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13uswntimagines · 4 years ago

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Always Hers (Emily Sonnett x Reader)

Request: A sequel to Always Yours where Kelley introduces Sonnett to reader and they hit it off, and a relationship builds. Basically it’s 7000 words of Emily and reader falling in love, Christen realizing she royally messed up, Tobin freaking out just a touch, and Kelley totally not gloating about it.

Author’s Note: This was requested by @women-enthusiast

Emily was terrified. She had been having the time of her life, sat in the front row of an Y/n L/n concert dancing next to Kelley. Hell, during Shut Up and Dance you had even winked in their direction (making all of the girls around them swoon). But about halfway through the show, a very large man had come to stand in front of them.

He had simply stood and stared, leaving them mostly alone until the very end of the show. He sent them a small smile and an “if you two ladies could come with me please”, before escorting them out of the crowd and deeper into the stadium. Which every turn down the twisting hallway, she felt the knot in her stomach get tighter and tighter. What the fuck was happening?

“You gotta relax before you have an aneurism. Everything will be fine,” Kelley said quietly as the man led them through a door and into a cozy-looking room.

A couch sat against one wall, a Stanford sweatshirt thrown carelessly across it and a guitar propped up beside it. The sound of running water gave them a very good guess of what was behind the door on the opposing wall.

Emily took a deep breath, holding in a gasp. This couldn’t be what she thought it was.

“If you would please wait here, Ms. L/n will be with you in a few minutes. Feel free to help yourself to the table,” The man smiled, gesturing towards the table filled with water and a fruit tray across from the comfy looking couch.

Kelley rolled her eyes, immediately making her way over to the food table to peruse the options. She scrunched her nose as she looked over the items.

“Well this is bullshit,” She mumbled, grabbing a grape and popping it into her mouth. Emily frowned, unsure as to how Kelley could be so casual right now.

“What?” She asked, stepping towards the table. She blinked at the spread. There was way too much food on the table for one person.

“There aren’t any chocolate-covered strawberries. They always used to be on her riders,” Kelley mumbled, puffing her cheeks out as she grabbed her another grape. Emily frowned. How the fuck did she know what was supposed to be on the table? She opened her mouth to ask the question, but a voice behind her beat her to it.

“Apparently they were unavailable this last minute,” Emily whipped around in shock, her eyes bulging at the sight of you in a pair of sweatpants and a white tank top, casually running a towel through your hair. You smiled crookedly at them, your dimples on full display. It wasn’t your stage smile though, Emily noted (barely able to take her eyes off your exposed biceps enough to actually think about it). It was easier, more natural.

“Holy shit, you’re-“ Emily studdered, her brain unable to process that you were standing right in front of her. Your lips quirked in amusement before you looked past the blond to your favorite defender.

“You couldn’t come and greet us yourself, you had to send oddjob after us?” Kelley asked, tossing another grape in her mouth and crossing her arms. She hadn’t brought Emily here to set you up, but her reaction was definitely amusing. She also hadn’t missed the extra blinks you had given the blond defender. Perhaps her plan was going to work better than expected.

You rolled your eyes at the woman. Greg had been your security guard for years and she still refused to learn his name. You were just lucky that their presence hadn’t caused a riot in the crowd.

“You conveniently forgot to tell me that you were coming, and Greg didn’t want a replay of the riot we almost had at the Superdome,” You said, your eyebrow quirking up. She winced at the memory, shaking her head and finally closing the distance between the two of you.

You huffed her tightly to you, resting your cheek on the top of her head. The two of you swayed lightly as you hugged. It had been way too long since you had seen each other.

“Missed you sunshine, you never answer your phone anymore” She hummed into your neck.

“Missed you too,” You said softly, holding her tighter, and ignoring the second statement. The truth was that it was hard, that sometimes when you talked to Kelley all you could think about were your college days. It wasn’t just her that you pushed away, it was everyone.

You had been friends with the woman even before the two of you went to college. She was your sounding board, your rock, more your sister than your friend at this point, and she hated you were locking yourself away again.

“You, you’re-“ Emily’s voice brought you out of your thoughts. You squeezed Kelley one last time before returning your attention to the blond standing wide-eyed in the middle of the room.

You had to admit that she was adorable with her pink cheeks and her hands pinned at her sides, unsure of what to do.

“You should introduce me before she passes out,” You whispered loudly, nudged Kelley. The older defender smirked at her counterpart. She hadn’t meant for you and Emily to be more than friends, but if it turned out that way, she wouldn’t be upset. You were the sweetest person she knew, even if you had lost some of your sunshine over the years. You would treat the blond defender well and vice versa. You both deserved to be happy.

“Right. Emily, this is Y/n. Y/n this is frat daddy junior Emily,” She nodded, not missing the eye contact between the two of you. You smiled wide, taking a step towards the frozen defender and grabbing her hand.

“Well Emily, it’s a pleasure to meet you. A friend of Kelly’s is a friend of mine,” You said, bowing slightly and lifting the back of her hand to your lips. You could be suave when you wanted to be.

“You said my name,” She said dumbfounded, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“I think she’s made one too many tackles,” You laughed, glancing at Kelley over your shoulder. The woman facepalmed. The most interest you had shown in another person in nearly a year, and she’s too star-struck to realize it.

“I swear she’s not usually like this,” Kelley mumbled, and you bit your lip in amusement.

“Whatever you say Squirrel,”

*****

Emily smiled down at her phone. The two of you had been texting nonstop since the concert, and she found herself slowly becoming addicted to your sweet and sometimes dirty sense of humor.

It was interesting, how different you and your stage persona were.

She learned how quiet and thoughtful you were. But no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t hide the sadness that seemed to linger behind your million dollar smiles. A cautiousness behind every interaction. She wondered what had turned you from Kelley’s so-called sunshine into a cloudy day.

She bit her lip watching the three little dots, indicating that you were typing, hoping that you would like the restaurant she had chosen. She giggled at your quippyness about how posh the place sounded.

“Who ya texting that’s got you smiling like that?” Kelley asked, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder. Emily jumped, her phone nearly falling out of her hands as she rushed to get out of the message, before seeing it was only Kelley.

“Oh, just Y/n,” Emily mumbled, her cheeks turning very pink.

Kelley smothered her smirk as she sat down beside the defender. “That’s cool, what’s she up to?”

“She’s in town, we’re going to get lunch or something,” Emily shrugged nonchalantly, and Kelley’s smirk got bigger. She wasn’t sure if you would go for it after the whole fiasco with Christen.

“Really?”

“You sound surprised?” Emily’s nervous eyes met hers. Kelley paused unsurely. How did you tell one friend that your teammate hurt the girl that she might be interested in so bad that she was terrified of relationships?

“Y/n got hurt really bad by someone she loved. She hasn’t been the same since,” Kelley said softly.

“You mean she hasn’t moved on yet?” Emily’s head tilted to the side, trying to understand. She had heard your stories through music, but she never thought about how that might translate into real life.

Kelley shook her head, biting her lip. After Christen, you had rebuilt your walls and hidden your heart away in your castle so no one could hurt you. That was until you laid eyes on Emily. “She hasn’t let anyone get close to her again,”

“Oh,”

“Yeah, Just don’t hurt her, alright?” Kelley hummed, patting Emily’s knee. If you were going to open up the gates again, she didn’t want an army of white walkers marching in. They would pillage the little bit of you that was left. But the way pink traveled up Emily’s neck all the way to her ears told her that her best friend knew how delicate this situation was.

“We’re just friends Kell,” Emily muttered.

“Whatever you say junior, and for the record, she didn’t text me about lunch,” Kelley laughed, patting her leg one more time as she stood. You two would figure it out on your own time.

****

Emily smiled at Greg as she passed through the door to the little cafe you had chosen for lunch. He winked at her and pointed towards a table in the back, away from the windows twiddling your fingers nervously.

All the security and fans staked out everywhere you went took some serious getting used to, as did your propensity for cheeseburgers over anything remotely fancy. Each time the two of you had done this over the past few months you had chosen somewhere with reasonable food and amazing milkshakes.

The crooked grin you saved specifically for Emily broke across your face when you saw her, and you stood from your chair to greet her in a warm hug. You kissed her cheek and stepped back to pull her chair out for her, before handing her a beautiful (plastic) Rose. It had become a thing between the two of you. You didn’t like real flowers, they died, but fake ones stayed forever.

“Hey superstar, I’m glad you could make it,” You grinned, pushing her chair in, and taking the seat across from her.

“Well, you’re too cute to pass up,” She quipped back, enjoying the pink that dusted your cheeks.

“I ordered you’re regular. Is that ok?”

“You remembered my order?” Emily asked, her eyes widening in surprise. You felt the warmth in your cheeks travel up to your ears. The truth was that you had known her order after the 3rd time lunch the two of you had done, (and you ordered extra onion rings in case she didn’t want the French fries).

“Well, we’ve done this a few times,” You shrugged, picking at the table. Her hand covered your own, and you smiled softly at the action, suddenly feeling shy.

“You’re adorable,” She mumbled under her breath as the waitress set two milkshakes on the table in front of you. Noticing that yours wasn’t your normal chocolate peanut butter concoction and instead was the strawberry one she had tried last time.

“Hmm, 20 questions?” You asked, sipping your shake (that you definitely didn’t get in case Emily changed her mind).

It had become your go-to game with the woman, and both of you have always had a blast with the get to know you game.

“Are you going to answer mine honestly?” She quirked an eyebrow up at you. The last time you had seen each other, you fibbed just slightly (not so slightly) about your new music. You were reluctant to give spoilers, and you told her your lead-off single was going to be a fun song playing off the saying sex on a beech (cake by the ocean). Instead, you had chosen something much sappier, about the start of a new relationship called Begin Again.

Your fans had gone crazy, trying to put all the pieces together. It seemed they were divided on if you and Christen had gotten back together, or if you were finally moving on. You kept your lips sealed, and it had taken Emily more than an hour to finally weasel to real answer out of you.

“Scouts honor,” You saluted, taking another drag of the strawberry milkshake.

“You go first,” Emily grabbed your shake and took a sip, pushing her own chocolate one back towards you. You blinked, thinking for a second. You had never mastered suttelty in normal conversation, and you had no idea how to ask your question.

“Are you dating anyone?”

“Nope,” She smiled, popping the p. You released a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“Cool. I believe you’re now entitled to a question?”

Emily tapped her chin in thought, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Are the rumors true? Kelley won’t tell me,”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific babe,” You smirked, smiling kindly at the waitress as she set down your double cheeseburgers. Your life was plagued with rumors. That you were dating this celebrity, that Preath had broken your heart.

“You dated Christen and all your songs are about her?” Emily asked, grabbing an onion ring off your plate and dipping it in your milkshake.

“I think dating would be a bit of a stretch,” you snorted, shaking your head. You weren’t sensitive about it anymore considering the media shoved it down their throat every chance they got. Emily waved her hand as if to say go on, you sighed. Despite the media pressure, you hadn’t really told anyone (besides Kelley) about it before.“We were best friends, who occasionally slept together. I caught feelings, Christen didn’t. She wanted Tobin and I was her plaything until Toby was ready.” You said the midfield turned forward’s name mockingly, looking wistfully over Emily’s shoulder.

She watched you for a moment, taking in the faraway look in your eyes. Her heart ached at the deep line in your forehead that hadn’t been there mere moments before.

“That was only the first part of my question,” she said softly. You blinked back to yourself.

“I write about what I feel, so some of them are about her. But lately they’re all about an amazing girl who makes me feel things that scare the crap out of me, things I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel again,” Your y/e/c eyes met her blue ones and you smiled softly.

Emily sat up in surprise, anxiety beginning to bubble up in her chest. She liked doing this with you, and she didn’t want it to stop. She opened her mouth to ask her, but your shaken voice cut her off.

“Would you be my girlfriend?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Emily smiled, leaning across the table, cupping your cheek and placing a very sweet kiss on your lips. Your fingers tangled into the baby hairs at the back of her neck as you carefully pulled her closer. You pull away a second later, connecting your forehead and breathing heavy. You would take that as a resounding yes.

“Does this mean I can hear the rest of the album early?” She asked, her breath fanning across your lips.

“I’m sure we can work something out,” you said as you leaned in again. Gosh her lips were addictive.

*****

Distance sucked, but over the past year, you and Emily had made it work. It was difficult with your music commitments and her soccer stuff, but as far as the two of you were concerned, it was worth it.

Emily laid with her eyes closed, her phone resting on her chest and Kelley sitting beside her as the radio host introduced you to the audience. She was happy to relax and listen to you talk about the thing you were the most passionate about (besides her).

It was nice to hear your voice, even if it sounded even more tired than it had when you talked the night before.

She could tell how much the press tour for your new album was taking out of you, and it killed her just a little bit to not be able to comfort you. You hadn’t exchanged the words yet, but she was sure that you loved her as much as she loved you ou.

“So I’ve got to ask, this album sounds so much different than both Heartbreak Hotel and Divinely Inspired to a Hellish Extent. There’s less pining and a lot more love,” The interviewer asked casually, but Emily could hear the smirk in his voice. The fans were going nuts now that your music had shifted from heartbreak to a blossoming love story. They all wanted to know who (Christen) had you writing sappy love songs.

“Yeah, I’m in such a different place than when I wrote either of those two albums, and I think that’s reflected in the music,” You volleyed the question, twisting it around so you were answering it and not answering it all at the same time (a skill that Emily both admired and was terrified of).

“So, it’d be safe to assume that you’re first two albums were about one relationship and this one is about another?” The interviewer pressed. And Emily groaned loudly. God, why couldn’t they just let it go? It had been nearly 3 years since you and Press were a thing. You had moved on and were finally happy, why wasn’t that enough?

Kelley smirked at the outburst, side-eyeing the defender. She was thrilled that you had finally found someone who would treat you right. Both women were so caught up that they didn’t notice the couple entering the room and sitting on the bed opposite of them.

“God, why can’t they just let it go?” Christen said loudly after yet another question from the interviewer. All eyes snapped to her, and Kelley raised her eyebrows at the outburst. “Don’t give me that look, I’m tired of them trying to get her to confirm that we dated,” She huffed, crossing her arms and leaning further into Tobin who began to rub her back.

“I think dating is putting it loosely. If I was her I wouldn’t have just thrown you under the bus, I would have been the fucking driver,” Kelley rolled her eyes.

“That was uncalled for,” Tobin grumbled.

“You’re just upset because you didn’t know Forget You was about you,” Kelley snorted. Remembering how Tobin had walked around camp whistling the tune until she had broken the news. (Still, you found it hilarious considering the original lyrics).

“You know what I meant,” Tobin grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure she’s tired of it too,” Emily said softly, smiling almost sympathetically at the woman. You had gotten over most of your anger, and insisted that she shouldn’t be mean to Tobin. Love made you all do crazy things.

“I write what I feel, and I think the only safe thing to assume from that is that I’m happy,” You added, bringing everyone’s attention back to the interview. Emily smiled softly at the phone. You were happy. You had gained your sunshine back, as Kelley put it, and she was glad that she was part of the reason for that.

“And sickeningly in love?” The interviewer again tried to dig.

“And in love,” Your smile was visible in your tone. Emily masked her sudden intake of breath. She knew, but it was the first time she was hearing it out loud.

“I didn’t know she was in a new relationship” Christen’s eyes snapped to the phone in surprise. She knew you would move on eventually, but actually seeing evidence of it was causing all kinds of feelings to bubble in her chest. Feelings she didn’t have the right to have. She made her choice and she was happy too. You deserved that.

“The new love songs are so sweet. It’s probably her best album yet,” Emily added with a shrug. It wasn’t just the music that was good, it was the knowledge that you were both falling together. That you would be there to catch each other was amazing. (And the memory of you strumming out a few of the love songs in your underwear in a concert just for her was a bonus too).it didn’t matter that the world was sure they were about Christen. Everyone in this room knew they weren’t.

“I’ll have to listen to it, wonder who it's about,” Christen said thoughtfully. She shouldn’t deny that she missed you. Missed the friend part of your relationship.

“Someone who knows just how lucky she is,” Kelley said, looking Christen in the eyes. It was no secret that she still harbored ill feelings over what happened between Chris and her best friend. Emily shrunk slightly. The two of you had agreed to keep the relationship on the down-low, and Preath were the last people she wanted to tell.

Christen’s jaw dropped in surprise. You never talked about your relationships. Not even when you and her were involved. You weren’t good with emotions and it was a more ‘gentle-womanly thing to do’.

A barely audible “She told you?” left her lips. And Emily’s heart rate skyrocketed, thinking that this was about to become even more awkward than it already was.

“My lips are sealed,” Kelley smirked, running her hand across her mouth in a zip it motion before throwing away the key. She wasn’t about the mess up the most stable relationship you had ever been in, and it was fun to watch Preath squirm.

Emily took a deep breath. Some relaxing evening this had turned out to be. She went to swipe the radio app away on her phone when your name popped up next to a text. She couldn’t help the edges of her lips turning up.

You really did have amazing timing.

*****

Emily loved peaceful nights at camp. Early nights where the team bonding movie ended at a decent hour and they didn’t have early morning practice the next day. Sure her bed's cuddles weren’t as good as yours, but they still comfy.

She had gotten to talk to you tonight, a long FaceTime. It bothered you how exhausted you looked, how your crooked smile hadn’t met your eyes. The chaos of touring was rough, made even more difficult by time zone differences. But still, you had made time to talk to her, to tell her how much you loved her.

She idiot wondered what had pulled her out of her sleep, before the soft knock on the door sounded again.

“Who the fuck is at our door at 3 Am?” Emily groaned loudly, rolling onto her back, and glancing over at her roommate in the other bed. She thought late-night pranks were banned at this camp, and she had been lucky to be roomed with her best friend.

“I have no clue. Maybe if we ignore it, it’ll go away,” Lindsey mumbled, burying her face further into the pillow, moaning loudly when the knocking got even more insistent.

“Fuck, I’m coming, cool your jets,” Emily huffed, throwing off the covers and marching towards the door. She flung it open, ready to yell at however the fuck had the nerve to bother them at this hour. But the words died on her lips the second she saw your very tired form leaning heavily against the doorframe, plastic Rose clutched firmly in your hand.

“you’re here,” she said softly and you flew into her arms. You held her tightly, running your nose along the collum of her neck. She stumbled with the foot-wide, grabbing the doorframe to steady the two of you.

“Sorry, I just. I missed you. I can’t sleep without you,” You mumbled into her skin, placing a kiss on the spot she loved so much. Emily wasn’t sure if you were apologizing for waking her up, or for nearly tackling her to the ground, but she didn’t care. It was so nice to have you in her arms after nearly 2 months of being apart.

“Shhh, come in. It’s alright, I missed you too babe,” She hummed, stepping back and pulling you into the room, and closing the door. She grabbed the flower, smiling softly at it before placing it in her nightstand. She could tell how exhausted you were (you had probably flown in right after your show), and the last thing you needed was her teammates coming out to see what the commotion was.

You mumbled something incoherent into her neck, following her as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Babe? Who is it, Son?” Lindsey Asked sitting up and taking in the sight of you basically sitting on Emily’s lap with your head buried in her neck. You looked up at the woman wide-eyed, and she gasped. “Holy shit, you’re Y/n L/n and Disani just called you babe,”

“Surprise...” Emily smiled, and you huffed into her neck. She could feel your nose twitching, a telltale sign that you were probably about to fall asleep.

“How long?” Lindsey asked breathlessly, holding in the awe at how cute you two looked together. She never expected the big badass singer to turn into puddy in her best friend’s arms.

“Like a year and a half?” Emily shrugged, shushing you again and running fingers through your hair, scratching your scalp. Your schedule was brutal and you had a propensity to avoid sleep when you were stressed. But on the bright side, she had learned that you always got cuddly when you were sleepy Like a puppy.

“Damn, That’s why you’re so obsessed with all her music. It’s about you,” Lindsey laughed. Emily’s cheeks turned bright red as she cleared her throat. You weren’t really awake enough to register that your girlfriend was still your number one fan.

“Let’s get Y/n into bed. You must be exhausted,” Emily said softly, maneuvering so you were both under the covers. You hummed, leaning up to peck your girlfriend’s lips before settling back into your favorite hiding spot.

The room was quiet for a few minutes, and Emily breathed a sigh of relief as your breathing evened out. You had never been a great sleeper, and she worried about how much you got while you were on tour. You were adorable, even more so when you were sleeping. Your face relaxed and you looked younger. Emily couldn’t help but wonder how the hell Christen ever let you go when you offer up the opportunity to see you so unguarded (a sight your fans rarely got a glimpse of).

“You know the media is going to think you snuck into the hotel to see Christen right?” Emily murmured after a few minutes, not expecting you to reply.

“Fuck the media. They need to chill with that Preath bullshit,” You huffed, burrowing deeper into the woman and placing a kiss on her collarbone, completely forgetting that you weren’t alone. You would call your publicist in the morning and have all the rumors squashed anyway (you didn’t want another disastrous interview like the one where Ellen had found pictures of you and Christen from college).

“Wait you dated Christen?” Lindsey gasped, nearly falling out of her bed, and you groaned incompressible into your girlfriend.

“A loose interpretation from what I’ve gathered,” Emily giggled, again comparing you to a puppy on her head.

“It doesn’t matter, we all know who’s bed I was in tonight,” You huffed.

“Damn right we do,” Emily tilted your chin up to kiss your lips. Emily wasn't the jealous type, but it was hard when the entire world was convinced you were with someone else. It also helped that you were always so sweet with her and made sure she knew how much you loved her.

You pulled her closer, your fingers tangling in the baby hairs at the back of her neck as your tongue ran over her bottom lip. God, you had missed her. You moaned lightly when Emily’s tongue met your own.

You were brought out of your moment by a very loud cough. You sat bolt upright, blinking owlishly around the woman in the opposite bed.

“No sex while I’m here alright?” Lindsey smirked, amused by this you that few people ever got to see. This adorable side that seemed to be entirely taken with her best friend. No wonder you wrote her so many sappy love songs.

“You’re no fun Linds,” Emily cackled, pulling you back down beside her.

It would be a pain in the ass to get you out of the hotel without anyone seeing you, but the risk was totally worth getting to spend time with your girl, even if it was only for a few hours.

****

You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face if you tried. You had won 6 grammy’s the night before, and now you got to sit in the stands while your girl fought for the Shebelieves cup. You hadn’t been to a soccer game since Paris, and you had to admit it was slightly addictive watching your girl be a badass defender. It was one thing watching it on TV for the 3 years you had been dating, and an entirely different one to actually be here. God, she was gorgeous.

You pulled your jacket tighter around you and shifted your hat down a little bit further. This was Emily’s moment, and you didn’t want to draw any attention away from her.

*****

Tobin was freaking out, her normally chill persona nowhere to be found. Her hands were shaking and she didn’t know if it was fear or rage. Who the fuck gave you the right to show up at one of their games (sporting a jersey nonetheless) after you had released a song like To Make You Feel My Love. She thought that you had given up on chasing Christen years ago, but why were you here, seeming hiding in the stands.

The media had been shoving the Preath narrative down your throat for months, maybe it had finally gotten to you. Yet, weren’t you in your own relationship? Maybe they had all read the signs wrong and you were still head over heels for Christen.

If you were going to finally make a stand for her girl, why had you chosen this venue? She shook her head, heading into the tunnel for halftime, she needed to figure out how to stop your bid for Christen’s heart.

“You didn’t tell me she was coming,” Tobin growled, passing Kelley as she made her way to her locker.

Kelley shrugged, unable to suppress her smirk. “She’s not here for you anyway,”

“She’s wearing a jersey Kelley,” She spat, glaring at the defender, who simply shrugged again.

“Yeah, so? She wanted to do something nice, prove how much she loves her and all that,”

Tobin opened and closed her mouth several times, her fist clenching as Kelley all but confirmed her biggest fear. But she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

*****

You found it incredibly amusing that your girlfriend couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off you during the second half. Hell, it was so obvious that at one point she had tripped over thin air cause she was looking at you instead of where she was going.

And by the time the final whistle blew, you had garnered the attention of most of the national team, wondering why their frat daddy junior was so distracted.

Lindsey got to you first, hopping up onto the railing to talk to you (as you had chosen a front row seat just behind the bench).

“Hey rockstar, wanna come down and see your girl?” She smiled, leaning over the rail to tug you forward. You glanced behind her, wincing at the glare Tobin was sending you. You tugged your jacket closed again and shook your head.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea Linessie,”

“Oh come on, Kelley and I will protect you so you can serenade Sonnett,” She laughed goodnaturedly, remembering the many times you had convinced your respective best friends to help you surprise your girlfriend.

“Haha, very funny,” you frowned, biting your lip. You really wanted to see Emily, but from the looks Tobin was sending your way, you weren’t sure if that was a good idea.

Lindsey’s eyes softened at your hesitance. It was rare you let your softer, more shy side out in public. She knew you truly cared for Emily, and that you were worried your presence would ruin the night for her.

You glanced at the railing, picking at the chipping paint. “She deserves to savor your win, not have me and my drama on the front page,”

“Everything will be fine. Emily is super excited you’re here, and when they get a picture of your jersey, I think that all the preath shit will be in the past” Lindsey said softly, grabbing your hand and tugging you onto the field.

You hid behind Lindsey as she navigates you through her teammates, intent on making it to the frat daddies who were across the field(who just happened to be standing next to Christen). That was until a very angry Tobin stepped directly into Lindsey’s path.

“I can’t let you go over there Y/n. It’s over, just let it go,” Tobin said, crossing her arms like a petulant child.

Lindsey rolled her eyes at the woman, attempting to take a step around her. “Chill Tobs, it’s not a big deal,” Tobin again stepped in your way. You frowned. This was why you didn’t want to come down in the field.

“I think it’s a really big deal that she’s trying to steal my wife,” Tobin huffed, sniffing slightly.

“What?” you asked, your eyebrows furrowing. You weren’t here to see Christen at all. You were so busy staring quizzically at the midfielder that you didn’t notice your girlfriend sprinting in your direction until she launched herself into your arms.

“I’m so glad you decided to come! I wasn’t sure if you’d come,” She mumbled into your neck, and you pulled her closer to you, tilting your head so you could place a kiss on her lips. This moment made everything worth it.

“You said it was important so I’m here. I’d do anything for you superstar,” You said softly, kissing her cheeks and her forehead, drawing a giggle out of the girl.

She shoved you lightly, catching you by your jacket collar to pull you back into a kiss.

“I thought you were an Arsenal fan, not a Chelsea one?” She laughed against your lips, and you pouted. It had been the only jacket in Kelley’s apartment that fit you. You pulled away completely, shrugging out of the offending piece of clothing, revealing your jersey beneath it.

“I just wanted to hide this until the right moment,” You smirked, ignoring the gasps of the women behind you. (Tobin had been watching dumbfounded from the moment you started hugging Emily, and the large Sonnett on your back had her even more confused. Why were you in Somnett’s jersey if you were trying to win Christen back?)

“God you look good with my name on your back,” Emily smirked, her hands on your hips, pulling you back in for yet another kiss. You smiled against her lips. This hadn’t been your plan, but everything seemed to be coming together.

“What if it was our name?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at her and tilting your head to the side. She froze, blinking rapidly to process what you were saying.

You barely registered the “Wait, what?” From behind you, and the slapping sound that followed. You could only assume it was Kelley as she added a “Shut up, she’s been planning this for months,”

You had been planning this for months. Planning the perfect moment, and it couldn’t have been more perfect than this. You were both winners in your respective fields, and you wanted to be a winner in this too. You had never felt this way about another person.

Emily blinked at you again, asking a silent what, and you took that as your cue to continue. “Like, what if Sonnett was my name too, like minus a hyphen?” You shrugged, poking the 14 on her jersey and the matching one on yours before beginning to dig into your pocket.

“Are you?” She stuttered as you dropped down on one knee, pulling out the ring you had stashed in your pocket. Yeah, this was much better than doing this in some back hallway of the stadium.

You took a deep breath and looked up into Emily’s eyes, opening the ring box and asking the simple question “Marry me?”

“Yes,” Emily is on her knees in an instant, cupping your face and kissing you again. She didn’t need a big long speech about how much you loved her (the two albums made your feelings crystal clear), and she loved you too. She couldn’t wait to be your wife.

“Told you she wasn’t here for you,” Kelley laughed, nudging Tobin and Christen as they gaped at the two of you. How had they not known?

Christen gulped down her feelings, leaning further into Tobin’s side. You weren’t hers anymore and she was somehow alright with that.

#emily sonnett imagine #emily sonnett x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #uswnt x reader

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agentwhiskeypussyindulgence · 4 years ago

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Whiskey Kisses (Agent Whiskey x plus sized Reader)

Authors Note: Hello!!!! If this looks familiar it’s because it is! This was written in the middle of my covid sickness back in January and I have not touched it since lmao. I figure it might be better to edit it a bit, and post it all as one rather than two separate entities since the second part was only separate bc I hadn’t written it yet at the time I posted the first one. I’m hoping that I’ve gone through and removed any glaring descriptors that will exclude folks but the one thing that remains is that this is a plus sized reader (gotta leave a little bit of me in there lmao!) This was/still is my first attempt at smut so I'm hoping I've read enough to get somewhat of a grasp on it ✌ Plot is the same, wildly incredibly self indulgent, Whiskey is as charming as ever and hopefully the new post will get some fresh eyes on it! Hope everyone enjoys~~

Word count: ~7000

Warnings: NSFW 18+ fem plus sized reader (a bit of body insecurity that is Very Brief), Daddy Kink, Loss of Virginity (including insecurity about being a virgin), Praise Kink, no y/n used, excessive use of pet names bc Whiskey is a menace,If I’ve missed anything please don’t hesitate to let me know!

The place smelt like smoke. That was first scent that hit you as you moved through the crowdto the bar, claiming a seat on the side nearest to the exit. This was your first time out and about in your new city and you weren’t exactly sure what you were here for. At the least you would get a good night of entertainment from people watching from your position at the bar. Maybe you would make a friend. That’s how it worked for people your age right?

It had been so long since you had to put yourself out into social situations that weren’t engineered to create bonds--this wasn’t school and it wasn’t work, the two places where you felt confident about your social skills. You feared you might be a little behind on friend making procedures. This was only your second week in town. You’ve moved from home because you knew you couldn’t stand one more day in your hometown. Moving back after college had been a great way to save up money, but you were tired of living with your parents and tired of the same small town views. It hurt leaving your folks and it hurt to leave your friends even more. But you knew that sooner rather than later they would be moving out into the world. That’s what was expected and you were terrified but immensely excited to be the first one in your group to make the leap.

Now you’ve found yourself here alone in a bar nursing some sugary drink that had been listed in chalk on the special board outside the bar. You didn’t mind being alone. In the past you’d learned to enjoy your own company —going thrifting on your own or heading to see a movie when everyone else was busy. That being said, you found being alone in a bar a much more harrowing experience. You didn’t usually spend much time alone in places where the drunken masses gathered. Parties, clubs, and bars weren’t usually your scene and let alone without your group of friends there as backup.

You were out to be social yet still hoped that your phone would serve as a good enough reason for no one to come up and ask for a dance. Sure, there were some attractive people in the bar tonight, but you were only on your first drink and didn’t have enough in your system to get yourself out on the dancefloor with someone you didn’t know. Not yet at least.

Your attention was pulled from your phone by a movement in your periphery, a silhouette passing behind you. It was a…cowboy?

That wasn’t who you were expecting to see. This wasn’t a country bar by any means and he stood out amongst the other patrons in their casual clothes. He kept a respectful distance leaving a seat between the one he chose and yours as if to not block you in. You stared, taking in his outfit, he seemed like the real deal. Cowboy boots with spurs, well-fitting denim jeans, and a Stetson seated on top of dark hair. Only thing out of place was his shirt. You weren’t a hundred percent sure what kind of shirts cowboys wore, but you weren’t betting on a nicely pressed dress shirt.

He looked young upon first glance, then you noticed the smile lines around the corner of his eyes and mouth. That and the way he carried himself, his essence, revealed that he probably had some years on you though that didn’t lessen the attraction any. He turned suddenly and you couldn’t look away; embarrassed as you were to be caught staring. Not when those gorgeous brown eyes met with yours. He raised a hand to the brim of his hat and honest to god tipped it in your direction with a smile and a quiet “Evenin” on his lips.

You cleared your throat and cradled your glass in your hands, fingers working to twist and turn it. “Evening…didn’t expect to see a cowboy in here tonight.” You take a small sip. “Doesn’t really seem like your scene” you finish, looking around at the crowd, all dressed differently but certainly no cowboys among them.

The stranger lets out a laugh and a smile lights up his face as the bartender works his way to your side of the bar. “Maybe not darlin but this cowboy is home anywhere he can find a beautiful lady and a whiskey, neat.” He says this last part to the bartender who you find standing in front of the two of you. He gives a nod at the cowboy and glances over at you and you notice your drink is almost empty. “Put this sweet thing’s next drink on my tab” he says with a wink in your direction and you can’t help but feel heat flood your face. This is the first time you’ve ever been bought a drink by a stranger at a bar.

You realize the bartender is waiting patiently on you and you panic. You had wanted to switch drinks after finishing this one off, tired of the sugar, worried over the hangover it might bring. “Oh! Uhm, whiskey neat also. Thank you.”

The stranger sitting close to you raises his eyebrows at your order, his eyes glancing between your own and the remnants of your sugary cocktail. You smile and give him a shrug “Buyers choice I suppose.”

He lets out a chuckle and holds his hand out across the empty seat between you. “Jack Daniels. Nice to meet you.” You give him your hand and your name and you watch as his eyes trail over you.

He smiles, as if he’s seen something he likes once his eyes have finished their exploration. You can’t blame him as you had just done the same thing. But you couldn’t help but be a little puzzled. You hadn’t really dressed with the goal of attracting attention to yourself tonight. You chose your favorite pair of light-wash jeans (you were told they hugged your curves nicely) and a band t-shirt with a light flannel on top. It was comfortable and you looked nice, but you hadn’t dressed to impress.

The drinks arrive and Jack raises his glass in the air and tips it in your direction. You hurriedly grip yours and do the same, smiling at the clink of meeting glasses.

The whiskey stings your lips, chapped from your habit of nervously biting at the soft skin in new situations. You don’t often drink whiskey and you attempt to school your face into something neutral, trying not to cough, as the smoky alcohol burns its way down your throat. A burn that you find yourself enjoying mere moments after it passes. You over at Jack who doesn’t avert his eyes when you catch him staring at you, an amused expression on his face. If he noticed your brief grimace that came with your first sip of the whiskey, he was a true gentleman and kept it to himself.

“Is Jack Daniels really your name?” Taking him in with an incredulous look. Who the hell is named after a whiskey brand? Or who uses it as a fake name and then orders it at the bar? Sighing with a smile, he nods. “It was a name before a brand, sugar. Plus, now all my friends can call me Whiskey. You can too if you’d prefer.” He finishes with a wink.

Setting his glass down he doesn’t give you time to react beyond your surprised stare. “So. What’s a beauty like you doing all alone, stuck here talking to an old man like me?” You let out a laugh and look at him incredulously. Confirmation that he was older but you wouldn’t have thought to call him an old man. He’s really laying on the charm thick though. You can’t say you’re mad at it.

“I’m new to town.” You reply. “Figured after a week of unpacking and organizing I deserved a night out on.” He gives a grin. “I don’t know about the other fellas in this joint, but I for one love an independent woman.” Grinning you take another sip from your glass, the burn still there but less aggressive. “Well we all have to learn to be independent one way or another right?”

Humming in agreement he meets your eyes with a smile and doesn’t look away. Cheeks continuing to burn away, you give a smile back. This much undivided attention on you is new territory. But you’d be lying if you said you weren’t reveling in it.

“So what do you do when you’re not out wooing the ladies at the bar? You a real cowboy?” You ask, giving him another once over. As a general piece of knowledge from living in a town with some farming areas you knew that genuine Stetsons and real leather boots didn’t come without a hefty price tag. And he certainly didn’t look cheap.

“I’m an agent for a secret independent intelligence agency.” He says this with no hesitation or humor in his voice. Simply a flat reply. You raise your brow at him and snort into your glass. “And now that you’ve told me you’ll have to kill me right?” Jack takes your joke in stride “I don’t think I would ever deny the world a beauty like yours by killing ya darlin”

He swirls his whiskey in his glass as you blush. “Really though I work on the board for Statesmen Distillery. We’re based in Kentucky.” You smile with a nod, taking another sip from your glass “Well that certainly explains- well just about everything about you. How’d you find yourself here then? Need a vacation?”

This line of questioning leads you and Jack chatting back and forth about nothing and everything. He asks about your family, the move, how you found yourself moving from your hometown all by your lonesome. He tells you about his job, the boring meetings, how he really enjoys spending time on his ranch, watching the sunset. (He pulls out his phone at one point, showing you a picture of a calf that you can’t help but coo at, directing baby noises at the phone in his hand. He seems endeared by this.)

You had always had a hard time talking to people you didn’t know, keeping to your same group of friends because of this reason. With Jack though you didn’t feel any lulls in the conversations, no awkward silences. You couldn’t remember the last time it had been so easy to have a conversation with someone.

As the two of you finish off your second round of whiskeys, a slow country song begins to play from the speakers. Most of the crowd looks confused at the shift in vibes from the DJ booth. The DJ in question points towards the corner where you and Jack have been sitting and winks; odd to pander to the one cowboy in the crowd. You’re not going to complain though, and it seems, neither is Jack. “Tennessee Whiskey. Just like my namesake.”

He hums in appreciation before he stands, holding a hand out to you. “Would you like to dance darlin?” You’ve never been much for slow dancing, but you knew you’d be kicking yourself with regret if you said no. You place your hand in his as he leads you out onto the dancefloor. The music swirls around the two of you and you feel your nerves spike, hoping your hands aren’t sweaty, that you don’t step on his feet and praying to whatever god is out there that you can keep the rhythm. But as he gently tugs you closer into his embrace you feel any apprehension disappearing you’re your mind.

You find yourself looking up at him, dark and beautiful brown eyes meeting yours. You take a risk and lean your head against his shoulder as you sway, taking in a deep inhale of his scent. It’s beautiful, not too strong. You can smell the whiskey on his breath and you wonder what cologne he uses. It’s something oaky and fresh and the combination is enough to intoxicate you even further.

“Sugar…” the pet name comes out as a whisper from above.“I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t ask if I could kiss ya right now.” You pull back looking up into those eyes that you could get lost in. He’s leaned in close to you now, his breath dancing across your lips. You part them to respond and you knew you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t say yes.

Wordlessly you nod and can’t help the sigh that escapes you as he tilts his head and his lips meet yours.

It’s not your first kiss, but you can count all the previous ones on a singular hand. He’s gentle, his hawkish nose that you’ve found yourself enamored with brushes softly against your cheek as your lips dance together. You hum in contentment, bringing your arms up and around his neck, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He swipes his tongue across your bottom lip and it may sound juvenile but you hadn’t had much experience with tongue kissing. You part your lips anyways, following intuition, allowing his tongue access. The sensation is foreign but not unwelcome and you can’t help moaning, and his hold on your waist tightens as you’re pulled even closer against him. You spend a few moments in the middle of the dance floor in his embrace, tongues dancing together and thoroughly getting lost in him.

He pulls back for a moment and you’re thankful he made the decision because you hadn’t even noticed the fact that you still needed air. You cringe at the whimper you let out as your lips detach, you hate at how pathetic you sound, hate that you instinctually go to chase them. It doesn’t seem like Jack cares though, he’s gazing down at you, bringing up a hand to rest on the side of your face, a thumb coming to sweep across your bottom lip before swooping down for a second kiss. This one is much more brief. “How would you like to ride home on a real cowboy?” he murmurs against your lips.

You freeze up at his question knowing exactly what he’s asking. Your eyes going wide as you try to stammer out excuses that won’t reveal your true hesitation. This particular insecurity doesn’t come up a lot but you’re never sure how to breach the topic of your virginity whenever scenarios like this pop up.

Jack pulls back, a concerned look growing on his face at your muttering. “I’m sorry if I overstepped, doll. It wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable. We don’t have to do anything other than sit around here all night. I’d enjoy any time spent with you.” His eyes met yours and they were so kind and soft and you felt your heart melt a little at his crooked smile. You had just met him but you made up your mind to tell him the truth so he wouldn’t walk away from the night feeling terrible.

You always make up something else and run before you can embarrass yourself further. Your younger years are supposed to be your “prime” and you know in your mind that it’s completely normal for you to still be a virgin. That being said you have always felt like it was some kind of barrier blocking you from ever truly being comfortable with romantic entanglements.

You sigh as another song picks up. You’re both still holding onto each other and swaying to the beat and you open your mouth to give this man some peace. “Jack I… listen you’re incredibly attractive and I love a cowboy, I really do. And you didn’t make me uncomfortable! I just-” you chew on your lip again, thinking if there was a better way to say this before deciding on just getting it over with so you can stop wasting his time.

“I’ve never…been with anyone like that before and I as much as I wanna save a horse and ride a cowboy, I know a lot of people don’t want the virgin burden on them so I completely understand if you want to find someone else for the night so you’re not wasting your time.” It comes out rushed and in one breath, you’re avoiding his eyes not wanting to see the disappointment that might radiate from them. When you finally looked up, he was still staring at you with those gentle eyes, it was too much for you and you cast your eyes back down.

In an instant you found his hand gently holding your chin, lifting your gaze to meet him once more. “Hey. Look at me. You ain’t got anything to be embarrassed about darlin’. And you’re certainly not a waste of my time. Far from it. Ain’t nothing wrong with being inexperienced.” His eyes crinkle with a smile directed at you and you grin back feeling relief wash over you. This is honestly the best one of these conversations.

“Now listen,” he continues “if you just wanna dance and drink the night away, I’m thrilled to get to know you more.” You nod waiting for the ‘but’ you knew was coming. “But if this is something you want to try and I’m the fella you wanna try it with, well then-” He leans down, voice dropping and breath dancing along your ear “-daddy will take care of you.”

He studies you then, gauging your reaction at his phrasing. He knew it was a bold move but hoped that it would pay off. And lucky for both of you it does. Your eyes widen and you let out a short gasp as you bite at your bottom lip. The term he used sent a spark of arousal directly through you and in that moment you know that Jack is exactly who you need to come home with you tonight.

You give Jack a nod and he caresses your face with his large calloused hand. “I need to hear you say it, sugar.” And fuck it if that doesn’t get you feeling all warm inside. “Y-yeah” it comes out shaky not purely from nerves but also through the adrenaline you can feel coursing through your body. “Take me home Jack.” He practically beams at you, pressing a quick kiss to your lips and tugging you back over to the bar so he can pay the tab. You didn’t walk in here expecting to leave with someone tonight but you’re the furthest thing from disappointed as the two of you rush out the doors.

You both make your way through the bar's exit and you find yourself standing in front of a vintage Ford Bronco, Whiskey holding the passenger door open for you. You smile and slide into the seat. “Such a gentleman. But you know, this isn’t the car I was expecting a fancy distillery man to own. But it does feel quite fitting.” You muse as he takes his own seat and starts the engine, the radio on low crackling to life. “It’s my pride and joy” he hums, gently patting the dash. “Anything could happen to me as long as my baby here is safe.”

You laugh at the man’s love for his car until the chuckle is cut off by Jack’s hand coming to rest on your leg. His touch is gentle, and he drags his palm up from your knee to your upper thigh and back down again. He glances at you from his periphery “This alright darlin?” You nod as he resumes his movements, tracing inscrutable patterns with his fingers whenever his hand pauses in its path.

You feel the telltale heat of arousal begin to pool in your stomach. You’re not unused to that. The new and exhilarating part of the scenario tonight is that you have someone else to take care of it. Someone other than your hands and your well-used vibrator. You’re thankful that the drive back from the bar to your apartment is short. If it was any longer than the ten minutes it took you might actually explode.

Jack pulls up and you direct him to park in the spot next to your own car. One that looks far worse than you usually find it when compared to the well taken care of Bronco next to it. Jack, continuing to be the gentleman he’s been all night, opens your door for you once more, grabbing your hand as you sling your purse over your shoulder and make your way towards the front door. The elevator ride up to the 5th floor is rife with palpable tension and you almost melt at the gentle circles Jack makes with his thumb on the back of your hand as it sits entwined with his.

The moment the two of you cross the threshold of your doorway you expect everything to begin at once, all passion and clashing lips. You find yourself surprised when you’re not immediately pressed against the door and ravaged like in the movies, and you see Jack take in your living room.

Luckily everything had gotten sorted in your first week and the only thing to indicate a new occupant were the stack of boxes in the corner that you needed to take to the recycling bin behind the building.

His eyes trail along your bookshelf, scanning the titles bookended by little trinkets and tiny figurines you had gathered from gifts and mall vending machines. He admires the paintings on your wall, all excellent purchases from the local Goodwill you thought.

You shift from foot to foot not entirely knowing how to start things off. This is your first time and Jack is the one showing you the ropes so you hover next to your couch as he finishes his scan of the room, turning to you with a soft smile. “You’ve made this place feel homey already, sugar. I love it.” You beam back at him happy to explain your interior design choices but in a moment he’s taking two large strides in your direction. “Now, mind if we pick up where we left off in the bar?” He brushes his knuckles gently across your cheek as he waits for your response and in an instant you’re already reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck once more.

It’s cliché and you know it but when his lips connect with yours once more you feel fireworks. An explosion of arousal deep in the pit of your stomach as you grant his tongue entrance. The kiss isn’t rough but it is passionate. You had always had the inkling that you would find a tongue in your mouth invasive and gross and you are thrilled to learn that isn’t true. Or maybe it’s just because of the man you’re with. Jack seems like the type of guy who can make anything feel good and you can’t wait to see what he has to offer you.

Detaching his lips from yours you find yourself unintentionally pouting. He laughs at his before leaning down to latch his lips onto your neck and the pout disappears as a moan rips through your body as he begins to suck and bite up your neck. Jack is savoring every moment he spends kissing you, you can feel the restraint lurking behind every kiss. You can feel your legs turn into jelly and you’re grateful for the hands around your waist and the couch back behind you for all the support you certainly need right now.

As Jack soothes a bite with his tongue he moves his hands from your waist and places them under your ass instead. He tugs you forward, your balance unstable without the couch behind you. You feel his muscles get to work and suddenly you’re off the ground letting out a startled gasp. “Don’t worry, sugar. Daddy’s got ya.” Instinct kicks in and you’re wrapping your legs around his middle, groaning at the contact between your clothed core and his waist. You hadn’t realized how desperate you were for some friction until now and it hits you like a freight train. Dropping your head against Jack’s shoulder you hear his laugh from above you. “Hmm, someone’s impatient ain’t she?”

Lightheadedness consumes you, astonishment at his strength combined with his teasing giving you an incredible heady feeling. “Jack please…” you rub circles into the nape of his neck and you feel his breath huff into your hair as he groans in response to your begging.

Wasting no time he carries you to your bedroom and gently sets you down on the bed. He stands above you as you stare up with wide eyes. He kneels in front of you at the edge of your bed and reaches a hand up to begin to slip the flannel from your shoulders. The gentle touch of his hands sends a shiver up your spine, even through the layer of clothing.

Soon your shirt is off and he’s tracing lazy patterns on the swell of your breasts. He gently palms your boobs through the lacy fabric of your bra and drags a thumb across the raised material where your nipples are hardening underneath. You’re not sure how much longer you can handle the touches, gentle and tantalizing and just enough to leave you wanting more. You move your arms up and back to unclasp your bra, throwing off the side of the bed to be dealt with in the morning.

Jack’s eyes are trained on your breasts now, even more so than before. There’s a hunger there, a desire that you’re not used to seeing directed at you. He leans forward and cups one breast with his hand and secures his mouth over your peaked nipple. You groan in pleasure and press your chest further into him, despite there being not much more space to fill.

He drags his tongue across your nipple before sucking, repeating the process every few seconds. You’re pleasantly shocked at the little nibbles that are peppered across your chest once he’s had his fill of licking. You move your hand down to gently grip at the back of his head, pressing him closer. “Daddy please, keep doing that it’s so good!” He eases his mouth off, a pleased smile on his face. “Anything you want sweetness.” And promptly moves to the opposite breast, continuing his work.

Soon you’re left panting and hungry for his same talented touch in a much more sensitive place. You tell him as much through panting breaths and he wastes no time to start shimmying your pants and underwear off with your help. He stands for a moment, beginning to remove his own clothes, a pile of his country wear being left in the corner of your room. You admire his broad shoulders, the hair on his chest, slim waist with just a hint of a belly that you’d love to kiss. You follow his happy trail down eyeing the prominent bulge in his jeans begging to be freed.

As you lay on the bed spread before him, you’re overcome with the urge to curl up into a ball to cover yourself. You wouldn’t say that you’re unhappy with your body. You love your curves and your tummy. No you’re not insecure…not entirely.

Jack is a handsome man and you’re lying here wondering if this is what he wants to see. You curse yourself for letting your insecurities try and ruin your night with this handsome man who clearly wants what you want. You fold inwards on yourself only slightly, bringing your legs closed and positioning yourself more on your side than on your back.

Jack finally back at you from where he’s been stripping and glances over at you with a furrowed brow, noticing the change in position. “Sweetness what’s wrong? We don’t have to do this if you’re having second thoughts.” You shake your head so quickly that you almost make yourself lightheaded. “It’s not that. I just-” you pause trying to think of the right way to explain yourself without sounding incredibly pathetic.

But it seems like Jack can read your mind. Before you can even continue to draft your thoughts, his brow straightens and an incredibly soft look crosses his features. He stands from his spot and kneels in front of you on the bed. “Doll, you are one of the most gorgeous creatures I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. I just wanna make you feel good. Will you let Daddy take care of you?”

You can feel the heat bloom in your body and you nod as you release a shaky breath that you hadn’t realized you were holding. Jack smirks at your reaction, pleased that you’re less in your head.

He stands and holds you by your hip, urging you to rotate onto your back. Once you’ve done so, he grabs your ankles pulling them apart and down so your legs are dangling off the bed. He kneels on the ground in front of you once more and you see that his eyes are dark with lust. You feel dizzy, knowing that you’re the one having this effect on him. He lifts one leg over his shoulder, and then the other; finishing by sliding his hands under your ass and tugging you closer.

Any potential embarrassment is immediately banished from your mind as you feel his breath against your wetness. He wastes no time, flattening his tongue and licking a broad strip up from your slit to your clit. Your eyes widen at the sensation and you let out a loud gasp as he does it a second time. His tongue licks at your folds before his lips settle on your clit.

Immediately, as if they had a mind of their own, your hips try to buck into his mouth. Desperate for more pleasure, more of that tongue on you. You feel Jack grin against you and he wraps his arms around your waist to keep them still. “Woah now sugar, calm down.” He’s only removed his mouth a few inches, the hot breath teasing you with its closeness makes you want to writhe on the bed. Jack must feel the tension in your hips because he chuckles. “Don’t worry, Daddy’s gonna give you what you need.”

His mouth is on you again, alternating between swirling patterns on your clit and filling you with his tongue. The noises coming from his mouth as he works you closer to pleasure are filthy and you’re about to comment when he pulls back for a moment. You let out a ragged breath and sit up a bit, wondering why he stopped. He takes a thick finger and drags it up through the combined wetness of you and his spit. It teases near your opening and you groan as your want for more sparks once again.

He chuckles at your expression. It’s not a mocking one, you can tell with the way he’s looking at you, the softness in his eyes like he’s the lucky one for sharing this with you. He’s not away from you long. That same finger is entering you now and nothing has ever felt this good. You didn’t realize how different it would feel with fingers that weren’t your own. Yours always felt too methodical, his felt magical.

“You’re sweeter than honey. Did ya know that?” you’re glad you managed to open your eyes as you look down at him popping that same finger into his mouth, sucking it clean. You know you must look ridiculous, your eyes blown wide with lust and jaw hanging slack and open in shock.

You feel yourself clench tightly as Jack moves to slide a second finger in. His free hand reaches up to hold your hip, his thumb moving in calming circles along the skin there. “You gotta relax sugar.” He moves his head back to your clit, speaking directly into you. “I want ya to feel good. Just relax.”

You do your best to follow his instructions, taking a breath and focusing on his hand on your hip and his mouth on your most sensitive area. Feeling your muscles relax, Jack grins into you. “That’s a good girl.” And the praise makes you shudder. He moves a second finger through your folds gathering the pooling slick and slides them into your entrance. You can feel his fingers thrusting inside you, taking breaks to scissor outwards stretching you out in the most delicious way. The fingers curl, finding a spot you’ve never managed to find in your years of exploring your own body.

You throw your head back against the covers as you let out a wanton moan, eyes clenched shut in pleasure as he continues to stroke that sweet spot. You’re so lost that you don’t take notice of a third finger slipping in as he picks up the pace. You’re panting now, breath coming out rapid and hot as your chest heaves with the labor of trying to keep some semblance of calm as the man between your legs wrecks you. Between his fingers thrusting into you and his lips sucking at your clit you can feel your orgasm rushing up on you like a speeding train. You reach a hand down, hoping Jack doesn’t mind as you grab onto his hair letting out a breathless “Jack I’m gonna-” you can feel him nod slightly, groaning at the pressure of your fingers gripping onto his hair and the vibrations finally do you in.

You feel yourself clenching again, this time due to the amount of pleasure running through your body and your legs close gently around Jack who works you through your orgasam, only letting his fingers slide from you once you go limp against the sheets. He gives you another broad lick for good measure and you whimper from the overstimulation, not being able to form words yet.

He rises from his kneeling position and crawls onto the bed, one knee between yours, the other bracketing your leg. You stare up at him with glossy eyes, tracing over his slick mustache and chin. Reaching up, you circle your arms around his neck and bring him down for a kiss, slow and passionate and you moan into his mouth as you taste yourself, sweet and tangy, on his tongue. “You ready for more sugar? We can stop here if you need you.”

You know it’s the bare minimum, really, but you can’t help but be moved by the constant check-ins from Jack. It means a lot to you that he’s looking out for you every step of the way.

Not much for words for fear of getting to emotional, you reach over to your bedside table and pull the drawer open, fishing out a bottle of lube and a condom. You hand both to Jack and correctly reads this as an answer to his question. Looking down, he raises a brow in amusement. “A pink condom huh? That’s new.” Biting down on your tongue to hold back a laugh, you shrug under him. “They were free at the last pride I went to. Gotta stick with the thematic rainbow colors right?” He laughs with you ripping the foil open and rolling the condom onto his cock and you’re glad the two of you can laugh in the moment.

“Now sweetness, I’m gonna need you to relax again, alright? Daddy prepared you with his fingers but as you can see sugar, his cock is much bigger.”

Your eyes trail down his body and he was right. His cock was much bigger than his fingers and much bigger than the dildo you had made yourself comfortable with. But Jack has been patient and gentle all night and you’d be lying to yourself if the thought of him inside of you didn’t set a fire coursing through you.

His words sent heat right through you down to your core, you might have been overeager but his tone had you spreading your legs for him with a wink, a bold feeling suddenly overcoming you since your first orgasm. “I’ll relax daddy. I’ll be good.” His smile is blinding as he grabs one of your pillows and helps you settle it under you, lifting your legs to bracket his own hips.

He notches his cock at your entrance and your breath catches in your throat. He was right, it’s much different than his fingers. More filling, more intense, but just as pleasurable. The pain and pleasure intertwine and set your nerves alight. He inches in slowly, giving your body time to adjust to his size, the entire time he’s praising you, pressing kisses to your face, neck, and chest. “That’s a good girl. Taking me so well. That’s it sugar, keep breathing. You look gorgeous under me like this.”

His praise pulls you into his orbit further. Sooner than you expected you feel his hips make contact with your ass and you realize with a moan that he’s fully in you now. He remains still and bent over you, kissing you deeply, your fingers tangled in his hair. The stillness is agonizing, you need him to move and move now.

“Daddy!” you whimper, and you’d be embarrassed at the tone of your voice if you hadn’t felt him twitch inside of you. “Please move! Please, I'm ready for you to move.” He groans into your neck and obliges. He moves back, pulling out at a torturously slow pace and you feel his cock drag along your walls letting out a breathy moan. He pushes back in slowly too, continuing with this pace until you’re pulling at his hair again, whimpering and begging him to go faster.

“Alright darlin, you let me know if we need to stop now.” You eyes are trained on him as you nod, internally mesmerized at how much care he’s been taking tonight. You can’t say one way or another but you think it’d be hard to find someone to come into a bar hookup with this much gentleness.

“You’d be wonderful to tease darlin. You know that? I could listen to those noises all night, keeping you on edge. You think you’re begging now?” You clench at his words knowing that you were at his mercy, that at this point you’d let him do whatever he wanted as long as he kept cooing praise in your ear. “But tonight is about you, no teasin. Your wish is my command sugar.” He picks up pace and you can’t believe what you had been missing.

Your legs lock around his back bringing him in closer and you find yourself holding on, arms linked around his neck as he takes you on a ride.

What started off as a careful pace on Jack’s end, wound up pushing you to your limits. You didn’t think it would feel this good your first time. Maybe that’s what had kept you away for so long. But any fears had no place here as Jack rocked into you picking up speed with each thrust.

With one hand on your hip holding you steady, Jack leans down to start sucking a mark on your neck, pulling back to admire his handiwork in the form of a red mark that he knows will last a few days. In response your hands in his hair tighten their grip as you both let out simultaneous moans.

“Such a good girl for me.” Jack’s grunting into your neck at this point, his breath coming out hot and heavy, fanning across your skin. “Making me feel so good.” His thrusts are getting erratic now, losing rhythm. His hand dances across your skin, skimming across your chest before finding its way between your legs, thumb working small and quick circles on your bundle of nerves.

“You got another one in ya don’tcha sugar? I wanna see your face when daddy makes you cum.” You’re past words at this point only able to nod your head and moan in response.

With a few more powerful thrusts in tandem with the pressure on your clit you’re coming around Jack’s cock, head thrown back against the pillows with eyes rolling back in pleasure chanting his name.

Jack groans at the tightness around him and the expression on your face. He fucks you through your orgasm, removing his hand from your clit as he grips tightly onto your hips.

When Jack finishes, its with a shaky breath and a drawn out moan right next to your ear. And though you were on the verge of overstimulation so close to your last orgasm, the sound sent another pang of arousal through your body. You were definitely gonna store that away for later.

The two of you remain entangled for a bit. He’s softening inside of you as he gently peppers kisses to your forehead, nose and cheeks. You’re thoroughly exhausted, reveling in the attention and when he dips down you find yourself nuzzling into the juncture where his neck meets his shoulder. You worry for a moment that it’s too intimate for a bar hookup but immediately chase that thought off with a deep inhale, taking in the smell of sweat and sex and remnants of his cologne. It’s intoxicating.

Eventually he must tire of holding his body up so as to not crush you and he slides out of you slowly. You have to admit that you miss the fullness and only pout slightly as he stands from the bed, making his way into the bathroom.

When he returns the condom is gone and he has a damp washcloth in his hand. He kneels on the bed and begins gently wiping away the sweat on your brow, trailing the warm rag down your chest and between your legs. You can’t help but hum in contentment, not having expected this level of care after a one night stand. He balls up the rag and tosses it with expert aim back into the bathroom and you couldn’t care less where it lands. All you want is him back in your bed and pressed against you.

Words aren’t needed. Jack seems to read your mind and smiles down at you before crawling into bed behind you. You inch your body closer to his until you find his arms wrapping around your middle, tugging you close and eliminating the gap.

“Thanks for that Jack….that was-” you pause trying to find your words. “-that was fucking phenomenal.” You feel a huff of laughter against the back of your neck before feeling him shift positions allowing him to press another kiss to your temple. “I aim to please darlin.”

You close your eyes briefly before a pang of anxiety worms its way into your mind. “Will you still be here in the morning?” The question is quiet, whispered. Half of you wanting an answer and the other half hoping he didn’t hear as to not reveal yourself to be as vulnerable as you feel.

“Course I will sugar. I reckon–if you’re amiable–that there’s a few more things I can show ya.”

You’re giddy at the thought and can’t help but giggle. “I’d love that.”

You’re not sure where this thing between you two will go, but even if you only have him for one night, you know that it’s an experience you’re never going to forget.

#agent whiskey #agent whiskey fanfic #agent whiskey x reader #jack daniels x reader #jack daniels fanfic #how do tags work #can anyone tell i dont know what i'm doing and i Have Not Learned #dfhsdfh #one day i will apologize for this incredibly self indulgent personal fantasy fic #today is not the day #i haven't like actually re-read my own work but i am Going Through It right now and it actually made me feel better #:')#my writing

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godziiwa · 4 years ago

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HAIKYU AO3 FANFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

please, before reading any of this fanfics read the hashtags! also, all the credits to the authors! enjoy

MY FANFICS:

i bet you look god on the dance flor (2100 words, club, dancing, iwa’s birthday, just fluff. confessions)

this house is a circus (2300 words, on going, covid, quarantine together)

you probably couldn't see for the lights but you were staring straight at me (10k, college au, drugs, first meetings)

right now im working on a demon slayer au and nascar/racing au

IWAOI

you're looking like you fell in love tonight (fake dating au, 35k words)

conquering the great king (so much smut, 105k words)

only for the weekend (fake dating, 34k words)

say my name (one shot, literally this is only smut, 2700 words)

new phone who dis (texting, so funny 57k words,)

waiting in the stars (bodyswap, 116k words)

rich boy, poor boy (107k words)

coffee king (coffee au, 187k words)

arrest me, officer (police au, this fanfic is so good and so funny pls read it, 122k words)

what you came for (police iwa, personally my favorite iwaoi fanfic, 108k words)

trial by fire (lawyers au, so good, 76k words)

mind reader (iwa can read minds, 40k)

lockdown (prison au, everybody is a criminal expect karasuno, 72k words)

press "1" to get a call from your drunk best friend (funny, one shot, drunk iwa)

six month lover (89k, pining, this one is SO good)

it's lonely on Jupiter (122k, iwa is an alien, college)

lacrimae (22k, I'm sorry this is literally only smut, but soooooooo good)

I choose you (soulmate au, 9000 words)

build me a temple (this one is really good, god oikawa, 39k words, its like read a ghibli movie)

to be first, to be best (26k, so good)

the courtship ritual of the Hercules battle (future fic, so good, 66k)

they say it rains diamonds on jupiter (iwa pines, 35k)

UPDATED 9/03/21

the panty dropper (band au, 21k)

antithesis (10k)

tokyo boy (16k)

lucky number 13 (12+1 things, 17k)

kireji (police oikawa, 11k)

I sure hope that the sun got rhythm ('cause he gonna dance when that music hit'm) (dance au, 28k)

never just acting with you (actor oikawa, roadtrip, 45k)

the loyalty of a traitor (yakuza boss oikawa, GREAT FIC, 77k)

shining so bright (9000 words)

fall line (this one is so cute, strangers to lovers, 21k)

silver tongue (office au, SUPER FUNNY, 10k)

I know when you're around ('cause i know the sound of your heart) (coffe shop au, 17k)

new flame (sugar daddy iwa, THIS ONE IS SO GOOD AND SO FLUFFY, 58k, on going)

we’re going home (6000 words)

the best best (domestic fluff, 12k)

all kinds of winners (this is only smut but its so good)

dinner and a movie (fake dating, 11k)

its not love, probably (7000 words)

mint (18k)

as close as you need (8000 words)

piece of cake (baker iwa 15k)

good vibrations (only smut but inmaculate)

tooru’s toil and trouble (soulamate au, 11k)

dear diary, i met a boy (he made my dull heart light up with joy) (pining, 15k)

cotton breathing (sumer lovin, 15k)

all the words of time and space (online friends, 46k)

get ripped, get laid (personal trainer iwa, 13k)

desperado (thieves, heist fic, 82k)

as much as i do (oisuga fake dating, 42k)

have mercy on me (hanahaki, 10k)

yellow white red (camellia/gardenia) (flower shop au, 9000)

UPDATED 17/6/21

one for two (3700 words, smut, sex toys)

good together (1120 words, smut)

kotov syndrome (50k detective au)

ambus (1900 words, smut)

soft wool, agile fingers (knitting au 11k)

i’d marry you in a dumpster (or in your room) (2600 words, love conffesions)

storm warning (10k post-graduation)

no sex for you in a really long time (3600 words, public sex)

of moonlight and covens (20k, ritual sex, sabrina au)

undechiperable (4800 words, love conffesions)

tips on how to get with your crush (7500 words, mutual pining)

phone home (6500 astronaut oikawa)

amicus curiae (43k, lawerys au, SO GOOD!!!)

boy like you (2200 words, strip tease)

till lies do us part (50k mr & mrs smith au)

bet i can (1800 words, smut)

don’t let me go (20k, pining, ftl)

make a wish (7400, iwaizumi’s birthday)

rule number two: just don’t get attached to) (20k, detective au, SO GOOD)

you find me in a hospital bed (11k, hospital au but without angst)

driving me crazy (17k, smut with plot)

baby you might need a seat belt (11k time skip smut)

i’ll never feel whole (19k, roommates)

synaisthesis (14k, violinst oikawa and pianist iwa, this is so good a deserves more, please read)

in the business of love (22k, fake dating)

some fools rush in (7800 words fake dating)

i’ve been missing you for a long time (7300 words, fluff)

a little sweetness (2600 words)

breath in (5800 words, drugs)

hell mision (22k bodyguard iwa)

a coffe shop’s acoustics (23k coffe shop au and musician oikawa)

relationship thing (25, different first meeting)

fuck ups and hook ups (13k, ne night stands, smut with plot)

kissing both (1700, kissing both)

we might be (37k)

places (15k)

inside, this place is warm (6500 words, established relationship)

betrayal (2400, love conffesions)

meant to be (6000 words, college au)

galaxies, within you (21k college au)

kiss me on the mouth and set me free (18k mutual pining)

i’m no poet (4000 words, love conffesions, THIS IS SO SWEET)

the prince of yakuza (8000 yakuza smut)

just friends (6000 words friends with benefits)

misconceptions (5000 words, 5+1 things)

balustrade (10k, neighbors)

made of our longest days (4000 words, love conffesions)

burning heart (7000 words, firefighter iwa)

i want you, i’ll hope you’ll come to me (15k to all the boys au)

walking the dog (11k)

routine (2900 words)

terrarium (11k, THIS IS SO GOOD PLEASE READ)

fake it till you make it (12k youtubers au)

yours for the weekend (14k, actor oikawa)

we shine like diamonds (26k homophobia)

i shure hope that guy gets fired (29k, time-loop)

15 minutes (17k)

lips likes sugar (8000 words, practing kissing)

in this same space (23k, cosplayer oikawa and doujinka iwa)

thirty years and change (19k, future fic)

焦がれて怖くなる [I yearn for you so much that I'm getting scared] (4800 words, hanakotoba)

trouble with texting (12k texting)

salt water (8000 words)

the stars in your eyes (5350 words love confessions)

it takes seven days (26k bakery au)

from your mortal enemy (11k, 5+1 things)

conqueror of hearts (29k royalty au)

stranger danger (14k texting college au)

the bachelor (16k the bachelor au)

my heart is where it’s always been (21k)

rise (12k, college au)

sleeping habits (6000 words)

KAGEHINA

blinding problem (hinata pines, 220k words)

I like the way your clothes smell (canonverse, 75k words)

dial (phone sex, the smut is immaculate, personally one of my favorites, 103k words)

I can do better (canonverse, 45k words)

deadly (this fanfic is so good please you have to read it, laundry au, 42k words)

the job (this is personally my favorite, you MUST read it, 61k words)

the crown and the crow (soulmate au)

happy birthday, idiot (fluff, canonverse, 31k)

love biscuits (fluff, humor, hinata is a vet)

something old and something new (this one is very cute, canonverse, 17k)

UPDATED 09/03/21

open 24 hours (smut, food kink, 11k)

sweet tooth (11k)

perfecting the latte heart (coffe shop au, 31k)

routine (29k, cam boy hinata)

that's it for now, I'll be updating once in a while

#haikyu #iwaoi fanfic #kagehina fanfic #haikyu fanfics #haikyu fanfic recommendation #haikyuu fic recs

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numbaoneflaya · 3 years ago

Note

💒 +🧥for Nirn, 😱 for Jilly, 🍳for Valkya, 😤 for Espira, and 👚 for Riley :)

hehe sorry for the wait captain halloween was a wild one. Under the cut-

💒 +🧥for Nirn

💒 How would your OC's ideal wedding look like? If they've already been married or are already married, what was their wedding like? Was there a large gathering, or will be? Was it an indoor or outdoor venue? Will your OC act different from usual? Will they be calm and collected, or a nervous wreck?

-His first wedding was very formal and VERY expensive and somewhat of a celebrity event. The guestlist was only for the most important and wealthiest of individuals, everything was planned years in advance. It was the joining of his own bloodline and another very successful bloodline so it was seen as a very important event that nobody wanted to miss. Even Felix was on his best (or just somewhat less bad) behavior as to not cause a scene. It was somewhat of a business deal to guarantee a mutual partnership so he was his usual calm and collected self, though stressed as he takes up a lot of the overseeing of the event just to ensure everything was up to his standards. Weddings where hes from for people from his station last days with celebrations and are massively expensive and used for public image. Theres somewhat elaborate rituals and special dishes and dances that must take place. If he was to have a wedding now, hed obviously have to do things much much differently as times have changed a lot. He does like large celebrations but hed also enjoy a smaller ceremony, though things will still have to be pristine and planned. Open to new religious ways of ceremony and such but would like to keep some things from his original culture.

🧥 If someone your OC cared about was found wearing their favorite jacket whilst asleep, how would your OC react? Would they find the scene adorable/cute? Would they feel annoyed that their s/o is wearing their clothes?

Hed stop where hes standing and just kind of stare at them for a long time unbelieving 😭😭 hed think it was the cutest thing in the world and would only mind a little bit if they got drool on his 7000 gold coin jacket. Probably try to memorize the scene completely, be unwilling to interrupt. Will bring it up later though and lightly tease them about it though, but make sure they know it doesn't bother him.

😱 for Jilly

😱 Is your OC easily scared? Do they get jumpy at little things? Do they avoid horror movies, spiders, haunted houses, etc.? Do they need someone to be with them cause they can't stand being in the house by themselves?

-Jilly loves horror! She used to be a big scaredy cat when she was younger, but was embarrassed enough about it where she ‘trained’ herself to be less scared by watching every horror movie she could get her hands on. Purposefully tries to spook herself like “ok im gonna leave my feet dangling over the bed in the dark for 20 full seconds. This is nothing. I'm so brave about this' while having heart palpitations bcs she kind of enjoys being scared and then enjoys overcoming it if that makes sense? Not jumpy bcs she can hear/smell most things coming, but jumpscares on a screen almost always get her ass and make her ferret leap like 5 feet away. Terrified of werewolves as a kid but….. Got over that. What really gets her is demons and possession, that kind of thing. Voted most likely to walk first into a haunted house which is only partly bravery and part “it would be sexy if a monster grabbed me”

🍳for Valkya

🍳 Is your OC a good cook, or do they have trouble making the simplest of dishes? Are they skilled with just one particular set of food, or can they cook any dish they set eyes on?

-Surprisingly Valkya is a fairly decent cook! She knows most nordic recipes by heart and has memorized quite a few others during her travels. Her parents made sure all the kids learned how to fend for themselves from a young age, and then how to make food to feed their own families so she knows both the basics and a cut above that. Really only cooks for company though because she's mostly too lazy to make anything for herself besides taking bites out of bread and cheese and calling that a sandwich. Prone to making up her own recipes as well, such as mammoth cheese and kwama egg quiches.

😤 for Espira

😤 Does your OC get jealous easily? If someone they cared about was spending more time with someone else than with them, how would your OC react? Would they blow it all of proportion? Would they talk to their friend? Or would they just not care?

-I think if Serana were to talk a lot/hang out with someone Espira catalogued as a “romantic threat” (as in possibility of stealing her girl) shed be a little jealous. Her jealousy mainly manifests in insecurity and nervousness that shes doing something wrong or not doing enough of something. If serana is spending a lot of time with another vampire and talking about experiences relative to vampirism and necromancy, and espira picks up any flirtation on the other's part? She's gonna panic a little and be like oh no :/. Probably ask her friends about it and to keep an eye on it and for advice. Maybe try and learn a lot more abt the subject and then butt in between during conversations like see I can talk abt this too :/

👚 for Riley

👚 How would your OC react if they accidentally walked in on their s/o changing? Would they just stare at them before calmly closing the door? Would become embarrassed, and swiftly close the door, trying to calm themselves? Or would they make some flirtatious remark, and then leave, laughing to themselves?

-Hed just stand there watching w the door open leaning on the entryway like 😏😏😏 probably wolf whistle or start clapping gsdfghdf. Makes some comment about the view and get shoes thrown at him until he starts laughing. Hell either slowly close the door and blow kisses at them if they are adamant he leave or he just slams the door behind him and start helping them get dressed hands on.

#nirn #riley #jilly #espira #valkya #thank u gdfhdfh these were fun #i forgor that valkya could cook she do be surprisingm

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captain-emmajones · 4 years ago

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Love, Emma (7/7)

(Art by the wonderful @carpedzem <33)

Loosely based on Love, Rosie (2014).

Killian and Emma are best friends and neighbors. They’ve always been – until he leaves for the Navy when his brother dies. When he comes back, nine months later, summer has begun and childhood is ending. Emma can tell something is changed in him, but she doesn’t know what. Until she does. He’s fallen in love with someone else.

And then, suddenly, they’re kissing on her nineteenth birthday. When she asks him to forget their night out, and never talk about it again, Killian thinks she means to tell him she regrets the kiss they exchanged. Except she has no memory of it.

Big thank you to @profdanglaisstuff for being a wonderful beta and having my back all through this work!

Friends to Lovers - Mutual Pining - Angst - Fluff - 7000 words - ao3

Part 1 - MIRRORBALL, Part 2 - AUGUST , Part 3 - HOAX, Part 4 - PEACE, Part 5 - THIS IS ME TRYING, Part 6 - CARDIGAN

Note: This is it, the great, the terrible last chapter. I hope you guys will like this as much as I tortured myself writing it, making sure it is the perfect ending to this story :’) It’s been a pleasure writing this story, I loved every second of it and yeah...Thank you for sticking with me through this. It’s been really lovely having you as my readers.

PART 7 - INVISIBLE STRING

Present Day -- August, Storybrooke, Maine.

That night, Granny’s dinner is fuller than usual. Fuller with people, fuller with life.

It’s an agreeable summer night, the air a cool breeze against Killian and Emma’s bare arms as Mary Margaret and David argue over the color choice of the napkins for their upcoming wedding. Crickets chirp all around them, seeming to mock them.

Their plates of food are now empty, and Ruby expertely piles them up on her left arm as Mary Margaret shoots a death glare at her boyfriend.

“White is simply perfect, David.”

“So you play Snow White once in High School and now it’s your favorite color? That’s ridiculous, Mary Margaret.”

“Is it now? And what kind of color would you go for? Orange?”

“Well, orange would be a statement for one!”

“Over my dead body, David. It’s white or nothing.”

If Emma weren’t so distracted by the warmth of Killian’s fingers around hers, she would have probably choked on her beer and mumbled “Mary Margaret - 1, David - 0.”

Thankfully for everyone, the palm that curled around hers a few minutes ago metaphorically threw her straight into a pink cloud kind of paradise.

Looking up from their intertwined fingers, Emma is greeted by the very real purple pink clouds in the night sky, behind Killian and Mary Margaret’s back. They are sitting opposite Emma and David, while Ingrid sits in the middle, a small contented smile on her lips, as she eats her onion rings in silence.

Fairy lights hang above their heads. Emma loves fairy lights, she always has.

“Why not settle for another color, mates?” tries Killian in a calm, soothing voice, and Emma is surprised he is talking at all.

He should know better. Grave, stupid mistake it is to get between Mary Margaret, David and their napkins.

“NEVER,” the couple answer as one voice, and Emma watches with a chuckle caught in her throat as Killian backs away, hands in front of his face.

“Wohoho, mates. Calm down. The only people you’re allowed to kill are each other.”

And as Emma swallows another grin, she thinks Killian and she haven’t talked about it, but that’s fine. Emma’s brain doesn’t seem able to come up with words, anyway.

A few hours ago, the walk back to Ingrid’s was achieved in near complete silence, and it was weird -- considering with whom she was walking. Actually, cross that -- it was weird to be walking back to her childhood house with Killian Jones, period.

But Emma was able to find comfort in Killian’s lack of words as well, and god knows how talkative Killian can be, she found comfort in his breathy tone when he handed her the box back and the flush on his cheeks, knowing if she could barely hear anything if not for her own heartbeats, surely he wasn’t pulling this any better than she was.

“Earth to Emma, would you like a desert?”

Emma blinks. Two green eyes are staring at her.

Right. Dinner. Granny’s. Damnit, focus Emma. Ruby’s voice sends a shameful loop down Emma’s belly.

“...Mmm, no, actually. I’m fine, for now.”

Ruby’s raising an eyebrow. Everyone is staring at her. Why are they staring?

“Are you sure, Ems?”

“I am. Why do you ask?”

“...It’s just, it doesn’t sound a lot like you.”

And then Emma’s pretty sure her hair stands on end.

“Really.” And each word is meant to sound more threatening than the last. “I. Am. Fine. Ruby.”

She’s not looking at him, but Emma catches Killian’s small chuckle all the same. It’s hard to ignore how easily her rage melts away, and she hides the beginning of a smile behind a napkin.

“Fine.” And Ruby nearly sounds like she is the one who got attacked. (Perhaps she was. But she deserved it.)

As the waitress disappears in a clatter of heels, Ingrid is tapping a napkin against her mouth, delicately, and Emma knows very well what this means.

“Well, it’s already 10pm. I think I’ll leave you youngsters to it.”

Emma watches as Ingrid folds the napkin in front of her, just like she always does, and gracefully stands up.

“Goodnight, kids.” Ingrid grins, and everyone replies with a lively “Goodnight, Ingrid!”

A kiss is dropped onto Emma’s forehead, and Emma doesn’t miss the subtle pat on the back Killian receives on Ingrid’s way out. Emma thinks Ingrid’s always liked Killian, but then she stops thinking about it because David and Mary Margaret are coughing, and it is the least natural piece of acting Emma’s had the chance to witness in a while.

They both exchange a sly glance, nod and stand up at their turn, and Emma stares at them -- cheeks burning.

“Yeah, we’ll go, too. It’s getting pretty late, and we flew in very early this morning.”

Traitor, shout Emma’s eyes at Mary Margaret, but the small brunette is smiling with all of her teeth out and doesn’t seem concerned by Emma’s impending murder threat.

“Enjoy your night, guys,” David looks far too delighted. “Byye.”

“Aha, bye guys.”

Away from Granny’s dinner and up Main Street towards Granny’s B&B, the couple vanishes into the night.

And just like that, Emma and Killian are alone under the fairy lights.

Chirp, chirp.

This time, Emma cannot ignore the childish panic that strangles her throat, as his touch begins to burn her skin and her hand slowly slides out of his palm. She looks down at the green plastic table.

What to do now? Jesus, she is not nineteen anymore, she needs to take initiative, and—

“Fancy a walk along the beach, Emma?”asks Killian, and Emma is so thankful for the distraction she nearly knocks the table down as she springs to her feet.

“Excellent idea!” Why do her legs feel so wobbly?

And Killian smirks, and she wonders if he knows just how badly she is afraid, of him, of her, of risking her heart.

“Perfect then, let’s sail away.”

But she wants this to work, she wants them to work. She spent a good part of her life agonizing over this relationship, daydreaming about it, and then cursing it, and it better be as good as she thought it would be.

As things turn out, this walk along the beach feels like brutally falling down a rabbit hole. It knocks the wind out of Emma and it is wonderfully terrifying.

The wind blows that night. Salt air dances with Emma’s light dress and Killian’s hair.

Emma’s shoes dangle from her fingers, but she is still shaking like a leaf.

Awful, isn’t it, to finally get all you’ve ever dreamed of?

She knows it’s not entirely hers yet, she knows she still has to dash forward and grab it with her two hands, and not let it go – on any account. (Do you want it?)

It’s terrifying.

She did not reach out to Killian, this past month, although she knew about his letter...and she probably wouldn’t have reached out first, had he not appeared on her porch.

There is still this stupid fear, down her stomach, this stupid fear that he never cared, he never will, and this is all a sick joke.

(She wants it.)

“Should we sit?”

“Aye.”

He complies as she sprawls into the sand she feels moist under her toes, sitting down a few inches from him.

Somehow, staring at him still feels illegal.

When he gets a flask of rum out of his leather jacket, she rolls her eyes, and her bracelet glints under the moonlight. For the first time in ages, it is not a painful sight. She does not twist the little charms.

“Really? Is rum your solution to everything?”

“It’s not rum, Swan. It’s merely water.”

“Is it now?”

“Nah, it’s definitely rum. But it never hurts to have a drink between friends.”

And at that wicked, wicked word, they both stare at one another and gape slightly.

It should be funny. Except it still itches.

Aren’t they friends?

There are stars reflected in his eyes. There is still this ache inside her chest.

Emma is urged by a desire to look down then, but she doesn’t cave in. Instead, her mouth curves into a smile.

“…Friends or other types of acquaintances,” he adds after a while, and Emma’s smile widens.

The flask of rum is handed to her, and she drinks a few mouthfuls that diffuse a sweet heat and courage down her throat. Lord does she need it.

“Acquaintances, you say, um?”

She licks the small drop of rum that rolls down her lower lip, notices with satisfaction as Killian’s eyes follow the movement of her tongue and widen when he realizes she has caught him red-handed.

“Aye. I believe we’ve been acquainted.” There is a delicious twirl, down in her stomach, that could drown her fears, she knows it, if only she allowed herself to let go.

“Right.”

Idiot. Her cheeks burn. It is ridiculous, they are ridiculous and she doesn’t mind.

Woosh, woosh, the waves giggle.

As Emma inhales deeply, she figures she has to give him back his flask and that this -- whatever the hell this really is -- is probably going to be more difficult than she initially thought.

Her fingers brush against his as his hand closes over the flask -- of course they do -- and Emma couldn’t honestly say who’s to blame.

“Thanks, Swan.”

Oh, how many scenarios she made up in her mind, about him showing up. They all ended with their lips locked together. What she had a very hard time figuring out was the in-between. The talking. The confession. Because there has to be one, right?

She hears him gulp a few mouthfuls of rum down next to her and she refocuses her gaze on him. He clears his throat.

“So, erm, any plans for the foreseeable future?” he inquires.

The flask is buried in the sand between them.

“I don’t know, to be honest. For now, I think I’ll stay in Storybrooke. It’s my home.”

And then a pause, she glances at him through her eyelashes. A mischievous wave comes crashing at their feet, bites their toes.

“What about you, Killian? Still in Portsmouth?”

She watches him tilt his head next to her as he carefully sieves a handful of sand between his fingers, brows furrowed.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about moving back to Storybrooke. Joining the Navy again would not be easy, and I’m not sure it’s entirely what I desire. I mostly did it to honour Liam but it’s never been a dream of mine…”

A pause, a breath, for him, Emma has stopped breathing somewhere after “Storybrooke”. And her mouth refuses to shut.

“Plus, there’s the fact that Graham did mention the need for another deputy,” he casually adds, shoots a swift glance at her.

Oh. Breathe, Emma, breathe.

It’s very hard, then, for Emma to swallow the smile that tingles her lips.

“You are?” she asks, curses silently her quivering tone. Clears her throat. Dammit, why did it come out like this?

If he notices it, Killian doesn’t show it. Instead, he goes on, the ghost of a smile over his lips.

“Aye. I don’t think there’s anywhere else for me to be. It is high time I came home.”

Home. The word echoes between them, much like the gentle rustling of the waves.

And Emma nods and she has no idea where to put herself, what to say. She settles for telling the truth.

“That’s great. I could really use you around.” A pause. “I’ve missed you.”

Twinkle, twinkle the stars in the night sky, and the constellations in her heart as her eyes meet his. They put to shame the sea of stars in front of them.

Emma’s heart is bursting out as he slowly glances down at her lips, and then even more slowly looks up, a dangerous grin overtaking his features.

“Aye. I’ve missed you too, Swan. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore.”

Hearing him repeat her words is positively the worst thing that could have happened to her heart rate. That one nearly rips her heart out of her chest and sends it ricocheting on the waves.

She nods, laughs a bit, crinkles her nose mostly to hide how flustered she truly is.

“How…How did this happen?”

And he sighs next to her, a very dramatic sigh that she recognizes as a poor attempt to hide a deeper kind of pain. She watches as he stretches his legs, digs a shape into the sand with his fingers.

“How did you end up marrying Neal Cassidy, you mean? Poor judgement, if I do say so myself.”

The bastard.

She elbows him in the ribs, of course, he deserves it.

And he only chuckles, feigns a moan of pain, and… and grabs the arm she threw at him to bring her closer to him. There are grains of sand stuck to his skin as his hand closes over her fisted palm. As he stares at her, all air has definitely been knocked out of Emma’s lungs.

His nose gently brushes hers. Little pulses of magic seem to climb up her hand, her arm, to gently tickle her heart.

And she gazes into his eyes, mortified. Swallows hard.

“To be fair, he did hide that letter from you. A shame really, it was truly a pearl of literature.”

His breath tingles Emma’s lips, and it isn’t fair.

She snorts, she tries to at least, because it is hard to do anything when he is this close to her.

“David told you,” she mumbles, rolls her eyes dramatically, blushes furiously.

He isn’t denying the letter. He isn’t denying anything.

“Aye that he did. You can’t trust the guy with a secret, love.”

She doesn’t know what David told him over the phone, but Emma thinks it is safe to assume that it is somewhere near absolutely everything. And it should bother her, it should bother that secret and private part of herself, but Emma’s tired of fighting against herself, and she lets it go. All of it.

Her hand is still in his, twisted against his chest, right above his heart. She doesn’t mind. They could remain like this, forever, for all she minds. But that wouldn’t be very practical, now, would it?

“And it’s not like I didn’t know…” he continues, and Emma’s mouth drops even more, if it is possible. “I think I’ve known from the moment I met you. Haven’t you?”

A nervous chuckle shakes her shoulders.

“What exactly have you always known?”

“You can’t answer my question with another question, Swan. That’s just not how the English language works.”

“Well, if you could drop the metaphors and double entendre, then perhaps, perhaps I…” A breath. There’s no need to hide anymore, although something ludicrous seems about to explode inside her chest. “Y-yes, I think I knew...But I --”

“-- Good, because in that case, there’s no use for me to hold back from doing this…”

And as she opens her mouth to complain about metaphors and double entendre, again, he leans into her, tilts his face and, as Emma’s heart does a weird leaping thing in her chest, delicately presses his lips to hers.

While Emma does think it is definitely very rude of him to interrupt her like that, she cannot bring herself to complain too much.

Neither can she ignore the sudden explosion in her chest, thousands of strawberry bubbles of happiness that taste of childhood and dreams bursting out.

Oh god. She muffles a moan against his mouth, snatches her hand from his grip to tug at his hair, brings him closer to her, as close as humanly possible, presses her mouth harder against his, as hard she can, and she quite literally feels like a house set on fire.

Thump, thump, cries her heart, as their lips dance together, as his hand gets lost in her hair, and no air reaches her lungs and this goddamn flower keeps blooming inside her chest and there isn’t any space between them, and she’s pretty sure she’s combusting into flames, but it’s fine, it’s really fine when his mouth opens and gives her access to his tongue.

It’s a gentle kiss, in spite of the passion. It’s such a gentle kiss, in the way with which his hand tenderly lingers in her curls, as if he were afraid she’d shatter under his touch, or in the way his other arm curls around her waist, holds her tightly, but not too tightly, so as not to break her it seems.

Years of yearning will do that to you, make you afraid of shattering the glittering and fragile object of your affection.

And when they let go, burning forehead against burning forehead, because they really, really need to breathe, Emma doesn’t want to run. In fact, she doesn’t want this to ever end. And she doesn’t know it, but she smiles.

“Then why –” he begins, his lips lightly, delicately brushing against hers as he speaks.

And how dare he be talking! She can barely breathe.

“—why the wedding?” she lazily answers against his lips. “Because I didn’t think you cared…” A pause. “You never told me you did... You didn’t even call, after the k-kiss.”

Damnit, that was harder to spit out than anticipated. And it probably sounded more accusing than she wanted it to, but she forgives herself.

The painful memory allows her to step back a little, to gaze into his blue eyes and discover his cheeks crimson and an awestruck look on his face, as well as a lot of guilt and tenderness.

A sigh. “Of course I didn’t. I was waiting for you to do it. You were bloody engaged, may I remind you.”

Her brows furrow.

“And I did! But you didn’t answer.” Silence. “Tink did.”

She watches his features with weariness. She watches as he frowns. Backs away slightly, to gaze into her eyes, seems to seek the truth. And then, sighs.

“Of bloody course. Tink.” Emma watches as he rolls his eyes dramatically, hisses a few insults between his teeth.

She thinks he is still infuriatingly handsome.

Another nervous laughter begins rattling her body, because this is ridiculous, they are ridiculous, they just had to talk it out and it would have been fine but --

“Seems like our lack of communication isn’t only on us.”

Emma smirks. “Well, it’s mostly on us.”

“Point taken.” And it’s unfair because he smiles a bright smile then and her heart jumps once more.

And he looks down, again, at her lips, and Emma feels frozen only she is burning. She needs to kiss him again, and forever, probably.

“But if you cared--” Why is he talking again? She opens eyes she didn’t know she had shut to dart a murderous gaze on him. He doesn’t see it, the fool, keeps talking instead. “--why did you ask me to forget our kiss?”

That nearly knocks her out. “Our kiss? Which kiss?”

She doesn’t know just how right she is to ask this question.

He raises an eyebrow. His cheeks are flushed and his hair dishevelled, and Emma has to focus to look into his eyes and not stare at his swollen lips.

“You mean to tell me you don’t remember?”

And his eyes do a weird twitching thing. He doesn’t seem alright. And he sounds a little bit as if a part of himself has just died.

“I mean… I sure as hell think I would remember this.” Oh, she totally would.

“Your nineteenth birthday,” he exhales, and if he could raise his eyebrows any harder, they’d get stuck up his hairline, “we kissed on the rooftop right before you fell to the ground.”

Well, she does remember the wicked headache she got that day, but she thought it was caused by the alcohol and…

“No…Yes?” A pause. She frowns. Realization sinks in. Well that would explain a lot, indeed. “We did?”

That would explain his crumpled face as she asked him to forget their night, it would explain why he avoided her all through summer, and why he stayed with Milah, and why she started dating Neal in the first place, and oh -- they are two idiots, aren’t they?

“Aye. And you specifically asked me to forget that night.”

If she keeps frowning her eyebrows will remain stuck forever. She frowns harder.

“But I had no memory of that kiss.”

“Bloody hell.” And Killian lets go of a very dramatic sigh, shakes his head.

Emma’s mouth forms an “O” as she watches Killian glance further away, to the sea, and she begins to understand years of struggle could have been avoided, had they, had they…well, talked about it, it seems.

An angel passes.

“Damnit,” she whispers.

And Emma is surprised to find a chuckle tickling her throat. Why is she laughing? This isn’t funny.

He still isn’t looking at her. Impish waves keep nibbling their toes. She hates how heavy everything suddenly feels.

Emma thinks that all this time he thought-- he thought she didn’t care, but she did, oh she cared, and...

Emma breathes in, fingers pressed to her temples. Shrugs a bit, breathes out and casts an eye on Killian. He doesn’t seem alright. But she knows how to distract him.

“Since I don’t remember, allow me to ask: did you kiss me?”

His blue eyes flash in the dimness as she smirks.

She doesn’t think she has seen him look this offended before.

“I beg your pardon? You bloody kissed me, Emma!”

His high pitch does make her chuckle.

“Don’t give me that offended look. That does sound like something you’d do.”

Oh, the wrath sparkling in his gaze then, it’s a sight for sore eyes, and she cannot stop smiling.

“Nah, you were the one who melted onto my lips and sucked the bloody life out of me, perched on your high heels.”

“They weren’t that high. And, at least I did something about my feelings.”

“Well, you forgot so it was pretty useless in the end, anyway.”

“Hey!”

And her fist punches his chest, and he captures it again, traitor, and time stands still for a moment, as they glance at each other.

Everything still feels very fragile and terrifying. But that’s quite alright.

And then with a swing of his hip, he shifts her under his weight, onto the sand, and her body meets the ground softly.

His face surrounded by dark, tousled hair hides the moon from her sight, but as her breath catches in her chest, she doesn’t mind.

“You were saying?”

“Mmm…”

Emma thinks sand will get stuck in her hair. And it’s going to be a pain to wash it out. But that’s okay.

They’re only twenty-three, murmurs her inner voice, they’re allowed to be young and stupid and messy and –

“Well, I’m glad it didn’t take us another ten years to figure our shit out. Wouldn’t be nearly as sexy.”

“Speak for yourself, Swan.”

“Idiot.”

And without a second thought, or a first, she raises her face to capture his lips, drink his breath, because she is allowed to, and this is right and all she’s ever wanted.

Up the beach, down Main street, Killian and Emma walk along the roads of their childhood.

Emma doesn’t know where they are going, but it doesn’t seem to matter, not just yet.

Fear is of course lurking in one deep corner of her mind, but it is easy to ignore it while her hand is safely tucked in his.

“Where are you staying?” she asks as they shift to stare at one another.

Granny’s green B&B sign flashes behind Killian’s back.

Amusement sparkles in his eyes. “Granny’s.”

Emma remembers New York’s cold street lights, and the snow melting onto her lips, and Killian’s damp hair, and the sad glimmer in his blue eyes and her cold, shaking hand in his.

It was the night she decided to give him up, not knowing, not knowing he cared too.

It was the night she would have burned in hell to hear him invite her into his hotel room.

(Was it worth it, all the pain, in the end?)

“Fancy a last drink, Swan?”

Streetlights dabble gold beams into his blue eyes.

She nods, a little out of breath. Something soft and awful swallows her from inside.

“Yeah.”

And down the road, up the stairs, they go, hands clasped together. Her bracelet jingles up the stairs.

Emma remembers standing on his porch before her eighteenth birthday party, forehead pressed to the door, eyes locked on her phone screen, heart beating fast, fast.

“Come in whenever you want, I’m ready!” And her stomach twisting at his reply.

Things were so easy while she was still convinced that she was in love with him and she would never love anyone else and they had all the time in the world.

She was wrong, but that’s also fine.

(Isn’t pain just pain?)

Click, he’s unlocked the door, and Emma steps forward to gaze inside. Beyond Granny’s questionable decoration choices, everything is clean and proper and Navy and Killian. What a relief.

It is quite late now, and exhaustion burns Emma’s eyes, circles her throat and crudely brings to light her fears and insecurities. She feels bare, exposed, vulnerable under the dark green chandelier.

For a short moment, she fears there will be too much to mend between them, too many scars over their chest for them to offer their hearts again.

“Make yourself at home, Swan.”

The red leather jacket is dropped onto the bed just as he neatly folds his own on a chair by the wall.

And she keeps staring at those four walls, at this cramped room, and she thinks a month ago she was marrying someone else.

She’s still scared. Is she supposed to be scared?

“You okay, love?” he nudges her.

His hand softly grabs her shoulder.

She shrugs. If she is honest with herself, she does feel a little bit overwhelmed. This room is too silent. She can almost hear past echoes of their hearts breaking.

“Yes, I’m just…”

“Reminiscing?”

A smile. “That’s not the word I would have gone for, but yeah.”

His hand hurtles down her arm and slides into hers. His touch still shoots electric trails all over her skin.

“Want to sit down, Swan?” A nod, and he’s tucking her down with him.

When Killian switches on the small outdated TV on the wooden table in front of them, Emma sighs in relief.

And when still no words echo between them, Emma feels his eyes burn the skin of her cheek.

New York again. A cold bench. The snow falling onto his hair. This pain, in her chest, as he utters her name. Milah.

(Pain is just pain.)

“What are you thinking about, Swan?”

She blinks, licks her lips. Breathes in.

Will not look at him.

Augusta airport this time. His back, his image printed in blood over her retinas, this dark shape she cannot forget, forever turned on her.

“The past.”

The pain.

Storybrooke’s town hall. Her weary eyes twitching back and forth from Neal towards the door. Begging Killian to appear. And he doesn’t. (Or he does, but he’s too late.)

“Listen, Emma,” and his fingers have found hers again, and they are soft, and she looks up to discover his eyes even gentler, and his lips spread in a tender smile, “The past is behind us and we cannot change it.”

“But there’s been so much pain…”

She sounds like she is twelve again, she can almost touch Ingrid’s wooden fence under her fingers, can almost feel the tingling fear that a splinter might get stuck in the tender skin, and she can almost smell the yellow irises, and it almost brings her to tears.

“I know. But we can do better now.”

She nods. Can they do better? What if all of this is just a chimera and they’ve both idealized their love and what if … What if none of this is real?

She should sleep. Her eyelids are heavy and her eyes burn.

But then his hand cups her cheek, and its warmth brings her back to reality, tethers her. Her own palm settles above his as she leans into his touch. Closes her eyes, for just one bit.

She is so tired. Morpheus is luring her into his arms.

“As long as I am alive--” Oh, but then he is talking, and his voice is velvet against her skin, and she opens her eyes to stare at him. She’s pretty sure he can hear the thump of her heart. “--you can live with the conviction, Swan, that I will always be by your side.” A pause. “Always.” Another silence, his words sinking into her skin, as his fingers trace butterflies along her neck. A smile. “I’ve always been in love with you. From the moment I met you.”

Oh. Her eyes widen. Thump, thump.

She is swallowed by a gigantic wave of confused feelings. She thinks an earthquake is shattering the windows and shaking the walls. She thinks a tear rolls down her cheek, but she is not crying.

And it’s not like she didn’t know, she knew, but, but also she didn’t, for so long, and this is all very confusing and unexpected but very much expected, and he keeps staring at her and she doesn’t know what to say, for fuck’s sake.

And the only answer she can come up with is her trembling hands caressing his cheeks and then slowly grabbing the lapel of his t-shirt, and then, finally -- the pressure of her lips against his. Tender, at first, and then furious, desperate, hungry.

She wants to tell him, I loved you when you walked away from me, the first time, and the times after that, as well. I loved you although you never looked back at me, and I couldn’t look forward. I loved you when you were avoiding me, and I loved you when I didn’t think I loved you anymore. But mostly, I loved you from the moment I met you.

Instead, she presses her mouth into his, fiercely, for all of those times she wishes she had been brave enough to kiss him and she didn’t.

And Emma forgives them both. Forgives their past mistakes and heartaches.

They will do better. (They want to, and that’s already half of the journey, isn’t it?)

A number. Nineteen. Emma’s nineteen tonight. He’s been for a while now. (He feels a hundred years old since Liam left. Feels like he’s been holding his breath for centuries. Only the pain doesn’t flatter.)

They’re on a rooftop. Emma’s pink dress floats in the wind, much like a pirate flag. Her smile, that night, is bright, vivid, infuriatingly confident as she glances down at his lips.

The waves crash against the sand, back and forth, back and forth.

Her body is warm against his chest. Both of his hands hold her waist.

Time stands still, as she stands up on her tip toes and kisses him.

It’s an explosion, then, in his chest. A mercurial bliss.

And this time, he catches her before the fall. He doesn’t let her go. This time, his grip is secure around her waist, his fingers firm around her hips as she stumbles forward and they chuckle together.

This time, she doesn’t forget their kiss.

No.

Instead, she stares deeply into his eyes and she says: “I’ve been meaning to do that for a while, now.”

And he says: “I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

And if everything is easy, it’s only because it is a dream.

A ray of sunshine tickles Killian’s eyelids. His face crinkles, he groans, opens one hesitant eye.

Bloody hell. What a dream. Or a nightmare, he cannot really tell.

There is a weight against his chest, bitterness at the back of his mouth.

He glances down. Emma. She fell asleep in his arms last night while he was slowly rocking her, and they forgot to close the shutters and now Killian will never fall back to sleep again.

His eyes still burn.

He gazes at her face buried in the hollow of his neck, blonde hair across his chest. He smiles.

A hospital room, eight months ago. A blinding, golden light. Her sleepy smile. “Oh, you’re awake?”

He would pinch himself if he had a hand to spare.

Those six months, without her, thinking she didn’t want him, were some of the bleakest of his life.

It was like losing a limb, only he lost two. And he had to keep on learning how to walk without an anchor, how to live without a hand and without hers to hold.

And then, David’s call, one morning.

“They broke up, Killian. Neal found your letter. I think you should do something about that, or I will personally come to murder you in your pitiful apartment, do you hear me?”

Emma snores lightly against his skin. He traces the shape of her jawline with gentle fingers.

He is terrified. Perhaps it is the only way to be, for now.

Perhaps it is good. It means they’re trying. They’re evolving, together, for the first time in ages.

A grunt, her small hand spread across her face, she’s starting to wake up, he can tell.

There is still a lot of sadness in his chest, for the boy who loved a girl and suffered deeply for it. For the boy who lost everything and still managed to lose more through the years, until there wasn’t anything left to lose.

Liam’s smile from his car window. A wave. And then void, nothing.

Killian clenches his jaw.

“Hey,” a small voice groans, “if you keep staring at me while I sleep, it’s going to get creepy.”

A grin.

“Sorry love, couldn’t sleep.”

Emma lifts her chin, green eyes shimmering in this golden morning light, and she tries a sleepy smile.

“Morning, Killian.”

“Morning, Emma.”

“Am I crushing you under my weight?”

“I think I’ll survive, love.”

She still hesitates to kiss him, he sees it in the small start of her head backwards, so he bends forward to kiss her.

It’s a sloppy morning kiss, but he wants all of them.

Last night, they absolutely did not take time to undress. Emma fell asleep like a rock, and he was too afraid he’d wake her up to try and remove his clothes.

But she seems very much awake as her legs curl around his hips, and it is very hard for Killian to ignore the way her dress climbs back up her thighs and gives away the beginning of her red panties.

He can feel his cheeks become hot and red, and suddenly Emma’s smirking at him.

“Like what you see?”

He swallows down.

“It’s quite alright, aye.”

A squeeze of her thighs around his torso, he is trapped, and his heart leaps.

“Alright?” she repeats. “That’s definitely a disappointing answer.”

As for Killian’s heart, it’s practically bursting out in his chest by now. He gulps.

He cannot say he hasn’t thought a lot about it, what it would feel like to go beyond a simple kiss with Emma. How her skin would taste under his tongue.

He may have started to think about it at around age fifteen, when he saw her come back from summer vacation all tan legs out, and he can still hear Liam’s mocking tone “If you open your mouth any wider, little brother, you’re going to swallow flies.”

The thoughts worsened after their kiss. There were some lonely, desperate moments as well during which he imagined tracing the shape of her body, much like his fingers flutter against the side of her leg right now.

His eyes don’t leave hers, scrutinizing her to know if he is allowed to go further.

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to, Emma,” he whispers.

The wicked smile she shoots him is a sufficient answer. “Oh don’t worry, I want to.”

And then her lips find his again and his fingers are gripping her thigh now, clutching her skin, leaving marks, climbing back up some more and feel the soft skin right under the fabric of her dress.

She moans against his mouth, and it’s a wonderful sound, and suddenly they are both wearing far too many clothes and they have to hurry or they’ll combust into flames.

Emma straddles him just as her nimble fingers pull her dress up and throw it over her head.

“Couldn’t have done it better myself,” he mumbles and it’s very hard to look anywhere else but at her naked body.

But she’s already getting impatient with his t-shirt, and she groans. “Come on Killian, help me. Raise your arms up.”

“Didn’t think you’d become such a morning person, Swan.”

She laughs a bit as his t-shirt hits the floor in its turn in a muffled sound, and she does this thing where she stops to gaze into his eyes and he will die for a lack of oxygen.

He watches as she swallows, ogling him.

“Some things are worth waking up for.”

And then she’s melting into the skin of his neck as her fingers sift through his hair, and Killian ceases completely to think.

A month later -- Augusta Airport.

Emma clutches Ingrid’s yellow irises against her chest. Her hold is gentle but her lips form a firm line.

As she stares at the Arrivals Board in front of her, the beat of her heart is drumming in her ears, and she is pretty certain oxygen is having a very hard time reaching her lungs.

He’s only been gone a week, mumbles her inner voice, but Emma’s too happy to pay attention to her pride.

She glances up, and a breath of relief escapes Emma’s throat as the light next to Portsmouth changes color.

“He’s landed,” she whispers to herself, flowers still pressed to her chest.

She glances down, careful not to damage the beautiful bouquet Ingrid offered last night, over the dinner table.

“I know how much he loves them,” Ingrid smiled.

Another look at the clock. He should be here any time now.

Her heart skips a blissful beat.

A part of her still cannot believe this is real. That he is coming home, for good, that Emma found them a cute apartment near the beach and they’re going to get everything they’ve ever dreamed of.

“Are you sure you want to do this...I mean, we could wait, and I could go back to Ingrid’s for a while…”

A butterfly in the dark, a kiss in the night.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything…”

Gazing all around her, Emma spots the familiar large window in front of her. It still shows a blurry reflection of her body. Emma frowns. Well, that will never change. One hand reluctantly gives up on the flowers to comb her hair.

It is now mid September in Storybrooke, Maine, and Emma has to admit she’s missed him.

It wasn’t the kind of missing him she was far too familiar with only two months ago. It wasn’t a burning ache in her chest. It was just like losing your glasses and finding them again on your bed table, where you left them. It’s a kind of missing she knew to end. And it made a great difference.

As she remains very still, feet stuck to the ground, she remembers shaking, bouncing up and down on her feet, waiting for him to come back the first time, four years ago.

Nothing’s really changed. She is still Emma and he is still Killian. Except everything’s changed.

It feels like another lifetime. Emma smiles down at the flowers in her hands. A very peaceful sunflower blooms in her chest.

The crowd of people around her brings Emma back to the present. More people gather together, and Emma understands they are all just as eager to see their loved ones as she is.

And she waits, knowing her love is about to arrive.

Another few minutes go by, and time seems to slow down. She clenches her jaw. Unclenches it. Come on, relax, Emma.

And then… And then, there he is.

“Killian.” The blissful whisper escapes her throat as a brutal wave of bliss sweeps her off her feet. She doesn’t hold it back. It isn’t scary anymore.

She’s somehow thankful to notice he hasn’t changed one bit, but it’s only been a week, what was she expecting? A tender hue of blue meets her eyes and smiles in recognition.

“Emma, my love,” he mirrors her happy sigh.

Her heart beams as they walk towards each other, their pace sure and quick and knowing, and in a few steps he lets go of a thousand suitcases to pick her up from the ground.

“Careful, Killian, your flowers,” she complains even as her feet quit the floor.

And she tries to hold the bouquet away from his face, but he doesn’t seem to care and presses a long kiss to her mouth instead.

She sighs happily into his embrace, wraps her arms around his neck, and her senses are filled by him – his smell, a strong cologne she is only too familiar with, his skin under her fingers, his tousled black hair.

“I missed you,” he exhales against her cheek, and drops another kiss to her cheek.

She slowly backs away, smiling. “It’s only been a week…”

He raises an eyebrow that challenges her to lie some more. She chuckles, crinkles her nose, mumbles: “Okay, I might have missed you too…”

He sighs a dramatic sigh, rolls his eyes.

“Now, you nearly gave me a heart attack, Swan. I was this close from flying back to Portsmouth.”

Idiot, her inner voice snorts, unimpressed. But her heart isn’t very concerned, and a giggle jolts out of her throat. Even her cheeks give her away, flush furiously, and she hates them for it - come on, it’s been a month now.

Her hand lingers on his face, tracing the little scar on his cheek.

“Are you going to take those flowers, or should I keep them for myself?” She attacks in a coy, sharp tone.

He flutters his eyelashes. The fucker.

“If the lady insists.”

A roll of the eye, a bright smile, and Emma’s heart sighs -- defeated. And the flowers carefully slip into his hand.

He drops another kiss to her lips. “Thank you, love.”

“Of course, Killian.”

And then there is this very dramatic moment during which they both stare at his three enormous suitcases and wonder how the hell they are going to make this work.

“Damnit. Did you have to take your whole life with you?”

“Well, a blonde lass did ask me to move in with her.”

Her fist punches his shoulder, playfully. Another sigh echoes all through the airport’s hall.

“Well, let’s go, I guess.”

She’s quick to grab the bag he let go of to hold her and seizes two red suitcases. And he watches her, the fucker, flowers in the crook of his arm and the third suitcase secure his hand. He seems infinitely entertained.

“Don’t you dare laugh in my face, Killian Jones.”

“Well, if it weren’t for the flowers, I could maybe hel-”

“-- NO. You keep the damn flowers! For once Ingrid offered them.”

And as they are walking down the airport like old times, Emma knows they’ll do better. They already are doing better.

(Emma thinks pain is just pain, and they should have known sooner, they should have known better but she also thinks that doesn’t matter because surely there is no kind of pain that cannot be absolved by a lot of love.)

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@yasbio2015 @bubblegum1425 @daenerysmyhsa @dancingnancyy @elizabeethan @farewell-courgette @beca0912 @stina-g @tenaciouskittynightmare @noensnaringnet @klynn-stormz @sekretny13 @tiganasummertree @vvbooklady1256 @brustudyblog @peggyyswan @thisonesatellite @ohmightydevviepuu @courtorderedcake @snowbellewells @kingofmyheart14 @teamhook @mariakov81 @folkloreismylullaby @officerrogers

(Might write some missing scenes, and add a few bonuses to this story, so if you’ve got anything in mind you’d like to read, hit me up ;) (actually hit me up for anything and let’s be friends.)

#cs fanfics #cs ff #captain swan #my stuff #amy writes #i need to find a new source of serotonin guys #my brain doesn't want to let this go #thank you all for your comments #and likes #and just for reading this story #it means the world to me #and i'm so glad i got to talk to some of you through this <3 #i hope you'll this #and now i'll shut up

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johannadc · 5 years ago

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Thank you for tagging me @vulpesmellifera ! I’m honored although I feel like a fraud doing this, given my fic writing career of all of six months, but when someone stumbles across this in the future, we can have a good laugh. Or, as I learned from Remington Steele, “years from now, when you talk about this, and you will, be kind.”

Ao3 Name: trillian_jdc (Out of some sense of wanting a vague anonymity. snerk. That worked well.)

Fandoms: Sherlock, specifically Mystrade, although I got there through Good Omens

Number of fics: 16

1. Fic you spent the most time on: The one I’m writing now, which will be a sequel to Every Dog Has His Day. I am learning a lot as I go, so I actually do rewrite passes now. And struggle more with endings. Or properly, where to end.

2. Fic you spent the least time on: To Die Hard For. I wrote it while the Mystrade Reading Club watched the movie, so it’s about Greg and Mycroft not watching the movie. (They found other things to do.)

3. Longest Fic: Every Dog Has His Day at over 7000 words. They get longer the more I do this and remember to put in things like description. I love dialogue, and I am not naturally a visual thinker, which means I’m great at having characters talk to each other, but I kind of assume readers already know where they are and what they’re wearing.

As a series, though, Mystrade Cocktails is going to surpass that. The three entries right now total over 6000 words together, and there will be at least two more stories. (I know what they’re drinking the morning after, when that time finally comes. So to speak.)

4. Shortest Fic: To Die Hard For. (I wrote more than two things, I promise, but they keep coming up as answers to this quiz.)

5. Most hits: The Soulmate Search. My first fic, it was part of an event, so well-promoted, and I think a number of fan friends were being kind in checking it out and encouraging me to continue. There have been two sequels so far (with potentially another to come), so those drive people back to the first as well, I suspect.

6. Most kudos: Same.

7. Most comment threads: Every Dog Has His Day. Who can resist Greg as a pooch? Cuddly and fun to speculate on what breeds the other characters might be. Also my first substantial chaptered fic, which likely drove discussion. (Well, my first that I actually posted the rest of the chapters for. Going Viral, you are not forgotten.)

8. Fave Fic you wrote: I have great fun with building themes around the drinks in the Cocktails series, and I think I managed to capture shy but determined Mycroft being wooed by Greg in that one ... and I loved the imagery of Mycroft sweeping Greg onto the dance floor in Friends in Odd Places (where I also learned one image does not a story make) ... but my personal favorite so far is Through the Looking Glass, and What Greg Found There, because it sums up so much of what I like about that pairing, and I adore the image of Mycroft as an eight-year-old.

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: This question should more be fics I want to finish! I have too much WIP, but I am committed to continuing / completing them.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning:

Oh, there are way too many plot bunnies hopping around my notes file.

My personal challenge is writing light entertainment, since I try, and it comes out angst-y, even though that isn’t my fave to read at all. But the other day I had a super-angst-y idea that I’m toying with for Halloween, in which Mycroft, once Sherlock and John marry, is forgotten by more and more people until he simply fades away. Rosie still notices him, but she’s too young for anyone to pay attention to, and Greg is the only one who feels the tug of something missing.

I’m hoping I could manage comedy in the idea of Mycroft discovering fanfic, then becoming an internet avenger and eviscerating bad commenters and trolls and the like.

Another silly one I want to do is based on a photoset, in which Greg is a former male model who got out of the business and became an agent, and Mycroft is a magazine editor who sees one of his old pictures and falls hard. I used to work for a periodical publisher so I think I could manage this fairly well.

And I’ve partially written one that started out as naughty, with Mycroft sleeping his way across London, and turned instead into a warning and meditation on when affection really means something.

But WIP gets done first!

Thanks to anyone who read this far for a rather self-indulgent wallow. Vulpes already tagged many of the same people I would... so leaving aside those on that list, I will add @jessieblackwood and @wastingyourgum and @eventhorizon451, if they want to play. Or anyone else who’s interested! I love seeing people talk about their work.

#fanfic survey

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kumkaniudaku · 5 years ago

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The Love Tonight (1)

A/N: A request by @queenbutterfly2018. Thank you for keeping my creative juices flowing. Even if it does take me 7000 years to finish things.

Summary: The family bonds over Beyonce and a classic movie.

The Love Tonight (2)

"And I just can't waaaiit...to be KING!"

CoCo silently bopped her head from side to side in the kitchen as she split her attention between washing the dishes and her kids enjoying the third showing of The Lion King in as many weeks.

Noah let out a small squeal of excitement followed by a laugh that caught Micah's attention.

"No, Noey! We don't laugh during this part. It's really serious!" When the youngest of the pair responded with a gurgling babble, Micah let out an agitated groan before continuing her explanation. "Simba could get hurt. He didn't listen to his daddy, and now the heenas are looking for him. That's why we have to listen to Mommy and Daddy."

"Good lesson, baby girl," Tasha called from the kitchen, adding a wink to her praise when Micah turned around to acknowledge her mother.

From the moment she could focus on moving images, Micah became enamored with Simba's timeless tale. Her big eyes would sparkle when she would hear the movie's main theme, the song often doubling as the only sound to keep her quiet when she was restless.

When she was three, Micah insisted that she would not participate in Halloween festivities if she could not dress as Nala. Her first eating utensil set, big girl underwear, and bed set featured the beloved characters. Even as she found other interests, The Lion King was her first love.

"Mommy, your favorite song is coming! You gotta sing it!"

Micah wiggled around in her seat while Tasha took a break from cleaning to join her on the couch. Pulling the little one into her lap, CoCo cleared her throat to mimic Scar.

"I know that your powers of retention are as wet as a warthog's backside. But thick as you are–pay attention! My words are a matter of pride."

Noah perked up as Micah joined the song, becoming the third voice in a chorus of off-key voices. Together they fumbled over lyrics and laughed until their stomachs were sore and the song was over.

After a moment of silence to catch their breath, Micah broke the silence. "I wish Daddy was here to sing too. He likes to sing the Simba and Nala song with you."

"I know, baby, I know. But Daddy has to be at work."

"Work is mean! Tell him to come home and play!"

"Dadadada." Noah's chanted, adding his two cents in the conversation to make both ladies giggle.

"How about we call Daddy so you two can say all of this to his face. How does that sound, Pookie Butt?"

Cheering and made up songs bounced off of the living room walls before echoing on the other side of the phone when Chadwick finally answered.

"Sounds like I'm missing out on a party back home," he laughed.

Across the country, the sun had long allowed the moon to have its place in the sky. Chadwick sat in his dimly lit bedroom clad in worn lounge clothes with sleep forcing his eyes half-closed.

"You sure are. We're watching your favorite movie. Wanna take a guess?"

"Whaaat? Where's my girl? She wouldn't watch The Lion King without me, would she?"

"I only watched a little! Not even the pig song!"

"You didn't get to...should I sing it," he questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Yes! Sing it!"

"Nah, it's time for bed. Mama wouldn't be happy if I did."

Chadwick put on an award-winning acting performance to sway Micah's opinion before she turned to make a case for why she deserved a song from her favorite singing partner.

"Please, Mama? Please, please, please, please, puh-LEASE!"

"Sure, sing the song, Dad."

While Micah squealed in pleasure, CoCo made sure to give her husband the finger as discreetly as possible.

"You can do that for as long as you like when I get back, love," he assured with a wink.

"Sing it, Daddy! One, two, three!"

Straighten in his seat, Chadwick took a deep breath and comically poked his chest out. "WHEN I WAS A YOUNG WARTHOOOG!"

Before her daddy could finish the most boisterous line in the entire film, Micah doubled over and laughed until her whole body vibrated with joy. Even Noah joined in on the laughter despite nodding in and out of sleep in his walker.

"Sing it again," Micah requested between gasps for air. "Sing it again!"

"Nuh-uh. It's time for you and another cub to get to bed. Maybe we can sing it in the morning when you're on the way to camp. How's that sound?"

"You promise?"

"Double pinky promise, baby girl. First thing in the morning."

Though visibly upset, Micah accepted the terms of the deal. "Okay. Goodnight, Daddy. I wish you could come home tomorrow."

"I wish I could too, little one. See you in a few weeks. Be good for your Mama and be nice to your brother."

Another round of goodnights sealed the deal, sending Micah off to her room to wait on Tasha to tuck her into bed. Chadwick followed her movements as far he could until she was out of camera view. His sad eyes betrayed the smile on his face and caught his wife's attention.

"I know it's tough, baby, but she understands why you're away. She's just missing you tonight."

"Doesn't stop me from feeling like the worst dad ever. Now I have to make it up to her."

"Please, do not send another doll to this house or I will burn it. Send a Birkin instead!" The line on Chadwick's end went silent as he froze and stared. "Hello? Can you hear me? Is this thing frozen?"

"It ain't frozen. I'm just givin' you a minute to hear what craziness you just said to me."

"So I don't deserve a bag?"

"You deserve a bag so much that you have a shelf in the closet to stock with as many as you can buy."

Tasha opened her mouth to respond but found herself interrupted by the sound of toys hitting the hardwood floors close to her. After quickly assessing the situation, neither of them could withhold their laughter. Noah sat slumped in walker with thumb in his mouth to self soothe, deep into a dream that had him smiling with his eyes closed.

Finally calming down, Chadwick allowed a yawn to slip past his lips. "Alright, baby, I have to be on set early tomorrow."

"Goodnight, handsome. Sleep well, and don't send any more gifts to this house."

"You don't tell me what to do, T. Bye!"

There was no time for Tasha to protest any of her husband's statements as he ended the call abruptly. In the weeks that followed, he would vaguely hint at a surprise when talking to or about Micah. When pressed for further intel, Chadwick would smirk as if he were hiding the most interesting secret in the world, the twinkle in his eye brighter than any star in the sky.

CoCo began to suspect the true nature of the surprise when she received confirmations for two booked nail appointments and a separate dress fitting. Questioning the keeper of secrets proved to be futile until he returned from work at the tail end of a busy weekday night.

Micah met him at the edge of the driveway with unbridled excitement, waiting for him to step out of the car and scoop her body into his arms. Once the house was calm and sharing a meal around the dinner table, Chadwick pulled an envelope out of his pocket and quietly sat it on the table.

Taking a look up while chewing her food, Tasha eyed the package. "Is that a check for me?"

"No."

"Plane tickets?"

"Tickets, but not for a plane."

"Is it a letter from the Tooth Fairy," Micah inquired. "Because I lost my front teeths. Mommy found them and said the Tooth Fairy would give me monies, but that was a long time ago. I think she forgot."

"She spent the money on dance lessons," Tasha mumbled.

Chadwick cut his eyes at CoCo who mouthed 'what' in response. "Anyway...remember when we told you there was gonna be a new Lion King, Mikey?"

"Yeah! You said we could see it if I read a whole book by myself. Are we gonna see it?"

"We're gonna do more than see it, baby girl. We are going to…" Chadwick paused for dramatic effect, waiting for a drumroll that Tasha reluctantly provided.

He listened to her rapidly tap her fingers against the glossy wood grain tabletop. Soon, Micah joined the spectacle, leading the charge for Noah to slam his hands against the tray of his high chair. Chadwick's grin spread across his face as the tension and noise in the room built to deafening levels.

"Aaron! Spit it out, darn it," Tasha hollered, careful to censor her language.

"Okay, okay! We're going to...the premiere!"

For weeks, Chadwick had played this moment in his head countless times, and each encounter ended with the members of his family singing his praises and running around the house in excitement. Instead, they met him with two blank stares and senseless babbling.

"What's a...a...premiere? I want popcorn."

"Chad, she's six. Explain why a premiere is better than just going to the theater on Cheap Tuesday. I would also like an explanation."

As Micah looked between her mother's sarcastic smile and her father's eye roll, she found herself still very confused. She'd only been on a few red carpets in her short lifetime, and none of them involved a brand new movie. It was unreasonable to expect a child to enjoy the bright lights associated with such an event, much less an entire movie without any outbursts or excessive moving. Chadwick hoped that an introduction through the Lion King would be an adequate test run for future instances.

"A premiere," he started as he lifted Micah out of her chair and into his lap. "Is when special people get all dressed up to see a movie before everyone else. All the people that are in the movie are there too."

"So I get to see the movie with Timon and Pumbaa?"

"Well, kind of. You'll meet the actors that play them."

Micah thought for a moment. "Are these big people that play dress up like you?"

"Sure... let's go with that."

"Is Mommy and Noah gonna come with us?"

"Just Mom. Noah's still too little. But we'll get the DVD when it comes out, and then he can see it at home." From the corner of his eye, Chadwick could see Tasha giving him a thumbs up for his attempt at explaining such a complicated matter to a child. Micah, however, still had questions.

"I guess I'll go," she shrugged. "Do I get a new dress?"

"My girl asks the important questions! That's what I'm talking about!"

Laughing, he shooed his wife away to answer the question. "You drive a hard bargain, Princess. Yes, you and Mommy get new dresses."

"Yay! I want sparkles on my dress! Wait, I want it to look like mommy's dress. What is your dress gonna look like Mommy? Big and poofy like a princess?"

"Girl, I think we should-" CoCo halted her rand and dramatically covered her mouth to whisper-speak to Micah. "I think we should go to another room because somebody is a little too nosey. Meet me in your room."

Her dramatic wink was excitedly returned before Micah focused her attention on dashing out of the dining room and up the stairs. When she was out of earshot, Chadwick turned to his wife and smiled.

"Make sure you go easy on my pockets."

Standing, Tasha quickly adjusted Noah on her hip and pretended to flip her hair. "Sparkles are expensive, baby. We'll try our best. You just make sure you can keep up."

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#Chadwick Boseman #chadwick boseman fan fiction #chadwick boseman imagine #chadwick boseman x reader #chadwick boseman x you #chadwick boseman request

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fullmetalirin · 6 years ago

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Episode 49

This is gonna be a big one. This is the episode that raises OG from good to sublime.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 49: "The Other Side of the Gate"

Envy delivers Alphonse to the leader of the homunculi in the city hidden beneath Central. Edward soon discovers the city thanks to a page from Nash's diary, leading to a final confrontation with Dante. Edward also learns that Dante is planning to transfer her soul to Rosé's body using the philosopher's stone from within Alphonse. She then sends Edward through the Gate of Truth and he awakens to find himself and Hohenheim in a wartorn London.

We open with Bradley giving his gift to Selim (a toy train). Selim behaves much more like a real kid here, I feel; Brotherhood!Pride was really overacting.

Envy knows Dante is stringing everyone along, but he doesn't care – he just wants to watch the world burn.

Envy reveals that 7000 soldiers were absorbed at Liore. I thought it was 1000? Al gets upset and feels like he should have died instead.

Apparently, Dante's secret city was the "real" Philosopher's Stone lab. Ed enters by just tearing a hole open instead of using Dante's method.

So, the underground city appears to be where Dante and Hohenheim lived 400 years ago. The Tringhams speculate they used everyone in the city to make the Philosopher's Stone, which seems to contradict the flashback in 45 where the city still seemed intact after they made it.

Dante is creeping on Rose. She seems to have been put in some sort of trance.

Gluttony is upset about Lust, but Dante waves him off.

Wrath is upset about Sloth. Dante coldly tells him homunculi don't have mothers, and he can't make demands of her because he's not human.

Wrath keeps leaping at them, but Envy effortlessly knocks him aside, building his credibility as the final boss.

Izumi's strength is fading against Archer as she coughs up blood, but Ross and Brosh rescue her. Izumi asks where Ed is, and Ross reiterates her thing about adults needing to believe in children.

Dante makes Rose dance with Ed. Is Dante planning to take Ed as her husband? Ick.

Ed figures out Dante's bodyhopping pretty quickly. The deduction that Greed didn't kill her is reasonable, but the rest is a bit of a jump.

Ed throws a spear at her, and she vaporizes it in midair. Ehhh, that's wonky but she is supposed to be the ultimate alchemist. She may still have some red stone, too. Ed uses that to confirm she's Dante, as she transmutes without a circle.

Dante doesn't give an exact number of bodies, but she says it's been less than ten.

Dante confirms they used the residents of the city, as well as "the nation to the east" – that would be Xerxes, I suppose.

Dante says Hohenheim was the one who actually made the Stones.

Dante frames her actions as virtuous, saying she's keeping people away from the Stone so they don't misuse it.

Dante claims she is no longer human. She does have homunculi eyes...

And yep, she just said she wanted to bang Ed – specifically, "Hohenheim's son". Why are you so creepy, Dante. I guess this could be an extension of her general hedonism.

Ed tells Gluttony Wrath killed Lust, making him BSOD.

Dante attacks Ed with a rock snake. He dodges and cuts her bodice, revealing the rot has nearly reaches her heart. That seems… fast. It's been, what, a week? That strikes me as a bit of an inconsistency, as she was clearly in her previous body for many years. We can perhaps fanwank that she botched the transfer due to running out of Philosopher's Stone; this would also explain why she's convinced she can overcome the rot if she gets a new one.

Ed… somehow deduced this already as well. He cites equivalent exchange: this is their punishment for their evil. And now we get my favorite scene:

DANTE: Equivalent exchange? Do you still believe in that childish theory? EDWARD: It's no theory! It's the law of alchemy… no, of the whole world! You're the one who said so, aren't you? That in order to obtain anything, it requires something of equal value? DANTE: That's something that only a child would say. Like "make everything equal," or "that wouldn't be fair." However, there's no such thing as equivalent exchange. […] To gain, something of equal value must be lost… In that case, if you reverse it… if you pay a price… you are certain to obtain something, right? EDWARD: That's right. That's why people put forth an effort to pay the price. DANTE: But there's something strange about that. After all, even if you pay the same price, you can't always necessarily obtain the same thing. […] Consider the State Alchemist exam which you passed with flying colors. How many others took the test that day? Spent months, years preparing, some working much harder than you? Yet you were the only one who passed. Where was their reward? Is it their fault they lacked your natural talent?

This moment is, to me, the heart and soul of OG. How many stories have the bravery to do this? To spit on the hero's hard work and natural talent both, to destroy the comforting fantasy of a fair world? To tell the hero that he is wrong? Because he is – Dante is right. But it goes even deeper than that. There's a reason why it's the villain who propagates this lie. In the dub translation, Dante specifically says it's a lie the oppressed tell themselves – and that's key. That's key to so many of the things that are so wrong with our lives, our culture, and our world. This lie controls people. If the world is fundamentally just, then what happens to you can't possibly be anyone's fault but your own. If you're attacked by a mugger, it's because you didn't try hard enough to defend yourself. If you're dying of starvation, it's because you didn't work hard enough to provide for yourself. But if someone else gains riches and fame? Well, they must have just worked so hard for it! It's ad-hoc reasoning: you see the effect, and then you say everyone must have done something to deserve it. And if you can get the people you're subjugating to believe it too, you've won. You've created a populace who will oppress themselves for you. Those people dying of starvation and disease and brutality, they don't deserve the barest scrap of aid, and they're leeches for thinking they do. Those toddlers ICE is murdering at the border right now, they must have done something to deserve it, or their parents did, somehow. Someone, somewhere, did something that justifies everything the oppressors do, we're sure. You can cut someone's throat and tell them they deserved it, and they'll believe you.

Dante actually proceeds to demonstrate this exact example by holding Rose's baby hostage.

DANTE: And people's lives are not all equal, either. If I just clap my hands, this baby won't survive. […] And if I do it, where is the world's balance in that? Does it mean the baby was only born so that it could die?

She goes on to bring up privilege as well, pointing out some people work their whole lives and still die in poverty while others are born into luxury.

I don't think it's a coincidence that it's also the mastermind of a violently imperialist culture who's saying this, either. Just world goes hand in hand with sunk cost. If you made a mistake, you just need to keep working harder to fix it. Because you must be getting something for everything you're sacrificing, right? That's proof you need to make more sins and more sacrifices because one day, somehow, it'll all be worth it and you can undo all those mistakes. That's how Dante gets people desperate enough to make homunculi. That's how she gets people desperate enough to sacrifice thousands of people for a Philosopher's Stone. That's how she gets good people to commit genocide for her. That's why Edward has been doing all of this from the start. It's the perfect lie.

This is what changes OG from just "a good TV show" to true art, to me. It's so incredibly rare to see popular culture or even academia address these issues so brazenly and openly. This is a message we need to hear. It's far too easy, especially in a capitalistic culture, to fall into this comforting lie. And stories are some of the biggest peddlers of the just world fallacy. Stories are designed by a guiding intelligence. In stories, everything does make sense, everything does happen for a reason, justice is often served in some form or another. We need to hear that sometimes, but it's so dangerous to really believe it. It's scary to acknowledge that there is no inherent justice to the world, that effort can be wasted, that bad things can happen to good people, that there's nothing to catch you if you fall. But it's the truth, and denying that will just hurt you far more in the long run. That is the biggest reason why I respect OG so much, despite the slow pacing and the awkward setups and the somewhat rushed conclusion – that's all worth it for this. It did something very brave and it deserves commendation for that.

In terms of the specific framing, I think Dante's character can also be taken as a criticism of ivory tower elitism; not coincidentally the kind of people likely to buy into the just world fallacy. She claims that alchemy can do so much good for people, yet she has made the decision that they are not to be trusted with it – she is, of course, the only one with the wisdom and intelligence to use the power responsibly. And obviously, this is a bald-faced lie – just an excuse to hoard all the power for herself. She cloisters herself, doing everything through proxies of proxies because coming to any personal harm is unthinkable to her, yet she slaughters people like cattle for her own uses. She claims she's ascended beyond the flaws of humanity, yet she's so disgustingly greedy and hedonistic she can't wait to kill an innocent girl just so she can bang her boyfriend's teenage son. She's a warning to all of us never to think our knowledge and class makes us better than other people, never to think that it excuses us from examining our own flaws.

Now, this is, effectively, the "final boss" – there's a bit of conflict after this, but it's not really a full-on battle. Cinematically, Ed vs. Dante is objectively disappointing, yes – they exchange, like, two attacks and that's it. But as I've said before, that's not what OG is trying for in the first place. The sphere of this conflict is philosophical, not martial, and by that scale this is just as intense as Brotherhood's final battle. Dante effortlessly dismantles the philosophy Ed has lived by all his life, and the philosophy the narrative itself seemed to be telling us. In the face of this, Ed is completely unable to make any logical refutation. That is powerful. A flashy fight scene entertains you and then it's over, but this is the kind of confrontation that sticks with you. Can you prove Dante wrong? We all want to, but it's so hard. You have to come up with your own refutation, your own reason to keep on fighting in the face of this painful truth; it's on the audience to truly defeat the villain.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhod #fma 2003 #liveblog

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badassbride · 3 years ago

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Jessica & Jamey Game of Thrones Wedding

Jessica and Jamey

Badass Game of Thrones Wedding

https://www.badassbride.com/jessica-jamey-game-of-thrones-wedding/

Jamey and I were instantly attracted to each other after meeting at work. When we started dating, he was nervous about introducing me to his brother, who is an avid comic book collector. He knew I was a keeper as soon as his brother met me and we hit it off. Once they found out I loved “The Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones”, I was in the club. Our weekends were filled with comic book conventions and binge watching our favorite shows.

Jamey proposed on June 26, 2016. We had always envisioned an outside wedding in the fall. We set a date that our work schedules would accommodate, and began looking at local venues. Traditional weddings have never appealed to us, and considering the fact that Jamey and I are anything but traditional, we decided that traditional venues were not for us on our special day. We envisioned an intimate ceremony followed by good times with friends. We found a castle nearby, and I began joking about having a “Game of Thrones” themed wedding. While we were touring the place we began imagining medieval banners hanging from the battlements and family sigils in the great hall! We loved the thought of a medieval wedding with everyone dressed in costumes. Kids would be encouraged to sword fight, and we could have games out in the courtyard to keep them entertained. We had our minds made up the second we arrived. As we walked around the castle grounds, we were in awe because we knew that it would be perfect.

We chose our family sigils, with the bride representing House Targaryen and the groom belonging to House Stark. I designed our wedding invitations, which were sealed with wax. Guests were encouraged to dress in Medieval attire.

As the mother of dragons, my bouquet had to be red. I wore two garters: one for House Targaryen and one for House Stark. My something blue was an anklet with blue stones and a dragon. I chose a dress with a slit to feature one of the garters. I gave Jamey a set of cuff links with the House Stark direwolf sigil on the morning of our wedding. We designed our own “House Mayhall” sigil and coat of arms to feature at the reception.

All of the children who wanted to participate were in the procession. My two sons walked me down the drawbridge to meet Jamey. Our wedding began with a cloaking ceremony to symbolize the bride being placed under the protection of the groom. A local DJ performed the ceremony with a perfect accent and dressed as a scepter. We wrote our own ceremony and vows, which included a hand-fasting. After the ceremony, guests were ushered to the pavilion while we spent some time alone to unwind and enjoy ourselves. As my husband and I walked across the castle lawn to the reception, we could hear the children playing and having a fantastic time just as we had imagined.

The reception was a Medieval banquet with a feast fit for a king. We sat at the head table surrounded by tables decorated with sigils from each family. Guests were provided crystal and silver goblets as their drinking vessels. The kids even had their own table with crowns, swords, and shields to decorate. The wedding cake was topped with a chest filled with dragon eggs. After dessert, we brought out the bubbly, cranked up the music, and danced the night away. Everyone had a wonderful evening!

Following the reception, guests lined the castle drawbridge with sparklers for our grand exit. After the bouquet and garter toss, the feasting and merriment continued at our house with a bonfire and s’mores.

It was the most perfect day we could have ever imagined! If we could, we would relive it a thousand times. Having a wedding that encompassed everything that we love was so relaxing and fun!

Love Jessica xxx

WEDDING THEME: Game of Thrones

WEDDING DATE: October 29, 2016

WEDDING LOCATION:

Castle Pines Home of Chestershire Castle Luray, TN

DRESS DESIGNER :

Chiffon Gown with a High Slit and Halter Tie Back by David’s Bridal – Cost: $299

WEDDING BUDGET: $7000

PHOTOGRAPHER: Ashley Shelby. amshelby

HAIR / MAKE UP:

Hair by April Stults at Salon Elite Makeup by Rachel Kimbrell at Salon Elite

TIPS FOR FUTURE BADASS BRIDES:

Looking back, I would not change a thing about our wedding day. We threw convention to the wind. Just remember what brought you to this day. Everything should be geared towards making you both happy (not your best friend or your mom). Don’t be afraid to do things your way, and I promise it will be worth it.

#game of thrones #game of thrones wedding #badassbride

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attackofthezee · 7 years ago

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WHERE THE HEART IS HAS OVER 100 KUDOS!!!! (I realize that for some people a hundred and some odd kudos in a day and a half isn’t actually that much but for me IT FEELS LIKE A LOT OKAY)

So in honor of that, here have some random notes I have on Where The Heart Is (that got super overblown and long and I’m SORRY.)

-It was originally just a Steve POV and meant to be about Bucky Barnes finding himself again seen through Steve’s point of view. Clearly, that is not what happened and it ended up being the little diddy that it is with both their povs very present. I’m REALLY happy it turned out that way because Bucky’s parts are probably some of my favorites.

-Tbqh if there was ever an AU of this AU it’d be one where Peggy Carter gets involved and Steve gets to be the very happy filling in the middle of a super soldier sandwich.

-Originally, way back when I started this thing I was just going to handwave away the whole There Was No Steve To Be Captain America Thing and then Captain America’s 75th anniversary was a thing and Marvel games division came out with a bunch of Cap variants. Marvel Puzzle Quest did Peggy as Captain America and I WAS HOOKED. I was suddenly desperate for like eight million fanfics that featured Peggy Carter as Cap and so it kinda became a thing here.

-Agent Peggy Carter became Cap after the dumb fuck they’d picked for it went and got himself shot. She was essentially like “Your other options are morons, I’m doing it.” and Doctor Erskine was like “A good man is better than a good soldier, and a good woman is better than a good man” and Howard was like 7000% too terrified of Peg to question it. It ended like it did in the movies with Erskine dying, cause ofc it did I’m not getting that creative here. Then the brass came and was like “wtf. this wasn’t The Plan.” and Peg was like “Yep, sucks for you, but I’m what you’ve got so suck it up buttercup.” Except, like, she said it a lot classier, but the MEANING was the same. (except maybe she wasn’t any classier. Maybe she was just genuinely like “I’m sorry to disappoint gentleman, but I’m your only option so I suggest you suck it up and deal with it.” and then rolled the fuck out of there like

-They sent her on tour, marketed her like some overblown Rosie The Riveter type, had her dance with USO girls and sell bonds and film some bullshit about A Woman’s Role In The War. Then they made the mistake of shipping her to the front to ‘build morale’ which is where shit went ENTIRELY off the rails. Peggy lasted even less time than Steve Rogers did before blowing off the whole tour thing and going off to raid nazi prison camps.

-Peggy picked up Bucky and the Howlies somewhere along the way and after attempting to get Bucky to actually take the honorable discharge the brass was offering him got soundly told that “Nah, I think following Captain America all up and down the front sounds a helluva lot more fun than going back to my shithole in Brooklynn.”

-Peggy 500% started the break in Bucky’s Winter Soldier protocol by calling him an idiot and hitting him upside the head with a steel beam because her and Nat whole heartedly believe in “cognitive recalibration” via blunt force head trauma.

-No one ever really connects Bucky to the Winter Soldier thing, or to the fact that he looks uncannily like one Sargent James Buchanan Barnes. People, for the most part, would never think a dead dude from the 40s could come back to life as Noah ‘Call Me Bucky’ Koppelman, the man who spends 20 minutes getting the perfect shot of his food for instagram before he can eat it, who looks so Perpetually Frazzled Millennial it hurts in his yoga pants and slouchy sweatshirts and man buns.

-Bucky never actually wipes out HYDRA, because they’re like cockroaches and can apparently never be killed completely, but he does eventually decide he’s gotten enough revenge and drags Steve out traveling. He absolutely forces Steve to let Bucky take cheesy pictures of him in front of important landmarks and beautiful views.

-In Death Valley somewhere they run across a HYDRA base and Bucky looks a little like >.> <.< ^_^?????? and Steve is just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. So raiding and taking down some shitty HYDRA outpost in the middle of the fucking desert while on vacation becomes a nice little pit stop and also the reason Steve has to realize that watching his boyfriend mowing down nazis makes him feel Some Kinda Way.

-They come across like 5 more HYDRA clusters before Steve just starts accounting for it when packing their shit for vacations. Toothbrushes, check. Socks and underwear, check. Passports, check. Tac gear, guns, plenty of ammo. Check, check, and check.

#stucky #where the heart is #my writing #writing tag #this became a whole thing oops #no one let me write a sequel in which Bucky Barnes and his tiny boyfriend go on vacation a lot and beat the shit out of HYDRA agents along #the way #do however think about pre serum Steve Rogers in tac gear #beating the shit out of dudes twice his size #and the fact that #sometimes Bucky has to cover his six so Steve can hit his fucking inhaler #and after Bucky shoves Steve into epsom salt baths in hotel rooms and washes his hair when Steve's shoulders lock up #and he'd try to leave Steve home but he's stubborn as fuck #and also who the hell is he supposed to throw bodily at HYDRA agents without Steve there as a willing projectile???

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tamboradventure · 5 years ago

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16 Things to See and Do in Tallinn, Estonia

Posted: 03/12/20 | March 12th, 2020

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a medieval city nestled against the Baltic Sea. With its picturesque historic Old Town that dates back to the 13th century, it has been drawing in tourists since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Cheap flights, cheap prices, and the beauty of Prague without the crowds have made Tallinn an appealing weekend getaway for Europeans.

I visited the city on a trip from Finland — there’s a frequent ferry service between the two cities — and was enamored by it. It was a blend of Nordic and Baltic culture with plenty of things to see and do.

Best of all, it was super affordable!

Though the city has become a bit more crowded and expensive in the last couple of years, it’s still one of my favorite places in the region. It’s peaceful and wonderful: the people are open and relaxed and the country is super tech-forward (they offer e-residency services specifically for digital nomads).

To help you make the most out of your trip, here are the best things to see and do in Tallinn — from the super touristy to off the beaten trail!

1. Take a Free Walking Tour

One of the best things you can do when you arrive in a new city is to take a free walking tour. They’re a great way to learn about a destination and its history while taking in the main sights.

Not only will it give you a solid introduction to the city but you’ll get access to a local guide who can answer any and all questions you might have.

EstAdventures has a few different free tour options, including general walking tours, tours focused on the city’s communist past, and street art tours. Just make sure to tip your guide!

2. Estonian Maritime Museum

Founded in 1935 and located inside a historic 500-year-old building, this museum highlights the history of Estonia’s maritime culture. The main attraction is the interactive Seaplane Harbour exhibition, which includes a Short 184 seaplane as well as the steam-powered icebreaker Suur Toll.

And don’t miss the 1936 submarine Lembit, the only surviving Baltic warship from before WWII (and one of only two submarines in Estonian naval history). There’s also an aquarium, ship miniatures, and a flight simulator. It’s a fun and educational place for adults and kids alike.

Vesilennuki tee 6, +372 6200 550, meremuuseum.ee. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm; closed Monday. Admission: 15 EUR.

3. Glehn Park & Castle

Glehn Park, located on the Nomme hillside, is home to medieval-style Glehn Castle. Built in 1886, both the park and castle were created by Nikolai von Glehn, a rich and eclectic man known for his unusual taste in decoration (such as tables and chairs carved like figurines, large statues, and an obelisk in front of his house marking the grave of his favorite horse).

Unfortunately, most of the castle was looted during World War I, so none of the unique pieces of furniture he created remain. However, you’ll still get to see the statues he built on the grounds of the park. There’s also an observatory tower and palm house, which has a gorgeous mosaic rooftop. It’s a good place to relax, go for a walk, or go skiing during wintertime.

Vana-Mustamäe 48, +372 652 5076, ttu.ee/organisatsioonid/glehni-loss. The building isn’t open to the public as it is now used for events (weddings, conferences, receptions, etc.).

4. Tallinn Town Hall & Square

Tallinn’s Gothic town hall is the oldest in the Baltics. Completed in 1404, it boasts a 64m spire topped with a weather vane of an old warrior (named Old Thomas), a Tallinn city guard and hero from the 16th century who fought in the Livonian War.

You can climb the spire to 34 meters (111 feet) from May through September. The interior of the Town Hall is open to visitors as a museum only during July and August; inside, you’ll get to see colorful designs on the walls, intricate wood carvings, and stunning arched ceilings as you learn about the city and its history.

The surrounding plaza is a great place to people-watch and it hosts lots of activities and markets throughout the year.

Don’t miss the annual five-day Tallinn Old Town Days festival held in May. It’s dedicated to the cultural heritage of Tallinn and includes themed days such as Medieval Day and Children’s Day, as well as numerous workshops, music, and theatre performances.

Raekoja plats, Kesklinna linnaosa (City Center), +372 645 7906, raekoda.tallinn.ee/. Open weekdays from 10am-4pm. Advance reservations required. Admission is 5 EUR.

5. Tallinn Museum of Photography

Hidden amidst the cobblestone streets of Tallinn, this small museum is tucked away inside a 14th-century prison. It focuses on Estonia’s history of photography with a permanent exhibition including antique photos and cameras from 1840 — when photography first made its way to Tallinn — to 1940.

You can also check out contemporary photography from modern-day artists in many of the museum’s rotating exhibits. It’s a very small museum, but super interesting even if you’re not a huge photography buff.

Raekoja 4/6, +372 644 8767, linnamuuseum.ee/fotomuuseum. Open Saturday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10am–5pm, Thursdays from 12–8pm, and Sunday from 11am–4pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

6. Estonian Open-Air Museum

Located 15 minutes from the city center by car, this open-air ethnographic museum recreates what life was like in Estonia’s rural countryside. It’s a life-sized rural village composed of farms, a wooden chapel, a school, fire station, shop, and an inn that highlights how families from different social classes lived during the 18th and 19th centuries.

There’s plenty to do, from eating a traditional Estonian meal to riding a horse to taking a workshop. It’s open all year round, but you might want to go during the summertime when it’s warm! It’s also one of the best things to do in Tallinn with kids. Download the mobile app Numu for a free audio guide while you’re at the museum.

Vabaõhumuuseumi tee 12, +372 654 9100, evm.ee/est/avaleht.Open daily from 10am–5pm. Admission is 8 EUR. Free entrance with a Tallinn Card.

7. Ichthus Art Gallery

This is one of Tallinn’s best-kept secrets. It’s tucked away in the depths of St. Catherine’s Dominican Monastery, which dates back to 1246. On arrival, turn right toward steep steps that take you into the cellar. The confined space used to contain three wings, called the Claustrum, that housed monks in the 13th century.

Today, the space is used by artist Aleksandr Savchenkov, who sells his original artwork from the cellar. As you wander about you’ll also see the ‘Energy Pillar’, which is located in the ancient monastic chambers and is said to be a source of spiritual well-being.

Müürivahe Tänav 33, +372 5559 5920. Admission is free; however, donations are accepted.

8. Epitaphs of the Cathedral of Saint Mary

The grounds of this church date back to the 13th century, though the current building itself is from the 17th. What makes it unlike most other churches is that coats-of-arms epitaphs hang on the walls of the church instead of more traditional religious artwork or decorations.

Historically, these were used as headstones for people of importance, such as nobles and knights. They reflect the people of status who were buried on the grounds.

In fact, the first man who ever led a Russian voyage around the world, Admiral Adam Johan von Krusenstern, is buried here. Climb the 69-meter (226-foot) bell tower to get a beautiful view of the city.

Toom-Koolitänav 6, +372 644 4140. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10am–3:30pm, closed Mondays. Admission is 5 EUR for adults and 3 EUR for children. Dress respectfully as this is a place of worship.

9. Estonian Architecture Museum

The Estonian Architecture Museum was established in 1991 during the fight for Estonian independence. The museum is located in the Rotermann Salt Storage building, which was built in 1908 (and then reconstructed in 1995 with multiple additional floors for the museum).

Its galleries now feature drawings from the 1920s, as well as over 11,500 archived items (such as drawings and sketches) and some 18,000 items in their photo collection. There are always some interesting rotating exhibits here too.

Ahtri tänav 2, +372 625 7000, arhitektuurimuuseum.ee. Open Tuesday–Sunday 11am–6pm, closed Mondays. Admission is 6 EUR.

10. TV Tower

Adrenaline junkies will get a kick out of visiting the TV Tower. Not only will you have an incredible bird’s-eye view of Tallinn from the top, which stands 314 meters (1,030 feet) tall, but you can also try the Walk on the Edge experience. Hop into a harness and step outside of the tower onto the exposed deck. It’s the highest open deck in Northern Europe and offers both an amazing view and a huge rush!

The TV Tower was constructed when Tallinn was chosen as a host city for sailing during the 1980 Moscow Olympics. It closed in 2007 for renovations and reopened in 2012. It has floor-to-ceiling windows (not ideal if you’re afraid of heights) so you can really soak in the view as well as touch-screen information panels so you can learn about the tower and the city.

The tower hosts many events, such as music concerts and the annual Stair Run to mark the anniversary of its reopening.

Kloostrimetsa tee 58 A, +372 686 3005, teletorn.ee. Admission is 13 EUR and the Walk on the Edge costs 30 EUR.

11. Telliskivi Creative City

The Telliskivi Creative City is a workplace for over a thousand people, with artist’s studios, a radio station, rehearsal spaces, and NGO offices, all situated throughout ten repurposed factory buildings. Telleskivi hosts a flea market every Saturday, and there are over 600 cultural events throughout the year, including dance performances, music concerts, and improv theatre.

There are colorful murals on many of the buildings and you’ll also find restaurants and bars full of locals and tourists alike. Make sure you eat at Peatus (“Stop” in Estonian) for a really unique experience: it’s located inside two old Soviet railcars (and the food is great too!).

Telliskivi tänav 60a, Pohja, Tallinna linnaosa.

12. Bastion Tunnels

These tunnels were initially built in the 17th century as an addition to the Kiek in de Kök (Peek in the Kitchen) tower, and were intended for storage. They later held prisoners and then were used as shelters against air raids during World War II.

In more modern history, thieves and rebels used them for shelter since the police usually avoided the tunnels. They were cleaned out and opened up to the public in 2004. If you’re brave enough, you can explore the winding maze of the dark, damp tunnels on a guided tour when you visit the tower.

Komandandi tee 2, +372 644 6686, linnamuuseum.ee/kiek-de-kok. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm (Thursday until 8pm), closed Monday. Admission is 14 EUR.

13. Toompea Castle & Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Toompea Castle dates all the way back to the 9th century and is currently used by Riigikogu, Estonia’s Parliament. The east wing has a brightly colored pink and white exterior in baroque style, as ordered by Empress Catherine the Great in 1773. The opposing side still has its medieval stone exterior. The Estonian flag is raised above the tower at sunrise every day.

You can also visit the nearby Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It opened in 1900 during the Czarist Empire and is home to Tallinn’s largest bell (it weighs 15 tons). The impressive exterior showcases Russian Revival architecture with its onion-shaped dome. The interior is decorated with colorful mosaics and stained-glass windows and has three ornate altars.

Toompea Castle: Lossi plats 1a, +372 631 633, riigikogu.ee. On Thursdays at 11am, there’s a 45-minute English-language tour of the castle. Admissions is free though you need to reserve your spot in advance.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral: Lossi plats 10, +372 644 3484, cathedral.bg/en/home. Open daily from 7am-7pm. Admission is free. Dress respectfully as it is a place of worship.

14. Soviet Statue Graveyard

The Soviet Statue Graveyard, located near Maarjamäe Castle, contains a collection of discarded statues, such as those of Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and Mikhail Kalinin. After the Soviets left Tallinn, they were dumped here and ignored.

You’ll find large statues of heads (a classic Soviet statue trend) and others that tower over three meters (ten feet) tall. It’s a surreal place to visit — especially when you realize it hasn’t even been 30 years since Estonia achieved independence and these statues were left to fade into history.

Pirita tee 56, 10127, ajaloomuuseum.ee/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/noukogude-aegsete-monumentide-valinaitus. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm, closed Monday.

15. KGB Museum

Rooms previously used by spies during the Soviet era sit on the top floor of the stylish Hotel Viru, located on Viru Square. They house listening and recording equipment (some cleverly disguised), dial telephones, uniforms, and a typewriter.

Few people ever knew these rooms existed, and they were only exposed in the 1990s when the KGB fled the city. They shed light on just how controlling and subversive the Soviet government was during the occupation.

Viru väljak 4, +372 680 9300, viru.ee/en. Open daily from 10am–5pm. The guided tour begins in the hotel lobby.

16. Take in the View

For the best view in the city, head to Kohtuotsa viewing platform. It’s on Toompea Hill and offers the best view of the city and harbor. You’ll also often find buskers here, making it a nice place to end your day and watch the sunset.

***

Tallinn remains one of my favorite destinations in Europe. It’s a fun and lively city home to quirky museums, hidden art exhibits, and beautiful architecture.

Go enjoy all the wonderful things to do here.

Book Your Trip to Estonia: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. My favorite hostel in the city is:

Tallinn Backpackers – This is a lively, social hostel that makes it easy to meet people since they have a pub crawl every night. The staff are great too!

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!

Photo credit: 3 – Vladimir Varfolomeev, 4 – Holger Vaga, 5 – Pudelek, 6, 7 – Sander Säde, 8, 9 – Zairon, 10 – Nosser, 11 – Sheila Dee, 12 – Relkmsaiia, 13 – Narva69, 14 -Diego Delso, 15 – Ferran Cornella, 16, 17 – PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ

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richigneven · 7 years ago

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Buenos Aires Calling!

The signs could not have been much better: My first ‘vacation’ lasting more than a week since the awesome festival so called “gneven im grünen”, three concert tickets for my more or less favorite band ‘die toten hosen’- a band I have followed along down the road, which not only makes good music but also supports smaller bands, ethical correct NGO´s and sometimes even play in your living room if you are lucky AND the promising city of Buenos Aires, which goes as the Berlin of South America, or not even Latino American anymore. So my expectations were quite high as well, still they s were exceeded...

My hostel was great, although I arrived way too early they welcomed me with breakfast and showers. As I did not take the first internet recommendation I ended up in a 100% spanish-speaking community, from which a few studied and others sadly escaping war in Venezuela and some others doing whatever. Crazy those two things, first I could never do my exchange semester out of a dormitory, as I already troubled falling a sleep when not completely wasted- how do people snore louder than a airplane taking off? Second why have we reached the point that people need to escape their homes again and shouldnt we welcome them a little more than given them a bed in return of work? You find Venezuelans everywhere in South America right now...

Anyway, I wanted to get to know this European city, which at first glance showed off with nice facades, broken sidewalks and a walkable traffic situation (remember Im used to Lima at the moment, I actually got quite a cultural shock when people actually followed traffic rules and not everyone looked quite similar). I did a walking tour, and right away I saw it at its best, stunning buildings and cemeteries everywhere(at least in the right suburb..) Btw the popularity of their steaks is based on the flatness of the countryside of Argentina, cows actually do have some space to walk around and not need to be cooped up in some stall. Afterwards, I stumbled around myself, and by this is into a huge demonstration. All kinds of human protested in favor of rights for everybody, especially Woman and the LGBT scene. Every of the last ten years more than 200 women has be mudered by their husband or partners, I have heard about it before, but seeing the demonstration showed me how serious the issue is and how many must have suffered domestic violence. I followed along and was quite impressed by the creativity and number of participants. It seems like still the authorities dont really care, as this has been run for over a year now...

it really was endless...

I bet a better photografer would have made a good pic out of that!

Rushed from the energy of the protests I had a buncher Spätibeer (cerveza de ciosco) and decided to go see my friend from my old exchange semester in good old fresno..So we met 9 years ago and havent seen since. Ines were just working in a restaurant and I already had a few beers too many. So after she invited me for two more I tried too call it a night, which is always hard when you in a foreign city for the first time 10km away from your bed and trying to go by public transport. AllI know, I woke up in my hostel the next day and some blurry memories sitting in some other bar with some Germans, but I dont know why. Alright lets face it, probably the craving for more beer.

In the morning, I realized today would be the day I have never really imagined to become true. Seeing “Los Hosen” in Buenos Aires is said to be special. I always wanted to know what´s about it, because special is also sitting one hour in the” Berlin Ringbahn” and drink beer or the Chinese Wall, but neither gets a lot of my attention. After another day of enjoying various parts of the city I went in front of the venue, Museum, a buncher years ago crashed the stage in the second song and the concert was over. The first guys I approached were already a win in the lottery and I could not have asked for more. Spätibeer here and there and talks about everything what my Spanish has to offer. The show was crazy, a venue like SO36, long and narrow. A small terrace all around from which Campino (singer) jumped into the crowd and somehow mad his way back, totally red, as people did not want to let him go...A few punch were needed so he reached the stage again.

The crowd of 800-1000, of which maybe 100 were German, freaked out at pretty much every single song. Decent singing along but even harder dancing along. Everybody full of energy, led by a Band which noticeably enjoyed to be part of it once again. After the concert I went further to a few more Bars or you could call it Club even, energy for those after concerts partys I usually do not have after concerts in Germany. This night, I got a ride home, across the entire city, letting somebody out at the bus station apparently is no option when you their “guest”.

Party people

The same reason, the next day, I was invited to a match of one of the biggest football teams over there.. Boca Juniors, it was really interesting to see such a steep stadium which shacks because everybody jumps and how fascinated all the players and fans are. But I certainly have friends which can analyze those events way more. Side note: Argentina has stopped to allow fans of the visiting teams for all league games, in order to prevent violence. A working approach, but defiantly not in the sense of the sport.

A couple more or less boring hard working days for my uni were interrupted by a Cover concert and even more interesting of a Concert of the Magic Mystery tour show in a house in Buenos Aires. You can apply ahead and if you lucky the Hosen come to give a show and the fans possibly destroy all you have. I talked to many people who at least once tried it, but these gigs are quite precious. Getting inside this house was not possible, but through same delays in my taxi I arrived for the last few songs of the concert, which was totally sufficient for me. Except the drummer, everybody got outside of the house once and of course Campino climbed every fence there exist on the premises. Afterwards, a little party in front of the fence took place and once again a intercultural understanding with hands and legs. Knowing a few words of Spanish certainly made the situation even more fun and allowed me buying beer in the cioscos around, which was hard as for some reasons they only wanted to sell cold beer, but to understand this I almost failed.

Campino not only gave its best during the show, the aftershowparty he won against everybody!

In front of the fence, it was still cleanable afterwards, nobody know about inside

Wow Wednesday already, but still two more official shows to go! The German Hosen fans, organized a bus tour to the town of the next venue, La Plata, which is 1-2 hours down south from BA. Ive almost missed the bus, due to lets face it: Hangoverness but also Credit Card issues, during which I kind of realized how screwed you could be in a foreign country. But all worked out and with 1 hour delay and a busdriver who ask after 1 hour ride where he actually supposed to head we were almost at our first stop: The barbeque party in some Argentina´s house. The owner just decided to through a party for everybody who wanted to come and as it was somebody´s birthday the owner bought beer and steaks for the most of them. (unluckily no grilled cheese, but this time people were at least to buy warm beer in the Späti next door) So i tackled my hangover from last night with a few beers and it become a really nice get-together with people from all parts of society, ages and regions of Germany and Argentina. The good bye was a kiss for the woman living there for everybody and the last existing steaks as “Schnittchen” for later. When was the last time you invited 70 unknown people to your backyard and when it comes to cleaning up they all get in a bus and you give them food and beer for the road? Arriving in front of the venue the people once again couldnt even wait to party on and sang along the sound check inside which was with the song “Reisefieber”, so an old and popular one, this was promising. I dedicated myself to socialize and to the Späti´s around so once inside It starts to be more of a blur...I remember a few songs, some crowdsurfing, an amazing venue as very wide, once again energized Hosen, more beer(in cans btw) and a few special acts. Is there anything more to ask for? Claro, afterparty, but this is even more of a blur...With many more beer and whatsoever for everybody who was tired or just wanted to be sure to make it a good night we drove through la plata and some other parties over there...At some point i recall 7 people, from which I knew 1 slightly before but good times. At some point at 6 or 7 we returned to BA, I was already sleeping in the car for a while. But the others were still going strong not being tired at the moment. Such a day, no shower, one more sip of beer and straight to bed. I reckon I will never get closer to Punk rock than this before.

Days with the most drinks, usually the ones with the fewest pictures for me ;)

Next day started slowly, ended slowly but again a Coverband concert, Peru tied Argentina, so know it´s very interesting who is going to qualify and another day I made a nice tour through the party area of Palermo with two new friends. The show on Saturday was in a huge venue of 5000-7000 people. The living room of the Ramones, they said. Many other guest, setlist switched again and At least the first third of the concert everybody went crazy once more. With forgoing time, people got more relaxed and only half of the stadium jumped along..I mobilized my last strength and had an amazing time. Meeting people in the crowed I have met during the last week and giving them a possible last high five or smile.

Los hosen more or less announced the location of the aftershow party: the club we went the week before but I called it a night in some bar close to my hostel. A friend gave me his sweater to show once more how welcome I am here. Lots of promises of reuniting in whatever part of the world were mad and at some point I went home to my Hostel. I´m not sure if or when I will see this city and especially all those nice people again. But the times, friendlyness and in all kinds of situation and circumstances they gave me here will always be reminded in my brain and my heart. I now understand when los Hosen say they do not come for the music, they come to meet the people, I seldom received such a warm welcome of different people in various situations in several forms. As always I hope to be able to return the favor in a place where I can show people around and gave them a good time, but for now I can just say thank you!