#but then I got the idea that maybe she resigned herself to not being able to control her urges

[sun-marie]

Finally getting back around to this game, and also finally settled on a look for my Durge!

Her name is Viola and she is a War Cleric of Kelemvor :3

[passengerprincessblog]

“Lewis, Next Door” ~ pt 2 Lewis Hamilton x reader

Warning: age gap (lowkey?), alcohol.

Summary: Y/N’s night out spirals into chaos, leading to a desperate late-night call to Lewis that she barely remembers making. But when he shows up to help-, slightly annoyed, and undeniably magnetic—she finds herself teetering between embarrassment and intrigue.

The bass thumps in my chest, so loud I feel it in my bones as we sway and stumble together under the neon lights. MK Club in Monaco is packed, bodies pressed together in a wave of glitter, laughter, and the haze of way too many drinks. Winter break has finally started, and my friends—Janelle, Isabella, and Séraphine—and I have decided that tonight is all about celebrating our freedom. Maybe we’re overdoing it, but who cares? We’re young, we’re back from school, and we deserve this.

I lean into the music, my head spinning in the best way. “We’re out of money,” I realize, looking down at my half-empty drink, frowning. Not a cent of parental allowance had dropped in any of our accounts yet. My own savings were being bled dry by all this fun, and, seriously, what’s the point of being a rich kid in Monaco if I can’t order bottles of Ace of Spades?

Séraphine slings an arm around me, her face flushed and eyes glassy as she shouts, “We should just try to flirt with some guys! Get ourselves a table!”

Janelle shakes her head, looking a little worse for wear, her lids drooping as she slurs, “No… Alain will kill me if he finds out I pulled something like that again…”

As they debate, an idea pops into my head, striking like a flash of drunken genius. I grin, barely able to focus, but sure of one thing: I have Lewis’s number. Lewis, my neighbor and friend of my dad, but also ridiculously rich, famous, and possibly my ticket to a few more rounds. So what if it’s 2 a.m., right?

“I’ve got it, guys. I know someone,” I announce proudly, though the words come out like a tangled mess.

Séraphine squints at me, laughing. “You’re drunk, Y/N. You don’t know anyone.”

“Oh, yeah?” I pull out my phone, holding it up triumphantly as I squint at the screen, fingers fumbling over the contacts. “There it is.” I hit the call button, holding the phone to my ear, my friends watching me with barely-contained curiosity.

The call rings a few times, and just as I’m about to give up, a low, groggy voice answers.

“Hello?”

The confidence I had fizzles, but I swallow my nerves. “Lewis?” I slur, hearing my voice in that weirdly bold way only a couple of drinks can make possible.

There’s a pause. “Y/N?” He sounds confused, and I hear him shift like he’s sitting up.

“Yeah. Are you out?” I ask, the music blaring through the phone. I feel the eyes of my friends glued to me as they wait, wondering who I’m talking to.

“What? Where are you?” he asks, voice sharper now, more alert.

“I’m at MK,” I say loudly over the noise, feeling smug.

There’s another pause, and then he says, almost to himself, “MK? You’re not even old enough to be there… And, wait… are you drunk? It’s 2 a.m.—”

I cut him off, a playful edge to my tone. “I was just calling to see if you wanted to come and get us more drinks,” I say, though the words tumble out in a barely coherent mix of slurs and giggles.

There’s a long, exasperated silence on the other end.

“Hello?” I ask, annoyed he’s taking so long to answer.

His sigh is audible over the phone. “Do you… need me to pick you up?” he asks, his voice lined with something that sounds like he’s already resigning himself to it.

“No! I don’t,” I reply with confusion. “You’re so boring,” I add before hanging up. My friends laugh, and we go back to dancing, somehow managing to snag a few more drinks from guys around us.

It’s 3:00 a.m. by the time I manage to stumble my way back to my parents’ penthouse, swaying down the hallway in my heels. My purse feels like a black hole as I dig through it, searching for my keys. They have to be in here somewhere, right?

But after minutes of searching, I realize they’re not. “Shit,” I mutter, slumping against the wall, the reality sinking in. I don’t want to wake up my parents like this—tipsy, disheveled, and very obviously not sober.

I slide down to the floor, feeling my frustration tip dangerously toward tears. I’m too drunk for this. I stare at my phone, desperate for some kind of solution, and in my daze, I remember… Lewis. Again, I don’t recall that I just called him an hour ago, and with no other option, I hit his number.

After a few rings, his tired voice picks up. “Yes?” he says, clearly woken up again.

“Lewis?” My voice breaks a little, the earlier playfulness gone.

He sounds a little more awake, sensing something’s off. “Y/N? What’s wrong?”

“I… I can’t get into my house.” My voice trembles with a mix of embarrassment and frustration.

“Wait… are you outside right now?” he asks, the tone of his voice shifting instantly, more alert.

“Yeah… I don’t have a key,” I mumble.

He sighs deeply, and I hear him rustling, like he’s getting up. “Okay… give me a minute.” He hangs up, and I wait in the dimly lit hallway, feeling stupid but relieved.

A few minutes later, the door down the hall opens, and there he is, looking tired, standing there in nothing but sweatpants. Even through my drunken haze, I can’t help but notice how he looks, the way his gaze meets mine across the hall, his face softening when he sees me.

“Come here,” he says, his voice a low, quiet command. The authority in his voice stirs something in me as I pull myself up, stumbling toward him, heels clicking with each unsteady step. His eyes drop to what I’m wearing—a short dress, tight enough to get the attention of every guy at MK tonight—and he looks away, maybe to save me from feeling self-conscious. Or maybe to save himself.

“Come in,” he murmurs, stepping back and letting me walk inside. His place feels dim, warm, quiet—a stark contrast to the loud, chaotic energy I’d just left. The moment I step in, I sway, and his hand catches my arm, steadying me.

“How much did you drink?” he asks, his voice edged with concern as he leads me toward the living room. “Why did you drink so much?”

I flop onto his couch, letting out a lazy laugh as I lean back. “I don’t know,” I reply, slurring, barely caring how much of a mess I must look to him right now.

He disappears for a second, returning with a glass of water, holding it out to me. “Drink that. You need it.”

I take a sip, and he watches, standing over me, his expression somewhere between annoyance and amusement. “Look… I don’t have a key to your parents’ place, so you’re kind of stuck for now. Do you have a friend nearby?”

I shake my head, setting the glass aside and sinking further back into the couch. “No… I don’t know.” My voice is soft, almost defeated.

He sighs, glancing at the clock. “It’s 3:17 in the morning…” he mutters, and I let out a giggle, finding it all absurdly funny.

He shakes his head, but there’s a small, reluctant smile on his face. “You’re a mess,” he says, voice teasing.

I sit up, pouting. “No…” I argue, slurring as I try to mimic his mock-scolding tone.

“Yes…” he says, meeting my gaze, and for a moment, his eyes linger on me, trailing down to my dress. His hand reaches up, almost instinctively, to brush a stray lock of hair from my face, his touch surprisingly gentle. I look at him, something bubbling up in me—a boldness from the alcohol, or maybe just the thrill of being near him like this. I reach out, letting my hand rest on his thigh, feeling the solid warmth of him.

He looks at my hand, then at me, his gaze suddenly intense. He reaches down, covering my hand with his, his grip firm as he lifts it off his leg. “No… no, Y/N. You need to sleep this off,” he murmurs, voice low but soft.

“Hm? No… I’m fine,” I insist, leaning closer, letting my eyes half-close as I give him what I hope is a sultry look.

He lets out a breath, amused but resolute. “Yeah… that’s definitely the alcohol talking.” He stands up, guiding me gently to follow him. “Come on. I’ve got a spare bedroom. You can sleep there, okay?”

I frown, feeling my hazy hopes sink, but I’m too tired and too out of it to argue. I stumble along behind him, my heels clicking down the hallway as he opens the door to a guest room. I step inside, feeling the plush carpet beneath my feet, a cozy contrast to the cold, hard floors of MK.

“Just get some sleep, alright?” he says, rubbing his eyes, clearly exhausted.

“Wait,” I call, almost whining, as he turns to leave. “Can you…” I pause, heart pounding, barely believing my own boldness as I turn around, showing him the back of my dress. “I can’t sleep in this…”

He sighs, and I can tell he’s fighting an internal battle. “Y/N…” he starts, his tone edged with caution, like he’s about to refuse. But then he relents, stepping forward. His hands come to rest on my hips, strong and steady, the warmth of his touch seeping through the thin fabric. I feel my breath catch as he pulls me closer, his fingers brushing against the small of my back.

For a moment, his hands linger, almost as if he’s hesitating, feeling the weight of the moment as much as I am. Then, with deliberate slowness, he raises one hand to the top of my zipper. His fingertips graze the bare skin at the base of my neck, and I can’t suppress the shiver that runs down my spine.

He inches the zipper down slowly, each pull of the zipper loud in the quiet of the room, his touch leaving a tingling trail down my back. I can feel the soft brush of his knuckles against my skin as the dress loosens, exposing more of my back, inch by inch. His breathing is steady, but there’s a tension there—a restraint that feels almost tangible.

The zipper finally reaches the base of my spine, and his fingers linger there, as if reluctant to break the contact. My skin feels electric, every nerve heightened, and for a moment, he doesn’t move, his breath warm against the back of my neck. It’s like he wants to say something, to break the charged silence between us, but he holds back.

He clears his throat softly, his voice a quiet murmur in my ear, almost a command. “There. Now… get some sleep.” His words are gentle but firm, like he’s trying to steady both himself and me. And then, just as slowly as he approached, he pulls away, letting his hands fall from my back, the absence of his touch leaving my skin cool and craving the warmth of his hands.

As he steps back, he meets my eyes briefly, a flicker of something unreadable passing between us. For a second, I think he might close the space between us again, say something, or do something that will change everything. But he only gives me a small, careful nod, a final reminder of his restraint, and turns toward the door.

“Now… sleep,” he says once more, his voice soft but unwavering. With one last look, he leaves, closing the door quietly behind him.

———————————————-

As always, thank you for reading and appreciating my works.

I hope my writings help you unwind and escape your life in a way that is exciting to you.

Please like and follow for more!

Хохо

Princess

[amyyythestarry]

CHAPTER 111 OF TBHK!

I hate TBHK.

MY POOR BOY, do not listen to your brother he’s mentally ill, he’s not in his right mind.

I like how Tsukasa calls people weird when they don’t know what they want. Like with Kou when he was in the Red House.

Amane is weird, he says he hates Tsukasa, but he can’t stand when they’re apart. Such a weirdo, not knowing what he wants.

For the people who say that this proves Tsukasa is fake, please reread the Red House arc again, especially the last part.

Like mother like son though, I guess. Their mother also thought Tsukasa was a fake.

Even though the change of Tsu is visible after being in the Red House and merging with the dark entity, he’s still Tsukasa.

Tsukasa and the entity resign in the same body, they are the same person now.

Amane’s so sensitive.

He’s not able to handle the rejection. Tsukasa still wants to leave, even after Amane’s tried to tell him they can never be together again ( And he doesn’t want that ), his feelings didn’t reach his brother. Tsukasa still wants to leave him.

He’s not in the right mind, coming up with this conclusion is just showing his instability.

And, in the Manga Up translation Tsukasa actually yells “Amane, behind you!”

But now it’s kind of dull. Interesting, though?

Maybe Iro just doesn’t what Tsu to yell or scream or something.

I like that Kako says ‘so-called imposter’. He knows Tsukasa isn’t a fake, it’s what inside of him.

And the fact Hanako still moves to protect him and Tsukasa, even after calling him a fake.

TSUKASA GRABBING HANAKO LIKE HE WAS GOING TO MOVE AND PROTECT HIM. OH MY GOD.

Gay a**.

Kako’s Santa Claus.

What does he mean by ‘eating away’ at Kamome?

The entity is the root of the problem. But what problem?

We aren’t talking about the yorishiros…. The clock? Natsuhiko destroyed the clock though?

What is the entity doing?

I’ve heard people had a theory about this. Congrats, you all were correct!

I didn’t know what the entity was at all. Now we have an idea.

I wonder how it got to the Yugi’s house then?

It’s not good for supernaturals or humans.

Then, I wonder if it’s ever affected Tsukasa before. As a human, and as a supernatural. Or maybe it hasn’t, since they’re the same person.

Now they’re in 1968.

The Clock Keepers are trying to prevent whatever happened here, and make a new presents.

They could have went back to when Tsukasa granted wishes to the dark entity under his house. They could have went to the time Tsukasa got back from the Red House. Even when he got murdered by his brother.

But, they went back to when they were just 12 years old.

What happened then?

What happened during that time, that’s supposed to be the root of why all of this is happening, whatever is happening?

At least Nene knows something is up, she always does.

I’m hoping she can at least do something to stop the Clock Keepers.

Maybe, that means working with someone to stop this, she can’t do this by herself.

Maybe, a certain Yugi? Tsukasa, purhaps?

This is what he meant.

[starpains]

I'm curious about the AI Au 👀

gskfjdlsa

It's an AU that I started writing months ago, and was very excited about, but then suddenly I got very demotivated for various reasons. I still love the idea though, and I AM going to finish it one day.

The fic takes place in the GFFA, but Anakin is not a Jedi in it, or even human. In fact he's a very (very) realistic android. Obi-Wan is a jedi and gets stranded in space. It makes him find a planet in wild space nobody knew existed which is something out of Westworld (the HBO show), where realistic androids with feelings are made to be used however people like.

Since I've written around 5k of the fic already, I am able to share sth, which will be the very first bit of the fic:

---

So, this is how I die, Obi-Wan thought idly as he ate the last ration bar on his spaceship. He had one small canister of water left; if he really tried to conserve it, maybe he could last a week. Is there a point in prolonging this, though? He had been stranded in space for two weeks now, drifting in the black nothingness, completely alone save for R4, who was turned off, having run out of energy after failing to power up from the out-of-order ship. His comm devices weren’t working without power, and even before that, he had trouble getting any sort of signal in the middle of the nowhere he’d found himself in.

The possibility of anyone stumbling upon him in the wild space was so close to zero that he didn’t even dare to hope. Instead, he found himself meditating most of his time away, trying to accept the death that was likely to come sooner rather than later. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, covered head to toe in emergency thermal blankets, he looked like a golden cone with a tangle of unkempt ginger hair sticking out from the top. There was no one there to judge him. When they found his frozen corpse in two thousand years, he would be well past caring.

He kept having weird dreams, probably induced by the prolonged lack of sustenance, perpetual cold and overwhelming loneliness that he had no way of overcoming. He was a social creature, always had been, so it was no wonder that two weeks without anyone closer than lightyears away he was starting to lose his mind. The dreams were surreal, too abstract to make any sense of them.

Shadowy figures haunted him—black holes in the Force, alive yet dead at the same time. He could barely make sense of it. Every living thing had a presence in the Force, even plants, let alone sentient beings. But these figures, though humanoid in shape, had less presence in the Force than the grains of sand on Tatooine. Obi-Wan found them highly unsettling. How he wished he could go to the Archives and try to find some meaning in these visions. Were they just the deluded imaginings of a dying man, or was the Force trying to tell him something? For the first time in his life, he wished the Force would just leave him alone. He found no comfort in it anymore.

His one hope was that Ahsoka, his Padawan, wouldn’t be left to fend for herself. He wished that another Jedi Master would be assigned to her, allowing her to complete her apprenticeship and achieve the rank of Jedi Knight. His unfortunate demise should not stand in the way of her path to knighthood. She would make a magnificent Knight—he could only hope the Council would see that too.

He wondered if she was searching for him alongside the 212th Clone Battalion. It was possible, but they wouldn’t even have a starting point. His mission had been a top-secret foray into the Outer Rim, known only to Masters Windu and Yoda. That was before he’d made three separate hyperspace jumps, chasing his elusive target. In the end, his ship had been hit by some kind of weapon, leaving him powerless and stranded while his target escaped into the void, with no way for Obi-Wan to contact anyone.

The weight of his circumstances pressed down on him like a heavy shroud, sapping what little energy remained. Resigned to his fate, he drew the thermal blankets tighter around his body, seeking warmth that never quite arrived. The emptiness of the surrounding space felt almost alive, as if the stars themselves were watching, indifferent to his plight. He exhaled a long, weary sigh, his breath fogging in the cold, stale air. There was nothing more to be done, no strategies left to consider, only the endless stretch of silence. With one final glance at the inert form of R4, he closed his eyes, surrendering to the darkness that seemed eager to swallow him whole.

[azrielsshadows42]

A Court of Scales and Fire I

A/n: chapter 1 is here! I currently have a few assignments piling up so, it will probably be a few days before chapter 2 is up, sorry.

Warning: Mentions of injury, swearing, it does get steamy when shifting to the night court but no outright smut, lmk if I missed anything

prologue Character Mood Boards

Bold = Ancient language

Italics = thoughts

Both = mind speak

Word Count: 2.9k

Y/n woke up feeling stiff, her limbs ached, and her neck hurt from the weird angle. She looked around, wondering what time it was and remembered that they were in a cave. She would have to go outside if she wanted to find out. "Hey, Everest" she whispered while pushing gently on her long, scaled neck, fire light reflecting off to create green light patterns on the walls and ceiling. She got a low tired growl in return and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to see if I can find anything to heal you, maybe get some food while I'm at it. Stay here, I'll be back as soon as I can" Everest finally opened her eyes and looked at Y/n with worry. She didn't like the idea of being alone, especially not in a place she didn't know, but Everest knew she couldn't go with Y/n in her state and sighed with resignation. Be careful. She warned. When am I not? Everest's eyes landed on her with a deadpan expression. I hope something attacks you.

Love you too, Everest she thought with a laugh and left their little alcove of safety.

Y/n stepped out gingerly, it was still dark No shit, we're in a cave, but it wasn't as dark as yesterday, chinks of light streamed through miniscule cracks where entrances had once been. She looked through her bag and found the branch she usually used as a torch, they still didn't know if they were alone here. From what she could tell, this place was massive. She needed to find another exit, or the one they had used yesterday, because there was no way she could move those rocks, which means she needs to actually be able to see. "Everest!" she yelled back. Not a second later, a burst of green fire came from where Everest rested and landed a few steps away from her. The flames faded to orange, and they stayed lit just long enough for Y/n to lower the branch into the flames so it could catch fire. "Thank you!"

Now being able to see, she wandered around, what she saw shocked her completely. She knew this must've been fae made by the arch ways she had seen in the limited light this morning, and she knew it was big because of the way everything echoed, but this place was massive and extravagant and...

...completely wrecked.

It looked as though it had once housed at the very least, thousands of fae. There were rows of balconies jutting out of the walls where people could watch whatever was going on below. There was smooth flooring, tapestries of... something lining the walls, but too dirty to discern what, things were lying everywhere either broken, toppled over or, most likely, both. The entire place was in a state of disarray, it was like whoever had been here before had tried to leave it as trashed as possible. Either that or they had left in a rush, Y/n didn't want to think of that possibility, because that would lead to the question; why? What had driven them out? And more importantly, was it still here? She shivered at the thought.

She found a way out of the cave and started searching for any familiar plants, specifically ones with healing properties. After an hour or so of foraging for anything helpful, she collected some Calendula, Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Gingko and some Tea tree sprigs. She was about to return to Everest when something caught her eye. A small cabin in a clearing, maybe someone lived there. Maybe they could help, maybe they would attack. Friend or foe?

Do I want to take the chance? She mused to herself. Slowly, with her guard high, she crept closer, closer... closer. What is that smell? Y/n sniffed around her and realised the stench was coming from the hut. It's putrid She thought, like a rotting corpse and decided that whether it was friend, foe or empty, it wasn't worth getting nearer.

snap!

She whirled around, lightning fast and unsheathed her twin blades scanning her surroundings like her life depended on it. It just might. Stated a voice in her mind that sounded annoyingly like her old trainer, the one who had taught her how to wield her katanas. Just then a pair of glowing, blue eyes shined beyond her, pining Y/n to the spot with its gaze. It arrogantly strolled toward her, as if it knew it had already won.

The beast in front of her looked like a panther, except it had a scorpion-like tail, and a shimmering navy coat. Y/n dropped her bag and got into fighting position. Let's dance kitty-cat

Its slit eyes glimmered as if it had heard her thoughts and lunged. She rolled to the left, got up, and swiped at its side, but she didn't hit her target as it had moved too quickly Stupid cat reflexes. The beast had already recovered and before she could even think, a large deadly claw raked across her side, though all that happened was that she was knocked off her feet and hit the ground. Hard. Yep, that's definitely gonna bruise, ow.

The scorpio-panther thing launched itself on top of her, pinning her arms to the side. The things' tail reared up, and then smashed into her side, a sickening crack was heard, and she couldn't tell if it was the beasts' tail, the scales that her armour was made of, or her ribs. Judging by the way the tail slammed into her side again, with just as much force, she'd guess one of the last two options. Bloody hell that hurts. Y/n needed to get this thing off her and fast because a few more jabs like that and it would pierce her armour. Then she would find out what the effects of the venom in the barb were and she really didn't want to find out.

"Get off me you psycho, aristo cats wannabe" Y/n managed to manoeuvre the sword she held in such a way that she could jab her attacker. She had tried to aim for the neck, but instead hit somewhere between the shoulder and collar bone. It was enough, it had growled in pain and shifted its weight enough for her to throw all her might into getting on top. She raised the katana above the chest and thrusted it down through the heart until her blade hit the earth beneath. The beast roared, shaking the leaves of the trees.

A paw swung for her, all claws extended, but reflexes set in, she rolled off, just in time. The thing stood, and tried to run, but it looked more like a pitiful, limping, jog. It only got less than 3 feet away before collapsing onto the hilt, pushing her katana in further. There was silence once more. Not the same silence as when she had first arrived, the ringing in her ears quite loud, but she still held her breath, as if hearing her breathing would somehow make it less dead.

Y/n stepped toward it, kicked the body to make sure it was dead, and wasn't gonna turn around like Psych mother fucker! and kill her. She almost jumped out of her skin when it's tail twitched but it didn't do much else. After staring at it for a good five minutes, she turned it over, yanked out her blade and retrieved her bag from where she had momentarily discarded it. Now to find my way back to Everest...

It had taken her alot longer than she'd like to admit to find her way back but, she had managed. She walked in and felt her way along the walls to find the alcove again, once she did, she threw the bag in and crawled in after. The bag had hit Everest, and while it hadn't hurt her, it had woken her up. Everest glared at the opening, her face lit underneath by flames but once she saw Y/n, specifically the cracked armour, her face turned to surprise and worry. Are you okay?! she asked frantically. "No" Y/n answered with a playful scowl, "You jinxed it, I was attacked by something"

Everest whipped her tail around to support Y/n and guided her close to the fire. She sat down, opened her bag and got out the herbs, mortar and pestle. I'm fine Everest really, just a few bruises, She tried to smile but it turned into a wince when she shifted, And maybe a broken rib...

In response, Everest moved to lie in such a way that Y/n would be most comfortable, but wasn't particularly comfortable for her as it crushed one of her wings a bit. Thanks Ev. She started to grind up the plants to make a salve for the both of them while wondering what Ethari would have to say about this when she got back, their last conversation running through her head.

---Flashback---

"Y/n no, you cannot go to Prythian by yourself" "I won't be by myself, I'll have Everest" She supplied, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at him as she packed. "It's too dangerous" he insisted. "I'll be fine" She drawled, finally glancing in his direction. They had been going at this back and forth for the better part of an hour after Y/n's mission had been assigned to her. "Y/n, please" "Please what? Shrug off the duties I trained for years to have? Ignore my commanding officer? Think about exactly what you're asking me to do Ethari" she argued turning back to finish packing.

"I know exactly what I'm asking you." "No, you don't. Not taking this could risk my position as a tracker, " she reasoned "Well taking it could risk your life!" He exploded. Y/n turned toward him, waiting for him to continue. "I can't lose you Y/n I-" he paused. "I just can't." she looked at Ethari lovingly, walked up to him, and placed both hands on either side of his face. "Don't worry bud, I'll be back before you know it, and then you'll ask yourself why you even missed me in the first place"

A hint of mischief glimmered in her eyes "Besides I can't die yet, I still have to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend with all the childhood stories and photos" He groaned "Nevermind, take your time with the mission, take the scenic route, in fact, take all the scenic routes" She laughed at his quick change in attitude. "Did you really think you could hide the fact you have a girlfriend from me? Not a chance. You are terrible at keeping secrets, and I am amazing at discovering them. " He sighed deeply and muttered under his breath about her being nosy all the time.

"When I get back, and I will" She said staring pointedly at him "I expect details, AND dinner, can't forget about dinner" He groaned again, louder this time, more drawn out. "Why must you do this to me?" Despite his taller frame, Y/n still managed to pull him down, arm around his neck in a side hug. "Because I'm your big sister, and I love you." "Half-sister," he corrected. "Cannot stress how unimportant that fact is. Look on the bright side, you have about 2 to 3 weeks to prepare her to meet me" His head fell into his hands so his next words sounded muffled "Pretty sure nothing could properly prepare anyone to meet the level of insanity you embody on a daily basis" Y/n grinned evilly "Well then you best get started shouldn't ya" She released him from the side hug and stood up, y/n grabbed his head with both hands and gave him an over exaggerated head kiss designed to make him cringe. Which it did so, mission 1 accomplished, now time for mission 2. He peeked through his fingers when she started speaking to him again.

"Bye Ethari, see you in 2 to 3 weeks, love ya!" she yelled right before purposefully falling backwards off the open pavilion. She fell for a few seconds before Everest swooped underneath her gliding towards Pryithian and away from her home, her life and her brother.

------Night Court POV------

"Rhysand!" Feyre squeals, grabbing his wrists and pulling them away from her. "What are you doing?" She asks him with wide eyes, heartbeat speeding up. "Trying to please my mate" he purrs lowly, nipping at her ear and slowly inching his way down her jaw, every centimetre punctuated with a kiss. "Though she is being very ungrateful"

"Rhysand" She chuckles breathily, tilting her head back to give him more space. "Azriel said he'd be here soon with an important report" he continued his ministrations down her neck, licking at her skin, thoroughly enjoying himself. "I fail to see your point Feyre darling..." He trailed off as he revealed more of her skin kissing further and further down. "Wow, willingly admitting to failing something with no prompting, who are you and what have you done with my mate?" He nipped at her stomach suddenly, causing Feyre to look down and see him playfully glaring up at her. "Would you like me to continue or not?" She thought for a moment, she really didn't want Azriel to catch them at a bad time, but on the other hand...

Feyre's eyes fluttered between Rhysand and the door "Alright fine, I want you to continue, but quickly, before Azriel gets here" He grinned, eyes overflowing with unfiltered lust for his mate. Rhysand, now having her explicit permission, hastily ripped at her clothing, she mentally rolled her eyes, having long since given up the argument that there were ways to remove clothing without damaging them. He was just about to dive in like a fae starved when someone's knuckles rapped on their door. Feyre yelped and immediately wrapped herself in the duvet even though the door hadn't been opened.

It was Cassian's voice that came through the door. "Before you two get carried away making Nyx 2.0, Azriel's back, so make yourselves decent and then mosey your way on up to the office" Rhysand let out a long, deep, suffering sigh. They could hear Cassian's footsteps disappearing. Feyre giggled at Rhysand's dejected expression "Come on, time to go be High Lord" He looked wistfully over at her shredded clothing and sighed again "Fine, I suppose if I really have to" Feyre laughed again muttering "So dramatic, big Illyrian baby"

They walked into the office to see Cassian leaning against the desk arms crossed over his broad chest, Azriel was in the corner brooding, shadows swarming his shoulders. "So, what's this about?" Feyre asked as she and her mate walked inside "An energy surge Amren felt while she was in Summer with Varian" "Right, yes about that..." Cassian started "What? What is it?" They all looked to Azriel who, up to this point hadn't said anything, or even looked at them. Finally hazel eyes met the violet of Rhys', his High Lord, his brother, then shifted uneasily to Feyre's, his High Lady, his sister. Azriel swallowed, then spoke quietly, but not unclearly "You might want to sit down..."

---------Eris's Pov---------

Eris could not roll his eyes further back if he tried, he was in a meeting with all the lords of autumn and all they talked about was themselves Their positions in the court, their 'needs'. Not one of them had brought up the underpaid farmers, the villages that had to be repaired or the resources needed for said repairs. In fact, none of them talked about the people at all.

Insufferable, selfish, pricks

They all complained about trivial things, one of them even had the audacity to complain that his house was messier than usual because he didn't have enough servants. That decrease of servants he rambled on about, was because they had died, their families struggling to put food on the table while he sat here, on a velvet chair, saying the situation was unacceptable

All because he can't clean up after himself, like an incompetent child.

A loud knock sounded through the room, his general; Madoc, walking in with confidence. "High Lord" he greeted, dipping his head in respect. "General Madoc" Eris responded "Any news about the disturbance on our border?"

"That is exactly why I'm here" Eris raised his brow, a silent order to elaborate. "I strongly suggest this matter to be discussed elsewhere as the information is highly sensitive" That was code for: The lords shouldn't hear this, Madoc had been loyal to Eris during his father's tyrannical reign, he trusted his judgement. "Very well, Gentleman" he dismissed as he and general Madoc strode towards his office. "Another time"

The guards outside opened the door for them, and closed it silently, the wards against any sound from leaving the room locking in place. Eris gracefully walked around behind his desk, scanning its surface for the report he expected to be there, but was left empty handed. "Well?" Eris inquired

Madoc merely motioned for his High Lord to sit down. "I'm fine standing" "Please High Lord, I insist" Eris bristled at that. He was not some child to be coddled. "Tell me what you know General, or I will remove you from your position" He hissed through clenched teeth. Madoc knew it was an empty threat, there was no one better than him to oversee Autumn's army, but Madoc listened, nonetheless.

"Five groups of trackers were sent out, three hit dead ends, the other two..." He trailed off.

Eris's patience was wearing thin. "Spit it out, Madoc!"

"They tracked it to The Middle..." Eris felt his jaw clench, his back straighten, his fists tightening. He knew what the Generals next words were going to be but dreaded them all the same.

Please, not there, cauldrons anywhere but there

"Under The Mountain"

---------End---------

Chapter 2

a/n: I hope this chapter was worth it, I know you are probably wondering when they will meet, it should either be in chapter 2 or 3. Have a wonderful day further :)

[eliotquillon]

forget pining cam and jealous cam. give me "oh my god i am never going to date you------you got fired????" cam

i slipped

“House fired me,” Chase says, and Cameron finds it hard to care much about whatever’s going on with Foreman after that.

*

She’ll go to her deathbed denying it, but it is powerful, Cameron thinks, to turn Chase down every week. It isn’t that she relishes in it—the opposite, really; the first time it happens and she realises he’s serious she barely gets a few hours sleep and has to dig out her old retainer to stop herself from grinding her teeth. And she isn’t unused to handing out rejections, either; in college, back when she was the incredible mourning widow, Cameron got into the habit of smacking away every loud request for her to show her face at a party, and politely letting down study-group partners who wanted more. There’s no fun and no novelty. Still. There is a part of her, a mean part, maybe, that likes that he keeps coming back. That she can set her calendar by him. The tenacity is new, and interesting. Cameron has always prided herself on having firm boundaries, shouldn’t really be engaging in what is a clear attempt to skirt the line, but the fact that Chase even wants to skirt at all—

Cameron is a lot of things; she isn’t naïve. Foreman and House and hell, even Chase, can argue with her about it, but she knows better. Workplace relationships do not end well. They end worse, Cameron notes with alarm when Foreman tenders his resignation, with no buffer. Chase has never had a serious relationship in his life; Cameron’s sole attempt was, quite literally, grave. Even if she wanted it to, it will not work—wanting is irrelevant. She is making the selfless decision, in turning him down. He’ll thank her, in a few months time; they’ll laugh about it, over drinks just like the ones they used to have before Foreman got fired, and when House eventually comes round to the idea of hiring a new rookie they’ll be able impart their experience as words of warning. He’ll be her friend. He’ll thank her. He will.

But it shouldn’t be a crime to enjoy it while it lasts. It is natural to enjoy being desired. It is natural, she thinks, to desire back.

*

As soon as she realises Chase is gone—without even saying goodbye, she notes with a pang of resentment—Cameron gathers her things and stands. It’s an involuntary gesture, like she’s been hit with a reflex hammer; she only realises she’s doing it when Foreman glances over his shoulder and says, “Are you going after him?”

“No,” Cameron says, defensive, vindictive, and she grabs his shoulder. “Come on, I’m going to see House.”

“We need to look at the scan,” Foreman protests, “the patient—“

“Isn’t an emergency,” Cameron cuts him off. She’s surprised at her own ruthlessness, and thinking about last summer: the shifts she pulled in the ER during House’s rehab period, barking orders at nervous residents and triaging car accidents, how nice it had been to be taken at face value and deferred to. How for the first time in years she’d woken up excited and happy to go to work, even off the back of a bad shift. She’s thinking of it, and then she isn’t; she’s thinking about the confused but strangely content look on Chase’s face when he walked in less than two minutes ago, and how something in her stomach had sunk even before he started talking. “If House wants to see the damn scan, he can come down here himself,” she adds, and the flash of guilty concern she feels over his leg is surprising only for its brevity, “I want to know why he fired Chase.”

“You don’t need me for that,” Foreman argues, and she doesn’t know why he’s making things so difficult. He’s gone after this case; he won’t be the one stuck bearing House’s whirlwind moods, the one stuck doing a three-man sounding board job on his own. There’s nothing he needs to hedge his bets on. She’s got it on good authority that he has a job at Mercy all lined up; they called to confirm her peer recommendation four days ago. After everything, Cameron thinks, he can do her this one last favour. Her reasons for wanting it shouldn’t matter.

“House’ll do anything to get you to stay,” Cameron points out. “He’ll explain it to you if he thinks the reason will change your mind.” And you owe me, Cameron does not say, but Foreman must read it in her face anyway, because he relents and gets up to follow her.

“I thought you were the one to end things,” he mutters under his breath on their way out, and Cameron doesn’t have it in her to be mad at Chase for telling him about it. She thinks: I was. She thinks: a stop isn’t the same as the end.

*

“Why did you fire Chase?” Cameron asks, and she does not get her answer. In House’s defence, it isn’t really the question she wants to ask in the first place.

*

Why did you fire Chase? Cameron thinks, as she performs CPR. To the tune of Staying Alive: Why did you fire Chase? Same rhythm, different words: it’s Tuesday, I like you.

*

She catches Wilson in the cafeteria, hair still plastered to her forehead with sweat from the angiogram from hell. He is tucked away in a far corner, like that will somehow shield him from House’s prying eyes, but he’s in luck; House doesn’t seem to be in a social mood. “Hey,” she greets, and she’s surprised at the hoarseness in her own voice. There’s a simple explanation—she’s been shouting orders at nurses and exerting most of her body weight for the past three hours—but to a stranger, it might sound like she’s been crying.

“Hey, Cameron,” Wilson says, looking slightly wary. “What happened?”

“Three hours in surgery,” Cameron says, sliding her tray next to his. “Can I sit?”

“Sure,” Wilson says, clearly doing his best not to look like he wants nothing less. She must stink, she thinks self-consciously. “Another 600lb guy?”

“She’s 110 soaking wet,” Cameron corrects, remembers the manual boat and the salt water sickness at the last second and tries not to cringe at her own insensitivity. “Angiogram went wrong. I’ve been trading off CPR with Foreman.”

“Good lord, it took House that long to agree to put her on bypass?” Wilson double takes. “I told him to do it two hours ago. He’s losing it.”

“About that,” Cameron says. She feels suddenly, absurdly shy; it’s just Wilson, she reminds herself. He is, in a certain light, her friend. She told him about Joe. And even if he reports every detail of this conversation back to House, it doesn’t matter, because all she wants to know is: “Has he told you why he fired Chase?”

“Of course not,” Wilson says dismissively, “which just means it’s all a part of his Foreman-related breakdown. Don’t worry. Cuddy’ll talk both of them into changing their minds, and all three of you will be back to business as usual by next week. Chase’ll just get a weekend of not being on call for once.”

It’s meant to be reassuring. And it is, really. It’s exactly what she wants to hear. It’s the right answer. Nothing else, Cameron thinks, ought to matter.

*

It isn’t stalking if Chase is a creature of habit, Cameron decides as she refreshes her coat of lipstick. He’s taken her to this diner before; he always orders the same burger and fries, always picks out the slivers of raw tomato so he can peel off the skin before putting it back together. “It’s real home-style cooking,” he’d told Cameron before her brought her here, and when they got inside and she saw the full kitschy, Americana-ness of it all, she’d laughed and reminded him that he was Australian. “Well,” he’d dimpled, too smooth to be truly caught out, “it’s home to somebody.”

Anyway, he’s predictable: this is, after all, the guy who re-uses the same stupid shark story over and over again, the guy who has kept the same haircut for as long as she’s known him even as Cameron experimented with bangs and Foreman shaved his head. The only person she knows who is more of a creature of ritualistic habit is House. It’s a Saturday night—he’ll be here. And he is.

Say hello to Chase for me, House had said before she left. Maybe Cameron is predictable too. But there’s a half-moment of pleased surprise on Chase’s face when she sits next to him, the same look he tried to repress the first time she stayed the night, the first time she called him Robert, and the truth is that she didn’t really know if she’d have the guts to come here until she did.

*

“It’s time for a change,” Chase says, and Cameron doesn’t dare breathe, because that isn’t supposed to be his line.

*

“I’ll miss you,” she says, and it doesn’t feel perfunctory, like it did with Foreman. She means it. And the tense is all wrong besides. She misses him already. It is possible, Cameron thinks, that she has been missing him for weeks, and the thought is so terrible that she has to leave as soon as it crosses her mind. She is halfway out to her car when she realises he never returned the sentiment.

*

The facts haven’t changed, just the circumstances. Fact: Cameron spent this week treating a patient with a one-of-a-kind heart defect, and her favourite part was the CPR. Fact: she is tired of pretending that answers are the only things that matter. Fact: a fellowship only runs two years, and Cameron is eighteen months beyond her contract.

Circumstance: Chase is no longer her coworker.

“It’s Tuesday,” Cameron says, Monday evening and wearing her heart on her sleeve. Her resignation letter burns a hole in her pocket, but that can wait. This, Cameron thinks as she leans in, won’t.

[littlelesbinonny]

The Devil's Den

Chapter 37: In Which The Rabbit Hole Is Deeper Still

You can read this also on Ao3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46831621/chapters/117962293

Alcina leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, savoring the slight burn of the blood-wine trickling down her throat.

"At this rate we're lucky we're not humans," Donna mused from the neighboring table, "we'd have blown through so much money in these vain military efforts we may be stricken down by our people."

"Have you paid much attention to the human world above recently?" Alcina asked flatly, "their idiocy knows no bounds for the make believe thing they call money that 'makes their world go round', we'd likely get away with much, much more if we felt the need."

Donna smirked, "well then I guess this will continue until we bare fruits from our labor?"

Alcina huffed heavily and shoved herself from the wall, rejoining her comrade at the table, "I'm growing as tired of this as you are," she slumped, in a very un-Alcina like fashion, "though I can't come to terms with giving up either. I don't know what else to do but to stay stationed and wait."

"I don't believe anyone else has any better ideas. Mother Miranda remains silent and I'm resigning from reaching out to her any longer. It's pointless. There's still no word of Angie. And Karl, your girls, Dmitri, Sylvia, and the myriad of other eyes and ears we have set loose remain... empty handed."

Donna's verbal vomit continued, and try as she might, Alcina wasn't much able to remain present for it. She was still very consumed with you and what had happened the other night. She still didn't quite feel right, or normal, or whatever she was supposed to feel. With everything going on, which was largely underwhelming, yet just as stressful and annoying, Alcina felt pulled in far too many directions than she liked and that her control was still dangling on a thin thread. She was beyond her threshold for anymore 'what if's', and preparing for an impending unknown, that she was ready to throw in the towel all together and let whatever happens, happen. 

And you. What would become of you?

"Uh... Alcina?"

Came the inevitable tug from her own thought vomit.

"Hmm?" she replied lazily.

Leaning harder on her elbow, Donna propped her chin in her palm and mused over her friends mental absence, "it's none of my business, and I made a promise with myself to never ask or insert myself, but... do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?"

Alcina didn't look at Donna right away, in fact she took another long swallow of her wine and adjusted her poor posture mindlessly.

Finally her icy grey eyes met her friends and she took a deep breath, "what makes you think something happened?" she deflected almost pitifully.

Donna scoffed, not lightly, "I've only seen you that ragged and disjunct maybe a handful of times in the long, long time I've known you. You were very much off when you came back last morning... very off. So, while it's still none of my business, you and your wellbeing are, therefor I can't help but wonder and have a little concern about you."

Their gaze remained fixed to each other and Alcina chose her next words very carefully; "she is... special, Donna. Very special. And no, not in the way I have viewed all my lovers. I'm beginning to fear..." her voice continued, betraying her inward caution, "that I may be in a bit over my head. At least with everything happening. I don't do well with fear... or uncertainty."

Her response was so calculated Donna nearly dared to roll her eyes, but at least Alcina had given her that much, though she knew she would likely not be getting much more.

"I know you dislike being open and vulnerable, even to me, but I hope you know you can always confide in me if you need someone to lean on. And I know telling you you can't always be the unbreakable pillar means nothing, but you really ca-"

"She's got powers of her own, Donna."

Donna became very still as she watched the deadly concern deep in Alcina's eyes urging to be released. That was not something she had expected to hear. Now, more things suddenly made a lot of sense.

"What kind?" she asked timidly.

"I don't know. But I was overcome by a blood-rage I've never experienced before yesterday because of her, her blood, her power, and she witnessed the whole thing."

Oh how the silence was painfully deafening.

"What are you going to do?" Donna asked.

Alcina shook her head shortly, "I haven't the faintest. I feel like I'm caught in a mangled net I can't escape from. My biggest fear, which I have no real concrete evidence for, says that she could be in danger. And, the more I go to her, the more I see her, the more I may risk her safety... and I... don't know how I could live with myself if..." her voice broke off with a crack as she stared down now at the table, reliving her painful past with a bitter bile in her throat.

She huffed, breaking that thought off, "simultaneously, I'm fighting with the guilt that I should be protecting her, keeping her by my side in case something were to ever happen, all the while battling the very infuriating reality none of this would be taking place if it weren't for me, doing exactly what I shouldn't have done," her eyes, now coated with the deep sea slate, locked on Donna once again, "she is my undoing as much as she is my long lost home of comfort and love. She's given me a breath of life I never thought I'd feel again, and I am riddled with guilt and shame for loving her, for not being all she deserves, for knowing with such likelihood our lives will never coexist the way she deserves them to. I... should not love her the way I do, I never should have loved her, but I cannot fathom letting her go now, as selfish and devastating my ignorance may be. Whatever powers she holds, whatever gifts hide in her soul, I feel them in me now. I feel her in every waking and sleeping moment. I am petrified, Donna. Petrified. I don't know how to save everyone."

Her last admission made Donna wince.

She reached for Alcina's hand and grasped it firmly, scooting closer to her at the table, "Alcina... you don't have to save everyone. No one is asking that of you -"

"It's my job, Donna! Am I not the Matriarch? Am I not the Figure Head of the underground?" she jerked her hand away and rose from the table with haste, "Is it not I that everyone looks to when it all goes wrong? Am I not the one who makes the final decisions, has the final say, and ultimately is held responsible for everything that goes on down here?" her eyes and features grew sharp as she continued, "I never wanted any of this, I never asked to be made the ruler of the tiring, undead, caught and lost in time world that we're forced to live in! But here I am, doing a better job than Mother Miranda or any of my predecessors ever did - so yes, dear Donna, it is my responsibility; it is my job; to save everyone from whatever inside and outside threats we face."

She'd paced at least nine times along the floor by now, rubbing her forehead with her plight of anger and remorse, huffing one last time before she stopped, dropped her head back to look at the ceiling and release the breath that had another pending slew of upset words.

"I'm sorry..." she offered softly, "my emotions have been burdensome. I feel more than I have in a long while. I'm not used to having no control."

Alcina found Donna at her side with a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure it means little now," Donna also offered, "but I'm in your corner. Always have been. You won't weather this alone. And we will nail this bloody problem to the fucking cross, and things will get better. I'll fight tooth and nail to see it through."

She smiled genuinely down at the brunette and relaxed, "they say the quiet ones are those to really be wary of... I have no doubt in my mind you'll make good on your threat."

"When have I ever not?"

Alcina chuckled.

-

Currently, you were laying sprawled out in your bathtub; leg hanging over the side as you were half submerged and resting, recuperating from the exhausting morning you had spent 'working your magick'.

The baby fern Malka had given you was now on the kitchen counter in the largest bowl you owned since you'd overgrown it far too much and it burst from the tiny pot it had come in. You'd be needing to get some more soil and a proper planter as soon as possible. After you'd successfully grown it Fern Gully style, you'd grabbed the next item you could think of to manipulate; a candle.

This time you used your greyer magick. Melting it. Burning it. Reforming it. Lighting the wick with no flame. It was... excruciatingly exhilarating. And, utterly draining. Malka said practice was key. Little by little, you'd figure all of this out.

You'd also been up till around 3 in the morning reading over your books. The book on magick was as interesting as it was vague, cryptic, and a little oddly written. There was no doubt the books age just by the language and spelling. It covered mostly Celtic and Norse witchcraft; history, practices, etc., and gave a good index of symbols and deities. You'd not yet gotten to the chapters containing folklore of Fae, Fairies, Nymphs, Dryads, and the like, but were itching to get there.

You'd also gotten a few chapters into the vampire book when you woke. So much of the lore about the myths of them, oddly enough, were written as debunked as Alcina had told you forever ago upon your many nights of incessant questioning. You found it strange since this book was also quite old, and wondered if perhaps a vampire himself, or herself, didn't write it. The wives tales and superstitions around vampires lasted long into the 1900's, and this book easily predated that. It gave you a little bit of a warm feeling to think a vampire author had gotten some of their truth out there.

Secretly, you were hoping to find names, lineages of the vampire bloodlines, and see if you could track down this Mother Miranda that had wreaked havoc on Alcina, and certainly many others. But to your disappointment you'd found nothing. Yet. There were still many chapters to go.

The bath was helping you regain some energy but your fingertips were still uncomfortably tingly. 

You were finding your magick a very physical thing. Malka had introduced you to learning how to feel it out, locate it and harness it, and you found so many certain sensations went with each emotion and intention the more and more you focused.

Helping plants grow was a warm, soft sensation deep in your chest. The tingling in your fingers gentle but thick, the lightheadedness that came after was bright and intense. 

Burning down the candle came from below your lungs, deep in the pit of your core. It wasn't anger or rage, but pure intent to control and manipulate. The tingling from that was hard, firm, and a little steely. And you felt breathy afterward.

Lighting the candlewick was in the front of your face, like an Icy Hot mask on your cheeks and forehead. That tingling sensation was liquidy, silky, and prickly. It gave you jitters after and you felt startlingly awake.

As much as you wanted to revisit the darker of everything you'd done, you didn't dare without Malka present. Lighting your apartment complex on fire or something wasn't anything you wanted to risk.

It was now a little passed 2 PM when you were trying to read the book on magick while simultaneously making a plate of cheese and crackers to munch on on the kitchen counter. Unfortunately, as you were reskimming a paragraph you'd read twice, you slipped and sliced part of your finger with the cheese knife.

You reached for your paper towels, but in the process dripped three drops of blood on the way.

"Ah fuck," you blurted, quickly wrapping your finger and rushing to wipe off the little red droplets on your book.

But something caught your attention, vividly.

There where the text was as stark against the aged paper as you blood, hovering above and over said text was another text; glowing, violet, and in markings you did not recognize, but even odder still is that you could unmistakably read and understand it.

You blinked several times as the realization that you were clearly looking at archaic symbols, yet they translated in your brain as simply as regular English set in. Your heart sunk to the pit of your stomach as your eyes read on:

Of this point in your crooked journey, there are many things to find; the Courts are vast, but none too far -  be true of heart  and sharp of mind.

The truths you seek shan't escape you long; for the Courts call home those who've been gone - through troubles unnumbered, and hardships unmatched - slithy toves wicked games, both brutish and strong.

Darkness endures while you brave the new sea;  uncharted and rough may these deep waters be. Fear not the voyage for you'll be lead through the mist, on the backs of your lineage you'll be able to drift.

The path you've found, is but only the start.  Be swift and be brave,  keep faith of the heart. Come back once more when time gives you wear - as the Courts do not dabble, not here or to there, for Magick is not born of the weaklings to bear.

What... the... fuck did this mean?!

You slammed the book shut and rushed for the door.

~

"Malka!" you called as you burst your way through the shop entrance, "Malka! I need to show you something!"

"Aye aye aye," Malka replied from around an isle, "ketzeleh! I'm just closing shop, lock the front, will you? Come meet me behind the counter."

You did as instructed and hastily made your way to the counter, nearly beating Malka there.

"What has you so spun up?" she asked wiping her hands on her apron, "out with it."

Without another word, you gave her a wide-eyed look of 'please tell me I'm not insane', plopped the book down on the cluttered counter, and opened to the pages where your blood stains were.

"I - I bled on the book by accident - and this text, this floating, purple writing appeared and it was some weird riddle and -"

"Oooyyy vey, ketzeleh," Malka interrupted, gently pushing you out of the way grabbing for the book, her bright eyes staring hard at the pages, "how did you get this?" she asked as her hues shot up to you.

You were stumped, but now very concerned, "uh, Louis, I asked him for books of magick and he gave me this."

The older woman eyed you closely and held the book tighter, "do you know what this is?"

"Clearly not," you stated quickly, your eyes just as wide as ever.

"This is a Blood Arcane."

...

"A what?"

"This is a book of magick, not just a book about it. How this Louis got possession of it I would very much like to know. There are not many left in the world," Malka's voice dropped lower and she came closer to you, "a blood arcane is quite literally an enchanted book made from the old lines of witches and shamans to hide their secrets in plain sight. The red leather binding is a hint to those who knew the old code; this dark stain of red indicates that to unlock it's secrets you must spill your blood to reveal what it has to share with you. Inadvertently you did just that!"

You couldn't help your slacked jaw as Malka, now beaming with glee and intrigue, explained this to you like a school child.

"What did it say, what did it say to you?!"

"I, uh, it was, uhm, it was some kind of riddle? Or poem? I - I don't really remember al of it, it wasn't very forward."

Malka put the book back down on the counter and tapped her finger to her thin wrinkled lips, "I see... but you could read it?"

"Y-yeah, but it wasn't English, it was like -"

"Symbols, yes. Each book is filled with various teachings from various walks of magick, all set to a language special to each reader."

"If I bleed on it again will you read it with me?"

"No, no, it doesn't work like that ketzeleh," she said softly, smiling up at you, "the message you receive will not translate to me, nor would my blood translate for you to read, that's the true magick of these texts! So intricately designed and woven, they are so rare and truly special. This book... it was meant for you, and you were meant to find it. Keep it close. Don't tell anyone you have it, and don't let anyone see it, you understand?"

You nodded mutely and relaxed a little, leaning on the counter while looking back to the book, "it told me to come back after time had given me wear... whatever that means, that part I remember pretty well. What does that mean, though? And how could I read it and understand it even though it was just weird markings?"

Malka grinned, "it means you're not quite ready to read all of it's secrets, but don't be discouraged. Many witches and others gifted with magick cannot read these even after years and years of practice and guidance by elders. As for the understanding; when the book chooses to be read by the reader, it will come through as normally as you and I are speaking now, another impressive mystical trait. I would consider yourself very lucky dear, this is extraordinary!" she turned to face you again and placed her hands on your arms, admiring you with those twinkling eyes, "the more and more you learn about yourself, and the more you learn your magick, this book will bare itself to you in no time. The secrets you find here may have many of the answers you are searching for."

With a gentle sigh, you slumped your shoulders and returned her grin, "life just keeps getting weirder and weirder, Malka," you chuckled, "I'm starting to feel like Alice In Wonderland; next thing I know Leo will be grinning from ear to ear and telling me the Red and White Queen are in the kitchen ready to take me to my coronation to be Queen myself."

"Well, let me know if Sid Caesar shows up dressed as the Gryphon - he's so handsome!"

You laughed out loud and wrapped her up in your arms for a hug.

"If I end up battling the Jabberwocky and jump through the mirror, do you think this craziness will end?" you asked through the hug.

Malka hummed, "do you really want it to, ketzeleh?"

-

"You know if we had cellphones this wouldn't be nearly as difficult," Cassandra said from the other line of the old rotary phone, "we could just call you at any given time at any given place, then you wouldn't have to worry about where we are and the like -"

"You know mother is never going to agree to cell phones!" Dani's voice interrupted, "But we love you all the same, mother!"

"Oh for heavens sake, give me the phone - let - go!" Bela clearly struggled.

Alcina allowed herself a heavy blink and blew cigarette smoke from her red lips, arching back into her chair while tapping some ash into the tray.

"Hi mom, sorry about that."

"Don't worry, I'm sure this argument about cell phones will follow me to the very grave."

"That'll be a long, relentless endeavor."

Alcina chuckled at Bela, "it is your sisters we're talking about."

"Well, I - "

Bela was rudely interrupted once more and Cassandra's voice came chiming through; "Mother, you know the human city council is scared shitless of you, I know the coverage down here isn't ideal but I have no doubt in my mind you can convince them to install a tower -"

Cue Daniella and her boisterous agreement; "Yeah! But then we'll lose Cass entirely to the internet; she'll be on bookface and twatter and god forbid one of those dating sites! Easy pickings for blood though I guess."

"Oh shut up, Dani! You know it's called FACEBOOK and TWITTER, my god don't act like such a dunce."

"I simply love to annoy you!"

The unintelligible bickering went on on the other line until Bela finally reclaimed possession of the phone. Alcina remained pinching the bridge of her nose while taking steadying breaths. At least they were always entertaining.

"Oh my god... ANYWAY. That's about all we have to report at the moment. Though we have learned a great deal about the hidden passages and other tricky gems of the underground while we've been at it."

"Do nOT let Dani get any ideas, please?"

Bela laughed, "of course not, mother. Even Uncle Karl knows better. And you're doing alright?"

Alcina paused briefly, "of course, dragoste - right as rain. Missing my girls, I suppose," she smiled weakly.

"We miss you too. I think we'll be coming home soon, at least for a visit before another lead comes through."

"And I look forward to it. Give the battling baboons my love, and I shall see you all soon."

"I will. Love you, mom."

The click on the other end felt a little heavier than it needed to, but Alcina hung the receiver and took a thoughtful drag, staring blankly onto her desk, pondering if anything was ever going to happen on any end of the spectrum. She hated being in limbo more than she hated preparations for a war that was certain. Trusting Donna's instincts was easier than trusting her own at this point, and hers said this wasn't over, so at least there was something to lean on.

There were only a few more hours before sunset and Alcina was struggling internally about coming to see you. Oh how she wanted to. Escape from all this and pretend it didn't exist for a night, but then, the troubles with you and your newly exposed power made her uneasy.

She rose with a huff that hid none of her annoyance; tired of living and wandering aimlessly through her stupid thoughts of uncertainty was growing old and quickly.

Alcina returned to her bedroom and began to get dressed. 

Donning a white turtleneck, black jeans, her knee high boots, her trench coat, and last but not least; the gloves you'd given her. The smile on her face was warm and wistful, all the hesitations she's fought being shoved in the other direction. She loved you, dammit. She would make this work if it killed her.

As she was closing the gates to the Manor behind her, a shouting from up the street caught her attention. Her name was being called, urgently, by a voice she did not recognize.

Swiftly she started to rush towards the sound, and there trotting down the cobblestone towards her was a young vampire. Her face was twisted with worry and confusion.

"Lady Dimitrescu!"

"Yes, what is it?" she hastily replied.

"There's a Father in the tunnels! He's asking for you, but we wouldn't allow him any further - he's covered in blood - says someone was attacked in the church - he's demanding you come to him!"

Alcina's eyes went wild as she looked down upon the young lady, the shock of this news to her system sending her fight response into action.

"Take me to him!" she commanded with urgency.

The vampire took off and Alcina was hot on her heels.

By the time she reached the tunnel she could already hear the panicked, angry arguing.

"Let me pass! I demand you let me in! I demand to speak to the Lady Dimitrescu! He was just a boy! A boy! How could she let this happen!?"

Pushing her way passed the wall of vampires, Alcina broke through to see this father. He was indeed covered in blood and looking terribly frantic.

She was barely a pace from him when he saw her and lunged himself at her. He was a small, younger priest, one she remembered only vaguely, and posed her no real threat. Alcina barked for the other vampires to retreat and leave it be.

He slammed his fists into her chest and body, babbling and shouting about this boy, incoherent sobs and cries as he stained her white shirt with the still fresh blood all over him.

"I need you to calm down, father," Alcina soothed with a sternness, finally grabbing hold of him and rendering him immobile, "look at me, look at me!" she demanded, stifling his irregular sobs, "I cannot help you unless I know what has happened."

His eyes were blood shot and his face streaked with tears, "You! Your - y-your devils! Come with me and I will show you!" he shouted, ripping himself from her grasp and dodging back through from where he came.

[armpirate]

Kalla | Choi San || Chapter 20

MASTERLIST Previous || Next

Pairings: CEO!San x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, strangers to lovers.

Warnings: dom!San, sub!reader, voyeourism, use of sex toys, bondage, dirty talk, BDSM, exhibitionism, rough sex.

Summary: She was surprised by how fast her life went from the perfect fairytale to the destructive mess it had turned into. Dealing with a cheater ex boyfriend, having to move out to a different place because the house she lived in belonged to that man she once dreamed of spending the rest of her life with, while continuously being underappreciated at work... It was as if life was telling her to stop dreaming big, to go back to her small town, Bibury, and help her parents run the small farm her family had owned for decades.

At least until she received a call from her friend.

A sudden vacancy as an assistant showed up on one of her friend's system, having her being encouraged to take that big step and apply for it. She had no hopes for it. Mainly because she didn't have any experience on the field, and she didn't comply with most of the requirements that were added on the offer -and which most of them sounded ridiculous and exaggerated for the position, making her wonder who was the freak who needed so many guidelines in order to hire someone to pick up the phone and schedule events. 

Although that hotel she'd be working on was much more than anything she could've come up with. 

Choi San wasn't someone easy to deal with. After his previous assistant presented his resignation letter on his desk, he felt forced to start the whole selection process again -after merely two months. 

Sure that he was being way too strict, enough to find that anyone who applied for the position wasn't enough, he asked one of his friends to be in charge of the interviews and the selection of the most adequate candidate. 

Little did he know Wooyoung would hire the imperfectly perfect candidate for him, sure that she'd help him in many ways other than just in dealing with the responsibilities of his position. 

A new challenge will come their way as soon as she steps inside the hotel. 

Y/n will have to learn how to mold onto him and deal with all his small habits and requirements, and San will find himself trying to open up and let out all those same things that turned him into the person he was. 

The more she digs in Kalla and all of its secrets and exciting corners, the deeper she'll dive into San's heart and soul... Although, maybe, she won't be able to take it. 

Kalla opens its doors to you, sharing the vast amount of filthy and erotic plans it offers, and that you can join with a partner... Or maybe just by yourself. 

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Chapter duration: 17 minutes

Her blood froze when seeing Mingi and Seonghwa standing next to each other while they looked at them with their mouths open. San could only sigh, while closing his eyes in the most pissed off way he could, while Y/n tried to explain the situation with the dumbest excuse she could -although she only ended up moving her lips without making a sound, because no ideas came up to back them up.

—Hey, Hwa —she greeted her roommate—. Min... Mingi? —she squinted her eyes, pretending not to recognize him— Wow, is it you? I really... didn't... Wow, what are you doing here?

—We just finished having dinner at the place next door. Mingi was asking for some good bulgogi —Seonghwa explained.

—Yeah. We were hanging out and I was hungry. What about you? And, um, San?

That smirk... The little he had known him, San knew it meant bad news.

—Do you know him? —Seonghwa asked in a whisper.

—He's our boss —he explained.

—Oh... oh —his eyes opened wide at the realization—. This is an interesting development.

Y/n had to fight the urge to face palm herself, at the same time she got ready to fight the universe for involving her in such a weird situation.

—We went out for dinner. It's been a long day—San answered, poking his hands inside his pockets while his face moved up—. We just wanted to discuss some issues.

—Looks like it ended on a good note —Seonghwa mumbled, keeping his giggles low.

—It was a rough day, and it ended on a nice evening —Y/n explained—. We just ran into each other right after work.

—I had no idea you two were seeing each other —Mingi's head tilted at the contradiction—. Well, I knew. But I thought I was making shit up.

—It's... not exactly like that —San rushed to explain, clearing his throat—. We were just enjoying each other's company.

—Seems like you were enjoying it quite a bit —Seonghwa teased again.

Trying to stop him from making another comment, she gave him a playful shove. She could almost see San's desperation building up with each comment he made.

—Alright, that's enough teasing for one night. We'll catch up later, okay?

—No, we'll catch up right after you kiss again to say goodbye —Seonghwa answered.

—Yeah, and I'm definitely staying a bit more —Mingi assured her, walking next to their common friend.

Y/n just wanted to throw something at them by the way they keep giggling while looking at them, acting as if they were teenagers catching two people from the same class holding hands.

—I'm starting to think I was too soft with him the other day —San mumbled, tilting his head.

Although there was something positive behind all that teasing, and behind being caught: at least he knew Mingi would stay out of his way when it came to Y/n. At least it worked to leave clear something he wasn't able to admit through words, and even less in the workplace.

—Yeah, I'll have to agree —she twisted her lips, finally smiling when her eyes fell back on him—. Thanks for tonight.

—Thank you for tonight —he rushed to turn it upside down.

Y/n was the one who dragged him out of the office, and the one who cheered him up when he needed it the most. He was most definitely the one who was thankful for her.

Just as he stepped away after bowing for one last time with a bread smile that showed off his dimples, a figure emerged from the shadows, walking with purpose towards Y/n was soon as she was alone.

Her smile suddenly dropped, and her heart sank when she recognized the figure approaching her from afar. It was the first time she had seen such a dark and angry expression on Andy.

—What the hell is going on here?

—Excuse me? —she lifted her eyebrows, parting her lips surprised.

—Are you fucking someone else?

—You really have the balls to confront me about starting my life after breaking up, when you didn't even wait to end things with me to get someone in our bed —she barked back.

—Is he the reason why you don't want to come back? —he approached her— We've been together for four fucking years.

—Four years that you ruined —she squinted her eyes—. Can you leave? Or do I have to call the police?

—We've just broken up and you're already screwing someone else?

Her eyes rolled at that question. He for sure did sound like a broken record, replaying his only argument to get back at her for something that she didn't do wrong.

—Andy, I really don't have the energy to do this right now —she calmly said.

As soon as she attempted to leave, his hand wrapped around her elbow to stop her, forcing her to turn back to him.

—Y/n, babe. Let's talk. I messed it up...

—Shit you did —she tried to let go—. Get off me.

—Is he better than me?

That question almost made her cackle on his face. Was San better than him? She didn't even need longer than three seconds for the answer to come through her head with all the valid reasons. In a matter of a few hours, he had her desperately begging to reach her high, while with Andrew the closest she got to that was when he finally learned where her clit was. And, leaving sex aside, San at least made things clear for her since the very beginning. It was unbelievable how she perceived more loyalty from him than a person she shared her life with for four years.

—To the point of acting like a slut for a ching chong's tiny dick?

She looked at him fast, unable to believe he had just said that. Andrew had a long history of being an asshole as soon as he felt annoyed or cornered, but never to the point of slut shaming her and using a slur to defend himself.

—At least I know how to use it —she heard San's voice next to her—. It's a bit sad you have to use dick sizes and ethnicities to make a point though.

San got on his car, looking through his phone to make sure there were no pending messages or emails he forgot to work on while spending some time with Y/n, only to glance one last time where she supposedly was -just to confirm she finally got inside her place- and find her being bothered by the same man who flew kilometers away just to be a pain in the ass for her

Andy smirked, letting out a light scoff before he let go of her arm, able to confront the taller man ahead of him.

—She's my girlfriend —Andy reminded him.

—No, she's not —he sighed—. That's why she doesn't owe you any explanations —San stepped closer to him—. And if I hear you disrespecting her that way again, I'll make sure to break your jaw so you think twice before you speak. Did I make myself understood?

—So this is why you've been ignoring me? —Andy scoffed, turning to her again— For this Jackie Chan?

San's eyes narrowed, his protective instincts kicking in when he went back to addressing her. He stepped beside Y/n, meeting Andy's glare head-on.

—She asked you to leave. I suggest you listen to her and stop talking to her.

—And who the hell are you to tell me what to do? This is between me and her —he confronted San again.

—Andy, please. Just go —Y/n tried to convince him, looking at him over San's shoulder.

But instead of stepping back, he went on with his act, his fists clenched on his sides. San moved in front of Y/n, hiding her body behind his back even more, his posture calm but ready.

—She doesn't want to talk to you. Respect that and walk away.

—You think you can just swoop in and take what's mine?

His hand moved fast against San, having Y/n covering her eyes with both of her hands while she waited for the collison, but her boss moved faster. His hand trapped Andy's wrist, twisting his arm easily.

—She's not an object. She's a person, and she's made her choice.

—You don't know anything about us!

—I know you're a pathetic loser, who took advantage of someone's trust and love and now you're crawling back because no one wants to be with you after seeing the scumbag you are —abruptly, he let go of his wrist, almost making Andy stumble.

He was cold and serious, making sure her ex-boyfriend knew he meant what he was saying. He wasn't going to hear any person disrespect someone else, and get away with it so easily.

Before San could react, Andy threw a punch, hitting San square in the jaw. San staggered back, his hand instinctively going to his face. Y/n gasped, stepping forward to place herself between the two men.

Among all the insanity, their eyes instantly met when San turned to her to make sure she was alright. Her heart squeezed again after a second, when Andrew moved again, taking the chance as soon as San was distracted to land a fist on his jaw before he could completely turn to her.

—Andrew, stop! This is insane!

San straightened up, wiping a small trickle of blood from his lip. He looked at Andy, with eyes filled with determination rather than anger.

—I'm not going to fight you —he shrugged.

—Stay out of this, man —breathing heavily, his anger was still simmering—. This is between me and her.

—No. There's nothing to fucking discuss between us —she let out frustrated—. You need to leave. Now. Get on the first plane to London and get off my fucking face.

Andy looked at her, his face a mixture of anger and hurt, nodding at her words while his tongue poked his cheek. He took a step back, his eyes flicking between San and Y/n as if he was hesitating for the next move.

—This isn't over —he threatened, lowering his voice—. And you... you're going to regret this —he pointed at San.

Her breath was shaky, yet her first reaction was turning to San to check on his face after her ex boyfriend punched him.

—Are you okay? —her knees were slightly flexed, trying to see something from a different perspective—. I'm so sorry he did that.

His jaw twisted, allowing him to feel pain exactly where Andy punched him.

—I'm fine. It's just a bruise. Are you alright?

His eyes were so intimidating, yet so protective at the same time, that Y/n's stare went blank while she could only nod.

—I'm okay —she managed to say after getting back to herself—. I'm just... I'm so sorry you got involved in this.

—It's not your fault your boyfriend is crazy.

They stood in the quiet street, the intensity of the moment gradually fading. While she looked at him, gratitude grew deeper in her eyes.

—Thank you, San. For everything.

—You don't have to thank me. I'd do it again in a heartbeat —he assured her.

His heartbeat turned faster when she stepped even closer, looking deeper into the small red mark on the right side of his face, unconsciously making him move back.

—You should get some ice on that bruise —her tongue clicked after that sentence—. Come up, I'll get you something for it.

—It's okay. I'll take care of it back at home.

But Y/n didn't let him insist for much longer, dedicating one death glare at him.

—You need to put ice on it before it gets worse. And you'll probably forget when you get home —she insisted.

—Okay, okay. II guess I can go up and put some ice on it before I leave.

San smiled to himself as soon as she turned around to guide him, appreciating her concern. Their fingers were intertwined as they entered her apartment building together, with him just letting her take him whenever she pleased.

—Come on in. Let's get some ice for that bruise —she guided him, stepping inside her apartment after typing the passcode.

As they took off their shoes to walk around the house without them, they both could hear the cackles in the living room.

—Hey, Y/n. Can you ask your boss to give me a free room for next weekend? I'll be needing a good time off.

Seonghwa's voice slowly turned lower as he was aware of the taller man that was walking right behind Y/n, bowing again to the two men already inside the house.

—Well, well, well. Look who's back. And with a battle scar, no less —Mingi let out with a smirk.

—What happened? Did you two have a wild night out? —Seonghwa gasped dramatically— I swear, we only left you alone for five minutes. Have some decorum.

—Very funny —Y/n rolled her eyes—. Andy showed up again and things got... tense.

—Again? —he asked, clearly worried.

—Tense? Looks like San here got a souvenir —Mingi joked again.

He was certainly having the time of his life that night.

—Just a minor disagreement. Nothing to worry about —he tried to ease up the situation.

—A disagreement with fists, apparently. You really know how to show a girl a good time, San —Mingi winked at him.

—Alright, enough with the jokes.

—You know, it's kind of romantic in a weird way —Mingi continued—. The knight in shining armor comes to the rescue and gets a bruise for his trouble.

—I can see it now —Seonghwa played along—. Modern Love Story. How a Punch led to Romance.

—So, San, does this mean you're her official bodyguard now? Or is this just a one-time deal? —her head threw back at Mingi's comment.

—Mingi, seriously, give him a break —Y/n groaned.

—Sorry, this is just too funny to let it slide.

—You know what else is funny? —San answered immediately after— I'll still be your boss tomorrow —he was the one smiling funny then, while Mingi's expression turned a bit more serious.

Ignoring Mingi's change in attitude, Seonghwa looked at Y/n again.

—Was it your ex boyfriend again? Shall we call the police?

—I'm sure he'll give up after what happened tonight —she shrugged. 

—And if he doesn't? You come and go alone all the time. You got away today because San was with you, but in any other circumstance...

—Hwa, let's leave it there —she interrupted him—. Do we have ice?

—Yeah, in the freezer —he murmured, pointing to the kitchen.

She headed to the kitchen, rummaging through the freezer for an ice pack, while San stood waiting in the middle of the living room, with both Mingi and Seonghwa eyeing him up and down from the couch.

—Let's go for a towel, and go to my room —she suggested when she joined him again.

With a nod, San just let her lead the way, walking in front of him while glancing a warning look at her friends so they wouldn't let out a comment.

—I'll go for a towel —she announced to him, leaving the ice pack over her bed—. You can wait here.

He could've just left, insisting that he wanted to go home, but he didn't want to. He wanted to roam around her room, eye up some of the small details that screamed that room was hers, while letting that stupid smile show up in his face again.

Messy. Not only for some of the accessories she didn't manage to take with her, but how some books on her shelves were piled one over the other, while some were placed vertically.

Familiar. She had a fair amount of pictures over one of the shelves, under the wrongly placed books. Some with two older people, that he thought would be her parents, that also appeared in some other pictures with a younger couple and a kid Y/n was carrying, and another one hugging to her leg. He also saw several pictures with some other women around her age, which he assumed were her friends back in London.

He couldn't help but smile at how bright and happy she looked in each one of those pictures.

Loyal. He managed to spot one picture where she appeared with one of those women again, and Y/n looked way younger, probably from high school.

San had to highlight the familiar adjective when he spotted a drawing, probably from one of the kids she appeared in the picture with.

Athlete and creative. Lower on the rack, he spotted some skating medals, and next to it a diploma that congratulated her position in an annual craft workshop.

—Spotted anything interesting? —she teased him, stepping back inside the room.

—I did, actually —he nodded—. A gold medalist?

—That was like... —her eyes went to the back of her head, trying to remember how long it had been— six years ago. I had a pretty awful injury, and had to retire.

San's hand moved away from the medal, and his playful smile dropped when she mentioned that. He suddenly felt bad for even asking about it.

—That's awful.

—Not really —she shrugged—. Fortunately, it was before I could even think of dedicating fully to it. It was tough, but it could've been worse.

—Have you ever skated since then? —he wondered, stepping towards her.

—Hmm no. I even threw away my ice skates —after wrapping the towel around the ice pack, she motioned him to sit on the edge of the table—. Some things are better off in the past —she mumbled.

His eyes turned soft with her words and her sad expression, completely omitting how cold the towel felt on his jaw as she pressed it against him.

—What? —she giggled, avoiding his eyes to focus on his lips and how they slightly curved up.

—Nothing.

But he kept looking at her, admiring each one of her features while all of her attention was on him. It surprised him how he was able to recognize she wanted to speak by the way she bit her lower lip.

—That hotel was always your plan A? —she asked, trying to follow the flow of the conversation.

San couldn't remember what his main plan was before he threw himself on a flight to the United Kingdom. He spent so much time thinking how it'd be to see his mother, that he completely forgot about himself.

—In a sense, I guess it was —he grinned.

—How did you come up with that idea?

—I have a pretty good imagination —he smirked, winking at her.

Y/n could only roll her eyes, before a chuckle left her lips.

—Have you just rolled your eyes at me?

—Yeah, so? —her lips puckered, while she bent forward to leave their lips centimeters away— What are you going to do about it?

—I bet you'd love for me to tie you up again, with your ass up in the air this time, to fulfill that fantasy of me spanking it raw —her thick gulped was the affirmation he needed—. Kitten, too many emotions for today —his fingers pinched her chin—. Take it easy. Besides, I'll rather go for a better punishment.

—You aren't going to tell me which one?

—And give you time to prepare for it? Nope.

His lips trapped her in a short yet possessive kiss, before San got up from the bed.

—See you tomorrow —one last kiss was laid on her forehead, before he made the difficult decision of leaving her place.

Despite the events of the night, it was the first time he was going back home while fighting a smile from forming on his face. Y/n just made everything way too easy, their connection was insane, and the sexual attraction between them was off the charts.

He was sure there was nothing that ruin his day. Although, obviously, he underestimated the power his father had, and how easy it was for him to make his mood change in a matter of seconds.

The happy sound from his door as he opened it was only a mask of what was awaiting for him inside: his father sitting on his couch, looking at his phone, while one leg was crossed over the other.

—I heard you had some trouble today. Thought I'd come see the damage for myself.

San felt a mix of anger and exhaustion wash over him. His father and his comments were the last thing he needed that night.

—You heard? How? You have people spying on me now? —San asked, remaining calm as he stepped inside the house after taking off his shoes.

—Word gets around —his father snorted—. You can't expect to get punched in the face without people talking.

San's eyes narrow, his frustration boiling over.

—I'm wondering when it became your business.

—When you start getting into fights and causing scenes.

San's jaw tightened, his anger bubbling to the surface.

—You're one to talk about causing scenes... Do I have to remind you why you're lonely? Why mom left you?

—Don't you dare bring your mother into this —his father's eyes flashed with anger—. She's gone, and it's because she was too selfish to think about us.

—No. She left because you drove her away with your constant criticism and control. And now you're trying to do the same to me.

—I'm trying to make sure you don't ruin everything we have left —he got up to face his son, his posture rigid—. You think it's easy keeping this family together?

—Keeping this family together? you? —San's frustration was reaching its peak— You've done nothing but tear it apart. I'm the one who's been paying the bills, covering your debts, and making sure we have a roof over our heads. You've done nothing but drag me down.

—Watch your mouth, San. You have no idea what you're talking about.

—I know exactly what I'm talking about. I've been carrying you ever since Mom left —he sighed.

—That's everything I am, right? A burden.

There he was coming with the victim card.

—Cut the show. What do you want? Why are you here? Because I doubt knowing your son got punched had you rushing to visit me.

—I only came here to spend some time with you, and make sure you're okay —he shook his head—. And all I get in exchange is getting treated like shit.

—Just say you have nowhere to stay tonight —San cut him off.

—I won't tolerate you insulting me, I won't allow this from you.

San couldn't help but roll his eyes at the way his father dramatically made his way out of his house, knowing damn well he was the only one regretting getting out of that house that night.

That'd never change. It was as if his father had a radar to know when he was doing alright to show up and ruin his mood. 

Taglist: @brown88

[embersofhope-if]

i would suggest a drabble where MC and Ash are hanging out for the last time before the games for the pride drabble (with it being WLW, MLM or just in general queer) but i feel like u got enough drabbles on your plate so just ignore this idea

uhm lets pretend its still june. this is both f!ash and m!ash but the only thing that's different is when Mc fixes Ash's hair.

there aren't really any trigger warnings. Mc does mention death a couple of times but that's really it. anyways! enjoy<3

wordcount: 3.4k

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ F!Ash Versionˏˋ°•*⁀➷

It's hot, hotter than a normal July night. Just lying in my bed with a thin sheet is making me sweat so much I think I might drown in it. I know getting up to open my window might help to cool my room down but the very idea of moving conjures up an image of me bursting into flames as soon as I stand. I resign myself to sweat to death in my bed, or at least suffer until Ash decides to actually show up.   

This is her stupid tradition, and she doesn’t even show up on time. I should just tell her to go home when she shows up, it's what she deserves for forcing me to wait in my oven of a bedroom.  

But I wouldn’t do that. As much as I’m suffering in my room, she’s the one who has to sneak across the entire city. It would just be cruel to force her to go back without indulging her just a little bit.  

I doubt she’d even be upset if I did tell her to leave though, just allows her to go to the places she wants to go instead of worrying about me tripping on a rooftop and falling to my death.  

Just as I begin to contemplate moving downstairs, I hear a shuffle at my window and a slight knock. I quickly stand to go and open it, desperate to finally get out of this room.   

As soon as she catches sight of me Ash flashes a smile that she quickly drops trying to catch her breath. With how flushed her cheeks are and the fact that I can hear how hard her breathing is through the window she must’ve sprinted halfway across the city.  

“Can you please let me in? I didn’t come this far just to be shot out of your window by a peacekeeper” she manages to say; sounding only slightly like she’s about to pass out.  

“I don’t know. Maybe I enjoy watching you struggle to open an unlocked window.” I respond, already sliding the window open. Before I fully step away Ash falls into the room.   

I reach out to steady her, trying to make sure she doesn’t fall and wake up my entire family. Mother may like Ash, but I know for a fact that if she finds her breaking into my bedroom Ash would never be allowed back into the house again.  

“Are you alright?” I ask, worrying that she may have hurt herself trying to get here before it got too late in the night. The fact that she even has enough energy to get here after working all day in the factory will never not amaze me.   

“I'm fine. Don’t worry,” she responds, finally able to take a breath without wheezing. I realize that I’m still holding onto her arms, and she has yet to pull away from me. My cheeks flush at the realization at the lack of distance between us but I can’t bring myself to pull away either.   

With how close I am I'm able to see every freckle that’s scattered across her face, able to count every one of her ridiculously long eyelashes that Ash says are more of a curse than a blessing with how often they fall into her eyes. Her cheeks are rosy, but whether that’s from her being overheated or she's blushing as much as I am I’m not entirely sure. I look down at her lips and feel like I’m caught in a trance.   

Kiss her.   

Every other thought disappears from my mind focusing only on Ash's lips and how badly I want to kiss her. I bring my hand up, tracing the edge of her lips. They’re slightly chapped and I can tell she’s been picking at them recently. Something I know she only does whenever she’s worried.  

Just kiss her. It’ll make her feel better. Make her forget whatever she’s worried about.  

Before I get the chance to lean in Ash wraps her hand around mine and steps back. I can feel a bubble of disappointment rising in my chest and I do everything I can to not let it show on my face.  

“C’mon we can’t just stay in here the whole night,” she says, and I fight the urge to groan. Climbing buildings and sneaking around the city in this heat is the last thing I want to do.   

As she moves to the window I hesitate, contemplating just asking her to stay in for the night, but before I’m able to ask she’s already slipping back out into the night. Now I don’t have any type of fight in this, do I?  

I lean out of the window and look around making sure no peacekeepers are passing by. The streetlights are so dim I doubt that they would even be able to see me. Still, I try to move as fast as I can.  

At first, the heat is almost unbearable, but then I feel a slight breeze that causes me to shiver when it hits my sweat-soaked shirt. The higher I climb the more the wind picks up, causing the fire escape to creak and shake.  

Despite being in the best part of District 8 the fire escape is covered in so much rust I think it might be more of a safety hazard than anything. It creaks so loudly when I climb it, I think it might break off. Every time I feel the vibrations of Ash walking above me, I think the thing is actually coming down and dragging the two of us with it.  

Falling to my death on the very thing that’s supposed to help me survive would honestly be a funny way to go. At least there’s a sense of irony in it. I can think of a million worse ways to die. Including the very thing I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about all day.   

The Hunger Games.  

I know the chances of me being reaped are practically none, but the thought still haunts me. My name is still in that bowl, surrounded by thousands of other names, yes, but it's still in there all the same. I’m the lucky one compared to everyone else. How many times has the mayor's child been reaped to fight in the games? I can't think of a single time, not even in Districts like 1 and 2. Despite people being encouraged to volunteer there the mayor's children are never among them. Maybe they know something the rest don’t or maybe they just don’t feel the need to die for their District when there are already so many people clamoring to do it first.  

I’m so caught up in my head thinking about the Games I barely even noticed how much I’ve climbed. I look up and see Ash scaling the small ladder that leads to the roof. The fact that she hasn’t said a word since we’ve been out here worries me.   

Normally she’d at least whisper something to me but tonight she’s been completely silent. Maybe she’s thinking about the games too. I know she had to sign up for Tessera this year, even with the food I was able to give her it just wasn’t enough.   

Trying to convince her that I can just steal more food from my home was useless. I know it's not her pride stopping her from taking the food. Ash has never been that type of person. Confident? Yes, but never prideful. The fact that she refuses to let me help her is driving me insane. Maybe it's not just the Games that’s worrying her but something else. I try to come up with any other idea, but it feels impossible that it could be anything but that. 

As I reach the top and climb onto the roof, I see Ash just a few steps away. She’s looking off to the west, and I can tell she's mapping out which way we’re going to go. 

“Alright let's get moving before it gets too late”, I hear Ash say as she moves to jump to the next rooftop. I don’t even get the chance to ask which way we’re going. I’ve got to follow her and hope she remembers not to pick rooftops that I will die trying to jump to.  

I take a deep breath and jump to the first roof, running to catch up to Ash. She stops on the edge and turns to look at me, making sure that I’m right beside her before she gets too far ahead.   

“We’re going the same way we did last year, okay?” she says to me, the moon lighting up her eyes. There’s amusement in her voice and I can already tell what she’s about to ask.   

“You want to race don’t you,” I say before she gets the chance to say it first. She always beats me. Sometimes it seems like beating me in an incredibly illegal race is her proudest achievement. For how observant she is I don’t know how she hasn’t noticed that I’m letting her win. Ash may be better at ridiculously dangerous climbs but I’m still faster than her. She and Calliope like to joke that my biggest skill is that I can run away. I seriously hope I’ll never have to put that skill to the test. Racing Ash is about as much practice as I get with it.  

Ash lets out a laugh and for a moment I can see my Ash again, not the worrywart that’s hardly said a word to me the whole way up here.   

“Oh of course I do. At this point, it might as well be a part of the tradition.”  

I take a moment pretending to think about if I’m going to agree. We both know I’m going to say yes but this is as much a part of the tradition as the race itself. I pause and make a show of deciding on my answer.  

“Alright fine but if I win, I get a prize,” I say already getting ready to take off. There was one year when Ash took off before I could even finish my sentence. I may let her win but I’m going to make her work for it.   

“If I win, again, I also get a prize” she responds, I nod in agreement and we both get ready to run.   

“One, two, three”   

And we’re both off with me taking the lead. The first three rooftops are easy, it’s the fourth one that’s a bit of a struggle. With the first three, all you’ve got to do is jump down and run straight until you get to the next one, but the fourth roof has a small fence you have to jump over; to get high enough to do it you have to climb on top of an ac unit and take a not so small leap. Miss the landing and you’re falling to your death. Making the landing but still hitting the fence honestly is only slightly better. Not that I would prefer either, but impaling myself on a fence sounds better than falling off a building. Making the jump and feeling only slightly like you’ve injured yourself is genuinely the best case scenario; for me at least. 

I turn to see how close Ash is; she’s halfway across the second rooftop and if I want to keep my lead, I have to make the jump quickly. I climb the ac unit as quickly as I can and get ready to jump. I can’t afford to hesitate on this. I hesitate I die. This whole race is for fun but that doesn’t distract me from how dangerous this really is. I run across what little room I have on the unit and jump.   

Time freezes and I try not to look down. Try not to focus on the feeling of falling. Try not to think about how I could’ve completely screwed up this jump and I won’t even realize till it's too late. Suddenly I feel my feet hit the ground of the fourth roof. A jolt of pain is sent up my leg from the force of my landing, but other than that, I’m completely fine. I turn back just in time to see Ash take the jump as well and land significantly more smoothly than I did.   

She stops for a moment and we both take the second to look the other over and make sure we’re alright. Ash’s hair is in her face, but I can see that she’s still smiling; fighting back the urge to laugh. I so badly want to reach out and fix her hair. Just stop the race and enjoy her for a second but I know she wouldn’t let me. Not if it means she loses. Almost in unison, we take off again. The most dangerous part is over now; all we have to do is make sure not to be seen.  

We keep running for a good twenty minutes until finally I can see our goal. An abandoned building with an old water tower on the top. I’ve tried to figure out what the building was used for. There aren’t very many places in District 8 that aren’t used for something, so finding a completely abandoned one is more unsettling than anything. I don’t even remember how we found it. All I know is that one day I stopped feeling unsettled when I was there. One day I felt more comfortable there than anywhere else in District 8. One day it stopped being some old building and became ours.   

Our sanctuary away from the rest of the world. A place that only me and Ash know about.  

Normally it's about here that I start to slow down and let Ash overtake me in the race, but there’s a part of me that wants to win this time. I could use my prize to make Ash tell me what’s been bothering her so much, but that seems too unfair. If she wants to tell me what’s wrong, I couldn’t force her to. I wouldn’t want to force her to do anything at all. So, I start to slow down making it seem like I’m trying my best to catch my breath.   

Ash overtakes me just as we reach the last ladder, and she begins to climb.  I can already hear her shouts of excitement over winning, again. How she manages to still be so excited about winning the same thing every year is beyond me. Maybe next year I shouldn’t let her win. Bring down that ego of hers that only gets bigger with every race.   

But then I see the look of pure glee on Ash’s face as I climb onto the roof, and I know for a fact I’d never do anything to ruin it. Knowing that she’s happy in this moment is worth a slightly bruised ego.  

“Surprise, I win again,” Ash says brightly. She’s still out of breath from the run and is trying very hard to hide it. Her hair has almost completely fallen out of its braid, and it’s plastered to her face with sweat.   

“Oh, how shocking. I really didn’t see that one coming” I reply, rolling my eyes and reaching out to fix her hair; undoing what’s left of her braid and running my fingers through it trying to get rid of the tangles. “Now, what’s the prize this time.”  

I don’t even realize how close I’ve gotten to her until I notice all I can smell is her. The scent of cinnamon and leather is so intoxicating I could almost get drunk on it. As if I didn’t feel like her presence alone was enough to get drunk. All I can feel is the softness of her hair and her breath on my skin and it makes me feel like I’m spinning.  

I finally finish fixing her hair, but I can’t bring myself to pull away. I honestly think I might fall over if I try, and with the way Ash is gripping my arms, I think she might be having the same problem.  

At that moment, the world seems to fade and it’s just the two of us on that rooftop, bathed in the moonlight. We’re so close I can see her pulse racing at her neck, and I can feel the electricity in the air. Ash’s eyes lock with mine, and I see a mix of emotions swirling within them: excitement, anticipation, and something else. Something that she’s doing everything in her power to hide from me.   

Worry.   

She’s still worrying about the same thing that’s been bothering her all night. It must be the Games; there’s no other possibility; nothing else would make sense.  

I should pull away right now and ask her what’s wrong, but I keep looking at her and the thought of breaking this moment physically pains me. There is only one thing I can think of at this moment.   

Kiss her.  

I can’t hold back any longer. My heart is screaming for her, and I lean in, closing the distance between us. Our lips meet, and it’s like fireworks exploding in my chest. Time seems to stand still as we kiss. It’s soft, tender, and filled with all the thoughts and emotions that were too afraid to say out loud. I try to kiss away her worry and fear of what’s going to happen tomorrow. Replace her fear with the knowledge that no matter what happens I’ll be here for her, and I know that she’ll be here for me.  

Eventually, we pull away, both with wide smiles on our faces. Our foreheads rest against each other, and our breathing begins to steady. For a long quiet moment, we just stare at each other, comforted by the other's presence.  

“I know what I want my prize to be,” Ash whispers as she wraps her arms around me and leads us both in a slow sway to music that only she can hear.  

That’s right she still hasn’t claimed her prize yet. Last year she asked for some pastries and the year before that she had asked for my old pair of boots. Neither of which surprised me if I'm honest, normally it's easy to guess what she wants, but this year something feels off.   

“Alright, your wish is my command,” I say with a slight chuckle, and I try to move us into a proper waltz, but Ash doesn’t let me. Instead, she wraps herself around me even tighter than before and we stop moving altogether. Okay, something is seriously wrong; I’d be blind to not see it.   

Before I can ask her what the problem is, she pulls back and cups my face in both hands. Confused, I look into her eyes only to find her staring at me with such an intense look it startles me.   

“I want you to promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you will keep helping my family,” she says with such finality that I struggle to respond.   

Why would tomorrow be any different than any other reaping day? She can’t possibly think that she’s going to be the one reaped. It’s almost always somebody neither of us has heard of. It’s sad to see them go but at the end of the day, they’re nobody.   

Ash is somebody.  

If she gets reaped there would be an uproar. Right? But what could anybody do if she was? What could I do if she was? Nothing. I could do absolutely nothing. Just like she would be able to do nothing if I’m the one who’s reaped.  

This must be what she’s been worried about all day. Why Ash is convinced that she’s going to be the one going into the Games I’m not sure, but if it’ll calm her down then I’ll promise her what she wants.   

“Okay, I’ll make sure they’re alright”, I say nodding my head and reaching out to cover her hands that still hold my face. I expect her to pull away, but she doesn’t.  

“I need you to say you promise”, Ash pleads, and I can feel my heart shatter when I notice that she’s starting to cry. Without thinking I pull her into me wrapping myself around her.   

“I promise you, Ash. As long as I live nothing will ever happen to them.”   

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ M!Ash Versionˏˋ°•*⁀➷

It's hot, hotter than a normal July night. Just lying in my bed with a thin sheet is making me sweat so much I think I might drown in it. I know getting up to open my window might help to cool my room down but the very idea of moving conjures up an image of me bursting into flames as soon as I stand. I resign myself to sweat to death in my bed, or at least suffer until Ash decides to actually show up.   

This is his stupid tradition, and he doesn’t even show up on time. I should just tell him to go home when He shows up, it's what he deserves for forcing me to wait in my oven of a bedroom.  

But I wouldn’t do that. As much as I’m suffering in my room, He’s the one who has to sneak across the entire city. It would just be cruel to force him to go back without indulging him just a little bit.  

I doubt he’d even be upset if I did tell him to leave though, just allows him to go to the places he wants to go instead of worrying about me tripping on a rooftop and falling to my death.  

Just as I begin to contemplate moving downstairs, I hear a shuffle at my window and a slight knock. I quickly stand to go and open it, desperate to finally get out of this room.   

As soon as he catches sight of me Ash flashes a smile that he quickly drops trying to catch his breath. With how flushed his cheeks are and the fact that I can hear how hard his breathing is through the window he must’ve sprinted halfway across the city.  

“Can you please let me in? I didn’t come this far just to be shot out of your window by a peacekeeper” He manages to say; sounding only slightly like he’s about to pass out.  

“I don’t know. Maybe I enjoy watching you struggle to open an unlocked window.” I respond, already sliding the window open. Before I fully step away Ash falls into the room.   

I reach out to steady him, trying to make sure he doesn’t fall and wake up my entire family. Mother may like Ash, but I know for a fact that if he finds him breaking into my bedroom Ash will never be allowed back into the house again.  

“Are you alright?” I ask, worrying that he may have hurt himself trying to get here before it got too late in the night. The fact that he even has enough energy to get here after working all day in the factory will never not amaze me.   

“I'm fine. Don’t worry,” He responds, finally able to take a breath without wheezing. I realize that I’m still holding onto his arms, and he has yet to pull away from me. My cheeks flush at the realization of the lack of distance between us but I can’t bring myself to pull away either.   

With how close I am I'm able to see every freckle that’s scattered across his face, able to count every one of his ridiculously long eyelashes that Ash says are more of a curse than a blessing with how often they fall into his eyes. His cheeks are rosy, but whether that’s from him being overheated or he's blushing as much as I am I’m not entirely sure. I look down at his lips and feel like I’m caught in a trance.   

Kiss him.   

Every other thought disappears from my mind focusing only on Ash's lips and how badly I want to kiss him. I bring my hand up, tracing the edge of his lips. They’re slightly chapped and I can tell he’s been picking at them recently. Something I know he only does whenever he’s worried.  

Just kiss him. It’ll make him feel better. Make him forget whatever He’s worried about.  

Before I get the chance to lean in Ash wraps his hand around mine and steps back. I can feel a bubble of disappointment rising in my chest and I do everything I can to not let it show on my face.  

“C’mon we can’t just stay in here the whole night,” he says, and I fight the urge to groan. Climbing buildings and sneaking around the city in this heat is the last thing I want to do.   

As he moves to the window I hesitate, contemplating just asking him to stay in for the night, but before I’m able to ask he’s already slipping back out into the night. Now I don’t have any type of fight in this, do I?  

I lean out of the window and look around making sure no peacekeepers are passing by. The streetlights are so dim I doubt that they would even be able to see me. Still, I try to move as fast as I can.  

At first, the heat is almost unbearable, but then I feel a slight breeze that causes me to shiver when it hits my sweat-soaked shirt. The higher I climb the more the wind picks up, causing the fire escape to creak and shake.  

Despite being in the best part of District 8 the fire escape is covered in so much rust I think it might be more of a safety hazard than anything. It creaks so loudly when I climb it, I think it might break off. Every time I feel the vibrations of Ash walking above me, I think the thing is actually coming down and dragging the two of us with it.  

Falling to my death on the very thing that’s supposed to help me survive would honestly be a funny way to go. At least there’s a sense of irony in it. I can think of a million worse ways to die. Including the very thing I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about all day.   

The Hunger Games.  

I know the chances of me being reaped are practically none, but the thought still haunts me. My name is still in that bowl, surrounded by thousands of other names, yes, but it's still in there all the same. I’m the lucky one compared to everyone else. How many times has the mayor's child been reaped to fight in the games? I can't think of a single time, not even in Districts like 1 and 2. Despite people being encouraged to volunteer there the mayor's children are never among them. Maybe they know something the rest don’t or maybe they just don’t feel the need to die for their District when there are already so many people clamoring to do it first.  

I’m so caught up in my head thinking about the Games I barely even noticed how much I’ve climbed. I look up and see Ash scaling the small ladder that leads to the roof. The fact that he hasn’t said a word since we’ve been out here worries me.   

Normally he’d at least whisper something to me but tonight he’s been completely silent. Maybe he’s thinking about the games too. I know he had to sign up for Tessera this year, even with the food I was able to give him it just wasn’t enough.   

Trying to convince him that I can just steal more food from my home was useless. I know it's not his pride stopping him from taking the food. Ash has never been that type of person. Confident? Yes, but never prideful. The fact that he refuses to let me help him is driving me insane. Maybe it's not just the Games that’s worrying him but something else. I try to come up with any other idea, but it feels impossible that it could be anything but that. 

As I reach the top and climb onto the roof, I see Ash just a few steps away. He’s looking off to the west, and I can tell he's mapping out which way we’re going to go. 

“Alright let's get moving before it gets too late”, I hear Ash say as he moves to jump to the next rooftop. I don’t even get the chance to ask which way we’re going. I’ve got to follow him and hope he remembers not to pick rooftops that I will die trying to jump to.  

I take a deep breath and jump to the first roof, running to catch up to Ash. He stops on the edge and turns to look at me, making sure that I’m right beside him before he gets too far ahead.   

“We’re going the same way we did last year, okay?” He says to me, the moon lights up his eyes. There’s amusement in his voice and I can already tell what he’s about to ask.   

“You want to race don’t you,” I say before he gets the chance to say it first. He always beats me. Sometimes it seems like beating me in an incredibly illegal race is his proudest achievement. For how observant he is I don’t know how he hasn’t noticed that I’m letting him win. Ash may be better at ridiculously dangerous climbs but I’m still faster than him. He and Calliope like to joke that my biggest skill is that I can run away. I seriously hope I’ll never have to put that skill to the test. Racing Ash is about as much practice as I get with it.  

Ash lets out a laugh and for a moment I can see my Ash again, not the worrywart that’s hardly said a word to me the whole way up here.   

“Oh of course I do. At this point, it might as well be a part of the tradition.”  

I take a moment pretending to think about if I’m going to agree. We both know I’m going to say yes but this is as much a part of the tradition as the race itself. I pause and make a show of deciding on my answer.  

“Alright fine but if I win, I get a prize,” I say already getting ready to take off. There was one year when Ash took off before I could even finish my sentence. I may let him win but I’m going to make him work for it.   

“If I win, again, I also get a prize” He responds, I nod in agreement and we both get ready to run.   

“One, two, three”   

And we’re both off with me taking the lead. The first three rooftops are easy, it’s the fourth one that’s a bit of a struggle. With the first three, all you’ve got to do is jump down and run straight until you get to the next one, but the fourth roof has a small fence you have to jump over; to get high enough to do it you have to climb on top of an ac unit and take a not so small leap. Miss the landing and you’re falling to your death. Making the landing but still hitting the fence honestly is only slightly better. Not that I would prefer either, but impaling myself on a fence sounds better than falling off a building. Making the jump and feeling only slightly like you’ve injured yourself is genuinely the best-case scenario; for me at least. 

I turn to see how close Ash is; He’s halfway across the second rooftop and if I want to keep my lead, I have to make the jump quickly. I climb the ac unit as quickly as I can and get ready to jump. I can’t afford to hesitate on this. I hesitate I die. This whole race is for fun but that doesn’t distract me from how dangerous this really is. I run across what little room I have on the unit and jump.   

Time freezes and I try not to look down. Try not to focus on the feeling of falling. Try not to think about how I could’ve completely screwed up this jump and I won’t even realize till it's too late. Suddenly I feel my feet hit the ground of the fourth roof. A jolt of pain is sent up my leg from the force of my landing, but other than that, I’m completely fine. I turn back just in time to see Ash take the jump as well and land significantly more smoothly than I did.   

He stops for a moment and we both take the second to look the other over and make sure we’re alright. Ash’s hair is in his face, but I can see that He’s still smiling; fighting back the urge to laugh. I so badly want to reach out and fix his hair. Just stop the race and enjoy him for a second but I know he wouldn’t let me. Not if it means he loses. Almost in unison, we take off again. The most dangerous part is over now; all we have to do is make sure not to be seen.  

We keep running for a good twenty minutes until finally I can see our goal. An abandoned building with an old water tower on the top. I’ve tried to figure out what the building was used for. There aren’t very many places in District 8 that aren’t used for something, so finding a completely abandoned one is more unsettling than anything. I don’t even remember how we found it. All I know is that one day I stopped feeling unsettled when I was there. One day I felt more comfortable there than anywhere else in District 8. One day it stopped being some old building and became ours.   

Our sanctuary away from the rest of the world. A place that only me and Ash know about.  

Normally it's about here that I start to slow down and let Ash overtake me in the race, but there’s a part of me that wants to win this time. I could use my prize to make Ash tell me what’s been bothering her so much, but that seems too unfair. If he wants to tell me what’s wrong, I couldn’t force him to. I wouldn’t want to force him to do anything at all. So, I start to slow down making it seem like I’m trying my best to catch my breath.   

Ash overtakes me just as we reach the last ladder, and he begins to climb.  I can already hear his shouts of excitement over winning, again. How he manages to still be so excited about winning the same thing every year is beyond me. Maybe next year I shouldn’t let him win. Bring down that ego of his that only gets bigger with every race.   

But then I see the look of pure glee on Ash’s face as I climb onto the roof, and I know for a fact I’d never do anything to ruin it. Knowing that He’s happy in this moment is worth a slightly bruised ego.  

“Surprise, I win again,” Ash says brightly. He’s still out of breath from the run and is trying very hard to hide it. His hair has is completely all over the place, and it’s plastered to his face with sweat.   

“Oh, how shocking. I really didn’t see that one coming” I reply, rolling my eyes and reaching out to fix his hair; smoothing down the fly aways and running my fingers through it trying to get rid of the tangles. “Now, what’s the prize this time.”  

I don’t even realize how close I’ve gotten to him until I notice all I can smell is him. The scent of cinnamon and leather is so intoxicating I could almost get drunk on it. As if I didn’t feel like his presence alone was enough to get drunk. All I can feel is the softness of his hair and his breath on my skin and it makes me feel like I’m spinning.  

I finally finish fixing his hair, but I can’t bring myself to pull away. I honestly think I might fall over if I try, and with the way Ash is gripping my arms, I think He might be having the same problem.  

At that moment, the world seems to fade and it’s just the two of us on that rooftop, bathed in the moonlight. We’re so close I can see his pulse racing at his neck, and I can feel the electricity in the air. Ash’s eyes lock with mine, and I see a mix of emotions swirling within them: excitement, anticipation, and something else. Something that he’s doing everything in his power to hide from me.   

Worry.   

He’s still worrying about the same thing that’s been bothering him all night. It must be the Games; there’s no other possibility; nothing else would make sense.  

I should pull away right now and ask him what’s wrong, but I keep looking at him and the thought of breaking this moment physically pains me. There is only one thing I can think of at this moment.   

Kiss him.  

I can’t hold back any longer. My heart is screaming for him, and I lean in, closing the distance between us. Our lips meet, and it’s like fireworks exploding in my chest. Time seems to stand still as we kiss. It’s soft, tender, and filled with all the thoughts and emotions that were too afraid to say out loud. I try to kiss away his worry and fear of what’s going to happen tomorrow. Replace his fear with the knowledge that no matter what happens I’ll be here for him, and I know that he’ll be here for me.  

Eventually, we pull away, both with wide smiles on our faces. Our foreheads rest against each other, and our breathing begins to steady. For a long quiet moment, we just stare at each other, comforted by the other's presence.  

“I know what I want my prize to be,” Ash whispers as he wraps his arms around me and leads us both in a slow sway to music that only He can hear.  

That’s right he still hasn’t claimed his prize yet. Last year he asked for some pastries and the year before that he had asked for my old pair of boots. Neither of which surprised me if I'm honest, normally it's easy to guess what he wants, but this year something feels off.   

“Alright, your wish is my command,” I say with a slight chuckle, and I try to move us into a proper waltz, but Ash doesn’t let me. Instead, he wraps himself around me even tighter than before and we stop moving altogether. Okay, something is seriously wrong; I’d be blind to not see it.   

Before I can ask him what the problem is, he pulls back and cups my face in both hands. Confused, I look into his eyes only to find him staring at me with such an intense look it startles me.   

“I want you to promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you will keep helping my family,” he says with such finality that I struggle to respond.   

Why would tomorrow be any different than any other reaping day? He can’t possibly think that he’s going to be the one reaped. It’s almost always somebody neither of us has heard of. It’s sad to see them go but at the end of the day, they’re nobody.   

Ash is somebody.  

If he gets reaped there would be an uproar. Right? But what could anybody do if he was? What could I do if he was? Nothing. I could do absolutely nothing. Just like he would be able to do nothing if I’m the one who’s reaped.  

This must be what he’s been worried about all day. Why Ash is convinced that he’s going to be the one going into the Games I’m not sure, but if it’ll calm him down then I’ll promise him what he wants.   

“Okay, I’ll make sure they’re alright”, I say nodding my head and reaching out to cover his hands that still hold my face. I expect him to pull away, but he doesn’t.  

“I need you to say you promise”, Ash pleads, and I can feel my heart shatter when I notice that he’s starting to cry. Without thinking I pull him into me wrapping myself around him.   

“I promise you, Ash. As long as I live nothing will ever happen to them.”   

[twopoppies]

hey Gina, I hope you are doing well!!!!

i know this is not the place to talk about this but I want some insight and advice. The thing is I want my parents to separate. I am only 19 and I have never been in a relationship but I don't think my parents can coexist this way for long. I have always seen my father getting angry irrationally and giving my mom cold shoulders and being dismissive of her whenever she hung out with her friends regardless of their gender. last year my aunt got married and since then my dad has been saying all sorts of things about my aunts husband and my mother. he has even spelled my mom to be a cheater ( infront of me) just because she ate some birthday cake the husband brought to her at her birthday party. when I and my mom went to visit my aunt last week my father asked us to travel 2 hours to come back home at 1 in night.this is just what has become my home life for the last year . I know my mom won't get much support if they decide to separate ( it is taboo where I live) but I have seen my mom cry herself to bed most nights and my father remains justified that he did no wrong. when he apologized once he said I know you don't belong to me and don't owe me anything ,so sure go do anything you want with anybody.

i don't know if it is just me overreacting and over analyzing the situation or if it is really bad. it's just that my parents had an arranged marriage at a time when both of them were not working. my father refused to live with my mother for the first year of their marriage. he has made my mom to be the villain to his side of the family. but my mom is so loud and talkative so every one buys into his ploys . I have seen my mom care for him all night when he has been sick and I do think she loves him but I have not seen that love and care reciprocated as much.

when I have tried to talk to her about all this she has just said women suffer all over the world and she needs someone to spend her old age with. my brother is 4 years younger than me. I don't think any support will come for my mom without the baggage of riddicule and taunts. I am scared because I am just starting my 4 year degree and probably won't be earning for the next 3. my mom has always been a housewife. I don't care if every man in my country has the same douchy attitude towards women but I do care for my mom to find peace and happiness. I do love my father but my respect has just been going down in these last years as I have begun to understand what is happening. I am also scared that if I push this enough and they do go through divorce or separation I would end up being blamed for breaking my family. also ,I don't think they are good at communicating given that my father is planning to live in a different city for work and is planning to just drop it on her one day and leave

Hi, darling. Oh, this sounds like such an awful scenario. I’m so sorry for everyone involved. It sounds like your mom is just resigned to some idea that all women suffer like this. And I don’t know how easily she’ll be able to support herself and you/your brother if she were to leave if your culture doesn’t particularly uplift and support single mothers. Maybe your father leaving to work in a different city is the best solution you can hope for right now. And maybe while he’s gone, she can start to find some confidence in herself and figure out how she could support herself. I don’t think there’s much you can do other than to let her know she deserves better, encourage her to find a way to have a life outside of your dad, and remind her that you’re by her side, emotionally.

Sending you prayers for a happy resolution to all of this. 🩵

Edit: more advice here and here

[help-the-horse]

If You're Still Alive, My Regrets are Few

AO3 Link

Summary: The Normandy crew deal with the aftermath of Virmire.

Pairing: Dead!Kaidan Alenko/Regina Shepard/Ashley Williams Warnings: Major Character Death Words: 2,439

            Shepard was the last one to enter the room. She walked across the comms room stiffly, sitting with strained shoulders and fisted fingers.

            Ashley was the first to speak.

            “I can’t believe Kaidan didn’t make it. How could we just leave him down there?” Her voice was cracking, but she wasn’t showing any signs of crying. Her emotion seemed to come from somewhere more strained and in pain, past the point of tears. The overwhelm of emotion was not lost on the other crew members, all intent on the conversation and still.

            Shepard’s face softened for a moment, Garrus and Wrex shooting each other a glance across the room. “Alenko knew his risks going in. He gave his life to save the rest of us.” Her tone was softer than anyone had expected, and the way Shepard’s frown deepened it seemed to even surprise herself. She knew she was being more vulnerable than was good for her.

            Ashley didn’t miss a beat. “It should have been me Commander, You know that.” The words seemed to fall from her mouth. Shepherd’s change in demeanor was enough to tell her she hadn’t thought out her reply enough.

            “Chief Williams, I am your commanding officer!” Shepard’s voice got dangerously elevated, the muscles of her jaw tight. She was holding back a rage that only ever rose to the surface on the battlefield. “I did what I had to do. Do not question my orders!” Every word was harsh and clipped.

            “I-I’m sorry Commander.” Ashley seemed almost timid, the sting of pain in the back of her throat. The level of anger had intimidated even her, and the use of rank stung. She couldn’t remember the last time Shepard had used her rank as leverage.  “You saved my life, I’m grateful for that. But it should have been me. Alenko was a superior officer. I would have gladly stayed-” Her tone was uncomfortably cool, slightly too matter of fact.

            “I will not fulfill a martyrdom complex, Williams!” The reply was biting. Shepard held Ashley’s gaze, an unbridled attention on her opponent. “Kaidan’s blood is on Saren’s hands. And when I find that son of a bitch I’ll make him pay.” The flare of rage was dying, a clarity of the enemy drawing the emotion away.

            “Yes sir, I’m… We’ll get it done.” Ashley understood that she was not to push the subject, resigning herself to agreement. The unspoken words hung heavy in the air.

            “Commander?” Liara’s voice cut through the atmosphere, perhaps a bit too soon. “Excuse me for interrupting, I have an idea.” She worked to justify herself for the social misstep. “I think the beacon in Saren’s base might be similar to the one you found on Eden Prime. It may have filled in the missing pieces of your vision, I might be able to put those pieces together.”

            Ashley could hear Wrex let out a huff in the seat next to her, focusing on her shoes and not at the empty seat next to her, or the face of the inexperienced Asari.

            “Nobody is messing with my head any more.” Shepard motioned sharply and shook her head. “I’m sick of dealing with these visions!” Her patience for experiments and ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’ was clearly in short supply right now.

            “I understand your reluctance Commander,” Liara shifted in her chair, clearly thinking about what words to use. “But the visions are already there, I only want to help you make sense of them.” The desperation creeped into her voice. “It may be the only way to stop Saren.”

            “Looks like I don’t have a choice.” Shepard rubbed her hands through her hair, clearly angered. She hated the way Liara was able to explain the logic in a way Shepard could not argue with. She hated being the subject of a hypothesis with two independent variables. She stood in front of the Asari now, repeating the motions of what they had agreed to after Ferros. The visions flickered across Shepard’s mind, vague and uncomfortable. It reminded her of when she tried to talk about Torfan, or when she thought about Earth.

            “That’s incredible.” Liara blinked quickly and looked to the floor with a furrowed brow.

            “What did you see?” Shepard was not going to wait for the Asari to think ten steps too far ahead.

            “The vision was a distress call sent out by the Protheans about the Reapers, but it was too late.” Liara spoke in that same way she always recalled data out loud.

            “What about the Conduit?” Shepard desperately wished Liara would understand what information was critical to the mission.

            “The Conduit is on Ilos!” Liara seemed to come to the conclusion on the spot, a revelation to all the possibilities she was running in her head.

            “Why would you not mention Ilos sooner?” The other’s in the room all shuffled slightly, Ashley in particular annoyed at the lack of thought put into the question.

            “There are hundreds of systems and thousands of planets that connect to the Mu relay, Saren could have been going to any of them. I was able to recognize landmarks of Ilos from my research.”

            “We have to go to Ilos.”

            Tali was the one to cut the two off. “Good luck. The Mu relay is in the Terminus systems.” She spoke with a kind of resigned pity. “It’s outside Council space, they don’t have power out there, not even Spectres.” She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. Her nonchalance made Shepard bristle.

            “The Conduit is on Ilos. That is where Saren is going. I’m going to be waiting for him when he gets there.” The statement was closed to interpretation, her eyes trained on Tali. The young Quarian sat up straight.

            “Commander, Saren will have his entire fleet orbiting Ilos! We need to alert the Council and ask for aid, we are going to need-” Garrus poised to get out of his chair as Liara swayed on her feet, catching herself with a wider stance.

            “Commander?” Joker’s solemn voice came over the comms. Shepard was sure he had been listening to the entire brief from before she had even walked in. “There’s a comms buoy nearby, I can patch you through to the Citadel. In case you, y’know, want to warn them about Sovereign.”

            “Set up the link, Joker.” Shepard’s attention turned to the holodeck. The rest of the crew all stood, Ashley the first to shove her way through the half open doors.

            “Good job on Virmire Commander.” The Turian spoke, a hesitant congratulations in his tone. “Destroying a lab creating a Krogan army is quite the success.”

            Rage sparked in Shepard’s chest. “A Krogan army is not the real problem. Sovereign is the problem, the Reapers destroyed the Protheans and they’re coming for us!”

            “Yes, the Reapers. You reported a sentient machine, a true AI. This is concerning news, if it’s real, of course.” The Salarian councilor shrugged his shoulders. Shepherd’s retort was lost on him. “We haven’t gotten any additional evidence of what you are describing from any of our sources. All we know are the Reapers from your visions.”

            “The Reapers are real, Saren even admitted it!” Shepard spat the words, feeling increasingly betrayed by individuals that she never even trusted.

            “Saren has people all over the Citadel,” the Turian waved his hand. “He was using this information against you, talking about visions. And Reapers.” The Counselor nearly rolled his eyes.

            “You didn’t trust me about Saren!” Shepard pointed an accusatory finger at the hologram. “Look how that turned out for you!”

            “I think  you humans have a saying,” the Turian councilor narrowed his eyes. “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

            “Here’s another saying!” Shepard shifted into a combat stance. “Fuck you!”

            “Maybe we were wrong to make humans Specters. Perhaps you are too hot-headed.” The taunt was obvious, malicious and brazen.

            “Enough!” The Asari cut through the fight, just as Shepard considered disconnecting the call all together. “Shepard has performed admirably thus far. This… discussion is just a mild disagreement.”

            “We disagree a lot, Councilor.” Shepard nearly spoke through clenched teeth. She hated the way the Asari always knew how to downplay conflict and diffuse situations.

            “Think about it from our perspective,” the Counselor continued. “Saren is a threat we can recognize. As far as we know, the Reapers exist only in your visions.”

            “Our choices affect trillions of lives. We cannot rely only on the accusations of a single individual. Even a Spectre.” the Salarian seemed to add to his sentence at the last second. “Not without solid evidence.”

            “We cannot get involved in these affairs, that is why we created the Spectres.” The Asari continued her mediating.

            “If you truly believe Sovereign is the real issue, you must end it. And Saren.” The unexpected words from the Salarian was enough permission for Shepard. She could skew that as Council support if push came to shove.

            “Good luck Commander.” The Asari nodded. “From all of us.”

            Shepard walked across the bridge briskly, stopping to confirm the course to Ilos with Joker. It seemed there was something he wanted to say, but one glance at her face resulted in only a ‘yes, sir.’ She was still in her uniform from Vermire. She would usually shower and change before a debriefing, washing away the tension of gunfire and heavy armor. She had meant to shower, but she had gotten stuck trying to step into the elevator. When the time for debriefing came, she allowed herself two additional minutes. She counted all one hundred and twenty seconds, staring at only her shoes as she stepped out of the elevator and up the stairs, then through the doors of the comms room.

            But now she found herself stuck half way down the stairs, thinking about a shower that would perhaps never come. The obstacle in her way seemed insurmountable. Perhaps this is what would truly cause her resignation from the Alliance. She had to go to her quarters, she had to pass an empty workstation. She had to see that Kaidan wasn’t there, and she had the curse of knowing why. She worked to take an additional step down, feeling her knee buckle, her body fighting her. She sat on the step, curling her knees to her forehead, holding her legs with her arms. She felt the rush of tears well up behind her eyes and she stood abruptly. Regina knew she needed to get to her private quarters, so she let the adrenaline fuel her to stumble down the remaining stairs. She gritted her teeth as her vision blurred, holding her breath as she crossed the floor of the mess hall.

            She curled onto the floor just inside the door. She whined with a hand over her mouth, and then both. Her face became red with emotion, the screams and sobs still too loud in her own ears. The thought that Ashley might find her like this crossed her mind, hoping she might find support, loathing herself for wanting a shoulder to cry on. And then the thought of Kaidan coming in after her made her stop breathing. She would never have that again, including when she needed it most. The pain was overwhelming, relentless and never ending.

            The next thing she noticed, between the screaming and crying, was the opening of the door to her quarters. She turned like a cornered animal, her cheeks still streaked with tears and her face blotchy, her eyes puffy. She drew in a sharp breath to yell, feeling her vocal chords strain, tensing her body as if ready to tackle or run. The words were scratchy and thin, which made her even more angry.

            “Get out!” She had more planned in her head before she realized she had lost her voice.

            “I just got you a plate from the mess.” Garrus stood in her doorway, slowly leaving the tray on the floor with his other hand raised in surrender. He remained for an extra moment in the doorway. “You want a drink?” He asked like he was talking to a suspect he had to get along with, like he wasn’t sure if the question would escalate the situation. Shepard took a rattling breath, feeling the pounding in her head and her fist. She looked down to see she had bloody and purple knuckles, the wall beside her headboard smeared with red.

            “Yeah.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her throbbing hand. She stayed sitting on the edge of her bed as Garrus returned, took her desk chair as a seat, and poured them both a glass. Shepard downed the first one quickly as a shot, and then a second, and then a third, before Garrus poured her a half glass and she got the cue to start sipping. She was just grateful it was something strong, not like the beers Kaidan always drank.

            “You get this from Ashley?” Shepard stared at the amber liquid in her glass, her throat hurting even worse from all the alcohol and lack of adrenaline.

            “No.” Was all Garrus offered. Shepard decided she didn’t want to pursue more questions or any conversation. At least Garrus recognized it. Soon enough Shepard could feel the way the alcohol dulled her senses, numbed her pain and slowed her thoughts. Garrus simply sat there silently, rolling his empty glass around in his hands. He sighed deeply, standing and taking a step forward to clap a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, hoping to find some kind of comfort in the Turian’s face.  “We’ll get Saren soon enough Commander.” Shepard frowned and looked back down to her lap. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but she didn’t have a better idea for what he could have said to help her. He nodded, taking the glasses and tray with him out of her quarters. “See you tomorrow Commander.” were the words Garrus left with.

            Regina blessed the darkness left in her room as the lights shut off., letting the drink take her closer to an uneasy slumber. She didn’t have the energy to look up as her door opened again, what felt like a long time later. She barely stirred as a body crept into bed beside her, the pressure of arms around her waist comforting.

            “I’m sorry, Reggie.” Ashley spoke, muffled from her face being buried in Shepard’s shoulders.

            “M’too, Ash.” was all Shepard could manage to mumble out. She felt exhaustion take her, thankful for the arms around her even if it didn’t feel like enough.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Oh man, I just saw your post about Palina not wanting to push growlithe into being a Lord too fast, too young, because she saw what it did to Irida, and that's really painful. Given everything else, I wonder if Palina is purposefully distancing herself from Irida, too. To try to make things easier either emotionally or with the clan. She knows she's making waves and causing problems by refusing to treat growlithe like Irida was treated, and she also knows that everyone knows how much she and Irida love each other. Maybe she thinks that if she acts coldly and tells Irida not to call her by her nickname anymore, etc, that Irida won't be as attached to her anymore and so the clan will be less hard on Irida for not being able to force Palina's hand. But all it's actually doing is hurting Irida, who isn't allowing herself to see how being made leader so young was wrong and damaging, and who can't understand why Palina is pushing her away. It's trauma speaking from both sides, though Irida's is old and Palina's is new.

OOOF. god. yeah. they're so fucked up, i think there are like. a lot of reasons for why they do what they're both doing. but the idea that palina's not just hurt and frustrated but intentionally pushing irida away for her own sake... honestly we already see her do it with iscan, it's not far fetched. palina knows how everyone views her, she's resigned herself to it, she just doesn't want anyone else getting caught in it. but with irida, the damage is already done. it's not enough to just not be seen together like with iscan. irida needs to stop chasing her, to give up on her. or everyone will call it favoritism and think irida's too invested to have clear judgement.

it's shortsighted and not super logical, and mostly what it's doing is hurting irida, but what do you want, like you said palina's traumatized. mostly by arcanine's death, though if running for leader was so traumatic for irida i doubt palina was unscathed by it either. it definitely seems like she's got Some Kinda Thing about people being close to her

[lieutenantselnia]

🦋💧🦀

—ccfm!!

Ahh thanks so much for the ask! Since you didn't specify an f/o I'm going to answer these for Davy :) mainly because he was the first one where some ideas came to my mind right now😅

🦋: How long did it take them to get out of the awkward early relationship stage? Have they gotten more confident around each other? (just a note I've never been in an actual relationship so far so idk what it's actually like or if this is realistic in any way I'm just making stuff up here😅)

I think there was probably a bit of awkwardness at the beginning of their relationship, although I think it was certainly "worse" before, during the time where they both realised they had feelings for each other, but didn't know how to act upon them. In the time shortly after they became a couple, Davy was still worried about his appearance, and how Selena would deal with it, but he was also feeling insecure due to his past, rather traumatising relationship experience. Selena on the other hand was just overall inexperienced as it was her first relationship. She always tried to reassure Davy that he's perfect for her and she loves him as he is, but she wasn't sure how to give him this reassurance. I think things probably got easier for them when she managed to become a little bolder, and for example just touch or hug him when she wanted to and he seemed like he could need it. It takes a bit for Davy to be able to lessen his fear of rejection a little and become more affectionate himself (he secretly loves it though). By the time Selena starts living in his cabin with him he's also feeling more confident though, as he realises that she really wants to stay by his side.

💧: How well do they comfort each other when they’re upset?

When Davy is upset it depends, sometimes he needs to be alone, just playing his organ in a loud and furious manner, but deep down he's also craving comfort. He doesn't say it out loud, but he loves it when Selena comes in and sits down next to him as he plays, not saying anything, just being there, maybe leaning against him or caressing his arm a little. Selena is probably a bit clumsy with it in the beginning (affective empathy isn't particularly her strong side), but over time she learns that he loves feeling her touch and it helps to soothe his emotions. When she's holding him in her arms and he's calmed down again, she'll receive a softly muttered "thank you" from him, accompanied by a little kiss on the forehead. For Selena it also sort of depends on the situation, sometimes she needs alone time, sometimes she rants about her problems, sometimes she's more rational about the issue and tries to find a solution, but sometimes she also just needs Davy to be there for her and give her the feeling that she's not alone and he's there to support her. It takes him a while until he's even able to make a move and reach out to her, but when he does, he will pull her into his arms and just hold her closely against himself. If she cried before, his beard tentacles will try to wipe the tears off her face. They're both a bit unsure if they're any good at providing comfort for each other, but as time passes they learn what works for them.

🦀: How did they handle realizing they were in love? Embarrassed? Nervous? Mad?

Selena was nervous at first, and also didn't initially have any hope that her feelings would lead to anything. She knew about Davy's infamous past and his issues in regards to love and relationships, so she resigned herself to daydreaming about him. Despite that, when they started getting closer - first on a platonic level - she would subtly show her affection through her actions. She wouldn't dare to tell him about her feelings, but she tried her best to be a good friend and be there for Davy, hoping that it would somehow lead to more. Davy on the other hand was probably strongly in denial when he first realised he was developing feelings for someone again. He'd be upset that even cutting out his heart apparently didn't help to keep him from falling in love again. He was very pessimistic about love at this point, would be angry at himself, and maybe also at Selena - though a rational part of him would realise that it was not her fault and he shouldn't take it out on her. It certainly took him some time to accept his feelings, but eventually he did.

f/o ask game here

[ravio-rants]

12 and 14 for Raide :)

Which canon characters (if any) do the oc have good relationships with? Why those characters?

okay Technically, technically, none of the canon characters are around in Raide's time. or if they are, he wouldnt have met them. (honestly havent decided if they're somehow still around or not, but that could be a really fun little side thing..)

however. im going to have fun with this. Raide is very creative, and kind, and also protective, so i think he would get along well with Uli and Colin and Rusl. Uli is a kind lady who i can easily see knitting and sewing most of the time, so raide and uli could honestly just quietly chill and craft while maybe talking about the stuff going on around them. raide would also be willing to help take care of the kiddos. Colin is Uli's kiddo, and has an interest in protecting people and learning to wield a sword, but also canonically enjoys crafting things (he made his own fishing rod with his dad, as well as the wooden sword if i remember right.) so raide would have fun crafting with him too, as well as helping him with his sword training. she might not want to be a royal guard, but they Do enjoy hitting things with sharp sticks, and they might as well teach someone who wants to learn, right? plus i dont think he would mind hanging out while colin goes fishing. Rusl and raide would get along because raide comes from a line of royal guards, and has the professional training that comes with it. rusl would respect that. Rusl would also respect their choice to not be a guard, especially because she still actively protects her friends whenever they leave town. They have the shared experience of having been guards tho, so they could bond over how shitty training probably was.

honorable mentions: i think Ashei and Raide would get along as the weird boygirls they are. the yeti's get along with everyone, but Yeto would let Raide help him with soup, and Yeta would so work on a quilt with her.

why those characters? because, as much as i like the main characters (link, zelda, midna) i dont think raide would get along with them super well. Link is a farm boy, and yeah they both have sword training, but like, they dont have the shared experience of Being Guards like Rusl would have. they would maybe be chill with each other but i dont see Raide like, joining him on a trip to castle town or smthn. Zelda is.. zelda. idk. shes pretty cold in this version, and kinda resigned herself to her fate, and we dont see her Do like.. anything. so idk. Midna is a little too mischievous for Raide. i think they would be chill with each other, on account of Midna being related to Raide's friends, but i dont see them being friends. so i chose other characters that Would have a better chance of being friends with them.

also yeah all these bitches would be in the light world but like.. i already have an idea for the worlds being able to mingle a bit and also we dont. we dont have canon characters in the twilight realm. zant gets exploded and midna wouldnt be friends with him.

Did you give your oc a love interest? Is it another oc or a canon character? Why?

yes i did! raide and calen are boyfriends!! they are both oc's.. why? because i dont really like shipping my characters with canon characters, plus with them living in the twilight realm, options would be limited. why i gave raide a love interest.. well, Raide and Calen are both based on parts of myself to some degree (raide being creative as hell and calen being a vague metaphor for chronic illness that i can explain at a later date) and i revamped them around the time i got out of an iffy relationship, and calen, in his previous incarnation, had been dating one of my ex partner's oc's, so i decided "fuck it, self indulgent oc ship." because i was lonely. they both deserve to be loved, gender fuckery, overwhelming creative wants, and chronic illness included.

(note: shipping your oc's or yourself with canon characters is perfectly fine, its just not something i like doing with My characters.)

[a-libra-writes]

GoT Imagines - When You're Engaged to Someone Else

Woooo this is a doozy and I'm including new characters, mostly book ones! because i both love my followers and have lost my marbles.

In this preference, you'll be pining with: Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Benjen Stark, Jory Cassel, Mance Rayder, Eddison Tollett, Pre-Reek!Theon, Yara Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy, Daenerys Targaryen, Jorah Mormont, Missandei, Grey Worm, Tywin Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Sandor Clegane, Bronn, Jaquen H’Ghar, Petyr Baelish, Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Margaery Tyrell, Brynden Tully, Edmure Tully, Brienne of Tarth, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Oberyn Martell, Doran Martell, Arianne Martell, Tyene Sand

Ned Stark

He’s already an expert in suffering in silence, so this should be no different. Although he’s very surprised at the sudden arrangement, and while he isn’t a man to throw his rank around… He wonders if he can’t convince your family to reconsider. If it’s simply impossible, Ned would resign himself to having to stop the relationship. He’s too honorable to ever consider an affair and he’s not a man to start a duel or cause trouble, especially since it would negatively affect your reputation. The heavy combination of missing you, pining after you all over again and feeling like he didn’t do enough is hard. Some days he entertains the idea of still having a friendship, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea. He doesn’t trust himself.

Robb Stark

The young wolf tries to accept it, even if his feelings become more and more angry each day. Robb never threw his name around, but… he was going to be Lord Stark. Wasn't that good enough for your family? For you? He tries to be the bigger man, but if you're miserable with your spouse and they don't treat you well, he can't keep his temper in check. Expect him to have a sudden outburst at a feast and cause a scene. The only thinking keeping him from an outright duel are his parents and his worry about your reputation. But if he was pushed to it….

Sansa Stark

She should've known this would happen. It's the fate of all ladies, yet there's a bitterness that tugs at her when she hears the news. Sansa tries to bury her feelings around others, but she's never done that with you. She expresses her disappointment and sorrow, and swears she'll help if your spouse turns out to be awful. She doesn't want them to be, but she doesn't want you beginning to prefer their company, either. She wonders if her affection for you would wane if she just pined from afar and tried to keep her feelings to herself.

Jon Snow

Ah yes, once again his bastardry is hitting him straight in the gut. Jon knew it was going to happen eventually, he already felt like the relationship was on a timer, and now it’s finally ended. He’s convinced there’s no getting out of it, because even if you did - you’d never be able to be with him in the open. It makes Jon glad he’s going to the Wall; hopefully the distance and cold will dull his feelings. In spite of that, sometimes he’ll tell Sam about you, and he speaks so mournfully it makes Sam think that distance hasn’t done all that much to help Jon’s pining.

Benjen Stark

He should be the bigger person and accept that this is for the best. He’s sworn to the Wall, and you two shouldn’t have been sneaking around. He should be relieved neither of you were caught. None of these thoughts are comforting. Ben tries to cope by making not-so-joking jokes about you running off to the Wall too, or perhaps he should take Yoren’s job and find his way to your court once in a blue moon. Then there’s no joking, and it’s just bitterness. He removes himself from your life after that, not wanting to hurt you with his own negative thoughts. He’d rather you keep the happy memories.

Jory Cassel

He accepts it, not that it brings him any pleasure. Jory's always been proud of his service to the Starks, but he's long understood that his landed seat is not a valuable one. Whenever he married, if he did, it wouldn't be someone as lovely as you. The announcement still hits him in the gut and he dejectedly tries to break it off (though it's easier on him if you do it). If he was in charge of guarding you, he'd switch shifts immediately and begin avoiding you, thinking it'll make things easier.

Eddison Tollett

This relationship already seemed too good to be true, so it’s abrupt end is not surprising. He’s sworn to the Wall and you both were sneaking around to begin with, so this should have been expected, but… it just makes him feel even more tired and dumb. Sam and Jon notice how little he sleeps and that he’s begun to skip meals, and he doesn’t have to explain why. They can do the math. Edd at least doesn’t try to bury any sad feelings or memories. It’s too exhausting to actively try, and it’s something to keep him company while he works. Maybe the feelings will fade… eventually.

Mance Rayder

It's one more reason for him to leave the "South" and go past the Wall. He knew a proper relationship with you wasn't possible because of his vows, but watching you go through this sham of an arranged marriage is just depressing. He'll comfort you best he can until he has to go back to the Wall, though he won't make promises he can't keep. Having to separate from you weighs heavy on him for a long time, and is one of many reasons he abandons the Watch.

Theon Greyjoy

What the hell is this? Hearing the news ruins his whole day, worse if he wasn’t able to hear it directly from you. He’s the heir to the Iron Islands, and his interest in you was clear as day! No, he hadn’t proposed yet… but he was getting to it! Now some mainlander beat him to it? Theon is absolutely seething. He’d prefer to duel your spouse to teach them a lesson in front of everyone, but he’s open to more boring methods like reasoning with your family. If he wasn’t able to change the engagement, he’d be bitter, and more than willing to carry on an affair behind your spouse’s back. He ought to just go the Ironborn route and kidnap you for himself.

Asha (Yara) Greyjoy

When you give her the news and you’re clearly distraught about it, Yara considers carrying you off to her ship right there. If you’re non-Ironborn, you’ll be her saltwife -- and if you’re Ironborn, she wants to have a discussion with whoever the hell planned this when everyone KNOWS you belong with her. You hadn’t expected this possessive behavior, but now you know Yara’s willing to fight for you as soon as someone takes you. No surprise, she’s more than willing to sneak around with you behind your husband’s back - maybe she can goad him into a duel. That would certainly solve a problem, wouldn’t it?

Victarion Greyjoy

He doesn’t understand at first. Victarion had made it clear that you were his, hadn’t everyone known that? No, he never made any sort of formal marriage, but not because he didn’t care. He felt like there was no need, hadn’t everyone known? If your family and spouse are Ironborn, he’ll immediately sail to their keep and raise all seven hells, and marry you right there in front of them. If you were sent away to the green lands, it would take the combined power of Balon, Yara and Aeron to keep him from sailing off immediately and just kidnapping you - preferably after killing your spouse. Victarion is pissed. Someone is going to pay for this.

Daenerys Targaryen

She’s just as mad at you as she is with whoever arranged this ridiculous match. Daenerys doesn’t often entertain arrogant thoughts, but… How could anyone think to match you with someone else, knowing your relationship with her? She feels she ought to be offended, though Daenerys knows this is hard on you as well, and you didn’t ask for it. She’ll think of some clever way to get you out of the arrangement, no way is this person getting away from stealing from her. And yes, that might as well be what it is! While she’s working out what to do, if she so much as hears murmurs of the possibility of your spouse hurting you… all bets are off. She’s taking you back with her, alliance be damned.

Jorah Mormont

The announcement of your engagement is a punch to his gut and a shock to his system. Jorah knew he wasn’t the best husband material, but he was planning to ask for your hand himself - then this happened. What’s worse, he knows as far as practical marriage goes, he has little to offer. He goes into a bit of a panic as he tries to think of what to do. There’s sensible choices, like trying to talk to your family with you. Then there’s not so sensible ones… Maybe running off, maybe just continuing the relationship behind your new spouse’s back, maybe dueling them… While Jorah is in emotional turmoil, he’d do anything for you. Even if you wanted to break off the relationship… or had a plan for him to follow. He’s nothing if not hopelessly devoted.

Missandei

… Oh. Maybe she shouldn’t have expected you to stick around for so long. As close as she is to Daenerys, she really has no fancy titles or things to offer. She understood why your family chose the match, it was a good one, politically speaking… but that does little to soothe her. Quite the opposite, a strong, desolate feeling overcomes her, one she hasn’t felt in a long time. She isn’t sure what to do, if it’s her place to stop the process. Perhaps if you asked her, she could try to make plans. Daenerys would help as well, considering how fond she is of you two, and how much she despises women being forced into arrangements.

Grey Worm

The sudden news takes him off guard, and sends him into a bit of an existential crisis. He was starting to see himself as a person, with his own name and a path he chose to follow… then this arrangement happens, and he’s forced to face what the rest of the world sees him as. It’s not that Grey Worm has a sense of ownership over you, but for once he was allowing himself all these happy feelings and memories with you, and now it’s gone. Of course he wants you back, but he feels paralyzed. What if he makes it worse? Does this have to happen? He starts to become even more withdrawn and distant, worrying Missandei until she decides to help. Grey Worm finally returns to his old self when he has you in his arms again.

Tywin Lannister

His steady composure is hit with such a rage at the news, the servant delivering it goes into a panic. His interest in you was obvious, so anyone doing this was trying to spite him. He doesn’t take the insult well. Perhaps before you’re even able to tell him the news yourself, threats will be delivered to both the spouse’s family and your own - Tywin is especially furious towards them, and won’t forget this - and incidents will be arranged. He refuses to be a man who pines after someone or covets another one’s wife, nor will he allow some lesser lord to take what he perceives as ‘his’.

Tyrion Lannister

The angst hits him like a ton of bricks, and it’s even worse if this came out of left field. It hurts less if he hears it from you, but only just. He should have known your family wouldn’t have accept any proposal he made - and gods know he was ready to do it - it’s just one more log to fuel his self-loathing and bitterness toward this world. But if you knock some sense into him, he’ll snap out of that spiral and begin to plan with you. There’s plenty of choices before the two of you - scandal? Running off? - but rest assured, Tyrion is going to investigate the hell out of this person. He’d never forgive himself if you got stuck with a brute.

Jaime Lannister

The fact he knew this was inevitable doesn't help Jaime's irritation. He can't believe your family arranged for that person to marry you. Seriously? You'd better keep Jaime at a distance from your spouse, because he can't help himself from making snide remarks and sarcastic comments. If he riles up the guy into a duel, all the better. He'll do all sorts of reckless things to begin with, and it's only worse when he's upset. He's also very willing to have an affair behind your spouse's back - you were with him first. You’ll probably have to scold Jaime about you two almost getting caught, but he’s above reproach. His stubbornness and jealousy gets worse the closer you two are.

Cersei Lannister

She’s absolutely infuriated with your family. You were her handmaiden, someone whose been with her for years - and they have the nerve to go behind her back like this?! It smells like a scheme of Tyrion’s, or perhaps Varys, but she’ll deal with them in time. For now, she’ll work out what to do about your spouse. She’ll try to keep you around as much as possible, and her possessiveness comes out in full. You can’t possibly be interested in such a worthless man.

Sandor Clegane

When you tell Sandor, he’s quiet for a discerningly long time before the anger and arguments come out. And then the quiet bitterness. The thing is, he knew this was coming for a while. He knew your time together was limited, he shouldn’t have things like hopes and happiness because it’ll just get taken away. And it is. Even if you explain you’ll try to break off the arrangement, that there’s still a way to get out, he has trouble believing it. He’s seen enough ladies get chained to useless fucking lords, he’d rather not see it happen to someone he cares about, thanks. Sandor will push you away as much as he can, but you could still attempt to convince him to have an affair… or perhaps leave King’s Landing entirely.

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater

He’s only mildly annoyed at the inconvenience. It’ll be a lot harder for you both to sneak around now, and forget about it if you’re having to move somewhere far away. Guess that’s the end of that ‘relationship’ - he should’ve expected it. Bronn is way more willing to stay close if you remain in King’s Landing, and he expects you both to keep fooling around. Now, if he’s actually started to develop feelings about you… he’ll start to act differently. You don’t actually like your spouse, do you? Wasn’t that just some arranged bullshit? He’ll throw smirks and subtle insults your spouse’s way, as if trying to goad them into a fight. More then once you two will almost get caught because he decides waltzing up to your window is totally acceptable, or trying to have a quickie in the middle of the day. A surprisingly jealous side will come out and he’s in total denial about any feelings he might have.

Jacquen H’ghar

This isn’t alarming to Jacquen at first. He knew he could never have such a union with you, and since this Westerosi society is so insistent on marriage, it would happen eventually. Still, your pain hurts him as well. Jacquen would have a variety of plans … anywhere from easily disguising as a guard or servant so he’s always beside you, or perhaps whisking you away somewhere. This isn’t the end of your relationship for him - it’s just a challenge to overcome. He assumes you won’t send him away or break it off.

Petyr Baelish

You being someone else’s wife makes no difference to Petyr, though he’s surprised in himself. Usually he stays out of such affairs, it only causes trouble… But he’s been intrigued by you, and quite frankly, he’s offended that this Lord Whoever from Wherever didn’t take his interest into account. No matter. Petyr has plenty of plans to deal with this pest, though he’s annoyed at his own jealousy whenever he sees you together with your spouse, even if you’re miserable. While he doesn’t want you unhappy, it certainly makes starting an affair and/or disposing of your spouse much easier.

Robert Baratheon

He’s furious and everyone is going to know about it. Robert will complain endlessly to Ned and Lord Arryn about how he found you first, how that useless shit of a husband won’t know what to do with you. Since he does little to hide his disgust, rumors will spread all over court. Hell, he’ll probably say even stupider things when he’s drunk, or he’ll do something stupider, like actually try to aggravate the guy into a fight or a duel. If you’re actually able to get him under control, he has no qualms about having an affair with you… but he may not be subtle about it. So that’s another thing to keep in mind.

Stannis Baratheon

It’s depressingly impressive how willing Stannis is to bury and deny his feelings once he hears you’re promised to someone else. He’ll try to extinguish all the happiness he had with you, bottle up all the memories and feelings that went along with it. This will be fine. He’ll be fine. This iron resolve is easy to maintain if Stannis rarely sees you. If you both are forced to interact even semi-often, it chips away at him, and he can’t help himself from making biting remarks about your spouse when you both visit. He hates feeling this way, he’s never felt it before, and he carries a deep grudge against your spouse and family for making it happen. It’s easier if you write to him, but then Stannis starts keeping those letters and punishing himself by reading them over and over. Eventually he stops entirely, deeming it inappropriate, even if that feels like cutting off one of his limbs.

Davos Seaworth

The old knight is understandably saddened by news of your betrothal and marriage, but it makes sense. Politics-wise, Davos believes he isn’t much of a prize, even when he’s risen to Lord. He should’ve expected this would happen. He’d wish you genuine happiness… But if you were miserable, Davos would feel awful and powerless. If you truly wanted to continue the relationship behind your spouse’s back, his biggest worry would be the secret getting out and your reputation being ruined. He wouldn’t be able to resist forever, but he’d still try to talk you out of it and try to convince you to forget about him.

Margaery Tyrell

She seeks you out the moment she finds out - and that was quickly, because she often keeps tabs on you. Her grandmother warned her about getting so close to her favorite, but it still comes as a terrible shock. Margaery holds you close and promises she’ll make it better, somehow. Maybe she and her grandmother can reason with her family, perhaps you can marry into the Tyrell family, so you both can be together. She’ll fix it, she swears. The thought of someone else being with you is terrible enough, she’ll be even more worried if the person is abusive. Margaery won’t stand for it, and might take a few rare risks for your sake.

Brynden Tully

This stirs up a lot of complicated feelings in the old knight. He knew his relationship with you wouldn’t last forever, that you’d have to marry eventually, and he never wanted to marry…. But he feels like this is his fault, especially if you’re miserable. He could’ve prevented this. Brynden knows he ought to break off the relationship, and he won’t blame you if you do… but he’ll also consider the idea of continuing the relationship. And if you have to go somewhere far away, he’ll still appreciate you sending letters and having a correspondence. The relationship may not be the same long-distance, but he cares a lot about you, and it hurts having you cut from his life.

Edmure Tully

Woe and misery. How much wine is in Riverrun’s stores? He may end up drinking a dent in it by the time the month is out. He almost didn’t believe the news until he heard it from several people, or just you directly. How could this happen? Wasn’t he courting you properly, taking all the steps just the right way? Wasn’t his interest obvious to anyone with eyes? Edmure approaches your family with a bit of a hot head, almost demanding an answer for why they chose whoever over … whoever your spouse is. Edmure doesn’t even care who it is, he hates their guts immediately. More likely than not, he’ll do something foolish, like start a duel. If all else fails, he’ll make sad eyes at you at all the feasts and galas and go into a bit of a depression.

Brienne of Tarth

Brienne is immediately distraught, but also believes she deserves it somehow. This happy relationship just had to come to an end, didn’t it? Well, you two had to be discreet about it to begin with, which didn’t please her … but this alternative feels worse. Brienne switches between trying to stay frosty to make it easier for you two to part, and being unable to hold back her affection and sadness. The best solution she can think of is to stay as your sworn sword, independent of your new husband’s house guards. And gods know, she will come at him with a vengeance if he even dares upset you or lay an unwanted hand on you. That means the relationship could continue, but she dislikes the secrecy even more when you’re married. While she doesn’t like the idea of running away from problems, maybe in certain circumstances, she’d be open to the idea…

Ramsay Bolton

Ramsay is irate, to say the least. Even if you don’t actually know him, you’ve just caught his eye, he’ll become possessive. If you both were romantic before the engagement news, his anger and possessiveness would be even more dangerous. Woe to your spouse if he lives close to the Dreadfort - leave it to Ramsay to think up some “accident” for them to be involved in. And if he finds out they’re involved in some sort of treason or crime, that’s all the better, no matter how flimsy the “crime” is. If he’s feeling especially reckless, he’ll just arrange their murder and take you back right away. Ramsay is a terrible loser, doubly so if it involves one of the few things he actually cares about.

Roose Bolton

On the outside he doesn’t react to the news beyond a silent glare. On the inside, Roose is furious. He had plans for you, plans that may have taken quite a while to get to this point, and now it’s been ruined by someone whose actively working against him… or too stupid to realize what a massive mistake they just made. Roose thinks up various ways to circumvent this and have you to himself. In the meantime, he’ll gladly continue an affair behind your spouse’s back, but that won’t necessarily save them from death. You’ll notice him become increasingly possessive and jealous, even if you have zero interest in your spouse, and you can sense he’ll be holding a deep grudge against whoever arranged this in the first place.

Oberyn Martell

As soon as he hears about the news, Doran has to talk him down from dueling the man…Half his daughters support it, the other half suggest something more subtle. Overyn feels insulted, for one - your affection for each other was obvious, yet your family still made this arrangement. And if he doesn’t get his duel, he will spread all sorts of unsavory, salacious rumors about your spouse, in hopes of creating a scandal that makes your family break the union. Or better, lead to the man dueling Oberyn directly! Oberyn doesn’t even consider continuing your relationship with him an “affair”. You both were together first, and a farce of a marriage you didn’t agree to won’t change that. You just have to make sure he can be discreet.

Doran Martell

While the news of your engagement is depressing, it isn't surprising. He's quite aware of the politics of Westeros, even if his own family doesn't believe it, and he had wind of this engagement. He just thought he could stop it in time. He hides his disappointment, but his family can tell he's withdrawing. Oberyn argues with his brother to go get you and fight, but Doran is a man of silent plans. He'll still love to correspond with you, and you can tell by his letters that he seems hopeful. Maybe he's thought of a way to break it off …

Arianne Martell

Well, isn’t this irksome? Arianne loved having you in her palace and keeping you all to herself, but then this foolish arranged marriage happened… She doesn’t hide her disdain, and she’s annoyed at herself for not doing more to stop it. The princess will spend no small amount of time being angry at the unfairness of it. Once she’s calmed, she doesn’t see why you both can’t continue the relationship behind closed doors. You’re both used to sneaking around, anyway. And Arianne can’t resist ferreting around for some salacious rumors about your spouse… Wouldn’t it be a shame if she found out something that led you to your family cutting the betrothal off?

Tyene Sand

She’s beyond annoyed at this outcome. You were her favorite, in more ways than one, and while she didn’t delude herself into thinking you’d be together forever… well, couldn’t you both have spent your days in court in service to the Martells, or perhaps left forever on a boat to Essos? Why did this have to happen so soon? She’s despondent, much as she tries to hide it, even with her sisters trying to comfort her. She begins to think of plans, just little things … a rumor here, a scheme there. She’ll feel much better if you remain in the Sunspear court, so she can stay close and your relationship can continue.

[phoenixyfriend]

Time Travel ft. Leia and Vader

(Helped by @atagotiak)

I was reading a bunch of different time travel fics, and my brain slotted in that one "Vader hands over the Empire to Leia and is now her most devoted sycophant" dynamic and mixed it with the "Luke and Vader time-travel and Vader does the right thing but only because it would make Luke sad if he didn't."

I landed on "Leia time travels to prequels era, but her least favorite family member has also traveled with her, though it takes him a few months to find her because he has less resources without the entire Imperial Navy, but he's still a scary Sith in all black with a breathing mask and intimidating cape."

"Tiny angry lady who wants to force democracy and her giant Sith father whom she hates but has resigned herself to pointing at threats like a tank who inexplicably loves her" is a delightful dynamic.

The first few months included a lot of concern about "why do you know so much about Sith if you're not trained or looking to be one" and then Vader shows up and calls her 'daughter' and she insults him and it's like "Oh. That explains it."

Council Member: We have a Sith in the Temple. Vader: Former Sith. Leia: Listen. He is your best chance against Sidious. Also, do you want Dooku dead? Vader can make him dead. Council Member: Your father i-- Leia, scrunching up her face: Don't call him that.

Like Leia is deep in conversation when the Temple starts panicking because Vader just. Showed up? He snuck in, somehow? So Palpatine wouldn't catch him on video entering through the front door? And people try to keep her away from the trouble, because there's an entire array of Jedi Masters to deal with this Surprise Sith, except she can sense exactly which Sith it is and once she shouts "oh you have got to be kidding me!" she just starts running and, well, it's Leia. Nobody can stop her.

(Leia does have less combat training, at least less force-assisted combat training, than the Jedi. But then the Jedi don’t want to hurt here here. She's not fighting her way down, either, she's just running really fast and all the best fighters already left. They had a head start. So Leia's mostly running past random padawans and the like.)

She shoves her way to the front of the group of Masters who. Well, they're certainly ready to attack. But Vader is just standing there. Doing nothing. Still intimidating as fuck but he's not doing anything.

And then Leia bursts onto the scene like "You motherfucker."

She hits her head on a clipboard and whines because UGH he's a walking WMD and they could REALLY use him against Palpatine but also. She hates him so much.

She tries to hand him off to the Jedi council but he insists that he will only take orders from Leia herself.

Jedi: Wait, what. Leia, completely ignoring them: Did you follow me here? Vader, through the mechanical wheezing: I have no loyalty to my master and no empire to serve. You are all that I have left. Leia: Me? Me? I'm all that you have left? You committed a genocide that killed all the family I had except for the twin brother you later mutilated! Jedi: Wait what Vader, going to one knee: I pledge my loyalty and blade to you and only you, daughter. Leia, ready to explode: I. I just. Jedi, some of whom really want to say things but are slowly realizing that they just accidentally acquired a Sith Lord by proxy: What. Leia: I hate you so much but I can't even get rid of you, you're too useful. Vader: I live to serve. Leia: Yeah. Got that. Fuck. Someone get him a full medical rundown, I don't know the last time that mess of a life support system was updated. Jedi, agitated again: WHAT Leia: Listen, I don't like him, but I'm not stupid enough to throw away the second most dangerous person in the universe when I can point him at the most dangerous person in the universe. Especially not if he's going to listen to me. Jedi: But... he's a Sith. Leia: Please trust me when I say this: you might be able to take him down eventually, but he will take dozens of you down with him, and right now he's... honestly, I'm pretty sure he's more depressed than malicious. Jedi: You hate him. I can feel it. Leia: Yes, but I can be professional about it. Vader: They have not yet d-- Leia: Nope! No talking! Not until I've had a chance to process this mess!

There is a whole lot of Leia snapping at Vader to stop it whenever he starts giving off vibes like he wants to take the most violent shortcut possible.

She is not the gentle hand that Luke would be.

Leia isn't a Jedi or working for them but she's wormed her way into being an ally. They don't 100% trust her, especially not with Vader just showing up and declaring her family but like

How do you say no to a WMD walking into your house and saying "I will fight the monster you cower from at night."

There's a lot of Leia snapping off an admonishment that sounds just a little too odd and then when questioned she just says "He knows what he did."

tbh I'm not sure how long it takes for them to tell anyone that Anakin is Vader. They might hold it off in hopes that Anakin can just retire to be Mr. Amidala after the war is over.

Well, Leia hopes. Vader just lets Leia make that call and then glowers at his younger self every time they're in the same room.

I do feel like Leia tells Obi-Wan the truth first

Imagine. Imagine a Vader who’s past still isn’t known. But has gotten somewhat comfortable around the Jedi (not really but the bar for what counts and comfortable for him is low). And Obi-Wan habitually banters with darksiders, right? If Vader’s guard is down for a moment and he, without thinking, references an inside joke...

Might be the most fun in terms of ways to tell Obi-Wan "We're time travelers and Vader is what happens if you let Palpatine drive Anakin off the edge"

If Vader has decided to pledge himself to her orders after destroying her planet, then fine. She can work with that. She's not going to be happy about it, but she can make it work.

The Jedi Temple hates having Vader anywhere nearby but he is actually very good at hiding himself from people, including Palpatine And for all that Leia seems perpetually irritated with her apparent bodyguard, he does seem to listen to her.

Jedi council: We still haven't figured out how to handle Dooku Leia: Do you know his location? Jedi council: Yes. Leia: [sigh] Leia: Vader, deal with it. Alive if possible.

(Leia does need to clarify an acceptable level of violence against the people protecting Dooku.) (She needs to clarify... many things.)

Leia always says "Vader" and one time a poor fool just asks why she doesn't call him dad and she snarls out "He is not the man that raised me, and I am glad for it."

Someone less foolish later prods more compassionately and she lets them know she was adopted and didn't properly meet Vader except in passing until she was nineteen.

"And then he tortured you." "And then he tortured me, yes." "Damn." "Didn't even find out we were related until a few years later when he chopped my brother's arm off." "You... wow." "I know."

At least one exchange that is L: You mean when you tortured me? A: He did what. V: I was not aware of our relation at that time. L: Not the point! I am fully aware of your interrogation methods and I refuse to let you be the one to acquire the evidence for-- A: Wait no go back he tortured you? L: Move on, please, we already have. A: That means I'm... oh Force, I'm going to torture my own daughter what in the actual fu-- L: We're moving on.

(“I end up torturing my own daughter” If Leia’s feeling especially spiteful I can see her saying “you mutilate your own son too”)

Concept: Leia is very free with traumatizing details of her past re:Vader and Anakin thinks that it sucks but doesn’t think much of it bc Sith. And then some time later he finds out...

(I love characters who use the traumatizing details of their past to shut down conversations.)

It's such a wonderfully horrifying concept for him to try to awkwardly comfort this girl he kind of knows because having a Sith for a dad sounds like it would suck and Leia seems nice, even if she's kind of weird and uncomfortable around Anakin, but he saw her flinch around a few other tall people wearing black robes the way she stiffens around Vader so maybe it's just that!

It is not.

Vader does get a significant amount of medical treatment. Including a bunch of "holy shit, that's a lot of drugs" and similar. There is so much lightning damage.

hnnng I'm just really in love with the image of Tiny Tiny Leia sitting behind a desk for some fancy negotiation, the picture of professionalism, while Vader just stands behind her shoulder, looming, glaring expressionless death at whoever came to speak with his baby girl.

Not that he would call her that, because she'd just hate him more and he's really not sure how to fix that problem, other than doing whatever she asks with no complaints and hoping she appreciates it.

Vader: [looks at children wandering by, has complicated emotions] Leia, tired of his shit: What now? Vader: I killed them, once. Leia, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath: And you're not going to do that again. No killing children. Vader: I know that. Leia: Great. I am... regretting asking. I am so very much regretting asking.

I do really like the idea of someone asking Leia once if she wants Jedi training and she says, no, actually, she's fully aware of the fact that she's angry little ball of hate sometimes, especially towards her bio father, and she'd like to refrain from putting herself in a position where she knows enough about the Force to Fall. She wouldn't Fall. But it does make people shut up.