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lowkeyclueless5137 · 2 years ago

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The Old Cathedral III

I honestly can't wait to have this one done! :3

Mostly cuz after it, probably my favorite palace (so far) come >:3c

But then again... I have 0 idea what the 5th palace should be... :v

Anyway! Enough of that. Let's see what we have in store for today! :D

What we will cover:

-a small break from the palace

-Some more childhood friends interactions

-Shenanigans in Shibuya

-And a visit from Mr Rosehearts

Mmmm... Interesting points... :'3

Now onto the chaos:

With the palace being put on hold, the next best thing the group could do in the metaverse was to investigate mementos and mind of their student lives.

Ace and Deuce seemed to go out more often along Ortho. Azul was just making a few notes on subjects, preparing for future exams and also tutoring Epel, but this time Malleus is the Japanese tutor. Kalim was tending to his business as a heir while Jamil helped him. It was clear their relationship was a bit colder, but Kalim said that they will work it out.

Floyd was hanging out more with Mikan and his other Kosei friends. Morgana still was with him as Jade also said that he happened to meet up with someone. Vil also focused on his carrier, accepting a few modeling/acting offers that came this period. Rook also concentrated on a new hobby: photography.

Meanwhile, Riddle was taking his studies very seriously, despite being yet too early for the exams. When he wasn't tutoring the first years, Riddle would help Futaba by tending to the counter. He always had a book next to him tho, reading from it when there were no costumers to tend to. Yusuke also teaches him drawing when he was free. Besides all that, Riddle hung out with Trey and Che'nya.

And. Trey discloses that he has a 1st year, Jack, who's been struggling a bit with chemestry. He was in the science club and tried to help Jack a bit, but Trey wasn't really that good at teaching... Che'nya just raises a brow at that, but doesn't question, instead he asks Riddle if he could help him with his math assignment. Ofc the redhead accepts. :'3

Trey tho butts in, saying that he also needs sum help with math. Riddle lights up at that, considering it to be a really fun friend study hangout plan.

He failed to notice the awkwardness in between the 2.

Only a few days passed of this palace pause, until Ace broke down from the stress. They couldn't possibly let that guy marry Kalim's mom and destroy yet another family. He had a point, one which Kalim supported as well, like the rest. They had to return there, even if that creature was still roaming the place.

So the metaverse group met up at the hideout on Sunday, early morning, to return to the palace, speedrun through that goddamn dungeon and assure their entry in the tower.

Except that the tower entry to the top was blocked by a locked trapdoor. They do have a Lockpick, but it would be be needed more lockpicks or the actual key if they wanted to get into on the day of the heist. For now, they used one lockpick to enter.

And the top of the tower was lavish on the inside. There were gigantic bells in there along with other various instruments in there. From flutes to a grand piano, all arranged like an orchestra. In front of them, a thick marble piedestal was placed, above which the treasure was floating.

Mona again went full cat mode, but Knight holded him down. :'3

So they had the treasure route secured. Kraken voiced his concern that they need now a way to escape this place with the treasure as fast as they could. They can't just get back on the same route they entered. Axe said that they could drive their asses out. Flame said that it was too risky since the whole palace will start to crumble apart of the treasure is stolen.

Sailor tho analised the instruments. While sure it was a far fetch, he looked at the whole room. He noted that this must be a very loud room during ceremonies.

And as if his theory was proven, the bell started to ring and the instruments came to life, singing loudly. Being too loud, Flame immediately grabbed one of the nearby flutes, which, in response, stopped singing. The instruments would stop singing once they were touched.

The problem? These instruments made a whole labyrinth in between them and the treasure.

Flame timed the whole thing, realising that they had only 5 minutes until the whole melody would be over. Gold noted that he saw through the glass wall that down in the main body of the Chapel, some sort of Ceremony was commencing.

All of them hid tho, when they heard that the palace ruler came inside, checking on all the instruments. Thankfully he didn't realise that one of the flutes stopped prematurely.

The group had to leave after that. They knew what exactly was their last obstacle.

Back in the real world, it was no surprise that now they needed to go to their Sunday plans. Ortho and Riddle had to babysit again Cheeka.

But this time, when Leona comes to drop Cheeka, the child was crying non-stop and kept gluing himself to Leona's leg, begging his uncle to not leave. Leona is visibly annoyed by this and when Futaba asks about it, Leona replies that some family matters came up, some that made Cheeka to cry since morning. He wasn't supposed to overhear them, but here they were.

Futaba admits that she isn't that good at convincing children to stop throwing temper tantrums. Ortho was and still is a fine example. :'3

Ortho does go to Cheeka and reassures that Leona will only go to the market down the street. It will take a bit since today it's a big sale and people are hogging the place. Leona doesn't want to have Cheeka stay amongst those boring old adults and wait in an endless line. Cheeka seems to have resorted to small sniffles when Ortho drops the big bomb: he 'wasn't supposed to tell cheeka the big secret', but Leona talked under the table with a pastry baker and so if he runs late, he would miss the super secret sweet surprise that was meant for Cheeka today. So he needs Cheeka to wait like a good kid in here until Leona gets the secret surprise.

Yeah... This buys Cheeka's attention enough to let Leona go. The other is happy that the furball finally let go of him, although now Ortho added another road on his list: get to a pastry to get Cheeka something and make the lie believable.

But in the end, Cheeka stayed at LeBlanc. A tad bit later, Riddle couldn't help but bring out what in the world must've upset Cheeka so much. It couldn't have been them... No? Cheeka seemed very happy when he came to stay. So why? For now, they couldn't question it further since the kid was worn out from all that temper tantrum and currently he was sleeping in Riddle's room while the 2 in question stood at the counter with Futaba.

Ortho also had with him a bass. Futaba said that it was Yusuke's as he knew how to play the bass. Ortho found it last night and he wants to adjust a bit the instrument's cords before he could ask if Yusuke can give it to him. Futaba did say that they wanted to give it to him on his birthday, which now the gift was spoiled because Ortho was a lil curios one. (yes, this is a reference to smth... If you know, you know... :3)

~~~~~~~~

"Maybe you should ask your brother to help you out..." Futaba suggested. "Big brother said that he is working onto something important... Apparently he has a deadline or something..." Ortho mused. "Maybe after he is done he can help you..." Riddle suggested.

Clink!

The 3's attention shifted slightly towards the door. On there, a very tired man came in. His coat was messily thrown over him, hair in all directions and clothes looked like they were flown over in a tornado. If the proeminent eye bags didn't give the idea of a burnout man, his posture sure gave it away.

"Hello... Futaba... Please one cup of the usual..." He tiredly mused before his gaze fell onto the 2 boys in question. Ortho only minded to the instrument in question. But the man eyed Riddle specifically, his features lighting up a bit.

"Heyyy... Kiddo! How is it? We didn't talk in a lot!" The man smiled weakly as he came to the 2, pointing to the seat. "may I?" Riddle only nodded, clearly bewildered, but noticed that the man was dozing off a bit.

"Yes... You can, Dad..."

~~~~~~~~

Mr Rosehearts sure took a seat and with it a very tired breath. While Futaba did go to tend to the order, Riddle voiced his confusion on how his father came here today. He replied by saying that his co-worker agreed to take his shift for the day since he covered lately for a few others who had family problems. He also worked the extra hours so he could pile them up so that he can catch, like every summer, a nice holiday time. Well during that holiday he usually took Riddle around to Japan, as it was in July, but since now he attended Shujin, Mr Rosehearts admits that he will have to get used to it.

Ortho points out that he just came from the hospital, which the latter confirms it. He took the underground train and almost slept through the station, but he wanted to visit since it was Sunday. :'3

Futaba does come with the order in question, which was a coffee with a lot of milk. She points out that Mr Rosehearts did drop by from time to time, but at those moments, Riddle was either at school or out with his buddies. He also came for a cup of coffee since God forbid that cafe close to the hospital. Mr Rosehearts sure couldn't stand how bitter it was.

It was somewhat touching to hear that... Ya know? :v

So Mr Rosehearts asks how's going. Riddle does say that not much was on his plate. Only school and studying for the exams. Mr Rosehearts is a bit taken aback on how early it was, but brushes it off and tells Riddle to take it easy. There's plenty of time left and he doesn't need to stress himself so early.

If only he knew what his son was ACTUALLY doing... :'3

But since Riddle was in school during July, it was clear that Mr Rosehearts had no secure plans for his holiday. So he did ask what would Riddle want to do then? On past years, they would visit Riddle's grandparents in Kyoto, but now school prevented that. :'3

Once the topic of school was touched upon, Ortho does ask where did Mr Rosehearts study. The man responds that he did study in his hometown, but later went to college in Tokyo, with a few exchange years in America and Europe. He was lucky he had the calling for medicine, because otherwise he would have been known as the disaster magnet since he was no good at anything else, if not downright mediocre.

Which, again, is a bit of surprise for Riddle, since his mother always told him she studied and studied to reach where she was. Meanwhile his father reached a similar height just because he was naturally gifted and liked to pursue it.

But it made sense now why Mr Rosehearts didn't really stress onto his academical situation too much.

But in the end, Cheeka was the one who cut the meeting by coming down. Ortho explained that he and Riddle are on babysitting duty and so Mr Rosehearts payed for his coffee, plus a tip, before leaving to go and take some rest. He had a night shift tomorrow, which was very not fun to say the least. :/

Back with Cheeka, the little one seemed down still, Ortho and Riddle didn't have any idea what to do or say to cheer up Cheeka. At least they could only conclude thar the incident in the boy's family had to be serious, which affected him if he wasn't supposed to know.

So in the attic, on the couch, Riddle asks Cheeka if he could tell them what happened. Ortho promises that they won't tell anyone.

~~~~~~~~

"You really promise you won't tell?" Cheeka's glossy eyes meet the other 2's. "Yeah... When did we ever lie to you?" Ortho puffed proudly. "We can't help you if we don't know what happened... You must tell us if you want help..." Riddle mused. The little child only looked at his feet, before at the 2.

"I want you to change uncle's heart!" Cheeka declared.

"eh?! W-with all due respect..." Riddle's voice cracked. "It is impossible!" He added. "Yeah... We aren't like those Phanthom Thieves who caused the incident in April..." Ortho defended. Cheeka tho, had his eyes even glossier, with small tears forming at their corners, growing in size as the bottom lip of the boy trembled.

"B-But Uncle will have to leave! He will go to America and then we will go back home and uncle will never come back! And you can change his heart! I know it!" Cheeka cried.

Riddle and Ortho exchanged worried looks before looking back at the child before them. "Again... We are not the Phanthom thieves... And why do you think your uncle needs a change of heart?" Riddle inquired.

Cheeka only flapped his hands and feet. "Dad wants uncle to go and see a mean lady and maybe marry her for 'very important blah blah politics'! And Uncle can't say no! And I want uncle to say no! Because if he goes, the mean lady won't let him see me again and then he'll forget about me! And dad and mama don't care about me! Uncle always takes me places and picks me up from school and he is the one who reads me a bedtime story!" He cried harder, hugging the nearest person, which was Riddle.

The redhead only gave a panicked look to Ortho, who motioned for him to just roll with it. The kid needs a hug right now.

So awkwardly hugging back, the redhead exhaled. "We'll see if maybe we can contact the real Phanthom thieves to get your Uncle's heart changed." The redhead reassured. "Really?" "Yeah... But don't tell anyone... Not even your uncle..." Riddle mused.

Cheeka seemed cheered up. And of course, later that day, Leona came to pick the kid up, with a short conversation in between him and Futaba, then the paycheck for the 2 babysitters, Cheeka left with his uncle, this time holding him by the hand.

Futaba tho, noticed the troubled 2's faces as she closed the shop. "Something wrong, kiddos?" She piped in. "Nothing..." Ortho swatted it off... "You sound just like your brother..." Futaba exhaled, making a small pause. "You 2 wanna stay together overnight?" a small gaze exchange in between the 2 was made before both nodded. "Alright... But don't stay up too late. You have school tomorrow..." The ginger woman mused as she left LeBlanc.

Immediately once she left, Ortho pulled out his phone, pressing on the metanav. "What are yo-" "Leona Kingscholar..." The younger boy spoke.

"Candidate found" the robotic voice replied. "Cheeka was right... This guy has a distorted heart!" Ortho gasped. "But it isn't our business now... Koizumi is... We can't add this one too!" Riddle cut through.

"Really? But aren't you at least curious to see what this one is? Like isn't it wierd the kid praised to no end his uncle yet this guy has a palace?" Ortho pointed out. Riddle only bit his inside cheek, hugging himself. "One look... Nothing more..." The redhead declared.

"Now for the place... We don't know anything about the guy... Mementos clearly doesn't cut it..." Ortho mused. "Kingscholar residence?" Riddle suggested.

"No candidates found"

"well... Tokyo? Shibuya? Japan? The country run by the Kingscholars?"

"Well it's not like this guy's distortion is covering the whole world..." Ortho mumbled.

"Candidate found"

"EH?!" both Riddle and Ortho exchanged surprised looks. "The whole goddamn world?! What kind of distortion is it even?!" Ortho breathed out awkwardly. "it must be something figurative... It is clear that he cannot have the whole world under his influence, but he considers it as such..." The redhead mused. "now for the distortion..." Riddle exhaled.

"A Castle?" "no candidates found" "A stage?" "no candidates found" "A tomb?" "no candidates found" "No candidate my ass..." "language..."

"Well... Let's attack this logically..." Riddle trailed. "Cheeka mentioned that his uncle is possibly put in an arranged marriage. Cheeka's father is in some sort of position of actual power dictated by marriage." "Sounds to me like some medieval dynasty shit..." Ortho pointed out. "Well... It is the rule: first come takes the crown... Only the firstborns are at the top of 'the mountain'..." The redhead mused. "Mountain? Really?" "it's figurat-"

"Candidate found. Beginning navigation."

~~~~~~~~

And the 2 found themselves in a jungle. A bit further it was a rocky road, following it and hiding from any possible shadows, Ortho and Riddle came face to face with the bottom of a gigantic mountain, currently in their normal attire as they weren't considered threats.

And this mountain lived to the name. Only half of it was visible, the top being covered by thick gray clouds. As it proceeded upwards, the road became visibly cleaner as well as the houses that adored the mountain in small villages. There was also the road splitting into 2, the other part going downwards, towards a darker place. There was a sign also there which said 'Elephant cemetery'.

And now Ortho was all like 'ok, let's go to bed...'. Riddle gets smug and asks 'why, you scared?', basically the 2 egging each other to see who's the scaredy cat. In the end, the 2 bicker as they go towards the cemetery, since that had to be the safest place, the top of the mountain clearly harbouring the treasure.

Unbeknownst to them, they were watched.

The elephant cemetery was in all means one. Gigantic skeletons of the said animals were layered around. It was an eerie feeling around a slight fog, giving more of the horror vibe.

Ortho found a very old torch and together with some sharper pebbles and some tires while the 2 were arguing who did it better, the torch was lit up and they had a somewhat light.

~~~~~~~~

"This place is so empty..." Ortho mused, his voice echoing slightly. "Oh... Look... ECHO!" the boy shouted, his voice again echoing like a response from the empty canyon. "It is useful to tell is someone is in here as well..." Riddle quietly exhaled. "But we can make it say things!" Ortho beamed.

"SCHOOL SUCKS!" and the canyon replied.

"I WANT CAKE!" again, the canyon replied.

"Ortho! Stop it! We might get caught..." Riddle said. "But it's fuuuun~ besides... We aren't yet considered as threats~" the younger replied. The redhead only rolled his eyes.

But ortho was right. They weren't yet considered as threats. And they were in a deserted canyon while the palace was a mountain.

"Oh I have a good one..." Ortho puffed as he took a deep breath. Really Riddle was curious to see what the other was going to yell in there...

Fsh!

Both boys halted, the redhead holding the torch like a weapon while Ortho grabbed a nearby bone as a somewhat bat. A small breeze was in there, the fog not showing any signs of shifting.

The cry of a bird was hird from above. Looking up, something shining was flying, easily visible from the darkness, although it was small due to the distance. The bird let another loud cry, stil circling above the 2, although this time lower.

"We've been spot-" "no... If that was the case, we would have been in our attire." Riddle cut off, breath holded as his gaze immediately shifted to a direction, than another.

Crack...

It sounded like a twig breaking, although it was most likely a bone. This made the 2 to perk their heads towards their left, Riddle moving the torch accordingly as Ortho pointed the long bone towards the left.

Thug.

Both boys immediately were ready to scream when something grabbed them by the clothes collars, yanking them into an elephant skull, yet their mouths were covered by a hand each. They dropped their only weapons and guiding light in all that frenzy.

"Shhh..." A low voice whispered to the 2, being immediately drowned by the silence as the 3 listened in. There were steps of some animals as well as growls of something akin to a hyena.

Once the sounds of the animals seemed to dissappear, Ortho and Riddle were both let free by the one who dragged them inside. Immediately the 2 jolted further from the person, Ortho having his fists ready as Riddle took a defensive stance, eyes trying to focus in the darkness and maybe find something to use or to escape. Currently, the 2 were faced with a wall from the skull inside.

The person tho, only hummed as their hands reached towards something. The 2 couldn't see, but could distinguish movement.

As something fell down, light came into the small space. A soft blue light covered the insides of the small impromptu room.

"What is wrong with you 2?!" It was the first reply from the guy with blue fire hair, which now showed small tints of orange. It sounded lower, almost like a beast's rumble if it wasn't for the slightly louder tone. Their eyes were covered with a black mask that looked like sleek metal, no holes in it, reflecting the light from the flame hair.

~~~~~~~~

The guy in question warned the 2 that it wasn't safe for them here. That, ironically, this was where strong shadows reside, although he addressed to them as 'beasts'.

Ortho and Riddle again exchange looks, but the guy tells them that they can't try a hit and run. They'll end up caught by those hyenas.

And of course, the bird comes here again. It was a bird made out of the same blue fire, with beady black eyes and very beautiful feathers that once the fire cover dissappeared, it revealed a bird in colorful hues of silver and baby blue.

The guy says that the coast is clear and that for now, they should get back to the jungle, as it was the safest place.

But of course things didn't have to be this simple.

Ortho and Riddle insisted to know their saviour's name, but he gave the silent treatment all the way back, despite the fact that both Ortho and Riddle were annoying to no ends.

It was at one point that the group halted and the misterious guy seemed alert. That's when the 2 saw his hand more clearly. It had a fingerless white glove and midnight black fingers, which was a difference from his pale white face.

And of course rustling was heard, which made the guy's nails to become long claws in a split second. Much to Riddle and Ortho's horror, the 2 realised with who exactly they were in here.

They were with the black creature. Or more like the black masked guy now.

And boy did Ortho and Riddle make noise. If they were to gather attention and return to the Phanthom thief attire, they could face off properly the said guy.

Except that their noise did attract something. Guards to be specific. Very angry guards.

Now as Rose and Flame, the black mask immediately let his bird fly away before trying to get these 2 out of there, yet once Flame tried to burn his face down with an attack from his persona, the masked person resulted to the smoke trick, dissappearing and also unintentionally buying time for the 2 to run off in the jungle and return to the normal world.

Except that now it was a small delay. For a split second, Riddle and Ortho saw each other in the thief attire in LeBlanc before everything went to normal. Ortho theorised that most likely the jungle was like a safe room and they got in when the glitch was activated. So at least they knew the jungle was a safe room.

For the night, both of them found it hard to fall asleep. Upon mutual agreement, they decided to tell the team and go in this one only after they finish the cathedral Palace. The others would surely want to investigate this palace, so they couldn't go head in head with that guy.

The next day, the rest of the group went as good as you would think they would once the news were dropped.

Malleus voiced his concern that perhaps their persistent presence in the cathedral was what drove that guy with finding another palace. Vil did say that it would be absolutely foolish of them to manage 2 palaces simultaneously. Therefore, Riddle came with the next plan:

The metaverse Group will send the calling card and finish off the Taka Koizumi palace, while the real world team would gather up intel on Leona Kingscholar. It would only make his palace more quick to finish if they gathered info in advance.

And so, tomorrow, the calling card will be sent, as decided.

Wooooooop

Guess I got ya nicely in here... :3

2 palaces! Don't worry, we will still have a smol intermission. Very smol tho. :'3

Anyway... What do you think of our 4th palace ruler?

Damn will I have so much fun with this... >:3

So let's hear sum theories and maybe do some brainstorming...

Because sure af after the 4th palace, IDK what should be next. So suggestions are very much appreciated. :'3

Until next time! Buh bye!

#twisted wonderland #p5 x twst #This one is chaotic #And full of cutscenes :'3

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le-amewzing · 4 years ago

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Redo

Well, after what just happened, I couldn't not write an epilogue to it. :3c *Note: This is set during and after s18e5, "Head of the Snake," so major spoilers ahead. *followed by "live hard"*

Fic: "Redo" [FFN] [AO3]

Pairings/Characters: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres, Kasie Hines

Rating: very light T

Words: ~3,170

Additional info: hurt/comfort, romance, 3rd person POV

Summary: Bishop had been the one in danger. So why is it that Torres comes off as being wound tight, primed to be the second explosion in her past twenty-four hours?

Surprisingly, there wasn't any ringing in her ears. No, she'd been far away enough from the action and even the subsequent fireballs after the fire department arrived on the scene that her hearing hadn't been affected.

But now Bishop sat in the bullpen, alone and not comforted by the orange walls of NCIS, waiting for Torres, Gibbs, and Fornell to return. She almost wished for ringing in her ears instead of the emptiness of the office around her—not even the bustle of fellow agents in the background was a comfort. Not tonight.

A part of Bishop was a little stunned to be left alone so soon after her kidnapping. Then again, Palmer had looked her over already and cleaned her face up to his high standards despite what the EMTs had done for her at the scene. Vance and Sloane had dispersed, as well—Sloane, Bishop knew not where to, and Vance she figured was assuring SECNAV they were about to wrap up this op in the grandest way possible with Merriweather's arrest. No one had any doubts that, given the trio sent after the kingpin and his spoiled daughter, they'd have Merriweather after tonight, no matter what.

She couldn't bring herself to think of McGee's status right now, so Bishop forced her attention back to the scattered paperwork on her desk. Even so, filling it out and filing it away was a mindless task, and she caught herself on multiple occasions tapping her ballpoint against her knee or thigh. Even when she willed herself to sit still, her foot tapped on the carpet instead. Her impatience filled her to the brim and bubbled over regardless.

Or was it even impatience?

Eleanor Raye Bishop could identify her many emotions and felt fairly confident she could spot them from a mile away. That was why, right now, calling this "impatience" didn't seem right, didn't click. Normally, impatience for her arrived with a tinge of annoyance if not outright anger.

She maximized one of the windows on her desktop, one with white text on a black background, and caught her reflection there. Nope. No glaring brow or flared nostrils that would scare off the others if they were around—just hair mussed from having run her hand through it a zillion times. So no anger…so probably not impatience, either.

Bishop swallowed a lump in her throat. Oh. …ah. Replaying the day's events in her head, it made more sense that this was nervousness. Even so, the idea formed a more tangible lump in her throat that tried to force its way into her mouth, and she covered her mouth and rubbed her stomach with her other hand in an effort not to let her nerves make her hurl.

Good God. Staying up here alone wasn't going to make anything better, and these next few hours would feel like days until Torres and the rest came back.

Acknowledging that sitting still (or at least attempting to) did her no good, Bishop shoved her work aside and headed for the elevator. She rode it downstairs and heaved a sigh of relief when she found Kasie moving around the lab and not focused on any one single task. She knocked on the open lab door to announce her arrival.

Kasie did a double-take. "Oh! Hey." Her eyes went skyward before she looked at Bishop again. "They back already? Is everyone…?"

Bishop shook her head. Then, realizing the mixed messages that sent, she said, "Uh, no, no one hurt, as far as I know. No one's back yet. I've heard nothing." She chewed on her bottom lip.

Kasie offered her half a grin. "Same." She raised her eyebrows. "Anything further from Delilah?"

"No. It's still too early for that, I think."

"Jeez…" The lab tech shook her head and closed her eyes. "I don't know how Gibbs keeps going from one thing to the next. Sniping McGee to chasing after Merriweather—oh, uhh, sorry," she mumbled, her eyes flying open. They were big and round with worry.

"You don't have to avoid bringing him up around me," Bishop assured her. "So Merriweather's crew got the drop on me. We didn't know the extent of his paranoia and how many cameras he had around Vladimir's place. Being kidnapped—happens." She paused; her words sounded funny even to her own ears. "It's just another job hazard. I'm more concerned for McGee, though."

Kasie nodded, but she frowned, leaned back against her monitor workspace, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The long look she gave Bishop made the blonde feel as though she were being appraised. "One: No, being kidnapped is a much bigger deal than that. And two: This can't be all that brought you down here. Something up, Bish?"

Bishop twiddled her thumbs. The cut by her right eye itched a little, but focusing on her thumbs kept her from scratching. "…no, not really. Just—it's been a long day. I'd be lying if I said Merriweather hadn't rung my bell a bit."

"Yeah, but you gave as good as you got. And you're here now, so that's what matters, right?"

Bishop half shrugged, half nodded. Honestly, whether she'd had her ass handed to her in a fight didn't matter much to her. Going over everything that had happened today, she found that Merriweather actually registered as the tiniest blip on her radar. No, it was the later events at the hangar that mattered more—and bothered her.

Seeing Torres in a panic had hurt, but that was easy to remedy, and she had gone to him on autopilot, happy to be crushed in his hug that was strong enough to lift her off the ground and make her tear up anew—but at least the tears this time were not because of acrid smoke or danger but because she was glad to be alive and, frankly, safe in his arms. It had been brief, and Gibbs had hugged her, too, and then the EMTs resumed their checkup before clearing her. But then she was free and back at Torres' side, and she rode back to NCIS with him.

But, despite their reunion, the ride back was stiff and quiet. Bishop never spoke a word, waiting for Torres to go first…yet he never piped up. It wasn't until they were back in the bullpen and surrounded by others that he regained his voice, but even then he wasn't really talking with her or to her. So Bishop had spent these last several hours mystified as to what exactly was on Nick Torres' mind. And it worried her.

"Hey."

Bishop blinked and snapped out of her concerns. She realized Kasie had left her spot across from her and now stood beside her in the doorway. She mustered a tiny grin when Kasie bumped their shoulders together. "Sorry."

Kasie stared at Bishop over the rims of her glasses. "Ellie, you sure you don't have a concussion? You seem—off." This time when she frowned, there was a frightened tinge to it.

"No," Bishop promised. "The EMTs and Jimmy all checked me out. Banged up but no worse than usual."

"Ellie—"

"I've got to catch up on paperwork and rearrange my desk while I have the free time," she said. She gave Kasie's shoulder a friendly bump back. "Didn't mean to interrupt you, Kasie. But I'll let you know the second they're back." She walked out then without waiting for Kasie's reaction.

In reality, Bishop didn't let Kasie know the second they were back. Bishop herself didn't learn until a few minutes after Torres, Gibbs, and Fornell returned by way of text from Sloane, and most everyone convened upstairs after Merriweather and his daughter were processed and secured.

The victory of landing Merriweather didn't last long, though. The moment Bishop brought up the latest update from Delilah, Gibbs had played the severity of McGee's situation down, and she exchanged a look with the others. Weirder still was the way the rest caught Gibbs' enthusiasm or at least feigned it. Somehow, everyone else seemed to go home as if it were any other day.

She lingered in the bullpen with Torres, though, and walked over to his desk while he crammed a few things into his backpack. "Hey," she said.

Torres glanced at her, unconvinced, though she hadn't said much yet.

Dammit. Even though the tension had been high today and especially just now with everyone still worried over McGee, somehow it had yet to dissipate when everyone else had left for the night. "I was serious about going to the hospital in the morning, Nick. I'll visit McGee and I'll have one final checkup, okay?" Because that had to be it, right? Torres had come so close to losing both of his friends and partners today, so that was why he'd been giving her the cold shoulder, right?

There was a tightness to his jaw. He didn't utter his relief or berate her for not going while he was out with Gibbs and Fornell. Instead, quiet settled between the two of them again.

Bishop internally sighed and walked half a step behind him as they made their way to the elevator and left the building together. Torres stomped to his car, and still she trailed after him, joining him at his vehicle. She watched him unlock his door and toss his bag in the backseat, but she met his eyes over the roof when she opened the passenger side door. "I'm not looking for a ride home," she stated.

Torres furrowed his brow. Coupled with that grimace of his, it made him seem as though he were glaring at her.

She hesitated, struggling to find the words that would get him to open up but not burst, a scenario that would work to her advantage. Suddenly Kasie's concern occurred to her, and Bishop decided it wouldn't hurt to let Torres read incorrectly between the lines. "Look, Nick…would you mind staying up with me awhile?" She gave him a tiny, tired smile, which was more genuine than she realized as even her jacket felt heavy on her shoulders in that moment. "Just in case the paramedics missed a concussion anyway."

That did the trick. Bishop caught the flash of fear in his dark eyes, and the tightness in his jaw softened by the slightest fraction. Torres nodded, and then he slid in behind the wheel.

Bishop was too tired to let the quiet of this ride bother her like the one earlier in the day. Rather, she focused on the steady hum of the engine and white noise of the radio turned down low. Better still was the fact that Torres was here with her; even if he were upset with her for some unknown reason, she preferred an irritated Torres' company to being left alone at the office.

It'd been a little while since she'd last crashed at or visited Torres' apartment. Maybe…oh, a month ago, she realized as he led the way inside. 2020 was turning out to be an odd year, and the team had enough on their plate to begin with, so she and Torres and Kasie had planned a monster movie marathon with a chocolate-snacks-only rule for Valentine's weekend (they'd had to work the day of). Originally meant for singles only, they'd extended invites to Sloane, Ducky, and Gibbs. But Gibbs had disappeared (now they knew why), Ducky had spent the holiday with Palmer's family, and Sloane had RSVP'd only to back out at the last second when Faith called her mother up for dinner.

She looked around now at the familiar surroundings and grinned to herself. Torres kept the place clean and tidier than one might expect, but she found it cozy. Bishop dropped her bag inside the door and shrugged out of her jacket, and then she grabbed her favorite spot on the right end of his couch. There she curled up and waited for him to calm down and join her.

Torres took his time. Mostly he gave her his back as he went to his kitchenette and fussed with making himself a sandwich with, Bishop guessed, everything in it. It was a good sign when he removed his jacket after a little while and draped it over a nearby chair by the closest counter. His last stop in the kitchenette was the freezer, from which he pulled the gallon of chocolate mint chip ice-cream. He brought that, a spoon, and his sandwich over, placing his plate on his coffee table and passing the tub and spoon to Bishop. But when he sat, with his elbows resting on his knees, Torres…sort of deflated. And the look he gave her was a reproving one.

Bishop doubted it was for digging right in to the ice-cream.

He shook his head. "Do you know how big a pain in the ass it is, partnering with Tobias Fornell even for half a day?"

She wanted to laugh. But now probably was not the time.

Torres smiled, but it was sardonic and didn't reach his eyes. "He actually had the gall to assure me 'we'll get your girl back' when he further broke his cover at the warehouse." He gritted his teeth again, took a bite of his sandwich, choked it down, and continued. "I was livid at that—that freaking FBI retiree. You only got taken because we got involved in this op."

Bishop glanced at her food. She wanted to point out that Merriweather had numbers on his side…but, yeah, Torres had a point. Numbers aside, Bishop wouldn't've been in danger if they hadn't joined the op at all.

"Gibbs…also…had to yank my dumb ass back from running into a plane that was still blowing up—"

"I know." She offered him a soft smile.

Torres gaped at her. "You do?"

"Yeah. I saw you, Nick."

"Oh." He scratched the side of his neck and dropped his eyes to his plate…or maybe the coffee table—his gaze seemed unfocused. Torres frowned as he continued, "…well, when I saw you outside the hangar—" He picked up his head and met her eyes, looking a bit like a beaten puppy. "You—You looked so fragile. But I couldn't help crushing you in that hug. And honestly I wished, just a part of me wished, that Merriweather had given us reason tonight not to arrest him." He pulled a face. "Granted, maybe Fornell has more right than I do to take a shot at Merriweather. Or anyone else who's actually lost their loved one to his business, but—" Torres shook his head. "Damn it, I was scared. Ellie, I was scared. I was pissed, but I was scared, because I know you. I know what you can do. But I also know that there exist people for whom you are no match. I'm no match for them, either. And we can't always have a team on hand to take them down."

Bishop eyed his profile for a while. Platitudes like "That's life" would fail right now. The same went for explaining that was simply how their jobs worked; that had been one thing, fitting that in to her conversation with Kasie earlier this evening. At least she could now clear away the fog of her own worries. "I'm relieved," she admitted, resting the left side of her head against the back of his couch.

Torres stared at her. "Relieved?"

"Yep. You were so quiet around me afterwards. I thought you were mad at me for getting caught."

"What? How could I be mad at you for that?" His eyes widened. "If anything, I'm damn impressed you kicked his ass and hid in the hangar as long as you did. You're getting more badass, Bishop." He punctuated his statement with a toothy grin, and the remnants of the tension between them dissolved.

Finally able to relax, Bishop returned his grin. Both of them got back to their food, as well, with Torres cleaning up and prying the gallon from her hands when it was half gone. That small sorrow aside, he reclaimed his spot beside her on the couch, and she snuggled into his side as he clicked the television on and cycled through the channels. They settled on the late night news, mostly weather bits and fluff pieces about pets being rescued from this and that emergency—precisely the type of background noise to drowse to, especially with the volume set right and Torres absentmindedly stroking her hair, mindful not to brush her bruises.

It was pleasant, until one of the repeated top headlines involved an explosion in the Middle East, and the noise seemed deafening to the both of them. Bishop didn't know if Torres jolted because she did or vice versa or maybe they even jolted in unison. But it was too much right now, too close to home, and Torres turned the TV off without a word. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her again just like at the hangar.

But this time the embrace was longer, sturdier, and Bishop felt her eyes watering again in relief. She smiled and sniffled.

The sound made him pull away. "Does it—"

She shook her head. "I'm not hurt anywhere else, no. I'm fine."

"But your head—"

Ah, right. Oops. Time to correct that assumption. "Palmer would not have missed a concussion, Nick. I'm fine," she asserted.

Torres frowned, clearly mulling over the facts. All the while, his eyes roved over her face. As if checking himself, he gently prodded the cut on her right cheekbone and above her left brow, and it was the latter that made her wince. Torres raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to protest—

—but Bishop stopped that protest in its track with her mouth on his. She kissed him, but it wasn't merely a distraction from her bruises. It wasn't done lightly. It wasn't like kissing him while undercover as Charlie and Luis. It wasn't business at all, but it was more than pleasure. It was a reminder that the panic she'd seen in Torres today, that fury…she'd felt it last year when she'd almost lost him in that hit-and-run. This was comfort and caring and love.

Their kiss was long, but they eventually broke apart, slowly. When they did, she pressed another kiss to his chin, and his lips brushed her forehead. Satisfied, she nestled into his arms.

She was right this time, identifying her emotion. She was relieved. But, better than that, she and Torres had taken a step that…was long-awaited and long overdue, Bishop realized as she nodded off against his chest. And, tired but knowing she was exactly where she wanted to be, she decided they'd talk about this in the morning, after a good rest and with clear minds…because she knew this was precisely how she wished their reunion at the hangar had gone instead. She was glad for this redo.

-w- I don't always work the actual title of my fics into the story, but this time it seemed appropriate/fitting/cozy. :D I…have so many feels. Esp given the 3-month timeskip between "Sunburn" and "Head of the Snake" in s18—like, that actually was a little stunning, so including an alternate Valentine's celebration as a passing mention in this almost makes me wanna write about it, *lol*. Anywho! I'm never gonna forget Bishop's murderous vibes when Torres nearly died in the previous season—I mean, great episode, but WOW, girl, could you be anymore obvo about your feelings for him? XD So "Head of the Snake" felt like a juxtaposition to that, IMO, altho I do think the actual Ellick hug in the hangar scene was too brief. :P (I mean, I kinda needed more Ellick in general in this ep, BUT I DIGRESS.) I'm a big Kasie fan, so sending Bishop downstairs to try to keep her mind busy was fun plus friendship fluff! But otherwise just so many Ellick feels. Pardon any canon detail errors since I'm writing this fresh on the heels of watching "Head of the Snake" only once (the primetime airing), but you can bet I'll be poring over the episode in the future when I have it on DVD, *lol*. Anyway, if you need some fresh Ellick fluff, go read "a shared hypothetical" after you leave a review/comment on this! :D And await some more Ellick from me~ -w-

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew

#ncis #ellick #ellie bishop #nick torres #kasie hines #fanfic #mew writes too much #m'kay so that ep gave me way too many feels #so have an epilogue folks #updated with a link to a sequel yooo

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jetsetlife138 · 5 years ago

Note

DarkBeej continuation? ;3c moved to another prompt list this time! :D 5. "So tell me when you're gonna let me in." 55. "Don't you ever do that again." 61. "Is this too fast for you? Too fucking bad."

Paring: Dark!Beetlejuice x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Emotional Manipulation, Threats of Physical Abuse, Dub-Con, Stockholm Syndrome, Psychological Trauma

I hate Tumblr’s formatting. It always fucks with me. Sorry for any issues. Please enjoy! xoxoxo

“Are you hungry?” Beetlejuice asked as he magically summoned his clothes back onto his body after your intimate shower together.

“Um, yeah, actually,” you replied, only now remembering that you had hardly eaten at all since you had gotten there.

“Well, let’s go into the kitchen and see what I can come up with,” Beetlejuice insisted, taking you by the hand and leading you out of the bathroom and through the dark hallway.

A paranoid thought clawed through your mind at that moment, and you couldn’t help but ask in terror, “You’re not going to poison me and kill me… are you?”

Beetlejuice halted immediately to stare directly at you. His eyes appeared to glow brightly in the darkness, reminding you that he wasn’t human, which made your stomach churn in fear. “Babe, you know I would never do that, right?” he insisted, caressing your cheek gently.

“It’s just… and please don’t get upset… you’ve hurt me quite a bit since I’ve arrived and I don’t know if you’re going to do it again. Please, Beetlejuice… don’t tie me up again” you pleaded, losing control over your emotions.

Beetlejuice’s heart shattered at the desperation in your voice. “Don’t you understand that I had to do that? I’ve explained this already. Weren’t you listening? I had to show you how deeply my love runs for you. I couldn’t show you that by simply telling you. You had to feel it for yourself. You had to experience every emotional cut, every stab, every bite, and every other painful encounter that I have felt for you. But now that you have, we can move on and you can understand. Unless, of course… you don’t?”

His question was a challenge, which you picked up on immediately. It was clear that you were pushing Beetlejuice too far with your honesty and you had to do something that would convince him once again that you understood his actions, as barbaric as they were.

With an animalistic impulse and a burst of strength, you shoved Beetlejuice up against the wall in the dark hallway before pressing yourself against him. Gripping the back of his neck tightly, you shoved your mouth against his, devouring him hungrily.

Beetlejuice hesitated for a moment, not fully understanding what was happening, but it didn’t take long for him to melt into the kiss and plunge his tongue into your mouth and explore it greedily.

The kiss was hot, heavy, and uncoordinated, but it was just what Beetlejuice needed. It was all passion and he held onto your hips, pulling you even closer. Absentmindedly, you began to grind your hips into Beetlejuice’s, the friction causing Beetlejuice to moan into the kiss.

Much to your bewilderment, you had started to lose yourself in the intimate encounter, even slightly enjoying the way Beetlejuice’s form fit against your own. When it dawned on you that you were letting your control slip away, you pulled back slowly, breathing heavily, wishing that you could see Beetlejuice’s expression in the darkness.

“Oh wow, gorgeous. That was… um… unexpected,” Beetlejuice sputtered. “I adore you, babe,” he concluded, lifting your hand to kiss the back of it tenderly. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

Though you were grateful to have found a way to distract Beetlejuice from his flaring temper, it made you nervous. It was obvious that you had to use sex and affection as a weapon, but you knew that you couldn’t overdo it or Beetlejuice would notice. He wasn’t a dumb guy, but he was clouded with obsession, and you knew that you could use that to your advantage if you played your cards right. The only problem was remembering that it was an act and that you weren’t actually falling for the psychotic son of a bitch that kidnapped you and had put you through hell.

Beetlejuice had escorted you to the table nestled in the corner of the severely outdated kitchen as he started to raid the cabinets for something to eat. “As I’m sure you can imagine… I don’t eat. But there’s gotta be something in here that will hold you over.” Picking up a box from the cupboard, he inspected it with a grimace. “How does Mac n’ cheese sound?”

“That sounds perfect,” you assured him.

“Excellent! Obviously, I think it goes without saying that I’m not the best cook. I had to possess a guy to get this stuff, but it seemed pretty basic enough that even I could make it. I guess we’ll find out!.”

You were consistently confused when it came to Beetlejuice’s demeanor. It was almost as if he was suddenly normal and not a dead psychotic ghoul. There were no mood swings, no threats, and no gore obsession. If you didn’t know any better, you would think that you and Beetlejuice were actually friends. It was a very odd situation and you had to constantly remind yourself of what Beetlejuice was capable of.

As Beetlejuice started to prepare the food, the silence became uncomfortable and he decided to initiate conversation. “So, is there anything you want to talk about?”

You were hesitant to reply. “Uh, no, I’m fine. I don’t mind sitting here quietly.” Your attempt to sway him from further discussion didn’t go over well.

Beetlejuice turned to give you a disapproving stare. “Come on, hot stuff. You don’t have anything you wanna talk about? No typical breather concerns or questions about your new home or our future or anything? I seem to recall you being very chatty when you first arrived. So tell me when you’re gonna let me in, babe. Obviously, at first, you weren’t ready or willing to hear me out. It seems like you are now, so go ahead. Fire away.”

You considered his proposal for a minute. The first question you wanted to ask was where the exit was, but that obviously wouldn’t go over well. Ultimately, you had decided to start out with something simple that would help your connection to Beetlejuice. “I guess I’m curious about you. I really don’t know much about you. How did you end up here? What happened to you?”

“Ahh,” Beetlejuice acknowledged with approval. “Now we’re getting somewhere. It’s a long story, but I guess you should know.” He turned his attention back to the boiling pot of water as he thought back on his past..

“I had everything in life - or so it would seem. My life was pretty fulfilling. I spent a good amount of time traveling, graduated from Harvard Business School, attended Julliard, and ultimately ended up as an overpaid corporate lackey. But none of that mattered. Not after I met her.”

Unable to stop yourself, you swallowed hard as you failed to hold back your grimace. Luckily, he didn’t notice anything. “I couldn’t sleep, I wasn’t eating, and I fell into a depression because I couldn’t have her. She didn’t want me. So, I took her.”

You were grateful that Beetlejuice was currently focused on preparing your meal and wasn’t facing you to notice your appalled expression.

“You remind me of her in that way. You didn’t want me at first either. Remember how badly you treated me?” he asked, turning briefly to raise his eyebrows at you.

“I do. I’m really sorry about that, Beetlejuice. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

The ghoul chuckled and turned back to the hot stove. “That’s alright, babe. We’re past that now. You’re mine, and you’ll never leave me again.”

The way he said it so matter-of-factly sent a shiver down your spine. It was difficult to understand how Beetlejuice became so fucked up if he had supposedly lived such a charmed life. He probably didn’t even know that he was crazy, and you weren’t about to be the one to tell him that. No, you had to bide your time and play your part, which you thought that you had been doing pretty convincingly so far.

“Anyway, our relationship was doomed from the start and eventually I ended it all,” he finished vaguely, leaving you to wonder what that poor girl’s eventual demise was. The thought of it left knots in your stomach.

“And the rest is history!” Beetlejuice finished happily, pulling you from your thoughts. “I have you now. Something about your very existence drew me to you, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence. We were meant to be together and I’m so glad that you’re finally here with me.”

The food was done at that point and ready to eat. Beetlejuice had placed an ample amount into a bowl for you, beaming at his accomplishment. “I hope you like it,” he said with a grin as he placed the food down in front of you.

For something as plain as macaroni and cheese, your stomach growled loudly at the appetizing smell of it and you were unable to stop yourself from digging in greedily, relishing as the food hit your empty stomach.

“Do you like it?” Beetlejuice asked earnestly.

After swallowing a large mouthful, you replied, “Very much, thank you, Beetlejuice. This is great.”

Beetlejuice grinned widely, happy that he was able to please his lover.

He allowed you to finish eating in silence as he watched you practically inhale the food. When you were finished Beetlejuice had cleared your bowl and held out his hand to you.

“Come on, let’s watch some t.v.,” he insisted as you took his hand, surprised that there was a working television in the decrepit house.

The two of you wandered into another room, which was pretty sparse apart from a big couch and a small t.v. As the two of you settled on the sofa, Beetlejuice managed to maneuver you like a ragdoll so that you were curled up against his body. Shifting uncomfortably, you were not at all enjoying the direct contact, but you knew that you had to suppress the unpleasant feeling.

“What do you wanna watch?” Beetlejuice asked, enjoying the way your chest rose and fell against him with each breath.

“Um, I’m not picky, whatever you want,” you insisted. Beetlejuice gave you a disapproving look to which you feigned a smile and reached up to press your lips lightly to his in hopes of convincing him that you were content sitting there snuggling with him.

It had worked just as you had hoped. Beetlejuice smiled in return and flipped through the channels until he settled on a The Exorcist. “You know… I’ve seen this at least a hundred and sixty-seven times, and it just gets funnier every time I see it.”

Humming in acknowledgement, you had a hard time understanding what was so funny about a terrifying movie about demonic posession, but it must have somehow appealed to his sick sense of humor.

As the two of you watched, Beetlejuice kept looking from the t.v. to your face to read your expression, probably making sure that you were enjoying yourself. Eventually, he relaxed a bit and allowed his head to rest on the back of the couch. After about an hour or so later, you could hear him breathing heavily, which soon turned into a full-on snore.

Glancing up at him, you whispered, “Beetlejuice? Are you awake?” Shockingly, you received no response.

As carefully as you could, you unwrapped yourself from Beetlejuice’s clutches. It was surprising that he had continued to sleep soundly even after you had slipped out from underneath his heavy arms. Now was as good a time as any to explore your surroundings in hopes of finding a way out.

Beginning in the room you were currently in, you looked for any signs of a door, but just like every other room so far, there were no doors that led outside - nor any windows for that matter. The only thing you could find was a small vent towards the ceiling. It was barely big enough to fit your head through, so you knew that there was no point in investigating further since you couldn’t fit through it yourself.

Continuing your search, you inspected the kitchen to no avail. Even after searching the closets and cupboards to see if there was a hidden doorway, there was nothing remotely close to an exit.

Next, you began walking down the main hallway and inspected the rooms that were now unlocked, but much to your disappointment, they were only closets and other storage spaces. For every room you had checked, you had come up empty-handed.

Feeling discouraged, you sauntered back into the living room and sat down on the other end of the couch next to Beetlejuice. The light of the t.v. flickered across the room while you lay your head back on the couch, absentmindedly following the lines and patterns on the ceiling. You had to wonder how this place could have been built without any entrance or windows. There was no way. It couldn’t be done. You had to have gotten in there somehow.

On top of that, who in their right mind would create such a depressing place? Though, you had to give Beetlejuice credit for finding the perfect hideout to stash away a kidnapping victim.

Lost in your thoughts, you continued to follow the patterns in the ceiling to calm yourself before Beetlejuice’s voice pulled you back to the present.

“Babe?” You bolted upright to see Beetlejuice staring at you with half-lidded eyes. “What are you doing?” he asked tiredly with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“Nothing,” you answered too quickly. “I got up to--”

“Don’t you ever do that again,” he snapped, the harshness of his voice making you flinch. “I-I was just…” you stuttered, trying to come up with a good excuse. “You fell asleep and I wanted to give you more room to spread out. I didn’t want to go far, so I just stayed here while you slept. I didn’t think that would upset you. I’m sorry.”

Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes at you, making you want to melt under his heated gaze. “I don’t ever need space from you. In fact, let’s go lay down. We’ll have more in the bed.”

Begrudgingly, you stood up and shuffled over to Beetlejuice as he got up from the couch. You really didn’t want to go back into the bedroom, but you knew that there was no point in arguing with him.

At some point, Beetlejuice had changed the sheets and you were grateful for the fresh smell of detergent as you lay down on the soft surface that you had come to know so well during your time there.

Turning back to your captor, your eyes widened at the sight of Beetlejuice’s bare torso. He smirked, knowing that this wasn’t what you were expecting.

“Beetlejuice?” you asked quietly, your voice hoarse with anxiety.

Not bothering to give you a response, he instead crawled on top of you and pulled himself up so that his face was directly above yours, so close that your noses practically touched. Beetlejuice stayed there for a moment, searching your eyes with his own before he started to lean in.

Instinctively, you turned your head away, exposing your neck to the ghost, which he took advantage of and edged forward to delicately brush his lips over the soft skin of your throat.

Beetlejuice had looked up at you after he kissed your neck to see what your reaction would be. You had refused to meet his gaze, which didn’t bother him at all because he knew that you were enjoying what he was doing to you, whether you wanted to admit it or not.

He continued to plant soft kisses on his lover’s neck as his hands went from stroking your chest, to running through your hair. He became more forceful with his kisses until he switched to nipping and sucking, leaving marks on you to claim you as his own. Beetlejuice was marking his property and he could feel your body shudder beneath him at the sensation.

Beetlejuice slowly and sensually made his way back up your throat until his lips found yours again and he sucked on your bottom lip. It surprised him that you didn’t resist, but he was too pleased to be overly suspicious about it.

An internal battle was coursing through your mind. Obviously, you were disgusted, but if you had to choose between Beetlejuice cutting you open, or kissing you, the latter was the better option.

If you wanted to get Beetlejuice to trust you enough to let you have more freedom, you couldn’t keep fighting him. You hated it, but you would have to accept whatever Beetlejuice was doing to you. Not only that, but you would have to pretend to enjoy it. You weren’t sure if you could, but you had to try.

Once he was finished teasing your bottom lip, Beetlejuice wanted to see how far you were willing to let him go, so he pressed his lips softly to yours, not waiting long before forcing his tongue into his lover’s mouth with little resistance. Beetlejuice sighed into the kiss, relishing in the taste of your saliva, wishing that he could have that flavor on his tongue forever.

When your lips parted from one another, Beetlejuice pressed his mouth to your ear and whispered darkly, “You taste so fucking good. I want more of you.”

He noticed how you swallowed hard at his remark. He smirked and slowly pulled away, removing himself from on top of you, placing his hands on your shorts and panties before tugging on them. Beetlejuice paused, noticing your apprehension and grumbled, “Is this too fast for you? Too fucking bad,” he barked, not waiting for a response. “I love you so much. I would do anything for you. I want you to feel how much I love you.”

He continued to pull your shorts down until they slipped off of your legs, soon joined by your top, leaving you bare before Beetlejuice’s hungry eyes. He didn’t waste any time in kneeling back onto the bed as his mouth watered and lingered over your hot core. “Just relax, babe. I’m going to make you feel so good,” he promised as he eagerly parted your legs and pressed the tip of his index finger on your bundle of nerves.

Loathing the situation you were in, you knew that you had to persuade Beetlejuice that this was something that you wanted, too. You didn’t know if you could do it, but you had to be as convincing as possible.

When Beetlejuice started to rub small circles against your clit, you forced out a pleasured groan, causing Beetlejuice to halt his movements for a moment. You met his widened eyes with your own needy ones as Beetlejuice’s mouth hung open in surprise. “Did you just… Do you like this, baby?” He asked, anxious for a response.

Biting your lip, you hoped that it looked more seductive than you felt. “Mmnh, yes. Please… don’t stop,” you begged, your voice trembling slightly.

Beetlejuice released a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he let your words wash over him. He had waited so long to hear you speak to him like that. He wasn’t about to waste another moment in case you changed your mind.

Sliding his finger down to your hole, he slipped in a thick digit while he leaned down to wrap his lips around your clit, sucking in lightly, swirling his tongue all around. “Oh god… fuck,” you groaned as you let your head sink into the pillows, closing your eyes tightly, trying to force yourself to enjoy this.

Beetlejuice hummed happily as he inserted a second finger, pumping in and out of your sex with vigor. Lapping up your juices greedily, Beetlejuice continued to eat you out like he was starved, earning soft curses and moans of approval, which only aroused him further. He tried to memorize the taste of you, delighting in the sweet and tanginess of your slick as he added a third finger, earning a choked sob from you.

“Mmnh, Beetlejuice. Oh god, I-I’m close,” you warned as your climax was drawing near.

Beetlejuice pulled himself off of you, earning a desperate look from you. “Not yet, babe. I’m not done with you yet.”

Surprisingly, you were actually disappointed when Beetlejuice stopped eating you out. You tried to tell yourself that it was just because he was really good at it, and that your acting skills were better than you thought, but a part of you wondered otherwise.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for this,” he commented soothingly as he pulled his length out of his striped pants, giving it a few pumps and smearing the pre cum over his length.

This moment was inevitable. You knew that. You were trapped and Beetlejuice had absolutely no intention of letting you out of there without some establishment of trust. Otherwise, you were probably going to die there.

Beetlejuice’s body quivered as he continued preparing his length, knowing that he was about to stretch and fill you to completion.

The ghoul crawled onto the bed and straddled you once more before bending forward and pulling you towards him harshly into a sloppy and needy kiss, to which you not only accepted but reciprocated in return. Beetlejuice was in Heaven, and he never wanted it to end.

He pulled back and gazed hungrily at you. “I love you so fucking much,” he whimpered as he positioned himself above you, taking his large cock into his hand once more as he gave himself more stimulating strokes. His eyes met yours as he asked barely above a whisper, “Do you love me?”

You knew you had to reply quickly, but you weren’t ready to utter those words, even if it was a lie. Beetlejuice would see right through that and his suspicions would make for a bad situation, which you wanted to avoid, especially considering the position that you were in.

Taking a deep breath, you finally answered. “I could love you… someday.”

Beetlejuice let the words register in his mind. No, you didn’t love him… yet. He knew deep down that it was probably too soon for that. You still barely knew him, but the fact that you were open enough to admit that you could someday love him was enough and he accepted it.

He smiled widely as he lined up his cock to your weeping entrance before pushing in at a torturously slow pace. As you were painfully and somewhat satisfyingly stretched, you emitted a satisfied moan. “Fuck, babe,” he groaned as he bottomed out, pausing to allow you to adjust to his girth.

A small whimper spilled from your lips as his length became sheathed inside of you. You couldn’t deny how good it felt, even if it was with someone you despised. He seemed to fit inside of you perfectly -- like he was made for you.

The ghoul started to lift himself once he felt like you had become more adjusted before he shifted back in, relishing in the feeling of being inside of you. Before long, he had built a steady rhythm, concentrating on the sinful sounds spilling from your mouth as you moaned with pleasure. It calmed Beetlejuice knowing that he was the one who was making those sounds come from your lips.

Alternating his angle slightly, you cried out when Beetlejuice’s shaft hit your g-spot, grazing against it just right. His own sock started to throb painfully, but he refused to come, instead, picking up speed now that he had found that perfect spot inside of you.

“Fuck, babe. You’re so- mnf- you’re so fucking perfect.”

It was clear that you weren’t going to last much longer with the increased friction that Beetlejuice was causing with his desperate speed. You were lost in your own pleasure as Beetlejuice continued to pound into you. “Oh my fucking god,” you whined softly, not wanting Beetlejuice to hear the effect that he had on you, despite the fact that you had been pretty vocal this whole time.

Fortunately for Beetlejuice, he had heard your cries of pleasure, which only spurred him further to bring you to completion. He rolled his hips and increased his speed, causing you to moan shamelessly loudly at the increased friction. “Cum for me, baby. Come on. Show me what you look like when you’re all fucked out,” he demanded, breathing heavily.

“Beetlejuice… fuck,” you choked out as the familiar feeling winding tightly in your lower half. “I-I’m gonna-” and before you could finish your sentence, the coil snapped, causing you to spasm harsly, the force of it practically paralyzing you with bliss.

Beetlejuice lost himself shortly after, his cum filling you to the brim as he nearly blacked out from how good it felt. Coming to shortly after, he continued to thrust in and out until he was completely spent, still sheathing himself inside of your heat, not wanting the experience to end.

After he caught his breath and he could feel your trembling body calm a bit, he removed himself from inside of you and fell forward on the bed beside you.

As you panted heavily, you absentmindedly moaned as Beetlejuice leaned over to lick the sweat that had accumulated on your face, which you immediately regretted as Beetlejuice hummed happily in assurance. He then wrapped his arms around you tightly, still catching his breath. “That was perfect,” he muttered as he planted soft kisses on your cheek.

Unsure of what to say, you just stared at the ceiling. The sex had actually been somewhat enjoyable, which frightened you. It was imperative to recognize the sadist that Beetlejuice was rather than the sexual bliss that he could make you feel. Though you felt repulsed, you knew that it would be worth it once you were able to get out of there and be free from Beetlejuice.

It was only a matter of time.

#beetlejuice #betelguese #musicaljuice #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice the movie #beej #soft beej #beetlejuicexreader #beetlejuice x fem!reader #beetlejuice x reader #adult themes #dark elements #mature themes

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darlingsdevil · 5 years ago

Text

The Ballads of Rebirth (Arthur Morgan x Reader)

Chapter 15: Full Circle

Summary: The big day. All rejoice!

Masterlist

Tag list: @rollyjogerjones

I still can’t add a read more tab on mobile.. sorry about that :/

A/N: Sorry for my long hiatus, not been super motivated lately so I made this chapter extra long for you guys! Longer than any thing I’ve written before (!!).I promise I sort have been doing productive things.. I guess. Listening to music (Hozier, Lord Huron, Gregory Alan Isakov and the Oh Hello’s are what got this chapter done), playing fallout 76 (I know), working, schoolwork, planning other fics (I have a big announcement coming up!!!)

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: I wanted to clear some things up in terms of plot hole. My dumbass mistakenly has said that Reader has been in the gang for 15 years, not true - it’s been around 10, but a little less than John (like 3 ish months after him). I have also previously said that John and Reader joined the gang together, again, not true but I already fixed it. Reader joined the gang after John after Arthur saved her from the gang who kidnapped her. Hope this wasn’t too confusing.

As for the ending... yeah.. next chapter, and then epilogue. Not sure that many of you will stay around for the AU - which will be posted SEPARATE, after you read the actual ending >:3c Anyways, here we go.

This is all supposed to be italicized.. it’s italicized on wattpad and ao3, just tumblr decided to be a bitch and not transfer it that way and I’m too lazy to change each paragraph to italics.. so let’s just pretend it is.

•••

Shady Belle was an interesting place for a wedding, it seemed. You had been ushered away from Arthur in the morning, and carted away to Saint Denis with the rest of the women, claiming Shady Belle would be too chaotic to get ready in, which really meant they didn’t want you to get ready with the men around. They had raided your room when the sun rose, waking Arthur too. You were barely able to kiss him goodbye, they carted you out of the room that fast. You wanted to lie next to him all morning, enveloped in his warmth, but your friends had different plans.

Saint Denis was such a difference compared to Chicago, the city you grew up in. You were an orphan living in the cold streets, just barely getting by. You worked in a textile factory for as long as you could remember. You lived in a cheap, one bedroom apartment, before that you simply slept in alleyways with other orphans, huddling by fires. You were uneducated, poor, and always hungry. A man kidnapped you on your way home from work one late evening, and the next thing you knew you were in a cabin in the desert, surrounded by men with guns and a nasty look on their face. Arthur was your savior, Dutch was your teacher, John was your brother, Abigail was your sister, Hosea was your father and the Van der Linde gang was your family.

But that was a long time now. Your wedding was merely hours away.

Arthur was nervous about the whole thing, he didn’t want to make a big deal out of the wedding but Dutch decided otherwise. Dutch thought a wedding was exactly what the entire gang needed, to boost everyone’s morals he had told you. You were beyond nervous for your big day, but with Arthur by your side, the impossible became possible.

Miss Grimshaw was the head of it all, the mastermind of the party. She set everything on a strict schedule, where everyone needed to be and when. She was a godsend during this time, otherwise the wedding would no doubt end up in a shed with you wearing a white sheet as a wedding dress.

Mary Beth was absolutely bouncing off the walls at the idea of a wedding, she thought it was incredibly romantic — two outlaws falling in love. It was something out of those novels she adores.

Saint Denis was hot, humid, and made you feel sticky with sweat. It didn’t help you would be wearing a heavy dress later that day either, but you didn’t mind. Nothing could or would bring you down today.

The first stop to your magical day was the salon. You got your hair trimmed and styled, as well as some makeup, keeping it simple. A few of the other women got their hair done as well. They all looked beautiful. The women could not hide their excitement for you, even a few patrons of the salon came up and congratulated you. Their talk seemingly echoed off the walls.

Abigail put the hair clip in your styled hair, it was a beautiful piece, elegant and dazzling. It was gold with a large pearl at the top and smaller jewels surrounding it. It matched your locket perfectly. Arthur had bought the hair clip for you a few days before.

When you were ready to leave the salon, it was time for the dress store, where you had left the dress. You didn’t want Arthur to see it, and it would no doubt get soiled at Shady Belle. Some of the other women had bought new dresses for the special occasion as well.

You picked it up from the counter, and walked over to the dressing room. All the women sat down on the benches outside of the dressing room, waiting for the big reveal. A few of them had already seen it, as they had gone with you when you picked it out, but none of them had seen you in your full wedding attire.

When you slipped it on over your undergarments you felt like you were floating on a cloud. You were absolutely beautiful. You felt like you could conquer the world in the dress. It was incredibly pretty, it had a loose layered bodice, with lace woven in, long ruffled sleeves and an a-line skirt. You felt your heart strings pull at the mere sight of it, you wondered what Arthur would think of it.

You slowly pushed the door open, hearing your loud heartbeat in your ears. You heard a wave of audible gasps, and then a few squeals, you eyed your white heels nervously, hesitantly looking up at all their faces.

They were all smiling, a few covering their mouths in joy.

“You look so pretty!” Tilly shouted, the rest of the women agreed. You smiled shyly, doing a small twirl.

“I really like the dress,” You said, feeling the cloth sway with you.

“I’d be surprised if Arthur didn’t drop dead the moment he sees you,” Mary Beth said playfully.

“Do you really think so?” You questioned.

“Of course. The man will have a heart attack right there, on the altar,” Molly responded.

You giggled, “I don’t want that to happen!”

“You look so beautiful,” Mary Beth repeated. You nodded her head at her, a smile on your lips.

“I’m so nervous though,” You confessed, sitting down next to Miss Grimshaw. You gripped the edge of the wooden bench, hoping to calm your nerves.

“It’s normal to be nervous, if you aren’t, there’s something wrong.” Sadie was the only married one in the gang, you trusted her advice.

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing will be going wrong today, everyone is going to make sure nothing bad happens,” Abigail reassured you.

“Are you sure? I mean what if Arthur suddenly gets cold feet? What if O’Driscolls raid our camp?”

“If the O’Driscolls try to mess up your day, they’ll have to get through me,” Sadie said rather determinedly, a strange glint in her eye. You would not want to be an O’Driscoll when Sadie Adler was around, or an O’Driscoll in general for that matter.

“Arthur would never turn his back on you. We all see the way he looks at you,” Mary Beth said, a noise of agreement was heard. Mary Beth was right, Arthur would never turn his back on you, you were sure of it.

“Arthur and you do make a handsome couple. I can tell you’re really in love,” Molly responded.

“Thank you, Molly.” You smiled at her.

“We best be getting going, we wouldn’t want her to miss her big day,” Karen reminded everyone. It was getting late after all, there were still some things to do before the ceremony, such as making sure all the men were getting ready instead of getting drunk off their asses. Luckily, most of the preparations were done the night before, but there were still some finishing touches required.

Everyone fretted for you and Arthur to simply sit back and let everyone get your wedding prepared for you. You were wary of coming off as lazy at first, but the gang assured you it was your turn to sit back and relax, after all weddings were supposed to be happy and stress free. So you let everyone pitch in, even Uncle helped.

“Let’s head back then. The bouquet still needs the ribbons in it, we need to make sure dinner is being prepared-” Miss Grimshaw already began barking orders, Karen and Tilly both groaned. Everyone began to get up, gathering all their belongings.

“And you, Miss Morgan, we need you to head inside immediately once we arrive, we can’t have your dress get dirty,” Miss Grimshaw told you as you walked through the streets to get to the wagons.

“And don’t let Arthur see you, it’s bad luck, you know,” Sadie's voice rang out from behind you.

“I know!”

•••

When the rowdy wagons finally came to a stop in front of Shady Belle, you were immediately taken up to Abigail’s room. She shielded you from the eyes of the men, rushing you up the staircase. Abigail and Sadie were not taking the superstitions lightly it seemed. She kicked John out of the room, but Jack was allowed to stay.

You walked over to the window, Abigail sat down on the rickety bed. You slowly pushed the curtains out of the way, looking down to the ground below. Dutch was giving a speech it seemed, Arthur next to him. Your breath was almost stolen from you the moment you laid eyes on him, he was so incredibly handsome. He wasn’t dressed yet, you were glad you hadn’t spotted him in his suit. He was standing proud next to Dutch, Hosea on the other side of him. You watched them for awhile, before letting the curtains fall back into place.

“Are you ever going to have a wedding with John?” You turned to Abigail as she brushed her hair on the bed.

Abigail gave you a look,“Knowing John, probably not.”

You chuckled lightly, “Well, if you ever do, I want to be there.”

“You’ll be the first invited,” She responded. You took the brush from her hands and slowly began getting rid of all the knots in her hair. You shifted behind her, making sure to not crease your dress.

“I still can’t believe you two are getting married. I remember when I caught you two kissing behind that wagon,” She laughed, remembering the awkward moment.

“He was drunk off his ass and I was too. It wasn’t much of a kiss, more like we were eating eachothers face.”

“Yeah but, it was still a kiss, right?”

“I guess it was our first kiss. But our first sweet kiss was the day after when he officially asked me out,” You sighed sweetly.

“John was horrified. I still remember the look on his face when you both arrived back in camp holding hands,” Abigail laughed.

“Hosea always knew. Dutch knew too. We were ogling each other for so long, it was kinda hard not to know.”

“You told me first though, remember?” Abigail said.

“Yeah, I do. And then the next day you went into town and bought a locket for me so I could put Arthur’s photo in it.”

You continued brushing Abigail’s locks. Abigail was the closest thing to a sister you had ever gotten. You stood up for her when the rest of the men saw her as a whore, you showed them she was more than that. You stayed by her side when John left her with a newborn. You had even helped give birth to Jack.

Arthur was closer to John for obvious reasons, but you were still John’s sister too. You were both furious at John when he left. John had betrayed you and Abigail, things were still rocky. Arthur understood what it was like to have a child, it wasn’t easy, but at least he had stayed for Eliza, you had met her twice, she was kind and respectful. Isaac was a smart boy, and looked a lot like Arthur. Arthur was distant for a while after he found out they both died.

“It took you awhile to find the right photo to put in it.”

“It did. I had to get him to take the photo in the first place. I remember I told him it was for a job!” You laughed.

“I’m sure he already suspected it.”

“Probably. I never was a good liar around Arthur,” You said.

“I’m so glad he ended up with you.. Mary and him were a troubled pair.”

“Trust me, I know.” Mary hated you and you hated her. It was the final straw when Mary began talking about you, trying to pull Arthur away from you, putting ideas into his head, and Arthur stopped putting up with it. At the time, you were no rival to Mary, you were more like his annoying little sister. His volatile little sister. You were a lot wilder in those days, no wonder Mary saw you as a threat.

“But honestly, you two are a wonderful couple. Arthur is lucky to have you,” Abigail said sincerely.

“Thank you,” You responded. You were finally done brushing her hair, you set the hairbrush down and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m so nervous about this wedding,” You confessed to her, setting your hands in your lap.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Abigail looked at you. You looked up at her. Her eyes shimmered with pride.

“I don’t even know why I’m worried, I just am.”

“Well I’ll be with you the entire time, you’re my sister, (Y/N). And sisters stick together.”

“Thank you, Abi.” You leaned forward and gave her a hug, your eyes welling with tears of happiness.

When she let go, she sat up from the bed, walking over to the window. She looked down at the scene below with watchful eyes.

“John looks like he just woke up. That damned fool,” Abigail muttered, she turned to Jack, who had been playing with a few pieces of yarn and wood. You nearly laughed at the pitiful sight, you would have to buy him some real toys when you went back into the city. Arthur and you had briefly discussed having children, you had practically raised Jack, with Abigail. Arthur decided once things settled down and Dutch’s plan to go to Tahiti or wherever he decided at the time finally worked, then would be the time. You prayed it would be soon, Arthur would make a wonderful father. You wanted to get away from this life so desperately, you were tired of running, you were tired of killing. All you wanted was a family with Arthur.

You had lived the life of running, fighting to stay alive, killing without second thought. All you wanted was peace.

Abigail picked up Jack, letting out a quiet groan. Jack was getting big, you remember when you first held him, those big eyes looking up at you.

“Jack, do you want to go get what you made your Aunt?” Abigail asked Jack. Jack looked at you with big doe eyes, smiling widely.

“Yes, Mama,” He said, Abigail set him down, he walked towards the drawer by the window and reached open to pull it open. He barely even reached it. His small arms grabbed a small object from inside the drawer. Abigail put her hands on her hips, smiling at her boy.

“He made it himself,” Abigail said as Jack set a flower crown in your hands. It was pretty with wildflowers he had picked. He watched you examine it, smiling brightly.

“I think Uncle Arthur will like it,” He told you.

“Oh, Jack! Thank you so much. This is beautiful.” You gave him a grin, putting the flower crown on. It really was a thoughtful gift.

“He picked a flower for Arthur too, so you would be matching,” Abigail revealed.

“Arthur likes flowers, did you know that, Jack? He’d never let any of us know, though,” You laughed, grabbing a bobby pin from a small box next to the brush, you secured the crown to your hair. Arthur was always drawing flowers in that journal, and in his old one he had kept pressed flowers. Arthur was a secret softy, there was no hiding that. Perhaps it’s why you fell for him, his secret side was so tender and loving, and when he realized he loved you too, that’s all you ever saw of him. He was nothing but kind - even when he called himself a bad man, you saw straight through that. Arthur was a kind man, kinder than any man you had ever met.

“I know,” Jack said simply, setting down next to you. He kicked his legs out in a back and forth motion.

“How do you know?” You asked him, pretending to be shocked.

“Uncle Arthur told me he likes flowers.”

Abigail held back a laugh, looking at you. You glanced at her, giving her a look.

“Uncle Arthur told you he liked flowers?” You repeated.

“He told me when we were by the water. I found a flower and gave it to him,” Jack responded.

“I see. What flower did you give him?”

“It was a purple flower. Uncle Arthur drew it in his journal.” Jack got up from the bed and went back to his yarn and wood, plopping down on the hardwood floors.

You chatted aimlessly with Abigail for a few moments as she continued getting ready. You were beyond scared to walk down that aisle and face Arthur. The longer you waited, the worse your nerves got.

People came up and down the steps, but suddenly you realized that it was John and Arthur coming upstairs. You held your breath. Even Abigail stopped to listen. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you heard them speak and walk further and further up the steps.

“John?” Abigail called out.

“What?” He responded, John was close to the door.

“Arthur’s not allowed in,” Abigail replied, she picked up her makeup brush and began applying blush to her face.

“I know. He’s not, he’s going to his room.” You could hear Arthur’s footsteps in the other room.

“Can I come in?” John asked after a moment of silence.

“Sure,” You said. The door opened and there was John. He still wasn’t dressed.

“You look good. I’m sure Arthur will be happy to see you.” John closed the door behind him, walking over to the dresser.

“Think so?” You asked playfully.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?” He chuckled, John pulled out a pair of black slacks and a white shirt. It looked clean enough.

“She’s nervous,” Abigail told John. John looked at you over his shoulder.

“That so? Arthur is too.”

“Did he say anything about me?” You blurted out, feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. John walked behind the folding screen in the corner of the room.

“He’s real excited to see you,” John said from behind the screen.

“I’m sure everyone out there is,” Abigail chimed in.

“Arthur wanted me to give you something,” John said as he walked out from behind the screen in his wedding outfit. He walked towards you, outstretching his palm.

It was a chocolate bar. You smiled at it, taking it from John.

“What's up with you two and chocolate?” John asked you as he walked over to the cabinet, he leaned against it, watching Jack play with his yarn.

“It’s a long story, but he’s only supposed to give it to me when I’m injured though.”

“Maybe he just wanted to let you know he’s thinking of you,” Abigail spoke, she glared at John, you wondered what that meant.

“I don’t have anything to give him,” You sighed, staring at the chocolate bar. Arthur was always thinking ahead.

“I’m sure he knows you’re thinking of him,” Abigail replied.

“Hopefully.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to eat it, your nerves were too high. All food sounded incredibly unappetizing. You set the chocolate bar on the bedside table. Jack eyed it, his eyes nearly glowing.

“You want the candy bar?” You asked Jack.

He nodded vigorously. Abigail rolled her eyes humorously.

“You can have it,” You told him. It was a gift from Arthur but Jack would have appreciated it even more than you could, and besides, the kid loves candy.

“Thank you, Auntie (Y/N),” He said, grabbing the chocolate bar with eager hands.

“I best be getting down there now, Dutch wants to talk to Arthur and me, good luck out there by the way,” John said, buttoning the top of his collar. He opened the door and left.

Jack continued eating his chocolate, you smiled at the boy. You wanted your own son or daughter so dearly, one with Arthur’s eyes and your hair. That’s all you wanted. You wanted out. As much as you loved your family - you wanted out. You had lived that way for so long, it was all you had ever known. But now you had a chance at freedom - to create your own family with Arthur.

But Arthur would never leave Dutch. And you knew that.

Deep down you knew.

You were tired of the running — tired of the plans, tired of it all. All you wanted was Arthur, him and nothing else. No gang — no killing. Just Arthur.

You didn’t want to raise a child in the gang, that was a foolish dream. You knew how easily the child could go without a parent, you had seen it happen with Abigail and Jack, although John eventually returned.

You were coming to terms with that though. In the world of an outlaw it was to live forever as an outlaw or die trying.

•••

An hour passed - it was already almost time. A majority of the gang members had already left camp. Your nerves were skyrocketing and when Molly knocked on the door to tell you it was time you almost passed out. Abigail gently ushered you to the door. Your hands were shaking as you slowly opened it up, seeing Molly in her special dress.

The plan was to head to a small church where they held outdoor weddings behind the building, the venue backed up to a river so you would be standing by it saying your vows. It was not very far from Shady Belle. Churches were never quite Arthur’s style, so you opted for an outdoor wedding..

You walked down the staircase slowly to the carriage outside, your hands were shaking wildly. Abigail held you tightly, Jack at her hip. The carriage was waiting outside for you. The camp was deserted behind you, it was strange to see. It was almost eerie, the lack of life, but you knew later tonight it would be bustling with it.

Abigail helped you up into the carriage. Once everyone was in the driver set off. Your heart pounded in your ears, your stomach churning.

“I’m so nervous.” You clasped your gloved hands tightly in your lap, as if it would somehow stop the shaking. Every turn, every jolt, it did not help with your nerves at all.

“I know, dear,” Molly said, putting her hands over yours. Abigail watched you sympathetically, she knew this wasn’t easy.

The carriage moved closer and closer to the venue. Arthur was surely feeling the same way, hopefully not to the same extent.

You were silent for most of the ride, Abigail and Molly talked fruitlessly, but you could not focus on their words. It felt like there were a thousand thoughts in your mind but not a single one was coming to your mind clearly, they were all shrouded in nervousness.

When the carriage suddenly came to a stop your heart jumped. You looked out the window and held your breath. This was it.

You were getting married. Today. Right now.

It was suddenly almost hard to wrap your mind around it. Abigail had to lightly nudge you out of the carriage, otherwise you would have been frozen in that seat.

You stepped out of the carriage, the sun was bright and slowly setting in the sky. By the time you would all get back tonight - it would surely be night.

Charles and John were waiting outside of the church for you. Every step closer to the church felt heavier and heavier, it was beginning to be hard to stand up straight.

“You look nice,” Charles said, holding the door open for you. Sunlight seeped in from the windows of the church, it was dusty inside. Sadie, Miss Grimshaw and Mary Beth sat on one of the pews, waiting for you.

“Thank you, Charles.”

Mary Beth gave you a small wave as you walked closer to them. Molly, Abigail, Jack and John behind you. It was hot and dry inside the church, it did not help that you were wearing a heavy dress either.

You opened your mouth to say something to Sadie, but Miss Grimshaw quickly cut you off. Molly walked out the back door to the ceremony.

“Arthur’s in the room behind the altar, with Dutch and Hosea. The Processional is starting in five minutes,” Miss Grimshaw reminded everyone. You nodded slowly. Five minutes felt like nothing. Abigail clipped the veil into your hair as Miss Grimshaw spoke. The veil was long and trailed to the floor, with lots of lace that was intricately woven.

“The order goes Dutch, Miss Grimshaw, Arthur, Charles, John, me, Mary Beth, Abigail, Jack and then our bride with Hosea,” Sadie read off from a piece of paper she had been holding.

“Then I’ll get out there with them, and you, Abigail, make sure the boy doesn’t drop the rings,” Miss Grimshaw finished, she turned swiftly towards the room behind the altar. Charles and John followed suit.

You sat down on one of the pews, your heeled foot tapping tirelessly against the floors. You tried to think of something calming, but nothing came to mind. It all was scrambled, your brain desperately grasping at a comprehensible thought.

“You’ll be fine,” Sadie told you as she leaned against the pew.

“You will be,” Mary Beth agreed.

“I’m afraid I’ll mess up.”

“You won’t mess up, you’ll be fine,” Abigail beamed. The seconds ticked on, the women sticking to their own conversations after noticing the worry in your eyes.

The music began and you immediately perked up, five minutes seemingly goes fast when your mind is a jumbled mess.

Sadie, Mary Beth and Abigail got up. Jack held onto his mother’s dress tightly. Abigail turned to smile at you sweetly as they walked closer and closer to the back. You gave her a small wave of goodbye. She mouthed “you’ll do great.” as she vanished behind the door.

The church was now completely deserted, it was now you and your thoughts. About a minute passed before Abigail knocked on the door. You hesitantly walked over to the looming door. Your heart beating wildly, like it would jump out of your chest.

You opened it and took a small breath, trying to calm your screaming nerves. In a few moments, you would see Arthur, and he would see you. And you would be his, and he would be yours. Years of yearning, wishing the other would be at their side, who knew it would come to this? He would be yours and you would be his. It was as simple as that.

Hosea was waiting on the other side for you, looking handsome as ever in his suit. He was the closest thing to a father you had ever gotten, it was only fitting he would walk you down the aisle. He smiled at the sight of you, unable to hide his pride.

The small compartment behind the church was small too. The door was open leading to the altar where Arthur was waiting for you, but a path obscured by trees hid it from you.

“You look beautiful,” He whispered, resting a hand on your shoulder. You stared at the door, waiting for your turn. You smiled politely, although you were not facing him.

The summer buzz of cicadas was heard even as the Procession played, a melodic tune. You waited for the music to change into your entrance.

“You’ll do fine out there, Arthur loves you,” Hosea’s words were quiet, but you could hear them loud as day. It was entirely true of course. Hosea was always right.

The music slowly shifted into a much slower song, and you knew. This was it. Hosea slid his arm through yours, your right arm holding the bouquet. You both slowly stepped out into the bright day. You felt like you were floating on a cloud — like nothing could ever bring you down. The dirt crunched underneath your feet as the aisle slowly came into view. Hosea’s arm was steady and soothing, his steps slow and methodical.

Worries drifted away as you slowly came into view, the wedding party rising at your arrival. The music continued to play a slow, beautiful tune, the cicadas humming happily and the rush of the river drumming thunderously.

And then there was Arthur, smiling at you like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. You were closer now to him, every step bringing you nearer and nearer to his heart.

Arthur was handsome. He was gorgeous. And he was yours — all yours. He was sporting a dashing black suit, perfectly tailored. The flower in his chest pocket was the same as the ones in your hair.

It was like there was a beam of light radiating from him, Arthur had always been your beacon even in the darkest of times. He was love itself.

You felt the eyes of your friends and family on you, but you could only focus on Arthur.

When you finally reached the altar, your hearts felt like they were being synced, beating as one rather than two. The officiant stood behind Arthur, underneath two trees with a small arch decorated with flowers, Sadie and Mary Beth waiting for you on the left, John and Charles next to Arthur.

Hosea let go off your arm, smiling the entire time. He took his place next to Dutch in the front row, you handed Abigail your bouquet and stood next to Arthur underneath the arch, he took your hands in his. His hands were rough and strong, but they felt like home.

You looked into those eyes of endless waves, you only felt love and happiness from him. He looked like a prince, like there was supposed to be a crown sitting on top of his head, rather than the flower one you wore.

The officiant began with a welcome as the guests sat down.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Arthur and (Y/N) in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." The officiant said. This was really it, you kept reminding yourself. You both looked towards the crowd, for a fleeting moment you wondered if anyone would speak up. Arthur wondered the same, perhaps Micah would think he was funny and say something completely out of line, but he didn’t.

Arthur thought you were a goddess in your beautiful white gown. It looked exactly like something you would wear, the dress accented your body wonderfully, he couldn’t help but admire it.

The officiant spoke some more, weddings, love, union, the beginning of your new life - but you could barely focus on it. Your only focus was Arthur. Your fiancé, your best friend, your husband in a matter of moments.

“And now the bride and the groom are to exchange vows,” The officiant proclaimed. He gave you your paper with the vows.

Tears slowly started forming in your eyes as you shakily held the paper, smiling through it all.

“I remember when you found me alone in that cabin, that day you saved me in more ways than one. You taught me to love, to laugh, to trust. You have been my best friend, my companion, my lover and now you will be my husband. You have stayed by me when I was sick, injured, drunk, crying, you were there for it all. And I shall be there for you, I will choose you every time. I devote myself to you, Arthur Morgan, in sickness and in health. For I am yours, and you are mine.” You squeezed Arthur’s hand tightly, feeling the words come out naturally, like you had been waiting to say them your entire life. His smile widened throughout your entire vow.

The officiant held the paper out to Arthur, he let go of your hand to take it. You remembered him saying writing vows was hard, saying that his words sounded like nonsense. But they weren’t nonsense, Arthur was a gifted writer, whether he knew it or not. The thoughts in his journal (which you rarely ever saw) were something precious.

“My dear (Y/N), the first day I met you I knew I would like you. And I was right, and here we are now years later. It’s been a wild last few years, reckless too, but this is our first step into our new life, and we best not waste it. You are my love, you are my light, and I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing can or will separate us from now till the end of time,” He finished, his eyes brimming with love. Nothing could have prepared you for this moment, looking into his eyes and only feeling happiness. Like it was only you and him in this entire universe.

“Arthur, do you take Y/N L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and health, till death do you part?” The officiant asked. Arthur looked towards the man and nodded.

“I do.”

“And do you, Y/N, take Arthur Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and health, till death do you part?”

“I do,” You said to Arthur. You smiled uncontrollably, and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to spill out the corner of your eyes.

The officiant leaned down to take the rings from Jack.

“Arthur, take this ring and place it on her finger.” Arthur took the ring from the man, and you presented your left hand to him. He slipped it on effortlessly.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.”

“Y/N, take this ring and place it on his finger.” You grabbed the ring, feeling the weight of it in your hand, you slipped it on his strong hand.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you,” You rang out loud and clear. Speaking only to him. Words that would forever bind you to him.

“And remember, love is an unbreakable bond, it is gratitude, it is faithfulness, it is kindness, it is forgiveness, it is everything good in this world. Lovers will always find a way back to each other,” The officiant said with parting words.

“With the power invested in me, I now declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

You both leaned in, he grabbed your waist, you took his face in your hand. And you kissed him, and you kissed him. His mouth against yours, it was a rushing moment, like you were soaring above the clouds. And you felt the love between, the hearts beating as one. Arthur was secure, he was your lifeline, he was your home. Arthur was yours.

Cheers were heard as you both retreated. You took his hand in his as you made your way back down the aisle. The crowd stood up for you, clapping the whole way. You would have to get used to the new weight on your finger, it was different than the engagement ring.

Once you were back on the path, you finally spoke, unable to hide your excitement.

“Gosh, I was so nervous all day, but when I got up there it wasn’t bad at all!” You exclaimed, walking closer to the church. The forest singing a merry tune for you

“I know, John had mentioned earlier that you was nervous,” Arthur replied. Your heart was beating quickly, but this time not with nerves, with excitement, with joy.

“And thank you, for the chocolate by the way. I ended up giving it to Jack, since he was ogling it the entire time,” You laughed, speaking quickly. Arthur held the door open for you as you entered the church.

“I was wondering if you would eat it or not.”

“Jack liked it. He also said he picked you that flower,” You told Arthur as you walked towards the front of the church, out towards the carriage

“The flower crown looks nice in your hair, I think he made a good choice.” You opened the door to the carriage outside. The rest of the gang would come back to camp after you left. Arthur helped you into the carriage while the driver congratulated you two.

At 19 you expected to live the rest of your life with a gang of merciless strangers who beat and did horrible things to you, but now here you are, 10 years later - married to the man who had saved you. And he had saved you every day since then, reminding that you were worth the love he could give.

And he was yours, and you were his.

•••

The party still roared to life outside. There was a feast fit for a group of outlaws, cake, never ending drinks, a vibrant bonfire, poker, stories, toasts, talks. It was everything you hoped your wedding would be. Hosea and Dutch were like proud fathers the entire night. You even saw what looked like Miss Grimshaw wiping away some tears when Hosea gave his speech.

It was interesting to say the least — when the songs started, you knew a majority of the camp had gotten drunk. Barely anyone had retired for the night — besides Strauss, and Reverend who had already blacked out. They sang songs for you and Arthur, they sang songs about love, about sex (which made you blush and hide your face, while Arthur had a dumb smirk on his face). You had switched out of your dress after the ceremony and opted for a looser small white dress.

When the crowd began saying the ‘Ring Dang Doo’ you groaned, knowing everyone would be looking at you. Arthur laughed as he sang along, watching you the entire time. The hoops and hollers were joyous as you hid your face in Arthur’s shoulder.

When the song was finally over you let out a sigh of relief, but you remained nuzzled into your husband's side. He was warm from drinking, and he had a happy glow to him. There was not another place you would rather be than to be next to him.

Hours passed smoothly, the songs became less rowdy as the party goers quickly dropped, hopefully not too hard. It was hard to believe your wedding day was over. You remained by Arthur’s side for a majority of the night. By the time Javier and John had packed up for the night — as well as an insufferably drunk Sean who’d fallen on his face getting up, it left only you and Arthur.

The fire crackled and sputtered as the remaining embers shuddered, praying to stay lit. The night was slowly coming to end, the final waves of darkness would be over soon, and light would wash over the terrain.

You were tired, you’d been awake for nearly a full day now. Your head rested on Arthur’s shoulder as he stared meaningfully into the fire, both of your eyelids heavy. You slowly blinked, trying to stay awake, to not fall asleep in the middle of camp.

“You know we could get away from this all, Arthur,” You mentioned to him, trying to suppress a yawn that was threatening to be released from your mouth.

Arthur replied with a questioning hum.

You looked up at him, “We could get away from this life, you know, start our own family.”

“You know I want that, sweetheart. Life’s just a mess right now, not sure it’s the right time,” He sighed. You turned back to look at the dwindling fire.

“I know, Arthur, I do. I just — I want a child of our own, a house, a family.”

“We’ll have that one day.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

•••

#tbor #the ballads of rebirth #rdr2 #arthur morgan x reader

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sabraeal · 4 years ago

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Happiness Is Just Around the Corner

The Wide Florida Bay | Previous

Written for @bubblesthemonsterartist for her birthday! This was...not the fic I thought I’d be writing, but this is where this subplot needed to start >:3c

There is an improbable amount of fireworks on the lawn.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure none of it’s legal,” Kiki assures him, taking a long drag of her Sam’s Summer. “Shiira took his ducklings up to New Hampshire yesterday, and they came back with two coolers worth of...something.”

Zen coughs on the dregs of his Magic Hat. “What? Should we even--?”

Kiki’s flat stare is more effective than a hand over his mouth. “You really think we’ll get in trouble.”

His gut instinct is yes, because there’s not a day in his life where his brother hasn’t caught him with his pants down just to prove a point. It would be just like him to send a cruiser around so that he could experience the heart-stopping terror of being on the other side of a two-way mirror. Sure, Haruka would be down at the station before he could even ask for a phone call, and all of this would slide off his permanent record like water off a duck’s back, but still-- trouble.

But he doesn’t say that. He takes a deep breath, thinks. It’s quiet here on campus. They’re rowdy, sure, but it’s just the frat there, not some rager with Omega Delta Nu. The campus cops are probably bored out of their skulls, but they’re not going to nail the honor’s frat for a light show.

“No,” he admits, begrudgingly. “Not unless they light something on fire.”

Her mouth twitches, following the spark in her eyes. “Well, there’s a non-zero chance of that.”

Ugh, of course Kiki would be excited by the prospect. “Well, as long as we don’t get--” Obi crosses the lawn, aviators looming over a wide smile, and hovers just at Shiira’s shoulder, perusing the goods. “UH.”

“Fuck.” Kiki hops off the porch, straight down into the landscaping. “I’ll handle this.”

Zen settles back against the porch swing and sighs, taking another swig of Magic Hat. “Yeah, please do.”

Kiki’s already halfway across the lawn by the time he’s finished talking, so quick that when Obi picks up a particularly patriotic package of pyrotechnics, she’s there to snatch it out of his hands. Even from here, Zen can see the jut of his pout, hear the faint whine of Ms Kiki on the air.

Mitsuhide’s lighting up the grill, surrounded by a crowd convinced cooking works by consensus. He takes a handkerchief out of his back pocket-- stars and stripes, stuffed there early this morning as Obi solemnly announced, you are America’s hat today, big guy-- and wipes the sweat beading on his forehead. Zen can’t tell whether it’s from the heat or from the effort needed to withstand six guys offering advice on proper grilling technique.

A cool breeze tumbles through the porch, carrying the muted voices of a dozen conversations. Zen closes his eyes, letting the smell of smoke and the heat of the day wash over him, the swing rocking gently on its chains.

It’s nice, having all this. People he can anticipate. People he can depend on. Friends. The real kind, not just kids whose parents went to the same prep school as his.

This isn’t where he’s supposed to be.

A year ago that would have sent him scrambling-- last minute tickets and crumpled up itineraries paired with the crushing guilt of never being enough. But now--

Now he knows this is where he wants to be. And there’s only one person to thank for that.

“Hey.” His eyes slit open, and there she is, brilliant smile and bright hair, peeping around the post. “Enjoying yourself?”

Zen drops his legs from the rail to make room. “I am now.”

Shirayuki’s mouth slants, playfully wry, and his heart strains against his sternum like a dog testing its leash. “It looked like you were before too.”

“Well, sure.” He wishes he had Obi’s obnoxious aviators right now, if only so she couldn’t see the eager way he watches her as she comes up, tucking herself neatly onto the opposite end of the swing. “But even more now that you’re around.”

Freckles disappear behind a bloom of pink, settling in on either cheek. “Ah, w-well,” she stammers, staring at her bare toes. “It’s good to know you don’t regret staying here.”

“Instead of being with my family?” He laughs, incredulous, draping his arm over the back of the swing. His fingers just barely brush the freckles on her shoulder. “More like I’m thankful for the excuse.”

Her smile dims. “Oh, um, right. You and Izana...”

She hesitates. There’s a wealth of ways she could end that thought, but instead she says, “It must be nice. I mean, the place your family has, not...”

The fraught relationship you have with your brother. She doesn’t have to say it for him to know exactly what she means.

“It’s all right, I guess,” he allows, wishing she’d sit closer, that she’d give him a good reason to put his arm around her for real, and not just let him awkwardly hang here. “I mean, it’s just a house. The beach is nice though. Private, of course.”

That doesn’t stop his mother from inviting the paparazzi if she thinks it will make a good photo op. Last year he’d made the cover of the Inquirer, face scrunched and unattractive as Izana has splashed sea water in his face, with the words Final Frolic for World’s Most Eligible Bachelor? There had been a two-page spread inside, dedicated entirely to the relationship rumors Izana had accrued since Valentine’s Day.

Well, he didn’t have to worry about that this year. No paparazzo was going to stake out a college frat to take pictures of an illegal fireworks show. Now Haki could deal with having her picture slapped across the tabloids because mother thought candid shots made for better family photos.

“Ah, right...” Her laugh stutters out, awkward and endearing. “That sounds...good?”

Shirayuki’s still next to him, the heat from her skin humid against his fingertips, but she’s never felt so far. He grunts, frustrated, shifting closer.

“There’s an old carousel on the island too,” he offers, haltingly. He’s not sure why the impulse takes him to tell her; why he thinks she, specifically, might like it, save that when he looks at her it’s the same as when he saw those hand-carved horses the first time, well-loved and shining beneath antique lights.

“Oh!” She blinks. “My grandparents took me to one of those, once! Back when we visited...”

Her mouth works silently for a moment before pulling tight, the bittersweet twist making her smile more grimace than grin.

“Well, you’d love this one,” he assures her, sweat pricking at his palms. “It’s the oldest in the US. But it’s still really nice! I’ll take you next--”

His words slam to a stop, running headlong into the barrier of his teeth. She’s staring at him now, eyes wide and mouth parted, and-- and what can he say? I’ll take you next year, when my brother suddenly approves of you.

Yeah, he knows better than to hold his breath for that.

“I’m glad, anyway.” She folds her legs up on the swing, one arm hooked around her knees, and tilts her head back. “It’s nice for all of us to be here, together.”

Her eyes are closed, face serene in the evening light, like she could just sit here forever, breathing into the twilight. His heart flutters just looking at her, at the way she relaxes next to him, content with the slow rock he eases them into. No one can just be the way Shirayuki can.

“It is,” he agrees softly, because anything but a whisper might break this moment, might let the rest of the world in. “It’s going to be weird when you...”

He tries to stop himself, but her eyes fly open before he can. Of course, the one moment he’s gotten her to himself, and he’s gone and ruined it by bringing that up.

“I just mean...” He laughs, tipping his head back on scroll of wood behind his head. “It’s going to be strange when you and Obi are gone next year.”

A month from now, really. It looms over him, a ticking clock that chimes every evening, telling him he’s wasted another day if it wasn’t with her.

“Oh!” Her head snaps upright, cheeks flushed. “I-- I guess. I didn’t really think...” She bites her lip; he wants to kiss it. “Mitsuhide won’t be here either!”

He blinks. It’s true, but he’s never actually thought about that. Mitsuhide has always been in the house, it seems, never the president but a calming influence just to the side of him, and now--

Well, it’ll just be him and Kiki next year. And the rest of the frat, of course, plus all the new pledges.

Still, the future is distinctly more lonely than he’d like.

“He’ll be close, though,” he says, if only to hear the words out loud. “Harvard is a bit of a drive from here, but now that him and Kiki are, you know...”

Banging. That’s what he means to say at least, what he would say if he didn’t, last minute, remember who he was talking to. The last thing he needs is to get a scolding about taking feelings seriously and supporting their friends. Especially when he’d rather be talking about another relationship entirely.

“...Together,” he settles on, and she hums, approving.

“I’m glad that happened.” She rests her chin on her knees, surveying the lawn. Kiki’s abandoned the fireworks committee, instead shooing away the flock of fraters that have congregated around the grill. “They’re good for each other.”

“Made for each other,” he agrees, tickling her shoulder with his thumb. She squirms, a giggle bubbling out from her lips. “Just like...”

Us. He wants to say it, so bad it’s almost an ache, but-- it’s not fair. Not when they’re not really anything, when they can’t be anything, because--

I don’t know if being with me like…like that will be…good for you. I don’t think either of us are ready for that sort of…of attention.

-- Because everything about his life makes things complicated.

“I’m...happy for them,” he says, because he is, because there’s no two people in the world who deserve every bit of goodness they can wring from life more than they do. Even if that leaves him on the outside, again.

“Me too.” Shirayuki smiles, soft and fond, and it’s impossible to believe it’s barely been ten months since he met her, that she isn’t someone he’s known his whole life, not when she just slips seamlessly into every part.

Her hand reaches out, taking his, cool in the evening breeze. “I’ll miss you too.”

His breath catches in his chest, painful. Maybe she feels so familiar because he’s been waiting for her his whole life, too.

“I-I mean, all of you, of course,” she stammers, pink flooding her cheeks, and oh, he wishes he could just lean over now and kiss her, like he was some normal boy with a normal crush and normal expectations of privacy. “I’m excited to go, but...it won’t be the same without everyone.”

Good. He smothers a grin. This whole trip is a great opportunity for her, he knows that-- how could he not, when Izana keeps reminding him about the connections she’ll make-- but--

Two years seems excessive. After a year, she’ll realize that too. And then she can come back for senior year, live in the frat, graduate, spend the summer with him in the Vineyard, and--

“We should do something together,” she says, fingers knotted around his, shoulders rounded shyly.

“Yes!” he blurts out, squeezing way too hard. “Definitely”

“All of us!”

“Ah...” That wasn’t what he thought she was going for. “I mean...”

“One last big adventure.” Her lips spread giddily. “Just the five of us. For now, of course,” she adds, “we’ll be coming back.”

“Oh, ah...” He blinks, staring down at where her hands are tangled with his. She has little over a month left here, and what he really wants is to be doing this, this whole...being together thing, but--

But it’s not like this is going anywhere either. Two years is a long time, but they’ll be sitting here just like this when she gets back. Well-- with more kissing, he hopes.

He can wait. He’s not the only one who will miss her. “Yeah, that sounds...nice.”

His eyes flick up, catching her just as she sinks teeth into the soft pillow of her lip, leaving a dent that begs to be soothed. Zen swallows, hard.

Well, a friendly getaway will have its opportunities for some, ah, private time too. He just has to create them.

“I was thinking,” he starts, lifting a hand to ruffle his hair, trying to be, you know, casual. “What if we--?”

“Hey.” Kiki perches herself across from them with a deftness that says she’s been hanging out with Obi too much. “Burgers are off the grill.”

“Great,” Zen grits out with a glare. “We’ll be down in a minute.”

Kiki hums, brow raising dubiously. “What are you two up to out here?”

“Nothing.” He glowers at her, wishing she would just take a hint. “Just talking.”

“Ah.” Her mouth twitches. “I see.”

“We were just talking about taking a trip!” Shirayuki blurts out excitedly, red-faced and glowing. “All of us! One last adventure before me and Obi go to Lyrias.”

Kiki blinks at that, cocking her head. “What were you thinking?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know.” A giggle burst nervously from her as she smooths the hem of her shorts over her thighs. “We hadn’t really gotten that far.”

All right, it’s time to drag this conversation back on track. Zen clears his throat. “Kiki, doesn’t your dad have that house in the Berkshires? We could go for a weekend, maybe take in the--”

“Why? We’re already in western Mass. What will a forty minute drive get us?” She wrinkles her nose. “It isn’t even peak foliage season.”

Privacy, he wants to say, but he knows how poorly that idea would fly with her. For someone who always seems to find time to be alone with her boytoy, Kiki’s awfully invested in seeing that he never has any with his girl...thing.

“Hm, I wasn’t really think a trip-trip either,” Shirayuki admits, crushing his dreams of a nice afternoon alone in a hammock, just the two of them and their bathing suits. “But something like an, ah...activity. Like an amusement park.” She perks. “Do you have something like that out here?”

“Six Flags!” he blurts out before he can even consider what he’s saying. “It’s only a half hour away, and the coasters are supposed to be some of the best. I mean, if you, ah, like that sort of thing.”

Which he doesn’t, but there’s really no need to mention that. Not when she lights up like she does, hands clapping together over her heart.

“That sounds perfect! I’ve never been to one of those.” She leans in, conspiratorial. “Opa always got vertigo on the Turkish Twist.”

He may not know what that thing is, but it sounds gut-wrenching enough to keep in head in the trash for a good ten minutes. Zen plasters a smile on his face, steadfastly ignoring the arch look Kiki gives him-- god, that’s the last thing he needs, Kiki deciding it would be funny to tell the story of when they rode the Tower of Terror in middle school-- and says, “I’ll go on any ride you want.”

Kiki makes an unearthly noise, somewhere between a cough and a choke, and he braces for it, for the you know, Zen can tell you the location of every trashcan in Hollywood Studios--

“When were you thinking?” she says instead, mouth just barely twitching at the corner. “It’s going to be busy this weekend.”

“Oh!” Shirayuki’s eyes round, matching the curve of her mouth. “I didn’t think of that. It doesn’t have to be right now. Maybe in another...week? Or so?”

Kiki whips out her phone, flicking through with one finger. “How about...the seventeenth?”

“Ah...” Shirayuki squints, eyes rolling upward like her brain is an open book she can skim for answers. “Y-yes. I think that’s all right.”

Zen stares. “Did you just...pick a random date?”

“No.” Kiki clicks her screen off, slipping it back into her pocket. “This weekend will still have traffic from the fourth. Next week we’re supposed to submit our paperwork to the student affairs office for this semester, and I know you haven’t started. I don’t want to go during a weekend rush, and Thursday is far into the week where if we have any last second problems with student affairs, we won’t have to reschedule.” She holds out a hand, ta-da. “The seventeenth.”

It’s not fair how she can just...do all that. “W-well, all right. But we still have to make sure that Obi and Mitsuhide--”

“Hey, Obi,” Kiki calls out, catching his attention as he cuts across the lawn toward them. “What are you doing on July seventeenth?”

In full sunlight, in the view of every member of the frat, Obi stumbles over absolutely nothing. “W-what?”

“July seventeenth.” she repeats archly as he slinks up beside her, arms resting on the rail. “Are you doing anything.”

When he thinks of Obi at rest, he thinks of languid limbs, of a frustratingly canted smile and glittering eyes, but--

He’s not any of that now. His troublesome mouth lays in a tense line, the corners of his eyes creased and wary. “Why?”

“We want to go somewhere, all five of us,” Shirayuki informs him giddily, mouth stretching from ear to hear. “And Zen suggested Six Flags--”

“Oh no.” He holds up his hands, shaking his head. “No way. Hard pass. I don’t do amusement parks.”

Kiki arches a brow, unimpressed. “Is that so.”

“Yeah.” He tosses his head, mouth straining towards casual derision and falling short. “Not my scene.”

“Oh really.” The mild look Kiki levels at him had leveled lesser men, but Obi only flinches. “Too cool for them, huh?”

His shoulders twitch. “Sure, we’ll go with that.”

“Ohh,” Zen grins, enjoying the way Obi squirms like a cat with his head caught in a fence. “So you mean that’s not really the reason? You have some other secret, terrible Bugs Bunny trauma in your past, maybe?”

“Well, I have to tell you,” Obi says loftily, “I’ve never really cared for Yosemite Sam.”

Shirayuki frowns. “We really don’t have to--”

“I think we all know this is just to obscure your Lola Bunny fetish,” Kiki deadpans.

“Excuse me?” Obi presses a hand to his chest, aghast. “Space Jam is a formative experience. To say any of us don’t owe Lola Bunny--”

“Hey.” Mitsuhide hops up the steps, wiping the sweat pouring down his neck. Zen valiantly doesn’t notice how Kiki stares. “The burgers have been done for a bit. What’s keeping all of you?”

“Obi is allergic to fun,” Kiki informs him, earning a shocked gasp from Obi.

“That’s not it!” he protests. “You just want to go to Six Flags--”

“Oh, Six Flags!” Mitsuhide’s mouth break into a guileless grin. “I love amusement parks.”

Obi stares, jaw slack. “Big Guy, don’t do this to me...”

Zen grins. “I dunno, Obi. Looks like you’re outvoted.”

Shirayuki shifts beside him, wringing her hands. “Oh no, I don’t think-- if Obi doesn’t want to go, we can just pick--”

“Nah.” Obi waves her off, one hand clasping at his shoulder. “You guys can do what you want. I’ll just sit this one out.”

“Obi--”

“I better check in on Shiira,” he says, stilted. “Don’t want them blowing up the front forty by accident.”

Shirayuki half stands, but it’s too late, he’s already sauntering away, laughing at he calls out to the brothers on the lawn.

“Don’t worry, Shirayuki.” Mitsuhide assures her with a clap on her shoulder. “He’ll come around.”

“I...” Zen watches the way her mouth sets, too knowing, a grim white line cutting through the flush of her face. “I don’t know about that.”

#akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #slightly obiyuki #slightly zenyuki #The Wide Florida Bay #my fic #modern au #college au #this was honestly supposed to cover both convincing obi #and their trip to the amusement part #but that was a little too ambitious #especially right after bingo #so instead here is the set up #for a minor subplot to come

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franeridart · 5 years ago

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Anon said: YOU DREW SERVAMP AS WELL??? JUST IN HOW MANY OF MY FANDOMS ARE YOU OH MY GOD I FEEL SO BLESSED I COULD CRY

Aw man, sort of, yeah!! I can’t say I’m actively into the fandom anymore, since I’ve lost track of the translations for the manga and I’m definitely behind at least a dozen chapters, but !!!!!!!!!! yeah man I love servamp it’s such a good manga TT^TT

Anon said: Ok since you like fire force *slides $20 bill* can you draw some Shinra x Arthur?

Whoops, sorry but I don’t ship it just yet! (might happen? might not?? we’ll have to wait and see what Okubo has planned for my poor heart this time around) but! hold that thought and the $20 cause I might actually open up commissions soon enough if my money situation doesn’t change, so!! >:3c

Anon said: do you think kirishima would be taller and bigger than bakugou in the future?

My ideal adult!KrBk are the ones I posted a few days ago, so!! Not really, I prefer them remaining more or less the same size as each other, just different body types - exactly as they are right now in the manga, just !!!! adult!!!!!!!!

Anon said: I Just want to say: I totaly love your content! Your Art is amazing and full of life 🥰 You are my fav. KiriBaku artist on hole Tumblr. My fav. part is your Fantasy AU art. I fucking love dragon Kiri and his king. But i really like your full content. Pls keep going!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!! (TT^TT)<3<3<3 I’m glad you like my stuff this much!!!!!!!!!

Anon said: Just wondering, do you like any femslash ships in BHNA? If so, which ones!!

I do!!!!! MomoJirou and MinaJirou are def favs of mine, and I dunno the ship name but Kendou and Yui got my heart beating really fast, ngl <3<3 there’s something in the aesthetic of it, it just gets to me! Also Nejire and Yuyu, such a good ship (oTT^TT)9

Anon said: Heya, sorry for this stranger call. I just wanna ask if i could use your Kiribaku Comics for comic-dubbing. If i post it on social Websites i will give credits to you of course. I'll wait for a answer. I couldn't ask you that per dm so I need to doing it here

I’d prefer it if you didn’t, sorry!

Anon said: Reading your essay about bakugo finally things into place!! Thank you!!! I guess I just didn't fully grasp the whole "he expects you to just get it". He IS a character that requires more than a cursory glance to figure out and i love that about him! And i love the endearing things he does like you said, especially his unexpectedly great fashion sense. Personally another thing that gets overlooked about him is how smart he actually is. He doesn't just go BOOM BOOM all the time. He a smart boi.

I find like the whole “he says one thing and expects people to understand another” is made pretty clear in the arc right after the overhaul one, even if I think it was present enough before then too - but in that arc he says one thing, and then another character says a thing that has nearly nothing to do with what he said, and he goes “that’s what I said!” and when he explains what he meant with the first thing he said it makes it clear that he just, has a terrible, horrible way of expressing himself that’s way more aggressive than what he actually means? He’s been doing this since the start, going around yelling die and I’ll blow you up at things and people and then when he goes to act on it his actions turn out to be way milder than what he said ????

but yeah!!! it’s made more clear the further we go in the story and that’s one thing I really really love about him hahaha

Anon said: It's not that you put Baku's ring on the wrong hand, is that Baku is too much of a rebel to use the ring in the traditional hand! :D

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll take it!!!!

Anon said: I seriously just come back to your blog sometimes to go through your art and it's like straight up drinking happy positive energy I'm in LOVE with the way you portray both Bakugo and Kirishima and their relationship and the rest of the boys and it's such a blessing and a delight and I feel like I will never be able to be thankful enough. Thank you for sharing your beautiful art with us, thank you for sharing your throughts, thank you for sharing your love for these two boys. Thank you 💕

You are!!!! Too kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (TTATT) thank you for being so genuinely wonderful to me!!! and thank you for liking my stuff this much, it means the world to me!!!! <3<3

Anon said: I just read your Bakugo answer to that anon and honestly, there's so much love in it to be fair it obviously shows throught your art as well but reading that made me tear up a little. What an amazing character. What an amazing BOY I love him too thank you for sharing your thoughts and your amazing art you are one of my favorite artists in the fandom and I'm so glad you love him as much as you do and I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me when I look at your art 💕💕

GOSH thank YOU for loving him as much as he deserves, honestly!!! He’s such a wonderful character and has been making me happy for so long now!!!!! (TT^TT)<3<3

Anon said: I legit don't understand why people are taking things out of proportions I can assure you nothing outside of the usual squabble is going on in bnha fandom.There are some assholes on both sides but I think that since most of us haven't actually 'seen' it and just 'heard' of it means it's not exactly as prominent as they're making it out to be, probably just the assholes being assholes to each other exclusively, so please don't worry about it,they're messing up their own enjoyment of fandom really

I don’t really know what brought this ask on, to be honest!! But as things stand I have withnessed people being very, very horrible to others lately inside the bnha fandom (and obviously, specifically between ships) so! there’s that! then again it’s also true that the bigger a fandom gets the more easily rude people will find their way in it, so I guess it’s just something you learn to live with if you want to stay in the fandom - personally, I’m just doing my best to stay in my corner and draw my sappy comics without bothering anyone hahaha

Anon said: Just here to say that your art is like, my life at this point because I would be like big depression if I hadn’t found your blog. Not to rant but my week has been an absolute hell and your art makes me feel so much better and just please keep drawing because this means the absolute world to me ok thanks bye.

THANK YOU!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so SO glad I can help your mood even just a bit, that’s really all I try to do with my doodles T^T fix my own mood, and maybe if I’m lucky help someone else along the way <3

Anon said: this may be all over the place, but I have the need to thank you? I was feeling very bad and down tonight, full on anxiety but I turned some music on and started going through your account and it calmed me down. I cant even count how many times I've gone through probably your whole account and just... thank you. your posts are so unique and funny and pretty and just sososo beautiful. I love how you built up bakugou and kirishima's characters and their relationship. just sososo beautiful.

Gods, you guys are going to make me cry for real (TTATT) you’re!!!! too nice!!!! again, I’m so happy to hear my doodles can help you feel better!!! I hope your days have been better <3<3<3

Anon said: So I keep rereading your latest kiribaku comic and its so fucking soft and I'm cry. It's so perfect and I just, it makes me so soft and happy every time I see it. It's honestly goals. I love ALL of your comics tbh, like, they're literally all perfect. Please continue to be your wonderful self!!!!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! asks like this one are the reason why I keep sharing what I draw!!!!! <3<3<3<3

#fran answers #y'all.............................so kind.................................. *sob*#long post

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starswornoaths · 5 years ago

Note

"she saw my loneliness" for the phantom ask meme? :3c

ohohohohohohoho >:3c

Under the cut, vague spoilers for 3.3

It was probably for the best that Estinien had lost count of the number of times Aymeric had talked him out of committing a felony; if he knew the exact number, he’d have a scoreboard to keep better track of it at this point. But he knew exactly how many of them were because he wanted to violently uphold Aymeric’s honor: all of them.

Most had just been because someone got mouthy about Aymeric’s alleged heritage or the fact that he was adopted. Every time his fellow knight in training would exasperatedly pull him away from what would have turned into a bloody altercation, Estinien would remind him: “T’was you that insisted on being my friend.”

Paramours were not exempt from Estinien’s ire. Doubly so when they courted Aymeric falsely. Estinien had to learn this when he came to the barracks one night and saw the knight in training idly tossing letters in the hearth. Curious, he asked his fellow trainee what they were.

“Love letters.” Aymeric said bitterly, and tossed another small stack of them atop the others waiting to burn. “Written by a fool.”

“With that girl you’ve been making eyes with?” He guessed, recalling the favor the knight hopeful had been given to wear, now also at the bottom of the pile, he realized when he peered closer.

Aymeric nodded and knelt to strike his flint against the kindling.

“She saw me for my loneliness and decided to make a game of it.” After the fourth strike, the letters caught, and he stood to warm his hands over the flames. “T’was a game she inevitably grew bored of.”

His arm shot out to grab Estinien by the wrist as the lancer had turned to storm out.

“I’m going to set fire to her embroidery.” He snarled.

“Let it lie. 'Tis already behind me.” Aymeric insisted.

Estinien greatly doubted that, but spoke no more of it.

Some few years later after Aymeric had been knighted and Estinien possessed a Dragoon soul crystal, Estinien entered the barracks in search of his friend when he’d caught wind of the most recent gossip in the Forgotten Knight. When he spied the knight curled up on his bed, he sighed and moved to sit on the cot. The motion stirred Aymeric, and he turned to see who had invaded his personal space.

“What happened?” Estinien growled when he noted Aymeric’s swollen, splotchy face still streaked with tears he desperately tried to scrub away.

“I was distracted.” Aymeric replied. “Naught more. It won’t happen again—”

“Aymeric.” When the dragoon seized his shoulder to jerk him into lying on his back and mounted his hips, the knight blinked owlishly up at him. Estinien hid his surprise at himself for his own actions with a hard glare. “Tell me what happened. I will not get off you until you do.”

“We did not work out.” Aymeric replied exasperatedly. “It ended well enough.”

“Well enough you’re in tears over it—”

“Fury’s Grace, Estinien! Just let me be hurt!” He snapped, his speech lessons thrown out the window in his frustration. “He saw me for my loneliness and said I lacked everything that satisfied him, but he didn’t want to discard me like all the rest—”

“And yet he did.” Estinien pointed out.

“He—” Aymeric hiccupped a sob. “He was honest. Let that be enough.”

“He was cruel.” The dragoon hissed.

“And you are not?” The knight asked before he could stop himself.

Awareness of their positions grew painful, grew conflicted, grew needy but terrifying and Estinien wanted to just pull away, but the sight of Aymeric clenching the sheet in his fists with eyes full of tears and lip quivering pulled at some deeply buried need to comfort, and instead rolled in with the tide of his hips.

So they sometimes decided to make that comfort enough, even if it wasn’t enough of the time.

In the years after that, what comfort Aymeric could find was limited, all the more where Estinien was concerned, and so he was reluctant to speak on private matters with his friend when they had a chance to speak alone in the chirurgeon’s ward in the days following the slaying of Nidhogg. And yet...even before he had been possessed by the dreadwyrm, he would have had to have been a blind, deaf fool not to notice what had been growing between the Lord Commander and the Warrior of Light.

“Pray tell me you intend to say something to Serella in this lifetime?” Estinien groaned. “Seeing the two of you carry on is more agonizing than my wounds.”

“Such dramaticism.” Aymeric clucked his tongue.

“Don’t dodge the question, fool. The lot of us can’t have suffered for nothing.” Estinien grumbled.

The embarrassed little laugh Aymeric coughed behind his hand to poorly hide his flush caught Estinien off guard; for a moment, he was reminded of when they were schoolboys.

“Lest I put you through more suffering yet, rest assured: we have...I have a promise to keep.” Aymeric said with a soft smile. “Though she encourages me to break it and speak with her sooner, I would see it kept. ‘Tis only meet that I offer my heart properly, after all.”

“And you’re certain this time?” Estinien asked hesitantly. “You’re certain she is not wont to toss it aside?”

Not like others had. Not like he had.

“I am not certain she returns my feelings, no,” Aymeric replied, “though I know as surely as I know the dawn will come that she will not hurt me regardless. Not intentionally.” His already soft smile eased into reflection, into something so tender and saccharine Estinien nearly retched. “She saw me for my loneliness.”

“And?”

“And she offered to share it.” Aymeric beamed like the sun.

The knot of complicated feelings in Estinien’s chest eased away— he’d found someone to do what he could not. Good. Took him long enough.

Unaware that in time, he too would join in carrying that weight with gladness, Estinien nodded and replied, “that’s alright, then.”

#ffxiv #3.3 spoilers #spoilers for heavensward #Aymeric de Borel #Estinien Wrymblood #Serella Arcbane #I am as ever your shield #unstoppable forces and immovable objects #hi yes I'm a big fan of people being happy for the people they love @ me #ty for the ask!!!#phantom of the opera asks #ffxiv rp asks

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peggysousfan · 5 years ago

Text

Agent Carter An Au Series

Here is chapter 17! A lot of it recaps the show but there are some pieces that put the Au and show together. And some Peggy and Daniel at the end ;) Enjoy!!

Peggy's POV:

Since Dooley sent me home for the day, I got to the Automat for some supper and wait for Mr. Jarvis. I know Daniel will be working late today. what with the break in the Stark case, so we won't be able to eat together one last time. And since Mr. Jarvis hasn't arrived yet, I don't have Stephanie with me. I asked him to keep her at his home until our nightly adventure was over with; I don't want Steph anywhere near Howard and the drama he has created with his deadly inventions. Once I finish dinner I go outside and wait.

"Come on, Mr. Jarvis. A penguin could get here faster..." I've been waiting for at least ten minutes. And Angise has not given up on trying to get me to live at this Griffith Hotel For Women. She bangs on the window to get my attention.

"I found one." She says, but I know which one it is. And I can't live there.

"I'm late for my appointment." I says, not looking towards her.

"It has its own bathroom!"

"I-I have no idea what you're saying."

"Don't make me come out there," She threatens. Oh bloody hell!

"Angie I really must-

"Woman only. A family community for modern female professionals. Apartment for rent. 550 square ft, furnished, full bath, high floors, quiet building. Security assured." She reads the advertisement from the paper. "Close proximity to the Lexington Avenue local isle. Breakfast upon request. Paradise or what.

"That sounds perfect but-

"The only thing that could possibly make it better is if you lived next to me, Oh wait, you would! 3C if you need a cup of sugar." God I wish I could, I really really do. The apartment sounds incredible and Angie is a very nice person, but I don't want her to be in the crossfire if anything were to go wrong; I already have to worry about Stephanie and Daniel. I lie to he and say I wouldn't make a very good neighbor because she thinks shes the problem; but shes not. And above all, I can't leave my daughter behind. I look out the window, and finally, Jarvis has arrived. I say goodbye to Angie and tell her I will see her later, but I know shes upset. However, there's simply no easy option here...

"Ms. Carter."

"Mr. Jarvis." He starts driving, and for a few moments everything is silent. "How was Stephanie doing today?"

"Oh she was quite... well." Oh no. Hes hesitating.

"What happened?" I asked, worry creeping in at the edge of my voice.

"Oh no, nothings happened. Shes perfectly fine, Ms. Carter. Its just..." He takes a short pause as if thinking of what to say. "Well shes just been, how you...fussy. And unbelievably so. We've done everything we could possibly think of, but-"

"Nothing seems to calm her down?" He nods. "Yes, she does that sometimes. Mostly its because she wants a specific person to hold her and give her attention. You've done nothing wrong, Mr. Jarvis. Steph is just...stubborn."

"Well it seems you will have eventful years when she is of age..."

"Oh please no. Let me enjoy the little things first!" I say, "Besides, she'll go back and give her mother that headache, not me."

"Is that not you, Ms. Carter?" He asks hesitantly.

"What?! Mr. Jarvis, Stephanie is my niece not my-"

"I beg to differ, respectfully of course." I whip my head to look at him. But he speaks before I can. "She has your fighting spirit, attitude, and intelligence. However...I fear she has her father's strength."

"And you know who that is?"

"I may have an idea as to whom he may be. But that is not any of my concern why you wish to keep her true parents identity a secret." I start to relax and look away. "I will never tell another soul, Ms. Carter. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you, Mr. Jarvis." For the rest of the ride to Mr. McFee's house, the car is filled with silence. That is until the 'Captain America Adventure Program' starts. I let it play for a few moments, and the cut it off. "Who writes this rubbish?" Jarvis says he enjoys it, but is rather impressed by the real thing. Its a shame they don't actually use it. "Are you trying to butter me up Mr. Jarvis?" He says hes not.

"I'm only pleased to receive your call." I tell him he is faster than a train and compliment the new car. He said he did dispose of the other, but that it was a waste. We didn't have much of a choice to keep it, it was used at the site of a crime scene. I ask him to hurry along because Thompson is very persuasive in the interrogation room; especially with ninnies like Van Ert.

Daniel's POV:

Its been about 2 hours since Peggy left, and already Thompson broke him, and our stick. So all the information we have is Van Ert was working with a Leet Branis to make the molecular nitramene bombs, with Howard Stark's formula. The used a guy who worked at the Daisy Clover Milk company to transport their products. So now we have to find Branis and McFee, which will hopefully lead us to Stark...Although I kind of don't want to find him. I know he and Peggy are friends,and that he was a major contributor to helping the Allies win. It doesn't make sense for him to go off and sell weapons to the enemies.

As I sit in my chair and write all the information down, Dooley starts talking. Apparently Immigration has no record of this guy Branis, and Krisminksi says it could be an alias. But Thompson and his two sense says that if it is, Van Ert doesn't know it. Great, this feels like an insane dramatic puzzle. He turns to me and ask about Daisy Clovers pay roll

"I'm on hold with Daisy Clover payroll."I say

"Well its not like he was the brains of the operation anyway." Thompson says

"More like the Krisminski of the operation." I jab. Krisminski's a dumb ass.

"Jokes on you, peg-leg, I don't even know how to drive a truck." What? That not even what I was saying. Idiot. Chief is going hard on pinning this on Stark. Even though Van Ert never met him, Dooley says he can have go betweens in between go betweens. Like hes some sort of snake; which he probably is. I finally get off hold and get McFee's address. Now we're getting somewhere. We all head out and go after McFee.

Peggy's POV:

When we arrive at McFees house, I send Jarvis away and tell him I don't need his help and that I have my own ride home. I sneak into the yard and towards the truck; and all the bombs are there. I make my way to the front of the house and walk in. Carefully I step in and look for McFee and Branis; but unfortunately the old floor boards give me away. McFee grabs his gun and charges towards me, but I kick it away and fight him. And of course, with my luck, that damn radio show is one; which only infuriates me more. He pins me against the wall and I break a glass over his head. We struggle more and I elbow his inner arm and throw his into a table. And of course, he passes out.

"Hello? Mr. McFee?" But still no response. "Why does this keep happening?" I ask myself. I drag his body into a chair and handcuff him to it, but while I was distracted, Branis slipped outside and tried to start the truck. I pull out my gun and aim it at his head. "Get out!" I order and he does. I slam him into the truck and keep the gun to his temple. "Car trouble?" I ask, and Mr. Jarvis answers

"Nothing that can't be fixed."

"What the HELL are you doing here?" He explains that hes here to help, as any good butler would, without being asked. He sabotaged the vehicle and I tell him to fix it. The sooner its fixed, the sooner I can turn this in and get home to see my little girl. "Where are Stark's inventions?" I pull out his voice communicator and hold it to his throat.

"I want protection."

"The SSR will take you in, provided you say something interesting. Right Bloody now." He say nothing, instead Jarvis chimes in and asks bout Leviathan. Branis says its a who, not a what. Lovely, because thats not vague at all. They use to be his employers and he double crossed them. Apparently Leviathan only wanted one thing from Howard, and Branis saw it as an opportunity to make a profit from the rest.

"I. Want. Protection."

"Then start talking."

We get into the truck once its fixed and drive on the road. Jarvis is in the back, Branis is driving, and I'm holding my gun on Branis. Unfortunate McFee got away, but for right now our focus is transporting the bombs. I tell Branis to stop fidgiting and that nothings going to happen; but of course it does. The same man that killed Colleen has jumped on the roof and started to shoot down at us. We fight on the roof and he shots again, hitting the strap and Branis. We continue to fight and I hear a crash. One of the bombs has dropped and cracked. He punches me in the face and I fall down and them look over the roof I see a lake; perfect. I tell Jarvis to grab Branis and jump. I fight off Colleen's killer and stab his hand through the roof.

"This is where I get off." I grab Jarvis and Branis and toss them out of the truck, and then I roll over and jump as well. The truck lands in the lake and BOOM! A bright light flashes and pushes me back; the entire lake is gone. I limp over to Jarvis and notice Branis, dying. His communication device is broken and can't speak. I ask him where Howard's inventions are and ask him to help me beat Leviathan. He draws a heart in the dirt with a string through it. Dammit.

"Wheres the car?" I ask.

"I believe its that way. I think we should go retrieve it immediately." Ugh can this day get any worse?

Daniel's POV:

We're almost at Mr. McFees house, when we stop the car and notice him walking on the road...with a chair handcuffed to him. Great, another mystery. We get him out of the cuffs and starts driving again, that is until theres an enormously bright light blinding our eyes. Thompson, whos driving in front of me, goes faster, and so do I. When we reach the sourse of the light, the lake is completely dried up; not a drop left. And not only that, but we find Branis's dead body at the scene. While the others go investigate that, I notice something shiny in the road.

"Sousa! What the hell are you doing?" CHief asks. I walk over to them and show the key I found. "Good find. Lets go check it out."

Peggy's POV:

When we reach the car I sigh in relief. Jarvis notices my leg and says he can patch me up. I tell him to wait, I need to see my daughter. When we enter the house, I limp to my room and Jarvis hands her over.

"Oh poppet!" She starts to fuss but then stops and snuggles against me, gurgling her baby talk."You have to say mummy. Can you do that?" She looks at me with those bright blue eyes and smiles. "Say mummy." She moves her lips and the words are inaudible, if they count as words at all,and she starts to laugh... and so do I. I love my little girl so much, my heart can't take it.

"Here you are Ms. Carter" He hands over her pacifier and he takes it gladly. I look at him and he bends down to stitch the gash on my leg.

"You're quite good at that."

"Yes. Mr. Stark's zippers are under a considerable strain." He ties it off and cuts the thread. "You're very fortunate you know."

"I missed the bone by three inches."

"Thats not what I meant."

"Then look me in the eye and say what you meant." Steph wiggles around in my arms and starts to grab at my hair.

"You're very fortunate that I ignored your instructions"

"Oh you're so right." I say as I pull her hands from my hair. "How I managed to stay alive before I meant you I have no idea." He goes in to give a speech about how my line of work requires support, but I tell him I can't be surrounded by those I love if I'm only putting them in danger. Thats why I'm trying to find a permanent home, I don't want Daniel or the Jarvis's to get hurt. Thats why I can't live near or with either of them. Then that leaves the question with Stephanie. He has a point though, I can't exactly distance myself from the world I wish to protect; but its so hard. I have to make the world right, if not for myself then for Steph. He says I can't be as successful in my goal if I don't open up to others and allow them to help me...and maybe hes right. When he finishes my stitches, I take Steph and head to Daniel's apartment. This is our last night there...

Daniels POV:

After I give Dooley the key I found I head home. I am so tired right now its ridiculous. Not only is it late, but i know Peggy is already asleep by now, and its her last night there; now I won't even get to say a proper goodbye. I open the apartment door and hear the shower going, and theres food on the table from the Automat.

"Peggy?" I call out. I hear Steph start crying and go into the bedroom. "Peg?" Still no answer. She must be in the shower. I pick up the baby and head to the table to eat. Shes so adorable its ridiculous. She squirms around all over the place and plays with the little doll I juts gave her, and she loves it.I hear a groan and turn around. "Peggy? You okay?" She comes out, dressed in her night gown, and walks over to me and Steph; or limps?

"I'm fine." She says. She leans over my shoulder and steals a bite of my cake.

"Hey! Thats mine!" She shrugs her shoulders and sits down on the couch. "Peggy, are you sure you're okay? You look like you're limping." and shes more quiet than normal.

"Mhm." Okay, now I know somethings wrong.

"Peg. Why are you still up? Its 1:30 in the morning."

"I know, I just...wanted to see you." I pick up the baby and sit next to her on the couch, with one brow raised. She sighs and shakes her head."I-" I sit, patiently, waiting for an answer, and grab her hand. "I uhm, was just given some advice recently, and I think I should listen to it."

"Okay..."

"I have a request, and I'm afraid to ask it. I need help and you're the only person I trust, Daniel." I nod my head and encourage her to keep talking. "I-I, uh, was-" Before she finishes her sentence, the power goes out. Damn New York.

"Here, hold Steph, I'll get us some light." I walk to the kitchen and grab some candles and light them. "There, that should work for now." I place one on the table and two on the coffee table by the couch."Peg?" Shes gone. "Peggy." She comes back and sits on the couch. "Wheres Steph?"

"I put her to sleep. Shes had quite the day. As have we all." I hum in agreement. "Daniel...I can't stay with my friends forever, and I can't stay here... But I can't take Steph with me anywhere else I go. At least for now."

"Peg. What are you saying...?" She looks away from me and I can see the tears rolling down her cheek. "Hey.." I wipe them away and hold her face in my hands. "Whats going on? Whats got you so upset?"

"Can she stay with you?" She sniffles. "When you aren't at work. Can- Can Stephanie live here with you..." I back away, slightly, in complete shock, and shake my head.

"Peggy.. you can't-Peg."

"I-I don't have any other choice. I can't stay there with my friends, and I can't sty here because-" She looks away and takes another deep breath. Shes hiding something. "Because I don't want to put you in danger. Or Stephanie. Shes just a baby, Daniel. She can hardly speak and walk, let alone defend herself or cry for help if someone-"

"Okay okay okay, just breathe. Look at me. Take a deep breath. And breath." She was starting to hyperventilate. "Think about this, Peg. Really think about it." She shakes her head and more tears fall.

"I have. I'm taking the advice and allowing people to help me and...and be involved more in my life. And this is how I do that; at least for now." I place my hand on her shoulder and give it a squeeze. "I'll pick her up from her sitters, and come here, with you, or stay until you come home and then you will have her for the rest of the night. And in the mornings I will come by to see you both and take her back so you and I can go to work."

"Peggy, thats a lot of work to do. How long do you think you can keep that up?"

"I don't know. I just...I need this to work until its over."

"Till whats over?" At first she hesitates, then answers.

"Till this case with Howard is solved. Then...I'll figure the rest out when I get there." I pull her in for a hug and she hold on tightly. When she lets go I kiss her on the forehead, and she smiles. I take her to my room and she lays down. "Daniel? Can you stay with us? Just until I fall asleep?"

"Yeah, sure." I sit on the edge of the bed and she curls up to me on my chest, just like she did before, and I don't move away. She lays close, as if afraid of something, and closes her eyes to fall asleep. I don't know what it is thats bothering her so much, but whatever it is needs to stop being such a pain in the ass. I hate seeing her in pain and fear. Maybe she'll open up more and tell me, but right now I'm content on her sleeping it off.

#peggysous #peggy carter #daniel sousa #Peggy x Daniel #agent carter #agent carter series #au fanfic #fanfiction

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sleeplesspensieve · 6 years ago

Text

Remedy For Guilt - III

Summary: The daughter of Bellatrix and Rodopholus Lestrange is offered the opportunity to teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after training as a Healer since her graduation. Her past haunts her and she relies on her old Potions teacher for help but what will happen when they get too close for comfort?

Rated: E for graphic sex scenes in later chapters. Over 18′s only please.

Word Count: 2293

Multichapter Fic (Expected to be around 30-35 chapters with a planned sequel which will take place during the Harry Potter Books)

An Unexpected Travel Companion

The school term was due to start in a week and Lyra had received a letter a few days prior, inviting her to come around early to set up her classroom and socialise with the other teachers. It was strange to think that those who once taught her a few years ago would soon become her colleagues. Lyra questioned whether she would get along with them, reflecting on the relationship that she had with them during her years as a student. She shrugged off her doubts and assured herself that everything would be fine and if not, well, it was only a year anyway.

Lyra had spent all week sorting through her things and deciding what needed packing. She had set it aside in a corner of her room which had slowly grown bigger as the days went by. Originally, she told herself to only bring the necessities but she had found so many things that seemed necessary whilst she was out shopping. Her Uncle Lucius came by her room the evening prior, asking what she wanted to bring and questioning how she would carry it all with her.

The day had come where it was time for her to go. Lyra insisted on levitating her belongings down to the foyer herself, rejecting the help offered by the Malfoy’s house elves. Draco looked longingly at his cousin as she organised her things to be moved. Lyra had been almost like an older sister to him for the years that she had stayed at Malfoy Manor. She had helped Narcissa raise him of course, babysitting him whenever she had come back from school. He had always acted like this when she went to school but over the past few years as she had spent more time at home Draco had grown more attached.

“When will you be back?” Draco questioned.

“I’m not sure but I promise that I’ll come visit when I can,” Lyra said, giving her cousin a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Three people had entered the room, her Aunt and Uncle, accompanied by a man she had not seen for several years. She felt her heart skip a beat as he approached, her eyes admired his form. The years had been kind to Severus Snape, he looked as though he had not aged a day since she last saw him. Even his hair was at the same length, his face clean shaven and his expression poised as she recalled it. What was unfamiliar about seeing her old Potions teacher once more was that subtle reaction she felt in her heart. She simply pushed those feelings aside, deciding it was a simple crush and a result of the lack of intimacy over the past few years.

“Severus has offered to assist you with settling into Hogwarts,” Lucius said.

The dark-haired man took a look at Lyra’s belongings piled in the house’s entrance. He raised an eyebrow and questioned, “Do you honestly need all that?”

“Probably not,” she snarked, “But your help is much appreciated.”

“Well then,” Narcissa began. “Stay safe, don’t do anything that would disappoint us.” She pulled Lyra in for a hug.

“I won’t make any promises,” Lyra said with a smirk causing Narcissa to scowl.

Lucius put a hand on her shoulder, “Are you absolutely sure you need to do this?”

“It won’t be that bad,” she said. She turned to Snape and said, “Hogsmeade? Let’s go.”

Severus nodded and they each placed a hand on a pile of belongings. With a quick spin, both Lyra and Severus disapparated from the Malfoy Manor.

Arriving at Hogsmeade filled Lyra with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. She remembered what it was like when she walked down the street with her friends and checked out all the shops. She smiled fondly as she saw the Three Broomsticks where she shared a passionate first kiss behind the building with a Gryffindor boy. It felt as though nothing had changed, though it had only been about three years.

“Will we stand here until night falls, Lestrange?” Snape sneered, pulling her out of her memories that filled her head. “I don’t fancy standing here all day as you take your trip down memory lane.”

“If you wish,” she smiled cheekily, before waving her wand behind her. The trunks and cages she had brought with her levitated a metre above the ground and followed her as she began walking down the familiar road to Hogwarts. Professor Snape seemed disgruntled as he walked beside her but Lyra took no notice of it, her mind was preoccupied on absorbing the sights before her. Hogwarts stood brilliantly in front of the backdrop of the Forbidden Forest. It was truly a remarkable sight to behold, one she felt that she did not take enough time to appreciate during her years there.

“You could’ve asked your house elf to escort you if you’re going to be doing all the work,” the wizard said.

“I do recall Lucius saying that it was your offer,” she replied.

“We both know that Lucius is a liar.”

“So how did he rope you into this?”

“He wants me to keep an eye on you, not that I was going to let you return here without keeping an eye on you.”

“Your tone of voice implies that I’m a trouble-maker.”

“Don’t pretend that you’re not, Lestrange.”

Lyra chuckled to herself in response to Severus’ statement and their conversation came to a halt. They both made their way into the castle with no effort to speak to one another. Lyra knew her male companion would not want to engage in chatting and what had been exchanged so far seemed hostile. Each time he addressed her by her surname she could tell it stemmed from contempt. She began humming and singing to herself happily. It wasn’t that the silence was uncomfortable, no, she was quite used to not speaking with the Potions Master. After the incident where Severus revealed her name she vowed never to speak to him again. Of course, times change and she was now an adult in a position which required her to interact politely with her old Professor so she would but that did not mean she didn’t remember what had happened.

Lyra pressed her head against the wall outside the Headmaster’s office. She did not know the password so she just waited. She waited and simmered. She was so angry and upset, her fists clenched at her sides. A whole year had passed and no other teacher had mentioned her last name. She thought she was safe, she was lulled into a false sense of security where she could interact freely with her classmates but now…

Now everyone knew the truth. Anybody who didn’t already know the name Lestrange could research her name and find that her parents were infamous Death Eaters, a part of the Dark Lord’s inner circle. Anyone could see that she actively participated in the torture of witches and wizards and as a consequence wound up being expelled from Durmstrang Institute, a school that actively encouraged the use of the Dark Arts.

She was convinced that the start of her schooling here at Hogwarts could be a new chapter. She began to warm up to people other than just pure-bloods. The way they even spoke her name in class in those brief moments made her scared and upset. No one would want to be her friend anymore. She lifted her head and let it return where it rested with force and repeated the action. Tears spilled from her eyes and they splattered on the floor.

What would her parents think? What would her Aunt and Uncle think? They would be so disappointed in her. It was hard enough that she got expelled from Durmstrang but she always wound up in trouble and she believed that she honestly tried this time.

Her sadness quickly turned to anger as her mind drifted onto Snape. She hated him. He was supposed to be someone she could trust, someone her family said she could trust. She cursed herself for her foolishness. In that moment she promised herself that she would never speak to the Potions Master again. He did not deserve her time or effort.

“Lyra,” a soft old voice called out. “What’s wrong?”

Lyra and Severus passed the Headmasters office where her memories played. She sighed sadly to herself and her singing stopped. The rest of the journey continued in silence though she knew where she was going she didn’t ask him to leave. A few more minutes passed and they found themselves on the third floor in classroom 3C.

“Well, thanks for escorting me, Professor,” she said interrupting the long silence with a wave of her wand she sent her belongings into the office. “I’ll be alright from here.” She meant for this to be a dismissal of his presence but he lingered.

“I don’t think it’s wise for you to be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, Lestrange,” he said.

She smiled and laughed, “Now, are you saying that out of concern or jealousy?”

His eyes narrowed. “I am not asking out of concern for your wellbeing but for that of the staff and students. I know your true nature.”

Her smile disappeared. “Don’t pretend that you know me,” she said, “I would never harm anyone in this school. Albus believes that I’ve changed, don’t you?” her head tilted slightly and her expression turned into an evil smile, “Don’t you trust your new master?”

“I think he’s made a mistake,” he said, “inviting you here to teach. You haven’t changed at all. So what, you studied to be a healer and suddenly you’ve reformed. You can’t erase what you’ve done.”

“Can you erase what you’ve done, Severus?” she hissed. “You’ve done much worse than me and I was there. I’ve seen it all so don’t act you’re better than me when you’re just as in the wrong as me.” She took a deep breath in attempt to calm herself before continuing. “If you think that I’m going to be going around torturing teachers and students, you’ll find out soon that you’re mistaken,” she said. She was tempted to slam the door in his face right then and there but she knew her manners and her place. “I appreciate your assistance, Professor. I’ll see you around.”

Lyra spent the rest of the day organising her things. She replayed the conversation that she had with Snape over and over again in her head. Could she have said something different? Did she honestly need to be so rude? It felt as if Severus had brought out the worst in her, a smugness seemed to come out; the same attitude that came out whenever she used the Dark Arts and wished to show it off. She knew she couldn’t let that happen again. She had to let go of the grudge that she held against him.

It was hard for her to come to terms with things that happened in the past. It almost felt like there were too sides of her fighting to be her dominant personality, one that loved the Dark Arts and wished to gain control over it and another that knew that the best way to exist was to help other people. She reminded herself that in a way teaching could help her achieve the latter.

The situation was made more difficult considering the fact the Professor Snape had acted that way towards her. How was she supposed to move on and do her best if he thought she was here to cause trouble?

Lyra worked well into the night trying to find a place for all the trinkets she had brought along with her. She didn’t even realise until she heard a knock on the classroom door.

“Come in!” she shouted from her office. She placed what she was holding In what she decided was the correct place and ran downstairs. She was greeted by a wise old witch with a magnificent pointed hat with a peacock feather sticking out of it. The older witch had a plate of food in her hands which she settled on the desk in the front of the classroom.

“Couldn’t help but notice you didn’t decide to join us for dinner this evening,” the Transfiguration Professor said.

“I honestly just lost track of time,” Lyra said. “Thank you so much for bringing me dinner, Professor McGonagall.”

“I’m no longer your Professor, dear,” she smiled. “You can call me Minerva, of course.”

“Well, thank you, Minerva,” Lyra said, returning the smile.

“Now don’t make this a habit,” Minerva lectured. “I expect to see you tomorrow morning for breakfast. Everyone is keen to welcome you and catch up so you better get yourself sorted and off to bed.”

“Thank you, Minerva,” Lyra said. “I hope you have a good night.”

“Don’t try to dismiss me,” she said. “What happened between you and Severus?”

“What do you mean?”

“He was in a right mood when he came back from escorting you,” she said.

Lyra scratched the back of her head, “He was a bit of an asshole.”

Minerva rolled her eyes, “I’ll set him straight, don’t you worry. Now I will leave you to eat and make sure you show up tomorrow morning or I will be extremely disappointed in you. Good night.”

Lyra smiled knowing that her disappointment was not something that no student wanted, not that she was a student anymore. She returned the ‘good night’ and Professor McGonagall nodded curtly as she closed the door behind her. Just as it shut Lyra’s stomach rumbled loudly.

“Well, who’d have known?” she said to herself as she eyed the plate of food.

#fanfiction #harry pot #hogwarts #fanfic #Remedy For Guilt #lyra lestrange #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fandom #severus snape #oc x severus snape #severus snape imagine #original character #oc x snape #snape #RFG

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miru-p · 6 years ago

Photo

So, here the last part of the Nobody Dies AU trilogy aka Two Zeppelis being idiots(tm) and everyone suffering because of it. Probs I’ll be doing more NBD AU stuff, but atm I’m trying a CaeElla writting so :3c Here you can read the previous ones: Part 1. Part 2. Soo, yep, part 3 under the cut~~

A month and a half since the Crusade in Egypt had passed, and finally Avdol could return home. Everyone on the Joestar household received him with a bright smile. Joseph patted his shoulders. Karina just ran and threw herself into his arms for a hug. Everyone was surprised, but Avdol knew her well enough, so he could catch her without a glitch.

“You know, I was testing that your new arms are working perfectly.” She smiled.

“Of course you were.” Avdol smirked. “So then you don’t want a kiss or anything right?”

“Hmm…. Maybe I should test your lips too…”

“Okay, okay, enough, lovebirds” Joseph said, laughing.

Avdol let Karina on the ground, and both she and Joseph show him his (and Karina’s) room, plus more things about the apartment.

Karina didn’t let go her beloved Momo’s hand during the whole day. She was so happy to finally have him there with her. And everyone there were so happy to see them like that. They do such a nice couple, uh? Suzi Q thought smiling wildly.

“So, when you two are going to get married?” Billie asked, during dinner.

Both Avdol and Karina blushed, especially the latter, who was the one who broke the silence.

“I mean… it’s not like we don’t wanna…” she started to feel her blood boiling.

“We didn’t think about that so much, to be honest.” Avdol said, rescuing his flustered lover.

“But it’s the next step, right?” Billie continued. She was so happy about the couple that didn’t realize that they were a bit uncomfortable with the matter. It was obvious both of them agreed with her, but didn’t want to bother the other. “It would be nice! We can do the ceremony here, with all the family! Oh, it would be nice to meet your mom! She’s like my half-sister after all.”

“No.”

Karina declined Billie’s offer with just a word. A word that came out really cold and serious, something so unusual in Karina that everyone on the table looked at her. She was looking down to her fists.

“Ah, I didn’t want to sound that I was forcing you two or something” Billie said, trying to apologize after noticing the tension. “I didn’t mean to bother you or anything, sorry for that”

“It’s not like that.” Karina replied without raising her head. “I do want to get married. I do want to be with my family celebrating that. But…”

“Karina, please…” Avdol whispered to her. He knew something was wrong. He knows she was going to break in pieces if anyone wouldn’t do something. But it was too late.

“I just… can’t bring my mother near that bastard!” Karina yelled, pointing at Caesar. Suzi Q and Avdol tried to calm her, while Billie was just so shocked. Caesar didn’t even blink. “He is the reason why my nonna had to live an awful life! Her parents just kicked her out of their house with a baby! My mother had to grow up without a father. Almost without a mother, since my nonna had to work very hard to maintain them both!” Karina bursted into tears. Her face was red due to her anger. “All that suffering… and you were just living a perfect life… I… I really hate you…”

“Karina, please, this is enough, stop”

“I just can’t allow you to be in my mother’s life. You wouldn’t ruin her life again!” Karina dried her tears. “I just… I just wish you would be actually dead as you were supposed to be.”

-Slap-

Everything went quiet. Everyone looked at Joseph, who had just stood up and slapped Karina.

“You didn’t know shit yet you are brave and stupid enough to say all those things about him, uh?”

“Oh my” Suzi Q murmured. “Joseph, dear, don’t.”

“You don’t know anything. Living a perfect life? You don’t know shit. You don’t know how much he suffered until he could be happy.” Joseph yelled at her. “In first place, he almost died, I have to remind this to you? You don’t know how is to feel like someone precious to you is on a hospital bed during months and months without even the certainty that he would wake up.” His voice started to break, but continued anyways, he was so angry with the young Zeppeli. “And when he woke up, finally, he had to go through a hard rehabilitation, his injuries were so severe, damn it! Yes, he went here, but because I told him to. Because” he gulped. “… I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t lose him again. That time I’d protect him, not take him to death.”

Both Caesar and Suzi stared at him. Suzi tried to stand up and hold her husband hand, but Billie didn’t let her. She knows that it was better for her dad to just vent out. For him and for Karina too.

“He didn’t know he had a daughter, I know that if he knew he would probably stay with them in Italy instead of going here with us. I know that. But sadly he didn’t know, so he couldn’t be with them.” Joseph said. His tone was calmer now. “So, don’t you dare to say those things ever again.”

Karina didn’t even look at him, and just ran away.

“I think you overdid it, Joseph.” Caesar said softly.

“What? Me? She said all those things and you’re lecturing me?” Joseph said offended. “Well, actually it’s your fault in first place. You’re the one who shouldn’t let her treat you like that.”

Caesar stared at him. Joseph had still his fists clenched. He held his hand. “Grazie, Joseph, seriously.” He murmured. Joseph softened a bit. “Also, please, stop blaming yourself for things that happened fifty years ago, okay?” Caesar rubbed his hair, and he smiled. “I’m going to go after her.”

“Mister Zeppeli, I’m very sorry about this.” Avdol said, before the Italian left the room.

“Don’t worry. I guess she’s just as short tempered as her grandfather.” He replied smiling, and then left the apartment. He ran until he saw someone sitting on the ground.

“Hey.”

“What do you want?” said Karina in between sobs.

“I’m sorry” Caesar sat down near her.

“I told you that I wish you were dead and you’re the one apologizing? You sure are an idiot.” she mumbled. “Joseph is right. I… I don’t know anything. Plus, it’s not even my problem. The only ones who have the right to be angry with you are either my grandmother or my mother, and one of them can’t, so…”

“Yes, but it’s your family. It’s normal that you want to protect them.”

“But you’re supposed to be my family too.”

Caesar couldn’t reply to that, and Karina didn’t say anything more either. Few seconds later, Joseph, Suzi, Avdol, and Billie found them, but stayed far enough to not to bother but close enough to hear what was happening.

“My mom… she usually told me stories about you when I was a child…” Karina started. “Stories that Mister Messina told her when she was a child too. About how amazing you were. I really admired you back then.” She felt a pain in her throat and chest. “Back then, I really wished I could meet you… But when I met Joseph and he told me you were alive… I felt… so betrayed. My only hero betrayed me. Plus… you are not like the hero I imagined.”

“Do you hate me because I am not as you imagined I would be?” Caesar asked.

“I… I guess….” She started crying again. She hid her face on her knees.

“But you can’t know if I’m not as you imagined. You don’t even give me a chance to show you how I am. You don’t want to know anything about me.”

“I know that! I know I’m an idiot!” Karina shouted. “I just… I’m scared! Scared of betrayal, scared of disillusion! Scared of caring and losing again!”

Caesar hugged her with all his strength. Karina tried to avoid the hug, but finally she gave up.

“Probably you think I slept with every woman I could when I was young, but it isn’t true actually.” Caesar said. “Your grandmother… she was a very special woman. I really loved her.”

“Are you saying that just by commitment?”

“No. Why should I?” Caesar replied smiling. “I’m just saying the truth. She was… a really strong woman… Very stubborn too. She didn’t really give a shit about me at first. She thought that I was just a womanizer and told me how disgusting I was several times.”

“Are you serious?” Karina asked, perplexed.

“Yes. I guess I have something for people who can’t stand my flirty tactics. Bonus points if they have teal eyes” Caesar snorted. “Maybe it’s true that physically you look more like me, but I can assure you that you are a lot like your grandmother.”

Karina wiped her tears again and rested her head on her grandfather’s shoulder. Caesar loosened the hug a little.

“I was… I was going to be with her. But-“

“You fell in love with Joseph” Karina interrupted. Caesar patted her hair.

“Yes.” He replied. “Besides, when I woke up it had been five months… and almost a whole year since the last time I saw her. I thought, and wished, that she could find happiness without me.”

Caesar paused for a few seconds. Karina looked at him. She could actually see regret on his face, making her feeling guilty about all of this.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be with her, supporting her. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be a father for your mother.” He murmured. “But I promise that, since now, I’ll protect all of you with my life.”

“Heh, it’s not necessary putting your life in danger for us, you know. Just… being there is okay.” Karina said, with a warm smile in her face. That was the first time in all the time she were in New York that Karina gave him a smile. Or just something that wasn’t a death glare in general.

The rest of the family, looking at the whole situation, couldn’t help but smile happily. Joseph looked proud of himself since he knew that earlier or later those two idiots would be able to improve their relationship; Avdol just sighed with a relieved smile on his face; and both Suzi and Billie just cried due to the happiness of the moment.

Caesar and Karina stood up and started walking to the apartment holding hands. Then, they found out the other four in their way. Caesar was kind of expecting it, but Karina wasn’t, and blushed.

“Seriously,” The Italian said. “so you really went after us…”

“We were veeery worried. Maybe you would end up killing each other or something, you know, Caesar-chan.” Joseph replied, grinning.

“I still can’t understand how you could fell in love with this utter idiot.” Karina said, while letting go of Caesar’s hand due to her embarrassment.

“Yes, sometimes I ask myself that too.” Caesar said with a warm smile.

#sorry for the chibis as pic but at least this one has a pic TvTb #anyways the pic of part 1 was so good and difficult to surpass lol #i love these two idiots So Much #my art #my writing #this one is a big longer than the other two tho #my intention was to post the caeella one yesterday for rafaella's bday but i was all the day at uni so #at least posting something lol #i hope you like it <3

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kohakhearts · 7 years ago

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6. “Could you be any louder?” w/ fem!YuuMika?? :3c??

#6: “could you be any louder?”from these prompts! (i’m no longer taking these, sorry!)wc: 678

Mika is on her last straw.

She’s done everything she possibly can, but it is impossible to block out. She stares at the ceiling, trying very hard to rationalize with herself, and then…

Yuu lets out another loud snore.

Mika’s going to go crazy like this.

She’s known for a long time that Yuu is a snorer, but she never really considered that it could have such an impact on her. Shinoa did say that domestic life would treat her poorly—“Don’t let Yuu-san ruin you,” she advised. “She’s a real devil, you know? Unorganized, can’t even cook a decent meal. She’ll never make the bed in the morning, you know.”—but Mika has known Yuu forever, really. She assured Shinoa that things would work at fine. That, even if Yuu is a shitty roommate, Mika will handle it, because she loves her.

Mika has not gotten a wink of sleep in the last three days.

Actually, forget what she said earlier.

She’s not going crazy. She already is crazy, for thinking that this arrangement is something she could just “get used to.”

By the time morning comes, Mika has had approximately three hours of extremely restless sleep.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Yuu chirps to her, as the dark-haired girl exits their shared bedroom.

Mika’s eye twitches.

She looks down at her coffee, scowling.

“Mika?” Yuu sits at the table across from her, leaning against the wood with a frown. Mika tries very hard not to be distracted by the fact that she can perfectly see Yuu’s boobs from the way the collar of her loose shirt falls forward when she stretches towards Mika like that.

Mika looks away from her, not saying a word.

“Mika,” Yuu singsongs. “C’mon, angel, talk to me!”

Mika inhales sharply.

“Mika, babygirl, come on.”

“Could you be any louder?” Mika snaps, whirling to face her girlfriend again, eyes narrowed.

Yuu stares at her.

Blinks.

Heavily sits back in her chair.

Guilt constricts Mika’s heart, and she opens her mouth to apologize, but Yuu just grins at her.

“Are you grumpy, Mika?” she asks teasingly.

“Yes,” Mika stresses.

“Well, it’s a little early, but once I eat some breakfast and brush my teeth, I—“

“Because you fucking snore,” Mika complains. “So loudly. I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep even if I was in an entirely different room! And, no, you can’t fix it with sex!”

Yuu considers her for a moment, then nods slowly.

“Okay,” she says. “Er, but...”

Mika rubs at her temples, sighing. “I know you can’t help it, and I’m sorry for blowing up on you, really. But, Yuu-chan...I haven’t slept in four days.”

Yuu stares at her, open-mouthed.

“It’s not your fault,” Mika continues. “That’s just—how things have happened. I love living with you. I love you. But...”

Yuu is quiet for a moment.

Mika holds her breath.

Then:

“Come with me,” Yuu says brightly, standing up quickly, her chair flying backwards.

Mika stares at her.

“Come on, come on!” Yuu encourages. She comes around the table and grabs at Mika’s wrist, then pulls the girl up to her feet excitedly. “I’m very well-rested.”

“I couldn’t tell,” Mika mutters dryly, letting Yuu drag her away from the kitchen table—and her coffee, she thinks painfull.

“So,” Yuu says, “the fix is simple! You get to rest, and you get to cuddle me. Right? It’s totally a win-win.”

“What?”

Yuu leads her into the bedroom, then jumps onto their bed and beams at Mika, patting the space beside her.

Mika looks on warily, but eventually climbs in beside her.

“You can rest,” Yuu says, wrapping an arm around her. “And I’ll just cuddle you. Deal?”

Mika lets out a shaky laugh. “You’re so silly,” she says fondly.

“But it’s a good idea, right?”

“Yeah,” Mika agrees. “It is.”

And, for a while, it is perfect.

Yuu’s warmth, Yuu’s arm around her shoulders, Yuu’s breath against her hair.

And then, right as Mika is dozing off, it happens:

Yuu lets out a very loud, very asleep snore.

Mika sighs.

She just wishes she could say she wasn’t expecting it.

#hhh sorry this took so long bby #i hope it's not too bad orz #ilysm #fem!mikayuu #fem!yuumika #mikayuu #yuumika #yuumikayuu #yuu--mika

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mistytpednaem · 7 years ago

Text

another miitopia: FULL HOUSE

AS YOU MAY RECALL, we are rescuing the rest of our party

TIME TO SAVE YOU, IMP CHILD

...

I’m gonna be honest he looks better than Kaph

anyway we did it, and Nimah’s power grows further

it’s ok we probably don’t need to know the exact process by which he extracts faces

Marco isn’t even here, so

Oh yeah we got separated again. DID YOU FORGET, BECAUSE I KNOW I DID

I’M JUST GONNA... stick with my party composition of... whoever needs to catch up on levels?? affection levels are probably going to be harder to manage, but welp

shiffe is actually rocking that look. does he just rock EVERY look?? have I been tragically overlooking him as a fashion master all along??

bold, but after the belly shirt, not even that alarming

NO NEVER MIND I’M NEVER PRAISING THIS BULLY AGAIN

i’m not sure what just happened but it was incredible

that good omens adaptation is looking good

oh, since I lack a screenshot for a proper segue, do you know when it might be a particularly bad time to run into one of those enemies with the one-hit KO attack?

when one of your party members fell into a pit on the way there and also the only character you can directly control opens the fight by shielding someone else from a fatal blow.

oh, hey, this triggered during Eva’s turn, I wonder how that’ll work considering her unique--

snrrrrk

this was the result of round two against the one-hit KO fucker.

a victory is a victory.

god I love every single one of these heart-themed pieces of equipment, look at him

they are now best friends

FINALLY

see I figured Effy was coming up but I can’t even joke about it because the game beat me to it.

AS EXPECTED

also even though i didn’t screenshot any of it i assure you she looked positively devious during her attacks.

WHAT THE HECK SHE’S SO CUTE

NOW WE’RE COMING FOR YOU, DORK LORD

all is as it should be.

E-EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE??

;_;7

the status effects in this game, man

YEAH THAT’S ABOUT RIGHT

SO IS THIS

(also, agreed.)

EFFY PLEASE THESE THINGS STILL GET TWO TURNS FOR EACH OF OURS

thank god that didn’t last long

every time someone is kind to selena, my acne clears up ever so slightly

effy and clo match now :3c

:3c :3c :3c

... good

GEE I WONDER WHAT THIS COULD POSSIBLY BE SETTING UP

of course.

you know, on one hand, after all the colourful bosses we’ve faced, a random dragon with some mii eyes glued on is kind of underwhelming, but those proportions are pretty charming and--

HOLY FUCK NEVER MIND ALL OF THAT HE’S ADORABLE

HI I LOVE YOU DOMINIC

PLEASE SLEEP WELL, DOMINIC

i can’t afford this yet but i don’t know if you can imagine how hard i want to draw marco wearing it

aw fuck yeah. fight the system, effy

YES... VERY DEFINITELY THE END OF THE GAME... NEXT TIME

(which will probably be after I update, which will hopefully be soon.)

#another mii

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simkjrs · 7 years ago

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chapter 6 asks that are people in distress about shinsou

SPOILERS FOR THE FIC, so it’s all under the readmore

** before i start, i just want to say, the sheer number of people who have guessed that it’s himiko impersonating shinsou is frankly alarming and equally hilarious. thanks yall

Anonymous said: OH MY GOD SHINSOU MY SON, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM??? HE DOESNT DESERVE THIS????? (for real, tho, that chapter was?? So good??? I'm so happy to have read this)

you’re absolutely right he doesn’t deserve this and im doing it to him anyways, which objectively proves that as an author i am not and never have been trustworthy. im sorry if i ever tricked you into thinking otherwise. im crying as well

Anonymous said: holy crap that chapter. where do i even start. i knew the kidnapping was coming up but that scene still managed to punch me in the gut. shinsou doesn't deserve this he just wanted to be a hero you guys. also the scene where izuku brought mitoki flowers was really great and i'm so happy that conversation happened. and the paintball fight? best thing i've ever laid my eyes upon. sorry this wasn't very coherent, i'm gonna go fling myself into the sun. thank you for this amazing chapter.

thank YOU for the feedback, i’m really glad you enjoyed the mitoki conversation & the paintball fight because those two scenes were the ones i was most nervous about. as for shinsou, you are very right. he doesn’t deserve this and im sorry

Anonymous said: WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! that was so intense!!!!!!!!!!!! that chapter was amazing you lied sorry ://// (izuku has a crush on shinsou and i couldnt be happier. sweethearts, the both of them.) SO MUCH HAPPENED AT ONCE IM FU KCIFNSICIAJX!!!! WHAT HAPPENED WITH SHINSOU??? MY BOY WHO THREATENED HIM. WHO HURT HIM??!?!?!!?!??!!??!?! i got so emotional all throughout this chapter i almost cried like 26 times that was wild af!!! NOW HOW DO I RECOVER FROM THIS!!!! (im so worried about shinsou. about everyone.)

hfjldksf thanks!! glad you enjoyed it!! im sorry for making you emotional. its the unintended side effects of tryin to convey izuku’s state of mind

i know this won’t ease your suffering much but for a while i intended for chapter 7 to be from shinsou’s point of view, and it was quite literally just titled “what happened to shinsou.” this may still happen. im not sure yet. stay tuned next for,

Anonymous said: *twitch twitch twitchy twich* omg suddenly i understand those comments from your betas. like. i'm legit speechless???? why. why would you do this, you evil writer from awesome land. like i just. im in like. the all caps state of shock. that FREAKING LAST LINE AKDJKLADSLKAJDSKLJLKJ. like. *squeezes air* i dont even know where to begin???? I MEAN CLEARLY I STARTED AT THE END BUT LIKE. so much. to talk about. like. the smile bits of gaming and cats and pics then THAT KAST KUUSJDFHSKJDHFSKJDHSJDF

i bait in readers with cute fun shenanigans and then i go in for the kill

(thank you for writing in, i’m glad you enjoyed the chapter <3 )

Anonymous said: no, but like, ur saying that chapter 6 is the worst one YET (which is a HORRIBLE LIE. this chapter was great. even if it let us all devastated afterwards. but whats a good fanfiction if it doesnt affect the reader tho heh(and your certainly is a great fanfiction. one of the greatest)) is it because of the giant clusterfuck that 7 and/or 8 is gonna be? (kamino ward, all might reveal, kidnappings+ SHINSOU) im legit worried haha ( btw "(accidental) dad might: Stealth Style" is my favorite tag now)

i cultivate my tags with pride. im glad you enjoyed that one in particular :3c and also... thank you... i was super insecure abt ch6 so it’s really nice hearing ppl liked it! i really appreciate it <3

the next chapter(s?) are going to be a clusterfuck so you are probably wise to be legit worried. preemptive apologies. i don’t know why im doing this and im sorry also

Anonymous said: I don't actually believe that Shinsou did it, naturally. Maybe the villains pin the blame on him cause it's easier to do it to someone that everyone is already wary about? I honestly have no idea, you're too unpredictable with some of these things

u have a good nose anon... but also when have i EVER been unpredictable about anything. my taste and storytelling is incredibly predictable in that it is always The Worst and Incredibly Self Indulgent. all you have to do to pick out the path im taking is think “what path allows simk to pander to their own interests the most?” and thats the path i’ll take. this is exactly what is happening with the entirety of this fic and especially with this next arc

Anonymous said: is shinsou being blackmailed?? controlled by someone else?? someone stole his face?? was he used as a hostage bc he interacted with class I-A more? or is someone threatening izuku again or.. ahhh idk what it is but I really feel he is not a traitor so: my current theories about shinsou. am I close??

yes to all of the above

Anonymous said: Pretty sure you didn't get many theories yet cause we are still in shock. Send help pls. (Loved the chapter btw that chapter was legit a roller-coaster of feels.)

theres no help to be found. i did this irrevocably and now theres nothing we can do about it

(thank you! i’m really glad to hear that, and hope that you have recovered from your shock :p )

Anonymous said: thoughts on shinsou's reasons: bakugou is a abusive shit who is undeserving of being a hero and made him lose all faith in heroes, blackmail, threats, brainwashing, some other type of convincing, he has been the traitor the whole time and you just want to kill us with angst, the LoV is threatening deku and if he doesn't help them they kill him, rage against society has reached its peak (same tho), or he wants to get back at bakugou, or the Cat Cafe is being threatened. please stop killing me.

this is a really impressive laundry list of unconventional reasons for shinsou to join the villain alliance. i love it. i too would become a villain in order to save my favorite cat cafe and spite a person i don’t like

@armcontrolnerve said: it was himiko in the study with the candlestick

d...does this make shinsou the murder victim

Anonymous said: I JUST READ THE NEW CHAPTER AND JUST WANTED TO DROP BY AND SAY YOU'VE UTTERLY WRECKED ME. I have tears in my eyes, I am currently flailing about like a fish while my brain goes into overdrive trying to dodge the reality of that ending. Shinsou was helping Izuku not two scenes ago, he was probably kidnapped and forced to do it against his will via torture or something. I refuse to believe that Shinsou is a villain and you cannot tell me oTHERWISE

good instincts. hold onto that feeling

Anonymous said: My guess: shinsou was kidnapped by Villain Alliance. Himiko Toga is using her quirk to impersonate him. But...why

bad pr image for yuuei

Anonymous said: all im thinking is that girl with the quirk that lets her shapeshift into people if she gets their blood and im just. oh no. shinsou. how could u do this to the poor sweet gay boy. meet me in the pit for a fight, and also a round of compliments for ur fucking writing skills. u made me cry. i love this fic so much but unfortunately i still have to challenge u to a duel, for the sake of these poor children, and their mental health,,, (ps i love ur writing and ur fantastic!! byeee)

if you kill me youll never get these children back alive

(thank u though... this made me laugh. rest assured that i will promptly apply all my writing skills to elucidating the mystery of what happened to shinsou)

Anonymous said: Shinsou probably got his quirk stolen by Sensei or someone is impersonating him I guess. Or his classmates are jerks and framing him or something. Smh

his classmates threw him under the bus

@sunslammerdown said: hi i am a person who reads your very extremely good fanfiction... thanks very much and also Wow Rude How Dare You. you said you were surprised at not getting more shinsou theories so heres my two: 1) It Was Toga, shinsou is kidnapped its not good 2) It Was All For One who can take quirks and use them on people and shinsou has a mind control quirk, its very not good still

what if its... 3) both, for maximum suffering, and the ultimate very not good happenstance

@viperofsand said: I am sure I had something in mind when giving my review while I was reading chap 6, but after the final part my mind was all 'WHAT THE HELLLLLL', so, there is that. Also, I am inaugurating #ShinsouIsNotAVillain2017 for this fic starting now.

this is a good hashtag. i’m behind it. i have no right to be but i am

Anonymous said: ok i'm trying not to panic bc of the cliffhanger but just tell me, will we know /why/ shinso is doing what he's doing ?? i'm trying not to spoil for ppl

no worries! we will find out exactly what happened to shinsou...

@auspiciouswhiskers said: How much do I have to pay for a Shinsou redemption and/or Shindeku endgame because pleeease you have responsibilities

you don’t even have to ask. its already under way...

(more specifically: you just don’t even need to ask. there just isnt a need. hold that thought for a shindeku endgame though bc who KNOWS where im headed with that)

Anonymous said: Izuku's gonna lure Shinsou with cats and everything will be just fine. Izuku holding up fuku, taka and isao: you know u can't harm them Shinsou: defeated

this is the ultimate villain shinsou ask. nothing is ever going to top this. you dont even need to fight shinsou you just have to appeal to him with cats and he’ll crumble instantly

Anonymous said: Eh, I don't know if I'm angry, but I am a tad disappointed if it actually is "what it looks like" with Shinsou. I mean his whole deal is that while his power seems like one that a villain would have, he doesn't actually want to use it that way. If he really is a villain in your story, that sorta defeats the purpose of his character, you know? But I guess I'll just wait and see what you plan to do with it.

that aspect of his character is probably what makes what im doing 100% more awful so i guess what im trying to say is: don’t worry it’s not what it seems, but also, i should not be allowed to touch a computer

Anonymous said: ok ok i have an idea about why shinsou provided inside help(i hope im at least a little right or im going to cry): he was threatened by the league? they saw him hanging out with deku and probably knew that he didnt know he was Hella Strong or smth and were like "look, if u dont want ur friend to die ur gonna have to Cooperate" and shinsou being an amazing friend was like "U LEAVE HIM ALONE U COCKROACH" and he did That. it probably happened in That One Stupid Horrible Month (please. PLEASE)

shinsou became a villain for deku confirmed. be gay, turn to the dark side

Anonymous said: honestly while i'm still Actually Dead over the latest chapter Izuku having his Gay Awakening over someone who stabs him in the back is Relatable lol

h...hold that thought...

also. i’m really sorry to hear that, and i hope you’re in a better place now. may your future gay relationships be blessed

Anonymous said: It's Mamoru. The ending to your new chapter is definitely a twist that I didn't expect at all. But oddly I'm not angry. Is Shinsou really going to be a villain? Because it kinda goes against he is fighting for. Or is he threatened?

spoiler alert...

@chocowl said: holy fuck simk

A theory: was Shinsou kidnapped by the VA and Himiko used her Quirk to look like him? That would explain the silence towards Izuku and would heal our tormented souls Q-Q

the truth is, the entire villain alliance is conspiring to fuck over shinsou, specifically

#chapter 6 #ask #ask compilation #anonymous #chocowl #auspiciouswhiskers #viperofsand #sunslammerdown #armcontrolnerve #the number of asks is...so much #spoilers for the fic ///

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