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dragonmasterhiccup · 4 months ago

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(shhh, no one can know that lol🫣)

Freya lightly rolled her eyes at his claim, the corner of her lips tilting upwards as she spoke: "Hey, the first few times were because of Ayla...but, it looks like you managed to get my attention after a while."

Together. She enjoyed the sound of that. It was new to her, yet it felt so..right. She knew, as long as Hiccup was there alongside her, she'd be able to fully grasp the whole concept of this love thing - although she already understood what she held for him was love. So, gently allowing her hand to brush against his, a bit nervous to completely hold it, her voice was softer than before; "..If we're both working it out, then I think we won't lose what we have.."

Blaze grumbled his laughter quietly with an amused grin, trilling a response that said: 'Humans are very stubborn..!'

"Mhm!" Freya hummed enthusiastically, "I haven't finished counting th--" Thankfully, she cut herself off before she could give away her unspoken of challenge to count all of the freckles across his face, hastily clearing her throat as she lifted her chin to glance at the walls again. "..Yeah. Yeah, I do like them.." His compliment on her smile, however, only seemed to increase the heat she felt on her ears, subtly grinning while now staring towards the ground. "Don't ya think it's a bit early to act lovey-dovey, Hiccup?"

In actuality, she didn't mind it at all. She was purely teasing him to try and avoid the 'spotlight' in hopes of calming her fluttering heart down.

Not expecting for him to talk how he did, she briefly snorted, firmly pressing her lips into a thin line as she held back from laughing. What was he doing? It was funny either way. Pretending to make her expression more serious, failing in the process, she nodded politely. "And I'm Freya Leif, your real girlfriend. Also, don't worry. If you're not out of the forge soon enough, I'll be sure to get you, cause you're definitely not going to overwork yourself now that you got me around."

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Allowing her eyes to observe his face from where she sat on Blaze, Freya sighed, a part of her wanting him to be there while she talked with Ragnar. It could be another potential risk of Hiccup getting hurt somehow, even though he didn't do anything. "..Okay, fine. I could use the extra support...but if he grabs another dagger, I won't let you come around for any of these types of conversations. I seriously don't wanna give him the second chance of harming you.."

Did she sound a little too overprotective? Maybe. Probably. But if there was a way to prevent him from experiencing the anger of her father, she'd most definitely take it.

The nerves that jabbed at her from every side attempted to increase once they landed in front of her hut, shaking it off with a heaved sigh while she dismounted Blaze. Cracking her neck to release any hidden tension, she gave a determined furrow of her brows. "Let's hurry up and get in there."

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Surprisingly, they made it out unscathed.

Almost immediately they were greeted with an intimidatingly larger figure of Ragnar folding his arms, asking in his usual gruff voice, "Where have you two been?" And attentively listening while Yrsa also heard their explanations from next to the fireplace. His daughter didn't specifically say why they had originally gone out there in the first place, but she did say it was an accident that they met each other in the cave.

"We had a, uh..argument..and needed some time to..figure it all out. We didn't mean to stay away overnight, it was raining and it wouldn't be safe for us to--"

At that point, Ragnar didn't entirely care for the rest of the reasonings, too focused on the word 'argument' and kept staring in Hiccup's direction with a look that uttered: 'What. Did. You. Do..?' Freya was quick to recognize the expression and swiftly intervened, stating that it was mostly her fault for it anyways. He eventually let them go, ordering them to leave so he wouldn't get more upset.

It took her a minute to acknowledge that she and Hiccup still needed to do their 'normal' tasks around Berk, making her short goodbye a bit awkward. While she helped repair a group of huts, the abrupt realization that she was actually in a relationship with the future Chief decided to hit her right in the middle of carrying pieces of wood, causing her to stumble where she walked. If it wasn't for Blaze, she would've collapsed flat on her reddened face.

After that, she'd pass by the forge every now and then, stealing a glance to where Hiccup was at as she hauled different supplies to multiple areas on the island, staggering in her steps when she accidentally made eye contact. She knew the weather was much colder, leaving no excuse for the scarlet tint which dusted over her cheeks.

The phrase of 'falling head over heels' proved itself true to Freya; it was shown as she, quite literally, tripped on her own feet when she passed the forge, which she was finally entering. Much to her relief, she had a couple of minutes to spare earlier when arriving at her hut to properly clean herself off from the previous day's events, half of her hair neatly braided like usual as she put down a small crate of sharpening tools. "Gobber! I got the supplies my dad borrowed! Sorry we turned them in a little late..!"

As she brushed her hand against his, he finished the action by holding her hand, rubbing his thumb along the back of it. Looking down at their entwined hands, he smiled warmly, bringing his eyes back up to meet hers. "Good, because I'd hate to lose that."

Toothless snorted, completely agreeing with Blaze. He knew just how stubborn humans could be, especially Hiccup.

Hiccup's brows raised in amusement, a playful smile on his lips. "Did you say counting?" Holding back laughter, he asked, "Freya Leif, were you trying to count my freckles?" His laughter wasn't teasing, not in the slightest. In fact, he thought that was adorable.

Shaking his head, he insisted, "Nope! No, the way I see it, I have a lot of time to make up for! Besides, the rest of the tribe thinks we've already been dating for weeks, so it's long overdue!"

He lifted her hand, lightly kissing the back of it, keeping his eyes on her. "There's so much I held myself back from saying to you, it might take a while for things to even out."

As she uttered the words 'real girlfriend', his smile brightened, and he chuckled lightly at her phrasing. "Oh, really? Well, you might just have to take it up with Gobber and my dad, because they think I slack off too much!"

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"I'll be fine, even if he does. I've got good dodging reflexes, you know." He sat up straighter, oozing false confidence, hoping to make her smile again.

He wasn't too keen on the possibility of that happening again, but he had a plan, of sorts. Regardless of that, knowing how Freya felt about her father, Hiccup was not going to let her deal with this situation alone.

As they landed next to her hut, Hiccup laid a hand on Toothless' muzzle, telling him to stay outside when they went in.

Standing next to Freya, he took her hand in his, nodding. "I'm with you."

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

Hiccup tried not to be intimidated by Ragnar, reminding himself that Ryker and at one point Dagur was much worse.

As Freya explained, he helped as best he could. "It was a misunderstanding, really--and between the heavy rain and the cold, it was safer to wait out the storm than fly home through it."

The piercing stare Hiccup received did nothing but ignite his nerves. This man wasn't an enemy, he couldn't just glare back. But he also couldn't be seen as weak, either. So he held Ragnar's gaze, his jaw set firmly.

When they finally left, Hiccup let out a sigh of relief once the door was shut behind them. Giving Freya's hand a soft squeeze, he hesitated to say goodbye.

However, work had to be done, so with the promise of seeing each other later, Hiccup gave Freya a kiss on her cheek before saying goodbye to Blaze and flying with Toothless to the forge.

As he worked, he'd remember that Freya was now his real girlfriend, and he'd smile to himself. After a while, Gobber teasingly inquired about it, to which Hiccup casually shrugged it off, giving different excuses. The older Berkian would just shrug, going back to work.

Any time someone passed by, he'd look up, hoping to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend. Though, he only did so if it was safe to. He knew she'd kill him if he got injured again.

When he did catch her eye, a lopsided grin formed each time, before she was out of sight and he had to return to work. The fact that she was blushing just increased the brightness of his smile, thinking it was cute when she did that.

Hiccup was feeding Grump some scrap metal when Freya came in.

"Oh, I had forgotten about that," Gobber said, lumbering over to the crate. Getting an idea, he gestured for his apprentice. "Hiccup! Why don't you take care of this, eh? Thanks for bringing it back, lass."

Hiccup was immediately on his feet, brushing his hands together and smiling when he saw Freya. "Don't worry, Gobber, I got it!"

Giving the two a knowing look, Gobber nodded, "Aye, I'm sure you do. I'll just be...in the other end of the shop, working."

Whistling, he stepped away comedically, moving towards the back of the forge.

Hiccup chuckled at his mentor, shaking his head. He had a smudge of ash on his cheek and chin, and some on his apron, but his hands were clean, having wiped them on the cloth hanging out of his pocket.

Beaming at her, he said, "Good to see you, Fey!" Moving to put some of the tools away, he asked, "How're things going around the island?"

#(((ok i HAD to use this gif #look at that goofy grin!!)))#asks #threads #justpeaxchy

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reidhalstead · 9 days ago

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There she is. The ferocious little Halstead, grappling out from beneath claws and a jaw that can condemn her to another pitiful fate. A heavy thing made heavier when it's forced away, slumping dead into the leaves. Lis doesn't give herself time to celebrate her survival. She's trained a gun on him.

This is familiar. His lip twitches at the sight. A different face, different eyes (starkly absent the gravitas of a life lived), hair that had curled around a different face. Even the gun here is in younger, smaller hands than what his memory curses him with. Reid knows this story, and whether it is instinct or something that Annalise has ripped out of his subconscious, he doesn't allow it to stay there, aimed at him for more than a few moments. He's not doing this twice.

Lis is good. But he's better.

He moves back into the shadows in a blur — a hand flies out, snaps the gun off aim. It fires towards the trees and embeds a bullet in heavy bark. Reid almost chastises her for her arrogance (like brother, like sister) in thinking she should hesitate to spit any words at him. Kill or be killed. It's not talk and reminisce. She should be running on all kinds of adrenaline after her show with the wolf.

The gun is bent out of her grasp in a flash of movements and drawn into his.

It's light and he feels the old habit in his fingers. He'd raise it, push it between her teeth just to see if she's so emboldened then to think she's got anything on a brother she's never going to match up to. Every Halstead has fallen, and they don't even need to die to be an embarrassment.

"I figured, since you got trigger-happy." It's the only explanation as to why she'd be so fast to oppose him. (Had he been so obvious to see her fight it out without lending a helping hand?) He doesn't think he wants to kill her. He didn't plan that with Rose, either. There's no plan at all, in fact. Just an existence without binds; without a monster in his ears, telling him to do this; a soul that tells him not to. Now, with everything shut away within, he can be what his capabilities beg him to be.

They looked for him? He's heard that before.

"Shit job you did of finding me." It can't have been that much of an effort. It's cold, but it's like he's stating a fact. Reid uses the gun to reach towards her and nudge her chin upwards, bemused that a faster hand could do the damage she failed to. "But you never were more than an impulsive girl."

wolves usually weren't on her radar unless it was a full moon, she left them be knowing them to be cursed. it wasn't there fault, not really. if she had to protect her and her own on a full moon then she would, and she preferred witches to them, but it was the vampires that she held most contempt for.

this one, though. . . well, this one she had a vendetta against. looks like big brother knew her well. the wolf had threatened her own, attempted to attack one of her friends and then attacked her. swore that the inner beast would come for them on a full moon. usually she'd flip them the bird and forget about it with threats being an everyday occurrence in port leiry, but this felt different. it didn't feel empty, and she couldn't take chances, not with the quickly dwindling amount of people she had left.

lis had followed it to the woods, tracked and stalked but it was only going to be so long until the wolf caught her scent. when it did, the fighting started. she was focused, even through recklessness, using her training to her advantage against the beast whose jaws snapped at her. claws graze her and she hisses, yells in frustration and is back up on her feet, taking aim. shaking hands thanks to the wound on her arm cause her to miss, and the wolf takes its chance again. its on top of her as though she might give up, think that she was done for. halstead's didn't give up, that much was still ingrained in her from her parents at least.

the thought of them gave her some hatred to cling to, some strength; no, she wasn't going to die, not yet. she had too much to do, so much unfinished, and she certainly wasn't going to let it turn her into a wolf and have her parents claim that she's dead for almost a decade. knife stabs upwards, through the jaw of the wolf, twisting and hacking as best she can manage from the shitty angle.

she hears the drop before the voice, already contemplating how to take a two on one situation. when she hears it, it doesn't send comfort through her like it used to before his disappearance. annalise has spoken to rose, knows what's to be expected. looks like him, but doesn't talk like him. . . isn't him. that much she can gather from just his tone never mind his words.

"fuck you, big brother." the blonde snarled, pulling the knife out of the jaw of the wolf and slamming it into straight through it's temple. it howled and writhed as blood splattered across her face, before becoming limp on top of her. she groaned and shoved it off, staring down at it for a moment before training the gun on reid.

"i saw rose." it was a statement, and in her mind said all it needed to say. i know you're not you, you're not yourself. "what you been up to, golden boy? we looked for you. i looked for you."

#o: l.halstead #gun tw

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princesssarisa · 2 years ago

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In the past I've shared other people's musings about the different interpretations of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Namely, why Orpheus looks back at Eurydice, even though he knows it means he'll lose her forever. So many people seem to think they've found the one true explanation of the myth. But to me, the beauty of myths is that they have many possible meanings.

So I thought I would share a list of every interpretation I know, from every serious adaptation of the story and every analysis I've ever heard or read, of why Orpheus looks back.

One interpretation – advocated by Monteverdi's opera, for example – is that the backward glance represents excessive passion and a fatal lack of self-control. Orpheus loves Eurydice to such excess that he tries to defy the laws of nature by bringing her back from the dead, yet that very same passion dooms his quest fo fail, because he can't resist the temptation to look back at her.

He can also be seen as succumbing to that classic "tragic flaw" of hubris, excessive pride. Because his music and his love conquer the Underworld, it might be that he makes the mistake of thinking he's entirely above divine law, and fatally allows himself to break the one rule that Hades and Persephone set for him.

Then there are the versions where his flaw is his lack of faith, because he looks back out of doubt that Eurydice is really there. I think there are three possible interpretations of this scenario, which can each work alone or else co-exist with each other. From what I've read about Hadestown, it sounds as if it combines all three.

In one interpretation, he doubts Hades and Persephone's promise. Will they really give Eurydice back to him, or is it all a cruel trick? In this case, the message seems to be a warning to trust in the gods; if you doubt their blessings, you might lose them.

Another perspective is that he doubts Eurydice. Does she love him enough to follow him? In this case, the warning is that romantic love can't survive unless the lovers trust each other. I'm thinking of Moulin Rouge!, which is ostensibly based on the Orpheus myth, and which uses Christian's jealousy as its equivalent of Orpheus's fatal doubt and explicitly states "Where there is no trust, there is no love."

The third variation is that he doubts himself. Could his music really have the power to sway the Underworld? The message in this version would be that self-doubt can sabotage all our best efforts.

But all of the above interpretations revolve around the concept that Orpheus looks back because of a tragic flaw, which wasn't necessarily the view of Virgil, the earliest known recorder of the myth. Virgil wrote that Orpheus's backward glance was "A pardonable offense, if the spirits knew how to pardon."

In some versions, when the upper world comes into Orpheus's view, he thinks his journey is over. In this moment, he's so ecstatic and so eager to finally see Eurydice that he unthinkingly turns around an instant too soon, either just before he reaches the threshold or when he's already crossed it but Eurydice is still a few steps behind him. In this scenario, it isn't a personal flaw that makes him look back, but just a moment of passion-fueled carelessness, and the fact that it costs him Eurydice shows the pitilessness of the Underworld.

In other versions, concern for Eurydice makes him look back. Sometimes he looks back because the upward path is steep and rocky, and Eurydice is still limping from her snakebite, so he knows she must be struggling, in some versions he even hears her stumble, and he finally can't resist turning around to help her. Or more cruelly, in other versions – for example, in Gluck's opera – Eurydice doesn't know that Orpheus is forbidden to look back at her, and Orpheus is also forbidden to tell her. So she's distraught that her husband seems to be coldly ignoring her and begs him to look at her until he can't bear her anguish anymore.

These versions highlight the harshness of the Underworld's law, and Orpheus's failure to comply with it seems natural and even inevitable. The message here seems to be that death is pitiless and irreversible: a demigod hero might come close to conquering it, but through little or no fault of his own, he's bound to fail in the end.

Another interpretation I've read is that Orpheus's backward glance represents the nature of grief. We can't help but look back on our memories of our dead loved ones, even though it means feeling the pain of loss all over again.

Then there's the interpretation that Orpheus chooses his memory of Eurydice, represented by the backward glance, rather than a future with a living Eurydice. "The poet's choice," as Portrait of a Lady on Fire puts it. In this reading, Orpheus looks back because he realizes he would rather preserve his memory of their youthful, blissful love, just as it was when she died, than face a future of growing older, the difficulties of married life, and the possibility that their love will fade. That's the slightly more sympathetic version. In the version that makes Orpheus more egotistical, he prefers the idealized memory to the real woman because the memory is entirely his possession, in a way that a living wife with her own will could never be, and will never distract him from his music, but can only inspire it.

Then there are the modern feminist interpretations, also alluded to in Portrait of a Lady on Fire but seen in several female-authored adaptations of the myth too, where Eurydice provokes Orpheus into looking back because she wants to stay in the Underworld. The viewpoint kinder to Orpheus is that Eurydice also wants to preserve their love just as it was, youthful, passionate, and blissful, rather than subject it to the ravages of time and the hardships of life. The variation less sympathetic to Orpheus is that Euyridice was at peace in death, in some versions she drank from the river Lethe and doesn't even remember Orpheus, his attempt to take her back is selfish, and she prefers to be her own free woman than be bound to him forever and literally only live for his sake.

With that interpretation in mind, I'm surprised I've never read yet another variation. I can imagine a version where, as Orpheus walks up the path toward the living world, he realizes he's being selfish: Eurydice was happy and at peace in the Elysian Fields, she doesn't even remember him because she drank from Lethe, and she's only following him now because Hades and Persephone have forced her to do so. So he finally looks back out of selfless love, to let her go. Maybe I should write this retelling myself.

Are any of these interpretations – or any others – the "true" or "definitive" reason why Orpheus looks back? I don't think so at all. The fact that they all exist and can all ring true says something valuable about the nature of mythology.

#mythology #greek mythology #orpheus #eurydice #orpheus and eurydice #analysis #interpretations #adaptations #long

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scyllas-revenge · 3 years ago

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Death by Chocolate

In which a lovestruck Eomer gets his arm trapped in a vending machine.

Modern Eomer/OFC

Words: 1,337

Rating: G

For my dear friend @i-did-not-mean-to! This is a first for me, both in writing a modern AU and in writing and posting a whole thing in a single day—I did proofread it but I hope the quality is still okay. Thanks for inspiring me!

Read on AO3!

Eomer scowled.

His arm was going numb, and the dirty, slightly sticky tile of the breakroom floor was cold and uncomfortable where he was imprisoned against it, half-sitting, half-laying down, his hair flopping into his eyes. With a grunt, he lunged upward for his prize once again—and failed.

“This is all your fault,” Eomer muttered, glaring up at the candy bar still just out of reach. Its bright wrapper glinted behind the dusty glass of the vending machine window, mocking him.

How had it come to this?

Maybe it wasn’t the candy bar’s fault, Eomer allowed begrudgingly. It was hers.

“These are my favorites,” Ida gushed, leaning against the doorframe in Eomer’s office. “They’re so hard to find, but I don’t know why—the marshmallow and nuts, and such high-quality chocolate, who wouldn’t want that?”

Eomer nodded rather vacantly, too mesmerized by the tiny smudge of chocolate lingering on her lower lip to pay much attention to her words.

“Oh—how rude of me! I’ve got one extra, do you want it?” she asked, offering him a second chocolate bar.

Truth be told, Eomer didn’t care much for candy either way, but oh, he’d have quite liked to taste the chocolate off her own lips—

He cleared his throat, remembering belatedly that she’d asked him a question. ��I couldn’t. Those are your favorites, so you should enjoy them. Especially if they’re as hard to find as you say.”

Ida smiled gratefully—the radiant, warm smile that he’d admired for so long—then she placed the second bar on his desk anyway, winking. “I insist,” she said, her immaculately manicured nails trailing over his desk for a moment before she drew away. “You’ve listened to me prattle on long enough—think of this as a thank-you gift.”

Eomer nodded again, dumbly—Ida had finally found the little spot of chocolate on her lip, and her tongue darted out to lick it away. She’d said some kind of goodbye, he was sure, but Bema only knew what it was, because Eomer was left a besotted mess in her wake.

It wasn’t until hours had passed and his head had cleared that he remembered—he’d seen that little chocolate bar before. They were stocked in the vending machine on the eighth floor!

He’d snuck past Ida’s desk the next morning and made his way to the eighth floor, his chest swelling with triumph. How Ida would beam at him when he presented her with her favorite treat, unlooked for. No, not just one treat—he would present her with the whole stock of the vending machine, a whole bouquet of chocolate bars! Would she embrace him in gratitude? Would she ask him on a date on the spot? If she pressed her lips to his, would they taste of chocolate?

With thoughts like those running through his head, it had been no wonder that he’d found himself staring down the vending machine without a cent on him, his wallet lying forgotten on his desk.

Oh, fine! It hadn’t been Ida’s fault either.

This was entirely on him.

Eomer strained up for the candy bar again, jostling the vending machine with his free hand, muscles straining. He would get this damned chocolate bar out of this damned machine if it damned well killed him!

He jostled the machine even harder—the candy wobbled precariously in its slot—and then the entire machine was careening toward the floor.

This is how I die, then, Eomer thought faintly, before an immaculately manicured hand shot out and steadied the vending machine.

“Are you alright?” Ida cried, heaving the machine back into a standing position and breathing hard with the effort. “What in the world is going on?”

A long silence stretched between them as Eomer searched for an explanation. “I…I’m stuck.”

Ida rolled her eyes, crouching down beside him on the floor. “I can see that. I was wondering why.”

He shrugged—or he tried to. His arm was stuck so far inside the machine that he didn’t achieve much more than a painful twitch. “I was trying to surprise you.”

“Finding you squashed to death on the eighth floor wouldn’t have been my idea of a good surprise!”

“No,” he said impatiently. “I found your favorite candy. See?” He jerked his head up toward the elusive chocolate bar, still sitting smugly on its shelf.

Ida pressed a hand to her mouth—was she laughing at him? “Oh, Eomer,” she cried at last, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek, “you’re so sweet!”

Warmth flooded his skin, radiating from the epicenter where her lips had touched him. She cleared her throat after another long silence, and Eomer realized he’d been gazing soppily up at her.

“We need to get you out of here,” she said determinedly. “Without crushing you, if possible.”

“I don’t understand how I got stuck in the first place. My sister Eowyn used to do this all the time.”

Ida laughed again. “Yes, and I’m sure your arms are a good deal bigger than hers.” She pinched Eomer’s bicep teasingly, and he jumped under her touch. “Now, stay calm. We just have to get your elbow unstuck, that’s all.”

Eomer sat helplessly as she tugged at his arm, wrapping her hands around his bicep to angle his trapped limb this way and that. After a few unsuccessful attempts she moved closer to him, matching his half-reclining pose, and grasped his arm again.

Her face was so close to his now. He tried not to smell her perfume, or feel wisps of her curly hair brushing against his cheek—

“Eomer?” Ida asked softly. “Why’d you go to all this trouble, just for a candy bar?” Ida’s hands rested gently on his rolled-up sleeve, her eyebrow raised as though she suspected the answer, but wanted him to say it.

“To make you happy, of course.”

“You’re so kind, Eomer. But that’s not a real answer,” she chided him, smiling. “Why go to all this trouble just to make me happy?”

He wanted nothing more than to trail his fingers through her hair, but one arm was keeping him upright and the other was trapped in the damned machine. “I think you already know.”

“I think I do,” Ida said, smiling even wider. She leaned in and kissed him, and Eomer was so lost to the press of her lips against his, her smile against his skin, that he was caught completely off guard when Ida tightened her grip on his arm and yanked it free.

Eomer cried out in pain—the vending machine wobbled precariously but stayed upright—and then he was pulling her into a laughing hug, both of them still sprawled out on the sticky breakroom floor.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Ida asked, drawing away to study his arm. She hissed in sympathy at the scratches along his elbow.

“I feel no pain,” he said faintly, and he meant it—as he stroked her hair at long last and kissed her again, he couldn’t remember ever feeling better.

When they finally stood up (many long minutes later), Eomer gave the vending machine an evil look. “All that trouble, and I never managed to get you your chocolate bar.”

“I have a trick up my sleeve,” Ida said dryly, pulling a coin purse out of her pocket. With a few jingling coins and the press of a button, the elusive candy bar tumbled into her waiting hand, so easily that Eomer flushed.

“I’d meant to gift it to you,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

She only laughed and kissed his cheek. “You’ll just have to buy me a drink to make up for it, then. Tonight, after work?”

Eomer’s chest swelled with joy, and he nodded. “Perhaps I should get my arm stuck in vending machines more often, eh?”

“Perhaps not,” Ida cried, bumping him with her shoulder. “That machine nearly killed you!”

He grinned. “I’m not worried, as long as I have you to rescue me.”

#eomer #eomer x oc #eomer/oc #lotr fanfic #tolkien fanfic #yes i'm procrastinating on burn like cold iron again

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imerdwarf · 4 years ago

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Sworn To Secrecy

Requested by @imagine-all-the-fandoms: Hey colleague ❤️ I really love your writing! So I also thought to send you an idea 😊 The reader is Bucky’s girlfriend but just a normal civilian and he keeps it a secret at the compound. One day she visits him but crosses the other Avengers and Sam is immediately flirting with you but Bucky just comes, swoops you in his arms and kisses you. The others are shocked and confused and later that day they finally tell them they’ve been together for a while now and they are all happy for you two? 😊

Pairing: Avenger!Bucky x Civilian!Reader (Modern AU)

Warnings: Absolutely none! Just a lot of fluff 🥰

Author's Notes: Thank you so much my dear friend for sending in this beautiful request, I hope you like it and please let me know if there's anything you want me to change! 💜

Your phone vibrated in the palm of your hand and your smile reached both corners of your eyes when you saw the name light up your screen.

Bucky: I can't wait to see you, how long until you get here?

Your fingers flew quickly over the touch sensitive keyboard to reply back, without any typos might I add.

Y/N: I'm five minutes away. Patience! ;)

The wind blew in your face as you tilted your head upwards and sighed. Your relationship with Bucky Barnes was absolutely not the easiest thing in the world. He had made you sworn to secrecy about it, to protect yourself and him from potential haters and enemies.

You were grateful that you were able to spend a lot of time together when he didn't have month-long missions to go on. The sunny afternoons were spent in your small apartment on the couch watching movies with a blanket draped over the two of you, often accompanied by a hot chocolate made from his secret recipe.

Everything about Bucky screamed safety; his big beefy frame, bulging biceps that he just knew you loved and deliberately bought small sizes to show them off, his thick thighs were a dream for you whenever you draped your legs over them to get comfortable. Nothing about him scared you, not even that matte black and gold Wakandan inspired arm of his. It did wonders when you were burning up with fevers.

You met Bucky by chance at a coffee shop in Brooklyn. It was a cliché moment when you accidentally turned around too quickly and spilled your hot drink over his white shirt. Endless apologies spilled from your lips while Bucky was too busy admiring your beautiful features that your words simply fell on deaf ears. To Bucky, it felt as though time had temporarily stopped ticking, and the only people in the coffee shop at that moment was you and him.

The two of you exchanged numbers with your promises of buying him a brand new shirt to replace the one you ruined. You texted each other every second of every day. The more you talked, the easier and the flirty-er the texts became.

A month after the coffee shop incident, you almost keeled over when he finally asked you to be his girlfriend. He regretted he couldn't take you on a date because of his status, and that never really bothered you.

You didn't date him because he was a popular avenger, with a staggering 100 million followers on his Instagram. For your protection, he couldn't follow you either, but that too didn't bother you. You dated him because you loved his personality and you loved him.

You zig-zagged past the oncoming pedestrians as the tower came into view. Outside of the gates there was already a crowd of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the avengers.

The security guard in the booth next to the gate was trying to reason with the crowd, sadly a building this well known attracted all kinds of attention and tourism. You were told that people from Australia would come to visit.

You approached the guard with a friendly smile. "Good afternoon sir," you greeted politely, pulling some I.D out from your purse.

"Good afternoon! Are you expected here today?" The guard smiled but looked over your shoulder to see the crowd was now taking pictures of the front of the tower. He shooed them away and brought his attention back to you.

"Yes, Sergeant James Barnes is expecting me." The way his name rolled off your tongue was like drops of honey. Smooth and sweet.

The guard checked the list of visitors expected today and hummed with a smile.

"So he is. So what you do is, go to the front desk with your visitor badge and they'll direct you to his floor."

With a quiet thanks and holding on tightly to the badge, you walk through the screeching iron gates. Your shoes crunch underneath the gravel and the wind howls through the trees that gives off extra privacy.

The lady at reception greets you warmly and you relax when you give her your name and show her your visitor badge as directed by the security guard.

"Take the elevator and go to floor 13. Sergeant Barnes is currently in a meeting but he won't be too long." Another thank you passes through your lips as you head off towards the glass and chrome elevator.

The ride up to the 13 floors was agonisingly slow. Classical music filled the emptiness of the elevator. The glass casing gave you a beautiful view overlooking the grounds of the compound. A rose garden of all different shades of roses up the far left of the green garden surrounded by cherry blossoms and hydrangeas. Benches scattered across the grounds that you hoped to one day have the pleasure of sitting on and watch the bumblebees.

This was another reason Bucky loved you so much, you were so passionate and kind against wildlife and nature.

Finally, after god knows how long you've been staring out into the garden daydreaming, the elevator doors ding open and you're greeted with a muscular blond God with a red Cape hung over his back and a creepy wide grin on his face. His scruffy hair made you think he hadn't washed it in a few days.

"I was expecting someone else, but hello!" His voice seemed to boom throughout the space of whatever room this actually was. Some kind of hallway, but you're pretty sure you would hear his voice from all the way from that beautiful garden.

"Uh hello!" You stuttered, taken by surprise that there would be other people here.

"I am Thor, the God of Thunder!" His arms went wide and so did his smile. Your mouth gaped open and closed when you recognised the name. Thor. God of thunder. Of course, you read about these gods and how he ruled Asgard. Or was set to.

"Thor! Of course," you chuckled nervously, stretching your hand out in front of you, "I'm Y/N."

"It's a pleasure to meet you! Please follow me and allow me to introduce you to my mortal friends," you chuckled at that line, and adjusted your sweater.

"Friends, mortals! We have a guest, this is Y/N, A human of Earth." Thor stepped aside and your eyes widened; you were only standing in the same room as the avengers, the same people Bucky spoke so highly of. Thor told you the names of the people in front of you, everyone was there and you wondered where the hell Bucky was.

Tony was the first one to step forward and looked you up and down by moving his tinted glasses to the bridge of his nose. You relaxed when he smiled, but only slightly. You realised they had not asked why some stranger was standing in their living room.

"You know who I am?" Tony asked smugly, his arms folded over his chest.

You nodded, your eyes flickered down his chest, his arc reactor lit up in a bright blue. You almost reached out to touch it but stopped yourself before you could.

"Uh yes. You're Tony I believe?" You blushed under their gazes. Bucky told you they were the best people, but to you they were very intimidating.

"Very good. What brings you to my tower?"

"I'm here to see—"

"Wow! Who is this?" A voice yelled out from behind you. A guy you recognised as Sam, or Falcon, or Birdbrain as Bucky liked to call him.

"Y/N!" Thor answered before you could, the rest of the avengers took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, hi," a small laugh came out and it made your cheeks heat up when his eyes raked over your form.

"My, my. You are gorgeous!" He kept that grin on his lips as he stepped closer. His over-sprayed cologne was suffocating you. "Beautiful, just perfect, just—"

"Mine!" Bucky yelled from the doorway as he stormed past Sam to get to you. You bit your lip to hide the growing grin and failed, he swooped you up in his arms, your legs instantly wrapped around his waist as he spun the two of you around and kissed you.

Cat calls sounded from the couch and you smiled into the kiss. When you pulled away for air, the expressions on everyone's faces told you they needed and wanted an explanation.

You could only imagine the questions they wanted to ask; how did you know Bucky Barnes? How did a soldier and an assassin manage to keep a relationship so hidden under the eyes of a mind-reader and a super intelligent spy? How did Bucky not slip up to Steve about having a girlfriend? All valid questions of course.

Bucky lowered you back down on your feet and pressed his forehead against yours. Without giving the team an answer, he slipped his hand in yours and pulled you away, leaving the superheroes with confusion etched upon their faces.

Bucky gave you a thorough tour of the tower. He showed you the gym, the kitchen where he made you his favourite sandwich, he even showed you his room. It was painted in a light blue with white curtains and blinds, thick, soft cream carpet covered the floor and his bed was as soft as a cloud. It was a lot more comfortable than your bed, that's for sure.

Later that day, Tony ordered a takeout and invited everyone to the dining room to eat, including you. The way Bucky's hand was slung protectively around your shoulder didn't go amiss by anyone in the room. It was when he finally sat down did the questions start.

"Alright, what's the deal with you two? Is this a prank? Is he paying you darling?" Sam fired off first, pointing his fork at the two of you opposite him.

Bucky glared at him from calling you 'darling', from where you were sat you could hear the heavy breathing. Your hand slipped into your lap and into his, giving his thigh a firm squeeze to keep calm.

"Y/N is not being paid!" Bucky defended, outraged he could even think such a thing.

You cleared your throat and took a sip of water before speaking, "it's true and I understand it's a shock but Bucky is actually my boyfriend and has been for the past couple of months," you smiled, proud of the fact you were in a relationship with this man and it was no longer secret.

"How the hell did that happen?" Tony queried, waving his chopsticks in the air, flabbergasted by the whole situation.

"What, you think I'm not capable of meeting people?" Bucky challenged, not really enjoying the interrogation which was the whole reason he didn't want to say anything at the beginning.

"Well of course I wouldn't be surprised if it was Capsicle here but it's you," Tony snorted.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bucky was yelling and turning red with anger when Nat sought the opportunity to take the heat off the two men.

"So, Y/N. Tell us about yourself."

Tags: @smokeybluebrooke-lyn @pinkdiamond1016

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thewitchandtheassassin · 4 years ago

Text

Sin or Salvation? (Natasha Romanoff x Reader)

Summary: Song fic - My Ex’s Best Friend

Words: 1062

Warnings: None? Alcohol? Suggestive themes? I dunno. Surprisingly not NSFW.

Taglist: @natasharomanoffswife @natasha-danvers @aaron-despair @username23345 @xjiasx @nowthisisliving27 @higherfurther-romanova @summergeezburr @imnotasuperhero @miscmarvelwritings @marvels-writings @onlyafewfindtheway @captain-josslett @hayleyokami

A/N: The last Valentine’s Day story should be seeing the light of day this week, I just had a lot to clean up from it after Tumblr kinda scrambled it and my birthday last week kinda pushed everything off because my girlfriend came to see me but here we are now!

-X-

Losing Pepper to Tony had always been a possibility. You'd always felt like a placeholder, simply waiting for him to replace you so when it finally happened, you plastered an understanding smile over the grimace threatening to overtake your face and bowed out of a relationship that was never meant to last.

He was your friend but she was his love and what could you say to that?

It was weird, staying with the company despite the awkward tension but you somehow managed it. Swallowing the ache bubbling in your chest whenever he kissed her cheek or did the little things you used to do. Going separate ways was hard when you were the only one ever invested.

But then Natalie Rushman - or, Natasha Romanoff, as it were - stepped back into your life.

The former assistant who turned out to be a former assassin with wild red hair and piercing eyes that had often left you enthralled, even when you were dating Pepper, walked into the dwindling office party looking for Tony but found you instead, slumped against the bar with silent tears pouring down your cheeks as the gravity of your failed relationship settled on your shoulders. It hurt, knowing you were the only one who'd cared - who suffered - about the months you'd spent with her.

"Hey, stranger," Natasha greeted, climbing into the stool beside you as she studied your face. "It's been a while."

"Stranger is pretty accurate, huh?" you teased, goofy grin sporting no animosity as you peered at the former assistant.

Startled by the obvious playful jab, Natasha's cheeks went hot as she tried to find an appropriate response. You'd been so nice to her during her time with Stark and she knew she owed you an apology or, at the very least, an explanation.

"Hey, no hard feelings," you chuckled, waving the bartender over and passing the tip she'd definitely earned. "You were doing your job and I have to respect that. Plus you looked very pretty doing it." You winked.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but the hint of a smile across pink lips let you know she was pleased by the compliment.

"You just liked how short the dresses were," she laughed, catching the barest hint of desire darkening your eyes.

"I can't deny that," you replied huskily, letting your eyes skate along her lithe form for just a moment, remembering the pale flesh you'd often scolded yourself for staring at.

Natasha's brow arched, surprised by your bold admittance. It was no secret Pepper had broken your heart (she'd acknowledged it when she'd met with Natasha for coffee, the guilt weighing heavy on her mind) for Tony but Natasha hadn't expected such blatant flirting.

How much have you drank, (Y/N)?

Reading the hesitation in her gaze, you shrugged. "I'm not drunk, Nat. I wanted to be but someone in this place has to pretend to be professional. But I can't sit here and pretend you're not absolutely gorgeous. Someone would have to be blind not to see it."

The tension was thick as your eyes locked with Natasha's, hundreds of thoughts crashing about as you let yourself get lost in green.

"How about I give you a ride home?" Natasha finally offered, peering around the room. "It's late and I think everyone else is pretty much passed out."

Swallowing dryly, you nodded. Something about the innocuous statement left your belly in knots and your palms sweat but you ignored the butterflies trying to escape your throat. "Y-yeah. Okay."

-x-

The ride was nearly silent, aside from the occasional ding of the turn signal and the gentle music flowing from the radio. Natasha's movements behind the wheel were fluid but you barely noticed, far more intrigued by the woman than the late night traffic.

The glow of the lights left an angelic glimmer around the redhead despite you knowing fully well she was no angel. She was the ultimate temptation - the apple you weren't meant to eat - but how desperately you wanted take that bite. Would you damn yourself if you did?

Or would all be forgiven afterwards?

"You okay, (Y/N)?" Natasha murmured sweetly, soft lips turning upward as she peeked out of the corner of her eye. "You seem quiet."

"I'm fine," you whispered, letting your gaze drift lower as you wondered if they'd taste like the sin you compared them to.

Was it wrong, yearning for your ex's friend like this? She had already moved on with your friend, so why couldn't you move on with hers?

"Do you want to come up?" you asked as she parked in front of your apartment.

Natasha's eyes burned bright and you almost wanted to blame the question on what little alcohol was coursing through your veins but you'd been honest when you told her you weren't drunk. So you waited, accepting that you'll either be going upstairs with a gorgeous super spy or you'll be slinking upstairs to mope into the vodka stashed in the back of your fridge.

Natasha's gaze was steady on you as she reached out and turned the key slowly. The car went quiet and you remained still in the silence, awaiting her response.

"Yes," she finally breathed, eyes flickering to your mouth before she was shoving open the door and stepping out into the world.

Scrambling to follow after her, shaky fingers unlocked the building before ushering the beautiful woman inside. Your heart felt like it was pounding against your rib cage but you did your best to remain unfazed despite the sweat lingering on the palms of your hands.

The moment you stepped into the elevator, the air shifted into some heady and hot. Boiling, even.

You'd never really know who made the first move. The moment she shifted towards you, the tension snapped within and you found your hands tangling her locks as frantic mouths slotted together in a kiss that left you burning alive.

There was no way this could be sinful when it brought you so close to salvation.

Whining as your tongue delved into her mouth, you crashed into the wall of the elevator, oblivious to the ever-rising floors. Sharp nails dug into your neck but you didn't care, tasting the fruit that had haunted your darkest dreams.

You'd been a placeholder for Tony but maybe Pepper had been one too.

#natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanov x reader #black widow imagine #black widow x reader #mcu imagine #marvel cinematic universe #marvel imagine #avengers imagine #natasha romanoff #reader imagine #reader insert

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leviiattacks · 4 years ago

Note

How about Levi x reader, where they get set up on a blind date by their friends as a prank, but actually end up liking each other

note :: honestly not my best at all but it was cute i guess T___T kinda an opposites attract thing also it’s a modern au !!

for some reason hange and sasha wake up one morning and decide they want to wreak havoc

it’s not peculiar coming from them

after all they are always up to something

like the one time sasha purposefully trapped herself in an elevator with a hot guy

or the time hange tried to make coffee with an energy drink mixed in it??

OR-

okay you’re getting sidetracked

but the point is they have no real reason for this new venture of theirs

when do they ever have a reason though?

somehow today their scheming has led to them begging you to go on a blind date

“he’s not my type i mean he’s old and whatever but you would like him” sasha’s stuffing her face with a buttery croissant

she doesn’t sound very convincing

then again, you have no objections to the idea

you’re single

you’re lonely

if it doesn’t end in love well ??? guess you could fuck

and if you don’t fuck well ?? you got to go outside and get some fresh air

BUT

the idea of blind dating makes you squirm

the uncertainty which comes along with the situation is intimidating

honestly, part of you is worried you’ll end up making a mortal enemy at dinner, not a lover

the other portion is petrified you’ll end up on a date with a murderer

what if it ends up like that one netflix show and you end up getting stalked????

you shudder at that thought

BE OPTIMISTIC Y/N!! YUP YUP OPTIMIST ERA!!!

levi feels the same way but his version of nervous is very different to your own

his fears are very different

what if his date appears prim and proper but it’s really just a huge facade hiding how their house is a pigsty?

imagine the third date in is a movie night in and he walks into a landfill site...

what if his date chews their food obnoxiously loud?

what if they just dislike him?

that’s why ideally he would prefer dating someone he knows beforehand

but there’s no one he knows already that he’s interested in

that’s exactly why when hange calls levi and asks him if he’s willing to go on a blind date on such short notice he scoffs and tells them that maybe if they got a life they would know that his answer is a straight no

he’s used to people not pairing well with him

he guesses it’s because of his sardonic personality, maybe it’s his occupation - he is constantly busy after all. perhaps it’s his foul mouth

erwin told him the last time he had a date that he should probably ease up on the cursing but it’s levi...

he isn’t going to change for anyone.

and really if him being little mean is that much of a deal breaker he won’t bother looking for anyone

he’ll go it solo he supposes

“LEVI. PLEASE. you both would fit together like jigsaw pieces.” hange is practically begging

then they stop for a second and wiggle their eyebrows “that can have many alternative meaningssss~”

levi purses his lips and shoots them a hard glare

“shut it, i’m not going. i’m busy.”

“busy doing.....?”

“cleaning i need t-”

“NO??? do it some other time please they’re smart, fun AND not boring at all.”

hange gives him a pleading look then explains how his mystery date has already agreed for sasha’s sake and he really can’t stand you up

“you want me to go on a blind date with one of SASHA BRAUS’ friends????”

he looks at hange in utter disbelief because that means you just have to be loud mouthed and annoying like jean or connie

or just be as stupidly unfunny

he shakes his head rejecting the idea completely

“i enjoy sophisticated people.”

hange sighs heavily

“give it a chance! c’monnn what if i bribe you?”

little does levi know hange and sasha have purposefully picked you out because of the way you’re both polar opposites

where levi loves order you’re disorderly, where he follows his own rules you don’t follow any at all, where he is disagreeable you’re agreeable in every way of the word

where he is cold, you are warm, he’s a night owl, you’re an early bird, you’re day and he’s night

everything about the two of you is different

that isn’t necessarily bad, but sasha and hange find it hilarious enough to set you both up on this date

if it fails it’ll still be funny

you’re rummaging through your closet looking for your favourite perfume because to be frank you are NOT showing up unprepared

like?? what if he moves in to hug you and he smells the scent of the chicken you were cooking today

yeah you did have a shower but sometimes you wonder if the smell lingers

you KNOW it doesn’t but it’s a matter of principle

imagine he leans in and smells marinated chicken

you think you’d die on the spot if that were to ever happen

shoving a pack of mints in your purse along with your emergency pepper spray you give your outfit a once over

it’s nothing too extravagant but it’ll do the job

at this point, everything is great! you’re walking out of your door and you’re pumped up

you’ll be early for once and there’s a spring in your step

making a good first impressions is key here

you’re so close to your uber BUT

then you hear it

it’s almost inaudible but you’re sure you hear a mewl come out of the alleyway to your right

you’re about to ignore it because you aren’t even sure if you’ve heard it correctly

and it’s late you don’t feel like wandering into an empty alleyway

but the sound only repeats itself

fuck.

cautiously venturing inside you see it.

eyes softening you look at the stray kitten in front of you and bite your bottom lip and scoop him up in your arms you’re debating if running back to your apartment and leaving him there is the best option

what’s the other option?

well you could bring the cat along with you...

it would be a funny story for the future if the date goes well

now. unlike you levi is nowhere near late

in fact he’s ten minutes early waiting promptly outside of the restaurant in his white button up

he fiddles with his collar and wonders how the actual hell he got talked into doing this

hange offering to buy him cleaning supplies free of charge is probably it

8:15pm, you were meant to be here five minutes ago

if you’ve stood him up he’s going to end hange for wasting his precious free time

especially when he rarely interrupts his schedule for anyone.

a few moments of silence pass and he thinks

how do you look?

not like it matters to him

but he’d just like to know

okay, so.

it’s 8:30pm now

levi is royally pissed off that you even have the audacity to show up

you’re holding your knees as you puff in and out

“I’M SORRY. i know i’ve wasted all your time but i saw a stray on my way here and i couldn’t leave him”

the updo your hair is in is disheveled and fly aways stick out

you’ve ran here after your uber broke down that much is obvious.

to be fair, your explanation is believable and he would have let it slide if and only if

you had NOT brought the fucking cat along with you???

he’s eyeing it with disgust as it purrs up against you and you coo at it stroking its fur

“you want to sneak a cat into the restaurant?” he asks in pure disbelief

sheepishly grinning and scratching the back of your neck your response is “well i know we can’t but if you tried to i wouldn’t mind because i really like this cat :-(”

when hange said he’d have fun they were lying

but at least they didn’t lie about you not being boring.

he picks the cat up with one of his hands

looks it in the eyes

sighs then places him carefully into your purse

“don’t let him be seen.”

you light up and try to hide the grin forming on your face

he isn’t that bad

he’s a little too serious for your liking but you can handle that.

the two of you walk into the restaurant and fuck you because the cat has to start mewling and screeching

coughing rather aggressively to cover it up it miraculously goes unheard

he shoots you a sturdy glare because he’s able to hear the muffled sounds

luckily, no one else is standing near you or is within earshot.

gulping you realise this is not a good first impression at all

late to the date, bringing a cat with you, begging him to help you sneak the cat in

you feel guilty, he probably expected way better

“oi, move your ass” he snaps

you look up realising you’ve been too lost in thought to see levi walking in front of you

“sorry” you mumble

he doesn’t respond but he does look back at you

you can’t gather anything from his face because it’s either plain or he’s got his brows furrowed

currently it’s showing no signs of distaste so he must be accepting your apology

he’s kind enough, steps out of the way to offer you the space to sit down first

he sits after you and you have no idea where to look

then the cat cries again from your purse

“lucifer, shhhhh”

you’re patting him and try to silence him

“you’ve named it already?”

laughing to yourself you’re happy he’s initiated the conversation first

“he’s a little sneaky so i called him it. do you have any other names you’d like?”

“why would my input in this matter be relevant?”

“you’re basically his family now!”

he’s covering his mouth with his hands and you swear you can see the pink tinge of a blush creep upwards and flood his cheeks

but this man doesn’t seem like the type to blush over anything.

composing himself he sticks a hand out and finally asks “what’s your name?”

coming back to your senses you realize it’s been twenty minutes since you’ve met and you haven’t even had the manners to ask his name even after arriving late

“Y/N!! what’s yours?”

play it cool!!!

he doesn’t respond instead stares at your purse and points with his index finger

lucifer has escaped again and now you really are regretting bringing him along with you

whilst you’re grabbing the cat and hushing him your date hums “try to guess it.”

well, that’s spontaneous, he doesn’t seem like the type to entertain himself with games

you think hard, he’s serious but he is kind, you guess that’s why he reminds you of sebastian from the little mermaid

get it? because he’s sweet but he’s a crab so he’s crabby??

god that joke is AWFUL because it doesn't even take into account the actual character of sebastian the crab

but you have no other guesses available.

“hmm... sebastian?” you jokingly ask

“it’s levi.” he deadpans.

oh wow you couldn’t be more far off

playing around with your fingers in your lap you fidget nervously looking around for a waiter to interrupt the conversation

levi has to sense your unease because his tone loosens up

“...do i really look like a sebastian though?”

looking back up at him your bite your lip keeping a giggle in

you can sense the ghost of a smile on his face

“yeah like the crab from a little mermaid”

at that he scowls but he inquires what exactly that means

the rest of the date goes without a hitch, sure there’s a few moments where lucifer attempts to sneak away but levi has no problems stopping him

it takes a while but the conversation flows easily after the awkward barrier from before is broken down

it’s lighthearted and calm.

he’s humorous in a way you can’t describe

levi’s mannerisms are cute, everything about him is endearing despite the serious front he has

and you can’t quite put your finger on it but his demeanor is charming

overall you find yourself enjoying the date even more than you expected

now the two of you are walking away from the booth and the fresh night time air hits your face as you step outside

turning to him you smile radiantly and without allowing him to get a word in you take your opportunity by the reins

“second date?”

you don’t normally make the first move but you’re eager

and to your surprise he’s just as eager as you are.

it doesn’t even look like he stops to think before he nods and agrees to meet with you again.

exchanging numbers with him you wave as you and lucifer part ways with levi feeling satisfied

and to his shock after you leave it settles, levi thinks he just might enjoy your presence

well, that’s a first for him.

he guesses what they say about opposites attracting is true

#levi #levi ackerman #aot #snk #attack on titan #attack on titan levi #aot fanfiction #levi headcanons #levi x reader #levi x y/n #levi scenario #levi fanfiction #levi fluff #leviiattacks #modern au #modern levi

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nctsjiho · 4 years ago

Text

Sticky Situation

warnings: none

era: June 2021

❀ A dumb fight over a delicious cool dessert ends up getting JiHo and Yangyang in a sticky and smelly situation

requested by @leavethemonsteralive <3

“Give it to me!” “Why should I, it’s the last one!” Yangyang tried to pull the ice cream bar, that both him and JiHo were holding on opposite sides, towards him careful as to not use too much force so that the slippery thin plastic wouldn’t slide from between his fingers. “And besides, this is my house! It was in my freezer, so therefor I should have it!” “Oh don’t start using fancy words now, it doesn’t fit you.” JiHo mumbled underneath her breath earing an even more intense glare from the boy.

JiHo tugged carefully at the ice cream’s packaging, hoping it would escape Yangyang’s grasp. “I went with Ten oppa to buy it for the dorm anyway, so that means I can have it.” JiHo said, but Yangyang could only groan in response. “Give it to me JiHo, it’s too hot and the ice cream is going to melt if you don’t let go.” His tone became more whiny as time passed, but JiHo didn’t waver the slightest. “No, just give it to me! I went to grab it first and you already had one before!” “That was yesterday! Just give. It. To. Me! JiHo-“

After their little game of tug and war the dorm became completely silent. The two 00’ liners looked at each other, eyes the size of saucers, as shock quickly struck their bodies. They both didn’t have a grip on the ice cream bar anymore as just a few seconds ago it flew across the kitchen, sending a very expensive something along with it. It was only when they heard the crash, as well as the shattering of glass that the two realised that their little fight over an delicious cold sweet had more consequences than one person continuing to feel hot and the other having the luxury of feeling a bit cooler for probably no longer than 10 minutes. “It’s your fault!”

Before JiHo could mutter anything or even just make sense of what just happened, she felt the accusing finger of Yangyang poke at her shoulder. “What? I-“ She looked around as if something would help her, as if something would “undo” what just happened, but that something didn’t exist.

It was clear to her that Yangyang was panicking just as much as her. His eyes wavered and he kept licking his quickly drying lips, hand already moving upwards to grip at his hair. “If you’d just given the ice cream to me.” He mumbled. “Yah! Forget about that stupid ice cream, we’re both death when Kun oppa and Ten oppa come home.” At her statement Yangyang’s eyes widened even more, absolute dread starting to settle in. JiHo sighed and grabbed the boy by his shoulders, shaking him a bit. “Come on, let’s clean this up first and then we’ll see how we can fix it.”

When JiHo realised Yangyang was still frozen in place, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the other side of the kitchen counter. “How bad is it? What does it look like?” She looked up to see the boy squeezing his eyes shut. “Well, maybe you didn’t hear the glass shattering in a million tiny pieces, but that to me definitely looks like an overly expensive essential oil diffuser broken in, again, a million tiny pieces.” With her explanation Yangyang finally opened his eyes to see exactly what JiHo had described.

“They are going to kill me.” The girl spared a glance at him only to find him already looking at her. “What should we do?” JiHo sighed at the question. “Just get me some kitchen roll and a plastic bag or something. I’ll clean it up.”

Soon enough JiHo and Yangyang were crouched down next to the puddle of intense smelling essential oils. JiHo soaked up as much of the liquid with the paper towels, while gathering the glass to dispose of it in the plastic bag Yangyang provided her. “Bad news…” JiHo mumbled, to which Yangyang almost jumped up. “What? What’s wrong? What could be more wrong than breaking this… whatever this is?!” JiHo looked up to meet Yangyang’s eyes, she could swear he’d never looked more afraid than now. “I think your kitchen, and possible your whole house might smell like cedarwood and citrus for a few weeks. But good news is you’d probably be too dead to smell it.” A fake smile found it’s ways on JiHo’s lips only to get a less than pleased look from Yangyang.

While the two idols were discussing on how to fix their not-so-little problem, they failed to hear the front door of the dorm open, but when they heard Ten’s voice they knew they were going to meet God in just a few minutes time. “It smells nice here!” The cheerful voice of Ten, and the agreeing hum from Kun came closer until it all didn’t sound to cheerful and agreeing anymore. “Wait… It almost smells too nice here…”

It was only when the two older boys saw JiHo and Yangyang crouched on the kitchen floor, plenty of kitchen towels in hand, sheepish grins on faces and the lack of a new, and sold out, essential oil diffuser on the counter, that it all clicked. “What the hell did you guys do!” The booming sound of Kun’s voice made the two younger ones flinch.

Ten, who seemed eerily “fine”, for the lack of a better word, walked closer until he crouched down next to the pair. “Is that what I think it is?” “Hyung listen, it was an accident-“ “Oh come on! The only thing we told you was to watch out for the diffuser.” And there it was. The anger, annoyance, disappointment and so on. “We’re sorry.” JiHo frowned, standing up.

Kun let out a deep sigh, leaning up against the kitchen counter. “How did that even happen?” “Well…” Yangyang trailed off and JiHo decided to continue telling what happened.

“So you’re telling me you wasted about a million won (around 900 usd) worth of essential oils because of some stupid ice cream?” Ten’s raised voice made the two youngest cower like two kicked puppies. “You could’ve just went to the convenience store not even 2 blocks away from here.” Kun added, but his tone was a lot less aggressive.

The two older ones excused themselves from the room, opting to calm down in the living room, but not without Ten muttering a hushed “You better clean this up before we walk back in here.” And so the duo did. While JiHo disposed of the glass and cleaned the floor, Yangyang opened all the windows in the room hoping that it would help get rid of the smell.

Once everything was clean the two sat down on the kitchen counter contemplating how to fix everything. However they didn’t seem to be coming to an agreement on Yangyang’s proposed solution.

“Never.” JiHo sent him a hard glance. “But JiHo. They will cave immediately. Please.” Yangyang pleaded grabbing JiHo’s hands into his. The action made the girl roll her eyes. “Fine…” “YES! Oh my God you’re the best!” He pulled her from the counter into his embrace, making JiHo slightly struggle in his arms as she tried to push herself away from him. “On one condition though.” “What do you want?” He squinted his eyes at her, now having let go of her completely. “You buy me that ice cream from that nice brand you like and I don’t have to share it with you.” Yangyang wanted nothing more than to slap that smug smile off JiHo’s lips, but he decided to just give in and agree. “Fine, but go now.” He said pushing JiHo towards the living room.

She walked in and stood in front of Kun and Ten who were lounging on the couch, eyes focused on their phones – still looking a bit upset in JiHo’s eyes. They didn’t acknowledge JiHo’s presence, probably not even realising she was there to which JiHo sighed.

“Oppa~” She sang, twisting her body from side to side. The two men looked up confused, watching JiHo intently. “I’m sorry we broke your diffuser. It was really an accident.” Her words were slightly slurred and her tone was a bit more higher pitched than usual.

Kun couldn’t help but already smile seeing JiHo act cute – a sight he really hadn’t seen that much – but Ten knew what was up and he wasn’t going to give in as fast as his friend. He nudged the leader’s shoulder, signalling him that he shouldn’t fall for it either and Kun immediately regained his composure. So when JiHo looked up and saw the two boys looking just as serious as they looked when they left the kitchen earlier, she knew she had to try harder.

“We were being really dumb and childish, but I promise I’ll be more careful in the future and something like that won’t happen anymore.” She had moved to the couch next to them, her eyes sparkling with innocence and sending guilt straight into the boys’ hearts. How could they stay mad at JiHo when she was trying “so hard” to apologise? “Apology accepted.” Kun sighed and his smile only intensified when he saw the way she beamed at his words. Ten cooed at the girl already throwing a million loving nicknames and words at her, telling her she looked “so cute”.

“But isn’t it a bit unfair that you came here and apologised all by yourself while Yangyang who is, as I understand just as guilty, is still hiding in the kitchen.” At the mention of his name, Yangyang sheepishly entered the living room. “Don’t worry, he’ll buy you a new diffuser. One that’s even nicer than the one you guys got.” JiHo promised. All heads turned towards Yangyang, who was sending the deadliest of glares at JiHo which had everyone laughing. “Sounds like a good plan to me.” Kun chuckled.

“Lim JiHo, I’ll kill you.” The young boy muttered.

---

Side Note: Yangyang and JiHo are actually siblings confirmed?

#jiho.writings #nct 24th member #nct addition #nct female member #nct imagines #wayv imagines #nct extra member #nct additional member #nct female addition #kpop!addition #kpop!oc

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all-about-seggs · 4 years ago

Text

When the Sun goes down -

Pairing: Siren! Satoru x female reader

Warning’s: 18+, Monster AU, Exophilia from the readers side, a bit of a voice kink ( not sure in this one but eh), blow job, cum swallowing, smut.

A/n: You have NO IDEA how much I enjoyed writing this, I wanted to do a monster verse au but didn’t knew how to go on about doing it so thank you @kinbari14 for your amazing concept! I’m not really confident in the ending cuz I started writing for fun and basically had no idea for how I wanted the story to go so I apologise in advance.

The Blue sky mixed with its tangerine hues indicated another day at work coming to an end. But for you, setting of the sun only brought a curious gleam in your eyes.

For a few weeks, visiting Satoru had become a daily part of your life, every evening became more exhilarating than the other as you followed his honeyed voice to the abandoned warehouse, the place he chose for your rendezvous.

Upon entering the place, your eyes searched for that familiar figure whose smile sent bolts of shiver down your spine.

To feel connected to such an otherworldly creature was scary on its own yet it never failed to give the kind of thrill a mortal could experience in their life, his sweet tantalizing voice drew you closer everyday until you found yourself reaching out for him.

“Welcome back Y/n chan~ , you're early today”, he said in the same melodious voice that he always used to lure you away from the world you belonged to.

Sitting on a dried bale of hay that was strewn around carelessly, he looked up at your standing figure. The buliding was dark, only having the thin stips of moonlight illuminating the way.

“ I couldn’t wait to see you”, the words leaving your lips sometimes surprised you, normally you’d never be so desperate to spend time with a guy but his very existence made you want to know all about his kind, more specifically himself.

“ Hmmmm, how sweet~ you’ll make me blush!”, His was joking as always and you could never tell what he was actually thinking, “ I’ll be leaving soon”, his sudden drop in tone was surprisingly deep, the Satoru you’ve spend time with up untill now was never this serious, it made you uneasy, just the thought of not getting to see his face or hear his beautiful voice was too much to bear.

It’s not like he owed you an explanation as to where or why he was going. You two weren’t even friends, just two creatures drawn to another to quench their curiosity. But you heart thumed in your chest, painfully so at his declaration.

You stood in silence for the next couple of seconds to steel your nerves, because your next course of action was, irrational, to say atleast. Kneeling down in front of him, you looked at his covered eyes, “ I don’t want you to go Satoru”, your quiet but firm confession made his lips quirk upwards in a haughty smirk.

“ Why not y/n?", Pretending to think he paused for a few seconds before continuing, "…......OH! Don’t tell me - you’re in love with me! Is that it?”, His jovial quips would make anyone annoyed, he always did loved feeling superior to everyone. But you decided that you wouldn’t back down.

“What if I am?”, Adding more sass in your own voice you simply added, your hands trailing up his sturdy thighs.

His smirk only grew wider as he streched his arms behind his head, enjoying your touch. You were so eager to please him, make him feel good, it’s almost cute.

“If you’re ready for the consequences my love”, he grabbed you hand with a bone crushing strength and pulled you closer till your noses touched,“ then do as you please”, and with that you covered his mouth with yours, letting go of all inhibitions.

Your tongues entwined, fighting for dominance with Satoru pushing his past your lips. You bit his lower lip in defiance not willing to give him the entire control, he like this fearless nature of yours, always welcoming the unknown and dangerous with a near reckless sense of curiosity.

Not waiting for your heavy kiss to end, you started unbuckling his pants, his cock was just beginning to swell when you grabbed his shaft to pull it out. Satoru let go of your lips with a smacking sound as he cooed in your ear,“ what are you gonna do now?”, His question was more or less pointless as he opened his legs to give you better excess.

With words becoming meaningless now, your actions were the only thing you could use to show him how much you wanted to be with him. Not wasting another second, you dipped your head down on his crotch, hovering just a few inches above his now erect head. With a couple of long strokes, his thick member became hard, almost throbbing for attention. You kissed his pink tip, not stopping your relentless movements on his shaft. Taking his entire cock was difficult so you took half of his member in your mouth, twirling your tongue around his tip. He tasted good, unlike any other human male, his taste was intoxicating, almost sweet just his scent.

You bobbed you head up and down as one of your hand pumped the rest of his cock, creating a steady pace. With your other hand you grabbed his balls, lightly massaging them, this pulled a moan out of him. His speaking voice as well as his singing voice were ethereal but the lust filled sound he made was cut above the rest. You picked up your pace hoping to get another reaction out of him.

“Hnggg….. Y/n….”, There it was, your name that fell from his lips in such a lewed note, if you weren’t dripping before then you definetly were now. Your jaw was beginning to get sore and your wrist starting aching but you couldn’t stop. Not until you made him cum on your throat, the sweetness of his fluids was too addicting, you kept going harder and harder untill your teeth lightly scrapped against his shaft, making his thighs stiffen around you. All of his reactions were subtle, controlled artistically for you to pine for him more. His previously still hips, started rolling upwards, hands curling on top of your head in an encouraging way.

You could sense his orgasm approaching, as you kept your pace steady and with a low grunt from his mouth Satoru filled your mouth with his hot thick cum. When you tried to pull him out of your mouth he stopped you with his hand above your head,

“ Swallow it”, he growled, his tone wasn’t threatening but it didn’t leave any room for argument either, so you did as he said, taking in all of his seed.

“Good girl~”, his sweet smile returned to his face as he praised you. Satoru straightened up pulling you on his lap, he practically breathed in you ear as he slipped his hand in you panties, “ Let’s not forget about your pretty little cunt my love”, his words excited you, sending goosebumps all over your body when he rubbed your slick coverd pussy as he continued, “ I believe it’s my turn to give you what you want”.

Your body was begging for his touch but even more than that there was something else you wanted, “ Take me with you, wherever you’re going”, it was hard to get these words out when his digits were playing with your clit but you had to say it.

It wasn’t a surprising request nor was it unwanted, infact, this is exactly what he desired all along. For you to be with him not just momentarily but forever, so having you make such a pure request filled him a sense of warmth. “ Ofcourse I will, my sweetness”, He said, cradling you closer to his chest.

Humming sweetly in your ear, with the same harmonious voice that attracted you to him. His actions promising an eternal pleasure any other human couldn’t even hope to dream of. As you surrendered yourself to him you caught the dangerous gleam of his teeth peaking out from beneath his smirking lips, but as maniacal as it seemed, you craved it more than anything.

#gojo satoru #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #satoru #gojou satoru #jjk gojo #jjk smut #jujutsu kaisen smut #jujutsu kaisen Oneshot #jujutsu kaisen scenario #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #x reader #smut #tw: exophilia

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wisteriashouse · 4 years ago

Text

sweet confession.

pairing: rengoku kyoujurou x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 4351

You’d never thought yourself to be the jealous type.

But when your best friend, Rengoku Kyoujurou, asks you what a suitable gift to confess with would be after a morning of sparring exercise, that green eyed beast in you somehow finds the energy to rear its ugly head.

The second the question leaves his mouth, you pause with your towel in hand to stare at his hopeful, earnest expression for a moment, a little thrown off by his words. Kyoujurou isn’t particularly close to anyone out of the corps besides his younger brother, being far too devoted with his job as a demon slayer to have the free time to know many people outside of the corps. The few people whom he does interact much with are you, Shinobu, when he gets injured, and of course, Kanroji.

You purse your lips, suddenly contemplative. Does Kyoujurou have feelings for the Love Pillar?

Kyoujurou hasn’t mentioned anything about it to you, but it would make sense for the two of them to be especially close, considering that Kyoujurou had acted as her trainer and master in Flame Breathing back in the past. Neither has Kanroji, for that matter, but she’s always been closer to Shinobu compared to you anyway.

“Why do you ask?” You glance at him, trying to keep your tone as light and breezy as possible. Kyoujurou’s confident gaze falters for a moment, clearly hesitant, before he gathers his courage and opens his mouth to speak. “I would like to gift someone special to me with a present, but I do not know what I should give! I thought that I should ask you, since I trust your opinion!” His cheeks are dusted pink.

It’s almost painfully obvious to you who this ‘special someone’ is to him, but you force a smile onto your face, nodding in response to his question.

“Ahh... well, personally, I like western desserts, like the ones Kanroji-san makes.” The mere thought of them makes your mouth water, but you’ve never really been close enough with her to ask for them. You mostly just steal them off Kyoujurou, who she bakes for regularly on a weekly basis. “Castella, tiramisu, crème brûlée, you know, the works.”

Kyoujurou’s eyes are fixed on you as you speak, nodding attentively along everything you say. That’s when you realise that he can’t give Mitsuri her own cakes and hurry to rectify your earlier words.

“But since you’re giving it to someone special, you should find something that they personally like! You should ask them directly yourself.” You add on hastily, before he can ruin his gift giving because of you. “If it’s someone who’s really important to you, you could try making something with your own hands. It would be more intimate and from the heart, am I right? I think it’d be really sweet.”

The seconds the words escape your mouth, part of you wants to hit yourself over the head. Why are you helping him get together with someone else?

You wonder if you should invite Obanai along to your pity party. He’d probably send Kaburamaru after you to bite your fingers off instead.

Lost in your own thoughts, you don’t notice Kyoujurou staring at you, fingers twisted in the fabric of his own towel. Something made with his own hands? He’s never really ventured into the finer arts of cooking or baking, but if that’s what you want, he’ll try his best to give it to you.

“I think it’d be really sweet,” you’d said. Kyoujurou wants you to think of him as sweet.

There’s an important question he wants to ask you, after all.

>>>

“Like this?”

“Ah, no, Rengoku-san! You’re overmixing the egg whites!” Mitsuri yelps as she rushes over to his side, pulling the bowl from his hands. A bit of the meringue he’d been whisking splatters on his nose, and Kyoujurou peers into the bowl hesitantly, scratching his chin. “So, not like this either?”

He’s been doing this all morning, and he still can’t seem to get it.

“You need to handle the egg whites with a more delicate touch,” Mitsuri explains, setting his latest failed attempt next to six other bowls - prior victims of his dismal baking skills. “If not, the meringue will deflate. They need to have stiff, fluffy peaks!”

“Hmm!” Kyoujurou makes a noise of understanding, bending over the counter to study the batch that Kanroji has made earlier. Honestly, he can’t really tell the difference between and successful and failed meringue, but if Kanroji says that it’s not alright, there is no way he’ll be confident giving it to you. “This is more difficult than I thought it would be! Senjurou has always said my cooking isn’t that terrible, but I see now that he was just trying to make me feel better. I will never subject him to the torture of eating my cooking ever again.”

“Eh? No, Rengoku-san, you aren’t that awful...” Mitsuri presses her lips together as she looks over the mess that is her kitchen. Several broken egg shells lie on the ground, testament to Kyoujurou’s overwhelming strength and zeal. “Well... maybe just a little. As I said earlier, if you want me to bake them for you to gift, I would be willing to do that too!”

Kyoujurou shakes his head immediately, resolute in his determination. “No, I cannot.” He looks down at his hands, covered in egg white and sugar. “I want this gift to be from the heart, and it would lose its sincerity if I were to ask you to make it.”

He’s interrupted by a squeal from Mitsuri, her hands clasped to her chest and heart in her eyes. “That’s so sweet, Rengoku-san!” She gushes. “I never knew you were so romantic! Of course I’ll do my best to help you! You’ll definitely master the art of meringue whipping with practice!”

“I’ll do my best, Kanroji!” With that declaration, Kyoujurou takes a glance at his hands once more. The palms are calloused, small, bone white scars scattered over his skin. “A more delicate touch...”

Perhaps it’s because he’s really only known wielding a sword his entire life, so he struggles to understand just what it would entail. “What would be a ‘delicate touch’?”

Mitsuri pauses to press a finger to her lips, face scrunched up in concentration as she tries to think of a suitable explanation. “Well, imagine how you would hold y/n’s hands if you could. That would be a delicate touch!”

Your hands. Holding your hands.

He’d be gentle. Cradle your hands to him with tenderness, tell you that you’re the most beautiful person in the world in his eyes. Treasure you, love you-

Kyoujurou turns to look at Mitsuri with a frown, mildly confused. “I do not think I would want to tell the egg whites that they are beautiful!”

Mitsuri gasps, cupping her cheeks with her hands as she shakes her head from side to side. “Rengoku-san, you’re really too sweet and gentlemanly... ahh, my heart is fluttering. I love how romantic you are!” She takes a deep breath to calm herself, fanning her cheeks. “If you do hold y/n’s hands, you’d be firm but gentle, wouldn’t you? You should apply the same touch to the egg whites!”

More gentle. More delicate. Kyoujurou can do that.

Determined, he picks up another egg and holds it up.

“I can do this!”

>>>

He’s been spending an awful lot of time with Mitsuri lately, you think to yourself.

You’re waiting in the dojo of the Rengoku Estate for Kyoujurou to show up, bokuto in hand and absentmindedly practicing your kata. He’s late by a few minutes, and although you normally wouldn’t mind that, he has mentioned earlier that he’s meeting with Mitsuri beforehand. What for, however, you don’t know.

Pausing in the middle of swinging your practice sword, you glance down at your feet, pursing your lips.

Since when had Kyoujurou start to have feelings for Mitsuri?

“I can’t believe he didn’t even tell me that he was interested her.” You mumble to yourself under your breath, feeling offended for some reason before guilt hits right after. It’s not that he has to tell you, so why do you feel so annoyed? It’s not his responsibility to tell you everything that goes on in his life, not his obligation.

The door slides open behind you all of a sudden.

“Who is interested in who?”

“Ah! Kyoujurou! Don’t just barge in like that!” You cry out in shock, fumbling with your bokuto before you can drop it. Kyoujurou laughs brightly at your reaction, his face flushed as if he’d run all the way here.

“My apologies for making you wait, I had to rush here!” He grins at you, moving to drop his belongings at the side of the dojo. You squint; there’s a lacquered box typically used to store desserts, was it from Mitsuri? Before you can ask him about it, he’s already picked up his practice sword and smiling at you, adjusting the tie of his hakama. “I hope you don’t mind too much that I’m late! Let us begin training, then!”

It’s only then that you notice that his hair is damp, and his clothes seem ruffled. You blink, trying to keep your expression neutral as you ready your own sword into a fighting stance, but on the inside, your mind is racing. What on earth was he doing with Mitsuri?

Well, not that it’s any of your business, anyway. If Kyoujurou is interested in Mitsuri and the girl reciprocates, you’ll be happy for the two of them! Happy... for the two of them... the two of them going out on dates... and kissing...

Oh. You don’t like that idea very much now.

Kyoujurou lunges forward, swinging his blade in a smooth upward stroke before you can clear your mind. “Flame Breathing, Second Form, Rising Scorching Sun!”

Distracted, you barely manage to change your grip in time. “Snow Breathing, Fourth Form, Hoarfrost!” Kyoujurou’s sword collides hard with yours, the sound of your blades meeting echoing in the dojo. You wince as Kyoujurou forces you back and quickly disengage, retreating a few steps.

“Flame Breathing, Fifth Form, Flame Tiger!” Kyoujurou follows up easily, relentless as he swings his blade. Sucking in a deep breath, you dive between his legs and lunge.

“Eighth Form, Winter Avalanche!”

“Your stance is off!” Kyoujurou calls over the din as you press him with a continuous barrage of strikes, countering with his own fourth form. “You’re not focused enough!”

Breaking off the attack, you leap back, adjusting your grip again.

What does Mitsuri have that you don’t? Is it because her hair is such a pretty colour? Because her personality is so bubbly and sweet? Because she bakes really nice western desserts and you can’t? You aren’t as outgoing, your hair is drab compared to even Kyoujurou’s, and-

… and the tip of Kyoujurou’s bokuto is resting against the your throat.

“You really are distracted today.” Kyoujurou comments, and you let out a little groan of disappointment as he lets the point of his sword fall. The expression on his face is one of genuine concern. “Is something the matter?”

Smacking yourself on the head in an attempt to rid yourself of all thoughts, you shake your head and ready your sword once more. Focus!

“I’m sorry, it was my fault.” You admit, taking a deep breath to steady yourself. “Come on, let’s train properly. I’ll do better this time.”

“It’s not like you to be distracted, however.” Kyoujurou takes a step closer and you glance up to see him standing far too close to you, so close that your eyes are level with the exposed strip of skin from his collar. There’s a faintly sweet smell of burnt sugar and cream lingering on him, the very same scent that Mitsuri wears. Did he... “There is a flush on your cheeks and your pupils are dilated. Do you perhaps have a fever?”

Alarmed at his observation, you clap your hands over your cheeks and shake your head. Who? Flushed? Definitely not you. “I feel fine.” You desperately lie between your teeth. “Come on, let’s go another round!”

“Hmm.” Kyoujurou stares at you for a while longer before he takes a step back, a stroke of fortune for your madly pounding heart. “Well then, let us continue!”

Glad to have averted that crisis, you force your mind to stay on track for the rest of the training session, allowing Kyoujurou to pound every bit of distraction out of your bones with his bokuto. At the end of a series of matches, you’re sure that you’ve turned into one giant bruise, wobbling when you try to pick yourself off the ground and finally giving up, collapsing back onto the mats with an unintelligible groan.

“It was a good spar! We ended later than usual, today!” Kyoujurou enthuses as he sits cross legged next to you, seemingly still brimming with an unholy amount of energy. Staring at him for a few seconds more, you shake your head before letting yourself slump over on the ground, unable to comprehend how he’s not yet flopped over next to you out of sheer exhaustion.

“It’s your fault for coming late.” You grumble, feeling the ground dig into every bruise you have on your body. Too tired to think straight, you drag yourself over the floor to Kyoujurou, who’s tying his hair out of his eyes, and promptly pillow your head in his lap like you’ve done since you were kids.

His thigh stiffens under your touch, but he doesn’t remove himself from you. Instead, his hand reaches up to pull stray strands of your hair behind your ear, before his palm moves to rest gently on your cheek. “When is your next mission?”

He sounds slightly nervous.

“Hmm?” You’re too tired to put much thought into it, letting out a yawn. You’re just so tired, and you haven’t been getting proper sleep for the last few days, too wrapped up with thinking about the man in front of you. “I’m leaving tonight... I think. Some demon rampaging about in one of the northern mountains. Hopefully it’s not too much trouble.”

Maybe when you’re away from him for a bit, you’ll be able to clear your mind.

There’s a moment of silence between the two of you before Kyoujurou takes a deep breath, trying to bolster his courage. “When you come back... I have something important to tell you.” He says aloud, his voice solemn. Kyoujurou has never once thought of himself as a coward, but the thought of so much as confessing his feelings to you... it makes his heart swell and feel incomparably tiny at the same time.

You’d never break his heart on purpose, of course, but he knows the power you have over him. It’s one that you’re perhaps not even aware of, but he feels it keenly with every word you say, every smile you send his way. It scares him sometimes, but he’s learned that it’s as impossible to escape as gravity - he can only let himself fall.

When you don’t reply even after a full minute, Kyoujurou looks down in confusion to see your eyes shut and your breaths escaping you in tiny snores.

“Oh.” His heart trips in his chest at the sight. Reaching over carefully so as not to wake you, he tugs out his haori and places it over you. Quietly, Kyoujurou picks up a few strands of your hair and presses his lips to them, eyes soft as he watches you sleep. He should probably wake you up so that you can head off your mission, but he can’t bring himself to interrupt your rest just yet.

Kyoujurou glances at the lacquered box out of the corner of his eye, at the slight burns on his fingers, before he looks down at you once more. There’s an unspeakable emotion welling in his chest. He smiles.

“I can be patient.”

>>>

You’ve been moping for an entire afternoon.

Sure, your mission ended up successful, but it fell drastically short of your usual standards. You’d been so ridiculously distracted by your own thoughts that you’d nearly let one of the demons get away - and you are a Pillar! If Shinazugawa hears about this, he’ll never let you live it down.

Groaning in frustration, you sink your face into your pillow, eyes shut tightly. Even in the darkness, you still see a familiar grin seared into your mind, those captivating golden eyes looking straight into your soul. It’s been like this for days, you blame all your distractions on Rengoku Kyoujurou. If only he wasn’t so trustworthy, so kind, so passionate, so him-

You can almost hear the way he says your name. Have you really been thinking about him so much that you’re hallucinating about his voice? With another groan, you burrow yourself deeper into the blankets. Just when had you fallen for him so hard?

“I’m sorry for dropping by without a prior notice!” His voice continues to say, and you pause in burying yourself in blankets, confused. That doesn’t quite sound like your imagination... “May I come in? I have something to tell you.”

Bolting upright in shock, you throw the covers off your head to see the outline of him through the paper screen of your door. He’s actually here! In a panic, you try to comb down your hair as quickly as possible, smoothing out your robes before you rise to open the door for him.

“You know I don’t mind it when you come by.” You scold, standing to the side to let Kyoujurou in. In truth, you want to pull out your hair - the suddenness of his visit has left your heart racing in your chest, and you’re not even dressed in decent clothes! He’s dressed casually today, one of the rare times you see him out of his uniform. “Why the sudden visit, though?”

Kyoujurou pauses for a moment, and that’s when you notice the lacquered box in his hands, a small affair elaborately carved with flower and flame motifs. “Sit first,” he urges, and though a little confused, you do as he says. To your surprise, however, Kyoujurou doesn’t sit informally in front of you - instead, he adopts the formal seiza position with both legs folded beneath him and takes a deep breath.

Quite baffled, you reach out to tug at his sleeve. “Kyo, what are you doing?”

“Please give me a moment.” You’re stunned at the solemnity of Kyoujurou’s voice, his fingers gripping the box in his hands tightly. Is he perhaps nervous about something? Rengoku Kyoujurou, who smiles even in the face of demons and bloodshed, nervous? “I must build up my courage.”

At this point, you’re almost starting to panic from all the trepidation. Did something happen with Senjurou? His father? The possibilities popping up in your head seem to only get worse and worse, but since he asked you for time, you’ll give it to him. Anxious, you play with the hem of your robe, watching as Kyoujurou closes his eyes and breathes deeply for a few seconds. Just what is it he wants to tell you?

Kyoujurou’s eyes flash open all of a sudden, almost as if flames have ignited in them, and he thrusts the box he’s holding at you with both hands and an earnest expression on his face. He parts his lips to speak.

“This is cake!”

Stunned at the volume of his declaration, you blink down at the box being offered to you, before you look back up at the man before you, taking in the way his lips are pressed tightly together, his eyes focused on the spot just above your shoulder. “This is... cake?”

There’s a sharp inhale, and Kyoujurou nods his head vigorously, still quite determinedly not meeting your eyes. “Yes! It is cake!”

Still not quite understanding why he’s so nervous about a piece of cake, you take the box from Kyoujurou carefully, flipping open the lid. To your surprise, there’s a slice of castella cake nestled inside, the top glazed with burned sugar and a small silver fork lying next to it.

“You got me cake!” Kyoujurou’s heart thumps wildly in his chest as he watches you lift the box closer, your eyes sparkling and a happy grin on your face. All those sleepless nights and failed attempts are forgotten in an instant, they’re all worth it just to see you smile like this. “Thank you, Kyoujurou!”

“I’m glad you like it!” Kyoujurou replies loudly, trying to calm his heart so that he can focus on getting the correct words out this time. “Please enjoy it!”

You beam at him, picking up the fork. “It looks a little lopsided,” you say, and Kyoujurou swallows nervously. To be honest, he hadn’t been completely satisfied with this batch, but Mitsuri had run out of eggs and he’d been forced to give up. Kneading his thighs in anticipation, he watches with bated breath as you cut a piece with the fork and lift it to your mouth, chewing it thoughtfully.

Before his thoughts can run away with him, your expression brightens and you turn to look at him, licking the crumbs off the fork. “It tastes great! The burnt sugar on top makes it really sweet, I love it.” You cut another piece, and this time, lean forward to hold it up to his lips. “Here, you try a piece too!”

You’re too close. Your scent is muddling with his head, the heat you emanate dancing along his skin - he’s too keenly aware of it. He wants to wrap you in his arms, bury his face in your hair, draw you close. But now’s not the time for that.

Very slowly, he opens his mouth and takes a bite, eyes fixed on the way you smile radiantly at him. Kyoujurou doesn’t have the heart to tell you that he can’t quite bear the taste of castella after having tested so many over the last few days. “Mm, it’s good.” He says instead, and you grin, pleased.

“So, what is it that you needed to say to me today?” You hum cheerfully as you cut yourself another slice. Ah, right, he was supposed to... Then you pause, and your eyes narrow as you squint at him. “Do you need something from me? You know I’d do it even without the cake, yes?”

“No, there is no favour I need!” Kyoujurou hastens to answer. It’s something else that he wants from you, and to ask you to give it to him would require far more than a simple slice of cake. He takes another deep breath, eyes flickering to you as you take another bite.

Say it now, Rengoku Kyoujurou. Say it!

“I-”

“Oh, you were mentioning something about confessing a few days ago.” You interrupt him, and the words are trapped in his throat once again. “How did it go? Did that special someone...” you purse your lips, “accept your affections?”

Kyoujurou looks down at the piece of castella sitting in front of you, a deep sigh rising up in his chest. “Well, no. Actually, I still have not confessed.”

“Eh?” You look at him, clearly shocked. “Why not? That’s not like you, Kyo.”

He manages a small grin, reaching out to squeeze your hand. “Perhaps because I am afraid of the possible rejection.” Kyoujurou says lightly. “I do not know what I would do if that person turns me down.”

He tells you this as casually as possible, but then you surprise him by looking up at him with those sincere eyes, clasping his hand tight in yours. “To have your affection like that, I think that person is very fortunate to be so precious to you.” You tell him earnestly, and his heart skips a beat in his chest. “Mitsuri would surely appreciate it if you tell her directly-”

Wait, Kanroji?

“The one I wanted to confess to is not Kanroji!” The words leave his mouth before he can stop them, desperate to make his feelings known to you. Was that what you were thinking the entire time? That he was interested in pursuing Kanroji? “It is you.”

There’s a clatter as the fork in your hand falls to the ground, the sound echoing in his ears. You gape at him, before you look down at the cake in your hands, and then back to him. He sees the moment the pieces fall in place, and then a little noise of realization escapes your lips.

“Oh.”

He decides to speak before his courage can abandon him completely. “I’ve been wanting to say this for a while now. Kanroji advised me to pair the confession with a gift, hence the question. I wanted to give you something you would like.” You’re still staring at him with wide eyes, a dumbfounded expression on your face. Kyoujurou swallows, fists his hands in his hakama trousers, and opens his mouth to speak.

“I love you.”

You blink owlishly at him.

“You do not have to reciprocate.” Kyoujurou reassures. His chest feels lighter now that the words that have been residing there so long are finally aired. He rises to his feet. “I just wanted to let you know of my feelings for you. Then, I will take my leave first-”

Your fingers wrap around his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

“Wait.”

He glances down at you in surprise. Your own cheeks are a beautiful hue of crimson, rosy as the rising sun, but there’s a brilliant smile on your face as you look up at him. “Are you really going to leave without letting me accept? That’s terribly rude of you.” Your laughter reminds him of tinkling bells.

“I love you too, Kyoujurou.”

He pulls you in close to kiss you, your laughter imprinted along his lips before he buries his face in your hair to hide his smile. Your lips taste like sugar, sweeter than anything else in the world.

You’re what happiness tastes like.

#MY GOD THIS IS THE SAGA OF I REALLY WANT TO DELETE BUT IT WAS TOO MUCH EFFORT NOT TO POST #rengoku #rengoku fanfic #rengoku kyojuro #kyojuro #kyoujurou #rengoku kyojuro x reader #demon slayer #demon slayer fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kimetsu rengoku #kimetsu kyojuro

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ladylouoflothlorien · 4 years ago

Note

Hey, love all your fics! They are so awesome! Could I request a Gimli/reader fic? Where the reader is also part of the fellowship and is a good friend of Aragons. Gimli likes her but thinks her and aragon is a thing but eventually finds out they aren't and that she likes him back?

Here it is anon! I hope you like it.

For whom does thy heart beat?

Pairing: Gimli x Fem!Reader

Word count: 2623

Warnings: None

“Aragorn, hand over the flint.”

He was crouched beside a slightly damp pile of sticks, trying and failing to get it to light. Aragorn turned his head to the side, watching as you settled beside him with your hand held out, palm up. He exhaled through his nose, and though he tried to make it sound exasperated it merely sounded fond.

You smiled as he placed the flint in your hand, the steel following moments later.

“You might be older than me, but you never quite mastered fire the way I did.”

As you spoke your tone was smug, teasing. It was an old argument, if it could even be called that. Aragorn didn’t reply, pretending to be above such conversation, but you didn’t need to look at him to know he’d be rolling his eyes.

You didn’t look at him, however, focusing instead on creating sparks, and soon enough you’d gotten a small fire going. The orange flames leapt upwards, eating away at some of the inky blackness inside the cave the fellowship had found to shelter in for the night.

“You see Aragorn, it’s hardly difficult.”

At last you turned your head to look up at him, a very self-satisfied smile on your lips, until Aragorn brought his hand down on the top of your head suddenly, fingers messing up the strands of your hair. You let out an indignant squawk, and set about fixing your hair immediately, not once noticing the pair of Dwarven eyes intently watching the entire interaction.

~ Gimli glanced up at you briefly when the dying orc claimed that Aragorn was dead, and what he saw in your eyes made his stomach clench uncomfortably. Your face, which was normally so expressive, was completely blank, and your eyes – which were secretly Gimli’s favourite feature of your face – were glazed over, unseeing. It appeared to him that the life had completely disappeared from you. Even so, he did not once see you shed a tear… or at least, he did not see you do so until Aragorn had made his way back – alive, somehow – to Helm’s Deep. He watched as you walked towards Aragorn, and it was clear you didn’t fully believe what you were seeing until you were close enough to dig your fingers into his tunic. You’d cried then, all the tears that had built up since hearing him pronounced dead all pouring out at once.

The dwarf had seen the look on Eowyn’s face as you’d clung to Aragorn’s chest, and as Aragorn held you close in return. He fully understood how she felt, he only hoped his feelings weren’t so plainly written on his face. Later, when he noticed Legolas return the necklace to Aragorn, Gimli had felt a brief moment of confusion. Why hadn’t the Elf given it back to you after Aragorn fell? It was obviously a token of affection that you’d once given him. He came eventually to what he considered the most logical conclusion – that Legolas had kept hold of it for safekeeping until he felt you were emotionally ready to have it back.

He’d never known emotions to be so complicated. Of course, he was relieve to have his friend delivered back to them from beyond the grave – or at least, it felt that way – in fact he was more than just relieved, he was really very happy. He was, however, almost uncontrollably jealous when he had to watch Aragorn hold you close as you cried. More than that, he was disgusted with himself for being anything other than completely ecstatic upon Aragorn’s return, because he knew himself far too well to deny that there had been just a tiny part of him that was disappointed. If Aragorn was truly gone, he might eventually have gotten the chance to woo you. After all, he’d heard that humans were – unlike Elves and Dwarves – capable of loving more than once in their lifetimes. ~

You were sitting alone beside a small fire outside your tent when Gimli came to sit beside you. Gondor had called for aid, and Rohan had – thankfully – decided to answer that call. There was still much that needed to be done, however, and after all the riding you’d been doing, you had to admit that you were quite exhausted. You were, despite your exhaustion, more than glad of Gimli’s company, as you’d developed quite a considerable fondness for the Dwarf. Aragorn had oft teased you of late that it was more than a mere fondness.

He nodded at you in greeting as he settled down, hands outstretched towards the fire. He looked just about as tired as you felt.

“What are you thinking of lassie?”

You gave him a look. He’d insisted on calling you that despite your own insistence that you were hardly young enough to warrant the term. Still, after you’d caught him calling Aragorn ‘laddie’ several times you’d warmed to the nickname considerably. You’d even overheard him call Legolas ‘lad’ once, and wasn’t that a laugh. Legolas was probably older than the rest of the fellowship combined, bar Gandalf, of course. You never had been entirely sure of the age of the sneaky old wizard.

“Nothing much really. I’m too tired to think of anything very interesting.”

He gave another nod and a slight grunt in response and you smiled. It would seem he was of the same mind. You watched as he rubbed his palms together for a moment before extending them back towards the campfire, and you found your ryes drawn to the heavy, rune-covered rings that made their homes on several of his fingers. A thought occurred to you suddenly.

“Are you married, master dwarf?”

Your question appeared to surprise him so much that he almost fell flat on his back, then, red-faced and spluttering, he managed to reply.

“No, no I’m not married. What made you ask that?”

It was your turn to blush. You could feel the heat in your cheeks, and you could only hope it was too dark for him to notice it. In an attempt to appear nonchalant, you took a deep but silent breath before replying yourself.

“Oh, no real reason… I just- your rings.”

You gestured somewhat helplessly in the vague direction of his hands.

“I have little knowledge of dwarven tradition, but humans typically wear rings to indicate their marriage status.”

You didn’t miss the way his gaze fell instantly to your hands, and you had to take another deep breath and remind yourself that it was likely because of his curiosity, nothing more.

“Your fingers are bare?”

He sounded confused, you thought. Perhaps it was just your imagination… had he believed you married? Ignoring the thought, you smiled sweetly and raised your hands, wiggling your fingers slightly.

“That would be because I’m not married, Gimli.”

His eyes widened slightly for a moment before he seemed to get his expression back under control. Maybe he really had thought you were married, though for the life of you, you couldn’t fathom why. Not wanting the silence to stretch on too long, you spoke again.

“How do dwarves show that they’re married?”

When he remained silent, you grew concerned. He appeared to be very far away in his thoughts. To regain his attention, you reached over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Gimli?”

He seemed to shake himself and snap out of whatever funk he’d fallen into, and you breathed out a silent sigh of relief. Getting too lost in your thoughts when you’d been surrounded by so much death and destruction could hardly be healthy, at least you didn’t think so. Little did you realize, he had in fact been lost in thought, but he hadn’t been thinking about death and destruction at all.

“Forgive me lassie, did you ask me a question?”

You nodded, and then repeated the question. You were rewarded for your efforts with a long and extremely interesting explanation of dwarven courting customs, and of the importance of hair and braids and beads. You’d listened intently to the whole thing, never once suspecting that the entire time he spoke, Gimli had been imagining putting a bead in your hair.

The war was won, Sauron was defeated, and Aragorn was preparing for his coronation later in the day. Despite all this good news, Gimli found that he was not entirely satisfied. He could find no evidence that you were going to be included in the coronation. In fact, any evidence he had found on the subject seemed to suggest the exact opposite. When he’d first discovered that you and Aragorn were not, in fact, married, Gimli had felt practically overwhelmed with hope, but it hadn’t taken long for him to berate himself. The fact that the two of you weren’t yet married didn’t necessarily indicate a lack of commitment. After some thought, Gimli had realised that you were probably waiting for some stability, and he’d decided that it wasn’t his place to judge either of his good friends for making such a decision.

Now, however, he could conceive of no valid reason as to why Aragorn should not end your waiting and as you to marry him, and then furthermore to include you in the coronation ceremony. Gimli did not see the point of Aragorn being coronated alone, when no doubt all that would lead to would be a whole other ceremony when you inevitably would need to be crowned Queen. Gimli’s annoyance and concern abated somewhat when he noticed that you appeared perfectly happy as you rushed about helping Aragorn to prepare. Perhaps, he mused, the two of you did have some other reason for this course of action. Perhaps you had already discussed the matter at length behind closed doors. Perhaps even this whole thing was your idea, and you wouldn’t take kindly to his concerned which, he realised, could be unfairly removing your agency in the situation and your ability to decide for yourself what you wanted. He chastised himself, and resolved to try and think no more about it.

The time of the coronation arrive, and it truly was a beautiful affair. Gimli wasn’t too proud to admit it brought a tear to his eye more than once.

The ceremony was not, however, beautiful enough that it could prevent the small stab of annoyance when those blasted Elves showed up and seemed to make the whole thing about them. This was Aragorn’s special day, and if anyone else was going to make it about them, then that person should surely be you. But wait! What on Middle Earth? Aragorn was… kissing that Elf? Gimli looked to you immediately, horrified, but you merely seemed… happy for him?

The dwarf suddenly realised that almost everything he knew and believed as to the nature of the relationship between you and Aragorn was based on assumptions, and as it appeared to turn out, incorrect assumptions at that.

The rest of the ceremony passed by him in something of a blur. He barely noticed when everyone bowed down, his body moving automatically to follow the movements of everyone around him. Later, when he’d finally pulled himself together, he realised that he needed to talk to you as soon as possible. He’d made his peace with loving you silently from the side-lines when he believed that you and Aragorn were in a committed relationship, but now he knew that wasn’t the case, he had to speak. He knew if he didn’t speak soon, he’d soon feel as though his emotions were overwhelming him once again.

It was dusk, and you were leaning over a pale stone wall watching the daylight slowly fade out of the city below and around you. You didn’t even notice the dwarf walking over to you until he cleared his throat. When you looked at him, he seemed nervous, and that wasn’t a look you’d seen on him very often.

“Is there something I can do for you, master dwarf?”

You asked, trying to sound light-hearted in a way that might prevent the genuine concern you felt from sneaking into your voice. Gimli smiled at you, but the expression seemed a little too forced. He muttered something under his breath, but didn’t attempt to say anything at a volume you’d actually be able to hear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

He muttered something again, shuffled where he stood, and finally held out his hand to you. There was something resting in the centre of his palm.

“For you, if you’ll take it.”

You looked closer at what was resting in his palm, and when you realised it was a bead, your mind instantly went back to the conversation you’d had with him about dwarven courting customs and your face went bright red. Still, you weren’t going to let any shyness get in the way of what you wanted. Without wasting time, you reached out and picked up the bead. Before your eyes, you saw the tension practically bleed out of him. Gimli let out a somewhat shaky breath and then you watched as an almost blinding smile took over his entire face.

“Don’t you need to braid this into my hair?”

The two of you made your way over to a bench where you could rest whilst Gimli took care of the braiding. You knew exactly what this gesture meant, and whilst it was a little sudden and unexpected, you couldn’t deny that you’d wanted it for a while, and if you felt his hands tremble slightly as he ran his fingers through your hair… well, you certainly weren’t going to mention it. Still, you felt as though the silence had dragged on long enough.

“Have you liked me for very long, master dwarf?”

More muttering, and then you heard him clear his throat.

“Aye lass, I have.”

You couldn’t help the smile that tugged at your lips, and yet you were also a little confused.

“Why did you wait this long to tell me? Were you waiting until Sauron was defeated?”

You snuck a glance at him, and were delighted to find that his cheeks were almost as red as his hair. After a brief pause, he replied quietly.

“I thought…” He paused again, and you could tell he was deeply embarrassed by what he was trying to say.

“I thought you and Aragorn were…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to, you could tell what he meant. Despite yourself, you burst out laughing. Gimli frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together in a mock display of annoyance, but to you the expression looked far to suspiciously like a pout.

“Oh sweet Eru, me and Aragorn? He practically helped raise me.”

Gimli’s eyebrows lifted suddenly. That certainly brought new context to your interactions with the now-crowned King of Gondor.

“You know, I think he might actually have been in the room when I was born. We’ve become more like friends since I’ve been of age, but some part of me will always see him as my uncle Aragorn. That’s what I used to call him, even though he’s not really my family.”

Beside you, you finally heard Gimli’s deep chuckle as he too began to see the humour in the situation. His fingers left your hair then, and you reached up to gently run your own over the braid and the bead sitting safely at the end of it. It was the start of something serious with the dwarf you’d grown to love over the past year, and you could hardly wait.

Later, when the two of you found yourselves in the company of other people once again, Aragorn was the very first person to wish you both well.

The End. Permanent Tags: @sweeticedtea @cd1242 @strongandfreedc @pixierox101 @jotink78 @luna-xial @underthemoon-n @anangelwhodidntfall @marvelschriss

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years ago

Text

Desiderium

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter One

A JSE Fanfic

Hey! Hey! New AU! :D I’m really excited for it! As you can probably tell from the title, this is a fantasy-themed one. Taking place in the kingdom known as Glasúil, where magic and strange creatures are common, a man called Chase lives a simple life in a mountain village with his family. But of course, something just has to happen, and, well...you’ll see next chapter ;) Feel free to ask me anything about this AU, even though it’s still in its early stages I have a lot of ideas that I’m eager to share!

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The forest floor was blanketed in a layer of fallen leaves, red and orange and yellow matching the colors of those still on the tree branches. Bushes and shrubs made the terrain difficult for most people. But a single rabbit hopped across the ground, unhindered by the underbrush and making no sound on the crunchy fallen leaves. It stopped by a small bush, sniffed its leaves, and started to nibble on them.

Thwip! An arrow suddenly appeared next to the rabbit. It had barely landed when the rabbit was already running, darting off quickly. “Wait, no! No!” Someone shouted. A man appeared, shooting to his feet from where he’d been hiding behind a nearby bush. He nocked another arrow and let it loose, but it missed by a mile, landing in the trunk of a nearby tree. The rabbit was already gone.

“Damn it,” Chase cursed, looking down at his arm. That last shot had been sloppy; if he wasn’t wearing his arm guard, the bow string could’ve really hurt him. He tightened the guard straps and went to collect the arrows from where they’d landed. The one that hit the tree had its point chipped a bit. “Damn it,” he said again, whispering this time. If he kept chipping arrows, he’d have to buy more, and they couldn’t afford that right now.

Maybe he’d missed because it was starting to get dark. Chase looked through the branches of the trees towards the sky. He could see the rosy hint of a sunset in the distance. Well, if that wasn’t a sign that it was time to head back, he didn’t know what was. He’d already checked the snares he’d set up yesterday and set up new ones; there was nothing more to do. Disappointed, he turned back and headed east, towards town. Hopefully tomorrow he’d find more in the forest than three squirrels and a rabbit that he failed to shoot.

The trees soon thinned. Chase walked down a familiar slope of land and quickly saw the familiar buildings at the edge of town. Well, it wasn’t really a town. It was too small for that. It was actually a village, but people called it Hilltown, and so naturally it was shortened to just town. People said things like “Hey I’m heading back to town,” or “The millers live on the edge of town.” That might be confusing in a more urban setting, where there were more cities and towns close together, but they lived in the mountains. The village was the only “town” for miles.

Chase slipped in between two buildings and officially entered the village. These buildings were made of wood, and a bit rickety due to being built on sloping ground. When the village was founded, it was first built on a relatively flat area. But as it slowly grew, it had to creep upwards onto the incline that led up to the forest. The way the buildings continued onto the slope was the reason people started calling it Hilltown, though Chase had never been fond of the name.

“Hey! Is that you, Chase?”

“Huh?” Chase stopped, and looked around. He quickly spotted the source of the call: an older man, with a black beard streaked with gray, standing in the doorway of a house. “Hi, Kieran. How’re you doing?”

“Doing fine, boy,” Kieran said good-naturedly. “Come back from hunting so soon?”

“Well it is sunset. Do you expect me to shoot in the dark?” Chase commented, raising an eyebrow.

Kieran chuckled. “So...did you shoot any beaver today?”

“No, Kieran, there are no beavers in the mountains,” Chase sighed. The older man had been living here for three years, and he couldn’t seem to grasp that.

“Ah, if you say so,” Kieran waved away. “If you ever do catch one—”

“—I can bring the pelt to you, I know,” Chase finished. And again, he’d been offering that same proposal for three years.

“That’s the spirit! I’ll be seeing you around.”

“Be seeing you.”

Chase headed onward. As the ground started to level out, the buildings became sturdier, with more made of stone bricks, and grew closer together. The streets weren’t paved, but they were cleared, dusty paths well-trod. A few people were out, though not as many as there would have been earlier in the day. Mostly small kids running around and a few people taking turns getting water at the well in the center of the town. Chase waved at them, and they nodded back. One of them, Terrance the tailor, called out “How’re you doing?” and Chase answered, “Doing fine!”

Shortly after passing by the well, he came across the tallest building in town, and was once again stopped by someone calling his name. “Mister Chase!”

He stopped and turned to face the building: the temple. The couple that ran it were standing outside the doorway. One of them, Mother Aoife, was waving at him. “Hello, Mother. Is everything alright?”

“Oh, well, can I ask you a question?” Mother Aoife said. She gestured at the entrance. “Do you think we’d have room for another holy symbol up there?”

“Uh...” Chase took a step back. The doorway to the temple had two symbols on either side of it, showing that members of either faith could practice inside. To the left was a blue candle, almost as long as a person’s arm, burning and dripping wax. To the right were two interlocking circles the size of someone’s head: one gold-ish with small triangles around the edge, one silver-ish with a line down the center. “I mean...I guess you could put one above the door.”

“No, we can’t do that!” Mother Aoife said. “That would imply that one faith is higher than the others.”

“Right. Then, I’m guessing it would be the same if you put a symbol in the space beneath one of the other two?”

“Exactly.”

“I told you it wouldn’t work.” Pastor Cait frowned. She was the other leader at the temple, and was Mother Aoife’s wife. They’d actually held two ceremonies, one for each of their respective faiths. That day had been one of the most active days Hilltown had seen in the past ten years. “Besides, nobody in town follows the Forger.”

“But it is becoming popular with those down in the flatlands of Glasúil,” Mother Aoife insisted. “What if someone comes to visit and spread the faith?”

“Well, neither of us even know anything about the Forge, anyway,” Pastor Cait pointed out.

“We could always find someone.”

“That runs into the problem of nobody in town following the Forger.”

“Um...is that all you wanted me for?” Chase asked awkwardly.

“Oh no, I just thought I’d ask you first,” Mother Aoife said. “Stacia stopped by. She said to tell you that she was leaving early and would be home when you were done hunting.”

“Really? That’s strange.” Stacia usually worked all day, and with the fall harvest coming up, she’d probably be out on the farms from sunrise to sunset. “Why?”

“She said something about Quentin,” Mother Aoife said, frowning as she tried to remember. “I think he might’ve been getting sick? There was something wrong.”

Chase felt his heart drop, leaving his chest cold. “Why didn’t you start with that?!”

“Well, I—” Mother Aoife’s explanation was wasted. Chase was already running.

It wasn’t too far from here. He sprinted down the street, not bothering to look at any of the people he passed by, heading for the other edge of town. The buildings started to spread out again, small patches of vegetable gardens dotting the rows of low stone houses. He kept running until he reached his own, recognizing the garden of radishes outside and the rough chalk drawings on the stones outside, drawn by children. Without waiting, he threw open the wooden door and rushed inside.

“Dad?” Amabel, his daughter, was sitting on the edge of the rough wooden table, carefully trying to tie the end of a string into a loop.

“Hi, Amy. Where’s your mother and brother?” Chase asked.

“Bedroom,” Amabel said, pointing at the doorway, blocked off by a hanging length of cloth.

“Thanks.” Chase ruffled her red hair as he walked past, not wasting any time and ducking underneath the cloth. “What happened? Is it bad?!”

Stacia looked up, clearly surprised. “Chase? What do you mean what happened?”

“Mother Aoife, down at the temple, she said that you said something happened with Quentin a-and that you were leaving early because of it,” Chase hurried through the explanation. “Is everything okay?!”

“Did she...well I guess it would sound bad if that’s all she said,” Stacia muttered. “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

“Hi Dad!” Quentin was lying in the big double-bed that Chase and Stacia usually shared, propped up against the wooden frame. Their thick winter quilt was wrapped around him, his little face and dark curls being the only thing to poke out of the patchwork cloth.

“He fell in the water trough for Rainer’s sheep when I looked away,” Stacia explained, sighing. “Got pretty wet.”

“There was a goat staring at me!” Quentin said. He didn’t seem any worse for wear.

“It’ll probably be fine, but considering his...constitution, I-I thought it’d be best if I took the rest of the day off to keep an eye on him.” Stacia pulled the blanket up over Quentin’s head, much to his delight.

All the tension immediately drained from Chase’s body. He stumbled against the wall, losing his balance in the flood of relief. “Oh thank the elders,” he breathed.

Stacia stood up. She walked over to the bedroom window—the only one in their cottage to have glass—and made sure it was firmly closed. Then she turned to face Chase. “Did you...did you get back to town early and decide to check on us?”

“No, I just got back, I ran all the way here,” Chase said, catching his breath for the first time.

“Oh.” Stacia glanced at the arrows in his quiver, then at the three squirrels he had slung over his back. “Sorry, I guess I just thought, since you didn’t seem to find that much—”

“It’s fall, Stacy, animals are starting to hibernate,” Chase said, rubbing his eyes.

“Right. I always forget that.” Stacia nodded.

“How are things going at the farm?”

“Alright. Busy. You know, Jane told me that down in the flatlands, where it’s warmer, they grow potatoes through the winter. Which makes sense, but it’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Yea, pretty strange.” Chase stood up straight. “Well, I’m going to go take care of these squirrels.”

“Oh!” Stacia’s eyes widened. “Wait, before you do, do you remember that you’re going to start teaching Amabel shooting on Hunt’s Day?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” Chase assured her. “I already have a great spot marked out.”

Stacia let out a breath. “Good. With everything today, I almost forgot until now.”

“Well, clearly Amabel didn’t forget. I saw her trying to make a bow string in the main room.” Chase smiled. “It looked pretty good, for her first time doing it on her own.”

“Wonderful.” Stacia turned back to Quentin, who was picking at the seams of the quilt. “Now go take care of those squirrels. Are you going to make dinner or should I?”

“Uh. You seem busy, I’ll do it,” Chase offered. “Right after the squirrels.”

It was well into the night by the time everyone was settled down. Quentin was fine, he hadn’t caught a cold, which was a huge relief. He’d been born a bit weaker than other children, and didn’t have as much energy as them. He often fell ill, and it was always a worry to Chase and Stacia. Amabel was heartier, but she was a quiet child. She often wandered about on her own, and was very familiar with the layout of Hilltown and the potato farms on the edge of the village, where many people worked, including Stacia. At ten years old, it was about time for her to start taking up more serious chores, and she’d asked Chase to take her hunting more than once. Of course, she had to learn to shoot first, and luckily for her, he was ready to teach her soon.

They had mutton for dinner, which they’d traded for with Rainer. Chase had managed to shoot down a bird last week, and the farmer had gladly traded a sheep for that. Now they were all sitting, taking the time to rest. Stacia was sitting in the rocking chair, patching up a hole in one of her tunics, while Amabel and Quentin were sitting by the stone fireplace, both of them now under the winter quilt.

“Don’t get too close, kids,” Chase called from his position near the window, where he was drawing their curtains closed. “A spark could fly and catch that fabric on fire.”

“It’s fine,” Amabel said, pulling the blanket closer and wrapping it around her and Quentin’s legs. “Dad, we need new curtains, those are old.”

“I know, Amy,” Chase muttered, glancing at the threadbare fabric. “But we can’t get any right now, so we’re keeping these until they fall apart.”

“Hmm.” Amabel hummed. “Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Can we have a story?”

At that suggestion, Quentin perked up. “A story! Yes!”

Chase’s eyes lit up. “Oh, well, I guess we could have one.”

Stacia looked up. “It’s late. And you need your sleep, Quentin, just in case.”

“It’ll be a short one, then,” Chase said. He walked over and sat down in one of the three rickety wooden chairs by the table. The kids spun around so their backs were to the fireplace and scooted a bit closer, though not out of range for the heat of the fire. “Where do you want your story to be from tonight? Down in the flatlands? Maybe along the coast or in the ocean? Or even in Suilthair, where the king lives?”

“What about...here?” Amabel suggested. “In the mountains?”

“Hmm...” Chase stroked his chin, fingers running along his beard hair. “You know what? I think I could work with that.”

Quentin cheered. Amabel stayed quiet, but she leaned forward, ready to hear. Stacia sighed quietly, continuing to patch, but occasionally glanced upwards, showing she was listening as well.

“Do you know what our mountain range is called in the flatlands? It’s just home to us, but to them, we live in the Dragon’s Teeth.” Chase paused for Quentin to gasp. “It’s called that for two reasons. One, because of how high and pointy they are, looking a bit like teeth. Two, because years and years ago, before people moved up into the mountains, dragons lived here.”

“What?!” Quentin whispered. “Big dragons?! Like in the warrior story?”

“Even bigger! Because up in the mountains they had a ton of space to grow into. They lived in caves, and each dragon had its own mountain.” Chase smiled. “Of course, there aren’t any dragons anymore. At least, not in our kingdom. Who knows? Maybe there are more across the seas. But dragons were very magical, and a whole bunch of other magical creatures gathered around the spaces where they used to live, sucking up all the leftover magic.”

“Do wizards get their magic from dragons?” Amabel asked.

Chase shrugged. “I don’t know. Our family’s not that magical, so I never learned that. Maybe you could find that out one day.”

Amabel nodded, her little eyes determined to answer this question someday.

“But even though there aren’t any dragons anymore, there are a lot of other creatures. You know what I always say to do if something bad happens in town?”

“Run to the forest,” the kids said in unison.

“Exactly.” Chase nodded. “Mom and I will come find you. And if nothing’s happened by the next sunset, you come back to town on your own.” That last part was added at Stacia’s request, since she was concerned about food and woodland animals. “You know all the rules about avoiding wolves and bears, but...there are magical things in the forest. So I have three more rules for you: if a deer has golden antlers, don’t bother it. If you see a horse out on its own, don’t touch it. And if you hear a woman crying, don’t go after it.”

Quentin nodded, but Amabel tilted her head to the side. “Why? And that last one, what if it’s Mom?”

“Well, you could recognize Mom’s voice,” Chase said. “I mean if it sounds like a strange woman. Because that might not be a woman at all. That could be a banshee. They won’t mean you any harm on their own, but if they see you, they’ll try to tell you about coming tragedies. Sounds like a good warning, right? Except that hearing this warning makes the tragedy more likely to happen. So you should stay away. One time, while I was out hunting about, um...ten years ago, before you were born. I was out with Micheal down the bend, we heard someone crying. I decided to walk away, but Micheal chased after it, and when he came back he said he found a banshee. And the next morning, very suddenly, his mother died.”

“Oh no,” Quentin breathed. “What about the other two?”

“A deer with golden antlers probably isn’t a deer at all. It could be the Elder Horned One in disguise. If you disturb him, you could find yourself whisked away to join his hunters. And a horse out on its own definitely isn’t a horse at all. It’s actually a kelpie. And if you touch a kelpie, you’ll get stuck to it. It’ll run into the nearest water and drag you under, and you won’t be able to let go.”

“Alright, I think that’s enough for the night,” Stacia said, standing up. “Amabel, Quentin, you’re all washed up?”

“Yes, Mom,” they said in unison.

“Good. Off to bed with you.” Stacia hurried the kids over to the corner, where the small bed the two of them shared was tucked against the wall. “We’ll be seeing you in the morning,” she said, pulling back the blankets and tucking them in once the kids were under.

Chase wandered over. “Good night, Quen. Good night, Amy.” He gave them each a kiss on the forehead.

“Good night Dad,” Amabel said. Quentin was already yawning, face buried in the pillow. “Good night Mom.”

“Good night,” Stacia said, giving her and Quentin a kiss as well.

With that, the two adults retreated to the separate bedroom, quickly getting ready for bed. “You ended that story abruptly,” Chase commented.

“Well you did say they were going to get drowned by a kelpie,” Stacia pointed out.

“No, I said that they wouldn’t be if they didn’t touch it. It was a cautionary tale.”

“Still, not the best to hear at night.” Stacia ran a comb through her hair. “And also, I don’t think we should tell them to go into the forest anymore. Not without an adult there.”

“Really?” Chase frowned. “Why?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Oh, come on, Stacy. I know it is, but you can’t tell me you didn’t run around the forest when you were their age. I know I did, and I walked out. Michael did. Terrance did. Wendy and Emilia did.”

“Things are different now,” Stacia said slowly. She shifted uneasily on her feet, then glanced out the window, as if making sure nobody was outside. “Look, you know Rose, Aodhan’s wife?”

“No, but I definitely know Aodhan, he runs the potato farms.”

“Well, Rose is married to him. The past week, she’s been working with us for the harvest, and...she says there are...new things in the forest.”

Chase paused. He’d been about to blow out the candle in the sconce by the door, but something about the way Stacia said that made him pause. “Like...what?”

“Townsfolk have been seeing the figures of...people,” Stacia whispered. “But not your regular, everyday people. These ones carry weapons, a-and they wear...masks. Masks shaped like animal faces. They move quickly and silently, and some think that they’re spirits of some kind.”

“I’ve...never heard of spirits wearing animal masks,” Chase said in a low voice.

“Neither have I. But here’s the thing: Rose doesn’t believe those rumors.” Stacia paused. “Did you know there’s trouble down in the flatlands? People are...unhappy. With how the king is running things.”

“What? That’s strange,” Chase muttered. “I remember hearing that he’s the best king Glasúil ever had.” Though now that he was thinking about it, it had been a while since he’d heard something like that.

“Well, it’s trouble either way to have people thinking that about a king,” Stacia said firmly. “And Rose thinks that these spirits in masks are just people running around the forest, hiding out, being rebels. And that’s dangerous, Chase. Animals and magic behave by certain rules you can expect, but people...you just don’t know with them.”

“I guess you’re right,” Chase muttered. He paused, then blew out the candle and headed back towards bed. “Well, I haven’t seen any of these masked spirits. And I’m in the forest every day. So it’s probably nothing to worry about yet.”

“That forest is big, Chase,” Stacia said, clearly worried despite his reassurance. “You’ve probably only explored a tiny part of it, and the same goes for anyone else in town.”

That was true. Even in his farthest hunting trips, he’d only gone far enough to find his way back to Hilltown relatively quickly. “I still say it’ll be fine,” he reiterated. “I don’t see why any rebels would bother us, even if they were out there.” He climbed into bed. “If I see something weird when I’m out tomorrow, I’ll reconsider it. Besides, it’s not good to think about things like this before bed, as you pointed out to the kids.”

Stacia sighed, and got into bed as well, pulling the blankets up. “I just...don’t want anything to happen to them.”

Chase nodded. “I don’t either,” he agreed softly. Then he took a deep breath. “Good night, Stacy.”

“Good night, Chase.” Stacia leaned over and blew out the candle on the bedside table, leaving the room dark except for the moonlight coming through the window.

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

The next morning went the same as every other morning. The family had breakfast, either Stacia or Chase went out to manage the garden while the other took care of the kids—today it was Chase for the former and Stacia for the latter, though they switched every other day—then Stacia got ready to go to the farms and Chase got ready to go hunting. As always, the kids went with Stacia, wandering around within eyesight and earshot of her while she worked. Though Chase could tell Amabel was eager to start going into the more dangerous forest with her dad, judging by the way she kept looking at her miniature bow, still unstrung. He ruffled her hair and reminded her that Hunt’s Day was just two days away, then headed off, waving goodbye to Stacia and the kids.

Passing through town was the same as ever as well. Some people were lined up at the well, as they always seemed to be. It looked as though the temple was unchanged, so clearly Mother Aoife and Pastor Cait had resolved their issue. Kieran waved goodbye as Chase walked past, and reminded him to look for beavers to shoot.

And from there...the day was largely uneventful. Which was not good. Hunting was always a lot of waiting and wandering and being quiet, occasionally interrupted by action as you aimed and shot at an animal. But in the fall like this, that last bit of action was becoming rarer. And it didn’t help that it was really starting to get cold. Chase could see his breath in the air in front of him, and he kept pulling his felt hat down over his head. It was old, and almost nobody else in town had one like it, but he kept it because it had a handy brim for blocking the sun. It was also good for cold days like these, when he hadn’t grabbed his jacket because he mistakenly believed it would be as warm today as it was yesterday.

The sun passed overhead. Chase stopped around midday to have a lunch of bread and jerky, then moved on. He stopped by his usual snares, but found that nothing had stumbled into them. Not even a few squirrels like the day before. Growing frustrated, and more than a little desperate, he wandered farther into the forest, but still found nothing. This was bad. Sure, they had a stockpile of preserved meat and jerky from his hunts during the summer, but that would run out eventually. And what if Quentin got sick, and needed something more hearty than dried, stringy meat? What would they do then?

It was starting to get late when he saw it. Just a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Chase stiffened, and slowly turned. There, right in between two trees, fully in view of him...was a deer. Its coat was dark brown, almost black, and it was grazing peacefully, not paying him the least bit of attention. It had been a few weeks since he’d seen a deer. That was a bit unusual, really. But it didn’t matter anymore. There was one here now. Slowly, he drew his bow.

The deer raised its head and started to walk away. Carefully, Chase followed it. He stepped carefully, making sure there were no twigs or crunchy fallen leaves before putting his foot down. After a while, the deer stopped again, grazing for a bit. Chase made sure he was in a good position, then raised his bow and reached towards the quiver on his hip. Then the deer started walking away again.

Chase followed it, for longer than he probably should have. The shadows grew more slanted, then started to take over, but he kept following the deer. Every time he got into a good position to shoot and started to grab an arrow, it moved on. After a while, it felt like a game. A game of...chase. He almost laughed when the thought occurred to him, but stopped just in time to catch the sound.

It was well into dusk when the deer wandered into a small circular clearing. Chase stopped, still hidden by the trees, and gritted his teeth to stop them from chattering. Once the sun went behind the mountains in autumn, the temperature dropped rapidly. But it wouldn’t be long now. He had to get this deer. They needed it. And now it was just standing there, ears twitching. Chase raised the bow again, and this time when he reached for an arrow, he pulled it out and slowly nocked it, steadying his stance to take aim.

But then...no, something was different. The deer’s antlers...had they gotten bigger? More...curvy? Chase paused, puzzled. Then he took a closer look.

The antlers were...glinting. He was sure they were ordinary bone before, but now they looked almost...golden.

Gasping, Chase instantly let go of his bow and arrow. They landed in the undergrowth with soft thumps.

The deer’s ears stopped twitching. But instead of running away, it turned around. And it looked at him. And there was something different about its dark, dark eyes. Different from other deer eyes, from other animal eyes, that Chase had seen before.

He slowly raised his hands. “I—I didn’t kn—”

The deer looked away from him, turnin to the side, staring off into the distance. Then it broke into a run in the opposite direction, hooves making no sound on the forest floor.

For a long, long while, Chase just stood there, shivering, breath pluming in the air. Had that...really happened? Or had he just imagined it because he’d been out in the cold for so long? After some time, he bent over and picked up his bow and the arrow he’d dropped, putting them away. Well, it was also dark. He could’ve been just...seeing things in the moonlight. And speaking of moonlight, he should really be heading home by now. He was late. Now...which way was it?

He’d wandered a long way following that deer. It was dark and he wasn’t as familiar with this part of the forest as he was with areas closer to home. So by the time he found his way back, it was definitely night, no longer twilight. Stacia and the kids must be so worried. Chase picked up the pace.

Wait...if it was night, then why was there an orange glow in the distance? It was well past sunset. Chase squinted, and in a split second, he realized a few things: First, the glow was coming from the direction of Hilltown. Second, even if it was sunset, the forest was west of town, and therefore the town wouldn’t be between him and the sunset. Third, he was getting closer to the glow. Closer in a way that just didn’t happen with a setting sun. His heart froze. And he burst into a flat run, easily clearing the edge of the forest.

The village was on fire.

Chase just stood and gaped for a moment, feeling the heat from here. The wooden buildings that ran up the sloping ground were all ablaze. He could see dark shapes in the streets, and the figures of people running around, with—horses? A lot of horses. There were only about four in the whole town, and this was definitely more than that.

Snapping out of the daze, he ran, but in his haste, lost footing on the uneven ground and fell, tumbling head over heels for a bit before he managed to stop himself. “Ow...” he groaned, lifting himself up and coming face to face with the flames. Quickly, he threw himself backwards, scrambling to a safe distance.

Now that he was closer, he could definitely make out what was happening. The dark shapes on the ground between the burning buildings...were bodies. He couldn’t recognize anyone, but then again, he couldn’t bring himself to look for any longer than necessary. And there were strangers wandering around. Some on foot, some on horses, but all wearing chain mail armor underneath dark tunics. Chase stared at them, wide-eyed. The strangers were shouting. To each other? To their horses? To anyone left? It was hard to tell.

But they hadn’t noticed Chase. Quickly getting to his feet, he started running around the edge of town. He had to get home! At this time of night, Stacia would be there, Quentin and Amabel would be there—were they okay?! They had to be okay! He didn’t know what he would do if—He wouldn’t forgive himself if he was away and missed being able to help them.

Going around town was a lot slower than going through it, but everything—everything—was on fire. Even the stone buildings! How was that possible?! If the stone buildings were on fire, their cottage could—he pushed himself to run faster.

He couldn’t avoid it anymore. He had to run into the town to get home. But the smoke—even from here, his eyes were watering. So he took his hat off and pressed it to his face, filtering it before he could breathe it in. And he plunged into the raging flames. Even staying in the center of the path, the heat was almost unbearable. But Stacia—Quentin, Amabel—

The cottage. Their home. It was also on fire. The old curtains were ash, the vegetable garden was a raging inferno. “Stacia!” Chase shouted. “Stacy! Quentin! Amabel! Stacy! Quen! Amy! Where are you?!”

Voices. Chase turned and saw some of those strangers nearby, one on a horse. And...he hadn’t noticed this before, but there was a symbol on the back of their dark tunics. A shield, black and blue striped, with a green circle in the center, a black dot in the center of that. The symbol was—it was—the symbol for their kingdom, the kingdom of Glasúil. Chase had never seen it in person, but everyone grew up learning of that insignia. And they also learned that, while local militia may wear a simplified green ring on their clothes, only soldiers working directly for the royal family were allowed to wear the full crest.

Chase recalled this fact dimly, but it didn’t really register. One of the strangers—the soldiers—started to turn around. And gasping, coughing a bit, Chase turned and ran right back out of town, never stopping until he was well clear of the last few houses, out onto the potato fields. In the distance, he saw the house of Aodhan and Rose, the farm owners. It was also on fire.

What was he supposed to do now?! Stacia, and the kids...were they...? No, no they couldn’t be.

The forest.

He’d told the kids to run into the forest if there was ever any danger in town. And sure, Stacia was concerned about rebels in the woods and those strange masked figures, but in the face of this? Maybe she would do the same. Well...it was all he could think of. The only straw he could grasp. Stumbling, Chase turned around and ran back the way he came.

The trees enveloped him in a strange sense of calm, a world removed from the blazing horrors of the burning town. He stumbled for a moment, tripping over some brush, then ran faster. “Stacia! Quentin! Amabel!” he yelled. Even with the distant light from the flaming ruins of the village, the trees above blocked out most of the light, leaving him in shadows. His eyes darted about for any movement. “Where are you?! Can you hear me?”

Abandoning all his hunter’s instincts telling him to stay quiet, he ran through the woods, staggering over brush and rocks that he couldn’t see in the darkness. “Can you hear me?! Answer me! Stacy! Quen! Amy!” Chase’s cries pierced through the silence. There was no sign of them. Maybe they’d gone farther. Thinking that, he plunged deeper into the trees.

Things quickly became unfamiliar. Whether it was because of the distance or because of the darkness, he couldn’t say. But the strangeness only spurred him on. What if his family was lost out here? Alone in the woods? He’d taught the kids something about foraging for food, but not enough, not in this situation. And Stacia was a farmer, not a hunter or a forester. He had to find them. He had to—

Chase noticed the lack of ground beneath his foot a split second after stepping forward. Then he fell. Luckily, it wasn’t off a cliff, but he did land with a loud splash! as he fell into some shallow water. Pebbles and rocks bit into this arms as he extended them out to brace for impact. He sat up, spluttering, now completely soaked. What was this, a stream? A pond? He couldn’t quite see in the dark, but he did know one thing: there were no streams or ponds near the town, and certainly not in the parts of the forest he knew.

Securing his hat, he stood up. His bow and quiver knocked against his side, and he then realized that the fall had caused most of his arrows to fall out. Well...that wouldn’t be good in the future. But he couldn’t see where they’d fallen into the water, and there was no time. He pressed onward.

The trees were close together, heavy branches blocking out the sun. Chase kept his arms out in front of him, to make sure he didn’t run into a trunk. If he couldn’t even see the trees, he definitely wouldn’t be able to see a person. And they wouldn’t be able to see him. “Stacia! Kids! A-are you out h-here?” He gritted his teeth to stop them from chattering. It was cold before, and now it was later, and he was wet, making it positively freezing. “Stacy! K-kids! Are you here?!” But he kept going.

The rush of emotion was starting to fade. He was getting tired. Maybe if he took a rest...no! No, what could be happening to them while he rested?! And besides, he’d be easy prey for any predators out here if he slept. He staggered forward. The forest was practically pitch black, but he kept shouting, his voice growing hoarse, and hoping to hear a reply.

The underbrush must be thicker here, because he kept tripping up. He fell down twice, but pulled himself to his feet and went onward. His hands were shaking...shivering. “S...Sta-asha. Quen...Quentnn…Ammbel,” he mumbled. It was hard to keep his eyes open. Where was he? Shouldn’t he...shouldn’t he have found some town by now? No, the forest went on for...for acres. He knew this. How could he forget...“Plea...pl’se...say y’r here...I...wher...?”

He couldn’t...couldn’t stop now. He needed to find them. Couldn’t...leave them. On their own. He kept pressing onward. It was getting so hard...he had to use the trees for support sometimes. Stop to take a break. But not to give up. “Can’...give up...St-stace...Quen...Am...ple-please...”

And once again, he stepped somewhere without support. But now he couldn’t even register it. He just knew he was falling, rolling down, down a hill. Coming to a stop when he hit...something. A tree? Those felt like...roots, beneath him. His arm moved a bit, trying to grab something to pull himself up. Fingers drifted across a bark-covered surface, but couldn’t...couldn’t grab. So his arm fell back down. Maybe...he should rest for just a few minutes.

But after just a few seconds of staying still, he heard a strange rustling sound. Raising his head weakly, he saw...a strange sight indeed. People. No, not quite people. Human bodies, dressed in dark clothes...but with white-feathered bird faces where heads should be. Four or five of them...Wait. No, not bird heads. Bird masks. Masks made out of some sort of white material. Hadn’t...hadn’t he heard something about masks recently?

The masked figures drew closer. Chase stared up at them. He was so...so tired. He wouldn’t be able to run even if the thought had managed to...to get through.

One of them knelt down next to him, pulling off a glove. They pressed a pair of fingers to his neck, and he shivered. He wasn’t cold anymore. Or he was, but this bird person’s hands were colder.

They stood up again, and turned to the others. He heard the sound of voices, but his head couldn’t process the words. What were they...were they hear to...help? Or...?

He was too tired to think about it. He let his head fall back to the forest floor.

The last thing Chase felt before losing consciousness was the sudden lift of someone picking him up.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #brigid writes fanfiction #fantasymasksau

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dialovers-translations · 4 years ago

Text

Diabolik Lovers VANDEAD CARNIVAL ;; Ruki Route ー Chapter 3

ー The scene starts in the bushes around Saint Nore Park

Ruki: Haah...Oi, Yui. Are you alright?

Yui: Y-Yeah...

Ruki: For now, I doubt they’ll easily be able to track us down right here.

Yui: Ruki-kun...I’m sorry.

Ruki: Why do you apologize?

Yui: Because all of this happened because I injured myself...

( He only just told me to stay on guard, so I’m sure he’s upset, huh...? )

I’m so sorry.

Ruki: ...Haah.

No need to apologize.

Show me your arm.

Yui: Eh? Sure...

*Rustle rustle*

Ruki: ...It’s bleeding.

Yui: Yeah...But it’s just a scratch. I’m sure the bleeding will stop soon.

So it’s fine.

Ruki: It isn’t, is it?

I’ll stop the bleeding for now. ...Don’t move, okay?

Nn...

Yui: ...!?

( He’s licking the wound... )

Ruki: Did I not just tell you to keep still? ...I guess this much won’t do.

Yui: Wait, Ruki-kun!

Ruki: Oi, don’t pull your arm away. I thought I told you not to move?

Yui: B-But you suddenly started licking me...!

Ruki: It isn’t sudden. Didn’t I say I’d stop the bleeding?

Yui: ( He did, but anyone would be surprised if someone suddenly did that...! )

Ruki: ...This has to be the first time drinking your blood makes me this upset.

Yui: Eh...?

Ruki: I’ll wrap some bandages around it, so keep the wound facing upwards. Tell me if it’s too tight.

Yui: O-Okay...

*Rustle rustle*

Ruki: ...This should do.

...

Yui: ( Ruki-kun went quiet. Is he upset after all...? )

Ruki: ...I’m the one who should apologize.

Yui: Eh...?

Ruki: I failed as your bodyguard...Seeing as I let you get hurt, even though I was right there by your side.

Yui: B-But...That wasn’t your fault just now...

Ruki: They thought you were a Vampire because I had you ingest that drug.

I did not think my own plan would come to backfire like that...

...My bad.

Yui: Ruki-kun...

Ruki: ...

Yui: ( He’s this worried about the fact I got hurt... )

( Even though it’s really no big deal. )

( I wonder how I can brighten his mood again...? )

ー Approaching footsteps can be heard in the background

Uhm...Ruki-kuーー

Ruki: ...! Quiet!

*Rustle*

Yui: Nn...!

( Somebody’s coming...! However, he didn’t have to cover my mouth... )

Female Vampire A: Say, why don’t we drop by the arcade next? I heard they’ve got lots of games like darts or puzzles!

Male Vampire A: You wouldn’t rather ride one of the attractions?

Female Vampire A: Mmh. I’d like to take it easy for a bit.

Male Vampire A: Let’s go check it out then.

ー The couple leaves again

Ruki: ...They left?

Yui: Nn...Nn...

Ruki: ...Aah, sorry. I’ll let you go now.

*Rustle*

Yui: Haah...

Ruki: Seems like they didn’t pick up on the scent of blood...It’s good I stopped the bleeding.

Yui: ( ...Seems like Ruki-kun is still rather alert. I guess he’s worried after all... )

( Speaking of which, those people from earlier said they were headed towards the arcade, right? )

Uhm, Ruki-kun?

Ruki: ...Yes?

Yui: Why don’t we try going to the arcade they mentioned as well?

Ruki: ...You truly believe such a place would pique my interest?

Yui: Well...I figured you’d like it more than the rides.

They said you can play darts or make a puzzle.

Ruki: ...

Hmph...Seems like you actually put some thought into it.

However, I doubt it’d be good to move carelessly?

Yui: My arm stopped bleeding, so I’m fine.

We can’t just sit around here forever, so why don’t we go take a look? It’s a Carnival after all.

Ruki: ...

...You do have a point. We can’t just sit still and hold our breaths forever.

Yui: Then...!

Ruki: Yes, very well. Being inside a building might be more safe than staying outside as well.

Yui: ( Thank god...! )

Ruki: However, it’s crowded inside the park. ...Don’t stray away from my side, okay?

Yui: Yeah.

( I hope this’ll help cheer him up a little... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Saint Nore Park’s venue

Yui: According to the map, it should be around here. Uhm...

Ruki: Oi, don’t wander around too much.

Yui: Ah, sorry.

Ruki: ...I assume it’s that building? It should be obvious if you pay some attention.

Yui: Eh? Ah, you’re right! As to be expected of Ruki-kun, you’re always keeping an eye on your surroundings!

Ruki: Your field of vision is simply too narrow. Because of that, my suffering never ends.

Yui: ( ...I’m glad. He’s slowly becoming the regular old Ruki-kun again. )

Ruki: Oi, let’s hurry inside. I’m pretty sure it’d be in our best interest not to wander around outside for too long.

ー They enter the game center

Yui: Wah...Seems like they’ve got quite the assortment of games.

This is...A card game, I suppose? There’s a chess board as well.

Ruki: Darts and puzzles, huh?

Yui: ( Which one should we try first...? )

Selection

→ I wanna try the puzzle (☾)

Yui: ( I just have to go with a puzzle here, right? )

Ruki: So, what are you going to play?

I’m not too fond of these kind of noisy places...But I’m sure you came here with a specific objective in mind?

Yui: Ah, uhm...I’d like to try the puzzles over there on the other side...

Ruki: A puzzle, huh...?

Yui: Yeah. What do you think?

Ruki: ...Very well, I’ll join along. I don’t dislike those either.

Yui: ( Hooray! )

→ I wanna try darts

Yui: ( Darts, huh...? I’ve never played that very much, so it might be a good opportunity... )

Uhm...Ruki-kun? How about a game of darts?

I want to give it a try since I’ve never played it much.

Ruki: The answer is no.

Yui: Eh?

Ruki: ...Haah; You never learn, do you?

Have you already forgotten what happened earlier? Even though you nearly became a darts board yourself.

Besides, what if you hurt yourself on one of the dart arrows?

Yui: Well...

Ruki: If you understand that, give up on playing darts. Let’s look for something else.

Yui: Yes...

Ah...Then why don’t we try a puzzle? Look, they’ve got them over there.

Ruki: A puzzle, huh...? Very well. I’ll allow that.

ー They walk towards the puzzles

Yui: ( ... )

Hm, these look quite tricky.

Ruki: You think so? I’m pretty sure this level of difficulty is the bare minimum to make it worth playing.

Yui: ( As to be expected of Ruki-kun...I feel like we’ll easily complete these with his help. )

Ah, look, Ruki-kun. Seems like you’ll appear in the rankings if you get a high score at this game.

I wonder if they’ll display our names too if we do a good job?

Ruki: Who knows.

Yui: Eh?

Ruki: It’s pointless to worry about scores or rankings. This is a battle with yourself, not with others.

Yui: Is it....? However, I’m sure you’d be happy to rank number one. See. Your name would show up over heーー

...Huh?

Ruki: What’s the matter?

Yui: The name of the current number one...

Ruki: Number one? At this puzzle?

...!

Sakamaki Reiji...?

Yui: ( Reiji-san was here as well!? Actually, he did say he has visited the Carnival before... )

Anyway...Reiji-san’s record is amazing. There’s a considerable gap with the person in second place.

Ruki: ...

...Interesting.

I don’t care about rankings, but losing against one of those Sakamaki’s leaves somewhat of a bitter taste in my mouth.

Especially as far as puzzles are concerned. I happen to be very confident in my own abilities when it comes to these.

I shall overwrite Sakamaki Reiji’s record right here, right now. With my own name, that is.

Yui: ( He suddenly became motivated...I guess he doesn’t want to lose to Reiji-san? )

Ruki: Oi, Livestock. You should give it a try first.

Yui: Eh!? Me?

Ruki: Of course? I’ll prepare myself in the meantime.

Yui: ( You need to prepare yourself to solve a puzzle!? )

Ruki: Come on, hurry up. Don’t make your Master wait.

Yui: Y-Yes...Okay then. I’ll give it a try.

( I’m not very confident but...Guess I’ll just have to give it my best shot! )

Explanation: Complete the puzzle within the time limit by shuffling the different pieces around.

You can play this game in EASY, NORMAL or HARD mode.

Ruki: ...Hooh.

Yui: ( I did it! Seems like I solved it! )

Ruki: Seems like you’re a little capable as well. I need to reconsider my opinion on you.

While you didn’t come close to the Sakamaki eldest son’s score, you did your best. This isn’t a bad result at all.

Yui: ( Fufu, he praised me! )

Ruki: However...If you improve just a little more, I’m sure you’ll be able to up your score?

Ruki: For example, this one. This one should go here instead of over there.

Yui: Eh!? Ah...

Ruki: Did you not realize your mistake? ...Seems like you’re surprisingly careless in that regard.

Yui: Uu...I ended up rushing because of the time limit.

Ruki: Come on, give me the remaining pieces as well. This one goes in the corner over here.

Yui: You’re right...

( Ruki-kun really is amazing... )

Ruki: Well then. Shall I take over?

I’ll surpass both your and Sakamaki Reiji’s record in no time.

*TIMESKIP*

Ruki: ...Hmph...Child’s play.

Yui: A-Amazing! You beat Reiji-san’s score!

Ruki: Of course. I can’t let myself lose to those guys after all.

Yui: ( Fufu...Ruki-kun seems happy. )

( I’m glad his mood brightened! )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts back to Saint Nore Park’s venue

Yui: That was fun, huh?

Ruki: Well, it wasn’t a bad time...If you had fun, that’s what matters most.

By the way, does your arm not hurt? You moved quite a bit while getting caught up in the puzzle game, didn’t you?

Yui: Yeah, it completely stopped bleeding too and doesn’t hurt either. I’m fine.

Ruki: Really? Show it to me.

*Rustle*

Ruki: ...The bleeding has indeed stopped. I hope it doesn’t leave any scars though.

Yui: ...

Ruki: ...What are you making that weird expression for?

Yui: Uhm...

Ruki: If you’ve got something on your mind, spit it out.

Yui: Well...You usually don’t really care about marks left behind by sucking my blood.

But you seem to be rather worried about this one in particular...

Ruki: ...Of course. Those are two different things.

Between scars left behind by others and those who I have engraved in your body myself.

Bite marks are like a sign of possession. However...The one on this arm doesn’t signify anything.

Even by looking at it like this...It only reminds me of the fact I let you get hurt.

Yui: Ruki-kun...

ー A flyer flies their way

*Flip*

Yui: ...Huh? A piece of paper came flying our way...

Ruki: One of the clowns is handing them out over there. I assume the wind blew it this way.

*Flip*

Ruki: It seems to be some sort of announcement...

‘Welcome to Top of Croquembouche’ (1)...?

Yui: ( Top of Croquembouche...? )

ー Somebody runs up to them

Park staff member: Excuse me! Did a flyer happen to fly this way?

Ruki: You’re referring to this?

Park staff member: Aah, exactly! The wind blew it away...Ah, but I suppose you can keep it!

Yui: Uhm, what exactly is ‘Top of Croquembouche’?

Park staff member: It’s the sky terrace you can see over there!

As you can read on the flyer, they offer various services, so please drop by if you get the chance to!

ー The staff member leaves

Ruki: ...

...Let’s go, Yui.

Yui: Eh? Where are we going...?

ー Ruki walks away

Yui: Ah! Ruki-kun, wait!

ー She runs after him

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) Croquembouche is a traditional French dessert usually served at parties and celebrations. It’s made out of several choux creams which are all stacked into the shape of a tower.

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 2

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 4]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/AYATO]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ SUBARU]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/ KOU]

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #ruki mukami #vandead carnival #diabolik lovers translation #vcrukichapter3

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