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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 1 year

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Pt. 1 | Pt. 2

Shorter Part 3, sorry y’all 😭

“Does this have to do with the rose?” Dustin asks them as soon as they are alone in the car. ‘Damn,’ Steve thinks, ‘I should’ve dropped you off first.’

“What do you know about the rose?” Steve asks, trying to sound nonchalant.

“I know it’s from his secret admirer.”

“You know about that?”

“Of course I do, Steve, he tells that story to everyone who will listen.” Dustin says as if it’s common knowledge.

“So who are your theories? I know you’ve got them.” Steve says

“I have no clue.” Steve looks at him confused “I really don’t. I even told Eddie that we could figure it out if we saw the note but he just shook his head and went back to grinning that goofy grin he had.”

“…And that’s bad?”

“Well no, I just figured he’d want help figuring it out, but that’s not the weird part about it all. He didn’t even have everything set up when we got there.”

Steve gives Dustin a confused glance, trying to keep his eyes on the road in front of him.

“Eddie normally gets there super early to set everything up, but even by time Lucas got there just before we were about to start, all of Eddie’s DM stuff was still in his bag. Literally only the tables and his throne were pulled out where they were supposed to be. He just kept staring at that damn rose with that lovestruck look on his face.”

“Hey, language! But yeah, that is weird? What? Don’t look at me like that, I’ve been around you all long enough to know that’s out of character for him..he loves that game.” Steve chuckles to himself, thinking about the party’s collective confused faces at Eddie’s soft one. “Alright, doofus, this is you. Tell your mom I say ‘Hi’.”

Dustin rolls his eyes and shuffles out the car door and up the drive.

Steve waits until he’s safely inside before backing out, and heading home.

‘holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshi—‘ Steve’s brain played on a loop, his face splitting into a grin.

——————

The (now) third time Eddie "hears" from his secret admirer is definitely not when he was expecting. It kind of makes sense, if his secret admirer really is into him still he'd know that Eddie plays at the Hideout on Tuesday nights. But if he's being honest with himself, the rose flung up on stage while they were still drowned in spotlight was the second most surprising thing of the night. Actually, make that third.

First was the size of the crowd. Being accused of a ritualistic murder does have one benefit then, it has a tendency to make you seem more metal than you might actually be (especially within the metal community). The dingy little bar was actually packed tonight. So many people were there to see Eddie and his bandmates that it was the start of his nervousness. And Eddie never gets nervous about playing, it’s like breathing to him.

Secondly (and the second reason for Eddie to be nervous that night) was that Steeeeve Harrington himself was there to see him play. Him along with Buckley AND Nancy Wheeler had even dressed up for the occasion, pulling out as much black and grungy looking pieces from the backs of their wardrobes as they could find. Eddie swears Wheeler is wearing one of the old band tees Robin stole from him and Steve is wear-holy fuck. HOLY FUCK. Steve Harrington is wearing his (His! Eddie Munson’s!) battle vest. How the fuck he managed to keep it is beyond him but…yep. Eddie’s vest looks just as good on Steve now than it did in that upside-down hellscape.

Only a second had gone by in the time it took Eddie to process all of this before the lights go down and the spotlight is blinding him to everything beyond the stage.

“Get your head in gear, Munson, you’ve got a whole bar full of people to blow away… shit” Eddie mumbles to himself before stepping up to the mic.

And of course, no matter his surprise or nervousness about anything (or anyone) in the crowd that night, the show goes off without a hitch. He’s saying his goodbyes to the crowd as they cheer, holler, and whistle for them, some people are even throwing things. A couple of coasters with phone numbers scrawled on them are frisbee’d onto the stage around him, one (1) singular pair of panties (wtf this is insane), and from his right, just before the lights come back up in the bar, a single red rose tied with a black ribbon.

Time slows down. That’s the only way he could’ve snatched it out of the air the way he did.

He catches it and the crowd lets loose a few wolf whistles. Eddie grins so wide his face hurts. “Thank you guys so much, we’ll be here next week!” he jeers and lifts the rose in his hand in the air like he’s showing it off. The lights finally come up, and Eddie looks directly toward where the rose came from, trying to see if he recognized any of the faces. The only face he recognizes is Steve’s, off a good bit to the left from where the rose came at him, and who is also looking around for who it would’ve come from. Steve looks up at Eddie, and shrugs, he didn’t see anything either.

‘Of course he’s going to act like he didn’t see anything if he’s the one who threw it.’ Eddie’s brain helpfully supplies.

Nope. NOPE. Not going there, that’s so impossible. Steve was a good friend, even if he was blissfully unaware of the affect he had on Eddie.

Eddie shrugs back at Steve before turning back to the guys and helping them pack up their stuff.

“What does this one say?” Gareth asks him when they’re lugging the last of the equipment off the stage.

“Ermph durnup.” Eddie mumbles around the rose stem in his mouth. He sets the amps he was carrying at the back door to be loaded into his van (Which Steve was so graciously helping with). Eddie spits the rose out into his hand as Steve comes back into the doorway. Now ALL of them waiting on Eddie to read out the note. Even Robin and Wheeler have come backstage to watch them work. “Haven’t read it yet.”

“What’s happening now?” Nancy asks, confused. ‘Was she really never around during any of the re-tellings of this story?’ Eddie thinks to himself

“My secret admirer threw this to me as we were wrapping up our set.” Eddie waggles his eyebrows at the older Wheeler “I tried to see who it was, but by the time the lights came back on and I could actually see past the stage, the crowd was already thinning out.”

“They probably didn’t want to be recognized just yet? Even I looked around as soon as I could see again, but yeah, everyone had started dispersing.” Steve chimed in from the doorway he was leaning against, arms crossed across his chest. Damn were his arms always that huge?

“Uh_uh yeah, I do love a guy with a flair for dramatics.” everyone chuckled at that

“Of course you do Munson” Steve smiled at him “Now hurry up and read it!”

“OK, OK, this one says ‘You alone can make my song take flight’.” Eddie sings the line softly, redness creeping up his cheeks as his friends react around him.

“Ew, that’s so gross I’m gonna barf.” - Robin

“That’s so sweet!” - Nancy

“You’re going to be talking about this for weeks aren’t you?” - Gareth

Various well-meaning eye rolls come from the rest of his bandmates as they take care of the amps Steve had been neglecting.

And Steve, Steve was looking at Eddie with the warmest, fondest smile he’d ever seen.

Hmm…

____________________________________________

Pt. 4 will be here! Thank you for reading!!

Now on AO3! Several Notes of the Most Amiable Nature

Tagging everyone I can!: @manda-panda-monium , @destielinimpala , @ilovecupcakesandtea , @maya-custodios-dionach , @thefreakandthehair , @youmakemyhearthowl , @phantypurple , @kerlypride , @hagbaby420 , @yes-im-your-mom , @tinydragonhuman , @beeing-stuupid , @ineffablecolors , @m00gl3ness , @background-noise-headache , @jojobeaner , @bitedownonmydestiel , @orangeandthefairroadkill , @llamaoftheinternet , @captain-daryn , @undreamingscatworld , @britishmysteries , @sharpbutsoft , @funnymagicman-named-dandy , @allbymyselfexceptformycactus , @wearelosersyoudumbfuck , @itsthebeckyzone , @thegingervulcan , @urmomification , @wonderingglances , @calciferousoai , @csinnamon-fox , @straight4joekeery , @alex-axolotl , @nitro502 , @whorenerdking , @skeletoneddie , @eddiehashands , @prosedumpofmaya , @werewolfpeterparker , @bigboyandmetalhead , @stevethescareington , @xxbottlecapx , @starkdusk , @legitcookie , @withacapitalp

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #mine #secret admirer au #secret admirer #phantom!eddie #phantom of the opera #stranger things #st #st s4 #st fillet #stranger things ficlet #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #pt 3 #1500 #several notes of the most amiable nature

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blorbocedes · 1 year

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Nico Rosberg gets his back blown out on his electric yacht

source: youtube

#nico rosberg #FOR FREE!!! ON MAIN!!!!#my gifs #i realised if he's gonna post st sebastian poses on main im gonna have to gif it #filleted white salmon fish #nico rosberg massage #ngl the arch is sexy #sexy geriatric man

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awhiteworkshop · 9 months

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Posh Fish Fingers Recipe These pan-fried, breaded fish fingers are so delicious that they might even be offered at a fancy restaurant.

#fish fingers #flounder fillets #hotel st. george #fish #dip fish

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historia-vitae-magistras · 11 months

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Part Five: Interrogations

First Installment: Here.

Last Installment: Here.

Current Installment: You are here!

Author's note: Inspired by the 1950s short story "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson. This installment of the Viking-time-travel au sees Arthur ever so polite, some light torture and gore, some slightly tenderized federal fillet and some primo semi-sane eldritch Mattie. This should be the last use of humans.

21st Century

Washington DC

Diplomatic Security Service

It was easy enough. Two minutes in the car, three key card swipes of Alfred’s ID cards Matthew had lifted from his apartment, four steps past the secretary’s back as she left for the night. Five more as he entered a shitty little office in some shitty little government building.

“Good evening,” Arthur, in the very image of proper manners, greeted the man sitting behind the desk, hand extended to introduce himself. "Arthur Kirkland, I believe I may have some business with you."

“They said you might come.” Corcoran muttered. He didn't shake Arthur's hand. His son’s handler was a paunch-laden man with a red face and puffy hands named Cocorcan in his forties. He was only somewhat familiar to Arthur, as Alfred had been on his best behaviour lately, studying hard to fling himself off the planet again. No one serious had been given the post for some time.

"Did they do? I am glad to hear it! Hopefully, that will help us smooth this along!"

“What… would that be?”

“I haven’t heard from my son, your chief responsibility, in some time.” Arthur had not sat. He ran a finger through some dust on a shelf holding official-looking framed certificates and made a face—Corcoran sweat. Arthur squashed his pleasure. “Now, why would that be?”

“I’m sure service is spotty.” Corcoran tried. And failed.

“Is that so?” Arthur countered. “Are you quite sure about that?”

"It's a space station. How reliable could cell service be?” Corcoran gave a pathetic shrug.

“You may want to consider your answer. You have one more opportunity before I hand things over to my associate, if only because Alfred is ever so fond of the inept fools put in charge of him. Have you anything to say about that?”

“Like I said—”

He didn’t get another word out before the blood had drained from his face. Matthew appeared at Arthur’s shoulder, and Corcoran looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“You’re dead, they dragged you out of Hudson Bay!” Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Is that right?" Arthur glanced at Matthew. Honestly, it was more difficult to keep him alive now that he was grown than when he was small. Well, grown. Overgrown. He took in the lad's height. They would have to talk about that. And the Matthew did look like he’d been dead for a day or two, but that was par for the course for his boy when stressed. Somewhere between refusing to cry and appearing at Arthur's, his face had transformed into the one Arthur had rarely seen in recent years. His son had not been a creature of the shadows for some time, and the sharp points of his face were predatory. “Well, that would explain how uncontrollable he’s become! Made quite a mess. Come back wrong, did you lad?”

Corcoran didn’t respond. He put his hand to his waist, where there would be a service pistol. Matthew was faster, his fingers finding the attaching small joints of Corcoran’s dominant hand and pinching so tightly that Corcoran’s grip jumped open. One smooth motion saw the man’s face smushed against the wall, one arm flailing, the other bent at an extreme angle behind his head. Even the smallest resistance would see the shoulder pop out at a sickening angle. It was Matthew’s favourite grapple. The maneuver didn’t require strength, and he efficiently used his stronger left hand and great height. Smart lad.

Matthew easily disarmed him, kicking the pistol across the floor, then an out-of-date mobile phone. Arthur pocketed both. And then, looking happier than he had in days, Matthew put the tip of his old paratrooper knife against the man’s jugular.

"You can start talking, or I can start cutting." The knife's point rested against the man's skin, and Matt stared hard into his eyes as the Corcoran dragged his head to stare out at Matthew. Matthew hadn’t slept, which would be evident to anyone, but his son was unstable. Arthur knew better. Matthew looked unpredictable, unhinged and half mad, precisely what the situation needed. What had been frustrated tears were now red-rimmed eyes on a sharp, bone-pale face. He looked out of control, breathing hard, his eyes narrow, desperate and… oddly gleeful. “You choose.”

"I'm afraid the lad is rather handy with his whittling." Arthur added as if noting the weather was particularly pleasant that day. He pulled the points of his waistcoat down and leaned over. “Won medals when he was a lad. I suggest doing as asked.”

“I can’t!”

“Loyal to your country, are you?” Matthew asked, his voice hardly audible. Soft and insane. “Might want to give that loyalty a second thought."

Shot through with pride, Arthur suppressed a smile and clicked his tongue in a scolding way, and shook his head, like Matthew was being petulant about naptime. “Just answer a few questions, and this will all go away.”

“You can't do this! It’ll be right to the electric chair for both of you.”

“Just because you kill me doesn’t mean I’ll die.” Matthew’s pressure on the blade increased; just enough that blood trickled down Corcoran’s jugular. The man trembled. Matthew put his face closer to Corcoran’s jaw. “You did something to my brother. My brother. His laughter was the first thing I knew of humanity. And you’re going to tell me where the fuck he is or you will never hear another laugh. Neither will your wife or your children. Anyone who ever knew you will know nothing but the silence I have endured. There will be nothing but winter where you once knew joy.”

Jesus Christ. Arthur blinked, once and then twice. Well, the boys had always been fond of each other.

Corcoran whimpered. Arthur rolled his shoulders and sighed, disappointed in him.

"We wouldn't want you to make a poor choice, would we? My boy is wonderfully creative.”

Corcoran broke.

#my writing || cacoethes scribendi #I have a lot of pent up emotions rn so eriogeorjigjioerg sorry #the dangeld axe to grind: the viking age time travel au #matthew || my country is winter #Arthur and the children || bilge rat and his bouncing baby bilge rats

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fangirlstorycreator · 4 months

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CK Terry Silver X Reader

Context: first you were enemies....but now he was about to be your lover...😏 Part 3

It was now time for you to leave and go back home, now that Johnny and Daniel got the help they needed with Terry. News had developed about Terry. Daniel and Chozen had discovered that not only had Terry sold the dojo and sacked Sensei Kim, but that his beach house was now on sale. So not only had he stopped his scheming, but he was leaving all together! You never knew you could cause a man like that to leave everything behind, clearly you had left an affect on him....more than you knew....You and the group didn't know where he was going, but none of them cared, they were just happy that he couldn't threaten them anymore. That morning you had packed all your things and were saying goodbye to Johnny, Chozen, Daniel and his family outside your taxi. Giving them hugs and getting contact details from Daniel and Chozen to keep in touch aswell. You had just opened your door to the taxi when Johnny rested his hand on your shoulder, with a brotherly look in his eye. "Thank you for everything Y/N, we couldn't have done this without you" "Your welcome Johnny, I'm glad I could help you all" "Did you want a copy of that video? It's definitely a funny one!" "In your eyes Johnny, but I just see me threatening to pull out Kim's pony tail" "Yeh! Funny!" You huff with a smile, and with one last hug, you climb into the taxi and it drives you away from Daniel's house. The hotel you had been staying at during your visit had someone else booked for the next day, so you decided to just travel in the taxi to a hotel just before the train station to take you back home. This was a very posh hotel, expensive and was definitely not something you were used to. But it was only for one night and it was just somewhere to rest your head before the full day of travelling on the train the next day. You entered the hotel lobby and it was overly fancy, and the concierge wore a suit that looked like it cost more than 3 months of your wages. Good afternoon madam, may I get your name for your room?" "Yes, Y/N L/N" "Ah yes, I shall show you to your room, please follow me"

He lead you upstairs and to your room, and it was just as posh and large as the lobby. Enormous bed, shower and bath bigger than your flat at home, and a silver bucket with champagne on ice.

"Please enjoy your stay madam, dinner shall be served in the dining hall at 7. Fillet steak or Smoked salmon?" "Steak please" "How to you like it done?" "Medium well" "Thank you madam, we shall see you soon" And just like that, he left you in this overly large room, and you had no idea what to even do in this kind of hotel. That's when you think to yourself, when do you get the chance to be in this kind of hotel? Never! So enjoy yourself! You head downstairs to a spa and sauna, that was amazing! You enjoyed the steam room, swam in the large heated pool and enjoyed complimentary cocktails. Then you went back upstairs and ordered little food samples with room service before dinner. Scallops in garlic and parsley butter, seared chicken breast in red wine and onions, and the best one, caramel and chocolate fudge brownie. They were small, but soooooo good!

After that, you relaxed once again in water, but this time in the bath of your bathroom. Using the exotic bath lotions, making your skin smell and feel incredible. By the time you got out, you smelled like sweet vanilla and coconut. It was nearly time for dinner, so you poped on something nice and headed down into this beautiful dining room. You waited to have your food brought out, and even after your lovely hotel experience, your mind was now running again from the whole experience of being in the valley. Helping Johnny and the others, beating up Kim....meeting Terry...Why was he in your mind most of all? I mean sure you couldn't deny that he was a handsome man, but he was awful! Cruel and manipulative to everyone who was around him....and yet....you still found him attractive. You slap yourself on the wrist for thinking that, how could you think that about him? He tried to manipulate and destroy your cousin, his friends and family, and he was so smug about it all....well....until you put him in his place. He's a fighter, so why do as he was told by you that day? Unless he did finaly see what he had become, or......did he like being told what to do? Someone like him who has so much authority must never have anyone dare to talk to him like that, he clearly wasn't used to it.

So if that's the case, which one was right? Did he see past the facade? Or did he like your authority? You try to shake away those thoughts just as the waiter brings your food over, every bite was astonishing. Once you finished, you sat back and enjoyed all the flavours you had tasted, when the waiter comes over with a small glass of champagne. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't order this" "I know madam, this is compliments from a lovely gentleman who happens to be one of our regulars. Enjoy" He left before you could ask who it was, you didn't recognise anyone around the dining room when you looked, and two diffrent gentlemen left the dining room at the same time with their backs turned. Who ordered you a drink? Something smelled fishy, you didn't drink it, and left it on the table before heading back to your room. Some time went by and it was starting to get dark outside, so you just decided to chill out in your room and watch a bit of TV.

There wasn't much on, some news, some music channels, but decided on a channel that was showing a TV show called How I Met Your Mother. It was funny, quirky, and it distracted you from the thoughts that had been swimming in your mind lately. You were just sat on the enormous bed, charging your phone and watching TV, when all of a sudden a gentle knock came at the front door. "I didn't order room service, thank you" You shout out to whoever it was, but they appeared to have not listened, and another knock came to the door once again. Huffing and rolling your eyes, you climb off the bed and walk over to the door, expecting to see the concierge or maybe someone who had their room mixed up with yours. It had happend before in previous hotels, why not this one? You unlock the door and pull it open. "Look, I don't know if-" You were stunned into silence. This was not who you were expecting, it wasn't the concierge, it wasn't someone who looked confused about their room. "...........Terry Silver?........." you ask in confusion. ".......Hello Y/N......."

#sensei targaryen #terry silver #cobra kai #terry silver x reader

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jack-the-fool · 7 months

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Death of a Businessman | Ron Stampler

what the water gave me florence & the machine / pastel and oil painting deborah quinn-munson / clementine von radics / dndads sz1 the tower of terry / how to fillet a fish saveur.com / dndads sz1 a man and his handshake / photo of kelp in the surf of st. george island, ak / dndads sz1 van on the run / dndads sz2 spider-boyz: homecoming / crush richard siken / underwater photo of person wearing black shirt time marshall / into the ocean blue october / dndads sz2 alright / the old man in the sea xueling zou / what the water gave me florence & the machine

#in honor of me almost catching up with dndad have this #inspired by me having emotions about the mention of ron's death #dndads #dungeons and daddies #dndads s2 #ron stampler #webweaving #dndads ron #dndads terry jr #dndads scary #jack.txt

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turnthemasunder-if · 8 months

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Happy STS! But oh no! One of your characters has been stabbed! What chaos does this bring about? Who's been stabbed, who did the stabbing, who yanks the sword out without thinking, etc.? ♥️

Hello Tori thank you for the ask and I apologize for not answering your first ones been busy haha. So reading this made me laugh(Alot) because on the crew's line of job its very stabby Hazard lol.

Let's try to interview them shall we.

(Chase) Author- Hey buddy I got an ask?(Seeing a scissor on his arm)

Chase- Oh this? It's nothing(Waving it off) tried hitting a girl on the way home.

Author- What does this girl looks like?( Inquire getting curious)

Chase- Wellll...She's wearing a mask and carrying a scissor for some reason and oh she has the biggest smile you ever seen( He says happily.

Author- Uh huh!...It seems that you have met Ms. Kuchisake-onna and let me guess she ask if she's beautiful and you replied no?

Chase- Yup(Removing the scissor on his arm) but I was gonna say she's hot and well she stabbed me on the arm and run off. I feel so wozzy!(Then he fall faced first to the ground passing out maybe from blood loss)

(Charles)

Author- Hey there princess!(Waving him off)

Charles- Damn it! How many times do I have to say to you bastards that don't call me that!(He says and plucking out some glass shards on his hands)

Author- Are you alright?(Eyeing him with concern)

Charles- Am I alright?( He ask exasperated) I swear MC will be the death of me and I think they're doing it on purpose just to smite me! I mean who is on thier right mind will be jumping out of the window?(He chuckles crazily)

Author- At least you surivived?( I don't really know how to comfort him lol))

Charles- Oh yes I'm grateful for that(He rolls his eyes) MC landed on pillows while I landed my ass on beer bottles(He begins to walk away and muttering along the way)

Author- Oh one more thing Charles

Charles- WHAT?!

Author- (Stifling a laugh) Careful your leaking(Pointing to the blood on the floor)

Charles- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KILL ME NOWWWW(He continues to laugh along the way)

(Angel)

Author- Heya Angel?(Seeing a finger missing on her hand)

Angel- Oh this? I just got out from playing Five Finger Fillet(She brandishes her stump in front of me)

Author- I see your having fun( I chuckle)

Angel- Oh yeah! You have seen the cheating bastard when I rip his fingers one by one( He grins and retrieving a knife from her belt)

Say fancy for a match?

Author- No thanks I rather keep my fingers where they are

Angel- Your no fun Author(Pouts) Oh well maybe Charles or Chase will want to play

Author- Charles is having his tantrums and removing glasses from his body and Chase is passed out on the floor right now!

Angel- Passed out eh? Well I'm feeling rather artistic today so if you excuse me I'm just gonna draw lots of dicks and slurs on his snoozing face(Laughs maniacilly)

(Maria)

Author- The last but not the least our cute bunny(searching for her)

Maria my fellow countrysister how are you doing this fine night?

Maria- If you count being stabbed a lot fine! Well I'm peachy!(She says sarcastically)

Author- What happened?

Maria- Oh nothing much just out patrolling and got ambushed by those bloodsuckers and using a kid as hostage!( she nurses a bruise on her cheek with ice)

So letting my guard down they stabbed again and again and again. So I got pissed and killed them all except for one and stabbed a lot for payback

Author- Remind me not to get on your bad side(Distancing myself from here!)

Maria- Oh yeah that reminds we can I find Charles?(She stands up from a chair with a dark look on her eyes)

Author- In his room why?(Poor...poor Charles)

Maria- Let's just say we have unfinished business and I don't like the words he used on me(Cracking her knuckles) and did something horrible to my stuffs.(Leaving me alone and exacting her revenge)

Author- Well that's all folks I hope you love my crazy cast and for those Charlesmancers out there well better pray for his soul LMAO

#charles #maria #angel #chase #thanks for the ask #ask me anything

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hungwy · 2 years

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Naming my violent pet crab-fish hybrid Shredna St. Pincent Fillet. Because it also has a poetic soul

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the-hilda-librarians-wife · 6 months

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Fireflies Over The Wall - Chapter 4

Relationship: The Bell Keeper & Meiri (Original character)

Summary: "The troll brought with herself, every night without a fault, a baby.

Every night, she placed it upon the grass, and pointed upwards, showing her baby the stars and constellations. Showing her baby the fireflies.

Holding it tight. Cuddling with it. Making sure it saw the beauty the world had to offer. He had never considered himself a sentimental man. Yet this image, for some reason, never failed to make him return home feeling something gaping and void inside of himself.

Every one of his former coworkers must have returned to their families.

Who would Edmund return to when he could work no more?

What would give him a reason to get out of bed when the fireflies were no longer enough?"

An OC's origin story as well as a Bell Keeper character study, because this character is much more fascinating than I'd been giving him credit for.

Notes: Title from "Into the Open Air" from the movie Brave

Chapter title: Step into the open air

Read it on ao3

Meiri was stubborn. The kind of stubborn that didn’t get labelled as “determined” or “strong-willed”, just plain old stubborn as a mule. But he had to give her his arm to twist, because when she was right, she was right. The day following their impromptu brunch she showed up at his house at noon with two styrofoam packages and an announcement that she had brought lunch. Weirdly enough, Edmund didn’t feel too annoyed about having his plans barged into by this slip of a person; this was probably going to be more fun than eating a sandwich on his own, anyway. His only complaint was that she shouldn't have brought him food from home, he didn’t want there to be less for the kids there to share.

She shook her head when he said that, having foreseen this argument. “Tia Teresa made this one specially for you. She wants you to admit we’re right.”

Well, then. After that he had been out of reasons not to accept it.

Edmund rarely ever set the table, considering he had no reason to make it look pretty just for himself and that the whole reason this had begun is that he didn’t even need to use cutlery often, but after Meiri had arrived and made her declaration he had decided that this was worth bringing out the (somewhat) pretty placemats for.

They ate together and, fair enough, he could tell that this was real food. He wouldn’t go as far as to say he preferred it to his sandwiches, especially not his cucumber ones (he was far too white for the spices that had been used on the chicken fillet and the bean sauce… soup… thing), but he could hardly blame someone who grew up eating this sort of thing for not thinking a pb&j was lunch. Even if he knew she’d be smug as fuck about it when he told her that.

While they ate, they talked some about their routines; Edmund felt a great reluctance on her part when talking about the orphanage, so he didn’t pry. He already got the information that the head cook was the person she talked to the most inside St. Annes, and the impression that she wasn’t too close to any of the children, and that was enough context to get in just one go. In return, he’d explained to her how their shifts worked and what they were supposed to do during them, and she’d been terrified by the thought of only knowing whether you’d have to work another half a day after having already worked for twelve hours, when a colleague failed or not to arrive to cover for him. She had asked him how he lived like that, never knowing what his plans would be, and truth be told, it was probably because he hadn’t a lot more to do with his day.

He’d turned the radio on once they were done, since he enjoyed having some background music while doing the dishes and knew that if he didn’t wash his cutlery and glasses now, they’d probably remain in the sink for another day at least. Meiri attempted once again to do her part in the washing, a behaviour he now assumed to have stemmed from spending a lot of time in the kitchen talking to this Teresa person, but alas, she hadn’t grown enough in the past couple of days to reach the sink, and if she by some miracle had, he wouldn’t have let her, anyway; she’d already brought the food, the tasks were way too uneven towards her side of the scale for him to be comfortable with. Edmund shooed her away and assigned her to radio duty, asking her to find something good for them to listen to.

“Oh, what about the weather report?” She asked when a woman’s voice began rambling about humidity in their ears.

“Please not that. Whenever this lady says it will rain it does rain and it makes my job so much more of a pain.”

Meiri lifted an eyebrow sceptically. “What, and you think this is a cause and not a consequence thing? I don’t think she’s controlling the weather, you know?”

“I don’t know, and you don’t for certain either. Come on, let’s see the other stations.”

The girl rolled her eyes, but it was with no small amount of fondness. The corner of her lips quirking up told him his quip had landed. Success.

Passing onto the next station, a tune Edmund recognized began playing, the song already well into the first verse.

“And they saw trouble in my eyes, they were quick to recognize the devil in me-”

“The Oh Hellos!” Ed chirped as he began tapping his foot along to the quick rhythm set by the string sounds.

“The who?”

“You don’t know them?” His hands dried, he now began to bob his head with the music. “Country music, some mythology references. Really good.”

“What are you doing?”

“See I was born a restless child, and I could hear the world outside calling me-”

Meiri was now eyeing him like what he was doing was completely alien to her, but all he was doing was dancing. Well, dancing might be too strong of a word, but he was swaying along with Second Child, Restless Child and by the way she was looking at him, he might as well be participating in an intricate flash mob choreography.

He wasn’t a stranger to moving his body to music he liked, of course. But he pinpointed that the reason why Meiri’s gaze felt weird wasn’t because she was making sure to convey that that’s what she thought he should feel like, but rather because he couldn’t for the life of him remember the last time he had danced in front of someone else.

Had he ever even done so, since he had been a child?

“I’m dancing, obviously.”

“Why?”

“Feels good. Wanna try?”

“And heavens know how hard I tried, but that devil whispered lies I’d believe.”

She blinked at his hands when he offered them both to her, then looking up at his face with clear confusion as the chorus of ‘oh oh ooohh’s began. Edmund did nothing other than smile softly and keep his hands still, waiting for an answer.

“Can you hear it hanging on the wind?”

Meiri took a step towards him. Then another. And another until she was close enough to touch.

“Can you feel it underneath the skin?”

She tentatively put her hands in his much bigger ones. They were warm. Calloused from climbing trees.

“You’ve gotta go on further than you’ve ever gone”

They began swaying side to side in unison, and Edmund started bending an arm at the same time that he extended the other, encouraging her to do the same so that they could unite the move to their swaying.

“You’ve gotta run far from all you’ve ever known”

When she looked like she’d gotten into it, he told her to step on his feet. She looked up at him with clear concern, but he repeated the request and she acquiesced. Like he’d imagined, she felt practically weightless. The hardest thing about their dancing was being bent over so she could reach his hands.

“You’ve gotta run far from all you’ve ever known

You’ve gotta run far from all you’ve ever known

You’ve gotta run far from all you’ve ever known”

He led them into a ‘one step forward two steps back while rotating’ sort of dance, which didn’t fit the song at all but it was the best he could think of. And Meiri started laughing. Actually laughing. Not at him, nor because of him, but sincere childlike joy that lit up her whole face as she allowed Ed’s feet to work as her own, trusting him to guide her and not let her fall.

And Edmund… Edmund was entranced. Because he had never had someone trust him so much. Because he’d never felt what it was like to know you were helping shape a young person and their memories. Because being a cause of joy to someone felt like something he actually could get used to. It was pure. It was carefree. It was exciting. It was… well, it was an honour.

It was the middle of the day, and they were tucked away inside of his cabin. But somewhy, watching this child dance so unworriedly felt like watching fireflies over the wall.

…......

It was really very good that the citizens of Trolberg had no idea how the Patrol worked outside of a very vague, general idea of ‘keeping them safe’. Because truly, with the way that troll attacks were marketed, if they took one look into the shitshow that was their organisation as a company the city would be thrown into mayhem. Which was to say that Edmund was now leaving his post in the middle of a shift, after a coworker had oh-so-generously offered to take over the day shift for him. Never mind that he had completed half of it already. But it was better than nothing, and at least he had the afternoon free to go home and do some cleaning. Maybe he could even go to the market.

“It’s not your changing posts time.” A very familiar voice said from somewhere near, and he rolled his eyes before even turning them to look for her. “Are you taking a break or just running away?”

“Neither.” He answered as he scanned the tree tops for any signs of untamed black hair and a characteristic green hoodie. “A colleague took over the shift for me.”

“In the middle of it?”

“Mhm.”

“And you accepted that? Instead of telling him to come back later to complete a full shift?”

Edmund sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “I don’t have enough energy to argue, kid.”

“Maybe it’s because you finally developed a vitamin deficiency.”

“Hey, now you’re really exaggerating.” He kept on looking for her on the branches, fully beginning to believe he was having auditory hallucinations when he saw absolutely nothing. Meiri snorted.

“Over here, jerk.”

And there she was, not over him but way under, laying on her belly on the ground by the roots of a tree, a spider trapped in a see through plastic cup that was faced down on the earth, by the side of an open book in which he could see the image of said spider on the pages. Her beat up brown backpack was leaning against the tree trunk.

“Oh, you’re studying insects today.”

She glared at him. Typical.

“A spider is not an insect.”

“And a Patrol officer is not a cop.”

“Wow, you really know how to hold a grudge, don’t you, old man?”

“Only for real special people.” He winked at her, making her roll her eyes. “You wanna keep torturing that spider, or wanna tag along?”

She looked at the spider, which must have been there for quite some time already since it was already making a web for itself as if resigned to its fate.

“Depends. Can I see the belltower?”

“I knew it. You only hang out with me because of my cool bell.”

Another glare, and with only a couple seconds since the last one. He was making good time today.

“I mean.” He subbed his chin, which was badly in need of shaving. “A working bell tower is no place for a kid-”

“Which is to say you’re not allowed to take people there.”

“But I know of an inactive one you can meet if you’d like. I have to go to the city centre, anyway.”

Meiri pretended to think about her answer. And then she turned the disposable cup upwards to free the spider and sat up to put her book away in her backpack. They stopped at the cabin so that Edmund could grab his wallet, and Meiri agreed to leave her backpack there so she didn’t have to carry it around. They exchanged notes on quicker paths to get from the woods near the wall to the actual city, and Edmund accepted to try the way Meiri claimed to take the most often, even if he got the impression she did so only because this one was crossed by a stream which she got the opportunity to jump.

She looked beyond disappointed when Edmund merely stepped over it.

“Weirdly long legs.” She grumbled under her breath, which of course meant the second half of their route was occupied by an argument regarding what sizes of legs were perfectly acceptable.

The skeleton key the Patrol provided him with made quick work of the door at the tower in question, even if the lock was very rusty. The inside was organised exactly like his tower, as if the town’s notion of architecture hadn’t at all changed in the years between this one being built and the wall being planned.

“Keep close to me and don’t touch anything.” He stressed when the girl looked at the conglomerate of bugs, spiders, and other questionable creatures with greed in her little eyes. “This one is abandoned but I know for a fact it’s still safe. Come on.”

He led her up the spiralling staircase while explaining that the first settlers had built a couple of towers that had been updated over the years, but that it had taken a while for them to actually built the wall as they knew it today; it had begun as a wooden barrier that encompassed a much smaller area, growing wider and sturdier each time it was rebuilt until they arrived at what they had today. But most of the original towers hadn’t been done away with.

“Cool, bats!” Was the first thing she whispered excitedly about once he helped her up the final ladder. Her pointing upwards at their sleeping figures was completely unnecessary considering the floor was covered in their dung. He didn’t point that out, though; he didn’t want to smother her excitement.

In a low voice he explained to her the working of the tower, which was pretty self explanatory on its own. It was a tower. With a bell. Nothing much to it. But she listened to him with rapt attention regardless, despite being clearly more interested in the creatures and weed sprouts that had seemed to find a way to live in that dark, dry and stuffy place.

Then he showed her the opening in the wall, overlooking the town. His heart almost gave out when she ran towards it to lean her upper body forward and take a look, instantly reaching out to grab her torso lest her slip or trip over something. She didn’t even acknowledge him, too amazed by the sight of the bustling town from so far upward.

“Edmund, I know you have to do your groceries.” She regarded him without ungluing her eyes from the streets. “But can we stay here for a little while?”

Funny, he’d never thought of this tower (or any bell tower, really) as anything other than a dusty old waste of space. And yet, she seemed to find so much wonder in it. He should probably take a page from her book.

“Of course.” He shrugged, aware it wouldn’t take him four hours to buy food and not seeing a valid reason to deny her this. “Just one thing.”

She hummed in acknowledgement.

“If that’s okay, I prefer just ‘Ed’.”

She didn’t shoot him a glare. She shot him a toothy smile.

“Sure thing, just Ed.”

…......

“No way. You’re far too young to have used braces already.”

“But I have!”

“Nope, calling your bluff.”

Meiri put her little hands on her hips as he refused to even look at her, looking over the wall instead. Even though the bell towers were off limits, he had never been expressly forbidden from bringing people to the wall itself, so sometimes that had become where they’d hang out when he couldn’t leave his post.

“Why would I be lying about needing braces? Being gap toothed isn’t nice.”

“Aw, come on, kid. It’s a little cute.”

“Kids at school didn’t think so.” She grumbled.

“Yeah, but they’re kids and I’m an adult. Who do you think knows more?”

Meiri lifted an eyebrow at him. “Not even you believe that.”

“Hey, pretend it’s true just for the point I’m trying to make here. But I still don’t buy your braces story.”

She raised her hands in the air as if begging the heavens for patience. “What do you want from me?!”

“Bring me a picture of you with them and then I’ll believe it. But I see no sense in it, you don’t even have your permanent teeth yet!”

“My front teeth are permanent already, that’s why I used it!”

“Already?!” He widened his eyes. “That can’t be right, you’re far too young for permanent teeth.”

Knowing there were no arguments that could be made against someone who simply didn’t want to hear it, Meiri gave up and made the mental note to find and bring him a picture of herself when younger for him next time they met. Surely in the yearly pictures they took at the orphanage for Christmas there would be <em>one</em> where she had been convinced to smile. Or one where she had been screaming, at least; that seemed more likely. Either way, if it showed her mouth it would work.

They were in silence for a while, him doing his job (even though Meiri couldn’t see him doing anything other than looking over at the woods and hills outside the town limits) and her doing her homework. And then she decided to ask.

“What about you?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m old enough for permanent teeth if that’s what you’re asking.”

Her first attempt at a poetry her teacher had asked as homework had been pitiful, so she’d curled it up into a ball some minutes before. Which became a very useful tool to throw at Edmund, bouncing in his head before falling over the edge. She wondered what were the odds of trolls being able to read and hoped they weren’t too harsh on her writing if they could.

“What were you like as a child?”

A purse to his lips was the only sign he had heard her for a couple of moments. And then, he sighed and asked in a weary voice.

“Wanna see?”

Curiosity piqued, Meiri sat up straighter and waited for him to say something else. He understood it as the assent it was.

“I have a photo album in the cabin. If you go grab it, you can take a look. It’s inside the cabinet under the coat hangers. Red cover. Can’t miss it.”

After a curt nod, the girl was off, climbing down the nearest staircase and heading to his house. He sighed, hoping this hadn’t been a mistake. It was a wonder he even had that album to begin with; heavens knew his parents wouldn’t have given him anything of the sort, and he wouldn’t have kept any memorabilia of his young years on his own accord. It just so happened that an aunt (more like a distant cousin, but she had been older so he was used to referring to her as such) who he had had a good rapport with had left some of her possessions to him on her testament, including the family pictures. The only reason he hadn’t thrown it away was that he’d feel guilty to have done so with something of hers.

Meiri came back quickly, no doubt having run as soon as the staircase had been over (she knew running on stairs would always get her called out by him at that point). As soon as she sat down cross legged on her previous seat, she placed the album on his lap and looked up at him expectantly.

He had sort of hoped he wouldn’t have to go over them, but he couldn’t just tell her to find a picture of him among the many of other family members that his aunt had kept. Nor could he expect her to really recognize him easily. There was one photograph already in the third page, which he couldn’t remember but seemed to have been taken at one of his birthday parties judging by the fact that he was the one directly behind the cake that was in the centre of the picture. His parents flanked him, and the rest of their family surrounded them on the table.

He looked miserable. But Meiri had already noticed him lingering on that picture, so now it would be weird if he started looking for another one.

“Here.” He passed it back to her. “That’s me in the middle. Must’ve been your age or a little older.”

The girl looked at the picture. And then at him. And then she frowned at the picture. And then at him. He kept his gaze forward.

“Why did you look like that?”

Edmund bit back a sigh. “Like a girl?”

“Um-” She frowned again at the picture, now holding the album up and tilting it at an angle as if that would help matters. “Yeah, that’s pretty weird too. I mean, why do you look so miserable? And I thought you were grumpy now.”

Having been caught off guard had the magical ability to instantly lift his mood enough to make him bark out a surprised laugh. “Oh, you’re one to speak! You’re the grumpiest little kid I’ve ever met!”

She scrunched up her nose at him, unable to say anything to rebuff, reminding him a lot of a cat who would strike if you tried to pet it.

“I’m glad you’re not this sad anymore.” She said, forcing him to pretend he didn’t feel emotional over this at all.

“Thanks, kid. I wasn’t that sad all the time. Family gatherings were just very hard.”

Showcasing once again her impressive bluntness, Meiri nodded. “I’m glad I’m an orphan, then.”

“Not the takeaway message I was trying to go for, kid, but sure, why not.”

“I’m not sure what’s the takeaway message you wanted.” She kept on squinting at the picture. “Why did you look like a girl, though? Is that why you didn’t want me to see it?”

He shrugged. “Sorta. I didn’t not want you to see it.”

“It’s okay. I can see you were reluctant to show me.” She said, and wasn’t that a great deal of maturity for someone that young. And a very big word, too. “But you don’t look that ugly. I mean, you look better now, but you don’t have to be too ashamed.”

He was once again forced to snort, turning to her to ruffle her hair and making her squeal indignantly and half heartedly attempt to grab his hand.

“I didn’t think I looked bad. I just hated looking like a girl and being treated like one.”

“Couldn’t you just-” She kept on trying to grab his hand, even going so far as to snap her jaws in a threat to bite it as he kept swinging it around exactly as if he were playing with an angry cat. “Ask them to not treat you like a girl? Sounds like an embarrassing mistake for them to make.”

He finally stilled his hand and allowed her to catch it, but when she did she only began shaking it wildly like she was trying to dislocate his shoulder. Cute.

“I did, but they didn’t hear me out. That’s one of the things I must have been sad about.”

“That sucks.” She kept on treating his arm like rope.

“Yeah, it does. When I got old enough that I understood this well enough and could afford to do so without my parents wanting me to, I started looking like a boy.”

Meiri let his arm go, then, looking at him with understanding. Like it all made sense to her.

“I see. So you’re a shapeshifter.”

He gaped and vowed to remind himself, whenever necessary, that kids were in fact really chill when you took into account that they had no context for anything. Ever.

.........

It was a Sunday. Meiri didn’t really understand why he had to work on Sundays and Edmund had run out of ways to explain that as far as they could tell, trolls had no concept of days of the week and no respect for Sunday rest.

Maybe they were resting every day. Lucky commies.

It was still early in the day, and Ed had already been foreseeing that Meiri would probably stay over for lunch, which meant he’d have to so something better than sandwiches. He didn’t want to get roasted again. The girl was by his side, doing not her homework as he’d originally thought, but rather extra coursework from that special sciences program he had never been able to really understand.

He didn’t get the program, she didn’t get his schedule. It was a mutual understanding via not understanding sort of situation.

She huffed; no big surprise since she’d been doing that 0,5 times per minute according to his exact calculations, but this time the angry sound came accompanied by her crossing out everything that had been written on the page, and then scratching the entire piece of pager in clear distress. She then ripped it out of her notebook and shot it over the wall.

“Impressive throw.” He whistled. “Been training?”

“Shut up.” She mumbled as she rubbed the palms of her hands to her eyes. She’d taken up the habit of coming to work near him quite often, so it wasn’t the first time he saw her stressed out with schoolwork. This seemed more serious than any other times she’d been worried or displeased, though.

“Come on, kid. It’s just school. It’s important, but it’s okay to have a hard time, everybody does. You can’t be good at everything, ya know.”

“Shut up!” She said, way more firmly this time. When she took her hands away from her tired eyes he saw that they were red and watery, and he didn’t think that was only because she’d been pressing against them. “You don’t know anything about this! Just leave me alone!”

She kept on looking at him with that anger in her gaze, and he recognized he had overstepped. He shrugged, taking his focus back to his work.

“Okay.”

It was clearly not the reaction she’d been expecting. Meiri didn’t stop looking at him, expecting him to lash out in some sort of way for a couple of moments. Even when she did back down and go back to her worksheet, she kept glancing at him every few minutes, waiting for something.

Even before she resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t acknowledge her slip up anymore than he had, the anger in her face had already shifted into sadness, even though the defiance was still there. He suspected it was instinctual, at that point. And he knew this because, even if he was pretending to keep his mind on watching the world over the wall, his attention was turned towards watching her out of the corner of his eyes for a couple of minutes. He saw it every time she opened up her mouth, looking very pained, only to close it again and go back to her work.

The rest of the morning was tense. She even excused herself to go have lunch at Saint Anne’s, and Edmund was afraid to assure her she could still stay if she wanted lest her take it as patronising or prying.

It left a bitter feeling in his mouth, to go on about the rest of his day knowing he’d made her feel worse in a vulnerable moment, and that she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to acknowledge the occurrence even though she clearly hadn’t been pleased with the outcome either. Even on the morning after, as he scrambled his eggs, he wondered when he’d see her again, and if it would take too long for her to want to show up once more. He had gotten quite used to having her around and he feared things would get too boring again.

But then he opened the door, at six a.m. sharp, and saw something that hadn’t been there before and, even if it didn’t answer any of his questions, settled his heart down as effectively as talking about it would.

On the steps of his front door there was a single white tulip. He thought back to one of their first conversations with surprising clarity.

Asking for forgiveness.

…......

It wasn’t the last time she snapped at him, of course. She was a child, and it would have been foolish - not to mention all around unhelpful - to expect her to act otherwise. But now that she saw she was not going to be punished, and would be forgiven if she showed herself to be sorry, every time she did it took only a couple of minutes until he heard her take a deep breath and apologise, even if she couldn’t bring herself to look at him while she did so just yet. Recently she’d even begun catching herself before she could complete whatever rude remark she was about to make, and excusing herself to be alone for some time to clear her head. She usually returned not even an hour later, and he always made sure to give her at least a smile when she did.

That went both ways, in fact. Whenever Meiri showed up at his house or his job on a day when he wasn’t feeling like his best self (or at least like as close to his best self as he could get), he’d explain that to her and ask her if they could just be in silence for some time. It wasn’t something he’d ever feel comfortable enough to ask of anyone else, but Meiri never looked as if she felt like it was any trouble to do so, generally sitting down with a book or the newest sample of whatever creature she was studying. Those days, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his mood didn’t roll further downhill during the time he had her company. Instead, it seemed to steadily get better until he felt like he had enough energy to strike up a conversation about their days or whatever she’d be working on.

If felt familiar. Safe. But he wasn’t about to acknowledge that. He wasn’t ready to process that and she sure wasn’t either, judging by how sometimes she still felt the need to make up an excuse to visit him.

She got really creative with it sometimes. For example, he could now very clearly see her doodling on the wall.

“Hey!” He spoke up when he was close enough to understand what she was doing as he walked back towards his cabin. “Hands down, little miscreant!”

She did stop drawing, even if only to look at him. “Why?”

It was a slab of stone just behind his cabin, in fact, practically hidden from view. Technically, there was no problem with the drawing being there, he just couldn’t teach her so because she could get in trouble if she was caught by someone else.

“It’s city property, ya know.”

“Well, I live in the city. Why can’t I make a drawing on it?”

“Nice try.” He cocked his hip and crossed his arms, trying to look stern, which had never worked on her the entire time they’d known each other. Either she knew she was in the wrong and immediately felt bad, or she refused to see his point at all. Again, stubborn as a mule. “But that’s still actually illegal.”

“But people make graffiti on the walls near St. Anne’s all the time! How’s this any different?”

“It isn’t. Graffiti is illegal too.”

She drew out a long ‘ooohh’ sound, putting down her coloured chalks and grimacing.

“Am I going to jail?”

He found the question so funny that it was impossible to keep his act. He crumbled with a snort and extended a hand to help her up.

“Nah, kid. Just don’t get caught doing it by anyone else, eh?”

She nodded and took his hand, letting him raise her to her feet after storing her sticks of chalk away inside her hoodie.

“Tea?” Meiri asked as she rubbed her hands against one another to let the specks of chalk fall to the ground.

“You got it. Also, I bought you dates again.”

She huffed. “You really memorised that. I told you, it’s not even my favourite food.”

“It’s the first thing that popped into your mind.” He pointed out as they walked over to the door. “Does that mean you don’t want them?”

“No! I’ll eat them!”

He chuckled, holding the door open for Meiri to run past him, leaving her shoes by the entrance and going to grab their mugs. She handed them to him, who filled the kettle with water and tea herbs.

“I’m getting the dates.” She announced, and he knew that this was also her way of subtly asking for permission. “You want anything from the fridge?”

He walked over to her, scanning his fridge from behind her. His food was there, yes, but regarding snacks, it was mostly filled with the ones she liked, since she preferred fresh food over packaged snacks. Edmund hoped to one day achieve the dietary maturity this kid had.

“Nah, I’m good. You serve yourself. Want to play a board game?”

“Not today.” She reached inside and grabbed the plastic container with the dates. “We had a cool lesson at school yesterday. Can I tell you about it?”

“You bet.”

They sat down at their usual spots, and tried not to reflect on how sharing thoughts about their days felt like the most natural thing they’d ever experienced.

………

It became a familiar routine. So much so that when he was at his post and heard any weird sounds of something moving behind him, it wasn’t a matter of seeing what it was but exactly where she was.

Therefore, when he heard footsteps on mud that morning, he turned his head back knowing exactly what to expect. And indeed there she was, playing by the trees near the wall, hopefully with some galoches on her feet since it had rained quite a lot the night before and for all that her typical white sneakers had already endured, he didn’t think they could take that without it being the final blow.

“Morning!” He cried out, having already tried and tested that she could hear him from all the way down the wall. She waved at him.

“There’s a circle of mushrooms here!” Came her answer, and even though she was too far away for him to see her face clearly, he could hear the excitement in her voice. “It grew overnight!”

“Really? Some people say those are made by faeries, ya know.”

“Faeries?” She looked at the circle a little fearfully, putting another step of distance between them.

“That’s what I said. Com’ere, I don’t wanna keep screaming.”

She trotted over to the opening in the wall that hid a staircase, looking behind herself every now and then, as if checking that no magical creatures were following her. Technically, he was supposed to leave it locked, but after having to throw his key down at her enough times he had decided to just keep it open for her and leave the key in the lock for the girl to close after she went through.

It had become such a natural part of his routine that it felt more like a change of plans when she didn’t stop by than when she did.

“Sorry for ruining your fun.” He said when her head poked through the trapdoor and she began walking towards him. It always made him uneasy to see her walking on the wall. Maybe he should install some nets.

She scrunched her nose before sitting down by his side. “I do not believe in faeries.”

“Your loss.” He shrugged instead of calling her bluff. “What kind of mushroom were they?”

“Amanita muscaria.”

“Cool.”

“They are.” She nodded.

For a moment they just sat there in silence, feeling the morning breeze on their hairs. Meiri had school today. She’d have to leave soon.

“You know, I was wondering.” He placed his hands on the wall by his sides and leaned slightly back, looking up at the baby blue sky, cloudless for now. “I never used to see you around until that day you wanted the sprout. And now you’re around all the time! What gives?”

For a moment, he was afraid she wouldn’t answer. Wouldn’t be the first time she ignored a question of his. At first he was worried he might have come across as complaining about her presence, but she didn’t immediately switch into defensive mode so he assumed it wasn’t the case. Instead, she began fiddling with her hands and picking at her nails the way she usually did when she was either nervous or bored. She stopped when she noticed him looking, though, even if he didn’t know if it was because she didn’t want him to see it or because he had already told her many times not to do it since she could end up hurting herself.

“I don’t know.” She mumbled. “I guess I just… found something worth coming back for.”

#meiridom #fic: fotw #my fic #hilda oc #the bell keeper hilda #meiri #meiri (oc)#the bell keeper fanfic #hilda the series fanfic

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apureniallsource · 2 years

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This summer, superstars Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi filmed an Irish road-trip for a new documentary. The highlight was an intimate gig in Horan’s Mullingar local, where our writer was among the emotional crowd.

As he sat on a tiny, makeshift stage, playing an acoustic guitar in a Westmeath pub, it was hard to believe that Niall Horan was once a part of one of the world’s biggest boy bands, filling stadiums across the globe. Not because he isn’t extremely talented — the 28-year-old is an accomplished singer, songwriter and musician — but because he’s a genuinely down-to-earth person. He has an innate humility that’s helped him not only to hang on to his fans from the One Direction days, but also build a new, wider audience as a solo artist.

Wearing white jeans and a tribal-print shirt, Horan was on stage beside his good friend Lewis Capaldi. Their intimate gig in Clarke’s Bar was being recorded for a documentary, called Guinness Presents Niall Horan’s Homecoming: The Road To Mullingar.

“Seriously, he is the funniest person I know,” Horan said of his fellow chart-topping musician. “When you’re with Lewis you never quite know where a night will go, but you’re guaranteed a good time.”

On this night in early August, it was an audience of family, friends and media who were having a good time. Although I was there in a professional capacity, I felt just as excited to meet Horan as I had been when I was 15 years old and obsessed with One Direction.

Eleven years ago, I met the boy band in Tesco in Dublin’s Clarehall. I begged my mam to let me leave school early, so I could start queuing to get wristbands for the free meet-and-greet.

Unsurprisingly, she didn’t agree that the boy band was more important than my Junior Cert classes. Luckily, my friend’s granny came to the rescue and queued for us, and we took over once we had finished classes. After a total of 15 hours of waiting in line, myself and my friend met the five lads we had spent our teenage years obsessing over — albeit only for a few seconds, and pictures weren’t even allowed!

Made in conjunction with Guinness, the Homecoming documentary airs on Virgin Media One tonight. It follows Horan and Capaldi over three days this summer, when they caused something of a social-media explosion as they were spotted travelling around Ireland together. In the programme, we see Horan introduce his friend to chicken fillet rolls and show him the best pubs for a pint. As well as the Clarke’s performance, the pair also enjoyed a busking session on Dublin’s Grafton Street.

The singers became friends a few years back after Horan reached out to Capaldi on Instagram saying he was a fan of his work. Capaldi would later play support for Horan’s Glasgow show as part of his first solo tour, Flicker, in 2018. They had their first in-person meeting over a pint on St Patrick’s Day, and their mutual love for Guinness is why they reached out to the drinks company with the idea for this documentary.

On the night they filmed in Clarke’s, while Capadli cracked jokes and Horan bounced across the small stage, the Mullingar singer’s father, Bobby, told me that it’s easy to see why they get along so well. “I just can’t get over it, he and Lewis put on a fantastic performance today and I can’t be any more thrilled,” he said. “They have come on leaps and bounds, it’s fantastic — and he was an amazing support act.”

Despite being part of one of the biggest ever boy bands, Bobby said he is most proud of his son for staying connected to his roots and admitted that he still worries about him. “You are always worried for your child, but I had nothing to worry about. He kept his feet on the ground and always will. His personality keeps his feet on the ground. It’s nothing to do with me, it’s all him. I am so proud of him for that alone, I am just so proud of him.”

It’s always special to have Niall home, Bobby added, saying that although Mullingar is proud of him, the locals do leave him alone to enjoy time with his family.

It’s fitting, then, that Horan’s first solo hit, This Town, paid homage to Mullingar. The song, released in 2016, talks about a first love who still lives in his hometown; he wishes he was there with her, but she has moved on to someone new. As he sang it in Clarke’s Bar, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the girl in the song (In the pub that we met he’s got his arms around you) was among the crowd.

Horan’s second big solo hit, Slow Hands, got the audience dancing, with Capadli popping off the stage to bust a move with the locals. Then it was the Scottish singer’s time to shine, as he played his ballad Before You Go to the packed pub, quickly switching his persona from a comedian to serious singer-songwriter.

Next, they sang Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol — which Bobby later told me is one of his son’s favourite tunes. However, the duet was interrupted by Horan giggling over something Capadli had whispered to him, causing the audience to laugh along. They started again from the beginning, and with no interruptions, performed a perfect version for the documentary.

While this wasn’t the first gig I’d been to since the world opened back up post-Covid-19, it was emotional to be in the pub watching people dance and hold hands without worrying about social distancing.

After the set finished, with a wide smile on his face, Horan told me it was good to be home but was even sweeter to be greeted by his friends and family in his local pub. Of course, it wasn’t just a big event for the musician; the bar’s owners, Ciaran and Carole Clarke, were visibly moved by the experience.

Holding back tears, Carole said: “Niall used to come in here on his lunch break and play pool, but don’t tell his headmaster that! We are just so proud and Mullingar is so proud — he is a fine and upstanding representation of what we have. A lot of the younger children are looking at him and they realise they, too, can do it. They don’t have to be afraid, they can go for it. He came in the door today and threw his arms around me and said, ‘Ah Carrie how are ya?’ and I haven’t seen him in 10 years.”

Ciaran says they were emotional, not only because it was a big day for them after struggling to keep going during the pandemic, but because the Fleadh Cheoil — coincidentally themed around homecoming — was also taking place in the town that week. “We are exhausted because we had the Fleadh going on, we had 20 minutes of sleep last night but it’s massive for us because it’s just us — it’s not a big company, it’s just us and our family.”

Word that Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi were in his pub must’ve gotten around the festival crowd very quickly — afterwards the street was filled with people hoping to get a glimpse of the stars. Teenagers shouted and screamed as they clutched their phones. It brought me right back to being 15, and desperately hoping to get a photo with the Irish lad from One Direction. Fast-forward 11 years, and earlier in the evening, I had swallowed my pride and asked Niall for a photo.

Naturally, Mullingar’s decidedly normal superstar was happy to oblige

‘Guinness Presents Niall Horan’s Homecoming: The Road To Mullingar’ airs on October 16 at 10pm on Virgin Media One.

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