#I felt like third place on her list of priorities | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

elisysd · 1 year ago

Text

60. But I promise you this I'll always look out for you

Masterlist - Previously - Epilogue

Chapter soundtrack: Sparks - Coldplay

Melbourne. The last race of the season. The last dance. The last chance. The last opportunity to try something crazy. In her hotel room, shared with Louis who had traveled with his mom for the occasion, Julia was anxiously pacing back and forth. She had voluntarily disappeared from Ethan’s life after Vegas, barely answering his texts to tell him she was busy. It was true, she had been. Busy working on Somnis, busy spending time with Louis and her mom, busy stressing out about what she was going to do. For someone who loved being in control, the last part of her plan was a jump into the unknown without any parachute and in the dark. That’s how it felt for her and when she had exposed it to her therapist, his only response had been to laugh. If giving Ethan the scrapbook had been hard as she was basically offering him all that she was without asking for anything in return, the next step was even wilder for her and was ticking every single box of what she hated in life. She hadn’t said a word to anyone about what she had planned, not wanting for the words to be involuntarily spread. She was feeling like those giant and cheesy romantic heroes, about to pour their heart out to the person they loved in a grand gesture. She had hers. She wasn’t totally sure she had the guts to do it.

The streets of Melbourne were crowded on their way to the Albert Park and she didn’t count the number of times her dad and mom were stopped for pictures by fans as they were going to the paddock. She linked her arm to Louis’ and when she didn’t feel him stiffened, she stopped.

“Since when are crowds not wanting to make you run away?” she asked.

“Ethan is brave when he is racing so I want to show him that I’m brave too.” he shrugged, pulling his sister with him as he started to walk faster.

“Eager to see Ethan?”

When she saw Louis blushing, she instantly knew Ethan was not a priority on his list, which made her even more curious. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Louis walking straight to the Ferrari’s hospitality to greet Martin. His third place in championship would be definitely won today, after the race unless Elijah was winning which Julia strongly doubted. The polish driver wasn’t alone, an elegant woman with the exact same black hair and green eyes was standing next to him, both of her hands on the cheeks of her son and a soft smile on her lips as Martin was talking. His dad was standing a little further away, looking at the scene with cold eyes, a hand put firmly on a young teenage girl who Julia recognised immediately to have seen countless pictures of her in the past. Martin stopped talking when he noticed Louis and gave him a little handshake before looking at Julia and signaling her to come.

“Mom, this is Julia and her brother Louis. They are the children of my team principal.” he introduced them.

“Nice to meet you. Martin doesn’t talk much about his racing life. But if I’m being honest, I prefer it that way, the less I know the less I worry.” said his mom. “I’m Zofia and right there is my husband and Martin’s dad, Aleksander. And our daughter, Georgia.”

Julia saw Martin tensing and Zofia slightly flinching when the man stopped next to them, as Georgia circles her brother’s waist to hug him. A strong aura of dominance and power was radiating from Aleksander and Julia couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. He didn’t say a word, only looked around before finally talking.

“I can’t wait for this circus to be over. I have an important meeting to take care of tomorrow. As soon as we’re done here, we are leaving.”

“You’re not staying for celebrations? Your son is third, it’s amazing for a rookie season in a top team.” sad Julia.

“I don’t see why you should celebrate. He is third. Not first. I didn’t finance his career for him to finish third. I didn’t raise a loser.”

“Aleksander… it’s still an achievement and…” Zofia started but quickly stopped when she felt her husband's hard gaze on her.

“I’m proud of you.” whispered Georgia as Martin pulled her more against him.

“That’s what matters the most to me.”

“Will you be here for Christmas?” asked the young girl.

“Martin has business to do and attend. I don’t think he’ll be able to join us, right son?” answered Aleksander.

“Yeah… but I promise I’ll find time for you. One way or another.”

“You always say that…”

Julia intercepted Martin’s sad look as he clenched his jaw. She knew he had a few family issues but he had always been very secretive about them. The main problem was apparently his dad but she didn’t dare to say anything. It wasn’t her place. Fortunately, Louis came forward completely unaware of the coldness of the situation and looked at Georgia.

“I’m not a big fan of racing but I have a ton of books in my bag. If you want, I can give you one.”

The girl looked at him and smiled shyly.

“I have a book with me, too. But thank you.”

Louis was about to say something when Aleksander asked his daughter and his wife to come with him to find their seats. They didn’t bother to even say good luck to their son who still looked hurt. Still, Georgia turned her head one last time to her brother, mouthing something that Julai didn’t catch but made Martin smile, at least a little bit.

“I’m sorry you had to meet them.”

“Your dad is quite something.” she said.

“A piece of shit. That’s what he is. But I won't let him ruin my day. How are you?”

“I’ve never felt so anxious in my entire life, to be honest.”

“Why?”

She didn’t know if she should talk about Ethan with him. It was weird and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings more than she already had. But one look at him, confirmed that he knew.

“You’re watching the Grand Prix with Maserati?”

“No.. I’m staying here.”

“Ethan must be happy.”

“I haven’t seen him since Vegas… I’m planning something for him. That’s why I’m a little over the edge.” she forced a smile.

“Whatever you have planned, he is a lucky guy and I’m convinced he will love it. I would have loved to chat with you more but I have to go. Preparation and all.” he apologized, heading out of the hospitality.

Julia wasn’t the only stressed out one. Ethan was fidgeting in his driver room, playing with the red bracelet around his wrist. He knew he had to take it off, he couldn’t race with it but Julia had almost been in full radio silence with him and he didn’t know why exactly. She had planned something that he was sure of. But not knowing what would happen and when was even more stressful than having to intend a press conference, something he hated more than anything.

To try to clear his mind, he decided to go out, walk around the paddock. He still had time before the start of the race. A race he was starting twelve which wasn’t very enthusiastic for him. But he had faith in his capacities to know he could aim for the top five. He had too if he wanted to end the championship in fifth place, right before Elijah.

Walking around he was quickly stopped by Christian who was on his way to the Lamborghini’s garage, certainly to check a last minute detail.

“Ethan? The man I was searching for. How are you doing, kiddo?”

Ethan arched an eyebrow.

“Good. Focused. How are you? How does it feel to know it’s Kyle’s last race under your colors?”

“Weird. I saw him grow up and become the man and the driver he is now. I’ll miss him. The team will miss him. But it’s part of life. Do you have a minute? There is something I want to talk about with you but I can”t do it here.”

Ethan didn’t think much of it and nodded before following Christian. He probably wanted to plan a farewell surprise party for Kyle and wanted Ethan’s help. Christian led him to his office before inviting him to sit on a chair.

“So… Now that Kyle’s not part of the team, do you already know who will take his place?”

“I have an idea, yes.”

“Is that Derrick? Your third driver? I mean, he was very good at the last free practice he drove and I’m sure he would make a great teammate to Ludwig. Because now, he is going to be your number one driver, I presume.”

“Actually… Derrick is not the one on my list.”

“Really?” Ethan asked with surprise.

“Well… Listen. When Kyle came to me to tell me about why he didn’t want to renew his contract, he also asked me something. He wants you to take his place, Ethan.”

He was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to speak but no words seemed to come out.

“He wants me to take his place?” he repeated.

“Yes. But before, I need to make sure that you have what it takes. You’re starting P12, right?”

Ethan nodded.

“Well, if you manage to make it to the podium, the seat is yours.” Christian simply said.

“That’s a big challenge.”

“ I know. But I’m sure you’ll find a way. Lamborghini is your dream. You fight for your dreams.”

Coming out of the office, he met Kyle who was leaning against the wall, earphones on and eyes closed, fully focusing. As if feeling his best friend he turned his head towards Ethan and smiled before removing his earplugs.

“Christian told you, I guess.”

“You’re stupid. You’re forcing his hands.” Ethan complained for the sake of it more than anything else.

“I don’t. You still have to show him that you want it and you deserve it.”

“I’m going to do the race of my life, brother.”

“See you on the podium, then.” Kyle winked before joining his physiotherapist.

And Ethan didn’t know if it was because he wanted to honor Kyle on his last race for Lamborghini, or because he had his fate right between his hands, quite literally, but he couldn’t wait to jump in his car. His eyes caught one of the giant screens where interviews were broadcasted and it took him a few seconds to recognise Julia. She was smiling, wearing one of his shirts and he wondered for a moment what the heck was she being interviewed and even more why was she smiling so much and felt so confident. He ran to his hospitality as fast as he could but when he finally was able to hear something it was over. He swore, attracting the attention of his mechanics before feeling someone behind him.

“I recorded it. I think you’re going to find what she says very interesting.” Chloe winked, leaving her with her phone.

He thanked her and went in a corner, away from everyone to isolate himself. When he was sure he wouldn’t get bothered he pressed play and pushed the volume to the maximum, to make sure he would hear everything.

“And we are here with Julia Leclerc. So, as you probably know, today we are wandering the paddock alleyways to ask people who their driver of the year is. The one that made their heart beat faster after each overtakes. We had your dad a few minutes ago who told us that to him it was Romy, but who is it for you?”

“I have to say that Romy would have also been my first choice for the incredible season she had and her wins. I’m happy that she keeps on showing people that a woman can do it as well as men. I know that so many young girls are watching her thriving and aspire to be like her. Same goes for Chloe who arrived in the middle of the season and is doing amazing. I’m sure she will keep on improving and we have seen nothing yet. Boys, you better watch out. But if I had to choose one driver, it would be Ethan. It would always be him. It’s not a revelation, I think a lot of people here know about our relationships, about the ups and downs, but not once have I ever believed he wasn’t an exceptional driver. He deserves everything that comes to him and more. And I know the best is yet to come. If I can say one thing, just one…” she took the microphone and looked straight at the camera. “ Ethan, I love you, I’ve always loved you. Loved to hate you and loved to love you. If you feel like it, meet me in two days where it all started.”

He stopped the recording and it was with a newly found passion that he headed to his car, after giving Chloe her phone back.

“So… Where it all started, what does it mean?”

“She means Singapore. I’m sure of it.” he smiled, proud of him.

Putting his visor down, he saw everything he had been fighting for his whole life. A place, a sense of belonging, his dreams, his friends, people who supported him his whole life, the kids from Little Smiles, Louis, and finally Julia. And when the lights out, the grid better watch out, he was a man on a mission.

Julia didn’t dare to move her eyes from the screen, scared to see his car out in the gravel. But it didn’t happen, instead she saw him gaining positions after positions, laps after laps until he met Martin’s Ferrari for the fight for third place. The fight lasted for a while until Ethan finally managed to get rid of him. The whole garage but Julia was disappointed. She almost screamed of joy when she saw the overtake but contained herself. But still, when her mom looked at her, she knew it was no use to try to fool her. Ethan was going to be on the podium, for the last race of the season. And with his two best friends. She knew how much they meant for him and she was so happy to see that he would be able to live this moment.

And when Kyle crossed the checkered flag, for the last time under the white of Lamborghini, Julia let out a tear. Next year would be weird without him in white but she was sure Audi’s colors would look good on him too and she was excited to see how he would perform. She watched the podium's celebrations from afar before leaving the paddock, she had a plane to catch.

Frantically, Ethan was searching in the crowds for hazel eyes. He was searching for her. For her smile,for her arms, for her words. He wanted to tell her the news, he wanted her to be the first one to know. But she was nowhere to be found. He ran to the Ferrari’s hospitality in hopes to find her there but for the first time, he was disappointed to find Louis.

“Louis! Have you seen your sister? Where is she?”

“She left. She couldn’t stay.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“I do. But I can’t tell you, she made me promise to not say a word. She knew you would come.”

“Cmon, buddy. I’ll buy you all the comic books you want.” Ethan begged him.

“That’s also what she told me you would say. I promised her.”

“She is going to Singapore, right? Where it all began… it has to be there.”

And when Louis shrugged, he was sure he had the confirmation. He went back to his hotel, packed his bags and booked a flight there as soon as possible before going to the club where everyone would be celebrating the end of the season. Kyle was obviously swarmed by people from every team, thanking everyone and trying to have a word with each of them. He was looking at the scene from afar as a blonde girl joined him.

“Congrats on the fifth?” Romy told him, giving him a glass of champagne.

“Congrats on the fourth.”

“What a season it has been. For all of us. What a ride.”

“Yeah… a lot of unexpected things happened.”

“We fell in love. We won our first race… we made new friends.” she listed, eyes glued to her boyfriend. “Speaking of love… Did you solve Julia’s riddle?” she asked.

“It was not a riddle. It was quite obvious. I’m leaving for Singapore tomorrow. And when I come back it will be with my girlfriend.”

“Singapore? Are you sure of yourself?”

“Of course. Where else could it be?” he shrugged but suddenly doubted himself when he heard Romy laughing.

She was trying to play him, to tease him. If he could trust something for sure in his life, that was his gut. He came back from the club very late, ready to catch on some sleep before his flight in the afternoon. Sleep that was highly disturbed by poundings on his door barely a few hours later.

“You’re not going to Singapore.” exclaimed Ludwig, barging in the room, followed by Kyle.

“I… am going to Singapore…” Ethan replied, looking at his best friends suspiciously.

“You don’t. You’re making a mistake.”

“I’m going to meet Julia, how can it be a mistake? Listen, guys, I appreciate you caring for me and wanting to protect me but that’s okay! You have nothing to worry about!”

“I think we do have reasons, yes….”

“What Ludwig is trying to tell you is that Julia is not in Singapore. She is waiting for you in Paris.” Kyle explained and Ethan paled.

“Fuck! I… I’m supposed to leave later… I have a plane ticket for Singapore… not for Paris…”

“We got you covered. We bought you one and managed to cancel Singapore. You can thank Romy… she told us right on time before you make a stupid mistake. Now, you should prepare yourself, your plan is to take off in four hours.”

Never had he rushed this fast to an airport and when the plane finally took off, he hoped he wouldn’t regret listening to his friends. After hours of anxiety and anticipation, he finally landed, late at night, after almost a day in the air. He was tired, he was a bit disoriented but he was excited. Now, Paris was a huge city and he wasn’t sure where she would be. Until the obvious struck him. The Eiffel Tower, of course. His first podium, their first kiss, where their relationship had truly started for better and for worse. How stupid he had been.

Alone in the cold air of winter, a brutal change from Australia she had to admit, Julia was starting to regret every life decision that had let her freeze to death in the middle of the tourists. She should have given him a precise hour, not just a day. For all she knew he could be there tonight. If he was coming, she didn’t even know. She only hoped he had the right destination in mind. Just in case she had informed Romy about the answer but a part of her hoped he had guessed it right the first time around. People were looking at her weirdly, wondering what a lonely girl like her was doing standing there on her own. She couldn’t help but jump at every sight of a blond young man, each time her heart beating a little faster. She was cold, she was tired and she was angry but never would she dare to make a move. She didn’t want to miss him. She didn’t want to risk it.

Hours went by without a sign of his presence and when the sun made place to the night, she almost wondered if it wouldn’t be best to give up. Tourists had left, leaving her alone. She sat on the cold floor and looked at the picture of Ethan and her, taken there by photographs. His hands on her waist, his lips on hers. She sighed. He wouldn’t come. She was about to go back to her hotel when she saw a shadow running, dragging a huge suitcase.

“Julia! Julia!”

“Ethan! Over here!” she screamed, waving at him.

She didn’t know if he started to run even faster or if she had started to walk to him but soon, his hands were grabbing her waist, his head buried in her neck as he crushed her body with his.

“You’re freezing. How long have you been there?”

“Too long.”

“I thought you would be in Singapore… I was ready to go there. Thank god Kyle and Ludwig stopped me. I took the latest plane from Melbourne, if I hadn’t been this stupid I would have been there sooner.” he explained, breathless.

“You’re here. That’s all that matters.” she whispered, mixing her breath with his in curls of air.

“What you did in Melbourne… your speech… Gosh, Julia.”

“You deserve someone who shows up for you, someone who stands by you, someone who won’t run away. I want to be that person. I want to show you that I can be that to you. And I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to hide that I love you, or hide myself. I want to show the world that you’re mine just like I’m yours and I’ve always been.”

“I’m going to kiss you. So hard. You have no idea. And I won’t let go of you. Never again. But first, I have something for you.”

He kneeled in front of her and when he heard her gasp he quickly went back on his feet.

“No! No, no,no! I’m not proposing! I’m not Kyle. It’s just… it’s in my suitcase. I just have to retrieve it, give me a minute.”

He opened his suitcase wide on the ground, not caring about what anyone could think, before taking out a little package.

“This is for you.” he handed it to her and watched carefully unwrapping it. She looked at him curious when she saw her red bracelet.

“Has your mom never told you it was rude to give back a present?”

“Give it a closer look.”

That’s when she noticed three new additions to the bracelet. The eiffel tower, an ace of spades and a kangaroo. She let out a tear escaping her eye, quickly caught by Ethan’s cold fingers.

“But… It's a gift. It’s…” she stuttered.

And that’s when Ethan revealed his left wrist where a red bracelet was also hanging around it. It was an exact replica, with the same little trinkets.

“As soon as you gave it to me, I went to a jewelry store and asked them to make another one. So I give you back the original and I keep the copy. And I can’t wait to add new things to it. I can’t wait to explore our story further, Julia.” he said to her, pressing his forehead against hers as she closed her eyes.

“You said you were going to kiss me, right?”

“That I did.”

“Well… what if I’m the one to kiss you first.”

She didn’t let him react as she glued her lips to his, her hands in his hair in an attempt to draw him closer. It was just like she had imagined it and more. She felt him smile against her, as his hands circled her waist and when they finally let go of each other, she had never seen him look so happy. And she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She snuggled deeper against his chest as he let his lips fall on top of her head.

“Paris, hum? I mean… I understand why you chose it but Singapore has more meaning, in my opinion.” he told her, playfully.

“Are you seriously going to argue with me on the place where our story really began?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Well… it’s where the lines were blurred.”

“And we got rid of the lines in Paris.”

“You should have said your little game in another way, then. For example, where our story began for real.”

“You’re impossible.”

“It’s fine. It wouldn’t be us without a little bit of miscommunication.” he laughed, kissing her lips once again.

“You’re right. We still have to work on that. But, one thing is for sure, I’m going to over communicate that I love you so much that you’re going to wish I’ve never gone to therapy because I learned about how important it was to tell people that we love them.”

“I think I can deal with that.”

He bent once again, capturing her lips with his has he linked his fingers to hers and hand in hand, they wandered the street, not sure of where their feet would lead them but they knew that as long as they were together, all would be okay.

Author's note: And with that very last chapter, that's a wrap for Gold Rush. I'll make a more detailled note, later with the epilogue, for now I'll let you say, not a goodbye but, a see you soon to Julia and Ethan. The epilogue will come out on Sunday with a little announcement =)

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. Besides the fact that I absolutely love to read you, it helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

Taglist:

@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator

#writing #fiction #charles leclerc #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #f1 x oc #charles leclerc fanfic #max verstappen fanfic #max verstappen

12 notes · View notes

erstwhilesparrow · 5 months ago

Note

I'm sending you this friend-ask friday a little early, so you have time to think about it, but I've been doing this pre-writing exercise where I list five works of fiction I love & connect with, and three reasons each as to why I love them so much, in order to understand what things might interest me the most to write about in fiction.

I thought you might like this exercise, so I wantef to pass it on, but also to ask you a slightly abriged version of it, too: what are *three* pieces of fiction you love, and what are three reasons each for why you love them? :]

reyni i love your asks thank you always for them :] this seems like a really cool exercise, i'd love to hear what your answers were too, if you want to share over on discord or something!

as for my answer!

first place has to go to Friends At The Table: Twilight Mirage, right? i know i've talked about it with you plenty before, but it bears saying again: i think basically every piece of art i have ever made since listening to that season has been touched by it in some way. i love it first of all for how seriously it takes every character, because that farmer out in the middle of nowhere doesn't know that he's a side character who will be in twenty minutes of this multi-hour episode and never return, and that teenager trying to live up to her mom's legacy doesn't know she's got so much more life to live and so many other priorities to be bowled over by, and that former soldier leaves our main characters' lives but that doesn't mean he stops taking actions and making connections! the table friends are so good about remembering each of these people has their own set of concerns and communities and all of these people have their hands in the movements of the world.

god okay that was one reason. at least the second one is easy: i love the batshit names. fourteen fifteen. They marked scars of light in pitch; born in fiercest purpose, and beheld as the signet sealed upon our pact, . blueberri jin. people introduced their characters in the early episodes and i kept going, "you're allowed to do that??" i hadn't even noticed the little rules of genre fiction i'd internalized until twilight mirage broke them. Get Weirder With It is not necessarily a motto i picked up at the same time as i was listening to twilight mirage but every time i think about Getting Weirder With It, i think about twilight mirage. name your ocs weirder shit. commit to your bits!

speaking of. third reason i love it: they really truly do commit to the bit of "queer sci-fi utopia." like, i think there are fair criticisms to be made of the thing both in-fiction and as listeners, but i was like nineteen when i listened to this season and before that i'd been listening to comedy d&d podcasts and reading bad YA. the willingness to say, firmly and clearly, we are telling a story about a small section of this universe where for thousands of years, these people had something Good. everyone, without exception, had what they needed to live full lives, art and knowledge-making flourished, and it happened not because of any secret exploitation but because thousands and thousands of years, it turns out, is enough time for a group of dedicated people to build something good ? that was dazzling. i was at a point where even going "well maybe next week i'll be okay" felt like asking for too much, so to get this little glimpse of a world dreamt up by people going, "no, seriously, what if it was a utopia?" like. yeah it's kind of the same point as the names point -- dream bigger and weirder and tell stories no one else could have -- but it's also. like. i knew how to keep myself alive another handful of days, that wasn't the twilight mirage taught me about. the thing twilight mirage taught me was how to dream on longer timescales, how to want better for myself and the world, how to reach my hands out even if the thing i was reaching for was (haha) a mirage.

ahem. second piece of fiction... Piranesi by Susanna Clarke! i think i've recounted this exact story before somewhere, maybe even to you, but one of the reasons i love it is that it is so enchanting, so good at bringing you into its world, that at one point, the titular piranesi mentions going back to edit a previous journal entry that we the readers had seen in the book, and i was so caught up in the story i actually flipped back to that entry to look at it, as if it might really have somehow changed while i was reading. i was holding the physical book in my hands, and had been for hours at that point! but the magic of clarke's world took me so completely for a moment i lived in a reality where something really could have happened to that journal entry!

the other reason i love it is its setting is sooo lovely. a massive House with functionally infinite rooms, filled with mysterious statues. an ocean in the lower floors and clouds in the higher floors. it's dangerous, yes, and inexplicable, but our guide through this House is piranesi, and he looks at the House with so much love and wonder it is impossible not to love it just as much as he does. i love a bizarre, fucked-up location, and i love even more that it is so dearly loved by its inhabitant.

third reason: this might be cheating a little because i'm stealing jacob geller's reason, but i really appreciate also that the book gives us time to luxuriate in its space? we get a lot of details of what piranesi knows about the House, and how he spends his time and organizes his journals and gets his food, and the whole time there is that radiant, underlying wonder at the mysteries of the House, and we just. get to enjoy it! the Plotty Plot Plot stuff arguably doesn't kick in until the second half of the book! (if this is not quite accurate, forgive me, it's been a minute since i read it; i am recalling my impression of the thing.) it's cool. it's really good for selling you on the magic of the setting.

okay, third piece of fiction. uhh. i feel like i should say a mcyt thing because clearly it's done something to me, i've been in this fandom for four years already (jesus christ)... hm. empires season two should be pretty easy to do this for. (1) has a character who exists a little bit on the outside of the story, who is present largely to Help Make Other People's stories work, which makes the whole idea of "how do you give a world set in minecraft -- a game that has tons of its own very specific implied history, but which directly provides you with almost none of it -- a clear and particular past and living present?" really interesting to consider. (2) the story of the season is weird and unique and specific in a way i think only mcrp could be -- it has its flaws, considered as a whole narrative, but i love its janky start-stop plot developments, and the fact that everyone has a weird, different thing going on that collides with but never is fully overshadowed by someone else's Weird Thing, and also the very obvious "IDK MAN I'M JUST MAKING SHIT UP, THIS BUILD LOOKS SICK THOUGH RIGHT." (3) the way that it pings the Minecraft Emotion for me, where there is a constant sense that this world is a world with a long history, where something catastrophic happened once, and our characters live on the bones of that history even if they don't know its specifics. something happened here once. you might never find out what. but you still live! people still live. they have rebuilt. they are making new lives and new troubles for themselves. things reach out for them from the unknowable past, but mostly, it's a beautiful day, and everything is bright and alive and full of colour.

#sparrowsong #i briefly considered quoting an old email i sent in 2022 about why i love tm but that would've made this post. uh. EVEN LONGER.#but i am rereading bits of it and feeling fond of Past Sparrow.#thank you for the ask!!

5 notes · View notes

qwanderer · 1 year ago

Text

First Lines

Thanks to @mcfiddlestan for the tag! This sounds like a fun one

rules: list the first line(s) of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there’s a pattern!

1 Variable (Vegetable)

“I am gonna get you two to eat salad,” Eliot said, “eat salad and like it, if it kills me.”

“No!” Parker stood up and marched over to him, waving a finger in his face. “You are not allowed to die! I’ve been very clear about this.”

2 The Disaster Job

Northeast Philadelphia

Their client’s name was Danielle, and if at least two-thirds of the team wasn’t reminded vividly of Nana when they met her, Hardison would eat his hat.

3 Like Yellow Eyes

Crowley emptied all the plants out of the Bentley and into the bookshop, and for a moment, the Bentley thought that perhaps, just perhaps, the two idiots who most often occupied its seats had gotten their shit together and were moving in together, properly.

But then the angel walked out of the bookshop, and. He was holding The Keys.

4 Like Golden Light

The Bentley had felt it, of course. The way Crowley had hoped, and tried, and ended up brokenhearted.

5 what to (be) for the woman who (is) everything

Lord Aral Vorkosigan woke up naked, tangled skin-to-skin with his new wife, and experienced the same kind of terrified awe he had when he’d determined that she wasn’t a drunken hallucination. The heavens had opened up and delivered to him everything he needed most in one delightful Cordelia-shaped package, and now he just had to figure out how to keep her.

6 ...And breathe out.

Eliot pulled his car up to the farmhouse and parked, getting out and looking around at the farm. Still the same old familiar place, even though these days, every time he visited things looked a little different. At least it wasn’t crawling with folks in protective suits anymore, all these months after he and Harry had found the battery dump.

7 Personification

The multiverse took all he had.

8 In Your Shade

The hard part was choosing a single Thor, in all the infinite throng, to visit.

9 Sanity Check

The TVA had the ability to trace Victor Timely’s variants through his temporal signature, but they couldn’t see everything all the time, so it was one of Loki’s priorities to keep an eye out for other potential threats to the continued health of the multiverse.

And Loki was, at this moment, watching a Tony Stark build a device that could rip the multiverse asunder.

10 King of Infinite Space

Loki came to find Tony when he didn’t show up for dinner. He was in the Repairs and Advancement workshop, of course, bent over a sheaf of papers, leaned in close to a screen. Squinting like he did when his eyes were ready to give out.

Okay, honestly what I'm noticing most here is the variety! That's four different fandoms. And they're like, domestic fluff, episodic jobfic, poetic metaphors, angst, pillow talk, coming out story, dramatic fate-of-the-universe fix-it, siblings reunited, polyamory negotiations (a big theme of mine in the long term), and smut.

As per usual, I don't have the spoons to tag, but anyone reading this can consider themselves tagged! I'd love to see your stuff.

#fic writing #writing #ao3 #leverage redemption #the loki show #vorkosigan saga #good omens

5 notes · View notes

sleepyowlwrites · 2 years ago

Text

FTWT CCCLXXIV

a million light years ago away @artdecosupernova-writing sent me some words in an escape pod

lost (previous lives and premonitions, 2020)

Toby looked up at him with a gloomy expression. “I hate math.”

Arin had heard this sentiment at least once a day since he’d started tutoring Toby, so he nudged his side as he took a seat next to him. “What’s that? It sounds familiar, have you told me this before?”

“Shut up, you’re good at math. Don’t tease me.”

“Arin lives to tease you, Toby,” Mandy said without looking up from her phone. “It’s a lost cause, right, Penn?”

Penn smiled charmingly and shook his head. “Toby, you’ve gotten better at math since Arin started teaching you.”

“Doesn’t mean I like it any better,” Toby grumbled, leaning on Arin’s shoulder.

echo (on a hill, still, 2021)

Your voice in the air is a raindrop, a shiver, a tapping on the back of your hand. The church bell intones without notes, your own a throbbing echo like a shadow without a sun. The hour turns over and the song has still not begun. It has no singer, no self, no place to stand.

alone (space story d0)

Myr couldn't mourn their memory if they'd never had one, but maybe they did have one at one point. If Gaor knew, and he probably did, he wasn't going to tell. Myr asked him other things instead, like why Feastor was completely green or humans never made a third Earth. Gaor didn't always answer them, and if he did, it was often in riddles again, but Myr didn't mind too much. At least they had someone to talk to.

They talked to their spaceship sometimes, but it was an inanimate thing. It couldn't talk back and Myr could only go so long without talking to someone who talked back. Sometimes when they made their way back to Alpha Nine and stepped out onto the rocky terrain, they felt like the planet had gotten considerably older since their last visit. It was possible. Myr didn't keep good time when they was alone.

Which was always, since they were always alone.

solitude (you, of flight, and I, of falsehood, 2021)

yet even as the dusk offered solitude and sanctuary still- it was a knife to be feared

desperate (guild story d0)

“Why would you take a contract with house Lyreel? You think their days are numbered.”

“Because their days are numbered.” Xiyun shifted to face him, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Lord Lyreel is desperate enough to make foolish strikes against his enemies and it won’t do him any good. I’ll make money without changing the game. That’s the best way to do it.”

Idrian didn’t turn himself in her direction, but kept staring out at the yard. The skars and masters were all at the evening meal, and the only other occupants were a couple of stable hands taking tack to the cleaners. Idrian tracked their movements while counting his breaths. Xiyun always did have such an easy time getting a rise out of him. He wanted to think that was why she tended to win their sparring matches, though it was equally likely that she was merely a better fighter than he was.

invisible (city story d0)

Jet likes to imagine that he still has fine lines running through his liminal spaces. That he has fences set up between him and the world, and thinner, more invisible fences between him and the people who have decided they're his friends. And maybe he also considers him friends, but that means reordering his priorities and he doesn't want to bother. It's bad enough that Rune has emerged triumphant at the top of the list, scowling and shrugging him off even while he makes space for her and her chains. Copper sits next to him, not even on the list, too important to order and too precious to hold onto.

What he has in his life is a set of fence-breakers, and ones that he's becoming increasingly fond of, and it’s tearing at him underneath his armor. They smile at him and tell him jokes and insist that they want to help him out of the fights he puts himself in, as if he ever asked for such a thing.

"You don't have to ask," Yarrow tells him the day after the bloody fight with Rune, when Jet is pretending he's the only person in this garage.

fear, slight, between, likely. BONUS: abound, sideways. @enchanted-lightning-aes @peresephones @odysseywritings @dontjudgemeimawriter OR ANYBODY

#find the word tag

7 notes · View notes

hottakehoulihan · 2 days ago

Text

Cenotaph (trilogy)

Characters behave recognizably canonically: Yes. Not abandoned incomplete: Complete Engaging (Funny/cool/thoughtful/feels): Thoughtful/cool. Do I recommend it: Yes. Oh yes. In my top 5, and formative! Curbstomp, Cuddles, Crack, Cyoot, Concept?: Concept.

Premise: Danny dies. Taylor decides to get very serious about making Brockton Bay a tribute to what he would have wanted. IMHO this is, as wormfic go, the classic. The story--one of the very very first wormfic I think--tastes like proper Worm, satisfies like worm, and it created some of the tropes we're used to.

Well, at a minimum it created the Lung's La-Z-Boy trope I think.

Really, I linked to it on AO3 but I have only ever read it on SB. ...just, it can be tricky to follow the story there unless you' skim all the comments; the threadmarks are not perfectly consistent or predictable, and the fact that Cenotaph is followed by Wake and then Legacy, and the fact that the story was written over a decade (Started Oct 2013, ended Jan 2024!) with many long hiatuses within? And some of the commentary from the peanut gallery is frankly underconsidered? AO3 is probably easier for a first read.

Because I trust that this will be one of the wormfics you'll want to revisit.

Taylor gets serious. The author, notes, says the story was initially snippets meant to demonstrate some disagreement with some bits of discourse at first and then it spread out.

It was recently I posted a 'top five' wormfic and...I'm vulnerable to recency bias and to nostalgia and many other things. Wasn't sure my top five (It Starts With One; Tabloid; By Her Strength Alone; Cenotaph; Setanta) was truly accurate. And I'm still not. But I reread It Starts With One, Cenotaph, and Tabloid just to refresh myself on them (Setanta was very recent, and 'Strength was middling recent.)

but trying to rank fanfic against each other is a bit like trying to rank oranges vs apples or--more realistically--parfaits and cheeseburgers (both are food, both have layers, but seldom are we craving both at the same time.)

On reread, I think I want to bump Cenotaph to third place. Super satisfying it was, to read.

Really, Cenotaph felt like the most Worm-flavored wormfic I've encountered, Setanta felt like the most Worm-flavored would-be Worm-quel. That's not high on my list of priorities, but dang it's nice to have some examples.

Anyway, Taytay goes full commando, using max paranoia mode and living off of granola bars sweetened by bee barf as she's low-crawling through her own terrain dealing with troubles. We get to see her use arsenal tricks that never really came up in canon but should have, and we get to see her have misunderstandings that we'd have understood in canon. I kicked my feet, clapped my hands, laughed out loud, gasped, and did all the things that signify engagement.

Read this. I want you to read ALL my favorites, of course, but if you enjoyed the flavor of Worm and if you read Wormfic anyway, well, this is really--AFAIK--the classic Worm fanfic.

(Classic, as in, people will assume you've read it and/or are familiar with it if they assume you've read anything in the category.)

I will be reading it again.

#HHH.txt #notes #cenotaph #wake #legacy #wormfic

0 notes

restorebalance · 15 days ago

Text

MY HEALTH STORY

I haven't been uploading health entries seeing as I've been assigned a meal plan and have been eating largely the same thing daily. I'm about three weeks into my meal plan, and my progress has inspired me to share my health story. first, I'll touch on why I consulted a dietician. I have disordered eating and was struggling to eat anything at all. anything I ate that wasn't something very light like lettuce or fruit made me feel sick to my stomach, full, and like I wanted to spit it out. It got to the point where if I was at work or class, I simply couldn't eat at all. I couldn't even sip water without feeling like I wanted to rip open my stomach and empty its contents out. I still get anxious to the point of panic if I have to eat out. I couldn't eat outside of my house at all until very recently. I have a list of foods I cannot eat at all, and foods that I can only eat at home. as absurd as it sounds, that is the result of years of anorexic restriction in my teens and after I "recovered", a nine year span of restrictive raw vegan and vegan dietary practices. {I say "recovered" because I phased out of my restriction on my own and never saw a doctor or holistic specialist for it. I considered myself healed because I no longer tried to control my food to be skinny. but, I still carry many of the habits and damage on my shoulders} once I started college, it was impossible to ignore that I had a real problem. going to classes and internships forced me out of the comfort zone of thinking it was normal to eat barely anything. I was used to eating no breakfast except for a sugary latte and going to work an 8 hour shift with only the fuel of a small pack of chips. I became very faint and had frequent asthma attacks and heart palpitations bad enough to check myself into the ER. I was forced to look at my health in a new perspective. used to prioritizing my job above all else, it was strange for me to realize that I had let something very important to me slip between my fingers. health has always been a passion of mine. to see that I had given my health up in my 20s because I was too afraid to face my disorder, and because I didn't believe I could live a balanced life, was a rude awakening.

I reflected and realized that the low weight, but high body fat, low muscle mass to the point I can't lift anything above my head, fatigue, extremely dry sallow skin, hair loss, a broken tooth {shattered on a protein bar because I had no nutrition}, nails that would flake away and were transparent, gallbladder sludge + being sent to get a scope into my stomach, and bruises all over my body from where I would just lay or sit after work because I didn't have the energy to even stand, meant that I had a problem.

I reestablished priorities in my life. I placed God first, my family second, my health third and everything else below. my health is more important to me than my job. my health is more important to me than school. my health is more important to me than other's expectations of me.

so, I saw a dietician and she listened to me and helped me develop a place to begin.

the meal plan

meal one | 1/4 cup nuts + 1/4 cup dried fruits OR protein shake meal two | yogurt + granola meal three | salad with 4-6 crackers + MCT oil in the dressing + an apple + v8 or some juice meal four | veggies + hummus or dip + a cheese stick + kombucha meal five | protein source and a carb source {sweet potato + beans/tofu, pasta + beans or tuna etc.} meal six | protein shake {if not had for breakfast} OR crackers + avocado OR popcorn the goal with this plan was to get me to eat throughout the day and to get two to three servings of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and grains. I told her my goals to gain muscle, so she has my protein goal at 120g. my fat intake has to stay below 50g because of my gallbladder.

the difference I have felt after eating nutrient dense foods throughout the entire day has been absolutely life changing. my energy, my positivity, and my happiness has all increased. I finally have the energy to workout daily and have begun rotating through pilates, light weight training, and yoga.

so far, I still struggle to eat sometimes, especially if I am at class or work. I cannot eat out at all whether in a restaurant or in the car. I can barely eat at my internship. but, overall I feel much better. stronger, more hydrated, happier, and healthier.

my current goals are to increase my protein intake and my calories because I'm still losing weight and my goal is to gain.

I cannot wait to restore my health bring balance back to my spirit.

#health #wellness #food diary #health & fitness #health food

3 notes · View notes

wolfreader · 7 months ago

Text

july 2024 wrap-up - young adult fiction

this month i read six (6) young adult novels.

an ember in the ashes by sabaa tahir 📖 🌟🌟🌟🌟

i was a bit hesitant because extremely hyped young adult fiction rarely works out for me, especially young adult fantasy. however, the new paperback covers intrigued me, i heard good things from people that don't normally like ya fantasy, and it was included in a buy one get one 50% deal, so i went ahead.

it exceeded my expectations!! for ya fantasy, i found the world to be very well realized and the characters very compelling. i felt like i understood them, even when i didn't agree with them, which seems like a low bar but that's because my standards for ya fantasy are astronomically low.

i felt that i really connected with laia and elias in this first installment. laia is motivated by extreme survivor's guilt and elias is motivated by self-preservation, and i'm interested to see how that changes throughout the series. i'm unsure of how much i'm buying their romance quite yet, but i think there's room for something to grow. equally enough room for sabaa tahir to drop the ball. laia and elias have a lot in common but at the same time their views and their desires aren't exactly the same and i can see them coming into major conflict with each other. whether or not i'm on board with them together depends on how tahir handles that conflict.

while i did make many jokes about elias having to learn that his best friend is a liberal, i feel that i've learned enough about helene to be excited for her larger role in the sequels.

the ballad of never after by stephanie garber 📖 🌟🌟🌟

the "evil all along" trope is perhaps the laziest way to resolve a love triangle. like, oh, you can't think of an actual reason why the main character would choose this love interest over the other? you have to make one of them do a complete 180 degree in character to make the other seem like the better option?

seriously, this went from a low four star to a solid three in the literal last chapter. i'm still going to continue with the series eventually, though my disappointment with the ending of this installment did lower its place on my priority list.

other than that, however, i think this series is pretty great. it's certainly overhyped on booktok, as most things are, but i really like the style and the setting. if you enjoy the fairytale aesthetic and you aren't looking for anything too serious, you'll likely enjoy this series.

song of silver, flame like night by amelie wen zhao 📚 🌟🌟🌟

this was on my "24 books to read in 2024" list, and though i had lost interest since the beginning of the year i still want to complete that list, so i picked this up from the library rather than buying it for myself. and boy am i glad i did! quite possibly the most book of all time.

this is an aggressively okay book. it doesn't really stand out among young adult fantasy; this could be any of the many "ya fantasy about a young girl with forbidden magic living under an oppressive regime content to keep her head down, keep herself safe, and achieve her own goals until a personal tragedy (and a mysterious man) flings her into rebellion" that i've read and immediatley forgotten about.

however, that equally means it doesn't stand out in any negative way. the exposition, especially in the first third, is very clunkily conveyed. the worldbuilding is lackluster. the two main characters are very interesting in theory but in execution they're very bland. but those are pretty common issues for young adult fantasy; there wasn't anything glaringly bad about it. there wasn't anything that compelled me to dnf, other than boredom and desire to get onto reading something else, and the writing style was quick and easy enough to read that that wasn't a major problem anyway.

it's a shame, because at the beginning of the year i was very eager to read this, but i can't really recommend it. even i, normally very critical of young adult fantasy, can say with confidence that there are many, many better ya fantasy to spend your time reading.

a torch against the night by sabaa tahir 📖 🌟🌟🌟🌟

i was planning to jump right into city of brass, but because i really didn't enjoy song of silver, flame like night, i wanted to give myself more of a break before i get into a new, adult fantasy series.

very excited to be continuing this series! while i don't think a torch against the night is quite as good as an ember in the ashes, that's a very high bar to reach. there were a few moments that i found a bit odd, but nothing egregious, and those moments themselves were things that might make more sense to me as the series continues and more secrets are revealed.

there was one theory i had about a certain character's backstory that i was genuinely shocked wasn't true, because it felt so obvious to me, but i guess i was wrong lmao!

the ivory key by akshaya raman 📚 🌟🌟🌟

almost a four star! this one has been on my radar for a while but the secondhand listing i was eyeing got snatched up, so i picked it up from the library.

i liked the sibling dynamic a lot more than i was expecting to. i don't know if akshaya raman has siblings, but as someone with a lot of siblings the way the main four characters were written felt very authetic. they felt like a very messy family rather than just normal close friends, which is how a lot of siblings in fiction (especially ya fiction) end up reading to me.

definitely intrigued. it's not a high priority but i think i am going continue with the series eventually, especially since it's a duology and there's only one other book.

a reaper at the gates by sabaa tahir 📖 🌟🌟🌟🌟

once again i'm excited to be continuing the series!

i will say that this book, especially the second half, felt a lot more like set-up for the final book than it's own story. but it wasn't severe enough set-up that i felt bored or cheated or anything like that, it was just a bit frustrating because i knew i wasn't going to get full resolution for any of these plotlines until the fourth and final book, which i don't own yet.

i am very excited to see how the story concluces. i don't want to give too much away because i do think this series is very good and if you like young adult fantasy but you haven't read it you should, but there are certain circumstances that a certain character has found themself in and i'm VERY curious as to how they're going to get out of it in the third book because it seems kind of inescapable to me...

#bookblr #july 2024 #reading wrap up

0 notes

moonacrefarm · 1 year ago

Text

anticipating love

summary: your parents marriage didn’t survive the test of time and neither did you first love.

contains: childhood friends to lovers to strangers, second-chance romance, angst, hurt/comfort, slight miscommunication, fluff, 18+ series, mentions of stalking, mentions of cancer, no mention of y/n

authors note: it might be a second before the third chap is finished bc im in the middle of finals ^.^

series masterlist

previous part | next part. 03. fated ones

02. never hesitating

A biting chill fills the air, numbing your fingertips instead of warming your bones, a striking difference from the scintillating sun that scorched San Diego. You adjust your jacket, trying to fight off the cold as you walk through a graveyard. The place is meant for rest, for the souls of the living to find peace in their loved ones' death. Yet as you stand elbow in elbow with your mother, peace does not find you. It takes the shape of a man you had told off not even a night ago.

Bradley hunches in front of his mother and father's tombstone, hands moving wildly as he speaks to them.

"I completely froze! I was surprised she didn't slap me. Mom taught her a mean backhand when we were like 6 and I've been scared of it ever since." His voice carries through the graveyard, a few other visitors side-eyeing him with curiosity.

Your mom scans you up and down. "And you weren't going to tell me Bradley was back?" Eyebrow raised and accusatory, you have nothing to say but a shrug. You were going to tell her eventually, but it wasn't high on your priority list. It was just another way for you to run. She nudges you, slowing down your walking pace as if to give Bradley more time with his parents.

Since you landed back in California, your mom had a few things to do. Her long list of "do's before I die." You weren't a fan of the list name, but making peace and making amends was important to her. This was her second round battling cancer, and there was no guarantee she'd get another one. Visiting the Bradshaws' grave was one of the first things she planned to do. Carole was her right-hand from before you and Bradley were even thoughts. She pats your hand, letting you go as she approaches Bradley. You keep your distance as she gently squeezes his shoulder, softly calling his name.

You aren't sure how you expected him to react, but you didn't expect him to cry. His initial shock is washed away by teary eyes and tightly hugging your mother as if he'd never see her again. When Bradley officially cut contact with you, you hadn't expected him to ice your mother out. He didn't have family to spare, and it was out of character for who you thought he was. Seeing him now, you can tell that never changed. Maybe he'd been scared to reach out to her, maybe he felt ashamed, felt isolated. You weren't sure, and only he could tell you. But that would require being on speaking terms with him.

The sound of your name pulls you out of your stupor, eyes switching from your mother to Bradley's.

"I raised you better than that. Come say hello to the Bradshaws." Your mother's playful scold makes you wince. Here you are, a full-fledged adult, being scolded in front of the Bradshaws like you're still 3. You aren't sure what to say. Anything you had was lost to thought the moment you saw Bradley. You meekly sound out a greeting, staring at the pictures on their tombstones with watery eyes. You didn't know Bradley's father, but you knew Carole, and she never failed to tell you stories of whirlwind love.

Your mother launches into her update, chatting with Carole as if no time had passed. Updating her on the latest and greatest, from their old high school classmates to her argument with your father.

"C'mon," Bradley taps the back of your elbow, "Let's give them some space."

You walk off with him, the silence heavy between the two of you. Neither of you knows what to say, especially after the other night.

"Welcome home," is all he says, hands stuffed in his pockets as he searches your face.

"Welcome home," you answer back swiftly. You allow the awkward silence to engulf you, hoping it'll tear him down and he'll leave you to wander around by yourself.

"You're killing me, Bugs. Please say something."

"There's nothing to say."

"There's everything to say." He steps in front of you, blocking your path with scrunched eyebrows.

"You wanna hash it out here?" You question him, urging him to think wisely.

"No, I just—"

"Just what? What do you want from me?" Your whisper is harsher than you realize, a few glances from the other visitors catching your attention.

"I want to talk. I want to explain what happened, and...and I want answers too." He holds his chin high, knowing that if he caves for a second and loosens his resolve, he'll bend to whatever you will him to. He always does.

The thing about Bradley Bradshaw is that he gets straight to the point. He itches to resolve conflict, waiting for the right moment when he can swoop in and fix everything. The timing is never on his side, the moment never quite right. For whatever reason, Bradley Bradshaw couldn't understand the value in "time and place." So there he sits, snug on that perch of his, waiting for a sunrise that'll never come.

"You want answers?" You bark out a cold laugh, one that sends a chill through the back of his neck. Your finger prods his chest, enunciating each word as you speak. "You want answers? I wanted answers for the past 8 years, and look where that got me. Stuck, waiting for someone who never showed."

"Please..." He says breathlessly, "Please Bugs, just let me—fuck I don't know what you want me to say, just let me explain. Let me apologize."

"Why did you leave?"

His eyes flicker to yours, back stiffening as you take one small step closer.

"Well, what is it, Bradshaw? Why did you leave that night?"

"Bugs..."

"No, you walked right into this. Why did you leave?" The sharp edge to your voice has softened, weakening to a state that matches your heart: broken.

"I didn't want to, Bugs, but you were engaged." You flinch, stunned into confusion as he continues. "When we slept together I had no idea you were engaged. What’s worse? When I found out, I didn’t think you did anything wrong, I didn’t give a shit about your fiancé or his feelings. I just wanted you…in anyway you’d have me.” His voice became small, rubbing the back of neck and moving to play with his right earlobe. A habit he’s had since childhood.

"You had so much power over me,” He continued, “and it terrified me." He takes a pause, gazing at you as if he's debating on saying this last piece of information.

"I loved you so much, but I didn't know who I was. And when I found out you were engaged, I couldn't face you. It felt like you chose him, and Bugs, I regretted it the second I drove off, but I couldn't go back. I tried to call, text, and nothing ever went through. You never responded, and I was too ashamed to contact your mom. I was stuck, Bugs. I'm sorry I hurt you."

The confession leaves you in tatters. Engaged? You hadn't gotten engaged to River until a year and a half later. Did he try to call you? Text you? It was radio silence whenever you tried to contact him, so how did you miss all his attempts?

"Bradley?"

"Yeah, Bugs?"

"Where the fuck did you hear I was engaged?"

"What do you mean 'where did you hear I was engaged?' River told me."

Your conversation is now the center of attention on this side of the cemetery, the sound of your voices too loud.

"River told you? When the fuck did he tell you?"

“That morning. I got a message from him, called him and asked if it was true but he showed me your engagement photos. I didn’t know how react so I just…left.”

Your mind is a whirlwind of confusion. The only reason you'd even gotten engaged to River was because Bradley left you that morning. You didn't see a future with him and broke it off weeks before you'd even spent the night with Bradley.

Both of you stand stupefied, looking at the other for answers neither of you has.

"I didn't get engaged to River until a year and a half after you left. I had already broken things off before you even visited Virginia. What do you mean he called you? How did he even know you were at my place? He was in New York.” You rub your temples, feeling a migraine coming on. It’s sudden by the information send a splitting ache through head.

"That's why you left?" You continue, massaging your eyes from the sun. "You thought I cheated on my fiancee with you? Did you think I lied about the breakup?"

"He showed me the engagement photos, what was I supposed to think?"

"You were supposed to ask me. You were supposed to stay. That's what you were supposed to think."

"Bugs, I didn't want to leave, but in that situation, would you have stuck around? Finding out I was engaged after sleeping with you? Seeing the proof right there?"

He might've been right. You probably would've fled. As angry as you wanted to be at him, you felt that you couldn't. Putting this in perspective made you feel guilty for being angry at him in the first place. Did you have a right to be? Maybe not, but how did River know Bradley was at your place that morning when he was supposedly in New York and you both had cut contact. Let alone to send engagement photos.

"Are you lying to me?" The question falls from your lips as you try to make sense of it. He has to be lying. The timeline doesn't make sense.

"Now you think I'm lying? I may have left that day, yes, but you never reached out, you never returned my calls. You chose your 'fiancee' over me, and I didn’t have it in me to look at you after that."

The look on your face makes his stomach twist. Something doesn't add up, and you pale. Hands shaking as a shiver takes over your body. "Bradley. River was in New York that week. We broke up a while before you even came back to visit, and never took engagement photos. I called and texted and called and texted, and you never responded to me. Didn't you?" Nothing you do soothes the throbbing behind your temples and nausea whirls in your stomach.

Bradley’s hands are warm as they find purchase on your arms, pulling you towards him and tugging your chin to face him.

"You called me?"

You nod weakly, "For weeks. For weeks, I called. I got scared that something happened to you, and I couldn't reach you. One of our old neighbors said they'd seen you alive and well, and I had to accept the fact you didn't want to speak to me."

All the anger you had used to guard yourself is withering. Suddenly you feel cold, a cool tingle spreading in the back of your head. The puzzle pieces are there, but you refuse to put them together.

Why would River do all that? How did he do all that? It doesn't make sense. But if the look on Bradley's face tells you anything, he's as confused and hurt as you are. Both of you have been wallowing in resentment these past few years, only to find out it'd been built on a lie.

"Bugs, you're shivering. Let's get you back to the car, okay?" You nod numbly, allowing him to guide you. He sits you in the passenger seat of the Bronco, and you stare blankly out the window, watching fellow visitors clean their loved ones' graves and cracking open beers with them.

Everyone has their special way of dealing with grief. Others never visit, and some spend all their time here. Some people decorate with flowers and seasonal decor, while others pour out liquor and loud music while they talk with their tombstones. You'd grieved when you lost Bradley. Halfway convinced he was the love of your life and you'd never find anything more. You didn't, and that made the loss hurt even more. Years of resentment grew and blossomed, poisoning the relationship you had with River. But was it really ruined because of you? If all that Bradley said is true, your relationship was built on the same lie it died on.

You see your mother approach Bradley, her brows creased as she looks at you. You can't hear what they're saying, but at some point, they've moved you back to your car as your mom hops into the driver's seat. You can do nothing as the fear and anxiety freeze you. If River had planned all of that, what else could he have done? Did do? The thoughts consume you whole as they finish up their conversation with hushed whispers and sideways glances.

"Please drive safe. I'll call the number you gave me when I get back home." Bradley taps the car, watching as you two drive off.

#bradley bradshaw fanfiction #bradley bradshaw imagine #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x you #bradley bradshaw #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #top gun imagine #rocky’s masterlist⚘

95 notes · View notes

uselessboss · 1 year ago

Text

Case 01-(4/7)

For the past hour he had been doing nothing but obsessing over his meeting with Crowa Miller.

It was a fascinating experience. Unprecedented even.

Everything he did was something done on a whim.

There was no rhyme nor reason behind his actions. Trying to understand his motives and way of thinking was nothing but a fool's errand, even to him.

There was no consistency nor rules about what worked for him or not. Something can catch his eye on one day but might not evoke the same reaction in another. He knows that from experience.

After all he already tried that. Many times in fact.

The only pattern he found, if he could even call it like that, is his dislike for any perceived challenge to his freedom but even that still felt somewhat lacking. It was as if he was missing an important clue for the great picture, the key to allow everything to make sense.

'Do you need rules and limits to perceive your own freedom?'

It was like something finally clicked in place.

All those vague feelings, all of his fleeting thoughts and desires that he could never explain before... Miller had seamsly pinpoint them and translate them into words he could finally grasp.

It intrigued him.

How did she manage to understand him so well? There wasn't much information to work with. His peers, who aren't in the know about his abilities would be a useless source for that- Something that Miller surely figured out as he knows she didn't even bother to consult with opinions of a third party. The only available data that could be trusted would be from the records of past cases he was in and that barely scratched the surface of it.

So this meant that Miller had to have figured things on the spot.

His body shook, trying to contain his laughter of delight.

To think of how much diligence and commitment it took from her part to reach that point was nothing short of flattering and exciting.

He tapped his feet with impatience as he waited for the system to load all the tabs of his past cases.

They really needed to upgrade this thing.

"Finally! Now let's check the last person to access these files and... Huh?"

He arched an eyebrow.

He expected to see only his name and Miller's on the list, but apparently someone else had accessed his information as well.

"Daniel Andrews" he read. "And according to the time he checked these files before Miller"

Andrews... That name sounded familiar.

He tapped his chin in deep thought.

"Andrews... Andrews... Ah! Now I remember! Isn't he guy rumored to be Miller's right hand or something?"

Miller's right hand. The person she trusted the most.

He wondered what kind of man he was.

"So a scout huh? I wonder if he checked all my files too" he clicked through the windows, intrigued by this new development.

His hand stopped moving.

"What is this?"

One of the records was different.

It was one of his most recent cases, the robbery at the small convenience store.

Miller's name didn't appear there.

But Andrews' did.

He furrowed his brows as he stared at the name displayed on the screen.

Now why did he check an open case like this one? And the time he did it... There was something weird about it.

He opened another file. The one about the joint operation between Miller's unit and his.

"My intuition was right. The order of events is definitely suspicious"

If he was really taken notice around the time of the joint operation then logic dictated that this file should have been the starting point of their investigation but by the looks of the data displayed on the screen it didn't seem to be what happened. Instead, another case had taken priority in his eyes.

The convenience store robbery.

It wouldn't make sense for a case of bordeline nondescript profile to gather any interest unless it was suspected of having foul play involved in it.

But how?

He had chalked the kid's nervousness as a result from the frightening experience but could it be that he was acting like that because he was wary of him?

He didn't find any evidence of him sending a message to anyone else except for his "working place" but perhaps the kid had the foresight to erase any trails after the fact?

He had to give it to him, outsmarting someone like him was no small feat, the kid was shrewd.

"An investigation couldn't be made without solid proof so the kid somehow had a direct contact with someone in the force" he reasoned. "The question was: Who? Andrews? Or Miller herself?"

Well, not that it mattered in the end, regardless who it was it didn't change the fact that the kid got Miller involved in it.

"Which means that Miller lied to me. What a bad and naughty woman." he hummed.

No. That wasn't quite right.

Miller didn't strike him as the careless type. Even if she was masking her feelings she couldn't be 100% sure it would work to fend his scrutiny off. Besides, even if she could successfully conceal everything, keeping it up all the time would still be deemed as suspicious.

You can't move people with hollow words after all.

'We have our own dreams and desires so we should be allowed to follow our own path like anyone else'

There was no mistaking it. The conviction he heard from her words were the real deal. He could tell.

"To have tricked me using not lies, but by being honest... I didn't know that was even possible!" he laughed, leaning back on his chair. "Ah... Really, the more I learn about you the more my interest grows miss Miller."

That explained why her name wasn't in the file for the robbery case or why she didn't attempt to ask anyone about him.

She didn't want to come off as if she suspected his character. Miller had played it out as if everything was done out personal interest.

Even the fact that they had the same powers was nothing but a fortuitous coincidence, something that she used to her advantage to give even more credibility to her motives.

"You are indeed full of surprises. How sly and cunning, I was this close of falling for your ploy~"

She was more pragmatic than he expected. Combining with her resourceful nature it was hard for even him to determine how far she had progressed in her investigation.

He had to make the first move.

But his own investigation wasn't still done yet. To make a big impact and increase the credence of his own activities he had to garther more proof of other's foul deeds to present to his superiors.

He needed a "diversion" to buy him more time.

-.-.-.-.-

"This place is a hellhole. No wonder even most cops avoid this part of the town"

But it was also the perfect place to find what he was looking for.

One of the most dangerous parts of the city where many illicit activities took place. It buzzed with criminals hiding and sneaking around every corner. Homeless people, corpses and drug addicts alike were scattered across the floor or lying on the side of buildings, infesting the air with the smell of their rot and decay.

Damned souls that no one would miss and loathed by all. No one would bat an eye if they were told this or that person had commited a heinous act, which made them the perfect scapegoats for a crime.

"Now to fend the small flies off" he hummed as he took a leisury stroll around said "dangerous" place.

With his power he could project his aura to drive away most "would be witness". Like a prey sensing the threat of a predator, most people would be compeled by their own survival instincts to avoid coming closer to his area of influence.

The only fools that were likely to challenge that were the people that were so far gone that not even their primal essence remained intact.

"In other words, truly desperate fools" he smiled as he detected a movement from his right.

He easily dodged the knife attack. Didn't even need to take his hands from his pockets to get the assailant on the floor as he quickly swipped him with a swift movement from his leg, pinning him firmly on the ground with the pressure of his right knee.

"How brave of you. To assault a police officer head on" he leaned closer to whisper on the man's ear. "Even more in such a sorry state"

"A c-cop?" the man's voice trembled, weakly.

A flicker.

The man reeked of his urine, feces, alcohol and an strange odour that he would chalk that came from whatever nasty substance he injected on his own body. He was so frail and bonely that it was almost a miracle he didn't break anything when he fell. His life force was nothing but embers, a small flame that would soon flicker out to nothing.

A devious smile stretched across his face.

He was the perfect candidate for what he had in mind.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The man couldn't believe his luck.

'Well, well, aren't in luck? I can forgive your little trangression if you do something for me' the weird cop grinned. 'There's someone I need you take care of'

The kid dodged his attack just at the nick of time, blood trailing his cheek from the small cut he had sustained from the ambush.

His prey was quick on his feet to escape, weaving through the heaps of trash with practiced ease, no doubt due to his knowledge of the area. He probably thought he had the advantage here.

But that was also part of that man's plan.

'According to my research the kid lives on a cladestine junkyard. Like a castor who safely resides inside its fortress, he made residence inside a "nest of cars". A place feasible for only him to enter with his small build'

'But how I am going to get him then?'

'About that~'

He reached the pile of cars he was described to.

There was no sign of the kid, he had already disappeared inside it.

How ironic.

He thought he would be safe inside his fortress but instead this place would end up being his grave.

'After he goes inside his "home" douse the place with gasoline and set it on fire'

'But where would I get gasoline?'

'Easy, you can siphon it from my car. I will even allow you to keep an extra just so you can sell it for cash'

He grabbed the crude container that he had hidden nearby and opened it, dropping it from the biggest openings openings he found on the pile.

He took his lighter out and a cigarette from his pocket.

After a nice and long drag from it he dropped it on the flammable liquid.

It erupted in flames.

Even if he couldn't coat everything out it was still fine, the implacable fire would find its way to its target.

It was probably close to midnight now.

He had to hurry and go to the agreed meeting place so he could receive the reward for his services.

He was looking forward to it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Huff... Huff... Why did we have to meet in such a far place? I know it's probably to avoid suspicious from his side, but still!" the man groaned as he climbed the fence to an old and abandoned factory.

He was beat.

Maybe it was because of all the workout he had to do recently, but he felt so exhausted...

"You made it" he was greeted by the cop. "I assume you did your part?"

"Y-Yes" he heaved. "Even if the kid survives the fire he wouldn't end unscathed from it"

"Good"

"N-now where's the reward you p-promised?"

"I didn't bring it." the cop hummed. "After all, it wouldn't be worth the trouble for someone who's about to die"

"W-What do you mean by t-"

He sank to his knees.

What... What did he do to him?

Those were his last thoughts as his eyes closed when his head hit the floor.

"..."

What happened to him?

His mind was drawing a blank, his memory a bit hazy.

He remembered meeting a sketchy cop who offered him a good reward in exchange of doing some dirty work for him, and him setting something on fire, but...

He looked around his surroundings, trying to orient himself.

His eyes widened when he saw something unimaginable on the floor.

Was that... Himself?

"That was fast"

He turned to the source of the voice

It was that cop!

"What... What happened? What you did to me?!"

"Nothing. You did that to yourself with your less than stellar life habits" the man grinned, sick amusement dripping from his voice. "What I did was quite the opposite of what you were thinking. I extended your life for a little longer by giving my own energy to you. At least enough for that favor"

"So you are saying that I-I am..."

"Dead? Yes, very much so"

"Then how are you talking to me?!"

"I have the power to see spirits you see" the man's eyes glowed mysteriously.

Morrigan dusted his clothes off, indifferent to the wails of the soul that was quickly fading away.

"That should make a nice enough distraction to keep you occupied" he smiled.

"Crowa Miller. The Queen of Crows"

#my useless invincible boss #svi morrigan(useless boss)

0 notes

calmthefuckdownalright · 3 years ago

Text

"A Fall From Grace" Self-Made Angel AU

A/N: I've had this in my head ever since the Origins SMP came out but I never knew what origin to give the reader. THEN I watched Afterlife SMP on Smajor1995's perspective in which he got the "Angel" Origin on his third (I think) death. I know it's not in the Origins SMP, but I wanted to be original and using the Witch origin was just too common. That and the work it's used in is phenomenal and I can't compete with it. SO! I picked the Angel origin from the Afterlife SMP instead and found it very fitting. I hope you enjoy 😊, it's very long just saying now.

Pairing: C!Phantombur x AngelOrigin!Fem!Reader

Genre: 🍃 angst?,🌷 fluff, 💐 spice {implied. Minors keep back}

AU: Angel (self created), Character plane, Origins SMP

TW: Minor violence and some intense flirting if you catch my drift. Cursing too. Minor mental breakdowns

Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Summary: There's a new Origin in town and the Potion Businessman Wilbur has his eye on a stunning prize. But beware, every rose has its thorns and this pretty flower might as well be a whole bush despite her "angelic" exterior.

Edit: my laptop shot crap on me and I don't have the financial stability or budget to get it fixed or a new one so I'm using my reading Kindle and it doesn't like to format texts...so just use your imagination. 👍

°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•

Welcome to the Origins SMP...you're life on Earth had ended and you have been chosen to join this elaborate group of hybrids. Here's your Origin.

🕊 Angel 🕊

Wings

Levitation

Weaker in other realms (Nether, End, etc.)

When you hit a monster it is set ablaze

Unable to weild a totem of undying

Like your Savior, you are able to walk and run upon water

Any and all debuffs via potions or spells are useless against you (enchantments not included)

Warning: Deviants of the Underworld have also been chosen to walk among you. Be safe.

✨✨A New Origin has Joined the World✨✨

The message was sent out across the entire plane. Every creature set and chosen for this version of Earth received it. Everyone knew you had arrived.

"Be safe. Deviants of the Underworld walk among you."

The warning changed in your head as you opened your eyes to the new world. You looked at your hands in awe at the power that radiated through your muscles. You stood and gazed at the landscape around you. A simple forest under a blue sky.

Something felt odd and you stretched out your arms feeling a tug on your back. You looked and a pair of the purest white feathered wings grew from your shoulder blades. They were stunning and as you stretched them you could hardly believe the length.

You tucked the beautiful wings to your back in fear of drawing attention to yourself in this new place.

'First things first...tools.' You thought and got to work with crafting and managing what little resources you could gather before nightfall. You weren't new to the dynamics of the New Earths. Yet you didn't quite know what you were doing. It was like an unstoppable instinct to just survive.

'Stone stone stone. Mountains would be ideal. I don't have stuff for light just yet and I have a feeling the caves won't be as friendly as the surface.' You debated in your head and began the search.

You managed to slay a few cows and pigs, even make a pair of leather boots to keep your bare feet protected.

The only thing covering your body was a robe. A rather thick one revealing nothing but highlighting the fact you were a woman at the same time.

Maybe a cloak of some kind could be on your priority list as well with the pending decision to seek shelter or get more suitable tools. Shelter seemed like a better option. Especially if these 'deviants' were the kind you thought.

[Time Skip to Nightfall]

You'd been walking for ages trying to find your way out of this stupid forest and night was beginning to fall just as you glimpsed an opening. A valley filled with buildings. One in particular rising above the rest into the sky.

You looked around yourself trying to decide whether or not to tough it out in the wilderness or take your chances on the lit up building.

"Might as well test these babies out." You muttered and stretched your wings.

You jumped off the edge of the hill where the forest lay and struck the feathered appendages down in an effort to lift yourself. It worked as the wind rushed under you and altitude climbed.

You smiled at yourself and flapped the great wings again and again till you were even with the ground of the floating island. You landed with a huff and tucked your already tired wings close to your back.

You could hear voices. Laughter and joyous cries of celebration. For what you couldn't tell. Maybe they were deviants that you'd been warned against. But even if they were, you could easily set them aflame with a single punch. You needed shelter. Suitable food and better clothes.

The wind had flung your thick robe and sent dirt cascading all along it. The white of the fabric was no longer that and rather filthy now.

"Take a chance. It can't be too bad." You said quietly and pushed against the door to the building in the sky. Glittering light poured in it stunned you for a moment. Brighter than the sunlight, or at least more concentrated, blinded you. The voices were continuous as you held the door open and stepped in. Your eyes adjusted rather quickly and you let the door close as you stepped into the place.

It smelled of ale and good spirits. Joy and the promise of laughter. The door slammed as the wind from outside sucked it in and the whole place stopped. Time seemed to freeze as your presence was suddenly acknowledged.

The first to notice you was a fellow winged person. A man dressed in a dark blue ish purple long coat with feathers protruding from his jawline. His wings were a darker grey and his hair a bright goldish blond. He seemed older as imperfections in his skin became more eminent as the light flickered under his dark grey and white striped hat. Crows feet by his eyes and lines etching under them. A light blond stubble etched along his chin and up to the dark feathers of his jaw.

"Well this one's new." A light hearted voice rang out amongst the silence. A smaller man, a boy even, with a pair of goggles on top his head and a fur lined bomber jacket leaned against a counter. Four translucent insect wings sprouted from his back and a black and yellow patch drew your attention to his sleeve where a extremely tall man in a simple suit and long purple tail coat stood beside him.

There was an aura about the tall man that unnerved you. His mismatched eyes and the crown that sat crooked on his head gave off an intimidating glow about him. Especially with the floating purple particles about him.

"Finally another girl!" A muffled voice next to you made you jump in your own skin. A fellow female stood in a tank of water, gills growing from her neck and flashes of pinkish scales reaching down her arms.

"I'm sorry?" A slightly annoying British voice jumped over the air and you spotted a small blonde man, again possibly a boy, with a red sleeved t-shirt and a small pair of red feathered wings, much too downy to be considered real ones, peeked over the head of the winged man who spotted you first.

"Who are you?" The dark winged man in the strange dark attire asked cautiously bit with a light smile.

"Clearly she's the new Origin we heard of a little bit ago." A voice came out of nowhere, behind you, and a shot of adrenaline flashed through your veins as you whirled around and summoned the iron sword you had been able to craft with what little you'd been able to find.

The tip aimed straight towards a partly transparent man's throat. His skin was deathly gray and two bright green eyes shone under the shade of a mess of soft looking brown hair.

Your wings flared out defensively causing wind to fly up with them and send a drink or two crashing to the floor. Fear ran through your blood. The man before you had his arms raised in a mock surrender. His yellow sweater was even transparent, torn and weathered in places to just barely reveal a white undershirt. A white collar poked over the edge of the sweater at his neck.

"Wilbur! What have I said about sneaking up on people?" The older man's voice was stern at the ghostly figure.

"Right right, don't. Yeah I've heard it before Phil. Don't get your feathers in a bunch." The ghost, or Wilbur it seemed, leaned to one side and used a finger to push your sword point down as he outstretched a translucent hand with a sort of halfway bow.

"Wilbur S. Phantom." He said cooly as if he hadn't just scared the shit out of you.

You ignored his hand and began to lower your wings and sword as you looked around.

The tall man in the suit had jumped over the counter and was crouched down behind it while the short boyish one with the translucent wings had begun to sort if float to the roof of the establishment.

"Wil you're just scaring her more." The man with wings, Phil, came over and straightened Wilbur up and pulled him aside.

"Hello, I'm sorry for my son's behavior. I'm Philza Elytrian. This is the Pub." The man with the dark wings said kindly with meaningful smile and an outstretched hand. You sheathed your sword and tucked your wings tightly in again.

"Y/N Angel." You said and glanced over all the other hybrid mutants before you.

"I'm Nikki Merling!" The muffled voice behind the glass said excitedly. Her voice was soft and welcoming now that you fully heard it.

"Hi.." You responded, A smile twitching in the corners of your mouth.

"Of course you've met Wilbur. He's a Phantom and tends to abuse his abilities to phase through walls. He's our Potions guy since he can gather ingredients undetected. And my son." Phil began to introduce everyone individually starting with a very sparkly man with stars for limbs it seemed.

"Scott Starborne. He's basically a God so mind not to piss him off or he might explode you."

"Jack Manifold Blazeborne. Immune to heat and a native to the Nether."

"This is Tommy Avian. He's my youngest son and my apprentice since his wings have still not fully grown in." Tommy shook your hand and the downy red wings on his back attempted to stretch out but it only made them curl back tighter. "We think something went wrong with his genetic make-up." Phil whispered to you.

You nodded and smiled at the Avian briefly before meeting the rest of the crew.

"Tubbo Bumblebee. Can float around, poison in his fingers, and is sort of like a flourist around here."

"This is Ranboo Enderian. Enderman abilities combined with his abnormally natural height. He's a good guy to have in your corner."

"Jschlatt Arachnid though most call him-"

"The Fragrance Man. Pleasure to meet you Angel." The Fragrance Man bowed with a smile and the pungent smell of him hit you like a train.

"Please don't call me that." You said with a cringe.

"Moving on," Philza said quickly and lead you to a seemingly empty corner. Then you looked down.

"That's Charlie Slimecician, he's basically a slime but half human. He gets small after a few hits." A blobby green figure stood at the height of you ankles and waved.

"And that's Sneegsnag Inchling. We just call him Sneeg. He's super small and likes to climb on people so watch out if you ever go to fly. You might have a hitchhiker."

"It was one time Phil. Get over it!" Sneeg called up to the much taller Elytrian. No doubt having experienced this 'hitchhiking.'

"Fundy and Technoblade aren't here right now but Fundy's basically just a fox and Techno looks like a pig but was given the Rabbit Origin. You'll know them when you see em." Philza turned back to you and you looked around again.

"Do you maybe have anything for clothing? I don't think this thing is going to last with my flying." You asked sheepishly and gestured to the already tattering robe.

"Ummm..." Phil's face flushed slightly and he glanced around. "Maybe Nikki does? She's more you're speed." He led you to the tank with the Merling. Nikki smiled and nodded.

"It's been so long since another girl was around!" She smiled widely.

Maybe this new plane of existence wasnt going to be so dangerous after all...

[Time Skip to a few Days Later]

Since meeting the Origins you hadn't had much going on. Nikki helped you with clothes, lending you several pairs of leather pants and a few linen shirts that fit fairly well. She never wore them because they weren't waterproof and mostly used them when it rained and she wanted to go walking. Which was hardly ever.

Rain wasnt 'rare' in the valley of The Pub (which you later learned had been renamed The Pube with a 'silent' e by one Wilbur S. Phantom.) But she hadn't wanted to go walking ever. The rain was so exciting that she never thought about it.

"So have you thought of where to build your house?" Nikki asked, her head bobbing in and out of the water cautiously.

"No not really. I found a cave up in the mountains but it's a bit far. Thinking about building right here by the lake but my neighbors aren't very appealing." You grimaced as you spotted the Phantom of the land. He was sitting under a tree with a brewing stand beside him and a book and quill in his hands. His translucent body sent a shiver up your spine as you redirected your attention back to your friend in the water.

"Wil really isn't that bad. He's just a flirty dumbass. He's quite nice really." Nikki assured you and traced shaped in the dampened grass by your boots. Your feet rested in the cool water of the lake with your leather pants rolled up halfway to your knees as the water ran over the bare skin.

"He's still creepy." You said and stretched out your wings as the sun warmed the white feathers.

"It's just cause he's a ghost. I'm telling you, he's nice." Nikki insisted. Her voice was sorrowful as she mentioned the word 'ghost.'

"How is he even Phil's son? He doesn't even have wings." You asked and began to run your fingers down the soft feathers of your wings.

"Well...that's more something to ask him really. It's not my story to tell." Nikki said and ducked under the water, leaving you impromptu to regain her ability to breathe.

"Alright then..." You sighed. Your curiosity tugged at your gut and a bold motive pumped through your heart. While Nikki composed herself you might as well start branching out. Its not like you can stay friends with one person forever.

You huffed and grabbed your boots and started walking across the grass towards the phantom man.

"Well hello. Come to tell me I'm creepy to my face?" Wilbur asked with a sly smile as you approached, not bothering to look up.

"You heard us?" You asked, a wave of embarrassment washing over you.

"No, I read lips." Wilbur said and looked up at you at last. The green of his eyes were stunning without the rushes of adrenaline finding them dangerous. He'd been sneaking up on you for the past few days, earning multiple swords swung at his head. All of them careful not to actually cut the poor man.

"Hmph. Well I actually came over to say I'm sorry for swinging blades at you and ask you a question but since you're clearly busy I'll leave you be." You said and started to walk off.

"Wait!" Wilbur shot to his feet and reached for your arm as you walked into the sunlight. Flames erupted on his skin and began to consume him.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCKER SHIT!" Wilbur exclaimed and leapt into the lake with a surprisingly graceful dive. Steam billowed off the water's surface as you turned around at the noise.

"Wilbur?" You asked to the air. The smell of smoke tinged your nose. "Oh shit you're a phantom!" The realization hit you.

"Yeah no shit." He said as his head resurfaced, water dripping from the brown mess on his head and down his face. "I was just trying to stop you, Jesus Christ." He muttered and climbed out the water, shaking out his head as the shade of a tree cast over him, preventing him from burning again.

"Why?" You asked with a desire to laugh. How could he forget he burned in daylight so easy?

"Because, like you, I'm a curious nobody who wants to know things. So what-" Wilbur paused as he spotted your face. "Are you...are you laughing at me?" He said with a darkening tone.

"Maybe a little." You snickered. Your wings trailed the ground and twitched with amusement.

"Oh hush it you sunloving bitch! I didn't exactly ask for it." Wilbur held a smile of his own back at your childish attempts to not mock him.

"So sorry Danny Phantom, I just think the fact you don't even understand your own abilities is quite hilarious." You sniffed back a laugh and wiped your eyes.

"You're one to talk. You can hardly fly properly." Wilbur shot back, a conniving smile playing his translucent lips, his arms crossing over his chest.

"And what would you know about flying?" You set your hands on your hips, flaring your snowy white wings out slightly as the sun basked over your features.

"Enough to know you flap too hard and too often. Enough to know you should let the wind carry you rather than your own feathers or you'll tire the muscles out before you can ever find a decent landing spot." Wilbur leaned against the oak tree causing his shade.

You fumed as you recalled the many landings you'd had to take. The aching of your wings every night when you went to sleep.

"Yeah? And how do you know this?" You crossed your arms.

"Because, Angel Darling, I used to fly." Wilbur pushed off the tree and snapped his fingers as he walked to the edge of the shade. Just where the border of the sunlight stopped.

With the snap of his fingers a pair of mangled and tattered wings the color of Phil's feathers protruded from the Phantom's back. Bones stuck out of the tips and a bat like skin had been stretched over the limbs, bone poking through at odd angles.

"They don't work anymore sadly, but they were beautiful back in my prime. Now they're just a decoration that gets caught on branches." Wilbur ran a ghostly hand down one of the wings, its stillness bothered you. Usually wings would twitch or flex at the touch of rather anything. Even Tommy's faulty wings stretched or curled each time a branch or shoulder grazed them.

"Wilbur, I'm sorry." You said after a moment of marveling at the damage. "What happened?" You asked cautiously, reaching out a hand into his shade.

Wilbur quickly made the wings disappear with a roll of his shoulders.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Only Phil and Tommy are allowed to know my 'tragedy', as people call it. Family only, if you understand." Wilbur smirked and ran a hand through his brown hair.

"Anyone else who knows has sworn to never tell a soul and anyone who does say will be severely punished." Wilbur growled and your hand retreated. If he wanted to be a prick when you were only wanting an answer then fine. Two can play that game.

"Awww, is the little Potions master embarrassed of his fall from grace?" You mocked with a glare. "A simple 'A bad accident' would've sufficed asshole." You flared your wings to leap off. Wilbur's eyes darkened as a scowl etched his translucent features.

"You're pretty prickly yourself for such a pretty Angel." Wilbur sneered.

"Whoever said all Angels were nice Ghost Boy?" You snarled and beat your wings and leapt into the sky sending wind blowing the leaves of the tree he sheltered under askew and releasing the sunlight upon him once more. You beat your wings proudly as you flew off listening to the string of curses flowing from the burned ghost's lips behind you.

[Several Days Later]

You hadn't run into Wilbur again since you burned him. You'd spent the last few days gathering wood from various trees and taking flying lessons from Phil who's wingspan was similar to your own. Yours being slightly larger "due to your youth." As Phil told you.

It was going wonderfully. You'd been able to gather enough iron to make yourself a chestplate with the guidance of Jack who knew a thing or two about molten stuff. You paid him in a few nuggets of gold and a new flint and steel, should he get trapped in his homeland ever.

Nikki had helped you start building by the lake, on the exact opposite side of Wilbur, and even connected her little underwater cavern to a tank in your house.

Not only had you not run into the ghostly man, but you hadn't even seen the translucent nuisance. It was unnervingly quiet at the lake and maybe he just stopped going out in the day. He did catch fire at even the smallest ray of sunlight so it wouldn't entirely surprise you that the man was keeping to the covers of night.

Tonight however, so we're you. You needed bones for bone meal for your farm so you could feed your cows and make some bread for yourself.

The moon was full and fog had rolled in on the valley of The Pub. You had gone far away from where the lights of the settlements glowed and only had the light of the moon to guide your feet as you listened for the rattling of bones or the string of a bow being stretched.

Courtesy of The Fragrance Man, you wielded a diamond sword. You'd crafted it yourself but the enchantments laid on its blade were all the Arachnid's doing.

Heat radiated off the sword and a glimmer of a protective shield was cast over the diamond weapon. It was supposed to set fire to anything it touched, much like your own fists could with a punch, and it was spelled to be practically unbreakable. In exchange for a favor in the future, the sword was all yours for as long as you wanted it.

The Fragrance Man had denied calling you by your name and still settled for just calling you 'Angel.' The man was a priest, sort of, so you didn't really worry too much about it. He might be creepy but you could set fire to anything you punched. That made you dangerous and him susceptible to your attacks if he crossed the line.

So, with your new sword and chest plate, you set off into the night in search of the undead. You had succeeded as a rattle echoed off in the distance and you shot towards it in a flurry of quick jabs and slices while ducking from arrows. It wasn't long before the skeletons fell and you could collect their cargo.

With a few skeletons gone you decided to head back to your home by the lake. Then the screams of frustration reached you. You were slightly conflicted to help.

The only people crazy enough to get cornered by a horde weren't ones you necessarily liked. But you had time and a weapon fully capable of helping. Not to mention some badass wings to knock a few skulls around with.

"Fine fine. Let's go be a hero I guess." You muttered and leaped into the air with a blow of your wings. You soared high above the fading fog as you got closer to the end of the valley and peered down to the ground with the little light you could use from the moon. You couldn't hardly see the figure surrounded by the monsters but you could hear them.

"You idiotic assholes just get back! Where the fucking Hell are you all coming from?!" The frustrated voice screamed into the night. You smelled bread and spotted a helmet of iron as you swooped down cautiously.

"Phil?" The helmet looked up as your winged shadow cast over them from the moonlight. That's when you realized who you were saving.

"Far from it Ghost Boy." You glared and dived down with your sword swinging flames upon the monsters of the night. "I'm better."

Wilbur scoffed and straightened his helmet and fought the deviants of the night at your back, skillfully ducking under your wings as you threw monsters away where your sword could not reach.

Wilbur's silence as he fought with his own weapon, an iron sword with more than a few cracks, was amazing. Not so much as a grunt escaped him as he swung with effortless movements. Before long dawn was rising and the sky helped vanquish the horde.

Wilbur was quick to send himself invisible once the sun rose though you could still see him due to the helmet on his head and the bread vanishing down what must have been his mouth.

You acted out of mercy and drew your wings over his back and head as the sun climbed up the sky. "Relax Mr. Invisible. You've been through enough tonight." You muttered as he flinched under your shading feathers.

"And what's with the change of heart? Deciding to be a good girl for once?" Wilbur teased with a menacing smile as he changed back to his translucent form.

"I don't know, would you like to burn all the way home?" You narrowed your eyes with a challenge. Wilbur stuffed the last bit of bread in his mouth in a silent no.

The two of you walked in silence back to the lake, you lowering your wings as you opted for a forest edge as soon as one was available. Wilbur 'ghosted' from tree shade to tree shade while you stayed in the sunlight of the valley. When the Pub's settlements were close enough Wilbur stopped, stopping you with him out of quiet surprise.

"Why did you help me?" He asked suddenly.

"Why shouldn't I have?" You countered.

"Whatever happened to 'Not all Angels are nice.'?"

"Never said I wasn't. You'd just pissed me off."

"Because I didn't answer your question?" Wilbur scoffed with a slight of sarcasm.

"Because you were an ass about it. I get it, I'm new. I don't know anything about anyone. Especially you. Especially when you avoid and dodge every attempt I make at getting to know you or being an ass about it and starting an argument." You crossed your arms and tucked in your wings frustratedly.

"It's called flirting, Darling Angel." Wilbur leaned against a tree and removed his helmet to allow a plethora of brown curly hair to fall across his emerald eyes.

"You suck at it Wilbur Soot." You snickered and slipped under a tree yourself as the sun beat down in an unrelenting heat. "And please don't call me Angel. The Fragrance Man does that enough as it is." You huffed with an easy smile.

"Schlatt? Seriously? That's who you're worried about? I can literally phase through walls undetected. I could've been following you all these days watching you bathe or something." Wilbur snickered.

"That's perverted Wilbur." You screwed up your face and suddenly felt very self conscious.

"I said I could. But I would never because you're right. That is perverted and I'm not an abuser of my abilities much to you and my father's beliefs." Wilbur insisted "Believe it or not I'm a rather good gentleman." Wilbur said with a joking smile. You snickered quietly.

"Right right. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say I believe you. I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable on my own again, thanks Wil." You say with a snap of venom. What would one of your conversations be without a little poison.

"There's no wall you can hide behind, Y/N. I can forever find you." Wilbur's voice echoed like it wasnt actually there. You stared at him but his lips didn't move to match the words you heard.

"What?" You asked, placing a hand on your belt where the sword sheath and sword from The Fragrance Man was attached.

"I said, that wasn't my intentions. I said I was sorry." Wilbur phased his way through the narrow chain of sunlight between the two trees you stood under and was soon placing a chilled hand on your forehead much to your very notable surprise. "Are you alright Ang- Y/N? You're sweating like Ranboo in a storm." Wilbur joked with a smile, quickly correcting himself from the uncanny nickname.

What was he always smiling for? He was a ghost with a supposedly 'tragic' demise. He was dead. He was regarded with caution anywhere he went. His potions business was a scam and a half and his cheeky comments and demeanour had no doubt gotten him into many instances of making enemies. What did this man have to smile about so often for?

"I have family and friends, Y/N. That's why I smile. I'm dead but I can still be with them and they know I am." Wilbur answered. You hadn't realized you'd said the first of your thought out loud. Or that you were sitting now. The heat from the sun on your iron chest plate was suffocating. Not to mention it was tight inside of it from moving as much while fighting through the night and hardly any at all during the walk. Your wings dropped to the ground and for once they felt like the heaviest things on this plane of existence.

"Y/N? What's wrong?" Wilbur's voice was edging on concern. His hands were freezing on your overheating skin. Skin. Where was he touching you? You squeezed your eyes shut and concentrated. Your hand was under one of his, and his other was holding your face as sweat seeped from your boiling skin.

"The chestplate." You huffed and pulled at the collar of it reaching frantically for the leather straps holding to your body on your sides. Your, now shaking, fingers fumbled with the leather on one side. By the time you'd gotten one undone Wilbur had managed to get the two on the other side. He quickly undid the last strap and the chest plate was heaved off your shoulders by Wilbur, careful not to crush your wings.

"Better?" He asked, his hand still resting on your hand. Grasping it even.

You nodded and flipped your palm to grip his. "Just give me a second and I'll be fine." You huffed and closed your eyes tightly. Breathing in and out and focusing on the coolness of Wilbur's hand.

The heat calmed in your skin until the sweating stopped. You opened your eyes after a moment or two to see Wilbur staring at you with those vibrant eyes.

"What? Have I got a cut?" You asked and reached your free hand to your face. Before you could check yourself Wilbur was holding up your connected hands. That's when you realized.

"Oh shit I'm so-" you started to unravel your fingers from his in a rush. Your wings flared as cold spread through your still heated face. A softness enveloped your lips as you gathered what was happening.

Wilbur's eyes were shut as his face pressed to yours. It was an odd feeling, being kissed by a ghost.

You eventually just shut your eyes too, embracing the action with the little hesitation, pressing back to the cold lips. Wilbur's hand tightened on yours and his other translucent limb reached to your wings, caressing the feathers softly and causing a shudder up your spine.

Wilbur let you breathe for a moment from his impromptu kiss before removing his hand from yours in the grass and lifting your chin to fully face him.

"Is this okay with you?" He asked, his voice shaky and unknowing. Surprisingly something inside you lit up at the question. He'd caught you off gaurd in a vulnerable state from the overheating. Managed to cool you down and was still asking if you were okay.

"Yeah..." You breathed and Wilbur leaned over your body against the tree, trailing a cold ghostly hand up your white wings earning a small gasp before gently reconnecting your lips. He was curious as his hand explored the feathers, each small movement making them twitch and relax under his translucent fingers.

Each flinch of your feathers parted your mouth a little at a time before it was too tempting to explore. Wilbur's tongue was so cold it was like having an ice cube numb your mouth. It was...different. You hadn't kissed anyone since coming into this world and this was one Hell of a first.

Wilbur's hand on your chin trailed up your jawline and reached into your hair, massaging and playing with your scalp and causing an intense cold to spread over you and numb your senses almost completely. His hand on your wings traveled closer to your back where the skin and downy feathers met your shoulder blades. The holes you'd cut into your linen shirts had been a tad big but it just made it easier to fly.

"Wilbur, what're you doing?" You breathed out as he drew away for you to breathe. He didn't need to being dead and all.

"I-" He looked into your hooded eyes and his hand drew away from your back, the one exploring your hair stopping its soft movements. There was a rustling behind him and before either of you could react someone burst through the bushes.

"Jesus mother of Christ foliage is thick as fuck." Tommy's bright accent busted the tension between you and Wilbur and neither of you could move as the small winged man spotted you. You sat with your back to a tree and Wilbur, Tommy's older brother, hovering over you incredibly close with your chest plate thrown aside.

"Tommy! It's not was it looks-" Wilbur started to rush out and leapt to his feet to reach his brother who was frozen in place.

"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" The Avian yelled out and both you and Wilbur flinched.

"Y/N that's my fucking brother what the fuck?! Nikki's been lookin for you and you're out here catching the birds and the bees with my-" Tommy started into a compulsive and loud rant before Wilbur phased under the sunlight and placed an invisible hand over his mouth, reducing it to muffled yells. Tommy pulled away with a disgusted tone of voice.

"Don't fucking touch my face you fucker, I don't know where those hands have been." Tommy gagged at the thought and your face turned a fiery red, the heat returning but this time manageable against your slightly numb skin where Wilbur had touched and kissed you.

"Tommy I swear, I just got overheated and he helped me get the chest plate off that's all!" You rushed to help explain. You couldn't see Wilbur or feel his presence. Did that asshole just leave you to deal with his slightly traumatized brother?!

The anger you'd previously held over and dissipated for the ghostly businessmen returned in full force.

"That-" Tommy started but you cut him off in a stern voice, one built up with anger at Wilbur. Anger that kept rising. After what he'd just done the guy was just gonna skip out on you because someone caught him doing something embarrassing?!

"Tommy just shut it. He helped me get a chestplate off after I got too hot. That's it and for you to think otherwise is foolish. Your brother and me aren't even friends." You spat and went to go retrieve your armor piece.

Tommy stayed silent as you stood straight up and took a deep breath. A chill went through your chest as you felt a pair of eyes watching. These not the unbelieving ones of Tommy, but ones of hurt and slight hatred that couldn't be seen.

'Stop it Wilbur. You know it can't happen.' You shot towards the ripple of light as grass swished under invisible feet. It was a mistake helping him as much as you did. A mistake letting him kiss you.

At the end of the day he was just a flirty asshole who couldn't help but only think of himself. He was a scammer. A coward. The exact opposite of what you would ever want. A businessman of zero shame.

"Do you want a fly home?" You turned back to Tommy with a flare of your large wings.

"No. No I'm out looking for sugarcane." He said, his eyes still slightly in shock at what he had witnessed.

"Right then. Tell Phil I said hi." You muttered and shouldered past the small boy, careful not to hit him with your wings and you reached a sunny clearing in the trees. You waited till Tommy had walked away into the forest before you wrapped yourself in your wings and let a few hot tears run down your freezing cheeks.

"stupid stupid stupid." You heaved out over a choked sob. You could feel his presence lingering around you. Wilbur was still around. Still watching you as you broke down. You were an idiot for believing he could actually be nice.

"Get over it now, Y/N. He's the worst deviant you'll run across." You utter loud enough for anyone within earshot to hear. 'Anyone' being Wilbur. You heard a branch crack and a bush shift as something unseen walked into it. Then you spread your wings and leapt into the sky, careful not to beat too hard and exhaust your energy too soon.

"Wait!" You heard him below you. You could see his ghostly figure clearly in your mind reaching out to the sky though he would surely be invisible from the sunlight.

You soared up above the clouds and let the tears rain down freely. What the Hell was wrong with you?! The guy had been nothing but a creep since your first day here and you just let him kiss you! Let him touch your wings like they were his own. God you felt so stupid. And poor Tommy, he had to see it. Or the end of it at least.

Your mind slowly began to thaw from Wilbur's icy touch. That must've been what caused your submission. The cold that emanated from even the slightly touch from him. Hell knowing him he probably did it on purpose.

Figured out from eavesdropping on you telling Nikki you'd be going out tonight. He probably got himself cornered by monsters on his own and lured you there knowing you'd help. Then he'd get you alone in the forest and take advantage of you with the numbing of the cold he inflicted.

It made your blood boil deep in your chest at the thought. Wilbur Soot would pay for his intentions. Good or not he left you to deal with HIS family. The one he claimed was the reason he could still smile after everything that happened to him.

Curse to his handsome face. To his soft skin. His beautiful and dorky smile. Curse to his swagger in every word. That accent that could make the coldest heart melt. The charm woven into that silver tongue of his. That tongue. To Hell with that tongue.

{LET THE WARS BEGIN}

🕊💀🕊💀🕊💀 [Time Summary of Several Months]🕊💀🕊💀🕊💀

Catalog of the Burning Wars, written by Philza Elytrian

The first attack: Y/N Angel set fire to the trees surrounding Wilbur S. Phantom's home removing all shade from his land for several blocks. She has also drained his side of the lake with the permission of Nikki Merling in agreement to link the lake to a river system going all across the lands of The Pub.

The retaliation: Wilbur S. Soot in retaliation destroyed an upcoming crop field in the process of growing from Y/N Angel.

The Declaration of War: Y/N Angel announced at The Pub on August 9th that Wilbur Soot Phantom was now her enemy and anyone who got in her way of 'making that piece of shit' pay would be as well.

The Accused: As claimed by Wilbur, he hadn't heard of her declaration of war. Merely assuming that the burning and draining of his land was a minor upsetting and his retaliation was to be the end of their feud. He has since not discussed any details of the newly declared war.

The Attacker: Y/N Angel has only disclosed that Wilbur has shamed her in an unforgivable way. She claims her takes on friendship with the Potions Businessman had been rebuked with a key try in taking advantage of her new presence to this world. Y/N has quoted

"Wilbur Soot might be a gentleman to his friends, but to me he is merely a fiend and a deviant that has wronged me in more ways than one. I will no longer tolerate his creeping of my person or the advances he seems to wish to make."

Over the course of the ongoing war, now named The Burning War after the intense use of fire from both sides, multiple scrimmages between the two parties have occurred. All of which taking place in a forest or plain far from the Pub as both parties have agreed;

"Our fighting is amongst the two of us and no one else should pay for our anger towards each other."

Signed,

Philza Elytrian, Scribe of The Burning Wars 💀🕊💀🕊💀🕊[End of Time Summary]💀🕊💀🕊💀🕊

It'd been months. Nearly a year since you declared war on Wilbur and he was no closer to admitting he had done wrong. Over the many negotiations held between the two of you nothing came of it.

Wilbur merely yelled he didn't know what he'd done and therefore had nothing to apologize for. You being the stubborn woman you were, time and time again explained it to him. How he left you to take care of his problems. Their problems. How he vanished on you the second things got a little uncomfortable then tried to play it off like you were the one at fault for it.

You hadn't shared your theory on his intentions that day. His theoried plan you had formed on the fly back home.

How could you? You weren't dumb, you knew it was only an assumption your angered mind had formed. Knew that if you said it and it was false your shame would kill you. Yet you couldn't think of another way to tell him you thought he was a creep when the only 'proof' you had of this claim was that he scared you every once in a while from passing through a wall to jumpscare you.

And now you were back here. In the Pub. Your neutral ground. You'd told Phil, the common ground and mediator between the two of you and Wilbur. As usual Phil told everyone to avoid the place but you knew they were closeby. Sneeg would be hiding behind the bottles of alcohol stacked on a shelf or Tommy perched on top the Pub with Tubbo. Ranboo maybe if he could get a pearl high enough. Jack might be hiding in his little lava hole listening in on rare occasion.

This didn't stop you from trying to negotiate with Wilbur in terms of ending this war. You didn't even know what you wanted from him. A surrender and an apology seemed like the best solution but you knew deep down it wouldn't be enough. He would continually piss you off on purpose. He would dig at you till you cracked and sent an arrow flying at his head or a wing swinging straight into his translucent chest.

Much to your delight, Wilbur was solid as a rock when not in his phantom state. Anything could hurt him just as it could a regular human. You didn't want to kill the man no. You were angry but not that angry. No matter what you did you couldn't wipe that smug smile off his face every time he riled you up.

You clenched your fist now as he walked in. For once he used the doors of The Pub. You sat at a table with your wings brought high up and tucked in tight. The dumbass was eating an apple and each step he took closer to you highlighted a new accessory to his outfit.

A slim fitting tail coat the color of the darkest blue fit snuggly over a blue and lime striped vest and reached down a pair of equally dark blue slacks with a perfect crease down the middle. He wore a circular pair of glasses slightly tinted over his stunning green eyes. Bone shaped clasps reached across the seam of his vest and black slick shoes rested and tapped the wood floor on his fading feet. His hair was combed out but as unruly as ever as it curled over one of his eyes slightly.

He took a large bite of his apple, never breaking eye contact with you as he pulled out the chair across from you, then threw it in your direction. To which you caught it.

"Y'know I had a great deal comin' up for today. Schlatt was gonna buy my whole stock for ten stacks of gold blocks and a half a stack of diamonds. Technoblade would've gladly taken the gold and traded me a stack of diamonds or even some Netherite ingots for each block." The man leaned back and set his ghostly fading feet on the wooden table.

"Your stock is just potions of leaping and some fire res mixed in wth exactly two potions of regeneration." You pointed out. "You and Ranboo literally had to scam Tommy into drinking one you were so much of a failure."

"Yet who's wearing the tailored suit here?" Wilbur examined his fingers before turning back to you with a smug grin.

You scowled at him, debating your response. "The coward and the joke of this negotiation." You spat after a second of letting him think he won. At your words, Wilbur's smile twitched and he swiftly swung his lanky legs off the table and leaned forward, his hands grasped together under his chest as his face reached near the middle of the table.

"And what have I done right or wrong now to deserve such a merciful meeting Angel Darling?" The man said with a venom of sarcasm escaping his silver tongue. Your blood began to boil.

"Absolutely nothing. You don't deserve my mercy Wilbur Soot but here I am offering it." You leaned towards him as well letting your wings cast a shadow over the two of you from one of the lanterns above.

"I don't even know what I could've done wrong to even need your 'mercy.'" Wilbur said and those green eyes of his darted across your face.

"For starters you burnt down my wheat field." You said.

"You burnt my trees. And drained the water from my land." He countered.

"You were a prick and I wasn't going to deal with it any longer." You spat back.

"And how could I have offended you so badly that it warranted so much ash on my land?" He asked, knowing full well your answer.

"Tommy. That day in the forest. You GHOSTED me Wilbur!" You stood from your chair with a bang of your fist. You were tired of repeating this story. "You let me deal with a problem that was OURS by myself with someone who YOU knew how to handle! The boy still doesn't look at me correctly Wil! He thinks I'm some manipulate bitch who tried to get with his brother and cover up for it!" You yelled. This one was new. You hadn't told Wilbur about Tommy being reclusive around you. How he never met your eyes or returned your greetings. How the boy would simply just turn away from you and run or pretend he was busy.

"Angel-" Wilbur was on his feet now and standing before you with a pleading look. The nickname sent you spiraling till that final cord of restraint snapped.

"That's NOT MY FUCKING NAME!" You yelled and grabbed the man by his suit and burst the two of you to the balcony of The Pub. With a single arm you held Wilbur's writhing body over the edge. You'd learnt to organize your negotiations meeting at sunset or dusk in case something like this happened. Which it usually did but never at this magnitude. You'd never lost control like this.

Your wings were flared and tensed, your arm, stiff, at Wilbur's neck as you held him dangling over the edge from a VERY dangerous height. He choked as you tightened your grip. (Which was odd considering he didn't need air to breathe...)

You flinched at his noise. He didn't breathe air. You were actually causing damage. Possibly permanent if you didn't let go. So you stumbled back and released him on the wood of The Pub. You fell onto the ground and quickly cocooned yourself inside your own wings and held you head as the terror of permanently hurting someone sunk in. Hurting Wilbur.

All of this. This war. It was pointless. It was just YOUR anger. You were the only one angry in this battle. Wilbur hadn't DONE anything. Just being a prick but nothing worth lashing out the way you had. Tears streamed down your face and sobs wrecked your throat as you realized the purpose of this war.

The dumbass had stolen your heart. He'd charmed his way into it with each negotiation. Each smug remark and sly smile. Every wink and quip that would've made you roll over laughing had you not been so angry. This frustration you'd felt with every interaction with the ghostly man wasn't out of anger or rage from him dumping you with Tommy, though you were still pretty mad about that. It was from the fact you couldn't help but smile at his words after you were done fighting and you were alone. How you dreamt of being on peaceful terms and enjoying his company more than hating it.

Good God....you were in love with him. Obsessed with him even. He haunted your dreams in a way you didn't know anyone could. His words rang in your head with every movement of your body.

'It's called flirting, Darling Angel.'

'Y/N? What's wrong?'

Every small interaction when you hadn't been fighting was some of your favorite memories. God you'd messed everything up. He probably hated you. No. It was definite he did. You nearly just dropped him off a floating island over a small quarrel that could've been solved from maybe a small amount of yelling and an apology.

Something touched you. Something freezing cold but welcoming with the gentleness of its caress. Your feathers twitched involuntarily under that icy glance of contact. They relaxed and your body betrayed your want to be alone as one of your wings relaxed and allowed itself to be moved enough for Wilbur to poke his translucent body into your feathery cage.

You accustomed your 'cage' to shelter both of you as you wiped your face. The tears of knowing the man you possibly loved would surely hate you.

Wilbur had removed his glasses and coat. A long white sleeved collared shirt ran down his arms though the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows exposing the pale ish grey of his arms. And the scars. God the amount of scars on his arms was frightening but you could hardly react as more tears, hot with embarrassment, flooded your vision.

"Y/N...I'm sorry for what I did to hurt you. God I never thought it would go this far." Wilbur's gentle voice was like a melody to your ears. Euphoric and angelic. The apology soothed your anger enough for you to finally be able to focus on composing yourself.

"Wilbur I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have-" You started but felt a chill run down you as something cold was once again your tear stained lips.

Wilbur. Wilbur was that 'something' and it was a blessing. You didn't waste anytime returning the favor. His tongue was quicker to break past your defenses and soon it was numb again inside your mouth. Just like it was that day in the woods, except this time no one would interrupt you and anyone watching or listening wouldn't have a single thing as your wings hid the two of you from the world. Wilbur pulled away and cast a gentle touch up your face till he was cupping your cheek.

"Y/N, I never want you to apologize to me again. I did this. I caused you to lash out because I wanted your attention. I wanted you to look at me like you do Nikki. But more. I wanted to be more than your friend and I started my goal the only way I knew how. Provoking you until I was your main focus." Wilbur panted as he looked into your eyes. Those green irises practically glowing under the amount of emotion swimming in them.

"I can only pray that you forgive me. Forgive me for every wrong I've done and let me fix it. Allow me to make it up to you." He begged with a crack of his voice and you couldn't help but smile.

"Wilbur Soot...you are the single most aggravating man I've ever had the luck of meeting." You said through tears and pulled his collar towards you and kissed him hard.

This time you were going to surprise him. As soon as you felt his mouth part you sent in your tongue against his.

A gasp from him into your mouth sent your head reeling as you tugged at his vest and his hands ran through your hair.

The chill exploded a new kind of warmth through you and you smiled against the lips of the coldest man you knew.

"Angel, I love you." Wilbur said as you broke the kiss for a breath of air.

"I love you too Ghost Boy." You panted out and smiled as he kissed you again. Not the kind of comfort as before. But the one of a man who missed you. You. Not his enemy on the battlefield but you. The angel crying before the ghost. The kiss lingered and you felt something change.

You grabbed Wilbur's hands and lead him to the ledge you'd nearly dropped him off of before jumping with him before he had a chance to even register what was happening. With a smile you pulled him close with a kiss of your own and stretched your wings out, letting the wind lift you up and soar the two of you to a forest. The one where all your battles were waged.

And the one where the final negotiation of surrender would end without anyone to see the declaration of The Burning Wars coming to a close and you finally opening to Wilbur S. Phantom in more ways than one and him doing the same.

{Epilogue}

A few years passed and Wilbur had finally answered all your questions about him. His accident that cost him his wings and everything you might need to know about phantoms. His favorite food happened to be bread since it was easy and very relaxing to make on days he wasn't busy getting potion ingredients.

Which he also changed up. You become his partner at the Potion shop which was quickly renamed Fallen Angel Potions after the fact of Wilbur's accident and your origin.

The Fragrance Man was returned his sword after it was cut down to very poor conditions seeing as he was officially top of your creep list and owing him a favor was not on your bucket list.

It was nice. Blissful having Wilbur by your side. It was a marvel that the two of you had ever fought considered how close you were now. The old battlefield had flourished and was now overgrown save for a small patch in the middle which had been flattened by multiple rendezvous after work or just in your free time with Wilbur.

His trees were replanted and the lake basically turned into a whole wheat field around the trees of his dark 'mansion' and your birch cottage.

After a while, Philza Elytrian earned a daughter-in-law and Tommy Avian grew out his wings large enough to be able to glide into the ceremony as Wilbur's best man. Peace at last.

"I love you Angel."

"I love you too Ghost Boy."

°~•°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°~•

Ho. Ly. SHIT. This is the single longest one shot I've ever done on any platform and on any account. It got so cringe in the ending I'm sorry. I just wanted to get it over with I was so close.

Honestly I was gonna make it multiple parts but I've already got another fic lined up for a part 2 so I didn't want to do that and multi task. Its shitty at some parts I know but those parts are a LOT better than the original bits that were there.

It's slightly edited as I had to keep reading it to see where the fuck I was going with it most the time. I really enjoyed writing in Philza because what's a Wilbur Soot fic without a good Dadza?

Right then, watch out for my next piece. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you shitwads later! Love ya, I do I promise! 💙💙

#osmp #origins smp #c!phantombur #C!Wilbur soot x reader #Fem!Reader #minors dni #Tw: Implied 18+#tw: violence #angst #enemies to lovers #origins smp wilbur #c!wilbur soot #phantombur #wilbur soot #c!Phantombur x reader

75 notes · View notes

l-artemisia-del-secolo · 3 years ago

Text

Her broken rules

Oneshot, Yelena Belova X reader, angsty but overall a positive experience for Yelena.

With you Yelena broke all the rules, that were meant to protect her.

Masterlist

Yelena always knew how to survive. It was her special skill, hidden talent, main goal.If Red Room taught her anything it would be the logical desire to keep everything under control. And for that set of rules had to be created. New circumstances - new directives.

Plain and simple. Yelena thought that approach was perfect, concrete, without faults. Until she met you.

The next day after your introduction as a new member of Thunderbolts, Yelena felt something in her chest. She didn't know how to describe it, but it was very... strong and distracting. Almost painful.To avoid this she did what she did the best. Yelena wrote a list of rules.

She broke the first one during her third mission. Yelena really had no choice. At least that's how she explained it to herself afterwards. She gravitated towards you without a rational reason. Even though like every member of the team, you had your share of unpleasant past, you were different. Yelena couldn't understand what was it, but you always managed to make every single person you were talking to feel important and cherished. Not for the sake of manipulation, but because you were ready to give so much more than to take. And you were like this even with Yelena. Broken and lost, angry and desperate woman, who lived only by the guidelines, that were not even hers. With you she tried so hard to be stoic and detached, but every time failing miserably.

You were making coffee for her, helping her with training routines, assisting with paper work, creating comforting rituals. "Yelena, let me help you... Yelena, let me make it easier for you... Yelena, you don't have to do this alone..." Unlike with the others, she was never annoyed by you being around. At first she was surprised by the attention, she definitely didn't deserve. Barely registering how you were talking, she instead was overanalyzing what were you saying. But still she wanted to hear you whisper her name again and again. It was one of the few things that could ease that mysterious feeling in her chest.

Yelena didn't realise when exactly she started returning your smile, when exactly she started enjoying your company, when exactly she started thinking about you as someone more than a teammate.

"I don't want you to go there alone." She tried to shout down moving helicopter blades as you were to jump with a parachute. "It's not safe!"

"I'll be fine. We thought every single step though. I won't sabotage the mission. I promise."

"It's not..." Yelena was annoyed, you didn't understand. Was it that hard for you to grasp the sense of her words immediately? "It's not about the assignment."

"Did I miss something on the debriefing?"

Yelena shaked her head and almost said her thought outloud, but it was time for you to jump.

"Damn it." She muttered to herself as she watched your parachute open. "I broke the first one. Two more."

Yelena promised herself never to care for you.

____

She broke the second one in two months. When you returned she found strength to tell you that she wanted you to be safe and sound. And your protection was from now on her priority. With Yelena it was always about what she was saying and not how. At that moment her tone was far from friendly and warm. But it was everything you ever wanted to hear from the woman you yourself deeply cared about.

Your relationship changed. She wasn't that tense with you anymore and she suddenly started hearing more. "Yelena, let's go outside... Yelena, I want to show you my special place... Yelena, let's have dinner, where noone can bother us... Yelena, I want to ask on a date..." She had so many logical reasons to say "no", to hurt you on purpose, to crush your good intent. But every single time she thought of that, pain inside of her was becoming unbearable, clenching her ribs with iron fear and disappointment. Gradually Yelena started feeling how you were talking to her, with every vibration of the words reaching under her skin and right into her core.

She said "yes" not only that day, but many days afterwards. She tried her her best to keep the distance. Never being with you more than needed, never staying the morning after, never staying to feel the comfort. But she didn't even notice when things started to change. Her annoyance being replaced by charming interest, her suspicion by intoxicating sweetness.

"Where are you going?" Yelena didn't even open her eyes, but the coldness of your side wasn't a good sign.

"Training. Got a text from Steve." You were almost ready to leave, when a familiar grown stopped you. "Do you want me to bring something to you on my way back? Coffee or..."

Another groan literally pushed you out of the apartment. It was always easy for her to let you go. But that day something changed, feeling in her chest evolved. She suddenly needed you near, on her, underneath her, with her.

"Fuck." She whispered into a pillow. "I broke the second one."

Yelena promised herself never to fall in love.

___

Did the third one even matter? Did anything at all still matter? Since you said you loved her, the world has changed. Colors, sounds and scents were not the same. You made everything vibrant, you made everything memorable.

She didn't reply to your confession and you never asked for it. Her gaze was always enough, her touch was always enough, her kiss on your pulse was always enough. Yelena knew those words had to be said, but after all this time, that phrase couldn't describe what she felt anymore. She was getting dangerously close to breaking the last rule.

Her attempts to stop were weak and unconvincing. How could Yelena tell you, that she didn't love you, didn't need you, didn't want you. She passed the point of no return, when she first saw you. She just didn't know it yet.

"Aren't you tired of constantly changing apartments?" You were trying to type the address of the flat in the food delivery app. "Tell me the number again."

"Give it to me." Yelena yawned and quickly filled in the missing details.

You both were tired after the mission and all you could do was just to order the food and lazily cuddle on the old couch. She rented this apartment a few months ago, but never bothered to make it her own. Yelena knew your question was fair, expected and real.

"Sometimes it can be a little tiresome." She whispered in your skin.

"Than why don't we move in together?"

Luckily the doorbell distracted you and with the disappointed whine Yelena let you leave her. As soon as you were not in her personal space anymore, she felt a sharp sting in her chest. The one, she thought, was long forgotten.

"I guess it's time to break the third rule." She said under her breath.

She promised herself never to settle.

#black widow 2021 #black widow fic #marvel self insert #yelena belova #yelena belova fanfiction #yelena belova imagine #yelena belova x reader #yelena belova x you

216 notes · View notes

yelenabelovasbxtch · 3 years ago

Text

Panel PT. 2

Florence Pugh X Female Reader

Hey guys! I am so glad that so many of you enjoyed part one! Here is part two…starting to get a little more serious.

I’m also starting a tag list so if you want to be added just let me know!

⚠️Trigger Warning: Talks about serious relationship issues.

Concept: You go to Comic-Con and attend a Florence Pugh panel. What happens after surprises you. Part 2/?

I hope you enjoy!

Word Cound: 1339

Tag list: @jeyramarie

You’re walking down the hallway all the way to the end where the bigger suites are. You approach a double doored room when Florence pulls out her key and pushes it into the key slot.

She pushes the right door open and your eyes widen as you walk into one of the nicest hotel rooms you’ve ever seen.

You don’t travel too much and when you do you are almost always on a pretty tight budget. If you were to ever spend more money when travelling it would always be on food and experiences and not the hotel so this was for sure a treat for you.

“So this is my place! Nothing too exciting but I definitely love the view from the balcony.” She says.

“Wow…no, this is absolutely amazing! You reply while trying not to seem too wow’ed.

“Do you prefer red or white wine?” She asks.

“White would be great, thank you.”

Florence pulls a bottle out from behind the bar with two glasses and pours you one.

“Here ya go” she says as she hands you a glass.

You follow her over to the coffee table and take a seat across from her in this big comfortable chair. It was like a bean bag chair but seemed to have more form to it. Florence sat down on the couch across from you and just sort of smiled and giggled a bit while watching you be totally amazed by the chair.

“So y/n are you from San Diego?” She asks.

“No Minnesota actually. I just flew out for the weekend because of Comic-Con. When I heard you were doing a panel I knew I had to come.” You respond.

“Ah you came all the way out here for me?” She asks in a jokingly adorable way.

“Well, I am honoured. I hope I was able to provide you with the experience you were looking for!”

“Oh gosh, and more. Honest to god. This what’s happening right now…honestly has me a little star struck.” You say as you feel your cheeks start to blush a little.

“Oh- well I'm flattered” she says with a little laugh

A couple of hours go by and you two have started to warm up to one another more. You’re about a third to half way through the bottle of wine. That for sure made the process run a little more smoothly. You weren’t as nervous with a bit of liquid courage.

The two of you have been talking and laughing for the last couple of hours, telling each other fun stories from your lives and you felt like you were living in your dreams, getting to hear Florence Pugh talk to you about her films and family and friends.

A little later the talks started to get a bit more serious, by this point in the night you had made your way over to the couch and were sitting closely to one another. You were just telling Florence about a recent relationship you had just gotten out of. Unfortunately this relationship was not the best for you and you needed to get out in order to take care of yourself and your life.

You hadn’t realized until you finished talking to her about it that you two had moved so close together and that her right hand was resting on your knee. She could tell that talking about this was tough for you and you could see it behind her eyes that she understood what you were going through. At this point the two of you had been talking for hours on end and made your way almost through an entire bottle of wine along with half a pizza. You hadn’t even realized how dark it got outside.

“Listen love, all you need to know is that you’re perfect and that you should always be your top priority. It’s important to put yourself first and getting out of that relationship was the right call. Don’t be too hard on yourself about it.” She says to you.

Something about how she talked, you don’t know if it is from the tone of her voice, the way she looked into your eyes or maybe even her hand resting on your leg as she slowly moves her thumb back and forth to comfort you. But this whole situation made you feel so incredibly close to someone that you’ve only just met.

“Thanks so much Florence it really means a lot to have someone as meaningful and understanding like you to talk to.” You say.

She smiles at you and pulls you in for a hug. This was the most amazing feeling ever. Florence Pugh was hugging you and comforting you. She held you tight and rubbed your back, you couldn’t help but let out a small smile because of how comfortable and safe you felt with her. The two of you started to slowly pull back from the hug and when you passed one another’s faces you made eye contact. You were still both really close to one another and you weren’t sure if you were reading the situation differently because of the wine or what but it felt like she wanted to kiss you. You both lingered for a second when all of a sudden her phone started ringing and you both pulled back quickly as if you were snapping out of it.

She goes to check her phone and you get a glimpse at the screen. It was her boyfriend. Zach.

She quickly picks up the phone.

“Hello love!” She says as she’s walking around the corner.

You felt your heart sink a little.

Did you really just have some kind of moment with Florence? Or are you just drunk and totally reading into the situation way more than you need to? You felt pretty cloudy and confused but hoped you didn’t make her uncomfortable.

After sitting there alone for a bit, she comes back after ending her call.

“Sorry about that! He just wanted to check in and see how the panel and everything went today.” She says.

“Oh no problem, it’s late I should probably head out anyways.” You reply.

“Oh- no, you don’t have to leave! Sorry I didn’t mean to end our night or anything.” She replies with a frown on her face.

“Oh no no you didn’t end it. I was just thinking of getting up early tomorrow to go to the convention for open so I should get some rest.” You say.

“Oh- okay…yeah that makes sense. Well it was lovely to have you and maybe I’ll see you tomorrow at the convention?” She asks.

“Yeah for sure! I’ll just be walking around for the most part but I know you are a part of a group panel tomorrow right?”

“Yes I am, the cast of Black Widow and some of the actors from the tv shows will be there!” She replies.

“Ok cool well I’ll be there!” You say trying not to sound awkward or weird.

“Ok, I’ll keep an eye out.” Florence responds with a wink.

“Oh by the way why don’t we exchange contacts?” She asks.

“Sure! Here, let’s swap phones.” You say as you hand her yours. You are honestly so shocked that she wants to continue talking with you and that she trusts you enough to give you her phone number.

“Perfect! Here you go!” She says.

You smile and give her one last hug before you go trying your best not to linger this time.

You walk out the door and start heading to the elevator and you can’t help but let out a big smile as you leave. You are definitely looking forward to tomorrow and getting to see Florence again but you’re also a little confused on what that moment was, if it even was that or if you are reading into it too much. That may have been slightly confusing for you but maybe tomorrow you’ll be able to figure it out.

-end of pt. 2-

#florence pugh fanfic #Florence pugh #florence pugh x y/n #Florence pugh X female reader #Florence pugh smut #Florence pugh fan fiction #cooking with flo #black widow #little women #Yelena belova #midsommar #yelena belova fanfiction #wlw

293 notes · View notes

myckicade · 3 years ago

Text

Prompt: Ok so we all know Coco is touch starved, and would be clingy af in a relationship. What about Coco x wife!reader, while she’s trying to do basic errands/chores and Coco is her shadow?

A/N: I’ve been waiting for this one. I really have. Hee hee. I just adore Coco. <3 . This piece sort of follows the story of the last two Coco x Reader pieces I have written, but it will stand-alone, just fine. And, I swear, these things just have a mind of their own. I can continue to apologize for length, and content, but, in the end... I let the story tell itself. ;) . <3 .

As a warning, I come from Vermont, where we have a plastic bag ban. Last I knew, California was the first state to have one. I don’t know how that would translate to Santo Padre, but… When I mention fabric bags, I mean reusables, and the ban is why. ^^;;;;.

Title: Worthwhile

Teaser: He’s a little rough, your Coco, foul-mouthed, and quick to anger. Untrusting, and bitchier than a woman, on his best day. But, once you have his love, you have it. All of it.

“Okay…” you murmur, slowly, eyes scanning over the paper in front of you. Fifteen items, nothing crazy. Shouldn’t take you more than an hour, tops, and that includes travel to and from the store. “I think I’ve got everything we need… And, specials included your beer, and those little frozen cream puffs.”

Beside you, Coco groans, deep and guttural. “Fuck, I love those things.”

You giggle, but keep reading. Your man is too damn cute. “Feminine products.”

“Do those count as special?” Coco genuinely sounds thoughtful, as he steps up behind you, where you are leaning over the counter top. He wraps his arms around your waist, chin coming to rest on your shoulder. “Kinda’ a necessity, ain’t they?”

Tipping your head, you glance to your husband. Seriously. This man is a treasure. “Why don’t you run for political office?” you tease, pleased when Coco chuckles.

“Yeah, my record’ll look great, on the campaign trail.”

You shrug. “You can tackle pink tax, and tax evasion, at the same time.”

Coco grins, and steals a peck off your lips. “What else you got on there, muñeca?”

“Hmmm, let’s see…” You turn back to your list, tapping the pen against your lips, thoughtfully. Spying the next item on it, you try not to let out another giggle. He’s not going to like this one. “Letty asked if we could have that cauliflower pizza thing for dinner, tonight.”

As expected, this groan is decidedly not from food lust. “Fuckin’ vegetarians. When the hell is she gonna’ get over this shit?”

“It’s just a phase, Coco,” you remind him, for the… Well, honestly, you’ve lost track. It started shortly after the wedding, Letty’s change in diet, and you’re still not convinced the two aren’t related. You’re just not entirely sure how. But, two months in, and she’s still looking healthy, so you won’t send up any alarms. “It’s very popular at her high school, right now.”

Coco scoffs, disgusted. “When the hell’d she start copyin’ other people, anyway? My girl ain’t no follower.”

The words send a shot straight to your heart. He’s a little rough, your Coco, foul-mouthed, and quick to anger. Untrusting, and bitchier than a woman, on his best day. But, once you have his love, you have it. All of it. The love he has for Leticia is the greatest proof. They may carry on like cats and dogs, but when push comes to shove, there is nothing they won’t do for one another. My girl. It brings a warmth to your soul, and a smile to your lips.

You shake it off, enough to formulate a response. “She’s figuring out how to be her own woman. Trying new things.” You shrug, not wanting to make a big deal of it. You were Letty’s age, once, of course. And, a girl, to boot. Some things, Coco just won’t be able to understand. “It’s a process.” He hums, still disgruntled, but doesn’t push out another word. “You want anything else?” you ask, holding up your list. “I’ve gotta’ get going, before I run into the football widows.”

Before you can even take a step away, Coco tightens his arms around you. “You sure you gotta’ go, though?” he asks, leaning in to brush his lips against your neck. “With the house all to ourselves, like this?”

“If I don’t go,” you start, as Coco’s touches gain intent, becoming teasing kisses. Damn him. It feels nice, you won’t lie, but there are other things on your mind, right now. Priorities.

You’re just… having trouble remembering what they are.

Oh. Yeah. Shopping.

“If I don’t go, we won’t have anything for dinner.”

Another kiss, accompanied by a barely-there swipe of tongue. You shiver, and Coco moves his lips to your ear. “We can order in,” he whispers, breath so invitingly warm against your skin.

Oh, this asshole.

“And, what are we supposed to have for breakfast, tomorrow?” you try, again. “Half an Eggo, and a pack of Skittles?”

Coco cuddles you closer, again. “Ain’t you never heard about livin’ on love, baby?” Some of his smoothest work, that is. And, it’s almost convincing. Almost. You can imagine the afternoon ahead, if you give in. Your clothes will come off, and won’t be back on until the last second, before Letty walks back through the front door. By that time, you’ll be too tired to roll your ass off the bed, let alone go grocery shopping. And, you promised Letty you’d talk Coco into that cauliflower pizza.

“Great as that sounds,” you agree, preparing to capitalize on the truth. You ease yourself away from Coco’s stubborn hold, and give him one more smooch, just to soften the blow to come. “I don’t think Letty will appreciate the sentiment.”

A third groan. You must be going for a record. “C’mon, (y/n).” Oh, he’s whining. It’s so cute, it’s unreal. “We’ll find some place that delivers that rabbit food shit.”

Unfortunately for Coco, you’re already grabbing your bag. Lucky for you. You’re still two seconds from giving him what he wants. (He just doesn’t need to know so). “I’ll be back in a while.” God willing. “If you think of anything else, call my cell.” You rush out the front door, and don’t look back. If you see the look on your husband’s face, you know you’re as good as done.

Well, what the shit? Coco stares at the front door as it closes, you on the wrong fucking side of it. His arms are at his sides, palms turned toward the ceiling. That went so well. He kind of can’t believe you just walked away, like that. Left him alone, and wanting. In your big, empty house.

He probably should have volunteered to tag along, instead of just chasing you off.

Fuck.

Glancing around, Coco tries to find something to do. Something to clean, at the very least. But, that’s the trouble with having moved in with you, after the wedding, he supposes. Ain’t nothing to tidy up. Not that the three of you don’t have possessions. They’re all just in their proper places. Probably Leticia’s doing, in the end. He’d had a long talk with her, before the move, that she absolutely has to keep her shit where it belongs. Your house isn’t like their house. There aren’t burn marks in the carpet, or gouges in the coffee table. Dishes go in the damned dishwasher, not left to pile up on the counter, or in the sink. Beds get made. Laundry gets folded, and put away. No more wrinkled heaps in the clothes basket. So far, the kid’s been doing good. Real good.

Coco, though? He’s never felt so unnerved in his life.

It was different when he just visited. Spent a night or two, here or there. He’d almost felt at home, then, stupid as it sounds. At home, with the knowledge he wasn’t staying. But, now? Now, the reality has settled in, and he feels so-so… out of place. There’s so much he’s struggling to adjust to.

You have a purified water system installed under the sink, where Coco is used to buying bottled water.

You have a dining room, where Coco and Letty are used to eating on the couch.

You have an extended cable package, whatever the fuck that is.

You kind of have it all, here, certainly by comparison to what Coco is used to. The best of everything. Which really makes him wonder – not for the first time – what the hell you’re doing with a dirt-poor biker for a husband? You’ve had this conversation, on multiple occasions, and you’ve explained yourself, every time. But, this time… This time, you’re not around to give that speech. You’re not around to hold him, and kiss his face, and reassure him in a way that only you can. No, you’re at the grocery store, shopping for Coco, and his kid, which was apparently a better offer than staying home with him.

Oh, nope. Nope, he’s doing it, again. He can feel it. You love him, he reminds himself. You’ve got his ring on your finger, his last name, and – God-willing – his baby in your belly. By choice. All by choice.

Coco takes a deep breath, in. Lets it back out, slowly. Tries not to get sick, for all the nerves coming up to greet him. He wraps one arm around his own torso, free hand moving up to cover his mouth.

Fuck, he hopes you get back, soon.

You let out a deep sigh, as you park your car in the garage. Oh, it is so good to be home, at long-last. Talk about Old Home Week. You’d run into everyone, and his brother, at the grocery store. Shopping had taken nearly twice as long as you’d meant for it to, and you just know Coco must be losing his mind, by now. You hate to think about it, in such terms, but, sometimes… Well, sometimes, Coco reminds you of a new puppy. You can’t really leave him alone, without some kind of separation anxiety creeping up on him.

Ah, well. At least he isn’t ripping down the drapes, and shredding the couch cushions.

You blink. Well. That you know of.

Shaking your head, you climb out of the car, mentally preparing to unload armloads of bags. Maybe, if you really, really try, today will be the day you can finally get all twenty bags in, in one trip.

Right. And, shortly thereafter, you can have both forearms set, and casted. Be a real turn-on, in the bedroom.

You’ve managed to grab half a dozen bags, when the door to the mud room opens. “Hey, don’t grab too many!” Letty warns, as she comes hopping down the steps. “Let us help!”

Glancing up, you smile. For having had such a rough start, Letty can be a sweet girl. You know she gets that from her father. “Well, thank you,” you reply, resting a few, fabric handles onto her outstretched hands.

Letty grins, lowering her hands to her sides, before leaning in. “Did you talk him into it?” she whispers, conspiratorially.

You snicker, and whisper back, “He isn’t getting a choice. He’s outnumbered.”

“Yes!” Her hiss of victory is hardly subtle, catching Coco’s attention as he pokes his head out the door.

“You two plottin’ against me, again?”

“Yes,” you and Letty reply, in unison, leading you to erupt into a fit of giggles.

Coco is all grins. “’Course, you are.” He strides closer, he and Letty dancing around one another as she moves into the house. You lean into the car, and retrieve a few more bags. If Coco’s out here, he might as well assist. He’s peering into the car, once you stand back up, and lets out a low whistle. “Damn, (y/n)! You buy out the whole store, or what?”

“Hardly,” you reply, dryly. You hold up your hands, offering Coco the bags. “Here you go.”

“Oh, don’t mind if I do.” Thankfully, your hold on the bags is solid. Instead of grabbing the groceries, Coco’s hands are suddenly groping all over you. One hand is settled firmly at your ass, the other sliding into your hair, at the back of your head. He wastes no time diving in for a slow, deep kiss, and, damn, does his timing suck. He could have at least let you put the bags down, first. The contact makes you tingle, and has you regretting your decision not to stay home. Coco pulls back, after a few seconds, and hums. “Mm. Best delivery ever.”

You can’t help the small snort of amused laughter that leaves your throat. “Good try, Coco,” you praise, easing back far enough to offer him the bags, again. The look of disappointment on his face is just pitiful. “I’m not banging you in the garage.”

He has the grace to mock gasp. “I’d never!” It’s a crock, and you both know it. He looks too amused to be repentant, and you look too aware to be angry. You just raise your hands, slightly, in a third offer. Coco sighs. “All right. All right.” He takes the bags from your hands.

“Thank you.” You grab another load for yourself, rounding the open car door to follow Coco’s lead, into the house. One more trip for each of you, and you should have it covered. So much for only buying fifteen items.

Coco might be right about buying out the store.

Watching from the dining room, Coco has a good view of you and Letty unpacking the last of the groceries. Damn kid, she’d thrown him out, about ten minutes prior.

“Less groping, more helping, Coco,” Letty had warned him, after he’d tried to pin you against the sink.

It had been his last warning. Now, he’s been banished. Not the worst thing in the world, not really. Over the last few weeks, he’s really learned that there are some tasks he’s not so fond of. Pruning roses… Yeah, he’s pretty sure you’ll never let him do that, again. And, hey, nobody told him what to fill the bird feeder with. Unpacking groceries goes on that list, somewhere between line-drying laundry, and a streak-free mirror. He’s not sure why. Goodness knows, it makes him feel like a kid at Christmas, most times. Since being with you, though…

Since being with you, he feels like he’s taking advantage of something.

Yes, groceries are a strange place to let that feeling land, but he can’t help it. Coco’s been responsible for feeding himself since before he cares to remember. The only time anyone provided his meals was during deployment, and half that shit barely passed for edible. You, though… You keep the house stocked with more food than he’s seen anywhere, outside of a corner market. Letty always has options to take to school, and there’s a nutritious dinner on the table, almost every night. (Some nights, he actually does win the battle for delivery). If Coco goes on a run, you send him along with snacks for the road. And, yeah, he kinda’ likes that. He also likes the energy bars you picked out for him, last week. Something with cherries, and dark chocolate. He wonders, for a second, if you picked up any more. Come in handy during his mid-week trip outta’ town.

Coco blinks. Then, he does it again, just for good measure. That’s it. That’s what’s so fucking weird about this whole thing.

It’s you.

Okay, no, it’s not you, you. But, it’s you. It’s you, taking care of him. It’s you, seeing to his needs. Letty’s needs. It’s you, being his wife, his partner. It’s you, slotting into the place of role-model for his teenaged daughter. Welcoming them into your home. Not treating it like it’s your home. It’s you, being so fucking perfect for him, it’s taken his mind all this time to catch up with reality.

Coco doesn’t get perfect. Perfect doesn’t want him.

Except, now, it does.

Before he knows what he’s doing, Coco strides into the kitchen. He doesn’t wait for you to put the box of pasta in the cupboard. He just takes it from your hand, ignoring your confused look, as he tosses it onto the counter.

“Coco!” Letty admonishes, but it’s no use. He’s already lifting you off the floor, arms around your perfect backside. The kid gives a long-suffering sigh, he hears it, but pays it no mind.

Nothing – nothing – is going to keep him from holding you in his arms.

Your own arms go around Coco’s neck, and you smile down at him, surprise still lingering in your eyes. “Uhm… Hi, there.”

Coco grins. “Hey, muñeca.” Leaning up, he pecks you on the lips.

“Can I help you with something?” you ask, to which Coco shakes his head. Closes his eyes, as your fingers play in his hair.

“Nah. Got all I need.”

Pulling a package of mixed vegetables from the half-unpacked shopping bag, Letty rolls her eyes. You two… God, you’re gross. Coco always has his hands on you, no matter what you’re trying to do. It’s a wonder you don’t carry a damned fly swatter around. Actually, it’s a wonder you ever accomplish anything. He’s always smooching, and smiling, and snuggling at you. It’s disgusting. It’s pathetic.

It’s so damned cute, it’s sickening.

Really, Letty’s enjoying seeing Coco so happy. Like, genuinely happy. Not the false pride he carries around with his kutte. He’s more relaxed, nowadays. He drinks less, and he spends more time at home, both of which mean he’s not hanging around with those skanks at the clubhouse. He eats more, he’s healthier… Nothing to complain about, there.

And, hey, she has no complaints about you, either. You’re pretty cool, all-around. A woman who takes care of herself, and her family, and doesn’t bitch about either one. You’re not using Coco for money, or status, none of the shit she’s always been worried her father would fall into. There aren’t arguments, every night, not even between herself and Coco, as of late. No hostilities, nothing to avoid the house over. Just good dinners, and movies, and a new fish tank in her room. (Okay, so, you’d earned some major points with that birthday gift. She hadn’t actually expected to get one, when she’d mentioned it). For the first time, she understands what a peaceful, happy family feels like. It feels nice. It feels like home.

Glancing back to where Coco now has you perched on the counter top, stealing the most syrupy-sweet smooches… Letty can’t help but smile. Home is A-okay by her.

The sound of the air conditioner humming in the bedroom usually lulls you right to sleep. Tonight, it’s just providing you with white noise, a low background track to your thoughts. You don’t mind, not really. It gives you a few minutes to reflect on the day that’s just ended. To plan your day, tomorrow. To weave your fingers through Coco’s hair, and listen to him breathe. That, alone, makes it worthwhile.

Coco has been asleep against your shoulder for nearly an hour, now. Your arms are wrapped around him, comfortably, his own around your waist. You’d urged him up to bed, after he’d fallen asleep on the couch, his head in your lap. He’d snoozed from the middle of the movie, to the end of the nightly news report. Letty had tsked, and complained that no one had any business, whatsoever, in falling asleep during Zombieland. (How he’d stayed asleep was still a wonder to you, both, for how hard you’d been laughing at Tallahassee). With your fingers in his hair, Coco had been blissfully unaware for a couple of hours.

Glancing down, you take in the sight of your husband’s sleeping face. He looks so damn peaceful, the kind you’d outright murder to preserve for him. Coco’s still struggling with sleep, and relaxation, even though you’d hoped it would ease up, once your nuptials had passed. Most of it, you know will never go away. Anxiety doesn’t have a magic wand, or some perfect little on/off switch. And, all things considered, today wasn’t a terrible day. You’d been able to leave the house, with minimal panic on Coco’s part. Granted, it had taken extra time to get the groceries put away, and dinner made, but… You understand, as much as you are able to, that Coco needs the reassurances. It doesn’t cost you anything to carve a few moments from the day, every here and there, to give him what he needs.

Okay, so it did cost you that first batch of pancakes, this morning. They’d burned on the stove, and set off the smoke alarms, when he’d insisted on a dance through the living room. But, Coco loved the song you’d been playing on your Spotify, so there was really no denying him.

Oh, and… Yeah, you’d missed that phone call from the bank, the week before. Your husband had slipped up next to you, on the porch swing, and snuggled you to within an inch of your life. An easy fix, and you still got the business loan, but…

And, sure, you’ve been late to work, on numerous occasions. Coco has a habit of sneaking into your morning shower. And, after that… Well, hell, you own the company. It’s not like you have to explain to the boss that you’re late to your shift, on account of baby-dancing. (Fucking forums).

Point is, you’re more than happy to take care of Coco’s emotional needs. It may take you an extra hour to pay your bills. Daily tidying may have become every-other-day-if-you’re-lucky tidying. And, your ass may have gone numb, tonight, while he slept on your thigh. During which time, you could have loaded the dishwasher. Taken out the trash. Any number of tasks that have been neglected, in the name of Coco. They can wait.

Leaning in, you press a tender kiss to your husband’s forehead, before settling back in, and closing your eyes. Yes, chores can wait. Work can wait. The whole world can hold it, with both hands. So long as you’re around, Coco’s well-being will never have to take the back seat.

P.S. If Coco denies it, he’s full of it. He fucking loved that cauliflower pizza. Fucking vegetarians, indeed.

Masterlist | Request | Tag List

#mayans m.c. fanfiction #mayans m.c.#coco x reader #coco x you #coco cruz x reader #coco cruz x you #johnny coco cruz #anonymous request #fanfiction requests #ask box fic

220 notes · View notes

artemiseamoon · 3 years ago

Text

The Longest Ride 4

Devyn x Jax Teller | Devyn x Vince

Fic info || Ch 1 || ch 2 || ch 3 || Next

Words: 3,751

⚠️warnings: it’s an angsty fic as you know

An: I cannot write accents. You can imagine the person's accent :) We meet Devyns best friend Sabine and spend some time with them in this chapter. I have a moodboard at the end, if you want to see what she looks like and the vibe of the shop. I’ll be completing this fic within a week, there are three more updates to come.

The Next Day

Locking the door behind her, Devyn heads to her car in the driveway. Glancing up at the sky, she watched the storm clouds roll in. It was drizzling on and off since she woke up, but the downpour would start any second now. By the look of the sky, it would be a nasty one.

Quickly getting into the car, she starts it up and turns the Bluetooth on for some music. With her hands on the steering wheel, she takes a moment to prepare for the day. She had two clients this afternoon and didn’t want to bring her own shit into the sessions.

Devyn was running out of space between Jax and Vincent. His words stuck with her like glue since the moment he said them,

If you were my girl, I would never treat you like that. I’d put you on the pedestal you deserve! You would be my first priority, not my second, not my third, not the bottom of my fucking list

But Jax met you first. Guess I got to charming a little late

It isn’t easy but after a few breaths, she finds enough calm to get moving. Devyn backs out of the driveway, en route to Luxe Luna.

Luxe Luna was the brainchild of her childhood best friend Sabine Underwood. Devyn had one blood sister who lived out East, but Sabine was like the little sister she never had but always wanted.

Alyse was older than Devyn by 4 years and followed her call for travel pretty early on. She was never home, always visiting somewhere or someone. Though they were sort of close, Devyn felt like an only child until she met Sabine. The two have been attached at the hip ever since.

Like a few other kids who needed a break from Charming, Devyn went out of state for college. During that time, Sabine stayed local, so did Jax, who ended up marrying a girl named Wendy for a brief amount of time.

After college, Devyn found herself visiting more, and extending her stay. There wasn’t anything practically magical about Charming, in fact living there came with some serious cons. But it was nice having some family around, Sabine, and reuniting with Jax.

Over the first year after graduation, she flirted with the idea of moving back. When Sabine asked Devyn if she could help when in town, Devyn said yes.

Soon enough, the move back to Charming was official and she eventually became partners with Sabine. The shop was Devyn's favorite place on Main Street. It felt like being transported into an old school magic shop full of books, candles, incense. Attached to the back was a series of rooms, one of them became Devyn's massage studio.

Over the last four years, one of Devyn's hobbies became a small business. She enjoyed making small-batch natural candles. Now she sold them online and had a few lines created exclusively for Luxe Luna.

On a regular week, between shop things and clients, Devyn was here about 3-4 times a week. It used to be more, but Sabine was pretty hands-on, and her partner was often working at the shop these days.

…

The short drive talks a little longer in the heavy rain, but the trip down memory lane was welcomed company. She spent so much time lately thinking about all this shit with Jax, it was easy to forget the other things that drew her back here.

Exiting and locking the car, Devyn opens her umbrella and heads up the street, occasionally glancing down to avoid stepping in any puddles.

Reaching the middle of the block, the beautiful brownstone is a welcomed sight. Devyn catches a glimpse of Sabine in the left window as she restocks a self.

Many people commented on how good the place smelled, the aroma often hitting their nose before they stepped fully into the threshold. Upon entering, Devyn knew exactly which candle Sabine was burning; she made it special for her birthday.

“I love that you love this one so much!” Devyn closes the door behind her, the little bell stops jiggling.

“I mean it is perfect, so of course.”

Sabine puts the last book in her arms on the shelf and walks over to her friend. The candle was called Autumn Rose, and Sabine appeared like a beautiful manifestation of it. Her rose-colored lipstick, dark brown top, and long flowy dark orange skirt embodied the vibe perfectly.

“How are you feeling today?” She asks compassionately.

“I’m okay,” they hold hands. Sabine studied Devyn's face, “I’m okay. I just needed yesterday to … I don’t even know. But, since Lia is a regular, I figured she would understand better than a new client would.”

“Oh, she was cool about it. Stopped by anyway to get some things for friends. Sure you’re up for working today?”

“Yeah, I think so. I need to get back into it.”

“Well, you should have an easy time. Both are a little older, and asked for gentle work.” Sabine goes over to the small bar and turns the kettle on, “Want to talk about any of it?” She raises her brows, “Jax issues?”

“No,” Devyn waves away the question, “this is my peaceful place. No Jax talk here today. I’m going to get the room ready and then I’ll join you.”

“Sure, I made a new incense, put some in there. See what you think,” Sabine’s eyes are focused on the shelf of jars behind her as she picks a tea for them. “I think you’ll like it.”

“You know me better than anyone, so of course, I will.”

Though her first client of the day wasn’t for another 2 hours, it was nice to sit in this room and connect with it again. No matter what was going on in her life, Devyn took her work and obligations seriously. She tried her best to not let things interfere with her time here. But it was becoming harder and harder over the years.

No, she wasn’t an MC member, but being involved with a member-turned-president was enough to suffer the effects. Depending on what was going on, they ranged from mild to severe.

At the worst time, Sabine asked Devyn to just take care of business and not worry about the place. It was understandable, who would want MC shit dragged into their business.

After setting up and enjoying the room for a moment, Devyn hears a knock at the door. She knows from the rhythm it’s Sabine.

“I was just on my way over to you.”

“I know,” Sabine pauses, “you have a visitor.”

From the way she says it, Devyn knows it’s club-related. Overall, the guys only came by to say hi if nearby or book a massage. The other masseuse was a sweet woman named Deena who came in on weekends and when Devyn couldn’t.

“Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was coming.” Devyn apologizes and heads into the hall. Sabine knew the guys, so it was okay, but she didn't love them being in the shop. They were aware of this and tried to respect her wishes.

Sometimes it felt like having your punk friends come over, and your parents tolerate them but would prefer if they didn't come over at all.

Reaching the front room, Devyn spots Chibs sitting on the bench. The sight of him creates an instant sinking feeling in her gut.

“I went by the house, figured you were here.”

Chibs had this stern wiseness about him, like a guardian Owl. The Scotsman had a soft spot for her and treated Devyn like a daughter. So seeing him was usually a nice sight, but after yesterday and still being in the dark about what they called Vince back for, she felt more worry than pleasure.

“Hey Chibs,” she smiles and hopes her voice sounds cheerful.

“Can I talk to you, it’ll just take a moment,” he stands up. She sees his gaze shift to behind her, where Sabine must be standing.

“I have a client soon, but sure-” she starts thinking of a place they could meet. The rain continues to pound loudly against the pavement.

Sabine catches her eye and points to the second floor. Aside from a second larger office, there was a smaller room they used as an apartment. It came in handy a lot during the early days when pulling all-nighters and becoming too tired to make it home.

It was a small clean room with the basics, but it did its job. The friends share a nod and Devyn leads Chibs upstairs. Once inside the room, he sits in one chair, his eyes following her as she sits across from him on the corner of the bed.

“You know why I’m here?” He asks.

“No. Not really.”

Chibs raises his brows, “ I like you kid. I care about you. But what you’re playing with right now, it’s not smart.”

There it is.

That sinking feeling again. Devyn presses her palms into her thighs and breaks eye contact.

So much for a drama-free day.

“Devvy, what were you thinking?”

“Nothing happened. We’re friends.”

“Friends,” Chibs huffs, “that's what you kids are calling it now.”

“Chibs.” she gets up kneels beside him, looking him in the eyes, “you know me. Am I lying? Nothing has happened.”

He’s quiet as he studies her face. Finally, after a long moment, he says, “nothing yet.”

When she lowers her head again, he gently touches her cheek, “that boy is in - -crazy about you and just as explosive as Jax when set off. He’s a good kid, solid. But this is a disaster waiting to happen.”

“And Jax, do we honestly think he’s making the best decisions. You tell me, you’re at the clubhouse with him. What’s he up to?” She asks with a little more sting than intended.

Chib's dark brown eyes stay steady, he gives away nothing. Feeling annoyed, Devyn stands and returns to her spot on the bed, this time crossing her arms across her body.

“You and Jacky boy, that's what matters. Give him time.”

“I’ve given him nothing but time, Chibs. You know that. And no, please don’t tell me how much he loves me or any of that. I love you guys, but it's like the default script ya’ll give me and I just can’t hear it right now.”

Chibs stands with a sigh and walks over to her. He touches the top of her head and plants a kiss there, “ I didn't come to upset you, just talk some sense into you. Now,” he smoothes his hair out of his face, “Vincent.”

Devyn looks up at him, her eyes growing wider at the sound of his name. Chibs shakes his head, like a parent who hit a wall. He places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes, “he’s fine.”

Devyn watches as Chibs heads for the door. He stops then turns back, “I’m looking out for you Devy. We know Jax. Jax would kill him.”

Emotion wells up in her chest as she lowers her gaze, unable to look at the warning in Chib's eyes any longer. She only raises her gaze when the door closes, then the anger comes.

Sure, she didn’t have proof yet, but Jax was likely out there doing whatever the fuck he wanted, and deciding to put a mountain between them whenever it was convenient for him.

But she makes one connection while trying her damn hardest to resist temptation, and she is the one who gets warned. It was fucked up. It felt like some kind of cruel joke. For all the ways she appreciated and respected Chibs, at this moment she felt only anger and annoyance.

When she returned back to her room, she briefly glanced at her phone to see a text from Vince. Sliding the screen open, she reads it,

Sorry I went MIA. Club shit last night. Chibs has me running around all over the damn place. You okay?

She can’t help the small smile dancing on her lips, even with Chibs' voice in the back of her mind. She writes back and presses send before turning the lights off. She needed to decompress and come down from the conversation with Chibs before she could help anyone relax.

At work, but I’m okay. Glad you are too.

...

After closing the shop down, with the rain outside finally starting to settle down, Devyn and Sabine hang out on the couch eating chocolate and continuing their conversation.

“The east coast shop is going really well. We’re checking out a Southwest location too.”

“I’m so happy for you, that’s exciting.”

“If you ever end up in the East again, you know you could take the reins there. It would be nice to take a little off my plate.”

“Thank you for the offer Sabine, I’ll keep that in the back of my mind. I don’t know if I’ll go back out that way though…so much is in the air.”

“You know what we haven’t done in a while, just for us?” Sabine asks as she gets up. She vanishes behind the desk and reappears with a card deck, “come, reading room! Grab wine.”

“Oh god, the last thing I need to see is my cards. Trust me, I am very aware of my mistakes and….risks.”

Sabine is already down the hall. Devyn grabs a bottle of wine, the one they started the other day and two glasses.

By the time she enters, Sabine is already sitting at the table, cards spread over the red velvet cloth, a lit candle to the left, and an incense cone burning to the right. Devyn sits.

“Go ahead, shuffle them.” She hands Devyn the cards.

After a moment of hesitation, Devyn takes them. She already got reprimanded by Chibs today, Jax kept texting her even though she didn’t read them, and now, the cherry on top, it was the card's turn to yell at her. Plus, she never got a text back from Vince, who always wrote her back. It was safe to assume Chibs got in his head too.

Slowly releasing a breath, Devyn stops shuffling and gives the cards to Sabine. With her free hand, she takes a sip of wine from the glass Devyn placed beside her then starts laying cards out on the table.

Devyn wasn’t as good with these as Sabine, but over the years she gained a better understanding and could already see where this was going. Chugging some wine, she sinks deeper into the chair.

“I have to ask love,” Sabine looks at the cards then at her friend, “are you holding on because you want it to work? Or are you holding on because the alternative is scary, unfamiliar?”

When Devyn doesn’t respond, Sabine keeps going, still pulling cards, “I know you love him, and he loves you. If he wasn't so occupied with the Tara girl in high school, I know for sure you two would have been a thing even earlier. But…you might have to let go, as much as that sucks to hear... “ she taps a card, “ even with all the love here Hunny, I don’t see the cycle breaking anytime soon.”

Sabine frowns.

“Not all past life ties are good or meant to last. Maybe you and Jax, you served your purpose,” Sabine speaks as softly as possible, fully aware of how tender this topic is for her best friend.

Devyn speaks up, “He’s a good guy, with a good heart…that guy is still in there, I think."

“And Vincent? What is he?”

The two friends stare at each other, communicating with their eyes. For a while, Devyn kept Vincent to herself. She only opened up to Sabine when the girl pretty much confronted her about it, knowing Devyn was keeping a secret.

Devyn shrugs and knocks back the rest of her wine. She thinks about how the talk with Chibs could have gone. Chibs was gentle with her because he adored her. And though he liked Vincent too, she was sure that interaction may have been more ….aggressive.

“Don’t do that, the wall coming up, I feel it -” Sabine shakes her head and pulls more cards. She stops to review them, “look at this. The left is Jax, the right is Vince.”

Devyn sits up straight and puts her hand on the edge of the table. She scans the Jax side, then the Vincent side.

“I know you know enough tarot to get that.”

Sabine sits back, bringing the wine to her lips.

…

Meet me at the clubhouse

Devyn reads the text again as the cab pulls up to the entrance. This was the last place she wanted to be, and the thought of seeing Chibs disapproving stare and whatever state he left Vince in only made her feel more anxious. But Jax kept asking, and after two more glasses of wine with Sabine, she left her car there and came here.

Jax even paid for the cab in advance. Devyn tries to play it cool as she nears the clubhouse entrance. She can hear classic rock playing and lively conversion. Maybe that was a good sign, better than silence or the place is a no man's land.

Before reaching the door, the first person she sees is Chucky, he’s carrying a case of beer. His face lights up at the sight of her as he says hello in French. It must be his new hobby.

“Bonsoir Chucky, here let me help.” She opens the door, holding it for him as he enters.

“Merci. Mademoiselle.”

This little interaction with Chucky takes the edge off. Causing her to enter with a smile instead of anxiously biting the inside of her cheek. Tig, Bobby, and Juice are at the bar with some girls, Chibs behind it.

As she walks over to greet them, she realizes she doesn't see Vince anywhere. Did Chibs have him on some other random mission to make sure they didn’t cross paths?

“Look who it is! We missed you around here!” Tig beams, pulling her into a hug.

“Yeah, I missed you guys too.”

She makes her rounds, eventually leaving Chibs for last. He greets her as normal, with a warm ‘hey Devy’ and a kiss on the cheek. She turns back around and chats with Juice a little.

He was like an excited puppy and genuinely interested in the stuff in the shop. He would ask about all of it, how things like tarot and crystals worked. It was kind of adorable. He was like a little kid.

Bobby rests a hand on her shoulder, “Jax should be back any minute. He was waiting for you before the errand.”

“Yeah, I was finishing stuff up at the shop.” She replies. She did take her sweet time getting here. Tig passes her a drink, she takes it, and sits on one of the stools.

It was a mix of memories at the Clubhouse; good ones, and bad ones. Overall, the place did feel like a piece of home, and it was nice, at this moment, to be back.

But that feeling is short-lived when the door swings open, it’s Jax followed by Vince, both carrying big boxes.

Jax winks at her and places the box down. Devyn quickly catches the look of surprise on Vince's face before he sets his eye on something else, anything else but her.

How quickly he looked away leaves a hollow feeling in her chest. Though her back is turned to him now, she just knows Chibs is watching too.

Vince heads off to the right, busying himself with the boxes. Jax cups her face and kisses her lips.

“Thank you for coming," He says sweetly, “can we talk?”

She knocks the rest of the drink back and stands, “ sure.”

Wearing a smile, Jax wraps his arm around her shoulders and leads her toward the back. They enter the apartment and Jax sits on the bed. She perches on the edge of the desk.

“I am not sitting on that. Who knows what has been happening on those sheets."

It was true, Devyn never sat on that thing unless the sheets were changed. In her mind, all these guys and one bedroom; it was safer to stand.

Jax chuckles, “I changed them this morning. Besides, “ he studies her face, “it's just been me in here.”

She nods, her eyes traveling around the room. She almost forgot, on his own, Jax lived like a high school kid or college freshman. The room was a mess.

“I know you’re pissed at me Devyn. I’ve given you plenty of reason to be. I want to come home, our house, our bed.”

A strange feeling moved through her body in response to his words. Was she happy about this? Sad? Devyn fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as his eyes burned into hers, waiting for a response.

“I never kicked you out, Jax. You left on your own. That was your call.”

“I know,” he stands and walks over to her. Bringing his warm hands back to her face, he stares deeply into her eyes, “the club shit, the stress, life after Opie...it's been killing me. I was taking that shit out on you, pushing you away. I’m sorry.”

Devyn nibbled her bottom lip. On one hand, she was processing his words; on the other, she was wondering about Vince and what exactly Chibs said to him. He wouldn't even look at her, not really, and that hurt.

“Devyn,” Jax caresses her face, “let me make it up to you. Let’s go home.”

Jax holds her close to his chest and wraps his arms around her. Not knowing what else to do, or how to respond, Devyn lets herself rest against him. She can feel tears in the corner of her eyes, but they never fall.

And when Jax leads the way out of the clubhouse, and to his bike, she lets him. On the way out, she can see Vince at the pool table with Juice and makes sure to exchange a glance with Chibs before leaving.

She had questions, and he knew exactly what she would ask him about.

@drabbles-mc @andacrylikebreakingglass

#Jax teller #sons of anarchy fic #soa au #jax teller x ofc #omc x ofc #fc: jon bernthal #fic: the longest ride #chibs telford

32 notes · View notes