#SpringFRE2019

[a-pen-in-the-paw]

It wasn’t like fili to miss their prearranged morning meetings: even in the midst of all the work in the garden springtime brought, they’d been able to see each other every day. But now Fili hadn’t met Kili for over a week, and a seed of doubt plants itself in Kili’s mind. 

Very late SpringFre prize for  @kaetien  by @brandywinebridge-twentymiles and myself. We’re sorry for the wait :,( but we really hope you like it :)  

READ HERE

[linane-art]

“Your eyes are as blue as the sea.” Kíli said by way of greeting as he sat down next to Fíli in their usual spot by the water. They had been meeting up right after breakfast for the past few days. Fíli gathered that comparing his eyes to the sea must be a compliment. He vaguely remembered Balin’s lesson on the connection between the Elves and the sea. He would have been more flattered if he’d compared them to…

“Or sapphires, I can’t quite decide”. Sapphires.

Kíli presented him with another flower. Fíli had received about a dozen over the last week. He was not sure what to do with them. They wilted. They smelled strange. He could not keep them as they were so delicate they were only meant to be displayed for short periods of time. And then he had to throw them away. It was bizarre. He was still flattered though.

--- Enchanted by @alwaysfarawayeyes

This is a SpringFRE2019 prize for @alwaysfarawayeyes. Thank you for playing with us, sorry this set took me so long.

[nerdlingmerchling]

On Paper

A britchell manip and drabble

-SpringFre prize for the wonderful @lazysaturdayonthebeach -

By @brandywinebridge-twentymiles and myself

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

Mitchell often thought that his relationship with Anders resembled the beginning of a certain type of old jokes. „A vampire and a god walk into a bar-“

Except that their relationship didn’t turn out to be a joke; it grew more serious than Mitchell could have ever fathomed. And incredibly, the line then took on an even more unforeseen twist - in which the vampire and a god vessel walked down the aisle.

Now their first anniversary was upon them and, once again, Mitchell was reminded that celebrating such occasions with a wholly un-romantic and pissing-on-traditions Anders was an interesting exercise all on its own.

Maybe that was why Anders had come up with the challenge. That they would only gift each other something they could make. He even incorporated Mitchell’s original suggestion that they stick to the traditional present for first anniversaries – paper.

Mitchell was quite proud of what he had assembled for Anders on the eve of their anniversary night, even though one of the items had been a bit of a cheat. Laid out on the glass-top table was a bouquet of paper roses, the old-fashioned kind one used to be able to shoot with an air rifle at town fairs. Mitchell had only been able to find them on eBay, but by then he had been too invested in the idea and doubtful he could make them himself.

Next to the bouquet lay a Yeats poem, one Mitchell had known since his long-gone youth: he’d painstakingly cut out words from magazines to assemble the verses on a fresh piece of paper.

And finally, the wall behind him held a banner which he had also put together. Dawn had looked one up for him on some online craft page and Mitchell had assembled a bit of string and cardstock, ornate letters spelling out “Happy Anniversary”.

He figured he could reuse it each year, provided that the future had more anniversaries in store for them.

His creations didn’t seem like much, put together, but Mitchell was quite happy with the result.

Which was why the homemade card that Anders had left on the table for him in turn felt a bit like an underwhelming effort. Anders was clearly a minimalist: the first page only held one marker-drawn smiley face, albeit with the addition of vampire fangs and one tiny drop of what Mitchell assumed was blood. He chuckled and shook his head as he opened the card, bracing himself for whatever succinct message Anders had deigned to leave for him inside.

The words, sparse and to the point, were pretty much what Mitchell had expected.

“Happy anniversary – here’s to one year of my husband not eating me!”

It was so Anders, cheeky and flippant. And yet Mitchell couldn’t help but feel a little miffed.

“So, what did you get me?” Anders proclaimed as he strode out of the bedroom and looked around, straightening his tie and sliding into his suit jacket. “Oooh, nice banner, Mitch, are you a pinterest mom now? And what’s that?” He picked up the roses and genuine wonder crept into his face. “Where did you get these? I haven’t seen them in ages.”

It was only when he looked to Mitchell for an answer that he spotted his husband’s less-than-enthusiastic expression. “What’s got you scowling? You didn’t like my card?”

Mitchell raised an eyebrow. “It’s definitely an original.”

“I didn’t think you’d appreciate some sappy shit with glitter on it,” Anders replied lightly and picked up the poem. “Besides, glitter was not the theme, anyway.”

“That’s a fucking blessing.” Mitchell kept his lips pursed like a petulant child the whole time Anders stood at the table, eyes flicking over the verses.

“That’s…  neat,” Anders said, somewhat taken aback, and there was a flicker of something strange his eyes. “I like it.” Then he took a long, knowing look at Mitchell. “So, you thought that card was all I got you, huh?”

Mitchell looked up and saw the twinkle in Anders’ eyes. “Maybe.”

“Well, it’s not.” Anders felt around inside his pocket and pulled out a set of photos, handing them to Mitchell. “I got you these, too.”

Mitchell thumbed through them, confusion rising with each second. They all showed Anders, sitting on a sofa with an arm draped around the top of the cushion next to him. Mitchell recognized the sofa and he realized that the shots must have been taken during Ty’s birthday celebration last year – Mitchell had been seated next to Anders on the couch and he could remember Dawn taking pictures at some point during that evening. He had probably forgotten to mention to her that vampires couldn’t be captured on camera, and it seemed she’d passed the prints to Anders after she’d realized that they had failed to depict the whole couple.

“Yeah, great, you’re photogenic,” Mitchell said levelly. “But I’m not sure how this is an anniversary present? I’m a vampire, I’m not even in these.”

Anders was undeterred though, grinning now. “I thought so too, at first. I almost tossed them, but then I realized that actually, you are in there, too.”

Mitchell gave him a dubious look. “Anders, you know that I-“

Anders shushed him and pulled the photos out of his hands, laying them out on the table. “Here,” he pointed at his own smiling face in the photo. He seemed to be looking up at someone next to him, someone who wasn’t there. “See that besotted expression in my face? That’s me staring at your handsome face.” He transferred his finger to another photo. “And here? That’s my arm around your shoulder and I’m probably pulling on one of your curls to annoy you.”

Mitchell could see where this was going, and he could also see that Anders was right. He scanned the rest of the photos and in each of them, there was evidence of Mitchell’s presence there, even if the man himself was invisible. There was Anders’ head tilting sideways when he must have been resting it on Mitchell’s shoulder; in another shot, Anders was leaning forward, likely whispering something lascivious into Mitchell’s ear. In two other pictures he was laughing, his eyes bright as he aimed them, invariably, at the seemingly empty space next to him.

Mitchell felt his bad mood melt in the face of this surprisingly touching display.

“Oh,” was all he managed. He cleared his throat and ventured: “I – I guess I see what you mean.”

“Of course you do, you toss head. Now, I suck at handmade stuff, I think we can both agree on that, so I cheated a bit on my final present too.” He pulled out something else from his inner suit pocket: two small green rectangles. “But technically, it’s paper as well, so I think I can get away with it…”

Mitchell took them and turned them over. They were tickets to see Hozier in a month’s time.

“A dark and brooding Irishman – I figured he’d be right up your alley,” Anders supplied.

“Anders, that’s too much,” Mitchell tried to protest. He stood up to face his husband of precisely one year. He had been acting moody just now, and felt sheepish. Anders hadn’t blown off the anniversary after all.

“You can make it up to me later,” Anders winked and pulled him closer. “Plus, I do know I’m not the easiest person to live with. I meant what I said in the card, you know – about you not eating me.”

Mitchell put his arms around Anders, his fingers skimming the short hair at the nape of Anders’ neck. “We’re the couple of the year, aren’t we? You’re annoying and I’m grumpy. And we suck at celebrating anniversaries.”

“We’ll figure them out eventually,” Anders shrugged. “In a few years, we’ll be pros at this.”

Anders’ casual assumption that there would be future anniversaries was somehow the best gift of all.

“Even if next year’s gift is supposed to be cotton?” Mitchell teased.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… Just so you know, I’m not sewing you anything.” Anders shook his head. “Who came up with that stupid list? Though god knows it would be a good opportunity to get you a few better shirts…”

“Oh, a god knows, huh? And which god would that be?” Mitchell inquired with feigned curiosity.

“The one whose clothes share closet space with yours atrocious ones.”

“Oh, that god,” Mitchell grinned. “You mean, my god.”

“Yes, you old sap. Your one and only witty and slightly annoying deity.”

Mitchell pulled him in for a kiss. “Yeah, well. I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

[gatheringfiki]

Spring FRE 2019 - Prompts Masterlist

Dates

How It Works

Crafters’ Signups

Prompts FAQs

Prompts Masterlist

Prizes Masterlist

Responses Registration

Google Docs Spreadsheet (In Progress)

Workflowy List (In Progress)

AO3 Collection

Responses Masterlist

Winners Masterlist

We have a staggering list of 170 prompts, which for the sake of variety have been arranged in a random order for you. Thank you so much for prompting!

Please read Prompts FAQs carefully before submitting any responses or sending an ask, but let’s cover some basics here:

Please use this registration form for each of your responses!

You don’t need to sign up anywhere to fill a prompt.

You have until 20th of April, midnight GMT to submit your responses.

1 prompt response = 1 raffle ticket. The more prompts you fill the higher your chances of winning something!

When posting your prompt response please clearly mark which prizes you’re going for. You can choose from digital, physical or both.

Use the following tag if you like: #SpringFRE2019. You can also use it to check out all the new content being created :)

Alternatively, you can monitor the Workflowy List which will be updated at minimum once every 24 hours.

For anything going up on AO3 you can use the following Collection

Primary pairing should be Fili/Kili, Anders/Mitchell, DarkHawk or any fictional characters pairing portrayed by Dean or Aidan.

Please tag your trigger warnings, pairing and rating as appropriate!

Prompts under the cut!

Pretty Woman AU

Gutted

FiKi - Doctor Who AU

"You're the words when I have nothing to say."

“We broke a while ago but now we both have to go on a road trip to make all our friends happy, this is harder than I thought” AU

“This tavern is ruthless. Don’t get cocky."

Love letters

Remorse

Chocolate shop AU

There is a sudden snowstorm.

"How could you possibly mess up salad?"

Electroplay kink

A is on the team of Queer Eye, B is the one getting the make-over

FiKi - Coffe. Shop. AU.

There's no sun in summer; there's no flowers in spring.

Character A accidentally sends a booty call text to character B (his HUGE and very straight crush) and is now terrified waiting for an answer (bonus points if they end up doing something very hot)

When kindness kills

Eyes blue as the sea

Excuse me, you're in my seat

They are a perfect team, but there is one thing they just cannot do together without almost murdering each other.

Trembling hands

I'm an horticulturist and I did not intend for you to find out, but I might have named a new flower variety after you.

"I don't think I can love anyone". "Why? Because of what you were doing when we met?"

Post Apocalyptic AU

Proposal

“I’m not jealous! its just…you’re mine!”

"Do it," he said, wrists offered freely, blue eyes blazing. "Tie me up and fuck me." (Someone always in control gives it up)

Dogwalkers AU

Licking

"Please, don't -" "I hope you've gotten better at defending your mind."

A Quiet Place AU

Secret relationship discovered

"Touch me."

"Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?!" "Will you hit me if I say you?" "..." "Yep, no idea. Such a mystery."

First Line: "He waited until his/her husband was out of the room, then..."

A is IT support, B has bad computer karma. However, A gets the feeling that B is sometimes producing IT problems on purpose but doesn’t really mind because he’s kind of cute.

Larping

“Keep sweet-talking and this could go a whole new direction.”

Fili playing acoustic guitair and singing softly

Addicted

"There is something I need and only you can give it to me."

They thought he was dangerous before? Now he's angry.

Are those tomatoes organic?

Black coffee

"Is that -" "Yes." "But-" "Honestly. It's better you don't ask." "Riiiight."

Fili choked on his own blood.

Palovana and Ihte: Palovana is the inner flame, which burns inside us all and allows us to do whatever we desire. It is also connected to Ihte, the Shadow Soul which was believed to burn like a flame as well.

"Bring me chocolates."

"Now listen here. You're the prisoner, I'm the King. It would be great if you'd remember this and STOP GIVING ORDERS TO MY SOLDIERS! They don't know what (writers choice) is, and it's just cruel of you to ask them to find it. Despite the fact I think it's hilarious, I have a reputation to uphold and I can't be seen encouraging this kind of behaviour!"

Mitchell admires Anders' ASSets

Urban Fantasy!AU

Dimples

"You're hungover, you're not dead."

Bakery AU

A murder of crows

Ritualistic sacrificial sex on the altar.

Neighbors across the hall

A contract…

"I hate it when you do that"

Britchell / Ioluke crossover

FiKi - Roman AU (One of them is a sex slave)

Neighbors, and person A is a cat person and person B is a dog person. Fluffy shennanigans ensue.

He found the diary years after Fili had gone.

Drunk Confessions

You're everything I have ever wanted and everything I have never dared to reach for.

Enema kink

Foreign exchange student, Iceland edition

They say that dwarven hearts are made of stone, but Fili isn't so sure.

FiKi - Black Sails AU

One half of author's chosen pairing is going to be invisible for the next three hours. How would he make the most of this time?

I survived the plague by hiding in his/her/their office building, and that's when everything went wrong.

Character A has friends around, including Character B. They're all playing Mario Kart. Fingers crossed all friendships survive unscathed.

Fili looked a mess: split lip, one arm wrapped protectively around his ribs, the way he carefully balanced his weight on his left foot…

“I’m in love.” “You almost killed him.” “I’m. In. Love.”

Someone/thing tries to eat Mikkel!

Time Travelling

"You can't marry her!" "Why not?" "Because I'm in love with you!"

Careful sex because someone is recently injured but still needs a good dicking

Three nouns: rage hole beer.

“Stop laughing and get me out of here!”

“As you can see, I’m bisexual.”

Wanted vs Needed

Person A is wealthy and hires person B to be their new personal chef

Roaring 20s Speakeasy Romance

Dance me into the night, Underneath the moon shining so bright, Turning me into the light

Butt stuff

"Yipee-Ki-Yay Mother-" "If you finish that sentence, I won't be held accountable for my actions."

No, I said I HATE scary movies!

Re-injury of an old wound

YuGiOh AU. Charater A is the champion of (writers choice), Character B is the champion of (writers choice). Pair are fighting for the chance to duel King of Games. Bicker throughout their duel, end up falling for each other.

A is putting up notices about his missing cat. B realises it’s the same cat that moved in with him the other day.

Damp Wood

A secret door

"What are you doing in my bed?"

Noir Detective AU story

“Don’t let it destroy you.”

Royal Nanny

Work contains this line: "If you leave now, you get nothing."

"What do you mean you are allergic to chocolate?!?"

"What the hell is a turducken?!?"

"I can't believe you've never watched the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings!!!"

The prince and the gladiator.

FiKi + hurt/comfort

A siren and a deaf person falling in love?

A character is de-aged.

The lack of sleep was the worst. He swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright.

Mitchell is going to live practically forever, but not everyone he loves will. How does he deal with grief after losing Anders? More importantly, what will make him allow himself to love again?

A accuses B of only liking his butt

Stitches

Friends to Enemies to Lovers (yes, in that order)

"Honey?" "Whaaaaat?" "Where's my Super Suit?"

"Please, don't hurt him. Hurt me instead."

Xenophobia

FiKi - Assassins AU (Gun barrels at pulse points)

Shipwreck

A is a bartender, B is the gloomy patron

A loves the sound B makes when he […]

A King and his Consort. Consort gets kiddnapped by the most idiotic criminals the Kingdom has ever seen. The Consort knows he should be afraid, but kinda feels sorry for these idiots and wonders if he should give them some pointers, just so they can feel like they've achieved something before he busts out of the ropes they forgot to tighten properly.

Anders’ brothers meeting Mitchell for the first time

Demon/Angel AU

The asylum was a place of hope, or so they said.

"Don't you trust me?"

They took everything from him. Now it's time to take back what's his.

"If i had been planning on kissing you, i would have put on some chapstick first."

"I won't let anyone hurt you."

Strange object insertion kink

Moving in together

"They put him in a cage!"

“This was our last chance and you blew it off”

A Fog in the Forest

We are both groomsmen at a wedding and we don't really know each other but we bond over our common hatred for the bridezilla.

"It hurts- all the time. Every second."

“Wings don’t suit you. Horns would look better.”

Person A continues to take music lessons from Person B, despite being tone-deaf just to spend more time with them.

"Why have you stolen all my clothes?"

"There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own." - Edwin Markham

"Tell me you need me."

Victorian AU, loosely based around Desperate Romantics, but with a very different, blond-haired muse… (prefer FiKi, but can be another pairing too)

Army or Police Au. Pairing works together in someway (can be partners, or indirecty) and have crushes on each other but haven't admitted it. There's a big mission/job. One character is injured, the other is trying to protect them until help arrives. Confession time!

Little things

Wild West AU

"It's hard to know what the right thing to do is sometimes. You make knowing that even harder."

Edging kink

Happily Ever After. Or not?...

Gender Swap (Can be one or both characters in the author's chosen pairing.)

Baking competition

Bare wrists and a silk tie

"How could you ask me that?"

The king of the summerland gets lost and wanders into the kingdom of his ennemy : the king of the winterland

"I'm sorry, I'll have to switch you off for this next part."

Dads™

“I’ll kill that son of a bitch who did this to you.”

“I thought you were with her.”

Fitness nerd vs. couch potato

"I didn't think you'd actually do that."

Getting back together after breaking up because of some misunderstanding

“I think you got the wrong number but I like your voice...”

Titanic AU

Court of law AU : they were lovers in law school, but lost touch. They meet again as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer opposing each other in a trial

“Your brother is hot as f*ck!”

“He'll be okay, right?. [Beat. Huge explosion.] Y'know what? Never mind.”

The scars on Kili's skin are the ones that healed; inside he's still an open wound.

"I don't normally do this but for you I make an exception"

"You're doing amazing love, just a little bit longer."

"He's out of commission right now."

Two strangers at a bar accidentally taking each other’s phone and not noticing until after they have both left

“I’m cold.”

He wished that the war never happened. He got his wish, but he still remembers it. No one else does. The one he bared everything for and finally won as his no longer remembers those weeks leading up to Erebor... or does he?

Road trip to where they grew up

.... and there was only one bed

Good luck!

~gatheringfiki

[alwaysfarawayeyes]

Second Spring FRE 2019 prize posted!

I’ve written and posted the second prize I’ve created for the @gatheringfiki Spring Fre 2019! For @vennor this time. It’s a Britchell one-shot. Vennor requested hurt/comfort, but it has become more witty banter and hurt!Anders than actual hurt/comfort. I hope that’s okay!

You can find it on AO3, here.

 @vennor: It was a joy to create something for you. I hope you enjoy it and that it is a good enough distraction from real life :)

[enter-fandom]

Tangled Up In You

Gathering FiKi spring FRE prompt 4: “You're the words when I have nothing to say.”

Fandom: Being Human (UK)/The Almighty Johnsons

Pairing: Anders Johnson/John Mitchell

Rating: Lemon?

Warnings: Self-Doubt, uncertainty,  smut

Theme: Tangled Up In You by Staind

Request: N/A

Words: 841

Status: Fin

Notes: any prize would be fine. First Britchell fic. Urf.

Anders sighed,  slumping back onto his bed and running a hand over his face. Everything felt different now,  without Bragi in the back of his head, without the voice to twist and bend those around him,  to shape his life. He'd forgotten what it was like to not have that, forgotten how a quiet mind felt. He'd never discussed it with his brothers,  had hardly discussed it with Olaf, but being the vessel of the God of Poetry had always made him feel like he had someone, even when he was alone.

The feeling had been overwhelming at first,  but as he'd grown used to it, he had taken comfort in it, until he'd almost lost where he ended and Bragi began. At no point had he even considered he might lose it, had even been excited at the prospect of the presence strengthening when Axl found Frigg, but that wasn't what happened.

It felt like he was going to have to relearn everything about who he was again, though he supposed he wouldn't have to do so alone. Michele had seemed supportive when they parted ways, as well as Axl and Ty. He was still uncertain about Mike but they'd never really gotten on well anyway, even as kids. More importantly,  he had Mitchell.

The vampire had been an intriguing and enjoyable addition to his life from the moment they'd met, when Anders had shared an umbrella with the soaked through man, and one thing had led to another until Anders had taken him into his bed. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Michele he liked the challenge of not being able to Bragi someone into it, and the power had never worked on Mitchell - not really, anyway. He'd said he could feel the pull, but wasn't compulsed.  It had made the vampire laugh.

The bed dipped, and Anders glanced over, drawing his gaze along damp skin, “How're you feeling?”

The former vessel shrugged, and Mitchell’s brow rose. He was so used to Anders talking his ear off that quiet and subdued was a cause for concern. With another sigh, Anders looked back to the ceiling, “It's quiet. For years, I've had this voice in my head that wasn't mine,  talking, guiding, telling me what to say to get what I want, and now it's gone, and it's quiet. All that's left is me.”

Mitchell nodded, shifting to stretch out beside Anders, gently cupping his cheek, guiding his gaze back to his face, “Is that really such a bad thing?”

“Mitchell…”

Chuckling,  Mitchell kissed him softly,  drawing Anders closer, “Bragi was never important to me.  I know he was to you, and I accepted that he was part and parcel if I wanted to have you, but…” He shook his head, slowly moving his hand over Anders's chest, “I can't say I'm not a little relieved to have you now. Just you.”

With a shaky breath, Anders nodded, “I know, Mitchell, I just.” He cut himself off with a frustrated huff, struggling to find the words he needed. Before he could try again, however, Mitchell was kissing him again, fingers deftly undoing the buttons of his shirt.  

“I get it,” he murmured, soothing a cool hand over warm skin, “It's different,  and big. But you're not alone, Anders. I'm not going anywhere, I promise.” Another kiss, as if to reassure Anders he meant what he'd said,  before he slumped into the bed more, pulling Anders closer and taking his hand, “If you want, I could try and drown that quiet.”

He toyed with Anders's fingers,  and the smaller man raised a brow, “And how exactly would you do that?”

The vampire smirked, pushing himself up and over Anders, a hungry look in his eyes that had him hardening quickly, squirming some and breath catching, “Oh.”

“Unless you don't want to,” he offered,  sincerity in his voice even as he ran a hand down to work open his lover's belt.  

“Oh, no. By all means.”

The kiss that followed was far more heated, Mitchell working him free of his clothes without so much as stopping for air, only pulling back to reach into the drawer of the bedside table and retrieve their lube.

He was right though. Once Mitchell started working him open, the silence in his head filled- white noise and thoughts of so good and more and even an unsuspected I love you filled his head, a few even managing to pass his lips, though the most dominant word was simply, “Mitchell.”

The words in his head only got louder as his lover took him, brought him to the edge and held him there until he sobbed out, “Mitchell, please,” before falling over the edge, Mitchell’s name a cry upon his lips.

He settled back into the mattress,  surprised when the other pulled away slowly, smiling down at him, “Better?”

With a soft contented hum, he reached for him, nuzzling in close, “You didn't finish.”

“It wasn't about me. It was about you.”

“Thank you, Mitchell.”

“Any time.”

[kaetien]

***

Trembling hands.

***

[saucywenchwritingblog]

A prompt fill for the GatheringFiKi Spring Raffle Exchange 2019 event! Prompt: Mitchell is admiring Anders' assets.

Physical prizes please!

[bluefire-redice]

You Placed A Bounty On My Heart

Fili had one job to do. One. And thanks to a pack of mutts he's now imprisoned - wrongfully, he'd like to point out - and now has to explain himself to the King of Erebor and hope like hell he's not executed as punishment - that would delay his delivery time somewhat.

Oh and he'd also have to face his father and explain to him why he was near a dwarven kingdom in the first place, considering they were all off limits.

On second thought, imprisonment doesn't sound so bad after all.

Hi all, this is a prize fic for Kaetien from the GatheringFiKi SpringFRE2019 challenge.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

You can read it here

Well wasn’t this fucking typical.    

Frerin had warned him – repeatedly, he might add – not to venture out alone, and certainly never close to a dwarven kingdom lest he be caught.    

And yet here he was; arrested and in irons because he’d gone out alone, near a dwarven kingdom and –      

Oh yeah, he’d been caught.    

He knew he looked a mess; a split lip, one arm wrapped protectively around his ribs, and balancing his weight on his left foot to try and avoid putting pressure on the undoubtedly broken ankle on the right.    

But despite the mild inconvenience of his injuries, he knew he should consider himself lucky – he could have been executed on the spot when the guards ran him down, so… win. Yay him.    

Honestly, it was the story of his life; like, every damn time. He tries to help people? He gets fucked over. He tries to do his job? Someone interrupts. He tries to run away? He gets tackled to the ground by a pack of mutts who then prance around pleased as punch until their idiotic owners arrive to arrest him.    

Seriously, fuck his life.    

[a-pen-in-the-paw]

Jim claims he doesn't care about the prisoner John Silver's ship is carrying towards Cornwall. But that's not quite true. And when it's time for that prisoner to be traded in, Jim faces a hard decision - one that might cost him everything.

Much belated Springfre2019 prize fic for @mysticalbarbariancreation by @brandywinebridge-twentymiles and myself. We really hope you'll like it and we're sorry for the wait.

Read it HERE

[linane-art]

“I know I wasn’t your choice,” Fili interrupted. “I’m not sure why you even kept me. I’m not a pleasure slave. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Kili dropped the hairbrush and scooted forward until his chest was pressed to Fili’s back. He wrapped his arms around Fili’s waist and rested his forehead against the back of Fili’s neck. “You’re wrong,” Kili murmured. “You’re my choice. I’ll always choose you. I love you.”

Fili swallowed past the lump in his throat before whispering, “Princes can’t love slaves.”

Kili pressed a kiss on Fili’s shoulder before resting his chin there. In a teasing tone, he said, “Ah, but see, that’s one of the perks of being a prince. Not many people can tell me what I can or can’t do. And if they try, I don’t have to listen to them.”

That made Fili snort out a laugh. “You’re a spoiled princeling.”

“True, but I’m your spoiled princeling.”

Fili opened his eyes and turned to see Kili smiling smugly at him. With a sigh, he agreed, “My spoiled princeling. I love you too. May Mahal help us both.”

--- Devils of Truth by @saucywenchwritingblog

This is a SpringFRE2019 prize for @saucywenchwritingblog. Thank you for taking part in the Raffle despite such a difficult time for you!

I have recently re-read Devils of Truth and having the flavour of both antiquity AU and forbidden love, I would read another 500 stories just like it, please and thank you.

[nerdlingmerchling]

 A Contract...

based on prompt #58 of the SpringFre2019

Philip Lombard / Anders Johnson 

And Then There Were None / The Almighty Johnsons crossover

____

Aukland, NZ, November 1938. 

Philip Lombard always prided himself with being good at his job. He managed to keep a perfect track record, only leaving behind a trail of dead targets and satisfied clients. He never failed to deliver on a contract and that made him an exception in the world of hitmen. That also explained why he was one of the most sought-after gun-for-hire in the Western world. He had worked for judges, politicians, even royalty. However, everything had changed the night before. His spotless kill sheet, so to speak, had gotten a big stain. For the first time ever, he had gone back to his hotel without having completed his task. His intended target was still alive and kicking.

   New-Zealand was unfamiliar working ground, but that alone could not explain his failure. On paper, the job looked pretty straight forward: a jealous husband wanted his wife’s casual lover dead. The husband happened to be a wealthy businessman, which allowed him to call for Philip’s discreet services. The target himself didn’t look any different than any other man Philip had killed before. From across the lounge of the gentleman’s club, through the smoke of cigars and cigarets, Lombard had spent the first half of the evening following the movements of his future victim like an African wild dog with an unsuspecting wildebeest. Anders Johnson was of average height, a bit on the shorter side; blond, in a sleek tailored suit, cocky and suave-mannered. Johnson had a woman clinging to both his arms and he had had too much to drink. The latter would make him much easier to eliminate. 

 It took only another hour before Johnson decided to bring one of the women to the back alley behind the club. Lombard snuck up on them as they were making out in the shadows of a porch, against the brick wall.  Lombard had pulled his gun out and pointed it toward the woman first. “Get out of here,” he told her, his voice cold. Lombard did not even try to hide his face. She was a prostitute: she would not say anything. She hastened to slip away, leaving Lombard with his target.  The gun was now pointing to Johnson’s chest, but something was wrong. Despite the firearm pointing at him, he did not look afraid, only surprised, and intrigued. “You do not wish to kill me, whoever you are,” he had told Lombard. His voice had a strange echo and it filled Lombard’s senses like ancient music. His arm went limp and he lowered his gun. “You want to go home,” Johnson continued. “You need to go to sleep.” 

“Yes, I need to go back to the hotel,” Lombard heard himself say, “to sleep...” And that’s what he did, leaving Johnson alive, alone in the alleyway.    

Confused and angry, Philip had woken the next day in his hotel bed. Tonight he would have to do it all over again. Somehow he knew Johnson would be back to the same club, at the same hour, despite the threat on his life. He was not afraid of him, and this was something the hitman had never experienced before. This time it was personal. He did not care about his client and his cheating wife. He wanted to know how Johnson had stopped him... why.... who he was... what he was... He had to know. He would not leave Aukland and would keep on coming back to the club until he had an answer.        To be continued...maybe...  (AN/: I wish I had had more time to write more of it and polish it, but life is too crazy these days, so I hope you enjoy this... whatever this is)

[gatheringfiki]

Spring FRE 2019 - Extended!

By popular demand :)

New dates as follows:

Crafters’ Sign Ups: 22nd of February - 1st of March

Lists of Prompts and Prizes go up: 2nd of March, morning

Prompt Responses: 2nd of March - 30th of April

Lists of Responses and Winners go up: 1st of May

Prizes are due: 1st of July

You go, Folks! You show those prompts who’s the boss!

(The Workflowy List isn’t currently up to date, but don’t panic - so long as your entry shows on this Googledocs Spreadsheet, you’re in!)

Happy Easter, everyone!

~gatheringfiki

[alwaysfarawayeyes]

Third and final spring FRE 2019 posted

Done!  I’ve just posted the final prize for the spring FRE 2019 organized by @gatheringfiki

This one is for @mysticalbarbariancreation; thank you for your patience! The prompt was: Mitchell meeting the family and being protective of Anders. I’ve followed the prompt, but Mitchell somehow turned out quite bitter and angry at Anders as well. But it all works out in the end :) @mysticalbarbariancreation: Sorry for the long wait! I hope you enjoy it; it was a fun prompt to work with and I hope I did it justice.  You can find the story on my AO3, here.

[lakritzwolf]

All I wanted was a car

My spring raffle prize fic for @brandywinebridge-twentymiles (whom I cannot tag for some reason) I am so so so sorry for the delay, I simply couldn’t get my mind to cooperate. I hope this is what you had in mind!

The prompt was: Luke as a mechanic who fixes a car for Iolaus. Iolaus then keeps coming back, firstly because he has a crush on Luke and secondly, because he either has terrible luck with his car breaking down or he keeps inventing new mechanical issues....

Pairing: Ioluke Rating: G Characters: Iolaus, Luke Garroway, Hercules, Jason Warnings: - Other tags: Ioluke, Luke the hot mechanic, bad luck with old cars, first dates through shitty friends

All I ever wanted was a car

Coming to Ireland had been a dream for a long time, and one Iolaus had worked long and hard for. He had saved up money for a ticket and everything, and now, after graduation, he had made the dream come true.

True, the beginning was hard. He hadn’t been able to imagine the accent could be that much of a problem on occasion, and he felt terribly lonely at times because he couldn’t just call or face-time his friends or family, due to time zones.

But he had been lucky with his job, at O’Grady’s on the Pier in Barna, just a stone’s throw away from the city of Galway. The owner of the restaurant had been impressed by Iolaus’ determination and courage to leave his country for a year to travel to the other side of the globe, just to see more of the world, broaden his horizon, and learn his future trade in different settings. He had given Iolaus a hand with finding accommodation and a car, which had been a great relief.

So maybe he wouldn’t open a seafood restaurant, but he loved seafood, even if after a few weeks of preparing nothing else, shellfish lost a bit of its appeal. But he knew that the transition from hobby to job required determination and a lot of passion, and he had both; he would open his restaurant in Auckland, or die trying. Maybe that was putting it a bit strong, had made his friends laugh, but at the end of the day there was no alternative for him. He had been dreaming of this since he was twelve.

What he hadn’t expected was that his two best friends followed him after three months, because ‘they had missed him’, which Iolaus kind of doubted was enough to make them spend a fortune to fly across the world. But Jason and Hercules had decided to follow his example and dare to embrace something more of the world than the North and South Island.

Sharing a house had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he needed a lot of complaining and putting his foot down to make the other two look for a job as well because his wage couldn’t cover everything once their savings would run out.

The upside of Barna was that it was cheap, and quiet. The downside was that you needed a car to get anywhere interesting because public transport was a joke. But at least in Ireland they had left-hand traffic, meaning Iolaus didn’t have to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. However, the car he found himself in – both literally and figuratively – turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

Not… as such. Not after Iolaus had found Garroway’s Garage in the north-eastern part of Galway. The first time he had been there was because his windscreen wipers had suddenly stopped working, and the mechanic, one of the most gorgeous men Iolaus had ever seen on either end of the world, had joked that he better fix that soon, being on Irish soil and all.

Iolaus still blushed at the memory of the ‘hullo?’ that had jerked him back into a reality where he wasn’t staring at the mechanic’s abs like a drooling idiot.

In his defence, it wasn’t his fault that it was summer, and the garage didn’t have air conditioning, and he couldn’t really blame the mechanic for taking off his shirt, could he?

‘Let’s hope the weather holds for another day, because I have to get a new motor for the windscreen wipers’, the mechanic had said with a wink.

Iolaus had done his best to not turn into a stuttering mess when the guy had turned around to bend over, his upper body vanishing under the engine bonnet.

Two days later Iolaus got the call from the garage, and an apology from the mechanic that it had taken him so long. Luckily the weather had been kind, so now Iolaus had working windscreen wipers again, even new ones, which the mechanic had changed for free, as compensation for the wait.

But. Windscreen wipers were of no use, really, when the car didn’t start.

“Did you leave the lights on?” Jason asked, arms crossed. They were about to head to town for a ceilidh night in their favourite pub.

“I never leave the lights on,” Iolaus replied testily. “The car is old, but it has an alarm for that, you know?”

All three of them stared at the elderly Fiesta whose previous owner really hadn’t been kind to. In the end a friendly neighbour jumpstarted them, and by the grace and mercy of the gods, the car started on its own when they were heading home.

It didn’t start the next day however when they meant to go for a grocery run. The friendly neighbour helped again, and ever-so-casually mentioned a few really good garages in the city. Iolaus thanked him, and instead of heading for Tesco, he made his way to Garroway’s Garage first.

“It won’t start,” Iolaus explained as the mechanic opened the engine bonnet. “But I was assured that the battery is new.”

The mechanic emitted a confirmative hum as he dived under the bonnet, and Iolaus turned away to look around. He couldn’t decide which was worse: trying not to stare at those abs when talking to him – or attempting to – when explaining his problems, or trying not to stare at that booty when he was working under the engine bonnet.

It really didn’t help when his wandering eyes encountered a pin-up calendar with men in various states of undress. No tits, no girls in underwear on engine bonnets, no, a guy in work overalls with no shirt, holding a massive wrench in front of his body in an almost cringe-worthy innuendo.

“It was a bit of a joke,” the mechanic said, and Iolaus almost jumped out of his skin, lost in contemplation has he had been.

“Huh?” He cleared his throat.

“The calendar.” The mechanic thrust out his chin towards said calendar while wiping his oily hands with a rag. “A friend of mind thought it was funny. Which it kind of is. People do a double take, some think it’s funny, and some never come again. Which is their loss, really.”

Iolaus, after having spent several months now in Ireland, and having also spent years before that getting familiar with the country, knew exactly what the mechanic was talking about, so he just nodded.

“Yeah, their loss,” he said, and flashed the mechanic one of his best Sunday smiles.

Those impressive eyebrows lifted, and his face transformed from a permanent scowl into a brilliant smile that took Iolaus’ breath away for a second.

“Brilliant, mate. I’m Luke, by the way, and I own this ramshackle workshop. I like being my own boss.” He looked at the calendar again.

“Iolaus.” Without thinking, Iolaus offered his hand, and Luke almost took it, but pulled his hand back at the last moment.

“Better not,” he said with a wry grin and showed Iolaus his still oil-stained palm.

Iolaus snorted and nodded, then looked at his car again. “So...?”

“So,” Luke said. “You are right, the battery is new, so it’s either the alternator or the spark plugs. They’re not the newest so I’ll change them, and then we hope that’ll solve the problem.”

“Right.” Iolaus nodded again. “I mean I heard lots of people say that changing spark plugs is no big deal but I’d rather not risk it.” He tried not to look too embarrassed.

“Mate, I prefer someone to not do the fiddling if they don’t know what they’re doing,” Luke said and stuffed the rag into his pocket. “I mean I get to write higher invoices, but it’s a waste of money and resources if you ask me.”

Iolaus kept nodding because he didn’t know what to reply, and Luke got to work changing the spark plugs. The car did start just fine afterwards, three times in a row, so Iolaus paid the bill and did his grocery run trying not to think of perfectly sculpted abs.

The car was fine for exactly three days.

Iolaus assured Mr O’Reilly, the friendly neighbour, that he had been to a garage and gotten the car checked and the spark plugs changed, to which Mr O’Reilly replied that it didn’t seem to have done the job.

“I guess not.” Iolaus watched him remove the jump leads and shook his head. “Off to the garage we go.”

“Good luck!” O’Reilly waved at him.

“Seems like it wasn’t the spark plugs,” Luke said after pushing himself out from under another car.

“Nope. Either that, or something else cropped up.” Iolaus pushed his hands into his pockets.

Luke opened the engine bonnet and rummaged around a little. “Guess I’m gonna have to change the alternator.” Then he looked up. “You’re pouring a lot of money into that rustbucket here.”

“I know.” Iolaus shrugged. “But I don’t have the money to buy a better car. I can only afford to keep this one on the road. Hopefully.”

“I know the feeling.” Luke vanished into his office, and came back a few minutes later with clean hands and a set of car keys.

“I’m gonna head to the junkyard and see if I can find an alternator for you,” he said. “Take a seat in the office, there’s a fan and a coffee maker. Make yourself at home, it shouldn’t be long.”

“Right.” Iolaus nodded, and headed for the office. It was a small room, but it was clean, with a desk covered in papers scattered around an elderly laptop. A radio was playing nineties pop, and the coffee maker made a really good coffee.

It was a bit more than half an hour when he could hear the engine of a large vehicle, and through the window he could see a pick-up truck pulling into the parking lot next to the building, eighties rock blaring out of the open windows. He quickly downed the rest of his coffee and headed back into the garage.

“Found one,” Luke said and immediately set to work.

Maybe he should have gone for another coffee, Iolaus mused as he tried not to stare at Luke’s ass while the latter was working to change the alternator. On the other hand, who could blame a guy for being unable to resist that sort of temptation?

“I... probably see you soon,” Iolaus said hesitantly as he got into the car. “I don’t trust this car.”

“If you do, then it’s not my fault,” Luke replied with a wink and a grin that could light up a whole room.

Iolaus waved and left the garage, did his grocery run, drove back to Barna, put the groceries away, took a shower, and then he fell onto the bed and closed his eyes with a deep, heartfelt groan.

“What’s wrong with you now?”

Iolaus looked up at Hercules who was standing in the doorframe. Since he hadn’t closed the door Iolaus couldn’t possibly complain about a breach of privacy, so he just shook his head.

“I think I have a crush on my mechanic,” he said after a moment.

Hercules snorted under his breath. “Good thing you have such a shitty car then. Gives you all the excuses to hang out around him.”

Iolaus couldn’t think of any reply more mature than sticking out his tongue, and Hercules vanished again with a chuckle while flipping him off.

“Something makes funny noises when I turn the wheel, and earlier I could hardly turn a left because the steering didn’t really react.” Iolaus crossed his arms and barely resisted to give the car a solid kick.

“Cardan joint,” Luke said without a moment’s hesitation. “It’s a Fiesta issue.”

Iolaus rolled his eyes with a heavy huff of breath.

“I should probably give you some sort of regular discount by now,” Luke said with a wink, and Iolaus felt a blush creep onto his cheeks.

Jason and Hercules, who were still in the car, snickered and snorted, and Iolaus spun around and flipped them off with both hands.

“I need a bit more time for that one,” Luke said and gave the car and the two guys inside it a look. “Where do you need to go?”

“Barna,” Iolaus replied. “I guess we can manage to find a bus.”

“I would give you a lift,” Luke said slowly, “but it’s only a three-seater.”

“Oh, I’m sure Iolaus would love to have a coffee with you!” Hercules called from the car as he was getting out.

“Shut up, you bloody asshole!” Iolaus snapped at him, but both Hercules and Jason just snickered.

Luke looked back and forth between a mortified, blushing Iolaus and his two snickering friends, and shrugged. “Yeah, sure, why not?” His grin was bright, but had a trace of malice in it. “I’m sure you two can catch a bus, or a taxi, and we two can have a coffee and I’ll give him a lift home later.”

“Wait what?” Jason sputtered. “That was a joke!”

“Sure, I’d love to,” Iolaus said to Luke with a broad smile, and flipped his friends off again behind his back.

“You wanna wait in the office?” Luke asked, ignoring the two protesting guys. “It’ll be closing time in half an hour anyway.”

“Sure,” Iolaus replied, wiggled his fingers at his friends, and headed for the office again.

Hercules was trying to protest again, but Jason shook his head and dragged him along. Luke kindly gave the two a lift to the main road where they could – hopefully – catch a bus to Barna, and came back to close the workshop.

“Give me a moment,” he said to Iolaus on his way past the office. “I gotta take a shower.”

Iolaus had been leafing in mild interest through a magazine and looked up. “You have a shower here?”

“Yeah.” Luke grinned. “Last year I had an incident with a burst oil tray, and I had to drive home covered in engine oil smears. Had to cover the driver’s seat in plastic bags and shit. After that I got the shower installed.”

Iolaus nodded weakly and tried desperately not to think about Luke under a shower, with only moderate success.

Luke drove them to a small cafe on the outskirts of Galway, and on the way they engaged in a bit of small talk. So Iolaus learned that Luke had inherited the garage from his father, was single, and also had a Harley who he affectionately called his baby. He also was very impressed by Iolaus’ story, and freely admitted to also being a little jealous.

“I always wanted to see the world, you know?” Luke said after the waitress had brought them their drinks. “But somehow it never happened, and now I’m self-employed, and while I don’t have to skimp and save, I don’t think I could afford to close the garage for any significant amount of time. Apart from the fact that I can’t really save up much.”

“Too bad,” Iolaus replied with a small grin. “I’d have totally given you a tour of Auckland, or the whole of New Zealand for that matter.”

“One day, maybe,” Luke said with a wistful smile.

“One day,” Iolaus replied.

“I swear I am not making this up!”

Luke chuckled as he wiped his hand after closing the engine bonnet of a minivan. “What is it this time?”

“It kind of wobbles in every bend and when I make a turn. And it makes crunching noises at the front right.”

“Shocks,” Luke said with a nod.

“I don’t find it very shocking for that bloody banger.” Iolaus crossed his arms.

Luke snorted and shook his head with a small laugh. “A banger is a sausage, mate, and a shock is a part of your car. The shock absorber.”

Iolaus stared at him. Luke smiled back.

“Right,” Iolaus said after a moment, wanting the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

Behind him in the car, Jason and Hercules were laughing so hard they were about to suffocate.

Dropping his head with a heavy sigh, Iolaus shook his head. “Right,” he said again. “I hate this car.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Luke said with a wink before getting to work.

“It’s making funny noises again,” Hercules remarked on their way to Galway.

“I can hear it’s making funny noises,” Iolaus replied testily. “But I can’t afford to go to the garage every fucking week!”

The noise increased in volume, and Iolaus caved in. The car sounded like a motorbike without a muffler by the time he pulled into the parking space in front of Luke’s garage.

“Jaysus,” Luke said, meeting them halfway in a hurry. “You’re losing your exhaust pipe, mate.”

Iolaus shook his head with a sigh.

“Probably got rattled lose when you were driving around with a broken shock,” Luke said then and got into the car to get it onto the car hoist.

After a few minutes of examination he headed over again to where they were waiting at the edge of the open garage doors.

“Good news,” Luke said. “You don’t need a new pipe; I can weld that into place again.” Then he gave Iolaus a long look. “You really should consider getting another car, though.”

“And miss out on getting to meet you every week?” Hercules said with a shit-eating grin, and Iolaus tried to kick his shin but Hercules nimbly evaded the move.

“You know,” Luke began in what was almost a drawl, “you could’ve just said so instead of throwing that much good money after bad.”

“I swear it’s the car, not me!” Iolaus yelled in a mix of despair and embarrassment and spun around. “And you can go fuck yourselves!!”

“Yeah... sorry for the joke, couldn’t resist.” Luke gave Iolaus a small, almost hopeful smile. “So... I know you’re probably busy during the weekend, working in a restaurant and all, but how about dinner on Monday?”

Iolaus was just about to yell again at his friends and spun around, but it took him a moment to remember to shut his mouth again.

“Ah...” He cleared his throat. “Dinner on Monday?” He managed to rally himself. “Absolutely. Sounds great.”

“Crackin’. You still got my business card?”

Iolaus nodded and pulled out his wallet.

“Nice,” Luke replied. “Text me your address, and I pick you up on Monday. Six okay?”

“Six is perfect,” Iolaus replied, still trying to catch up. Did he really just snatch himself a date with his gorgeous mechanic?

“Right.” Luke rubbed his hands. “Duty calls.”

Luke welded the exhaust pipe, and sent Iolaus on his way with a cheerful ‘See you on Monday!’ before heading back into his workshop.

“Did you just.” Jason said after almost ten minutes of silence in the car on their way back to Barna.

“Did I just what?” Iolaus replied smugly.

“Get a dinner invitation from a gorgeous mechanic?”

“Gorgeous?” Iolaus cast a quick glance into the rear view mirror at him. “I thought you’re straight?”

“I can appreciate beauty when I see it,” Jason replied. “Also you should thank Hercules for setting the mood.”

“I thank Hercules when he stops laughing every time he looks at me,” Iolaus shot back. But he was grinning nonetheless.

Luke and Iolaus had a great evening that Monday. And went for a coffee that Friday afternoon. And for another dinner the Monday after. And brunch on Sunday the week after that, because Iolaus had the weekend off.

They took a trip to Dublin the next time Iolaus had a free weekend.

Jason and Hercules had long since stopped making jokes. They also had to leave again long before Iolaus had planned to go back to New Zealand, but this time around, Iolaus found himself not nearly as lonely.

“You know,” Luke said one evening, as they were watching the sunset together, “I really should thank your car for being such an excellent matchmaker.”

“I could’ve done without throwing so much money out, though,” Iolaus said and snuggled closer, resting his head against Luke’s shoulder.

“Well.” Luke nuzzled his golden curls. “I took you out to dinner a few times. So maybe it’s not that bad?”

Iolaus lifted his head to look up at him. “No,” he said softly. “It’s really not that bad.”

“Happy to hear that,” Luke replied equally softly, before he closed the distance between them for a sweet and tender kiss.