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sourcherryandsprinkles · 8 months ago

Note

Helloo how are you? Can you write Jacaerys Velaryon and the female Snow reader? The reader may be Cregan's (older or not) sister. Thank you in advance 🌸

I started this one when the first images of Jacaerys from season 2 came out... I apologize for taking so long, but it's 3.5k words, so it should make up for the wait

Warnings: nudity (skinny dipping), implied cheating

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

The visit of a prince in the North was unusual, but necessary. The new-crowned Queen needed to know if the Lord of Winterfell — Cregan Stark — was supporting her claim. So, she sent her eldest son, Jacaerys, as messenger.

Without surprise, the northmen were a little shaken when they saw the prince arriving on Vermax. Most of them had never seen a dragon. Some were afraid, others intrigued by the ‘large beast’, as they called it. The name made Jacaerys laugh. Vermax was nothing to be scared of in size, there were much bigger dragons.

Ones they should be scared of.

The day of his arrival, Cregan kindly showed the prince around Winterfell — the courtyards, the horses. However, the visit ended rather quickly as he noticed Jacaerys was getting cold walking around in his riding clothes. The leather was thick enough to keep him warm through the winds when on dragonback, but not for the dry cold and snow.

‘’Let’s continue the visit in the morrow,’’ Cregan suggested. ‘’We have a chamber prepared for you. I imagine you would like to retire and warm up before we gather for dinner. I hope you like boar. My men and I hunted this one only days ago. It’s not everyday a prince graces us with his presence!’’

Jacaerys nodded appreciatively, trying to suppress his shivers. ‘’Thank you, Lord Stark. I will let the Queen know of your warm welcome when I return.’’

Cregan chuckled. ‘’Speaking of warmth. I’ll have someone bring you warmer clothes — a cloak and gloves — to your chamber so you won’t lose a finger or two during your stay.’’

‘’That’s very kind of you,’’ the prince replied, smiling at Cregan’s humor. His breath formed small clouds in the cold air as he spoke.

The Nortman walked him to his chamber, then left Jacaerys to himself. Looking around the room, he noticed how small and dark it was compared to the ones at the Red Keep or on Dragonstone. There was a large hearth already ablaze with a roaring fire, and the bed was draped in thick furs, promising a warm night’s rest.

Before he could sit by the fire to catch some warmth, there was a knock at the door.

It must be the clothes Cregan offered for him.

‘’Come in!’’

The door creaked open, and you stepped in, the heavy wooden frame groaning in protest. The warmth of the fire hit you as you entered the chamber, holding a dark cloak lined with a fur collar. ‘’Prince Jacaerys,’’ you greeted, dipping your head respectfully. ‘’Here are the clothes my brother promised you.’’

Jacaerys turned, surprise flickering across his face. Brother? He didn’t know Lord Cregan had a sister.

He thanked you and took the clothes from you, your fingers brushing slightly, then set them down on the bed behind him. He’ll look at them later.

‘’How do you like Winterfell so far?’’ you asked, trying to make conversation, and mask the sudden flush on your cheeks. You couldn’t deny, the prince was handsome. He also didn’t look much like a Targaryen with his dark curls and eyes, but you didn’t comment on that.

‘’I have never seen snow before,’’ he admitted, glancing towards the frost-covered window.

You chuckled softly, his answer common from someone from the south. ‘’It must be cold up there for a boy of the south.’’

Jacaerys nodded, rubbing his hands together. ‘’Dragons don’t like the cold.’’

‘’I heard my brother has planned a visit to the Wall. I suggest you double up on the layers and wear knit under your clothes,’’ you advised.

The fire crackled in the hearth, echoing in the small room, slowly warming up Jacaerys. He forced a smile, honestly not looking forward to this trip to the wall. To an even colder climate. ‘’I appreciate the advice. I'll make sure to stay warm.’’

‘’Don’t be afraid to ask for more. We wouldn’t like to be held responsible for a prince’s frostbites.’’

During dinner, politics were not discussed. Instead, Cregan bragged about the boar you were eating, which he himself hunted a couple of days ago.

‘’Have you ever been hunting, Prince Jacaerys?’’

Jacaerys shook his head. He heard of the royal hunt, but never participated himself. He found it barbarous. ‘’I have not, Lord Stark,’’ he replied, his voice steady but polite.

He didn’t want to sound privileged, but all meat was bought and brought to Dragonstone. There was no need to learn how to hunt when you were born in royalty.

Cregan raised an eyebrow. ‘’All men should know how to hunt!’’ he stated firmly, slapping the table for emphasis. ‘’My father took me on my first boar hunt at fourteen. There's something primal about the hunt. The chase, the kill...it's in our blood. It’s part of becoming a man.’’

Jacaerys paused, taking a sip of his wine. ‘’We don’t hunt in the south, but my father taught me how to wield a sword.’’

On his first night, sleep turned out to be difficult to find. Jacaerys tossed and turned under the soft fur blankets, the crackling fire nearby providing warmth but no comfort. Frustrated, he slipped out of his bed, deciding that a walk might help clear his restless mind.

As he wandered through the quiet corridors of the castle, the cool night air coming through the windows brushing against his skin, he noticed someone else up and about, leaning against the banister. Jacaerys assumed it was a woman working for the Starks — a maid, perhaps —, but as he got closer, he recognized you.

‘’Couldn't sleep either?’’ Jacaerys asked, his voice cutting through the silence of the night.

You jumped, pulling your cloak tighter around you. ‘’Prince Jacaerys.’’ Your heart was beating fast in your chest, startled by the prince. No one was ever up at this hour of the night.

‘’I apologize, Miss Stark. I did not mean to scare you.’’

‘’All is well,’’ you assured, offering a small smile. ‘’Is the bed not comfortable enough for a prince?’’

Jacaerys shook his head. ‘’Nothing wrong with the bed, sleep just won't come,’’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘’You have not answered my question?’’

You exhaled a deep breath and sat on the bench overlooking the courtyard. ‘’Too much on my mind.’’

Jacaerys joined you on the bench, the cool night air brushing against your faces as you asked him about Vermax. You had seen him flying over the hills a few minutes ago, but had since gone to sleep somewhere close to the castle. Your curiosity surprised Jacaerys, but he was happy to tell you all about Vermax. How he hatched, how they bonded, and even his first ever ride.

‘’Just because my parents are dragon riders doesn’t mean I wasn’t terrified on my first flight. Trust is important when riding a dragon. There are possibilities of falling off and dying. But I trusted Vermax,’’ Jacaerys explained.

You could sense the bond between him and Vermax was more than just rider and dragon. It was a deep, unspoken connection.

‘’How does it feel like?’’

Jacaerys' face brightened. ‘’Nothing compares to the feeling of riding a dragon. The sky is the best place in the world. It's a thrill and freeing at the same time. I could take you on a ride before I return to Dragonstone,’’ he suggested, a playful glint in his eyes. ‘’If you desire.’’

‘’I’ll hold you to that.’’

In the morning, Cregan Stark took Jacaerys on a full tour of Winterfell, showing him every corner of his ancestral home. They started with the horse stables, where the horses nickered softly in their stalls, then moved to the godswood, the ancient heart tree standing solemn and silent. They explored the crypt, with its long lines of statues of the Stark ancestors, before finally arriving in the courtyard.

As they walked into the courtyard, Jacaerys saw you sparring with one of the trainers of the castle guard. He paused, taken aback by the fluidity and force of your movements. He had never seen a woman wield a sword with such skill and confidence. Your strikes were precise, each motion flowing seamlessly into the next, and the determination in your eyes was unmistakable.

‘’My sister was born holding a sword,’’ Cregan said with amusement, following Jacaerys’ line of sight. ‘’She is more skilled than some of our knights in training.’’

A smile curled on the prince’s lips, watching you with amazement. His uncle Aemond would eat dirt if he were to duel with you in a tourney.

Cregan snapped Jacaerys from his staring. ‘’Ready for some training?’’ he asked, a playful challenge in his eyes as he took out his sword from his belt. ‘’Let’s see if Leanor Velaryon taught you well.’’

When he said his father taught him to wield a sword, Jacaerys meant Harwin Strong, not Leanor. But correcting Cregan would feed the bastard rumors about him and his brothers, so he kept his mouth shut.

The following day was the dreaded visit to the Wall. Although the place sounded fascinating, Jacaerys was not looking forward to colder weather. He doubled on the layers as you advised him, and got on horseback with Cregan and a small group of men. They should be back in three days.

As always, Winterfell would be in your charge during Cregan’s absence.

‘’Is Vermax going to the Wall?’’ you asked, noticing Jacaerys struggling to secure his bag to the saddle.

‘’Yes. He will follow us. I could never leave Vermax behind. He goes wherever I go,’’ Jacaerys said, watching your smaller fingers deftly tie a knot to secure everything. ‘’Thank you for the help, Miss Stark.’’ His eyes lingered on yours for a moment longer than necessary.

‘’Your welcome, Prince Jacaerys.’’

Everyone got on their horses, ready to leave.

As Cregan ordered the gates to be opened, Jacaerys looked down at you, his breath visible in the chilly air. ‘’I hope it is not as cold as you made it sound.’’

‘’Have a safe travel,’’ you wished, your eyes meeting his. "And never take your gloves off outside. You’ll lose a finger."

Jacaerys chuckled softly, a playful glint in his eye. "I'll try to remember," he said, before nudging his horse forward, leaving you with a lingering smile as they rode off.

Although you enjoyed being in charge of Winterfell, you counted the days until the men would return from the Wall. It had been difficult admitting it to yourself, but you had fallen for the prince’s charm and were impatient to see a green and red dragon in the sky.

He had promised to take you on a ride before leaving the North, and you will be holding him up to that when he returns from the wall. You had seen him talk to a few of the women around Winterfell, but Jacaerys hadn’t offered anyone else a dragon ride. Only you. It made you feel a little special.

Every time you passed the banister where you had spoken that night, you could almost hear his laughter and feel the warmth of his presence. The anticipation of seeing him again was a constant flutter in your chest.

You wondered if he thought of you while he was away.

Your question was answered when he seeked for you after lunch. You had been getting ready to train in the courtyard when you heard a knock on your door. Jacaerys had a nervous smile on his face, silently praying you would still be on board with that dragon ride.

‘’How was Castle Black?’’

‘’Nothing like I expected. The Wall is very impressive. I have never seen anything this tall before.’’

‘’It was built by Brandon the Builder of House Stark about 800 years ago, with assistance from Giants,’’ you said, proud of your family history. ‘’But Cregan has probably already told you all about the Wall…’’

He had, but Jacaerys didn’t mind hearing it all again from you.

Dragons were impressive when you were standing next to them. Very impressive.

You stayed behind as Jacaerys approached Vermax, speaking to him in High Valyrian as it was the language used to train and command dragons. A small bubble of fear rose within you, knowing dragons only allowed their riders to get close. Would Vermax try to kill you if you got too near?

‘’Come,’’ Jacaerys encouraged, extending his hand to you. ‘’He won’t hurt you.’’ He was standing by Vermax’s face, introducing him to you. ‘’He’s been eating less since we arrived. It’s his way of saying he is unhappy. I don’t know if you have noticed, but Vermax doesn’t like the North. Dragons can tolerate the cold, but they prefer warm temperatures.’’

Jacaerys’s hand rested over yours as you gently touched Vermax's scaly skin. ‘’I apologize for our cold weather, Vermax,’’ you said, your voice soft as you addressed the dragon.

Vermax’s eyes, large and intense, regarded you with a curious intelligence. You felt a shiver run down your spine, but not from the cold. Jacaerys’s reassuring presence gave you the courage to stand your ground. You trusted that he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

‘’He’s magnificent,’’ you whispered, marveling at the dragon's sheer size and power.

With a confident gesture, Jacaerys climbed onto Vermax’s back, then extended his hand to help you up. You settled in behind him, and he placed your hands securely around his middle.

‘’Hold on tight,’’ he said, his own hands gripping the handles of the saddle as Vermax spread his massive wings.

With a powerful leap, the dragon launched into the sky, the ground rapidly falling away beneath you. The cold wind whipped past, making you cling onto the prince.

As Vermax soared higher, the place you always called home transformed into a breathtaking panorama of gray stones, snow-covered vales and distant mountains. The exhilaration of flight was overwhelming, filling you with a sense of freedom unlike anything you had ever experienced.

Jacaerys grinned and leaned forward, making Vermax dive as you approached a forest and hover over the trees. His feet brushed the tip of the trees, shaking off the snow covering them, before going up again with a powerful flap of his wings.

You gasped and held onto Jacaerys tighter, the mix of fear and excitement making your heart race. ‘’Are you trying to make my heart burst?’’ you shouted, laughing despite the rush of adrenaline.

Jacaerys laughed, his voice carried away by the wind. ‘’I’m only giving you a true experience.’’

Vermax continued to glide through the sky, and you savored every moment — the rush of the wind, the closeness of Jacaerys, and the incredible feeling of soaring above the world.

An idea sparked in your mind as the scenery below began to look familiar. ‘’How do we land?’’ you asked.

‘’Ilagon,’’ Jacaerys commanded, and Vermax dived down again.

You climbed down from the dragon, your feet sinking into the marshmallow-like softness of the virgin snow. ‘’Follow me,’’ you said, glancing back at Jacaerys.

He was right on your heels as you led him to a cave. He was confused about what you were doing inside a cave, but let you lead the path. You’ve grown in the North, you must know where you were going. Right?

‘’Where are we going?’’

‘’You said dragons don't like the cold.’’

The further you ventured inside the cave, the more you began to feel a gentle warmth emanating from deeper within.

‘’So I’m keeping my prince warm,’’ you teased with a smile. You took another turn and then came to a halt. ‘’After your visit to the Wall, I figured you’d like to warm up.’’ You stepped aside, revealing a hidden hot spring, steam rising invitingly from the water.

Jacaerys's eyes widened in surprise and delight. ‘’This is incredible,’’ he said, his voice filled with awe. ‘’How did you know about this place?’’

‘’I got lost a few years ago during a hunt. The snow had turned into a blizzard and I could not find my way back to the campment. I was missing for hours. My father found me and took me here until the blizzard calmed down. My little hands and feet were almost frozen.’’

‘’You should not have left campment.’’

‘’I was a rebellious child.’’

Jacaerys shook his head with a smile.

Without hesitation, you began to undress, unbuckling your cloak and peeling off your gloves. You pulled at the laces of your boots, freeing your feet from their confine, and moved to the front of your dress, loosening the laces until it slipped from your shoulders. That hot water was going to feel amazing on your cold skin.

‘’You need to undress before getting in the water, you know?’’ you teased, your eyes flickering to Jacaerys and seeing him still dressed.

His cheeks flushed slightly. ‘’Yeah, I… I’ll…’’

Slowly, he began to undress, his movements a bit tentative. His cloak fell to the ground along with his riding jacket and undershirt. You couldn't help but find his shyness endearing.

You continued with your dress and socks, until you stood bare in the soft glow of the cave. As you waited for Jacaerys to finish undressing, you found yourself peaking at his smooth and slightly defined chest. You wanted to feel it pressed against you.

Before you could second-guess yourself, you stepped into the hot spring, the water swirling around from your movement. The spring was deeper than you expected, and soon the warm water was enveloping your breasts and shoulders. The heat was intense at first, almost too hot, but it felt incredible compared to the biting cold of the North. You were used to the cold, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t cold.

You let out a sigh of relief. The steaming water was blissful after being hit in the face by the cold air during the ride.

You glanced back at Jacaerys, who was finishing undressing, his bouncy curls moving around as he pulled off his socks. His back was to you, giving you a perfect view of his behind. You sank deeper into the water, trying to drown the inappropriate thoughts filling your mind.

‘’Careful, it’s hot,’’ you warned as Jacaerys was about to step in, standing naked at the edge of the spring, the steam rising around him.

He dismissed your warning and stepped in without a sound. ‘’I have Targaryen blood. We tolerate the heat better than others,’’ Jacaerys said, sinking down until the water covered up to his neck. ‘’This feels amazing. I wish I could come and swim here everyday.’’ He basked in the warm water, closing his eyes as he floated.

A soft smile grazed your lips.

The moment of calm was disrupted as Jacaerys swam closer to you, a boyish grin on his face before he splashed water at you. You gasped in shock, and splashed him back, laughing with child-like joy. Ultimately, Jacaerys was the one to give in, raising his arms up to surrender. Your laughter fades away with the wind, leaving you both in a comfortable silence. A silence that didn’t need to be filled, nor did you want it to be.

The two of you meet in the middle, a flutter of excitement filling your stomach. You felt his leg brush your tibia, the proximity making you acutely aware of your nakedness. The thought of sinking deeper into the water crossed your mind, but the clarity of the spring left little to the imagination. Your supple breasts and hard nipples were visible beneath the surface

‘’Prince Jacaerys?’’ you spoke softly, your voice almost a whisper.

‘’Jace,’’ he corrected gently. ‘’You can call me Jace.’’ He reached out and tucked your wet hair behind your ear with a tenderness that sent shivers down your spine.

You leaned into his touch, a small smile playing on your lips as you nodded. ‘’Jace?’’

His gaze dropped to your lips, battling his inner dilemma of kissing you or not. The chemistry between you was undeniable, a magnetic pull that neither of you could resist. Though he was a prince, the heir to the Iron Throne, he was still a boy first, and in this moment, all titles and duties seemed to melt away.

You opened your mouth to speak again, but Jacaerys leaned in, closing the distance, his lips meeting yours in a soft, lingering kiss. You had fantasized about sharing this kiss on more than one occasion while he was away at the Wall. Now, his lips were moving over yours — for real — and your dreams had not done justice to the reality of him.

The heat of the spring seemed to intensify, wrapping around you as the kiss deepened, a mix of tenderness and passion. His hands caressed every spot of your body he could reach on you, your breasts pressing against his chest as you locked your arms around his neck and shoulders and wrapped your thighs around his waist.

You pulled back to catch your breaths, and looked at him, admiring him. His hair was slowly getting its curl pattern back, a smile looking back at you.

Jacaerys doubted that by ‘finding shared interests’ his mother meant falling for Lord Stark’s sister.

—

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larluce · 1 month ago

Text

Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU (SERIES 2)

FIRST PART (SERIES 1) >> PREVIOUS PART >> NEXT PART

(My apologies in advance, I couldn't write the smut, but I know exactly how it went, so you may ask me any questions related to their first time in the comments)

Merlin is no strange to waking up next to Arthur. He's been sleeping in his bed for over a week after all. They also slept next to each other back in the farm, back in Ealdor and everytime they camped outside.

Waking up curled up together after they have given theirselfs to one another, in body and soul, is an entire different experience. He wakes up with a smile plastered on his face. He feels like in a dream, floating, but also like falling. It's the kind of feeling is so overwhelming it's painful, but it's painfully pleasant.

Arthur's arms are around him, his naked chest against his back. Merlin turns in his arms slowly, needing to see him, needing to make sure that it happened, that this is real. The pain in his lower back as he moves is enough to confirm it though.

Merlin: (groans in pain)

Arthur: (opens his eyes slowly and then smiles) Hey.

Merlin: Don't "hey" me. You destroyed me!

Arthur: (chuckles) I don't recall you complaining. In fact, I clearly remember you constantly crying for more.

Merlin: Shut up!

Arthur: And changing positions was not my idea.

Merlin: I just wanted to be more comfortable!

Arthur: I'm just saying, I wanted to be gentle and you didn't let me.

Merlin: Yeah, because I totally forced you. My mistake. (tries to get up, but Arthur's arms are steel around him) Arthur.

Arthur: (eyes closed) Uhm?

Merlin: I have to get your breakfast.

Arthur: Let someone else do it.

Merlin: (chuckles) How can I tell someone else to do it if stay here?

Arthur: Then get it later.

Merlin: I also have chores to do.

Arthur: No, I give you the day off. Sleep.

Merlin: Gaius may need me.

Arthur: Sleep.

Merlin: (smiling) Alright.

Merlin wishes he could stay like this forever. Eventually though, Merlin has to get up and Arthur too.

Merlin slightly limping around the castle doesn't go unnoticed to anybody, nor Arthur smug smile everytime he catches Merlin limping. Already used to the rumors and the eyes on him, Merlin can't mind less though.

It turns out he should have.

In Arthur's chambers. Leon knocks on the door, but no one answers, so he enters.

Leon: (entering) Your highness, I'm sorry for entering like this but- (notices no one is there) He must still be in the meeting with the king. (notices there are flowers petals on the floor and spots a chemise on the floor) ... what? (walks to it and picks it up. Sighs in dissapointment) So the rumors are true.

Merlin: (enters)

Leon: (Quickly hides the chemise behind his back)

Merlin: Leon? What are you doing here?

Leon: I-I was looking for the Prince.

Merlin: (rolls his eyes) He's still discussing with Uther how to execute Kendrick for what he attempted to do to Morgana, or rather dicussing ways to torture him before the execution. They'll probably just let Morgana decide his punishment in the end. (notices Leon is holding something behind his back) What do you have there?

Leon: (too quickly) Nothing! 😅

Merlin: ... Okay? Normally I would run around you until you show me, but, I'm too sore and tired for that. (about to start tidying up the room)

Leon: What are you doing?

Merlin: Cleaning?

Leon: Didn't Arthur give you the day off?

Merlin: He did, but knowing him he'll probably just let this room dirty and messy until tomorrow, so I rather do it at once before it accumulates.

Leon: I'll call other sevants to do it!

Merlin: Is not really a problem-

Leon: I insist! You rarely have a day off, you should enjoy it as much as you can.

Merlin: (unsure) Arthur doesn't like other servants cleaning his chambers.

Leon: He doesn't have to find out it wasn't you. And if he does, I'll tell him it was my idea. Go enjoy your free day, you deserve it.

Merlin: (smiles) Thank you, Leon! You are such a good friend. (leaves)

Leon: (sighs in relief, but also feels bad) No, I'm not a good friend... (searches around the room for whatever thing could give away Arthur's affair, while he talks to himself) He's been limping since this morning, but if Arthur slept with this lady last night, then when...or could it be... (opens his eyes wide) WAS HE WITH BOTH?! 😨

Time skip. In the stables.

Princess: (neighs happily as he watches Merlin aproaching)

Merlin: Princess! (caresses her head) How's my Baby Plum doing? Have they been feeding you well? I missed you so much! (joins their heads fondly)

Lancelot: (who was close by, aproaches) Seriously, how do you do it? She's only ever this sweet with you.

Merlin: I don't know. Maybe is my weird connection to nature.

Lancelot: (pauses) It was the trees who warned you about the bandits, wasn't it? Back in the woods.

Merlin: (nods) Their voices are... stronger everyday. It's not bad, just... weird. Sometimes they talk to me as if...

Lacelot: As if what?

Merlin: As if I was one of them.

Knight x: (passing by) Lowering your standars now that the Prince replaced you, I see.

Merlin: What?

Knight x: (just laughs and leaves)

Merlin: (turns to Lancelot) What is he talking about?

Lancelot: (nervous) Uh...

Merlin: (crosses his arms) Lance, what is he talking about? 😑

Lancelot: Well... you know how you and Arthur weren't exactly discret when you showed affection to one another yesterday?

Merlin: Yes, we are always like that.

Lancelot: Yeah, the problem is that yesterday you weren't you. You were Lady Merelyn, remember? So... they think Arthur cheated on you with her.

Merlin: WHAT?! 😨

Lancelot: Look. I don't have all the details. You know I don't really enjoy gossip. But, as far as I know, most of the nobels are making fun of you, the servants pity you. Oh, and the Unicorn Catcher defenders are diminishing Arthur's affair, saying you are still the favourite, though they dread you could lose your position.

Merlin: I see...(sighs) They like gossip, uh? (grins) I'll give them gossip.

Meanwhile. Arthur walking in a hallway, encounters Leon.

Arthur: Oh, Leon. Have you seen Merlin?

Leon: I encountered him in your chambers about an hour ago, sire, but I don't know where he could be now.

Arthur: Thank you-wait, what were you doing in my chambers.

Leon: I needed to speak to you privatly, sire. About... an urgent matter.

Arthur: Which is?

Leon: I... well... (sighs, frustrated and starts pacing)

Arthur: (between confused and worried) Is... everything alright?

Leon: (stops pacing a turns to Arthur with decision) May I speak freely, my lord?

Arthur: Uhm... sure. Go ahead.

Leon: You are my Prince, but you are also my friend. You earned my oath and my repect, not just because of your title, but because I grew up with you and I got to know the kind of man you are. For years I admired your honorability, your honesty and your loyalty.

Arthur: Thank you, that's a really nice thing to say. But what does it have to do with-

Leon: But I'm not seeing this man right now!

Arthur: ... I beg your pardon?

Leon: When the knights and visiting nobels said you'd start sleeping with other people eventually, I never once believed it! Because I've seen your love and devotion for Merlin from the start! I believed you uncapable, because I thought you valued honor and fidelity. But I guess I was wrong.

Arthur: What on earth are you talking about?

Leon: Of your affair with Lady Merelyn!

Arthur: (finally understanding) Ooh! (laughs)

Leon: You think this is funny, my lord?

Arthur: No, no! It's just. Leon, you got it all wrong. I was never unfaithful to Merlin.

Leon: Really? (pulls out the chemise) Then what was this undergarment doing in your chambers, Sire?

Arthur: Okay, I guess it does look bad. But I swear is not what it looks like-

Leon: You don't own me an explanation, Sire. And I won't tell Merlin anything because my loyalty stays with you above else. But I fear everyone in the castle already knows of your affair, so if you don't want Merlin finding out by other source, you better be honest with him. (bows) Sire (leaves)

Arthur: (shouts) Leon, is not- (cuts himself, thinking) Wait, I shouldn't tell him before I consult it with Merlin first. And I don't think he would believe my word even if I explain.

Time skip. In the training field, Arthur about to start training with the knights.

Merlin: (arrives with a serious face, wearing his old clothes)

Knights: (look at him with mockery)

Knight x: (whispering) You see that?

Knight y: (whispering) That's why you can't rely on affection to get you up the ladder. The higher you are, the harder the fall will be.

Arthur: (turns and smiles) Merlin! I've been looking everywhere for... (notices Merlin's wearing his old clothes and frowns) Why are you wearing that?

Merlin's wardrove has improved since Arthur's been gifting him better clothing from time to time. Nothing too extravagant, Arthur made sure the clothes matched Merlin's simple style, but they are elegant enough to let everybody know about Merlin's status as his lover. Before, Merlin would wear them just in especial events or ocassions and it was when they finally got together that he started wearing them more often. So seeing Merlin in his old clothes is... unsettling.

Merlin: These are my clothes, my lord.

Arthur: You have better clothes now.

Merlin: The ones you gifted me, I'm aware.

Arthur: Then why aren't you wearing them?

Merlin: The thing is, my lord, I don't want anything from you.

Knights: 😧😧😧😧😧😧😧😧

Servants around: 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

Arthur: (very confused) What?

Merlin: (face contorts in rage and hurt) You thought I would never find out of your affair?! How could you do this to me?!

Arthur: (nervous and very scared) Merlin, I swear is not what 😰-wait, you already know! 😠

Merlin: And you have the nerve to say it so lightly! (covers his face and pretends he's crying) I thought you loved me!

Arthur: (in panic) I do! (runs to him) Merlin, the lady they're talking about, you must know it's- (about to put a hand on his shoulder)

Merlin: (gets his hands off his face and shouts) Don't touch me! If you want to have more lovers so be it, but I don't want you to touch me ever again! We are over! 😡 (leaves dramatically)

Arthur: Merlin! (runs after him)

Knight y: It seems the lady didn't catch his attention for long.

Knight x: How can the prince stoop to running after him?

Knight z: So… is the training cancelled?

Meanwhile, in some hidden place of the castle.

Merlin: (enters)

Arthur: (right behind him) Merlin, please listen to me! Is not-

Merlin: (turns) Are we alone?

Arthur: (more confused) What?

Merlin: There's no one here, right?

Arthur: No, I don't think so.

Merlin: Oh, good. (relaxes)

Arthur: (takes his hands) Merlin, I would never EVER cheat on you. I love you too much for that. You must have heard wrong! The lady they are talking about-

Merlin: Is Lady Merelyn.

Arthur: Yes, and... wait, you know?! 😨

Merlin: Of course I know! I'm not stupid. I know you would never cheat on me.

Arthur: (in relief) Oh... okay...(shouts, furious) THEN WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?! 😡

Merlin: Shh! Not so loud, you're going to ruin it!

Arthur: Ruin what?

Merlin: The act.

Arthur: Act?

Merlin: My offended lover act.

Arthur: Again. What?

Merlin: Everyone thinks you cheated on me with Lady Merelyn. Obviously, I can't tell them I impersonated a Lady. They would make more fun of me and your dad would have me killed for sure. But I can't have them thinking you are losing interest in me or that I don't have any kind of dignity either, so... I decided to give them a show. 💁‍♂️

Arthur: And you didn't think of giving me a warning before making your show? I thought you were actually leaving me!

Merlin: (feeling bad, holds Arthur's face with one hand fondly) I'm sorry, I really didn't want to scare you, but I needed your reaction to be genuine. You are not as good at lying as me.

Arthur: (thinking) You'd be surprised... (sighs, still kind of mad, but puts his hand over Merlin's) You do realize your show consists in making me look like a scoundrel, right?

Merlin: Nobody thinks you are scoundrel.

Arthur: Leon thinks it.

Merlin: Well, he is the only one. (gets his hand off Arthur's face and sighs, crossing his arms and with slumped shoulders) Everyone else thinks you have the right to have all the lovers you want. That I should be grateful that you still show any interest in me at all after "Lady Merelyn"... And they are right. After all, you are the Prince and I just a servant.

Arthur: That's not true!

Merlin: It is true. But is not the only thing we are. And yet that's the only thing they see.

Arthur: And since when do you care what other people say or think?

Merlin: (explodes) Since we are together! It's not like I don't know how things are. Even if I wasn't a servant and a commoner, I'm still a man, so it's not like we can marry or anything. I know our relationship can't be formal or official in any way, but I want it to be at least taken seriously!

Arthur: ...

Merlin: (composes himself) So... I think a couple of weeks of cold shoulder should be enough. Then you can give me some luxurious gift, I pretend to forgive you for your "affair" and that would be it.

Arthur: (rolls his eyes) The only time you ask something luxurious of me and is for this charade. And you will give me the cold shoulder for two weeks? Really?

Merlin: Just when people are looking? In private we can still be very affectionate. 😏

Arthur: 😒

Merlin: Please? 🥺

Arthur: (sighs) Fine. But tell Leon the truth. I can't handle his disappointed look anymore.

Merlin: I will (hugs him, happily) Thank you. 😊

Arthur: (smiles without been able to help it and hugs back, thinking) He doesn't have the right to be this cute.

Time skip. In the main square.

Merlin: (walking with Gaius' herbs in a cest)

Gwaine: Excuse me, have you seen-

Merlin: (turns)

Gwaine: 😦 ...

Merlin: What? Do I have something on my face?

Gwaine: Do you have a sister by any chance?

Merlin: No, why?

Gwaine: It's just... you look very similar to a girl a met yesterday.

Merlin: (crosses his arms) Are you saying I look like a girl? 🤨

Gwaine: No, no! I mean, you are... very masculine for a... uhm... what is that you do?

Merlin: (about to tell "The prince's manservant", but decides to keep that information to himself for now) Physician apprentice.

Gwaine: Oh, you are Gaius' apprentice?

Merlin: You know him?

Gwaine: I'm sharing a room with another pair of men in his tower.

Merlin: (laughs in amusement)

Gwaine: (laughs too, realising his choice of words) I guess it kind of sounds bad.

Merlin: No, it sounds funny. (pauses) wait...(fakes surprise and excitment) OH! You must be one of the famous saviors that rescue Lady Morgana yesterday! 😃

Gwaine: (smugly) Well, I wouldn't call myself "savior". I did what anyone would have done in my place.

Merlin: Not anyone. What you did was very brave. (pats his arm)

Gwaine: (blushes a bit, thinking) What is this? She looks so much like this lady that I'm confusing him with her. Get yourself together!

Merlin: So, are you looking for Lady Morgana?

Gwaine: Pardon?

Merlin: You said you were looking for a girl, I'm assuming it's her.

Gwaine: Oh, no. I'm looking for the lady that was accompanying her, actually. Lady Merelyn. Do you have any idea of where she could be?

Merlin: Uhm... not really. Nobody has heard of her since yesterday.

Gwaine: (frustrated) It's like she vanished into thin air! (sighs) I told her she couldn't trust that prince! I bet he discarded her as soon as he learned she was tainted by that bandit. And he wasn't even faithful to her. Did you know the prince has a male lover.

Merlin: (gasps) Really?

Gwaine: And his manservant of all people! Look, I don't judge. I myself had my flings there and there. And I do appreciate men beauty. But reject a woman like Lady Merelyn for a man? Really?

Merlin: (chuckles) She got you bad, uh?

Gwaine: Me? (snorts) Nah, I'm just a bit worried about her, it's all. She mustn't be coping well after, well, everything. And she may need a shoulder to cry on, if you know what I mean. 😏

Merlin: (chuckles) Good luck with that. (turns to leave)

Gwaine: (stops him) Oh, let me carry that for you. (points the cest)

Merlin: (lifts his eyebrows in bewilderment and then smiles, amused) Still confusing me for a girl, I see.

Gwaine: Not really. But as I said, I also appreciate men beauty. 😏

Merlin: (mouth open)

Gwaine: (very surprised) It's incredible! You even have her expressions.

Merlin: Oh, so I'm a replacement then.

Gwaine: No, I-

Merlin: Are you even into men or are you so desperate to have this girl that you would lay with anyone that resembles her?

Gwaine: I didn't mean to-

Merlin: Offend? Because that's the only thing you've been doing since you open your mouth.

Gwaine: (sighs) You are right. My apologies.

Merlin: (turns to leave)

Gwaine: (puts himself infront of him) Can I point out something though? (gets closer) You never once said you weren't into men 😏.

Merlin: I am into men. (looks him up and down) But I have taste.

Gwaine: (brings a hand to his chest dramatically) Ow! You hurt my feelings. How am I going to survive this? Ugh! My heart, I can't bare it! (drops himself on the ground)

Merlin: (thinking, fondly) He really hasn't changed a thing. (kneels and says) Are you done?

Gwaine: (opens one eye) This isn't working isn't it?

Merlin: No.

Gwaine: (chuckles and lifts his back from the ground) Come on, at least let me invite you a drink for the troubles. I know I good tavern nearby.

Merlin: (smiles) Of course you do, Gwaine.

Gwaine: (smiles back but then frowns) Wait... How do you know my name?

Merlin: I would gladly accompany you (extends a hand)

Gwaine: (takes his hand with a triumphant smile)

Merlin: But you see... (pulls his hand away and speaks in a more high pitched tone) I'm still waiting for my ring. (shows his ring finger in a very girly manner)

Gwaine: (Gwaine exe has stopped working) 😨

Merlin: (lifts his head and spots something behind Gwaine) Oh, hi Arthur! 😊

Arthur: (just arrived, very hectic, in barely contained fury and with labored breathing)

Merlin: (stands up and frowns, worried) You look like you just came from a race. Is everything okay?

Just moments before in Arthur's chambers. Arthur on his desk.

Arthur: (thinking, while looking at a parchment) The kidnapping attempt on Morgana was handled. Then what? Is Morgause coming already? No, the troll was first and then... (slams the scroll on the desk, frustrated) Ugh! I can't remember! (stands up and decides to go to the window to take a breath. While he does, he spots Merlin very afar coming back with Gaius' herbs, relaxes inmediatly and smiles) He shouldn't be walking this much. Is he still limping? (smirks and starts to have no so good thoughts remembering their first time together and then forces himself to snap out of them) Damn you, Merlin. I can't concentrate nor when you are here, nor when you are not.

Someone knocks on the door.

Arthur: (turns, but stays near the window) Come in.

Leon: (enters, head down, very ashamed and embarrased) Sire. (bows)

Arthur: (sighs and crosses his arms, serious) I'm assuming Merlin already told you.

Leon: I have no words to express how sorry I am-

Arthur: For what exactly? Thinking ill of me? Believing in some rumors before my own word? Or for basically insulting me on my face?

Leon: All of it. I'm really sorry. I didn't recognise Merlin when he was... and then all the proof seemed to indicate... But that's not excuse. I failed as a knight and as a friend and will never forgive myself for-

Arthur: (laughs)

Leon: (lift his head in confusion)

Arthur: Keep going, you were getting to the best part.

Leon: (more confused) Uh... well...

Arthur: I'm joking. I'm not mad at you. I probably would've thought badly too if I was in your place. And, though it hurt my feelings a bit that you believed me capable of being unfaithful, I'm actually more glad that you care for Merlin so much you called me out on my supposed love affair. So thank you, for caring for him and for not mincing words to tell me when you believe I'm doing wrong.

Leon: (smiles, releaved) You are welcome, Sire.

Arthur: It also has come to my attention that not all the knights think like you. (tells Leon to come to the window with a gesture) Tell me... What do the knights think of Merlin?

Leon: (hesitates) Uhm...

Arthur: I want complete honesty.

Leon: Well, knights like Sir Innprudence, Sir Ewan and Sir Owain, may they rest in peace, respected and valued Merlin because they witnessed your story from the start. They got to know Merlin and knew the depth of your feelings. It's really a shame they never got to see... (his eyes water) I'm sorry. (wips a tear away)

Arthur: (puts a comforting hand on his shoulder and gives him a soft empathetic smile) It's okay. You were there when... when the questing beast happened, so I know it's not easy to talk about them. Take your time.

Leon: (pauses to compose himself and then continues) The thing is, most of the knights we have now are new. And for them Merlin is just your whim of the moment, a bed warmer, nothing more. They would never dare to harm him or insult him, much less if you are looking, but they do insult and talk ill of him behind Merlin's back. I'm not going to go into the details, but their thoughts on your relationship are not different from your father's.

Arthur: So they think Merlin is using me just for riches and power and that I'm using him just to get laid.

Leon: To sum up, yes sire.

Arthur: And Merlin is aware of this?

Leon: Sire, when is Merlin not aware of something?

Arthur: True...(sighs) And I guess me showing affection towards "Lady merelyn" didn't help with that. (looks guilty)

Leon: Merlin doesn't blame you, sire.

Arthur: But I should've been more careful. I promised I would cherish him and protect him and... (thinking) and somehow I still ruin it.

Leon: You can't change the past. What matters now is that you are doing something to remedy it. Merlin also told me about his plan.

Arthur: You mean his "offended lover act"? Yeah, that's why I'm keeping my distance. I still think this is absurd, but if he is so invested on this charade, then I'll support him.

Leon: (smiles, proud) You are very mature, sire. Merlin is very lucky to have someone so wise and considerate as his lo-

Arthur: THAT LECHEROUS BASTARD! 😡

Leon: ...excuse me, Sire?

Arthur: (points through the window, furious) There! Look!

From Arthur's window, they both can appreciate Merlin and Gwaine interacting.

Leon: I'm sure they are just talking, my lord.

Arthur: No, I know his kin, he's flirting with my Merlin!

Leon: You just met the man yesterday.

Arthur: Look! They are laughing!

Leon: Maybe he told him a joke.

Arthur: (mouth open) No... he didn't just... He patted his arm! 😤

Leon: A very friendly gesture.

Arthur: (fuming)

Leon: As I was saying, is admirable that you support and respect Merlin's idea no matter what-

Arthur: (leaves running)

Leon: (sighs) Well... at least Lancelot will have a new partner at the stables.

Back to the present.

Arthur: (grabs Merlin and pulls him away from Gwaine, a possesive arm around Merlin's waist)

Merlin: (looks at him, confused) Arthur?

Gwaine: (still on the floor, mumbles to himself, looking at Merlin and Arthur) The prince's mistress... The prince's male lover... the... OH! (finally puts the pieces together)

Arthur: (to Gwaine) You. What do you think you are doing? 😑

Gwaine: Uhm, you know, (puts his arms behind his head and crosses his legs, smiling) taking the sun. With a beauty by my side. Until you interrupted us.

Arthur: Don't be ridiculous. Stop harassing Merlin.

Gwaine: (offended) I'm not harassing anyone!

Arthur: I saw you holding his hand and also how he pulled away uncomfortably from you. In my language that's harassment.

People around: (who have been staring for a while, start to murmur between them)

Merlin: Arthur, relax. He wasn't-

Gwaine: (stands up) What is the problem your highness? Feeling insecure?

Arthur: (about to lunge at him)

Merlin: (stops him, puting himself infront of Arthur, hands on his chest) Arthur, no.

Gwaine: (raises hands as in surrender) I mean, I get it. Any man would feel insecure with this face the gods have blessed me with.

Arthur: (struggling with Merlin) Insecure? of you? (scoffs) Why should I feel insecure about a simple foreign who has no honor or a coin in his pocket. A nobody whose only reason for being in the castle is because he got into a fight with some bandits.

Gwaine: (standing tall, raising his voice) This nobody was able to defeat the bandits that even the royal guards couldn't! But don't worry, I don't expect your gratitude. (looks at Merlin) Your lover's gratitude is more than enough for me. (checks Merlin out shamelessly)

Arthur: (furious) Now you are dead! (tries to lunge at him again)

Merlin: (his arms around Arthur now to stop him) Don't! Arthur, please! (spots Lancelot and Leon in the distance and yells) Lancelot, Leon, help!

Lancelot: (runs to help Merlin to contain Arthur)

Leon: (who ran downstairs as soon as he saw Arthur had no intentions to be civil, hurries to help Merlin to contain Arthur too)

Gwaine: Leave him! I want to see if the prince's skill is as praised and to check if he is really the best warrior in Camelot. Although considering the skills of the royal cavalry, I highly doubt it.

Arthur: I can show you whenever you want! (struggles harder against Lancelot and Leon hold)

Gwaine: Yes, you're probably used to beating all your knights. The difference between me and them is that I'm not going to hold back, nor will I let you win for fear of losing my position.

Leon: (very offended, about to talk in defense of his prince) You-

Merlin: (raises his voice, angry) Enough! Gwaine, you're being very disrespectful. You're talking to the Prince of Camelot. How dare you insult his skills? He's the greatest knight I've ever seen. Arthur has worked and trained very hard since he was a child. You have no right to talk to him like that.

Leon and Lancelot: (look at Merlin, the person who disrespects and insults the prince 24/7, like he growed a second head)

Gwaine: Are you going to slap me again, my lady? 😏

Arthur: He slapped you?! 😨 What did you do to Merlin to make him slap you the first time?! 😡 (struggles even harder, more furious)

Merlin: (to Lancelot and Leon) Take him away.

Lancelot and Gwaine: (start dragging Arthur away)

Arthur: (keeps kicking and screaming as he is dragged away) Let go of me! I'll kill him! What did the fuck did you do?! 😤 (and he's gone)

Merlin: (turns to Gwaine, very serious) No, I'm not going to slap you, but if you keep insulting him I will hit you and not like a lady. (leaves)

Gwaine: Wait, I didn't get your name! (watches Merlin leave, still with a grin on his face) Damn.

Percival: (gets to Gwaine walking through the people gather for the conmotion) I should have know it was you who was making such scandal. (looks in the direction where Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and Leon left) Was that the prince? What trouble did you get yourself into this time?

Gwaine: (innocently) I don't look for trouble. Trouble finds me.

Percival: Sure 😒. Have you decided what are we going to ask the King yet?

Gwaine: Oh, I know exactly what I'm going to ask.

Meanwhile, somewhere inside the castle.

Merlin: (very angry) What the fuck was that?!

Arthur: (very angry too) I should be the one asking! (to Leon and Lancelot) You let go of me already!

Lancelot and Leon: (let go)

Merlin: I'm not the one who almost beated a man in the middle of the main square for no reason!

Arthur: (almost shouting in disbelief) No reason?!

Merlin: Gwaine went too far with his words, I won't deny that, but you were agressive with him even before that. You weren't just acting like a clotpole or a dollophead, you were hysterical!

Arthur: (very sarcastic) Hysterical?! Why would I be hysterical?! It's not like I just witnessed a man flirting with you from my window, that said man insulted me on my face, and then you prevented me from putting him in his place!

Merlin: He wasn't-wait, you were watching me from your window? 😦

Arthur: Don't change the subject! (accusingly) What were you doing with Gwaine?

Merlin: Nothing! We were just talking.

Leon: Sire, may I suggest-

Arthur: No, you may not.

Lancelot: (opens his mouth)

Arthur: You neither! (to Merlin again) I'm just saying you weren't exactly rejecting his attentions back there.

Merlin: First you say I was being harassed and now you say I was flirting. Make up your mind, will you? (pauses, realising) Wait... you are acting like this just because you are jealous? Really?

Arthur: (sarcastic) No, I'm not jealous, Merlin. It's not like you have given me reasons. Or have you?

Merlin: (stony face and neutral voice) You are right. I have given you none.

Arthur: (realises Merlin now is really, really mad, thinking) Fuck.

Lancelot and Leon: 😰😰

Arthur: Merlin-

Merlin: For your sake I advice you to choose your next words very carefully.

Arthur: It's not that I don't trust you. I just want to understand. Merlin, when I arrived you... you were holding hands!

Merlin: So? I'm a man, Arthur, not a woman. I can have contact with other men. Stop treating me like some maiden or damsel in distress!

Arthur: (yells) I DON'T TREAT YOU LIKE A MAIDEN, I TREAT YOU LIKE MY LOVER!

Merlin:...

Lancelot and Leon: ...

Servants around: 🫢🫢🫢🫢🫢🫢🫢🫢

Arthur: (takes a deep breath to compose himself, just barely, and says in a deep voice) I treat you like my lover, because that's what you are. My lover, my Merlin, MINE. So forgive me if I'm offended to see MY lover holding hands with another man, a man who has clearly shown his interest in you!

Merlin: ...

Servants around: (murmur)

Leon: (coughs) As I was trying to suggest before, maybe you should take this argument to somewhere more private, my lord.

Time skip. Arthur and Merlin alone in Arthur's chambers.

Merlin: Gwaine met me as Lady Merelyn and today I revealed it to him she was me. That was it. We were joking. It was a joke, nothing more.

Arthur: So what history do you have as Lady Merely with Gwaine?

Merlin: Arthur.

Arthur: I'm not saying you were unfaithful. But I did hear something about a ring in that joke of yours and he said you slapped him, so you can't blame me for being curious.

Merlin: (sighs) He did flirt with Lady Merelyn, alright, but never overstepped. He just did a few compliments there and there. But then Lancelot told him I was "the prince's mistress" and I guess his pride were wounded because he started to talk bad about you. That's when I slapped him and gave him a piece of my mind.

Arthur: And the ring part?

Merlin: Well, in our argument, he kind of claimed he could give me "comittement" so I asked "where's my ring?"

Arthur: WHAT?! 😨

Merlin: To shut him up. I knew the kind of man Gwaine was from the start. As soon as I mention the ring he panicked and stopped bothering me.

Arthur: (gives a long sigh)

Merlin: Are you calm now?

Arthur: I'll be once he leaves this castle.

Merlin: Why? I just told you his interest was in Lady Merelyn, not me.

Arthur: He flirted with you as a man too, Merlin.

Merlin: He was joking! He just wanted to mess with you. And of course you let him get to you as the clotpole you are!

Arthur: ...

Merlin: What?

Arthur: That's really what you believe, don't you?

Merlin: Well, why else would he do it?

Silence.

Merlin: Look, I've been walking all day and I'm tired. So I'll be in my room resting while you think about your behaviour today. (leaves, going to his chambers)

Arthur: (murmurs to himself, incredulous) He has... no idea. (laughs dryly) He really has NO IDEA.

Arthur's flashback. Percival visiting Gwaine's grave.

Arthur: (aproaches Percival) Percival.

Percival: My lord.

Arthur: I believe I own you an apology. I was so self absorbed in my grieve, that I didn't notice you were grieving too. Gwaine was my friend too after all, one of my best knights, but I haven't properly shown my respects till today.

Percival: It's alright, sire. We all know what Merlin meant to you. (smiles sadly) He meant a lot to Gwaine too.

Arthur: (nods) Gaius told me Gwaine scorted Merlin to the Crystal Cave. He was there for him when I wasn't and for that I'm grateful. He didn't deserve his fate. What Morgana did, using Eira to get information from him and then torture him, it has no name.

Percival: I don't think he ever cared about Eira.

Arthur: He went after Morgana after her execution, did he not?

Percival: Yes, but no because of her. He was torned because he was fool enough to tell her he was taking Merlin to the valley of the fallen kings. As far as he knew he had almost doomed Merlin with his carelesness. And then Morgana finished to get all the information from him when he tortured him with the nathair, so he died thinking he failed him.

Arthur: (smiles sadly) I guess I can relate to that feeling.

Percival: (gives a small nostalgic laugh) I don't think he ever got over his crush on Merlin in that sense.

Arthur: WHAT?! 😨

Percival: (surprised) Oh, you didn't know?

Arthur: That's... that's impossible! He was a womanizer. I mean, I've only ever seen him with women.

Percival: Yes, but he was into men too. He was never discret about it, but men who like men do not abound pricesly. And it's true he had a preference for women, but... Merlin was always especial, you know?

Arthur: ...

Percival: Are you alright, my lord?

Arthur: Were they... were they ever...

Percival: No, I don't think so. He always came to me like a kicked out puppy everytime Merlin rejected his advances. Though I'm not sure Merlin ever realized Gwaine's flirting was serious. Either way he clearly had no insterest in Gwaine, so eventually he gave up.

Arthur: ...

Percival: My lord?

Arthur: (forces a smile) I have to go. It was nice talking to you. (leaves)

Percival: ...

End of Arthur's flashback.

Finding out Gwaine's feelings for Merlin was a breaking point for Arthur. His memories with Gwaine and Merlin interacting were more clear. Where he once saw friendly behaviour, he detected the flirting . And those memories started hunting him as much as Merlin's last words to him. They made him grumpy, upset and later he discovered why.

Arthur was jealous. Jealous of a dead man. Because he got to flirt with Merlin, he got to show his interest in him even though he was rejected. And it was him Merlin went to when he was vulnerable, without his magic, it was him he asked to protect him when he went to the Crytal Cave and not Arthur.

And, inevitably, the more aware he became of his feelings for Merlin, the more his hatred for Gwaine's memory grew.

Now Gwaine has shown interest in Merlin again, maybe even stronger than before, and , of course, Merlin as the clueless clotepole he was can't see it cause, apparently, he is unable to notice when someone has any romantic interest on him.

But now Merlin was his. He worked very hard to get him back and he is not going to let Gwaine take merlin from him.

...

It may seem funny, but Arthur's jealousy here is actually pretty toxic and I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

Credits to my best friend Rosangela, who help with the dialogues.

Arthur's reaction to Gwaine brazenly flirting with Merlin ✅️

Etiquetas @aceauthorcatqueen , @fallenxjas , @smileytrinity , @lucifertookmyshoe @an-entity-i-think , @thecornerofbelu , @griffonskies , @odinjm , @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu , @thelady-mary , @bennedict , @nightninjaboy , @st8-of-grace , @starrieisdelusional , @error-username-not-available , @dogberryrowan , @jamieweasley13 , @tansyuduri , @tercais , @robynnemrys , @evadne01 , @serasvictoria02 , @hairdryerducks , @curiously-lazy , @harriettesthings , @andrealux16 , @wacko-weirdo , @greatdonutenemy , @yougottobekittenme , @anxiousosaurus , @kinkforwings , @someweirdassnamee , @impracticalantlers , @miyriu , @hobipabo , @whitemaskcd , @bogslob , @braziiis , @rubinaitoart , @thebigoblin , @toomanyfanficsbruh , @farmboyprince , @nonsensefunsense , @slightly-psycho-multifan , @jxmimac , @anarchelsworld , @beepbeep-yeah , @faithiikins

#bbc merlin #merlin bbc #merlin #merthur #merlin prompt #merlin fanfic #merlin fic #merlin and arthur #arthur and merlin #merthur fic #merthur prompt #merthur fanfiction #merthur fanfic #Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU

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svetamillss · 6 days ago

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Headcanons: their reaction to your terrible burn on your face🩵

Featuring: Cho Hyun Ju x Reader(f), Kang Dae Ho x Reader(f), Kang Sae Byeok x Reader(f), Nam Gyu x Reader(f)

Summary: Here will be your background. You had a disaster as a child. You got into an accident, after which you had a big burn on your face, which was on the left side, started from the forehead and ended almost near the nose, as the burn was strong enough, your left eye had to be removed. After that, people began to humiliate you and call you a monster. You started covering your burn with your hair, but it looked ridiculous, but you couldn't find any other way. Soon you were given a chance to have a skin and eye transplant, but this is a very expensive operation, you didn't have enough money. Therefore, you decided to agree to the offer to play games.

Warning: easy agnst, deviations from the plot.

A/N: I don't know if I managed to write normally, so I apologize in advance!

🩵🩵🩵

Cho Hyun Ju

You met the girl at the second game when she invited you to her team. You liked her right away, Hyun Ju was brave, sweet and very beautiful. After the second game, you and the guys decided to get to know each other better. Everyone told his story and why he decided to play deadly games. You learned from Hyun Ju that she is a trans girl and saves money for operations and Thailand, after that you liked her even more, it looks like you fell in love. But then it was your turn, everyone looked at you, waiting for you to tell. But you were afraid. You were afraid that they would turn away from you when they saw your ugly face, so you decided to leave the conversation.

- Oh... I'm sorry, I need to go to the toilet. - you quickly went to the toilet, leaving everyone looking at you with surprise.

- I think she was afraid to tell the reason.. - Young Mi said quietly, Hyun Ju also thought, so she followed you.

When she entered the room, she saw you standing near the mirror and crying, looking into it.

- How ugly I am... - you said without noticing the presence of another girl at all, only after Hyun Ju slowly approached you, you saw her and immediately began to hide your burn with your hair.

- You shouldn't be afraid of me. And shouldn't be afraid of face. - she turned you to her and carefully took you by the chin, looking at your face much better.

- Don't look..

- Tell me everything, I won't turn away from you. You'll feel much better. - and you gave up.

You told her your whole story, she listened carefully without interrupting, and when you finished, she very gently began to kiss the areas of your burn and the place where the eye used to be, you almost cried even more.

- Don't worry, I'll be next to you. And no one else will hurt you.

She didn't lie, you were able to get out of the game with her. Both paid off their debts and made the missing operations. Now you are preparing to move to Thailand, where you can get married and live happily.

Kang Dae Ho

You were able to survive the first game, although it barely worked out because you couldn't see everything with one eye.

A new day has come, the second game will start soon, and so far everyone has been given breakfast. But you didn't want to eat. You had no appetite. And you didn't want to contact people, you were afraid that everyone would see your burn and start laughing, so you sat alone.

But then your peace was disturbed by the guy who sat next to you, you tried not to pay attention to him.

- Hi, why are you sitting here alone?

- What does it matter to you? - you answered a little rudely.

- I just decided to get acquainted, I liked you in the first game. So why are you sitting alone? - he asked softly that you even began to believe in his sincerity, so you decided to immediately show him what you always hide and see what he will say later.

You quickly removed the hair on the left side of your face and he saw your burn, after which you hid it again.

- So what? Don't you like me now?

- No, I like you. Is it because of him that you don't want to meet someone?

- Yes, because usually people laugh at me when they see my burn and the absence of an eye. I was so sick of it that I decided to communicate less. - the guy gently stroked your head that you were even slightly embarrassed by his gesture.

- What fools. I'm Kang Dae Ho, now you have a friend who will protect you. - he smiled broadly, you realized that he was not lying, something told you that the guy would never betray you.

- And I'm Y/N.

- Beautiful name! Let's go for breakfast? You still need to gain strength before the game, don't worry, I'll be with you now.

And he was with you until the very end.

Kang Sae Byeok

You sat quietly and eat a very modest dinner. How three men approached you. You were very scared.

- Hey, bitch, give me your food. - said one of them.

- But this is my food. Each of us was allocated the same amount. You've already eaten yours. It doesn't give the right to approach and take away from me! - but they only laughed at your words.

- If you don't want it in a good way, it will be bad. - after that, the second one came up to you and pushed you in the chest, causing you to fall to the floor, along with your dinner.

- Fuck, what have you done! What was the point of pushing her? Now eat from the floor yourself.

- Ahahahaha, look at her face! - because of the fall, they had a view of your whole face, they could see your scar and you wanted to cry from this humiliation, because they looked at you and poked their finger, laughing.

- God, how scary you are!

- A nasty monster!

- Ahahaha, abomination, I even lost my appetite.

They could have humiliated you for a long time, but suddenly you heard a female voice.

- Hey, you freaks have moved away from her. - they turned around abruptly and saw a girl, player 067, who was looking at them with a murderous look.

- Oh, we don't need it. Let's go, guys, away from this horror. - they left, leaving you alone.

The girl came closer to you and stretched out her hand, which you immediately took.

- Don't pay attention. They don't know what they're talking about. And don't worry about the burn, you're still as sweet. - she left, leaving you alone.

After her words, you felt some lightness, player 067 was the first who did not humiliate you. In the following games you wanted to be a little closer to the girl and she seemed to let you do it.

Nam Gyu

You met the guy at the second game, when his team invited you to their place. You had to agree, because there was little time left. During the game, you accidentally showed your burn, it was noticed by players 230 and 124. The first one laughed, but the second one immediately hit him on the head. It even amused you a little.

After the game, you decided to take a nap, but you were prevented by player 124, who lay down on your bed without asking.

- Did something happen? - you didn't understand why he came, because you thought you were partners in one game.

- Excuse me, Thanos, he was just under the drugs and didn't think that there was no need to laugh.

- I'm used to it. And in general, I saw that you also took pills. - you said sarcastically, to which he smiled.

- And you're attentive, even with one eye. - You immediately looked at him angrily that he immediately fell silent.

- If that's all, you can go.

- No, not all. In general. You're pretty cute with this burn, you look like a superhero!

- You say it because of drugs, when the effect goes away, I'll be disgusting.

- Not at all! Believe me. - the guy said with plaintive eyes, you didn't understand what he needed from you, but he looked funny.

- Okay.

You agreed solely out of curiosity, but who knew that this jerk would be normal. If his friend talked about your burn, he immediately covered his mouth. Looks like he fell in love with you.

🩵🩵🩵

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ashkabbom · 2 months ago

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Thoughts of the Day - Mouthwashing

A/n: I don't know what this is 🧍🏽. I started with one idea and ended up with a completely different one. Lock your doors and windows before you go to sleep, or Jimmy will appear in your room at night.

Versión en español en Wattpad: Libro de One Shots - Mouthwashing (Cuenta: ashkabbom)

Versão em português no wattpad: Livro de One Shots - Mouthwashing (Conta: ashkabbom)

•Post-Crash!Captain Curly x Reader (Not the focus, but it's still here)

Synopsis/Summary: Situations from every week, questions from every day

Notes: I apologize in advance for the phrase Swansea says😭

Why had he done this? He condemned you all to immediate hell.

That day, the emergency screen, the red lights everywhere and the sound, all of that could only be a bad dream, right? It had to be a nightmare.

What had you done to deserve this? Years of work thrown away with a single action and you don't even know why it was all thrown down the drain without any prior warning.

You loved him like never before, your days with him meant much more than all the work you had in this place.

The layoff was already a problem, but this was beyond what you could handle in the future. If there even was a future.

The tears fell and you felt yourself slowly going crazy. The captain was out of the game now and in his absence they put Jimmy as an anesthetic for the immense despair in everyone on that ship, but it didn't work at all, it was the calm before the storm.

Anya looked as uncomfortable about it as anyone on that ship. Having Jimmy as captain was stressful, to say the least.

You and the others came to a silent agreement about the now captain. He was as cowardly as anyone there, but he was still second in command.

"What do we do next?" You ask, taking a deep breath, wiping your tears on the sleeve of your uniform.

"I don't know, but his painkillers will run out at some point." Anya also looked apprehensively at the captain's situation.

At the same time that you felt anger and disappointment, you also felt worry and uncertainty, you still loved him. The story made sense to some extent, but it didn't match the captain you knew.

"You.. You know how I feel about this, I think it's the right thing to do, Anya." It was weird to think about doing that with someone you like, you don't even know if you can imagine yourself doing such a thing.

She didn't have to answer, but as much as neither of you wanted to, you silently agreed that it was the quickest and least cruel option towards him.

"What a funeral atmosphere." Daisuke's voice coming from the door startles you both, making you turn to look at him.

"Well, this is almost a funeral- Ouch!" You can't even finish before Anya pinches your neck. "Okay okay, I get it."

"And how is it going? How is he?" He approaches the stretcher and looks at the captain, saying good morning and sighing soon after. "At least he's alive..."

"The painkillers help to control the pain and he can... Sleep, I think, or at least not writhe in pain and discomfort." Anya says to Daisuke, knowing that it was impossible for Curly to have any slight improvement in the situation they were in.

"But still no sign of being able to speak, and it would take a miracle for him to actually be able to say something." You say sincerely.

Daisuke nods in acknowledgement, he wondered if keeping the captain in this state for months was right. When they return to Earth, Curly could receive specialized treatment for his situation in a Hospital, right?

"The Totally Spies girls better get back into their disguises, or the Mojo Jojo will find you out." Swansea warns, leaning against the door.

If everyone was in sickbay, Jimmy would probably be hunting one of them around the ship. It's only a matter of time before Jimmy shows up and starts putting stress and pressure on everyone, so Swansea was right.

You pat Daisuke on the shoulder and then look at Anya. "You heard Jerry, girls, back to disguises." Anya lets out a small laugh, a small quiet moment before dealing with the reality of things.

"I'll give the painkiller to the captain this time, I'll see you guys later" You say waving to your colleagues before grabbing the bottle of painkiller.

Daisuke and Anya walk to the door, chatting a bit before agreeing on where each of them would go. "But isn't the Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls?" Is the last thing you hear Daisuke say before the door closes.

It's just you and him now. No matter how much you tried to ignore it, but you could feel Curly's gaze burning you alive, so many things wanted to be understood with just a single look from his eyes.

If he could say something, what would he say? What would be his version of what happened? Why would he have crashed the ship? Would he want us to keep giving him the painkillers or just end his suffering?

Looking at him, burned, unable to speak or move properly, lying on that stretcher, which was now his bed and the infirmary his room. He just stared, unable to close his eyes at any moment, you didn't know what was going on in his head, it was impossible to guess any feelings he had by looking at his face.

"Yeah, Captain... You should have thought better about your actions before you did this to us..." You say with the painkiller in hand. The urge to cry formed again and made you feel suffocated. "You have to take responsibility somehow at least..."

#captain curly #mouthwashing #anya #anya mouthwashing #curly mouthwashing #daisuke #daisuke mouthwashing #mouthwashing x reader #swansea #swansea mouthwashing #jimmy mouthwashing #captain curly x reader #curly x reader #mouthwashing x male reader

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solarhysm · 2 months ago

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DUST OF US #DRABBLE - JUNGKOOK THINKS YOU HATE HIM

> synopsis: 7 years ago Y/N broke Jungkook’s heart when she decided to end their relationship without an explanation. When they meet again at a friend's wedding, after almost a decade, Jungkook needs answers to move on.

> pairing: Jungkook x reader

> genre: romance, ex to lovers au

> warnings: explicit languages, violence, smut, cheating, nsfw, angst, +18 minors dni !!

> word count: 1.3k

MAIN STORY HERE.

*french writer, i apologize in advance for my awful english!

AGE: 17 years old.

You have become distant over the last few weeks. Jungkook has grown accustomed to having you around constantly: at lunchtime, in class, and even walking home together. But it’s been two or three weeks since you’ve started avoiding him, finding excuses.

At first, he didn’t say much—maybe you were really busy. But then he caught you with other friends. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t hurt. Over the past year, everything in his life had improved with you in it. But now, he feels like he’s bothering you every time he tries to talk. The worst part is that you keep talking to Jimin, even having lunch with him—but not Jungkook.

“I don’t understand…” Jungkook mumbles, stabbing his bowl of rice with his chopsticks as he gazes at you from afar, sitting with your friend Hyesun. You seem so happy, laughing at something she said, oblivious to his gaze when you could usually spot him anywhere. “Did I say something wrong?” he asks Jimin, who tilts his head to look at you too, sighing.

“We never know what that girl has in her mind,” Jimin says, chewing his food. “It’s not you, Kookie. You’re the kindest guy I know.”

“Then why is she avoiding me?” Jungkook frowns, making Jimin sigh and taking a sip of his water.

“Maybe she figured out that you’re madly in love with her and doesn’t feel the same?” Jimin suggests. Jungkook freezes at the words, feeling his cheeks burn.

“I’m not— I don’t have feelings for her…” He mumbles, his gaze dropping to his tray.

“Oh please”, Jimin rolls his eyes, putting down his chopsticks. “You’re a sap for her. You buy her favorite snacks, wait for her after class even when yours ended two hours earlier, and you even go to the library with her. You never stepped foot in that place before meeting her.”

“I’m just a good friend.” Jungkook frowns, trying to deny Jimin’s words.

“You turned down every girl who hit on you this year, Kookie.” Jimin arches a brow as Jungkook whines, throwing his head back, before hiding his face in his hands. He knows that Jimin is right. He hates that Jimin can read him like an open book.

“Do you really think… She’s avoiding me because of that?” Jungkook asks quietly, his face still buried in his hands. Jimin sighs, staring at his friend.

He’s been following the development of your friendship since the start. Gently, Jimin wraps his fingers around Jungkook’s wrist and pulls his hands down.

“Hey,” Jimin says softly, “She’d be stupid to avoid you just for that. You’re a great guy, Kookie. A little slow and dumb, but not in a bad way.” He teases with a smirk, making Jungkook smile slightly.

“I don’t want to lose her. If she doesn’t feel the same way, it’s okay. I can deal with a little heartbreak. But not… not having her in my life.” Jungkook admits, and Jimin’s lips curve in a soft smile. “I’ll talk to her.”

Taking a deep breath, Jungkook wipes his hands on his pants. He’s been standing outside your door for fifteen minutes. He was full of courage on the way to your building, but now it's slowly crumbling. What’s he supposed to say? Are you avoiding me because I’m in love with you? He cringes at the thought. No, he can’t say that. Exhaling softly, he knocks at your door before he could chicken out.

Your father opens the door, his slight frown shifting into a smile. He knows Jungkook. He actually loves Jungkook; he is a respectful and well-mannered.

“What’s up, son?” Your father grins as Jungkook swallows hardly, his hands sweaty. He discreetly wipes them again.

“Hello sir. Is… Y/N here?” He asks with a small voice.

“Come in, she’s in her room.” His father nods, stepping aside as Jungkook bows politely before entering. Once his shoes are off, he heads to your room. Your door is open, you’re lying on the floor, humming a song and drawing in your notebook.

You sit up and frown when you see Jungkook standing in your doorframe, still outside the room, because he didn’t have time to knock. You always seem to sense his presence whenever he's near. He called it your ‘spider-sense’.

“Kook?” You ask, getting up clumsily, feeling awkward. “What are you doing here?”

“I… uh… I need to talk to you.” He mumbles as you walk over, gesturing for him to come in before looking outside at your father, who’s smirking at you. You roll your eyes and close the door behind you.

“I’m kinda busy,” you say, avoiding his gaze, with your hands on your hips. “Make it quick.”

Jungkook's heart clenches painfully at the way you're acting. He hates it. He misses you.

“Y/N…” He starts, tilting his head to force you to look at him. “Are you avoiding me?”

“What— No!” You immediately shake your head.

“Please, don’t… sugarcoat it. If you don’t want to be friends anymore, that’s okay. But just tell me. I’ll respect your decision, but—"

“I’m not avoiding you, Kook!” You sigh, your stomach twisting uncomfortably.

“We haven't had a real conversation in weeks. You have time for everyone but me. You can’t even look at me right now.” He frowns as you finally lift your eyes from your feet to meet his gaze. “You know what? Sorry, it was stupid of me to bother you. I get it.” He clenches his jaw and steps back, turning toward the door.

He needs to get out fast. Jungkook has always been emotional. He can’t help it. The last thing he wants is for you to see him cry over this. He knows you wouldn’t judge him. But it still hurts.

“What do you want me to say?” You bark, fists clenched at your sides as you stare at the back of his neck. You hate his chestnut haircut—you’ve told him multiple times. But that didn't stop you from falling for that idiot.

Your words make him freeze, his fingers still on the doorknob. He stares at the chipped paint of your door, unsure what to do, waiting for you to continue.

“I…” you start, shaking your head. “This is stupid.”

“You what?” He asks, not moving. But when you don’t reply, he nods, his grip tightening on the doorknob. “Alright…” He sighs, ready to leave.

“I like you.” You say in one breath, scared that if he crosses the threshold, you’ll never see him again. The confession sends a shiver down his spine. When he turns to face you, you're looking away, frowning— probably angry because you don't understand this new feeling. “Laugh at me all you want. I can’t help it.” You mutter, jaw clenched.

But Jungkook doesn’t want to laugh. His features soften as he watches you.

“Why would I?” He almost whispers, stepping closer. “Why would I?” He repeats, tilting his head to make you meet his gaze.

“Because you’re popular, and you can have any girls you want. Why would you care about someone who looks and acts like a boy?” You reply, making him chuckle softly. He pulls you into a warm hug, your breath shaky, but you stay still.

“I don’t care about them,” He murmurs, his warm breath brushing your ear as he tightens his arms around you, his nose grazing the skin of your shoulder. “I like you,” he says, and his words make you freeze for a second before you start laughing nervously. You bury your face in the crook of his neck, your arms wrapping shyly around his frame.

A huge weight lifts off your heart, and you feel lighter.

“Let me take you on a date,” he offers, pulling back as you shake your head, amused.

“A date?” You ask as he hums, wiping away a lonely tear from your cheek— the last remnant of your fear of losing him because of feelings you thought were unrequited.

“Well… I don’t have the money for something fancy, but I know you like tteokbokki.” He adds with an amused smile, his hands resting on your shoulders as you nod. “If I want you to be my girlfriend, I’ll better woo you properly, right?”

DUST OF US MASTERLIST.

WATTPAD.

buy me a coffee<3 (every chapters/drabbles are posted as soon as i'm done writing them.)

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER (LINK) FOR UPDATES!!

#bts jungkook #bts smut #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts #jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook bts #jungkook fanfic #jeon jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook x y/n #solarhys #dust of us #jungkook fluff #jungkook fiction #jungkook fic recs

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huboi · 1 year ago

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“it wasn’t your fault”

[muzan kibutusuji, kokushibo and akaza x gn! reader]

╰┈➤ includes; mentions of r*pe, self loathing, death (not reader), please note this is a triggering topic so readers’ discretion is advised

╰┈➤ extras; this was a request, sadly I can’t tag them cause tumblrs’ being a bitch about it so I just hope that the requester comes across this

╰┈➤ a/n; it’s important to note I haven’t dealt with anything like this personally, so apologies if this doesn’t seem realistic or is badly done, I will try my damndest to be as respectful as possible with this fic

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

muzan kibutusuji

yes, he’s a demon, not just any demon but the king of demons, which certainly means he cares for no one, especially not a human of all things right?

wrong

muzan originally planned on turning you, when something in his dead heart jumped for joy at the sight of your face, he just couldn’t turn you

and so he protected you when needed and eventually you ended up dating

one thing he noticed is that whenever he goes to touch or kiss you etc. you seem to back off or hesitate, you believe he doesn’t notice but he does

he’s also noticed you tend to cover your body 24/7 with baggy clothing and never wear short sleeved shirts or shorts

when he confronted you about it, you just burst into tears, thinking he would dump you or blame you for what they did to your body

with a comforting embrace, and some time to mull it over, you decided to tell him what happened

muzan was furious to say the least, not at you, never, he was furious at the disgusting person who dared to lay their filthy hands on you without your consent

he gives you little kisses on your face (with consent of course) and hugs you close whilst assuring you “it’s not your fault”

later on when he was sure you were fast asleep, he took care of a certain someone

safe to say that that person will never touch you again

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

kokushibo

it’s pretty obvious he’s a demon

so as soon as you guys crossed paths, you could tell he wasn’t human by his face alone

at first you were worried he was gonna hurt you, but he simply shrugged and explained how he doesn’t bother killing people unless necessary

somehow you guys ended up in a relationship and bam!

you’re one of the most protected people in Japan

kokushibos’ weary eyes couldn’t help but notice your hesitancy towards his intimate advances, no matter how simple

he could also tell you held some sort of self hatred towards yourself, as he had been in your position hundreds of years ago

he brings it up one afternoon, explaining how he wants to make sure you’re both comfortable in the relationship

you hesitantly give him the answer, expecting for him to kill you on the spot

only for the usually stoic demon to wrap you into a tight hug, arms trembling and face contorted in anger

“it’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong” he seethed, before asking if you remember what they look like

after giving him a brief description of them he was off in a flash, seemingly teleporting to god knows where

the person trembled, cowering into a corner begging for their life to be spared, kokushibo simply unsheathing his sword and landing cuts all over them so they can bleed out slowly and die from the blood loss

when coming back from his deeds, kokushibo saw you in bed wrapped up in the blanket, he simply climbed in after you and hugged you from behind

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

akaza

definitely the most angry out of all three demons

he will hunt everywhere for this person and won’t take a break until he finds them and breaks them himself

when he does come across this ‘human’, he will personally punch them so that they die from a slow painful death

when coming back to you, akaza will simply be there for you throughout the healing process/trauma

he hates how the monster caused you so much trauma

akaza is always there for you if you want to vent or talk about your feelings

if anything like that ever happens again, tell him, he’ll be there for you and will also personally deal with the monster that did this to you

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

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writeoffside · 6 months ago

Text

DOCUMENTS AND DESTINIES

♯ battinson!bruce wayne x fem!reader - 1/?

summary: An unexpected visitor comes to your work to check out the history of his company, which leads you both to a tense search for the much needed files… Which is pretty tiring for you.

warnings: none - just swearing

info: english isn't my first language, i apologize in advance for all the mistakes (if there are any!)

a/n: working on part 2 now hihihi

The time went slowly when you were stuck in the office. The uncountable amount of times you've checked the clock is absurd.

Papers are all over the table, every single document staring at you back. The highly reflective colored highlighters sitting at the side of your desk. Nearly at their lowest as they've been used so many times in the past few hours. The documents are full of names, places, words, numbers and other symbols. Some names are unknown to you, some familiar.

A sigh escapes your lips, turning to the side to look at the clock on the other side of the room.

It was finally reaching the time you were mostly looking forward to.

5:58, the clock read.

"Thank god," you whispered out to yourself. Slowly gathering all the papers from your table and closing the work laptop in front of you. All the papers are quickly gathered on top of each other and put into a dark purple-colored folder. The color is slowly ripped around the edges of the folder as it has been in use for a very long time. A white — now dark pastel brown like color sticker is in the middle of it. The sticker is pulled at the edges,

but still stays on. Your name written on top of it, written with a dark blue pen. You don't have the heart to switch the folder with a new one. It holds too many memories.

In a quick time, all of the things you've had on your table are safely packed and put inside your bag. All the documents are starting to overflow your folder, which ends up taking the whole space in your bag. You know well that your shoulder is going to be hurting pretty badly when you come back home with the bag draped over it.

Your boss had barged inside your office just a few days ago with multiple folders on top of each other in his hands. When he dropped them all onto your table, it felt like the table itself would drop as well and break down just there.

He started talking about how he needs the documents to be checked, corrected, and put out into mails, then returned... And more instructions were flying onto you from his mouth. Which you've totally ignored, but gave him a nod as you pretended to listen to his instructions. The amount of documents there could be counted into hundreds and hundreds.

Now, thankfully, you were about to just go home and enjoy your night by yourself!

Or so you have thought.

As you were about to move your chair back to the table and make your way out of your office, a knock sounded on your door. Which sounded completely different from the knock your boss' usually gives you on your office door.

With a deep sigh, you made your way towards the door and pushed it open. The person who was standing behind the door was someone that nobody in the entire building would expect.

Bruce fucking Wayne.

"Daniel's not here," you quickly muttered out the first thing that came to your mind. Mentally slapping yourself for such an answer. Of course, your boss wouldn't be there... In your office.

"I'm not here for Mr. Meyer... The receptionist told me that you are the only one in the building with the keys to the archive. Is that so?" He asked lowly and looked back to the hallway that he most likely came from.

"Oh! Yeah... I am the only one with the keys," you chirped, backing away from the door and walking back into your office, "I was just about to go home, but thankfully, you caught me just at the right time!" You laughed your sentence off awkwardly. He remained silent and with no other expression. His stoic' expression remained unchanged.

You opened the drawers of the cabinet, which was near the table and fumbled with the drawer, which keep the keys safe. Finally opening it and pulling out the set of keys that could open the multiple doors of the archive. The keys rattled with a sound as you picked them up from the drawer.

Then in just a moment, you closed the drawers, stood back straight, and looked over to Mr. Wayne, who was still standing outside of the office. Now fidgeting with his fingers, with his head hung low. He stood here, waiting, with no intention to move inside the office to retrieve the keys himself from you.

He was wearing a dark set of brown pants, which weren't skinny nor baggy. A white pastel-like blouse underneath a matching dark brown jacket with its front opened. The little cufflinks with 'W' could be seen on the cuffs of the blouse. His shoes were peeking out from the bottom of the pants. His dark hair was falling into his face and his pale white skin was showing off.

You shuffled back outside and closed the door of your office. Your belongings still inside as you'll have to take the keys back and lock them up back into the drawer after you come back from the archives.

"Okay... We can go now, this way! Down the stairs and then to the archive doors," you told him as he looked up to meet your eyes. His expression still hasn't changed since he knocked on your door.

Both of you made your way towards the staircase with no words uttered between each of you. The steps echoed around as both of you walked down. The sound of your heels hitting the stairs echoed down the staircase.

"If I may ask, Mr. Wayne... Why do you need to go to the archives? Is there something wrong with the documents we've sent back to the Enterprises? We can—" You were quickly cut off by his husky voice.

"No. There's no problem with the documents we've received," his voice cut your rambling quickly, "I've found something else... In the older documents. What my father might still have stored down there, in your archives... I need to check them out for certain reasons," he informed you as you reached the end of the stairs and started walking through the long, hardly lit, hallway.

The walk to the archives felt endless.

The sound of your heels hitting the tiled floor started to echo around the hallway once again. His walk was steady and his steps were long. The awkward silence felt like it grew with each step you both took. You had to walk even quicker than before, to catch up next to him.

"Here it is," you told him as both of you stopped in front of locked doors with a black bold writing on it 'ARCHIVES' and a smaller text underneath which said; 'RESTRICTED AREA; NO ADMITTANCE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'

The keys jiggled as you looked through them to find the right one for the first door. The key had a little red cover on it with a little black bold number one, '1' written on it. Meaning that it's for the first door of the archives.

You unlocked the first door and turned to Mr. Wayne to let him in first. With a nod, he entered the room and walked deeper into the room.

"Your father's documents are stored in the more 'locked up' side of the archives, the much more important side," you told him as you closed the door behind you. The room is filled with drawers, shelves and boxes full of important documents, the scent of old paper making its way to your nose.

You quickly make your way towards him, where he's standing by door with '2' written on it and some smaller text underneath it, which you don't care to read as you've been there multiple times before.

You unlock the door and let him in first again. Closing the door after the two of you. You look over as you see him stalk over to the next door at the end of the current archive room.

God, this man has no patience.

"What's up with your father's documents, though? They've been checked, even multiple times and on different occasions... And your father, he used to—" You started rambling to him as you approached him but you were, once again, quickly cut off by him.

"I know. But I have to check something on them. For personal reasons and also to check up on our history, the Wayne Enterprises' history, with others... I know what I'm doing," he snaps back at you sternly, now looking straight at you, into your eyes. His brows furrowed.

The tone that he spoke to you in, was no close to respectful, nor close to being polite. A scoff wanted to make its way out of your mouth, but you rather kept it shut. Your lips press into a thin line as you watch him look back at the door he waits for.

You unlocked the third door and let him in first again. He stops and looks over at you for a split of a moment and then he's turning his body away from you and heading inside, leaving you standing by the door alone.

With another sigh, you make your way inside, closing the door after you.

You made your way towards him, where he was standing. He was standing by the drawers with a big red 'W' written on the label, peeking from the side of the drawers. All of the drawers marked with red 'W' contained all the documents from the Wayne's.

"You can... Um, check the documents you need. Just put them back into their place, where they were placed before," you told him as you watched him open the first set of archive drawers to check through them.

A few minutes went by, he put out about five files out onto a table next to him. He went through every single document and file, flipping through every page he came across.

"Who's this?" He suddenly asked. His finger stopped at a certain part of the document he was reading at the moment.

You stood up from the very much uncomfortable chair that you were sitting on. You made your way towards him and looked over to the documents that he was holding.

He lowered the documents to your height and his finger hovered above a certain name.

Scott Starkey.

His name was crossed out with a black marker. In every sentence, his name was mentioned.

You looked up to meet his eyes and then back down at the name, "He used to be close with your father. He worked hard to reach a position as your father had... Or at least one close to him. He was so ambitious and hungry for success as he, your father, had," you started telling him. Bruce's eyes stayed on you.

"His ambition to get to that position literally consumed him and morphed it all into one huge obsession. He fought against his own limitations. He didn't know when to stop... His friendship with your father started to tear, he couldn't understand why your father had achieved so much so effortlessly. His admiration turned into resentment, anger, and total hatred against him," you told him as you looked up to meet his furrowed expression. His stance was now noticeably different, he was standing straight as he listened to you.

"He dug so deep into your father's personal life. Scott started to spread your father's secrets and things about his personal life, your father's reputation wasn't going to end well for him, or anyone in the Wayne Enterprises if he would have continued," you sighed as you stopped for a moment.

"What happened to him?" Bruce suddenly rasped out into the silence with his question. He looked into your eyes and then down at the documents, which he was holding in his hands. A deep frown on his face after hearing thr backstory from you.

"I don't really know..." you mumbled out to him. Your mind going blank now. They never told anyone what had actually happened to him, he just left everything behind and never came back.

He completely disappeared.

Bruce hummed and closed the file quickly. The dust flew into the air. Floating around the two of you. The files haven't been opened for a long time now.

A cough made its way out of you from the dust. You waved your hand around to get the dust away from your face.

Meanwhile, Bruce turned his body away and opened the next drawer, and took out the first file of documents, reading and listing through them. His brows were furrowed in concentration, eyes running over all the words, numbers, and symbols written on the paperwork.

You went back to sit in the chair you sat in moments prior. You didn't take your phone down there, so you've got no idea what the time currently is. But you know one thing and that is that you should have been home for at least an hour now. Not at work, sitting in the archives, on the most uncomfortable chair ever, and with the Bruce fucking Wayne.

You try to sit comfortably on it as you watch him go through another opened file, which is more of a yellowish color. Must be an older one than the other ones.

As you watch him closely, you can feel your eyelids getting heavier. Your head slowly falls forward, hanging lowly. Your eyelids flutter shut and you can feel yourself drifting away into the darkness.

The sound of traffic and the rhythmic hum of a car wakes you up.

You slowly come to your senses and open your eyes to see the road of Gotham City, full of traffic, in front of you. The rain is falling against the car.

The car. You're in a car.

Your head quickly shoots up to look at your surroundings. You blink a few times as the very unknown and unfamiliar surroundings come into focus.

You're seated in an unknown car in the passenger seat, with a seatbelt on. The interior of the car is black and looks way more luxurious than your car does.

You look to the side and you finally see the driver of the car.

Bruce Wayne is sitting at the driver's side, holding the steering wheel. His side profile is up to your eyes as you watch him from your seat.

His eyes suddenly flicker to yours and you can see a slight hint of a smirk coming up on his face. And then it's quickly gone.

"You're awake," he says, his eyes returning to the road ahead.

"Where... Where am I? I was at the archives. Where are my things?" you groggily ask as you push yourself away from the window that you were leaning against the moments before.

"Wait! The keys! I didn't put them back, didn't lock the doors! Oh my god, Daniel's gonna kill me!" The realization suddenly comes onto you and dawns slowly. You recall your last moments when you were at the archives; sitting in the chair, slowly falling asleep while he checked through the files.

Bruce sighed softly at your rambling, "I locked all three doors. As well put the keys into their place and locked your office," you looked over to him once again as he talked, "your things are in the backseat, don't worry."

You slowly looked over to the backseat and saw your coat and your bag on the seat, with the dark purple folder peeking out. You smiled to yourself.

Then the silence filled the car they were in for a brief moment.

"Thank you... For taking care of the things and taking me with you," you said to him after a few brief moments.

You see him give you a small nod, his gaze never moving from the road and traffic ahead. His hands turn the wheel to the side as the car moves to the left. You recognize the street you're driving through.

"Wait— How'd you know where I live?" You ask him as you watch the buildings and cars go by through the window.

"A friend of yours told me… Angus?" He answered, his eyes flickering to yours for a moment. His expression is much softer than back in the archives.

"Oh! Angus, yeah..." you sigh as you lean back into the seat, the tiredness creeping back onto you.

You watch the buildings go by and then another turn comes. Then you see your apartment building just a few buildings away from where you're right now.

"This is me," you point out to the building you're nearly at. The building looks like any other ordinary building in Gotham.

Bruce nods as he slows the car down and parks near the curb, in front of your building entrance.

You unbuckle your seatbelt and open the door of the car. Your feet meets the pavement and you stand up. Your body aching from the sleep.

You softly close the front door behind you and make your way toward the back door to get your things out.

You're met with Bruce standing by the other side of the car, with your long coat and bag in his arms. He walks around the back of the car and hands you the items.

"Thank you," you utter to him softly, taking the items from his grasp, "for everything you've done for me today. Means a lot," you smile up at him.

You're so sure that you saw the corners of his mouth turn a bit upwards. A smile wanting to creep up onto his face.

"No problem," he says after a long pause. He nods his head and leans against the back of his car, his arms folded over his chest, and closely watches you stand.

His tone was steady but his eyes and posture said differently. His eyes held a hint of something even more. A very subtle, small smile coming up onto his face couldn't even be seen.

An awkward silence took over your small conversation.

You shuffled from side to side on your feet, looking down to the ground before meeting his eyes once again.

"So... Well, I should probably... I should probably head in," you say with a small smile to him, clutching your bag and coat to your chest.

"Oh, yeah... Of course!" He quickly replied with a shake of his head. As he pushed himself off the car.

You gave him another shy smile and turned yourself around to leave, walking up the stairs to the entrance of the apartment building. As you reached for the door, you looked back and lifted a hesitant hand to give an awkward wave to him.

Turning back and opening the door to the building. Your steps finally met the surface of the tiled floor of your apartment building's first floor.

You take a quick glance over your shoulder and catch your eyes with him once again.

Then he lifts his hand as well, and a very hesitant wave comes back to you. A smile plastered on his face. His smile grows as he watches you disappear into the apartment building. A warm feeling spreading through his chest.

With a final glance at the building, he walks around and gets back into his car. The childish smile not leaving his face at all.

The whole ride back is quiet. But he can hear his heart beat so loudly inside of his chest. As he drives, he can only think of one certain thing. His mind is stuck.

He only thinks of you.

PART TWO

bruce wayne fic is here! i'm so obsessed with battinson hahahah

give it some love if u liked it thank uu <3

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changetyre · 1 year ago

Note

MORE OSCAR SMUT PLEEEEEASE. The last one slapped. maybe where he rescues you from a creep? Idk. Thanks in advance!

Please II Oscar Piastri ⓈⒽⓌ

SUMMARY: After a scary encounter you seek comfort in your savior..

WARNINGS: **18+**, creep, violence, assault. Not proofread.

A/N: I'm a little behind on requests but with Christmas coming up I've been busy with gift finding, uni, seeing friends and family, and whatnot. Also, I'm really shit with endings so...srry.

"Yes, Dad I'm on my way back I promise." You spoke to your dad on the phone as you walked back to the hotel from a Red Bull party a few blocks down.

Being the daughter of a team principal came with its perks, being able to travel for free and meeting really hot Formula 1 drivers were just some of them.

Tonight you'd been invited to a Redbull party at the Las Vegas GP where you weren't even half surprised to see a Redbull car hanging from the ceiling. You hadn't even realized how late it was only intending to be at the party for a few hours knowing the next day would be busy.

Your dad had asked you to text him when you were on your way back and thinking you'd forgotten your dad had gone to sleep only to receive a text nearing 3 am where he decided to call and scold you...as usual.

"Dad calm down, there's literally people everywhere it's not like I'm completely alone, and besides I'm here in the lobby already." You rolled your eyes at your dad's dramatism.

"I expect you to be up and early tomorrow." Your dad simply said before hanging up.

You laughed as you walked to the elevator. The doors were about to close when a hand stopped them from shutting completely and they opened again.

In came a man who looked completely wasted already making you stand up straighter, warning signs going off inside your head. The doors shut and the second warning sign came when he didn't press a floor button.

You made yourself small trying to not grab any attention tucking yourself into the corner hoping the man would just leave you but as soon as you saw him slowly turn to you and smirk you knew that wouldn't be the case.

"what's your name baby girl." He stumbled all the way to you trapping you in the corner. You turned your head avoiding his face, the stench of alcohol dizzying you.

"Please get away from me." You tried your hardest to sound firm.

He laughed. "c,mon we're just having fun." He let his body fall onto you, his weight trapping your hands beside you.

"GET OFF ME!" This time you screamed louder fear present in your voice.

"Just relax." The man then whispered as he put his mouth on your neck trying to plant kisses all over as you tried wriggling away with all your strength.

"HEY!" You had completely missed the fact that the elevator had stopped and apparently so had the creep since the next thing you knew he was getting thrown off you.

You breathed a sigh of relief at the fact he was finally off you and even more at seeing a familiar face.

"y/n?" Oscar realized it was you which only angered him further. "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!" You heard Oscar scream before landing a punch to the man's jaw.

The next few minutes were a blur, you saw a hotel maid run by to see what was going on before guards were called. Oscar demanded they arrest the man and check the security cameras in the elevator to which the hotel staff assured they would do so and more and apologized greatly to you and him for what happened.

You simply nodded and gave short answers but wanted nothing more than to simply get away from all of this already.

"Hey let's get you back to your room." Oscar placed a gentle hand on your arm. You leaned into his touch and he put his arm around your waist keeping you close as he walked you to your room.

"Thank you." Your voice was still shaky but you felt much better now that it was over.

"Oh no don't need to thank me, he should've never touched you," Oscar replied.

You arrived to your room and you opened the door, turning around on the doorway to face Oscar.

"Uhm Oscar could you-"

"I'll leave you-" Oscar spoke at the same time as you.

You both froze waiting for the other to speak but you took the opportunity. "Can you please stay with me?" You asked him.

"Are you sur-" Oscar didn't want to overstep.

"Please. Please Oz." You begged.

And that's how Oscar found himself lying beside you in the hotel bed. It was awkward, he wasn't sure what to say or do and his nerves only increased when you'd scooted closer to him laying your head on his chest.

"uhm you okay?" Oscar chose to break the silence noticing neither of you were even close to falling asleep, you drawing circles on his chest a good indicator.

"I'm better now." shivers filled Oscar's body at the change in your tone, your voice was softer but more sure now. You looked up at him and Oscar just about stopped breathing at the closeness.

You weren't sure what it was exactly but the closeness you felt with Oscar had made you feel...warm in all sorts of places and you wanted more. Propping yourself further up you pressed your lips to Oscar.

You could feel the initial shock from him before he started kissing you back, combing your hair back with his fingers as he deepened the kiss.

You let out a soft moan at the fact things were quickly getting heated but were frustrated when all of a sudden Oscar pulled away standing up and taking a step away from the bed.

"No...no this isn't okay you've just- I can't- you're vulnerable and-" Oscar stuttered, it didn't matter how much he really wanted this he couldn't take advantage of the situation like this.

"Please Oz." The way the words had such different meanings from just a few moments ago. "I want this...I really want you." You said as you kneeled on the bed facing him.

The way Oscar's dick throbbed was criminal enjoying the way you so prettily positioned yourself on the bed wearing nothing but an oversized shirt which didn't do much to hide the space between your legs and he'd be blind not to notice the way your nipples poked out.

"Fuck-" Oscar cursed himself.

"Please Oz make me feel good." Your innocent voice almost made him pass out right then and there.

Look, maybe he was a horrible person for this...but he couldn't resist.

Stepping forward Oscar pulled you towards him by placing his hand on your neck, he knew you liked it as soon as you moaned into his mouth.

He slowly pushed you back onto the bed as he got over you not breaking the kiss. With his other hand, Oscar used his thumb to play with your nipples loving the way you squirmed at his touch.

He began kissing down your neck while his other hand began caressing your bare legs inching higher and higher slowly.

"Ah, shit...ah." He smirked at the reactions he was getting from you taking the time to tease you a little as his fingers just grazed over your panties but not just yet putting any pressure.

"Oscar just touch me already...please." Oscar had never felt anything like it when you grabbed his hand and brought them closer to you.

He let you partially take control as you began using his hand to rub it against yourself for a few seconds before curling your fingers through the back of his hand and placing it inside your panties.

"Holy shit you're gonna kill me," Oscar whispered to himself as he felt the way you guided his fingers through your folds before rubbing circles on your clit.

Oscar let you do what you please with his hands as he continued kissing the rest of your body not caring the way he was leaving marks practically everywhere.

"Please fuck me." You then asked.

The way you seemed to ask for everything so nicely only made Oscar want more and more of you.

"Of course baby." He whispered as he pulled his hand out of your panties with a little reluctance from you so he could strip himself off his clothes.

He saw as you were about to take your shirt off. "Leave it on," Oscar demanded, there was something about you in an oversized shirt with the idea of being bare underneath that just made the ache between his legs a little bigger.

You smirked noticing the desperation in Oscar's voice. Once he freed himself Oscar climbed back over you before holding his dick and rubbing it through your folds a few times.

You rolled your eyes back at the anticipation just waiting for him to fill you up already and it didn't take long before your wishes were fulfilled.

Despite the fact Oscar wanted to fuck you senseless he reigned his needs in and took his time thrusting into you, letting you adjust to his size and length.

"Fuck that's so good." You muttered breathlessly. "Faster Oz please."

You begged the knot in your stomach building up with each second.

Oscar propped his elbows beside you to steady himself before he started setting a pace, loving the way you immediately wrapped your arms and legs around him trying to pull him closer.

"sh*t you're so tight." Oscar could feel the way your walls almost clawed at him every time he pulled back out. "It's like you were made just for me, right baby?" Oscar had never truly been vocal during sex but there was something about you that just made him want to talk.

"Yeah...yes." You replied breathless again having a hard time focusing on his words from the overwhelming pleasure that was building up.

"You're taking me so good." Oscar smiled as he noticed the way your moans got louder and your breath quickened.

"Oz I'm gonna cum...I'm gonna cum." You cried out.

"Cum baby." Oscar was close too but to be honest he didn't care if he didn't finish as long as you did. After a few seconds, he could feel you clenched around him before your body shivered underneath him. His pace initially quickened before gradually slowing down fucking you through your orgasm.

And even though he thought he'd need more the sight of you coming undone seemed to be enough for Oscar as he pulled out pushing your shirt a little higher as he shot his load onto your stomach.

"Fuck." Oscar groaned at the sight of you clutching your breasts as he came onto you. "Shit, that was amazing." Oscar panted as he came down from his high.

"Yeah...you made me feel so good Oz." You replied innocently once more as if you hadn't just done the filthiest thing with him.

"Any time." He smirked as he helped you clean up.

#f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #smut #f1smut #f1 one shot #f1 smut #f1fic #formula 1 #changetyre #oscar piastri #oscar piastri smut #op81 smut #op81 x reader

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yothangie · 8 months ago

Text

Missing their kids event

HJver. SH ver. YH ver. YS ver. SN ver. MG ver. WY ver. JH ver.

pairing: Dad!Hongjoong x 6 year old daughter ft. Fem! mom reader

wrd count: 597

genre: dad!ateez, angst with fluff at the end,

Warnings: crying, idol hongjoong, school

Ateez dad masterlist join the taglist

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He’s been working so hard for the group's comeback, for a few days he hasn’t been home and that puts a worry on your 6 year old daughter. The school was giving out student of the month awards and your child was picked from her class.

You had told Hongjoong in advance so he can have that day off for his daughter, he was sure to have it cleared, but as the comeback was near he hasn’t been home lately or been calling you.

“Mama are you sure appa is coming” your daughter says

“ I’m sure he will go sit down with your other classmates”

The ceremony has started but no Hongjoong, you tried texting and calling but no response.

You decided to message his fellow members to see if hongjoong is still alive, unfortunately they also didn’t answer.

As your daughter's name was called you can see her looking in your direction, her smile dropping when she sees her dad not present.

She went back to her seat looking down, a single tear slipped from her cheek.

When the ceremony was over she went walking to your seat slipping her head in your lap.

“He didn’t come” she sniffled.

“Its okay my love he's probably busy”

“Can we go home now” she asked

You took the certificate from her and carried her back to the car.

You were hoping hongjoong would be home by then but as expected the house was empty.

“Mama can i nap” your daughter asked

“Of course lets get you changed first.”

After changing your daughter and tucking her in you decided to start dinner early.

As you were cooking you heard the door unlocked, you knew who it was.

Hongjoong came into the kitchen and went behind you resting his head on your shoulder.

He leaned in to kiss your cheek only for you to pull away

“You really messed up today” you looked at him

“ i know im sorry-”

“Don’t apologize to me, it wasn't me who you let down”

He got the hint and with that he went into your daughter’s room who was asleep with dried tears.

He gently stroked the girl's head, feeling guilty he had let his little girl down.

“Angel wake up” he whispered

The girl stirred in her sleep turning her back to him.

He ended up shaking her just a little bit hoping she would wake up

She slowly started to wake up looking around locking eyes with her dad

She let out a pout turning her back to him again

“Angel are you mad at me”

“Yes” she sniffled

“Im sorry, I was at work-”

“You’re always working”

He sighs picking her up sitting her on his lap wiping the tears that were starting to spill

“Please don’t be mad Angel”

“You promised”

“I know please forgive me, I took the week off so i can spend time with you” he says

“Its not the same” she pouted

“I know Angel, why don’t you show me your award” Hongjoong sets her daughter down as she goes to her little desk grabbing the piece of paper.

Hongjoong grabs smiling as he reads his daughters name printed on the certificate

“I'm proud of you my Angel” he patted the girls hair

“I got you a little cake to celebrate want to go eat it” he asked

The girl quickly nodded, Hongjoong scooped up the girl in his arms giving her kisses on the cheek, carrying her downstairs.

“I promise from now on any award you receive i will be there in the front row”

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Taglist: @reooreo @starhwahwa @nnnarchives @enbymingi @nvdhrzn @strawberry-cube @jjoongstar @tinyelfperson @soso59love-blog @alexwritesfics @pai-fe @kkumiikumii @blackb3ll @marvelfanatic4life

#ateez fanfic #ateez fic #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez x reader #ateezhongjoong #ateezdad #dad ateez #dadteez

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theetherealbloom · 11 days ago

Text

That's So True

Summary: You write a song about Hugh Jackman because you made it out alive.

Or… But you know, what you know, and he’s just another dude, ooh, that’s so true.

Paring: Hugh Jackman x Singer F!Reader

Warnings: ANGST, Tiny Fluff, Kissing, Break-Up, Hurt, Homewrecking Allegations, Cheating Allegations (not towards the reader), Good For Her(you) trope, Mean!Hugh Jackman, Gossip, Media, Paparazzi, Crowds, Concerts, Confrontation, Drama, Arguments, Real People Fiction

Word Count: 3k

A/N: Sigh, I saw the news/picture today :,)) *BLASTS THAT’S SO TRUE ON REPEAT* I have ideas hehe. Again, this is all fictional so shhHhhHh I have no beef with Hugh or Sutton. I am indifferent or in denial whatever works LOL.

Side note: I’m dyslexic and English isn’t my first language! So I apologize in advance for the spelling and/or grammatical errors. As always, reblogs, comments, and likes are always appreciated. Thank you and happy reading!

Song: That’s So True - Live From Radio City Music Hall by Gracie Abrams

| Main Masterlist |

It was a crisp autumn afternoon when you first met Hugh, seated at a small café tucked into a bustling New York street. The air smelled of roasted coffee and faintly of rain. You were there with a mutual friend, but the moment Hugh walked in, the world seemed to tilt.

He was magnetic in a way that defied logic. His laugh came easily, rich and unguarded, and his charm could’ve disarmed anyone. But you noticed something else—a subtle weight behind his words, the kind of heaviness only someone carrying unseen scars could have.

“You’re easy to talk to,” he said, his smile soft but his eyes searching yours as if testing the waters of vulnerability.

By the time the coffee cups were empty, you felt it—an unspoken connection that left you both lingering, unwilling to part.

Hugh was married then, and you respected that. Over time, your connection deepened into a friendship built on quiet understanding. When his marriage began to crumble, he sought solace in you.

Late-night calls became your norm, his voice weary on the other end of the line.

“She says I’m too distant,” he confided one night, his words tinged with frustration. “Maybe she’s right. I don’t know how to be… enough.”

“You’re more than enough,” you said softly, the sincerity in your voice catching him off guard.

On a particularly stormy evening, he showed up at your door, soaked to the bone. You handed him a towel and a mug of tea.

“My house is your house,” you said gently, watching as he lowered himself onto your couch like a man carrying the weight of the world. “You’re always safe here.”

His gratitude was palpable. “I don’t deserve you,” he murmured, staring into his tea like it might hold the answers he sought.

Months passed, and his life began to piece itself back together—or so it seemed. He was Hugh Jackman, after all, the man everyone adored. His career soared, but somewhere along the way, he began shutting people out. You included.

Fewer texts. Missed dinners. Excuses that felt like thinly veiled walls being built brick by brick. You told yourself he was busy, that it was nothing personal. But deep down, you knew.

One night, the wall between you crumbled.

You were sprawled on his couch, an old rom-com playing on the TV. For a few blissful hours, it felt like the early days again. As the credits rolled, you turned to make a joke, but the words never left your lips.

His gaze was on you, raw and unguarded. Slowly, he leaned in, his lips brushing yours. It was tentative at first, almost a question. When you didn’t pull away, it deepened, pulling you into the kind of kiss that stole time and left you breathless.

The next morning, tangled in his sheets, reality weighed heavily on you. He wasn’t ready for this, and maybe you weren’t either. But love doesn’t ask for permission.

The highs of being with him were intoxicating—quiet mornings, stolen kisses, the way he’d pull you close when the world felt too big. But the lows were suffocating.

One night, as you sat across from him at his dining table, the weight of it all became too much.

“I knew this was never supposed to be serious,” you began, your voice trembling. “That we’d end up going our own ways eventually. But I still fell in love with you. I just… I need to know—do you love me, too?”

Hugh froze. His jaw tightened, and his gaze fell to his hands as if the answer might be written there.

“Trust me,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “I would love you if I could. But I’m just… not ready. Not after everything that’s happened.”

The words hit like a blow to the chest, sharp and unforgiving. A bitter laugh escaped your lips as tears blurred your vision.

“I can’t love you into loving me,” you said, your voice breaking.

He reached for you then, his eyes pleading. “Please, don’t go. Tell me how I can fix this.”

You shook your head, stepping back. “You can’t.”

His face crumpled, but you forced yourself to hold firm.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying,” you said, half-sobbing, half-laughing as you wiped at your tears. “God, I wanted this so badly. I wanted you so badly.”

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, his voice breaking. “I’m so sorry.”

You stared at him for a moment longer, memorizing the way his face looked in the dim light of the dining room.

“Goodbye, Hugh.”

As you walked out the door, the ache in your chest felt unbearable, but for the first time, you chose yourself. And that had to be enough.

LONG POND STUDIO, UPSTATE NEW YORK — DAY

The studio sat nestled in the woods, the floor-to-ceiling windows letting in shards of winter sunlight that painted the room in pale gold. The air was crisp, almost still, save for the soft hum of a guitar and the faint scratching of a pen against paper.

You sat cross-legged on the couch, a heavy knit sweater hanging loosely off one shoulder, and your journal balanced precariously on your knee. The fire crackled in the corner, but its warmth barely reached the icy knot in your chest.

“All I ever did was consider you,” you muttered under your breath, the words raw and jagged, “’til all I could do was consider me.”

Tears streaked your face, but you barely noticed. The pages of your journal blurred as you furiously scribbled down the line, your hand shaking as you wrote it again, harder this time, as if trying to etch it into your soul.

Across the room, your best friend paused mid-chord, her eyes snapping to you. “Wait!” she exclaimed, setting the guitar aside and bounding over. “Say that again.”

“What?” you asked, startled.

“That line. That line,” she said, her voice brimming with urgency. “It’s raw. It’s real. Say it again!”

You swallowed hard, meeting her gaze as you repeated, “All I ever did was consider you, ’til all I could do was consider me.”

The words hung heavy in the air, vibrating with a truth that made your chest ache.

Your best friend clapped her hands together, her grin wide despite the melancholy woven into your tone. “That’s it. That’s the hook.”

You blinked at her. “You think so?”

“I know so.” She grabbed a pen and scrawled the line across a blank sheet of paper, then added, “It’s like... it’s a battle cry. A moment of clarity. God, it’s perfect.”

A shaky laugh escaped your lips. “It doesn’t feel perfect.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” she said gently, resting a hand on your shoulder. “Because it’s still fresh. But this? This is how you take all of that and make it yours.”

You nodded, though the ache in your chest didn’t lessen. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

The two of you worked tirelessly, piecing together fragments of lyrics, melodies, and memories. Each word felt like a wound reopening, but also like a weight being lifted.

“Think about that day in New York,” your best friend said at one point, strumming her guitar absentmindedly. “When you saw him again. What did you feel?”

You closed your eyes, the image flooding back unbidden. The way his eyes had met yours across the room. The way your heart had stuttered, even though it shouldn’t have.

“I felt... angry,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper. “Angry at him, angry at myself for still caring. And I felt... free, in a way. Like I could finally see it for what it was.”

She nodded. “Then put that in.”

You wrote furiously, the lyrics spilling out of you like a confession:

"Said I was fine, said it from the coffin

Remember how I died when you started walking?"

Your best friend looked at the words and let out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s brutal.”

You let out a bitter laugh. “So was he.”

By the time the session ended, the notebook was filled with scribbled-out lines and circled verses. The final song was an anthem of heartbreak and resilience, a mirror of the journey you’d been on.

“Do you feel better?” your best friend asked, leaning back against the couch as the last note faded into silence.

You stared down at the pages, your chest rising and falling in deep, steady breaths. “No,” you admitted, your voice soft. “But I feel lighter. Like I can finally breathe again.”

She smiled, reaching over to squeeze your hand. “That’s all that matters.”

And for the first time in what felt like forever, you believed her.

RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK — NIGHT

The air in the venue was electric, a crackling tension that felt alive. The sold-out crowd was on their feet, their collective energy buzzing through the walls of the iconic theater. You stepped onto the stage, your acoustic guitar slung over your shoulder like armor.

The spotlight hit you, momentarily blinding, but grounding you in its heat. You adjusted the mic stand, fingers trembling slightly as you wrapped your hands around the neck of your guitar.

“This next song…” you began, your voice clear but laced with raw emotion. You swallowed hard, your heart pounding loud enough to drown out the applause. “This next song means a whole lot to me. I wrote it with my best friend during a time when I was trying to piece myself back together.”

The room fell silent, anticipation palpable. You took a deep breath and strummed the first chord, the sound slicing through the quiet like a blade. The band joined in, and the melody swelled, filling every corner of the venue.

You leaned into the mic, your voice low and aching as you began to sing:

"I could go and read your mind

Think about your dumb face all the time

Living in your glass house, I'm outside, uh

Looking into big blue eyes..."

The crowd’s voices rose with yours, singing the lyrics back to you. The familiarity of their energy pushed you forward, your voice growing stronger.

"Did it just to hurt me, make me cry

Smiling through it all, yeah, that's my life..."

Each lyric was a slice of the pain you’d carried, now stripped bare for the world to witness. But you weren’t afraid. Not anymore.

As the song built to its bridge, your eyes scanned the crowd, their faces blurring in the haze of lights and movement. And then, you saw him.

Hugh.

He was tucked away in the VIP section, half-hidden behind the shadow of a curtain. But you knew it was him—the way he carried himself, the way his gaze felt like a physical weight on your skin.

Your breath hitched, your fingers faltering for the briefest second before muscle memory kicked in. Your voice didn’t waver as you locked eyes with him and sang the words you’d never been able to say out loud:

"What'd she do to get you off? (Uh-huh)

Taking down her hair like, oh my God

Taking off your shirt, I did that once

Or twice, uh..."

The lyrics twisted like a dagger, your tone a perfect balance of bitter and defiant. His expression didn’t change, but you saw his jaw tighten.

"No, I know, I know I'll fuck off (Uh-huh)

But I think I like her, she's so fun

Wait, I think I hate her, I'm not that evolved..."

The crowd roared, their voices carrying the song forward as you poured everything into the bridge:

"Made it out alive, but I think I lost it

Said that I was fine, said it from the coffin

Remember how I died when you started walking?

That's my life, that's my life..."

The spotlight shifted, casting you in stark relief against the darkness. Sweat slicked your brow, but you didn’t care. You leaned into the mic, your voice climbing to its crescendo:

"I'll put up a fight, taking out my earrings

Don't you know the vibe? Don't you know the feeling?

You should spend the night, catch me on your ceiling

That's your prize, that's your prize..."

“Mm, bet you're thinking, "She's so cool"

Kicking back on your couch, making eyes from across the room

Wait, I think I've been there too, ooh

Ooh, you've got me thinking, "She's so cool"

But I know what I know and you're just another dude

Ooh, that's so true, ooh, ooh, oh”

The crowd exploded as the final notes reverberated through the theater, applause and cheers drowning out everything else. You took a step back, lowering your guitar as the adrenaline coursed through you.

The lights dimmed, leaving only your silhouette illuminated in the glow of a single spotlight.

Hugh was still watching, his eyes dark and unreadable, his hands clasped tightly in front of him. You held his gaze for a heartbeat longer, your chest heaving, before turning away.

This was your moment. He was part of your story, but he didn’t own it anymore.

You had made it out alive.

BACKSTAGE — EVENING

The adrenaline from the stage was still coursing through your veins when your assistant appeared in the doorway, her expression uneasy.

"There's someone here to see you," she said cautiously.

You didn’t need her to say who. The knot in your stomach told you everything.

“No,” you said quickly. “Tell him I’m busy. I don’t want to see him.”

Your assistant hesitated but nodded, slipping back out. You exhaled sharply, trying to steady yourself, but you barely had a moment to breathe before the door opened again.

And there he was.

Hugh stood in the doorway, looking disheveled in a way you’d never seen before. His usually polished demeanor was gone—his hair slightly messy, his jacket wrinkled like he’d been pacing or wrestling with himself.

Your assistant hovered behind him, mouthing, I’m sorry, before quietly shutting the door to give you privacy.

Your heart raced, anger and longing swirling in equal measure.

“Are you trying to make me hate you?” you snapped, crossing your arms tightly over your chest.

His eyes met yours, desperate and tired. “I just need to talk to you. Please.”

You let out a bitter laugh, shaking your head. “Talk? Here? Where you’ve ambushed me after a show, where I’m supposed to be celebrating with people who actually care about me?”

“I care about you,” he said, his voice breaking slightly. “You know I do.”

“Do I?” you shot back, your voice rising. “Because it feels like you only show up when it’s convenient for you. When you need something.”

“That’s not fair,” he said, stepping closer. You took a step back.

“What’s not fair is you thinking you can waltz in here and expect me to drop everything because you suddenly decided you want to talk.”

He flinched at your words but didn’t back down. “I messed up. I know I did. I’ve been trying to figure out how to fix it—how to fix us.”

“There is no ‘us,’” you said, your voice trembling. “Not anymore. Not after you made it so damn clear I was never enough for you.”

“That’s not true,” he said quickly, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “You’ve always been more than enough. I was the one who wasn’t ready, who couldn’t…”

“Couldn’t what?” you interrupted, your anger boiling over. “Couldn’t love me? Couldn’t choose me? Couldn’t figure out how to be honest with yourself and with me?”

He opened his mouth to respond but closed it again, his shoulders sagging as if the weight of your words had finally crushed him.

You laughed bitterly, wiping at the tears you didn’t want to fall. “You don’t get to do this, Hugh. You don’t get to show up here and act like you’re the one hurting.”

“I am hurting,” he said quietly, his voice raw. “Every day. I think about you every damn day.”

“Then why didn’t you fight for me?” you asked, your voice breaking. “Why didn’t you show me that I mattered to you?”

He stepped closer again, his eyes pleading. “I didn’t know how. I was scared of losing you, of messing things up even more.”

You shook your head, tears streaming freely now. “You already lost me. And ambushing me backstage isn’t going to change that.”

“Please,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Just give me a chance to explain.”

You took a shaky breath, every fiber of your being wanting to let him in, to hear him out. But you knew better.

“Not here,” you said firmly, forcing your voice to steady. “Not like this. Figure your shit out, Hugh. Then maybe we’ll talk. But until then…”

You trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, and turned away from him, your back to the man who had once meant everything to you.

You didn’t look back, even when you heard the door close softly behind him.

#hugh jackman x reader #hugh jackman x f!reader #hugh jackman x you #hugh jackman #hugh jackman x y/n #real people fiction #deadpool and wolverine #logan 2017 #logan james howlett #logan wolverine #logan howlett x reader #hugh jackman fan fic #hugh jackman x singer!reader #logan howlett fanfiction #logan howlett #logan howlett x you #james logan howlett #the wolverine #james howlett

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m4rv3l-girl · 4 months ago

Text

Curiosity

Bucky x Y/N

Y/N is too much of a nerd, and Bucky’s arm is going to be a problem.

Requests Open - See Blog!

Warnings: None. Y/N is a dork.

Y/N had always been excited by technological advancements. When she found out that Bucky Barnes was going to be working with her, she had to contain her sparks of nerdiness.

That Vibranium arm. What a progression in prosthetics...

It was early afternoon and the sun had settled comfortably in the sky, it was warm and humid. Y/N was waiting patiently to meet the super soldier - trying to make her excitement as unnoticeable as possible.

She heard the key rattle in the lock and the sound seemed to go on forever as she sat on the couch in anticipation.

When the door finally opened with a push against the thick carpet, she held her breath. The first thing that she saw was the glint of metal against the sunny rays peeking through the curtains, the sight alone making her heart speed up.

God. Pull yourself together, Woman. She scolded herself internally.

"Uh...hey. Are you Y/N?" His voice was deep and laced with a Brooklyn accent.

Y/N's voice got caught in her voice box and found herself unable to answer for a moment. Instead, she opted to stare up at the specimen of a man in front of her like a love-struck child.

She cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I am. You're James." She stated.

"It's just Bucky" he insisted.

She nodded slightly, using all of her energy to stop her eyes flickering down to the bionic limb.

Stop. He'll think you're a creep.

"Just...Just Bucky. Okay. Sure."

His gaze was locked on hers. He must've caught her staring at the arm.

A small frown embedded into his expression, she could tell he was trying to seem friendly. Yet, one accidental glance and he became visibly distressed. Pulling his left sleeve down a few inches, he spoke quickly,

"I won't hurt you. I don't do that anymore"

His tone was sure and final. But he was coming to the wrong conclusion - assuming Y/N was scared of him. Of the arm.

He couldn't have been any more wrong.

"No, no, I know...I'm not-.."

She fumbled to find the right words. Accepting defeat, she closed her mouth and smiled awkwardly.

"I'm just a massive tech nerd and I'm fangirling a bit, I'm sorry. I'm probably making you really uncomfortable, I was trying really hard not to stare-..."

He chuckled.

Her head immediately shot up and she found his eyes crinkled in the corners as the small laugh slipped out.

"Hey, it's okay, don't apologize, Doll. I'm glad. I like that you were staring out of curiosity rather than fear.."

She nodded slowly. Not sure how to respond, she simply scooted to the side to make room for him to sit down. The couch creaked as he settled into the gap she made - his hands locking together in his lap.

An awkward silence began, and seemed to last an age.

Her eyes wandered with a mind of their own; they were naturally gravitating towards that bionic arm again...

Catching herself, she forced her curious gaze elsewhere. But, Bucky had already noticed with amusement.

"I can practically see the questions swirling 'round your head, Doll. You can ask." He insisted.

Her cheeks started to heat up and she could feel the burning under her skin - powerless to stop it. It was a combination of that name...Doll ..and his perceptive nature. The fact that he had so easily seen through her and noticed how eager she was to ask questions was both scary and embarrassing.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to...be annoying or anything." She said, as if trying to convince herself that she wasn't aching to interrogate him.

"You won't. I'd rather you ask....And I understand the interest. I'm a bit of a tech geek myself."

The questions were bubbling in her throat, ready to flow out.

"...Okay, does it have any feeling? I mean, I'm assuming it has some internal mechanisms that attach to your nervous system but given how sophisticated the tech is I just wondered if it acted similarly to a nerve ending?" She rambled - blurting the words as if they had been stuck.

He laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Uh, that's a bit of a complicated answer. I can feel stuff like pressure, heat or if it's being yanked off. There's some artificial nerves for that. But I can't feel pain on it, or any sensations close to what a real arm can.."

Her eyes widened as she listened intently, leaning in closer to him absentmindedly.

"That is so cool..." She mused quietly.

"I guess it is. I've only ever really seen it as a weapon. But, at its heart, there's some cool tech." He replied, nodding.

They fell into another silence, but this time more comfortable. The TV hummed in the background and filled the stuffy air with a warm buzz.

"Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"You're staring again." He laughed.

#bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #bucky x reader

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callsign-rogueone · 1 year ago

Text

our girl - d.a + x.r.

Dain Aetos x reader x Xaden Riorson You and Xaden have been hooking up for a while now, but Threshing throws a wrench (and another person) into your relationship. [request] words: 2.5k (went a little overboard lol, this dynamic was so fun to think about) 🏷: FOURTH WING AND IRON FLAME SPOILERS. NSFW at the end. she/her reader. I did this one a little differently; a full scene with dialogue, and then headcanons about what the relationship would be like (sfw, nsfw + angst; I apologize in advance…) banner made by user cafekitsune!

You dismount, managing to land on your feet. Maybe the gauntlet had been good practice after all, and not just a form of torture. The flight field is slowly filling in with dragons and their chosen riders. Dain is standing next to you with a massive red daggertail. Nice.

Your two dragons look at each other, and for a moment you’re worried they’re going to start a fight, but they just bump heads softly. They’re… friends?

Then Dain’s dragon turns toward you, looking you in the eye, and you freeze, holding completely still as it sniffs you. You must pass inspection, because he pulls back after a few seconds, satisfied, but you don’t dare move, your heart still pounding.

“Relax, girl. I will not hurt you.”

You startle at the second voice speaking to you, stumbling back in shock. A shimmering red string has appeared beside the soft blue one you share with Lann. You tug on it gently, and Dain’s eyes snap toward you, having felt the pull.

“They’re mated.”

“Smart boy,” Cath purrs.

You’re still trying to get used to having another being speaking in your head, hearing your every thought, but now you have two?

You don’t have time to complain about it before Xaden comes running toward you.

Both Lann and Cath stand taller, flaring their nostrils. Cath looks like he’s contemplating how Xaden would taste.

Xaden comes to a stop a few yards away, not wanting to provoke them. It’s easy enough for him to put it together, seeing Dain standing behind you with the mated pair. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Cath blows a puff of foul-smelling steam at Xaden in warning. “Tell him to watch his tone.”

You don’t.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Xaden says, a look in his eye you’ve never seen before; pure anger.

You take a step back, bumping into Lann’s foreleg. She curls her neck down, placing her head between your body and Xaden’s. You’ve only been bonded all of ten minutes, but she’s already willing to protect you with her life.

“It wasn’t her fault,” Dain challenges, crossing his arms. “Nor is it mine.”

Your stomach flips. You’d never expected that Dain would be the one defending you here.

“I should gut you before the bond gets any stronger,” Xaden threatens. What is he so mad for?

“You of all people should know that the consequences can be dire. You won’t risk her life in that way.”

“What the hell are the two of you talking about?” You ask, but they don’t answer, too busy threatening each other.

“Human males and their arguing,” Lann sighs. “Were they dragons, they’d fight to the death and the victor would keep you.”

“That remains a possibility,” you reply quietly, still watching the two of them. Xaden certainly looks like he’s contemplating murder right now.

“I could just incinerate him, but Sgaeyl would have my head if I did,” Cath muses, sounding bored. “And you seem attached.”

You turn to glare at him. “Not funny.”

“Threats from someone your size are only humorous,” Cath replies, still watching the two men argue.

“Like it or not, Riorson, she’s my responsibility now,” Dain says firmly. What is that supposed to mean? Why does Dain care all of a sudden if you live or die?

“Do not forget that you have a voice in this matter, too,” Lann adds.

She’s right.

“Quit it, both of you!” You interrupt before they can come to blows, and both boys turn toward you, quieting. “Stop talking about me like I’m not even here!”

Their eyes soften.

“Darling, I didn’t mean-“ Xaden begins.

You cross your arms over your chest, glaring up at the boy. “I’m not done,” you say, and he falls silent. “Dain’s right; neither of us asked for this, but it happened, and there’s no changing it now. I know you two hate each other, but I will not have you two fighting over me like I’m some kind of object. Neither of you have any claim to me. I’m not your girlfriend, and even if I was, you still don’t own me. I’m an adult, I can make my own decisions and keep myself safe.”

Neither of them respond, silent and guilty as your words settle in.

“And that is why I chose you,” Lann says proudly.

You ignore the compliment, stepping away from her and turning to leave, swiping the tears from your cheeks.

“I apologize, shrewd one.”

“It’s okay,” you say quietly. “You didn’t know.”

—————————————————

“Professor Kaori?” You ask quietly. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

He already knows why you’re here. “I heard about you and Aetos. Cath and Lann have been mated for nearly two centuries. Their bond is strong.”

“Have you known many other pairs like them?”

“A few,” he answers. “Dragons can live for millennia. Unlike us, they do not fall in love at age twenty, and they are quite selective with their partner. It is a lifelong commitment for them, and not one they take lightly.”

“And their riders?” You ask, holding your breath.

“A pair at Montserrat, who are now married, and another pair who regard each other like blood sisters.”

He doesn’t mention anyone like you and Dain, who hardly know each other and don’t really care to.

“I‘ll make this clear with you, cadet, as you need to know this and accept it; you and Aetos will be stuck together until the end of your days. The four of you must exist as a functional unit. The grief of one of your deaths may be enough to end you all.”

Your eyes widen. So that’s why Xaden had been so pissed.

“You are both excellent students who will undoubtedly become skilled riders,” Kaori says. “Get to know each other in the coming weeks, and settle your differences sooner than later. The health of your relationship, even if it remains strictly professional, is vital.”

You thank him quietly, heading back to your room. You don’t have time to stew over the news; you have assignments due tomorrow.

Two hours pass. You’ve just finished proofreading your essay when there’s a knock on the door.

Dain and Xaden. You motion for them to come in, knowing that the two of them together outside your door will look deeply suspicious to any passerby.

“What the fuck do you two want?”

Xaden nods at Dain, motioning for him to talk.

“We discussed it, and we realized you’re right. We’re just going to have to deal with this, and there’s no use in us fighting about it.”

Xaden speaks next. “You’ve proven that you can handle yourself, but we both still want to protect you. We care for you deeply, and that’s not going to change. We’re declaring a truce.”

“Whose idea was that?” You ask, wary.

“His,” Dain answers. Interesting.

You look to Xaden. “And you’re fine with this,” you say, motioning between you and Dain, “that we’ll be able to speak directly to each other, that we can’t be apart for more than a few days, that we’re going to be stationed together for life?”

“Yes. I trust him not to hurt you, if only because his life is now tied to yours.”

That’s high praise coming from Riorson, who doesn’t fully trust anyone. You don’t dare ask why he feels this way.

“As you said,” Xaden continues, the tone of his voice making your heart flutter, “I hold no claim to you. You remain your own person, no matter how strongly I feel for you or how many nights we have spent together. The decision lies with you.”

“Dain?” You ask.

He’s been silent, watching you with a softness in his eyes. He’d never taken a good look at you before, never appreciated how beautiful you are. “If he’s okay with it, and you are, then I am too.”

You’d never felt compassion for Dain, never cared if he lived or died, but now you’re overwhelmed with a sense that you need to protect him — to guard that little red string until your last breath. “I care for both of you as well. You’re both good men, who are important to me, and I’d like to have you remain in my life, if you promise to play nicely.”

You extend a pinky to each of them.

Dain looks confused.

“She doesn’t fuck around with pinky promises. This might as well be a blood oath for her,” Xaden explains, interlocking your fingers — this isn’t new to him.

Dain reaches forward, the warmth of his skin against yours sending a wave of soothing energy through you.

“Are you going to make us pinky promise each other too?” He asks playfully, the first joke you’ve ever heard him crack.

Xaden is unamused. “Don’t push it, Aetos.”

You giggle at his barely-restrained contempt. This is gonna be fun.

———————————————

sfw

Most of the quadrant know that yours and Dain’s dragons are mated, and that messing with one of the four of you means invoking the wrath of the other three. For the first time since conscription day, you can walk the halls alone without fearing for your life.

Nobody is aware of Xaden’s role in the relationship, and he prefers to keep it that way — it keeps the target off your back, and this way nobody can say that he’s giving you special treatment or shame you for having two partners. Garrick is the only person who knows about all of this, and he’s sworn to secrecy (that had certainly been an interesting conversation to have).

Xaden may not declare his feelings for you publicly, but he and Sgaeyl are always watching your back, ready to jump in should Dain not be there or should things get out of his control.

The two act generally indifferent to each other, but their love of you is enough for them to behave when you’re around.

They find a good balance between treating you like a princess and pushing you to be the best you can be, letting you do your own work and prepare yourself for what’s to come after graduation.

nsfw:

The first time you felt Lann and Cath going at it was... interesting.

Xaden knew that this would happen eventually, having felt the same feeling before from Tairn and Sgaeyl. He had warned you days prior that the overwhelming need could lead you astray easily, but that he wouldn’t be mad if you and Dain acted on it.

And act you did. You became addicted to Dain’s touch as soon as you felt it, not wanting it to be a one-time thing, and that’s when the three of you decided that the boys would share you.

We all know Xaden is possessive. He used to call you “my girl” when it was just the two of you hooking up, but now you’re their girl.

“Aww, is our pretty girl needy?”

“I think our girl deserves a reward for being so good.”

Dain is shy at first, but he works up the confidence to start teasing you through the bond. He loves to watch you squirm from across the room as his voice speaks directly into your mind, telling you how hot you looked sparring, what he’s going to do to you tonight…

Xaden does something similar, his shadows brushing your arms and neck, sometimes even slipping under your clothes to touch your body when he can’t, giving soft caresses to your back and waist, but he’ll never take it too far — just enough to make you want his hands on you instead.

They’re competitive as hell. They’ll tag team you, taking turns to see who can make you cum harder/faster. Your personal record is six times in one night, three apiece before you nearly passed out. They declared a tie, putting aside their egos to care for their sweet girl who had taken it all so well for them.

Sometimes you get both of them at once, and it’s a little overwhelming but so so good. Making out with one while the other is on his knees for you, or one holding your hand and telling you how pretty you look while the other pounds you into the mattress…

The two of them together are the ultimate brat taming combo, with Dain’s strictness and Xaden’s strength. If you give them attitude, get too cozy with another rider, purposely put yourself in danger, or neglect to take care of yourself (overworking, skipping meals, not getting enough sleep…), you’ll have some consequences to face when you’re back behind closed doors that night.

Xaden will tie your hands behind your back with his shadows, Dain edging you until you cry and apologize, promising that you’ll never break their rules again (but you inevitably do, and then they have to teach you your lesson all over again, hehe)

Despite how rough they can be with you, they always take incredibly good care of you afterward, staying to clean you up and hold you close, reminding you how much they love you.

You’re always in the middle when cuddling afterward, as they refuse to touch each other more than absolutely necessary, but you don’t complain, just happy to be held and fall asleep safe between your two strong men 🥰

and now some angst, because that’s what I do:

When you and Dain came back from RSC, bloody and limp, Xaden took care of both of you, finally showing some love to Dain and taking pity on him, helping bandage his wounds and wash the dried blood from his skin.

Eventually Xaden starts distancing himself from the two of you, worried that Dain will read his memories either on purpose or by accident, and find out about his dealings with the gryphon fliers, which you have no idea about.

He plays it off as being busy with third year / wingleader stuff, and you and Dain don’t think anything of it; Xaden has always been withdrawn, never the type to share his thoughts unprompted, and he likes to spend time alone.

When Violet bonds with Tairn at threshing, you realize how Xaden had felt when he realized you and Dain were tied together, only you were less angry and more sad.

You knew this would happen, that Tairn would have to choose a rider eventually, but it still hurt you deeply. Dain held you all night, whispering sweet things to you while you cried and promising that he would never ever leave you.

You decide to rip the bandage off first, finding Xaden alone a few days later and telling him that for the sake of all four of you and your dragons, this should end here.

He agreed quietly, giving you one last kiss and holding you for a few minutes before finally letting go.

When Basgiath found out about the revolution, about everything going on beyond the wards, the two of you didn’t hesitate to follow Xaden to Aretia — he may no longer be yours, but you still love him and would gladly fight by his side until the end of your days. 💔

#xaden riorson #dain aetos #xaden riorson x reader #dain aetos x reader #fourth wing #fourth wing x reader #reader insert #mine

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maimingaffairs · 2 years ago

Text

Moonlight & Shadows (aleksander morozova x fem!moon summoner!reader)

READ PART 1 HERE

AUTHOR’S NOTE: this is the requested part two to another request i had gotten previously so PLEASE read that first. it’ll make it easier for you to understand this one :) apologies in advance for how long this is… i got very carried away.

requested by: @sloppyzengarden

as always.. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR LOVELY REQUESTS <33

warnings: major character death, spoilers for season 2, canon typical violence, mentions of blood. slightly (?) ooc (?) mal

word count: 17.5k

Tendrils of shadow weaved themselves between your glowing fingers and you tapped them, watching as the darkness of the shadows fizzled into a soft silvery shower of tiny sparks.

Your delicate hand was clasped tightly in Aleksander’s much larger, scarred one. A black mark covered the back of his hand where the bone of the stag used to sit, fused into his skin.

With your free hand and his, the two of you absentmindedly messed around with your powers, something the two of you did often. He claimed you should use it often and that’s why he did it, but you suspected it was because he enjoyed watching your light consume his shadows and turn them into silvery, moonlit sparks.

You sat on one of his thighs while your legs were draped across the other and you laid your head down on his shoulder. Every now and then, he’d turn to press a kiss to the side of your face. Despite the situation you were in, the pressures you both were under, you’d never felt so adored.

You pulled back just a bit to look up at his face to admire him. Black scars now decorated his beautiful face and there was a different roughness to him ever since you had found him, emerging from The Fold.

He didn’t like his scars, but to you, they were just another part of the man you loved so dearly. Every part of him was so beautiful to you.

As if sensing your stare, he slowly turned his head downwards and gazed at you through his half-lidded, tired eyes.

“What’re you staring at, little one?” He asked and reached down to run just the tips of his calloused fingers over your cheek.

“Just you. What else?” You answered honestly, and he simply let out a short laugh.

He didn’t respond in any other way, instead deciding to wrap both of his arms around your waist. You laid your hands on his chest and rested your cheek against his collarbone, eyes falling shut slowly. Comfort washed over you like a warm rain and you gathered the lapels of his kefta in your fists, holding yourself as close to him as you possibly could.

Most of your nights ended like this, together. Ever since you had found him, crawling out of The Fold with his nichevo'ya following behind him, he’d held you just a little bit tighter when he got the chance to. He hadn’t allowed you to board the skiff with him and Alina on that fateful day where everything went terribly wrong. He’d instead had Ivan put you to sleep and left you in his tent back at the army encampment. When you woke, you could feel him. All of him. All of his pain, his suffering, and most of all, you could feel the way he was calling for you. You heard it in your mind, and it led you all the way to the edge of The Fold. When he came stumbling out, you ran to him, taking him into your capable arms.

When you promised him forever, you meant just that.

You’d always known there was a darkness within Aleksander. A darkness that was more than just the shadows he controlled.

A darkness that you’d taken in whole and accepted as part of the man you loved.

There was much unspoken between the two of you, much that was unnecessary to speak. He knew you better than you knew yourself, and at this point, you liked to believe that you knew him better than he did.

“You ought to be getting some sleep, my precious Saint.” He whispered and placed a kiss against the side of your head.

“I do not wish to, not yet.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I am comfortable here with you.” You replied and looked up at him. His face was soft, a sight you’d seldom seen before his emergence from The Fold. You felt a twinge of sadness in your stomach and he must have noticed it on your face, because he cupped your face with one hand and leaned down towards you.

“Oh, my love. None of that. Do not pity me. I am alive and I am well. You are mine, I am yours, we will emerge victorious through it all, all is right. All is well.” he cooed in a tone that could’ve convinced you that the sky was green rather than blue.

His warm lips pressed themselves against your temple and he drew you in closer to himself until you were completely covered in him.

“My beautiful Saint of the Moon, sleep now. I will not let go of you.” he promised in that same velvet tone, and it was enough to make you close your eyes.

“But you need your sleep, too, moi soverenyi.” you whispered to him, but you felt his finger tap your lips.

“I will sleep once I know you have comfortably fallen into your very own slumber. As I do every night.” he replied and you nuzzled your face into the side of his chest.

You listened to the shallow beating of his heart underneath your cheek and you focused on the rise and fall of his chest, never wanting to move from the spot you’d taken up residency in for the night. The distant sound of his heart lulled you to sleep, slowly at first, and then your exhaustion came down on you like an avalanche, pulling you down into its clutches.

“Do you think perhaps once we find the last amplifier that I could have a bit of it, too?” you asked softly, watching as Aleksander flipped through a leather bound book on the table in front of the two of you.

Vladim, a small Alkemi pushed another book towards Aleksander and he let out a discontented hum.

“But of course, my little moonbeam. Anything you would like shall be yours.” he mumbled distractedly and you heard a snort from the other side of the room. You glanced over at Baghra who sat in her cage, eyeing you with contempt.

“Feeling like a little house kitten yet, Miss y/l/n?” Baghra asked and Aleksander’s head perked up.

“Speak not to my Moon Summoner, woman. Keep your spite to yourself and rot with it, mother.” he said sharply and then as if he had to apologize, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of your head, “Do ignore her. She couldn’t possibly understand the capacity of that which I have affection for you.” he murmured and then picked up another book.

“Please. You know little of true affection, Aleksander. You’ll have your fun with your pet and then once the novelty wears off, you’ll want another. Something else to gain.” she said with a sense of pride that made you curl your fingers into fists.

“Last I checked, Baghra, I was not the one collared and chained to a skiff. My presence is entirely voluntary.” you snapped, referring to Alina.

“Voluntary because you choose to show him what tricks you’ve learned. Because you derive your pride and pleasures on making him proud. Proud of the tricks he taught you. You-“

“Enough!” Aleksander yelled and turned towards Baghra, “Bitter hag. Make your assumptions to yourself, for you know little of what you speak.” he snapped and the room fell entirely silent.

His arm wrapped around your middle and he pulled you into his side tightly.

“You can have whatever you like. If you desire The Firebird, then I shall give it to you on a silver platter.” he repeated and then stared down at you, his eyes steely, “A queen deserves that much.”

A warm feeling, much akin to drunkenness, filled your chest as you looked up at Aleksander and he trailed his eyes away from the journal in his hands. He looked down upon your face and then he sighed.

“Stop gazing at me like that. We have things to do today and if I catch your affectionate stare once more, I will want nothing else but to stare back.” He replied and then he set the journal down and clutched your hands in his.

He gave you a soft smile and then he ducked down to place a delicate kiss on your cheekbone.

“My dear girl, would you be so kind as to fetch me the notebook that is in our room?” He asked softly and you looked up at him, giving his hands a soft squeeze.

“Of course. Give me a moment, I’ll be right back.” You promised and he moved in to give you one more peck on the side of your face and you felt your cheeks heat up.

Once he had released your hands and turned back to his work with Vladim, you walked out into the hallway, humming quite contently to yourself.

You rounded the corner to your bedroom when a hand closed itself around your arm. You spun around urgently only to see Genya standing behind you, her lips pursed in a frown.

“Y/n,” she began, speaking in a tone not much louder than a simple breath, “I am hoping you will find it within yourself to help me.”

You gazed into the red headed girl’s eyes and you blinked a couple of times, reaching up to gently lay your hand on her forearm.

“You look ever so frightened, Genya.”

“I need your help-“

“Yes but you are shaking.” You protested, cutting her off.

“That is why I need your help!” She exclaimed and then she leaned her face into her hands, “I did not mean to raise my voice to you, I apologize, y/n.”

You’d never seen her act so skittish before and it struck a chord of worry deep within you.

“Oh, please no. Don’t apologize. Just tell me what you need, darling.” You breathed, trying to be as soft and kind as you could be to the anxiety ridden girl.

“David and I-“ Once again, the girl was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream behind the two of you, and you slowly turned around.

The scream resonated in your bones, it nearly made you shiver with its proximity. You’d heard that kind of scream many times before; someone was in great pain.

Determined footsteps followed just a moment later and they echoed down the hall, coming closer to the two of you.

Genya let go of your arm instantly and she turned the opposite corner and took off in a fast walk, leaving you standing in confusion. Just as you went to walk to your bedroom, another hand caught your arm and you looked up to see Aleksander.

He did not look down at you this time. His face, though stoic, had a burning fury bubbling just underneath the skin, and you could see this through his dark eyes. His jaw was set so tightly you thought he might shatter each and every one of his teeth. You had not been around an angry Aleksander before. Either he displayed his anger elsewhere, or he was just very skilled at keeping it at bay. Whatever the case may have been, the apoplectic glint in his eyes made you frown and you wanted to make yourself very small in that moment.

“My love?” You whispered and reached up to place your hand on top of his as he held your upper arm.

His restraint was impressive. For someone who had eons of rage just beneath the surface, he held your arm so gently that you would have believed him to be much happier if you’d felt his touch without seeing his face.

After just a moment, he tipped his head down towards you and he gave you a very, very tense look.

“I have acquired amplifiers for you and I.” He said simply and then he let his fingers fall away from your arm before he gently brushed past you and strode down the hall.

You wondered where he could have found an amplifier so instantaneously and you turned around and made your way back into the room he had just left.

Vladimi stood at his table with a semi-disgusted look on his face and you stared at him for a moment before you dared to look over at Baghra, who had her hand cradled against her chest. Blood slipped through her fingers at a rapid rate and dribbled onto the floor beneath her. You questioned what had happened and turned to Vladim to ask, though, you wished you hadn’t, because the boy held a dish with one severed finger sitting upon it.

Your mouth fell open and you looked between Vladim and Baghra rapidly before you retreated out of the room, feeling rather sick to your stomach.

You hadn’t seen Aleksander all day. Not since he informed you that you now had an amplifier. The thought made you shiver.

You had never been fond of Baghra, in fact, the two of you had a very tumultuous acquaintanceship. She was very well aware of the fact that you stood with her son at all times, completely devoted to him. Just as you were well aware she was completely devoted to his downfall. The two beliefs didn’t match up, and neither did the two of you. That didn’t necessarily mean you wanted her to be dismembered in the name of your own gain.

It wasn’t as if you were angry with Aleksander, though. Truth be told, you were a bit afraid of him at the moment. You had never seen the man angry before. He was smart, he played his cards right, and he was cautious to never show you his anger, his contempt. Perhaps it was because he knew just how terrifying he could be. He didn’t need a gun, he didn’t need weaponry of any kind, he didn’t even need to raise his voice. All Aleksander needed to invoke fear was a simple change in his eyes, and the look in them earlier was enough to send a biting chill down to your very bones. And you weren’t even the subject of his anger.

You finished your ninth slow lap around the grounds of the sanctuary and you rubbed your cold nose a few times, letting out a little sigh. You’d been outside walking for quite some time now, trying to decide what to do next. You wanted to thank Aleksander for the amplifier, but you also wanted to ask him why. You wanted to go inside and sit on his thigh while he pondered by his window, but you didn’t want to see his anger. So you instead went for your tenth circle around the grounds, only getting started before someone cleared their throat near you.

You turned your head to see David walking alongside you now and you gave him a little smile. He didn’t smile back.

“Is there anything I can do for you, David?” You asked, keeping the polite smile on your face as you spoke to him.

“Yes. I need to ask something of you. I would never ask if I wasn’t completely desperate.” He mumbled and then looked away from you.

“Ask.” You instructed, and you were almost surprised with how your tone resembled Aleksander’s.

David must have thought the same thing because his eyes shot towards you and he studied your face for a moment before he shook his head.

“I am… leaving. With Genya. I need you to keep The Darkling… occupied. For the evening. Please, y/n. I know very well of your devotion to him, I know what I risk by asking this of you, but I saw your eyes today, when you realized what he’d done to Baghra. You are afraid of him. So are we. Please, I beg you to let us go. Let us escape. Buy us some time.” He explained, not bothering to hide the desperation in his voice.

You eyed him and pursed your lips. A bit of your own anger began to build and you let out a little scoff.

“Do you realize what you ask of me? You want me to deceive the man who protects me? Who protects you? All of us? David, he saved Genya. He saved you, and all you can do to repay him is run?” You asked incredulously, your eyes narrowing.

“He is no man! He is evil in its truest form. He commands wicked things, horrible things. He inspires nothing a man who saves his people should inspire. He inspires fear! Pure fear!” David protested and then stopped walking, causing you to stop as well.

You looked the Durast up and down in disgust and you clenched your hands into fists.

“You only fear what you don’t understand. Just because you cannot see the beauty in his nature does not mean it isn’t there. You and Genya are ingrates. You should be ashamed of yourselves. He saved you, took you in, gives you purpose and a shelter in a country where Grisha are being hunted every single day-“

“And why are they being hunted now?” David asked sharply, cutting you off.

“Because they fear what they don’t understand!” You exclaimed, “Just as you do! Just as Genya does! My answer is no. I will not aid in your abandonment. If you wish to run, do so at your own risk. I hide nothing from my Darkling.” You hissed, squaring your shoulders as you stared up at David.

The mild-mannered man looked down at you in a sort of disbelief and then he shook his head.

“I cannot have you tell him what we have planned.” He said somberly and reached out for your arm, but you jumped back as quickly as he moved forward.

“I will tell him what I please!” You shrieked and held your hand up threateningly, the silvery light of the moon glowing just beneath your skin, “It would do you well to not try and stop me, David Kostyk.” You warned before you stepped back once more. You stared at him for just a moment longer before you took off back towards the sanctuary, running with intent. You looked back just once to see him running in the opposite direction. Frustration filled your chest and you ran even faster up to the doors. You flung them open once you reached them and dashed inside. It took all the self control you had not to scream Aleksander’s name, and as soon as you came running through the halls, Genya went running past you and you gasped.

You ran down the hall to your bedroom, your footsteps graceless and loud as you stampeded towards the room and you pushed the door open.

Aleksander sat in his chair and when the door flew open, he slowly looked up at you.

If he was angry still, there was no trace of it left on his face and in his eyes. Instead he looked exhausted, pained, regretful.

You let out a loud cry of frustration and you pointed towards the hall, out of breath.

“Genya and David are deserting!” You cried out.

That got his attention and he stood as quickly as you got the words out. He grabbed his cloak from off of the table it laid on and he nodded towards the door.

“Come then.” He commanded simply and he stormed out of the room and you followed behind him, your chest heaving.

He pulled his cloak on as he walked and then reached back to grab your wrist and pull you closer to him.

“How do you know they are deserting?” He asked you as the pair of you made your way outside towards his horse.

“David. He asked me to keep you distracted while he ran with Genya.” You admitted and Aleksander looked down at you with wide eyes.

“Then I suppose we will have to put a stop to that, won’t we?” He asked in a hum.

As soon as you reached his horse, he hoisted you up onto the animal and climbed on behind you and kicked the horse in the side, getting it to move.

You looked out across the clearing before you and you saw Genya’s head bobbing above and beneath the tops of shrubbery and twiggy bushes.

“There.” You said and pointed towards the distance, and Aleksander didn’t waste any time in steering his horse in that same direction.

You placed your hands on top of his gently and you let out a very quiet sigh.

“I am sorry, my love.” You whispered and you could feel him shake his head behind you.

“This is not your doing, I will not have you apologetic for the actions of others.” He replied and simply urged his horse on faster until the only sound you heard was the thundering of the animal’s hooves.

The two of you chased the girl up a few paths until you rounded a corner and he called out for her viciously.

“Stand and answer me!” He shouted determinedly.

Genya was cornered. There was nowhere else for her to run now that she was stuck between some old ruins and you and Aleksander. Your lover threw himself off of the horse and you stayed up on its back, staring down at him as he stalked towards her.

His hood hung over his head ominously, and the ground beneath his feet blackened in little tendrils, all radiating out from him. Genya was shaking like a frightened animal and her eyes darted between you and Aleksander in terror.

Normally, you probably would’ve felt pity for the scared girl, but all you felt in that moment was a white hot twinge of frustration .

How dare she so easily abandon the man who saved her life? The man who wanted nothing but peace for his people.

You stared coldly at the girl and you straightened up your shoulders, your jaw setting sternly.

Aleksander pushed his hood off of his head as he approached the Tailor and he looked around the small clearing.

“What is the meaning of this?” He asked lowly, still approaching Genya, “I rescue you from certain death, yet you abandon me.” His tone was calm, so soft that it was eerie.

She looked up at you as if you might save her from her fate, but you simply watched her as if this was nothing but a show put on for your own entertainment, a silly little attempt at your amusement.

Her face became one of anger and she whipped her head towards Aleksander.

“You used me to satisfy a king. I should be your greatest shame,” she replied, her voice trembling just as hard as she was, “Please,” she began, tears forming in her wide blue eyes, “just let me go.” She wasn’t begging, she wasn’t asking. She was trying to reason with him.

She turned towards you and then she let out a fragment of a gasp.

“And you! Who have you become? You were my friend!” She cried and pointed at you shakily.

You raised an eyebrow and then let out a long sigh. You tucked a fallen strand of hair behind your ear and you shifted on the horse.

“You speak of things you have no possible capacity of knowing.” You replied in an even tone.

“Please, just let me go.” She repeated, eyes still on you as if you were going to speak up on her behalf.

You weren’t.

“I’m afraid not.” Aleksander spoke, and you tore your eyes away from Genya just in time to see one of his nichevo'ya rise up from the ground at his side, “I need you, Genya.” He added, approaching her with small steps, his side half consumed by the cyclonic billowing of shadows that made up his new creatures of nothing.

Genya jammed her hand into her coat and yanked out a gun, and without hesitation, shot into the nichevo'ya. The misshapen humanlike form of shadow moved toward her, followed by Aleksander and she made one last look up at you before the nichevo'ya wrapped itself around her and she let out a gut twisting scream.

You averted your eyes from the scene in front of you and pushed down the little sliver of guilt that prodded at your throat.

She deserved it. She was going to desert you. She betrayed Aleksander, she would have gone straight to Alina.

You closed your eyes and took a few slow breaths before you opened them again and exhaled slowly. You kept your eyes on your hands now as Genya continued to scream and for only a second, you thought you tasted but a lick of the fear that compelled Genya and David.

Aleksander was nearly doubled over coughing when you entered your room. You approached him with caution to make sure you didn’t startle him, and you laid your hand gently on his back, passing him a handkerchief from the pocket of your kefta.

He took it from you very gently and held it over his mouth as he continued to cough. After a few moments of this, he straightened up slowly and lowered the handkerchief. He dropped it on the chair he was clutching onto and you didn’t dare look at it, afraid of what you might find.

His eyes found your face and he reached out for you, his hand sliding gently around your neck as he pulled you into his chest.

“I know that look. I’ve told you not to pity me.” He mumbled and tucked your head against his chest. His voice was hoarse and he sounded exhausted, but you let him pull you close nonetheless and wrapped your arms around him tightly.

“Aleksander, I do not pity you. I worry for you. Grisha do not get sick, yet you cough and are burdened with headaches. I have the right to worry. I lo…” you slowly trailed off and let out a small huff. You didn’t let yourself finish, instead, you pressed your face against his kefta and closed your eyes tightly.

Many of the emotional things between you and Aleksander went unspoken, and it had always been this way. You weren’t doubtful that he loved you, just as he wasn’t doubtful that you loved him. Nonetheless, it was a word that fell into the realm of the unspoken.

You never knew why.

Perhaps it was that it had a deeper meaning than just the affection you two held for one another. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to proclaim your love for him in verbal form. But he never did. Not in such a direct way. For you, not telling Aleksander that you loved him was simply because he never did either, but for him, you theorized that it was much deeper. Maybe it was because he didn’t love you- which you didn’t believe for one moment- or maybe it was because the last time he claimed love for someone, they were murdered before his very eyes. Or perhaps it was because the moment he said it aloud, he would give up the very thing that kept him impenetrable to his enemies: he would give up his supposed invincibility.

To his enemies, The Darkling didn’t have weaknesses. He didn’t falter, and he didn’t hesitate.

To most of them at least. It was no secret that you two were close, and Alina knew that much. Though, you didn’t fear Alina. Neither did he.

But you were his weakness, just as he was yours. You admittedly had many more weaknesses than he, your so few years on this earth leaving you with soft spots that had yet to harden. He had the luxury of having those soft spots hidden behind walls and steel and stone.

His hand slid away from your neck and up into your hair as you stood silently in your thoughts, and his fingers curled protectively against your scalp.

“You worry for such trivial things, angel.” He replied quietly.

It wasn’t trivial.

Not to you.

If he didn’t get the third amplifier before Alina did, you knew that his use of merzost freely would poison him until his heart finally did stop for the first time in over five hundred years.

You didn’t say anything more. You just kept your face hidden against his chest and you clung to him, desperate to have him as close to you as possible. Especially tonight. Especially after Genya.

The two of you hadn’t said a word on the matter, and you knew it was because Aleksander knew he’d frightened you, even if you did try to mask it with a replica of the hard facade of his that you coveted so deeply at times.

A knock on the door broke your silence and pulled you away from your wondering thoughts and Aleksander gently pulled your head away from his chest with the grip he had on your hair. He leaned down and pressed one delicate kiss to your lips before he let go of you and cleared his throat.

“Yes?” He called and the door opened briskly.

His unofficial right hand, Fruzsi stepped into the room and she approached the two of you instantly.

“General, Miss y/l/n.” She greeted with reverence.

Aleksander hardly acknowledged her greeting and instead turned his body towards her and let out a quiet wheeze before he spoke.

“The moment Genya is conscious, let’s take her and make sure the others understand what awaits them if they are disloyal.” He instructed and you bit the inside of your cheek. You didn’t want to be part of that.

“With pleasure.” Fruzsi replied obediently and clutched her hands in front of her as she bowed her head just slightly at Aleksander.

He turned back around and faced you now, reaching out to carefully adjust your kefta, straightening it and dusting it off just a bit.

“I’ll admit disappointment,” he began and then he tidied up the collar of your kefta, and though he was fiddling with your clothing, you knew he was speaking to Fruzsi, “I always felt an affinity for her. And David,” he continued before he turned back towards the other girl in the room.

“Morozova’s journal is missing.” She blurted and you stiffened.

The journal was the only thing you all had with the information that was needed to possibly cure Aleksander’s ailment that he’d dragged out of The Fold with himself.

His shoulders stiffened and you reached out to grasp his forearm, and though he didn’t acknowledge you, he was thankful that your hand was on his arm.

Your touch grounded him.

“Vladim believes David took it.” Fruzsi continued on, a look of worry ghosting over her features.

Aleksander didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds and you brushed your thumb soothingly over the sleeve of his kefta, even though you were sure he didn’t feel it through the thick material.

Of course David would take it. The one thing that you needed. The betrayal of Aleksander by two people he claimed to trust sent a stab of sickness up through your stomach.

“And with it, any possibility of understanding my… condition.” he slowly turned towards you, his face colorless. The same anger from earlier boiled just beneath his skin and his eyes seemed to glow with the same fury.

You practically cowered underneath his indignant stare.

His lip curled back just slightly and you let out a shaking breath, your hand tightening around his arm, mouth forming his name.

You had never been one for anger before. It took a great deal to get you to the point of rage, and even then, you kept yourself as calm as you could. You had to. All of your life, you had to. You could tell by the look in your lover’s eyes, that he reached his breaking point. There was no masking his anger now, his mask had fallen, and there was no amount of patience now that could compel him to slip the mask back on.

“Leave.” He hissed over his shoulder at Fruzsi.

The girl glanced worriedly at him and then at you before she bowed her head once more and scurried out of the room.

Aleksander yanked his arm from your grip and you gasped softly.

“Aleksander, my love-“ you began but he held up a hand to silence you.

You fell silent, your heart hammering anxiously against your chest now.

He breathed heavily for a moment before he launched his arms down upon his desk and sent everything atop it flying, a loud, mangled cry leaving his mouth. He turned his back on you and leaned up against the desk as he continued to scream, and you brought your hands up to your mouth, tears gathering in your eyes.

The sound of his yells and the clattering of objects flying off the desk made you jump and you stumbled backwards just a bit, a tiny cry escaping your lips. You held your hands tightly over your mouth and watched him as he lifted a shaking hand and turned it over, staring at the remnants of his and Alina’s shared amplifier.

You watched him in shock and you shook your head, lowering your hands from your mouth.

You knew very well of the tether Aleksander shared with Alina, and you also knew of the dangers that came with it. He loved to have the last word, loved to toy with the girl as if she was a mouse caught by only her tail and he was the cat that held her in place.

“My love, do not call on her, you’ll only grow angrier.” You whispered and stepped towards him.

But he already had.

You had barely left your room for a week now. You’d barely found the will to speak along with your desire to not leave the room.

Aleksander knew very well that he had scared you the night the journal was reported missing, and though he didn’t come out and apologize aloud yet, he’d spent a considerable amount of time with his arms around you. He would hold you against his chest and he’d coo sweet little things in your ears and he’d rock you back and forth like he was comforting a baby.

His guilt was eating him alive, perhaps more rapidly than the merzost was.

Tonight in particular pained him more than the others.

You were sat at his desk and stacked his papers carefully after arranging them. He wasn’t angry, he didn’t even mean to stand up so fast and so aggressively, but he rose rapidly from his favored chair and you jumped backwards, eyes wide as you looked up at him.

You stood up quickly and tried to play it off as just getting up, but he’d seen the way you’d flinched.

“Y/n,” he whispered and slowly moved towards you. When he was only a foot away from you, you looked up at him and gave him a watery smile and shook your head.

“No, Aleksander I’m just fine. It’s okay.” You insisted and held your hands out to dismiss whatever he was about to say. You knew the look on his face well. He was stricken.

“You are not fine. You walk on eggshells around me. You have ever since Genya.” He stated and you swallowed nervously, shaking your head in protest.

“I don’t, I promise.” You insisted, your voice getting stuck in your throat nearly at the end.

“What do you call this, then? You jumping at my abrupt movements, your newfound anxiety in my presence. Just seven days ago, I brought you comfort. I know this has to do with her and my outburst and I am sorry that-“

“No! No! Please, Aleksander! You have nothing to apologize for-“

“I am sorry that I allowed myself to act that-“

“Please, no-“ you cut him off again, only to be cut off in return.

“Will you just listen? It was no way for me to behave. Especially in front of you. Because if I don’t have your devotion and your trust then I have nothing.” He said firmly and reached down to cup your face in his hands.

His touch was feather-light and he held your face carefully as if you were thin, breakable glass.

“You have my devotion and all of my trust. It was just… new. Genya has nothing to do with it. I’ve just never seen you so… angry. It startled me.” You admitted in a whisper and Aleksander leaned down to rest his forehead against yours.

“My sweet little angel, I do apologize for startling you. Please know that my anger will never be turned on you, it will never be directed towards you. How could I be angry with you? You stand by me so adamantly and so loyally. That is a wonder. A beautiful wonder. I’ve not known such unconditional devotion.”

“That’s because it’s not only unconditional devotion, Aleksander.” You whispered and closed your eyes, your lips trembling under the weight of the words you wished to speak.

“What else is it, then?”

“I am devoted to you, that is the truth. But I don’t regard you with only devotion, Aleksander. This unconditional devotion you speak of is not devotion at all. It is love.” Your voice broke at the end and a single tear rolled down your cheek, “It is love Aleksander. Unconditional love. And I know you don’t wish to say that aloud, but it’s-“

He cut you off yet again, this time with his lips crashing down upon your own.

You received his kiss with a type of reverence that could only be comparable to the kind you give to a God and you returned his action by kissing him back. His fingers curled into your hair and held your face to his as he kissed you with the same reverence, and you could feel past his apology, past the shared reverence. You felt his sorrow and his fear and his devotion to you, all in his kiss. When he finally pulled back to take in a breath of air, he let out the tiniest cry you had ever heard out of his mouth and he clenched his jaw painfully tight.

“What have you done to me, woman?” He asked breathlessly, squeezing his eyes shut.

You opened your mouth to answer but you never got the chance to, because he spoke again before you could.

“I don’t fear things. I am the one to be feared. But I fear losing you. It rattles me down to my very skeleton. I fear losing you the way I should fear death. Tell me what you’ve done to me. Tell me what curse you’ve put on me to leave me in such a haze. Tell me why you have me on my knees for your love. Oh, I want it. I need it. I crave it. Oh, how I want you. I need you. I crave you. You are the light that belongs to the darkness. The Moon needs the shadows to shine. You were meant for me, just as I was meant for you. And oh, my beautiful saint, how I love you.”

You gasped at his words softly and he nudged his nose against your own, and you didn’t notice that you were crying until he was wiping your cheeks dry with his thumbs.

“When we win, when we get out of this victorious and I rise as King, I will make you my queen. I will have you for life. I will marry you, underneath that pretty willow behind the Little Palace, in the dead of night where we can be surrounded by nothing but shadows and moonlight. Isn’t that what we are? Shadows and moonlight?” His tone was hushed and it was devout, as if he were a prophet reading you his favorite scripture.

You brought your own hands up to Aleksander’s face and you cupped it the same way he cupped yours. You wanted to speak, but you weren’t sure if anything would leave your mouth except for sobs, so you let him continue.

“I fall at your feet, Sankta y/n. You are my very own saint to worship, and I will make sure that one day, you are the one they scrawl into the history books and sacred texts. Sankta y/n, summoner of the Moon. My love, my life. You are the one thing that makes me stronger while simultaneously making me weak.”

“That is love, my dear Aleksander.” You cried and he shushed you with a handful of light kisses over your trembling lips.

“That is love.” He echoed, his lips so close to yours that they brushed your bottom lip when he spoke.

The two of you stood in silence for a long time, and he wiped your tears when they fell and you brushed your thumb over the soft skin underneath his eyes.

Finally, he pulled his face away from yours and he looked down into your eyes with an intensity he’d not looked at you with before.

“I mean it. I will make you my queen and marry you underneath the willow behind the Little Palace. Surrounded and adored by Grisha. We will liberate our people and I will spend eternity by your side. My queen of the Moon, the love of my life.”

You nodded once, a small smile tugging the corners of your lips upwards.

“Eternity sounds nice.”

In the days following your heart to heart with your Darkling, Aleksander had a Durast make you a ring infused with his mother’s finger bones. Your very own amplifier. He’d slid the dainty gold ring onto your little finger, too, murmuring the entire time about how he’d get you a prettier ring one day and how this one was just a reminder of his promise to marry you. And then he held up his own hand to show you his own little gold ring, sitting upon his little finger as well.

It was a pretty ring. Really. It was gold and made to look like a willow branch, fashioned after the tree he vowed to marry you underneath. He always was one for symbolism.

You sat and admired the metal on your finger while sitting atop the desk in yours and Aleksander’s shared bedroom. Most of the other Grisha that were usually around were out on a mission, and Aleksander was hiding out somewhere, using the tether to provoke Alina, as he so often did. The sound of metal clattering startled you and you slowly climbed off of the desk and walked to your door. You pushed it open and looked around the hallway. No one was there, and no one should have been there to make something fall, that was for certain. You stepped out of your bedroom and eyed the halls once more suspiciously before you shook your head.

“Hello?” You called out, expecting exactly what you got in return, which was silence. You stepped out further into the hall and you began to slowly walk towards the makeshift laboratory to find Vladim, who had likely stayed behind, not one for the organized attack on the Lantsovs. The sudden sound of glass smashing and things clattering to the floor made you freeze in the middle of the hall and you raised your hands up, the unforgivingly cold light of the moon beginning to light up your hands. The strong electric feeling that came along with your new amplifier travelled up your spine and out towards your fingers, sending a bright surge of light up through them.

Out from around the corner, Baghra and Genya walked towards you in tandem. Baghra looked complacent while on the other hand, Genya looked furious. You hadn’t directly looked at Genya since she’d been maimed by the nichevo'ya, and now that you were looking directly at her, you felt a small bit of pity fill your head.

“Stop right there!” You called at the two of them.

Baghra did. Genya did not. Instead, the Tailor marched towards you and you raised your hand up higher as if you were loading an arrow with one hand.

“Genya, I do not want to use my power on you. Stop where you are, now.” You commanded, standing your ground.

She did not reply, and she did not stop, either, until she was nearly three feet away from you.

“Look at me,” She seethed and pointed at her face, “Look at me and know this is your doing. I never thought you’d lose your compassion. Your kindness. But every single day that passes, you become more and more like your Darkling.” She growled and you shook your head.

“You are a fool, Genya Safin.” You breathed and then lowered your hand just a bit, “You are the only one to blame for your misfortune. And when we find David, you’ll be the only one to blame for his misfortunes, too.” You chided and watched a look of worry cross her face.

“You’ve lost your heart.” She said harshly and then jabbed you in the chest with her finger, “You have allowed The Darkling to rip it from your chest and blacken it. We grew up together, Y/n! We served the Queen together! How could you have just turned your back on me? I needed you!” She shouted and you lowered both of your hands entirely.

“My heart is as bountiful as it needs to be. Blackened or not. You betrayed and abandoned the Darkling, therefore you have betrayed and abandoned me.” You said flatly, gazing at her with the same look you’d give a non-compliant child.

“You love a made up man. He will never love you back. He is using you. The same way he used Alina, you’re just too arrogant to believe that you’re being played with. You are but a piece in his infinite game of power.”

She wanted you to doubt him. But you knew better. You saw sides of him that no one else got to, that no one else needed to.

“Don’t make me maim you further, Genya. You might have to find a strength greater than your beauty if you keep pushing me.” You said coldly.

This had her eyes blazing angrily and she reached for you, grabbing onto the lapels of your kefta.

You brought your hand up to shoot a beam of moonlight through her chest, but you were stopped, something cold and clammy tugging your wrist backwards. You looked up to see a thick tendril of shadow around your wrist and you looked at Baghra who now had her own hands raised. You furrowed your brow angrily as you watched the old woman and you went to raise your other hand, and in the struggle you didn’t even see Genya reach up to grab the side of your head until you felt her fingers in your hair. She swung your head near the wall and you pushed back with all your might, but she kept trying to make contact between your head and the wall. You growled in frustration and tried to fight her off with your free hand, but another shadow wrapped itself around your free wrist, and before you could even protest, your head was being slammed ferociously into the wall, and blackness consumed your vision.

You weren’t sure how long you had been unconscious, and furthermore, you weren’t even sure of where you were, because when you woke up, you were behind iron bars on a gravel floor. The room around you was dim, and it looked like it had been carved out from a cave. You went to touch the side of your head that throbbed painfully, only to find that your hands were bound and separated by a beam of wood. You let out a frustrated groan and you slammed the wood between your hands against the bars, but it hardly even dented.

“There is absolutely no point in trying, girl. You are getting a taste of what it’s like to be a prisoner.”

You groaned again and lifted your head to see Baghra walk shakily into the space beyond the bars in front of you.

“Mm, abduction is your thing now?” You asked sardonically as you looked up at the scraggly haired woman. A sharp pain shot through the side of your head where you’d been hit and you winced slightly, your vision blurring just temporarily.

“I wasn’t fond of the idea but sometimes we have to do things we aren’t fond of in the name of what’s right.” She answered with a shrug and she sat down on a stool about six feet away from you, and you loathed how there were bars in your way of tackling the woman to the ground.

“So your grand idea is keeping me locked up? And then what? I’m not the threat you think I am.”

“No, not a threat. More like… bait. But I wouldn’t expect you to recognize when you’re being used. You haven’t thus far, why start now?” Baghra droned and your lips twitched angrily.

“Your plan is listless. Aleksander will tear you and anyone else apart to ensure my safe return.”

“You overestimate your importance to my son.”

“On the contrary. I think I underestimate it at times.”

The two of you were locked in an intense stare for a long time before she finally waved her hand dismissively.

“Well, only time can tell.” She conceded and slowly stood up. She didn’t say another word as she exited the room, and you didn’t care to speak either, so instead you watched as she left, sneering in her wake.

You were unsure of how long you sat in silence in that dim little room, but it surely had been a few hours before you heard gravel crunching underneath a pair of footsteps. You looked up spitefully to see Alina standing across the room with a deep frown on her lips, and at her side was unmistakably her little orphan friend, Mal. You eyed the two of them contemptuously and said nothing as Alina approached you. Instead of using the stool Baghra sat upon, the girl knelt in front of the bars and she placed her hands against them, a sadness pooling within her eyes.

“I remember when you saved my life. I’ve always so admired you for that.” She said quietly, wrapping her fingers around the shabby iron bars between the two of you.

You didn’t say anything in return. Instead, you shifted your gaze to the wall adjacent to you and you shook your head once.

“Y/n, I know this is hard to hear, it was for me as well, but you are being used. You are being manipulated. You’re stronger than this, look at you. You harness the power of the moon. Our powers are supposed to work in tandem. We are supposed to work in tandem. Please don’t let your potential be reduced to just another thing Kirigan desecrates and throws aside.” Alina whispered and reached through the bars to touch your arm.

You shied away from her fingers and you looked up at her, staring her down as if she were as maimed as Genya.

“It’s okay to be scared. But I really need you to trust me.” She added and pulled her arm back to her side.

“How long have I been here?” You asked her, looking down at your sore wrists. Surely they were raw by now.

“Almost a week. We had to keep you unconscious until we were sure you were securely… locked up.” She said with a frown.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes, laying your bound hands out across your thighs.

“This is ridiculous. You are begging for a death sentence.” You mumbled.

“Right. And so are you and The Darkling. Trust me when I say, we will deliver.” Mal snapped, and it was the first time you’d heard him speak. You eyed the tall, dark haired boy and your lips curled upwards into a little smirk.

“Try, otkazat'sya.” You challenged and you watched Mal’s face darken as he took a step forward.

“She’s hopeless, Alina. He’s fried her head. Whatever friend you knew now belongs to Kirigan. Just do as the old woman says and get her out so we can get going. She won’t help us willingly so she can follow us as our leverage.” Mal remarked stuffily and he crossed his arms over his chest, his dark eyes raking over you in disdain.

“And just where do you think I’ll be following you?” You asked rigidly, looking to Alina this time.

She hesitated in answering, her eyes shifting down to the gravel floor. You could tell she didn’t want to be in this mess, and neither did you. However, you’d be more inclined to be kind to her if her main objective wasn’t to kill your lover.

“We are going to find Morozova’s workshop, and you are coming with us. We hoped as an ally, but Baghra warned us that you might not be so interested in being an ally.”

“Ah. Well, I’ll have to politely decline. I will not be going with you.” You drawled and dug your heels into the gravel beneath your feet.

“You don’t really get a say in the matter.” Mal snapped and you looked up at him through narrowed eyes.

“You sure talk bravely for someone so mortal.” You replied and he took another step forward and raised his thick brows.

“And you sure act like you’re important enough for Kirigan to smite me over so perhaps we are both wrong.” he replied and you watched as Alina reached up and placed a hand on his leg to silence him.

She gave him a sad look and then shook her head a few times.

“Mal.” She warned and then nodded back at you, “She’s not the enemy.”

But you were… weren’t you?

It was probably best for them to keep believing you weren’t, though. Keep yourself unassuming and secure feeling.

You glanced down at your hand and almost let out a breath of relief when you saw your ring still sitting around your finger. The only explanation you had was that they didn’t know it was your amplifier, and if that was the case, you had to keep it that way.

To keep yourself unassuming, indeed.

The next few days were uneventful. You had spent most of your time on a horse, your hands still held apart. Your entire body was stiff and at the end of the day when you were allowed off of the horse, walking was a daunting task all on its own.

Hardly anyone said anything important around you, and the journey was quiet and awkward. However, the night before last- the first night of your journey- you had heard Alina speaking to Mal and Baghra when they believed you to be asleep. It wasn’t of much importance, but she did say that Aleksander had been the most unstable she’d ever seen him the last time she reached out to him through the tether. Baghra had assured her that they were not going to be stopped by him, but Alina seemed on edge and quietly tried to suggest leaving you behind to find your way back to him.

That was the night you had started trying to create your own tether with Aleksander. It’s mostly all you had put your energy into for the last few days, desperate to hear his voice at the very least. You weren’t afraid that anyone was going to hurt you. Alina wouldn’t in spite of her big heart, Baghra wouldn’t because you knew deep down she knew you cared fiercely for her son, and Mal… you weren’t sure about. But he didn’t scare you. If anything, he just vexed you beyond all reason.

The two others led their horses on foot while Mal was pulling the one you were on. He hadn’t so much as looked at you once that day. Bitter little orphan.

“You know, if you spent even half as much time smiling as you did brooding and being a grump, you might actually start to have the inkling of a personality.” You remarked down at the boy. At first you thought he was going to ignore you some more, but you watched in surprise as he shook his head.

“I’ll take brooding and grumpy over being The Darkling’s zealot, time and time again.” He replied, not looking over his shoulder at you once.

You rolled your eyes and wished you could kick him in the back, and you willed him to come a little closer to the horse so that you could. But he never did, much to your disappointment.

“I believe my feelings for him to be no different than your own for Alina. I mean, we’re both putting our trust and loyalty into something otherworldly. The only difference is, this side of the world has never scared me as it has you.” You remarked, feeling a sense of accomplishment when you watched his fist tighten on the reins.

He said nothing for a while, the only sound now was Baghra and Alina chatting ahead and the sound of twigs and gravel crunching underneath your horse’s hooves. You didn’t expect him to speak again, so you closed your eyes and prepared yourself to connect with Aleksander once again.

Mal’s voice stopped you.

“At the risk of feeding into your delusion, I believe that we are entirely different. Look, I know you aren’t a bad person. His crimes aren’t on your hands, Alina tells me of your kindness when she came to the palace. How could you have betrayed her after saving her life?”

“I didn’t betray Alina. I simply chose my side, just as she chose hers. That doesn’t… I don’t have to justify myself to you, boy. You know as well as I do that when you care deeply for someone, a lot of things such as reason or morality tend to fade into grey little lines that are easily blurred.” You remarked.

This time he really didn’t answer. And you were fine with that.

You closed your eyes again and went back into your mind, doing everything you could to find a way to Aleksander. You almost groaned with frustration nearly half an hour later when nothing had happened.

You both had Baghra’s bones as an amplifier. You both wore the same thin gold rings on your littlest fingers. Surely that had to be enough.

It didn’t seem as if it was, though.

You wanted to reach for your ring, but the bar between your hands stopped you and you frowned and clenched your fists tightly, balling them up against your thighs. You took a deep breath and decided to try again.

You closed your eyes slowly and focused on the band around your pinky finger. You focused on how it was cold, how the patterns on it pressed against the side of your ring finger. You felt a small buzz at the very back of your mind and you grit your teeth and chased it, breathing heavily. You focused on him. The thought of him, the feeling of his hand against yours, the sound of his voice, and the starless black glittering of his eyes. The blankness behind your eyes began to shift into something blurry and misshapen. It focused and refocused hundreds of times before the picture in your mind became the blurry from your shared bedroom.

Your stomach filled with warm anticipation and you took a long, deep breath and willed yourself into the room. The second you moved forward into the room, it was as if everything around you changed. You could no longer feel your sore body nor could you feel the horse beneath you. The air felt warm and soothing against your cheeks, and it was a different feeling than the chilly air that had been biting at your face for the past few days. Your steps were soundless as you moved further into the room and your eyes fell on Aleksander as he stood by his window. His hands were gripping the windowsill so tightly that the skin over his knuckles was pulled taut and colored white. His hands shook underneath the intense pressure of which he held the windowsill with and you didn’t have to see his face to know his jaw was clenched.

You spoke his name, but the sound seemed to get lost, because you didn’t hear it, and he didn’t seem to either. You felt a twinge of disappointment and you took a long breath and refocused completely on him, speaking his name again.

This time, you could hear it. It sounded like a faint, distorted echo. One that he still couldn’t seem to hear.

You clenched your fists as tightly as you could and you focused on the ring on your finger, on the man in front of you, on the very emotional connection you two shared, and you finally spoke his name one more time.

Your voice was fully audible to your own ears now, and you had definitely gotten his attention, because he spun around from the window and his eyes fixed themselves on you. There was a vast collection of emotions that flickered through his eyes, ranging from surprise, to relief, worry, anger, and then finally something else that you couldn’t name at first but you eventually came to recognize it as guilt and sadness.

“Y/n.” He breathed and strode towards you determinedly. He reached out to pull you towards him, but his hand only went right through you.

It took him just a moment to recover from the confused look that painted itself over his face, but when he did, his eyes flooded with realization.

“You aren’t here. Not really.” He whispered sadly, his big, dark eyes glossing over with a layer of unshed tears.

“No. But I’ve been trying to reach out to you this way for days, and I haven’t been able to. This is the first time it’s worked!” You exclaimed excitedly and then you smiled up at him.

He did his best to give you a proud smile, but you could see there was a heavy sorrow lingering in his eyes.

“Oh, you’re such an intelligent girl. So gifted.” He said softly.

You wanted to touch him. You wanted him to take you in his arms. You missed him.

“Aleksander, I don’t like being away from you.” You whispered and you watched him shatter before you with those words.

He closed his eyes and reached up to rub them with the sides of his hands and he let out a slow sigh.

“My darling, where are you? I will find you and I will bring you home. I will kill anyone who stands in my way; anyone who tries to stop me.” His face was almost pained and you frowned.

“I don’t know where we are. I just know we have set out to find Morozova’s workshop.” You stated.

Exhaustion started to seep into your head and you were finding it hard to keep the connection going. You knew you were not as powerful as Alina and Aleksander, and this was taking almost all of the energy and power you had, and it didn’t help that you couldn’t even use your hands.

“We? Who is we? Who is with you?” He asked sharply and he leaned closer to you. His eyes studied your face and he frowned, “Angel, you look so tired. You need your rest, this must be taking so much out of you.” He whispered and you shook your head.

You struggled to piece your thoughts together so that you could answer him, but eventually you pushed through and were able to elaborate.

“We… Alina, Mal, Baghra.” You mumbled.

He gave you a little nod and then he frowned even more. He looked as if your struggle pained him.

And it did.

Seeing you this way pained him more than he cared to admit, and the week without you had been one of the hardest of his entire life. It was as if he could feel every single second passing. All he could do is hope that his Grisha would find you, hope that you were safe, and then fantasize about how he would enact painful revenge on anyone who dared lay their hands on you. He would have his revenge on those who took you away from him.

“Darling, stop trying to keep the connection going. You’ve done so much already, and I am so proud of you. Seeing that you are unharmed is the greatest relief to me at this moment. Rest now, don’t exhaust yourself. I will find you, everything is going to be alright. Do you trust me?” He asked softly and gazed down upon your face.

You gave him a nod and he gave you a watery smile in return.

“Sweet little girl, you have made me so proud today. I love you. Know that I will find you. I swear it.” He vowed in a whisper and you looked into his eyes one last time before you felt the connection slip.

It was like a rope, pulled in two different directions being cut in the middle. Your eyes snapped open instantly and you gasped, nearly falling off of the horse. You steadied yourself quickly and you had to readjust to the brightness of the outdoors. You blinked a few times and looked around to see that you had stopped moving, and Mal was staring up at you, along with Baghra and Alina.

Alina looked a bit paler and she turned to Baghra with a worried expression.

“I knew this was not a good idea, Baghra. I-“

Baghra cut her off with a wave of her hand and she eyed you contemptuously, her beady eyes fixing themselves on you in an accusatory way.

“You, too, can connect with my son it seems.”

You didn’t respond, instead you jutted your chin out as if you were an indignant child and you looked away from them, gazing off over to your left.

“Foolish girl. You think he’s going to save you? He won’t give himself up, even for you.” Baghra said haughtily and you shook your head once, not saying anything.

“Look, we need to get inside.” Mal stated and then looked up at you, “But she can’t come. If she’s able to speak with Kirigan then she can’t be anywhere near whatever is in there. Then whatever we find out, so does he.”

You snorted and looked back over at the three of them.

“What was the point in bringing me, then? This was easily a three person job. I think, Baghra, that deep down, you did expect Aleksander to come for me. You wanted to isolate him from his Grisha out in the middle of nowhere, then you would’ve had your chance to stop him. But now that he hasn’t come, you are flailing.” You theorized and then you shook your head with contempt.

No one said anything for a long time. You knew you were right. They knew you were right. No one wanted to speak. Baghra didn’t want to admit her idea had been a farce, Alina was anxious, and perhaps Mal just had nothing to say.

But as usual, the boy finally did find something to say.

“Get down.” He commanded and you held your hands up and shook them a few times.

“Can’t really dismount a horse on my own without my hands.” You said in a bored tone, and Mal scoffed in annoyance, but his irritation didn’t stop him from reaching up and grabbing your waist. He easily lifted you off of the horse, and instead of setting you on your feet, he gingerly dropped you before making sure you were steady.

You fell onto your knees in the fallen leaves and the dirt and you winced. You didn’t have even a moment to recover and stand before Mal grabbed you by your upper arms and dragged you to a tree next to a large rock. He pushed your side up against the tree and you yelped, the rough bark biting into your cheek.

“Give me the rope.” He instructed and Alina hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly untied one of the ropes from one of the horses and brought it over to Mal.

You looked up at the tall, lanky boy and you shook your head.

“Just let me go. You don’t need me, I don’t need any of you. Please.” You said exasperatedly and he gave you a hard look before he pushed you down onto your knees. Your knee collided with one of the tree’s protruding roots and you groaned quietly, leaning your head up against the side of the tree.

Mal looped the end of the rope up underneath one of your shackles and knotted it many times before he tied the other end around the slender tree. He gave the rope a hard tug and when it didn’t budge, he stepped back and looked down at you with disgust.

You mirrored his expression to a T and then sneered.

Your eyes wandered past him and you looked at what seemed to be large rock formation on the side of a hill, but upon closer examination, there was a door. It was much like the stone doors you’d find at a tomb, and there were branches and vines shrouding the entryway. Small stone steps led up to the door and your three delightful travel companions slowly turned away from you and walked towards the workshop.

You looked down at your raw wrists and you gave the rope a few sharp little tugs before you let out a grunt and leaned your back up against the tree. You needed Aleksander. You needed to speak to him again. If only you weren’t so damn exhausted.

Your entire body ached and you could hear Baghra speaking faintly behind you. You closed your eyes as tightly as you could and tried to muster enough energy to connect with your lover once again.

You couldn’t.

You opened your eyes after a while and realized that you couldn’t hear anyone any longer, and you turned to look over your shoulder to see that Mal, Alina, and Baghra had disappeared. Likely into the workshop. You scooted over in the dirt and leaves until you were up against the rock and you laid your arms down on top of it and laid your head against your arms as if you were laying your head upon a desk. You stretched your hand out a bit and then felt something sharp catch your palm.

“Ouch!” You hissed and sat up. You glanced down at a rather sharp edge on the rock and then looked down at your now bleeding palm that had been sliced open. You slowly turned your head back towards the sharp, serrated edge of the rock and then you glanced at your shackles. You quickly rose up on your knees and leaned over the side of the rock and brought the middle of the wooden beam down on the sharp edge of the rock. You pushed down against it with all of your might and began to drag it back and forth rapidly, trying to saw through the wood. After a few grueling moments of this, you stopped and let out a little whimper.

Your wrists were raw and sore against their metal shackles and your arms ached terribly. But you had made some progress. The rock had indeed began to cut into the wood and there was a small split in the wooden beam, about one quarter of an inch deep. Staring at the split in the wood filled you with determination and you brought the beam back down on the edge of the rock and continued to drag it back and forth as hard and as fast as you could. Your wrists protested with every movement, but you didn’t stop.

You had almost gotten past cutting halfway through the beam when the scraping of stone stopped you. You quickly scrambled back down on the ground as if you were sitting there the entire time and you stayed still and silent. After a moment, you turned to see Mal and Baghra standing in front of the workshop. Baghra passed Mal a blade and you tried to make out what they were saying but couldn’t hear anything more than their faint vocal tones. You watched as Baghra cut Mal on his hand and he slowly turned and pressed his hand against the stone door, which slid shut. Mal jumped back, startled, and he slowly stepped away from Baghra and the door, looking frantic.

You turned your attention away from the two of them and instead looked back at the wooden beam that held your hands apart. You pursed your lips and you put the beam over your knee and tried to snap it, pulling your wrists down as hard as you could before you let out a shriek and stopped immediately, your wrists now bleeding from all of the friction against your raw skin.

You heard Alina cry out from inside the workshop and you turned to watch Mal dash inside. Baghra didn’t follow. Instead she came towards you hurriedly. She used the blade in her hands to cut the rope off of the tree and she grabbed your arm.

“Come with me, girl.” She said flatly and pulled you to your feet.

You complied silently and glanced at the severance in the wooden beam. All you had to do was wait for the right moment. You followed Baghra inside of the workshop and the two of you joined Mal in the doorway to one of the rooms.

Mal went to run for Alina, but with the hand she didn’t have on you, Baghra grabbed onto Mal with and she shook her head.

“Don’t break the connection!” She commanded.

“You said she’s not strong enough to face him!” Mal protested.

You looked past Mal to see Alina surrounded by an electric blue light and you widened your eyes. Aleksander was here.

“Exactly.” Baghra said to Mal calmly and stepped in front of him, leaving you behind.

You eyed Baghra warily as she grabbed a torch off of the wall and walked towards Alina, who was struggling against the wall, held there by the telepathic presence of Aleksander.

“I will end this once and for all. Once I’ve killed my son, my time here is done.” Baghra said sternly and tossed the torch into a bin of scrolls, “All this goes with me.” She finished and you let out a wail.

“You’re heartless!” You cried out, realizing what she was about to attempt to do, “He is your son, Baghra!” You screamed and tried to run at her, but Mal stopped you and pushed you down to the floor, where you landed in a graceless heap of limbs.

“You know what you have to do. And close the door on your way out.” Baghra said to Mal as the room began to go up in flames, “And leave the Moon Summoner here with me.”

Baghra approached Alina and you slowly sat up and turned to the shackles on your wrists. You had to break out of them, there was no question about it now. You began to slam the split in the wood against the rock walls and you let out a scream that was born of pain and determination.

Alina dashed past you, and you assumed Baghra had freed her from Aleksander, and Mal was now dragging her out of the workshop, trying to convince her to leave Baghra behind. The old woman now stood at the far side of the room in a trance, her head tipped upwards in focus.

“The Firebird!” Alina said in a panic and jumped towards the burning table.

“I know where the Firebird is!” Mal shouted, “We have to go!” He said and yanked her towards the door.

“No! Y/n, Mal we can’t leave her!” She cried and you looked up at Alina who was standing a few yards away from you, trying to break free of Mal’s grasp.

“Alina, cut your losses. She is not your friend, we need to go!”

You eyed her sadly and you let out a little sniffle, looking up at her. The room grew hotter as the flames grew closer to you and you shook your head once, looking down at the floor.

“Mal, she’s innocent, please!”

But her begging was futile, because Mal only gave you one last look, a cocky little sneer, and then yanked Alina from the workshop.

You heard the scraping of stone and knew that the door had been closed.

You cried out in frustration, tears pooling in your eyes and you banged the wooden beam against the wall, even harder now. You didn’t realize you were screaming until your throat felt hoarse and you coughed, smoke filling your lungs.

This couldn’t be how you died. You refused. But your body had different plans. Exhaustion washed over you, trying to pull you into its sea. You were so tired. Everything hurt. You were almost tempted to lay down and let the warm flames consume you until you remembered Baghra. She was aiming to kill Aleksander.

With one final burst of determined energy, you slammed the beam down on the jagged edge of the wall a few more times before you heard a snap. You looked down at your hands to find them separated. Still shackled, but separated.

Quickly, you scrambled upwards with a burst of adrenaline just in time to see Baghra collapse. She turned her head slowly and her eyes met yours, blood dribbling from the corner of her lips.

“Stupid girl. Though it will never be enough, thank you for loving my stupid boy.” She murmured, and you could hardly hear her over the roar of the fire.

You looked down at her in disgust and you shook your head.

“One of us had to.” You spat and then you brought your right hand up to your lips. You placed a little kiss on the gold ring upon your little finger and then you let out an ear shattering yell, bringing your hands together in a sharp clap that resonated even louder than the fire.

Silver light flooded the entire workshop and turned each flame into a blazing beam of the moon. You held your hands together and squinted to see, but within seconds, there was nothing but bright, bright light and then an earth shaking crash.

You fell to your knees dizzily, unsure of what just happened and your eyes rolled backwards into your head as you slumped sideways and finally let your exhaustion drag you away from the present.

There was a loud ringing in your ears, and you could feel a cool breeze dusting across your cheeks. Your throat was dry and your tongue was like sandpaper against the top of your mouth. You willed yourself to open your eyes and you stared straight up at the grey sky above you.

Your body was sore everywhere, but you couldn’t ignore the tingling, electric sensation that coursed through your veins. You weakly pushed yourself up and felt rubble tumble off of your chest as you did. The workshop laid in ruins around you and there were still little traces of silvery light, fizzling out slowly like smothered flames. You took in the ruin around you and you blinked a few times.

You did this. You had destroyed this entire cavelike workshop. You would’ve been a bit more giddy if you weren’t covered in bleeding cuts and sensitive bruises. A strange sense of pride swelled in your chest and you very slowly hoisted yourself up with a grunt, grabbing onto a fragment that remained of the wall to steady yourself. You looked around the mess slowly and your eyes settled on a hand that protruded out from underneath a pile of stone.

Baghra.

You stared down at her for a long time and then finally you tore your eyes away from her rock burial.

If she was dead, it could mean two things. Aleksander’s mother had killed him, or he had killed his mother.

With a grunt, you walked away from the ruins of the workshop and approached the nearest tree. You leaned heavily up against it and took a few long, deep breaths before you closed your eyes and reached up awkwardly to hold onto your ring with your opposite hand.

It was much easier this time to establish a connection with Aleksander, you simply pictured him in your mind and let your power do the rest. When you opened your eyes, you stood behind him in what appeared to be a tent. He was hunched over on his knees and seemed to be in pain, but you couldn’t deny the relief you felt to know that he was alive.

“Aleksander.” You breathed.

You knew he had heard you by the way his head perked up a bit, but he didn’t turn towards you.

“Sweet Moon Saint. Are you really there or have you come back through my head?” He asked in a low, ragged tone.

“I’m not there. Not yet. I just had to know if you were alive.” You said quietly and watched as his shoulders rolled back a bit. He never did turn around, though.

“Mm, alive, yes. I was very worried about you. My mother told me you were going to die for my sins. It seems ironic to me that now she’s the only one that’s perished for them.” He said in a deadpan.

“My love, where can I find you?” You asked softly and he let out a sigh.

“You sound terrible. You sound tired. You sound hoarse. What have they done to you?” He asked, hanging his head.

“I am fine, Aleksander. Please, I need to come to you. Tell me where you are.” You pleaded and he very slowly turned his head toward you.

“Keramzin. You’ll find my encampment. Please, please my love, do not leave me alone on this earth. Fight tooth and nail if you must, but return to me. You must return to me.”

“I will.” You promised.

Always.

The journey to Keramzin had been a brief one, and you were thankful for that. You weren’t sure how your body hadn’t given out, but after hobbling through the mountains for nearly a day, you came across a little farm and stole a horse from its stables.

After that, it was a straight shot. You made it to Keramzin in only six days and it was easy to locate Aleksander’s camp. You slowly rode up on your horse towards the camp, and two large Heartrenders ran towards you to stop you before recognition crossed their faces. They both bowed their heads to you and whispered your name.

Sankta Y/n.

Your hair was in tangles and your face was polluted with dried blood and dirt and your kefta and dress were torn and caked with mud. You looked terrible.

But you also looked formidable.

Perched high upon your horse, broken shackles still around your wrists, wounded, but sitting straight with your shoulders squared nonetheless.

“Take me to The General.” You commanded and slid off of the horse, landing on your feet, a painful shock going through your entire body as you hit the ground.

You followed the two Heartrenders through the field and around a handful of tents before you saw him. His back was turned to you and he stood at the precipice of a dead little meadow, and across from this meadow was a shabby home. Likely an orphanage or an inn, you reasoned. Fruzsi stood a few paces behind him, and as you approached, she turned around and let out a gasp. Your eyes met hers and she bowed her head immediately.

“You’ve returned.” She said softly, relief evident in her tone.

“I always will.” You said gauntly and then stepped past her.

You continued on towards Aleksander, and when you reached him, you slid your hands around his arm and fastened yourself to his side before you completely leaned against him, your legs giving out.

He didn’t even need to look at you, he recognized your touch the second you grabbed his arm. He turned towards you and in one swift movement, hooked an arm underneath your knees and lifted you off of the ground and into his arms.

Silently, you wrapped your arms around his neck and tucked your face in the spot between his shoulder and his throat, breathing in his scent. He wordlessly tightened his grip on you and he buried his face in your hair. The two of you stayed like that for a very long time, silent. The only sounds between the two of you were sighs, sharp inhales, and exhales.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Aleksander moved his face away from your hair and he gazed down at you as you laid in his arms, weary.

“I love you.” He whispered, dipping his head down so that he was close to your face.

You turned your head so that you could look up at him properly and you leaned up to nudge your nose against his.

“Aleksander.” You whimpered and he nodded once.

“I know. Never again. You will never be away from my side again.” He promised and you gave him a little nod, your eyelids growing heavy.

He watched as you fought to stay awake in his arms and he turned towards the crowd of his Grisha. He glanced at Fruzsi and then he jerked his head towards his tent, “Draw the Moon Summoner a bath immediately. Have an Inferni heat it. Get me a Durast so we can get these dreadful things off of her wrists. Waste no time, she is in pain.” He ordered and Fruzsi ran off in a frenzy.

Within only half an hour, you already had a Durast remove the shackles from your wrists safely and you now sat in a deep metal bathtub, filled with hot water. Aleksander knelt by the side of the tub and kept his eyes on you the entire time you laid in the water. You looked over at him and he reached up towards you slowly to tuck a piece of damp hair behind your ear.

“Aleksander, what did your mother do? When she claimed she was going to kill you.” You asked quietly.

He sucked in a deep breath for a long time before he blew it out and then he gave you a very small, very sad smile.

“She told me she was going to burn you alive, then she… permanently severed the connection between Alina and I.” He answered and then held up his right hand.

It was deep grey and glinted metallically in the low light of his tent. You stared at it for a moment before you looked up at him, a little frown tugging your lips downwards.

“I should have stopped her, Aleksander, I’m so sorry-“

“Do not. No. You will not apologize. You couldn’t have done anything. Judging from your state now and even when you called on me the second time, you were in no condition to stop her. I am simply grateful that you are alive and you have returned to me.” He explained in a soft voice and you reached out of the tub to gently take his new hand in your own.

You intertwined your fingers with his and you closed your eyes, leaning your head back against the edge of the metal tub. He allowed you to hold his hand for only a few minutes before he pulled away from you and stood up. You opened your eyes and looked up at him as he shed his kefta and a few other layers until he was only in his base shirt, a loose fitting black shirt made of silk. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and he knelt back down next to you and he held his hand out to you and nodded towards it.

“Hand me the cloth, my dear.” He instructed softly and you reached down into the water to search for the cloth that had been in the tub with you. You found it a moment later and then brought it out of the water, wringing the excess water out of it, and you dropped it in his hand.

He made a pleased humming sound and he grabbed your arm and lifted it up towards him. With a touch as soft and light as the silk of his shirt, he began to clean your skin with the cloth.

You watched his scarred face as he bathed you, and the sight broke your heart in the best way. He looked so serene and so peaceful, making his features softer and you swore you had caught a glimpse of boyish innocence in the sincerity on his face. The world had been so cruel to him for five centuries, and despite it all, he’d allowed himself to love you; allowed you to love him.

Your eyes glittered with tears and they began to fall freely down your cheeks while you watched him wash your arms and your legs, being especially tender with the places that had little bruises or scrapes. His touches were usually selfish, driven by his own need to have you close to him, but as he touched you now, there was nothing but selflessness behind his actions. When he moved up with the intent to clean your face, your tears made his face fall as he shook his head.

“As beautifully as you cry, I have half a mind to let you continue, however, the sight breaks my heart. What pains you?” He asked softly and reached up with the cloth to very carefully wipe at your face.

“It is not pain. You are my greatest accomplishment.” You whispered and leaned into his hand as he wiped your cheek, “You are the best thing that I will have ever known in this life.” You added, your lips trembling as you forced them up into a smile.

He stilled his movement and he looked down into your eyes and simply shook his head before he went back to washing you. Once he had finished cleaning you up and washing your hair, he stood up and rolled his sleeves back down. He pulled all of his shed clothes back on, along with his kefta and he grabbed a large, thick towel off of the table he stood near. He came back to the tub and held it open, looking down at you.

“Can you stand, darling?” He asked softly and you nodded. You grabbed the edges of the tub and very slowly pulled yourself up.

Before you could even step out of the tub, Aleksander wrapped the towel around your upper body and lifted you out of the water. Your bare legs broke out in goosebumps and you held onto his shoulders as he carried you to his bed. Once he sat you down, he readjusted the towel around your body and he knelt in front of you.

“You claim I am your greatest accomplishment. The best thing you’ll know. But you are mine. My greatest accomplishment, the best thing I’ll ever know. My peace. My sweet peace in the middle of the turmoil and chaos that is my long life. You are the truest kindness I’ve ever been shown, and whatever sent you to me knows I don’t deserve you, but Saints, I will try everyday.” He murmured and laid his head down against your thighs as he knelt before you.

You reached up and threaded your fingers through his hair and stroked it gently.

You looked down at him as he laid on your thighs and your chest ached with adoration for the man that was before you. No one else mattered anymore, how could they?

Alina had told you that you and her were meant to operate in tandem, but the sunlight is no place for the moon, and moonlight has no business with the sun.

No, you and the Sun Summoner had no business working alongside one another, because Aleksander had been right when he said that the moon needs the darkness to shine.

Moonlight needs shadows.

In all your life, you’d never imagined your death.

You’d never felt as if you’d die.

But you probably wouldn’t ever have imagined it would happen this way.

You stood by Aleksander’s side in the middle of The Fold. Alina and Mal had created a bubble around them, keeping the volcra out. Keeping the darkness out. Your hand was tightly closed around Aleksander’s and you held a bright beam of moonlight in your other hand, eyes fixed on Mal and Alina.

It all had happened so fast.

One moment Aleksander was pulling you against his side and Mal was shooting at the creatures of darkness that threatened to come in and wreak havoc inside the little bubble of light. The next moment, you were making eye contact with Mal. His face twisted in a feral anger, and he spun his gun towards you and shot it just as Aleksander dropped your hand to summon his Cut.

You didn’t even realize you’d been shot until warmth began to spread over your chest. You looked down to see the silver embroidery on your black kefta turning red with your blood, and that’s when you felt the pain. A hot, sharp ache bloomed through your chest and you fell backwards, head thumping against the sand. You’d been shot in the place between both of your collarbones, between the tiniest opening in your bulletproof kefta.

How capricious this universe can be, you thought.

Everything around you seemed like it was happening underwater, and you felt something shift next to you. You very slowly turned your head to see Aleksander on the ground next to you, clutching his side. He had been wounded, too. By what? You weren’t sure.

You closed your eyes and focused on your breathing- if you could even call it that. Every breath you took felt shorter and shorter and you were losing awareness rapidly.

It took you a moment to register that your name was being screamed and you opened your eyes to see a blurry Aleksander knelt over you. Light of pink and blue was swirling around everywhere and he pulled you up into his arms as if you were a child and he cradled you against his chest as he rose to his feet. The world became brighter and brighter around you until there was no trace of shadow.

The Fold had fallen.

You weakly grabbed at Aleksander’s kefta as he held you and your eyes grew hot and burned with fat tears.

“Aleksander,” you whispered weakly and let out a pathetic, weak sounding sob, “Please do not let me die, I don’t want to die. Please, I don’t want to die.” You begged, and you watched his face contort painfully.

He ground his teeth together as he looked down at you and his own tears threatened to fall.

“You are not going to die, do you hear me? Everything will be alright. You’ll still be my queen, wed under the willow at midnight. Remember?”

You did remember and you wanted to tell him you remembered but your mouth didn��t seem to want to form the words and your head didn’t move when you willed yourself to nod.

He let out a broken choking noise and he shook his head rigorously.

“Don’t you dare. Do not leave me alone on this earth. Y/n! Don’t do it!” He called and sunk to his knees.

Your head weakly rolled backwards and he grabbed your jaw gently, forcing you to look up at him.

“Please. Do not go this way, my love. It is not your time to go.” He whimpered and you shakily reached up and laid your hand on top of his as he held your jaw.

“You… are my greatest accomplishment. The best thing that I have ever known in this life.” You mumbled and gave him a weak smile.

“Your life is not over!” He protested and then he pulled your head up to his, resting his forehead against yours, “You are too young, my love. You are meant to live centuries at my side. Please, I know you’re strong, I need you to…” he trailed off and stared down at you as you cried. He wanted to beg you to fight, but the look on your face stopped him.

Your face was full of fear and you were shaking in his arms.

He knew you weren’t going to survive, and filling you with that false hope was not fair. Was he even going to survive? Likely not. He was a selfish person, but he couldn’t be selfish with you. Letting you die in fear because he begged you to hold on wasn’t fair. He couldn’t be selfish now. Not while you slipped away in his arms. His chest ached in a way he never wished to feel again, and hopefully he wouldn’t have to. He placed one kiss against your lips and bumped the tip of his nose against yours.

“It’s okay, my beautiful moonbeam. You can let go. Close your eyes, angel. Close your eyes and let go, it’s okay. I won’t let go of you.” He whispered, his own tears falling onto your cheeks.

“I love you. I’m so proud of you.” You breathed, your hand weakly falling away from his.

“And I love you, little love. Rest now. No one can ever hurt you again. It’s okay to just rest.” He said, barely above a whisper. Your tears and his mixed together on your face and you closed your eyes slowly.

With the last bit of strength you had in your body, you moved up just slightly and pressed your lips against his, and you did your best to muffle the sob that came from his mouth with your own.

A bittersweet smile crossed your lips as you moved away from his lips and you laid your head comfortably against his arm.

“My love, my life.” You murmured and he took a sharp intake of air to prevent himself from crying more.

He knelt there on the sanded ground with you until he watched you draw your last breath and he leaned down to kiss your forehead, painfully aware of all of the eyes on his back.

“My love, my life.” He repeated against your skin.

He very carefully laid your body out over the sand and rose to his feet, turning to stare at Alina blankly. He looked over at Mal as he laid unmoving and Aleksander held his hand over his wound as he stood straight up.

“Now… you know sacrifice.” He breathed and watched Alina carefully.

Alina eyed him and then glanced at your lifeless body on the ground.

“I believe you do, too.” She spoke in a firm tone, “And look what said sacrifice did.”

“Indeed.” Aleksander replied blankly, willing himself to keep his eyes off of you, “Look what it did.”

Tears gathered in her eyes and she nodded once at him.

“Mal and I changed the world.” She said tearfully, a little smile on her face, “We tore down your Shadow Fold.”

“You have my sympathies for what comes next. When you realize that what you’ve done solves nothing. The world doesn’t need a Saint to protect it-“

“But you needed one. You just had to have a Saint. And look where it got her. Perhaps the world doesn’t need a Saint, but look what you have done to yours.” Alina shouted and pointed at you.

His eyes wandered towards you and he shook his head, holding his hand over the gash in his side caused by Alina’s Cut.

“Your Firebird did this. Not I.”

“No, she is dead because of the choices you made.” Alina stated, shaking her head just once.

“Choices you, too, will make in time.”

Alina jutted her chin up into the air and she balled her fists at her sides.

“I will never walk your path. And if you hadn’t carried her down it, she would never have walked yours either.”

“I know you believe that now-“ Aleksander stepped forward and let out a groan, holding his side with both hands, “But soon, you’ll have no equal. The years spent alone will grind you down, they will harden you. And who will be there to shield you from it? Who will be there to save you? I could have. Y/n could have.“

There was a long pause shared between the two of them, and Alina grasped his shoulder when Aleksander approached her unsteadily, still clasping his wound.

“I will save myself. Your legacy is already written. It always has been. No amount of love for or from a girl could save you from that truth. There is no redemption.” She gave his shoulder a hard shove and he fell to his knees in pain.

He let out a long, gasping growl, and one of his nichevo'ya poured out from his back, taking on a sinister form behind his kneeling body.

The creature grabbed Alina, by the throat and lifted her up and when Aleksander tried to stop it, the creature flung him backwards.

A blade came flying through the air and pierced the shadow form, sending it scattering into the air, and Alina fell from its grip. Aleksander pulled himself up off of the ground at the same time as Alina rose to her knees and he grunted.

He walked towards her and offered her his hand.

“You can’t control them, can you?” She asked shakily, “You can’t control any of it.”

“I thought I could control it all once.” He spoke and Alina eyed his outstretched hand as if it were a venomous snake and he continued on, a tear rolling down his cheek, “Find peace. And for a moment…” his eyes fell shut and he tipped his face up towards the sky, “I swear I did.”

He inhaled shakily and his mind flickered to you. Every little moment with you seemed to rise to the forefront of his mind. The first night he held you and lulled you to sleep, the night of the winter fete when you promised to stand with him forever, the afternoon just mere weeks ago when you two had whispered your first and most meaningful “i love you”s. Tears were steadily falling down his cheeks now, slipping through his closed eyelids while your sweet voice filled his ears, calling his name, singing him praises. In his mind, you weren’t laying on the sand with a bullet in your chest. Instead you were laying underneath the moonlit, starry sky with him, in a world where forever meant forever.

Not here. Not in this cruel place where you had to be the atonement for all his wrongdoing; the price he paid for the sins he committed.

This world was no place for you. He swore you were his Saint but as he imagined felt your touch on his face there in the middle of what used to be his Fold, he began to wonder if really you were an embodiment of The Moon itself. Graceful and beautiful in all endeavors.

He could hear you calling for him and he leaned forward to meet your call, further, further…

Until he could lean further no more because a blade had pierced his abdomen.

He laid his hands on top of Alina’s as she held the sword in his stomach and he looked up into her eyes as black blood fell from his lips.

“Thank you.” He mouthed.

She gave him one nod and withdrew her blade, sending him falling backwards onto the sand next to you.

He heard you call for him again, and you were closer this time, and he was ready to answer your call.

Alina stood over him and he let out a little cough before he sucked in whatever breath he could to speak.

“Alina. You make sure there is nothing left of me. But her… please see to it that she is buried underneath the willow tree just behind the Little Palace. Please. She deserves that much. Make sure she’s remembered as a Saint.” He begged, giving the Sun Summoner a little nod.

She gave him one nod in return and pursed her lips.

“For her, Aleksander. Not for you.” She whispered and he gave her a weak smile before he looked past her, up at the sky above.

“I hear her.” He breathed. And it was true. Your voice rang in his ears, singing his name.

“Go to her.” Alina commanded quietly, her voice softening only slightly.

So he did.

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