#Dusk/diane asks

[dvskf4llz]

Could I request a Xisuma x Reader(gender neutral if possible)?

I had a somewhat cute idea about how X doesn't take off his helmet and how it's kinda like a privacy thing (similar to how Etho doesn't take his mask off), so none of the hermits have seen his face, same with reader. So they've only recently started dating and, obviously, haven't kissed yet since X doesn't really like or want to take off his helmet (if there is a reason then you can think of something!) and the reader respects it. One day, though, X has to take off the helmet for whatever reason and the reader closes their eyes to make the admin feel comfortable and all that, but then he puts his hand over their eyes to keep them closed and finally kisses them, it being their "first kiss" (that isn't just the reader giving a peck onto his helmet)

Just overall fluffy and romantic with them being idiots in love :D

Oh my fricking god this idea is absolutely so adorable

A kiss?

𝑿𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒙 𝑮𝑵! 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-

Warnings ⚠: None :)

Relationship/s: C!XisumaVoid/Reader

POV: Second POV

Category: Fluff, Romance

Summary: Where after a few weeks of dating, Xisuma decides to finally let his beloved have a kiss after they give him a gift he absolutely adored; only, with their eyes closed.

Proofread: nerp

Have fun reading this cute little oneshot! :D I deeply apologize if I'm there's a bit of mischaracterization- I haven't been keeping up with hermitcraft as of lately so I'm not sure if I missed something important that was probably necessary to add- anyways, enjoy!

-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-

-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-

(Let's start with a short backstory, shall we?)

Ever since you managed to get an invite to join Season ten of the infamous server, Hermitcraft, keeping up with the other players was a bit hard for you. You had joined in a bit late, so the others were much more ahead of you. Some of the Hermits would try to help you out and give you some stuff to help you get to where they were already, but you always politely declined saying that you had wanted to try and do stuff by yourself. They would be trying to convince you to accept, but they couldn't get through you no matter what.

However, there was one specific Hermit that was incredibly insistent on helping you. That Hermit was Xisuma, the server admin. He had noticed you struggling to keep up with the rest, he felt sympathetic and wanted to try and help you. He'd already heard from the other Hermits that you were a bit stubborn and would constantly deny help, but he was determined to help you. He'd try to sneak in something to help you in one of your chests, but you'd always end up catching him even if he used invisibility potions. You honestly began to adore how insistent he was on trying to help you, even if it was a tad bit annoying to deal with sometimes.

After probably a few weeks of Xisuma trying to help you, you finally cracked and gave in. Even if he had the helmet on, you could tell just how happy and relieved he was to see you finally accepting help. He'd help you out with gathering resources, getting better armour and tools and more. While he was helping you, the two of you got to talk to each other more and get to know each other more.

"Wait, so you've never taken off your helmet infront of anyone? Like, no one has ever seen your face?" You asked curiously, leaning against a workbench as you waited for the ores you had gathered a bit ago to smelt

"Nope! I sort of just never showed anyone, not even close friends. I've kept it that way ever since I joined the server." Xisuma answered giving a slight shrug, repairing a hole in the ground that was made by a creeper exploding

"Well, that's interesting to know." The two of you would continue to chat about different stuff aside from just Xisuma's mask, one of you would occasionally make a joke related to the topic and the other would either laugh or just let out a chuckle. Eventually, the whole gathering resources trip had been just completely abandoned as you and Xisuma were just bonding together at this point, not even realizing how long the conversation has been going for. You somehow never managed to get bored talking to Xisuma, that went the same for Xisuma aswell. The two of you were just enjoying each other's presence, chatting about life and fun little stories. At one point though, Xisuma would realize the time and would begin to apologize profusely for forgetting about helping you. You on the other hand was not too bothered by it, reassuring him that it was fine. You wanted to continue talking to him, but it was quite late in the evening so Xisuma had to go. It disappointed you just a tad bit, but you didn't complain or protest as you waved goodbye to the admin. Watching him turn and leave, a slight saddened expression forming on your face as you did

"Seems like someone's already missing a certain admin!~" A voice spoke from behind you, startling you extremely as you quickly turned around to see Skizz right there. It scared the living heck out of you to suddenly just seeing him behind you, you had to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself down

"Skizz?! When did you get there and how long have you been watching?!" You were glaring at him, blushing from embarrassment after finding out that Skizz was there all along

"Passed by here a few minutes ago and heard some chattering, I checked where it was coming from and saw you and X chatting! The two of you looked so cute together I just had to keep watching! And from what I saw after he left, you seemed to be so sad, I had to speak up!" Skizz spoke in his usual enthusiastic voice with a twinge of teasing, snickering to himself

"I am not sad- I am perfectly fine, I do not miss Xisuma one bit!" You denied what Skizz was saying despite knowing he was right, you turned towards the crafting table and craft something that you remembered you needed for later

"Sure, whatever you say." Skizz teased with a shrug, he'd continue to tease you for a bit before he'd eventually have to leave aswell since it was late and he still needed to do something. You were thankful that he didn't tease you for so long, you did not enjoy his playful bullying one bit. You'd go inside of your makeshift home to go sleep already, it was probably best if you slept already so that you could get up early tomorrow to start working on your base already. However, as soon as you laid in your bed, your thoughts began to get consumed by the memory of your bonding time with Xisuma. It kept you awake for a while until eventually, you managed to push it aside and fall asleep.

The next day, you found out that Skizz may or may not have told some of the hermits about what he saw with you and Xisuma. And now, the teasing increased even more now with Hermits other than Skizz teasing you. Some of them teasing you about the fact that out of everyone, Xisuma was the one that got you to crack, jokingly saying that you had a little crush on the admin. This went on for days and days, Xisuma was completely oblivious to it as he kept helping you out and hang out with you. Even if you tried to avoid him to get the Hermits to stop bullying you, you couldn't help but always accept Xisuma's offers to hang out/help you.

With Xisuma helping you, you managed to get your base done within just a few weeks. Having someone help you definitely made things easier, Xisuma even taught you a few building tricks he knew. Within that amount of time that Xisuma was helping, you found out more things about him while also growing a close bond with him. You'd find yourself messaging him yourself, asking him if he'd want to hang out since you were mostly fine already. You'd always get sad when you watched him leave to either do something or just going back to his base since it was late. Hell, you'd find yourself thinking about him late at night and how kind he was. Okay, maybe you were developing a tiny crush on him now.. Oddly enough, you would tell a bunch of this to Skizz since he was mostly the first one to actually see you and Xisuma bonding together. He'd help you figure out just how big of a crush you had on Xisuma, and boy was it big. Skizz would begin to try and encourage you to confess your feelings to the admin, but you were too scared to possibly ruin your guys' friendship.

And oh boy, when the other Hermits found out? The teasing did not decrease at ALL. You had to deal with it every. Single. Time. you went to visit one of the Hermits. Even with all your denying, they knew the truth and saw right through your lies.

Eventually, you began to notice Xisuma seemingly avoiding you now? He'd often only have short conversations with you before abruptly excusing himself saying that he had to go do something, or he'd avoid bumping into you. You really felt upset now, you'd always be seen more down since Xisuma sort of stopped hanging out with you. While you were blind to it, the Hermits weren't. They knew damn well what was going on, and they honestly found it amusing on how both of you seemed to be so oblivious to one another's feelings. Despite how funny it was to watch, they knew that they had to do something about this.

Long story short, the Hermits send each of you a letter pretending to be the other and you and Xisuma end up meeting up. Confusion gets to both of you, but one thing lead to another and you both confessed at the same time, unintentionally of course. And yeah! You and Xisuma became a couple :3

-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-

(Moving on to the actual thing now.)

Ever since you and Xisuma got together, you two decided to connect bases so you two won't be too far apart from each other. Xisuma had actually suggested it since he would often miss you a lot when he had to go, same for you aswell. So, now that you two are living with each other, you guys got more chances to show more affection to each other. While you didn't get to kiss Xisuma on the lips, you still got to kiss over his helmet which was fine with you since you knew why Xisuma didn't want to take his mask off, and you absolutely respected him.

You never asked to lift his helmet up, you completely understood his privacy and you let him not take his helmet off so he wouldn't feel any discomfort. You'd always cover your eyes or turn around when he needs to remove it for a quick second, you really didn't want to make Xisuma uncomfortable which is why you were turning around and all. Xisuma was really glad that you understood instead of forcing him to take it off, you were so understanding and kind, that's why he loved you so much.

Despite you having already accepted that you're probably not gonna see Xisuma's face for a while, you couldn't help but wonder what he looked like. He's described some of his features already, so you tried your best to imagine how he looked like from what he's described so far. You can see his eyes atleast, that makes imagining it a bit easier for you.

Moving on, one day, you decided to make a gift for your beloved since you realized you never actually re-payed him after he helped you. You chose to build a teddy-bear that was holding a heart with banners on it spelling out "I love you", you don't know why but you decided to make this build quite big but not bigger than yours and Xisuma's base. You spent days gathering materials, telling your lover that you were just gathering some stuff for one of the Hermits. He was suspicious, but didn't question it too much.

Once you finally gathered all the necessary resources, you got up early in the morning and you built a box to cover up your building area so that Xisuma wouldn't see what you were doing. After the box was built, you got to work on the teddy bear. It surprisingly took only a few hours, guess you were getting used to building already. Still inside the box, you took a step back and looked at your work proudly, you honestly couldn't believe you managed to get this done in a few hours only but you were proud of yourself. You'd then send a message to Xisuma, saying not to come out of the base or look outside the windows for a bit. Once he responded, you quickly got to work on getting rid of the box which took you about ten minutes.

And so, when there was no more box, you went inside the base and told Xisuma you had a surprise. He was confused but also excited to see his surprise, he asked why you decided to surprise him with something, to which you responded just saying that you wanted to repay him for helping you out back then.

You lead him out the door, covering his eyes- or well the part of his helmet that allows him to see with your hands so that he wouldn't see the surprise immediately. You brought him over right in front of the build you made, waiting for a few seconds before lifting your hands off the area on his helmet to let him see the surprise. Xisuma looked at the build for a few seconds, seeming to be absolutely in awe of the teddy bear you built. He took a few moments to admire it, also seeing the banners spelling out "I love you" made his heart warm. He'd eventually look back to you

"You made this for me?" Xisuma asked in slight disbelief, to which you nodded

"Yep! Like I said, I wanted to kind of repay you for helping me catch up to everyone else. You always help me even if I keep declining your help, and I really wanted to show you just how much I appreciated it by building this." You explained with a smile, you could already tell just how happy Xisuma was on how you made this for him. He'd stay silent for a few moments before suddenly putting your hands on your eyes, without having time to react, you felt a pair of lips against yours so suddenly. Was.. Was it Xisuma's lips? Of course it was. Once you realized it was him kissing you, you happily kissed him back. You couldn't see, but you didn't mind since you finally to feel your sweetheart's lips against yours. Sure, it wasn't the way you imagined how your guys' first kiss would go, but this was better to you either way. It was better than probably having to wait for years for this to happen anyways.

Eventually, Xisuma would pull away panting and trying to catch his breath. He saw the dumb smile you had on your face, which made him smile even more. He'd place his helmet back on and take his hands of your eyes, revealing your eyes being filled with love and adoration as you saw him again. You honestly could care less if you looked like an idiot, you just got kissed by your lover and that was all you wanted. Xisuma would hold you close to him, keeping you in an embrace as he leaned his head on yours

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Even if you couldn't see his face right now, you could figure he probably also has the same dumb smile you have on your face. You may not be able to see his face, but you will still always love him. Gods, you two were truly idiots in love. <3

-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-☾✶☽-

Yippee! You reached the end! This is probably one of the longest ones I did. I think I made the background a bit too long- but anyways

Hope you enjoyed reading that :D

My writing skills are a tad bit rusty so I hope you guys don't mind if the writing is a bit odd!

Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening reader! See you again next time <3

[heyjudeb]

Lake Secrets - Jude Bellingham

Chapter 2: You Can Trust Me

Summary: Grace Alexander Arnold, an architecture student, looks forward to a quiet summer at her brother Trent's lake villa. Her plans change when Trent's best friend, Jude Bellingham, arrives with his family. As Grace and Jude spend more time together, a secret romance begins to grow. Amidst the peaceful lake and family gatherings, will their hidden feelings last, or will they fade away with the summer? Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: fluff, emotional moment, anxiety

Note: The story will develop more in this chapter, they will share intimate moments

“Come on, Jude, that was way too far!” Trent complained as he swam toward the ball, which had splashed down several yards away. The sun was high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the lake.

“Sorry, my bad!” I called back, laughing. Jobe splashed water at me playfully, shaking his head.

“You always go overboard, bro,” Jobe said with a grin. “Literally.”

Everyone else was sitting near the shore, either deep in conversation or doing their own thing. Diane and my mom were chatting under a large umbrella, while Trent’s dad was stretched out on a lounge chair, soaking up the sun.

Grace was sitting on a towel, a book in her hands. Every so often, she would look up, watching us play. Her gaze lingered, and it was clear she was admiring the sight of us having fun in the water. She looked like she wanted to join in but was holding back.

She was wearing a white short dress with straps that stood on her forearms, revealing her bare shoulders. She always made sure to pull the strap up on her left shoulder as if to cover something. We would sometimes make eye contact and smile. Anytime I said something funny, I felt the need to look for her approval, which I got every time.

"Hey, Grace. Why don't you join us?" Jobe, my brother, called out. Her smile slowly turned into a worried expression, and she sat up from laying on her stomach.

"I'm good, Jobe. I don't feel like swimming today!"

"She's not into this, mate," Trent quickly spoke for her. I couldn't help but wonder if there might be something more to this, but I decided to let it go.

I also wanted to take a break. We'd been in the water for almost an hour, and I was hungry. Diane and Grace had prepared some delicious snacks that morning in the kitchen: cookies, mini sandwiches, and a variety of other treats. I had watched Grace make them while I ate a late breakfast of cereal at the dining table next to the kitchen. She looked effortlessly pretty while cooking, even in casual clothes and with her hair in a simple braid. Her face was slightly puffy from sleep, her skin clear and fresh. I couldn't help but think how lovely it would be to wake up and see her first thing in the morning. She seemed like the kind of girl who would understand you, truly get your inner self, and make life easier by being the best partner. She didn’t come across as complicated to deal with, yet she still held an air of mystery.

"Alright, how about we take a break to eat?" Trent said, as if reading my thoughts.

We all nodded and got out of the water. Diane handed each of us a towel and put the food basket in front of us where we sat. I munched on the mini sandwiches Grace had prepared, trying to catch a glimpse of her without making it obvious.

"Sweetie, do you want something too?" my mom asked Grace, making her look up from her book. She nodded and placed the book aside, moving to sit between me and Trent.

She grabbed a sandwich and started eating. Jobe was making everyone laugh, and her attempts to laugh without spitting out her food were very cute. Eventually, everyone gathered around to eat until there was no food left.

As dusk approached, our parents decided to call it a day, leaving only me, Jobe, Trent, and Grace by the lake. They gathered everything and took the short walk back to the villa, leaving us with some towels and our clothes. "How about we take another swim before leaving?" Jobe asked, winking at me. I couldn’t quite understand what he was hinting at.

"Sure, bro. Let's do it!" Trent agreed, and we all stood up, except for Grace. She remained seated, avoiding our looks. "Wanna make a run for it?" Trent looked at me, and I laughed and nodded in response. Jobe held back as we made a run for it, but then I heard a scream from behind me, causing Trent and me to halt and spin around. Grace was screaming, and Jobe was carrying her towards the water, trying to make a joke of it.

"Please, Jobe! Put me down! I don't want to go into the water!" Grace continued to scream, kicking as Jobe neared the water's edge. There was a raw edge of panic in her voice, verging on tears.

"No, Jobe, stop!" Trent yelled, sprinting towards them, clearly alarmed.

Jobe sensed the seriousness of the situation and stopped, slowly setting Grace down on her feet. She clutched her chest, blinking rapidly, trying to compose herself and hold back tears.

"I'm sorry, Grace. I didn't mean to scare you," Jobe said, regret plain in his voice.

I approached cautiously, standing behind Trent, who was comforting her with soothing touches on her shoulders. Grace looked distant, trying to regain her composure.

"Hey, Grace. Are you okay?" I asked softly, my concern evident. I wanted nothing more than to hold her close and calm her racing heart.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Grace quickly replied, her gaze darting between all of us, overwhelmed by the rush of questions. "It's okay! I just panicked because... It was sudden."

Trent wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. "Hey, how about we call it a day, too?" We all nodded and gathered our towels. I kept my concerned gaze on Grace, which she seemed to notice. She flashed a faint smile at me and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, letting me know she was alright. I gave her one more questioning look.

"I'm okay!"

"Alright, good," I whispered back to her, feeling a bit awkward, like I was crossing a line between caring and flirting, especially with Trent nearby. We continued walking towards the villa, and Jobe kept apologizing to Grace repeatedly until she finally convinced him she was okay. She seemed chilly in her short dress as she tried to wrap a dirty towel around her shoulders.

"Here," I pulled her aside from the group and draped my zipper hoodie over her shoulders. She hesitated at first but then placed her hands on top of mine, gently squeezing them.

"Thank you, Jude," she said softly, walking beside me while the boys walked ahead. She held the book close to her chest, and my oversized hoodie looked like a dress on her.

"Still hooked on Bukowski, I see?" I asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah, another day, reading the same thing," she replied with a smile, glancing down. I noticed she found it difficult to maintain eye contact with me, even though her green eyes had been the subject of my daydreams since we arrived. I fought the urge to let her know that.

"You have beautiful eyes, you know?" I lost the battle. She seemed taken aback by my comment, continuing to look down but smiling nonetheless. "Thank you!"

"Are you always this shy?"

"Depends on who I'm talking to," she replied, finally meeting my gaze after a moment's pause. "Some people are intimidating." "Am I one of them?" I asked, feeling like I might have put her on the spot, but our conversation was going so well I wanted to keep it going. "Maybe!" she replied with a playful smirk, giving me a thoughtful look that made me laugh.

....

As soon as we reached the house, we took showers and changed into fresh clothes, all gathering on the backyard patio one by one. Grace was the last one to come down. We were all having a glass of wine by the firepit, laughing and talking. I couldn't really make out her figure until she approached fully because of the dark.

Her braids were out, and her hair lay on her shoulders, still wearing my hoodie. She looked comfortable in it, and it suited her better than me. Miraculously, the only empty spot was a bean bag next to me. She approached slowly and smiled at me as the fire illuminated my face.

"Hey," she spoke softly.

"Hey, you feeling better?" I asked, wanting to make sure she was comfortable after the incident at the lake.

She gave me an assuring smile. Our voices drowned in the noise of the others talking, the fire crackling, and lots of laughter. It felt like it was just the two of us. The darkness provided a sort of shield for me to freely look at her.

"Are you enjoying your stay so far?" she asked, keeping our conversation going.

"So far, so good. I really like this place!" I responded. "The house is very nice, and the view is breathtaking."

"It is," she said, either looking at my face or down at her hands while talking. "It will be a nice vacation break for you guys!"

"You said you've been coming here with your family every summer," I recalled her words from the first day. "Do you still find the place exciting?"

She sighed and leaned further into the bean bag. "Uh, yeah! But, the older I get, the more I want to experience other places as well. My dad isn't really a big fan of me traveling alone or staying someplace else... to study alone."

It felt like she was confessing an issue of hers. I wanted her to trust me, to feel comfortable talking to me about anything. I'm sure she doesn't do that very often. "I want to do my major abroad. But my dad wants me 'close' to him." she used air quotes and seemed hurt and defeated remembering her father's words. "Why is that?" "Just a stupid conclusion my dad has." She didn't want to continue the conversation, so I didn't push her any further.

While having a good time with everyone, the fire slowly started to die down. I took a look and saw Grace already asleep on her bean bag. She brought her legs up to her chest, and put her hands all the way inside my hoodie, holding them near her face.

"Guys, I'm calling it a night. I'm really tired," my dad said, and my mother agreed, getting up to leave with him.

"Yeah, it’s been a long day," Trent said, stretching. "I think I’ll turn in too." He followed my parents inside.

Jobe yawned and nodded. "Me too. This vacation life is wearing me out." Trent's mom noticed Grace fast asleep on the bean bag. She approached her slowly, lightly tapping her on the shoulder. "Sweetheart, we're heading to bed. How about you continue your sleep in your room?"

Grace hummed in response, not really registering what her mother was saying. Diane looked at me, and we both smiled at Grace's sleepy state. Diane tried waking her up again, but Grace only opened and closed her eyes a few times, not fully awake.

"Do you want me to take her up to her room, Mrs. Arnold?" I offered, not wanting to disturb her. Diane looked at me gratefully and nodded.

I stood up from my bean bag and carefully scooped Grace into my arms. She naturally nestled her head into the crook of my neck, her hands tucked inside the hoodie's sleeves, close to her chest. She felt like the missing piece of my puzzle, fitting perfectly in my arms.

Once we got inside, I said goodbye to Diane. Her room was on the first floor. She wished me goodnight and entered quietly, trying not to wake her sleeping husband who had called it a night way before us.

I took slow and careful steps on the stairs, fully aware of their creaking. After each step, I glanced at Grace, ensuring she wasn't disturbed. When I reached her bedroom door, I struggled to open it slightly.

Thankfully, her bedside lamp was on for some reason, casting a soft glow and helping me navigate the unfamiliar room. I placed her delicately on the bed. She snuggled her face into the pillow as soon as it touched the soft surface, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"Thank you..." she managed to say in a raspy, low voice.

"Of course. Have a good night's sleep, Grace," I responded. My inner self urged me to kiss her forehead goodnight. Instead, I gently pulled the bed cover up to her shoulders. That's when I noticed a scar on her left shoulder, where my fallen hoodie exposed her skin. It was on the side she had tried to hide earlier at the lake. I brushed my fingers on it slightly, causing her to shiver. I stood up from the bed and turned off the light next to her, slowly making my way out of the room and into my own. I took off my shirt and shorts and crashed into bed only wearing my boxers. I was a bit tired myself too, but I really wanted to know the history behind that scar. .....

It had been more than a week since we arrived. Our families' bond had grown significantly over these days. Aside from our morning exercises and evening talks, I rarely spent time with Trent alone.

Our mothers were really enjoying the villa, constantly cooking something new and sipping wine on the porch. Our dads engaged in debates over various topics, beers in hand, as they relaxed by the lakeside. And then, there were always the four of us doing things together.

And green is still my favorite color.

My obsession with Grace has grown. The more time we spend together, the more she begins to trust me. Now, she maintains eye contact while we talk. She opens up about her passion for architecture, detailing her studies, her close bond with Trent, and sharing her likes and dislikes. I find myself struggling with the question of whether Grace feels a deeper connection toward me or if she is simply being friendly. It seems more than mere coincidence that we always end up seated next to each other, and that chores are consistently assigned to us as a pair.

She still has my hoodie. The other night, as we both got up for some water, I caught sight of her in the kitchen, wearing my hoodie and shorts. There was a moment of surprise in her eyes when she noticed me. She quickly tried to explain, mentioning how comfortable it was and apologizing, saying she would return it.

Instead of insisting, I simply said, "No, keep it. It looks way better on you."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, a soft smile playing on her lips. It was a spontaneous comment, but one that felt right in the moment. Seeing her wear my hoodie, looking effortlessly comfortable and somehow even more attractive, stirred a warmth in me that I couldn't deny. Let's go for a swim today, lads," Trent interrupted my racing thoughts.

Jobe eagerly agreed, but Grace lowered her gaze and muttered something under her breath. It wasn't the first time she had declined to swim. Despite hanging out with us by the lake, she never ventured into the water.

Sitting together on the patio bean bags, Trent and Jobe moved to prepare for swimming while I stayed behind, drawing closer to Grace, hoping for a moment of privacy.

"Hey, is there a reason you never join us in the lake?" I asked softly.

Her discomfort was palpable, evident in the way she shifted in her seat." It's just not my thing-" she spoke quickly.

"Can you come with us this one time? Please!" I pleaded, hoping to convince her. But as soon as I noticed her beautiful green eyes getting foggy, I knew I shouldn't push her further.

"I'll just stay in my room this time," she said quickly, standing up and leaving before I could say anything else. Her sudden outburst left a lingering sense of concern in the air. .....

We we're back at the dining table in the evening, enjoying another meal after a tiring day at the lake with only us boys. Grace hasn't spoken to me since our last encounter earlier. She quickly munched on something and excused herself sitting at the far end of the backyard near the lake view in the complete dark, with the excuse of wanting to read in peace. Me and the others had a normal routine, had a glass of wine and then went to bed. In my room, I could still see her silhouette by the lake. I decided to go up to her. Everyone was asleep, the only source of light being the moon once again. I tried to make some sound while I approached her from afar, not wanting to scare her. She turned around to look at me, giving me a tired smile and then focused her eyes back at the lake. I sat next to her. Our shoulders brushing. "You know you can trust me, right?" I asked her directly.

"I know," she replied softly, her gaze still fixed on the lake.

"Why are you afraid to swim, Grace?"

She remained silent for a moment, as if weighing whether to open up to me. I reassured her with a gentle touch on her knee.

Her breathing became more audible, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"It's just..." Her voice cracked, and she fell silent again.

"It's okay. Take your time. I'm right here for you." I held her hand firmly, feeling it tremble slightly in mine. "You know that scar you saw on my shoulder the other night?" she asked. I nodded at her, but still surprised she could remember that in her sleeping state. "It happened when i was younger while swimming. Do you see that empty looking house right there?" I nodded. " That's where Lily used to live." "Used to?" I became curious of where she's going with this and why was it affecting her so much. "She died. She was my childhood bestfriend." She let out a small sob, i quickly wrapped my arm around her shoulder, providing her some comfort.

"There's an old pier on the other side of the lake, hidden away now. Lily and I used to go there to play. One day, we were climbing around it, and Lily slipped. She grabbed my leg instinctively, pulling me into the water with her. She hit her head on the metal as we fell."

She paused, her eyes distant as she relived the memory.

"Lily suffered a head injury and died instantly." Grace continued, her voice catching. "I had a hurt leg and some scratches, making it hard for me to stay above the water. But I managed to pull her now-red and bloody body from the water and call for help."

Grace looked at me with sad eyes, almost as if seeking closure. I kissed her forehead gently and rubbed her forearm in reassurance, but she still seemed scared and shaky after all these years.

"So you never swam anymore?" I asked softly. She shook her head, her expression pained. "I'm afraid something bad will happen," she murmured.

"I understand," I said, kissing her temple again. I held her like that for a long time, whispering sweet nothings to her. "But what if we try something different?"

I gently took her hand and helped her stand up. Slowly, I guided her towards the water, feeling her resistance as she shook her head vigorously.

"Hey, hey, hey," I murmured soothingly, holding both her hands. "I'm not going to push you or anything, sweetheart. Just relax."

She nodded hesitantly, her gaze locked with mine, her eyes reflecting fear and uncertainty.

"We will stop whenever you want to. Let's just try to put our foot inside the water," I suggested gently.

"No, no. Jude, no please!" Grace's voice was alarmed, filled with fear.

I cupped her face in my hands and gently placed her forehead against mine, holding her close. "You can trust me, Grace." .......... Coming up next:

Chapter 3: Favorite Poem

Warnings: fluff, physical contact, crying, angst

[ask-diane]

Sammy begins to walk towards Tulip Town's entrance. Covered with vines of roses, that form an arch. Followed by rows of other flower bsuhes, making the town wonderous with colors.

"Wow.. This place is so- Colorful!" Diane exclaimed with excitement.

Sammy didn't seem to pay attention to what she said.

"You don't seem as excited?"

"Huh? Oh well- All I have to say is, I may like the sights here- I don't really like many of the mons. Most of them are just too-"

"Alright outsiders, hault!"

A scorebunny with a rather food related appearance seemed to block the entrance. Diane jumped back a bit. Sammy remained unphased.

"Pedro, we don't have time for this. Just let us through."

"Well well if it isn't Sammy Koul, now. And what's this? Oh so you got yourself a friend there, huh?" The Scorebunny, Pedro teased. "Ha I'm just messing with ya. But boy, if Rosita finds our your here- She's going to blow your ear off."

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder. That's what I'm trying to avoid here. So if you can just let us through-"

There was a rumble in the ground. Soon enough a large spile pierced through the Earth, right in between Pedro and Sammy. Soon enough, a green dragonair slithered down from the flowered arch. Then up to the tip of the spike that arose from the ground. They open their eyes slightly, before shutting them again and speaking.

"Sammy! Oh, what a suprise!"

"Hello, Rosita..." He said while trying to keep a smile.

"Oh, dear- It has just been ages since you've been around Sammy.. Or should I say- Mewlett.."

Diane was confused.

"Mewlett?"

Sammy sighed.

"It's a Nickname... Rosita here thinks mew is a week pokemon cause it hides instead of doing its duties. So because she thinks I'm a weak mon for not knowing any moves, she calls me that..."

"And oh how it has stuck over the time," mocked Pedro.

"Pedro." Rosita said sternly, "Leave, would you?"

Without hesitation, the scorebunny ran off without a word.

"Now. What is your name, dear?"

"I'm Diane. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I see... And what are you two doing wandering around like you are?"

Sammy overtook the conversation.

"Were just passing through. We're traveling the region- Nothing more. We were hoping to make it to Rockquake actually before nightfall and-"

"Silence. Now, you two will be doing such thing, you hear? It's already getting to be dusk- and as the one in charge here, I'd just feel awful horrid if something happened to either of you if I ket you go. So stay for the night. Won't you?"

"Seems a little impulsive. And I wouldnt want to intrude- We could make it, Rosita so just-"

"Nonsesnse dears! Oh, it would be no troubke at all. Lumos could lend you two two rooms for the night in the Rosebud motel. Just for the night~"

"Can we, Sammy??"

"Diane, I thought you said-"

"Oh yeah I know I know. But whats the harm for one night?"

Sammy sighed again.

"Fine, one night."

"Oh wonderful! Diane, dear- If you'd like, just go down there a ways and see where that little vined sign is? That's the motel, and tell Lumo that I sent you there. I have to talk to Sammy about something real quick."

"Oh- uh." Diane looked to Sammy.

He nodded, signaling for her to go on. She did, hesitantly. Though soon began to trot further and further away from Sammy and Rosita. To a point where they could finally speak alone.

Rosita and Sammy not dared to look at eachother.

"Meet me in my gym in a bit. Something came in for you just this morning. Make sure to come once she is asleep- Understood?"

"Understood."

...

Pedro and Rosita are now available for asks!

[redrandomposts]

living rent free in my mind: bai liu and spades (xie ta/tawil)

prompts and aus ig

random au:

after multiple disappearances, the forest by bai liu's small town was completely closed off. fences surrounded it and everyone was warned not to go in.

bai liu would comply on most days—it *is* illegal to trespass, and lu yizhan had instilled in him not to even think of it—if it weren't for the fact the red paper charm lu yizhan had given him was carried past the fence by the wind.

a stroke of unluckiness. typical. bai liu put the notebook under the bench, picked up the popsicle sticks and ran after the charm. and, perhaps immoral things were what he was born to do, because he had not a second thought before jumping the fence to grab it.

on the other side of the fence, it was as if the sun had deigned the forest unworthy of light. the leaves and branches blocked all but a bit of sun, and as dusk approached the remaining light was dyed red. With one hand Bai Liu held the popsicle sticks, and with the other he picked up the paper charm.

"...can I have a popsicle stick?" from behind the tree, a small...creature poked its head out and gazed at bai liu.

serial killer au: (cw: graphic(?) descriptions of violence: blood, gore, etc)

Hanging from the ceiling, eyes wide open as if facing an indescribable terror. Their spine, red with blood and speckled with flesh, wrapped around them like a snake. Duct tape crudely held together the bones, tibias and femurs used to hold them as they dangled. Though long dead, blood smeared on their skin to give it a flesh tone as if they were alive. Carved into their skin, some scabbed over and some not, were spades. Blood still dripped from the cold corpse, landing into a metal basin under them. At one point, the drips had made a metallic ring in the room and were numerous. Now, it’s as if a small drop of water landed in a lake.

this was the impression bai liu had gotten when he looked at the photographs.

lu yizhan had been tasked with a case. as usual, he asked bai liu to help him, went over to his home, and laid all the photos out. "too confidential to talk about in public... i dont want feng dian to see these photos," is what he had explained to bai liu.

"...this is the spades' case," bai liu said. an up-and-coming serial killer, having killed half a dozen people in a fortnight. the news loved him for the revenue he pulled in, and the police hated him because he left no trace at the scenes of the crimes.

"yes."

"lu yizhan, the news reported that the last officer to work on this case became another victim."

"...yes."

"lu yizhan. what are you doing with this case?"

"dont worry, bai liu. the faster it's solved, the less risk i'll be in."

asshole, bai liu thought as he looked at the photographs. now he was forced to do the job until the killer was actually jailed or executed.

"the news didnt mention the bones," bai liu said. in fact, the only thing the news mentioned were markings of spades left on the victims.

"we have to keep a lot of things confidential. its a violent serial killer." lu yizhan pushed the photographs forward just a bit more. "what's the motive?"

bai liu looked at the photographs, tracing over a few things he found interesting. "near the top of the wound where the spine was taken out, it's wider. this could be where it was first pulled out, or it could be for something else. the killer could have reached in and pulled out the heart at this height."

"the killer looks to be harvesting blood. the heart is a necessary organ to help blood pump throughout the body."

lu yizhan looked up at bai liu to get a hint of the thoughts that were running through his mind. chills ran down his spine. the eyes held a sparkle that was previously unseen, lips slightly turned upward. lu yizhan... wanted to take the photographs and forbid him to do anything else.

"lu yizhan, what do you think the motive is? the killer seems to be harvesting blood from the victims long-term. there are pinholes in the flesh, and some of the scars are scabbed over. the bones look as if they were taken out professionally, and the corpse was tied up in a show of display rather than being left alone. the heart was taken, too." as he spoke, bai liu pointed out everything on the photographs. his eyes flicked up to lu yizhan. "showing off what they are skilled at, taking things, and making the intentions clear by taking the heart and carving a motif. isn't the killer displaying love?"

vampire au:

bai liu had a boring life. this became especially clear when lu yizhan started living an interesting one, where he'd leave in the dead of night. he'd gain injuries and money each excursion and insist bai liu carry garlic and a cross with him.

one: bai liu was not religious. two: bai liu disdained the strong smell of garlic. thus, bai liu ignored lu yizhan's "advice" and continued life as normal- a poor college student with a part-time job as a horror game designer and developer.

when bai liu was ambushed in the dead of night, fangs deep in his neck and kidnapped, he could only think of the strange behavior lu yizhan emitted. lu yizhan was a vampire hunter most likely. and, apparently, western vampires were rampant in china. as a chinese person, he did not make the connection of religion and garlic to vampires.

if bai liu went back in time... he would ignore lu yizhan's advice again.

after being kidnapped, he was brought to an extravagant mansion that was more expensive than anything the private school students had combined. bai liu was fed food and treated as the co-owner, or even master of the mansion. the vampire that took him had godly visuals and was as wealthy as the nation, and as payment for the blood the vampire drank the wealth also belonged to bai liu.

...after a month of going missing, bai liu returned to the dorm. lu yizhan looked terrible, as if his blood was sucked dry. (turns out, if you go missing for a month, your best friend will spend more time looking for you than anything else. those eyebags were terrible.)

im thinking of continuing these, if i (or anyone, really) had ideas of how to continue it.

random-au notes: spades is a real, physical being, not a spirit-ghost thing. this isn't a rewrite of canon, either. could be no-game au. it probably will end happily, or at least semi-happily.

serial killer-au notes: it can be spades behind the killings...or bai six fucking everyone over for entertainment. it can be a canon divergent au, where spades was able to go to reality early, or it can be a no-game au.

vampire-au notes: no-game, if i continue ill definitely flesh it out more...

overall: in these stories, bai liu will be moral grey. in the serial-killer and vampire au, he'd probably manipulate spades subtly to get what he wants (ie, hint at someone who wronged him or mention something about "love"). did you notice that in these prompts bai liu was some ordinary guy that got tangled up in messes? well, its similar to canon, he's not actually an ordinary guy.

[mdhwrites]

Ten Years of Writing

February 2014, I made my fimfiction account. At the end of that month, I published my first fanfic. It has been ten years since that fateful decision that feels like it changed so much for me. I kind of want to go back through my memories, just talk about some of the highlights (going to save that for a different blog frankly. It is ten years of material and almost three hundred stories combined, potentially that many with the very few I've deleted over the years) and what that's meant to me but I know a lot of people might ask: What do you have to show for it?

Well, skill wise, I would probably argue that writing is the only trained skill I have and I am IMMENSELY proud of how far I came, especially while knowing that I haven't really had the same support to grow as for the past half decade that I did before then.

I have genuinely moved people and for some even convinced them to seek help they may not have otherwise by sharing my experiences in a more palatable format than simply writing them in a blog would. I have a lot of reasons for why I never will take down Crises Girlfriends from Ao3 and the comments are a big part of that. It's a reminder of the power of writing and creation, something that's easy to lose sight of amongst popularity and hopes of financial success.

On that front though? Amazon lets me check lifetime sales now and I've sold 793 books. It's not even just because of friends buying a glut of material because while I may have 19 books out, Sarafune Monster Preserve Vol. 1, my second ever book, written when I was barely 21, holds over two hundred of those copies. Daughters of Dusk Vol. 1 has half those numbers, though funny enough it does have have more reviews. Frankly, for an independent author who has always struggled to find his audience, those numbers make me genuinely very happy. Also, number five is Ruff Secrets at 33 copies, nineteen of which are physical which I DID NOT REALIZE and honestly makes me realize that that book has done better than I thought it did. Crises Girlfriends is admittedly the lowest one sales wise at 4 copies in almost a year of being out. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Buuuut even for the books without a bunch of sales, I can hold my head high because Ruff Secrets is also literally the only book of mine with a below 4 star rating, at least of the ones with ratings which is the majority of them. That's a feather I can pin in my cap. A testament that even back when I was twenty and published my first work, Diane and Kat: The Bound Bands, I was right to have the confidence I did as a storyteller. To believe my work was commercial quality.

I also still have people in my life I'd never want to be without because of my writing. Heck, I don't know where I'd be without one of them as I lived on their couch for almost two years while dealing with my declining health. Others have helped give me guidance while even more have made sure I never believe I'm alone and I've even been able to help them back. As one friend would say: I was once their Luna and changed what was supposed to be a suicide note into a story that made a lot of people on Fim open up with personifications of their own troubles. I don't know if I'd have found communities where I would make those sorts of connections if not for my writing.

It also still gives me what feels like a purpose to be here. A thing that is mine that I can comfort myself with, even while dealing with my broken brain. While I may be desperate for validation and want success, neither would stop me from continuing to write. My brain is too jumbled a mess of ideas for me to ever stop and it keeps those ideas locked down pretty tightly. Like hey, you know how I mentioned two series at the beginning? Yeah, well, I can still tell you my plans for them and could pick them back up someday. It's been four years since the last Daughters of Dusk book came out but I still want to eventually return to it since it only had two more books before it was done. I don't want to leave it permanently unresolved, even if I've never quite gotten the energy to finish it.

Which does bring me to being honest and admitting that the past ten years haven't all been positive. I've had to fight a growing resentment towards others success as my own jealousy festered. I've had to deal with crushing failure after crushing failure (my fifth best book of 19 makes up for a thirtieth of my sales. I have had a LOT of very quiet launch weeks) and the toll that's taken on me isn't unreasonable. I've multiple times had my brain break on the idea of publicly posting anything, leading to one offs being published and me being a wreck for the rest of the day as my brain begs for it to go as well as it perceives it should.

And yet I've still never stopped. Nor do I ever plan to. It may be a year and a half since my last finished project but I know I'll get through this. I mean, there has been a year during this where I literally wrote like two chapters the entire year. This past year and a half still say probably a couple novellas worth of words out of me, just never to one thing. I could still go back to plenty of those works and continue them. There's at least one I would really like to just because I commissioned the art for it way before I was done writing it which was admittedly a bit of a lesson.

I hope to keep learning, keep getting better and try to share some of the insights I've learned with all of you. So here is to ten years and to many more decades to come hopefully. See you next tale.

[gloriadenton]

Tell me about the Twin Peaks ones

@scioscribe and @bedeliainwonderland also asked about peculiar hunger of black velvet! <3

chablis along the midway: post-s3 Audrey/Cooper, let the old people fuck at the Roadhouse (also Tammy is there to say hi!). An excerpt:

It was five twenty-three a.m. when the call came through, and Cooper threw his arm back from his face to the flash of a number with a Washington area code on his cell screen.

“Cooper here,” he said, low over the hum of static that was there on every cellular device he’d used since he came back from Odessa, the sunsick drone that had followed him down the wires to his rental house out east.

“Cooper, it’s Tammy. I’m at the Calhoun Memorial Hospital. Audrey Horne was admitted here around midnight last night—I came to take her statement.”

He sat up headlong. “Audrey?”

“Deputy Briggs found her up by the border while he was out on drug surveillance. Gordon called me first because I was already stationed in Montana for the research I told you about, the saloon that stayed up during the town fire.”

Static took over on the line. Cooper braced himself with a hand on the mattress. Most calls from across this distance made him think of how little it would take for him to come unstuck inside the rush of electricity, like a half-transmitted newsreader on antenna television. Audrey was at the border, in the hospital, a few hours behind him and held steady at a deeper point of the night than the one he was held in now. “Have you seen her?” he asked, hoarse.

“I’ve interviewed her already,” Tammy said, still with that badge-flash brightness to her voice even after her dark hour on the highway. “She said she’d talk if I bought her something to smoke when she gets out of here this morning.”

“So now you’re driving out to the nearest drug store,” Cooper said, closing his eyes to the thought of Audrey on the other side of a lit cigarette, a hot flare of light like the wink of a ruby or a radio tower. “She likes Metropolitans—king size, red carton. At least, that’s how they used to make them.”

peculiar hunger of black velvet: This was also going to be post-s3, with some general speculation on where I'd like Laura, Cooper and Audrey to end up eventually, primarily sad metaphysical Laura/Cooper but also fix-it Audrey/Cooper endgame. I started this not long after the s3 finale aired but work was crazy and it was a bit too big for me to think about so it stayed very fragmentary and I haven't played around with it all that much since, but now I'm reading it and it's kind of exciting to see again. Another excerpt:

“Laura,” he said, “we don’t do this.”

But Laura swayed down to kiss him again, so close her hair fell over him with a scent like a slow wink of anise.

In the evidence boxes from the Palmer house, there had been a glass perfume bottle tied with a lattice of satin ribbon, a cocktail umbrella, a small plastic ballerina with a skirt made of net the exact texture of a surgical dressing. Diane, I am holding in my hand a pink-veined flower petal, a little curled around the edges. The ribbon of the bottle he’d untied himself, with some care, and after that he had sprayed and inhaled once, twice, caught in a kind of tender shock by the possibilities it had suggested, the wash of violet that hit him like dusk blown over a misty river. While the perfume counter at Horne’s clarified the where of it, he doubted it came to her through the man himself.

It had hurt him, then, to know these all as things that Laura had taken for herself, between swathes of red. It seemed to him now that there was an honor in being taken.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 4: Fixing the Painting

Narrated by Wenren Dian.

Narrator: I have since been living in the cave next to the mural because of the Queen's order.

Narrator: The cave is hot by day and cold by night, but it's quiet enough for me to pore over my books and examine the mural.

Narrator: I quite enjoy this kind of life, except for...

Craftsman: Sir, we're in trouble! Our scaffolding fell because of the sandstorm, and it took down one of our murals on its way down. This way, please!

Wenren Dian: ...Don't worry. I'm coming.

Narrator: When word was out that I had been appointed to help with the mural restoration project, the craftsmen all seemed to have forgiven me for my impudence.

Narrator: They were nice people, and they would always ask me to help them fix their murals.

Craftsman: Thank God you are here, Sir! God only knows how long it would have taken me to fix it otherwise.

Wenren Dian: Don't mention it. The windstorms are to blame.

Craftsman: By the way, Sir, it's been getting colder lately at night. Do you have enough charcoals there to keep yourself warm with?

Wenren Dian: I'm fine.

Craftsman: You're a bad liar, Sir. Just look at how little you're wearing.

Female Painter: We have an extra set of bedding sitting at home that we're not using. I'll leave it out there in the sun for a bit and bring it to you later.

Wenren Dian: It's okay.

Narrator: But my words don't seem to have reached the elderly painter. At dusk, she comes to visit me with a set of cotton wool bedding.

Female Painter: It's used, but it's been thoroughly cleaned. We hope you don't mind, though, Sir.

Wenren Dian: Thank you, and I can't be more grateful.

Narrator: I don't know what to do with the bedsheet.

Narrator: I hold the bedsheet in my hand, unsure of the next step. The kind lady quickly takes matters into her own hands and piles my bed with an extra thick blanket.

Wenren Dian: The design of the blanket, though...

Female Painter: Sharp eyes you have there, Sir. My husband and I got this 10 years ago when we married.

Female Painter: It's been sitting at home since last year, though, since my husband died fighting a sandstorm.

Wenren Dian: Then I'm afraid I can't take something so precious from you.

Female Painter: It's anything but precious. Things are made so they can be used, and I need to move on, even without him by my side.

Female Painter: I only hope to see the mural repaired as soon as possible so we can get our life back.

Narrator: The elderly painter's hair is thin, but she is otherwise healthy. The mural restoration project is excruciatingly trying, but she always wears a smile.

Narrator: It's then that I finally realize what this mural means to these people... the mural itself might be fragile, but these people's faith is indestructible.

Narrator: With the mural's restoration project well underway, the worn mural slowly reveals the goddess on it... She looks as elegant as ever.

Narrator: I come to the mural at nightfall every day to marvel at the mural as it gradually loses its glory with the setting sun.

Narrator: It became obvious to me that the Ocean's power in the mural is unstable.

Narrator: Windstorms have become frequent occurrences, and sometimes they are so severe that people can't venture out.

Choose "What does the mural have to do with the windstorms, though?"

You: So you have been studying the Ocean of Memories and how it has to do with the sandstorms in Lor River?

Narrator: The Ocean of Memories and Miraland share a close bond. When the Ocean loses its power, it sends Miraland's civilizations and humans into a downward spiral.

Narrator: On the other hand, the Ocean threatens to devour Miraland and destroy the world when its power goes over the top.

Narrator: Lor River City came to be the oasis it was then only because it'd been blessed with the Ocean's power.

Narrator: With the Ocean's power gradually leaving, however, it was only a matter of time before Lor River City found itself buried in sand again.

You: That's terrible! Weren't you going to help them?

Narrator: A plant grows and thrives, and then it wilts and dies. This holds true for all things, and I was a mere passerby.

You: But what would these people do? Were you going to just sit around and watch them die?

Narrator: Everything happens following a pre-defined course, the same way starts move following their destined paths. There is nothing humans can do to change them.

Narrator: Or so I believed back then.

Craftsman: I knew you would be here, Sir!

Wenren Dian: How can I help?

Craftsman: We found a new cave thanks to the sandstorm last night!

Craftsman: It took us a good while to clean it all up, and we came across quite a few ancient silk texts in there.

Craftsman: We noticed you always study such texts with great interest, Sir, and we thought you might want to pay the cave a visit now that we can finally walk in it.

Wenren Dian: Alright.

Craftsman: By the way, Sir, my wife has brought me a few cans of camel milk. I'll bring you one later. It's warm and will help you sleep better at night.

Wenren Dian: I really can't thank you all enough for everything you have done for me.

Craftsman: Don't mention it! You've been most helpful, and we can't even begin to imagine how life would have been like without you helping us. Besides...

Wenren Dian: Besides...

Craftsman: With all due respect, Sir, you just don't seem like the type that takes proper care of himself.

Craftsman: You're always either busy studying or helping us fix the mural.

Craftsman: Taking care of you is something we've all agreed to do together, so you can devote yourself fully to perusing ancient texts.

Wenren Dian: You just don't seem like the type that takes proper care of himself... so that's the kind of person I am in other people's eyes...

Craftsman: Silly me. I said more than I should have. Let's get going now before it gets dark and cold!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

[deadlygronkle]

Chapter 8 of Ancestor's Legacy

Word count: 10554

One week later……

Twilight was eagerly waiting for Doctor Diane to come in and take out his stitches. It was very early in the day with the sun not even visible over the horizon for at least another couple of hours. 

Far too early for any of the Links to be properly up and about including Twilight.  Despite that Twilight was awake, having not slept the night before, for when the Doctor comes to remove the stitches in a few minutes.

Twilight the previous day had managed to flag down one of the guards passing by his door to deliver a message to the Doctor since he wasn’t allowed to be walking around. The Letter was written by Warriors as the written languages of the different Hyrules were vastly different from each other.

The letter had asked if the Doctor could come by at the earliest she could to remove the stitches. Twilight knew very well that it was a far fetched request, even before Warriors kept reminding him before and after the letter was sent out since he was on ‘Twilight watch duty’ as the others called it. Luckily the Doctor did send the soldier back who relayed that she would be by at the beginning of her shift.

Twilight could easily admit he is not the most cooperative patient, having to be practically held in bed by Rusl and Uli when he got sick when he was younger. This time was no different in terms of being difficult. 

On the third day after having his wound rewrapped by Hyrule around dusk Twilight convinced Hyrule to let him walk over to the window to watch the sun set. Wild and Time were not amused to see Twilight up and standing at the window and had all but carried him back to the bed.

On the 4th day Twilight was feeling pretty good and the wound barely caused pain. So when everyone was out either freshening up or grabbing food, Twilight had quickly gotten up and went to the window aiming to climb out of it. Though his wound was still very tender at that point so it took Twilight a while to get up on the windowsill and turn around. 

By the time he did so Time and Legend walked into the room, seemingly having a pleasant conversation before they walked in, Twilight had his lower half on a small ledge under the window getting ready to fully climb down. Seeing this Time’s face went from content, to confusion, to anger in a split second. 

So while Legend was barely hiding his snickering, Twilight was dragged back into the room by Time by the back of his shirt, forcibly being placed in his bed, and then got scolded for the next couple of hours.

From that point forward from the time the other Links got up to when Twilight went to bed at least one of the more responsible Links was constantly at his side. With Sky, Wild, and Time being the main ones watching over Twilight. 

Despite Sky usually being one of the more laid back Links, never fell asleep and the one time Twilight tried to quietly get out of bed when he thought Sky was asleep didn’t work how Twilight wanted it to. Sky immediately opened his eyes the moment Twilight’s foot touched the floor, and Sky was on his feet seconds after that. 

Sky had walked over to Twilight and said, face having a slight smile, “Where do you think you’re going?”. Sky then recommended to Twilight that he should lay back down before Sky made him. Safe to say Twilight followed that advice. 

Today it was different because Twilight had all of his stuff moved to his room and was planning the moment the stitches were out to go down to the stables to see Epona. Twilight was sure that no one had ridden her from when they first arrived and being the farm horse that she is was probably filled with as much energy that Twilight was, despite the fact that Twilight only feigned sleep that night. 

Twilight perked up as he heard the sound of feet getting closer to his door. It wasn’t the sound of any of the Links steps nor was it accompanied by the heavy sound of armor clinking together, so it must have been the Doctor.  The door opened to reveal Doctor Diane squinting to try and see in the dark.

 Realizing quickly that out of the two of them Twilight was the only one who could see, quickly reached over and ignited a candle that was forgotten by the Links the previous night. 

“Sorry about that.” Twilight apologized, “I didn’t realize you would be here at….” Twilight glanced at the clock on the opposite side of the room, “four a.m.”

Doctor Diane shrugged “Its fine. Now let's get those stitches out.”

Twilight quickly sat up and took off his shirt to show his still banged torso. The doctor made quick work of the bandages and the stitches, snipping the knots and pulling out the thread with speed only seen from experts. The entire process took less than 5 minutes, including the time it took to take out the necessary items and putting them back in her bag.

“Alright, that should do it. Even though you healed quickly I want you to take it easy for the next couple of days.” The doctor said, after packing up her stuff and walking to the door.

“Don’t worry I will take it a bit easier than I normally would.” Twilight replied smoothly.

The doctor didn’t respond as she walked out and closed the door behind her.

Twilight, after hearing her receding footsteps, quickly jumped out of bed and donned his normal clothes including the torn up chainmail as it didn’t feel right not wearing it. Twilight then went to the bedside table quickly grabbing the Shadow Crystal that was hiding under his hawk mask and put it on. 

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief feeling the familiar hum of Twili magic radiate from the necklace. It was extremely lucky that the natural sensor of magic in the group, Hyrule, didn’t comment or notice the aura of, to the inexperienced, dark magic radiating off it. Not that Hyrule was very inexperienced, he just never felt the distinct difference between Dark and Twili magic side by side like he had. 

Ganon and Midna were great examples of the difference between the two. One so cruel and hate filled that he had to be sent to another realm and spent his time there holding onto that hatred so he could get back to Hyrule and wreak havoc on it. 

Midna on the other hand was a snarky kind Twili who used the hand she got to try and save her world and people despite the odds stacked against her. She, unlike Ganon, didn’t hold a grudge against an entire realm and instead made sure that what had happened would never happen again.

Twilight’s heart panged at the last thought before shoving the crystal under his tunic. Twilight then grabbed his hawk mask and quickly, but gently, put it back in his bag. Twilight grabbed his sword and quickly made his way out of his room.

Despite not being in his wolf form his sense of smell was quite a bit stronger than the average Hylian. Which was why he was the unofficial tracker of the chain.  Even if he had never been in that Hyrule before he could usually find what they were looking for just by following the scent. In all honesty a lot of his Wolf senses have bled over to his human form most of them he didn’t even realize until someone pointed it out. 

Twilight followed the path that seemed to get the most people walking down it until he reached a side exit. Walking out of it he saw a group of soldiers running after one of their own who seemed to have a blue flag in his hands. Twilight mentally shrugged thinking it must be some sort of training exercise.

Twilight continued to look around before seeing what looked to be a stable, and as he got closer could definitely smell the manure. Twilight quickly jogged up to the structure and once he looked inside he saw the face of his beloved mare.

Twilight quickly crossed the space to his horse who, if not for the padlock on her stall, looked ready to gallop to meet Twilight. Twilight gently knocked heads with Epona, petting behind her ears while she in turn sniffed at his chest as if knowing he was hurt.

 Twilight whispered sweet nothings and apologies for not getting down there sooner to his horse before a voice broke through and said “Trespassing here is forbidden! State who you are and why you are here.”

Twilight turned around and leveled a glare at the obvious new recruit in full armor. “What I am doing is saying hello to my horse, and I am the guest of Queen Zelda herself, and who I am is on a need to know basis.”  

The recruit took a step back before shakingly saying “I still need to know who you are to verify.”

Twilight decides to take pity on the terrified soldier“I am called Twilight. Now where are my horse's items and the key to let her out.”

The recruit took him to where the keys and Epona’s items were before going back out to do his scheduled chores for the day. Twilight set to work taking Epona out of her stall and got her into all of her usual gear, besides the camping gear.

Now Twilight had nothing against this soldier in particular after all he had only been doing his job. Twilight just had an issue with the lazy soldiers in his own world, who were so over confident it was like they had killed Ganon. Even though the vast majority of them never even saw a bokoblin, even fewer had killed one. 

The only soldiers that held any merit to Twilight was the Royal guard that protected his Zelda and all of them died protecting her from Zant. In any case any thought about guards especially in his world leaves a bad taste in Twilight’s mouth.

Twilight got on her with practice eased as he led her to the open pasture area that looked like it was meant for horseback training. Epona didn’t need much encouragement to take off running. Twilight allowed his horse to run as fast as she wanted. Twilight closed his eyes enjoying the feeling of wind whipping against his face for what felt like years, but was really a week.

They spent a long time racing the track-like area. Once Twilight could see the sun barely rising over the horizon he had Epona walk back to the stables. Twilight quickly took to taking off Epona’s gear and brushing her coat to take out any grime that settled on her.

Twilight let his mind wander as he did the therapeutic task of brushing Epona. Twilight had already decided the moment he got on Epona that he wouldn't go back to that room until he absolutely had to, Time be damned. Twilight paused a second at that thought, before continuing to brush with a very sharp sounding chuckle. 

Sure riding Epona was needed but Twilight could feel in his bones that he wanted to run himself. Twilight glanced out to the field where a new group of soldiers had taken up trying to catch their fellow soldier who had a blue flag. Twilight grinned to himself, deciding that their next game will get a whole lot more interesting.

Twilight finished grooming Epona and took her back to her stall. After making sure she had enough food Twilight started to look for a secluded place to transform.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wild walked into Twilight’s medical room after grabbing both of their breakfasts with the rest of the Links. Since it had become tradition at that point to eat in Twilight’s room at least once a day. 

Time was leading them, just in case Twilight had pulled a fast one deciding to try and leave. If Wild wasn’t so concerned for Twi’s safety he would be amused at how stir crazy he was becoming. 

As Time opened the door Wild could see that the old soldier had tensed up before stalking inside. Wild followed behind him curiously only to find that Twilight’s bed was empty and his sword was missing.

As the other Links filed in each had a face that screamed surprise but at the same time figured this would happen. Unlike the rest of the Links, Warriors didn’t even look at the bed before taking his place by the window. Wild squinted his eyes at the lack of reaction from the Captain.

“So the Rancher finally got the guts to leave,” Legend noted, seemingly unconcerned by the empty bed. 

“It doesn’t make sense though he promised that he wouldn’t try anything until he got his stitches removed, and we all know how much he tries to stick by his promises.” Sky said frowning.

“He probably already got them removed.” Warriors said nonchalantly watching outside with a confused look on his face.

“What makes you think that?” Wild asked.

“He asked me to write him a letter to Diane asking her to come and take out his stitches asap. If I remember correctly she agreed to it but I don’t remember what hours she works.” Warriors said all of this while staring outside, face growing more confused by the second.

“And why didn’t you think this was a good idea to mention last night?” Time asked, leveling a glare at the General.

“He asked me not to, saying, and I quote ‘If I have to stay in bed for another day I’ll go insane’.” Warriors said in his best Twilight impression, finally tearing his eyes off of whatever was outside. “Besides I didn’t think anything would’ve come from it anyway. I think we can all guess where he is right now though.”

Wild begrudgingly nodded, “Epona,” looking over at Warriors, who had asked Wind a question that was too quiet for Wild to hear. Wind looked outside, confused before face beaming with excitement as he nodded at Warriors as if answering a question.

Wild shook his head, deciding to deal with whatever made Wind so excited when they inevitably went to it. 

The Links had quickly eaten their food and packed up Twilight’s food for when they found him. They quickly descended to the stables to find Epona sleeping in her stall looking extra fluffy at this point. Warriors broke off from the group going to talk to a stable hand and a soldier for a minute or so before coming back. 

“Good news Twilight was indeed here. Bad news seemed like he just missed him by about 30 minutes or so.” Warriors said lifting up a finger on each hand for the bad and good news respectively. 

“Did any of them see where he went, like at all? He kinda sticks out like a sore thumb in any town.” Wild asked, eager to find Twilight.

“Nope,” Warriors said, popping the ‘p’ “But I did see someone who we all haven't seen in a while out the window.”

“Who?” Hyrule asked, confused.

Instead of Warriors responding Wind did with a bright and happy “Wolfie! He is over in the field with the soldiers playing with them!”

Wild felt a pang of frustration as he heard the name ‘Wolfie’. Wild figured Twilight was now doing this just to get back at them for keeping him in the bed all week. Looking up at Time, Wild saw a slight look of constipation on the old man’s face, as if he reached the same conclusion as Wild did. 

Warriors leading the way they came across a group of 20 or so soldiers chasing after the divine beast known as Wolfie. The giant wolf, head easily reaching over the waist of their tallest soldier, and was quite literally running circles around them, blue flag in his mouth. 

As they walked over to the only soldier not chasing after Wolfie Wild could tell that he saw them. For a brief moment the wolf stopped running and just stared in their direction before jumping away from a soldier who was trying to lunge for the flag. 

The sight would’ve amused the ones who knew Twilight’s secret if not for the fact that he was supposed to be resting. Wolfie/Twilight was jumping around easily dodging the men who somehow seemed to be more tired than the Great Beast who was avoiding all of them. 

Warriors called out to the Hylian standing away from the scene “Drill Sergeant what is going on here?”

The drill sergeant looked over before replying “Link good to see you! As you can see a wolf decided to join our ‘capture the crook drill’.”

“I can very well see that. What I’m wondering is how he got the flag.”

The drill sergeant shrugged “This wolf came out of the woods and was watching the tail end of the last round. Balto seemed to like him and he was just watching so we let him be. When I tried to give the flag to the next ‘crook’ the wolf ran in and took it right out of my hand. So I am having it be the crook and the others have had very little success getting it back.”

The sergeant said all of this while gesturing to a basset hound at their feet and the group running around. As Wild watched someone dive at Wolfie, the beast jumped into the air to avoid it, but to add insult to injury Wolfie used that soldier's head as a springboard making the soldier eat dirt. 

“Would you like us to get it back? It just so happens we know this friendly wolf.” Warriors asked.

“You do? Well only if you want to as this is a good exercise for my men. Though this whole thing is getting a bit long.” The drill sergeant said, frowning.

“How long have they been at this exactly?” 

“Around 25 minutes give or take with no breaks.”

Before Warriors could call out to Wolfie to bring the wolf here, Time put up his hand to stop him. Time then put two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp piercing whistle that froze everyone in the field Twilight included. Seeing that Time having gotten Wolfie’s attention yelled out “Wolfie come!”

The Divine Beast let out a muffled bark only opening his mouth slightly. Wolfie then took his time getting over to them, tail wagging lazily. Wild translated the smug look Wolfie had on his face to ‘Look at me, I ran around despite your wishes’.

Twilight finally came to a stop a few feet in front of them all, not sitting down, tail still wagging, with eyes sparkling with amusement. Time went to one knee and looking Wolfie dead in the eye said “Drop it Pup.” As Time extended one hand to retrieve the flag from the Beast’s maw Wolfie jumped back just as Time’s finger brushed the blue fabric.

Wolfie bowed in a playful manner before leaping away from the group. Time sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Wild and the other Links joined the fray, some more excited than others.

The Links had fun chasing after Wolfie for a couple of minutes with Time even joining in. Twilight let out the occasional muffled bark and he expertly weaved in between the Links. It ended when Twilight jumped away from Wild and right into Wind who quickly took the flag in triumph. 

“I GOT IT” Wind yelled in triumph.

“Good job sailor.” Time praised Wind ruffling his hair as he sent a disappointed look at Twilight who only seemed to grin wider at the look.

Warriors took the flag from Wind and gave it to the Drill sergeant to which they and their soldiers thanked them all profusely before heading to the mess hall for some well deserved breakfast. Wind then ran over to the now sitting Wolfie and flung his arms around the beast's neck.

“I was worried about you Wolfie! We haven’t seen you in weeks!” Wind confessed to the wolf who wined apologetically in response. 

Twilight after Wind stopped hugging him, laid on the ground with a huff, chain clinking with the motion. Four then walked up to the beat and flopped on his flank causing Twilight to lightly growl as the small Link.

“What? It's not like you are injured or anything to cause pain, if that was the case you would be in bed or wherever it is that you sleep. Besides it's not like you’ll do anything” Four said, raising his eyebrow at the Wolf. It was a well known fact among the Links that Wolfie would rarely retaliate against the Links. 

Wolfie pinned his ears back for a second before looking away, huffing, and then going back to panting. Wild had a small smile on his face at the reaction. Wild knew just how much of a soft spot he had for the Links. Even if Twilight tried to act like he didn’t have one. 

Wild remembers the first time he saw the Wolf waiting outside of the chamber that Wild first woke up from. The wolf had then shown him some of the monster's weaknesses like the guardian’s eye. Everytime Wild called for Twilight to help him the beast would teleport, making a cloud of shadow appear from nowhere. The last time Wild saw that older version of his mentor was outside of the castle before going in to fight Calamity ganon. 

Wild felt uneasy when thinking about it because even though his memory was spotty at the best of times Wild could clearly remember the Wolf watching him during his knight training as well. Wild would go as far to say that the wolf looked the exact same before and after calamity. 

Wild was unsure of what that could mean. Whether it be that Twilight stayed behind from passing on to help him or if he somehow used his teleporting power to travel to Wild’s time and help out. Wild was grateful to the old beast and tries his best to honor what he did for Wild both before and after calamity.

Suddenly Twilight perked up a bit as if having an idea that made Wild look at him suspiciously. Twilight shifted a bit, getting all of his feet under him. Then as fast as Twilight could manage he stood up, sending Four sprawling on the floor, and took off towards the castle. Wild reasoned that he was going to find a place to transform back to himself and hopefully find them while they are looking. 

Legend snorted at Wolfie’s action before saying “Outsmarted by a wolf.” 

Four said nothing as he rubbed the back of his head staring in the direction Wolfie ran off, concern evident on his face.

After everyone finished catching their breath they continued to look for Twilight, or in the case of those who knew, they looked to where Twilight ran off to. As they walked into the courtyard that had an ancient tree Wild felt the world suddenly go off kilter.

“Shit we’re changing worlds!” Wild cursed out before yelling “TWILIGHT! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

The world around Wild went blurry as they started to shift before going black for a few seconds. When everything started to come to focus for Wild he heard a loud yelp, crash, and groan some feet away from where he and the others were.

Wild started looking around as the others got up seeing that they got lucky this time and all of their gear was teleported with them. Looking up from where his fellow Links were collecting their stuff Wild saw a plain-like area with a great bridge in the distance and a castle behind it, looking like it could touch the clouds.

Wild noted that instead of it being around morning in this Hyrule, it was well into the afternoon with the sun showing down on the with barely any hindrance.  Continuing to look around from where he was standing he saw that Epona was sniffing at the ground a few feet away from them, without any of her saddle and gear. 

After doing a bit of roll call Time asked “So Epona made it over, but has anyone seen Twilight? Also does anyone know which hyrule we are in?” 

Wild noted how Time’s voice was filled with barely restrained worry. Which, in all honesty Wild could agree with as for all they know Twilight could’ve been left in Warriors’ Hyrule none the wiser. 

Just in general Wild was concerned about his mentor, who acted very strange leading up to his injury. Despite his strange actions Twilight had assured Wild that he was completely fine. 

A hand shot out of the grass next to Epona’s head making everyone’s heads snap in that direction. “ ‘M over here” Twilight voice grunted out.

Wild and Time shared a look and headed over to where Epona was. Twilight was laying in the grass with all of Epona’s gear on his chest, saddle included. Twilight’s stuff was unseen but Wild had a sneaking suspicion his bag was also in the pile. Epona was busy trying to nose her saddle off of Twilight’s chest with little luck. Twilight’s face was twisted with regret and discomfort.

After they got Twilight out of the mess of items, Twilight set about equipping all of Epona’s gear on her. Only after Time and Wild made sure Twilight was truly alright of course.  As the rest of the Links continued to look around the area for tell-tale signs that it was their world, Wild moved to help Twilight by adjusting the bridle around Epona’s face. 

“So where did you run off to after knocking Four off your back?” Wild asked as he put the bit in Epona’s mouth.

“To that big tree in the courtyard for a nap. Wasn’t expecting to shift so as I made to jump out by y’all we were teleported. I just so happened to be teleported a few feet in the air and with all my items coming down at me.” Twilight explained, adjusting the saddle.

Time walked up just as Twilight finished adjusting the saddle and asked “Is this world either of yours?”

Twilight nodded, going into his bag and bringing out his map “It’s mine I recognize the bombskits anywhere.” motioning toward the weird two legged monster standing around 20 feet away. 

The Links surrounded Twilight as he flattened out the map on Epona’s flank. “Here we are on the map and we have three different options. Over there is the path to Kakariko Village, that bridge leads to an abandoned village, or we can go to Hyrule Castle town.” Twilight said, pointing in each direction, “It doesn’t matter to me but I know we can restock for very cheap in Castle Town.”

The Links, always willing to save some rupees, unanimously agreed to go to Castle Town. Before they started walking toward the looming castle Twilight explained the monsters in his Hyrule field and to stay far away from the Boomskits. They walked for roughly an hour, with Twilight leading on his horse, before they heard a loud piercing voice that made Twilight go rigid and Wild wince.

“HEY MR.LINK WAAAAIT!” Wild turned toward the voice to see a hylian man with white short shorts, and tank top with a red hat and flag that was attached to his back by a large wooden pole. The man was racing towards them with speed that had made the Links draw their swords.

“Put away your swords, he is friendly.” Twilight said, adding on “regrettably.”

The man came to a stop in front of Twilight saying “Mr. Link of Ordon Village you sure are a tough one to find! You have 17 letters marked urgent from Queen Zelda herself, 5 from varying persons, and two packages from different people.” 

Twilight grimaced “Could you give them from oldest to most recent?” turning to Time he asked “Could we set up camp here today? I have a feeling these letters are going to take a while.”

Time nodded as he directed the other Links to set up camp as Twilight got off of Epona to receive the letters which were tied up by a piece of string, oldest at top, most recent at bottom. 

Wild took the two packages, both of which were completely different from each other. With one of them being light and looked to be made of boar skin. The other was far heavier with more standard package materials than the other. After the postman handed off the last of the letters he did a strange sounding humm before running off in the direction he came.

The Links finished setting up camp with efficiency and had even started a fire by the time Twilight and Wild made it over. Wild sat the packages down by where Twilight was sitting, who was staring at the stack of Zelda’s letters with open disgust. Wild then went over by the fire and started bringing things out of his sheikah slate to make a simple beef and potato dish. 

“So what did you do to get sent 17 letters by your Zelda?” Wind asked, sitting down besides Twilight.

“The postman only delivers in my Hyrule field and since we’ve never been to this part of my Hyrule I would assume it was just collected over time.” Twilight said, sighing before slipping the first letter out of the string.

Twilight opened it and quickly scanned over it before tossing it into the fire.

“Why did you go and do that?” Wind asked, having only caught a glimpse of the letter.

“It’s old, just said some stuff about the soldiers she sent and ‘how dare I scare them away’.” Twilight scoffed, “It’s not my fault that all of the soldiers here are cowards.”

“So you did scare away the guards?” Warriors questioned, “I thought a wolf howled at them scaring them away.”

“Never said it was a wolf that howled.” Twilight answered cryptically, knowing instantly what Warriors was referencing.

Glancing up from the beef browning he saw that Twilight had already thrown the second letter into the fire without even opening it and was moving for a third.

“Shouldn’t you at least read them, Pup? Time asked as Twilight tossed another into the fire.

Twilight shrugged, grabbing his fourth, “Why should I? They're old anyway and all of these could be summons to the castle or threats.” 

“Threats to you or threats to your Hyrule?” Wild asked, seeing Twilight pause out of the corner of his eye. Twilight didn’t answer, but this time he did open up Queen Zelda’s letter to do a once over.

This continued for a while with Wind occasionally asking what something said and Twilight murmuring the answer, some of the words were things like ‘farmer’ and ‘slacker’ while other things stood for things like ‘King bulblin’ and ‘Temple’.

Twilight paused his methodical movement on the tenth out of the fifteen letters to lightly chuckle. When questioned about it Twilight instead of explaining it read it out loud.

(Dear Link,

According to some merchants, you were seen in Kakariko Village just yesterday. Then you left suddenly the next morning without anyone seeing you leave. 

I order you as Queen to come to my castle and explain yourself as no one has seen a singular hair from you since you scared away my soldiers months ago.

Any soldier that sees you is instructed to bring you to my throne, and if you resist you will be treated as a criminal.

Your RULER,

Queen Zelda.)

Twilight looked up from reading, his eyes twinkling “Oops, guess I forgot to mention in a letter that I was going on a quest. Or send any letter at all.”

Wild snorted with Wind pointing at something on the paper “What’s the emblem for?”

“It is an official stamp that shows it is official and not a fake. Zelda uses her magic to stamp it, which only she can do.” Twilight explained passing it over to Hyrule who seemed to look at it with fascination. 

“Cool…” Hyrule said, analyzing the magic marking for a second before tossing it into the fire.

“Let's save the other letters for later, food’s done!” Wild said passing plates to the other eight links. Food was a quiet and quick affair especially for Twilight who wanted to read the rest of the letters in the remaining sunlight which had gone down rather quickly. 

Twilight tossed the next 3 out quickly before frowning and triple reading the 14th letter. Wild leaned over, having taken up the spot on the opposite side of Twilight from Wind.

“You haven't read any of the letters this closely before,” Sky noted, “What's on it that is so troubling?” 

“There's apparently a disturbance making monsters stronger than normal here. Like black blood stronger not Twilight zone stronger. Apparently she thinks that's why I’ve been not receiving letters and ‘requests’ for me to come in and talk.” Twilight said, instead of tossing it into the fire, he gently sets it down in front of himself. 

“Good thing we are heading that way now” Four remarked.

Twilight takes the most recent letter and opens it. He seemed to get through about half of it before abruptly standing up, letter dropped, forgotten on the ground, pacing. The Rancher started mumbling and Wild could only pick up a word here or there, something about Great fairy and a Zone of some sort.

“Pup? Is everything ok?” Time said slowly standing up and going over to Twilight.

“It shouldn’t be possible…” Twilight looked up face gray and eyes wide as the plates they just ate off of.

“What shouldn't be possible?” Time asked, crossing the distance between them. When Twilight continued to mumble something about the one way path to the realm had been sealed off. Wild eyebrows creased in confusion at the randomness of his words.

When Time received no answer he put both hands on his descendants shoulders, seemingly grounding him. “Breath Pup, and tell us what's wrong.” 

Twilight took a deep breath before shakily saying “A Twilight Zone appeared in the Gerudo desert at The Great Fairy’s Spring. It- It shouldn’t be possible. The mirror that leads to the Twilight realm was destroyed at the end of my journey with a piece of it getting taken into the Twilight realm so it could never be opened again.” 

“How did she learn this? I thought Gerudo had its own government.” Wild gently asked, frowning.

“In your time maybe, but in mine all the gerudo left after Ganon was sealed away. King Bulbin watches over that land now. The Gerudo desert is a providence much like Faron woods and Ordon Village.” Twilight explained calmly, having collected himself quickly. 

 “Uh Huh and whose King Bulblin?” Legend asked.

Twilight walked over to where he was sitting, sat back down and picked up the letter again while saying “King of the Bulbins I beat him 3 times and gained his respect. He has some common sense and doesn’t want to die so he looks over the arbiter grounds for me.”

“Since he is a monster wouldn’t he work for Ganon?” Wind asked.

“He did but decided dying wasn't worth what he was getting paid. So he left, third time the charm I guess, and he can even speak Hylian.”

“Huh.”

“So what does this letter say?” Wind asked skillfully changing the subject, holding one that he had just opened.

Twilight glanced at it and did what looked like a double take on it. Wearing an incredulous look, Twilight gently grabbed it from Wind and gave it a closer inspection.

“Well what does it say?”

“Give me a minute the kids at Ordon don’t exactly have the best handwriting.” Twilight muttered. During the few minutes that it took for Twilight to decipher the letter Wild was trying to read along. It was most definitely messier than the previous letter but Wild still couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

There was also a little drawing attached to the letter at the bottom. On the drawing there were two taller figures, one with pointed ears and one without. There was a slightly smaller figure that looked to be carrying a baby in their arms. The smallest of the figures looked to be waving. The drawing much like the writing didn’t make sense to Wild. 

Twilight broke the silence with a low, airy chuckle. “This letter is from Colin a couple weeks ago. Apparently Zelda sent some guards there to see if I had returned after being spotted in Kakariko. He even drew a little picture on it!” Twilight then handed it off to the other Links so they could see the stick figure drawing. 

“Who exactly is in this drawing?” Sky asked, handing it off to Time who stared at the drawing with an unreadable expression.

 After it made its round and Wind gave it back to Twilight. Twilight lifted the picture so nearly everyone could see it. “That one is Rusl, that’s me, Uli, and her little baby Hasa, and the smallest is Colin.” Twilight explained pointing to each figure.

“Why are your ears so pointy?” Wind innocently asked.

“Ordon consists of humans and I am the only Hylian there. So he did it no doubt for me to easily tell that I am in his family drawing. Though according to the letter it would have looked better if he had more time but the postman was rushing him.” Twilight explained with a fond smile.

“Wait, I thought you said he only delivers letters in the Hyrule field.” Legend noted.

“He picks them up from all over and tends to feed letters he can’t figure out to the Goats. I don’t know what goes on in that guy's head, nor do I want to.” 

“Family drawing?” Time interrupted, sounding confused. 

“Rusl and Uli took care of me from a very very young age, so I was always around for Colin since he was born. He’s made it a point in all of his drawings of his family to draw my pointed ears to show where I am.”

“Wait, what do you mean at a very very young age? Where were your birth mother and father?” Time asked, voice laced with concern.

“Doesn’t matter.” Twilight replied sharply as he grabbed the next letter. 

Wild looked over to Time who looked crestfallen for as second as if not expecting that answer. That look was gone as quickly as it came and was replaced with a look of mild curiosity. Wild felt sympathy for the man as it was not the first time Twilight snapped at someone for digging too deep into his past. 

Reading this one seemed to be a much faster process than the other one, as Twilight carefully sat the letter down before grabbing the normal looking parcel. Opening it Wild peered inside to see an assortment of jars filled to the brim with something and around the jars seemed to be an assortment of towel wrapped pastries each around the same size. It seemed that whoever packed this box somehow made two layers of the pastries without squishing the one below. 

Twilight seemed to physically perk up as he reached into the box and pulled out the towel wrapped pastry. Twilight then very gently pulled out one of the towel wrapped creations, as Twilight unwrapped it he gasped in shock as he stared at what seemed to be a piece of cake. Twilight then raised it up to the fire staring at it with such happiness and fascination. 

“Alright I’ll bite, why are you looking at the cake like that?” Warriors asked both hands clasped together, pointing at Twilight. 

“Uli’s pumpkin cake…. It’s made from ingredients all sourced from Ordon from the pumpkin to the rock salt. It was made recently too!” Twilight replied excitedly. Twilight was so excited about this piece of cake Wild could easily imagine if he was in his wolf form his tail would be a blur. 

“How do you know it was made recently?” Warriors asked.

“Uli dates her letters, and not to mention,” Twilight took a bite of the piece of cake, “It's not dry!” When Twilight took that bite Wild could see Twilight’s tense shoulders loosen from his spot beside him.

“Here Uli packed a whole cake and if you want you can put some jelly on it.” Twilight said, smiling brightly as he distributed the pieces of cake among the Links.

Wild took a bite and was surprised by how moist and flavorful the cake was. It reminded Wild of the carrot cake that he occasionally bought from the villagers in his time. It also reminded him of pumpkin pie but in cake form. Wild quickly finished his piece and looked over to see the other Links polishing up their slices. 

“Twi, you have to give me the recipe.” Wild said in a completely serious tone. 

Twilight chuckled and ruffled Wild’s hair “No can do Cub, Uli doesn’t give her recipes out to anyone not even me or the other villagers.” 

Wild huffed, “Well remind me when we somehow get teleported there to ask for it.”

Before Twilight could undoubtedly agree to it, Four spoke up, “Umm that cake was great, but what is that thing?” 

Wild looked in the direction of Four to see a golden orb in the distance. Wild would’ve said it was a spirit not unlike Mipha and Daruk but the color made Wild pause from speaking his mind. The golden hue of it could easily be seen even in the now pitch black night instead of ghosts usual blue-ish green tinge. 

Wild glanced over to Twilight who now had a look of wariness as he squinted at it in the dark. No doubt using his superior night vision to see it better than Wild and the other Links could possibly do. 

Twilight slowly said, “It looks to be a type of Poe, they tend to dislike fires and will stay away from any bright light. If it comes over here, RUN do not try to fight it. It is incorporeal to most living things.” 

Twilight said that with such authority that no one had a response to it. The rest of the time before bed was picking who was taking first, second, and third watch. Twilight took second watch despite Wild and Time trying to talk him out of it. Twilight’s response was one of calmness as he replied that his monsters were stronger around midnight and he is the only one to ever deal with them. 

Wild took first watch and Four took third. Wild’s watch was very uneventful with that mysterious golden poe very slowly circling the camp at a distance. The most interesting thing that happened was a few flying monsters flying towards the camp but getting scared by the fire that Wild was dutifully keeping up. 

The only other thing that Wild did was put Twilight’s pumpkin cake package in his sheikah slate so it didn’t dry out. Wild was sure that Twilight would be grateful for the action.

Wild got up to wake Twilight and did one last glance at the poe to see it was a bit more corporeal. The most Wild could tell about it was that it was a humanoid figure that still glowed that odd color of gold.

Wild shook Twilight awake who sat up rubbing his eyes. While Twilight was doing that Wild silently tapped Twilight’s shoulder before pointing at the poe’s new form. Twilight stared at it before turning back to Wild having a practically silent conversation.

“Do they normally do that?” Wild whispered.

“No, they don’t. Usually they only show their lanterns without a beast sense, is it my turn to watch or did you just wake me up for this?” Twilight asked, frowning.

“It's your turn but could you make sure it won’t attack us?”

Twilight nodded “ ‘kay give me a second I’ll see if I recognize it.” 

Wild watched as Twilight closed his eyes and a shadow engulfed the hero. Wild winced at the quiet sound of bones popping and shifting into place. It had freaked Wild the first time he saw the transformation happen but as Twilight reassured that it didn’t hurt, Wild slowly calmed down. 

That doesn’t mean Wild is all right with it just more accepting of it. After all it sounded very painful and Wild never liked seeing his mentor hurt. 

Wolfie emerged from the cloud of shadow, made a small huffing noise before quietly creeping to the edge of the camp. Wolfie sniffed at the small breeze in the air and stiffened. Wild grabbed his bow, all memory of Twilight saying run if it attacked forgotten.

As Wild knocked an arrow aiming at the specter, Wolfie whipped his head around, apparently hearing the bow tighten, and let out a small snarl. Wild begrudgingly listened to Twilight and slowly released the tension on the bow, taking the arrow away from the string. It didn’t take an animal whisperer to understand that Twilight didn’t want Wild interfering.

Twilight went down practically crawling against the ground. Wild strained his eyes to keep track of the gray-ish wolf who seemed to melt perfectly with the grass surrounding him. An eerily noise greeted Wild’s ears that he knew for sure he wasn’t imagining, because Twilight fully stood up staring at the specter. 

The noise had to have been a song of sort Wild figured. There was a 6 note repeating melody that went: low, middle, low, high, middle and low, then it repeated. Unlike what Wild heard from Time’s ocarina or Sky’s harp, these notes sounded hollow, similar to wind chimes or blowing air into a bottle.

The noise got more quiet as Twilight slowly backed up and as he did so Wild could see how tense Twilight was. The specter stopped once Twilight returned to the edge of the camp, seemingly satisfied with doing whatever that was. Twilight gave one last frightened look towards the poe before getting engulfed by shadows once more, returning to his original form. 

Twilight quietly walked over to Wild and whispered, “It won't bother us. It is a… friendly poe.”

“What was that? What was that music it played?!” Wild all but stage yelled at the Rancher.

“Keep your voice down Cub,” Twilight whispered sternly, “All that you need to know about that poe is that it would -never- hurt us. He helped me on my journey…. But I’ve never seen him in this form before.”

Wild quieted down, “Ok I’ll trust you.”

Twilight pushed Wild towards his sleeping bag, “Now sleep and don’t worry I will wake Four up at his watch.”

Wild went to his sleeping bag and lay down and as senses slowly faded he could hear Twilight humming that exact same tune that the ghost was playing, but in a less haunting way.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Links day started early with Four waking all of them up the moment he could see the sun barely peeking out from the horizon. Some of the other Links including Wild asked why he woke them up. To which Four pointed at Twilight and told the Links that he asked Four to wake them all up around this time. 

When questioned Twilight just responded that he wanted to reach Castle Town as early as possible. Twilight acted like the thing that happened with the poe never even happened. So Wild kept quiet as well, figuring that if it wasn’t important enough to draw attention to. 

In roughly 30 minutes the Links had a quick breakfast and started heading out to Castle Town. As they walked with Epona being led by the reins by Twilight, who was walking, Wind spoke up.

“So did you ever finish looking at those letters?”

“Yup it was just some of my friends from my adventure checking in on me.” Twilight answered.

“But what was in the animal skin package?”

Twilight grimaced a little, “That was just some boar jerky from King Bublin with a note saying that I should come by sometime to joust again.”

“He can write?” Legend asked.

“Apparently.”

Conversation soon spindled to a few quiet ones around them as Twilight led them up the path. After a few hours with the sun well into the sky at that point they came up to a drawbridge with no guards attending it. 

Wild could hear Warriors scoff behind them, “Some guards you have here Rancher. No one is guarding such a large entrance.”

Twilight snorted as he grabbed his stuff from Epona’s saddle and while not taking up the reins again said “Like I said earlier these guards aren’t the bravest.”

Twilight shouldered his gear as Epona wandered off, “Now are we going to restock or get some grub?”

After a few minutes of debate the Links decided on gear first then food. Twilight collected himself with a deep breath with his face turning into one that could easily be mistaken for ice cold but in actuality to Wild it was just a neutral face. 

As they walked in they saw a priest of Hylia standing outside of his church who greeted Twilight warmly. Twilight said nothing in return and just nodded his head at the older man. Wild frowned at his friend’s back but the priest seemed to accept the nod and wished them all a good visit. 

There were a few guards a bit further in who were most definitely the ones who were supposed to stand guard. Wild focused on the group of soldiers as one of them started to walk forward towards Twilight, who only took a few steps away from the priest before noticing them.

“Halt strangers! State your name and why you are here.” the soldier said in a bored, over confident voice, hand loosely gripping his sword.

“Who do you think I am?” Twilight responded with a voice cold enough to surprise Wild. Sure Wild has heard Twilight act cold towards people but never to the point where a soldier turned ghost white. 

The smartest of the group of soldiers ran up and pointed his spear directly at Twilight’s chest. Wild started to surge forward to attack the soldier only to be stopped by Legend grabbing his arm. Legend shook his head and then nodded to the interaction, silently telling Wild to watch and wait.

“Link of Ordon by order of Queen Zelda we are taking you into custody and escorting you to the Throne room!”

“No.”

“W-wh-what?” the soldier said with confusion.

“That’s not going to happen. What is going to happen is that I’m going to Malo Mart and then Telma’s bar,” Twilight with one finger pushed the spear away from his chest, “What you fellas are going to do is inform Zelda that I am in town and that she can send people to find me in Telma’s bar in an hour and not a second earlier. Understood?”

The soldier nodded before taking off with the other soldiers following in suit. Wild looked at Twilight in shock, who as if feeling the stare, looked over and asked “What?”

“Nothing, I just have never seen anyone react to you that way.” Wild responded.

“Eh it's nothing, the soldiers here would get scared of their own shadow if they weren’t so oblivious.”  Twilight shrugged. 

Wild had a feeling that the soldiers only ever react that way to Twilight. Everyone they had met in Kakariko had greeted Twilight like an old friend. Here in Castle Town the soldiers were terrified of him after they found out who he was. The priest had acted like he was just being polite and never really knew Twilight. Wild didn’t know what Twilight did to deserve such a reaction and knew for certain that he didn’t want to.

They continued on the path till they reached an open area that was circular. There were businesses along the circular area with big attention grabbing signs. None more than the very loud sign with bright colors and bold letters. In the center of the circular area was a beautiful fountain. In the fountain was a bird with the full triforce instead of a head. 

Glancing around Wild saw many Hylians and Humans all rushing around the area busy going from place to place. As they continued towards the building with the brightly colored sign people stopped and stared at the group. Now this isn’t an odd occurrence by itself since it’s not everyday a group such as themselves walked into a bustling place. 

What was strange was what Wild overheard people saying as they passed them.

“I thought the Queen finally put down that savage.”

“Look, it's the queen’s pet.”     “More like an attack dog, just look at that pelt!”

“Ugh it's him again.”

“Stay away from that man, son. He is no good for the Kingdom and or for anyone else”

“The mutt brought more strangers to the castle town! What is the world coming to?!”

There were many other hateful whispers happening around the Links, but Wild was seeing red. As Wild was about to go and give them a piece of his mind a hand landed on his shoulder. Looking over Wild was surprised to see it was Sky.

Sky shook his head, and Wild could see that Sky had a look of disgust and anger that did not fit the face of the usually calm hero. Glancing at the other Links Wild could see that the older Links were doing the same thing that Sky just did with him. 

Time looked absolutely pissed but Wild could tell that he was telling a murderous looking Four to calm down. Warriors looked straight up disgusted, like he just stepped in dogshit, but he was whispering to Wind who had unsheathed his sword. Legend and Hyrule weren’t trying to stop each other but instead were glaring at the citizens with hate.

Wild whipped his head around to look at Twilight’s back to see the hero was loose. Not in a ‘I’m in good company-loose’ more like in a ‘I’m ready to fight or run at a moment's notice-loose.’ Wild knew that if he and the other Links could hear all these comments then Twilight could hear that and more.

After easily walking through the bustling street, thanks to the wide berth that was created around them, the Links walked into what Wild figured was Malo Mart.  They walked in to be greeted by a brightly colored room with very cheerful music. 

The man at the front greeted them with a “HELLO~ WELCOME TO MALO MART! BEST PRICES IN ALL OF HYRULE!”

Twilight turned towards the group and Wild saw the same neutral look that was somehow unaffected by the comments outside. “Ok so here’s the prices, Blue potions are 50 rupees, Red Potions are 15, and arrows are 5 per 10 arrows. For the potions you’ll need your own bottle.”

Hearing this, Wild asked “what's the highest rupee in this system.”

“The highest is Silver rupees that are worth 200 rupees.”

Wild then walked up to the clerk and slammed down 5 silver rupees on the table. Wild then brought out all of his empty bottles. The clerk's eyes widened as Wild said “I’ll take 200 arrows and 7 bottles filled with blue potion and the rest filled with red potion.”

After buying the store's entire red potion stock and splitting the arrows between the Links they headed out of the store. Twilight led the way into a market area that was fairly empty at this point. As they walked through the market the merchants tried to goad them into coming over to buy stuff like over priced apples. 

Despite the emptiness of the merchant stalls there was one long line leading up to a booth with Gorons manning it. There was a small goron who when they looked over smiled brightly and waved at the group. Twilight reciprocated this by giving the Goron a small wave. The small goron accepted this with a bright smile before going back to manage the line. 

Twilight led them down a small alleyway. It was a dead end with one door that was only slightly opened. Wild could hear faint music coming from in the door. As Twilight made to walk to the door a meow interrupted his pursuit.

Wild looked down to see a white cat with a purple bow had run over and was curling itself around Twilight’s legs. Twilight picked up the cat while saying “Louise long time no see. Is Telma in her bar today?”

The cat let out a small mew as it purred in Twilight’s arms. Wild walked over and started petting the cat's fur. The cat's fur was incredibly soft, obviously having been taken care of well.

Sky let out a small noise and said “Why are you petting that Remlit, don't you know how dangerous they are?!”

Twilight gave him a confused look “This is a cat not whatever a remlit is, and its friendly see.”

Twilight brought the cat over to Sky who tentatively patted the cat’s head. Louise did nothing but purr happily. Wild snorted as Sky took this reaction to continue petting Louise. 

Warriors coughed to get attention on him, “I don’t mean to interrupt this wholesome scene but you kinda gave us limited time to eat from your interaction with the guards.”

Twilight's soft expression minutely hardened “Right so,” Twilight faced turned into a slightly pained expression, “Lets go and see Telma and hope she spares me the lecture for disappearing.” 

Twilight let Louise down who after doing one twirl around Sky’s leg took off into the bar. As they walked into the bar Wild looked around to the home-y bar. There were pots and pans hanging from the rafter as well as pots far from reach at the ceiling. 

Behind the counter was a large woman with tan skin and red hair, suggesting gerudo genes. The lady, who Wild assumed was Telma yelled behind her at the Chain, “Sit wherever you want I’ll be with you in a moment!”

“That’s the greeting I get after not being around for a couple of months? You wound me Telma.” Twilight snarkily said hands on his hips.

Telma whipped around and broke into a giant grin “Well I’ll be it really is you!” Wild saw Telma wipe her hands on her apron before moving around the bar and gave Twilight a hug, which he reciprocated. 

Telma as if just noticing the gangle of Link standing awkwardly around the reunion. Telma stopped hugging Twilight and said “Where are our manners! Link are you going to introduce your friends?”

“The funny thing about that is that they are all named Link too-” Twilight started but was cut off by Telma.

“This sounds like you are going into a story, go sit down and I’ll get you some food.” Telma said while going back behind the counter.

Twilight led them to a table that was the most secluded in the whole bar, like it was its own room by itself. After grabbing enough chairs to accommodate all the Links they sat down. Telma quickly walked over with two giant plates with dinner plates on them. After food was distributed Twilight explained what happened to him in between bites of food. 

After a moment of silence Telma summarized “I see, so you are on a quest trying to figure out why monsters are getting stronger with different heroes from different places in time and space.”

“Pretty much” Twilight responded.

“And all of their names are Link as well and you call them by their titles?”

“Yup”

“Well then Mister Hero of the Light what are their names?” Telma asked, eyebrow raised. Wild blinked at the title Telma had just called Twilight. It was always assumed by the other Links that his name was Hero of Twilight. The more that Wild sees and talks to the people in Twilight’s world the more he feels like he never truly knew him. 

Twilight blinked “Oh right. Well this is Sky, Legend, Hyrule, Warriors, Wind, Four, Wild and Time.” Twilight said this while pointing to each Link individually.

Telma whistled “Have to say Honey you get yourself into the strangest of events.”

“Thanks I didn’t notice.” Twilight said sarcastically. 

“Excuse me Miss Telma, could I ask you something?” Warriors asked a devilish grin appearing on his face. 

“Telma is fine. What is your question?” 

“Well I want to know what is the most embarrassing thing you remember Link doing.” Warriors said grin widening.

“You don’t need to answer that Telma. Warriors here is just… curious about my adventure.” Twilight quickly said.

“Nonsense it’s no trouble at all. Now lets see here…” Telma trailed off before snapping her fingers, “I got it! When Link here first obtained his dual clawshot he tried to show them off to us. He did so by trying to grab onto the roof and it worked the first time, but as he tried to swing to latch onto another part of the ceiling both clawshots came undone. He fell right onto a table holding around 5 soldiers' food. Then while being filthy he proceeded to fight and win against the five angry soldiers.”  

Twilight grumbled out a “You promised not to say anything about that.”

Wild snorted, it was obvious to him that Twilight and Telma were closer to any person that they had met in Twilight’s time. Excluding Colin who, from the stories the other Links shared, had a brotherly bond with the Hylian. Wild watched as Time patted Twilight’s back in sympathy as he covered his face with his hands.

Warriors did not hide his laughter and started choking on his drink mid way through. After succeeding to not choke Warriors said “Oh that was the best story I’ve heard about Twilight’s adventure so far.”

“Wasn’t actually a part of my journey, it just kinda happened when I was taking a small break.” Twilight muttered.

“Eh potato tomato,” Warriors said flippantly.

“That’s definitely not how that saying goes.” Twilight remarked.

Just as Telma was about to say something several guards busted through the door. Spotting Twilight at the table the leader said “All right your hour is up! You and your group are coming with us to the Throne room!”

Twilight sighed in relief “All right,” turning towards Telma he went, “Sorry to cut this reunion so short but Zelda ‘requests my presence’.”

Telma chuckled “Well go on then. All of you, I expect to hear more about your adventure when you return Hon!”

“Will do,” Twilight turned towards the rest of them, “Well let’s go get this over with.”

Wild got up with the rest of the links and after saying a quick thank you to Telma they all walked out with the guards escorting them to the Throne room. 

[rustbeltjessie]

Poetry asks 20 & 30!!

20. a poem about your favourite season

I carry your breath in my hands like warm sun at dusk. Your laughter vines through my hair, roots growing into my heart.

Stay with me while the forest rings its small brass bells, and the lake reflects the oracle

of October’s bronze mirror, candling golds and russets of evening’s wild dance.

Hold to our branch and whisper your song of riffling leaves before wind clips our stems

to whirl us back to earth in our separate turns.

We have only

until the moon blinks.

—Patty Dickson Pieczka, “Autumn”

30. recommend any poem you want that’s not covered by the above prompts

People, the ghosts down in North-of-the-South aren’t see-through

They don’t wear nightgowns or whisper or sing or want hazy things from the ones of us who are living. They have skin, bones, people. They’re short in stature and they don’t walk through walls. They come in our houses

by kicking down doors, wearing porkpie hats and smoking those My Father cigars. Yellow sweat stains on their sleeveless undershirts, my people. I’m sure there are other kinds of ghosts other places,

sad angels wearing bloomers and fanning their wings, but here their faces are made of gristle and their eyes red from too much Thunderbird. They want to steal our valuables, mess shit up, drop a match and burn

down the house. I don’t know any other way to say it, people. They walk right into our kitchens without being invited, tracking mud, lifting the fish by the tail out of the fryer and stuffing it in a cloth sack the color of a potato

just pulled out of the ground, and if there was a potato pulled fresh out of the ground they’d take that too. Their pee sizzles when it hits the floor. They don’t hear prayers or heed four-leaf clovers. We have to give

our bodies to the task. I mean we push back, people. Harder than day labor. Harder than shoving a bull out of the cow paddock. Two bulls. We have to say leave my goddamned house. Go, motherfucker.

My fucking house. Shouting while pushing, like breech birth, or twins. They slap on that corpse-smelling aftershave and come calling, holding a bouquet of weeds. They want our whiskey, our gravy, our honey, our combs, our bees.

—Diane Seuss, “People, the ghosts down in North-of-the-South aren’t see-through”

[razrbladekiss]

TYRANTS | Chapter Thirteen - 13 Beaches

WORD COUNT: too much 7.3k

WARNINGS: Jax ‘n Isla angst, general angsty shit, low-key trauma dumping but not really, some nasty smut (one lucky guy gets his dick sucked, won’t say who tho), usual SOA shit.

A/N: Sorry for falling off for a literal fucking month?? Don’t know what happened there. Anyway! To the handful of you that read and enjoy Tyrants, I hope this chapter makes up for my random absence. Xx

MASTERLIST

The hook of dusk had failed to tempt Isla, now. She had no desire to immerse herself into the blackness, nor did she wish to bask in the vibrancy of nighttime that she usually adored.

She was too cold to admire the beauty, too wound-up to focus on the stars and stratus clouds dusting across the sky above Charming as the town settled down for the evening.

Too agitated to think straight.

She had been left alone, today.

Isla had been abandoned in a heartbeat, stranded at the very epicenter of her least favorite place in town before the day had really begun. And she was pissed.

It was an irritation that could have countered rage, actually. Nothing short of pure anger because she was perpetually riding that bitter, bitter high after chastising Clay and challenging Tig because she just wanted answers.

And attaining answers—using her spellbinding charm and cogency that she had inherited from both Chibs and Diane—was what she was good at, usually.

Isla could wrap just about anybody around her little finger, scrutinize them in the kindest, most wholesome way possible, and then gut them—so very sweetly—for the information in which she had sought to collect from the very start.

Gemma had always admired the way that she had the ability to remain so poised whilst, essentially, manipulating those around her, and Jax was just glad that Isla wasn’t stupid enough to get too smug.

Because there was always that worry. With such information—power—came an almost overriding air of complacency that many often felt themselves wilt beneath. Fall victim to, perhaps.

She was not one of the few. Isla was wise enough to take notice, but even wiser not to recite whatever she had learned.

Though, with this issue, she was completely out of the loop.

Left deserted in the dark, just wondering why everybody seemed to rally around—with hidden agendas—while simultaneously declaring that they had no idea about the intricacies of the incident.

She trusted that she would become somewhat privy soon, however.

“Can I sit?” Jax asked, pointing to the empty space on the bench before her. He lifted a brow, pacing over. “Or are ‘ya gonna spend the next ten minutes chewin’ me out ‘cus you’re in a bitchy mood?”

She shrugged, mindlessly tapping ash into a beer bottle that had been left atop one of the picnic tables.

“Where’d you get to, today?”

“I took a walk.” Isla mumbled, watching embers and flecks of black fall from her cigarette. “After Unser came in and Clay sent you all on your way, I took a walk and went—“

“To get some coffee.” He finished her sentence, taking a seat opposite her. “Y’know, you’re gonna turn into a latte if you keep drinking ‘em?”

“Would you rather me drink four mugs of coffee every single day, or shoot heroin?”

His glare was piercing. Cold.

That wasn’t a flying comment that she should’ve made, and Isla recognized it the second she received yet another piqued scowl.

But she wasn’t bothered by how she was being received today. And so she strived to appear as level as possible.

“What’s your fucking problem, Isla?”

“I don’t have a fucking problem.” She upheld, stuffing the butt of her cigarette into the glass. “What makes you say that?”

He scoffed a laugh, watching her eyebrows scrunch into each other as she folded over her arms. “You’re being a bitch.”

“I’m being brushed aside.” Isla corrected. “I care about Gemma, Luann, and this club just as much as what any of you do, and I don’t know shit—“

“You know just as much as us!”

“Oh, the hell I do!” Her palms smacked against the hardwood as she stood.

Isla’s elbows shook, going almost completely limp trying to hold her weight so suddenly.

“Unser strolled in and Clay kicked me out! You all left the hospital and nobody told me what was going on! I was stranded—“

“You were not stranded.” Jax remained calm, also getting to his feet. Hoping to pace over and soothe her, perhaps.

But she was boiling over. Dripping molten lava. And Jackson Teller would’ve been a fucking idiot to even try to get a hold of her.

She was just like Gemma in that respect. Fiery.

“I was on my own.” She defended. “Tig left with Ope—Tig was my fucking ride, Jax. And then dad went with Bobby, Juice, and Sack as soon as you left. Which meant that I was stranded—“

“Tara was there.”

Isla sneered. “Tara was with your mother.”

“She could’ve taken you back when they were finished—“

“Jax, this isn’t just about me not getting a ride home from the hospital.” More subdued, she let out. “This is about me being left in the dark whenever something happens to this club.”

“But you’re not a member.”

His riposte came too hastily, for her liking. It seemed as though it’d been perpetually dancing along the tip of his tongue, desperate to leap off and hit her square in the face at any given moment.

And it did. It stung a little bit, too.

“I know that I’m not a member, and I don’t care about that. It’s just…” Isla sighed, winding her arms around her torso.

Jax’s features stiffened, somehow recognizing what she was about to proclaim. “It’s just what?”

“Difficult.”

“How?”

“Y’know. Everyone ‘round here—whether it be crows or old ladies—has somebody that tells them about the club ‘n what goes on when something like this happens.”

Opening up to her best friend had never felt this arduous before. Isla was always able to speak freely and happily with Jax about anything.

But they seldom discussed the issues that mattered, now.

“Gemma has Clay, she has you. You both tell her everything. Same with Tara. Hell, even the same with Unser most times.”

Jax scoffed, pulling a carton of reds from the pocket of his kutte.

“I’m family too, Jackson. I’ve known you since I was six years old, and I feel like the older I’m getting the more I’m becoming ostracized from everyone around me.”

“You’re not being ostracized.”

“I’m not being included in anything, that’s for sure. You, Juice, and my old man always used to tell me what went on but it’s like I don’t matter anymore—“

“Bullshit!” He spat, feeling an overriding rage rise from the fissures of his chest. “You matter more than most people around here, and you know that. You know that if it came down to it, nobody would hesitate with taking a fucking bullet for you, Isla.”

That much was true, but it certainly didn’t feel that way anymore.

“And I’m sure that it feels shitty sometimes not being told every last damn detail. And I can empathize with that. But, trust me when I say, we do this to protect you—“

“But you tell Tara everything!” Isla squeaked, heeding just how jealous she appeared to be.

Envy wasn’t an emotion that she felt all too often. It wasn’t fervid enough to dominate her thoughts, nor was it really able to even prickle atop the surface.

But, with this, she was unable to deny the covetousness in which she had started to possess.

She didn’t like this side of herself.

“We don’t talk anymore, Jax. Not since Tara came back—“

“And you’re blaming her for being left out?” Agitated, he asked.

Partially, she decided that his qualm held an uncomfortable throb of truth. The tiniest morsel of tangibility because she was, essentially, blaming Tara Knowles for getting hurled aside.

But it wasn’t wholly what she had tried to elucidate. And, really, that was what had hurt her so badly.

Jax had assumed that Isla was gradually morphing into his mother—looking for another party to blame for her unbending misery, her anger and compunction, when she was partly at fault for her own feelings.

“What is it with you men and putting fucking words in my mouth?! You and Tig are the same—“

“We are not the fucking same!” Jax barked. Defensive.

She snarled.

“I’m serious, Isla. Don’t fuckin’ say that to me again.”

“What’s so bad about him?”

“Isla.” He warned, clenching his jaw. “Don’t.”

“Jesus, Jax. What the hell is wrong with what I just said—“

“Leave it!”

At the look of sheer malice plastered on his face, Isla took a step back as he teetered toward a miniature outburst, pointing viciously in her face. She swallowed thickly, fighting back the urge to cry.

Seeing Jax that way—because of her—was bone-chilling, almost. He had the propensity to be terrifying when he set his mind to it.

“I’m not blaming Tara.” She conceded, hoping to flip the topic of conversation from Tig.

Because she had obviously struck several nerves, hadn’t she?

“I’m not blaming anybody, Jax. I’m just saying that we haven’t really talked, and I don’t know what’s going on with you—with the club—anymore. That’s all.”

Still riding the crashing wave—still seething—Jax’s chest simply heaved as Isla had managed to cool herself off. Somehow.

She didn’t know how carefully she should have tread around him, after that. Whether addressing the elephant in the room was the most appropriate conversation starter, or letting his rage dwindle before broaching the topic.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, either.” He added, plummeting down from that improbable high. “Tig said that you’ve been highly-strung all day. Exploded on him and Chibs.”

Isla’s breathing steadied, now. Once he had mentioned the sergeant at arms without a visible flicker of revulsion, she was put at ease.

And, then, she felt awful. Knowing that Tig cared enough—felt enough—about the way she had spoken to him, to even think about uttering his thoughts to Jax, made her feel shitty.

“Nothing’s going on with me, not really.” Isla lied, turning her head when the clubhouse door creaked open and Sack strolled out. “It’s just been a shitty day, and tensions were high at the hospital. That’s all.”

Unconvinced, Jax hummed.

“What happened earlier?”

“Mayans.” He told her, sighing out. “They hijacked the meet with the Niners, started shooting at us, and Bobby got hit in the shoulder.”

Isla cringed, gritting her teeth as she hissed.

“The bullet went straight through, though. He’s lucky.”

“Jesus Christ.” She muttered underneath her breath, glad that she hadn’t been inside of the clubhouse when Tara had been tasked with patching him up.

And though the doctor being back on the scene meant that she didn’t really have much of a purpose around the club, she was remarkably thankful that she was no longer lumbered with such taxing tasks.

It felt nice to take a backseat, but she worried that her family would refrain from enlisting her, from now on.

As they had already started to do, actually.

“I’m gonna head in.” She cleared her throat, stepping away from the table. “See Gemma ‘n apologize to, like, three of the guys for being an asshole today.”

Jax nodded with a small, sly smirk. “You might wanna start with Tig.”

Isla quirked a brow.

“Y’know, considering he’s your ride.” He stated nonchalantly. Her cheeks flushed crimson.

His words held more truth than he would ever know.

“And he’s miserable as fuck in there.”

“He is?”

“He is.” Jax gestured to the door with one hand as it was pulled open again. A crow stepped out, aiming to rid the picnic tables of bottles and bowls. “So is Chibs. So is Clay.”

“So, like, everyone I’ve been with today?”

She snorted a laugh when he nodded and urged her to head inside.

Mainly to save himself the stress of another turbulent conversation with her, but he couldn’t bear to watch the sadness sail over her face any longer.

She was too vibrant, too beautiful and buoyant to be so perennially miserable around the people that she adored the most.

Though, with the scene that she would be greeted with after strolling into the bar, her inner affliction would hardly cease to be.

“Fucking hell.” Isla whispered to herself, loathing the uncharacteristic melancholy that had seemingly absorbed the space tonight.

It was uncomfortable. It was dark and dreary, and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and start her walk home.

But Tig had seized her wrist as she stood completely still a few paces from the doorway, unable to move for fear of disturbing whatever silence had enveloped the Clubhouse.

“Where’ve you been?” Almost concerned, he asked.

“Outside.” Isla mumbled, feeling her eyes well up the longer he held onto her. “I was, uh, outside with Jax. But before that I took a walk.”

He didn’t say anything, then. Tig didn’t know what to say—much like this morning—and so he simply wound an arm around her, and set a sweet kiss against the soft skin of her temple.

Tremulous and emotional, Isla nestled into his hold as he shifted to accommodate the position that she wished to take up.

Both arms snaked around his midsection, her cheek fell flush to his sternum—almost forgetting where she was.

“I’m so sorry for today.”

“Don’t be, it’s fine.” He crooned, tracing his fingers over the pink cotton of her cardigan. He smiled a little bit, taking extra care so that his rings didn’t get caught in the fine knit.

Isla held tightly onto him, taking in both his warmth and licentious scent—that was merely some cheap cologne.

But it was his. And it made her heart race.

“Just glad you’re alright.”

“I’m alright.” Her promise was dulcet, subdued as she looked up at him with a faded blush still stippling over the apples of her cheeks. “Are you?”

He nodded, taking a few more moments to visually validate his retort. Isla wilted beneath his gaze, slowly pulling herself away but allowing him to scrutinize her sun-kissed features.

And she did the same, then.

She watched his beautifully weathered complexion gently contort as he focused on a different point of her face, basking in the thrill of being appreciated by another person.

Admiration—from a man that wasn’t her father or Jax—had been a thing of the past for her. A foreign concept that she hadn’t been bestowed with for many a year, but something she most certainly lauded.

She was relishing in it, actually. Completely shamelessly reveling in the attention that she had amassed because Isla couldn’t remember the last time she had been looked at in such a way.

Of course, she had been lusted over. She had received more lecherous glances and comments than what she’d care to acknowledge, but genuine attention was hard to come by.

But now—with Tig—Isla felt different.

The boundless void had been filled. It had been packed tightly with the purest, most thrilling of thoughts and feelings, and she was delighted.

It might’ve been a casual fling—a risky rendezvous between Chibs’s daughter and a man who could never be tamed—but it was fun.

It was new, it was exciting, and Isla didn’t see the harm in enjoying herself with Tig.

But it felt wrong to say that she had been on top of the world over the last couple of weeks. Especially when so much misery, so much heartache and misfortune had ensued for those around her.

Isla wished that she could’ve inflicted her family’s suffering onto those that deserved to hurt—to be punished—in such a way.

Starting with Gemma and her visible, tangible agony.

The agony that was certainly depleting her from inside out, breaking through muscle and bone until the hurt was evident, strewn over her painfully pensive features.

To see the matriarchal figure—a woman whose reputation laid within the realms of incessant resilience—be so downtrodden, so very broken, was heart-rendering to say the very least.

Isla struggled to steal a glance.

It was gut-wrenching enough to so much as look in her fucking direction, now. As Isla and Tig carefully made their way from the front door, passing Tara applying the finishing touches to Bobby’s bandaged shoulder, she didn’t know where to focus her attention.

Because Gemma’s face—beaten and bruised—had already been etched into her memory and her heart ached at the sight.

And it wasn’t even her own pain. It wasn’t her own issue—she wasn’t privy to what had happened, nor did she particularly have the right to be torn-up over it—and that was possibly what maimed Isla the most.

Knowing that she wasn’t able to do anything to heal the ache. Because she didn’t know how to, really.

“You still need a ride home tonight?” Tig’s qualm hardly raised above a whisper, striving to be more of a soothing aid as opposed to a licentious assertion.

“Please.” She confirmed, watching Gemma duck out from the bar.

Isla knew exactly where it was that she was headed.

The place that granted a sense of solitude to whoever sought it out. The spot—above the clubhouse, above their beautifully wistful town—that both Isla and Jax had lauded for the longest time.

And she knew, she understood, just why Gemma had decided to retreat to the roof during a time of such bitter uncertainty.

She needed the peace. She craved the calm and moment of tranquility before Clay and Jax went into this—whatever it might’ve actually been—all guns blazing.

Isla’s heart thumped within the fissures of her chest, beating caustically against the polished metal of her favorite crucifix as she raised her head and looked to Tig.

“Can we leave?” She asked, not wanting to get entangled with any more trouble tonight. “You don’t have to yet, but…”

And she didn’t have to elucidate her thoughts, her very valid reasoning for wishing to flee the most miserable bar on earth, for him to understand that this was no place for her today.

“Even if we don’t head back to my place straight away.” Isla added, second-guessing her proposal with every passing second of silence.

But he quirked a brow, then. Tig produced a small smile too.

“What are you saying?”

Isla shrugged. “It’s a nice night. It’d be a shame to waste it, is what I mean.”

“So, what?” Tig asked, winding an arm around her. “You wanna go for a ride?”

She blushed when his tone turned more sultry, than anything. Probably unintentionally, with every syllable Tig spoke, an almost wicked rhythm bled through his words and right into Isla’s fucking veins. Killing off any ounce of composure she might’ve been clinging to.

“Something like that, yeah.” She added, watching Chibs and Juice take their respective seats on one of the couches from her peripheral vision.

As bad as she felt for snapping, she was somewhat glad that nobody had jumped down her throat and coerced her into a half-assed apology that, really, she wasn’t sure she’d ever mean.

Well, aside from Jax. Who had, now, vanished.

Isla simply assumed that he’d followed his mother out. She smiled at the thought. It was sweet.

“Where d’ya wanna go?” Tig asked, grounding her immediately. “To get a coffee, or something?”

A kind gesture, she thought. But it was almost ten, now. She wanted to unwind, to release some pent-up tension, not ricochet off of the fucking walls of her bedroom.

“I was thinking about something a little cooler.” Cryptically, she retorted.

Tig’s eyebrows knitted together, though he had already pointed toward the passage back to the lot. Hoping to give instruction without being heard, or even seen, by anyone around them.

“Ice cream?” Confused, he asked as he padded alongside her. He grabbed the door before she had the chance to seize the handle and pull it too viciously, too fast, and hit herself with it.

She mumbled her gratitude, striving to stifle the blush that’d started to blister over her cheeks at his mindless act of chivalry.

“You want ice cream, is that what you’re hinting at?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to ice cream. But I meant, like, maybe we should go to the beach—“

“You wanna take a walk along the beach?” It was teasing now, as opposed to seductive. More deriding than anything.

Isla’s lips contorted into a frown when he fished around his kutte pocket for his bike keys, and started to walk ahead a little bit.

“What’s wrong with that?” Defensively, she asked. “I haven’t been to the beach in so long, and I think we both need to get some fresh air. Sea breeze, whatever.”

She had the propensity to get twitchy. To display that flicker of fierceness that Gemma had trained her to host. And Tig was obsessed with it. Obsessed with the way that she was so easily able to flip that internal switch and thrust herself into another demeanour entirely.

He produced a jeering smirk, letting her know that he didn’t have an issue.

“You’re an asshole.” Isla laughed softly, shoving at his shoulder. “I really thought that you were gonna tell me that the beach was a shitty idea.”

“Never a shitty idea.” He promised, rounding his bike and grabbing a helmet for her. “Beach sex is never a shitty idea.”

She snorted, taking it from him. “I don’t remember saying that you were gonna get laid tonight.”

“I think you did last night.”

“And that was almost twenty-four hours ago.” Smartly, she stated. Isla fastened the strap beneath her chin and smiled. “I might’ve changed my mind, now—“

“No way.” Tig’s face fell. “You can’t do that.”

“I could.” She added, waiting for him to take his position on the bike. “I won’t, but I absolutely could.”

“And I could leave your ass here.”

“But you won’t.” Isla affixed both hands to the peaks of his shoulders when he straddled his bike, and she did the same.

“No, I won’t.” Tig growled, revving the engine of his Harley a couple of times.

The rumble, the eroitic, completely harmonious din of that damn engine sent an almost stifling heat straight to her core. She sighed, longing to feel his touch, longing to feel his deft fingertips glide over the supple skin of her thighs and straight into her warmth.

Being fastened to the back of his bike—legs spread over the taught leather—was just as orgasmic, she thought. An oddly satisfying, oddly lewd zeal ripped through her like wildfire as the wind had started to whip through her hair.

She would’ve said that the breeze taking to those long, loose curls was almost able to contest the sheer rush of Tig’s ringed fingers winding around each strand as he pulled from the root and pounded into her.

Isla swallowed dryly, being too entangled with her prurient daydream—or just dream, now—to realize that her mouth had been tilted open the entire time.

She smacked her lips together a few times consecutively, hoping to restore some morsel of moisture before they dismounted the motorcycle and Tig dove straight in for a kiss. Like he always did.

Despite residing in California—a state with which beaches came by the dozen—neither ever seemed to go out of their way to take a trip, a short stroll, toward the ocean. Not even the boardwalks that spanned, what seemed to be, miles.

Isla adored the breeze, the shells and plethora of aesthetically appeasing rocks that lined the golden sands, and the sheer smell of the salty air. She had always been the same, always had a certain affinity to the waves and sea life, but she feared that this might’ve been a bad idea.

Because beaches—walks along the beach—had traditionally morphed into a place in which romance blossomed, a route that lovers took to hand-in-hand for some alone time.

And, really, she wasn’t opposed to the idea of walking alongside Tig Trager while he held onto her, making the most of the luminous evening. But she didn’t know if he was particularly into it.

The romance thing, specifically.

Though, he was a soft-touch beneath the harsh exterior and Sergeant at Arms patch.

“You gonna be warm enough with just that cardigan out here?” He asked over his shoulder, letting the engine die out completely before urging her to dismount. “You don’t wanna go back ‘n get a jacket?”

“I’m fine.” Isla promised with a smile, pulling her left leg over to hop off onto the right side of the gravel. “Wish I went to get my bathing suit, though. Tonight is perfect for a swim, I think.”

Tig hummed indifferently, not understanding why she would want to take a dip in such cold fucking conditions. Not even he was that insane.

“Could always go skinny dipping.” He mused, reaching for the tiny loops on the back of her jeans as she tried to wander away. Tig pulled her backward until her ass collided with his belt buckle, feeling the metal press its way into his stomach.

“And come away with a public indecency charge?” Isla asked, unimpressed. “That might be your thing, Tiggy, but it sure as shit ain’t mine.”

“Nah.” He snaked his arm around her waist, wordlessly encouraging her to rest her head against the brawny muscle of his left bicep. “You just haven’t been with the right person. Stripping down to your bare bones is a damn hoot.”

“A hoot?” She chuckled. “You sound like—“

“Don’t say Gemma.”

“I was gonna say an old man.” He cringed when she said that, silently wishing that Isla had mentioned Clay’s old lady instead.

“Gee, thanks babe.”

“You’re welcome.” She stated through a soft laugh, pressing a hand to his chest. “You’re a hot old guy, though. Like, you fuck like you’re thirty—“

“You’re just diggin’ your own grave, Isla.”

The pair laughed, then. She realized that Tig was simply pulling her leg.

Truthfully, he didn’t really care. Not when he learned pretty early on that Isla meant absolutely no harm by anything that she might’ve said to somebody. And, when she did have intent to hurt some feelings, she expressed her resentment in different ways.

“Speaking of digging graves, I talked to Clay.”

She grimaced, waiting for the verbal beat-down. She knew that this evening was too good to be true.

“What’d he say?” Isla asked, watching her feet as they made their way across the boardwalk instead of making any form of eye-contact. “That he’s mad at me? That I need to keep my nose outta club business ‘cus I’m not even a member?”

Tig blinked at her. Despite refusing to look upward, she could practically sense the confusion painting his face.

“Sorry, I just assumed that he would’ve felt that way because Jax certainly fuckin’ did.”

“Jax said that?” Galled that the Vice President would even entertain saying such a thing to a woman like Isla—somebody that simply wanted the best for those around her—he asked.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter ‘cus we talked it out. He’s just in a shitty mood today. Understandably.”

He grunted.

“Enough about him.” Finally, she raised her gaze. She satisfied his line of sight, glowing crimson when she realized that he had been watching her this entire time. “What’d Clay have to say?”

Tig rubbed his lips together.

“Was it bad?” Isla quizzed, diverting her focus back to the ground as they stepped off the wooden slats and onto the sand.

“Oh, no. It wasn’t bad. It was just about you. Y’know, your job and whatnot—“

“My job?” Morbidly alarmed, she raised. “You told him that I quit my job?”

“Well, I didn’t tell him.”

Isla stilled in the sand, feeling her heart sink.

“Chibs said—“

“Fuck what my father has to say.” She blurted. “Does Gem know?”

Tig’s head shook. “Only Clay. And maybe Jax.”

She wasn’t able to pinpoint just why her family finding out about her most recent endeavor was so humiliating. Maybe it was the thought of them thinking less of her for what she did, or maybe she feared that she would suddenly become weak in their eyes.

Feeble, perhaps.

“Look, Isla. This ain’t a big deal.” He promised softly, hoping to release all tension from her svelte frame. “Clay just said that if you need it, there’s a place for you at TM.”

“I know. Gem always said that. But…”

“But you don’t wanna answer to her more than what you already do. I know. But it’s a job, baby. It's a job at a place that you know like the back of your damn hand, you know everyone so you don’t gotta learn nothin’, and you’ll be closer to your dad, to Jax—“

“To you.” She finished his list the same way that he had planned to, earning a shit-eating grin. “We’d probably have more time together.”

He hummed, resting his head atop hers as they walked toward a cluster of stones and rock pools.

“And, like I said, you don’t need to figure anything out ‘cus you’ve been hanging ‘round the place for, like, twenty years.”

“And I’m just really smart and intuitive anyway.”

Tig snorted a laugh.

“It’s true.” Isla upheld, pulling away so that she could take a seat on one of the rocks.

She fastened her palms to the flat-top stone, and used every ounce of upper body strength that she could muster to hoist herself upwards.

“I’m a nice person, I’m pretty strong, and I could give you guys haircuts ‘n shit whenever you need them.”

“This is true.” Tig agreed with a small nod, joining her. “But if you think for a second that I’m gonna sit back and watch you put your hands in some other guy’s hair, then you’ve got another thing comin’.”

“Sounds like someone’s jealous of a completely hypothetical situation.” She taunted, swinging her legs off the side of the rock.

They weren’t high up at all. Tig’s feet touched the ground, but she was shorter than him. He didn’t realise just how much shorter she was, until that point.

“Not jealous. Just wary.”

“Of me shaving Juice’s head every once in a while?”

At that, he started to chuckle. Heartily.

“It’s what I’m good at, honey. I like cutting hair and trimming old men’s beards.” Isla ran her thumb along his chin, ghosting underneath his bottom lip.

“Are you saying you want the facial hair gone?”

“Absolutely not.” Offended, she put down. “I would never say such a thing. I love it.”

Tig curled a hand around her wrist—still perpetually hovering over his face—and smiled. She withered against him, lauding that he was so gentle, so tender and soft when he put his skin close to hers.

Even if it was just their hands.

“I think you’re the only girl that has ever said that to me.”

“Girl?”

“Woman.” He corrected himself, pulling her closer. She draped her legs over his, then. “You’re the only woman that has ever told me she loves the facial hair.”

“I find that ridiculously hard to believe. It’s so sexy.”

His shoulders shrugged as he just smiled.

Isla’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Which bitch said that she didn’t like it? D’ya think I could take her?”

“Jesus, babe.” Tig snorted a laugh, unable to control himself.

The mere thought of Isla fighting another woman was insane to him. She wasn’t a fighter, by any means. He wasn’t even sure that she’d ever hit somebody, before.

“It was, uh, an ex.”

She sensed by his tone of voice that it might’ve been a touchy subject, then. Something she shouldn’t have roused, but she was interested in whatever he was willing to say.

“Colleen?”

“Nah. Fiona.” He sounded completely defeated. Forlorn.

But the name made Isla recoil. It made her feel uncomfortable. Like the sheer memory of that woman—despite being a completely different being to who Tig was referring to—had managed to churn her fucking insides.

“It was before I got patched. She was my old lady, y’know? So I cared about what she had to say.” He chuckled, holding onto her that bit firmer, now. “She hated the hair, so I shaved it.”

“Why’d she hate it?”

“Didn’t like the way it felt, or something. But I loved her, so I listened.”

“But if she loved you, then she’d have let you keep it.” Isla mused sadly.

“Yeah, well.” Mindlessly he muttered. “Didn’t have to worry ‘bout her for long, anyway.”

He started to stiffen. Went completely rigid beneath the denim legs draped over his thighs, and Isla’s heart had started to pulsate wildly.

Tig was an open book, for the most part. But there were pages and excerpts of his past that he was reluctant to share. Reluctant to even ponder about, sometimes.

But, with Isla, this—like everything—just felt different.

“She died.”

“Tig…”

“It was my fault.” He continued, disregarding the way that Isla wanted to soothe him.

The way that she needed to soothe him. To tell him that he didn’t have to continue, to tell her anything that he didn’t feel comfortable with.

“We were ridin’ along the I-5 one night. Goin’ too fast—what’s new?” He chuckled humorlessly, tracing circles over her spine. “But, uh, but then I lost control of that damn FXR and crashed it. Next thing I knew, Fiona was laying on the other side of the road. Blood everywhere.”

“Jesus Christ, Tig. I’m so sorry.” She brushed her fingers over the back of his neck when he turned his head to look at her, noticing the sadness filter through his traditionally unbothered expression.

“It’s alright. This shit happens.”

“But that’s so…That’s traumatic.” Isla reasoned with him. “Nobody should have to see that.”

“You’re right, but I was askin’ for it. Getting on that bike after a couple beers, jaded, going 95 in a 70. That was on me.”

She stayed silent. Because he was right, it was on him.

It was just hard to digest.

“Fi was pregnant, too.”

Her heart sank.

“Oh my God.” Isla gasped. She felt tears brewing almost instantly. “Did you know before she died?”

“God, no. If I knew that, I’d never have let her get on the damn thing.” He reassured, hating how he had the propensity to ruin every moment.

But he didn’t. Isla didn’t think that he ruined anything.

“It was just bittersweet. ‘Cus pretty soon after, I was patched in. ‘N she would’ve been so happy to see that.”

With saturated hues, she blinked at him. Forcing a smile when he didn’t seem to host any morsel of sadness.

“But this was some thirty years ago, Isla. This was before you were even a fuckin’ thought.”

“Gee, thanks babe.” She repeated his earlier retort with a chuckle, letting him run his thumb beneath her eyes. “Sometimes I forget that you had a whole other life before I knew you.”

“Wife, kids, dogs. All that shit.”

“And look at you now. Screwin’ your buddy’s daughter.”

If her laugh hadn’t been so infectious—so beautifully fucking infectious—Tig might’ve taken offense to what she had said.

“I’m not actually screwin’ her, ‘cus she’s refusing to put out for me. So…”

“I am doing so such fucking thing!” Isla squeaked. “I just don’t wanna have sex on this beach. What if someone sees us?”

Tig shrugged. But, he gestured to the borderline morbidly sparse coastline. Not a single soul littered the sand, nor did animals. And the only sounds that echoed through the caverns, just so happened to be the crashing of waves against the shore.

It was quite peaceful, actually.

“Nobody’s here.” He whispered, kissing licentiously across her neck. “Nobody’ll see us, doll.”

She moaned.

She moaned and wriggled beneath his grip, before she had the most hypersexual idea that she might’ve conjured up.

Ever.

“Get off.” Isla pushed at his chest, pulling her legs from his lap.

“What? Why?” He complied, suddenly feeling cold without her blanketing his frame. “Did I do something wrong?”

Her head shook as she slid off the rock and let her feet hit the sand with a soft thud.

“Unbuckle your belt.” She commanded, shrugging her cardigan off to reveal two freckled shoulders. “Please—“

“Oh, you don’t have to ask me twice.”

Isla giggled to herself as she heard the metal snap against the rock, inciting a swarm of butterflies to attack her insides.

She put the cardigan on the ground, kneeling atop the pink cotton. She hummed, watching him—through long, thick lashes—fumble with the zip of his jeans.

“And here’s me thinking that you had self respect.”

“Not a single shred.” Seductively, she retorted.

Tig leaned over to seize the back of her neck, planting a kiss against Isla’s forehead as her hands dove straight into his pants.

“Christ.” He grunted, taking her hair into his fist while she started to curl her dainty fingers around his cock. “This your plan all along?”

“Yup.”

He snickered. “Sneaky little gash, ain’t ‘ya?”

Isla blushed, though she refused to let his comment throw her off. She was determined to make Tig fall apart that same way he had her. Time after fucking time.

“Not sneaky. Just smart.”

“And sexy.”

“Oh, yeah. Very sexy.” She agreed, leaning over—eyes still locked on his—to press a kiss against his happy trail.

He almost came then and there, at her demure touch.

“And good with my mouth.” Isla added just to see him squirm. “Actually, I’ve been told that I’m really good with my mouth. Like, I’m amazing at giving head.”

“Yeah?” Her tongue ran over her lips, a hazy smile tugging at the corners. “You gonna prove that one?”

“Maybe.” She pushed her thumb over his slit, slowly pulling his prick away from the confines of his underwear.

Her eyes lit up.

“You Catholic girls are dirty as fuck.”

“Remember what I told you. Gotta give the big man a worthwhile show.”

Tig groaned, feeling his pulse quicken the closer that her lips got to his cock.

And, before he was able to form another somewhat coherent thought, Isla was pumping her hand along his shaft with wide, lustful eyes.

“The more I think about it, the more I don’t hate the idea of someone seeing this.” She mentioned casually, spitting on the head. “It’s pretty hot, seeing a guy get his soul sucked right out of his cock.”

He couldn’t believe how fucking vulgar she was. She was so sweet, so honorable by nature. But equally as ravenous. Her desire for debauchery, for sex was blinding.

Tig was addicted to it.

“It’s so big. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take the whole thing without gagging.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself.” He kneaded his fingers into the crown of her head, sucking in a deep breath.

Because Isla had started to swirl her tongue around him, now. She was taking her time with licking away the droplets of precum, working him between her fingers with her eyes screwed shut and ass almost completely in the air.

His breathing was labored, stuttering the more she rolled her tongue or flicked her eyes upward to see if he was enjoying himself.

And he was. A lot.

“Fuck, Isla.” He dragged his curse out, tugging at her hair the further her lips traveled toward the base of his cock.

She moaned.

The harder he tugged, pulled, yanked, the more she felt herself whimper. And he felt it, too. It reverberated through his entire fucking body and it urged him to raise his hips.

Isla gagged, she choked around him and Tig couldn’t help the guttural moan that had slipped into the cool air.

“You’re gonna make me cum fast if you keep making those pretty little noises.”

She made another choking sound, feeling his cock twitch inside of her mouth. Isla smiled, too, lauding the thrill of watching him try to hold himself together.

He had an almost shocking lack of self-discipline, self-restraint, for a man whose position in his club saw him standing beside the president.

But, in this instance, Isla didn’t seem to mind that. She liked it, actually.

Seeing him throw his head backward—a hand twined into her curls while he mindlessly bucked his hips upward a few times—was a sight so insanely erotic, Isla, herself, struggled to refrain from orgasming.

But then, she decided that pleasuring herself wasn’t too bad an idea, actually.

“Babe—fuck—I don’t know if I’m gonna last long if you start feelin’ yourself up.”

With her lips wrapped around his cock, cheeks hollowed out, Isla looked upward to discern the sheer worry sailing over his face.

But she took immense pleasure in that, immediately taking her left hand and dipping it into her jeans. Pushing her panties aside, Isla began to paw at her clit at the same pace that she was sucking him.

“This is the hottest thing I have ever fucking seen.”

She had a mixture of spit and cum trailing from her lips, down her chin, onto her chest, and she just smiled at him.

It was hazy, completely spent, but it was so fucking divine.

And the scene around her, too, was just as incredible. Tig didn’t think that he’d be getting blown on the beach, tonight. Though, he wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

“I’m real close, are you?”

Her head dove down, eyes screwed shut, and he, completely selfishly, started to thrust his hips upward. Hard.

She gagged when the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat, two watery hues instantly exposed to him as she gasped and fucking choked.

Her breathing was strangled, though she didn’t care to quit what she was doing. It was pleasing her, afterall.

But she took her hand from her stifling heat, and let it resume its position around the base of his cock.

Because seeing him fall apart—feeling his release hit like a ton of bricks—was enough. And she didn’t need that helping hand to finish, now.

With mascara streaming from her waterline, right the way down her cheeks, Isla’s head bobbed viciously in order to get Tig to reach the end.

But she feared that she would’ve fucking died if she didn’t take a breath soon, and so she released him from her mouth with a pop.

“I’m sorry, I thought I was gonna pass out.” She chuckled, though her hand was still fastened to him, stroking his cock. “How do you feel?”

“Amazing.” Tig murmured, feeling himself twitch beneath her skin. “So fuckin’ good—you were right. You’re amazing at giving head.”

With a sense of pride, she beamed. Though, with Tig’s cum hot and wet against her chin, she wasn’t sure that she looked as great as she felt.

“You play your cards right, and I’ll do this more often.” Isla told him, waiting for him to soften in her palm. “I’ll get on my hands and knees in front of you, completely naked, and I’ll give you a blowjob whenever you want me to, babe.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Each syllable was punctuated with an almost brutal pump of her hand, urging him to just say fuck it and let himself go.

And it wasn’t long before he did just that, actually.

“I’m gonna—“

Isla silenced him, letting her lips take the place of her hand once more. Just so she could catch every last fucking drop of his seed as it spilled out of him, and onto her tongue.

“Holy shit.” He held onto the back of her head, watching her swallow each ounce without reluctance or hesitation.

“How was it?” She asked, pulling herself up. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, using her other to pull the cardigan from the sand.

Tig was simply awestruck, fixing himself up.

“I’ve never been blown like that before.” He confirmed, once again pulling her closer by the loops attached to her jeans. “And I don’t think anyone will ever be able to blow me like that again.”

“Good.” Isla put her hands on his shoulders. “‘Cus I’m not willing to let you go ‘n find out if another bitch can take you that well.”

“Possessive much?”

“Absolutely.” She grabbed the front placket of his shirt with one hand, the other still attached to the leather. “You’re mine, Trager.”

[dvskf4llz]

HIYYYAAAA DUSK IT'S CLOUDY HERE!!!! I've missed ya! I hope you're doing alright and remember, you don't need to be constantly writing oneshots so that you can post them! Take as much time as you need <3

Anyways! Could I request some Valentines HCs with some of the Hermits? Maybe Ren, Xisuma and Grian again? Or just any Hermits you want and can do! :D

I do apologize for asking for so many Hermits last time- you are allowed to do as many Hermits as you want <3

Much love and always take care of yourself! <3 -☁️ anon

Hiii cloudy!! And hello to everyone else aswell!! I'm actually back this time I swear- I do apologize for not following the uploading schedule I promised, I just didn't feel motivated enough to write anything but now I do!

So have some Valentines HCs! <3

Valentines with the Hermits HCs

𝓜𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓲𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓲𝓽𝓼 (𝓢𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭) 𝔁 𝓖𝓝!𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻

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This oneshot contains: A bunch of corny stuff, fluff, kissing, slight suggestiveness (?), cuddling, fluff and overall just some wholesomeness <3

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GoodTimesWithScar

- With Scar, he either tends to forget about Valentines or he does remember Valentines

- This year, he remembered. By the time you were awake, you bet he made you your favorite breakfast. He had woken up a few hours before you did just to do that for you for Valentines, not that he doesn't sometimes do that on regular days aswell

- Scar's the type of guy to prefer more simple stuff, he wouldn't go all out on Valentines but he would still do his best to make it special.

- He'd get you your favorite chocolates and just a simple Valentines card he made for you, the card had a very sweet paragraph that explained how much Scar loved you

- If you wanted to go out on a date, Scar would surprise you with a simple yet cute picnic date on a spot he figured you liked. He had also picked up some flowers to give to you, the flowers just so happened to be your favorites aswell!

- If you wanted to just stay at home, Scar wouldn't mind at all. He'd still get you flowers though, he couldn't just not get you anything for Valentines. For the rest of the day, you two just mostly spent time together in bed cuddling.

Docm77

- When I say this man will spoil you, he will go ALL out.

- You would wake up to a whole feast of all the different foods you like, it was practically enough to be considered as three meals.

- He'd definitely also have made a whole build just for you, most likely a huge build of a teddy bear that held a heart that had the words: "I love you!"

- You think that's all Doc got you? Oh hell no. He got you a whole bouquet of flowers, your favorite chocolates, a small version of the teddy bear he made but it's actually a stuffed teddy bear and much more.

- This man takes Valentines as an excuse to spoil you even more than he usually does, but he still makes sure tone it down a bit if you tell him it's too much already

- If you were fine with going out on a date outside, you bet Doc would bring you to a place you've always wanted to go to or would you bring you to a fancy restaurant

- If you just wanted to stay at home, Doc would try to persuade you first but would soon give up as he respected your decision. That didn't mean though that he wasn't going to still try his best to spoil you, but at the end of the day you both just cuddled together in bed after a long day of Doc spoiling you <3

Rendog

- Ren would be a mix of both Scar and Doc honestly, he'd try his best to make Valentines both extravagant while still trying to make it simple enough to your liking

- Just like Scar, Ren would wake up earlier to make you your favorite food for breakfast. He'd try to make a cute little design with the food, but would fail a bit but it's not like you minded.

- Like Doc, Ren would also spoil you with gifts such as, your favorite flowers, favorite chocolates, a stuffed animal that just so happened to be your favorite animal and a lot more things

- Ren wouldn't mind at all whether or not you wanted to go out or just stay at home, he respects your decisions.

- If you wanted to go out, Ren would be all for it. He'd take you out on a nice dinner date at a place where it just has the most wonderful view. And of course, the food was but your favorite.

- If you wanted to just stay at home, Ren would be fine with that too! He'd happily bring you to you two's shared bed and cuddle you the whole time, he would also definitely be all up for just a simple conversation. He loves you and will always respect what you want <3

Bdubs

- This man will not let you get out of bed, like at ALL.

- As soon as you woke up and tried to stand up, Bdubs was there to stop you by pouncing onto you with his full body. You may or may not have hit your head as this happened, which Bdubs apologized profusely for and made it up with kisses

- After that happened, he still would not let you get up. He was not going to budge, not even if you give him puppy eyes or try to persuade him with.. Ways...

- You wanna eat? Bdubs will bring a bed tray with your favorite food, it also had some of your favorite flowers in a vase as it was one of Bdubs' gifts for you today.

- You wanna go out? Too bad, Bdubs will stay laying ontop of you so that you can't move. You don't exactly have a choice since Bdubs was ontop of you, so you just had to give in.

- You wanna have a date? Consider a bed date that's filled with cuddling and kisses, probably some other things aswell but we'll not get on that subject yet

- Where's your gifts? Don't worry, Bdubs would hand you all the gifts he got for you for Valentines. It consisted a bunch of your favorite stuff, he even went out of his way to learn how to create an origami version of your favorite animal!

- You two ended the day with cuddling of course, it's just a necessary to do every night!

Grian

- Grian doesn't try to go too eccentric on Valentines, but you bet he's not going to stop his mischievous nature.

- You two would be doing something sweet as making Valentines cookies, which would end up getting a bunch of flour on the kitchen and on both you and Grian. Both of you would be giggling your butts off as an accidental flour spill on Grian turned into a whole flour war, it looked liked winter in the Kitchen afterwards. You both agreed to just leave it for tomorrow as you both continued on with Valentines!

- Grian probably would prefer to just stay at home, but he wouldn't mind taking you out on a cute date. Maybe a stroll around the server, holding hands and happily talking while the other listens

- Meanwhile if you didn't mind also staying at home, then you bet you both would be playing with Maui and Pearl. You two would be sitting down on the ground as both cats got equal attention from the both of you, both you and Grian definitely would end up having to chase after the cats soon enough

- If you wanted to just sit down and chat with Grian, he'd be good with that! He'd willingly listen to you talk with admiration in his eyes, he just loves you so much ahhsbshdhb

- By the end of the day, Grian would have his wings wrapped around you while you two cuddled on the couch with both Maui and Pearl on both of your guys' laps. Just a sweet wholesome moment <3

Xisuma

- While yes, Xisuma does remember about Valentines. He struggles to find enough time to spend time with you on this day of love, he would feel so bad because he couldn't spend all that much time with you. He would apologize profusely everytime he would have to get pulled into something important, you of course would re-assure him to calm him down.

- Xisuma would always be trying to make it quick so that he can spend time with you, he would also make sure to grab you some gifts when he just so happens to pass by a store that had some things you liked

- Once Xisuma finally had the chance to spend time with you, he would rush home as fast as he could. He would be at the door with him panting like crazy as he ran as fast as he could back home, he could've flown back home with his elytra but he kind of forgot about that..

- After catching his breath, he'd give you the gifts he got for you looking slightly bashful. You were surprised to say the least, but you weren't ungrateful. Xisuma was definitely getting some sweet kisses, and a lot of them.

- If you told Xisuma you wanted to go out on a date, he'd bring you out to a slightly high hill and would sit down with you to watch the sunset. After, you both would then stargaze in peace, chatting from time to time as you both started up at the sky. Xisuma would definitely start naming different stars off of you, even using some of your nicknames just to be a bit funny

- If you wanted to stay in though, Xisuma was fine with that! You both would do some sweet yet simple couple stuff like learning how to do different things, Xisuma would definitely try to teach you how to play the guitar.

- And of course, ending the day with cuddles and sweet kisses in bed. Xisuma would have his armour off so that you could actually feel the warmth from his body and just actually feel his touch from his skin, overall it was just a sweet and simple day <3

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You reached the end, congrats! :D

I'm a little late to post this but I still got it! I hope you all enjoyed it, I do want to thank rubi for helping me get this ideas so shoutout to them!

Oh and, if you're wondering what you got for the Hermits.. That's up to your imagination ;) (Go wild.)

Anyways, have a good day/night! Always take care of yourself lovelies! Get all the rest you need and don't feel pressured to do anything! Love you all! /p <3

[ialwaysgobacktoit]

THIS IS PART 8 NOW :)

Of "Time to rest your weary head" (or 'Azriel surprises Gwyn for her birthday'!!!!)

Check out the whole story here

Since last chapter was so short, I made this one bigger - and I absolutely love writing through Gwyn's perspective. I always try to be as mindful and careful as I can when I write her POV and address her trauma, but if there's anything you feel could be done differently, please let me know! :) and thank you so much for reading. Your support means everything to me <3

HEY GIRLS @katiebellf @starbornsinger @madie2200 check out my new chapter!!! and if you wanted to be tagged on this too, feel free to comment ;)

A few days passed by, and Gwyn could say she was already feeling at home in the House of Wind. She continued attending the services at dawn, pushing herself at training, then having lunch with Nesta, Cassian and sometimes Azriel, and at last spending her habitual hours in the library doing research work for Merrill before returning to the House. It was a routine she was kind of used to by now, and it made her happy.

She hadn’t been to Velaris after dinner with the Inner Circle and was secretly growing impatient to visit it again. She was planning to go shopping with Nesta and Emerie, but didn’t summon courage enough to invite them. Something about strolling around the city streets at dusk made her a bit nervous. Although she didn’t feel like admitting it out loud.

She was proud of herself, because she truly felt she was overcoming her fears. These last months were ones of a slow, but effective healing journey. She felt herself being less intimidated around others, mostly males like Cassian and Azriel. Rhysand was more distant, but even the worry she felt at dinner that night had faded. She saw Azriel almost every day and nothing seemed to have changed between them; so she believed in Rhys’s word when he promised her not to tell him.

Something caught her eye and interrupted her line of thought. She was sitting in a comfortable armchair by the fireplace at the House’s private library after a particularly exhausting afternoon, trying to read a not-too-smutty book Emerie had lent her, and immediately raised her head from the shadow near her feet to the door, where Azriel stood by.

“How long have you been there?” She asked and quietly hoped her blushed cheeks went unnoticed by him.

Surprisingly enough, sharing a hallway with Azriel didn’t mean they saw more of each other. He was so quiet she couldn’t detect his presence in his room, and usually she woke up before sunrise, so they didn’t meet each other until breakfast. A part of Gwyn couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated by that.

“Not much.” He said, stepping into the library. She motioned him to seat on the armchair across from hers, and so he did. “Actually, I just came here to ask you something.”

Oh.

She felt something flunk in her chest; it’s been a while since they last met at the training ring late at night, and that was because lately her nightmares were keeping themselves at bay. She remembered their last encounter, his hazel eyes shining under the moonlight as he stared at her from across the room, and they sparred in silence almost until the time of her service.

He didn’t seem different around her, although she could notice him staring at her sometimes with a glimpse of emotion in his eyes. And she felt she was becoming better at hiding her feelings when near him; oddly, something had calmed inside her. That urge and nervousness weren’t the first things to come to mind anymore, and she was content to enjoy their friendship. At least that’s what she kept telling to herself. There were some nights in which her dreams were filled with cedar scent, a pair of hazel eyes looking at her intensely, his beautiful hands on her hair…

She shook her head slightly and forced herself to meet his stare, the firelight making his face look golden; an elegant, handsome angel staring straight at her.

“What is it?”

“I wanted to know if…” His throat bobbed once, and she couldn’t help noticing he seemed nervous. Him, the Shadowsinger, nervous. He rephrased it, staring intently at the fire.

“The Velaris Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing tomorrow. They were in a long undetermined hiatus during the last fifty years, and now they’re back.” His brows furrowed, eyes filled with anger at what had caused it. “I used to go there every other night. And I was wondering… Since you said you’re meaning to leave the House more often, if we, well…”

She tried to suppress her chuckle at the way he fought to find the words. Instead, there was a timid smile on her face when she hesitantly interrupted him:

“Are you asking me… To come with you?”

He finally tore his stare away from the fire to meet her; those hazel eyes filled with something resembling hope.

“Would you like to?”

And damn her if his smile didn’t make her heart and her chest heat up when she responded:

“I would. Very much.”

Suddenly the room felt smaller. She swore the lights dimmed a bit, and all she could think and see was the silhouette of his face and his eyes. Those eyes that’d seen so much, endured so much, and now looked at her, as if trying to vocalize something without saying anything at all. They stayed like that, lost in each other for what seemed like eons, before he cleared his throat.

“So… I’ll let you to your book, then.”

Those words sounded forced, as if he didn’t in fact want to leave. She gave him a smile, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. Stay.

His shadows were all around her now, gently circling her shoulders.

Just as he meant to leave the room, she found herself stating:

“I’m glad you listened to it. What I said about restraining them.” She gestured with her head towards the shadows, and reached for one with her finger. The tendril seemed happy to be touched and wrapped itself in her hand, to what she giggled. “I really like them, you know.”

When she looked up to Azriel, he had a cryptic look on his face, watching in wonder the interaction in front of him.

“They like you too.” His voice was filled with a hidden emotion, and his eyes twinkled.

She smiled at him. “You can stay here for a little while, if you want. I’m not going to bed for a couple hours yet, and I must admit I’m not completely captivated by this novel.”

Even though he had that cool, unreadable mask on almost all the time, she could still see him restraining his surprise. And the way his lips tugged upward told her she was right to assume he didn’t want to leave just yet.

“What’s it about?” He asked while sitting again.

“Well” She skimmed distractedly through the pages, calming her racing heart. “She is a healer from a land up in the North, and he is a tradesman from the South. There’s a curse that connected them since birth, but they don’t know it yet. And that’s what leads them towards one another, the urge to break this curse.” She traced the title, reading the name of the author. “It’s good, just not as good as Diane.”

She casted him an amused look as he laughed quietly at her criticism, shaking his head:

“Because no one will ever compare to her.”

“Never.” She agreed dramatically, and his laugh turned into a grin. “Emerie and Nesta think I’m exaggerating, but I mean it. I must have read her books like ten times by now.”

His eyebrows shot up, clearly interested. “She must be great then.”

“Wait a second. Five hundred years and you’ve never read her?” Gwyn couldn’t hide her astonishment as she gasped.

“Why is that such a surprise?” He leaned back in his chair, that small smile never fading from his face.

“Well, is just… You had plenty of time.” She teased.

“My life is busier than you might think, Berdara.”

“Well, be that as it may, this can no longer go on. You must read it.”

Before he could answer, she called the House to deliver her the stack of Gadot’s novels that were in her bedroom. Her private collection.

“Start by this one” She handed him a copy of And So the Story Goes, that had magically appeared in the table between them “This is my favorite.”

He reached for the book, and she watched as he flipped through the pages. She would admit that sight made her heart flutter once again. The book she had ever since she was little, that she read alongside Catrin, one of the only things she asked Mor to grab her after everything. Its edges were worn, some pages marked and underlined. To have Azriel hold it in his hands…

“You can read it at your own pace. And don’t worry, I have a spare” She showed him the copy Diane had signed her, a newer edition, that beautiful inscription that she knew it by heart in its front page.

I hope you find out what you knew all along.

“I can see you read it a lot.” He stated, musing through the pages and stopping at some passages.

She leaned forward to slap his arm. “What are you doing? Start at the beginning!”

He laughed out loud at her exclamation, his eyes meeting hers.

“Ok, bossy. I definitely will.”

After a few hours of talking and laughing together, she felt the tiredness taking the best of her.

“Goodnight, Az.” She said when she stopped by the door. Even during their conversation, he still held the book, keeping it close to his chest.

“See you tomorrow, Gwyn” She had just turned away when she heard him. “And thank you.”

She looked at him over her shoulder and saw him lifting the book. “Anytime.”

And when she finally shut the door of her bedroom, she couldn’t stop the light feeling on her chest.

***

On the next day, she knocked on Nesta’s door. It was the afternoon, and both Cassian and Azriel were out paying one of their routine visits to the Illyrian camps.

That morning, at service, Gwyn felt like she was flying. She sang like those ancient hymns were all that was left in the world. Even some other Priestesses had commented on that after it was over. And at practice, she couldn’t help her grin when she spotted Azriel across the training ring. And couldn’t help the blush that crept onto her cheeks when he almost immediately turned his head to her, the corner of his lips tugging upward.

She woke up thinking about their meeting at the library, their casual conversation and bantering. She didn’t feel an ounce of discomfort when they were together; everything was so easy. He knew her, her story; he had saved her, for Mother’s sake, and he didn’t make her feel like porcelain, like one blow could shatter her.

Instead, she felt braver and confident when he was around. They could still talk and laugh together as if they hadn’t shared that terrible experience in the past. Mindful of each other’s traumas, indeed, but... It still was light. Trustful. She hoped he’d read the book; she could secretly picture his eyes flipping through her markings and notes. She wanted him to know that part of her.

“Come in” Nesta said from within, interrupting Gwyn’s reverie.

She opened the door, only to find her sister sitting comfortably in an armchair by the window, book in hand and a cup of tea in another. Her training leathers were displayed on the bed, as she thought of training afterwards.

“Hey” Gwyn greeted. She didn’t know where to start.

Aside from Rhys, no one was aware of her recent discovery about the mating bond. Of course, that didn’t stop her sisters from smirking mischievously whenever Azriel was around, at training or during meals. Gwyn knew both Nesta and Emerie had picked upon whatever she was feeling towards him, but they were kind enough not to inquire in public.

“What’s going on?” Her brows furrowed as she got up of her chair.

“Nothing.” Gwyn took in a deep breath. Out with it, Berdara. “I was wondering if you could borrow me a dress.”

Nesta squinted her eyes, and raised an eyebrow as a slow smile started to appear on her face. Cunning, as ever. “May I ask what for?”

Gwyn herself didn’t know. When she found herself alone with Azriel for a moment during training, she had asked him what outfit would be suit for the occasion. He just shrugged with a half-smile, and reassured her she didn’t have to worry about it. But even so, she wanted to look decent for a night out.

“I’m going to Velaris tonight.”

Nesta gasped quietly, and Gwyn could see her eyes were shining with pride. “Alone?”

“No.” Gwyn went to sit at the trunk by the bed. Seeing that Nesta was still staring at her with that knowing smile, she added “Azriel’s taking me to see the Velaris Philarmonic Orchestra.”

She watched as her sister gave her a broad smile, and couldn’t help the blush on her cheeks. “What?”

“Nothing” Nesta hummed back, as she opened the doors to her wardrobe. “Just the two of you?”

Gwyn nodded, standing up and joining her sister in front of her rack full of clothes. So, so many outfits, a myriad compared to Gwyn’s scattered ones. “I don’t know what one’s supposed to wear to the theater. Even less so to watch a live orchestra.”

Nesta huffed a laugh, but her eyes were fixed on the garments in front of them as she scrolled through her various dresses. “Well, I do.”

They spent the next few seconds in silence, as her sister skillfully searched through fabrics. Strangely enough, Gwyn didn’t feel as nervous to have told her as she thought she would. But she was certain Nesta was only waiting for the right moment to fill her with questions.

“Oh, wait. I know.” She passed Gwyn and went to the trunk by that king-sized bed she shared with Cassian. The thought of her sister and her mate didn’t make Gwyn blush the way she once used to, but now the predominant feeling was that she could have that, perhaps. One day. That thought alone made her stomach flutter.

“Here” Nesta drew a burgundy midi dress out of the trunk. “Try this on.”

The V-necked laced bodice wasn’t too tight around the waist, and it had a light and also lacey skirt that draped around her knees, showcasing her legs. It was modest, and yet delicate and elegant.

When Gwyn looked at herself in the mirror, Nesta standing behind her as she zipped her up, she was breathless. It’s been a long, long time since she wore a dress, and this one fitted her perfectly. Alongside with the necklace, her freckled skin and hair, it made her feel… Beautiful. Stunning, even.

“You look splendid” Nesta stared at her through the mirror.

“Thank you.” She turned to her friend, who grabbed her arms and hugged her. She could see she was having fun.

“Do you have shoes to match this?”

Gwyn tilted her head.

“I could use my flats.”

Her sister shook her head, and reached for a matching pair of ankle-strapped scarpin heels under her bed. “Now there you go.”

Suddenly Gwyn felt an urge to cry. She was so happy to count with her sisters at moments like these. It made her excited for the ones to come.

“Hey” Nesta seemed to notice her tearful eyes, and urged her to sit next to her by the bed “Are you ok?”

She nodded and sighed. “I’m just… Happy. I’m nervous, but it feels good to know you girls have my back.”

“You know, Gwyn” Nesta grabbed her hand, her tone gentle. “I was going to say that you didn’t have to do this if you didn’t feel like it, that Azriel would understand…”

The thought of her declining his invitation made her heart ache. She didn’t once consider it; she was just glad to be spending time with him. That hewanted to spend time with her. Just as she opened her mouth to state that, her sister went on:

“But I can see that you want to do this. And I just wanted to let you know that I’m happy for you. And I can’t wait to know all about it when you get back.”

Gwyn squeezed her hand and gave her a cheeky grin:

“I’m excited, Nes.” Her words were barely a whisper as she confided.

“As you should. Now go” She nudged towards the door, smiling. “Go have some fun.”

[magic-is-something-we-create]

🍌 for the ask game? :D

hi!!! thank u for the ask, Dahl!!! <3

🍌  Share a scene that includes comedy/humour or jokes

this is from a scene that absolutely qualifies as the calm before the storm :)

(also, for a little context: "the boys" are Dusk (ember's brother) and Dian (gab's brother), and later on, it's good to know that oak is blind!)

The boys grin, forgetting their breakfasts entirely. Dusk immediately abandons his textbook, and starts drumming his fingers on the hard cover as he talks. “I know what we’re doing today--”

“Making out between the bookcases?” Autumn asks, coffee half way to her mouth.

Dian’s face finds solace buried in his palms, as I start chuckling and Dusk panics, a deep blush rising to the pale parts of is cheeks. “Shut up--”

I’m just surprised she brought it up in front of Dian.

“--just because we’re going to the dance doesn’t mean--”

My mind latches on to the word dance, and I whip my head up, a new vigor for the spoken word rising to my chest. “I’m sorry, when did this happen?”

He freezes mid-sentence, eyes going from annoyed and pinpointed on Autumn, to a panicked look at me, to a familiar, wandering gaze as he tries to remember. Though there are no actual clocks, I can swear I hear the seconds ticking by, as Dian breaks out of his shame and looks at him, and he still doesn’t have an answer.

Eventually, Dian answers for him, barely holding back a laugh. “Three weeks ago.”

I nod to him in thanks. “And... why didn’t you tell me?”

Dusk looks absolutely mortified. “I thought I did!”

“Do you know how to dance? Do I need to teach you?” I pause, a realization hitting me, and my next words are more to myself than anyone else. “Do I know how to dance?”

Dian jumps on my anxieties. “I’ve been teaching him, don’t worry.”

Autumn mocks kissing noises.

Dusk slaps the table. “I swear to Venn--”

“Why so defensive, hm?” Oak teases, cocking her head and looking just past his shoulder.

He glowers with the might of a dragon, as Dian goes back into hiding behind his hands. “You can’t see it, but I’m glaring so hard right now.”

“Good thing I’m immune,” she replies, with the sweetness of candy.

chaos children all around <3 thank u for the ask!!

Send me a fruit, and I'll share a snippet!

[babylon-crashing]

skulduggery

“Hello, Hello Police?/ I am a woman/ & I am afraid/ my husband means to kill me,” from Pat Parker's WomanSlaughter (Diane Press, 1978)

“I was blessed with a 'talent' to bring people back from the grave. I chose to use it to bring back murdered women,” from Tee Franklin and Alitha E. Martinez's Juke Joint (Image Comics, 2018)

I gave myself a tarot reading this morning. The nightmares have come back. I have done virtually nothing with the cemetery since lockdown began. The owls are gone, there are strangers at dusk drinking and shouting on the cemetery grounds almost every night, it isn't a safe space anymore to pray or build an altar or ask for assistance. Like my sobriety my spirituality feels delicate and needing to be protected from outside forces. At first a night not spent at the crossroads felt like I was letting down my side of the bargain. But then I thought, no: things were changing I just didn't have the ability to tell what they were.  

This morning I read Tee Franklin and Alitha E. Martinez's Juke Joint, a supernatural tale about the return of murdered women in 1950s New Orleans. It spoke to me in the same way Pat Parker's WomanSlaughter spoke to me when I first read it back in the 1980s –– there is some poetry whose urgency is so raw it compels me to act each time I pick it up. Juke Joint is also like that. I kept the line, “to bring back murdered women,” in my head as I drew the cards. Here's my spread:

CURRENTLY: Ace of Wands (R) “Violence has robbed me of my mothers, aunts and sisters.”

CHALLENGES: 6 of Swords “I must cross the river Styx to find where their shadows have gone.”

WHAT TO FOCUS ON: Princess of Swords “Valkyrie magic, skulduggery.” *

PAST: 9 of Wands (R) “My confinement has not saved me, my doubts were of no protection.”

STRENGTHS: 3 of Pentacles “I am not afraid of the hard work needed to get this done.”

NEAR FUTURE: 8 of Cups “Without the Maenads old man Dionysus faded to myth/ Without my sisters there are no new myths to make.”

SUGGESTED APPROACH: 3 of Wands (R) “I cannot seek the Daughter-Queen-Crone for this, the traditional female magic that I've learned in the past will not lead me to what I have lost …”

NEED TO KNOW: Princess of Pentacles “… because it is deeper female magic that I need to find.” * (see: skulduggery)

HOPES/FEARS: 8 Justice (R) “It is not justice that I seek but revenge.”

POTENTIAL FUTURE: 7 of Cups “It is easy for me to get lost in daydream while following the Right-Hand path that only embraces benevolent magic; I must use both hands and everything at my disposal to follow where my sisters lead.”

[takeiteasypeasybaby]

Save Me: Chapter 36 - Redemption

~Hey guys! Chapter 36 is out today :) I hope everyone is doing well and excited for this one! Love y’all~

This was a time of healing and growth for everyone, including Negan. Molly had always known him to be a good man inside, but would he be able to show the others?

Two months later...

'You were right...' Rick said softly as he held my hand.

'I should have listened to you, I guess I just couldn't until now' he continued.

I just nodded and smiled, 'are you sure about this?' I asked nervously.

He let go of my hand as he placed both on my shoulders.

'Yes and you will lead them' he said proudly.

He started to walk away, back across the streets of Alexandria when I shouted after him, 'me?'

'The Sanctuary needs a strong leader Molly, if we're gonna do this right' he replied as he smiled softly and went towards the gates.

I just stood stock still and watched him as he walked away.

Was I ready for this?

I felt honoured that he trusted me in that way, especially considering that the majority of those moving to the Sanctuary would be ex-Saviours.

Yet, I was unsure, I hadn't been back there in years and I had no idea how it would feel.

I had suppressed old memories, the bad ones, for so long but when I go to the Sanctuary, I know I will be forced to face them.

But, I had to do this, for Rick, for Carl and his dream, for myself and even for Negan.

I thought about how he would feel about all this.

I knew he would heartbroken, to see another leader in his former home but I hoped that he would find some solace in the fact that he trusted me and knows how much I valued that place.

I told Rick that I would consider it, which upset him slightly knowing that I might not give him the answer that he wanted and needed for enacting Carl's vision.

But I had to be honest with him and myself about who I was.

I had always thought myself brave and confident but after everything these past years, I'm not sure that I'm the same person anymore and as much as I wanted to lead that place.

I knew in my heart that I just wasn't ready.

It wasn't about Negan or the Saviours that made me decline Rick's offer, it was about me and what happened to me there.

Still to this day, only Negan, Aaron and Tara knew and I wanted to tell Rick but I knew in my heart that if he found out, he would go straight for Negan and blame him.

So, I couldn't tell him but I knew he would want an explanation so I told him I would lead eventually, but right now we needed to focus on what we already have, not what will eventually come in a few years time.

Now, looking back, I wish I had told Rick everything...

The day of reckoning came.

There was a hoard of walkers, larger and more vast than we'd ever seen before.

They were heading straight for Alexandria and their sheer force and numbers alone would wipe out us all, so we had to create a diversion.

We all split up and tried different tactics, blasted music from our trucks, set off explosions, set up reflective objects.

None of them worked well enough.

We killed many of them and were heading back towards the bridge to recuperate when we saw him.

Rick was stumbling across the bridge, his hand on his gun and his other on a deep wound to his stomach that seemed to stain his entire shirt red.

Daryl spotted him first, he was only a few paces in front of the hoard now.

Once Daryl had alerted the rest of us, we sprinted towards him to help, Michonne screamed out for him.

Daryl and I shot arrows at the closest walkers to Rick to buy some time, Rick just looked at us pleadingly, asking us not to waste our time.

He knew he was going to die.

We all grouped up, shooting walkers that came too close.

The bridge wouldn't hold, we all knew that now.

Once all of the walkers were on the bridge, Rick pointed his gun at an explosives box on the bridge and blew it up.

A loud bang and a large cloud of fire and ash surrounded the place where Rick once stood.

Michonne tried to run towards it but Maggie and I held her back.

'Rick!' she screamed in pain.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as the bridge was completely destroyed and rows upon rows of walkers lit by flames dropped into the river and floated down stream.

I whispered with deflation a soft 'no' as the smoke started to clear and Rick was gone.

Michonne couldn't bear to look and we just escorted her home while Daryl and I searched for Rick.

There was some comfort in not being able to find his body.

I don't know whether this was false hope but right now we needed any form of hope.

We searched for weeks on end, from dawn to dusk.

The only thing we found was Rick's gun, slightly buried in mud by the river.

We cleaned it off and brought it to Michonne to keep.

Some days were better than others but when the rest of us had to carry on, Daryl just couldn't.

'Daryl, we've looked, there's nothing out there' I said softly as I grabbed his arm.

'You don't know that' he growled as he walked towards the gates.

'No, I don't. But, what I do know is that Michonne needs both of us here right now' I replied sternly.

'Tell her I've gone out' he replied as he pulled open the gates and stormed out, crossbow slung over his shoulder.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

I chased after him, grabbing my bow from where it hung on the tree next to the gate and slung it over my shoulder.

'Daryl!' I shouted as he continued to storm out ahead.

I sighed as he didn't take any notice, 'Daryl!' I yelled again as I finally caught up to him and spun him around to face me.

We were now surrounded by trees, in the thick of the forest.

'What?' he retorted.

'I'm sorry, you were right. We can't give up, so I'm coming with you' I said softly, he just grunted.

I rolled my eyes.

'Don't do that okay? Talk to me, we've know each other for so long' I stated, he just stared at me.

'He ain't dead' he said hoarsely as he turned back around and marched through the grass.

'Daryl...' I said sadly.

'He ain't dead!' he yelled tearfully as he turned back around to face me.

His face now bunched up into a scowl as he marched back towards me, pointing and yelling, talking at me sideways like he used to.

'Why you even here, huh? You gave up! Just like the rest...not me! I mean, maybe I could've done somethin' he started yelling at me which turned into a soft cry.

There he stood in front of me, his tears flowed down his face as I just silently pulled my arms around him as he did the same.

Both of us, now holding each other just sobbed.

I didn't get it back then, but Daryl needed to keep looking for Rick for himself, he had to stay busy otherwise he would break down.

I stroked his hair away from his eyes, 'listen to me, we will find him...' I said softly as he wiped away my tears with his thumb.

I smiled weakly at his gesture and just held him once more.

I didn't know whether we would ever see Rick again, but I felt content in knowing that this was what he would've wanted, all of us together as a family, holding each other.

Six years later...

Alexandria was complete, or so it was in my eyes.

We had all come together to create Carl's dream and now it was also Rick's.

There were white washed houses with porches to match, a large armoury, fields of crops, hydroelectricity, watch towers for surveillance.

It was everything we desired, it was a self-sufficient dream land.

Michonne was doing well, she now led us at Alexandria, whether she knew that then or not.

She became pregnant after Rick's death and had her beautiful baby RJ (Rick Jr.) nine months later.

She was now a mother of two, Judith and RJ and I was their Auntie.

Daryl still went out searching for Rick, but a lot less frequently and I joined him on occasion.

Carol was still at the Kingdom where she also now had a family with Ezekiel and their adopted son Henry.

Gabriel, Aaron, Siddiq, Laura and Diane were all members of the council led by Michonne.

We were rebuilding civilisation and this would be a period of equality and fairness where our previous alignments didn't matter.

The Sanctuary remained a ruin. When Rick died, none of us felt like we could continue with that project, least of all me.

Tara was at Oceanside with Cindy where they now lived together, I was so proud of her.

In the past six years, Negan and I continued our talks in his cell as Michonne now allowed me to visit him whenever I liked.

I wasn't sure about it before but he had changed and for the better.

Every time I saw him, he seemed lighter than before like he was almost content with his situation.

I can't say that he was upset by Rick's death but he was saddened for our community and Michonne who he'd spoke to over the years.

Yet, even after these visits, Michonne still didn't believe he had changed and still pursued her opinion that I should keep my distance but also acknowledged that she couldn't stop me.

I wish I could say that we accidentally brushed hands on the bars of his cell or that he flirted with me endlessly but he didn't.

Every time we talked, it was deep and meaningful but nothing that screamed 'I love you'.

I know we had been getting to know each other again, so that we could start our relationship again but fuck it was hard just being in the same room as him and not doing anything.

I just wondered whether he still felt the same.

One night, once it was dark out and I was sufficiently drunk on homemade wine, I snuck across the street to the cell.

I tiptoed down the stairs and met Seth.

'Molly?' he asked tiredly.

'Hey Seth, I'm gonna need your keys' I said confidently and slightly stumbling on my words.

'I don't think I-' he started to say.

'Seth, Michonne granted me access at all times' I replied as I beckoned him to hand them over.

'A-Are you drunk?' he asked hesitantly.

'No' I said shaking my head for longer than necessary as I grabbed his keys and dismissed him.

I opened the door and locked it shut behind me, slightly stumbling over a brick that was concealed by the dark.

'Ooh' I shouted as I tripped which was followed by a alcohol infused giggle.

I heard Negan shift in his bed as he sat up suddenly and said, 'Molly?' as he stroked his beard.

God he looked so sexy when he did that.

I ignored his words and proceeded to his cell and fumbled through the keys to unlock the door.

He stood up and stretched.

'Molly?' he said hoarsely as he squinted in confusion.

It was only when he saw what I was doing that he said 'Wha?' which was all he managed before I swung open the door and pressed my lips to his.

I felt his hands drift to my waist as I pulled off my jacket and wrapped my hands around his neck.

At first he was taken aback by the kiss but within a split second I felt his lips move against mine hungrily like we'd been starved of each other for years.

His hands on my waist travelled up to cup my face in his hands as he deepened the kiss in between growls and moans.

He slipped his tongue between my lips to playfully graze my own as I pushed my body closer to his and ran my fingers through his hair.

He now pulled me in even closer till we were perfectly intertwined and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, keeping me there.

I pushed us forward till his ankles hit the side of the bed, forcing him to sit on its edge.

I pulled myself down onto him till I was straddling his thighs.

I heard him audibly moan and felt his eyebrows furrow as I started to grind on top of him.

His kiss abruptly ended when he pulled his face away from mine and gazed at me with his hands still cupping my face.

I just stared back at him questioningly, while his eyes darted between my own.

'Are you drunk?' he asked half amused.

'A little' I answered as my hands still roamed through his hair.

He rubbed my cheek, drawing circles with his thumb.

'You're inebriated. I'm not gonna take advantage of you Molly' he whispered softly.

'Why not?' I whined as I started to press light kisses against his neck.

He exhaled and chuckled, 'Molly, when you're sober I will gladly sleep with you' he said smirking as his hands drifted to my ass.

I seemed to sober up at his words and found myself coming to my senses.

I jumped up before he could touch me and stood before him, admiring my effect on him as I saw his straining bulge.

'Well, you'll be waiting a long time because you won't get this chance again' I said tauntingly as I placed a hand on my hip.

He looked up and chuckled, saying 'you wanna bet?'.

I turned on my heels, locked his door behind me as he called after me, 'you'll be practically begging me darlin'.

I smirked at his calling me 'darlin' again as I walked out of the cell and handed the keys back to Seth.

The following morning, I awoke feeling like shit. I had drunk so much wine which left me with a banging headache.

I took some aspirin with water when I ate my breakfast as I recalled the night before.

Fuck.

I had kissed him.

No, it was worse than that, I was practically grinding on him and begging him to sleep with me.

I slapped my forehead.

'I'm such an idiot' I said out loud as I sat in just a t-shirt.

When I went upstairs to have a shower and get dressed for the day, I spotted Judith sitting outside Negan's cell, she was reading and laughing.

I squinted in confusion as I realised she was talking to Negan.

Michonne would have killed me if she was here but she had gone to visit Maggie at Hilltop for the day.

I flung on new clothes and marched downstairs and over to where she was sat.

'Hi Auntie Molly' she greeted smiling widely at me, I waved and smiled at her as I plunked myself down onto the step she was sitting on.

'Whatcha up to?' I asked as she passed me the book she was reading, it read: Advanced Mathematics.

'Wow, you are one smart cookie, huh?', I said admiring some of the equations which I used to know so well.

'Could you help me with my homework, Negan didn't know some of these' she said softly as she pointed to the questions on the page.

I looked to the side to see Negan's window which was wide open.

I looked up from the book and shut it, placing it to one side as I shifted to focus on her.

She took off her sheriff's hat that had once been Rick's and then Carl's and swept her long brown hair out of her face.

'Judith, are you sure that your mom would be okay with you talking to Negan?' I asked softly.

She just looked at me questioningly and said 'uh huh'.

'You go down there all the time, why can't I?' she replied.

I hesitated and exhaled, saying 'well, because...'.

She stood up and grabbed her book and hat, 'he's not the monster you all think he is!' she shouted.

'Just ask your mom next time okay?' I pleaded.

Judith sighed and said 'this is bullshit' as she walked back to their house.

I just sat there watching her walk away in complete surprise.

Shit, I really had to watch what I said around her.

Michonne would have killed me if she heard that.

I sat on the steps, feeling the wind whip through my hair as I heard a faint chuckle coming from inside the cell.

I sighed and shot up, glided past Seth who automatically opened the door for me now and I stood in front of the bars where Negan was.

'What?' I barked as I folded my arms.

He smirked when he saw me, obviously still thinking about last night.

He rose his eyebrows and shook his head.

'Nothing, it's just that sometimes I think she takes after you more than ol' Ricky or Michonne' he taunted.

I rolled my eyes as he continued, 'she swears like a damn sailor! I love it'.

'Yeah well, guess I'm not cut out for this whole parenting thing' I said chuckling weakly.

'I don't know, I think you'd be a great mom' he answered as he came closer to the bars and brushed his hands over mine.

I was mesmerised for a second, thinking about having children with him when I snapped myself back to reality.

I scoffed and pulled away, saying teasingly 'i'm not gonna sleep with you, Negan'.

He chuckled, saying 'if memory serves, I think you've said that one before'.

I shot him a stern look when I realised that he was right and I walked back out of the cell, hearing his knowing chuckle echo all around me.

Little did I know that soon my Negan problem would take care of itself.

Maggie had met with a woman named Georgie who wanted to invest in Hilltop and said that she believed in the future and wanted Maggie to come to their community to help them rebuild theirs.

It was called the Commonwealth.

Maggie was sceptical at first, as was everyone but they had been so kind in granting us supplies and equipment that she felt she had to go.

She planned to take Herschel with her and be gone for about six months while Jesus ran Hilltop.

Little did I know that she had a question to ask me.

I went to Hilltop for a week to see Maggie and Jesus but when I got there Maggie asked me to stay permanently.

She told me that she had planned to ask me years ago but knew that I wasn't ready back then.

She wanted Jesus and I to lead Hilltop together as we worked really well together.

Jesus was like a brother to me and so it was a complete honour.

I knew in my heart that I had to accept and this wasn't like when Rick had asked me to lead the Sanctuary all those years ago because now I had a clear vision.

Being at Hilltop would mean that I could be closer to Tara at Oceanside, I could continue the agricultural development I had started years ago and I could still go back to Alexandria now and then when I was needed there or when I needed someone else.

Sometimes it felt like I made this choice because I knew that if I stayed in Alexandria any longer, I would have given in to Negan's allure and succumbed to his charms and as much as I wanted him, I couldn't let myself.

[starlightswitch]

What You Might Find

Oh crap I forgot to tag @flashfictionfridayofficial​ last night

“The devil’s music!” Diane twiddled her fingers at Ella across the backseat.

“Eeee,” said Ella, a tiny scream, scooting as far to her own side of the car as she could. She wasn’t sure if she should sound more scared than she really was. She wasn’t sure if she should be more scared than she really was. To be honest she wasn’t even sure how scared she really was.

The setting was hardly scary at the moment. They were driving down Center Road, near the airport, lined with fast food places and hotels, with plenty of cars going the same way and the other way and turning into and out of the turning lane. The radio was on, playing top 40. They were in the back of a van, but the van had seats and windows and belonged to Ross’s parents; Ross just couldn’t drive stick and wasn’t allowed to drive his dad’s expensive new car.

After they got to the preserve, things might get scary.

“Mom said when she was in high school, they said there was an escaped murderer hiding in the preserve, and he’d kill anyone who got too close because he didn’t want to get caught.” Ross didn’t sound impressed. The trip to the preserve wasn’t his idea– he’d seemed just as happy to keep the fire going and make more s’mores. Diane and Marcus had been the ones who started talking about the preserve and the devil’s music, and Ross was enough of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy that once they started pleading, he went and told his parents they were taking the van and getting ice cream. Believable– there was one ice cream place still open this late into the fall, and it was still open this late. It wasn’t late, just past nine, but it had been dark for two hours so it felt late. Especially once they turned off Center onto 29 and Ross flicked on the brights as the trees closed in.

The sign at the entrance to the preserve said that the preserve closed at dusk. Ella let out a breath. What was the worst that could happen? They could hardly get in trouble with the police if they were off in the woods and the police couldn’t find them.

They could find the car, though. Maybe they should have parked the car in a parking lot and walked the rest of the way.

But if the police didn’t show up, if something– someone?-- else showed up, they’d want something solid to hide in.

But then, if the stories about the cause of the music were true…

The car stopped. Ross cut the headlights and slipped the key into his pocket. Marcus swung his door open, got out and shut it, opened Ella’s door and offered her his hand. Once she was out, he laced their fingers as he shut the door.

That put another flutter of nerves in Ella’s stomach. She still wasn’t sure what this was, with Marcus, or what it was going to be. Most people at school dated someone at school, someone they’d known for years, and here she was with someone Diane sort of kept in touch with from when they were in scouts.

Ross and Diane were holding hands too, casually swinging them as they followed the glow of Ross’s flashlight. Ross started talking about what his grandma’s generation looked for in the preserve after dark, at a volume he might have used walking down the hall at school. Diane shushed him and giggled. He turned and tried talking to Marcus, and Marcus shushed him too, a finger to his lips. In the faint light reaching back from the flashlight, Ella saw him turn to her and grin and raise his eyebrows.

She tried to grin back, trying not to bite her lip.

Twenty steps or so later, Diana said “Ssh!” again, and this time Ross hadn’t been saying anything. They all stopped, Ella and Marcus close behind Ross and Diane, looking different directions into the trees.

No one agreed what the music was supposed to sound like. Some said it sounded like the screams of the damned, whatever that sounded like, some said it sounded like impossibly fast electric guitar work, some who were probably joking said it sounded exactly like the band of demons in The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Ella didn’t hear anything that sounded like music. But she did hear a crack.

She thought Diane glanced back at her quickly, but then they all started walking again.

She heard another crack, then what sounded like footsteps, then a flash of something grey. She skidded to a stop, heart thudding. Ross and Diane had stopped less suddenly in front of them. Ross swept the flashlight in the direction of the flash, and the beam caught something which stared back at them.

It was a deer. It stared a moment and then bounded away.

“Oh deer,” Ross cracked. Diana elbowed him. They started walking again. Ella didn’t.

“You okay?” asked Marcus.

She couldn’t think what to say. ‘Yes’ felt like a lie.

He squeezed her hand. She could tell out of the corner of her eye that the flashlight had stopped moving and Ross and Diane were probably watching them, but mostly she focused on Marcus, who met her eyes as best he could when she could barely see his face and said, “Nothing’s going to hurt you when you’re with me.”

Which wasn’t true, especially if they were facing who they might be facing tonight, but she wanted to believe it.

He dropped his hand to put his arms around her, and when he tilted his head like he was going to kiss her and without thinking she moved her head back– maybe the words should have felt too fast, but that did­– he leaned in to her shoulder instead, and whispered in her ear, “I promise.”

And that didn’t feel too fast, either.