#a trick of the light

[the-darkdragonfly]

NEW CHAPTER! A Trick of the Light

Chapter Twelve: Back Again

I know I know! But we're here now...

♥️♥️♥️♥️

The baby bag, which had begun to feel like another family member to Emma and himself ever since they had received it as a gift from Ruby, always filled to the brim with toddler approved snacks- I think those are meant to be given to Hope, Swan- which Emma had delighted in stealing- I’ve told you, toddler snacks and Emma snacks are the same thing, babe- lay toppled at Killian’s feet, having tumbled down from where he had tossed it haphazardly before they set sail from the small harbour only moments before, and when he knelt to retrieve it, Hope teary faced and reaching for him, something crinkled from the one of the outermost pockets. 

At the familiar noise, Emma sat up from her place against the wall, Hope having crawled into her lap the moment she had sunk to the floor, eyes suddenly clear as she whispered exaggeratedly slowly at him- is that a fruit snack?- as if their children wouldn't be interested in what she was saying when the word ‘snack’ was involved if she said it slowly enough. 

Hope cried again, her face scrunched in annoyance hands grabbing towards him- come here, little lovie, that was scary, I know, I’m sorry- whispering a broken plea for snacks against his neck, her curls tickling the skin on his throat, her speech less pronounced, softened as it had been when she was so much younger. 

Emma shuffled Liam into her vacated lap, plucking the boy gently from where he’d been laying against her thigh, happily chewing on the corner of the rug- oh, baby, no, that’s yucky- and reached into the bag, eyes wide with excitement. 

A veil of memory swam before Killian’s eyes, cool and refreshing, soft around the edges as the tension which had carried them away from the curse of Camelot cleared like morning fog from a lake, a memory of Emma several months earlier, pregnant in their Storybrooke kitchen, a scowl on her lovely face. 

“Can you put this somewhere?” Emma had huffed in annoyance, handing him the bag of generic brand sour soothers- they’re better than the big famous ones, babe- her third that week if he’d been keeping track properly, which, he knew, he probably hadn’t been. 

“Where shall I put them, then, love?” 

“Somewhere I can’t get them, I’m obsessed. It has to stop.” 

He privately agreed, but two pregnancies had taught him that honesty wasn’t always the best course of action, and he took the package from her outstretched hand- you’re a pirate, you have to be good at hiding treasure- raising an eyebrow. 

“I might not have to hide them, Swan…” 

“What do you-” she didn’t get to finish the remainder of her question as his smile widened in mischief and he dropped the package at her feet, her belly ensuring the task of retrieving the treats nearly impossible- if you can get them, then you’ve earned them, love. 

“Wow.” 

♥️♥️♥️♥️

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[junejasprose-addict]

I'm gonna edit soft fuzzy man so that each instance of the word "man" is replaced with "girl" and then make a june egbert fancam out of that

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 4: A Trick of the Light

Fandom: Inception

Pairing: Robert Fischer x OC

Summary: Alice has an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night.

Word Count: 1,471

Notes: No warnings.

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At first, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was that had woken her up. Eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, Alice groaned in annoyance and rolled over, scrunching up her face when she blinked sleepy eyes at the digital clock on the nightstand.

Rain was falling from the sky in tiny pitter-patters against the roof and sides of the house. The weather had been horrid the past couple of days, a loud rumble of thunder seemed to agree with her musings. Maybe that was what had woken her up? Or perhaps the wind? Pulling the blankets more tightly around herself, Alice sunk back into her pillow and allowed her eyes to drift shut.

A soft tapping rattled at her window. Brow furrowing grumpily, she pulled the heavy comforter out from where she had tucked it under her chin and pulled it up over her head. It was probably just the wind or some stupid animal.

A loud thunk against the glass made her jump. What the hell?

Sitting up and groaning rather dramatically, she shuffled towards the window groggily. A fist rubbing at her eyes, she hesitated before pulling back the curtain. What if it was a burglar trying to break in? Perhaps she should go get her brother’s baseball bat from the closet in the hall…

Another thunk sounded, this time followed by a familiar voice hissing out in a shouting whisper. 

“Alice!”

Oh, really?

Shoulders slumping, both in relief at it not being an ax murderer banging on her window, and in utter incredulousness, she pulled aside the curtain. Robert was leaning against the window, knuckles tapping lightly against the glass. He had his hood pulled up to cover his head, but it was thoroughly soaked through and sticking to his wet hair. Rain droplets ran down his face like tears. He flashed her a sheepish smile. “Hi.”

Unlatching the lock and pushing the window open, Alice stuck her head out. She really did need to remind her father to replace the missing screen. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Nice to see you too. Can I come in, please? It’s cold.”

She leaned back so that he could climb in through the window. It was lucky that her bedroom was on the ground floor of the house. She shuddered to think of how things would have gone had he attempted to climb a tree or the drainpipe.

“Robbie, what’re you doing here?” she closed and re-latched the window as soon as he was inside. Robert shrugged his backpack from his lanky shoulders to sit on the floor by his feet. Alice bent down to flick on her bedside lamp, flooding the little bedroom with light and revealing poor Robert to be utterly soaked to the bone, his clothes sticking to his skin as he shivered.

“Dad was being a dick,” came his explanation, hand pushing wet strands of dark hair back off of his forehead. He would need a haircut soon; it was starting to get long.

“Did you walk all the way here?” she fussed. It wasn’t an especially long walk–only about fifteen minutes or so–but still. She hated the idea of him walking around in the dark. Particularly in the rain. Robert shrugged. 

“Just had to get out of there,” he mumbled, looking away from her and down at his shoes. “‘M sorry,” her heart broke for him as she shuffled forward, wrapping her arms around his trim middle in a tight hug. For the slightest of moments he attempted to protest, mumbling something about getting her pajamas all wet, but she ignored him and a moment later his protests ceased, body slumping in happy acceptance of her embrace. 

“It’s okay,” she rubbed his back. He had gotten a lot taller than her over the last two years, head now coming to rest on top of hers rather than on her shoulder like it used to. Strange, to think that there had been a time when they were children when she was actually taller than him. With slight alarm, she realized that he was still shivering. “Stay here and try to warm up. I’ll go see if I can find you some extra clothes.”

Robert shook his head, stooping to riffle through his backpack. “I brought some,” he pulled out a shirt and sweatpants. Mostly dry, thanks to the protection offered by the backpack.

“Okay. Get changed. I’ll be right back,” she gave him a final squeeze around the ribs before exiting her room and tip-toeing to the linen closet in the front hall to grab a towel. Venturing as quietly as she could into the kitchen, she brewed two cups of instant hot cocoa. It would give Robert enough time to change, and hopefully the hot liquid would help to warm him up. 

Opening the door to her bedroom revealed Robert seated on her bed. Now in his dry clothes, he looked significantly better, fiddling with his hands as his eyes scanned over the posters plastered to the walls and the knick knacks scattered atop her desk and bookshelf.  

“Here,” Alice tossed him the towel. Catching it easily, he rubbed it over his damp hair. Closing the door softly behind her, she shuffled forward to take a seat beside him. Leaving the towel draped around his shoulders to catch any remaining moisture, pale fingers wrapped around the handle of the mug she offered him as Robert gave her a grateful, still sheepish smile.

“Thanks.”

“Mhm,” humming in response, she took a tentative sip from her mug. The last thing she wanted was a burnt tongue. Head knocking against his shoulder, she wrapped an arm around him. “You okay?”

Robert shrugged. “Yeah,” he said, in the most unconvincing voice she had ever heard. Alice rubbed at his shoulders, drawing him in close until his head was resting on her shoulder. A sigh rattled through his lungs. “If your dad catches me in here, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Eh,” she gave a noncommittal shrug. “Pros of being the forgotten middle child. They always forget after about a day that they’ve grounded me.”

Robert laughed softly. “I’ll sneak out through the window in the morning. Ring the doorbell and act like I’ve just shown up to study or something.”

“Good plan.”

They remained in comfortable silence for a while, sipping from their mugs. Robert remained snuggled against her side. Probably for the warmth.

“We should run away,” Alice declared. Robert snorted.

“Where?”

“I dunno. Europe, maybe?”

“Dad would probably be relieved,” his voice was so sad and small. She squeezed him tight to her again.

“Mine probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone.”

Robert’s arm wound around to squeeze her back. Leaning heavily against each other, the two teenagers listened as the rain beat down powerfully from overhead. Finally, Alice gave him a soft nudge.

“C’mon. I’m tired.”

“I can sleep on the floor–”

“No. It’s alright. I’m tiny, we’ll both fit,” she said, setting her finished mug on the nightstand and pulling back the blankets of her tiny twin sized bed so she could burrow underneath them. Robert looked like he was contemplating something, brow furrowed. “Robert?”

“Yeah,” he settled his mug down next to hers, scooting to join her in the bed. It took some awkward maneuvering until they were able to find a position that they were both comfortable in. Alice sighed, biting her lip as she forced herself not to focus too much on how closely pressed together they were. Had she not been so tired, she would have been flustered at having him so close, her head tucked up against his chest. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t a big deal. They had slept in the same bed together all the time as children.

Robert coughed a bit awkwardly, arms coming to rest around her stiffly. “Alright, then. Good-night.”

“Good-night.”

She settled down in the bed, warm and comfortable. Or she would be, if Robert would stop fidgeting. After a few minutes of him not settling, she kicked him–more of a hard nudge, actually–in the shin.

“Stop moving,” she complained. He immediately stilled.

“Sorry.”

“‘S okay,” she slurred sleepily. Shifting one last time, he nestled up against her. There was a long stretch of silence, the only sounds being their breathing and the wind outside.

“Hey, Alice?”

“Mm?”

“...Thank you.”

She chanced a peek up to find him looking at her with a funny expression on his face. In a sudden burst of courage, she slipped an arm around his waist to hold him closer. 

“Of course.” 

They fell asleep like that. And in the morning, Alice would tell herself that the look of soft longing that had passed across Robert’s face when he had looked down at her was nothing more than a trick of the light and an exhausted mind.  

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Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

[total-derangement-of-the-senses]

Song of the Day

10 Jun., ‘24

[downthetubes]

Crowdfunding Spotlight: "The Kissing Gate" by Ally Fell

Comic creator and illustrator Aly Fell has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Kissing Gate, a haunting new graphic novel - and it's smashed its initial target

Manchester-based comic creator and illustrator Aly Fell has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Kissing Gate, a follow-up to A Trick of the Light, the award-winning graphic novel/comic he published in 2021. The crowdfunder for the beautiful-looking graphic novel has, deservedly, smashed it initial target. A 64 page book in black and white, with some pages in colour, The Kissing Gate is…

[serenityfails]

still haven’t gotten a chance to write the funniest joke in ‘a trick of the light’.... i must return to her one day....

[mollybeenoel]

Via Cats with Pawerful Aura (catswithaura) on X/Twitter

[brucedinsman]

Book Review: A Trick of the Light by Carolyn Brown

                  A Trick of the Light (Angels & Outlaws, #3) A Trick of the Light by Carolyn Brown KindleMy rating: 5 of 5 starsSpring Fever! Did you see right at the end of the book there were 3 marriages? Tempie and Micah were a long time coming. Constance was really a vindictive woman pursuing her man, poisoning 1 rival and shooting a second. But I loved the ghost thing Tempie pulled on…

[halloween-sweets]

[the-darkdragonfly]

NEW CHAPTER! A Trick of the Light

Chapter Eleven: Home Winds

Hello lovelies! I think we all owe a HUGE thanks to @donteattheappleshook for making sure I stayed on track for this long overdue chapter ♥️

♥️♥️♥️♥️

“So,” Emma said over a mouthful of toast- would you like some bread with your honey, love?- Hope lying at her feet under the table, happily singing old tavern songs Emma pretended not to hear. “Let me get this straight.” 

The Knights has called a Round Table, Emma snorting into her tea as the paige delivered the request for Killian’s presence- it’s just just such a wonderful use of corporate jargon, that’s all- to discuss the future of the kingdom, and to catch the new king up on anything and everything they felt he needed to know. 

Which was practically everything, much to his chagrin. 

“No one knows where Arthur is.” 

“Correct.” 

“No one knows what happened to Merlin.” 

“Correct.” 

“No one has seen or heard from Lancelot in ‘they can’t remember how long’.” 

“Correct again, love.” 

A small hand appeared beside Killian’s elbow and he leaned down to nip gently at the wiggling fingers, the hand disappeared at the same time as Hope’s manic giggling broke the comfortable quiet from beneath the wooden frame before her small hand reappeared, trying again. Killian smiled and pressed a slice of apple into her waiting palm- what do we say, lovie?- and her voice floated up to them amid the crunching of her treat- t’anks, daddy. 

Emma grinned wickedly at him for a moment and he narrowed his eyes at her- no, Swan, don’t- before she flicked her hair, correcting him as she usually did- Jones- and tucking the inevitable daddy comment away for future yielding.  

♥️♥️♥️♥️

Read the rest here.

Read my other stuff here.

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[peacefulandcozy]

ig credit: austinrutland

[mischievouslittlecreature]

A Trick of the Light

Fandom: Inception

Pairing: Robert Fischer x OC

Summary: Alice has an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night.

Series: Part 4 of Hiding Here Inside a Dream

Word Count: 1,475

Notes: Alice and Robert are teenagers in this and not dating yet.

Main Masterlist

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At first, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was that had woken her up. Eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, Alice groaned in annoyance and rolled over, scrunching up her face when she blinked sleepy eyes at the digital clock on the nightstand.

Rain was falling from the sky in tiny pitter-patters against the roof and sides of the house. The weather had been horrid the past couple of days, a loud rumble of thunder seemed to agree with her musings. Maybe that was what had woken her up? Or perhaps the wind? Pulling the blankets more tightly around herself, Alice sunk back into her pillow and allowed her eyes to drift shut.

A soft tapping rattled at her window. Brow furrowing grumpily, she pulled the heavy comforter out from where she had tucked it under her chin and pulled it up over her head. It was probably just the wind or some stupid animal.

A loud thunk against the glass made her jump. What the hell?

Sitting up and groaning rather dramatically, she shuffled towards the window groggily. A fist rubbing at her eyes, she hesitated before pulling back the curtain. What if it was a burglar trying to break in? Perhaps she should go get her brother’s baseball bat from the closet in the hall…

Another thunk sounded, this time followed by a familiar voice hissing out in a shouting whisper. 

“Alice!”

Oh, really?

Shoulders slumping, both in relief at it not being an ax murderer banging on her window, and in utter incredulousness, she pulled aside the curtain. Robert was leaning against the window, knuckles tapping lightly against the glass. He had his hood pulled up to cover his head, but it was thoroughly soaked through and sticking to his wet hair. Rain droplets ran down his face like tears. He flashed her a sheepish smile. “Hi.”

Unlatching the lock and pushing the window open, Alice stuck her head out. She really did need to remind her father to replace the missing screen. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Nice to see you too. Can I come in, please? It’s cold.”

She leaned back so that he could climb in through the window. It was lucky that her bedroom was on the ground floor of the house. She shuddered to think of how things would have gone had he attempted to climb a tree or the drainpipe.

“Robbie, what’re you doing here?” she closed and re-latched the window as soon as he was inside. Robert shrugged his backpack from his lanky shoulders to sit on the floor by his feet. Alice bent down to flick on her bedside lamp, flooding the little bedroom with light and revealing poor Robert to be utterly soaked to the bone, his clothes sticking to his skin as he shivered.

“Dad was being a dick,” came his explanation, hand pushing wet strands of dark hair back off of his forehead. He would need a haircut soon; it was starting to get long.

“Did you walk all the way here?” she fussed. It wasn’t an especially long walk–only about fifteen minutes or so–but still. She hated the idea of him walking around in the dark. Particularly in the rain. Robert shrugged. 

“Just had to get out of there,” he mumbled, looking away from her and down at his shoes. “‘M sorry,” her heart broke for him as she shuffled forward, wrapping her arms around his trim middle in a tight hug. For the slightest of moments he attempted to protest, mumbling something about getting her pajamas all wet, but she ignored him and a moment later his protests ceased, body slumping in happy acceptance of her embrace. 

“It’s okay,” she rubbed his back. He had gotten a lot taller than her over the last two years, head now coming to rest on top of hers rather than on her shoulder like it used to. Strange, to think that there had been a time when they were children when she was actually taller than him. With slight alarm, she realized that he was still shivering. “Stay here and try to warm up. I’ll go see if I can find you some extra clothes.”

Robert shook his head, stooping to riffle through his backpack. “I brought some,” he pulled out a shirt and sweatpants. Mostly dry, thanks to the protection offered by the backpack.

“Okay. Get changed. I’ll be right back,” she gave him a final squeeze around the ribs before exiting her room and tip-toeing to the linen closet in the front hall to grab a towel. Venturing as quietly as she could into the kitchen, she brewed two cups of instant hot cocoa. It would give Robert enough time to change, and hopefully the hot liquid would help to warm him up. 

Opening the door to her bedroom revealed Robert seated on her bed. Now in his dry clothes, he looked significantly better, fiddling with his hands as his eyes scanned over the posters plastered to the walls and the knick knacks scattered atop her desk and bookshelf.  

“Here,” Alice tossed him the towel. Catching it easily, he rubbed it over his damp hair. Closing the door softly behind her, she shuffled forward to take a seat beside him. Leaving the towel draped around his shoulders to catch any remaining moisture, pale fingers wrapped around the handle of the mug she offered him as Robert gave her a grateful, still sheepish smile.

“Thanks.”

“Mhm,” humming in response, she took a tentative sip from her mug. The last thing she wanted was a burnt tongue. Head knocking against his shoulder, she wrapped an arm around him. “You okay?”

Robert shrugged. “Yeah,” he said, in the most unconvincing voice she had ever heard. Alice rubbed at his shoulders, drawing him in close until his head was resting on her shoulder. A sigh rattled through his lungs. “If your dad catches me in here, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Eh,” she gave a noncommittal shrug. “Pros of being the forgotten middle child. They always forget after about a day that they’ve grounded me.”

Robert laughed softly. “I’ll sneak out through the window in the morning. Ring the doorbell and act like I’ve just shown up to study or something.”

“Good plan.”

They remained in comfortable silence for a while, sipping from their mugs. Robert remained snuggled against her side. Probably for the warmth.

“We should run away,” Alice declared. Robert snorted.

“Where?”

“I dunno. Europe, maybe?”

“Dad would probably be relieved,” his voice was so sad and small. She squeezed him tight to her again.

“Mine probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone.”

Robert’s arm wound around to squeeze her back. Leaning heavily against each other, the two teenagers listened as the rain beat down powerfully from overhead. Finally, Alice gave him a soft nudge.

“C’mon. I’m tired.”

“I can sleep on the floor–”

“No. It’s alright. I’m tiny, we’ll both fit,” she said, setting her finished mug on the nightstand and pulling back the blankets of her tiny twin sized bed so she could burrow underneath them. Robert looked like he was contemplating something, brow furrowed. “Robert?”

“Yeah,” he settled his mug down next to hers, scooting to join her in the bed. It took some awkward maneuvering until they were able to find a position that they were both comfortable in. Alice sighed, biting her lip as she forced herself not to focus too much on how closely pressed together they were. Had she not been so tired, she would have been flustered at having him so close, her head tucked up against his chest. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t a big deal. They had slept in the same bed together all the time as children.

Robert coughed a bit awkwardly, arms coming to rest around her stiffly. “Alright, then. Good-night.”

“Good-night.”

She settled down in the bed, warm and comfortable. Or she would be, if Robert would stop fidgeting. After a few minutes of him not settling, she kicked him–more of a hard nudge, actually–in the shin.

“Stop moving,” she complained. He immediately stilled.

“Sorry.”

“‘S okay,” she slurred sleepily. Shifting one last time, he nestled up against her. There was a long stretch of silence, the only sounds being their breathing and the wind outside.

“Hey, Alice?”

“Mm?”

“...Thank you.”

She chanced a peek up to find him looking at her with a funny expression on his face. In a sudden burst of courage, she slipped an arm around his waist to hold him closer. 

“Of course.” 

They fell asleep like that. And in the morning, Alice would tell herself that the look of soft longing that had passed across Robert’s face when he had looked down at her was nothing more than a trick of the light and an exhausted mind.  

Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

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Series: Part 4 of Hiding Here Inside a Dream

Main Masterlist

[1-800-poetic]

Via Suki Kawaii on X/Twitter

[notdysfunk]

I have a vision....

[snapscube]

NO FUCKING WAY

[neon-halloween]

Take one!