#And then CH2-5 came out and I thought to myself

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

I'm so glad none of y'all saw my Ace Markey hater arc (and I am so glad I also got a better understanding of his character lmao)

[laugtherhyena]

So fun fact about me and the another series; I found out about it back in 2018 just one or two weeks before Ch3 came out and spend the next 3 or 4 years being hooked onto the game until the fixation died down and only returned to me around August or September of lasy year.

Meaning that through 2/3s of Sdra2 i was able to see the chapters as they were coming out and that's honestly something i wish more people in the current fandom could have experienced because it was so fun seeing the hype around a chapter that's soon to come out spike up with all kinds of theories, predictions and people hoping their favorites won't die (i remember i even had a dream once where chapter 5 released and Teruya murdered Iroha by tying her into a train track and waiting for it to run over her after she came to him and told him about being a void and he was like, trying to get rid of all remaining void by killing Iroha himself and wining the class trial, which would in kill Mikado too. Wild shit, but it's a dream you know?). And of course, whenever a new chapter did release the entire fandom would collectively freak out for the entire day as random instagram accs posted Cgs and bits of roughly translated information through the day alongside the deaths and executions and this hype around the newest chapter would sprout all kinds of art, edits and more theories for the following month or two.

All around awesome experience? Not exactly. Because this also means i got to see Linuj's crazy plot twist as they were being revealed and here's where we get to the actual subject of this long ramble/rant; Kokoro Mitsume and how i really wish i could have spoiled myself of what happens in Ch0 because that would have spared me of so much pain.

And let me tell you, when i say pain, i am by no means exaggerating. You people have no idea how much i cried when Ch0 came out. My little 15 year old head was going through the 5 stages of grief over that plot twist, that shit didn't even feel real to me until one or two days after its release.

One thing you gotta know about me is that before i became the Ayame person™ Kokoro was my absolute favorite character of the another series, and if you know me for even just a little while then you know how insanely attached i am to her despite being a minor character who dies 1/3 of the way through the game.

Like, y'all don't understand, i was so happy when i saw that one Cg of her and Mikado in my timeline, so genuinely ecstatic to see more of her after i thought her character done with since the events of Ch2. Can you magine how i felt after watching the character i adored so so much turn out to be a vile human being? I was genuinely so distraught man, i spent a good while being one of those people that ignored everything about the characters irl selves because that twist hurt me so damn much, but even then i was never able to look at that character the same way again, even now she just makes me feel bad.

And it's s not that i think Kokoro is the worst person to have ever existed, i like antagonist/villain characters who've done much worse than her, hell, I don't even think her character was absolutely ruined or anything. When i think about Mitsume nowadays i genuinely find her an interesting case of a good person with big plans who lacked a proper support system or even friends which led her down a path where she became cold and cruel without a semblance of care for her own family so long as she could work on her project, and seeing the difference between the Kokoro we see as a teen and her adult self just makes all of this even more heartbreaking. I still like her, is just that having my perception of this character be completely shattered when Ch0 came out permanently affected how i view her and as much as i still enjoy her character even now I can't help but simultaneously hate her for how she made me feel ❤️

[sashi-ya]

{+18} - Law x Fem Best Friend ♥ CH.1

♥ Daily living with the Heart pirates crew AU  ♥ Spoilers after Dressrosa Arc. Law´s backstory.  ♥ Female reader. Little physical description. Everybody is 18+, canon ages.  ♥ TW: Nightmares related to PTSD. no further warnings. If you think I should include some feel free to tell me ♥ ♥English is not my first language, so If you happen to find some grammar or vocab mistakes, I’m sorry ♥´

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31053383

Word count: 4.1K

» List of parts: {CH1}  {CH2}  {CH3}  {CH4} {CH5} «

Chapter 1

- Polar Tang, somewhere underwater on the Grand Line. July 14th. -

“Ay ay captain, I need fresh air please, I’m dying!” Shouted Bepo asking our captain, and my best friend, Trafalgar D Water Law to please emerge from underwater. Bepo is a polar bear mink, and does not like hot environments, so he is usually hot whenever we pass a lot of time underwater in the submarine.

“Let’s emerge, guys” said Law, annoyed, but willing to make the polar bear feel better. Me, despite not being a polar bear, I’m always hot, so I praised the lord for the decision. 

“Aya aya, Thank you captain!!!” Bepo celebrated and grabbed me by the arm pulling me eagerly to the main door, because he knew how much I love to get fresh air, as much as he does. 

From the control room, Shachi and Penguin shouted, announcing that we can fully unlock the door. And so, we did. Outside there was a clear blue sky, the sun was shining, but apparently, we were close to some winter islands, so the temperature was lower than we were expecting. 

Fresh cold air hit my freckled cheeks and it felt wonderful. “Oi, Y/n-ya, don’t go outside without your coat. You are going to catch a cold”, said Law while placing a white coat over my shoulders. My best friend, despite the unfriendly appearance he normally shows, has the biggest heart and takes care of the one he loves.  

I’ve known him since we were 13 years old, while wandering on a certain island of the North Blue after losing my family.  A few weeks before knowing him, I found the Nagi no mi and became the user of it. So, when we introduced ourselves, we realized I was the new user of the devil fruit that had “Cora-san”, the person that saved Law’s life. Both of us were alone, and sad, so we held onto each other, striving to survive. I wanted to become a doctor like him, so we studied together. Now I’m his right hand whenever we have a surgery. 

“Aren’t you coming outside?” I asked Law, which was still inside, looking through the door with a listlessly gaze at the immense sea around us. He looked at me, sighed and said, “Tomorrow is 15th”.  He didn’t wait for my response and walked away. 

Our captain still misses “Corazón”, Rosinante, or “Cora-san”, as he usually calls him, and on July 15th was his birthday. He was killed by his brother, Donquixote Doflamingo, who was taken down and sent to prison by Law and the Mugiwaras, a few months ago.  I didn’t say a word, mainly because I knew how Law hates to show his feelings and even if I decide to say something, it wasn't going to help at all. The afternoon went by, and while the crew was having fun relaxing on the deck, Law didn’t show up. So, I proceeded to go see him, he usually loves to be alone, but this time I felt he needed some company.  

I headed straight to the kitchen, made his favorite tea and went to his room. “Oi, Doc, you’ve been there for a good 5 hours, I brought your fave tea. Can I come in?”, I asked, but didn’t receive any answer, so I knocked, and the door opened. “I’m sorry dumbass, it was unlocked, I brought some tea for… “I stopped when I saw Law on the floor, with red cheeks, sweated and unconscious holding something red on his hand. “Law, what the hell?” I said while placing my hand over his forehead. His skin was burning. He was running a strong fever that caused him to faint. I was worried because I didn’t know how much time had passed since he had fainted. In any case I needed to make the temperature go down, as quick as possible. 

“Law, Law, are you with me?” I asked him while grabbing him by the shoulders making soft movements. The captain vaguely opened his eyes and said “Y/n-ya… I’m ok, do… don’t worry”, “Of course you are not, your temperature is really high, why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this?, come on you should take a bath right away”. He passed his arm around my neck and I grabbed him by his waist. Law is pretty tall, but I am stronger than I seemed, so I made him stand up and took him to the bathroom. 

I turned on the shower and helped Law to undress. Taking off first his sweated white shirt and then unbuttoning his jeans. I left him only with his boxers on, that made me giggle a little ‘because they had a heart pattern all over. 

The laughing was over because he became pretty weak so in order to avoid him falling, I had to grab him real tight, making myself enter to the open douche. We remained for a few seconds looking at each other under the running water, until he slipped a sloppy laugh at how I was becoming wet. “Dumbass don’t laugh” I apprehended him. I remained there for a few minutes letting the slightly cold water bathe his whole body, waiting for the temperature to drop.  I realized I’ve never been that close to him, we usually had zero physical contact, and as weird as it might sound this was the first time, I saw that he has more tattoos than I thought. 

“Sexy motherfucker look what you’ve been hiding”, I thought, but quickly I uprooted those thoughts off my head. “Come on, Y/n, he is like your brother….”. 

I turned off the water, extended my arm out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Wrapped him with it and as I was doing so, I noticed that Law was looking at my chest, still weak but now able to stand up without my help. 

“Take off your wet boxers, I’m not watching” I said, turning my back to him. To which he responded, “I don’t care if you look, you are like my doctor”. 

“Oh, come on, tell me when you are ready”, I said, a little embarrassed.

A few seconds later he told me he was ready and I turned back at him again, realizing that now the towel was hanging from his hip bones, leaving his whole tattooed torso naked, his hair was pretty straight from being wet and his cheeks now don’t show as much blush as before. I admired the image of the handsome man I got before my eyes for less than two seconds and told him to go to bed.  I helped him to get into bed carefully not to untie the white towel, because he was still a little weak. 

“Wait here, I’m going to the infirmary to get you some antipyretics, ok?” I ordered pointing at him. 

I was about to walk out the bedroom when I heard him say “Oi, dumbass, are going out looking like that?, Put on one of my shirts” and I realized that my underwear was showing through the transparency of my wet clothes. I widened my eyes, and my cheeks turned to fire. Without saying anything I opened the drawers grabbing a shirt and some shorts he had there. I ran to the bathroom where I got changed and left the bedroom without even looking at him. 

I walked through the hallway feeling my heartbeat faster, trying to dismiss the embarrassment I was feeling, until I got to the infirmary.

While searching for the medication I asked myself why this whole situation was making me lose my cool so easily, but no answer came out of it.

I then went to the kitchen to grab some water for Law to take the antipyretics and came back to my captain's room. 

I gave him the pills and water and waited for him to take them.

"Let me check on your temperature" I said, and he raised his arm for me to put the thermometer under his armpit. "I don't want to feel sick; I hate those pills you gave me", complaining and acting almost as if he was a little boy. I remember when we were younger. He rarely got sick after he cured himself from the amber lead disease, but whenever he felt bad, he acted as he was a kid. I always thought that was really cute and today it wasn't the exception. I teased him a little bit for being a capricious little child and he smiled, gave him shorts, because his temperature was getting lower.  I asked him if he was hungry and he assented. 

 The whole crew was still having fun on the deck, so I went back to the kitchen and made Law some soup. 

I brought the meal to the room that he devoured, despite feeling sick. We chatted a little bit until he fell asleep. "How angelic you seem sleeping and acting as a child, Law…" I whispered while contemplating his face that was slightly illuminated by the moonshine that enters from one of the little windows. 

Suddenly, something on the floor caught my eyes. It was some sort of red cloth. Picking it up I realized it was Law’s most precious treasure, Cora-san’s hat, that he was holding when I found him on the floor. I put the hat next to his face and caressed his cheek softly, "Sleep tight, Law, Corasan and I will take care of you tonight”. 

A few hours passed and the bustle of the crew slowly turned to silence as they went to bed. 

Sitting on bed next to him I must have fallen asleep until I was woken up by some grunts. Law was still asleep, but he seemed uncomfortable, he was again starting to sweat, and a few tears were running through his cheeks. I placed my hand over his forehead and his skin was burning once more, not only was he having one of those nightmares he always has, but also his fever was getting serious again. 

I went to the bathroom, got some towels wet and put them over his face and under his armpits. 

I held his hand and softly said “everything is going to be ok, Law”. You see, when someone has nightmares related to PTSD it's better not to wake them up instantly. With Law it has always been better if I slowly do it, making sure I am there for him.  He woke up, looking at me embarrassed but relieved I was there to tell him it was just a bad nightmare. 

The night went by, with me frequently changing the wet towels for more cold ones and the fever slowly stopped. My best friend went back to sleep until the next morning. 

The sunrise was invading timidly the room and the clock strikes 7 am. Time for Law to take the medicine again, I said and stand up from bed. 

I headed to the kitchen to prepare some tea and bring a glass of water to my patient.  

When I got there, I saw Penguin and Bepo looting the fridge. "Excuse me? What are you both doing?" I shouted, scaring the hell out of both of my nakamas. "Aya aya Y/n, you are gonna kill us!!". But after looking at me both of them changed their facial expression from scared to confused.  "Y/n, are you wearing the Captain's clothes? “asked Penguin, scanning my whole image from head to toe. "They suit you, really". “Whatever you are trying to suggest, stop it right there, you little shit” I said frowning and continued, “Law is sick as hell, he had a fever all night long, I’m taking care of him. He is still sleeping, don't run to him, especially you, Bepo.” I sentenced the Bear that was about to run through the hallway to hug his captain. 

“Law, oi Law, wake up, you have to take your meds”, I whisper to wake him up. Slowly he opened his eyes, letting myself admire the bold grey irises that were looking at me. He gave me a weak smile and sited on the bed, grabbed the glass of water and chugged it with the pill.  “How are you doing? feeling better?”, I asked. “uhm, I am”. “Go back to sleep, then, you should rest”, I suggested - ordered - him. He nodded getting under the sheets again, covering his face with them. A little laugh slipped out of my mouth until he said “Y/n.. can you… stay here with me? If you don’t want to, it's ok.”. How cute he acts when he wants some care… “Of course, I’m staying here, I’ve been here the whole night, what makes you think I’m leaving you now?”. A silence invaded the room, until he broke it with “Thank you, do you mind getting in bed with me?”. We have slept in the same bed before when we were younger so at first it didn't surprise me, but then, something hit my insides. I didn't know why but It made me nervous. Nevertheless, I acted cool and agreed, "Ok, make some space". 

Law moved and I got under the sheets. My body didn't know how to react, so I stayed laying down facing him until he buried his face onto my chest hugging me by my waist, really tight. I put one hand over his hair and place my other hand on his back caressing it softly up and down. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was crying as my t-shirt began to have wet spots where his face was. He then placed his ear onto my chest, as he was trying to feel the beating of my heart and said, "I needed to hear your heartbeat, I don't want to ever stop hearing it". There weren't words to be said, I knew what he meant, so I simply gave him a kiss on his head and hugged him even harder.  

We both passed out at some point until a well-known voice woke me up saying "Daaaaaamn the captain and vice-captain are sleeping together!!!" Shachi was shouting and I realized I had the whole crew watching us from the door. The image they saw Included Law half naked, myself with my shirt up letting my back and stomach out, Law's hand over my waist and his head over my breasts, my leg over Law's legs. The perfect image to imagine every sexual situation. 

"It is not what you all are thinking! Law is sick, shut up!" I told everybody as I stranded up from bed arranging my clothes. The whole crew was laughing and making a fuss of it. “Hey, get out, Law didn’t get so much sleep last night, shut the hell up!” ... As I finished my sentence, I regretted it instantly and everybody started to laugh. Suddenly everyone shut up. I saw their faces turned to happy to fully serious followed by the voice of my captain saying “Oi, all of you, prepare to submerge. Bepo, resume the course to our destination, tomorrow we have to arrive at the next island, I don’t know why you all are wasting time. And, remember this is the last time you disrespect your Vice Captain. Is that clear?”, “Yes, Captain. We are sorry. Excuse us Y/n”, said everybody in unison, and rushed to their positions. 

I grabbed my face with both of my hands, I wanted to hide for a week. Law approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder saying, “don’t worry, they ‘ve always been like this, it’s ok”. I sighed hard and turned my face to him. He looked better than yesterday but still needed to rest. “Are you feeling better?” I asked him, and he nodded. 

I told him to go get some more rest, that I was going to have a bath and get some rest too, and then come back to check on him, and left to my room. 

Only Law and I have private rooms, so I was going to be safe from the looks of our nakamas as long as I didn't leave. 

I open the faucet and let the water fill my bathtub. Undressed and left Law’s clothes aside for me to clean them after and return them to him. I realized I had left my wet clothes and underwear on Law’s bathroom, but I didn’t stress much about it, he wouldn't see them, because I left them in the laundry bin. I relaxed for a few minutes in the hot water until the image of Law’s body covered in tattoos, hit my thoughts. 

Suddenly I discovered myself enjoying the fond memories of his anatomy. He had become such a grown-up man throughout all of these years, and I didn’t realize about it until last night. I wonder if he thinks the same way about me…? My mind sailed through the memoirs of yesterday, seeing his body covered in sweat, having him close under the shower, the feeling of his skin on my hands, his face over my breasts, him holding me from my waist, being in the same bed… every memory was making my body react and… I shook those thoughts out of my head. What the hell am I thinking? Law is my best friend; he is like family. Stop Y/n, stop right there. 

After eating something I headed to Law’s bedroom and stood up in front of the closed door. I’ve never felt the need to rehearse what I was going to say to him, but this time, I did. I felt the need. To my surprise I heard from behind the door as If someone was breathing with trouble, little moans perhaps. So, I instantly thought that my best friend was again running a fever, perhaps having trouble breathing. I opened the door without even knocking, worried and expecting to found Law suffering. I tripped and fell on my knees and what I saw next, was something far from distress or sickness… 

 There he was, sitting on his bed, fully naked, holding my bra with his left hand, breathing heavily, arching his back and neck with his head thrown back. His right hand stroking his hard member up and down, violently. 

I was still on my knees when he concluded someone had entered his room, and as fast as he could said “Room… Takt” and closed the door behind me with the simple movement of two fingers. “La… law… what… I mean, I’m sorry, I’m…” I barely mumbled still with my mouth open, unable to move, mortified for interrupting such a private practice. But at the same time unable to understand why the hell he had my bra on his hand while touching himself. 

He looked at me, still naked, meeting our eyes, both without even moving. Until he expressed a little smile and stood up. Me still on my knees, I contemplated him and his glorious body reaching to where I was. He stopped in front of me, grabbed my chin up in between two fingers. “Wha.. what are you doing, Law?” I asked, even though I didn’t take my eyes off him. “Shh…” he said rubbing his thumb over my lips and softly opening my mouth…

“Puru puru puru puru” the Den Den mushi next to my bed woke me up from my dream exalted. “Oh… It was just a dream…” I said and picked up the snail transponder. “Y/n, dinner is ready, you haven’t eaten anything all day, come to the dining area!”, I heard my nakamas shout through the speaker. 

I washed my face and looked into the mirror. My cheeks were red, my head was spinning, I was agitated, sweaty. I replayed the dream over and over, it felt so real… so… enticing. 

When I got to the kitchen my nakamas were already drinking beer and shouting as always, Law was seated on his usual spot, and Bepo was passing plates. “Oi Vice Captain! have a drink!!” some of them shouted, while Bepo handed me a big bowl of my favorite meal, read bean soup.  Shachi, who was seated next to me, bumped me with his elbow and said, “Oi, the dinner was chosen by the Captain specially ‘because he said it was your fave, fufufu…  are you both sleeping together again tonight”? I turned my face to him with the most psychotic expression I’ve ever had… “I’m sorry”, he said and directed his gaze to his plate. 

I looked at Law who smirked a little and kept eating without any talking. I gave him a little side smile and did the same. He had a better semblance than the night before, so I think his fever hasn't come back since last night. 

We finished eating and discussed the plan for tomorrow. We were supposed to arrive at a new island in the morning, not for anything special but for us to buy food and supplies needed. Usually, the whole crew divides the work, so some of them buy food, the others stuff for the submarine, and normally Law and I take care of buying medical supplies. 

Through all the conversation I was trying to avoid looking at Law as much as I could. Whenever our gaze locked, I remembered the dream over and over… I felt guilty, stupid. My cheeks burned every time I replayed it on my head. 

After having the plan settled, I waved goodnight to everybody, and left the kitchen. I was almost running through the corridor to get to my room as if I was trying to hide when I remembered that my underwear and clothes were still in Law's bathroom. 

“Ok, he is not here, this is my chance, I just have to recuperate them and run to my room”, I said while entering my best friend's bedroom.

I was scrutinizing the laundry bin in the bathroom, when I heard the door of the bedroom close. I stood still. "Damn, what should I do?" … so, I decided to use my devil fruit powers in order to avoid making any sound until I was able to figure out what I was going to do. I mean, I couldn't just get out of the bathroom like nothing happened, what would Law think? 

As the bathroom door was not fully closed, I was able to peek through it and observe what Law was doing. 

The captain took off his hat first, and then his shirt. He jumped on the bed and grabbed a book.

I was hoping for him to read some more and fell asleep, so in that moment I could get out from my now hiding spot. 

Twenty minutes passed and he was still reading. Meanwhile I admired every movement he did. From brushing his hair back, to how he licked his finger to turn the pages. My core felt fancy, I couldn’t escape from watching, deep down I wished for him to even untied his pants. I wanted to see more…  

Finally, he put the book down and turned off the lamp.  

"YES! FINALLY!" I said getting excited for my big escape but suddenly he said, "I know you are in the bathroom; I don't need to hear you to sense you, you know?". 

I froze, closed my eyes and remembered how strong his Observation haki got during the last months. I didn't say anything simply because I didn't know what to say. 

" Room… Shambles!", and without any warning I was teletransported to his bed. My ass hit the mattress hard making myself lose stability falling with my whole face over his lower abs. 

The scent of his skin invaded my nose for less than a few seconds, because I regained my posture as quickly as possible. "Law, how many times I have to tell you not to use shambles with me without any warning?!!" I scolded him. "Excuse me? You've been hiding in MY bathroom for almost half an hour and I'm the one who gets shouted at?" He said, frowning and staring into my eyes. “I was trying to recover my clothes, I wasn’t trying to hide…”, I confess, to which he responded this time laughing, “Don’t lie, I’m sure you are into voyeurism”. Widening my eyes, still seated on his bed, covering my mouth, my cheeks blushing, my heart beating faster, I was embarrassed, because deep down, after all it was what I was doing. I was enjoying the view from the bathroom, I wanted to see more, I wished I could witness an image as my dream…

“I’m kidding…”, he said ruffling my hair and smiling. God, I love his smile… I wasn’t still saying anything back when he came close to my face, and whispered into my ears, “unless… you like it…”

Chapter 2

[wedreamedlove]

Xu Mo vs. Mo Yi [Character Study]

I can never get over the aesthetic of these two pictures placed side by side LOL. But, anyway, the point of this post is to nip any undue comparisons in the bud and claims of copying organize my thoughts and compare these two characters to highlight their similarities, differences, and further explore each character through these contrasts.

Q) If you like Xu Mo, would you like Mo Yi?

Honestly, I think this depends on what you like most about Xu Mo. I already knew beforehand that I gravitate towards characters who think 5 steps ahead, are predominantly logical, and scholars/gentlemen, so it’s not surprising I bias both Xu Mo and Mo Yi.

However, as I got to know Mo Yi further (Themis is around 6 months old now), I find that he’s distinctively different from Xu Mo on three crucial points that’ll determine whether people from either camp will like the other character.

1) Stance on Others

In a post for Xu Mo, “Into Your World”, I argued that Xu Mo is an alienated genius who had troubles getting along with others, until he mastered the social game as an adult. However, you can still see glimpses of this as he tries to understand MC’s world and shares his own.

To be fair, Mo Yi’s past is still under wraps but I feel confident in saying that, while he was probably highly intelligent compared to his peers [SR Sculpted Heart], his isolation doesn’t seem to come from his innate nature but rather his social position (there’s heavy implications that he’s like some sort of noble or something) [SR Snowy Pine Fairytale].

IMO, these backgrounds really shaped the way these two men interact with the world.

Xu Mo has a detached and indifferent view towards other people. They simply exist and don’t bring anything positive or negative to him. His ambition to ensure the survival of humanity reflects this too because it’s pure utilitarianism; everyone (apart from MC) can be sacrificed equally for the greater good. If anything, he probably finds other people to be interesting subjects to study, no matter what kind of person they are. IIRC the only time he expressed dislike to people, or a group of people, was when he told Hades he enjoyed killing thieves LOL.

Meanwhile, Mo Yi has an elitist streak to the point where he and his MC actually clashed opinions and debated each other [SR Warm Fingertips]. It’s incredibly ironic because he’s a psychiatrist who treats his patients without judgment, but at the same time he looks down on so many things and people (PUAs, people who betray love, hypocrites who only seek power and fame) [Ch2; Personal Story Ch1-3; SSR Moonlit Ball].

One of the things I noticed early on is that Xu Mo draws from the Eastern scholar archetype, “Xu Mo Character Study”, while Mo Yi actually draws more from the Western gentleman archetype.

So, just to summarize this section, Xu Mo is detached from the world naturally and likes to observe people and try to blend in. Mo Yi deliberately draws a line between him and others and, at times, has the casual cruelty of someone born as nobility (arrogance is carved into his bones, even if he tends to keep it low-key because he generally has a “gentle and polite” attitude).

2) Stance on Love

Xu Mo didn’t understand love, or really even emotions. Love is grown between him and his MC (there’s multiple analogies throughout the game about how their love is like a seed). I think [Ch25] pretty much sums it up for Xu Mo, where he goes through that emotional rollercoaster and muses about how, at the end of human evolution, emotions should be discarded. He also admits that MC taught him the “fear” of a normal person, because now he has someone he cannot give up no matter what, which goes against his previous utilitarian beliefs.

Compared to this, Mo Yi fell in love at first sight. Yes, you read that right. The “scientist and logical” archetype fell in love at first sight LOL. Not only does he acknowledge it right off the bat, but he fully embraces it too and believes that real love makes people better versions of themselves [Personal Story]. Mo Yi is a through and through psychiatrist in that he never underestimates how primal emotions (and love) can be.

Heck, not only is this central to his personal story, but we also have hints that one of Mo Yi’s parents fell in love at first sight with the other person (and he inherited their predisposition for that). Unfortunately, their love had a tragic end and Mo Yi seems to have a huge grudge against his father for whatever happened to his mother (again, Mihoyo is keeping this a mystery LOL), but Mo Yi explicitly confirms that even if his love leads to a tragic end he will still walk down this road and attempt to change it [SR Cool Summer].

IMO one other difference between them re: love is this exchange that lives rent free in my head which I saw in a Xu Mo/Reader/Mo Yi fanfiction LOL. Bear with me here.

Mo Yi: Wearing a mask for a long time will tire you.

Xu Mo: It’s enough just to wear one in front of the necessary person.

Xu Mo and his MC make great efforts to understand each other’s worlds, but this understanding comes from the doors he chooses to open to her. He reveals himself as much as possible, but I think he’s an inherently private person (and there’s all that Ares stuff) so there are times where he hides things so that he doesn’t worry his MC. I think this is enough to count as a “mask”. Sometimes he pretends he’s okay when he’s not.

On the other hand, while I think Mo Yi shares the sentiment in not wanting his MC to worry unduly, he tries to reveal himself as much as possible. There’s an amazingly relatable conflict in him here where he wants her to know every side of him, but he’s also terrified of how she’ll react if he shows her his ugliest sides and imperfect sides (he has some sort of phobia or fear about imperfection, but Mihoyo has been keeping mum on the exact details of this so far) [Personal Story; SR Sculpted Heart].

It’s pretty ironic that Mo Yi wants to be perfect, but he realizes that the more perfect he is the more of a sense of distance there’ll be between him and his MC because of the subconscious pressure someone “perfect” brings LOL [SSR Border of Light and Darkness].

3) Stance on Growth

If you haven’t realized that one of Xu Mo’s greatest themes is the phrase “Take your time in growing”, then what have you been reading? Jkjk, but seriously this gets repeated in multiple places, although my brain always goes back to [Blossom Date] for this.

Even if he and his MC start off with fundamental differences (she believes all people have inherent worth and can’t be involuntarily sacrificed), he wants to personally watch the journey of her maturation. He also subtly guides and teaches her. Unfortunately, due to circumstances of the main story, he doesn’t get his wish and she grows up a lot out of his eyes, but their relationship still revolves around him wanting her to have as much time as possible to grow.

He’s, for a lack of better word, extremely gentle about this (setting aside as much of the Ares and story parts as we can, because LovePro’s story is tragedy on tragedy LOL). I think [Autumn Blaze Date] shows a good analogy for this, because he holds the bicycle steady for MC until she can get going on her own, and he also catches her the first time.

Meanwhile, Mo Yi... ha ha ha. I just came out of chapter 3 for his [Personal Story] and let’s just say his philosophy is tough love. It’s ironic because, in many of his other dates, he wrestles with an internal conflict to protect his MC but also to let her experience all sorts of things to both test and temper her.

This is going to touch on the previous topic about love for a moment, but a part of Mo Yi’s love at first sight experience is also “testing” the other person through all sorts of situations and, after seeing all their different sides, he can determine whether his love at first sight is one that’ll last for the rest of his life or if it’s just a fleeting moment of beauty and emotion.

He also extremely respects his MC’s sense of justice and pursuit of the truth in the world, no matter what she encounters, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what drew him to her in the first place. But MC’s occupation and beliefs will make her confront a lot of dark and dangerous things and so, whenever possible, Mo Yi lets her confront these in “controlled” situations to train her. If I had to make an analogy, IMO, he’d let his MC ride the bicycle and pick her up only after she falls, or when she’s like 0.1cm away from the ground LOL.

Mo Yi is (perhaps rightfully) called out on this by another character, who believes Mo Yi is too arrogant in believing everything is under his control and he can prevent MC from getting hurt whenever he lets her get into dangerous situations, and I’m interested to see if Mihoyo will let him experience failures with his philosophy so he can grow more, like the things Xu Mo went through re: his personal beliefs [Ch24].

Overall

I don’t know how well I explained myself, especially for people who don’t know anything about Mo Yi, and each section goes back and forth between the two characters LOL so here’s another section that attempts to describe their overall atmosphere.

If, like I said in my Headcanon Notes, Xu Mo makes me immediately think of all the words for soft, gentle, light, still, water, etc etc., then the words I constantly think about for Mo Yi is messily human. He’s like a bundle of contradictions, but coherent because it’s being intentionally done.

Mo Yi doesn’t discriminate against his patients, yet he can be elitist and looks down on others. He wants to let MC have dangerous experiences, but also wants to protect her. He wants to be perfect, but he also wants to reveal himself entirely to his MC because that’s real love.

In contrast, Xu Mo has a very clean and orderly personality LOL. You can draw clear cause and effect lines from his personality to his actions.

So, anyway, these are two interesting characters who start off with similar archetypes as scientific logical men of scholar/gentleman dispositions, but yet they’re also on opposite ends for a lot of things such as their approach to emotions and the world.

Oh wait, lastly, because I don’t have a good place to put this—but I think it’s funny—is that both characters are pretty possessive and greedy, but while Xu Mo does things in a sneaky, cunning and fox-like way Mo Yi gets ridiculously open about his jealousy and it’s hilariously cute but also almost childish? I often forget Mo Yi is older than Xu Mo by a year, because Xu Mo honestly feels a bit more mature than him LOL. If we count them actually aging by when their game came out though, then Mo Yi is 28 and Xu Mo is 29 now.

[beananacake]

okay I do have another questions. question 16,17, and 21 about TAP please! now that you mentioned it, please do spill more bts of TAP! we would love to hear about it! can you tell us ANYTHING that you just wish we should know about?

Thank you so much, anon, for indulging me with your questions lmao I never thought someone would be interested in my thoughts of the fic!

16. What was the easiest scene to write?

It definitely has to be every scene with Louis. I love writing the banter and their friendship! I literally felt like I was just reading the whole thing as I was writing it and I was entertained. Louis just came to life in the pages in all the banter I've written with him. He feels more true to me than Kit is, somehow.

17. What was the hardest scene to write?

Ooh. It hasn't been published/uploaded yet so I can't talk about it lol It's in chapter 11 and I hope the way I struggled wasn't obvious in that part. But in the published/uploaded ones, I think it has to be the part where Chelina and Kit are interacting. In my head, Kit and Chelina don't really interact outside of pleasantries so the whole of ch7 was sorta hard to write. He had to be talking with Chelina without always comparing her to Y/N (and we know he failed). I had to establish it to everyone reading that Kit only feels obligated in the betrothal. I guess I kinda pulled it off because Kit talks with Chelina in that detached way of his while he pours his heart out with Y/N.

21. What is something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in the fic?

Definitely Louis! I love reading all the comments and reviews about the love he is getting, as well as the people rooting for him and Chelina. I didn't think people would actually love him! I think it's a given for people to root for the main couple (Kit and Y/N) but there are some people who are in love with Y/N and Louis's friendship. I guess he's just a very lovable duke :)

Now, for some bts for TAP:

I planned for TAP to be the fic after Snapshot but I watched Eternals and I was so angry with the ending so I had to write that to appease myself lmao TAP sat in my drafts for more than a month before I uploaded it.

The piece that I most listened to while writing this was Tchaikovsky's Valse Sentimentale Op. 51, No. 6. It has that right amount of dark royal academia to it, as well as the angst and the pining. I can visualize a story just from listening the piece. It was supposed to be the piece for the dance in ch5 but it felt too dark for the chapter so I ended up using the landler piece instead.

We know the secondary plot for TAP is about the queen's poisoning but my first plan was to make it a love triangle with Kit and Y/N and Louis. In the last bit in ch2, where Louis and Y/N are introduced, I was still trying to think about making it a love triangle. There wasn't much familiarity yet in that part. We could only see Y/N being cutesy around Louis and Louis being his charming, playboy self. But I decided against it because: a.) if I went on with it, it would be too many plots if I added the queen's poisoning, and b.) if I just did a love triangle, it would be a kinda boring and it'd be hard to pit two wonderful guys against one another.

In the same chapter, there was a bit where I introduced more of Digitalis purpurea to the story. It felt too straightforward to say that the plant is poison and it would remind Kit of his mother. It sorta took out the "mystery" element to it so I took off that whole scene.

I always write one chapter ahead before I publish/upload but since writing chapter 5, the first drafts I wrote for ch6 and ch7 felt flat so I ended up rewriting everything. The things that survived from my first two drafts were: Y/N in the apothecary (which remained in chap6), Kit convincing his father about Y/N (from chap6 which ended up in chap7), Louis finding out about their marriage (I had two drafts of that but I ended up combining them together), and that tea scene with Kit (the letter was supposed to start the first draft of ch7 but it ended up in the middle of ch8)

There isn't supposed to be a chapter dedicated to Chelina and Kit but I felt that people needed to get to know her more instead of her just being there. And it was a good thing it was added too because we got to see her dynamic with Louis.

And speaking of her and Louis, I've been going back and forth if they would end together or not. I guess you just have to read the next chapter to find out!

Thank you so much for your questions, nonny! if you have anymore, send them my way!

[ifliamsmile]

Days Gone; Dick Grayson| Ch2

summary: After Dick’s death, you faced the worst feeling during months: Grief. Day by day the pain grew inside your life and you had no expectations of being able to pass through that until someone appeared again bringing all of this down but still, a lot of things changed and even though you looked for answers, the turnaround that life brought you was gently welcomed.

pairing: Dick Grayson x y/n

warnings: angst.

prologue

previous chapter

wanna be tagged?

Living without Dick during these months has been the closest I got to hell itself. September, October, November, December and the last image of him saying goodbye still makes me wonder if it’s true the saying that god doesn’t give us more than we can take, because honestly, I’m not sure if I can take this any longer. 

I don’t know how much of myself have died in this time, but I surely can say that a little bit dies everyday, I get alright when the guys are around, Rachel, Jason, Donna, they tried to fix me and I feel a little less broken until I’m alone and lately..that’s all the time.

People often say that when someone dies, their image will fade away, bit by bit, from your mind, but it’s clearly an utterly lie, because Dick’s face only gets more and more real in my head, his voice and the gap in my heart everyday when I wake up and his side on the bed is still empty, yes..it is so  cruelly real to me. 

It was still morning, around 8 AM, when I got up. I took a shower and left to the closest coffee shop. I needed these caffeine doses to start my day, San Francisco was amazingly cold these days and coffee was more than necessary. 

Rachel loves it here, she was still asleep when I left and I couldn’t wake her up since she trained a lot yesterday, so I came alone. 

I ordered my doppio coffee and waited to receive it in the next county. 

“Y/n Grayson” the clerk called my name pointing that my order was ready. I’ve been using Dick’s nickname ever since we got married when we were younger, but hearing it would always remind me of him first. Because I always loved calling him like this when I was mad, or just pretending to be, I smiled to myself hearing my own thoughts. I was going to take a sip of my drink when I felt a hand on my shoulder and I instantly turned around to see who it was.

And for a minute, I wished I could have turned around slowly, because the image I saw in front of me made me dizzy, almost like I would fall on the ground. My hands shaked and the grip on the cup of coffee got loose.

I only realized that it hit the ground when the person in front of me looked down and so did I, following his look.

He had shaved hair and a scar on the side of his head which looked like a wing. And a look..this look that I would never forget, the same tiny and tight brown eyes that he had. I could only be crazy, maybe I’m seeing things, because this man looks exactly like.. Dick. 

He looked at me again, locking our looks and my legs trembled again.

 “Dick is dead Y/n, I’m sorry” 

“He got shot in the head, Y/n. I’m truly sorry. He’s gone” 

Bruce’s voice telling me he had died echoed in my head..it couldn’t be him, Dick died.

“Y/n—” the man spoke and hearing his voice was excruciating. Why does it sound exactly like my husband’s voice? “It’s me, Richard.”

No. Absolutely no. No fucking way.

“How's it even possible?” I spoke, almost inaudibly, shaking my head slowly, in disbelief.

“Can we talk?” he tried to reach my hand and in instinct I moved it away from him but maybe touching him was the only way to find out it wasn’t my mind playing tricks on me, so I did. I touched his hand and he was there, physically, in person, not less than that and for my relief: I wasn't crazy. 

My other hand covered my mouth and a lonely tear streamed down on my cheek, what was going on? I asked myself.

“Can we please talk? I— I need to talk to you.” he asked again and I nodded, still scared.

“Not here, please— I can’t” I snapped. I couldn’t do this here. He nodded.

“I have a place, can we?”

“Yes.” I said quickly, I needed to get out of there, I wasn’t ready for this.

--

Dick took us to a loft. It wasn’t far from where we were and took us almost 5 minutes to get here, it seemed so new, like he had just got here.

We got in the place in silence, no words were spoken since we left the coffee shop and I was still trying to breath and digest everything.

I entered what seemed to be the living room and he was right behind me.

“Y/n—” he said and I stopped. His voice calling me broke me in uncountable pieces, what did life expect from me? 

I turned around to face him and the tears took my vision again. 

“Richard.” I said his name.

“I’m here— I'm here, Y/n” he said and came closer. Dick took me into his arms and I cried my heart out.

He was back. 

I don’t know how many minutes I spent like this, crying on his chest, but he kept his chin on the top of my head.

“Look at me—” Dick asked “Please.”

I lifted my head and looked at him. He wiped my tears with his fingers.

“I’m afraid I’m truly crazy and hallucinating and—” I said.

“I’m not a hallucination, Y/n. You touched me, I’m real.” Dick said firmly but still soft, looking into my watered eyes.

“It’s too much for me to understand.” 

“Well, I’m not capable of explaining you a lot now, except for the things I remember, but I’ll try my best to make you understand, I promise.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Let’s sit here.” He led me to sit on the sofa in front of a fireplace, which made the place warmer.

I stood there looking at him, waiting to hear what he had to say, anxiously looking for an answer.

He half smiled looking at me, in his usual position, resting his elbows on his thigh, crossing hands.

“What’s so funny, Grayson?” 

“I thought that through all these months you’d have forgotten me.”

“Are you kidding me—You can only be kidding me.” I told him in disbelief 

“Alright, alright, I’m kidding. But the truth is..I don’t remember everything, to be honest, I don’t remember anything..But you.”

He looked at me and I couldn’t say anything, confusion took my look, I was perplexed, he didn’t remember anything.

“What happened in the night you died?” 

“I didn’t..they told me I got shot in an attempt to kill commissioner Gordon, the bullet that hit me was actually trying to hit him. They told me I lost a lot of brain tissue and my memory was compromised. So now I can’t remember anything and the only thing that’s alive enough in my mind for me to remember, it’s you.” He looked down.

“Oh my god, Dick..” 

“They call me Ric, Y/n..” they? Ric? what the hell.

“They?” I asked 

“The people who were treating me. The ones I ran off, my doctor..she was from the Court of Owls, she was trying to keep me there and my memory only got worse so I needed to leave,I— I couldn’t forget the only thing that remained.” 

“This is too much. I can’t imagine how you could deal with all of this.” 

“I couldn’t, I am not dealing, I’m running, I’m struggling because I can’t face it. But finding you is a sight of hope.” he said 

I got closer to Dick, Ric, It didn’t matter because my Richard was back. I hugged him and I couldn’t contain my emotion. He hugged me back, even stronger.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through this all alone, It must have been terrifying.” I told him with one of my hands on his cheek.

“Would you believe if I told you that it feels a little better now?”

“Maybe, yeah” I smiled at him and he opened his bright smile. God, how I missed this, how missed him. “

“Sorry if I went into shock when I found out that you didn't die. I deserve some credit— You should be grateful that I didn't scream or run” I completed. 

Dick smiled. All the sensations that Dick used to cause me were still there, perhaps even more intense. The chill in the belly didn't seem to want to go away.

“Stop smiling, it's not funny at all”  That's what I said, he nodded and broke the smile, but the damn gleam in his eyes didn't go away. 

“Forgive me” Dick said, his intense, emotion-filled tone immediately caught my attention. His gaze held mine, in that familiar way of seeing the depths of his soul. Pure and intense. Sincere and...Passionate. 

I did not dare to interrupt him. Silently, I gave him the authorization to continue. 

“If I could have done everything differently, I would have found you before, just so I wouldn't see you suffer that way. It breaks my heart to see you like this and— to know that I am responsible. You are the last person in the world I would hurt, you know that. I would trade places with you without a second thought, if it were humanly possible.”

I pressed my lips together in a thin line and held a stubborn tear that wanted to escape from the corner of my eyes.

“There’s nothing to forgive, Richard, you got shot, you lost your memory and gratefully you still remember me.”

“Maybe now you see that all the times I told you you were unforgettable it was true.”

I smiled and looked down slightly shy.

“So cheesy, Grayson.”

“I didn’t come sooner because they were watching you.”

“They who?” 

“The court of owls”

“What— Why would they?” I was completely unable to understand this situation.

“That’s what I was trying to figure out before I left the clinic.” he sighed “Especially why they stopped watching you for three days. That's why I approached. I couldn't miss a chance. I've been trying to communicate with you for the past few months, but they just didn't give up. And I couldn't put you in risk, even if I had no idea what they wanted with you.”

I smiled at the end of his sentence.

“You have the incredible power of thinking about me even in the worst scenarios.” 

“Yeah, that’s your fault.”

“What?” I pretended to be mad 

“You heard me, that’s your fault that I can’t stop this, this unending feeling that no matter what’s going on, protecting you with my life will always be my duty. Your fault that I love you like this. Deal with this.” He had a sassy smile on his face and his sincerity made me melt.

I felt Dick's hands gently take my face, so I surrendered to the moment, because there was no reason not to. 

I let my touch feel his lips touching mine, and thanked the heavens for having another chance to kiss him. Because my flawed and ridiculous memory had almost forgotten how splendid it was to be in his arms, having his lips molded to mine, caressing every possible inch of her mouth. 

I had forgotten how wonderful it was to have Dick's strong hands caressing my cheeks, then reaching down to my neck and plunging into my hair, pulling it with the strength necessary to dictate the rhythm of the kiss and transform my desire into the purest essence of lust. 

I had forgotten the intoxicating sensation that it was to have Dick so close, that his perfume tame my nostrils, that his rigid and strong body made me feel protected from whatever harm the world might cause me. 

Because with Dick everything was complete. 

With Dick everything was just fine.

[fastrainbowdas]

For ask game: 9, 14, 47, 48, 68, 92, and 93!

Hi Ren!!! :D

9.) Favorite Execution?

Hmm. I'd say V3 Ch1 or 2. (Not naming the characters so my friends don't get spoiled! Love u guys <3) They're brutal af and I love me some good brutality :D If I had to choose I think I'd pick ch1's. I just think it connects with the character more than ch2's.

14.) Favorite Freetime Event?

Call me basic, Kokichi's 5th event wins this spot. Saiou goes brrrrrrrrrr

Seriously though, it's just a really wholesome freetime event. I just wish Shuichi was as worried in chapter 3 :/

47.) A Character You Think Deserves Better?

Call me basic, Kokichi deserves better. I feel like everyone started hating him too much for no reason at the beginning???? I hated Kokichi at my first playthough (I'm petty as hell) but I was still concerned when he was literally being strangled or bleeding out right in front of us and I dont get why they all disregarded his well-being so early on in the game. I get in chapter 5 and kinda chapter 4 but before that is unreasonable. So I ignore canon and pretend the others gave him a chance and he atoned for the terrible stuff he did and made it out <3

48.) A Character You Thought You Would Dislike but Liked In The End?

Kokichi *WHEEZE*

When we met Kokichi and Kiibo I instantly liked Kiibo and Kokichi was mean to him so, being a petty bitch, I hated him <3 I still agreed with him on some places and found him funny quite often (and was angry about that) but overall I didn't like him.

But then trial 4 came and. I find it really funny that everyone started hating Kokichi at that point but I started empathizing with him at that point. Thing is, I kinda called the whole "I don't care about Gonta" thing complete bullshit because it just? Made more sense to me that he got emotional during the trial, realized he fucked up and then tried to cover it up. Probably bcs that's something I've done myself (though, not as extreme as Kokichi) haHA

Then chapter 5 pulled at my heartstrings and then I did his freetime events and salmon mode ending and slowly grew to love him from there? Never would've expected this back when I was playing chapter 1.

68.) What Would Be Your Ultimate Title?

I, myself, would never be able to choose. BUT a friend once said I'd be the Ultimate Comedian and it makes me happy that they find my jokes that funny so. I'd carry that title with pride.

92.)Recommended Headcanon

Not sure what recommended means in this context? But I headcanon Kokichi has ADHD :>

93.) Favorite Talent

Ultimate detective, my beloved

Thank u for the ask!! :D

[respectablesentiment]

hi!! Idk if you’ve answered these but 5, 14 and 19? also the new chapter is FABULOUS as usual <3

Hi, I haven’t no! Thank you for sending me questions :))

Also thank you, I’m glad you liked the update. I’m so excited about chapter 10 next faglfdjhgk

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

This is a hard question, like super duper hard. I found myself surprised at how easy it was to write from Dina’s perspective the first time I did it but I think the benefit/preference to write from her side is that I think she’s very attentive and good at reading Ellie and doesn’t as obviously show her own emotions (so its interesting to be inside her head and actually show any doubts or struggles). 

In terms of personally relating to (as opposed to writing from their perspective) I’m not sure. My version of Abby changes in this fic as she grows so there are aspects of her character and her growth that I identify with, Dina’s approach to her relationship with Ellie is definitely something I feel close to. It’s difficult because I’ve been relating to and adoring Ellie for like five years in my life so I’m going with her as my final answer even though I don’t feel it as strongly as other characters in my writing. 

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

It changes depending on the fic I’ve found so far. 

gristle and bone and waiting for dawn while they don’t immediately start with poetry, the ideas and the starting tone of the fics (and metaphors throughout) are shaped by the poems/lyrics in Ellie’s journal. So I think I wrote the first chapter of each, fixated on the poem I wrote, edited the chapter with the name in mind and then the rest of the fic flowed from there. 

some things cannot be fixed was titled after it was completely written. Both me and the gf were absolutely baffled on the name and I think it delayed posting by like two days because of it. The working title was stagnation // growth, which ended up being the names of the chapters. 

everything you hoped for was really funny, I was like “gf I’m so ready to share this, look I’ve done 5 chapters” and she came up and disagreed with all my chapter cuts and suddenly I only had two chapters lol. I think I smashed out 10k and was like.... “this is 5 chapters” and the gf was like “no, make the chapters beefy, try harder” and then I had a lot less but still wanted to post. I stressed over the name for ages and ages, ended up workshopping it with @deinonykisses​ on fb and shit-talking until we found one that worked. It was a hard choice because like........ with the other fics I didn’t publish until it was fully written or 90% done so I could easily change the name, but I needed the name for this to be something it could easily grow into and not outpace. 

mocha for ellie was super straightforward, plucked straight from the dialogue and didn’t give it much thought cause the fic is short, light and fun. And left with rust was a very very similar process to gristle and bone and waiting for dawn. 

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

Okay so this is likely a noticeable difference between fic 1 and fic 2.... the use of the word “almost”. e.g. “she almost snarled”, “almost painfully”, “Ellie nods, almost confused”, “he almost yells”, and “its almost cruel” 

lmao the gf came in and was like..... “fuck you using bold for emphasis and fuck the word almost”. Legitimately I think I handed her the first draft of waiting for dawn and there was like...... 20 ‘almosts’ in the first 1-2 chapters or something. She hated it. 

I try to switch things up otherwise, definitely have common verbs I go back to and I find when writing you get easily bothered by the amount of “she says” and use of the names but as a reader you don’t really notice so I avoid using “the smaller girl says” even when I feel like I’ve used their names a billion times (it’s their names, you can’t fault me for using them). 

Two other things I’ll mention: 

1. I’m apparently obsessed with “soft” and “quiet” which the gf has pointed out to me. All my fics are like: “she murmured”, “brushes her skin gently”, “she whispers”, “kisses softly”, “she says quietly” like... that’s it, lads. that’s the entire plot of at least 2 of my fics!

2. I’ve started screenshotted my most heinous crimes with my writing before fixing it. My brain fucks up constantly (both when writing and speaking) and will transfer part of a word to the word before or after it. e.g. “Abby says with a tip lipped smile” (tight lipped), in ch2 of mocha for ellie when I was meant to write “she was wearing neither” I wrote “she was whether nothing” and my gf died, in left with rust I wrote that Tommy “laughly darkly” instead of “laughs darkly” (that was mortifying). ANYWAY my point was going to be that my most common mistake is my brain mixing up the words “hands” and “hair” - cannot tell you how many times my gf has read “she slides her hands into Ellie’s hands”, “she runs a hair through Dina’s hair”, etc. 

Honestly the gf is an absolute saint, I walk around being like “past tense, i don’t know her” and then will sometimes write whole paragraphs in the wrong tense and not catch it when I’m editing.

idk what the fuck I’m doing, thank you for sending me questions tho (I told myself before I started typing that I would be concise and I have not been. I’m v sorry) ✌️

Fun meta asks for writers

[uhgoodmoni]

Nothing That Lasts Forever

A BTS fanfiction

Trailer - ch1 - ch2 - ch3 - ch4- ch5 - ch6 - ch7 - ch8 - ch9

Ao3 link - Wattpad link - Soundtrack 

Warnings: Major Character Death, Blood, Demons, Fighting, Verbal and Physical Abuse, Mention of marijuana, Death, Cursing, Fire, Unintentional Self-harm, Gore. Yoongi’s injury

Chapter One: Otsukare 

Yoongi’s POV

I glance down at my phone, a new text from Hoba. ‘5 mins away :p’. I don’t bother responding but instead, give Jungkook a slight shove. His shoulder is digging into mine, dozing off on the couch. Drool comes from his lips to the cushion, luckily not my shirt sleeve. He barely lifts his head as I stand up, heading to the table where our things are packed. I roll my eyes looking over him slumped on the couch. I get it, I’m tired too, but he can rest in the car. 

“Hoseok will be here soon, you better not forget anything,” I lecture, and he nods his head. He isn’t listening and I know it. I shake my head, double-checking my bag for my charger.  I don’t want to forget it, even if I won’t be on my phone that often. Hobi’s charger has been lost and there wasn’t time to get a new one so he’ll want to borrow one of ours on the trip. I glance at my phone, at full charge and it will probably stay that way. 

“No no, I won’t,” he mumbles, groggy still. It is gonna be a long drive, so we had woken early, he’ll likely claim the back seat to crash in. I pout, knowing I won’t be able to rest my eyes. It’s better to drive with an extra pair of eyes on the road. I’m glad that Hoseok volunteered to drive in the first place. Jungkook had agreed to drive on the way home so maybe I can nap in the backseat then.

“Your charger?” I ask, grabbing the bag of food and placing it on the counter. Chips, bread, some soda, mostly sweets but Hobi is bringing the cooler with our sandwich makings. 

“Yeah it’s in there,” he mostly whispers. I shrug, won’t be my problem if he hasn’t packed it. He just won’t have a phone, no biggie since we are meant to be on holiday. Slinging the bag over my shoulder I take up my suitcase, heading to the door.

“Come on, why don’t you help me bring some stuff outside so we can just stick it in the trunk and go.” He gives a short hum as I head out. Whatever, I’ll just make him unpack everything when we get to the cabin. The door slams behind me as I walk down to the elevator. It takes me slowly to the lobby, but I head out the back where I know Hobi would be parking. The air is chill against my cheeks as I push myself out the door. The summer is just at its tail end, making the mornings and evenings quite chilly. Looking around for his car I hug my bag tighter. Hopefully, the weather will warm up for our trip. 

His car pulls in, stopping in the spot ahead of me. As he exits the vehicle, the trunk opens up. Stuffed inside is the cooler and his suitcase.

“Hi hi hiii,” He cheers, a huge grin spread across his face. He jogs over to me, taking the bag of food from my hands. “It’s a good day aye?” He hums, walking me back over to the car. 

“Yeah,” I grin, pulling up the suitcase into the trunk beside his, giving it a push to leave room for Jungkook’s. “Hoping for nicer weather.” I nod up to the cloudy sky, a blinding white, but the sun is still hiding.

“When we get there it’ll get warmer,” He assures, dropping the bag in, and pulling me in for a hug. “Where’s Jungkook?” He says, releasing me and shutting the trunk. 

“He probably fell back asleep upstairs,” I sigh as Hoseok leads the way back inside shrugging. 

With a cheeky smirk, he hops inside the elevator, “Can’t lie I almost fell asleep on the road.” And with my silence, he gives a chuckle.

My elbow finds his side, “Hey drink some coffee next time.” I sigh, “Oh, and don’t text and drive either.” I scold, crossing my arms. He makes a pop with his mouth ignoring what I said. “I’m being serious you could get killed,” I mutter as we walk into the hall back towards the room. 

“You’re right, I won't anymore.” He smiles, opening the door for me. I take a step in, Jungkook looming right over me. I bump into his bag just as he is coming out the door. 

“Ohp sorry Yoongi hyungie.” He laughs, eyes slightly swollen, but awake nevertheless, hair draped over his cheeks.

“You left nothing behind right?”

“Nope,” He shakes his head, “stop worrying so we can have fun,” He huffs. He’s lucky I know he’s teasing. 

“So we are ready to get on the road?” Hobi asks, leading the way back to the elevator. “Good Morning Jungkookie.” they squish right into a hug. “Are you excited?” Jungkook hums an answer, stepping in after him.  

“Where is it exactly that we are going anyway?” He questions, and I’m wondering the same thing.

“Gangwon Province, a little cabin that I rented for us in the woods,” He informs us. “I don't know, I just thought it would be nice for us three to get away for a little.” I nod, it is a good opportunity for us, this weekend we have no upcoming filmings or recordings to do. Namjoon is helping Jimin on his own solo album and Taehyung is going to be with his family. Not sure what Jin hyung’s reason for not attending is. 

“Yes yes, I’m glad that collab got pushed back till next week because I really wanted to join you guys,” Jungkook says, taking the first step out of the elevator as it reaches the lobby. 

I bud in, “I think it will make us think back to when we did In the Soop, don’t ya think?”

“Agreed,” Hobi starts, “I brought some canvas…” 

“Hey hey!” Jin calls out, running over from the stairs. He’s still in his RJ pajamas, hair strewn and eyes half-closed. I grin watching him hobble over to us. 

“Jinnie hyung?” Jungkook smiles, turning back to greet him. He must have come to say goodbye and send us off.  Jin squeezes Jungkook tight, muttering goodbyes. 

“You drive safe now.” He tells Hoseok after releasing him from an embrace. “I hope you all have fun together.” I smile, hugging him tightly as well. “Go fishing for me,” He beams at me, grabbing my ears.

“There aren't any fishing spots.” Hobi frowns.

“Sorry to disappoint,” I say, patting his back. 

“That's the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” He scoffs. “Who goes camping and doesn’t fish?” His lip curls up. “Well I only came down here this early to tell you to catch me a fish but I guess I did it for nothing.” 

“Pshhh,” Jungkook rolls his eyes, “Yeah right, you love us and came down to give us all kisses goodbye.” 

“Okay now seriously,” he points at each of us, “be safe, I’m tired and going back to sleep, text us when you get there.”

“Yes, yes, hyung. Don’t worry, got a full tank this morning,” Hobi smiles, giving Jin’s hand a squeeze before he walks away, sending a wave as he heads to the elevator. 

“Too bad he has a meeting on Saturday,” Hobi pouts, as we head out the back door once more. Jungkook squints his eyes as the cool breeze hits him. All of us rushed to get in the car and turn the heat on. I’m not so sure Hoseok is right about it warming up later. 

“Don’t worry,” he says, buckling his seatbelt, me next to him in the passenger like I had figured would happen. “There is full heating and air conditioning at the cabin, so if it stays cold we can just cuddle up indoors.” He turns, facing Jungkook, backing up, and exits the lot.

“That sounds really nice,” Jungkook mutters, leaning his head now covered in his hoodie against the window. I nod with a smile, turning up Hobi’s heat in the car. 

“No matter what I think this will be a healing weekend for us,” I assure, after all, we have been busy filming concepts and the new music video all week. We hadn’t gotten much time to relax but the three of us would at least be able to get some R&R together. Hobi has been especially stressed, he had a pain in his ankle and was trying to not get injured while we learned the new dance. Of course, he was still overexerting himself, but now I’m glad he’ll be able to rest. 

He got on the highway, it will be about an hour drive which isn’t that bad. Maybe another thirty minutes after, to get to our campsite. If it ends up being a bust I suppose we can just go home. 

Hobi had turned on the radio, humming along to what had come on. He’s been looking forward to this since he rented the cabin months ago. If I can help it this will be the best weekend ever.  

It’s been a quiet drive, Jungkook slept the entire ride, but he probably needs the rest. Hobi plays Otsukare as we get off the main road. Playing it from youtube it sounds awful, but I can’t stop myself from laughing. 

“Don’t, don’t.” I plead, shaking my head.

“It’s sope!” He calls, looking to me for a response. I laugh, tossing my eyes to the window. It’s too early for this. I glance at the clock, 9:15 and we haven't eaten breakfast. “We’re sope!” He continues singing.

“Okayyy, let’s go!” I mumble, crossing my arms as Hoseok breaks out into laughter. He continues singing as I hum along, embarrassed. It has been years since I heard this last. It would be fun to perform again with him. Maybe I’ll ask management.

Hoseok makes another turn, the trees taking over both sides of the road. There aren’t any other cars that turned along with us. It isn't a holiday weekend so we’ll likely be the only ones on vacation at this time. Not to mention the weather, it is the same as when we had left earlier. A white cloudy blanket over the whole sky, blocking out the sun but leaving the daylight to light the road. If you look deep into the trees though, there it would be dark. Hopefully, the cabin will be in a clearing so it will be lit up, then there would also be fewer bugs. I smirk, thinking about how Hobi will likely panic once we arrive, upon the amount of bugs. Hopefully, he brought bug spray. I made sure to have mosquito nets so there is that. 

“Pay attention,” He starts again! Hopping up in his chair, still keeping his eyes on the road. I don’t respond so he continues, “Okay, let's smile. It's human relations. There are mountains too” He raises eyebrows to me, turning a dial for the volume.

“There are valleys too,” I sing quietly, licking my lips and reaching for my water. 

“Well, that's just what life is” He grabs my hand, stopping me from reaching for the bottle. “But the earth rotates” He holds my hand back up to my face, making me roll my eyes.

“Your dream will surely come true.”

“You too,” Getting louder.

“Me too,” And louder, producing smiles. 

“Let's do our best, thank you!” We sing together, Hobi turning off onto a dirt road, making the whole car shutter.

“Ayooo, why are you sooo loud,” Jungkook moans, pressing his hands into his eyes. “It’s so early…” 

“Mhmh, not really anymore.” I turn back, patting his leg. “I’m sure we are almost there anyway. Right Hoba?” I flip back up to the front, where he is turning down the volume. Eyes confused, staring off, and slowing the car down to a crawl.

“Right,” He whispers, looking into his mirrors. 

“What's wrong?” Jungkook sits up, looking outside the windows. It’s getting dark under the trees, just the light coming from in between the road shining down on us. It’s deep emerald green, glowing at the treetops from the light attempting to penetrate. At the base of the tall trees though it is hard to see through, getting darker and darker the further you try to look. There aren't any paths on either side and no turn-offs. Is Hoseok lost? I look over to him, but he just stops the car completely. 

“Uh, I thought the turn was around here.” He pouts, pulling up his phone which has the GPS turned on. He sighs, “yeah see.” Flicking the phone in between Jungkook and I. There it is, the turn right in front of us. But there is no road and no sign that there ever has been. 

“The internet connection must be bad out here.” Jungkook bites his inner cheek, sliding down in his seat. “What’s the road called? Or like the company for renting?” 

Hoseok sets his phone in the cup holder, slowly releasing the brake and letting the car continue slowly forward. “It's just like a number marker and then we drive down further to reach a small clearing and hillside where the cabin will be.”

“What number?” I ask, sitting up in my chair. 

“Mhm, 189.” He mutters, mouth screwing up. We sit in silence for a while as he drives down the road. Looking at the clock it is 9:25. 

“It’s been ten minutes,” I announce, and Hobi only shakes his head. He’s getting annoyed. “Maybe we missed it?”

“We are going five miles an hour,” He huffs, squeezing the steering wheel. “Oh well, we could turn back around.” He shrugs, letting out a sigh, but I can tell he is still bothered. Must be stress weighing him down.

“Oh look!” Jungkook’s finger comes in between us, pointing forward to the right. Both our heads turn to look, but I can’t see a damn thing. 

“What where?”

He scoots closer to the center seat. “There there, low to the ground!” He hops up and down, and there it is. A few inches from the ground a small yellow reflective sign marked ‘189’.

“Oh thank goodness.” Hoseok speeds up, reaching the turn-off in no time. 

“Why is there just some random cabin marked ‘189’,” Jungkook complains, sorting through his things. “Where is 1-188” He huffs, making Hobi smile.

“Yeah it is kind of weird,” He responds, taking the turn. It’s a tight road, trees looming overhead and thus enclosing us in the dark. So much so that the car's headlights turn on automatically, the day becoming the evening. Here the road is even bumpier, grass grown in on the path. We all go silent, eyes training over the forest as if there is something in it. But it’s just trees. 

“Hobi where the hell have you booked us?” Jungkook laughs, peering out his window with a huge grin. These kinds of things excite him, exploring and whatnot. 

“You know, this is not what I was expecting. Even I have goosebumps.” Hoseok shivers. His face looks slightly disappointed. He isn’t a fan of spooky things so hopefully, the cabin is much more welcoming than the road to it. 

“It’s okay, you’ve seen the pictures of the cabin and it looked nice you said.” He nods to me, trying to pick up the pace of the car. Another ten minutes later and we are still driving straight down the road. The end not in sight, nor the exit behind us either. Hobi runs a hand through his hair, his whole face dropping into a frown in that familiar disgusted look. The road is so narrow that he won’t be able to turn around, so none of us say anything and he just keeps going. 

“This is really getting weird,” Hobi says, his voice shaky. “I can just back us out if you want.” 

“No, no, no.” I say, “this has to be the right spot.”

“I’m sure we are almost there,” Koo adds. So he does, a sigh of relief from us all as the road begins to widen and trees begin to clear. There is a little picket sign ahead marking that there is a cabin on the left. 

“Finally,” Hobi smiles, pulling around a wide circular clearing, a path to the right, and a short path leading to a small wooden cabin. He pulls around, parking the car in front of where we would be staying. Jungkook is getting giddy in the backseat, opening the door as soon as Hoseok puts us in park. I smile at Hobi who is already seeming a little more relaxed to be at our destination. 

We join Jungkook outside, the air still a bit nipply. Hopefully, neither of them has forgotten to pack warmer clothing. All of us are in hoodies and sweatpants as of right now. Jungkook left his things hopping around the clearing, which at the center is a fire pit and some chairs. The fire will warm us up if we want and would shoo away the bugs. Past that is the path, looking like it would lead up to another clearing and the hills Hobi had mentioned. All around us on the other sides are just trees. Without the clearing, it would be just as dark as the road in. Later tonight we’ll probably be too nervous to go outside to even light the fire. 

“Smores tomorrow?” Jungkook hums, coming back around to the trunk. 

“Let’s get unpacked first and then decide what we are going to do,” I say, taking out my suitcase and the bag of food. Jungkook scoffs, taking his own suitcase along with the cooler. 

“Yeah it’s too cold today, so tomorrow sounds good,” Hobi answers him. “And worst-case scenario we do it on the stove inside.” 

“There’s a stove?” He asks backward, as we head over to the door. 

Hobi gives a little laugh, “It’s a fully functional home. Despite what you would think driving up.” Making me smirk, “Even the door has a key code instead of physical keys.”

“Oh, so it's pretty new.” I nod, as he types in the code making it obvious for us both to see 456782. “Yeah definitely wouldn’t have guessed that.” I look back to the forest, closing in on us as we file in with our things. 

“Wow!” Jungkook’s voice brings me back inside, the lights flickering on in the small living room. 

“Oh yess.” I nod looking around. It’s well furnished, a couch and a tv, blankets, and pillows dotted all around the room. The kitchen to the left, all stainless steel appliances. There’s a hallway to the right, likely leading to the rooms. While it’s freezing, the thermostat is located next to us on the wall. Hobi immediately turns to it, flipping it up as much as he can shivering and exaggerating the cold.

“What a pad.” Jungkook grins, leading the way into the home. The hallway stops at a blank wall and then turns to the right and goes down, four doors, two on each side and a window at the end of the hall. “One floor?”

“One floor,” Hobi answers, turning into one of the rooms. “Oop,” He comes back out, “That's the bathroom,” he announces, heading to the next door across from him. I peer in, a double bed, looking cozy. Hobi turns back to us outside wagging his finger at us. “This one's mine!” Sticking his tongue out. We shrug, moving down to the next rooms. It isn’t fair really since Hobi had likely seen the images online. 

Jungkook took the next room, it was also a double bed, and I curse myself for letting him have it. There is likely a single person bed in the last room and I just knew it. And I was right. I open the door and there it is wrapped in a pink duvet. At least it looked warm and comfy. My room looks the most updated, and their room’s looking dated.

“Aww shit.” I hear Hoseok cry, making me peek my head out into the hall. He doesn’t continue. 

“Hoseok?” I call and it sounds like he had tossed something in the room. 

“I forgot a mosquito net.” He sighs, peering out his own door to see me. I grin, coming well prepared for this. He isn’t even forgetful but it’s always good to have an extra on hand. 

“I got one.” And so I got it for him. While the cabin warms itself we settle into our rooms, helping each other set up our nets. We pack up the fridge and make sure that everything is working properly. The tv doesn’t have any cable signal but there is a DVD player and some random DVD’s in the cabin. At least there will be plenty to do if we can't go outside. 

“I’m so glad we didn’t pull up on some creepy run-down haunted-looking building.” Hobi giggles, taking a seat on the couch. “I got a little nervous there.” He smiles crossing his legs. 

“A little? Pshh.” Jungkook teases, looking around, and finding his reflection in a beautiful gold framed mirror. I join Hobi, pulling out my phone. 

“Aye, none of that.” he makes a click with his tongue, pushing my phone down to my lap. I shake my head, lifting it back up.

“We told Jin that we would text the chat when we got here.” he nods, as I pull up the chat. “Made it safely!” Immediately it returns a failed message. I frown, seeing that there is absolutely not a pinch of service. 

“What’s the wifi?” I turn to Hobi who pulls out his phone as well. 

“Glamping189 is the name, 456782 is the code.” He reads off of a screenshot. But it isn’t there. In fact, there isn’t anything listed under the available networks at all. 

“Ah well, that’s shit.” I groan, turning to Jungkook who just shakes himself from staring at the mirror. Vain much? “Will you look around for a router?” He nods as I get up to help him search. There isn’t one, we search each and every corner but there isn’t one at all.

[awkwardnessandbaseball]

So, now that we’re here, at the second to last chapter, I thought it might be time to let you know that there will be a companion piece! I’ve written a few key scenes from Killian’s POV to be posted after this story is complete! YAY!!!!!!

Once again, so many thanks to: @cspupstravaganza, @sherlockianwhovian, @lassluna

Tag list: @quirkykayleetam, @squidvisious, @carpedzem, @kmomof4, @revanmeetra87, @capnjay21

AO3 if that’s your jam: Prologue | Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7

I’d Pick You (and Your Little Dog, Too)

A Captain Swan Pupstravaganza Story

Summary: According to everyone in the known universe, Emma Nolan’s dog is supposed to lead her to her soulmate. But she’s not even sure if she wants that. Soulmates are pretty idealistic, don’t you think?

Chapter Six:

Emma isn’t surprised when David walks into the station starry-eyed on a Thursday in the spring. She knows he proposed to Mary Margaret the night before, and Emma knows -- knew before David even bought the ring -- the answer was yes.

There’s never been any question for the two of them. David knew before Mary Margaret even adopted Charming. He knew that the fourth grade teacher at Storybrooke Elementary with the big eyes and the bigger heart was it for him. She made his heart stutter and his mouth run dry before she even said a single word to him.

Emma’s happy for David, truly. She’s long since forgotten her fears about heartbreak when it comes to her brother and his soulmate. She is not, however, excited about what comes out of his mouth after he tells her the news.

“She wants you to be her maid of honor.”

“What?!” Emma winces at the high pitch of her voice. “I’m… I barely… why?”

David smirks at her. It’s the same face he made when he had to spell out the fact that Killian should move in with her. Smug bastard.

“Mary Margaret doesn’t know a lot of people here, you know. And you’re also her brother’s soulmate. And her soulmate’s sister.” He’s started ticking off reasons on his fingers. He raises a fourth finger, opening his mouth, but Emma stops him.

“Okay, okay, fine. I get it. It’s just… maid of honor?” Emma drops her head into her hands. “That means planning stuff like a bridal shower and a bachelorette party, doesn’t it? That’s a lot. I barely know the woman myself, I don’t even--”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about any of that.” David’s smirk morphs into a full-on smile. “We’re getting married in two weeks.”

“What?!” Emma screeches again.

“We don’t want to wait anymore! We just want to… be married.” David’s gone wistful now, surely imagining lots of little Nolan babies running around their little loft apartment.

“How are you planning to put together an entire ceremony in two weeks?” Emma crosses her arms over her chest, eyebrows nearly into her hairline now.

“We’re going to City Hall,” David says with a shrug.

Emma’s still skeptical.

“I don’t know her very well, but Mary Margaret seems the type to want a big wedding, with all of her family, and lots and lots of flowers.”

David rolls his eyes.

“Yes, you’re right. But we just want to be married now. We can have another ceremony later with all of that stuff.”

“So now I have to be Maid of Honor twice?”

“Yes.” David’s firm answer leaves no more room for complaints. This is important to him, clearly. He doesn’t ask Emma for much, and really, this isn’t even an imposition. She loves Mary Margaret, loves her for David especially. She’s just never really had a friend close enough to warrant a bridesmaid conversation, nevermind Maid of Honor.

Besides, most of her friends haven’t even bothered to tie the knot. They’re just… together.

"If it helps," David adds, "Killian's my best man."

“Fine,” Emma agrees with an eyeroll, but there’s a smile on her face, too.

****

For only having two weeks to plan what Emma has begun thinking of as The Wedding of the Century, David and Mary Margaret have done a lovely job. Mary Margaret found a beautiful, if simple, white dress that also came in light blue, so she bought the matching one for Emma to wear. She’s got a small bouquet of silk hydrangeas, the color almost identical to Emma’s dress. There’s a matching flower tucked into David’s tux.

Charming and Rascal wear collars of the same blue, and they’ve somehow finagled flower crowns onto Princess and Procella. It’s all very cute, and it makes Emma just a little bit sick, but also warms her heart just a tad.

And Killian.

Emma had suspected that her boyfriend would clean up nicely. She’d asked him not to shave -- loves his scruff too much -- and he’s listened. His own boutonnière brings out the color in his eyes, making them shine even more brightly than normal. And when they meet Emma’s from across the makeshift aisle at City Hall, they darken just a bit.

He watches her, intently, throughout the entire ceremony. And she watches him watching her. She’s overly self-conscious, but not enough to control her surprisingly emotional reactions. She bites her lip while David says his vows, a mixture of pride and something else she can’t quite name. And when the officiant instructs David and Mary Margaret to kiss for the first time as a couple, a couple of tears fall.

She’ll deny it later, but they’d hired a photographer, so she knows there’s proof.

Damn.

They invite all of their friends to a small reception at Granny’s. She’s cleared out all of the center tables and given them full control of the jukebox. David plays about fifteen slow songs in a row, and normally Emma would be griping, but… it’s so hard to complain about anything when Killian’s holding her with one arm around her waist, his prosthetic hand lingering at the small of her back. She glances towards her brother, who hasn’t stopped staring at his wife since the officiant announced her as such. Killian squeezes her hand, bringing her attention back to his face.

“I wanted to give you something,” he says, looking unsure for the first time all day. “Can we step outside?”

Emma worries for a moment, unsure of what he could possibly have to give her and why he looks so concerned, but she follows him regardless. It’s chilly outside, now that night has fallen, and he drapes his leather jacket around her shoulders.

“Emma, I don’t think it’s any secret that we’re meant to be, right?” He glances at her, still wary, even after all this time, that she’ll deny the fact that they’re soulmates. She nods, unsure where this is going. “It’s just… we never talk about it, and that’s fine. But today, watching David and Mary Margaret get married and take that next step, it sort of got me thinking.” There’s the ear scratch Emma has been waiting for. He reaches into his pocket, and her eyes bug out of her head.

“Killian, I don’t--”

“Calm down, Swan, I’m not proposing.”

The nickname calms her down more than the words. Ever since he’d learned her mother’s maiden name, Swan, he’s taken to referring to her as such, claiming it ‘suits her’ more than Nolan, and that it has more of a ring to it. She doesn’t care why he uses the name, but she does love the way it rolls off his tongue.

Love.

She’s been thinking the word more frequently recently, in relation to Killian. It’s never I love you, but rather that she loves some part of him, some habit of his. She doesn’t love him, not yet.

Does she?

Does he?

“This was my brother’s ring,” he’s saying now, pulling a large ring out of his pocket. It’s on a chain, one that’s clearly well-worn, far from the shiny silver she suspects it once was. “And I’d like you to have it.” He finally meets her eyes.

“Your brother… are you sure?” Emma reaches out hesitantly, touching the worn edges of the ring. It feels heavy, but not in weight.

“Aye, I am. I… I love you, Emma. And this is the best way I can think to express that.”

“I love you, too.”

She does. She’s sure of it as soon as the words leave her lips. Of course, then Killian is kissing her and they’re both laughing because it’s such a simple thing -- just a few words, really -- but it’s as though they’ve been dancing on eggshells without realizing it, and as soon as they admit the truth about their feelings, the floor turns back into concrete and they’ve found their footing again.

She loves Killian Jones, and she’s going to wear his brother’s ring around her neck for the rest of her God damned life if that makes him happy.

A low whine comes from near their feet, where Rascal and Procella would apparently like some attention, please.

“Ah, I almost forgot,” Killian says as he reaches into his pocket again. Instead of another ring, he pulls out a plastic bag with two cookies. One is shaped like a ship, the other a hook. He hands the ship to Procella and the hook to Rascal. Both dogs run to lay together under a table. They share both cookies.

Killian wraps an arm around Emma’s shoulders and they watch their dogs together. It’s strange to Emma, still, that Rascal knew Procella was meant to be a part of their lives even before that beautiful little stray golden retriever chose Killian. The order of events is all sorts of backwards, but it doesn’t matter, not really. Because they’re here now. She reaches up and holds the ring steady against her chest.

******

“Hey, where have you been?” Emma asks Killian a few weeks later. He’s punctual by design, always arriving home between 5:15 and 5:30, but it’s nearly 7.

“Hmm?” He looks up at her, as though he hadn’t expected her to be home. “Oh. Work ran late. Nothing to fret over.” He finishes untying and removing his boots before stepping into the kitchen and kissing her on the cheek.

“I ordered pizza, it’s in the fridge,” she tells him. He’s acting nervous, or secretive, or some other adjective that has a negative connotation when using it to describe your normally open and honest boyfriend.

“Thanks, Swan.” He reaches in and grabs a couple of slices and gets to work wrapping them in foil and heating up the oven.

“What’s wrong with you?” Emma asks.

He finally stops moving, turns to face her.

“What do you mean?” He tries to keep his face even, she can tell, but his jaw twitches and a blush rises from his chest up to his neck. His eyes are staring just past her head, as though he thinks she won't notice.

“You’re keeping something from me, Killian. You never get home late, especially without calling. And now you won’t even look at me.”

Rascal has joined her, sitting just behind her feet and staring at Killian, matching Emma’s intensity. Killian glances between the two of them, tension obvious in the set of his shoulders. Finally, he rolls his eyes.

“You two are impossible. Come on, then.” He reaches over to turn the oven off and then slides his sneakers onto his feet. Emma stays glued to her spot in the kitchen, entirely unsure of what’s happening. “Are you coming or not?”

“Coming where?” Emma asks, but she moves towards the door and pulls her sneakers onto her feet as well.

“Can you just… trust me? Please?” He holds his hand out to her, one eyebrow raised.

She takes it, and he leads her out the door, Rascal and Procella right behind them as they climb into the car.

--

“Why are we here?” Emma asks, slowly extracting herself from the passenger’s seat. They’re at the docks. She comes here sometimes, though not as much in the last year or so, when she needs to think or clear her head. Ever since she’d run away as a kid and ended up here, the water has tended to calm her down when she needs it most.

Killian doesn’t answer right away. He’s watching her face, like he’s memorizing it. It’s nearly dark out, the summer sun setting behind them as they face the open water.

“I came here a lot, when I first moved to Storybrooke,” he says finally. This is news to Emma, although she’s never shared her feelings about the water with anyone but David, so she can’t fault him for keeping this to himself. That said, it still doesn’t explain his strange behavior, or what they’re doing here together right now. “The water calms me down when my mind won’t stop moving. So I came here. The very first time, I saw you.”

This gets Emma’s attention. She’d thought, all this time, that the first time they’d seen each other had been at Granny’s Diner. But apparently that was a lie.

“Oh don’t get all narrow-eyed on me, Swan. I didn’t know it was you. It was dark out, so I couldn’t tell what Rascal looked like, especially from a distance. I only figured it out recently.” He clears his throat, then reaches out for her hand. She offers it to him more out of habit than desire, but she doesn’t take it back either. “I was talking to David--”

Emma groans at that. She hates when David meddles in her life with Killian. David’s a romantic, and he wants Emma to constantly be swept off her feet, but Emma just wants things to continue as they’ve been going.

“Listen, David wanted me to propose here, but I’m not doing that, so give me a little credit here, okay?”

For the first time since Killian came home late, Emma laughs.

“Continue,” she tells him.

“I was talking to David, and he mentioned that you came here a lot after what happened with your parents. That the water seemed to do something for your nerves that he couldn’t, and then that even Rascal couldn’t.” Killian looks at her again, waiting for confirmation. Emma nods. “So that got me thinking, and that’s when I realized I saw you on my very first night in Storybrooke, out here at the docks.”

“You’re a wonderful storyteller, Killian, but I’d love for you to get to the point.” She’s smiling.

“I bought you something,” he tells her as he starts walking, finally. They reach the water and he points to a boat. “It’s just… I wasn’t sure if you’d like it. But it’s large enough to hold the two of us, plus Rascal and Procella.” He’s speaking quickly now, rambling. “I just thought that, instead of this being a sad place for us where we go when we’re feeling lonely, we could… together, I mean, come out here when we both need to get away from everything else.”

“You bought me a boat?” Emma asks quietly.

“Aye, I did.”

“How do you… how did… Dammit, Killian, you know me better than I know myself and it’s driving me insane.” She’s laughing again as she hugs him, arms thrown around his neck.

It’s a fucking boat.

“But why all the secrecy?” She releases him and eyes him skeptically. “This is an incredible surprise. Why would you want to hide it?”

“Ah, I’m renaming her.” Then, the ear scratch Emma loves so much. “I didn’t want you to see her until she was done. I just bought her today. Signed the papers and all.”

The Jewel of the Realm is painted in beautiful, if faded, lettering along the side of the boat.

“What’s wrong with the name it has?” Emma asks, but she knows it doesn’t feel right. It’s so regal and dramatic -- really better suited for people like her brother and Mary Margaret. Killian raises an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, you’re right. So, what’s the new name?”

“I was thinking about The Jolly Roger,” he says with a grin.

She loves it.

“Sounds like a pirate ship.” She bites her lip.

“Oh, I plan to do loads of pillaging and plundering while aboard this ship, my love,” he says with a kiss against her hair. A shudder goes down her spine.

“When do we set sail, Captain?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid. This,” he gestures vaguely around the docks and towards the general direction of the boat, “is why I didn’t want to tell you yet.” He looks down at her, exasperated but also with a sparkle in his eye.

“There’s something else,” she says, pointing at his chest. “There’s more to this that you’re not telling me.” It’s not accusatory. Whatever else he’s hiding isn’t a bad thing, she can tell, but there’s still something there.

“Can you let me have one thing, Swan? My God,” he groans. “It was Liam’s boat. Okay?”

Emma stops smiling.

“Liam? Your brother?”

“Aye. She ended up passing through a few hands, as he didn’t exactly have a living will or anything, but I finally tracked her down. It wasn’t cheap, but I got her here.” His ears are bright red, and he won’t look at her.

“You never talk about Liam, you know,” she says as she takes his hand hand guides it to the ring hanging from her neck. “Not even when you gave me this.”

“It was… it was a long time ago.” He swallows a thick lump in his throat.

“You don’t have to talk about it, Killian.” She reaches up and cups his cheek. “But I’m here if you want to.”

“He… it was a car accident,” Killian looks at her, gauging her reaction, as always. She gasps, realizing not for the first time how alike their lives have been at the most unexpected moments. “Same one I lost my hand in.” He holds up his left hand, as if proving something. Emma grabs it and places it on her own waist. “He’d been talking to me, trying to tell me something, I can’t remember what. I know we were fighting. It all happened so fast. He looked at me and I remember the anger in his eyes, and then someone ran the light and it was over. I woke up in the hospital.” He shrugs, trying to pretend he’s okay.

“Let’s get on the boat,” Emma whispers after a moment of silence.

“What?”

“We don’t have to go anywhere. But it’s yours, right? Have you been on it yet since it got here?”

“I did an inspection, but that’s all,” he admits.

“So let’s get on.”

They climb on, Killian’s footing much surer than Emma’s, but he guides her. Rascal and Procella have no qualms at all, hopping aboard like they’ve been on boats their entire lives. There are two seats, but once Killian settles into one, Emma perches herself in his lap. It wouldn’t be safe if they were out on the water, but they’re still tied to the docks, sitting still as the water laps around them. They all sit in silence, even the dogs.

“I love you, Emma,” Killian whispers into her shoulder.

“I love you, too.” She turns and kisses him. It’s slow at first, and then it’s not.

Emma supposes they’ll have to christen it again once it gets its new name. When she tells Killian what she’s thinking, he growls into her mouth and they don’t leave the boat until after midnight.

[starker-stories]

An Accord (WIS), Chapter 5

I’ll be re-creating my individual chapter posts for An Accord over here on the blog that replaces starkerstories. Until I hit the current chapter, I’ll be posting daily. They’ll have links to both tumblr and AO3 chapter links. I’m sorry if that bothers people who’ve seen this all before in the tag. I’m content to leave all my other fic as AO3 only, but this is my current favorite child, so I’m spoiling it rotten.

This fic is on a weekly update schedule. Hopefully every Friday. More chapters may appear sooner if the writing is going well. Because I have 0 self-control.

Tumblr Chapter Links: ch1, ch2, ch3, ch4, ch5, ch6, ch7, ch8, ch9, ch10, ch11, ch12, ch13 AO3 Chapter Links: ch1, ch2, ch3, ch4, ch5, ch6, ch7, ch8, ch9, ch10, ch11, ch12, ch13

Tags: Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Polyamory Negotiations, Polyamory, Cheating, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Domestic Nightmare Tony Stark, Reconciliation, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, WinterIronSpider, Happy Ending, Clothed Sex, Domesticity, Peter Parker is legal age in the state of New York, College Student Peter Parker, Takes place about 2 years after Civil War. Closeted Character

Summary: “Steve Rogers is the one and only voice of authority for the entire world.” Bucky ducked his head. “I may have asked him when he was going to be fitted for his armband.” ——————————————————————————————

Chapter 5: On accounta the stew

“Oh god that smells good,” Peter said, padding barefoot from the bedroom around ten into the kitchen, wearing a baggy pair of sweats and an even baggier, threadbare MIT t-shirt. “But y’know you don’t have to keep cooking for us.”

“I have to eat,” Bucky said with a shrug.

Tony followed next out of the bedroom, slightly less dressed, wearing only a pair of boxers, but apparently a shower had been taken because he was wearing considerably less dirt. “You don’t have to earn your keep here, Bucky.” Tony opened the drawer next to the fridge. “If I don’t have a menu for a place in here, it’s because their food sucks. FRIDAY, give Bucky level 1A access to you and 2 access to everything else.”

“Yes boss.”

“There ya go. Order what you want whenever you want it. Though not if you want to spend seven billion on a microscope.”

“And put a huge dent in the thing,” Peter chided.

Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s the casing. It doesn’t affect how it works, just how it looks. If it offends you so much, I’ll fabricate a new one out of gold-titanium alloy that’s harder to dent.”

“Oh god you’re gonna do that anyway just to make it red and gold.”

“You know me so well babe,” Tony said, grinning. He went over and looked into the huge pot simmering on low on the stove. “What is that?”

“Our late dinner.” Peter stuck a long spoon into the pot. “Stew. And it’s delicious.” He got a bowl and filled it.

“It’s all right,” Bucky said. “I ate about… oh… four hours ago. Y’know, Tony, soundproofing might be an investment worth considering,” he added, laughing.

Peter turned bright red. “Oh god.” He sat the bowl of stew down at the end of the table for Tony and filled another for himself.

“This is actually… good,” Tony said. “Tastes like the Irish stew Jarvis used to make.”

“Vision cooks?”

“Not JARVIS, Jarvis. Our butler.”

“You had a…”

“Of course he did,” Peter said with a sigh. “You get used to him dropping things like that as if everyone in the world grew up in a huge mansion with a butler and a staff. Do not ever expect him to change the sheets.”

“That’s what the staff is for.”

Bucky sat at the table across from Peter, next to Tony. “Steve would say it’s not proper Irish stew because you didn’t have any stout. Like Sarah ever kept liquor in her house…” He stopped suddenly, caught by the memory. “Sorry.” He hesitated. He wanted to talk about it but wasn’t sure of the reception. He decided to chance it.

“Even after your dad’s experiment changed him, he was still Steve. He was different, but underneath the whole Captain America thing, he was still the kid I grew up with in Brooklyn. He was a soldier, like the rest of us. A little headstrong, rubbed up against orders sometimes, but he took them.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter said, he reached his hand across the table and touched Bucky’s.

“Which is why I couldn’t understand…” Tony shook his head. “A hundred and seventeen countries, including this one… and half of his team… thought accountability was a reasonable request that the world was making of us.”

“It is,” Bucky said. “I spent the last year, since I left Wakanda, listening to Steve. The way he described it, in the context of what happened to SHIELD, not trusting another World Security Council sounded reasonable.”

“Why’d you change your mind?” Tony asked.

“I read them. He had his copy still. I couldn’t sleep. I’d read just about everything else where we were staying. So I actually read the Accords for myself.”

“They’ve been amended since then.”

“I saw that when I signed. I made them wait until I read the addendum pages.”

Tony laughed. “I bet they loved that.”

“After I signed, that’s when I got into it with him. He’s mad I signed. I still don’t understand why he didn’t. You guys, the Avengers, he said you were soldiers.”

Tony scoffed. “I’m not a soldier.”

“Well, you take orders better than one former U.S. Army Captain.” Bucky huffed in anger. “Without an effective chain of command, without oversight, there’s nothing to stop an army from turning on the people and putting someone like Hitler in charge. We both saw that happen. But no. Steve Rogers is the one and only voice of authority for the entire world!” Bucky ducked his head. “I may have asked him when he was going to be fitted for his armband.”

Tony sputtered around a forkful of stew. “I’d’a paid money to see his face.

“But you get it,” Tony continued. “When I found out what Stark was doing — what it was allowed to do — not only by my negligence, but because the DoD writes checks and never pays attention to what’s done with the money — I got out of the business. I couldn’t be a part of that. Is it still a problem with other companies, sure. I can’t right every wrong in the world. But I don’t have to be complicit with it. Rogers, he’s like — anyone who’s an Avenger can do whatever they want, whenever they want, anywhere in the world they want to do it. Which, okay, maybe. There’s less than two dozen of us and we were a team. That’s less of a problem. But there are many more Enhanced who the Avengers Initiative has no authority over.”

“The Accords still don’t,” Peter said. “I haven’t signed.”

“No. Neither has Murdock, Cage, Jones, Skye, Elena, and a whole lot more. A lot have signed, though. But since I’ve been unofficially running things, we monitor those who haven’t. What’s left of SHIELD handles the situation if an Enhanced becomes a threat. You’re not a threat, baby. And if you ever do decide to step out of the ‘friendly neighborhood’, you’re going to have to sign.”

“I will. I’m just not ready yet.”

“And I’m not ready to put you at that level of risk yet either. It’s above your paygrade. Keeping the world safe is my job. Keeping the streets safe is yours.”

“Fury said that for him to be able to debrief me, I had to become part of the Avengers Initiative.”

“So you’re on world-saving duty along with Tony.”

“Peter, that is the highest end dishwasher they make in the world. You don’t even have to rinse the bowl. Just put it in the machine. God,” Tony said exasperatedly as he watched Peter start to lower his bowl into the sink.

“And all you have to do is stretch the elastic corners over the ends of the mattress,” Peter said, noisily clattering both bowl and silverware in the sink.

Bucky laughed.

“Sorry. Old fights,” Tony said.

“We’ve only been together nine months, how can they be old fights?”

“They were old fights two weeks after you moved in and started leaving dishes in the sink and failing to notice that there’s a laundry hamper in the dressing room.”

“Elastic corners, Tony. You don’t even have to tuck them in the way I bet Bucky used to have to do.”

“Oh no. I am not getting in the middle of this. He’s the one who lets me live here, you’re the one who keeps me from destroying the room when I have a nightmare. Nope.” Bucky headed for the sofa. “I’m also not doing the dishes. I cooked.”

“You don’t cook so you can eat,” Tony said in a revelatory tone. “You cook so you don’t have to clean up after!”

“They did tell me you were a genius,” Bucky said, scrolling through Netflix. “After I learned how to cook, my sister got stuck with the dishes because she cooked like Peter says you do.”

“Staff, you guys. We. Had. Staff.” Tony got up shaking his head and emptied the sink of its dishes. He picked up the pot and poured its contents into the side of the sink with the disposal.

“What did you just do‽” Bucky said, leaping up from the sofa.

“You cooked too much. It's no big deal.” Tony started the disposal.

Bucky sputtered. “That was for the next three, maybe four days.”

“Uh, no.”

“Leftovers. Don’t you know the concept?”

“Didn’t most of your generation die of food poisoning?” Tony rinsed the pot and stuck it in the dishwasher with the bowls.

“Because we tried to keep food cold with ICE! Not a fridge that’s more technologically advanced than my arm! Stew is always better on the second day.”

“So’s salmonella.”

Peter came up and put his hand on Bucky’s arm. “It’s useless. I tried to keep leftover Chinese once. Got the same lecture. You learn to live with it.”

“It’s wasteful,” Bucky said, shaking his head. “There are people who…”

“Are eating tonight at one of seven homeless shelters the Stark Foundation funds every year. I am not getting food poisoning over either of yours guilt.”

“Used to be six. But then he threw out my leftover Chinese that I was saving.”

“Make it eight on accounta the stew.”

“If it’ll save my stomach, I’ll make it a round ten. No leftovers.” Tony grabbed Peter’s hand. “Thanks for dinner, pretty. It was good.”

“Woulda been better tomorrow,” Bucky muttered as he headed for the sofa and Tony and Peter headed for their bedroom.

Peter ducked his head back around the corner of the hall. “There’s wireless headphones in the drawer under the TV. Not as good as soundproofing but,” he added with a shrug before disappearing.

~~~~~

“I was worried,” Natasha said, answering Bucky’s call.

“It's not bad. It's good actually,” Bucky said. “Tony and Peter — the spider kid — are together.”

“Together?” Natasha asked

“Yes.”

“Together together?” she asked again, her voice rising in inflection.

“A couple. Yes.”

“He's a child.”

“He's seventeen. Which is, as he likes to remind everyone, the age of consent in New York state. He’s happy. Both of them are. Deliriously. Noisily. Often. He calls you Ms. Widow.”

“No. Really?” she tried hard not to laugh.

“Yes. It's adorable.” Bucky didn’t bother to try. “You should come back,” he said after a pause.

“I'm a criminal.”

“So was I. Tony can take care of that.”

“Tony's the one who made me a criminal,” Nat said pointedly.

“It's more complicated than that and you know it.”

“I'm not agreeing to house arrest.”

“Lang isn't an Avenger. You are. I am.”

“You are?”

“Part of the arrangement Tony made,” Bucky explained. “Instead of another session with Everett Ross, Fury’s handling my debrief. For that, I had to agree to the Avenger Initiative.”

“Did you want to?”

“There are worse things.” Over the phone, Natasha couldn’t see his shrug. “It’s a chance at a little redemption.”

“I thought SHIELD was mine.”

“From what Tony tells me, SHIELD isn’t what it used to be. HYDRA’s been purged.”

“You believe that?”

“No. But I can help them make sure it is.”

“We’ve been away almost two years.”

“I thought it fell apart because of me. It was the Accords. Tony’s right on this one. It’s been such a waste of time. Running. For what? Steve’s ego?”

“I told the same thing to Tony. It was his ego.”

“I’ve yet to see it show up, Natasha. No worse than anyone else’s. Steve’s wrong.”

“What about Wanda? There was the issue of her not being a citizen.”

“When did you become a citizen? It’s not an issue. Not if she signs.”

There was a long pause. “He’ll be on his own.”

“He’ll come to his senses then,” Bucky said with more heat than he’d intended. “He won’t as long as he has someone to follow the righteous Captain America into battle. The issue if he comes back isn’t the Accords. It’s the damage he did after. Tony says he’ll leave when he returns.”

“And you say you haven’t seen his ego?”

“I’ve seen the pain that Steve’s lies about me caused. The Accords? Steve signs and that’s over for Tony. What happened in Siberia? That’s a broken trust. Harder to set aside.”

“He set it aside for you, apparently.”

“I had no choice in what I did. Steve had a choice.” He paused. “I doubt Tony will walk away, no matter what he says. He won’t trust Steve. But there are very few people who Tony trusts. He works with the others anyway. He’ll reach a peace with Steve, if Steve will let him.”

“We’ll talk about it,” Nat said.

“Talk to the others before Steve. If he knows, he’ll start one of his ‘rally the troops’ speeches and everyone will follow him into hell. On their own, the only hold out will be Sam. He’s starstruck.” Bucky paused. “I’ve seen it before,” he said sadly.

[bubbleblower]

Minor Details Ch 5/?

AN: Not much to say this time except thank you all for continuing to be lovely. Chat Noirs puns physically pained me to write, so I hope you enjoy them.

Ao3 Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Next

"Chat Noir!" Marinette jumped and stumbled into one of her plants, startled. "What are you doing out here? Was there an akuma?" She knew the answer was no, but she couldn't figure out why else he'd be here of all places. They were supposed to be patrolling soon.

"Oh no, nothing like that." He replied, slinking down onto her balcony. "Ladybug and I have patrol here soon and I just thought I'd swing by for a moment and say hello to my favorite civilian, if she's not too busy that is?" He tipped his head to the side, looking hopeful. Marinette smiled.

"Awe. Well hi then." Marinette paused, hesitating for a moment before asking. "I saw some of the havoc on the Ladyblog last night, are you doing okay?" Chat sighed, leaning against the railing of the balcony.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, it sucks that people feel that way about me. But it just means I need to try a little harder. And it was really nice having LB jump to my defense like that. I'm worried about her though, getting so upset like that.. I don't know if you know it, but she's the only one who can purify the butterflies. Her getting Akumatized is just about the scariest thing I can imagine." Chat Noir looked briefly terrified, which made Marinette's insides twist uncomfortably in shame.

" I'm sure she realized her mistake. Though I can't blame her, those people were really out of line. I can't imagine Ladybug without you by her side. It just wouldn't be right." Chat's smile returned, a little shy, but then he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Actually, I couldn't help but notice when you walked out here you seemed a little stressed out yourself. Are you doing alright?" Marinette groaned a little, leaning on the railing as well.

"Yeah, sort of. I just have this guy coming over tomorrow to hang out and I'm nervous about it. I always seem to make a fool out of myself in front of him. So I came out here hoping to calm my nerves."

"Nervous huh?" Chat grinned mischeviously. "Does someone have a crush?" Marinette glared at him for a moment before smirking.

"Well I had to find someone new to lavish my affections on, since Chat Noir broke my heart!" Her voice was a mix of exaggerated woe and sarcasm, as she hammed up the moment by swooning and placing the back of her hand to her forhead in an affectation of a distressed damsel. Chat laughed out loud at the performance, responding with equal hilarity.

"Oh no! Say it isn't true. My princess hath moved on?" He clutched his chest dramatically, his face a caricature of distress.

"I'm afraid so." She said solemnly. "For how could I possibly compete with the lovely Ladybug for your heart?" Chat found himself almost literally biting his tongue at this to keep from giving himself away. Compete with Ladybug indeed. Instead he smiled softly, sincere for a moment.

"Oh I don't know, I'd say you stack up pretty well." Marinette blushed at this, startled at the change in tone. "Honestly, My Lady has turned me down so many times. Maybe I should consider moving on myself." He reached out, and toyed with the end of Marinette's pigtail, looking thoughtful. A clever grin stole over his face a moment later though. "After all you are quite the cat-ch"

For her part Marinette didn't look like she could possibly get any redder, and if her eyes got any bigger they were bound to fall out of her head, but she groaned a little at the pun out of pure reflex. Chat grinned wide, cackling internally at her reaction.

"Well Princess, unfortunately it's time for me to take my leave." He grabbed her hand, bowing low over it and kissing the back of it. "Goodnight Marinette"

A moment later he had disappeared, vaulting over the Paris skyline.

Marinette muffled a scream into her fists, collapsing hard onto the ground.

"Tikki!" She wailed, causing the kwami to appear from behind a fern. She floated over to where Marinette had buried her face in her hands, and patted the poor girl consolingly on the head.

"Tikki, he can't give up on me only to then pursue also ME"

"Well you did confess to him Marinette, after Ladybug has said no for so long it's not a surprise he'd consider looking elsewhere."

"He's NOT looking elsewhere."

"But he doesn't know that. I don't know Marinette, but you're going to be late for patrol at this rate." Marinette groaned again, letting her head thunk back against a wall.

"You don't think Bunnix would give me a 24 hour do-over do you?" The kwami shook her head sympathetically. Marinette sighed.

"Ugh. Spots on then."

"You're late." Chat Noir greeted her, as Ladybug touched down next to him on their perch atop the Eiffel tower. He was leaning casually propped up on his baton, looking for all the world as though he'd been waiting for hours, thoigh Marinette knew it had been at most 10 minutes.

"I got held up, sorry." She said, avoiding eye contact, unsure if she could keep a straight face if she didn't. "Are you ready to head out?" She saw Chat nod out of the corner of her eye, and tossed her yoyo out and lept.

It was calming, patrolling the city. Marinette felt the stress and worry of the day melt away as she lost herself in the rhythmic toss, pull, swing of her transportation. Ever so often she'd glimpse Chat as he leapt into view, but for the most part it was quiet. Almost as though she had the entire city to herself.

After about an hour they completed their route and landed once again on the tower. Ladybug was feeling far more collected, and didn't hesitate to smile at Chat when he landed.

"You've been awful quiet tonight minou." She commented, sitting down on a beam and letting her legs dangle. "Something wrong?" Chat joined her frowning slightly.

"Yes, something is definitely wrong. I can think of like 3 puns you could have put in that question. We really need to work on your sense of humor my lady." Ladybug rolled her eyes and elbowed Adrien in the side.

"My sense of humor is perfectly fine, which is why there was a lack of puns."

"Don't you mean 'purr-fectly'?" He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Ladybug grimaced playfully and then laughed.

"Seriously though, Chat. Something on your mind?" Adrien forced his smile to droop a little, and he scratched behind his ear awkwardly.

"Sort of? I don't know, it might be a little weird to talk to you about it though."

"You can tell me anything kitty, you know that."

"Well.." he started, hesitating deliberately to make himself seem reluctant. "It's about a girl." Ladybug's eyes widened in shock, and Adrien winced. Even though he knew that Marinette was Ladybug, just implying that he might have moved on made him feel awful. She cleared her throat.

"A girl?" She inquired, looking incredibly wary.

"Yeah, a girl. She's a civilian, I've saved her a couple of times, Marinette Dupain-Cheng? We've kind of become friends, and I think I might have feelings for her." He bowed his head, glancing at Ladybug. "I mean, you've turned me down in no uncertain terms, and I respect that. So I've been trying to get over you so it wouldn't affect our partnership. But it's still weird for me to acknowledge my feelings for her when ive been in love with you for so long." Ladybug, to her credit, was trying so SO hard to keep her expression neutral. Her face was bright red, and Adrien was pretty sure her eyelid was twitching. He bit his lower lip to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape.

"A civilian, Chat?" She asked, her voice wavering only slightly. "Are you sure that's safe? Aren't you worried Hawkmoth will target her to get at you?" Adrien shrugged.

"I wasn't planning on asking her out in costume. I kind of thought I might approach her as my civilian self." It was getting so difficult to not laugh when he looked at Ladybug. He was pretty sure she was about to have an aneurysm with how hard she was trying to seem nonchalant.

"Your civilian self? So you're going to do what? Orchestrate some sort of random meeting with her and try to sweep her off her feet? Some boy she's never met before?" After a deep breath to calm his urge to laugh hysterically, Adrien let himself grin.

"That's actually not a bad idea LB. Like a meet-cute out of a movie. It's the purr-fect way to break the ice. Chat-ting her up afterward should be a cinch." Ladybug's eye twitch was fully visible by now and had navigated to her eyebrows as well. Adrien took one last long look to memorize her expression and then stretched and yawned exaggeratedly. "Well it's purr-etty late my lady. Thank you for the claw-some advice. But I'm feline pretty tired and should probably bw kitten home soon." He smirked at he, standing up and offering her a hand up. She grumbled under her breath as she accepted.

"Goodnight Chat."

"Goodnight LB"

Marinette touched down heavily onto her balcony, her feet dragging as she marched across the terrace. She dropped down into her bedroom, and faceplanted onto her bed. Mumbling 'spots off' into her pillow.

Tikki appeared in a flash of pink light.

The kwami floated above Marinette's head looking kind of stunned at how fast this had all spun out of control. She knew who Chat Noir was, and he was obviously messing with her holder, but she couldn't say anything to Marinette thanks to her and Plagg's vow of silence.

"Well... that happened." She said quietly, looking up at the skylight.

Marinette screamed into her pillow.

[branlovestowrite]

The Decoy Groom (4/5): A CS Fanfic

Hello friends!  Apologies again for the delay! This has been a really busy time personally, and I haven't had much time to devote to writing. Here is part 4. No guarantees, but I will try to get the final installment up by the end of next week.

This is my CS AU loosely (very loosely) based on the movie The Decoy Bride (starring Kelly MacDonald and David Tennant; it’s super cute and highly recommended). Brennan Jones is in this story, and, as it’s a no-magic AU, Tim Omundson will be playing that role.

Title: The Decoy Groom

Rating: M for chapters 1, 2, and 4. Chapter 3 is rated E for smut.

Summary: After a failed turn as a musician in Los Angeles, Killian Jones has returned to his home: Storybrooke Island, a remote, tiny island off the coast of Maine. Emma Swan is a famous actress that just wants one day out of the spotlight so she can get married. Storybrooke Island, just two miles long and accessible only by ferry, seems like the answer to her prayers. But will she really be able to keep her nuptials a private affair? And can Killian find the solace he craves when there’s a world-famous actress in town?

Need to catch up? Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Also on AO3

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ 

Emma huffed in annoyance as she walked away from the lighthouse. Fortunately, Storybrooke Island being so tiny made it very easy to navigate. She knew that, as long as she followed the main road, she’d be at Granny’s soon. She kept to the grassy shoulder, cursing her bare feet. She was going to have the world’s best pedicure as soon as she got back to LA. 

  The pants Killian gave her sagged on her hips. She’d tied the drawstring as tight as she could, but she still feared for their ability to hold. The shirt he’d given her was likewise enormous, her figure swimming within it. She was sure that she looked like a wild person, storming along the side of the road with her bare feet, baggy clothes, and sex hair.

  Shit. She had sex hair. Of course she did. Before his girlfriend walked in, Killian had given her the best orgasm of her life. She very vividly remembered thrashing her head against the bedspread as he’d tended to her. The man had an extremely talented tongue. A small part of her wished the girlfriend hadn’t walked in so soon, so Emma could have seen what else he could do.

  But she immediately cursed herself at the thought. Killian was in a relationship. He’d cheated on his (very young) girlfriend, who’d sounded genuinely hurt when she’d found them together like that. Less than 24 hours ago, Emma had learned of her own fiance’s infidelity, and now she was helping another man do the same. She felt utterly wretched. How could Zelena have gone along with Walsh when she was fully aware that he was attached to, marrying, even, another woman? Just the thought that she’d caused pain for this Ruby was eating Emma from the inside out.

Were all men like this? Were the cynical anecdotes calling all men dogs speaking the truth? No, that couldn’t be the case. Her friend and lawyer David Nolan was the perfect example that there were good, honest men in the world. He loved his wife, Mary Margaret, with everything in him, and doted on her and their two children, Leo and Ava. David would never, not in a million years, cheat on Mary Margaret or do anything to hurt his family. Emma knew that without a doubt.

  So yes, there were good men in the world, but unfortunately Emma had a talent for finding the rotten ones. She stomped along the road, uncaring now if anyone saw her. Let her come upon Sidney Glass now. She’d strike a pose for him in all her crazy glory. Let it make all the papers. She didn’t care anymore.

  As she continued her trek, passing by a few houses set along the main road, she heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Killian catching up.

  “Swan! Please, wait.”

  “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!”

  “But, Emma, please, I need to explain.”

  “Explain what?! How you willingly cheated on your adolescent girlfriend? What’s the matter? Get tired of spending time with a youngin’ and wanted to experience something with someone your own age?”

  “Damn infuriating woman!” Killian yelled before she could continue her tirade. “Ruby is NOT my girlfriend!”

  Emma stared at him, unable to think of a coherent response. Killian was huffing, out of breath like he’d run to catch up with her. After a drawn-out silence, she finally spoke up. “She’s not?”

  “No!” His face twisted in an expression of disgust. “I’ve known her since she was very little. She’s like a sister to me in many ways. I could NEVER be with her in that way.”

  “Then what the hell was going on back there? Because that wasn’t how a sister speaks to a brother.”

  “She is very young, and I think she's trying to make a point of owning her sexuality. She made a pass at me yesterday, and I failed to let her down properly. I led her to think I was more open to participating in those…” here he waved his hand in the air in front of his face, “…activities with her than I actually am.”

  “So you see her as a sister, but she doesn’t see you as a brother?”

  “Precisely.”

  Emma was dumbfounded. The emotional turmoil of the day had reared up once more, and she felt the stirrings of tears in her cheeks and nose. “So… you aren’t dating her?”

  “No, Emma. Please believe me. I would never cheat on someone I was with. That’s not the kind of man I am or want to be. Being a man of honor is one of the most important things to me.”

  “Honor… right. So… I suppose my actions weren’t very honorable, were they? Seducing you like I did and then using you to make myself feel better.” Damnit! She promised herself not to be self-pitying, but there it was.

  “Swan, please don’t feel bad. What we did, before Ruby walked in, was incredible. The most amazing experience of my life.” Killian paused, appearing to be deciding something, before he grabbed her hand in his and squeezed it gently. “I am truly sorry you were given the wrong impression, and that my thoughtless actions led to that.”

  Emma pulled his hand closer and held it against her chest, closing her eyes and breathing in his masculine scent. He smelled so good, woodsy with a hint of ocean air. For a brief moment, standing with this man she felt an unexplainable connection to, she had a strong longing for home. A longing fiercer than she'd ever felt before. Visions flashed in her mind of settling down in this very island. Living a quiet life, away from the press. Sidney wouldn't stay here forever. What if she stayed after he left? 

  Killian stepped in closer, tentatively wrapping his other arm around her waist. "What are you thinking of?"

  "What was it like, growing up on this island?"

  "Um… dull at times, most certainly, but also quite idyllic. Life here moves at a different pace."

  "What's your favorite memory?"

   He paused for a moment, considering. "I remember trips to the farmer's market on the mainland with Angie. It was an all day affair. She'd get us boys up early and we'd take the ferry over. We'd go to the market with her and load up on produce and sometimes fresh meats and cheeses. I loved sampling all the different wares from the vendors. After we were done there, she'd take us boys to the library and let us spend an hour picking out books to bring back with us. We'd ride the ferry back and show dad all our acquisitions. After mine and Liam's lackluster upbringing, it was quite nice to have so much… normalcy."

  Emma sighed deeply, picturing herself in the same situation. "That would be lovely." She opened her eyes to meet his gaze. "Maybe it's all the insane events of the last day, but I can't help but think about how nice it would be to hide away from all the craziness here."

  "Are you saying you'd want to… stay?"

  "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I have friends and responsibilities in LA, but this seems like such a nice refuge."

  __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Killian felt his heart speed up in his chest at the thought of Emma staying.He stood in awe of her, still beautiful even as she stood there in baggy clothes with messy hair. He'd treasure a chance to court her properly, and his mind ran away with visions of taking her a proper date.

  Footsteps in the gravel road burst their bubble. The land sloped in just such a way that they could not see the person presently cresting the hill. In a rush Killian recalled why he was running to warn Emma.

  "Swan, I don't know how, but there are more reporters on the island. Ruby mentioned it, and I came to warn you."

  Her face paled in response. "Oh god… a minute ago I was ready to take on Sidney, but I don't think I could do it anymore. At least not dressed like this!"

  Taking stock of their surrounding, Killian spotted a small house sitting by the side of the road. He pointed to it. "That home there is vacant. Go hide in it."

  "Won't it be locked?"

  "No one locks their doors here."

  She eyed him warily, but turned to do as he instructed. Killian followed, seeing her safely inside the home before turning to face their intruder.

  Brennan Jones crested the hill, smiling when he saw his son.

  “Killian!” he called out. “Great news!”

  Killian stayed by the side of the house Emma was hiding in and waited for his father to approach. “What’s up, Dad?”

  “I just made an easy $5,000, and I’ve got a chance for another twenty grand!”

  Eyeing his father wearily, Killian asked “How?”

  “I called my old friend Sidney Glass last night and told him what you told me about Emma Swan being on the island. He paid me five grand off the bat and told me he’d give me a cut of whatever he gets for selling his pictures. He said he could easily get a hundred grand for it, and that would mean twenty for me!”

  Killian gaped at his father. “You… what? How do you even know Sidney Glass?”

  “We worked together for a bit when I first came to the States, before I met Angie and moved here. I knew he was a journalist, so when you told me that last night, I gave him a call.”

  “I…dad… I can’t believe you! I told you last night to leave her alone! Why would you do this?”

  Brennan looked at his son as if he’d sired a moron. “Because Sidney is paying me,” he replied, drawing his words out slowly.

  “Dad, if you need money, I could’ve helped you get some. We’d have figured it out. You didn’t need to sell out that poor woman in the process.”

  “What’s going on with you? I figured you’d be happy for me.”

  “Well I’m bloody well not! Why the hell did you need that money anyway?”

  Seeming to finally comprehend the fact that Killian was angry with him, Brennan struck back. “Because I need to get the hell off this island!” he yelled in response.

  “What?” Killian asked, the flames in his belly instantly receding as he registered the pain in his father’s voice.

  “I need to get away!” Brennan cried, choking on his tears. “I only moved here because Angie wanted to. I see her everywhere I look. I can’t stand it anymore. I’m going to sell the house and move to the mainland, back to a city.”

  “Dad,” Killian said, at a loss for words. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his father. He knew Brennan was having a hard time dealing with Angie’s death, but he’d never known how much pain the other man was in.

  “I miss her,” Brennan choked into his son’s shoulder.

  Killian patted his father’s back. Movement from one of the windows caught his eye, and he saw Emma peeking out from behind the curtain. It appeared she’d heard everything, and looked just as conflicted as he felt.

  When Brennan seemed to run out of tears, Killian released him. “Why don’t you go back to the house, dad? I need to take care of something with Ruby, and then I’ll head home and we can figure this out. We don’t need to sell out Emma Swan to get you what you want.”

  “Okay,” Brennan said with a hiccup. “I’ll see you there. Fish sandwiches or stew for dinner?”

  Killian cracked a smile. “How about burgers, at Granny’s? My treat.”

  “Alright son. I’ll see you later.”

  Brennan stepped away, walking more slowly toward his house than he’d been before encountering his son. Killian breathed a deep sigh before turning toward the door to the house and knocking briefly.

  __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Emma opened the door to a very anxious Killian.

  “Swan… I am so sorry. I truly had no idea my father even knew Sidney Glass, and if I’d had an idea of what he was going to do, I would have told you straightaway.”

  “I believe you,” Emma replied, calmly. 

  “How much did you hear?” he asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

  “Everything.” She stared at him across the threshold. “You’re really sure we’re okay to squat in this house? I find it hard to believe no one lives here.”

  “I can guarantee you that no one does,” Killian replied, gesturing toward the covered furniture in the living room. “The previous owner died last year, and people aren’t exactly clamoring to move to the island.”

  “But the house still has electricity. Wouldn’t that have been shut off with no one paying the bill?”

  “The electricity for the island comes from a generator. The residents have a collective that they pay into each month to maintain it. I’d imagine everyone just increased their contribution when Mrs. White died. It’s not like anyone was in the house to use it.” He sighed and slumped into a covered chair. “Anyway, we’ll be fine to stay here for today.”

  “Okay, good. I wonder if I can wait out those reporters.”

  “Would you like me to fetch Elsa and bring her here?”

  Emma felt her face relax for the first time that day. “Would you?”

  “Of course, love. I feel terrible about what my dad did.”

  “It’s not your fault. This entire day has been such a disaster.”

  “Even so, I wish I could go back to yesterday and stop him from placing that phone call.”

  Emma breathed slowly, unsure how to respond. They stood for a moment, in awkward silence, and she felt an overwhelming urge to kiss the man. At the same time, her cheeks began to flare, reflecting the shame she felt at having so wantonly seduced him. She snuck a peak at his face and recognized the same play of emotions on Killian’s face. They both opened their mouths at the same time to speak, then both closed their lips. Just when she thought she would scream from the discomfort of the situation, Killian broke the tension.

  “Bloody hell… I want to kiss you so badly.”

  __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Emma gasped at his words, and Killian almost took that as permission to step forward and capture her mouth with his own. He imagined her moaning as he wrapped his lips around her pout, sucking gently. In contrast to their earlier actions, he would keep the kiss soft, tenderly tracing first her upper then her lower lip with his tongue. He pictured her tilting her head, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and him threading a hand through her hair, gently cupping the back of her head. Her hands would slide around his neck and onto his shoulder blades, scrambling for purchase. Killian’s other hand would slide down to her hip, pulling her body into his own.

  “Killian… Killian… Are you there?”

  He startled back to awareness, staring at the siren before him. He’d never had an experience like there, where he drifted off fantasizing about a woman. “Sorry love. You were saying?”

  Emma grimaced, and he felt a tiny pang that he was making her repeat something unpleasant. “I was saying that I don’t think…” she sighed heavily before continuing. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to repeat what we did earlier. At least not today. I need to take some time to get my head on straight. This last day has been insane. It wouldn’t be fair to you if I jumped into something new before getting myself settled.”

  The pang in his chest expanded to a full-blown heartache. Although her words made complete sense, Killian couldn’t help feeling rejected. When would he ever see her again once she left the island? It’s not like he could follow her back to LA and show up on her doorstep. Considering all her struggles with the press, her home was no doubt behind a veritable fortress of security measures.

  He cleared his throat and looked at his shoes. “Of course. I understand. Should I go and fetch Elsa now?”

  “Um… yes, please.” He turned to open the door. She spoke again as he was reaching for the handle. “Killian?”

  There was traitorous flutter of hope in his heart. “Yes, love?”

  She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. Just as he’d determined to turn again and continue on his new mission, she decided what to say. “Thank you. For… for everything. These last 24 hours have been excruciating, but you have been my port in the storm.”

  Killian closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. After living on an island for most of his life, and spending his formative years working on a fishing boat, the fact that she used a nautical metaphor touched him. It spoke to how well matched they were, making her rejection sting more. 

  “I am glad to have had a chance to help you.”

  He turned before she could say anything else and walked away from the house, toward the Inn, where he expected Elsa to be. The walk felt like it took mere seconds, barely giving him any time to clear the tears swimming in his eyes.

  Stepping up to Granny’s, he encountered a bigger crowd than he’d ever seen in the diner, even during the tourist season. Every table was full, including the three wrought-iron tables on the porch. Granny appeared behind the counter as he walked in. 

  “There you are! Your dad was asking where you’d got to today.” 

  Killian walked around the bar to face her, noting that the bar itself was also brimming with people. “What’s all this?”

  “Reporters!” Granny said, not bothering to hide her disgust, though, by the looks of it, she was going to have a record-setting day for sales. “They’re all here camping out because they think some damn actress is staying on the island!”

  “Emma Swan! We go’ a tip that she’d be here and there’d be a ‘ell of a story!” Chimed in one man, slumping over the bar top, his head resting in his hands lazily.

  Killian looked questioningly to Granny, but she only grunted in annoyance before refilling the man’s beer. Having been dismissed, Killian continued toward the back of the diner. Most of the patrons would assume he was visiting the restroom, but he took a turn at the last second and ascended the back stairs toward the Inn.

  Once upstairs, he knocked on the door to the room he knew Elsa was staying in.

  From the other side of the door, he heard her yell “Go the fuck away you vultures, or I will sue your ass so hard that your grandchildren will still be paying your debts!”

  “It’s me,” he hissed. “Killian Jones.”

  Elsa cracked the door and peered out, before finally opening it entirely and letting him enter. “Thank God. Where’s Emma. Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine. She’s safe. We found a house that she’s hiding in.”

  “Thank the Lord.”

  “Why are all these people here? I wouldn’t think Sidney Glass would be the kind of man to share a story.”

  “Fucking Walsh tipped them off. I’m sure this is part of his plan to punish Emma for wising up to his bullshit.”

  “That bastard,” Killian growled in response. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have a plan. Can you get me to Emma?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay good,” Elsa replied, picking up a leather duffel. 

  “What’s in there?”

  “A change of clothes and some makeup and hair supplies. I’d imagine Emma is in need of freshening up, and she’ll want to look her best for the next phase of the plan.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s go.”

  __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Emma could do nothing but pace the length of the small living room while she awaited Killian’s return. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized with a pang that she hadn’t eaten anything all day. In vain she looked through the pantry and cabinets of the kitchen, but found nothing to eat.

  As she was closing the last cabinet, she heard the front door to the house open, and her heart jumped into her throat. She eyed the back door, preparing to bolt again, when she heard Elsa’s voice.

  “Emma?!”

  Relief flooded her body, and she turned to embrace her friend.

  “Oh! You’re okay!” Elsa cooed, hugging her tighter. “I was so worried!”

  Emma couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m okay, Els. I’m okay.”

  “Good.” Elsa replied. “Today has gone to utter shit.”

  “I know. Killian told me about all the reporters. I know now how Sidney got here, but I have no idea how they knew about it.”

  “Wait… you know who tipped off Sidney?”

  Emma looked up to see Killian over Elsa’s shoulder. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Erm… my dad, he… he knew Sidney from when they were young. He called and let Glass know Emma was here after I mentioned to him last night that I thought I saw her.”

  Elsa rounded on the man. “You what?! Did you know about this all along?!”

  “No! No! I swear, I had no clue.” 

  “He’s telling the truth, Els.”

  Elsa looked at her incredulously, so Emma recounted what she’d overheard Brennan Jones say to his son. Elsa still looked wary once she’d finished, but seemed pacified.

  “Okay, we can work with that.” She paused, and Emma could see the wheels turning in her friend’s head. 

  “What are you planning?”

  Squaring her shoulders, Elsa turned to fully face Emma. “It’s time for you to stop running. Even without Killian’s dad interfering, Walsh sold you out. It’s time to expose him for the piece of shit he is.”

  “How do you propose to do that?” Killian asked.

  She looked at him slyly. “With you.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Your dad wants money to buy a house somewhere off the island, right? We will pay you enough money to buy a house cash if you will agree to pretend to be Emma’s husband for one year.”

  “What?” Emma asked, panic lacing her tone.

  “We’re gonna get you cleaned up, walk right up to the diner, and have a press conference.”

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

@artistic-writer @bubblegum1425 @captainkillianswanjones @fairytaleprincessatlast @flslp87@gingerchangeling@hollyethecurious @hookswan25 @initiala@jonirobinson64 @kday426 @kingofmyheart14 @kmomof4@kymbersmith-90 @laschatzi @nerdyhuntress @nikkiemms@objectsatsleepstayatsleep @princesseslikepirates @resident-of-storybrooke @searchingwardrobes @sherlockianwhovian@shireness-says @snidgetsafan @snowbellewells @teamhook@thejacketandthehook @thejollyroger-writer @thislassishooked@welllpthisishappening @winterbythesea @winterbaby89@wingedlioness @withheartfulloflove @wyntereyez

[kmomof4]

For the fic-writer meme: all of them! 😁 and if you wanna pick five to ask Hollye, I’ll ask the other five lol 😂😘

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Our secret is out!!! Yes, @hollyethecurious you were right! We conspired to get you to answer all 10 of the questions!!! There is more than one way to de-fur a feline, dontcha know! 😁

Anywho... Hollye also asked for #6, and @snowbellewells asked for 5, 7, 8, and 10.

I’m sorry it took me so long to get to these. It’s been a busy week and I really had to think about some of these! But without further ado, here we go! Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

1. What’s your personal favorite thing you wrote this year? 

My personal favorite fic I wrote this year is a tie between Of Darkness, Vampires, and Soulmates, The Moon... Tells the Sea, and State of Emergency: Code White. The first two both written for last summers CSSNS. I don’t have to tell you, Kayla, how much I loved your artwork that inspired TMTtS, but that fic was just so EASY to write. Your artwork just told the whole story and all I had to do was write it down. I want to say that it only took me a couple of weeks to write, once I really sat down and started writing, in the midst of lockdown and the school year coming to a close. And then had to wait like 6wks or something to post it!!!! That was REALLY tough!!! ODVS is a favorite because I loved the premise so much and how hard it was to actually write it. I started working on it in earnest in November of last year, but didn’t finish it until April. I came dangerously close to giving up on it several times but @hollyethecurious and @profdanglaisstuff were the ones who made sure I didn’t. So just by sheer fact of what it took me to finish it makes it a favorite. And finally SoE: CW was a favorite because I wanted to write it for a year before I finally sat down to do it. And while it was hard in that it was entirely out of my own head, I was so happy with how it turned out.

2. What’s your least favorite thing you wrote this year?

Least favorite fic was probably Chosen, Protected, & Saved, written for the CS Movie Marathon.  I wasn’t finished with it when my posting date came around, and so I feel like the ending floundered a bit. I wasn’t overly thrilled with it.

3. Which of your fics was most different from what you usually write?

I will have to say Of Darkness, Vampires, and Soulmates, linked above. Just about everything I had written up to that point was inspired and/or heavily influenced by some other type of media, either book, movie, or show canon. This was really the first fic that came entirely out of my own head. I don’t really count Arise, My Love because it was basically PWP, just with vampires. This was the first fully fleshed out and plot driven fic out of my own head. There we go, that’s better. It was also the darkest thing I had, and still have, ever written.

4. Which of your fics this year was most successful?

By kudos on ao3, The Moon... Tells the Sea, linked above, sitting at 75. I’m not gonna try and determine the most successful on Tumblr...

5. Which of your fics do you wish was more successful?

I wish that Of Darkness, Vampires, and Soulmates, linked above, had been more successful. Of all the fics I’ve written, that one was the hardest and took the longest to write. So I wish that more people had read and enjoyed it. But I also know that supernatural and vampire fics aren’t on a lot of folks “must read” lists, so I try to keep a balance between that wish and that knowledge.

6. What’s your favorite piece of dialogue you wrote this year?

Off the top of my head, I’d have to say this scene from Ch2 of Chosen, Protected, & Saved, linked above. This scene in the movie, The Golden Child, is what inspired the entire fic.  

Emma and Killian somehow made it through customs with the dagger after arriving back in the States. The only thing they could figure was that since the dagger itself was magical, it was magically shielded from anyone but magic wielders.  As they exited the arrivals gate, he startled when he spied the man from his dream, the Dark One, coming toward him followed by several Boston police officers. He sauntered towards them, making a show of the gold tipped cane he carried. He was dressed differently than in his dream with a long greatcoat, in what looked like crocodile skin. Killian felt a chill run down his spine. The coat matches his smile, he thought.

“That’s the man. Killian Jones. If he doesn’t return my property, I want him arrested.”

Killian’s heart raced. He drew Emma’s attention to their adversary as his mind furiously tried to figure out how to get out of the coming confrontation. An idea came to him suddenly and he elbowed Emma, whispering to her to let him do the talking.

“Welcome home, Mr. Jones. You have something for me?” he asked, holding out his hand with a smug smile on his face.

Killian stared into the face that he had only seen in a dream. He looked at Emma, naked fear on her face, at the cops behind the Dark One, and then back at the man or demon before him. He couldn’t help the smirk that broke over his face as he anticipated playing the Dark One like a fiddle.

“I’m sorry, Rumple,” he loudly lamented, reaching for the lapels of the man before him. The Dark One stared at him, utterly taken aback. It only took a moment however, before his face grew red with extreme irritation as Killian released him and turned toward the crowded terminal. “Everyone,” he shouted, drawing the attention of all the people hurrying to catch their flights, “I should be punished. I have stolen from my brother, Rumple.” The Dark One’s jaw clenched with annoyance as Killian continued with his theatrics. Emma looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Officer,” he continued, pointing at the officers behind the Dark One, “It is your duty to take me in. Please,” he moved toward them holding his wrists out in front of himself, “I am ashamed of myself. I should be arrested.” He walked down the line of officers. “I should be flogged. I don’t deserve to walk among free men.”

Killian repeated his tirade until the Dark One grabbed his arm, motioning toward the officers in a placating manner. “Let me have a word with him, please.”

Killian felt himself being pulled away from the officers, so he turned his attention to Emma and raised his voice once again.

“Emma, I am a swine. You must know what kind of man I am, before we go any further in our dalliance. I am a wretch. I don’t deserve to live.” He winked at her and saw her fear and confusion morph into reluctant amusement. She shook her head as the corner of her mouth lifted in half a smile. He finally turned toward the furious Dark One before him.

“How long do you think you can keep up this miserable masquerade?” he hissed, his eyes blazing with his wrath.

“Well, until I get arrested.” He grinned cockily at him. “Or until you realize the rules of evidence in this country.” The Dark One raised his head slightly and Killian could just see a trace of unease in his eyes. He turned serious. “See, if I get arrested, they take me and put me in a jail cell. And then they take the knife, because it’s a stolen object, and they put that in a little room, and they put ‘Exhibit A,’ a little sticker that says ‘Exhibit A’ on it.” He mimed putting a sticker on something. “And the knife sits in a room and I sit in my room until the trial commences. And that can be anywhere from a month to a year. So if you get me arrested, there’s no telling when you will get your knife.” Killian broke into a wide grin at having the upper hand, thoroughly enjoying himself as he watched a vein pulse in the Dark One’s forehead. He could just imagine what the demon’s blood pressure was at this moment.

“You have no idea who I am, have you?” he sneered.

“Why, yes,” he exclaimed. “You’re my brother Rumple!” He let out an amused chuckle as the Dark One struggled to keep his rage under control. “Look, I know exactly who you are,” Killian’s eyes turned hard and his easy going smile disappeared, “Dark One.” The man before him nearly turned white in fury. Killian’s heart skipped a beat, but he plowed ahead, his own anger coming to the surface. “But, here’s the thing. I. Don’t. Care.” He punctuated each word with a poke to the demon’s chest. “I do care that you kidnapped Henry, though.”

“I could destroy you,” he snapped his fingers in the air, “just like that.”

Killian’s eyebrow raised in bored amusement. “Well, we’ll see about that.” He turned and looked back over at Emma and the officers still waiting off to the side. “Look, I am not going to be giving you this knife. And you do not want to get me arrested. And I will find Henry,” he sneered and snapped his fingers in the Dark One’s face, “just like that.” He patted the demon’s cheek. “See you soon.” He turned back toward the crowd, all smiles and held his arms out as if he wanted to embrace them all. “My brother has forgiven me! Emma, Brother Rumple has forgiven me!” He turned back to the seething Dark One and clapped him on the shoulder in an awkward embrace. “Dear Brother, thank you, thank you, thank you.” He then kissed him loudly on the cheek in a final taunt before releasing him and leading Emma into the crowd.

7. What’s your favorite piece of description or narration?

@searchingwardrobes betaed The Moon... Tells the Sea, linked above, and she told me that it was the most descriptive thing I’d ever written. That comment put me OVER THE MOON. And when I went back and read it the other day, I had to agree. I spent a lot of time describing the woods, Emma and Killian in their wolf forms, and just the general setting. It was so gratifying to hear that from a fellow author that I GREATLY admire and enjoy. I am also very proud of the Prologue of Chosen, Protected, & Saved, linked above, when I described Henry’s room before he is kidnapped.

8. Which fic this year was most fun to write?

I’d have to say that I had the most fun writing either The Moon... Tells the Sea, linked above, or the second chapter of Somewhere Out There. They were both relatively easy to write and I loved how they both turned out.

9. If you could go back and change something about one of the fics you wrote this year, what would it be?

I would change the circumstances around posting Chosen, Protected, and Saved and I’d probably work on the final battle more. I just wasn’t that happy with it.  

10. What, if anything, are you going to try to do differently in your writing in the new year?

I’m gonna try and make more time to write. Since writing Chosen, Protected, & Saved, linked above, I’ve hardly written anything. I love reading and flailing more than anything so writing is very easy to set aside when I’ve got a lot of reading on my agenda, but I’m also bad about putting it on a back burner when RL comes calling. I think just setting the boundary of “I’m gonna write for one hour today” would go a long way toward keeping my mood up and help me get the fics I’ve got notes on in my docs actually written and posted. So we’ll see how that goes.

Thank you all for the asks @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713, @hollyethecurious, and @snowbellewells! Love y'all!!! 😘

[mdelpin]

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem - Chapter 5

Gratsu Bingo 2019 Prompt: Death AO3 | FF.Net | Tumblr: Ch1, Ch2 , Ch3 , Ch4

Chapter 5

The door to the apartment had barely closed when Natsu rushed out of the bedroom dressed in one of Gray’s old t-shirts and shorts.

“Where were you guys?” he grumbled, examining them intently, looking for any clue to their disappearance. When he sensed no hostility between them, he relaxed. “I woke up, and you were all gone.”

“Sorry,” Lyon replied, “I couldn’t sleep, too nervous about today. They went with me to keep me company.”

“Right,” Natsu rolled his eyes at the blatant lie, “It’s nice to see some things never change, you still suck at lying.”

Lyon laughed nervously, “I really do need to start getting ready. I’m going to go take a shower to see if I can wake up some. Can someone make me some coffee, please?”

“I think I can manage that,” Zeref offered, “Maybe even some breakfast, depending on what you have on hand.”

Zeref set himself to the task of putting some food together, wanting to give Natsu and Gray some time to talk.

“Hey Gray, don’t forget Mom is coming over in about an hour.”

Gray cursed inwardly, he’d let himself get so caught up in everything that was happening he’d conveniently forgotten he was still expected to attend the wedding. He glanced over at Natsu, wishing he could just ditch it and spend more time with him but even he wasn’t that much of an asshole.

He’d never do that to Lyon, his brother had always been supportive of him, and it was his turn to do the same for him. Especially since he’d already shown him how nervous he was.

“I’ll be ready,” Gray gave his brother a reassuring smile before grabbing Natsu’s hand and leading him back into his bedroom, closing the door behind them, wondering if it was too soon to try to kiss him. He settled for pulling him into a hug.

Natsu let him hold him tightly against him without complaining, “You know, I don’t remember you being this touchy-feely before.”

“Does it bother you?” Gray released him, gazing at Natsu’s expression, wondering if he was pushing him away already.

“Not exactly, it’s just different,” Natsu rubbed his forehead, a nervous gesture Gray remembered well, “It’s just I spent two years thinking you hated me.”

“If I’m honest, I might have for a day or two, but then I got my head out of my ass,” Gray admitted before lowering his head sadly, “Why didn’t you ever try to get in touch me?”

He was still a bit upset that Natsu had never replied to any of his messages.

“I lost my phone on the boat. I was really sick during the trip, and it fell overboard at some point,” Natsu explained sheepishly, “I haven’t had a phone in almost two years. I did think about writing to you once I realized I was going to be gone a lot longer than I’d thought, but we were never really in town or cities.”

“I would have gone with you,” Gray murmured softly, and he found himself grabbing hold of Natsu’s hand. It was getting embarrassing, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from touching him, but he felt the need to continually reassure himself that Natsu was really there.

“I know you would have, but I had no idea what I was getting into, and I would have never forgiven myself if I put you in danger.”

Natsu smiled at all the unexpected affection. It was unusual for Gray to be so needy, but Natsu knew he’d scared him by disappearing and he didn’t mind.

He’d come back for this after all, determined to try to make a go at a relationship. It had torn him up inside to have to deny Gray at that party, but his mind had already been made up, and he’d hoped he could fix things when he returned.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ice Block,” Natsu insisted while squeezing Gray’s hand, ”I promise.”

Hearing him talk about his time away reminded Gray that he still didn’t know anything about what had happened. It also made him think about what Zeref had told them. Igneel was dead.

It hurt to think about it. Gray had loved Igneel, the man had been a father figure to him and Lyon when they’d desperately needed one. He remembered how the two of them would fantasize that Igneel would fall deeply in love with their mother and marry her and they would all be one big happy family like one of those cheesy shows on TV.

But it never happened, although Ur and Igneel liked each other well enough, they seemed to be content being single parents, helping each other out whenever they could. And now Gray thought he understood why.

Gray knew the grief he felt was only a fraction of what Natsu would feel, and although he understood it would only get worse the longer they postponed it, Zeref had to be the one to tell him. Not just because Gray didn’t want to be the one to destroy his hopes, but because he knew Zeref would see it as part of his penance. He would never feel worthy of telling Natsu who he was until he got this off his chest.

That just made him want to hold on tighter, for he had a feeling the next time he saw Natsu, he would be irrevocably changed. He really hoped Zeref didn’t fuck this up.

“So, uh did you date anyone else besides Juvia?”

“Can we please not talk about this now?” The last thing Gray wanted to get into in his current mood was all the stupid shit he’d done while Natsu was gone. He regretted all of it.

“Oh,” Natsu looked down at Gray’s carpet, not wanting him to see his disappointment.

“I — I thought you left because I kissed you, and then you never returned my calls. I was upset and disgusted with myself, and I thought I’d fucked up our friendship,” Gray tried to explain, but it sounded lame even to him.

“I had it all planned out,” Natsu said wistfully, “I was going to come out to you, and give you some time to get used to it, maybe have you see me the way I saw you. And then, then I was going to tell you how I felt.”

Natsu snorted, “I never expected you to be the one to kiss me. God, I wanted to kiss you back so much, but that would’ve been unfair. I already knew I was leaving. I thought I was only going to be gone for the summer, I figured we could pick things up when I came back.”

“Let’s just pretend none of that happened, and start over, yeah?” Gray’s eyes softened, he let go of Natsu’s hand to trace his finger on the other’s cheek. “I like you Natsu, I have for so so long.”

“I like you too, Princess,” Natsu grinned happily, using the nickname he’d coined because of how long it took Gray to do anything, the last of his worries floating away with Gray’s words. He placed his arm around Gray’s waist and tugged him towards him, their mouths inching ever closer, breath intermingling as lips almost touched only to be interrupted by the loud sound of urgent knocking.

Gray, irritated by the interruption, looked down at his watch, and with a long-suffering sigh, ran to open the door. The wedding craziness had begun.

“Don’t tell me you’re not even dressed yet?” A disgruntled voice scolded Gray in dismay as she entered the apartment before turning to yell. “Lyon, where are you?”

“In my room!” Lyon called out in a muffled voice, “I’m getting ready.”

“You’re early, “ Gray complained to his mother.

“Nice to see you too, Sunshine,” Ur retorted, giving her son a peck on the cheek, “I was going crazy at the house, and Juvia’s mother has been calling nonstop, it made me anxious.”

Gray waited for what he knew would immediately happen, feeling a bit badly for his poor mother who already had a lot on her plate. Today was probably not the best day to dump all this on her.

“Natsu?” Ur experienced a myriad of emotions at seeing the boy she considered as her other son, but for the moment relief prevailed, “Oh my God! Baby, is that really you?”

Natsu gave her a warm smile, even though he knew for a fact he was about to get his ass handed to him in a few minutes. “Hey Ur, I’m back!”

She lunged at him, giving him a hug that quite possibly removed a few years from his life, but it was well worth it. This woman was the only mother he’d ever known, and he loved her deeply, despite her occasional emotional outbursts. He flinched when he felt the tears wet his shoulders. Shit! He’d made her cry.

Once she’d gotten the hug out of the way, she laid into him, “Where the hell have you been? We were all worried sick about you.”

“He went looking for Igneel,” Gray informed her, trying to get some of her attention away from his boyfriend.

Ur’s eyes widened, and she was about to say something when she caught a strange look on Gray’s face that confused her. She decided to back off until she could figure out what it meant. “Well, of course he did, and I can’t wait to hear all about it once this wedding is over. Gray, have you even taken a shower yet?”

“No, Mom, I was talking to Natsu.”

“Well I need help getting stuff in the car, and neither of you is ready to go,” Ur complained.

“Zeref and I can help,” Natsu assured her.

“Who’s Zeref?” Ur asked, her nose wrinkling as she thought about all of her sons’ friends.

“He’s my brother,” Natsu grinned, knowing that information would shock her.

“Your what?!” Ur squealed, “Okay now I really can’t wait to hear about what happened to you.”

Natsu laughed, “Let me get some shoes on.” He went to Gray’s room to look for his shoes and change back into his jeans. After some brief introductions, he and Zeref were recruited to be her slaves while she waited for the twins to get ready.

The twins were finished by the time Zeref and Natsu were done lugging boxes and other random items down to Ur’s car. They all sat down together to eat the food Zeref had made.

“Lyon, you look like shit, your pictures are going to come out terrible,” Ur groaned, already thinking of Juvia’s mother, “Did you even sleep?”

Gray waited until Lyon and his mom were bickering before he leaned over to whisper to Natsu.

“Are you sure I can’t talk you into coming to the wedding with me?”

Natsu seemed to consider it, but he shook his head, “Today should be about Lyon and Juvia. If I show up, people are going to flip out. I don’t want to take away from them, and in all honesty, I don’t think I’m ready to face everyone yet.”

Gray knew Natsu was right, but it pained him to leave him, it was stupid he knew, but he’d just gotten him back.

“I promise I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Alright,” Gray agreed, placing his hand over Natsu’s underneath the table and smiling when Natsu laced their fingers together.

After a lot of hectic goodbyes and Ur extracting a promise from Natsu that he and his brother would have dinner with her and Gray that evening, the Fullbusters were off.

Gray and Lyon had agreed not to tell Ur about Igneel’s death until after the wedding knowing it would be a shock to her and it would ruin her enjoyment of the ceremony.

“Are you ready for this?” Ur asked Lyon seriously as they made their way to the car, both boys holding on to garment bags containing their formalwear for the wedding.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lyon deadpanned, causing Ur to whack him on the head and Gray to laugh.

“Everything’s going to be just fine,” Gray assured him before adding with a smirk, “At least it’s not me marrying Juvia.”

Lyon rose to the bait, and the two happily bickered all the way to the church with Ur yelling at them to shut the hell up.

O-o

Natsu waited for a few minutes to make sure they were really gone before laying into Zeref, “So you wanna tell me what that little stroll was all about?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Zeref hedged as he set about clearing up the plates from the table and putting them in the sink. He’d no idea how to work the machine, he’d always had servants for that sort of thing. The only reason he knew how to cook anything was that he’d liked to spoil Sona sometimes by making her breakfast in bed.

He was terrified, he didn’t want to lose his son after just getting him back, but Zeref knew that was a distinct possibility, just as he knew it would be no one’s fault but his own. There was a lot he hadn’t told Natsu yet.

Like the fact that he’d been the one to write that letter. Or that Acnologia wanted Natsu dead since he was the legitimate heir to the Empire of Alvarez.

“Please,” Natsu scoffed, fixing his gaze on his brother, “I’ve known those two most of my life, it was obvious they were upset about something, and I sort of doubt it had anything to do with the wedding. What did you tell them?”

“You didn’t tell them about the time we got captured?!” Natsu panicked briefly. Gray would flip his lid if he ever learned of that. Then again, if Gray knew about it, Natsu would probably already be sporting a black eye.

“No, nothing like that,” Zeref assured him, “I didn’t tell them anything about our time in Alvarez.”

“Then what? What could you possibly say that would upset them?” Natsu pushed, narrowing his eyes as a thought occurred to him. “You don’t have a problem with me being gay all of a sudden, do you? Because I’m not giving Gray up!”

Zeref had to laugh at that, out of all the fathers in the world, he was probably the most relieved to learn his son was gay. It wasn’t a guarantee that Natsu would never father any children, but it certainly improved his odds of being able to die in one lifetime. “No, Natsu. I’m quite happy that things seem to be going well with Gray. I like him.”

He watched Natsu continue to worry and worked his courage up. Gray and Lyon were right, Natsu needed closure so that he could begin the grieving process that should have started years ago.

“Could you sit down? I need to tell you something important.”

Natsu did as he was told, staring up at Zeref with trusting eyes that hurt more than he thought possible.

“It’s about Igneel,” Zeref had barely managed to get the name out when Natsu jumped out of his seat and rushed towards him, grabbing his shoulders excitedly.

“You know where he is? Is he in Magnolia? Why didn’t you tell me before? Can we go see him?”

Zeref couldn’t bear to look at the wild hope in Natsu’s eyes, his hands tightened into fists as he willed himself to destroy that hope forever. He’d never felt crueler in his life.

“No Natsu, I’m afraid we can’t. You see, Igneel died many years ago,” Zeref managed to get the words out somehow, and when he witnessed Natsu’s despair he learned that although he might not be able to die physically there were many ways to die, and he’d just discovered one. He felt wretched.

“You can’t know that!” Natsu protested. His eyes had begun to tear up, and he sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Zeref. His voice was getting increasingly louder as he fought off the words he didn’t want to accept.

“He’s out there, I know he is, and I’ll find him! You’ll see.”

“No, Natsu, you need to listen to me,” Zeref kept his voice as low as he could, hoping Natsu would get himself under control. “Igneel died in Alvarez, eight years ago.” He gulped before adding, “I was there, I saw it happen.”

“You...you WHAT?!” Natsu screeched, “Why didn’t you save him?” he grabbed Zeref’s shoulders again, shaking him roughly, and Zeref let him, knowing Natsu needed to get some of his grief out.

“He was a prisoner just like I was, there was nothing I could do.”

Natsu stopped hitting him, satisfied for the moment. He studied him intently, and Zeref could tell he was thinking hard.

“Why?! Why did they kill him, what did he even do? Why did he go to Alvarez in the first place?”

Zeref sighed, he’d been hoping Natsu wouldn’t ask that question, but now that he had Zeref wouldn’t lie. Natsu deserved to hear the truth, but before he could say a word, Natsu had already figured it out.

“He went there because of you, didn’t he? DIDN’T HE?”

“Yes, he did,” Zeref couldn’t interpret Natsu’s expression, and it was beginning to worry him until it finally settled into one he was very used to seeing.

Hatred.

And as much as it hurt, Zeref found he couldn’t fault him for it.

Natsu dissolved into sobs, looking more like a child than Zeref had ever seen him and he wanted to do something, anything to make his son stop crying like that, but all he could manage was an apology. “I’m so sorry, Natsu. I wish they’d killed me instead.”

“Me too,” Natsu spat out, and ran out of the apartment. He couldn’t stand to look at Zeref any longer.

Zeref watched him leave, trying very hard not to let those words get to him. He knew Natsu was upset and he probably didn’t mean them. It had gone about as badly as he’d expected.

Zeref was convinced that Natsu would never be able to accept him as his father, hell he’d be lucky if the boy ever wanted to have anything to do with him ever again.

Even so, he needed to make sure Natsu was alright. He decided to chase after him, but by the time he’d made it downstairs, Natsu was nowhere to be found.

To make matters worse, Zeref realized he had no keys to get back into the apartment. He’d never been to Magnolia before, and he’d no idea where anything was so he sat down on the building’s front steps to wait for Gray to return home. Hoping he would have an idea where Natsu might have gone.

“I’m sorry Igneel, I handled that poorly,” Zeref muttered before placing his head in his hand and letting himself cry for the first time since being forced to witness Igneel’s execution.

[volcanofireflame150]

When Different Paths Cross

<<About the Characters; Intro ; Ch2>>

                                               Chapter 1

This is might be a wild ride but you are about to witness on how I met him and his friends, but mostly him, I'm Lindsey Sterling, or Crazy Sally, I was always being called Sally so much that I forgot my name being Lindsey. It's true I have an obsession with wolves, but I have a real explanation on how I got that obsession.

I was saved by a wolf from a tornado, and this wolf ran faster than the tornado, it seemed like it was like it had the power to manipulate the air around it. I am trying to find out where that wolf might be at. But I never see them every time I'm exploring in the woods, I keep wondering if I am wasting my life away with this obsession I have.

I'm not about to give up just yet, I already went and written about 5 notebooks about them. I always wonder why people always misunderstand the beautiful creature. I'm also thinking about creating my own blog about wolves but I think that's a little too far. I always keep these things to myself, I share no one, not even my own parents because they don't think of me as they're own daughter anymore so I thought why not make matters to my own hands.

I always do my morning routine before I go out to do more of my wolf research I always make myself some bacon, pancakes, hash browns, toast, and finally my ham & cheese omelette. After I ate that I headed out to the woods, I always call it a forest because it looks like one. I always go deeper into the woods because I always know my way back to my house, sometimes I get lost but I eventually find my way back.

But this time I always hit dead ends, this time I've decided to delve even deeper until I came on top of a hill with a tree right in the center of the hill, I feel like I should've been first and only here because when I sat down on the ground getting my sketchbook ready to sketch out the beautiful landscape I saw before me, that's when I saw them.

Wolves, gray wolves to be exact, if I was wolf I want to be an arctic wolf, but all wolves are majestic creatures and always want to be left alone, which is why I am keeping my distance away from this one. I paid no attention to it because I was still sketching out the beautiful landscape.

After I finished drawing, my attention was all on that wolf, observing on what its doing, but I only brought my art supplies, I hope it doesn't spot me going down on where I came from. As I walk down the hill, there was more but once again I kept my distance and pretend that they are not there. Until one of was blocking my path way back home, I stopped walking hoping it knows that I am harmless.

Thankfully, it got the message and trotted away same with the wolves came with it except a really beautiful red wolf, it followed me on the way home, I'm guessing this wolf wants to make sure that I get home safely. As I returned home, it watched me go inside.

"Oh wait, before I go inside, you want a reward for making sure I return home safely?" I asked. It nodded its head and the wolf sat down waiting for me to give it its treat. As I got it, I gave it to him. It's a male wolf right? I thought.

"Um, this may be out of the blue, but are you a male wolf?" I asked. He nodded, I smiled knowing that. At least he is friendly, when he finished his treat, he whimpered? I wonder what is wrong.

"What's wrong? If you are worried about another person living with me? I wish, I'm all alone you see," I told the wolf. He just looked at me, with wide eyes. He was wagging his tail when I asked, "Do you want to see me more often?" I guess he wants me to. Eh, what damage can I do? I mean, I don't know any fighting skills other than using a stick as a weapon.