#i figured she didn't get eugene rights just yet

[letorip]

somethin’ stupid

“and then i go and spoil it all, by saying somethin’ stupid like ‘i love you’”

===+++===

pairing: wednesday addams x reader

summary: even knowing that your relationship with wednesday is one huge grey area, you can't help the words that come tumbling from your lips one night while on an expedition together.

warnings: blood, violent attack scene, angsty pining, mentions of sex, fear of the dark

word count: 4.2k

A/N: first post, kinda nervous. honestly pumped to start posting on here after being somewhat new to writing. will try my best not to suck.

===+++===

It’s only after you meet Wednesday Addams for the first time that you understand why storms are named after people.

In the near five months total she had been in your life, she had quickly climbed to the top priority, and you found yourself trapped in her rain bands, tugged under her dark, swelling tide and drawn to less direct ways.

Now and likely until the very end of time, you followed her through the forest, peeking around each passing tree and shining your flashlight into the dark. It was a knight's sword for you, and you held it like a weapon so as to ward off evil spirits or howling beasts. Only, half of the time it ended up being a squirrel.

It seemed antithetical, to walk into the pitch black forest that had killed several hikers and injured Eugene, -or more the big ass creature inside it had, but Wednesday had never cared much for what made sense, and you knew better than to argue with her.

The rain continued to fall around the both of you, splattering against the hood of your rain coat and rolling down your sputtering lips, tracing your nose on the way down. If Wednesday was at all affected by the rain, she hadn't let it show yet. Not that she let much show, that was.

You shivered from a sudden gust of cold, wet wind rushing over your knuckles from where they white-gripped the rubber wrapping of your flashlight. "Are we almost there yet?" You asked, squinting into the trees. "I have to get up early tomorrow."

There was no possible way Wednesday could know where she was going in the sheer amount of darkness fended off by a flimsy Acebeam, but she pushed through like she did. Maybe orienteering was just part of the outré magic she always carried with her, or at least that's what you figured it probably was. In another life she had been a cheerful girl scout, though you knew better than to suggest that aloud.

The same could not be said for you, who was an utter idiot about directions and probably would have driven off a cliff by now without the use of a GPS. Wednesday had once said you wouldn't be able to find your way out of a cardboard box, and offensively, she was probably right.

It didn't make sense why she chose you of all people to bring along, then. You had no special strength or sight, and virtually no knowledge on how to investigate a murder, especially the serial kind. The only ability you had allowed you to read thoughts and minds, though you never dared read Wednesday's, even when you itched to know what she was thinking.

Despite feeling more like an achor dragging her boat down, almost every evening, at around the same time after dark, she showed up on your doorstep to tug you off to some dangerous place.

Maybe you were secretly hoping for a reward of some sort. She often indulged you as such, lips like a heroin shot directly to your veins, powering you through the day as you watched the clock tick away into night anticipating the next rush. Enid was right. You were whipped for her.

"Your protesting doesn't make the journey any shorter," she replied, turning with the dark look that always lurked in the back of her eyes.

You knew the movements well: when she glared, her eyes lowered slightly and her mouth tensed. One could not help but watch in awe, storing the memory for later. Or, at least those ‘whipped’ for her couldn’t. She spun back around to face forward, your flashlight pointing over her shoulder into the brooding dark.

The rain only seemed to come down harder from there, punishing you both for slogging through the mushy leaves when sane people would be indoors. But Wednesday would not settle until she found Arcadia.

You cleared your throat, uneasy with the ensuing silence.

"Where are we even going, Wednesday? We've been walking forever," you said, looking down at the pale grey rocks as you stepped over them. You were grateful for being clever enough to remember hiking boots.

"We're finding evidence," she replied. "I was informed of a suspicious cave out in the forest, and-" Wednesday's words came rushing to a halt as her foot clipped the rock in front of her. She stumbled a bit, and you threw out an arm to her back, there if she needed something to steady herself on.

It was uncoordinated and it was clunky at best, and Wednesday was far from appreciative. She jolted back from your touch as if you had stung her, glaring as harsh as ever. "Sorry," you said. "I didn't want you to fall." The tips of your ears had begun to burn again, upon realising you were made the fool for another time in a row.

"You should have," said Wednesday, walking ahead. "It simulates dropping dead." Of course, on you, such a statement did not have the desired effect. Whereas most would have replied in shock or disgust, you laughed. Out loud, right at her. The gall. She whipped back to you, perplexed and annoyed by the noise. "Have something to share?"

You grinned. "You can act cool all you want, but if you had actually landed in the mud, you would have been pissed." Her expression went from glare to glower impressively quickly, though you took great glee in the fact she didn't try to dismiss it.

Anyone who had just met her would have been terrified, but you knew that look meant she hated just how much you were right. Wednesday's moody eyes lowered to your jacket, as if she was looking for an insult to sling in response.

"Why are you yellow?"

You blinked, then shrugged. "Because for someone so intelligent I'm the only one who remembered a raincoat."

"The beast will eat you wether you're rained on or not," she replied reasonably.

You blanched at this. It was apparent the possibility had never crossed your mind. "It eats people????"

Suddenly the darkness of the woods only seemed to worsen and the rain seemed to come down even harder, as if life was laughing at the terror it was causing. You had never been one for haunted houses, and you decided in that instant that this was far worse than any haunted house you had ever been to.

Wednesday shrugged, and you were far from put at ease by that. She glanced at you up through mischievous lashes, entirely knowing what she was doing and enjoying every sadistic moment of it.

"I suppose we may find out tonight. I should offer up you, the yellow highlighter, first. You have longer bones than I do, and I'm sure it would appreciate a snack, after-"

"Ha. Ha."

As surprising as was Wednesday's capacity to joke, you knew that's all it was. Such falsehoods could not be exposed to the public, and she would rather die than admit she cared for anyone. That was her secret. You knew to keep it well.

It had been weird to see Wednesday attempt comedy at first. Often times you still thought she may be dead serious. But on these nightly expeditions it seemed she could joke freely. Sometimes she kissed you freely. You just had to know she didn't do it for you. She told you constantly, just to be sure.

From in front, Wednesday trembled from a sudden angry breeze and you watched her, sighing and tugging off your raincoat. You tossed it over her shoulders wordlessly; Wednesday didn't acknowledge it either. She put one arm in, then another, but didn't pull the hood up, and you rolled your eyes. "Pull the hood up, Wednesday. Don't be stubborn."

"I'm fine," she shot back, tone sharp and piercing to any sort of armour you could have put up. But even that didn't make you buy it.

"Your hair is like, stuck to your forehead, Wednesday. Just pull up the hood part."

"I don't even want to be in this dreadful thing, why would I want more of it on me. It's yellow."

"It's keeping you warm."

"I'm allergic to colours."

"Well then I guess it's great you brought a black one- oh, wait! That's right! You didn't."

She blinked at you unappreciatively, but your unimpressed expression made her give in, and she begrudgingly did as she was told. With a hood now over her, shrouding her soft hair from the harsh rain, you felt a bit better about her being out in the cold. After a moment she grumbled, messing with the sleeves. "Why are your arms so freakishly long?"

You didn't answer, biting back a response that included the word 'short.' It would have been entirely unproductive and probably earned a rock thrown at your head. Instead, you focused on the small row of houses you could see on a road in the far distance.

Their windows were small, warm boxes in the dryness, as opposed to the pouring, angry storm only a heathen of some sort would be caught in. It looked the same as it had the week before when you had passed the same area with Wednesday, and you recognised the same lamp that sat in the same spot of the same window on the second floor. It hadn't moved even an inch and neither had the flowers in the pot sitting next to it.

You hummed, "I love streets like those. It looks so warm and comfortable. I could be out here forever and it would still be the same warm place."

"Poetic," Wednesday dryly replied. Poetry had never seemed to move her much, beyond the grim ones from Poe about death and despair. She had tried to teach you about it once, during an impromptu "study session," which was what Wednesday usually called hunting you down after class and sticking your head between her legs.

It was the very first time she had let you stick around after, and the more and more often she let it happen, the more you felt yourself allowing for false hopes. Of course, accusing her of growing fond was a way to end up in an early grave and you knew better.

It had been a whisper, really, what she said with your head resting on her stomach, arms against the skin of her thighs. You were both sweating, terribly so, and then came, "years of love have been forgotten, in the hatred of a minute." It was only a whisper, and you weren't even sure Wednesday had spoken it into existence. But you looked up, and she was staring down at you, eyes unreadable. Her mouth was tensed into a grimace; a symbol for words unsaid.

"What's that?" You asked, leaning your head back.

She had shook her head. "It's Poe. He founded the school."

"I know who Edgar Allan Poe is, Wednesday. I meant what you were saying."

She looked away to the window, like eye contact then would have doomed her. "I'm not sure." It was a lie, and you knew it, but you couldn’t scan Wednesday’s thoughts and it was the first time she had let you stay propped up against her. You knew better than to ruin that.

"Why do you like that kind of poetry, anyhow? It's awfully depressing."

"It's a reminder," she replied, eyes still away and tone flat. "You and I will be in the ground someday, or maybe I will be in the family crypt. 'As you are now, so once, was I.' And other such ruminations. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Her gaze sliced back to you, as if she were gaging your reaction. "Either way, we're doomed."

You hadn't known what she meant by that, and you still didn't know, walking through the forest. She spoke in riddles, and it was impossible to know if she wanted you to decipher them or leave them as they were. Her vagueness with emotions was her armour, maybe.

Wednesday was usually cold and efficient and exact, in a way you could appreciate. You were far warmer, and though you seemed to constantly trip over yourself, patiently waiting for any sort of warmth to be returned, she stayed with the same chill that kept you close enough to bring comfort to her fingers, but never close enough to make her melt.

"When we get there, I want you to stay outside and keep watch. Don't come inside with me, I want to look around alone. If you hear anything or any noise or thoughts over the rain, give me the signal I trained you on," said Wednesday, looking through the bowers and thread veins of roots so as not to trip again.

"You're not my boss, Wednesday, and I'm not your henchman," you said, the words spilling out in annoyance. You hated when she went into work mode. She looked over at you, eyes giving an intense challenge.

"What am I then?"

You rolled your eyes at this. "Like my hobby, at best." It wasn't true, and both of you knew it.

"Do you kiss and sleep with all your 'hobbies,' then?" Wednesday's eyes studied you.

"Maybe," you shrugged. "I don't really kiss and tell." Actually, you hadn't kissed anybody since she had made out with you two days prior, and you hadn't kissed somebody other than her since she had first kissed you two months ago.

You knew, though, that Wednesday had done similar peregrinations with the normie boy, Tyler, from town who worked at the Weathervane. Sometimes you wondered if she put her lips on his, too. Other times, you couldn't help wondering if either of you really mattered to her.

She had said no when you asked her that once before, but slow danced and made out with you immediately after answering, at the Rave'N, so your confusion was understandable. It was like she both hungered for you and hated you for it at the same time, and you knew getting thrown around like that wasn’t what you wanted. But if it gave you her, even for a brief moment, you were all too eager.

From behind the both of you, you heard a branch snap, spinning around as the rain poured. There was nothing visibly there; your stupid flashlight didn't reach out that far and no moving through the brush could be heard. "Did you hear that?" you said to Wednesday, freezing completely. She nodded, but did not seem phased even slightly, turning to watch your terror with an eyebrow raised.

“Likely an animal," said Wednesday.

You were still frozen to the spot, staring into the dark as fear screamed at you to run away. “Are you okay?” she asked, puzzled.

You shook your head, sticking your hand out towards her. “No.” It was a question that needn't be asked. Wednesday examined your fingers closely, like she was contemplating if it was a bad idea, but then grabbed your palm and held it tightly in hers, locking the digits in with her own and squeezing it gently. It was an immediate comfort and you unfroze, Wednesday pulling you into the dark.

===+++===

"Your obnoxious coat is warm...thank you." She seemed to spit the last part out with a bit of reluctance, but you appreciated it nevertheless. For around the last half mile, you had been getting rained on instead. Droplets dripped from your hair, rolling down your cheeks and over your lips before dribbling from your chin.

"You can keep it for a while. Until you get your own, I mean," you said, absentmindedly playing with the flashlight. You would rather die than admit you were nervous aloud. Luckily, it didn't seem you needed to.

She stopped short at your words, grabbing your collar roughly with her hand and balling it between her fingers. It was harsh and it was passionate, like Wednesday always seemed to be in flares. Her mouth crashed into yours, teeth clinking together, toes poking into the mushy ground so she could even reach your face.

Unfortunately, it was over as soon as it began, and she pulled away quickly, walking away and leaving you behind, panting awkwardly as your mind began to spin. She was all too much, everything about her. You couldn’t stop yourself. "I love you,” you blurted out.

From the way she whipped back to you, it hadn’t been nearly quiet enough. Silence seemed to echo through the clearing, even in the raging storm around that pounded into trees and pooled in mushy puddles. She stared at you, and all you could do was stare back. Wednesday stomped back over, cheeks red and dark eyes shining with an unusual capriciousness. “What?”

You shook your head. “Nothing. Talking to myself.”

But she didn’t believe you. In previous attempts by you to draw out any indication of her affections, she could blatantly ignore it or change the subject without answering. Now, she was frustrated by how you always wore your heart on your sleeve. And this time, how your words demanded she do the same.

“What did you say,” she demanded. “Tell me right now, or I’ll-“

“I said I love you, Wends,” you cut her off before she could make a threat. God, she stared. She stared and stared and stared at you with her eyes in the dark, looking like she would be the one to read your mind and not the other way around. The humidity of the rain was suffocating you, but the powerful wind filled your lungs with air again, in a vicious, heaving cycle.

She took a small step forward, tilting her head up at you like she was inspecting you up close. “You don’t mean what you say.”

"I really wish I didn't, but I absolutely do." Your tone burned with a relieving candor, and Wednesday's eyebrows furrowed, before she backed away again. Your flashlight turned towards the ground, lowering your face into shadow.

"I told you, I don't want anything more from you," she said. "You're spoiling what we already have." She seemed more agitated than anything, but you stood your ground.

"But I feel like there's more here, Wednesday. I know I'm not crazy, you can feel it too. So I don't know why you're being all tough, when I just want to take care of you. That's all I've ever wanted."

"Learn to want for something else then," she argued back. "We can't work, we won't, I-"

"Why?"

"I told you why," she replied, crossing her arms. "Years of love-"

"No no, none of that bullshit you know you want to confuse me with. Just lay it out, plain and simple."

She bit her mouth shut, then narrowed her eyes at you before giving a huff. "Have you been reading my thoughts?"

"What?" Your forehead creased into lines, staring at her intently. "You know I don't."

"I don't know if you're aware, but I see you, in my visions sometimes. I actually think about the same one often, when I'm with you."

"What am I doing, then?" You asked, feeling a sickness come to your stomach. You didn’t know what future event you would be up to, but you could guarantee Wednesday you would stop yourself from hurting her.

“You’re being killed. By the beast.”

“…Oh.”

“You’re running far away, being chased. I see you get tackled or hit, and you fall into the dirt. Then I see your face being slashed over and over again by a creature, and you appear to bleed out on the floor of a forest.”

“Wednesday, that won’t come true.” You tried to assure her, but a small hand came forward, covering your mouth, shushing you. The gentle palm pressed against your soaked lips, fingertips ghosting the lines of your cheeks.

“I would hate you for it, dying. What I hate even more is that your closeness to me is likely what causes this. I don’t love you, (Y/n). I can’t. Stop trying to make me. It’s only pitiful and painful for the both of us.”

You reached up for her hand, pulling it away. “But how do you know it’s definitely you that ruins it? What if it’s something else, or what if it’s you saying no?”

“Because as painful as it is, I’m certain I break your heart if I indulge you.”

“Wednesday,” your voice shook a bit. “You’re breaking my heart right now.”

“This,” she said, “This is why I cannot give you more than I already have. I’m not my parents, (Y/n). Can’t you just be happy with our current relationship? You always try to complicate things. Like a stupid little puppy.”

You took a step back like a wounded animal. “What? You’re being mean.”

“Maybe if I am it'll get through to you. We won’t work, and if we don’t try to make it work, I won’t end up breaking your heart, and you won’t run away.” Her speaking volume was getting louder now.

“That’s a stupid plan!” You said raising your voice.

“And you’re a fool!” She said back. “I’m trying to protect you and take what I can get at the same time."

"You're hurting me."

"You're hurting yourself. I keep pushing you away. Stop coming back."

You frowned, feeling your face grow hot. "I come back because I care, and I know you care too."

"Caring for you gets me nowhere. You're doomed, (Y/n). I'm trying to protect you, so do us both a favour and get as far away from me as possible. Don't let me pull you back."

"Wednesday, I-"

"Go, you idiot." You swallowed her words. She was still wearing your yellow raincoat, looking at you with the most steely expression you had ever seen. You stepped forward in silence, only the mushing of the leaves filling the space between you. You unwrapped the armband of the flashlight from around your wrist and extended it out to her.

"Here. For the cave." She blinked at you, then she took it. Without another word, you did as you were told, stepping off into the dark and pulling against the magnetic field. With your ability to break past her facades turned off, you couldn't see the deep regret that wormed its way into her stare, watching your back retreat into the tree line.

===+++===

It only took around five minutes for you to regret not having the flashlight. The storm had turned to complete and utter chaos, and you could hear thunder and lightning booming and cracking against the night sky. Everything was so much darker than before, and it seemed to grow up and out like a giant ladder, turning to shadow and fog a few feet in front of you.

Part of you was still mad at Wednesday. Knowing she was scared for you didn't make it any of an easier pill to swallow. Neither did knowing you would likely die soon.

The looming question still sat unanswered, weighing down the wrinkles of your brain and cozying up at the mantle of your thoughts. Would it be weeks? Months? If she never ended up catching it (though that was very unlikely) how many years would you have left?

From behind you, you heard a branch snap again. You spun, looking around. An animal maybe. Then, you heard footsteps. They were big, though not an animal. Maybe it was Wednesday. She wore thick shoes often, with heavy soles.

It was only with the sudden realisation that there was no flashlight with the figure coming towards you, that your eyes began to widen and a chill shot up your spine like a spooked animal. It only took the dropping of your telepathic cancelling to fully realise what was about to happen.

KILL. KILL. KILL.

The monster's thinking was thunderous and loud, and it reverberated within your skull as you turned to run. You stomped your foot into the swampy ground, running the fastest you felt you ever had. KILL. The forest seemed to blur, rushing past you as you fled through the trees and smacking at branches that sagged in your way.

KILL. You heard the footsteps now, coming up quickly. They sounded huge, and with every bound you could hear greenery get smushed behind you as the beast moved through it. KILL. You had no idea how close it was behind you, but there was no time to look either. In one rush, you found yourself back in a stoney quarry, and in the far distance illuminated a KILL. streetlight standing over a mountain road.

You ran towards it, face scratched by a branch in the process as you forgot to swipe it away. The wood KILL. connected with a stabbing pain, piercing your lip as you ran, but you didn't so much as wince. "HELP!" You yelled KILL. out, trying to catch any attention as you ran for the pavement, and you were almost there. KILL.

You were too slow. A set of long, pointy claws latched onto your back, sinking into the skin and ripping you down with a yelp, throwing you to the ground. Your back slid into the tree with a sickening crack, and pain seemed to freeze your body. KILL.

Standing over you was the muscular, horrifyingly disfigured body of a towering creature, its eyes shining with violent zeal. It lowered with a clicking growl, eyeing your heaving, bleeding body and sneering. KILL. KILL. KILL.

Your eyebrows furrowed, blood spilling from your lips. In a single instant, you knew who it was, digging past the monstrous yells to the real thoughts of the boy underneath. "Tyler?"

Its claws sunk into your stomach, and everything went dark.

===+++===

a/n: a part two maybe? idk, i'm no rocket scientist. anyways, this is my very first post, so, here we go i guess? excited to start this and grateful for anyone who reads this. i tried to spellcheck but if it isn't perfect please please please let me know, i would fix it immediately.

#wednesday addams x reader #jenna ortega x reader #wednesday x reader #wednesday addams #jenna ortega x you #wednesday netflix #jenna ortega

[pocketramblr]

Ask game where izuku time travel and somehows saves hawks which leads for massive hero worship of him

1- izuku is yeeted backwards through time and crashes outside the shanty Tomie and Keigo lived in. Tomie hides and, curious, Keigo peaks outside to see a darkly costumed hero in a torn cape and cowl sparking lightning and spasming bits of darkness. he thinks that is very cool but also probably dangerous, ready to fly off.

Izuku, who looks around and has no idea where he is, sees the shack and heads closer to try and see if anyone is there and can tell him where he is

2- Tomie freaks and grabs Keigo to run, but Izuku is able to pretty easily catch up and pull out his hero license, apologizing for the scare and getting halfway through asking where he is when he stops because either Hawks has a secret lovechild that Shoto and Fumikage are going to go crazy about, or, this kid is just Hawks. which means he's time traveled. And he knows exactly what's going to go down, how the commission botches the war arc, leading him directly to the runnaway arc he was in the middle of- not to mention Keigo is like, six years old right now and looks just like all the other small kids Izuku's helped before.

3- Izuku is like "Hey, actually, can i like, buy you some food? or we can go to a safehouse? from your villain husband/father that i know about?" and that spooks Tomie enough that she tells Keigo to fly away as fast as he can, but he comes back in under a minute to help her, only to see Izuku letting her go back inside the house, and muttering to himself about how to help them.

He could try to hunt down All Might, but he doesn't know if his number is the same this far back, or the ramifications of dealing with time, or if Gran Torino will believe him, or if his teacher has even started at UA at this point, and Keigo lands and says he sounds like he knows a lot of heroes.

Danger Sense didn't warn Izuku and he's startled, but nods, saying the problem is a lot of them don't know him yet.

4- Izuku thinks about it for a while with the vestiges as he takes Keigo into town and brings food back to the home for dinner, figuring out what he should do because none of them know what to do about time travel. Eventually, he decides to take Third's advice- he doesn't know any heroes that will believe him or can risk causing a paradox with, but he does know a hero he can blackmail whose life choices he probably can't make any worse.

To say that Endeavor is surprised when some stranger waving a hero license in the air and carrying two civilians with his quirk lands in his front yard is an understatement.

5- Izuku gets Enji to talk with him in his office while he shoves Tomie and Keigo at Rei and the three todokids, telling him everything- that he's from the future, that he can prove it with a lot of information that he really shouldn't have and a very legit license from the future, and that if Izuku is about right about when he time traveled, Rei is very recently pregnant with Shoto so Enji better get it together before Touya tries to kill the infant threatening to replace him as central piece in the mini eugenics experiment he decided to run. He tells him off for caring about the ranking system more than the reason heroes exist, warns him that he should probably see if he can stop the commission from training the kid they currently are training to be their super illegal and immoral assassin before she snaps and kills the president, and then decides 'oh what the hell, predictions of death have been great motivators in mine and All Might's experience!' and tells Enji that unless he wants to be killed by a quirk affected Shoto minutes after killing Touya, he'll prevent that future by changing things right now.

Izuku leaves the office with a stunned Enji and announces that Endeavor oh so kindly offered to make sure that Tomie and Keigo have safe housing and food. He ruffles Keigo's hair, tells him that he should be proud of working so hard to improve his quirk so quickly that he's practically faster than Izuku, who was so bad with his quirk originally that it was out of control and broke his own bones, recommends Touya look into Sheild Industries for support tech, waves at a shy Fuyumi, and then slips the kids a phone number for absolute emergencies with the passcode 'one for all' written on it. Then he leaves.

Keigo watches him go and announces that he must be the greatest hero ever, and Keigo is going to be just like him one day.

Touya takes offense since obviously Endeavor is the greatest hero and then Touya will be. Keigo looks at the still stunned Enji, then back at the very cool multi quirk silhouette, and decides that Touya's tastes cannot be trusted.

+1- Several years later, Endeavor watches the sports festival and pulls out his phone, calling Touya and only saying "no" because he knows that Touya is also watching and seeing the bone breaking kid who looks just like the hero from ages ago. Touya protests that he didn't want the kid for internships anyway, just thought he must be that old heroe's son. Enji goes 'nah, it's him, before he time traveled' and does not elaborate even as Touya asks if he's joking. Keigo is already filing the paperwork for the internship, and says he already knew that, because Izuku muttered a lot- but he's not going to let him vanish without a word this time! not to mention, his agency is going to be the one to make the first official merch that Keigo has been dying to collect for over a decade now. Touya questions Keigo's tastes, and Izuku ends up picking another agency.

#v possible time traveling izuku killed afo off screen in the past #or that he tried but couldn't find him before being yeeted back #or that he ceased to exist as a result of changing history who knows! #keigo does end up getting that first official piece of merch tho #it goes next to all his little homemade ones #anon #pocket talks to people #ask game

[softguarnere]

A World Without Color Is A World Without You

Eugene Roe x reader

A/N: What's up y'all?! @brassknucklespeirs and I have been talking about soulmate aus, and now they're living rent free in my brain. I had a wild day at school, and using those feeling to create angst was strangely therapeutic, I won't lie. I hope you enjoy this, and my requests are always open if you have something specific you would like to see! (As always, this is written for the fictional depictions from the show -- absolutely no disrespect to the real-life veterans!) 💕🕊️

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST! The usual HBOwar stuff: war, guns, injury, blood, language. I also didn't really proof read this, so take that for what it's worth.

"So is it like, a cultural thing?" George asks. In between his shivering, he gives you a sideways glance, watching you tense up as you continue staring straight ahead through the darkness, watching the line. He shrugs. "I've just always wondered."

"About what?"

He shrugs again. "Well, back in Toccoa, I kinda thought maybe you were just shy. But I know that's not true; you're pretty chatty after a few drinks. I remember reading somewhere once, before the war, maybe back in school, that in some cultures it's rude, or even taboo."

On your other side, Joe huffs. The cool air in front of him clouds up with what little warmth he can muster. "George, I'm sure if she wanted to talk about it, she woulda told ya by now."

"Yeah, Luz," you agree. "If I knew what the hell you were talking about, I probably could have answered you twelve different times."

The radioman knocks his shoulder against your own. "Awe, come on (Y/N). My brain is frozen -- gimme a break."

"Okay. I'll answer if you actually ask the question."

"Okay." Luz nods. For someone who was so eager to find answers a moment before, he seems unsure of himself when you give him permission to ask. He stops looking at you and trains his own eyes on the line, voice softening when he asks, "Why do you never look anyone in the eye?"

There it is.

Toye reaches behind you to smack Luz on the back of his helmet.

"Ow!"

"You can't just ask that!" Joe reprimands. "Besides, you could probably just figure it out from context."

Joe is right. It seems like most people should have figured it out by now. Maybe then you wouldn't have so many sweet-talking replacements sauntering up to you with calls of, "Hey, Shy Girl, you found your man yet, or are you playin' hard to get?" or "Baby, I bet I could be the one to make you see color."

Because that's the thing: your world has always been shades of black and white, and it will remain that way until you look into the eyes of your soulmate. The first color you ever see will be the color of their eyes, and then -- according to everything you've heard your friends and family describe -- the rest of the world will follow as a whole universe of color is revealed to you. But therein lies several problems for you.

Problem one: you didn't find your soulmate back at home before the war. Which, you initially thought, might be okay. Maybe you would meet them after. Or during, some of your more romantic-minded friends told you dreamily before you shipped out.

Which made problem two all too real to you: if you meet your soulmate and then they die, the world will go back to being black and white.

The realization had hit you like a punch in the gut. Everyone else seemed to think it was tragically romantic, but not you. You had always known the world as shades of plainness and shadow. How could you stand it, if you discovered the beauty of the world, only to then have it stripped away from you? And worse, how could you stand to lose the person that you loved -- that you were destined to be with? Something that was all too possible in the middle of a war.

So you made a decision. A hard one, but one that seemed necessary -- you wouldn't look a stranger in the eye again until after the war.

Under the blanket of night, huddled together with your friends for warmth, you tell them exactly that. No one can tell if the slight shake in your voice is from emotion or from the cold, and no one calls it into question. You've never told anyone before. You're not sure how they might react.

Joe pats your knee. He's not a man of words, but his action says it all.

"I'm sorry," Luz whispers. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay," you reassure him, trying to smile, more for yourself than for him. To lighten the mood, you decide to do what he would do if he weren't in an awkward position -- you crack a joke. "Why does it matter, Luz? You worried we might be soulmates?"

Taken off guard, he laughs. "I won't lie, (Y/N), the thought has occurred to me."

It had taken a lot of strength to tell them your secret. Now though, they know -- secrets rarely feel so heavy when there's someone who can help you carry them. Your burden reduced, you turn towards him in the darkness. "Well, let's find out."

"What?" Out of reflex, he turns to you.

Your eyes meet and . . .

Nothing. The world is still black and white.

"That answers that question," Luz says.

"Toye, you wanna find out if we're destined to be together?" You tease.

"Eh, why not." You blink owlishly at each other in the darkness, searching each others eyes for something that might not have been there before. Nothing happens, but neither of you breaks eye contact.

A smile pulls at the corner of Joe's mouth, and before you know it, the two of you are giggling at the idea of finding out that one of your oldest war-buddies might have been your soulmate all along without you realizing it. Who knows if it would have been funny anywhere but Bastogne -- the environmental pressures are starting to get to everyone -- but in that moment, it's the most hilarious thing in the world. Even George is shaking with laughter.

"Shhhh!" Only the sound of crunching snow rushing towards your fox hole can stop the joke. Compton leans down, his eyes never leaving the line in front of him as he hisses, "Keep it down! You wanna give away our position?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant," you giggle.

For all your trying, it's not until he's long gone that the three of you manage to catch your breath. Somehow, it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders, however slightly. You can look your best friends in the eye. That's something.

You fall asleep between them, the world still black and white, but not quite so dismal as you once imagined your dull color scheme to be.

--

"I've been workin' on the railroad, all the livelong day," you sing along with the other men, your grin the widest it's been in a while. Finally out of the fox holes, finally haven taken Foy, finally moving on.

"I've been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away --"

You're just beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, things will start to look up for Easy Company when something zings by your ear. One of the men beside you falls to the ground, and suddenly, the world around you descends into chaos.

A few more men drop like flies. Others tumblr over each other like dominos, some of them trying to flatten themselves to the ground for cover while others trip over each other to duck behind one of the nearby buildings.

"Sniper!" someone calls out. A body slams into yours as you try to scramble away from the tank you had been sitting on. The force of their body against yours sends you stumbling. It's just enough to hold you back from safety, and you feel the hot metal rip through your thigh.

You cry out as you hit the ground. Around you, bullets still race to find new marks as the sniper's rifle peppers the air with the sound of rounds being fired. You're face down on the dirty snow. It's harder than it should be not to roll over and call out for help, but the image of Julian back in Bastogne enters your mind and you settle for clenching your right hand into a fist and shoving it over your mouth to muffle your cries as you wait for it to be over.

More gunshots. Some cheers. How long have you been on the ground? A few minutes? Hours?

Someone grabs you by the shoulder and flips you over. Only then do you gasp out in pain.

"(Y/L/N)! Where are you hit?" Sergeant Lipton demands.

"Thigh." You try to sit up, but the Sergeant holds you down as he calls out for a medic. "Are the others okay?"

"Shifty got the sniper," Lipton assures you with a weak smile.

"But what about the others who got hit?"

"Alright, where'd they get her?" Spina asks as he appears beside you. From your awkward angle on your back, you can see him grimace as he looks at your thigh, which is pulsing with white hot pain.

"Is it bad? Is it --" you have to stop and swallow before you can continue. "Did they get an artery?"

"Roe's got the morphine," Spina says, looking over his shoulder and calling for the Louisiana boy before glancing back down at you. "Just take it easy, (Y/N)."

You grit your teeth through a spark of pain. It's hot and bright -- probably what stars feel like as they burn out.

"Hey --" Lipton pats your cheek with his hand, trying to keep you grounded. "Stay with me, (Y/N). Roe's comin', okay? Hey, at least you didn't get shot in the ass like Perco, huh?"

"Mighta hurt less," you hiss.

"She got morphine?" A thick accent asks as Doc Roe appears above you. He glances down at your thigh and then at you. And then --

Something happens.

Roe must sense it too, because just as his eyes start to move back to your injury, he stops short. Something about his eyes . . . it's hard to describe. It's unlike anything you've ever seen before.

They're not black and white, you realize with a start. You gasp sharply, not sure if it's from pain or from the shock. Then, slowly, the world around you draws into focus in a way it never has before. The blacks and whites you've become so accustomed to fade away as color seeps in, like water paints bleeding onto a fresh sheet of paper, filling in the world in ways that you didn't even know was possible.

"Doc, are you gonna help her?!" Lipton asks as Roe falls to his knees beside you, still staring straight into your eyes. Neither of you take note of Spina cursing in confusion, grabbing Doc's bag and tearing through it for morphine and bandages.

"It's you," you gasp at the same time that Roe whispers, "I found you."

Lipton looks between the two of you in confusion. The minute it clicks, his jaw drops into a capital O. "Oh shit."

"Right --" Spina pats your leg and stands up as more people approach. " -- Didn't hit an artery, but she'll need to visit an aide station to get this cleaned up. I've done what I can."

Aide station?

"Wait, no!" You try to push yourself up, try to prove that you're fine. If you get taken to a hospital, it might take forever for them to let you out. And then how will you get back to Easy? Something could happen to Roe before you return.

You grasp the Cajun boy's hand as you're lifted onto the piece of wood that's serving as a crude stretcher. Over the rumbling of the approaching Jeep engine, you plead with him. "Don't let them take me, Doc. I'll be fine. I'm fine! I don't wanna go."

"You gotta," he says sadly. "Your leg . . ."

"I want to stay here," you insist. "Please. Please, Gene."

"I'll find you." He presses a kiss to the back of your hand as they load you into the Jeep. "I promise, we'll find each other again, okay? But you gotta go now, (Y/N)."

Your tightly knitted fingers unravel as the vehicle starts to move, unnoticing and uncaring of your feelings on the matter. For the first time since you got hit, you feel your eyes grow hot and watery. There's no use trying to hold back the tears that slip out as you're driven away from the boy who colored in your world.

From the boy who's your soulmate.

#I said angst and I meant angst #bon appetit ya know? #band of brothers x reader #eugene roe x reader #doc roe #eugene roe #band of brothers imagine #band of brothers fanfic #band of brothers #my writing #soulmate au #george luz #joe toye #carwood lipton #ralph spina #buck compton

[pixiedust111]

Rapunzel into the Multiverse! (Part-7)

(continued)

Rapunzel and Eugene arrived at Varian's place in Old Corona.

"Rapunzel, Eugene, good to see you!" Varian greeted them warmly.

"Varian, I have something very important to discuss. Could you help me? I really need your assistance," Rapunzel pleaded.

"Sure, what is it?" Varian frowned, noticing Rapunzel's panicked expression.

Rapunzel settled on Varian's newly bought couch and disclosed every detail, ensuring nothing was missed.

Varian and Eugene were utterly amazed by her seemingly preposterous yet intriguing story.

"So, you're telling me you slipped into this universe from an alternate one? Good gravy! Rapunzel, are you sure you've been getting enough sleep lately?" Eugene exclaimed in a single breath.

"Wait, the parallel universe theory was just an implication from Demanitus' ancient book on the secrets of the universe! We don't know if it's real. Our current technology isn't enough to prove it... it's beyond our understanding. Perhaps in a hundred or two hundred years, we'll figure it out!" Varian rushed through his words.

"Holy Demanitus! We might not make it that far!" Eugene exclaimed.

"No, but in the future, some genius scientists might figure it out," Varian replied.

"Guys, you're not helping!" Rapunzel reminded them.

"Oh, right, I was getting to that. There are only two explanations for your situation. First, you were dreaming, which seems more reasonable. Second, well... maybe your hypothesis is true; you're traversing multiple universes, which is more interesting!" Varian said, excitedly.

"Varian, it wasn't a dream. Dreams can't be that detailed. I lived an entire life there. I traveled to the dark kingdom, I had my hair back, I married Eugene..." Rapunzel explained.

"Sunshine!" Eugene called her by this nickname only when Lutz wasn't around. "I wish I could slip into that universe," Eugene expressed.

Rapunzel didn't respond, unsure of what to say.

"If anything is a dream, it's this, which clearly isn't, right?" Rapunzel asked Varian.

"I suppose? But, Rapunzel, if it truly involves a parallel universe, we can make some assumptions based on what's happened so far," Varian said thoughtfully.

"Like what?" Eugene inquired.

"For instance, if this Rapunzel is from another universe, then our universe's Rapunzel must be traversing a different universe now. Since Rapunzel isn't physically traveling; you know, it became evident...there would be two Rapunzel then, so we can discard this possibility, it seems... her mind or consciousness is slipping through other universes. Perhaps something went wrong with whatever maintains the universe's discipline, causing this chaos," Varian explained.

"I understand. I'm just experiencing alternate universes. Is this how parallel universes work, or did you make it up?" Rapunzel questioned Varian impatiently.

"Well, I told you the parallel universe thing is beyond our understanding and current knowledge... but Lord Demanitus did hint that it could be possible, the way you're experiencing it," Varian replied.

"Is there any way I can get back to my world?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Try to remember how you ended up in the other universe first. You were mentally exhausted, trying hard to sleep, then you slipped into that universe. In that universe, you were... exhausted again? Trying not to think about the present situation and slipping into this universe. If you try to exhaust yourself again, mentally or physically, it might help," Varian suggested.

"Wait, what if she ended up in another universe other than hers?" Eugene raised a question.

"Yes, we have to consider that risk. Maybe try recreating a similar situation to the last time you were in your universe? Rapunzel, you've already seen the worst, and honestly, this parallel universe thing seems too absurd. If you truly believe it, why not give it a shot?" Varian proposed.

"You're right. There's nothing else I can do. I really want to return home. Although it is my home, it just doesn't feel like it. I feel terrible for Eugene, but I have no other options. Eugene, I hope you understand?" Rapunzel looked at Eugene.

"Sure, Sunshine. You should return to your own universe. Don't worry about me; I'm just happy to know we made it to some other alternate universe. That's enough for me. And... who knows? Maybe we can still make it in this universe too!" Eugene said, excitedly.

Rapunzel chuckled. "Maybe," she replied.

"So, operation 'Get Rapunzel Back to Her Home'" Eugene declared.

To be continued...

#pixiesdiary #tangled #rapunzel #eugene #new dream #tangled fanfiction #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #varian #alternate universe

[gryffindorkxdraws]

Dress

Song: Dress

Word Count: 1082

Summary: From yearning to making out. That's it, that's the plot

Notes: this song is so,, so ?! i didn't edit this so take it as it is

song to listen to while reading

Jack wasn’t sure how it all happened. One moment he and Rapunzel were dancing around the ballroom, and the next they were making out in the library not too far away from the event. But if anything, he wasn't complaining. In fact, he was relishing the moment. Loving every second of it with how he gets to taste his best friend.

She was sweet with a side taste of champagne, but it was enough to make him want more. He kissed her like he couldn’t ever possibly get enough of her, and it electrified him when he felt her kissing him the same way. Like she, too, couldn’t get enough of him.

He supposed it all started when Eugene was getting too chummy with Rapunzel in the ball. He left her behind, you see, after dancing their hearts to get them drinks. When he came back, he found that she wasn’t alone like the social butterfly she is. Jack never really had a problem with her talking to other guys, but Eugene on the other hand…

In a way, he had to thank the guy for helping him realize his feelings for Rapunzel. All the smiles and laughter Rapunzel gave to Eugene was enough to make Jack have this feeling like no other. Just thinking of her loving someone else was enough to tear him down. What more with her in that beautiful dress that hugged her curves and brought out her green eyes.

It didn’t come as a surprise to him when all eyes landed on her as soon as they entered the ballroom. In fact, he felt proud of her for being such a bell of the ball that he hyped her up whenever someone complimented her.

And while he was happy the way they were, the best of friends since kindergarten, somewhere along the way he started yearning for more. He wanted her to be looking at him, not at the other. He wanted to catch her whenever she needed, and be there for her no matter what. It took a while for him to realize he was jealous, but when Hiccup pointed it out after he shared it to him, it all unraveled from there.

It didn’t take Jack long to figure out that Eugene had a thing for Rapunzel too, and he had a feeling she knew as well with how she kept her distance. Though she was too kind to just simply leave him mid conversation. What followed after was Jack downing his champagne before marching in and taking Rapunzel away before Eugene or anyone else could stop him.

Rapunzel immediately knew what was up and turned their brisk walk into a jog, then into a full blown run as they escaped the ballroom and raced down the hall. She laughed when Jack still offered her the other glass of champagne he still held on, but drank it anyway as they giggled their way into the library.

Leaving their glasses behind by a table, the two wandered around as Rapunzel read the titles of the books from the shelves. Though it was more of an excuse, really, to keep her eyes from being glued to her best friend. She had a feeling that Jack felt… something more than friends for her, and him taking her away from Eugene only proved her suspicion even more.

She so badly wanted it to be true that she never let go of his hand as they walked around. It felt right for them to stay that way, and she didn’t want it to end just yet. Not after yearning for him for as long as she could remember. One reason she chose the dress she was wearing was to maybe seduce Jack a little. Make him want her more if ever her suspicions were true.

It was frustrating, you see, of being so close to him and yet so far. Sure they kiss each other on the cheek, and hug each other whenever they meet up, but it was all under the presumption of what best friends would do. She wanted to be his lover, and him to be hers, so she wasn’t all that surprised when her mind thought of something.

“I want to kiss you.” Rapunzel suddenly said when Jack asked her what book was she currently engrossed in.

“What?” He asked, his brain unable to comprehend what she said just yet.

“I…” a pause as she moved closer, pinning him by the shelves, “want to kiss you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” 

“So may I?”

Jack held his breath as it dawned in him what was happening, and leaned his forehead on hers. Not trusting his impulsive mouth, he nodded his head as a blush crept up on his face. That was all Rapunzel needed before she dived in and held his face with both hands, cupping his cheeks, and kissing him with all she’s got.

Their teeth crashed, but they didn’t care. Not when it was finally happening after so long. When Rapunzel kissed him deep, Jack gave back the same energy, and maybe even more so as he bit her lower lip. This made her gasp, and he took the chance to taste her tongue with his, swirling and dancing it around in her mouth, making her delirious with how good it felt.

Rapunzel’s hands roamed down from his face, to his neck, then to grasping his suit to pull him back when he pulled away to catch his breath. She felt him smirk at their kiss, and god, god, it took everything in her to keep going despite wanting to pinch his cheeks. It was the little things he did that made her heart flutter, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to know that just yet.

Her dress’ sleeve slipped off her shoulder, but she never bothered to fix it. Instead, she leaned more into Jack as he lifted her up and turned around, using the shelves as another support to keep her up. A few books fell down, startling the two out of their wits. They stared at it, then at each other and giggled.

“I’m not done with you yet.” Jack said.

“Then keep going.” Rapunzel whispered so low that he might have not caught it if they weren’t this close. “Don’t stop until I say so.”

“Your wish,” Jack brushed his lips on her, “is my command.”

“That was so corny!”

“Yeah, well, you’d still kiss me anyway.”

And she did.

#jackunzel #jack frost and rapunzel #rise of the brave tangled dragon #rise of the brave tangled dragons #the big four #jack frost #rapunzel corona #my writing #answered #hiccanna tidbits

[zonerobotnik]

Allright, let's make this a bit of a game.

What would you see, and under which circumstances, in the following Varian ships.

As long, detailed and honestly explained as you can.

Rapunzel

Cassandra

Eugene

Andrew

Juniper

Hugo

Nuru

Yong

Faith

Vex

Willow

Arianna

Gothel

Zhan Tiri

The four sisters with red hair who like to braid

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Dipper Pines

Mabel Pines

Hiro Hamada

Uhh…so, this is going to take some thinking. Mostly because I am confused by what you mean, exactly. Uhh…

Rapunzel:

Well, obviously, I love to fall back on the whole "Destined Sun and Moon" thing with them, but when that's not an option, I like having her recognize he has a crush and growing closer to him.

Or, even better, them meeting in a way different from canon and falling in love by chance.

Then there's the case of "The Love Doctor", where it's purely sexual and otherwise they're friends.

Varian flirting with her while he's being a villain is also really fun, with her trying to convince herself she hates him for what he's doing but slowly falling in love.

Or, in the case of "The Secret of the Black Rocks", they're both trying to deny catching feelings while stuck together for long periods of time while on their way to the Dark Kingdom.

Cassandra:

Honestly, I prefer AUs where Varian is nineteen so it's not as questionable to be with her, a 23 year old woman. While the concept of "teenager" didn't actually exist until the 1900s, apparently, it's just better for them to be closer to the same age.

Though, I do enjoy writing fics where Cassandra has to contend with Varian's overprotective dad and the age difference, haha. So much drama!

They make a cute couple, when she's not being a cold-hearted wench that uses him for her own ends.

Eugene:

Varian is his stalker. Literally his stalker. At some point, I will write a modern AU where he is actually being as creepy towards him as Marinette is to Adrien in "Miraculous Ladybug", because he is a massive fanboy and stalker. Why did he have some of his hair from a ponytail that got cut off years ago? Why did he have his broken knives, his boot, his old, damaged satchels? Why did he have such perfect Wanted posters when the old guy that makes Wanted posters couldn't get any of them right?

Varian's stalker tendencies towards Eugene aside, I could see them actually being a cute couple, once Varian was older or in an AU where he's nineteen and not fourteen. I really like exploring his fanboy side about Eugene, even in "Untouchable", where he was stalking him by watching him through the rocks with his powers for years.

Andrew:

Typically, I prefer them to be platonic. But, in situations where they aren't platonic, if anything happens before he's an adult, then I fall back on Asshole Andrew, who is the abusive asshole that features in a lot of my old V&7K fics, though I have yet to actually have him do anything to him during their time together taking over, usually having Andrew get revenge on him after Varian is on his journey. But, generally, I prefer to keep it platonic. He needs an older brother-figure he can count on.

In an AU where they aren't platonic but he's still not an asshole, I can see Andrew being a complete gentleman and starting off by flirting with Varian by complimenting his works and then he'd show off his own and they'd gradually fall in love over time while spending time together.

And then there's their messed-up relationship in "Your Biggest Fan", where Andrew is basically his prisoner/sex-slave/guinea pig for all his crazy sex gadgets.

Juniper:

Gonne be honest…never even once. I just can't really see them as a couple, so I have no idea for how it could go.

Hugo:

Hugo is Varian's fan, whether he admits it or not. It's just hard for him not to admire someone that brought a royal family to their knees before magic intervened. No self-respecting criminal wouldn't admire that kind of accomplishment.

Going by concept Hugo, Varian and Hugo make jabs back and forth while Hugo is blatently obvious about his criminal acts and Varian is trying to hide who he used to be. They don't even admit they like each other until the very end of their journey, and so they don't do much until they're settled into Corona. Hugo and Varian trade off on who is the dominant one in the bedroom and the kitchen, because Hugo is too determined to prove he's better than Varian to admit that Varian's cooking is way better. Varian humors his burning scrambled eggs because he loves him too much to tell him they taste bad.

Going by my own lore, Hugo and Varian are friends-with-benefits while Varian explores things in the bedroom with other people and Hugo internally screams about wanting him for himself and cursing convincing him that it was normal for scientists to have open relationship and free love.

In an AU where Hugo meets Varian while he's a villain, maybe got caught trying to steal from the castle when Varian was in charge, he would probably start off strip-searching him to make sure he didn't take anything and then interrogate him with truth serum and then convince him to "stick around" to try to get Hugo's boss "Donella" to "come for a visit". He would flirt with him and, if he's an adult in this AU, totally seduce him into banging.

Nuru:

Honestly, I have never actually thought of them being together in any way but platonically. Maybe that will change, eventually, but right now I don't have any ideas.

Yong:

Not a single shippy idea for these two. Absolutely none. I ship Yong with Kiera and that's it. No one else.

Faith:

Varian and Faith first met when Varian was working on chores for Cassandra and they bonded over frustrating adults and living up to the expectations and dealing with disappointments from their family. During Varian's criminal stint, Faith spoke in his defense until her mother told her to stop, for her family's sake, and later helped Varian with the takeover.

When Varian is Royal Engineer, she supports him by bringing him snacks so he doesn't have to leave his important work to get food and they grow closer and he asks her out one day, which she is flustered about but agrees. Rapunzel catches wind of it, "helps" makes the day "special" and while Rapunzel is cleaning up the mess, they sneak off to have an actual private first date.

They go on several dates for a year before Varian asks her to marry him and she accepts.

As a married couple, they're both doting parents and Varian is a doting husband both in and out of the bedroom.

Vex:

Aside from them meeting briefly in TREL, I haven't thought of how things might go for them as a couple.

Willow:

No. Absolutely not.

Arianna:

Canon-wise, I could see him getting together with her after Frederic passed away to spite his grave. I don't see him actually having romantic feelings for her, especially if he's a villain.

For other situations, see "It's a Deal, Then" and there's mention of them being in bed together in "The Love Doctor" but, again, not romantic.

Gothel:

No. No, I'm sorry, I can't, I just can't. I try, all I see is her in a mother-figure role to him. It's not happening.

Zhan Tiri:

Zhan Tiri would approach him in disguise to try to take advantage of him, either for his alchemy or the Moonstone.

The four sisters with red hair who like to braid:

I have not and will never ship them with Varian. Ever.

Oh, we've got some crossover stuff here.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III:

…No. I don't ship it. At all. Aside from daddy issues and inventing, I don't see them actually finding anything in common. But, then, it's been a while since I watched the movies/series.

Dipper Pines:

Dipper and Varian would absolutely nerd out and get into trouble together and spend time together, and then Dipper starts catching feelings and chewing his shirt and Rapunzel gets it out of him and bullies him into confessing to Varian.

Once dating, they pretty much do the same stuff as before, but there's kissing involved and some screwing.

Mabel Pines:

Mabel would start off picking Varian as her new Crush-of-the-Week but realizes after a while that it's not a crush, and he likes her back, and she starts to panic because she has commitment issues and she starts hiding from him and Dipper talks sense into her and she starts actually dating Varian, but she wants to "take it slow" because commitment is scary to her.

Hiro Hamada:

Weird to put this here and not Gideon, since I have never, not once, written anything with Hiro or Hiccup, but okay.

I think they'd be cute friends, but I don't really see Hiro being into romance. Maybe it's just me, but he's always seemed to be disinterested in that kind of thing. But then, I've never seen the series. Maybe he falls in love with someone. Dunno. Honestly, I don't know enough about Hiro to think of anything.

Did that answer your questions well enough?

#ask zone stuff #long post

[stovmborn-arc]

                        ❝  you  waited  for  me  ?  ❞   asked  @dreamwaited​​.

 𝐒𝐇𝐄  𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃  𝐍𝐎𝐓  𝐁𝐄  𝐀  𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐒𝐄𝐋.  many  a  prophecy  had  been  given  to  her,  delicately  presented  in  the  words  of  riddles  but  daenerys  was  not  the  frightened  little  girl  that  she  once  was.  where  stories  terrified  her  into  a  slumber  as  a  child,  they  barely  caused  her  to  flinch  these  days.  too  much  pain  had  been  inflicted  upon  fragile  flesh    –––    anguish  and  torment  cast  upon  the  innocent  skin  of  a  girl  who  had  lost  everything.  bruises  would  live  with  her  forever,  following  every  footfall  she  gave  akin  to  a  rain  cloud  that  threatened  to  put  out  the  fires  that  she  created.  a  dragon  did  not  fear,  though  the  world  was  a  cruel  place,  laced  with  terror  in  each  corner  of  a  map  and  out  here  alone,  nobody  knew  what  lurked  behind  shadows.

 ❝    –––    you  flatter  yourself,  flynn  rider.  ❞

 words  are  wind,  escaping  from  her  lips  designed  to  leave  a  bitter  chill  but  buried  beneath  them,  there  is  a  softness.  reptilian  tongue  was  usually  cloaked  with  confidence,  as  if  flames  were  ready  to  scorch  those  who  could  possibly  harm  her.  arms  stubbornly  envelope  around  her  frame,  as  though  she  holds  the  ability  to  armour  herself  but  porcelain  can  do  little  to  protect  a  person.  he  will  not  hurt  her,  she  can  see  it  in  his  eyes.  chestnut  hues  rain  upon  her  with  intent,  as  though  to  chip  away  at  the  dragon  scales  designed  to  defend  herself  and  quickly,  daenerys  stormborn  melts  beneath  his  gaze.  a  sigh  flees  from  her  lungs  then,  thick  brows  unthreading  as  her  tone  softens  and  palms  fall  to  her  side  in  defeat.  ❝    –––    very  well,  perhaps  i  did  wait  for  you.  it  is  not  as  if  i  know  where  i'm  going.  ❞

#ii. chaos is a ladder … and so is my inbox » answered memes. #dreamwaited. #vi. we don’t get to choose whom we love » alt characters. #wow i need a eugene tag tbh #good content #i wasn't sure whether to go with #disney verse or main verse ! #i wasn't sure how familiar u are with asoiaf #but if u wanna continue it at all #feel free to make the choice #<33 #also i'm sorry she's STUBBORN #targaryen blood and all #dkfhlagh #i figured she didn't get eugene rights just yet #not with this hostile attitude #smh dany sort your shit out

[disneyanddisneyships]

Guys I have another Jelsa suggestion. So i was watching Big Bang theory and a scene popped up and like always.... I have to make a jelsa version....

Scene that inspired it: https://youtu.be/onpJOiuULBY

Jack knew he was sly. He and his group of friends all agreed not to buy each other gifts for Christmas, mostly because the only thing he liked about the holiday was making snow days. He hadn't seen the importance of giving gifts, especially since the only gift he would want, would be his family back, just to see them again.

However, he had to try something.

He figured his girlfriend, Elsa, wouldn't have gotten him anything because of the friend group's agreement. So he got her something because he wanted it to be a suprise.

"What do you say we exchange gifts?" He asked, not really paying much attention to the previous conversation.

"Jack, we didn't bring any," Rapunzel stated as she got up from the table, following Eugene to help with dishes.

"I thought you hated giving gifts," Eugene replied, confused.

"Yeah I do... which is why I got Elsa this," Jack spoke, taking a paper bag out from under the table.

"You got me something?" Elsa asked, gently taking the present from his hands.

"Not just something," Jack started, "it's from the heart, it's holiday themed, and I swallowed the receipt so you can't return it," he listed, a small smile on his face.

With some confusion, Elsa began to unwrap the present.

"A snowglobe of Arendelle?" Elsa asked with a big smile on her face, "That's so sweet!" She finished, tears brimming her eyes.

"Oh of course it is. It's the perfect gift," Jack replied "how are you feeling right now? Guilty? Sad? Wishing you were Jewish?" He asked.

"No I love it!" Elsa exclaimed.

"Oh really? How about now?" Jack asked as he pushed a button on the snowglobe.

And out came his voice, recorded into the snowglobe.

"Happy Holidays to my dear Elsa, I hope you treasure this as much as I treasure you." It said.

Elsa smiled and giggled.

"And you got me nothing," Jack finished with a smirk.

Elsa's face fell into confusion.

"Christmas is ruined, let's never speak of this again. Just another reason gift giving is so overrated," He exclaimed as he made a point. "Awe this was fun!" He finished

With a small nervous frown, elsa sat the globe down onto the table as she got up.

"Actually," she started as she made her way over to the tree, "I did get you something," she stated as she pulled out a wrapped blue box.

"But... what about our agreement?" Jack asked, confused once again.

"Well... you got ME something," she replied. "Here," she handed the box to him.

Jack sighed as he opened the present. Inside there were cookies in it. Ones that looked just like his mother's.

Once he had gotten his memories back he had never stopped talking about how much he loved those cookies. Clearly Elsa had remembered.

"Cookies?" Jack asked, not getting the gesture quite yet.

"They're your mother's Christmas cookies," Elsa stated, "I contacted tooth and got her to look at your mother's memories, for the recipie..." Elsa stated with a small smile.

Hesitantly, Jack took one out of the box and took a bite.

"They're perfect...." he stated quietly as he looked at Elsa, "they taste like my mother's hugs...." he finished as his face contorted into realization.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," Elsa stated.

"I can't believe this," Jack started again, "You're happy, I'm happy, maybe a holiday about gift giving isn't so-" Jack was interrupted when he saw Hiccup's hand reach into the box to grab a cookie.

Jack slapped him away,

"Get your hand outta that box!" He exclaimed

#jelsa #elsa #frozen #frozen 2 #rotg #jack frost #rise of the guardians #disney #queen elsa #snowtp #jelsaforever #jelsa fandom #elsa of arendelle #royalfrost

[pedropascalssimp]

his gaurdain angel

Eugene sledge x nurse reader

Part one of a mini series

Summary: nurse y/n y/l/n, was the only female nurse on Peleliu Island. Having been transferred there when the island was in dire need of medics. After Eugene sledge gets injured and sent to the medic tent he finds his heart laying in the hands of an angel.

Warnings: language. strong mentions of death I suppose. mentions of blood. War. And of course a splash of fluff.

Peace was a privilege most couldn't afford, only the fortunate new what it was like to sleep in a nice warm bed at night, mind at ease while not having to sleep with one eye open. Not having to worry about being snuck upon and killed in their sleep. The fortunate knew what it was like to be surrounded by a glorious silence, the only noise around being that of the singing birds and chirping insects. The fortunate had the privilege of living in a peace and Tranquillity.

But the unfortunate? They were the brave souls fighting for that world peace the fortunate bathed in. They were the one's who spent night after night trying hard to get some sleep on the cold hard ground with a rifle in one hand and a prayer in the other, hoping that they wouldn't be slaughtered in their sleep like a helpless pig in a sty. The unfortunate tried using old lullabies their momma's sang to them when they was young just to erase the sound of gunfire and the cries of dying men out of their brains for at least a few minutes. But it never worked, nothing could bring the soldiers peace in a cruel world like the one they lived in. Perhaps that's what made them fight so hard, fighting for a world full of peace...

The unfortunate was the young auburn haired man who sat in the sand, brown eye's squinting do to the suns harsh light beating down on the soldiers. The said auburn haired soldier held a old pencil in his dirt covered hand, his brows netted in thought as he stared down at the piece of paper, until finally he slowly drags the pencil across it writing words of his bogus journey on this God forsaken island...

"who you writing to sledge? Is it A mystery woman back home or something?" the voice of his friend Sydney spoke, the blonde letting the ghost of a smirk dance across his face.

Eugene let's out a breathy laugh and shakes his head, "nah... Just figured I'd write my parents, ease momma's worrying a little bit" Eugene said lowly as he focused on his writing. Sydney nods in understanding, having known Eugene before the war.

A silence falls over the two, the silence foreign to Eugene considering it was a rarity on Peleliu Island. But of course the silence is broken by a face Eugene hasn't seen in days, his new found friend Snafu. Who gained a major concussion after a surprise visit from the japs. Eugene puts his pencil down with a relieved smile, Sydney standing up to greet the grinning man.

"shit, you look awful damn happy to have just gotten out of the med tent all the way back in the tree's" Sydney commented on the grin snafu was giving them.

"man if you saw what I opened my eyes up to then you would be walking out here with more then a grin" the dark haired man spoke with a smug smirk. "that nurse sure is a gorgeous woman, nice too but if you get on her nerves she ain't afraid of letting you have it man" he says while sitting down beside Eugene who chuckles.

"hell maybe I should twist my ankle and visit the med tent" Sydney jokes.

"you two are a handful" Eugene spoke amused at the men. Snafu lightly pats Eugene's shoulder.

"she's a angel sledge, the only damn beautiful thing out here on this damned island" Eugene picked his paper and pencil back up, not paying his friends words any mind... But soon he'd understand what the soldier was talking about.

"we need more gauze!" a gruff voice yelled, the male nurse hovering over a soldier who had a bleeding wound on his left shoulder. The screaming of pure pain emitting from the soldier peirced your ears as you grabbed the gauze and ran over to the male nurse.

"this is our last roll! Use it carefully because I have a bad neck wound over here that's in dire need of coverage!" you frantically exclaimed, making sure the nurse understands the importance of saving the gauze.

"yes ma'am" he grunts out and began fixing the soldier up, who screams in pain. You rushed back over to the soldier with a neck wound, cleaning it as best you can with how much the soldier moved and cried in pain.

"don't you fucking touch it you bitch!" the soldier yells huskly, tears streaming down his dirt and blood covered face. You let out a sympathetic huff and delicately rinse the wound off, resulting in louder cries and insults. After that you placed a hand on one of his shoulders while the same male nurse as before hands you the gauze back hurriedly before attending another poor soldier.

"if you don't hold still sir this will only hurt worse!" you say scolding, yet voice as gentle as always. The man holds a tight grip on your wrist, the one you had placed on his shoulder. It was painful but you bared through it as you began to wrap his wound, curses and cries escaping through his chapped lips as you done so.

But you finally done it and soon the soldier released your wrist and began to snooze off. You sigh and look over the tent, everyone taken care of. It was a rare moment for you, a moment to were you could take a break, sit down and breathe. And that's exactly what you done. Sitting on a empty wooden crate you let out a deep breath, closing your eye's and taking in this moment of peace.

Until it was shattered by three voices yelling for help. You shot up faster then lightning, leaving the tent and outside into the suns relentless heat. That's when you spot one familiar soldier and a blond boy, both carrying a unconscious auburn haired man, his face burnt and shirt soaked in blood. You hoped it wasn't his own, for it was a lot of it.

"we need help! Please!" the blond rushed out, the familier dark haired man spots you with a relieved look before the concern takes over once more. You rush to their sides.

"take him inside Shelton! Take him to the same cot you was in, it's the only one available!" you ordered your former patient, he nods and him and the blond take the unconscious man inside.

You soon followed them and watch how the placed him on the cot. The blondes hands was shaking, a terrified look on his face. You stride over and look over the unconscious man, from the looks of it, his face was mildly burnt which would heal over time. But whenever you took his shirt off exposing a gash across his abdomen... You felt a wave of fear wash over you. This gash meant it was easy for him to gain a infection, and many soldiers died in this tent because of that....

"is he gonna be alright miss y/l/n?" the dark haired man asked, the one you knew as snafu from attending his concussion weeks ago. You and him spent late nights talking, by talking he flirted shamelessly while you scolded him for doing so.

"I can't predict the future Shelton, but I can do my best to help him" you say truthfully, quickly looking over the tent. The two other nurses were busy.... You quickly turned around to look at snafu. "I need you to get me some water, boil it for at least ten minutes! And you" you look at the blond, "try and open me that crate over there!" you point at the last of your medical supplies. The two nod and do as you say. You quickly grab your damp cloth, carefully cleaning the blood off his abdomen.

"it's open!" the man yelled. You look over at him with a little smile.

"I need the gauze, cotton pads and stitch kit out of it" you say, to which he complies and grabs everything you asked for. Once he hands them to you instantly open the stitch kit. Grabbing the needle from the box. "do you have a lighter on you?" you ask the soldier. He starts going through his pockets and finds a box of matches.

"will these work?" he asks, causing you to nod and take them. Now all you needed was snafu to get you your water.

After a while snafu returned with the water, hurriedly handing the little kettle of water to you. You take it and set it down on the ground beside you. You was currently on your knees beside the unconscious man, getting a better look of his wound. You take the kettle and slowly dip a cotton pad in the water, cleaning the dirt and blood off his gash. After that you take the matches and lit one up, holding the flame to the needle.

"snafu hold him down, he'll most likely wake up during this process and I can't stitch him up while he's thrashing around" you muttered while focusing on the needle. You blow the match out and start fixing the stitching process.

Snafu and the blond both hold the man down, snafu holding his shoulders while the blond hold his legs. You take in a deep breath and placed your hand on his abdomen, right above the wound. Then you carefully stick the needle in his flesh and start sewing up the wound. And like you predicted, a pained yell was heard from the man after you was halfway through stitching him up. The sudden movement of the poor soldier squirming around makes you poke the needle into your finger tip. But it didn't bother you much as you was souly focused on the man's stitches.

"hold him!" you scold the two soldiers holding him as you try and move faster. A broken yell from the auburn haired man ringing through the tent. A cry soon followed. But just when you finished stitching him up he passed out once more. You stand up with a sigh and wipe the blood from your hands. Grabbing the cotton pad and gauze to cover the wound.

"you both can leave, I appreciate you're help" you said, looking at the men. Snafu looks at the auburn haired soldier before nodding his head.

"thank you miss y/l/n...." he murmured before leaving the tent, the blond following him out. You look down at the unconscious man and sigh. He had soft facial features, his nose sharp yet cute... This man was young, probably the same age as yourself. Much to young to see the things war played out for a man. You pushed a strand of hair off his sweat covered forehead. He was a handsome man, a beautiful contrast to this horrid island.

The night fell before you knew it, the sound of insects enough to take your mind away from where you were, humming a small tune as you washed any remaining blood from your hands. The insects heard outside reminded you of home, all those nights in the summer you spent outside as a kid playing before it got to dark out.

Home... Somewhere you long to be. But then again you wouldn't be able to live with yourself knowing there was brave souls fighting for the world while you sat at home doing nothing. That's why you volunteered to be a nurse, helping soldiers recover from horrible accidents. Although your mother hated the thought of you being out here, your father supported your decision all the way.

You rid your mind of thoughts of home, knowing it would only make your time here longer. So you gently place your hand against the auburn haired soldiers forehead feeling for any signs of a fever. Luckily he felt fine. Just when you went to move your hand the man's eye's fluttered open, the coffee colored orbs flickering across your face. You stopped humming the song you was humming and give him a little smile.

"am I dead?" he asks, voice low as his southern drawl breaks the sound of insects. "I have to be... I mean this ain't exactly what I imagined heaven would look like but the angels are far more prettier than I thought... At least this one is" he muttered, looking up at you. You felt a blush faintly paint your cheeks as you let out a little chuckle at the man. His compliment making your heart do a flip.

"you aren't dead soldier, just a bit beaten up is all..." you replied with a smile. The man let's a little grin tug at his lips.

"that explains the immense pain I'm feeling" he grunts while trying to move, but you placed a hand on his shoulder and give him a stern look.

"don't even try to move soldier, you'll tear you're stitches" you watch how he let's out a little huff.

"my names Eugene" he spoke quietly, you sit on the end of the cot beside him and give him a soft smile.

"I'm y/n... It's nice to meet you Eugene" you murmur while looking over his burns. They had to be painful. Eugene smiles a small smile before his eye's land on the harsh bruise that had formed on your wrist from earlier today.

"how'd you get that?" he questioned with furrowed brows, his eyes flickering up from the bruise and landing on your y/e/c eye's.

You simply shrug and look at the bruise, "a soldier earlier today... He didn't mean to actually, he was in pain and I was trying to clean his wound" you explained. Eugene nods in understanding while letting a little sigh escape his chapped lips.

"it must be hard dealing with a bunch of rough patients, especially since... Y'know, the only girl out here - well not girl - woman! Because you're a woman..." he rambled nervously, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. You giggle at him and shake your head, finding his rambling adorable.

Adorable? Jesus christ y/n get your shit together, you can't be finding this man adorable. You couldn't fall in love... Because then you would be distracted and that would lead to you screwing up work and that would result in serious consequences....

You banished those thoughts quickly and give Eugene a soft smile, "it's not as rough as you'd think, most men listen to me and the ones who don't? Let's just say they quickly learn how to" you say with a grin. Eugene chuckles, his amusement slowly turnes into a coughing fit though. You are fast to grab a canteen full of water and hold it by his mouth, your free hand cupping his jaw as you held the canteen by his mouth letting him drink. He gulps the water down until finally he finishes. But as you pull the canteen away, ready to remove your hand from his face. He softly places his hand over yours, keeping it we're it was, his hand sending a warmth and comfort through you that you didn't want to end. You furrowed your brows in confusion, not that you was complaining about his actions. Like said before he was a handsome man, but you didn't want to fall in love during the middle of war.

"what are you doing Eugene?" you whisper, but he doesn't respond. He closed his eye's and leans into your touch. It caused your heart to melt at the sight, you was already falling....

"that song you was humming earlier... Will you sing it to me?" he asks so softly that you couldn't deny the man. You nod and run your thumb over his soft skin. You wasn't one for singing for people though, you was naturally a shy person but for some reason, you didn't feel as shy around this man.

" sometimes I wonder why I spend... My lonely nights.... Dreaming of a song" you started singing stardust, the Tommy dorsey song your mother listened to every day, the melody one you couldn't forget.

He slowly falls asleep, a small smile on his face as you lull him to sleep. And that's how you spent your night, singing to the soldier you found yourself falling for....

___________________________________________

A/n: I felt the need to write for joe, and then this was floating around the drafts so I decided to post it hehehe, it's a mini series I'm working on, probably gonna have 3 or 4 parts. So my radical joe mazzello /Eugene sledge lovers.....here you go!

#joe mazzello imagines #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazello #eugene sledge #eugene sledge x reader #Eugene sledge x nurse reader #Eugene sledge fanfic #Eugene sledge imagine #the pacific

[littlemisslol-fic]

Summary: Two years after the events of Barviel Keep, Varian has tried to adapt to the expectations brought by being a King’s Ward, with mixed results. Haunted by ghosts, Varian is forced to face the demons he tried to leave behind in Bayangor when his abdication is forcibly stopped by a third party, out for revenge against the Bayan Royal bloodline. On the run, with few allies left to turn to, Varian finds himself chasing a ghost through a series of tests that only a true heir of Demanitus could ever hope to pass.But the shadows are ever present, looming and dark, and not everything is as simple as it might seem.

Notes: There are many things of interest, buried deep in the earth.

The adder stone was a slight weight in Varian's hand. He idly played with it, watching how the carved runes seemed to glitter in the sunlight. It was hypnotic, the shimmering light of subtle magic playing through the stone in delicate wisps. Ori had said it was good for lost things, whatever that meant, but he’d neglected to give any more information after that, instead opting to shuffle them out the door with a grin and a wave.

They'd gone back to the boat after the events of the early afternoon. Ori's cabin, it turned out, was only a small walk back to the center of town, so the trip had been brief at best. Rapunzel had kept a hold of Varian's hand the whole walk back, her grip tight and unyielding as she borderline dragged Varian back to the known territory of the Oracle.

The boat rocked softly under them, still tied off to the pier. Eugene bustled in front of a small cook-stove, one made of thick metal to avoid burning the wood of the deck. The man's jaunty whistling mixing in with the gentle beating of waves against the Oracle's side. Varian could smell some kind of fish cooking, alongside some roasting onions if his nose was correct, and tried to ignore the small pang of hunger he felt at the smell. Ruddiger made an impatient chirp next to him, making grabby hands towards Eugene.

"Almost time, bud," Varian gave him a scritch behind the ear. "Be patient."

Ruddiger huffed but settled, curling closer to Varian's leg on the crate they were sitting on. Varian snickered, giving the raccoon another scratch for his trouble.

The boy took another look to the adder stone, twisting it between his gloved fingers. It looked relatively normal, save for the shimmering runes of subtle magic, but he knew better than to trust something based on looks alone. He turned it again, seeing his palm through the smooth, circular hole carved in the center of it.

He brought up the stone, at least somewhat familiar with the mythos surrounding it, and held it to one of his eyes. He squeezed the other shut, peering through curiously. Everything seemed relatively normal, if not a little duller in colour, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He looked around a little more, trying to see if anything looked interesting. He saw Eugene, just as dulled as the rest of the Oracle, the deck of the ship, up above he could see seabirds flying without a care.

"Varian?"

He twisted a bit to look at Rapunzel. Through the adder stone he could see her entire figure glowing a bright yellow, like an aura. It was similar to how she'd glowed when using the power of the Sundrop. Varian blinked, lowering the stone. Without it, Rapunzel looked normal, if not confused about what he was doing. He brought the stone back up once more, noting with a little bit of childish delight that he could once again see the glow.

"What are you doing?" she asked, tilting her head. "Isn't it just a rock?"

"It's a special rock," he grinned, lowering it again. "Lets you see magical things easier. You still glow!"

"I do?" she asked. He handed her the stone, and she peered through it like Varian had been, looking at her own hand. "Huh," she said, "That's different."

She passed him the stone back, letting Varian continue to look around with it. He didn't see much else on the boat; Ruddiger seemed even more monochrome through the stone, which was kind of funny but not important, and though Rapunzel glowed it wasn't exactly breaking news that she'd had magical ties.

He twisted again, this time looking at the town through the stone. Like most things it was dulled, almost black and white, save for one noticeable difference.

Off in the distance, in the same way Rapunzel glowed, was a shining blue light. Varian tilted his head, standing up to try and see what was causing the light, but it was too far away. He let the stone drop, trying to for a better look, and caught the look of a clearing in the trees at the far side of the town.

"What're you lookin' at, kid?" Eugene asked. Varian didn't turn around, still squinting in the sunlight.

"I'm not sure," the alchemist replied, "But I think there's something at the edge of town." He un-twisted, looking at Eugene. The man pursed his lips, thinking.

"Think it's her?" he asked, "No one in town seemed to know who she was, but if Ori's weird rock is giving you hints, maybe that's where we're supposed to look?"

"Maybe," Varian shrugged, "Can't hurt to check, I guess."

He felt that creeping disappointment from town creep up again, at the reminder that they hadn't found his mother yet. He'd been nervous, and excited, to meet her, and the sting of a failed day was still fresh. He let himself sink back onto the crate, looking out over the water to where he'd seen the light.

Eugene seemed to pick up on his mood, the man smiling easily and scooping up some fish with his spatula. He plated it, along with a few other odds and ends, and gently set it next to Varian. It smelled good, but Varian didn't break eye contact with the shoreline.

He felt Eugene put a hand on his shoulder, patting gently.

"It's okay, goggles," the man said, "We'll find her. Just gotta keep trying, right?"

Varian smiled, weak but there. "Yeah. Of course."

Eugene's grin got wider, more real. "There's my boy," he nodded. "Now eat your lunch, you need some meat on those bones."

Varian snorted, but took the plate nonetheless. He fed Ruddiger in between bites of his own, eyes drifting to where he'd seen the glow. From the way the trees broke, there was definitely something there, though he couldn't tell what it was. The sound of conversation behind him fuzzed out, the boy focused on the parting of the trees.

The town may have been a bust, but they weren't out of ideas yet. With a newfound determination he shoveled food into his mouth, ready to take on the next step.

He just had to keep trying, and eventually he'd find her.

No matter what it took.

>>>><<<<

The gap in the trees, it turned out, had been a graveyard. An old one, from the looks of the crumbling tombstones and large, creeping vines covering everything. Probably abandoned, Varian thought as he almost tripped over an exposed root, or at the very least uncared for.

They passed by a large mausoleum, one of many littering the grounds, and reached the center of the graveyard. It was oddly huge, for being near such a small town; the graveyard for Old Corona had been maybe a quarter of the size. When Varian pointed it out, Eugene just shrugged.

"Maybe the town used to be bigger," he said, "Or there was a lot of deaths. Sometimes there's things like plague, fire, flood, things like that... that'll make a graveyard double in size in a short time."

Varian grimaced at the implications, the numerous gravestones suddenly seeming all the more sinister. The sun blazed high above them, hot and brutally beating down on them all. Varian looked around for a second, noting how isolated they were, before dropping his hood. Rapunzel made a nervous noise when he did, but a nudge from Eugene and she dropped it.

Varian looked around again, unable to see anything that seemed out of the norm. Just a creepy, old graveyard, he thought, a little fed up.

He reached into his pocket, drawing out the adder stone and holding it to his face. The rock was warm to the touch. He peered through it, but had to bring it away from his face with a grimace when everything was glowing the same blue he'd seen from the boat.

He blinked the spots out of his vision, looking through again more carefully. Sure enough the entire graveyard was permeated by the blue glow, a soft, seafoam shade. It covered everything like fog, making picking any sort of source impossible. Varian let his drop with a scoff.

"Useless," he mumbled. Though, if there were something around here sending this much magical energy into the surrounding area, it must have been powerful.

Or, theymust have been.

Eugene set himself down on a fallen log, looking around the graveyard. "Got anything?" he asked, "Cuz I'm seeing a whole lotta nothing, I'll be honest."

Varian snorted, scratching at his chin in thought. "Nothing yet," he admitted, "But I'll keep you posted. There's gotta be something around here to cause the glow, even if it's not... not her."

He combed over the graveyard for the rest of the afternoon, slowly growing more desperate as the time ticked on. Soon enough the sun was beginning to set, casting the graveyard into shadow. Varian had walked the perimeter of the graveyard six times, had looked at every tombstone and mausoleum a hundred times over, and even had climbed a tree at one point to try and get an areal view, only for all of his ideas to end in nothing. It was more than a little frustrating.

"There has to be something," Varian grumbled as he threw himself down next to Eugene. The man had given up an hour ago, he had long since slouched against a rock and covered his face with an arm. Eugene snorted awake when Varian flopped next to him, blinking rapidly.

"Ehm-up!" he slurred, "What's first, captain?"

Varian rolled his eyes, glaring around the graveyard again. "I must be missing something," he said, "A key, or a clue, or a cypher, but whatever it is I can't find it."

Ruddiger chittered in consolation, patting Varian's knee. The boy scratched his pet with a frown, leaning back against Eugene's rock. The sun was nearly down for the night, but Varian wasn't ready to give up. Rapunzel was nearby, picking her way through the graves carefully.

She'd been quiet since they'd gotten to the graveyard, but Varian was slowly growing used to being able to get his way through a full sentence. It was oddly... nice. He felt the sting of guilt for feeling that way, but shoved it aside. He could have something to himself for now, even if it wouldn’t last forever. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. One problem at a time. Rapunzel knew what she'd done, even if she'd apologized Varian wasn't quite ready to forgive her for the note-

Wait.

The note.

Varian pulled out the note from his mother, looking it over again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but... well, it was worth a shot. He snagged the adder stone out of his other pocket, setting the note down on his lap and lifting the stone to his eye.

He squinted through the green haze caused by the graveyard, looking down at the dull page. The letter was the exact same as always, though when Varian looked down to the very bottom he noticed a subtle green glow. He tilted his head, peering closer, and blinked in shock when words began to appear at the foot of the page.

He moved the stone away to double check, and sure enough the words vanished without a trace. Varian felt a grin split across his face, bringing the adder stone back and took a better look.

"I lay within the gaze of our ancestor," he read aloud, voice soft to not break the quiet of the coming evening.

"Whazzat?" Eugene asked. Varian let the hand holding the stone drop down, shaking the note gently.

"I found the missing piece!" he crowed, shooting to his feet. "She left me a clue, I just needed to look closer!"

"That's great, kid!" Eugene got to his feet as well. "What did it say?"

"I lay within the gaze of our ancestor," Varian repeated, putting the note away with the adder stone.

"Great!" Eugene said, "...What does that mean, though?"

Varian paused, unsure. "I don't know," he admitted. "But has to be a reference to something, right?"

The man nodded, but stopped when Rapunzel cleared her throat from nearby.

"We should call it a night," she said, "It's getting dark."

Varian felt his heart sink. They'd been in the graveyard for half a day, and she wanted to leave just when they found their first real clue? He didn't want to leave yet, not when he'd finally had a break! He knew the second she succeeded in getting them back to the boat, it would be a fight to get back here tomorrow. He needed time, and space to figure this out, and he wasn’t about to get it back on the Oracle.

"I think I'm going to stick around," he said. He tried not to feel cowed when her eyes snapped to him, but it was a near thing. "I'm going to look around for something to do with the clue."

Rapunzel pursed her lips, looking ready to argue, when Eugene piped up. "If you're going to stay, then so am I," he shrugged, "No sense in splitting up. It'll be a team awesome sleepover under the stars, right kid?"

Varian couldn't help but chuckle, nodding. "Sure, sounds like fun."

The boy could see the way Rapunzel wanted to argue, the way her shoulders were raised, and her mouth opened only to snap shut when she realized she was out voted.

"I'll start the fire," she said flatly, spinning on her heel and leaving the boys behind in the graveyard.

Varian sighed, slumping a little. He felt Eugene put a hand on his shoulder, and looked up at the older man with what was probably a very kicked puppyexpression from the way Eugene frowned.

"She'll come around," he soothed. "She's under a lot of stress, and we both know how this whole thing makes her feel. Give her some time to get settled. She was the same when Cass- well, when they had their problems."

Varian slouched a little more. As much as it hurt, this was something he had to dig his heels in over. If he didn't, he'd go right back to being dragged everywhere by the wrist for the rest of his life. He couldn't do it again, not now that he'd finally broken through that boundary. He wouldn't be shoved back into the mourning waif box, even if it was causing strife with Rapunzel. Not after all the progress he’d made while out of Corona.

But that didn't make the sight of her retreating back any harder to watch.

>>>><<<<

They'd set up a fire on the outskirts of the graveyard. Nowhere near the tombstones, more of an open field that was next to the graveyard to be honest; just far enough to feel respectful. Varian huddled close to the fire, wrapping his dad's cloak tightly around himself to ward off the cold. It didn't do much, but he was, at this point, used to the chill in the spring air. Eugene was nearby, as was Rapunzel, the two of them quietly talking between themselves.

Ruddiger purred as he snuggled close to Varian's hip; the boy smiled and ran a soothing hand down the raccoon's spine, lost in thought. The note was on his lap, just as cryptic had it had been before. Varian grumbled, flipping it over and staring at it through the adder stone. Other than the new sentence, the note didn't have any more secrets to give, it seemed, and Varian couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the fact.

Rapunzel quietly stirred a pot that they'd put over the fire, filled with some kind of soup. Eugene had said what kind, but the specifics slipped Varian's mind in favor of staring at his mother's handwriting. He pursed his lips, flipping the paper over again and letting the adder stone drop. He chanced a glace up when Eugene pushed himself to his feet, the man stretching.

"Gunna get more firewood," he explained when Varian shot him a look, "You two don't burn anything down while I'm gone, yeah?"

Rapunzel patted his knee with a small smile. "I'm sure we can handle that, between the two of us," she said. Eugene took her hand, bending at the waist and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Varian made a dramatic gagging noise, pulling a face at the lovey-dovey display; doubling down when Eugene stuck his tongue out in retaliation. The man laughed, walking past Varian and taking a second to rustle the boy's hair as he passed. Varian grumbled at the attention, swatting at Eugene's hands, but took it with grace. Eugene's footsteps faded behind him, the man wandering off into the forested section in the middle distance.

Varian sighed and looked back to the note, gnawing at his lip. It hadn’t given him any more clues, and he’d be staring at it for hours now. He’d be content to stare at it for hours more, but not even a minute after Eugene left, the silence was broken again.

"Can you please put that down for a second?" Ah, Rapunzel.

Varian looked up, blinking in question. Rapunzel wrung her hands, looking at the note.

"I- sure, why?" he asked her, folding the note and putting it away in his cloak pocket.

Rapunzel visibly relaxed with the letter out of sight. She waved him over, shuffling over to make room when Varian got up and shuffled around the fire to sit next to her. He waited, knowing Rapunzel enough to know she would speak when ready. She didn’t usually ask for his undivided attention unless she had something to say; and he was willing to hear her out, for now. He wanted to try and mend things, but if she wasn’t willing to give ground, he wasn’t sure if he would accept that. Rapunzel seemed to finally get her bearings, twisting her hand around her brunette hair.

"I... know you're excited," she started. "To find your- well, to find her."

Varian felt a tingle of apprehension in his gut, but tried to ignore it. This was the first time Rapunzel had said anything beyond flat, safe statements regarding Aisha, and if this was her way of making a step towards reconciliation, then Varian was willing to hear her out.

"I am," he admitted. "Excited, but mostly nervous, I guess?"

Rapunzel smiled, her face drawn and tired. "I understand that," she admitted. "When I first- well, when I first came home, after the tower, I felt the same way about meeting my parents."

Varian nodded. He felt the urge to hold her hand, to reach out to her in comfort, but refrained. He still felt a little off when it came to her; if he pushed too quickly, he knew he'd let her steamroll him once again.

"Sounds stressful," is all he said, trying to get a laugh. It worked, Rapunzel huffing out a breath. The fire in front of them crackled, bright and cheerful. Varian felt himself relax a little, forcing his shoulders to lose their tension. Rapunzel shook her head fondly, obviously lost in her memories.

"It was," she agreed. "I didn't know them, didn't know what they were like. After m- after Gothel, I had a few days to think about what they could be like."

Varian felt a rock settle in his gut, starting to get an inkling of where she was headed with this. He clenched the hand farthest from her so she wouldn't see the reaction, and kept his face carefully blank, hoping beyond hope that he was wrong.

"When I first met them, I had this... idea, of what they'd be like," she mused. "I was wrong, for both of them. The real version of them turned out... a lot more complicated, then I thought they'd be-"

There it is.

"-And I had to give up that perfect idea of them, to see how they really were. I'm sure they had to do the same thing for me. But if I had clung to that imaginary version, I'd never really meet them. See them." She huffed another breath, toeing at the ground with a bare foot. Varian's hand clenched tighter, the apprehension settling into proper dread.

"I just want you to be careful," Rapunzel said, and bingo, we're back on this. Varian had to refrain from rolling his eyes, not really wanting to have this conversation again.

"I will be," he soothed. "I know, she was evil incarnate, I remember."

Rapunzel's face fell at the sass, the woman leaning forward and wrapping her arms around her knees.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," she said firmly, but Varian cut her off. He was over trying to dance around each other, if she wanted to have this conversation, then it was time they had it.

"Then how?" he asked, not harsh, but firm. "How did you mean it? Because you've made it perfectly clear what you think of me trying to find her-"

"I'm just trying to keep you safe!" Rapunzel argued, "You seem to think that you're going to find her and everything's just going to work out!" She slouched again, shaking her head. "Things don't always happen like that," she said, "And I just want you to be ready if something goes wrong."

Varian scoffed, looking away. He didn't want to admit she was playing to some of his insecurities, the nerves that had been plaguing him for days since finding the note stirring at her words. They’d been whispering in his ear since he’d arrived on the island, but he wasn’t about to let them ruin what he was trying to build. He ignored the insecurities, shaking his head. He knew exactly why she was trying to feed those doubts.

"Are you saying that because you're worried about me?" he asked, "Or because you want to see this go south so you can be right?"

Rapunzel reeled back, bodily flinching. "What?" she asked, stunned. "How could you think I'd want that?"

"Because I'd go home with you." The feeling of apprehension in Varian's mind was long gone, replaced by irritation. "Because if this all goes to hell, then you get exactly what you want. You want her to be terrible, so I'll run back to Corona and hide in the castle with you until I'm old and grey."

Rapunzel balked. "Is that really what you think?" she breathed. "You think I'd ever want to keep you somewhere you didn't want to be?"

"You already lied to me." Varian pointed out. The letter in his pocket felt impossibly heavy. "Honestly, I'm not sure how far you'd go."

"I just want you safe!" Rapunzel finally seemed to lose her cool, her volume raising. "After everything that happened, why do you think I want anything else? I'm trying to protect you!"

"You're trying to keep me in a box!" Varian snapped back, "So yeah, I might be safe there, but I wasn’t ever given a moment’s peace! And everyone treated me like glass all the time, and I couldn't escape, Rapunzel, every time I looked around there was something that reminded me of- of him, or of Meave, or my dad-"

"And what, you think finding her is going to solve it?" Rapunzel seemed more agitated, "That if you just pack up and abandon everything that it'll be like nothing ever happened? It doesn't work like that, Varian!"

"It's better than staying!"

"Is it? You'd leave everything and run away just so you can keep ignoring Bayangor?"

"If that's what it takes!"

Rapunzel threw her hands up, shaking her head. "You can't just run forever," she told him. Varian felt a pulse of panic as the conversation quickly got away from him. Rapunzel didn't realize, continuing to rant. "I knowit's hard, out of everyone I promise you I relate the most out of anyone, but that's why I'm telling you that you can'texpect finding her to make you suddenly-"

"Suddenly what?" he demanded, "Suddenly my own person? Someone that I actually am instead of what you all want me to be? I want out so I can be treated like I'm not going to shatter the second anyone looks at me wrong!"

"That's not what this is about-" Rapunzel was as tense as bowstring, "-And you know it! You just want something to chase, so you don't have to work through things back home. I was the same, with the Moonstone! And look how well that turned out! You wanted to leave before you knew she was alive!"

"Which you lied to me about!"

"So you wouldn't use it as an excuse!"

This was getting too close to the chest. Varian could feel himself start to hyperventilate, the breaths coming quick and stuttering. He pushed himself up off the ground on shaking hands, refusing to look at her. He hadn't meant for that to come out, hadn't meant to get that close-

Rapunzel's hand grabbed his, keeping him in place. He whipped around, tugging fruitlessly at his arm to try and pull himself from her grasp. Rapunzel held firm, irritation clear on her face. Varian's panic only grew, the boy tugging harder the longer she refused to let go.

Rapunzel stood, the woman still taller than him. "I'm letting you do this-" she said, the bitterness easily apparent in her voice, "-Because you want to do it. But I'm not going to pretend like this is going to fix all our problems, no matter how much you pretend they will."

Varian tugged again, nearly frantic. "Let go," he breathed, voice weak. "Let go."

Rapunzel didn't seem to hear him, still on her own train of thought. The alchemist gasped again, yanking his arm away.

"Stop touching me," he wailed, backing away and tripping over a rock behind him. He felt a pulse of pain on his spine where he landed, one of his wrists smarting as well. He sat there for a second, stunned, before pushing himself up into a sit and looking at his sister with wide, fearful eyes.

Rapunzel stopped dead, blinking in shock at his reaction. "Varian-" she started, reaching for him.

Varian scrambled back in the dirt, ignoring any sort of decorum in the animal urge to run. "Please," he gasped, "I just, I need space."

Rapunzel flinched back like he'd burned her. She brought her hands to her chest, closing them into tight fists. "I- are you okay?" she asked, eyes bright in the light of the fire. They were wide as saucers, the princess seeming unable to process what exactly had just happened.

There was a long beat of silence. The only sound was Varian's heavy breathing, like he'd just run a mile. Varian felt himself tense when she shifted on her feet. He- she wouldn't hurt him, he knew that, this was Rapunzel, but something in him still looked at her, looming over him just like Father had, and screamed threat.

"I need space," he gasped again, finally getting his feet back under him. He turned and nearly ran in the opposite direction of her, unable to look at her broken-hearted expression for another second. He sprinted for the trees; he tried to ignore the feeling of salt burning his eyes, of dampness on his cheeks.

Tried, and failed.

>>>><<<<

The next morning, it was raining.

The air was considerably tenser than it had been before; any sort of tentative truce between Varian and Rapunzel had been shattered. Varian refused to even look at his sister, keeping to himself as he paced around the graveyard in the light of a new day. Rapunzel seemed to get the hint, maintaining the distance that Varian had created between them.

Dead grass crunched underfoot. Varian paced towards the center of the graveyard, slowly circling it by walking through every row. He kept an eye on names, bitterly wishing he'd listened more to Aldred's insane rambling- how was he supposed to know what ancestor Aisha had been talking about? In theory he wasn't even supposed to know about any of this.

He entered into a section of mausoleums, all of them surrounding a large statue. Varian looked at it, and was startled to see in the light of day that it was Demanitus. He peered closer, noting how worn down the statue looked in comparison to the ones he'd seen in Corona; it seemed the graveyard really hadn't been cared for in years. Something in Varian felt sad at the thought- he personally made sure that Quirin's grave was kept spick and span no matter the weather, just as his dad would have liked it. It was upsetting to think that all of the people buried here didn't get the same treatment, that they'd been forgotten here.

It made him despondent, the idea that someday Quirin's grave would likely end up the same. Hells, his own would too. It made him feel... cold. Eventually no one would be left, and they would all fade into nothing but dust. He looked back to Demanitus, deciding to drop that train of thought.

The great inventor hadn't been buried here. Varian knew that, the boy had been to his tomb in Corona, after all. To see him here, on a tiny island's disproportionately large graveyard, was a mite bit suspicious if he did say so. Varian drew close to the statue, inspecting.

Demanitus looked the same as he always did, the cracked marble doing nothing to hide the statue's visage. Varian chewed on his lip, thinking. Aisha had said our ancestor, the only one Varian knew of was Demanitus himself; in theory all of Aldred's family history was null and void, as it was Aisha's family line that would hold the clue.

Varian walked around the base of the large statue. He squinted up at the statue, noting that the eyes were indeed focused somewhere other than directly ahead. In fact, they were looking off to the side, towards another mausoleum. Varian fetched the adder stone, peering through it. Sure enough the marble building glowed the same bright blue, though it seemed to be much stronger than the light on the outskirts had been.

Choice made, Varian marched to the thick, iron doors of the tomb. Eugene was nearby, having been kicking stones, and wandered over when Varian moved.

"What's up, goggles?" he asked, eyeing the tomb. Varian reached up and rattled the door, testing it.

"I think it's in here," he said. Eugene went a little pale, eyes flicking between the mausoleum and Varian.

"You think she's... in the tomb," he said, apprehension obvious. "Are we, uh, are we sure about that?"

Varian nodded. "In the eyes of the ancestor," he repeated, pointing at the statue of Demanitus. Eugene turned toward the statue, then back to his charge.

"This feels morally wrong," he said thoughtfully, before his tone turned giddy. "Look at my little man, all grown up and graverobbing!"

Varian snorted, moving aside as Eugene drew a lockpick from his boot. The man-made quick work of the door, the old iron creaking open. Varian peered into the looming darkness with apprehension. Eugene stood next to him, brushing off the knees of his pants.

"Et, voila," he said, gesturing with his hands.

Varian didn't tear his eyes away from the tomb, slowly taking a step inside. "Thanks," he mumbled, offhandedly, already distracted by the interior.

The mausoleum was the same white marble as the outside had been, a large space that was nearly five meters square. In the very center was a single, stone coffin, topped with a sculpture of a woman. Varian could only assume that was the person buried in there, though the thought made him a little squeamish. At the foot of the coffin was a large, ornate design in the floor, a compass rose with north pointing towards the coffin.

Varian nearly jumped a foot when the torches on the walls all sprung to life at once, the flames all starting without a trigger. He let out a very manly yelp, nearly falling on his ass when his boots slipped on the marble. Ruddiger hissed, digging his little claws into Varian's shoulder to keep steady as the boy found his balance.

"Magic," Varian muttered, "Why is it always magic?"

"Kid?" Eugene. "Everything okay?"

Varian turned, shrugging as Eugene and Rapunzel entered the crypt. "Everything's fine," he said, trailing off. "I just need to figure out the next step. She said she was hiding, in the note, right?"

Rapunzel nodded, looking around at the blank, stone walls. She fidgeted, obviously a little unhappy with being in such a small space, but did aid the boys as they began to search. The stone was cold, unnaturally so. The rain pounded on the old roof, leaking through in a few places and making the polished stone slick. Varian walked the perimeter of the room, a hand on the wall. He didn't feel anything odd, nothing that would indicate a secret door or compartment at least, but he refused to give up.

"Guys?" Rapunzel's voice drifted across the room. Varian paused his pacing to look at her; Rapunzel's green eyes were locked on the compass rose design on the floor. "This isn't right," she said, tilting her head.

"How do you mean, sunshine?" Eugene asked. He walked over to Rapunzel, looking at the design as well.

"It's pointing the wrong way," Rapunzel explained. "Look, it's got its north pointing towards the south." She pulled out a working compass from the duffle bag, holding it up. Sure enough she was right, the arrow spinning and pointing toward the door. Rapunzel remained kneeling near the design, running a hand along it once more.

Varain drew close, inspecting it again. It was a darker stone, embedded in the marble with perfect accuracy. When Rapunzel squatted down next to it and ran a hand across the compass her fingers never hit even a groove. Varian mimicked her, pausing when he saw something strange in a puddle nearby.

It was on the edge, overlapping where the two types of stone met, and in the puddle Varian could see small bubbles of air floating up. He scooted over. His brows furrowed in thought as he swirled a finger through the rainwater, disturbing it roughly. When it settled again, Varian noticed that the bubbles began to rise once more.

"There's something under here," he said softly.

"What?" Rapunzel asked, leaning closer.

"Look," he pointed to the bubbles. "There must be a space under the floor, there's air coming up through a seam in the rock."

Rapunzel blinked, nodding. Eugene took a peek as well, patting Varian on the back.

"Good catch guys," he said, "Now we just have to figure out how to get down there. I don't suppose either of you brought shovels?"

Varian huffed a laugh through his nose, poking at the design again. Rapunzel did the same, to his left.

"I still don't understand," she mumbled, "Why include a compass and have it point the wrong way?"

Varian tuned her out for a second, watching the bubbles. Eugene began to poke at the center of the compass rose, Varian was ready to ignore him too before a subtle click was heard. The boy snapped his attention back, seeing Eugene fiddling with the center of the design, which had popped up and out of the floor.

"Woah," Varian said, "How'd that happen?"

Eugene shrugged, tugging at the centerpiece. Varian and Rapunzel scooted backward, watching with curiosity as the entire design of the compass rose slowly lifted from the floor, held by a small contraption in the very center. It was only a few inches off the ground now, but Varian still looked at in in fascination.

"Rapunzel," he caught her attention, "What way did you say true north actually was?"

Rapunzel caught on to what he was asking, pulling out her compass. "It's towards the door," she said. She twisted a little, looking directly behind them. Varian smiled, feeling a rush of satisfaction as he grabbed one of the points of the compass, the west one, to be exact, and gave it an experimental push. Sure enough the large design began to spin on its axis, still parallel to the floor and supported by the mechanism in the center.

The alchemist kept pushing, slowly rotating the stone until it had gone in a perfect half-circle. The north arrow finally pointed to true north, as it should have. Varian then pressed gently in the center, putting it back down into its original spot in the floor.

They all held their breath, waiting for something to happen. Rapunzel reached for Eugene's hand, eyes wide, while Varian set a hand on an anxious Ruddiger's paw. Varian held his breath, listening for anything at all; the only sound was the pelting rain above, an occasional gust of wind, and his own excited heartbeat.

They waited a second more, before Eugene slumped forward with a dramatic sigh. "Damn," he sighed, "I was actually thinking we had it-"

The coffin in front of them burst open like a balloon.

All three of them shrieked, jumping out of the way in a tangle of limbs and panic. Varian ended up with an elbow to the gut, letting out an oomph as they all hit the floor. His own landing was soft, cushioned by poor Eugene. Stone fragments rained down on all of them, clattering to the floor like hail. Varian covered his head with his arms, keeping Ruddiger covered as well; it wouldn't go well to get a shard to the eye.

Eventually the aftermath settled. Varian chanced a look toward the tomb, grimacing when he saw the entire lid, statue included, absolutely decimated by whatever explosive had been set inside.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, slowly pushing his aching body into a kneel. Eugene groaned, facedown on the floor and seemingly unwilling to move but unhurt. Rapunzel was behind him, sitting up and rubbing at her head.

"We're alright," she said, "Are you?"

"Fine," Varian dusted a bit of the dirt from Quirin's cloak. "Fine, I think Eugene broke my fall."

"Yer we'chom," Eugene grumbled, his voice muffled by the floor he refused to get up off of. Varian bit his lip, trying not to laugh, and instead forced aching arms into pushing the boy to his feet. He slowly approached the coffin, coughing and trying to wave the plume of smoke away from his face.

"What was that?" Rapunzel asked, "Some kind of explosion?"

Varian coughed again. This probably wasn't good for his lungs. "Gunpowder, I think," he replied.

He inched closer, peeking into the gaping maw left behind. Varian blinked, a wry smile crossing his face.

The coffin was not only empty, but not a coffin at all. Varian waved dirt from his face, looking down into the hollow shell created by the coffin, covering a dusty old stone staircase that led deep into the earth. There was no corpse, hell at this point it seemed like the entire tomb had been a coverup for something much, much bigger.

"Guys," he waved them over. "I think we just found our way in."

Eugene and Rapunzel were taking behind him, but Varian tuned them out and put his hands on the lip of the coffin, swinging a leg over. He tested the stairs, grinning when they held strong. He brought the other leg in, taking the first step down.

"Ah, hey kid?" Eugene asked, "Maybe we shouldn't be going down the creepy staircase in the graveyard. Do you want ghosts? Because this is definitelyhow you get ghosts."

Varian looked down into the darkness, shrugging.

"I dunno, I have the afternoon free," he replied.

Eugene paused, before rolling his eyes. "If we end up haunted, I'm blaming you, goggles," he grumbled. Rapunzel giggled next to him, following Eugene's lead as they trailed Varian down the steps.

The stairs were long and thin, a straight shot down into the deep. Much like in the mausoleum, torches sprung to life when they drew close, only to snuff out once they'd passed. Varian grew used to the dim light, his eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness the further down they got. Rainwater followed them down, drip, drip, drip that echoed in the quiet.

Soon enough they hit the bottom, after nearly a full minute of descent. It was cold, so far underground; Varian couldn’t help but shiver as he peered through the darkness at the foot of the stair. There was nothing but a hallway; one way forward. Varian peered into the depths, not seeing anything untoward lurking in the dark but still cautious. He turned to his friends, seeing both of them looking nervous.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I think it's creepy-" Eugene began, but Rapunzel cut him off.

"It might be dangerous," she admitted. "But if she- if your mother needed a place to hide, I could see this being a good one. If you want to keep going, we will." She pulled a piece of chalk from her dress pocket, and made a little arrow on the wall, pointing toward the staircase. "I'll add these as we go, that way we can find our way back if we need it."

"Haunted," Eugene grumbled again.

Varian snorted, taking a small step back toward the stairs. He felt his foot catch on something and looked down with a gasp. A small trip wire, barely noticeable, was caught on his boot.

"Oh, that's not good," he muttered. Eugene and Rapunzel followed his gaze, the two of them already moving. Varian felt two pairs of arms grab his own, dragging him forward and away from the stairs in a dead sprint as there was a loud poppingnoise coming from the walls.

With a horrible BANG the ceiling above the staircase crumbled, the large stones dropping to the floor in a plume of dust and smaller rocks. The noise it made was deafening, echoing through the thin halls and into his chest, rattling up his spine and into his brain. All Varian could register was the noise, flinching away as the ceiling continued to collapse.

Rapunzel and Eugene stopped a few meters away, all three of them watching with horror as the rocks continued to crumble down, quickly covering the way they'd come from with a pile of boulders and loose earth. The light from the staircase got dimmer and dimmer, unable to break through the stone. Varian felt a pulse of pure, primal terror as the sunlight was thinned out to a single, weak beam. With a tense note of finality, the last stone came down, covering their last hint of the surface and cutting off the light once and for all.

And then, there was nothing left but the dark.

#varian #tangled the series #tts #set the kindling strike a match #fic #fictive

[acdeaky]

love, the sledges

warning: fluff, mention of happily married couples, pregnancy, mentions of giving birth, mentions of hospital,

note: hi and welcome to the third and final instalment of the love, miss nurse series! i hope you’ve enjoyed this little series (it’s only taken 10 months to finish it)!

word count: 3.4k

eugene’s letter had almost left you a babbling mess. the promise, and thought, of seeing him in only two days time brought about an excitement which you had definitely not felt before. the thought of what to wear ran through your mind. he had only seen you in nurse scrubs, so his standards weren’t too high, but you wanted to impress. it was too short notice to make a dress, so you raided you wardrobe for the most perfect outfit to wear.

it was the thought of seeing eugene in a few short days which kept you going. it seemed silly, and you refused to tell your mother about your true intentions for friday night, but knowing that eugene would be stood on the steps of the town hall in mobile, waiting for no one but you, made you extremely happy. 

dressed in your best, 6:45pm slowly came around on that friday evening and you had never been more excited. you’d told your mother and father that you’d be at a small party with a few friends, celebrating the end of the war and welcoming back the free world. in reality, you knew it would only be you and eugene - well, that’s what you hoped.

your walk to the town hall seemed shorter than usual. normally, it wouldn’t take long to make the 15 minute walk, but your excitement must have taken over all your senses and you were there quicker than you knew.

the street lights beautiful lit the town as you made your way to the grand entrance. it was called that, but the only thing making it grand was the concrete steps and the tall pillars marking its entrance.

and there he stood.

at the foot of those stairs, blood free and clad in one of the most gorgeous suit you’ve seen in your life. it was a little too big for him, probably due to the weight loss throughout the war. but he still looked as beautiful as the day he was brought into the medic tent.

eugene hadn’t noticed you yet, letting you have a longer look at him before he saw you. just as you were about to call out to him, eugene turned around. one of the biggest smiles in the world shaped his face as he waved over to you. you couldn’t help be mirror his facial expression, picking up your pace slightly as you walked towards him.

and yet, just as the two of you were about to touch, you both stopped short. it was like you didn’t know what to do. of course you were happy he was here, hell, you were ecstatic, but it seemed too weird to touch. truth be told, you and eugene hadn’t known each other for long, but you knew much about each other.

yet, it still felt weird to touch each other, to hug. so you stood inches apart from each other, wondering what to do. it didn’t wipe the smiles off of yours face, though. you both stood smiling, so close to each other, almost touching. so close to touching.

“hi, love.” eugene finally said, taking his hand to hold one of your own.

“hi, genie. you look great.” you smiled back, using your free hand to grab his other one.

“and you look amazing, miss nurse.”

“if i’m calling you genie, you better call me Y/N.” you giggled, feeling confident to fully press yourself against eugene’s body. he didn’t even flinch and just basked in the feeling of finally touching you after five months.

“i like miss nurse better.”

“genie...” you said, a teasing undertone to your voice, but a serious look in your eye.

“okay, Y/N. i’ve made dinner reservations for us about,” he looked at his watch, “six minutes ago.”

“we better go then.”

“we should.” eugene let go of one of your hands, turned around and began to walk in the direction of his favourite restaurant. you eagerly followed behind him, catching up to walk side by side so you could talk to him. like usual, the conversation flowed naturally and you got to know eugene better than you have anyone. well, it had only been one evening together, but both of you could tell in your mind’s eyes that this was something special. 

over the following months, you and eugene spent more time together than you did with anyone else. although he found it hard to readjust to civilian life, you were there by his side through everything, spending time between being with eugene (as he stayed at home with his parents) and working at the local hospital. 

by the time you had met eugene’s parents, you had been secretly letting with him for almost five months. neither your parents nor eugene’s knew where the two of you were when you were together, but after getting spotted at eugene's family home, it didn't take long before both your families knew. 

“oh, eugene,” his mother gasped as she and eugene’s father pulled up their drive. she hurried to get out of the vehicle, quickly moving over to where you two were sat onto of a picnic blanket. “eugene bondurant, who is this lovely lady? aren't you going to introduce me?” 

eugene’s face turned a slight shade of red as he took his sunglasses off of his face and stood up from his place behind you. once he was straight, he held out his hand for you, which you gratefully accepted, and helped you up. as you stood, he pulled you closer to him and whispered “i’m sorry, i thought my parents were going to be later than this.” 

once he pulled away, you only giggled and shook your head, giving him a look which he knew you meant that it was okay. eugene introduced you to his mother and father, internally waiting for either of them to say something to you or him which was tasteless. but neither of that came. instead, his mother subtly pulled him aside and said “i like this one, keep her.” as his father took his turn at being the gentleman and led you inside. 

that afternoon turned evening was one of the most delightful dinners you had had in a long time. although neither you nor eugene had talked about meeting your respective families, this fluke meeting could not have gone better. after dinner was had and you and eugene's mother had cleared the table, eugene offered you a ride home, wanting to spend some time together which you had missed out on earlier. 

“let me meet your parents,’ he said as soon as both the car doors were shut. “tonight went better than we could have ever expected for meeting parents and i really, really wanna meet yours now.” 

“okay, genie,” you smiled, leaning over the middle console to get closer to him. “how about you come over tomorrow night after i've finished work and you can meet my parents? i’m cooking supper.” 

“sounds perfect, my love.” he smiled, not trying to contain his excitement at your plans. 

the next night, eugene knocked on your front door at precisely 8 o’clock, remembering what you had said about your father’s belief in punctuality. it took everything inside of you to contain your excitement, but you quickly opened the door before either your mother or father had the chance to.

“evening, mr sledge.” you smiled at him after you opened the door, seeing him dressed in his best with two bouquets of flowers in his hands.

“evening, miss nurse.” he winked, stepping forward into your family home as you moved aside for him.

“who’s at the door, sweetheart?” your mother called from the kitchen.

“someone i’d like you to meet.” you replied, shutting the door and wrapping your hands around eugene’s arm. your mother and father walked through the door and saw you and eugene stood together. neither of them said anything, but your mothers eyes began to well up.

“i’m eugene sledge, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” eugene smiled, as you let go of his arms and he walked forward to greet you mother. he handed her one of the bouquets and leaned foward to kiss her cheek. next, he stood in front of your father, his right hand stretched out before him. “please to meet you, sir.”

your father tried to hide his smile as eugene walked back over to you, handing you the other bouquet and taking your hand in his.

“is that why you made extra for super, Y/N?” your mother asked, mirroring your’s and eugene’s position with father.

“yes, eugene and i thought it was time that you met.”

“is this where you’ve been the past few months?” your father asked. you weren’t scared to answer, you knew he was just being protective and weary of his daughter dating, but knowing him and knowing eugene, you knew they would love each other.

“yes. we met in the war and kept in touch once it finished. we’ve been with each other ever since.” that was a good enough answer for both of your parents as they didn’t reply, only inviting eugene further into the house.

that evening was another one of the most delightful meals you had had in a long time. even though neither you nor eugene had thought about meeting the parents, both dinners had gone wonderfully and you couldn’t be happier. after supper was had and you and your mother had cleared the table, the three of you said your goodbyes to eugene just before he drove home.

“i like that kid.” you father commented, taking a slow puff from his pipe before walking back into the house.

days turned into weeks and weeks into months, so soon that summer was upon you and you and eugene were at your happiest. by now, both of you had met everyone important to the other and things seemed like they were out of a fairytale.

july came and eugene had begun to figure what he wanted to do. his father (and yours) had suggested that he got a job, begin saving for a family home and a wedding for the two of you. eugene declined the idea to work. of course, his future with you wasn’t set in stone, but he knew that you were the girl he wanted to marry.

he decided that he wanted to go to university to study and to get his degree. he didn’t know what in, but he also didn’t know how he would move from mobile to be closer to the university without you. after researching, he decided he was going to get his bachelor of science degree in business administration, yet he had something tying him to mobile.

you.

“genie, you have to go! this is your life, it’s important to you. please, don’t let me stop you.” you pleaded one late night outside of your front door, both of you stood on your porch. the day had been cooler, making the night cool, too, so you were wrapped in a blanket sat on the front swing as eugene paced in front of you.

“i cant go without you, don’t you see? i wanna marry you one day, but if i go to university, it’ll be years before that can happen. leaving you here, alone, that would break my heart.”

“then let’s get married,” eugene stopped in his tracks. “let’s do it in a few weeks,” he turned to face you. “we’ll have a wedding, then move to auburn so you can get your degree and i’ll transfer hospitals.”

“you’ll be leaving your ma and pa behind, you’ll leave everything behind.”

“if you go alone, so will you. but you’ll leave me behind, too. this way, if we go together, we won’t miss much.”

and so that’s what you did. that very next morning eugene sent his application to auburn university before setting out into town with his father to find you the perfect ring. that day he bought two; an engagement ring and a wedding ring. back at home, you had invited eugene’s mother to begin the wedding planning, knowing you wouldn’t have long before eugene’s first term would begin.

that might, your mother held a celebration dinner and invited eugene’s family. she enjoyed hosting everyone, addressing the meal as the beginning of your lives together. at the end of the night, eugene proposed to you on your front porch. as he got down on his knee and presented to ring to you, you couldn’t help but cry. you knew this was happening, but this made it real.

eugene here with you and with a ring made it real.

exaclty three weeks later you were married. it was a small ceremony at the local church with the celebration and reception at the town hall later that day. all the people who you loved and cared for were there, congratulating you both on the marriage and the next stage of your life; moving.

exactly one week after that, you and eugene had moved north to auburn, settling down in your new one bedroom apartment with the help of your parents. only days later, it was eugene’s first day of term and your first day as an associate nurse at the hospital.

and that’s how your life planned out for the next three years. both of you enjoyed married life while navigating through university and your new job. you spent your weekdays busy and your weekends free, doing housework before spending time together, married and free.

living with eugene felt right. it felt free and exactly where you needed to be. had you told yourself three years ago that this would be your life, you would have laughed and not believed it. for you, this was a dream. you had a husband, a job, a house and a happy life. the only thing that was missing was a baby.

eugene graduated auburn university with a bachelor of science degree in business administration in the summer of 1949 which was when you decided to move back home to mobile.

once again, both of your parents came to help you, filling their cars and a moving truck with your furniture before driving back to mobile. it felt good to be home and you were lucky enough to find a home just outside of the main town, the perfect size for you, eugene and your family.

your own little family.

once the celebration of your return had finished, you and eugene returned to your new home, both full of love and happiness. that night, you bathed together, eugene’s back against the tub as you rested against his chest, your hands never leaving your stomach.

after you were dry and dressed for bed, eugene got into bed first, sitting up against the bed head as he watched you nervously brushing your hair. he caught a glimpse of you in your mirror, watching as your face was tense.

“love, what’s wrong?” he asked, worry laced in his voice. you didn’t reply, only standing up from the vanity’s chair and walking over to your side of the bed. opening the bottom draw, you delved down to the bottom to find what you wanted.

“love, what are you lookin’ for? what’s-” eugene didn’t even finish his sentence as he saw you stand with a something in your hand. “is that?”

you only nodded and watched as eugene extended his hand towards you, taking whatever was in your hand into his.

“is it- it’s real?” you nodded, moving to sit on the bed next to eugene as he kept looking at the pregnancy test. “we’re having a baby?”

“we’re having a baby.”

those nine months passed quicker than you ever could have thought. from the moment you told eugene, you felt in a constant state of bliss, even through the pregnancy hormones and cravings. both of your parents were joyous, over the moon with the idea of having a grandchild on the way.

your mother and mother-in-law helped you to prepare physically and mentally as much as you could, even though you knew that there was no amount of preparation that would help towards giving birth. you and eugene decorated the smallest room in the house and deemed it the nursery. his father and yours helped to build the furniture and had agreed between them that they would buy you certain things. 

your parents bought you the most beautiful rocking chair. it was plain oak, but it had the most beautiful carvings on the headrest and arms. in addition, behind the headrest, your family name sledge was engraved in beautiful italic. you balled your eyes out as soon as they brought it to the house, blaming it on the hormones, but you knew that you were eternally grateful for the chair. 

eugene’s parents bought you your baby’s crib. like the chair, it was oak and had beautiful carvings on either side, with the family name engraved in the same italics at the top of the crib where baby’s head would lay. the two pieces of furniture brought the room together and two months before they were due, the worm was complete and everything felt whole.

the baby came at 40 weeks and three days. at the beginning, labour was slow. your water broke and you managed to get to the hospital a short while after.

eugene was panicking, grabbing the hospital bag and throwing it into the car before you had even left the house. as he did, you called both of your parents, letting them know what was happening. after that, you almost waddled out the door, reaching your hand forward which eugene grabbed and helped you into the car. his exterior was calm as he drove, but you knew what was running around in his head.

once you got to the hospital, you tried to calm eugene down, letting him know that you were okay and the contractions weren’t that bad, yet. a nurse led you to a room, letting you know what a doctor and midwife would be there soon.

after that, things were a blur. you only remember the midwife and doctor coming into your room and talking, things after that were fuzzy. you remember the pain, squeezing eugene’s hand so much that you both thought that it would fall off and then the first cries of your baby.

“it’s a girl.” the midwife spoke, but you were almost about to pass out. eugene kept you awake, wanting you to hold your daughter as soon as you could. and when the midwife handed you your baby, that’s when you knew you were exactly where you wanted to be, where you needed to be. your daughter in your arms with eugene right beside you.

“what’s her name?” the midwife asked, walking to stand beside you, a clipboard in her hands.

“rose,” you replied, looking up from your daughter to the midwife. “rose marie sledge.” and from then on, you knew that you would be content, no matter what else happened.

mother and father, 

this letter is overdue and eugene and i are terribly sorry for that. inside the envelope should be an invitation to our little angel’s christening. all the information about it: the date, the venue, will be on there. we know that you’ll be there, but we wanted you and eugene’s parents to be the first to receive an invite and to read our letter to you. 

since the war, its been a long few years, but after the wedding three years ago and now the arrival of baby rose, this event could not be postponed any longer. rose has only been with us five months, but she is already the light of our lives, as i know she is yours, too. thank you for everything you have given to myself and eugene since the day you met him and thank you for everything you have given to rose. 

this day cannot come any sooner and we hope that you are as excited as we are. thank you for rose’s beautiful christening dress (and thank you for mine). we cannot wait to celebrate the beginning and the rest of our daughter’s life with you. 

love, the sledges x

-

dedicated to @warriorteam1924​​ 🤍

-

TAGLIST: @never-kept-the-same-address @j0hn-deaky @sohoneyspreadyourwings @brian-maybe-not @deakysbabybooty @1001-yellow-daffodils @retromusicsalad @hardcoredisneynerd @painkiller80 @leatherjacketmazzello @scarecrowmax @mebeatlized @seesiderendezvous​ @alright-mrfahrenheit @someone-get-a-medic​ @miamideacon @chlobo6 @teenagepeterpan​ @spacedustmazzello​ @deakysgurl @forever-rogue​ @xcdelilahxc @keepsdrawing​ @igotsuckedintothevoid @kill4hqueen @supersonicfreddie​ @laedymoon​ @inthedayswhenlandswerefew​ @warriorteam1924 @painandpleasure86​ @boomerangbassist @mamaskillerqueen​

#its here! #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello fic #joe mazzello #joemazzello #bohemian rhapsody #eugene sledge x reader #eugene sledge fic #eugene sledge imagine #eugene sledge #the pacific #love the sledges #x reader #acdeaky

[kaleid-tay-scope]

Taylor Swift + Jules Chéret + Loïe Fuller = TS7

What got me thinking about all of this was the painting in the "ME!" music video. It reminded me of the "Friends" opening with the French poster in the background, along with the peach colored couch, the fountain, windows in the buildings, and colorful umbrellas.) The French poster was originally created by one of the most famous printmakers of the late 1800's, Jules Chéret and originally read: "Toys and Items for New Years Gifts." I also was reminded of @taylorswift saying in the Elle article "For Taylor Swift, Pop is Personal," "When I’d get a day at home in between long stretches on the road sharing a van with my band and crew, I would spend my rare nights off painting alone with candles lit in my room - just being alone with those songs (Those are all from the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack. My commitment to that show truly knows no bounds)." — and that last part made me wonder what else I know about Taylor, that her commitment to media knows no bounds. Which is obvious— the sitcom "Friends."

Jules Chéret the artist who painted the original Aux Buttes Chaumont poster was born in Paris, France on May 31st, 1836. He was born to a poor family and his father took him out of school at the age of 13 to enroll him in a 3 year lithographic apprenticeship program so he could help his family financially. He worked for lithographers while attending the School of Art and Design (Ecole des Arts Decoratifs). He sold some sketches but didn't make enough money to do what he wanted to do which was have a career as an artist. Jules decided to pursue that goal and went to London to study the technical aspects of lithography. He sold his first poster design to furniture manufacturer Rimmel Eugene and painted floral designs for manufacturer until he had saved up enough money to move back to Paris and start his own studio.

He quickly became considered the founder of the artistic lithographic poster. And who did he famously paint? That's right, American dancer Loïe Fuller — yes, the same woman Taylor dedicated a "Dress" performance to at every "reputation" stadium tour date. (Loïe was born Marie Louise Fuller, January 15th, 1862.)

From MOMA: "This exuberant image of the American dancer Loïe Fuller captures the cabaret culture of fin-de-siècle Paris. Fuller was an important attraction, embodying l'Art Nouveau with her innovative choreography and diaphanous silk costumes illuminated by multicolored electric lighting."

And what did Taylor JUST SAY with regards to her fans during her interview with Zane Lowe on May 1st, 2019?

"I really do credit the fans for the complete resurgence of exuberance and excitement towards music and making new music.

Also said about Jules Chéret by Windsor of Fine Art: "Cheret’s charming, frivolous Harlequins, columbines, and Pierrots, his girls and boys in masks and fancy dresses, were a delight to the eye; his brilliant yet delicate colors danced like flickering sunbeams over the gray stonewalls of Paris." And then two go for three links to the "ME!" music video I'll include that Loïe Fuller also created via silent film “Serpentine Dance,” a striking variation on the popular “skirt dances” of the day. So we have colorful stones, serpent, and a silent film two tie in these three artists.

In the "ME!" music video there's a painting of a black cat staring up at a somewhat hidden door in the wallpaper and there's what looks like an RF in the upper right hand corner. Well, it just so happens that Jules Chéret used in his famous painting of Loïe Fuller a hexagonal stamp of RF (Republique Francaise) on the "E" in top margin "HMP."

One of the other things that made me think about paintings and the "ME!" music video was the final scene of pastel rainbow paint. It turns out that this too can be attributed to Jules Chéret because he created what's called the crachis technique.

From MOMA: the crachis technique is a "spattering rather than painting a wax resist onto the lithographic stone—allowed him to create a shimmering effect with relatively few impressions."

I feel that this praise from MOMA can also be said about Taylor Swift in regards to her writing as she is known for her ability to tell a story with few words and yet enable those words to connect with so many different people. And all of their possibilities they individually paint into the stops and pauses of her music as it relates to their own lives. I just feel really touched that Taylor Swift is shining a light onto two individuals who danced with their bodies, minds, and colors and shared with their audiences and those to come the beauty that is possible through art.

I think that this new album is going to represent more than Taylor Swift herself. And as she dipped the tip of her sparkly shoe in glitter at the Billboard Award Show on May 1st, 2019, it seems from her breadcrumbs that she's ready to dip her figurative toe into the depths of publicly expressing her feelings for the things and people and causes who matter to her. I'm for all of this and I'm really looking forward to listening to her music, seeing her visuals, and embracing all of the senses she creates to go along with her music. Everything whimsical and bright that will grab me from my world of living with chronic illnesses and land me into one of rainbows and adventure and beauty and inclusivity and no pain. And I'm ready for it.

❤️🕵️‍♀️🦋🌈🥂✨🦄🐝🌦🔮💐💌🐾

- Cristine

#Taylor Swift and Jules Chéret #Taylor Swift and Loïe Fuller #Taylor Swift Jules Chéret Loïe Fuller #Taylor Swift ts7 #exuberant #mine #links to refs in comments

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Walking Dead: The Lucky Ones (11x12)

Eh, this episode didn't compel me the way the last couple episodes have. I guess the novelty of the Commonwealth is starting to wear off a bit.

Cons:

The guy who wants to bring in the additional communities for his own personal clout is kind of boring to me? I guess I don't quite get his whole deal, and Pamela is also feeling a bit one-note to me. I get that it's going to be an issue of control, they're going to have to figure out a balance where the benefits of the Commonwealth are not worth the totalitarianism. Like, we all agree totalitarian regimes are bad, but zombie apocalypses are also bad, right? I don't know, it just seems like all this stuff is going to be dragged way out past the point of interest, where I want to get to the aftermath, so we can see what the world will truly look like moving forward for these characters. This is the final season, let's get a move on, here!

Pros:

I did like Eugene and Max's scenes. I want to believe there will be no more double-crossing, that this time it's really real, and Eugene will get to have that happiness. I loved his apology, where he talked about his difficulty with social cues and how believing in the imposter was part of so badly wanting to have that love in his life. These two are both very awkward and yet sweet, and I find myself genuinely rooting for their love! And I also thought Eugene's struggle before getting to that point where he could talk to Max was interesting to watch. He and Rosita having a moment together was sweet; at this point they are some of the longest lasting characters on the show and their friendship was a bizarre yet powerful one to watch develop over the years.

Conceptually, this idea that Alexandria and Hilltop have differing opinions about whether to work with the Commonwealth could be interesting. My concern is that the pacing is going to be interminable and that we won't really get anything new, but theoretically they could pull it off in a cool way if they wanted to. I especially enjoyed Maggie and Pamela going hunting together and talking things out. Maggie doesn't approve of Pamela having nicer things and living a more comfortable life just because she's in charge, but Pamela's point isn't completely meritless either. I like how disgusted and surprised the folks from the Commowealth were, to see how much the Walkers are still an active threat to the people in these communities, how rough their lives still are.

It's always a treat to see characters I care for have moments of human care and connection. Maggie gets on my nerves these days (although she was much more tolerable than she has been since her return), but yeah, of course I smile to see Daryl and Maggie share a hug. Daryl and Lydia, too. There's something so normal and satisfying about seeing these people in situations where they feel safe enough to travel about to different communities, thus giving them the opportunity to miss each other without having to be in terror for one another's safety all the time.

And I think that's where I'll leave it, just a quick little review. I can't believe we're down to like... twelve more episodes of this show ever.

7/10

#review #the walking dead #the walking dead review #walking dead #walking dead review

[neganandblake]

I think I liked you better when you didn't have a knife in your hand, Peaches... Chapter 15 - Personal Space

When Blake finds herself sold out to the Saviours by her abusive fiancé, she realises that she's certainly not on her own anymore and finds an unlikely friend in Negan. And Negan does NOT like men who beat their girlfriends, one tiny bit…. 

Chapter 15 - Personal space

Blake had slept badly, tossing and turning all night…..unable to get David's words out of her head.

The names he had called her….there was obviously a reason for these. Maybe she was as useless as he suggested. And maybe she did look as shit as he accused her of looking.

Blake was blonde and tall, and as far as the male of the species went, she had never had any trouble finding guys. She had long legs and round hips and her breasts were average size.

She had of course, back in the 'real' world, always supplemented these things with tight jeans, high heels, push up bras.

She had loved make-up and was never seen out without at least two coats of mascara and some lip-gloss…but those days were now gone…

Perhaps she had let herself go slightly…perhaps she wasn't as pretty as she once was…perhaps David was right….the way Negan's wives went around with perfectly polished red-painted fingernails, short black dresses and high heels….they were of course more attractive than her…

But she had never realised just how bad she must look….if that was the kind of things what her own fiancé labelled her as being….

Blake had woken fairly early…just as the sun was coming up…

And being unable to drift off again she had dragged herself up and headed into the shower…spending about thirty minutes bathing under the cool water…cleaning every inch of her….cleansing herself of David's horrible words.

But every time she realised how much he hurt her…Blake felt guilty…so ashamed of herself for thinking these things.

He only criticised her because he loved her. Because he was trying to keep her safe.

That was the only reason…right?

Blake had hurried back to her room and gotten dressed in a fresh pair of indigo jeans, her brown boots and a pale blue blouse, which she tucked neatly into her pants.

She missed carrying a gun or knife and found, that as she slipped a large brown belt around her waist, it felt empty without the addition of a weapon.

She again pondered on Negan's wives….on whether any of them had needed to carry a gun….if all they did was lounge around painting their toenails and reading old magazines?

But she cursed herself.

These women were probably hurting as much as she was…as scared as she was…and whether they had ever carried a gun wasn't important…it was whether they now felt safe, that was.

It hadn't been long after that, that Blake, bored of her room had wandered the corridors, heading down towards the main dining area….hoping to once again catch a glimpse of David….try to reason with him….to apologise…

She had seen a couple of faces she recognised along the way down the winding hallways.…a couple of them men who usually surrounded Negan, carrying guns…before she found herself once again in the large communal dining room.

Blake stared up at the far end of the room, expecting to see the usual large pots full of food…but today it was just a single female Saviour stood behind a table, dishing out small bags of crackers and pieces of watermelon to the small line of people.

Blake not really being fussed with eating…her stomach still doing backflips at the thought of her run in with David….instead turned, making to head back out into the small courtyard she had ventured into yesterday.

But before she could do so, she heard a sharp whistle from across the far side of the room…drawing her attention immediately.

She turned her heard towards the sound….her eyes falling on the tall and imposing figure of Negan…just standing there…Dwight at his side…staring over at her…his face fixed and unreadable.

Blake gave a sudden gulp, her breath catching slightly and her heart dropping.

Fuck.

Did he know?

Had Eugene told him?

Her heart pounded, going a hundred miles an hour.

But the feeling only lasted for a brief moment, as a smile suddenly crept across Negan's long features as he began to stroll towards her, swinging his barbed-wire covered baseball bat from his hand as he went.

"Well hey there, hot stuff," growled Negan, his tongue poking out from between his line of straight white teeth. "Don' you look just finger-lickin' fuckin' good this mornin'?"

Blake pursed her lips, catching her breath slightly, and approached him too, crossing the room towards him , folding her arms across herself a little defensively.

Negan looked her up and down, sucking on his lip and arching his back, taking her in.

"That supposed to be some sort of compliment?" she swiped, shooting him a bemused frown and coming to stop just a foot or two away from the tall, dark-haired Saviour.

But that space between them was obviously far too much for Negan, who took an extra step towards her, until he was a mere breath away from Blake, gazing down into her eyes.

At his closeness, Blake felt her breath momentarily catch in her throat…but this was for a completely different reason than before.

From here, she could see every laughter line that littered his face….smell his musky scent…that seemed to make her heart race just that little bit faster…

But she tutted, shifting her gaze from his.

"You mind invading my personal space just a little bit more?" she muttered in a sarcastic tone, pressing her hand to his leather-clad chest suddenly and giving him a gentle shove away from her.

But that only seemed to excite Negan more.

The tall, intimidating man bounced on the balls of his feet, giving a happy chuckle, staring down at her through dark eyelashes.

"Well, my oh my, aren't you a snappy lil' thing today," he commented flashing her his set of white teeth. "Not a mornin' person, huh?"

Blake pursed her lips, shooting him a look, but didn't answer…even when Negan leaned into her once again.

"Don' worry, 'cause neither am I," he muttered in a husky tone. "Maybe someday we can do each other a favour and keep each other up all night, and then sleep all day instead….get over all this pent up crankiness we've obviously both been feelin'."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him, gazing up into his long face as he continued.

"Although I am not adverse to a bit of mornin' fun-time, if you catch my drift…"

He waggled his eyebrows at her, which only caused Blake to give him another sighing shove away from her.

"What do you want, Negan?" she murmured in a unimpressed voice, removing her hand from his taut chest.

But the tall dark-haired Saviour just chuckled once again, staring down at her.

Right now Blake felt like he was seeing right through to her soul. His dark, chocolate eyes full of something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Negan shrugged his curved shoulders easily.

"I just wondered if you wanted to take a walk with me, Doll-face," he said eyeing her. "Unless you have anything better you think we could be doing?"

Yet again, he stared at her goadingly, leaning in towards her once more, but this time, he reached his hand up….brushing a loose strand of caramel hair back over Blake's shoulder neatly.

At this, Blake didn't flinch…but she did instead shoot the Saviour a dark scowl….which he, of course, instantly caught.

He backed up suddenly, grinning and raising his hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright, I get it, Peaches," he murmured, laughing. "Personal space, an' all that jazz."

Blake shook her head.

"We walking then or what?" she said, just a little snappily. Unamused by his irritating manner this morning, and giving him a gesturing nod.

Negan's lips curved up into another sudden grin.

"Well yes, Ma'am," he said with an admiring smirk before falling into step with her, leading her across the large room…Dwight following behind them meekly.

It was odd that in Negan's presence this morning, Blake found herself slightly relived to be with him. Despite how dangerous he was deemed to be, he had a way of making her feel oddly at ease….more than David did lately anyway.

A moment or two passed of comfortable silence, before Negan spoke again, leading her through a wide door and outside into a large, grey lot Blake hadn't been out in before.

The sky this morning was drizzly and grey, and Blake looked up, grimacing, as raindrop's fell down the back of her collar uncomfortably.

Out here were two or three trucks, currently being loaded up by several burly Saviours, barely any of whom did Blake recognise, bar Dwight, and the tall moustachioed man Simon.

"So a little birdy tells me you're good with a knife," said Negan after a second, suddenly stopping and turning to face Blake, lifting Lucille up and onto his shoulder casually.

Blake looked up at him, coming to a halt herself, and gazing around the lot.

"I'm here aren't I?" she said shaking her head and pursing her lips.

Blake would never consider herself 'good' with a knife, but she could handle herself as well as she needed to out there. And that was always important.

Negan ran his tongue over his white teeth for a moment before dragging his free hand down his long, bearded chin and letting out a faux-sigh.

"Well if I was to give you 'said'-knife," he muttered, his eyes lingering on her. "You gonna promise me you're not gonna slice me in two? Coz I don' think Lucille would appreciate that very much."

He readjusted his grip on his large and imposing baseball bat across his shoulder, raising his eyebrows intimidatingly.

But this only caused Blake to tilt her head, shooting him a frown. "Why would you give me a knife?" she said in a bemused tone, wrinkling her nose.

But Negan just smiled at her.

"Well how the fuck else are you gonna kill those dead fucks out on our run?" he said arching his back as he spoke, before shouting for Dwight, who immediately came running.

Blake stared up at this man….

He was so confusing to her….

"Run?" she said frowning.

Was he seriously letting her leave this place?

Negan held out his hand in Dwight's direction, and Blake could only watch, as the blonde man passed his leader a large knife in a brown-leather pouch.

"So, Doll-face" said Negan, turning back to her once again, his face looking slightly unreadable, his chocolate eyes locking with hers. "You think I can trust you?"

And with that, he held the knife out towards her.

Blake gave a sudden gulp, her gaze fixed on his.

Would she kill him?

Could she kill him?

She wasn't sure anymore…

Almost every instinct she had, told her to run…to get out of there….kill and Negan and get as far away as she could…

But there was one tiny part of her that didn't want to leave his side…not ever.

But Blake shook herself.

Could she kill him if the opportunity reared its head? She could try…for Rick…for Spencer….for Olivia, for Glen, and for Abraham…she would try….she had to try.

Blake slowly nodded, taking the blade from Negan's grasp.

Perhaps with Negan gone…all this would get easier….

Maybe she and David could leave…be together properly again….maybe they could go back to how it was long ago….before the hurtful comments and the bruises.

But she was torn as she stared up at the brown-eyed Saviour.

Did she actually want to kill him?

Negan finally pulled his dark-eyes away from hers and moved over to a nearby truck, just as two of his men (Dwight included) piled into the open back.

Negan pulled open the door to the cab and held it open.

"You're car-poolin' with me, Buttercup," he said lifting his chin and gesturing up towards the passenger's seat.

But Blake gave a bemused smirk, taking a step towards him.

Of course she would be riding shotgun to Negan. Why should have even doubted that for second? Even now with her ability to stab him at any second, the leader of the Saviours still had no fear…

And that, to her, was what made him what he was…..this indescribable, powerful man who had led his people so far to undeniable heights.

Blake chewed on her lip for the slightest of seconds before eyeing him carefully.

But Negan just gazed back at her lazily.

"You gonna make me wait all day, Doll?" he asked her cocking his head back in her direction smirking. "Don't make me ask twice..."

The smirk was a gesture which Blake soon returned, rolling her eyes, before hopping straight up into the cab, placing one foot on the high pedestal leading up there.

She almost for a second expected him to grab her ass as she slid by him, but he obviously refrained. Which she was, of course, grateful for.

But that didn't stop her from shooting him a look as she took a seat and he shut the door on her gently, giving her a chuckle in return and dragging his hand down over his long face, sighing to himself.

Balke placed her knife carefully down beside her and gazed about.

Inside the truck, the cab itself was old and shabby and smelled of stale cigarette smoke….but Blake had smelled worse in this brave, new world….and this only served as a reminder as the truck her uncle used to drive when Blake was just a kid…all tan interior with ripped leather seats. It almost made her smile.

It was no more than a minute later, that Negan joined her, hoping up into the driver's seat of the truck with long legged strides.

He flashed her another grin as Blake leant against the passenger window with her elbow, running her fingers through her caramel blonde hair looking back at him.

He was just so strange to her…so, so different from David….and yet why did Blake's stomach seem to do an automatic backflip every time he looked at her…..or made a smart comment….or in fact did anything in her vicinity.

But Blake chocked this down to nerves. Or course she was nervous of this guy who spent his entire life intimidating others by carrying around a baseball bat he used to bludgeon innocent people to death with.

"So where are we going?" she said, as Negan switched on the engine.

The truck manged to tick over twice before finally bursting into life.

The dark-haired Saviour patted the wheel and tossed Lucille down onto the seat in between them.

"A couple of my men found a store about thirty miles north of here, with what they think could contain a nice little haul. So I just thought we could go out and take a look," Negan uttered as he stepped on the gas slowly and drove the truck from the lot and over towards the now-open gate at the far end of the fence. "Stretch our legs a bit."

Blake worried at her lips with her teeth, looking over at him.

"So why invite me?" she said tilting her head slightly. "You wouldn't let me come with you yesterday."

But Negan just smiled. "Well today is a brand new day, Doll-face," he uttered in a husky tone

But that didn't reveal Negan's MO to Blake.

Why exactly had he changed his mind? She didn't doubt he had something up his sleeve.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction, thinking for a moment.

"So do you invite your wives on runs too?" she asked a little scathingly as they exited the looming back gates of The Sanctuary. "Or am I supposed to feel special?"

But Negan didn't looked back at her, he merely gave a hearty laugh, his eyes on the road ahead.

"You gettin' jealous, Peaches?" he said in a bemused tone. "Because like I said, there is always an open spot for you, if you've changed you mind."

But Blake scoffed, staring out of the window beside her, feeling her face suddenly reddening- for no apparent reason.

"Well, I have David…so…." she murmured in a forced tone, trailing off and giving another pained gulp.

And she was right. She did have David. He was everything to her.

But even so….after last night, it pained her to even utter his name.

"Oh that's right," Negan scoffed. "David, David, David..."

Blake paled suddenly, for Negan's tone had become almost cold at the mention of her fiancé.

She prayed that Eugene had kept his word.

"Well ol' Davey-boy might be your knight in shinin' fuckin' armour, Doll," he remarked, his long fingers sliding their way down the steering wheel as he turned the corner. "But don' think I haven't noticed you ain't wearing a pretty little engagement ring on your finger, as a fuckin' queen like you should be."

At this, Blake almost instantly gulped, her eyes moving down to her own hands suddenly.

It had been four long years since David had proposed to Blake.

He had gone to Blake's Mom to ask permission…and her Mom, unbeknownst to Balke had given him Blake's Grandma's ring to use, passed down from her ownMom long ago. And when he had got down on one knee at dinner in the nice part of town one raining night in April, Blake had been over the moon the moment she had clapped eyes on it. Recognising it instantly.

It had fitted her perfectly and Blake had never felt so utterly loved.

But times had been hard for David…and one day, not long after they had gotten engaged, David had offered to get the ring cleaned for Blake while she was at work…but when she had come home later that night, he had told her he had instead pawned the ring to get some cash for a bachelor party he needed to go to in Cancun…..

But of course, he had insisted he would get it back for her, he had promised….as soon as the cheque from his new sculptural piece came through he would buy it back from the pawn shop…no harm done.….

….but that day….that day never seemed to come…..with excuse after excuse later….

And by the time the world had gone to hell…Blake knew that the ring was probably long gone…

She gulped as she thought about it…her other hand reaching for her ring finger gently.

"I uh…I lost it," she lied…feeling hurt and defensive about the subject.

It was not something Blake liked to dwell over…and even now, she felt herself getting irritable at Negan's incessant nosiness.

"What about your wives, huh?" she said in a hurt tone. "You give all of them diamonds?"

But Negan didn't reply.

In fact, he didn't say another word for a good ten minutes, as the rain began to beat down onto the windscreen...heavy and unrelenting…

The sky had darkened and even through the rain, Blake could see black storm clouds forming overhead.

But after years out there…out in the open with little to no shelter…Blake didn't mind a bit of rain.

She remembered back to the times when she would complain to Laura, her colleague, about having to walk from the bus stop to

the office-building in the rain, in case her high heels got ruined.

Right now she would long for far-off worries such as that…and how silly and trivial they all now seemed.

Life was just not the same any more. She wasn't the same person.

None of them were.

"You enjoy your pizza last night?" asked Negan suddenly after ten long minutes had passed, breaking Blake from her thoughts.

Blake looked over at him, shaking herself, before staring down into her lap.

"Yeah…" she lied, brushing imaginary fluff from her pants. "…it was great."

She had, in fact, only managed a bite or two before David's outburst had sent the whole thing flying across the room and onto the wall and floor.

Blake had been forced to bin most of it, crying on the floor in heap, cleaning the wall as best as she could through her tears.

But Negan seemed satisfied enough with this answer.

But she had in fact never known him to be so quiet.

The silence however, was not an uncomfortable one….which relieved Blake immensely.

Although the silence did give her more time to dwell on David and what had happened…the painful thought alone, making her nervous.

"Well like I said," muttered Negan glancing her way for a slight second. "Whatever you want…you can have, buttercup. You're a queen. And royalty like you deserves whatever she wants…whenever she fuckin' wants it."

This monologue of Negan's, only served to make Blake gulp….and looked over at Negan sadly. Wishing she could tell him exactly what happened. Just wanting someone to talk to.

But Blake didn't get a chance, for with that, Negan leant across and pushed a small cassette into a black tape player in the centre of the truck's console, before Blake could utter a reply.

Suddenly an upbeat song started playing over the stereo. A happy tune that Blake had never heard before. With lyrics talking about an 'easy street'.

Negan turned up the volume, looking over at her and revealing his line of straight, white teeth in a smile.

"My favourite song," he commented with a wide grin, before turning back to the road.

Blake stared at him for a long moment…long after he had looked away, frowning…

….before finally, before she could stop herself letting out a small laugh….and shaking her head…..before finally turning back to the rainy track ahead of them…

…her fingers drumming along the beat of the song, against the leather-clad knife at her side...

........................................

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[neganandblake]

I think I liked you better when you didn't have a knife in your hand, Peaches... Chapter 14 - David

(Trigger warnings for this chapter)

Blake placed the plate full of pizza down on her bed, picking up a slice.

It was of course, as Negan had said, hot, and the smell of melting cheese was already making her mouth water.

She had not had pizza since the world had gone to shit…and it was the one thing, more than anything else, that she craved on a daily basis.

But she never thought in a million years, she would ever actually get to have it again.

She slowly took a bite…and could have almost cried with happiness.

It tasted better than she remembered, with stringy cheese and hot, spicy pepperoni.

Blake closed her eyes, feeling almost euphoric.

She had not felt this happy in a good while, and before she could stop herself, she fell back onto the mattress of her bed, giving a laugh and shaking her head.

The pizza was so good and it was crazy to her, than not only had Negan given her this, but also a TV with a couple of movies too.

She opened her eyes, taking another bite of pizza before turning onto her side and propping herself up onto her elbow, before pulling the two VHS tapes towards her.

They looked ancient and well worn, but Blake could make out two titles, written on the side in marker- GHOSTBUSTERS and JAWS.

She gave a smile, biting at her lip, before letting out a laugh to herself.

How had this happened to her?

She could have been dead by now. Negan could have killed her at least ten times over. But he hadn't. He had kept her alive. And not only that, but he had gifted her this too.

This wonderful thing, that she doubted many people made use of in this world.

But the smile slipped from Blake's face as she remembered.

All her happiness right now, it was all at someone else's expense.

Negan didn't get that blood on his t-shirt by accident.

She felt bad, of course she did….but would one movie hurt right now?

Then tomorrow she could take the TV down to the communal yard perhaps….so that people could share it…

Would Negan allow her to do that?

But Blake pursed her lips, tutting at herself. Since when did she care what Negan would allow her to do? She would try it anyway.

Blake sat up once again, picking up the plate of pizza and getting to her feet.

She strolled across the large room, in her socks, finally placing the plate down onto a small side table and picking up one of the videos and bending down, placing it neatly into the VCR.

The machine instantly whirred for a lengthy moment, before beginning to play the movie…a recorded from the TV version of JAWS.

Blake smiled, as she watched the title pictures pop up onto the screen.

It had been so, so long since she had seen anything like this…and even the blurry pictures, to her, looked incredible.

But before Blake could watch, mesmerized, any longer, there came a sudden bashing on her door.

She gave a frown, pausing the movie for a moment, before rolling her eyes and letting out a bemused huff.

She knew it would probably be Negan again….ready to tease her endlessly, and likely try and invite himself in to watch the movie. Part of her almost picturing him turning up with popcorn and some milk duds….trying to be funny, as usual.

She pursed her lips into a smirk, tossing her hair back over her shoulder and moving over to the door, pulling it swiftly open.

"I haven't changed my mind, you know-" she began.

But Blake paled suddenly, as she caught sight of the figure on the other side.

For it wasn't Negan….it was, instead-

"D-David?" Blake uttered, letting the door swing all the way open, as David took a step towards her.

Blake gulped, for her blonde-haired fiancé's face was fixed into a grim, sneering line.

"Oh sorry," he uttered poisonously. "Were you expecting someone else? Well I'm sorry to fucking disappoint you."

Blake backed up, feeling all the colour drain from her face.

Of course she had wanted to see him….David….but she immediately recognised the look plastered across his features…dangerous and angry…and Blake felt petrified right now of what he could be capable of in this state….

"No, no," she murmured, raising her hands, trying to force a smile. "I- um…"

But David cut across her, his eyes falling on the TV and the plate of pizza on the table, behind Blake's trembling form.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he said sharply, causing Blake's blood to run cold, as he threw the door to her room shut with a slam behind him. "I've been told I need to start working for fucking points, and you're here eating pizza?!"

David kept advancing on her, until Blake felt her lower spine hit the table behind her.

She now had nowhere to escape to now, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Listen," she tried, in a pleading tone. "I-I can get you anything you want….I'-I'll talk to Negan, it'll be fine."

But David gave a sudden roar of anger, swiping his hand across the table and sending the plate full of hot pizza, flying across the room, smashing against the wall loudly.

"You?! Talk to Negan?!" David spat. "Why the FUCK would Negan listen to you, huh?"

Suddenly David leant over, grabbing a fistful of Blake's hair and pulling her head backwards.

She gave a sharp cry of pain, something she rarely did when David hurt her anymore. But this was a pain like no other. And for once Blake felt more fearful of her fiancé than she had done in a long, long time…

Blake desperately tried to push his hands from her, but he was too strong, his fingers tangled tightly in her long, caramel locks.

With that, David shoved her against the back of the sofa, as he pushed himself up behind her, hard.

"Don't kid yourself that Negan is keeping you around for anything other than getting information on Rick," he spat into her ear, giving her sharp shove forward so that her face hung over the back of the couch. "I mean look at you for fuck's sake. You look like shit, and have you seen his fucking wives?! Why the fuck would he ever listen to you? You're nothing. You hear me? Nothing."

Blake gave a gulp as David tightened his grip on her hair, pulling her face back, causing her to whine painfully.

David was probably right. Blake knew that. Of course she knew that. Negan probably wouldn't let this slide for long and soon enough he'd get rid of her when she found out she had no information for him.

But the funny thing was, Negan had stopped pushing her for information on Rick…in fact he hadn't mentioned it all day…

"I-I'm sorry," she managed to stutter out, as David pulled her head back with a jerk.

But she could hear that his teeth were bared and he pressed his lips to her face, ready to hiss more poisonous words into her ear.

But before he could do so, Blake heard to door behind her suddenly swing open with a loud creak….

And with that, to Blake's utter relief, David let go of her, backing off slightly and letting her up.

She gave a sudden gulp of air….catching the breath she had so desperately been holding in fear...and gazed hurriedly around….

…to see the meek and mild figure of Eugene, stood in the doorway…staring back at them…his lips curved downwards…

Behind her, Blake suddenly heard David gave a puff of air and a chuckle.

"Phew….sorry, bud. You caught us in the middle of getting a bit hot and heavy," he lied, giving another insincere chuckle. "Sometime we find it hard to keep our hands off each other. Isn't that right, Blakey?"

Blake breathed hard, still trembling from head to toe, but she couldn't quite reach Eugene or David's gaze right now.

"Y-Yeah," she said in what was almost a whisper, staring down at the floor and grasping her sleeves within her hands tightly.

"I heard raised voices," murmured Eugene in his low, southern drawl, his eyes roving suddenly over the smashed plate, and the pizza, now sliding its way down the far wall.

Blake reddened immediately.

"We were just excited to see each other," said David hurriedly, flashing a false smile in Eugene's direction.

He walked over towards the doorway and patted the large man on the shoulder. "I mean, she is my fiancé. And I've been kept away from her all day in this god forsaken place. Isn't that right, Sweetie?"

David looked back to Blake who gulped, giving a compliant nod.

Right now she felt so ashamed and yet so, so scared. Scared of hurting David more than she already had.

She was a strong woman and she always had been…but he had this hold on her…this vice-like grip she just couldn't seem to free herself from.

"Now maybe you could…uh...leave us to get back to it," said David poignantly, looking at Eugene.

But this only caused Blake's to run cold once more. So, so scared to be alone with David again….stuck inside this room with his temper and his vicious remarks.

But Eugene didn't move. He looked between Blake and David, his eyes lingering on Blake's scared features.

"I don't think I should leave" he remarked suddenly.

But this only caused David to grit his teeth, looking suddenly furious.

"Look, anything you THINK you heard…" said David in a low voice, pointing at Eugene. "That is between me and my future wife."

Blake felt herself wince as he said the words, her heart was hammering at a mile a minute right now.

Part of her definitely didn't want Eugene to leave, but part of her knew it would be simpler if he did….leaving David with this pent up rage which he hadn't yet taken out on her, could be dangerous. Especially in an environment like this.

But Blake wasn't quite sure how much more she could take. The physical violence was one thing but the way he ground her down was another.

She was mentally exhausted, distraught…tormented.

"Sorry to inform you, but I-I will not be going anywhere," said Eugene determinedly, giving a nod, his eyes drifting over to Blake.

And for a moment, her gaze met with his.

He knew….of course he did. As much as people underestimated Eugene, he wasn't stupid….not at all.

But David raised his hands in defeat, letting out a puff of air.

"Y'know what?" he said snappily. "Fine. I'll go. I'm not dealing with these fucking accusations from some mullet-wearing moron."

And with that, the blonde haired man, the man Blake loved more than anything else in this world…stalked out of the room, shoulders hunched, without even a backwards glance towards her..

He shoved past Eugene in the doorway, bumping his shoulder hard as he went. But Eugene barely batted an eyelid.

And Blake could do nothing but let out a steadying breath of air, closing her eyes as David's footsteps retreated down the corridor and through the large metal door at the far end of the hallway, letting it swing closed behind him with a clang.

As soon as she knew he was gone, she suddenly clutched at her chest and staggered backwards, sitting down onto the bed hurriedly.

She wasn't quite sure whether she was about to faint or vomit.

She could feel Eugene's eyes on her and it wasn't a second later that he took a small step into the room.

"Was he-" he began, after a moment or two.

But Blake shook her head, harder than she intended to.

"N-No," she lied quickly, her eyes in her lap, relief suddenly flooding over her…so glad that David was gone.

But she knew she was wrong to be feeling this way…

"Well it certainly seemed like-" began Eugene in a firm voice, but it was Blake's turn to snap at him now.

"Like nothing, ok!" she said in a shrill sort of voice. "It didn't seem like anything."

She felt Eugene's eyes burning into the side of her skull, but he was quiet for a long moment, before finally opening his mouth to speak once more.

"When all that happened back with Pete and Jessie, Rick was right to step in…even if at the time it didn't quite seem that way-" he commented.

But Blake looked up at him for the first time properly, shaking her head.

"That's not what's happening to me," she said cutting across him hurriedly, desperate for him to understand that this was not the same.

She had come in to Alexandria just after Pete had been killed, but she had heard about what he had done to his wife Jessie. How he had abused her…and hit her…

But this wasn't the same. Was it?

David wasn't like that. He loved her.

…Didn't he?

"I-I think I should go and get Negan," Eugene uttered, giving yet another slow nod and turning as if to leave.

But at his words, Blake instantly got to her feet, her eyes suddenly welling with tears.

She knew what the outcome would be if Negan ever found out. And she couldn't let that happen. Not to the man she so desperately loved.

"Please don't-"she said, her breath becoming shallow in her throat with panic.

But Eugene merely paused, looking back at her with wide eyes.

"I really think I should-" he murmured.

But Blake took a step towards him, interlocking her fingers before her suddenly, and holding them up to her chest….

…begging him…

"Please," she said with a sob in her throat, shaking her head desperately. "Please don't. I-I'm begging you right now, please don't tell Negan."

Eugene stared at her for a lengthy moment, his eyes meeting hers.

She was pleading with him…

So frightened…

So scared…

"Please," she managed in a final whisper, trembling as she spoke.

And it felt like an eternity…..before Eugene finally gave a shallow nod, one hand on the door.

"Ok…" he said looking at her sadly. "I won't."

And with that, he disappeared silently away, pulling the door shut behind him.

And it was then, and only then, did Blake collapse suddenly to her knees, clutching her face and letting out a heart-wrenching sob…bursting finally into tears….

….unable to contain them any longer….

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