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peydawgz · 3 years ago

Note

Hello! I was wondering if I could get a Marvel matchup? My pronouns are she/her. Im 5’1, slim to athletic build with tanned skin, black, short hair, bold eyebrows, full lips and dark brown eyes. I also wear dark purple cat eye glasses. I have a quite preppy aesthetic. I wear lots of plaid skirts, knee high socks, heeled boots and Peter Pan collars. As for personality I’m very creative and curious. I spend lots time living in a world of my own discovering and exploring ideas. To the outsider I seem incredibly "dreamy" and distant, because I spend a lot of time inside my own mind musing over things. I’m very easily bored by day to day things and will zone out on the majority of people. As for hobbies I’m very interested in the visual arts. I myself am an artist working in both fine and digital mediums. I also love studying symbols through art (I’ve tried to incorporate them into my own art ya know give the viewer a sort of scavenger hunt). I also love films, books, and video games. This is to an extent of over analyzing and theorizing. Let’s just say I’m invested in stories. My favorite genres are probably myths/legends, espionage/mystery, historical fiction, sci fi and fantasy. Back to art which is what I’m studying, things like user experience, web design, cgi and graphics etc. I also love to workout and kickbox. I’d say that my greatest weakness is how distant I can be. I tend to be confused and closed off by my emotions even if I feel them deeply. I’ve got a bit of a short temper as a result. That being said I do have a very select group of people that I open up too. As for my type, I tend to look for intelligence most of all. I’d love to discuss and explore theories and ideas with people. I also would like someone where we can just be alone but together. I’m not the biggest social butterfly. Lastly, my preference is for either males of females. Wouldn’t mind nsfw either! Thank you once again!

uhhh little editors note? i went too overboard with this and i got waaay too into it so this is a long one ahahaha! enjoy!!! <3 :)))

another editors note: this does not have a set timeframe in the MCU aaaaa also theres some of my own headcannons in here

ANOTHER ANOTHER EDITORS NOTE??? WHY DID THIS GET SO LONG IM SORRY GIRL I--- SIS HELP IM OBSESSD NOW AGHJKDEEDUI

AAA! My first matchup! I'm so excited <3 !!!!! also you sound so friendly and sweet!!

I match you with...

Bruce Banner // The Incredible Hulk!

You two meet because you were hired as a lab assistant intern for S.H.I.E.L.D. through one of your classes. Shy and very scared of this new area, you were walking around with your head in your phone, trying desperately to find your rendezvous in your emails, slightly sleepy from it being early in the morning for your tour. You were not watching where you're going, though, because you bumped into someone...

You stumble backwards, and he turns and you get a nice view of him.

He's somewhat tall, definitely taller than you, but still a nice 5'9. His build is muscular, and he's wearing a lab coat. Your eyes travel to his face, his curly brown hair falling over his forehead, a cute little strand placed over his black framed glasses. His eyes were hazel? No, they appeared a dark green, emerald.

Bruce stares at you for a moment, caught in your gaze as you two lock eyes. He almost dropped the notebook and laptop he was carrying in his arms when you bumped into him, but he held on. With a nervous laugh, you manage to speak up.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, and I'm sort of new here, I don't know my way around. A-Actually it's my first day! I'm supposed to be here for a tour, but... I'm not really sure where anything is I'm-" You're cut off when Bruce puts a hand out to you with a very friendly smile. "No worries! I'm Bruce Banner. Welcome to your tour! Actually, I was just looking for you Mrs. Y/L/N!"

You blush and look down, "Actually it's just Ms. Y/L/N... I'm single." You nervously squeak.

Listen.... Bruce is not that good at signals. Or women. The whole tour went well, and you were supposed to be his assistant/intern for six months. After a week, he starts to admit to himself that he likes you. In fact, everything about you is attractive to him. When you turn in papers to him, he sees your daydreaming doodles on the margins, its so adorable. When you push up your cute little purple glasses? Adorable. You like video games? So cute. He dreams of asking you on a date, but in fear of rejection, he holds it in. Also, what would Fury say? In-work relationships are a little complicated. And she is just an intern...

You however? Totally into him. He's so dorky and sweet, and very gentle with you! He's patient, listens, and he's soooo intelligent! What more could you want? You saw the way he looked at you, and you were desperately trying to make it happen. You would flirt and compliment him, and say cute little things like "Forget hydrogen! You’re my number one element." But maybe you were coming across as too friendly? Maybe he needed a bit more of a push. Sometimes men like him can be uncertain and shy in situations; you had to be patient with him.

You knew about him... hulking out. He held it in in front of you, and you could tell. When he would get an equation wrong or mess something up doing his work, you could see his eyes... changing. He would get sort of sweaty and you could see the veins on his arms, sleeves rolled up, trying to laugh it off and say "I-Is it hot in here?" and run off into the bathroom. It only happened twice, and you didn't know what happened until it was explained to you later. Bruce fessed up, explaining his alter ego of being a hero, and the S.H.I.E.L.D lab being just his day job/hobby. You hadn't seen it at that point, and you didn't want to. It kept you on edge with him, and maybe a little frightened, even. But you remembered how he smiles at you and how gentle he is. You're sure he wouldn't hurt you.

...

Finally! The day comes where Bruce decides once and all, he'll ask you to "hang out" after work. It's now after a whole month of you working with him, and he's planned something for you. Obviously you say yes! It was just a shy question during your lunch break.

"It's a friday, right? Are you.... doinganythingtonightat 7?" He asked, very quick with his wording, face flushed red in embarrassment, staring downwards at his sandwich. "Not at all, Bruce. Why?" You reply slyly, knowing he was nervous about asking. "I'd um... just like to take you out is all."

That night was a very ideal first date, dinner and a star wars movie at his luxurious house. He made spaghetti himself, and he was very proud of it. He shows you around his place, including his workout roooooom~ ooo fancy! You started to imagine him working out in here... how often does he use it? Is he ripped under there? He's an avenger and the Hulk, he's totally gotta have muscles-

Your tour is moved on, and he shows you a good time and entertainingly debated with you and relaxed on his very luxurious couch. You two decided to have some drinks (if you don't drink um... just imagine you loosen up around him more than you usually would) and that's when it started to get wild.

The alcohol opened him up (or you did with questions/a deep talk or something) and he started to show his more... flirty side with you. He gave you a lot more compliments, and eventually ended up resting his head on your shoulder and sighing loudly, "I wish I had a girlfriend like you, Y/N." You snap out of it and turn, looking down at him bewildered. "O-Oh?" You raise an eyebrow. He realizes what he says and drunkenly shoves his face into your hair, groaning "Why did I say that...I-m such a..." You feel the breath from him talking against your skin and you feel a sensation through your body, giving you some kind of adrenaline you've never felt. You use it to your advantage and place a hand on his, a little shaky from your nervousness, and move your other hand to move his head from your shoulder, pulling him into a small, 3 second kiss. "I wouldn't mind." You giggle, and you can see the emotions running through him.

You've made an accident, you now realize, as his eyes have that once again familiar look in them- and he starts to get sweaty. His face is looking pale and he's stammering for words.

'Fuck, I... I have a girlfriend. I can't control this feeling. Oh my gosh, what is happening to me? I don't understand.... I'm too drunk for this.... ' His chest burned like fire, and his body felt like something was tickling him everywhere. Happiness and excitement bursted through his body.... while something else was bursting through his body.

That was when it happened.

It all happened quickly, his body started to grow, his dress shirt and pants ripping apart, skin turning green, muscles bursting from his clothes. You were frightened, pushed up against the edge of the couch, watching in a blurry horror as he changed, his glasses falling into your lap. He was probably 6 or 7 feet fall and towered over you, low grumbling noises coming from him. Was he angry at you? Because you kissed him?

He stared downwards, almost as if he was scared himself, and mumbled, "Hulk.... happy?" Confused, but still excited, he turned and made eye contact with you. "Y/N?" He realized, now, and a grin spread across his face as he moved to you, bumping the coffee table and smashing it on his path to you, making you squeak in terror. You were cautious, sinking into the couch. "Girlfriend? Hulk have girlfriend!" He spoke brokenly, and placed a heavy hand on your head, patting you, soon turning into petting. Gotta admit... it was pretty darn comforting. He didn't seem angry and hostile like he'd mentioned.... You supposed it was okay. He was only wearing some very tight-looking shorts at the moment, you supposed he wore them in case he turned.

The rest you don't remember as it got quite fuzzy and late, but the last thing you remember was falling asleep in his big green arms. When you woke up, he had returned to normal and tried to apologize, but you just giggled and said "the only thing you hurt was the table."

...

Your relationship blossoms to you working with him at S.H.I.E.L.D no longer as an intern! He got you a promotion to his professional lab assistant and even got you a special new lab coat! He loves you, and adores your physical affection. At work, with you, he's agreed with Fury to keep your relationship on the down-low, but at home is a different story...

You heard it! Eventually, you move in with him, and he makes sure every day for you is perfect. He doesn't mind the distance at all! In fact, he's got a busy job being a hero most days, so it gives you all the time you need to draw and do whatever you need to! He shows his love through gifts, and buys you a new drawing tablet for your birthday! You've seen him Hulk out and get angry, but he is able to balance himself around you for some reason. You seem to only bring him happiness, and he loves you so dearly that even Hulk loves you too! You're just so cute, how could he resist? You even have your own room where you can go if you need a safe space to think, he gets you. Your short temper? He's patient, and will help you sort it out. He knows how to deal with an anger problem.

Cute nicknames he calls you are: sugar, baby, sugarplum, princess, cutiepie, and snugglebear

You met the other Avengers at some point, and Bruce was a bit scared Tony would end up womanizing and try to steal you, but you were quick to friendzone him, sticking to Bruce's side the whole time. They thought you two were so dorky and cute, and enjoy you hanging around!

Overall, Bruce adores you and your relationship is as strong as him. You do eventually get to watch him work out, yes, don't worry. It's very enticing~

NSFW

The first time, Bruce was scared he would hurt you. You two were laid in the bed, at first cuddling, but he started to kiss your neck and play with your hair, it was getting heated. He was gentle, shaky, and nervous about what was okay. You assured him he could relax, and that you love him and he has nothing to worry about. He calmed his nerves, admiring every part of you and kissing your whole body. He's muscular, and his cock is average size, curving up eagerly, circumsized, and ready for action.

He pleasured your breasts first, kissing you down your chest and grazing your nipple with a finger. He kisses around it first, then taking your breast into his mouth, sucking on your nipple, and gently grazing his erect dick against your wet panties. You rub against him for more pleasure and he groans, leaving little hickies on your breasts. He moves his head downward and kisses your stomach, sliding his hand up and down your thigh. Bruce looks up at you with a pleading look, and hums, "Is this okay?" and kisses the hem of your panties. You're already soaking, turned on so much and willing for him to pleasure your needing pussy, so you pet his head and sink your fingers into his curly brown locks, and sweetly whisper, "Please, yes, Bruce." And it drives him fucking wild.

This man is god at giving head. How does he know so well? He begins with kissing your cunt through your panties, grazing his lips over your thighs next, so excited that he's rubbing his needy cock against the bed. He's quick to remove the clothing item and tease you by kissing you everywhere in that area but your pussy, looking up at you with those pretty green eyes. You make a little huff of annoyance, getting fed up with his teasing. Finally, he licks your cunt , his warm tongue grazing your clit and flicking around your folds. He grows more curious of your sweet noises coming out of your mouth now, and presses his mouth to your very wet vagina, licking and slurping you up, holding you around your thighs and burying his head down there. After five minutes of merciless pleasure and you getting so worked up you're moving against him, he slides a finger in your hole and pumps in and out of you. His other hand is pumping his touch deprived cock, making him moan and vibrate against you.

First, he fucks you missionary, cleaning his face off of your juices and quickly mouthwashing bc nobody wants pussy mouth kisses, and his member enters you easily but slowly still from how wet you are. He fills you up with all of him, before slowly rocking his hips into you, kissing you deeply, holding your waist, and groaning from how nice and warm and tight you are. You're a hot, moaning mess, and he picks up his pace, and you can feel his midsection slapping against yours with each thrust. You hold on tight, legs wrapping around him and calling out his name at one point.

"A-Ah... mmh. can y-you turn around baby?" He groans as he starts to slow down. You kiss him one last time and move into the position and he enters you again, holding your waist and moving you with his thrusting. It felt so good, your legs started to shake from how deep and fast he was, and he doubled over, holding you closer, you could feel his chest to your back

"I'm so close- I'm really-" He gasps, his thrusts now hard and slow, each one slapping against your ass and filling you up. He reaches under you and starts to play with your clit/ You could feel his cock twitch inside of you. Out of respect, he pulls out and cums all over your ass, continuing to rub your pussy until you came as well, and you two had a nice steamy shower full of hugs and cuddling and he gives you lots of aftercare and kisses and makes sure you get rest bc he's scared he went too hard <3

OTHER OPTIONS I MAY HAVE PICKED: TONY STARK OR VISION

#headcannons #ask #marvel #avengers #mcu #marvel smut #bruce banner #the hulk #marvel x reader #bruce banner x reader #lemon

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auror-lovie · 4 years ago

Text

I Won’t Say (I’m in Love) (Theseus Scamander)

━━━•✦.✧. Author’s Note.✧.✦•━

Second writing challenge??? LET’S GO.

Also, I’m trying out a new editing thing. So may be I’ll be using a mix of moodboards and character banners??? I don’t know, tell me how the aesthetic feels.

Congrats Haley ( @wand3ringr0s3 )!!! To one of my lovely motivators, you deserve all the followers and so much more! Sending all the love and support!

A big thanks to @weasleysflowr and her fic for this challenge! Thanks to your fic, it gave me the motivation to bust my butt off and finish this AT 2 AM. Love ya, Ayli!!!

━━━━━•✦.✧. About .✧.✦•━

(Y/N) didn’t mean to fall in love with him- she was only doing her job.

━━━━━•✦.✧. Add- Ons .✧.✦•━

It’s about time I start sharing my man with the readers (Sorry I’m such a simp for Theseus-)

Preface: Theseus and Leta are not engaged in this universe.

Angst, but what’s new?

Dialogue heavy

Character death :)

(Okay, I REALLY LOVE WRITING ANGSTY THETORIA CONTENT, HUH. WHETHER IT BE PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC-)

I usually write Theseus and Victoria with perfect personalities… I hope this fic will change that and I can start writing more of their ugly sides.

━━━━━━•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•━━━━━

Haley’s 1.9K Writing Challenge:

I Won’t Say (I’m in Love): Theseus Scamander x Reader

━━━━━━•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•━━━━━

“You’re so pretty, why don’t you have a boyfriend?”

Was the question that (Y/N) received on a near day to day basis. Some from colleagues, some from distant relatives, and some from random people who tried to ask her out on a date.

To answer that question would take a whole other story, but to keep it short: She was hurt by first love. (Y/N) loved him with all her heart and he repaid her by falling in love and running away with another woman.

(Y/N) was a hopeless romantic and she was aware of that. All the romance novels that the muggles always talked about- she read them. All the romance films- she watched them. When her fellow Aurors were in relationships, she felt joy and happiness swell in her heart.

Though she desperately wanted a boyfriend, she was afraid. Afraid that one day, he’d leave her. So she kept her heart locked away. Besides, there was no time for romance- not in the midst of a war. Rumors of Grindelwald gathering more members for his “organization” spread through the Auror department like wildfire.

Under the temporary direction of Head Auror Victoria Howard, missions were successful. Despite feeling anxious, she led her fellow Aurors with confidence and determination. Yes, there were casualties, but that was the price of any mission.

Victoria always had a weird feeling about (Y/N). (Y/N) was sweet, nurturing, and quite intelligent. She was a great Auror, but something didn’t sit right with her. These feelings amplified when War Hero, Theseus Scamander, came into the picture.

Theseus walked into the room full of Aurors behind Victoria and Travers. “As you all know, the Head Auror Howard will be stepping down and Theseus Scamander will be taking her place.”

Declarations of distress echoed throughout the room. “But sir, Miss Howard was leading us just fine!” An Auror argued.

Before Travers could stupidly respond, Victoria took a step forward. “I know some of you may not agree with the changes, but Mister Scamander is a great leader. I think he’ll bring us farther than I ever could.”

Theseus nodded and patted Victoria’s shoulder. “One of the reasons why I’m a great leader is because of her. She’s always pushing me to be the best. So I hope I can lead you all to victory to the best of my abilities.”

After the formalities, Victoria had led Theseus around the room to get to know his fellow partners. He got along with most of them. The ones he didn’t get along with were the ones still slightly upset about the change, but he paid no mind to it. Then they got to (Y/N).

“Hello, Mr. Scamander. I’m (Y/N) (L/N) and I’m looking forward to working under your direction.” (Y/N) greeted happily.

Victoria felt her stomach twist up in knots, but didn’t let it show. Was she jealous? No- something didn’t feel right about (Y/N) and she was determined to find out.

“Well, Miss (L/N), I’m looking forward to working with you as well. Victoria has said amazing things about you.” Theseus replied.

•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•

It had only been three months and he asked (Y/N) out on a date.

Victoria was in Leta’s office, pacing back and forth.

“Three months. Three months, Leta! And he’s already made his move on her!” Victoria ranted.

Leta sighed, rubbing her temples. “From what I’m hearing, I’m assuming you’re… jealous.”

Victoria stopped pacing and glared at her friend. “I’m not jealous, Leta. I’m over-protective. I trust my intuition and I know that (Y/N) girl is up to no good.”

“Have you talked to Theseus about it?”

“W-Well… No…” She trailed off.

“Then that’s your problem, Vi.”

Victoria sighed and plopped herself on a chair. “I swear… That girl’s got something to hide…”

~*~*~

To say he had a crush was an understatement. No- Theseus was in love with her.

“Wow. What a day. First that restaurant and then a nice walk in the park?” Theseus started as he and (Y/N) walked into a nearby park.

They both chuckled, Theseus shoving his hands in his pockets. “I didn't know that playing hooky could be so much fun.”

(Y/N) smiled. “Yeah. Neither did I.”

“Thanks, (Y/N).”

“Oh, don't thank me just yet. Oh!” She exclaimed, tripping on a crack in the pavement, falling into Theseus’ arms.

“Careful. I guess being quick and light on your feet only applies to the mission field, huh?” Theseus teased.

“Sorry,” (Y/N) laughed nervously. “I’m a klutz.”

“Oh? Well, maybe you better sit down for a while.” He said, carrying her to a nearby bench and they sat down.

(Y/N) cleared her throat, ignoring the blush rising to her cheeks. “So, uh, do you have any problems with things like… this?”

Theseus cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Uh…”

“Klutzes, I mean.”

“Oh. Uh, no. Not really.” He shrugged.

(Y/N) moved closer to him. “No weaknesses whatsoever? No mundane worries?”

“What are you getting at, (Y/N)?”

(Y/N), moving even closer to him. “No… insecurities?”

“E-Everyone has insecurities and worries. I worry about losing the people I care most about. My parents, my brother, Victoria, Leta…” He paused. “You.” He mumbled.

“What was that?” She asked.

“Nothing!” Theseus cleared his throat. “It was nothing.” He said, finally stood up from the bench. “Let’s just get back before people notice that we’ve been gone for most of the afternoon.”

~*~*~

Theseus and (Y/N) quickly made their way into the Ministry Headquarters, making sure to stay out of sight. They ran up to the Auror department without causing a scene.

When they reached the door to (Y/N)’s office, they stopped outside to catch their breath.

“Pretty Boy… You are... perfect.” (Y/N) said between breaths.

“Thanks…” Theseus paused. “You know, as a kid, I was expected to set high standards. I was Quidditch captain, Head Boy, and took as many NEWT level classes as I could. I think that’s why my brother dislikes me so much.” He chuckled, resting his head against the wall. “I just… I just wanted to be like every other guy.”

She scoffed. “You wanted to be petty and dishonest?”

“Not everyone is like that.”

“Yes, they are.” (Y/N) said softly.

Theseus turned his gaze to her. “You're not like that.”

“How do you know what I'm like?” She spat.

Theseus took her tone as a defense mechanism. “All I know is... You're the most amazing person I've ever met. (Y/N), when I'm with you I don't feel so... alone.”

“Sometimes it's better to be alone.” She said, rubbing her upper arms.

“What makes you say that?” He asked, pushing himself off the wall.

“Nobody can hurt you.” (Y/N) said, trying her best to not look at him.

“I would never ever hurt you.” Theseus quickly replied.

(Y/N) turned to face him, not realizing how close they were to each other. “And I don't wanna hurt you, so... let's both do ourselves a favor and stop this before we-”

Their lips moved in close for a kiss, but the moment before it happened, a voice interrupted them.

“All right, break it up! I’ve been looking all over the Ministry for you.” Victoria said as she came into view.

(Y/N) groaned in annoyance once she realized who it was. “Calm down, Victoria. It was all my fault.”

“I already have a bone to pick with you, so don't make it worse,” Victoria said, glaring at (Y/N).

“And as for you,” She looked at Theseus. Theseus looked at her before quickly avoiding her stare. “You’re lucky I saved your arse from Travers. We had a meeting today and you were supposed to lead it, but no. You decided to play hooky.”

“Okay, okay…” Theseus said, feeling like a child being reprimanded by their parent. As much as he deserved it, he hated it when she scolded him.

“I'm sorry.” (Y/N) said softly.

He let out a half-hearted chuckle. “Ah, she'll get over it,” Theseus said, facing her. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek.

“Come on, Theseus. We have work to do.” Victoria said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Theseus gave (Y/N) a smile before walking off with Victoria.

(Y/N) was left alone, her hand touching the cheek he’d kissed minutes ago. “Oh, what's the matter with me? You'd think a girl would learn.”

“(Y/N)! You’re finally here! I have things to discuss with you.”

(Y/N) quickly turned around to see Leta. “L-Leta!”

Leta smiled. “Don’t worry. Unlike Victoria, I won’t go all Mama Bear on you. Shall we discuss this in your office?” She asked, gesturing to the door.

She nodded. “Of course!”

Once inside, Leta and (Y/N) sat on the chairs. “So, tell me everything! How was your date?”

(Y/N) blushed lightly. “I-It was hardly a date. It was more of an… extended lunch.”

“Come on, spill the details! Do you like him?” Leta asked excitedly.

“What? O-Of course not.” She sighed, reminiscing on her first love. She would not fall victim to love- not again. “If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess I've already won that. No man is worth the aggravation. That's ancient history been there, done that.”

“Are you kidding? He’s the Earth and Heaven to you! You may try to keep it hidden, but honey, I can see right through you.” Leta replied.

“Oh, no. That’s preposterous! I can’t possibly be-”

“I know how you feel. I can see it in your eyes, (Y/N). You’re in lo-”

“No way. It's too cliche,” (Y/N) quickly interrupted.

“(Y/N), just listen-” Leta started again.

“Get off my case, Leta…” She trailed off.

Leta sighed, patting (Y/N)’s shoulder. “It's okay if you're in love…”

(Y/N) looked at Leta and smiled, relaxing in her chair. “At least at loud, I won't say I'm in love.”

After a while, Leta had left and (Y/N) sat at her desk to complete her piling paperwork. All was silent until-

“Hey, what's the buzz, huh, (Y/N)? What is the weak link in the Pretty Boy's chain?” A voice asked.

“Get yourself another girl, I'm through.” (Y/N) replied, exhausted.

“I'm sorry. Do you mind running that by me again? I must have had a chunk of stone wedged in my ear or something.” said Grindelwald as he came into view from the shadows.

“Then read my lips! Forget it!” She said, slamming her hands on her desk and glaring at him.

Grindelwald chuckled darkly. “(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N), my sweet deluded little minion. Aren't we forgetting one teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial little, tiny detail? I own you!”

“I’ll just apologize for snapping at them and not considering their relationship… Whatever they are…” Victoria mumbled to herself as she walked to (Y/N)’s office.

Grindelwald continued, “You work for me! If I say, "sing", you say, "Hey, name that tune" If I say, "I want Pretty Boy’s head on a platter," you say-”

“Medium or well done,” (Y/N) sassed back.

Victoria gasped softly as she heard a snippet of their argument from the opposite side of the door. “Oh! I knew that girl was trouble. This is gonna break Theseus’ heart.”

“I'll work on that.” (Y/N) mumbled.

Victoria quietly ran back to Theseus’ office to give him the news.

“I'm sorry... You hear that sound? That's the sound of your freedom fluttering out the window forever.” Grindelwald continued, his hand moving in a shoo-ing motion.

“I don't care. I'm not gonna help you hurt him.” (Y/N) said, her voice cracking.

“I can't believe you're getting so worked up about some guy.” He said nonchalantly.

“This one is different. He's honest, and-and he's sweet. He would never do anything to hurt me.”

“He's a guy!” Grindelwald said, making a last attempt to get it through her head.

“Besides, you can't beat him. He has no weaknesses-”

Grindelwald walked into her line of view and smirked. “I think... he does, (Y/N). I truly think... he does.”

~*~*~

Theseus sat in his chair, spinning around. “After Victoria and (Y/N) make up, we can put this all behind us.”

Victoria walked sad, slowly closing the door behind her. She whispered a silencing charm on the room before trying to figure out what to say.

“Hey, Victoria! What happened? Did you do it?”

Victoria cleared her throat. “Thes, we gotta talk.”

“Oh, Victoria, I just had the greatest day of my life! I can't stop thinking about (Y/N). She's something else.”

“Theseus! I'm trying to talk to you! Will you stop spinning in that stupid chair, calm down, and listen?”

He stopped spinning in his chair before trying to look at her- his head adjusting to the sudden stop in motion. “Aw, how can I calm down when I'm feeling so up?”

“What I'm trying to say is-”

Theseus grinned. “If it wasn't for you, I never would have met her. Oh, I owe you big time.”

“Will you just knock it off for a couple of seconds?” Victoria said, a bit agitated.

“Come on, Victoria, live a little! I’ve finally found happiness during this stupid war.”

“Listen to me! (Y/N)'s-” She started, moving closer to his desk.

“A dream come true?” Theseus quipped.

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Not exactly.”

“Absolutely beautiful?” He said, dreamily.

“Aside from that!” Victoria sighed, rubbing her temples.

“The most wonderful-” Theseus began.

“She's a fraud! She’s been playing with your feelings!”

“I know you're upset about today, but that's no reason to-”

She ran her fingers through her hair. “You're missing the point.”

“The point is - I love her.” He said, standing up from his chair.

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. “She doesn't love you, Thes. She's nothing but a two-timing,”

“Stop it!” He moved around his desk.

“No-good, lying, scheming-”

“Shut up!” He yelled, shoving Victoria towards the bookshelf.

She lost her footing and her back slammed against the bookshelf, causing some of the books to fall. She yelped as her back made contact.

Theseus’ eyes widened at his actions. He looked down at his hands, which were twitching, before looking back at her. “Victoria, I- Oh, I'm, I'm sorry.”

Victoria hissed in pain as one of her arms reached over to rub the spot of impact. “You need to control your temper, Theseus, but besides the point. You don’t want to face the truth? Fine.” She winced as she slowly shoved herself off the bookcase and walked towards the door, not caring about the books on the floor.

“Victoria, wait. W-Where are you going?” He stammered.

“I'm going home.” She replied, wincing once again.

“What? Why? You can’t go home until you’ve been checked. I can take you to the Healer-”

“You know… You came home a War Hero and became the highly respected Auror that you are…” Victoria trailed off, stopping in her tracks. He took a step towards her. She turned her head slightly, Theseus now able to see the small, sad smile on her face. “But you’re not the Theseus that left me all those years ago.”

Theseus sighed. “Victoria, you can’t keep living in the past!”

Victoria turned around- quickly regretting her actions as her muscles ached. “So was our friendship nothing? All these years, since we were eleven- nothing?!”

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing! I thought you were my friend!”

“Of course I’m your friend! You’re just not seeing that… that (Y/N) is working for the other side!” She said, flailing her arms around to make her point, no longer caring about the pain it caused.

“She wouldn’t-”

Victoria grumbled. “Here we are again. Don’t believe me? So be it… But remember this: when the truth reveals itself? Don’t come crying to me.”

“Fine! It’s not like I needed you anyway!” He said angrily, but instantly regretted his choice of words.

Victoria gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

Now he’d done it. Theseus made his way to her. “V-Victoria, I didn’t mean that- I was just-”

Victoria put up her hand to stop him mid-sentence and mid-walk. “It’s okay. Just finish signing the paperwork and you can leave.”

“Victoria-” He called out, a pathetic attempt to keep her there.

“I’ve saved your arse time and time again- since the beginning. Years ago, that was schoolboy stupidity. Now? Hell, I don’t know what this is. I don’t even know who you are anymore. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mister Scamander.” She said before leaving his office.

•✦.✧.☾.✧.✦•

Months after their argument, things were back to normal- sort of. Auror duo, Howard-Scamander, had split apart. Even though it was odd not to see them on missions together, no one dared to question it or ask either person about it.

Then Victoria’s claim about (Y/N) working with Grindelwald had been proven. Theseus, Victoria, and (Y/N) gathered in Travers’ office. After a long interrogation, Travers had decided (Y/N)’s fate.

“Due to your affiliation with Gellert Grindelwald, you are therefore guilty of a treasonous-”

“You know I didn’t hurt anyone, you know that! You’ve seen me in the field! Or are you in such a high position where being deployed on missions is not in your job description?”

“You are therefore guilty of a treasonous betrayal of your fellow wizards and are sentenced to death.” Travers finished.

Two executioners step forward. They calmly, intrusively, press the tips of their wands into (Y/N)’s neck. (Y/N) was so overcome with shock and fear that she could barely speak.

“Just do it immediately. I will inform Minister Fawley myself.” Travers said to the executioners.

Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but no words could come out.

“Travers, she doesn’t deserve this!” Theseus yelled.

Travers placed a finger to his lips. “That’s enough. Miss Howard, please escort Mister Scamander out of here.”

~*~*~

A long, black, metallic corridor led into a pure white cell, which consisted of a chair suspended magically over a square pool of rippling potion. (Y/N) was forced into this room by the executioners. A guard stood at the door.

“Don’t do this. Nicole, please-” (Y/N) pleaded.

“It won’t hurt.” Nicole cooed softly.

(Y/N) was led to the edge of the pool. She began panicking, her breathing heavy and erratic.

The other executioner raised their wand and carefully extracted (Y/N)’s happy memories from her head. (Y/N) instantly calmed down, her expression now vacant. The executioner cast the memories into the potion, which rippled, coming alive with scenes from (Y/N)’s life.

A young (Y/N) smiled up as her mother called, “(Y/N)... (Y/N)... Come on, dearie, time for bed. Are you ready? You’re headed off to Hogwarts tomorrow.”

“I’m ready, mum…”

(Y/N) watched, smiling down at the scene.

“Doesn’t that look good? You wanna go to the chair?” Nicole asked calmly. (Y/N) nodded vacantly as she was guided onto the chair.

She now sat in the execution chair. She gazed down and beneath her swirled happy images of her at Hogwarts.

“(Y/N) (L/N)!”

(Y/N) hesitantly walked to the stool and sat down. She felt the hat being placed on top of her head.

“Difficult! Very difficult… Decisions, decisions…"

A small moment passed before the hat roared, “RAVENCLAW!”

(Y/N), still gazing into the pool, smiled wistfully. A small bubble started to form around the chair,

“(Y/N)!” Theseus’ voice echoed throughout the room.

A spell fired, hitting Nicole, who dropped to the floor, her wand falling into the pool. As it fell, the liquid rose up in viscous black bubbles, instantly engulfing the wand. In reaction, (Y/N)’s memories turned from good to bad: The memory of Grindelwald’s plan to use (Y/N) was displayed.

“See, he's gotta have a weakness, because everybody's got a weakness I mean for what? Pandora, it was the box thing, for the Trojans, hey, they bet on the wrong horse, okay? We simply need to find out Pretty Boy's.” Grindelwald said, walking around the room.

(Y/N) sat on the cushion of the bay view window. “I've done my part. Get your other imps-”

“They couldn't handle him as a soldier. I need someone who can... handle him as a man.”

“Hey, I've sworn off manhandling.” She replied.

“Well, you know, that's good because that's what got you into the jam in the first place, isn't it? You swore your allegiance to me to save your boyfriend's life. And how does that jerk thank you? By running off with some babe. He hurt you real bad, didn't he, (Y/N)? Huh?” He taunted.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. “Look, I learned my lesson, okay?”

Grindelwald circled around the room before stopping at her side. “Which is exactly why I got a feeling you're gonna leap at my new offer. You give me the key to bringing down that War Hero and I give you the thing that you crave most in the entire Wizarding World,” He stopped next to her and bent down. “Your freedom.” He whispered in her ear.

(Y/N), still enraptured by the pool, looked increasingly terrified. Her stool lowered closer and closer to the liquid.

Theseus managed to disarm and bind up Nicole, the other executioner, and the guard. He was about to save (Y/N) until

“Expelliarmus!” A voice shouted from the door.

Theseus’ wand was knocked from his hand. He turned around to Victoria standing at the door, catching her breath. She muttered the summoning charm before his wand was summoned to her hand.

Victoria quickly got hold of his wand before Theseus could reach it.

Theseus looked at her. “Victoria, I know we’re not on speaking terms, but please… My wand…”

She stared at him. A year ago, she’d give in, but not now. “No, I can’t let you save her Mister Scamander.”

“If you can’t beat them… then join them, right?” He let out a sad laugh. “If this is the last thing I tell you, I want you to know that even after this, you’re still my best friend. And you’re one hell of an Auror.” He said before making his way toward the edge of the pool.

Victoria gasped. “Damn it, Theseus!” She walked into the room and pointed her wand at him, “Incarcerous!”

Theseus was then bound by thick cords that came out of thin air, causing him to fall on his side. He hissed at the pain, but Victoria paid no mind. At least her friend was safe.

Victoria pointed her wand at the executioners and guard, unbinding them from their restraints. “Now get out of here.” The three of them nodded before shuffling out of the room.

Theseus looked at the memory pool, watching the last of (Y/N) memories. Victoria looked up at (Y/N), seeing the tears running down her cheeks. She almost felt pity for her- almost.

“Victoria, please…” Theseus pleaded for probably the last time.

Victoria then looked at the memory pool. It changed to the day where she and Theseus played hooky. She could see how happy they were together.

(Y/N) let out a sad laugh, causing Victoria and Theseus to look up at her. “I love you, Theseus�� Sorry I didn’t tell you that day…” (Y/N) cried before the potion fully consumed her.

Theseus choked a sob as he held onto Victoria, hugging her torso, hiding his face in her shoulder. Victoria felt the tears building up before reality caught up to her. She gasped softly, tears running down her face.

Victoria was responsible for the execution of a fellow Auror. She was worried about her standings with Theseus, but that didn’t matter at the moment.

At that moment, she needed to comfort and be there for her friend. For her friend was mourning the loss of the one he loved the most.

#wand3ring1.9kchallenge #fbawtft #fbtcog #theseus scamander x reader #theseus scamander #writing challenge

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anyrchyangel · 4 years ago

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ATLA/MDZS

I never post here but here goes anyway xD

So ATLA has one of the best established “world rules” of any fictional series--imo it’s on par with Harry Potter in that the universal rules of the series could arguably be taken and transposed onto another story entirely.

And by all that I mean Avatar: the Last Airbender is rife for crossover material. So let’s go:

MDZS has some of the most complicated characters I’ve ever read--Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng are arguably the most “human” characters I’ve ever read about, and I mean that in the best way possible. Jiang Cheng’s pride makes him so complex and yet so very relatable, and Wei WuXian’s self-sacrifice isn’t the most the relatable, but it’s mesmerizing in its own way and his journey of self destruction in the name of his morals and ideals is...breathtaking. Anyways, what I mean by all this is that MDZS characters are the perfect characters to put into a new world--a world with, say, amazingly establish “rules” like ATLA :3

You following? xD

So hear me out:

In ATLA, it’s mentioned by Iroh (Knower of All Things and Wisest of Firebenders) that the waterbenders are bound by a tight knit familial connection--that their bonds to family is what allow them to thrive in places as harsh as the North and South Poles. Familial piety is extremely important to JC and and Jiang Sect, so here’s my proposal:

YunMeng Jiang Sect as the most famous waterbending “tribe” (I don’t think waterbenders need to seclude themselves in the North and South Poles, and for this crossover I would most likely use the MXTX-verse Ancient Chinese map; but it is important to note that Yunmeng is canonically a port city/waterway intermediary) and the Jiang family is famous for producing powerful waterbenders. However (stay with me, it’s getting juicy now :3), Jiang Fangmien is canonically in a...rather unhappy marriage with Madam Yu of the Ziyuan sect (her sect isn’t mentioned a lot in the novel, but let’s give it a little oomph, shall we? :3).

What if we made Madam Yu and the Ziyuan sect famous firebenders, ones known most notably for their (hehe wait for it) purple lightning (you see where I’m going with this, right?). Madam Yu is a very interesting character but I think her effect on Jiang Cheng is even more interesting than her characterization. Madam Yu made JC believe that Jiang FengMian found JC lacking--that JC doesn’t understand the Jiang sect motto or what it means to be a true Jiang; let’s take that and amplify it. Let’s make JC a firebender and take after his mother--and even bigger and louder sign that JC and Jiang FengMian are intrinsically different.

If that wasn’t enough, let’s add some extra spice to this juicy tale (I’m enjoying myself so much right now xD): let’s make Wei WuXian a prodigal waterbender, descendant from two famous waterbenders (who had the same relationship with Jiang FengMian as they did in MXTX canon--and also their unfortunate ends). Which means that JC grew up with a waterbending master whom Jiang FengMian adores. Oof, poor JC--no matter how well he excels are firebending (come one, not everyone can produce lightning, especially not purple lightning! JC is a baddie too! ;A;) it will never matter to Jiang FengMian because...he’s not a firebender. He respects the element and its benders (his wife is a baddie too) but he’ll never love it the way he loves waterbending. That right there is some yummy angst and inferiority complex :3

So if WWX is a waterbender, you know for an absolute fact I’m gonna have to make him a bloodbender--come on, the parallel is like right there.

But what about our honorable Hanguang-Jun? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget him :3 I think the Gusu clan would make excellent airbenders--their love of music and...well, their asceticism translates well to the nomadic and spiritual airbenders of ATLA. Aang was literally descendant of monks. Buddhist monks. LWJ’s ancestor, Lan An--who founded the Lan sect--was also a monk who (and correct me if I'm wrong, my MXTX-lore is...well it’s good but everyone makes mistakes) descended from heaven and found a partner to cultivate with (very romantic :3) and spend his life with.

ALSO (it gets better, I swear this crossover was meant to be [and I’m sure someone else has done it/will do it better than I ever could, but here’s my take on it]) the air nomads, at least from the temple Aang hailed from--and likely the rest of them, but I'm not sure if that’s canon confirmed--were vegetarians. Gusu dietary restrictions? Come on. It’s right there.

One more lovely little add-on: the arrow tattoos Aang is famous for? Those are given to airbending masters (fun fact, Aang received them because he invented a new airbending technique--the air scooter :3), but what if we take that lovely tradition and transpose it onto GusuLan? What if the arrow tattoos transform into cloud tattoos for the direct ancestors of the first air nomads? :3 And the guest disciples (such as Lan JingYi) wear forehead ribbons with the same pattern? This crossover was truly meant to be, I swear.

So now we have:

-Wei WuXian a waterbender/bloodbender (who is denounced by the world for his “heretical” and “demonic” technique)

-Jiang Cheng, a firebender leading a sect famous for waterbending with an intense inferiority complex to his shixiong (the cultivation familial honorifics are too lovely to leave out, but I will need extra research to make sure I’m using them right o.o)

-Lan WangJi, a master airbender (oh and for aesthetics, I’ll stick with the white and blue “mourning robes” of the MXTX Gusu sect instead of the...eye wateringly bright orange and yellow of the ATLA airbenders...sorry Aang, but LWJ looks downright ethereal in white and it's a crime to put him in orange) known for his love of music and righteousness. Oh and music + airbending is just ridiculously overpowered, which fits our icy Hanguan-Jun quite well, imo. (P.S. Lan Xichen is also a music lover and his Liebing is arguably just as famous as lwj’s guqin [zither? honestly I’m still confused about the difference]).

And now we need a plot to rip off :3

MXTX did such an amazing job with the cultivation world and the QishenWen sect, so why don’t we...merge the Fire Nation from ATLA with the Wen sect from MXTX? It fits better than you would think.

The Fire Nation sought to conquer the four nations under one banner (it was actually inspired by Imperial Japan in WWII) and that’s exactly what the Wen sect was trying to do (but honestly the Wen sect did a pretty...pisspoor job of it compared to the Fire Nation. Like, dude, the Fire Nation nearly won--if Aang had remained frozen for another year, the world would have been f*cked).

The crossover wheels are turning :3 but, alas, I am riddled with writer’s block and the likelihood of this getting written is...well it’s not zero but it’s not very high either. I have a lot of other WIPs to work on >.<

So, I am sharing it with Tumblr (and,,,,idk whoever follows this account? Honestly I never post here so I doubt anyone will see this anyway but o.o whatever.) in the hopes that it either A) magically writes itself, B) inspires someone else to pick up the sad crumbs I’ve left behind, or C) somehow motivates me to work on this project. It’s by no means original--I’m sure other people have had this crossover idea, and I know I’ve seen some amazing fan art for it, but well, here’s my contribution ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#mdzs #wangxian #modaozushi #atla #crossover #I should learn how to tag at some point #but oh well #WangXian in ATLA is hella cute #also scary BloodBender!WWX is...wayyy too seductive #water is an overpowered element btw #RIP earthbenders--maybe the LanLing Jing sect?#or Nie sect--da-ge is 1000000% an earthbender #as if I didn't ramble enough in the post #here's an insane amount of tags #Ana doesn't know how to be concise #Ana is also a living offense to the concept of brevity #Ana Fic Ideas

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carefreejules · 4 years ago

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Chapter 2: Let the Battle Begin

In the middle of the void of darkness, a lone figure stands under a single spotlight. Except that she’s not alone. A hand reaches out and grabs her wrist, startling the girl from her lonely thoughts. The hand belonged to a boy, around her age. His uninhibited toothy grin and cheery golden eyes that he showed just for her, made her smile just as brightly back.

Warm.

Friend.

The darkness suddenly lit up with an ocean of stars, filling her heart with awe, wonder, and wishes that she hoped the stars could grant for her. The boy suddenly broke out into a run, tugging her wrist and bringing her along with him.

She stumbled a bit, but pulled herself back up to catch up to him. He let go of her wrist, seeing her keep up with him as they ran side by side.

They didn’t know where they were running to, or where they were going, but the endless path of stars that lit up both of their worlds was the only guide they needed.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Warm. Her body felt...warm. Warmer than usual. Even through the blaring and deafening sound of her alarm, she wanted to sink further into the comfort of her duvet covers. That dream was...very different from the usual.

A pleasant difference.

She didn’t feel confined or chained down by loneliness. The sea of stars of her dream opened up her world of possibilities, showering her heart with carefree wishes. The boy in her dreams...Did she see a similar sight with him before? Were their wishes and dreams the same, making the stars align so they could run together?

If only she could remember what his dreams were-

RING RING RING RING

Juliet, for once, wanted to dwell on her dreams longer, but it seemed like the world was pulling her back to reality. She blindly reached for her Rotom phone that she hid under her pillow and sleepily spoke in the receiver.

“Hello-”

“Jules!!! Where are you?! The train is going to leave in 15 minutes!!”

Train? 15 minutes?

Oh shit.

Juliet sprang up from her bed in a frenzy, darting to her bathroom to get ready as quickly as she could. She made a good call by packing up her things the night before, but even so, it wasn’t like her to be late for anything. Once she was sufficiently ready, she scooped up Pistachio from his bed, grabbed her suitcase and ran out the door in five minutes flat.

Somehow, she made it to Wyndon Station with two minutes to spare, her heart pounding in her ears that she didn’t notice her team calling out to her.

“Sorry, sorry! But, I’m here now, right?” Juliet huffed while taking generous gulps of air. Arceus, perhaps she should squeeze in a bit of cardio if a sprint took this much out of her.

“You’ve never been late to anything, though. You’re usually the first one to arrive before the scheduled time. Are you feeling OK?” Mary asked, eyes filled with concern. Their leader waved her hand in defence.

“I’m feeling great, actually! Minus the running part.”

“Still, don’t push yourself. The Opening Ceremony for the Gym Challenge is today and it wouldn’t do well if our leader wasn’t feeling up to it.”

The day had finally come. The annual Gym Challenge would finally be underway and then the Champion Cup right after. First day of the job, and the Raid Team had to be in Motostoke for rehearsals before the real thing kicked off in the evening. The thrill wouldn’t quite hit them until they stepped foot inside of the stadium for the very first time. They eagerly boarded the train headed to Motostoke, feeling the anticipation fill up in their chests as they watched the train pull out of the station until Wyndon was far off into the distance.

It was strange. As they watched the scenery pass by and change from the windows, they all felt like they were travelling to a brand new place like they’ve done during their travels together. The places they were going to visit over the course of the Gym Challenge were far from new, but it felt like they were a part of something bigger.

Something significant.

That feeling only seemed to grow when the steam coming from the cogs of Motostoke finally came into view, and the group marvelled at the banners and streamers that decorated the train station and all over the town.

It felt like the whole city came to life when they stepped out of the train station. People were crowded all over the streets, lined up in front of stalls selling official Gym Challenge merchandise. Some children were even dressed up as their favourite gym leaders. It hadn’t even started but the festive spirit was already in high gear.

“So this is what Galar is like during the Gym Challenge…” Tessu marveled in awe.

“Want me to ask one of those kids where they got their Raihan hoodie from so we can get one in your size?” Juliet nudged her elbow teasingly at Mary. Mary pouted with embarrassment and nudged back.

“What about you? I bet you want Leon’s cape.”

“That gaudy thing? No thanks.”

“Alright, ladies. Let’s try to navigate through this crowd so we can get to the stadium.” Vanquil suggested, already squeezing through the waves of people that walked through the congested streets.

The line up to the stadium was unsurprisingly long. Luckily one of the staff members of the stadium recognized them immediately and ushered them to the back entrance, away from the prying eyes of attendees who recognized them.

“Did you hear people whispering about us in the line?” Tessu alerted.

“Yeah. We did sort of hint to them of a big announcement on Pokegram. They must have put two and two together from seeing us here.” Vanquil replied back.

“I’m getting a bit nervous now…” Mary muttered.

“Well, you better put on a brave face because we’re about to see how many seats there are in the stadium.”

From concrete to astroturf, that field of the stadium stretched out wide in front of them, a preview of the sheer scale of the event and battles that would take place. Without the seats filled to the brim with roaring fans, they couldn’t help but feel small in such a wide open space.

Juliet couldn’t help but wander over to the centre of the field; the centre of the action. What was it like to stand on this field, with thousands of eyes fixated on your every move and command? Gyms in other regions didn’t have the same glamour or spectacle for the League as Galar did. Would it be more challenging because of that? Or would the cheers of support push challengers to their limit, to the point where they feel strong enough that they can take on the world?

Perhaps that was why challengers needed to be endorsed before they could take on the League – to acknowledge the determination and will to be the best.

“Jules!! We’re going to go over rehearsals now!!” Tessu shouted across the field.

“Coming!”

“And, that’s basically the gist of the Opening Ceremonies. Don’t worry about having to memorize anything since the cameras aren’t on us very often. Any questions?”

“I do. Why is the Dark Gym Leader, Piers, absent from the script?” Vanquil asked. The main host, Phil, crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat contemplatively.

“Ahh, he won’t make it today. He’s also a bit of a hard nut to crack. His Gym is the only one where you can’t Dynamax Pokemon. Every year Chairman Rose asks him if he wants to build a gym closer to a Power Spot, but the guy always turns down the offer.”

“Now that you mention it, we haven’t really visited Spikemuth before, right?”

“I passed by it once and it looks kind of...sketchy.” Juliet added while flipping through the script again for the 20th time. The town didn’t look very welcoming, for lack of a better word. Dark alleys, neon signs and lighting everywhere – it was the textbook definition of a place that people should avoid at all costs. But, it did have a certain aesthetic to it that lent itself well to being the location of the Dark-type Gym. And the fact that the Gym leader himself didn’t seem interested in Dynamax, it made the whole place exude a rebellious spirit.

Still, she wouldn’t want to visit there alone.

“But, you have to admit – there’s something kind of admirable about a Gym Leader who chooses to battle normally.” Tessu thought out loud.

“That’s true. He’s clearly a Gym Leader for a reason so he’s probably tough.” Phil agreed before getting up from his chair. “Even though Piers isn’t here, why don’t we go say hi to the other Gym Leaders before rehearsal starts?”

“They’re here?!” Mary squeaked.

“Of course! Follow me!”

Following Phil down the hall, they were already greeted by the Grass-type Gym Leader, Milo, who was chatting with Nessa outside in the hall. The farmer greeted the approaching group with a gentle smile and waved at them.

“Phil! It’s good to see you again. And who do you have there with you?”

“Likewise, Milo. These are my co-hosts! With each Gym Challenge getting bigger and popular as the years go on, I’m going to need some help so Chairman Rose hired these four to help me.”

“Is that so? It’s nice to meet you four. I’m Milo, the first Gym Leader and I specialize in Grass-type Pokemon.” Milo gestured to Nessa, who turned to face the group and smiled kindly at them.

“This is Nessa. The second Gym Leader who specializes in Water-type Pokemon.”

“It’s a pleasure. Don’t hesitate to ask us any questions if you have any, OK?” Nessa assured.

Milo and Nessa. The first two hurdles of the Gym Challenge. The farmer was exactly how everyone described him as. Gentle, laid-back, and had a refreshing aura that made you feel relaxed in his presence. Nessa, on the other hand, had a confident air around her that was a compliment to her beauty. Juliet had heard rumours of their rivalry, but Milo didn’t strike her as someone who responded to competitiveness as Nessa would. But for two Gym Leaders who looked and acted almost like polar opposites, they seemed to have a common ground.

“We will! Thank you, Nessa, Milo.” Juliet replied back.

“What’s going on over here?” A sharp voice interrupted. They all turned their heads to see the (tall) Dragon-type Gym Leader make his way over to him with his Rotom phone floating around him, as if ready to take a photo at any opportune time. His relaxed cyan eyes regarded them casually until his eyebrows raised in recognition at the Raid Team.

“Hey, I recognize you four! You’re the talk of the town when it comes to Max Raid Battles, right? What was your team called...Raid Prism, I think?”

As expected from the Gym Leader with the biggest online, and even real life presence. Literally and figuratively. He had a massive following on both Pokegram and Chatoter, where he often posts photos of his Pokemon or of himself. Especially himself. One might think he has an ego the size of a Wailord, but based on the tone of how he addressed their team, Raihan sounded humble and honest.

“That’s right! Wow, to be recognized by the great Raihan himself...” Vanquil chuckled bashfully.

“I’m no stranger to what’s trending online. I’ve seen a few of your recorded battles and I think anyone would be impressed by the things your team pulls off!” Raihan commanded his Rotom phone to float a little higher so he and Raid Prism were all in frame for the camera. “Let’s commemorate this first meeting with a selfie, yeah?”

“Mary, step out from behind me. You’re not in frame.” Tessu giggled, gently pushing the brunette aside so she wasn’t just timidly poking her head for the camera. Raihan looked at Mary from the camera screen and shot her a lazy smile.

“No need to be camera shy. I don’t bite.”

“Those teeth of yours beg to differ.” Juliet joked.

“Very funny. On the count of 3, say ‘Goomy’. 1, 2, 3, Goomy!”

“Goomy!”.

“And last but certainly not least, those who overcome all of these acclaimed Gym Leaders will have the honour of partaking in the Champion’s Cup – the final hurdle to see who will be the one to challenge Leon, the Undefeated Champion!” Rose rehearsed into the empty stadium.

“Annnnnnd, he’s not even here.” Tessu snickered away from her mic. Phil snorted and leaned into his microphone to offer a bit of humorous ad lib.

“The person you’re trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone.”

Some of the Gym Leaders out on the field doubled over in laughter as Rose rolled his eyes in amusement.

“That concludes the Opening Ceremony of the Gym Challenge. I wish all the challengers the best of luck on their journey and I hope to see you all again at the Champion Cup in Wyndon Stadium!”

“Wooooooooooooooo!” Raid Prism cheered into their mics while clapping their hands for makeshift applause. Once Rose and the Gym Leaders walked off of the field, they turned off their mics and let out a collective sigh of relief. It was a pretty straight-forward job and they were reading off of a script, but knowing that they would be talking over a stadium filled with thousands of people made their stomachs sink in anxiety. Especially knowing their fans would be watching them too.

“And, that’s the end of our rehearsal run. Good work, guys!” Phil complimented with a cheery grin, until he noticed the lack of response and tense expressions on their faces. “Whoa, are you guys OK?”

“Y-Yeah, I think the nervousness for the real thing is setting in.” Vanquil noted shakily.

“Don’t be nervous! Remember, everyone in those seats is here to have a good time. They’re not going to care how ‘professional’ you are – have fun with it and the audience will feel it too.”

“You’re right...Thanks, Phil.” Juliet thanked him. It wouldn’t do good for them to feed on each others’ anxiety, prompting her to relax in her seat to meditate and reflect as Phil went over some tweaks and adjustments to their performance. Mary needs to speak with confidence, Vanquil doesn’t need to project into the mic, Tessu needs to slow down, and she needs to talk a bit less – a reasonable fix, she thought, and something that she really needed to take to heart outside of work.

Suddenly the door to the broadcast room swung wide open, revealing an out-of-breath Leon, who was clutching on the door knob with his upper body hunched over. The poor guy looked like he just sprinted a mile.

“Easy there, Champion. Good to see you’ve finally made it.” Phil joked before tossing him a water bottle. The Champion stood upright in time to catch it, uncapping it and chugging the whole thing down in one go.

And then he realized which room he barged into.

“O-Oh, I thought this was the break room.” Leon stammered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Well, we’re about to head there now. Pizza should be here by now.” Upon hearing that, Juliet’s stomach began to growl, making her flush and look away from the heads that turned into her direction.

“...I didn’t eat breakfast, OK?” She briskly walked out of the door, almost missing the amused smirk that Leon wore on his face as she walked past him. He chuckled, catching up to her pace until he was walking beside her.

“Looks like I’m not the only one with a habit that hasn’t changed.” The Champion mentioned casually. Juliet blinked and looked at him questionably, until something within her triggered a familiar feeling that reminded her of what he was talking about. He had one hell of a memory.

She envied him.

“That was the only time I fainted. I’m surprised you even remembered.”

“Well, I was the one who caught you before you hit the ground.”

“You did? I think I remember my aunt scolding me for not taking better care of myself..Though, I can see her feeling bad for making a guest look out for me.” Thinking back, she faintly recall there being a stuck up family staying at the inn who were constantly demanding room service, or massages, or amenities. But, everything that happened after felt foggy in her mind.

Why?

But, the feeling of familiarity was there.

“I’d like to think I was more than just a ‘guest’ at that point.” Leon added with a chuckle.

“I suppose, but you have to admit, that whole thing of not telling each other our names was strange.” Even if she was the one who started it. She had her reasons and she was going to tell him one day. She owed him that much, even if it stung just thinking about it.

“It was a little strange, but I played along anyway. I figured you had your reasons and you don’t have to tell me why. If anything, I...kind of benefited from the alias too.” He revealed, a nostalgic yet far-off look in his golden eyes. Hearing that made her perk up, cobalt blue eyes meeting his gold with interest.

Guess she wasn’t the only one with a mountain of secrets. And even though she couldn’t unearth what was hiding in his eyes, she felt that they would tell each other in due time. But they had their respective jobs to do and if there’s a trait that they both shared, it was to keep private matters away from work.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Rose began, his voice booming through the filled stadium of ecstatic fans, hot spot lights, and colourful fireworks that lit up the stadium like a grand stage.

"I am Rose, chairman of the Pokémon League! I know that everyone gathered here...” He pointed to the various Rotom drones that were whizzing around him. "And everyone watching from home, have all been waiting for this big moment! It is my pleasure to announce that finally— the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin!"

The collective screams and cheers were deafening, and it felt like the stadium shook from excitement.

“We’ve made some exciting changes to this year’s Gym Challenge and we’ve even invited some very special guests that will surely make this challenge the most exciting one year yet! Allow me to introduce one of the top Max Raid teams of the Galar Region, Raid Prism!” The Chairman raised his arms towards the jumbotron screen behind him, unveiling Raid Prism’s four pointed star logo before the screen turned over to reveal the four of them in the broadcast room, waving to the camera with wide smiles on their faces.

“Good evening, Galar!!” Juliet greeted into the microphone. “It’s an honour to be here co-hosting for this year’s Gym Challenge. To all of our fans who are in the stands or at home watching, thank you for being here! And for those who don’t know us, my name is Juliet,”

“I’m Mary!”

“I’m Tessu!”

“And I’m Vanquil!”

“And we’re...” They connected their peace signs together to recreate their logo according to their respective colours. “Raid Prism!”

They weren’t expecting the chorus of cheers from the stands, or even those who switched their light sticks to their colours. It made them feel equally flattered, but perhaps even a bit embarrassed too. It’s not like they were well known enough by every day people to be recognized on the streets – so it was unknown to them how they would be approached. This moment dashed most of the worries that they had.

“Now, some of you are probably wondering, ‘who?’, and to that I say, fair enough.” Juliet joked. She was so relieved that a good amount of people in the audience had laughed at her ad lib. “Max Raids are becoming a popular pastime, and even sport, here in the Galar region, and I suggest you either follow us and all the other teams on Pokegram, to see what all the rage is about. But enough about us – let’s kick things off by introducing the acclaimed Gym Leaders of Galar!”

The main lights of the stadium turned off, only leaving a single bright spot light on to shine down on each Gym Leader, along with the endless stretch of light sticks that decorated the stadium like stars.

“Let’s welcome the first gym leader - the fighting farmer! Here’s the Grass-type expert, Milo!” Phil announced. Green fireworks shot through the air as Milo walked onto the stadium, waving to the sea of green glow sticks that were on just for him. One by one, the Gym Leaders made their grand entrance onto the field, all of them standing in a line which resulted in a flurry of colourful fireworks exploding over their heads.

“Unfortunately, we’re missing one, but...These are the Gym Leaders that we in the Galar region are proud to call our own!" Rose proclaimed proudly. “You may have noticed something different this year though, as instead of one Gym Leader per Gym, we’ve included both Gym Leaders for their respective Gyms. To make things more challenging and to push our challengers to the absolute limit, you’ll have to face Bea and Allister in the fourth Gym, and Gordie and Melony in the sixth Gym! Consider it preparation for when you’ll face off Raihan, the master of double battles and the final hurdle of the Gym Challenge.”

“And once trainers have conquered all eight gyms and collected all eight badges,” Juliet began.

“They will have to put their skills to the test for the greatest challenge of them all,” Tessu followed.

“The Champion Cup is where the true battle begins,” Mary added.

“Only the most worthy will have the honour of challenging the greatest Champion in history!” Vanquil ended, giving a signalling nod to Phil and the tech crew.

“He who holds the honour of Champion for the 13th year in a row, please welcome your Champion, the King of Kings, Leon!!” Phil announced with a flourish. The centre of the stadium sparked with confetti and smoke, revealing Leon in all of his majestic glory once the smoke cleared. The crowd went absolutely wild, men and women alike screaming at the top of their lungs for their Champion, and children waving their light sticks wildly as they jumped out of their seats. He flashed his cape around before striking his signature pose towards the night sky, sending a final grand explosive firework into the heavens.

“A few words for our challengers, Leon?” Rose asked. Leon turned to the challengers that stood on the opposite side of the field from him and the Gym Leaders. His eyes wandered over to each of them, scoping out the young trainers who aimed to knock the crown off of his head. He shot a quick smile to Hop, who waved eagerly at him when their eyes met. And then there was his best friend, a short haired brunette girl who nodded confidently when his eyes fell on her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, face to face, in this setting, but keep in mind that only one of you will get to face me on the battlefield. That being said, I expect great things from all of you and your Pokemon. Strengthen your bonds with your Pokemon, believe in them so they will believe in you, and each of you can soar to greater heights! I look forward to seeing which one of you will stand on the other side of the field at Wyndon Stadium for the Champion Cup!”

“That concludes the Opening Ceremony of the Gym Challenge. I wish all the challengers the best of luck on their journey and I hope to see you all again at the Champion Cup!” Rose concluded, followed by a few more bursts of fireworks.

And thus, the Gym Challenge finally begins...

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Chapter 3: The First Step

“Great job, you guys! That was even better than rehearsals!” Phil praised as he delivered hi-fives to each of them. The four slumped in their seats, feeling the adrenaline as a result from the spectacle simmering down in their systems. The event was nothing short of magical thanks to all the pizazz and fireworks, but it was certainly draining for their first day.

“Haha, I’m not surprised that you guys are tired. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” Phil gathered up their scripts, straightened them out, before pulling out a new outline with a green cover. “With the Opening Ceremony out of the way, the challengers will be making their way through the first three gyms, which usually takes up about a month at most. But, I’ll save the details for later when it matters. For now, we’ll need to meet up at Turffield on the 7th, which is a day or two before we should expect challengers.”

“And is there a cut off date for challengers?” Juliet asked.

“We try to give challengers as much time as they can since every trainer is different, but the main organizers are in charge of monitoring the progress of each challenger and will give them warnings if they’re falling behind. We don’t want to rush them, but there’s still a general schedule we need to follow.” Phil’s smile widened as he looked over the outline. “I think you guys will like the sound of this. Since the League has been working hard on trying to expand its audience to other regions, they’re implementing a segment where we get to ‘participate’ in the gyms to see how they function. So, for Milo’s Gym, we’ll be going up against each other to see who can herd the Wooloo the fastest and it will be recorded and televised.”

“That sounds like fun!” Tessu exclaimed.

“I feel like Mary has an edge in this though.” Vanquil snickered. Mary laughed nervously and fiddled with her brown curls. Just as Juliet worked at the Battle Cafe on the side, Mary worked at the Daycare Centre on Route 5 so working with all kinds of Pokemon, baby or not, was second nature to her. Sometimes Pokemon were naturally drawn to her like she was their mom and more often than not, whenever they were looking for Raids in the Wild Area, many wild Pokemon would end up following them. It was definitely an easy way to catch Pokemon, but not so much if the Pokemon belonged to a family already since that could turn into a violent encounter.

They don’t speak of the run-in with the very angry mother Bewear.

“Sure, but I’m not exactly athletic.” Mary countered.

“Yeah, but I think the Wooloo will come to you, instead of you going to the Wooloo.” Juliet retorted playfully. “But that sounds like a great idea! I think it’ll also give viewers a chance to get to know the Gym Leaders outside of Pokemon battles.” Herding Wooloo...Now that was something she didn’t know she needed on her bucket list. She couldn’t help but giggle from just imagining a bunch of Wooloo rolling around and knocking into everything in sight. Was Wooloo Bowling a thing? That could make for an interesting new sport all together.

After briefing over some final details of the outline, Phil dismissed them, only to be invited for drinks by Raihan and some of the other Gym Leaders. Mary and Juliet weren’t one for drinking so Tessu and Vanquil accepted the invitation while they headed to Budew Inn to stay for the night. On their way there, Juliet was not expecting to be tackled and hugged from behind by a very excited Hop. She barely caught herself before she could fall face flat into the ground.

“Juliet! Long time no see!!” He cheered. Juliet laughed and turned around to hug the boy properly, only to be surprised at how much he had grown. He was at her height now! Ignoring the disappointing reminder of her height, she casually ruffled a hand through his hair like she had done all those years ago.

“Hey Hop! Look at how tall you’ve gotten. I’m a little jealous.”

“Heh, I’ve been training hard so I can be as tall as Lee!”

“Looks like you’ll have no problem getting there at this rate. This is my best friend, Mary.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Hop! Good luck with the Gym Challenge!” Mary encouraged with a gentle smile.

“Thanks! I hope you two will root for me!”

“Hop!! No fair!” The short haired brunette from the Opening Ceremony, panted as she caught up with him. Hop snickered and puffed out his chest, standing proudly in front of his heaving best friend as if he had just won a marathon.

“You’ll have to train harder to catch up to me, Glo!”

“Hmph. I still beat you the other day in a battle.” She pouted.

“Beginner’s luck.” Hop shrugged off. “This is my best friend and rival, Gloria!”

“Nice to meet you, Juliet and Mary. Hop has actually mentioned you, Juliet, a few times before in the past.” Gloria mentioned casually, making Hop turn away bashfully. Juliet couldn’t help but smile at that. Hop was probably around 8 years old when he and his brother came to Hoenn, and how he followed them everywhere and would throw a fit if he wasn’t included whenever she and Leon hung out. The details were still hazy to her, but it felt right. She could faintly recall the cheerfulness she felt during those times and that’s what she relied on.

She wondered if Hop looked up to her like an older sister?

Juliet raised an eyebrow with interest. “Oho, did he now? Aww, I’m flattered you missed me, lil bro.”

“I mean, me and Lee had a lot of fun in Hoenn thanks to you! Heck, when we came home, Lee spent days writing a letter to you.”

Letter...? What letter? Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so surprised since she didn’t have a cellphone or a computer that she could have used to keep in touch with him so letters were the next best thing even if it lacked convenience. But, she didn’t recall receiving anything from him and if she did, her aunt would have definitely told her? She honestly felt a little guilty now, knowing that he wrote something for her to keep in touch but didn’t get a response back because it got lost in the mail or something.

“Ahh, there you guys are! You’re both faster than you look.” Leon called out as he ran up to them. Juliet made a mental note to ask about the letter in detail later and maybe even apologize for not doing more to keep in touch. He tipped his hat at Juliet and Mary. “Good evening, ladies. Awesome job on your first day!”

“Thanks, Champ. You’re not going to get hammered like the others?”

“I have a couple of meetings in the morning so that wouldn’t be a good idea.” He laughed. “Besides, I want to make sure these two get some sleep before they set off on their journey.”

“Whaaaat? It’s still so early though!” Hop complained.

“Hopscotch, trust me, you’ll thank me later.” Just to make sure his brother did listen to him, he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, chuckling as Hop protested to put him down. Gloria giggled at the sight and ignored Hop’s pleas for help until he eventually accepted his fate with his arms crossed over his brother’s shoulder. There was something warmly nostalgic about watching the brothers fool around with each other.

“Some things never change...” Gloria sighed.

“...I agree.” Juliet smiled nostalgically.

She’s running, the once starlit sky fading back into black, the boy who was running right next to her nowhere to be found. He was right there! Right next to her! Where did he go? Her frantic footsteps rang hollowly in her ears as she desperately tried to reach for someone – anyone. Calling out for the boy only to be answered with nothing but her own heavy breathing.

She trips, stumbling onto the ground, wincing from the cold, hard ground that dug into her knees. She feebly tries to get up, praying that someone would be there with their hand out if she lifted her head.

But there was no one.

She curls up, hugging her knees to her chest.

Why was she always left behind?

Rather than being woken up by the blaring sound of an alarm clock, she felt someone shaking her awake. The gesture becoming stronger as she slowly regains consciousness. Opening her tear filled eyes, she could barely make out the worried faces of her friends hovering over her. Blinking away the tears, she pulled herself up from her bed, despite how heavy her heart felt in her chest.

“I’m fine, guys. Just another bad dream.”

“You’ve been getting a lot of those lately. Are you sure you’re OK?” Mary asked with concerned eyes. Juliet breathed shakily and pressed her fingers against her temple. No, she wouldn’t say she was OK if she was being honest. But, at the same time, her recurring nightmares were part of her everyday life so perhaps it was just a normal thing for her – she wasn’t a dream expert so what did she know. Besides, every so often she would have a happier dream. A glimmer of light in the midst of darkness.

“Dreams are just dreams. Lately mine haven’t been so...cheery but I try not to think about them.” Juliet forced a carefree smile and hoped that the tell tale twitch in the corner of her lips wasn’t a dead give-away of her facade.

“If you say so...We won’t force you to say things you don’t feel comfortable sharing, but you know you can count on us, right?” Tessu reassured, offering her a steaming cup of her favourite tea. Juliet nodded and gratefully took the offered drink and sipped it slowly.

She would tell them soon. She had to.

“Anyway, we have a big day today! We’re going to be heading to Turffield to shoot the first challenge for the variety show so let’s try to have fun today!”

Turffield was lush with rolling hills and tilled fields – a stark contrast to the dome shaped stadium that stood in the centre of the idyllic town. Besides the stadium bringing in tourists from all over, the hill that stood on the west side of town was an attraction that held mysterious origins of what was depicted.

But, sightseeing could wait.

Arriving at the Grass Stadium, Raid Prism and Phil were instructed to don specially made outfits specifically for the show that consisted of a t-shirt in their respective colours, navy blue overalls and white gloves. The attire was simple and comfortable, but Juliet couldn’t help but feel a little sheepish considering her impression of farmers often consisted of them wearing their hair in braids, as she does every day.

Though, that didn’t really matter since she thought it was a nice change from her usual casual attire.

“Welcome to my gym, everyone!” Milo greeted with a gentle smile. The gym itself was rather linear initial glance. The floor was completely covered in grass with bales of hale scattered throughout as either obstacles or decorations, on top of electric sign boards that displayed a counter. And of course, there were herds of Wooloo that were milling about and doing their own thing as the trainers of the gym were setting things up with the camera crew.

“Thank you for having us!” They replied in unison.

“Of course. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever been put on camera for something like this so I’m feeling a little flustered right now.” Milo admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I think we’re all pretty new to this.” Phil chuckled and turned to Raid Prism. “What about you guys? I imagine this is pretty different from live streaming.”

“We definitely don’t have this kind of budget or staff and we don’t really have any scripted content since Max Raid battles are very much real and unpredictable.” Tessu started.

“But, since this is a variety program and it's about us getting to know the Gym Leaders and experiencing the gyms, I think the important thing is to just act natural.” Juliet ended. It was reassuring knowing that they didn’t have to act with any sort of script unlike many ‘reality’ programs out there that are actually scripted to stir up drama or drive the narrative into a specific direction. Still, knowing that they were going to be viewed by people outside of their fanbase was nerve-wracking because who knows if they were entertaining enough for televised programs like this.

Juliet lost count of how many times she subconsciously touched her hair when she stepped out of the dressing room just to make sure nothing was sticking out that would make her appear sloppy.

“Alright! Listen up everyone!” The director ordered. Everyone in the gym dropped what they were doing and perked their heads up attentively to the director. He held a rolled up magazine in his hand and smacked it against an open palm before pointing it at Milo. The farmer tensed up despite the director shooting him a wide toothy grin.

“Relax, mate. I may be the director, but I don’t want any one of you to be tense, alright? We’re going to open up the program with you, Milo, and you’re going to introduce your gym as if you were greeting a challenger. Feel free to throw in some facts about yourself like how long you’ve been a Gym Leader, your goals, etc.” The director then directed his rolled up magazine at Raid Prism and Phil.

“You’ll then welcome Raid Prism and Phil, explain the rules of your gym and the challenge will start. Any questions?”

“Is there a prize for the winner?” Vanquil asked cheekily.

The director snorted at the question and shrugged casually. “Bragging rights.”

“Take 12, And...action!”

“Welcome to Turffield Stadium! I’m Milo, the Grass-type Gym Leader. Here at my gym, challengers will have to make it through this course by herding Wooloo to each check point, until they reach the end to battle me. As you can see from the course, there’s obstacles and trainers scattered throughout that will break the Wooloos formation so make sure all Wooloo are accounted for at each checkpoint! But, for this special program, our challengers for today don’t need to battle any of the trainers. These Wooloo are a bit unruly to deal with but they’re friendly all the same!” Milo turned to Raid Prism and Phil.

“I have some special guests here today to experience what my gym is all about in a friendly competition. Phil, Raid Prism, thank you for coming!”

“Thank you for letting us get a first hand experience of what your gym is all about. I have to ask though, as a seasoned farmer as yourself, what advice would you give us for herding Wooloo?” Phil questioned. Milo hummed and tapped his cheek thoughtfully at the question.

“That’s a good question! I think keeping a cool head is important. Wooloo are generally obedient, but if you freak out, they’ll freak out too.”

“Juliet, you’re pretty chill and relaxed so I think you have the advantage.” Vanquil noted, nudging his elbow into her side.

Juliet rolled her eyes and shooed his elbow away. Being laid back only got her so far and for an activity such as herding Wooloo, pure adrenaline alone could stress her out. Not to mention she had poor stamina and endurance so she’ll probably end up feeling extremely sore tomorrow. She silently cursed herself for not working out a bit more for today’s shoot.

“My stamina is not very good though. Like we talked about before, I think Mary has the upper hand because Pokemon are naturally drawn to her.”

“I don’t know if kindness is enough to win, though...” Mary retorted hesitantly, averting her eyes away from the camera.

“You do you, Mary! Think back to the classic story of the Buneary and the Turtwig. Turtwig won the race by doing its own thing.” Tessu added optimistically.

“Haha, I like the way you think! Every challenger I battle brings something different to the table so I look forward to seeing how you’ll herd Wooloo in your own ways. Who wants to go first?” Milo asked. Juliet looked at her team, who all looked at her expectantly. She then turned to Phil, who shrugged as if to say ‘You or I could go first’.

Luckily it didn’t matter who went first since no one could see what the person was doing, therefore no one got the advantage of working around the other person’s mistakes. Juliet stepped forward and raised her hand. “I guess I’ll go first!”

“Great! To keep things even and fair, everyone else will be wearing blindfolds and headphones in a different room so no one will know what the other person did until the big reveal at the end!” Milo explained as the others were ushered off camera and Juliet stood in position. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head and carefully watched the herd of Wooloo waiting for her on the other side of the gate.

“Are you ready, Juliet?”

“Ready!”

“3, 2, 1...GO!”

Juliet burst through the gates, almost startling the Wooloo, but obediently rolled along her path through the first course and to the first checkpoint. There were no obstacles which offered no trouble to the 20 Wooloo that had to be herded so it was a decent enough of a tutorial for what’s to come. Trainers were omitted from their challenge but that meant there would be more obstacles to hinder their progress. Once the counter registered 20 Wooloo, they all collectively smashed into the barrels of hay, revealing the next area of the course.

“It really is like Wooloo bowling!” Juliet remarked. She could hear Milo laugh at her comment on the sidelines, along with the camera crew that were running alongside her, capturing her every move. A Yamper suddenly jumped out from the left, causing the Wooloo to roll out of formation away from the electric puppy.

“Uh oh.” She muttered to herself, looking around for any sort of stick or object to distract the Yamper with. She then looked at her hand and yanked off one of her gloves and threw it in the opposite direction for the Yamper to chase after. Luckily, it took the bait and scampered to retrieve the glove while she cooed the Wooloo back into positions so they could reach the next checkpoint.

“Things will get a bit trickier from here but good luck!” Milo called out. Looking ahead, she got an idea of what he meant. The path split into three, with two Yampers occupying two of the paths. It wasn’t a simple solution of herding through the empty path when both Yampers came running towards her, barking and breaking through the Wooloo in two different groups. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She only had one glove left so she would only be able to distract one of the Yampers, and there was still another section after to get through.

She opted to herd half of the Wooloo since she was already wasting time pondering over tactics. She looked back to see the two Yampers chasing the other half of the Wooloo in circles which gave her an idea. Once the half of the herd were at the checkpoint, she brought her ungloved hand to her lips and a loud whistle rang out, making the Yampers perk up from the sound and stop chasing the remaining Wooloo.

“Come here, boys!” She whistled again and patted her knees to get their attention. Their tails waggled excitedly, running towards her and herding the other half of the Wooloo to the checkpoint. She sighed in relief at the unorthodox idea and readied herself to complete the final stretch, but not before being jumped by both Yampers.

“H-Hey! Not now! I’ll play with you guys later!!” The Yampers offered a few more face licks before crawling off of her and scurrying back to their original positions. Juliet groaned, wiping the slobber off of her face with her sleeve and choosing to ignore the chuckles that came from the crew.

“You’re almost at the end! Keep it up!” Milo encouraged.

The Wooloo broke through the hay barrier, and Juliet swore under her breath from the final course. There were now three Yampers and rather than there being linear paths, it was broken up unevenly by different barriers.

“Is this herding Wooloo or playing tag with Yampers?!” She breathed out exasperatedly.

“That’s what herding with Wooloo is like! Sometimes you have to herd them away from train tracks, wild Pokemon, and other hazards!”

“You got your work cut out for you, I’ll give you that, Milo!” Despite her pounding heart and heaving chest, she pushed forward and despite the Yampers breaking up the Wooloo into smaller groups, she traversed through the winding path with the few Wooloo that stuck with her. Ordering the small group to stay at the checkpoint, she tried her previous strategy of whistling to the Yampers.

They didn’t listen and continued to chase the Wooloo throughout the course. If the Yampers weren’t going to come to her, she would have to go to them.

“If they want to play tag, let’s play tag!” Taking a moment to catch her breath, Juliet sprinted towards the Yampers with her arms outstretched as if she was going to scoop them up in her arms. They scurried away from her, nearly crashing into each other as they ran towards the checkpoint with the remaining Wooloo rolling away in front of them.

Hey, if there wasn’t a rule against Yampers helping her herd, she was going to take advantage of that instead of working against the rowdy puppies. The Wooloo crashed into the final barriers of hay and rolled into their respective pens at the finish line, signalling the end of the challenge with an air horn that blared across the course. Juliet slumped to her knees in exhaustion, grimacing at the sweat that rolled down her forehead and back.

That was...a lot more tiring than she expected. She did not envy Milo’s job at all, even if he gained those strong arms and legs in the process.

She’ll stick to doing light jogs and archery.

Juliet barely acknowledged his presence when he wrapped a clean towel around her neck and offered her a water bottle. “Great job out there! You definitely know how to think quickly under pressure.”

“Aha...Thanks, Milo. But, I think your patience is second to none if you can do this kind of work daily.”

The farmer chuckled and sheepishly scratched his cheek. “You’re giving me a bit too much credit. It takes a lot of training to build up the stamina for this kind of work, but with discipline and training, you can get to where I am as well.”

“Good point, but I think I’ll leave the farmer's life to you.”

“And cut! Great work, you two!”

“And the winner of the Grass Gym Challenge...With a time of 6 minutes and 45 seconds...Congratulations, Mary!”

“Huh?! I did that well?!”

“See, we knew you could do it!” Tessu exclaimed. Vanquil and Juliet looked over at Phil, who was slumped over from having the longest time, putting him in last place. They offered him a reassuring pat on the back in solidarity.

“Even though there isn’t a grand prize for winning, please accept my Rare League Card for your victory!” Milo reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny holographic card that depicted him cuddling with a Wooloo. Mary timidly accepted the card, still looking a bit dumbfounded by the results.

“Let’s replay Mary’s footage for the other challengers!”

As expected, upon stepping out of the gates, Mary gently cooed and coaxed the Wooloo to her and lightly jogged them to the checkpoints. When it came to the Yampers, their rowdiness were almost non-existent in her presence, choosing to either follow her or steer clear of the Wooloo.

It was a pure and wholesome display of how slow and steady wins the race.

Or perhaps, kindness and patience wins the race?

“Pokemon Whisperer.” The group, beside Mary, uttered in unison.

“You guys!”

“Well, that was something.” Juliet sighed tiredly. By the end of the shoot, the sun dipped into the horizon, casting the entire farming town into a gentle orange glow. Phil had excused himself for the rest of the evening, leaving Raid Prism on their own to explore the town if they wanted before they would have to rest up for the upcoming days of commentating for the Grass Gym. They decided to check out the giant geoglyph on the west side of town before it got dark. It was like a massive piece of art, with the hill being used as a canvas to depict a historical scene that was said to be about the Dynamax Phenomenon.

“Oh! I didn’t expect to see you guys here.” Sonia called out. The group turned their heads to see the Professor assistant with her faithful Yamper by her side, along with Gloria and Hop. Her Yamper scampered over to the team, receiving greeting pats from each of them before going back to Sonia’s side.

“Hey Sonia! Out researching?” Vanquil greeted. Sonia put a hand on her hip and twirled a finger through her hair thoughtfully.

“That’s right. I came to check out the geoglyph here and thought I’d give these two a bit of a history lesson on what’s known about it.”

“Mind if we listen in? We aren’t from Galar so we don’t know too much either.” Tessu asked.

“I don’t mind!” Sonia cleared her throat. The Raid team stepped aside to allow the assistant to stand in front of the railing, front and center of the imposing geoglyph that was etched into the grassy hill.

“The geoglyph is said to represent Dynamax and ‘The Darkest Day’. A long time ago...a great black storm covered the Galar region. Giant Pokémon ran rampant... But what was that black storm they called ‘the Darkest Day’? What connection does it have to Dynamax? Especially considering Pokemon can still Dynamax even though the storm has been gone for about 3000 thousand years. Except we can control it for the most part thanks to the Wishing Stars embedded in Dynamax bands.” Sonia’s eyebrows furrowed in mild frustration from the theories that brought about more questions than answers. “What do you all think?”

Juliet hummed, deep in thought. “If I got this right, Dynamax came about from the Darkest Day?”

“That’s what we think, yes.”

“So, I guess the big question to the big picture is what caused the Darkest Day to happen and how.”

“Maybe we can try to catch a Celebi and ask it to take you back 3000 years. It’d be a huge research breakthrough.” Vanquil joked.

“I wish. Trying to find a Celebi would just add to my workload.” Sonia giggled, waving off the sarcastic offer.

“The longer I look at it, doesn’t the Pokemon look like a Toxtricity?” Gloria chimed in.

Huh. Looking at it closely, the figure did have the characteristics of a Toxtricity. But there was something slightly different about it. Squinting, at the tail of the Pokemon specifically, it reminded Juliet a lot of a Gigantamax Toxtricity, except it was standing on upright rather than on all fours. Evolutionary changes, perhaps?

“The tail specifically makes it look like a Gigantamax Toxtricity. But, it’s not standing on all fours like the ones we’ve found in the Wild Area.” Juliet added. Sonia’s eyes lit up from the observations and quickly pulled out a notepad to jot down notes.

“Interesting! That doesn’t exactly answer any questions to the origins of the Darkest Day, but now it makes me curious on why Toxtricity was chosen to be depicted, and in this form. Whether there’s a deeper meaning behind that, I’ll have to look into as well but I definitely feel motivated to do more research in the other towns! Thanks for the input, everyone.” She turned to Hop and Gloria. “And good luck with the Gym challenge, you two!”

“Good luck with your research, Sonia!” Juliet waved to the assistant. Sonia shot her a thankful grin before following her loyal Yamper down the hill.

Watching Sonia descend down the hill, the team turned to the young Gym Challengers with tired smiles on their faces. Knowing what the Gym Challengers would have to go through on their first gym, they couldn’t help but feel a little nervous for them. Maybe they would have an easier time because of their youthful vigor? Then again, they had the trainers and Milo to worry about as well.

“So, how are you two feeling? Ready to take on the very first gym?” Vanquil asked. Hop perked up excitedly from the switch in topic to the Gym Challenge. Probably not much of a history fan or he had trouble wrapping his head around what Sonia was talking about. It was a lot to take in so they couldn’t blame the trainer especially when the highly anticipated Gym Challenge was now underway.

“I’m more than ready! I’m finally taking the first steps into following my brother!”

“We’ll see about that.” Gloria challenged. Something shone in Hop’s eyes at that, making him pull out a Pokeball and thrusting it towards his childhood friend. Gloria answered his challenge with a Pokeball of her own. The air suddenly grew tense, and Raid Prism were prepared to deliver impromptu commentary to the battle between young rivals-

Until the sound of gurgling came from Hop and Gloria’s stomachs.

Lying in bed at the inn, Juliet lay on her bed, fully awake with her mind swimming in thoughts about the Darkest Day and Dynamax. Despite the physical workout from herding Wooloo, the image of the geoglyph kept her mind distracted from drifting off.

It seemed the world didn’t want her to sleep, her phone vibrating from receiving a text. Turning over in her bed, she blindly reached for her Rotom phone she hid under her pillow. After letting her eyes adjust to the bright screen, she opened up the messenger window to see a text from Leon.

Raising an eyebrow out of curiosity as to why he was still up, she started texting him back.

Leon: Hey Juliet. thanks for taking care

of my brother and Gloria in Turffield.

he didn't cause you guys any trouble did he?

Juliet: Np, and no he didn’t. he’s really

excited about the first gym

Leon: I know lol he's been texting me

non-stop about it

Leon: I hope he's going to be ok

Juliet: oh? big bro doubting his little bro?

Leon: Doubt isn't the word I’d use but

Leon: I just don’t want him to push

himself too hard you know?

Leon: Sorry I just realized that I'm probably

keeping you up

Juliet: It’s fine. I’m having trouble sleeping

anyway.

Juliet: If it makes you feel any better,

I’ll keep an eye on him since our

team is commentating the gym

challenge anyway

Juliet: So I can see his progress and how

he’s battling

Leon: Thanks. I appreciate it. I’m going

to try to make it to his battles but it’s hard

with my schedule

Juliet: it's the thought that counts

but I'd remind him every now and

again that you’re always supporting him

Juliet: That's what I would do

Leon: Yeah. It's the least that I could do

Leon: Sometimes I wish I had more time to

spend with my family and friends

Juliet: The champion life sounds hard

but It's ok to have those days

Leon: You think so?

Juliet: Of course. you’re only human

Leon. You’re allowed to be stressed.

It doesn’t matter how much you love

your job – sometimes it’ll feel like work

Leon: ...thank you

Leon: Hearing that makes me feel a lot

better

Juliet: Any time champ. Cut yourself

some slack. You’re worried about

Hop pushing himself too hard but I think

you're pushing yourself too hard

Leon: Well there's not much I can do

about that with my workload

Leon: But I'll try

Juliet: Good

Juliet: Now go to sleep. Can’t give

your fans a champion time with bags

under your eyes

Leon: Ha ha

Juliet: Actually, one more thing

Leon: Yeah?

Juliet: Hop mentioned something

about you writing a letter to me

when you came back from vacation

from Hoenn. What’s that about?

For some reason, he took awhile to type out his response even though his response was rather curt and short. Maybe he had trouble remembering it himself?

Leon: Oh

Leon: That

Leon: Don’t worry about it

Juliet: ??? Well now I can’t with

a suspicious response like

that. Spill

Leon: It was nothing!! It was so long

ago that I don’t really remember

Juliet: Liar

Leon: I mean it! OK good night

Juliet snorted. Did she make him flustered? That was a first. Whatever the illusive letter was about, it probably made him cringe thinking about it. She shoved her phone back under her pillow and sighed into the darkness of her suite. No time for family and friends. Feeling like you aren’t allowed to be stressed because of the privileges of being Champion...

“I wonder...if there are people who have said bad things about him, does he know? And how does he deal with it...” She buried her face into a spare pillow, but not being able to shake off the blurry image of the Leon she knew from back then. How long had she kept the memories of that time locked away? And why did it take seeing him again trigger pieces of that memory to come back?

It was almost like...She was forgetting something important. Significant. Whatever it was, she couldn’t for the life of her remember why it was important either. But, it felt like something was mixing up what she knew from her past.

Maybe she was going crazy.

Groaning in defeat, she turned over on her stomach and forced her mind to shut up so she could finally drift into the unconscious.

And hope a pleasant dream was waiting for her.

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #swsh #champion leon #fanfic #jewels art

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smolbeandrabbles · 4 years ago

Text

Selfish Pt.7 - Sheriff of Nottingham x Reader (Robin Hood 2018)

@wltz-bby @happyskywhale #mendotagsquad

@themadtarkantaur - Thank you for your patience 💙💜

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

Author’s Note: Welcome back! It’s been a while! The last time I wrote for Sheriff was that *chef’s kiss* unrepeatable masterpiece Young God. The last time we saw these two in this series was January 13th... So yeah, overdue doesn’t even really cover it. BUT! We’re back with our Norse Shield Maiden and she’s no longer a third person reader insert! From this part we’re jumping right into 2nd person.

TBH, it feels so good to put a banner back up there - it’s been way too long!

Disclaimer: Robin Hood has nothing to do with me / a lot of this series is now probably going to be shaped by conversations I’ve had with @mendelskrull / lyrics not mine

Premise: The time has finally come for you to be married, and for him to show you off to the world. Your marriage may come with rules and responsibilities, but promises power and influence to enact your own Agenda...

Words: 8452

Warnings: Slight swears / Sheriff’s past is a regularly recurring theme (don’t wanna give it an abuse TW tag, It’s a little subtler this round) /

______

Don't ever say your lonely Just lay your problems on me And i'll be waiting there for you The stars can be so blinding When you get tired of fighting You know the one you can look to I know its been a long night but now I'm here it's alright I don't mind walking in your shoes We'll take each step together, til you come back to center You know that i know the real you And when the vision you have gets blurry You don't have to worry i'll be your eyes That's the least i can cause when i fell You pulled me through So you know that I'll carry you, i'll carry you, i'll carry you So you know that I'll carry you, i'll carry you, i'll carry you Like you've been running for hours and can't catch your breath The demons are screaming so loud in your head Your tired you're broken you're cut and you're bruised But nothings to heavy just hold on, i'll carry you

---

This wasn’t really the wedding you had envisioned. You’d watched many friends of yours, and even you eldest brother, marry. Yet even the smallest weddings back home didn’t involve only four people.

When the Sheriff had asked you if you would let him be yours, you thought it might be a city-wide affair, perhaps even his jurisdiction wide affair. It wasn’t. It was you and he and Tuck in a room, with Marcus to witness, and a contract that said you were married. You wondered if official ink to parchment would really have the Sheriff changing his ways, or if it would all be the same still.

The day before you had gone to the Friar in the strictest confidence: “Well, Y/N, all I can really tell you is he’s not been to confessional since the last time you saw him. And I swear on it now, that wasn’t to do with infidelity.” “Then what?!” Although Wil has already told you this, you thought hearing from someone who didn’t literally spin rhetoric for a living might set things straight. Tuck seemed to indicate to Nottingham as a whole, “What with the crusades still raging so far away people are getting anxious. They want answers he doesn’t have... he needs you.” Tuck took your shoulders gently, “He needs you more than he realises he does, in fact our Sheriff will need all the supposed he can get.” “Do you think I should marry him?” “Do you have a choice? He and your father made an agreement... I don’t see a way out of this that doesn’t end in you going home; unless that’s what you aim to do?” Tuck looked concerned for a minute. He himself wasn’t ready to lose your influence on the Sheriff. “No...” It was quiet and unsure, but you knew that running away would help nothing. You’d already given yourself to him, and Wil was trying... you knew he was trying. But was trying enough? You thought about the cross-cross of scars on his back and the way that he acted in Church... about the kind of woman it would take to handle that. About what Wil must have thought of you to tell you all that he had. Not like a man who didn’t care. He’d given you control of Nottingham’s defences. He didn’t ACT like someone who wanted you to be the good obedient silent wife by his side, useful only to bare him children. Wil knew that’s not what he would be getting out of you as it was, not with your Norse heritage. If he was using you for your skills... then at least he was giving you freedom and something you wanted, that you actually enjoyed. You didn’t have to keep yourself trapped in the palace all day every day. You shook your head. “I can’t turn my back on him now.” You would have come so far, and for what? You were here to marry him. Perhaps when that was fulfilled you would know a different man. Your parents always said everything is different when you’re married... but you weren’t sure there was ever any indication it was positive. Still, as you stood beside him and Tuck read out some verses for you to repeat – in all honesty you had no idea what you were saying, just that they sounded vaguely like vows – you couldn’t help but feel the nervous knots in your stomach. This wasn’t a real marriage; heck it wasn’t even a real wedding. But you were convincing yourself that it was one. This certificate would tell the Church you were married. It’d tell The King you were married… and your family… But that wasn’t what was really happening. The Sheriff was fulfilling a contractual obligation. He’d made your father a promise, and Wil was making good on that. You on the other hand weren’t even sure anything would change. But you hoped against hope that it would… That he would love you, exactly as he had done before. The fact that it wasn’t a ‘real’ wedding also explained why Askel wasn’t present, although you supposed that he would go mad knowing that you’d done this in relative secrecy. You were also aware of what he’d report back to your father, and you weren’t sure you wanted that eventuality either. It didn’t last long and there were no rings. Yet there was also no hesitation in the Sheriff’s signature as he flowed the quill neatly across the parchment, before handing it to you with a sweet smile. A smile that made your heart skip, and you shivered as his hand touched yours; and then you thought if you hesitated… what would that mean? How would Wil react to such a thing? You didn’t want to hurt him; he’d been through enough… But you were signing away your life here. Potentially your freedom too, although you doubted it. Why would he give you so much only to take it away now? The quill scratched across the parchment with your own name – which gave you your own pause. Did you get a title now? Did you take his name? Did it feel right for either in such a strange setting. You looked to Marcus – and the look on his face. How excited he was – it surprised you, and coupled with how eagerly he took the quill from you to witness, you found yourself smiling again. You took a deep breath; this was the start of your real journey. The prospect, the very inference, of being married to him carried with it responsibility. You were determined to live up to it. Askel wasn’t just mad. He was outraged, and you were glad your new husband was attending to official duties when he caught you. Even gladder that no one else in the palace would have had as good a grip on Norse as you, considering the insults that were being traded: “-ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?! HOW COULD YOU JUST GO AND GET MARRIED!?! HOW CAN YOU JUST SWEAR YOURSELF TO A GOD LIKE THEIRS!?!” “THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR!! THAT’S WHAT OUR FATHER AGREED TO!” “If he KNEW what he’d agreed to, you wouldn’t have been getting married. Why can’t he give you a REAL wedding? What, he doesn’t want all of Nottingham there?! Or the whole jurisdiction lining the streets-!? That’s how it SHOULD be!!” “Well maybe we will!!” “That’s a load of shit – you don’t even know what you’ve got yourself into, Y/N! You should have come to ME!” “So you could tell me NO!? So you could go to our father-!?! Wil is opening the trade ways, I’ve seen the official notifications for the beginnings of our people trading here!” Another tick in the box for the Sheriff, as that was also a part of the deal made; “Why are you acting like this-!?! Like my feelings don’t matter-!?” Your brother’s eyes narrowed, it was a cheap shot, and you both knew it. To Askel the way you felt about the situation was the only thing that mattered at all; “WHY!? Why would you do it!?” “BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!” That felt weird to say, it wasn’t even a sentence you had to think about. And it hit you like a ton of bricks. Love? Did you? To say it in such a way? You swallowed hard and knew fear had crossed your face, flickering in your eyes. You weren’t sure Askel could see passed his own blind rage. “I don’t CARE if you love him. Does he love you!?” It wasn’t a question you could answer.

*** You no longer had a room. You had a husband. And an ‘our’ room. (For the record, your brother was not happy. But managed to hold his tongue.) The space in actuality was minimal; a bed, and a desk that you’d noted before, a mirror, and wardrobe space, (cupboards and drawers of varying sizes but all the same colour and wood style.) a few chests and a modesty screen. Minimalist, but everything matched. The crest of Nottingham stood out in blue and grey, hanging above his bed; cross and three crowns. Which meant moving your own things in here wasn’t exactly hard; you weren’t lacking for room. But you wanted to make sure that nothing disturbed the aesthetic he’d worked so hard to attain. You spent a lot of time standing in the doorway and thinking hard, and you must have looked it. Wil stayed with you, working from here instead of the usual room you found him in. “Y/N, darling, if you stand there all day you’ll start growing roots…” He shuffled through papers as he crossed the room, and you enjoyed the amused little smile on his face. “I just want to make sure that I don’t ruin your good work.” He scoffed, turning those blue eyes from his work to you, “These are your chambers too, now, do with them what you will.” Wil placed his papers down and strolled to you, taking you in his arms, “You will, if anything, make it a home.” “You say that, Sheriff, but I am well aware of safe spaces. And I wish to make sure yours still IS one.” No matter what happened between you now, knowing what you knew he’d already been through your only wish was to make sure it never happened again. Wil moved his hands to frame your face, his unreadable – eyes delicate; “You know what I think?” Your lips parted but you didn’t answer, not by the look in his eyes, the feeling of his touch. “You think too much.” The Sheriff knew you were about to protest that, so immediately moved to kiss you; you wouldn’t deny him that. You hadn’t had a wedding night, per se, kissing him like this was as good as either of you had given. In fact you were a little impartial to sharing a bed with him at all. You had done it before, and you didn’t want his impression to be that you hadn’t enjoyed it. But you were cautious. He was your husband as your equal, and you weren’t going to do this any other way. Wil’s lips left yours and he pulled you back tighter to him, resting his head on yours; “Please, I want you to make this whatever you want. Don’t worry about me.” He’d failed to realise that was the only thing you were going to do. But the Sheriff chuckled, “I think I need some redecorating!” You did it slowly, and everything you did you asked for his opinion on. But you worked hard, and got through all of your work quickly just so you could get back to fix something up and surprise him. It was one of the things you loved most – the smile on his face as you eagerly waited for him to spot what you’d changed. Your rounds got easier, and splitting them between Marcus, Askel and yourself made it easier. In fact you always made it a competition, who could complete their round and get back to the palace first. Which, was usually you; before that Town Hall meeting. The Sheriff introduced you out of the blue, but not like an afterthought. And he smiled, he genuinely smiled and sounded happy. A whisper ran through the crowd that was excited – a change from the disgruntled kind you’d heard many a time before. Some of them likely had already seen you in the mines, and as you picked out Will and Marian you couldn’t help your beaming smile. The only people who didn’t seem happy with this marriage announcement were the Lords. You were already cautious of them from your previous meetings, when he’d let you sit in on them (now you had a real job you had less time to do such things); but now you simply dared them to come between the two of you. Although you had to admit in your head the thought of running your sword, or shooting an arrow, through some of them didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Because of the Town Hall many people liked stopping you and your horse to talk to you. At first it was sweet; the way they would welcome you to the city and shower you with compliments. But then it became ‘Can you just ask the Sheriff’, ‘Could you just tell the Sheriff’ ‘This is urgent!’ and you realised that you had to remember all of these things on top of your general running around. Not always easy. Today you came back with ribbons & flowers in your hair, and Marcus and Askel had been in hysterics (on top of having waited for you for over an hour). This was the work of little girls downtown, and you weren’t about to stop them – Eyhamel hadn’t escaped either, for his troubles, and they ran through his mane and tail. “Just because they aren’t giving you flowers for protecting the city.” “Do they know that’s what you’re doing?” Marcus grinned, “I think they just use you as a messenger.” “Well, I don’t mind that either-!” “You think he listens to what you tell him?” You shrugged, dismounting and kissing Eyha’s muzzle for his patience, “Sometimes we have meaningful discussions. Sometimes he shuts it down. Wil runs things, I’m just glad to make him aware of them…” You began to lead your horse to the stables. Visiting Vesper mattered just as much as anything else; he was out more than he used to be, but still looked like a horse ready to run. “You’re too good for Nottingham, Y/N!” “Oh, hush!” You giggled at Marcus’ comment, but didn’t miss your brother’s look of significance – as if he needed any other reasons to give you one. Today you caught your husband coming back from your room to his office and he paused in the hallway to observe you for a minute; “What did who do to your hair?” “Oh! Little girls from town!” He laughed, “Ah… I like it… it… it looks good.” “It’s pretty.” You beamed, before questioning him. “Where are you going?” “Writing. Uhm, actually I was thinking, if you needed someone else for your rounds.” Wil beckoned you to follow him and you fell in line, “If you want to take Alder with you…” “OH! But-! Darling, he’s… he’s your personal guard.” “I know, but I wanted to help out your cause. It’s no secret you’re helping mine.” He paused again unable to keep his eyes off you, “They like you. I’m glad the people like you. It’s not something I should ignore…” “You don’t.” “I don’t. It’s about taking it elsewhere.” He held his hand out for yours, “Come with me, I need to show you something.” You kept step with him until you reached his ready room, Alder was the only guard on duty, and gave you a warm smile – which you returned. Hastily turning to your husband as soon as you were inside and the door was closed; “Did you perhaps promise him a position?” “You’re too good at reading people.” “I aught to be, I believe I’ll be needing it.” Your look was significant and the Sheriff feigned as if he didn’t know what you meant with a hum to match, “If you wish not to give him one.” “I can figure something out, but he’s a man I actually trust around you. Which I may also be able to tell you now.” He laughed, beckoning you to his desk, “You don’t trust people around me?” “Not the people with whom you must unfortunately be acquainted. Though why you would expect me to after what you have told me…” “Thought there might be a reason you were no longer accompanying me to Church.” “I’m still angry.” You would go back eventually, the thought of him suffering alone was already pulling you that direction. He sighed through his next sentence, “And she has a temper.” Then lifted the parchment from the table and held it out for you, “Tell me what you think.” Your look was at least amused as you snatched it from him ‘I’ll show YOU temper!’ and read; surprised to find that the letter was from Carina (who signed as Cara) and her husband Charles. “Your friends address you as Sheriff too?” You were also surprised to find it was not addressed to ‘William’. “It’s an official letter so, yes.” You wondered if he would stick with the idea of you writing to him as ‘Wil’ and read on; ‘… We are pleased to hear of your recent marriage to Y/N, Princess of Stavanger. Having briefly made her acquaintance in Nottingham.’ You cringed internally, remembering her from the last big argument you and he had, ‘We cordially invite you to Shirebrook township. We would be honoured to welcome you, as Sheriff, and the new Lady of Nottingham. The people will wish to see her, especially, and we would be overjoyed to be her first official visit. We are not otherwise engaged presently, so reply with a time most convenient for you and we will begin preparations…’ You raised your eyes to the Sheriff’s face slowly; “Lady of Nottingham--?” He nodded, “You have an official title now. But,” he gestured, “that’s hardly the point of the letter.” “It’s addressed to you, it’s your decision.” Wil scoffed, “I won’t do anything without you, especially when you’re involved. You should know that.” You bit your lips together, “…I would love to go.” “I told you they loved you.” You tilted your head, “They don’t have a choice.” “Of course they have a choice. It’s much more testament to you than I.” There was a distinct message there, not lost on you; they don’t like me, they have to like me, but you… they LOVE you. “So you will accompany me?” “I will…” You nodded, suddenly remembering a good idea of your own; “OH! Wil! I- May we ride? Just us, no entourage… no carriages… Alder and Marcus if we really must. But, just you and I.” The Sheriff immediately smiled – and you knew he knew before he even spoke; “You’ve been planning this for quite some time, Y/N, haven’t you?” “I’ve wanted to see what is beyond Nottingham, yes. Especially as you have such jurisdiction… I suppose I am far more used to… open land. The advancement of your city is a new game. One I very much enjoy but-” “You wish to be out there?” “I do. But only if that adventure gets to happen beside you.” He chuckled, “Okay. We’ll do it your way.” He took the letter delicately from you, before proceeding to take your hand in his, “Besides, I suppose the head of my Nottingham guard will be apt at defending her Sheriff.” You grinned; “He best believe it.” *** As an official ‘Lady’ now, you were also sent a group of handmaidens. Which at first you weren’t even so sure you wanted, for one thing if it wasn’t so obvious that you were better in the company of men… then again on that thought, you supposed that may be the point. It was just strange for you to be around so many British women at once; you were certainly out of your element. You had to admit it was nice to be waited on, that they would spend hours on your hair and dressing you in clothes that seemed a little too fine to just wander to Church in. (Although that was always an afterthought when you saw how much Wil beamed to see you in some of these dresses.) It was enjoyable to sit with them and gossip – your old room became an airier space to relax in – and it made you miss your sisters, suddenly you were glad of the substitute. Even though you complained; “I don’t need them-!” “Yes, I know you don’t need them, but to play the part you now must, you should have some. There are some things that can be overlooked, but a role must also be played here.” You wondered how much of a role he was really playing himself, what Wil would be like away from here, if he didn’t have to look after Nottingham… if he didn’t have his fancy title… The Sheriff paused, “Besides, you now have female friends.” You shot him a look at the suggestion you didn’t have female friends and he chuckled, “You understand perfectly what I mean.” “I do. I’m just glad your inference is not that I only have female friends.” “I know you better than that.” “I should hope you would.” You nudged him gently with a smile, “Speaking of, I must be off! Nottingham shall not defend itself-!” You took Wil’s hands in yours as you skipped in front of him, leaning up to steal a kiss. then let him go to run to your next patrol. His laughter followed you up the corridor. “Hurry back.” You swivelled back to him with your best smile; “Only for you!” Things weren’t always good. On his best days you almost couldn’t believe that you’d could have lucked into a better - albeit arranged - marriage. On his worst days you wanted to be nowhere near him, at the same moment as wanting to take him in your arms and hold him closer than he’d ever been before. The Sheriff was a man with a dark past and you were glad you knew that, there was a lot that could be attributed to his behaviour from that. And as he came and went between meetings you also became knowledgeable as to who made him more antsy, and who made him tense. As you learned all of this you could roughly map out how Wil’s day would go, and how his mood would take shape (depending on how he woke up.) Wil had rough nights, where he would wake panting and shaking in a cold sweat, nearly delusional. Where he’d flinch if you touched him; the only way down from this was to talk to him – gentle and firm, until he sought the comfort of your arms himself. Nights where he was restless and couldn’t sleep; where it was best to slip your arms around him and kiss his shoulders, sometimes your delicate touches and soothing voice would eventually lull him to sleep – sometimes you’d drift off, but he would stay with you; before you’d been a permanent resident the Sheriff would have spent half the night pacing the floor – you had the ability to keep him here. It wasn’t all bad – you couldn’t even pretend that. He had good nights too, where he’d retire to bed with you early. Or when you could entice him from the draw of his desk to lie with you. Pulling you to his chest and kissing you, slow and lazy and intoxicating. Rough nights didn’t always translate into bad days, and more often than not the Sheriff had softer, quiet mornings where he would lay with you and simply talk. He was an early riser – you weren’t always, but sometimes Wil would stay until he had no choice, and sometimes he would let you make him late: ‘Oh… it’s only Pembroke he can wait.’ Maybe you should have been telling him not to shirk his duties, but he worked incredibly hard the rest of the time and you would be selfish with his time when he let you be. The Sheriff was yours, and you loved him dearly, that much you knew was certain. You were beginning to wonder if perhaps he felt the same – his command of Norse went from strength to strength, he would greet you and leave you with typical sweet talk, but also liked telling you all about his day in words that were your own. When you gently prompted corrections, he would only smile and attempt again. You and Tuck kept in daily contact – well, you needed someone’s professional opinion on what was happening in the Sheriff’s meetings that didn’t come from the man himself. Tuck was the safest, and most neutral, place to gossip and right now only had good news for you. There had been no confessional since you had married; what’s more Tuck said Wil spent a great deal of time talking about you. You were his focus – what’s more his focus was only on you. You weren’t sure how long you could keep it; or if it was ‘yours’ to keep. But for now, you would revel in him – and nothing and no-one was going to take him away from you.

*** Surprisingly everyone allowed you to go on this trip alone together. Considering your occupation, you were supposed to stick to the main trails; which if you were honest you thought was stupid, it would give everyone a clear shot at him, yet you understood the point. He’d be much safer than if it was a narrow path through forests where anyone could hide anywhere. Still you ignored the directive as soon as you were outside the walls. Nottingham city was beautiful, you weren’t about to fault it; but the stir in your heart matched the stir of the horse beneath you as the gates opened onto rugged pathways and grass. You weren’t about to stop Eyhamel from surging forward and urged him on. There were shouts from behind you, but it was the Sheriff’s laugh you were really listening too; and soon you were joined by a gorgeous black Stallion. That caused you to laugh too; the feel of the wind rushing passed, blowing cool air through your hair and stirring your dress – the freedom of being outside was a kick you couldn’t resist. And it had been so long. Wil would have been content to simply watch your free spirit; a proud smile on his face. You looked much more comfortable in your clothing today than what they had been dressing you in for church. They complimented your personality – dress a little courser in fabric, you wore riding trousers. The English would see that as scandal, to you and your fellow Norse women it was standard ‘What, you think we go into battle in pretty dresses?!’ then to the look on his face ‘Don’t answer that.’ Comfortable and easy to move in, and yet still elegant in a steel grey-blue that matched his own attire. Your hair was intricate and pulled back from your face so it didn’t get in your way as you rode; a real Norse Princess. Or, Shield Maiden. Still, despite this he couldn’t let you get too far ahead when you didn’t know the exact route, and under all technicalities you were supposed to be protecting him. He encouraged Vesper and his horse responded in kind, tugging the reigns as he raced after you. Wil was a skilled rider, it had been one of the very last things his parents had taught him, you had a wealth of experience, but he was determined to give you a run for your money – and you’d already witnessed the steady control of their partnership in town. His horse out here was something else to behold, and you wanted to see Vesper run. You turned to him with a smile; “Think you can keep up, Sheriff?” “Keep up?” He returned a smirk, “I believe it is you that aught to be worried about such things.” “Is that so?” Eyhamel was quick, that you knew, but Vesper was larger and you’d never seen him at speed, let alone full tilt. You urged him again; “Let’s see you try to keep up!” “Ah!” He called after you, “You forget who knows the way!” “I studied the map!” You yelled back, unwilling to concede that he had a point. Wil shook his head, but found himself chuckling again; “Let’s give them a run for their money, Vesper!” Eventually you both slowed to walk, to give your horses respite – still, by then you were both laughing together. That laugher changed to friendly chatter, as he explained his jurisdiction, the towns nearest to Nottingham and far on into the North of England – how the trade deal with your home town would work, and then the river-to-sea connection. Which is also how the soldiers made their way to the crusade, but, he was a little less willing to talk about that. You told him a little bit more of the journey here from the North, how you wished that you had come into port in Nottingham instead of London with your quip of ‘Oh, I bet it’s beautiful from the water’ to which he chuckled, ‘Well, your people will surely get to see it in its glory…Perhaps you can go and greet them as they arrive?’ You lit up immediately at that, as he knew you would, and the Sheriff got to enjoy your smile. You arrived on the outskirts of a small town eventually, and Wil reached out for your reigns, pulling you and your horse closer. As Nottingham, there were walls around this town, these wooden instead of stone and brick. Already on your approach you saw people scrabbling around on the top to open up the gate. You could hear the faint calls of “Sheriff! The Sheriff is here!!” and your heart swelled a little, hand slipping to his around your reigns, Wil squeezed your hand tight – thanking the guards for opening up the gate. Slowing your horse in sync with his as the gate lowered behind you, Wil let you hand go with a small nod – already you had noticed many of the towns people standing in their doorway to stare inquisitively. It was not Nottingham by any stretch of the imagination; with most of the houses small wooden structures of only one floor. Save for one a little more stately in the middle; you assumed belonging to the people you were really here to meet. Wil pulled up and dismounted, stable hands surging forward to take care of Vesper – you weren’t one to wait for him to help you down, and slid from your saddle before gently patting Eyha for riding so well, handing over your reigns, rejoining your husband. The Sheriff placed his hand gently to the small of your back and guided you towards the couple awaiting you. You already recognised the woman as Cara, the man beside her must have been her husband, Charles. “Wil-!” He stepped forward, “It feels like it’s been a long time.” That hit you immediately; they called him Wil. Sheriff in official letters, Wil in real life. Friends. “Not nearly as long as you’d think. It’s been a while since you yourself made the trip, no?” “Would that I could attend anything in the fair City of Nottingham. What with the war effort we have much to attend to.” The Sheriff chuckled gently; “Well, let’s not make that a priority topic today…” turning to his wife, “Cara… a delight as ever.” She accepted his kiss to her hand, before he straightened to presented you. “It pleases me no end that I am able to introduce you to my wife, Y/N, Lady of Nottingham. Hailing from the Norse Kingdoms.” He always added it, as if it were the thing he loved the most. That you were unusual, an unknown, untameable force of nature. Cara immediately took your hands in hers, “Oh! Y/N! It’s so, SO good to finally make your acquaintance!” You tried not to think about the last time you’d seen her, and were equally glad that at the time you were not speaking English. You took a breath and smiled, squeezing her hands gently, “And yours. It’s a pleasure to make this my first official…” you searched for the word, “…outing?” The Sheriff brushed a hand to your back encouragingly, “It’s taken us quite a while longer than I should have liked. But, we’re here now.” Charles stepped forward and took your hand much as Wil had Cara’s. “It’s an honour to have you in Shirebrook…” You could already see the way that Cara was studying the sword and bow strapped to Eyhamel, and you couldn’t help but smile at her line of sight. “Wow…” she gasped, “when Wil said Shield Maiden he really meant it.” You nodded, “I’ve seen my fair share of territorial battles.” Then with a shrug, “It’s as much my role now to protect him as to be…” you turned to your husband, “a devoted wife.” And you would be. If he was; you still weren’t counting any slips. “It must be incredible to learn such things.” “I could teach you.” You didn’t even consider the fact that wasn’t something done in England. For a second it slipped your mind that you weren’t in a country that respected the freedoms of its women, and Cara immediately flushed. “Oh, I don’t know if I… I don’t know if-” Charles’ response surprised you, and he nudged her, “Cara, dearest, this is not an opportunity you will often have, hmm?” The Sheriff folded his arms with a chuckle, “Whilst you’re at it, you can exchange for an English woman’s etiquette.” You scoffed and shoved his arm with a laugh of your own, though had probably just proven his point. “Remember you’re talking to a Princess!” Still you winked, “She could teach me better than you!” Your first foray into Shirebrook township therefore didn’t go as expected. Perhaps you thought you’d sit around and chat, maybe talk about the town and have dinner together, yet it was very much a split room. The men discussing town planning, and you: teaching Cara how exactly to balance a sword right and how to pull bow strings to just the right amount of tension, the right posture… Then her giving you a surprisingly sarcastic rundown on how women were ‘supposed’ to behave, but also gentle advice, which you knew you would be indebted to. Advice you would gain nowhere else; how to be sassy and snarky whilst still seeming to be polite and in your place. How to speak through your husband; or else, convince him that your idea was his idea. Cara expressed that you wouldn’t know it, but she essentially managed to run Shirebrook like that – although this didn’t surprise you, she was the one who rode all the way to Nottingham after all. And after your initial impression of her perhaps being just another of the Sheriff’s women, you were also gaining a practical example of ‘never judge a book by its cover’. The Sheriff watched all this from his chair, at first it was subtle, because he did have many important things to discuss with Charles. What with fighting and funding the war; but a number of great changes going on in the town itself. A few of which would need the Sheriff’s permission to take place. Once the serious conversation was over, however, both men were able to sit and admire their wives. Of course William had heard Charles wax lyrical about Cara many times before, yet he had never had the opportunity to do so with you. True, he’d written a lot about you – and upon introducing the idea of you to people, he’d always given a lot of information but, that was really all it ever was. He’d never really talked about his feelings for you. “You know…” The Sheriff sat back, comfortably, running his fingers over his lips; “When the King suggested an arranged marriage, I must admit to my worry… Now I can only think how, not only did I have no right to be worried about her but, that in all honesty, it is nothing but an honour to be in a union with such a woman…” He swallowed hard, and soon the Sheriff was discovering that, having started, he couldn’t stop. “She is perhaps a little fiery, but she’s already more devoted to me than I deserve. If I were her, I perhaps would have left. But she’s here. And it’s not… like anything I’ve had before. She cares – about me, as a person and how I feel. And how people treat me.” William tipped his head, watching the way you laughed gently, thoroughly enjoying yourself in Cara’s company. The realisation came too quick; and clearly not soon enough. This marriage was not just a contractual fulfillment, because he had to. Although he had treated it as such. The Sheriff cared about you; he cared a LOT about you. He may have been the cause of a lot of your hurt, but he didn’t want you upset. He didn’t want others to hurt you either – and he would try to stop that to the best of his ability. Wil had let you take over his guard because he wanted to ulitize your strengths; but was that just the reason, or because he also wanted to see you happy? Of course he wanted to see you happy here. And so he kept talking, perhaps even a little perplexed by what he was saying. Yet realising there wasn’t a word of it untrue. He wasn’t sure he knew you enough to love you yet; to really love you. But he felt something for you – a lot stronger than he thought he’d ever felt for anyone. Charles watched all this with a smile that turned into a smirk; “Hey, what happened to you? You’re not that silver fox that everyone spent too long trying to tame now, huh, Wil?” There was a long pause, and his blue eyes still didn’t leave you – the Sheriff blinked a few times before speaking; “Not anymore.”

***

There was something in the way that he treated you after you got back from Shirebrook that was a little different. You weren’t sure why, but the Sheriff smiled more around you, he let you into meetings that you hadn’t been allowed in before – and if anyone said anything, he was pretty firm about you staying. By the tone of voice he used, no one was arguing with him either. And you soon gained your own kind of political astuteness. Even if you spent most of it listening, not talking. At this particular meeting things seemed tense. Your eyes had flicked from side to side within the room for what felt like hours and no one was budging on their view. Wil seemed annoyingly on the fence, and every time he actually tried to come up with a reasonable solution another point was argued. To which he would look irritated and give you the same exasperated glance. You didn’t think it was possible to come to his rescue without either being ordered out of the room… or laughed out of it. Point being, nothing was getting anywhere. Eventually the door at the far end of the room opened and a servant wheeled in a cart filled with what appeared to be bottles of alcohol. It was about the first thing that had really caught your attention, standing with your back against a pillar. The Lords at first paid him no mind as he walked to the table in the corner, upon which stood a collection of alcohol bottles neatly lined up with ornate glasses for everyone present at the meets to help themselves to. You stood straight and tried to guess the content – all the bottles he had seemed to be of the same or similar type, so you assumed the liquid inside them was one sort of alcohol. But it was only as he began stacking them and refilling things that the conversational lull seemed to fade, and they paid attention. “OH! I say, what have you brought us today?” “We have been gifted a large set of brandy bottles from the Archdeacon, M’Lord.” Tension immediately ran through your body and if you were standing straight before, it was nothing compared to the way you were heightened now. Arms no longer folded – although you weren’t exactly sure what kind of action you were ready to take. Yet the message was clear – the Church had sent him brandy… You dared let your eyes flick to Wil; not exactly tense, but the look on his face begged that to be where the conversation was left. It wasn’t. “Oh! Brandy? I dare say we should have some!” The Lords were all in agreement with Pembroke’s statement and the Sheriff’s eyes slowly traced to yours. You shook your head subtly ‘Don’t do this to yourself, you don’t have to do this to yourself.’ There was panic there, it was restrained, but it was and you saw it. Too good at reading someone who had so many walls. ‘I’m here… I’m HERE now.’ Pembroke turned to him; “Will you partake Sheriff?” You hated that it took a minute to recollect himself, “No.” but glad of the word, as he shook his head, “No.” “Oh, but you must!” One of the other Lords piped up, “It’s exquisite.” You shot him a look, maybe he’d like to take a look at your husband’s back and then try to reargue that point. But then it hadn’t occurred to you that the fathers of these men would have been the guardians of the House – did they know? Was everyone in this room aware of what he’d been through? That made the goading into a glass of alcohol even more horrific; they were taunting him with his past and knew it. “No. No. I’m quite alright.” Of course they poured him one anyway, “Oh, but we insist.” “No – I’d rather not!” “Sheriff-!” “No-” This was strange to see; he wasn’t someone that would put up with this. You’d seen him yell at them enough before (sometimes you got a kick out of it, but you weren’t about to tell him that.), but it was the significance of the situation that had turned Wil from snappy and confident, to someone clearly conflicted by what he was faced with. It was starting to affect him; especially with the forced nature of the scenario – like the polite declines were a habit coded into him. By the very same people that had made him hate the taste so much, you could bet. You were already a few paces forward and reading the room like a book, if anyone took another step towards him, if they were about to force him to drink it, if Wil thought he really had to drink it… You were pissed. That they wouldn’t take ‘No’ as a valid answer, that they wouldn’t just leave him alone. It clicked, a little late perhaps, but also just in time – that’s why you were there. Protect the city. Protect the Sheriff. Hell, PROTECT YOUR HUSBAND!! You stepped between them, snatching the bottle with purpose and Pembroke paused like he wasn’t sure what to do with you. There was a hushed whisper over the other Lords and you couldn’t give a damn. You took one look at it with disgust, before weighing it up correctly in your hand and not giving it a second thought, smashing the bottle against the wall. Everyone but the Sheriff jumped at the sound, splinters of glass scattered over the floor; you were sure there were a few in your hands to accompany the tacky sweetness of the alcohol. You didn’t care. The way you were staring at Pembroke didn’t stay exclusive for long and your disapproving scowl shifted to the other Lords, now cowering in the corner. Yeah, you didn’t think they’d like even an ounce of defiance. You were cold, and fierce. They weren’t standing up to anything but a Norse warrior in that moment. He’d proven to you his faithfulness, his loyalty. Wil had opened up to you about his past and it was more than clear that his history was keeping him manipulated. This might have been the first time you’d seen it first hand, perhaps the first time you’d noticed – but you weren’t about to stand for it, and everyone was going to know this in no uncertain terms. Wil shifted behind you; you weren’t looking at him but you could already bet he was calmer – he was breathing again. Safe. Exactly how you intended to keep him. You made sure that your statement didn’t go unheard and this time it was your voice shaking in anger, no matter how controlled you tried to keep it. That force of nature that the Sheriff always insisted you were; “He said. NO.”

*** When you couldn’t go riding outside alone – as sometimes he let you do, but William worried and wouldn’t let you go too far – to see her, you would write to Cara, and you found yourself loving her more and more. You were glad that he was right, and you were becoming fast friends. It was nice to have someone to vent to sometimes who had a different perspective, or when you wanted to gush poetically about the man you’d married. To read back the same things from her made you smile, sometimes made you glad that you weren’t the only woman here who felt that way. Cara was free to speak her mind to you because of her social class, a fact for which you were eternally grateful. But there was one subject for which she could not speak, and you had much curiosity… Today you surrounded yourself with your handmaidens. It was a hot day, so instead of sitting in your room eager to soak up the sun’s rays for yourself, you all moved outside into the courtyard. As everyone had noticed that your relationship with your husband was progressing nicely, talk had begun to turn – predictably - to the tentative beginnings of children. It was a conversation you were willing to entertain, but not seriously. For one, this wasn’t a conversation that the two of you had had yet. And besides what had already transpired between the two of you, there wasn’t a lot of sexual activity going on. He was still being respectful of your space, and your need to get used to the idea of ‘ours’, not ‘his’ and ‘yours.’ But you knew it wouldn’t stay that way; and you didn’t want it to stay that way. From there… well, unless Wil was adamant he didn’t want any, which, you could understand considering what he’d been through… Children would be a natural progression; at least to talk about. Still, none of these facts stopped you from giggling with Ada and Carolyn about the prospect of having children, and other general gripes they had about men in general. After a particular loud fit of giggles, you found yourselves joined by Tuck, who’s little smile read intrigued; “What on Earth are you ladies talking about!?” “Oh, Tuck!” Ada sighed, stifling her laugher, “The prospect of having children!” He turned curiously to you, “Yes?” You shrugged; “Eventually I suppose. You would know better than I.” “Unfortunately that part of the Sheriff’s life remains a mystery to me.” But he winked gently, “I’ll see what I can figure out, don’t you worry!” “Well, thank you.” Although you mused on it for a second, “Although I suppose the whole idea is fairly presumptuous…” You trailed; it wasn’t something you had considered before this moment, but what if one or both of you were unable to actually have children? Tuck swayed from side to side as he mused that, “Well, there’s always the option of Foundling House.” “OH!” Ada nodded along, “That would be a secondary option – good idea Tuck!” You were glad they were all conversing and the focus was off you for a second, because the name itself shocked you back to a conversation you’d never forget. “Wait, wait, what!?” “You know, a Foundling House, like an orphanage?” Carolyn’s head tipped at the look on your face – which you could imagine was fighting very hard not to look horrified, “Do you, not have those?” Tuck shook his head; “No, Y/N, for accuracy it’s… more like... for abandoned, found children. Hence... foundling.” Suddenly that conversation was a hundred times worse than you had ever realised, and your hands flew to frame your face. “Y/N? Are you okay?” “No- No… I…” You sprang up, eyes flown wide, “Excuse me!” You were flying though the palace before you really knew where you were going, and even though everything was connecting in your head, there were pieces you couldn’t place. Wil had mentioned his father to you before, he said ‘that was after my father was gone’ and he’d also mentioned his family’s estate. But now Tuck was telling you he was abandoned? Perhaps? Abandoned and then left to the Churches mercy!?!? and now here. Not broken, not in a way that made him weak – but bendable, to their whims. What the Sheriff had been through was horrific. What you’d just been told made it so much worse. It wasn’t like, if his parents died, he was orphaned through no fault of his own. You’d just been told he was unwanted. No more. He turned in surprise to your hurried approach and placed the papers back on his desk not quite so ready to accept your embrace as you were to give it. Causing the Sheriff to stagger back a few paces. “Y/N…? Are you- Are you okay? Sweetheart?” You didn’t answer, burying your face in his jacket; you weren’t sure you could answer him, at least not appropriately. I want you… I will take care of you now… Wil sighed, winding his arms around you as your hold on him tightened. As if letting him go had never been an option. Running a hand through your hair he cleared his throat; “I don’t know what I did to deserve your affections, but, I love you too.” You immediately pulled back, staring up into his eyes, unable to hide your shock; “You… you…?!” You weren’t sure if it was deliberate and he’d meant to say it, or it’d simply slipped out as an afterthought, but you couldn’t help but laugh happily and take his face in your hands before kissing him. The tears were happy too; no matter what had been said downstairs. You stayed like that for a while, doing nothing more than looking into each other’s eyes. With Wil’s arms around you like this you were content to remain here forever; and by the smile on his face every word out of his mouth was sincere. It was about time you said the same – but he had used the word ‘too’. He knew you loved him; the Sheriff didn’t need to hear you say it out loud. He never had.

I can hear everything you don’t say…

---

Thank you for reading this! You guys are real ones! Thank you for bearing with me on updating this! 😅😅😅 I hope this point was worth the wait!

#Ben Mendelsohn #Sheriff Of Nottingham #Robin Hood 2018 #Sheriff of Nottingham x Reader #Raina #Linzi Writes #Smol Bean Drabbles #176

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the-final-raven · 4 years ago

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Flower Festival

"Asra!" A petite woman yelled, bushing wisps of strawberry hair behind her ear as she pointed, "Why do you always disappear on me?" She muttered, shaking her head.

'Find!' A red panda jumped off of Parisa's shoulder, weaving around her legs.

"Yes, Nikki," She smiled fondly, crouching down to pet her ears, "Help me find him please?"

Nikki chirped in response.

Parisa nodded, standing back up looking around at the ballroom. Velvety flowers wound around the pillars like ivy vines, covering the room in splashes of bright blues and beautiful pinks. Blossoms covered the floor, falling from ladies' hair as they swayed with their loves across the floor.

Princess Navra was dancing in the center of the crowd, bringing lonely party-goers into the fray- perhaps hoping she could play match-maker in the process.

She turned to the other woman, beaming, "Oh! Parisa!" Navra ran over, taking her hands and twirling her, "You look stunning, and I'm happy to see that you attended."

Parisa's face heated with embarrassment, looking down at her sweetheart peach dress- embellished with silvery cherry blossoms. It was Asra's handiwork, and she couldn't deny how well it had turned out. "Thank you, and I was easy to convince actually," She laughed, "I had to convince Asra though,"

"I bet you won him over with the dress." The princess elbowed her side, grinning mischievously.

"If I know Asra, I could only imagine that he knew what he was doing," Julien drawled, leaning his chin on the top of Parisa's head if only to showcase their near-comical height difference.

She elbowed his ribs, her face heating up more, "Shut up,"

The princess decided to go back to dancing, leaving them be.

"Never." He rubbed his side, "And that was a little rude."

"Julien, stop tormenting the poor girl," Idella crossed her arms, looking up at her husband with big green eyes and trying not to laugh, "She's going to explode."

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her, "Yes ma'am. I'll let her calm down."

"Excuse me, I'm still here," Parisa's freckled nose scrunched up. In a moment of utter betrayal, Nikki jumped up to rest on Idella's shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.

She smoothed out her silk violet dress, smirking as she pets the red panda, "Hello sweetie, and don't worry, we're just messing with you Para."

She rolled her blue eyes, eyeing Nikki in disappointment. "Oh well-" She looked at Della's dress,"-so, Julien?"

The doctor looked up, having been keeping himself busy by messing with his wife's ginger curls, "Hm?"

"How did you manage to get Della into a dress? A really nice one at that." This was, of course, out of character for the woman. She'd grown up as a pirate and had learned very quickly that wearing a dress was impractical- supposedly the 'pirate princess' aesthetic wasn't grounded by fact, or so Parisa was told.

"I wear dresses when I want to!"

"I bribed her with sweets from the other rooms," Julien whispered to Parisa, causing the two to dissolve into laughter.

"I have no reason for shame." Idella crossed her arms.

"Of course not," He pecked her cheek.

Parisa swooned, smiling softly, "Aw, cute. Speaking of which- have you seen Asra?"

Julien's eyes lit up, "Oh! Yes! He's in the garden," He ran a hand through his auburn hair, "Thank god I remembered that," He muttered.

She laughed, grabbing her familiar before making her way to the hallway. Lights and banners were strung across the walls, making it damn-near impossible for her not to smile. Nadia had outdone herself this year- every detail had been taken into account. Perhaps she was trying to make up for lasts year's fiasco.

'That probably isn't the right word.'

It made Parisa think about how far they'd all gotten. They could have died- hell, she DID die... her and Asa looked The Devil in the face and succeeded. It sounded insane, and perhaps if there weren't as many witnesses she would have thought she had been on shrooms and imagined it.

As Parisa dove deeper into her thoughts, she nearly missed the place exit, making a sharp turn and walking out with a little awkward laugh as a few people gave her weird looks.

Asa was sitting on the lip of the fountain, looking up when he heard her laugh. He couldn't help but laugh with her, looking like a fool in love.

'I thought I was the fool.' She took on a fond expression. Nikki jumped off of her, running up to Asra and hopping onto his lap,

'Found him!'

Parisa smiled, sitting down next to Asa and leaning her head on his shoulder, "Hey handsome," She murmured.

"Hello," He kissed her forehead, brushing her hair behind her ear, "You know I love you, right?" He whispered.

"Of course, I love you two. What's brought this up?" She turned to him. He took her hand, starting to play with her fingers,

"I just want to make sure I tell you enough," He cupped her cheek, kissing her softly. Parisa smiled against his lips, running a hand through his hair,

"You do, trust me,"

Asra pulled back, leaning his head into her hand "If you aren't annoyed, I'm not saying it enough,"

"I will never be annoyed," Parisa nuzzled his nos, curling up against him. She couldn't have been any more sincere.

He looked up at her, his violet eyes softening as he beamed "Then I'll never say it enough," He whispered. They stayed there for a long time even after most of the people had returned home, watching the stars and just staying in each other's embrace.

"You know," Parisa smiled, turning to the white-cotton haired man next to her, "I like this year better." Her eyes lit up as she giggled, and once again Asra was reminded why he loved her.

'Bad Devil!' Faust poked her head out of Asra's collar, flicking her tongue and nuzzling his cheek.

'Devil?' Nikki looked around.

Parisa laughed, petting the two familiars, "Don't worry, there are no goats."

"Thank god." He sighed, wrapping her up in his arms.

"Shoosh," She snuggled closer to him.

"Never, flower girl,"

_______________________________________________________

I actually have something to contribute to @timmys-and-scribbles and @leatherandsaltybitters Arcana Flower Festival challenge! I may not be an artist, but I really hope y’all enjoy this fluffy lil one-shot. <3

Meet my apprentices- because I feel too bad to use one for all the routes ;-;

@arcanaflowerfestival2020

#the arcane game #the arcana julian #the arcana asra #pirate partners #timmy's and scribbles #arcana flower festival 2020

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ladyluck852 · 6 years ago

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Mon Chérie (Seonghwa x Reader)

A/N: I love this boy with my entire heart and soul, one day friends, one day 🤧💕also I used my old banner just because the colors looked nicer with the gif...

Word Count: 3.8k (I think)

Genre: long distance, YouTuber au, fluff

Warnings: none?

Summary: Y/n’s YouTube viewers won’t stop shipping her with the mysterious chocolate connoisseur Hwaseong, maybe it’s meant to be?

Y/n sighed as she read through the YouTube comments on her latest video, her usual 12AM hobby before bed on the days she released one, liking and replying back to her viewers made her feel nice. She’d been on youtube for close to three years, making cooking videos and daily food videos every once in a while, and she’d gathered quite a following since then with close to 800k subscribers. She was happy and content baking for fun, and even if her job kept her inside most of the time she wasn’t complaining, she had plenty of time to do things later on.

Lately her comments and mentions were full of people telling her she should watch another youtuber, or people saying they shipped her with him, which she found odd since she’d never shown her face on the channel. She was flattered, the youtuber who went by the name Hwaseong was famous for his chocolate recipes and nice asmr videos, she often found herself watching them when she couldn’t sleep at night. She couldn’t remember ever seeing his face though, she just liked the whole vibe and aesthetic he had going on, and he always had a cute plush or cat appearing somewhere in his videos.

“You’re awfully spaced out” y/n’s friend said over FaceTime the next morning, y/n’s laptop set up on her counter as she tested out a recipe for her latest video. Cat shaped macarons, they were a pain in the ass but so satisfying if they came out well, this was her second batch so far.

“I’m daydreaming” y/n mumbled, checking her batter and making sure the consistency was perfect before filling her piping bag. She’d slept well the night before, she just found it weird that she’d dreamt of the mysterious chocolate youtuber, in her head he was so handsome and sweet. It was weird considering she didn’t know anything about him, and she really didn’t want to have a weird crush on someone she had never seen, but here she was thinking about him while she baked.

Halfway across the world, Seonghwa was uploading a video while eating cereal on his couch, checking his recent Instagram notifications and seeing that his followers were still talking about y/n from YouTube. She went by Mon Chérie on YouTube and y/n on her other social media’s, he knew about her and actually found her videos pleasant. He didn’t really watch too many cooking videos because he didn’t want to be influenced by others, but he quite liked how soothing her videos were. He wasn’t sure what it was about her that made his followers put them together, but he didn’t mind.

“Oh my gosh” y/n said, dropping everything she was holding when she saw the notification on her phone, one of many in the sea of instagram notifications, her heart raced as she clicked on it.

“What?” Her friend asked, bothered by her sudden outburst that had her worried. Y/n was always a go getter, she moved far away from her whole family as soon as she turned 18 and was still gone, she hadn’t stepped foot on u.s soil in a few years because her family usually flew in to visit on holidays. Everyone worried about her since she was so young, she didn’t have any family there whatsoever, but she was happy where she was even if it was lonely.

“He followed me on Instagram!” y/n shrieked, immediately following the chocolate connoisseur back and not being able to contain her excitement, “oh my gosh, oh my gosh- OH!”

“What?!”

“He messaged me!!”

Seonghwa now started and ended his days thinking about y/n, eager to talk to the girl everyone said he’d like, after talking for two weeks he really saw why everyone said so. She’d given him her number last night, an international area code because she’d been living in Korea for nearly four years now. He always teased her, it was an inside joke now between them that they’d both gone to each other’s countries and didn’t plan on coming back.

seonghwa[8:30pm]: it’s raining again :( it never stops raining

Y/n[8:31pm]: no one told you to move to Seattle

seonghwa[8:32pm]: the view from my apartment is the reason why I will never leave...

seonghwa[8:32pm]: the state, not my house. I leave my house

Y/n tried to keep from laughing as she read her messages, attempting to focus on her recipe but not being able to, she was enjoying herself too much. She did find the time difference to be a bit weird but they made it work, neither of them were ever really busy unless they were recording a video, so they spent a lot of free time messaging.

Y/n[8:40pm]: it’s nice and sunny here

seonghwa[8:41pm]: wow aren’t you lucky. I haven’t seen the sun in years!

Y/n[8:43pm]: meanwhile I’d love to see some rain

Seonghwa bit his lip, his balcony door open to let in the cool night air and so he could hear the rain, he turned on his lamp and messed with his hair before sending her a quick text.

seonghwa[8:45pm]: Can I FaceTime you?

Y/n was nervous, her heart racing and her ches tightening just at the thought of seeing him. They’d gone a whole two weeks without showing their faces, she knew eventually it would happen unless they stopped talking, but she didn’t ever want to stop talking to him. She was scared when she said yes, but she didn’t have much time to think about it because he was calling her soon after.

“Hi” y/n said nervously, her stomach tightening and her jaw nearly dropping when she saw him, she almost threw her phone in shock. She always pictured him as being handsome but she wasn’t expecting him to be even more handsome than she’d previously thought, he was staring at the screen with wide eyes and she felt so weird.

“You are so beautiful, why didn’t you tell me?!” He asked, sounding offended, y/n just covered her mouth while her cheeks went red and her eyes watered slightly.

“Stop it’s not funny. Show me the rain or hang up...” y/n mumbled teasingly, feeling her stomach erupt into butterflies when he laughed. He had the sweetest cutest laugh, she hated it, she didn’t know why he had to be so handsome and cute because now it was going to be all she thought of.

“No I think I’ve ceased to function, who is this radiant beauty and where did y/n go? This can’t be the same person who doesn’t change out of her pajamas until 2pm” Seonghwa teased, his mind blown to bits just looking at her. Maybe he liked her too much and his expectations were now shattered, it felt so strange to be seeing her face but he was so glad to be.

“Why did I tell you that?” Y/n laughed, embarrassed, switching the camera so it was pointing out of her window, “there’s your sunshine”

Seonghwa did the same, his view of the city probably the most attractive thing about him, at least that’s what he thought, “there’s your rain”

They sat in silence for a little bit just admiring the views from across the ocean, not really knowing what to say to each other now that they could hear and see each other, “I’m sorry I’m awkward”

Seonghwa felt breathless every time he saw her face, the type of pretty that radiated from within and made her look radiant, “awkward? If anyone’s awkward here it’s me, I’m blushing”

“You’re handsome”

Seonghwa groaned, his cheeks feeling hotter and hotter by the second, “it’s refreshing to hear your voice, it’s kind of everything I imagined it to be”

“Oh gosh, you’re making me blush now, I think the only time I’ve heard your voice was in that one video you posted where you spilled flour everywhere and left that in, when you cussed on family friendly YouTube” y/n teased, almost dropping her phone from laughing, glad she didn’t hang up on him by accident.

“Oh so you’re a fan girl, I knew it, I just knew it. You fangirls are crazy” it was his turn to tease her, watching her cheeks get red while she covered her face.

“Go to bed, you sound crazy now”

“I’ll sleep well after talking to you, I’m making a matcha dessert tomorrow, I’ll call you then? If you’re awake...” seonghwa suggested, smiling softly when she nodded, glad he got to see her before bed.

“Of course. Goodnight Seonghwa”

His heart clenched in his chest, the sound of his name sounding so nice coming from her he could pass out right there, “goodnight y/n”

“What time is it?” Y/n asked, rubbing her tired eyes after she’d spent some time editing a video and replying to comments, she was ready for bed and seonghwa had just FaceTimed her looking sleepy and messy.

“Around 6am, I woke up so I could tell you goodnight”

Y/n sighed, her heart aching, she was tired and stressed and even though she was glad to have him it got tiring. They’d been talking for months now, every day they got closer and they always joked about dropping everything and running to each other, both of them too scared to even suggest being with each other but wanting it badly.

“Seonghwa...” y/n mumbled, rubbing her face, wishing he hadn’t called while she was sleepy and emotional.

“I know that things are tough sometimes, but we have each other, and that’s why I call you before bed so that you can get your mind off of things” seonghwa said softly, trying to encourage her not to be sad despite not knowing why. He just thought it was because she was stressed from work, their jobs required all of their time, he really wanted to ask her to visit him for the holidays but he knew that she would be too busy to consider it.

“I should go, I think I’m gonna go okay?” Y/n mumbled, wanting to get off of the call already just so that she could cry in peace. On top of missing someone she hadn’t met yet, her family wasn’t going to be visit her for Christmas, which normally wouldn’t be a problem but she had felt so lonely lately she couldn’t afford to spend much more time alone.

“What’s wrong? You know I’m here for you, you know you can talk to me y/n, I’d do anything to help you feel better, are you okay?” He asked, feeling anxious that there was nothing he could do, he lived so far but all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and tell her that things would be okay. That he would take care of her, that they could make each other even happier.

“It’s just not fair okay? Why are you there, and why am I here? I just want to be next to you Seonghwa” y/n breathed, setting her phone down so she didn’t have to see the expression on his face, feeling like he wasn’t going to feel the same way at all. Sometimes she felt like she was making up the feelings, like he didn’t really like her as much as she could feel herself liking him.

“Y/n, can you look at me...or the phone screen, I want to tell you something, please” Seonghwa said, messing with his already messy black hair, turning on his lamp to combat the gloomy morning outside. Y/n finally picked up her phone, staring back at him from across the screen and wiping her red eyes, “can I do something for you for the holidays?”

“No..” she swallowed, his question only making her eyes water even more.

“Yes, please, I want to do it for you. I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket okay? I want to see you, I want you to come visit me and see your family” he smiled, wishing he could hold her hand, tell her in person, but that wouldn’t make any sense. He just wanted to be there with her.

“No seonghwa, why would you do that? You don’t have to do that for me,” y/n shook her head, feeling guilty already and for no good reason, “I could get my own ticket but even then what’s the point?”

Seonghwa sighed, pushing his fingers through his hair while his whole chest felt like someone was sitting on it, “because I want to be with you, and if you don’t feel the same way then it’s fine, but one day I want us to meet in person and I’d love for it to happen soon”

“Well I...I feel the same way, I really do, but it just-“

“Y/n...”

“Seonghwa” y/n whined, covering her face again.

“If you say yes, you won’t have to worry about anything being enough when you’re with me, I’ll give you enough kisses and hugs to last forever”

Y/n fell asleep with the slightest reassurance that everything would be okay, that she was loved and she could make it through it all, she just needed a little faith and patience. Having patience was hard though, it was hard when all she wanted was to be there already, they’d agreed she’d take a sooner flight to make it all better. She didn’t know what to expect because truthfully she was still trying to wrap her head around things, she couldn’t believe that they’d gone from being paired together by their subscribers to actually going to meet each other. To maybe even being in love with each other..

“You are so much taller than I thought you were!” y/n gasped, the crowded airport doing little to distract the couple who were utterly taken by each other, her chin softly hitting Seonghwa’s chest when he pulled her into a hug. His free hand played with her hair, never wanting to let her go, but he wanted to look at her.

“You are even more beautiful in person, look at this beautiful face, here I thought it wouldn’t get better,” seonghwa mumbled, holding her face in his hand while y/n softly touched the fingers on his right hand, “how was your flight?”

“Worth it. Ask me if I remember anything and I’d be at a loss, the whole world is disappearing right now” she laughed, wincing at all of the emotions she was feeling. When she got to the airport back at home she felt confident, ready, she was going to see Seonghwa and she was going to love him and vice versa. She just didn’t think he’d turn her to mush the minute they locked eyes and she saw his smile, she finally got to find out what he smelled like and how he felt, it was so strange but so comforting.

“You’re so beautiful. I keep saying it but it’s true, I can’t get over you” Seonghwa whispered, his heart finally steady just having her here, he smiled softly when she closed her eyes and leaned into him.

“You feel like home Seonghwa”

“I’m sorry I can’t be more romantic and you’re probably exhausted, but I just want to know, can I-“

“Yes. You can, please” y/n laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck when he pressed his lips against hers, she fit so snugly against him and she had to compensate for their height difference by getting on her toes but it was worth it. Kissing him felt like a dream, like everything she could hope for and more in a single kiss, her heart ached for him even though he was right there.

“You stole my heart just now, please don’t give it back y/n” Seonghwa whispered, giving her one last lingering kiss before pulling away from her.

“I’ll take care of it, will you take care of mine?”

He didn’t even need to answer, because how could he say no?

Y/n hadn’t even been in Seattle for a full 24 hours before everyone started to freak out over her whereabouts, nothing was sacred when it came to her fans who wanted to know where she’d gone and if she was visiting family. Some people joked that she was visiting Seonghwa and asked for a collaboration video, which of course they’d never pass up, ever.

“You’re tickling me” y/n laughed against Seonghwa’s back, her hands feeling around the table in front of her for the proper ingredients they needed to even begin making anything. Seonghwa had a good idea after watching baking videos all night with y/n who used them to help fall asleep, the interesting concepts and challenges were something he never would have thought to do on his own but now he didn’t have to.

“Baby if you move your right hand just two inches to the left you’ll find the whisk you’ve been looking for this whole time” Seonghwa said quietly, his hands slipping into the pockets of her sweatshirt to occupy the time.

“You’ll edit this out right?”

“You’re doing a great job, are you sure you’ll be able to separate the egg yolks?” Seonghwa asked, staring down at her work and feeling proud that his girlfriend really knew her way around a kitchen. I mean why wouldn’t she? But without being able to see properly, he’d never be able to do it.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, just watch me work, I got this,” she mumbled, kissing his back before searching for the eggs, “you’ll let me know when the yolks are fully separated right?”

“Of course love, you trust me?”

“Yes, among other things...” y/n said, finding the eggs before finding the kitchen towel and placing them on top. Seonghwa was good at giving her directions when she couldn’t see, and luckily she was good at listening. They made it through the easy parts, greasing and lining molds, pre melting chocolate so no one got burnt, whisking the egg yolks into the chocolate, without a doubt the hardest part was now when she had to whisk egg whites.

“Are you sure? I can help you know” Seonghwa laughed, he was pretty certain his camera’s were positioned low enough anyways that if he ever felt like moving and helping y/n no one would be able to see her face. They quite liked the mystery surrounding them, everyone wondered what they looked like, at this point it was more routine than actively wanting to hide their faces though.

“Maybe you can pour the sugar. But then it wouldn’t be just my hands and I’d lose the challenge” y/n laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist while he finally brought his hands back around.

“But we want a good soufflé, and I’ll just hold the mixer, you pour the sugar. And I set aside a couple different measuring spoon sizes so it’s up to you to find the tablespoon,” Seonghwa teased, his eyes widening when it was the first thing she touched, “can you see?!”

Y/n blushed, peeking around his side to give him a cheeky grin, earning a kiss from Seonghwa who moved to stand a bit behind her, “Challenge failed. Now we bake like the professionals we are”

The souffle’s came out better than expected, both of them certain at least one thing would come out wrong or maybe the souffles wouldn’t rise but they were so good it had them stuck on the video as they edited and again when they uploaded it the next morning.

“You’re so handsome when you sleep. But like, you’re also handsome all the time. I don’t get it, how are you so amazing?” Y/n asked, poking Seonghwa’s nose as they cat napped after breakfast. A literal cat nap, Seonghwa’s cat had taken a liking to y/n and just wanted to be curled up in her lap as big as he was. Seonghwa felt left out, wanting to be cuddled by y/n instead, but he couldn’t help but feel lots of love for a potential little family as he hugged y/n against his chest and she hugged the cat.

“If you’re any nicer to me I’m going to follow you everywhere, next plane to Seoul I’m out, I’ll see you there” Seonghwa teased, kissing the top of her head, noticing she had pulled her phone out to take photos of the cat who was now stretching across her legs. He seriously did take up a lot of room, taking up most of her legs and covering her in his gorgeous amber fur.

“Don’t tempt me, I might just do it,” y/n mumbled, attempting to get a candid photo of Seonghwa but failing when he noticed and winked at the camera, “ah, so handsome, you give me butterflies”

“If you post me on social media the world will never know” seonghwa teased, the new joke between them was that they just wanted the fame that followed a face reveal, that after they got got new subscribers they’d just ghost each other and that would be it. Admittedly it was fun to joke around, but both of them had no intentions of actually doing that, in fact they wanted to spend as much time together as possible.

“Not a chance, you’re too special, too handsome, too sweet, I’m too lucky”

Seonghwa bit his lip, holding back a shy laugh while his entire face flushed, “I love you y/n”

Y/n titled her head back, her eyes wide and full of emotions as seonghwa held her face and kissed her, the sudden movements making the cat scurry off of her lap, “I love you too seonghwa, so much”

“That’s it, I’m buying my plane tickets, when can I visit you?” He asked, taking his phone out while hugging her a bit tighter, kissing the top of her head because he couldn’t ever get enough.

“What? You’re going to leave your house and take an airplane to visit me? Have I done something correctly?” Y/n teased, raising her eyebrows playfully while seonghwa just shook his head.

“You’ve already told me yourself, now it’s my turn. My home is wherever you are, comfort zones are obliviated in the face of true love” he mumbled, checking for flights within the next couple of months and sighing at the thought of spending time with y/n in her country. His country...? It had been a while since he’d been back but it would all be a dream once he did.

“So cheesy, so romantic, I’m already full stop feeding me!”

“No I refuse, I’m gonna love you forever, I’ve just decided that right this instant. Let’s get married” he joked, making y/n roll her eyes, seonghwa just smiled because he knew he was being dramatic but she loved it.

“This is all a publicity scam, I can’t believe you” y/n groaned, her face warming as she tried to hold in her laughter while grasping his hands that tickled at her sides. In the end he hugged her close, kissing the side of her face while they looked through the comments on their latest YouTube video together.

“Well my publicity scam seems to be working? But my cat likes you too much for me to get rid of you now, I guess I’ll have to endure it. I just bought my plane ticket, wanna go out? I want to hold your hand”

“When?!”

“Right now, or not...” seonghwa trailed off, playing dumb as he avoided her eyes, “just kidding, around your birthday”

“Oh my gosh,” y/n groaned, hugging him tightly, “you’re staying until your birthday though...right?”

Seonghwa was glad their birthdays weren’t far apart, although he wouldn’t mind staying with her longer, “of course, if Mon Chérie would allow it”

She blushed, covering her cheeks and just thinking about how amazing it was to be with him, how great it was gonna be spending time with him, “I think my bed is big enough for you”

“You take up virtually no space in my bed, yet all the space in my heart. Too cheesy? I love you...”

#park seonghwa #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa fluff #ateez seonghwa #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #seonghwa #the apple of my eye

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shreddedparchment · 6 years ago

Text

Make a Move

11/13/2018

Pairing: Thundershield x Reader Word Count: 4,923

Warnings: Language, a bit of angst, fluff, very light smut

A/N: This is written for @until-theend-oftheline ‘s Iron Hiddles Thundershield Quickie Challenge. This was a lot of fun and actually the cake bit is based on a dream I had. It was nice dream! I hope you enjoy this one-shot! Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you guys and when you tell me what you liked I can gauge what goes into my stories in the future! As always, if you happen to reblog, thanks so much for helping me spread my work. xoxo

Aesthetic Prompt (made by @until-theend-oftheline)

“There she is.” Steve mutters quietly. His hands clench into tight fists as he watches you move into the quaint coffee shop.

This is his favorite spot. He comes here every chance he gets and spends a few precious hours scribbling and doodling in his secret sketch journal. He doesn’t have it with him today. For good reason, too. Today is for business.

Thor looks up from his spot across from Steve and watches as his eyes light up as you wave over at them. Thor smirks, finding it all very adorable that Steve seems to be perpetually unable to see what’s right in front of him.

Thor can see it in the way his cheeks flush lightly and the sudden blue sparkle in his eyes. The Captain is so into you and he doesn’t even realize it.

You shove your umbrella into the wooden stand then move towards the two largest men in the small converted brownstone. A hot spot for the young men and women in the area which you definitely qualify as, the coffee shop has a comfy atmosphere. All the fixtures, counters, tables, and chairs are mismatched chocolate brown woods. Some chairs do have cushions, and these are always taken first thing in the morning.

Steve avoids those tables anyway. They’re at the center where the hustle and bustle of the constant crowd streaming in and out gets annoying. He’d learned his lesson when his elbow had been bumped several times, ruining a few of his sketches. He prefers the table at the far back of the shop where he can both look out at the falling rain and keep an eye on the door to see who comes and goes. And in this corner, away from the free books to read and the self-serve treats, Steve can sit for hours undisturbed, half hidden small shelving of books for sale.

His favorite table has four, what looks like hollowed out tree trunks for seats. They’ve been sanded down and varnished but the natural wood is beautiful, and he likes the way the lines swirl. These are also the only seats that he feels are safe for Thor to sit in. The guy is massive.

As you approach the table, adjusting your very worn brown satchel off of your shoulder, you can’t help but smile at the contrast between them and the rest of the young patrons. The two men who look at you with soft smiles do not fit in. One, a 1,500-year-old God and the other a hundred plus year old veteran look slightly out of place.

“Sorry, I know I’m late.” You sigh your apology and settle into the seat to Steve’s right and to Thor’s left. You quickly put your satchel between your feet for security, still wiping at the rain on your red bomber with your free hand. The chill in the air is strong enough that wearing a slightly heavier coat is appropriate. Thor seems to agree with you as he’s wearing his favorite dark red coat too. Steve doesn’t seem to feel the chill because he’s wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeve, heather gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose his muscular forearms.

You force yourself to look at Thor, wanting to just sit and stare at Steve.

“Not at all. We just got here ourselves.” Thor lies. He looks over at Steve who’s watching you with a furrowed brow.

“Excuse me!” He waves one of the servers over, a pretty redhead with bright green eyes, a heart shaped face, and pouty pink lips. She flushes but hurries over.

It is Steve Rogers calling her over. You’d feel flustered too if you worked here and got called over by Steve Rogers. Of course, you live with him so it’s normal to see him every day. But if you’re honest, even when he calls you over at home, your heart skips a beat when those blue eyes meet yours.

Actually, it kinda upsets you that the waitress stands much too close to him as she reaches your table. He has to pull his arm down into the circle of his chair to keep from grazing her stomach.

“Oh, hi, Steve. I didn’t know you were here today.”

What a liar! You eye her with as neutral a gaze as you can, but you feel the uncomfortable twist of jealousy in your stomach.

“Kate, can we get a few spare towels if you have them?” Steve looks up at her and gives her a smile that might have aimed at being polite but feels a little too flirty for your liking.

This Kate puts her perfectly manicured hand on his right bicep and rubs it with her dainty thumb. “Of course, Steve. I’ll be right back.”

The waitress turns, and leaves and you slump back in your chair an involuntary pout twisting your own lips.

“She was awfully friendly.” You throw at him hoping that he can’t hear the jealousy there.

“Kate? Yeah, she’s great.” Steve smiles at you then turns to look at Thor who sits shaking his head as he frowns at his comrade. “What?”

Thor turns his gaze on you and sits forward, resting his elbows on the smooth wooden table. “I know it’s a little strange to meet out of the compound, but we thought it might be better if we talked about this away from the others. With Tony and Pepper so close to getting married we didn’t want them to worry about some unknown threat.”

Okay, business. You like focusing on business. It helps distract you from the waitress and her stupid manicured hand all over Steve’s bicep.

“When did it arrive?” You ask, serious tone renewed as you concentrate on the task at hand which successfully drives the redhead from your mind.

You lean forward, mirroring Thor’s posture to bring you closer to him so that you can speak low. You don’t want to be overheard.

“A week ago.” Steve says, tapping his fingers against the table.

You look at him and find his blue gaze darkened as he frowns at the woodgrain. If there’s one thing that he hates it when people threaten his friends. The people he cares about? His family? You don’t want to mess with the Avengers. Especially with threats? Steve is no joke when he’s angry. And most people were afraid of Dr. Banner when he got upset.

“Have you told anyone else?” You ask him, wanting so badly to reach out and place your hand over his to settle his fingers.

“We thought it best to keep it between as few of us as possible.” Steve says with a shake of his head.

“We’re not sure where this threat really came from and we don’t want to alarm anyone if it is just someone’s idea of an ill-timed joke.” Thor agrees. “You are the expert when it comes to the forscenic sciences. Is that not right, Captain?”

Steve watches Thor with an amused grin which you also can’t help but share.

“Forensic.” You correct him kindly and Thor clears his throat.

“Is that not what I said?”

“Close enough.” Steve admits and turns the full power of his grin on you.

For a horribly pleasant moment, your heart thumps loudly in your chest as the curve of his smile lights up his face. All darkness cleared from it, you see happy Steve and you want him to stay that way. So, without another thought, you nod.

“I’m in.” You swallow hard, staring at Steve still before you force your eyes away back to Thor. “Where’s the letter?”

“Y/N? Are you sure you want to do this? It could be really dangerous.” Steve says with worry, his happy smile gone, replaced with a small frown as he reaches towards your hand on the table but doesn’t quite reach it.

“Tony and Pepper deserve to have a perfect wedding day. If I can help give them that, then I want in. Besides, no one threatens my family and gets away with it.” Your anger really does bubble up, filling your chest with heat that has nothing to do with how Steve’s hand is only two inches from your own.

His eyes sparkle and he nods at Thor who reaches into his jacket pocket to retrieve the letter but then freezes as Kate returns.

“Here you go, Steve.” She says a little breathless, handing him not one or two but a stack of six dry hand towels.

Steve smiles up at her, much too excited. Why can’t he stop doing that?! Does he smile at all the girls he meets like that?

“Thanks, Kate, you’re a lifesaver.” He gushes.

You turn your gaze away from them and look instead at the empty seat across from you with half a mind to get up and leave. It would be stupid because how the hell is Steve supposed to know that you like him? You haven’t told him. Or anyone for that matter. So, he’d be super confused as to your reason for storming off. But you want to do it. You place your hands on the side of the chair, intent on getting up to leave when you feel a light tug to the left side of your head.

You turn your head towards Steve to see what he’s doing and your heart flips as he sits with the towels carefully balanced on his right thigh while, with one of them in his hands, he carefully pats your hair dry.

“You’ll catch a cold.” He reasons, talking only to you.

“Oh.” Kate mutters.

“Miss?” Some other patron calls.

“Excuse me.” Kate says with slight disappointment.

“Thanks, Kate.” Steve repeats but doesn’t turn to watch her go.

You reach up quickly, nervous and flustered. Your hands find his in the towel and you grab them to stop them from moving. He freezes and looks down at your face, his blue eyes inquisitively boring into your own.

“I can do it.” You assure him, so nervous you’re surprised your voice doesn’t shake.

“Right.” Steve says and quickly takes his hands back but only so that he can place the right on the stack on his lap and his left flat on the table again.

To your left, Thor chuckles. Both you and Steve look at him, nervous as hell.

“What’s so funny?” You demand, freezing in your hair drying.

“Hm? Nothing I just repeated forscenic in my head.” He laughs again and sits back, shaking his head.

You’re not sure if he’s telling the truth. Thor is really good at being sneaky when he wants to be.

Steve also stares at Thor with a furrowed brow.

Intent on moving past the awkwardness you lower the towel onto your lap.

“The letter?” You remind them.

“Right.” Thor says, remembering and once more reaches into his coat’s breast pocket and produces from it a bagged letter and envelope.

“An evidence bag?” You ask, impressed by their forethought.

“I though it might be easier for you to work if we didn’t contaminate it any more than we already did.” Steve explains as he grabs another towel and offers it to you.

You take it but put it in your lap before reaching out for the sealed bag. You lean over it, staring at the careful handwriting and read the threat. It’s simple. Not complicated or contrived. It’s straight to the point.

Felicitations on your happy day. I’m sure it’ll be a bang.

“Felicitations? Who the hell uses the word felicitations these days other than pretentious assholes?” You wonder aloud, disgusted by the threat and the audacity that some people have to try and ruin special days for other people.

Thor looks between you and Steve with shifting electric blue eyes before he very slowly raises his hand. You realize that he would probably use that word. Oops.

“Thor, buddy, come clean and we’ll call it a day.” Steve assures him with a nod.

“I would not threaten my friends on their special day!” Thor defends himself and you try and stifle your laugh, but it bursts from your lips with a slight choking sound.

Steve chuckles.

“I’m sorry.” You reach over and place your hand over Thor’s massive one, gently rubbing it in reassurance. “I didn’t mean to imply that you’re an asshole.”

“Or pretentious?” Thor presses.

But you wrinkle your nose at him, tilting your head from left to right. “Mmmm.”

He huffs at your teasing which only makes you laugh again.

“I’m only kidding, Thor. You’re not pretentious or an asshole. You’re very sweet.” You can’t help but beam at him when his frown relaxes into his soft goofy grin.

“Where the hell is our damn coffee?” Steve suddenly grumbles and waves Kate over again.

He was just laughing. What’s with the mood shift? You watch his face light up again as Kate approaches. “We had three coffees, Kate, can you see what’s taking so long?”

The redhead blanches as she looks down at her tray. “Oh…I’m sorry, Steve. I think I forgot to put the order in. I’ll go put it in right now. I’m so…so sorry. Please forgive me.”

You stare at the redhead, astounded by her distraction with Steve. She’d been staring at him so hard she’d completely forgotten to put the order in? What kind of non-professional…

“It’s alright, Kate.” Steve assures her, his sweetest smile offered as she gives him a small shy smile of her own.

“I really hope that I haven’t ruined your opinion of me.” Kate suddenly throws out, unembarrassed to be making such declarations in front of two other people. One of which is you, a girl who clearly has some kind of personal relationship with him. “I want you to think only good things of me.”

“No harm done. And trust me, Kate, nothing but good things.” He assures her with a charming half-smile.

Your half-smile! Okay…maybe that was exaggeration, but you’d never seen him offer that smile to anyone but you when you were at the compound, working.

The ache in your chest has you up on your feet, the bagged letter shoved into the front pocket of your satchel as you pull the strap up onto your shoulder. “I’m gonna start on this right away. You can forget the third coffee.”

You don’t mean to spit your words at the redhead, but you do, and you don’t even feel bad about it.

“You’re leaving already?” Steve asks, sounding slightly disappointed.

“I should get started on the letter. And I don’t want to impose on you.” You look at Thor as you speak, unwilling to look at Steve to see what expression he might be wearing.

“Impose?” Steve sounds so confused but you won’t look at him.

“I’ll see you guys back at the compound.” You turn on your heel and as quickly as you can manage, you weave your way through the crowd of people coming in out of the freezing rain.

“Y/N?” Steve calls out to you, but you don’t stop and leave the shop as quickly as you possibly can.

“What the hell was that about?” Steve wonders, turning his gaze back to Thor.

Thor sits, shaking his head again at his friend, disappointment written across his ruggedly handsome face. “You, my dear friend, are a half-wit and I hope she never gives you the time of day.”

“What?” Steve demands confused more than ever.

Thor gets to his feet. “Dear Kate, I will not be requiring a coffee either.”

“Where are you going?” Steve asks, looking over at Kate who is already leaning over to the barista and cancelling the second coffee.

“To see my girl. I will not make the same mistakes my friends make. You are a good man, Steve. Just a bit stupid.” Thor moves for the door with no trouble. Everyone parts for him. He draws up his collar and disappears out into the rain.

Steve stares after Thor, wondering what the hell he could mean but when he sees your umbrella, forgotten in the wooden stand, Steve’s heart gives a sudden jolt. He’s up on his feet, racing for the door. He grabs your umbrella and without another word, he too disappears into the darkening afternoon.

Poor Kate moves towards the table, cup of coffee balanced carefully on her tray where no one is waiting.

“What the fuck?” She mutters, under her breath, then marches back to the counter in defeat.

“Y/N?” Steve’s voice makes you jump.

You accidentally tear the letter at the top and sigh heavily as you glare at the rip.

“Damn it.” You growl.

“There you are.” Steve says with a smile. He moves towards you where you’re leaning over your lab table where you’ve been rubbing swabs on the edges where fingers would have more than likely touched first.

“Where else am I supposed to be?” You ask, still grumpy from the coffee shop debacle a few hours ago.

“Nowhere. I just wasn’t sure you’d still be in here. But you’re always in here.” He shrugs. “Shoulda known better. Anything yet?”

You put the now torn letter aside and shake your head. “The last two swab samples are finishing up now. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be sipping java with your redhead.”

“Redhead? Oh, Kate? She’s nice.” He nods.

You hate him. You officially hate him and the redhead.

“But I don’t think I can be comfortable around her. She’s tires too hard. I want someone I can lounge on the sofa with. Someone who’ll watch movies with me. Excited because it’s usually the first time I’ve seen them.” He stops beside you, turning around to lean his back against your lab table. He’s fidgeting with something but you’re thinking about the description for the person he wants to be with. You and he love watching movies together. Well, you love watching movies with him and he’s never complained about your company. “Even when they’ve seen them a million times before.”

You look up at him and feel your chest tighten nervously. “Is that my umbrella?”

You finally focus on what he’s got in his hands and he nods, frowning at you. “You left without it. You’re going to get sick.”

“Me? Not possible. I’m resilient.” Almost as if it’s on cue, you double over with a sneeze.

“Right, resilient. And what the hell are you wearing?” He asks, outrage on his handsome face.

“What?” You look down at yourself. You’re wearing your lab coat. But he probably means what’s underneath it.

You had showered and changed into your satin pajamas, dark blue shorts and a matching button up shirt with a light pink embroidered line along the hem for embellishment. Your feet are covered with your fluffy white slippers. You’re warm!

“There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.”

Steve frowns, placing your umbrella on the table and turns to face you, opening his mouth to argue. Before he can there’s a ding and with an excited jump you scamper over to the autosampler and push a few buttons on the touch display.

“Anything?” Steve asks.

You stare at the screen for a minute then turn to look at him. “Yeah but…” You suddenly realize what must have happened.

“Where did you say that you found the letter?” You put your hands on your hips and move towards him slowly, stopping only when you’re a foot away, staring up at his confused and handsome face.

“On Tony’s lab table. Why?”

“Because the samples returned Tibetan soil and germicidal solution.” You wait for him to realize what’s going on, but he stares at you in utter confusion.

“The attacker is from Tibet?” He asks, seriously.

“No, Steve. There is no attacker.” You begin to remove your lab coat and throw it over your stool and stretch your arms over your head. Steve’s expression changes as he watches you stretch, his eyes moving down along your torso then back up to your face. Why are his eyes dilated? “What other pretentious asshole do we know who probably has plenty reason to spend time in Tibet?”

Steve continues to stare down at you and it becomes so invasive that you cross your arms across your chest and wait for him to answer.

“Who?” He asks.

“I’m sure Stephen didn’t mean to surprise you and Thor, but he is the only other idiot I know that would use the word ‘felicitations’. Why can’t he just use ‘congratulations’ like other normal people? Dumbass.” You move around Steve, dropping your hands as you walk.

His hand suddenly grabs your wrist and he pulls you to a stop. “Where are you going?”

“To bed? I’m beat. I’ve been running around all day and then I spent the last six hours in here running tests on that stupid letter.” You look down at his hand around your wrist and wish he’d just grab you and kiss you. But he won’t. You gently pull your arm out of his grip. “Goodnight, Steve. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.” He replies.

With disappointment tightening your chest, you find solace in at least the fact that the redhead, Kate, is no one to be worried about.

“It took you long enough. Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you to realize that you are utterly in love with our little forensics expert?” Thor gestures towards the doorway of Steve’s bedroom.

Steve looks over at it and knows that Thor is gesturing towards the kitchen where you’re busy baking to relieve some stress after all that nonsense with Strange’s letter.

“I guess I’m still as clueless as ever when it comes to dames.” Steve sighs, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck.

“Clueless you may be, but a further idiot you do not have to make yourself. No one is home. It is you, Y/N, and myself. In a moment I will leave you and I suggest you make a move. Any move. Tell her you love her, kiss her, embrace her, just do something. I can’t stand watching the two of you pining any longer.” Thor claps Steve on the shoulder and moves towards his door to take his leave.

Steve springs to his feet and tries to fight the fluttering of his heart as he takes in Thor’s carefully worded advice. “Wait, are you saying she likes me back?”

“Like?” Thor shakes his head again. “You’re both idiots.”

With that, Thor turns and leaves Steve standing in utter nervous excitement, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he searches for the confidence to make his move. He has to make it clear that you’re the one he wants. Not Kate, not any other girl he’s ever met. Just you.

You’re busy checking on the chocolate cakes baking in the professional grade oven that Tony spared no expense on in the kitchen. The smell is so intoxicating. Devil’s Food Cake is your best dish. It’s almost finished. Just a few more minutes. You’re so focused on your cake that you don’t notice as Thor sneaks down the hallway to the elevator and takes his leave.

You pull the cakes out two minutes before the ding of the timer.

Your hair pulled up into a messy bun you carefully pull the two round cakes out of their tins and place them on the cooling rack but even though you know that you should wait until the cakes have really cooled down before you start piling them up into a two-layered cake, you reach for your carving knife and very carefully cut the dome of the bottom layer away leaving a nice, flat, and even cake.

You set the slivers of cut cake aside on a smaller plate before you pile the cake up.

“What the hell is that smell?” Steve’s voice shocks you again and you jump.

“Jesus, Steve, don’t you knock?” You demand, irritated with how easily he scares you.

“I live here.” He sasses you. He stops behind you, peeking over your shoulder at the chocolate cake, smiling that stupid half-smile that he gave to Kate. It irritates you because you’d thought that was your smile. Now you’re wondering how often he smiles like that outside of the compound. “That looks good. What kind of frosting are you going to use?”

“Frosting? I’m not going to use any frosting.

“What?!” He demands, somewhat outraged.

You push the cake to the side and turn to hop up onto the counter, then pull the wooden tray up onto your lap, the cake perfectly balanced at the center.

“It doesn’t need any frosting. It’s sweet enough as it is. This is my Devil’s Food Cake!” You assure him. You don’t need to add anything. It’s already perfect.

“You can’t not add frosting. It’s not cake without frosting.” He moves closer, standing in front of you to look down at the un-iced cake, his hands on his hips.

“Fine. You want proof?” You reach over and pull the small plate with the slivers of shaved cake, grab a decent sized piece and hold it out for him to take. “Here, try it.”

Your heart stutters as he places his right hand on your left next to your hip on the counter. He eyes the offered cake then looks up into your eyes. The amused intensity of his sparkling blue eyes ties a knot in your chest making it hard to swallow. He places his other hand on your other side, his thumb gently grazing your hip as he leans in towards you.

He opens his mouth and before you can pull back, he closes his mouth around the cake and the tips of your fingers.

Butterflies tumble violently in your stomach making you feel as if you’re floating. He pulls back, licking his lips as you sit frozen on the counter, your chest burning with a sudden desire.

“You know what?” You’re right.” He admits, nodding and twisting his mouth in defeat, not oblivious of the state that he’s put you in. There’s a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. “You’re sweet enough without it.”

He pulls back fully and moves towards the living room across the meeting room as you continue to sit, still frozen on the kitchen counter.

“What do you wanna watch?” He asks. His questions snaps you back to reality and you spring from the counter, shoving the cake onto the counter as you storm after him.

He’s already sitting on the long sofa, flipping through the selection of movies on the T.V. with a furrowed brow.

“You can’t just do that and walk away from me, Steve. What the hell was that?”

“What was what?” He asks, innocently.

“What thing with-with-with your mouth and the cake and my fingers?”

“I was tasting it.” He shrugs.

“Am I just a joke to you?” You demand. Your heart aches slightly, wondering if he knows how much you think about him. Always, he’s on your mind. What he just did…that teasing…

“Well, you are pretty funny.” He says, that half-smile back.

“Oh, screw you, Steve.” You turn sharply on the ball of your foot to storm out of that living room, but Steve’s hand is once again on your wrist, stopping you from moving.

Without warning he yanks you back so that your legs hit his left knee and you tumble backwards onto the sofa, landing on your back. Slowly Steve leans himself over you, lifting your legs with his right arm so that you’re lying on the sofa completely.

“What are you doing?” Your pounding heart tells you that you know what he’s doing. But you want him to say it. You want to know you’re not wrong.

“Making my move.” He explains, quietly.

Before you can reply he leans down and presses a sensual kiss to your throat. You gasp and try to remember how to breathe.

“How long have you liked me, Y/N?” He whispers against your throat, his breath tickling your skin and making it erupt into goosebumps.

You have trouble finding your voice for a second. “A long time.”

Steve kisses your throat again then pulls back, licking his lips as he stares down into your eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He reaches up, caressing the sides of your face as he works his right knee between your legs to lay himself on you a bit more comfortably.

“I was afraid that you wouldn’t like it, me liking you. You’re way out of my league.” You insist.

Steve smiles your half-smile and he shakes his head. “Trust me, Y/N, if anyone is unqualified, it’s me. I’ve loved you since almost the first moment I set my eyes on you.”

Love?!

“Can I show you?” He whispers, leaning down to whisper against your lips.

You’re so intoxicated with him and the way you can taste your cake on his breath.

“Show me.” You plead, and he closes the space between your lips, kissing you with so much desire that you’re sure he’s wanted you just as much as you’ve wanted him.

His hands trace the shape of your hip before he hooks his hand around your thigh, slides it down to rest behind your knee and lifts your leg to wrap it around his waist.

As Steve presses himself between your legs, drawing a muffled moan from your lips, you’re sure of one thing; When Steve Rogers decides to make a move, he makes a move.

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sanjuno · 6 years ago

Note

Game of Thrones, Jon snow just trolling everyone

(3/32 SI Promptfest)

By the Old Gods, I really was ridiculously pretty for a man. Staring at my reflection in mydressing table mirror, I tried to make an ugly face and only managed to lookpouty. Ech. I was conventionally attractive in my life before this one, but Ageon ‘Jon Snow’ Targaryen-Stark was supernaturally good looking.

It was actually a little upsetting. I was aestheticallypleasing, yes, but not at all my own type. If I had to be reborn as a man in this hope-forsaken hellworld, theleast the old gods could have done is fashioned me a meatsuit that catered tomy personal tastes.

I spared a wistful thought for the Mormonts, with theirstrong backs and lovely broad shoulders, before I dismissed the images with aresigned sigh. Nope, it was all dainty Targargyen features and the rangyleanness of the Starks for me.

Fuckers.

Grimacing one last time at my reflection, I tied back myhair and finished getting ready for the day. Stuck as I was in Winterfell andwith no desire to draw unwanted attention, my ability to influence the eventsto come was limited to the Starks. Which was, in my humble opinion, more than enough.

People always underestimated the Starks. It was baffling. Ina feudal society like Westeros there was nothingmore dangerous than a loyal people with a loyal lord. In Robert’s Rebellion, only the Northern forces had answered infull when the Banners were called to Arms.

The North answered without hesitation when the Stark inWinterfell called for them. The King in the North, and the North remembered it.A King uncrowned, a King untitled, but a true King nevertheless. Torrhen Starkmay have bent his knee… but he had notbared his throat.

Winterfell was a fortress of ice, untouched by sun or flame.I knew there were weaknesses, cracks in the foundation left behind by thewildfires of Robert’s Rebellion. If left alone those fissures they would bringdestruction, like melt-water under snowcaps just waiting to bring half amountain down on unsuspecting heads.

Good thing I was a manipulative little shit, and I knewexactly how to start doing away with those weaknesses. In this case I needed tostart at the top.

No one had done quite as much damage to the Stark’s goodfortunes as Catelyn Tully, and so the Lady Stark’s attitude would need alittle… adjustment. Which I was morethan willing to do now that Rickon was safely born. If she went nuts again andneeded to be removed I still had a full complement of Stark Wargs to advise andinfluence for the sake of preserving all life on the planet.

Wishywashy fishwives, blech. The only useful thing she evermanaged to do was make more Starks. After living with her prejudiced,thoughtless cruelty for thirteen years I was more than ready to break herinflexible little mind in half. Which was my plan for today. Best get a move onthat.

I grinned at my reflection in the mirror, knowing I wasdressed no differently than the rest of the Stark children and loving how muchit pissed my dear Auntie off. There was no chance of Catelyn letting me speakwith Father without listening in. Perfect.

Now if only my resting bitch face would start beingintimidating again instead of sullen, that would be just grand. Stupid prettyboy face.

/…/

“Your nameday is coming up.” Robb mentioned, just as he hadevery day for the last handful. My dear Auntie’s glare burned against my backas she lurked and waited for me to turn on Robb. Old Gods, but that woman’sblind prejudice was annoying. “Do you know what you’re going to ask Fatherfor?”

“I think… I’d like to know who my mother was. And why Fatherchose to raise me here instead of leaving me with her.” Carefully not lookingover my shoulder at where I knew the Lady Stark was spying on interactions, Imade sure to keep my voice thoughtful. “I’m almost a man grown. I think I’m oldenough to understand if it… if it was something terrible.”

“Oh…” The future lord of Winterfell looked thoughtful, andnodded his head as he clapped a hand to my shoulder. “If anyone deserves toknow it’s you, brother.”

“Well, one can hope.” With a chuckle, I shook my head. “Nowcome on, Robb. Let’s finish putting this away.”

“Aye.” Sighing as he looked at how much was left to takecare of, Robb grumbled but set too willingly enough. “Can’t leave a job halfdone.”

“T’would be unfitting of a son of House Stark.” I agreed withjust enough mockery in my tone to make Robb laugh and the Lady Stark bristle.Honestly, the woman was so easy to rile up. It was actually a bit sad.

/…/

“Father, please.”I may have arranged for Lady Stark to follow me into the Godswood today when Iwent to confront Ned Stark about my true origins, but it still bothered me toknow that she was lurking while I asked my father for honesty. Stupid bint. Myirritation made my voice crack with suppressed emotion. “Please, I deserve toknow. If it’s a secret you’re keeping to preserve a Lady’s honour, I swear bythe Old God’s I won’t speak of it! I just wish to know her name. Please.”

“I swore to your mother to keep you safe, Jon. You are myblood.” Ned Stark was a quiet man, but he had enough determination to grindmountains to dust. A brilliant attribute when you needed to ration suppliesthrough a decade long winter. Not so endearing when trying to get him to saysomething he wanted to stay secret. “That is enough for me. Let that be the endof it.”

“Fine then, if you won’t tell me my mother’s name… then tellme my fathers!” The blood drained out of my father’s face, and guilt rose in mychest. I forged onwards anyway, because this needed doing if we were going tosurvive the Long Night without worrying about knives in our backs. “People talkabout me, and I hear it all the time. ‘The Honorable Ned Stark’s only sin’,they call me. But they don’t know you, Father. Not like I do. Not enough toknow that… you wouldn’t. Not after you wed, not after you swore an oath. Evenif Lady Stark was supposed to be yourelder brother’s wife… you would never dishonour her that way.”

Father’s grip on the Heart Tree’s bark was desperate as hiseyes searched my face. I swallowed, hating the pain I saw in his eyes. “Idon’t… It matters not who sired me, not truly. You are my father in all the ways that count, and aye, your bloodis in my veins, but… it was Lord Brandon who sired me, wasn’t it. With LadyAshara Dayne. If I had been a girl… you could have left me there, let me be aSand. But I was a boy, and the only son of Rickard Stark’s eldest son. That’swhy everyone says Lady Ashara’s daughterwas stillborn. It was a misdirection to cover your tracks, because LordBrandon’s son, even a bastard one, could have a stronger claim than your sonsand-”

“Stop. Jon, please. That’s enough. That is… that is morethan enough.” Strong, sword calloused hands gripped my shoulders, and sterngrey eyes held mine for a long moment before my Father’s expression softened.“I can see now, how much this has troubled you. You’ve never liked the thoughtof causing problems for Robb, and I can well believe that you would draw theworst possible conclusion… Aye, I suppose there’s nothing for it now.Especially not with that sort of rumour taking root…”

I forced my jaw to relax and my breathing to steady.“Father?”

“Your mother was not Ashara Dayne, Jon. And your father wasnot my brother. Would that… would that they hadbeen your parents. Perhaps this would be a simple thing to speak of.” Old, deeppain etched lines in my father’s face, and for a horrible moment I imagined it.Of being the only one still remaining of my siblings. Of Robb slain bytreachery, Sansa stolen away by our enemies, Arya and Bran losing themselves tovengeance and madness, Rickon’s memories of us fading away until he forgot usentirely… Father closed his eyes, seeming to gather his strength before hecould look me in the eye again. “You will always be my son, Jon. My blood is inyour veins, Jon. As is… as is the blood of my sister, Lyanna.”

I had been hoping for it, expecting it even, but still hearing him say it made my breath catchlike I had just been hit. There in front of the Heart Tree, with the truthringing in my ears, all I could manage to do was blink. “But… that would makemy father… but I don’t want to be aTargaryen! I want to be a Stark! Father, don’t tell anyone else!”

Sputtering a relieved laugh my father shook me gently untilI stopped whining, and then he pulled me into an embrace. “I promise, Jon. Noone else will ever know.”

“Mm… maybe… uh, maybe oneother person.” I felt my father stiffen, and I firmly kept my face pressed intothe fur of his collar. “Maybe… I think it would be okay for you to tell LadyStark? Maybe then she’ll agree to have a proper marriage ceremony.”

“Jon, I… I know Cat hasn’t always been kind to you. Are yousure you wish for her to know?” Father pushed me back so he could see my face.I pouted shamelessly, because proper hugs were stupidly scarce in thismachismo-laden hellscape. “Don’t… don’t say yes because you want to make thingseasier for me, Jon. I can handle an argument with my wife.”

“But you want to get married in front of the Heart Tree.” Ipointed out sullenly, keeping my eyes firmly on my father’s chin. “And youcan’t do that while you keep secrets from her.”

“It’s been three and ten years, Jon.” Father sighed, clearlonging in his words even as he pushed his own wants aside for the sake of hisduty. “If she were willing to truly join the North she would have saidsomething to me by now.”

Oh, that comment was going to burn. I know my dear eavesdropping Auntie has never felt welcome inthe North, and now she knows why.This is delicious and I love it.

“Tell her anyway, Father.” Meeting those grey eyes again, Ioffered up a wry smile. “Perhaps this will be enough for her to make thatoffer. Perhaps it will calm her fears about me hurting Robb. Perhaps she willsimply continue to ignore the fact that I exist until she cannot avoid it anylonger. Regardless of the outcome, she at least deserves to know that you havenever broken your oaths to her. She deserves to know that another oath boundyou to silence, for all our sakes.”

“You are a good boy, Jon.” Father smiled, embracing me againas he kissed my hair. “Never forget that kindness. It is a great gift.”

“I won’t, Father.” I smiled back and leaned into thestrength of the only father I would ever acknowledge. “After all, I have you toshow me what to do.”

/…/

The next morning, I could see that Father had spoken to hiswife. The way she looked at me… Catelyn was ashamed of herself. Was writhing inguilt of her own making like a worm on a hook. Doubtless she was rememberingthe promise she had made to her Seven Gods, the promise she had broken so veryquickly when she learned that I had lived through my fever.

This was no less than she deserved.

I took my seat at the head table without sparing her morethan a glance. Catelyn’s eyes were reddened and heavy from a night of weeping.For once, there was no transparent attempt to have me sit elsewhere, removedfrom my family. Sansa wrinkled her nose at me, only having recently learnedwhat the word ‘bastard’ meant, thanks to the Southron influences in her life.

Robb and Theon glanced at Lady Stark, but did not hesitateto draw me into their morning conversation once I was seated.

“So.” Robb kept his voice quiet enough not to be heardbeyond our small huddle. “Did you get the nameday gift you wanted?”

“I did.” Inclining my head, I answered just as quietly.“It’s like we thought. She’s dead, but Father’s still trying to protect hermemory.”

“But he gave you a name?” Theon questioned, sharp eyesscanning slowly over the hall for listening ears.

“He did. I asked him to tell Lady Stark.” I shrugged whenthey both looked at me strangely. “Perhaps now she will stop fretting over it.It would be nice not to be accused of causing everything that inconveniencesher.”

“Aye, that’s clever.” Grinning, Theon bumped his shoulderinto mine as he pulled his plate closer. “And now she owes you a debt, too.”

“Let’s not bring attention to that, shall we?” I smackedTheon’s fingers with the back of my knife before he could steal my bread.“That’s my breakfast, Greyjoy. Get your own.”

“But it tastes better when it’s stolen!” Laughing as heprotested, Theon held his hands up in surrender when I pointed my knife at him.“I yield, I yield. Your food is safe, Snow.”

“Now there’s a lie if I ever heard one.” Robb snorted,curling his arm around his plate when Theon turned to him with a woundedexpression. “You’re a shameless food sneak, Theon. The cooks are all out forvengeance over missing platters.”

With a disdainful sniff, Theon turned back to his own plate.“I’m a growing man.”

“You’re a bottomless pit, is what you are.” I eyed theIronborn boy up and down. “How are you this weedy if all you do is eat?”

“You’re one to talk.” Robb snickered, the smug little shit.One day he would actually reach an awkward growth stage and I was going tolaugh so hard. “You’re barely biggerthan the girls, Snow.”

The was a scraping noise as Father stood up and cleared histhroat, drawing every eye in the hall and cutting off my retort. Robb was goingto get his ass kicked for that comment later during our arms practice. For now,I held my tongue and paid attention as Father raised his hand for silence.

“I have two announcements to make this morning.” Fatherturned and smiled at his wife, placing a hand on the back of her chair. “Tocelebrate the anniversary of King Robert’s coronation, my Lady Wife and I shallbe renewing our vows in the Godswood. The invitations to our bannermen Housesshall be sent later today.”

A cheer shook the rafters. I laughed and clapped my hands,vastly entertained by the dumbstruck look on Catelyn’s face as the Northernpeople applauded. This was the first step to her gaining full acceptance, and Iplanned to keep that momentum going.

“Second.” Father continued once the ruckus had died down. “Withthe blessings and council of my Lady Wife, I have written to King Robert askingfor the granting of legitimacy to my natural born son. Once it is official, JonStark will be named the future lord of Moat Cailin and tasked with itsrestoration.”

Robb and Theon whooped, pounding me on the back as I gapedat my father. Arya shrieked in glee and lunged across the table to throw herarms around my neck. Even Sansa was smiling, even if it looked a bit stiff withconfusion. Baby Rickon had no idea what was going on but he still added hisvoice to the mess.

Holy shit yes. My plans were working. Theon actually had manners, Father had told the truthabout my birth, Lady Stark had gotten a reality check, and I had actually been legitimized…

Fucking right, I was going to Machiavelli the hell out of the Seven Kingdoms. Next up,convincing Father to have Arya fostered with the Mormonts, or at least have hertutored as a shieldmaiden by one, and then I was going to get Sansa someone shecould have an actual intelligent conversation with.

Yes, excellent. This pleases me.

=/=

#Sanjuno's ficwork #SI!Jon Snow #si promptfest #Singing in a Different Key #Jon Snow #Eddard Stark #Catelyn Tully #All the Starks are going to live #Jon Snow knows everything #it makes him slightly terrifying #the Starks all love Jon #Jon is the best #everyone else thinks Jon is nightmare fuel #Jon doesn't play the game he just switches the pieces around when your aren't looking

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douchebagbrainwaves · 6 years ago

Text

HERE'S WHAT I JUST REALIZED ABOUT YC

I'm not sure myself. The danger of symmetry, repetition and recursion.1 I ask myself what I've found life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is bullshit. The second counterintuitive point is that it's not that important to know a lot of what ends up driving you are the best predictor of how a startup will find the preceding portrait to be missing something: disasters.2 Copernicus' aesthetic objections to equants provided one essential motive for his rejection of the Ptolemaic system. Why do so few founders know whether they're default alive or default dead is that the founders will no longer have complete control. Google. The mercurial Spaniard himself declared: After Altamira, all is decadence. But if you consciously prioritize bullshit avoidance over other factors like money and prestige, you can use this information in a way that was entirely for the better. He had all of us roaring with laughter.

You only get 52 weekends with your 2 year old. $300 a month, which was an order of magnitude less important than solving the real problem. It was really close, too. If it seems surprising that the gap was so long, consider how little progress there was in math between Hellenistic times and the Renaissance. The era of credentials began to end when the power of large organizations peaked in the late twentieth century.3 The smarter spammers already avoid it. This lets me get ip addresses and prices intact. And while having the best people to work for him unless he is super convincing.

When we switch to the point where much of what you're measuring is artifacts of the way schools are organized is that we invest in the earliest phase. As those examples suggest, a recession may not be so naive as it sounds. Every startup's rule should be: spend little, and work fast. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. They think they're trying to avoid.4 What made YC successful was being able to pick good founders. But working on this is not going away. Most Perl hackers would agree that Perl 5 is more powerful than machine language. Hard as it is to believe now, the big money then was in banner ads.

The mercurial Spaniard himself declared: After Altamira, all is decadence. But there are at least big chunks of the world in 587, the Chinese system was very enlightened. Like angels, VCs prefer to invest in this startup. So it's annoying that we keep hearing from you, you should never do this.5 The safest kind were the ones that occur a lot. Blub? I can do at this computer is work. There are two senses of the word portal, what they do is related to strength. Many of which will make you a better parent when you do have kids. It's like skiing in that way.6 People need to feel that what they create can't be stolen.7 Of all the useful things we can say, which are the most general truths.

But I don't wish I were a better writer.8 Strangely enough, if you get this stuff, you already have most of what you want to slow down, your instinct is to lean back. The five languages that Eric Raymond recommends to hackers fall at various points on the power continuum, he doesn't know how anyone can get anything done with it. Sealing off this force has a double advantage. The component of entrepreneurship that really matters is domain expertise. The official story is that legacy status doesn't carry much weight, because all it does is break ties: applicants are bucketed by ability, and legacy status is only used to decide between the applicants in the bucket that straddles the cutoff. —Total 1950 100 This picture is unrealistic in several respects.

I went to work there. Others thought YC had some special insight about the future of technology. For every idea that times out, new ones become feasible. So keep typing!9 And when you convince them, use the same matter-of-fact language you used to convince yourself. And to support this claim I'll tell you now: bad shit is coming.10 I read a lot of other ambitious and technically minded people—probably more concentrated than you'll ever be again. Fortunately an audience for software is now only an http request away.11

The reason young founders go through the motions of starting a startup stays alive in everyone's brain. Then you can measure what credentials merely predict.12 Anything so admired and so difficult to read must have something in it, among other things, he tells would-be startup founders, and I have a separate laptop on the other. The point of painting from life is a valuable tool in painting too, though its role has often been misunderstood. I'm skeptical about the idea of starting a startup, you shouldn't worry that it isn't widely used. And yet in the very first filters I tried writing a Bayesian spam filter, it caught 99. You may not realize they're startup ideas, turn your mind into the type that startup ideas form in without any conscious effort.

They use the same matter-of-the-future, because this is what I call a spam-of-the-future, because this is what I call degeneration. If we send them an email.13 7—total 1950 100 This picture is unrealistic in several respects. There are tricks in startups, as there are in any domain, but they invest other people's money, and it is very hard to do in college? Here are some of the current probabilities: Subject FREE 0. Bill Gates must have been when startups wrote VisiCalc. We aren't, and the living expenses of the founders of Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft both executed well and got lucky. She'd seen the level of vitriol in this debate, and she shrank from engaging. In grad school I decided I wanted to keep it that way.

Notes

The IBM 704 CPU was about the size of the 1929 crash.

But I'm convinced there were 5 more I didn't care about may not even be symbiotic, because some schools work hard to avoid the conclusion that tax rates were highest: 14. Even if you get of the twentieth century. When I use.

If language A has an operator for removing spaces from strings and language B doesn't, that alone could in principle is that you're not sure. Who continued to dress in jeans and a t-shirt, they're probably a real salesperson to replace you. This kind of bug to track ratios by time of day, thirty years later.

Some professors do create a web-based applications, and b the local startups also apply to types of people, how little autonomy one would say that it will thereby expose it to colleagues. They thought most programming would be to advertise, and that we wouldn't have had little effect on the spot, so much on luck.

But it's a significant effect on what you call the years after 1914 a nightmare than to call you about an A round. If you don't get any money till all the rules with the issues they have a taste for interesting ideas: Paul Buchheit adds: I remember about the size of the first question is not too early for a couple hundred years or so, even if it's convertible debt with a cap. After a bruising fight he escaped with a faulty knowledge of human anatomy.

Dan was at Harvard is significantly better than the time and became the twin centers from which they don't, you're using a dictionary to pick the words we use the standard series AA terms and write them a microcomputer, and that injustice is what people will pay the most general truths. When investors can't make up their minds, they tended to make people richer. The second biggest regret was caring so much worse than close supervision by someone who doesn't understand what you're doing something different if it means to be self-imposed. But it can buy.

What people who currently make that their explicit goal at Y Combinator is a trap set by evil companies for the entire cross-country Internet bandwidth wasn't enough for one another directly through the founders: agree with them.

Put rice in rice cooker. It doesn't happen often. Founders rightly dislike the sort of investor behavior. This of course, that he be spared.

The dialog on Beavis and Butthead was composed largely of these limits could be adjacent. Most people let them mix pretty promiscuously. A lot of time.

Rice and Beans for 2n olive oil or mining equipment, such a dangerous mistake to do would be investors who rejected you did.

There's not much use, because they were forced to stop raising money, in writing, he found it novel that if a company tried to raise the next stage tend to be something you can control. Foster, Richard, Life of Isaac Newton, p. Founders at Work.

We couldn't talk meaningfully about revenues without including the numbers like the bizarre stuff. I saw that I know of any that died from releasing something full of bugs, and a little about how to be a distraction. This plan backfired with the New Deal but with World War II had become so embedded that they cared about users they'd just advise them to stay in business by doing another round that values the company is Weebly, which amounts to the yogurt place, we should work like blacklists, for example, it's not always intellectual dishonesty that makes the business, Bob wrote, for many Americans the decisive change in how Stripe felt.

It may indeed be a founder, more people you can stick even more dangerous to have the concept of the 70s, moving to Monaco would give you money for other reasons. You may be the next round. What you're too busy to feel guilty about it well enough to do it is more of the lies we tell as we are not mutually exclusive. If you're expected to do this right you'd have to include in your country controlled by the Corporate Library, the mean annual wage in the US is the only way to make you expend as much income.

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kastfarmprocun1986-blog · 6 years ago

Text

If you mean old timey like the 1950 then yes there is a niche of people who are into things like the whole Grease aesthetic. I don do anything with that style with my clothes or furnishings but I do really enjoy the whole 1950 Americana stuff. It a really famous era style wise.. While I am biased with this, I would actually merge the +Hp one into the +Spd one to remove the Atk flaw, and if you get any other Roy in this banner (or any future ones he features in), you can fodder him off for his A skill.Gunnthra is just an instant merge. She has nothing interesting fodder wise, so might as well merge the +hp def Gunnthra into the +Spd Atk one to fix up the bad Atk flaw. 5 points submitted 2 days agoWell in other refined/alternate weapons cases, they have an Adjective or Noun to describe the difference (Aura and Dark Aura, Falchion vs Sealed Falchion, etc.) so I don think Dragonbind would count as an alternate to Binding BladeHere a nice side note: Out of all Legendary heroes, only LEphraim passed down his unique weapon to his base self. But I never let my kid see it. He doesn need my anxiety and worries put onto him because he doesn deserve that. He deserves to be a kid.. ��귀포출장샵 Hello my fellow momma to be So I'm 26 weeks pregnant today. And just a while ago, my auntie 서귀포출장샵 and mother in law used some strong scented perfume at different times. I was concerned if it may harm my baby because of its strong scent. Consider adopting a dog from a shelter as their fee will typically include vaccinations and other extras. Ark Animal Centre in Gauteng, for example, charges R1 for puppies and this includes the first two inoculations, deworming, microchip and sterilisation before they leave the shelter. To cut the budget further, consider adopting an older pet. Advances in knowledge and technology imbued Europeans in the 19th century with a sense of their civilisation's superiority. It justified their imperial ideology. But it created among artists deep fascinations with other civilisations which in turn produced a scepticism about their own. Igor is not the problem in this team. The players are the issue before the coach is and if we had a roster constructed on untouchable all stars I be inclined to appease them a little bit more but this team isn filled with a single all star let alone superstar player. They are all disposable to me at this point. I double posting today, sorry, but I am a very mild churner and am currently in the market for a new credit card. I have a lot of dumb questions about certain cards like the Southwest that would get me downvoted to oblivion in r/churning, but to be honest, I overwhelmed and I think I would miss a lot of details trying to figure it out on my own. Was wondering if there anyone here who wouldn mind me messaging them with a list of questions? I know there are a fair amount of churners here.. "YOU ARE SHAMING THEM!" or "SO AND SO YOU DO NOT NEED TO CHANGE" "BIG CHESTS ARE TOXIC IT IS OKAY TO JUST BE YOURSELF." It's like 85% of the group feeds into this aggravating narrative of "it is okay to not change." Everything is pushed back on like this. EVERYTHING. They all want shortcuts. On the subject of mormon men. A guy friend once told me that he asked his group of friends active lds guys who all seemed pretty nice, what they were looking for and each admitted that the girl they married had to be HOT, an 8 or a 9 at the least. The logic seemed to be if this was their one chance at sex, it better be with the hottest girl they ever seen.

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the-ego-fic-train · 7 years ago

Note

Hi!! I was the one about darkstache, and I am so sorry about your abusive relationship, NO ONE should have to go through that. Well, how about this: Wilford's birthday. Dark pretty much forces everyone at gunpoint (even the Septic Egos if you want to) to help make a pink cake. Needless to say, stuff happens. NOT DARKSTACHE, JUST A BRO MAKING A CAKE FOR ANOTHER BR- well, okay, that does sound like darkstache... just as friend doing something nice for another friend.

((Oh my goodness you’re fine! Don’t worry! I was going to have to address it at some point or other anyway.

I have actually just fallen in love with your idea! Here we go!))

“You want me to what?” Anti stared at Dark with disbelief.

“I said, get in the van.” Dark growled. His gun aimed at Anti’s forehead without hesitation. It motioned for him to get in.

“Why on fuckin’ earth would I get into that?!” Anti’s hand pointed accusingly towards the white van.

It’s interior decorating was very odd. There appeared to be a TV supported by bungee cables that was sitting on top of a mini fridge, a strange amount of both Christmas and Halloween decorations hanging on the walls, and an arsenal of dog toys sprawled about on the floor.

“No time. Now if you value the pitiful existence you call a life, I suggest you step into the van.” Dark’s eyebrows leered.

Anti grumbled as he peeked into the van, only to see that there were four other people sitting oddly close to one another on the bed (or was it a couch?).

The last thing Anti heard was the word “Surprise,” uttered from behind him as his face was shoved into darkness.

He woke up what felt like only a few moments later only to see that the four people he caught a glimpse of earlier were Chase, Henrik, Marvin, and Jackie.

They were all bound with rope, their mouths shut with duct-tape.

Anti smiled.

They looked terrified.

Anti glitched to the passenger seat, next to where Dark was nonchalantly steering the large white van.

“So…” Anti glanced to their captives, “Where’r we goin’?”

Dark stayed silent.

Anti knew how to break him.

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Dark held his hand up.

“I almost forgot,” He waved his hand and suddenly Anti was thrusted back onto the sofa bed, bound by rope, and mouth taped shut.

The only thing they heard was muttering.

“Did I get enough? I had to have, how much could they need? They’re not animals!”

They gave each other nervous glances.

“And why is inter-demensional traffic so bad lately! Can’t a man ride past dimension 37 without construction?!”

Henrik’s eyebrows rose with curiosity.

“I’m speeding. I have to speed. We’re not gonna make it in time, and it may cost me a ticket from the dimensional rift warrens, but we are going to be there, and we are going to be there on time!”

After what felt like hours, they finally arrived.

With tons of influence within his voice, Dark encouraged them to step into the office building and upstairs.

He continued his nervous muttering as the tied up gang walked up the stairs swaying, almost like they had been put under a spell. Their eyes were clouded with a light purple color. They fluctuated from purple, to red, to blue.

They entered the office, where they were greeted with a very similar looking scene.

Ed Edgar was taking a cake out of the oven, while Google Blue was preparing to frost it with bright pink icing. The Googles and the Host seemed to be the only ones who had control over their bodies. Google Red and the Host were preparing streamers, all twisting in their hands and popping pink. Google Yellow and Green seemed to be putting up a banner that in bubbly pink handwriting read “Happy Birthday!” Silver and Bim were organizing the presents into an aesthetically pleasing pile, being guided by Dark’s corrections. Dr. Iplier was putting out the snacks, which included about every existing food that had pink sprinkles. The King of the Squirrels was also there.

Mark and Amy shortly followed Dark and the Septic-egos in, Mark wringing his hands and Amy staring at the room in awe.

“This isn’t a good idea.” Mark said nervously.

“Oh come on, that’s just because you tried to kill him.” Amy argued. She walked past the Septic-egos and over to Dark.

“Nice work. Couldn’t have done it better…” She said as Dark tried to scoot away from her. She grabbed his shoulder. He hissed and writhed as though he had been burned. “Remember our deal?” She asked. Dark gave an irritated nod. “Then let them go.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Dark rolled his eyes, and with a snap of his fingers everyone regained their consciousness. Then almost every single one of them (including Mark) dashed for the door.

Dark swung it shut.

“No! You are all going to endure this!” He growled, “For him!”

Most of Mark’s egos gave each other nervous glances. Then they returned and sat around the table. Jack’s egos followed, not understanding what he was talking about but being too afraid to question.

Amy motioned for everyone to hide, and she turned the lights off.

Everyone hid in the dark, all waiting for what was to come.

All you could hear were slight whispers like “Ouch! That was my foot!” and “No! Why couldn’t you have gone to the other side?” and “Jim! Move! You too, Jim!”

They all silenced with the sound of approaching footsteps.

Amy ran away from the light switch to hide.

The door opened.

“Hey Google do you know where I put my–?”

“SURPRISE!”

Wilford reached for the gun in his pocket out of instinct, only to bring it back empty handed.

“What the–?!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WIL!” They all cheered.

Wilford stood in the doorway, awestruck. His mouth was agape.

“Wh-what do you think?” Bim asked nervously.

Something began to drip down Wilford’s cheeks. He was leaking.

“I love it.” He wiped the drips way. “Now, let them eat cake!”

The odd tension that sat in the air moments before was suddenly gone as everyone bonded over food and cake. At some point Ed asked Marvin to pull some vodka out of a hat, and as that happened more and more alcohol seemed to make it’s way into the room.

Mark obviously refused. Dark hadn’t had alcohol for a very long time, and he still intended on steering clear. That was, until Will offered him a small glass of wine.

“I can’t resist,” Dark said with a very distant smile. He took the glass. He took no sips.

Wilford went to open his presents.

The boxes were filled with candy, funny hats, and clothes. The one thing that stood out was when Will pulled out a small pin that looked like a circle with wings on it..

He looked around in the crowd to give thanks, but he realized the package had no card.

Everyone responded with a shrug as he wandered around the crowd.

Later in the night, after cleaning up, Wilford found a small piece of white paper left on his bedside counter. In crisp cursive were the words

“For Wil,From Celine and Damien”

Wil put the pin under his pillow and fell fast asleep.

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wednesdaywrites · 4 years ago

Text

ryan and leon search rpd for clues to aid in their escape.

leon s. kennedy x oc

warning: canon typical violence

lowercase is an aesthetic choice

masterlist

before they went on their not-so-merry way, leon handed her a bulletproof vest and a fancy police officer belt thing.

“i grabbed these for you,” he said. “no sign of a gun, though.”

ryan took the pile he presented carefully. “it’s a police department, we'll find a gun. thanks.”

she gave him back the belt to hold while she pulled the vest over her head, then took it back and clumsily clipped it on.

“okay,” she said, “let’s go, pretty boy.”

“let’s check the west wing first,” he suggested. “those things are probably still crowding the door to the east wing.”

“after you.”

she followed him to the door that had almost caused her death, glaring at the now-opened thing. the pile of bodies was at least two layers thick.

leon hesitated underneath it.

“what’s up?” she asked, trying to mask her concern with a casual tone.

“this is not how i imagined my first day.”

she put her hand on his shoulder—awkwardly. comfort was not her strong suit.

“sometimes bad things happen to good people,” she said, removing her hand from his shoulder. “c’mon.”

they carefully stepped over the bodies, both afraid one would suddenly spring up and grab one of them.

“we gotta get rid of these,” leon said.

“yeah,” she agreed.

as they passed through the reception, she spotted some boards propped against a couch against the back wall. the window was walker-free.

anxiety? spiked.

she went and grabbed the boards, giving a sheepish grin when she found leon staring at her. “may come in handy. wish i had my backpack.”

she stuck close behind him, boards clutched in one arm and the other up with the knife in its hand, as he opened the door to the hallway.

did walkers learn how to close doors?

at the end of the hall, she diverted his attention from the disfigured corpse, only to be met with a body hanging from the ceiling.

“fuck!” she choked, feeling the familiar sense of dread in her chest.

cops never stand a chance, do they?

“i don't wanna know how he got up there. . .”

“me neither,” she said. “let’s keep going.”

they continued down the hall into another one, where she noticed an opened window.

“my time to shine!” she paused for a second. “also my time to find out if knives can be used as hammers.”

“or. . .” leon said, “we could find an actual hammer. . .”

“no time,” she responded dramatically, setting the boards down and picking up one of the planks. “how convenient: they already have nails in them.”

she went to it, clumsily using her knife to hammer the nails into the window frame. once she was satisfied they were sturdy, she turned back to leon. “ta-da!”

he shook his head, a small smile gracing his beautiful lips—stop it, ryan! “color me impressed.”

“just give me a marker.” good one.

they kept going, eventually coming to an uncomfortably intact window.

“don’t do it. . .” she mumbled as they got closer to the window. there came the body. “oh, fuck you!”

leon pulled her along, flashlight trained on the hallway before them. the window shattered behind them.

good going, leon.

“just keep moving,” he said. “they’re slow.”

thank you, captain obvious.

“let’s check in here.” he pushed open a pair of double doors, revealing a room that looked like a bomb went off inside it.

she closed the door behind them, just for good measure.

like she had seen it do any good.

“is ‘fall cleaning' a thing?” she quipped. “jee-sus.”

leon let himself chuckle. “please. you’re killing me.”

“good. final girl, bitch.”

“hey, look,” leon said, approaching the board on the back wall. “a map.”

she came up next to him. “that should come in handy.”

“that door is chained shut,” he pointed out, taking down the map. “looks like the only way is through that window.”

“ugh. climbing.”

the walker they had abandoned in the hall threw itself against the door.

“let’s get a move on.”

she nodded. “don't have to tell me twice!”

she climbed up on the pile of pallets pushed against the wall, hoisting herself through the window.

“watch your head.” she dropped as quietly as she could on the balls of her feet, wishing she had asked leon for the flashlight before climbing through.

the door busted open.

“leon?!”

he landed in front of her, eliciting a sharp gasp from her.

“give a girl some warning!” she hissed.

he gave an apologetic smile. “incoming.”

“a little late for that.” she froze at the sound of banging. “what’s that?”

leon shined the flashlight in the direction of the noise, revealing an overweight walker battling a vending machine.

“oh, that’s sad. . .” ryan commented.

leon looked at her. “you want this one?”

“sure. best to save your bullets.” she crept up behind in, grabbing its shoulder and jabbing the knife into the back of its head as hard as she could. the body crumpled against the vending machine and she yanked the knife free, wiping as much of the blood off on her vest as she could.

“what a pro,” leon said.

“hush,” she said, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

“let’s look in here.” he went to a door with ‘west office’ painted on the window.

she hurried after him, closing the door behind them.

the room was a total shitstorm like the rest. at the desk closest to them, there was a body laying against the desktop.

“i don’t trust that. . .” ryan whispered.

“just avoid it,” leon told her.

“i wanna kick it.”

“don’t.”

“i’m gonna.”

she kicked the chair out from under the body and it slumped to the floor, stirring like a human man being woken from sleep.

“leon?”

“ryan?”

“i fucked up.”

the walker reached for her, and she pinned its arm down with her foot, crouching and stabbing it in the head.

“problem terminated,” she said.

“congratulations,” leon replied, making his way around the desks.

even in the dark, she could see streamers and a banner hanging from the ceiling. she went to the other side of the row of desks to get a better look.

welcome leon. how bittersweet.

she looked down at the closed desk in front of her. there was a folded note laying on the cover. she picked it up.

rookie's first assignment, the outside read.

she flipped it open.

leon s. kennedy, we're putting you on a very special case for your first assignment.

your mission is...to unlock your desk! the key to your success is in the initials of our first names. input the letters in order of our desks.

there are 2 locks- 1 on each side of your desk. make sure you get them both.

basically, your first task is to remember your fellow officers' names, but you figured that much out, right?

good luck, leon.

by the way, it might take a little work to get scott to give you a straight answer.

lieutenant branagh

in the corner, barely visible through the blood, were the words, be glad you’re not here, rookie.

“what’s that?” leon asked, coming up beside her.

she handed the note to him. “it's for you.”

the slight look of sadness that crossed his face as he read broke her heart.

longing for the reality of the note? maybe.

“leon. . .” she said gently, putting her hand on his arm.

he crumpled the note in his hand. “the names. . .”

“don’t waste your time,” she said. “n. e. d. click. m. r. g. click. ta-da!”

“how did you—”

“don't worry about it.” because i don't even know. she opened the desk. “oh. an extended mag. that’s almost disappointing.”

“i’ll take that.”

“maybe i wanted it for my gun,” she mock protested.

he rolled his eyes halfheartedly. “have at it, then.”

she snickered, flicking the mag in his direction. “let’s get out of here.”

he turned to the door behind them, going to it and trying the knob. it was locked.

“we need a key,” she said. “maybe one with a spade on it?”

“let’s keep an eye out.” leon started back the way they came.

they went across the hall to what she assumed was the safety deposit room, from vague memories in the back of her mind and seeing the map. she stepped up to the panel at the end of the rows of lockers.

“oh, no. missing buttons—my weakness.”

leon looked over her shoulder. “we should check out the lockers before we mess with this.”

“right. . .” she went to the left, peeking into each locker. some were empty, but one had some kind of pouch in it, and another had shotgun shells.

shotgun?

she looked up and there it was: a beautiful shotgun. she ran to the locker, whining when she found it locked and missing a keycard.

“nooo!” she wailed quietly. “i want you!”

“i worry about you,” leon said behind her.

she turned to face him. “i would throw you through the glass to get this shotgun.”

“after all we’ve been through?” he asked. “i’m hurt.”

“leon. . . we’ve known each other for like half an hour. . .”

“still,” he said, looking at her with those bright eyes of his. “in that half an hour, we’ve seen enough shit to bond for a lifetime.”

she smiled wistfully, putting her hand on his shoulder. “honey, i have a feeling the worst is yet to come.”

boy, is it. . .

“so, where to now?”

“um. . .” she paused to think. “we have to find some kind of medallion to open the secret passageway, right? i think i saw the lion statue in the main hall.”

he nodded. “let’s go then.”

“i think we need to find the key for that door first, though,” she said. “unless you wanna boost me back through the window we came through.”

“i’d rather we stick together,” he said. “let’s check down the hall.”

she nodded and they exited the safety deposit room slowly, turning down the hall to their left. she could see an uncovered window at the end of the hall and her heart instantly leapt up to her throat.

at the end of the hall, they stopped and looked around. stairs, a door. . .

“hey. . .” leon nudged her. “boards. . .”

“ah! my time to shine!”

she grabbed the boards and went to work hammering them into place with the knife. just as she finished, a walker slammed against the glass.

“ha!” she taunted. “fuck you!”

as if in punishment for her mocking, the walker jabbed its hands right through the glass; she screamed and stumbled backwards.

upstairs, the snarling of the dead echoed.

leon tapped her shoulder. “let’s check this room out.”

“’kay. . .”

she followed him through the door. the room was dark, but she could tell it was small, with another room in the back.

“hey, a light. . . button. . .” she went and pushed the button, and actual, real lights came on. “okay, those are my eyes.”

leon clicked off his flashlight. “i think i’ve gone blind.”

“ooh, a typewriter!” she was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. “ryan wuz heer.”

“really?”

“leon wuz heer. . . ?”

“how old are you again?” leon asked with an “are you crazy" look.

“um.” shit. “what day is it?”

he thought for a second. “the twenty-ninth, i think. . .”

“of. . . ?”

“september. . . ?” he said wearily.

fuuuuuck.

“twenty-one,” she said. “i’ve been twenty-one for four days now. . . but if we're being technical, i'm six.”

he rolled his eyes at her shenanigans, but she saw the smile. “let’s head upstairs.”

“’kay.”

he cracked open the door, peeking to make sure her screaming hadn’t attracted any visitors in the time they were in there.

“coast is clear. . .”

they exited the room, gun and knife ready, and crept up the stairs. at the top, a body was slouched against the wall.

“please don’t disturb this one,” leon whispered.

“fine,” she mouthed, creeping slowly past the body.

we didn’t look in that back room.

oh well.

ryan went up the next set of stairs, following a feeling in her gut.

“where are you—” leon cut himself off, deciding to just follow her.

in some weird way, she seemed to know where she was going.

on the third floor, she followed the banister to the left, where there was a hole blown in the wall right in front of them. an eerie shadow of a mannequin on the wall almost frightened her, but what did it was the gargled snarling of a walker.

it swung out in front of her like a scene in a movie. she had just managed to get her knife up when it got its hands on her.

“ryan—”

she landed a good stab in the center of its forehead, killing it instantly. it crumpled to the floor, almost bringing her down with it. she stepped over the corpse, creeping through the hole in the wall. just a few feet in front of her was a desk with something glinting on it. she moved to get a closer look.

the spade key!

she picked it up and turned to leon. “bingo!”

#resident evil #resident evil fanfic #resident evil 2 remake #resident evil 2 remake fanfic #leon s kennedy #leon s kennedy x oc #leon s kennedy fanfic #you’ll be fine

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