#so yeah i just think that louis' doing his best and maneuvering it in ways that he thinks is wise

[finexbright]

.

#oooooh time for another controversial opinion #i get that babygate frustrates us and just puts us off and all that i get that i was there when it happened i'm still here i feel the same #but can we all just think. for once. that it's possible that it's harder for louis than it is for us? #like. we can ignore it and talk shit about but it's actually his fucking reality #and yeah he's rich and white and privileged but also like. this has so much to do about his mental health than all that #i get us being frustrated but i truly don't understand people getting entitled???? like you can't just end it with a click of a button #there's SO MUCH entangled in this #people act like louis CHOSE this like louis WANTED this and it's like. you're diminishing his brain and intellect to that #ending babygate will lead to a cascading domino effect of a lot of things. like it'll be the industry's biggest exposé #so yeah i just think that louis' doing his best and maneuvering it in ways that he thinks is wise #like you can't just be like ''so i'm not the father. also i'm gay. also fuck syco. fuck the industry'' without it literally shifting the #entire industry. like the entire band will be affected. even harry #so can we all just. for one second sit back and realise that LOUIS is the one who's actually dealing with this and we're just WATCHING it? #like this isn't our reality this isn't our life we don't know anything and can we at least give louis a bit more credit #than the rubbish narrative that ''he wants this'' like fuck's sake #babygate

[stylesthebrave]

wednesday snippet

By the time they’re lifting their carry-on bags to the overhead compartments, Louis’ heart feels like it’s pressing against the wall of his chest, ready to burst out at any given moment. He slides into the row first, having already agreed that he’d take the window seat on the way there, and Harry would take the window seat on the way back. When he sits down, his knee is bouncing uncontrollably. He takes a deep breath and breathes it out shakily.

It’s a relatively small plane, with only two columns of seats, three-wide with an aisle down the middle. There’s not even a screen on the back of the seat in front of them, nothing to distract Louis from the prospect of disaster mid-light.

Harry plops down in the seat next to Louis, sighing happily. “Are you excited?”

Louis doesn’t look at Harry, for fear of his best friend seeing the terror that is no doubt evident on his face. He hums in agreement: “Mhm.”

But of course Harry doesn’t buy it. From the corner of his eye, Louis can see Harry leaning forward to get a better look at Louis’ face, trying to gauge his expression. A gentle hand is placed on his knee.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

Louis feels the blood rushing to his cheeks at Harry’s words, embarrassed of what feels like such an elementary fear. If he could, he would ignore Harry for the entire flight, only gaze out the window and not speak a word until after they’ve landed. He knows Harry won’t allow that, though.

Left with no choice but to face Harry, Louis turns himself in his seat. He’s vaguely aware of his knee still bouncing, but he doesn’t try to stop it. He has a feeling Harry’s already caught on to him, anyway.

“Yeah,” Louis says, and he can hear the unease in his own voice. “I’m good.”

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

Okay, so yeah, Harry’s definitely caught on.

“I didn’t say that.”

“I can tell. I saw you taking Xanax at the airport.”

Louis’ jaw falls open. “Do you know how hard I tried to hide that from you?”

Harry grins. “Yeah. You don’t turn away from me in your seat for nothing, so I figured something was up.” He shrugs, leaning back in his seat and extending his legs out in front of him as much as he can. “And I saw the label when you were putting the pack back in your bag.”

“Prat.”

Louis doesn’t offer any further answer, just flicks his eyes between the seat in front of him and the window. They haven’t started moving yet, and Louis can still hear the people further back on the plane getting their baggage situated. He likes to think he’ll be fine once they get in the air, but he can’t be so sure.

“It’s okay, you know,” Harry says, squeezing Louis’ knee where his hand rests. Louis hadn’t realized it was still there. “The flight’s pretty short, it’s only, like, an hour and fifteen minutes. Even less if we get lucky.”

It doesn’t do much to ease Louis’ nerves, but the knowledge that Harry is trying to calm him down helps a little bit.

“Right. I’ll be fine after takeoff,” Louis says, not looking Harry in the eye. “Until we land, at least.”

Harry nods steadily. “I’m sure you will.”

As if on cue, the few people left boarding the plane find their seats with surprisingly little argument about space in the overhead compartments. Then it’s the captain’s turn to take them through the emergency procedures as the plane maneuvers from the taxiway to the runway. Louis takes a deep breath and closes his eyes; watching the flight attendants demonstrate the proper techniques for wearing oxygen masks and life vests only increases his nerves.

Resting his head on the seat in front of him, Louis tries his best to take balanced breaths. He hasn’t realized how tightly he’s gripping the armrest until he feels Harry placing his own hand on top of Louis’, squeezing gently as the airplane speeds up and takes off.

#contrary to popular belief: i AM writing! #send me strength to write some more in the final 2 hours of this car ride <3 #my snippets #slpt

[toplinetommy]

Redefining Home - Matthew Tkachuk

Synopsis: After spending months with Matthew in his childhood home in St. Louis, it’s time for him to go back to Calgary, and the reality of your normally long-distance relationship settles back in.

Words: 2k

A/N: very brief mention of the pandemic, gif credit @matthewtkafuck​

Three months - almost four; that’s how long you had spent close to every second of every day with Matthew and the entirety of the Tkachuk family. It was a huge change in the way you and Matthew experienced your relationship. Over the past year and a half of your relationship, the entire of it was spent as long-distance.

You had met Matthew when you had just started your career in Chicago, working for your dream company, living in an apartment your younger self could only dream of. Matthew had been in town for a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. They had won, the younger guys on the team opting to go out to celebrate, while you and some of your roommates were celebrating a birthday. One thing led to another and you had quite literally bumped into Matthew’s tall and broad frame while chasing your extremely drunk friend.

That night your friend ended up finding the rest of your group and you seemed to be glued to Matthew’s side the second you guys made eye contact. Sure you got yelled at by your friends the following morning about how you ditched them, but in the long run, no one could complain. You had gotten the handsome, curly-headed NHL player’s phone number with absolutely no intention to ever use it. That was until a few days later a text from an unsaved number popped up, saying it was Matthew from the bar a few nights ago. 

With him being a professional athlete in not only another country, but a different timezone, your guys’ relationship had started off with what most people would classify as a friendship based around your clear attraction for one another. Texting each other a few times a day turned into texting all day, every day, which then turned into facetiming any chance the two of you could get. Whether that be during your lunch break at work, him on the team bus to the airport, when you were walking down the city blocks of downtown Chicago, or him skipping his pre-game naps to just to hear your voice.

Your relationship started to shift from two friends to two people that were clearly interested in one another trying to figure out how to discuss those feelings when you were never in the same city and rarely in the same timezone. After weeks of pestering and some convincing from your roommate, you had agreed to get on a plane when Matthew had a string of home back-to-backs one weekend. He convinced you to come to see him play in person and then he could officially give you the wine and dine experience he told you you deserved.

That one weekend trip turned into you visiting him any weekend you could when he was in Calgary and even some when he was in various other cities. It was weekends away with him in his Calgary apartment and him flying into Chicago to spent time with you and your roommates with the very little free time he got. 

Weeks and weeks of flying around the North American continent and late-night facetimes when you weren’t together passed by before he had asked you to be his girlfriend to which you excitedly said yes to that one night in his Calgary apartment.

Those weekends spent flying in an out of Chicago were worth it though. Now, here you both were, in Matthew’s childhood home in St. Louis planning for what your guys’ next move was once he got on his flight back to Calgary to start training camp before the playoffs.

You’re sitting on the large sectional in the family living room, your feet laying across Matthews’s lap as he mindlessly rubs his thumb along your shins. You shiver at one particular stroke of his thumb causing Matthew to giggle and playfully squeeze your leg. You kick him playfully while sticking your tongue out, hoping to pull his attention from the tv show playing in front of you two. 

“Matthew,” you try, sticking out your bottom lip in a pout. He turns his head towards you raising his eyebrows as he hums out his response. Even though he’s facing you now, his gaze is still focused on the tv in front of him so you try again. 

“Matty,” you try again, this time dragging out his name in a whine. 

“Yeah, baby?”

“Give me attention.”

“Y/n, we‘re watching tv there’s only so much attention I can give you,” he reasons. He moves one of his hands further up your leg, reaching out to grab one of yours. He pulls your hand, making you sit up from where you’re leaning back against the couch. He continues to pull you until you’re curled into his side, head on his shoulders and legs still in his lap. 

He places his hand atop your head, flattening the stray strands of hair before placing a kiss there. Once his lips leave the crown of your head, he keeps his hand there as he continues to push his fingers through your hair and watch the show playing on the tv screen. 

You mindlessly move your body around, faking uncomfortableness in order for Matthew to abandon the show and give you his full attention. Once you’ve moved your hand across his chest for what felt like the 50th time in five minutes, Matthew grabs the remote next to him pausing the show. 

“What’s on your mind?”

“You’re leaving again in a few days, just wanna spend as much time with you as possible.”

At the admission, Matthew pulls your body further into his lap, maneuvering you so you’re straddling him. He looks into your eyes, noting the soft expression on your face as you look back into his blue eyes. 

“Baby,” He starts, his hand wrapped around the side of your neck, thumb resting on your jaw. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“But you’ll be back here and I’ll be back in Chicago.”

“And I’ll come see you when the season’s over, just like I did last year.”

“I don’t know if that’s what I want anymore.” You let out barely above a whisper. Matthew jolts at your response, slightly pushing yourself body away from his as he leans back into the couch cushions trying to put as much space between the two of you he can. 

“What?”

“No, not like that,” you smile. “I love you, you idiot, you aren’t getting rid of me that easy. I just meant being apart.”

Matthew sighs heavily at your clarification, his thighs relaxing underneath you. You place your hands around his neck, leaning your body into him. 

“I thought you were okay with us doing distance? It’s been working so far, hasn’t it?”

“It was, yeah, I don’t know. I just had this plan and then this whole pandemic hit and you let me come stay here these past few months and it’s just been so nice being around you all the time. It was working before, it just doesn’t seem like the ideal choice anymore.”

“But you had your plan. You’re gonna work your ass off until you get your promotion, then we were gonna talk about moving in together.”

“I know but my perspective has changed,” you start. “How am I supposed to just go back to Chicago without you, not knowing when we’ll see each other again when I got to have some of the best three months of my life with you here in St. Louis. It’s like I didn’t know how amazing it would be to be around you nonstop and now that I know what it’s like I’m not sure I can just go back to Chicago and how we were.”

Matthew tilts his head to look more directly at your face that’s now laying on his chest. He moves his hand to your head, tilting it upwards to meet his gaze. Instead of responding right away, he opts to lean in and place his lips on yours in a gentle kiss that expresses his love for you.

“I love you, so much, baby.” He assures you.

“I love you.”

“So you’re saying that you don’t want to do distance anymore?”

“I don’t think I can, especially not after knowing what it’s like to live with you.” You reiterate.

“I don’t want you to put me before your career, especially when I’ll be gone half the season on the road,” Matthew speaks lowly. He knows the weight of the decision you’re pondering and wants to make sure it’s the right one.

“I want to be with you Matty, all the time, no matter what.” You move away from him, trying to get a better look at his facial features as you speak. “I’ll start looking for jobs in Calgary tomorrow even.”

“You’re serious?” Matthew laughs, eyebrows raised.

“100 percent.” You smile widely, leaning in towards Matthew’s face to touch your lips to his. His eyes stare into yours until your lips meet in a very giggly and teeth-filled kiss. A kiss that’s full of pure elation at the decision the two of you just made. 

“It’s more than just getting a job, it’s in a whole new country.” He breathes against your lips.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Instead of you just moving into my place, let’s find a new apartment. My lease ends in November, you can come up then and we can look for a new place. Our place.”

“Can it at least have the same floor-to-ceiling windows you have in your place now?” You request with glee.

“Anything my girl wants, she gets.” Matthew laughs, giving you one more quick kiss and a squeeze at your waist. “Is it selfish of me to say I’m thankful for this quarantine, then? I get you with me 24/7 now.”

You laugh at his suggestion, “How did I get so lucky?”

Brady and Keith both walk in the room as you finish talking, Brady instantly chirping his brother. “You’re the lucky one? I’m pretty sure Matthew’s the lucky one in your relationship.”

Matthew pushes your body away from his, grabbing the decorative pillow next to him and throwing it at his brother’s moving figure. You laugh as the pillow missing Brady and hits Keith instead, who instantly scolds his oldest son. 

“You guys look awfully happy.” He comments.

Matthew looks back at you, silently asking for your approval on sharing the news before you nod your head yes. “We’re moving in together.”

“Three months with us and you’re still choosing to move in with him?” Brady chirps once again. “I’m surprised he hasn’t run you out of St. Louis yet.” Keith looks at his younger son at this, giving him a stern look telling him to shut up.

“Congratulations guys,” Keith smiles. “Y/n, whatever happens, don’t get roped into doing his laundry all the time. Despite his complaining, he does know how to do it.” 

Matthew rolls his eyes at his family members’ chirps, still basking in the excitement that was your guys’ relationship’s next step. You couldn’t agree more with his earlier statement - you had to be thankful for being stuck at the Tkachuk family home for three months. It took your relationship to the next level, even with the very close encounters where you were sure Matthew was getting under your skin just to piss you off. Matthew was your best friend and you couldn’t wait to be a part-time Canadian, something he liked to call himself with his career. Being with him all day for the past few months only reaffirmed your deep love for the curly-headed boy who sat underneath you.

#matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk #alex writes #nhl imagine #chucky the rat

[infinitebells]

Reader has to act as a prostitute and have intercourse with the noble for a mission but she is a virgin and wants her first time to be special, moran offers himself to have sex with her before the mission A̶n̶d̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶

wait okay this is kinda soft but still nsfw and i am in LOVE with the concept??? i hope i did this ask justice, enjoy! (yeah it took me all day to finish it and i got carried away BFNSHDHEH I COULDNT HELP MYSELF)

“ugh, william do i have to? can’t someone else do it?” your complaints fall on deaf ears as he stares down at his plans. louis and fred remain quiet, albert has a slight smile, and moran was currently laughing his ass off.

“no one else here is a girl, so no,” he answers simply, grabbing a few sheets of paper and walking off. groaning, you stomp out of the room, up each step (still stomping like a child) and into your room, making sure to slam the door as hard as you possibly can. letting out a long huff of air, you brush off your dress and flop down onto the bed, facing the ceiling with your arm laid across your eyes. you hear your room door open, heavy footsteps, and then the door shutting once again (albeit much softer than the way you closed the door). you knew who it was, because only one person would follow you after a performance like that, but you opted to keep your arm over your eyes.

“what do you want moran, i’m sulking, can’t you tell?” your voice is clipped, still trying to suppress the storm of emotions brewing in your stomach. you feel the bed dip next to you, and a warm hand pull your arm from your face so you can look him in the eye.

“what happened to sebastian? come on, i thought we were best friends!” he’s smiling, knowing just how annoyed you are. he’s very clearly trying to push his luck.

“we are not best friends, we’re people who knew each other before all this noble shit and now we’re somewhat friends,” your voice is softer this time. the exhaustion and reality of the situation sinking in.

“come on, why are you so upset? it’s just sex, what have you got to lose!” he throws his hands up, unable to comprehend the reason behind your sour mood. your face turns bright red at his statement, turning your body so your laying on your side, facing the wall with your knees bent in front of you.

“my virginity...” you’re barely whispering, shame bubbling up in your throat.

“what? i can’t hear you princess, speak up please!” his taunts finally get to you, so you shout this time, probably loud enough for the entire mansion to hear.

“my virginity! i’d lose my damn virginity! is that what you wanted to hear moran huh?” you stay facing the wall, your cheeks still burning. he’s silent for a moment before you feel his warm hand gently pull you back to face him.

“you’ve never had sex before?” all hints of teasing are gone, he’s simply staring at your face.

“no you buffon, i haven’t,” you try to turn back to your wall, but his grip tightens and he pushes you back so your back is laying flat on the bed. he moves onto the bed, straddling your waist as one hand keeps your shoulder down on the bed and the other one is right next to your head. at this point you’re sure you look like a tomato, and you’re frozen in place.

“have you kissed anyone before?” his teasing smirk comes back, just a bit.

“well yeah of course!” you’re more defensive now, wanting to prove you weren’t a prude.

“oh really? who?” his smirk grows at your flustered self.

“albert...” you look away, shame crawling up your spine.

“albert? you kissed albert? what the fuck when?” he’s more angry now, eyes hardening.

“we got drunk once and it was only a peck! it’s nothing now, relax!” your pleading tone pulls him out of his own head, and he relaxes again, letting out a deep breath before staring you dead in the eye.

“well then why don’t i just take it instead if that filthy noble?” his face is straight, eyes locked onto yours. you sputter, hands trembling as you stare back at him.

“w-what? d-d-don’t say things like that sebastian!” you fumble over your words, trying to break out of his grip.

“why not? we’re friends, and this way you won’t have to lose it to that filthy noble! and you know i’ll make you feel good, i know what i’m doing,” he informs you, his hands moving to grab your wrists and push them on each side of your head. “and would you stop squirming so much? i’m not going to do anything without you saying so,” he squeezes your wrists again, and this time it’s the same comforting way he’ll squeeze your hand before a mission.

“moran i’m not going to be one of your one night stands, we’re teammates not lovers,” your face is still bright red, but you feel a bit more at ease being with him. it’s almost familiar the way he’s looking at you right now.

“who said this would be a one time thing?” his voice is lower now, and his head is closer to yours now.

“wouldn’t it be?” your chest raises with each shallow breath you take, and for the first time since he’s come in your room you can’t help but admire just how handsome he is.

“only if you want it to be. but i would prefer to do this more than once if you’re okay with that,” his lips are hovering over your own. you can feel your breaths mingling together, melding into one.

“but i’m nervous, what if i’m not good?” your blush is more because you’re flustered now, not embarassed. he still thinks it’s adorable though.

“let me be the judge of that. please, let me make you feel good,” he’s looking into your eyes like you’re the only thing that matters right now, and you can’t help but lean forward and brush your lips against his. you pull back immediately, anxiety shooting through your veins at your actions. sebastian looks down at you, eyes wide before he’s moving down and pressing his lips back onto yours. your eyes flutter shut on their own, self control out the window as you push back against him. his tongue pokes through his lips, pushing against yours. your instincts take over and you open your mouth for him, an unsuspecting moan from the depths of your throat surprising the both of you. he pulls away for a moment, pupils blown wide and his cheeks flushed red.

“holy shit you’re beautiful,” he breathes out.

“what y-you don’t say those kinds of things!” he can’t get enough of the way you blush profusely at his compliment, and he genuinely grins down at you.

“we’re about to have sex and i can’t compliment you?” you flush again at his comment, and try to turn your head away from him. he maneuvers your hands so one of his hands is holding both of your wrists above your head, and his other hand gently grasps your chin and pulls it back towards his face.

“princess, eyes on me. i want you to watch what i’m doing so that if you ever feel uncomfortable, i can stop okay?” you can’t help but nod at his words. he grins again, pressing another lingering kiss to your lips before moving them down to your neck. the sensation of his lips making contact with your sensitive neck pulls another moan from you. the way he moves his mouth against you is addicting, and you can’t help but want more.

“sebastian, i, i want more, please...” your voice trails off towards the end, yet moran hears you and peaks his head back up to stare at you.

“more? you gotta tell me what you want sweetheart, use your words,” his smirk is back, and it sparks something inside you.

“take my clothes off stupid, you’re making me horny!” you don’t intend for it to come out so snappy, but once you say it your face morphs into pure shock. his expression mirrors yours, both of you surprised by your sudden outburst.

“well damn, you could’ve asked nicer you know,” his smirk is back again, and he releases your wrists and helps you sit up. he turns your around, moving your hair to the side and kissing the back of your neck. you shiver at the contact, and you feel moran kneel on the bed, towering over your small frame. he unlaces the strings of your dress, standing you up to help you step out of it. you turn around and face him in your bra and panties. he’s shell-shocked to say the least. you’re the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, both inside and out. you turn away from him to unclasp your bra and pull it off. stuck in a trance at the sight of you in nothing but your underwear, he pulls your arm forward so he’s embracing you in the tightest hug he’s ever given you. one arm wraps tightly around your waist while the other holds your head close to his chest.

“sebastian, are you okay?” you pull your head off of his chest and look up at him. looking down at you, he swoops down to crash his lips into yours. his hands grasp the back of your thighs, pulling your legs up and around his waist. you pull away with a squeak as he moves towards your door.

“wait wait, what are you doing? i’m naked! don’t go outside!” you hit his chest in protest.

“i’m taking you to my room because it’s farthest away from everyone else and i don’t want anyone to see or hear you like i do,” he explains it like it’s the most normal thing in the world. before he can open the door you push it close and turn back to him.

“hi, i’m still naked,” you gesture to your panties and very exposed breasts, and he grins before setting you down and grabbing his jacket that he laid on your chair and pulling it around your shoulders and onto your arms. he looks down at you in his jacket, the arms going past your hands and the hem ending at your ankles. you look so small in his jacket, basically swimming in it.

“yeah, i’m fucking you in this jacket,” he says before grabbing your waist and throwing your entire body over his shoulder. you yelp in surprise, hitting his back. he swings open the door, marching out with you over his shoulder.

“evening albert, fancy seeing you here,” your heart stops at his words, hands gripping at morans shirt tightly.

“evening colonel. what are you up to on this fine night?” you can hear his incredulous tone, and you bury your face into moran’s back muscles in embarassment. you feel him start to move again, so you whip your head up just to see albert stare at you in disbelief.

“teaching this fine young woman how it feels to be properly kissed,” he says, tightening his grip in your legs as he continues down the hall.

“sebastian!” you pound your fist into his back, your face turning bright red at his innuendo. you don’t have time to say anything else because he’s already made it to his room, walking in and closing it with his foot. he drops you onto the bed yanking his shoes off before staring down at you, hands on his hips.

“yes princess?” he’s smirking again, and you scoff, leaning up on your elbows. he starts unbuttoning his shirt, and you gulp loudly as more of his torso is exposed to you.

“was that exchange really necessary?” you quirk your eyebrow up, crossing your ankles to make a point. he finishes with his shirt, pulling it off his arms. your eyes are stuck on his body, staring at ever scar littering his pale skin. his abdomen is defined, and my god the sight of him standing above you, shirtless, is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.

“yes. he needs to know you’re mine,” he says, undoing his pants and pushing them down so he’s only in his boxers. you choke on your spit at the sight of his cock pressing against the seam of his underwear. you can only describe the sight before you as an entire banana (only thicker) shoved in his underpants.

“y-yours?” he crawls onto the bed, stopping when his head is level with yours. one hand keeps him propped up next to your head while the other traces his finger down your jaw before grabbing your chin and pulling your head up until his nose is touching yours. your eyes are wide as he smirks down at you, and you can’t help the warm feeling tingling all throughout your body.

“all mine. after this mission, no one touches you but me. your lips,” at this he leans down and kisses you deeply. he pulls back to see your cheeks bright red, and body squirming beneath him.

“your neck,” he leans down to kiss your neck, nibbling it a little bit.

“your breasts,” his hand on your chin drops down and grabs at your right breast. your back arches into his touch, a needy whines leaving your lips.

“your hips,” his hand slides down to grab your hip and pull it up to his, pushing his down onto yours. you feel his bulge, and the thought of him spearing you on that pulls another moan out of your throat.

“your stomach,” he moves away from your face, shuffling down to press a searing kiss to your abdomen.

“your thighs,” he pulls one up over his shoulder, biting down on the supple skin. you let out a yelp, arousal shooting through your system and your hands flying down to grasp his hair, tugging tightly.

“down here too,” his voice is lower than before, his teeth latching onto the waistband of your panties and dragging them down your legs. your eyes widen and you tighten your legs around his head feeling dangerously exposed to him.

“wait wai-“ the reality of the situation finally hits you and you feel anxiety form in the pit of your stomach.

“if you want me to stop, just let me know. i’ll stop whenever you want ok?” he reaches up to grab your hands and squeeze them reassuringly. the look in his eyes is so loving and comforting that you can’t help but drag his head back up to you and mash your lips together, putting everything into it. he supports himself with one arm and wraps the other around your waist pulling your body up into his. he grinds himself into you, and you moan shamelessly. he pulls away again, staring you down.

“i need to hear you say it princess, please,” he whispers into your mouth.

“i want you sebastian,” you’re breathless, aroused, and i’m desperate need of sebastian moran more than anything else.

“good,” his lips were on yours again, your hands fumbling with his boxers. he pulled away so that he could help you pull them down. as soon as his boxers were off and he was back on top of you, you were gasping at the sight. if there was one word to describe his cock, it was perfect. a throbbing vein ran its way from the base of his dick to the head, which was pushing out precum at a steady rate. it was long, slapping against his abdomen thickly.

“jesus christ,” you were in awe. his smirk only grew at your reaction to him. “is that gonna fit?” he had to laugh at that, kissing your forehead lightly.

“i’ll make it fit, don’t worry love,” his fingers trail down your stomach, resting over your cunt. you could feel yourself throbbing in anticipation. his pointer finger starts at the bottom before sliding all the way up your slit before coming to rest on your clit. you whimper, a hand flying to the arm of his keeping him above you. he smirks down at you before pressing into your clit, then moving down and plunging his entire finger into you. you gasp at the intrusion, fingernails digging into his bicep. he pushed his finger in and out, reveling in the way you clenched around his single finger, your cheeks burning bright red. he thrusts into you a few more times before adding another finger. you whimper upon feeling another finger, your eyes rolling back into your head. he picks up his speed, prodding gently into your g-spot. the unfamiliar feeling only injects you with more pleasure, and you cry out sebastian’s name in ecstasy. he grins at your response, testing something new. he brings the heel of his palm down, grinding it into your clit as he prods your g-spot again.

“fuck sebastian! i need you, i need you in me, please please please, i want you, i want all of you,” you’re begging, crying for more. you had lost all self control, you were writhing underneath him, and god he had to stop himself from completey obliterating you.

“i got you love, it may hurt at first but i’ll go slow ok? tell me if you want me to stop,” he says, and you nod. he takes his dick in one hand, lining himself up with your entrance. he takes a deep breath before slowly inching himself in you. your breath hitches in your throat, the stretch and burn taking your breath away. he goes slowly, until he’s completely sheathed inside of you. you gasp, your breaths shallow and your head light. you feel sebastian kiss your forehead, waiting for you to adjust. after a few more minutes you feel yourself relax around him. the pain slowly melds into pleasure, and you sigh, your eyes opening to meet his.

“ok, i’m good now,” your breaths are deeper, more regulated now.

“you sure princess? i don’t want to hurt you,” his eyes are roaming across your face, trying to find any hint of hesitation. your hand reaches up, grabbing his chin gently and keeping his focus on your eyes.

“i’m okay sebastian, i promise,” you smile up at him, closing your eyes and poking your tongue out in the goofy way you always did when you smile at him. he’s never found you more beautiful in this moment, you laying beneath him in nothing but his jacket.

“good,” his voice is just barely there before he’s pulling out and slamming back into you. it rips a moan out from you, and your hands fly up to his back as he sets a decently fast pace. it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before but it’s amazing. every motion of his hips pulls more moans and cries from your mouth, and he swallows them with his own, shoving his tongue into your open mouth to keep you quiet. he doesn’t want anyone else to hear you right now besides him. he rocks his hips into you, angling them down to catch your clit. he pulls back to watch you cry out his name, head thrown back and eyes rolling back.

“fuck, sebastian you feel so good,” you moan out. your nails rake down his back, heat rolling in waves off your body. his jacket only aided in keeping you warm, and the way you felt wearing his jacket while he took control of you made everything feel so much better.

“god i can say the same to you princess,” he’s groaning in your ear, biting down onto your ear lobe to pull a yelp out of you. you feel a tightening in your lower abdomen, completely unfamiliar to you.

“sebastian, my lower stomach feels w-weird,” you grab harder at his back for more support.

“that means you’re close to cumming love, it’s okay just let go alright? i got you, don’t worry,” his reassurance only serves to tighten the feeling in your stomach. your moans grow louder as his hips go faster. he mouths at your neck, kissing, licking, biting, completey marking you as his. his hand on your waist moves to wrap around your middle completely, holding you close as he fucks everything he has into you.

“seb ‘m close, i’m so close please please please!” your begs fuel him, and he goes impossibly harder against you. moaning underneath him, you pull his face to yours and kiss him in a desperate fervor, only pulling away to let out a scream as you feel the pressure in your stomach come undone. all of the muscles in your body tense before relaxing, feeling your arousal gush around his cock. your voice grows hoarse from how loud your screaming his name. the feeling of your cunt fluttering and clenching around him is all it takes for him to come undone, cumming inside of you. his arm wraps impossibly tighter around your waist, keeping you close while you both finish while connected. your chest is heaving, a heavy blush on your cheeks, eyes closed and head relaxed as you attempt to catch your breath. he waits until he finishes pumping his load into you before pulling out of you completely and laying down next to you, tugging you so that your head is resting on his chest and his arm is around your waist. your arm comes around to trace patterns on his chest, too nervous to say anything.

“please don’t let this be a one time thing. i don’t think i can imagine anyone else getting to see you like this,” he finally speaks. you freeze, moving so your chin is on his chest and you’re looking up at him. he refuses to look at you, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. you stop for a moment, thinking before sliding on top of him, straddling his torso and grabbing his head to face you. his jacket on you drapes over you, and he chuckles at how big it really is on you.

“what’s so funny?” you pout, tilting your head at him.

“you just look so damn cute in my jacket, makes me wanna eat you,” he says, grabbing your face and squeezing your cheeks. you try to speak again but it all comes out muffled. he releases your cheeks, opting to rest his hands behind his head, shuffling to get comfortable.

“well maybe next time you can do that,” you say, head down while you fiddle with your fingers. his grin grows wider, bucking his hips up so that you fall forward onto his chest with a loud squeal. he removes his arms from behind his head, wrapping them around your back instead.

“we can do anything you want next time,” he says, kissing the top of your head. william chooses this moment to walk into moran’s room. you scream, hiding your head in moran’s neck while moran growls and spreads his jacket over you more to keep you and him covered.

“i’m busy, get out,” moran’s chest rumbles as he speaks, and you wrap your arms around him, pushing your head farther into his neck.

“the rest of the house has requested that you two keep the volume of your sexual escapades down, especially albert,” he informs the two of you.

“you can tell albert that next time he’s welcome to suck my dick,” you can hear the smirk in moran’s voice, lifting your head up to smack his chest.

“sebastian! understood william, thank you!” you wave, and he finally leaves moran’s room, leaving the two of you alone. you let out an exhausted sigh, turning back to sebastian.

“stop with the hitting! this is abuse,” he says, grinning at you.

“my god, i can’t believe i’m gonna be with someone like you. so rude to people,” you say, shaking your head.

“damn right you’re gonna be with me,” he replies, leaning forward and kissing you softly. you smile into the kiss, never feeling as happy as you did right now.

#yuukoku no moriarty #yuukoku no moriarty x reader #moriarty the patriot #moriarty the patriot x reader #sebastian moran #bells responds #bells’s anon

[ericsonclan]

Chore Time

Summary: Clementine and Violet adjust to life at Ericson with their injuries. 

Read on A03: 

“Just kill me now,” Violet groaned as she continued scrubbing the dirt off the Jerusalem artichokes in preparation for dinner.

This was the fifth night in a row that she and Clementine had been assigned to food prep, likely because it was the only thing they were capable of given their injuries. It wasn’t like keeping watch or going hunting would be on the table anytime soon. So instead they sat around day in and day out washing clothes, sewing up holes or preparing ingredients for meals. Needless to say, both girls were already sick of the work.

“It could be worse,” Clementine mused, cutting through the skin on a freshly caught rabbit. “We could still have Omar looking over our shoulders every other second,”

Violet sighed. “You got me there. At least we’ve graduated beyond only having dish duty. Wish I could hold the knife though,”

“You’ll get there eventually. Your eyesight’s improving every day,”

Violet scoffed. “Yeah, keep telling me that. Let’s face it: this is as good as it’s going to get,” She did a circular motion around her face before throwing another tuber onto the pile.

“Got another rabbit to peel,” Clementine offered. She held the beheaded carcass up by its legs. Violet leaned forward, grabbing the skin on either side and beginning to pull back. They rocked back and forth slightly as they removed the skin from the flesh, Clementine holding fast to the legs as Violet tugged steadily on the fur. Eventually the skin came off with a final schlorp. “Thanks,” Clem said, laying the carcass back down on the board to butcher.

They could hear A.J. laughing from somewhere else in the yard. Louis was with him right now. Clem smiled. Louis was probably telling another one of his crazy stories about hunting mountain lions or wrestling barracudas to A.J. It was good to see the two of them getting along so well. She was still getting used to having others around that could watch out for A.J., but she had to admit it was sort of nice to have some time without him underfoot.

Violet squinted as she looked over toward the admin building. “Is that Aasim over there?”

Clementine turned to look. “Yup. Writing as always,”

“God, I wonder what he comes up with to write every day. ‘Dear Diary, today we caught three rabbits instead of two. One of the fish traps broke. What an amazing day!’”

Clementine chuckled. “It’s a journal, remember? Not a diary,” Aasim and Louis had gotten into a fight just two nights ago on that very topic.

Violet rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course! My bad. Honestly though, most of his entries are probably just complaints about Louis. Hunting with him every day must be driving Aasim insane,”

“You mean to tell me Louis is not Aasim’s first choice of a hunting partner?” Clementine asked, her brows wiggling playfully.

Violet snorted. “Marlon sure paired them up enough for all Aasim’s complaining,” Her expression grew sad as she looked down at her hands resting in the dirty water. “Sometimes he’d tag along to keep the peace between those two. Mitch and Brody also took a lot of hunting shifts,”

Clementine’s eyes dropped too. To think she’d only known Marlon, Brody, Mitch, and Tenn for a few days and then they were gone… the marks they’d left in her memory felt so much stronger than that. Perhaps because of their importance in the remaining kids’ lives. Even though they were gone, their presence was felt everywhere around the school. In the test beakers still sitting in the greenhouse lab, the lull of the river – the closest Brody ever got to the ocean - the nameplate in the headmaster’s office that Marlon had made for himself, Tenn’s drawing he’d gifted to Clem and A.J. on one of their first nights at Ericson. Clementine missed each of them in their own way, but for Violet the pain must be so much deeper. To lose those she’d survived alongside for eight years… Clementine didn’t have anyone who’d stuck by her side that long, not even A.J. There was no way to address the pain of such loss in any way that could help, so instead she sat with Violet in silence and stillness, dwelling in the grief of all that had come to pass.

“Well, you two sure don’t look happy,” They were shaken from their thoughts by Louis’ voice as he made his way over to them. He grinned at the two girls, standing in front of the table with his hands proudly tugging his lapels. “I see you’re butchering my rabbit there. Impressive, isn’t he? The biggest one we’ve caught all season!”

“Is that why you’re over here, Louis?” Violet glared at him. “To boast about your hunting while we’ve been stuck on our asses all day?”

“Actually, your asses are exactly why I’m over here,” Louis quickly raised a finger. “And before you say anything, yes, I just realized how bad that sounds. What I was thinking was that a brisk walk about the courtyard might be exactly what both of you need to turn those frowns upside down!”

“Ok then,” Clementine said with a casual shrug. “I only have my crutches outside right now…”

“A.J. ran inside to grab your prosthetic. We’ll be off on our stroll momentarily!”

“I’m out,” Violet declared.

“Participation is mandatory,”

Violet grumbled incoherently but stayed put.

---

It certainly took longer than momentarily for the prosthetic to be retrieved, attached, and for both girls to maneuver safely into position, each taking one of Louis’ arms. Eventually they were off though, traveling round the yard at what Louis described as a “leisurely” pace as Clementine struggled with each and every step she took. The prosthetic had been improved with each iteration Willy put forth over these last few months, but she was still figuring out how to balance properly on it without each forward motion throwing off her center of balance. Her friends were patient with her though, neither seeming put off at all by the agonizing crawl that was their speed.

“What a perfect evening,” Louis said with a grin. “The warm breeze wafting through the trees as I take a stroll with my two best girls,”

Violet snorted. “Lou, if you ever refer to me as ‘your girl’ again, I will sneak into your room in the middle of the night and strangle you in your sleep,”

“Noted. So, Clem, anything exciting happen today?”

“Actually, yes. James dropped by,”

“Really? In his full getup and everything?”

“He took the mask off before coming inside. He wanted to let us know that he’s planning on filling up the barn again. He also said he’d drop off the salt lick soon. Apparently A.J. mentioned it to Omar and Omar got the message out to James that he wanted it if James didn’t need it. Omar says it’ll be a game-changer when it comes to food,”

“Well, I certainly have no reason to doubt the words of our all-knowing chef. You excited for a change in food, Vi?”

“It’ll still be stew every night, just like it’s always been. I can’t imagine a salt block will make that much of a difference,”

Louis shrugged. “Time will tell, I suppose. Clem, how you holding up? Need to take a rest?”

“No, I can go a few more minutes,” Clementine tried to mask the hitch in her breathing as Louis eyed her worriedly. “I want to increase my endurance,”

“Alright, but if I see you slipping, I’m carrying you princess style the rest of the night and there’s nothing you can do about it,”

“Fine, it’s a deal,”

They continued their path around the yard, pausing by the greenhouse to greet Ruby as she came through with an armful of fresh herbs. A.J. ran over too, insisting that he should help Clem too. She placed her free hand on his shoulder, leaning on it ever so slightly as they circled back toward the picnic benches. Violet was steady for the most part, the occasional slipup coming from the rough terrain underfoot. But for the most part Louis kept his eye out for potential pitfalls, gently guiding her out of the way, chatting all the while to distract both girls from the toll the stroll took on their bodies.

Finally they made it all the way around the yard. Clementine and Violet sat down with appreciative groans, Louis and A.J. grabbing their bowls to fill up before they got their own food. Clementine looked over at Violet. The peevish frown that had stayed on her face all throughout dinner prep was gone, replaced by a small, contented smile. It always warmed Clem’s heart when she caught Violet smiling. “Good day after all?” she asked good-naturedly.

Violet seemed surprised at the question for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Good day,”

#twdgs4 #twdg #fanfic #twdg clementine #twdg louis #twdg violet #clouis #recovery

[minthysugamon]

Everybody wants to rule the world.

Noble Assistant! Namjoon x Assassin! Reader.

1789! AU

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Mention of dried blood,gunshots and other stuff...i mean..it's the revolution..so yeah.

(Credit for the Original Photo: @/athenaa. I only edited it a little bit. But all credit goes to the original artist who posted the photo first in it's original version)

(Painting: La liberté guidant le peuple by Eugène Delacroix)

14 Juillet 1789,

The streets were overcrowded,people were standing for hours in front of the Bastille. Everybody knew...the reunion of the General Estates was chaotic. The deputies spent months to collect all the reviews that could help them make a reform,that could help the Third Estate to have the same rights as the nobility...but instead of that,King Louis XVI refused all the changes that should have been made. So...the whole Third Estate was back to case one. It was no surprise when the King had dismissed the assembly to go back to his residence. But what surprised him was the determination that the future National Assembly had. They swore,they will give France a constitution,they make up the large majority of the country,they can do it without being harmed too much. The King still didn't care about the 1200 Deputies plea for equality. But dear lord,the Regent was wrong for ignoring all the warning signs about the revolution.

But there she was,waiting for her brother to come back,in a house near the Bastille..waiting for the three volounteers to come out with the gun powder. Not as if she wanted to kill or wound someone..but..she wanted to participate. She wanted to see how people will take over the power. Her brother is a Lawyer...Maximilien Robespierre is his name. But since she is a woman..she will never have the chance to become one...she can only learn from him,in secret,because work is a taboo for women.

"Why are you here?" Her brother grabbed her wrist,looking her dead in the eye. He wasn't amused,at all. "I..i just wanted to come..to see if everything was alright...Mère s'inquiète pour vous¹..." He sighed,letting her wrist go,and he bowed his head. "I told you clearly to stay in Arras,didn't i? You are too curious for your own good. One day it will bring you trouble." She cracked a small smile,only for a moment though,and while she exhaled,she whispered a small "Je le sais,mon frère.²" As she sat down,in front of the window,Maximilien went behind her and watched the chaos unfold in front of the Bastille. "What are they trying to do?" She looked up at him,with glassy eyes. She would never admit it but as much as the revolution gave her adrenaline and excited her...she was also scared. Scared of what will happen. "They are trying to get the gun powder...i guess Launey still didn't give in to take the cannons back." He watched as the people were getting more and more impatient,and then,he headed out of the small townhouse. Since she was also the curious type,she headed out after him. "LA POUDRE. LA POUDRE. DONNEZ-NOUS LA POUDRE³". The crowd was screaming for the gun powder. While Launey was still discussing with the three peasants.

While the crowd was roaring outside,Launey was talking with the three peasants. "Monsieur Kim,would you please tell the soldiers to retract the cannons?" The young immigrant who became Launey's assistant just looked at him confused. "But..Maître...it's nearly impossible to get them retracted,we don't have the King's authorisation." And as the three peasants looked at him with an evil expression,the assistant hesitantly said "I will try to persuade them...but i may need your help if anything goes wrong." The keeper of the Bastille just looked at him with a reassuring smile and said "Don't worry,Mon fils,everything will go alright. Just do as i say." The boy went up,and tried to tell the soldiers what was bound to happen if they don't take the cannons back. The soldiers just laughed and told him to piss off. But at the view of the weapons not getting retracted,the crowd was growing louder with every second that passed. The chance of them getting into the Bastille was also increasing with every shout that left their throat. The assisstant of Launey was running back down to the study of his mentor.

"Maître Launey,what are we going to do? They don't want to retract them. I tried to persuade them,but they aren't listening." Launey only sighed,and stood up. "Si vous pourriez m'excuser,je vous en serai reconnaissant.⁴" With that said,he went up with the young man that he swore to protect after his own son died in his arms due to pneumonia,and looked at the Soldiers. "I sent the message of retracting the cannons. Then why do i still see them here?"

One of the armed men was brave enough to say "We thought that your assisstant maneuvered on his own..." and to that,the Master of the Bastille answered clearly,exercising his authority on them. "Whether it's me or my assistant,you are obligated to comply to my wishes and my commands. Whether you like it or not. Now get those cannons retracted before the people think that we want to hurt them."

At the same time,the youngest Robespierre was following her brother. What Maximilien didn't know was his sister's abilities. Nobody knew,but she was the one of the best trained assassins of the country. She went in the crowd and got lost in it,so no one could see what she was about to do. Her plan was to climb to the first floor and open the gate. And it was going well until ths crowd heard a gunshot inside the court of the Bastille. "THEY KILLED THEM. THEY KILLED OUR ALLIES. LET'S SHOW THEM THAT THEY CAN'T MESS WITH US." "Merde...⁵" The swear word escaped her lips as she was near the backyard of the Bastille. But that didn't stop her. Just like how the crowd didn't stop running down the doors.

Namjoon was scared for his life. As soon as the people swarmed in as bees in a beehive,he was becoming more and more nervous. "Maître,what are we going to do?" And his mentor looked at him,with his pale face,then shouted at the brigade. "RASSEMBLEZ LA POUDRE.⁶ GET ALL THE POWDER. AND TAKE IT DOWN. WE WILL ACT ACCORDING TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN." Then he looked back at his assistant,sending him a look full of emotions and calmly said. "Son,go and hide in the study. Lock all the doors. Don't do anything wrong,and they won't get in." And for once,he spoke to him in an informal way,like how a father would tell his son how to hide. "But,Maître-" Namjoon objected to the idea of letting his mentor,but also his adoptive father in some ways,fight for the Bastille. But before he knew,he was pushed into the study by Launey,and he locked the door before going back to his soldiers. "Que Dieu...aie pitié de votre âme...Père...⁷" And with a heavy heart,he blocked the door with a cupboard and the handles with three swords..the more,the better.

While the crowd was swarming in,(Y/n) was trying to get a better view of the situation by climbing the wall of the gigantic fortress which served as the royal prison. "Pour l'amour des cieux⁸...why did that idiot have to cry wolf when nothing was going on..." and as she finally climbed the first floor which had a corridor,she sneaked in,just like a shadow,almost invisible. The people were or too busy trying to free the seven remaining prisoners,or trying to kill any guard that came their way,or to find the gun powder and leave. She was feeling nauseous from the smell of dried blood on the walls of the hall,but she won't vomit here and now,or people will think she's one of the guards or just a simple whore who paid visit to Launey. But speak of the devil. Two men saw her,and started chasing her,so in the first turn,she turned to right,then to the left and continued this pattern until she fell through a passageway to the Study.

Namjoon was shocked when he saw the girl fall through the secret passage,but nothing shocked him more than to see a girl being armed like a professional assassin. "Qui diable est-tu?⁹" his voice came out more shaky than expected. And the girl only answered "Be glad that i'm not here to kill you. Who are you? You don't seem to be from here." If she was being honest...she never saw someone like him. She could only think about the fact that he wasn't here. Thanks to the books of her father and her brother,she quickly guessed that he was from the Far East. "I asked first,mademoiselle." And she looked at him,unfazed. "Look,i don't have the time to play this. Where is Launey,i have to talk to him." And the young man picked a sword up and quickly took her in his arms to put the blade against her neck. "What do you want from him? Seeing how you are dressed and what you're carrying,i am pretty sure that you mean no good. And most probably,you're on their side. Aren't you?" The only thing she could say was a determined "Yes. But,I only want to talk. That's it. If i wanted to kill him,he would be already dea-" her voice was cut off by loud banging on the front door. "LAUNEY,ON SAIT QUE TU ES LÀ.¹⁰ STOP HIDING AND BE A MAN." And Namjoon only looked at the unknown girl,with panic in his eyes,and she looked back at him. "Go,find somewhere to hide. I'll tell them that no one was here." The assisstant looked at her with confusion plastered on his face. "But..you have the chance to kill me now. Why won't you do it?" And she laughed but in a bitter way,trying her best to keep the door closed. "The stars aren't alligned for that today. It's your lucky day today,Sir. Now go. Hide before they kill you." With a quick nod he started to run towards the secret passage,but quickly turned back and looked at her. "Name's Namjoon." And the youngest Robespierre just looked at him,with an amused look and replied "(Y/n). Remember that name when you'll say grace to God for keeping an eye on you. Now go." And as soon as he was out,she let the door break free. With a half smirk and playful eyes,she cocked her pistol towards one of the peasants. "Good Morning gentlemen,beautiful day to cause a revolution i see. It would be a shame if something..or someone stopped this. So i advise you to turn back around,and go on your way to find the much-wanted powder." One of the peasants just laughed at her,but when she shot him in the arm,the other two,unarmed,were quick to run out of the study.

Namjoon still didn't understand why she spared his life,but he was thankful. For once,his luck was immeasurable,and he felt good about it. But the same went for her...(Y/n) still didn't understand what took over her to spare his life and shoot someone,who was playing on the same side as she was. But sometimes...life puts you in a situation where a plot twist is inevitable.

As the battle was still going on in the court,after what felt like an eternity,(Y/n) but also Namjoon realised...whether you're a revolutionary or a nobleman...you have one thing in common. You want to rule the world. Because if there's something in common in the power hungry humans...is the will to rule the world..because Everybody wants to rule the world.

Translation:

¹ = Mother is worried about you.

² = I know it,brother.

³ = The Powder,the powder,give us the powder.

⁴ = If you could excuse me,i would be grateful for it.

⁵ = Shit...

⁶ = Get all the powder.

⁷ = May God have mercy on your soul,father.

⁸ = For Heaven's sake

⁹ = Who the hell are you?

¹⁰ = Launey,we know you're inside there.

(A/n: I know the end is rushed but i hope you guys still liked it. The idea came to me when i had my history exam,and that was in December,but i didn't have time to finish it...so here is a bit rushed-ended one shot about Namjoon in the 1789 French Revolution. Thank you again for your patience,and i hope you guys are doing well! ❤)

#kim namjoon scenario #kim namjoon #namjoon #namjoon au #rm scenario #bts rm #rm au #1789 #1789 AU #bts scenario #bts scenarios #namjoon fanfic #namjoon imagine #namjoon scenarios #bts imagine #bts au fanfic #bts au fic #bts aus

[takemedancingmaine]

Where I Belong

The weather had finally shifted to spring.

Although, if we’re honest, there’s not a real spring in Chicago. Only winter and then false hope then more winter and then, somehow overnight, summer. 

It was sticky and the air was heavy. You could feel it on your skin the moment you stepped outside. Paired with some of the bluest skies and the clear water of Lake Michigan, one could understand the allure of Chicago, finally making sense of why people brave the winters and the grey skies. Every year around this time, I fell in love with the city all over again, fell in love with the vibe of spring baseball games and a beer on my front porch with a good book in my lap. I fell in love with beach days and rooftop day parties and going to the zoo for a walk around just because. 

The trees along Lakeshore were green and full when I ran past them in the mornings, the birds were singing loud over the traffic, and kids were playing with chalk on the sidewalk in front of their houses.

It wasn't like I needed a reminder of all the reasons I loved Chicago, because I just did, but the month of May brought the reminders out for me anyway. I was enamored by the juxtaposition of the busy city behind me and the vast, empty expanse of blue water in front, kicking at the wall under my heels as I dangled my legs over the edge.

I was sitting on a concrete barrier on the edge of the Lake that separated two beaches in Bryn Mawr and writing in my journal. 

It was something I was doing more and more since starting therapy all those months ago. I was not a writer by any means, nor was I eloquent, but I never felt pressure to write well or to even make sense of my thoughts as they left my mind and etched themselves into words on the pages. I simply felt a pull to get the thoughts down so that they weren't festering inside of me. It was a relief I felt that was similar to running. It was a solitary activity where I was alone with myself and able to attempt to understand myself better.

Three and a half months since my secret came to light, since I faced it out in the open and gave it a name and came to terms with the fact that I had to accept it and push forward in a healthy way. Last week, Brian had ‘graduated’ us all from his self-defense class and was gearing up to start anew with another fresh batch of students.

He was excited to start all over again in the fall, and I was excited to have not only completed his class but to have gained more than just knowledge but two friendships as a result of pushing myself through it. Tala and Brian were instrumental in my healing process, and I couldn't be happier with them being a part of my life. They also folded in seamlessly with the rest of the group. Between Tala’s wit and Brian’s charisma, they were always a welcome addition whenever they could join us in our activities.  

There was just one thing about those activities that I had yet to rectify.

I also knew it had to be me, that I had to make the move to solve it. It took me a while to come to terms with this, longer than it had taken me to come to terms with everything else. It was countless hours talking to Louis and Cleo. I even spent a lot of time with Liam and asked his opinions. His advice had been incredibly simple: do what you feel like you’re ready to do, and even if you don’t feel ready, take that step anyway: test yourself.

Ordinarily, I would’ve scoffed at his idea, but Tala said something similar when I went to her with the issue as well. She was the one who, despite what her brother had told her, approved of my severing ties with Niall in the first place. She was the one who said it was better for me. Recently though, she was starting to push me more and more. The conversation we’d had last weekend had centered around the fact that I would probably never feel ready to make this move, but going off of everything else I’d done and all the progress I’d made, I was ready.

I still wasn’t sure, but that was the thing. Emotions are like water. They're impossible to compress. So once the thought was there, I couldn't push it back down. I had to follow through.

I think it was like Tala had said, that I might never be sure. I thought about how rarely sure we are in life and it made me realize just how much we as humans gamble and hope for the best, blowing on the dice for luck before we throw them down. So what if I still wasn't sure? I couldn't remember a time when I was sure. Life was about putting all the pieces together and hoping they made a puzzle, but if not it was okay, there was always a new path, a new puzzle to piece together waiting around each bend.

My journal entry was reflecting this sentiment as I scribbled in it in all caps. I noticed that when I wrote now, my penmanship was all capitals, blockish and somehow a little bit flowy. It was how I’d written notes and essays when I was in high school but had steered away from when I was trying to take notes at a much quicker pace in college. I had told Dr. Winters a few weeks ago that maybe it was because it was more deliberate, slower and more methodical to write in all capital letters. I wasn’t sure yet why or if it meant anything specific–it could always be as simple as I like the aesthetic more–but it was something to think about anyway.

“Hey,” a voice called me from my reverie. I’d been absorbed in writing, absorbed in listening to the sound of the water below me, entranced by the sunshine beating down on me. I slipped a page marker into the journal and closed it, setting it and the pen beside me before looking up. 

It was the hat on his head that made me smile. 

“Hi,” I said, patting the ground beside me, signaling for him to sit.

He did. He maneuvered himself down and leaned back on his hands, his head falling back as he looked up at the sky, his eyes closed.

I took that moment to look him over. He was tan, his skin practically glowing in the sunshine, and his facial hair was fuller. It suited him. I couldn’t tell what his hair was doing, but as he took a deep breath and lowered his head back down and opened his eyes, I noted that the easiness he’d always carried about him was still present. I’d worried that I might’ve stripped that from him, but from the looks of it, I hadn’t.

He turned his head toward me and I was struck by the blue of his eyes. Even with the blue water below me, the blue sky above me, and the blue hat situated on top of his head, his eyes were still the most vibrant, the most riveting of all the options. There was a depth to them that even the most renowned artists would struggle to capture. I could see them clearly even in the shade of his ball cap.

For months I’d thought that perhaps seeing those eyes again would cripple me, tear me down brick-by-brick until I was an amorphous blob on the ground, unable to function back at square one. Yet here I was, staring into those eyes and holding my own, maintaining myself. I had thought that I’d see something in those eyes that might indicate pain or regret. Instead, I saw curiosity and respect. I’d spent a few months dealing with both of those qualities in other people’s gazes to know what they were, and seeing them there, on him, felt natural. As if this was how it was supposed to be.

“You look tan,” I said. 

He nodded and looked out ahead of us toward the horizon. “Yeah, I um. I went on that trip to South Africa a few weeks ago with Greg. It was a place our dad had always wanted to go, so we figured we’d get down there and see what he’d been going on and on about for so long.” 

“How was it?”

“It was unbelievable,” he said. When he said that, I saw that smile, his smile, slip onto his face and watched as his features lit up. I could feel my own features shift into a smile as a response to his, the reaction involuntary, but I was unable to do anything but react to his contagious good vibe. “We did a great white shark thing, watched them breach from a boat and even went down in a tank to watch them from below. It was the scariest, coolest thing I’ve ever done by far. I don't know if I'll ever be able to top it, but I would like to try.” 

He was happy. 

I was struck by that when he looked at me full on again. He was happy and so was I.

We fell into silence. It was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. There was so much to be said between us so much that needed to be discussed and sorted through, but somehow we both understood that we were under no pressure and that added a level of comfort to the situation.

He spoke first.

“You look lighter… somehow. Calmer,” he said, glancing at me, appraising, and then shifted his gaze back out to the lake.

“I feel lighter,” I said after a moment. Watching him, and then following his gaze to the horizon. He didn't interrupt me when I paused to gather my thoughts, and I appreciated his patience, and appreciated that even after all these months he still believed I deserved the time to get it right. “Therapy has helped quite a bit. As has telling everyone.”

“Louis mentioned to me that you told everyone, including your family,” he said. I watched him from the corner of my eye. “I was really proud of you for that. It must've taken a lot of strength.”

I let out a breathless chuckle. “The family’s response was something, to be sure. And it's funny, but I knew how our friends would react. I just didn't let myself believe that they would be so supportive, that it wouldn't make them look at me in pity. I knew that they wouldn't, but taking that leap of faith is still scary sometimes.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, the timber of his voice rattling my bones. “They're some pretty remarkable people, our friends.”

“If we're calling lunacy ‘remarkable’ nowadays, then sure.” He laughed out loud at my words and I felt it in my toes, his spirit floating lightly. His energy lifted me through this process. If it was anytime else, I couldn't have been able to do this, to tell them.

“I don't expect you to forgive me,” I said, my voice quiet suddenly. “I know I didn't exactly go about, well, anything the right way at first. But I'm trying now and I wanted you to know that I'm sorry.”

“You don't have to apol-”

“I do,” I interrupted him. He cut his gaze to me quickly, the confusion clear within it. “I do,” I repeated with a nod. “I hurt you. I know I hurt you. Regardless of why or the outcome, I still did that. And for that, I'm sorry.”

“I accept,” he said back quietly, his eyes still watching me.

I stayed silent for a long while, looking out over the water, but I knew he was watching me, and could feel his eyes on me. It must've been a handful of minutes later before I spoke again.

“I don't have my nightmare anymore.” As much as I wanted to keep looking at the water I desperately wanted to see his face when he processed that news. So, I turned and watched.

“You what?” His mouth was wide, his eyes searching my face and moving at a quick pace, his voice was nothing but a whisper of words on an exhale of breath leaving him in a gust.

“Since early March,” I said, nodding. “Two and a half months ago.”

“That's great, Ruby,” he said softly and looked away again. I watched as he took his Cubs hat off and ran a hand through his hair before settling his hat back down. His hair was wavy and long on top, but shorter onthe sides. It was my favorite style on him.

“It's been a relief,” I admitted. He nodded at my words.

“I'm sure Moggy appreciates not being woken up in the middle of the night, too,” he said, a smile pulling on his features, knowing that the worst was behind us.

“Oh she's never been happier,” I smiled back. “I was putting a real damper on her beauty rest.” We giggled quietly and then fell into another bout of comfortable silence, the minutes just passing by as we took in being beside each other again. A couple of kids passed by on skateboards behind us and a man blaring reggae music from a speaker walked by at a leisurely pace, the sound fading as he made it to the beach to our left.

“I was thinking,” I started after it had been silent for a while, “that it's probably time our friends stopped making two sets of plans.”

“Yeah?” He asked, pulling his gaze down to me and quirking his eyebrows.

“This wasn't nearly as hard as I built it up in my head to be,” I said, letting him know I'd been nervous about seeing him. 

He let out a slow breath and nodded, another smile pulling on his lips. “Yeah, it really hasn't been.” I let him think for a moment, able to see the thoughts whirring behind his eyes. “I think that's fair.”

“You think we can pull it off, being friends?”

“Well,” he drew in a breath and let it out slowly, “we've done being a couple, and we’ve done being nothing to each other, so I think that maybe friends can be a happy medium for us.”

I hoped so.

Sitting there I realized that although I had patched myself up and that I was happy, content with my life and who I was, I had still missed Niall.

I'd missed his contagious laugh and his easygoing energy. I'd missed his quirky bookish quotes that would come out when he was trying to be introspective and I'd missed watching him interact with Louis and the rest of our friends. 

I realized just how easily I could be his friend. I thought about how he would fit in with Tala and Brian and how he'd compliment each of them as well. I thought about our group game nights having good music again because my choices wouldn't be voted down and the Guinness that would be stocked in all of our fridges for just-in-case purposes.

If anything were to happen between us in the future–and I recognized that hypothetical as a long shot because of the trust that would have to be built back up–that was for the future. For right now, I was happy just having him around again.

It was enough for me. It was calm and I felt that ease settling into my belly as I thought about that. I wasn't wary of what was to come or nervous of screwing anything up. It was an easy friendship and there were expectations that went along with being a friend, but they didn't feel impossible to meet or to breathe under.

“Hey,” he said, pulling me again from my reverie with that single word.

I looked over at him.

“This feels good.”

“It does,” I acknowledged. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“Thanks for reaching out,” he said.

I took a deep breath and looking out at the lake in front of me, seeing it for what was far from the first time, I felt myself sink into happiness, all of my nervous energy from before leaving me like the waves pulling away from the barrier and all that was coming in was a warmth and a relief that spread through me. 

Looking right, I could see the green grass and trees and the golden beach past them, could see skyscrapers reaching up into the blue beyond above and could see the sun as it travelled its path, steady and constant and not concerning itself with anything but its own power and strength.

The sun knew that it would be cloudy some days, but that never dimmed its shine, it was bright regardless of what was happening around it. I took a deep breath and closing my eyes against the light hoped that I could be like that too, bright and unwavering and strong in the face of life. I finally felt like I was in a place where that wasn't an unreasonable hope.

#so there we have it #Ruby's story is at an end #(technically there's still an epilogue to come but this is the end) #it feels surreal #Ruby is my friend my confidant and my inspiration #i hope her story means something to someone else too #so here's to my girl Ruby #fic: only ticket home #fic: OTH #OTH24 #1dff #niall horan fanfic

[kuningannasansa]

A musketeers rewatch (that nobody asked for) 1x04

(warning: not always complimentary towards all characters, especially not aramis, anne and athos. dont like, don’t read)

We start with Louis being a prat and in this instance I love it! 

Richelieu is wearing his red robes over the hideous black outfit. I wish it was just the robes. 

Athos wonders what’s wrong with Aramis and Porthos says “have you forgotten about the massacre at Savoy?”. This is clumsy exposition. Realistically Athos the character would not have forgotten but I guess the viewers need to know. 

“A strategically important pimple” - Lmao! Who says Armand hasn’t got a sense of humour! 

This marks the beginning of these strangely depopulated court scenes. I do wish they had been able to afford more extras!

The Duke’s name is Victor... idk how I feel about that

The conversation between Marsac and Aramis is very well written, the exposition feels natural and also Aramis handles the situation quite well.

Now the Duke is mad and everyone is trying to calm him down. Treville points out that they should wait for the facts and Anne says that the shot could have hit any one of them, they are family and should stick together. This is why I liked her back in season 1! She was clever, had some political acumen and was good at playing her role as queen (women being seen as the gentler sex whose job it was to calm mens anger) while still maneuvering and getting her own way. 

It is funny thou, how everyone else is making good points and Richelieu is pacing around in a panic not saying anything at first, not even responding to Victor’s insults. And when he does speak he miscalculates and angers the duke. He is brilliant when given time to think and consider, but not always quick on his feet lol (as pointed out by @tatzelwyrm in her wonderful fic Reformation, which I really must remember to review cause I fucking loved it).   

Louis calls the duke a pomous arse and Richelieu points out that France needs Savoy, but his face says he agrees xD

There’s definitely some sexual tension between Aramis and Marsac. Or maybe I’m just a shameless slasher... 

“If this gets me hanged, I’m going to take it very personally” - lol, I do love musketeers humour!

The scene between my dear grand deceiver and his bluff honest man of action is SO GOOD!! The dialogue, the delivery, the acting in general!

Richelieu’s room is ridiculously large and empty thou xD 

“Death in battle is one thing, but your world of back alley stabbings and murder disgusts me” - that seems to be the show’s morality in a nutshell and I don’t like it. Whether you’re killed by Milady’s dagger between the ribs or a musketeer sword, you end up no less dead. Sometimes secret assassinations are necessary, that’s why countries have spy agencies. And while yes, in battle you can see your opponent coming and have a good chance to deny him, I am convinced that a big part of why killing in battle is seen as more honourable is that it is the more traditionally masculine option. Also, it is an option most easily accessible to able bodied men. Everyone else can’t always afford to “fight fair”. 

“Not everything I do is pleasant, but it is all necessary.” - well, that’s not true either. Not all.

Richelieu panics again and wants to move the prisoner but Treville says a transfer would only attract attention and Richelieu is like “yeah, you’re probably right” lol. Poor cardinal, he’s trying to run the whole country alone but he needs advisors just like anyone else would to make the best decisions. If he would just admit it, his life would be a lot easier! 

Dartagnan gets all jealous and territorial over Constance. I know it’s meant to indicate their true love, but I’ve never found that shit charming. 

Aramis ties Marsac up. This is making me horny now. 

“I’ve thought of you many times” - omg, I gotta see if there’s fic of them!

Constance finds out that Marsac is a criminal and instead of kicking him out, she kicks D’artagnan out! Bless!

Okay, so the Duke’s men killed the 20 musketeers because the Duke thought that they had come to kill him and put his son on the throne. And Treville told him where to find them through Cluzet (spl?). But actually it was all a distraction to kidnap Cluzet. Noting this down, cause I don’t remember the plot anymore.

PORTHOS DEFENDING TREVILLE!!  <3

And Richelieu just couldn’t resist going to see his prisoner! 

And Cluzet worked for the Duke officially but was actually a Spanish spy! Okay, that makes sense. I wondered why they kidnapped him lol.

Richelieu is gloating now. He should have stayed away from there. 

“Total solitude, unlimited time to reflect... I almost envy you.” - oh Armand! You will learn in the Spanish prison :(

(yes, in this house the Spanish prison AU is canon)

Porthos: “this is the captain we’re talking about” Aramis: “which is why we owe it to him to clear his name” - damn, that’s a good argument! I like Aramis in this episode! That’s probably why I remember liking him a lot when season 1 first aired...

“If it is true, what then?” - @donnaimmaculata made an excellent point about that here: https://donnaimmaculata.tumblr.com/post/109300936446/aramis-was-actually-at-his-smartest-in-this

Louis playing swords with Louis Amadeus is so cute!! And the kid is a more gracious loser than Louis is a winner xD

“I don’t want protection, I want to be treated as an equal.” - that’s a good Constance line, much more feminist than that nonsense about the duchess later in the episode

And D'artagnan apologizes and promises not to lie to her again. Mentioning that cause his respect for her boundaries and acknowledging when he makes a mistake goes totally out the window in season two.

The duke: “Have you captured the man who tried to kill me?” Richelieu: “We should not be distracted by minor issues.” - what is wrong with him this episode?? he is not being at all diplomatic

The duke challenges Athos to a duel and Treville is so cool and quietly confident while Richelieu frets.  

And Treville smirks at his evident distress xD

Treville gets mad at Athos for humiliating the duke. He could have defeated him in a way that left him his dignity, apparently. But Porthos says he would have cut his head off, so Treville should consider himself lucky, really. 

Porthos is very good at spying!

Treville’s filing of documents is “meticulous”, apparently. Sorry, but that does NOT sound like him!

“I will never believe the captain is a traitor” - that’s noble of you Athos. Maybe you could have extended the same courtesy to your wife?

The confrontation with Treville is so angsty and well acted and tense! This is the show at it’s best, dealing with a serious issue and giving it the weight it deserves. I love!

It’s kind of sad seeing how in love the duke is with his wife! I hope he never finds out she’s a spy lol xD

Now Marsac tries to rape Constance. Was that really necessary? Like, really, why?? We understand he is an antagonist, there is no need to make him cartoonishly evil, especially by using violence against women. 

I don’t know what his friend being a seezy rapist says about Aramis thou...

Dart to the rescue, yawn!

I do love how we are led to believe they’re gonna kiss and then she goes “teach me how to shoot” xD

“Honour? There’s no word in the language more likely to cause stupidity and inconvenience” - lmaoo, Richelieu I feel you

“You think I won’t have you arrested? That you’re above the normal rules of soldiering?” - Yesss Treville, have him arrested! You will save everyone a lot of grief down the road!

Aramis punches Treville in the face! LOL! xD

Aramis and Marsac argue how to handle Treville (Marsac wants to assassinate him) and Aramis just cradles his face!

And then Marsac punches aramis in the face and knocks him out cold! LOL! xD

I love how the duke is actually objectively right in this episode. Imperialist France is meddling in the affairs of another sovereign state. The weak suffer what they must. And the musketeers are not on the side of good by helping the King and Richelieu conceal Cluzet. They follow their orders and work for the state, but the state is, well, not always nice. Just pointing that out...

The duchess looks so cool and beautiful riding into the garrison in that yellow dress with her cloak flapping in the wind!

“You traitor!” Cluzet says to the duchess. Pot calling the kettle black

“Not your average duchess then” - I don’t like this line! It sort of implies that an average duchess without fighting skills is somehow lesser and plays into a long pattern in television when women are only valued when they have “masculine” skills. But I do love her character a lot! More on that here: https://kuningannasansa.tumblr.com/post/100754198434/a-duchess-of-savoy-appreciation-post

Richelieu’s FACE when he sees D'artagnan as the guard! xD

But I wonder what his plan was? What if the musketeers had not shown up to save his ass?

“Paris has a number of excellent places of correction, if you’d like a tour of them all?” - aawwww, sassy cardinal! 

He even gives Dartagnan a look of acknowledgement. As well he should! The Cluzet switch was brilliant and funny!

Now Marsac is going to kill Treville, but Aramis stops him, saying there should be a court martial. Well done Aramis, keeping your head! Also, justice! It does exist! 

This is another very well acted emotional scene!

Aramis shoots Marsac, choosing Treville over him. It’s sad and tragic and wonderful television!

“I love my husband, very much” - I like their relationship

Lmaooo now Richelieu is already plotting the Duke’s murder xD  

Wet Aramis at Marsac’s grave is hot!

In conclusion, there were some things I didn’t like, but all in all this was a very good episode!

Red Guards killed in the line of duty: none

Women fridged: also none! this really was a good one guys!

Best dressed: Constance

#the musketeers #bbc musketeers #cardinal richelieu #captain treville #trevilieu #constance bonacieux #milady de winter #musketeers rewatch

[littlesugarwords]

I have an idea! Can we get headcanons for the Clem + the kids fleeing the school in say, an RV, instead of fighting the raiders? I think it'd be interesting.

here you go anon!! ima make it a van because that works better with the story :) roadtrip headcanons make me laugh

also I know nothing about Omar (as does Telltale apparently) so ima not include him sORRY

They had been prepping for Delta’s arrival for weeks.

It felt as if they would never arrive.

In all honesty, they never felt as if they were prepared enough, so they didn’t mind.

They felt like they had no supplies.

Surely not enough to work with to fend off an attack.

Then, Mitch found an entrance into the parking garage.

It had a handful of walkers that he killed easily.

Then, he demanded everyone see what he found.

Late that night, he ripped open the garage door.

A giant van.

It was what the school used to use to transport kids.

“The best part?” Mitch said, smirking. “It has gas.”

Jaws dropped.

They had all the supplies they needed.

“We gotta figure out what to do with this.” Clem said. “We can use it.”

“How can we use it against Delta?” Tenn asked. “How can we use it to keep them away?”

Clementine thought for a moment.

She knew the conclusion she came to they wouldn’t like.

But it was all they had.

“We need to leave.” She said.

Mitch scoffed. “You’re crazy.”

“We need to,” she continued. “There isn’t anything we can do to keep Delta away. They’ll just keep coming back. We need to get out of here.”

The group was silent and still.

She was right, and they hated it.

Violet sighed. “When are we leaving, then?”

Clementine frowned. “As soon as possible. So Delta doesn’t catch what we’re doing and follow us.”

They all nodded.

Tenn frowned.

There was no other way.

Mitch and Violet helped Clem fill up the trunk with supplies.

Every Ericson kid was allotted one small bag to carry their belongings in.

Luckily for most of them, they didn’t have a lot to bring.

The trunk was filled with water, food, gardening tools, weapons, fertilizer, seeds, and ammo.

Mitch managed to find extra gas tanks in the garage that they packed in.

“There’s no backroad to get the RV out of here, so we’ll need to take the front gates.”

Clem tensed at Violet’s words. That was a dead giveaway.

It was a giveaway they needed to risk.

Just as they were loading people into the van, just as the sun began to rise, there was a rumbling in the distance.

A clacking.

Clementine turned to Violet, Louis, and Mitch.

All at once, their eyes widened.

No.

Delta.

They all quickly slipped into the van and Clem locked the doors.

“We gotta go now.” Clem scoffed, snapping on her seatbelt.

“Everyone put on your seat belts!” Ruby called from the back.

“Yeah, alright Mom.” Mitch groaned.

In the front was Clementine, Louis in the passenger seat, and Violet hovering between them.

In the middle row was Aasim, Mitch, and Willy.

In the back was Ruby, Tenn, and AJ.

Slipping out of the garage, Clementine started for the front gates.

Face to face with Delta.

They had a wagon, approaching the front gates.

It was backing up, looking like they were going to charge it.

They stopped seeing the van roll into the front yard.

“Clem,” Louis warned from the passenger seat. “You gotta floor it.”

“What?” Clem, Violet, Aasim and Ruby scoffed.

“There’s no other way to get through!” Mitch spat. “If we don’t floor it, we’re dead.”

“And if we floor it we’re dead.”

“Would we rather be Delta dead or pancake dead?” Louis snapped, turning to the back of the vehicle.

All grew silent.

Clem floored it.

They slammed through the opening gate without a care, and every Delta member on the path jumped out of the way.

The horses were safe, but they destroyed their cart and the cage behind it.

The sight gave Violet, Clem, and Louis chills.

Clementine didn’t ease off the gas until they were on solid road again, having maneuvered the woods.

They were far enough ahead that they wouldn’t catch them.

Not on horseback.

Half an hour in, the back row groaned.

“What is there to do?” AJ asked.

“Wait.” Mitch snapped.

“That’s boring.” Willy claimed from the middle.

Mitch closed his eyes in agitation.

Ruby suggested they play eye spy.

Willy yelled every time they passed a brown wooden fence.

There were a lot of them.

Everyone closed their eyes in irritation.

Aasim had given Tenn and AJ paper from his notebook to draw.

It was hard to draw in a moving vehicle.

They learned hat quickly.

A few hours in, they stopped for a bathroom break in a wooded area.

“Where are we going?” Louis asked, leaning in to speak with Clem.

They were standing outside of the van, stretching their legs.

“I don’t know.” Clementine breathed. “And that terrifies me.”

Louis held her.

Violet and Louis switched places the next shift.

Louis sat in the middle.

He kept a hand on Clementine’s shoulder.

“For the love of God, I need a turn in shotgun.” Mitch spat hours later.

Willy wouldn’t stop hitting his arm.

“Switch with someone in the back, I’m not giving this spot up.” Violet claimed.

Mitch yelled.

They pulled over.

Violet and Mitch arm wrestled to see who got shotgun.

Violet won.

Mitch didn’t say anything about it for the rest of the ride.

Ruby moved Willy into the back seat, replacing her.

He complained at first.

Loudly.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all asleep.

They slept all afternoon.

“Where are we going?” Aasim asked, glancing out his window, watching the sunset.

Clem tensed. Louis put a hand on her shoulder. “For now, just somewhere to sit and eat.”

Clementine relaxed at that.

It was a good plan.

“Please let it be a while from now,” Mitch groaned. “I don’t want Willy awake right now.”

They all agreed.

Ruby fell asleep against Aasim’s shoulder.

He was writing, but stopped when she did.

Clementine could see his smile through the rearview mirror.

Her and Louis smirked at each other.

Willy woke up 10 minutes later.

They decided to stop to eat.

Violet offered to cook dinner.

“Clementine needs to rest,” she said. “You’ve been driving all day.”

Clementine smiled.

They all ate greedily.

They sat in a small camper area just outside a rest stop.

They all sat, watching the sun go down.

“Do you think everything’s gonna be okay?” Clem asked to no one in particular.

She felt Louis’ hand on her shoulder. “Everything’s gonna be fine if we’re together.”

That Clementine could get behind.

That they all could.

#the walking dead game headcanons #headcanon request #twdg headcanons #headcanons #headcanon #the walking dead game #twdg #twdgs4 #twdgtfs #the walking dead game season 4 #the walking dead game the final season #twdg clementine #twdg clem #twdg aasim #twdg ruby #twdg louis #twdg violet #twdg mitch #twdg aj #twdg willy #twdg tenn #telltale games #telltale the walking dead #telltale

[drpepperwithcream]

(Late) Day 5: Rose (Heartbreak(ing))

I hate writer’s block, but I’m committed to #twdgrarepairsweek! I couldn’t really write anything sad about one of them dying or them breaking up and I already did a story about Rosie dying, so I wrote something based off my post about why Marlon was sent to Ericson’s. (Read that here). Maybe one day I’ll go more in-depth about Marlon’s late friend, but for now, you get this story.

------- Marlontine -------

He hated waiting. Marlon never enjoyed it, no kid does, but waiting for the girl he loved to wake up, was straining him. Ever since AJ came back to the school with Clementine unconscious in a wheelbarrow with a missing leg, Marlon hasn’t eaten, slept, or left her bedside for a couple days now.

The few times his body gave out from exhaustion and fell asleep, he was greeted with nightmares of the accident that sent him to Ericson’s and Clementine dying. Sometimes the two would mesh into one colossal bad dream. Their voices were still fresh in his mind.

“Marlon!”

“Marlon.”

“Where were you?”

“Marlon.”

“I’m dead because of you!”

“Marlon!”

His mind came back to reality. He saw Louis standing right next to him, along with Ruby.

“You okay?” his best friend asked.

Marlon noticed the bowl of stew in his hand. He wasn’t hungry. His head turned back to Clementine. Her hand was tied to the bed… safety precaution.

“How long has AJ been asleep?” Ruby asked as she began to check on Clementine’s stub.

He didn’t even notice AJ fell asleep. “I… I don’t know… A while, I guess…”

“I’m glad someone in this room is getting sleep,” Ruby said.

“Marlon, you need to eat,” Louis said, handing the bowl out to him.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Look, I know that you’re worried, but she’ll be okay. And she’d want you to eat.”

She’d want you to do this, she’d want you to do that. That stupid saying was said to him so many times after he arrived at Ericson’s. What happened to him, why he’s there in the first place, it’s so much more than him being a kleptomaniac or a delinquent. The teachers all knew about it, at times he swore that the headmaster got a dog named Rosie to taunt him about his friend and the crash.

He remembered how he barely ate and barely slept after the crash. They said it was the concussion… but it was so much more than that. He didn’t care if his brain would have been scrambled for the rest of his life, he just wanted his friend back.

“Louis is right. You need to take care of yourself,” Ruby said after hearing nothing from him.

“Not until she’s awake.”

“Seriously, Marlon. She’s not going anywhere. Please, eat something,” Louis begged.

He shook his head.

“At least get some sleep, okay. And I mean in your own bed.”

A chill came over him. He sighed as he got up and sulked out of the room. Once he was in the hall, laughter echoed in his head. He missed it so much. The moment he made it to his room his body gave out and he flopped down on the bed. He fell asleep.

“Marlon and Rose, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“Shut up, dirtwad!”

“Yeah, dirtwad! Shut up!”

His hand was grabbed and he was pulled away from the stupid kid.

“Come on, I stole from the school library.”

“What did you steal, Roe?”

“Boxcar Children.”

It was their favorite. They liked reading with each other. Anything to keep them away from their own homes. They liked the idea of living in a boxcar and joked about running away to go live in one. They’d always adventure in the forest to hopefully find one and when they didn’t they’d read or play cops and robbers.

“You’ll never catch me!” she taunted.

He jumped from behind a tree, hand used as a gun.

“You’ll never catch me…” The voice became more… disturbed.

“Rose?”

Marlon turned around and froze at the sight in front of him: A car crash.

“I’m gone!”

The sounds of sirens and screeching tires blared in his head forced him to cover his ears.

“And so is she.”

He turned around once more and saw white walker eyes on Clementine, and she lunged at him.

Marlon shot up, the scare woke him up. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He felt something nudge his hand and saw Rosie put his hand on her head. Marlon gave her a couple scratches before getting up. He needed to go check on Clem, maybe she’s awake now.

As he neared her door, he saw AJ run out of the room not even noticing him. Marlon was worried; why would AJ run out like that… unless. He quickly looked into the room, seeing Clementine awake staring at her stub. She’s awake!

“Clem!”

She looked up at him as Marlon came in to hug her. It took a second for her to hug him back. When he pulled away, she seemed… distant and in shock. Her eyes went back to her leg. Marlon pushed down his excitement, she didn’t seem happy.

“I… I don’t know how much you remember, but AJ cut your leg off. He said you passed out soon after he did.”

She nodded. Did she remember that? She still hasn’t said anything.

“How… How do you feel?” Marlon asked.

Her hands gripped the bedsheets and Marlon saw a tear stream down her face. He pulled her to him and let her cry on his chest. He didn’t know if it was the shock of being alive or the shock of losing an important limb or both, but he let her cry.

-------

Clementine hasn’t been the same ever since she woke up. Marlon has been doing what he can for her; helping her through the painful treatments and aid, helping her get from one place to another, trying to make her smile. The last one was difficult, but with each day came acceptance for her life not being over yet and her new life with one leg gone.

After a couple weeks, she pushed herself to get out of bed and Marlon couldn’t have been more proud. It was only to the end of the hall with crutches, but it was better than her being in bed for another day. Within a few days, she ventured further and even went outside. The crutches tired her out fast, but she was getting stronger.

As for Marlon, the nightmares have started to go away once more, but if those dreams have taught him anything, it’s that he misses his friend. Marlon found a fake rose in storage, he was going to give it to Clem weeks ago when AJ first brought her back as a get-well-soon present, but he couldn’t part ways with it… Not yet…

“Still thinking of me?”

It was like a ghost who wouldn’t leave. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get away from it.

“I know you are.”

“Hey.”

Marlon turned is head to see Clementine hobble out of the admin building.

“Hey,” he said back.

Clementine came over to where he was sitting on the steps, taking her time as she was still getting used to maneuvering with crutches.

“Need help?” He asked.

“I got it.”

He watched as she sat down next to him. Marlon twirled the fake flower in his hands a couple times. He didn’t know what to say, and the teasing voice in his head wasn’t helping.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” she told him. “I think it’s just adjusting to crutch one and crutch two.”

Marlon smirked. “You naming them that?”

“Maybe,” her face fell. “Marlon, I…”

He grew concerned.

“About the kiss…”

She was talking about the one in the gym that happened the same night they were attacked.

“It’s fine, Clem. I know it was kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing. We don’t have to be ‘a thing’ if-”

“Marlon,” she placed a hand on his arm. “I want to try it out; try ‘us’ out, but I want it to be just between us.”

“You mean no one else can know?”

She nodded then she proceeded to explain. “Ever since everything started I’ve seen so many people die, so many people who I care about, people I love. Then when I was thirteen, I gave up on developing relationships with people. Aside from AJ and the few friends I’ve tried so hard not to make because of it, I haven’t felt anything like this before and I don’t know how I feel about it.

He barely knows anything about her past, but he can tell by just her experience with the world outside these walls that she’s as much as a troubled youth as the rest of them.

“I like you, Marlon, I really do, but I don’t want to dive head first into it. I want to take it slow, just until I’m comfortable.”

Marlon smiled. “Of course, Clem.” She wants to test the waters. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to take things slow. Hell, it took him a while for him to become best friends with Louis after the accident.

Clementine smiled back then she glanced down at the rose in his hand.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“You don’t have to answer, but… when AJ brought me back, he told me that you didn’t leave my side for two days.”

“I was worried about you, we all were worried.”

“I know, but AJ told me that he heard you say some things in your sleep… Something about a rose.”

Rose. He must have muttered the name in his sleep when he dozed off a couple times waiting for her to wake up.

“The others have been saying that you were acting like when you first came to Ericson’s.”

Marlon was debating on saying something. He hasn’t told anyone this. Well, Louis knows about her, just not the full story. If he wanted to start a new relationship with a girl he loved, then she needs to know about the accident.

“Rose was my best friend before I got sent to Ericson’s. She was my first friend, actually. We both grew up in the same duplex, right next door to each other with our own set of messed families. We hung out with each other a lot, we’d read Boxcar Children and make plans to hop a train and run away together, get away from our home lives, live on the open road.”

Clem saw the smile on his face.

“We liked stealing stuff. Candy, pencils, all kinds of shit, but our favorite was cars.” Marlon focused on the flower in his hand. “Driving was fun. We’d stay out all night, driving one of our parents’ beat up car down the street, in parking lots, we’d even take turns being on the roof.”

Marlon’s smile faded, he knew what came next.

“Remember when I told you and the others about the car crash that sent me here?”

Clementine nodded.

“Shoot, the cops! Marlon, step on it!”

“I wasn’t alone,” He closed his eyes. “One night when we were out driving, the cops caught us. Actually, they didn’t catch us, they started chasing us.”

“We’re not going to get away!” he told her.

“Yes we are!” she said. “Turn here!”

“There’s another cop!”

“Keep going!”

“We tried to lose them, but everywhere we turned they still followed. We were scared of what would happen if we got caught.”

“Turn left!” The grip on his arm tightened. “Not that left your other left!”

“Where are we going? What do we do?”

“The park!”

“We were trying to get to the park. Tuck and roll and run into the woods to lose them, but…”

“Faster!”

“I’m going as fast as I can!”

“You lost control...” Clementine concluded.

“I crashed the car. I turned too fast and the car rolled… we landed upside down.”

“Marlon!”

“The last thing I remember before I passed out was seeing her and she wasn’t moving.” He sighed. “Rose died in the crash… I got her killed.”

“Marlon, I’m so sorry,” Clementine’s hand moved to his back. “That wasn’t your fault, you know. I know it feels like it was, but-”

“Clem…” Marlon interrupted. “I know what happened was an accident, but that doesn’t change the fact that my driving was what put me here and put her in the ground.”

Clementine knew the feeling all too well. Lee and everyone else, it hurt.

“You liked her? Didn’t you?”

Marlon paused then nodded. “Yeah, I think I did. I know that sounds stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s kind of sweet.”

He smiled. “You would have liked her, the two of you would get along great.” He sat up straight, popping his back. “Sorry for being sappy. Just ever since you arrived in a car crash, you’ve done nothing but bring us safety, and I can’t help but feel protective over you and at times you remind me of her, which is the last thing I should be saying to the girl who is interested in dating me. But if you need time to adjust and take it slow, I think I’ll need it too.”

Clementine pulled him in for a hug, “She’d be proud of you. I know I am.”

“Thanks, Clem.”

Marlon wrapped an arm around her and he couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re right, I do like her.”

#twdgrarepairsweek #marlontine #clementine twdg #marlon twdg #twdg clementine #twdg marlon #marlentine #marlon x clementine

[purrincess-chat]

Giftmas Day 5: Luna!

This giftmas is going out to @lalunaunita who I met through the BB. Luna is super sweet and supportive, and I encourage all of you to go and read her BB piece and show her some love! For Luna I have written some domestic Adrinette family fluff ft. the Agreste children being cute, and I hope you all enjoy it!

Read on AO3

Giftmas Day 5

Emma Agreste was a lot of things. A skilled fencer, a prima ballerina, gifted in musical arts and her academics, but the trait she wore with the most amount of pride was thoughtfully clever. Her parents were celebrating their 20th anniversary, and she, being the caring daughter that she was, had devised the ultimate plan to give them the best anniversary they’d ever experience. Now all she needed to do was execute it perfectly with the help of her two little brothers, and so far everything was going swimmingly.

“Are you kids sure you’re going to be alright tonight?” Her dad asked as he fastened his tie in the mirror in the foyer.

“Yes, papa. We’re not babies anymore; I think we will be okay for a few hours,” She said with an eye roll.

“How do I look?” He turned to her and held out his arms for approval, and a small smile curled on Emma’s lips.

“Perfect as always, and even if you weren’t I’m pretty sure Mom won’t care. Isn’t that a requirement after 20 years of marriage?” She teased, and Adrien flicked her nose playfully.

“I know, but it’s a special occasion, and I want everything to go perfectly. I had to call in this reservation months ago,” He said, fussing with his hair. “You only get one 20th anniversary, ya know, so I want it to be special.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine. Now hurry up and get out of here. You don’t want to keep Mom waiting at her office.” She gently turned him toward the door and gave him a nudge.

“Yeah, you’re right. The longer I leave her there, the more she’ll torture her assistant,” He said with a nod, allowing Emma to shove him to the door which she opened for him graciously. “I made you guys some dinner. It’s in the fridge if you get hungry. Oh, and make sure Louis takes his contacts out before bed and that Hugo does his homework and-”

“Dad, we’ll be fine!” She groaned, leaning her head back in exasperation.

“You’re right. Okay, I love you.” He leaned down to exchange kisses before being shoved out the door.

Emma leaned back against it with a sigh as Hugo and Louis poked their heads out of the kitchen. She held up a finger and peaked out through the front window to ensure that he wasn’t coming back for something before giving them a nod.

“It’s go time.”

“Did you cancel the dinner reservation?” Louis asked, cocking a brow as they began to move.

“Yep. Did that on my lunch break, so that gives us about an hour until they’ll be back home. Did you guys get the ingredients from the store?” She replied, and Hugo held up a bag with a grin.

“And the bread dough is already rising in the fridge,” He added with a proud beam.

“Awesome. Let’s get to work.”

x x x

Marinette was waiting for him outside her studio when Adrien arrived, and her countenance brightened when she saw him. For a moment, he lost himself in her warm gaze, stooping to touch his lips to hers for a brief, tender moment. He pressed his forehead to hers, breathing her in with a contented sigh.

“How was work?” He asked opening his eyes to meet hers.

“Long, but I got a lot done,” She said, nuzzling her nose against his. “I’m ready for a romantic evening out with my favorite guy.”

“Well, you are in luck, m’lady because I have the purrfect date planned for us,” He said with that age-old boyish smirk of his, and she giggled, tugging his tie.

“We haven’t had our Miraculouses in years, and you still make cat puns every chance you get.”

“And mew wouldn’t have me any other way,” He chuckled as she linked her arm through his.

“Shall we?” She gestured onward.

“We shall.”

Marinette leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked, and Adrien recounted all of their happy moments. From the day they met when she crashed into him as Ladybug to the day they finally found out their identities, their very first kiss, the night he proposed, their wedding day. The day Marinette started fashion school. The first time they held Emma in their arms and then Louis and Hugo. 20 years seemed to have gone by in a flash, and he couldn’t help but feel like it had all just begun yesterday. The memory of their first akuma battle was just as fresh in his memory as the day it happened, and in a way he kind of missed the days of being young and fighting crime. But he wouldn’t trade their little family for the world which is why when the time came, they surrendered their Miraculouses to Master Fu to be passed on to the next Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“Whatcha thinking about?” She asked, glancing up at him with a smile and snapping him out of his trance.

“Just reliving the past. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since we said I do,” He said, shaking his head. “I’ve loved every minute of it.”

“Even all those times I made you massage my feet while I stuffed my face with croissants when I was pregnant?” She smirked, and he shifted to the side, dragging her with him and forcing her to stumble a little.

“And all the times I held your hair when you threw those croissants back up,” He chuckled, and she wrinkled her nose at him. “Because it was all worth it in the end.”

“Yeah.” She smiled softly, shifting her gaze down to their feet. “It was.”

“And here we are, Madame.” He gestured to the most prestigious restaurant in Paris with a grin.

“Did you confirm your reservation?” She cocked a brow, and he nodded in affirmation.

“Yep. Called this morning.” He said, leading her inside smoothly. “Agreste, table for two.”

The host at the counter skimmed through his tablet for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m so sorry, but we do not have that name on our list.”

“You- What?” Adrien stopped short. “No, no, no, I confirmed it this morning.”

“And then your wife canceled at lunch. You did not discuss this with her?” He glanced between them, and Adrien turned to her with a puzzled frown.

“You canceled it?”

“No! You can ask Maurice. He’s been with me all day trying to get things ready for the show in three weeks.” She shook her head. “There must be some kind of mistake.”

“Well, I am terribly sorry. There is nothing we can do, all of our tables are full.” Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.

“Okay. Thank you,” He said with a nod, pressing his lips into a firm line as they maneuvered past the other couples back outside. “I don’t understand how this happened. I’m so sorry, lovebug.”

“It’s okay,” She soothed, smoothing his shirt. “It wouldn’t be us if something didn’t happen, right?”

“I guess,” He mumbled. “I just wanted tonight to be perfect, and I don’t know who called to cancel. I’m sorry our anniversary got ruined.”

“Mmm, I wouldn’t say that. Just because I’m a big name in the fashion business now, and we live in a nice house doesn’t mean I need a flashy life. You know me. I’m simple, and I will be just as content with a quiet night in snuggled up on the couch as I would be in a fancy restaurant.” She gave him a reassuring smile, and he pursed his lips.

“I know, but we don’t get to go out much anymore because it’s always fashion shows or fencing tournaments or stomach viruses or Hugo setting the oven on fire,” He said, listing each thing on his fingers. “I was looking forward to a night out.”

“Well, we can call and make reservations somewhere else for this weekend. Let’s just go home. We can put on a movie and send the kids to bed then split that bottle of pinot in the pantry,” She suggested, resting her chin on his chest and rubbing his back.

“Okay.” He said with a disappointed frown, and Marinette stretched up to kiss him lovingly, giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze before they set off home.

x x x

“Loulou! They’ll be home any minute,” Emma called up the stairs while Louis carefully combed his hair and straightened his bowtie.

“Coming!” He answered, hurrying up the hall and down the stairs as Hugo tossed him a towel to drape over his arm while Emma tuned her violin. “Dinner’s ready?”

“Yep.” Hugo nodded, giving a thumbs up with a toothy grin as he scattered rose petals in a path to the dining room.

“We pulled it off! I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they come in,” Emma squealed excitedly as a key grinded against the lock. “Oh, they’re here! Places!”

“I think we have some ice cream in the freezer too,” Marinette was saying as they entered the dimly lit foyer, and Emma began to play a soft melody on her violin.

“What’s all this?” Adrien asked slowly, glancing between each of them, the rose petals, the lights wrapped around the banister, and cocking a brow.

“A special anniversary surprise,” Louis whispered with a wink. “If the loving couple would kindly follow me to their table.”

“Oh, don’t mind if we do,” Marinette giggled, hooking her arm back through her husband’s with a pleased grin.

A small smile curled on Adrien’s lips as their oldest son led them into the dining room where the table was set with a single rose in a small vase and a small tea light candle floating in a tiny fish bowl. Marinette cupped her hands over her heart in delight as Louis pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit, moving around to do the same for his father. She picked up the small “menu” and flipped it open, biting back an amused smirk when a single wine, entrée, and dessert were listed inside.

“Your server will be right with you,” Louis said politely with a bow before calmly heading back into the kitchen as Hugo came out with one of his wide grins.

“Might I interest the happy couple in a bottle of our finest wine,” He offered, presenting a fancy bottle Marinette knew didn’t come from the cabinet.

“And where from did this fine establishment come to own such a wine?” She cocked a mom-brow, and Hugo continued without missing a beat.

“From the most prestigious and kind-hearted suppliers who we like to refer to here at Palace du Agreste as: grandma and grandpa,” He replied smoothly, prompting chuckles from his parents.

“Then I would love a glass,” Adrien said, and Hugo promptly poured some in each of their glasses. “Thank you, kind sir.”

“My pleasure.” He nodded. “Are you ready to order?”

“Hmm, there’s just so many choices,” Marinette sighed dramatically. “What would our waiter recommend?”

“I happen to be very close to our chef, and I must say that the fish is his specialty. Very delicious.”

“Well, you drive a hard bargain. I’ll take an order of your finest fish,” She said decidedly.

“Excellent choice, and for the gentleman?”

“Same for me,” Adrien replied, and Hugo bowed politely.

“We will have that out right away for you.” He took the menus and retreated back to the kitchen.

“Well, I guess we figured out who canceled our dinner reservations,” Marinette remarked, swirling her wine a little before taking a sip.

“So we have.” Adrien nodded with a laugh. “And here I thought Emma was rushing me out of the house so they could lay around and eat junk food all night.”

“I like this a lot more than a real restaurant,” She said when Hugo returned moments later with two plates. “Fast service and our waiter is so handsome. I just want to pinch his cheeks.”

“We are an esteemed and professional business here, and as such, we only allow a single cheek pinch,” He stated, holding up a finger matter-of-factly.

“How about a cheek kiss?”

“Oh, we accept as many of those as our kind customers will give.” He smiled, leaning down and giggling as Marinette peppered his face with squeaky kisses.

“Your recommendation was well advised. Please give our compliments to the chef,” She said once she was finished, and Hugo regained his composure.

“I’m sure he will be happy to hear it.” He bowed once more before backing up into the kitchen and shutting the door as Louis reappeared from the foyer.

“For your listening pleasure tonight, we have called in our best pianist who will grace us with selections from Chopin and Liszt,” He announced as Emma strolled in and took her place at the piano.

“No wonder she’s been practicing so much lately,” Adrien said as she began to play, and they turned back to their meal.

“I think it’s all very sweet. We’re lucky to have such thoughtful kids,” Marinette hummed.

“Yeah. We really are.” He smiled proudly at the girl trailing her fingers expertly over the keys.

Once the main course was finished, Hugo appeared to clear their plates dutifully before bringing out dessert. “Our house specialty the chocolate religieuse.”

“And beautifully presented,” Marinette complimented the delicate pastry, and Hugo beamed proudly.

“Our chef has been practicing his presentation and appreciates your noticing.” She pinched his cheek with a warm smile before taking a bite as he retired once more to the kitchen.

“I’m gonna need to start doing crunches if Hugo’s desserts always taste this good,” Adrien commented with a delighted moan.

“I may join you because I still haven’t worked off all of his baby fat. After I worked off Louis, I got really lazy,” She chuckled. “All those choquettes really did a number on me, and Hugo still loves them to this day.”

“Like father like son.” Adrien shrugged with a smirk, offering her the last bite with his spoon. “But I still think you’re beautiful.”

“Well, that is a relief because you married me,” She teased, placing her hand in his and allowing him to lift it to his lips.

“And 20 years later you still give me butterflies when you look at me,” He murmured against her skin.

“Ahem.” They turned to see Hugo standing with a tiny black card. “Your check.”

Marinette accepted it graciously, flipping it open to see a white piece of paper taped to the inside totaling up their meal for a whopping cost of one hug and a kiss for each of the staff. Louis and Emma approached the table, clasping their hands together with expectant smiles.

“That’s a steep price, but I think we can afford it,” She said, standing up and pulling Hugo into her arms first. “The food was delicious, sweetie, and you’ve really improved your dessert decorating. Thank you for being such a good server.”

“Thanks, Mama,” He said, squeezing her tightly as she planted a kiss on his cheek then passed him to Adrien.

“Loulou, you were an excellent host,” She complimented, crushing him to her chest and leaning her head against his. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mom. Happy Anniversary.”

Emma stepped forward, stretching out her arms as Marinette released her hold on Louis, and her mother embraced her with equal crushing force.

“You are so talented, Button. You played beautifully tonight. Papa and I are very proud,” She cooed, stroking her hair.

“Thank you, Mommy. I wanted everything to be perfect.”

“And you did an excellent job,” Adrien chimed in, wrapping an arm around his wife and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Seriously, all of you are so thoughtful, and we really appreciate it.”

“Well, we do have one last surprise for you two tonight,” Louis said, gesturing back to the foyer. “If you would accompany me to the living room.”

Marinette took Adrien’s arm once more as they followed him across the foyer to the cozy living room where Louis tapped play on his tablet screen and a familiar melody began to play over the speakers.

“The first song we ever danced to,” She sighed reminiscently.

“We loaded Louis’ library up with all of your favorite, ancient songs,” Emma said, smiling impishly when she warranted glares from her parents. “And we want you two to relax while we clean up and then we will go to our rooms early so you can enjoy your evening without being constantly interrupted.”

“Happy Anniversary,” Hugo whispered as they backed out of the room and pulled the doors shut, leaving their parents alone.

“I think the most impressive gift they’ve given us tonight is doing the dishes willingly,” Adrien remarked with a snicker that Marinette echoed before he sobered and offered her a hand. “May I have this dance, m’lady?”

“Yes, you may.” She placed her hand in his, allowing him to position it on his shoulder as he took her other hand, and she laid her head against his chest, swaying in time with the music.

“It’s been so long since we’ve danced like this. I’ve missed it,” He breathed against her hair.

“Maybe we can convince them to go to bed early more often,” She chuckled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

“Oh, I wouldn’t count on that.”

They fell into a comfortable silence simply enjoying each other’s presence as the song progressed, Adrien occasionally pressing soft kisses against her temple. After the song ended, Marinette leaned up, and Adrien caressed her cheek, leaning down to meet her lips softly. They lingered, savoring that sweet moment for longer than they were usually allowed and imprinting their affection into the other’s flesh.

“Happy 20th Anniversary, Marinette,” He said against her lips after they pulled away, holding her tightly.

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, stretching up on her tip-toes to touch her nose to his with a smile.

“And here’s to 20 more.”

#miraculous ladybug #adrinette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain-cheng #love square #my writing #giftmas

[mattmurdocksgirl]

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Summary:  Abigail honors her mother's dying request to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  When she's introduced to a blind attorney from Hell's Kitchen, her lonely Christmas prospects start looking much better.

Notes:  Mentions of cancer and parental death.

Other Christmas Stories:

Stop the Cavalry - Frank Castle & Steve Rogers

I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth goodwill to men.

The sound of bells rang through the night air.  It was such a beautiful sound, meant to be celebratory and joyous, and Abby could have listened to them all night.  Soon they stopped, though, leaving just the bustling sound of movement all around.

Sitting back on the pew behind her, she helped the older couple next to her raise the kneeling rail that they’d shared just moments before.  After hastily gathering her belongings, she followed them into the aisle.  The woman wished her a Merry Christmas, before taking her husband’s hand and walking on quickly, perhaps to a cozy house covered in twinkling lights where, later in the day, grandchildren would gather around an enormous Fraser Fir, covered with ornaments that had been collected over a lifetime together.

Sliding on her coat as she walked, Abby thought back to past Christmases when she’d made this same late night pilgrimage in her small Midwestern town with her mother.  Her mom adored the Christmas Mass, and insisted that in those moments after midnight, she felt closer to God than any other time of the year.  Abby suspected that was why she chose last Christmas Eve to give up the two-year long fight that she’d been waging against an aggressive form of brain cancer, to go be with him permanently.  Before she died, she made Abby promise to continue the tradition, and she was nothing if not a dutiful daughter, even though she would have rather been in bed, wallowing in her private misery.

“Abigail?”  A familiar voice reached out to her over the din of parishioners shuffling out into the cold winter night.  The owner of the voice waved his hand, inviting her to join him near the large beautifully decorated tree in the middle of the narthex.

“Merry Christmas, Father,” she greeted him with the best forced smile that she could muster.  “The service was beautiful.”

Father Lantom was one of the first people that she and her mother met when they moved to New York almost two years ago to be closer to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where her mother was getting treatment. Doctors were optimistic, so they left their familiar small town and found an apartment to share in Hell’s Kitchen.  Abby found a job as a Librarian at the Columbus Library just a few blocks away, and they gave her the flexibility she needed to take care of her mom.  After she passed, Abby thought about returning home, but she found herself making excuses to stay in the city longer, perhaps hoping to avoid all of the memories that waited for her there.

“Merry Christmas to you, my dear.  I’m glad that you decided to come.”

“Well, I did promise, so here I am,” she shrugged.

“Yes, well I am happy to see you.  Oh, pardon me.  I am being very rude.”  He turned to his other side, and for the first time she saw that another man was standing there. He was taller than her, dressed in a gray suit with a festive red tie that almost clashed with his neatly styled red hair.  Even though it was late at night, he wore small round glasses, and carried a long white stick, which he clutched in his left hand.  She realized quickly that he was blind.   “Abigail Berken?” This is Matthew Murdock.  He’s a long time resident of Hell’s Kitchen.”

“Merry Christmas, Ms. Berken.”  He held his hand out to her and she shook it.  “Matt’s fine.  Pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you.  Merry Christmas to you as well.  I go by Abby.”  She didn’t bother with her forced smile this time, since he couldn’t see it anyway.

“If you two will excuse me,” Father Lantom interrupted.  “I should go speak with some of the other parishioners.  Have a blessed Christmas, both of you.”  He made his goodbyes before leaving the two of them standing awkwardly together.

“So, uhhh, are you new to the area, Abby?”

“Not really.  I’ve been here almost two years, I guess.”

“And do you like it?”

“It’s been a bit of an adjustment from the small town I grew up in, but I’m getting there.  Not driving a car all the time is still something I’m not used to, not that I need to, I guess.”

“Right?  I have a hard time with that too,” he mused.

She surprised herself by actually laughing.  “Oh geez, I’m so sorry.”

“Not a problem at all,” he laughed. “I was just teasing you.  Probably not the best thing to do on Christmas, I guess.”

“No, that’s okay.  I could use the laugh.”  She actually smiled without having to force it for the first time today, and it was nice.   “Well, I should probably get going.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s pretty late.” They walked together, toward the open doors.  He moved very well and didn’t seem to need the wide berth that people gave him for his walking stick.  After making their way down the steps, they both stopped.

“It was nice meeting you, Matt.  I hope you have a nice Christmas.”

“Actually, you know, I was going to stop off at this 24-hour diner just down the street for a bite to eat before heading home.  It’s sort of a Murdock Family Christmas tradition, breakfast after Midnight Mass?  I think my dad liked to stuff me full of food so I’d sleep longer in the morning.” A grin spread across his face at the memory.  “Any chance you’d be interested in joining me?”

She considered him for a moment.  He seemed nice enough, and Father Lantom knew him, so how bad could he be? Besides, if she was being completely honest with herself, she just wasn’t ready to be alone.  

“Sure, why not?  I was just going to go home and eat half of my mother’s Famous Chocolate Reindeer cake, wash it down with a bottle of wine, and pass out in a drunken sugar induced coma, anyway.”

“Well, breakfast suddenly seems much healthier, for sure.”  His smile was infectious as he offered her his arm and led her down the street.

The sidewalk was mostly clear of people and even though she’d lived there for a while, the dark alleys and strange city sounds were still something that she wasn’t quite used to.  It didn’t appear to bother Matt at all, though, as he easily maneuvered the sidewalk and seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"So if you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you spending the holiday with your family this year?”

“It was just me and my mom, and she’s dead.  Passed a year ago yesterday, actually,” she responded.

“On Christmas Eve?”

She nodded and felt silly, because of course he couldn’t see that. “Yeah, cancer.  There was a treatment that had a chance of working, which is why we moved here.  In the end, it didn’t, and I guess she just got tired of fighting.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that.  I heard you mention that you came to mass because you promised.  Did Father Lantom make you promise that you’d come?”

“No.  He was there when my mom made me promise I would, though.  It was our tradition, and she was hung up on me continuing it, so I did.”

“Well, I’m glad that you did. Otherwise I wouldn’t have met you.  It’s nice to have company.”  He looked right at her, and once again she found herself smiling despite herself, and very glad that he couldn’t see the blush creeping across her cheeks.  “So what do you do in the City?”

“I’m a Librarian at the Columbus Library on 10th Avenue.”

“Oh, nice.   They have a pretty big audiobook section, as I recall, but I’ll be honest, I haven’t been doing much reading for fun lately.  What made you decide to become a Librarian?”

“I love books, I love organizing things, and I really love telling people to be quiet,” she joked, causing him to laugh.  “Back home I managed the entire library but considering you could probably fit that whole library in the Reference section of the Columbus, I’m glad that I’m not actually in charge.  What about you?  Window Washer?  Taxi Driver?  Pilot?”  She was relieved when he laughed again at her attempt at a joke.

“All quite tempting,” he chuckled, “but I’m an attorney.  My best friend, Foggy, and I have a small firm here in Hell’s Kitchen.  By small I mean there’s only us and our Office Manager, Karen, and she threatens to quit on a daily basis.”

He stopped in front of the diner and held the door open for her.  The restaurant was surprisingly crowded for just after midnight on Christmas day.  She picked an empty booth near the back, and he took the seat across from her.

“So do you think you’ll stay in the City?”  Matt asked, after the waitress came to take their drink orders.  Abby realized that this must be a place Matt frequented fairly often, because the waitress knew him by name.

“I don’t know.  I kind of like it here.  There is so much to do and a lot of new people to meet, not that I’ve actually gone out to do either.   I’ve kind of enjoyed the ability to get lost here, I guess.  Back home it’s the same places and same people that I’ve been with most of my life, you know?”

“It’s probably nice not to have all of those memories to go back to as well.  I bet your mom would want you to get out and take advantage of the city, though.”

“Part of me thinks that my Mom purposely made me come out here just to get me out of that town again.  I never wanted to stay there.  I went out of state for college, and when I got my Masters, I took a job at a library in St. Louis.  That lasted almost a year until my mom was diagnosed, and I made up an excuse to come home.  Soon, I was working at the town library, dating my high school sweetheart again and it was like everything that I never wanted when I was growing up.”  The waitress came to take their orders, and realizing that he probably didn’t need to hear her life story, she decided to change the subject.  “So what about you?  Why aren’t you with your family?”

“No one left to be with.  My mom died when I was a baby.  My dad died when I was a kid.  I spent time in the Saint Agnes orphanage before going off to school,” he shrugged.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I make the Midnight Mass in his honor too.  It gets easier, but it never goes away.”

“I’d settle for easier, at this point.” She took a sip of her coffee, and decided to change the subject.  “So, is it okay if I ask if you were born blind?”

“No.  I wasn’t.  I was just a kid when there was an accident, and my face got splashed by chemicals from a passing truck.   This is what happened.”

“Oh, that had to be horrible!”

“Well, it wasn’t the best time, but my dad threw himself into making sure that I adapted as quickly as possible, and here I am.  A blind attorney who helps people.  At least I try to.”

“Very noble,” she replied.

“Doesn’t pay as well as being on the other side, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

As they ate, they carried on with polite conversation, until the waitress returned to refill her coffee.  When Matt pushed the sugar bowl toward her, she was surprised.  “How in the world did you know that I put sugar in my coffee?”

“I’m blind, not deaf,” he laughed.  “I could hear the packet being opened earlier.”

“Impressive.  Maybe you got super powers like my Mom did.”

Matt gave her an amused look.  “Oh?  Your mom got super powers?  Could she fly?  Turn invisible?  Did she join the Avengers?”

Abby giggled.  “It’s a little bit crazy.  She had this whole belief that…You know what?  It’s completely ridiculous, so I’ll spare you.  You’ll think I’m nuts.”

“This sounds like a story that I want to hear,” he smiled at her, encouragingly.

“Okay, so when my mom was diagnosed with the brain tumor, she swore it gave her super powers.”  Abby expected him to laugh again, but he sat there silently, his head inclined in her direction.  “She believed that she could see the future.”

“Wow.  That’s interesting.  There have been cases where people swear that their tumor gave them special powers.   Did you ever see it work?”

“Well, yeah, but it was mostly little things.  She said that she had no control of it, she just kind of caught glimpses of things.  For instance, she told a woman who worked at the grocery store in town to enjoy her vacation, and the woman insisted that she wasn’t going anywhere.  We ran into her two weeks later at the store, and it turned out that on that very day, her husband surprised her with a cruise for their anniversary.  Thing is, though, her husband owned the local mechanic shop, and my Mom was there the day before getting her tires rotated.  She could have overheard him talking about it, even though she swore she didn’t.”

“Maybe she didn’t realize that she had.”

“That’s what I said!  She had a string of these things, though.  She congratulated our 18-year-old neighbor for getting into his first choice of college when he came over to mow the lawn for her, and he didn’t even get the letter for two more days.  She congratulated my high school friend on her pregnancy before she even took the test, and told me that my boyfriend was going to be offered a job in Chicago.”

“Was he?”

“The very next week.  He suggested that I go with him, but I would never have left my Mom alone while she was sick, and I wasn’t really sold on the longevity of our relationship anyway, so I declined and we broke up.  Then there was the nurse at the cancer center here.  Mom made me go buy a manicure gift certificate to a local spa nearby because it was the nurses birthday the next day.  Mom insisted that she use it that afternoon, and sure enough, her boyfriend proposed to her the next day. Afterward my mom claimed she wanted to make sure she had pretty nails to show off her ring.”

“Foggy, loves to read all those unbelievable stories.  He’d be absolutely ready to believe that your mom had special powers.  I’m much more of the skeptical type, but to be honest, after aliens fell from the sky over Manhattan, I’m a little more inclined to believe things.  Maybe she could see the future.”

“Or maybe she was just a really good guesser.”

The waitress dropped off the bill, and Matt grabbed it before she could even get her hand up.  “I’ve got this.  I asked you to join me, it’s my treat.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t have to, but I am.”  She decided not to argue when he flashed that handsome smile at her.  “Consider it a Christmas present.”

“But I didn’t get you anything, you know, since we just met a little over an hour ago.”

“You can let me walk you home, then.  Surprisingly, Christmas is usually a slow night for crime, but I’d feel better if you weren’t out there alone.”

“But then, you’d be walking home alone, wouldn’t you?”

“I grew up on these streets.  I know them very well.  It may not seem like it, but I can take care of myself well enough.  If all else fails, I can beat them with my stick,” he grinned.

“Okay.  You have a deal,” she finally agreed.  Matt paid the check, and they headed out into the eerily quiet night.  She took his arm when he offered it.

“So, did your mom have any premonitions about you?”

“She did, but you don’t want to hear that.  It is so ridiculous that I didn’t even give it much thought.  She was really going downhill, and I think she was just trying to make herself believe that everything would be okay for me, ya know?”

“As any mother would.  Now you have to tell me, though.”

“Ugh. Okay, but it’s ridiculous.  She made me promise that I’d keep our Christmas Eve tradition, especially this year, because she was convinced that I was meant to somehow meet Daredevil tonight.”

Matt stopped and turned toward her, his grip on her arm tightening just slightly.  “Really?  Why?”

“I don’t know.  She had this thing in her head that Daredevil and I were going to be involved somehow.  Honestly, I think she just didn’t like the idea that I might not be safe in the city, and what better way to make sure that I was, than imagining that I somehow ended up with the Savior of Hell’s Kitchen, as she called him.”

“Most people call him the Devil,” Matt shrugged, as he started walking again.

“That’s not what my mom thought.  She thought he was a hero like Iron Man, Captain America, or any of those guys.”

“What do you think?”

“It seems like he does a lot of good things and deals with bad people, but I do question the fact that folks claim that he doesn’t kill anyone.   Beating the crap out of someone and throwing them down a flight of stairs can kill people.”

“I read an article once that says he checks up on them, if they’re taken to the hospital, just to make sure they’re okay,” Matt replied, as they turned down the block that her apartment was on.

“Oh yeah, I can see how that works now.  He calls the hospital to ask, and the employees are instructed to tell him that the bad guy is fine.  He’s been released, given up his life of crime, and moved to Poughkeepsie to raise kittens.  Never mind that he was tossed out of a four-story window after having his butt kicked, and actually died of head injuries at the scene.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” Matt chuckled.  “I’m pretty sure that’s never happened.   At least I hope not!  So, what would you do if Daredevil showed up here right now?”

“I’d tell him to get lost.  I never gave much thought to my Mom’s prediction until this week.  I mean, there really seems to be only one way to meet Daredevil, and I’m not much interested in getting mugged, or worse, tonight.”  She stopped in front of her building and patted his arm gently, so he knew to stop as well.  “Lucky for me, I met you instead and have managed to make it home without needing to be rescued.”

“Oh, so this is it, huh?”

“Yep.  I guess it is.  Thanks for the company and for breakfast, Matt.”

“You’re welcome.”  They stood together silently, neither of them in a hurry to leave.  Finally, Matt spoke.  “Abby?  Any chance you’d like to have dinner at my place tomorrow?  It won’t just be me.  Foggy and his girlfriend Marci will be there, as well as a few other friends of mine.”

“Oh, I’d hate to be an imposition,” she replied.  “We just met, and you weren’t really planning for me.”

“Trust me, there will be plenty of food.  Marci put herself in charge of the menu, and last time she did that, we had food for days.  It’ll be a lot of fun, and your mom would probably be happy that you’re out in the city, meeting new people.  Besides, I am very interested in her Famous Chocolate Reindeer Cake, if you were serious about that.”

“Oh, I was.  Best cake in town.  People would be sure to stop by on Christmas, just to get a slice.  I’ll be honest though.  This is the first year I made it without her help.  It looks good, but I have no idea how it will taste.”

“Then it’s settled.  You need taste testers, and I will have a room full of them.  Give me your number, and I’ll text you the address and details.”

“Well, okay,” she finally agreed.  “I guess it would be sad not to share that giant cake with other people.”  She typed her contact information into his phone, before they once again found themselves standing in awkward silence.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.  Merry Christmas, Abby.”

“Merry Christmas, Matt.”  She grinned like an idiot all the way up the three flights of stairs that led to her apartment.  Once the door was safely locked behind her, she made her way to the kitchen and sat her purse down on the counter.  Glancing at the decedent chocolate cake sitting there, she hoped it tasted as good as it looked for tomorrow.

She stopped on her way to the bedroom and found herself staring at a framed photo on the shelf.  “Well, Mom, looks like you got half of your prediction right.  I didn’t meet Daredevil tonight, but Matt seems like a really sweet guy and I think you’d really like him.  I miss you so much, but thanks to your insistence that I go to Mass, it looks like I won’t have to spend Christmas alone.  Even when you aren’t around, you’re still looking out for me.  Merry Christmas, Mom.  I love you.”

One building over, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen stood among the rooftop shadows, keeping watch until the lights went off in the third-floor apartment.  Satisfied that all was well, he turned to head home, enjoying the peaceful silence that had fallen over the usually bustling city below.

#matt murdock #daredevil #marvel christmas #matt murdock x ofc #daredevil fanfiction #matt murdock fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #christmas 2017 #my matty #i heard the bells on christmas day

[general-du-vallon]

for @canadiangarrison: I would like Athos saying this to Porthos, please: “As much as I want you to rest right now, it’s freaking me out that I can hold you down this easily", canon. It’s au, I dunno how or anything but it is set in my nice world where Constance and Anne are best gay friends and raise the lil prince in their non trad fam with his Dad and they all respect each other and... this is not about that at all. Like, at all. I dunno. Have fun :) LOL

Rest, that’s the eventual decision of the court physician when Porthos is dragged there by Constance, pulling in favours from Anne (Anne owes her a LOT of favours, after four years’ worth of companionship and friendship). Porthos comes out scowling and ignores Athos, Aramis and d'Artagnan many questions. He stomps back to the garrison and Treville greets them all cheerfully, then asks his own set of questions. Porthos is a little more deferential to Treville but still refuses actual answers to the questions, instead being vague and aggressively polite. He adds ‘sir’ or ‘captain’ to the end of every sentence in a manner quite frustrating and rather rude, though not in a way that can be pointed out. Treville stomps off up to his office and Porthos’s chin lifts, his lips tip up a tiny bit at the corners and his eyes brighten just a bit. He turns to Aramis and gets hold of his shoulder in a firm grip, propelling him into the practise yard and drawing his sword.

“Shall we read into him choosing to spar with Aramis instead of one of us?” d’Artagnan asks, he and Athos following to watch and settling on a table, boots up on the bench.

“Oh yes,” Athos says, eyes following Aramis carefully, watching each move. “We are far better than Aramis. Look how he’s still dropping his arm and throwing in ridiculous flourishes. He’s keeping an eye on the figure he cuts instead of his footwork.”

d’Artagnan laughs and watches for it, beaming when he catches Aramis fixing his hair and adjusting his stance to better show off his neat waist and profile. Porthos also catches the distraction and moves surprisingly quickly, getting in under Aramis’s loose guard and nicking his chest, above his open shirt-ties, inside the collar of his jacket, left open so it’ll billow. It’s neat and a pretty bit of footwork, deserving applause (possibly not applause, but Porthos likes applause so d’Artagnan fulfills that requirement when he feels it appropriate). d’Artagnan’s bringing his hands together and between once clap and then next Porthos loses his balance and falls, blade still dangerously close to Aramis’s throat. d’Artagnan stills and Athos stiffens, already moving, but Aramis has been watching for this and steading Porthos, twitching out of the way of the blade- Porthos only makes a small shallow cut along Aramis’s collarbone. Athos takes Porthos’s other arm and they hold him between them, his sword clatters to the ground, dropped, and Porthos pants, head bowed.

“Must I-” Athos begins.

“No,” Porthos says, still bad tempered but a little sheepish. He glances at Aramis.

“No apology necessary,” Aramis says, dabbing at the cut with a handkerchief. “No damage done.”

Porthos gives Aramis an irritable shove and Athos is sure he’d get the same treatment if Porthos could stand without aid right now. Athos takes advantage of whatever dizziness has overcome his friend and pulls him across the yard to the garrison rooms, ignoring Porthos’s protests that he’s fine and fit and ready to ride, blood and glory, screaming into battle.

“You’d fall from poor Mercredi’s back and leave her to fight a battle alone, and a horse is no match for whatever terrible enemy you are imagining,” Athos says, kicking his door until the latch gives (it usually does under firm vibration, Athos has fixed it. Inebriated entry is a normal enough occurrence that easy access is necessary).

“I bested Aramis,” Porthos points out as he’s propelled a little violently onto Athos’s bed, unmade this morning. “I’m fit.”

“Who exactly are you planning to fight, anyway?” Athos asks, curious for the answer, genuinely interested. There’s fears of a war with the Spanish, since the mess Rochefort made of things, but so far Anne has managed a tenuous peace with her brother. Athos takes off his boots and jacket and rests a hand on Porthos’s stomach, smiling when Porthos turns his head on the pillow to look up at Athos.

“Dunno,” Porthos says. “Red guard? Infidels?”

Athos snorts and removes Porthos’s boots, as he’s making no move to do so. He also takes Porthos’s belt and jacket, before Porthos notices he’s being readied for bed. Athos can guess the physician’s advice- if it was a serious illness Porthos would, grudgingly, have shared, and if it was nothing at all he’d have been crowing victory. Therefore, the probability is that the physician prescribed rest. Athos’s fingers find the ridge across Porthos’s hip and stomach, the still-healing and barely-scarred wound that laid him low month ago. He’s been back for two months but Athos has noticed his fatigue, and they’ve all noticed his bouts of dizziness. Athos hopes it’s from the way he’s been forgetting to eat and not been drinking, or rather drinking mainly wine, and not from some business with his head. He had taken a wallop or two in the fight, with bandits this time, near Savoy, but Athos is pretty sure Porthos’s hard head was up to the challenge.

“You barely acquiesce to Aramis’s urging that you attend church at Easter-tide,” Athos points out. “As infidel, without the egregious associations with bandits and those of a violent nature, or the use of the term as an accusation of baseness, is simply someone without religion…”

“What you on about?” Porthos asks, face scrunched up in amused disgust. “Anyway, if we’re gonna be pretentious and learned, let’s go Latin, where it means unfaithful. I’m gonna go fight the unfaithful.”

“What do you want them to be faithful to?” Athos asks, smiling again, stroking his cheek. He enjoys listening to Porthos talk.

“What’d it be like, do you think, if people were really faithful to God?” Porthos asks.

“What?” Athos says, hand stilling. Talking about belief is not the safest thing in the world, they’re all meant to believe in the same God and go through the important motion of church and prayer and faith. Athos had never taken Porthos for a religious man, but the way he said God’s name then had sounded different.

“Yeah, faith,” Porthos says, more energetically, pushing Athos away and sitting up. “Faith in Him, and that we can serve him by honouring and respecting people, and fighting for justice and what’s good and right. Instead of thinking that ‘faith’ means going to church and pretending and some kind of eradication of people who don’t fit in with our view of the world. We should have faith that if He made us, then we belong, and have faith that His view is right.”

“Oh,” Athos says, blinking. He’s known Aramis and Porthos to talk religion and debate theology, but he’s not usually the recipient of Porthos’s own ideas about faith.

“I’ve got faith as deep as Aramis,” Porthos says, defensive and belligerent. “Mine just trusts in God as I’ve found him, not in tracts and politics and maneuvering lines of what counts in order to make our wars.”

“I think Aramis…” Athos lets the thought slip away and presses a hand to Porthos’s chest, pushing him back down. “Stop distracting me with debates and lie down and rest.”

“You’re the one suggesting I fight infidels. Maybe I’ll fight Richelieu's ghost, I don’t think he had any faith at all,” Porthos grumbles, flat against Athos’s flat pillow again. Athos tries to put a blanket over his legs but Porthos kicks it forcefully away. “I’ll get my sword and go fight King Louis, he is perhaps not faithful.”

“I think we should forget the Latin for a while, at least until we’re able to censor ourselves and not speak treasonously,” Athos says.

“Athos, Aramis fucked the queen. There is no treason us four can commit any more, we’re already doomed,” Porthos says. Athos flinches, which makes Porthos laugh. “What? You think royalty somehow do it different?”

“You really should sleep,” Athos whispers, looking at his open window, the passing musketeers out in the yard close.

“Ah, thinking of me getting myself in trouble,” Porthos says, fondly, reaching up to pat Athos’s cheek. “I’m bored, I’m getting up.”

Athos sits, unsure what to do next. Aramis would probably sit on Porthos, d’Artagnan would probably get food and feed him until he was too full to move. Athos watches as Porthos sits up and gathers his things from where Athos dropped them off the side of the bed. When he leans over his eyes flutter closed, another fit passing over him.

“What did the physician tell you about that?” Athos asks, tersely.

“Nothing,” Porthos says, sitting up and glaring, stubbornly not swaying or closing his eyes.

Athos reaches out with two fingers and gives Porthos’s chest a gentle push, curious to see what will happen. To his surprise Porthos falls back, letting go his boots, lying flat on his back again. Athos hums and takes off his jacket, plan formed. He lies on top of Porthos, head resting on Porthos’s shoulder. Porthos struggles but it’s ineffective and eventually he subsides, grumbling softly. Athos stays there, glad of his success, and Porthos lies still and quiet for a time. They listen to the passing musketeers, their ribald conversations and complaints about their captain. Treville might technically be an advisor to the king but as he spends most of his days here and still fulfills the function of captain, they all ignore that.

“As much as I’m glad you’re resting,” Athos says, getting up on an elbow and looking at Porthos’s drowsy face, noting the pinch around his eyes and mouth, “it is not reassuring that I can hold you down so easily.”

Porthos opens his eyes and beams at Athos, bucking him off and getting up to his feet in a swift movement, grabbing Athos’s sword and standing, back to the door, steady and firm. In his stockings. Athos laughs, taking in his companion of so many years- broad shoulders, shirt loose, trousers tied messily this morning. His hair’s a cloud around his head, clean from leaping into a river with d’Artagnan yesterday. Porthos always makes something relent in Athos, the years and years of holding himself stiff and in control giving just enough. Porthos raises an eyebrow.

“Yes very good,” Athos says, shaking his head. “I am much relieved. I would be more impressed if I could not tell how much it is taking out of you.”

“My point is that I’m able,” Porthos says, dropping the sword and coming back over, dropping onto the bed with as little grace as the blade had falling. Athos is worried for his sword, his creaking bed, and Porthos. Less for Porthos, though.

“The physician told you to rest, which means you are fine,” Athos says, then holds up a hand when Porthos opens his mouth to say yes he knows he’s fine he’s been trying to tell people he’s fine. “You are fine, my Porthos, but your body needs to rest. You will make yourself ill really, if you do not rebuild your strength. Your blood is too thin from the loss of it. Drink wine and sleep and it will be thick once more.”

“Are you making up medical babble?” Porthos asks, crammed onto the bed, Athos pushed against the wall by him. It’s oddly comfortable.

“I am. Move, this is ridiculous,” Athos says. Porthos looks baffled for a moment then snorts and moves onto his back again so Athos can sprawl on top.

“Don’t trust me? That hurts, brother,” Porthos says, wriggling a hand over his heart, between his own and Athos’s bodies. “You are warmer than your tatty blanket. And it smells, what have you been doing with your evenings, Athos? Your bed smells like a stable.”

Athos keeps to himself that he slept in with Jeudi a few time last week when he was too drunk to find his room accurately. It’s comfortable and warm on top of Porthos and Athos is feeling dozy. He knows that there will be a war with the Spanish, and not in the too distant future, but right now the young prince is growing up, the queen is using her power to keep Louis from running the country like an infant, Louis himself is more interested in fatherhood than anything much else. And when war does come, Porthos will in all probability meet it with joy and stubborn competence. Athos will meet it with him, and probably lie on top of him to stop him getting himself into trouble. It’s an enjoyable technique. Porthos lets out a great snore, interupting Athos’s thoughts, and Athos takes the opportunity of Porthos sleeping to examine the lines on his face, the fatigue. It all looks like it’ll clear, with sleep. Athos smiles and rests his head on Porthos’s chest again, content.

#prompt #My fic #Canadiangarrison rocks

[camiii]

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I wrote a love&kickin’ thing. For Jo, @iamdelouded, because of reasons. I hope it makes you smile <3

Nick walks through the front door, immediately noticing the absence of overly excited dog twisting around his legs and demanding attention. He drops his gym bag and steps out of his sneakers, wincing at the way his legs are trembling from his workout. His trainer is out to murder him, he’s sure. “Lou?” He calls out, assuming Louis is home since Pig is still nowhere to be seen. Usually she takes full advantage of Louis’ presence to be all over him, demanding cuddles and playtime in equal measure.

 He heads for the living room, easily spotting Louis on the sofa. The telly is on, a rerun of EastEnders on the screen. “There you are.” He smiles. “Both of you,” he adds as he walks round the edge of the sofa and spots Pig curled up with her head in Louis’ lap.

“Hey.” Louis replies, and Nick can tell right away that something’s wrong. Louis looks upset. There’s a downward tilt to his mouth and his eyes don’t light up at the sight of Nick the way they usually do when they’ve spent time apart.

 “Hi love.” Nick leans in for a quick kiss over the back of the sofa, and to give Pig’s ear a scratch. “What’s up?”

 Louis shrugs. “Nothing. Watching telly.”

 “How was training?” Nick prods, knowing full well that sometimes Louis needs a bit of coaxing to admit that something’s wrong.

 “Okay.” Louis replies.

 Nick doesn’t believe him. “Yeah?” Nick prompts him, gently. “You sure?”

 “That’s what I said, innit?”

 “I know, it’s just-” Nick pauses, trying to choose his words wisely. “You seem a bit off, that’s all.”

 “What?” Louis snaps, shooting him a glare from under his messy fringe. “The second I’m not dancing from joy the second you walk through the door I’m ‘off’? Wow.”

 Nick blinks, forcing himself to take deep, calming breath instead of throwing something back at Louis. He’s too tired for this and he really wants a shower. He doesn’t reply to Louis’ outburst, but his unimpressed look and raised eyebrow is probably comment enough. Louis frowns, sinking deeper into the sofa.

 “Right. I’m gonna have a shower.” Nick tells him, and doesn’t wait for Louis to respond before he walks off in direction of the bathroom.

 He showers quickly, too uneasy to really enjoy it fully. He wants to know what’s wrong but he also really don’t feel like getting his head bitten off. Once he’s dressed in a pair of jeans Louis would describe as ‘more holes than denim’ and a well worn t-shirt he heads for the kitchen. He puts the kettle on before placing a capsule in the coffee machine, ambling restlessly around the kitchen while he waits for the water to come to a boil. He tops up his own mug of coffee with lactofree, and then pours regular milk into Louis’ tea.

 Louis is in the same position as when Nick left, with Pig still sleeping on his lap. The only difference is that there’s an episode of GBBO on the telly now. Nick hands him the mug without a word, ignoring Louis’ surprised look as he sits down on the other end of the sofa and tucks his feet under himself. He brings up Instagram on his phone, scrolling through his feed while he sips his coffee.

 He’s more than halfway done with his coffee when Louis reaches out to set his mug down on the table, dislodging Pig in the process and causing her to trot out into the hallway in an insulted huff. Nick watches Louis from the corner of his eye, adamant not to take the first step. He’s refreshing Twitter for a third time when Louis clears his throat softly, and Nick decides to take pity on him by putting his phone away.

 “Training was a bit shit.” Louis says. He’s not looking at Nick, twisting the string of his hoodie around his fingers. “There’s a lot of tension still, from last week and lots of talk about the line-up and… I don’t know.”

 “That’s not all on you, though, is it?” Nick reminds him gently. He knows how proud Louis was to be made captain this season. How hard he has worked to be someone that leads the team by example. How much time he has spent worrying over if he’s a good enough role model for the younger players, if he’s good enough, period.

 “It’s not.” Louis admits, but there’s still a frustrated look on his face. Nick kind of wants to reach out and smooth out the worry creasing his forehead with his fingers. “I kinda made it worse though, I got into an argument with Liam.”

 Nick can’t keep the surprise out of his voice. “With Liam?”

 “I know.” Louis groans, frustratedly, burying his face in his hands for a second. “Fuck. It was such an unnecessary comment on my part but Liam was being a brat and I kinda...snapped. In front of the others. And that’s not the kind of captain I want to be and this weekend’s match is so bloody important if we want to have a shot at the title and-”

 “And?”

 “And it’s the twins’ birthday on Saturday and we’re gonna miss it.”

 Nick loves him a lot. “But they’re having the party next weekend.”

 “I don’t like them making sacrifices because of me.”

 “It’s not a sacrifice, they still get their party. They don’t mind having it next week instead.”

 “Ugh, I know.” Louis tips his head back against the backrest, face turned towards Nick. He looks very young, suddenly, biting his lip nervously before he speaks up again. “Liam was angry with me. He’s never angry.”

 “Do you think you owe him an apology?”

 “I know I do.” Louis frowns. He’s pouting a little and Nick knows Louis won’t make it to tomorrow’s training session before setting things right with Liam. He’ll probably end up calling him later in the evening.

 “Come on.” Nick says, quietly, holding his arms out for Louis and hoping it will be enough.

 Louis doesn’t need to be asked twice. He plasters himself against Nick’s side, following Nick’s lead as Nick  maneuvers them so that they’re lying down, Louis wedged in the small space between Nick and the back of the sofa. Louis throws a leg over Nick’s thigh, slipping as hand underneath Nick’s t-shirt, fingers splayed over his ribs.

 Nick wraps an arm around Louis’ shoulders, pulling him closer. “Pig!” He calls out quietly, listening to the tell tale clatter of her claws against the wooden floors. “Pig dog, come here.”

 She does, jumping up onto the sofa and draping herself over their legs. Nick catches the edge of Louis’ small smile.

 “Good dog.” Louis tells her quietly, petting her head.

 “What about me?” Nick jokes. He lightly pinches Louis’ waist, pleased when Louis’ squirming brings him closer.

 “You’re good too.”

 Louis is going to be nodding off within minutes, Nick can tell from the way his shoulders are finally losing a bit of their tension, his accent a little more pronounced. It’s okay, they both deserve a nap.

 “So, so good.” Louis mumbles, hand twitching against Nick’s side. “The best.”

.

#my stuff #love and kickin #tomlinshaw #iamdelouded

[evenstevensranked]

#44: Season 1, Episode 6 - “Louis In The Middle”

This week, Louis coincidentally saves big shot on campus Blake Thompson's life (who's clearly not 13 years old and only in this one episode) by stopping him from choking on a piece of steak, lol ok. After that, Blake welcomes him into his entourage -- He even calls Louis his "main man." But, it doesn't take long for things to go south. Meanwhile, there’s romantic tension between Ren & Larry and we need to talk about it.

The episode opens in the school cafeteria with Louis doing some Marlon Brando impressions for Tawny and Twitty ("I made him an offer he couldn't refuse" / "I coulda been a contender" and "sTELLA!!!!") All quotes that would most likely go over kids' heads. While shouting "Stella" he whacks Blake Thompson in his precious face -- which is something you’re not supposed to do I guess. But turns out, it’s okay! "As long as it's not the nose. Anything but the nose” Blake says. That’s good to know. We learn that Blake is so popular because he’s been in a few commercials. That’s apparently enough to warrant celebrity treatment in Sacramento.  

We get a pretty inappropriate quote around here. Twitty says that Blake did a Doc Dennier’s hot dog commercial a few years back. Louis sings the jingle "If it's not Doc Dennier’s, you're just eatin' wieners!" To which Tawny replies "I don't eat wieners." - Oh, dear God. Haha.

Blake starts choking in the middle of telling some arrogant story about himself, but people think he’s “acting” at first. Haha, why else would someone start choking mid sentence? For dramatic effect?! Louis realizes that Blake is actually choking and it’s like Hero Mode: Activated. Where did this side of Louis come from?! He rattles off information and gives commands to people around him like he’s a freaking EMT or something! He goes behind Blake to give him the Heimlich maneuver. Here we get a slightly inappropriate bit of Louis shouting "I'M THRUSTING! I’M THRUSTING!!!" paired with this image: 

I wish I wasn’t an adult and didn’t notice this.  

After this, Blake is all "You saved my life. You're a genuine hero. Welcome to my entourage!" We see the character Ivan used as Blake's sidekick here. He’s only in a few episodes.. but he’s usually Larry Beale’s lackey. So using him here just makes him seem even more fickle and desperate. Which works, I guess. Blake tells Ivan to basically wait on Louis hand and foot now. You can already tell that Louis is letting this somewhat newfound popularity go to his head. AS UAUAL! Louis does some of his impressions for Blake and he seems to think Louis is funny........... for now. I hate fake people. 

Also during this opening cafeteria scene, Larry/Ren conflict is set up for the subplot. Ren is Student Policy Monitor and thinks the school deserves better lunch options. I agree. Last time I checked, school cafeteria food is one step above what they serve in prison. She stands up and gives a little speech about her plans to improve the food.. but Larry keeps interrupting, cracking jokes, and mocking her.  

You know it’s serious. He’s giving her The Hand.

Twitty and Tawny become concerned about Louis possibly succumbing to peer pressure. I like this part because Tawny tries not to worry and says “No one knows the real Louis better than I do. Deep down he’s classy, caring, very very intelligent...” - It’s supposed to be a joke but it’s actually surprisingly true. Either way, she decides they should keep an eye on him. 

The next day, Louis is telling jokes to Ivan and some popular girls at lunch.  

This is where the episode takes a sad turn. Ivan goes over to Blake all excited about how funny Louis is, but Blake says “Dude. Grow up, the guy’s a dork!” You can tell Ivan was genuinely entertained by Louis but forces himself to ditch him for the sake of staying on Blake’s good side. Sigh. After losing a phone argument with his mom about cleaning his room (like the big important celebrity he is), Blake just kinda stares at Louis with disgust. And of course, Louis is oblivious.

Seriously, this guy is a 35 year old 8th grader. I guess that’s what happens when hot dog commercials are your top priority... 

Tawny has been “observing” Louis the whole time. He sees her and asks "What are you, choppin' hedges?!" I always loved that.

Tawny says she and Twitty are worried he's becoming a "pod person." I never heard anyone say that term before this show. And I never knew what it meant so I looked it up: 

"A person pretending to be something they aren't, or an impostor. This is inferred because of the old alien movies where alien pods appear on earth and the "pod people" dispose of the humans and slowly reproduce the bodies, pretending to be humans."

I honestly remember thinking she was saying “Pot person” when I was young and that Louis was secretly doing drugs or something, lol. I was like ~ooohhh this is getting Degrassi-deep right now!~ The whole conversation was Very Serious and ended with Louis getting offended and taking her concern the wrong way. He feels like they’re just jealous of him having new, cool friends. Oh, Louis.

Ren asked for everyone to submit cafeteria suggestions into a suggestion box. Which was a good little idea... until Larry decided to stuff the box with offensive things about her. Like, who tries that hard?! Oh my god. He must really hate her, or really love her and has a strange evil way of showing it. She decides to resign from public service. Larry finds out, and he's clearly upset about it. 

Charlotte (who makes her last appearance in this episode) and Ren reading through Larry’s messages. i.e. “Can you do something about the tuna casserole? It smells like Ren Stevens’ breath.” - Wow, Larry.

When Louis tries to do an Austin Powers impression for Blake the next day, he tears Louis down and says his 15 minutes of fame are over and he's done tolerating him. Nice! 

I just had to include this image. “Gagalicious, babehhh!” 

Blake tells Louis to go hang with his own friends. Only problem is -- Louis kinda ditched Tawny and Twitty. This leads to a mirror talk! Yaaaaay!!!! I love how consistent these were in Season 1, wow! This time, he treats it like he’s doing stand-up:

"For those of you keeping score at home... My new friends, they don't like me. My old friends, they don't like me. So I guess the score is Friends - 0, Louis - Really 0. I guess next time I'll think twice before I save a guys life."

Later that night, Ren's watching a romance soap opera when Larry shows up at The Stevens house to apologize to her. Yo, I swear to god. There is so much romantic tension here!!! He tells Ren that they've been competing against each other ever since the 5th grade and that she can't just give up. Because "If there's no Ren Stevens, there's no Larry Beale." WHAAAT?! It gets all awkward and Ren invites him to stay and watch the rest of the show with her. He says "No thanks, I think I've had enough soap operas for one day," and LOOKS HER UP AND DOWN with a sly smile. She's left sitting there like "ok :) ????" They're the best ship that never sailed on this show: 

Come on, now! She’s all blushy and confused lol

Louis is all upset and wants to find a way to be Blake's friend again. WHY, LOUIS?! WHYYYY?! They're holding a school car wash and Louis sees a car about to kind of -- sort of -- not really, back into Blake and “crush him,” so he runs over to push him out of the line of fire in an attempt to save his life again. Buuuut, he just ends up getting water all over Blake and angering him. Louis insists “I’M SAVING YOUR LIFE OVER AND OVER AND OVERRR!!!!” but Blake yells “Stay away from me forever” at him in front of everyone. So that’s the end of that. 

Tawny and Twitty observe this, as well. Tawny says “Louis’ constant craving for approval combined with his youngest child syndrome has basically split his personality in two.” - THAT’S SO SPOT ON THOUGH?!?! I love how they gave Tawny these lines. They really show how well she understands him. 

Tawny decides she and Twitty have to go to “drastic measures” to shock Louis back into reality. They come up with a plan that involves Tawny as a damsel in distress tied to train tracks, and Twitty as an evil train conductor about to run her over. They plan it so Louis has no choice but to ride up on his bike and save her in the nick of time. He does, and this is their way of forgiving him and becoming friends again, haha. It's cute. Pretty unrealistic. But cute. 

Louis: “Isn’t this is the part where you tell me I’m your hero and ya kiss me?”

Tawny: “Don’t push it.”

Following their romantic-tension-filled heart to heart, Larry starts taking Ren's side and supporting her at lunch after she becomes Policy Monitor again. "You heard the lady! If you have a suggestion, you fill it out and put it in the box. Continue, Miss Policy Monitor..." he says: 

They’re so cute. Why didn’t they happen?! They totally could’ve turned this into one of those passionate mortal enemies falling in love tropes, lol. I’ll always be salty over this. 

The episode ends with Louis sticking two carrots up his nose at lunch to assure Twitty and Tawny that things are back to normal. It’s adorable, haha.

I love the look Tawny gives him! Awwwww. If you haven’t guessed... I SHIP IT. 

So yeah! That’s it. I don’t really know what else to say about this one. It’s not bad at all. It’s just a little.... eh. It’s not bad, but it’s not amazing. This one is genuinely very neutral. It easily could’ve been placed anywhere on the list, imo. But, I just decided on #44. I really love the Larry/Ren stuff here. This is one of three big moments in the series where you really sense that they have weird repressed feelings for each other or something. I like it a lot and wish they went for it! Other than that, there are some nice Louis moments and development here (I love the mirror talk, for example) and I really like the subtle Louis/Tawny hints as well. But, yeah. This one is pretty chill overall.

As always, thanks for reading!! <3 

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