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lunaastoir · 3 years

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Heyhey! May I request a childe x reader where the reader simps for him but he doesn’t know? Like what if she was online best friends with the tsaritsa but the reader doesn’t know the tsaritsa is the tsaritsa so she constantly simps for childe to her. Like “OMG HE’S SO CUTE.” AND STUFF LIKE THAT. So since she’s like besties with the tsaritsa the cry archon decides to set her up? Thank you :>>>>

AAAAA NONNIE holds your hands gently this is so cute i love it :,)

genshin doesn’t have internet/technology but for the sake of this ask shhhhhh we’re gonna pretend they do

i hope i interpreted your ask correctly, if i didn’t just lmk <3

crack, fluFF- LOTS OF IT???

the tsaritsa’s meddling

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all you wanted were groceries. that was all you wanted. you were standing in line behind the stall as you counted the items you needed to get. salt, milk, sugar, fowl, what else? you were lost in thought as you prayed that you had enough mora to buy everything - god knows how hard eating is as an adventurer. which was why, when you dropped your precious mora, your mind immediately went into panic mode. not now, not now, please don’t let the line move, you begged internally. in hindsight maybe if your mora hadn’t dropped, maybe if you weren’t at your wits end as a broke adventurer, maybe if you had just bought those damn ingredients sooner, you wouldn’t be in this position. as you breathed a sigh of relief after collecting your money and returned your gaze back to the stall, the only thing you could do was stare. where...did everyone go? instead of simply turning around and fleeing which should’ve been your first instinct considering how deserted the place was, you stood there trying to process the information. that was, until you saw a head of auburn hair peak up out of the stall. startled, you almost dropped your mora again. as the tuft of hair gave way to a very tall, handsome, blue eyed man, your brain short circuited.

oh god how you wished you had run when you had the chance. you imagined you must have looked quite comical; mouth hanging slightly open, the list of ingredients fisted in your hands while mora was hanging precariously from your fingers. after what seemed like an eternity, the man seemed to finally notice you.

“oh hey, you must not have noticed but this stall is sold out for the fatui”

the sentence accompanied with his signature smile practically brought you to your knees. that smile? aimed at you? you would be surprised if you weren’t drooling.

determined to not look like an absolute idiot you flashed him a smile of your own before saying, “sorry my bad, i must not have been paying attention” while doing what little you can to get some semblance of balance. tuck the mora here, try to balance your list more gracefully, move that piece of hair from your face.

his eyes surveyed your undoubtedly disheveled appearance, before making a quick decision.

“what items do you want, i’m sure i can spare a few ingredients for someone as pretty as you”

one blink. another blink. did he just call you pretty? oh my-

“oh no, it’s really ok, i can just get these later - it’s not that important anyway” you lied through your teeth. you needed those ingredients or you were most likely going to starve on the road but he didn’t need to know that.

“don’t worry about it, as a harbinger i’m sure my subordinates can overlook a few missing ingredients” he smoothly said before gesturing you towards him.

“i’m childe by the way, if you didn’t know” his eyes flicked up to meet yours.

“y/n” you offered while handing him the list.

as he looked over what you needed, you tried your best to keep your breathing steady while your mind raced. if you didn’t know? of course you knew who he was, who didn’t? you would know better than most considering how often you thirsted about him to your mutual. if anything, you should’ve been the one saying that line to him. as an adventurer, you tend to not spend much time in liyue harbor, chasing down ruin guards and running errands was how you would rather keep yourself busy. however, ever since you saw childe in liyue, sharing a pot of tea with zhongli of all people, you started swinging by the harbor more often. fascination was what kept you seeking him out wherever you went. you had heard about the infamous eleventh harbinger, supposedly the youngest of them, all while being quite easy on the eyes. you had brushed off all the talk you had heard to just that - talk. international affairs wasn’t something you cared for and if anything, seeing the fatui made you wary. however, your curiosity grew after seeing him whenever you were in town. you chalked up your eyes subconsciously seeking out his figure to the fact that he was just an interesting guy. nothing wrong with wondering about a peculiar fellow, right? you went through excuses upon excuses until finally, you had concluded that perhaps, maybe, you had a little crush on him. tiny, you assured yourself. just a tiny crush on a very attractive man.

that crush then trickled over to your time spent talking to your mutual. it started off with little hints of “oh there’s this guy i saw and i thought he was kinda cute” to full blown hysteria of “PLS SEND HELP HE LOOKED SO GOOD TODAY.” @cryogoddess definitely had a lot of patience putting up with your thirsts over a man she didn’t even have the name of. you felt horrible sometimes since more than half of your conversation was about the newest detail you had noticed about childe - however your protests on boring her were met with reassurances about how no, you weren’t boring her, and yes, this is the most lighthearted talk she’s had her entire day so please keep going. you weren’t exactly sure what this woman did, or even how old she was. all you knew was she was someone who was constantly stressed (maybe a fellow adventurer?) and she was quite honest (which you happened to appreciate). despite how busy she was, she seemed to always make time for your texts which made you feel like you could trust her with anything.

“is that all? do you need anything else?” childe’s voice interrupted your mental tirade as you owlishly looked at him.

“oh! yes that’s fine thank you” you smiled before taking the bag from him. grabbing the mora, you rushed to hand out the correct amount before he stopped you.

“don’t worry about it, it’s on the house” he laughed slightly before waving your mora away.

it’s on the- excuse me? did he just give you all this for free? is this what fatui hospitality is like?

rushing to close your mouth, you quickly recovered while slurring out a quick “thank you so much” before shouldering your bag. your brain was currently running on fumes and you were very sure that if you stayed there any longer you might just combust.

“well, i’ll be off then, thank you again” you shot him another smile before quickly scurrying away.

without turning back to look at his expression, you moved as fast as humanly possible while trying not to seem like you were about to jump out of your skin. you didn’t know what was more embarrassing, your thumping heart or the dopey smile on your face. there was no way you were ever going to get over this, not with the way he looked at you the entire time. sighing, you put your bag down near a bench and pulled out your phone. at least you had an update for your friend that consisted of something other than just mindless thirsts.

your mind was still reeling over from what happened as you texted her with shaking hands. the reply was immediate: “wow, you finally got up the courage to talk to him huh.” you rolled your eyes playfully at her blunt message. “bY ACCIDENT- IT HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT,,, guess he couldn’t keep himself away from this sexiness 😩” another blunt reply: “right.” smiling softly, you responded: “thanks for hyping me up bestie i really appreciate it <3 ok but maybe childe and i belong together??? is this a sign from the archons???” you stared waiting for her reply, however you were met with a read 8:45 pm. you’re lucky i love you bestie, leaving me on read during my crisis you whispered to yourself as you shouldered your bag once again to head home. at least you won’t be starving tomorrow on your commissions.

as soon as you entered your house, your phone lit up. “wait. as in childe, eleventh of the fatui harbingers, also known as tartaglia, feared by many on the battle field, currently stationed in liyue, major pain in the ass, and is currently ignoring some of his paperwork???” - @cryogoddess. your eyebrows furrowed as you read her message, “yes that’s him but why do you sound so freaked out and how do you know sm abt him?” another notification: “i can’t believe you’ve been thirsting to me abt CHILDE.” you: “KDJKSFJ YOU DIDNT ANSWER MY QUESTION - also??? i thought i told you his name did i not??? 😀” her: “no??? wow this definitely is...interesting” you: “BESTIE ANSWER MY QUESTION DO YOU KNOW HIM???” her: “i’ve gotta go, work is calling.”

you sighed in frustration as you tossed your phone on your bed. why was she so freaked out? you weren’t dumb, you knew there was something she wasn’t telling you but you trusted her enough to know she’ll let you know if it was important. you wondered as you pulled the covers over your head, if you’ll meet childe in your dreams and if you do, hopefully, in a less embarrassing scenario.

the next morning, you awoke to a barrage of texts from none other than @cryogoddess. they were all along the lines of you should go to bubu pharmacy and stock up on medication this evening (i heard they’re having a sale). you responded back with a maybe, if you had time today after your commissions and if xiangling didn’t stop by with some food. however, your mutual made you promise you would visit in the evening, even if it’s just for a few minutes. you gave in because a) you never could say no and b) she made it sound like it was urgent so maybe she was obsessed with medicine? hmmm you would have to figure out where she lived so you could send some to her.

you walked toward bubu pharmacy while tiredly sheathing your weapon, loosely taking in your surroundings. kids playing near the pond, teenagers chatting at the steps, adults keeping a watchful eye over their kids while laughing about the day’s events. your eyes studied the sign outside of bubu pharmacy. sale? what sale? there doesn’t seem to be anything regarding a sale?

“y/n?” a mildly familiar voice called your name. you whipped around looking for whoever uttered those words before your eyes fell on none other than one blue eyed harbinger. he was holding a few silk flowers in his hand as he stared at you with a sheepish smile.

“hi” you stuttered out. your mind was blank, what was happening?

“oh sorry, these are for you. i don’t mean to make you uncomfortable but i heard that you might be interested in me? you caught my eye at the stall yesterday, so i was wondering if you would want to grab lunch from the third-round knockout and then go watch the sunset at mt. tianheng? there’s this really cool trick i can do with my hydro vision where i can make the sunlight dance across the waypoint.”

you stared at him as you wordlessly took the silk flowers from his hands. the golden light of the setting sun cast his face in a beautiful sheen, softly showing off the gentle blush on his cheeks and the brilliant blue of his eyes. his auburn hair seemed to grow alive at the touch of the fiery light and all you could do was stare.

childe’s confidence seemed to wane with every passing second that you gazed at him, open mouthed, so he decided to save himself the embarrassment before hesitantly opening his own mouth.

“yes, i would love to” you quickly said. you smiled gently up at him.

“i would love to watch the sunset with you”

you felt your cheeks burning up as you looked at him with soft eyes. when he returned your expression with a dazzling smile of your own, you could feel yourself relax. yes, your heart rate was off the chart right now, but you were content. the sunset, childe, and the silk flowers was something you never knew you needed, but were glad you got. you had enough time later to worry about the oncoming mortification of how he found out you liked him.

a single notification appeared in your phone as the two of you walked laughing towards the mountain.

“you’re welcome <3″

BONUS:

“i know i’m too sexy for you to not fall in love with me” childe sighed dramatically as he leaned against you for support as the two of you went up the stairs.

you promptly rolled your eyes and pushed him down the steps as you walked ahead with his protests falling on deaf ears.

#BYE I FORGOT TAGS KAJDHDHS #genshin headcanons #genshin scenarios #genshin impact #childe x reader #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #genshin impact headcanons #genshin childe #tartaglia x reader #genshin tartagalia #tartaglia #genshin impact childe #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact tartaglia #genshin crack

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fanficimagery · 4 years

Text

The Imprint Saga pt. 1

Summary: Imagine finding out the supernatural exists. You manage to keep a level head and even give the whole Imprint business a go, but your poor wolf had no idea just how stubborn you could be when you felt he or anyone else was in the wrong.

Words: 8.2K Warnings: This is absolutely ridiculous. I wrote it, loved it, edited it, and now I hate it. But I wrote three goddamn parts (currently writing pt. 3) and I refuse to delete any of it. With that said, the Reader gets a bit confrontational with those she doesn’t like and punches someone.

Moving to Forks for the start of your Junior year was not ideal, but your mom was in need of a better paying job and it just so happened that Forks General Hospital had a few open positions that needed filling. So after she gave you a week to pack up your room, the house, and have your high school transcripts transferred, your mom hired a moving truck to follow you over two hundred miles to your new home.

Everyone was curious about you and your mom, and it seemed like everyone knew everyone else's business so it was only a matter of time before the waitress at the local diner told everyone what she learned when she had made small talk with your mom. The town was also pretty dreary, but the beach in the next town over made up for it.

The first day of school has you waking up earlier than usual so you can drop your mom off at work before taking the car for yourself. Then after checking in at the main office to get your schedule and a slip of paper that needs to be signed by every teacher before being turned in at the end of the day, the day starts off exactly as you expected.

Every stare is immediately on you as you park your car, the murmurs starting as soon as you exit. Glancing around, unimpressed, you put your arms through the straps of your backpack and secure it snugly to you. Then pulling up the hood of your jacket, you head straight for the double doors.

Only halfway there, a student jumps out in front of you and snaps a picture of you. "You're Y/N Y/L/N," he grins, fiddling with his camera. "I'm Eric Yorkie, the eyes and ears of this place."

"Cool," you deadpan.

"Anything you need?" He then asks, clearly excited to be talking to you. "Tour guide, lunch date, a shoulder to cry on?" You can only blink in response and he readily continues on. "I'm on the paper and you're news, baby. Front page."

The clearly excitable and gossip go-to are people you tend to steer clear of, but something about this boy has you cracking a grin. He takes notice, practically shaking with excitement. "So long as you never call me baby again, I'll let you run whatever story you come up with."

"Yes!"

"And you have to dial down the eagerness from about a thirteen to a three. Take a breath, dude. I'm not that interesting."

"Nice." He tries so hard to seem cool and collected, but it's clearly not working. "Can I use that as a headline."

"Whatever." Eric keeps staring, almost like an eager puppy, and you sigh. "I'm gonna go. I want to acquaint myself with my locker and make sure I know how to follow this map. See you at lunch with those questions you no doubt are going to ask for that paper of yours." He seems like he's going to ask you something else, but you make a quick escape and leave him behind.

Finding your locker is fairly easy so long as you follow the numbers, but it's the classes that are a bit tricky. You're used to having all the classes in one building, either upstairs or downstairs, but the classes here are located in various buildings that make up the entire school.

You're not sure exactly sure which exit to take to find building E since apparently one side of the map ended up being cut off, so you walk up to the first couple you see standing by their lockers. The guy is pretty burly and the girl is ridiculously pretty for being a high school teenager. "Hey," the two teens tense, but you pay it no mind, "sorry to bother you, but can you tell me which way to go for building E? My map was cut off," you explain while showing them said map.

The burly boy blinks owlishly at you and the girl glares, but the only thing that pops into your head is that they have the most exotic eyes you've ever seen. "Oh. Uh sure." The boy takes the map from you, turning around to place it against a locker and finishes the map for you. As he hands it back, he says, "Just keep walking straight and take a left. Building E is that way."

You offer him a tired smile in return. "Thank you." Then glancing at the girl, your gaze falls to her feet. "Huh. Nice boots." Her glare softens, but you don't see it before you take your leave.

Classes then proceed to go exactly as expected, you getting your slip of paper signed before each class and then giving your name, the place you moved from, and a random fact for each teacher that asks you to introduce yourself to the class.

Lunch rolls around and you find an empty table, happily setting your tray down and tearing your hamburger to bite size pieces before eating them. That's where Eric finds you, Angela Weber in tow. The girl is someone you're most likely to befriend with her soft spoken nature and laid back personality. They ask questions about where you've moved from, your family, and your hobbies. You easily answer them, tossing in a crass joke or two that has Angela snorting milk from her nose and Eric taking a picture of the aftermath as you smirk at the poor girl.

Lauren, Tyler, Mike, and Jessica make their appearance at your table then, and you immediately dislike them. They're loud, rude, and obnoxious. The girls clearly have jealousy issues of some sort and the boys are only interested in what your dating life is like. But through them you learn about the Cullen clan.

"Oh my god," Jessica suddenly muses. "Don't look now, but Alice Cullen is staring at you!"

You frown when you realize she's addressing you. "Who?"

"Alice Cullen? Don't you know who they are by now?!"

"Uh no?"

Lauren smirks, leaning forward in her seat as if she's preparing to tell you the juiciest piece of gossip. "The Cullen and Hale twins are pretty much royalty around here, even if they don't give anyone the time of day." She gestures to the table in question and it's then you realize two of the so-called royalty are the couple you approached earlier that morning. "They've all been adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife since she can't have any kids."

"Wow. Okay one, rude. All you had had to say was that Dr. Cullen and his wife adopted them. There is no need to tell anyone about Mrs. Cullen allegedly being infertile." Lauren, Jessica, and the boys gape at you, but Angela hides her smile behind her cup. "And two, why should it matter if they're staring? Are you really that starstruck over a bunch of teenagers?"

"B-Because they're the Cullen’s!" Jessica practically whisper shouts. "They're like together-together- Rosalie and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper- and they never pay attention to anyone, and- oh god, now Edward is looking over here!"

Jessica is on the verge of swooning and you roll your eyes, sighing. "Jesus Christ," you mutter. "You really need to pull yourself together. They're kids like you and I, albeit better looking, but still kids nonetheless. It's like you're desperate for their attention."

"Well yeah," Lauren scoffs. "You should feel lucky they're even looking in your direction."

"Gross," you utter. Jessica and Lauren are now looking at you in disbelief and annoyance, and the boys have clearly busied themselves with gossip of their own when the Cullen’s were mentioned. Lightly clearing your throat, you stand up and pick up your tray. "Well it was nice talking to you, Eric and Angela. I'll see you around. Maybe."

You dump your tray and then make your way out of the cafeteria building, easily finding your next class since Emmett Cullen had fixed your map. You then proceed to have a class with Edward Cullen- he nodding in greeting when you catch his gaze, a nod which you return- and a class with Alice Cullen who is practically bouncing in her seat when the teacher sits you next to her. She's a little too perky for your likes, so you merely grin before immediately pulling out your spiral notebook and taking notes from the board.

Your last class of the day is your history class which you end up sitting next to Jasper Hale. He's very tense and quiet, and seems both interested yet terrified of your presence, so you don't pay him much mind after nodding at him when you take your seat.

All in all, your classes are decent and you've literally only spoken to one person in the entire that you can find yourself wanting to spend time with outside of school. Angela.

It doesn't take long for the teens of Forks High to realize you're not afraid to speak your mind when they annoy you, and you found yourself only ever seeking out Angela. And out of all the Cullen’s it's Alice who seemed most interested in befriending you, but you weren't really interested. You were polite when she approached you, but you never really offered to hang out with her or take her up on her offer to go shopping. And while every other student found it offensive that you've turned her down, her family found it rather amusing.

Jasper eventually slightly warmed up to you since your teacher had partnered you up with him for a project, so you found it rather easy explaining to him that you weren't really the type of girl Alice needed in her life. He chuckled at your explanation of cheery people not being your cup of tea, but that you didn't have the heart to tell Alice yourself, and promised to let her down easy for you. You sighed in relief, thanked him, and then got back to taking notes.

Fortunately for you, Bella Swan came to Forks and Alice found a new girl to set her attention on.

It's the weekend, and you and your mom are feeling up to spending a day on the beach. And since it's chilly out, your mom makes a few phone calls to La Push to make sure that you won't be getting in trouble if you were to make a fire on the beach. So after purchasing a small shovel and some easy to light wood that would keep your fire going, she drives the two of you down to La Push Beach.

You find the perfect place to have your fire, next to a rather large piece of driftwood that appears as if it'd make the perfect backrest. You dig a shallow hole while your mom makes a teepee of wood before lighting it, and then the two of you plop yourselves down and just breathe in the salty ocean air.

"So how are you liking school, darling?" Your mom asks as she pulls forward a bag of snacks and drinks. "We haven't really had time to sit and talk."

You shrug. "School is school. Met a few people I can actually call friends."

"That's wonderful!"

"But I also made more enemies, so.."

"Y/N," she groans and you laugh. Eventually she grins at you. "What'd they do?"

"They were either too chipper for me to handle or they let their insecurities get the better of them which turned them into snarky assholes."

"Anything in particular you didn't like?"

"Oh. Loads," you say, "but I would rather not get into it. It's done and over with, and I'm perfectly fine with having Angela and Jasper as my only go-to friends."

"If you say so."

"I do. How's the hospital?"

"Oh I love it," your mom suddenly gushes. "I honestly think this might be the place we finally settle down. The only complaint I have about the hospital is that the staff is ridiculously obsessed with Dr. Cullen and his good looks."

You snort. "Seriously? Everyone at school, some teachers included, are freakishly obsessed with Dr. Cullen's adopted children."

Your mom giggles. "Are they pretty too?"

"Very pretty," you sigh. "I'm on pretty decent terms with all of them. Jasper, however, is the only one I tend to seek out if I'm in need of sitting in silence with someone. He's quiet, but he's got a wicked sense of humor when he's comfortable enough to show it."

"Oohh. Do I sense a future boyfriend?"

"Oohh," you tease back, "no." Your mom frowns and you laugh. "Dr. Cullen's children are all seeing each other," you then admit. "Jasper and Rosalie Hale are Mrs. Cullen's niece and nephew, and Edward, Alice, and Emmett were adopted by Dr. Cullen. Jasper and Alice are dating, as are Rosalie and Emmett. Edward's got this weird thing going on with the other new girl Bella."

"Oh. Um that's a bit-"

"Weird? I mean yeah, but they're not actually related so it's legal. I think." You chuckle, shaking your head and tossing a pringle at your mom.

The two of you lapse into silence, you eventually retrieving your polaroid camera from the car to take a few pictures. You both decide to dip your feet into the ocean water, squealing not even a second later when it proves to be too cold. Then when you and your mom have finally had enough of the beach for the day, she starts gathering your trash while you prepare to turn out the fire.

But before you can throw the first batch of sand on it, a voice calls out to stall you. "Wait! If you're done with the fire, do you mind if my fiancée and I use it?"

You turn around to find a rather tall, muscular and tan individual. The woman at his side barely comes up to his shoulders and she smiles timidly, her hair hiding some pretty fresh facial scars. "Not at all." You dump the sand off your shovel, smiling in greeting. "We just put some wood on, so it should still burn for a bit."

The man smiles. "I'm Sam. This is Emily." The woman waves, a wave which you return.

"Y/N. And the crazy lady who has yet to speak up is my mom [enter mom's name here]."

"Hey!" You smirk, glancing over your shoulder as your mom joins you. "I'm not that crazy." She winks as she joins you, introducing herself to Sam and Emily.

"So you guys new to town?" Sam wonders.

"To Forks," she says.

"Yeah. We moved here about two months ago now. But I love the beach, so we decided to make a day of it." Sam and Emily nod in understanding. "But we should be going now. You guys have a fire to enjoy. It was nice meeting you."

"You as well," Emily softly says. "I hope we run into each other again."

"You will," your mom says. "I swear Y/N was a mermaid in another life. She loves the ocean."

"Either that or a wild animal. I'm kind of drawn to the forests around here. It's.. peaceful."

"They can be," Sam says, "but they can also be very dangerous. If you go hiking, go with a friend. A group is better."

"Duly noted, my dude."

"And on that note," your mom says, "we really should be going. Hope you two have a nice night."

"You as well," Sam replies as you and your mom take your leave.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months.

Your friendship with Angela had ended up leading you to being introduced to Bella, and you surprisingly found yourself with someone else you could call a friend. She doesn't tend to gossip or talk about anyone's insecurities, and she somehow manages to pick up on your moods pretty well. So when your mom can't make it to your beach trips, you tend to take Bella and/or Angela.

And on the days you go alone to the beach or your with your mom, Sam and/or Emily manage to find you.

The start of your Senior year is exciting and you're already looking forward to graduation. But not even two months into your Senior year, the Cullen’s decide to move away. You're sad to see Jasper go, but you completely understand and tell him and Alice to send postcards or knick knacks from wherever they make stops at. Healing crystals are your favorite just because they're pretty and you like to line them on your shelves, and Alice promises to send some really pretty ones.

Bella, however, seems to take their absence really hard. No amount of talking to her helps, so you give her some space. And in distancing yourself, you find yourself visiting La Push Beach more and more, and spending time with Emily.

It's there with Emily that you first meet Paul Lahote, Sam's newest friend.

"Hey Em, Paul and I are going to grill some burgers. You need anything from the market?"

"No, honey. I'm good."

"Y/N?"

Looking up from the crackling fire, you say, "Yes, Samuel?" Sam's friend snorts and you turn glittering eyes on him. "Hi. I'm Y/N."

Sam's friend looks right at you, his posture and expression going lax by the second. Your expression falters, even as you do your best to keep up a smile. Sam notices, frowns, and then smothers laughter as he elbows his friend. "Oh. Um, I'm Paul."

"Nice." You look back at Sam, grinning. "Can you bring some hot Cheetos?"

"Sure thing." Paul seems perfectly content looking at you, so Sam has to grasp him by the shoulder. "Let's go, Lahote. If Y/N doesn't get her hot Cheetos soon, she'll get cranky."

You don't deny his statement, only grinning wider and shrugging a shoulder. Paul huffs a laugh, but joins Sam, and you refocus your attention on Emily who's smiling a little too wide. "What?"

"So Paul, huh? Was it just me or did he seem a little too interested?"

You roll your eyes, chuckling. "Do all Quileute boys look like that? Because if so, I'm in trouble."

"I'm surprised you didn't bite his head off for staring."

"It's La Push, Em, I'm telling you," you chuckle. "There's just something about this place that makes me feel at peace. I feel.. connected almost, if that makes any sense."

"It does," she grins knowingly. "Believe me, it does."

Eventually Sam and Paul return to Emily entertaining you with changing the color of the fire by tossing driftwood into it, and they grill up some burgers on a small portable grilling pit. Sam and Emily are side-by-side, laughing as you suck in air between clenched teeth because you ate too many hot cheetos yet again. Nearby, Paul looks torn between laughing or getting you something to drink.

You can't explain it, but you immediately get on with Paul. He's talkative, which normally annoys you, but you find yourself relaxed around him. He's sort of a touchy-feely person, but you don't mind and even relax when he sits next to you and slings an arm around your shoulders when you end up laughing a little too hard at one of your own jokes. You don't see it, but Sam and Emily stare at you and Paul with fond expressions.

The night soon comes to an end and you leave the beach with a few new polaroids to hang on your wall, some of which you having departed with because Emily and Paul wanted them.

Another few weeks pass which leaves you looking forward to Christmas vacation after the shit day you've had at school. Your mom's already been informed of the altercation which took place, and after spending all day in In-School-Suspension since she couldn't leave work to pick you up you're more than ready to go home and nap the rest of the day away.

However, when you get home, you're all too aware of the grumpy mood you're slipping into when you're left alone with your thoughts. You feel mentally drained, you wish you didn't, and all you want to do is get away. So after tossing and turning in the comfort of your bed, you grab your cell phone which was lying next to you and scroll down to Emily's name.

The phone rings a couple of times before she picks up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Em, you busy?"

"Not at all. How are you?"

You gulp. "I've been better. Today was a shit day and I just- I need to get out. You busy this weekend?"

"Nope. What did you have in mind?" She chuckles.

"It sounds pretty juvenile," you say, "but I was wondering if you were interested in a girl's weekend? Starting tonight preferably? Obviously Sam will be there because we'll be at your house, but I much rather deal with you and him than anyone here in Forks."

"That sounds wonderful," she says. "Will your mom be okay with that?"

"Yeah. She understands how I get sometimes and she'll be happy that I'm taking the initiative to put myself in a positive atmosphere rather than sulking over what happened for the next three days."

"That bad, huh?"

"Not necessarily."

"Tell you what. Paul is actually in Forks on a job for Sam. I can call him and have him pick you up if you want to leave the car with your mom."

"That sounds perfect, Em. Thank you. I'll call my mom right now to let her know what the plan is."

"Okay. See you soon."

After hanging up with Emily, you call your mom. You tell her that you need a breather and that Emily's offered to let you spend the weekend with her starting tonight. Your mom agrees to the plan and assures you that she has a ride home after work so she doesn't need you to wait for her to get out or for you to drop the car off.

Your mom ends up keeping you on the phone a little longer than expected to talk about what went down at school, so you've only just hung up with her and made it downstairs to the hall closet to search for a duffel bag when there's a knock on the front door.

Opening the door, you're met with a rather sheepish Paul. "Hey, Lahote. You got here fast."

"Yeah. I was already done with my errand when Em called."

"Oh good. I haven't packed my bag yet, so come on in."

Paul enters your house and you shut the door behind him. "Emily mentioned a girl's weekend starting tonight. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Yeah about that," you chuckle nervously as you lead him upstairs, "I'm actually suspended tomorrow and have been instructed to cool off over the weekend."

"Suspended?" Paul snorts. "What the hell did you do?"

"Shoes off at the top step or you wait there," you quickly inform him. "The whole top floor is carpeted and I don't like shoes on the carpet." Paul hesitates, but he kicks off his shoes in the end. "And I might have punched Bella Swan."

Paul barks out a quick laugh as he follows you. "What did Bella Swan ever do to you?"

The whole upstairs level is a loft which your mom gladly let you have and you've fixed it to your liking so you're not hesitant to let anyone see it. You move to your dressers to grab three sets of comfortable clothes to lounge around in, underwear, and then grab a pair of jeans from your closet. "She, uh, she's been hanging out with that Jacob Black kid that keeps going on and on about Sam being in a cult," you say while setting your clothes into the duffel bag.

You walk over to your bathroom, quickly grabbing your toiletries and carrying them out to drop on your bed. "I don't know how she knows we hang out, but she had the goddamn nerve to tell me that I needed to stop hanging out with you because you and Sam were bad news. I laughed it off at first because she's a friend, but she kept pushing and I just- I snapped."

You plop down on your bed and when you look up, you find Paul standing in front of your book shelf which houses only two shelves of books while your healing crystals take up one shelf and geodes of various colors on another. "You really like rocks, don't you?"

You shrug. "They're pretty and most of those are from a friend who just moved away. I don't actually believe they have healing abilities, I just like the aesthetic of it all." Paul picks a couple up, examining them. "I was gonna learn how to make a necklace with some of the smaller ones, but then I got lazy. Maybe I'll learn soon."

As Paul moves on from the crystals to standing in front of the polaroids stuck to your wall, you smile and fix the contents of your bag. "Sam and Emily are in a lot of these," he says while grinning over his shoulder.

"Because I like them. It feels like I've known them for ages rather than a few months." Just as you've pulled the blanket from your bed to fold and take with you, Paul plops down on the edge of the bed. "No, no, don't!" Paul freezes and then his eyes widen, and you sigh. "Don't you dare get comfortable, Lahote."

"Jesus Christ," he groans. "What is your bed made out of?" He scoots up your bed, laying back fully. "If we ever get to that point in our friendship where we have sleepovers, I'm definitely sleeping in your bed."

You snort. "Keep dreaming."

"Oh I will." You're thankful his eyes are closed because his words make you blush.

You quickly get yourself under control, and once you have everything Paul takes your bag while leaving you to take your blanket and pillow. He easily slides his feet back into his sneakers and you follow him downstairs where you put on your own shoes. Then outside, Paul opens the passenger door for you before handing you your bag.

"All set?"

"Yep. All set."

Paul shuts the door, smirking, and you roll your eyes at him as he saunters in front of the truck to get to the driver side door. He chuckles as he settles himself behind the steering wheel and your thoughts the entire way to La Push are centered around how screwed you are if Paul keeps up with the flirty behavior.

Thursday night at Sam and Emily's proved to be exactly what you needed. You had attempted to help her in the kitchen, but she pushed you into the living room to find something on tv. Sam and Paul had left to run some errands, so instead you made yourself comfortable at the kitchen table and kept Emily company while she cooked.

The boys had reappeared with a friend in tow, all shirtless and barefoot. You were introduced to Jared who couldn't stop smirking at you and Paul, and you only had to threaten him once when he made a crass joke directed at you. It almost sounded like a growl had come from Paul, but Emily had distracted you soon after.

When Sam and Emily had found out why you didn't have school on Friday, they seemed rather amused but it was Emily who had lightly scolded you about violence not being the answer. You assured her you knew and that your mom had already gotten on your case about it, and then proceeded to help Emily around the house and do a bit of grocery shopping since it seemed she fed not only Sam, but also Paul and Jared. Then Friday night you and Emily watched movies as the boys ran some more errands, and the two of you barely complained when the boys crashed it.

Saturday morning, you and Emily had been making some breakfast when Paul showed up. He had greeted Emily with a kiss to her cheek and when he turned to you, you raised an eyebrow at him. He had huffed, but gave you a brief side-hug before joining Sam at the table. Then just as you were taking the coffee to the table, a heart stopping howl had ripped through the air. You shuddered, Sam and Paul perked up, and Emily attempted to distract you.

But before she could, Sam spoke up. "There's nothing to be scared of. The wolves don't go anywhere near our homes."

You had startled at the hand Emily laid on your shoulder and then realized you had frozen when you heard the howl. "Oh. I'm not scared." You had set the coffee down and then took a seat. "I actually like wolves. I just never heard one outside of a wolf sanctuary."

Paul choked on his bite of food. "W-Wolf sanctuary? You've been to one of those."

"Yeah." You had started to make yourself a plate when you explained. "When I was younger, I was really obsessed with wolves. Before my dad passed, he would take me every summer to the sanctuary. I visited so much that one wolf in particular remembered me. She would knock me down to greet me and then follow me around for as long as I was there."

Not long after you had shared that memory, Jared rushed in through the back door and Emily made him sit to have breakfast before he whisked Sam and Paul away. Then before Sam had left, he had told you and Emily to dress warm because there was a bonfire with Quileute Elders that he had wanted you to attend later that night. Paul had become apprehensive at that, but your interest had been piqued immediately.

Then later that night after you had dressed warm for the beach, Sam had driven you and Emily. Paul was waiting for you at the beach and you noticed he seemed almost nervous, so when he reached for your hand you let him take it without a word. There were a handful of people on the beach, sitting around a fire, and you smiled and shook hands with everyone Paul introduced you to.

Eventually, Harry Clearwater called for everyone's attention. He spoke of the Quileute legends- of the men long before their time and spirit warriors who chased away threats. Everyone listening was hanging off his every word, and you found yourself enthralled with the tale of the Cold Ones and the Quileutes magically shifting into wolves who hunted the Cold Ones down after one slaughtered half their village. He spun a beautiful tale that you left shivering when a woman sacrificed herself for her husband and something about the somber atmosphere afterward left you feeling off. It was almost as if everyone present believed in the legends.

Harry went on to explain that the Quileute legends were passed down from generation to generation, and that it was of the utmost importance no outsiders hear them. And that- that confused you because you were the very definition of an outsider. Yet it also didn't slip your mind that everyone you had met welcomed you with warm smiles.

Back at Sam and Emily's, Emily has instructed you, Sam, and Paul to take a seat at the table while she whisks up some hot chocolate.

But your earlier thoughts are still sticking with you. "Not that I don't appreciate being invited out tonight, but why was I?" You hesitantly ask. "I'm clearly not of Quileute blood."

Paul's gaze immediately darts to Sam. He and Paul share a look, the elder man nodding. Paul promptly stands and heads out the back door, and you frown as you watch him go. "Special circumstances made it so that we were able to bring in you in on the secret."

"Secret?" You wonder. "Your legends are really that secretive?"

"They have to be," Emily carefully explains as she makes her way back to the table, hot chocolate forgotten. "If not, the wolves would be hunted down."

"The wolves?" You quirk an eyebrow, grinning, but your amusement falters when a howl pierces the air. You gulp and your eyes immediately dart to the back door. "That was a coincidence."

Another howl echoes back. "Should someone go get Paul? That sounded awfully close."

Emily smiles sadly and you find yourself climbing to your feet to follow after her. Sam follows behind and you can't help the sharp inhale when a large gray wolf stands in their backyard. "That's no normal wolf," you mutter, shocked at the sheer size of it.

The wolf seems antsy, whining as it shifts it's weight from front paw to front paw. You can't take your eyes off it, nor it you, and you find your chest aching with how hard and fast your heart is pumping.

"The wolves protect our lands from the Cold Ones. Vampires," Sam says and you flinch, startled. "The Quileute legends were just that- legends that we were told growing up. But then a coven of Cold Ones settled in Forks and their proximity started to trigger our shapeshifting abilities."

"O-Our?"

Sam smiles sadly before walking off the porch and towards the gray wolf. Your eyes widen and you reach out for him, but Emily pulls you back. "It's okay," she tells you. "Watch."

From one moment to the next, Sam bursts out of his clothes and in his place is an even larger black wolf. You choke back a sob, your mind trying to wrap around what it is you're seeing. Emily tucks you under one of her arms, but you hold yourself tense. "I- I don't- what?"

"They're our protectors."

"But- but how?" You shakily point at Sam, then towards the gray wolf. "And who?"

Emily squeezes you a little closer. "I think you know who, sweetheart."

The gray wolf whines and takes a step closer, but the black wolf lowly growls at him. Your mind is going a mile minute and part of you is wanting to go searching for Paul. But surely if Paul had heard the howl, he'd have come back or called or something. And then it clicks. "Paul?" the wolf whines louder and lowers itself to its belly. You exhale harshly, breath stuttering as you try not to freak out. "I- I need-"

"Shh," Emily shushes you. "Let's get you back inside and-"

"Home. I need to go home," you say as you start walking backwards. The gray wolf whines louder, standing up and running towards the woods. The black wolf watches him go before looking back at you and Emily, huffing once before sprinting after the wolf himself.

"Come on, Y/N. I'll get you home."

You collect your belongings in a daze, meeting Emily by the kitchen. She smiles sadly at you, a smile which you return, and you follow after her to Sam's truck. Just as you've set your bag and blanket down, and are about to hop into the truck, a heart shattering howl rips through the air. You freeze and turn towards the woods, your heart aching at the sorrowful howl.

The drive is silent with the exception of the static-filled airwaves and all too soon Emily is parking outside your house. Your house is empty with your mom being at work, so you're in no rush to get out and Emily is in no rush to kick you out.

The seconds seem to drag on until eventually you ask the question that's been nagging you since Sam let the wolf out of the bag. "Why me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why me, Em?" You sigh and turn in your seat to stare at the woman. "What were the special circumstances that Sam deemed it appropriate for me to know all this?"

She fidgets in her seat. "This is something you should be really talking to Paul about, Y/N."

"But I'm asking you. I don't- I need time. But I also need to know why you guys let an outsider in when it's clear outsiders aren't welcome."

You stare at Emily long enough that she finally caves. "The wolves have something that they call Imprints. Long story short, imprints are the wolves' soulmates. They live, they breathe, and they'll do anything for this one person."

"Okay..?"

"I am Sam's imprint," she breathes out a little too quickly, "and you-"

"And me?" You ask when she trails off. She looks at you, almost as if pleading with her eyes to not make her say it. Your chest aches with realization. "And I'm whose? Paul's?" At her hesitant nod it's like all the air is sucked from your lungs. Your eyes tear up and a noise that's a mixture between a laugh and sob escapes you. Emily continues to stare and you shake your head, sniffling. "I think I should go."

"Y/N."

"Please don't," you mutter. "This is a lot to take in and I just need-"

"Time," Emily finishes. "I understand."

As you grab your blanket and pillow a little tighter in one arm, you grab the strap of your duffel bag with the other. Getting out, you then stand by the opened door. "I'll talk to you soon, Em. I will," you assure her. "I just need to sleep on it."

Just as you're getting ready to shut the door, Emily stops you. "I know it's a lot to take in. Believe me, I know," she huffs a laugh. "And when you come back around, remind me to tell you all about how Sam and I first started out."

"Do you- would you mind telling me now?" You meekly ask. "My mom will still be gone for a few more hours and in all honesty I would rather learn of everything from a fellow imprint."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. I'll just call and leave a message for Sam."

Shapeshifting wolves, Imprints, and Cold Ones. It's a lot to take in, especially learning just who the Forks coven was, but a lot easier to digest coming from Emily. Hers and Sam's story was heartbreaking, but watching the love and affection she held for him eased your mind and heart some.

You had Sunday all to yourself, not doing anything at all but lounging in bed and watching the cheesiest rom-coms you could find on tv. Your mom had lured you downstairs with some meatloaf and gravy, and then you had proceeded to shower and get in bed early for school the next morning.

Monday morning had a good morning text and an apology from Paul, and you did your best to pay attention in school. People were still talking about how Bella got her black eye, but they were let down when you and Bella ran into one another and all you did was nod before moving on. She was still in a slump since the Cullen's departure and it took everything in you to keep from telling her you knew about the Cold Ones. But you figured in doing so, she'd want to know how you found out and you couldn't tell her about the wolves. So you kept quiet and tried to figure out exactly what you were going to do about Paul.

Emily had explained that the relationship between a wolf and his imprint wasn't necessarily romantic, but more often than not that's how it usually played out. She tried her best to not persuade you into anything, so you assured her she had nothing to worry about. Things between you and Paul weren't exactly normal, but you were comfortable enough with whatever you and him had going on.

Then by Monday night the loneliness started to kick in and you couldn't hold back for much longer. So Tuesday morning, after dropping your mom off at work, you decide to skip school and head down to La Push.

It's not long before you're parking in front of Emily's house. You've only walked up the steps when the screen door opens and Paul steps out. His expression is stoic, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jean shorts.

"Can we- can we go for a walk?" You ask. Paul nods and you turn to head back down the steps. He follows after you and you cross your arms over your chest as the two of you walk down the road. "So wolves," you drawl. "And imprints."

Paul huffs, smothering his amusement. "Yep. Emily told us she told you everything."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I just figured it'd be easier to hear from her rather than anyone else." You kick a stray rock, sighing.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Hmm? Oh. No. I just wanted to see you."

Paul stops and you continue a few steps more before turning around to face him. When you meet his gaze, you roll your eyes at his smug expression. "So you're not going to freak out?"

"That's what Sunday was for," you tell him. "And then I moped around a bit on Monday and caved this morning."

"So what are-"

"We?" You finish for him. He nods. "I'm not sure. I was just hoping we would take it day by day. If something happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. So what do you say?" You ask, holding a hand out for him.

He glances at your hand, grinning. "Sure. Why not." Taking up your hand, you and Paul then head back towards Emily's.

Christmas came and went, you spending the day with your mom since she had the day off. Then New Years came and you spent the day on the Rez since your mom had to work. You learn about the pack dynamics since more wolves had started to phase and then raised the question about why they were phasing if the Cullen coven had moved away. It was Paul who reluctantly admitted that they didn't know why.

Then Jacob Black joined the pack and Bella fell back down the slippery slope into a state of depression. But something about this time around seemed different and you just knew it was going to be bad. And sure enough you were right. Mostly.

You're finishing up an English essay when the doorbell rings. You ignore it since your mom is downstairs, grinning when you hear her greet Paul. She had met him on Christmas Eve and if you hadn't called dibs, you were pretty sure she would have jokingly tried. Your mom stalls Paul for just a little while and then you hear him climbing the stairs just as you cross your last t's and dot your last i's.

"Hey there, smarty pants."

You smile and close your binder, capping your pen and turning in your seat. "Hey, wolf boy. Done with patrol?"

"Yeah. Sam gave me the night to cool off."

"Cool off?" Paul sheepishly pads barefoot over to your bed, falling in and scooting towards the wall. You get up, clicking off your desk lamp and plugging in the fairy lights above your bed. "What did you do?" You ask, falling into bed right next to him.

"Black got around Sam's gag order and that leech lover of his found out about us."

"Leech lov- Bella? Bella knows about the Quileutes?" You ask, eyes wide and voice lowered.

"Yep." You finally settle down, head pillowed on his outstretched arm while you drape an arm across his abdomen. "Bella punched me and-"

"She punched you?!"

"Yes." He chuckles at your outrage. "And I shifted in front of her. Jacob and I got into a fight, and Bella was let in on everything. Turns out that redheaded leech is after her because her leech killed her mate and now she wants to return the favor."

"Jesus Christ," you groan. "Bella's a magnet for them."

"Yeah. So until we get a handle on the situation, please be careful. Don't do any unnecessary wandering in the woods and definitely don't go anywhere with Bella fuckin' Swan."

You snuggle deeper into him, snorting. "Aye, aye, captain. You staying the night?"

"Yeah. Your mom wants the car in the morning because she has to pick up a friend. I'm taking you to school and picking you up."

"Sounds good."

And within minutes, with Paul idly tracing patterns on your back, you're fast asleep.

Waking up the following morning, however, is a lot harder when Paul's cuddling you. You have to drag yourself out from under his arm and then grumble unflattering words at him as he snuggles down with your pillow while you get ready for school.

There's coffee waiting for you downstairs courtesy of your mom and a note of thanks from her to Paul for not defiling you under her roof while she was sleeping downstairs. Paul's cheeks turn red and you giggled the entire drive to school.

The staring reminds you of your first day of school, but this time it's because of Paul. You roll your eyes at the females who seem a little too interested and scoff at Mike and Tyler who frown as you pass by. One stare in particular, however, catches your attention.

"You can let me out here," you say. "I wanna talk to Bella real quick."

"About?"

"Girl stuff." You grin at Paul, quickly rattling off the time you get out of school. Then when you hop out, you make your way towards Bella who's standing by her red monstrosity of a truck. "So I hear you learned about the boys on the Rez."

She blinks owlishly before jerking her head in a nod. "Yeah. You knew?"

"Yep. Since before Christmas."

She frowns. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Excuse me?" The nerve of this girl really grates on your nerves and your hand tightens its grip on the strap of your backpack. "Because it wasn't any of your business." She opens her mouth to no doubt explain her right in knowing, but she wisely shuts her mouth right away when she notices your white knuckled grip. "A word of advice, Bells, you touch Paul again and I'll blacken your other eye. Are we clear?"

Her eyes widen and when you quirk an eyebrow at her, she gulps and quickly nods. "Y-Yeah. Crystal."

"Good. Now let's get to class."

When you turn around, your curse under your breath when you realize Paul is still sitting there in his truck. He's smirking right at you and you just know he's heard what you told Bella. So after quickly flipping him off and grinning when you hear Bella snort in amusement, you and your sometimes friend head towards the school buildings.

You do your best to tune out those who would call themselves your friend, ignoring the questions about your mysterious morning companion. Bella, when around, had smirked through it all and only shrugged when the questions were then directed at her, she only telling them he was a guy from La Push.

Then when school lets out, you and Angela are walking side by side. She's going on about an upcoming article she's going to write when Paul catches your attention, he leaning on the tailgate of his truck. But when he catches sight of you, he pushes off and stalks towards you. You grin, Angela trails off when she realizes you're no longer paying her any attention, and Paul smirks just as he comes toe to toe with you.

"What are you doing, Lah-" Hands cup your jaw and feverish lips press against yours. You gasp before your eyes flutter shut, your hands grasping the front of his shirt as you lean up on the tips of your toes to press back against him. Angela giggles from beside you and you only pull back when a whistle pierces the air. You fall back so you're flat on your feet, gulping before licking your bottom lip. "So, uh, so we're doing that now, are we?"

"You started it when you threatened to blacken Swan's eye."

Angela snorts as you purse your lips to keep from laughing. "Whatever. Paul, this is Angela. Ang, this Paul. My.. Paul."

"Smooth," he chuckles, then glances at Angela and nods in greeting. "Hi. It's nice to meet one of Y/N's friends. She doesn't like to introduce me to any of them."

You punch his shoulder. "Not true. Most of my friends are your friends. Angela is the only one outside of La Push that I consider a friend and this is the first time you've literally come here. Don't be a dick."

Paul merely grins down at you, bringing you to his side and turning you so his arm drapes along the back of your shoulders. Angela smiles. "You two are adorable. No wonder none of the boys here caught your attention."

You roll your eyes, biting back a smile. "Yeah, yeah. This idiot had me hooked early on. No one in Forks even stood a chance."

"And on that note," Paul muses, far too smug, "we really should get going."

After telling your friend you'd see her tomorrow, you follow Paul to his truck where he proceeds to open the door for you. Then once he's settled behind the wheel and starts to carefully drive out of the school parking lot, he holds his right hand out in between you and you barely glance at it before grasping his hand with your own left. "So we're really doing this? No going back?"

He grins. "No going back."

#paul x reader #paul lahote x reader #paul lahote imagine #twilight imagine #new moon imagine #paul lahote #sam uley #emily young #angela weber #bella swan #twilight #new moon #fanficimagery #imagine

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pinky-the-elephant-room · 4 years

Text

Shoot your shot

♡ AN: I got around to writing for Haikyuu! again and this time it’s for Oikawa, can you believe I hated this man so much that I ranted to my friend about him for a hour? Now I’m writing a smut for him the growth we love to see it~ I’m an anime only person and I know some spoilers so ignore any inconsistencies you might see because this is an anime only canon fic.

♡ Oikawa x Brazilian Fem Reader : Playing beach volleyball is a cinch no problem right? But the sight of you in a bikini is too much to bear and having a hard on while playing volleyball is hardly convenient. So when Oikawa sees you in nothing but a towel in the locker room he decides to finally make his move on you.

♡ Warning: Explicit shower smut with 27 year old Oikawa, voyeurism, semi public sex, and maybe a daddy kink at the end? Read at your own discretion.

✯ ✯ ------------------------- ✯ ✯

➢ Portuguese translation

⇢ Y/N, você está aqui? - Y/N, are you in here?

⇢ Sim, ainda estou aqui - Yes, I’m still here.

⇢ Fode me o meu amor - Fuck me, my love.

“Yoohoo! Lucas, how you been?” Oikawa said, stretching out his o’s.

His Argentinean teammate said something, but the reception was terrible.

“Hold on! Let me take this outside.” He stepped out of his air-conditioned flat out into the humid air.

The voice garbled a few more sentences before it became clearer. “C-can you hear me now?”

Oikawa grinned hearing the familiar voice. “Yeah! What’s up?”

Though, he will always cherish his memories with his former team in Japan. Oikawa was now connecting with his national team as well as creating bonds and chemistry on par with his friends back home.

“Alright, amigo, I just did you a huge favor. You’re going to love me and I’m demanding more of that milk bread from you.”

He felt the familiar irritation every time someone claimed his milk bread. Oikawa only shared his milk bread with his teammate because he never tasted the magnificence of the treat. He almost suffered a heart attack when Lucas asked what was so good about bread.

“No promises, but I’m listening,” Oikawa replied as he looked over the night sky of Bueno Aires, it felt gratifying to know that a Japanese boy from a small town now lived in one of the biggest cities in Argentina.

“You remember telling me to help out with your little crush on Y/N, right?”

He rolled his eyes and pouted, “I don’t recall asking for your help! I just asked if she was single. That’s two different things!”

Oikawa remembered when he first saw Y/N at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he had been ecstatic to go home despite representing another country. It was his debut performance on a world stage. So, he walked around Tokyo for a while before heading back to his hotel to prepare for his match. When Oikawa turned on his T.V., he noticed it was the Women’s volleyball finals between Brazil and the U.S. It seemed like the Japanese women didn’t make it. He watched for a few minutes absentmindedly before he got distracted by player 24 from Brazil. She was the ace and was quite short, but it seemed like the average height for the female players. She was quite good, stealing point after point from their opponents. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. But rather her amusing victory dance each time she gained a point for her team. Y/N would obnoxiously dance in front of the net making her opponents furious.

Oikawa grinned childishly; he knew she was doing it on purpose as the U.S. team started making amateur errors as the gap between the two teams widened. It was a good strategy, one that he himself used on opponents that irritated him like his former kouhai, Kageyama. But his involved taunting, not twerking in front of his opponents. He didn’t think he would look half as good as she did.

From there, it was mere curiosity as to who the player was. She was quite pretty with her long curly hair and golden skin. He didn’t think he would meet her the very next day as she chatted with Lucas in Portuguese. He had no idea his Spanish speaking teammate even knew Portuguese. She had glanced over to him and introduced herself in rich accented English.

“Hello, I’m Y/N L/N. Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand.

He shook it, marveling at the softness despite the calluses he felt on her palm.

When she left to go find her team, Oikawa turned to Lucas and asked in a casual voice, “soooo… are you two together or something?”

Lucas just grinned at him and shook his head.

“Nah, she’s my how you say… my tomodachi.”

From there Lucas had taken it upon himself to get the two together, which didn’t work well after the Olympics were over as he returned to Bueno Aires and she to Brazil.

“So, anyway I told her that you would do it in place of me! Isn’t that great?” Oikawa snapped out of his thoughts as Lucas continued.

“Wait what? Repeat that last part.”

He heard an aggravated sigh from the phone.

“Y/N participates in a beach volleyball competition every summer for charity. Her usual partner is gone, and she asked me, but I told her that I hurt my ankle. So, I volunteered you for the job!”

Oikawa blinked as the words registered in his mind.

“B-but I’ve never played professional beach volleyball before.”

Sure, he’s played some matches for fun every now and then. But surely a legitimate competition is different than screwing around with a beach ball.

“Ehh, it’s the same sport just with different rules. But don’t let that get in your way. This is your chance!”

Since he came back from Tokyo, Oikawa did sort of miss her and he hadn’t connected with any of the girls he met since.

“Alright fine. Let’s do this. How hard can it be?”

From there Lucas gave Y/N’s number to him. He immediately texted her and they figured out a schedule to practice together a few months before the actual tournament. Thankfully with the Olympics over, he no longer had to be in Argentina for the rigorous team practices and was free to go to Brazil as he pleased. So, a few weeks later he reached the coastal city Ubatuba in Brazil, ready to finally take a crack at beach volleyball.

Oikawa was munching away on his toast when he heard a knock in his hotel room. He quickly downed his breakfast smoothie and made his way to look through the peephole to see Y/N standing outside waiting patiently. He unlocked the door and let her in.

“Hey. How was your flight?” She asked as she kissed his cheek in greeting.

Oikawa felt his face get warm and tried not to get too excited over the fact that she had kissed him. He knew it was part of the friendly culture, but he couldn’t help the flutters that erupted from the gesture.

“Not too bad. Only two hours long.”

“Hope you’re ready to practice today. My friends and I have a court set up at Praia de Santa Rita. It’s a private beach we reserved and afterwards there are tons of restaurants we can go to for dinner,” Y/N said as she looked around the fancy hotel he had booked. He smirked at her reaction of course he deserved nothing but the best.

The two of them stepped out of the hotel and his eyes widened at the sight of her large jeep. Y/N jumped in and waved him inside. He carefully maneuvered himself in, hopefully, she wouldn’t drive too crazily.

“Put on your seat belt, you’ll need it!” Y/N screamed gleefully, and she revved up her jeep before pulling out of the parking lot. Oikawa’s nails dug into the seat’s handles while he held on tightly as she swerved around the tight corners without slowing down. His face continued to pale as she kept driving before finally pulling next to a beach. He carefully let himself out and his legs felt like jelly.

Oikawa gasped out, “y/n, please don’t ever drive again for everyone’s safety.”

He only heard the remnants of her door slamming and her giggles while she walked away. Oikawa followed her coming onto a rest area.

“Ok, this is where the restrooms and locker rooms are. So, get changed if you need to and then just follow the signs down to the beach,” she told him before heading inside herself with a small bag in her hand. He himself had brought along a change of clothes some shorts and a tank top with some sunscreen. Oikawa learned the hard way how important sunscreen was under the intense sun here when he turned into a lobster. After getting changed he found himself on the warm sand with the hot sun beating on his head. There was a volleyball net set up in the middle of the sand and there was a small group there getting warmed up as they spiked the ball from one side to the other.

“Hey! Good you’re here now we can get started,” a voice called from behind him. He turned around to see Y/N dressed in a small violet bikini which left little to the imagination. Her toned body and caramel skin caused his own body to burn with undisguised want.

“Are you playing in that?” He yelped.

Y/N looked down at her bikini confused, not seeing anything wrong with it.

“Yeah? What else would I wear? I mean sand gets everywhere. I can’t exactly wear a volleyball uniform on the beach,” she said with teasingly.

The flush on his cheek became brighter and he couldn’t exactly blame this on the hot sun either.

“So, what do you know about professional beach volleyball, Toru?”

His face immediately blossomed with a smile. He still wasn’t used to people openly calling him by his first name without honorifics despite being out of Japan for a few years now. But with Y/N it sounded natural and perfect coming out of her mouth. Though she didn’t exactly pronounce his name correctly, she rolled the rs too much. Oikawa never tried to correct her because he found her pronunciation absolutely sensual.

“Aren’t the rules mostly the same?”

Y/N shook her head. “Not exactly. A beach volleyball court is smaller and instead of six players, there are only two. Meaning only me and you are going to protect the entire court. There are no setters, liberos, or blockers. The two players usually divide it into two sides, protecting the left and the right. Beach volleyball games are usually faster, and it's usually played to 21 points instead of 25.”

Oikawa now understood why Lucas had readily volunteered him to become her partner. It would require time and dedication to become decent at the game which he was all too ready to bestow on her.

“Is that all?” he asked looking down at her.

Suddenly, he heard loud yells as the ball headed towards their area and he instinctively grabbed it before it hit either of them. But as soon as he touched it, the ball felt weird. It was lighter and bigger than the average volleyball.

“Oh, and the volleyball is different as you can see.”

Y/N patted his back and said, “come on. Let’s start.”

There were two other girls on one side of the court while he and Y/N occupied the other. She passed off the ball to him for his serve. Y/N went to stand in the top left while he served from the right baseline. He was just about to toss up the ball when he noticed something incredible.

Oikawa bit his lip to contain his groan, the sight was pure torture. It wasn’t fair to him and really any man. Y/N was standing in front of him with her knees bent, ready to receive any serve coming her way. There wasn’t anything wrong with her stance, in fact, if she was wearing her volleyball uniform, she would be doing her job like any other volleyball player professional or otherwise. However, in her bikini the forbidden scene made him feel like the worst type of peeping tom. But he couldn’t help it as he messed with the ball in his hand. Her position was perfect for him to saddle up behind her and press his cock against her clothed cunt. Her round ass cheeks were entirely exposed as the bikini bottoms were stretched against her body and the vaginal lips were apparent even against the dark purple fabric.

Which genius made it a thing to play volleyball in bikinis? Whoever it was Oikawa wanted to strangle and thank them from the bottom of his heart all at the same time.

He jerked his face away from Y/N’s body and tossed the ball in the air only to completely miss. The ball just tumbled a few feet from his person. Y/N turned around to give him a concerned look and gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s ok!” she yelled out before focusing back on her opponents. “Keep going!”

‘Don’t look. Don’t look. D-O-N-T! LOOK! Ah fuck it,’ he thought as his eyes went right back to her ass. Honestly, he thought about possible sex with Y/N multiple times, but they were always fantasies with her on the bottom or on top riding him. But never from behind, clearly, he didn’t know what he was missing. His breath hitched when she bent down just a little further before righting herself again. He could probably call for an impromptu break and take her to the side for a private conversation. Maybe finally have that kiss they’ve both been craving for a long time before pushing her against a wall or a tree. He could hike her legs around him and fuck her until her voice was hoarse from screaming his name while her cunt creamed on his cock.

“Come on, Toru! Let’s go!” Y/N yelled as she effectively ruined his daydreams.

Ok, he had to focus now. Absolutely. The ball was once again in the air and he hit it with his palm only for it to hit the net. ….

Was it possible to bury only the face in the sand? He might have a need for that in just a few minutes.

Just as he was about to serve again his eyes wandered right back to Y/N’s backside, but this time she turned around at the same time to meet his eyes. His eyes widened and he quickly faced the front once more.

“Time out!” he heard Y/N say.

Y/N quickly walked towards Oikawa and stared him down.

“Have you been staring at my ass this entire time?”

He swallowed and coolly responded with a “no.”

“I’m not stupid, Toru! Is this going to be a problem for you?” she asked with her arms crossed and stern.

There was no point in lying, she already caught him red-handed so instead, he shrugged.

“It’s not my fault the view’s just too good. I’m only a man,” he said with a low voice.

“Y-you!” She seemed flabbergasted and amused at the same time. Y/N let out a snort and chuckled a few times before snatching the ball from his hands.

“Just go block for now. I’ll serve.” Y/N pointed to the same spot she herself was standing at. Oikawa being entirely shameless just ran his fingers through his hair and winked at Y/N before taking his spot at the front. The two women that were their opponents seemed to be hysterically giggling as well, guess he wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was. So, Oikawa just waved at them good-naturedly and readied himself for a rally.

It looked like Y/N wasn’t as distracted as him because she served without any problems and the game continued. It was much more difficult than he initially thought. While indoor volleyball was a team effort and everyone had to do their part, now Oikawa was responsible for everything. He was running around diving for the ball like a libero and even doing his own spikes as Y/N set a toss perfectly for him. Before he knew it, the game cycled through 6 sets faster than he was used to. That was another thing he noticed beach volleyball’s sets were much faster paced. Usually, he would take his time to dissect and figure out the opponent’s weaknesses before setting up tosses for his team. Now he had no time for that as he dived and ran after the lighter ball. Not only that he had to consider the weather, but the winds were also messing up his shots. Each time he aimed for the tight corners they would get blown out of bounds. Beach volleyball wasn’t harder necessarily, but it was definitely a challenge to learn.

After a couple more sets, Y/N called for a break. She handed him a cold-water bottle from the cooler while she drank some Gatorade.

“So, how long have you been playing beach volleyball?” he asked after swallowing the refreshing water.

“As long as I’ve been playing volleyball. It’s part of the Brazilian team’s routine. Playing beach volleyball actually makes you a better, well-rounded player,” she said as she put the tightened the Gatorade’s lid on and put it back in the cooler.

Y/N stepped closer to him and leaned into his face.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you staring at my ass. I can’t have you missing your serves during the tournament,” She snickered, he felt her hot breath against his ears, causing shivers to erupt across his body.

Oikawa just leaned in even closer, deliberately eyeing her lips for a moment before staring back in her eyes.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing if I don’t stop?”

Instead of getting flustered and putting space in-between them, she instead stepped even closer to him and blinked innocently at him, her eyes dilating and enrapturing him.

“Behave and if you’re a good boy. I’ll reward you, promise,” she muttered just low enough for him to barely hear.

Y/N pecked his cheek and she lingered there for a moment, he could bask in her closeness and smell the remnants of the shampoo from her long hair.

“Y/N! Come on let’s play again,” her friend shouted from halfway across the court.

“Looks like time’s up. I’ll let you serve this time,” Y/N giggled and ran back to start the game again.

Oikawa felt embarrassment choking him on the inside and vowed not to mess up too badly again. He made his way back to the court and grabbed the ball, he deliberately didn’t look at Y/N as she once stood at the front to block. This time he hit one of his more powerful serves and found that most of the power didn’t transfer over to the ball, but he was able to slightly control the ball better this time. The rally continued on until the sun had turned orange and was about to set. Eventually, the group decided on another date they could meet up and practice again for the tournament.

When everything was packed up and put away, he and Y/N made their trek back up the beach to the resting area again.

“Hey, since we won’t be able to practice until next Saturday again. What say me and you practice by ourselves?”

Y/N looked up from her phone and nodded affirmatively.

“Sounds like a good idea. Practice matches once a week probably won’t help unless we get some practice of our own.”

Oikawa bit his lip, hesitating for a minute before asking her.

“Also, since I’m here, you mind showing me around? This is the first time I’ve been to Brazil.”

Y/N again nodded but with more enthusiasm this time as she regaled about tales of the amazing tourist spots and restaurants they could explore in their free time. The two of them went inside the rest area and he went into the men’s locker room to take a quick shower before changing into his clothes. Just as he stripped down and stepped into the shower, he heard a crash and scream coming from the hallway. He turned off the water and tugged a fluffy towel around his waist before walking to track down whatever made the sound. When he walked out to an empty building, he heard Y/N’s voice distinctly cursing coming from the women’s locker room.

“Y/N? You alright?” Oikawa called out, he waited for a few minutes to hear her reply and when she didn’t respond he stepped inside. He peeked inside carefully just in case there were women walking around. He heard some clutter falling onto the floor a few feet away so following the noise he found Y/N in a towel trying to pick up her items.

“You ok?” he asked concerned. Y/N startled and lost her balance, tumbling onto the locker room’s floor.

“Toru, what are you doing in here? This is a woman’s locker room.”

“I know I thought I heard a woman screaming and then I heard your voice, so I came to check if you were ok.”

She sighed and pushed her dripping wet hair from her face. “Yeah, I’m ok I slipped in the shower, and then I realized I brought my phone into the shower, so I came to put it away, only to drop everything inside of my bag.”

Oikawa was about to bend down and help. “Here let me help.”

Y/N held up her hand and replied, “it’s ok I got it.” She gathered all her items and put it all away along with her phone.

Just as she was about to get up, the water that had been dripping from her body and hair gathered on the floor and made the tiles slick. Her foot slipped and she was about to hit the ground hard when Oikawa grabbed her in time before she could. However, Y/N lost her hold on the towel around her body and it exposed her chest and curves to his naked eyes. He quickly turned his head away while keeping a secure grip on her.

“Ahh! Don’t look!” she screamed and slapped her hands over her breasts. “Did you see anything?”

Oikawa swallowed and wished he could tell her no, but he sort of caught a glimpse at the body he had been craving to touch and feast his eyes on since he met her. So, he should opt to keep quiet.

“It’s ok, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before!” Except he panicked and opened his mouth.

“What does that even mean you jerk!” He could feel her try to pull away from his arms.

“Wait that came out wrong, I swear!”

Oikawa turned back around and felt blindsided by Y/N’s beauty. She was soaked to the bone, but never did she look more beautiful to him than in that moment.

“You’re so….” He trailed off. She looked at him a little confused and quit trying to pull away.

“So what?”

He leaned in and caressed her cheek. Oikawa didn’t finish his sentence and instead just connected their two lips. As he sensually captured her lips, Y/N eagerly responded back to him as if she had been desperately waiting for this just like he was. Keeping one hand on her chin to angle her face, his other hand traveled down to her naked bosom. He reverently caressed and tweaked her dusky peaks while expertly maneuvering the kiss. Y/N whimpered with want when his tongue brushed up against hers. He smirked at her reactions as her breathing started getting more erratic and her cute noises became louder and louder. They only broke apart when he heard people approaching the locker rooms.

Just as Oikawa was about to move away from Y/N, she grabbed his hand.

“The far-left shower at the end,” she jerked her head towards it.

He smiled with excitement knowing that she wanted to continue as much as he did. Grabbing and picking her up like she weighed nothing, he hurried to the shower and tugged the shower curtain shut.

Just in time too as he could hear women laughing and talking in Portuguese.

“Y/N, você está aqui?” a woman called out.

Y/N for her part looked startled at being addressed and pushed away Oikawa’s hands that were still playing with her chest.

“Sim, ainda estou aqui,” Y/N responded in a clear voice. She shot a warning look to Oikawa as his hands found themselves back on her hips and making their way back up. He only cheekily smirked at her and returned to pawing at her cleavage. She waited for a few minutes to hear her friend’s footsteps retreating before pulling Oikawa closer and aggressively kissing him. He tugged the towel around his waist off and hiked Y/N’s silky legs around him.

He carefully maneuvered to turn the shower’s knob and set her against the wall while a jet of hot water poured over them. And Oikawa went right back to devouring her mouth and grinding against her hot cunt. As soon as his cock made contact with her tingling clit, Y/N’s body spasmed and she tried to tug him closer. Her ankles interlocked at his waist and she tried to thrust below to encourage him to enter her. But he only chuckled at her excitement and continued to slowly slide back and forth. Y/N forgetting for a moment where she was exactly, enraged by his teasing smacked his thigh loudly enough to echo in the locker room. Oikawa let out a low grunt and thrust full throttle into her. Her eyes widened at the sudden entry and she couldn’t even contemplate the fullness before he withdrew quickly once again.

“Fode me o meu amor,” Y/N begged.

Oh, that just wasn’t playing fair. He didn’t know what she said but her breathless voice and her needy eyes made him helpless.

As if he could no longer bear to be apart without the drenched enclosed intimacy, he reentered without warning. Oikawa fucked her with the same hell-bent concentration he played volleyball with. She covered her mouth with her hand to contain the moans, that only muffled the noises rather than stopping them completely. The faster pace caused Y/N to skid up and down on the shower walls. She tried to find purchase against the tiles, but the hot water droplets caused her to loosen the grip. His breathing got heavier and uneven, why was it he could handle hours of volleyball, but the vise grip of her cunt made him want to spill inside of her like an immature adolescent? He removed her hand covering her moist lips and thoroughly kissed her. He swallowed her moans and they stood in the shower making love for god knows how long. His hand found her engorged clit and his middle finger started pressing slow circle while his thumb and point finger started pinching it in time to his thrusts. Just as she was about to cum, Y/N buried her face in his neck. She bit down hard on his shoulder trying to contain the shrieks she wanted to let out. It wasn’t long before her spiral started to pull him as well, the constriction creating a perfecting suction to swallow his juices. He placed a hand on the wall to stabilize himself just before he pulled out of her and came all over her thighs. The water soon washed away all the evidence of their tryst as it flowed down the drain.

“Does the hot water feel that good?” Y/N’s friend called out. Soon of the other ladies started giggling and laughing along. “We’re leaving! See ya, Y/N!”

The two of them didn’t move from their spot until they heard the sounds of lockers being shut and the ladies’ voices being fading further and further away.

“I think they knew…” Y/N gasped a little embarrassed and horrified.

On the other hand, Oikawa kept smiling like a goof. “I love beach volleyball now! It’s my favorite kind.”

She let out a frustrated groan. “Just get out of my way. I need to get dressed before I prune even more.”

“Maybe next time you should call me papi,” he hollered out as Y/N started to dry herself and got dressed.

“There won’t be a next time if you don’t get your butt dressed soon or I’ll leave you behind.”

Y/n when she was all dressed up and ready to go, waited for him outside of the resting area. He came out joyfully whistling away and ready to leave. Oikawa slung his arm over Y/N’s shoulder and pulled her close. He was finally taking the chance to get closer to her like he always wanted.

“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?” she asked tickled with his antics.

He leaned in and pecked her forehead. “You know it,” Oikawa said with a wink.

#oikawa x you #oikawa headcanons #haikyuu!!#haikyuu smut #oikawa toru x reader #oikawa x reader #oikawa x y/n #toru x reader #oikawa smut #haikyuu! fanfic #haikyuu fanfiction #oikawa toru imagine #oikawa toru x y/n #oikawa toru x you

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themetaphorgirl · 4 years

Text

in which Emily makes a poor choice

HEY Y’ALL I AM BACK!!! WITH A PATRON SAINT DRABBLE!!

Y’all can thank @linguinereid for this one!! Sweet Bee suggested this and I ended up writing part of it while I was in line for rides at Epcot.

I’m excited to be writing and posting again!! Please tell me what y’all think of this one, and tell me what I’ve missed in the past couple of weeks!!

---------

Emily poked at her ear, trying to twist around to get a better look in the mirror. “Shit,” she mumbled, wincing as she prodded a sore spot. She leaned across the bathroom counter, almost sitting in the sink. “I think I fucked up. Shit.”

“That looks infected.”

She jumped in surprise and fell off the counter, hitting the faucet on her way down and splashing water across her shirt. “What the fuck!” she exclaimed. Spencer stood in the bathroom doorway, head tilted and eyes wide like a very small owl. “You little gremlin, you scared the shit out of me! What are you doing in here?”

“You left the door open,” Spencer said. “What’s wrong with your ear?”

She fumbled to turn off the faucet and pick up Hotch’s knocked-over toothbrush. “Nothing.”

“It’s red and swollen,” he said. “That’s a sign of infection. What did you do?” His eyes went wide. “Did you get that piercing after Hotch told you it was a bad idea?”

She smoothed her hair down over her ear. “Nope,” she said. “Why would you think that?”

“I heard you guys arguing about it,” he said. “Hotch said it was against dress code, and you said you didn’t give two fucks about dress code, and he said you were shit at cleaning the piercings you already have and you’d fuck up your ears, and you said-”

“Okay, okay, you and your eidetic memory can stop at literally any time,” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that big a deal. There was a girl at the party last weekend who said she’d pierced like everybody’s ears at camp last summer, and she’d always wanted to try an industrial, and-” She paused. “Why am I explaining myself to you? You’re ten.”

“Nine.”

“Close enough. Why are you here, anyway?”

Spencer shifted his weight. “I have to pee,” he said.

“All right, I’ll get out,” Emily said. “But not a word to Hotch, understand? Not a single word. He cannot know about this. You know how smug he gets when he right about something.”

“Is he right, though?” Spencer said. “Did you fuck up your ear?”

“Okay, no swearing either, Alex will murder me if you pick up on me swearing,” Emily said. She stepped out of the bathroom and gave Spencer a little push inside. “Seriously, though. Don’t tell Alex either. You know she’ll be pissed at me too. I’ll- I’ll buy you that Star Wars lego set you want as long as you keep your mouth shut.”

Spencer brightened. “The Millennium Falcon?” he said.

“Sure, sure, why not, just keep your mouth shut!”

She closed the bathroom door and went back down the hall to the common room. It was Derek’s week to pick for movie night; he was having a great time with whatever Will Ferrell comedy he’d chosen, but Hotch was focused on his homework and Alex was reading a book. Emily sat down in her usual spot, tucking her legs underneath her. Her ear was still burning, but she brushed her hair over it surreptitiously. She could keep it a secret, as long as Spencer did. It would be fine.

By Tuesday, she realized it was not fine.

Her ear continued to swell and throb, the skin red and stretched tight around the barbell in the cartilage. She’d had to actually style her hair every morning instead of throwing it up in a messy ponytail or bun, or asking JJ or Alex to braid it for her. It wouldn’t take long for Alex to catch if she kept this up- she was famous for rolling out of bed at the last minute, getting up early to do her hair was drastically out of character. But she wasn’t sure who to be more afraid of catching her, Hotch or Alex.

She sat down at their usual table in the dining hall and pulled her hair back behind her ear, hissing when her nails brushed the irritated skin. “Oh, fuck,” she mumbled under her breath. It wasn’t good. It really wasn’t good.

Spencer climbed up on the chair beside her. “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

She sighed heavily. “How bad does it look?” she asked.

Spencer knelt on the chair so he could lean his elbows on the table. “Pretty bad,” he said. “Ew, is it oozing? I think it’s oozing.” He wrinkled his nose. “You should tell somebody.”

“Like hell I will,” she said, pulling her hair back into place. “This is a hill I will die on.” She paused. “This...this won’t kill me, will it? I won’t actually die on this hill?”

“Probably not, but infection was one of the leading causes of death during the Civil War,” he shrugged. “Try rinsing with saltwater, that might help.”

“Really?”

“Couldn’t hurt. I mean, in a manner of speaking. It’ll probably hurt a lot.”

Emily blinked. “That wasn’t reassuring, babe,” she said.

Hotch walked over to them and set his tray down. “What are you two talking about?” he asked as he sat down and cracked the top of his yellow Red Bull.

“Nothing,” Emily said quickly, dropping her fork in an effort to pick it up fast.

Alex set a glass of milk down on Spencer’s tray. “Sit on your butt or you’re going to fall on the floor again,” she said.

Spencer tilted his head back to look up at her. “I wanted chocolate milk,” he objected.

“Plain first, darling,” she said, bending to kiss his forehead. “Now sit down before you fall out of your chair.” Spencer obeyed, sliding down from his knees to sit down.

Emily poked her fork around in her scrambled eggs. They were way too yellow and a little watery around the edges, and her stomach turned. “Emily, are you okay?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah, fine, why do you ask?”

He gestured towards her tray with his Red Bull can. “I don’t think I’ve seen you eat anything since you came back from the party on Friday night,” he said. “Are you still sulking because I told you not to pierce your ear?”

“I don’t sulk,” Emily scoffed.

“Yes, you do,” Hotch said. “You’re pissed because you know I’m right, and it would be a terrible idea to get an industrial. Especially since you don’t have a guardian over eighteen to sign off on it, so it’d be illegal.”

Emily stabbed her fork into the eggs. “I’m fine and I’m not sulking,” she said. “But you’re wrong. I’ll be fine if I get my ear pierced.”

She met Spencer’s gaze. His hazel eyes were wide, glancing over first at Hotch and then at Alex, but he kept his mouth shut. Her ear throbbed, but she wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing they were right.

By Friday, she knew they were right, and she hated it, but damn, her ear hurt.

She huddled in the corner of the library sofa, her history textbook open on her lap but long forgotten. Her ear was an ever-present pain now, too sensitive to touch, and oozing something disgusting.

The library was quiet and peaceful, rain tapping steadily on the window. James was sorting through his anatomy flashcards while Dave pretended to write a paper while he was really working on the novel he claimed he wasn’t writing. Spencer was lying on his tummy on the floor, absorbed in a book far above his grade level. The rest of the kids were at clubs or practices, and Alex passed by in her own paths as she shelved books and answered questions.

She glanced up to see Spencer watching her poke at her ear; she dropped her hand and glared at him. “Don’t say anything,” she said to him sharply in Russian. “Remember the Millennium Falcon.”

He sighed heavily. “Your ear looks really bad,” he said. His Russian wasn’t as strong as his Italian, and his accent was terrible, but at least James and Dave wouldn’t understand them.

“Not a word!” she said.

Alex plunked down on the opposite side of the couch, jostling Emily and making her scowl. “I’m taking a break,” she sighed. “The sophomores are working on their poetry projects and I don’t want to discuss Ezra Pound anymore.”

Spencer pushed himself up from the floor. “Alex?” he said. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, dearest,” she said, taking his hands in hers. “What’s up?”

“If I told you I wanted to do something and you said no, and I did it anyway, would you be mad at me?” he asked.

Emily shot him a dirty look, but he ignored her. “Well, I might be a bit disappointed, but I don’t think I’d be mad,” Alex said, squeezing his hands.

“If I did the thing anyway, and I ended up getting hurt, would you be mad at me?” he asked.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Alex said, drawing him onto her lap.

“And you wouldn’t tell me you told me so? And you’d help me?” he continued.

She frowned, clearly concerned over this line of conversation, and hugged him. “Of course I’d help you, baby,” she said. She stroked his hair away from his forehead. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Spencer leaned around Alex’s shoulder to make direct eye contact with Emily. She sighed heavily. “So...you know how I wanted to get an industrial piercing, and you and Hotch said it would be a bad idea?” she said hesitantly.

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Yes,” she said. “Why?” Emily tucked her hair slowly behind her ear. “Emily, holy shit!”

“It’s pretty bad, huh?” Emily said glumly.

Alex moved Spencer hastily off her lap and leaned over Emily to take a better look at her ear. “Oh my god,” she said. “James, can you come take a look at this?”

James pulled his headphones off. “Hm?” he said. “Oh shit! Emily, what did you do?”

She submitted reluctantly to his poking and prodding. “So a girl at the party last week offered to pierce my ear,” she said. “And it...kind of went wrong.”

“That looks like it hurts,” Alex said, smoothing her hair. “It looks super infected.”

“Yeah, that’s the medical term for it,” James said. “Holy shit, Prentiss, I can’t believe you pulled a Parent Trap.”

“A Parent Trap?”

“Yeah, when Hallie pierces Annie’s ear with a sewing needle, an apple, and...you know what, never mind.”

Emily winced as the earring shifted. “Can you just...make Hotch promise that he won’t say I told you so?” she said.

“I think he’ll agree that you’ve suffered enough,” Alex reassured her.

Spencer hovered at her elbow. “I would have said something sooner, but Emily said she’d buy me the Millennium Falcon set,” he said.

“Please don’t scold me for bribing the baby, either,” Emily said.

“Okay, I might scold you about that one.”

#au: patron saint of lost causes #patron saint: emily #patron saint: alex #patron saint: hotch #patron saint: spencer #patron saint: james #criminal minds fanfiction #caitlin writes things #linguinereid #alex is such a protective mama bear

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gospelofme · 3 years

Text

A Normal Morning for Kix

The alarm blared that irritating beeping noise. He almost wished for Captain Rex to be yelling at him to get up again...almost. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to block out the sound, just three more minutes. He cracked an eyelid just enough to see if he could sleep in, both eyes opening suddenly when he saw the time. 0630. He scrambled out of bed and grabbed his robe as he quickly made his way to his kids rooms. He had meant to set the alarm for 0600 but had forgotten. You had already left for work, having taken an early morning shift to be able to get off that evening for Jesse’s game. You usually woke him up before leaving unless you were able to take the kids to school. Kix didn’t have to report until 0800. The kids had to be at school at 0730.

“Kids!! Get up, daddy overslept!” Kix announced, tying his robe shut and opening Jesse’s door. His son groaned as Kix turned the light on,

“Five more minutes.” He muttered into his pillow, Kix shook him awake.

“Sorry buddy, it’s already 6:30, you have to be there in an hour.” Kix said, lifting his son into a sitting position. Jesse moved at a snail’s pace, trudging to the refresher while Kix urged him along.

“Brush your teeth, I’ll wake Kaia.” Kix instructed, handing his son his toothbrush.

“Kaia, baby, it’s time to wake up.” Kix called as he walked into his daughter’s room, promptly tripping over a toy castle that was set up in the center of the room.

“Ouch, damn, sorry.” Kix muttered, not sure why he had said sorry. He cautiously walked over to Kaia’s bed, pulling back the sheer curtain of her canopy. His little princess was fast asleep, clutching that old taun-taun she had had since birth.

“Baby, come on, wake up.” He whispered, waking Kaia was different than waking Jesse. His son usually just moved slowly, but didn’t complain. Kaia could be a little troll sometimes. Today she smushed Kix’s cheeks with her hands as she looked at him sleepily.

“Daddy, sssshhhh, I’m in the middle of a good dream. It’s about you and mommy and mommy is kicking butt.” She murmured softly.

“Oh really? And what is daddy doing?” Kix asked, his voice slightly distorted from being smushed between two small hands. Kaia giggled. Kix urged her to get up, Kaia spotting the toppled castle as she walked towards the refresher.

“Oh no! You broke the witch’s house!! Now she’s going to curse you!” Kaia said matter-of-factly.

“Cool, cool, don’t forget to brush your back teeth okay.” He replied as he walked back towards the the master bedroom.

Louise, now 8 months old, was fast asleep in her bassinet. Kix gently leaned over his smallest child and brushed her cheek with a single finger. The baby stirred after a few moments, making an unhappy face.

“Sshh, sssh, it’s just me.” Kix soothed, his daughter’s face changing from nearly crying to a small grin. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, grabbing his finger with her tiny hand. She yawned.

“Oh that’s such a big yawn for a small baby.” Kix spoke with what you called his “baby voice”. He still denied he had such a thing, but often pointed out the faces you made when trying to get the older two to eat. Suddenly he heard the sound of the buzzer.

“Oh crap.” Kix said under his breath, scooping Louise up, and heading back to the refresher.

“Jesse, move! You’re blocking the mirror!”

“I need the mirror more than you!”

“WHY!? You don’t have any hair!!”

Jesse had buzzed his hair to look like his father’s, Kix figured he was just touching it up.

“Hey, are you two getting dressed soon?” He asked, walking into the space. Kaia was trying to brush her hair, but Jesse was trying to make sure he didn’t mess up his buzzcut. Kaia made an irritated noise and left to go get dressed.

“Come on buddy, you still need to eat breakfast.” Kix reminded Jesse. You had made this look so easy, but he felt like he would never master it. You had it down pat and everything moved like clockwork. One day he’d get the hang of this, maybe when Jesse and Kaia were in high school and he just had Louise to tend to.

“I want a lightening bolt like you dad, can you do one really quick.” Jesse said. Kix smirked and shifted Louise to one arm. Jesse handed him the buzzer and Kix carefully etched a lightening bolt into the side of his son’s buzzed hair.

“I can touch it up this evening okay, but it should be fine for now.” Kix said, Jesse smiled and checked out the new addition.

“Hurry buddy.” Kix gently ushered his son from the refresher. He brushed his own teeth back in the master bathroom, changing Louise and dressing her in a new dress. Padmè had purchased it when Louise was born and she was just now big enough to fit into it. He then got changed into his black bodysuit and armor, hearing bowls clinking on the counter in the kitchen.

As the kids ate their cereal, Kix coaxed Louise into taking a bottle of breast milk you had set aside for him.

“I know, it’s not the same.” He told the baby as she seemed unhappy at the fake nipple.

“Gross dad.” Kaia said.

“What? This is how you ate!” Kix teased her. Kaia made a face. Jesse finished his cereal and set his bowl in the sink.

“Ahem.” Kix gave him a look. Jesse rolled his eyes and put it into the dishwasher instead.

“Thank you. Could you finish feeding your sister please.” Kix asked, Jesse nodding and taking the bottle and baby from Kix. His son enjoyed feeding Lousie and she seemed to eat better for him. Kix grabbed a hair brush from the sofa, taking a seat on a couch cushion. He looked over at Kaia and gestured for her to come over. She hurried over to him and sat down between his legs. Kix then got to work brushing out Kaia’s hair. She hadn’t quite finished the task since she had been blocked from the mirror and had to get dressed. As he brushed the tangles from the end of her hair, he worked his way up the long strands. His daughter hadn’t cut her hair besides an occasional trim. She wanted it long, like her mothers. Kaia hooked her arm around her father’s armored leg. Most kids wouldn’t find hard plastoid comforting, but she did. She had fallen asleep on his armor many times, as a baby it was one of the ways to get her to fall asleep.

“What do you want in it?” Kix asked.

“A French braid please daddy.” Kaia replied after a moment. Kix had always been good a braiding hair. You were pretty good at it, but Kix seemed to master complicated styles easily. You had chalked that up to his quick learning abilities. With Kaia’s hair perfectly French braided, all three kids were secured in the speeder, which pulled up to Coruscant Primary with just 5 minutes to spare.

Not bad, Kix thought to himself.

“OH! Dad can you sign this!!” Jesse shoved a piece of flimsi and a pen in Kix’s face.

“What is this?” Kix asked, trying to read the wording as Jesse flailed it in his face.

“A permission slip so i don’t have to dissect a Nuna.” Jesse shrugged.

“Okay, fine.” Kix signed the paper and prayed that’s what it actually was.

“Oh, sign mine too daddy!” Kaia said, producing her slip.

“So you don’t have to dissect a Nuna?”

“No, so i can dissect the Nuna!”

“Oh, cool!” Kix signed his name again. He had to admit he enjoying being able to sign his first and last name to documents.

Once the kids were in the building, Kix headed to the base and dropped Louise off at the daycare center. The women in the infants room always cooed over Lousie, and he couldn’t blame them. Lousie was the cutest baby in the joint. He always had a hard time leaving her though, wishing he could take her with him to work. But a hospital or training was no place for a baby, even if he was pretty sure General Skywalker wouldn’t mind.

“I’ll be back to check on her in two hours and the wife will be here around lunch time.” Kix said as he left. He paused at the door, hurried back over to his small infant and scooped her up. He gave her small cheek a raspberry, the baby breaking into a heavy laugh. All the woman “awwwed” at the same time, but Kix only had ears for Lousie’s laugh.

“Okay, that’s all i needed to hear. Two hours!” Kix said, heading out the door, putting his helmet on.

Tag List

@simping-for-fives @leias-left-hair-bun @jgvfhl @nelba @baby-queen-zen @halzore @escapedthesarlacc

#star wars #the clone wars #star wars the clone wars #clone trooper kix #clone medic kix #normal life #day in the life #domestic fluff #A Normal Morning

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secretly-tword-obsessed · 4 years

Text

Waste Of Gift

This is a Hamilton tickle fic that is wayyy too long. Prompted by an anon,

Summary: Jefferson and Hamilton have a sour relationship, until one interaction changes everything.

Platonic Jamilton

Saturdays were Thomas Jefferson’s favourite day of the week.

No woking nine hours a day, no cabinet meetings. The fate of a Saturday was entirely in the hands of Jefferson himself.

Yet for Alexander Hamilton, it was a very different story.

See, Hamilton worked Non-Stop. He worked form the crack of dusk till the break of dawn. He wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. He tried to make time for his wife and son, but it never really worked out. Hamilton was sure that after three more weeks of working this hard, he would finally have enough time to bond with his family again. The day of the week made no difference to Alexander, he just worked and worked.

It was a Saturday morning, and Hamilton was, of course, writing furiously at his desk. He heard a knock at his door. He groaned softly: “Yes dear?”.

Eliza stepped into the room, “Good morning Alexander. You have a strange visitor-”

“Who are you calling strange?”, Hamilton heard a sour voice interrupt, which was coming from the outside of his office. He groaned more audibly: “What is it Jefferson?”

The tall, skinny man walked in, “Look Alexander, I’m not looking to pick a fight. I’m just here to pick up something that I left here a few months ago, when we had that meeting”.

Hamilton snickered: “If a possession as vile as yours were to be in my office for such a period of time, I would have noticed by now. Go looking somewhere else, but not here”.

Jefferson chuckled, “Man! As I said, I’m not here to pick a fight! It is just a small notebook, coloured green, it had nothing in it”.

Alexander opened his mouth to blurt something in response, yet Eliza widened her eyes from the office doorway, gesturing for him to not pick a fight with the man. It just wasn’t worth it. He sighed: “Fine Jefferson, look, but be quiet!”. Thomas smiled and ventured further into the small room, Eliza staying by the doorway just incase. Suddenly, there was a pounding of feet charging towards the two men from the hallway,.

“Pops! Your office door is open!”; Philip came charging towards his dad like a rhino, jumping into his lap. Alexander was a little annoyed, but still, Philip was too bright and sweet to be mad at.

“Sorry Philip, pops is working”. “But the door was open!”, Philip stated, “You said that if the door was open, it meant-”.

“Sorry son”, Hamilton interrupted him, “These are different circumstances”.

He leaned down to kiss Philip’s forehead, “Please leave my office my love”. Philip smiled up at his father and kissed his nose, which was when the small boy noticed the presence of: “Jefferstupid?”

Hamilton gasped, embarrassed at what his son had just blurted out. Philip just giggled from the side of his father’s chair.

Jefferson raised an eyebrow: “So, is that what you told him my name was, Hamilton?”. Alexander opened his mouth to speak. “It’s okay”, Jefferson interrupted dryly, “He’s just a kid. And I must admit, I can be stupid at times”.

Hamilton grumbled, “Just leave my damn office please. The notebook your looking for isn’t here”.

Jefferson rolled his eyes, “Five more minutes please, Hamilton?”.

Hamilton snapped, “Fine! But if your not out by five I’ll, I’ll...”

“He’ll tickle you!”, Philip exclaimed, a huge smile on the freckled boys face. Hamilton and Jefferson both blushed at the mention of the word, which only made Philip grin wider.

“You know what”, Hamilton said with a smirk,”I don’t think Philip’s idea is such a bad one”. Philip clapped his hands together: “Yayyy!”

Jefferson tilted his head to the side, “You can’t be serious Hamilton”.

Hamilton grinned, “Oh, I am serious. If you are not out of here in five minutes, I’ll tickle you while you make a speech”.

Jefferson thought for a moment, “But if I find it in this room before that time is up, I’ll tickle you while you make a speech. Yes?”

Hamilton grinned, he knew his office like the back of his hand, if he had a green blank notebook stuck in it for months, he would have known.

“Fine, but if you don’t find it in five minutes, I tickle you. Deal?”

Jefferson extended an arm, “Deal”.

Eliza tilted her head down from the doorway, shocked at how childish the two boys were being. And as for Philip, he was just grinning the whole time.

So for the next five minutes, Alexander tried to stay concentrated on his work as Jefferson made loud hunting noises from all ends of the room. Philip watched from the doorway in awe and excitement, wondering who would win the deal. Eliza had long since left, feeling like this was a boys event.

Suddenly, Philip started counting.

“Ten”

“Wait, ten seconds already?!”

“Nine”

“Wait, no”

“Eight”

“Come on it has to be some-”

“Seven”

“Oh-”

“Six”

“Fuck!”

“Don’t swear my son is right-”

“Five”

“Shut up Hamilton!”

“Four”

“Shitshitshit”

“Three”

“Looks like you’ve lost”

“Two”

“Get out of the damn way Hamil-

“One”.

Hamilton and Philip both smirked at Jefferson, who was frozen in the middle of the room.

“I told you that it wasn’t here”, Hamilton said, “Now please leave before I make you”.

Monday morning. Jefferson’s speech was about to start. No sign of Hamilton. Good.

Jefferson stood above a small block, addressing the towns folk: “Uh-hum”.

They all looked up at him, and he cleared his throat. It was so cold, he thought, perhaps he should have worn something warmer.

“Good morning New Yorkers. It has recently come to my attention that, AHAWHA-”.

Jefferson jumped in the air, somebody had poked his sides from behind. He turned around, crap. Hamilton. Jefferson, blushing, cleared his throat.

“My apolahahahaha nohoho Ahalex!”

Hamilton had started tickling under his arms, “Yohohohou stohohohop thihihihis!”.

“I won the bet Jefferson!”, Hamilton exclaimed, digging into the other’s stomach.

“SHIT- AHAHA NOHOHHO MY TUHUHUHUMMY!”

“You tummy?”, Hamilton teased, “What about it?”.

A larger crowd had gathered, which included Philip, who watched with the biggest grin on his face.

“ALEXAHAHAHAHNDEHEHER NOHOHOHO PLEHEHEHAHESE YOHOHOHOUV’E PROHOHOHOVED YOHOHOHOHOUR POHOHOHOHINT!”

Hamilton chuckled and stopped, taking pity on the other man. Plus, he wasn’t very fond of tickling being used in this way. Tickling was something sweet and bondy, and he wanted to keep it that way. Why waste such a gift on Jefferson?

Thomas eyed Hamilton for a moment, hoping that he wouldn’t start again, before continuing as if nothing had happened.

Hamilton disappeared into the crowd, finding his son and giving him a high-five. “Now”, he said, tugging at his son’s arm, “Lets get out of here”.

A week later, another Saturday morning had arrived, and snow began to fall outside Alexander’s office window. He sat at his desk with a cup of warm chocolate milk beside him, and scribbled across a piece of parchment. He heard a knock at the door.

“Come in”, he gestured for his wife. Eliza opened the door slowly and stepped inside, “You have a visitor darling”. Alexander looked up from his work and groaned; not again.

“Ah” Jefferson said, scratching a bit at his lion mane, “Do you mind having a small discussion?”.

Hamilton sighed, “Jefferson, I do not even make time to have discussions with my wife and son. Have you stopped to consider that your offer may be a little selfish?”.

Jefferson sighed back, “Look Hamilton, I’m not looking for trouble. Any trouble at all. In fact I, uh...” he trailed off, his face going a little red.

“You what?”, Hamilton asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I, uh, I wanted to thank you”.

Alexander looked up at his husband, gesturing for her to leave the room. She closed the door behind her.

“For what, Jefferson?”, Hamilton asked.

“For making me laugh when I was in a bad mood”, Thomas replied hesitantly.

Hamilton thought for a moment, before coming across what he might have been referring to. Suddenly, he shared the same blush as Jefferson. “You, you mean the, uh, ti- um, ti-”.

“ckling”, Thomas finished his sentence,”Yeah, uh, that”.

“I, uh, thought you hated that”

“N-no, I was having a rough day and it was, uh, nice”

“Okay...why exactly are you telling me this?”

“Because”, Thomas began, inhaling, “Because this feud we have, this hatred for one another, it has to end. It just has to. Can’t we at least just tolerate each other, please?”.

Hamilton was shocked. He had never before seen this side of Jefferson. Was this a trick? No, it looked sincere. Though Jefferson was prone to fibbing.

“Why suddenly the change of heart Jefferson?”, Hamilton said with a chuckle.

Jefferson shook his head, “Look, I get that you don’t want to take me seriously, but...when you did that thing to me...it kind of made me feel like I had...a friend.”

“A friend that humiliates you in public? Surely you’ve lost your mind Jefferson. And lets not forget that I only did it because you lost a deal”.

“Just please”, Thomas said. Both men were sweaty. Both were blushing. Yet Alexander was better at hiding it. Jefferson extended a hand, “For the end of our rivalry”. “Not our political rivalry, but our relationship rivalry. I wouldn’t be against that”, Hamilton extended his arm. And just like that, they were both shaking.

When Jefferson shook Hamilton’s hand, he noticed how red it was.

“Maybe”, Jefferson began,”As our first act of friendship, I could write for you. Just because your hand looks a little red, and I think your son is missing his daddy’s cuddles”.

So just like that, Philip was sitting on Hamilton’s lap as he embraced him and directed lines to Jefferson, who was sitting at the other’s desk and scribbling them down with his quill. Philip had a huge smile on his freckled face. Alexander stroked the young Hamilton’s bushy hair tentatively.

After a few minutes, Hamilton offered to take over, and Jefferson smiled at him. “Thank you Thomas”, Alexander said, still hardly believing what had just happened. Jefferson chuckled at the other’s semi-shocked expression. He crouched down beside the boy in his father’s lap.

“You father works a lot, doesn’t he little one?”.

Philip giggled, “Oh yeah. Pops works all the time. That was the first time he’s had a break in ages! Thanks Jefferson!”.

Jefferson grinned at him, “Your father did take a little break the other day, did you know that? Remember our bet, well he carried it out”.

Philip smiled, “Yeah, I was there watching”.

“Ya think I should get him back, little one?”

Philip grinned and hopped off his dad, “Yes”.

Thomas pounced on top of him, and grinned down at the shocked man.

And in a matter of seconds, he was digging his hands under Hamilton’s arms. Said man let out a scream before bursting into loud, strong laughter.

“JEHEHEHEHEHEFF NOHOHOHO!”

“No what Alexander? This is simply in the name of revenge”, Thomas smirked, drilling his thumbs into Hamilton’s hips. The other man’s laughter quieted down a bit.

“Phihihihilip, hehehehelp”

Philip ginned, “Sure thing pops”. He dug his little fingers into Jefferson’s sides from behind. Jefferson squealed. Philip giggled and tackled him over. And soon, the little boy was tickling two men at once.

“Wait-Philip-nohohohoho!”, Jefferson laughed as Philip scribbled the fingers of his right hand into his belly.

“Sohon nohoho”, Hamilton giggled as Philip used his left hand to attack his neck.

“Wow, look at me!”, Philip cried in triumph, “I have successfully gotten two men more than double my age begging below me!”.

He started squeezing both of the mens stomach’s. They shrieked at the same time, before they stated thrashing almost identically.

“PLELELELHEASE LITTLE OHOHONE!”

“NOHOHHO NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE!”

“HEHEHELP! SOMEBOHODY!”

“PIHIHIP NOHOHO!”

“SOMEBODY?!”

“EHEHEHLIHIHIHIZA!”

Eliza was just reading peacefully from the other room, and was very confused when she heard two shrieks of laughter. She walked into her husbands office and was shocked by the sight that greeted her. Philip turned his head, the biggest smile on his face.

“Look ma! They are both so ticklish!”

Eliza glared at him, “Philip, not the right time”.

Philip whined and stopped, “But maaaa, they’re friends now”.

Eliza just shook her head, “There is a time and place for tickling Philip. And now is not the appropriate time”.

Philip sighed as the two men sat up, panting.

“Uh, thanks Eliza”, Jefferson said, a little puffed out, “Now I should go”.

Jefferson left the room, closing the door behind him.

Alexander smiled up at his wife: “Why such a bad mood honey?”

Eliza groaned, ”You know why. Both of you. Stop acting so childish”.

But when Alexander and Philip smiled, Eliza couldn’t stop herself from smiling to. In fact, she chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you boys are having fun”.

Hamilton kissed his son’s nose and smiled at both of them, “I feel like life is looking up for all of us”. And it was.

#hamilton tickle fic #hamilton tickle #ticklish!jefferson #ticklish!alexander #ler!philip #ler!jefferson #ler!hamilton #jamilton #platonicfluff

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emy-loves-you · 3 years

Text

The Prince, The Knight, and The Assassin Chapter Two

The Day Before, Part One

Summary: A little snippet of Prince Patton’s daily life

Chapter One | Masterlist | Chapter Three

Warnings: Child neglect, post-breakup arguments, mentions of eating people and drowning at the beginning (they’re talking about Little Red Riding Hood)

“But red-cap went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.”

“Wait a minute!” One of the children called out, his shaggy brown hair flopping to the side as he tilted his head. “My Mum told me that the wolf ate little red-cap and her grandmother, not tie them up in a sack!”

“Yeah!” Another child piped up, sticking his pudgy hand up to the sky. “And my Pa said there was another wolf, who fell into the stone trough and drowned!”

The storyteller hummed, closing his book. “Those are your parent’s stories. Jonathan, did your mother’s story have them eat freshly-baked cookies and milk instead of cake and whine?”

The brown haired boy, Jonathan, frowned. “No.”

The storyteller hummed. “Samuel, did your father’s story have red-cap sing your favorite song while she picked the flowers?”

The other child, Samuel, shook his head.

The storyteller smiled. “Everyone can have their own story. Those are your parent’s stories. This,” He gestured to the book, “is our story. And that makes it special.” Someone coughed behind them and the storyteller sighed. “I’m afraid that’s the last story for today, Kiddos!”

Both children whined, grabbing onto the sleeves of the storyteller’s shirt. “Please don’t go Patton!” Jonathan begged. “Just one more story?”

The storyteller, Patton, smiled softly. He was about to speak when another cough, more impatient this time, sounded behind them. Patton sighed, standing up. “I’m sorry Kiddos, I have to go. But if I have time tomorrow I’ll be at the Mayfairs’ tomorrow, so if you wanna hear more stories make sure you go and give them a visit!” He booped their noses and the two boys giggled, immediately letting go of his arms. Patton chuckled and walked away. “Goodbye Jonathan, goodbye Samuel!”

“Bye Patton!” The boys called out, and Patton smiled softly as walked across the field. On the other side of the field stood his personal guard, his gaze unwavering as he searched for any sign of danger. It was a sight that usually made Patton giggly with butterflies in his tummy, but now it only made him feel sad and alone.

As he approached, the man’s face went through a myriad of emotions, each one Patton knew by heart, before settling on despondency. “Your Highness.” He said stiffly, bowing his head.

Patton frowned, his heart breaking into a thousand pieces at the gesture. “Roman, please drop the formalities. You know how uncomfortable they make me-”

Roman interrupted him, his voice cold and emotionless as he spoke. “It would be scandalous if I were to refer to a betrothed prince with anything other than his title.”

The words felt like a punch to the gut and Patton looked away, ashamed. “You know I had no choice-”

Roman cut him off again, his voice still emotionless as he spoke. “I’ve already given my opinion on the matter.”

Patton frowned as they climbed onto their horses, traveling the rest of their way to the castle in silence. It’s been 2 days since Patton was informed that he was now betrothed to the High Queen of the Dark Kingdom, and Patton’s had this same argument with Roman the entire time. Before the announcement, the two of them had been dating in secret for almost 2 years. But now that Patton was betrothed, he decided to break up with Roman so as to not lead him on. The resulting argument had not gone well.

“I can’t do that, Patton!” Roman shouted, tears streaming down your face. “I can’t pretend to just be your friend. I spent years being ‘just your friend,’ watching from the sidelines and practically begging for your affection. I can’t go back to that, not after all I’ve had. After all we’ve had. If I look at you as anything other than a Prince after this, my heart will shatter into thousands of pieces, over and over again, knowing that you have my heart but I can no longer have yours.”

Patton had sobbed himself to sleep that night, as he had the night after and most likely will tonight. Patton hoped that his new bride wouldn’t mind a pillow that was always wet with tears.

When they got back to the castle, Roman stood quiet and attentive as always. He followed Patton down the halls and to the throne room, where Patton’s parents sat on their ornate thrones. Patton always hated those thrones. He hated everything about this wretched castle. It was all expensive and uncomfortable, it’s only purpose was to show everyone else how wealthy the royal family was. Patton was confident he could sell any of the jewels on his mother’s neck and have enough money to feed a small community for a week and still have some pocket change left over.

Patton bowed his head while Roman kneeled to the ground behind him. “Mother, Father.”

“Where were you this evening? The servants went to collect you for your royal fitting.” Queen Karen asked, not even bothering to fully address her son.

Patton was confused and irritated, but he didn’t let it show. “I wasn’t made aware that my fitting was scheduled for today. Why was I not informed last night? Or perhaps today during lunch?” He ignored her question, knowing by this point giving even the slightest detail would be disastrous. If he was caught lying, they’d make sure that he’d never leave the castle until he was married and shipped off to the Dark Kingdom. If he told them he left the castle, they would push for answers until he gave them the names of the families he visited, who would then be taxed to the point of bankruptcy. Even though they didn’t harm Patton physically, they still made it their goal in life to make him miserable.

They both ignored the question as King Jacob spoke, his voice rough with irritation. “The tailor will come back tomorrow afternoon. You will be waiting for him in the fitting room.”

Patton ignored the flash of rage he felt at his father’s choice of words. Joan was a talented tailor, one of the best tailors in the kingdom. They were also nonbinary, but Patton’s father chose to ignore that little detail. “Yes, Father.” Patton said impassively.

“You are dismissed.” Both royals said at once, and Patton wasted no time as he made his way out of the throne room, Roman rising up and following close behind.

The rest of the night was a rather…intense affair. Patton would travel throughout the castle to perform his nightly duties. Roman would follow close behind, his face stoic and stance rigid. Patton was used to this, as Roman had been doing this since he was first appointed as Patton’s personal guard. But usually, there was a sense of underlying affection; a small smile, a certain light in his eyes, a small lilt in his voice as he addressed Patton. But now it was all gone. No more hidden affection, no more pretending to be cold and distant. Now it was real, and Patton couldn’t even look in Roman’s direction without his heart breaking into a thousand pieces.

By the time all of Patton’s tasks were done, the sun had long since set and everyone had gone to bed. Patton quickly made his way to his chambers, his heart heavy as Roman followed close behind. Normally they would enter his room together, and they would laugh and kiss and touch each other in the safety of his room. But now they would simply part ways once they reached the door. The thought of Roman coldly turning back the second they reached his room hurt the prince in a way he didn’t expect. They were nearing Patton’s room when he muttered, mostly to himself. “I can find my chambers on my own. You don’t need to follow me the entire way.”

Roman frowned. “It would be improper to have you journey there alone.” There was an edge to it, a sliver of emotion, more than anything Patton had gotten since their fight two days ago.

Rather than comforting him, however, it only served to fuel his irritation. “I assure you I am fine. I do not need you to wait on me constantly. I can take care of myself.”

Roman huffed as they reached the door. “It is my duty to make sure that nothing happens to you. Your own ability to defend yourself is irrelevant. I am only here to protect you, nothing more.”

A part of Patton knew that Roman still cared. That he was only being cold and repetitive to protect himself. But that part of Patton was overshadowed by the anger boiling over inside him. It wasn’t like his previous anger, which was bright and hot and loud. This anger was tinged with too many emotions to be violent. It was filled with depression, fatigue, and hopelessness.

Patton quickly pulled Roman into his room, slamming the door shut behind them. “I can’t.” He thought he heard something rustle but he ignored it, instead focused on Roman’s glare. “I can’t spend every day pretending that this never happened. I can’t handle your cold shoulder, or the constant bite in your voice. It’s not my fault, and I can’t handle your anger! I can handle the townspeople’s anger about the war. I can handle my parents anger at how much of a disappointment I am.” His voice started to crack as he barely held back a sob. “But I can’t handle yours.”

Roman had stayed silent the whole time, his face impassive. But Patton could tell that Roman was just on the edge of exploding, his stance rigid as he finally spoke. “What should I do then?” Patton knew that Roman was holding himself back from yelling. He’d been doing that since their fight two days ago, when his shouting had reduced Patton to uncontrollable sobs. But for some reason his cold aloofness hurt Patton even more. He knew it wasn’t true, but it was like Roman couldn’t even be bothered to be angry with him. Like Patton didn’t even deserve that.

“I-” Patton took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I need some space. And some time. To process all of this. And I’m sure you do too.” He looked away, not able to meet Roman’s gaze as tears started welling up in his eyes. “I’ll escort myself to Joan tomorrow, then I shall retreat to the library for the rest of the day. Take the day off tomorrow. I think some time alone will do good for the both of us.”

Roman remained quiet for several minutes, simply staring at the tears in the prince’s eyes. The moment of silence felt like an eternity, until eventually Roman nodded sharply. “Have a pleasant evening, Your Highness.” Then he spun around and left.

Patton stared at the spot Roman had been standing in, his heart breaking into a thousand pieces at the blatant dismissal. He didn’t even say sweet dreams. A tear rolled down Patton’s face but he ignored it, getting ready for bed. He didn’t even bother changing out of his current clothes or taking off his glasses, instead just removing his boots and plopping into his bed. He felt the urge to sob as tears rolled down his face but he ignored it. He was too tired to cry tonight. He did this particular stab to the heart himself, after all. He was the one who told Roman to go away.

After nearly an hour of just laying there and silently crying, Patton finally drifted off into a fitful slumber. Unaware of the person lurking underneath him, patiently waiting for their moment to strike.

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Taglist: @bisexualdisaster106 @self-taught-mess @arodynamic-enby @sanderssides-angst @whatishappeningrightnow @idont-freaking-know @goawayihateyou @cute-and-angsty-princess @artsy-enby09 @girl-who-reads @drarrymalecsolangelo @count-woe-laf

#sanders sides fic #patton sanders #roman sanders

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chosenkeepersworld · 3 years

Text

The Curses We Inherit: Chapter 3

Original Work

Date Posted: May 12, 2021 (Tumblr)

Word count: 1, 439 words

A/N: Unbeta-ed work but I hope whoever reads this will like it and let me know what you think. Critique is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

MASTERLIST / PART 2

"Are you sure you're alright, Mo stoirín?" Aunt Aileen gently rubbed the back of her niece's slumped form at the kitchen island. They young woman had arrived just a few moments ago, practically dragging herself into the kitchen and plopping down on the seat.

Due to jet lag and a rough night's sleep Danika had difficulty coming fully into wakefulness.

The young O'Brien's lips lifted into a quick smile at the endearment, she lifted her head from her hands, stil bleary eyed and turned to her aunt "I am" she said "I just need coffee and some food" the young blonde had slept through her alarm and apparently breakfast. She had initially panicked and rushed to get ready for the day and for whatever tasks her brother needed done. Part way through putting her clothes on, it had finally registered that she wasn't at home. The panic slowly drained out of her and all it left was exhaustion but still Danika dragged herself downstairs.

Aileen set a cup in front of the young woman who gently lifted it to her nose and gingerly sniffed at the contents. It was tea, still hot with a splash of milk, its slightly spicy scent woke her senses and a sip warmed her body. Danika sighed in pleasure

The young blonde sat up straighter and finally noticed the cloches on the island. She lifted one and her mouth watered at the plate of sausages and bacon, her stomach rumbled in response. Danika uncovered the rest of the domes and reached for the cutlery in the holder.

"Mo stoirín'' Aileen called her niece's attention, who happily stuffed her face with Iriish breakfast food "We'll be leaving for town after you eat." Danika, with her mouth full, could only nod.

Her Aunt's home resided a few miles outside of Eden Greene, the town was fairly large many of the houses were similar in size and style with a few brightly colored ones standing out. Different shops had people coming in and out, many were families with very young children. Every so often someone would greet the young blonde, smiling and actually looking happy and while technically her aunt doesn't live in town, the townsfolk still greeted the older woman with bright smiling faces as they walked down the street.

Aileen had linked their arms together once they arrived in town, she would point out a place and tell her niece about it or if she knew someone on the street she would stop and chat. Danika would give a quiet greeting then move slightly away suddenly becoming engrossed at a shop display, when her aunt and the stranger were finished the two continued on to whatever destination the blonde's aunt had in mind.

When they finally stopped, it was in front of an odd yellow house with a black door decorated with gold swirls. Danika's eyes roamed over the house, vines hung from the iron window railing, the windows were held in a dark colored frame but from Danika's current angle it was difficult to see further into the house.

She had been so busy staring that she did not notice that she had backed into anyone. Danika had snapped out of her staring at the sudden feel of someone's body, she turned to apologize but froze. Later she would remember this stranger wearing dark colors and an odd large hat but what had really taken her in was the stranger's eyes. Their color was such a deep amber that they were almost gold but it wasn't the color that unsettled her, it was the loathing; the intense, unflinching loathing in those eyes.

The stranger moved now facing the young O'Brien, eyes stayed on her still intense on her. The movement caused her to flinch back, Danika swallowed as she felt her stomach twist, she should move away, turn and find her aunt but she was frozen, held down by the darkness those eyes exuded.

She had stared at him for what felt like hours but she could hear something else besides the beating of her heart. Something then turned her and she was staring at her aunt's worried face, the older woman's hand was on her shoulder. Danika could see her lips moving but couldn't make out what she was saying.

Danika blink a few times before opening her mouth "Sorry, could you say that again?"

The worry lessened in her aunt's green eyes, she even cracked a smile but the concern was still there. "I asked if you were alright, Danika"

The young blonde briefly looked back to see the stranger but he was no longer there then she looked at her aunt's worried expression. Danika plastered a reassuring smile on her face "I'm fine I thought I saw something."

There was that odd itch again, it just wouldn't leave following the brief...interaction with the oddly dressed stranger. She felt the itching on her neck when she first arrived on the island and like the first time it took some time for it to stop.

The house they entered was surprisingly simplistic. Upon entering the house the first thing Danika saw was the stairway leading up to the second floor, past it was and open kitchen, to the right was a four seater dining table and to the left was a cozy living area, two soft yet worn looking sofa chairs were positioned on either side of the fireplace, facing each other while a love seat faced towards the fireplace.

Danika gravitated to the large shelf to the side of the room. Books filled the shelves, so many that there were books stacked up both sides of the shelf. Upon closer inspection many of the books were about sleep and dreams, some medical journals and an oddly large number of fairy tales.

"I apologize for the mess our niece was here doing some reading and didn't clean up before she left" a voice came from the way they came in. It belonged to a tall man with slicked back, black hair and pale complexion wearing a dark coat, slacks and dress shoes. His lips pulled into a small frown, his eyes slightly furrowed. The look on the older man's face was much too similar to one that her father wore and it made Danika uneasy.

Another man came up behind him, a total and complete opposite of the first. His bright, blonde hair stood in all directions, it was messy yet the style suited him, he wore a soft looking sweater and stretchy pants that fit well against his chubby belly. His smile was bright when he entered the room. He was the first to notice the youngest O'Brien's nervous posture. Deducing the cause the short, blonde man elbowed his taller companion and made a few gestures Danika vaguely recognized as sign language. The dark haired man composed his expression before turning to their guests.

"Aileen, it's always a pleasure to see you" the tall man greeted stiffly.

She gave if a grin in response "Good to see you well, Keiran"

"I'm sure you and Sandy have much to discuss"

"Yes we do" Aileen took a few steps into the room but stopped to snap her fingers "I forgot to get one of the books we need for this meeting"

"How important is it?" Keiran asked

"Very" Aileen deadpanned "I ordered a copy of it and was supposed to pick it up at The Quill"

"Well the meeting will just have to go on without it"

Aileen pouted "But what's written in there is important"

Keiran sighed "What do you want me to do Aileen? I have my own-"

"I can do it"

The two adults turned to Danika who spoke out in a soft voice, the younger blonde swallowed and repeated herself more firmly "I can do it"

Keiran and Aileen exchanged looks. "This is your problem" was the message of the look that the dark haired man conveyed then went inside the room, they could hear his voice just before he closed the door "No darling, Ailee forgot to get some book that you need...I could have helped but...well there's no need for that kind of language, Sandy"

Aunt and niece looked at each other for a moment. Danika looked hopeful while Aileen pursed her lips before holding out a folded piece of paper and a map.

Danika grinned.

********

Photo Sources:

Canva

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Tag list: @original-writing @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @dustylovelyrun @woodhousejay

#The Curses We Inherit #The Curses We Inherit Ch 3 #original story #original writing #creative writing #writing wip #unbeta'd

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theladyofdeath · 4 years

Text

The Arrival {part II}

The Arrival {Modern AU ACOTAR 2nd gen PART I}

So many of you have asked, and part two has finally arrived! Make sure to read part I before diving into this bucket of fluff.

Written, of course, alongside @throne-of-ashes-and-beauty

Enjoy. :)

Rhysand cracked his eyes open and saw the sun peeking through the blinds. He knew it couldn’t be later than 7:00, but having to be at work at 7:30 every morning had him awake with the sun almost every day. He decided he deserved just a bit more sleep and rolled over.

He found Lily asleep in Feyre’s arms, her precious hand pressed to his wife’s cheek as it always was in sleep.

He laughed, quietly, kissing them both on the forehead before quietly slipping out of bed and into the hallway.

The scent of bacon was already filling the house.

He wasn’t too surprised to find Cassian and Azriel already in the kitchen.

Both stood there in nothing but sweatpants and Rhys looked down at himself and laughed. He was clothed identically. Cass raised his mug of coffee in greeting.

“Where’s mine?” Rhys asked, sitting at the bar and letting his head fall into the cool marble.

“Hungover?” Azriel asked, not turning from the stove.

Rhys only lifted his hand in a vulgar gesture. He heard a mug set down in front of him and he reached up and wrapped his hand around it without looking up.

Cass laughed. “Coffee usually only helps if you drink it, Rhysie.”

“I need food first,” he mumbled.

As if on cue, Azriel set a plate piled high with bacon on the island. Rhys’ head snapped up and he grabbed a piece.

Sleepy foot steps had them all turning towards the hall. Lily poked her head around the corner, still clutching her stuffed kitten.

“Good morning, Princess,” Rhys said and she ran over to him, reaching up for him to pull her into his lap. “You’re up early.”

Of his three children, Lillian was the most like her mother, valuing her sleep and never saying no to her afternoon nap. She rubbed her eyes, his violet eyes, and rested her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder. “Hungry, daddy.”

Rhys handed her a piece of bacon and she ate it, not moving from where she was nestled against his chest. After a minute, he heard her breathing even out and knew she was back asleep, especially when her little hand pressed against his neck.

He sighed and softly rocked her in his chair. “So,” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee, careful not to let any drip onto his sleeping daughter. “Try to induce labor again last night?”

Cassian just grinned. “No, that was this morning.” Rhysand only laughed and shook his head. “She’s soaking in the bath right now, she said she might actually join us on the boat later, as long as we promise not to go too fast.”

Azriel sat a plate down with dozens of scrambled eggs. “So she’ll come out while the kids are tubing, but not while we’re wakeboarding? Got it.” He laughed.

“Basically,” Cass chuckled. “She brought her camera, I think she wants some new shots of them all.” He looked at Rhys. “Want to finally teach Bennett how to board? Thorn is doing it completely on his own now.”

Rhys took another drink of coffee. “If he wants, sure. He’s seven now, when did you start teaching Thorn?”

Cass smirked. “Five.”

Azriel laughed lightly. “Luna is dying to try, but the girl can barely walk on flat ground without tripping over her own feet.”

Rhys laughed. “Elain is the most graceful woman on the planet, yet somehow you two ended up with the clumsiest one of all the kids. How?”

Azriel shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine. We went to the playground with Lucien and his daughter last week and somehow, Luna ended up with a knot on her head from the bar above the slide.” When his brothers said nothing, he added, “The bar is 6 feet above the opening. I have no idea how she managed to get her head that high up.”

They both chuckled and shook their head. “Where’s Elain at? Still asleep?” Rhys asked.

Azriel pointed over his shoulder out the back door. “Morning yoga. Every. Single. Morning.”

Rhys glanced over his shoulder and saw Elain bent over on the mat, yet also reaching for the sky.

Azriel mumbled, taking a drink of his coffee, “If she doesn’t put something else on aside from those tight leggings, we’re trying for baby number 3 again before we go out on the boat.”

Cassian laughed loudly and Lily sat up, looking around, startled. She began to cry.

“No, no, no, Lily Love.” Cass came around the island and took her from her father’s lap. “No tears. Not allowed this weekend.” She stopped crying but sniffled and nodded, rubbing her hands over her eyes. Cass pressed a kiss to her dark head. “Still hungry? Want Uncle Cass to make you a plate?” She nodded and wrapped her little arms around his neck. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Go sit at the table and I’ll bring it over to you.” He set her down and she made her way over to the table. He looked over at his brothers. “Who’s waking up the rest of the kids?”

They all looked at each other. Azriel asked, “Rock, paper, scissors?”

They nodded.

Azriel lost.

————

“They really are just a bunch of grown ass kids, aren’t they?” Nesta asked, sunglasses on, sitting on the back porch with her sisters and a glass of orange juice after breakfast.

Cassian, Rhysand, and Azriel were playing football with the kids- or, against the kids. And they were not showing the kids any mercy.

As Azriel hurdle jumped over John’s head, Elain sighed. He was giggling and chasing his uncle, but the girls saw how close Az’s bare foot was to John’s head. “This entire vacation is a hospital trip in the making.” Lannan was milk drunk and sound sleep on her chest. She patted his butt with her hand as she slowly rocked.

“Any luck with baby number 3?” Feyre winked, taking a sip of her margarita, even though it was 8:15 in the morning. Elain blushed and looked down at her sleeping baby, opening her mouth to answer.

She was cut off by the roaring of loud music and a green boat sped by the house.

Nesta groaned. “I see the Tool still has his lakehouse.”

“Seriously, what are the odds that you’d marry the guy who’s vacation house is next door to your ex’s?” Elain mused, looking back down at Lannan, making sure the roar of the boat hadn’t woken him.

As one, they all looked over at the house “next door”. It was clear that even though they were all grown, Tamlin still used his lakehouse to throw parties. Beer cans littered his backyard and the house wasn’t kept up well.

“Did you know he’s dating Ianthe?”

Feyre spit her drink out at her sister’s words. “How did you hear that?”

Nesta was smirking. “Cass arrested her for public intoxication last week. He was the one to come bail her out. Said he made a big show of kissing her and calling her baby and his light.”

Elain and Feyre glanced at each other and burst into a fit of laughter.

Lannan woke up and started to cry at the sudden sound.

The game stopped at the sound of that little wail and Azriel was instantly running for the porch.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” He took him, resting him against his bare chest, gently bouncing him.

Elain signed. “You’re sweating all over our infant.”

Cassian grinned from the makeshift field below. “Just be glad we’re not making him join the game.”

Elain threw her hands in the air. “He can’t even crawl! He just learned to roll over!”

Azriel was pressing kisses all over their son’s face and his cries were turning into squeals of delight. He lifted him in the air and his giggles only grew louder.

“Daddy,” Livy cried, running for Rhys. “Do me, do me! I wanna fly too!”

Rhys picked Livy up and tossed her over his bare shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“I wanna get in the boat,” Thorn begged. “Can we, dad? Please?”

Cass raised his eyebrows. He looked around the eyes staring up at him, all various shades of blues and browns and hazel.

“First one to go change and be back here with your life jacket on gets to help me drive the boat.”

They scattered in an instant, Thorn and Bennett shoving each other as they ran into the house.

Rhys stood with his hands on his hips and watched. “You just incited mass chaos in one sentence.”

“Literally his favorite thing to do,” Nesta muttered.

Cassian just grinned in triumph.

“I think I’ll come on the boat,” Nesta said. “Ladies?”

“Where’s the infant life jacket?” Elain asked.

Lannan grabbed Azriel’s bottom lip and tugged as he said, “Down by the dock.”

Elain ran a hand down the back of Lannan’s dark head. “Let go of Daddy, baby.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

Feyre and Cassian began howling and Rhys was smirking.

“I hate all of you,” Az muttered, carrying Lannan down the dock to where they’d left the life jackets the night before.

Bennett was the first one out the door and he raced down to the docks, shoving his arms in the holes. “I win, Uncle Cass!”

“Good job, bud! Let me and your dad go get changed. Will you help the little kids when they get down here?”

He nodded and started separating the jackets into sizes. He lifted the biggest one in the air. “Who gets the big one? It’s huge!”

Nesta looked at the maternity life jacket in his hands, then at Feyre and said “I swear, I’ve never hit a kid, but right now, yours is pushing it.”

Feyre just laughed. “He’s not wrong, though.”

Nesta rolled her eyes before slowly rising into standing position and heading down to the dock, snatching the jacket from Bennett.

Bennett just watched his aunt climb into the boat with wide eyes. She took her spot in the seat behind Cassian’s captains chair and put her sunglasses on.

Lily and Livy bounded out of the house hand in hand. They wore matching swimsuits.

Nesta called, “I can’t believe you still make them match. Didn’t they outgrow that at, like, three-years-old?”

Rhys follows behind, holding a bunch of towels in his arms and a cooler. “They do it on their own. We’ve let them pick out their own clothes for about two years.”

Feyre said, “Yeah, so…”

When none of the kids were looking she threw a vulgar gesture her sister’s way. Nesta returned it without even looking up.

Azriel laughed, under his breath, as he strapped Lannan in his life jacket. “Our family is crazy. Yes they are. Mhmmm.”

Lannan giggled, kicking his feet wildly.

“Stop with the baby talk, man,” Rhys said, lifting the cooler up into the boat. “You’re gonna knock Elain up again just with that shit.”

Cassian came out of the house, Luna thrown over one should, John over the other. “Alright, mamas. Your turn to change.”

Nesta shook her head. “If I get in that water, I’ll sink.”

“Come on, Nes.” He sat Luna and John down by Rhys and Az who began buckling them into their life jackets. “It’ll be fun.”

Her tone was clipped as she crosses her arms over her belly. “No. Thank. You.”

He raised a brow. “Fine, no induction later.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You’ve never turned me down.”

He shrugged. “Guess you better go get that sexy butt in a suit so I don’t tonight.”

Her brows furrowed. “A baby is going to pop out of me any day now. You did this to me. You’re asking me to get out of this boat, walk all the way back in the house, change my clothes, only to come all the way back here and plant my ass where it’s currently planted?”

He squatted down in front of her, whispered something in her ear, and Nesta blushed. She glared at him, spit out, “I hate you,” and carefully stepped off of the boat, accepting Rhysand’s hand to balance her. She took off the life jacket, dropped it on the bench on the dock and began to waddle into the house. Walking was no longer an option, only waddling.

Feyre and Elain looked at each other with raised brows, looked at Cassian and followed their sister into the house. The rest of the kids flooded out and were pulling their life jackets on, with Rhysand’s help.

Azriel hopped into the boat, grabbed a couple beers out of the cooler, handing one to Cass and asked, “What did you tell her?”

Cassian’s grin was wicked when he said, “Let’s just say that I know what she likes.”

Azriel blinked. “As a couple, the two of you scare me. I just want you to know that.”

“Keep in mind, there are two mini versions of us running around and there will be a third soon.”

Azriel put the beer to his lips. “God help us all.” They fell into a comfortable silence. “You ready to have a daughter?” Azriel asked.

Cassian glanced over at him. He answered quietly, so none of the kids could hear. “Fuck, no. I’m fucking terrified. Having boys is easy. We’re boys, we know what boys like. Girls, especially an Archeron, are an absolute mystery.”

Azriel gazed lovingly at Luna, who was being chased by Lily and Livy. “I love Lannan, I do. I’m glad I have a boy to carry on the family name, but there is no love like a daddy has for his little girl. She’s my princess, I would do anything for her. Anything.”

The finality of his words had Cassian worried for any boys she may bring home in the future.

“Shit,” he mumbled.

Azriel just grinned, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Nesta had finally made it to the back door and basically tumbled inside.

“She really is a lovely pregnant woman,” Azriel said, under his breath.

Cassian chuckled. “No need to lie.” Azriel laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thoroughly enjoying the daily sex I get in the afternoons, but I’m honestly fucking her as often as I am so she can have Scarlett and won’t be so miserable.”

“How chivalrous of you,” he laughed.

Cassian grinned and went back to getting ready to go out on the water.

_____

“You’ve gotta stand up, bud,” Rhys called from the boat. Bennett was on his 4th try, but it seemed wakeboarding was not in his future. At least not this summer. “Once Uncle Cass starts moving, you’ve gotta twist and stand.”

“I can’t, daddy,” he cried, clutching the handle in front of him tightly.

Rhys sighed, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head, getting ready to jump into the water and pull his oldest back to the boat. But he heard a splash and when he pulled his shirt off, he saw Thorn swimming out to his cousin.

The girls and the rest of the kids were back at the house, taking naps and getting lunch ready. Rhys, Azriel and Cass were still out on the boat, wakeboarding, letting Thorn have a chance and really opening up the throttle and flying across the water. Luna sat on Azriel’s lap and giggled mostly, not ready to learn how to wakeboard, not wanting to be with the big kids.

Thorn bobbed next to Bennett in the water, quietly talking with his cousin, helping explain to him things that when Rhys or Cass explained just frustrated or confused him more.

Thorn swam back to the boat, climbing out and looking back at Bennett. He gave him a thumbs up, which Bennett nervously returned.

“You ready, bud?” Cass called, glancing between the two boys. Bennett nodded, adjust his grip on the rope’s handle.

“You sure?” Rhys asked, looking at a smirking Thorn. He was so much like his father, genuinely wanting to help, but also full of mischief.

Bennett nodded, once again, as he took a deep, unsteady breath.

“He’s got it this time,” Thorn assured them all.

Cassian smiled at his son’s all consuming passion for those he loved as he started moving forward.

Rhysand, on the other hand, couldn’t tell if Thorn was being honest or if he knew that they were about to watch another failure unfold.

Cassian accelerated, gently, careful not to go too fast, and just as he looked over his shoulder to see if Bennett had gotten into standing position, Thorn, Luna, and his brothers were cheering.

He wasn’t up for long. Bennett soon hit a little wave and flew into the water, but when he broke the surface, he had a huge grin on his face and his little arms were tossed into the air in victory as he bobbed in the water.

“You sure you don’t wanna try?” Azriel asked Luna.

She shook her head. “No, I want to go play with Lily and Livy. Girl stuff.”

Azriel chuckled. “I see.”

“Wakeboarding is girly, too,” Cassian assured her as Bennett was lifted by his father into the boat. “Just ask Aunt Nesta. She kicks ass on a wakeboard.”

Luna just sighed and looked up at Azriel. “You really need to tell him to watch his mouth.”

When they made their way back into the house, they found the youngest siblings crashed on various parts of the living room, an episode of Paw Patrol long ignored on the tv.

Feyre was scrolling through her phone and looked up when the door opened. She put her finger to her lips, a look in her eye that dared one of them to wake one of the sleeping children.

“Lunch is after impromptu nap time,” she whispered, gesturing to the sleeping children around her. Lily’s head was lying in her lap and John was curled up against her other side. Olive was face down on the floor and Rhysand chuckled softly, as he picked up his daughter. She didn’t stir and he blew Feyre a kiss before carrying her down the hallway towards the room. Cassian instructed Thorn and Bennett to take turns taking a bath and sent the boys off to their task. He collected John from Feyre’s side and pressed a kiss to the top of his head when his son gripped his t-shirt tightly. “Nesta napping?”

Feyre shook her head. “Soaking in the tub.”

“Oh, is she?” He said, raising an eyebrow. “I think I could use a bath, too.”

He turned and headed back towards the room Rhys had just gone to lay Livy down in.

Azriel brushed Luna’s hair back off her face and she looked up at him. “Why don’t you go take a quick nap, too, bug?” She nodded, looking as if she might yawn at any second and climbed the stairs to the second floor. When she was out of earshot, Azriel rubbed between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and sighed. “It’s literally like he forgets that my 6-year-old is standing right here,” he whispered.

Feyre just chuckled and shook her head. She cleared her throat. “Speaking of naps, I’m pretty sure your wife is in there pretending to take one.”

She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Azriel move so quickly.

Feyre laughed, picking up Lily and carrying her down the hallway, alongside everyone else. Once she laid her down next to Olive, she meandered into her and Rhysand’s room. He was in the shower, singing softly to himself - extraordinarily off tune.

Feyre laid back on the bed, listening to her husband showering. Aside from his off key singing and the water running, she couldn’t hear another noise in the house. In that silence, she began to think.

When Rhys got out of the shower, he found Feyre laying on the bed, facing the far wall. He assumed she was asleep, so when he rounded the bed and opened the top drawer of the dresser, he was surprised to look over and find her eyes open.

“Hey,” he said, seeing a look in her eyes that often unnerved him. He sat on the edge of the bed, wearing just his towel. “What’s on your mind?”

Feyre didn’t seem to even notice his near nakedness. “I only got to be pregnant twice.”

An eyebrow raised and Rhys quickly did mental math. “We definitely have three kids, babe.”

“No, I know that,” she said, and he could tell she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes, even as she chuckled. “I mean, I was pregnant and then I had Bennett. And then I was pregnant and had Liv and Lily.” She gnawed on her lip. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it. It’s stupid.”

He rested a gentle hand on her cheek and pulled her lip from between her teeth. “Not a single thing you’ve ever said, done, or thought is stupid.”

Feyre smirked and said, “Not even that time I decided to break into the fraternity house to get your things out of Tamlin’s room?”

He recalled the memory and could still hear the sound of the police sirens as they pulled up in front of the house next door. Feyre came out in handcuffs and it was his quick thinking and sharp tongue that convinced the officers to let her go. It was his charm that convinced her to go out on a date with him for saving her ass.

“Okay, maybe that was a little stupid,” he admitted, laughing. “What is it, baby?”

She sighed and said, “I just see Nesta, as miserable as she is right now, and Elain, trying for another baby, and I just… I liked being pregnant.”

Rhys blinked at her, trying to remember how to use words. “Are you- Feyre, please tell me you aren’t saying you want another.”

“Cauldron, no!” She said, a harsh laugh leaving her in a gust. “Of course not, three is more than enough. God, I’m not explaining this well.” She sat up and ran a hand through her hair. “I love the twins, they’re the best surprise I’ve ever been given. But we went from an only child to three. Most women get to be pregnant twice before that happens, but not me.” She ran a hand over her flat stomach. “I just wish I could have gotten to experience it one more time.”

Rhys leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Maybe one day, you can. It’s not like your childbearing years are gone.” He laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead as he pulled her down to the bed again and wrapped her up in his arms. “Maybe one day, when the twins are a little older, when Bennett is old enough to babysit, we can think about this again. I would never say ‘no’ to growing my family with you. But for now, I’m happy.” He kissed her again. “I’ve got the three most beautiful girls in the world and the best mini me I could ever ask for.”

“I love you,” Feyre mused, closing her eyes and leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. Her hand lingered on his chest where it was resting, while his reached down to grip her hip.

He didn’t break the kiss to tell her he loved her, too. Instead, he took the time to show her.

_______

Lunch went by quickly, as soon as all the littles woke from their naps bright eyed and chipper. With all the newfound energy, Cassian, Azriel, and Rhysand decided to come up with a new game. So, after collecting a series of thick, oversized garbage bags and an unopened bottle of dish soap, they were outside making the world’s longest homemade slip-n-slide down the grassy hill.

“Okay, as awesome as this looks, it’s going to turn out really bad, isn’t it?” Elain asked from where she, her sisters, and Lannan sat on the porch.

“For the kids? No,” Nesta said, then pointed to the three overgrown children. “For those three? Oh, yeah.”

“Whose testing this thing out?” Feyre yelled, to the men at the bottom.

Azriel and Rhysand, without hesitation, pointed to Cassian.

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Do you know how much that man weighs? He’ll shoot off the bottom of that thing like a cannonball.”

Feyre chuckled. “I’d pay good money to see that.”

“Be careful, Uncle Cass!” Livy shouted.

The children sat, in their swimsuits, in a line next to the slip-n-slide, buzzing with excitement.

Cassian grinned as he jogged to the top of the hill.

The makeshift slide was nice and soapy once Cassian was at the foot of the porch.

“Don’t die,” Nesta sighed. “I’m not raising three kids alone. You die, I’m instantly remarrying without any regret.”

Cassian looked over his shoulder. “It’s a slip-n-slide, Nes. I’m not jumping out of a plane.”

Nesta just sat back, humor dancing in her gray-blue eyes. “We’ll see, old man.”

Cassian frowned, turning his bare, inked back to his wife. “I am not old.”

“Go, dad!” Thorn yelled, as Cassian hesitated.

After taking a bracing breath and shaking his arms out, Cassian started running at the long makeshift tarp. Right before his feet left the ground, Azriel called, “Shit, Cass, STOP!”

But an object in motion stays in motion and there was no slowing him down as he leaped, hit the slick surface, slid, and-.

Skidded to a halt, pulling the garbage bags with him.

Luna cried, “Mommy, Daddy said a bad word!”

But none of the adults were paying attention, all of them, save for Nesta, were on their feet, faces shocked, as they stared at Cassian lying on the grass.

No, Nesta wasn’t staring, Nesta was howling.

“Oh, my god,” she said, trying to breathe. “That was the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

Cassian sat up and glared at the men at the bottom of the hill. He was covered in dirt, grass, and soap; his face, chest and stomach red and splotchy. “Which one of you assholes forgot the water?”

Luna stomped her little foot and said, “Uncle Cass, LANGUAGE!”

Nesta’s laughter began anew and he even heard Elain snicker from behind him.

Feyre was bent over, hardly able to breathe through her laughter.

The only one shaking his head, face in his hands, was Azriel.

Cassian, still sitting in the grass, groaned.

“Poor baby,” Nesta said, tears spilling from her eyes.

Thorn rose to his feet, arms crossed. “Old people shouldn’t slip-n-slide. Now it's ruined!”

It wasn’t. Azriel and Rhysand quickly fixed the issue and the kids were sliding down the hill, having a grand old time, in no time. Even Rhysand and Azriel flew down the hill a few times, followed by a slightly tipsy Feyre.

Cassian, on the other hand, laid on the porch with his pregnant wife.

“You didn’t have to laugh,” he mumbled, head lying on her lap.

“Yes, I did,” she clarified, “because it was hilarious.”

Cassian, despite himself, chuckled. “Not so funny being sore as hell.”

“Don’t let Luna hear you,” Nesta whispered. “She’s been very upset with your language.”

Cassian turned his face and kissed her stomach. “Wanna rub my back?”

“I’m eight months pregnant,” she said. “If anyone's getting rubbed, it's me.”

“Oh, I’ll rub you,” Cassian grinned.

“Oh my god. I’m sitting right here,” Elain said, covering Lannan’s tiny ears. “Do you two have no boundaries?”

“You can say that all you want, Lainy, but we all know how kinky you and daddy are,” Cassian winked.

Elain’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red.

“How’s the whole, uh, impregnating thing going?” Cassian asked, closing his eyes and reaching his arm out to rub one of Nesta’s swollen ankles. “Azriel need any tips? I’d say I’m basically a pro at this point, I’m pretty good at it.”

Elain scoffed and cleared her throat. “No, Cass, I think we’re good.”

Nesta ran a hand through his hair and said, “He really is, though. I can prove it.” She gestured to her large stomach.

Cassian, eyes still closed, pressed another kiss to her belly. “Yeah, I can tell him about all the positions I used to get it real deep in there.” He slightly moved his body to demonstrate what he meant. “And I mean, it’ll be in there. I can personally guarantee you’ll be knocked up in four to six weeks.”

“You know, I really don’t like walking up and hearing you say that to my wife, while you’re doing that with your hips.” Azriel’s voice was amused but there was a slight edge to it.

Cassian's eyes shot open and he sat up. “You caught the tail end of a really weird sentence.”

“I’d say so,” Az said, sitting in the spot Elain had offered him by scooting forward in her deck chair. His legs straddled her and she leaned back against him. He rubbed her shoulders softly and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. He looked down at Lannan, asleep against Elain’s chest. “But I think I’m pretty good at what I do.”

“Oh, you are, baby,” she said, twisting to kiss him.

His lips still brushing hers, he breathed, “You mean, daddy.”

“That’s going to haunt me forever, isn’t it?” Elain groaned, just as Feyre slid down the slip-n-slide with her twins, causing a one-man cheering section from Rhysand at the bottom of the hill.

Cassian snorted. “Oh, most definitely.”

Azriel whispered something into her ear that made the color her pink cheeks deepen.

“Elain!” Rhysand called from the bottom of the hill. “Your turn!”

Elain, shaking off whatever impact Azriel had just left on her ovaries, shook her head. “No way!”

“Come on, mama!” Luna clapped.

“I’ll go with you, Aunt Lainy,” John offered, running up the stairs and holding out his hand.

Elain sighed, fondly watching her nephew. “Well, I can’t say no to that, can I?”

She handed Lannon to Azriel, who cradled him against his chest, and took John’s hand. The two sat at the top of the hill, hand in hand, and went down the slide.

“You should go down,” Cassian said, looking up at Nesta. “Scarlett will shoot right out of you as soon as you hit the bottom.”

Nesta flicked him on the side of the neck. “Why do you say the things that you say?”

“You’re the one that married him,” Azriel whispered, careful not to wake his son. “You should know better by now.”

Her eyes rolled over to him as she said, “His stupidity amazes me every day, but at least my life is never boring.”

Cassian opened his mouth to jab back at his wife, but his words were cut off by a cry that filled the backyard. All three sets of parents quickly took tally of their children, seeing that they were still playing safely in the water hose.

Elain hollered to Azriel, “Is that Lannan? It sounds like a baby.”

Azriel stood, letting her see the still sleeping infant in his arms. Rhys and Feyre jogged up the hill and met them at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the deck.

“You failed to mention a very important fact when you told us about Ianthe getting arrested,” Feyre said, voice low.

Cassian walked down a few steps until he could see the yard next door. He leaned to get a better view. “What are you talking-?”

Tamlin was standing on the back porch, a plate in one hand, which he sat on the side of the grill and in his arms-.

“Is that a baby?”

Rhysand quickly clasped a hand over his son’s mouth, but his loud question carried over to Tamlin. He looked over at them, catching them all staring. Bennett quickly ran back to where the other kids were still playing. Azriel awkwardly raised his hand to wave, but before he could, Tamlin flipped them the bird and went back inside.

“Aaaand go fuck yourself then,” Azriel mumbled, letting his arm drop back down. “Prick.”

Elain and Nesta quickly looked to Feyre.

“They had a fucking baby?” Nesta asked.

“Language,” Cassian warned.

“Says you of all people,” Azriel mumbled.

“Apparently so,” Feyre said, looking in the direction in which Tamlin disappeared.

Rhysand was watching Feyre.

“That baby will be a damn mess,” Cassian muttered.

Elain’s eyes grew wide. “Cassian.”

Cassian just shrugged, “It’s true.”

Even Azriel had to agree.

“Let’s head inside and start cleaning up for dinner, yeah?” Rhys said, eyes still on Feyre, who had gone unusually quiet.

Cassian nodded and whistled, getting the kids attention. “Last one inside has to lick Uncle Azriel’s foot!”

“Dude,” Az chuckled, but Cassian’s method was effective. The kids all came sprinting towards the house, Livy and John bringing up the rear. It was agreed that since they tied for last, no one would lose, just to be fair.

Thorn thought that was full of shit, which he announced to Bennett as they were making their way towards their room.

“Thorn!” Both Nesta and Cassian said at once.

Good thing Luna didn’t hear, because she would have destroyed him and his use of profanity.

Thorn groaned, as he approached his parents.

“What?” He asked. “It’s true.”

“You can’t swear,” Cassian whispered.

“You swear,” Thorn mumbled back.

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Do as your father says, not as he does.”

Thorn groaned, following his cousins inside.

When Nesta looked up, Elain was shaking her head.

“What?” She asked.

“I do not want to know what goes on in your household,” Elain said.

Azriel, infant on his chest, howled.

“You’d be scandalized,” she smirked, and pointed at Cassian. “Watch your mouth in front of him. You know he wants to be just like you.”

“He is just like me,” he said, holding out a hand to steady her.

“Exactly.” She leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. “You’ve proven my point. Now if you’ll excuse, all five pounds of this ridiculously huge baby you put in me is sitting on my bladder and I’m about to piss myself.”

Cassian watched her walk in the house and sighed. “God, she’s a peach. How did I get so lucky?”

“Is that a rhetorical question or…?”

Cassian flipped his brother off and Rhys chuckled as they all headed inside.

Everyone got changed into dry, comfy clothes and piled into the living room, deciding to watch a movie before dinner. It wasn’t long before they realized that the sun had tired the kids out, and even some of the others.

Cassian was asleep with one arm draped across the back of the couch, the other wrapped around his firstborn. Thorn was fast asleep, his head resting against Cassian’s chest. Elain was on the other side, her head on the arm of the couch. Luna was snuggled safely in her mother’s arms, under a fluffy blanket. Bennett was asleep in one of the oversized bean bag chairs, while Lily dozed on top of Rhysand, who was stretched out in the recliner. Even Nesta had fallen asleep, her head propped in her hand, John curled up in her lap.

Feyre looked around the room, taking in her family. She smiled and pressed a kiss to Liv’s head, her little arm wrapped around her waist. She looked over at Nesta and John, how he was clinging to her like his life depended on it.

Once again, she was struck by how differently her pregnancies were from her sisters’. Bennett was an only child. He went from being the only boy to completely outnumbered. He never got to experience life as the baby, something Feyre knew all too well.

John, though, he’d never known anything but being the baby.

She glanced over at Elain, knowing she was about to go through the same situation as Nesta.

Lannan was so young. His little personality was still coming to life in front of them.

She looked over at the youngest member of the family, expecting Az to be asleep as well, but instead was met with his hazel eyes.

“You okay?” He asked, softly rubbing Lannan’s back.

Feyre nodded, looking back over at John. She noted how his little fist was clutching at her shirt, how he tried to be as close to her as he could, yet his head was carefully resting on her round belly. But it wasn’t just John. Nesta's arm was wound tightly around her soon-to-be middle child. It was as if they both were taking advantage of his being the baby for just a little bit longer.

Azriel’s gaze followed Feyre’s.

“His life is about to change completely,” Feyre said, softly. “He’s about to be a big brother, and he’s never been anything but the baby.”

Azriel nodded, a smile on his face. “You’re right, and it’s probably not going to be the smoothest transition for him either. Nesta’s spoiled him a bit.”

Feyre chuckled quietly. “A bit?”

Az shook his head, quiet laughter coming from him. “Okay, a lot. But he’ll be a great big brother. He’ll have an awesome teacher.”

Feyre smiled and looked at Thorn. He’d moved, pulling himself out of Cassian’s grip, and now he was the mirror image of his father, down to the arm draped across the back of the couch.

Feyre shook her head and laughed. Silence settled in the room.

“Feyre?” She glanced up at him. Concern was written across his face. “Are you okay?”

She looked away. Azriel was always too observant for his own good. Of course he’d noticed her change in mood.

Her eyes grew teary, and she wasn’t sure why. “Look at us all. We’ve known you three since we were kids. Rhys used to pull on my ponytail, Nesta used to push Cassian down on the playground, and you and Elain were best friends since preschool. Now look at us. Married, kids.”

“And that makes you sad?” Azriel whispered.

Feyre chuckled, shaking her head. “No, it makes me really happy. But time passes too fast, you know? Just yesterday, Bennett was a baby. My baby, my only baby. Then two more popped out of nowhere, and I love them all so much, Az, but it got really different really quickly. Now, they’re almost four. Bennett is seven. Nesta’s having her third baby. Elain wants to have an entire heard of children.”

Azriel smiled, patting her knee gently. “I never thought I’d have kids, you know.”

Feyre lifted her brow, glancing at him sideways. “Really?”

Azriel shook his head. “My parents were such shit, the entire idea I had of family was miserable.”

“What changed?”

Azriel’s eyes found Elain, soundly asleep with Luna. He watched her, lovingly. “I fell in love with the most beautiful, gentle woman… She always knew she wanted kids, and I had no doubt that she would be an amazing mother. She was my family. And I wanted to give her all the babies she wanted. Then, we had them...and I’m so in love, Feyre.”

Feyre laid her head against his broad shoulder. “You’re a great father, Az.”

“And you’re a great mom. A quality that runs in the family.”

Azriel and Feyre silently watched the rest of the movie, laughing quietly when one of the kids would snore (it was mostly Nesta, honestly) and as the credits were rolling across the screen, she softly woke Olive up and told her to go wake her daddy up.

She did this by climbing up onto the recliner and dropping herself into the small between his body and the armrest.

He woke up with a huff and Azriel and Feyre chuckled. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, clearly trying to decipher what time it is. He carefully extracted his arm from the Lily vice grip she had on it and looked at his watch.

“Shit, it’s only 5:20?” He said, dragging a hand down his face. “We still have to cook dinner.”

Thorn sat up slightly, blinking sleepily. “Dinner?”

My God, Feyre thought, he truly is a tiny version of Cassian.

“Want to help me grill?” Azriel asked, watching Thorn with the same humored expression.

“No,” Nesta said, adamantly, eyes still shut. “Do not let that child near flame.”

Azriel didn’t protest, even if Thorn instantly pouted.

Feyre got her Lannan snuggles in as Azriel padded into the kitchen, Thorn sneakily on his heels.

Cassian and Elain were still knocked out as the kids all got up and began to do their own thing. Nesta moved to the recliner and read her book quietly, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Azriel stuck his head through the door, searching for his wife, not expecting her to still be asleep.

Feyre gently rubbed Lannan’s back as she glanced at the two figures on the couch and then back to Azriel and Nesta. “How much sex do you have? They’re both exhausted!”

Azriel just grinned and walked away, but Nesta snorted. “Do you truly want to know the answer to that question?”

Feyre debated. “No, I really—.”

“The man is a freak,” she went on, turning the page. “Can’t get enough of me.”

Feyre shook her head. “Elain would be appalled of you speaking like this in front of the baby.”

Nesta peeked over her book at Lannan. “Considering his mother refers to his father as daddy, I’m sure he’s heard much worse, no matter how much she denies it.”

“I heard that.” Azriel’s muffled voice carried back to them from the kitchen and they heard the fridge door fall shut.

The two girls started laughing and the sudden noise startled Lannan, who began to cry.

Instantly, Elain was up and moving across the room before she was fully awake and coherent. She slumped back onto the couch and leaned her head on Cassian’s shoulder. “Az, baby, take him, please.” She nudged him.

Cassian, still dozing hard himself, took Lannan and leaned back, settling deeper into the couch and an arm falling around Elain.

Feyre and Nesta once again looked at each and were laughing once again.

Cassian began to rouse and he blinked a few times, seeming to notice he was holding Lannan right about the same time he found his arm around Elain. He looked up at Nesta and his look of genuine confusion had her chuckling.

“What are you doing, babe?” She crooned.

“I don’t, uh — I really have no idea.”

“Our bun is still in the oven,” she clarified. “Not your kid, not your wife.”

Cassian yawned, and shrugged, and closed his eyes, once more. It was Elain, who woke up ten minutes later, who had the audacity to turn a deep shade of red.

She stood quickly, the fluffy blanket falling to the floor, and stumbled over both the floor and her words. “I don’t — That’s not my — Huh?”

Nesta chuckled. “Yours is in the kitchen,” she said, inclining her head towards the kitchen.

Elain nodded her thanks and turned to take Lannan. He woke up as she cradled him in her arms and began to babble up at her.

She cooed to him the whole way into the kitchen where she found Azriel putting a tray of chicken nuggets and fries into the oven. “Who is that?” She asked, turning so Lannan could see Azriel. “Is that daddy? Is that daddy?”

The chubby cheeked baby started to giggle, his hazel eyes sparkling as he looked from his mother to his father.

Elain was grinning, her smile breathtaking, as she turned to gaze up at him as well.

“You are...the most amazing mother.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

She was blushing when he pulled away, her eyes lined with silver. “Azriel…” she trailed off. Leaning up on her toes, she kissed him again. She still held Lannan to her chest and he began to squirm. “Where did that come from?”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to both her forehead and the top of Lannan’s head. “Talking with Feyre during everyone’s naps. I realized I don’t tell you near enough how amazing you are. The best mama I could ever want for my babies.”

He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. His hand reached down and gripped the curve of her ass. She giggled, loving how in love with this man she was.

“Ma… ma…. Mama…”

Elain jerked back, eyes wide open. “Did he...did he just...he said mama. Didn’t he? You heard it, he said mama.”

Azriel’s smile widened. A full fledged smile, that he only saved for a select few. Around Elain, he couldn’t help but letting out that smile. He didn’t bother to tell his wife that Lannan was only babbling, as it had become his favorite activity lately, and his saying mama was definitely a fluke.

Instead, he pulled her closer and took her face in his hands. He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her lips. “Maybe he wanted to let you know that he thinks you’re an amazing mom, too.”

He wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek.

“I love you,” she smiled, “so much.”

“I love you,” he repeated, “so much.”

“Azriel,” she whispered. “How long is that in the oven for?”

He arched an eyebrow, before taking Lannan from her arms and bringing him to Feyre in the living room. When he got back to the kitchen, Elain was already walking up the stairs to their bedroom.

——————

“Uncle Cass?”

Cassian turned from where he was eating at the bar of the kitchen island, towards the table of cousins sitting behind him. “Yes, Luna Bug?”

“Is my mommy sick?”

Feyre choked on the drink she was taking and Nesta sniggered from the other room. Only Rhys was able to keep his composure and keep eating.

“No, baby, she’s not sick,” he said, chuckling. “She needs some sleep, that’s it.”

“Is daddy taking care of her?” she asked.

Cassian nodded, slowly. “Yes, yes he is.”

Elain and Azriel joined them downstairs half an hour later, and Luna had many questions about her mother’s quick nap.

After dinner, once the sun began to set, the boys started a bonfire down by the lake. The littles went to bed, while Thorn, Bennett, and Luna stayed up, making s’mores alongside their parents.

“So, Thorn,” Feyre asked, breaking a s’more in half and handing it to Bennett. “Are you excited to not only be the ‘big brother’, but the ‘biggest brother’?”

Thorn, who had been laughing with Bennett and already eating his own s’more, paused and swallowed before he answered. “Uh, yeah.”

Feyre smiled at him and began asking Nesta questions about what to do what when she went into labor, but Cassian, who probably should have been taking notes, wasn’t paying attention to his wife’s words. Instead, he was keeping an eye on his son.

Thorn, just like his father, was usually the life of the party; the one cracking jokes and making everyone smile. But now, he sat quietly eating his gooey treat, absentmindedly drawing circles in the sand surrounding the firepit with his feet.

After a few minutes, Cassian stood, announcing he was going up to the house to get another beer. After most in attendance asked for a second as well, Cassian rested a hand on Thorn’s shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. He looked up at his father, with his mother’s eyes, and Cassian could see the emotion that roared inside, just like their stormy hue. “Come walk with me.”

He nodded and stood, tossing what was left if his s’more into the fire.

Instead of walking towards the house though, Cassian led him towards the dock, where the boat still waited for one more day of fun. He walked down the dock, sitting down once they were completely obscured from their families’ eyes, letting his bare feet skim the water’s surface. Thorn awkwardly followed, clearly not sure why they had come over here rather than into the house as they’d planned.

Cassian fished a small box out of his pocket and then there was a flash of a lighter.

Thorn’s eyes went wide and he said, “You smoke?”

Cassian chuckled. “Not normally, no. Only when I’m really stressed or when I’m drinking.” He took a long drag off the cigarette, pausing. “Your mom doesn’t know though.” Cassian looked up at his eldest son and grinned at him. “This is our secret, okay?”

Thorn nodded and came and sat next to him. Rather than letting his feet hang off the edge, he crossed his legs and rested his elbows on his knees, propping his chin in his hands.

“So here’s the deal,” Cassian said, taking another drag on the cigarette and flicking the ash into the water. “I told you a secret and now you have to tell me one.”

Thorn looked up at him. “That’s not fair, I didn’t ask you to tell me you smoked! You just pulled them out and lit one.”

Cassian couldn’t stop his chuckle as he was once again reminded of just how much like himself his son was. “Sucks, doesn’t it? Now fess up, what’s going on? Why’d you shut down when Aunt Feyre asked if you were excited for Scarlett to get here?” He flicked the cigarette into the water, hearing it sizzle as it hits the surface and extinguished.

Thorn once again stared down, this time at the water instead of the sand earlier. “Nothing, I didn’t. I’m excited for her to get here.”

‘Thorn,” he said, turning to him and placing his hand on his shoulder again. “What’s wrong, bud?”

He was floored when Thorn turned to look at him and found tears lining his son’s eyes.

“You’re not going to have time for me anymore,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Cassian only blinked at him for a moment, not understanding. “What?”

A quick intake of breath was the only indication of the fear that he truly felt. “When Mama had Johnnie, I had to go over to Uncle Rhys and Aunt Feyre’s all the time. He’s still a baby and now there’s gonna be another baby.” A little sob broke from him and Cassian felt his heart break as he listened to his firstborn, so much like him that it scared him sometimes.

“Being the oldest is bullshit,” he muttered, wiping angrily at his eyes.

“Yeah,” Cassian agreed, pulling his son into his chest. “It is.”

Cassian was the oldest of four and his parents were shit. So, yes, he knew all too well the difficulties of being the oldest.

“We’ll still have time together,” Cassian promised. “Newborns need a lot of attention, but we’re a family. Me and mom are going to spend just as much time with you and John. Alright? Just… we may need a little help with Scarlett every now and then. And sometimes, that means going to play mini-golf or going to see a movie with your cousins.”

“I hate mini-golf,” Thorn said into his father’s chest.

Cassian snorted. “Liar. Anyway, Scarlett won’t be a newborn forever. She’s going to get to be Lannan’s age, then you and John can start helping her get into all kinds of trouble.”

Thorn, despite himself, smiled. But, that smile soon faded. “Don’t forget about me. Okay?”

Cassian kissed the top of Thorn’s head. “You’re the oldest, bud. My firstborn. You made me a dad. I love you. Alright? Don’t ever worry that I don’t. Mama does, too. We love you more than you’ll ever know.”

Thorn nodded, his tears dried up. “Okay.”

“I guess we should go get everyone a drink, huh.”

Thorn nodded. “Don’t tell mom I swore.”

“Oh, I’m definitely telling mom you swore.”

“Then I’m telling her you smoked and threw your cigarette into the lake.”

Cassian and Thorn stared at each other for a long minute.

“Call it even?” Cassian asked.

Thorn grinned, wildly and mischievously, before nodding. “Race you to the house?”

Just a couple of hours later, Rhys and Cassian were carrying their sleeping sons to their room, while Luna explained to Aunt Nesta how girls were smarter than boys and their brains didn’t have to work as hard.

“That’s why I’m not as sleepy as them,” she said, holding her hand as they walked into the house. Azriel chuckled as he headed into their room, to check on Lannan. Finding him fast asleep still, he came back out and Luna was in the middle of pleading a very strong case against going to bed. She even had counter arguments planned for everything Elain said. His wife threw him an exasperated look and he picked Luna up from behind, surprising her and causing her to begin to giggle.

“It’s bed time, Luna Bug,” he said, tossing her over his shoulder and walking back towards their room.

“But I’m not sleepy,” she said, trying to turn her giggle into a whine but failing.

“If you don’t go to sleep now you’ll be too sleepy to do anything fun with everyone else tomorrow, and you don’t want that, do you?” he asked, as Luna threw her arms around her daddy’s neck.

“No,” she sighed. “Can I sleep with you and mommy?”

Azriel chuckled, kissing her cheek. “Not tonight. You’ve got your own bed here, and Livy and Lily will be sad if they wake up in the morning and don’t see you in your bunk.”

Luna agreed. “Okay, fine.”

Elain had already slipped back outside with her sisters as Azriel walked Luna into her bedroom. He could see them all sitting around the fading fire, Elain laughing brightly at something her sisters had said. He was so captivated by her beauty, so blown away by that heart-stopping smile.

He kissed Luna goodnight before tucking her in, then slowly shut the door behind him before making his way downstairs.

Cassian and Rhysand were in the kitchen, having put the boys down in their room.

“I suppose I should grab my pregnant wife and put her to bed,” Cassian said. Yet, he was cracking open another beer and putting the can to his lips.

Rhysand shook his head. “Is it even possible for you to drink too much? When was the last time you’ve been hungover?”

Cassian thought about it, then shrugged. “Don’t remember. High school. Maybe college.”

Azriel laughed before bidding them both goodnight and stepping out onto the back porch.

“Going to bed!” he called to his wife. “Goodnight!”

“That’s a hint to follow him,” Cassian said, stepping out onto the porch behind him, still sipping on his new can of beer. “You know, so you can procreate.”

The three sisters rose and walked back up the hill, Nesta holding her lower back as she did so.

“We all need to go to bed,” Nesta said, taking the can from her husband. “I’m cutting you off.”

Cassian snatched it back and chugged until the contents were gone. He was sure to lean close to his wife before letting out an obnoxious belch.

Nesta just blinked and put her palm against his face, pushing him back. “Someone remind me why I let him be the father of my children.”

Elain and Azriel had already slipped away for the night.

“The rest of us wonder that daily,” Rhysand laughed, holding out his hand as he leaned against the doorway. “Come to bed, Feyre, darling?”

“Of course,” she smiled, intertwining her fingers with his.

Once they were gone, Cassian sat back on one of the lounge chairs and patted the space in front of him. “Come sit.”

Nesta, rolling her eyes, sat in front of her husband and leaned back against him.

“You smell like beer,” she said, yawning.

Cassian’s massive, calloused hands were instantly caressing her baby bump. “I can’t tell if you think that’s a bad thing or not.”

She huffed a laugh, looking up at him behind her. “You’re an idiot. I love you.”

He kissed the back of her neck as his arms around her tightened, “I love you, too.”

#acotar #acomaf #acowar #nessian #feysand #elriel #the arrival #tacmc x throne of ashes and beauty #collab #telby #shara #shelby and tara writes #fanfic #fanfiction #part #2 #update #2nd gen

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fangirlxwritesx67 · 4 years

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Make Me Wanna Kiss You

Dean x OFC Rhea, 1200 words, cute fluff and food

Written for my sweet @winchesterxfamilybusiness Make Me Swoon 250 Followers Challenge. Sabrina, it has been a delight to get to know you! I admire you as a person, a fangirl, and a friend. Hope this makes you swoon

Rhea sighed as she locked the door behind at the small family-owned restaurant where she worked. The last lunch customer had just left, and now she had only a couple of hours before the restaurant would reopen for dinner, and plenty of work to do in the meantime. She had to chop vegetables for salads, fruit for cocktail garnishes, and slice the bread that would go on the table with every meal. There was also cleaning to be done and silverware - always silverware to be rolled.

But first, her own lunch. One of the perks of this job was that the owners provided a meal between the seatings. Usually it was a burger, hot sandwich, or the daily special, whatever the kitchen needed to get rid of, but it was free and better than what she could cook on her own.

Lately, though, there was an added attraction to employee meal time: the handsome new line cook, Dean Winchester.

He had started a couple of months ago when the last line cook stormed out in a huff over food safety measures. Dean fit into the kitchen like he had always been there.

At first, Rhea had been attracted to him for his good looks. His handsome face, sprinkled with freckles, was all chiseled angles, except for his mouth that was ridiculously plush. His apple green eyes were bracketed by lines that deepened in the rare moments that he laughed.

He turned out to be a hard worker, steady and less temperamental than most of the kitchen staff she had worked with over the years. He moved from stove to line to fridge to broiler with grace and rhythm that reminded her of a dancer. And his hands, those broad knuckles, scarred and freckled - she had lost moments, sometimes, watching him work.

Dean didn’t talk a lot, but Rhea had managed to gather that he was new in town, that he had a younger brother, and that his pride and joy was his car, a ‘67 Chevy Impala he referred to lovingly as Baby. He smoked, of course, drank a little too hard, and was inked as far up his arms as she could see under his black chef’s jacket.

Lately, she had started to linger in the kitchen when he made her lunch, for no reason other than she wanted to be near him. Sometimes she felt like she was talking to a brick wall, but then occasionally he would chuckle or simply crack a smile so bright it made her blush.

“It’s sandwich day!” He greeted her with a wide grin. “The other waitress already got hers and went-” he gestured with a spatula at the door. “So pick what you want, whatever you want, that I can put between two piece of bread.”

Rhea paused, taken aback.

“But wait.” Dean continued. “Let me guess, BLT on wheat toast, extra crispy bacon, add cheddar and avocado, side of fries.”

“How- how did you know?”

“I pay attention. You like things a certain way. And I know you usually eat the veggies of the day, but I see you sneaking fries off the warmer.”

Rhea blushed, but it was true. “Okay, but I can’t eat a side of fries every day. Do you know how much fatter I’d be?”

Dean’s expression turned dead serious. “First of all, there is nothing fat about you. Second, who cares? Life is short. Eat the fries. I like to see a woman who enjoys her meals.” He turned away suddenly, as if afraid he had said too much.

He was silent while he made and plated not one BLT but two. He handed her both and took off his apron before he spoke again.

“C’mon, its a clear sunny fall day. Let’s eat outside.”

“Outside?” Rhea was confused. The restaurant didn’t have outdoor seating. But Dean held the back door to the kitchen open and she followed. Around the corner there was a messy pile of milk crates. He set three in a row against the side of the building and settled onto one.

Rhea set the plates on the center crate like it was a table before sitting down. The sun-warmed brick of the building felt good against her back. When she picked up her sandwich, it was perfect. For a few moments, they ate in comfortable silence.

A sudden gust of wind drove a shower of yellow and orange leaves in their direction, and she laughed as she tried to keep them off her food. Dean picked one up and looked at it almost solemnly.

“I guess if the leaves are falling, it’s time for me to cook fall food. What do you think of pumpkin soup?” He turned to her, as if her opinion mattered for the restaurant menu.

She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “Eww, no. Everything is pumpkin this time of year. I like a good slice of pumpkin pie, but there can be too much of a good thing.”

Dean smirked as if there was something funny about that before he spoke again. “What do you suggest then?”

“Mac and cheese. Nothing like good old fashioned homemade cheesy pasta. And you can do so much with it, you can make it simple or fancy, you can add veggies, you can put bread crumbs on top, plus it’s not too expensive and everybody likes it.” Her voice trailed off.

“Great idea! See, I knew you were a lady who knew her food. Plus, my brother says I make the best mac and cheese in the world. Of course, he might be biased. When we were kids, we often didn’t have anything else. So I’d do my best to dress it up, add hot dogs, marshmallow fluff.”

Rhea laughed, but Dean was dead serious. “Well, it sounds like he thinks the world of you. I’m sure you are a great big brother, although now I have some doubts about your culinary ideas.”

Dean was the one who laughed then, head back, eyes crinkled. The thought crossed her mind that he looked younger when he was happy. When his eyes met hers again, they held a question she didn’t quite understand.

“But as long as you promise to keep it a little more traditional, I’ll try anything you want to make.”

“You gotta stop doing that.” Dean held out his hand unexpectedly over their empty plates on the milk crate table.

“What?” Rhea slipped her hand into his. His palm was warm and he curled his finger over hers.

“Saying things that make me want to kiss you.”

She searched his face for any sign that he was joking, but his eyes shone earnestly and his lips curled with hope.

“What makes you think I don’t want you to kiss me, Dean Winchester?” She answered at last.

Their first kiss tasted a little bit like bacon, and as Dean brought one hand up to caress her face, the wind blew another cascade of leaves down around them.

Rhea had things to do, food to prepare and silverware to roll. She had mac and cheese to taste in the future. But that afternoon, with the sun on her face and Dean’s lips on hers, there was nothing else she wanted.

*** SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @divadinag @emoryhemsworth @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @kickingitwithkirk @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting Dean Curious: @adoptdontshoppets @awesomesusiebstuff @deangirl7695 @deans-baby-momma @mrsjenniferwinchester @stoneyggirl @supersassyprobablysad @wayward-gypsy @winchesterxfamilybusiness Gay Screaming: @boondoctorwho, @cherry3point14 @cracksinthewalls, @fookinghelljensensthighs @itmighthavebeenintentional, @justcallmeasmodeus, @lastactiontricia @littlegreenplasticsoldier @mskathywriteswords, @rockhoochie, @there-must-be-a-lock, @thoughtslikeaminefield

#dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x ofc #make me swoon

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pip25 · 3 years

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Slayers Secret Santa 2020 fanfic: Sisters

Hi, @sugar-stories! I was your @slayersweek secret santa this year, sorry for the lateness. I hope you’ll enjoy this little fic - community service did not quite make it, but I’ve tried to incorporate the other prompts to the best of my ability.

Sisters

“Gracia, wait!”

The tall girl in her mid-teens turned back, her long raven hair and priestess garb swaying around her.

The clothing and features of the child trying to catch up to her on the narrow forest path were undeniably similar to hers, but with her round blue eyes and startled expression she still had an air of innocence about her, suggesting an age barely over ten years at most.

“You’re so slow, Amelia!” the older girl spoke impatiently.

“But we shouldn’t stray this far from the camp!” The answer came in a pleading tone. “When they find out, everyone will be really angry!”

“Hahaha! They won’t find out if we’re quick enough – so hurry up! Breeze Town should be really close now.”

Despite her eagerness to rush ahead, Gracia did slow her pace down slightly. Amelia tried her best to catch up, but still looked quite a bit worried.

“Why are we going to Breeze Town?” she asked once she was close enough to tug at the other girl’s robes.

“Hihihi! Because, dear sister, while you were wasting time reading fairy tales in the Eternal Queen’s castle, I found out a huge secret!” Gracia replied, looking very proud of herself. “The Knight of Ceiphied, the strongest person in Zephilia, works at an inn there!”

That certainly piqued the younger girl’s interest a little. “A knight? Do you want to ask him to teach us how to fight evil?”

Her older sister sent a look of disgust her way. “What? No, of course not. I want to beat him up.”

“Eeeeh?! Why??” Amelia’s eyes grew larger than dinner plates. “Is he a villain…? I thought knights were allies of justice…”

Gracia turned her head away. “Who cares what he is. If I can defeat him, Father will have to accept that I’m strong enough to set out on my own.”

The little girl tugged at her sister’s robe once more with a pout. “Are you trying to run away again? In those weird clothes?”

No answer came. Gracia still refused to look her in the eye.

“They’ll drag you back again, you know. And Father will be really sad.”

The older girl raised her head high in defiance… then let out a yelp as she tripped over a thick wooden branch lying across the path. Unfortunately for her, they were going downhill on a moderately steep slope at this point, so not only did her face get closely acquainted with the muddy earth, but her momentum made her roll a good ten yards down the path, until she stopped at a spot where the autumn forest gave way to a large, lush meadow.

Once she caught up again, Amelia crouched down and touched her sister’s arm, lying in the dirt in an odd angle. Her expression was now more resigned than worried, like she was seeing such a scene for the umpteenth time.

“RECOVERY.” The healing spell flooded their surroundings with white light. “…Let’s just go back to the camp now, okay?”

“Huhu… ha… ha… Y-You think this was enough to hurt me? Haha, this… this is nothing,” Gracia muttered, wincing as she got off the ground.

“…Why are you doing that?” Amelia asked innocently.

“Hihihi, doing what?”

“That! That strange laugh! It sounds like… like someone is tickling you.”

Gracia seemed greatly offended by her remark. “No one is tickling me! It’s just… Mom always said that a confident laugh can strike fear into the hearts of your enemies, so…” She trailed off, then added in barely a whisper, “I’m still practicing, okay?”

Looking too embarrassed to continue, she instead took a few careful steps forward, let her gaze sweep through the scenery – and her face immediately lit up.

“There it is! The town!” She pointed towards the opposite edge of the meadow and broke into a run, injuries all but forgotten.

A road cut into the middle of the grassland, much wider and visibly more well-travelled than the path they had followed until now. One end disappeared among the forest trees, but the other indeed led to a couple of wooden cottages, with more buildings coming into view in the distance. In front of them, the words “Breeze Town” were carved into a short limestone obelisk.

“This looks like a pretty big place,” Amelia commented as they made their way into the settlement. “How will you find that knight person?”

Her sister grinned. “Haha! Everyone in Zephilia knows about the Knight of Ceiphied! We’ll just ask someone for directions… like that weird-looking commoner over there.”

About fifty yards ahead stood a larger two-storey building with a sign depicting a heavily stylized bovine udder. A young girl with chestnut brown hair paced back and forth in front of it restlessly; she was the same age as, or perhaps slightly older than Amelia, but it was very hard to tell for sure considering she was dressed in a cow costume from the neck down, complete with black hooves and a huge, pink-colored cotton udder hanging from her stomach.

Once she noticed the two sisters’ approach, the girl gave an exasperated sigh, and to their astonishment began a small sing-and-dance routine, making several pirouettes in front of the wooden structure, her udder flailing wildly about in the air.

I’m Cindy the cow, yes, that’s my name, They serve my milk here to great acclaim, You looking for wine? Hey, that’s no shame, Maggie’s Inn welcomes you all the same!

After going through the lyrics twice in a rather lifeless voice, the girl graciously whirled around on one leg – and started banging her head against the inn’s wall.

“I.. can’t… take… it… anymore!” she screeched.

The sisters simply stood there, rooted to the spot.

“Um…” Gracia began, but before she could say anything else, the cotton udder once again took a 180-degree turn in the air, its owner glaring daggers at her.

“Don’t. Ask,” she hissed threateningly.

“…Why are you dressed like that?”

“Aaargh! I told you not to ask!” The puffy forelegs of the costume tore into her shoulder-length hair. “It’s my punishment, alright?! Luna works as a waitress here and I thought people wouldn’t mind if her adorable little sis would snatch a cookie or two for free… But they’re a bunch of penny-pinching pricks, and now I have to work in this… ridiculous getup to pay for them! Does that placate your curiosity, dear customer?!”

Amelia blinked in confusion. “But… why tell us if you don’t want people to know?”

“Because it’s part of my punishment, you numskull!” the girl roared, then reached into a small pocket on her costume and took out a piece of paper, irritably scanning its contents. “Now what else do I need to tell you? Ah, right: chocolate milkshakes are now fifty percent off, though it’s still daylight robbery if you ask me, there’s a special ‘buy one get one free’ offer on cookies, but don’t bother, I tried them and they’re horrible… oh, and the guards want people to stick to the forest when heading out of town, because the man-eating plasma dragon was spotted not far from here recently.”

“M-M-Man-eating plasma dragon??” Amelia blanched.

Her sister on the other hand merely gave a curious nod. “Hmm, now that you mention it, I remember Father and the Eternal Queen talking about something like that. The beast is hiding in the mountains near the capital and comes down here from time to time to eat people.”

“Eeeeeh?! We left our escort and came all the way here when you knew that evil dragon was around?!”

“Now don’t be scared,” Gracia lightly patted Amelia’s head, though she did not seem to appreciate the gesture. “If the beast turns up on our way back, it’ll serve as a nice cool-down exercise after my triumph over the Knight of Ceiphied. Muhuhuhu!”

The brown-haired girl in the cow costume, until now busy poking her ear in a display of utter boredom, suddenly perked up. “Wait, what? You want to beat up the Knight of Ceiphied…?”

“Yes, hahaha, that is exactly why we’re here,” the older girl nodded again with confidence.

“Uh-huh… Gotta ask: are you planning to do that before or after hell freezes over?”

Her good mood evaporating, Gracia folded her arms. “Hmph! I do not need to hear such insults from a common cookie thief who presently serves her well-deserved punishment. Good day!”

She was about to turn away, when the inn’s door opened a crack and a young waitress peeked out, gazing curiously at the sisters. She was around halfway between Gracia and Amelia in age, though her mannerisms and outfit made her look slightly more mature. Her dark bangs were long, both in the back and in front, to the extent that they nearly covered her eyes.

“Are these people leaving?” she asked with some disappointment, before turning her head to the side. “Hey ‘Cindy’, are you doing your job properly? You should be getting us customers, but it’s already half past ten and the inn’s almost empty.”

“C-Cut it out! I’m not Cindy!!” the girl in the cow costume wailed. She pointed at the pair in front of her in desperation. “How about you bully them for a change? Hey, you two loons, she’s the one you were looking for, the ever-so-famous Knight of Ceiphied!”

Gracia and Amelia gawked at the waitress.

“She’s… Whaaat??” That was all the former managed to say.

“Are you… are you really the famous knight?” the younger girl asked with wonder.

The answer came in a wary voice. “…First of all, I’m Luna. Second, I don’t actually have an official title, but yes, people around here call me the Knight of Ceiphied. What business do you have with—?”

“The outrage!” Gracia cried out before she could finish, extending both hands in a theatrical gesture towards the girl in the cow costume. “How could a person as powerful as you put a lovely, innocent child like her through such undeserved hardship?!”

Amelia took a step back, perplexed. “Uh, but you just said—”

“Unforgivable!” Her protests were likewise ignored. “The heavens cry out for retribution, and I will see to it that justice is served! Now, heehihihee, prepare yourself, Knight of Ceiphied!” Gracia waved a hand in front of her. “FREEZE ARROW!”

An icicle the size of her outstretched arm appeared in the air and sped towards Luna.

“She’s totally nuts!” The chestnut-haired girl dove out of the way in a frenzy.

The waitress, on the other hand, did not try to evade – in fact, she looked almost relieved.

“Oh, so you’re one of those people.” She lazily held out her hand, and the moment it made contact, the icy projectile burst to pieces. “I was worried you’d try to recruit me for some world-saving quest or something.”

Amelia’s frantic gaze jumped from Luna to her sister and back. “Wait-wait-wait! You say she’s a villain, but… almost blowing up the inn out of the blue is also something a villain would do, you know…! What’s going on??”

“She’s got a point,” the waitress said, suddenly standing next to Gracia, with a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Let’s take this fight somewhere else.”

The tall girl huffed. “You think you can tell me what to do? I’m… uh…”

She looked around, disoriented. The two of them were no longer within Breeze Town, but stood alone amidst the vast meadow she had crossed earlier.

“Here’s how this is gonna be,” Luna stated matter-of-factly. “I’ll spare a minute to pummel you into the dirt, and in return you’re going to buy yourself a full-course meal at Maggie’s. Got it?”

Gracia tried to give the angry huff another go. “Like I said, you think you can tell me… what to… No way…”

The waitress now held a sack full of coins in her hand, and amused herself by repeatedly tossing it into the air. “I’ll hold onto this for you until then. Come on, give it your best shot!”

The older girl sent a scowl her way, then leapt back. “I’ll make you eat those words! DEMONA CRYSTAL!”

Dense, chilling fog hit the ground in front of her, creating a thick sheet of ice upon contact. The freezing cold spread out in a fan shape and quickly reached the spot where Luna stood – except she was no longer there.

“Aaaand you missed,” the waitress’ voice sounded from behind her.

Gracia turned around just enough to see Luna giving her a light push with her free hand – a light push which sent her a good twenty yards through the air, screaming all the way. Even after the unnerving sound of impact, the momentum made her roll another ten yards in the grass until she came to a stop.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself; this is how it always ends,” Luna commented as she walked closer. “One tap, one KO – end of story.”

The tall grass ahead of her stirred.

“I’m… not… done yet.” With great effort, Gracia managed to stand up. She was covered in bruises and her priestess outfit had gotten torn in a few places, but her injuries still looked unexpectedly minor considering her previous trip through the air.

For the first time, genuine surprise spread across the waitress’ features. “Wow… You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that.”

Her opponent managed a shaky grin. “Mwuhaha! I told you I’ll make you eat your words! And now…” She put a hand on the ground. “VU VRAIMER!”

The earth began to shake, then split apart and a twelve-foot-tall, roughly humanoid mass of soil and grass climbed out of the fissure.

“Golem! Attack!” Gracia commanded.

“Baa!” the magical construct responded in a deep voice, swung its mighty fist… and nearly flattened its creator.

“Wait! Not me! Not me!” said girl screamed, running as fast as she could towards Luna with the golem in dogged pursuit.

The waitress simply stood there, looking unsure what to do about the situation; thus she was caught entirely off guard when, the moment she passed by, her opponent held out a hand to her face.

“LIGHTING!” With its duration set to zero, the spell immediately extinguished itself in a brief, blinding flash. In the same instant, Gracia changed directions and cocked her fist. “I have you now! Pacifist Crush!”

Her blow was caught within the Knight of Ceiphied’s open palm.

“Do you know how many times my sister tried that tactic against me?” Luna flung her flailing opponent out of the way, then readied a strike of her own against the incoming golem. “Why do you think I let my bangs fall into my face?”

A second later, the animated mass of earth burst apart, pieces of soil raining down on the meadow everywhere.

Having flown only a couple of steps this time, Gracia quickly scrambled to her feet. With a stubborn smirk, she raised both hands into the air. “Is that so? Then it’s time for my most powerful spell! Prepare yourself!”

A sphere of blue light began to gather between her palms.

“Alright, bring it!” Luna answered with a smug smile of her own. “I’ll admit I’m starting to enjoy… this…”

Her words died away as her gaze rose upwards, drawn to the massive shadow that fell upon the two of them.

Thump.

“Mwahahaha! You’re scared now, aren’t you?” Gracia laughed, seemingly unaware of how the ground once again shook below her feet, much more violently this time – and not because of the spell she was trying to cast, either.

The waitress did in fact seem shaken, but for entirely different reasons. “No, forget about the fight! Look behind you and run!” she shouted.

“What a transparent ruse! I know you are only trying to distract me to— Kyaaa!!” Gracia let out a scream as what seemed to be a bolt of lightning sped by above her head, scattering her spell effortlessly. It hit the ground halfway between her and her opponent, resulting in a crater wide enough to easily swallow a cart.

A feral snarl came from behind her back. With shaky legs, the tall girl slowly turned around.

Towering over her was a dragon with scales of silver, claws of steel and eyes of liquid gold. Its head alone was twice her own size; electricity crackled within its mouth, ready to unleash another bolt of magical destruction.

Her entire body paralyzed by fear, Gracia could only watch helplessly as the beast’s claws swiped through the air in her direction.

The boulder-sized talon came to a halt less than a yard from her, held in place with a single hand by Luna, who appeared between them in the blink of an eye.

“Sorry pal, in our town there is no such thing as a free lunch,” the waitress sneered.

She then swatted the claws away like they were leaves in the wind, jumped forward and drove her first into the dragon’s stomach.

The beast roared, though more in anger than pain, it seemed: the punch shoved it back a good distance on the ground, but its shiny scales looked none worse for wear at the point of impact.

Seeing the ineffectiveness of her attack, Luna appeared annoyed herself – but her ire soon turned into bewilderment as the dragon’s growling voice began to form coherent words.

“You strong, human! But me still eat you soon!”

Gracia, who stood in the exact same position as before, seemingly petrified, finally forced out a gasp. “It… haha… it can talk…”

“Me talk!” the dragon replied in a lower, but still rumbling voice laced with pride. “Me siblings all dumb, but me strong and smart! Siblings stay on mountain, but me come down and find many tasty human! Me the best!”

“Oh, shut up,” Luna spat while jumping high into the air.

For a moment she was seemingly floating way above the huge beast, then she came down with a mighty punch to its skull, one she could put all her momentum behind.

As she touched down on the ground, the dragon’s head reeled to the side – but then righted itself once more, still no injury to be seen.

“You no hurt me!” With that cry, it sent another volley of lightning at the waitress.

Still unable to move, Gracia watched the magic beam tear into the grassy landscape – and the next thing she knew, she was at the edge of the meadow near the town entrance, with Luna standing next to her.

“Damn lizard’s right, I can’t bring it down like this. I need something I can use as a focus for my powers,” the waitress explained in a hurried tone. “Do you have a dagger, a sword or anything similar?”

“No,” Gracia responded immediately, looking inexplicably upset, as if the Knight of Ceiphied had just insulted her parents.

“Figures.” Luna glanced back at the dragon; the beast was already closing in on them, trampling through the tall grass, each step like the beating of a gigantic drum. “Okay, here’s the plan: run towards the town, keep that dumbass occupied for just a minute – I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

If the tall girl wanted to protest, she never got the chance: the waitress was gone from her sight in the next instant. She looked down at her trembling legs, as if hoping she could glare them into submission and get them to move.

Then her heart skipped a beat. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a crucial detail both her and the Knight of Ceiphied have missed until then.

Their fight had an audience.

“The evil monster is going to destroy the town! We must help!” Amelia jumped forth from behind the limestone obelisk, trying to strike a heroic pose while visibly fighting her own battle against fear.

“And help how?!” The girl in the cow costume appeared next to her, tearing at her chestnut hair. “Do you know a spell big enough? Because for me only one comes to mind, and I don’t think I can pull that off right now! Where the heck did Luna run off to??” She looked around, but the waitress was still nowhere to be seen. “Ugh… Fine, but don’t blame me if everything goes sideways! VAL FLARE!”

“No, w-wait…!” Gracia’s words of warning were drowned out by the roar of flames as a crimson projectile smashed against the fore legs of the approaching dragon.

Despite the huge explosion that followed, the spell did not even slow the beast down – but it was enough to make it change directions.

“Ha, human me tickle,” the plasma dragon growled with amusement as it trotted by the still-stupefied Gracia and stared the young spellcaster down. “Tickle give me appetite…”

In the same moment, Luna nearly tore the inn door off its hinges.

“The guards! Have any of you seen where they are??” she questioned the patrons within; the place was a lot more crowded now, many having fled inside when they saw the approaching beast. Most only stared at the waitress confused, while a few people shook their heads. “Great…Then do you have a sword, a dagger, or… anything with a pointy end? Come on!”

A wave of murmurs ran through the crowd.

“Maybe… you could ask the boss lady?” one of them pointed towards the counter; the innkeeper herself was currently missing from the room.

Luna sighed irritably. “No, Maggie doesn’t keep any weapons here. The place’s full of that fancy kitchenware collection of hers…” Her eyes bulged. “That’s it!!”

“Stay back, you vile monster!” Amelia’s mid-air kick collided with the wall of silver scales, but she bounced right off like she was trying to beat up a mountain. “Oooow!”

“Come any closer, and I’m lobbing a Fireball down your throat!” Drops of sweat rolled down the face of the girl in the cow costume, as the dragon slowly lowered its head towards her.

“Yes, human use more flashy light,” the rumbling voice almost purred like a cat. “Me like tickle when me eat… so… um…”

The beast pulled its head back slightly, suddenly looking uncertain.

“…What?” she blurted out.

A weird, disgusted frown appeared on the draconic visage. “No-no, me wrong. Tickle or no tickle, me no eat you. Look thin, short… nasty. Me get heartburn.”

“…Huh?! Why you little…!”

“Other human look more tasty.” A ball of fire crashed into the beast’s face, but it did not even notice as it turned its attention to Amelia, who lay in the grass clutching her sprained leg. It opened its gaping mouth, sparks of electricity dancing within. “Me have lunch now—”

“AQUA CREATE!”

“Graoaaaargh!!” A tormented roar could be heard as a heavy stream of water poured into the plasma dragon’s mouth and reacted with the energies of its primed breath weapon inside, sending waves of lightning through its entire body.

“Atrocious! Not only do you ignore me, but dare raise a hand against my sister?! I hope you’re prepared for what comes next!” Gracia yelled while sprinting closer. Her voice, now without an ounce of fear, was instead rife with anger.

The beast whirled around; stray arcs of electricity still occasionally ran through its eyes and nostrils, making its face twitch.

“You! Awful human!” it boomed. “You make me pretty tongue all hurt and numb! Me eat you first!”

Gracia merely put her hands on her hips. “Really, is that the best threat you can muster? If you wish to scare me, you still have some ways to go! Ha… Hahaha… Hahahaha…!”

The dragon looked outraged. “What…? No, me no joke! Me no funny! Me really eat you!”

“…Hehehehe… Hihihihihahaha…!”

“H-Hey…! Hey! Why you laugh?! Me scary! Me strong, scary dragon…! No laugh, human! You hurt me feeling!”

But Gracia kept on laughing and laughing, barely taking a second to breathe, as if her life depended on it – and perhaps it did.

“Hahahaha… Huhuhuhuhu….! Hahahahahohoho!”

She did not let up, and with every passing second, her voice became louder, sharper and stronger.

“Hohoho…! OhOHohoHohO! OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

That was the moment when the dragon started to back away.

“S-Stop! Me have good ear! Guh… You crazy! Me no eat crazy! Stooooop!!” It opened its mouth again to release another bolt of lightning, but only produced a shower of harmless sparks.

With no other option left, the beast turned around again in panic, trying to flee in the direction of the town – and immediately came face to face with the Knight of Ceiphied. She held something in her right hand: the largest kitchen knife she could find in the innkeeper’s collection.

“Hi.” Luna smiled. “Missed me?”

As she lunged forward, the blade of her weapon began to shine with brilliant white light; the knife pierced the silver scales like butter, all the way up to the handle.

“Me... no smart… after all…” the dragon groaned – and the surge of holy power burned it to ashes from the inside.

All could now breathe a sigh of relief… Well, if it were not for the insufferable laugh that still pierced the air.

“Oohohohoho! OOOOHOHOHOHOHO!”

Gracia stood there with her head held high, a reversed palm put in front of her mouth, oblivious to the world around her.

Wincing, Luna put her knife away and tried stopping her ears, but it seemed to make no difference whatsoever. “Ugh… What in the gods’ name is that horrible sound?”

“Someone… I’ll promise to be a good girl from now on… just make it stop!” the brown-haired girl writhed in agony on the ground next to her.

“No choice then, I’ll… have to knock her out,” the waitress spoke through gritted teeth. She took one shaky step forward, then immediately fell to her knees. “Crap! It’s somehow… making all my limbs go numb—!”

“SLEEPING!”

Finally, silence descended on the meadow. Gracia’s form slumped and she fell over – right into her sister’s arms.

“Please don’t be too angry when you wake up… You were so cool just now,” Amelia whispered in a tender voice while holding her in the princess carry pose, not looking the least bit overwhelmed. She then turned sheepishly towards the others. “Um, I’m sorry for… well, everything. But at least the evil dragon has been defeated, and we got to see that you really are no villain, Luna-san!”

The waitress gave her a weird look. “Uh… thanks?”

Amelia lowered her head in a polite bow. “It’s late, so we really need to go back now. But I hope the four of us can meet up later on and fight for justice together!” With an odd, exaggerated pirouette likely meant to look heroic, she whirled around, almost fell on her face, but righted herself at the last moment. “Take care until then, brave knight and… um, Cindy!”

The petite girl headed for the forest path with quick steps, Gracia still resting in her arms.

Only when she disappeared behind the trees did Luna speak up once more, as if she suddenly realized something. “Hey Lina, who were these people again? Did you catch their names? I actually never gave them their purse back.”

“Nope.” Her sister shrugged. “But I say if we never see them again, it’ll be too soon.” She put a finger to her chin, and added in a mischievous voice, “Still, what a lucky break for you, huh?”

Luna’s brows furrowed slightly. “Come again?”

“I mean, if that lunatic could still fight, she would have mopped the floor with you. Heheh, imagine everyone talking about how the great Knight of Ceiphied got her butt kicked by some crazy girl who laughed her into oblivion—” While looking like she was just getting started, Lina immediately shrunk back as she noticed her sister’s unamused stare. “Err… uh… I’ll be g-going back to dancing now, okay?”

She then quickly ran off towards the inn, her cotton udders swaying left and right.

To Gracia’s disappointment, that day did not go down in history as the moment when the Knight of Ceiphied suffered an ignominious defeat, but as the day when said knight slew a plasma dragon with nothing but a kitchen knife, making her fame soar to even greater heights.

Still, Gracia was sure, more than ever before, that things would not stay the way they were. She had grown and changed. They could not keep her at home for much longer: she would soon set out on a journey to see the world, practice magic and make a name for herself. Not by her ancestry, but by her own power.

Her own legend, that of Naga the Serpent, was only beginning…

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fluffykitty1999-blog · 3 years

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Burned Chapter 15

Roy had been expecting a call in the wee hours of the morning. Even if there wasn't any news on the case, just an update, something- from Hughes.

They'd gotten home around midnight. Ed had grabbed a brief shower- it'd taken awhile to scrub the dirt and blood off himself, Roy had assumed- but the boy had made an appearance in the kitchen, looking cleaner, but exhausted.

He'd managed to coax the boy into drinking half a cup of tea- with a splash of milk disguised by copious amounts of honey- before convincing him to head upstairs, because it was investigation's department, and there was nothing he'd be able to do anyways.

Roy had fallen asleep downstairs on the couch, waiting for the phone call from Hughes that never came. He woke up at 3:13am with a sore back from falling asleep slumped over. He slogged upstairs, still just as exhausted and frustrated as when he'd fallen asleep.

He noticed a light creeping under the door of the other bedroom- Al's room- and he frowned, lightly knocking on the door.

"Come in." Al's muffled voice replied.

Roy did. Al was seated in the center of the room cross-legged, various research reports and open books spread out on the floor around him.

"Is everything okay, Colonel?"

"Yeah. I was just heading to bed and noticed the light was on. Wanted to make sure you were alright." only now, it was dawning on him that Alphonse didn't sleep. When he'd first begun staying at Roy's home, he'd turn his lights out at night, but as he'd grown more comfortable, he'd taken to quietly reading and doing small tasks at night.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Colonel... is brother okay? I saw him when he came in- he was covered in blood. And I know he's not hurt, but he wouldn't talk to me about it. He just went right to bed. He only keeps things from me that are bad. Horrible, even. Because he doesn't want to upset me. But I notice. This has something to do with the ladies that keep getting killed, doesn't it?"

Roy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. How was it he always underestimated Alphonse Elric at every turn? When he'd first met the boy- an eleven year old with a soul trapped in a suit of armor who passed the written state alchemist's exam- to now- the perceptive child sitting on his floor, reading during the day and night because it was physically impossible for him to sleep.

He was too tired to come up with a decent lie. And besides, the way those quiet soulfire eyes bore into his own, he knew Alphonse wouldn't believe it, anyways.

"Yes, Alphonse, it is. Hughes and I have been trying to keep your brother out of it- but tonight he found a body. Hughes is handling it. In fact- I'm expecting a call from him anytime now. If the phone rings and I don't get it- will you get it for me?"

"Of course." Alphonse sounded much cheerier at this- he just liked to be kept in the loop, Roy realized. Knowing Ed, he tried to shield Al from anything not related to them getting their bodies back- he felt the military issues were his cross to bear, and his alone. It wasn't true- Alphonse was more than willing to help his brother- but Ed felt it was his responsibility, his duty, as the older brother to keep Al away from such things.

Still, that wasn't a problem he could solve tonight anyways. And with Alphonse awake and ready to answer the phone, he was free to go to bed. The day had been exhausting.

"Thanks. Goodnight, Alphonse."

"Goodnight, Colonel."

Roy quietly shut the door behind him and started towards his room. He was about halfway down the hall but stopped past the door of Ed's room when he heard a muffled whimper. He paused, sighing, before he palmed the door open and stepped into the darkness quietly. Ed was curled beneath the blankets, but after a day as hard as this, it wasn't hard to see the kid was probably going to have nightmares.

Ed was wrapped in the sheets, his blond hair strewn about behind him on the pillow. His hands grasped at the sheets and he squirmed slightly in his sleep, a half-sob half whimper breaking the quiet of the night as his legs twitched restlessly.

"Easy, Ed. It's alright, buddy." Roy picked his way over beside the bed, his earlier exhaustion forgotten.

In the early days, when Ed had first been healing here, he'd learned that during nightmares, speaking to Ed could calm him down adequately. He understood the fear of being in the dark and alone- hearing someone talking to you made the darkness less lonely, and not nearly as terrifying.

"I know. You had a real rough day today. We all did. But you the most, probably." Roy was beside the bed, now, and he reached over, gently brushing the boy's bangs away from his face. Ed's breathing had slowed slightly, and his face was no longer screwed up in distress, though he was still breathing fast and his fingers still worried the sheets slightly.

"You did good though. You were scared- I know you were scared- but you stayed calm. Calmer than me, in fact. When I saw you come in covered in blood- I thought I was going to faint. I was scared I'd lost you all over again."

Roy paused mid-way to brushing Ed's hair from his face, realizing his hand was shaking. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he continued, reaching down to gently brush Ed's golden locks aside, more as a gesture of affection now than to be able to see Ed's face.

"I'm proud of you, Ed. Of how far you've come- you've always been a brave, stubborn little brat- but seeing you grow up into the alchemist I knew you could be- I never knew how rewarding that'd be."

Ed let out a long breath- he was no longer panting anxiously. Roy cracked a slight smile. Ed was relaxing- yet again it was proof that just talking to the boy was enough to calm him down. With Ed's face relaxed, he wiggled his toes beneath the blankets and shifted slightly, snuffling into the pillow. it was cute, almost. Roy couldn't help but smile. Ed looked so much younger while he slept.

He pulled out the chair he kept in the corner of the small bedroom, sitting down heavily and blinking.

"You don't have to be so strong you know. You're only a kid. You don't have to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders. I mean, I understand trying to protect Al, but you're human- you're just a kid. You aren't alone. You have me. And the team. Just... try not to be such a hero, kid. It never got me anywhere."

He sighed, leaning back in the chair. The weariness that'd been slowly stalking him overtook him once again, settling deep into his bones. He'd just rest his eyes for a moment, and then head off to his own room for the night...

"Hey. Hey Roy, wake up! Hey!"

"Brother, you really should be nicer..."

"This IS nice Al! I made him toast! I don't just do this for anyone!"

Roy peeled his eyes open to see Edward, clad in black jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt, with his hair in pony tail and a plate full of toast in hand, with Al behind him in the doorway.

"Besides, he's the one who fell asleep in my room!"

"...in my house." Roy groused, reaching up to scrub an eye with one hand. The crick in his back felt much worse, now.

"You're awake!" Al chorused, sounding pleased.

"Eat this toast. I made it myself cuz you pretty much died in the chair."

Roy opened his mouth to yawn, only to have a piece of toast shoved in his mouth. He started coughing.

"Brother!" Al scolded.

"What? I'm feeding him breakfast. That's what you're supposed to do!"

Roy coughed, spitting out the toast slice in one hand and swallowing the bite in his mouth.

"Yeah, it's good. Chewy, though..."

"That's cuz I put peanut butter on it." Ed beamed. "We're out of bread, by the way." he looked a little sheepish.

Roy frowned, becoming more awake by the second. "Why do I smell smoke?"

"We put out the fire!" Alphonse chimed in, trying to be helpful.

"Don't tell him that!" Ed protested.

Roy frowned. How was it 2 alchemist protegees couldn't make toast without nearly burning his house down?

Still, he had bigger things to worry about. "What time is it?"

"Noon. You pretty much died in the chair, like I said. And Alphonse found a cat, and I don't like it, but he put it in the living room anyways."

"It was raining! I couldn't leave it!" Al protested.

"Wait, noon!?" Roy was stumbling to his feet.

"Yeah."

"What about that phone call? Did the phone ring last night? Did Hughes call?"

"Nobody called except Hawkeye. She said we could stay home from work today cuz she heard about what happened." Ed took a bite on his own piece of toast, frowning.

"Of course she did." Roy made a mental note to thank her later, stumbling into the hallway and into his study and going for the phone. It was nearly noon, and Hughes hadn't called? Something was up.

He dialed the familiar number and waited.

"Detective Hughes here." Hughes sounded half dead.

"Hey." Roy tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. "I was expecting a call from you. Maybe not news, but just an update of some kind since last night."

"Sorry. I haven't been home. I've been chasing leads."

"All night?" the silence on the line and the lack of cheer in his friend's voice confirmed his guess to be true.

"I have to solve this, Roy. This guy- whoever he is- made a mistake. The killing last night- was done by the theater where a political rally was being held. All those spectators watching- someone had to have seen something. There was a sign in sheet passed around, I've been interviewing. We're on interview... 87? Of approximately 150. I can't talk long- one of the candidates who was giving a speech, Susans- she's coming in soon."

"You need help. You've been up for nearly 24 hours straight, you have too many leads to handle and you're not thinking clearly. I can be over there in half an hour..."

"No. You need to stay and keep an eye on Ed. I don't want him involved in this. We're close to a break, I can feel it..."

"Hughes..."

"I can feel it Roy!" Hughes snapped, and Roy paused. Hughes wasn't one to shout normally.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because... the killer's been too rash. He made a mistake. Ed said the victim's pink purse was left behind at the scene. When my team got down there, there was no purse."

"Whose to say robbers didn't just take it?"

"They would've taken the money. Our victim was a school teacher, and she'd just been to the bank. The clerk remembered her cashing her paycheck. And we found it. All 174 cens of bills in that alley. Crumpled up and bloodstained, but all there. They just. took. The purse."

Roy frowned, turning the fact over in his mind. "But if Ed saw it..."

"Then the killer came back and took a souvenir. Between the time Ed found the body and before investigations arrived, the killer came back for a memento."

The phone receiver clattered to the desk as it slipped from Roy's fingers and his blood ran cold.

Whoever the hell this sick bastard was... he'd come back for a souvenir.

Ed hadn't seen the killer, but perhaps he'd still been there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike while Ed had been close by.

Roy picked up the phone again, trying to calm his racing thoughts. Once again, Edward was lucky to escape alive.

"So someone has to have seen it. 143 spectators. 3 Politicians. 14 staff. Someone saw something. Our killer is boxing himself in. I can find this, I just need Ed safe with you and out of the picture..."

"At least let me send Hawkeye. She can help you. Don't tell me you couldn't use a 2 hour nap and some more manpower, because that's a lie and we both know it."

Hughes sighed. "Yeah. Sure, send her over, but keep Ed safe. He was there last night- the killer might've been there, Roy. Watching him."

"I know."

"This killer has been getting more aggressive. I don't want his luck to run out."

"Understood. I'll have Hawkeye and some staff drop by. When you get a break- call me. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Roy." Hughes sounded exhausted but grateful.

"Take care of yourself, Hughes."

Roy hung up the phone and sighed. He was anxious for a break in the case too- the case had become too personal. Part of him resented not being able to go and help himself, but when he thought of Ed being anywhere close to this lunatic again, he knew why it was important to keep away.

"Mow?"

A ball of orange fluff jumped up on the desk next to him and started to rub his arms and purr.

"What the hell!?"

"That's Iggy." Ed frowned, crossing his arms and looking up at Mustang with distaste. "That weird ass cat Al found. I don't like him, he's shifty."

Roy looked down. The cat was rather bedraggled looking, and it's eyes were lopsided, looking in two different directions. It was kind of unnerving.

The cat started to purr like a motor, pawing at his hand and begging for pets. The cat was also drooling.

"Oh yeah. It might have rabies. Hughes have any news on the case?"

"No. Nothing yet. And you're not involved in the case anyways."

Roy frowned, picking up Iggy the cat and setting him on the ground. The cat promptly fell over like a drunk, sprawled out on the rug, and fell asleep.

"Right. When you find him, I want to help hunt him down."

"Ed. No."

"It's personal now!" Ed stomped his foot. "Like it or not, I AM involved, and I'm not gonna sit around like some useless child!"

"I never said you were a useless child. But we could use you elsewear."

"Yeah? Like where?" Ed raised an incendiary eyebrow.

"Here. Helping me figure out how to vote in this damned election this afternoon. And helping Gracia and Elicia. Hughes hasn't been home from the office in awhile, I'm sure Elicia could use a hand with the shopping and you and Al can help with Elicia."

There was a small poof as Iggy the cat farted himself awake before promptly dozing back off again.

"And also- we gotta find somebody to adopt this cat."

There it is, folks! An OC kitty!

And as usual... the ko-fi link, if you like the trash I, a human dumpster fire, produce https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12

#fma fanfiction #FMA #burned #burns #injury #accident #Edwhumph #edward elric whumph #parentalroy #parental roy #roy mustang #ed whump #whumph #whump #angst #hurt ed #comfort #hurt #hurt/comfort

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semperintrepida · 4 years

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The Sellout, chapter five

five: the changing levels

Kyra awoke with something hard jabbing into her thigh. She pulled the sharp corner of a book away from her leg, and blinked back the veil of sleep while she regained her bearings. The chair she sat in was uncomfortable and unfamiliar, and she shifted positions, feeling wool under her fingertips, concrete under her feet. She was still in Kassandra's condo, and this hadn't been some stress-induced dream.

The owner of the book and uncomfortable chair and concrete floor was still sleeping on the couch nearby, blissfully oblivious to her presence.

Kyra glanced out the windows. What time was it? The skies outside were chalkboard black, the city winking back at her through the glass. She touched the screen of her phone awake. Two-thirty in the morning. Opening the shop in three hours was going to suck.

She only had herself to blame. She was the one who'd offered to drive Kassandra home. She could have ignored Kassandra's protests and called an ambulance. Let the EMTs haul her away. Problem solved.

That there was a problem to be solved at all was also Kyra's fault. She'd left the front door unlocked, and the shop's bright lights had drawn that tweaker inside with the gravitational pull of the sun. If she hadn't done that, he wouldn't have been able to attack her, and Kassandra... Kassandra wouldn't have put herself in danger by stepping into his path instead.

The incident took no more than a few seconds. Kyra's memory of it flickered past in still frames from a blurry video, but there was no mistaking the central figure in each one.

Kassandra.

She'd done Kyra a reckless, foolhardy kindness, despite Kyra's best attempts to give her every reason not to.

Kyra looked at Kassandra again. She really was gorgeous, stretched out like a slumbering lion across the couch. Kyra shook the thought away and studied the book in her hands, with its thick cover and mix of heavy paper and vellum pages, hefty for an otherwise small volume. Anne Carson's reimagination of Antigone. I like a good argument, marrow versus marrow...

The moment Kassandra had fallen asleep, Kyra had gone to the bookshelves and found a collection of tomes as tasteful as everything else inside this concrete box of a condo. All the titans were there, from Atwood to Zola, Booker prize-winners rubbing covers with Pulitzers, their spines uncreased and bookstore-fresh.

None of the books had been read. It was as if Kassandra had arranged to fill her bookshelves with a cross section of capital-L literature without bothering to crack them open even once. Kyra had a vision of Mars as seen through an old telescope, its surface cloaked with dark expanses once mistaken for seas until closer inspection revealed them to be as barren as the rest of the planet.

Kyra had rolled her eyes at the fakery, but then her gaze snagged on a book unlike the others, and she realized that her first glance may not have been entirely accurate. Then curiosity took over, which was how a copy of Antigonick had ended up in her hands. Apparently, there was life on Mars after all.

With hours to fill, she'd settled in and started reading, flipping pages in a book so worn that its cover flopped open flat on its own.

Now it was two-thirty in the morning in Kassandra's home, with Kassandra's book in her lap, and she remembered how the Greek chorus in that book sang accusingly at the god of desire: You change the levels of a person's mind.

She stood up abruptly. She returned to the row of shelves, slid the book back where it came from, and studied the others, looking for signs of wear, looking for signs of life.

She was snooping and she didn't care. Kassandra slept on, none the wiser, as Kyra found worn covers on predictable heavyweights like Wolf Hall and The Prince mixed with surprises like Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others and a copy of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius that was so tattered from use it nearly fell apart in her hands.

She never would have thought Kassandra a stoic. Spartan maybe, given the simplicity of her surroundings, but not stoic.

The surprises kept coming: in the amount of poetry contained in Kassandra's shelves and in the fact that the poetry was more likely to have been read than the prose. And then Kyra hit paydirt, in a heavy, library-bound tome with "Ψάπφω" embossed on the cover, filled with pages of photographic reproductions of what looked to be papyrus fragments.

And in the margins of each page were annotations written in a forceful, propulsive scrawl. English mixed with what looked like Greek. Kyra would have to take the words written in English at face value; despite her Greek heritage, she'd never learned the language or any of its ancient forms.

among mortal women, [know that?] you could release me from every care

Kyra couldn't read the book's title, but she still had a good guess what it was. She turned the page, then the next, skimming translation after translation, some crossed out, others given a second attempt, and then she spotted one that leapt off the page:

someone will [did??] remember us I tell you in another time

The book in Kyra's hands was Kassandra's attempt at translating Sappho.

If studying Kassandra's bookshelves was snooping, this suddenly felt like reading her diary. Kyra shut the book, the covers closing with a loud snap, and she winced and held her breath while Kassandra stirred on the couch.

A momentary rustling, then silence again. Kassandra hadn't woken up. Kyra returned the book to its home on the shelf and went to the windows. There wasn't just life on Mars, but an entire hidden ecosystem, and now having discovered it, she wished she could forget it existed.

She frowned into the darkness. Somewhere to the east, Mount Hood was waiting until dawn to make its grand entrance onto the cityscape. Kassandra's view would be spectacular, as a view from a penthouse should.

Kyra's frown deepened. Penthouse. "PH" in the private elevator that serviced a private garage. Follow the trickle of money down to the space-age car, the hand-tailored suits, the twenty-dollar lattes. She'd missed the obvious, over and over.

A place like this couldn't be bought with a VP's salary — even one at Starbucks. It would take real money, fuck-you money, the kind of money that cascaded from one generation to the next in an endless flow. Kyra looked back at the couch and the woman sleeping upon it.

Kassandra wasn't just rich — she was fucking wealthy.

It made sense now: the careful curation of Kassandra's social media, the steady stream of favorable press, her reluctance to call the cops. It was how someone with vast amounts of money could hide in plain sight, floating through life without needing a security detail to protect her from the crazies like Bezos and Gates did.

But with all that money, why did she even bother with work?

Kassandra would take Kyra's shop, not because she needed to make a living, but because she simply could, and it didn't matter if she liked Marcus Aurelius or read poetry or translated Sappho. She'd do the job and Kyra wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to stop her.

Kyra didn't belong here. Maybe in another time things could have been different. In this one...

She walked across the room and knelt by the couch. "Kassandra. Hey."

Kassandra's eyes blinked open.

"You alive?"

"No," she said, then smiled. "Yes." She glanced around the room. "What time is it?"

"Almost three."

"Shit. I'm sorry." She sounded like she meant it.

"What time's your alarm set for?"

"Five-thirty."

Good. Kyra wouldn't need to stay much longer. "You've lasted this long, you'll probably survive to hear it."

The smile faded. "You sound disappointed."

"Get some sleep," Kyra said. "Five-thirty's coming up fast." She got up before Kassandra could answer, moved back to the chair, sat, and tried not to think of anything while Kassandra's gaze bore down on her with the weight of a hydraulic press.

It took forever before Kassandra's breathing finally relaxed and deepened with sleep, but when it did, Kyra quietly moved across the room and slipped out the front door. Her debt to Kassandra's inexplicable gallantry was paid in full.

The elevator whisked her to the building's lobby, an airy chamber of blonde wood and minimal metal, warm and smelling faintly of lavender. Then she pushed open the glass door, stepped into the cold, damp, river bottom air of the real world, and left Kassandra and her gleaming tower far, far behind.

.oOo.

Eleven o'clock and the Sunday morning brunch rush was still underway. The flow of customers had been steady since she'd opened at six, but as nice as it was to ring up sale after sale, she was running on fumes.

Pete could tell. They'd bumped elbows once and had a few near misses behind the bar, and after that he kept giving her sidelong looks.

She was pulling a shot under his watchful gaze when her patience with him finally frayed. "Say whatever it is you want to say."

"Take a break after this drink. Fifteen minutes would do you good."

And give every person standing in line an excuse to whine on Yelp because their drinks took a few minutes longer than they wanted? "Not yet."

"When?"

She lifted the pitcher of steamed milk, then stopped just before the pour. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't get them to stop.

He stepped into her space, his bulky powerlifter's body towering over her, and gently took the pitcher from her hand.

She watched silently as he finished the drink for her, and when stillness returned to her hands and forearms, she picked up a to-go lid from the stack and gestured for him to put the drink down on the counter. "When Phoibe comes in," she said.

"Kyra..."

She snapped the lid onto the cup and handed it to the customer waiting on the other side of the counter.

The man sipped his drink and gave her a grateful nod, now fortified with enough caffeine to wait two hours in line for a seat at the diner up the block. Pete was already talking to the next customer, but before he could tell her what to make, a flash of color pulled her eyes to the front door.

A tiny, black-haired Korean woman bustled into the shop, dwarfed by a sprawling bouquet of flowers in her arms. Every eye in the shop turned to watch her walk up to the counter. "Are you Kyra?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"For you, lucky girl." She placed the glass vase at the edge of the counter and stepped back to inspect her work.

Kyra's hand slid into her back pocket for her wallet, but the woman wagged a finger at her and said, "No, no. All taken care of. Enjoy." Then she smiled brightly and disappeared out the door.

Kyra eyed the slice of meadow that had appeared as suddenly as spring: sprigs of white serviceberry blossoms hovering over matte green leaves, pink clusters of sea blush, all nestling contentedly in a bed of ferns, the serrated fronds twined with sweetpea vines in full bloom.

They were the real life inspiration for the tattoo that wound around her right arm, every plant and flower growing wild in Oregon. They'd greeted her every spring, after Nia had taken her in and they began spending the warmer months up at the homestead in Estacada, its lush forest and sparkling river a shocking change of scenery to a gutterpunk who grew up in the grey grime of Portland's streets.

A card peeked out from the greenery, its handwriting familiar. She could almost hear Kassandra saying its words out loud.

Thanks for the ride home — and for looking out for me.

-K

Kyra's ears buzzed and her head swam dizzily as she floated on a curious feeling of elation. Then she blew out the breath she'd been holding. It was the lack of oxygen making her feel loopy. That's all.

So Kassandra was observant. All hunters were. And Kyra would be a fool to think otherwise, that this was anything other than a ploy to soften her up.

Kassandra would be back. The only question was When?

.oOo.

It wasn't Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and after Thursday crawled by and Kyra had begun to hope that maybe, just maybe, her prayers had been answered and Kassandra had moved on to richer hunting grounds, the door to the shop clanged open five minutes before close.

This time, she didn't even turn around when Kassandra walked up to the counter. She just kept spinning the cup in her hand against the towel she'd been using to dry it off. "How's your head?" she asked.

"Much better, thanks."

She put the cup away with the rest, then turned to Kassandra, noting her lack of suit jacket and the extra button open at the neck of her dress shirt. Working late, perhaps. "I got the flowers."

"Good." Kassandra's face gave nothing away, her answer too short to offer any clues about the purpose of her visit.

"They were beautiful," Kyra said. "Where did you find them?"

"I've been exploring the city in my off hours. Sometimes I end up at a farmers' market and find a Korean family selling the most amazing wildflowers. Sometimes I end up in coffee shops where I find more than I bargained for."

Kyra tossed the towel next to the rack of cups. "Why are you here, Kassandra?"

"You keep asking me that."

"You never give me a good answer."

"I like the way you make coffee."

Kyra folded her arms.

"Ahh, you're not really asking about me then," Kassandra said with an air of amused patience.

She'd guessed wrong, but Kyra didn't correct her.

Eventually, she sighed into the silence. "Like I said, a new flagship store. That's the plan."

"There's already one in the Pearl." A massive shop, three stories high, a layer cake of espresso counters and seating and retail encased in a shiny frosting of glass and steel.

"Seattle has more than one, San Francisco does too. Time to add another on this side of the river. Little Portland's growing up."

Kyra stepped out from behind the counter. This time, she locked the front door before doing anything else. "You'd be better off at the Convention Center than all the way down here," she said over her shoulder.

"Probably. But I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't know the landscape of the entire east side." Kassandra moved to the windows and began helping flip stools onto the bar. "My offer still stands, by the way."

Kyra stopped mid-flip, then put the stool in her hands back down on the floor. "Suppose I said yes. What do you think I'd do with myself then?"

Kassandra didn't have a ready answer for that. She tilted her head, squinting at Kyra as she thought. "I don't know," she said. She seemed surprised by her own admission. "Take a vacation?"

"You're damn right I would. Someplace nice and sunny with enough five-twelve routes to keep me climbing for weeks. And afterwards, I'd come home and... what then?" She ran her hand along the bar. Ten years ago, she'd rescued the oak plank from the collapsing ruin that had once been the homestead's workshop. She'd attacked it with a sander, finished it with shellac, installed it against the window with her own hands. "Selling this place would net me — what, a hundred thousand if I'm lucky?" Ten years of work, only to end up with less money than she'd started. "That money won't last forever."

A rattle at the front door turned both their heads at the same time. A woman stared back apologetically through the glass. Just someone looking for a last-minute caffeine fix. Kyra mouthed a Sorry and nodded up at the inert neon sign above her head.

"You could open another shop."

"And bust my ass starting over from scratch while waking up every day wondering if today's the day another suit like you is going to show up? That sounds fun." She was tiring of this conversation. "But worrying about things like that isn't something you'd understand."

"What do you mean?"

"How much does a gallon of milk cost?"

Kassandra's eyes narrowed. "Between three and five bucks a gallon around here. I know the price of bananas too in case you think I'm too out of touch to know that either."

The question had pissed her off. Good. Maybe she'd go away sooner. Kyra started sharpening another volley of words, knowing that Kassandra would raise her shield, and look at her with that mirror-finished glint in her eyes she'd used to turn Kyra's pointed remarks aside before. Kyra's heartbeat sped up, ready to rise to the challenge.

Instead, Kassandra's shoulders sagged and a strange expression slumped across her features, one that took Kyra several moments to identify as hurt. It scattered Kyra's snark, and left her with a pounding heart and nothing to say. She stared at Kassandra as the silence grew second by second, and when she was finally able to muster some words, they snuck out from her with a weary softness. "You didn't come here to talk about work, did you?"

"No." Kassandra turned away, straightening the stool she'd lifted onto the bar so its edges were lined up square. "I was hoping to get your help with something."

It was bait. It had to be. The longer Kyra let this conversation keep going, the more likely it was that she'd do something stupid. "My help with what, exactly?" she asked, while her brain howled in frustration.

"I've been invited to a... gala of sorts."

Kyra didn't like where Kassandra was going with this. "A gala," she said flatly. "Like ballgowns and dancing?"

"Not really. More like Patagonia fleece vests and fat wallets bumping into each other."

"And?"

"Will you come with me?"

"I think you're asking someone from the wrong social strata."

Hurt flickered through Kassandra's eyes a second time, but she smoothed it over with a faint smile and didn't miss a beat. "On the contrary, you'll fit in better than you think. It's a fundraiser for the Multnomah County Library."

"Surely I'm not the only person you know who reads books."

"You don't just read books. You climb."

An oddly specific combination. "You're plotting something."

"Nothing shady, I promise. Just come with me and talk to people. It'll only be a couple of hours — and there'll be an open bar."

Kyra was half-tempted to lie and say she didn't drink. "You actually think I'll say yes to this? I don't even—" Like you, she meant to say.

"It'd be an excellent opportunity to expand your network," Kassandra said, but then she shrugged off her own suit-speak with a grin. "Anyway, the Library wants to build a new children's wing, and I'm on a mission to separate some people from their money for a good cause. I think you can help me do that."

Think of the children. Kassandra's audacity seemed to have no bounds. "When is this thing?"

"Saturday night."

Shady or not, Kassandra was up to something, and saying No would cut Kyra off from any chance of finding out what it was. "Fine. Two hours, then I'm done," Kyra said. Against reason, against her better judgement, brain still howling as—

Kassandra's face lit with a triumphant smile.

The kind of face that made Kyra do stupid things.

Chapter five of The Sellout. Continued in chapter six...

Author's Note: The translations of Sappho herein are loosely reworked versions of Carson's, from her foundational translation "If Not, Winter."

"among mortal women..." is a snippet from fr. 23.

The "did??" in Kassandra's translation of fr. 147 is a reversal of Casaubon's commonly-accepted emendation that changed "did remember" to "will remember". (Oh, to have a photo of the original papyri so I could puzzle out what the text actually said, but I'm no classics scholar...)

#kassandra #kyssandra #ac odyssey #coffee shop au #god this fic is such an indulgence lol #subtle as a sledgehammer #but i'm beginning to have a clear picture of where i want it to go #my relationship with this story has taken a strange turn #for better or worse #the sellout

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ashiversary · 5 years

Text

Adaptability

Adaptability:

1. A pokemon ability that increases the power of moves of the same type as the user. Common species with this ability include porygon, basculin and eevee.

2. The ability to acclimatise efficiently and fast to changed circumstances

◊

The umbreon tent at the Opal City Eevee And Evolutions Event is a good place to be, Go thinks, even though it’s early. The darkness means it’s refreshingly cool compared to outside, the ‘dark night’ coffees sold by the door are both delicious and immensely caffeinated, and the newly-evolved Instinct umbreons are sleeping (for once) in relative silence. It’s so early, in fact, that there’s only one other guest in this row. They’re pretty short, with red hair, lots of piercings and wait a minute-

“Uh, Amelie?”

Her eye flicks briefly towards him.

“Hello, Go.”

Oh. Great. He turns to look at what she’s eyeing.

It’s a good specimen from a show perspective, Go can tell. The eyes are bright and cheri-red, the coat ink-black and glossy, and the thick gold bands from evolving under a full harvest moon have a soft but powerful glow. It’s a pretty attractive pokemon for a team who deal in stolen goods, so Go braces for a knee to the stomach and hopes someone will call for security before he hits the ground.

When a minute has passed with no attack he dares to crack an eye open to look at her.

“Picking good ones to steal later? They’re all tagged and chipped you know-”

“No.”

“Planning to steal the prize money?”

“Not really.”

“Then why are you here at an eevee convention?”

She fixes him with a look and- oh.

He’s suddenly very glad Spark stayed behind. Arceus only knows the carnage that would result from him, her boss and hundreds of eevee all in the same place.

Anyway, Go, focus.

There’s no members of the public admitted right now, but there’s still a handful of breeders primping their umbreons before the gates open, and although he’s got over a foot of height on her Go doesn’t think for a minute that’ll stop him from being handed his ass if things get dicey. (Amelie did focus solely on his uninjured side when they met after the last big fight though, so that was… thoughtful? Less brutal than the majority of Rocket?)

The point is, it’s early, there’s no high-level trainers anywhere nearby and a member of Team Rocket is next to him at an Eevee Exhibition. So what should he do?

Go shrugs.

“Want to get breakfast?”

“So,” Amelie asks when they’re sat near a food stand fifteen minutes later, “Why are you here?”

He shrugs, chasing the last pieces of tamato berry around the tray.

“Some of the special entrants in the main exhibition are from Instinct Hatcheries, like that flying-type eeveelution, the dual-type vaporeon and, uh… Dumpling the shiny kit? Do you know about him?”

She nods and - wait, of course she’ll know about Dumpling, given who her boss is. Go’s certain that despite the frequent recorded visits from Mystic One on file at the kit’s hatchery, Leader Blanche themself has never actually set foot in the place.

He continues, regardless. “Because of the ties Instinct have with a lot of the organizers, we- as in, high-ranking Instinct Trainers – got special passes for the event.”

Go’s not entirely sure why he got one, really. Okay, yes, his name is down on paper as Instinct Two, but he’ll be the first to admit that compared to any of Spark’s Elite Four he’s way behind. Why is he here again?

He’s always been good at rolling with the punches, though, literal or otherwise. He’s adaptable.

(In this job, with his boss, you need to be. Otherwise you just might not survive.)

◊

The theory goes:

A standard, purebred eevee with no external influences will evolve in accordance with its environment - one who lives wild by a lake and hunts for food in the water will tend towards vaporeon, habitats of warm homes as cherished pets create sylveon, those raised on spiritual sites or alongside psychics evolve into espeon (and everyone knows not to leave kits near the psychic Gym Leader of Saffron City unless, for whatever reason, you want a rambunctious feline unable to manage its considerable newfound strength back right after).

Even amongst the same species there are further physiological variations. The rare wild leafeon studied in arctic tundra environments have stubby near-black leaves with a waxy finish, slow metabolisms, and a secondary ice-typing. Amongst professional breeders and co-ordinators different leafeon with unusual foliage, such as delicate ornamental leaves or chubby cacti greenery, are a hit. The reigning Kalos Queen making an appearance even has an exquisite rose leafeon as her signature companion - far too finicky for the average trainer, too fragile for regular battling. And yet, much like a wild eevee and its evolution, it’s perfectly adapted for its current environment.

(Go figure, Go thinks as he takes a high-speed rose to the face at the front of the crowd, Amelie looking suspiciously like she’s trying to hide a smile).

But the environment is only half the puzzle. If exposed to a standard water stone, a wild eevee will undergo rapid evolution into what most would consider a ‘classic’ vaporeon – neck frill, aqua blue colouring, finned tail - even if its habitat is a frozen plain or an electrified cave.

So, as Annie had explained to him over one of the few dinners Spark or Zapdos (is there a difference, really?) hadn’t been able to crash and burn, the leading theory is that the eevee ignores its previous adaptations and rapidly adjusts in order to cope with a sudden influx of energy the stone contains - similar to how other species can go years with no sign of pending evolution but then once exposed to the right conditions, boom, a distressed golem is now stuck in your bathroom.

“Look,” she’d said, dragging out a tablet from her purse, “The main idea is the stone itself is a strong energy source – the eevee suddenly adapts to this exposure and the energy drives the evolution to completion in seconds, but because most of these stones are similar in chemical composition the final vaporeons are also pretty identical.”

Huh, he’d thought, so that’d been why Mystic had requested a large number of eevee kits a few months before, and why so many of their high-rank trainers had similar vaporeons on their teams now. He’d assumed it was just for the team aesthetic, really, but they must have been adopted out once the research programme had wrapped up.

Annie had continued, nearly knocking over her glass as she’d gestured at the screen.

“But then we’ve got to consider that items such as Razor Fangs and Claws are similar energy sources, or possibly catalysts. We now know certain stones and trading systems count as an energy source because of the thermodynamic profiles, but how does that link to items such as Reaper Cloths? Wild dusknoir and escavalier have to come from somewhere, Go!”

It had been interesting when he’d read over it later, after walking her home – or at least, back to Mystic HQ. Aside from cases such as nidorina and nidoqueen, Instinct typically ignore the evolution status of the pokemon used for breeding to focus mostly on IVs and moves, so browsing Annie’s notes had helped show a whole new side of the story, and they’re a lot easier for a novice to read than Leader Blanche’s, that’s for sure.

There was something similar to this topic in one of his college classes actually - a certain level of energy is required to allow a reaction to occur, catalysts open up different reaction pathways with lower energy requirements, if energy isn’t available from an external source then internal energy will be used instead, and so on. Currently known sources, according to Mystic research, include electromagnetic waves during trading, certain geological features, and – if the ongoing research on eevees is any indication - evolutionary stones as well. So now Annie’s research involves looking at possible wavelengths emitted, triggering the use certain items and further analysis of evolutionary stones. (He winces on Professor Willow’s behalf. Those items aren’t cheap, after all, and Go may no longer a completely-broke student but he won’t be casually dropping ₽10,000 on a stone that will never be anything but powder for a lab experiment.)

Annie always looks so animated when she talks about her research with Mystic One. Guess it helps to have a Team Leader who you really care for.

(Then again Spark, at least, doesn’t need constant reminders to eat or sleep.)

Speaking of which…

“Uh… Leader Blanche and Annie are supposed to be here today. Could you and your boss maybe not blow up the exhibition while we’re all here? Or start a fight? Or steal anything”

Amelie doesn’t even look up from the stall she’s examining. Out of all the locations to spend the morning at, personally Go wouldn’t have picked the shopping village – it’s not even ten in the morning now and it’s already a struggle to get through the crowds. Amelie, however, is both determined and terrifying - so here they are.

“Mystic One is currently at their headquarters having overslept. Mystic Two is with them.”

Well that’s not at all creepy.

“How do you know that?” He demands.

“Carl told me.”

“Carl, as in-”

That stuck-up dick? is what Go wants to say, but his mouth finishes, “-Valor Two?”

“Yes. We’re acquainted.”

Typical. All said stuck-up dick apparently needs to drop the snobbish attitude, even for someone like Team Rocket, is a terrifying attitude and an above-average bra size.

(That’s probably unfair, he reflects. There’s one key reason why the two of them will never get along and it’s five-foot-ten, host to a lightning titan and drinks Go’s milk straight from the carton.)

“It’s in everyone’s best interest for there to be no fighting today, don’t you agree? Three of each, please.” Amelie directs the last part at the hovering sales assistant, guarding the stock with the tenacity of a stoutland and the attitude of a houndoom.

Honestly, Go thinks, simultaneously watching the assistant bag all the items and trying to read the labels upside-down at the same time as they’re packed, Carl and Amelie knowing each other well isn’t a bad thing. Especially given the animosity between her boss and Leader Candela - and their combined talents at causing significant property damage.

“Limited Edition Eevee Family… are these socks?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“You came all the way to a massive eevee exhibition… to buy yourself socks?”

He looks back at the packaging, the front home to a model in frills sporting sylveon thigh-highs and not much else.

Don’t think about her wearing them, don’t think about her wearing them-

Too late. It’s an amazing image though.

“They’re not for me. I’m here to get them for someone who couldn’t make it.” Amelie says, like she can read minds. Or maybe it was pretty obvious what he was (completely involuntarily!) thinking of.

Hang on, given that there’s one person he knows of who can make Amelie get up at the crack of dawn and wears eevee paraphernalia obsessively…

“So… your boss isn’t here today?”

There’s an unnaturally long pause.

“No,” Amelie finally says. It’s hard to tell with someone as serious as her but for a moment, Go thinks, it looks like she wants to say something more. “No, they’re not.”

“So you did come all this way just for socks?”

She shrugs.

“Lief is also thinking about breeding an eevee-cross meowth at some point, so he’s looking at possible studs as well.”

“Lief?”

“You’ve met him. Green hair, crossbred persians, kicked you in the face last month at the pier?”

Oh yeah, he remembers now. He really needs to try and run into people who are less violent, he thinks.

Amelie takes her receipt and turns to face him. “I’ll see you around, Go.”

“Uh, is it bad if I hope that’s not any time soon?”

He gets a whole smile for that.

#Pokemon Go #Ashiversary #bipercy #submission #fanfiction #Go #Amelie #eevee #eeveelution

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fangirlspammer · 4 years

Text

Journey to the Past pt. 1

Hi readers! So after reading and falling in love with each one of @regal-roni and @jpncis09 fanfics I just had to dabble in it myself. I haven't decided where all of this is going yet, but I hope you enjoy what I have so far.

I also want to warn that the first part might be sensitive to some readers as it mentions rape and abuse. The whole story will not be like that

Jack cried out in fear as she was pushed against the brick wall. Her face slammed against it and she could feel her skin tear against the rough bumps. She tried to fight him off, but she couldn't. He held her hands behind her back as he began to undress her. She sobbed and pleaded with him not to do this, but he wasn't going to hear of it. He pulled her head back by her hair and slammed the side of her face against the brick again. She could taste blood and she began to feel weak. Suddenly she was being thrown against a dumpster, her face hitting the corner, before she landed on a pile of garbage bags. She looked up, her vision blurry, and saw the man's figure hovering over her. She placed her hands on his chest, a sorry attempt to push him away, but it didn't help. She felt him pushing her legs apart with his knee and ripping her underwear. She kept begging him to stop, but he wouldn't hear of it. Her only hope was that somebody would hear her cries, but her voice had weakend. A sharp cry escaped her bloodied lips as he pushed all of himself inside of her in one painful motion and began to rape her.

The rest of the night had been a blur. She was found the next morning by a woman who lived in the apartment complex the alley was behind. An officer came to the rescue and had taken her to the hospital, but she didn't remember much of that either. 'Is there someone we can call?' there had been no one. Her mother had kicked her out right out of high school, no thanks to her mother's abusive boyfriend. She had been living out of her old beat up '72 Chevy Vega station wagon, that she had bought with money from working in a diner throughout high school, for the past year. Parking near that alley way had been a mistake, but it was all she could manage at the time.

After an overnight stay in the hospital she had managed to get back to her car and find a new place to park. She drove around for weeks, from City to city, odd job after odd job. Nothing ever seemed to last. She had managed to afford a hotel room every once in awhile to shower and take care of business, but other than that she spent money on clothes and a blanket for the cold winter nights that began to pick up. As luck would have it one night she parked outside of an army recruiters office, and for the rest of that night she pondered her future and what she wanted to make of her life. She knew that she never wanted to feel as hopeless as she had a few weeks ago, again. She wanted to be able to stand up for herself and for others. She glanced in her review mirror, at herself, covered in stitches. That man had really done a number on her, but she was starting to heal after a month. What did she have to lose? There was nothing to hold her back. No family, no money, no job or lousy boyfriend. After all this time looking for an out and a way to avenge herself, maybe she was staring it in the face this whole time.

The next morning came and she didn't waste a single moment. She watched as a recruiter unlocked the door and flipped the sign to read 'OPEN'. She opened the car door and made her way inside until she was standing at the man's desk.

"I...I'd like to fill out an application," she stated nervously. Her brow wrinkled as she considered that maybe those weren't the right choice of words. "I mean I...I'd like to join the army," she corrected and bit her lip nervously only to be met with a sharp pain. Her stitches. She swallowed back her nerves and took a deep breath.

"Name?" The man asked and gestured towards the empty chair.

It took her a moment to realize that he was telling her to take a seat. "Sloane. I, uh, Jacqueline Sloane," she repeated. Get a grip, Jack, she thought. "I'm sorry, it's been a long month," she admitted quietly.

The man looked up and saw the cuts on her face. He nodded slowly and wrote something down. "Bar fight?" He asked, only half joking.

"No," she shook her head and rubbed her wrists nervously. Did she have to tell him? She couldn't even admit to herself what had happened, now she had to admit it to a stranger? "I, uh...it wasn't a fight. Not really," she whispered and looked to her shoes. "Look, I..I just want to join the army. I need to do something, and this...this would be good for me," she looked back to him. He started writing again. What was this? A shrinks office?

"I'll need you to take some basic tests."

"Tests?"

He nodded. "Drug tests," he answered simply, "and I'll need you to give us permission to run a thorough background check."

"Oh," she nodded, a bit relieved it wasn't a written test. Her state of mind was not prepared for that. "Of course, I have nothing to hide."

The man nodded and handed her some paperwork. "I'll need you to fill this out and we will review it. We will need to take some blood samples and run some tests. That along with the background check will take a few days to process. If all is clear then we will get you into training," he explained and watched the young woman fidget nervously. He furrowed his brow and watched as she ran her hand along the cuts on her face.

She stopped her movements when she caught the recruiter looking at her. She bit her lip and stopped fidgeting. "A-alright," she nodded and took the pen he offered. She began to look over the paperwork and filled it out before she stopped. "I, ehm... I don't have an address," she admitted. "My car," she gestured outside to the dusty station wagon in the front. "That's where I live."

"You can just skip that for now," he assured her and gave a warm smile. He had seen people like her come in here before, and he had a soft spot for people like that. Maybe it was because he had been in her shoes before.

"Thank you," she bit her lip nervously and went back to filling out the paperwork.

A few days had passed and Jack had taken to sleeping outside of the recruiters office. During the day she would go inside and he would give her some food and water. He had been kinder to her than anybody had been in a long time. Over the past few weeks the two of them had started to get close, but neither of them had done anything about it. He was her recruiter after all and she wasn't exactly comfortable jumping into anything after what she had been through almost 2 years ago. That morning she woke up and went into the office. She was then again greeted with a donut and a little carton of milk this time.

"Morning Jenson," she smiled tiredly as she accepted the donut. "Did the results come in yet?" She took a seat and watched him look through the papers on his desk. He was unusually quiet this morning and she wondered if she had been overstepping.

"They did," he finally answered and nodded shortly. He looked up to her, but he didn't look very enthused about whatever was in her files. "Jack, I'm afraid we can't recruit you at this time," he said simply.

Jack furrowed her brow and sat up a little straighter. "What? Why not?" She looked to him curiously and then became concerned that something was wrong with her. that would have been the only reason she could think of for them to turn her down.

"Well, because you're pregnant and you should know that we can't have you join the army and go into extensive training while you're with child," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Jack's eyes widened at his words. "I...I'm not pregnant," she shook her head. "You must be mistaken."

"I'm afraid not," he shook his head and handed her the paperwork, but she didn't accept it.

"And I am telling you that you are mistaken," she insisted, becoming upset. "I am not pregnant. There's no way I-" she stopped and tears filled her eyes when she came to the horrible realization of what had happened. "No," she whispered and swallowed hard.

"Jack?" He raised a brow and couldn't help but be concerned. "You mean...you didn't know?"

She felt tears surface and she shook her head. She stood up and bit her lip. "I need to go."

"Go where?" He stood up and walked around the desk to her. "Jack, you don't have anywhere to be. Talk to me," he frowned and hesitantly took her hand.

As his hand brushed hers she took a deep breath. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she looked down. "I.." she wanted to tell him, she really did, but she didn't know how to voice it. How did you go about telling somebody that you had been raped? How did you tell the only person who had showed any interest in you, romantically or personally, that this horrifying act had happened to you? This wasn't easy for her. "I didn't know because...because it didn't happen by my choice," she admitted and looked down. She didnt know why, but she expected him to move away from her. He only gave her hand a squeeze and lifted her chin.

"Do you mean," he paused and watched her nod slowly. He sighed and brushed his thumb along her knuckles. "That explains the cut," he looked to the nearly healed stitches on her cheek and forehead. Her lip had finally healed, but she was still hurt.

"Please," she felt her lip quiver and wiped her eyes. "There has to be a way that you're wrong," she pleaded with him. "I can't be...pregnant," her voice cracked. "How am I supposed to raise a baby...i-in that?" She pointed to her beat up car and then put her head in her hands.

"Hey," he took her hand again and pulled her closer to him. He sighed and pushed her hair back. He couldn't deny that there had been something going on between the two of them. When she had first walked in a few weeks ago she had taken his breath away, despite the cuts. He was her recruiter and so he had tried to stay professional, but after a few days he couldn't fight it anymore. Something about her was so inticing. He pulled her petite frame to his chest and hugged her close. His hand stroked her hair gently and he sighed. "It's going to be alright. If you'd like...you can stay with me," he suggested, unsure how she would take it.

"Stay with you?" She looked up to him curiously and shook her head. "I couldn't put you out like that."

"You wouldn't be putting me out, Jack," he assured her and his eyes softened. "I'd like you to stay."

Jack searched his eyes for anything resembling pity or obligation, but she found nothing. He truly wanted her to stay. "Alright, but I don't want to put you out for long. As soon as I find somewhere else I'll be out of your hair," she promised.

"Jack?" Ducky broke her silence in the observation room. He nudged her gently, watching her stare at the man in the interrogation room.

"Huh?" Jack jumped a bit and looked to Ducky as she came out of her trance.

"I asked if you knew him," he repeated and raised a brow. "Which you obviously do."

Jack nodded slowly and looked back towards the glass. She sighed and decided it would be best if she explained herself now. She opened her mouth to explain, but before any words came out the door burst open and behind it stormed in a slightly baffled Gibbs.

"He's asking for you, Jack," he eyes her carefully.

"Me?" Jack's eyes widened and she took a step back. "Why me?"

Gibbs arched his brow and didn't move his gaze. "That's what I want to know. Do you know him?"

Jack looked at Gibbs like a deer caught in headlights before she glanced over to the one way mirror. She saw the boy she once knew and swallowed hard. She didn't realize how long she had gone without answering until Gibbs snapped at her slightly.

"Jack!"

"Jenson," she crossed her arms and looked back to him. "His name is William Oliver Jenson," she sighed and he backed off. "He was my recruiter when I first joined the Army," she explained further.

"Is that all?" He waited for a response and then backed down when he saw Ducky watching them. "He asked for you and so you are going to go in there and get what we need."

"Do you think that's wise?" Ducky questioned curiously.

"If we want answers," Gibbs grumbled, jealousy dripped off his tongue despite how hard he tried to hide it.

"If you want answers you shouldn't look to me," Jack shook her head and held her hand up in protest. He glared. "Gibbs, I'm serious. We didn't end on the best of terms."

"End?" He started to delve into that but retracted and sighed. "Jack whatever happened was a long time ago. You are the only person he will talk to so go in there and get some damn answers. I'm done asking nicely," he snapped now.

Jack rolled her eyes and yanked the folders from his hands before heading out the door. "That was nice?" She muttered before the door shut. She took a deep breath before opening the interrogation room door and walking in. This was not going to be easy.

#jack sloane #jethro gibbs #slibbs #ncis cbs #leroy jethro gibbs #maria bello #jacqueline sloane #ncis fandom #ncis

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