#Ellis: Let me know if you'd prefer something else

[nonsensical-escapism]

Hey dude, this is a diamondback turtle, everytime i look at it i cry, and i would love to hear what you think of it

*He looks for a second at the pictures of the lil guy and a smile slowly spreads on his lips*.

"You know..sometimes turtles have this morose little look in their eyes...I know they aren't typically sad but sometimes, with some species, that's what I see."

*he chuckled*.

"This one though, has a cute little smile to match its cute little size. It makes me want to just scoop one up and keep it in my pocket haha" *He said with increasing glee*.

"All this to say, I think it's bloody adorable Bip and I may start crying with you-"

💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢💠🐢

[joelscruff]

one thing i'm missing (joel miller/reader) PART ONE

hi there ! i'm new to the tlou fandom but not new to fic, and watching the show over the past few months inspired me to return to fic writing. the idea for this has been milling around in my head for a good chunk of time now and i finally felt ready to put pen to paper and get this thing started. i've already posted this to ao3 if you prefer that medium, but i'll also be posting it here now. let me know what you think!

summary: you and joel accidentally end up falling asleep together, and what follows is the beginning of a quiet and tender relationship neither of you saw coming. rating: 18+ explicit (this part is not explicit but this fic will be) warnings: (for future parts) smut, age difference (reader is in her mid 20s and joel in his mid 50s), praise kink - will add more as fic progresses word count: about 2.6k

You don't, under absolutely any circumstances, talk about it.

It started about a month ago, after all the shit that happened with that monster, David. After Ellie had decided she wanted to start sleeping alone.

It hadn't really been a conscious decision on her part, but you'd noticed that first night how she'd distanced herself from you and Joel when it was time to sleep. She'd curled up against the far wall of the basement with barely a word, shutting herself off entirely while you'd tended to Joel's injury. Prior to this – ever since Joel was stabbed – Ellie had started sleeping at his side, head on his chest, listening to his heart and hoping against all hope that it kept beating. You'd slept a few feet away, hoping desperately for the same thing.

After David, she avoided physical contact entirely. You and Joel wordlessly understood, though you could tell it alarmed and concerned him. Though he'd been in and out of consciousness for the past few weeks you know he'd become accustomed to having her at his side, curled into him with that familiar daughterly affection he'd been missing for twenty years. Seeing her ultimately decide that she no longer wanted that closeness, probably feared it, distressed him greatly.

“Fuckin' bastard,” Joel had murmured to himself that first night as you cleaned his wound – you'd learned what to do from watching Ellie, “I'll fucking kill him.”

“Shhh,” you'd hushed him, keeping your voice low in case Ellie was still awake, “He's dead and gone, she took care of it.”

“Shouldn't have had to,” he'd hissed, “Fuckin' bastard.”

He'd slept poorly. You knew because every so often you'd hear him mutter something else to himself about David between short fits of sleep. You didn't sleep much either, partly because in the wake of Ellie's sudden distance it was now your job to monitor Joel's wound, but also because you felt the same way Joel did. The thought of that monster... what he'd done to Ellie and what he'd tried to do... you'd never felt so much disdain and hatred for one person in your life. Every time you closed your eyes all you could see was the look on her blood-spattered face when you'd both found her, the way she'd barely been able to speak... you could only imagine how much worse the images behind Ellie's eyelids were.

So she slept alone now, which meant Joel slept alone.

For a little while, that is.

-

After a few days of short spurts of travel and staying in more abandoned houses (Joel wasn't well enough to walk much, though he tried to deny it, much to the frustration of you and Ellie) you'd set up camp on the outskirts of a small community. Ellie hadn't talked much and Joel hadn't been fully in his right mind since you left that first house, so the decision-making had fallen to you for the time being. Truthfully, you were done with the mouldy mattresses and hard concrete of those suburban basements, the smell of rotting food and being bothered by mice and cockroaches while you tried – and failed – to fall asleep. Neither Joel nor Ellie argued when you suggested setting up a campsite in the woods for a change of scenery.

The snow had melted quite a bit and there hadn't been anything fresh in almost a week, the temperature rising rapidly the further you walked. The idea of sleeping underneath the stars again with fresh air in your lungs and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees was enough to keep you going that day. That night, you'd watched as Joel made a fire with the materials you'd collected, Ellie already bundled up inside her sleeping bag a few meters away.

“Hey, you sure you're not gonna be cold over there?” you'd called to her gently, already knowing the answer.

“I'm good,” she'd replied, sounding earnest enough, “If I get cold I'll move.”

You'd sighed quietly, turning back toward the fire. Joel was blowing lightly on some kindling, eyebrows furrowed in thought. You used this rare moment of him being distracted to analyze his face; the dark circles beneath his eyes had been growing more prominent over the past few days, and he'd gotten into the unconscious habit of blinking very slowly, like he was always just a few seconds from sleep. You'd never seen him look this exhausted.

“You need to sleep,” you'd murmured, and his eyes had snapped up to meet yours instantly, “I'm serious, Joel, you look...”

“I'm fine.”

“You don't look fine,” you shifted your eyesight to the fire, lifting your hands to warm your palms, “You look like you haven't slept in days, which you literally haven't, by the way.”

“I've slept,” he'd grunted, turning his attention back to the fire as well.

“Yeah, for maybe twenty minutes at a time.”

“Well, maybe if I wasn't bein' woken up every twenty minutes by you checking if I'm still breathin',” his voice was hard and cold, but you were used to it.

“Don't be dramatic,” you'd snapped back, “I check you maybe twice a night now, if even that. Sorry for wanting to make sure you're okay.” The last few words had come out shakier than you'd intended.

He'd inhaled deeply, and you could see him looking at you again in your peripheral vision, “You're right, I'm sorry. I'm being an asshole. As usual.”

“You're not an asshole,” you'd muttered, “you're tired. And so am I.”

You'd sat together in silence for a few moments before Joel had reached behind him for his pack, digging out the blanket he'd started using in lieu of his old sleeping bag. He'd decided to leave that behind; it was what you and Ellie had used to get him back to that first house, the one Callus had dragged across the icy terrain with a bloodied and near-death Joel as its only occupant. He'd pissed himself in it, which he'd attributed as the main reason for leaving it. But you knew the truth: he'd spent too long wrapped up inside of it during that period of time to ever get a good night's sleep from it again. It needed to be put out of its misery.

Both you and Ellie had offered to give him your own but he refused every time, repeatedly stating that the blanket Ellie had found was warm enough, if not even warmer than the sleeping bag had been. You honestly didn't know if he was telling the truth, but he gave you no choice but to believe him.

“You take first watch, then.” he said quietly, “We're out in the open again, gonna have to stay alert.”

“Got it,” you were a bit embarrassed by your brief moment of vulnerability, but you'd quickly busied yourself with picking up the rifle to hold it in your lap.

You'd watched as he spread out the blanket on the ground, carefully kneeling down and wincing at the pull of his stitches. He laid down on the edge of it, then reached over and pulled the other side over his body like a makeshift sleeping bag. Sighing contentedly, he'd closed his eyes.

Despite how much older than you he was, the word adorable couldn't help but cross your mind.

“Goodnight,” he mumbled quietly to you, and you'd forced yourself to look down at the rifle so he wouldn't catch you staring.

“Night, Joel.”

-

You'd quickly learned that Joel's new blanket was in fact not warmer than his sleeping bag. After a few hours of keeping watch, you decided to check on both Ellie and Joel to make sure they were doing alright. Ellie was fast asleep and didn't look to be shivering or experiencing a bad night's sleep; she actually looked more peaceful than you'd seen her for a long time. You'd smiled fondly, fighting back the urge to push her hair out of her eyes; she'd made things very clear and you weren't going to overstep.

You wandered over to Joel and the contrast between he and Ellie was staggering; there was no peace here. He was wide awake, shivering ferociously and hunched in on himself with his hands cupped around his mouth as he blew on them for warmth.

“Jesus Christ, Joel,” you'd immediately dropped the rifle and leaned down to him, “why the fuck didn't you tell me you were freezing?”

It actually wasn't a very cold night, but the combination of Joel's thin blanket, his injury, and the fact that he was overwhelmingly exhausted were just making everything ten times worse. He also hadn't slept outside for weeks. You immediately began to regret the decision to camp tonight.

“Hold on,” you'd said quickly, scrambling back up to grab your own sleeping bag. You unzipped it so it was wide, then draped it over Joel's shivering form, “I'm gonna give you some body heat, okay? Don't make it weird.” You'd only said the last part because you knew he would protest.

You'd crawled underneath both layers of material and without any hesitation wrapped your arms around Joel, ignoring his shaky mutterings of “I'm okay” and “you don't need to”. He'd surrendered very quickly, relaxing into your embrace as you ran your hands up and down his arms at the fastest pace you could muster. You alternated between his arms and hands, taking them in yours and rubbing your palms against them like you were trying to start a fire, huffing hot breath against his skin. Beneath the blanket, you entwined your legs with his, pulling his socked feet against your ankles and trapping them there to warm them up.

It only took a few moments for the heavy shakes to stop and for Joel's breath to even out again. Despite this, you stayed where you were and kept doing what you could to keep his temperature stable. As he warmed up, he began to feel more like himself; he was no longer a cold statue but the warm and solid man you'd come to recognize, and you were hyper-aware of the fact that despite spending so much time with each other you'd never actually been this close to him. His arms, strong and steady beneath his coat, the same arms that carried around that heavy pack all day, the arms that cradled the rifle, they now laid loose and tender under your touch. His hands, calloused and rough around the edges but soft at the palms, the same hands that set the fire still burning a few feet away, the hands that once held his daughter and had learned to hold Ellie's – and now yours, feeling like in some way they belonged there.

You'd known you felt something for Joel, but you'd never realized how strong and real that something was until it was literally in your embrace.

Without speaking you'd laid your head on his chest, closing your eyes and doing your damnedest to fight back the sudden tears that were threatening to well up. Holy shit, was all you could think, a warmth you'd never felt in your entire life radiating in your chest and somehow extending toward him. Holy fucking shit. It was like time had stopped and all you could feel was him.

You'd looked up at his face, needing to see if he felt it too, felt you the way you felt him, but your eyes widened slightly when you saw that his were closed, mouth slightly agape. There it was, that peace you'd seen on Ellie's face, now transferred to Joel's. For a brief second you felt panic, but it was immediately interrupted by the light snore that emitted from his open mouth. He'd fallen asleep.

And a few moments later, so had you.

-

That was the first night you'd slept solid without waking up even once. Not just since Joel had been stabbed, but since the pandemic had started to begin with. You can't recall ever having such a peaceful, dreamless, absolutely soul-refreshing sleep. And neither had Joel; when you woke the next morning he was still fast asleep in your embrace, that peaceful expression still sculpted on his face like he was a living Michelangelo. In the night you'd only gotten closer to him, legs still entwined and head still on his chest. The only difference was that your arms had obviously stopped their rapid movements to keep him warm, and they'd ended up snaked around his torso, the palm of your left hand laying flat against the hot skin of his waist, just above where his stitches were.

Maybe you should have pulled away when you realized, gotten up and pretended it didn't happen. The thought did cross your mind, but then Joel had shuffled a bit in his sleep and you'd become aware of the fact that his arms were around you, hand pressed flush against your bare back underneath your jacket and shirt, holding you to him. And that was enough to make you stay.

About fifteen minutes later, he'd woken up.

He didn't flinch or yank himself away when he realized the position you were in. He'd blinked slowly at you, and you'd peered up at him just as quietly. His lips had parted and then closed again, as if he was going to say something but then thought better of it. Instead, he just kept staring at you, and you started to feel his hand on your back slowly and tenderly stroke the skin there. In return, you gently brushed your thumb against the bare skin of his waist. It was a moment that felt like it went on forever, both of you touching those small intimate parts of each other without saying so much as one word.

You felt butterflies in your belly when the hint of a smile twitched at his mouth, and you smiled back, sleepy and soft. You never wanted to leave this small piece of existence. You just wanted him to keep looking at you like that, his gaze holding yours with an expression you could only describe as contentedness. You'd never seen him look so relaxed; the dark circles had faded and even the lines on his face had receded into his skin. He looked younger, healthier, like all the bad things that had happened to him had vanished in one good sleep.

“Uggghhhh,” Ellie moaned a few meters away, and both your heads snapped in her direction. She was sitting up in her sleeping bag, back facing you. You could see her arms stretching above her head as she began her typical morning wake-up routine: stretch, groan, flop, repeat.

Without saying anything you'd both untangled yourselves simultaneously before she could see the sleeping arrangement you'd found yourselves in. The loss of warmth and familiarity was palpable as you quickly stood up and grabbed the rifle, walking over to the now completely burnt out fire. Joel silently folded up his blanket and your sleeping bag behind you, then muttered something about needing to look for more shit to burn.

That's how it started.

And you don't, under absolutely any circumstances, talk about it.

[lovelettersfromluna]

You mystify me {Ellie Williams X Reader}

Summary: A new family moves in down the street from Joel, and Ellie just so happens to be home for the holidays. What better way to welcome the newbies than to drag his daughter to their house with a half burnt pie?

Warnings: MDNI, Smut, drug use (marijuana), afab reader, Ellie is horrible with feelings, slight angst if you squint?, Ellie is in college, fingering (r! receiving), scissoring, let me know if I missed anything pleaseee.

an: Hello angels! Welcome to my very first post, it's so nice to have you here. I will admit, I've been going back and forth with my first fic for quite a while now, but I think this may be the one. I don't mention any specific body types/skin tones/eye colors/hair colors/hair types, just to ensure that its inclusive for everyone to insert themselves into. I truly hope you all enjoy, and please feel free to give any tips or pointers for things you'd like to see change for the future. Love, Luna. p.s Happy Pride Month!!!

Word count: 6.7 k

Ellie hated the holidays.

She didn't want to sound miserable, or ungrateful, but she hated everything that came with it. She preferred times like summer or spring, where she could just go home for the break without having anything she needed to be there for. Those times meant she could just lounge around in her childhood home until her dad got home, and they could watch football and drink beers until they both passed out on the couch. No stupid holiday events to attend, no painstakingly long dinners to go to, it could just be them, with no distractions.

But no, the holidays made it painfully aware that those dreams were but a far off memory that she couldn't have for the next five months.

She was home for Thanksgiving break, back pressed up against the soft sheets of her childhood bed as she faced the ceiling, her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply. If she wasn't so miserable over the fact that she was in fact home for the holidays, the scent of warm apples and cinnamon would have caught her attention.

Wait...apples? Cinnamon?

She frowned as she sat up, her soft brown locks brushing against her forehead and cheek bones as she shifted a bit. The kitchen at her dads place went pretty much untouched, seeing that neither of them were great in the kitchen at all. Ellie was raised off of cheap takeout and boxed Mac and cheese, and truthfully she wouldn't have it any other way.

Ellie got up with a low sigh, adjusting the grey hoodie that hung on her skinny frame before she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. The old floorboards creaked underneath her sock clad feet, reminding her of all the times she'd slipped and fallen on the godforsaken floor before.

When she got downstairs, the image of Joel in an apron made her furrow her eyebrows in confusion. He was mixing something in a bowl, his narrowed eyes darting back and forth between the oven and a small timer he had placed next to him on the counter. The sound of the floor creaking caught his attention, and his head shot over towards the direction of his daughter.

"Was just about t'call you down here...need your help with this..uh..." He groaned softly as he motioned towards the cook book he had propped up against another spare bowl he had.

Ellie snorted softly as she pushed herself off of the wall she was leaned up against, watching her father struggle in amusement before she hummed, bringing her attention to the cook book. She squinted a bit as she leaned in, eyebrows furrowing, looking far too similar to her farther before she nodded.

"Apple pie?....Since when do you bake old man?" She teased gently, looking down into the bowl he was mixing. She had to admit, whatever he was working on didn't look half bad. She wasn't exactly an expert, but she had gotten stuck on the cooking channel far too many times when she was too high out of her mind to switch it to something else, and whatever her dad was working on looked....like he was doing something right.

"I don't....not usually at least..." He grumbled out softly, giving the contents in the bowl one last good mix before he squinted at the cook book once again, sighing before he placed the bowl down. He gave the timer one last look before he walked over to the oven, opening it and pulling out the golden pie crust.

"Need you to go and get dressed, you and I are going out" His eyes are focused on pouring the contents into the pie crust, which Ellie had figured out was in deed the pie filling. Ellie frowned as she watched her father work on the pastry, her arms crossed over her chest as her eyes darted up to look at him.

"What? I thought...I thought we didn't have anything to do this week. We were supposed to watch the game tonight, remember?" She practically whined out, sounding far too much like a small child who was not getting their way. This made Joel chuckle softly, because for a moment it reminded him of Ellie when she was much younger, his little soldier.

"Didn't say we weren't watchin' the game kid...just not watchin' it here" He hummed out before he finished filling the pie, and pushed it back into the oven. He took his apron off, hanging it on the handle of the pantry door as he began cleaning up the monstrosity in the kitchen that had came about through his adventures with baking.

Ellie on the other hand, was fuming.

She had a strict 24 hour warning policy before she had to go anywhere, and it was especially important for this policy to be withheld during the holidays. She needed time to prepare, to put herself in the headspace of socializing for the night before actually doing so. It was like she had to charge up her social battery longer than usual for things like this, and it sort of hurt her feelings to think that her dad would disregard that.

Especially when she was under the impression that he felt the exact same way that she did in instances like this.

But instead, he was happily baking a pie for god knows what, with his silly little apron as if he were Martha Stewart herself, and to be quite honest, Ellie was a little pissed off.

She let out an annoyed huff as she circled around Joel, who was leaned up against the sink washing the last set of mixing bowls and measuring cups. She stared at him with pleading eyes, as if begging him to cancel on the ominous force that was pushing them out of their home for the night.

"But you never even said anything about leaving tonight...I...Im not going to Shirley's house again. Her kids look like they fucking bite and her food sucks" She breathed out, causing Joel to laugh softly.

'No. no...I know you're not too fond of her El...." He hummed softly as he turned off the sink, grabbing a nearby towel and drying his hands. He began walking off to his bedroom, to which Ellie promptly followed behind, clearly not done with her whining.

"Then where are we going?" Ellie asked once again, the tall girl leaned up against the entrance door to her fathers bedroom as he disappeared in his closet, most likely changing into a suitable flannel shirt for whoever it was that they so desperately needed to visit for the night. "We've got new neighbors down the street...caught em' movin in when I was comin' home from work last week"

Joel's words made Ellie frown even further, and her eyes trained on him as he moved around the room, grabbing different things from his dresser before moving to the bathroom to continue getting ready. "And? What does that have to do with us"

A low sigh could be heard from the bathroom, the tone in Ellie's voice already letting Joel know that she would not be letting this go without a fight. "It's nice to be neighborly, kid. Plus, it's the holidays....least we can do is bring them somethin' nice". His words were a bit muffled by the towel he pushed up against his face, most likely freshening up a bit. Ellie rolled her eyes, pushing herself off of his door. She was annoyed, she wanted to spend time with her dad, and not some strangers. She knew that moments with him during the fall and winter months were sparse, so she looked forward to them more than she did usually.

She knew there was nothing she could do to convince him to cancel, or to even avoid all of the formalities and let her deliver the pie. And by deliver, she would most definitely drop it at their door step with a sticky note that read "From Joel and Ellie down the street", a sorry excuse of a welcome, but enough so to get the message through to them.

So, she simply turned around and shrugged her hoodie off, stomping her feet against the wooden stairs a bit too loud for comfort to change into something a bit more sensible.

"Your pie is burning by the way" She called out before she slammed her door and promptly began rummaging through her messy closet for clothes.

And thats how they ended up here, at your doorstep with a half burnt pie held between Joel's old, scarred hands. They didn't leave without a small argument, Joel scolding Ellie for giving him a hard time, complaining that she was the one that made him screw up his timer. Ellie would never admit it, but she secretly hoped it would push her dad to cancel last minute.

But it didn't, and she was standing next to him with her fists shoved in her pockets. The fall air had been growing colder and colder with each passing day, and her mouth was already opening to let out another string of complaints to her father about how "fucking cold" it was and that this was "really stupid".

But before she could, you were opening the door. A bright smile splayed across your plush lips that were painted the prettiest deep berry shade. You're shirt was the exact same color, a corset style top that hugged your mid section perfectly, black lace peaking out at the edge of it near your hips and at the top of your cleavage, a simple pair of blue jeans that hugged your hips and ass deliciously, and a tiny blood red heart hung on a thin chain that was around your neck, falling right between your soft tits.

Ellie blinked a few times as she stared down at you, her throat practically closing up, any slick complaints she had ready to fire at her father had died down the second she laid eyes on you. She couldn't stop her eyes from shamelessly traveling down your body, taking in every aspect of your outfit, which caused her cheeks to burn red.

A soft gasp from your lips cut right through her racing thoughts, and you were looking down at the pie that Joel held. "Mr. Miller, I didn't know you baked. This looks amazing!". Despite the state of the pie, you words were genuine, quickly taking the pie from the man and stepping aside so the both of them could step in.

"Your dad mentioned you liked apples...had a few I needed to get rid of....where is he by the way?" Joel mentioned casually, a low chuckle leaving his lips as he thought about the fact that he did in fact make a specific grocery trip just for all of the ingredients for the pie in the first place. He shrugged his coat off, to which you quickly put the pie down in the kitchen before rushing back to the both of them.

You took Joel's coat from him before having it up on the rack. "He's trying to fix a light in the living room, he might actually need your help" You sighed out, watching as Joel nodded before giving Ellie a look, silently urging the girl to introduce herself before he set off to find your father.

You gave her a sweet smile, extending your hand for hers as you gave her your name. "You must be Ellie, my dad said Joel mentioned you when they met the other day. Im really glad you came"

Ellie froze as she looked down at your manicured hand. Your nails were black, and short, painted almost perfectly, a few rings perched on some of your fingers. She swallowed nervously, nodding slowly before she brought a cold hand up to shake yours. "Yeah...yeah im Ellie..." She mumbled out, hating how fucking good your warm hand felt wrapped around your smaller one.

You furrowed your eyebrows a bit at her strange behavior before you nodded slowly, letting go of your hand as she began shrugging off her brown leather jacket. You smiled sweetly, stepping closer to her as you held your hands out for it "Here, I can take that".

Ellie looked down at your hands before looking back into your eyes, her breath hitching in her throat before she nodded slowly, shrugging off her jacket and handing it to you. You gave her a reassuring smile as you hung it up, her eyes following you the entire time shamelessly.

"I don't know about yours, but my dad hasn't stopped talking about you guys coming over all week. I was really happy when he told me Mr. Miller had a daughter, I'd be miserable if I had to listen to them talk about building a deck or mowing the lawn" You huffed out, smoothing down the leather of Ellie's jacket as you hung it up. You turned around, giving her a smile before you nodded your head towards the kitchen, "Well, we might as well head in there, not that they notice us being gone, they were outside for almost an hour when we were moving in" You giggled softly at the memory, trying to ease some of the tension in the air.

Ellie on the other hand, didn't want you to stop talking. The sweet melody of your voice was making her forget all about the irritating rage that was screaming for attention in the back of her head, counting down the minutes until she could leave your house. Now, it was like she couldn't get enough of being in your warm home.

"Tell me about it, he spent the entire afternoon on that damn pie" She sighed out, her hands taking their usual spot in her pockets. You giggled softly, making Ellie's chest burn with pride.

"Is it just you and your dad by the way?" Ellie asked softly as she looked around in your home, looking for any trace of information that revealed any other family members that you may have. You nodded your head as you began walking to the kitchen slowly, leading her behind you.

"Yep. My mom left when I was a baby, so it's been him and I for as long as I can remember" You nodded to yourself, thinking back to your childhood growing up with a single dad. Ellie couldn't ignore the wave of panic wash over her when it began settling in. You were living there now, right down the street from her. You weren't just a hot girl that she could embarrass herself in front of one time and then never have to see again, you were permanent.

Your conversation was cut short once both Joel and your dad caught sight of the both of you walking into the dim kitchen. "There you are, thought you two got lost", your fathers words made you giggle, and you shook your head as you made your way into the kitchen. "Just getting to know Ellie, dad. You had your turn getting to know Mr. Miller, remember?" You teased playfully as you pulled out various dishes from the oven that you had been keeping warm.

Ellie watched as you moved everything to the table, her eyes going wide at just how much you were putting out for them. "Did you make all of this?" She asked quietly in disbelief, to which you nodded with a shy smile on your lips.

Your dad and Joel moved to stand in the kitchen near Ellie, "She takes care of all the cooking, no matter how much I try and help" Your dad chuckled softly, causing you to roll your eyes a bit. "You're just no good at it dad...plus, I don't mind it" You hummed softly as you set the table, stepping back and making sure the placements were enough before you nodded to yourself. "if you two are done talking light bulbs, we can eat".

Ellie couldn't believe she was admitting it, but dinner went well.

She spent the entire night quietly munching on your delicious food, and watching you. Her heart would beat a little bit faster every time you noticed, and gave her a sweet smile, which made her brain short circuit for a few minutes before she smiled back. Both her dad and your dad went back and forth all night about work, their latest projects, and bragging about the both of you.

"Ellie does great in school, she's just started her second year over at UEC" Joel casually bragged, causing Ellie to groan softly. She hated when he did it, regardless of the fact that she knew it came from a place of love. He was always eager to gloat about how smart his daughter is, how much she had achieved and how proud of her he was for it.

Your father raised his eyebrows at Joel's words, the excited expression written all over your pretty face too clear to go unnoticed. "No way, I start my first year in the spring" You smiled excitedly, to which Joel gave Ellie a gentle nudge.

"Would'a look at that, you'll have to show her around, won't you Ellie?". Ellie licked her lips, cracking a half smile as she gave a slight nod, allowing the rest of you to fall into friendly conversation. The familiar sense of panic settling in on her again. Not only would she have to see you every time she was at her dads house, but you would also be fluttering your way around campus. She could only hope she would be able to fly under your radar at least a little bit.

Once you were all finished with dinner, both your dad and Joel had made their way onto the back porch after you had shooed them out of the kitchen, insisting that you and Ellie had everything handled. That's how you found yourself in your current situation, which was Ellie drying the washed dishes, and handing them to you so you could put them away to their correct spots.

"So, how do you like UEC?" You hummed softly as you pushed the last plate into the cupboard. Ellie raised her eyebrows at your question, drying her hands with the towel she had before she hung it on a nearby rack. "UEC is good....pretty chill if you ask me....although im not the greatest person to ask. I only really go to and from class before going back to my apartment and crashing" She mumbled out all too truthfully, which caused you to giggle. "I feel you...im honestly not looking forward to picking up after the break and moving into my apartment."

Your words set off a lightbulb in Ellies head, and before she could even stop herself, she was speaking again. "I could help you move in if you want...Im pretty good with...boxes" She mentally kicked herself for how fucking awkward she sounded, but the excited twinkle in your eye made up for it.

"Really? I mean...you seriously don't have to but...it would mean the world if you did". The soft tone of your voice had her practically swooning, her tongue darting out to lick her lips before she gave you a firm nod. "Yeah, yeah...it's no problem at all. It'll problem even get me out of holiday stuff anyways so...more than happy to" She breathed out.

You smiled excitedly, nodding quickly before you were pulling your phone out of your back pocket, and pushing it towards her. "Here, put your number in. We could hang out or something before break is over". You gave her a reassuring nod before gently pushing your phone towards her once more. Ellie didn't hesitate to type her number in and save it for you.

And no more than a week later, you two were texting every day. Ellie truly could not remember the last time she had been so obsessive with texting someone, the girl always leaving her phone on her bed for hours and ignoring almost every notification that came through to it, either too lazy or too tired to give it any attention.

But now, now she couldn't go ten minutes without rushing to her phone to see if you were messaging her back. Either replying to the stupid TikTok you sent her, or asking her opinion on what outfit you were wearing that day, her phone was glued to her hand. Joel picked up on it rather quickly, the usual whining and huffing that emitted from his daughter every time they had to go somewhere had come to an end, her phone pacifying her completely. He had asked about it one day, curious as to what it was exactly that had her so enamored practically overnight. He received a small mumble of your name, to which her simply smirked and never asked again.

It was another boring Tuesday morning at home, Ellie lounging around her house while her dad was at work, texting you of course. She whistled to herself as she finished making her coffee, until the familiar ding of her phone caught her attention.

ellieeeeee

hm?

whatcha doin today loser

She caught herself smiling softly at your messages far too often

nothin, dad's at work. wbu?

hmmm mine too

wanna come over nd smoke?

Ellie felt herself freeze once she read over your message. In fact, she found herself reading it once, twice, three times, just to make sure she was reading it correctly. It had already been a week since she had been at your house for dinner, and not a day had gone by where she didn't think about you, but she was ashamed to admit that she had been avoiding seeing you in person. She had done a great job so far, finding easy ways to circle around your attempts at bringing it up, but this had been the first time that you outright asked, and she was freaking the fuck out.

And fuck, it wasn't even because she didn't want to, of course she wanted you. She had bee texting you every day since she met you, it was just that...Ellie became so fucking stupid around pretty girls, she always did. She preferred to avoid it if it wasn't in a party setting where it was easy to pretend she was someone she wasn't. But she would be with you, in your home, in your room, and it was pretty damn hard to pretend when it was that....close.

um or not

if ur busy its okay dont worry :P

The next string of messages that came from your end had her panicking, and she knew if she was going to make a decision, she had to make it quick. She inhaled deeply, her thumbs still hovering over the screen of her phone, before she began typing.

nah sorry

not busy today

I can come over now?

plsssss

come come

Ellie let out the breath she had been holding, the air coming out as a loud exhale once she read your responses. She sighed, looking at the time on her phone before she groaned, peeling her body off of the counter and making her way upstairs to get dressed.

Before she knew it, Ellie was at your door.

Her tattooed hand rapped at your door, inhaling the cold air deeply as she promptly brought her hand back to the warm pocket of her jacket. She sighed out, looking down at the little 'welcome' mat that she stood on. She was positive any homey touches were of your doing, and something about that made the corner of her lips tug into a small smile.

When you opened the door, the warmth of your home was wafting onto her freckled face, causing her to audibly sigh in relief. You smiled excitedly up at her, face far too happy and fresh to belong to someone who had been texting Ellie up into the wee hours of the night prior. You quickly grabbed her arm, tugging her inside and out of the cold before you closed the door behind her.

You exchanged little words, eagerly pulling her jacket off and putting it on the same rack that you had the last time she was there. She chuckled softly, looking down at you with a raised eyebrow. "Woah, slow down...your practically bouncing off the walls" She chuckled out, which prompted you to huff softly.

"Are you kidding me? You're the first person im hanging out with that isn't my father, you're lucky im not jumping your bones right now" You giggled softly.

Ellie was secretly hoping that you would.

You gave her a moment to gather herself before your hand was wrapping around her wrist and dragging her up to your bedroom, your lips going a mile a minute about all the things you wanted to do with the day that you would be spending with her.

Your room looks exactly like Ellie imagined it would.

She figures that deep, maroon, berry shade might be your favorite, because it's everywhere. It's the color of your sheets, and your curtains, and you managed to only choose band posters that matched with that dark aesthetic as well. Your room smells like you, like vanilla and violets, mixed with the strawberry candle that you had burning. Its warm, and inviting, and it feels like you.

Ellie finds that it's her new favorite scent.

You hummed softly as you crawled onto your bed, turning around so you were laying with your back against your pretty pillows. Ellie thinks she's died and gone to heaven at that point, because your hair looks so pretty splayed underneath you, and your eyes look so dreamy looking up at her, and your cotton shorts are hugging your thighs so well, and-

She realizes you're talking to her, and she hasn't heard a word you've said, because she is gawking at you.

"Huh?"

You giggled softly as you sat up, crawling over to the edge of your bed and grabbing a black box with dark red roses and tiny stars painted all over it. You pull out a neatly rolled blunt, which is of course rolled with none other than rose petals. She laughs, watching in awe as you bring it to your lips, perching it between them before cupping your hand around it, and lighting the end.

Ellie doesn't think she's ever been more jealous of a fucking blunt before.

You sighed softly, crawling over to your window and opening it up before you blew the smoke out, passing the blunt to her before you moved back to your spot on the bed.

"I said, come sit with me. You look like you're gonna cry" You giggled softly, smiling once she took the blunt from your fingers.

She stared down at the girly looking joint, sighing as she shook her head.

She brought it to her lips, taking a deep inhale before she moved to lay next to you on the bed. The heat filling her lungs cleared her head, and in an instant she was already feeling more comfortable around you, less scared of the fact that you'd think she was a fucking pervert or something.

"Girliest fucking blunt I've ever seen man..." She breathe out, smoke clouding her features as she blew out. You scrunched her nose at her words, taking it back and bringing it to your lips. "S'not girly...just..tastes better than regular papers...plus, its way better for you" You nodded to yourself, moving up the pillow and getting in a comfortable spot next to Ellie.

Ellie rolled her eyes, taking it back from you as you both feel into a comfortable conversation.

Ellie isn't totally sure when it happens, but within an hour, you're both high out of your minds.

You were a giggling mess, finding anything that left Ellies lips to be comedic gold. Your legs were splayed over hers, and she had her hand on your thigh, massaging and squeezing the skin ever so often. You'd be lying if you said it didn't feel good, her hands were so warm, and so big, you wanted them all over you.

Once your laughter died down, you hummed softly. Your hazy eyes traced her features, heart fluttering at how fucking pretty Ellie was. It was clear to you that she was pretty when you first saw her, but her hands on your thighs, and the fact that she was sitting on your bed, looking good enough to fucking eat, it was smacking you right in the face.

Your hands traced her tattoo gently, fingertips leaving feathery touches on her skin. “This is pretty…when d’you get it done?” You hummed out, scooting a bit closer to her.

Ellie hummed softly, welcoming your new position closer to her as she let you position your legs closer on her own. “My ex did it for me like a year or two ago..”. The squeeze on your thigh had your heart fluttering, a soft hum leaving your lips as you continued tracing along the intricate patterns of her tattoo.

"You still talk to them?" Your words were breathy, sounding desperate and needy in your head. To Ellie, you sounded dreamy. Your words were light an airy, and she found herself counting down the seconds until you'd speak again, wanting so badly to hear those pretty words fall from your pretty lips.

She shook her head, her eyes focused on the way your lips were swelling up from how often you bit them. "Not anymore...not talking to anyone right now.." she hummed out, giving your thigh another squeeze.

She felt like she had to let you know that there was no one on her mind right now, not when she was in your room, with your legs splayed over hers, squeezing your thighs with every word that she spoke.

Your eyes twinkled a bit as you stared up a her, swallowing down the whine that was stuck in your throat. Your thighs were on fire underneath her long fingers, your mind clouded with a thick fog that made it hard to see past any better judgment. Ellie was in your bed, touching you and making you feel so nice, and she was telling you that she wasn't talking to anyone.

The cloud fogging your brain wasn't thick enough to distract you from how badly you wanted Ellie, your teeth nearly broke the skin of your lips with how much you were biting down into them, the overwhelming need for the girl nagging at your brain with every passing second.

You decided you didn't want to ignore it anymore.

Without another thought, you were crawling onto Ellies lap, your thighs straddling her waist as you pressed your chest against hers. Ellie let out a shaky breath once she noticed that you were moving, fully expecting you to get up and go to the bathroom or something, and not at all to settle your ass against her lap. Despite her surprise, her hands immediately went to rest on your hips, giving them a gentle squeeze as she stared into your eyes.

"Fuck..." She breathed out your name, her words coming out mumbled as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. You let out a soft sigh, your fingers going to her neck to toy with the soft ends of her hair as you stared at her lips.

"Is this...okay?" Your words were so soft, barely above a whisper. Ellie felt her core throb at your tone, wanting nothing more than to wreck you completely, turning you into a babbling mess underneath her. Her nod was eager, probably too eager but she didn't have enough in her to even care at that point. Her hands were pulling you closer to her body, desperate to feel more of you. "Fuck...yeah...yeah this is more than okay...Jesus..." She mumbled out quietly, causing you to giggle.

You nodded, humming softly as you studied her face. It was nice to see her this close, taking in all of her little freckles, the little wrinkle in her forehead, you were close enough to even hear the way her breath quickened with you perched on her lap. "Can I kiss you Ellie?..." Once again, your words were soft, and gentle.

Ellie felt like she was going to lose her fucking mind.

She let out a low groan before her lips were pressing against yours, a soft moan leaving your mouth once you finally felt her against you. The kiss was needy, and heavy, and messy and breathy, and it was everything Ellie wanted from you. You simply let her in, letting her kiss you however she wanted, touch you however she wanted, and that stirred something deep inside of Ellie.

Your little whines and whimpers egged her on to do more, touch you more, feel you more. Her long fingers were slipping underneath your t shirt, massaging the skin of your hips as she pulled you in closer. The sounds that bounced off the walls of your bedroom were filthy, low groans and moans and Ellie, breathy little whines from you, and the wet sound of you tongues rubbing together all came together to make the sweetest symphony that was strictly for the two of you.

Your thin shirt did a terrible job at keep your hard nipples discreet. Ellie moaned at the way your tits felt pressed up against hers, and it made her want more.

She broke the kiss, her breath heavy as she pulled your t shirt over your head, and tossed it somewhere else within your room. She sucked in a harsh breath once she caught sight of your pebbled nipples. She immediately pushed you back to lay down, slotting herself between your legs before her wet mouth was wrapped around one of your nipples, and her other hand was rolling the other between her fingers.

Your mind was fuzzy, and she was making you feel so fucking warm. The feeling of her skilled mouth flicking your nipple back and forth with her tongue made all of the blood in your body rush to your core, your pussy throbbing underneath the constraints of your shorts. You whined, your hips moving against her body, desperately searching for some form of friction as your hands came up to thread in her soft hair.

"F-fuck...Ellie..mmpph..ah...need you Ellie...please" You sounded so desperate, so needy, so fucking sweet. It made Ellie smirk against your soft skin, letting go of your nipple with a pop before she looked back up at you. In no time, her lips were pressed against yours again, swallowing your whines as she hummed softly. "Yeah? Need me to play with you baby? Where do you need me, hm? Go on..." She smirked teasingly, her words muffled with her lips smooshed against yours.

Your eyebrows furrowed with frustration as you huffed out, one of your hands coming down to slip underneath her t shirt, tugging at the waist band of her jeans.

"You're so...mmm..fuck...annoying...please fuck me Ellie..." You struggled to speak, especially when Ellie began rocking her hips against you, teasing you with the attention you needed most. You let out a soft moan, giving her shirt one more tug before she chuckled, pulling away so she could pull off her t shirt, followed by her jeans. "So needy...looks like ill have to sort you out then, won't I" She smirked softly as she grabbed you by your hips, pulling you closer as she tugged off your shorts and your panties.

You whined softly as you watched her strip in front of you, feeling the wet spot between your legs grow more and more with every new piece of her that was revealed to you. It was pathetic, how vocal you were being without even being touched, but you couldn't even care, not when she was giving you everything you wanted without so much of a fight.

She hissed softly against your lips, her fingers swiping back and forth between your glossy folds. "Fuck...lil pussy is just weeping for me, huh? Been long since you've been fucked baby?" Her words were taunting, filthy, and they made you huff as your cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Just...come on El....need to feel you.." You whined, tugging her hand gently to pull her back to her spot in between your legs. She smirked softly as she watched you, her hand cupping your cheek gently before she pressed one more kiss to your lips. "I'll take care of you angel..dont you worry" She hummed out before she slotted herself between your legs.

She gripped your thigh in her hands, positioning herself so that her pussy was pressed up against yours. The feeling had you moaning before she could even move, her wet folds pressed up against yours made your eyes roll back, made your back arch, and if Ellie didn't know any better, she'd think you came just from that alone.

"Fuck...feel that baby? Feel how wet you've got me? thats it...thats a good fucking girl.." She moaned out, her words caged behind her gritted teeth as she began rolling her hips back and forth, her pussy gliding across yours, clit bumping against your own in a way that you had never felt before. It was almost as if she was designed for you, and you her, and it had you like putty in her hands.

"Ah!...y-yeah! Right there Ellie, oh my god" Your moans were breathy and needy, and Ellie couldn't help by smirk down at you, enjoying the show you were putting on for her a little too much. It was like a work of art, the way you just let the pleasure take you, the way you let her take you, it had her wanting to do more, go further, bring you the most pleasure you'd ever felt in your entire fucking life.

And you felt it. In the way she began speeding up, your moans egging her on to keep going. Her hand gripped your thigh tighter, giving her a better grip on your body to allow her to go faster. Your moans mixed together, and the wetness of your cores created a pornographic sound that you would most definitely feel embarrassed about tomorrow, but not now, not when you felt this fucking good.

Ellie moaned loudly, her head falling back as she went faster, feeling her stomach coil in that delicious way that she loved so much. And yours did too, you stared up at her in awe as she fucked her pussy down onto yours, and you whined, eyebrows furrowed with utter pleasure.

"Gonna cum...p-please cum with me Ellie..fuck...please" You didn't even have to ask, because Ellie was nodding her head the second she heard the pleas leave your swollen lips. "Yeah...fuck...yeah baby...gonna cum with you...gonna fucking...oh my god!" And as if timed perfectly, she felt white hot pleasure wash over her, and you felt the exact same.

Your back arched almost painfully, hands fisting the sheets beneath you as you came hard, the wet noises of your pussy's amplifying as Ellie slowed down, riding both yours and her orgasm out.

The sensitivity made you whimper, and Ellie breathed hard as she looked down at your worn out body. Your eyes were heavy, and she knew exactly what it meant. She placed her hands on your hips, pushing herself off of your wobbly legs before she walked off to the bathroom, grabbing a wet rag and cleaning herself up before grabbing another and coming back to do the same for you.

When she returned, you had rolled over onto your side, and your heavy eyes were fighting the drowsy, post sex nap that you so desperately needed. She smiled softly as she watched you, spreading your legs despite the soft, sleepy whine you let out. "I know baby...just gonna clean you up, then we can sleep, yeah?". She took the small noise you made as a response before she carried on cleaning you, taking the dirty rags after and putting them in your hamper before she returned to the bed.

She sighed out softly, gently pulling your sleepy form to lay with her underneath the covers, and almost immediately you were hiking your thigh over her leg and cuddling into her body. A soft, sleepy sound left your lips once again, and before she could even blink, soft snores were leaving your parted lips.

Ellie sighed softly as she stared down at you for a moment before she looked up at the ceiling, a familiar sinking feeling settling in on her stomach as she held you close. She decided shed ignore it, and instead focus on the warm feeling that you brought instead.

She would cross that bridge when she got to it.

[cxnscience]

respond to the following prompts out of character, then tag others you'd like to get to know a little bit better. i'm days late on this but hey it's munday so I Might As Well do it today

roleplayer name : august !

pronouns : she/her or he/him

muse name(s) : as far as solo blogs, i've got jiminy cricket (You Are Here), bones from star trek at @bcnes, and then a (way more inactive) oc who i won't even bother listing because he is That Inactive. i also have a lot of video game and movie muses over at @multimoth but to be frank i tend to write the same 5 of them and everyone else is gathering dust

preferred communication : i am AWFULLL with tumblr dms so those are at the bottom of the list. i'm on discord way more often! anyone can reach out and i will probably give you my usename to add me :")

experience : uhhh i started on random forums way back in the early 2000s and stuck with those venues for like 15 years. that and neopets. i moved to dreamwidth during college and then twitter after that (it was awful). then tumblr maybe 4 years ago or so

preferred roleplay type : i tend to start most interactions out as banter because it's just easier for me to let that develop into threads naturally! ask memes are also great. i have a bit of a hard time writing out fully plotted scenarios because i like the Improv nature of rp a lot, i like to see how things change when we both throw our ideas into the mix as the interaction progresses. that and i love relationships and plots that form slowly. the slow burn of it all.........

pet peeves / dealbreakers : most of my muses are multiship (and in bones' case, polyamorous even) so i get really annoyed when people insinuate they're cheating by virtue of having multiple partners or something. or get possessive of a character. like my guy.. . there is no overlap here there is zero reason to make your character jealous. i also dislike it when it feels like my character only exists to give therapy to other characters please he has so much more going on........ he'll reach out to try to do that sort of thing sometimes, yeah, but in general i think i don't like when rps feel uneven. i want the characters to get to know each other equally.

in that same vein, if people treat my character as a joke or belittle him constantly it's going to get old very quickly. and i'm prone to drop threads that feel like they aren't going to evolve into anything significant? like if it's just characters arguing back and forth with no resolution, or one character maintains the same view of mine forever with no room to change that. not every character has to become friends or anything like that but things should move in Some direction with enough time and repeated interaction

best time to write : i have a 9-5 and usually need to take some time to decompress after that so i'm typically on around 8pm est or so!

are you like your muse ? : god i hope not. but uhh out of all my muses honestly i think i'm Least like jiminy. outside of being like... relatively stubborn and a little hotheaded (i'm an aries, i don't know what jiminy's excuse is)

tagged by ellie @lcafman aaand honestly a lot of y'all have already done this so i won't double tag you. if you see this and you haven't done it, steal it from me!

[swanimagines]

I can't tell if your requests are open or not BUT I had this funky ass dream about Kaz but it was like.... I was missing for a really long time and suddenly I resurfaced again?? So can I ask for something like that with a Kaz x reader where the reader is someone important to him like maybe his partner and they suddenly come back??

THE FREDDY EVENT HAS ENDED! Thank you everyone who requested during it! Freddy's characters preferences and requests for Jason, Tom and Ellis will stay open as I promised, they weren't exclusive to the event.

The Kaz taglist will apply for the remainder of content which came during the event, but after that it won't be used anymore and Kaz pieces will have the general Netflix show Shadow and Bone taglist, which contains the rest of the Crows, Alina, Mal, Genya, Darkling etc. You can apply to that if you want to catch the post-event requested Kaz pieces too!

A/N: If you aren't sure if my requests are open, it always reads on my pinned post, and it also read on the Freddy event post. But honestly my requests are almost always open, I think last time they were closed was about 3 years ago. Every time I close them, I seem to get the most inspiring and awesome requests from people who didn't read my pinned post and then I'm debating whether I'll let it slide or tell them to come back once requests are open, risking for them to go to choose someone else to get their request out quicker. So I changed it so that requests are almost always open and now I also write them in order I feel inspired in and not in order they came in (Freddy event + celebrations are exceptions though).

Word count: 2.7k

STORY OF BROKEN HEARTS

"I don't feel happy here, Kaz."

"Not happy here, or not happy with me?" Kaz asked. The boy you loved had his back to you, tightly gripping his desk. "I think we both know the answer to that question."

"It's not about you, Kaz. I'm done with this criminal life, done with fearing for my life, done with running and hiding from Stadwatch, being afraid of having to watch my friends, or you, being killed all the time." you replied with a shaky voice as you felt tears invading your eyes. You wiped them away quickly before they could betray you. "I want a normal home, somewhere safe where I can relax without worrying what might happen at any moment. I wish you'd come with me, but I know you won't."

"I belong in Ketterdam," he said quietly. He turned around slowly, but not meeting your eyes. You took in a shaky breath when you saw how hurt he was by your words. He didn't cry, Kaz Brekker never cried, he kept it all inside him, but you knew him enough to know he was devastated by your decision to leave. You nodded, biting your lip. Your heart screamed for you to take back your words, say you'll stay, say you'll stay with him, but your brains knew your heart wouldn't be able to handle yet another loss. Losing Rikke and Vera during the last job had been the last straw for you, and you knew you wouldn't be able to bear losing more friends.

You laid your hand near Kaz's, and he paused for a moment, before pulling his hand away from you, settling it a little further. You took it as a quiet ask for you to leave already, he didn't want to make it harder than it already was. He was trying to forget you already. So you turned, walking to the door, taking one last glance at Kaz's office you had spent in so many nights, cuddled up in that little armchair with an open book on your lap reading while Kaz worked. The window, where you and Kaz had first held hands as you had looked at fireworks of the Winter Solace. The couch, where you had fallen asleep on, finding Kaz's coat wrapped around you in the morning. And Kaz, working there, offering you a small smile when you entered his office, a smile reserved only for you. Now, he didn't even spare a glance at you. You swallowed back your wavering voice.

"Goodbye, Kaz." you croaked out, then walked out of his room. You stood behind it for a moment, leaning against the railing as you let tears fall, before making your way down and grabbing your bag, which you had left outside his bedroom door, slinging it over your shoulder. You wiped away your tears, clearing your throat and stepping into the hallway and head out.

You felt Kaz watching you as you made your way towards the harbor through the rainy Ketterdam streets, and tried your hardest not to look at him. You couldn't deal with meeting his eyes, since that would have reeled you right back to the Slat, and only when you were on a ship sailing towards your new life, you stared at the direction of the Slat until it disappeared into horizon.

***

"Os Kervo! Docking in Os Kervo! Next harbor will be Ketterdam!" The sailor shouted loudly from above deck. You sat at the prow of the ship, looking ahead of yourself, enjoying the brisk sea breeze whipping across your face. The cold air cleared your thoughts, or at least kept you from dwelling too much on them.

Five years ago you had left Ketterdam in search of new, better life. But during those five years, you hadn't been able to leave your past behind you. Your heart always belonged in Ketterdam. You had tried to get over Kaz, even trying to start a few relationships, but the first date always felt just... wrong. They all had been nice, polite and charming people, no red flags anywhere, and yet, it never worked out. You never even got to the point of kissing any of them. It was as though they could sense that you still cared about someone else.

You had finally come to realise with the past few months that you'd never get over Kaz. You belonged with him, he made you happy, and that would forever be impossible with anyone else. He had fought his way to show his love to you over and over again, and you had selfishly left him because you couldn't bear the thought of losing him. You had realised that even if he did die, you wanted to be the last one he sees, you wanted him to know you loved him til the end. Your heart would break into little pieces, but you wanted to be with him until the very end. He was your one true love, and you wanted to let him know that.

Of course, you dreaded some things. He could have already died. He could have found someone else. But you still had to see him, had to apologize to him at least if not else. Even visit his grave if he was dead.

You tucked your little bag under your coat and looked at the bright sky above. There wasn't a bright sky in Ketterdam, at least not very often. The sky was always covered in a thick layer of grey clouds or fog, or both. It didn't make it easy for the sun to shine through, and it always seemed to rain.

The plank was finally taken in, and the ship was undocked. And so you were sailing back to where you belonged, back to the city of crime and dark streets you had called home since you were thirteen years old.

***

The Crow Club was bustling with customers today. They were laughing, gambling, downing shots and hooraying to themselves occasionally. You smiled at the sight, taking a few steps further to the building.

"Y/N?" you heard a familiar voice from behind your back, and you turned around with a bright smile.

"Jes!" you exclaimed happily as Jesper embraced you tightly.

"Where have you been? We thought you're dead or something, Kaz wouldn't agree to talk about you at all. He just kept ignoring any questions about you." Jesper told you, squeezing you tight again. You nodded, smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry I left like that," you started, "I just felt like I couldn't take it anymore. All that death and bloodshed... It was too much..."

Jesper nodded, glancing at the top of the stairs and then at you. You followed his gaze, seeing Kaz standing there. Your breath hitched in your throat and you swallowed heavily. He didn't seem to recognize you, or at least he didn't let it show if he did. His eyes swept across you, before he started descending the stairs and walked towards you. You took a step forward towards him, expecting him to come talk to you, but he moved past you without a word or another glance.

You sighed shakily and looked back at Jesper who was watching you with concern. "He has someone, doesn't he?"

Jesper shook his head. "Not that we know. But he has become even more cold since you left. He quit talking to me and Wylan about everything else than work. He's just our boss now, nothing else."

You nodded, your mind running through your memory from the night you left. The memory was painful for you, and you could only imagine how painful it must have been for Kaz. You saw him slip outside, and without another thought you followed him. Maybe it wasn't wise, but you had to talk to him, you had to try to make him understand. You likely wouldn't be able to "fix" it right away, but you could try to mend it somehow.

He was standing against the wall, staring at the street full of people. You came to stand by him, and hoped for him to stay there, but instead he turned away as though you were no longer worth looking at.

"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

"I want to say I'm sorry," you said softly, taking a step closer to him. "I shouldn't have left like that. I should have talked things out with you first. I knew what I was getting into, I just... I couldn't bear the idea that you would die and I would be left here alone." He slowly looked up at you then, his face blank, void of any emotion. You swallowed nervously, bracing yourself for his reply.

He looked down at the cobbled stone below him, sighing loudly. "I am not interested in hearing about your reasons, Y/N. You left us. Left me. You chose to leave because you were scared of this life. Don't come crawling back when it's convenient for you to do so because it serves your purpose."

You shook your head quickly. "No, Kaz—" your voice broke, but you forced it to come back together. "I didn't come back just to serve my purposes."

"Then why?" he demanded, still glaring down at the ground.

You sighed again. "Because I missed you." You felt tears welling up and had to blink them away before continuing. "I realised that even if I'm scared to lose you, lose any of you, I want to be here. I want you to know I'm willing to love you until the end, whether you die tomorrow or when we're a hundred years old. Because without you I'll never be able to truly live." He glanced up from under his brow, but otherwise said nothing. He let out another heavy breath and then he turned back towards the Crow Club.

"Kaz?" you called softly. He grunted and stopped for a moment, looking at you.

"What?" he snapped impatiently.

"Please don't hate me..." you begged him, the tears spilling over onto your cheeks. "I was selfish, and I was wrong, but please try to understand."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't have to understand," he said, walking past you.

You stood there alone for a moment, tears rolling down your face as you stared after Kaz. You hugged yourself, turning away, but then you felt a coat being wrapped around you.

"Oh, love," Jesper mumbled, looking at your face and wiping some tears away with his thumb. "It's alright. It's gonna be alright."

You sniffled and shook your head. "No, it won't. He hates me now, doesn't he?"

"No, he just needs time." he answered and you saw Wylan coming to stand at the door. He smiled at you sadly, and you returned it. Jesper guided you inside and up the stairs.

"Will Kaz allow this?" you asked as you sat on the couch.

Jesper shrugged. "You need rest, it's been a long day. We'll find out in the morning what happens next."

You nodded gratefully as Wylan took out a big, warm looking spare blanket and a pillow and it didn't take long for you to fall asleep.

***

The sun rose slowly, illuminating a new day that would hopefully lead to better things than last night had brought you. You sat up and smiled a little as you saw Jesper and Wylan spooning together on their shared bed. You stretched your limbs and yawned softly before realising you're thirsty. You put on your clothes carefully, trying your best not to make noise or disturb the two lovers still sleeping - yesterday had been a long day for them too, you wanted them to have a good night's rest.

The floorboard creaked under your feet, and you paused, looking over at Jesper and Wylan. Jesper hummed and snuggled closer to Wylan, but neither of them didn't wake up. You sighed in relief and made your way towards the door. You opened the door quietly, and closed it, and then almost screamed as you heard a click of a cane behind you. You turned around with wide eyes, seeing Kaz standing there, scowling.

Words flowed out before you could stop them "Kaz, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have come here, I—"

He cut you off by lifting his hand and took in a deep sigh.

"We should probably talk," he told you stiffly.

You frowned, your mouth opening slightly. You weren't expecting that. "What?"

He averted his eyes from yours. "Just... come downstairs. We can talk while we eat breakfast." He started walking past you without another word, down the stairs. You followed him after a moment's hesitation. He led you to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, while you took an apple from the food storage room and sat at the table with your former boyfriend who, you noticed, was slightly nervous. To anyone else, he might have looked static and cold, uncaring, but you noted all the microexpressions which you had learned years before and knew better than anyone just how anxious he really was about this situation.

The two of you ate silently for a moment, before Kaz finally cleared his throat, getting your attention.

"I was too harsh on you yesterday," he said to you, staring at his now empty cup of coffee.

You shook your head, "No you weren't..."

"Let me finish," he told you sternly. "I was hurt because you just came back after leaving us, and I lashed out at you because it made me feel better in some way. But it wasn't fair, we were still very young when you left. Rikke and Vera were like siblings to you, their death hit you hard and you walked out. I should have understood enough to offer you a better solution, fitting for both of us."

"It wasn't your fault I left, Kaz." you told him quietly, leaning forward. "I was scared and didn't think about others, only myself. I made that decision in one evening and regretted it a few days after. It was stupid of me."

He waved your words away with a dismissive hand. "No, it was reasonable for you to leave. But I should have given you some time off rather than blaming you of abandoning us. You had decided to leave, but I still drove you away. I felt so guilty of not being able to offer you more, to be honest." He let out a sigh. "But you are here now, and hopefully things will go well between us again, once we talk this over."

You nodded slowly, your heart leaping a little in joy with his last sentence. "I hope we do, Kaz."

He smiled slightly then, that smile you had missed so much and that always made your cheeks hot, and stared at your hand on the table. Slowly, he inched his hand towards yours, and you followed suit until you had gently linked your pinkies together. You faintly saw a blush on Kaz's cheeks, even at the dim lighting of the kitchen, and felt your own cheeks burning up too, feeling like that lovesick teenager you had been before you first started your relationship.

He had grown a lot during these five years too - when you left, Kaz wouldn't apologize to anyone for anything, not even to you. At the very best, his apology was a flower or a book left on your bedside table, sometimes with a note "I hope you like it", but now he had used his words to apologize. He had felt guilt about the situation which he had tried to manage, and you coming back so suddenly had made his feelings go on an overdrive which had made him put his walls up high again, and it made you hurt just thinking about what he might have been going through.

But the important thing was that now, after thinking of it through the night, he had decided to forgive you, and that was all that mattered.

---

Tags: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl @bb-skyrunner @ellora-brekker @hanabihwa @animalistic0 @story-scribbler @lovemenotplz @writingmysanity @directioner5life @thevipers-world @imaginesfire // send in an ask to be added, and specify which of Freddy's characters do you want to be tagged on! (This taglist is for Freddy event only, I won't take character taglists for anyone else than Freddy's characters. And note: after the event, Kaz pieces will get the full SaB taglist again, this taglist applies only during this event) ALSO IF YOU WON’T INTERACT BEYOND LIKING, I’LL EVENTUALLY TAKE YOU OFF THE LIST!!

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

Something for the Vardy AU? How about Date night gone wrong, but still with "I like spending time with you" ?

The idea of a date night with these two is so odd to me, but then I remember that Hardy's one canonical date in the show was awkward, and that might be why.

It's not as awkward as that for this, but Alec still feels bad.

On with the fic!

--

"I should have looked at the menu online first..." Alec commented from across the table, looking a bit bothered.

"Why's that?" Lucian asked, tilting his head. Yes, it did look a little pricey, but he was sure they could afford any number of dishes just fine. A lot of it seemed rather fancy, much nicer than what Lucian was used to, but he could handle it just fine, he'd eaten worse than caviar or whatever.

"I didn't check to see if there's anything here that I can eat." Alec said quietly.

"What can you eat, exactly?"

"Not a lot without having to try it first, and when I do, it usually makes me sick. It's really touch and go."

"Should we... go somewhere else?"

Alec shook his head. "No, I already got us reservations, and it's the nicest place in town, according to Miller and Beth."

"Well, if you'd rather not eat, that's alright."

Again, Alec shook his head. "No, it's weird when I do that, people don't like it at all. I'll just get a steak, rare. That's safe enough, I think."

Lucian raised an eyebrow, about to ask what he meant, but their waiter arrived and they placed their orders, along with getting a bottle of wine. "Is that safe for you to drink?" Lucian asked when they were left alone.

"Yeah, just one or two glasses. I brought my pills, the blood helps." Alec replied and Lucian really took into account that he didn't know how Alec ate.

He was aware of blood, obviously, and apparently the occasional moth when he was a tiny bat. But normal food? Liquids didn't seem to be a problem, and he had seen Alec eat toast before, and chips a few times that he snatched from Daisy if she brought them into the house.

But really, he never saw Alec eat.

"How are you with raw meat?" Lucian asked and Alec looked bothered.

"I hate... that it tastes fine, it doesn't make me sick or taste like ash like most foods do."

Interesting, Lucian wondered if he could offer him some the next time he went out for a hunt. But Alec might not care much for that, unless if he can eat it as a tiny bat? Maybe he'd feel better if the portions were smaller?

Alec changed the topic, talking about something that happened at work, about some punk that was causing them problems and Ellie decided to make that her problem. Their food arrived while he was talking and Alec looked at his plate, frowning.

It looked pretty good, in Lucian's opinion, but then again, he liked meat. His wolf instinct much prefers it over other choices, hence his own choice of a similar dish, but he and Alec were two different kinds of creatures, and clearly the vampire didn't seem as interested.

Lucian watched as his date took small portions, seeming to be trying to handle it, before he gave up. "I can't. It's not rare enough." He frowned. "This is why I don't eat out often."

"Oh, well, we can just take it home with us then." Lucian suggested.

"I only ate about a fourth of it, that seems like an insult to the chef. Fuck. I'm sorry about this, Lucian. It's been... a really long time since I've been on a date with someone, and sometimes I just forget myself, forget my limitations. I ruined the date, should have seen this coming."

Lucian shook his head. "No, no, it's fine! I'm still having a nice time with you, and besides, we won't let that go to waste. Just slice some of it off and put it on my plate, I've got no problem with eating it."

He reached over, taking Alec's hand. "And besides, whatever we do, go out, eat in, it doesn't really matter to me. I like spending time with you."

Alec looked at their hands, then up at Lucian. "So I didn't fuck up?"

"No, unless if you also think I did because I'm probably underdressed for this. I've never owned a tie in my life, didn't think I needed it for a restaurant." Lucian chuckled.

He saw the smallest hint of a smile on Alec's face. "No, you look fine, better than fine. I don't think a suit works for you anyway."

"They work for you." Lucian replied and rubbed the back of Alec's hand with his thumb. "Still, I'm having a good time, and it's fine if you don't want to eat the rest of your dinner. We can have something much better suited for you when we get back to your place." He smirked and judging by Alec's reaction, he picked up on the meaning.

[strongsassysexysloane]

Fifth Day of Twelve - A Perfectly Captured Memory

Well well well this is the most commitment I've had to something in a while. You're welcome LOL.

Click below to read previous days drabbles

. . . .

The snow had really come down over night but you didn't mind. You had gloves now to keep your hands nice and toasty. Even though it was now the weekend in most people's lives, to you, it was just another work day which meant no sleep in whatsoever.

The office was empty when you arrived, typical for a weekend and it was only 0630. You had been up far too early thinking about anything but what gift you would receive today. At least trying to think about anything else. Failing miserably. That was at 0500 and when you saw the snow piled up on the rim of your bedroom window you decided to go in early just in case there was traffic. Had nothing to do with possibly catching the gift giver in the act.

Alas when your eyes found your desk it had something extra sitting beside your phone that definitely wasn't there when you left last night. Unfortunately the potted plant had to go yesterday because it started to smell not so nice.

Once you dropped your backpack underneath, you picked up the photo frame and smiled at the cute family photo inside. It was of the team at Jimmy's birthday party this year. A half decent one before half of you got absolutely sloshed. You were part of that half and so was the woman with her arm curled around your waist, holding you close, her head resting against yours. You of course, had a stupid overly tipsy grin spread across your face. The more.you looked at the photo the more the memory flooded your mind, the taste of bourbon, the warm touch and tight hold of Jack Sloane.

Most days you could keep your emotions under control but that night, the alcohol let them free, just a little. There was dancing, one slow song but you were both too drunk for it to mean anything. You ran your finger over the frame with a smile. His party was so long ago.

That night made it difficult to hold those emotions in check after, you'd tried so hard for the past year putting those feelings for her aside. Someone had pointed out that maybe the failed dates were because no one matched up and that was partly true. No one could but you didn't know how they could match up when you weren't ever a thing to begin with. Oh, how you prayed this was all from her.

You knew Jack was attracted to females, Izzy was easy to get information out of once she was tipsy. Izzy stopped by a few months back to share information on a case much to Jack's dismay but this time she charmed you into drinks. Only for her to get more information on Jack's dating life but in return you got some back story on Jack as well. She, of course, wasn't around to be angry at either of you until the following morning because Izzy had sent her a drunken voicemail.

She was more mad at Izzy for blabbing and curious towards you about why you were so inquisitive. You deflected like you usually did and for once Jack let up.

That was you and Jack. A friendship with questions attached. You knew Jack had asked questions about you a while back. You knew because you'd overhead her talking to Ellie in the ladies room a couple months after you'd joined. It wasn't anything about the job, it was all personal. Ellie had asked you out for Saturday night drinks with her and Nick, everyone else had plans but that didn't stop Jack from getting all the information she wanted. After that you avoided going out with Ellie for a while, it wasn't until she figured it out and promised things would stay between the two of you, that you decided to go drinking with them again. You didn't mind sharing, you just preferred when the person wanting to know asked you face to face which you knew was entirely hypocrital on your part.

Why she didn't ask you or why you couldn't ask her was frustrating. They weren't overly intrusive questions, just getting to know a person's life a bit more. She just made you nervous for some reason.

You almost dropped the photo frame when the elevator doors dinged. It was Gibbs arriving for the day with a cup of coffee in his hand. He frowned at your shocked face and you gave him a one shoulder shrug in response. "Morning."

" 'morning. Another present?"

His question caught you off guard. "Umm..yeah."

"Only gets annoyin' when they harp on about it." He offered a reason to your questioning look. "Got a photo?" He stopped at your desk and looked down at the frame.

You picked it up and faced it towards him. It was a simple light wooden frame with a meaningful picture. "Even has you smiling."

"Might 'ave somethin' to do with the good bourbon Palmer had on tab." He smirked, placing it back down on your desk.

You chuckled. "Was good bourbon." So good that Jimmy didn't realise how many people drank it until he got the bill.

Gibbs nodded and took a swig of his coffee. "Any ideas yet?"

You raised a brow at his follow up but his dead stare just made you chuckle more. "No. I dont-" You didn't want to sound stupid. It seemed like a silly reason.

"Want to ruin the surprise." He nodded and walked over to his desk. It sounded ok when he said it.

"Yeah."

There was silence between you after that. You followed up with the call directory of the victims brother you were working on last night. Praying to find something to go with the no alibi he had for the time of the murder. They were estranged however only lived twenty minutes apart and something in his answers seemed off. Off according to Gibbs and Jack which was something. He just seemed unpleasant when you and Gibbs picked him up yesterday.

The team started to arrive just after and to no one's surprise Ellie was the only one to notice or comment about the frame on your desk. She soon dropped the subject when Jack came whizzing in.

"Guess where I'm jetting off to in a few hours?!" She beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet with your added enthusiasm.

"Where Jack?" All three of you said in deadpan unison and Gibbs smirked as Jack rolled her eyes. "I don't care if you aren't interested. I'm going to New Orleans." She raised her arms in victory. "It's been so long."

You could tell by her slightly open mouth and glowing eyes that she was thinking about food. "What's first on the menu?"

She laughed and looked down at you. "Depends. I'm going to help Dwayne on a case. He asked for me specifically and Vance actually agreed. So it may be his gumbo or a restaurant between the airport and the office." She shrugged really not caring which option it would be, just that she knew it would be good food.

"Mmmm I can smell it all, already." Ellie hums. She visited the NOLA office earlier in the year, side trip when she went home for a week to Oklahoma. Tammy and Sebastian had finally convinced her to come down for a weekend with the promise of Dwayne's signature dish. She didn't care what it was, she was sold.

"You might need to bring her back something." Nick smirked at Ellie's poked tongue.

"I might just do that."

"Thank you Jack." They both grinned at each other. Ellie was known for her love of food but Jack was a close second in your book.

"Have fun, remember there's a case to solve inbetween food." You smiled wider when she rolled her eyes.

That's when the thought clicked, if Jack wasn't here then you'd finally know if it was her or not. She couldn't surprise you with gifts if she wasn't here and she wouldn't dare tell anyone else it's her.

"Thank you, Y/n. Gibbs, I've got those profiles you asked for yesterday. Follow me." She motioned with her gloved hand for him to join her to her office and he obliged.

She left the office not long after and left Gibbs with another possible lead for the case.

"Grab your gear."

. . . .

Tonight consisted of drinking eggnog, watching Christmas movies while making Gingerbread houses with my roommate. Twas fun. Feeling very festive. Hop everyone has a good weekend!

[justgradschoolthings]

❀The Art of Storytelling❀

*taps mic* Is this thing on?

Okay, I'll just be honest, I generally stink at introductions. I'm only professional when I absolutely have to be. Thankfully, since this is my blog, I don't technically have to be professional. Except for my professor will be reading this and I don't want her to think I'm a classless heathen.

Anyways, hi. My name is Ellie. I have my Bachelors in English with concentrations in creative writing and journalism. I'm currently working towards my Masters in Professional Writing while also working full time. I have no life, it's fine.

I know anyone who majored in some form of the arts in college heard the following phrases at least once:

Can you even make money with that degree?

What do you want to do with that degree when you graduate?

Oh, so you want to be a teacher!

You may want to minor in something more useful so you can actually get a job.

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. And spare myself from the utter agony those phrases inspire in my soul.

I started writing creatively when I was ten years old. The first thing I remember writing was in the computer lab with my childhood bestie. I think the Twilight Saga was really big at that time, so we wrote stories about these two vampire girls. I have no idea what the plotline was beyond that. I'm now twenty-three years old, so it's safe to say I've grown far beyond the realm of sparkly vampires. If you're not on Team Edward you're very misinformed, though, just saying.

Rambling aside, I'd like to share the tips and insights I've learned over the years. Here goes. Here are some questions you may have about the writing process.

❁Where should I start?❁

I'd have a question for you in turn: what are you into? Are you a diehard Star Wars fan? Do you play sports? Do you play any instruments? When you're thinking about things to write about, don't push yourself too far! Write what you know. Write about what you love. Seriously. It sounds cheesy, but it's so true. The writing process will be absolutely miserable if you don't actually care about your topic of choice!

❁Is there any place I can look for inspiration?❁

Yes! Read. Read about your topic, in your genre, if you will, as much as you can. And don't groan at me like that. It may sound like something your teacher would tell you to do, but it's true. Reading has made me a better writer! For example, my preferred genre of writing is Young Adult Fiction, specifically in romance. Why, you ask? Because those are some of my favorite types of books to read! In reading more about what you write about, you can study the way they write. How do they use POV (point of view)? Do they write in first person? Third person? Past tense? Present tense?

❁How do I know if I'm any good?❁

The answer to this is simple and terrifying: have others read your work. I know, I know. Sometimes it's terrifying to put your own writing out there, to show it to someone else. But I can confidently say that I would not be the accomplished writer I am today without the gentle (and not so gentle at times) feedback of my peers and instructors.

❁Does writing require work outside of writing?❁

Of course. These beautiful sentences don't just form themselves. *Insert hair flip emoji* Really, though, it depends on the genre you're writing in. For example, if you're writing a movie set in the middle of World War Two, you'd be remiss not to have your facts correct. After all, this was a war involving actual human beings, some of whom died so we could be free. I actually wrote a movie set in a concentration camp, and let me tell ya, I think I researched more than I actually wrote the movie. If you want your story to be authentic and believable, you have to do your homework. Get the facts straight, and get them in reputable places, please. Wikipedia is handy but it is not reputable. Websites ending in .org or .edu are good examples of credible sources.

❁Are there any good places to find inspiration for writing online?❁

Absolutely! If you search writing prompts on Google, you'll get tons of ideas. These are some of my favorite places to go when I'm in need of some inspiration or have writers block.

This sub-Reddit

Writer's Digest

I've found great dialogue starters here

I think that's it! If you've made it this far without getting bored...I'm glad. Time to go adult now. Boo.

⸻ Ɛℓℓιє

[valewright67]

Elizabeth smiled as two new people entered the bar, a man and a woman. "Welcome to the Boar Hat! Go ahead and seat yourselves, I'll be right with you!" There wasn't anyone else in the bar right now, and they picked a table. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation as she finished drying the dishes from lunch.

"Where do you think we should even look?"

"I don't know. We could start by asking here? Information comes through bars a lot. Maybe that waitress has heard about the boys."

"I hope so."

Elizabeth walked over with a smile. "Sorry about that. What can I get started for you? We have Apple Ish Pie if you're in the mood for sweets, and Fried Fish if you'd prefer something meaty. And we have Ales from all over."

"Oh! We were hoping to ask you a couple of questions first, actually?" The woman asked. Elizabeth tilted her head a little. "Yes, of course, what would you like to know?"

"We lost our sons not long ago, and we've been looking for them. We we're hoping you might have heard something."

"Oh no, that's terrible!" And it really was. They weren't the first parents to be separated from their children during this new war. "Can you tell me about them? Their names, their appearances, when they went missing?"

"Soren has blue eyes and silver hair, and Kavan has green eyes and black hair. They're 12 and 10, and went missing a few months ago. Do you know anything?"

Elizabeth tensed up, then her face went hard and steely.

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get out of my bar. Now."

"Now what's with the sudden shift in attitude, young lady?"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY BAR!"

The boys, who had been upstairs laying together with their dragon stuffies, heard the commotion and rushed down to defend their Mama Ellie. They would NOT let another Mama die, no no no no NO!

They froze when they reached the bottom of the stairs, staring at the people they had called their parents. The two disgraced druids turned to look at them as they reached the bottom of the stairs and their eyes widened. "Soren, Kavan! You're here, we've been looking everywhere for you!" The man cried, both rising and starting to move over to them as the boys flinched away. Elizabeth stepped in front of them again, blocking their path with a fierce look.

"No, you don't get to act like that. All innocent and worried. Not after what you did. Leave, now, before I lose my temper."

"Wha- you cannot keep us from our children-!"

"THEY AREN'T YOURS! YOU LOST THE RIGHT TO THEM! THEY ARE MEL'S AND THEY ARE MINE! NOW GET THE HELL OUT!" Her hair started floating a little as she glared them down angrily, her golden eye gleaming. The boys backed up warily, looking at their bio parents terrified and grief stricken.

(Zeldris had been out hunting for meat, but upon feeling Elizabeth's magic trigger began a swift journey back.)

"You have no right-"

"I have every right! Every right that you gave up when you decided to be the worst people in Brittania!"

"Fine then! If we have to take them by force, then disposing of some insolent girl like yourself should be no problem!" The man growled, pulling out an ornate dagger. The woman pulled out her own blade. "We WILL be taking them back to Ishtar, so we may return!"

Elizabeth's lip pulled back and she lashed out. "GET OUT! GET OUT AND NEVER RETURN!"

They ignored her and lunged, blades brandished, while the boys cried out for their Mama Ellie. Elizabeth did not waver, twisting her wooden tray up to block the woman's knife, and barely wincing as the man's knicked her side instead of her throat. They didn't get a chance to do anything else when darkness snapped around their waist and yanked them back as they yelped. They slammed against the wall and it bound them tightly. Zeldris walked in, face hard and a hand outstretched.

"Don't even bother." He snapped as they tried to use their light magic to burn away the bonds. "I am far stronger than your feeble magic can hope to overcome." With that, he shot his gaze forward again, and jogged into the room. "Are you three ok? You're not- fuck, Elizabeth, your HURT, are the boys-"

"They're not injured, and this is just a little gash, I'll be fine." She turned and went over to them, putting her hands on their cheeks. "Are you two ok? Come on, let's go upstairs, yeah? Uncle Zeldris will take care of those two."

They obeyed, and she herded them upstairs, only pausing to look back at Zeldris with the hardest, most determined, firey look he'd seen on her in 3000 years. "Make them hurt, for the crime of hurting my boys." He nodded, and she returned it, jogging up the stairs and ignoring the blood dripping down her hip onto the wooden floors.

Zeldris turned to them and flicked his fingers, flinging them out the door. He marched put after them as he directed their flailing forms farther into the fog. "Who the Hell do you think you are, hurting my family?"

"They're OUR children!" The woman snapped. "Who are you, huh? We were told a demon, the sin of Wrath, decided to take them in. Are you him?"

"No. But I am his brother, and until he returns, as his mate is so sure he will, I am their protector. You HURT Elizabeth, and TERRIFIED the boys, and I am PISSED. I want to know why."

"Because we want our sons back! We NEED them to get back to Ishtar, obviously!"

"How did you lose them in the first place? I doubt Meliodas would kidnap children with loving homes." Things were starting to line up in his head.

"Why does that matter-"

"Tell me."

"It's unimportant-"

"Tell me."

"We want them NOW-"

"TELL ME!"

"We sold them!!"

He paused. "I see. So that's why Elizabeth was so enraged, I rarely see her angry. Well. She told me to make you hurt. A permission I never get." He got a devilish smirk. "I said I would, and I always make good on my word."

They paled. It was a good thing they were far enough that no one would hear their screams.

Soren, meanwhile, was worriedly healing his Mama Ellie, while she stroked his hair, and soothed their tears with gentle words of assurance that their uncle Zel would make sure those two would never bother them again. (She had seen the protective rage on his face, and knew that the druids would not be returning. Sooner nor later)

Zeldris came back and jogged up the stairs, opening the door with a worried expression. "Are you three alright? They won't be coming back, I promise that much, I- oh." Kavan rammed into his stomach, shoulders shaking as Zeldris stared at him, stunned, before softening and rubbing his head gently. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you all."

"...Thank you, Uncle Zel." He mumbled.

"...Yeah. You're welcome."

Hey hey I had a Mama Mel thought. Do you think he’ll take the boys he adopted dragon hunting?

Y E S I ABSOLUTELY DO.

Kavan is 14 and Soren is 16 when he finally agrees to take the two of them. Zeldris, who had been very irritated upon finding he knew next to none of the royal spells, diligently drilled each one into his mind. So now it was no problem for him to give them a simple blessing, so that they'd be able to withstand the miasma of the Demon Realm. That's where the best hunting grounds were at, after all. They were VERY rare in Brittania, but abundant in the underworld.

Kavan had turned into... well, a bit of a gremlin, really. Mischief radiated from him and there was a spark in his eyes, a twist to his grin. He'd gotten very good at using his shadow magic to pull pranks.

That wasn't to say Soren didn't have his share of the fun, they were brothers after all. But he tended be a bit more responsible. Supposedly. In reality, he was just as much of a little shit as Kavan, but he hid it better.

It took about an hour, but eventually they decided on a dragon to hunt. Meliodas pointed it out. "See its wings? They've been scared heavily, so the poor thing is lame now and can't keep up with the rest of its Thunder, that's what a group of dragons is called, remember? Also, it's older, and has started slowing down. The other members will sometimes try and care for it, which puts them in danger of being attacked by Indura, or being underfed. And besides that, look at the way it moves. It's not healthy, and it's in pain. So we'll trim this one off the population to keep the rest of them healthy."

They stalked it for hours, until the rest of the Thunder was gone, and it rested on the ground before beginning the actual hunt. Meliodas made sure the boys were safe and showed them where to strike it with their weapons to shut off its nerve responses, so it wouldn't feel pain. "Do you want me to do the final blow, or would you rather do it?"

They exchanged glances, and Soren went to stand in front of the Dragon who had very quickly ceased its suffering. Meliodas’s eyes widened, worried he'd get snapped at, or scorched, but he put his hand on its nose and rubbed gently. "I'm sorry for taking your life, but you won't hurt anymore, at least. I'll make sure of that." It puffed a little breath of smoke at him and it ruffled his clothes as he smiled. He pulled its soul from its body as its eyes dulled, and Kavan used his shadows to crack its MASSIVE neck, cutting off its life force instantly.

Soren stood there for a moment, holding the blue orb with its little flame like tail in his palms. It was bigger than an average humans, by about double. Meliodas walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. (He was TALLER than him now, the AUDACITY.) "Id like to show you something that we do down here. May I?" He nodded and Meliodas took the soul from him gently. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled as he released it, nudging it gently towards the Dragon nesting grounds. It started to fade about 10 feet away from them until it was no longer visible. "It'll go on in that direction, and find a hatchling to be reborn as."

He patted them both. "Good job. Come on, let's get this back to the palace kitchens." He lifts it up and they start their trip back.

They're not exactly subtle. They don't purposefully put on a show, but they don't go out of their way to remain subtle either. Which means, especially as they get closer to the palace, where the population is denser, a lot of people see them. Meliodas has been seen around the underworld, and there's rumors he has children through overheard conversations with him and his brother. ("How are the boys?" "Oh, you know them. Getting into all sorts of trouble.) But they've never actually been SEEN, this is their first time in the underworld.

Meliodas dips his head to demons who stop to stare at their former heir and a couple of TEENAGERS, apparently. Kavan and Soren are laughing, chasing each other and wrestling, and Meliodas watches them with a fond look. When they do make it the palace, he knocks on the outside entry door to the kitchen. The door are opened by a servant and he smiles as he holds up the dragon. "The boys and I hunted a dragon, and we can't exactly eat the entire things ourselves. I'd offer to help cook, but-"

The boys immediately broke out in protests, yelling about how they did NOT feel like being poisoned by his atrocious dishes tonight, and he smirked. "That."

The dragon was placed on a large tarp like fabric, and the three of them got to work on skinning it. Kavan and Soren made some faces, but Meliodas had worked on building up their tolerance to this by teaching them how to skin deer, and other Brittanian creatures. A dragon was just... bigger. Once the scales were removed, he strung it onto a large frame and began to strip it. The kitchen workers began to prep the meat. "You can use the scales to make anything from armor and weapons to jewelry and dress garments." They were a lovely color, onyx black with silvery patterns and swirls scattered throughout it.

Eventually, they were finished, and he took them inside to bathe. They did make a stop in the throne room first, to say hi. Well, Meliodas was going to have them wait, but they ran off before he could say anything.

"Uncle Zel, guess what we just did??" Kavan said barging in with little wisps of shadows drifting off of him in his excitement. He was covered In dirt, ash, and some blood from the butchering. Soren came up behind him and threw his weight on top of his younger brother, eyes literally glowing as he shoved him down while he protested. "We just hunted a DRAGON!"

Zeldris blinked at them. "...That's nice. Where is your father?"

"Here!" Meliodas called, jogging up behind them and pulling them back as they yelped. "Boys, we're filthy, we need to go clean up. Besides your uncle has an audience right now, come on, be more observant." They blinked and turned back towards the room where, indeed, there was a small gathering of Demons. They both flushed bright red and started stuttering out Apologies while their father smirked. Zeldris chuckled and waved them off. "It's fine, I'll see you at dinner and we can talk then. Go clean up, you all really are filthy."

They took off immediately, and Meliodas snorted as they watched them retreat. "Sorry about that, Zel. They were excited to talk to you, and ran off before I could stop them. You know how they are."

He smirked. "I know, Mel. You're filthy too, get out of here, before you stick up my throne room."

"Yeah yeah, I'm going. See you in a few hours."

[swanimagines]

jenni!!! for your event, can I request freddy characters having a crush on the reader pls? [preferences] cause i feel like how each character would act would be so drastically different and it'll be cool to see what you come up with. 👀

FREDDY EVENT, send in requests for any of Freddy Carter's characters (NOT the man himself (= no Freddy Carter (the real person) x readers), only his characters)!! (Other requests are open too, but they go to my normal to-do list which I'm not able to start doing til March at earliest)

Hehe I had something like this in mind already when I made the event post-

I'm gonna do the crushes with like, not saying it straight if Y/N has feelings for them too because that's more interesting imo 😄

Again, all the gifs are made + colored by me.

Warnings: again, slight sexual mention with Jason's section... both of these scenarios just kind of give vibes that it might lead to that and like c'mon, if you aren't creeped out by his crush, you're messed up too 😅

Characters: all of Freddy Carter's existing characters! So they are Kaz Brekker from Shadow and Bone, Pin Hawthorne from Free Rein, Ellis from The Convent, Jason Ripper from Pennyworth and Tom from 15 Days.

Pin: He easily thinks less of himself compared to other boys, so when he realizes having feelings for you, he's immediately insecure. Marcus is the heartstopper at the stables, not him. Why would you even notice him? Or notice him like that? He has been invisible to everyone, just a regular stable boy at the background, why would you suddenly notice him? The Squad notices his fond looks at you though, and they convince him to go talk to you and get to know you better. Even if you didn't have feelings for him now, you could possibly develop them after you'd notice what a sweetheart Pin is, a boy with a golden heart who would do anything for the people he cares about.

So he began to talk to you, began to spend time with you, and he befriended you quickly. You were supportive of him through Holloway and all that pressure he went through when he became a Duke. And, he found himself thinking, even if you'd never become a real couple, he would be more than content to be just friends with you. You just brought light into his life, even if you wouldn't cuddle and kiss.

Kaz: He hides it immediately after he realizes/allows himself to realize why his heart beats a bit faster every time you smile at him or compliment him and why does he feel the need to protect you and instinctively cuts you out from any dangerous tasks, giving you the safest tasks possible. After his realization, he might even ignore you completely for a while in order to pull himself together, making you puzzled why is he treating you like that. You had executed your part in heists/your given tasks flawlessly and hadn't made any mistakes elsewhere either (touching him etc), so Kaz's behavior towards you didn't make sense, especially when you thought you had just started to become closer, even friends.

Inej (with the slight help from Nina because she wants to be sure she interprets Kaz's behavior right) catches up on Kaz's feelings first, and tries to tell him to come into terms with it, reminding that even he deserves love and to be loved. But Kaz knew that nobody knew about your thoughts and your feelings towards him, you hadn't talked about your love life to anyone. You might even have someone. He constantly tried to tell himself that he doesn't have any chances with you, but he still couldn't help but be visibly jealous whenever he saw you in someone else's arms, wishing that it could be him holding you there, kissing the top of your head and letting you fall asleep against his shoulder or on his lap after an exhausting day, that he would be even able to do any of that.

Sometimes he thought that he saw you staring at him and quickly turning away when he looked at you, giving him hope, that damned feeling he hated. It was just better to try and forget you completely - but he failed every time he saw even a glimpse of you. He even considered kicking you out of the Dregs so he'd forget you, but he had grown to like you too much to let you go, and it wasn't like you even had anywhere else to go either. And eventually, he gave up and stopped ignoring you and let some hope enter his life. Maybe Inej was right - maybe you two could actually become something.

Tom: Usually he'd just go straight up and ask the person he likes out, but you're someone he actually really likes and with his messed up family, he isn't sure if he wants to drag you into that. He ponders with his feelings for a while, but eventually decides to follow his feelings and feel around his surroundings to see if you have any chance of liking him back.

Eventually he does ask you out though, just hoping you would say yes, because he feels stronger for you than anyone else before. And when you do and tell him that you've been hoping to get to know him better, he feels better than in ages. Even his father yelling at him when he gets back home can't completely ruin his mood - he just hopes that you wouldn't back away once you see how messed up his family is, or judge him for his troubled nature.

Jason: Ok if he has a crush on you, it might feel disturbing at first. Because it's not just a crush, it's a slight obsession. He stalks you a bit, might appear to your door and workplace and makes "flirty" comments about your looks that might give you anxiety. And every man who shows even slight interest in you during his crush is in a big trouble (the gif depicts one of those situations).

Of course, if you're into that and feel flattered with such attention from him, then it's not a problem. Maybe you're attending to Crowley's parties too and like the thrill and freedom it brings? You end up always dancing together there and might even sleep together a few times purely for fun (if you're into that), and even though Jason doesn't know if you have feelings for him, he has decided to make you his and believes you'll fall for him too eventually.

Ellis: He becomes shy around you once he starts to catch feelings for you, and they grow fast, making him even shyer. It's very obvious he has feelings for you, everyone at the village sees how he looks at you. He might buy/pick you some flowers but at least at first, he's not brave enough to give them to you and instead, leaves them to your porch and can't help but smile when he sees that you've put them in a vase on your dining table when he visits you.

He becomes slightly bolder with showing affection over time, testing if there would be a possibility that you have feelings for him too (it's clumsy though because he doesn't want to feel intrusive). He just hopes that he would be able to tell you how he feels before you'd possibly find someone else and his carriage would pass, as it would definitely shatter his heart.

Tags specifically for the Freddy event:

Kaz: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl

Pin: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl

Jason: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl

Tom: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl

Ellis: @scandalous-chaos @brekkers-desigirl