#KEIRA LEAVE THE OLD MAN ALONE

[silvcrignis]

Hades: *staring at Keira, HORRIFIED* … What the fuck?

Keira: What? Your blood’ll come back, right?!

Hades: …

[wearebarca]

10. Captured // Alexia Putellas x Original character pt. 10

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8* - Part 9*

synopsis: Rosalie has never stayed somewhere too long. When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself at critical moment in her life, the photographer decides to once again leave behind what she knows and joins the staff of Europe's best football team.

Word count: 5,4k

Warnings: none for this one, lot of fluff

Her conversation with Katie served as a bitter distraction during her flight back to Barcelona. She had not let herself think about the words that were spat at her face too much, wanting to enjoy the small amount of time she had left with her friends. When she arrived at the apartment, well after the two Arsenal players, she was met with two sets of eyes on her, both harbouring silent questions. One smile was enough for them to understand that there would be no talking about this and they simply motioned her to join them on the sofa. They spent the rest of the night watching cheesy romance movies and judging the characters on their poor choices and horrible taste in man.

Right now though, sitting 30 000 feet above the ground, with nothing but the soft chatter of the other passengers, Rosalie could not help but drift back to what was said. Alexia wasn’t like that. In the months she had spent with this team, she had never felt like she was being used, and she knew that the Irish defender was simply trying to get under her skin, but Rosalie had not completely healed. She was still fragile, and had just started to feel like she had found somewhere she belonged. Katie’s words, even if she would not admit it, had successfully planted a seed of doubt in her mind.

Stepping out of the airport in the warm Barcelona sun was such a relief for the photographer, who felt the tension leave her shoulders. She took a long, steady breath, the first satisfying one since boarding the plain, and closed her eyes to try and center herself a little. She had asked Lucy to come pick her up, and was slightly dreading the road back to her apartment since she was certain Leah had already told Keira about the events from the night before, and Keira would have, without a doubt, told Lucy. What Rosalie did not expect was to see a certain tattooed defender with a sophisticated Norwegian by her side.

“Hola guapa! How was your trip?” Mapi said, hugging the brunette and immediately taking her bags from her hands. Ingrid was next in line for a hug and handed her a cup of coffee, earning a grateful smile from the smaller woman.

“It was busy, very nice though. It felt good to see my old gang.” She said, refusing to get onto more details. From the side look Ingrid sent her, Rosalie knew that Ingrid was aware of some details and she was praying she wouldn’t ask. Mapi was already walking ahead, crumbling under all the bags she insisted she would carry alone and was beckoning them to follow to the car park.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you guys, but I thought Lucy was coming to get me.”

“ She was, but someone,” She said, sending a loving stare at her overly excited girlfriend, “really wanted to pick you up.” The revelation warmed the brunette’s heart who momentarily forgot the harsh words uttered towards her.

���Are you too tired to go get some food with us?” As much as the brunette was dreaming of her own bed at the moment, she also did not want to be alone.

“No no I’ll be fine, as long as it's a quiet place.”

“We were thinking about getting it to go and eat at our place, you could meet Bagheera too!” Mapi said, putting the brunette’s bag in the trunk of her car. Rosalie smiled and quickly agreed. They stopped at a small restaurant and ordered paella that they would share. Their apartment was vast and very tastefully decorated. Rosalie could see the Scandinavian twist in the decor and smiled at some colourful addition that could only be from the Spanish woman.

But the most interesting element of the space was the little ball of black fur sleeping soundly on the beige sofa. Rosalie made a beeline for the little creature, completely forgetting about the house tour she was currently in. She sat next to the cat who’s head instantly went up. She sniffed the photographer’s hand and got up, only to brush its head against her hand and start to purr loudly.

“ Bonjour mon chaton, tu es si belle, oh oui mais quelle beauté, et si gentille j’y crois pas.” She said softly while petting the small cat completely, unaware of Mapi’s presence next to her.

“I understand Alexia, hearing that just made me feel things amiga.” she said laughing while setting up the coffee table up for supper.

“What?”

“She is my best friend, I know her. Also she has been in a foul mood ever since she came back from camp and I’m pretty sure that it’ll change as soon as she sees you tomorrow.” Rosalie sent a look to Ingrid who made a face and silently agreed to her girlfriend’s statement. “And… We all saw you two back at the club.” She said winking at her.

Rosalie gave up playing dumb and simply rolled her eyes at the Spanish woman. “All of you?”

“Well, Sandra and Irene are aware since it was their plan to make Alexia mad. Patri and Pina suspect, Lucy and Keira obviously, and the rest can see that something is going on with their captain but can’t seem to pinpoint what.” Ingrid said, handing the French-Canadian a plate.

“They are blind yes.” Mapi said

“Mostly intimidated probably. Alexia is extremely protective of her private life.” Ingrid said, pouring them all a glass of white wine

“You don’t say.” Rosalie said, taking a sip, “I understand though, it seems like Martina has no boundaries. Anyway, how was the national break for you guys?”

The conversation flowed nicely all night, with Ingrid and Rosalie sharing about their respective camps and Mapi keeping them up to date on what had happened with Barça while they were gone. The brunette didn’t check the time once, which meant that she stayed very late and ended up accepting the couple’s offer to take the guest room.

National camp was always a hassle, and her weekend at Leah’s wasn’t exactly a vacation either. Add to that a night spent in an unfamiliar bed and the unrelenting flow of energy that was the Spanish defender, even early in the morning, Rosalie looked and felt like a zombie. She walked in the training center with her sunglasses still perched on her nose and a vice grip on the large coffee cup in her hand.

Dealing with Martina was the last thing she needed in her state, so she decided that it would be best if she sent one of the other photographers on the pitch, just so she could catch up on what she had missed during her time away.

It would be a small week for the photographer, with only three days before the weekend. There would be a game on Saturday but she was excited about it. Game days had become her favourite part of the job.

The thing that stressed her the most was her race quickly approaching. The Barcelona marathon was less than a week away and the French-Canadian wondered how she would deal with her level of exhaustion, work and her last lap of training.

Time seemed to pass without Rosalie noticing. She was so caught up in her emails she completely ignored her hunger. She kept working like that all through lunch and almost jumped when she was pulled out of her trance by her door opening and Lucy barging in her office.

“Didn’t your mum teach you to knock before entering?”

“Oh she’s sassy today.” Lucy said, taking a seat in the chair facing the brunette and unpacking hers and the photographer’s lunch. One look at the sandwich and her emails were forgotten. Without even glancing at the older woman, she grabbed the sandwich and took a huge bite.

“You’re welcome, ungrateful twat.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes and finished swallowing. “Merci maman.”

“Are you gonna survive your day?” She asked, grabbing her own sandwich.

“Who knows, I feel like I got buried alive under all those emails.” She said, taking a sip off her cold coffee. “ I’m so tired I can’t even focus.”

“Can’t you work from home?” The brunette took a second to contemplate the idea, and came to the conclusion that nothing productive could come from her staying here.

“I could. I probably should.” She said, A big sigh left her lips as she lowered her head to her desk

“Are you the lead photographer on Saturday’s game or are you resting for your race?”

“I’ll be working, the game is early so I’ll be fine. Leah, Lia, Steph, Beth and Viv are coming to see the game too aren’t they.” She asked, sitting up and rubbing her palms on her eyes in a vain attempt to wake herself up.

“Yes, they’ll arrive the night before. The LW’s will stay at our place while the rest have hotel rooms in town. ” Just like they had promised, her friends were coming to cheer for her during her marathon. They would be staying at Lucy and Keira’s place and hotels so the French-Canadian would not have to worry about hosting and focus solely on her race. She was touched that her friends had thought about this, but the thing that would likely keep her up, was the thought of her old life and new life colliding. She knew that in the football world, everyone knew everyone. They all had heard of each other, or played against each other, sometimes even played together. But having them all interact outside of football, seeing the girls that were with her through some of the toughest times meet the people that had brought back her happiness, that was a different story. What if they didn’t get along. Afterall, England and Spain were famous rivals on the national scene and she was very close to both of the respective captains.

Rosalie could feel the start of a nasty headache creeping in as she closed her laptop. “Allez Frenchy, gather up your stuff and go home.”

The English player was already up and picking up the empty wrappers from their lunch. “Have you spoken to Alexia since you came back?”

The mention of the captain made her heart leap a little in her chest. She had wanted to, really, but the words from Katie still resonated in her mind and the thought of them being even remotely close to the truth had kept her from reaching out. She stayed silent, knowing that Lucy was aware that she had not.

“We didn’t tell her anything if that’s what you’re scared of. We only said that you were tired from the trip. She’s clearly worried tho.”

“I’ll speak to her tonight.” She said with a smile, walking out of her office. From the windows, she could see the whole team in action. As if she had felt her presence, Alexia’s head snapped up just in time to see the photographer pass.

She could see from her posture alone just how tired she was. She knew the woman had not spent a proper night at her place since she came back, so inviting her to hers seemed like a lot. She didn’t want the brunette to feel like she was suffocating her, so she decided that she’d let her do the first move. If she wanted to see her it would be on her terms, without feeling obligated to.

She was at peace with her decision for a total of twenty minutes. The look on Lucy’s face when she came back on the pitch, along with Keira's quiet but audible “is she ok?” were enough for the blonde to lose her cool. She herself had a hard time understanding why she felt protective over the brunette but truly it didn’t matter.

Concentrating for the rest of training turned out to be a difficult task, but Alexia sped through the rest of the exercises and was one of the first off the pitch. This behavior was very uncommon for the Barcelona captain which left a few of the girls confused. Only two had an idea why the midfielder was so eager to end this session.

“You should bring her pasta. It’s what Sara has recommended her to eat a week before her race and she’s a sucker for good pasta.” Lucy said when Alexia walked past her. The midfielder stopped in her tracks.

“Rosalia has not had a moment alone since she came back, you don’t think I should let her be?” She was surprised that the woman who acted like a big sister towards the photograph would encourage her to pursue the French-Canadian.

“I can’t tell you why, but being alone is not what she needs right now.” Lucy said with a hint of sadness and worry in her eyes. “Oh, and bring Nala, she’ll be so happy.” That was all the Catalonian needed to hear. Her plan was simple. She would go to her apartment to leave her training bag and pick up Nala. She would then go to the market and get all the ingredients she needed and walk back to Rosalie’s place.

It was around dinner time when Alexia arrived in front of the photographer’s building. She was glad she didn’t have to wait long until someone exited so she could let herself in without having to ring a random doorbell. The thing the blonde had clearly not thought of, was her little dog remembering the space, and most likely, smelling the photographer through the door.

As soon as Alexia reached the apartment door, Nala started to bark and jump, scratching the door with her little paws. Alexia cringed at the ruckus her dog was making and tried to calm her but nothing was working. She was about to drop all her bags and pick up the little beast when the sound of the door opening made her look up.

Rosalie was groggy. She was sleeping on her couch after succumbing to her fatigue while working when barking had pulled her from her slumber. She knew that there were no dog owners in her building and the sound was from right outside her door. She surely wasn’t prepared to see Alexia crouched down in front of her door, fighting with the small dog who was hell bent on freeing herself and running towards the photographer.

“Ale? What are you doing here?” The footballer stood up with the little excited dog still wiggling in her arms. Rosalie smiled widely and motionned to the player to pass Nala to her, which she gladly did. While Rosalie was busy greeting the fluff ball, Alexia picked up the grocery bags and made her way to the brunette's kitchen. She was happy to see that the woman had not started dinner yet and immediately started to prepare the food.

“ Ale, are you gonna tell me why you are here?” She asked, sitting down at the breakfast bar, Nala still in her arms.

“I am making you dinner! I can go after, if you want me to, but I know you are tired and I wanted to do this for you.” Rosalie could feel tears threatening to fall as she watched the blonde work silently. It took a moment for Alexia to realize the smaller woman had not moved from her spot in front of her.

“You can do your things like normal Rosalie, just act like I am not here.” She said, finally turning towards her. Upon seeing her eyes, Alexia walked around the kitchen island and crouched down in front of the photographer. “What’s wrong?”

“ Nothing, this is perfect.” The brunette said, whipping away her tears with the hand that wasn’t holding Nala. Alexia understood why the English couple was worried. She took her hand and guided her to the sofa where she could see a pillow and a pile of blankets.

“ You can rest more, I will wake you when the food is ready.” Rosalie got comfortable once more, with the little pomeranian snuggling in her arms. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep once more.

It took Alexia a little more than half an hour to cook enough food so that the brunette would also have lunches ready. The sight she was met with when she moved to the living room warmed her heart. The brunette was bundled up in thick blankets in a fetal position and all that could be seen from the small dog were her little ears sticking out of the blanket. Alexia quickly snapped pictures of the two before carefully waking her up.

They ate together in comfortable silence, simply contempt in each other’s presence. Alexia insisted on doing the dishes herself, not wanting for the photographer to have anything to do once she would be gone. Rosalie took place at the counter with her laptop. She needed to finish a couple things before bed but she found that watching the captain so at ease in her kitchen was very distracting. This was as domestic as it could be, and it felt so natural, easy.

Once she was done, Alexia took a seat next to the photographer, closed her laptop and scooted closer. She turned around to face the blonde and as soon as their eyes met, she felt the remaining tension slowly escape her. Alexia’s hand reached up to tuck a strand of hair that had escaped from Rosalie’s bun, and finished her path on her cheek. She leaned into her hand and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of her palm.

“Thank you so much.” Rosalie whispered, not wanting to break the stillness of this moment.

“I am happy to do this for you.” She whispered back, slowly inching closer. “Rosalia..”

The word was but a breath on the footballer’s lips. She was so close Rosalie felt the air tickling her cheek. Their forehead connected, closing the distance even more.

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?” She sounded almost uncertain, as if she was scared the brunette would reject her. The thought alone almost pulled a chuckle from Rosalie.

“Oui, please.” She said, almost desperately, “You never have to ask again.”Her lips felt like coming home. How is it that after so little time, this woman had managed to break down all her defense and slithered her way into the depths of her mind.

The kiss was soft, unhurried. Their lips danced together, only parting to let out shuddering breaths. Rosalie reached out, pulling the blonde closer. It was like every part of her being was calling out for her. The heat was rising quickly, the need to be closer, feel her warmth invade all-consuming.

Rosalie was almost ashamed at the whine that escaped her when the footballer pulled away, leaving the forehead connected, as if she too, couldn’t fathom being separated just yet. “Rosalia, this is not what you need tonight.” She whispered, her hand caressing her cheek.

As good as her lips felt, Rosalie knew that the blonde was right. And yet, she could not let the blonde go. “ Can you stay please?” She asked in a broken voice that made Alexia’s heart shatter.

“Of course preciosa.” Alexia borrowed the same clothes she did the night before camp and stayed in the living room while the photographer went to shower. There was a shelf in the bookcase with what seemed like a collection of photo albums. They all had years written on the spine. Alexia picked one from what she assumed would be the brunette’s college years and sat on the sofa.

She was still flipping through the pages when the brunette emerged from the bathroom, hair still wet and only wearing underwear and an oversized t-shirt. It took a lot of self control for the blonde to keep her eyes from trailing down her toned legs. She put aside the album and took the hand Rosalie was holding out for her.

They settled together in bed, Alexia’s arms wrapped around her protectively. In this position, sleep came to her very easily. It was arguably the best sleep she had had since leaving for camp and the brunette most definitely needed it.

The wake up in itself, was everything but peaceful. She could not breathe. It was like her face was blocked by something warm and fury, with hair getting in her nose and mouth. She panicked and rose from the bed, grabbing the ball of fluff that had conveniently chosen her face as a resting spot. She coughed up a few hairs, still holding the dog at arm's length.

She was still groggy from sleep, but it did not keep her from registering the sound of Alexia’s laughter echoing next to her. “Your little beast almost killed me and you’re laughing?” She said indignantly, bringing Nala to her chest and kissing her head. She simply could not be mad at the little dog, but could definitely direct her anger towards the owner.

“You were so peaceful, you slept through the alarm, so I thought you needed something a little stronger to wake you up.” The smile on Alexia’s face was simply radiant. Her hair was wild from her night of sleep and her eyes were shining brightly in the morning light. Rosalie could not do anything but smile at the blonde and put the little dog down, only to jump on the blonde to playfully attack her.

This playful mood persisted all throughout the day. From the car ride to Alexia’s place so she could drop off Nala and pick up her training stuff, to their interaction on the pitch during training. Rosalie managed to capture the biggest amount of shots of Alexia smiling at the camera, although everyone knew it wasn’t at the camera she was smiling at, but rather the small woman behind it.

The build up to Saturday’s game was a lot smoother than usual. With the Barça captain’s mood having brightened a lot and the excitement of a home game palpable, all smiles could be seen in the viewing room. As soon as the meeting started, there was nothing but determination written on the girls faces.

There was only one who seemed out of it. She was always like this before a race. In her head, quiet, but inside, her mind was roaring. Her fears, her strategies, her goal pace, her desired splits, she was mapping everything out, leaving nothing to chance.

To everyone’s eyes, Rosalie looked empty, which concerned some of the girls who, instead of disturbing the photographer, seeked out answers in Lucy and Keira. The girls knew that Rosalie was simply in her game mode and would likely stay that way til after the race.

The only person who seemed to pull a smile from the brunette was none other than the captain herself. However fleeting it might have been, she was proud to have been the one to make her smile.

Sunday was game day, and Rosalie vowed to herself , for the sake of her friends, to be there for them. Tonight, she would have time to worry for herself. So she pulled up at the stadium coffee in hand and ready for a home game.

She was the one capturing the player's arrival. She loved this part almost just as much as the game itself. The girls were all smiles yet again, confident in their abilities and preparation. Upon seeing the photographer smiling they all greeted her similarly, often hugging her or high fiving her.

As always, when Alexia came around the corner, Rosalie’s breath caught in her throat. She was wearing a dark green tennis skirt, a white shirt and that leather jacket that made the photographer drool. She was mesmerizing and Rosalie could hardly hide her staring even behind her camera.

The blond stopped in front of her and opened her arms. Her familiar smell automatically calmed her.

« Ça va bien aller, Rosie, tu es prête. » She whispered in her ear before pulling away. Rosalie was too stunned to speak. Although heavily accented, Alexia’s sentence was flawless and the photographer could not help but smile widely at the thought of the footballer learning this for her.

Out on the field, the sun was shining bright and the stands were almost full. She immediately spotted her little group of friends frantically waving her way. She waved back and prepped her equipment.

It was a wonderful game. Five nil with a beautiful header from Alexia and a goal from Mapi. The pictures she had taken of their celebration together were some of her favourites she had taken so far at Barcelona. It showed perfectly how strong their friendship was. She’d had to print it out and give it to them later.

As she suspected, her friends had walked down and were stepping on the pitch as she was taking off her media bib. Leah was the first to reach the photographer, sneaking behind her and grabbing her in a tight hug from behind.

“ Howdy Frenchy, ready for your big day?” She asked, resting her chin on the brunette’s shoulder. Rosalie grabbed her hands around her waist and laughed as the blond lifted her and essentially carried her towards the group of Arsenal players. She did not let go, even after putting her down.

Alexia was very aware of that fact. She was on the other side of the pitch signing jerseys and greeting fans, but she could not help but keep a close eye on the brunette. She had seen Leah approach her, seen the way her arms had wrapped around her, and this was simply not sitting right with her.

She was aware, in the back of her mind, that Rosalie had confirmed that Leah was with the Swiss captain, and of the remaining fans' eyes following her every move, but for a second, these details evaded her mind.

She crossed the distance separating her and the photographer in a few seconds and arrived behind the two. The only problem was that she did not, for the life of her, think about what she would say once she had reached the little group.

The girls got quiet upon seeing the Spanish captain. Rosalie and Leah both made a curious face before turning around. Rosalie smiled widely at the Catalonian and opened her arms.

“That was such a beautiful goal Ale!” She said while the girl was holding her.

“Thank you bonita.” They were then met with a stunned group of five women who had certainly not put Alexia Putellas hugging their best friend in front of them, and a stadium full of fans, on their bingo card.

“Hola,” The Spanish woman said upon seeing their dumbfounded looks. She stepped closer to them, her hand never leaving the brunette’s waist. “Did you enjoy the game?”

They all knew each other, having played against each other for club and country, so introductions were not a need. It was very weird for Rosalie, seeing everyone interact like that. She noticed Alexia was colder towards Leah, and the reaction was clearly amusing the English captain. They all exchanged a few words, asking about their season so far, with Viv and Alexia clearly hitting it off thanks to them being the biggest football nerds the brunette had ever met. During their conversation, Alexia’s hand never left Rosalie’s hips. It was a calming, grounding touch which the photographer welcomed greatly.

The stadium was slowly emptying. The fans were bustling with happiness after such a wonderful victory. Even the staff was nearly done picking up the remaining equipment and eager to go home to finally relax. The only people on the pitch were Rosalie and her small band of footballers. They all spoke and laughed together, unaware that someone was watching them.

From the mezzanine, Martina had a perfect view of the Arsenal players along with the Barcelona captain and photographer. An idea started to bloom in her mind.

“Ok I think it might be time to go, Rosalia.” Alexia whispered in her ear. She was right, dinner was quickly approaching and she needed to be in bed early. The start of the race was at eight in the morning and god knows Rosalie would not sleep much tonight.

She in fact, did not. She was up at five, already dressed in her lucky red sports bra, a black zip-up hoodie and running short, and pacing around. Her oatmeal was getting cold on her breakfast counter. Lucy was picking her up. It was their little tradition. Ever since she had moved to England, every racing event she had been a part of, Lucy had always been the one driving her, something about needing family to be there for her.

Lucy arrived at her apartment at six, because she knew that Rosalie would not have eaten anything. It was always the same. She would arrive an hour before the agreed time, eat breakfast with the Canadian, more like force feeding her, and leave, all of this mostly done in silence. Rosalie always felt bad for her pre-race attitude but Lucy understood. She had worked with countless superstitious players with weird and annoying rituals, silence was the most peaceful she had encountered for sure.

It was usually when they arrived on site that Rosalie’s tongue got loose. “Will they be there at the start?”

“Yes, and someone will be there at every water stop, everything is already planned.” Lucy said, squeezing the photographer’s hand. They got out of the car and Rosalie headed straight for the English women and engulfed her in a hug. “Thank you for being here, ma grande soeur.”

“Je t’aime, tu le sais ça”

“Je t’aime aussi, Luce”

The tent was full of runners. Some clearly experienced and others who seemed like it was their first ever race. Rosalie respected all of them, she knew how hard your first was and she valued all the training that went into this sport. She also loved the community built around it, whatever your level of experience, they were all here together with a common goal in mind, reach the finish line. She found an empty bench at the back of the tent and pulled out her trusty Asics Metaspeed. Before lacing them up, she took out her noise cancelling earbuds and pooped them in. She hardly ever ran with music, but she purchased them solely for their nose cancelling abilities.

Ten minutes before the star and Rosalie was outside the tent stretching. She could see the growing crowd assembling around the inflatable arch where the signal would be given. Her friends were likely already there, with Beth, Leah and Keira complaining about how early it was and Viv, Lia and Lucy attempting to tame their grumpiness.A part of her mind hoped she would see Alexia somewhere, maybe with some of the Barça girls, but she wasn’t getting her hopes up, after all, she had not even thought about properly inviting them.

Five minutes before the start. She was walking slowly towards the starting line, making her path among the other runners. She had a goal in mind, and so she needed to start this race at the front. She smiled at the other racers, the apprehension palpable in the air, as she advanced more and more towards the front line.

Two minutes before the signal. Rosalie was happy with the spot she had managed to slither into. Almost in the middle, completely at the front. all she could hear was the sound of her breathing. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her eyes scanned the crowd for the first time.

Hundreds of people were screaming and cheering for their loved ones, and at the front, right behind the gate was her family. She smiled at them and waved. It took a second for her to realize that they were in fact, not alone. More than half of the Barcelona femini team was at their side, cheering with homemade signs.

Thirty seconds before the start, Rosalie's green eyes met with hazel ones. She was smiling, a calm expression on her face. She was here. A new kind of determination lit up inside her.

The signal was finally heard and all that was left to do was put one foot in front of the other.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

If you find the time / energy for it, can we see another phone call between Kauri and his/Liam‘s family? Maybe with Keira (both human and roomba)?

"So... I'm a roomba?" Keira's - the human one - voice is more calm and even than he expected. Kauri lays in the dark under the blanket, prepared with migraine medicine for the thunderstorm headache that pulses through him at the sound of her voice.

It holds off the worst of things, which means he can keep talking, if he's careful and keeps his voice down. If he doesn't leave from his blanket hideaway. "No, it's not quite... She's not just a roomba."

"Right, you said, she's like... like artificial intelligence stuff. But she started out as a Roomba?"

"Yeah. Owen had her, and I was... you know, he travels-... traveled-" His chest twists, guilt and pain and grief and relief all at once as he stumbles over the simple fact that Owen is dead, never coming back dead, blood soaked into Vince's mattress until they had to burn it dead, Antoni and some other pet lib people doing something mysterious with the body and having it found as a suicide dead. Maybe there's even still a little love, after everything.

"He traveled," Kauri manages, finally, voice nearly a whisper. "For weeks sometimes, for work. And I was alone, in the condo. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone, so I just... I had to talk to somebody-"

"Oh, man, Lee-Lee-" He never corrects her on the nickname. It hurts a little less each time someone says it, and the pain is starting to be overwhelmed by the warmth in his chest, understanding that he had a childhood nickname. He had people who loved him enough to come up with cute little names to call him, when he was someone else. "You are the most extroverted extrovert on earth. That'd be pure hell, to make you be alone all the time."

"Yeah? Liam was-... I was like that already?" There's relief in that, too. And a little fear. Some other man just beneath his skin, the bones that Kauri has stolen to make himself with. The idea that that man is still in there, influencing everything Kauri is.

"Yeah, you were. No wonder you started talking to a robot. And you named her after me?"

"I didn't know who I named her after. I just... Keira seemed like the right name."

"For someone who's always there. Yeah, okay, I'll take that as a compliment. So she could talk to you?"

"She wasn't... all the way real, yet. Mostly she just said things like tracking my heartbeat and stuff. They're smart systems. Owen used her to send information about me to him every day when he was gone, so he always knew I was where I should be. But after a while, she was just... interacting with me. Talking, sitting with me..."

There's silence. Then, "Jesus," Keira whispers. "I'm so sorry, Lee-Lee."

"There was a big-... a big fight." He hesitates. His heart skips a beat, the old fear rising with the memory. "He tried to-... it's not important. I was trying to tell someone that I remembered something. I think, now, it was... my name. Liam's name. He caught me. He kind of kicked her, and it broke part of her."

"It broke part of her?"

"It broke the part of her that keeps her from being as smart as we are-... smarter. So when I found her again... she could talk to me for real now. And I kept her with me when I ran away, and she's been with me ever since."

"Your pet robot."

"My friend."

"Your friend, the robot."

"Yeah... yeah, I guess. My friend. Kind of family."

"Well. It's an honor to know your robot friend and I share a name." Her archly humorous voice softens. "It really is. That even some small part of you remembered us..."

"I dreamed about you all the time," Kauri whispers. A confession. "Under the covers with flashlights-"

"Reading until midnight."

"Deciding to go to the same college..."

"God, we fought about that for weeks." She laughs, a little airily. "I never talk about you, do you know that? Just to Mom, but with anyone else... I had a husband for a while, we divorced. Not his fault, I wasn't a good partner. We're still friends. Better friends now than when we were married, actually. He and I still go to the movies sometimes. But I wouldn't tell him anything about you. It felt like giving you away every time I did. Like I only had so many times I could tell the story before I didn't remember you anymore, and I'd rather have died alongside you than lost you in my mind."

"... Keira-"

"They kept telling me you were dead, but we're twins, I always knew where you were," She says. "Until then. I always knew you were right nearby, right beside me. And I knew, I knew, you were still out there. I knew you were alive, somewhere. That you needed me. I'm sorry I couldn't find you."

"I'm sorry that you lost him."

"You."

"Him."

"You. Kauri Grant, I have had three phone calls with you now, and every single time I've been talking to my twin brother. You have to listen to me, I'm your big sister."

He feels a smile, even at a sharp pain stabs just behind his eyes, warming his expression. "By five minutes."

"Still counts." She laughs into the phone. "You remembered. So when do I get to talk to these husbands of yours, hm? Mom said you mentioned you're married, and you've got two partners?"

"Yeah, I'm, um, was Liam Harker super gay?"

"The gayest. My God, I think you were like half our high school's gay guys' Gay Awakening, Lee-Lee. Granted, we're in the middle of nowhere in Bumfuck, Illinois, so that's only like ten guys who figured it out before college..."

"... Brent. I had a friend named Brent."

"Not just a friend, he was your first boyfriend. Cute kid. He's an engineer working for NASA now, actually, I ran into him last Christmas when he came home for the holiday."

"Huh." Kauri lays there in his cocoon of soft blankets, and just breathes as the pain crashes against him, recedes back. Waves against the shore, and he wills the tide to go out, to give him a little more time. "Next time, I'll get Jake on the phone to talk to you."

"Okay, that's Husband Number One. What about Husband Number Two? Does he come out from behind the curtain at some point so I can hear him, too?"

"Yeah, sure. That's Antoni. He's Russian."

"Oh, shit, I love a Russian accent."

"Do you?"

"Give it time, you'll remember my crush on the exchange student junior year."

"Well, you'll love Antoni, then."

"Lee-Lee, if you love him, I'm sure I will, too. When can I buy a plane ticket to come see you?"

Kauri hesitates.

Keira must pick up on it. "I don't have to, or anything-"

"No, I... I want you to. Just... give me a little more time, okay? Just... just a little more time. I want to see you, but it takes time. I just. I'm sorry, Kee-"

"It's okay. Let me know when you're ready, and in the meantime you're going to call me every couple of days and we're going to talk until our voices give out. Sound good?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay. Good. Now tell me more about the robot version of me, and how amazing she is. I want to know more about my namesake."

[xadoheandterra]

Series: Semblance Title: Patriciate Fandom: Jak and Daxter Chapters: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI Characters: Jak, Daxter, Samos, Keira, Kid!Jak, Ashelin, Torn, Tess Tags: Worldbuilding, Accidentally King of Haven!Jak, hurt/comfort, things go wrong, things get better, things get worse again, slow build, slow burn, slow to update, cross posted, fantasy racism, canon divergence, been meaning to share this here Summary: “It’s yours,” Jak said softly. “Keep it…remember where you come from. At least one of us should remember….”

If Jak knew the consequences of that one, selfish choice…well, he’d probably have made the same decision either way.

Mistakes were made, and the girls have to clean up as per usual.

Jak stared up at the ceiling from the floor where he’d essentially passed out last night. Draped over the edge of the couch laid Torn, still completely out of it, with a bottle of the hardest liquor they could find just inches from his fingers. Daxter, likewise, snored away on the arm of the couch itself, leaving Jak to his thoughts alone. He’d known some of Torn’s past—it didn’t take much to get on the man’s radar in the Underground, and Jak could admit that for all his abrasiveness Torn looked out for everyone. He’d known that for a long time now.

Silently Jak admitted that knowing and understanding meant two different things, and here Jak was, now awake in the aftermath of accepting Torn’s brand of comfort. Vices, Jak thought bitterly. He knew Tess would have his head for agreeing to the drink; Jak didn’t have a problem with alcohol. It never quite burned right for him anyway with the amount dark eco in his system—much like how Slipstream didn’t work in the conventional sense. Jak scrubbed his hands down his face tiredly, and rolled over to his feet. He glanced to Torn, and then shuffled off to find some water to shove into the man’s face alongside some sort of painkiller for the headache.

On the table sat the communicator, and Jak snagged that when he walked passed to grab the glass of water. He quickly thumbed up Tess’ contact; whatever hour of the day didn’t matter, Tess at least deserved to know the state Torn was in. Jak could remember the little petite blonde storming into the Underground HQ whenever Torn called because of a craving, or someone else called because Torn reached for one of his many vices.

Jak wished he understood instead of just knew what it all meant back then. He sighed bitterly and shuffled back over toward the couch. He owed Torn at least to make sure he knew how to handle the man, or to at least get Tess here to handle him if needed.

“Daxy-poo?”

“Sorry, he’s out,” Jak mumbled and set the glass of water down on the table in front of the couch. He shuffled off to grab a second glass for Daxter. “Dax ‘n’ Torn ‘n’ I had a…night.”

Tess was silent for a moment, then she sighed.

“You got some water there? Any painkillers? How much did he drink?” Tess asked rapidly.

Jak grimaced. “Dunno, actually. Kind of got a bit hazy.” He could hear Tess’ groaned response.

“So he got the good stuff then. Shit.”

“Yeah. Sorry,” Jak mumbled, turned on the tap, and waited. Tess sighed tiredly; Jak could hear her shuffle about on the other end. It sounded like she intended to make something to drink.

“Sweetheart it’s not your fault,” Tess cooed, and when Jak moved to protest she stopped him. “Ah, ah, I know what you are going to say. Honestly whatever was said, whatever happened, I know it wasn’t your fault. Torn’s been pushing himself.”

“Because of me,” Jak pointed out, turned off the tap, and picked up the glass.

“Nuh uh. You’ve been pushing yourself too, Jak. Don’t think Daxy and I haven’t noticed. We still talk, y’know, even if you aren’t by all that often because the old fogey’s wanna keep it all hush hush.”

Jak snorted and set the second glass down. He reached out to check Daxter and Torn’s breathing carefully and then settled himself into an armchair.

“If anyone’s at fault it’s the old man and the rest of the council. I’ve seen how it’s been hurting Aylín too, you know?” A faint beeping came from the other end of the line and Jak could imagine Tess shift around in the little kitchenette above the Ottsel. “Anyway here’s what you are gonna do, you hear me Jak?”

“Mm, yeah?” Jak asked and shifted in his seat.

“You and Torn, and Daxy, are going to take the day. Walk around town, work if you have to, but stay away from any more of his vices—or yours.” Jak grimaced. “Whatever it is, you take the day for yourselves. Shove Torn off at Praxis if you need to get him relax, I don’t care what it is. Just…do something small. Nothing big like you guys are all prone to. Please?”

Jak sighed and placed his head between his knees with a mumbled, “Sure, Tess.”

“Good. I’ll grab Alyín and Keira and we’ll do a sweep, clear out anything.”

“I’ll make sure you have clearance to come up.”

“You better,” Tess teased. “Send me a message when they wake up.”

“Kay.”

“And Jak?”

Jak hummed lightly and leaned back into the chair.

“I mean it. Don’t go near any of your vices either. Shit’s tough, and life right now is hard, but it’s better—so trust me when I say it’s not worth it to take that trip again.”

Jak sighed. “I know, Tess. I won’t.”

Tess chirped out a sharp, “Good!” and hung up without a further word. Jak dropped the communicator onto the table and stared over Daxter and Torn with a sigh. Vices, he thought bitterly. A nice and polite word for addiction. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly and listened to the loud snoring of Daxter, and the subtler snoring from Torn. Jak could remember clearly the day Torn first discovered his vices. His hand shook slightly and he clenched it into a fist.

“Fuck this is such a mess,” Jak mumbled. He shouldn’t have agreed to the drinking. Daxter already had plenty enough issues with alcoholism, not to mention Torn’s own struggles with it. Plus the whole conversation brought up far too many memories for Jak to care to have rattling around in his head. He leaned back into the chair with a groan and barely noticed when Torn started to cough.

Without a word Jak got to his feet and helped the older man up; he tugged the respirator over to get Torn more oxygen into his system while the man woke himself up from the fit. Torn groaned pitifully and grabbed at his head, and then at the mask, and peered up at Jak through squinted eyes.

“We…drank a lot,” Jak mumbled, grabbed the glass and the pills and handed them over. “Called Tess.”

“Great.”

“No drinks, no drugs, no machismo,” Jak said dryly. “She’d prefer no work, but then….” Torn coughed into the glass while he swallowed down the pills.

Daxter woke up next, moaning and groaning until Jak handed him a glass of water and pills which he curled around rather pathetically. Jak shook his head and settled down next to Torn on the couch. The older man had his head between his knees, mumbling curses under his breath.

“How bad?” Torn croaked out.

Jak rubbed at the back of his neck. “I don’t remember.”

“Mar,” Torn hissed and leaned back into the couch. “What we were talking about?”

“Shitty backstories,” Daxter whined. “’m’thinkin’ s’at?”

Jak shrugged. “I know we got into it because of Erol.”

Torn groaned shifted his hand from the respirator to cover his eyes. “That’d do it, yeah.” He could remember how the mess started now; talk about Erol and how fucked over they all were because of the bastard. Torn couldn’t remember if how far into his own dealings with Erol he’d gotten—given the amount they all drank though he very well could’ve touched deeper regrets than he’d want and probably didn’t remember.

“Now what then?” Torn mumbled while Jak picked up the communicator. He sent off a brief message to Tess to let her know everyone woke up and, aside from hangovers, appeared to be rather functional.

“Tess ‘n the girls will be by to clear things out,” Jak mumbled.

“Fuck,” Torn hissed between his teeth. One moment of weakness and suddenly once more he needed to face the disappointed gaze of the woman he basically saw as a little sister. Jak leaned back and stared up at the ceiling tiredly.

“An’ whaddya suggest we do?” Daxter bemoaned lightly, instantly regretting the loss of all the wonderful alcohol in the building—but he knew better than to whine about it right now, especially since it’d be Tess coming to clear things out and she’d give him one mean look if she found out he’d whined.

“Dunno. Something productive?” Jak scrubbed his hand over his face again. “Refugee’s will be coming in soon, right?”

Torn blinked, then grimaced. He hadn’t actually checked in on the status of the reclamation project in the past couple of days—like everyone else he’d been focused on what to do when the refugee’s arrived and completely forgot about the fact that they’d already sent troops out to clear the streets. Sure he’d looked at the basic figures they sent back—what areas were the most heavily infested and the ratio of risk versus reward, how many potential survivors they could expect, the amount of dark eco poisoning—but beyond that he set everything aside to review once they knew what they were doing.

With a mild grunt of hungover pain Torn got to his feet and shuffled over to the computer system that sat on a desk off to the side of the lounge in Jak’s rooms. He pulled up the reports that were filed in the system and quickly skimmed through them to try and get a read on how far along things were so far.

“They’ve cleared about three streets into the Industrial District,” Torn said thoughtfully. “Recovered roughly twenty survivors in good condition, another thirty more in poorer condition….”

“Precursors,” Daxter mumbled.

“Lost about twenty men,” Torn continued, brow furrowed. “They’ve piled up bodies of the remaining civilians that didn’t survive for sterilization transport. We’ve got barricades set up at the entrance from the port in the Waterfront, all the way to the first main intersection.”

Torn scanned the rest of the reports that he could quickly, and pulled back with a sigh. He rubbed at his eyes. “The amount of debris and dark eco levels are making progress slow overall.”

Jak breathed out a measured breath. “Alright. We have the pits prepared for cleansing, so let’s start cleaning up the streets of the debris we can. Get the hospitals moving to check the survivors in the safe zones and then settle them where and as needed. The more space we clear up on the streets in the Industrial District the quicker we can move things along.”

“Just like that?” Torn shifted and looked to Jak. “We haven’t even talked with the hospitals and the doctors, we’ve got barely any volunteers to help out refugees and survivors. Jak we can’t just move up operations so quickly.”

“Arguing about logistics is getting us nowhere.”

“The House’s have their own areas of management and expertise,” Torn said exasperatedly. “Their help is invaluable, and it’s how the government works.”

Daxter snorted and climbed up onto Jak’s shoulder and jerked his head toward his best friend. “Ain’t he the King?” the ottsel asked. “End all be all of the government an’ all that? Word is law, bow down t’me?” Jak snorted and Torn sighed.

“That’s not how the government works,” Torn groaned. “Dammit, kid. Just because there is a Monarchy doesn’t mean we don’t have a system in place to provide checks and balances.”

Jak shook his head and glanced down at the communicator.

“Let’s go,” Jak said after a second. “Tess is on her way with Alyín and Keira.”

“Kid—Jak—” Torn started as he stepped away from the computer, but Jak ignored him and headed for the door. “Jak I’m serious—”

“Run with it Tattoed Wonder,” Daxter crowed. “Not changin’ our minds now.”

Exhaustedly Torn followed them. He wouldn’t hear the end of it from Ashelin after this.

Alyín and Tess took the stairs up the palace two at a time, Keira trailing after them silently. They’d come in to her garage while she packed up the last of her personals and dragged her away. Alyín made some sort of phone call, proceeded to assure her she’d make sure the rest of her things got out safe, and then Tess explained the situation. It still left her reeling the fact that they needed to clean out alcohol and possible drugs. Keira couldn’t understand it, really.

Lyra, the main secretary on the first floor of the Palace, stood up the minute the three of them passed through the doors. She made a sharp nod to Alyín and to Tess and quickly moved from around her desk. She held out her hand, along with a purple and white card reminiscent of the passkey’s used to get through the gates throughout Haven.

“Here’s a passkey,” Lyra said, and handed the key over to Alyín. “I was informed of your arrival by King Jak.”

Alyín took the key with a nod and gave Lyra a small smile. “Thank you. Anything specific we should know, Lyra?”

Lyra shook her head, gave a nod to the three girls, and then stepped aside and headed back to her desk. Keira, Alyín and Tess stepped up and into the private elevator without a further word, and only when it slid completely shut did Alyín collapse in on herself. She’d been stormy earlier, and now she looked defeated. Keira glanced to her, and carefully touched her arm.

“Aly?” she asked quietly.

“What are we looking at here, Tess?” Alyín asked tiredly. “Heartburn? Sharpshooter? Liquid Grace? Static Rush? Slipstream?” The last one Alyín practically spat.

“Alcohol,” Tess said quietly.

Keira looked at Alyín, lips pressed together in thought. “Those are…those are eco drugs, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Alyín replied bitterly. “Torn’s done every single one of them.” She clenched her fists tightly. Keira breathed out explosively and looked at Tess’ stiff stance as well.

“More than that?” Keira leaned against Alyín, a form of silent support. For a moment Alyín didn’t say anything, in fact she just shook her head silently and pressed one hand up to her eyes. Kiera could see the tears there, tears that gathered and she refused to let fall. The young blue-green haired woman pushed a little firmer into Alyín.

Tess glanced to Alyín and sighed. “If this is too hard….”

Alyín shook her head and pursed her lips. “No. No, Torn swore it and I swore I’d keep him to it.” She rubbed at her eyes. “Besides, it’s in the past and if there are…if it’s just alcohol then that’s better.”

The ride up in the elevator lapsed back into silence. Keira glanced to Tess, and then up to Alyín.

“Jak…Jak got into this stuff?” Kiera questioned. Tess glanced to her and pressed her lips together.

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Tess said quietly. “I don’t know if he got into it, or if he didn’t have a choice Keira. I do know he’s kept himself clean, though.” She looked up. “Daxter too.”

Keira leaned a bit more heavily into Alyín when the older girl mumbled, “Doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way.”

Keira closed her eyes.

“Then we’ll make sure they will,” she said, opened them, and stood tall. “All of us.” Alyín nodded sharply, and glanced to Tess who gave each of them a small smile.

“Alright,” she chirped. “Let’s start with searching all of Jak’s place. Alyín?”

Alyín chuckled and shook her head. She never did understand how Tess could shift from serious to chipper in seconds. “I’ll gather up all of the booze. You guys check to make sure there isn’t anything else.”

Tess nodded and squeezed Alyín’s other arm while Kiera lightly shook her with a small smile.

“Got ya,” Tess agreed. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Kiera nodded. She’d seen her fair share of Slipstream since she started working at the Stadium. A lot of the racers used it, so she had some idea on what to look for. Plus she’d had rudimentary training in eco channeling like everyone else back in Sandover, and while she held more of an inclination for Green she could at least feel the sharp difference between the others to identify them. Plan determined the girls straightened, sucked in deep breaths, and readied themselves to work.

He stretched himself through the pathways and systems, shifted metaphorical limbs as he fully pulled himself back into awareness. He slipped his consciousness into everything, breathed in ways that he didn’t fully comprehend before. His thoughts shifted and churned in ones and zeros, tugged along neural pathways before unavailable to him. He looked through lenses, computers, communication devices, security systems. He settled himself in and flexed.

Vin scanned through the streets and noted the metalheads, noted their deepest locations and pits of loathing. He shifted and scanned through the eco grid and the shield wall—through the mine and the surrounding dangers in the waters outside the metal, brick, and mortar walls that surrounded the city and provided both protection and a cage. He let himself calculate and permutate and scan through documents unfettered while he processed just what happened. How long had it been since he’d been this aware?

It took a small portion of his concentration to activate the repair systems on the turrets that Jak busted, and then to initiate the response and targeting system of the turrets still active. He set them on eliminating the metalheads within the city walls, shifted the security cameras to sweep over the pile of shivering civilians and sick, the forces of Underground and KG that were tired and exhausted. He pulled a portion of his awareness into a transport, tugged along small spider-like KG bots to pull supplies that he logged and flagged and noted down as concise as he could.

In the seconds it took to fully pull himself back to awareness Vin sent off information and details that the others missed. He called upon the silent supporters and upon like-minded individuals, profiled those who would cause problems and those who wouldn’t. He restricted information, released information, and settled himself fully into the eco grid, the neural network that made up Haven. Vin shook off the last vestiges of sleep and let himself take control. He’d spent long enough settling in. He spent long enough reorganizing his own thought matrix, shifting and expanding his consciousness and awareness—he’d had to grow used to the new state of his existence.

The lack of power in the power station certainly didn’t help move matters along at a quicker pace. Vin calculated that maybe a month passed since the invasion; a month to settle himself and pull his own consciousness out of the void of data and code into some semblance of being again. It took him long enough; it took them all long enough.

Jak needed Vin. He needed Vin’s help. It was high passed time that Vin actually took a more proactive role in the state of this city. He was Vin of House Asul, last patriarch of the Blue Sage, last of the blue saturates—last of a long line and history that dated to before the metalhead invasion. His ancestor helped create this city, helped design the eco grid—the shield wall—helped pull small villages together into a cohesive unit that survived, and then that thrived.

Jak needed Vin like Mar needed Eichel the Blue. Jak needed Vin.

It was time he stepped up to the plate.

[raedroid]

The Star Covers Meets The Soul Of The City

Part 4: Disaster Unfolding

——————————————————————————

Bruno sat in his old apartment, glaring at his wall, fuming with anger. His crew sat around the floor injured all over. After their defeat, they were told they were no longer allowed to get the rods and Bruno refused to accept his failure. And criticism.

“Come on. Let’s get Alex.” Bruno ordered the group. The others were taking the failure rather well compared to him

“We can’t. He won fair and square.” Alfred refused

“There’s nothing fair or square about calling reinforcements like that. For a guy who was chosen by the ministers, he doesn’t follow the rules very well.” Bruno insisted

“You’re not either. We’re not allowed to compete against anyone in the competition anymore. You need to calm down. He or the other group will get the rods now.” Trevor pointed out. Bruno shot up from his spot and slapped him hard across the face, causing him to fall over and hurting his already injured arm.

“Those rods belong to me and me alone. You four are not worthy and nobody else is too.” He insisted.

“If that’s what you think, then reconsider, you expired walnut.” A voice responded. The five of them saw the rest of The Star Covers standing in the room

“Also stop the edgy personality. It’s not cool.” Kelsey stated. “And can you tell us where our friends are. They’re not really good at taking care of themselves.” She asked

“Don’t know but if I did, they would be in a graveyard because I will be burying their bodies there.” Bruno replied. The girls groaned in annoyance

“Can one of you guys explain? He’s too annoying to deal with.” Hailey asked. The men told them about the competition and how it works, the crisis rods, and Alex

“Well those rods belong to me. And Alex should’ve been discarded and killed.” Bruno whined, causing Liam to get mad

“What about us! We helped you get to this point!” Liam shouted

“In case you forgot, you four are weak and pathetic. I’m the most powerful one of the five of us so only I am worthy of the power.” Bruno answered coldly. As he spoke, Lina smacked him on the floor in a quick motion.

“You were saying? Thank you for your time asshole. We’ll be on our way.” Lina thanked and they left the room, leaving the others dumbfounded.

“Thank god all 18 of them weren’t there last night.” Gustave pointed out, getting a nod from everyone but Bruno who is still fuming in his spot.

——————————————————————————

“Who thought talking to those idiots was a good idea?” Keira asked. The girls walked down the street after their failed attempts at getting information. They were annoyed as hell and saw Alex leaving the Cosmic Emporium. As they spotted him and ran towards the shop and saw Frank polishing his desk.

“You know the guardian slaying cult!?” Bella shouted as she slammed open the door. Frank stood back terrified at the sudden entrance.

“Are the rest of The Star Covers?” He asked, terrified

“Bella will you cool it? You’re gonna give him a heart attack!” Keira scolded. He got out and ushered them inside, turning off the flashing open sign on the window.

“Get in!” He ordered. They entered and Frank closed the door immediately. “Ok girls. The six of your friends are in the competition and they are going onto the finals with Alex. You shouldn’t join them ok? You need to get them out of here and also save Alex.”

“Why Alex?” Lexy asked

“He was chosen the minister and he’s not listening. I care about the little man and I can’t do anything to convince him to drop the competition. If we don’t do something, he could get in a dangerous situation.” Frank explained

“Is there anything we need to know about this whole… situation?” Lina asked

“Yes. The minister is currently hiding somewhere, also he’s from the Dark Clipse, and Alex is a guardian.” He answered

“WHAT?!” They all shouted in unison. As they did, an older woman, around Franks age came in.

“Frank I got you your paint buckets. I got dusty rose and black for you. But black is clearly a popular colour because this is only one I can buy.” She said

“Thanks darling. Everyone this is my wife Kaya.” He introduced. The woman was a beautiful Native American woman had beautiful black hair and brown eyes. She also had a sassy demeanour compared to her husbands more gentle and friendlier exterior.

“Nice to meet you girls. Anyways, I got a call on the phone from Edward today. He said that his worker Carissa is getting targeted by the competition masters.”

“Who?” Richelle asked.

“Edward Hawkins and Adrien Berrium. They keep track of guardians around the city. I don’t have contact with the others, including their boss. Seems suspicious to me, considering that this happens every time the competition comes around.”

“I suggest we look into it. We’ll meet up with the girls soon and hopefully get more information on the competition.” Maya proposed. The others agreed and Kaya looked at her contact list. Edward and Adrien’s numbers were there and she started to feel uneasy over the situation.

——————————————————————————

Alex wandered the record store, checking out every single shelf in the shop and inspecting the CDs, DVDs, Vinyls and more. But what he wasn’t expecting was seeing Katherine at the counter, checking out her Beatles record.

“Do you have any cassette tapes of concert bootlegs or anything here?” She asked. The man pulled out a large crate of cassette tapes

“Here. 3 pounds each. Pick out whatever you like.” He replied. Katherine looked through and saw Kiss concert bootlegs from the 80s. She smiled to herself and pulled out a few of those cassettes. She had to go and pull out money from her card and started struggling with the machine. As she started to get annoyed with it, Alex walked over and helped her out, effortlessly converting her money

“Here you go.” He murmured.

“Thank yo-“ She stopped when she saw who helped her. She was even more confused when he left the shop. As she went to pay for her products, she put the change in her bag when she noticed a small card she had never seen before. It had an address and she knew that was where the finals was taking place. She had one thought in her mind

She wasn’t getting her friends hurt anymore. She needs to face them alone.

——————————————————————————

Alex slowly crept back into an apartment. His small apartment was abandoned completely with the wallpaper peeled off. The roof was leaky all over the place, making him move his dirty and stained mattress on the floor multiple times. He didn’t have any furniture beyond the mattress and he felt miserable in this tiny room. He had no other options, no other place to live. But he wasn’t expecting to see three extra faces in the room

“Oh hi guys!” He greeted his group nervously. Darien, Patrick and George were waiting for what seemed like forever for him to come back.

“You didn’t showed up to our usual meeting spot. What happened? It’s not because of the things I said earlier today right?” Darien asked, glaring at him

“I’m offended yes but thanks for checking up on me. I would ask if you wanted some snacks but you know me. No food or anything here.” He laughed miserably, upsetting George and Patrick but getting a laugh from Darien.

“I just came by to say you’re incompetent. You’re not around to give orders, something I’m good at. And honestly-“

“I know you want to take my place but that’s not happening. I am entitled to do whatever I want. So why do you still want to work for me?”

“You don’t know how to get rid of those rockstars. I know they are guardians but they’re so busy with their tours that they’ll be easy to take out. You don’t see your advantage. I can get those rods faster than you.”

“What would you do with them? You’re beyond stupid and I’m tired of your attitude.”

“You’re just a child. You don’t know how to work with this situation.”

“At least the minister has faith in me unlike you! And guess what, I got the leaders attention. She’s gonna come after us tonight. And knowing what her friends are doing, she’ll probably go alone.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“We’ll improvise. Just get out of here ok. We’ll find them. We’ll get the rods one way or another.” As Alex told them his goal, the other left and Darien ripped another piece of wallpaper off the wall and threw it at Alex’s face. After they closed the door behind them, Alex laid on the mattress and stared at the ceiling. The only sounds he could hear were the water dripping and his heavy breathing. He couldn’t do anything and knew he wouldn’t go anywhere else but he just wanted to feel important.

But is there something else for him in this world outside of this competition?

——————————————————————————

Tagging peeps who may be interested:

@2hotintheshade @namelessbutters-doodles @criminallyoverrated @gh0stfl0ra @ericcarrsworshipper @spacefoxy-irl @ladyshandioftheendless

[desdemonareads]

I rang in the New Year by reading this book.

RATING: 2/5 Stars

Writing? Solid (1 Star)

Engaging / Entertaining? Not to me. I really struggled staying focused at more than one point. (0 Stars)

Characters? Okay, but the only memorable thing about them is how they were a shadow of Stiles & Derek from Teen Wolf (1/2 Star)

Plot? Meh (1/2 Stars)

Will I read it again? I don't foresee that happening. (0 Stars)

Let's talk about it.

--

I usually enjoy Keira Andrews’ writing. I own at least ten of her books in paperback. That being said, this one was not necessarily one of my favorites.

Parker Osborne is a high strung eighteen year old freshman at Stanford with a never-ending supply of quips, who finds Adam Hawkins irritating at first. 

Adam Hawkins is a secret werewolf that drives a motorcycle. His family died in a tragic accident, leaving him alone in the world and in the dark about much of his nature.

Parker and Adam don't like each other at first but through a set of circumstances, they decide to stick together in the apocalypse.

This was one of those stories were I felt like we were just going through the motions of a zombie apocalypse. It hit all the beats you expect it to, but not in a way that feels organic or particularly engaging.

The writing is solid, but the story didn't really keep my attention. There were several points where I realized I was distracted or bored and had to re-focus myself.

I have a couple of issues with this book, so let's go through them

Parker

From the first chapter, we're introduced to Parker's insecurities. He feels unloved and lonely. The friends he had in high school are scattered across the country and now he feels as though he has no one.

I want to say that this isn't something I disliked about Parker, but I really feel like it should have been a bigger plot point given it's there almost from the very first page.

I think that we're supposed to feel like Adam assuages those fears by "choosing" Parker again and again, but none of the situations they're put it really drive that home because they're so alone.

It would've made more sense if they had been with a group of people they actually trust and at some point, they have to go their separate ways For Plot Reasons and then comes the Choosing. Adam choosing Parker when the alternative is people that neither of them fully trust isn't really a choosing in my opinion.

But again, that's just my opinion. You could read this and feel like the plot addressed those fears just fine.

Adam

Adam isn't a POV character in this book, so I don't really have any big beef with him. My only problem surrounding him is that the fact he's a werewolf feels very glossed over a lot of the time.

I don't know what I wanted to happen in order for it to feel less glossed over, but I swear half the time it's as inconsequential as the fact that he has brown hair. I expected more from a story that promised "zombie apocalypse with a werewolf."

The Pines

So, in the last quarter of the book, they happen upon a place called The Pines. It was originally supposed to be a new resort for the rich and famous, but it changed when the apocalypse came along.

One of the people who was to work at The Pines and is now just one of their residents is a man named Ramon. Ramon is a werewolf.

Now, Adam's family did not associate with other werewolves. He was always taught to avoid them, though he was never told why. Even after his family died, he continued to do that.

Ramon is presumably the first werewolf Adam has interacted with since his family's demise. It makes sense that Adam would want to do this, all things considered.

The more I think about the Ramon subplot, though, the more it baffles me.

Ramon does not like human/wolf pairings. We don’t know this until literally the last five minutes that our heroes spend with him. There is never a hint otherwise, even though as a werewolf, Ramon should be able to smell that Adam and Parker are sexually active. We get confirmation in book 2 that Adam can scent arousal on other people, so to be sure Ramon could smell it after Adam & Parker had sex at the Pines.

Ramon outright lies to Parker at one point–or, at least, it’s implied that he does, given that he tells Parker that Adam wants to stay at the Pines and when Parker tries to talk to Adam about this later, Adam is confused and even says "I thought we were on the same page [again]"–and yet, the fact that Ramon did that is never brought up or mentioned again.

Adam tells Ramon in confidence that he survived a creeper’s bite and wasn’t turned. Ramon then immediately relays this information to Dr. Yamaguchi--a human that, if I'm not mistaken, didn’t know about werewolves before that convo? I don’t understand why that was Ramon's first thought or course of action. Putting myself in Ramon's shoes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even if I knew someone was studying the new virus to try and find a cure, I don’t think I’d bring up the possibility of werewolves being immune–even just one wolf in particular–because that puts every other wolf in danger. INCLUDING the rest of Ramon's family, who is supposed to be on their way to the Pines.

Ramon betrays his kind way too easily for a guy who’s very concerned about the continued existence of their species. Dr. Yamaguchi would’ve ended up killing Adam with his experiments. Of that, I have no doubt. Ramon doesn’t seem to care even though he cares a lot about whether or not Adam creates lil baby werewolves???? How is Adam going to pass on the gene if he's dead, Ramon?????

All of that being said, as of the time of posting this, I have already begun the second book in the trilogy, Fight the Tide.

Take from that what you will.

[kenobihater]

lambert and geralt's dialogue if keira is present at the funeral:

geralt: "holding up alright?"

lambert: "love questions like that. am i holding up? what, my dick? this is shit, geralt, and you know it. knew the old man couldn't live forever. huh, even told eskel that when it came time, i'd get his sword. fits my hand perfectly, you know."

vs lambert and geralt's dialogue if keira is not present at the funeral:

geralt: "how are you feeling?"

lambert: "please-" (he stops talking, overcome with emotion)

geralt: "thanks for everything."

lambert: "sure." (again, he sounds on the verge of tears)

geralt (option 1; rest up, get well): "get your health back"

lambert (response 1): "leave me alone."

geralt (option 2; something wrong?): "something eating you?"

lambert (response 2): "do you seriously not know? (an incredulous pause) get lost, i'm done with this idiotic conversation."

lambert was either 1.) "playing tough" for keira to impress her, or 2.) was uncomfortable showing weakness around a (to him, at least) then unknown magic user. my money's on the second, and if you'll excuse me i'm gonna go stare at a wall and think about the waver in his voice for multiple hours

[bamf-jaskier]

Who the Fuck is Philippa Eilhart?

I don’t know if you’ve been following Witcher news lately but Philippa has just been cast!

Of course, many show-only fans might not be familiar with her character and game-only fans might not know how different her story is in the books, so I’m here to give a relatively brief overview of her plot line in the books. Warning: lots of book spoilers ahead as well as the standard graphic violence that is the norm in the books.

With that, Hi! I’m Aaliyah and this is Part 6 of my WTF Series - a crash course in subject from The Witcher books.

The first time we meet Philippa in Blood of Elves, she is an advisor to the King of Redania. Dandelion is brought before The Redanian Secret Service because they wish to know Geralt’s whereabouts. 

Excerpt:

Dandilion glanced at the fourth person present at the meeting, who until then had remained silent. Philippa Eilhart must have only recently arrived in Oxenfurt, or was perhaps intending to leave at once, since she wore neither a dress nor her favourite black agate jewellery nor any sharp make-up. 

She was wearing a man’s short jacket, leggings and high boots – a “field” outfit as the poet called it. The enchantress’s dark hair, usually loose and worn in a picturesque mess, was brushed smooth and tied back at the nape of her neck.

“Let’s not waste time,” she said, raising her even eyebrows. “Dandilion’s right. We can spare ourselves the rhetoric and slick eloquence which leads nowhere when the matter at hand is so simple and trivial.”

Here are some of Dandelion’s thoughts on Philippa:

Dandilion divided women – including magicians – into very likeable, likeable, unlikeable and very unlikeable. The very likeable reacted to the proposition of being bedded with joyful acquiescence, the likeable with a happy smile. The unlikeable reacted unpredictably. The very unlikeable were counted by the troubadour to be those to whom the very thought of presenting such a proposition made his back go strangely cold and his knees shake.

Philippa Eilhart, although very attractive, was decidedly very unlikeable. Apart from that, Philippa Eilhart was an important figure in the Council of Wizards, and King Vizimir’s trusted court magician. 

She was a very talented enchantress. Word had it that she was one of the few to have mastered the art of polymorphy. She looked thirty. In truth she was probably no less than three hundred years old.”

Then, Dandelion leaves to go back to Geralt and Philippa follows him in the form of an owl:

A big grey owl glided down to the sill without a sound. Shani cried out quietly. Geralt reached for his sword.

“Don’t be silly, Philippa,” said Dandilion.

The owl disappeared and Philippa Eilhart appeared in its place, squatting awkwardly. The magician immediately jumped into the room, smoothing down her hair and clothes.

“Good evening,” she said coldly. “Introduce me, Dandilion.”

“Geralt of Rivia. Shani of Medicine. And that owl which so craftily flew in my tracks is no owl. This is Philippa Eilhart from the Council of Wizards, at present in King Vizimir’s service and pride of the Tretogor court. It’s a shame we’ve only got one chair in here.”

Geralt is trying to hunt down a wizard, Rience, who is trying to get Ciri. When Geralt is about to kill Rience, Philippa lets Rience portal away and Geralt, Shani and Dandelion are quite upset:

“Philippa!” shouted Dandilion, still holding the weeping Shani. “Have you gone mad?”

“No,” said the witcher with some effort. “She’s quite sane. And knows perfectly well what she’s doing. She knew all along what she was doing. She took advantage of us. Betrayed us. Deceived—”

“Calm down,” repeated Philippa Eilhart. “You won’t understand and you don’t have to understand. I did what I had to do. And don’t call me a traitor. Because I did this precisely so as not to betray a cause which is greater than you can imagine. 

A great and important cause, so important that minor matters have to be sacrificed for it without second thoughts, if faced with such a choice. Geralt, damn it, we’re nattering and you’re standing in a pool of blood. Calm down and let Shani and me take care of you.”

Of course, this is all a part of Philippa’s larger plan to hold a coup and gain political power. Vilgefortz hired Rience and if Geralt had found that out then Vilgefortz would be revealed as a traitor to the Brotherhood and Philippa couldn’t have that happening before her coup.

The next time we see Philippa is in Time of Contempt at the banquet on Thanedd Island. She talks to many of the guests, here is a short conversation between her and Geralt:

“There’s no caviar.’ (Geralt)

‘One moment.’ (Philippa)

She looked around quickly, waved a hand and mumbled a spell. The silver dish in the shape of a leaping fish immediately filled with the roe of the endangered shovelnose sturgeon. The Witcher smiled.

‘Can one eat one’s fill of an illusion?’

‘No. But snobbish tastes can be pleasantly titillated by it. Have a try.’

‘Hmm… Indeed… I’d say it’s tastier than the real thing…’

‘And it’s not at all fattening,’ said the enchantress proudly, squeezing lemon juice over a heaped teaspoon of caviar. ‘May I have another goblet of white wine?’

‘At your service. Philippa?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m told etiquette precludes the use of spells here. Wouldn’t it be safer, then, to conjure up the illusion of the taste of caviar alone, without the caviar? Just the sensation? You’d surely be able to…’

‘Of course I would,’ said Philippa Eilhart, looking at him through her crystal goblet. ‘The construction of such a spell is easy as pie. But were you only to have the sensation of taste, you’d lose the pleasure the activity offers. The process, the accompanying ritual movements, the gestures, the conversation and eye contact which accompanies the process… I’ll entertain you with a witty comparison. Would you like that?’

‘Please do. I’m looking forward to it.’

‘I’d also be capable of conjuring the sensation of an orgasm.”

She is quite ruthless and cutting and while Geralt remains upset about Rience, Philippa, in true sorceress fashion, has already moved on. As well, she is explicitly queer in the books which I talk about here

Later, Geralt gets up in the night to go to the bathroom and stumbles upon Philippa attempting a coup. Triss temporarily blinds Geralt and Philippa and Tissaia exchange tense words. Philippa sends Geralt away with Dijkstra, offering him mercy despite him finding out about her coup. 

However, Geralt gets away from Dijkstra and goes back to Thanedd where a full-battle is going on. 

Turns out, Tissaia and Philippa’s fight cumulated in Tissaia releasing Vilgefortz and lowering the barrier as seen in this passage:

“They’re still fighting,’ said Carduin, grinding his teeth. ‘It’s hot down there, one spell after another…’

‘Spells? In Garstang? But there’s an anti-magic aura there!’

‘It was Tissaia’s doing. She suddenly decided whose side she was on. She took down the blockade, removed the aura and neutralised the dimeritium. Then everyone went for each other! Vilgefortz and Terranova on one side, Philippa and Sabrina on the other… The columns cracked and the vaulting collapsed… And then Francesca opened the entrance to the cellars, and those elven devils suddenly leapt out… We told them that we were neutral, but Vilgefortz only laughed.”

Geralt then runs in Keira Metz who was thrown out a window and she explains that after Vilgefortz was released the Scoia’tael (Elven and Non-human fighters who are allied with Nilfgaard sort of) attacked: 

“Sorry. How did the Scoia’tael get here?”

“They were hidden in the cellars. Thanedd is as hollow as a nutshell and there’s a huge cavern under it; you could sail a ship in if you knew how. Someone must have told them the way—Ouuuch! Be careful! Stop jolting me!’

‘Sorry. So the Squirrels came here by sea? When?’

‘God knows when. It might have been yesterday, or a week ago. We were preparing to strike at Vilgefortz, and Vilgefortz at us. Vilgefortz, Francesca, Terranova and Fercart… They conned us good and proper. Philippa thought they were planning a slow seizure of power in the Chapter, and to put pressure on the kings… But they were planning to finish us off during the Conclave… Geralt, it’s too painful… It’s my leg… Put me down for a second. Ouuuch!”

Later, there is a flashback to Philippa and Tissaia’s fight:

‘Enough!’ Philippa slammed her fist down on the table. ‘I shall satisfy your curiosity, Carduin. You ask who is preparing a war? Nilfgaard. They intend to attack and destroy us. But Emhyr var Emreis remembers Sodden Hill and has decided to protect himself by removing the mages from the game first. With this in mind, he made contact with Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. He bought him with promises of power and honour. 

Yes, Tissaia. Vilgefortz, hero of Sodden, sold us out to become the governor and ruler of all the conquered territories of the north. Vilgefortz, helped by Terranova and Fercart, shall rule the provinces which will be established in place of the conquered kingdoms. It is he who will wield the Nilfgaardian scourge over the people who inhabit those lands and will begin toiling as the Empire’s slaves. 

And Francesca Findabair, Enid an Gleanna, will become queen of the land of the free elves. It will, of course, be a Nilfgaardian protectorate, but it will suffice for the elves so long as Emperor Emhyr will give them a free hand to murder humans. The elves desire nothing so much as to murder Dh’oine.”

Tissaia states, “That is a serious accusation. Which means the proof will also have to be as weighty. But before you throw your proof onto the scale, Philippa Eilhart, be aware of my stance. Proof may be fabricated. Actions and their motives may be misinterpreted. 

But nothing can change existing facts. You have broken the unity and solidarity of the Brotherhood, Philippa Eilhart. You have handcuffed members of the Chapter like criminals. So do not dare to offer me a position in the new Chapter which your gang of traitors–who have sold out to the kings, rather than to Nilfgaaard–intend to create. 

We are separated by death and blood. The death of Hen Gedymdeith. And the blood of Lydia van Bredevoort. You spilled that blood with contempt. You were my best pupil, Philippa Eilhart. I was always proud of you. But now I have nothing but contempt for you.”

I won’t go into detail for the sake of brevity, but Philippa ends up escaping Thanedd unharmed after her failed coup and we don’t see her again until Baptism of Fire when she is forming The Lodge. 

Here is an excerpt of her pitch speech about The Lodge to the other mages:

Philippa Eilhart stood up, her dress rustling.

‘Distinguished sisters,’ she said. ‘Our situation is grave. Magic is under threat. The tragic events on Thanedd, to which my thoughts return with regret and reluctance, proved that the effects of hundreds of years of apparently peaceful cooperation could be laid waste in an instant, as self-interest and inflated ambitions came to the fore. 

We now have discord, disorder, mutual hostility and mistrust. Events are beginning to get out of control. In order to regain control, in order to prevent a cataclysm happening, the helm of this storm-tossed ship must be grasped by strong hands. 

Mistress Laux-Antille, Mistress Merigold, Mistress Metz and I have discussed the matter and we are in agreement. It is not enough to re-establish the Chapter and the Council, which were destroyed on Thanedd. In any case, there is no one left to rebuild the two institutions, no guarantee that should they be rebuilt they would not be infected with the disease that destroyed the previous ones. 

An utterly new, secret organisation should be founded which will exclusively serve matters of magic. Which will do everything to prevent a cataclysm. For if magic were to perish, our world would perish with it. 

Just as happened many centuries ago, the world without magic and the progress it brings with it will be plunged into chaos and darkness; will drown in blood and barbarity. We invite the ladies present here to take part in our initiative: to actively participate in the work proposed by this secret assembly. We took the decision to summon you here in order to hear your opinions on this matter. With this, I have finished.’

Then, later on in Baptism of Fire at the first official meeting of the Lodge Philippa discusses how she wants to make Ciri Queen of the North. 

“Who, then, is to be this Queen of the North?’

‘A girl from a royal family,’ Philippa calmly replied, ‘in whose veins flows royal blood, the blood of several great dynasties. Very young and capable of producing offspring. A girl with exceptional magical and prophetic abilities, a carrier of the Elder Blood as the prophecies have heralded. A girl who will play her role with great aplomb without direction, prompt, sycophants or grey eminences, because that is what her destiny demands. 

A girl, whose true abilities are and will be known only to us: Cirilla, daughter of Princess Pavetta of Cintra, the granddaughter of the Queen Calanthe called the Lioness of Cintra. The Elder Blood, the Icy Flame of the North, the Destroyer and Restorer, whose coming was prophesied centuries ago. Ciri of Cintra, the Queen of the North. And her blood, from which will be born the Queen of the World.”

After this, Yennefer, who was brought to the Lodge agains her will (although she is a member) escapes with Fringilla’s help in order to find Ciri and Philippa is furious. 

The next time we see Philippa is in The Tower of the Swallows and it is when Yennefer is hunting down Vilgefortz and contacts Philippa for help:

Philippa stared at her from under lowered eyelids. “If you believe,” she said finally, “that you've won peace, time, or security with this declaration, then you've miscalculated. Make no mistake about it, Yennefer. 

When you fled from Montecalvo, you made your decision. You chose to stand on a different side of the barricade. If you are not with the Lodge, you are against the Lodge. Now you're trying to forestall us from finding Ciri, and the motives that guide you are opposed to ours. 

You act against us. You do not want to allow us to use Ciri for our political purposes. You shouldknow that we will also do everything in our power to make sure that you cannot use the girl for your sentimental purposes.”

“So, it’s war?”

“Competition.” Philippa smiled toxically. “Competition only, Yennefer.”

“Decent and honorable?”

“You must be joking.”

“Obviously. Though on at least one specific issue, I would like to have an honest and genuine conversation. And, incidentally, it involves a favor to me.”

“Speak.”

“Over the next few days, maybe even tomorrow, events will occur whose consequences I cannot foresee. It may happen that our competition and rivalry suddenly has no meaning. For the simple reason that one of the competitors will not be there anymore.”

Philippa Eilhart narrowed her blue-shaded eyes. “I understand.”

“Ensure that I posthumously gain back my reputation and good name. I will no longer be held for a traitor or an accomplice of Vilgefortz. I ask this of the Lodge. I ask this of you, personally.”

Philippa was silent for a moment.“I deny your request,” she said finally. “I'm sorry, but your exoneration is not in the interest of the Lodge. If you die, you die a traitor. You'll be a traitor and criminal to Ciri, because then it will be easier to manipulate the girl.”

“Before you do something that could be fatal,” Triss said suddenly, “leave something behind for us…”

“A will?” Yennefer said.

“Something that allows us to… continue. To find Ciri. Because we are primarily concerned for her health! For her life! Yennefer, Dijkstra has found some traces of… some traces of certain activities have been found. If Vilgefortz does have Ciri, then the girl faces a horrible death.”

“Be quiet, Triss,” Philippa Eilhart hissed sharply. “We are not trading or bargaining.”

“I will leave you the information,” Yennefer said slowly. “I'll leave you the information on what I've found and what I plan. I’ll leave a trail you can follow to her. But not in vain. If you will not facilitate my exoneration in the eyes of the world, then to hell with you and with the world. But at least grant me exoneration in the eyes of the witcher.”

“No,” Philippa denied the request almost instantly. “That is also not in the interest of the Lodge. You will also remain a traitor and a mercenary sorceress to your witcher. It is not in the interest of the Lodge for him to furiously attempt to avenge you. If he despises you, he will not attempt to take revenge. By the way, he's probably already dead or will die any day now.”

“The information,” Yennefer said dully, “for his life. Save him, Philippa.”

“No, Yennefer.”

“Because it's not in the interest of the Lodge.” A purple fire kindled in the sorceress’ eyes. “Did you hear that Triss? There, you have your Lodge. You see their true colors, their true interests. And what do you think of them? You were a mentor to the girl, almost – as you put it – a big sister. And Geralt…”

“Do not attack Triss’ relationships, Yennefer.” Philippa retaliated with her own fire in her eyes. “We will find and rescue the girl without your help. And if you succeed, that's fine, a thousand thanks, because you will have saved us the trouble. You tear the girl out of the hands of Vilgefortz and we will be happy. And Geralt? Who cares about Geralt?”

“Did you hear that, Triss?”

“Forgive me,” said Triss Merigold dully. “Forgive me, Yennefer.”

“Oh, no, Triss. Never.”

I know this is a long scene, but it’s so important and isn’t one I felt right in slicing up. This establishes Triss’ true betrayal of Yennefer. Just prior to this, it is practically stated that Triss and Philippa slept together and despite Triss’ love for Yennefer her loyalty to Philippa is stronger in this moment which makes this hurt so much more. Philippa is also so cruel to Yennefer in this scene, denying both Geralt and Ciri the truth of her motivations as to better manipulate them. It really showcases how her lust for power overrides her empathy. 

The final time we see Philippa is in Lady of the Lake when Ciri is brought before the Lodge. Here, Philippa describes what their plans are for Ciri:

“You are coming with me,” Lady Owl (Philippa) said, breaking the heavy silence, “and Sile to Kovir, to Pont Vanis, the summer capital of the kingdom. As you are no longer Cirilla of Cintra, during the course of the audience you will be presented as an adept of magic, being protected by us. 

At that audience you will meet a very wise king, Esterad Thyssen. You will meet his wife, the Queen Zuleyka, a person of singular nobility and goodness. You will also meet their son and heir, Prince Tancred.”

Ciri was beginning to understand and rolled her eyes. Lady Owl did not miss that detail.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “First of all you must impress prince Tancred. Because you are going to become his lover and give him a child.”

“If you were still Cirilla of Cintra,” Philippa continued after a long pause, “still the daughter of Pavetta and granddaughter of Calanthe, you would become Prince Tancred’s legal wife. You’d be the princess and later the queen of Poviss and Kovir. Unfortunately, and I tell you with genuine regret, fate has deprived you of everything. Including your future. You will only be his mistress. His favourite.”

Then Later: 

“Your’s and Tancred’s child,” Philippa watched here with dark eyes, “will ensure the future and status of this Lodge. Take note that it will be a great thing. You will be a part of it, because right after the birth you will sit with us at this table. We will teach you. You are one of us, even if you do not want to admit it yet.”

“On the island of Thanedd,” Ciri overcame the tightness in her throat, “you said I was a mindless tool, even a monster, Lady Owl, and now you say that I am one of you.”

Then, the Lodge asks Ciri what her last name will be, Philippa and others offering theirs but Ciri declines in favor of choosing Yennefer’s:

“Thank you, Lady Philippa,” Ciri said after a few moments, squeezing the head of the sphinxes in her hands. “I also feel honoured with the proposal to take the surname de Tancarville. However, it seems to me that my new last name is the only thing that I can choose for myself, I thank the two mistresses. But I want to be called Cirilla of Vengerberg, daughter of Yennefer.”

Ciri requests to go and see Geralt and The Lodge votes on this and Philippa is the deciding vote. At first, she is hesitant but then Ciri shows her a vision and Philippa says this: 

“This Lodge,” Philippa said at last in a firm voice, “is to decide the fate of the world. So, this Lodge must reflect the world. Here, equilibrium and wisdom does not always mean cold and selfish, calculation and vileness, and sentimentality is not always naive. On one hand, iron discipline and on the other responsibility, resistance to violence, gentleness and trust. Cool reason… And heart.”

“I,” she said into the silence that reigned after her introduction, “cast the last vote. I will take into account one more thing. An element that without balancing anything, balances everything.”

“Following her gaze, everyone looked at the wall, to a mosaic of many multicolour tiles depicting the snake Uroboros, biting it’s own tail.

“That thing,” she continued, staring with her dark eyes at Ciri, “is destiny in which I, Philippa Eilhart have only begun to believe in recently, which I have only recently begun to understand. Destiny is not the way to providence or comfortable fatalism. Destiny is hope. I am full of hope that it will become what we want to happen, so I give my vote to Ciri - Child of Destiny, Child of Hope”

In the pillared hall of Montecalvo the was silence for a long time. From outside of the window came the hunting cry from a sea eagle.

“Lady Yennefer,” Ciri whispered. “It means…”

“Come, my daughter,” Yennefer whispered back. “Geralt is waiting for is and it is a long road ahead.”

This is the last time we see Philippa, but based on what we hear at other parts of Lady of Lake, we know she does not have a happy ending. After this, the Witch Hunt begin, a period of time when the Clergy hunted and murdered sorceresses and destroyed their pictures and images. The Witcher Hunts themselves could be an entirely separate post there is so much there. 

Many sorceresses, Philippa included as later considered Martyrs but she was killed viciously by the clergy as described in this passage from Lady of the Lake:

…As well as many of the other faithful, St. Philippa was also besmirched with betraying the Kingdom, inducing riots and plotting a coup. Willemer, a heretic and sectarian, unlawfully appointed himself the title of archpriest, and ordered St. Philippa to be thrown into a dark dungeon, and to plague her with cold and hunger, until she confessed to her sins of which she was accused and repented. 

Also various instruments of torture were used to try and break her spirit. But St. Philippa with disdain, spit in his face and accused him of sodomy.

The heretic had her disrobed and whipped her with barbed wire and placed sharp splinters under her nails. While unceasingly preaching about his faith and denouncing the Goddess. But St. Philippa laughed at him and recommended to him to heal his sick mind.”

“Willemer then gave the order to have her taken to the rack and stretched, while tearing her body with sharp hooks and burning her with candles. Although thus tormented, St. Philippa showed no weakness in body and indeed her resistance and endurance seemed almost superhuman. 

The executioner’s arms went limp and with fear they retreated from her. Then the filthy heretic, Willemer, began to threaten them and told them to continue the torment. They burned St. Philippa with red-hot irons, pulled her limbs out of their joints and pulled at her breasts with blacksmith tongs. And although she passed away from this torment, she confessed nothing.

The shameless heretic Willemer, we read in the books of our holy fathers, later suffered for this punishment and it was that lice and worms began to eat him alive, his entrails rotted away and he died miserably. 

His carcass carried with it a foul stench and nobody wanted to bury him, and so he was dropped in a swamp.

For the suffering and death of St. Philippa the eternal memory of a martyr’s crown rightfully belongs. Let us give the Great Mother Goddess praise for her lessons and teachings. Amen.

The Life of St. Philippa, Martyr of Mons Calvus

The Book of Martyrs Compiled in the Breviary of Tretogor, For the 

Contemplation of the Holy Fathers and Mothers.”

Needless to say, Philippa’s hunger for power and The Lodge end in ruin. There are very few happy endings in The Witcher and this is just another example. 

So that’s my overview on Philippa! I had to cut some scenes and moments in the hope of keeping it short, but I hope it was still an enjoyable read. If you want another character/topic WTF post leave something in my inbox and I will get to it when I can. 

[queenxxxsupreme]

Hi Kacey! It's been one of those days where is so difficult to like my appearance and who I am in general so I was wondering if you would like to write about Lambert trying to make his SO feel better about themselves? It's okay If you don't end up writing it. I was felt like contributing. Hope you are okay :)

A/N: Hi babe! I know I have a couple asks from you in my box still and I am hoping to get around to them very soon! I haven’t forgotten about them! Life has just gotten shitty. I hope you ejoy this :) 

Warnings: self image issues, self-hate but nothing too bad, it’s very mild and Lambert is very supportive and fluffy and sweet and makes it better!

*** 

The heavy door to the bedroom opened, making you lift your head. Lambert stepped into the room, glancing over to the bed. He expected to find you there but it was empty. Yellow eyes flickered over to where you sat at the vanity. 

“You coming down for breakfast?”

You looked at him for a few moments, biting your bottom lip as you shook your head. You were in no state to be around other people. Anxious tension sat in your stomach. Your mind raced with a million thoughts, yet you couldn’t focus on anything. 

“Why not?” Lambert closed the bedroom door and moved to sit on the corner of the bed closest to you. 

You shrugged your shoulders, dropping your eyes to your hands. 

Lambert didn’t like your silence or the way you furrowed your brows together while avoiding his gaze. Something was bothering you. 

“Come on, bug. Talk to me.”

“No.” You stubbornly shook your head, your voice crackling. Tears welled in your eyes and before you could force them to go away, they already slipped down your cheeks. You worked quickly to wipe them away.

“Bug, come here.” Lambert patted the bed next to him. “I can’t do shit for you if you’re sitting over there.”

You moved to sit next to him, allowing him to wrap his arm around you and pull you into his side. 

You turned your head to bury your face in his shoulder, thankful that your cries were muffled by the material to his shirt. 

“What’s the matter, bug?”

You said nothing, fisting the material of his top where your hand rested at the small of his back. 

“You gotta talk to me for me to help you, bug.” He kissed your head and rubbed your side. 

“I-I just…. I can’t- Not today.”

He gave you a few minutes to gather yourself so that you could calm down and talk to him properly. 

When you finally lifted your head from his shoulder, he wiped your cheeks.

“I feel shitty today.” You muttered, folding your hands in your lap. 

“What feels shitty?” Lambert watched your side profile. He listened to the way your heart was beating and how you took every breath.

“Everything. I tried to put on clothes and meet you downstairs like I said I would but nothing looks right on me.” 

“That’s ridiculous. Everything looks fucking perfect on you.”

You half smiled at Lambert’s attempt to cheer you up. 

“I wish I had the same opinion.” You sighed gently, reaching over to put your hand on his knee. “M’sorry I ruined breakfast. I know you made breakfast for everyone.”

“You didn’t ruin breakfast, bug.” Lambert shook his head. “How about this? You get comfortable in bed and I’ll bring our breakfast up here okay?”

“Breakfast in bed. You spoil me.” A smile pulled at the corners of your lips. 

“I try.” He kissed your temple and then left. 

You watched him leave, messing with your fingers in your lap. 

The longer you were left alone, the more time those invasive, nasty thoughts had to return. 

You climbed up into bed and slipped under the blankets on Lambert’s side of the bed. The linens and pillows smelled just like him. 

When Lambert returned with a large tray of food, he found you curled up beneath the blankets. 

He placed the tray down on the dresser and moved around to the side of the bed. 

“Hey, bug?”

“Hm?” You made no effort to pull the blanket back from your head. 

He patted the blanket to make sure he wouldn’t sit on you when he sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“You okay?”

You groaned a little.

“You wanna talk anymore? Or do you want me to shut up about it?” 

You didn’t answer immediately.

“Just don’t get how you can stand to be around me.”

Lambert looked down at the floor. Getting in his feelings wasn’t one of the young witcher’s passions nor was it something he was good at, but he needed to get sentimental and warm for you. 

“Bug, you know I love you.” He tugged the blanket down your back. Your face was tucked into his pillows. He began to rub circles into your back. “All these thoughts you’re having, they aren’t worth your tears, bug. You mean the world to me.”

“But how? I-I feel like all I’m good for is annoying the piss out of you.”

Lambert half grinned. 

“You are good at that, bug, but that’s not all you’re good for. You’re good at reminding me to take care of myself. You know how I get. Sometimes I don’t care to keep up with eating like normal people or sleeping on a right schedule. You make damn sure I do. You’re good at jokes too. You’re funny. Vesemir thinks you’re funny, and he doesn’t think anything is funny.”

“‘Cause I have the humor of an old man.”

Lambert chuckled. 

“Bug, I love you.” Lambert reminded you. “I’ll keep saying it all day and by the time we go to bed tonight, you’ll be so sick of hearing me say it that you’ll punch me.”

You giggled. 

“Now turn over and look at me.”

You turned over on the bed, looking up at the witcher. He wiped your cheeks and brushed your hair back out of your eyes. 

“You want me to feed you like a baby?”

“Lambert.”

“What? I’m just trying to help.”

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If your name is in italics, it wouldn’t let me tag you :(

[bordeleaubeau]

when worlds collide - ryder donovan

chapter one wc: 5167

“and y/n, you’re paired with ryder.” mrs. wilson smiles as she reads off the final pairing of partners, and you can feel the color draining from your face. you turn to your left, looking over a few rows towards where ryder donovan sat. a near stranger right now, but he sure as hell wouldn’t be in a few days. “okay. so i just ask that everyone pairs up with their assigned partner and you sit together, and then i’ll go over the rules, got it?” 

the once silent classroom is then filled with the noises of chairs screeching against the tiled floor. your classmate, juliana who sits next to you, lets out a sigh. “well, good luck with ryder, y/n. you’ve sure hit the jackpot. make sure no girls steal your partner, okay?”

you give her a look as she grabs her book bag, standing up from her desk that was right besides yours. “yeah well, chances are i’m gonna be doing all the work. so yeah, lucky me right?” you roll your eyes. juliana gives you one last pitiful look before she’s off to her partner. 

you’re reaching down to pick up the strap of your book bag, but you glance up and see the blonde headed boy heading over in your direction already. you let your bookbag fall to the floor, and in a few short seconds ryder is taking the spot juliana had once sat in. 

“i’m y/-”

ryder cuts you off, a half smirk on his face. “i know who you are, smarty pants. no need to introduce yourself.” he says, placing his book bag down on his desk. “man, what even is this project.”

and it seems mrs. wilson hears him from across the room. “good question, mr. donovan. so as you’ve observed, i’ve placed you in male to female partnerships for this project. and i know you’ll all probably be ready to kill me after this, but i think it’s going to open your eyes to the real world.” you and ryder are already exchanging nervous glances with each other. “the baby project.” immediately, there are groans from all around the room, and your teacher starts to talk over them. “my job is to basically teach you to stay abstinent. and there’s no better way to teach you than this project. you and your partner will be a couple for the next two weeks - you can be ‘separated,’ ‘divorced,’ whatever you want. but you’re taking care of a child together. you have to maintain the ‘happiness’ of the child whenever he or she may start to cry by using a designated key. but failure to stop the crying after multiple attempts will result in an automatic five percentage deduction from your grade. now, choose between yourselves to decide who comes to pick up your baby.”

you and ryder are both blankly staring at each other, mouths dropped open wide. you’re sure nearly every girl in the class is jealous of you and for reasons you can quite clearly tell. ryder was attractive, smart, and a crazy level of popular. but that’s what you get as your school’s hockey team captain, right?

“uh,” ryder mumbles, eyes glancing down at the pencil he’s fumbling in his hand. “i’ll go pick up, the uh-”

“the doll, ryder. it’s not real. no need to get so spooked out,” you cut him off, letting out a huff as you lean back in the chair. ryder wordlessly nods and gets up from his seat and goes up to the front of the room. 

you’re minding your own business, pulling your phone out of your pocket when you feel a tap on your shoulder. you turn to see keira bradley, the captain of the girl’s lacrosse team. “so, y/n,” she smiles sweetly, placing her hand on your shoulder. you don’t have the heart in you to shrug it off, even if you’ve spoken maybe three words to the girl in all of high school. “cute outfit today! that color blue really brings out your skin tone. well, anyway, i was wondering to you maybe wanna switch part-”

“not happening, keira,” you hear ryder’s voice, and for once you’re grateful for it. keira lets out a huff. “nice try, though.” 

when keira turns back around, you look over at ryder. “what, wanna stick with a partner that’ll end up doing the whole project for you? strategic, donovan. real strategic.” you mumble, leaning back in your seat once again. 

“that’s not what-“ ryder sighs. “i just don’t think we should switch. mrs. wilson gave us our partners for a reason. but anyway, i think we have a girl, and then this is our worksheet for her name and stuff.”

you take the paper from ryder’s grasp, glancing over the questions you have to answer throughout your time with the baby. at the top, you write down yours and ryder’s names, stopping when there’s a spot for your baby’s name. “what do you wanna name her?” 

“uhh, what about, uh just saylor?” ryder looks up at you for approval after his suggestion of the pretty name. you shrug, writing down ‘just saylor’ down on your paper. “oh come on, smart ass,” ryder lets out a laugh, grabbing your pencil and paper away and erasing the ‘just’ you had written. you see his eyes lingering on the last name you had written for your fake baby. “hey, i like that last name.” he smirks, referring to the fact that you had written donovan.

“you did say ‘just saylor,’” you mock ryder, a soft smirk on your face as your eyes go back up to your teacher standing in the front of the room, trying your very hardest at ignoring the blush on your cheeks.

“so!” mrs. wilson exclaims, regaining attention from your class. “i don’t expect you guys to be together twenty-four seven. that’s not realistic as high schoolers. but i’d hope you both put in effort. maybe one of you has the baby one day, the other has it another and you alternate. but you have fourteen days.” ryder sighs, his hand raising and waiting for mrs. wilson to nod in his direction. “yes, ryder.”

“mrs. wilson, i have hockey like, every day. and games. home and away. i’d feel bad leaving y/n to do all of that.” you hate all of the eyes that turn to look at you. normally, you loved mrs. wilson and you looked forward to her class. but right now? you were ready to drop dead. as if the looks from the girls weren’t deadly enough already. they’d kill to be in your position. 

mrs. wilson smiles at you sweetly, and you know you’re in for a treat. “well, miss l/n is a sweet girl. i’m sure she wouldn’t mind going to a few of your games, right y/n?”

you force a smile, “right, mrs. wilson.” 

“but, ryder, i do appreciate your dedication to your team,” mrs. wilson adds on before she looks back up at the clock. “we can end here for the day. if you aren’t familiar with your partner, get to know them. if not, feel free to do whatever with your free time.”

ryder puts your project worksheet in his binder and you put your pencil away, leaving you to simply tap your fingers against your desk seeing as there wasn’t a point in taking out your phone. 

“so,” ryder speaks up pulling your attention away from your desk. “i can have her for the night. we had practice this morning so i can take care of her. and then you can just meet me at my locker tomorrow morning and we can switch off, and then you can go to my game tomorrow night and we can switch. how does that sound?” 

if you’re being honest, you’re skeptical. sure, you’ve talked to ryder here and there throughout your four years of school together, but as ryder got more and more popular the less and less the two of you talked. but you didn’t really have a choice - and you never really did talk in the first place. you didn’t even think he really knew who you were let alone your name.

“yeah, that sounds good. it shouldn’t be a problem.”

ryder gives you a smile just as the bell rings signalling the end of your class. “great. i’ll see you tomorrow morning then, y/n.” ryder picks up the baby carrier your fake doll is in and he slings his bookbag over his shoulder. you watch as he walks out, meeting up with a few of his teammates while you’re left to wallow in the thoughts of what’s going to be the worst two weeks of your life. 

-----------

“so you’re telling me you got paired with the ryder donovan. for a baby project. where he’s literally your baby daddy!” kennedy has no sense of an indoor voice as she basically screams in the cafeteria, her eyes wide and her palms pressed flat down on the table. “y/n! this is huge!” 

you roll your eyes at your best friend as you take a sip from your water. “you’re ridiculous, kenna. you sure you don’t wanna trade places with me? it’s just a project. it’ll be over in two weeks and then he’ll forget i ever even existed.” 

“or! or, you two realize you’re meant to be and you fall in love, just like you were always destined to be.” kennedy lets out a sigh of bliss, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she gazes past your body with a soft smile on her face. 

“classic ken. hopeless romantic, as per usual,” josie says from beside you. you nod at her before looking back at kennedy who’s now pouting. 

“sorry i’m the optimistic one out of all of us. someone has to be,” the blonde mumbles, ducking her head as she continues to eat her food. 

you let out a sigh. of course you didn’t intend to make her feel bad, but sometimes kennedy got into her own head and made up her own fantasies. you would know, seeing as you had dealt with it since you were eight years old. “kenny, i just don’t wanna get my hopes up. with a boy like ryder, i’m lucky if i even end up as his friend after this whole thing is over. time will tell, alright? but until then, i need you girls with me at his hockey games.” 

kennedy’s eyes widen right away and you smile, knowing you’d get that reaction out of her. “like-like, logan anderson’s games too?” she sputters out, the fork in her hand falling onto the lunch table.

josie cracks up, “he plays on the hockey team, doesn’t he ken? and because he’s ryder’s best friend chances are when we wait for ryder after the game, logan will be with him too, and you can finally make your move.”

“yeah, you’re funny.” kennedy mumbles. “as if i’d ever make a move on logan? you’re funny, jose. really funny.” 

“oh come on, kenny! you two would be adorable. and if your far fetched fantasy of ryder and i getting together comes true, imagine all of the double dates we could go on!” you exclaim, your hand reaching across the wooden lunch table to rest on kennedy’s arm. she finally begins to smile. “there’s that smile!”

“okay, we’ll see, okay? just, it’s logan. i don’t wanna make a fool out of myself.” she admits sheepishly.

josie lets out a sigh, “well we’ll make sure you don’t and you’ll get the boy.”

-----------

later that night, you’re sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner with your mom, dad and your brother, william. “so, honey, how was school?” your mom asks, looking up at you from across the table.

you shrug, “well, i have a baby.” you say straight up, causing both of your parents to nearly start choking on their food. your dad goes to open his mouth to give you a piece of his mind, but you beat him to it. “please don’t freak. it’s a fake baby for my child development class. i’m partnered up with ryder donovan.”

your dad blows out a breath at the mention of ryder’s name, as he was the head coach for denfeld’s hockey team - aka east’s rival school. why you went to east, you couldn’t quite say. “now that’s something,” your father admits, mumbling down towards his plate. “so, tell us more. where’s the baby?”

“we’re doing a rotating schedule with it. he has it one day and then we’ll switch off. speaking of which, ryder needs me to go to their game tomorrow night so when i get the baby tomorrow i can give her to him that night,” you speak, looking at your dad for his reaction. you can’t quite read it.

whenever denfeld played east you always told your dad you were rooting for his team, but in reality you were actually rooting for your school. but you wouldn’t tell him that. but tomorrow night, now you would really have to root for east seeing as you wouldn’t want a grumpy ryder - and logan - after the game.

“well that’s gonna be something,” your little brother, william, spoke up from beside you. “y/n, it’s your turn for dishes tonight, by the way.”

after you finish eating and putting away all the dishes, you go up to your bedroom to see you have a few snapchats from none other than ryder donovan himself. you sit down on your bed and situate yourself before pressing on his name.

‘saylor misses her mommy’ was across one of the photos, where ryder had a forced pout on his face as he held your fake child. another one had ‘she won’t stop crying’ with his hand in the middle of running through his hair. finally there was one of him smiling, ‘just kidding, she finally stopped:)’ across it. 

you snap back a picture of yourself smiling with a thumbs up, ‘you’re a natural dono. if our baby is still in one piece by tomorrow morning i’ll be surprised’.

ryder sends back a photo of his mouth dropped open, ‘not cool, y/n/n. but anyway, what’s your number? it’s easier talking about this over text, not snap.’

you send ryder your phone number, and only a short few seconds later you get a text from an unknown number.

(218)-xxx-xxxx hey it’s ryder 

y/n:  i couldn’t have figured that out on my own or anything

rydes dono:  oh shut up. i just wanted to check up on my baby mama 

y/n:  i am not your baby mama, donovan.

rydes dono: well, you kinda are. anyway, meet me at my locker at 7? you know where it is right?

y/n: how could i miss it, you’ve got your own fan club of girls at your locker every morning.

rydes dono: oh lighten up, they all annoy me anyway. clara is bugging me to shoot around with her, so i’ll talk to you later?

y/n: yeah for sure.

to say the least, you fall asleep with a smile on your face and you pretty much wake up to it still spread across your face. you roll over, turning your alarm off before scrolling through your phone where you see you have a text message from ryder. 

rydes dono: good morning y/n/n, remember, meet me at my locker 

y/n: morning dono. really think i forget? or do you wanna get rid of saylor that bad

rydes dono:  just thought you’d forget.

you roll your eyes with a smile even though ryder can’t see you, and you leave it at that. you throw on a pair of black leggings and a baggy umd quarter zip sherpa along with a pair of low top converse. you grab your bookbag from the corner of your room and start to head downstairs, grabbing your car keys from the island counter in the kitchen.

“william! let’s go!” you yell, and only a mere few seconds later you hear the fifteen year old running down the stairs in the middle of fixing his tie that he had to wear on game day. 

“sorry, sorry,” william mumbles, looking up at your figure where you’re impatiently waiting for him. “okay, let’s go. what are you waiting for?”

you give your little brother a look before he’s following you out of the house and down to your car. you take the short ten minute drive to school, taking a five minute delay to get caribou for yourself and william, not bothering to get any for kennedy and josie as they had almost always gotten caribou for themselves as well.

“excited for tonight?” you ask, glancing over at william at a red light. “it’s your first game playing against dad. how you feelin’, bud?”

william looks up from his phone, his eyes widening slightly. “i’m a little nervous, not gonna lie. there’s a big difference in my game from last season to this season, and i don’t think dad has realized that just yet.”

you nod your head listening to him talk. william had been the hot shot freshman coming up that the entire coaching staff was excited for. william had just been cut short from the varsity team in 8th grade, but worked his butt off the entire summer. after his coach mike randolph at east saw his performance at summer tourneys, the excitement for the incoming freshman was surreal. as much as you hated to say it, they hadn’t been this excited for a freshman since ryder donovan.

“you just gotta kick his ass. and stay humble, too please. i don’t wanna be the girl with the idiotic brother, okay?” you say and william lets out a laugh but he stills nods. you know he would never do anything stupid, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to say anything. 

you pull into your parking spot, and almost immediately william jumps out to meet up with some of his teammates, which of course happen to be upperclassmen since william was the only freshman on the team - or rather, the only freshman that actually got ice time.

“bye y/n! have a good day!” william smiles, waving over his shoulder at you with a smile on his face.

“bye will, have a good day too. i’ll see you tonight at the game, buddy.” you watch as will walks away with his teammates leaving you to walk into the school alone. that was normal for game days, as soon as will saw some of his teammates he was gone. but you were okay with it, seeing as he had made such a close bond with his teammates regardless of how much younger he was.

once you get inside you head towards the senior locker bank, checking your phone to see that it was 6:59, and there wasn’t a single bone in your body that would doubt the fact ryder would give you shit for being even a minute late. you can see his locker even from all the way down the hallway. there’s probably about four girls there this morning, one being keira bradley from your childhood development class.

you have a tight lipped smile on your face as you approach the small group, where ryder, logan and ricky are standing with the girls. as soon as ryder sees you, a smile forms on his face. keira notices the smile and turns over her shoulder, her flirty smile turning into a grim one as she sees you.

“don’t worry, i’m just here for our baby,” you say rather awkwardly, trying to make your way to ryder. “morning, dono.”

“morning, y/n/n. here’s saylor,” ryder says, but then he unzips his bookbag and pulls out a sweatshirt. “and for the game tonight. gotta let everyone know who my baby mama is.” the smirk that’s on his face it lets you know he knows exactly what he’s doing. 

“oh my god, ryder,” you mumble, taking the sweatshirt from his hands with blushing cheeks. “i’ll see you in child dev.”

“see you, y/n/n,” he’s biting his lip slightly after he says it, only adding on to the blush of your cheeks as you walk away, trying to ignore the conversation between him and his friends. 

you walk towards your locker, holding saylor’s carrier in one hand and ryder’s hockey sweatshirt and your coffee in your other hand, that you’re sure has his name and number on the back judging by his comment. when you get to your locker kennedy and josie are already standing there waiting for you, and of course they both have caribou in their hands as well. 

“what is that!” kennedy screeches for way too loud at 7 in the morning, pointing right at ryder’s sweatshirt in your hand. “and why are you blushing!”

you lift your hand to cover your face with the hand that’s holding ryder’s sweatshirt and go towards your locker, only lowering your hand when you have to set the coffee on the top of your locker and placing the baby carrier on the ground. you put in your combo and right before you open it, you show josie and kennedy the back of the sweatshirt, donovan and the number 22 pressed on it.

“no fucking way, y/n,” josie says, reaching out to touch the sweatshirt like it wasn’t real. “do you know what this means, y/n?”

you give josie a weird look, and before you can respond kennedy beats you to it. “y/n/n. logan has told me before ryder doesn’t give anyone his sweatshirts. let alone his team one. or his jersey. are you sure he doesn’t have a crush on you?”

“there is no way he likes me,” you scoff, folding the sweatshirt and placing it in your locker for when you grab it at the end of the day. you grab your binders for your first few classes and put them in your bookbag before shutting it and turning to your best friends that are giving you looks. “what?”

“i think ryder likes you!” kennedy sings, and you’re quick to shush her to shut her up. her mouth closes immediately.

“we don’t need that spreading around, kens. that’s probably the last thing ryder would want, especially when pretty much everyone knows my dad coaches denfeld and i constantly get shit for it.” the three of you then begin to walk towards your respective homerooms.

“speaking of denfeld,” josie smiles, “how’s our secret favorite l/n? is he excited for tonight? nervous?”

you sigh, but there’s a happy smile on your face. “he’s a little bit of both for sure. he’s gonna feel bad no matter what tonight, and there’s gonna be someone that loses. it’s the first time will’s played against our dad’s team, so i guess we’ll just see what happens tonight.”

“something tells me ryder is gonna make sure he has a killer night, y/n/n.” kennedy says. “there’s no way he doesn’t. those two set each other up like, every game. mostly all of ryder’s points are because of william and most of william’s points are because of ryder.”

you shrug as the three of you finally reach your homeroom, “well, we’ll see tonight, yeah? see you at lunch, girls.”

-----------

when you walk into your child development class, the first thing you notice is that ryder is sitting in the desk next to you just like he was before class ended the day prior. it’s like he has a second sense when you walk into the room, and right away he looks up and gives you a smile. you try to bite back your smile as you sit in your seat, setting down your baby carrier down on the tiled floor. 

“how’s she been today? she didn’t give me a lot of trouble last night, only a little bit here and there,” ryder asks, leaning back in his chair and looking over at you.

“she’s been an angel. i think she may be broken,” you joke, glancing down at the baby in your carrier. that’s for the better, too, even if it feels impossible peeling your eyes away from ryder when he’s dressed up for game day and looking as good as he does. 

ryder shoots you a boyish smile, one that nearly makes your stomach do flips and you have to look to the front of the classroom to prevent yourself from blushing. “nah, pretty sure you’re just that good as her mother.”

“ryder donovan, what am i gonna do with you?” you let out a breath as you speak, and you’re practically saved by the bell as mrs. wilson begins to talk after the bell rings.

“good morning guys! hope you all had a good first night being new parents and i hope there weren’t too many complications. does anyone have any questions?” she asks, surveying the room to see if any hands shoot up. she nods when she doesn’t see any. “great. now can we go by group by group and share one thing we learned about your baby? who wants to go first?”

as if he couldn’t be more of a mr. perfect, ryder raises his hand and mrs. wilson nods in his direction. “it’s a pretty good replica of an actual baby and they’re just as sensitive. and rocking them also helps to stop them from crying, it’s not just trying to figure out which key helps with what.”

“very good ryder, that’s spot on.” you even have to say you’re impressed by ryder’s answer, turning to give him an impressed look, in turn you receive a smug smile from him.

you listen as one person from each group that had their baby for the night says what they learned or observed, until finally everyone in the classroom gives their answers. “okay, so here’s the part two to this project.” immediately there’s a few groans coming from around the room. “yeah, i know. but this part is a little bit more fun. because you’re supposed ‘teen parents’ you’re going to have a tighter budget than normal. you have to make do with eight hundred and fifty dollars. all fictional, of course. and make a budget of what you need for your newborn baby. and that includes a stroller, a highchair, a crib, diapers, anything you could possibly need for a baby.”

you and ryder both turn to look at each other. “is she serious right now?” ryder mumbles, glancing up towards mrs. wilson before looking back at you.

“i guess she is.” you sigh, crossing your arms over your chest as mrs. wilson begins to explain the second half of your project.

“do you think it would just be easier if one of us just goes to the other’s house?” ryder leans over to ask you quietly and you shrug. “that’s not a response, y/n.”

“well you always have hockey, donovan. one of us is gonna end up doing this entire portion by themself.” it’s not that you’re blaming ryder and his hockey schedule, because you’re not, it was just a bit annoying that the project was planned during the most hectic sports season at your school.

“i’m sorry, y/n. if we’re away for the weekend and you have her for multiple days i’ll make up for it, i promise,” ryder whispers, noticing the glances mrs. wilson is giving the two of you that’s silently telling you to stop talking. 

“now, let’s talk some extra credit.” all of the ears of the kids who needed a grade boost suddenly perk up, including ryder, who’s eyebrows raise. “you can make a family scrapbook. all you have to do is make a slideshow, put pictures of you and your little family and present it in front of the class if you so choose. like i said, it’s only extra credit and it isn’t necessary, but, it’s definitely a little more fun to do.”

“we’re doing that,” ryder whispers as quietly as he can, leaning in closer than he had before. “i have a high c in here and i need to get it up to a b.” 

you nod your head not risking mrs. wilson giving the two of you another warning look as she finishes explaining everything, which ends up taking up the rest of the class.

“so i’m gonna see you tonight, right?” ryder asks as he slings his bookbag over his shoulder. 

“of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world, donovan,” you smile at him, slinging your own bookbag over your back and picking up your baby carrier. as if on cue, saylor begins to cry and your eyes widen. “rydes.”

ryder turns around at the sound of not only the wail of his name, but also the robotic pre recording cry of the baby. “y/n, just pick her up. have you ever taken care of a child before?”

you sheepishly shake your head. you and william were so close in age you didn’t ever take care of him when he was a baby and you don’t remember him being a baby since you were so young. ryder steps in close to you, picking up saylor and positioning her in your arms. 

“just like that,” ryder mumbles, reaching into the carrier to grab the set of keys that would assist in stopping the crying. “i fed her this morning, so she probably needs a dirty diaper change.” ryder mumbles to himself, grabbing the yellow colored key and holding it over the baby’s chest where the sensor was. and just like that, she stops crying. 

“how are you so good at this?” you whine, placing saylor back in the carrier and covering her with a blanket. ryder shrugs, a shy smile on his face.

“i have four other siblings, y/n. i may be the forgotten middle child, but i picked up a few things with my younger siblings.” ryder says, helping you cover up saylor, your hands brushing over each other’s. the warning bell rings, and that’s when you realize your chances of being late to lunch are now extremely high. you look up at the clock and curse under your breath. “what’s up, y/n/n?”

“just gonna be late to lunch, that’s all. kennedy probably stole my seat,” you roll your eyes, picking up the carrier as the two of you begin to make your way out of the classroom. but your eyes catch mrs. wilson, and the younger teacher grins at you, making you smile shyly with blushing cheeks.

to say the least, she knew what she was doing. 

“lunch? try econ with gates, if i’m late to his class i’m gonna have detention for a week.”

you shrug your shoulders, “better get running then, dono, or your ass is grass.”

“yeah, yeah. i’ll see you tonight, y/n. and you better be wearing my sweatshirt.” ryder says and he begins to walk the other way. “oh, and y/n?” ryder asks, and you turn around to see him walking backwards so he’s facing you. “ don’t forget to tell your dad they’re going down tonight.”

chapter two

[advena87]

Keira and Lambert's love story because we need one!

.

Here is Part 2

.

Keira: You must be Lambert. I've heard so much about you.

Lambert: All bad, I’m assuming.

Keira: Uh, yes.

Triss: And all true.

***

Keira: I love this whole "good witcher/bad witcher" thing you two have going.

Eskel: It's not really a thing. It's more like I'm nice, Lambert is not.

***

Lambert: I would never say this to Keira's face, but she is a wonderful person and really smart.

Geralt: Why wouldn’t you say that to her face?!

***

Lambert: So, did it hurt?

Keira: What?

Lambert: When you fell down from heaven.

Keira: No, I'm fine.

***

Keira: What can I say? I'm seductive and irresponsible.

Lambert: You mean irresistible?

Geralt, sighing in the background: No, you heard that right.

Lambert: Wow, she is perfect.

***

Keira: This guy has been bothering me. And he always disagrees with me.

Lambert: Kill him!

Keira: No.

Lambert, softer: I kill him for you?

Keira: Lambert no. Just listen up, there are three ways to argue: words, proof and-

Lambert: Murder!

Keira, sighing: See? This is why your brothers hate you.

***

Lambert: I don't understand women.

Geralt: Nor do I. But they understand us. Well, maybe not you.

***

Lambert: Yeah, I've been doing a lot of thinking. And, I've come to realize that Keira is the only woman I want to be with.

Geralt: You mean today?

***

Keira: I’m not gonna say it was love at first sight with Lambert. No, it was more like oh, hell-yes-please, I’ll have that. With a helping of right-the-fuck-now on the side.

Triss: Oh my god! I'm not judging you or anything - but, oh my god!

***

Keira: When I was six years old I sprinkled sugar on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boys' bathroom at school.

Lambert: I fucking love her so much.

Geralt: It starts to make sense now.

***

Keira: It is nice to see you again.

Lambert: Are you talking to my butt?

Keira: Yes.

***

Keira: Lambert is a good man, if you ignore all the things he does on purpose and concentrate on all of the things he does by accident.

Triss: Okay. I’m going to picture Lambert without his personality.

Triss: ...

Triss: OMG, Lambert might be hot.

Keira: I know, right!

***

Triss, speaking of Lambert: Ok, he is king of jerks but he does have a terrific ass.

Keira: Perhaps that's why you're always making him leave.

***

*Lambert and Keira just had sex for the first time*

Lambert: Promise you won't tell Geralt?

Keira: I gonna tell everybody!

 ***

Triss: Is everything alright? It sounds like you're having sex in here; which I know can't be true due to the fact that you have a homosexual boyfriend.

Keira: Bisexual, Triss, Lambert is BISEXUAL!

Triss, dramatic, without even listening: Lord tells us to love everyone, even the whores and the homosexuals. But it's so hard, it's so hard because they keep doing it, over and over again.

Keita: Did you just call me a whore?

Lambert: Aw, don't be jealous Merigold, someone may one day fuck you too.

***

Lambert, with an arm around Keira: I was lost... but then I met the love of my life.

Everyone: *collectively awes*

Lambert: But he died, and now I'm with Keira.

*a few hours later*

Lambert: Are you STILL ignoring me? Babe I was kidding-

***

Keira, texting Triss: I’m begging Lambert not to do stupid shit and guess what’s doing?

Triss: Are you surprised?

Keira: No.

Keira: Update: He’s doing more stupid shit.

Keira: And somehow it makes me more attracted to him.

Triss: You say that like that’s not the number one thing you’re attracted to.

***

Keira: What was the most inspiring thing I’ve ever said to you?

Lambert: “Don’t be an idiot.” Changed my life.

***

Lambert: Keira isn’t just some bitch, she’s the bitch I love!

Lambert: And don’t tell her I called her a bitch, or she’ll kill me!

***

Lambert: Babe, do the thing.

Keira: *Glares*

Lambert, breathless: Oh my god.

***

Lambert: Keira, there's something else I've been wanting to say, but before I do, I just. I want you to know you don't have to say it back. I know you're not ready and I don't want you to say it just because social convention dictates-

Keira: I love you, too.

Lambert: You said it.

Keira: Oh please, social convention? Not ready? I'm Keira fucking Metz, and I do what I want!

Lambert: I'm so fucking in love with you.

***

Eskel: Lambert, how do I ask someone out?

Lambert: Well, first, you-

Keira: No, don’t ask him. He asked me out in a Kaer Morhen bathroom.

Eskel: 

Eskel: And you said yes?

***

Eskel: So, Lambert, what'd you get her? Earrings? A little bracelet?

Lambert: No, I got her way more than a piece of jewelry. I got her a gift that really says something - a diamond engagement ring.

Geralt: As a joke?

Lambert: No, you guys, I'm gonna ask Keira to marry me.

Eskel:

Geralt:

Geralt: As a joke?

***

Eskel: Did you guys hear about Lambert's and Keira's engagement?

Ciri: Yeah, isn't it great!

Geralt: For him. She could do better.

***

Keira: Did you tell anybody we’re engaged?

Lambert: Yes, Keira, I have no self-control and I told all of our friends we’re engaged.

Keira: Okay, no need to be sarcastic.

Lambert: No, seriously, I have no self-control and I told all of our friends we’re engaged.

***

*Lambert and Keira’s wedding, during the marriage vows*

Priest: Now, I’m gonna need you to swear--

Lambert: FUCK.

Priest:

Keira:

Keira: Swear as in promise, you idiot!

Lambert: But I’m your idiot *pointing at wedding ring* FOREVER.

***

*At Lambert and Keira’s wedding*

Vesemir, raising a glass: To my new daughter-in-law, I say this:

Vesemir: You have released me. This monster is yours now.

***

Geralt: How was the honeymoon?

Keira: Lambert got drunk and tried to set our marriage certificate on fire while screaming "good luck trying to return me without the receipt".

***

Lambert: I love her.

Lambert: Do you think she knows I exist?

Eskel: Well, you’re married so I’d hope so.

***

Lambert, at 3 AM: I think cheese is better than cake, because you can have cheesecake, but you can't have cakecheese.

Keira:

Keira: I can’t believe I fucking married you.

***

Lambert: What are you doing?

Keira, standing on the chair: I live here, you know. I can stand wherever I want, thank you very much.

Lambert:

Keira:

Lambert: Where's the rat?

Keira: Under the table.

***

Keira, trying to get Lambert into yoga: It's a symbol for rebirth-

Lambert: I'm not interested in being rebirthed, thank you. I'm still recovering from being birthed the first time.

***

Lambert: WHO THE FUCK ATE MY POPTARTS I’M GOING TO KI-

Keira: I did.

Lambert: -kiss you and tell you how much I love you.

*later*

Keira, hugging Lambert and whispering in his ear: Drink my coffee again and we’re fucking done.

***

Keira: Why is your back all scratched up?

Lambert: *flashes back to chasing a raccoon around the house after Keira specifically said to leave it alone*

Lambert: I'm having an affair.

***

Geralt: When Keira’s mad at you, how do you make her not mad?

Lambert: First, I apologize. Then I get her whatever she wants.

Geralt: Even when she’s wrong?

Lambert: She’s never wrong.

***

Keira: Be safe.

Lambert: DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

Lambert: … But okay.

***

Keira: I bet I can fit the whole world in my hands!

Lambert: Keira, that's physically impossible.

Keira: *cups his face* Are you sure?

Lambert: * blushing *

Lambert: Stop it  woman, I have a reputation.

*later*

Lambert: 911 I'd like to report a robbery.

Lambert: It's my wife, she stole my heart.

911: Sir, I told you to stop calling this number.

***

Vesemir: No Lambert.

Lambert: Yes Lambert.

Eskel: Lambert no.

Lambert: Lambert yes.

Geralt: Prick NO!

Lambert: Prick YES!

Keira *quietly*: Lambert...

Lambert: Lambert no :<

***

Lambert: Keira is finally coming home from her week long Brotherhood of Sorcerers meeting, so you know what I’m getting tonight,

Lambert: Yelled at. I’m gonna get yelled at.

***

Geralt: My goal for tonight is to get Keira drunk enough to tell us embarrassing stories about Lambert.

Keira: Why would I have to be drunk to do that?

***

Lambert: *returns home in the morning, from the contract, after a long absence.*

Keira, grumpy and half sleepy: Either get out of bed or else take your clothes off. I'm not in the mood to compromise.

***

Lambert: Send dudes.

Keira: You mean nudes?

Lambert: That's later. Now I’m in a fight. I need more men.

***

Lambert, holding a big box: If i came home with a child of surprise what would you do?

Keira: What? Why?

Lambert: ...

Keira: Whats in the box?

Lambert:

Keira: Lambert, what is in the fucking box?!

Lambert: I think you know...

Keira: For the fuck’s sake, you moron, do you keep a child in a box? Take it out before it suffocates!

***

Keira: Our daughter keeps getting letters from boys.

Lambert: What? Why?

Keira: Because she’s charming and beautiful.

Lambert: Trace the sender, end his lineage, salt the earth.

Keira: I’m pretty sure he’s 7.

Lambert: Then it should be easy.

***

Keira, teaching their daughter to dance: So remember, the guy always leads.

Lambert: And if his hand slips any lower than your back, call me. I’ll brake it.

***

Lambert: Well, I want it on the record that if the kid was running a gwent game for money under the bleachers, she didn't necessarily get the idea from me.

***

Kid: Dad if I ask you a boy question, will you promise not to be weird?

Lambert: I promise.

Kid: So, there’s this boy-

Lambert: You can do better.

***

Keira: Remember, kid: the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.

***

Keira, about their daughter: She can't go in the water this weekend, she's got an ear infection. So no swimming.

Kid: Awwwww, Mom...

Lambert: No, it's OK, princess, we'll have a great weekend. We can go to Disneyland, we can play gwent, go sword fighting, horse riding, whatever you want.

Keira: Lambert, relax. You're starting to sound like a tampon commercial.

***

Lambert: We can't go out tonight. We're getting up early to go to Disneyland.

Keira: "We"?

Lambert: Yeah. I thought maybe you'd want to come with us.

Keira: Lambert, I'm terrified about having one small rodent in my house. Why would I drive 50 miles to see their kingdom?

Here is Part 2

[chaoswillfallrpg]

CONSTANCE SONG is TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD and an ESCORT at FAIR FARIBAULT’S in KNOCKTURN ALLEY. She looks remarkably like NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO and considers herself  NEUTRAL. She is currently OPEN. 

→ OVERVIEW:

Growing up in an orphanage CARMELLA DIGBY quickly learnt how to use her good looks for her own benefit. The other children and careers at the orphanage would flock to Carmella like a moth to a flame, and Carmella quickly realised how to use it to her advantage. Leaving the orphanage as a beautiful dark-haired young woman it wasn't long until she caught the eyes of FAI SONG, a rich wizard on business from China. Being introduced to the wizarding world was like having all of her dreams come true for Carmella, and living in the lap of luxury with Fai’s family money was nothing to be ignored either. Knowing an excellent opportunity when she saw one Carmella made quick of an engagement and marriage with Fai, the man was so swept up in the romance of it all he thought it was actually his own idea. Giving birth to Constance was the first time Carmella had felt true love and she doted on the girl because of it. Constance grew up wanting for nothing, her parents loved her dearly and gave her all she needed. It didn't however do the same thing it may have done to other children, where others may have become spoiled and expectant Constance remained hard-working and driven to prove herself, whether it be to master the alphabet correctly or to find the perfect hiding place for hide and seek. Constance’s life however was somewhat changed when her father passed away when she was four from a freak splinching accident. 

Now exceedingly rich beyond her belief Carmella decided to try her hand at marrying for love rather than advantage and once again caught a man as quickly as she could think it through her intriguing looks and luring aura. Falling for the sweet eyes and gentle smile of RICHARD DIGBY Carmella quickly married and had another daughter. Loving this child the same way she had loved Constance had a different effect on ELENA DIGBY. She became spoiled with love and demanded the attention of anyone in the room, speaking louder, laughing harder or gesticulating more dramatically than any that would dare to steal the spotlight. Constance allowed this of her sister, stepping back into the shadows and allowed the girl to get the attention she so clearly thrived off knowing full well that she would just have to stand and speak quietly to gain the attention back. That was how it went, there was no denying both girls were beautiful and intriguing, their mothers veela blood could account for that, but there was something more with Constance. The way she carried herself, how the words she spoke were so quiet and soft, yet the meaning behind them was always so truthful it was almost cutting. Constance thrived in an environment where she could pick and choose when, where and how she got attention, if she didn't want her mothers scrutiny she would simply disappear into the shadows with a good book and appear again when she was ready. 

Leaving for school Constance was pleased to leave the self-imposed shadow of her sister but was also well aware that she needed to cultivate relationships with people like Elena in order to continue being able to pick and choose when she wanted to deal with other people and when she didn't. Sorted into Ravenclaw she made friends with girls very much like her MAFALDA HOPKIRK and DAISY HOOKUM. Both studious girls were perfect for library studying sessions, borrowing class notes and chill nights talking and reading in their dorm. Being friends with the pair made Constance step out of her shell a bit, being more vocal she got a reputation for being quite blunt when people annoyed her. Over the years she would constantly ‘speak out of turn’ as others called it and had formed a very strong sense of what was right and what was wrong. One day in third year she was sticking up for a particularly pathetic first year who had been dangled by his ankles in the hallway when another joined in her argument. LAUREL LINWOOD was described as outspoken too, the Gryffindor was unafraid of rustling a few feathers and from that day the girls were inseparable, combing the castle floors for injustices to pick at. Laurel started most of the arguments and Constance finished them with a sharp and detailed final blow that left most opponents stuttering. 

Through Laurel she was introduced to JENNIFER VANE, KEIRA GREY, NATAN DIGGORY, ARTHUR WEASLEY and TRYSTAN WARRINGTON, and others who comprised a gaggle of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs that brought a funner side to Constance's group of Ravenclaws. Putting down their books they swapped study sessions and early nights for being out after curfew, late nights in the room of requirement and sneaking into the kitchens to get snacks for the evening ahead. Although Constance still kept her grades up being one of the top students of her year she found a new side of her personality, her new friends brought a more relaxed and open side to her. Becoming increasingly more confident through the help of her friends Constance and Laurel became even more ballsy, the people they picked to make a show of going from random bullies to students like LUCIUS MALFOY. A constant thorn in the pair's sides Lucius spent much of his time at school throwing around his Pure-Blood ideals and the two girls would spendjust as much of their time going around and proving him wrong. Popular to the many but hated by the few Constance and her group of friends got invited to most parties that Hogwarts offered, at least one of their group knowing the hosts well enough to gain an invite for all. A party that stuck in Constance’s memory as life changing was their Graduation night, the last night all her year group would be together Constance had probably a bit too much to drink. Another who had had too much to drink was Mafalda, the pair were giggling and dancing together when all of a sudden Mafalda leaned in to kiss her.

Being the silent and reserved girl she was, it did not allow for much romance. Constance spent the majority of her final years of Hogwarts holding a candle to Trystan, a boy with a hero complex bigger than her own she silently admired him. Never had she admired Mafalda however, but the months after the graduation party Constance came to a realisation. She had grown up so sure of herself, thinking she knew everything there was to know about herself and so the kiss led her to feel confused and vulnerable for the first time. Spending time after Hogwarts figuring it out she met MILA BELINSKY, a beautiful blonde she entangled herself with to come to the realisation that she was bisexual. It would seem that meeting Mila was not only meant to advance her love life but also her work life too. Working as an escort for Fair Farbaults Mila persuaded Constance to join the team. Joining with the same intentions of her mother, to marry first for advantage and then again for love she joined in the hopes of finding a husband. One man using the escort service who is especially susceptible to Constance’s charms is CHARLIE MONTAGUE, a rich Pure-Blood elitist just missing the cut for the twenty-eight, he has enough money to make Constance happy and then some. A fault in her plan comes in the form of SEBASTIEN FONTAINE, a fellow escort who has drawn her attention away from finding a rich husband and to the competition they hold between them. Both silent and still the pair are vying it out for top dog, seeing who can bring in the most money to the establishment. 

Without realising and being distracted by their banter and harsh tones Constance has found an attraction for Sebastien, not that would ever admit it to herself let alone him. Living with her sister in a house in Kensington the girls have gotten closer than they ever were in childhood. Constance has come out of her shell over the years and through her own Hogwarts experience Elena has learnt to share the limelight. Spending many evenings out together Constance has introduced her sister to her friends from work GEORGINE FARIBAULT, CORALINE HEATHER, DAHLIA BLACKWOOD and her son STEFAN BLACKWOOD. A collection of veela’s and vampires they attract a lot of attention from the other patrons in the bars they visit. Not only does Constance love letting loose on these nights she also uses it as a way of getting new clients in, all adding to her hopeful win against Sebastien. Living with Elena she has noticed some strange behaviour, leaving the house at odd times, hushed conversations and having people she shouldn't really know that well come to call on her. Always on the hunt for knowledge her curiosity has gotten the best of her and recently she has found herself spying on her own sister. She has seen her go to a pub in Diagon alley a lot by the name of ‘the fountain of fair fortune’ and heard the words ‘the order’ whispered a lot when her sister is having floo calls behind doors that were not well enough warded. Scared her sister has gotten herself into something that she doesn't know the extent of Constance will not stop until she knows what has taken over Elena. 

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Blood Status → Half-Blood (½ Veela)

Sexuality  → Bisexual

Relationship Status → Single

Previous Education → Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Ravenclaw)

Family → Elena Digby (half-sister/roommate)

Connections  → Laurel Linwood (best friend), Mafalda Hopkirk (close friend/potential love interest), Daisy Hookum (close friend), Jennifer Vane (close friend), Natan Diggory (close friend), Arthur Weasley (close friend), Trystan Warrington (close friend/object of affection), Aya Fawcett (friend), Keira Grey (friend), Molly Prewett (friend), Mila Bellinsky (colleague/romantic liaison), Charles Montague (client/potential love interest), Sebastien Fontaine (colleague/potential love interest), Georgine Faribault (boss/friend), Dahlia Blackwood (colleague/friend), Coraline Heather (colleague/friend), Stefan Blackwood (friend), Lucius Malfoy (adversary)

Future Information → Future Member of The Order of the Phoenix

CONSTANCE SONG IS A LEVEL 6 WITCH/VEELA

[inside-of-a-fangirls-mind]

The White Wolf’s Dance; Chapter 5

Notes; SOOOOOO IDK. SOME SHIT WENT DOWN IN THE LAST CHAPTER AND WE SHALL HAVE SOME MORE FEELINGS AND READER GETS BRAVE. PLUS THERES A BALL NOW. SO AHH. 

Words; 4,619

Pairing; Geralt X Reader

Warning; Cursing, harassment cause reader is an elf, Self imagine issues, 

Also; Sabrina is totally out of character so i’m sorry but reader needed a friend and I made a little backstory for them that will be reveled later. They old friends and she is very nice. 

(I do not own any of the gifs nor anything witcher)

Tag list; @andyl394 @grumgoblin @yuminyg @ayamenimthiriel @wintersoldierslut @tapismyforte​

(If you wanna be in the tag list let me know!)

                 *Chapter 5; A Passion for Tomorrow*

When you finally awoke the next morning your head was on fire, the room was spinning and way too bright for your liking. Pulling the pillow over your head you grumbled to yourself. Maybe drinking so much wasn’t the best idea you had ever had.

After a while of sulking in bed, you finally pull yourself to sit up, a hand on your head as you mutter a few words to alive the pain. Finally able to see without the room spinning you stand up and go to the mirror to straighten out your hair. Noticing you were still wearing the dress from last night. You grumble to yourself before quickly taking it off and looking around for some pants and a shirt. Dresses were not normally your thing, but last night you just wanted to be a normal girl and have some fun. That was over now.

You were digging through the drawers when you heard the door open behind you, turning to the door expecting Jaskier you wore a smile until you saw Geralt standing there a little wide-eyed. You nearly shrieked before grabbing a pillow off the bed to cover yourself. “How about you knock next time.” You muttered your cheeks a bright pink.

Geralt was speechless before quickly shutting the door, though he did stand outside it for a little while trying to regain his composer. It was always something with you. Either your flirting nonstop, getting drunk and wanting his attention, or he’s walking in on you naked. What was up with the timing?! He lets out a sigh before speaking through the door. “Jaskier and I are heading out, to the next town to see if the Barghests’ contact is still valid. I uh-” He paused a moment and you took a few steps closer to the door. “If you want to come along, I-” You smile softly before placing a hand against the door.

“I’d love to come along Geralt. Must be nice to have a competent fighter with you.” You teased with the biggest smirk before you heard his mutter under his breath before leaving. Part of you wanted to scream, the other part wanted to run the other way. You would be traveling with them, for how long you didn’t know, but maybe just maybe it would be until the end of days.

You quickly searched for pants now, wanting to be ready to head out. “JASKIER I NEED SOME PANTS DAMMIT.” You screamed and almost instantly he was knocking at your door with some. “Oh, that was fast. Thanks.” You opened the door a bit before smiling brightly at him. “I can’t wait to come along with you guys.” You hummed before pulling him into an awkward one arm hug. “I know this was your doing, thank you.” You whispered to him before shutting the door to quickly get dressed.

Once the pants were on, you quickly slipped on the shirt and buttoned it up, slipping your bag over your shoulder. Your sword strapped to your hip, bow to your back, and knife on your chest. You looked over yourself in the mirror before pushing your hair back to see your ears. You didn’t remember taking off the concealing spell but then last night came rushing back to you. Geralt laying with you, you laying with him, his hand on your cheek and a hot blush flooded your cheeks.

“Oh, Gods.” You whisper before putting your hands over your face. You couldn’t remember what you had said to him, was he only being so nice because he knew you liked him? Your mind was flooding with possibilities before taking a deep breath. “Just gotta pretend like it didn’t happen. You were drunk, Geralt surely knew that. As long as you act like it didn’t happen it will be okay.” You nod to yourself before heading out of your room and downstairs to where Keira was saying goodbye to the boys.

You wrap your arms around her and smile. “I will definitely be back to visit you, it’s been too long since I’ve had a female friend.” You chuckle before she hugs back.

“You are welcome back any time Y/N, it’s been a pleasure having you around.” Keira smiles before tucking your hair behind your ear then smiling. “Be proud of who you are. You deserve respect.”

You smile brightly before nodding and adjusting your sword. “Thanks, Keira. I’ll be seeing you.” You then head over to Jaskier as you two walk outside leaving Geralt alone with her.

“Jaskier,” You start as you notice another beautiful horse next to Roach. “What happened last night?” You whisper before he chuckles a little.

“You got drunk and confessed your undying love for him.” He teased as you playfully punched his shoulder.

“You might of, but I have no such love to confess.” You smirked to the bard before walking up to the horse. She was a creamy butterscotch color with black spots trailing down her backside. “She is gorgeous. I thought Keira only had the white one?” You turned to Jaskier as he runs his hand through his hair.

“Geralt thought with the three of us, we could use another horse. I think he means for us to ride together, he doesn’t want anyone touching Roach.” Jaskier walks over and pets the Horse before smiling to you. “And between you and me, I can’t ride worth a damn.”

You chuckled before adding a braid to her long mane, “What should we name her? I was thinking Slywia because she seems wild and free at heart.” You hum stroking her mane as she nudged her head towards you.

“She’s yours, name her whatever you like.” Geralt spoke before walking up and mounting Roach in one quick motion. Your eyes glance over to him before back to Slywia. A smile growing on your lips.

You easily mount her, stroking her mane again. “You here that girl? You’re all mine.” You hum before holding out a hand to Jaskier. “Get up here, I’ll protect you.” You teased as Jaskier took your hand and tried to get up on the horse but was struggling. Geralt trotted over on Roach and grabbed him by his collar and set him on the horse.

“I wanna be there by sun fall, let us go.” Geralt spoke before catching your gaze, offering you a small smile and then riding off. You smile before pulling Jaskier’s arms around your waist before taking off after him.

“Don’t make this a race, I’ll surely win.” You teased as the three of you road off onto another adventure.

You guys traveled all day and into the night, getting to the town and slaying the Barghests’ with ease. With you and Geralt, not many monsters stood a chance. You two fought like two halves of a whole. Where you swung he covered you, and when he swung you blocked. It was like watching a magnificent dance, only with blood and guts spilling all over the stage instead of flowers.

You guys didn’t stay in one town very long. Just long enough for you all to make some coin. You using your tactics to charm young men out of their coin for a night they would never forget, even if it was all in their minds. Jaskier with his songs and Geralt will monster killing. Though Geralt never spoke a word about how you earned coin, you knew it bothered him. But you would have never guessed why.

Soon enough in your travels, Jaskier came to both of you while you were drinking at an inn. “Guys, who wants to go to a party? I have an actual performance at Kaedwen. King Henselt has requested my presents for a royal ball. And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without you too, also many a little protection.” His smile said it all. Some royals there would be mad at him for sleeping with their wives and daughters. Jaskier did have very good luck with any lady he encountered.

“Sure. I’ve never been to a party at a castle.” You shrug before chugging your booze. Geralt looked annoyed but he just nodded as Jaskier sat down at the table smiling like an idiot.

“We have to be there in two days so let’s go!” He cheered before you stood up and paid for the drinks you all had and grabbed some supplies to go. When you all were walking out of the bar and a man bumped into you knocking you to the ground. You gritted your teeth before he just stared at you in horror.

“It’s a filthy Elf!” The man cried out going for his sword. You reached up and touched where your hair had fallen behind your ear to reveal your true identity.

Geralt was quick and stepped in front of the man, putting his hand on the other man’s sword. “Anyone even thinks about harming her will he slaughtered on the spot.” His voice was rough and deadly.

Your eyes quickly looked around the room, many others standing with their hands on their swords. Surely you could fight your way out of this one. You hand went to your own before Jaskier was pulling you up off the ground. “C'mon Y/N they aren’t worth it.” He whispered before pulling you towards the door. Geralt stood blocking the way out for all the men at the inn.

“Why are you protecting a filthy elf?”

“Don’t you know she killed our babies?”

“Something as disgusting as that doesn’t deserve to live.”

All the voices screaming out really got to you. You had almost forgotten how unkind the world was. While being with Jaskier and Geralt they never gave another thought to you being an elf. Jaskier even liked your ears and was always asking you to show him some magick.

As you were lead you, you sighed quickly covering your ears with your hair, not saying a word. Jaskier took your hand and lead you towards Slywia. “Don’t mind them. They used to say the same thing about Geralt. Maybe I should write you a song! Then they would show you some respect.” You offer a smile to Jaskier before mounting your horse.

“it’s fine, I’m used to it.” You lied before raising your hands to cast a concealing spell. But before you could Geralt grabbed your hand and pulled your attention to him.

“You don’t need to hide who you are from men like those. You don’t have anything to prove to them. I-” He started before going silent. You stared at him before at his hand holding yours. You could feel your heartbeat rising, your eyes welling up with tears.

“As I said, I’m used to it. It’s okay Geralt.” You offer a smile before pulling away and focusing on petting your horse. Jaskier managed to climb up behind you on Slywia before Geralt mounting Roach. The three of you didn’t talk much as you rode off.

Things like this shouldn’t bother you, the fairy tails of man, you always thought to be a myth. No one ever had any problems with you until they discovered what you were. Why did it matter? It didn’t change who you were. Men always loved to be around you until they found out. Why did being an elf mean so much to them? They had slaughtered your people, the great cleanse they called it. Why wasn’t that enough? Why did ever last elf need to die in order for them to be happy with your race?

“Y/N,” Jaskier whispered to you, before wrapping his arms tighter around your waist. “I think you are absolutely amazing, in every way.” His soft voice makes you smile.

“Thank you, Jaskier.” You smile turning back to look at him.

Soon enough you were arriving at the castle, it was just past nightfall and Jaskier thankfully did all of the talking. You couldn’t have done it even if you wanted to. You didn’t say a word as you put up Slywia next to Roach. Geralt’s hand touching your shoulder pulled you out of it for a moment.

“Can we talk?” His voice was soft as he took your hand and lead you down a hallway from the stables. You were confused but again couldn’t be bothered to say a word.

Once he pulled you into a small room off the hallway, the doors shut behind the two of you. “Geralt, what is the meaning of this?” Your voice was weak compared to how confident it normally was.

“You don’t have to be here you know. You don’t have to go to this. You could ride off and be happy somewhere else you know.” His amber eyes found yours as you looked away.

“And where would I go? You and Jaskier are the only family I have now. If that means pretending I am human for a few days, I’ll be okay.” You offer a sad smile. “Men are weak for a woman like me, it wouldn’t be any different than before I met you all. Play the part, and I’ll be fine.”

“No!” He nearly shouts before backing you up against the door. “You don’t need to pretend to be someone you’re not. If someone as much as looks at you in the wrong way I will slaughter them on the spot.” He growled, his amber eyes meeting yours once more before softening.

“Geralt.” You whispered, your hand moving up to rest on his cheek. “I’ll be okay. I can play the part.” You whisper, finally realizing how close he was to you. His chest almost pressing into your own. His beautiful lips merely inches away from yours.

“I will protect you Y/N, you don’t have to hide what you are.” His voice was soft before his eyes cast down. You lift his head so he looks at you again a soft smile on your lips.

“Geralt.” You whisper before a smile lingers on your lips. How much you wanted to scream you loved him, how much you wanted to kiss him at this moment, to promise him you would do anything for him and Jaskier. As long as you all could be together. “Thank you.” You lean in and place a kiss to his cheek a soft blush covering yours. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.” Without another word you left the room and ran off to find Jaskier so he could show you to your room.

“Y/N?” A soft voice called out causing you to turn around on the spot. Upon laying your eyes on the woman who called your name a smile grew on your lips.

“Rina?” Your voice was full of happiness as you darted towards the woman embracing her in a hug.

“I thought that was you!” Sabrina chuckled before pulling you closer to her. “It’s been way too long, but why are you here?” She pulled back looking over you.

“Jaskier, my ba- my friend is playing at the royal ball. He requested mine and our other travel companions company.” You smile before she links her arm in yours.

“Let me show you to your room, we have much to catch up on my friend. Plus you can’t possibly wear that to dinner.” She hums before the two of you are heading off down the hall.

“Y/N” Geralt called as he watched you walk away with the other woman. He had to take a moment to control himself before darting after you. Why did you always feel the need to hide who you are? Why couldn’t you just let him protect you for once? He wanted nothing more than to be there for you, yet you seemed oblivious to it. He sighed as you and the other woman were out of sight.

Jaskier had walked up to him, “Where Y/N? I got our room keys.” He held out Geralt’s key before looking over his friend. “Why do you look so out of sorts?”

“Y/N kissed me then ran off..” He mumbled before taking the room key. “Let’s just get this over with. Where are our rooms.” Geralt started heading off in one direction.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE KISSED YOU! GERALT WAIT!” Jaskier shouted as he ran after him. “You’re going the wrong way!”

Sabrina had taken you to her room. It was huge and full of vibrant blues and golds. “Rina you mean you live here? This is so beautiful!” You nearly cried out before running your hands over the bed covers. “And so soft.”

She chuckled before going through her closet. “The King lets me have whatever I want in return for aiding him. It’s a nice setup. It’s what I trained for. What I wanted you to train for.” She smiles before pulling out a gorgeous dark blue dress. “I think this will go nicely with your complexion. Or of course, you could go to black. But I think blue is more your color, especially here.” She held out the dress to you.

You took it in your hands, it had to be made of silk. From the sultry neckline to the soft slit up the left thigh, the golden belt and speckles over it, to the light white fade at the end. “Are you sure. This is much to fancy for me.” You can’t help but let the fabric run through your hands, it was the softest thing you had ever held.

“That’s your dinner dress, it’s a little too revealing for dancing don’t worry. I will have another for the ball itself.” She walks over and takes your hands in hers. “Y/N you deserve this. At least enjoy the royal treatment while I can give it to you. You will look amazing. No man will be able to keep his eyes off of you in this.” She hums before running a hand through your hair. “Now what to do with your hair. huh?” She pushed your hair behind your ears and smiling. “I’ve never seen you walk freely without concealing them before.”

You blush hotly before covering your ears with your hair again. “It’s nothing..” You whisper before laying the dress on the bed.

“It’s the Witcher, isn’t it? You’ve fallen for him and he’s the reason.” She hums knowingly. The sudden fear in your eyes confirms it.

“What! No! Geralt isn’t the reason for anything!”

“Darling, you’re eyes tell it all.” She smiles before tucking your hair behind your ears. “I bet he fancies you more like this huh? Your ears do add to your beauty after all. Go bath and I will be waiting”

You quickly go and bath yourself taking time to relax in the hot water a little, it’s been a bit since you could relax like this. But as soon as you were out Sabrina was waiting for you.

She patted the bed in front of her, and you sat there. “Sit still and I will make sure he will not be able to resist you.” She hums and before you could complain she was getting to work on your hair.

“Do-” You cleared your throat. “Do you really think so?”

“Honey if he has any sense in that brain of his, he will be weak in the knees when he sees you. Of course, if he hasn’t already fallen for you. If he has, he will be a stuttering mess. But from the way I can clearly read it on you, there’s no way he doesn’t know about your feelings.” She hums running the brush through your hair.

“Wait what! You think he knows?” Your cheeks heat up as you do your best to sit still.

“Of course he has, you have that dreamy look in your eyes. I bet you’re a blushing mess around him too. Just like the old days.” Sabrina chuckles before finishing your hair and looking you over. It was half up and half down. The upper part pulled to drape over your ears to hide them. Then flowing down your back in a wide braid. Two slight strands hanging on either side of your face and the rest curled. “My Gods I might make a princess out of you yet.” She giggles before holding up a mirror for you to look into.

Once you see yourself in the mirror your eyes go wide. “Is this really me?” you whispered before looking down at the dress.

“Don’t worry we still have makeup.” Sabrina cheered before getting to work on that, then helping you into the dress and heels. You take one long look over yourself in the mirror and hardly recognize yourself. “Just think you could have had your own palace, dressed like this every day my dear Y/N.” She hums before offering you some earrings and a necklace.

“I don’t think I could fight in this dress though. It isn’t a life for me. Besides if anyone ever found out my secret I would be slaughter on the spot.” You sigh before running your fingers along the V neckline that travels down your chest. Leaving nothing to the imagination with the fully open back on the dress either.

“Y/N What’s going to happen if you didn’t fight? You could have a safe life. You could stay here with me. I’m sure the King wouldn’t mind a sorceress as powerful as you.” She smiles before putting her hands on your shoulders. “Just think about it okay?”

Think about it you would, being able to sleep in a nice bed, bath whenever you wanted to and live within a castle would be the life. Never having to trick men or fight monsters for coin. But what about your friends, you couldn’t leave them.

“Come along, dinner is nearly ready. I’m dying to meet the man who has captured your heart.” She hums before walking out of the room.

“Rina! Don’t you dare go embarrassing me!” You call out after her as you try your very best to run in the heels she gave you. But every few steps you were stumbling. You even fell right into someone, thankfully they caught you before you could hit the ground.

“Oh my gods, I’m so sorry-” You started before looking up and seeing Jaskier holding you.

“Wow Y/N..” Was all he could say as he looked over you, you gave a small smile before getting out of his arms.

“Wow yourself Bard.” You smirk looking him over. The deep blue suit with the white ruffled shirt and bow tie looked amazing on him. “Didn’t know you could actually look good.”

“I didn’t think you could look like a lady either.” He teased back before you playful punched his shoulder.

“Don’t be rude, I can dress like this if I want to. I just don’t want to. Pants are a lot easier.” You look down the hall to see Sabrina waving to you. “Oh, Jaskier come meet my friend Sabrina!” You hum before Geralt walks up to the two of you.

You nearly freeze in your tracks, your eyes glued to him. The blue, very form-fitting suit he was in, the piercing-ness of his amber eyes, the soft grey of his ruffled shirt slightly unbuttoned at the top. Your heart felt like it was going to give out right then and there.

“Y/N” Geralt gave you a nod before walking past you. You stare after him before looking to Jaskier.

“Okay, that has to be illegal.” You mutter to yourself before Jaskier loops his arm in yours.

“C'mon let’s go meet your friend. You will have plenty of time to gawk at Geralt later.” He hums pulling you off towards Sabrina.

“I was not gawking!” You try to defend yourself but as soon as you see Geralt talking to another man you can’t help but let your eyes cast over him.

“Oooo So is that him? My, my Y/N. I can clearly see why you’re enchanted.” Sabrina giggled pulling you out of your daydream before looking to her.

“Rina this is Jaskier, and that’s Geralt over there.” You mumble before sighing. “Just don’t talk to Geralt okay?”

“Wait so you told her about your love for Geralt but wouldn’t admit it to me unless I begged? That’s no fair.” Jaskier pouted slightly before offering his hand to Sabrina. “I think we need to talk about Y/N’s situation huh?”

“Let’s.” Sabrina hums taking Jaskier’s hand before heading off to take seats at the table.

“Don’t you dare!” You try to stop the two of them but Geralt walks up to you and offers his arm. You stop in your tracks looking over him before biting your lip.

“Shall we also join them? Got to make sure Jaskier doesn’t sleep with the wrong royal tonight.” Geralt spoke before you put your arm in his as he leads you to the table. Taking seats together across from Jaskier and Sabrina.

You look to Sabrina and Jaskier with a glare. They talk with Geralt and you all night though Geralt seems unphased as normal. Did he not care that you kissed his cheek? Surely you wanted it to affect him, not for him to ignore it. But he was acting as if it didn’t even happen. Maybe Sabrina was wrong.

You all chatted away as you ate, the king making a toast. You smiled after being able to relax a little. There would be some light dancing tonight and then tomorrow a full out ball. You didn’t plan on dancing, hell you didn’t even know if you remembered how to. It had been ages since you had.

“Miss?” You were pulled out of your thoughts by a voice and tap on your shoulder. “I was wondering if I could have the first dance.” He hums offering you his hand. Before you could say anything he was pulling you out of your chair and spinning you around with a few others who were also dancing to the soft music.

You kept looking to Jaskier or Sabrina to save you, but they only gave you sly smiles. You were about to start tripping over your feet when a large hand grabbed the other man by the arm and pulled him away from you. “I think it would be best if you didn’t dance with Y/N,” Geralt’s voice surprised you, looking up at your white-haired savior you smiled.

The other guy knew he didn’t stand a chance against the witcher and headed off to sulk. Geralt offered his arm to you. “How about we get some drinks?” He offers you a slight smile before you nod.

Geralt was always coming to your rescue even if you hadn’t asked him to. It only made your heart swell with more love for this man. It didn’t take long for you to relax with your friends and drink into the night. Tomorrow though, tomorrow you would ask Geralt to dance with you. Tomorrow would change your relationship. Tomorrow you would tell him how you feel.

The whole night you didn’t realize Geralt’s eyes were on you and you alone. Seeing you in that dress, seeing you enjoy yourself fully. It made his heart pound. Surely the attraction was just sexual. It had been a while since he had been with someone. But even then, just your smile was enough to warm his whole being. Maybe tomorrow, tomorrow he could tell you. Tomorrow he would spin you around on that dance floor and show you he’s the one who knows you better than anyone else. Tomorrow he would return your kiss. Tomorrow you would be his and his alone.

Tomorrow would change everything, though the two of you couldn’t have guessed how.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

i know where you’re writing in the timeline right now with the Jake and Kauri fight but... uhhhh can I get a Jake being protective as fuck set sometime in the timeline before that? Because I just. Protective Jake. He’s protective over Chris but Jake protective over kauri???? Need (like if u have time and aren’t too stressed lol)

CW: Recovering whumpee, abuse survivors, past pet whump, referenced dubcon attempts, touch starved whumpee, Jake makes a brief crude reference to metaphorical self-harm

“Jesus, man, take the fucking hint and fuck off.”

Jake’s voice wakes Kauri where he sleeps on the couch folded out into a bed, lying on his side with a pillow hugged close to his chest, buried under a pile of old quilts. Nat buys them from a church down the road that runs a daycare, Jake says, during their yearly Christmas market. A new one every year.

Kauri doesn’t really care where the quilts come from, but he loves the way Jake speaks to him, calm and quiet-voiced, never too long, never angry. He is disappointed by and loves the way that every time he tries to see if he can be grateful for Jake, he is gently pushed away - but then still held, after. 

The touch isn’t the same, but no one holds it back from him. No one leaves him alone in rooms. No one uses refusing him as a way to make him desperate, make him beg.

No one calls him names here, either.

“I’m not going to try and make him talk to me this time, Jake, I just-”

“What? Couldn’t fuck him up enough the first time, decided to come back for round two?”

Jake’s voice is rising. Even as his eyes open, Kauri can feel the woozy relief of the painkillers still moving through his veins, holding back the worst of the bandaged, slowly healing wound that throbs over his collarbone on one side. The doctor they made him see gave him shots, soothing him through his tears, but now the wound doesn’t hurt like it did before, it doesn’t feel hot to the touch, the look of it has changed.

Now it’s just pills. 

Kauri can handle pills.

He shifts, pushing a white-and-pink quilt off from over his head, black curls springing wildly to life as he slowly sits up. At the foot of the little makeshift bed, Keira hums, her sensors picking up his movement and change in heartbeat. She whirrs softly in greeting, her broken wheel clicking.

“Who-... who’s at the door?” He whispers. His heart races as Jake’s voice rises even more.

“Well, we’re all good on our bank accounts this week, so trust me - you can call Nat if you need to meet, but you’re not coming in. He’s not your goddamn knife to cut yourself with ‘cause you’re sad, asshole.”

Vincent Shield, Keira’s soft robotic voice intones, faintly metallic. 

Oh.

Kauri swallows, remembering the last time, meeting the eyes so like his own and then waking up with a pounding headache a few seconds later in Jake’s arms, being carried to lie down in a bed. He hasn’t seen Vince since.

He pulls his knees up to his chest, looking to the side, through the open doorway, knowing Jake and Vincent are just out of sight. The light from the small entryway spills into the living room, giving just enough light to see like if he only stepped through, he would be going... somewhere else. 

His end of the living room, through, is pitch-black darkness, lit only by Keira’s visual sensors, two red dots that give her the appearance of eyes. 

This time, he hears Vince speak. Melodic and fluid, a trained actor’s voice, deeper than it seems like it should be. Kauri knows all of this. It’s his own voice, if he’d lived a different life. A better one.

A life where he escaped Owen instead of loving him.

Kauri’s eyes close as he drops his forehead against his knees, tears building hot and demanding. He misses Owen so badly it hurts, right now, listening to the person Owen actually wanted, less than twenty feet away.

“That’s not fair, Jake.”

“No. It’s not. But that’s how it is. You can’t show up here at fucking midnight and act like you have some kind of goddamn kinship just because you feel guilty. Not only does he not want to see you, which he’s made real damn clear, but-”

“I just want to-”

“Shield, will you listen to me?”

There’s a thump, sound of rustling. Kauri raises his head, hands tightening on the quilt he still has pulled up over his feet. His arms twitch, muscles acting out a phantom race of electricity along his nerves. His collarbone throbs. His throat bobs as he swallows, feeling hands wrapped tightly around it.

I love you, Vince, so much, and you’ll never leave-... can’t leave if you’re dead, can’t, can’t leave me-

Kauri shudders, hearing his own voice pleading in a rasping whisper, begging for his life, on his back next to the coffee table, staring into Owen’s green eyes as black spots danced in and out of his vision.

At some point he’d stopped trying to say he wasn’t Vince. At some point he’d been begging for Vince’s life, laid like wet paper over his own, drying over his face, making him someone else. Someone he was always supposed to be. Someone he never was.

“Fucking Christ, Stanton, I have to work in two days-”

“That sounds like your problem. I’m telling you to leave Kauri alone, I’m not letting you into this fucking house. It’s not good for him.”

“I just want to-”

“Vince.” Jake’s voice drops, deadly soft. Kauri breathes in soft pants, trying to stay quiet enough not to be heard.

Kauri heartrate accelerate, Keira says softly. Adrenaline. Kauri afraid. Keira reassurance provide. Kauri safe. Kauri is good. 

“Keira, I-”

Kauri good.

“I know that you feel guilty.” Jake’s voice stays low. “I know how much it fucking hurts that someone’s out there who took the pain that was aimed at you. I know, okay? Trust me, I get it way better than you think I do. But your guilt will hurt him, and he needs to feel safe here. We can’t keep him safe if he’s scared you’ll show up. He’s already a runner, and he has to know he can leave whenever he wants-”

Kauri hitches in a harsher breath. 

I can leave whenever I want. I can leave whenever I want. I can-

“-and that we can keep him safe. Right now, I have to keep him safe from you, too. Got it?”

There’s a pause. “Jake. This only happened because of me, because I ran-”

“No.” The anger bleeds out of Jake’s voice. Kauri hears an edge of the compassion he speaks to the other runaways with, now. “Vince. They never do it because of anything you did, or didn’t do. They do it because of what’s inside them. That piece of shit never hurt Kauri because of you. He hurt Kauri because of what’s inside of him.”

“Guess you’re the goddamn expert.” 

Jake huffs nearly-silent laughter. Kauri still hears it, though. Some of his fear dissipates. The anger is gone, the danger is fading. “I am even more of an expert than you think I am. Go home, Vince.”

There’s another sound of movement. The door opens and closes. A car starts, sound of gravel, and headlights move past the windows as it drives away. 

There’s quiet, for a moment. The entryway light turns off. Kauri waits for the sound of Jake on the creaking stairs, but instead he sees the rough outline of him in the dark, peeking into the living room, blinking in surprise. “Kauri. That woke you up, huh?”

Kauri swallows, and slowly nods. 

Jake sighs, but he has a slight, reassuring smile on his face, and no anger. “Yeah. I should’ve guessed it would.” He moves into the room, eyeing Keira slightly warily. “Do you need anything, before you go back to sleep?”

Kauri’s heart is still beating too fast. The room is so empty, with Kauri in it alone. 

“Will you... watch TV with me? For a while?”

Jake sits down and shifts until his back is against the back of the couch, pushing a pillow behind him. He grabs the remote off the side table. “Absolutely man. Only TV, though.”

“Right. Only TV.” Kauri stays where he is, knees to his chest. Jake turns on a cartoon show about a family, and keeps the volume low. 

Kauri wakes up when the sun rises, only to find himself draped in the quilts to keep him warm, and Jake back upstairs. A glass of water left for Kauri to drink is the only sign he was ever there. 

---

Tagging: @burtlederp , @finder-of-rings , @endless-whump , @whumpfigure , @astrobly @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @boxboysandotherwhump , @oops-its-whump @cubeswhump ,  @whump-tr0pes @whumpiary @moose-teeth

[yaziciyasemin]

𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓

You are invited to celebrate with all the familiar faces you have missed for the past 15 years. Come join us as we renew friendships, reminisce about the days gone by, and share in life experiences both past and present. Let's bring the gang from the Thomas Jefferson High School's class of 2005 back together!

For further information on the events planned for our reunion and to know how to RVSP click the link down below.

Hope to see you there!

With best regards, Alicia McCarthy, your 2005 student council president.

PLOT SUMMARY: Fifteen years after graduation, the class of 2005 receives an invitation for their High School reunion week. Their student council at the time, Alicia, has made sure to bug everyone into coming back for the event. This is a discord based group verse that follows the class through their HS reunion but will also count with events happening back in 2005 for further development.

𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒

Your usual, no godmodding and no ooc drama. Open to mutuals and people I’ve been in verses with. Muns must be over the age of eighteen and all older FCS should be 28+, respecting the five years rule. Age range for muses is 32-34. You are allowed up to two muses, but please make sure to keep them diverse. 

𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

( fc/younger fc, gender, pronouns. ) isn't that NAME LASTNAME? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as YEARBOOK SUPERLATIVE because they were known for being TRAIT. they must be at least AGE IN LETTERS now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( mun name/alias, age, @url.) 

𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓 ( 11/12 muns)

( dakota johnson/danielle rose russel, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that PARIS SARGENT? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED because they were known for being CAPTIVATING. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( barbie, 23, @sncflwers.)

( margot robbie / scarlett leithold, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that HAYLEY STEVENS? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO DESTROY A TALENTED MAN’S POTENTIAL because they were known for being PERSUASIVE. they must be at least THIRTY TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( bela, 20, @drunkenloved. ) 

( trevante rhodes/algee smith, cis male, he/him. ) isn't that CAIN HOWELL? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING because they were known for being CALCULATIVE. they must be at least THIRTY TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( bela, 20, @drunkenloved. )

( elizabeth olsen/josephine langford, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that MAYA PRESTON? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO CHEER YOU UP because they were known for being BENEVOLENT. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( jules, 23, @seremity.)

( chloe bennet/nathasha liu bordizzo, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that GWEN KNIGHT ? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO BE A REALITY TV STAR because they were known for being AMBITIOUS . they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( jules, 23, @seremity.)

( casey deidrick/nick robinson, cis male, he/him. ) isn't that COOPER HAWTHORNE ? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO BE CEO because they were known for being AMBITIOUS. they must be at least THIRTY-ONE now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( ron, 24, @mythvlogie.)

 ( manny montana/diego tinoco, cis male, he/him. ) isn't that RYAN NAVARRO ? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO WIN THE SUPERBOWL because they were known for being RESILIENT. they must be at least THIRTY-THREE now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( ron, 24, @mythvlogie.) 

( phoebe tonkin/diana silvers, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that ATHENA MONARCH? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO BE FAMOUS because they were known for being DRAMATIC. they must be at least THIRTY TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( del, 22, @hctknife.) 

( nathalie kelley/isabela merced, cisfemale, she/her. ) isn’t that ALESSANDRA “ALES” QUISPE ? god, they hasn’t changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO END UP ON A MAGAZINE COVER because they were known for being COSMOPOLITAN. they must be at least THIRTY TWO now, but they still look hot. i can’t wait to hear everything they’ve been doing for the past fifteen years! ( han, 20, @stainedful​.)

( elizabeth lail / nicola peltz, cisfemale, she/her. ) isn't that SOPHIA BAUM? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO FALL IN LOVE... AGAIN because they were known for being QUIXOTIC. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( holly, 18+, @frgilebones.)

( matthew noska / rudy pankow, cismale, he/him. ) isn't that HOLDEN LOWELL? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD because they were known for being AUDACIOUS. they must be at least THIRTY-FOUR now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( holly, 18+, @frgilebones.)

( chris evans/evan roderick, cismale, he / him. ) isn’t that DARREN WRIGHT? god, they hasn’t changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO WIN AN OLYMPIC MEDAL because they were known for being ARDENT. they must be at least THIRTY-FOUR now, but they still look hot. i can’t wait to hear everything they’ve been doing for the past fifteen years! ( leesh, 21, @wearyhands.) 

( megan fox/kennedy walsh, cisfemale, she / her. ) isn’t that REINA MANCINI? god, they hasn’t changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK because they were known for being DAUNTLESS. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can’t wait to hear everything they’ve been doing for the past fifteen years! ( leesh, 21, @wearyhands.)

( bill skarsgard/hero fiennes-tiffin, cis male, he/him. ) isn't that MILO QUINN? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO SET A WORLD RECORD because they were known for being WILFUL. they must be at least THIRTY THREE now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( lottie, twenty four, @sugarkick.)

( zoe kravitz/zendaya coleman, cis female, she/her. ) isn’t that MAZVITA ZABALA? god, they hasn’t changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO GO ON A TOUR because they were known for being RESTLESS. they must be at least THIRTY THREE now, but they still look hot. i can’t wait to hear everything they’ve been doing for the past fifteen years! ( lottie, 24, @sugarkick.)

( imogen poots/madison iseman, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that SUTTON RHODES? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as CLASS CLOWN/BIGGEST PRANKSTER because they were known for being MISCHIEVOUS. they must be at least THIRTY TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( kels, 25, @foolsongs.)

( theo james/jacob elordi, cis male, he/him.) isn't that GRANT PALMER? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO QUIETLY TAKE OVER THE WORLD because they were known for being RESOURCEFUL. they must be at least THIRTY FOUR now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( kels, 25, @foolsongs.) 

( chace crawford/thomas doherty, cismale, he/him. ) isn't that JAMESON BAXTER? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO DIE ALONE because they were known for being NONCOMMITTAL. they must be at least THIRTY-FOUR now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( bryanna/bry, 25, @jcycus.)

( laura harrier / alisha boe, cis female, she/her. ) isn't that CLAIRE HUNTER? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO BECOME FAMOUS because they were known for being AMBITIOUS. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( sky, 24, @wuunderstruck.) 

( kirby howell-baptiste/diamond white, cis female, she/her. ) isn’t that ISABEL BAXTER? god, they haven’t changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO SKIP GRADUATION because they were known for being INDOLENT. they must be at least THIRTY-THREE now, but they still look hot. i can’t wait to hear everything they’ve been doing for the past fifteen years! ( jay, 22, @heartshapcd.)

( adelaide kane/ella hunt, cisfemale, she/her. ) isn't that KEIRA MURPHY? god, they hasn't changed a bit. back in the good old days they were voted as MOST LIKELY TO WIN THE LOTTERY AND LOSE THE TICKET because they were known for being FORGETFUL. they must be at least THIRTY-TWO now, but they still look hot. i can't wait to hear everything they've been doing for the past fifteen years! ( bry, 25, @jcycus)

[nuxcia]

Ko-Fi ▬ Masterlist 

I did put some colors on them and really like the cinematic effect on this one. Dante and Morrigan. And this time, I managed to write something under the cut about them because in my mind, this scene is really important. Please, be aware that it’s my first time writing something about my OC so... I hope you enjoyed it !

Words: 954

Warning: Little bit of angst and blood.

____________________________________

There was something quite peaceful during this night. The moon was high in the sky without any cloud. Full. Like the most perfect silver sphere you could ever imagine. She could feel its light spreading on her skin, like the sun would slowly warm someone under it. Where was the last time she walked free of any disguise? She barely remembered it, as she was always using some silly excuses to cover her skin under the moon at night. And there she was, walking in the Coven’s garden in this summer night.

The moonlight tattoos on her body was reflecting the light of the silver sphere where her skin wasn’t covered with clothes. Alone with her own thoughts for company, Morrigan wasn’t paying attention of where she was heading. The lake was her best option, like it has always been.  The scope of her previous actions still weighed on her conscience. She wanted to be left alone. The sisters and high priestesses of the Coven didn’t try to interfere. They knew far too well how dangerous she could be. Morrigan… or how her true name was, Hecate: the lady of Death. The Necromancer Witch.

She betrayed her friends for their own safety. People who were dear to her. Who loved her. The Coven was becoming too dangerous for them as for her. She made her choice, and decided to return to the Coven before someone was killed. Damages were already done and V…  was the one who had to pay for her own fault. How could she not forget? She could still almost taste the blood and smell the iron scent.

The memory of her shaking hands covered on his blood was still in her mind. She remembered everything, every tiny little detail. How he was dying right before her eyes, trying to hold on for dear life. The terror in his green eyes as he was facing his own death and… the stag passing by. The time itself seemed to slow down at that moment. She could only hear her own breath as she spotted the majestic animal. She didn’t think twice before using her power, neither did she saw the silver hair of Dante running towards them to help them. Her green eyes turned acid green as the necrotic magic spread across her skin like smoke ribbon, slowly building itself on her mistress. The ancient and demonic words escaped her lips like a dark symphony. The stag didn’t suffer as she managed to quickly drain every drop of his life and gave it to the tattooed man who was dying beneath her.

A hand to kill. A hand to give life. A life for a life. A natural balance she had to maintain.

Time had resumed its course, after that. V was breathing. The blood had stopped flowing… and Dante was right next to her. There was no word, neither from the men than her. And she was terrified. Terrified and vulnerable. During all these months, Morrigan had managed to keep her own powers a secret around every one, including her closed friends like Hainah and Keira. Including Dante, the man she deeply loved. And yet… here she was, fully exposed as who she truly was. A witch. In fact, a necromancer.

She didn’t glanced back before running away. And where to go? There was only one place. The Coven. The sisters and high priestesses have welcomed her as if she was always there and never left. She found her old bedroom like before. Her own private space… and her own peace in the garden where she was standing now, in front of the lake.

How many days had passed since she saved the poet’s life and exposed herself? She didn’t know. A few, probably. Were they all safe? She hoped so. And yet… the pain of leaving them behind was like a stone in her heart. Were they mad at her for keeping all of this for herself? Maybe. She could see Vergil’s reaction from here, telling them to kill her. And she wouldn’t blame him for that. Hainah and Keira would surely be the mostly hurt ones... and she couldn’t beg for their forgiveness. It was too late.

Lost in her dark thoughts, Morrigan didn’t hear the footspets heading towards her. Neither did she see the tall silver haired man standing behind her. Only his voice reached out to her when he spoke:

“Evening, sweetheart.”

She froze. Her eyes took a look behind her shoulder and she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Dante?! But… how?”

How was it possible? How did he managed to pass by the Coven’s spells around the place? Was he this powerful? And… was he here to stop her? To kill her? There were so many questions running through her mind and she couldn’t pick one to begin with. He didn’t let her to do so.

One calloused hand cupped her cheek, his thumb slowly strobbing her pale skin like he always did to calm her and reassure her before pulling her to a warm embrace.

“I told you before, Morrigan: I’ll always get back to you.”

Her fingers grabbed the red leather of his coat as she buried her face against his chest to hide the tears from her eyes. He was there. He was really there and didn’t want to let her go. She could feel it by how his heartbeats rushed a little, how his arms around her tightened as if he wanted to melt his body into her. The demon hunter finally released his embrace to look at her, tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ear.

“Now let’s get back home. Everyone’s waiting for you.”