Sky Holds All Our Hopes
Wrote this for @flashfictionfridayofficial #219 prompt — Under the night sky and @samsseptember day 19 — Royalty AU. Also posted on Ao3 here. Read under the cut!
Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Pairings: Sam Wilson/Thor, Darcy Lewis/SarahWilson
Tags: Historical AU, Long Distance Relationship, Reunions, Secret Relationship, Fluff
Summary: The Wilson Royal family receive the visit of Lady Darcy and her bodyguard, which to the prince and princess means to reunite with their lovers.
Wordcount: 1,096
Also created for: @darcylewisbingohq — Kings, Queens, & Castles Week + Royal / @allcapsbingo — AU: Bodyguard / @multifandom-flash — Secret Relationship + Longing Look / @lyricalescape — “Hold my hands tight, no turning back.” / @thorbingo — Gift Exchange / @julybreakbingo — They kissed last night, but today they have to pretend like nothing happened / @samwilsonbingo — Free space
The last plates of breakfast were being withdrawn from the table when King Paul started talking, wanting to update his children on the news their castle was going to get prepared for that same day. Stretching his hand to take the one of Queen Darlene, he cleared his throat as his daughter and son were sharing their plans for the day with each other.
“We received an urgent letter written from the Kingdom of Asgard last evening,” he started, soon getting the attention of the youngest in the room. “It appears that Lady Darcy is traveling to Manhattan Land, and in her journey she wishes to make a stop at our castle. We will host a dinner for our guest, and I trust you both will behave by showing the values our family has been keeping for generations.”
Princess Sarah’s face lit up at the name of the other young woman, and the Prince could not help but show a tiny smile as he knew the true meaning of that reaction.
“As I know you two are good friends,” the King continued, “I believe it will be suitable to settle her in your chamber, as I wouldn’t want her to feel un-welcomed by having one of the guest rooms, since they are at the other wing of the castle.”
“Father, we will make sure she feels at home,” Princess Sarah reassured, even if her father did not have a doubt about that being their performance.
“Is she traveling alone, father?” Prince Samuel asked, earning a questioning raised eyebrow from his mother, who then landed eyes on the princess.
“The letter spoke about her bodyguard as well,” the king continued, strange to the exchange, “Thor from the ancient Odin Dynasty. I believe he was the Lady’s personal guard in previous visits, so he will not want to leave her side. It is expected of you, son, to offer him accommodation in your chambers, since it is placed next to your sister’s.”
Prince Sam nodded in agreement, not wanting to seem too excited about their future visit as his sister gave him a knowing look from the other side of the table.
“You can go now to have your classes of the day, my dears,” Queen Darlene let them go before going back to discuss with her husband what arrangements they would have to make for the Lady’s driver and carriage.
Lady Darcy tried to hold her excitement as she knew they had entered the lands of their allies, where they would spend a night with a family she had known since she was a child. Thor was working on her hair to pass the time, having finished a second braid that he linked to the first one with a red ribbon, over the rest of Darcy’s long hair, at the level of her neck.
“I believe Princess Sarah will be eager to see you,” he commented, knowing the depths of her protégée’s feelings for the woman as they had been raised as equals before he had become part of the royal guard.
“I will adventure myself to say the same about the prince,” Darcy responded. She was not unaware, either, of the glances the men had exchanged in other events in which they had coincided. “We have not encountered them in a long time. I believe we will have time to catch up with our dear friends.”
Thor smiled in silence.
As they had been promised by their driver, they arrived at the castle when the sun was leaving for the night. While some of their luggage was brought up upstairs, Lady Darcy and her guard were welcomed by the King and Queen in a hall briefly before heading to one of the dining rooms, where they were double- welcomed as well by their long-distance friends and a display of local products.
They had dinner while chattering about how things were going on in Asgard and summarizing what their trip to Manhattan was for. The King offered them accommodation for their way back the following month, and the Lady was pleased to accept such a generous offer.
When food was run low they moved onto other entertainments to a larger hall. The Queen delighted them with some songs, filling the room with glee as Prince Sam asked Lady Darcy for a dance. Then, at the first sign of tiredness from the Lady, Princess Sarah excused all of them for the night and after wishing their parents to have a peaceful night, they led their visitors to the part of the castle where their chambers awaited with the promise of a comforting night among loved ones.
Having passed the corner where the last guard stood, the princess and Lady Darcy linked hands as the prince backed off to walk at the level of the bodyguard, their fingers brushing as their hands got closer with every step.
“We can set up the fireplace and sleep in front of it,” Sarah was telling her beloved as they planned how to spend the little time they would have together. “Oh, and I loved your braids!”
Lady Darcy had a smile that almost could not fit her face, and soon the pair parted ways.
Prince Sam led Thor to a chamber that was not strange to the bodyguard and out to the balcony, where they could finally speak; a place to return to their shared memories of passionate moments from past encounters.
“I believe my raven found its way into delivering my letter,” Thor stated.
“He did,” Samuel smiled, remembering Thor’s words in his later letter. “You trained him well. I hope mine got to you as well.”
“It did,” Thor replied, taking one of his hands. “I also wish you liked my gift, though I am aware you are accustomed to higher accessories.” They locked eyes on the bracelet Thor had made for the prince, one that now he wore proudly every day.
“Having with me a piece of you, it means everything,” Samuel shared before lamenting “I am sad I do not have anything from me to give you, as I wish this would be reciprocated. I can only offer you this night, my dear.”
“Being able to hold you, to kiss you, is enough of a gift,” Thor confessed to him and the night sky only, brushing a thumb over his beloved’s hand.
Prince Samuel took a step closer to seal his silent confession of love with a kiss, cupping the bodyguard’s face in anticipation of everything they could do together if they chose not to sleep that night.
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First, We Make the Beast Beautiful
Extract:
Anxious behaviour is rewarded in our culture. Being highly strung, wound up, frenetic and soooo busy has cachet. I ask someone, ‘How are you?’ and even if they’re kicking back in a caravan park in the outback with a beer watching the sun set, their default response is, ‘Gosh, so busy, out of control, crazy times.’ And they wear it as a badge of honour.
This means that many of us deny we have a problem and keep going and going. Indeed, the more anxious we are, the more we have to convince ourselves we don’t have a problem. This is ironic, or paradoxical. And it seems awfully cruel.
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We suck it up when we feel anxious and soldier on until, well, we tip over the edge and our anxiety turns pathological and medical. Flipside, depressed behaviour - slovenliness, unproductiveness and suck-honey gloom - is something we abhor. Thusly, depression is an issue. And, thusly, we have lots of structures in place to identify and treat it.
Depression is stigmatised, anxiety is sanctified as propping up modern life, which ironically sees depression treated as a legitimate illness, and the anxious left in a cesspool of self-doubt and self-flagellation for not being better at coping with life. And so we buy each other Keep Calm and Carry On mugs as though that’s something you can just do.
But it gets worse, you see. We then try to cope by revving up the angst, don’t we? We use coffee and fast-speak and sugar and staying back at work longer. We grind harder. Try harder. Think harder. We should be able to work our way through this. We think this is what will fire us up out of our funk and get us back on our game. It’s a self-perpetuating pain - we use anxiety to fight our anxiety.
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Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes/Sarah Wilson, James “Bucky” Barnes & Sarah Wilson, Bucky Barnes/Sarah Wilson, Bucky Barnes & Sarah Wilson
Characters: James “Bucky” Barnes, Sarah Wilson (Marvel)
Additional Tags: The Closest To Kinktober As I’m Prolly Gonna Get, Kissing in the Rain, Rain, Making Out, MAKING OUT IN THE RAIN, Caught, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Erotic, fleur de louve, Sarahbucky, BuckySarah, FleurDeLouve
Summary: For the most part, Bucky didn’t mind the rain in Louisiana… A good downpour made him giddy. Sometimes it made him frisky.
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