down your body, over your waist, squeezing your curved and soft hip appreciatively before continuing down to your subtle thighs, pulling a breathy moan from your lips that has his own skin erupt in a million small goosebumps. Continuing on his joyous morning journey, Tsu’tey presses his hand between your legs to find your core already wet and waiting for him. Pressing a finger into you, he lets out a rumble from deep within his chest at how ready you are for him.

Pulling back, Tsu’tey guides you over to lay on your back before slotting himself between your thighs, your hot, moist core smearing slick over his breastbone where it presses into you. Grinning up, he bends his head down, kissing your shoulder, your breasts, giving each nipple a good suck, before continuing down to your molten core, never breaking eye contact with you as he starts his breakfast. Your beautiful eyes are probably why he doesn’t notice the distinct coppery iron scent or the blood that is smeared on the inside of your thighs. Your breathy gasp as his thumb circles your pearl is probably why he doesn’t notice the bloody trail that has seeped from your puffed and raw cunt before he’s there. It takes him back with such shock that he's on his knees between your widespread thighs before either one of you can register what has happened. Lifting his hand to reach out to the blood, he's met with the bloody picture of his own digits between your bloody thighs and core.

"I have hurt you, yawne," Tsu’tey mumbles low, his voice small, even to his own ears. Getting up on your elbows to see what's going on, you look at the blood on his hands and on his chest before you look down at yourself, noticing the blood smeared between your thighs.

"Shit," you swear, clapping your thighs together, hiding your core from Tsu'tey's eyes in apparent shame. "It's alright, Tsu'tey. This happens."

It is alright?

This happens?

Tsu'tey can't believe what he's hearing. His careless mating has hurt you, has caused you to bleed from one of your most sacred places. The immense pain you must have been in while he took his pleasures from you… Shame floods through him and before you're able to say anything more, he gets up to his feet, grabs his tweng and bow, and flees your kelku. Running as fast as his legs can take him, Tsu’tey doesn’t stop until he’s crashing to his knees by the river. Vigorously, he scrubs his hand and chest until his skin feels raw. He can’t get the image of your bloodied cunt out of his head, nor the vulnerable way you had looked up at him. With great shame and stones weighing heavy in his heart, he gets up to meet the hunting party he was to be a part of that morning, only for the hunters to stare weirdly at him.

“Where is your battle band, brother? Your blade?” Atan asks as he steps up to him, Takuk closely following behind.

Patting the bottom of his ribs, he finds the skin bare from its usual protective layer. However, Tsu’tey could not go back to their kelku, even though you might not be there anymore. The sheer thought of crossing your path makes his ears bend painfully low against his skull with shame. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath before opening them again to stare at his old friend.

“I will go without,” He growls too harshly, making Atan look at him with concern.

“Brother, I do not think that is wise,” Atan starts, but Tsu’tey cuts him off.

“It will be fine,” Tsu’tey bites back at his friend.

“Go back home to get it, we will wait,” Takuk presses, his gentle voice making Tsu’tey sigh deeply.

“Let us go before the hunt will be in vain,” He doesn’t miss the way Atan and Takuk look at each other with worried expressions.

The hunt is not successful. Or at least, not on his part. Tsu’tey is unfocused and stressed, resulting in him missing each and every shot before he’s even able to let the arrows go. When they return, it is without honor for Tsu’tey. Without bidding his friends farewell, Tsu’tey leaves the party to stew alone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before Jakesully finds him and somehow that is even worse.

“What’s wrong, brother? Trouble in paradise?” Jakesully ask, immediately souring Tsu’tey’s already sour mood.

“Go away, demon,” Tsu’tey growls, noticing how harsh the words are spoken, making him involuntarily wince.

“Demon, huh? That bad?” Jakesully hums thoughtfully, falling into silence beside Tsu’tey. It takes hours of the two of them just sitting in silence together, Jakesully waiting him out, letting Tsu’tey wallow in his own shame and misery until finally, Tsu’tey breaks his silence.

“I hurt Y/n during our mating,” Tsu’tey admits, the words all but a whisper of shame, but of course, Jakesully hears them.

“Good hurt or bad hurt?” He asks as if there is a difference.

“There is no such thing as good hurt, Jakesully,” Tsu’tey growls angrily at his stupid friend.

“Trust me, brother there definitely is and I can assure you, with your size difference, there absolutely is,” The cheeky grin on Jakesully’s face is beyond infuriating to Tsu’tey.

“I made her bleed from her core, tell me where the good hurt is in that, demon,” Tsu’tey hisses before his shoulders slump, and the anger at Jakesully bleeds back into shame at his own actions.

“Oh…” Jakesully hums, his brother finally understanding Tsu’tey’s distress.

“And do you know what she said to me?” Tsu’tey huffs a humorless chuckle, “It is alright. This happens. Which means that it is not the first time I have hurt her like this, without noticing it - without her telling me. I have let her suffer because of my own greed,”

“Are you sure it isn’t just her period?” Jakesully hums, “I mean, she said this happens, right? The Na’vi don’t have them, but humans do. And it’s not as if she’s stopped your mating, right?”

“What is this period you are talking about?” Tsu’tey asks, because no, you haven't stopped their mating before. If anything, you have been overly eager for it.

“It’s uh… well, Y/n could probably explain it better, but each month human females bleed from their… you know,” Jakesully gestures between his legs, as if the word were somehow shameful.

“From the cunt?” Tsu’tey deadpans, watching as Jakesully’s ears flatten and his cheeks darken with heat.

“So crude,” Jakesully sighs before grinning, “But yeah. It's their reproductive organs, their uh… uterus? The womb. Shredding itself to prep-”

“Shredding itself?” Tsu’tey interrupts, his eyes huge as worry overcomes him.

“It’s uh, it’s her body’s way of preparing a new egg to be fertilized so that she can become pregnant - uh with child, after the current egg didn’t take,” Jakesully hastily continues, his discomfort so clear on his face and in his voice.

“So she is laying an egg?” Tsu’tey fills in, feeling bad for not having succeeded in fertilizing the egg you had worked so hard to prepare for him - for them.

“What? Fuck, no,” Jakesully barks, wiping his hands over his face, “Shit… uh, female humans carry a child in their stomachs, in their womb. It’s a… aw hell, I don’t know what it is, alright. There’s an egg, you jizz in her, she might become pregnant and the egg will develop into a child. If she doesn’t become pregnant, the egg will get washed out with the blood before being replaced with a new one.”

“I see,” Tsu’tey hums, but in reality, he does not see anything. Whatever Jakesully is talking about sounds weird and alien to his ears.

“Some women are in really great pain because of it, while others… - brother, where are you going?” Jakesully shouts after him, but all Tsu’tey can focus on is getting to your kelku as fast as possible.

He had left you alone in your kelku while you possibly were in great pain. He had left you there, too caught up in his own shame and emotions to hear you out when you had tried to explain it to him. Passing his people, he takes no care of them as he rushes as fast as his long legs can take him. Eventually, he’s crashing through the doorway of your kelku making you gasp with surprise where you’re preparing a yovo fruit for yourself.

“Yawne,” He pants, entirely out of breath.

“Are you alright, Tsu’tey?” Your worried words greet him as you put the knife down to greet him.

“Am I… Yawne, I did not know,” Tsu’tey falls to his knees before you, pressing his forehead to your stomach as he bends in on himself. Your hands immediately come up to hold him, your tiny hands gently caressing the base of what remains of his kuru, as you hold him close.

“Are you in pain?” He continues after lifting his head when his worries start to soothe, “Is the egg causing you pain?”

“Ah, you’ve talked with Jake I take it?” You hum with a soft chuckle, your beautiful eyes glittering as you look up at him in amusement.

“I have,” Tsu’tey confirms, bending his head down to look at you. “I do not fully understand, Jakesully mentioned that you might be in great pain, and I… Yawne, I left you,”

“It’s alright, yawntu, this is new for you. I would have warned you, but I didn’t expect it to come so soon,” You look down at him with your gentle eyes as if he hung the stars in the sky.

“I thought that I had hurt you,” He mumbles shamefully, “That I had caused you to bleed,”

“So your first cause of action at seeing me bleed would be to run away, got it,” You grinned up at him, teasing him as if this was somehow funny to you.

“Yawne! I…-” He starts, the protest and shame flaring up inside of him. How could he have acted this disgracefully to his mate?

“I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding, Tsu’tey,” You laugh openly as you push his head down into your stomach again, your weak arms holding him close as you chuckle.

“I have disgraced our bond, Y/n,” Tsu’tey starts, his heart breaking in his chest.

“Hey, no, Tsu’tey,” You urge, pushing his head up so that he’s kneeling before you at eye level instead. “Listen to me closely, alright?”

You don’t continue before Tsu’tey reluctantly nods his head, your small hands still on his face, comforting him through what must be a quite distressing time for you.

“Reacting as you did to seeing blood is alright. Especially for someone who has experienced violence as you have,” You pause until Tsu’tey realizes that you’re waiting for him to nod his head in understanding, “We mate with such passion that your conclusion wasn’t farfetched,”

“I do not know this word; farfetched,” Tsu’tey looks into your eyes, reveling in your patience with him.

“It means that it was not a foolish conclusion to come to, that it was within your right to think of it,” You smile again as if he has hung the stars in the sky while your thumbs caress his cheekbones comfortingly. “I’m small compared to you, and you are certainly huge in all aspects of the word,”

Tsu’tey can’t keep his chest from puffing up with pride, no more than he can keep his lips from forming a smug smile. Huffing up at him, your fingers take hold of the base on his ears, making them twitch.

“Behave, yawntu,” You grin up at him, letting him know that it is all in fond fun. “You have never and will never hurt me while mating, Tsu’tey. I don’t know if you’re even capable of doing such a thing,”

You stare up at him while he lets your words sink in, coming to the conclusion that you know best and that Tsu’tey has to trust your judgment. Sighing with the release of his stress and worry, Tsu’tey bends his head down to rest his forehead against yours. It’s comforting the way you’re still holding onto him, grounding him as if you somehow already knew what he needed despite your young bond.

“This period, this blood, can you tell me more about it? I wish to understand it so that I can better help you when it comes,” Tsu’tey hums, opening his eyes to look into yours.

“Of course, yawntu,” You smile beautifully up at him before slowly pulling away.

Taking his hand in yours, you lead him over to your nest, waiting for him to sit down before you bend your small legs to sit between his bigger ones. Taking both of his hands in yours, you look up at him as you start to explain what a period is, chuckling softly at his horrified expressions while explaining about your uterus shredding and how that causes the blood to dribble out. You walk him through everything, about how to contain it, about how you usually manage the pain, and how there are different methods.

“How else may I help you ease the pain, yawne?” Tsu’tey presses on when he notices you’re holding something back.

“It’s uh…” You stutter, your beautiful face darkening with an embarrassment Tsu’tey doesn’t understand. “There’s the act of mating, of - of reaching completion,”

“Mating?” Tsu’tey parrots, his eyes growing huge as his ears rotate forward with undivided attention.

“The act of mating reduces the cramping and reaching completion eases the pain,” You mumble, not able to meet his eyes head-on, “But it’s not something you have to do. I’ve got my heating pads, warm blankets, and excellent pain meds,”

At the mention of medication, Tsu’tey wrinkles his nose with distaste. He had never been fond of the sky people medicine, and to hear that you regularly take them to control a pain he could be helping you with, makes his anger flare. Slicking his ears back with annoyance, Tsu’tey huffs loudly.

“It is no bother for me to mate with you, yawne,” He starts, noting how your cheeks darken even further, “A little blood has never scared me before and it will not start now. Please, let me help you,”

“You really don’t have to, Tsu’tey,” You try again, your embarrassed little face looking up at him full of love and wonder.

“I want to,” Tsu’tey whispers, bending down to rest his forehead to yours again.

“Are you sure, yawntu?” Your eyes portray it all, your uncertainty, your need for him.

“I am, yawne,” Tsu’tey rumbles as he crawls over you, forcing your small body to bend backward to lay back in your nest.

It brings him straight to your hot core, the coppery iron scent strong and warm when he takes a deep breath. He isn’t afraid anymore though. This period had personally insulted him, but now, Tsu’tey would show you what a man truly was. Growling, he plops down on you, the entirety of his weight pressing the air from your small lungs, just how you liked it. The warm heat from your core wraps around Tsu’tey’s lower chest, lulling him to grind his hips into the soft nest beneath your bodies.

“You take my breath away, yawne,” Tsu’tey breathes as he lets the bridge of his nose run up the side of your neck, smirking childishly when it makes your breath stutter in your chest.

“Tsu’tey…” You gasp as he reaches your lips, kissing you long and deep.

The way your small hands clutch at his shoulders to hold on makes something inside of him snap. It’s ridiculous how every touch from you sends him over the edge, breaking the hard-set control he has over himself. You’re simply intoxicating to him. Running his hand down your flank, Tsu’tey lets his fingers flutter over every dip and roll of your soft skin, taking pleasure in the way the contact makes you moan. It never ceased to amaze him just how soft your skin was. The very first time you had allowed him to touch, to feel you, he had lost himself in your body, emerging only when the sun rose once more. His eyes had been blown wide the following day, much to everyone’s amusement.

Now, it was no different. The very scent of you stoked the fire within him, edging him closer to the point of no return, to the point where there was no one but you and him in this life that Eywa had graced them with. Giving you parting butterfly kisses, Tsu’tey dips his head lower, letting his lips trace an incoherent trail until he reaches the top of your chest. He’ll have to part with your thighs around his chest if he is to continue. A part of him doesn’t want to, but the needier part of him claws at his insides for Tsu’tey to present him with the sweetest nectar of your core. It’s the part of him that wins, in the end. Wrapping his hands around your thighs, Tsu’tey gently parts them from around his chest, pushing them back, opening you up like the most precious of flowers.

He’s presented with the same sight as he was that morning, your cunt puffy and red, needy and ready for his ministrations. The blood that slowly comes from your parted lips doesn’t scare him anymore. It’s so… little? Yet, that very morning, it had seemed almost too immense for him to comprehend. Curiously, Tsu’tey runs the pad of his thumb through the red liquid, marveling at the way it colors the blue skin of his thumb. Wiping it away from your entrance, however, only produces more as he forces your lips to part. Smiling to himself, Tsu’tey bends down to kiss the inside of your knees before starting his journey to the core of his desire. He takes a moment to marvel at your own stripes, the silvery, pink, brown, and purple smooth grooves that paint your skin in some places. Never would he have believed sky people worthy of such beauty, but yet again, you had proved him wrong. Your stripes are so different from his own, more like the lightning that crosses over the beautiful Pandora skies. Running his fingers over the stripes on your lower stomach, Tsu’tey marveled at your beauty for a moment before getting to his stomach between your spread thighs.

This close to your cunt, Tsu’tey can see everything. Hears your heart beating frantically in your chest as your blood courses through your veins. Tsu’tey can smell everything. And it makes something wild within him roar to life. His mind zeroes in on one thing and one thing only. Distantly, he registers that you’re talking to him, that your small hands find their way into his braids, but he’s lost in the spell you have over him. Running the pads of his thumbs along the outer lips of your cunt, Tsu’tey is helpless but to lick his lips as your red speckled slick coats his journey. Pressing gently on the silky smooth skin, he watches as your cunt opens up for him, watches as the impossibly small slit stretches the further he pushes.

Repeating the motion, Tsu’tey growls desperately when a fresh dollop of slick emerges from your cunt, the red speckles in it almost beautiful as it slides downward. Unable to hold back anymore, Tsu’tey leans forward, bumping his nose into your swollen pearl as kisses the warm, slick core of your cunt. The sound is almost rudely loud in your otherwise quiet kelku. The slick sticks to his lips in thin strings when he pulls away just far enough to meet your eyes over the swell of your stomach and breasts. Licking his lips, his nostrils flare as the taste hits his tongue, effectively sending his brain into a frenzy. Almost immediately, Tsu’tey dives back in, this time plunging his tongue straight into your core, lapping eagerly at your soft, warm walls. His nose keeps hitting your precious pearl, the hot air from his lungs blowing over it in rapid succession as he dines on a taste he’s never had before.

The taste of your coppery blood combined with the impossibly sweet and heady taste of your natural slick had Tsu’tey all but whining between your thighs, his digits tightening around the plump of your thighs as he held on for dear life. Driving his tongue as far as he’s able to reach inside of you, Tsu’tey breathes heavily as he makes a seal around your cunt, sucking while he licks at your insides. The taste of you explodes on his taste buds with each lick, making him push further and further to get more. He feels almost desperate when your small hands pull hard at his braids, trying your best to lift his head from your molten core.

“T-t..” You stutter, your breath coming harder than his, “T’ey,”

“Yawne,” Tsu’tey answers your call, his voice husky and raw, even to his own ears.

But you’re too far gone. With the little break that you obtained, your head falls back, hitting their nest while you continue to breathe heavily, your small chest lifting and sinking rapidly. It fuels something so primal inside of Tsu’tey that he physically had to clutch onto the bedding to keep himself from pouncing on you. He doubts the stretch would have truly hurt you, had he not been able to hold himself back. The amount of slickness and the plump readiness of your cunt told him as much, but even though you had told him how much you loved the stretch, Tsu’tey was acutely aware of your size difference.

So instead, Tsu’tey eases two digits inside of you, grinning proudly when he meets no resistance, just the slick, plump heat of your hole. Spreading his fingers, Tsu’tey watches as your head bends further back, a moan escaping your gorgeous red-bitten lips as he adds another finger. Like this, you’ve told him, he’s bigger than any human male known to history. It makes his chest puff ridiculously with pride. Add his own cock to the mix and you were a pampered little mate.

“What are you thinking about, yawntu?” You huff a chuckle as you look down at him.

“Nothing, yawne,” Tsu’tey smiles as he leans up to kiss your lips.

Pulling back, there’s red smeared on your face. The realization that he’s wearing you on his own face has his tail whipping painfully behind him with excitement. There’s something so intimate about this, an experience a Na’vi mate could never give him. For a moment, Tsu’tey thanks whatever power Eywa had in changing his mind, whatever made him turn on his opinion and pursue you. Staring down at you, there was no doubt in Tsu’ey’s mind that no atokirina could ever compare to your beauty. Try as she might, the Great Mother could not create anything even comparable to the beauty you held in his eyes. Grinning smugly, Tsu’tey spread your legs even wider with his knees, huffing proudly when your breath hitches.

The way his chest breathes deeply makes his heavy cock glide through the slick of your cunt, your size difference enough for there to be enough motion between you. The sheer heat of your cunt never ceases to amaze him, and try as he might, he’s unable to keep his hips from thrusting, to keep himself from seeking out your tight, slick heat. Pulling back, Tsu’tey meets your eyes as the head of his cock catches on the slick, hot “O” of your cunt. Swallowing audibly, he watches as your body shivers, your cunt spasming, kissing his cock head with an excited greeting. Wetting his lips, Tsu’tey presses forward, feeling his cock crown the tight circle of your cunt before you clench, sending his cock sliding through your slick to end under your navel.

“Tsakem rä'ä si, txopu rä'ä si, yawne,” Tsu’tey growls, his accent heavy, “Do not do that. Do not be scared, yawne,”

“I could never, yawntu,” Lifting your small arms, Tsu’tey bends down for you to grab onto the back of his neck, letting your weak arms press him down into a gentle kiss that touches his very soul.

Leaning his forehead to yours, Tsu’tey tries pushing forward again. The angle is weird like this, making it difficult to line up, but he wants to be close to you, wants to watch the exact moment he breaches your body, just so that he can see your pupils dilate to nothing but black. His cock catches on the ripe, slick circle of your molten core, but this time, when he presses forward, you don’t clench beneath him, denying him access. Instead, your body grows boneless beneath him as you relax, allowing him passage to the innermost sacred place of your body. It’s the easiest, most difficult glide Tsu’tey has had in his entire life. Never before has your body felt like this, clutching onto him as if the very thought of him leaving sent panic through your slick walls.

Groaning, Tsu’tey stills, letting the stretch of his size cement for just a moment before he pulls his hips back, tutting at your distressed whining before he slams into you, this time guided by the slick from his first slide. It fills you up to the limit, the head of his cock hitting that gloriously smooth and plush thing deep inside of you. It caresses the shaft of his cock, just behind his sensitive head while le butts into your wall. Distantly, he knows that he can go no further, but he still tries, pressing until his hips finally meet the plush meat of the crook of your thighs. You’re spread so wide beneath him that for just a moment, he wonders how you haven’t broken yet. Instead, you’re clutching onto him as if your very life depended on it, and when he pushes up on his hands, pressing the full weight of his body on your connection, he can see why.

Beneath your navel, there’s the clear indentation of his own cock beneath your skin. It isn’t the first time Tsu’tey has seen it, but there’s something about it this time that sends him over the edge. Involuntarily, his hips thrust hard, sending your body upward with the sheer force behind it. Your small shoulders meet his wrists, stopping your journey as his cock presses further into you from beneath. It’s a surreal thing to see. One moment, you’re gasping, eyes wide in shock, and the next, there’s something hot spraying from your cunt against his abdomen as your cunt ripples harder around him than ever before while you scream. Your orgasm lasts longer this time, squeezing Tsu’tey’s cock hard as your cunt tries its hardest to milk the juices that it so longs for. But it’s not the orgasm that has Tsu’tey perplexed.

“What was that, yawne?” Tsu’tey asks, his voice unrecognizable to his own ears.

But all you respond with is a series of ‘oh god, oh god, oh god’ while you covered your face from his eyes. Now, Tsu’tey was no fool, he knew your rambled string of words meant that you were in incomprehensible pleasure. It had happened the first time he ate from your core, the first time his fingers had entered your cunt, and especially the very first time his cock had stretched you around his size. So with that knowledge, Tsu’tey set out to get the same reaction again, if only for his own pleasure at seeing it.

With the same eye for detail, Tsu’tey repeats his motions, pulling back before entering you halfway once again. It sends your head back with a long wet moan, your puffy lips parted as you grab a hold of his wrists, preparing yourself for what you so obviously have anticipated to come. Grinning, Tsu’tey slams into you a little harder than he had meant to, but it’s all the same to you. Your loud moans fill your kelku as Tsu’tey presses further, testing the limit. It doesn’t happen immediately, like the first time, but Tsu’tey isn’t deterred. He is a man on a mission, a mission he is hellbent to succeed. And sure enough, after a while, your mouth starts forming that series of ‘no no no no no’ that always comes before something mesmerizing. It spurs Tsu’tey on, his mind chasing that burst of excitement, so pure, from your body’s core.

Thrusting faster, harder, Tsu’tey is not disappointed when he looks down just in time to see that same clear spray emerge from your core, coating his abdomen not just once as before, not twice, but four times. In time with your cunt contracting around him, Tsu’tey was helpless but to give into your core’s demand. With a final thrust, he sheats himself as deep as he’s able to while his body pumps you full of his seed. He’s breathing hard as he lays down on top of you, holding you captive beneath him while you breathe.

“You are,” Tsu’tey pants, taking deep breaths before continuing, “Amazing, yawne,”

Kissing your forehead, your cheeks, your gasping lips, Tsu’tey takes pity on you for a second, balancing most of his weight on his elbows, only for you to whine in annoyance. Huffing a chuckle, Tsu’tey slides down carefully once more, watching you closely as his full weight is on you again. Never would he have imagined his weight to be such a comfort to you, but as you hide your face between his pecs, Tsu’tey is left to drift on the sensation of your combined bodies while you land. He doesn’t know how long it takes, but by the time you emerge from his chest, the chill of the setting sun has started to creep into your dark kelku.

“Welcome back to Pandora, yawne,” Tsu’tey teases, only for you to clench your cunt around his sensitive cock, making him hiss.

“You are a cruel man, yawntu,” You huff, but the poorly hidden amused smile lets him know that your words have no bite to them.

“I am,” Tsu’tey agrees, grinning widely as he kisses your lips. “What does that make you, ma muntxate?”

“An innocent bystander?” You try, your sheepish grin mesmerizing Tsu’tey’s heart.

“You, ma yawne,” Tsu’tey starts, leaning down to hover over your lips, “Have never been innocent a day in your life,”

It brings the most beautiful laughter from your lips, a laughter that doesn’t immediately die down, but instead continues on until it gradually fizzles out. At this moment, Tsu’tey wishes that he could make tsaheylu with you, that he could show you the love that blossoms in his heart, a love that is so strong he’s not certain he could stay true to Eywa if challenged. But you do not have a kuru and he… he does not have his kuru anymore. Still, with everything that you are, you try your best to fill the gap he’s missing, letting him know how much he’s loved without actually having said the words before.

“I love you, Tsu’tey,” Because, of course, you would read him so easily. The notion is no less meaningless to Tsu’tey’s ears though.

“I love you, yawne,” He hums, kissing your lips slowly before hovering above them again, catching your eyes in his, “I have for a very long time,”

It’s an intimate moment, one heavy with emotions, with trust, and honor. You’re both from different worlds, but somehow, together, you have made it work, supporting each other with everything that you were. Tsu’tey knows that there will be nothing in this life or the next that can keep him apart from you. Beneath him, you reach a hand out to brush two of his braids beneath his ear, your small fingers gently rubbing his ear on your way back. Smiling, Tsu’tey gets up to his knees, watching his cock move inside of your small cunt. Pulling out, he watches as your red-speckled slick and his luminescent seed stick to his cock. There’s a mixed string connecting the head of his cock to the puffy mouth of your cunt for a moment before it breaks in the chill evening air. A moment later, however, his seed runs out of your wide-stretched, red hole. It’s beautiful.

Leaning forward, Tsu’tey attaches his mouth to your open cunt once more, sucking his seed and your slick from your abused and tired hole. If possible, your cunt is even hotter, even softer than before as he digs his tongue inside, slurping loudly even to his own ears. The plush of your thighs has collapsed shut on each side of his head, your cute weakness trying to push his head away, but Tsu’tey will drink his fill of you. Not even your gasped whines from above stop him in his ministrations before, as you desperately ramble, something sweet hits his tongue and face once, twice before your thighs fall dead from his head.

It takes him a moment to realize what has happened, but when he does, his cock twitches with interest. You, however, lay completely boneless above him, your breathing coming hard and fast, your eyes closed. Taking pity on you, Tsu’tey licks his lips before gathering you up in his arms. A bath would do you both good before some food and sleep. In the morning, Tsu’tey would quench his thirst for knowledge and you would let him, one way or the other. Grabbing a blanket, Tsu’tey wraps it around you, covering your modesty as he learned the hard way how sky people valued that sort of thing. Walking out of your kelku, Tsu’tey headed toward the river.

“Brother,” Jakesully shouted from the entrance of the communal meal, “Dinner was served a while ago,”

“We will eat at home, Jakesully,” Tsu’tey turns to his… friend, only for the man in question to holler loudly.

“Yo, Tsu’tey got his wings, alright!” Jakesully announces loudly, pulling the curious stares of Atan and Takuk.

Tsu’tey pays them no mind, however, as he continues his walk down to the river. He has a mate to take care of, one who brings him such joy he hardly believed he was still alive some days. To know that you felt the same as he - Tsu’tey could ask nothing more of the Great Mother.

That pesky egg of yours, however…

#Please read the tag warings! #tsu'tey x human reader #tsu'tey x h!reader #tsutey x human reader #tsutey x h!reader #na'vi x human reader #na'vi x human #na'vi x reader #tsu'tey #tsu'tey te rongloa ateyitan #avatar x human reader #avatar 2009 #avatar 2009 x reader #mech writes #Reypaytun #tsu'tey x reader #tsutey x reader

[queenimmadolla]

hey i have a req for the penny verse!! if u want can u possibly do penny gets her period and like starts freaking out and only eddie’s home so he’s like “uh- i’ll go get some pads” if u want to ofc!!! i love ur writing <33

five months later and i was finally able to get to this one. sorry about the wait and i hope i did it just! this was also definitely influenced by me finally having seen Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

rockstar!eddie manip by the talented @themunsonator5000!

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫

(dad!rockstar!eddie munson x mom!reader) *but like you're not even in this*

summary: Your daughter gets her first period while you’re away and only Eddie is home. Somehow, she ends up comforting him.

warnings: lots of sentiment, brief (and i mean brief) mention of an oc side character death, angst, fluff, some hurt and whole lot of comforting. and of course mentions of periods.

𝗮/𝗻: 𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗴𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂! more dad!eddie here.

Eddie let out a sigh as he collapsed back onto the couch, body nearly sinking into it.

  The house was finally quiet. He wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. Felt foreign to him, especially in the new house.

  He glanced around the living room, brown eyes lingering on a few empty boxes that had yet to be broken down from the move.

  It was a big change, moving from Hawkins to California and he was well aware there wasn’t a single member of his family that was feeling completely positive about the experience. He could tell you were trying to be, for his sake and for the kids, but leaving behind all your friends was difficult. Even Eddie was struggling, despite Jeff, Gareth and Anthony being close by.

  Corroded Coffin had picked up quite a bit of traction and a loyal fanbase that was stemming into a borderline crazed one. The demand for more performances and appearances was high. Eddie never thought they’d ever reach this level, had dreamed of it once but after he found out you were pregnant with Penny, he didn’t care for the dream anymore. He preferred his reality, his family.

  Then the kids got older and you always encouraged him to keep playing so they did, and it happened. It wasn’t instant, overnight, or even close in years but they’d finally reached the point where the members were rarely in Hawkins. It had been the source of a lot of tension in your relationship, the hardest thing the two of you had ever gone though. You hated that he wasn’t around much and so did Eddie, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Contracts had been signed and the ink had already dried.

  The fighting had been exhausting, at one point it felt as though the two of you lost each other and that had been terrifying. 

  And his kids—his babies. He was missing out on his babies growing up and it broke his fucking heart. Wayne appeared indifferent, but Eddie knew he cared and Penny was like you, always trying to seem okay and put together but she was hiding stuff from him—no scary secrets or rebellion, she was hiding her feelings.

  When you found out you were pregnant again, in the midst of all the fighting and distance, it had been the final straw for Eddie. He wasn’t about to let his family slip between his fingers. 

  The moment a show ended, and he didn’t have another the following day, he was rushing off stage to shower, throwing some inconspicuous clothes on to keep the invasive cameras from recognizing him, before he was on the next flight to Indiana. It didn’t matter if he only got to be there sporadically, he was there every. single. chance. he got.

  And when Maple was born during one of their concerts, Gareth was subbing in for lead vocals while he was holding your hand in the delivery room.

  It took time, love and a lot of nurturing but things got better. Then, you’d brought up moving to California. Most of Corroded Coffin’s appearances were based in the area which meant you and the kids would be closer to him, able to see him nearly every day if he wasn’t doing press or touring.

  You were extending the olive branch. 

  In truth, he hadn’t wanted to agree immediately, knew he’d be leaving Wayne behind (the old man said he wasn’t meant for city life, that he’d stay and have a place for his grandkids to visit and he couldn’t leave behind the women he loved, both of them now resting in the same cemetery), as well as your shared friends and the friends Penny and Wayne had made. It was a lot to leave. 

  In the end, you were willing to leave everything if it meant you’d never have to leave Eddie, never have to break your family. So, the boxes had been packed and labeled, goodbyes had been exchanged (Penny had cried when little Winnie, Megan and Margot Harrington, hadn’t wanted to let her go and Wayne had exchanged a heartfelt hug with his namesake, who was his favorite person to be around) and all your friends and family had been left waving goodbye to you from the rearview mirror.

  Yeah. Everyone was adjusting.

  Which led to today. Wayne had a field trip to the zoo, which he didn’t want to go on because of how new he was and his lack of friends. You’d been planning on taking the baby and going with him (the only way he’d agree to go) until Penny came down with something last night, complaining about not feeling good which meant you’d have to stay home with her. 

  If Eddie’s family was making sacrifices for him, then he was more than willing to make a sacrifice on behalf of Ari, his publicist, and canceled an interview he hadn’t even wanted to do in the first place. The guys were also happy to stay home, so it was a win. You took Wayne on his field trip, because Eddie couldn’t go anywhere without some dick with a camera following him around, and Eddie stayed home with Penny and Maple.

  Only, Penny locked herself away in her room and either Eddie was really out of practice or Maple just had a difficult time bonding with him because she would not stop wailing and shrieking. She had more teeth breaching her gums, and Eddie had tried everything he could to sooth her, everything he’d used with Penny and Wayne; frozen teething toys, massaged over the area of her gums, baby orajel, cuddles, she just fought him every time. 

  The only reason she’d gone down was because of how hard she’d been crying, little body shaking and trembling as she shrieked as loud as her little lungs would allow her to, tears streaming down her face and continuously pooling in her eyes. She’d worn herself out.

  Big moment of defeat for him, he’d felt guilty ever since he put her in her crib, wiping the wet trails from her face. Even in sleep, she didn’t look at peace.

  He could play to sold out arenas, had played a five hour concert in Madison Square fucking Garden, but he couldn’t sooth his baby, couldn’t take his son to the zoo and his oldest barely talked to him. 

  The life of a Rockstar.

  With a heavy sigh, Eddie reached to his side for the remote to the television. When his palm met the fabric of the cushions, he let out a more aggressive sigh, rising so he could take the couch apart in his search for that damn remote even though he knew it would somehow pop up in the most conspicuous place, though he’d last left it on that fucking cushion.

  He’d just lifted one large cushion when he heard a high pitched shriek.

  “MOM!”

  Penny.

  Eddie dropped the cushion as he ran upstairs towards her room. When he burst through the door, head whipping around, he still couldn’t find her. Then he noticed the light coming from under her bathroom door and rushed forward.

  “Penny?!” He called out, aggressively twisting the knob but it didn’t budge. He got desperate and shouldered the door, ready to break it down in an instant if she didn’t answer, “Penny, are you okay?!”

  “I need mom!” She called through the door.

  “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” He kept trying the knob, eager to just yank it off and get to his little girl.

  Had she slipped and fallen? Thrown up? Should he call an ambulance–no, fuck that, they’d be too slow, he’d grab Penny and the baby and take her himself.

  “NO! I’m fine, I just–I need mom.” Penny sounded closer, and Eddie felt a little relieved to know she wasn’t injured. But why didn’t she want him?

  “I can help, sweet pea! Your tummy upset? I can make some soup! Or-or I can go get you what you need!”

  “The only thing I need is mom.” She was right on the other side of the door now. 

  Eddie sighed, forehead dropping against his side of the bathroom door in defeat. Of course she didn’t want to talk to him. “Well, mom isn’t here right now. So. I guess you're stuck with me.”

  Alright, maybe Eddie had been expecting her to take pity on him but she didn’t.

  The door remained closed and she stayed silent so with a heavy heart, Eddie settled against the wall opposite of the door. He’d be there for her when she decided to come out.

  It took about ten minutes before he heard the door unlock and it opened slowly, just her head poking out in his exact direction, as if she’d known he’d still be there. Her big brown eyes were vulnerable, eyebrows slightly furrowed–she was nervous.

  “I’m bleeding.” She said it so softly, it had Eddie scrambling up and towards her. She backed into the bathroom to allow him in, but when he looked her over, he didn’t see any injuries. She was just fidgeting, playing with her fingers. It was when she glanced up at him and then nervously to the toilet bowl that it clicked for him.

  Penny had her first period. 

  “Oh, shit.”

  “Dad!”

  “Sorry, sorry! I just–wow, uh, first…”

  “Period, dad. I got my period!” She rolled her eyes and Eddie just nodded, head moving like a bobble head.

  “I know! I know! Trust me, I know what a period is. I’m just–you caught me off guard, I mean your mom said–.” And then Eddie recalled exactly what you said, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

  Eddie ran from her bathroom, towards the master bedroom. Sure enough, a peak under one of your shared bathroom cabinets produced a box of pads, unopened. 

  “Yes.” He hissed, snatching it from its place before he ran back to her room. Penny hadn’t moved from her spot, eyes widening as he offered her the box and wiped the hair out of his face.

  “Here. Your mom got you these, she said–she uh, had a feeling you’d, you know, start soon.”

  Penny took the box from his hands, glancing down at them in wonder. 

  Eddie watched her, heart clenching for some reason he couldn’t quite explain. 

  “Pretty big moment, huh?” He broke the silence with a soft chuckle, clearing his rapidly tightening throat.

  It turned out to be the right thing to say, she angled her head up to beam at him. 

  “I can’t believe I got it, everyone else has it but I didn’t think I would!” 

  Penny was excited about it, you’d explained to him that she would be when she first got her period, because Eddie knew how much you hated yours (unless you thought you were pregnant–then it was suddenly your best friend who you missed dearly). It would be a big moment for her, a right of passage in girlhood or something. Or at least one that tampon and pad companies established. 

  “So it is a big moment,” Eddie reiterated, blinking hard.

  “Yeah, I–dad, are you crying?”

  Eddie kept blinking, shaking his head as his vision blurred and he sniffled, “No. Why would I be crying? I’m not crying, my little girl has a period. That’s it. Nothing to cry over.”

  “Dad…” She started before she placed the box on the tile and hugged his waist.

  That’s when Eddie actually started crying, bending over to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He held her like that for a few moments, pressing a few kisses to the top of her head.

  It seemed like she was trying to comfort him because she didn’t pull away, just let him hold her until eventually he realized she’d need to actually use one of those pads.

  “You know how to work those, right?” He asked, standing straight though his hands remained on her shoulders as her arms went back to her sides.

  “I know how to use them, dad, some of the girls at school showed me theirs.” She laughed out, “I still can’t believe I got it!”

  “Is that why you didn’t go to school?” He asked and she got quiet, shifting her weight and toeing the grout before she looked up at him, eyes clouded with guilt.

  “Shanti’s having a sleepover tonight and if I went to school, they’d know I’m not sick.” She admitted and Eddie frowned.

  “I was actually talking about cramps, but she didn't invite you?”

  Penny went back to avoiding his gaze and walked over to the bathroom wall, resting her back against it so she could slide to the floor and pull her knees to her chest. Eddie immediately joined her, one knee up and the other leg spread out. She was finally talking to him, he didn’t want it to end.

  “She invited me, but they’re just gonna talk about their periods and boys and stuff. And I didn’t have my period so I didn’t want to go.”

  “Oh, I see,” Eddie didn’t want to talk about the subject of boys and stuff, he’d put that off for years if he could. “You could go now, you’ve got your period.”

  “I don’t know,” she put her chin on the top of her knees, and Eddie stared at her, still so amazed at how much she looked like you. “I don’t know if they really like me. I’m trying really hard, but it doesn’t feel easy, doesn’t feel natural.”

  “I know how you feel,” he muttered and when she glared at him from the corner of his eyes for daring to try to relate to a girl in the sixth grade, he started rambling, “Sometimes, you know, you feel like you’ve got to try hard to get people to talk to you and sometimes you feel like they’re not happy with you so you try harder, and then you can’t tell if they like you or if they like how hard you’re trying or how desperate you are to be with them and wanting them to spend time with you or if you’re just annoying them. And they feel bad for you.”

  Eddie stared at the large mirror across from the pair, at his reflection and soaked in the truth of it all. He could relate to Penny a little too much.

  His head lulled to the side, catching her eyes as she watched him.

  “But she invited you, baby. If you ask me, I think they want to be your friends. Maybe it doesn’t feel natural because you’re scared to stop trying so hard.”

  She considered his statement, pursing her lips. 

  “Maybe you’re right. Can I even go? You’re not mad at me for lying?”

  Eddie huffed out a breathy laugh, hand reaching over to stroke over her curls, “About this? No. I’m just glad you told me. You can go if you want, okay?”

  She nodded, and Eddie withdrew his hands as she stretched her legs out, figuring the conversation was over. He felt a little better about their relationship–she hadn’t iced him out after all. 

  Penny moved onto her knees, ready to push herself up and Eddie was about to do the same thing when she got his attention. 

  “Uhm, daddy?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “I think the people you’re talking about moved from Hawkins over here because they want to be with you, too. All the time. You don’t have to try so hard, ‘cause we love you a lot. Maple’s just a big cry baby.”

  There was no way Eddie could deny the water at his lower lash line or the two large tears that trailed down his cheeks. “C’mere.”

  Penny wrapped her arms around his shoulders as Eddie hugged her to him tightly, eyes squeezing shut as the two ton weight that had been pressing on his heart was lifted by a little girl barely half his size.

  “I love you, daddy.” She whispered, squeezing him back. Ediie could feel something wet pressing against his neck and he realized she was crying, too. The last time he’d seen her cry was when they said goodbye to everyone in Hawkins. Eddie inhaled a shaky breath as he responded, a hand moving to cradle the back of her head.

  “I love you, too, baby. I love you all so much.” 

  They held each other until she pulled away, wiping at her face. 

  “I have to put on a pad, daddy.”

  “Oh, right. Yeah. I’ll give you some privacy.” Eddie pushed himself up, stretching his arms up and relishing in the sensation.

  “Can we watch The Wild Thornberrys after?”

  “Of course, baby.” That was the children’s show Flea always bragged about being on. Dude had so many movie roles, it was insane. 

  Eddie was about to leave the bathroom, doorknob in his hand to close it behind him when she stopped him again, “And daddy, if you want to spend time with me, you can always take me to the Spice Girls concert.”

  Eddie smirked, amused with the innocent act she was playing, eyelashes batting and making her eyes appear even wider.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  While Penny finished up, Eddie checked in on Maple–who was awake and waiting for him, pacifier in her mouth and little arms outstretched the moment he came into view.  His little mini-me (out of all of his kids, she looked the most like Eddie) cuddled up to him as soon as he picked her up, cheek resting on his shoulder.

  Then he went in search of the house phone so he could call Ari and get tickets for the next Spiceworld show.

(Penny ended up finding the remote for the TV on the arm of the loveseat where Eddie had not left it.)

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader fluff #dilf!eddie munson #dilf!eddie munson x reader #girl dad!eddie munson x reader #girl dad!eddie munson #eddie munson x black!reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fanfic #dad!eddie munson x mom!reader #pennyverse #pennyverse asks #eddie munson imagine #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things vol 1 #stranger things vol 2 #stranger things fanction #stranger things fanfic #joe quinn x reader #joseph quinn x reader #rockstar!eddie #rockstar!eddie munson #rockstar!eddie munson x reader

[feelmyskinonyourskin]

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow [Morning After Trope]

Pairing: Frank Castle x AFAB Reader

Trope de Sept Masterlist | Main Masterlist

The Morning After situation 1. Two characters hook up, the next morning Person A finds the bed beside them empty and thinks Person B snuck away and is never to be seen again. Except Person B is doing something innocuous like making Person A breakfast. "Frank and I hooked up last night and now the sheets beside me are cold. Of course that emotionally distant bastard can’t face the morning after."

Warnings: SMUT/18+ (don’t interact if your age is not in your bio). AFAB Reader. Oral (F receiving). P in V. Unprotected. Creampie. No use of y/n. 

WC: 1,200

*I never give permission for my fics, manips, or any other original creation I post on this site to be copied, posted elsewhere, translated, or fed into any AI program. The only platform I currently post anything on is Tumblr. Thanks!*

The scratchy linen sheets beneath you pricked against your skin like a thousand needles, not that that was the sensation you were most aware of at the moment.

Another circle of his tongue against your clit kept your attention centered on the pleasure growing between your legs, causing you to cry out as he brought you to ecstasy once more.

Your third orgasm washed over you in rippling waves like a steady current, pulled from you as though it were the easiest thing in the world for him.

And he hadn’t even removed his pants yet.

“Mmm, attagirl.” he praised

The two of you had crossed a line tonight, snapping in half the tedious tightrope you walked between friendship and something more. The way in which he hungrily devoured you assured you it was indeed lust, but you weren’t sure if either of you were ready to admit what it really was.

What man has ever made you orgasm three times on the first hookup? you thought as he removed his body from between your shaking legs.

Looking down to admire the sight of you so beautifully ruined beneath him, he flashed that lopsided grin, lips still coated in your arousal, before finding the shiny silver of his belt buckle, unfastening it with a grunt. Even in the bedroom, he remained a man of few words, responding only with a nod as you begged beneath him.

“Frank, please…”

Every tooth of his zipper pulled apart painfully slowly, the way you squirmed in anticipation as his fingers guided it downward tested his resilience to not just dive back in and make you cum again.

“Patience, sweetheart.” he cooed, before his jeans were pushed to the floor in a crumpled heap beside his long-ago discarded shirt.

The knowledge of how precarious a situation this was hung over him. He wanted to savor every moment before him, every moan and whimper, every inch of your skin against his calloused fingers. But if he dragged this out too long, it might give way to either of you overthinking the consequences of crossing this line.

You were keenly aware of the delicacy of the moment too as you laid back on the bed, spreading yourself open to invite him in. Months of slowly tearing down the emotional walls he built, brick by brick, now blown apart in an instant with the wrecking ball of your lips against his; your skin flush against him, your delicate gaze boring into his dark eyes. It could all be undone in a moment though, chancing them being built higher and stronger than before if you did not proceed correctly.

“Frank…” you begged again as he hovered his body above yours, sheets already crumpled in your fists beside you. Your breathy pleading urged him to continue, lining up to slot himself inside you, if only to keep hearing more of those beautiful utterances of his name. He knew over the next few days, the way your moans echoed between his ears would haunt him until he had to fist his cock for relief, reliving the feeling of your delicate caress against his scar-laden skin until he’s breathing raggedy and coming apart all over again.

“Oh Frank” you whimpered as he pushed inside, your warm breath tickled his ear as you incited him to fuck you.

His hands roamed along your tender curves, reaching to find steady grounding amongst the flurry of sensations of you.

Even now as your bodies entwined in a sweaty heap of need and carnality, he knew the tenderness that laid beneath the act, feelings unspoken threatened to bubble to the surface as you continued to consume each other with every thrust, every gasp and moan, every motion driving you both towards a careening cliff of pleasure.

“Please” you begged again, pleading swallowed by his tender kisses as he tried to hang on a little longer.

His hand reached for yours, entwining fingers to tether himself to your heart as you came apart beneath him a final time. Your writhing in ecstasy had him falling behind you, barely realizing it as it happened, buried so deep inside both your warm velvet walls and soul to know up from down.

He groaned deep as your divine cunt squeezed every last drop from his cock until he was totally spent.

Collapsing beside you on the bed, he turned over to gaze upon your etherealness. Dewy sweat droplets clung to your brow and your kiss bitten lips gasped for air like a fish on land seeking the relief of the sea as you caught your breath.

His dark maple eyes roaming over you was the last thing you remembered before you were devoured up by exhaustion seeping into your bones.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The cold radiating from the sheets as you sleepily ran a hand across them was not an unfamiliar experience, only noteworthy this morning because you expected to find them otherwise.

The warmth of Frank’s body beside you was nowhere to be found.

You didn’t even dare open your eyes to the reality of the situation.

“Foolish” you grumbled to yourself, already mentally drowning in misery at how you’d fallen all the way down the mountain side after months of careful climbing to reach the peak that was him opening up to you.

That was if you ever saw him again at all. You’d known him well enough to be aware that such a transgression against the fortress he’d built around the castle of his heart could totally isolate you from his life forever.

A clattering from the kitchen of your small apartment drew your attention, eyes snapping to gaze at the disturbance to your wallowing.

Two mugs of coffee balanced in his hand, holding them as easily as he’d held your lust captive over and over again the night before.

“You’re here.”

An amused grin spread across his face as he delivered his simple morning gesture of adoration to your bedside table.

“Course I am.”

With that reassurance, the hesitation washed away and you captured his lips in yours once more. Not a kiss filled with sensuality and need like the night before, but a tender kiss that filled in words unspoken.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

#frank castle x reader #frank castle #the punisher #jon bernthal #nmcu #x reader #frank castle smut #marvel fic #marvel smut #frank castle imagine #the punisher x reader

[anamelessfool]

1975

WIP Chapter from my Secondo fic "Crossroads" that's being developed alongside my current major Primo-centered work. Yes, smut is nice but more and more I'm fascinated by the brothers' relationship. I had these little doodles and I was like let's spend thirty minutes coloring them and then throwing a photo manip of a photo I took of the Ministry as the background.

Jun-19-75 11:35 AM Courtyard Cumulus clouds, med cover curled wisps. Winds southeastern location. Approx. 18C, up since AM. Rain predicted evening.

Secondo began his sketch of the cloud shape and chose to ignore the rustling in the tree behind him. Some small body was struggling to climb up the side of the ornamental pear tree, perhaps to spy on his work.

“What are you doing?” Terzo’s voice came from the tree. A not unusual occurrence. Neither was his persistent desire to get immediately in Secondo's business.

Secondo’s obvious posturing to ignore him was futile. Terzo repeated the question two more times, the leaves trembling as he adjusted his weight on a branch. Secondo frowned deeply and finally relented, looking up at the small curled-up form and twinkling raccoon eyes of his younger brother.

“You’re going to break your arm.”

Terzo squinted at the sky, kicking his legs. “What are you doing?”

“Recording clouds. I need to keep records of clouds six times a day for a year and a day. And then Sister will train me.”

“Do you even know what the clouds mean?”

“No, but I will. In time.”

Terzo swung his body backwards, his legs hooked on the branch so he could hang upside down. He squinted at Secondo. “That’s fucking boring.”

“What are you even doing up there?”

Terzo decided to continue talking to his brother upside down, perhaps to annoy him further. It was working. His voice was wistful. “There's a bird building a nest on the roof. I'm trying to figure out how to get up there.” Terzo grinned. “Maybe it's a falcon. Then I could take a chick and train it and be a falconer. That's how they do it.”

“Terzo. Come down. You'll break your arm.” Primo appeared from under the stone arcade, the ghoul Edelweiss slinking behind him.

Primo had rejoined the Ministry only three years prior, and already he was in Sister’s inner circle. His arrival started a change in his younger half-brothers’ behavior. Primo was tall, athletic and confident. People enjoyed being around him. He had big responsibilities and beautiful companions. He was an adult.

The two younger brothers may not have realized it, but his presence gave them a goal to work towards. Secondo immediately pulled his shoulders back, gave Primo a hopefully impassive look and returned to his journaling.

“Nice weather, yeah?” Primo chanced a grin. Primo was fine…when he wasn't telling Secondo what to do.

There was a creak, a snap, and Terzo stared wide-eyed at them both midair for a moment before he fell to the ground in a sickening thump. He immediately began to whine, then scream. Secondo stared at him, snorting. He closed his journal with a snap. Served him right.

“Criminy, Terzo,” huffed Primo as he walked towards the writhing boy in the grass. He knelt down and gently touched his shoulder, ran his fingers down his arm. Terzo screamed again, his face a blubbering mess. “Perfect timing. What did I tell you, hm?” He glanced over to his ghoul, throwing a few rapid hand signs towards him. Edelweiss Ghoul hurried back to the arcade and through the doors.

“Alright, Terzo, let's get you up hold on—” Primo soothed through the screams and wails. The small boy fit easily in his arms and Primo turned towards Secondo, his face fixed with an amused half-smile. “Help me to the doors?”

“Where you taking him?”

“The Sanctum. Broke his arm, can you believe it?”

All at once Secondo felt the urgent need to assist. A rare, rushing thrill rose across his body as he held the doors for Primo, ignored his younger brother’s shouts of pain. The Sanctum. That meant…

Sister Imperator, the Dark Mother, was waiting there for them at the grand doors, Edelweiss Ghoul behind her. Her head was perched atop her customary tunic of swirling polyester colors, a viper among the flowers.

He wanted to say something, wanted to share with her what he had been working on but he knew his dopey eagerness to please would be ignored. But that was the weird unexplainable thrill of it all, anyway.

Sister knew things were running perfectly, just as she knew water flowed underground below her feet. Her indifference towards him was perfection. Was a sign of a job well done. So Secondo swallowed the lump in his throat and repeated a mantra to calm the hammering of his heart.

Terzo’s cries took on more of a theatrical whine as Primo transferred him into the arms of the Ghoul. “It'll be done in a second!” Primo reassured him over his sobs. Secondo didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be associated with the two of them while Sister was near, looking bored already with the childish blubbering.

Sister gripped Terzo’s chin to silence his sobs. Terzo froze, blinking furiously in the ghoul’s arms. “Hush,” she hissed, then gestured to Primo to draw near. Primo lifted his brother’s head, gently wrapping a black silk blindfold over his eyes. “You take this off, you die. Do you understand, child?”

Terzo’s heavy sobs could not be suppressed for long. Sister’s red nails dug deeper into the boy’s chin. “Words. Now.”

“I…I understand,” Terzo whimpered.

“Good.”

With a friendly nod, Edelweiss Ghoul carried the boy into the Sanctum, Sister locking the doors behind them. The heavy slam echoed in the stone hallway. And so they waited for the ritual to be done.

Secondo steeled himself as Primo started to shift uncomfortably on his feet, tossing his head as if already in a conversation. His brother was a man who could not leave a single moment of air empty. It was as if silence was something he could drown in.

His mercurial expressions and small eager eyes seemed too close to their father Nihil’s mannerisms for Secondo to ever take him seriously.

“Listen will you just be nice to him? For once?” Primo ejected an exasperated huff of air that ruffled Secondo’s hair but not much else. “He's your brother.”

“He never learns.”

“Because nobody ever—” Primo grumbled under his breath, searching for what to say next. “When I was growing up I wanted a brother so badly…” His confession was met with stony silence. “He's got nobody, Secondo. And I can't be there for him like you can.”

“What does that even mean?” To Secondo it meant that Primo was passing a buck. Saddling him with caring for a person who barely cared for himself. Who was too stupid to assess even the most basic of dangers. Secondo was rising, ever rising from the efforts of his own sweat and will. Terzo’s foolishness would just hold him back.

“He's the loneliest person I've ever met,” Primo confessed. “And he's only nine. Don't you find that…sad?”

Secondo refused to budge. All his life he chose his words, his actions carefully. And that urge for correctness was a deafening roar in him at fourteen. Sidestepping the question was the best course of action. Questions were just traps, after all.

“I need to be left alone.”

Primo opened his mouth, but then thought otherwise. He made a show of shaking his head, crossing his arms. Secondo observed Primo’s eyebrows furrow and shift, choosing to continue his brotherly rant inside his own mind.

Victory.

Short lived. “So, uh…what are you going to do for your summer vacation?” Primo attempted a different route at a bond. “My friends and I would pack a canoe with old tarps and our fishing rods and beer and—”

The heavy door unbolted and opened once more. Sister emerged, breath trailing out of her mouth in unusual wisps. Terzo followed wide-eyed and stunned, gripping Edelweiss Ghoul by the hand. He was released with a soft pat on his head.

“Secondo,” said Sister with a small nod.

Secondo straightened up to full height immediately. Terzo ambled over to stand beside him, clutching his newly healed arm.

“Don't let him put weight on it for a few days,” Sister ordered Primo, then cast the full intensity of her stare directly into Terzo’s eyes. Her subject properly cowed, she turned on her heel towards the direction of her office and was gone.

Sister had spent a fraction of a second regarding Secondo but that single glance would be in his thoughts for some time after.

“We can go? No one is going to be climbing trees once we turn our backs?” Primo tousled Terzo’s hair, exchanging smiles. “And Secondo—” Primo shrugged at Secondo directly, gesturing subtly towards the youngest with a rough hand. Remember.

The ghoul Edelweiss threw out some quick hand gestures, winking. “Haha, right, exactly,” chuckled Primo and then they too left the kids alone in front of the Sanctum doors.

Terzo continued to shiver in place in the center of the hallway, his eyes darting to Secondo. Secondo was lost now staring into the elaborate archway carvings of the Sanctum doors. Masks of ghouls nested amongst delicately carved cinquefoil. Thorned branches encircling howling wolves. Hands pierced and bloodied, pointing to the sky, pointing to the earth. The archway always mystified him and he often took time to examine it whenever he walked past.

And beyond those doors? The Altarpiece, the knobs tied shut with red silken cords. In his mind’s eye he imagined Sister’s clawed hands slip the knot loose, tease the door to Hell open. Reaching into the infinite, pulling out strands of arcane energy. She had seemingly unlimited power at her carefully manicured fingertips. Her hands laid upon Terzo’s body and soothed torn muscles, knitted bone. A healing touch that could also kill in an instant.

“What was it like?” Secondo spat out the question in an attempt to disguise his true enthusiasm. Terzo blinked stupidly at him, taken aback by the sudden show of interest.

“Hm?”

“When the Altarpiece opened.”

Terzo shook his head. “Howling…voices but not really voices. A cold wind that wasn't cold. Like…when your foot falls asleep. Yeah. That's what it's dreaming about, yanno.”

“You felt it?”

“Felt what?”

“The Void.” Secondo had forgotten his aloof act as he stared wide-eyed, waiting for a scrap of anything.

Terzo's tear-stained face stretched into a grin. “You want to know so badly, doncha. You're dying to know.”

Secondo felt that rushing sensation of blood in his ears. No one taught him but one day he'd know it was the feeling of shame, of getting caught in a moment of vulnerability.

Terzo’s toothy maw widened and he wiggled his fingers into Secondo’s face. “Break your arm and find out,” he laughed.

My Fic List | My AO3

#papa emeritus ii #papa emeritus iii #ghost band fic #domestic fic #my art

[bookishfeylin]

this was a while ago (a couple months at this point i think) so i might be misremembering, but once in the comment section of an acotar critical video a commenter kept claiming that tamlin was never retconned (which... im not sure what else youd call one of his defining traits in acotar- being observant- suddenly disappearing due to trauma when he was still observant post-amarantha at the end of tar, or some of his values and opinions suddenly also changing in maf, but alright) because throughout the first book he was, according to them, manipulating feyre- specifically lovebombing her. they never specified which events led them to believe this, just that it happened. thoughts?

*sighs*

This argument is one that, unfortunately, I've heard many, many, many times over by now, and have made several posts about in the past. Because, truth be told, it's the best rebuttal they have when you point out direct retcons. The problem is that Tamlin manipulating Feyre, or even lying about his values, is disproven both in the book and in the sequels that follow, and this is because a lot of Tamlin's characterization is based on Feyre's observations of Tamlin, especially at times when he's not aware she's observing him (in contrast to Rhysand telling Feyre what to think about him every other page in ACOMAF).

A very good example of this was with the dying Summer Court faerie. Tamlin and Feyre care for the faerie as it passes away babies, and this scene is viewed by many as a good character moment for Feyre that establishes her kindness under a gruff exterior, but the same is not said for her other half, likely because all the Feysands who reread ACOTAR view all of Tamlin's actions as inherently manipulative. The problem here is that Feyre was never supposed to be present. Feyre was supposed to be asleep in her bedroom on another floor of the manor when Tamlin returned with the fae, and it's only through coincidence--her having a nightmare about killing Andras that wakes her up--that she's present to see Tamlin extend kindness and try to help the faerie in the first place. Ergo, Tamlin's action here can't have been an attempt to manipulate Feyre because Tamlin never expected Feyre to be present, and the kindness shown to lesser fae, and by extension, what that says about how Tamlin views individuals in lower socioeconomic classes than him, is a genuine facet of his character.

There's also a lot of background established about Tamlin that simply can't have been done on purpose by him to manipulate Feyre. What, did he start taking in refugees from other courts like Alis and her nephews because 50 years prior he had a psychic dream about Feyre and he wanted to make himself look really appealing to her? Did he treat them well solely so Alis could make him sound good to Feyre to convince Feyre to go UTM?

I also take issue with people arguing that Tamlin was love-bombing Feyre. It was already discussed before here by someone who's pro-Feysand who also picked up on this (and this ask is already getting longer lol so I'll just link it here and reblog it later) but the TLDR is that Tamlin demonstrably does not want to manipulate Feyre per another conversation she listens in on, and he decidedly chose to abandon the goal of making her love him when he sent her home. Every single "Tamlin never really love Feyre he was just love-bombing her and manipulating her" argument forgets that fact for some reason??? Like he sent her home before she could even do what she was supposed to. He sacrificed himself and his people to eternal damnation for her, without ever expecting to see her ever again. He offered himself to the woman he's known since childhood to shield Feyre from harm. So if you want to argue that, like the beast character he was based on, Tamlin originally brought Feyre to his manor for the purpose off making her fall for him to break his curse, then fine, but it's impossible to argue that throughout their relationship and by the end he was manipulating her and had no genuine love for her.

TLDR: it's a stupid argument that relies on selective reading and I hate it.

#ask #anon #acotar analysis #anti acomaf #anti acotar #Sjm critical #tamlin

[kafus]

i did some ridiculous technical BS in pokemon again

NOTE: not only is this post a very very long infodump from yours truly, it is also specifically an infodump involving a lot of pokemon glitches and exploits. even though i don't tamper with my games and everything achieved here can be done on original hardware with no hacking or what-have-you, some people still may consider this Cheating based on their own personal standards of legitimate gameplay. i ask that you please don't try to start arguments with me about pokemon legality and just take it all as an interesting technical infodump about gen 3 pokemon okay thank you <3

SO. i decided that before pokemon bank eventually shuts down one day in the probably-not-so-distant future and makes old gen transfer impossible, i need more ribbon master pokemon (AKA a pokemon with all the ribbons it can possibly receive from its gen of origin to the most recent gen it can transfer to) from gens 3 and 4. i've been meaning to ribbon master a pokemon from gen 3 based on my favorite singer, KAF (you don't need to know anything about kaf for this story whatsoever but you should check her out LMAO) and while musing over what pokemon would suit her best, it came to me.

FARIGIRAF IS JUST KAF'S FURSONA!! the monster teeth hoodie with the eyes. even has the dangly bits. like come on it's perfect. AND girafarig is obviously available in gen 3 so i could RM a kaf girafarig and then evolve her once i got to SV. Cool! Awesome! but here's the problem. I CAN'T SETTLE FOR JUST A NORMAL GIRAFARIG. I HAVE TO GO ALL OUT!!

i started brainstorming my ideal gen 3 kaf girafarig, and came to the following conclusions:

i obviously want the girafarig to be shiny. i mean come on

i want her to be a girl for obvious reasons, and gentle nature to match her personality. just because Armor Tail is better on Farigiraf i also want it to have girafarig's second ability, Early Bird. i'm not concerned with IVs because i think random IVs add flavor and that would add more tedium than i was already dealing with

i want her to be japanese language origin since kaf is a japanese singer (i can nickname her かふ that way too!)

i want the original trainer (OT) name to be PPさん (PP-san) in reference to the person who scouted out kaf's talent in the first place - he goes by Piedpiper online and my friends and i call him PP as a joke sometimes

i want the trainer ID to be 02018 because 2018 is kaf's debut year

since girafarig only spawns in gen 3 in the ruby/sapphire/emerald safari zone, i wanted to hatch a girafarig egg in firered/leafgreen for the kanto origin, which is impossible otherwise. FRLG are also really important games to me, leafgreen being the first pokemon game i ever owned or played, so that's a bonus

now you may be looking at this entire list and being like. What the fuck. how do you intend to shiny hunt girafarig with all of these hyperspecific parameters, especially in FRLG where the everstone passing nature doesn't exist and flame body doesn't even exist to hatch eggs faster. you will be doing that long after bank shuts down. and you're intending on doing this on original hardware too??? WELL. that's where ACE and RNG manipulation comes in babey. i am GOING to attempt to make this comprehensible even if you've never touched ACE or RNG manip in your life, even tangentially, but sorry if this is a bit of a mess it's pretty technical LOL. the rest of this post is going below a cut cause it Goes Places!!

ACE and RNG manipulation explained (kinda)

first off a quick overview of ACE, ACE stands for arbitrary code execution, which is the ability to run your own (arbitrary!) code within the game. this can be set up with a series of elaborate glitches, that break open the gen 3 pokemon games into letting you run your PC box names as code, enabling you to do pretty much anything you want. to be upfront, i'm not an expert on ACE - i understand it in an overarching conceptual sense and am able to follow ACE guides just fine, but i cannot write my own ACE code, which essentially requires you to know some GBA assembly. doesn't really matter for the purpose of this story though.

you can see an example of a tiny snippet of a larger ACE code with the PC box name below. it looks like gibberish but that's because every character used in the name corresponds to a specific internal value, which when all run together, is code!

i need ACE in FRLG because resetting for, or RNG manipulating (more on that in a moment), trainer ID (and secret ID, also more on that later) is pretty much impossible. ACE will allow me to change my TID to 02018 by essentially just telling the game to do so with my PC boxes. this requires me to set up ACE in emerald first since that's the only game with a viable entrypoint, and then use emerald ACE to make glitch pokemon that can activate ACE in FRLG when traded over.

as for RNG manipulation, that's a bit more straightforward, especially if you've ever watched a speedrun of... pretty much anything with random chance in it. games with random chance are not actually fully random because computers can't really be fully random, and in the older pokemon games with unencrypted and less advanced RNG (random number generator) algorithms, this is pretty easy to exploit.

this is a heavy simplification, but whenever you encounter a wild pokemon in RSE or FRLG, the amount of frames that have passed since the game was turned on are compared to a number that was generated upon boot, called the RNG seed. if you've ever played minecraft you can compare this to world seeds - the pokemon RNG seed determines all possible wild encounters in that play session in a similar fashion as minecraft determining the infinite terrain layout. this comparison determines every aspect of an encountered pokemon; its species, nature, IVs, and so on. so, if you were able to time your wild encounter (or any other type of pokemon encounter) down to the 1/60th of a second frame, you can get the game to spit out whatever pokemon you want at you! you just need a bit of typically invisible information first - the RNG seed, and if you're RNGing a shiny, your secret ID aka SID, which is like an invisible second trainer ID generated alongside your TID that is paired up with the TID and compared against any pokemon you encounter to determine if it should be shiny or not. both of these things can be figured out without hacking or tampering with games/save files.

the most common program used for all things RNG manipulation is called pokefinder and you can see an example of it spitting out what shinies are available on hoenn's first route in the first 100000 frames of the game being on with an RNG seed of 0 and my old TID/SID combo below. it's pretty damn cool to me tbh, i love RNG manipulation and i'm way more versed on it/experienced than i am with ACE

TLDR; rng manipulation is essentially a frame perfect, speedrunning-adjacent trick to get the game to roll the RNG in your favor, including for perfect IVs or shininess. for reasons that will become clear later, this is much easier to do in emerald than any other gen 3 game, so i will be using emerald for the RNG manipulation of the girafarig egg

with ALL of that context out of the way, this was the gameplan:

play through a fresh file of japanese firered (i don't own japanese leafgreen, RIP) all the way through the postgame to unlock trading with hoenn with the name PPさん, not worrying about TID for now. the guide i was following did not have a code for changing name with ACE in japanese FRLG specifically, so i figured playing the game again real quick would be a better alternative to trying to teach myself assembly in an afternoon LOL

set up ACE in my new emerald file i completed recently

use ACE in emerald to generate the glitch pokemon needed to run ACE in FRLG and trade them over. finalize the setup process over in FRLG too

look up possible gentle, ability 2, female, and shiny egg frames, and pick one that looks good to RNG manipulate in emerald, noting its PID (an encounter-specific ID number, pretty much)

figure out what SID, when combined with a TID of 02018, will cause that egg frame to be shiny - that way when the egg is traded over and hatched in firered, it will be shiny

do the RNG in emerald, trade over the to-be-shiny egg to firered, and hatch it after changing the TID/SID with ACE appropriately!! bam female, gentle, early bird, shiny, JP origin girafarig with an OT of PPさん and a visible TID of 02018. Pog!!

to execute that gameplan would take me an entire day, though...

step 1: play through firered

ok gonna be honest this is the ONE part of this entire process that i did not play on original hardware. i wanted to get to the Cool Parts of this process so i decided to play through firered on emulator. absolutely terrible picture sorry but i do actually own japanese firered, so i could dump the game legally to my computer to use speedup in mGBA with a little device called the Joey JR which connects the cart to my computer by USB like so

after that it was pretty much a relatively normal playthrough but obviously with emulator speedup. i used solely my starter blastoise to, well, blast through the rest of the game LMAO. after just a couple of hours or so i was right before the elite four, which i completed while in the car after moving the save file back to my cartridge with the same device, since i had to leave the house to go to a doctor appointment. i tried to take pictures of me beating the game but the sun was not doing the photos any favors lol. blastoise ended up being level 76 by the end. was easy with surf and an ice beam TM from the game corner (i just bought the coins)

unfortunately beating the game isn't the only requirement for trading with the hoenn games, so i also had to complete the whole sevii islands postgame quest... which required me to have 60 registered owned entries in the pokedex, which i wasn't really doing while speeding through the game initially, so i had a lot of mons to catch. i was still out of the house at this point (and playing at normal speed lol) so i wasn't really taking pictures, but i did make a stop at the power plant to look for an electabuzz despite it being an inefficient 5% since i needed a spare anyways for my leafgreen file unrelated to this story lmao. took a pic of it since it took a while to show up. anyway soon enough the dex had 60+ entries! i've played FRLG so many times that the encounter locations are memorized in my mind... i did all of this with no googling asdfkasfd

at this point i got home and was able to do the ruby/sapphire postgame quest on emulator with speedup again, so it was pretty easy. moved the save back to cart and i was done with step 1! obviously this didn't actually take me 21 hours of playtime, that was the emulator speedup's fault loool. from here on out i didn't touch any emulators again!

step 2: set up ACE in emerald

ACE time! i've actually set up ACE in an old emerald file before but i wanted to do it again fresh. i was following a guide pretty much to a T so i'm actually going to skip over the details of some of the steps since you can read about those more in depth over at the guide i was using if you want

TLDR; you have to trade for the NPC trade pokemon, DOTS the seedot and PLUSES the plusle, then EV train DOTS a specific way. these EV values cause DOTS to turn into a glitch pokemon egg 0x0611 when corrupted with the pomeg glitch (more on that in a bit), which, when hatched, runs the PC box names as code, aka ACE! why does it work? if you really want to know, there's plenty of stuff online about it, i'm not the best person to ask haha

it's worth noting that volbeat is really annoying to capture in emerald as it's literally only available as a 1% in one patch of grass, so i caught an illumise instead and bred them until a volbeat hatched lol. was much more efficient

also lol "Take good care of DOTS!" sorry i will be corrupting your son into demonspawn that lets me wield godlike control over your universe

after getting the necessary NPC trade pokemon all ready and moving them into a specific pattern in box 2 (i cloned them with the emerald tower cloning glitch) i had to perform the pomeg glitch. this involves using a pomeg berry to decrease a pokemon's health to 0 without causing a whiteout. this is achieved by getting a pokemon with at least 8 HP EVs to 1 HP and then using the pomeg berry on it, decreasing the EVs and taking off a point of health in the process (it's slightly more steps than this but whatever). i decided to use the camerupt i had during my playthrough of the game for this purpose. just took him to fiery path to get poisoned and walked until he was on 1 HP and healed him with an antidote lol

by doing the pomeg glitch and entering a wild battle, the game gets a bit confused since all the pokemon in your party are fainted and just sends out some sort of glitch decamark pokemon. in this situation, after viewing my camerupt's summary in battle and exiting back out of the summary screen, i was able to corrupt the DOTS and PLUSES sitting in my PC by scrolling up above the usual limit of the party menu, which reaches into data used by the first two PC boxes and fucks them up, ending up with, assuming that i EV trained correctly, a glitched egg that is about to hatch in a nest ball named DOTS with pokerus. this will run ACE when hatched! (if you want more info on this corruption pomeg stuff, check out the bulbapedia article for glitzer popping. yes that's what they named it)

step 3: use emerald ACE to set up firered ACE

so once again you can find a lot more detail on this process over at the guide i was using, but the TLDR of the matter was, i needed to put a bunch of codes into my PC box names to generate a few different glitch mons. specifically, i needed a egg that would hatch into a crobat (yes, fully evolved lol) with a singular glitched out move, that when used in battle in firered, would cause ACE to happen similar to how hatching the corrupted DOTS egg causes ACE to happen in emerald. i also needed a specific buggy shiny umbreon and a very strange glitchy egg.

even though this step was mostly a lot of tedious typing on the gen 3 keyboard (+ i had to redo things once because i made a typo at one point in the process LOL) it was so much fun! the game breaks in so many ways that you would just... never see during normal gameplay and it makes for some really good pictures and whatnot

first of all, when you hatch the 0x0611 egg, it hatches into a decamark of varying colors, in the case of the picture below it's almost imperceptible because the whole sprite is just a black circle, blending in with the background (sorry for the quality on this one, it's a screencap of a video clip i took).

additionally, trying to scroll over the hatched decamark in the PC or viewing its summary screen will crash the game, so to get rid of it, it has to be moved to the front of your party in the party menu, and then you go to the PC to release it through the deposit menu. since the cursor just defaults to the first position of the party and you don't have to scroll over to it, it's possible to release it from here.

oh yes and the umbreon/other glitch egg? similarly screwy - actually after generating them, their sprites are glitched out until you reset the game, so they look like this. behold their nonsense summaries:

after i had all i needed to trade to FRLG, i cloned an extra set of them with the emerald tower glitch again just in case i messed something up and got to trading! here's me receiving them on the firered side:

and last but not least, i'm a little obsessed with the way the glitch move looks in FRLG on the hatched crobat, absolute nonsense:

i finalized setting up the FRLG ACE (check out the guide i linked earlier for more info) and put everything into their proper positions, but before i could actually execute any code... i needed to know what SID i was going for!

step 4 + 5: look up potential egg frames in emerald and find an SID

soo now for looking at potential girafarig eggs. instead of using the program pokefinder which i mentioned earlier, i used a program called pokenav egg rng tool, which is exactly what it sounds like, a tool specialized for rng manipulating eggs with the pokenav in emerald. using it, i was quickly able to generate a whole list of gentle, female, ability 2 (early bird) eggs, and i picked one that was around 1300 frames in since that made for quick resetting attempts, but not so quick that i could barely make my inputs in time. the one i picked was frame 1381. with a TID of 02018, the PID D2C5EF55 would be shiny with an SID of 14962, so i noted that for later in firered. (i figured this out using an old program called RNG Reporter which is what i'm familiar with but i don't recommend using lmao. it's the "Pandora's Box" feature of that software though if you happen to look it up)

i won't make an entire guide on how to do emerald egg RNG here because it's a lot of steps, but i might at some point because the most up to date method isn't super well documented. anyways, here's a very paraphrased version of the process (this is also assuming that you aren't dealing with "redraws", which i wasn't... like i said very paraphrased):

get a pokemon with the ability lightningrod in the front of your party (i used electrike) to make pokenav calls happen more frequently, and a pokemon with flame body or magma armor (i used slugma) to make eggs hatch faster

get a male and a female of the pokemon you want to hatch, in my case girafarig. if you were RNGing IVs, the parent's IVs would be relevant, but i am not RNGing IVs so i didn't care and just caught the first girafarig i could in the safari zone

an egg is attempted to be generated every 255 steps after the parents are deposited in the daycare together, so by timing the usage of a max repel in such a way, it's easy to save the game exactly 10 steps before an egg is generated. do this

using a timer such as eontimer, soft reset and try to take that last 10th step on your target frame. this will also trigger a pokenav call (or lack thereof) and by looking for the phone call you got in the call column of the egg rng tool and whether or not an egg generated at the daycare, you can tell what frame you hit. didn't hit your target? just soft reset and try again, calibrating the timer for your own human error. this can take a while since the timing is precise to 1/60th of a second

once you hit your target frame, woohoo you did it just take the egg and hatch it! if you're RNGing IVs you would actually save before taking the egg and then RNG the IVs separately but that's a whole different thing i'm not explaining here since i wasn't RNGing IVs

i've avoided mentioning it this entire time till now, but emerald is particularly easy to do rng manipulation in because due to a programming error, the rng seed is always 0 - all encounters are predictable and you don't have to dedicate a frame perfect input to getting the right seed, making emerald rng a matter of one frame perfect input instead of two (there ARE ways to get emerald to generate a proper rng seed but that's unrelated here). additionally, its pokenav system means you can see if you got the right egg BEFORE taking it and hatching it... doing egg RNG in any other gen 3 game is basically a death sentence due to multiple untelegraphed frame perfect inputs that have to be executed in a row, plus really long wait times due to hatching eggs on a slower bike without flame body. there's a reason i was not doing this on four island in frlg.

but yeah now i knew what egg frame i was going for and was all prepared to do the RNG, so now it was onto actually executing it all:

step 6: getting kaf girafarig babey!!

before doing the RNG manipulation in emerald, i needed to change my SID and TID in firered finally! this required me to run two different codes, one for SID and one for TID. it was actually pretty painless since the code is nearly identical for both, you just swap out the values of each ID and one character changes in one box name to decide whether you're changing TID or SID. you can find the list of codes i was referencing here.

i was saving my one allotted video clip in this post for changing the TID with the glitched crobat move though because LMAO

^ shoutout to my qpp @/spikyearr for this one i fucking chokedSKFDDSFK

anyway, after doing that i went through the process of the egg rng in emerald (unfortunately no pictures because it's kind of hard to take pics mid-rng) and actually saved before taking the egg so that i'd be able to soft reset after hatching it - i just needed to check to make sure it was gentle and everything, and then i could soft reset, take the egg again, bike around to decrease the egg cycles in emerald since hatching in firered is super slow, and then trade it off before hatching it to go be hatched in firered. i knew it wouldn't be shiny in emerald, so i wasn't concerned with that. it only took 40 or so minutes of attempts before i got her!

and then AT LAST after spending my ENTIRE DAY ON THIS SHIT (like 10x the amount of time on the ACE stuff for the TID instead of the actual RNG itself LOOOL) i just had to trade the egg to firered and hatch it and i was golden!!!!! AAAGH here she is next to my kaf plushies!!!

also a picture of her summary screen after being traded to my english leafgreen!! i am assuming this will be easier to read for most of the people reading this post LOL

THAT'S IT. POST OVER THIS WAS SO LONG. IF YOU MADE IT THROUGH MY RAMBLING GOOD JOB. I HIT THE PHOTO LIMIT HELP ME

anyways yeah i'm gonna be ribbon mastering her and idk i might post about the process as i go. not immediately though i have a platinum playthrough to finish teehee. also if any of this was interesting to you i highly recommend trying out RNG manipulation, it's a really fun way to play pokemon games! gen 5, BW specifically and not their sequels, is REALLY beginner friendly for RNG manipulation as the timing is a lot less precise. check it out, there's plenty of guides online!!

#pokemon #pokemon rse #rse #pokemon frlg #frlg #rng manipulation #arbitrary code execution #girafarig #ribbon mastering #kiki was here #kiki.txt #long post #kiki plays games

[usertiff]

the worst part about disability and struggling, is that the struggle just seems to continue, and honestly? get worse and worse. so yes, i know, like, "hey, it's me again! needing help..." but as my wait for disability/SSI continues, the harder and harder it is getting to survive. i'm on the verge of losing my home and my car (that transports me to health appointments and my partner to work). like many others in america, they took away our food stamps. to make things harder, as you may know, my mom has recently had 2 heart attacks and 3 different surgeries, which has only increased my struggle by tenfold, because instead of paying certain bills, we had to use our very limited income to pay for gas to get back and forth from the city hospital (3hrs away) multiple times, bandaging and other medical expenses her insurance doesn't cover, and things of the like.

being disabled is catching up to me, being the caretaker for my disabled mom is catching up to me. i'm so far behind it's absolutely terrifying. under the cut you can find my more important bills and a breakdown of things i need.

i know that life is really hard for everyone right now, everything is so expensive and assistive programs are so depleted, so i definitely want to offer what i can for any help received. this idea was 100% inspired by lomapacks, and i did ask permission to use it before doing this! so here we go.

how much do i need? basically i'm $2,291.11 behind in bills, plus have literally nothing for food or gas, which if we add it up for a month or so would then be like almost $3k.

how does the raffle work? for every dollar spent commissioning, you will earn an entry! for every dollar donated of good will, you will earn 3 entries! example, if you order $15 worth of gifs (150 gifs), you will have 15 entries! if you donate $15, you will have 45 entries! (or if you donate $1 = 3 entries, $3 = 6 entries, etc)

what are the prizes?

first place: 1500 gifs, 5 manips of your choosing, 1 crackship gifset

second place: 1000 gifs, 3 manips, 1 crackship gifset

third place: 500 gifs, 2 manips, 1 crackship gifset

every single person that commissions or donates gets: 1 manip

when will the raffle end? the raffle will continue until i've reached the massive goal, so it really depends on how quickly i can climb out of this financial grave! i'm hoping that it can be as quickly as possible!

what do you do to join? you can find my payment info below to donate or commission. if you plan to commission, please message me first so we can sort out what it's for/how much! then, please fill out the form in the source link when payment is completed. :)

when will everything be delivered? commissions will be completed in the order they were received, and delivered as soon as i can possibly get them done. once the raffle ends, the raffle prizes will be delivered upon your request for them and completed as soon as possible! i will try to deliver the manips for everyone same-day!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, FOR SHARING, FOR BEING KIND, AND FOR GIVING ME ANY TIME OF DAY.

payment information:

kofi! https://ko-fi.com/tiffanyvalentine

paypal! [email protected]

venmo! oraclelauren

cashapp! $selinaaakyle

amazon wishlist! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/259VCVX9R5LCS?ref_=wl_share

so, here are screenshots of the most important bills i'm behind on.

RENT (update is the top screenshot, i have late fees)

CAR PAYMENT

UTILITIES (2 mo overdue, power will be shut off soon) PAID!!!!!!!!!!

other important things i don't have screenshots of:

some things are on my amazon wishlist like my cats special food.

FOOD: we have no food stamps. the need for food money will not necessarily end. food banks only provide so much.

car maintenance: overdue for oil change and the brakes are squeaking badly (oil change is like $50 around here plus brakes idk maybe $80?)

gas: to transport myself to health appointments and my wife to work.

#please share if you can! #i appreciate everyone #raffle 2023

[prue84]

Prince Merlin of Essetir

Fandom: BBC’s Merlin (canon era) AU AU: Prince Merlin Related fanwork: King Merlin

Prince Merlin, heir to King Balinor of Essetir.

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Posted for the Merlin 10th Anniversary of the Finale Christmas Eve 2012 by @ladyofthelake.

Dedicated to @kairennart, whose King Merlin gave me the itch to finish this manip, and to @magicinavalon who asked them the Merlin in dark blue. Also, @queerofthedagger, as the author of "It Was One Kingdom, Once", the fic that inspired Kairennart's art. I don't know if this Merlin might fit into your fic but I hope you'll appreciate the same.

The prince of Essetir is to leave his home in order to meet his future husband, King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot.

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Manip planned and partially started (Colin's faces picked) in April 2019, but then abandoned. Turning Photoshop on to do either Kirk or Spock for Christmas, off course I go and manip something I have no rush for! The day before @kairennart had posted their Merlin in blue and their art inspired me to finish this manip. So, while not specifically related, anyone is welcome to picture this Merlin as the Merlin @kairennart painted.

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Literally finished the last touches yesterday. Posting before I can change my mind and find something else to do. I wanted to remove that horse, that looks like floating, but I couldn't replace it with someone else-- you'll see in the follow up that is coming for what I mean.

Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip) Manip started in 2019, when I completed the boring task of searching and picking the face. Initially I decided for a bearded Colin, completely finished the necessary retouches... and then, when I was about to delete the other placed temporary faces, I decided that the Merlin one was the best one... so I went and manipped that as well, thus this version. Unable to pick which version I wanted to trash, I decided to keep both. I did add something to make the second different, you'll see. Please appreciate the changing of the symbol/decoration on the pommel and the keeping of the grey for the "studs" like decorations of the jacket.

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Original picture from Games of Thrones. Colin Morgan from Arthur's Bane promo pic. Both from Far Far Away. Druid symbol unknown.

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Crossposted: Livejournal: prue84.livejournal.com/93133.html Dreamwidth: prue84.dreamwidth.org/84344.html Deviantart: deviantart.com/prue84/art/Prince-Merlin-of-Essetir-940684549

#Merlin BBC #Merlin #Merthur #AUs (Merlin) #AU: Prince Merlin #Manips #merlin10

[walviemort]

Expecting a Secret [2/3]

Summary: After the events of 3x19, Killian is at his lowest after being rejected by Emma. When Snow’s labor turns out to be a false alarm, Zelena offers Killian a deal: she’ll leave the Charmings alone…if he gives her the baby she needs for her spell instead. There’s just one hitch: he has to keep it a secret. At least it will only take 10 days, right? a/n: Here's the second part of my bday fic for @sancocnutclub !!! This is the full fic from the manip I posted last week. Last chapter should go up on Friday! rated T | AO3 | 3.8k | part 1 |

Based on what Killian was feeling and seeing, the next morning found him roughly at the 23-week mark (as expected, he’d spent most of the night studying his borrowed book—and was feeling thoroughly overwhelmed). His stomach looked yet larger, but his vest still had plenty of room, even if the laces on the side were let out a bit more.

He also found himself resting his hand on his belt to further hide the increasingly obvious curve of his midsection (at least, it appeared so to him, given all the decades that his form had remained unchanged). It seemed to work, thankfully, but he also made an effort to not be too social; he took lunch with Emma and Henry, at their request, but had to pass on their invite to dine at the loft that night. He cited his desire to avoid the extra burden on Snow—who it was implied could go into labor at any moment, though he had (good) reason to believe they had a bit more time, assuming Zelena’s implication that she had control over Snow’s pregnancy was true—but in reality, he knew his ravenous appetite would be nigh impossible to hide in such close quarters. (Granny was far less discerning, especially with with her approving comments about “putting some meat on his bones.”)

“We’ll miss you,” Henry told him as he and Emma left the diner that afternoon; Killian wasn’t sure if what he felt at that was his heart skipping a beat, or yet another kick from the little one, which were happening with increasing frequency and strength. 

He tried his damnedest to swallow his emotions and looked up at Emma, who was giving him a similar gentle look. “I, uh, I’ll miss you too—lad,” he added quickly. “Until next time.”

He was glad he’d left things vague when he yet again felt immediate relief at unclasping his vest once back in his room. The odds of it fitting even later that day were slim to none, which would no doubt draw Emma’s attention. No, he’d do best to avoid her the next several days, until this whole thing was done. 

That was something else he’d noticed—his conscious effort to put distance between him and this child, even if it obviously was more emotional than physical. His paternal side would find it far too easy to start considering names for the wee one, to caress his growing stomach and maybe even serenade the baby, to start preparing for the future. He wasn’t even sure the babe was his—but that had never stopped him before.

Until he knew how to keep them safe from Zelena’s clutches, though, he didn’t dare; that might only lead to heartbreak, and he’d known enough of that for a few lifetimes. 

He did ask Emma, during a moment when Henry stepped away to the restroom, if any progress had been made regarding the witch problem, given that his attempt at research was fruitless. 

“Nothing yet,” she sighed. “Unless we can somehow steal the items back before my mom goes into labor, our only hope is my magic.” Her eyes briefly darted to his lips; he leaned away from her. 

“I’d say both are good plans,” he assured her. “Especially the second one.”

She rolled her eyes, but blushed. “I think you’re the only person confident in that.”

“Well, take some of mine, then. Remember: I have yet to see you fail,” he reminded her, and placed his hand over hers on the diner table. 

The look she gave him was heavy; she still wasn’t used to people having that kind of faith in her, he knew. But if this was his only way of thwarting the witch—of keeping two infants safe—he’d give her as much support as he could.

The moment was simultaneously interrupted by Henry’s return, and a strong kick from his passenger—as if to remind him that at some point here (sooner than he’d care to admit), he’d have to go into hiding. He’d have to figure out a way to offer his support from afar. 

But until there was a definite plan, he was going to keep things as impersonal as possible, merely trying to make sure he complied with Zelena’s rules and did whatever he needed to remain something resembling comfortable. The babe seemed to be growing just fine; his stomach was maybe a touch smaller than average, but that could be attributed to him also being taller than the typical expectant parent, as well as a life at sea demanding denser core muscles. 

Hopefully, that remained the trend; he’d read the section about what happened after birth in more detail and…it wasn’t pretty. And he was still a rather vain man, with a woman to woo, if she’d still have him. 

(He hadn’t given much thought as to how he might explain this to Emma after the fact, if at all; he hoped the simple fact that Zelena was no longer going after the Charmings would be enough that they wouldn’t even need to have the conversation. However, he wasn’t naive enough to count on it.)

—----------------------------------------------

When he woke the next morning, his hand was instinctively resting atop the bare curve of his belly. (That didn’t bode well for his plans of detachment.)

He also found it difficult to sit up in his normal manner; after much rolling around and repositioning, he finally managed to get upright—only to see that his stomach had popped out a fair bit overnight. It most definitely resembled a bump now; after using the lavatory, he traced the curve of it in the mirror, equal parts astounded and horrified. He was also surprised at how firm it was—it wasn’t just softness; there was definitely something there. (Something that was repeatedly kicking at his liver, it felt like.)

His tunic was plenty roomy, but the vest would no longer clasp over his gravid form, no matter how much he let out the laces. He huffed as he cast it aside; he knew it was inevitable, but it was depressing all the same. At least his pants still fit, but barely—and likely not for much longer.  

If no one looked closely, and he didn’t tuck in his shirt, it wasn’t all that noticeable. But there would be no hiding it from those even reasonably close to him. Now he understood why the upper-class women referred to this time as “confinement”—because in order to keep this hidden, he’d have to stay in his room.

Not for the first time, he wished he had his ship; it would have been far easier to hide out there, away from prying eyes. Or if only there were another inn in town, but it would likely draw more attention if he were to relocate.

While he still had a semblance of normalcy to his appearance, he decided he should seek out provisions to get him through the next several days. By his math, he’d only just crossed the halfway mark in the time frame Zelena gave him, but was more than halfway through the pregnancy—so it was likely slowing down in speed, meaning he’d be spending the bulk of it during the most uncomfortable parts. Not only would he need food, he’d need other supplies as well. 

He’d jotted down a list and slipped it into the pocket of his greatcoat, next to the fair amount of gold he’d stashed before leaving the Jolly Roger. His jacket hung loose enough that it hid his belly, but only just.

Cautiously, he poked his head out in the hall before heading out; even if he was reasonably covered up, the more inconspicuous he could be, the better. The coast was clear, so he slipped out and locked up—but then he heard a similar sound from behind him.

“Oh, hey—I was just about to come over,” Emma said from across the way. “I’ve got a magic lesson this afternoon, but do you want to get lunch before it?”

He was still facing the door. Given the state of things, Emma was the last person he’d wanted to run into. Traitorously, the baby chose then to give him a sharp thump in the stomach, as if telling him to get a move on.

So he did his best to suck in a breath—to minimize his bump’s profile—before turning around. He plastered on his best flirtatious look and avoided the urge to place his hand on his belt. “Is that your way of asking me out on a date?” he teased, hoping the obvious come-on would prevent her from suspecting anything was awry.

As predicted, she rolled her eyes. “If I was asking you on a date, it wouldn’t be to Granny’s,” she countered.

“Duly noted,” he quipped back (and saved for future reference). “But unfortunately, I have to decline the invitation; I’m afraid I have some errands to run that I’ve been putting off too long.”

“Oh.” Her face fell, and he tried to make sure his heart didn’t follow it. “Well, I could go with you, if you wanted.”

He did—so much. But then how would he explain the copious amounts of food he was about to buy? “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t know how long it will take—and I know that Her Majesty can’t be kept waiting.”

Emma huffed, but he saw acceptance across her face. “Yeah, you’re right. But I’m absolutely not seeing her on an empty stomach.”

“Nor should you,” he agreed, smiling—though hopefully it didn’t look too pained, because his attempts at holding in his belly were beginning to strain. As such, he started to turn away to leave, but she wasn’t done.

“Hey, where’s your vest? Is that one of your errands?”

Dammit; should have known she’d notice. But her gaze seemed to be focused on his chest and not any lower; normally, he’d comment on her leering but he was just relieved. “Aye; damaged it with my hook last night, and the laces need repair.” (That part was true—some of them had gotten a bit stretched.)

“Darn; I thought maybe you were actually going to join the modern world and get some new clothes,” she teased.

“Not yet,” he countered, but it wasn’t a bad idea—not a total wardrobe change, but perhaps something a bit…roomier, or more forgiving. “I should get to it, though.”

Emma blinked and looked back up at him, having seemingly been lost in a daydream. (Perhaps buying modern clothes did need to be added to his docket at some point; just not today.) “Yeah, and I need to get moving. Have fun.”

“Thanks, and good luck,” he farewelled; Emma headed the opposite way down the hall with a casual wave.

He waited until she was out of sight and then relaxed with a sigh; he could feel his belly press against the laces of his trousers as soon as he did, and indulged in a brief massage of his lower abdominal muscles. At least the ruse had worked—but he was definitely seeking out pants with an elastic waist.

The supermarket was aptly named; it was indeed massive and overwhelming. But it had everything—fresh vegetables and meat, bulk rations, even perishables and fresh-baked goods. It was astounding. He was easily able to gather enough provisions (healthy ones at that) for the next several days. He also grabbed some items at random that simply sounded appealing—mostly sweets, but he’d learned that cravings were a customary part of the process and this little one certainly had a sweet tooth.

(Thankfully, he also found the section with flexible clothing with ease. He purchased a couple pairs of what were labeled “sweatpants” and a few long-sleeved tops in varying sizes and colors; he just hoped he’d selected ones big enough.)

Odds were he overpaid for the lot of goods, given that the lad working the checkout didn’t know the gold conversion rate offhand, but he didn’t rightly care if it also bought the boy’s discretion. Thankfully, he also had his enchanted tote bag with him—the one with the hidden expansion charm he’d picked up…gods, he couldn’t even remember where anymore, it’d been so long—so he wasn’t spotted carrying half a dozen overladen sacks into Granny’s.

He spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking his newfound treasures, grateful to finally have a use for the seemingly magical ice box in his room. He stashed the nonperishables on his small table, and his new clothing in a dresser drawer. 

One last thing remained, and admittedly, he hadn’t paid for it: a tiny outfit intended for a baby, covered with illustrations of sailboats. He’d slipped it into a pocket before paying for everything else, not wanting to draw the raised eyebrows such a purchase would attract, even if he could have passed it off as being for the Charming’s infant. 

He held it up with just his thumb and forefinger; the label on it suggested it was sized for a newborn, but it still seemed impossibly small. At least, until he laid it atop the steadily increasing curve of his belly; then he wondered if it would even be large enough (though the books told him the babe was only yet the size of an aubergine, which he had stared at in the produce section for an extended period of time).

Bloody hell, what was he doing? He couldn’t get attached; if he failed to help Emma and the others defeat Zelena, it would spell doom for this child. And given that he was increasingly running out of ideas, it seemed imminent. He’d already suffered two terrible heartbreaks in his life; he wasn’t sure he could survive another (which would undoubtedly be harsher).

He yanked open an empty drawer and threw the onesie inside, then shoved it shut. Best not to continue that train of thought; only if they actually managed to defeat the witch.

Sighing, he plopped down in the dining chair and tore (literally) into a package of something called Oreos. They were delicious, but did nothing to assuage his fears or guilt. For the umpteenth time, his hand instinctively drifted to his stomach, as if his touch alone could protect the babe.

Hopefully that, and his trust in the heroes, would be enough.

—--------------------------------------------------------------

Killian awoke the next day to something touching him. In his sleep-addled mind, he lashed out towards whatever it was, fully intending to let it (or them) get acquainted with the sharp end of his hook.

However, he’d taken his prosthesis off last night, lest he do anything to injure his ever-expanding midsection, so all he did was hit it away with his brace. An annoyed yelp followed his impact. 

“Bloody hell, I was just checking on the baby,” Zelena scolded. He blinked a few times, urging the sleep away from his eyes, to see the witch standing over him, scowling. 

“What the hell do you want?” he demanded as he tried (and failed) to sit up, eventually settling for propping himself on his elbows.

“I’m simply making sure that my investment is paying off. I’ve kept up my part of the deal—those sickly-sweet Charmings are just fine. But I’ve got to make sure everything is going well here, too; pregnancy is tricky business, you know.” She turned her gaze to his exposed belly; despite the shirt he’d worn to bed, it had ridden up overnight. “Oh, is that a stretch mark I see?” she declared, leaning back towards him.

He yanked the hem of his shirt down, both to cut off her view and at the wound to his vanity.

“You’re no fun,” she pouted. “I thought most expectant parents were basking in the glow of creating life, or whatever?”

“When it’s something they’ve wanted, aye; not when it’s been forced on them,” he spat. He hadn’t truly understood the concept of glowing until his time spent with Snow lately; however, he felt more washed out than anything incandescent.

But speaking of glowing—as she stood upright and folded her arms, light from the window glinted off the jewel at her neck. He remembered what the Charmings had been told about it being the source of her power, and without any further thought (moving faster than he thought he could), he lunged for the pendant, hoping that it might be just that simple to defeat her.

No sooner had his fingers brushed the surface of the gem than he was thrown back forcefully against the headboard; he groaned in pain. Bollocks.

“Ah-ah-ah,” she chastised. “Did you really think it’d be that easy? Especially when you’ve been touched not once, but twice by my own magic?”

“Had to try,” he panted out as he tried to catch his breath. His hand flew to his stomach as its inhabitant also protested the blow.

“You really ought to be more careful; a fall like that isn’t good for the little one,” she warned.

“Why do I give a shit what happens to your demon offspring?” he countered.

She scoffed. “Oh, it’s not mine. The spell would never work with my own blood. But,” she started, coming closer and leaning over him again. “It is yours.”

“What?” he gasped. He’d certainly wondered, but hadn’t expected that it was actually his child. How could she expect him to hand over his own flesh and blood? What he did to Bae all those years ago still haunted him; this would be even worse.

“Indeed. All the more reason for you to be careful, hm?” The way she caressed his bump again felt more like a threat than any sort of endearment. “If this child doesn’t survive, our deal is off. And maybe you should read the part of that book over there on just what that will do to you.”

(He swallowed, because he already had, of course; he couldn’t imagine anything more traumatic than carrying a child that didn’t survive—especially now knowing this one was truly his.)

“Then who’s the mum?” he asked, trying to distract himself. He needed to know that, too, especially if it wasn’t Zelena. “Is there one?” (Biologically, he knew there should be…but, biologically, she would be the one with child.)

“There is. Magic can’t circumvent that,” she confirmed as she set herself to rights. “But as for who…I’ll tell you when it’s all said and done.”

“You’re a bastard,” he growled.

“Something me and that baby will have in common,” she laughed.

She abruptly moved away and turned around, so he closed his eyes and took another deep breath to recover, at least physically, while she was distracted. He hadn’t realized how much the babe was pressing on his lungs until now.

“Oh, isn’t this sweet?” Zelena cooed. He opened his eyes to see her holding up the onesie. “Not my color scheme, but it certainly suits your aesthetic. Too bad they won’t get to wear it.”

Angrily, he stood from his bed to rush at her—he didn’t know why, exactly, just that he was suddenly filled with rage—but it was for nought, as she merely threw the garment at him before disappearing in her signature green smoke.

He caught it against his chest and sighed. He’d failed, hadn’t he? There was no way he could do anything to keep this child from Zelena’s clutches now, unless Emma managed to defeat her in the next few days. He sniffled, suddenly overcome by emotion—because wasn’t this so typical for him? To lose the things he loved?

(Because, much as he had tried not to, he did love the babe—even before he knew it was his; that was just his nature. But as with all things he loved, it was going to be taken from him—and their mum likely had no clue. Shit.)

His gaze was still on the outfit, vision blurring with tears, when a knock rapped at his door. He froze, hoping whoever it was would go away, but it sounded again. “Hook? Are you there?”

Of course it was Emma. Despite everything, he couldn’t say no to her. “Coming,” he called out, and quickly tossed the onesie aside, wiped his eyes, and strode to the door.

But then he glanced down; there was no hiding his belly, especially while wearing just the shirt and sweatpants he’d changed into (which, while exceedingly comfortable, did nothing to disguise the curve of his waistline). So he awkwardly angled himself, and opened the door just enough to peek his upper body around.

“Morning, Swan,” he greeted, though it was nowhere near as smooth as he usually was. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Her brow furrowed as she looked him over, then tried to look past him into his room. “I thought I heard something weird; is everything okay?”

“Right as rain,” he lied. “I did have a run-in with my bed frame, though,” he said, hoping she would believe him if he at least partially told the truth.

“What, stub your toe?” she teased.

“Aye, something like that,” he agreed.

She briefly narrowed her gaze, but seemed to accept his answer. “Well, do you want to get breakfast? Henry was asking if you wanted to spar again, too; I think he’s gunning to be your first mate.”

He had to smile at that, but it didn’t hold. “Ah, I’m dealing with a fair bit of fatigue at the moment; can I take a rain bill?”

Emma tilted her head. “You mean a rain check?”

“That, yes.”

“I suppose, but that’s only going to mean he’ll want more later.”

“I endeavor to make it up to him in full.”

She grinned, but hers too didn’t last. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I just haven’t been sleeping well,” he told her—which was true, given that the babe was treating his internal organs as playthings.

“Alright, well, rest up; you’ve been missed around here.” There was a steadiness in her gaze that suggested she was speaking personally rather than generally.

“I’ll try,” he said, though his voice was almost a whisper.

“See you,” she farewelled; he repeated it and shut the door, perhaps a bit too forcefully.

The next few days were going to be interminable, weren’t they?

The lone blessing was that Belle had lent him a few books from the library, so he had the means of entertainment, and obviously had bought more than enough food. (Those Pop-Tart pastries that Emma seemed to favor were indeed delicious.)

He felt like an arse when he had to feign sleep during Emma’s next attempt to drag him from his room, around dinner time. The woman was bloody stubborn. But, as he was being reminded by the insistent little foot digging into his ribs, there was truly nothing to be done until they were out. He’d extend his apologies then—once they’d defeated the witch.

-----------------------------------

thanks for reading! tagging a few: @wyntereyez @jennjenn615 @superadam54 @ashley-knightingale @justsomewhump @teamhook @mathiaskejseren @88infinity88

#cs ff #killian mpreg #killian jones ff #expecting a secret #my ff

[jrob64]

Saying Goodbye and Moving On

An OUAT Canon Divergent fix-it fic

Here is my entry for CSSNS 2023, which was written to fix what I thought was a grievous wrong in the show. All of you need to know that I wanted to make @kmomof4 a co-author because she did so much to help me with this story, but she refused. Several tragic things were happening in my life while I was writing this story and she talked me through it - giving me ideas for the plot, encouraging me to keep going, checking it over when it was incredibly full of errors or didn't make sense, and just generally being the best friend and supporter I needed in order to finish it. On top of that, she created the gorgeous pic set you see at the top, with some manip help from @motherkatereloyshipper. Thank you so much, ladies! I love it!

Many thanks to @hookedmom who was my official beta once again.

SUMMARY: Killian has returned to Emma from the Underworld and they are starting to build their future together, when a ghost from his past suddenly appears, giving them the opportunity to right a few wrongs.

CHAPTER 1/1 - 5230 words

RATING: T

ALSO on Ao3 (I'm unable to post to ffn at this time)

*********

Storybrooke was peaceful for perhaps the first time since Emma Swan crashed into the town sign three years ago. The Underworld saga was behind them, Killian had returned in dramatic fashion, and no new villain had shown up in town…yet. Emma knew it was only a matter of time, but she was going to enjoy the calm after the multiple storms for as long as she could.

Gold was the Dark One again after negating Killian’s sacrifice, but he secluded himself in his Pawn Shop. Emma figured he was avoiding everyone in town because they were furious over him not letting go of the dark power. Even though Emma knew the Dark One couldn’t be killed, she wasn’t above putting a bullet in him for something as minor as jaywalking, given the opportunity. She could never forgive him for what he did to the man she loved.

Right now, that man was alive and well beside her, his arm flung over her hip and snoring softly in her ear. It had been nearly two months since he returned and she was still hesitant to let him out of her sight. The first few nights after his return, both of them were desperate to reacquaint themselves with the other’s body. Gradually, as the realization grew that Killian was truly back and nothing was going to threaten their blissful happiness, their lovemaking grew gentler and less frantic, but no less meaningful. Now, after their bodies were sated, they’d lay in each other’s arms talking softly before they drifted off to sleep, content in the fact that nothing would pull them away from one another again.

*********

Killian awoke with a jolt, heart thundering in his chest and breath coming in sharp gasps. Sitting up quickly, he closed his eyes, tilting his head back while he concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths to calm himself, hoping he wouldn’t wake Emma. When his heart rate slowed down a bit, he opened his eyes and the blood in his veins froze.

He rubbed his eyes furiously, then cautiously opened them again. The image hadn’t disappeared. Hovering hazily in front of him was…

“Milah?” he choked out.

The specter’s pale eyes brightened and a slight smile crossed her face. Drifting closer, she opened her mouth to speak…

“Killian?”

Immediately, the ghostly figure disappeared. Killian blinked rapidly as he felt Emma’s hand on his back.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sitting up beside him.

“Oh, uh…aye,” he managed to say, still trying to get over the shock of seeing what was obviously the ghost of his former lover.

“Are you sure? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

His head jerked around, searching her eyes to determine if she realized the accuracy of her statement. All he could see was concern in the green depths. “Aye, Love, I just…I’m having some trouble sleeping and I don’t…I don’t want to keep you awake, so…uh…I think I’ll spend the rest of the night on the Jolly, if you don’t mind,” he stammered.

A wounded look crossed her face so quickly, he wasn’t even sure he saw it. She schooled her features carefully before replying, “If you’re having nightmares, I can help you through them. You don’t have to handle them yourself, you know.”

He wiped a hand down his face. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt this woman who sacrificed so much to bring him home. He loved her more than he could express and owed her his very life. But after seeing the vision of Milah, he knew he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep that night and he didn’t know how to explain what had happened.

“I know, Love. I just…I think I need some fresh air.” Enfolding her in his arms, he rubbed her back soothingly. “I’m not pulling away from you, I promise. I’ll meet you at Granny’s tomorrow for breakfast, aye?”

“Yeah, okay,” she mumbled into his chest. “Call me when you get to the Jolly?”

“Of course.” He got out of bed and began putting on his clothes, feeling her eyes on him the entire time. When he finished, he turned back to see her still sitting up, the sheet wrapped around her. Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, he reached over to brush some wispy strands of hair away from her face. “Get some sleep, Darling. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She leaned in to kiss him, pressing her forehead to his for a brief moment afterwards. “Be careful on your way to the docks.”

“I will. Goodnight, Love.” After brushing her lips with his once more, he stood and began walking toward the doorway.

“Killian?” she called softly.

He turned. “Aye?”

“I love you.”

He couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. “I love you, too, Swan.”

*********

On his way to his ship, Killian searched the skies for any sign of Milah’s apparition. He was torn about whether he wanted to see her ghostly image again. On the one hand, he was curious why she was here and wanted to talk with her to get some answers. Conversely, he was ready to move on with his life and his True Love.

He made it to the Jolly without any sign of the specter, but upon entering his quarters, he was met with the sight of her hovering over his bunk, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

“Milah!” he gasped. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes widened in horror as she continued to try, with no success.

“You can’t talk?” he questioned. She shook her head sadly, and seemed to shrink in on herself, floating toward the ceiling. “No! Don’t go!” he cried. “Please…stay.” He held out his hand in invitation, knowing she wouldn’t be able to physically take it.

Her eyes softened, her distress easing as she settled back down to eye level with him.

“But you can hear me, can’t you?” he asked, needing to clarify their connection.

She nodded and made a hand gesture urging him to continue speaking.

He sat in his desk chair and swiveled it to fully face her. “I don’t know how you’re here, but…I’m glad you are.” His comment made her smile. “Emma, she…she told me the two of you met in the Underworld, and that you helped her get to me when Hades had me chained up over the River of Lost Souls.”

Milah nodded again, giving him a small, tight smile.

“I’m truly sorry Hades threw you into that river before I had a chance to say goodbye.”

Anger flashed across Milah’s face and she shook her head vehemently.

“What is it, Milah?” He watched her making motions with her hands, pantomiming pulling her heart out of her chest. “Hades tore your heart out? No, that wouldn’t make sense because you were already…” He stopped short, unable to bring himself to say the last word.

Milah continued to make gestures showing her heart being crushed, then pointed to Killian’s hook.

Suddenly, understanding dawned on him. “The crocodile?” he asked incredulously. She nodded vigorously and he could feel the rage rising in him. “Was he the one who pushed you into the River of Lost Souls?” At Milah’s emphatic nod, he angrily jumped to his feet. “Not only did he take you from me the first time, he also doomed you to eternal torment and deprived me of a chance to give you a proper farewell! And now he’s the bloody Dark One again! Bloody fucking hell!” He spun in a circle, wanting to throw or hit something.

The specter of his first love drifted closer and reached out to stroke her palm over his cheek. He felt a cool sensation where her ghostly hand brushed past him, calming him instantly. He sat down on his bunk and she moved over to him, sadness mixed with compassion coloring her translucent features. “I’m so sorry, Love. I should have killed him long ago to avenge your…death. I never figured out a way to do it since the Dark One is immortal, and then I met Emma and I…I chose her over my quest for vengeance. I failed you, Milah…”

She brought her finger to her lip and shook her head to silence him. Then she placed her hand over her heart, before moving it to cover his heart. He understood her meaning and his shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you, Love. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m very happy to have it.” He smiled gently at her for a moment before a startling realization came to him. “Milah,” he said, confusion infusing his words. “How… how are you here?” He stood quickly, not knowing what to think. Could he still be dreaming? Milah shouldn’t be here. She couldn’t be here. This had to be a trick of some kind. Was Gold behind it? Had Hades found some way to return?

Alarmed recognition crossed her face and she reached for him. He stumbled back away from her and she made no further move toward him. In an effort to help him understand, she placed both hands on either side of her head, fingers pointed straight up. She moved them up and down in short, sharp movements that reminded Killian of Hades when his hair erupted into blue flames.

“Hades?” he asked tentatively.

She nodded furiously, her face lighting up with his understanding of her motions. She drew a single finger across her neck in a motion he had no trouble interpreting.

“He’s gone forever, right?” Killian asked. When she continued nodding, Killian felt excitement and hope rise within him. “When he was vanquished, was your soul released from the river?” It was more than he could possibly hope for, but her joyous visage and nod confirmed his speculation. Relief completely enveloped him and he moved closer to her, holding his hand out again. This time, she reached out for him as well. He felt a chill that somehow felt warm at the same time as her hand passed through his. “Oh, Milah,” he breathed. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”

Milah smiled gently at him then floated over to his bed and patted the space beside her. He sat down and saw her gesture for him to talk. Taking a deep breath, he launched into the tale of his life after losing her.

*********

Emma was unable to go back to sleep after Killian left. He’d had plenty of time to make it to his ship, yet he hadn’t called her as promised. She was well aware he would have a lot to work through after everything he’d experienced. Becoming the Dark One, dying and going to the Underworld, being tortured by Hades, reuniting with his brother Liam, only to have to say goodbye to him again, not to mention being separated from his True Love, before being sent back to the land of the living by Zeus.

She was willing to give him all the time he needed, but tonight, something was amiss. She could sense there was more to his abrupt departure than simply a desire to get some fresh air. His eyes were…haunted, fearful. She couldn’t help but wonder what he wasn’t telling her.

Sighing heavily, she shoved back the covers and got out of bed. Something was troubling the man she loved and she was determined to help him through it.

*********

Emma drove slowly through the streets of Storybrooke, scanning every street and alley, but didn’t catch sight of Killian. Parking at the docks, she was relieved to see his ship was still in the usual berth. She hadn’t thought he would take the Jolly Roger out to sea this late at night, but she knew how sailing calmed him, so she wouldn’t have been surprised to find the space empty.

Killian wasn’t on the deck, gazing at the stars - another activity that always brought him peace. Emma quickly crossed the polished surface, descended the steps taking her below deck, and walked down the narrow hallway, stopping outside the captain’s quarters. As she reached for the door handle, she heard Killian’s voice and paused. It sounded like he was carrying on a conversation with someone. She didn’t want to invade his privacy, but curiosity won out and, in spite of herself, she listened.

“...that’s when I found out Bae had a child with Emma - a boy named Henry. Yes, I know. It came as quite a shock to me, as well. By that time, I was already intrigued by Emma, and also very attracted to her. I hope you don’t mind me talking about her. She’s my True Love and I owe her so much. She’s the one who made me want to give up my fruitless quest for revenge in order to be someone worthy of her love.”

Emma took a step closer to the door, hoping to hear the other person to identify him…or her. Her mind raced as she waited. Nearly everyone in town knew that Henry was Neal’s son, so who could it be?

“I wish you could meet Henry. He’s a wonderful lad - intelligent, kind and brave. Bae would be so proud of him.” There was a long pause before Killian resumed. “He, uh, he died trying to warn the town about a villain. He visited Emma before she went to the Underworld and told her he was in a place where he was happy. Perhaps you’ll be able to take care of your unfinished business and join him there.”

Emma’s brows furrowed. He was talking to someone with unfinished business? Someone who might be able to join Neal, which would mean they were dead…

Suddenly, it dawned on her who it had to be, but how was it possible? Milah had been thrown into the River of Lost Souls. There was no way she could be here talking to Killian. Emma’s mind swirled with doubts. Maybe he needed someone to talk to and couldn’t trust her, so he was talking to the memory of Milah instead.

  Unable to quiet the negative voices in her head, Emma grasped the door handle, and after a brief moment of hesitation, pushed inside the cabin.

Killian looked up when he heard her enter, his startled look turning to one of chagrin. “Swan? What are you doing here?”

“I…I was worried when you didn’t call,” she said, looking around the room and seeing no one. “Killian, who were you talking to?”

Killian glanced beside him, where Milah still hovered. “I was…” Turning his eyes back to Emma, he asked, “Can’t you see her, Emma?”

Emma’s brows furrowed. “The only person I see here is you. Were you…it sounded like you were talking to…to Milah.”

He stood, casting a quick look at his first love, then moving to stand in front of his True Love. “Aye, Love. Milah is here, in this room. Her spirit is, at least. She appeared to me in your bedroom and that’s why I left so abruptly. When I reached the Jolly, I found her here, too. I don’t understand why I can see her and you can’t.”

Emma closed her eyes, her heart pounding. If he was telling her the truth - and her lie detector was silent, confirming his words - then Milah was haunting him, no matter where he went. How was she supposed to deal with that?

Tilting her head, she sensed something different about the atmosphere in the room. Breathing in deeply, she caught a whiff of…

“Killian, did Milah smell of lilacs?” she asked, her eyes opening to focus on him. A shocked expression crossed his face.

“Aye, Love. She…she always wore lilac water. I purchased it for her every chance I got. How did you know that?”

“I can smell it, and I feel a…a presence. Can she talk?”

Sadness filled his eyes. “No, she can hear me, but she can’t speak. She has been able to communicate, though. She…she told me it was Gold who threw her into the River of Lost Souls and that she was released when Hades was defeated.”

“Gold did that to her?” Emma spat. “That bastard! I’m already furious over what he did to you and this just adds fuel to the fire! Dark One or not, someday he’s going to pay for all the evil things he’s done, and I, for one, am not going to be sorry about it!”

Killian stepped forward to squeeze her hand, his eyes flicking up behind her. “I think Milah likes you, Love,” he grinned.

“Why do you say that?”

“She’s right behind you, smiling and clapping her hands.”

Emma’s cheeks reddened. “We got to know each other a bit in the Underworld. I liked her, too.” She looked thoughtful. “There has to be some way to allow her to talk to us. Remember when we used that double-ended candle to try to talk to Cora?”

“Aye, but the candle had to be lit over a person’s heart before they were killed in order to use it to communicate with that person’s spirit,” Killian reminded her.

Emma sighed. “That’s right, I’d forgotten that detail.” She chewed on her lip in thought, before speaking again. “I’ll go talk to Regina. There has to be a way.” She pulled her hand out of his and turned toward the door.

He caught her arm with his hook. “Perhaps you should wait until morning, Darling. I doubt the queen will be very amenable to helping us if you wake her in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot what time it is,” she admitted. “I, um, I guess I’ll just go home for a few hours, then. Are you…will you stay here?”

Killian glanced to his right before answering. “I still have a lot I want to share with Milah and I don’t know how long she’ll be able to stay here. I hope you don’t mind.”

Emma gave him a weak smile. “No, I understand. Do you want to come with me to talk to Regina in the morning?”

“Aye, Love.” He pulled her into his embrace. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Okay, I’ll come by and pick you up around seven,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

He put enough distance between them to be able to cup her chin in his hand. “Be careful going home, my love.”

“I will.” Leaning up to whisper in his ear, she asked, “Do you think she would mind if I kissed you?”

He gave a low chuckle. “I’m sure she won’t. She knows we’re True Love.”

She combed her fingers through the hair above his ear. “This is a weird situation, you know that, right?”

He nodded with a lopsided grin and leaned in to share a lingering kiss with her.

“See you in the morning,” she said when it ended, then added, a bit louder, “Goodbye, Milah.” After brushing his cheek with her lips one more time, she turned and left the cabin.

*********

Once Regina heard Emma and Killian relate the events from overnight, she sat behind her desk in the mayor’s office pursing her lips in thought.

“Can you explain why Killian is able to see her, but I can’t?” Emma asked.

“I’m not sure, but my guess would be it’s because Killian is Milah’s unfinished business,” Regina stated.

“That makes sense,” Emma agreed. “I can feel her presence, though.”

“Have you any ideas for how to talk to her?” Killian inquired.

Regina considered for a moment. “Using the enchanted candle to talk to her definitely isn’t an option. The phone booth in the Underworld was a way for the dead to communicate with the living, but we don’t have anything like that here. You obviously don’t want me to ask Gold for help, or Belle for that matter.”

“Absolutely not,” Emma said emphatically.

“We don’t want the crocodile to know that Milah has made an appearance,” Killian added angrily. “If I had my way, I’d send the bloody bastard back to the Underworld, never to return. Hades wasn’t the one who threw Milah into the River of Lost Souls. It was Gold. He needs to pay for what he did. It wasn’t enough for him to kill her in front of me in the first place, but he had to sentence her to eternal torment, as well.”

Regina’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t know all the details of what happened between Rumplestiltskin and Killian Jones, but she could certainly understand Killian’s anger and wanting to make sure ‘the crocodile’ paid for what he’d done. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about Gold. If you recall, he’s the Dark One and can’t be killed, no matter how much all of us would like to see it happen. Now, let’s focus on the problem of how to communicate with Milah. Do you have any idea how long she will be haunting you, Hook?”

Killian shook his head sadly. “No, but I have a feeling it won’t be very long. From the first time I saw her until she left this morning, her form had already faded substantially.”

“Hmm, I wonder,” Regina said, walking around the front of her desk and crossing her arms. “I know she probably didn’t come through a portal from the Underworld to get here, but I wonder if being close to one will give her more strength and help her be able to speak.”

“You mean the one in the duck pond?” Emma asked.

“Do you know of any other?” Regina snapped, her sarcasm in full force.

Emma chose to ignore her snark. “I think it would be worth a try to see if she’ll join you there, wouldn’t it, Killian?” At his nod of affirmation, she added. “How would you feel about Henry being there? If Milah is able to speak, he would get to talk to his grandmother.”

“I think that’s a grand idea, Love. I told her about him and what an exceptional lad he is, and I’m sure she would appreciate the chance to see for herself.”

“Is that alright, Regina?” Emma asked.

“Of course. I don’t think he would find meeting the spirit of his grandmother any more disconcerting than any other adventure he’s experienced since he brought you to town. He planned to spend the day at my house playing video games. I’ll pick him up and meet the two of you at the pond.”

“Do you think Milah will find you there, Killian?”

“She found me at your house and on my ship, Love.”

“Good point. Well, let’s see if this works,” Emma said, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze before they headed out the door.

*********

Returning to the place where Emma was forced to run Excalibur through Killian was difficult for the couple. As they drew near the exact spot where it happened, Killian heard her breath hitch and he tightened his grip on her hand.

Regina and Henry arrived a few minutes later and joined them at the edge of the duck pond.

“Mom says Grandma Milah appeared to you, Killian,” Henry said excitedly. “Is she here now?”

“Not yet, lad,” Killian said.

“We’re not sure she will be, Henry,” Emma said.

“Yeah, Mom explained that to me. She also said Grandma can’t speak, but I’m still glad you wanted me to be here.”

They waited for several minutes, as Killian scanned the skies for any sign of Milah’s ghost. The only sounds heard were the birds in the trees and the occasional quack of a duck swimming past, until Killian declared softly, “She’s here, right over the center of the pond.”

“I was going to ask if she was,” Emma said. “I thought I felt her presence.”

“There is definitely a stirring in the atmosphere,” Regina remarked.

“Is she trying to say anything?” Henry asked.

“No,” Killian answered, “she’s just watching us.” Suddenly, the water in the pond began rippling as a breeze blew across it. “Hello again, Milah. Someone is here to meet you.” He stepped over behind Henry, putting his hand and hook on the boy’s shoulders. “This is Henry, Baelfire’s son.”

“Hi, Grandma,” Henry said, his eyes darting back and forth across the sky. “It’s nice to…kind of…meet you.”

“She’s smiling at you, lad,” Killian assured him.

“I wish I could see you. Were you the one who churned up the water?” Henry asked. In response, a stronger breeze blew, causing small waves to form in the duck pond. “That’s a cool trick, Grandma!” he laughed.

A chilly wind swept past the group, rustling the leaves on the trees. “Is Milah doing that, too?” Emma whispered.

“Aye,” Killian answered, his eyes following the movement of the specter only he could see. “Something seems to be distressing her.”

“I think I see the source of her agitation,” Regina remarked, her brow furrowing in concern. “Here comes Gold. He must have sensed a supernatural disturbance, too.”

The man came stumping up the path, slowing as he took in the scene before him. Seeing the group assembled by the pond, he asked, “What are you all doing here? Are you trying to cast some sort of…” His words came to a stop as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise. “M-Milah?”

Another rush of cold air swept past them, strong enough this time to shake the tree branches and increase the turbulence of the water. “Seeing him has made her extremely angry,” Killian explained.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Regina remarked.

The wind kicked up even more, causing dust and debris to swirl around them. It seemed to center on Gold, making him duck down and cover his head. “Get away from me, you vile woman!” he screamed. “You’re supposed to be in the River of Lost Souls!” At his confession, the wind picked him up bodily and slammed him to the ground, stunning him as he hit his head on a rock.

“And YOU’RE the one who threw her into it!” Killian shouted.

Gold raised his hand to his head, wiping at the blood over his brow. Suddenly, it was if something grabbed him by the ankles and began dragging him toward the pond. “NO! NO!” he screeched, attempting to crawl back up the path.

“Grandpa!” Henry yelled.

There was a loud whooshing sound and they turned to see a vortex rising up out of the water, the force of it beginning to pull Gold toward it. He continued to scream his protests, his fingers scrabbling in the dirt as he was dragged backwards. They watched incredulously as he flew past them, too quickly to even attempt to grab him.

He was caught up in the vortex, which spun across the surface of the pond. Emma gasped as she spotted something moving behind the trees. “It’s Charon’s boat! Why is it here?”

“Gold is tethered to the Underworld through his blood,” Regina explained, shouting to be heard over the tumult. “The blood from the gash on his head must have gotten into the water and summoned Charon.”

The four people on shore watched the furiously swirling waterspout until it reached the boat, where it suddenly disappeared, depositing the helpless Dark One in a heap in the middle of the vessel.

Gold’s blood curdling screams echoed through the air as Charon guided the boat toward the portal to the Underworld. The moment it passed from view, his cries were silenced and they knew he was gone.

“Look!” Henry cried, pointing at the sky.

Emma, Killian and Regina turned to see a black vapor in the shape of the Dark One’s dagger hanging over the pond. As they watched, it dissipated, completely disappearing within seconds. “Does that mean what I think it means? What I hope it means?” Emma asked.

“No more Dark One? The Darkness is gone forever?” Regina questioned, turning back towards the others.

“Yes, that’s exactly what it means and now I can finally be free,” a serene voice said from behind them.

“Milah!” Killian gasped. “You can speak!”

“Rumple silenced me when he threw me into the river,” she explained. “Now that he’s gone, he has no power over me, or anyone else, for that matter.”

“I’m sorry you lost your grandfather like that, kid,” Emma said, putting her arm around Henry’s shoulders to comfort him.

“Yeah, me too, but he had a lot of chances to give up the power of being the Dark One and he never did. He loved power more than he loved me, Belle, and even my dad, so I guess he deserved what he got.”

Killian patted him on the back, then looked at the specter hovering in front of them. “You did it, Milah. Everything he ever did to us has now been avenged,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

“Yes, it has,” Milah said, her voice sounding much thinner. “My time here is drawing to a close, so I have to say my goodbyes.” Killian watched as a wide smile spread on her lips. “I can see Killian was right when he told me how special you are, Henry. I just wish I had more time with you. When I move on, I will tell your father what a fine young man you became.”

“Tell him…tell him I miss him,” Henry said.

“I will,” she promised.

Emma stepped up beside Killian and stretched up to kiss his cheek.“We’ll give you a chance to say goodbye,” she whispered. “I’ll be home if you want to come by afterwards.”

He nodded and watched her walk away with Henry and Regina. Turning back to Milah, he saw her translucent form was fading quickly. “I’m very happy I got the opportunity to bid you a proper goodbye, Love.”

“So am I. Oh, my love, I’m glad we were able to have so many wonderful adventures together.” Her voice grew so faint, he had to listen intently to hear her. “ Emma is good for you, Killian. It’s wonderful that you’ve found love again and you’re finally moving on. I can see that you’re really happy.” She paused for a moment, then- if it was possible for a ghost- she sighed. “I’m your past and she’s your future.”

“You’ll always have a place in my heart, Milah. You were my first love.”

“Yes, and I will always love you, but Emma is your True Love. You deserve happiness with her.”

“And you deserve peace. I hope you find it.”

“Now that all of my unfinished business has been taken care of, I’m sure I will.” Swooping down, she brushed her nearly invisible fingers across his cheek. “I must go now. Goodbye, my love.”

“Goodbye, Milah.”

He stood transfixed, staring at the sky for several minutes after her form disappeared. The sadness he had carried in his heart for so long over the loss of Milah, was replaced with relief and joy.

Finally, he turned and began walking back to town, where he knew he would find Emma waiting.

He saw her sitting on the steps of her house when he stopped in front of the gate. Looking up at him, a warm smile crossed her face, and he returned it with one of his own. Stepping through the opening, he moved toward his future.

*********

Was I the only one who thought Gold should have been held accountable for what he did to Milah? Or that Killian should have had the chance to say goodbye to his first love? Please let me know how you felt about it.

Special thanks to the people who have held the Captain Swan Supernatural Summer event for many years now. It's always a lot of fun!

And thanks to all of you for reading, commenting and reblogging!

Tagging: @hookedmom @kmomof4​ @cs-rylie @qualitycoffeethings @grimmswan​ @wyntereyez​ @the-darkdragonfly​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @paradiselady19​ @xarandomdreamx​ @motherkatereloyshipper @julesep3026 @courtorderedcake​ @lfh1226-linda​ @pawshapedheart @vampcoffeegyrl23​ @tiganasummertree​ @captainswan4life85​ @bluewildcatfanatic​ @eleveneitherway @elfiola @kday426​ @julieenchanted-swans​ @gingerchangeling @andiirivera​ @djlbg @jonesfandomfanatic​ @snowbellewells​ @huntressandlioness1 @anmylica​ @booksteaandtoomuchtv @pirateherokillian​ @cocohook38 @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @laschatzi @zaharadessert​ @jennjenn615 @yasbio2015​ @lyssapup27​ @nachocheese-itsmycheese​ @singersdd​ @mie779​ @undercaffinatednightmare​ @winterbaby89 @xsajx @jackieorioncat @teamhook​ @bdevereaux-blanche​ @soniccat​ @searchingwardrobes​ @jarienn972​ @apiratewhopines​ @softkilly​ @goforlaunchcee​ @kymbersmith-90​ @captainswan21

#csff #cssns23 #captain swan supernatural summer #saying goodbye and moving on #jrob64 #art by krystal #manip by motherkat #canon divergent #fix it fic #ouat fanfic #ghost story #milah gets justice #rumple gets what he deserves #one shot

[ryujenini]

Kinktober Day 5 (NSFW🔞)

Jennie & Soyeon - Teach Her A Lesson

(This was my first time trying to make a manip so sorry if its bad)

"Don't give me that look" Soyeon said as she noticed that way Jennie  was looking at her as she walked into the dorms, she looked annoyed, still thinking about how she left her earlier, when Soyeon saw Jennie roll her eyes at her words she instantly pulled the older girl to stand up and dragged her tightly by her wrist to her room

Quickly slamming the door and pushing Jennie down on the bed , biting her lip before looking at Jennie and letting out "you look so good I can't wait to absolutely ruin you"

At those words the colour in Jennie's eyes shifted to a darker one, her mind clouded with lust, she knew she was still going to be sensitive from earlier but she didn't even care, she wanted Soyeon use her however she wanted

Soyeon wasted no time in taking off Jennie's clothes, ripping at her T-shirt before pulling down her shorts, already seeing how wet she was from the way her thighs were glistening from her juices

"Pathetic, how turned on you get from me being mad at you" Soyeon said before laughing sadistically at her , "Sorry Mommy" Jennie let out in a whine before trying to pull Soyeon closer , "nah uh Princess you don't get to touch me" Soyeon whispered in her ear before biting down on Jennie's neck harshly as she tried not to scream and once again reached for Soyeon's shoulders

"That's it, if you can't listen to me then I'm going to have to do this" Soyeon said as she leant over grabbing the hand cuffs from under the bed and beginning to attach Jennie to the bed frame as she whined , "nope you clearly can't listen so now you can't use your hands" Soyeon said smiling as she slapped Jennie's thigh admiring the mark briefly before once again reaching under the bed, Jennie's eyes going wide as she saw what Soyeon pulled out, she hated these, it was the chain that clipped on to her nipples, Soyeon on the other hand loved it, hearing Jennie's noises of discomfort whenever she'd pull on the chain, only stopping when her nipples were red and swollen and Jennie was nearly crying, but that was just the beginning

Soyeon moved her way down the bed, smiling at how wide Jennie had her legs open , she knew better than to try and keep them closed when Soyeon was like this , she'd learnt that the hard way

Soyeon  leant forward attaching her lips to Jennie's throbbing clit, distracting Jennie as she put the vibrating butt plug in her ass and putting it on full making Jennie moan, Soyeon pulled away, slapping her hand down on Jennie's centre where her mouth just was and saying "did I say you could make a noise" , Jennie just shook her head and bit down on her lip trying her hardest not to moan as she felt Soyeon's tongue back on her as she was entering another toy deep inside her, Jennie felt her pussy stretching around the toy, knowing Instantly which one it was from how big it felt and how strong the vibrations were, that along with the way Soyeon was plunging it in and out of her at a very fast pace, Jennie knew she wouldn't last long but that didn't matter, Soyeon wouldn't let her stop until she'd came at least 5 times

At this point Jennie was crying, begging to stop but Soyeon reached up wrapping her hand around Jennie's neck and said "you look so good with my hands wrapped around your neck, do you think you could cum for me one more time princess" and Jennie just nodded not having much choice and jutting her hip up as Soyeon made contact with her now enlarged swollen clit and sore puffy lips, Soyeon tugged on her nipples as she gave kitten licks to Jennie's sensitive area seeing how she once again clamped around the toy, she came screaming out "Soyeon please no more" this time she just nodded as she turned off the toys, gently pulling them out and going to unhandcuff Jennie before straddling her stomach and placing soft kisses to her lips while stroking her hair and cooing in her ear "you were such a good girl for me princess" then kissing her on the cheek before helping her get cleaned up, carrying her to the shower and getting her ready for bed, knowing that this probably wouldn't be the last time Soyeon would have to teach her a lesson

#blackpink #gidle #kinktober #smut #jennie #soyeon #kpop #jeninishubby

[kmomof4]

Cave Cruises, Cabin Capers, & Cracked Craniums A fic collaboration between @kmomof4, @jrob64, @snowbellewells, and @whimsicallyenchantedrose

What happens when four fanfiction writer fandom friends go on vacation together? A fic collaboration, of course! We knew from the start we wanted to have a collab sprint involved in our vacay, but it wasn’t until we were in the thick of it that we decided we wanted our story to essentially be a fanfic version of our trip itself. Sadly we did not meet any hot pirates, but it was a lot of fun all the same. All of the pictures in the post were taken by one of us on the trip and the cabin in the picset above is where we stayed.

Shoutout to @motherkatereloyshipper​ for her manip of the Lost Boys Cave sign at the beginning of the fic! You’re the best, babe!

This is a long one y’all, over 16k, so be sure you have snacks and drinks to enjoy while you read!

Summary: When Emma Swan and her friends go on their annual girls’ vacation, they meet a group of guys who seem to keep turning up in the same places. Pranks, yearning looks and romance ensue.

Rating: T for some strong language and a suggestive hot tub scene.

On ao3

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

A collaborative story by @snowbellewells​, @whimsicallyenchantedrose​, @kmomof4​ and @jrob64​, based on our very own girls’ trip (without the guys, sadly)

Emma Swan and her girlfriends–Mary Margaret Blanchard, Ruby Lucas, Regina Mills, Belle French, and Elsa Arendelle–were on the first day of their yearly, week-long girls trip. The friends had been vacationing together since they’d graduated college three years before and all went their separate ways–some to graduate school, others to their chosen career fields. Regina had just graduated from Harvard Law School at the top of her class, and she had job offers in Chicago and Knoxville, so the friends made plans to help her decide on a location by booking this year's trip to Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the Lost Boys Cave tour, and later that day, they would drive to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the cabin they’d rented for the week. Not only was it near one of Regina’s possible job locations, but Ruby’s grandmother – “Granny” to them all – ran a diner and lived in Pigeon Forge as well.

Regina had been born and raised in New York City and was already complaining that the fresh pine smell in the air was getting to her.

“How much farther is it to this cave that we apparently have to see?” she groused. “My feet hurt already. I didn’t sign up for blisters.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “If you’d taken my suggestion to actually break in your new tennis shoes beforehand, you wouldn’t have that problem.”

Regina was on the verge of what Emma was sure would be an excessive amount of snark, when they heard footsteps approaching them on the walking path.

“Good morning, ladies,” an accented voice said from behind them. Emma turned around and nearly lost her breath at the handsome man who had spoken to them.

His deep blue eyes sparkled in the morning light, and the slight smirk and raised eyebrow on his face sent her heart racing. He had artfully tousled black hair and trimmed scruff the same color, with just a hint of ginger peeking through that became noticeable when the sun filtered through the leaf canopy over the path where they all walked.

A chorus of good morning resounded in response to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome’s cheerful greeting, but Emma couldn’t find it within herself to speak to him. His good looks left her completely speechless.

“Are you ladies joining the 11 o’clock tour?” he asked.

Emma nodded– still completely tongue tied– while Mary Margaret answered in the affirmative for all of them.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed exuberantly. “You’re with me then.”

He was walking beside Emma by this time and turned toward her, waggling his eyebrows. “Cat got your tongue, Lass?”

Emma could feel the blush spreading down to her neck as she tried once more to force her mouth to work properly. She wet her lips and took a deep breath, determined to say something.

“Lass?” she asked saucily. “You fall through a time portal or something? What century are you from anyway?” She cocked her head at him challengingly as she lobbed the verbal ball back into his court. She was a bit surprised to find herself anxiously awaiting his reply.

That blatantly expressive eyebrow of his practically leapt into his hairline, and a smirk slid over his mouth at her sassy response. “Let me assure you, Love, though there is nothing wrong with speaking as a proper, dashing gentleman of old, I’m from the same time as yourself, and as you can clearly see, I have quite the youthful glow.”

Someone should register those blue eyes of his as deadly weapons, Emma thought to herself. She was suddenly aware that all of her friends were beginning to take much too curious an interest in their verbal jousting match, so she moved away from him with a rather dry, “Not your love, Buddy.”

He chuckled knowingly but did back up a step. “As you wish then, Darling. Perhaps you will grant me your name instead, so I shall know what I may call you?”

“Her name’s Emma, Handsome,” Ruby interjected, a bit too eagerly in Emma’s opinion. “I’m Ruby. This is Regina, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Belle.” She gestured to herself and each of her other friends in turn. “And what may we call you? And when? Oh, and how often?”

The man in front of them grinned before answering, “Killian Jones, at your service, ladies.” He gave a small bow and directed a wink at Emma.

Ruby saw it, but she was pleasantly distracted when a tall, curly-headed guy with scruff defining his strong jawline joined them on the path. His eyes quickly took her in as well, before turning his attention to Killian with the message he had come to deliver, “Liam and I’ve got the other boat.”

“Thanks, Graham,” Killian said to the newcomer.

“The other boat?” Ruby asked. “There are two boats?”

“It depends on the size of the group,” Graham answered, a soft smile touching his lips as his eyes lingered on hers.

“How big does the group have to be?” she asked, propping her hand on her hip. “Because I can go flag down some cars on the road, if necessary.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem, Love,” Killian said as they crossed the footbridge and reached the assigned meeting place, noting the large group of people waiting for them.

Emma leaned back against a large rock and enjoyed the view as Killian greeted the gathered groups–people hailing from Florida, Michigan, Colorado and even California–and began his spiel about the caves, the local ecosystem, and legends and lore of the area. He was good at his job, and it was clear he loved it.

“Be sure to stop me with any questions you have,” he finished.

Ruby groaned. “You have no idea what you’re asking, Killian. Mary Margaret is a school teacher and will definitely take you up on that.”

He gave her a good-natured smile, before turning his charm back to Emma as they began walking toward the cave. “And what about you, Love? Do you have any questions for me?”

“Depends,” she answered with a smirk, “do they have to be about caves?”

He leaned in and gave her a saucy wink. “You may ask me as many questions as you like…perhaps over a few libations after the tour.”

Emma wished very much she had a witty comeback for that, but his low drawling voice, combined with the flirtatious wink left her not only speechless, but unable to remember what words even were.

He gave her a knowing grin, before turning back to the group as a whole.

“To your left, here, you’ll see what we call the Blue Hole,” he said, gesturing toward a small, round body of dark blue water. “Legend has it that if you dive too deeply within its depths, Peter Pan will grab you and drag you to Neverland. It was deterrent enough to keep the locals from exploring it.”

Elsa scoffed. “Neverland? Isn’t that supposed to be a place of wonder and magic? Why would anyone be afraid of someone like Peter Pan?”

“The child is a bloody demon,” Killian answered, completely serious. “I wouldn’t test him.”

After passing beside the Lost River–called such, because no one knew where it began–they finally reached the cave itself. Two other men waited for them, and Killian promptly introduced them as his older brother Liam, and Will Scarlet.

“Some of you will have the honor of riding with Graham Humbert and myself,” Liam explained, “while the rest will be in the nearly-as-capable hands of Will and my little brother.”

“I think you mean ‘younger’ brother,” Killian muttered under his breath.

Mary Margaret turned to those in their group. “Any preferences about which boat we take?”

Ruby grinned broadly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know which one I’m choosing. Graham’s hot, and I certainly wouldn’t mind spending a little extra time with him.” She tossed the woman next to her a knowing look. “And from the way Elsa’s eyeing that new guy, Liam, I’m guessing she wants to join me.”

The woman in question blushed a pretty pink, but didn’t contradict her.

“I’ll stick with Killian,” Belle said. “He seems quite knowledgeable, not to mention more than a little smitten with our Emma.”

Emma rolled her eyes and shrugged. “He’s a shameless flirk,” she asserted, her countenance turning confused the moment the word was out of her mouth.

“A what?” Elsa asked.

Emma waved her hands around aimlessly. “Oh, I meant to say a flirty jerk,” she explained, “but what’s the harm in having a little fun? After all, this is a vacation.”

Regina groaned, stepping next to Ruby and Elsa. “No thanks. If I have to spend a twenty minute boat ride with Captain Guyliner, with his yearning looks and doe-y eyes, I may vomit.”

Mary Margaret, for her part, took her place beside Emma for no real reason other than balancing out their group.

With the seating arrangements made, it was time to step into the boats docked side by side at the entrance of the cave. Emma took Killian’s hand as he helped her in. The moment her hand touched his, it was as if sparks went up between them. Emma gasped, pulling her hand back and meeting his equally startled eyes. For a moment neither moved, eyes locked, chemistry sizzling between them.

“Oi! What’s the hold up?” Killian’s co-guide, Will, complained.

It broke the spell, and Killian stepped back, scratching at a spot behind his ear. “Right, if you will, please take your seat.”

After Killian and Will helped the rest of the passengers onto their boat, Killian leaned over to tie the rope mooring back to the dock and Emma blatantly stared at his backside. The man was entirely too hot for anyone’s good. He glanced back as he finished and caught her staring.

“Like what you see, Love?” he asked with a saucy grin.

“You better believe it,” she tossed right back at him.

Killian laughed heartily as he hopped up onto the raised platform between the two rows of seats in the boat. “If you liked that, you’ll love this. Here is the part where I practice for my next job–as a runway model.”

Emma snorted a laugh as he walked, exaggerating his movements as though he were modeling the latest in haute couture, complete with sound effects.

“If you’ll look to the ceiling directly behind me,” Killian said, a moment later as the boat began to slowly glide through the cloudy water, “you will find our first attraction, the Wishing Stone.”

“Oh, that sounds mysterious and magical!” Mary Margaret said. “Why is it called that?”

Killian gave her a grin, having expected the question. As Ruby had warned, she had, indeed peppered him with a steady stream of questions throughout the entirety of the tour to that point. “Because if you don’t duck your head, you’ll wish you had.”

Emma groaned at the corny joke, but obediently ducked her head, turning it toward the back of the boat, where Will seemed to be so intent on something he was saying to Belle that he’d missed his co-guide’s warning. One second he was talking, and gesturing animatedly, and then, with a crack, his head came in contact with the low hanging cave ceiling.

“Bloody hell,” the man exclaimed, as he tumbled backwards and landed with a tremendous splash in the shallow water behind them.

“Oh, for the love of…” Killian said, shaking his head in disgust. “Would someone in the back kindly give my git of a co-guide a hand up?”

Always eager to help no matter the circumstances, Belle offered a very soggy Will assistance as he climbed back in the vessel. The man gave her a grateful smile. Belle returned it hesitantly before turning determinedly away from him. Emma gave her a sympathetic smile. Belle had only recently gone through a very painful breakup, and feelings or flirtations of any kind were the last things she wanted right now.

The boat tour lasted around a quarter of an hour, Killian and Will each pointing out structures of interest.

“If you notice,” Will said at one point, directing his flashlight to the ceiling, “the occasional floods that pass through this area tend to leave the ceilings smooth, but we’ve got a few baby stalagmites forming up ahead.”

“I think you mean stalactites,” Belle answered. “Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling, while you might trip over a stalagmite at your feet.”

Will tossed her a delighted smile. “Right you are, my sweet! When I cracked my cranium I must have lost my good sense.”

Emma saw Killian roll his eyes and mutter. “Said as though he ever had any to begin with.”

When the tour came to an end, Will and Killian hopped onto the docks, secured the boat, and began helping their passengers out. First on, Emma was the last off, and when she took Killian’s hand, it was like before, but this time even more. It was as though an electric current ran through her at the touch and she audibly gasped, her eyes fixed on his. She couldn’t look away, not as she stepped up onto the edge of the boat, nor when she stepped toward the dock. Her foot landed on a rope, and with a pop, it twisted to the side and she fell on the ground with a quick curse.

He was at her side in a moment.

“Emma. Love, are you okay?” he asked, reaching to steady her.

“I’m fine,” she bit out, feeling the intense embarrassment of her tumble far more than the pain of the sprain. “Just…don’t hover,” she said, waving her arms about. “Let me up!”

“Nonsense, Emma, you must let me attend to your injury,” he said, hand on her shoulder holding her still. “Allow me to wrap it for you.” He called for Will to bring him the first aid kit from the boat.

Emma shivered at the thought of his hands on her, even for something as innocuous as wrapping a sprained ankle. She should refuse; she really should, but it was, after all, a bit of a hike back to her car, and she knew her twisted joint could use the extra support.

“Fine, just hurry up with it,” she grumbled. “Mary Margaret has our vacation planned out to the minute, and she’d give me hell for messing with her precious itinerary.”

He laughed. “I think you'll find my ministrations to be both quick and efficient.”

Quick and efficient they might have been, but Emma felt every second of it with a swoop of her stomach as Killian gently cradled her foot on his lap, carefully removing her sock and shoe, and then expertly wound a long bandage around her foot and ankle, before restoring her footwear.

The swoop intensified as he offered to fetch a golf cart and drive her back to the car. These were dangerous waters she was treading in, and she’d best put a stop to it. The flirtatious rogue, she could deal with. The sweet, genuine man, she couldn’t.“Thanks for the offer, but it’s just a little sprain,” she said, a bit more harshly than she’d intended. “I can hobble back to the car on my own.”

He looked as though he wanted to protest further, but the expression on her face must have deterred him. He took a quick step back and glanced aside. “As you wish.”

“Thanks though,” she said, not wishing to give him the impression she was upset with him. “You know, for the tour and everything.”

He sketched an exaggerated courtly bow, “It was my very great pleasure, Love. And should you ever find yourself in the area again, feel free to look me up.”

While she couldn’t say the idea wasn’t tempting, Emma merely gave him a quick smile and then limped over to her friends who were waiting for her. No point in getting her hopes up. After all, once she left the park, she’d never see Killian Jones again.

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

Once they arrived at the cabin and unpacked all their belongings, the ladies made a trip into town to buy groceries they’d need for the week. Emma’s ankle was still very tender, but she wasn’t willing to be left behind, just to sit and be bored while the rest of them were gone. So she promised Mary Margaret and Elsa, the designated moms of the friend group, she’d use a motorized scooter to do her part of the shopping.

When they pulled into a parking space at the local market, Belle ran in to collect a scooter for Emma, who felt herself both blushing and scowling despite being touched by Belle’s thoughtfulness. She knew that the way she was beginning to hobble unsteadily to deal with the pain in her ankle would require her to use the scooter, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. It made her feel either ancient or like she was blowing a minor sprain completely out of proportion. “Thanks,” she muttered dryly, with a sidelong glance at Belle’s smiling face. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Now, enough of that,” Elsa broke in matter-of-factly, taking Emma by the elbow with little ceremony and guiding her right up to the scooter and into its seat. “You just sit yourself down and stop worrying over how it might look. The sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can be back and you can get off that ankle to elevate and ice it.”

There was no comeback to offer for such sensible reasoning, so Emma nodded, zipped her lips, and steered toward the door, the rest of the ladies following in her wake. They paused only briefly in the chilled grocery air to organize who would grab what and where they would reconvene in twenty minutes. Once each had their short list, they split up to complete their mission.

Emma grabbed most of the dairy essentials she had been assigned quite easily, then motored over to the ice cream freezer to finish up. She could nearly taste the creamy, chocolatey Rocky Road melting on her tongue already, and she was leaning in the case to grab the last carton of it off the shelf before she even noticed there was anyone else nearby. In fact, she wouldn’t have noticed at all if the carton hadn’t been taken from her grasp by another hand grabbing it at exactly the same moment she’d intended to lift it herself.

“Hey, that was mine!” she accused, darting a withering glare to the left at the interloper, only to find their unfairly sexy tour guide from earlier in the day.

Wearing an all-too-smug expression, Killian Jones nodded in greeting with a lazy, crooked grin that Emma wanted to punch - or kiss - off of his face. “Are you sure about that, Lass? It would appear that the Rocky Road is in my possession.”

“Only because you took it out of my hands!” she argued. “And what are you even doing here, anyway? Are you following me now? Crippling me at the start of my vacation wasn’t enough?!?”

Tilting his head to look at her, Killian kept his mouth shut. Even if her assessment was completely unfair, he rarely got himself in trouble for things he didn’t say. Instead, he waited a moment, thinking she might calm down and take back her accusation. When Emma crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and instead looked as though she might happily run him over with the scooter she rode, he realized that was not about to happen. Perhaps a bit of well-placed smolder would be in order?

“Come now, Darling,” he soothed, lowering his voice and purposefully allowing the lilt in his words to become more pronounced. “You know as well as I that your unfortunate fall at the cave was no fault of mine. And I did patch you up as best I could, did I not?”

“Don’t you bat those pretty eyes at me,” she warned in a defensive snarl. “I’m not about to fall for that. And I believe I’ve already told you that I’m hardly your anything - lass, love, darling or otherwise.”

“Very well, Emma,” he enunciated the name ridiculously. “And to answer your earlier query, no, I am not following you. We’re on our way to a vacation rental, and are picking up groceries before we get there. And if I’d known how much you abhor my company, and that you were such a vexatious lass, I wouldn’t have even flirted with you.”

“Well, if I had known you were such a self-righteous prick, I wouldn’t have flirted back,” she snarked, unable to help the little flare of regret that curled in her gut at Killian’s statement of finding her so difficult he would not have even engaged with her had he known. It was the one chink in her armor, ever since she was a child - too guarded, too prickly, too much. It had always been the same when she found herself alone again. Quickly, she shook that regret away and focused back on the current challenge standing before her.

“You want to talk about a self-righteous prick, that would be my brother.”

“Huh?” Emma asked dumbly, not quite following his logic.

Killian gestured down the row nearest them to where the tall, curly-haired captain of the other tour boat–Jones’ older brother, she remembered now–was reaching up to the very highest shelf in the cereal aisle, where Elsa had been trying to grasp a box of her favorite cereal that had toppled over and fallen hopelessly out of her reach. The little tableau took only seconds, but was unarguably sweet, and the bright adoration that lit up Elsa’s face as she turned to thank the elder Jones brother, gave her aspect a stunning beauty the likes of which Emma had never seen from her friend before. When Liam offered what almost looked like the smallest of formal bows to Elsa before continuing on his way, Emma looked back to Killian with a grin, and added, “What, you’re both stuffy and old-fashioned beyond belief?”

He seemed to sense that the mood had shifted and allowed a gentler smile to cross his lips as well. “Aye, something like that, I suppose.”

They had begun to move back toward the front of the store side-by-side, almost without consciously realizing what they were doing. Emma was more than a bit flabbergasted when they reached the front of the market and Killian easily plunked the ice cream into the basket of her cart.

She looked up at him from her seat, surprised and ready to argue again, only to find him looking back at her with a softness that warmed her, even as it discomforted her at the same time. “While it can hardly be deemed my fault that I am so devilishly handsome you couldn’t keep your eyes off me and tripped out of your tour boat, I am always a gentleman. The Rocky Road is yours, Emma.”

Floundering for a moment, and out of her depth, Emma finally settled on a simple, Thank you, before coyly adding, “Maybe you would enjoy something like Rum Raisin more anyway.”

“Think nothing of it,” Killian offered gallantly, and moved to saunter back toward his brother and his group of friends. However, just before he turned away, the more proper facade slipped once more as he teased, “And as a matter of fact, I prefer my rum undiluted…and shared with you, if you’d allow it.” Then, with a wink and a waggle of his eyebrows, he was walking away.

By the time Emma, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Regina were loading their purchases into the back of Mary Margaret’s Traverse, Emma was getting worried about the state her ice cream would be in when they got back to the cabin. She wondered how Ruby and Belle could have both gotten held up in their shopping when Ruby emerged through the doors of the grocery into the parking lot, walking close enough to Killian’s friend Graham for her arm to brush against his with each step.

The lean muscles of his forearms were on full display as he carried both his own purchases and Ruby’s, and she looked up at him with her red-painted lips curved into a satisfied smile. She clearly appreciated his chivalric efforts as Graham placed the meats and cheeses Ruby had been assigned to gather in the back with the girls’ other shopping bags and stood back to his full height. His eyes already gazed at her with puppy-dog devotion as Ruby allowed her fingernails to trace over his shoulder and down his bicep. What most might not see beyond the overt flirtatiousness – they hadn’t known her as long or as well as Emma had – was just how over the moon the striking brunette already was for this scruffy gentleman as well.

They finally heard Belle coming to join them even before they saw her come through the exit. She was carrying a plastic bag with the condiments and spices she’d had on her list, but she was also brandishing a jar of Polaner All Fruit in her free hand and ranting with her intense librarian’s dedication to facts about just why she had indeed needed to purchase the pricier topping.

“...and it’s all natural, lower sugar, and has a purer taste,” she was saying. Will nodded along with utmost attention, even as the mischievous gleam in his eye could only remind their audience of a junior high boy on the playground who lived to tug on the ponytail of the girl he liked. “Not to mention the fact that the company grows and harvests their berries organically, and that the glass jar is recyclable and more environmentally friendly than plastic.”

“Oi, right ya are,” Will exclaimed, clearly not about to set her off any further. “I only asked if ya needed to buy the ritziest jelly on the shelf. Clearly ya do, so I’ll not say anymore about it.”

Belle startled visibly when they arrived at the Traverse, their friends’chuckles finally registering through her lecture of Will. “Oh, hey guys,” she added almost dazedly with a flattering pink staining the apples of her cheeks.

“Hey yourself,” Ruby simpered with a wolfish grin, “looks like you might have found a rather large extra during your shopping.”

Will’s burst of guffawing laughter set them all off again, and Belle couldn’t help but join in, even at her own expense, before they were all finally on their way to the cabin at last.

*********

Emma was out on the deck enjoying the cool night breeze. She sat in a two person glider, ice on her ankle, after returning to the cabin following the grocery run. It was so quiet and peaceful, Emma could feel her eyelids drooping. It had been a very long day, after all.

Suddenly, the pleasant silence was broken by the slamming of a car door and a familiar voice reaching her ears from the parking area of the cabin next door.

No. Way. She thought, rising from the glider and hobbling to the railing. Looking down, she saw the unmistakable backside of Killian Jones as he reached into the back of a black SUV for a suitcase. As soon as he set it on the ground, Emma backed away from the railing, hoping against hope it was dark enough that if he were to turn around and look up, he wouldn’t see her.

He reached back in, and Emma returned to the railing just to get another glimpse of him. She’d deny it to her dying breath to anyone who asked, but she wasn’t enough of a self deluding fool to lie to herself. The man was breathtakingly handsome and the thought of living right next door to him for an entire week was enough to send her pulse into overdrive.

She hobbled back into the house, drawing everyone’s attention as soon as she came in the door.

“Killian Jones is next door!” she exclaimed. There was a chorus of Whats, but Emma didn’t miss the way Ruby, Elsa, and Belle all either lit up or blushed furiously, realizing immediately that their respective guys were probably going to be at the same cabin. Mary Margaret was just suggesting they go next door and say hi, when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Regina was closest, so she opened the door to find a tall, huskily built man with light brown hair and a mustache and closely trimmed scruff on his jawline. Regina’s heart rate picked up, but she quickly schooled her features. It wouldn’t do to swoon at the feet of a stranger.

“May I help you?” she asked. His smile lit up his face when his eyes landed on her. Yep, it was a good thing she could slip into her queen persona-–an affectionate nickname the girls had given her back in college and that she’d continued to hone during law school–at the drop of a hat.

The man stepped into the room with his hand held out in front of him. Regina looked down her nose at the offering, her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. He cleared his throat and dropped his hand, his gaze going around the room.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said, congenially. “I’m Robin Locksley, owner of Sherwood Forest Resort and I just wanted to say welcome and to see if everything was in order for you.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Locksley,” Mary Margaret said enthusiastically.

“Please, please,” he interrupted. “Call me Robin.”

“Of course, Robin,” she replied. “I’m Mary Margaret.” She then continued introductions around the room, motioning to each of the ladies in turn.

Robin nodded to each one before coming forward and shaking their hands. He greeted Regina last, and with a mischievous smirk on his face, he lifted her hand to his lips. “Milady,” he murmured before brushing them across her knuckles.

Regina couldn’t help the way her heart thundered in her chest at his boldness, but she’d be damned if she let him see it. She lifted her chin slightly and raised a single eyebrow at him, a move that would have lesser men shaking in their boots, but didn’t seem to phase him at all, his smirk widening just a bit.

“If I can help you with anything,” he said, his gaze still firmly on Regina, “please don’t hesitate to ask. My cabin is the one on the other side of your neighbors.” He pointed to where they knew the guys were staying.

“Thank you so much, Robin,” Mary Margaret replied. “We certainly will. We were just going to go next door and say hi. We met the guys staying there this morning at the Lost Boys Cave Tour in Bowling Green before driving here this afternoon.”

“Did you really?” Robin asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “What a small world. They’re all friends of mine. Liam and I were college roommates, so I’ve known Killian since he was a teenager. Graham and Will work with them at the cave and so a few years back, they started joining Liam and Killian when they’d come here for a visit a couple of times a year.”

“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed. “A small world, indeed. Tell me, Robin,” she continued, glancing at Belle and Elsa before she spoke, “Are all the guys single?”

Robin smirked again and his eyes twinkled. “I am unaware of any romantic attachments for any of them.”

Ruby’s grin was brighter than the sun at his words. He bowed his head slightly and gave a small two fingered salute as he wished them a good evening and departed.

As soon as he was gone, Mary Margaret shot Regina a serious look.

“There’s that wall again, Regina,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

Regina’s head whipped around so quickly, she was surprised her neck didn’t crack.

“What are you talking about?”

Mary Margaret came over to her friend and put an arm around her shoulders. Regina stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“That wall you put up to keep out pain,” Mary Margaret continued, “can also keep out possibilities.” Regina scoffed. “He was very handsome and obviously interested in you.”

“He smells like forest,” Regina said. “If you think he’s so handsome, why don’t you go after him?”

“Because he didn’t look twice at me,” she replied, exasperation coloring her words. “Just keep it in mind, please, Regina,” she urged her friend. “I know you have a wonderful future ahead of you no matter where you decide to go, but love is a part of all happiness, and Pigeon Forge is less than an hour from Knoxville.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “That would probably be a strike in the Knoxville column instead of a plus, just so you know.”

Mary Margaret squeezed her shoulder. “Promise me you won’t rule it out altogether, Regina. Just see what happens.” Their friends around the room were nodding and voicing their own agreement to Mary Margaret’s words. “But for now, let’s go next door and say hi.”

She let Regina go and led the way out the door and across to the cabin next door. Once they were all on the porch, Emma being helped by Belle and Elsa, Mary Margaret knocked firmly on the door.

It was opened by a tall, well-built blonde man who immediately stole Mary Margaret’s breath.

“Uh… I’m so sorry…” she stammered, looking around at her friends, her eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. “We were… ah…”

“What she means to say,” Ruby interjected, when it became clear Mary Margaret was at a complete loss for words, “is we were looking for Killian and Graham.”

The man smiled and Mary Margaret was afraid her knees would buckle. He opened the door wider, inviting them all in. “Of course,” he said. “I’m David Nolan and I don’t believe we’ve met…” he trailed away, his eyes never leaving Mary Margaret’s as he offered her his hand.

“Mary Margaret Blanchard,” she breathed, putting her hand in his to shake it.

“Lovely to meet you, Mary Margaret.” He turned to the other ladies still standing on the porch. “Please come in.”

The ladies filed in to see all the other men they’d already met around the room. Liam was in the kitchen and when he turned toward the door, his blue eyes immediately softened when they landed on Elsa. Graham and Robin rose from their seats in the living room at the entrance of the ladies, with Will remaining in his seat and looking at the others with a confused look on his face. Graham smacked him on the side of the head, jerking his own head toward the women at the door. Will scrambled to his feet as Killian came down the stairs to a much fuller room than what he’d left a few minutes before.

Everyone squirmed a bit in the awkward silence, until Ruby sauntered over to Graham and looped her arm through his.

“Is this a small world or what?” she asked. Her question broke the ice and all the men invited the ladies to take a seat. Regina remembered Mary Margaret’s words but wouldn’t meet Robin’s eyes when she moved to sit down at the bar separating the kitchen area from the rest of the room. Killian couldn’t take his eyes off of Emma as he approached her.

“Here, Emma,” he said, his hand hovering by her elbow, “let me help you to a chair.”

“I don’t need help,” she insisted, hobbling toward the nearest armchair. Once she was seated, she couldn’t suppress the sigh of relief from being off of her ankle.

“May I bring you an ice pack to put on your ankle?” he asked.

Emma sighed resignedly. She knew she was being short with him, but she just couldn’t get past the embarrassment of the accident in the first place, and then his conciliatory actions at the grocery store earlier. She knew she needed to try a little harder with him, even if it was annoying her in the extreme to have to do so.

“That would be great. Thank you, Killian.”

Once everyone was settled, conversation flowed naturally among the friends. The connection between the men was more fully explained and when David told them he was the booking manager for Sherwood Forest Resort, Mary Margaret exclaimed excitedly, “I thought your voice sounded familiar! You’re the one I talked to when I booked the cabin!” David grinned.

“Where’s Roland tonight, Robin?” Liam asked. “That’s Robin’s five year old son,” he explained to the ladies.

“He spent the day swimming and nearly fell asleep in his spaghetti tonight,” Robin explained, glancing at Regina to gauge her reaction. “I put him to bed before coming over to meet and welcome the ladies to Sherwood Forest.”

“So will we get a chance to meet him and your wife sometime this week?” Regina asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

The light dimmed a bit in Robin’s eyes. “Actually, I’ve been a widower since Roland was just a few months old.”

The girls murmured words of sympathy, but Belle couldn’t mask her shock. “You left a small child asleep in the house all by himself?”

“This is a gated community, my dear,” he assured her, “if you’ll remember from when you arrived this evening. He is also a very heavy sleeper. A tornado siren a mile away won’t wake him.” He pulled out his phone, tapped an app and displayed the screen, which showed a grainy picture of a room with a dark-haired boy sleeping in the bed. “But just in case, I use this app if I’m called away at night for some reason. He can talk to me and he can hear me through it, too.” He looked across the room at the clock hanging on the wall. “But it has been about twenty minutes since I put him to bed, so I’d better be heading back,” he said, rising from his seat.

Everyone took that as the signal that the evening was drawing to an end. The ladies all rose and bid the men goodnight. Emma couldn’t hide her smirk at the longing looks between Ruby and Graham, Elsa and Liam, Mary Margaret and David, and even Belle and Will, though she was a little more circumspect than him. She had a feeling this was going to be a fun week.

*********

“Good morning, Granny,” Ruby greeted, giving her grandmother a tight squeeze upon entering her diner.

“ ‘Bout time you graced me with your presence,” the old woman grumbled, though they could clearly hear the affection in her voice. “Couldn’t bother to come see me when you got into town yesterday?”

“We were otherwise occupied,” Ruby replied, glancing around at her companions, who looked a bit sheepish at the admonishment from their beloved matriarch.

Mary Margaret hugged Granny. “We’re sorry. We were busy unpacking, deciding on sleeping arrangements, and getting groceries,” she apologized.

“And meeting our annoying neighbors,” Emma added, limping over to take her turn for a hug.

“What did you do to yourself?” Granny asked, concern coloring her normally stern exterior.

Emma shrugged. “Just twisted my ankle on the cave tour. It’s nothing.”

The rest of the girls shared a hug with Ruby’s grandmother and settled in at a table close to Granny’s famous breakfast buffet. They were just placing their drink orders, when they heard several boisterous and familiar voices coming from the entryway of the restaurant.

Emma looked over her shoulder to check out the commotion. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” she groaned.

The others turned to see the group of men and a little boy they assumed to be Roland waiting at the hostess stand. Ruby gave a squeal of happiness, while Elsa and Mary Margaret sported soft smiles.

Regina rolled her eyes. “Are they stalking us? There are literally dozens of restaurants that serve breakfast around here.”

“None as good as Granny’s, though,” Ruby said, her eyes lighting up as Graham looked up and noticed her.

As the ladies watched, Granny greeted each man with a hug and picked Roland up for an affectionate squeeze, kissing him on his dimpled cheek.

“Wait a minute,” Belle said, a puzzled tone to her voice. “How does Granny know them?”

“Liam did say they come here a couple of times a year to visit Robin,” Elsa said. “Maybe they make a habit of eating at Granny’s.”

David approached their table, his eyes trained on Mary Margaret. “Good morning, ladies. Mind if I join you?” he asked, reaching for a nearby chair.

As Mary Margaret gave her approval, Ruby jumped up. “You can have my seat. I’ll sit with Graham. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“As if he has a choice,” Emma muttered.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Will grinned, stepping to the end of the table to scan the occupants, his eyes settling on Belle.

“Granny is Ruby’s grandmother,” she explained.

Will’s thick brows shot up. “As in Granny of Granny’s Diner?”

“Can’t put anything past you, can we?” Regina snarked. “Why are you here?”

“Robin discovered this place when he inherited the resort from his parents many years ago, and he recommends it to all of his guests. We eat here every time we visit. Granny loves us,” Will proclaimed.

“I honestly thought she had better judgment than that,” Emma said.

“Hello, Love,” Killian greeted her, as the rest of the men said their hellos. “Excuse me. I meant, hello, Emma.”

Despite her admonishments to the contrary, Emma found she really didn’t mind him calling her his love, but she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to him. “Hi, Killian. Sleep well?” she asked, mentally facepalming over such a trite question.

He smirked, seeming to read her mind. “Aye, in spite of sleeping alone, and having to listen to Will’s snores coming through the wall.”

She covered her giggle with her hand, then pushed her chair away from the table. “I’m going to the buffet before all of you get there and demolish it.”

He stepped aside to let her pass, brushing the small of her back with his hand as she did. Trying not to shiver at his touch, she threw him a small smile and proceeded to the buffet.

When everyone’s plates were full and they were eating, Granny busied herself keeping everyone’s drinks filled and directing the busboys to clear the tables of dirty plates. Carefully watching the people at both tables over the top of her glasses, she made several observations. She had known Robin’s friends for nearly a decade, and Ruby’s group of friends for almost as long, so she was good at reading all of them. What she saw made her heart swell with happiness. Some of them may be fighting it, but she could see some interesting developments going on.

Ruby sat as close to Graham as possible without actually being in his lap. Granny had witnessed her granddaughter’s interest in many boys and young men as she raised her, but she was confident that she had never seen a more smitten look on the brunette’s face before. Ruby looked at Graham as though he’d hung every celestial body in the Heavenly realms, and Granny was very pleased to see it. The sandy haired Irishman was always such a gentleman and made Granny’s own heart speed up a bit when he looked at her with those deep blue eyes and curled his accent smoothly around every word he spoke.

The old woman smiled, sensing the bubble of mutual attraction surrounding David and Mary Margaret. Ever since he came to work for Robin three years ago, Granny had been trying to set him up with her favorite waitresses, to no avail. Now, she could see why. If he had been waiting for his soulmate, he seemed to have found her in Mary Margaret, whose sparkling green eyes looked adoringly at the handsome man beside her.

Granny saw much the same look on the faces of Liam and Elsa. Both of them were the oldest sibling in their family and tended to be quite serious and responsible, allowing little time for romance. Judging by their side-eye glances and shared smiles, Granny was sure they would be able to find the time now.

Something whizzed by her line of sight and Granny looked over to see Will getting ready to throw another chunk of potato in Belle’s direction. Marching over to him, Granny whacked him on the back of the head. “Go pick it up and find a better way to flirt,” she demanded.

“Me poor head,” he groaned, rubbing it as he stood up to do as he was told.

Granny shook her head fondly, taking in the shy smile Belle gave Will when he bent to pick up the potato which had landed behind her chair. They chatted for a while and Granny was pleased to hear Belle’s genuine laugh again. Granny never liked the man who previously dated the auburn-haired beauty. He treated her shabbily, and Granny wasn’t at all unhappy when she finally broke it off with him, although she knew Belle was heartbroken. Perhaps Will, in his own clumsy but endearing way, could help mend her heart.

When she was refilling Regina’s mug of coffee, Granny caught the glance she was slyly sending Robin’s way. “He’s a good man, that one,” she said quietly.

Regina quickly averted her eyes and straightened in her seat. “I’m sure he is, but he’s not my type. I’m not into mountain men.”

“Scoff all you like, Miss Priss, but you’re not gonna meet a better man than Robin Locksley, I can guarantee you that. He’s a hard worker and a good father, and I don’t think I’m stepping out of line by saying that he seems more than a little interested in you.”

Regina folded her hands on the placemat in front of her, her expression giving away nothing, but her cheeks reddening. “I don’t even know where I’m going to end up living.”

“Well, I’d say Robin would be in the pros column for taking the job in Knoxville,” Granny said, then moved on to refill Emma’s coffee. “And what about you, young lady?” she asked.

“What about me?” Emma questioned, her brows drawing together quizzically.

“Don’t think I haven’t seen those looks you’ve been giving Killian Jones, and that he’s giving back to you. It’s a wonder this place hasn’t gone up in flames from the heat of ‘em.”

Emma blushed furiously. “There’s nothing between me and Killian.”

“Huh, never known ya to lie to me before,” Granny harrumphed. “You wanna look me in the eye and try that again?”

Slumping in her seat, Emma chewed on her bottom lip, before quietly admitting, “Maybe I am just…a little attracted to him.”

“If that’s a little, I’m interested to see what’s a lot,” the old woman chuckled.

Leaving the ladies’ table, she passed by the men’s, ruffling Roland’s curls along the way.

The little boy turned to grin at her, then popped up out of his seat. “I’m gonna get another pancake, Papa,” he declared. Robin started to rise from his seat to help him. “I can get it, I’m five now,” Roland told him proudly.

Robin kept a protective eye on his son, even though there were few patrons in the diner besides the two tables of cabin neighbors. Roland was just tall enough to reach the tongs in the tray of pancakes, standing on his tiptoes to grab one and put it on his plate. His father held his breath as Roland dipped the ladle into the syrup and dripped it across the edge of the buffet to pour it on his pancake, turning to give Robin a gap toothed grin when he succeeded.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Robin’s eyes drifted to the other side of the buffet to see Regina filling a plate with apple slices. She returned the tongs and started to walk back to her seat, when she stopped in her tracks. Roland was peeking around the end of the buffet at her and Robin felt a lump in his throat when the lovely, raven-haired woman smiled sweetly at his son and bent down to say something to him. Then she stood up and looked his way, giving him a demure smile before walking past him.

Roland carefully carried his plate back to the table, dimples flashing. “Guess what that pretty lady just said to me,” he beamed.

“What did she say?” Robin asked.

The little boy puffed out his chest proudly. “She said I must be a very big boy to be able to get my own food, and I am, right, Papa?”

Robin put his arm around his son’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “Yes, you are and you’re growing up far too fast.”

“That’s right, Rolly Polly,” Will said, reaching across the table to pinch his cheek. “Yer practically ready to start datin’!”

Roland’s giggle drew Belle’s attention and she smiled softly at the exchange between the flirty Brit and the adorable little boy.

From her spot by the drink counter, Granny’s gaze swept over the group of people seated at the two tables and she folded her arms across her chest, a smug smile on her face.

********

Later that same afternoon, just about the time to begin fixing dinner, David called the rest of the guys into their shared kitchen, where he and Robin stood waiting until all of them had gathered. When the other five men were scattered around the room and listening, David began earnestly, his eagerness all too clear, to explain their plan.

“Guys, I know this is a retreat where we plan to spend time together and reconnect each year. Life isn’t easy, and real friendships are few and far between. I’m not denying the importance of that at all, but Rob and I, well,” he said, glancing at his friend and boss, “we’re more than a bit anxious to see if the lovely ladies next door might fit into our lives beyond this week… and….well, I guess we’re trying to see how the rest of you feel about including them in our cookout tonight for instance.”

“Or if they might be game for taking a stab at the escape room on the Island when we go at the end of the week,” Robin added helpfully.

Graham didn’t immediately speak, but he flushed from the top of his head to where his skin was hidden by the collar of his shirt. Killian realized from where he stood to Graham’s right that the other man appeared to have a rather interesting bruise just nearly, but not quite, hidden by the material where his neck met his shoulder. Shaking his head in defeat, he knew that was one definite vote for Dave and Rob’s suggestion.

Will’s cheeky grin and enthusiastic agreement with their proposal was no surprise either. “Sounds great, lads! Wish I’d thought of it meself!”

Even Liam, who could be standoffish and whom Killian had thought would be at least one other person in his corner, seemed uncharacteristically in favor of the idea. “That does seem like a good and neighborly suggestion. In fact, it’s about late enough to get the fire started, and then I’ll go next door and see if they’re interested in joining us for hot dogs and s’mores.”

All of them, except Killian, were in agreement, and their short meeting was adjourned. It wasn’t that he disliked any of the ladies in the adjacent cabin, and his heart thrilled at the prospect of seeing–and flirting with–Emma again, but he wasn’t at all sure his attentions were welcomed. He wasn’t the sort to force himself on a lady, not when she clearly had her reasons for remaining aloof. However, he was grossly outvoted and it seemed this joining of their groups was happening, whether he climbed onboard or not.

*********

Some minutes later, Elsa wandered across the grass behind her and her friends’ cabin as it sloped into the adjoining space occupied by the men they kept running into. She could see the broad-shouldered elder Jones brother just starting preparation for a bonfire, and though she wasn’t at all sure it was wise, Elsa quickened her step to reach him and offer him a hand. Though she could never be as outspoken or as wildly enthusiastic as Ruby, there couldn’t be anything wrong with offering her assistance. That was what she told herself anyway as she drew near enough to capture the intriguing man’s attention.

“Why, hello, Lass,” Liam greeted heartily, straightening to swipe his forearm across his damp brow and offer her a twinkling smile. “Pleasant surprise seeing you here.”

Elsa felt the grin that stretched across her lips in return, surprised by how easy he was to speak to, despite his powerful manner and imposing stature. None of the usual tongue-tied uncertainty seemed to trouble her in Liam’s company, and it was a genuine relief to experience. “I was enjoying the view out here and taking in the evening air when I saw you. Can I help?”

Undoubtedly he would have been just fine on his own, but Liam happily showed her how he was making a domed bed of the small kindling to start the fire effectively, and as Elsa carried on from where he left off, Liam made three trips back and forth up the gentle rise to the back of their cabin, where already cut firewood was stacked, bringing enough back to keep what would hopefully be a cozy blaze for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows going all evening.

Once the fire was truly started, Elsa found herself hesitating five minutes, then fifteen, and eventually half an hour, before going to tell the rest of the girls that they were welcome to join the guys’ cookout if they wished. She was entirely too comfortable there on the log beside Liam, feeling his leg and hip pressed against hers, and enjoying the rise and fall of his voice as he spoke about his and Killian’s upbringing, how they had both come to live in America, how he’d met and ended up rooming with Robin in college, and hilarious stories from his time working the cave boating tours.

It was only once the other guys began to make their way out to the now-crackling bonfire with roasting sticks, hot dogs, buns, and fixings, that she finally stood and went to see if she could find her own cabin mates. She could almost envision how that would go anyway–Ruby would be there before she could get the invitation out, Mary Margaret practically skipping after her with her besotted heart eyes glowing, Belle would join readily enough as well, surely anxious to educate Will Scarlet on some aspect of camping, outdoor cooking, or hot dog manufacturing of which he was unaware. Emma and Regina would trail along, trying stubbornly not to seem overeager. Regina would probably try to claim she didn’t want her clothes to smell of woodsmoke, and Emma would swear she was only joining in because she wasn’t about to turn down melty chocolate and marshmallow sandwiched in cinnamon-y goodness.

Finishing the evening some hours later, Elsa looked around the fire in the starlight at the relaxed and happy faces of her dearest friends, and the attentive gazes each of them was drawing from a handsome and worthy man, and she couldn’t feel anything but gratitude. She would never have thought that two days into their annual girls’ trip she would be leaning her head on the shoulder of a handsome tour guide whose voice was tickling the fine hairs near her ear as he whispered added commentary to the rousing ghost story Will was regaling the group with. That sensation combined with his arm going round her sent shivers skittering all the way down to her toes in the most pleasant of ways. If this was what being a bit more forward got her, she would have to make more of a habit of it.

*********

On their third day of the trip, various members of their groups paired off to accomplish different things they had hoped to see and do. Liam, Killian, and David helped Robin with some simple cabin maintenance jobs against his protests, as a sort of thank you for his providing them such a perfect place to stay virtually free of charge. Graham had been willingly pulled along with Ruby as she went shopping for clothes and souvenirs along the main drag of the tourist town, and Will had just as happily tagged along with Belle as she set out to fully explore the “Original” Book Warehouse.

Mary Margaret and Regina were upstairs on the cabin’s second story deck, taking in the fresh air and the view as they caught up with each other. Emma was the only one essentially stuck inside as she didn’t really feel like limping along and slowing down any of the others as they made their excursions. She was sitting in a chair in the main living room of the cabin, ankle propped up on a footstool, distractedly perusing the same magazine page repeatedly. They had left the door open between the room and the deck so that she could call out to Mary Margaret and Regina occasionally, and they to her, and so that she could at least enjoy the mountain breeze and feel part of the conversation, but it had been fairly quiet from her friends for several minutes, and Emma could admit that she was feeling bored and sorry for herself.

Just then there was a startling sound of wings beating, and Emma ducked instinctively even as she felt the sensation of something swooping wildly over her head. To her dismayed surprise, a frantic bird had flown in from outside and was now sailing from one corner of the room to another in a confused effort to find its way back to freedom. Emma almost jumped up and made for another room, before remembering the swollen ankle hampering her and screeching in alarm as the bird sailed right over her head once more.

“Out! Get Out!” she yelled, flailing, trying to steer the winged creature back the way it had come.

By the time Mary Margaret and Regina came in from outdoors, Emma had managed to stand and was hopping on one foot as she tried to reach for the broom propped in the corner to swipe at their uninvited guest. Moments later, they heard the front door below fly open and heavy footsteps came pounding up the stairs as David barrelled into sight, having heard Emma’s cries from down on the drive between their houses.

He grasped the situation more quickly than the rest of them had, taking in Mary Margaret’s pleading, “Oh Emma, don’t hurt it! It’s confused and it’s only a baby!” Regina standing in one corner, slightly behind the coat rack and out of the bird’s range, watching the mayhem with a bemused expression, and Emma swiping a broom around ineffectually as off-balance as she was, trying to herd a terrified warbler toward the open door while yelling at her friend, “Enough! I don’t want it taking a crap on my head!”

Thankfully, the jostled songbird finally lit on a bear figurine atop the mantle. With it no longer fluttering over their heads, the ladies calmed down significantly, and David stepped over Emma’s dropped magazine and displaced chair cushion to carefully snatch the bird with practiced stealth, pinning its wings to its sides without harming them, before it could take off again. It wasn’t the first misguided creature he’d removed from someone’s rental in the time he’d worked with Robin, and it wouldn’t be the last, he thought wryly as he opened his hands outside the door, letting the bird make its escape.

He’d never received such a pleasant reward for his efforts though, he thought, as he turned back around to see Mary Margaret Blanchard gazing up at him as if he had given her the stars from the sky. Emma offered him a sheepish thanks and flopped back into the chair she had vacated with a winded thump, while Regina brought the pillow to her and helped her resituate her foot, but David really only had eyes for the tiny pixie haired beauty before him, her sweet smile wrapping him all up in knots and ever more tightly around her little finger.

“Thank you,” she murmured, coming to stand so close in front of him that she had to tilt her head up to look him in the face, the tips of her cute little canvas flats touching the toes of his scuffed work boots. “My hero, as well as that poor little bird’s.”

Just then, with her twinkling green eyes drinking him in like that, David really did feel like he could take on the world.

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

The following morning was pretty quiet. Both guys’ and gals’ groups were cooking their own breakfasts and lunches that day and staying around their cabins; there was plenty to see right within the Sherwood Forest Resort. Graham had gotten Robin’s advice on the best scenic hiking trails, which he was anxious to show Ruby. Robin was taking Roland down to the pool on their premises, and David, Mary Margaret, and even Regina, were tagging along with them to take a dip and do some sunbathing.

Belle, meanwhile, was having a bit of quiet time to herself. She loved her friends and looked forward to the time they spent together each year, but she was also dying to make use of the gorgeous view of the Smokies outside the huge window in her room to curl up for just an hour or two with a good book. She had thrown so much of herself into her failed relationship, that when it fell apart, it felt like her whole world went with it.

She set her book down unopened, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t thought about Robert once this week. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally starting to heal…and a lot of it was courtesy of Will Scarlet. There was no doubt he could try her patience with the best of them, but he was honest and funny and there was a genuinely sweet side to him. She never would have thought it when they first met at the beginning of the week, but she honestly thought he was a man who could be depended upon.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and something that sounded like a grunt of exertion. Belle froze. Someone or something was climbing the tall tree that stood just outside her second story bedroom window. What should she do? Should she call for help? Should she hide?

No. She had always read stories of heroes facing their fears to defeat the villains. It was about time she did the same. Looking around, she grabbed the first weapon-like item she could find–a large, bronze candlestick that sat on the mantle above her room’s fireplace.

“Alright, Lumiere,” she muttered, “let’s put the fear of God into whoever is trying to break into our room.”

Taking one more deep breath, she opened the blinds and took a look outside. She was greeted with none other than Will Scarlet smiling like an idiot as he dangled…something from his outstretched hand.

Belle looked closer and saw what appeared to be the wriggling body of a big, hairy spider, just before he dropped it on her window sill. Screaming bloody murder, she jumped back, feeling as though she was about to faint. If there was one thing in the entire world she could not stand, it was a spider. With their eight legs and multiple eyes, their affinity for biting and trapping their prey in their webs, they were more than scary. They were terrifying.

“Hey, Belle,” Will said from the other side of the window. “I didn’t mean anything by it; it was just a harmless prank. I’m sorry I scared you! I’m sorry I–AAAAGH!”

Belle rushed to the window, her heart nearly stopping for an entirely different reason as she saw Will lose his grip on the tree branch and go plummeting to the ground, landing with a thud.

Belle screamed again.

“What? What is it? What happened?” Emma demanded rushing into the room, looking around as though she was expecting an intruder.

“It’s…it’s Will!” Belle said, gesturing to the window.

“It’s…what?” Emma asked.

Belle looked out the window again and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Will groan and get to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. Immediate crisis averted, Belle’s heart rate went back to normal, and her senses returned. In a few short sentences, she told Emma the entire story–from hearing the noise, to seeing Will dangling the spider (which she could now see was just a very convincing fake), to Will plummeting from his perch.

Emma’s face darkened as she heard the tale, and when it was at an end, she scooped the fake spider into her hands and marched out of the room muttering something under her breath about shoving it down Will’s throat.

Belle watched as Emma confronted the prankster. “What the hell were you thinking?” she asked. “She’s terrified of spiders. Like, hyperventilating, fainting terrified. I get that you like her, but stop acting like a fifth grader!”

She growled once more, and then slapped him upside the head.

“Ow!” he complained. “Lay off the noggin!”

“Why?” she retorted. “From the way you act, I’d swear there’s nothing in it anyway!”

Belle grinned, as Will stalked back to his cabin, muttering under his breath all the way and Emma shook her head and went back inside.

An hour later, there was a knock at the girls’ cabin door. Belle opened it to find a single, thornless, red rose accompanied by a small note card that said simply ‘Belle, I’m sorry I’m an idiot. Will’

*********

On the fourth day of their vacation, Emma ventured out onto the front walk about midmorning, finally feeling her ankle was strong enough to take a short stroll and enjoy the gorgeous weather they’d been having all week. She could still feel a twinge of the sprain, but she was tired of being cooped up, and she wanted to enjoy at least a little of the trip before it was over.

Before she could get started, Regina came out.

“Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d take a short walk. You want to join me?” she asked.

Regina looked torn, and it wasn’t hard for Emma to guess what she was thinking. It was clear to all the ladies in their group that Regina really liked Robin, but she’d been essentially raised by a series of nannies and sitters because her rich parents couldn’t be bothered to actually be parents for their only child, or to spend any amount of time with her, and so she’d learned early in her life to keep her heart well protected from those who could hurt her. It had taken years for Emma and the others to get behind that formidable exterior she showed most of the world, to really get to know and love the woman underneath. And now, not knowing where she was going to end up beginning her career, she didn’t want to open herself up to possible heartbreak with the handsome owner of the resort.

Emma smiled, looped her arm through Regina’s, and pulled her along.

“Come on,” she cajoled. “Getting outside will do you some good, too.”

Regina rolled her eyes and acquiesced. They started walking down the hill toward the resort pool until they could see Robin’s cabin. As they got closer, they could see him around the corner on his knees, his hands buried in the dirt of a flower bed. Regina stopped and Emma stopped with her, her heart hurting at the anxiety on the face of her friend.

Emma took her hand. “Regina,” she said quietly, “I know you’re apprehensive, and don’t want to get attached, but we’ve gotten to know him a little bit this week and you have Granny’s endorsement as well. You should spend some time with him and just see. Even if you don’t end up in Knoxville, you can keep in touch with him and take things slow, just to see where it might lead. Life is unpredictable, and you have so many years ahead of you, you shouldn’t close the door on an opportunity like this when it could lead to something truly wonderful.”

Emma watched her friend and could see the indecision in her eyes. But then her gaze turned cunning and a slow smile lifted the corner of her lips.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll go say hi and see about spending some time with him, but only if you promise to do the same with Killian.”

Emma pressed her lips together in a thin line. She’d walked right into that one and no mistake. There was nothing for it though, so Emma nodded.

“Fine,” she said.

Regina nodded with a self-satisfied smile and walked over to where Robin still dug in the dirt. As she got closer, she noticed Roland on the other side of him copying everything he was doing.

Regina’s smile turned genuine when Roland looked up and saw her.

“Hi, Miss Gina!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Hi there,” she replied. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re planting begonias,” Roland said proudly. “Want to help us?” Robin sat back on his haunches and beamed up at her.

Regina’s cheeks heated. “Oh, I really shouldn’t…” she began.

“But, why not?” Roland asked at the same time as his father said “You’d be more than welcome.”

Regina cut her eyes to Robin and smiled shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure? I don’t know anything about plants.”

Robin’s grin softened a bit and he patted the ground next to him. “There’s nothing to it. Here, let me show you.”

Regina knelt next to Robin and thought about Emma’s and Mary Margaret’s words at the beginning of the week. Growing things took time and effort and at the end, you had a lovely flowering plant that brought beauty, happiness, and joy. Perhaps she was ready to invest some time and effort into a relationship. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain–perhaps love and true happiness with someone who wouldn’t leave her. Regina turned to Robin and gave him a real and happy smile as she joined them in their gardening.

Emma watched as Regina knelt next to Robin and smiled to herself. She had a really good feeling about them, and the job opportunity in Knoxville. She only hoped that Regina would follow where her heart was clearly leading.

Emma turned around and pondered whether she wanted to continue walking down to where the pool and playgrounds were located at the resort entrance, or if she wanted to meander up the drive a ways and see if there were any different views further up the road, when she caught a glimpse of a figure sitting alone in one of the Adirondack chairs which lined the guys’ front porch. It was Killian, looking pensive as he cradled a coffee mug and stared out at the hilltop and sky panorama before him.

Emma nearly turned in the other direction, not wanting to disturb him if he wished to be alone, but then reconsidered. First of all, she’d just made a promise to Regina. Secondly, she’d given Jones an awfully hard time this whole week. And now he looked rather lonely and as though he might welcome some company. Tentatively, she moved toward the boys’ cabin, greeting him quietly when she reached the first step. “Morning, neighbor.”

With a little start, Killian turned away from his perusal of the sky, to meet her gaze and return her smile with one of his own. The crooked curve of it sent ribbons of awareness curling inside her, all the more disarming because he seemed less aware of its power in the stark morning light. “Permission to join you?” she asked playfully, as if asking a captain to board his ship.

The jest seemed to work as she had hoped, the blue of Killian’s eyes twinkling as he nodded and gestured to the seat next to him, “Permission granted.”

Settling in next to him, they both enjoyed the comfortable quiet for a few moments more. However, Emma couldn’t stay that way for long; she was too aware of his presence beside her, his very nearness feeling as though it tingled along her nerve endings deliciously. If her physical reaction to him wasn’t quite so visceral, she wouldn’t have been fighting so hard to shut down all the attempts at genuine friendship he had offered her these last few days. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and gave voice to her swirling thoughts. “Hey, Killian? You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not exactly very trusting, or even especially welcoming to people I don’t know all that well. I know you didn’t intend for me to get hurt at the end of the boat tour, and you were only trying to help me as much as I would let you afterwards. I was enjoying the flirtation we had going, and I was embarrassed–badly.” She sighed, looking down at her fingers twisted together in her lap. “I didn’t handle it very well, needless to say. But that wasn’t your fault. I think I’ve been taking my disappointment out on you, and I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”

A moment later, Killian’s hand reached over to cover her own warmly, giving it a gentle squeeze as she looked up only to be captured in his overwhelming gaze. “Emma,” he said her name as though savoring each letter of it on his tongue, “no apologies are necessary. We all have our stories and scars, and the beginnings that have made us who we are. Perhaps, if you’ll allow me, I may know more of yours in time.” He paused briefly, eyebrow quirking as if asking permission to go on, not wanting to push too far against the barriers of their newfound truce. “I’m only glad to know I haven’t turned your opinion against me permanently.”

Emma’s grin spread across her face of its own accord, her happiness suddenly infectious and spreading out to engulf her completely. Returning the pressure of his hand on hers, she replied. “I think we understand each other perfectly.”

***********

That evening the two groups gathered at the gentlemen’s cabin for a loudly competitive game night. The next day would see them exploring the shops and attractions of The Island before their planned attempt at the escape room. Several pleasant hours flew by before Elsa found that as much as she was enjoying the company, she could hardly keep her eyes open any longer.

Bidding those still playing a ‘good night’ and telling the rest of her cabinmates she would see them in the morning, Elsa stood and gathered her things to head across the lawn and to her own bed. She didn’t mind at all, however, when Liam stood as well and followed her to the door. “Are you sure you don’t need an escort in the dark, Milady?” he murmured slightly, pressing a close mouthed kiss to her temple.

Elsa savored the press of his lips and the cozy glow of comfort that came with them, but she couldn’t help snickering at his question all the same. “I think I should be alright,” she returned, wrapping her arms around his solid torso for a moment in a parting embrace. “It can’t be more than 15 feet over to our cabin.”

“All the same, flick the porch light once you’re safely in the door, and I’ll flick the light over here in return.” The protective elder brother was showing through again, but she found his concern endearing all the same, and it warmed her heart knowing her safety and well-being were at the forefront of his mind.

Once she had reached the porch, signaled Liam, and gone inside, Elsa made her way slowly across the main room, tidying up things which had gathered on the table and counter, and moving over to the door onto their deck to be sure it was locked. Before she could do so, she heard a noise that caught her attention. She also thought she saw a flicker of light, though she didn’t know who would be out there. She didn’t remember who had left the other cabin before her; she’d really been too sleepy to take much note. But now she was grumpy, tired, and just wanted to make sure things were secure for the night, so when she heard a sort of low groan followed by a breathy giggle, things finally clicked into place in her mind, and she wasn’t feeling a lot of patience for the couple she now realized must be out there making use of the cabin’s hot tub.

Swinging the door open, Elsa stepped out onto the deck, thankfully very barely lit by the moonlight and a single candle, with a stern look and her other hand on her hip. Sure enough, there was a wet and entangled Ruby and Graham in the tub, Graham’s eyes darting around everywhere to avoid meeting hers and Ruby grinning back at her unapologetically. Elsa wasn’t sure if Graham was flushed from the heat of the tub, their activities, or embarrassment at being caught, but the poor guy looked mortified by her presence. Ruby just looked like she wanted to devour him whole. Elsa found herself relieved more than anything, that though it wasn’t much, she could still see the vibrant red ties of her friend’s string bikini showing beneath the dark hair streaming down her back.

“Look, I’m too exhausted for this,” Elsa admonished, slicing her hand through the air to halt the words when Ruby started to interrupt. “You need to take that somewhere else, because others would still like to use this hot tub–for less amorous purposes.”

Ruby just grinned at her shamelessly before quipping, “That’s what the filter’s for. We’ll be done in a little while. Now go away.”

Growling in consternation, Elsa threw up her hands and left them to it. She was not about to lose sleep, or the pleasant buzz she’d been feeling after her goodnight from Liam, over those two and their shenanigans. Ruby was a big girl and could take care of herself. Elsa just hoped Graham would survive.

**********

The day for the escape room had finally arrived. Everyone was up early to eat breakfast before going to The Island on the Pigeon Forge strip. The large entertainment venue was home to amusement park rides, hotels, shopping–lots of shopping–food, and The Escape Game–an escape room that Ruby had found online during the planning phase of the trip. Although the girls hadn’t made definite plans to go, when the guys had mentioned their plans earlier in the week, it was an easy decision to team up.

Instead of all the ladies in one car and all the men in another, Ruby and Mary Margaret suggested that the couples pair off–three in one car and three in the other. Belle and Elsa agreed, so when they all got outside to the vehicles, David, Ruby and Graham, and Robin and Regina all rode in Mary Margaret’s SUV and Elsa, Emma and Killian, and Will and Belle rode in Liam’s Expedition.

The cabins were quite a ways up the side of a mountain and the grade going down into town was steep enough and had enough blind curves that they both followed the 25 mph speed limit and kept a safe distance between them. After Mary Margaret, leading the way, went around a sharp curve and disappeared from sight, a wild turkey suddenly took off flying, only about ten feet away from Liam’s vehicle. Elsa and Emma both screamed at the bird’s proximity, but Liam kept his head and the SUV under control.

It was only a few seconds later that he caught up to Mary Margaret who had stopped in the middle of the road.

“What’s going on?” he asked, turning and looking at Elsa riding shotgun.

“That’s a bear!” exclaimed Will, pointing in between the front seats excitedly.

Sure enough, from where he sat, Liam could just see a black bear climbing up the embankment on the side of the road and into the trees. It took a moment for him to close his mouth and start following Mary Margaret again, who’d started moving as soon as the bear was safely off the road.

Once they all met up in The Island’s parking area and started making their way to the escape room, everyone was talking over each other trying to discuss the bear and wild turkey sighting.

“You must have been driving too fast, Mary Margaret,” Elsa scolded lightly. “The turkey took off and almost hit us after you’d already passed it.” She looked up at Liam next to her and the adoring gaze on the face of her friend made Emma’s heart happy. “But Liam didn’t startle at all; he kept the Expedition completely under control.” Liam preened under her praise.

“I never would have expected to see a live bear,” Mary Margaret said excitedly.

“I didn’t expect to see any bear asses on this trip,” Regina snarked.

David waved his hand around in a dismissive gesture. “You get used to them when you live up here. Not that we see them often, but that’s why we keep locks on the outdoor trash bins to keep the bears out of them.”

By this time, they were at the escape room. They entered the rather nondescript lobby and were welcomed by the attendant.

“What’s the name, please?”

“Jones,” Liam said, stepping up to the counter. “Party of twelve for ‘The Heist’, please.”

“I have you right here, Mr. Jones,” the attendant said.

Once the entire group had signed their waivers, they were ushered to the back and into a decently sized room lined with replicas of famous paintings.

Ruby’s eyes widened comically as she took in the decor. Her background in art had her immediately recognizing every painting in the room. “This is gonna be so great,” she whispered to Graham.

With everyone now gathered in the room, they all turned back to the door. The attendant explained what would happen next and the rules of the escape room. Belle was relieved that if they got stuck, they could ask for help as many times as necessary with no penalty. Will waggled his eyebrows flirtatiously at her.

“We’ll be out of here in no time, me lass,” he declared. “As brilliant as you are, we’ll set the record for the shortest escape time ever.” Belle rolled her eyes at him but could still feel the heat on her cheeks at his praise and belief in her, something that had been in very short supply in her previous relationship.

The attendant left them and they all turned their attention to the screen above the door.

“Hello, Team!” The screen was filled with the face of a man with wire frame glasses and curly red hair. He looked around anxiously for a moment before staring back at the screen at them again. “I only have a few moments to brief you on your assignment. The bypass signal we’re using to speak to you is only good for ninety seconds.” He took a breath and looked around before speaking again. “You’re in the outer office of Dr. George Spencer. Known to most of the world as an art historian and philanthropist, we know the truth. He is nothing more than a black market art thief. He has stolen a priceless Monet from the Louvre. He is out of his office at the moment speaking at a nearby college and will return in exactly one hour. You must be out of his office when he arrives back. Collect the clues and solve the riddles to find the priceless painting. Good luck, Team.”

The screen faded to black and everyone looked at each other. Liam and Elsa, Graham and Ruby immediately moved to the paintings lining the walls of the room looking for clues.

Killian noticed the door they needed to get through had two small cutout doors in it near the top and bottom. They were both locked. The top door had a padlock on it, while the bottom had a combination lock. Suddenly he heard a clattering sound near the entry door. Emma stood in front of a marble bust in the corner, staring down at the floor dumbly.

“What happened, Emma?” he asked, as everyone else’s attention also turned to her.

She bent down and picked up a small, gold metal box from the floor, holding it up for them all to see. “I turned the bust and this fell out,” she explained, popping off the lid to find a key inside.

He took the key from her and moved to the padlocked door. It was a perfect fit and the lock popped right open.

“Well done, Love,” he praised, his smile lighting up his blue eyes as he opened the small door. Emma felt a surge of satisfaction inside and smiled back. From where she was standing, she could see something hanging down in front of the small door they’d just opened, inside the second room, but she ignored it for the moment.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret was busy checking the frames of the paintings for clues when she gave a little squeak. “It opens!” she exclaimed, swinging the framed painting away from the wall.

“OW!” Will shouted, as the painting connected with his head. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, while Belle tried to soothe him.

“Your head certainly has taken a beating this week,” she said, trying to suppress a laugh herself.

“Look, there’s a numbered keypad here,” David said, “to open this safe.” He pointed to the spot on the wall revealed when the painting was moved.

“Try these numbers,” Graham called out. “7-1-4-3.”

David punched them in and a green light flashed. Mary Margaret twisted a black knob and pulled open the door of the safe. “A mirror!” she cried, holding the object aloft.

Emma took the mirror from her and put her hand through the small upper door to see if she could see anything obviously important in the other room.

“How did you figure out the numbers?” Belle asked Graham.

“We followed the clues on the description of the paintings,” Ruby explained, “and we were able to find hidden numbers in them.”

“There’s more numbers on the back of this door,” Emma cried out.

“Let’s hear them, Love,” Killian called from where he knelt below her, ready to put the numbers into the combination lock on the other small locked door.

While Emma and Killian were working on the combination lock, Will was crawling around on the floor, his nose nearly touching the baseboard.

“What the hell are you doing?” Regina asked, after stepping backwards and almost falling over him, only Robin’s quick reflexes and strong arms keeping her from hitting the floor.

“I’m looking for clues, what do you think I’m doing?”

“I think you’re being an idiot. Now get up before you make someone else crack their cranium.”

Emma was adjusting the mirror to see the numbers better. “8-3-6-4.” Killian entered the combination and the lock opened. He reached up and took the mirror from Emma. Angling it toward the door, he could see arrows on the backside of it pointing up toward some sort of button near the door jam.

“The cane inside the upper door, will it reach the button?” Killian asked.

“I’m not sure,” Emma answered.

“Try it,” he suggested.

“I can’t see what I’m doing,” she said. Everyone’s eyes were on her and she was beginning to get frustrated.

“Would you like for me to try, Lass?” Liam asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “your arms are longer.” She stepped aside and let Liam reach through the door.

“Hold that mirror still for me, Emma,” he said, trying to maneuver the cane to hit the button. He finally did and the way he was leaning against the door caused it to open suddenly, nearly making him fall to the floor.

Everyone cheered and rushed into the other room. It was a little bit larger with a huge bookshelf opposite the door. On it were various knick knacks in addition to books stacked artfully on the various shelves. On the wall now behind the open door, hung a terribly faded world map. To the right of the door they’d just entered was a work table with an in-progress Scrabble game board on it. Over the game board on the wall hung a wooden elephant head.

As soon as they had a good look around the room, Belle glanced up at the video screen over the door and announced, “We have forty-two minutes left.” The couples split up to begin scouring the room for clues, calling out directions to one another as they found them.

Robin lifted a scarf out of a bowl, revealing two puzzle pieces, which he held up. “Anyone else find more pieces to the puzzle?”

Soon, Robin and Regina were busy trying to assemble the numerous pieces handed to them. Meanwhile the other couples split off and began gathering different clues from around the room — from elephant tusks, to stone tablets, books, and keys. They solved several puzzles, but it seemed each answered riddle revealed another question to unravel.

Time was ticking away when they got a small fountain on the bookcase flowing which caused the bookcase to slide to the side, revealing a much smaller room containing the Monet painting. A loud cheer went up from the group until the bars in front of the painting deflated their exuberance a bit.

With only fifteen minutes left on the clock, they were getting desperate. Regina noticed there were lasers near the bars and started tracing where they landed within the office. Belle and Will had found a makeup mirror on a pedestal earlier in their searches, so she took the mirror and set it down on a ledge angling it to another mirror hanging on the wall, which directed the laser back to the painting. The word FAKE was emblazoned in the corner of the painting behind the bars.

Regina huffed out an exasperated exhale. “Are we ever going to get out of here?”

She felt Robin grab her arm and spin her toward him, planting a firm kiss on her lips that was completely unexpected. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was enough to thoroughly steal her breath away. He pulled back and stared into her eyes before he spoke.

“That was a stroke of brilliance, Darling,” he said. “Of course we’re going to get out of here, and we’re one step closer thanks to you.”

Regina felt her cheeks heat at his praise. The friends in this room were the only ones who’d ever believed in her like that and she could hardly believe this man that she’d met only five days ago thought that highly of her, too. She didn’t know what to say in the face of such affirmation, so she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to her for a passionate kiss, much longer than the first.

“Oi,” called Will, “stop with the smoochin’. We have a Monet to find. The real one!”

Elsa suddenly noticed a small drawer on the book shelf that popped out slightly with the angling of the mirrors. She pulled the drawer open and found a small and very heavy magnet. She held it up with a questioning look on her face.

“Anyone have an idea of what to do with this?” she asked.

“Here!” Will called. He was crouched down next to the bookcase, fingering a small indentation that looked like it was just big enough to hold the magnet. Elsa handed it to him and he put it in the opening. He could feel the magnetic attraction take hold, so he grabbed the end of the magnet and pulled. A full panel opened on the side of the bookcase revealing a hole just big enough for a hand to reach in.

Will knelt on the floor and reached inside, his face scrunched up in concentration. “Don’t get your arm stuck,” Belle advised.

“Aha!” he shouted triumphantly, pulling out a rolled canvas. “It’s the real Monet!”

“Or rather, a replica of the real Monet,” Mary Margaret corrected.

“What do we do with it?” Elsa asked, watching as Will handed it to Belle, who unrolled it and held it up.

“Hey, there are numbers on it!” David shouted, drawing attention to the four bold, black numbers written on the back.

“There’s only one keypad we haven’t used yet,” Emma pointed out. “In the other room.”

They all quickly made their way back to the first room and Emma punched the numbers into the keypad. As soon as she did, the original entry door swung open and the clock on the screen came to a stop with 8 minutes and 15 seconds left.

As the group celebrated with high fives and hugs, Killian turned toward Emma, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “I don’t mean to upset you, Emma, but I think we make quite the team.”

“With some help from our friends,” she grinned, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms.

“And one hard-headed git,” he added.

She giggled and leaned in closer until they were nose-to-nose. “And by the way, I’m not upset at all, but…” She paused, her tongue darting out to lick her lips.

“But what, Love?” he asked, searching her eyes.

“But I really want you to kiss me right now.”

His smile lit up his face, before he whispered, “As you wish,” and pressed his lips to hers.

*********

Granny wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and blew out a tired sigh as the last of the breakfast rush crowd finally left. It had been a long day already, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

The bell above the door chimed again, and Granny bit back a curse–until she saw who it was filing into her diner two-by-two and looking extremely happy together.

Ruby led the way, her arm around Graham’s waist and so close to him it was almost obscene. They were followed by Mary Margaret and David, holding hands and looking as though they didn’t realize there was anyone else in the world. Elsa and Liam followed along, shooting each other shy, smitten glances. Will spoke animatedly about something outrageous, judging by the way Belle rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him in the back of the head. Granny noted the librarian couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Granny’s smile grew yet wider when she saw Regina and Robin walking together, little Roland holding Regina’s other hand, his dimples in full view as he smiled happily. Last of all came Emma and Killian, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

“Table for twelve,” Ruby said with a broad smile.

“Thirteen!” Roland piped up.

“Coming right up!” Granny said, grabbing a stack of menus and waving the group to follow her. The urge to say I knew it! was strong, but Granny was wise enough to refrain from saying it. It was satisfaction enough just to see how happy everyone was.

The future looked bright for Ruby and her friends, and Granny couldn’t wait to watch that future unfold.

The End!

Notes: You made it!!!! We hope you enjoyed reading our not-so-little story!! Below are the real-life adventures on which our story was built.

–Our first stop was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The park in question was called Lost River Cave rather than Lost Boys Cave. And yes, we met our tour guide (not hard on the eyes, but no Killian!) as we were making our way to our meeting place for the tour.

--Krystal, rather than Mary Margaret, was the one who became known for asking all the questions.

–The Blue Hole was a real thing–only the legend was that it was bottomless rather than that it led to Neverland.

–Yes, our female tour guide really did a runway walk down the center of our boat.

–The Wishing Stone was real, and we had to duck when going under it, but Will’s mishap was entirely fictionalized.

–The guide in our boat did point out the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, although she didn’t mix them up.

–Jen was the one who made an itinerary–although it wasn’t scheduled to the minute and it did end up being rather flexible.

–No twisted ankles, cracked craniums, or any other injury occurred on our vacation, thankfully.

–Our venture to the supermarket was completely ordinary. Maybe if we’d purchased ice cream, it would have gotten more exciting.

–Yes, our cabin truly was in a place called Sherwood Forest Resort. There were no sightings of Robin Hood, though.

–We never met our neighbors, although we certainly HEARD them on the last night we were there. They chose to pretend the resort’s nightly noise ordinance wasn’t a thing.

–‘Granny's’ was based on a pancake house we visited on our first full day in Pigeon Forge. The potato flinging incident was real–although completely accidental on Marta’s part. And an adorable little boy did peek at Joni around the end of the buffet, although it was his freckles and not his dimples which were so cute!

–No birds flew in through our open door–although the bird landing on the bear figurine’s head was an homage to a storefront we saw on the main strip. Three large bear statues, one with a bird atop its head, stood over a “Jesus saves!” sign. It was so random and ridiculous that it became a running joke all week. Likely Marta is still giggling about it!

-The wild turkey and black bear incident really happened, but as we were all in the same vehicle, we all got a front row seat to the resident wildlife.

–Our free day at the cabin was spent entirely in writing this story. We had no Will character show up to play pranks.

–We did, indeed, have a hot tub, but no one made any use of it, and certainly not the kind of use Ruby and Graham did, lol.

–Finally, the escape room scene was based on our own experience on the first full day of our time in Pigeon Forge, and it was indeed called ‘The Heist’. The clues, descriptions and puzzles are accurate to what we did in our own escape room (which Joni found to be the best part of the vacation). We made it out with 6:05 to spare! 

Can you figure out why the group in our story had 8 minutes, 15 seconds left?

–There might be more to come in this universe. Some of the other attractions we enjoyed in Pigeon Forge we know would also be enjoyed by these characters, so they might get written sometime in the future.

#vacay fic #fic collab #cave cruises cabin capers & cracked craniums #krystal writes #art by krystal

[im-immortal]

2023 Writing Wrap-Up

I'm a little late this time around since it's already 2024, but I haven't done a writing wrap-up since 2021 and I thought it would be fun to bring back!

So this year, I was on quite a roll for the first half of the year. And then July rolled around and I started slowing down until it came to a screeching halt. Not sure what happened. Maybe it's my ADHD and constantly shifting hyper-fixations to blame. But I gradually managed to come back around just in time to post something for Christmas, which I'm still working on finishing. However, my hiatus doesn't take away the pride I still have for what I was able to write during the year. And I look forward to writing more in 2024! So here's all I managed to finish/get a good start on and post during 2023.

A Kiss For A Drink: 6,740 words; one-shot I actually started writing this back in 2020 or 2021, intended to be posted on Valentine's Day. And then I got a point where I couldn't finish it and let it sit for about 2 years. I finally came back with some inspiration and motivation and finished it just in time to post for Valentine's Day 2023! I'm really happy with how it came out. It was a fun idea that turned into a fun fic with a few laughs included, even if it is one of my least-viewed fics lol I had fun writing it too, which is all that really matters!

Lunacy Fringe: 62,690 words; 8/8 chapters To say this fic suddenly came out of nowhere would be an understatement. I literally got inspired out of the blue while listening to an episode of the Therapy Gecko podcast and the next thing I knew, I was balls deep in a psychological thriller. I actually managed to write it in just over a month or so!! Which is really incredible for me, especially considering I didn't step away from it at all or lose inspiration before it was finished. I'm really proud of how it turned out, and I haven't really told anyone, but I am working on converting it into an original story and possibly self-publishing. It could end up being my very first original novel :) the feedback I got was far more positive than I'd expected, especially considering how I portrayed Beth. I'm overall so so happy with how it turned out!!

Longer Than A Heartbeat: 157,289 words; 29/29 chapters Now this... this fic is one of my proudest pieces by far. I'll never get over how happy I am with how it turned out, and how I was actually able to finish it. For the last few years, every time I rewatched "28 Days Later," I couldn't stop thinking about how it would make such a good Bethyl fic, and how I wanted to convert it into a Bethyl fic that included Rick and Judith. I finally did it!! Technically, I wrote it in 2022, but I didn't completely finish it and post it until 2023. When I say I write for myself... this fic really proves it, because I go back and read chapters from it all the time just because it's so fun and I love how I wrote it. I was also pleasantly surprised by the reception and how people who hadn't ever watched "28 Days Later" enjoyed it! Not to mention, @boltthrutheheart made some incredible custom manips for me that I can never get over!!

hot girl summer (playing by the rules); 167k+ words, 16/30 chapters Ah yes, here she is... the companion piece to the first 3 fics of "in for a penny, in for a pound" that I've been planning/contemplating ever since I did that first fic from Beth's POV for the series. I always wanted to show Beth's POV for all the major moments in the series, and then once I got started, I figured why not go all in and just do her POV for the entirety of the series thus far? It gives a little more insight into how she's feeling, why she does the things she does and says the things she says, and we also get to see exactly what she was doing all those times that Daryl couldn't help wondering about her (because I already knew in my head, but I thought it might be fun to share with everyone else). I also thought it would make the set-up for the next fic a little better, so we could try and understand Beth's motivations better and where she's at in her head. Of course, I got pretty into it and then hit a speed bump and then suddenly, lost all ability to write. It'll come back soon, though. I can't wait to finish this fic and move on to the next in the series, and eventually conclude Beth and Daryl's tumultuous journey in this fun little AU.

Small Miracles; 39k+ words, 6/10 chapters This is the fic that finally pushed me back into being able to write. I had no plans of writing for BHF 2023, and then I suddenly had this strike of inspiration for a very weird idea and decided to go with it and try and finish it in time to post for Christmas. I did manage to finish about 1/3rd of the fic in time, but I'm still writing it and haven't lost motivation yet, so that's a good sign! It's also just really fun and kind of cathartic to do a new exploration of Beth's journey through the eyes of an older Beth who survived Grady, with that fun little supernatural twist added to it. I can't wait to finish this one, because I've had a lot of fun writing it and really look forward to seeing what people think of her entire journey and the way it will conclude.

To everyone who's read my fics, left feedback, kudos, bookmarks, or even helped me bounce ideas off and come up with plans for fics... thank you so much! I appreciate everyone in this little fandom so, so much. Y'all mean the world to me, and I am so grateful that we have this wonderful community in our own little corner of the internet. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2024 brings you nothing but blessings!

#bethyl fanfiction #2023 wrap-up #writing #my year in fanfic #SquishyCool

[voloslobotomyservice]

Taversia Arzendel

(she/they)

Class: Fighter - Champion

Race: High Half Elf

Age: 28 years

Background: Soldier

Game Progression: Act Three

Taversia was born the illegitimate child to an elven father and human mother. The father left her mother after learning of her pregnancy, unwilling to help raise the child. Her mother, only eighteen when she gave birth, tried to raise her as well as she could, but eventually realized she would not be able to support her as well as someone else could. Praying to the gods above that someone would find her, she abandoned her toddler in the Outer City of Baldur’s Gate. Luckily, Taversia did not have to wait long to be rescued from what could have been a terrible fate.

She was found by mercenaries of the Flaming Fists before the sun set that day. The Arzeniels were not famously known through the city, but were more humble in their operations. Her adoptive family gave her their name and trained her from a young age to be a soldier, and they found that she was quite a skilled and talented fighter, too. When she turned eighteen, she enlisted in the Flaming Fists. This just so happened to be the same year of the Narthex Murders, which meant her time spent as a mercenary was rather busy figuring out who was behind these cruel killings of so many innocent lives.

Over her ten years serving the city of Baldur's Gate, she watched as the guild took a turn for the worst - corrupt members taking bribes from criminals, spies from rival groups infiltrating their ranks, members not upholding justice as they should. In fact, she received the scar across her eye from a spy who tried to convince her to turn own the Flaming Fists. Worried that the other members would turn on her if she wasn't cruel to the citizens of her beloved city, she resigned from the Fists, almost at Manip rank.

Her adoptive family was not pleased with the news that their daughter would be leaving the Flaming Fists. They tried to convince her to stay, that her commitment to keeping the city safe was worth it, despite what “corruption” she thought was happening to the organization. However, she decided to go through with her resignation. When she told her adoptive family, they kicked her out of their home, saying that she has brought shame to the Arzeniel family name. Being the only name she knew, she still kept it, hoping to one day bring them honor once more.

Once she officially left the Fists, she had intended to go on her own personal quest to find her mother, who she had been writing her letters with back and forth for the past ten years. However, the very same day she resigned, she was captured by the Illithid forces and taken away on the Nautiloud. And so begins the events of Baldurs Gate 3.

She and Gale are deeply in love and I love that for them!

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 tav #oc: taversia #tav: taversia

[crestfallercanyon]

WEEKLY TAG WEDNESDAY

Thank you lovely people for tagging me! @energievie and @jrooc <3

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name: crest

where the heck are ya? on a US coastline

do you believe in love at first sight? Kind of. I think, if two people present themselves honestly, there can be kind of a soft landing of love at first sight. A lot more than we realize is processed by our minds at once, first impressions are very powerful. While I don't really believe one can get that kind of deep well of an everlasting sort of love right at sight, I think you can clock someone and be like "hey, you -- I know I'm going to like you, I want to get to know you," and that I think means something. Sometimes that impression leads somewhere and other times... well. That's life, eh?

do you believe in soulmates? Sort of? I feel like between this question and the last one I'm completely flipped compared to a lot of people lol -- but relationships take work, even someone who seems to understand you organically at every level, you can still let that link fade by neglect. Or even not neglect, you can experience and react to different stimuli and grow apart, especially if you go too long without kind of reconnecting. Like the last question, love at first sight will fizzle if you don't pursue it and try to make it work. Soulmates, to me, aren't written in the stars or whatever, they're not destiny -- they're made out of deciding that with this person, you're going to put in that work. And maybe someone will come around and say "well why do you pick that person? it's because it was fate," but I don't really believe that, because there's a lot of factors as to why, at least personally, I put in work with some people but not with others. There were opportunities to become close with very different people than who I am close with now, but I chose not to. I chose the people I did. It was my active choice. So, yeah, there's a very long winded answer on this little tag question game.

what’s a song you’ve been loving? Habits by Genevieve Stokes

how about a show you’ve been loving? You may have noticed the sudden constant reblogging of Dimension 20, but I've been really into Dropout's D&D campaigns I've watched thus far.

your ultimate OTP: That's a tricky question! I don't really -- I feel like this goes off my soulmate/lafs question but I think you can make anything pretty viable if you develop it right. Maybe Idgie and Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)? And actually, probably Gallavich (Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich) from Shameless, because they always come back to each other, and there's something so lovely about that -- and I can't picture either of them truly with someone else.

your comfort book: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. I haven't read it in a very long time, but I read it so many times when I was a kid that -- it was my teacher's copy -- she just let me have it before I went to the next levels of school.

a fan work you adore (fic, art, manip, etc — tag the creator!): I loved makes a cathedral, him pressing against me by misandrywitch (Shameless (US)) and I also love all I want of the world, coming down by gyzym (Inception (2010)). (I do not know their tumblrs so I can't link them, but I can link to the stories!)

a trope that captures your heart: not really a trope but fanfiction and tumblr have kind of made it into one: "It's rotten work." "not to me, not if it's you," dynamics.

favorite candy: pomegranate filled dark chocolate

dark chocolate or white chocolate? dark. 100%.

romance novels or thrillers? I read lots of things that are thrilling and have romance, but I actually don't really read either of these genres on their own. Probably lean more toward romance novels?

pink or red? I like both. I own more red clothes. I only have one pink shirt.

and finally, spread some love! share words of encouragement, a positive message, or say something kind to yourself — it’s up to you! Happy valentines! Um, it truly is never too late to try. Really. Try that hobby that, yeah, you're going to start off being absolute shit at, but it's still worth trying if it interests you. I'm going to a figure drawing class tonight, and I'm likely going to be absolute trash at it, but that's my valentine's treat to myself. Or, you can try to fix a tattered relationship, you can try to mend it if you want -- I can't guarantee trying will fix it, but you will have tried, and that matters. Even if it's just trying the smallest thing, or an internal thing. It takes a lot of work to try, and I'm rooting for you if the thing you're trying hardest on is just trying to feel better about yourself. And you're never alone if you're trying! Everyone has tried something. Everyone can rejoice in the successful results from a good ol' college try, or they can sympathize with the failure of a try that didn't lead to anything, everyone has been part of that experience, so hopefully that's encouraging if nothing else. <3

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Tagging, um, I think most people have been tagged, but here are a couple: @callivich , @michellemisfit , @mmmichyyy, and anyone else who would like to join!

#tag games #weekly tag wednesday #thanks for the tag!! #gosh long winded this valentines #Spotify