#ariels sibling! reader

[lowkeyrobin]

Charming x female reader where reader is one of Ariel’s sisters and charming asks her to castle coming but she thinks he only asked her bc Ella turned him down so he like assures her he wanted to go with her

ooooo okay ; btw I only write gn / they/them readers so sorry 😔 ; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy! ; also I couldnt really wrap in anything about being a mermaid at all but I mentioned the many of sisters so 😔🙏 ; and I'm sorry this is lowkey awful uagshhh idk why writers block is so picky w what I can actually write

CHRISTOPHER CHARMING ; backup

summary ; you think charming only asked you to go to castlecoming with him because ella rejected him

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; I use christopher bc that's his name in Brandy's Cinderella so.. though I usually just call him charming 💀 looks weird on the list/title without something else there idk

word count ; 410

masterlist

Ella had turned Charming down to go to Castlecoming. In her belief, she didn't like the whole fancy parties and royalty thing. In her eyes, Bridget was the only good royalty in the world. Everyone else was stuck up and mean.

You couldn't blame her for thinking that, though.

As one of Ariel's many siblings, you had a good input on how royalty worked, considering you were royalty of the sea, and your sister married into human royalty. Lots of crowns in this family.

But, after being rejected, Charming knew he'd just have to man up. Ella said it herself.

"Go ask Y/n. We all know you wanna go with them"

"Fine..."

It was not fine. He didn't know how to ask you, nor did he even have the guts. He asked Ella because he still wanted to go with someone, but he was too nervous to ask you of all people.

You didn't think of yourself as unapproachable. You were nice, and you'd never given him a reason to be nervous around you. Well, maybe his infatuation of you created it.

But, with some careful thinking and meticulous planning of his words, he was on his way to ask you to Castlecoming. Now, you knew Ella rejected him, you were passing by as she said no, so you knew that he'd missed his opportunity to go with her.

That's why you didn't believe him when he asked you.

He approaches you with a nervous stature, gripping his skateboard in his hand. You sit by the fountain outside, gazing into the water.

He sits beside you, silent for a moment. You send him a little smile, acknowledging his presence. He rests his skateboard against the fountain, sitting criss-cross next to you.

"What's up?" you ask.

"Not much" he shrugs. "I have a question for you"

You tilt your head. "Yeah?"

"Uhm, would you consider going to Castlecoming with me? You're really nice and cool in general, I think we could have fun-"

"Hold up" you cut him off, blinking in confusion. "Ella rejected you, why are you asking me? I'm not gonna be some backup because you got rejected"

"Oh my gosh" his expression quickly turns to one of embarrassment. "You weren't a backup option, I'm sorry. Ella was my backup option, I was just too nervous to ask you in the first place. I'm sorry"

"Oh"

You're both silent for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll go with you"

"Cool"

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Not A Verstappen: Lights Out {7}

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x fem!driver!reader x Lando Norris Summary: A short skip over the winter break and into 2024 season.. Warnings: 18+ only, fluffies WC: 2k F1 Masterlist NAV: Sibling Rivalry One || Two || Three NAV: Gridlocked One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven || Eight || Nine NAV: A New World One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven || Eight || Nine || Ten NAV: Lights Out One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || 6.5 || Seven || SMAU || Eight

Christmas Eve 2023 - French Alps The air was still when you woke to a fresh dumping of snow on the mountain. The window provided a picture of tranquillity and the embers in the fire gave a peaceful glow to the dark wood walls. Charles had disappeared at dawn for a morning ski with Arthur and you squinted against the white glare to try and find them on the mountainside. 

You probably could have gone back to sleep if it wasn’t for the door crashing open and the sudden weight of a child on your legs. Penelope crawled up to the headboard with a squeal and jumped into your arms as Max just reached the bedroom door. 

“P, watch out for auntie’s tummy,” Max reminded. She now had to watch out for yours and Aunt Vicky’s tummy, since your sister had announced her pregnancy a few weeks ago. “Sorry, she slept the whole flight so she’s full of energy. I tried to get her to play with Luka but she wanted you.”

“That’s okay,” you said as she burrowed under the blankets and put her cold feet on Lando’s back. “Are you excited for Christmas?”

Penelope nodded eagerly while Lando slowly woke and you were grateful he was wearing a hideous pair of santa-themed pyjama pants. With even more children around for Christmas this year, everyone had taken to wearing pyjamas. It was good for moments like these, but bad for quick access when you were spooning in the night.

“Papa let me open some presents early!”

Max disappeared out of the room with a wave, heading back to his suite with Kelly down the hall. The small mountain retreat had been completely rented out for another combined family holiday and at the rate the Norris’, Leclerc’s and Verstappen’s were procreating, an entire resort would be needed to host you all next year. Your bet was on Max and Lorenzo becoming fathers next. 

“How exciting! And what did you get?”

Penelope held out her arm to show a mermaid inspired charm bracelet. “That’s beautiful!”

“It’s got Ariel!” she exclaimed, pointing to a red haired mermaid as she bounced excitedly. 

“Is that an earthquake?” Lando asked as he scooped the little girl up into a hug. “No, it’s little P. Why are you waking your favourite uncle up so early?”

“You’re not my favourite,” she said with a fit of giggles.

Lando hung his head and shook it with fake sadness. “Kids are brutal.”

“Kids are honest,” you corrected before kissing his pout away.

“Gross,” P said as she screwed up her face and started to climb off the bed to find ‘Maxie’. She did a sudden u-turn and scrambled across the bed to gently touch your stomach before leaning closer and whispering, “Bye-bye, baby. Love you.”

She was gone again, this time the door swinging shut as she left with no farewell for you or Lando. He let out a little chuckle as he pushed you back into the pillows and drifted down the bed, taking the blankets with him. 

“Hello, baby,” he murmured softly to the bump. At just more than half way along your bump could no longer be mistaken for overindulgence or bloating. “You are looking lovely and round this morning.”

“Wow, you really know how to sweet talk a lady,” you chuckled as you combed your fingers through his hair.

“Shh, I’m having a conversation with my daughter, no eavesdropping,” he warned with a smirk before brushing your shirt up and pressing a kiss to your skin before continuing his conversation. The moustache and shaped beard he was slowly but surely growing thicker tickled with each whispered word, the movement of his lips dragging the coarse hairs over your sensitive skin until goosebumps prickled. 

“I can’t wait to meet you,” he said with a smile as the door creaked open and Charles walked in with wind-kissed cheeks. “I just want to hurry up and hold you.”

“Patience, mon cher,” Charles said with a grin, depositing the second layer of cashmere he had worn under his ski jacket on the coat hook. “It’s only four more months.”

Lando groaned at the reminder before shifting on the bed to make space for Charles. 

“Anything you want to add this morning?” you asked. 

You reached for the hem of the shirt, ready to pull it down if it was a no when a knock had you freeze. No, it wasn’t a knock. The thud hadn’t come from outside, but inside. You dropped the shirt and stared at the jut of your hip, right where the skin went soft as it stretched up to your ribs. That soft tissue bulged ever so slightly as you felt the strange sensation of pressure and it drew a gasp that shocked your boyfriends.

“What? What is it?” Lando asked, his voice thick with concern. 

“Give me your hand,” you ordered, already reaching for one of each as you placed them on the spot. “Shhh, just shhh.”

You felt it again and Charles exhaled a shaky breath that ended in a joyous laugh before grabbing Lando’s hand and shifting it slightly. 

“Wha-”

“Shh,” you urged as Charles pressed a finger to his lips. The silence grew and everyone held their breath, waiting.

The air wooshed from Lando with an exclamation, “No fucking way!” His eyes grew wide and he stared at his palm as if the imprint of his daughter’s foot was permanently held on his skin. “Holy shit! She…she…kicked.” 

Charles wrapped an arm around Lando as their shimmering eyes met yours. Pure happiness saturated the room, spilling out into the hall as the door opened and Oliver appeared a little worried. “Everything okay? I thought I heard Lando screeching.”

“Everything’s perfect,” Lando grinned, ignoring the joke he had heard since hitting puberty. 

“She just started kicking,” Charles explained with an equally bright grin, while you danced your fingers along your side, trying to tickle her foot. 

“Core memory unlocked, huh?” Oliver laughed at his brother’s eagerness, remembering the first kicks with his own daughters. “Breakfast is ready when you are.”

“Thanks, we’ll be there soon,” Charles said as Oliver closed the door again.

“Do we have to?” Lando asked as he curled back down and stared at your stomach intently. “I could watch this all day.”

“You can stay but I am hungry, and she is now shy,” you teased as you pulled your shirt back into place and climbed out of bed. With a groan he followed you to the walk-in wardrobe, just like you knew he would. 

“Is the powder good?” Lando asked Charles while they changed into some casual day clothes perfect for the warm interior of the retreat.

“It’s perfect,” Charles all but moaned, it was hard to believe they were talking about snow but both of them loved to ski. “Arthur wants to head back out after lunch.”

Lando looked at you and you waved a hand. “Sheesh, babe, I’m not your keeper. You can go if you want.” 

Lando hated being away the most, not that Charles enjoyed it, but there wasn’t the same level of separation anxiety that Lando had. “I don’t want to leave you here on your own.”

“On my own?” you laughed and slipped your feet into some simple flats before heading to the door. As soon as it opened the cacophony of everyone congregating in the great room down the hall spilled into your room. “I couldn’t be on my own if I tried.”

yourusername

liked by pierregasly, maxvertappen1, maxfewtrell and 1,382,589 others yourusername This kid scored the gene pool the lottery. Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Round One - Bahrain 2024 Fuel fumes drifted up from the pitlane to the balcony you stood upon as the start of the season's first race grew closer. It was strange to look down the entire length of billboards and see no new faces among the driver line up. Fernando still filled the garage beside Lance, but you held no resentment for your replacement. He was making the most out of an opportunity and it almost gave you hope that even after leaving Formula 1, maybe - just maybe - there was a way to get back in. 

Next year would be interesting with so many contracts up for renewal. It was a chance to see new faces on the grid, or perhaps some old faces returning if rumours were to be believed. You wouldn’t mind seeing Sebastian make a return. For the moment, everyone was still too busy talking about Lewis and his move to Ferrari to give much thought to the other shocks that might come with the disruption. The open seat at Mercedes was going to be sought after by every driver stuck in a midfield car. 

“You look deep in thought.”

You broke away from staring at the starting lights to accept a cup of herbal tea from your mother. “Just thinking about how the grid will look next year.”

“Gotta get through this one first,” she reminded. “Speaking of…it’s going to be hard having a newborn at home with those two away so much.”

“I know,” you sighed, resting your arms on the balcony rail as you blew the steam from the mug. The wall calendar at home was already marked with the first half of the season, all the nights Lando and Charles would be away circled in red ink. It had been collectively agreed that flying with a newborn wasn’t a great idea so you would only attend the races you could drive to until she was at least three months old. “This year’s calendar is fucking intense.”

“I want you to know you can call me day or night, sweetie, and I’ll be on the next plane.” She reached for your chin and turned you to face her as your throat clogged with emotion. “I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to do on your own, you saw it firsthand.”

“You’ve got your own life, I don’t want you to drop it all for me.”

She laughed softly and wrapped you in a careful hug. “You’re my daughter, you are my life, my granddaughter is too.”

“Thank you,” you sniffled and wiped your eyes, seeing the cameras in the pitlane pointed your way. “Gah, you made me cry. Now I’ll be on fucking Drive to Survive. I can already see the subtitles ‘Y/N crying as the season starts without her’. Wankers.”

Your mother narrowed her eyes at the camera and flipped them off, making you choke on a laugh. “So much maturity for a grandmother.”

“Yeah well I have been wanting to do that for a while, and I figure I can’t get you fired since you’re unemployed.”

You shared a grin and thought maybe you had more in common than you realised. You thought your fight came from Jos but now you saw a flash of it in her protectiveness and your chest warmed.

“I’m not unemployed, I’m a Lady of Leisure.” You laughed at the roll of her eyes before adding. “I might even get a Birkin for a push present to complete the initiation.”

“What the hell is a push present?”

“It’s a present a new mother gets for destroying her vagina pushing a baby out.”

It was her turn to choke on a laugh. “That’s a thing?”

“Apparently so.” 

“Does the baby not count as a gift?”

“Hmm, maybe you should go ask them?” you said as you jutted your head to the plethora of influencers walking around the grid taking selfies with everyone. She wrinkled her nose at the idea, quite content to stay out of the fray like you.

“No, thank you. Oh, there they are.”

You scanned the crowd and saw Max, Charles, and Lando walking out to the grid together, their heads huddled close as they tried to hear each other over the crowd. They made a beeline to the strips of red carpet and Max stood between the other two as they took their places for the national anthem.

“Looks like the podium lineup to me,” your mother whispered.

You chewed your lip and hoped the data from testing was as promising as it looked for McLaren and Ferrari. But you could never tell quite how much of it was real with the strategies and sandbagging. “I hope so, my boy’s need a good start this year.”

Click here for the next part.

[kiryoutann]

𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃! 𝐀𝐔 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 ::: 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐀

LOST AT SEA MASTERLIST (COMING SOON). GENSHIN IMPACT MASTERLIST.

Reincarnation should be a good thing, right? A new chance in life, to become yet another soul chosen to navigate the world once again. Until it isn't.

In the first life, mermaid! reader meets a prince charming. They call him "Ajax" - you learn this after eavesdropping on the mortals' conversation from behind a rock.

Of course, your siblings have warned you about those two-legged landlubbers - that they are cruel, they are merciless and greedy.

"By Poseidon, sister – don't you dare go to shore again. They'll catch you like they did Ariana! They'll descale your fins and take your heart for who knows what!"

When one of your sisters said that, you just nodded pretending to understand. But, well, someone's gotta be the Ariel of the family.

Because it was impossible that Ajax could be the same as those cruel humans.

I mean, don't your brothers and sisters see how he treats animals? That slobbering furry thingy that always follows him every time he wants to go sailing? Mortals call him "Boris". That Boris creature.

Somehow, fate brought you two together. Even the sea and land cannot separate the two of you.

"He promised to marry me, sister!" you said to one of your sisters.

"And you believe him? How will you make sure he will keep his promise, sister? Oh, don't tell me… you've given him that?"

For mermaids, love is not a luxury, but a precious resource. They are said to have just one chance at love in their lifetimes.

When they foolishly give their hearts to a renegade, fate decrees that they shall forever dwell in a state of limbo, torn between the land and the sea. This means that they cannot survive for long on dry land, nor can they venture too far into the depths of the ocean. Instead, they are forced to live on the edge, forever caught between two worlds, no longer able to fully commit to land or sea.

But, Ajax wouldn't do that, right? He is too good, and loves you too much to betray you.

Wrong. Because the night before your wedding, Ajax betrayed you. With another woman.

Every land has a history. The modern era Blue Lagoon is no exception.

In each wave that washes upon its shores holds within it tales of the past, a silent whisper of the countless stories that have shaped the present.

Someone said, before becoming an island exclusively for old money and celebrities, the land once saw the great fury of mother nature.

The storm was so cruel that an entire kingdom was wiped out without a trace. On the other hand, people full of fairy tales say that it was the work of a broken-hearted mermaid.

And when actor! Ajax moved to the said island after breaking up with his cheating girlfriend, he almost laughed from how stupid it sounded. In fact, local people here believe it enough that some people in his circle constantly discuss the existence of a mermaid amidst the champagne and celebrations.

"I think the people here are quite creative. Should submit a script, maybe a director will accept it for a movie." he says. His way of making conversation in his first meeting with the highest paid model of the century - you.

But, when this is Ajax's second life, it is not yours. These cruel centuries have destroyed many but your grudges - your memories.

People are talking about lost kingdoms? About mermaids? As you sipped your champagne and smiled fakely at Ajax, in your heart you knew the truth.

That, indeed, there was an empire before it crumbled. There was love before betrayal. There were mermaids before humans.

And now, caught between land and seas - as a supermodel, you stand before the very vessel that once belonged to your former treacherous lover.

SUPPORT ME THROUGH KO-FI! CHECK MY WRITING COMMISSION.

[circethesinner]

inevitable ⟐ xavier thorpe

pairing: xavier thorpe x reader oneshot (second person pov - she/her pronouns used for reader - occasional use of Y/N)

warning(s) : mild language, best friends to lovers, mutual pining

word count: 6.4k

⭑•⊱✩masterlist✩⊰•⭑

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summary: you and xavier had been best friends since you were 7, and nothing could change that - that is until you start to develop a new power that makes you question everything you think (or rather, what everyone else thinks)

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Normies usually strayed away from adopting outcast kids. They just didn’t know how to appropriately handle their slightly more complex needs.

Unfortunately for your adopted mothers, the realisation that you, their child, possessed psychic abilities hit at around the 5-year mark when they walked into your nursery and discovered that all of your bears were floating around the room, performing beautiful and elaborate ariel tricks. At first, they jumped to the conclusion that they were being haunted. In some ways, they wished that were the case. Ghosts could be exorcised, but a child who could undo a childproof lock (or five) to get into the cabinet where the candy was kept within mere seconds wasn’t easily fixed with a call to the local priest.

So, as soon as they could, they would ship you off to outcast summer camps and school programs. It's not that they didn’t love you; they just didn’t know how to help you manoeuvre your powers. 

Naturally, you resented this for a lot of your childhood. You couldn’t understand why your adopted siblings got all the time with your moms while you were sent away. Fortunately, as you matured, you grew to understand it and accept that what they were doing was for your benefit as much as theirs. Your moms were doing this to help you learn more about your powers from others who shared them, not punish you for having them. 

Of course, understanding and accepting the decisions didn’t exactly make the feeling of abandonment go away, but it was enough to subdue and push it down for some therapist in 20 years to pull out and deal with.

There were some plus sides to being sent away so often, one of which being the best friend you had made on day one of the very first outcast summer camp you had been sent to when you were 7 years old.

You and Xavier Thorpe got along like a log cabin on fire, which is coincidentally what almost got the pair of you kicked out of that summer camp on your first week. 

Xavier was sent away by his father while he was on tour. Touring the world would be far too stressful for a child; at least, that was the excuse that was given whenever anyone questioned where Xavier was.

Both of you being sent to Nevermore Academy was inevitable. Under the promise of not burning it down, together, you had fixed up the old shed so Xavier could use it as an art studio. You had occupied one of the corners where the two of you had set up a desk where you could work on your writing.

Together, you spent most of your free time tucked away like that, talking about anything and everything as you individually let your artistic creativity fill your individual pages. You would only stop talking when you demanded silence so you could focus, which would last about 10 minutes before the two of you got distracted and started talking about something else.

You were about 6 minutes into one of these silent periods when Xavier slowly stepped back from his canvas and inched towards your corner. Engrossed in your work, you didn’t notice he was in front of you until he spoke up.

“You’ve got some paint on your nose,” He pointed out. You closed your laptop instinctively; you had never liked sharing your writing with anyone, not even Xavier. 

You looked up at him in confusion as you hadn’t touched any of the paint scattered around the studio that day. “Really?” You asked, crossing your eyes to try and look at your nose. “Are you sure? I don’t feel-” You were cut off by Xavier swiping his thumb over your nose and smearing some paint on it.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” He laughed, trying to step back as you made a grab for his arm. You just about caught his sleeve and used it as leverage to pull him down and wipe your nose clean with it.

“You are such an ass!” You groaned, trying to hide the laughter that threatened to bubble up. It was the third time that week he’d gotten you with that trick.

“Speaking of ass,” Xavier grabbed his own chair to sit opposite you at your desk.

“I have a great one?” You grinned, trying to use a tissue to wipe the remaining paint residue from your face. “Thank you, I know!” You froze when you could have sworn you had heard Xavier respond with a quiet ‘true’ but shook it off as your mind playing tricks as you hadn’t actually seen his lips move.

“That is not what I was going to say,” Xavier playfully rolled his eyes. “Speaking of ass, have you done Mr Cooper’s homework?”

“Are you suggesting Mr Cooper is an ass, or that he has a great ass? I mean, I’ve never looked myself, but I respect the-” You yelped out as your leg received a kick from under the desk. You pouted dramatically as he shook his head at you, but you cast your mind back to your chemistry class the day before. You hadn’t been paying much attention as it was the final class on a Friday, and you were just excited to sleep past 6am the following day. “Did he assign homework?”

“I’ll take that as a no; you haven’t done it,” Xavier grabbed his rucksack, which you had been using as a footrest. “Though I already knew that because I picked up your sheet when you left it on the desk.” He pulled the worksheet out and waved it in front of your face.

“This is such bullshit!” You groaned as you plucked it from his grip and scanned the questions. “He never assigns homework!”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘Thank you, Xavier! You are such a good friend!’” Xavier teased, doing his best impression of you… His best was awful.

“A good friend would have just done the assignment for me,” You sighed dramatically, putting the sheet down on the desk and pushing it back towards him.

“You mean the way I do half of your other assignments for you?” He pointed out. You had mastered one another's handwriting years ago and often took turns in doing one another’s assignments depending on who was better at the subject or who could bribe the other better.

“Yeah, half of them!” You fired back. “That only makes you half of a good friend, an okay friend, if you will!” Your friendship was built on this sort of playful teasing. 

“Well, as an okay friend, do you want to work on this together after dinner?” He asked, checking the time on his phone. “Which started like 5 minutes ago.”

“Shit!” You exclaimed, shooting up from your chair and shoving your laptop in your bag. “Come on! Get your butt in gear, or all the good food will be gone!” You frantically urged, walking around the desk to tug at Xavier’s arm to get him up and going.

“I’m coming!” He laughed back, getting up intentionally slowly. “Just give me a minute or two to pack up all my stuff. Save me a tray!” With a distressed groan that echoed through the shed, you let go of his arm and walked off, mumbling something along the lines of ‘snooze, you lose’ as you went. Xavier laughed and checked the time again one last time before he stuffed his phone back in his pocket, knowing that dinner wouldn’t actually be ready for another hour and preparing for the hellfire that you would rain down on him when you realised he’d tricked you again.

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Studying sucked. That was something you had acknowledged a long time ago. But studying while you had a bad case of hiccups was so much worse. Especially when the hiccups caused your powers to go absolutely wild; with each hiccup, the pen you were holding flew out of your hand and launched itself to a new corner of the room.

At first, Xavier thought it was an elaborate plot to get him to do your work again as revenge for the dinner incident. However, when your pen launched out of your hand and stabbed the door, he realised you weren’t joking around.

With a grunt of frustration, you got up to retrieve the pen once again, mumbling a ‘sorry’ to the door as you pulled it out from the wood.

“What did that poor door ever do to you to deserve such a vicious stabbing?” Xavier joked, trying to lighten up your tense mood.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about the time it smacked me on the ass on the way out!” You gave the door an accusatory glare. “Which it still hasn’t apologised for.”

“How could I forget?” He groaned, recalling the situation in great detail. He’d talked himself into a corner when he’d tried to defend the door by saying that your ass just got in the way and then couldn’t figure out if it would be more offensive to say that your butt was big or backtrack and say that it wasn’t big at all. In the end, he realised he was losing that conversation no matter what he said and just accepted the consequences. “You know, that is the second conversation today that has ended up on your ass.”

You couldn’t contain the laughter at the phrasing, which caused your hiccups to match the energy, and the pen flew from your hand and into the ceiling.

“Oooookay! I think that’s enough pen time for you, or I’m going to be accused of practising archery in my room again,” Xavier laughed nervously as you, still in fits of giggles, stumbled back over to the spare bed in his room that you had basically taken over as your own. It had your favourite blanket draped over it and some of your pillows from home. 

“Your hiccups are just like you,” Xavier pointed out, jumping up to get the pen out of the ceiling before it caused any structural damage. He was tall, so it didn’t take much to reach it.

“Oh yeah?” You asked, your laughter finally starting to calm down. “How's that?”

“Violent and cute,” He shook his head with a smile, but you just froze, unsure if you had heard him right.

“What was that?” You asked.

“Violent,” He repeated, dropping the pen onto his desk.

“No, no,” You shook your head, questioning your own sanity a little. He didn’t have that teasing tone in his voice he usually did. “The second thing.”

“I only said one thing?” He looked at you in confusion. “Are you feeling okay?” As if on queue, you hiccuped again, and a pillow went flying across the room, narrowly avoiding hitting him in the face.

“Never better,” You mumbled, laying back on the bed. You really could have sworn you had heard him say that the hiccups and you, by extension, were cute. It was quieter than he usually spoke, but you could have sworn it in his voice. 

Even though you joked around a lot, he wouldn’t lie to you about saying or not saying something if you asked. So maybe it had just been in your head? It was a weird thing for your head to make up.

“Are you staying here again tonight?” Xavier asked, snapping you out of your spiralling thoughts. “We can watch a movie and finish off those cookies from last night?”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” You smiled sheepishly, glancing over at the trash can by his desk to see the empty packet still there, evidence of your crime. “But I ate the rest of those cookies while you were asleep last night.” 

“I know. I woke up and saw you at the end of my bed, hunched over like a little gremlin, shoving them into your mouth three at a time. I thought you were a sleep paralysis demon for a good few seconds. I wanted to record it, but you were like a wild animal, and I didn’t want to startle you by grabbing my phone,” A second pillow flew across the room and hit him in the face that time. Unlike the last, this one was intentionally flung at him. Laughing, he paid no mind to it and reached over the side of his bed and pulled something out from underneath. “I bought two packs and hid one from you- wait, are these open?”

“I may or may not have found those ones while you were in the shower,” You got up and flopped down onto his bed next to him, grabbing both of your pillows to lean on. “I didn’t eat them all, though! I won’t lie; I would have, but you came back before I could.” Rolling his eyes, Xavier reached under his pillow and pulled something else out.

“I bought the third pack,” He admitted, placing them down on the bed in between the two of you. “Hey, your hiccups are gone!” You were about to cheer when another hiccup bubbled up out of nowhere, sending the open pack of cookies flying everywhere.

“Well….” You looked around at the crumbs that scattered the once relatively clean room. “Shit.”

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You woke up groggily to your name being called out in a hushed whisper. When you opened your eyes, you realised it was still nighttime. Yawning, you pushed off the sheets you had been sleeping under and made your way over to Xavier’s bed.

It was a routine you knew all too well by that point. Part of you questioned why you even bothered sleeping in the spare bed in the first place. Almost every time you would sleep over in his room, you would fall asleep in the spare bed only to be woken up by Xavier after a couple of hours, usually because he’d had a nightmare. He didn’t ever want to talk about it, and you didn’t ask. He’d tell you about them when they were really bad, but he preferred to sketch them out.

Xavier was holding the covers up, and you crawled under them, bringing your arms to your chest using his arm as a pillow. He brought the covers down again over you both, and you closed your tired eyes once again.

That was how you usually slept in the same bed. You didn’t usually ‘cuddle’ when you slept like this. Your arms and legs always kept to themselves, with the exclusion of Xavier’s left arm, which you usually used as a pillow. However, this time, Xavier brought his spare arm over you and held you close to him. Instinctively, you moved one of your arms to wrap around him in return. It was a wordless sign to say that you were okay with this. You could have sworn you had heard a hum of contentment from him, but you passed it off as the start of a snore. Xavier always fell asleep fast, and his light snoring was comforting.

You chalked the change in behaviour up to a particularly bad dream and decided that you wouldn’t bring it up in the morning. Instead, you would just enjoy the added warmth for the night.

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“Enid, my sweet, your tag is sticking out,” You jogged ahead to catch up with Enid’s impossibly fast walking. “C’mere!” Enid stopped and took a step back so you could tuck the tag of her sweater back in.

“Thank you!” She cheered and held her arm out. “Walk and talk?” With a laugh, you linked arms with Enid and started walking together. “I’m so glad you’re here because I was supposed to be shopping with Yoko, but then Divina showed up, and I was totally third wheeling, so I left them to it.”

“Are they actually dating yet, or are they both too scared to make the first move?” You asked, causing Enid to laugh. 

“They’re still dodging around the question,” She sighed playfully. “Reminds me of you and Xavier.”

“What?” You stopped, pulling Enid to a halt with you.

“I said they’re still dodging around the question,” She repeated.

“No, no,” You shook your head. “The other thing you said!” 

“That was all I said?” Enid looked ask confused as you felt inside. “Are you feeling okay?” Instead of pushing things and questioning them further, you took a deep breath and shook it off. Enid was a terrible liar. You had probably just mistaken the wind for words or something.

“I’m fine. Everything is fine,” You smiled and shrugged. Together, you continued to walk.

“Did you have a fight with Xavier or something?” Enid asked. Glancing at her from the corner of your eye, you shook your head with a frown, wondering how she’d come to that conclusion. “He was pouting at breakfast today, and you’re here without him.” Realisation dawned on you, and you laughed.

“He wasn’t pouting!- No, actually, that’s a lie. He was pouting a little bit, but only because he felt sorry for himself,” You explained. “I mistook him for my alarm clock this morning and tried to hit the snooze button, which in this case happened to be his mouth, and now his lip is a bit swollen. I’m here to get an apology gift and some numbing gel.” You reached into your pocket and pulled out the numbing gel you had just picked up from the pharmacy and a bar of chocolate. You had technically bought 3 bars of chocolate, but you had already given in and eaten 2 of them, and the last one was on thin ice.

“How did he get into your room?” Enid asked. “If I remember correctly, which I know I do, your windows have enchanted locks on because he kept sneaking into your room last term.” 

You snorted as you remembered how many times Xavier’s tall figure had been caught trying to climb through your window. Or, more accurately, how many times he had gotten stuck trying to climb through your window, and you had to call for help to get him unstuck.

“I was in his room,” You explained with a shrug. “He’s got a spare bed, and I love Yoko, but goddamn, does the girl snore like a chainsaw. Plus, she wakes up at 6am every morning and starts playing her ‘meditation’ music. I usually stay with him on the weekends because it's the only decent sleep I get! I swear I’ve told you all of this before?” 

“The Yoko part you have definitely complained about to me on multiple occasions,” Enid confirmed. “But how am I only just learning that you have weekly sleepovers with your ‘best friend’.” She used her free hand to put air quotes around the last two words.

“Why are you saying it like that?” You asked. “He is my best friend? You know I love you, Wednesday, and Thing, but Xavier and I have been ride or die since we were seven. He earnt the best friend title way before I knew any of you.” 

“Just admit you both like one another,” Enid groaned, causing you to stop walking again, halting her.

“What are you on about?” You interrogated. “We like one another as friends.”

“I said nothing!” Enid protested, her face easily portraying the confusion she felt. You were about to protest again, but Enid spoke before she could. “No, Y/N, I literally said nothing! Whatever you think you heard, it wasn’t me! Maybe your mind is telling you what you want it to hear?”

“Absolutely not! I heard you! It was your voice!” Your phone started ringing before the conversation could progress any further. You didn’t have to check the contact before answering it. You had set a personalised ringtone for him. “Xavi, I’m on my way back now, I swear! I have the gel and a-” You stopped yourself before you mentioned the chocolate. Truthfully, you knew it would never even get back to Nevermore. “I have the gel!” You repeated.

“I will start this movie without you and then spoil all of it,” He threatened playfully. 

“Don’t you dare!” You gasped, but he’d already hung up. When you looked back up at Enid, expecting to continue the conversation you had been having, you recognised the look on her face as her signature ‘I’m telling everyone’ smile. “What?”

“Xavi?” She teased. “Really?” “Drop it, and I’ll split the chocolate with you,” You bargained, pulling the sweet snack out of your pocket again and waving it around. Enid simply responded by holding her arm out so you could carry on walking together and her other hand ready to receive her share of chocolate.

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“This show has gone to shit,” You groaned, sinking down into the sheets in disappointment.

“What?” Xavier pulled his head away from the screen to watch your movements instead. “You used to love it. It was all you’d talk about.”

“I did love it!” You agreed with a sigh. “But then they had to add all that forced romance in, and there are like 7 different love triangles that all interlock- it’s a pyramid scheme of love!”

“A pyramid scheme of love?” He laughed at your phrasing. “God, could you imagine the dm’s you’d get from people you’ve only spoken to once who had joined that?”

“Hey, girlboss! Long time no speak!” You put on your best bubbly voice as you spoke, replicating one of your moms’ friends who had been pulled into 8 different pyramid schemes. “Are you tired of settling down the old-fashioned way with one person? I was too! But insert a name of a multi-level marketing scheme here helped me take control of my love life!”

“Please never do that voice again,” Xavier pleaded through laughter.

“I think I gave myself a headache doing that,” You snorted, bringing your hand up to your head. It was a fruitless endeavour as you pulled them away again immediately. “Urgh, my hands are too warm. C’mere, you always have cold hands.” You grabbed one of his hands and held it up to your forehead, leaning against it.

“I always have cold hands?” Despite his verbal confusion, he didn’t protest about you using him as a cold pack. “Is that… a good thing?” 

“On this occasion, yes,” You smiled contently, closing your eyes. “During the colder months, not so much.”

“If we held hands more, it would warm them up,” You almost didn’t catch his words.

“You wanna hold hands more?” You asked, confused. Admittedly, you already held hands probably more than most friends did, but that was because you had a tendency to get lost in crowds. It was hand-holding, or one of those leash backpacks parents used on their kids, but Xavier shut that down as soon as you jokingly suggested it.

“How did you-?” Xavier pulled his hand away from you with a frown. You pouted at the lack of contact and opened your eyes again. He paused to look at you, searching for an answer in your eyes, but he gave up as soon as he’d started and just shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t think I said that out loud.”

“We can hold hands more,” You shrugged, smiling at him. “Come on, let's try and get a couple more episodes of this nauseating shitfest in before I have to go back to my own room.”

Xavier perked up at that, leaning over to press play on the next episode.

“I’m calling it now; there will be an unexpected kiss by the end of this episode,” You sighed, leaning your head on Xavier’s shoulder as your eyes settled back on the screen.

“If we’re placing bets, it’ll be between those two,” He added, pointing at the pairing on the screen. You really could have sworn you had heard him say ‘between us?’ just before the actual words left his lips. But you knew for a fact this time that he hadn’t, as the words slightly overlapped, and, as far as you knew, Xavier wasn’t secretly a talented ventriloquist. Though you supposed if you did know that, it wouldn’t be a secret.

Instead, you brushed it off as your tired mind playing tricks on you. Weird tricks for a weird mind.

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Four more days.

That’s how long it took you to realise what was going on. Or rather, what you thought was going on. You had to test your theory out, and you knew the perfect person to help.

“Enter,” Wednesday’s voice instructed before you even had a chance to knock on her door. Without questioning how she’d know you were there, you opened the door and closed it behind you once you were in Wednesday’s shared room with Enid.

“I need your help testing a theory,” You pleaded, leaning against the door. “I feel like I’m going crazy- and not the good kind.”

“There’s a bad kind?” Wednesday’s tone barely changed, but you knew her well enough to know she was teasing you in her own way. “I’m intrigued; go on.”

“I think I can read minds,” You confessed with a groan. “Not all the time; I think I can only do it if I’m purposely seeking them out or if the thoughts are… loud.”

“I imagine there are some people who have very loud thoughts,” Wednesday glanced over at Enid’s side of the room.

“Exactly!” You nodded. “And I wanted to test with you because I know I won’t just be reading your body language and facial expressions for clues.” 

“What number am I thinking now?” Wednesday asked, turning her head away from you to look at her desk. Closing your eyes, you tried to push for the connection that you had felt when you accidentally used this possible new power on Ajax just a few minutes beforehand. He had been moping around, and you wanted to know why. It turns out he’d stoned himself again and had missed all of his morning classes, and subsequently got in trouble for being ‘careless’. He was banned from visiting Jericho for two weeks.

When you had sympathised with his struggles and offered to buy him some snacks when you next visited Jericho, he’d looked at you like you had grown a second head which had started speaking Latin. He asked how you had known he was banned. After some confusion and back and forth, you made up some lie about overhearing one of the teachers say something about it and excused yourself.

“37,” You announced confidently to Wednesday as soon as you had felt the connection be made and heard your friend’s monotone voice. It seemed fitting that even her internal monologue was as dry as she was when speaking. “Which US state am I thinking of?”

“Trick question,” You answered proudly. “You’re thinking about Poland, which, unless I missed a memo, isn’t a US state.”

“Very good,” Wednesday didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised that you had gotten it right. “Final one, what line from which of Edgar Allan Poe’s works am I thinking of?” She asked.

“But evil things, in robes of sorrow, assailed the monarch's high estate,” You echoed the exact line out loud. “From The Haunted Palace.”

“I think that settles it,” Wednesday confirmed. You opened your eyes to see her turning around to face you again. “Considering I didn’t say a single word out loud throughout that. Not even the questions.” Wednesday’s mouth was pressed firmly closed, though you could still hear her perfectly clearly.

With a small gasp, you intentionally severed the connection and stopped reading her mind.

“Okay, you can think freely again,” You informed Wednesday. “Thank you for helping me test that.” The door you were leaning on was suddenly pulled open, and you only just managed to catch your footing before you had the chance to fall into Enid.

“Y/N!” Enid instinctively held out her arms, just in case you did still fall. “Why are you here? Are you planning a surprise birthday party for me?”

“Enid, your birthday isn’t for another 9 months,” You shook your head with a smile. “Why would we be planning a surprise party now?”

“Because if you do it too close to the time, I would get suspicious when you were sneaking around making arrangements! But if you start now, by the time I’m thinking of it, the party will have been fully planned!” Enid explained cheerily. “I didn’t realise I’d said the party thing out loud? I hope I didn’t ruin the surprise!”

“You didn’t say it out loud,” Wednesday told her. “Y/N can read minds.”

“That’s why you were being weird with Ajax!” Enid immediately pulled out her phone, but you grabbed it out of her hands. “Hey!”

“Please, please, please don’t say anything to anyone yet!” You pleaded. “I need to talk to people first. I need to talk to the teachers. I don’t want people to think I’m going around snooping in on all of their thoughts. That’s not how it works.”

“How exactly does it work?” Enid asked as you wearily handed her back her phone. You didn’t entirely trust Enid not to at least tell Ajax… and then Yoko… and Divina since she would ‘just hear it anyway’ from Yoko… 

“I mean, I don’t know exactly how it works, but from what has happened so far, I need to be talking to someone and wanting to know what they’re thinking. So when I spoke to Ajax earlier, I wanted to know why he was upset, and I guess I accidentally made that brain connection thing happen without realising what it was,” You explained, trying to properly make sense of it yourself and using actual words to describe what happened. “And sometimes people just have one-off loud thoughts that I hear? Some more than others….” Realisation dawned on Enid when she heard the last sentence.

“Well, I’m sorry if my thoughts are too ‘loud’ for you,” She huffed, using air quotes around the word ‘loud’. “I can’t control the volume of my own mind.”

“I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” You apologised. “But I can’t control what I hear either, at least not yet.”

“Has Xavier thought loudly about how in love with you he is yet?” Enid asked.

“Xavier isn’t in love with me….” You protested but trailed off as you recalled some of the things that you had thought you had heard Xavier say over the past week, only to now realise that some of them may have been thoughts.

“Oops, did I think that one too loudly as well?” Enid smiled slyly, pointing at you. “Wednesday, look at her face. I asked if she’d overheard Xavier thinking about how in love with her he is.”

“I gathered that,” Wednesday mumbled, wanting nothing to do with the whole ‘love’ ordeal.

You remembered the other night when you had talked about there being an unexpected kiss, and you thought he’d said ‘between us?’ over the words he actually did say. It had been a few nights, and you couldn’t remember the tone he’d said- or rather, thought it in. Was he confused? Hopeful? You raked through your brain but couldn’t remember any of the details for the life of you.

And the comment about hand-holding? That was just in a friendly way, friendly hand-holding. You had held hands as friends before, multiple times, you were usually the one to initiate it, and it wasn’t like you were in love with him. You weren’t in love with him at all, right?

Right?

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

You were. You absolutely were. Whether intentionally or not, you had never allowed yourself to think about it, always pushed the thoughts and feelings down before anything could become of them. Always pulled the weeds up, leaving the roots, not realising the roots were just growing and growing under the surface until one day, your whole garden was full of weeds. Except instead of weeds, they were possible unrequited feelings towards your best friend that threatened to ruin everything you had built up over the years you had known one another.

“I need to go,” You excused yourself and pushed past Enid to get to the door, ignoring whatever she was saying in the process. It would have been some sing-song ‘I told you so’, but your mind was too cluttered to pay attention.

You had to find Xavier and talk to him as soon as possible. 

It hadn’t taken long to find him. You knew where he’d be. You always knew where he’d be.

You didn’t knock before letting yourself into the shed; you never had to. It was your shared space.

“Y/N! Are you okay?” Xavier looked at you in concern as you sunk against the door as you closed it behind you. “You look-”

“Xavi, I need you to please be quiet and let me talk at you for a bit because I need to say something now before I mess up the words in my head,” You interrupted him before he could finish. With a small nod, he had agreed. His mouth remained shut while you pulled away from the door and paced back and forth. “I’m just going to cut right to the chase here. I have somehow picked up the power to read minds. I hadn’t done it on purpose until like five minutes ago when Wednesday let me test it on her, and then I came straight to you because you have the right to know because you’re my best friend, and we talk all the time, and sometimes I accidentally hear people’s random thoughts because some thoughts are just really loud and some people have a lot of loud thoughts, like Enid, so I just hear them more, and I’m not saying that you have loud thoughts like that, but I think that maybe sometimes you do, which isn’t a bad thing but I wanted you to be aware so-” You had rambled so much that you hadn’t even noticed that Xavier had crossed the room until he had stopped your frantic pacing and held your face in his hands, squishing your cheeks together in what you assumed was a successful attempt and politely shutting you up.

“Deep breaths and calm down, yeah?” He said it so softly that it worked almost instantly. You hadn’t realised quite how fast your heart had been beating and how heavy your breath had become until he’d stopped and helped slow it down. 

You weren’t sure what exactly had caused it, whether it was the fast-talking where one word flew into the next, or the flood of emotions that had hit you, or the fear of how he’d react to it all in the end, or just a mixture of it all. No matter what it was, Xavier had successfully calmed you down.

“Dare I ask which of my thoughts were particularly… loud?” Xavier asked, his hands still cradling your face.

“There were only a few?” You replied uneasily. You thought back, trying to differentiate between everything. It was hard when she didn’t realise what they were when they happened. “There was the… hand holding? I think that was one… and, uh…. you called me violent and… cute?”

“Could be worse!” Xavier breathed a sigh of relief. “Could have accidentally admitted I’m in love with you.” One look at your face was all it took for him to realise what he’d done. You stood there, wide eyes staring at one another, each almost daring the other to make a move.

Xavier broke first.

“That was a loud thought, wasn’t it?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“It sure was,” You whispered, your hands coming up to take his own away from your face. Dejection crossed his face for a split second but was erased immediately when you just held his hands instead, cradling them against your chest. You broke eye contact, deciding that looking at the ground made talking easier because you didn’t have to worry about analysing every change in his expression to find the answers.

“Was it…. Truthful? Or did you think it jokingly?” You ask hesitantly, worried about the response it would elicit. Truly, you didn’t know if your heart could take it being a joke.

If the lack of response had worried you, when he pulled his hands away it all but shattered you. However, as soon as the pieces of you had been shattered, it was like Xavier scooped them all up again when he reached for your face and pulled you into a kiss.

It wasn’t a soft and gentle kiss. It was clumsy, frantic, and full of emotion and confusion. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t have to be, because it was with him.

You returned the kiss as soon as your brain allowed itself to switch back on and be present in the moment. Your arms wrapped around the back of his neck, holding him to you as though you were worried he would change his mind and back away again.

It was over all too soon for your liking, the two of you having no choice but to pull away to gasp in the air again. Xavier’s head ducked down, and he nestled his face into your neck. His breath tickled you as he spoke.

“It scares me how truthful it was,” He admitted, planting a small kiss on your collarbone. “I think I’ve known it for a while, but I didn’t want to risk you not feeling the same way.” He pulled away very suddenly to look at your face again. “Wait, you do feel the same way, right?”

You answered him this time by initiating the kiss yourself. This one was slower, the raw emotions you had both been feeling now having settled as a pleasant buzz in the air as the reality of the situation became clear.

You were two idiot best friends who had been in love with one another for longer than either of you could fathom.

You had always known you’d spend the future together, but now, you could spend your future together.

A/N - so I set out to write what I assumed would be a 2k-ish one-shot... then I think I blacked out and woke up foaming at the mouth 6k words later... if there are any accidental pov/tense changes, please let me know! I wrote this in third person, then decided I wanted it to be second person 5k words in so I went back and edited the whole thing which was a pain in the ass and I had to stop myself from rewriting it a third time in first person

feel free to suggest some more one-shots! I can't promise I'll get to them all, but watching Wednesday has filled me with inspiration and motivation to write! *cough cough* I'd be a sucker for a bianca x reader request *cough cough*

and lemme know if you'd like to be added to a taglist for future wednesday one shots <3

[heliads]

whilst requests are open I have an idea to put forth after years of us discussing this man. Harry Hook x reader based on 'the way I loved you' by taylor swift. Childhood friends to lovers, to strangers to lovers again mayhaps? idk babes. Love you though, I hope your requests don't get out of hand again so you can stay stress-free!

eva i love you for sending this in, please let me talk about harry hook. he's insane and i cannot get enough of him

masterlist

You are lying on your bed in a dorm room in Auradon Prep, and if you close your eyes, you can almost convince yourself that you’re somewhere else entirely. Your roommate hung a lantern in the window, and with the glass pane cracked halfway, the light sways back and forth on the ceiling, painting shifting golden silhouettes on the perfectly painted ceiling. If you let the present world fade into the corners of your consciousness, you can pretend there are flaws in the endless pristine magnificence. You could even pretend that you aren’t on the continent at all.

No daughter of a princess should ever be anywhere but in Auradon. That’s the way it should have been, but you ran the second you got the chance and ended up amongst criminals and sons of thieves instead of with other prettily polished girls. Is it a terrible thing to admit that you miss it more than anything?

You shouldn’t, that’s the worst part. You left them willingly. As time passes, though, you’re starting to think that what you thought was one great fight with the so-called lowlifes of this world might have been the greatest time of your life. It’s like fording a raging river; while you’re in the thick of the waves, you think you might drown, but when you’re safe on the dry shore again, all you can think of is the coolness of the water, how the flood had sparkled like a thousand sapphires.

You shut your eyes and then you’re back again, just a kid, happier than you’ve ever been and twice as free. It had been easy to leave, actually, easier than it should have been. In your family, there were enough siblings and cousins and relatives that just one girl could go unnoticed. It’s not that Ariel intentionally tried to blur all of her daughters together in her memory, but it couldn’t be helped. She was one of seven daughters, and you were one of many as well. It wasn’t her fault, no, but it was your excuse anyway.

It turns out that nobody bats their eyes at a mermaid’s daughter when she’s running headlong towards the surf. You dove into the waves and came up to shore miles away. Your mother was terrified of losing any one of her children to the endless sea just as her father lost her to land, so none of you were allowed to stray that close to the beach. Of course you would see how far you could go the second you were unsupervised. Of course you would push the limits just to learn where you would break.

You ended up scaring the daylights out of a boy in a small sailing craft not far from the limits of the Isle of the Lost. You hadn’t meant to go that far, but you were giddy with the feeling of doing something wrong and he was trying to escape as well. He’d offered for you to hitch a ride with him so long as the wind was good. You thought that suited you well enough, so you took the hand he gave you and listened when he introduced himself as Harry Hook.

He said his name the same way you did, emphasis on the first name and not the last. It’s the exact opposite way any child of a prince or princess does, and you think that might have been why you liked him from the start. The sun shone overhead, and you talked to him about running away and taking to the sea and all the things you wanted to do if you just had time.

Neither of you wanted to leave, not really, but of course all good things have to come to an end at some point. You watched the sun sink lower and lower in the sky with all the dread of a doomed man going to the gallows. You must have looked seriously unhappy, because you remember Harry laughing and saying that you could meet him tomorrow, if you wanted. You wanted that more than anything, as it turned out, so you eagerly agreed.

Harry took you as far as he could towards Auradon again, and watched as you dove into the water. You can still remember how he’d watched you go, the way his eyes had tracked the water as if he could look at you forever, even after you disappeared from view. He stayed there for a long time before finally forcing his ship to turn around again. You’d know; you stayed there on the ocean floor watching him back until he was gone.

The next day, you slipped away to meet him again, and the next day, and the next. When you were caught trying to go out to the sea sometime in the second month, you fought until you could find a suitable excuse. Your mother was perfectly fine to let you go to some private school by the coast, it would mean one less child to keep track of. The papers were signed and agreements made before you could so much as blink.

You, of course, never went to that school. Instead, you showed up on Harry’s ship just like usual and told him that you wouldn’t be going back. Harry had been talking about a friend of his, Uma, and how she was forming a crew of her own larger pirate ship. You wanted in, and he couldn’t be more delighted to take you home.

You think you replayed the memory of him introducing you to Uma about a thousand times over in your head, and you’ll do it again tonight. The slats of the dock had been slippery under your feet, but you knew that so long as he was by your side, you would never once fall. Uma had looked at you questioningly, blue-green hair cascading down her shoulders, but Harry had hardly been able to tear his eyes away from you.

“This is Y/N,” he’d said, “she’s my friend.” He’d imbued the word with all the hope and grief and joy you could ever possibly attach to such an idea. Harry smiled as he said it, took your hand, let his eyes open comically wide so you’d know he was just joking when he mentioned that he’d jump overboard if Uma didn’t take you on.

Luckily for him, Uma had no problems with you. She saw something in you, the same sort of restless troublemaking spirit the rest of them had in spades. Before you knew it, you were quite literally learning the ropes of how to help out on Uma’s ship.

From there on out, everything was perfect. You watched the sun rise and set from the deck of a ship you could call home. When the weather was good, you spent all night and day out in the grasp of the world, and when the storms raged on, you hid belowdecks with the best friends you’d ever had. They wanted you, not your mother in a younger form, but you. Just you. It was wonderful.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that you would end up falling in love with Harry. You were hurtling towards that fate as fast as you could, running and sprinting towards the inevitability of it all. No one compared. No one had half as much influence over you as him. And, when he finally managed to tell you how he felt, you thought you might be able to take over the entire world with the sheer force thrumming through your veins.

Perhaps you should have taken that as a warning. The universe doesn’t care much for happy endings, you’ve learned, even for its fairytale heroes. Princesses grow old and fade into obscurity. Princes forget how to save the day. Villains live out their days with fantastic dreams that will never be achieved. You learn how to deal with adequacy, and pretend that it is enough for you.

You loved Harry because he was wild, your untamed, brilliant boy, but then you hated him for it, too. Just once, you wanted to walk into a room and know what he was going to say before he said it. Every word from his mouth was a dagger in your chest. Some days, he was a hopeless romantic, others, he was mad and uncontrollable. He never hurt you, but at least the pain of a blow would be something you could depend on and understand.

Your mother tried to find you about a year or two after you took to the sea, and you used that as your excuse to break up with him. Harry found out you would be returning to Auradon at the exact same time as the rest of the crew. You think he might hate you for it still. You think he would have reason to hate you for a lot, actually, most importantly that you were never quite enough to match him.

So you slipped away from the ship with the worst kind of goodbye, one that you did not mean, and you never looked back. You greeted your mother and agreed when she said that it was time you took up your studies at Auradon Prep. You joined the endless number of would-be princesses and princes and pretended that it was all you had ever needed in life. If you woke up sometimes with the sound of waves crashing in your ears, or felt the steady rock of a ship beneath your feet as you dreamt, you ignored it. Such illusions only belong to the past, and they will never be yours again.

You still have a jacket of his in the corner of your room; you brought it all the way over here, anywhere you go. You never had the heart to give it back. You don’t know that you could if you tried. It still smells like saltwater and laughter and sun-bleached him, and you have absolutely no idea what you will do when that familiar scent fades.

Still, you weren’t able to completely erase his influence on you. Children of villains arrived at Auradon Prep, and instead of running away from them, you befriended them as quickly as you could. Mal thinks like you do, her and the rest. You laugh like them– not quite as polite as you should be, but loud and beautiful and real. You hang out with them all the time and, when they talk about how much they wish they were back on the Isle of the Lost, you lie to yourself that you do not agree.

You never told them the full scope of your exploits, but they know part of it, enough that one day Mal knocks at your door and tells you that she needs your help on a pirate ship. She needs to get something from the Isle of the Lost, a mysterious ingredient for a spell, but they have to keep it a secret so they can’t use the bridge. The next best option, then, is to sail. It’s not a far destination, so it would work.

A thousand memories of sun and surf flash through your head, and you find yourself agreeing before Mal can so much as finish trying to convince you to go along with her plan.

Mal blinks in surprise. “Really? You’re sure? I thought you would have mixed feelings about that time in your life.”

You breathe out slowly, trying to calm yourself. “Certain things scare me more than others.” Certain people, that is.

Mal winces as she leads you out of your dorm and back into the hallway. “Actually, we might have a problem with that.”

You frown. “What do you mean?”

Mal casts you a nervous glance. “Before I continue, remember that you already agreed. I’m not letting you leave now.”

You laugh. “I’m starting to get worried. No, Mal, I’m not backing out. Just tell me already.”

Mal holds up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Never doubted you for a second. It’s just, well, we don’t have a ship at our disposal, obviously, so we’re borrowing one from Uma.”

You shrug. “I have no problem with that. Uma’s great.”

“Yeah,” Mal says, drawing out her syllables in an attempt to buy herself time, “but she insisted on having a skeleton crew present. You know, to make sure we wouldn’t run aground or something like that. That includes her first mate.”

Your head snaps up. “Harry’s going to be there?”

You can feel Mal’s gaze on you, but you refuse to look at her. Instead, you’re scanning the hallway, every door you pass, sure that he’s going to be waiting for you, leaning casually against a wall or peering out of a window or somewhere you could find if you just looked hard enough.

“He is,” Mal confirms, “is that going to be an issue?”

Yes. “No, I’ll be fine.”

You can’t really tell if Mal believes you or not, but then you’re rounding the corner and the rest of the VKs are in front of you, and the conversation must be dropped as Mal explains her plan. You’re going to join the four of them and Uma’s guys in piloting the ship over to the Isle of the Lost, where you’ll search for a talisman hidden somewhere on the island. Once the talisman is secured, you’ll head back. Easy as that.

Mal leads your group to a boathouse on the southern part of the shore. You take up a position in a corner of the room, hidden by the shadows. You suppose that’s why the pirates don’t see you immediately when they come in a matter of minutes later. You suppose you chose that place on purpose so you could get a good look at Harry without him seeing you.

He looks just the same. You don’t know why you thought he would change, that he would have to look different to explain how different you feel, but he’s the same. It makes a soft smile rise to your lips at the same time as the weight of all your memories pierces you through the heart.

Uma’s talking to Mal, doubt lacing her every word. “I hope you have a good idea of how to run a ship, because I don’t think any of your friends have the slightest clue what to do on the sea. That’s my territory, in case you forgot.”

“I know,” Mal says, temper just as strong as always, “that’s why I brought a friend.”

Harry arches a brow. “What friend?”

“That would be me,” you say, and step out of the shadows to face him.

For a moment, you swear that time stands still. Harry’s breath catches in his chest as he looks at you for the first time in months. He has never been one to show off weakness, always laughing off injury or claiming not to feel pain, but in this instant, you can see the shock lancing through his eyes, wracking his frame until he has no choice but to stand there and stare.

Uma breaks the silence, wrapping an arm around your shoulders with a grin. “Y/N, good to see you! I take it back, Mal. Y/N could captain a fleet of ships with her eyes closed.”

It’s easy, after that, to pull yourself together. Uma’s friendship is something familiar, a rock you can stand on. “I appreciate your confidence,” you reply, “good to see you too, by the way.”

“Of course,” Uma says dismissively, then adds somewhat unnecessarily, “Hey, Harry, look who it is!”

Harry swallows hard when Uma addresses him, tries to pretend he’s just like normal. “Yeah, I saw. Hey, Y/N.”

“Hey yourself,” you say quietly.

Evie looks at you nervously, then quickly speaks up. “So, should we get to the ship? We only have so much time before people start looking for us.”

Uma rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you guys are too popular, I get it. Ship’s docked outside.”

Harry takes this as his excuse to bolt out, and you watch him go with wide eyes. Evie heads over to you as soon as everyone’s attention is off you again. “Hey, is everything alright?”

“Perfectly fine,” you whisper back through gritted teeth. Of course it is a lie. You couldn’t be more affected by this.

You avoid Harry the entire duration of the trip over to the Isle of the Lost. It’s difficult, especially when you push off from the shore and the wind is on your face again and everything is just like you remember. You tug a few lines into place, tie them down with the knots he taught you, and race to the bow as soon as you’re free.

You forgot just how wonderful it is to sail. You laugh delightedly as the ship picks up speed, skipping over the waves as the wind snaps the sails almost to bursting. This close to the surface of the water, you can’t hear anything, but you sense something anyway, and that’s how you know to lean back up and look to your side to see Harry standing there, smiling as he takes in the sight of you.

Your laugh dries up in a moment and you feel frozen there, trapped in this moment with him. Someone calls your name a second later and you’re able to spirit away to safety, but you can still feel his gaze burning like a brand into your back every moment until the ship docks at the Isle.

Mal announces that you’ll be splitting up in pairs so you can properly canvas the island for the talisman. Before you can look at her or Evie, Uma suggests that you and Harry work together, and the rest are already partitioned into pairs before you can fight it.

Fine, then. You’re certain he’s put her up to this, but you won’t give him a scene if he wants it. Instead, you march resolutely towards your assigned location, and pretend that you’re just really invested in finding the talisman so you can’t hear him when he tries to talk to you.

Eventually, Harry has enough and puts his hand on your arm, trying to get your attention. You spin back around by reflex, dagger in hand and held to his throat before Harry can get so much of a word out. The Isle has always brought out a different part of you, more of a villain than any princess’ daughter.

Instead of looking afraid, Harry just laughs. Usually, this is the time at which you’d join in, but you narrow your eyes and hold strong.

“Easy, sweetheart,” he says when he’s finally able to get his laughter under control, “I don’t think your friends would like it very much if you killed someone on your little vacation to the island.”

You glare at him. “We’re not friends anymore, sweetheart, or have you forgotten that already?”

“When your knife is to my throat? Couldn’t forget that if I tried. Out of curiosity, why are we enemies again? I seem to remember you liking me very well just a couple of months ago.” Harry says, reaching up to tap your forearm where you still hold your blade.

You pull your dagger away but stand there still, thrumming with the urge to run. “We’re too different. You’re a villain, and I’m a perfect angel, obviously.”

Harry grins. “What, just because you’re the daughter of a princess? You’ve never let that come in between us before. You’re not Ariel, you’re Y/N, and I have always loved that about you.” Something like doubt flickers across his face. “Is that why you left? You thought you had to become more like her?”

You glance away from him, suddenly unable to look him in the eyes. “I left because I had to. We weren’t working out.”

“Why not?” Harry asks, and suddenly he’s the one in control now, he’s the one stepping forward until your back hits the wall and you have nowhere to run, “What was so wrong with us, Y/N?”

Your hands are shaking. Harry takes the knife from you, carefully sliding it back in the holster on your side. His hands linger there a second longer, and when he finally takes them away, you can’t tell if you’re glad of it or deeply unhappy that you can no longer feel him.

“We could never work,” you insist.

“Why not?” He replies, “Show me we could never work. Prove me wrong.”

Harry Hook has always been somewhat of an enigma to you, just as unpredictable as the sea that both of you love, but somehow you know it’s coming when Harry leans forward and kisses you. For a moment, you consider pushing him away, and then you realize that you do not hate this, not him, not in the slightest, not at all.

Surrender is not the worst thing in the world. Sometimes it’s like the release of a sail to the wind, the acceptance that even though you let a person go, they will always come back to you. You surrender the last of your inhibitions and you kiss him back. It is everything you missed, the fighting and the laughing, the good times and the bad all in one. It is all that you love about him and more, what you didn’t realize you held most dear until you were gone.

Harry breathes quietly against your lips and you breathe back, one small circle of in and out and together. He grins, says, was that really so bad? And you laugh and tell him to shut up, so he does, but only by kissing you again. The island can wait, the talisman and the life waiting back for you at school. You have your boy back, and you could not care about anything else.

requested by @thatfangirl42, i hope you enjoy!

disney tag list: @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @/thatfangirl42, @amortensie

[urhoneycombwitch]

sick days

foreword: first proper fic for dad!Steve series!! thanks for requesting, anon. happy mother’s day to those who celebrate, and to those who don’t (cheers)- I hope this fic is a comfort. hair texture and skin color of the kids in this series will not be described- any physical descriptors will be of their likeness to Steve. if you want to read the origin story/meet-cute of this version of Steve + reader, you can read that here!

{for every ear a flower: series masterlist}

cw: mom!reader, R wears Steve’s shirt, the whole fam is sick in this one (no emetophobia warning tho!), fluff and parental caretaking

wc: 1.6k

___

There’s a soft noise around the corner, and Steve dog-ears his novel to scoot forward on the couch, voice soft and inviting. “Hey, buttercup. That you?”

His eldest daughter, JJ, peeks out from the entryway of the living room. “Me.”

“It’s you,” Steve confirms with a hum, setting his book on the coffee table to open his arms. “C’mere, babe. Your stomach hurting again?”

JJ gravitates towards her dad’s lap like a magnet, dragging her yellow flower-print baby blanket behind her. She’s already three and a half, but Steve hopes she never grows out of it- or the tiny socks with ruffles, warm in his big hand as he holds both her feet in a comforting squeeze.

“Head hurts,” JJ says, in a heartbreaking whine, settling her weight against the contours of Steve’s chest.

He sighs in sympathy, rocking his first baby in his arms like he did when she was even smaller. “Your head hurts? That’s no good.”

JJ makes a noise of agreement and burrows into Steve’s neck, cheek warm where skin meets skin. Steve slides a hand up her back, over her pink cotton nightie, to feel for lingering fever- her forehead is warm but not overly so.

In silent thanks to the wonders of Baby Tylenol, Steve kisses the crown of JJ’s head and pats the side of her leg. “Tell you what- it’s past bedtime but you’re not feeling so good. Wanna watch a movie out here with me ‘til you fall asleep?”

Normally this news would be cause for a screech of delight and some couch jumping, but on the tail end of a long week of sickness, Steve’s little girl just plucks absently at his shirt collar. “Mommy too?”

“Mommy’s putting your sister down for bed,” Steve says, and then (because he always tries to be mindful of where blame could land, knowing full well that disappointment can breed sibling rivalries, and he doesn’t think he could stand seeing that sisterly bond turn contentious)- “But I’ll go see if she needs some help, and then maybe we can all be cozy on the couch. Sounds good?”

JJ hums in response, sounding faded and fatigued, and Steve moves carefully to keep the jostling to a minimum as he stands to re-situate his kiddo on the couch. After tucking the blanket in yellow swaths around her body, Steve turns to the nearby VHS stack above the TV. 

“You want Ariel?” he asks, already reaching to free The Little Mermaid from its plastic confines. 

“Yeah. But no Urz-la,” comes the reply from the couch.

Steve kneels to load the tape into the deck, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose where they’d slipped. “I promise I’ll be back in time to fast forward.”

The VCR whirs, opening credits coming to life on the screen with a colorful overture to match. After lowering the volume, Steve backtracks to the couch again, dipping to place a kiss against the dimples in JJ’s hand where it curls around a fistful of fabric.

“Be back in a few, buttercup.”

The cheery music fades as Steve moves down the hall; the first door on the right is partially open, and he leans a shoulder against the frame, quietly observing, not wanting to interrupt your rhythm.

In a pair of comfy sweatpants and Steve’s old Hawkins High tee, your form moves smoothly around the darkened room, tracking a short loop from the crib to the changing table on the opposing wall. You’re walking with a gentle bounce, swaying the baby in your arms with each step, a constant murmur of nonsensical soothing as you rock your youngest to sleep.

“That’s it. You’re a sweet girl. Just close your eyes, ‘kay? Shh shh shh. Sleepy time.”

Steve can hear the exhaustion in your voice, even low as it is, and feels a twist of guilt- the college where the two of you work only allows librarian staff one day of sick leave per month, which Steve considers a crime (JJ gets sick at least that often from whatever germs her preschool provides). 

Thankfully, his professor leave is slightly better, a generous three days a month, which he’s unintentionally blown in a week with this last bout of mystery sickness that’s been passed through his little family. 

You, on the other hand, were only afforded a three-day weekend, and not a very restful one at that: on top of trying to recover from sickness yourself, a fevered baby Birdie has been overly fussy while JJ has been desperately clingy to both you and Steve. 

It’s been a long weekend of rotating in and out of three bedrooms, disrupted sleep schedules, and speedy trips to the local pharmacy; a blur of constant motion as Steve and you have tried your best to stay afloat and tend to your sick kids. 

Steve’s grateful the worst of it is over, now that everyone’s fevers have broken, and he’s glad you’ve still got a whole Sunday to recover. But by the looks of it- hovering uncertain over the bars of Birdie’s crib, unwilling to lay her sleeping form down- you’re not giving in to recoup time yet.

Steve moves in behind you, quiet still but shuffling his bare feet against the carpet a bit to let you know he’s there. “Hey,” he whispers into the curve of your neck, hands coming to rest at your hips, joining the rocking motion you’re keeping up for the sake of the baby. “How’s my girl?”

“Better, I think.” The arm that isn’t holding the weight of your six-month-old comes to rest against the fat of her cheek, Birdie’s closed eyelids fluttering while you feel for fever, just as Steve had earlier. “Hopefully she’ll sleep through the night, with this medicine.”

“Mhm. She’s a lot better, babe- I meant you.” Steve molds himself to the contours of your back, swaying to the tempo you keep, nosing up the line of your neck to place a kiss behind your ear. “Can’t pour from an empty chalice. Or whatever that saying is.”

There’s a soft stutter at your ribs as you exhale a laugh, hand still on the face of your sleeping baby. “Think Eddie’s wearing off on you.”

“God forbid.” His arms wrap around your middle, chin resting on your shoulder, smiling when he feels you lean some of your weight against him. “You can put her down, honey. She’s gonna be okay. Come watch Ariel with me ‘n buttercup. I’ll even skip past the scary parts for ya.”

“Well, in that case,” you whisper back, a tinge of amusement in your sleep-scratchy voice that hits Steve in his soft spot of love for you. With reluctance and practiced ease, you slip forward from his arms to lay Birdie in her crib, pausing to make sure she’ll settle without your warmth and movements. 

She stays asleep, and you stay watching her, corner night light illuminating the steady rise and fall of her footy-pajama’d body with each breath until Steve takes your hand, gently coaxing- “She’s golden, honey. You did great. I’ve got the monitor by the couch, so we’ll hear if she’s up, okay?”

Your gaze stays on Birdie even as Steve leads you backwards towards the door, even leaning to catch one last glimpse before he pulls the door to a near-close. In the light of the hallway, you blink, looking more worn out than Steve’s ever seen you.

He brings your hand up to his mouth, kissing across the knuckles, tortoiseshell-framed eyes on your half-lidded ones. “Ariel?”

This seems to resonate in the fog of your mind; with a nod, you squeeze his hand. “Ariel.”

On the living room TV, Ariel and Flounder are exploring a shipwreck, and JJ’s watching from her snuggled spot with glazed eyes until she sees you in the doorway. “Mommy,” she says, with feeling, trying to prop herself up but getting tangled in the process.

“Hi, baby,” you greet with equal verve, kneeling to give your eldest baby some untangling and a kiss. “Can I watch Ariel with you?”

In response, JJ musters all her three-and-a-half-year-old strength to pull you on to the couch cushion, and Steve chuckles in tandem with you as you go easily, shushing gently- “Okay, JJ. Don’t strain yourself, angel, just rest.”

There’s nothing like your touch. Steve knows it, and so do both his kids- under the circular pattern you trace against JJ’s face pressed into your leg, her lashes flutter, lulled to calm again by the caress of your fingertips.

After Steve makes sure that the baby monitor on the windowsill is crackling with life, he eases into the spot beside you, draping his arm around your shoulders- you nestle into his side out of habit. JJ’s nearly asleep, but your hand doesn’t waver, generous and tender even though sleep pulls at the edges of all your movements.

A shark snaps at tailfins across the screen, volume low enough to not shake JJ from the sleep she’s fallen into. Steve kisses that same spot behind your ear, then whispers, “Perfectly good shoulder right here. Wish you’d use it.”

He’s rewarded with a dreamy smile as you give in, head dropping to rest in the hollow of his waiting shoulder. Your hand stops its tracing, instead landing to rest securely over your daughter’s arm.

Soon, Steve is eased to sleep by the quiet breaths filling the living room, head tilted back against the couch, glasses tilted to one side. He’ll have a killer neck crick in the morning, but it’ll be worth it.

And luckily for him, you’ve got the most healing hands in the world. 

[frickingnerd]

the little mermaid

pairing: percy jackson x gn!reader (+poseidon)

summary: percy and his sibling get their dad to watch the little mermaid with them!

tags: silly crack, child of poseidon!reader, family movie night

"now that's just unrealistic, all the mermaids i know are much better fighters!"

poseidon leaned back on the couch, softly shaking his head as his eyes were glued to the tv. 

"but dad, it's a romance movie and not an action movie!"

you reminded your father, chuckling amused about how serious he seemed to take the movie. 

"no, dad got a point. arielle is a really bad fighter…"

percy joined in, poseidon nodding at his sons comment. 

"not you too, percy… you two are impossible to have fun with! arielle isn't even fighting…" 

poseidon and percy went quiet for a moment, until your father spoke up. 

"maybe that's what's bothering me… they should give her a trident!"

you sighed softly and shook your head. 

"i'm giving up…"

[madhatterbri]

A Demon's Grace | F.B.

Summary: I got a humour/fluff idea for Finn/Demon Balor x reader. Demon Balor isn't afraid of anything or anyone EXCEPT Finn and reader's 5 year old daughter who in his own words is "bossy, a know it all, a chatterbox and is a mini version of her mother". The demon and Finn's little girl love to complain about each other to Finn as well 😀. You can choose the little girl's name.

Author's Note: Changed this one from my other demon Finn stories. Basically, the Demon is it's own entity. He is able to part from Finn in his own free will.

Requested by: anon

Finn Balor Masterlist

Taglist: @plentyoffandoms @theworldofotps @new-zealand-chic @mrsarcherofinfamy

"How was our little Grace today?" Y/N asked that night. The parents were lying in bed, laughing and recounting their day. "Driving her big Demon brother insane?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. A bossy, know it all, chatterbox that is a mini version of her mother," he answered and laughed. Y/N couldn't hide her laugh. His Demon side certainly didn't like her. Some days she swore he viewed her as the evil stepmother.

"Oh, do tell, and please do not leave out any details," she chuckled.

Finn kissed her forehead as she snuggled into his shoulder.

Finn smiled at his five-year-old daughter, Grace. While behind her little kitchen set, she talked about the events that took place at daycare that day. The proud father's heart swelled with pride at how smart she was. He sat patiently waiting for her to serve tea and food. As she continued talking, the Demon form of him groaned.

"Does she ever stop talking?" The Demon asked rudely. "You should get it checked out just in case we have to send it back to the factory for a new one,"

"She's five," Finn answered harshly. "She likes to talk,"

"What's Y/N's excuse then?" The Demon responded with a chuckle.

Before Finn could respond, Grace gasped loudly. The doting father ignored his demon side's blatant rudeness.

"What happened, sweetheart? You get a boo boo," Finn asked and sat on his knees to get to check on her.

"I have to start over," she informed them with an exaggerated huff. Through the window, they could see her dump the plastic eggs in the disposal.

"Burning fake food? She is her mother's daughter," the Demon mused.

Finn sighed and rolled his eyes. This was an everyday occurrence between them. Ever since Grace could walk and talk, they have pestered each other like siblings.

"Daddy?" Grace asked.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He asked softly. The Demon snorted at the nickname. There was nothing sweet about that cretin.

"When is Halloween?"

The Demon's happy demeanor suddenly changed. Halloween is the one day a year that the Demon could walk in public without fear or judgment. People loved his "costume" and even took pictures with him. The Demon loved the attention until Grace started to make him dress like Disney characters.

It started last year. Y/N liked to dress the family in cute little Disney costumes. Finn didn't mind it. He knew Grace wouldn't be this young forever. Eventually, she'll want to dress apart from the family. The Demon hated it.

Last year, they dressed as the characters from Frozen. Grace wanted to be Elsa, so Y/N was Anna. Finn would be Christoph. It wasn't until a week before Halloween that Grace wanted the Demon to be Olaf. After going back and forth, the Demon finally obliged. He insisted it was to keep the peace, but they knew he was afraid of her.

"Not for a few more months, darling. Do you know what you want to dress as?"

"Ariel and the Demon will be Ursula," she answered. Not a hint of this being a joke could be heard. Her tiny finger pointed at him. The Demon's eyes widened. The tendrils around his face moved from side to side as he looked between the father and daughter.

"I think that is a great idea, sweetheart. I will let your mother know tonight," Finn smiled. He purposely ignored the baffled Demon.

"I'm not doing it," the Demon declined the ridiculous offer. He was forced to watch all the Disney movies with her. He hated it. None of the villains ever won.

"Gracie won't be this age forever,"

"I've heard the noises coming from your room at night. We'll have another one of these things soon enough,"

"It's just one night,"

"One night is how we got stuck with her and I-," the Demon stopped when Grace was in his face. Her face was a bright red. Tiny arms crossed over her chest.

"What did you say?" She asked. Finn had to hide his laugh. The tiny five year old bullying a Demon that used to rule a kingdom of hell with an iron fist.

The Demon gulped. "I can't wait to be Ursula,"

Grace smiled happily and hugged him. "Perfect,"

Y/N couldn't believe her daughter made the Demon King fold so easily. "It is kind of quiet tonight. Do you think he's still pouting?"

"Nah," Finn answered with a smile. "He is probably in her room to read her to sleep. If I had to guess, she's probably sleeping in his lap as we speak,"

"I don't believe you," she scoffed. "When did this start happening?"

"Around a week ago. Let me show you," Finn urged. The parents left their bed and tiptoed to their daughter's room. They hushed each other before opening the door. Y/N covered her mouth to muffle the sound of her shock.

Grace sat on the Demon's lap as he sat in the rocking chair. Her favorite stuffed animal clutched in her arms. A blanket covered them both. They were both sound asleep. A soft snore left the Demon's body. A copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar hung from his hand.

Y/N closed the door. "I think we should show them a picture of this the next time they complain about each other,"

[elaratyrell]

Poor Unfortunate Souls {Part 2/3 -> Kiss The Girl}

*All images found on Pinterest. Moodboard made by yours truly*

Dark ! Ursula! Aemond x Fem! Eric! Reader x Ariel! Jacaerys

Warnings: Aemond mind controls the reader, sexual dreams, including Aemond touching the reader without clear consent *Divider from Firefly Graphics*

Synopsis: Jacaerys Velaryon, the reluctant heir to Atlantica. The moment he saw you, he knew he would never see someone who could capture him with their beauty again. You would haunt him eternally. In a desperate attempt to meet you, he turns to Aemond Targaryen, an outcast from the merfolk, to help him walk amongst the land dwellers. But when Aemond lays his eyes on you, he knows he has to have you. By any means necessary.

Chapter Synopsis: Jacaerys goes to Aemond for help in becoming human. The banished prince grants him his wish for legs in return for his voice, but has other, darker intentions. For Jacaerys, for Rhaenyra, and for you.

Part One Jace's Ending Aemond's Ending

“Don’t look at me like that. How was I supposed to know they would do that?” Lucerys crossed his arms as Vermax and Syrax glared at him, the former slapping him on the arm with his tail and making the younger prince flinch back from him.

“I didn’t mean to tell!” He exclaimed. “It was an acciden-“

Once again, Syrax clamped his mouth shut between her claw as Vhagar slithered out of Jacaerys’ grotto. Luke felt goosebumps prickle on his skin at the sight of the best, a shudder running down his spine.

The memories were murky at best, but Lucerys still had the odd night terror of the night of Aemond’s banishment. He remembered seeing the knife on the sea floor, Aemond swimming towards him with a sharp, jagged rock in hand. He remembered grabbing the knife as the older prince grabbed him to feed him to Vhagar, and he remembered Aemond’s screams as he blindly slashed the knife wherever he could reach.

He only heard whispers after that. Of the trial, and how the dowager queen Alicent, Aemond’s mother, was the only one to plead her son’s case, and how Rhaenyra didn’t listen.

And how she died several weeks after her favourite son was exiled.

Even Aemond’s siblings knew he’d gone too far. And his grandfather, Otto, had watched with a stony expression as the prince was cast out with nothing and no one except Vhagar.

Lucerys made no effort to follow the beast, that is until Jacaerys also emerged from his destroyed cavern, hot on the eel’s trail.

Not wanting to alert Vhagar to his presence, Luke silently swam up behind Jace, hissing in his ear.

“Where in the seven hells are you going with that… that thing?”

“I’m going to see Aemond.” Jace replied firmly, brushing his brother away.

Luke gasped. “What? Are you crazy, Jace? He… he’s a demon- he’s the devil.” He protested as Vermax swam circles around his friend in protest.

“Well why don’t you go and tell mother and Daemon about it then? You seem to be rather good at that.” Jace retorted, shooting a glare at his brother.

“Jace… I-“

“You should go Luke. I don’t want Vhagar seeing you. Aemond can see and communicate through her.” He interrupted.

Before Luke could make any more protests, Syrax put herself between the two brothers, gesturing for him to leave. She then gestured for Vermax to follow the older prince to where Vhagar was taking him. Despite his hesitation, Luke understood that his life was at risk by being there, which could jeopardise Jace’s even more. Reluctantly, he turned and swam away back to Atlantica. Once he had swam out of sight and Syrax was sure he was obeying her order, she also began chasing after Jace and Vhagar with Vermax.

Jace knew he was taking a risk, and quite possibly risking his life by going to his uncle, but he was desperate. He knew he didn’t belong in this world, and that he was a disgrace of an heir, of a son, to his mother, and so he needed to see if he could find where he belonged.

And he was certain you were the key to that.

Even so, there was a small nagging sensation in the back of his mind as he and Vhagar approached Aemond’s lair. It was the skeleton of an ancient sea monster, an ancestor of creatures like Vhagar, with sapphire blue light seeping out through the gaps in the skeleton like smoke from a chimney.

“This way,” Vhagar rumbled, slithering in through the mouth of the monster. The fact that such a mighty beast as Vhagar looked rather small compared to the skeleton only made Jace that much more uneasy.

And that uneasiness grew as he entered the skeleton. There, on the floor, ceiling and crawling up the sides, were hundreds of grotesque creatures. They were a swamp green, dull yellow eyes watching Jace as he tried to avoid contact them, a look of disgust on his features. They were a garden of all the souls that Aemond had claimed over time, and maybe even others that Alys had done so before him.

There was no doubt the former sea witch was also among them.

Jace let out a yelp of horror as one of the souls lurched forward, wrapping itself around him, frantically trying to stop him from going any further. Unlike the other souls, this one had vibrant green eyes. Another soul that was slightly taller, and older than the first, grabbed ahold of Jace’s tail in a slightly more painful hold than the other soul, also trying to hold him back.

Jace managed to wrestle himself free from the poor souls’ grips, rubbing his wrist from where one of the creatures had grabbed him. He hesitated as Vhagar slithered into the shadows behind a large conch shell, coiling up like a python, her blue eye focused on the prince, watching him as he lingered in the doorway to what seemed to be Aemond’s… work room? He supposed.

There was a large basin- or cauldron, he supposed, in the centre of the room. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with jars and bottles of the most likely vile ingredients for whatever potions or spell Aemond cast to entrap another soul. A desk rested in one corner, a mirror hanging on the wall. The large conch shell that was connected to both the ceiling and the floor seemed to be Aemond’s bed chambers, with Vhagar coiled around it like a guard dog.

And there, stood over the desk, was Aemond.

He had certainly grown since the last time Jace saw him; his silver hair was longer, his face more defined with matured, sharper features. One eye, lilac like his siblings as Jace remembered. But the other had been replaced by a sapphire, glowing brilliantly in the light. There was a scar running through his brow, down to midway down his cheek.

A souvenir of what Lucerys did to him that fateful day.

Nevertheless he resembled the distinctive features of the ancient royal bloodlines, just as his siblings did.

But it was at the waist where they truly differed.

Where his siblings had inherited their father’s genes of having a fish tail, with his older brother Aegon’s glittering gold and black, his sister Helaena’s pale blue and and silver, and his younger brother Daeron’s cobalt and green, Aemond had taken after his mother, and the house of Hightower.

Rather than a fishtail, Aemond had six ebony tentacles, the underside of which were a vibrant blue to match his eye. From his neck hung a shard of what appeared to be dragon glass, an ancient relic from royal ancestors. It glimmered a faint blue against the pale porcelain of his skin.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to linger in doorway, nephew?” Aemond finally spoke, turning to look at Jacaerys, who simply gaped back at him, his mind completely blank and his mouth hung slightly open.

“It is also rude to stare. Hm, one might question your upbringing as a prince of the realm.” Aemond added, moving from the desk to stand in front of the basin, his good eye piercing right through Jace like a knife.

”I- uncle… I am here because-“

“I know why you’re here, nephew,” Aemond interrupted. “I have been watching- well, Vhagar has been watching. You want me to help you with this little infatuation for you have with a human, is that correct.”

There was a small smirk of his features as he spoke, almost in a taunting manner to the younger prince.

“Y-yes. She’s a-“

“Princess. I know.” He rolled his good eye at his nephew, waving his hand over the basin. In a cloud of blue smoke your face appeared above the basin, and Jace stared at it longingly. Perhaps he was a little too entranced by the mere image of your face, that he didn’t see the way his uncle’s eye darkened slightly as he also studied your face, or the way the corner of his lip tugged upwards into a smirk, or the way he gripped the side of the basin that little bit tighter.

“I truly don’t blame you. She is a rather… exquisite… creature…” Aemond murmured. The smirk on his face widened as he felt Jace’s glare burning into him, watching as the younger prince clenched his fists out of the corner of his working eye. He merely chuckled in mild amusement.

“Now, now, nephew. I was merely complimenting your tastes.” He chided. “As for your problem, the solution seems simple enough.”

“I-it does?” Jace asked hopefully, moving forward, closer towards the basin.

“Indeed,” Aemond hummed, waving his hand through your image and making it disappear in a puff of blue smoke. “To get what you want, two options lie in front of you. You could become a human yourself…” he watched the way Jace’s eyes lit up at the first suggestion before continuing. “…Or… I could turn her… into a mermaid-“

“No! I mean… I would prefer to become human, uncle.” Jace interrupted hastily. He hesitated slightly. “Can… can you really do that?” He asked, making Aemond shoot him a small glare. Jace shrank back slightly from him in response.

“Dear, naïve, nephew,” Aemond sighed. “It’s what I do, is it not? I help poor unfortunate merfolk, such as yourself. Those who have no one else to turn to. I admit, in the past I have made a few… errors, shall we say?” Almost subconsciously, one of his hands rose to his face, fingertips brushing against his scar before immediately returning to his side again. “But I can assure you in my exile I have mended my ways. Found my calling. The sea witch, Alys… she taught me.”

“And… and where is she now?” Jace asked shakily.

“She… was needed elsewhere.” He brushed off the question. When a loud screeching wail echoed from the garden of the polyp creatures, a fist slammed down on the rim of the cauldron. “Lyka!” He yelled. [Quiet!]

He cleared his throat, letting out a small breath through his nose before continuing to his nephew in a calmer manner. “Nowadays I have repented. Found my faith, like my mother always wanted me to…”

There was a small glimmer in that lilac eye of his at the thought of Alicent, the only person who ever had faith in him. He had heard of her death of course, and how his grandfather, Otto, had just stood by and done nothing to help.

And for that sin, the former hand of the king was now just another soul in his garden.

“Fortunately in my exile, Alys took me in and taught me her sorcery. And I decided to use it on behalf of those miserable, lonely, depressed… pathetic…” He muttered that last part under his breath, making Vhagar snort in amusement. “Poor, unfortunate souls. Those in pain, or need. They came to me with their troubles, whether it were changing their appearance, or becoming stronger, or helping them find their true love…”

“And… you helped them?”

“Why, of course, dear nephew,” Aemond replied. “Indeed I helped them… although there were those few occasions- they only happened once or twice, no need to look so terrified, nephew, who failed to pay their price to me. You see I need a small token in payment for my services, and I had to… well…”

Jace followed Aemond’s gaze to the hallway of those trapped souls and shuddered.

“I may have had the odd complaint nephew, but I can assure you, I’m certain you can pay your owed debt to me.”

The way Aemond was staring at Jacaerys unnerved him. There was something lingering behind that lilac gaze and that rather tight lipped smile.

“S-so what would my deal be?” Jace asked.

“I will give you three days, nephew. Before the sun sets on the third day, if you get the princess to fall in love with you and seal it with a true love’s kiss, and that's a proper kiss on the lips, mind you, can't make it too easy, you will remain a human permanently. But if you fail to do so, you turn back into a mermaid… and belong… to me.”

Syrax suddenly surged forward to clamp her claws down on Jace’s tail in a feeble attempt to drag him away from the exiled former prince of the realm, but Vhagar’s tail grabbed the crustacean, pulling her away.

”So, nephew,” Aemond drew closer to the prince, extending his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Jace also went to extend his hand, but faltered. “If I become human I… I’ll never see my mother again. Or… or Vermax or Luke or Joffrey. Rhaena, Baela, little Viserys-“

”But you’ll have your princess,” Aemond smirked. “And besides, you certainly don’t belong in this world, hm?”

Jace winced at Aemond’s use of Daemon’s words, yet still hesitated.

“Life is full of tough choices,” Aemond continued with an almost solemn expression, but that small smirk remained, as though taunting Jace. Mocking him.

“I… I guess so I… I should at least try…”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Aemond added, pulling his hand away just as Jace was about to shake it. “We still have to discuss your payment to me, nephew.”

“I-I don’t have any money on me-“

“I rarely require money. It’s often something a little more valuable and substantial than that.”

“But I don’t know if I-“

“I don’t ask for much, just a token.” Aemond’s voice was slightly strained from his nephew’s hesitation, his patience was thinning.

Jace’s gaze trailed to that gleaming sapphire, a sickening thought intruding his mind. Almost as though he could read Jace’s mind, Aemond chuckled.

“No, nephew. I do not require your eye. That debt… is owed by someone else…” He murmured. “No, no, no, nephew. What I require of you… is your voice.” He said it so simply, as though it were like paying the smallest of fees. Jace’s hand instinctively went to his throat.

“My... my voice?“

“Yes. Meaning no more talking, singing, zip.” His lip curled into a smile, but it held no warmth. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. If she likes short, curly haired brunettes then she’ll think you’re a real catch. And besides, there are other ways to attract someone than talking, nephew…”

“W-what do you mean…?” Jace asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Physically.”

“I… oh…” Jace mumbled, staring at the ground as Aemond’s implication dawned on him. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Many human women don’t appreciate men who drone on and on anyway, nephew. They’ll think you boring. If anything, I’m doing you a favour. They’ll dote and swoon on you if you listen, but don’t talk. So…”

Jace was still simply staring at his uncle, his hand still resting on his neck.

“GIVE ME YOUR VOICE-“ Aemond suddenly exclaimed, surging forward but stopping himself before he could reach Jace. He let out a breath. “Hurry now nephew… make your choice. I’m a very busy man who hasn’t got all day to wait for you to make your decision… it won’t cost much. Just your little voice.” His words were still sharp, but were spoken in a more softer tone after his outburst.

“I… uh…”

“If you want to cross that bridge and find your lady love, you’re going to have to pay the toll… if not… you know where to leave.” He turned away from Jacaerys to pet Vhagar.

Jacaerys weighed his options in his mind. He could leave the very home he always had to try and find a place of belonging… to find you… or he could stay, and although he would be able to speak and be with his family, was that really where his heart truly lied?

“Alright!” Jace exclaimed, making Aemond turn back to face him. “Alright I… I’ll do it…”

Another tug at his tail made him glance behind him to see Vermax frantically trying to pull him away from Aemond, but he ignored it, flapping his tail and forcing the fish to let go of him. He swam from forward towards Aemond before Vermax or Syrax, could try to grab him again.

“Wonderful…” Aemond smirked, his teeth glinting in the dim light. With a snap of his fingers numerous bottles, jars and other various containers lifted themselves from their place on the shelves hung on the walls of the skeleton and floated down to the cauldron, which by this point was billowing blue smoke.

”Now, nephew,” Aemond said, conjuring a glowing, golden scroll in front of Jace. “You must sign the contract. Merely outlining the terms of our deal as a way so I keep my payments up to date. You know how cunning some merfolk can be… not that I would ever believe that of you but…” He pressed a fish bone quill into his nephew’s hand. “You can never be too careful.”

Jace tried to steady his trembling hand as he raised the quill to the scroll. Aemond retreated back, smirking down at Vhagar as Jace sighed his name. No sooner than he did so, the scroll rolled up by itself and vanished along with the quill.

Aemond closed his eyes, his hands cast over the cauldron, the blue smoke concealing him from Jace’s view as he murmured in high Valyrian under his breath. Jace felt himself retreating as the plumes of smoke began reaching out to him. It surrounded him, and two further tendrils in the shape of spindly blue hands burst upwards from the cauldron, illuminating Aemond in a sapphire light that only made his eye glow brighter. Jace wanted to flee in that moment, swim as fast as his tail could move him back home to Rhaenyra, to the safety of the palace walls, but Aemond had him trapped now.

“Sing, nephew.” Aemond ordered. “Sing!”

And so Jacaerys complied with the sea sorcerer’s command, singing the first song that came into his mind, the song he’d known off by heart from a young age.

The song he’d sung to you.

He resisted every urge not the falter in his song as those ghostly hands advanced towards him. One hand wrapped around his middle to stop him moving, and the other reached down into his throat. It felt at though he were being choked, and then as something was being ripped out from within him as the hand drew back, holding his voice.

Immediately, Jace reached up to his throat, he couldn’t feel anything. It felt like he were frozen in fear and couldn’t even make out a whisper. The smoke circling him at this point was spinning around him like a glowing whirlpool, whipping faster and closer around him as Aemond grabbed the glowing golden orb from those hands, entrapping it in the pendant hanging from his neck.

The smile he gave Jace sent a chill down his spine.

“It’s done.”

The whirlpool surrounding Jace had completely entrapped him within its clutches, holding him in place as a searing pain shot through his tail, like someone was cutting it in half. He writhed in pain as his tail split into two, his scales shedding to reveal human flesh beneath. It felt like ripping a scab off and exposing the raw skin beneath to the air. He ground his teeth together in a suppressed groan as another shudder of pain shot through him, this time his tail fins being changed into feet.

It didn’t help that all he could hear through the pain was Aemond laughing at his suffering in an almost maniacal way.

The burning pain subsided as Jace stared down at his newly formed legs, the whirlpool dissipating in an instant. Jace’s hand immediately flew to his neck as water filled his lungs.

He couldn’t breathe.

He found himself looking desperately to Aemond for help, but his uncle merely smiled.

Rather frantically, he kicked his new legs and flailed his arms to try and propel himself up to the surface.

He looked down to see Vermax holding one of his arms, Syrax on the other, helping him kick upwards. His eyes drooped slightly, his mind foggy and vision blurry as continued to kick, the surface lit in the early morning glow of sunrise acting like a beacon.

Jace let out a choked gasp as he finally broke through the ocean’s surface, feeling the sun’s warmth on his skin for the first time.

As he caught his breath, Syrax and Vermax keeping him afloat as they swam him inshore, he looked up at the sky, painted in gold and orange as the dawn rose with the morning.

Gripping ahold of a rock jagging outwards to the sky, Jace couldn’t help but smile as he felt the warmth of the sun on his skin, the sea breeze ruffling his damp chestnut curls. Leaning back against the rock in the shallows, he glanced upwards to see your castle in the distance.

You were so close.

All he needed was to learn how to walk… and to find some clothes.

He brushed his curls out of his eyes, raising an eyebrow at the glares Syrax and Vermax were both sending his way. Ignoring them, he raised one of his legs out of the water, gazing in pure wonder as he wiggled his toes, letting out a silent laugh.

Syrax and Vermax didn’t return his amusement.

A loud squawk sounded from the sky as Cannibal landed on Jace’s extended leg. The bird tilted his head, as though trying to figure out what had changed about the young prince. He raised a wing, gesturing towards Jace’s hair, getting an amused shake in response. Cannibal then mimed using what had been dubbed “the dinglehopper”- which was, in fact, just a fork- on his feathered, which received the same response of no.

Syrax hopped from the rock beside Jace and onto his leg alongside Cannibal, pointing down at his leg. Cannibal glanced once again at Jace’s leg, letting out a squawk of realisation, jumping into the air to hover above Jace’s head, flying around in circles and letting out screech after screech of disbelief. Jace shook with a silent laugh at the bird’s clueless antics, highly amused by his stupidity and Syrax’s annoyance.

Three days…

He needed a kiss from you in three days…

He could do that… hopefully.

No, he could do that. He will. He knows you, he knows you yearn for the same things as he does. He’s certain you’re the one for him.

A steely determination was set in those chocolate eyes of his as he braced a hand on the rock, slowly rising to his feet on wobbling legs. He drew his hand away from the rock behind him, only to immediately fall over into the water.

Sitting back up and letting out a spluttering cough, he was greeted with Syrax shaking her head at him, earning a roll of his eyes in response. Jumping back in outrage, she extended a claw out at him before pointing it out to the ocean. When he shook his head adamantly, she immediately leaped off the rock and into the sea, no doubt to go and immediately alert Rhaenyra of the situation.

Jace surged forward in alarm, picking the crab up and holding her in his hands, continuing to shake his head rather frantically as Syrax continued jabbing her claw out into the sea. He sent her a pleading look, his warm eyes only saying one thing to her.

Please. Please don’t tell her.

Dropping her claw, she shook her head again, scuttling up his arm to get back to the rock, where she promptly turned her back on him as though she were sulking.

Jacaerys had always told his mother that she spoiled Syrax too much. Smiling, he leaned down press a kiss to the top of her head, making her cross her claws over one another. She was still glaring at him, but it was softer.

A loud caw made Syrax jump back slightly as Cannibal suddenly landed beside her, clutching a torn sail in his beak.

Meanwhile, you had decided to take an early morning walk with Max. You hadn’t been sleeping well since your near drowning incident. For one, you hadn’t been able to get that beautiful melody and voice out of your head, and two, you’d been having dreams since then. You wouldn’t remember them when you awoke, except for a piercing blue jewel that haunted your thoughts. You didn’t know it’s significance, but you couldn’t quite shake it from your mind.

You played the small melody you remembered on your flute, your brows furrowed as you desperately searched every corner of your mind for a face that might match the voice.

Yet all you saw was that blue sapphire.

You let out a rather frustrated sigh, looking down at Max. “That voice. I can’t get it out of my head, Max,” You muttered. “I’ve looked everywhere. Sent word across the kingdom, and yet I’ve found… absolutely nothing.” You groaned, putting your flute in your pocket as you walked along the cove.

Max sniffed the air, letting out a small bark.

“What is it? Max- Max!” You cried out as your dog suddenly bolted down the beach. Letting out a small sigh, you ran after him.

Even though Max had disappeared from sight, you were able to track him down by the excited barking your can hear. He’d clearly found something- or someone.

Upon seeing you turn the corner, Max ran back over to your excitedly, jumping up and licking your face, letting out another excited bark.

“Quiet, Max. Gods, what has gotten into you- down, boy.”

Whilst obeying your orders, your pet had still not lost his excited nature, now eagerly tugging at your trouser leg to drag you over to wherever he had found what was so interesting.

“Max, stop. Why are you so- oh.” You stopped, slightly startled as you looked up to see you were being watched. “Oh, I see… it’s alright, boy.” You patted his head, taking a step towards where Jace was hidden slightly behind a rock. “Hi there. Are you okay? I know he may seem kind of intimidating but he’s quite the opposite. I’m sorry if he scared you.”

All Jace did was stare at you in return, a small, almost shy smile on his face. You were dressed in a similar outfit to the one he first saw you in- a white linen shirt, black trousers and black boots. You hair was loose, and was ruffling slightly in the early morning sea breeze.

As you looked at him, your brows furrowed. There was something almost familiar about those deep brown eyes and that charming smile.

“You… seem kind of… familiar… have we… have we met before?” You asked almost hesitantly.

Jace’s face lit up, enthusiastically nodding in response as he grabbed your hand. You looked down, feeling the soft warmth of his skin. It felt… familiar. He looked familiar…

“I knew it. I knew you looked familiar. I- I’ve been looking for you,” you smiled at him, giving his hand a small squeeze as Max excitedly barked. “What’s your name?”

Jace opened his mouth, but when he tried to speak, it felt like his throat was on fire. His smile fell slightly, his free hand moving to his throat.

“W-what’s wrong? Can’t… can’t you speak?” You asked, earning a shake in response.

Frowning, you took your hand away from his, ignoring the snort Max let out. It had felt like you might have found your mystery saviour… but you were mistaken. All the same, it was unclear why this mysterious man had seemed so excited to see you. Maybe he just knew you were the princess?

“Well, I guess you weren’t who I thought-” You suddenly stopped, seemingly only just realising that Jace was wearing nothing, save for a torn sail wrapped around his waist, held in place by a rope that was tied rather precariously.

You flushed slightly, giving him a sweeping glance. Although he may not be who you had hoped, the young man was surely handsome. A strong jaw, long brown curls and warm chestnut eyes. He had a well defined torso and strong arms, although his legs seemed to be shaking slightly from where he was leaning against the rock.

“Are you hurt?” You asked, and Jace shook his head in response. He waved his arm around in an almost pantomiming way, clearly try to explain something to you and failing miserably.

“You need help?” You asked, only making his movements become more erratic as he desperately tried to communicate with you. It looked almost comedic.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t- woah!” You exclaimed as he went to step forward, only to have his legs buckle beneath him, causing him to fall on top of you and sending you both falling to the floor. You stood up and helped him do the same, wrapping one of your arms around his middle and placing one of his over your shoulders to support him. Jace felt his cheeks heat up at the close contact with you.

“Careful. You must be shaken from whatever you’ve been through, huh?” You asked, and Jace felt himself nod along. In a way, he had, but not in the way you believed. You probably thought him some shipwreck survivor lost far from home.

“It’s okay, I’ll help you. I’ll get you some fresh clothes and food and… and you can stay at the castle for as long as you need.” You offered.

Jace felt his heart warm at your kindness, using you for support as you led him up the beach and towards the castle, with Syrax unbeknownst to the both of you gripping her claws tightly onto the sheet.

As Vermax watched you lead Jace up to the castle, although sad he could follow his friend no further, shared a small smile with Cannibal, who squawked enthusiastically at Jace’s plan officially beginning to be put into action.

Hopefully three days would be enough time.

After taking Jace up to the castle, you left him with the maids while you made sure lunch was being ready. Grimsby certainly raised an eyebrow when you told him you would have company for lunch, but you brushed off his questions, telling him that Jace was the sole survivor of a shipwreck, and he was welcome to stay until he could go home before leaving to get ready yourself.

You sat there at your vanity, pondering the events of that morning while your nurse Johanna brushed out your hair.

“You know… if you’re looking for a man, I know some decent ones. Ones that talk and that don’t appear out of nowhere, dressed in rags and washed up from a shipwreck.”

“I’ve met your brothers, Johanna,” You replied coolly in response. “And I would personally prefer if they didn’t speak either.”

Johanna closed her mouth, pinning back your hair. “Yes malady. Of course. I misspoke. Now… which gown would you prefer?”

Jace tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt as he waited for you to enter for lunch. So far he’d bathed and put on a shirt for the first time… the latter he wasn’t particularly enjoying. It felt constricting, somehow. His newly washed hair was brushed, his curls combed back slightly out of his face. He was dressed in a crisp white button up and a burgundy dinner jacket and matching trousers, a pair of black boots on his feet.

The only other person in the room, Grimsby, was stood by the window, looking out at the view of the sea. He occasionally glanced back at the guest, making sure he wasn’t stealing the silverware perhaps.

Jace looked up as the double doors to the dining room opened, his jaw dropping as he took the sight of you in.

You were dressed in a dress of the finest silks in a shade of rosy pink, the sweetheart neckline showing the barest hint of cleavage. The dress came in at the waist before flowing out into a fuller skirt, accentuating your figure. You wore a pair of diamond teardrop earrings and the slightest pink colouring to your lips.

Jace didn’t think you could look more stunning.

And yet there you were.

Jace hastily stood to his feet, as such was royal protocol in his realm whenever someone of royal lineage entered the room, but you simply smiled at him, telling him it wasn’t necessary and that he could sit down.

He wanted to tell you how beautiful you were, what a wonderful vision you looked in that gown, but he couldn’t.

All he could do was smile warmly at you, gesturing to you and nodding. You raised an eyebrow at him, slightly confused, looking down as though you thought you may have a stain on your gown or something, but Grimsby came to your rescue, taking his seat opposite Jace.

“I think he means to compliment you, Y/N.”

“Oh… are you?” You asked, and Jace immediately nodded. You gave him a warm smile, placing your hand over his. “Thank you. You look… very handsome.”

It was as those words left your mouth that you realised how nicely Jace scrubbed up. His hair was devoid of seaweed and sand, now freshly washed and hanging in soft curls down to just above his shoulder. His clothes fit him well, the red complimenting the warmness of his eyes.

You moved to sit down at your place at the head of the table, and Jace immediately stepped forward to push your chair in.

“My, my, perhaps I was mistaken,” Grimsby mused. “It is not often we have such a polite dinner guest.”

Jace was practically beaming as he took his seat. One of your maids, Carlotta, stepped forward to pour them all a goblet of wine, saying that lunch should be ready soon.

“You seem more content today, my dear,” Grimsby said.

“That’s because I haven’t been alone with my thoughts, Grim,” You replied.

“Mmm… more likely because you haven’t yet thought about galavanting off searching for strange undersea singing saviours.” He quipped in response, making your shoot him a small glare…

…And making Jace stare down at his empty plate to conceal the wide grin on his face.

It seemed as though you were thinking of him as much as he were thinking of you. As he looked down, he spotted one of his treasures that Rhaenyra had destroyed.

The dinglehopper.

He excitedly picked it up, inspecting the intricate carvings into the silver. It was more delicate than the one he had found in that shipwreck, but most likely still had the same purpose.

He held out the dinglehopper to you and you raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah it’s… a fork.” You said slowly. “Um… do you like it?”

Although his brows furrowed at you seemingly branding the object a fork, he nodded at your question, lifting the dinglehopper to his curls and dragging the fork through them, all the while looking at you with a wide smile. You simply stared back at him, wine goblet brought halfway to your lips. Grimsby looked downright flabbergasted.

Jace hastily put the fork down, staring down, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

Grimsby sent a rather perplexed look your way as you simply shrugged, taking a sip of your wine. He reached into his pocket and brought out his trusty pipe- a snarfblat- and a match, sending a weary glance to Jace as he watched it with interest.

He hesitated, glancing at the encouraging nod you gave him.

“Uh, do you like it?” He asked, receiving a very enthusiastic nod in response. He held the pipe out to Jace, who snatched it from his hold, inspecting it thoroughly.

“I’m glad you like it. It was passed down in my family for several genera-“

He was interrupted however, as Jace blew a large puff of smoke into his face, stopping him in his tracks. He sent a small glare your way as you bit back a small laugh by disguising it as a cough. That only seemed to make Jace happier, he was practically grinning from ear to ear at this point. He held the pipe back out to Grimsby, who placed it back in his pocket with a rather unenthusiastic thank you, dabbing his face with a white lace handkerchief.

“Why, Y/N, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you smile like this in, well, months.” Carlotta beamed at you.

“Yes… it’s amusing for some,” Grimsby muttered, continuing to dab at his ash ridden face.

Jace shot you a small smile, a pink dust powdering his cheeks as you returned the gesture.

“Carlotta, my dear, what’s for lunch?” Grimsby asked, wiping the majority of ash from his face.

“Oh, you’ll love it. Chef’s been fixing his speciality… stuffed crab!”

That made the smile vanish completely from Jace’s face, replaced by one of mild horror, which you immediately noticed.

“Do you not like stuffed crab? We can fix you up something else, I’m sure-“ You began, but Jace simply shook his head, giving you a rather tight lipped smile as he attempted to ignore the sick feeling welling up in his stomach.

”Don’t pester him, Y/N, the boy’s fine.” Grimsby chided, folding his blackened handkerchief and placing it back into his breast pocket.

The next several minutes were spent in a somewhat comfortable silence. Grimsby had lit his pipe and Jace was watching him smoke it with great interest, while you watched with a small smile on your face, sipping your wine. You didn’t know where Jace had come from, and he didn’t even know how to use a fork, but you found him strangely endearing.

The silence was short lived, as a serious of crashes were heard from the kitchen. You rose to your feet, but Carlotta stopped you.

“No need to stand, your majesty, I’ll just see what Louis is up to.”

“If you’re sure…” You murmured, sitting back down and watching as she hurried out of the dining hall, the crashes ceasing as Louis was no doubt being lectured by Carlotta, gods know what he was up to.

Carlotta soon came in carrying a tray with three dishes, each of which was covered by a silver dome covering.

“You know, Y/N, perhaps our guest here might enjoy seeing some of the sights of our kingdom. A tour, maybe?” Grimsby said, thanking Carlotta as she placed the dishes in front of them. “Y/N? Y/N?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry Grimsby, what did you say?” You asked, tearing your gaze away from Jace and looking at the older man.

“I was just saying, that you can’t spend all of your time moping around. You should go out, socialise, get some colour to your cheeks. You know… have a life.”

As Grimsby spoke, he placed his pipe down to lift the dome, revealing two crabs. One, clearly dead, was a deep shade of red. The other however, seemed very much alive, and was a rather striking shade of gold.

Jace looked on in horror as Syrax opened one eye, bringing one of her claws up in a shushing motion to not draw attention to her.

“…You need to stop dawdling around and get your mind off…”

Jace made a beckoning motion to Syrax, lifting his plate cover enough so she could hurry onto his plate.

“I mean it’s not a bad idea,” You agreed, turning to look at Jace just as Syrax scuttled onto his plate, the dome promptly covering the crustacean. “If you’re interested, that is.”

Jace looked at you, not entirely sure what you were talking about. His mother would surely berate him for the lack of manners, but he was to focused on trying to save Syrax.

“So, would you like to join me on a tour of the kingdom tomorrow?” You prompted, making Jace vigorously nod in response, and arm leaning down on the plate covering, which had began to move.

“Wonderful,” Grimsby smiled. “It should do the world of good for the both of you. Now, let’s eat before this crab wanders off my plate.”

After lunch, which had consisted of Jace only eating his vegetables and Grimsby every single crab, you decided to give Jace a tour of your castle. He had listened with great interest as you explained the history of the castle, about how your family had inhabited it for generations after settling in the town.

You showed him the portrait hall, where every king and queen had been painted after their wedding. Jace couldn’t help but silently remark at the resemblance you had to both of your parents. You shared your mother’s kind eyes and full lips, but you had your father’s hair colour, and there was a similar trait you seemed to share with your father- the way you stood, and held yourself was identical. Like your father, you looked like a ruler.

A true heir to a kingdom.

You let out a small sigh as you reached the next spot on the wall where a blank canvas was hung up, encased in a golden frame encrusted in rubies and pearls.

“That’ll be me someday, I suppose,” You sighed. “Whenever I marry… no doubt when my parents return from their travels in a fortnight, they will have another proposal, or worse, a betrothal to announce. They won’t believe my story about my saviour.”

Jace’s eyes were welled up with sympathy for the way you almost seemed to wilt at the thought of marrying someone for a mere convenience. His throat burned as he yearned to say something, to scream at you that he was the one, that he could help you escape that horrible ordeal, but alas, all he could do was rest a hand on your shoulder, giving you a small, sorrowful smile.

You let out a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment as you composed yourself. “Anyway, there’s no point telling you my sorrows. What good could it do?”

Jace frowned as you brushed off his hand, changing the subject away from your evident displeasure of royal duties to take him to your study.

It was a relatively smaller room compared to the others in your palace, but still more than spacious enough. There was a large window overlooking the sea, a wooden desk placed in front of it. Either side of the desk, two wooden shelves were hung up, with scrolls, a compass and a globe placed on them. Wooden book cases lined the wood panelled walls, stacked full of leather bound books on history, philosophy, ocean species and plants. An oil painting of a ship on the sea hung over the window. A lamp was resting on the desk, no doubt for when you were staying up late reading, or studying, or writing yet another speech for the kingdom.

Jace’s fingers traced over the gilded gold letters on the books, some faded with age while other gleamed in the afternoon sun.

“Yeah, quite the collection I suppose,” You observed, leaning back against the desk. “This study used to be my father’s when he was prince. Like him, I’ve spent years studying ancient histories and philosophers, practiced training with a sword and riding horses. I know practically everything about this kingdom, and the others that surround it.”

Jace failed to hide the grimace that twisted his features. He remembered his uncle expressing a similar sentiment when challenging Rhaenyra becoming queen and Jace being announced as her heir. It was an echo of his words that for some reason stirred an uneasiness with in him. Yet when you saw his expression, you laughed.

“I know, right? It’s dull. Centuries of knowledge drilled into my mind and it’s taught me nothing about how to rule. The sword training helped should any conflict arise with another kingdom, although that hasn’t happened for centuries. The philosophy is just theory and the history… let’s just say when you’ve heard those stories time after time it gets incredibly tedious.”

Jace’s expression cleared at your response, although that sense of unrest lingered slightly. You were so different to what he knew, and yet so similar to what he’d always yearned for. With you, he felt a sense of freedom. He wasn’t restricted by rules or a fear of judgement.

His hand stopped as he read the title of a book titled ‘Legends Of The Seas’, looking at you.

You walked towards him and reached up to grab the book, reading the cover and raising an eyebrow at him. Jace swallowed thickly as he caught a whiff of your scent. It was intoxicating.

He hesitantly reached for the book, nodding at you as though asking for permission. You handed it over to him, and he flicked through the pages until it landed on what he was after. He showed you the pages and you took a step closer to him, crossing your arms.

“Mermaids? Really?” You sighed. “You don’t think they’re real, do you?”

Jace pointed to himself, and then pointed at the illustration of a merman on the second page.

I’m a merman.

I’M. A. MERMAN.

He wanted to scream those words at you, but you just stared up at him.

“Oh, you’ve seen them, have you?” You challenged, implying something else from his frantic pointing. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to get his point across, he nodded. “I’m afraid I don’t believe you. They’re myths for a reason, you know.” You snorted. “Next you’ll be telling me that…” You flicked forward several pages. “…cecaelia are real too.”

YES he wanted to scream. YES AND HE’S MY UNCLE AND HE’S GOING TO CLAIM MY SOUL IN TWO DAYS AND HE’S A COMPLETE PSYCHO!

But instead, he simply nodded again, albeit with a little less ardour.

“Hmm… if you say so.” You shrugged, but it was obvious you still didn’t believe him.

He held onto the book as you returned to leaning against the desk, glancing down to your right as the blank sheet of parchment.

“You know, I’d really to know your name. Could you write it down for me?” You asked him, gesturing to where the roll of parchment rested on your desk behind you. There was a blue ink bottle and a red feather quill resting beside it.

Jace gave you a nod, and you smiled at him, moving aside to he could sit down on the wooden chair in front of the desk, the wood creaking slightly and the red leather seat cracked with age.

He opened the ink bottle, dipping the feather quill into the pot. As he lifted the quill, a few drops of ink dripped onto the table, but you assured him there wasn’t any trouble. He sheepishly smiled in an apology, gliding the pen down on the parchment to write J, but no sooner than he did, the ink disappeared, leaving the parchment bare.

“That’s strange,” You murmured as he tried again, but to no avail. “Let me try.” You took the quill from him and tried writing your own name, and the ink came out perfectly.

”Hmm… try again, maybe?” You suggest, making sure enough ink was on the quill before giving it back to him. Again, nothing came out, and Jace pushed the parchment away frustratedly.

He knew what was happening.

Aemond was up to his tricks, trying to get him to fail.

He knew his uncle was rather cunning, and would make this task as difficult as he possibly could, simply to claim his soul as revenge for Rhaenyra no doubt, or maybe even just for his own amusement.

“Maybe the ink is drying up. I’ll have to make sure to get some more when we go to the village tomorrow. Why don’t you just trace the letters on the parchment with your finger?” You suggested, your brows furrowed.

Jace’s chest heaved in a deep sigh. Not being able to talk was proving difficult enough, let alone when Aemond was putting even more obstacles in his path. Rather than tracing the parchment with his own finger, he instead grabbed your hand in his, your index finger resting on the paper as he traced a J and an a.

“J-a-“ You began, making Jace nod and continue.

“Um, e? No, c- yes, okay… a- e- r- g- no? Y then? Then s? Jacaerys- Jacaerys!”

You smiled widely as Jace nodded enthyusiastically.

“Jacaerys,” You pondered, looking down at the parchment. “That’s a pretty name.” You murmured.

Jace immediately flushed scarlet, promptly letting go of your hand as he felt his grow clammy. You thought he had a pretty name? He wanted to open his mouth and tell you how beautiful he found yours as well, but all he could do was point to your name on the parchment and then at you.

“You… like my name too?” You asked, receiving a nod in response. “Well thank you, Jacaerys- no?” Your brows furrowed as he held his thumb and index finger a distance apart, slowly bringing them together.

“You like your name shortened? Okay…” You thought to yourself for a moment. “Jacey?” You asked, making him immediately shake his head. You let out a small chuckle. “No? Uh… Jace? Jace. Well, thank you, Jace. You’re very sweet.” You gave him a warm smile and his hand a small squeeze, and Jace’s cheeks darkened even more.

He felt as though he could die happily right there and then.

That night, Jace leaned against his balcony, watching you play with Max in the gardens. You were dressed in a red linen shirt and black trousers, your laugh like a sweet melody in Jace’s ears as Max jumped up excitedly at you, tackling you to the ground.

Jace rested his chin on his palm, a rather love struck expression and a gentle smile on his face as he watched you. He suddenly stood up straight as you noticed his presence, returning your smile with a rather timid wave as he retreated into his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

He sat down at the dressed beside his bed, dragging a fork he’d stolen from dinner through his chocolate curls. He ignored Syrax as she glared at him from his bedside table, her claws crossed over one another, one leg tapping against the wood in the same way his mother would tap a finger while waiting for an explanation for whatever he’d done wrong.

Upon hearing a knock, Jace put his fork down and stood up and patted her head as he walked to the bedroom door, opening it to reveal you on the other side, leaning against the doorway with your hands resting in your pockets.

“I just… came to say goodnight,” You said with a small smile. Jace flushed slightly, a hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck as he nodded.

“So, goodnight. I hope you get a good night’s sleep, we’ve got a long day tomorrow,” You said, and he nodded, gesturing to you, as though he were trying to bid you the same wish.

You nodded. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it-“ You stopped, looking over his shoulder at where the fork was on his dresser. He quickly stepped to the side, blocking it from your line of vision.

“Okay, well goodnight.” You said, pushing yourself off the wall and turning away. “Oh, and by the way,” You said. “That brush okay your dresser beside the vase will detangle your curls much better than the fork.”

And with that you walked down the corridor, your figure illuminated by the dim lamplight. All Jace could do was watch after you in awe as your turned the corner, and disappeared from his sight. Part of him wanted to chase after you, but he knew he didn’t want to rush things and potentially scare you off.

Jace closed his door and sank down into the ruby red silk sheets. His new bed was even more comfortable than his own back in Atlantica. He smiled over at Syrax as she continued to glare at him. When she saw him meet her gaze, the turned her back on him, sulking like a spoilt child.

Jace rolled his eyes, pulling the covers over him and closing his eyes. In a way he was surprised at how quickly his fatigue had overcome him, but he’d only been human for a day, and his new legs ached and burned from use. Slumber soon took over him.

When she saw he was deep in sleep, Syrax blew out the lamp on the bedside table. Slowly, she edged closer to the pillow, dropping down onto it just by Jace’s head. She paused, and, seeing him stir but remain asleep, crept around his head to rest on the pillow behind him, falling asleep herself with a claw resting on his shoulder.

As Jace slept soundly in his bed, dreaming of you in bliss, the same could not be said for you.

Upon returning to your room, you had changed into a black silk nightgown and cleaned your teeth before settling down into bed. Usually you would read at least a chapter of whatever book you were reading before going to sleep, but you felt your eyelids droop before your head even touched the pillow. Blowing out the lamp, you soon fell fast asleep… and dreamt of a silver haired man.

You couldn’t see him from the waist down. If you looked down, all you saw was a shroud of inky shadow before something forced you to raise your head, a sort of invisible pull.

The man was strikingly handsome. His long silver hair was loose, cascading over his shoulders like a waterfall. One eye, a gentle lilac, the other… also hidden by the shadows.

He was bare chested, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight. He had a toned, strong body, a defined bone structure and a pendant hung from his neck. It looked like a shard of blue molten metal. Something you had never seen before.

He was, in a word, beautiful.

He simply stared at you, hands clasped behind his back, that lilac eye darkening slightly as it raked along your figure. His lips were twisted into a small smirk.

“Who are you?” You demanded, failing to suppress the waver in your voice. There was something that both intimidated and intrigued you about this mystery man. The way his eye pierced through you made you feel exposed, transparent, as though he could see straight through you, but there was such an allure to him.

The way he looked.

The way he looked at you.

The way he moved, no, glided towards you.

And the way you didn’t back away, or fight back as he reached out to you, slender fingers tracing down your cheek.

“You’ll find out soon enough, ñuha dārilaros.” He murmured, his hand moving to rest at the base of your neck. You stiffened under his touch, yet still found yourself unable to move. It was like you were hypnotised, entranced by him. [my princess]

“Soon... you will be mine…”

Meanwhile, Queen Rhaenyra sat on her throne, troubled. She had sent out her best soldiers and the other members of the royal family in search of her eldest son, who hadn’t been seen since she’d destroyed his collection. She’d spent the last several hours pacing back and forth around the throne room, waiting for any news.

“Any sign of them?” She asked as Daemon and Lucerys approached her.

”No. We’ve searched everywhere. There’s been no sight of Jacaerys, or Vermax. Or Syrax. Not a trace. Lord Corlys still has his fleet out searching the open waters, and Lord Cregan is patrolling the polar oceans.”

“Well keep looking. Leave no stone or shell unturned, no corner of the ocean unexplored. No one will rest until Jace is home and safe.” She leaned back on her throne, resting her hand against her forehead. “What have I done?” She whispered.

“You did what you thought was right, Rhaenyra,” Daemon replied. “Jacaerys will return. He’s probably hiding with Lord Cregan, sulking at you discovering his secret.”

“He can act impulsively, Daemon. If he’s done something reckless-“

“We will find him before it gets out of hand.” He interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Luke swallowed harshly, his hands clenched by his sides. “Maybe… maybe you shouldn’t have destroyed his collection.” He spluttered out, making both Daemon and Rhaenyra turn to him, guilt swimming in the latter’s teary eyes, and mild annoyance in the former’s.

“Lucerys-

“O-or maybe you shouldn’t do everything Daemon tells you. Maybe you should do what you feel is right. B-because I know you wouldn’t have thought of destroying it if he wasn’t there.”

“Luke!”

“You should learn to respect those above you, taoba.” Daemon replied, shooting a rather intimidating glare to the young prince. Despite being mildly nervous, Luke held his ground.

“It’s true! Everyone can see, they’re just too afraid of Daemon to speak up!”

“And with good reason-“

“Enough!” Rhaenyra held up a hand, silencing the two mermen. She let out a small sigh. “Daemon, leave. Continue searching for Jacaerys.”

“Of course, my Queen.” Daemon bowed before her before swimming out of the throne room, but not before shooting Luke a nasty glare.

“Luke-“

“I need to tell you something, mother.” Luke blurted out. He knew Jace didn’t want Rhaenyra to know what he’d decided to do, but as the hours passed and no one had found any sight of him, he had grown increasingly weary of Aemond granting him his wish.

“Luke, I’m trying to look for your brother so unless it’s important-“

“What if he’s not in the ocean.”

“W-what? What are you talking about-“

“What if…” Luke ran a hand through his dark curls. “What if he’s… up there…” He suggested, pointing to the surface.

“Luke,” Rhaenyra sighed, taking his hand in hers. “I understand that Jace has this bizarre fascination with the surface world but- why do you look so concerned, dearest?”

Concern had suddenly brewed the the Queen’s eyes at the way Lucerys was trembling slightly, his brows furrowed as though he were holding back tears.

“Luke, do you know something?” She asked.

He nodded, staring at the ground. “I-I promised that I wouldn’t tell…”

“Is your brother in danger, Luke?” She prompted, a gentler tone to her voice. Again, the prince nodded.

Rhaenyra looked up at the water’s surface, the moon casting a silvery glow.

“Did he try to become a human?” She asked, a pang of dread striking her heart.

“I… I think so he… he told me to leave him before I could find out. But why else would he go with… with that thing…?”

Rhaenyra hadn’t seen her second borne son look this shaken since he was a child, on the night of Aemond’s banishment.

“What thing?”

“V…” Luke swallowed harshly. “Vha…” he squeezed his eyes shut. The memories from that night were often blurry in his mind, but seeing the beast yesterday had brought then all flooding back.

“Vhagar?” Rhaenyra asked, and Luke nodded.

“Luke,” Rhaenyra cupped the boy’s face, meeting his gaze with hers. “You need to tell me everything. Now.”

Jace rose with the dawn the following morning, throwing the covers off of him with the excitement of seeing and spending the day with you bubbling in his chest. He would get the chance to see the kingdom today, and to see the day to day lives of the people.

His sudden awakening had startled Syrax, who jumped slightly as she was startled awake. She shot him a glare as he opened the doors to his wardrobe to choose a what to wear.

He’d never had to wear clothes before after all, and so held up a variety of outfits for Syrax to choose, each being greeted by a rather dismissive shake of her head. In the end, he chose one that she hadn’t chosen but he had liked- a rust coloured shirt and black trousers, as well as the boots he’d worn yesterday. His legs still wobbled slightly as he walked downstairs for breakfast, occasionally struggling to gain balance.

You weren’t awake yet, so he took his seat at the dining table from yesterday and patiently waited, simply enjoying seeing the newly risen sun casting a golden glow across the sea, which was a little more restless today than yesterday, the tide further in than it should have been and the waves crashing into the rocks dotted along the coastline rather aggressively.

Jace’s brows furrowed. What if it was his mother- no, no. He shook his head to himself, mentally reminding himself of how harsh her glare was the last time they spoke. The way she looked at him with such disappointment, she should be glad he was finally gone.

Jace instead focused on the sky, the few wisps of cloud that had formed illuminated in the golden glow, enhancing the streaks of coral and pink that painted the sky. It was a beautiful sight to see, one that he hadn’t been able to appreciate under the waves.

He rose to his feet as the double doors opened, slightly deflating at the sight of Grimsby, Carlotta and several maids entering, the former taking his seat and drawing out his pipe and the others setting various covered dishes in front of him. Jace, however, kept his gaze on the door. Carlotta sent him a knowing smile.

“Don’t you worry, she’ll be down in a minute or two.” She murmured to him, making him flush slightly in embarrassment.

Was it really that obvious he was looking for you?

He opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but shut it again when no sound came out. He simply shook his head at her, making her chuckle slightly.

“You can’t fool me. You were gazing at her all throughout dinner last night. I saw.” She smiled. “And if it helps, I saw her look at you too.” She added, shooting him a small wink as she and the maids left the dining hall, Jace gaping after her.

Was that true? Were you looking? Or did Carlotta say that to make him feel better? If you did, could he fulfil his end of the deal and get a kiss?

He didn’t have too much time to dwell on that, as a minute later the doors to the dining hall opened, and you walked inside.

You had elected to wear purple that day. A lilac blouse with a darker corset detailing that came in at the waist and an amethyst skirt that reached just below your knees. A pair of black pumps were on your feet. Your hair was tied back with a black ribbon to keep it out of your face. Jace noticed you looked beautiful as ever, but you had applied some powder to your cheeks in an attempt to conceal the slight darkness under your eyes, to hide your tiredness.

You looked tired, yet when your gaze locked onto Jace, you gave him your most dazzling smile, which he tried to return.

“Good morning,” You greeted, taking your seat at the head of the table. Jace nodded in response.

“Did you sleep well?” You asked, pouring yourself some coffee into a dainty china cup and Grimsby a cup of tea. Jace nodded again rather vigorously, gesturing to you to ask you the same.

“Oh, I slept fine.” You muttered rather dismissively, taking a sip of your coffee, your mind drifting to that mysterious silver haired man from your dream. You had been dreaming of him the past few nights, but last night was the first time that you had seen him relatively clearly and heard him speak. Before then, he had been completely shrouded in shadow, save for the small hint of silver hair, or flash of lilac from his eye.

You had pondered that he could be your mystery man, but then your mind wandered to Jace. You felt safe with him, and he made you feel warm inside, like a sense of home. With the silver haired man, you’d felt intimidated, yet intrigued. Bewitched, even. But there was a dangerous allure to him that sent a chill down your spine.

You forced the image of the man from your thoughts, deciding on instead spending the day showing Jace your kingdom, and seeing your people. They were your responsibility while your parents were away, and they would be your responsibility when the crown was passed to you.

After finishing breakfast, you led Jace outside where a black and gold carriage pulled by a beautiful bay horse was waiting. Jace had never seen a horse up close before, and rather nervously let you grab his hand and rest it on the horse’s nose, just as he’d rather admirably watched you do so a moment ago. He was soon put at ease as the horse nuzzled against his touch, a slight pink dusting to his cheeks at you standing right beside him, your hand still resting over his.

After you convinced Jace to stop feeding the horse handfuls of grass he’d torn up from your lawn, he opened the carriage door for you, his hand still interlocked with yours as he helped you into the carriage before following suite. You both waved to Carlotta and Grimsby, the former of whom sent Jace a nod and cheeky grin, before you grabbed the reins and started you on the nearby journey into the town.

As the horse led you down the lane into town, Jace excitedly pointed at every little thing he saw, whether that be a butterfly fluttering past, a rather interesting tree or a nearby field overgrown with wildflowers. You gave him that same, warm smile each time, finding his innocent joy rather beguiling. You did, however, panic slightly when you glanced over in his direction to be greeted with the sight of Jace leaning over the side of the carriage, watching the horses hooves trot down and kick up dust into his face from the road, causing him to cough and you to grab the back of his shirt and drag him back into the carriage properly.

As you led the carriage into town, you crossed a bridge built over a canal. Syrax, who had been hidden at the back of the carriage, peered over the side to see Vermax following them. His gaze flicked between you and Jace, but Syrax simply shook her head. Cannibal, flying overhead, softly squawked in disappointment.

You slowed the carriage to a stop, many of the townspeople stopping to greet and bow and wave to their princess and her companion. Jace watched softly as you greeted each and every one of them, shaking their hand and listening to whatever query or compliment they gave to you. How you graciously accepted the daisy a little girl shyly gave to you and how you helped load an elderly man’s shopping into his carriage. You would be a kind and gracious queen, Jace knew it.

Once the gathering had dispersed and the townspeople had gone back to their day to day lives, you tucked the daisy behind Jace’s ear and took him by the hand, surprising him by not even acknowledging how clammy they were, and led him past the rows of sweet little cottages and into the town centre.

It was bustling with crowds of people going about their business, whether that was going to the market, or spending a day out with their children.

When you reached the square, you immediately felt yourself being pulled over to where a man was gathering up chickens, and then over to where a crowd of children were watching a puppet show (although you rather hastily had to steer Jace away when he reached forward and pulled one of the puppets the puppeteers’ hand). No sooner than you did, he was dragging you over to where a band was playing in the centre of the square, where several couples both young, old and everything in between were dancing.

It was like he were experiencing everything for the very first time.

“Do you like dancing?” You asked, watching the way those warm brown eyes watched every spin, every step. He shyly shrugged in response, making you raise your eyebrows in surprise.

“You’ve never danced before?”

He shook his head, his shoulders heaving in a silent sigh as he watched the dancers longingly.

You bit your lip, taking his other hand so both of yours were in his, before leading him over. Initially he tried to resist, frantically shaking his head at you. He didn’t want to mess things up by dropping you, or accidentally stepping on your toes (he still wasn’t completely used to his new legs after all), but you persisted, moving one of his hands so it was placed on your back, your now free hand resting on his rather tense bicep, the other still clasped in his.

“Just follow my lead, okay Jace?” You smiled reassuringly at him, and Jace felt a warmth spread through him at how easily his name spilled from your tongue.

You stepped to the side slowly, and Jace kept his gaze fixed on your footsteps, how you would step back and to the side before bringing your feet together, twirling in a circle as you did so. He tried his best to copy those steps, eventually feeling comfortable enough to let his gaze to meet yours.

“See? You’re a natural.” You smiled, your hand moving from his bicep to rest against the back of his shoulder and neck, your fingertips brushing against his hair. “I can’t believe you’ve never danced before. It’s like you’ve been hidden from everyone your whole life.”

Because that’s exactly how it is, Jace thought as he span you around, his hand now resting on your waist to pull you closer. It was a bold move, but you let him do so, not shying away from his touch. Perhaps it was Jace’s imagination, but he could have sworn he’d felt you lean into it.

In another daring move, he broke his hand from yours to join his other on your waist, lifting you up and spinning you around, your fingers tangling in his chestnut curls as they wrapped around the back of his neck to hold onto him. Jace had always dreamed of how dancing with someone would feel, but he loved it even more when he was there, on land, dancing with you.

Jace would have happily spent the entire day dancing with you, but after an hour or so, he felt his legs start to ache, and he accidentally stumbled and stood on your foot, which he was profoundly apologetic about, but you assured him it wasn’t painful. And so you led him back towards the marketplace. He felt rather guilty about you spending your money on him, but you had insisted, and so he let you buy him a new pair of red leather boots. In return, he chose you a bouquet of flowers- red roses, he’d been told. You’d also bought some things for the palace, including yourself a new ink pot and a loaf of bread for the kitchens. You had been rather intrigued by a visiting jewellery merchant, Jace noticed, also admiring the jewels. He pointed at a rather beautiful pair of ruby earrings before gesturing to your own ears, which had a small pair of pearl earrings dangling from them today.

They would look stunning on you

“They are beautiful,” You agreed. “But I always found myself more partial to a sapphire.” You then added, pointing at a silver necklace set with the blue jewel. Jace grimaced in response, the sight of his uncle’s mutilated eye flashing to the forefront of his mind, only adding to the uneasiness in his stomach over the passing time.

Why did it have to be sapphires?

“What is it?” You asked as you noticed Jace’s expression. “Would it not suit me?”

Jace mentally cursed. If he could talk, it would be so easy to tell you that it would, of course it would look absolutely beautiful on you, but he personally thought the rubies would compliment your eyes more… and they were his favourite colour… and they wouldn’t remind him of his psychopath of an uncle.

So instead he nodded in agreement, before pointing at the earrings and nodding again.

“You… think the rubies would suit me more?” You asked, and he nodded again. “Okay, maybe you’re right… I was having a scarlet gown commissioned before the ball when my parents returned.”

A ball? Oh, how Jace would love to experience a ball.

He only hoped he could stay with you to see it one day.

His beaming smile as you purchased the earrings didn’t last as you also bought the sapphire necklace before leading him back to the carriage.

“You looked tired so I thought we could take a ride through the countryside.” You offered. “If you’re done here, that is. Although we can always come back here next week when the market returns.”

Jace nodded, opening the carriage door for you, trying to forget he only had one more day after this to get that kiss.

The horse drew away from the town in a gentle trot, the late afternoon breeze fluttering through Jace’s hair. He watched intently as you steered the horse down the lane, the road decked with trees either side, forests and meadows sprawling for miles, and yet the slight saltiness from the sea still lingered in the air.

“Do you want to try?” You asked, gesturing to the reins in your hands. He hesitated for a moment before nodding, letting you place the reins in his outstretched hands and position them correctly.

“There you go. You’re doing great.” You smiled at him, a hand resting on his shoulder in encouragement. His tense muscles relaxed slightly under your warm touch and praising words, and rather enthusiastically, he snapped at the reins as he’d seen you do so when you left the castle that morning.

“Wait, hang on- Jace!” You let out a small shriek as the horse reared in the air before bolting into a canter, surging down the lane. It suddenly surged to the left down a small pathway leading into the trees.

“Jace, you might want to ease up a bit- no, slow down! Slow down!” You exclaimed, bracing a hand on the carriage as the horse galloped in the direction of a large ditch. Jace, on the other hand, was showing no sign of doing so, a wide grin on his face as he instead encouraged the horse to speed up.

“Jace, what are you- oh shit!” You braised yourself as the horse leaped over the wide ditch, preparing yourself for the crash.

But it didn’t come.

Jace had slowed the horse down to a steady trot, and had a managed to find the main lane again, turning to look at you with a rather cheeky, yet charming, smile. You flushed slightly.

“Oh. Um… well done. Do you… want me to take the reins back?” You asked, but Jace shook his head, turning back to the road. He seemed to have gotten the hang of it, so you leaned back comfortably with a small shrug, your arms supporting the back of your head as you rode through the trees, the sun beginning to set in the sky.

After taking him for a little tour around the countryside you had steered him to a charming little restaurant for dinner. It was near a small lagoon, and was lit with lanterns set with different coloured glass, some were alight with an amethyst purple that matched your dress, others a deep wine red, or an ocean blue.

Jace watched you with admiration as you greeted the staff one by one, declining the offer of using a private dining room to instead favour a small table outside by the water beneath the lanterns, the hum of the crickets and gentle lapping of the lagoon waves against the shore creating a comfortable setting as the sun dipped below the trees, the sky streaked with gold, violet and pink.

You were approached throughout the dinner by multiple townspeople, who greeted you apologetically for the interruption to greet you, or gifted you with wildflowers. Jace simply watched with a soft smile on his face, flushing slightly whenever anybody turned their attention to him, shrinking back in his seat slightly as you recycled the same story you had told those in the castle.

The meal was far better than anything Jace had eaten in Atlantica, and as a surprise, you led him over to where a small wooden rowing boat for two was nestled in the reeds. Resting one foot on the boat to steady it, you helped Jace take his seat before following him, your hand holding his to maintain your balance.

You took ahold of the oars, not quite ready to hand the control to Jace in fear of your dinner being brought back up.

You rode a little way out into the lagoon, concealed by the reeds and the tall willow tree drooping over the bank, but making sure the water was shallow enough that Jace at least could stand up (you weren’t sure he could swim and didn’t want to concern him with being in deep water after the shipwreck ordeal).

Jace exhaled, spotting Vermax watching them from the water, Syrax resting on the reeds and Cannibal on a tree branch nearby. All three were watching the pair intently, and Jace shook his head once at them.

No kiss yet.

But everything was going so well, surely he could receive that true love’s kiss by the end of tonight. He had felt something when you were dancing. The way your eyes locked with his, the way you didn’t resist him holding you closer, and seemed to lean into his touch, or the way your hand seemed to grow slightly clammy as well when held in his.

Surely he couldn’t have imagined that?

You shot him a small smile as you placed the oars down, flexing your stiffened fingers slightly. You glanced around, not sure what the say. Do you ask him if he was okay? If he liked the spot you’d chosen? You weren’t sure, but Jace seemed very preoccupied by the willow tree at the edge of the lagoon. Or was he just lost in thought?

Before you could ask what had caught his attention, a dreadful sound pierced your ears. It was like someone dragging their nails down a blackboard. It was a shrill screeching sound, like some poor bird was in pain.

“Gods, it sounds like some poor creature needs to be put out of its misery.” You murmured.

Jace grimaced in response, his gaze locked on where Cannibal was squawking in the tree above, raising a wing as a gesture of you’re welcome, seemingly believing he was helping create a romantic atmosphere and that he was doing Jace a favour.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he saw Syrax climb up to the branch, a claw snapping around Cannibal’s beak. Her beady eyes glared him down, her other claw making swiping across her in a zip it motion before she jumped back down into the reeds.

“Seems like somebody was listening.” You mused, using one of the oars to steer you both into the centre of the lagoon. Jace gave a slight smile in response, simply glad that you’re back was facing his unhelpful feathered companion.

He was even more glad that Syrax, perched on a drooping reed leaf, dropped down into the water, and moments later as a small group of turtles appeared. Syrax tapped the shells of the turtles, creating a percussion sound that a small flock of ducks continued for her. She then jumped o back onto a reed, pointing at a group crickets that began to him a little louder.

She was creating music for them.

You seemed to have noticed, glancing around.

“It sounds so peaceful,” You mused. “Nature really is an incredible thing.”

Jace could only nod in agreement, his gaze now focused entirely on you, and how ethereal you looked in the silver glow of the moon and the golden hum of the fireflies circling the lagoon.

All Jace could think about was how much he wanted to succeed in his task, and how he wanted to be with you. As he admired you, it was at the forefront of his mind. How the clock was ticking. He was running out of time, but he had no idea how he would go about it. His mother had always taught him to ask permission first when courting a lady, but, of course, he was unable to. He felt too awkward, so shy around you, to approach the subject. But then again, if he didn’t kiss you, he would lose you forever.

Now was the perfect opportunity, he doubted he’d get a better one. The atmosphere was perfect, the setting was stunning, and you looked beautiful of course but… he didn’t quite know how to go about it. He didn’t even know what was going through your mind as you kept your gaze focused on him. He didn’t even know you were going through a similar mental dilemma.

You didn’t know why, usually you would never rush into such things, he hadn’t even spoken a single damn word to you, but there was something about Jace. You knew there was something familiar about him. Hell, you had even thought he could have been who you had been searching for, but since he couldn’t talk, that was impossible. But there was still something about him that drew you in. A silent charm to him.

You didn’t know why you were particularly focusing on the warmth of his eyes as they gazed at you, or the way his hair framed his face, or the shape of his lips…

You didn’t know why your mind went back to the day you’d spent together, the dancing, the rather intimate dinner.

And then you realised through all of that, every time you spent time together, his eyes were always intently focused on you, just as they were now, as though you were the only thing there. Perhaps you were only imagining that…

Or was he thinking the same thing as you?

You were to caught up in your own thoughts that you didn’t even notice the boat start to drift further into the lagoon. You didn’t notice the glare Jace sent down to where Vermax and those turtles were pushing the boat, or the way two pelicans swooped down to part the leaves of a willow tree to let the boat pass through. Or how the fireflies were circling the both of you now. You didn’t notice Syrax climbing onto Jace’s shoulder, goading him on to kiss you before returning to the water.

You weren’t snapped from your thoughts until Jace rested his hand over yours. You turned your hand and allowed him to hold it properly. He looked nervous, from the way his eyes darted from your hand to your lips and then up to yours eyes and back again, to the way he seemed to be biting his lip or the fact his hand was growing more clammy.

Was he feeling the same thing as you?

Almost like a magnetic pull, you leaned forward slightly, not quite realising you had done so until Jace did the same, and you realised how close you were, mere inches apart. Your eyes locked, and you could feel yourself drowning in them, noticing for the first time that there was a darker rim around his iris, and that in the glow of the fireflies that had began to hum louder, they had a honeyed colour to them, becoming lighter towards the centre.

Jace had a swarm of butterflies within him, feeling the apprehension bubbling up inside. Were you actually going to kiss him? You leaned in first after all… could he actually succeed and finally get his wish? Instinctively, he eyelids fluttered shut. He felt you draw back slightly, perhaps surprised at the possibly bold move, but your hand never left his.

And then he felt you lean forward again, the boat creaking slightly as you shifted closer to him. You closed your eyes as well as you leaned closer still, your lips mere inches apart from brushing against his. You could quite believe you were doing this, but something just felt right.

Jace’s heart was hammering within his chest, he couldn’t believe he was about to kiss you. He was so close…

Until the boat flipped over and sent the both of you tumbling into the lagoon.

The animals had scattered, both not wanting for you to see them, and also in fear of where Vhagar had slithered underneath the boat to flip it over before disappearing within the reeds, her teeth bared in a sickening grin and that blue eye glowing brighter than the moon, watching as you grabbed Jace’s hand, the both of you rising to your feet. He looked you over, those chestnut eyes brimmed with worry.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” You sighed, catching your breath. Fortunately the water was shallow enough that you could stand above the water level, you steadying the boat to let Jace clamber back on board. He then extended his hand to you to help you as well, you taking the oars and rowing the both of you back to shore.

Jace sat there silently, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he stared down at the water. He knew that wasn’t an accident, and his jaw clenched slightly in annoyance at his uncle’s interference.

Aemond had been watching Jace ever since he’d reached the surface, his amusement at Jace’s schoolboy like crush changing to irritation as it seemed like it was rubbing off on you.

He had been tracking Jace for months, knowing he was the perfect pawn to use against Rhaenyra. To take her throne and rule the seas in revenge of his banishment. The first thing he would do is take Lucerys’ eye.

For his mother.

He had heard of her passing shortly after his banishment, and the anguish he had felt had twisted his mind and blackened his heart. He had descended into madness in his exile, and although he had added his grandfather’s soul to his collection, he knew that was only the beginning.

And then he watched as Jace had become infatuated with you, and initially, he saw you as the perfect stepping stone to Rhaenyra’s downfall.

But then he found himself intrigued by you.

He had always carried some disdain for humans, viewing them as an inferior species. But your free spirit, and your good heart, such a contrast to him, had drawn him in. It didn’t help that you were such a stunning creature, more gorgeous than any mermaid he’d seen. And although that could be seen as weakness, he saw it as an opportunity.

After claiming Rhaenyra’s soul in return for Jace’s “freedom”, he would take control of the the oceans and dispose of those who ever opposed him, and then he would go to you, and claim you as his. He could imagine how soft your skin would feel against his, how you would feel trapped beneath him as he made you his, those sweet noises that would spill from your lips as you’d moan his name.

And then, he’d marry you, and become ruler on land and sea, his power unopposed, finally getting that vengeance on behalf of himself and his mother.

There was a small spanner in the works as you grew closer to Jace, but he had been sowing the seeds in his plan for some time, visions of him plaguing your dreams and observing you through Vhagar.

He gently rested a hand on Vhagar’s head as she swam into the cavern, giving a small hum of approval.

“Nice work, Vhagar,” He praised. “That was a little close. A little too close.” He glared at the cauldron, glaring at the image of you and Jace arriving back at castle, the both of you still damp from the lagoon debacle. Jace got out of the carriage, taking your hand and helping you step out, leading you into the castle where the maids would no doubt hurry to prepare you a nice warm bath.

“That little brat is doing better than I thought,” He mused. “At this rate, he’ll be kissing her by tomorrow’s sunset. No matter…” his lips twisted into a grin. “I suppose I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands…”

He reached up towards a cupboard, grabbing several bottles and throwing them to the basin, causing a cloud of blue smoke to explode from it. He waved his hand, and the image above the basin changed to where you were preparing yourself for bed, dressed in a pink silk nightgown that reached midway down your thighs. However, instead of going to bed for an early night as Aemond assumed you would, you left your room and walked down the hallway, knocking on Jace’s door.

“Hi… I just… wanted to say goodnight.” You muttered, you gaze focused on the floor. Jace frowned slightly. Did you regret the moment the two of you had shared? Did this mean he’d lost his chance?

He nodded, reaching for your hand, only for you to pull it away. You finally raised your gaze to look at him, but the smile you sent him didn’t reach your eyes.

“Sleep well,” You whispered, before leaning up and pressing a small kiss to his cheek. It was feather light, a simple brush of your lips, but it set Jace’s skin on fire, his cheeks flushing bright red as stared at you as you turned and hurried back down the hallway without looking back.

His hand raised to brush against his cheek where you’d kissed him, a small smile creeping onto him face.

Perhaps there was still a chance for him after all.

Aemond on the other hand, was glaring at the image, his knuckles white from where he was gripping the side of the basin so tightly.

“She will be mine,” He spat. “And his soul will be mine. And Rhaenyra?” He chuckled, the shard of dragonglass glowing a vivid blue. “I’ll have her trapped. She’ll be wriggling like a worm on a hook.”

You felt your mind swimming with conflicting thoughts, on whether you should pursue these feelings for Jace, or whether you should continue your search for your saviour.

You felt exhausted, both from the long day and the lack of sleep for last night, and so decided to get some rest, and hopefully sort out the conflict between your heart and your head tomorrow.

Just like last night, sleep overtook you as soon as your head touched the pillow.

And just like last night, you dreamed of the silver haired man.

It was almost as though he was waiting for you, standing right where you left him, that intense stare of his from the one visible eye making you instinctively shrink back. He was intimidatingly beautiful.

Even when he turned to fully face you, there was still something concealing the other side of his face from. A sort of barrier in your mind.

It only intrigued you more.

You took a step back as he advanced towards you. He almost seemed to glide, as though he were floating in the air. You took another step back, only to be greeted with an invisible wall, trapping you completely.

The man’s lip twisted into a smug smirk, a glint in that amethyst eye of his that only meant trouble, no doubt.

The man was soon enough right in front of you, looking down at you, his eye darkening as a his fingertips left feather light touches across your jaw, down your neck and across your collarbone before tracing down to your chest, a hint of cleavage showing. His hand then moved down to your breast, concealed beneath the thin silk of your nightgown. He let out a small hum of content at the gasp that left your lips as he gave it a small pinch, the peak hardening beneath his touch.

You felt yourself shiver beneath his touch, feeling as though you should push the man away and reject his advances, but you found yourself being unable to. You knew it was a dream, that you would wake up at any moment, but it still felt real.

“W-who… w-what are you…? You stuttered out, but the man raised his other hand and pressed his index finger to your lips.

“Hush now, ñuha dārilaros,” He murmured, his head leaning down to the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent. His hand that was on your breast was now creeping along your thigh, beneath the skirt of your rather flimsy nightdress.

Your breath hitched in your throat as his fingers grazed lightly over your core, his lips pressing against the base of your throat before tracing up your neck. He pressed another kiss to your jaw this time, before they ultimately reached your ear, tugging the lobe between his teeth.

“Soon, ñuha dārilaros,” He whispered, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. His hand pulled away from between your legs. “We will see each other very soon.”

You jolted awake with a start, your chest heaving and a thin sheen of sweat glistening on your skin. You threw the covers off you, glancing at the small clock hanging above the mantelpiece.

You had only been asleep for half an hour.

And you doubted you would be welcome to any more, not wanting to be greeted with the sight of the silver haired man again. Why he haunted your dreams, you didn’t have a clue. But you were certain it was hardly a coincidence.

Deciding that the nightly sea air may do you some good, you changed from that nightgown into a white cotton shirt and navy trousers, pulling your boots onto your feet.

You lit the lamp beside your bed and carried it out of your room, creeping downstairs and out the back door in the kitchens. You blew out the lamp and left it on the kitchen table, walking down through the small courtyard and sitting on the terrace, your legs crossed beneath you.

You let out a deep sigh, glancing back at the castle. Jace’s curtains were drawn, the lamps blown out. Most would have either taken the opportunity of a longer night’s sleep, and would either be in bed already or preparing to do so.

Except for one other, that is.

Your gaze looked out towards the sea. The waves were a lot more aggressive today, and the tide came in far quicker than usual.

You jumped slightly as you felt a hand rest gently on your shoulder.

”Y/N,” Grimsby sighed. “You seem unlike your usual self.”

“I’m just… lost in thought,” You muttered in response, your gazed fixed on how the moon cast a glow on the ocean’s surface, the light being cast taking on a more indicolite colour.

“Y/N, if I may say, far better than a dream man, is one made of flesh and blood. One that is warm, gentlemanly and friendly. One that is right in front of your eyes…”

Your gaze moved to Jace’s bedroom window for a fleeting moment before then focusing on Grimsby. You glanced back out at the sea, your shoulders heaving in a silent sigh. You reached into your pocket a drew out your flute, raising it to your lips and playing that same small tune that had been replaying in your mind ever since your rescue.

Knowing that he wasn’t going to get a response, Grimsby let out another sigh and left your side, walking back up to the castle.

You continued playing the sweet melody, but soon enough found it growing out of tune, your breaths becoming uneven. You let out a groan of frustration, rising to your feet on the wall and throwing your arm back, launching the flute into the sea out of sheer frustration at your internal conflict.

You let out a defeated sigh, collapsing back down and burying your head on your hands. You had certainly grown fond of Jace, but there had been such a short amount of time. You didn’t want to rush into things. And then there was that mystery man, the one who had saved you. You were certain he was out there somewhere. And your mind still drifted to the man you’d seen in your dreams, the one who you hadn’t heard speak above a murmur. Could he be the man who saved you? Why else would he inhabit your thoughts?

You shook your head, not wanting to plague your thoughts further, deciding instead to return to the castle to go to the library or your study and read until the sun rose. Rising to your feet, you turned to walk back, but something stopped you.

It started out as a whisper in the breeze, but soon grew louder. It was a very familiar voice singing a very familiar tune.

It was the tune that was sung to you the day you were rescued from drowning.

Like in the trance of a siren song, you returned to your place on the terrace, leaning forward to try and find where the song was coming from, a growing mist surrounding the shore making you squint slightly.

And then you saw a silhouette, tall and slender, emerging from the fog, the voice growing louder and louder until you finally got a clear sight of the source of the song.

It was a man clad in black leather trousers and a black leather overcoat with a white shirt underneath, the top few undone buttons exposing the top half of his chest. A pendant hung from his neck, glowing a faint blue in the moonlight, and he had an eyepatch covering his left eye. His silver hair was tied half up, fluttering in the night breeze.

It was the man from your dreams.

All you did was stare as the man walked down the beach, your eyes wide and your heart hammering in your chest.

He came to a stop directly in front of you, and even from a distance you could see how his lilac eye glittered in the moonlight, how the moon’s glow made his hair look even more silver.

”Good evening, princess,” He greeted. His voice was smooth and held a sort of allure to it. Like a siren’s song.

“Good… good evening,” You replied, your mouth void of saliva and your thoughts swimming. You knew it wasn’t a coincidence that you’d been seeing this man in your dreams, and the thought of him being your mystery saviour had crossed your mind, but you never imagined he’d be standing here right in front you.

“A lovely evening, is it not?”

“I- the sea is a little choppy tonight.”

“Hm, is suppose you are right,” The man replied. “The waves could destroy the greatest of ships indeed.” He mused, his visible eye glittering. “Speaking of, I hope you have since recovered from that ordeal.”

”Yes… I’m fine…” You murmured, clearing your throat. “What is your name?”

“Aemond Targaryen,” He paused. “Prince Aemond Targaryen. And what is your name?”

He couldn’t help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his lip. He knew your name already. Of course he knew your name.

“Y/N. Princess Y/N L/N.” You replied, mimicking his tone as you stepped down from the terrace and took a step towards the beach.

“Hm,” Aemond let it a small hum of amusement. “You have a lovely kingdom, my princess.”

“Thank you. What kingdom do you reside over.” You asked, taking another step towards Aemond, him doing the same.

“It is one that is far away. Out there, beyond these waters.” Was his response, extending his hand to help you down the steep slope leading down to the beach. His touch was cold, his larger hand holding yours in a tight grip. He did not possess the same warmth as Jace, despite being just as handsome.

“Well perhaps one day I will see it.” You said, making his smirk widen.

“Perhaps.”

You pulled your hand from his, resting it in your pocket. “Well what brings you to these parts?”

Aemond let out a deep exhale. “To escape from everything, I suppose. I have struggled with the concept of me taking the throne. The current ruler of my kingdom… she has grown rather weak. A new ruler is needed and my elder brother is not fit for it, and so that responsibility has befallen me. ‘Twas I who studied history, philosophy, the skills with a sword, all in preparation for that moment, and yet now the moment has come…” He turned away form you, his lilac gaze focusing on the ocean behind him. If you stood in front of him, you would see the smile on the hidden side of his face.

"I understand," You replied, your voice barely a murmur, smothered by the whipping sea winds. "I feel that way too." You hesitated for a moment. "Why did you rescue me that night? How... how did you find me? We were quite a distance from the shore."

"I have always been a rather strong swimmer," He brushed off your enquiries. "I was merely in the area and I saw the ship in flames so I decided to see if there were any survivors. I reached where the ship was by climbing over the rocks lining the shore and then saw you slip beneath the waves unconscious. I couldn't let you die, that much I was certain of, and so I swam out and dragged you to shore."

"Why didn't you take me to Grimsby and the remainder of the crew on the lifeboats?"

"They were gone by the time I had found you."

You nodded. Did you entirely believe the story? You weren't sure. There was something about this stranger that caused a sense of unease within you. He didn't make you feel comfortable like Jace did, instead he was rather unnerving.

All the same, there was something pulling you towards Aemond, like a sailor entranced by a siren. He was a very handsome man, from a royal upbringing. He seemed intelligent and well spoken. A perfect prince, one would say. But that didn't stop the glint in that lilac eye of his. A darkness, or danger, something that set you on edge.

"Well... thank you for saving me. The song you sang to me... it was quite beautiful. Although, I am not familiar with the dialect I heard."

"An ancient language from my homeland. One that is practically extinct. Only those in the royal family use it. A sort of tradition, I suppose."

"Well it sounded very beautiful," You replied, your gaze travelling to the patch of black leather covering his eye.

"You are curious?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I... I did not mean to stare or offend you-"

"You haven't. I wear it around others, as to not frighten them."

"What happened?" You hesitated as he shot you a small smirk.

"Inquisitive, aren't you?" He murmured, letting out a sigh. "When I was a child, I was attacked by someone in my family. It left me disfigured, unable to see out of my eye. And so I wear this to spare others of my wound."

"If they are truly frightened of it, then they are not worthy of looking upon it. It just shows how shallow and self centred people are, when they could instead be looking upon what really matters."

"And what would that be?" He raised an eyebrow, his head tilted to the side. He found your kindness, and the goodness within your heart both amusing and endearing. You saw such hope in the world where he only saw darkness, a darkness that dwelled and festered in his heart.

You may even see good in him.

A shame that was lost the moment his eye was stolen from him.

"You seem intelligent, an attribute that seems to be rarer and rarer to find these days," You replied. "You are well read, you have manners, you seem polite, observant. All admirable qualities to possess."

"I thank you for your kind words, princess," He nodded at you, bowing his head slightly and his hands resting behind his back.

"No. I should be thanking you. I have been trying to search for whoever saved me that day... so I could thank them. I am glad that I can finally do so. I would have died had you not have been there. So I do thank you, I am forever in gratitude to you. If there is anything I could do for you in return... I would be happy to do it..."

You regretted those words as soon as they left your mouth from the way Aemond's lip curved into a smile, one that sent a shudder down your spine. His eye darkened as you spoke, stepping closer to you. Instinctively, you took a step back, only to feel hard rock preventing you from moving further. Your heart was thumping in your chest, your legs feeling as though they could give out from beneath you as he was soon standing so close you could smell him, the scent of the sea lingering on his skin.

And he had you trapped.

Just like in the dream you'd experienced mere hours ago.

"There is something you could do," He murmured, slender fingers tracing up your arm. "A simple favour, if you will."

"And... and what is that?" You whispered. Was he going to touch you as he had done so in your dream? Take advantage of you?

"A kiss," He replied. "Just a simple kiss from you will suffice perfectly." As he spoke he ran his thumb over your lower lip, his other hand resting on your waist. Although cold and firm, his grip was not painful, but you were sure it could be if you rejected his wish.

"I... very well. If that is what you desire." You agreed, your words only making his eye darken. "But in return, I want to see you without your eyepatch."

Aemond tutted. "I didn't realise we were making such demands... but who am I to deny you, ñuha dārilaros. As you wish."

You nodded, meeting his gaze as he leaned forward and captured your lips with his. The kiss was hungry, consuming your every breath, swallowing your every whimper that slipped through your lips as he caught your bottom lip between his teeth, his hands clamped down on your waist, pulling your hips flush against his. Your hands moved to his biceps, gripping the leather, feeling how his muscle tensed beneath your touch.

Aemond pulled away but kept you pressed against him. One hand left your waist to reach up and pull the eyepatch off of him.

Your lips parted slightly as you gazed up at the sapphire glinting in the moonlight. Without realising it, your hand reached up to touch the scar running through his skin above and below his eye, but you faltered, moving to pull it away as you realised what you were doing. Aemond's hand grabbed your own, moving it back to his face, your fingertip tracing over the scar. There was a slight twitch under his eye at the contact, clearly not used to this sort of affectionate attention to his scar.

"I do not see anything frightening." You said, a gentle smile gracing your features.

"You are truly something else, ñuha dārilaros." He murmured, his hold on your waist tightening.

"No. I merely possess kindness that others do not have the privilege of having." You replied, trying to pull away, only for him to keep his hold on you.

"It is late, I should be getting back to the castle to get some rest." You attempted to excuse yourself from your new aquaintance.

"Just a moment," He replied. "I've technically granted you two things. I saved your life, and I showed you my eye. You granted me the courtesy of your kiss, but..." His lip twisted upwards. "You owe me one more thing."

You tried to ignore the pang of dread that struck your heart. "That depends... what did you have in mind?"

Aemond's smirk widened, leaning forward so his lips brushed against your ear, sending a small shudder through you as those two words left his lips.

"Marry me."

Jace awoke the next morning in the brightest of spirits, grabbing his shirt and throwing it over his head as he hurried out of his room and downstairs to greet you for breakfast, momentarily returning to his room to "brush" out a few of the knots in his curls.

Before he had the chance to leave for a second time, Cannibal suddenly came soaring through the open window, letting out a loud squawk as he crash landed on the rather hastily made bed. Scrambling to his feet, he made a series of shrill squawks, frantically waving his wings around and gesturing to a feather on his left wing.

Jace's brows furrowed in visible confusion as the bird continued his erratic gestures, a wing extending to where Jace's left hand hung by his side. He followed Cannibal's gesture to his ring finger, his expression clearing as he understood.

Engagement.

You were announcing an engagement...

...To him?

Had he succeeded?

Jace bolted out of his bedroom door, his heart swelling. He couldn't believe he was going to achieve what he'd always dreamed of- a life in the sun... with you.

The woman that he had found himself falling for ever since he had laid eyes on you.

He heard Grimsby's voice echo down the corridor as he approached the staircase.

"Well, Y/N, it seems I was, er... rather mistaken..."

Jace ducked behind a pillar close to the staircase, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. He peered round and caught sight of you, just about visible from where he was standing. He didn't want to move closer in case he was spotted by you or Grimsby.

"...This mystery man of yours does exist... and he seems very... respectable. Your name, sir?"

That made Jace's blood run cold, but want sent his heart sinking like a wrecked ship was the flash of silver hair as Aemond stepped forward, his voice loud and clear as he told Grimsby his name.

Prince Aemond Targaryen.

"A pleasure. And congratulations to you both." Grimsby politely replied, shaking Aemond's hand. "Now, I'm sure that you will want an announcement to both of your kingdoms in the next few days. And a party of course-"

"We wish to be married as soon as possible," You interrupted Grimsby, your harsh tone making both he and Jace flinch slightly. He had never heard you speak that way to anyone before.

"Oh, yes... of course, Y/N, but, er, but these things do take time, you know..."

"This afternoon," You replied, your voice still retaining that unusual coldness. Jace leaned forward slightly to see better, his jaw clenching slightly as he saw you, clad in a simple dress of sapphire blue, your hair naturally down. In your eyes, there was a slight vacancy, as though you weren't quite in the room. "The wedding ship departs at sunset."

Sunset?

No...

Jace couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. He had you within a fingertips' reach, so close to triumphing over Aemond, but now here his depraved uncle was, wrenching you from him with ease.

"A-as you wish, Y/N..." Grimsby sighed.

Jace couldn't take it anymore, tears welling up in his eyes as he ran back to his room, the door's slam echoing down the corridor. He slid down the door to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest, letting the tears spill from his eyes.

If only he had stayed a little longer. He may have seen the vice like grip Aemond had on your waist, the way his other hand reached up to touch his dragon glass pendant, which glowed a deep blue beneath his touch, or the way that then made a blue glow cast in your eyes as you rested your head against his chest, the hand that was resting on his pendant moving to hold your hand in his.

But instead he cried, sobs racking through his body.

For himself

For his family.

And for you.

Masterlist

Have your say on who you want the reader to end up with, I'm curious

Poll

Tag list:

@thekittyxo-blog @iamavailablesstuff @eggofpower @thatbitchanna27 @aleemendoza2425-blog @ekavamonfort @rhaenattargaryen @ewwwitsel @marytargaryen @snowprincesa1 @bes2005 @audigay @whodis-26 @sweethoneyblossom1 @smayhem @yeahright0h @itlover8000 @hiraethrhapsody @bellstwd @xxvelvetxxxx

If you want to be added to the tag list for this story feel free to ask

[megamindsecretlair]

It Started With a Whisper - Chapter 7

Chapter 6 Chapter 8

Pairing: Sam Wilson x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. Some sentences are intentional AAVE. Cursing, Angst, mentions of violence, medication for anxiety, guilt. Hurt/Comfort, some fluff. Sorry if I missed some!

Summary: You are the front desk clerk who started a few months ago and you have a major crush on Sam Wilson, the handsome and sweet trauma counselor. You witness some of the battle at the Triskelion and you fear for Sam's safety.

Word Count: 3,022k

Masterlist

A/N: Sam still makes me SICK!!!! He's so adorable. LOL. Likes are always awesome. Please consider commenting and reblogging to help support writers! I love hearing your thoughts!

Taglist: @multiversefanfics @chaos-4baby @leahnicole1219

You didn’t know what you would do without Ariel. For the past two days, she had been by your side. The irony wasn’t lost on you. You needed supervision just like your mom did. You tried to be less needy, less worrisome, or less in general. You were no stranger to putting your needs on hold to make everyone around you feel better. 

“Stop it,” Ariel said. You were folding laundry while sitting on the couch. She had thrown on a trashy movie and you were half paying attention. 

“Hm?” You asked.

“You haven’t taken a proper breath since you spoke to Sam. It’s okay to miss him,” she said.

“I know. I’ve said I missed him,” you said. You didn’t know what she was on about.

She snatched the shirt out of your hands and pinned you with a glare. “You always disappear in your head when you’re feeling some type of way. Then you start piddling,” she told you. 

You opened your mouth to argue but no words came. She was right. You hated being a burden. You were the one who took care of others, not the other way around. Your mom was napping upstairs and despite your protests, your dad had gone off to work anyway. Your siblings were in school so the house was as quiet as it was going to get.

“I can’t help it. I feel useless just sitting here, waiting for news. I can’t ask him to update me every minute of the day just because I’m worried,” you admitted. You had facts to fall back on to combat your growing panic. They were trained soldiers. And you were just a lowly civilian who didn’t even know how to throw a punch. What could you possibly do to contribute? 

“No, but it’s okay to talk to me about it. You’re not alone,” Ariel said. You sighed. Per usual, she was right. Annoyingly so. You put the shirt into the laundry basket and placed it on the floor. You sat back on the couch and folded your arms. This felt so weird but you were determined to “relax”.

You made Ariel tell you about what’s going on in her life. It had been your show for the past few days and that wasn’t fair. She was an incredible friend. An amazing friend with the patience of a saint. 

She told you about the new woman she was seeing and she was hopeful that this one wasn’t crazy. You snorted with laughter. Ariel lived for the drama and that extended to her significant others as well. Male or female, Ariel attracted crazies like bees to flowers. 

Ariel took a call while you focused on the TV. “What?!” 

Ariel snatched the remote from the couch and flipped the channel to the news. There was shaky camera work pointed at…three enormous ships floating in the air. What kind of sci-fi shit was this? Aliens didn’t like the defeat in NY, so now they’re back? 

You prayed that your mom was still asleep. If she woke to this…there would be no calming her down. Your dad was the only one who managed it and it took its toll on him. 

The news was reporting a massive dump of information from SHIELD, a spy group used to protect the world from otherworldly threats. So much for that. They couldn’t even stop those aliens. 

They were reporting more news about Steve being a fugitive but already, they were mining information about his missions and how he was still a hero. Fancy that. The news were reluctant to say they were wrong. Clearly it was because they received false information from Hydra. Clearly. 

The camera was blurry as it tried to catch all of the action. You saw fighter jets flying and shooting at the ships, helicopters, and some kind of…bird thing flying around. 

“Shit! Girl, I think that’s Sam!” Ariel shoved her phone in your face. Some idiot on the internet close to the battle was live-streaming it and providing stupid dude-bro commentary. But, the bird-like thing looked like a man. Like a familiar Black man.

“He can fly now?” 

“Hell if I know!” You fought the urge to pace. You were not a pacer. You will not turn into your mom. Sam wouldn’t be in that thing if he didn’t know what he was doing. He had so much explaining to do when he made it back. And he will make it back. You believed it. 

“Are…we sure Sam is a good guy? Tangling with whatever this is?” Ariel asked softly. It had to be asked. But fire roiled in your chest. Sam was the epitome of good. He would not be part of a racist organization. You didn’t pay too much attention to the Steve exhibit when you went, but you knew Hydra was a splinter from the Nazis. The exhibit smacked of further good ole boy propaganda. 

You believed Steve really did those things. You believed he was a hero. But you also knew that there was more to the story. You were content to let everyone believe in the fantasy. But now that you sort of knew Steve, you wondered if he’d be open to questions. You just wanted them for yourself. You wouldn’t blast it to the internet. 

You watched out for Sam as much as you could but the guns on the ships started to turn. They were going to shoot? Shoot at what? The news was no help. They were too busy drooling over SHIELD private files. And the guerilla journalism of civilians on the street were rife with unconfirmed reporting, guessing, and some outright lying. The racist idiots were praising Hydra. Praising them. 

The guns started to fire on each other. Sam was still somewhere in there. Your throat went dry as you watched. Fires exploded on the ships. The screen cut to the news anchors who shuffled papers, looking solemn. They said it was too graphic to show on screen. 

You watched more from Ariel’s phone but debris started to rain down so people were starting to run for cover. You made a strangled noise in the back of your throat. Ariel idly rubbed your back. She told you that Sam was fine.

You sure as fuck hoped so. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to get hurt. Help Steve and Natasha, sure. But not like this. Not endangering himself like this. Again, you were helpless watching and waiting. You hated this feeling. You wanted no parts of it. 

Did that mean you’d have to give up Sam? The thought alone made you sick. Physically ill. Your stomach churned and flipped. Your hands shook. In a short amount of time, Sam got under your skin. He consumed your thoughts. You didn’t want to give him up. But you didn’t know if you were strong enough to endure not knowing.

The news flipped back to the battle. The ships had fallen. The three sided building had collapsed. The death toll and casualty rates were starting to roll in. You didn’t want to see Sam’s name on it. You turned the channel and Ariel tried to distract you with more drama about her love life. 

You felt like you were out of your body. It felt wrong, like it fit wrong. You picked at your nails and your leg bounced. It was going to be a long fucking day.

Later in the evening, Ariel had to run out but promised she’d be back. You told her that she didn’t have to but she knew you. Your siblings were sent home due to the events that happened at SHIELD headquarters. The stupid teachers actually showed it on TV. How was that appropriate? They weren’t babies, they were nearly adults, but still. You were an adult and you barely stomached it.

Then again, the teachers turned on 9/11 for you as a kid. It wasn’t a smart decision but after everything that’s happened the past few years, you were worried what would happen to this generation. Would they be desensitized to the violence? It seemed like it was constant now. Was it any better to bury their heads in the sand? 

You didn’t have the time nor energy for philosophical debates at the moment. You got dinner started. Your dad came home and he was relieved that you managed to keep your mom from the news. It wasn’t hard. She passed out all day. On the off chance that she actually took her meds, they usually evened her out. Which meant she was finally ready to sleep. 

You lost yourself in the mundane task of taking care of your family. You listened to your siblings talk about their day, careful to avoid the huge battle. Poor kids. They shouldn’t have to protect their mom like this. It was supposed to be the other way around. 

Your phone rang and you looked at the caller ID. It was a hospital. 

“Hello?” You rushed to answer.

They confirmed your name. “Sam Wilson directed us to contact you. He’s stable and awake,” they said.

“Oh, god,” you said. You told your family that you were leaving. You had no time for thinking, just moving. You shoved on your shoes, grabbed a jacket, and headed out to your car. You texted Ariel that Sam was fine and you were going to see him.

You didn’t care about obeying traffic laws. The streets were a mess. Emergency vehicles were screaming down the street trying to deal with the aftermath of the battle. The dark streets felt like an omen. But you shook the thought. Fuck that. The hospital said he was awake and stable. And he asked for you.

You made it to the hospital. It was insane. There were emergency workers clogging up the place. A new ambulance rolled through every three minutes. The staff were harried as they directed everyone around like drill sergeants. 

You managed to get a nurse at the front desk to notice you. You told him you were there to see Sam. “Relation?” 

“I’m his…” You sighed. What were you to him? Friend seemed too small. Not after the incredible night you spent together. “I’m his girlfriend.” 

The nurse nodded and told you his room number. You took the elevator up and went to his room. The room was dark and you wondered if he fell asleep while you were on your way over.

“Hey gorgeous,” he said. His voice was strained. But he was there. In the flesh. Where you could reach out and hug him. 

You pushed into the room and half closed the door to block out the frantic chaos outside. You fought yourself, hard. You wanted to crush him. You wanted to slap him. You wanted to kiss him until your lips were swollen and numb.

You crossed the room and caressed his head, his cheek. He had darkening bruises on his face and a few nasty cuts. But he was here. You smiled at him and leaned down to hug him. “You bastard,” you said.

He chuckled and then groaned. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. God, I missed you.” His voice was muffled in the crook of your neck. You didn’t want to let him go. 

He must’ve sensed it because he scooted over in bed and patted it. “You’re joking,” you said. That little ass bed was not big enough for your big ass and Sam’s bulk. You folded your arms. You didn’t always want to call attention to your weight, but you were not some dainty flower that could scoot in anywhere you wanted. There were limits.

“Lay down with me. I’m hurtin’,” he said. He gave you puppy dog eyes. “You wouldn’t want to leave me hanging, would you?” 

“You can’t lay it on any thicker?” You asked and giggled.

“I could try if you really want me to,” he said and grinned. It only drew attention to the cuts on his face. 

You sighed and put your purse down on the nearest chair. You climbed into the bed with him and he scooted over to the other side to allow you more room. You still had to throw a leg over him. But he never grunted. He never complained. He just wrapped you in his arms and sighed. It was a deep sigh that communicated a thousand words. 

You breathed him in. He was still him underneath the faintly medicinal scent and cleaning products. You were on his right side, but you still dimly heard his heartbeat pumping away. Keeping him alive and in your arms.

“You scared the hell outta me, Sam,” you said.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I worried you,” he said. He kissed the top of your forehead. You closed your eyes. You pretended that you were back at his place, in his bed. That he had only left you long enough to get food from the delivery driver and he had slipped back into bed. You could almost picture it in your mind’s eye. The heart monitor was nothing more than his air conditioner. Right.

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” you said.

“Hey, I’m always coming home. Always.”

“You can’t make that promise,” you told him. 

“Yes, I can. If you’ll have me, I promise I’ll always come home to you. Hell or high water,” he said. 

If you’ll have him…that was the million dollar sentence. It took all of your willpower to not be a coward. To stay pressed against him. This was supposed to be casual but there was nothing casual about what you felt for Sam.

From the moment he whispered to you after your first few days at the VA. You had your back turned. In his soft, deep voice, he whispered so he didn’t startle you. It still startled you. You were so nervous, trying not to mess up badly. You had been having a shitty day. You couldn’t get the copier to work and it was spitting out weird ink streaks all over the paper. 

But that whisper. Ever since then, you wondered if your reluctance to go out with him had to do with you knowing on some level that this was bigger than just you two. You didn’t believe in that love at first sight crap. But you knew that he was important. You just didn’t realize how important until you thought he was gone. Ripped away from you forever.

“I’ll hold you to the hell or high water, Sam. Otherwise I’ll have to find you myself,” you said.

He sighed as if he were waiting on your answer. He chuckled and lifted your chin to look into your eyes. You stared into his warm brown eyes. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. Reverent. Like you were precious glass freshly cooled from the furnace. 

“I’ll be here. You won’t get rid of me that easy,” he said. 

“Good. You’re not getting rid of me that easy either,” you said. It may be a stupid decision on your part. You had a chance to end it right here and now. However, there was no other place you’d rather be. Being in his arms was the safest you’ve ever felt. Truly safe. Like nothing and no one could touch you. He wouldn’t let them.

You stayed in his bed for quite a while. No one came to bother you while you were there, talking and getting some clue as to what he’d been up to. He promised to tell the whole sordid affair when you had some privacy. Some things, he wasn’t comfortable sharing where anyone could hear. You understood that. Even though you were dying for answers. 

“How quickly do you think I could make you cum before another nurse checks on us?” Sam asked, after a lull in conversation. You tapped his chest and he grunted, but you got the feeling he faked it.

“Absolutely the fuck not! I’m not having sex with you while you’re lying in a hospital bed!” Did this man ever not have sex on the brain? Maybe he hit his head too badly during the battle. 

“Come on!” He groaned. “I missed tasting you. It wasn’t enough last time.” His voice dropped into a seductive whisper, tickling your ear. Your body instantly reacted to him. 

“No!” You said and giggled. 

He sighed. “You’re no fun.” 

You laughed and shook your head. “Why don’t you hurry and heal and then I can show you exactly how much I’m glad you’re okay,” you said.

Sam looked at you and grinned. “Where the nurse at? I’ve had a full recovery.” 

You snorted with ugly laughter as Sam moved as if he were going to stand up. You pushed him down and he playfully tried to get up again. You moved until you were practically laying on him. He peppered you with kisses. You were still worried about him and you were sure it showed on your face. 

“I’m fine, I promise. Just a little ass whuppin’,” he said.

“Yours or the other guys’?” You asked.

“His! I was winning that fight. ‘Till the damn helicarrier came crashing through the building,” he said. 

You squinted at him and he laughed. “I’m serious,” he said.

“I believe you,” You said in a tone that made it sound like you didn’t believe him. He tickled you until you relented and yelled out that you really believed him. Once settled, you took note of his furrowed brows, sweat, and his heart rate increasing.

“You in pain, baby?” You asked and caressed his head. It was on the tip of his tongue to deny it. You could tell because he smiled. But it was more of a grimace. He nodded. 

You moved to get up but his arms tightened on you. “I don’t want to let you go yet,” he whispered.

You kissed his forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, Sam. It’s you and me,” you said.

This time, he did smile for real. “I like the sound of that.”

You liked the sound of it too.

Masterlist | Chapter 6 | Chapter 8

[dancingsunflowers-ocs]

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦

The time has once again come for me to talk about some plot bunnies!! These are some all of the plot bunnies I currently have that I haven’t really talked about much - feel free to ask me any questions you might have about them!!

Solana Corzo, Glee OC, Artie Abrams ship.

-Childhood best friend of Claudia Green, before her move to Lima.

-Loves the colour pink, Disney films, Taylor Swift and old vintage sci-fi films/tv shows.

-She basically shocks people with her smarts when everyone thinks of her as an airhead like Brittany.

-Is the only person who gets Rachel, as much to the annoyance of both Claudia and Francesca who can’t stand her.

Pedro Fernandez, Glee OC, Kurt Hummel ship.

-Revamped version of James Green.

-Has been best friends with Ariel Berry since childhood.

-Bisexual disaster and proud!!

-Barista at the Lima Bean and a student at McKinney High.

-Tough guy with a soft heart. Initially, he comes across as aggressive, socially isolated, and simply not given a break in the world.

Matilda Thorpe Wednesday OC, Enid Sinclair ship.

-Based on Matilda from the Roald Dahl book of the same name.

-Her parents are neglectful, however, her brother Xavier takes care of her and acts as a surrogate parent to her.

-She’s a telekinetic, and also has the power to manipulate written words.

-She also has quite a close familial bond with Miss Thornhill, similar to Matilda from the book’s close bond with Miss Honey… But slightly off 

-Roommate, and eventually the best friend of Bianca.

-Is a huge reader, and is especially a fan of the Percy Jackson books which she gets Wednesday into.

Feyra Sherwood, The Chronicles of Narnia OC, Peter Pevensie ship.

-Is a school teacher in the 60’s/70’s flower power era.

-After losing her mom, she, her twin brother and cousin discover the world of Narnia through a portal in an old storybook when going through their mother’s belongings.

-Discovers that she has stellar manipulation powers while she’s in the fantasy world.

-She and Peter have a slow burn romance, and she eventually proposes to him with a mood ring from her era/world.

August Sherwood, The Chronicles of Narnia OC, Edmund Pevensie ship.

-Is the twin brother of Feyra Sherwood and the cousin of Joan Connelly.

-Works in the National History Museum in the 60’s/70’s era.

-Discovers with Feyra and Joan, in which he finds out he has earth/weather manipulation powers.

-When he and Edmund first met, they were both constantly bickering with each other, and were basically too stubborn to admit their romantic feelings for each other.

Joan Connelly, The Chronicles of Narnia OC, Lucy Pevensie ship.

-Is the cousin of Feyra and August Sherwood, and is like a younger sibling to them.

-Is a college student during the 60’s/70’s era who’s questioning their gender/sexuality.

-When they and the twins discover Narnia, they finds out that’s they’re really skilled at using weapons.

-They get so confused when animals just follow them around for no particular reason.

-They later befriend/adopt an orphan wolf cub, after some hesitation at first, which they name Akela who laters becomes their companion.

Cherry Hearts, Descendants OC, Ben Beast ship.

-Is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, but their relationship with each other is very stained.

-Is in contact with her aunt, Mirana of Marmoreal/The White Queen who she considers more of a mother figure than her own.

-A member of the VKs, she wants desperately to be good and break away from her mother’s reputation, and dedicates herself to being better once the VKs choose good at the coronation.

-Smart and sarcastic by nature but not mean.

-Loves strawberries, red lipstick and graffiti.

Sofía Madrigal, Descendants OC, Evie Grimhilde ship.

-Is the daughter of Mirabel Madrigal.

-Like her mother, Sofía is a very optimistic and enthusiastic girl who loves her family above everything, and would do absolutely anything to make them proud of her.

-Many years after Casita was rebuilt, Alma passed away, and it was revealed to Mirabel that she had the most important role in the Madrigal family all along, as she was always destined to be the next holder of the family’s miracle casa.

-Is very skilled at sewing and playing the accordion.

-The day before she was sent off to auradon, Mirabel gifted her with a hand-sewn butterfly plush. She said that she would always be with her if she kept the butterfly close, so Sofía keeps the plush in her mochila bag, as she is extremely homesick & misses her mamá, familia & casa very much.

-Unlike her mother, Sofía was blessed on her fifth birthday with a magical gift, joining the rest of the Madrigal family. Sofía has the gift of light, meaning she can create, cease & manipulate it, making her the family’s real life miracle candle. However her power is defective due to Mirabel being giftless, so her gift is uncontrollable.

Wanda Darling, Descendants OC, Harry Hook ship.

-Is the daughter of Wendy Darling.

-Enemies-to-lovers trope!! She has the purest of hearts, is kind and sees only inner beauty, which causes some tension between her and Harry when they meet for the first time in the second movie.

-Wanda negates Harry’s narcissism and teaches him humility. (She basically baked him a big, humble pie.)

-Super shy and doesn’t talk a whole lot, but incredibly smart and loving. Has a huge interest in astronomy.

Tagging: @luucypevensie (since she helped me with many of these!!) @ginger-grimm @daughter-of-melpomene @ginevrastilinski-ocs @manyfandomocs

[thebettybook]

🍓 Strawbetty Storytime 📖

A couple of author’s notes on my “Part of Your World (Pirate Leona’s World)” fic:

🫧 First of all, me writing about Pirate Leona having a stubble??? PLS, he’d look so good

🫧 I Googled a lot of pirate information, and I learned some things like a ship’s crow nest, the roles in a pirate’s crew (such as the Captain, Quartermaster, Sailing Master), and the fact that linen sails are stronger but cotton sails are lighter. I’ve never been interested in pirate facts before so it was really cool doing research and learning about pirates for this fic

🫧 The Little Mermaid (1989) has been one of my favorite movies of all time since I was a kid, and I’m proud that I was able to write a Leona fic inspired by the movie

🫧 This fic was originally going to be a Leona x gn!reader fic where gn!reader is a merperson and Leona is a prince-turned-pirate and it was going to be a parallel kinda like Ariel and Eric where one person is from the ocean and the other is from land but they find that they can relate to each other…BUT, while writing with a reader insert, the plot felt too much like The Little Mermaid (1989) movie so I scrapped it and went with the direction of making the story focus solely on Leona

🫧 I used Ariel as the main inspiration and parallel for Pirate Leona in this fic. A big parallel I made in the fic was writing about Pirate Leona reaching for the stars, which was inspired by Ariel bringing her hand up while singing the end of “Part of Your World” to convey that feeling of yearning for something you’ve wanted your whole life but what you want feels so out of reach

🫧 Also both Ariel and Leona are the youngest siblings in their families, so I thought that was a nice coincidence. Since both are the youngest siblings of their families, both Ariel and Leona probably grew up being told “no” a lot (Ariel being told “no” to going to the surface and exploring human life, and Leona being told “no” to exploring his ideas for his country and that his role in the family is to only support his older brother)

🫧 But also with this fic, I wanted Pirate Leona to realize at the end that there are people (his Savanaclaw crew) that care about him, and that he does belong somewhere now after feeling like an outsider all his life

🫧 I used metaphors of fire in my fic as a reference to “What’s a fire and why does it, what’s the word? Burn?” lyric in the “Part of Your World” song

🫧 I also referenced lore from The Lion King (1998) movie, such as the stars and the “Great Kings and Queens of the Past”

🫧 Referenced some TWST characters: “annoying dragon princes” (Malleus—in Leona’s words), “pompous merchant guild masters” (Royal Sword Academy students—also in Leona’s words), and “shady business mermen” (Octatrio—also also in Leona’s words)

🫧 Also mentioned “purple gems” in the fic to reference the purple gems we use in the game :)

[riveramorylunar]

𝕽𝖊𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖓 𝕺𝖋 𝕬𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖑'𝖘 𝕾𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘

Series Masterlist, (Chapter 23)

Pairings: Leonora Lesso x Reader, Ariel x Daughter Reader, Prince Eric x Daughter Reader, Queen Athena x Granddaughter Reader, king Triton x Granddaughter Reader, Ariel's Siblings x Niece Reader & Melody x Sister Reader

Warnings ⚠️: Teasing and fluff

Pet Names/Nicknames: Little Siren, Nora, Sweetie & kiddo

Word Count: 2,765

Y/N pulled Lesso through the halls of the castle. "Slow down Little Siren" Lesso said and Y/N stopped. "Sorry I'm just excited to show you around" Y/N said as she turned around to face Lesso. "It's alright just don't walk so fast" she said and Y/N nodded before walking slower. Y/N stopped in front of a white door before opening it. "This is my room" Y/N said as the two walked in to the bedroom.

"It's beautiful" Lesso said before she walked over and sat down on the king sized bed. "This is a pretty big bed for just one person" Lesso said as Y/N walked over and stood in front of her. "Yeah I roll around a lot I have a hard time falling asleep if I'm by myself" she said and Lesso took hold of Y/N's hands. "Just know if you ever have trouble sleeping when break is over and we have to go back you're always welcome to come to my room alright" Lesso said and Y/N nodded. "Thank you Nora" Y/N said as she leaned down and kissed Lesso passionately. Lesso pulled away before falling back onto the bed taking Y/N with her. Y/N gasped as she landed on top of Lesso. "Nora what are y-" Lesso cut Y/N off when she rolled the both of them onto their sides. Lesso wrapped her arms around Y/N and pulled her even closer so that their legs were tangled together. Y/N nuzzled her head into Lesso's chest as she sighed. They smiled at each other before leaning in. They kissed before cuddling up to each other and falling asleep. There was a knock on the door a couple hours later before it opened. "Sweetie lunch is re- oh nevermind" Ariel said as she saw Lesso and Y/N sleeping peacefully. "Hey what's going on" Melody said as she peaked around her mother. "Awww they're adorable" Melody said. "Let's leave them be" Ariel said as she grabbed her youngest daughter and shut the door behind them.

Y/N stirred as her eyes fluttered open. She looked up to see Lesso's eyes still closed. "You're staring you know" Lesso said in a raspy voice causing Y/N to blush. "N-no I'm just admiring" Y/N said causing Lesso to open one of her eyes while smirking. "If you say so Little Siren" Lesso said as she rolled into her side before wrapping her arms around Y/N. She stroked a few strands of hair out of Y/N's hair before pecking her on the lips. Y/N smiled before she scooted closer. "Good morning sleepyheads" someone said causing them to look towards the doorway. Eric was leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded while smiling. "Good morning what are you talking about" Y/N said as she sat up as well as Lesso. "You slept through the whole day yesterday" he said as he pushed himself off the doorframe. "Breakfast is ready by the way" he continued before leaving while shutting the door behind him. "We should go" Y/N said as Lesso fell back on the bed before groaning. "This bed is too comfy though" Lesso said and Y/N giggled as she got up off the bed before Lesso could pull her back down. She walked over to her closet and opened it before walking in.

She looked through her dresses when she felt arms wrap around her from behind. Y/N tilted her head to the side as Lesso started placing kisses all over her neck. She grabbed Lesso's hands and interlocked their fingers together. "Which dress are you going to pick" Lesso said as she rested her head on Y/N's shoulder. "Don't know I can't decide" Y/N said and Lesso pulled away before walking up to the dresses. Y/N sat down and watched her girlfriend search through the dresses before stopping at a light sea green dress. She took it off the hanger and turned around. "How about this one" Lesso said and Y/N stood up before walking up to her. "It's perfect" Y/N said before she stood on her tippy toes and kissed Lesso on the lips.

Y/N came out of the closet as she held the dress up before walking over to Lesso who was sitting on the bed. "Can you" she said before turning around. Lesso stood up before resting on of her hands on Y/N's bare back. Y/N shivered at the touch as Lesso zipped the dress up. She leaned down and kissed Y/N's bare back. Y/N blushed brightly as Lesso turned her around. "Beautiful Little Siren" Lesso whispered out before leaning down and kissing Y/N on the lips. They made their way out of the closet and the bedroom before heading towards the dining hall. The two walked hand in hand through the halls when they reached the dining hall. "Ladies first" Lesso said and Y/N rolled her eyes before pulling Lesso with her. "Well hello you two" Skadi said as she smirked. Lesso pulled out a chair and motioned for Y/N to sit down in it. Y/N sat down as she smiled. Lesso smiled back before sitting down next to Y/N. "You guys looked absolutely adorable sleeping together all cuddled up" Sparky said and everyone looked at her. She looked around before her eyes widened in shock. "Uh you guys didn't hear that" she said as she took a sip of her drink. Y/N and Lesso looked at each other before chuckling.

After breakfast everyone got up. "Hey Y/N sweetie there's a couple surprises waiting for you in the throne room" Ariel said and Y/N looked at her mother in confusion. "What do you mean" Y/N said and Ariel looked at her husband. "Just go and see" Eric said and Y/N walked off towards the throne room with Lesso. "They're like glued to the hip now" Flounder said causing everyone to laugh. "Well they do get to do what they want here unlike at the schools" Skadi said as she looked at Flounder. Y/N and Lesso made their way to the throne room. Y/N opened the door and walked in. "Y/N/N" someone shouted before rushing over and picking Y/N up. They spun in a circle before setting Y/N back down. They cupped Y/N's face as her eyes widened in shock. "Aunt Aquata w-what are you doing here" Y/N said as she was still in shock. "Well we all decided to come home because we missed you all and look how you've grown" Aquata said and Y/N frowned in confusion before she looked over her aunt's shoulder to see the rest of her aunt's and three uncles plus her grandfather and grandmother.

"Now who's this hottie" Aquata said and Y/N looked back to see Aquata looking at Lesso. Y/N stood in front of Lesso with her arms out. "She's off limits" Y/N said as her eyes started glowing while she narrowed them. "Wait is this the woman your mother was talking about" she asked and Y/N nodded. Aquata shouted in excitement before pulling Y/N into a hug. Lesso was just standing there frozen in place as she watched the scene unfolded in front of her. Who knew Ariel had so many siblings she didn't that's for sure. Aquata pulled away before grabbing Y/N's wrist and Lesso's wrist before dragging them towards the others. "Guys this is the woman Ariel was talking about the one Y/N is dating" she said as she stopped in front of the others before letting go of Y/N and Lesso's wrists. "So you're the Dean of Evil" King Triton said as he stepped forward. Lesso just looked at him still in shock. Y/N looked up at Lesso before grabbing her arm. "Nora" Y/N said causing Lesso to snap out of it. "Yeah I am but you can call me Leonora or Lesso whichever one is fine" Lesso said and Triton smiled before shaking Lesso's hand. "I like her already even if she is the Dean of Evil" Aqilus said as he nudged his brothers causing them all to chuckle. Their sisters all rolled their eyes before looking away. Triton just sighed before looking at Y/N. "Glad you found someone kiddo I'm proud of you" he said as he ruffled Y/N's hair up. Y/N swatted his hand away as she looked away blushing brightly.

"I see you guys met Leonora" Ariel said as she walked into the throne room with the others. "Yeah we did and you didn't tell us she was this hot" Aquata said causing Attina to smack the back of her head. Aquata yelped as she grabbed the back of her head. Y/N just rolled her eyes before grabbing Lesso's hand and dragging her to the farthest side from the group. "I'm sorry about them" Y/N said and Lesso smiled before lifting Y/N's chin up. "Don't worry about it Little Siren it's fine" Lesso said as she tucked a strand of hair behind Y/N's ear. She leaned down and kissed Y/N on the lips causing someone to wolf whistle. Y/N pulled away and hid her face in her hands. Lesso looked over to see everyone looking at the two. She watched as Ariel smacked the man with reddish brown hair on the shoulder. "Alright that's enough stop teasing your Niece" Queen Athena said and nodded. "Yes mother" they all said and Y/N giggled quietly before she looked back at Lesso.

"Sorry to disturb you two but I hope you don't mind me stealing my granddaughter away from you" they both looked up when they heard Queen Athena's voice. "No not at all" Lesso said as she pecked Y/N on the lips before walking away. "You're coming with me" Athena said as she grabbed Y/N's arm. "Ariel, Aquata and Arista dears would you please join us" she said and the three followed their mother and Y/N out of the throne room. "And you miss Dean Of Evil you're coming with us" Attina said snapping her fingers. Lesso was dragged out of the throne room by the rest of Ariel's sisters causing her to growl. "Oh don't growl" Attina said as she rolled her eyes. "You'll be back with Y/N soon enough" she said as Skadi joined them. "She doesn't like anyone touching her besides Y/N" Skadi said causing Attina to look at her. "Shouldn't you be in Arendelle" she asked and Skadi shook her head no. "In a few days I will but not for the next 5 days" Skadi said and Attina raised her eyebrow.

Queen Athena pulled Y/N towards her room before shutting the door. "Where's the closet" she asked and Y/N pointed towards the double doors. She watched as her grandmother walked in the closet. "What's going on anyways" Y/N asked and Ariel sat down next to her daughter. "We're having a ball" Ariel said and Y/N looked up at her mother confused. "Why" Y/N said and Arista giggled before plopping herself down on the other side of Y/N. "I don't think we need a reason to throw a ball" she said as she leaned back on her hands. Queen Athena came out with nothing making the three frown. "Aquata dear can you go fetch that one dress" she said and Aquata's eyes lit up. "That one" Aquata said and her mother nodded. Aquata rushed off shutting the door behind her. "Now you why don't you go take a shower alright" Athena said and Y/N stood up. "Yes ma'am" she said causing her grandmother to roll her eyes.

Y/N walked out of the bathroom in just a towel. "Come come" Athena said and Y/N walked over and sat in front of her vanity when the door opened. "I got it mother" Aquata said and Y/N looked up before her eyes widened in shock. She tried to look over her shoulder but Athena moved her head back so she was facing forward. Athena started brushing out Y/N's wet hair before blow drying it. She slightly curled Y/N's hair before braiding some of it. She grabbed some hair accessories and put them in. "Alright you can turn around now dear" Athena said and Y/N turned around. "Makeup time" Arista said as she hopped off Y/N's bed. "Where's your crown sweetie" Ariel said and Y/N pointed to a suitcase. Ariel stood up and walked over to the suitcase before opening it. She took the crown out before walking over and placing it on the vanity.

Y/N came out of the bathroom again and the four stopped talking when they saw Y/N in the dress. "wow you look absolutely sweetie" Ariel said as she walked up to Y/N. "Thank you mother" Y/N said as Arista handed the crown to Ariel. Y/N bowed her head and Ariel put the crown on her head. "Now you're ready" Ariel said as she kissed Y/N's cheek.

They all made their way to the ballroom after getting ready themselves. They all heard music playing already as they stood at one of the entrances. They all made their way down the stairs before stopping at the second flight. Y/N looked over at the other side and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Lesso was standing on the other side wearing a suit that was black. She still wore her dark smoky makeup though. She was holding a black cane in her left hand as she stared at Y/N as well.

The others had already made their way down the rest of the stairs and waited for the two. Lesso snapped out of it first before walking causing Y/N to do the same. They met in the middle and Lesso smiled down at Y/N who smiled back. "Shall we my Little Siren" Lesso said as she faced forward and held her arm out for Y/N to take. Y/N took Lesso's arm before they made their way down the rest of the stairs. "You look beautiful by the way" Lesso whispered into Y/N's ear and Y/N blushed. "Well you look handsome" Y/N said causing a blush to cross Lesso's face.

Everyone clapped when Y/N and Lesso finished dancing. "I can never get enough of your dancing My Love" Lesso said as she leaned down and kissed Y/N on the lips. "EW" all the kids shouted causing everyone to laugh. Y/N pulled away and rested her head on Lesso's chest as she looked at the kids still standing near them. "Let's go sit down" Lesso said and Y/N nodded. The two made their way off the dance floor before walking over to a table and sitting down. Y/N watched as people started dancing. Y/N rested her head on Lesso's shoulder as she interlocked their fingers together. "Would you two care for a drink" someone said causing them to look up to see a man holding a tray of champagne. Y/N took to glasses before handing Lesso one. "Thank you" Y/N said and the man bowed before leaving. Y/N looked over to see red liquid in Lesso's glass now. "Nora did you turn the champagne into wine" Y/N said and Lesso didn't answer instead she took a sip. "You did" Y/N whispered out and Lesso smirked before leaning over and kissing Y/N on the cheek. Y/N just rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her champagne.

Two hours later Aquarius walked over to the two huddled closely. "I hope you don't mind me stealing my niece from you Lesso" he said and Lesso raised an eyebrow. "Aquarius let them have their alone time" Adella said as she walked over. She dragged Aquarius away as the two watched. "Why don't we get out of here" Lesso whispered into Y/N's ear causing her to smile. Lesso stood up as she set her empty glass on the table. Y/N stood up as well before taking Lesso's hand. They walked out of the ballroom and towards the garden as a few pair of eyes followed them.

[unfortunatetheorist]

The R - Part 1:

What is the connection between Mr Remora and Duchess R [of Winnipeg]?

One of the many mysteries that Lemony Snicket has left behind for readers (and viewers, to a certain extent) is 'What does the R stand for, in "Duchess R" ?' I am going to attempt to answer this question using any resources available, under the title 'The R'. This will be over a series of unfortunate posts, in this format.

Firstly, we must look for any and all clues that can give us even the slightest hint as to what R might stand for.

For this, I have gone through every character in ASOUE and this is produced: (after the cut, but feel free to skip ahead)

Lemony Snicket

Violet Baudelaire 

Klaus Baudelaire 

Sunny Baudelaire 

Count Olaf

Bald Man with the Long Nose 

Mrs. Bass 

Beatrice Baudelaire 

Beatrice Baudelaire II 

Bertrand Baudelaire 

Bruce 

Colette  

Fernald 

Hal 

Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender 

Hugo 

Incredibly Deadly Viper 

Geraldine Julienne 

Kevin 

Kind Editor 

Man with a Beard but No Hair

Vice Principal Nero

Phil 

Arthur Poe  

Duncan Quagmire 

Isadora Quagmire  

Quigley Quagmire  

Mr. Remora 

Carmelita Spats 

Kit Snicket 

Esmé Squalor 

Jerome Squalor 

Justice Strauss 

White-Faced Women 

Woman with Hair but No Beard

Albert Poe 

Edgar Poe 

Polly Poe 

Wart-Faced Man

Alaskan Cow Lizard 

Androgynous Cobra  

Madame diLustro  

Dissonant Toad  

Green Gimlet Toad 

Inky Newt 

Irascible Python 

O. Lucafont 

Mamba du Mal 

Monty Montgomery 

Monty Montgomery's Sister

Gustav Sebald 

Stephano 

Virginian Wolfsnake

Ike Anwhistle

Josephine Anwhistle

Bertrand Baudelaire's Cousin

Gina-Sue

 Larry Your-Waiter 

Captain Sham

Charles

 Foreman Firstein

 Flacutono

Georgina Orwell

 Shirley 

Sir

Elwyn 

Coach Genghis 

Ms. Tench

Ben 

Gunther

Chief of Police

Council of Elders 

Detective Dupin 

Hector

 Mr. Lesko 

Officer Luciana 

Mrs. Morrow 

Verhoogen Family 

V.F.D. Crows

Babs

Bearded Man 

Laura V. Bleediotie 

Lou 

Mattathias

 Milt

 Mr. Sirin

 Volunteers Fighting Disease

Beverly and Elliot

 Olivia Caliban 

Chabo the Wolf Baby 

Man With Pimples On His Chin 

Ringmaster 

Volunteer Feline Detectives

Infant Servant

C.M. Kornbluth 

Snow Gnats 

Snow Scouts 

V.F.D. Eagles 

White-Faced Women's Sibling 

Winnipeg Scout

Gregor Anwhistle 

Fiona 

The Great Unknown 

Captain Widdershins 

Mrs. Widdershins

Count Olaf's father 

Count Olaf's mother 

Dewey Denouement 

Ernest Denouement 

Frank Denouement

Alonso 

Ariel 

Jonah Bellamy 

Sadie Bellamy 

Rabbi Bligh 

Brewster 

Byam 

Friday Caliban 

Miranda Caliban 

Calypso 

Erewhon

Ferdinand 

Finn 

Professor Fletcher 

Gonzalo 

Ishmael 

Dr. Kurtz 

Larsen 

Ms. Marlow 

Monday

Madame Nordoff 

Omeros 

Mr. Pitcairn 

Robinson 

Sherman 

Thursday 

Weyden 

Willa

Beekeeper

Building Committee 

Emily Dickinson 

Dolores  

Esmé Squalor Fan Club 

Gerta 

Daniel Handler

Haruki

 Ivan Lachrymose 

Eleanora Poe 

Lena Pukalie 

Duchess R 

R's Mother 

R's Father 

Young Rölf 

Sally Sebald

Shoemaker 

A. Snicket 

B. Snicket 

Chas. Snicket 

D. Snicket 

E. Snicket 

F. Snicket 

G 

H 

I  

Jacob Snicket  

M 

N 

O 

Mr. Spats

Mrs. Spats 

Town Fathers 

Valorous Farms Dairy 

Baron van de Wetering

Yeah. Every single one.

Now, let's rule out everyone who does not have a name beginning with R, or is unclear: (again, feel free to skip ahead)

Bald Man with the Long Nose 

Mrs. Bass 

Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender 

Incredibly Deadly Viper 

Kind Editor 

Man with a Beard but No Hair

Mr. Remora 

White-Faced Women 

Woman with Hair but No Beard

Wart-Faced Man

Madame diLustro  

Monty Montgomery's Sister

Bertrand Baudelaire's Cousin

 Foreman Firstein

Coach Genghis 

Ms. Tench

Verhoogen Family 

 Mr. Sirin

Man With Pimples On His Chin 

Infant Servant

White-Faced Women's Sibling 

Winnipeg Scout

The Great Unknown 

Captain Widdershins 

Mrs. Widdershins

Count Olaf's father 

Count Olaf's mother 

Rabbi Bligh 

Dr. Kurtz 

Ms. Marlow 

Madame Nordoff 

Mr. Pitcairn 

Robinson 

Beekeeper

Duchess R 

R's Mother 

R's Father 

Young Rölf 

Mr. Spats

Mrs. Spats 

Town Fathers 

As the title states, we'll keep some focus on Remora, but we'll eliminate all other minor characters:

Bald Man with the Long Nose 

Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender 

Incredibly Deadly Viper 

Kind Editor 

Man with a Beard but No Hair

Mr. Remora 

White-Faced Women 

Woman with Hair but No Beard

Wart-Faced Man

Madame diLustro  

Monty Montgomery's Sister

Bertrand Baudelaire's Cousin

Robinson 

Duchess R 

R's Mother 

R's Father 

Young Rölf 

According to Various Fan Deductions:

TMWABBNH & TWWHBNB are Gifford & Ghede

The White-Faced Women are Zada and Zora

Lemony's Kind Editor is Moxie Mallahan

Madame diLustro is Sunny Baudelaire

This rules out the 4 of them.

Bald Man with the Long Nose 

Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender 

Incredibly Deadly Viper 

Mr. Remora 

Wart-Faced Man

Monty Montgomery's Sister

Bertrand Baudelaire's Cousin

Robinson 

Duchess R 

R's Mother 

R's Father 

Young Rölf 

Logically speaking, why would there be a connection between Ink and Duchess R? Let's eliminate unlikely possibilities:

Mr. Remora  

Monty Montgomery's Sister

Bertrand Baudelaire's Cousin

Robinson 

Duchess R 

R's Mother 

R's Father 

Young Rölf 

Monty Montgomery's sister would be (_insert name here_) Montgomery. This, to me, rules her out too... and the same logic applies to Bertrand's cousin.

Mr. Remora  

Robinson 

(Duchess R) 

(R's Mother) 

(R's Father)

Young Rölf 

Obviously her family are related:

Mr. Remora  

Robinson - Islander

Young Rölf 

So, the above names are generated. I will, henceforth, analyse a link between each character and R, starting with Remora.

POINTS:

a. It's known that a few characters in the Snicket-verse have alliterating names, such as Quigley Quagmire, Beatrice Baudelaire.

b. It's also known that some characters have WEIRD connections to others, such as Quigley's 'relation' to Mr Poe.

THEORY: Given a. and b. to be true, Mr R _______ Remora, has some abstract connection to the Duchess.

This connection can only really be established if one goes by Netflix canon and assumes Nero's surname to be Feint, and combines this with ATWQ:

Duchess R is Remora's boss' ancestor's murderer's friend.

R's friend is Lemony, who murdered Hangfire, who is the ancestor of Nero, Remora's boss.

Part 2 Still to Come...

¬ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[xsteveharringtonsmistress86x]

Hey, sorry it took me a minute to get back to you. The “pale” skin and “running finger through readers hair” are definitely bothersome. Also when they describe the reader’s skin as “creamy”. I know they can mean it as being “smooth” but I’d rather they write “smooth” or “soft” without using a term who’s color is a particular shade of white. Blushing is a HUGE one that’s a red flag for me to know that fics are not inclusive; “reader turned red” or “reader turned a deep shade of pink”. White knuckling is another one that bothers me too. There’s so many other ways to describe gripping something tight that doesn’t involve skin changing colors. Pink nipples is another one. Using white girls in the gif or the moodboard is definitely not inclusive. But MY biggest pet peeve is RELATIVE!Reader fics. Majority of the shows/movies that I hyperfixate on has a majority white cast so when these writers write a sibling!reader fic for one of those characters that immediately excludes SO many potential readers. I get it, you write what you know, and I know that white is the default. I just expect SOME type of effort or I’d rather for them to just tag it as White!Reader so us POC!Readers will know the fic ain’t for us. They’re just scared to do so. 🤷🏽‍♀️// I'm sorry. As much as I agree with most that you said I don't get the last part "the fic ain't for us". I personally read fics of many colors (yes, I'm white). It doesn't really bothers me if discription of the y/n is dark skin or blue eyes which both I don't have. So I don't understand 'this isn't fic for me'. I only pass when I don't like a story or if in my opinion is badly written and I have a hard time. Yes there are many white y/n oriented fics but they for everyone. I don't fit in most those physical discriptions but that don't stop me from enjoying. I fell like the big problem here beside what you said is also the fact that y/n isn't real and it ain't you and it your problem reader is that you try to fit in it. If you try to look for the one that fully describe you you wouldn't find plenty. Like there will be a fic with brunet, brown eyes, skinny. And how many of you fit in that huh. That's also a big problem. Use your imagination people! I understand you point of view when you look for a very specific fics. I don't have problem with either. I enjoy them all the same cause I mostly skip or overlook those description part unless it has a meaning for the story if I so disier to have a ME IN THERE moment. I'm seeing fics as the story's of someone. I never in my life actually read Y/N as my actual name and I'm sure many of you don't do it either. It's like reading a book. You not really a star in it no matter your physical appearance.

Ok, so here’s the thing. POCs, especially Black POCs, have ALWAYS had to adapt to white media. Whether it’s in TV, Movies, books, etc, we’ve always been forced to adapt or assimilate. Then when we ask to be included in this said media, we are either ignored or tokenized. Or if we actually get the main feature, it’s always a negative backlash (Don’t get me started on Halle as Ariel). We’re SICK and TIRED of it all. You reading 1 to 2 stories not centered around whiteness, does not equal the years upon years upon decades upon centuries of not being included—of being PURPOSELY exclude and made a mockery of. And the fact that you decided to come here to try to compare your apples to MY oranges, speaks absolute VOLUMES. Instead of inserting your WHITE opinion, how about you shut up and actually listen to what POCs are trying to tell you.

[writing-fanics]

Prince Eric x Mermaid!Reader

They’re the one that saved eric instead of ariel and both make a deal with Ursula that’s dependent on Eric and the reader kissing

Gender-Bent!Ariel x Reader

Aries is the one to save y/n. Y/n is also Eric twin sibling