#clearly he needs 'enlightenment' *wink wink*

[calamity-calliope]

Maybe the Admiral is a killjoy

(not to worry, friends, he will get better)

:)

[zehobereian]

wicked the musical one-shot (minor fiyeraba)

"we would've been timeless."

word count: 3263 | (not proofread) | timeline: shiz era (non-canon compliant)

“I call being the racecar!” Fiyero declared as he launched himself forward to snatch the miniature race car token from the playing board, a victorious grin plastered on his face.

“No fair! I wanted to be the racecar,” Nessarose whined. “I actually have wheels, what do you have?” she continued, pouting like a child.

“The racecar.” Fiyero wiseassed. “Next time, Ness” he winked, earning a snort from Galinda who was sitting opposite him and organising the board.

On a rare night off from their studies, mainly Elphaba’s, they had decided they would play a game of Ozopoly. A board game about building your own Ozian empire, with the prerogative of earning enough Ozzo coins to purchase the Emerald City, and ascend to become the ‘Wonderful Wizard of Ozopoly”. Game night had become somewhat of a tradition amongst them ever since discovering that Boq had brought a copy, albeit a seemingly ancient copy, with him their freshman year.

He claimed he brought it as a piece of dormitory decor. Everyone else in the room was fairly certain it was some lame attempt to make friends. However, in Boq’s defence, it had worked. Presently, they were all crammed into Galinda and Elphaba’s room, waiting to begin.

“Fabala, would you please hurry up? We’re all waiting on you.” Nessa chided impatiently as Elphaba dug around in the Ozopoly box, clearly searching for something.

“What are you even looking for Elphie?” Galinda asked, setting the Grimmerie and Gale Force mystery cards face down on the board.

“The cat.” Elphaba replied simply, not looking up from what she was doing.

“The cat?” Galinda questioned, raising her brows at the green girl. 

Elphaba shrugged, “The cat token. The same token I use every time we play this game,” she pushed the box away from her. “But it isn’t in there.” 

Boq looked at her somewhat sympathetically. “Maybe it got lost,” he said with a shrug and Elphaba visibly deflated. “But I’m sure it’ll turn up eventually!” he added quickly.

“Fabala just pick another token. It’s not like the cat is lucky. Don’t be ridiculous” Nessa sighed audibly to which Elphaba frowned. It wasn’t that Elphaba believed in luck but it didn’t hurt  that she usually won when she used the cat token.

“Yeah Faba–” Fiyero’s teasing was interrupted by a green hand covering his mouth. “Don’t even think about it.” Elphaba warned him. The Winkie prince knew better than to push her buttons, instead pressing a kiss to her palm. Elphaba’s cheeks darkened even further and she hurriedly moved her hand away.

“You could be the dog?” Boq offered. “It’s kind of like a cat.” he reasoned. 

“Oz, no.” Galinda immediately disagreed. “That dog is completely horrendible” the blonde huffed, taking the box into her lap.

Boq’s eyes widened at Galinda’s disgust. “What’s wrong with it?” He asked.

Fiyero chuckled at Boq’s mortification. “Yes, please enlighten us Galinda,” Fiyero encouraged. Elphaba elbowed him in the side and Fiyero took the opportunity to grab hold of her hand, interlacing their fingers. He was surprised to find she didn’t pull away. They had been together for a while now but he found Elphaba was still rather shy about public displays of affection. He, however, was the opposite, taking every chance to be near the green girl.

Galinda sighed dramatically. “It just looks so… so mangy! It’s so scruffy, and its legs are so short. It looks like it would chase other animals, and bark incessantly! It might even bite!” She exclaimed, tossing her hair over her shoulders. “Besides, it can hardly even call itself a dog. It has no prestige. Elphie needs a token that reflects the Wizard's magic grand vizier.” the blonde sniffed.

“I think it’s a cute dog,” Nessa shrugged. “I’d like to have one of my own someday.” she mused and Galinda made a face at her in disapproval. 

“Didn’t you want one of those crusty-eye dogs Galinda?” Fiyero teased, referring to a point in time where Galinda had declared she was destined to own a fluffy, purse sized dog. She had been deterred when she was reminded that dogs often chewed shoes. 

“Do the eye boogers add extra prestige?” Elphaba added and Fiyero grinned at her. “They certainly drive up the market-value” he said.

Ignoring them, Galinda pulled something from the box. “Oh Elphie, you should be this!” Galinda exclaimed, holding up the top-hat token. “It’s perfection!” the blonde beamed.

“It matches that hideoteous hat you always insist on wearing!” Nessarose chirped.

“Hey! It’s not hideoteous. Fae likes that hat. It's cool.” Fiyero defended. Elphaba squeezed his hand and shook her head. 

“I used to think it was completely horrendible but after Elphie’s braverism at the OzDust, it has grown on me. I would never wear it, of course, but I think it suits Elphie wonderfully.” Galinda replied nonchalantly. 

Boq nodded. “I agree with Miss Galinda,” he concurred and Nessarose frowned. “Shall we begin?” he asked as Elphaba took the hat token from Galinda.

“Prepare to eat my racecar dust, people.” Fiyero proclaimed, shaking the dice around in his hands dramatically before dropping them onto the table and rolling a three.

“Wow, I feel so threatened, Yero.” Elphaba mused sarcastically.

“Have you ever actually won this game, FiFi?” Galinda teased.

“Hey!” Fiyero protested.

Half-an-hour into Ozopoly, Boq found an opportunity to play Munchkinlander in shining armour. Using his turn to bail Galinda Upland out of prison, after her frivolous spending habits had finally caught up to her. Much to Elphaba’s annoyance. 

“Boq, you barely own any properties. How can you afford to bail Galinda out of jail?” Elphaba asked as Boq placed some Ozzo notes on the middle of the board. 

“You’re just mad because you put me here, Elphie.” Galinda huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

“You landed on my square!”

“So?”

“You couldn’t afford the rent,” Elphaba stated. 

“So?” Galinda repeated stubbornly.

“So, you land on my square. You can’t afford the rent. You go to prison for fee evasion.” Elphaba rolled her eyes and Galinda sighed audibly.

“But you own the whole Vinkus,” The blonde whined. “With houses! How is anybody supposed to afford that?” she added, throwing her hands up in defeat. 

Fiyero shook his head, amused. “Does it matter? Boq already bailed you out. You didn’t have to afford anything.” he stated as Boq passed the dice to Galinda.

Galinda blinked. “I guess that’s true. Thank you Boq.” she turned to smile brightly at Boq. The Munchkins face flushed beet red and he shrugged meekly. 

Galinda rolled the dice, landing on a Gale Force square. The blonde picked up the card from the top of the deck, holding it up to read it. “With this card you must– What?! No!” Galinda shrieked, tossing the card back onto the table. 

Picking the card up, Fiyero began to read aloud. “With this card you must go straight to prison. Do not pass go. Do not collect two-hundred Ozzos. You may not be bailed out of prison. You may roll doubles, or wait three consecutive turns to be released.” he grinned. Elphaba, who was reading over his shoulder, wheezed. The green girl doubled over in laughter much to Galinda’s dismay.

“This is so unfair.” Galinda complained. Half-heartedly, she pushed the purse token back to the prison square before slumping back in her chair.

“You can still collect rent whilst you’re in jail. That’s three chances to make money and lose none.” Nessarose offered and Galinda perked up. “Oh Nessa, you’re totally right!” Galinda stated. “And look, Fiyero is so close to landing on the Munchkin River. That’s my best card!” she squealed. 

“He has to roll… a four,” Boq counted and Fiyero rolled his eyes. “Never going to happen,” the Winkie prince said smugly. Fiyero gathered the dice in his hands. Making a spectacle of himself, he shook the dice around wildly. He kissed his own knuckles before throwing them down on the table.

His smug smile faded and Elphaba snorted.

The dice glared up at him from the board. Fiyero rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. Elphaba had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing any harder.

“Four!” Galinda screamed, shooting up from her chair in triumph. The blonde flexed her muscles in victory before throwing her arms around Nessarose’s shoulders. Nessa laughed and embraced the bone crushing hug. “You owe Galinda three-hundred Ozzos, Fiyero.” Boq stated, checking the prices on Galinda’s card.

Fiyero sighed in exasperation, leaning against Elphaba. “Do you feel generous?” he asked, looking up at the green girl. 

“Not in the slightest.” Elphaba replied.

“You wound me, woman!” he gasped in mock offence, placing his hand on his heart. Elphaba rolled her eyes, pushing him off of her. 

Reluctantly, Fiyero handed the money to a triumphant Galinda. “Your books better sleep with one eye open tonight, Fae. No one is safe.” He teased, narrowing his eyes at Elphaba. 

Elphaba folded her arms across her chest. “You wouldn’t dare.” she stated.

“Wouldn’t I?” Fiyero grinned.

“I’ll curse you.” she threatened.

“She would! She broke our window because I asked a question,” Galinda piped up before Fiyero had a chance to respond. “It was very intense.”

“You were being annoying,” Elphaba replied pointedly, taking the dice from the board. “It’s not like I meant to break anything. I just got mad.” She shrugged, rolling an eight. 

Fiyero held his hands up in surrender. “Note to self, don’t make Fae mad.” he said, nudging her with his shoulder. 

Elphaba shook her head. “You vex me daily, Yero.” she countered. 

“Yeah, but you love it. Totally the highlight of your day.” Fiyero grinned. 

“Okay, enough romance, you two. Let’s get back to the game.” Nessa interrupted, amused. The younger Thropp was happy for her sister and the Winkie prince. She’d had doubts about them in the beginning. She didn’t understand how they fit together, they were completely different. Fiyero was a prince, with a scandalacious reputation, and Elphaba was, well, Elphaba. But, they seemed to make each other happy, and that was enough for Nessarose. She was happy for them, they deserved each other. Just like she deserved Boq. If someone like Elphaba could find love, then surely she could too. She had. She found Boq. He loved her. He had essentially said so. The Munchkin was just easily distracted is all.

After taking her turn, Nessa looked to Boq. The Munchkin was quietly swapping cards with Galinda. She could see that he was giving her his best cards in trade for her worst ones. She knew it technically wasn’t against the rules but at that moment, she felt it should be. The brunette turned her gaze back to Fiyero and her sister. Elphaba had her head resting against his shoulder. Nessa watched as he whispered something to the green girl and Elphaba smiled.

Nessa could feel her skin burning with envy. For a moment, she believed she might be just as unpleasantly green as her sister. Envy was such an ugly emotion. It was green, and violent, and clawed at her. She was envious of her sister. Why did she deserve to be loved like that? Why couldn’t Boq love her like that? He had called her beautiful, and they had danced the night away. He hadn’t pitied her for her chair. Yet, he always seemed so preoccupied. Why couldn’t she be the centre of his focus? It just wasn’t fair. Her feelings were unfair, and she had no one she could truly express them to. Not without sounding completely wicked.

“Oh! Nessa, you landed on a Grimmerie square,” Galinda pointed out, interrupting Nessarose’s thoughts. “What does it say?” the blonde questioned enthusiastically, passing Nessa a Grimmerie card.

Nessarose read over the card, a small smile playing on her lips. “With this Grimmerie card you can make one player stop assisting another player. They may not trade cards, bail out of jail, or lend Ozzo’s to the other player. If the selected player lands on any property of the assisted player, they must pay rent to the owner and pay the same to you.” She read aloud.

“You have got to pick Elphaba and Fiyero.” Boq spoke and Fiyero glared at him.

“Why would she pick me?” Elphaba asked. “I haven’t even offered to help Fiyero.” the witch countered. 

Fiyero nodded. “Yeah, if anything Nessa should choose you! You keep helping Galinda!” he protested.

“I’m not complaining.” Galinda shrugged.

Nessarose looked back and forth at the two pairs, watching them as they bickered. Her green-eyed monster settled in her stomach, weighing her down. Logically, she knew that if she wanted to win the game, she should choose Elphaba. But she didn’t care about winning this game.

“So? Who are you picking, Ness?” Fiyero pushed, turning to the brunette.

“Boq.” she hummed.

“What?” Boq began to protest. “And you’re no longer allowed to help Galinda.” Nessa interrupted, placing the pair of dice into the Munchkins hand. Boq didn’t reply. He only frowned, a look of hurt crossing his face.

“That’s okay Bick!” Galinda chirped. “I don’t need your help, I’m sure Elphie will bail me out!” the blonde beamed at Elphaba across the table. 

“Fat chance.” Elphaba shook her head.

“She won’t even help me. Why in Oz would she help you?” Fiyero questioned.

“Because Elphie loves me the most.” Galinda answered matter of factly, tossing her hair over her shoulders.

“You’re both leeches,” Elphaba rolled her eyes. “I’m not helping either of you. I already lost my lucky token.”

Fiyero paused. “Lucky token?” he asked curiously. 

“She's talking about the cat,” Nessarose stated. “She thinks it helps her win.” the younger sister shrugged.

“Nessa,” Elphaba hissed.

Fiyero looked back to the green girl. “Oh really?,” he raised a brow at her. “Is that why you’re currently losing?” the prince teased.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at him. “Just you wait, Tigelaar. I’m going to crush you.” she promised and Fiyero grinned.

“I’m not the one without their lucky charm, Thropp,” he countered and Elphaba huffed at him in response.

“Here we go,” Galinda rolled her eyes. “Should we throw in the towel now?” she asked, turning to Nessa and Boq, who both shook their heads. “No, I just bought the Great Gillikin Forest. I still have a chance.” Nessa stated, presenting the card to Galinda and Boq.

As the rounds continued, Elphaba found herself growing frustrated by the Winkie prince sitting beside her. During his last few turns, Fiyero had managed to get her sent to jail, twice, and used a grimmerie card to halve her Ozzos. She’d had enough. 

Landing on one of Nessa’s squares Elphaba sighed. “I hate this game.” Elphaba grumbled, handing Nessa what she owed her. “What’s wrong Fae? Sore loser?” Fiyero asked innocently. The green girl scowled at him. “No,” she answered. “I refuse to lose to you.” she concluded, crossing her arms. “You’re not doing a very good job.” Fiyero chuckled and Elphaba huffed, scooting away from him to sit closer to Nessarose. The prince shook his head, returning to the game.

“Fabala,” Nessarose whispered to her sister and Elphaba looked at her, her brows furrowed slightly. “Use your brain.” the younger Thropp sister directed. “He’s distracting you. That’s how he’s planning to win.” Nessa murmured. Elphaba considered this. “So, you want me to be level headed?” the witch asked. “For the first time in your life.” Nessa nodded. 

Elphaba studied the board. Nessarose was right. Rarely was Elphaba truly level-headed. She had a good mind but she often found herself led by her heart and blinded by her emotions. Hence, the magical outbursts. 

Fiyero looked over at Elphaba, who was looking down at her cards. She looked focused, a crease between her brows as she concentrated. Fiyero smiled. He was fairly certain he could hear the cogs whirring inside her head. He knew his Ozian empire was in trouble, but he didn’t mind. 

Boq was the first victim of Elphaba’s new strategic outlook. The Munchkin landed on one of Elphaba’s Vinkun properties, and when he couldn’t afford her rent. She bought his properties from him. They weren’t worth much but they took Boq out of the game. The Munchkin removed the wheelbarrow token from the board without much fuss, for now he could openly speak to Galinda. Galinda wasn’t particularly interested in maintaining a conversation with Boq. Especially after the blonde drew a Grimmerie card that instructed her to leave Oz in a balloon. This took her out of the game too, with Nessa and Fiyero buying her properties from her. Eventually, after a few more anti-climactic trips around the board, Elphaba slid the top-hat token into the emerald city and laid her cards down on the board.

“I win.” the green girl stated simply.

Fiyero, who hadn’t been paying much attention to Elphaba’s gameplay since Nessarose had put him in prison, looked at her in surprise. “What? Already?” he asked.

“Already? Fiyero, we’ve been playing for hours,” Nessarose reminded. “It’s about time.” the younger Thropp sister said, smiling at Elphaba. “Well done, Fabala. I knew your head wasn’t full of straw.” Nessa teased.

“I think mine might be after that.” Fiyero stated. 

Galinda yawned. “I’m going to bed.” the blonde mumbled, standing up and making her way to the bathroom. 

“She’s going to fall asleep doing her night routine.” Elphaba mused, watching the blonde walk away.

“We should be going,” Nessa stated. “Boq?” Nessa nudged the Munchkin. “What? Oh, yes, we should be going.” Boq stumbled to his feet, aiding Nessa back into her chair. “Goodnight Fabala, Fiyero.” Nessa smiled before turning and wheeling out of the dormitory. Boq nodded at them before following behind Nessarose.

Elphaba began to tidy up the board and Fiyero joined her, sweeping the pieces haphazardly back into the box. “Yero.” Elphaba scolded lightly. “Yes, Fae?” he asked innocently. 

“You’re going to lose more pieces if you do it like that.” she stated, looking at him. “You mean like this?” Fiyero asked, pulling something from his pocket, pressing the object into her hand. 

Elphaba looked down at her palm, and quickly looked back up at him. “Are you serious?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Fiyero grinned. “I wanted you to see that you didn’t need luck.” he shrugged, returning to pack away the remainder of the game. The green girl looked back to the cat token that laid in her hand. “You knew? About the lucky charm?” she asked, almost shyly. Fiyero turned his gaze back to her. “Of course I knew. You’re not exactly subtle, Fae.” He shook his head. 

Elphaba smiled softly. “I didn’t think anyone would notice,” she replied, brushing her thumb against the metal token before placing it carefully back into the box. “It was just nice to have something lucky.” she sighed.

Fiyero chuckled, drawing her to him. “You don’t need luck to win this game. Just a brain.” he said, smiling sweetly.

“A brain like yours?” Elphaba asked and Fiyero raised his brow in confusion. “Full of straw.” the green girl clarified, a sly smile on her face.

“Yeah, exactly,” Fiyero grinned at her. “My straw brain is far superior. It’s why I let you win. I had no real competition.” he replied mischievously and Elphaba rolled her eyes at him. “Get stuffed, Yero.” she huffed before smiling again. Fiyero laughed, pulling her closer and kissing her sweetly. 

“Rematch?” he murmured as they pulled away. Elphaba’s laugh filled the room, and in that moment, the Winkie prince decided that forever losing at Ozopoly might not be so bad.

[elisysd]

3. Wonder why you took a risk on a broken heart you cannot fix

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Purple Irises - Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton 

Another DNF. On a track he loved and had witnessed him achieving great performances. But now, being out after not even a corner, it was painful. He knew he couldn’t have done anything to avoid it but still, it was a bitter feeling. And a feeling that didn’t go away when he saw you waiting for him, your mic ready. He hadn’t talked to you ever since that day at the restaurant, didn’t ask for your number, didn’t ask for your social media, didn’t ask for anything and a part of him regretted it. Kind of. He had promised to show you not everyone was untrustworthy but didn’t even think to ask for a means to contact you. He knew it was stupid but he hated empty promises. He was man of his word and to think he could let you down like everybody else was unsettling for him. 

He moved to you, Silvia by his side and gulped, bracing himself for a petty question that surprisingly didn’t come through.

“A very sad day for you Charles, can you tell us what happened with Lance?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to watch the images yet but I guess he thought he had space and clearly, it was not the case.”

“Two DNF in three races, it’s not the start of the season you hoped it would be. What are your plans for now?”

“See what went wrong and try to learn from it with the team. That’s the best we can do and we will come back stronger next time.”

“Thank you Charles.”

As she was cutting her microphone he saw you looking at him.

“I’m sorry about the race. Truly.”

“No teasing this time?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m not a heartless monster.” you replied as Silvia pushed him to go talk to other media.

The meeting with her team went nice. They talked a bit about race, debriefing each other's interventions of the day and looked at what they should have done better. You were happy when Marion told you that you had improved, your questions sharper and more precise, and happy, you had decided to wander the paddock in search of new information or to meet interesting new people. That is something you’ve always liked to do, hanging out somewhere to get the atmosphere and to have conversations with people who could provide you with new enlightenments about contracts, performances or any changes inside the teams. You had learned it while being in New-York, during one of your internships while you were covering  basketball games where your boss had told you to let your ears wander. A few words that you were clinging onto. Near the Mercedes hospitality, you had not expected to run into Mick who was coming out of it, a bottle of water in his hands. Out of habits you smiled at him, giving him a little nod which he took as an invitation to talk to you.

“Hey! I saw you around, right? The new interviewer for French TV?”

“That should be me, yes. Y/N, nice to meet you.” you greet him.

You found it surprisingly easy to talk to Mick. The discussion flowed, laughter could be heard from the other side of the paddock and soon the sun was setting. He was friendly, caring, and offered her to sit somewhere so they didn’t have to stand in the middle of the way.

“You know, I’m going to a bowling place tonight with some friends. Do you want to tag along?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s very professional of me.” 

“No pressure, of course. The offer stands but we all need to let go from time to time.” he added, winking at you before leaving.

You spent another half an hour debating with yourself on whether or not you should go. You could use some friends for sure, and Mick is not a bad guy, you know it.  He doesn’t have any hidden agenda behind his kindness, he just genuinely wants to get to know you and be your friend. And you saw how some journalists are buddy-buddy with the drivers, including in your own team. So why couldn’t you? You took a deep breath and decided that for once, you would have fun. And it had been a while since you had gone to a bowling area. You quickly went back to your hotel room to change into more comfortable clothes and you met Mick there. You recognised Esteban there as well and you were not surprised, you knew the two drivers were closed. 

You had fun. More fun than what you expected coming here. You sucked at bowling but it didn’t stop you from laughing. You also enjoyed Esteban’s calm confidence and how laid back he was. You told him you felt sorry about his crash with Pierre, Alpine could have realized something amazing out there.

“I know, I’m gutted. It’s not the start of the season we hoped it would be, for sure. But the season is long, so we have time to improve.”

“I’m sure it will keep on being better, Esteban. Trust your team.” Mick said, coming to them, a grin on his face. He sat down next to you before turning his head in your direction. “I’m glad you decided to come. I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I’m happy I did, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this relaxed.” you confessed. “I don’t have many friends, I’m not good at making connections.”

“Well you have us, now.” Mick shrugged.

“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll betray you?”

“Do you intend to?”

“No.” you admitted after a few seconds.

“Then it’s all good.” he smiled.

“You trust people easily, you know. A little too easily.”

“A few years ago, I wasn’t like that. I was doubting everyone and everything. I thought people only wanted to be around me because of my dad and not because of me. And then I decided to stop caring because usually those people end up leaving at the first obstacle. It’s better to give people a chance than being closed off. My friends are basically my second family, my home away from home. I’m a family guy, it’s tough for me to be away from them, so that’s why my friends are so important.”

“I’m not that close to my family.” you confessed and your heart wrenched at the thought.

“Because of your job?”

“That and I made a few mistakes in the past that really altered our relationship. And a lot of regrets, mostly about my brother. When you’re halfway across the world, it’s tough to be there when he needs you most. I should have been there for him.”

“It’s never too late to fix things.”

You gave him a sad smile and a shrug. You don’t want to bother him with your complicated family’s stories. And frankly, you don’t want to think about them.

“I understand you know, the regrets. I have so many when I think about my dad. I’ve never told him I loved him enough,  I should have told him everyday. I even regret things that are so far ahead in the future, like my wedding, my first kid… I often think about how he won’t be completely there to see all of that.” he bitterly said. 

“At least he is there. Even if it’s not how you want it.”

“I guess.”

When you ended up leaving, after this very heartfelt conversation, you felt somehow relieved. Maybe he was right, you didn’t have to assume the worst about people. You took your phone out of your pocket and looked at your lock screen. A picture of you and your brother. You smiled tenderly, you missed him. 

Coming back to Paris and to your flat felt weird after such magical weeks. The gloomy weather made you regret the sun on your skin and you definitely didn’t miss the messy public transportation. Your days were filled with preparing the next races, organizing a few livestreams here and there where you invited fans to talk about the first few races of the season. And thanks to your connection at Alpine and the good relationship you had started to build with the drivers you even managed to get an interview from Pierre where you get to talk about his first weeks in his new team. It had been a nice and chill discussion more than an interview and you were happy to see that people had liked the concept and hoped you would keep it going with other people.

Despite how happy you were feeling about your week, it had still been a busy one and you couldn’t wait to go home and hop in your shower to relax before going out again to meet your best friend in a nice parisian restaurant. You arrived earlier than her and got to your table as the waiter gave you the menu and asked if you wanted to drink something. You ordered a Martini and started to wait for her, scrolling on your phone to pass the time. But as if fate had decided to play with you tonight, right when you decided to lift your chin, you saw him entering the restaurant. Charles Leclerc. And in good company if you could judge by the brunette walking right behind him. A date you thought to yourself. You unconsciously sat further down in your seat in hope he wouldn’t recognise you. You couldn’t help but give him little glances, your curiosity getting the best out of you. It didn’t last long, though, as your friend soon arrived and Charles wasn’t in your mind anymore.

“You have so many things to tell me and I have so many questions for you!”

You laughed. She has always been your number one supporter no matter what you were going through in your life. You didn’t expect anything else from her. Happily, you told her everything, even the slightest detail.

“So, who is the hottest? And is there anyone who is single?” she whispered to you as if you were both part of a gigantic conspiracy.

“I don’t know, I don’t really think about it. And I don’t have the mental space for that.”

She knew what you were implying. She knew all too well. She put a hand on yours and squeezed it gently before diverting the discussion to a lighter topic. The conversation flowed until your friend received a call. She quickly apologized to take it in a quieter space and came back a few minutes later, biting her lip, visibly worried.

“I got a call from my mom… my grandmother fell at home and she hit her head. She is at the hospital… I’m sorry I have to cut our dinner short, but…”

“Dont. I understand. Go.” you reassured her as she threw her arms around you and kissed your cheek before making her way out.

He was fed up. Clearly, he was not having the time of his life. The girl right in front of him had been sent by Ferrari and Silvia in another attempt to set him up with someone. No pressure, she had told him, she just wanted him to meet her and who knows? Maybe they would hit it off. And if it wasn’t the case, then she would leave him alone. For now. So he had agreed, a few weeks of peace seemed like a good option.

But he was bored out of his mind. The girl, who seemed nice, he had nothing against her, was agreeing to everything he was saying and was waiting for him to hold the conversation. He hated that. He needed someone who could challenge him, someone who didn’t care about who he was and clearly the brunette in front of him wasn’t what he wanted. They weren’t even at the main course that she had already mentioned the growth of her following and the new opportunities being seen with him would bring her, if they decided to date. He hated it. And he didn’t intend to spend one more minute in her presence. When the waiter came to take their order, he looked him straight in the eyes.

“You know, come to think of it, I’m not hungry. Can I have the bill instead?”

He knew it was a dick move, and if his mother would hear of it she would most certainly give him an earful. But it would still be more enjoyable than sitting there. He apologized, quickly made sure that the girl knew he had no interest in going out with her another day and made his way out to pay. That’s when he noticed you, alone, sipping on your drink. He could laugh. Out of all places, he had to cross your path. As if acting on their own, his feet carried him to your table.

“Fancy, seeing you here.” he said, making you look up. He expected to see a surprised look on your face but it wasn’t the case. You didn’t take your eyes off of him, making him slightly uncomfortable. “What are you doing here, all alone? A date who hasn’t shown up?”

“I was supposed to meet my friend but she couldn’t stay for long, an emergency came up. So here I am, sipping my drink, alone. It’s okay. I’m enjoying my very own company. And that very tasteful assortment of pastries. I most likely won’t be able to eat that alone, though.” you shrugged, putting a piece of chocolate cake in your mouth.

“You know, I’m in a mood for sweet… care to share?”

You were about to offer him to sit with you when he quickly recalled that his date was still there.

“Actually, would you mind getting a doggy bag and going elsewhere to eat? I kind of want to get the hell out of here.”

“Your date wasn’t that good, I assume then.” you said as a matter of fact.

“How did you…”

“I have eyes. I saw you.”

“You saw me…” he repeated, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I was facing the door.”

And suddenly he felt stupid about trying to see a deeper meaning in her words than what she intended to.

Out of the restaurant, they both wandered along the docks, enjoying the fresh air and the almost empty streets, the bag of cakes between them as they were sharing in a natural way. Almost as if they had done it all their life. Charles told her all about his very bad date and enjoyed making her laugh.

“Glad to see my very poor and inexistent love life is entertaining.” he smiled.

“It really is. I mean, look at you. You have the fame, the money, the good looks you could have anyone you wanted and here you are, having the exact same issues as us common people.”

“Believe it or not, but dating has become harder and harder the more famous I become. Whatever that means. We are all searching for the same thing, at the end of the day and famous or not. We want someone to complete us. Someone we feel good with.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy to find.”

“Clearly not.”

They kept walking in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“I’m shocked you don’t try to pry or snoop around. You could ask so many questions about the season and try to get insides… but you don’t. Why?”

“I’m outside of my job hours. Right now, I’m just Y/N and not Y/N the very insufferable journalist. And you hate my questions, it’s me who should be shocked that you want to hear them.”

“I don’t hate them, I just don’t understand why I seem to be the only one to be on the receiving end of your bluntness. Every freaking time.” he defended himself.

You let out a sigh.

“They are legitimate questions and they are always validated by the team before being asked, if something was out of line they would tell me and I wouldn’t ask them.” you simply said.

Charles felt that there must be something else, something she wasn’t saying but they didn’t know each other well enough for him to dare ask her. From the corner of his eye, he saw her repressing a yawn.

“It’s late, do you need someone to drive you back home safely?” he asked.

“No.” she immediately said. “I mean, it’s kind of you, really. This whole hour talking felt nice but I’m not sure it’s something that should have happened. I know I can make friends with drivers, and some journalists do it, but I don't think I can, personally. That’s just not how it works for me. It would make my job harder and I need a clear mind to focus.” you tried to explain, perfectly aware of how hypocritical you sound.

“Do you say the same things to all drivers or do I receive special treatment?”

You opened and closed your mouth. You didn’t want to lie to him and somehow he read it in your eyes that it’s not that you didn’t want to have friends among the drivers. You just didn’t want to be his friend. And somehow it hurt more than what he expected.

Author's note: Happy first GP of the season! To celebrate it, here's the new chapter! I hope you liked it.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. Besides the fact that I absolutely love to read you, it helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

If you wanna be part of the taglist, let me know.

Taglist: @itsjustkhaos @thirstylion @cmleitora @charizznorizz @sltwins @boherahpsody @herondalism

[deluluduck227]

Beauty day | Ez Abde

Warnings : none, just pure fluff

You were sitting in the living room. Today was windy and beautiful. Abde was in the training and it was nearly the hour when he'd comeback. You just finished tidying up the house, abde was a quite messy guy, sometimes he gets on your nerves but what to do? It is the way he's used to live. You were scrolling on tik tok, suddenly a video popped up on a girl painting her nails white. You looked at your nails, it's been a while since you did nail polish, seems like it's time. You got up and rushed to your shared room, excitement washing over you, you grabbed your white nail polish and the other equipments you'll need. You made your way back to the living room. You started by shaping your nails, they weren't tall , just the average, how you liked them. Then you removed your cuticles using the nipper. Suddenly you heard the door flick and abde already made his way towards you, he pecked your lips as a greeting.

" How was your day babe ?" You asked him, voice little bit hoarse cuz like you were silent for most if the morning.

" Great, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, ruffling your hair, you smiled at his gesture as your shoved your hand in his face to show him and as a response he took your hand as kissed it on the palm.

" I'll go change my clothes, wait for me"

You hummed and resumed your work, removing cuticles was your least favorite part. It needs concentration. However, when abde cameback, he was wearing grey sweatpants and some white tees, he sat next to you while talking on the phone.

" Labas 3liha, she's busy doing here nails"

" Wa lwalida , we'll visit soon, as soon the season is finished"

You assumed it was his mother, she was so sweet with you.

" Sellem 3liha" you told him and he nodded transferring your greeting and ending the call

You couldn't help but notice his nails when he placed them on your tigh, they were ... crusty, the cuticles were long. It was the occasion to remove em even tho you hated this mission. He protested first but when you put on your strict face he was under your command. A while after, you finshed but you head was slightly hurting you. The guy wouldn't shut up whining. You then grabbed the nail polish as started painting your left hand, you put it under the nail uv lamp for about 1 minute to dry it out, you wanted to do the same for your right hand but you were clearly struggling, abde noticed so he put his phone away and offered help, your heart swooned at how thoughtful he was , you sat facing him on the sofa, your hand hovering over the palm of his, he grabbed the brush and started applying thin coats.

" Wallah if you mess it i'll kill you Abdessamad!" Yiu exclaimed, clearly jocking since he was applying the polish like a pro and it impressed you tbh. He pouted slightly, looking you in the eyes.

" This is how you treat who offered help! Nekkart lkhir"

The last remark made you laugh out loud, he was such a drama queen and you weren't complaining, you loved it.

" Alrighty, just kidding babe" you winked at him as he resumed his mission.

Minutes later, your other hands was all ready. You smiled looking at the result. White polish always suited you.

" Let me see m, luv" you switched your gaze to abde when he asked, gave him your hands to see, he smiled brightly at you, kissing your hands gently which caused some tinglings in your tummy.

" ghzalin, you're not going to polish your toe nails? Pretty please" he asked putting on his baby face which you scoffed, lightly smacking his shoulder.

" I'll just ruin them , i know" you stated, eyes boring onto his when an idea enlightened your mind " maybe you should do it since you are an expert" you exclaimed wiggling your eyebrows at him along with a mischievous smile decorating your lips.

" Gladly luv"

Abde then shifted his position, he was now sitting on the carpet facing you and crossing his legs, he put a pillow on his lap and gently placed you foot on it. He stopped his movements for a while analysing your feet, a question mark was forming itself upon his head.

" How can a feet be this size? I mean how do you walk properly without falling?" He blurted out his questions with a dumb face which lead you into some giggles, a music to his ear.

You leaned forward, cupping his face between your hands, placing a soft peck on his lips.

" No, the question is how can someone be this dumb and cute at the same time."

" No, i'm seriously talking answer me"

" Abdessamad, it's literally normal, i'm a girl after all , remember?"

He hummed shaking his head slightly "it makes sense"

"It does, now hurry up please, this position is not comfortable at all"

He started his errand, putting his full focus on the job he is committed to, you couldn't help but stare at his profile , your love for him couldn't get any warmer in your veins. Abde wasn't the same person in the media, he appeared to be a playboy, selfish and all. But in real life, he was the sweetest person to ever exist, especially around his family.

After a while he was done and pretty satisfied by the results, you kissed his cheek mumbling a thank you. He stretchd his arms and you couldn't help but stare at his biceps, i mean he was putting some extra efforts in the gym. He shifted in his position, still sitting on the carpet but his back was facing you this time, sitting between your parted legs. He throwed his head back on your lap, hands soothing in the soft skin of your legs. He groaned from the comfort he was receiving, especially when you runned your fingers through his soft thick hair, you noticed how long his hair got. You always loved his messy hair. You smiled at the idea that popped at in your head. You immediately got up, rushing to your bedroom, all under abde's confusing gaze. A minute after you came back with hairclips and a brush. He then realized what was going on inside this little head of yours.he just groaned, knowing well that he will not be able to escape his fate so he just surrendered. You sat in your previous spot, wrapping your legs around his middle. You began by sectioning his hair into two parts the you started braiding.

" Hey, you're hurting me, be gentle!!" Abde exclaimed, being the drama queen he is.

" I did ? Luv, that was my intention" you stated cheerfully and as a response he pinched your shin. You shook your head in disbelief " why would you do that? It hurts"

" Luv that was my intention" he responded sassily.

" I swear to god if it'll leave a mark you'll be dead. I'm warning you"

" Shut up and continue please i'm getting sleepy "

You decided to let it slide since he was doing you a favor already by letting you braid his hair.

A while after, you were done, the french braids you were planning in your mind wasn't the same on his head. It was all messy and the hair was escaping the braids. Nevertheless, it looked cute. " Turn around babe" he did as you commanded and you couldn't help but coo at how adorable he looked.

" Jiti fniwn al3ayl" he giggled at your comment, grabbing his phone to see his reflection in the front camera only to brust into laugh which you joined him.

You grabbed your phone to take some pics of him, for the sake of memories !

You squeezed his cheeks with one hand so his lips would look pouty, it was funny one. You both fit into giggles, and after a while he put his head on your tigh, yawning, he looked so tired and drained of energy. Your heart clenched for him , poor guy was tired, yet he didn't complain and let you did whatever your heart pleased. You flicked his cheek, drawing his attention to you.

"Hey babe, let's go to bed and cuddle? Hmm? " You whispered, smiling at the way he kissed your thigh,sign of approval and you guys made your way to your bedroom.

Labas 3liha : She's okay

Sellem 3liha : send her my regards

Lwalida: mother

Wallah: i swear to god

Nekkart lkhir: an expression to describe someone who ignores all the good things you've given him, selfish? Idk

Ghzalin: beautiful

Jiti fniwn : you look adorable

Al3ayl: It means boy, it's a word used in the north of morocco, a chamali dialect

[clownpi]

Fucken wild idea (you can use it if you want, I'll probs never make a fic in my life, I cant write for shit)

Jinx has a mental breakdown while living with Silco at like age 14 (before Vi gets out of prison) and thinks she's going to jinx Silco and getting independence for Zaun and pulls a journey to the west (yes I have been rereading the jttw don't @ me) and goes on a pilgrimage to find enlightenment/ how tf not to be a Jinx to everyone around me, everyone thinks she's fucken dead coz this was entirely impromptu, including Ekko and Zeri (she's there). And Jinx just kinda travels the world meeting new people making enemies and friends along the way including one "special" Demacian *wink* *wink*. She ultimately makes her way to shurima (note Janna has been guiding her journey) and finds like this sunken temple that was dedicated to Janna full of forgotten ancient relics and scripture detailing Zaun and Jannas history. And Jinx is all like tf do I do? And Janna visits her in her dreams and is like, daughter of mine, rewrite our old scripture and traditions into modern zauns language and once you've done become my priestess and bring back our culture to Zaun. And jinx is like seems legit and does that for like 2 and a half years (she's like 18 after this) and makes her way back to Zaun

Meanwhile back at the twin city's, Caitlyn broke Vi out of prison to help with her investigation, Vi finds out from sevika that jinx is probs dead, and Ekko basically confirms it, shit happens Zaun gets it's independence, a year goes by and Jinx 5 years older one pilgrimage and religious awakening later has finally made it back home to Zaun and Silco, Silco of course is ecstatic to have his daughter back and wants to show off to Zaun and Piltover that the princess and heir of Zaun has finally returned, Jinx is like umm dad, Ive had like a religious awakening and such and went on a pilgrimage across the world and I brought back a bunch of scripture of Janna and the church of the storm and I'm basically a priestess now can we umm get Jannas old church back up and running? Silco of course agrees, anything for his little girl. A gala at Piltover rolls around and what's the best way to announce the return of the princess of Zaun then to upstage a piltoven event? So Jinx and slico and the other chembarons go to the gala and guess who's there, Caitlyn, Vi, Ekko and Zeri also Lux and a bunch of Jinx's friends from around the world (jinx has so many political connections it's scary)

You can kinda imagine what happens next, Vi , Ekko and Zeri freak the fuck out, Jinx/powder is alive what? Ekko and Zeri are like do we need to fight she works for Silco, but this is a gala and Jinx is clearly been invited judging by her dress. While Vi is all like at first HOLY SHIT POWDER IS ALIVE, WHAT THE FUCK IS SILCO DOING WITH HER, WHY THE FUCK IS HE WITH HER, GET TF AWAY FROM MY SISTER! Jinx is like Vi wtf ,don't make a scene and drags her off. Caitlyn is all the while awkwardly standing there not really know what to do but be kinda excited to know that vis innocent baby sister is alive, and is like new sister pog as well as the fact she seems to be very close to a Crownguard who has been basically been a bodyguard and shadowed her the entire evening which can only mean good things(Ekko never had the heart to tell Vi jinx worked for Slico, and Vi just talked about her little sis to Cait all the time and Cait has gotten attached to her even tho she's never met her)

Eh can't be bothered to keep going, it's like past 12 am for me and I need to do work tomorrow

Night clown

We Prince of Egypt AU now, love it (I know the movie is based on the bible, but I've never read it so Prince of Egypt AU it is). Jinx having a spiritual journey just like Moses did while wandering through a desert.

You could almost cut everything and just focus on Shurima adventures too, especially if you wanted to have Jinx interaction with the colourful Shurima champs (or actively try to ignore them while doing her translations only to have them constantly bug her). Jinx could still have traveled all over the place, but you could keep it to backstory or references just to keep the story focused, anything you'd want more detail in could just be side stories.

Like Jinx has holed up in an old catacomb or something and just is constantly interrupted. Nasus could stop in to teach her how to read ancient Shuriman (useful, Jinx likes), which then makes Renekton come bursting in to fight (even when Nasus isn't there and after the first couple times of Jinx actually fearing for her life she just kinda gets used to it and tells him Nasus isn't there much to Renekton's disappointment).

Sivir could show up initially thinking it was a new tomb to explore only to find Jinx, somehow they hit it off and Sivir starts bugging her to raid tombs together since Jinx is an explosives expert + her lessons with Nasus means she can read ancient Shuriman and knows a lot about old architecture.

That could then lead Azir (leaning on his interactions with Sivir from LoR) to showing up trying to use Jinx as a means of getting close with Sivir or even just learning what she's doing, because she wants nothing to do with him. He'd just call her Scribe or something like "Scribe, how was my great granddaughters day? Did she....mention me at all?" Have Azir go off on "For your usefulness to me over the years I shall consider you an honorary Shuriman when Shurima finally rises to its true splendor under my rule! Feel pride in earning such a status Scribe! Maybe even Royal Scribe may be in your future should such usefulness continue!" to which Jinx just goes "Yeah sure, cool."

Taliyah could be the one normal friend she actually likes to see because when she see's Jinx is busy she'll just come back another time while leaving a note. They can go sand surfing together and Taliyah would deliver Jinx's mail correspondence with the other people she met on her journey to keep in touch.

Not really sure about the other Shuriman champions. Would be funny if Jinx went "You know, I think you're my favourite of all the Shuriman weirdos I've met, you keep things simple y'know?" towards Rammus who just responds with "OK" While with Amumu it's "Y'know I get you, but I'm still not hugging you. Maintain our agreed upon distance."

The reason so many years pass before Jinx finally leaves is because of the constant interruptions, but through it she ascends (hehe) to a level of patients not previously thought possible. She gets so used to dealing with the constant interruptions from these Gods and other powerful beings she doesn't even blink and just accepts it.

Upon actually returning to Zaun would be kinda funny if people were more weirded out at how incredibly mellow Jinx is than the fact she's actually back.

At that Gala would be where she could interact with the others she met on her journey. Everyone could be weirded out at the Shuriman delegates just approaching Jinx going "Scribe, Emperor Azir wishes to seek your wisdom on a most important topic. He wishes to know if you have any knowledge as to what Lady Sivir's favourite food might be? Emperor Azir wishes to gift her such for his upcoming visit."

Idk, does sound like a fun idea that I might possible look into doing something for (adding it to the pile ;-;) since Shurima is a pretty neat place which also bleeds into my childhood love of Egypt (I wanted to be an Egyptologist as a kid :3).

[missymurphy1985]

The Writer (part 10) Final Chapter - Epilogue

Warning - childbirth

Massive thank you goes out to @heidimoreton for your trust and faith with your idea - couldn't have done this without you 💖

Taglist @queenshelby @margoo0 @being-worthy @peakyscillian @peakyciills @janelongxox @elenavampire21 @noctvrnalmoth @ysmmsy @cloudofdisney @lauren-raines-x @namelesslosers @misscarolineshelby @screemqueen @cilleveryone @peaky-cillian @misselsbells06 @datewithgianni @heidimoreton @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch

It had been nearly a full year since that first encounter. Twelve months of pure bliss. Your roommate was married to your brother now, and had a job as Charlie's tutor - Thomas still hadn't allowed him back at the school so Laura had been hired as his home tutor. You'd moved into Arrow House when you discovered there was a mini Shelby on the way.

Flashback

"Y/n, come here..." Polly had been over that morning to help you make plans for Christmas dinner. Your brother and Laura were coming, along with the Shelby family, and you were panicking about the whole thing. You wanted it to be perfect. You entered the kitchen where Polly suddenly grabbed under your left breast, and you instantly pulled away.

"What are you doing?"

"Just stand still will you?"

"Stand still while my boyfriend's aunt gropes me??"

"Yes." You furrowed your brow in confusion but allowed her to continue.

"This isn't awkward at all Polly, wanna tell me what's going on?" Thomas walked in right at that moment, and froze instantly.

"Polly... Polly what are you doing?" He eyed her, but not suspiciously like you did. It was more of a 'knowing' kind of look.

"Well well Thomas.. hardly surprising considering you two can barely keep your hands off each other..." She smirked.

You were totally confused, darting your eyes between them

"Someone wanna enlighten me?"

Tommy looked to the floor, rubbing his eyes, before smiling. A huge grin, followed by a long sigh.

"Remember telling me you didn't have children with Jack because you thought you couldn't have them?" Polly asked and you nodded, still trying to work out what was going on.

"You weren't infertile, y/n." Tommy leaned against the door, his eyes slightly damp as he glanced at your stomach. The penny still hadn't dropped.

"Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?"

Tommy nodded at Polly who left the room, smiling to herself. Tommy pulled you over to him, his hands stroking your arms.

"After Grace died, I vowed never to love again. It felt like I would be cheating on her, disgracing her memory. She didn't need replacing, and I certainly couldn't replace her. When you lost Jack, you felt the same, which is exactly why I think fate brought us together. We discovered there was enough room in our hearts for another love. Now, it seems we need to make room for one more." His right hand took yours, and he placed them both over your stomach gently. The penny dropped, and your mouth hung open in stunned silence.

"I'm... I'm pregnant?"

"You are. Pol?" Polly came back in and threw her arms around you, squealing with delight.

"But I didn't think I could... Jack and I tried for years..."

"You clearly weren't the infertile one, y/n. I'd say you're around six weeks already, you're glowing! That's how I could tell," Polly had tears in her eyes, and you felt your emotions coming to the surface.

"I can just about handle one of you crying, both of you will send me over the edge, knock it off!" Thomas laughed, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve making your eyes water more, a choked sob leaving your chest.

He pulled you close, his chin resting on the top of your head as you sobbed with happiness into his shoulder.

"A baby..." You choked.

"Our baby. And now we know you can have them, don't think we're stopping here either," he winked, making you grin. You'd have a football team of Shelby's if you could.

Present Day

You were both lying in bed having a lazy Sunday morning. Tommy's hand drifting over your baby, still tucked warmly inside you but due to make her appearance in the next two weeks. Occasionally she would kick his hand - the clear bump visible making both of you smile.

"She's going to be famous - Polly told me," you grinned, clasping your hand over his, resting it where she'd kicked.

"She's going to be beautiful. Any thoughts on names?"

"Yes. What do you think of Jacqueline Grace?" You asked, nervously. A mix of the two people who'd brought you both together. He looked down at your belly, moving his body down to kiss it lightly, smiling.

"I love it. It's perfect.. thank you.."

You grimaced slightly as a sharp pain shot through your abdomen, you'd had a few over the last few days but put them down to over exertion - you'd refused to rest up like Tommy had ordered, continued the renovation planning of the house.

"You okay?" He asked as you tensed.

"Yes - Ada warned me about this, it's just my body preparing that's all, nothing to worry about." Your hand suddenly tightened on his as another pain gripped you, you sat up and gritted your teeth.

"Shit..." Tommy gasped as a sudden gush of water flooded the sheet underneath you. He looked to you, both of you panicking but smiling through the fear.

"Call Polly - I think your daughter wants to meet us a little earlier than planned!" He kissed you, then shot up and ran down the stairs to the phone in his office.

You stood up, walking round in circles, rubbing your belly as another wave of pain took over. You were doubled up, haunched over a chair when Tommy came back in the room, panting through the pain.

"She's out - Michael's out looking for her... We need to call a doctor -"

"No! I wanted this to be family only Thomas, I don't want doctors fussing or drugs, I can do this without them... Just rub my back, please.." he moved to your side, his hand stroking firmly over your lower back.

"I don't know what to do y/n!"

"You do as I need you to do, then when Polly gets here you can leave if you need to.."

"Not a chance am I letting you go through this alone - I'm staying right here if you'll let me?" You turned to him surprised, but nodded.

"Fuck... Tommy this really hurts..." Another wave of pain. "Take me downstairs, I need water..." He led you slowly down the stairs into the lounge, before fetching you a glass of water. You paced the room, the pressure in your pelvis was excruciating but you tried to remember Ada and Polly's advice as much as possible - breathing slowly, staying calm.

"Thomas where is she?!" You screamed, leaning over the back of the sofa. The contractions were coming quickly and getting more painful. Weren't these things supposed to take hours?? Days even??

"Come lie down, rest - you need to keep your strength up..." He lay you down on the floor, but you quickly realised that wasn't what you wanted. You moved into a kneeling position, your upper body resting against Tommy's chest as he breathed with you through each contraction.

"Tommy, I can feel her pushing down..." You panted. He suddenly took charge - lifting your nightdress up and ripping your panties away from you. Reaching a hand between your legs, he pulled away sharply.

"Then push - she's coming now whether Polly is here or not, I can feel her head - Push!"

You bore down, gripping onto his shoulders for support. The pain was stifling. His hand between your legs, he could feel his baby's head slowly pushing through.

Pulling away from you slightly, he grabbed a cushion from the sofa and placed it between your knees.

One of the maids must have heard the commotion, and she entered the room carrying a bowl of cool water and towels.

"Mr Shelby let me help, I've delivered three sisters..." He nodded, holding your nightdress up by your waist as Clara focussed on the baby.

"Thomas Shelby, you put that cock anywhere near me again and I'll cut it off, you hear me??"

"Shh now you know that's not true.... I've got you, come on... I'll breathe with you, eh?"

"Mrs Shelby you need to pant - do not push until I tell you to, okay?" Clara ordered.

Tommy leaned back, looking directly into your eyes.

"With me... Come on..." You found strength in those blue eyes, as he panted with you. Your eyes watering from the immense pain between your legs. "Stay with me, that's it, I've got you.."

"Heads out, push now Mrs Shelby!"

A scream left you as your body took over.

"How much more Clara?!" Tommy asked, desperate not to see you suffering any more.

"We're nearly there now, one more Mrs Shelby.."

"You hear that? One more and our girl is here. Jacqueline Grace will be here in her Mama's arms, come on baby, you can do this I know you can." You shook your head to protest but again your body defied you.

"Tom... Shit shit shit...." The wave of pain, tied with your exhaustion, was almost too much to bear. You couldn't take anymore, you could see the blood on Tommy's shoulders through his shirt where your nails had dug into him. You rested your head on his chest, focussing on his heart beat as he kissed your head. One scream from you, followed swiftly by a baby's cry from underneath you as you slumped against him, completely exhausted.

A few minutes went by, as Tommy eased you onto the floor between his legs, pulling your nightdress clean off you. You didn't care that Clara saw you completely bare - there wasn't much more she could have seen at that point. Just as you regained your senses, your baby girl was placed on your chest, having been checked and cleaned by your new favourite maid.

"Congratulations Mr and Mrs Shelby, she's perfectly healthy," she smiled, handing her to you. She instinctively searched for your breast, hungrily suckling from you as a wave of pure love took over. You could feel Tommy shuddering slightly underneath you, unashamedly crying as he watched his daughter feed.

"You were so brave.. so strong.. you blew me away y/n, I'm so fucking proud of you..."

Once you'd been cleaned up and moved back upstairs in bed, Polly arrived. She stopped in the doorway in shock, seeing you lying in bed sleepily as your husband swayed back and forth, Jacqueline in his arms dozing.

"Better late than never, eh Pol?" He laughed, handing his daughter to his Aunt. She choked holding the little one close, kissing the top of her head gently.

You tried so hard to stay awake but you could feel your eyelids growing heavy. A small kiss placed on the top of your head sealed the deal.

"Sleep now Mama. You'll need your rest, because I'm putting another one of those in you at the earliest opportunity."

[georgiapeach30513]

i miss Lo and Bunny

I'm assuming that you mean sexually...but they're never alone when they do that. Beau and Blade are always present, but they aren't always bystanders...

🖤🖤🖤🖤

Hung From The Ceiling

Summary:  time for some fun

Pairings:  Blade/Reader X Beau/Arleigh

Rating:  explicit

Warnings: explicit language, explicit sexual content, smut, PIV sex, unprotected sex, mentions of shibari, foursome, oral (F&M receiving), 18+ ONLY

Word Count:  2.2K

Desperate Lives AU Masterlist

Blade Drysdale Masterlist

Beau Adler Masterlist

Blade takes a slow drink of the brew from Arleigh, as she stares at him with her scrunched up smile. Beau’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist, while they wait on Blade’s opinion on their newest hobby, beer brewing.

“What did you brew this with?” he asks with a wink, passing the cup to you.

“Raspberries. Grew them myself,” she answers proudly, while Beau just nibbles at her neck. She turns to look at you while you drink the sour beer she came up with. “And?” she asks wanting to know your approval. 

You hardly have time to answer, it’s clear what is on everyone’s mind, when Beau grabs Arleigh’s hips, to lift her ass to his crotch. Only a small whimper comes out of her mouth, and even Blade smirks. “It’s really good Bunny.”

“I wanna tour of this big ass penthouse.”

“It’s just an apartment,” Blade’s voice is silky, as he bites his own lip watching Beau become slightly agitated by the change of topics. Not at all how he hoped this would go. And clearly Blade has the same thing on his mind. Letting you know he was tired of you and Bunny having all the fun.

“How come,” she steps out of Beau’s embrace and walks over to that room. “This door is never opened?” she wiggles at the handle, cocking an eyebrow up to you, while you bashfully look away. “It’s true, huh?”

“What’s that Bunny?” Blade pulls you closer to the the door, almost getting too close to her, making Beau walk over as well.

“What they say about the playboy Blade Drysdale. He was finally tamed, huh? But judging by the locked door, not tamed completely.”

“Rumors are just that. And it seems a breech of contract. By the way, Beau, will you grab that Manila file on the counter, I’ll be needing the two of you to sign an NDA,” he walks right up to her, and she gulps. While Beau is tall and toned, Blade is tall, toned, and wide. “So I’m not sure what you’ve heard. Enlighten me.”

“Uh, I’m just playing, Bladey.”

“You scared, Bunny? I won’t hurt you. Much. That is, after we go over some ground rules.”

“Man, what’s behind the fucking door?” Beau asks, but Blade only hands him a pen. “I’m not signing this. I don’t even know what it means.”

“It’s basic. Whatever you see behind this door, and whatever happens behind that door stays between us. If you want the camera turned on. The tape stays here, and you can watch it,” he turns on his Drysdale charm giving a big smile to them, while you giggle, walking back to the kitchen to grab a joint.

“As for the hurting part,” he nods at the paper. Stopping his train of thought, and Arleigh’s curiosity gets the best of her. Grabbing the pen she signs quickly and looks at Beau with pleading eyes. “Good girl. Beau? Bunny will be granted entry, but I’m afraid, I’ll have to ask you to leave. I have a reputation.”

“Of being a whore.”

“Of being smart. I come from a powerful family, and have made myself even more powerful. I could ruin your life with a few keys, but I really don’t want to. I enjoy whatever it is we’re doing between the four of us, and I would like to go further. I want to spoil my girl. She’s only had one dick.”

“What?” Beau’s Adam’s apple bobs and he looks over to Arleigh. “I love Bunny.”

“Sex doesn’t equate love. I love my Lolita. How many cocks have you had, Bunny?” your hand starts roaming over Blade and he lets out a lewd moan. “Just Beau’s huh? And I understand he wasn’t the most experienced. I’m giving all of you a gift.”

“Your cock,” Beau laughs at the absurdity of this conversation. “While impressive, not a gift.”

“Is it not though? Look, I’ve seen other guys’ dicks. Harry and I have swapped twins before. I literally watched you fuck your girl beside me. You don’t have to participate. But I wouldn’t take that choice from Bunny OR you can just watch us. I get off that too. But, still, you haven’t signed.”

“It’s a dungeon in there, huh?” Beau asks finally signing the paper. “I won’t be watching you, if you’re getting some, so will I,” his eyes scan your body, and Blade does a little shimmying dance, before his thumbprint opens up the room.

Arleigh’s eyes are the ones that roam around. Not too much to see, a few pulley systems, some artwork, and canvases of your body, in various forms of being tied up. One of your pussy dripping in pearls, another in that famous lingerie set that Story gave you. Even a reddened ass with a riders crop laying on it. “These all you?” Arleigh asks, walking up to one of Blade’s favorites. Your cunt pretty a wet, while that strand of pearls circles around your clit.

“Yeah,” sometimes you forget about the artwork that Blade has chosen to put up here. Getting very good with a camera himself, so nobody gets to see you. “Doesn’t look so sinister,” Beau says before opening up a closet of various dildos and vibrators. “Well, my Lolita isn’t in to everything. This room accommodates her needs now. Not mine,” his lips kiss up your neck, while he gropes at your tits. “I wanna see him wreck you, while I take care of that little bunny. Beau, you gonna know what to do with these big tits?”

“I’ve been with your…”

“Drop it now.”

“I can figure it out,” he hums out looking over your body, along with Arleigh. She goes between looking at you, and then scared to look over Blade. “You said ground rules?”

“Right, we’re not spilling in each other’s girls. Period. Not happening. You need a safe word? Lo’s is sugar cookie.

Beau looks at Blade seriously starting to rethink this, when he looks at the reinforced ceilings. “That’s a bit much for a first time.”

“Seeing your partner with someone else can be overwhelming. Don’t worry Bunny,” you and him both smirk, when she, too, looks at the ceiling, and on down to the swing. “Maybe not this time, but I’ll have you tied up. All of us taking turns feasting on that tight cunt. So sugar cookie okay, with everyone as the safe word?”

This is what made you fall for Blade. You see him in this strong intense role. So sure of himself and in his element. But on the flip side, you see him vulnerable and stuttering. It’s the most endearing thing about him.

“I’m okay with sugar cookie,” Arleigh whispers, leaving Beau to nod. “Where…” her eyes move around to everyone not wanting to overstep her bounds with everyone. “How does this start?”

“First, no kissing on the lips, unless it’s your significant other,” you respond, leaving Blade to walk behind you. Those sinful lips of his kissing your neck. Moving aside the strap of your shirt to kiss along your shoulders.

“No toy play, this time,” his voice moans on your skin. Let’s just have fun as four adults, enjoying each other’s bodies.”

“This time?” Arleigh cocks up her eyebrow.

“This time,” Blade confirms, leaving quickly from behind you, to grab at Arleigh tossing her onto the bed. “You need a cookie?”

You knew it the moment you saw her, and this confirms it. Her little body turns around, and her eyes glisten up at him, completely going into sub space. “No sir.”

“Good girl. Now,” he begins spreading her legs, reaching up to pull down her panties. Staring at drenched folds as he takes off his own shirt. “Be a good little slut and let me see those little titties.”

Arleigh’s hands remove her dress, and she sits there, completely entranced by Blade. Everything else in this room doesn’t matter. “Beau, I’m going to have a hard time trying to control everyone in this room. Take my girl, and fuck her. Suck on her titties, or finger her. I really don’t care. We all agreed to this. You need some more beer?” without another word, he buries himself into Arleigh’s cunt. Her body already fidgeting around with his expertise. Her hands weave in his hair, and she pulls him closer to her core, which only turns Blade on even more.

You turn around to look at Beau, “They shouldn’t be the only ones having fun, B,” timidly you grab at his hand, placing it on those itty bitty shorts, just so he knows how aroused this whole situation is making you. He lets out a lewd moan at the feeling, and you can hear Blade chuckle, leaving Arleigh gasping as he pulls away, “Thatta boy, now what are you going to do about how wet she it?”

Beau’s eyes look your body up and down, while Arleigh’s fingers stimulates her nipples. Her hips bucking, needing Blade’s devilish mouth, but he just watches you two. “I want you naked and on your knees.”

Not one to disobey, you do just that. Wiggling your ass, around, while your lips kiss along Arleigh’s nipple, traveling further up to nip around her lips, before her hands pull your face to hers. Her tongue darting out immediately, and the two of you make out. She giggles when you whimper in your mouth. Beau’s face finally buries in your cunt while, he sucks on your clit.

“Now this,” Blade slaps at Bunny’s pussy, “this is gonna be a fun night.”

Beau works at your bundle of nerves, pulling back only to shove three fingers in your tight channel. His eyes watching Arleigh play with your tits. It isn’t long until Blade’s mouth is pulled away, but he doesn’t want to leave Bunny too long.

Tapping on Beau, just so he can see Bunny’s face when another man splits her wide open for the first time. Her voice whines as Blade’s tip teases at her entrance. “You ready sweet little Bunny? You’re about to be gasping on my cock. Look at your boyfriend when I sink into this sweet pretty little pussy of,” he stops as the blunt head breaks through, Arleigh’s back arches off the bed, but her eyes stay trained on Beau, even whispering out his name. Her brows furrowed when Blade fully sheaths himself, and the two of you smile looking at her. You remember that feeling. The feeling of complete fullness when he bottoms out.

Blade not only has a glorious cock, he knows exactly how to use it. A bit arrogant when it comes to his member, so it’s no surprise he gets turned on so much by Bunny unable to figure out what to do.

Blade flicks his head at you, needing to see you get off on Arleigh’s tongue. “Enjoy the show, B.”

Crawling over her body, you settle down. Her body on overdrive with all the stimulation, so you grind your hips over her. Leaning forward to nastily make out with Blade, leaving Beau to slowly stroke his cock. Enjoying the two of you, even humming in agreement when your fingers rub over her swollen clit. “Beau, you want Bunny to have a front row seat to that pretty cock going into me?”

“I like the way you think,” his voice answers; low and gravelly as he settles behind you. Lifting your hips off of Arleigh’s face, and he smacks at his girlfriend’s face with his pretty cock. Beau has nothing to be ashamed of either. What he lacks in girth, he makes up in length. His tip runs through your folds before slowly sliding in.

To say it’s overwhelming would be an understatement. You had never felt another dick. Never dreamed anyone could compare to Blade. And here you were staring into Blade’s dark blue eyes while another man makes you whimper. Gripping firmly to your hips, Beau ruts into you. The four of you in a sinful pile, and you can’t wait to see what the rest of the night brings. ________________________________________________________________ Beau gives your ass a swift smack. His hips still pounding into you, but this time you’re choking on Blade’s cock. Your face covered in sweat and saliva as you bob over top of him.

You tilt up for a moment just to watch Arleigh grind over Blade’s face, her hands pressing firmly on his tatted chest, while this fingers pinch harshly on her nipples.

She leans over the two of you gasping into Beau’s mouth, while she races for yet another release. Beau harshly ruts into you, his own need to feel you clench around him.

Everyone’s mouths and genitals occupied, and the thought alone makes your belly heat up. Grabbing onto Blade’s thighs when you cum hard, but Beau doesn’t slow, just keeps with that harsh nasty pace, leaving you mewling over Blade’s cock, his own spunk filling your mouth up deliciously.

Arleigh’s body trembles over Blade, and he finally pushes her off him, sitting up to watch Beau fuck into you so hard.  Quickly he jerks out, and you feel your back heat up with his spend. Not skipping a beat Arleigh crawls over Blade to kiss his cum up off your back, moving back to your mouth, so you can taste him.

“Well that was fun, B,” she says with a blissed out satisfaction. “We’ll have to do this again. Next time, I wanna see you hung up from the ceiling.”

Masterlist

[lythea-creation]

Great Timing - Natasha Romanoff x fem reader (Chapter 3)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: treating injuries

word count: 1.741

----------

Natasha's PoV

She smiled at me and let me help her out of the car now.

When she was safe in my arms I wanted to hold her tighter, but did not want to hurt her even more.

“Hey. So you're the infamous (f/n)”, Bruce greeted my girlfriend when we arrived at the med bay.

“Infamous?”, she replied with a chuckle. “I doubt Nat talked a lot about me.”

I faked an outraged expression and sat her down on an examination table.

“She does talk a lot about you actually. Just not around the wrong people … like Tony and Sam. Their teasing is bad enough without any info”, he enlightened her with a wink. “So how about we take care of your injuries now?”

“Sure”, she agreed with a nod. “Feel free to cut up my shirt. I won't be able to take it off.”

Bruce sent me an encouraging and yet nervous smile at my worried glance.

“Tell me if you need a break”, he instructed her before destroying (f/n)'s shirt with some scissors.

The sight of her darkly bruised stomach made me furious.

I had had my fair share of bruises throughout my life and I knew how hard she must have been hit or kicked for it to look like this. It did not help that I also knew how much it hurt.

Bruce made a scan of her with one of Tony's devices. “Four broken ribs. But luckily no internal bleeding. Shouldn't lead to any complications as long as you take it slow. Your left shoulder is dislocated. We need to relocate it which means ...”

“Even more pain”, I finished his sentence.

My emerald eyes met her (e/c) ones. I could see the fear inside of them, although she tried to keep it together in front of Bruce.

I cupped her right cheek and gently stroke it with my thumb to comfort her.

“Usually it's simple to relocate, but I'm concerned about your broken ribs. So we need to fixate you in order to prevent further injuries”, Bruce explained.

(f/n) shook her head vehemently making me take my hand back. “No … no, Bruce. It's not about you, but please … I don't wanna be in such a helpless state again.” Tears were visible in her eyes.

He could clearly see the choking marks on her neck.

“I could hold you down”, I suggested.

It was an attempt. A daring one to see if she trusted me enough for this.

(f/n) nodded.

So I pushed her down gingerly.

When Bruce took a hold of her arm I tightened my grip on her right shoulder and left hip.

Pain was evident on her face. No matter how careful I was, it was impossible not to hurt her with my touch on her bruises.

“I will count to three and then relocate it. It will hurt a lot for a few seconds but after that it should feel better”, Bruce declared. “One ...”

He relocated it with a quick movement.

(f/n)'s scream gave me goosebumps.

“Sorry, but it's better if you don't expect it”, Bruce justified his lie.

“Nice way … to introduce me … to your friends, Nat”, (f/n) joked panting, getting a small smile from me and a chuckle from Bruce.

“There isn't anything else I can do for you. Just an ointment for the bruises and painkillers of course”, he announced and handed me two boxes. “And all in all you should rest of course. But it's also important to move around to make sure you can breathe properly. Take deep breaths whenever you think of it. It helps preventing chest infections. When you change the bandages make sure to wrap them loosely. Otherwise it will affect your breathing as well.”

“Got it”, (f/n) shot back before turning to me with a grin. “So I guess you won't have to carry me around all the time after all.”

“Do you seriously think he can keep me from spoiling you”, I joked. “Banner, we still need a blanket to cover her up on the way. Or do you expect me to show her around in her bra?”

Bruce handed me one after a pretty long search and I wrapped my girlfriend inside it before cradling her in my arms. “You can still walk later when you're properly dressed”, I decided.

“Wow. I get why babies love this”, she stated with a content sigh as she snuggled as close to me as possible.

I smiled down at her and carried her to my bed. “Don't fall asleep. I'll run us a bath”, I proposed.

Unfortunately I was out of basically everything. Since my relationship with (f/n) I had spent barely time here after all.

So I made my way toward Wanda and asked her for some supplies leading me to stand in her room a few minutes later.

“Actually I just discovered bath bombs, or rather Vision did. He bought me so many that it will probably take me a life time to use them all”, Wanda claimed laughing.

She presented me a big box full of … well they looked like different things. Some were balls, others had more creative shapes like cupcakes and animals.

“How's (f/n) doing?”, Wanda inquired.

“She's exhausted and in a lot of pain. But nothing that wouldn't heal”, I informed her.

I took a (f/c) ball out of the box because there were way too many choices.

Wanda smiled and let some shampoo fly over with her powers while putting the box away.

“I know about the situation. Layla allowed me to take a look at her memories. It feels like I know (f/n) already. She's a great choice”, Wanda noted. “I can't wait to meet her in person though.”

I nodded and thanked her for the supplies before returning to my sleeping girlfriend. I could not help but laugh at the sight.

Gently I shook her awake. “Hey, love. I told you not to fall asleep, didn't I?”

She groaned in pain when she tried to sit up, most likely too sleepy to remember her condition.

“Don't worry. I got you”, I reassured her and helped her lean against the headboard. “The bath should be ready thanks to Tony's expensive high tech equipment”, I announced and started to help her out of her clothes.

“I can do that myself”, she mumbled obviously embarrassed.

“I know, but you were told to rest. And usually you don't have a problem when I do it”, I reminded her with a grin.

“Don't say that if you don't want to break my order to rest”, she complained.

I laughed at her reaction and continued undressing her before doing the same with myself.

Then I pushed the bath bomb and the shampoo into one hand. So I could help her stand up and get into the bathroom more easily.

Carefully I sat down in the tub with her. Slipping was the last thing I wanted to risk.

I was sitting behind her to ensure she could sit comfortably.

We simply enjoyed the silence together for a while.

“I'm so tired”, she mumbled as she was leaning against me.

“Do you wanna get out and go to bed?”, I considered.

She shook her head. “No. I wanna go and see Layla. I bet she's upset and being surrounded by strangers at such a time won't help her with that.”

“You know I admire you for your empathy, but my selfish side really just wants you to take care of yourself … and maybe me”, I replied with a soft grin. “But I understand. Then let's get you ready.”

I washed our hair and helped her out until we were both dressed again and on the way to the living room where everyone was gathered.

(f/n) was clinging to my arm. Due to her stubbornness she had wanted to try walking completely on her own, but the pain had been more convincing than her wish to make a strong first impression on my friends.

“Hey guys! So … this is (f/n), my girlfriend as you know”, I introduced her.

Suddenly Wanda's magic surrounded (f/n). At first the latter tensed up but I could see her relaxing after a moment.

“It's just taking some pressure off your strained body making it easier to move around in your state”, Wanda explained. “I'm Wanda by the way.”

“I definitely know who you all are”, she shot back with a chuckle making Wanda, Steve and Sam smile.

“Of course you do! How could anyone not know us, especially me”, Tony joked. “But it's a shame we haven't met a few years ago when we were both single.”

Automatically my fist collided with his upper arm making him cry out.

“Ouch! What the hell! I was just kidding. I mean … she's hot. Don't get me wrong. But that's a compliment, isn't it?”

“I think you should shut up before it gets even worse”, Steve remarked.

“Nah … let him be. That should be fun to watch”, Sam interjected.

I sent Tony and Sam a glare that made them gulp.

“It's fine, Nat”, (f/n) reassured me while placing her head on my shoulder for a moment. “Where's the fun if they aren't allowed to enjoy some jokes and sarcasm? Then I'll feel like I have to spare them as well.”

“I like her already”, Tony exclaimed.

“Oh, but I almost forgot. Where's Layla?”, (f/n) wondered.

“She wanted to be alone. So I showed her to her room. It's on the same floor as Natasha's and yours”, Wanda enlightened me.

Then Wanda handed me the video tape. “I can help (f/n) to get there. I guess you wanna have a look at this. I already know what happened anyway.”

(f/n) immediately noticed my struggle and assured me that it was fine if I stayed here a little longer while she was talking to Layla.

And Wanda was one of the most caring people I knew … and one of the most powerful too. I could trust her to watch over my girlfriend for some time.

“See you later then”, (f/n) said before giving me a quick peck on the cheek and leaving with Wanda.

Next Chapter

[fics-n-stuff]

Home - Pt 2

For @glowstick-lesbian, request here

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Reader

Summary: After Y/N finally gets out hiding, it's time to sit down with Kaz and talk through whatever it is that's going on between them.

Word Count: 5.1k

Warnings: Brief talk of Jordie and Kaz's trauma and touch aversion

A/N: Wow this ended up being longer than I intended! I'm so sorry it's taken so long, I was focused on The Bastard's Shadow and Affluenza pts1 + 2, and then I started picking up more shifts at work and got writers block at the same time. I really hope you like how it turned out!! ❤❤

Pt1 here

After the very enlightening visit from Kaz, the days seemed to drag on even slower than before. The next two months went by in a crawl, and no matter how much you buried yourself in work you couldn’t distract from the longing you felt to get out of your apartment.

When your messenger came to deliver the news that your pursuers were willing to come to a truce you had been so happy that you’d gone straight to pour yourself a glass of whisky to celebrate. From then, you counted down the days until the meeting that you set up, the result of which should mean that you were free to roam the city again.

Inej had shown you how to get out of the window and onto the roof months ago. It was your escape route in case of an emergency, but you had used it every now and then just to sit on the roof and enjoy a taste of the outside world. That night, you had climbed out with intention and dressed in your finest coat.

You travelled over the rooftops towards the Government district, where your meeting had been arranged to take place near the Stadhall. The presence of the stadwatch would serve to protect you in case the deal went south.

You had been jittery with a mix of anxiety and excitement when you descended to street level and wended your way through the streets to find three men waiting for you at the Stadhall, all of them tall, broad and commanding. Barrel businessmen that you had crossed one too many times, and no doubt they had been angered that forcing you into hiding hadn’t put a stop to your business.

You were too smart to have not found a way around it; you had to be to run the business that you did. You owned three boarding houses and two bars in the Barrel and two ships that brought in imports from Ravka and Novyi Zem, a squaller as a permanent fixture on the crew of each to whom you paid a fair salary. You’d had Kaz put them under the protection of the Dregs to keep them safe from slavers. On top of all of that, you used your contacts in Ravka, Novyi Zem and other parts of Kerch to help get kids out of the Barrel and into honest work elsewhere. You might operate from the criminal underbelly of Ketterdam, but you made a mostly honest living.

The meeting took longer than you had anticipated. The three men were eager to negotiate territories that you couldn’t conduct business in and items that they didn’t want you to import because it was cutting into their own business. You held firm, you knew what was fair and you would be damned if you let anyone bully you into submission.

In the end, you essentially just agreed not to get in their way, which was easy enough to do. You wouldn’t actively compete with them in the sale of imported goods, and you wouldn’t try to convince any of the lads that they used as runners and grunts to get out of the Barrel. As long as you kept your distance from them you’d be fine, since they were clearly tired of chasing after you.

“Alright then, the deal is the deal.” You said, holding out your hand. All three shook hands with you in turn, echoing the phrase as was customary. When the man in the middle – clearly the leader and the last to shake with you – took your hand, you tightened your grip and leaned forward. “If you try to cheat me after this deal, you will have Dirtyhands to answer to.” You said lowly. He tried not to show his reaction but the fear in his eyes betrayed him, and you released his hand. It wasn’t often that you involved Kaz and his reputation in your affairs, but sometimes it paid to be friends with the most ruthless man in Ketterdam.

You left the meeting with your head held high and took a gondel back to the Barrel. You were approached by a few people who stayed in one of your boarding houses or drank in one of your bars on your walk to the Crow Club, telling you that they had been curious or worried about having not seen you around for so long. You didn’t engage in any conversation beyond polite acknowledgment, too eager to get to the Crow Club.

Inej was the only one that knew that you were getting out tonight. You had told her when she had come to deliver your food for the week and she had promised to try and keep everyone corralled at the Crow Club so that you could make a big entrance, but the later it got the less likely it was that she could keep them all there without raising suspicion.

You practically ran down the last street towards the Crow Club, bursting through the open door and searching the crowd for your friends. Jesper caught sight of you at the same moment that you spotted them all at the bar, and you saw his jaw drop in shock. A huge grin spread on your face as he set his drink down, his sudden change in demeanor getting the attention of the rest of the group and causing them to turn to follow his gaze.

“Y/N?” Jesper called, prompting you into as much of a sprint as you could manage across the crowded floor of the gambling hall. You vaulted yourself into him, wrapping your arms tightly around his lanky frame. “You’re back! How?” He exclaimed, and you laughed as you felt him hug you back and sweep you off of your feet.

“I had a meeting to call a truce. As of tonight I am a free person!”

“We missed you so much!” Nina grinned, prying Jesper’s arms off of you so that she could pull into a hug herself. “Why didn’t you tell us that you were finally coming out of hiding?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” You grinned, pulling away so that you could move to hug Wylan next. “I missed you guys so much too, you have no idea.” You caught sight of Kaz over Wylan’s shoulder, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. You pointed your smile at him and his lips twitched upwards before he cooled his expression and gave you a simple nod.

Your reunion was spirited to say the least, even Matthias couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you were back. You made them tell you about all of the most significant things that you had missed in the year that you had been trapped inside and update you on any power shifts between the Barrel gangs. Jesper wouldn’t shut up, Wylan was excited to tell you about all of the new explosives and weapons that he had developed, and Nina was making a list of places that she wanted to get lunch together to make up for lost time. It felt amazing to be with them all again.

“Okay! I want to play a few hands of Three Man Bramble before I go.” You announced, pushing your glass away from you after downing the last of its contents.

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Jesper grinned, slinging an arm around your shoulder and guiding you to a table.

It seemed apt that fortune seemed to be in your favour, winning so consistently that you continued to play even though you knew that you shouldn’t. It felt like every time that you looked up from the table you caught Kaz watching you, and his unashamed gaze made your heart flutter.

After a while you saw him give a slight nod towards the door, an action that meant that it was time to go, and you tucked you lip between you teeth as you gave a subtle nod back and turned your attention back to your cards.

“Unbelievable!” Jesper exclaimed upon seeing that you had won again. “I guess you’re catching up on a year’s worth of luck.”

“Perhaps, but I’m going to quit while I’m ahead.” You smiled, gathering up your winnings. “I need to go and breathe some more fresh air.” You pocketed half of your winnings and pushed the other half around the table to Jesper. “Not too much fun.”

“There’s no such thing as too much fun.” He beamed and pulled you to him so that he could plant a kiss on your cheek. “Good to have you back, Y/N.”

“Good to be back, Jes.” You winked before bounding back to the bar to say goodbye to the rest of your friends. Kaz had already disappeared, no doubt in an attempt to avoid drawing attention to the fact that you were leaving together.

“We’re going to get waffles tomorrow. I will break your door down if I have to.” Nina asserted, practically crushing your ribs in a hug. “Inej, you’re coming too.”

“What about me?” Wylan pouted, and you laughed.

“Everyone’s invited.” You replied, holding his face and turning it towards you so that you could press a soft kiss on his forehead before pulling him in for a hug. “I just got out, I want to spend time with you all!”

You kept your hug with Inej pretty short, considerate of the bad feelings that too much contact could stir up in her, and even managed to coax a hug from Matthias before you headed out. Kaz was waiting not far from the entrance and you smiled as you quickly made your way towards him

“Hey.” You chirped.

“You wanted it to be a surprise, huh?” He questioned, starting towards the Slat. You chuckled.

“I know you’re not a big fan of surprises, Kaz, but I thought this might be a fun one. Why? Were you offended that I told Inej and not you?”

“Did you have anyone go with you to your meeting?”

“No, I didn’t need any backup.”

“Things could have gone badly, and you didn’t tell anyone about it.”

“Well things didn’t go badly.” You rebutted. “I’m here, I’m fine, and I surprised you all.”

“You shouldn’t put yourself in danger like that.” Kaz said flatly, ignoring your point, and you groaned loudly at his stubbornness.

“If it makes you feel better, I made sure to drop your name in to intimidate them. But I can handle my own business.”

You hopped along the cobblestones playfully, irrationally happy to be back out on the filthy and foul smelling streets of the Barrel, but even the stink couldn’t dampen your joy at finally being free. You were sure that you and Kaz probably looked like a bizarre pair walking together now, him with his stoic exterior and identifying limp next to your childlike joy, though you had taken after him fashion wise with your smart attire and well-fitted, black coat.

Walking back to the Slat with Kaz took you in the opposite direction to your home – now that you were out of hiding you could finally return to where you actually lived in a house on the boundary of East Stave and the Zelver District – but you wanted to talk to Kaz, and he wouldn’t have asked you to leave with him if he didn’t want to talk to you too. Nevertheless, you continued the rest of the walk in silence.

When you got to the Slat, Kaz continued straight up to his room while you lingered on the ground floor to say hello to some of the Dregs that you were more friendly with. The noise of the Slat was unfamiliar to you after so long, but you had kind of missed the rowdiness of it.

You followed upstairs shortly after. Kaz had left his door ajar for you and you could see him sat at his desk through the opening.

“Shut the door behind you.” He said as you slipped inside, and you heard the door click as you push it shut after yourself.

“You wanna talk to me?” You questioned, walking over to lean on the side of the desk casually. “Or did you just want some time to look at my gorgeous face?” He did look up at you then, his eyes darting around to take in the entirety of your face, and you felt your heart flutter.

“How did your meeting go? What deals did you make?” He asked. You sighed. It wasn’t new that Kaz was asking about your business, he liked to know about what you were doing the same way that he liked to know about literally everything else, but you had hoped that this conversation would be a little less mundane than that. You had hoped that he might express an iota of joy that you were back.

“I can’t dock my ships in 3rd Harbour anymore.” You shrugged. “So I’ll stick to 2nd for imports going into the morning market, mostly 5th for everything else. There’s a few streets that I need to keep my business off of, and obviously I can’t try and undermine their operations anymore. That doesn’t mean that I won’t, it just means that I’ll be smarter about not getting caught.”

“And what do you get from them?”

“They leave me alone. I don’t need more than that. I mean, their terms are hardly going to impede my business anyway.”

“And your insurance?”

“You.” You smiled sweetly. “Very few people are bold enough to cross someone that has Kaz Brekker on side.”

“I thought you prided yourself on running an honest business.”

“I do. My association with you doesn’t make my business any less legit. I’m more honest than most of the Merchant Council anyway.”

“That’s fair.” He conceded with a slight nod.

Kaz had visited you a few times since the night that you had both let on about how much you cared about each other, but you hadn’t talked about it. It felt like the tension between you had been building and building like an elastic band ready to snap. It was driving you crazy.

“Anything else that you want to talk about?” You hinted. Kaz let out a long breath, his eyes sliding away from you for a moment. You could tell that he wanted to talk about it but he was struggling to get it out. “Because you haven’t told me that you’re glad I’m back yet.”

“I am glad that you’re back.” He affirmed, then he took a hard swallow. “We all missed you.” You smiled brightly at that.

You could hear the crows moving around on the half-roof outside of Kaz’s window and crossed the room to perch on the windowsill. There hadn’t been anywhere for the birds to land in the apartment that you had been cooped up in.

“Can I stay here for a while? I don’t want to be alone again just yet.” You said softly, tucking one knee up against your chest as you watched the birds through the glass.

“Sure.” Kaz answered.

You sat in silence for a while after that, which wasn’t unusual for you two. Before you had gone into hiding, you had spent many evenings with Kaz in his office just like this. Tonight felt different though. Something had opened between the two of you and now you couldn’t close it. The feeling permeated every corner of the room until you felt like you might explode if you didn’t break this silence, but, to your surprise, Kaz spoke first.

“I’ve been thinking about that day that I saw you outside the Crow Club.”

“Why?” You asked, blinking in surprise. Kaz was still facing forward at his desk, back turned to you, but his pen had stilled over the page.

“I watched you for a while, deciding whether to chase you off or recruit you for the Dregs.” He continued, ignoring your question. You were used to that too. “You were good at pickpocketing – you could spot a good mark, distracted them by pretending to beg for pennies – but you stayed in one place for too long.”

“I know, you told me at the time.” You smiled amusedly.

“I was just planning on telling you exactly that, but after I got your attention and you looked at me I knew that I had seen you before. It was in your eyes.” He turned around to look at you then, his gaze finding yours immediately. “Your eyes never changed.”

Kaz’s eyes had. Maybe that was why you hadn’t recognised him. Kaz Rietveld had eyes full of wonder and warmth, that were curious about everything and shone when he was happy. Kaz Brekker's eyes were cold, they held secrets. The curiosity had become analytical, and the shine had turned into a devious glint. Kaz Rietveld didn’t exist anymore, the R tattoo on Kaz’s bicep was the only relic of him, and you were the only one left to remember him.

“Crows remember the faces of those that are kind.” He finished softly.

“And that’s why you took me in? Because I was kind?”

“Because we were friends. We are friends.”

“Just friends?” You murmured, a challenge in your eyes. It wasn’t a provoking challenge, more of an encouraging one. You wanted to know where he stood and you wanted him to be able to tell you. He was silent for a long stretch.

“Would we ever be able to be more?” He asked. You knew what he meant. Kaz had built up so many walls that he didn’t know how to let down, and he knew that about himself. It was how he had survived, but it was a way of being that wasn’t very conducive to relationships. He didn’t think that he could do it.

“That depends on you.” You answered with a soft smile. “Because I’m not looking anywhere else.” Kaz swallowed and looked away quickly, but you swore that you had seen a hint of a blush in his cheeks.

A knock came at the door, and you cursed whoever was on the other side in your head.

“What is it?” Kaz called.

“There’s a man downstairs says he has a job for you.” Specht’s voice came through the wood. “Won’t talk to no one else but you.”

“I’ll be down in a minute.” Kaz replied, then muttered something under his breath bitterly. You heard the creak of Specht's retreating footsteps and Kaz turned to you. “Will you wait until I get back?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

You watched Kaz leave the room and let out a long sigh once the door had closed behind him. You were finally talking about whatever it was that was between the two of you and you just had to get interrupted.

You shed your coat, dropping it lazily on the floor next to you, and rolled up your shirt sleeves. Despite the pressure put on you from some members of the Dregs, you had never gotten the crow and cup tattoo on your forearm. You had known from the start that you didn’t want to belong to the gang, no matter how thankful you were for the help that Kaz had given you.

When you had realised who it really was that had approached you that night outside the Crow Club, you had been shocked. He knew your name when he spoke to you, though he had seemed unsure of it, and you had furrowed your brow and asked if you knew him.

“It’s Kaz.” He had said, and you had blinked.

“Kaz Rietveld?” You had whispered in disbelief. His jaw had clenched, his shoulders stiffened.

“That’s not my name anymore.” He snapped. “It’s Kaz Brekker now.”

When you asked him why he had changed his name he had simply told you that it was easier that way. When you asked him about why he was in Ketterdam he had answered that his father had died and they had sold the farm. When you asked about Jodie he didn’t answer.

He had walked you to the Slat, told you not to talk to anyone, and brought you up to this very room. You had trusted him enough to follow. Despite his proud presence in the Barrel, despite the fact that he was walking you into the den of a gang, despite the fact that he was almost unrecognisable from the Kaz that you knew as a child, you had trusted him. And in the years that followed, he had never broken that trust.

He had helped you pay for the first boarding house that you purchased, come with you to the bank when you took out the loan to buy your first ship, had come to the harbour to see you off the first time that you had gone to Ravka.

Kaz had once reminded you of something from your childhood while around the other Crows, and once it had slipped that you and Kaz had been friends when you were young, people were constantly asking you about what he had been like. He never told anybody anything about himself and people had been eager to find a source of information on him, but most people had quickly come to realise that you weren’t going to say anything either. Kaz had never thanked you for your discretion, but you knew that he was glad for it.

If you were honest with yourself, you had found yourself drawn to him ever since you got your first glimpse through his cold and uncaring exterior and saw his loyal and protective nature. The pull had only grown since.

Your thoughts were broken by the sound of the door opening, and you looked over to watch Kaz enter. The door clicked shut behind him and he moved to the wash basin directly across the room from the window that you were sat in, set down his cane and pulled off his gloves .

“A good job?” You asked. He shrugged.

“A job that I’ll do.” He answered and began unbuttoning his shirt. You tried not ogle as he pulled it off and picked up the washcloth from the basin, but you caught sight of a reddened stripe of raised skin across his side and furrowed your brows.

“When did that happen?”

“A few days ago.”

“How deep did it go?”

“Not too deep.”

“It doesn’t look like you stitched it up properly.”

“It’s fine.” He dismissed. You rolled your eyes and got up from the window ledge. Kaz never took proper care of himself but he was always too stubborn to admit it.

“Let me see.”

“I said it’s fine, Y/N-"

“Kaz.” You interrupted sternly, meeting his eyes in the mirror. “I said let me see.” He held your gaze for a moment before letting out a huff and raising his arm so that you could get a better view of the wound.

You kept your distance as you looked over the injury, but you could clearly see that the stitches were sloppy on the end of the gash towards his back; the side that he couldn’t reach easily himself.

“You’re keeping it clean?”

“I know how to treat a wound.” He grumbled.

“I know that you know how, that doesn’t mean that I actually trust you to do it. You didn’t even have it bandaged or anything, what if it gets infected?”

“It won’t, Y/N, stop worrying so much.”

“Well, if you’re not going to worry about yourself then somebody else has to.” You exasperated. “At least bandage it.” You didn’t wait for a reply before you crossed over to the cabinet where he kept his impressive stock of medical supplies and grabbed a roll of gauze. Kaz caught it grudgingly when you tossed it to him and set it to the side while he finished washing his torso.

“You worry too much.” He muttered.

“It’s good for you.” You smiled.

You watched him as he unrolled the gauze and wrapped it around his body, carefully laying it over the wound with pale fingers that you rarely saw. He was precise, but he couldn’t see his back and the bandage twisted as he moved it between his hands.

“It’s folded.” You told him softly, taking half a step towards him. “I can fix it... if you want.” There was a beat of silence before Kaz nodded slightly.

You moved towards him slowly and reached for him even slower, your eyes constantly flicking back to the mirror to gauge the reaction on Kaz’s face. Your fingertips barely brushed over his back as you unfolded the downturned piece of bandage and you immediately stepped away when you were done. It took no more than a few seconds, but you could hear Kaz’s short breaths and when you looked at him in the mirror you could see that he had paled.

You picked up the clean shirt that was laid on his bed and held it out to him at full arms length. His hand shook as he took it from you. He pulled it on quickly, making short work of the buttons, and pulled his gloves back on hastily.

“Sorry.” You mumbled, though you weren’t exactly sure what you were apologising for.

“It’s because of Jordie.” Kaz’s voice was hoarse when he spoke, his eyes trained on his shoes. “Why I can’t touch anyone. It’s because when he died...”

“You don’t have to tell me, Kaz.” You said softly when he trailed off. He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds.

“When Jordie died, I was sick too. It was the Queen's Lady plague. One night, I fell asleep in an alley and woke up on the Reaper's Barge.” He swallowed thickly, wringing his hands together thoughtlessly, and you could see sweat forming on his brow. “When my fever broke, I had to swim back to the harbour, and Jordie... whenever someone touches me, all I can feel is those corpses.”

Silence hung between you as you tried to find the words to respond. It was a lot of information to take in, but suddenly things made sense. Now you understood why Kaz had become the way that he was; why he was prone to shutting people out, why the light behind his eyes had dimmed.

“Kaz, I... I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s okay.” He muttered. “I have work to do. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.” He crossed the room to sit down at his desk, his movements tense. You watched him for a minute, unsure of what to do. It felt wrong to leave him alone right now, but you didn’t know if he would want you to stay.

“I’m sailing to Novyi Zem next week.” You said. It was the first topic that you could think of. “I’d really appreciate it if you could look over the rent ledgers while I’m gone.”

“Sure.” He replied flatly. Silence again.

“Will you come with us all to get waffles tomorrow?”

“I have work to do, and Nina didn’t invite me anyway.”

“Yeah, well, the celebration is for me and I’d really like for you to be there.” You smiled slightly. “She probably didn’t invite you because she knew you’d say no.”

“Smart of her.” Kaz responded, and you let out a frustrated huff.

“Don’t do that, Kaz. Don’t shut me out.” You complained. He didn’t answer at all. You folded your arms over your chest and went to stand beside his chair. “I don’t care that you can’t touch people, it doesn’t bother me. You went through trauma and that’s not your fault. What is bothering me is that you’re choosing to stay closed off to everyone. You can’t keep your walls up forever, you’ll kill yourself trying.”

“I can’t handle it, Y/N.” He snapped, his voice low. The gravel in his voice might have intimidated you into backing off if you weren’t so adamant on getting through to him.

“You’ll never be able to handle it if you don’t start trying.” You insisted. “Maybe if you’d just admit to yourself that you care about people it wouldn’t be so hard to see that we care about you too.”

Kaz pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tightly, and released a long breath. You watched him, waiting for a response, not backing down. After a moment of silence, he glanced up at you.

“I can’t need anyone.” He said slowly. “Not after Jordie. I can’t let myself need anyone else.”

“You don’t have to need me, Kaz. You just have to want me.” You replied softly. His head snapped towards you and you actually saw his pupils dilate for the few seconds that he held your gaze before quickly turning away again. You hadn’t meant it like that, but you weren’t upset that he’d heard it that way.

“I don’t deserve you.” He muttered. You leaned against his desk, a sympathetic smile on your face even though he wasn’t looking at you.

“I’ve been around this long, I’m not going anywhere.” You promised. “There’s more to love about you than you think.”

Kaz tapped on his desk with a finger, a nervous action that he would usually suppress. Then, he took a sharp inhale and turned back to you.

“Okay.” He breathed. “I can try.” You bit down on your tongue in an attempt to suppress your grin, but you couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across your face.

“That’s all I ask.” You lilted. You stood up straight, pushing off of the desk and starting across the room to the window. You rolled your shirt sleeves down and snatched your coat up from the floor. “I’m going to head home. I expect to see you at my door promptly at eleven bells tomorrow morning, ready to get waffles.”

“Alright.” He nodded, breathing a single light laugh.

“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

“Here, Y/N, these are for you.” He said quickly, picking up and couple of envelopes from his desk and holding them up for you. “You’ll have to make sure to notify your business partners of your change in mailing address.” You chuckled, going to take the letters from him, and he gave a small smirk as he handed them over.

“Thank you.” You smiled, before turning and heading to the door. “Eleven bells, Brekker. I know you’re a punctual man.”

“I’ll be there.” He affirmed. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Kaz.” You echoed softly before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind you, a fond smile on your lips.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Jack Bass x Younger!Reader || Oneshot

Title: Bass's.

Notes:

I have no idea when this is supposed to be set. Just go with it.

I have two things to say about Jack in this gif, though. 1. Does he not know how to carry a tray. And 2. I love this statement, here. Its like 'Bart's Dead, Chuck. I can barely contain my joy, Chuck. Its taking all my willpower, Chuck, to keep a monotonous expression. Also Chuck I am carrying a tray, do you see this?'

Plot: Bart Bass decides to be his creepy fucking self (Not that Jack is exponentially better in any way but whatever) towards you, Chuck's best friend- but thankfully, Jack accidentally walks in on the scene and gives you a get out of jail free card.

Good old 'lesser of two evils' shit. I love stuff like that.

Warnings: BART BASS being predatory, and a bit of age difference (You and Jack. I'm going by actors ages though so there's only a, like, 11 year age gap between him and Chuck which is not that bad if you ask me). Sexual references.

~~~

Chuck looks from his phone, that's flashing Blairs name, to you and your big, wide eyes and lips mouthing 'Don't you dare', then to his father quietly tapping away on his phone on the couch a few feet away... then back at his phone.

"Charles- " You hiss, prepared to threaten his very existence but he cuts you off first- slipping off the bar stool beside you and heading for the hallway.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Why am I friends with him again!? You think, but stay quiet and hope that Bart doesn't realise that you're back there despite having said hello to you earlier when he came in. You think, if you stay quiet like a mouse, he will forget your existence and keep texting until Chuck gets back- although, who knows how long he and Blair can go on for.

Depends what its about, honestly. If its about revenge or espionage... well, the conversation could last quite some time.

Should I just leave?

The impulse to run away is a strong one, as you sit there with your cheeks heating up and you start to feel nauseated. You never liked Bart Bass, from the moment you met him. Before that, actually. You had heard Chuck talking about him to Nate before you even became friends with them, and none of what you heard was good. And then you did meet him, one day when Chuck invited you over to do a school project. Or 'school project' as he so obnoxiously put it. You really did end up just doing a school project, though. Hence your friendship nowadays. Bart was creepy towards you even then, at 16 with terribly died hair and the wrong eyeshadow.

You've been very careful since then to never be alone with him like this. You would talk to him at parties if you were forced to, say hello to him when Chuck had you at his place and the man walked by, but that is the extent of your communication with the creep. Always, always, someone would be around. Chuck, mostly. But also staff, or Nate, or random fundraiser ladies, or Jack who Chuck the bastard never left alone with all willy-nilly like this, unfortunately, or Lily, or literally anyone else possible on the earth.

You've even hidden away in the men's bathroom, which is disgusting no matter how expensive the restaurant, with Nate before to get away from this man when Chuck once ditched you both at a dinner with him. And that's the story of how you got your first kiss, too, and it was from Nate Archibald. Hell yes.

That's how much this man makes you want to grab your bag and flee.

But you don't. You stay glued to your seat, super still, listening only to the tap-tap-tapping noises that Bart makes and the bump-bump-bump noises your heart is making right into your throbbing ears.

Until it stops.

Not the bump-bump-bumping, oh no. The tapping. And, nightmarishly, it's replaced by a groan and footsteps coming towards your turned back.

"Y/N," As soon as he says your name, his hands fall on your your shoulders and you literally jump under his touch. Shit- Shit- Fuck- what's happening- "I've been meaning to speak with you recently but Chuck- ah. Well you know him. He refused to share with me your telephone number. But I knew you'd turn up here at some point, so not to worry."

"Uh... right." You cant even force yourself to be your normal, cheery, polite self in this position. You just want him to get. off. of. you.

"Did you want a drink?" He asks, in that possibly cheery (But only because its slightly louder then his usual husk level) but mostly still scary voice he uses to convey emotion, letting go of you thankfully and rounding to the other side of the bar. You shake your head, though. He raises his brows, picking out a scotch for himself. "You don't drink? Shocking, seeing as you're friends with my son."

Oh I drink. You think, giving him a shrug. Just not in situations like this one. Also, what must he think of Chuck? Jesus Christ. For sure, your boy likes debauchery but what's wrong with that?

"Well, I like that." Bart pauses before pouring his drink, to appreciate you. "Mature."

Damn it. It makes your skin absolutely crawl.

"So... " You take a deep breath, tucking your hair back behind your ears rather then ruffling it back like you usually would to get it out of your face- lest that be recognised as some kind of extremely subtle form of flirting. God, fear makes you think weird things. "What did you want to discuss?"

"Oh- Just, your future. Where are you going to school? Will you be sticking close to us?"

Us? US? No, I'll be far far away, from you.

You don't really want to tell Bart where you're going to be going to school, because in your fear addled brain you know that that will just lead to 'Which campus?', or 'Where will you be staying?' and you really don't want it to go there.

You're just taking another, shakier deep breath, when the front door of the apartment opens and shuts loudly and set of feet trample down the hallway towards you. Immediately total relief plashes over you and you wipe your face. Oh, thank god.

Jack Bass appears in the doorway to the living room, looking as put-together yet somehow simultaneously still totally relaxed, as always, and forces aa polite smile onto his handsome face. "Brother. Y/N? Its good to see you."

You have no idea. "Good to see you too Jack. Uh- Chuck's in the bathroom."

"Thanks. For that... enlightening, information, Y/N. I needed that." You cheeks flare up in embarrassment, but ultimately you just roll your eyes as Jack flashes you a subtle wink, and turns promptly to his - much, - older brother. "Bart."

The older brother in question looks less then pleased at his baby brothers appearance in his home. Right now. And he possibly isn't thrilled about that little wink, either. Like you two are in on some kind of joke together. "Jack... What are you doing here?"

"Simmer down, bro. Just visiting." Even you know that that excuse is weak, but anything that comes out Jack's own monotonous voice right now is blessed where you're concerned so you certainly don't say anything. Or make any faces, which would be more appropriate. "Y/N, I don't think Bart-man here's too happy about my presence." Hm, no. You'd have to agree with that observation- not that you've looked up at Bart since Jack came in. You wont risk it. Jack glides through the room with the practised grace of a man who's lived 3 quarters of his life in suits and the other, happier quarter in board shorts, and ends up right next to your chair, an arm resting on the bench in front of you.

If you weren't already so nervous about Bart, you would blush about Jack.

"At least tell me you're glad to see me."

You grin, which is less forced then you thought it would be prior to trying it. Damn, he's good. You think, realising he just swepped in here and made you comfortable in less then 50 words. "Always, 'Uncle Jack'."

"Oh," He groans, like it physically pained him to hear you tease him like that. A tiny smirk even slips through his usually emotionless - well, not emotionless. He has one standing colour, that being sly, - stone statue of a face. "'Uncle Jack'- Please, stop. I'm barely a decade older then you."

That's enough to make anything else possible, inappropriate. Unfortunately. "Hey, I said I'm glad to see you." You wink, a bit sly yourself. "Count your blessings."

His grin widens a bit, like the dangerously charming Cheshire cat-type that he is. Genes that Chuck inherited, clearly, if his track record with girls say anything at all, but that Bart obviously missed out on. "You've got a point."

"She's a remarkable young woman." Bart pipes up, making your stomach tie itself up in knots again, and you immediately revert your gaze to your lap. Remarkable young woman... you want to barf. "Who, I was actually having a conversation with before you burst in here, unannounced." He takes a slow sip of his drink, then mutters. "And uninvited."

"Well that's great." Jack straightens up, clapping his hands together and finally showing his teeth in a smile. They're really freaken white, compared to his skin, deeply tanned by the hot Australian sun. "A visit would be kinda uncomfortable without a conversation; I'll join. I can converse with the best of 'em, Bart. I assure you."

"It was private." The old man sneers, thinking that he's got the upper hand on Jack, and all you can do is hope to god that he's wrong.

Jack turns his head back to look at you, and you meet his gaze tentatively. Your eyes scream, 'Please don't leave me alone with that guy'. He promptly looks back to Bart. "Well Bart why don't we ask the lady in the room what she wants? We are gentlemen here aren't we?" Then Jack makes a face, all crumpled up and unsure, for a moment. "Err. Well actually... 'gentleman' might be a bold faced lie. We'll ask anyway. Y/N! Do you mind if I weigh in here?"

"Not at all." You say quickly, flashing a tiny, thankful smile. He gives you another wink- this time actually subtle. So Bart didn't see it. Your smile gets a little bit bigger, relaxing. He's got you.

"Great." You watch him pull out the stool beside you, that Chuck - who has still not returned from his phone call with Blair. You assume some, likely cruel vengeance must be involved. Possibly involving that Humphrey guy, - had vacated and settles down in it. He then sets his arms firmly on the bench and looks up attentively at Bart, not breaking eye contact with him. Boy these Bass's like their stare downs. "So?" He prompts, expectantly. And a little arrogantly- a Bass speciality that you truly don't mind at all. "What's on the agenda, today?"

Bart glares heatedly, back.

~

Throughout the awkward discussion between the three of you, which your good friend Chuck has yet to return to discover - at this point you're resigned to him having climbed out the window and scaled the building probably, - , Jack constantly, skilfully changes the subject for you whenever Bart rears to close to somewhere uncomfortable. He makes jokes that make you laugh, he nudges you with his elbow at times - but never touches you any more then that, although you honestly wouldn't mind it if he did, - and takes the attention off you a lot. At times you truly thought you saw steam come out of Bart's ears.

When finally Bart gives up and excuses himself, saying he as an early dinner with Lily, you feel exhausted and relieved. After the door swings shut behind him, you cover your face with your hands and deeply sigh.

"So, what was that about? You looked like a trapped mouse. I recognise that look, I invented that look." You pull back slightly from your hands and glance over at him, to see him thoughtful for a moment. "Well, not by making it. By... causing... it... Either way, it was not good." He shakes his head, taking a sip of his own drink - scotch, - that he made Bart pour for him; Raising his eyebrows at you for an explanation over the rim of the glass.

Jack's always been great, like this. Even when he was horrible, he was the lesser of two evils between him and Bart. Good for a laugh and quality eye candy in a pinch- and that counts for a hell of a lot when it comes to surviving Bart Bass and the Upper East Side. And he had the power and pull of an adult, but knew what the hell was going on like one of you.

So he always made you feel at ease.

You ruffle your hair back, and sigh, straightening your back finally from their hunched over position they live in when you're uncomfortable and pushing back your shoulders. "He was just, saying some weird stuff... and Chuck disappeared to talk to Blair." At that, Jack nods in total understanding. Like ah, yeah. Got ya. Finally, you shrug. "He just makes me really uncomfortable. No offence, but I hate your brother."

As you watch Jack's eyes don't even flicker; He's totally on board with what you've said. Then he finishes the rest of his scotch in one gulp. "Ahh- I hate him too."

"As do we all." Chuck's voice suddenly pops up, as he appears in the doorway like Jack had earlier. You have to practice some serious self control so as to not laugh, at Chuck so coincidentally turning up again at the perfect moment to proclaim his hatred for his father. Jack grins back at Chuck coldly, nodding. Yeah. "Anyway, Y/N, I apologise but I'll be having to abandon you. Blair's waiting for me at her, empty, apartment." He pauses for a moment for dramatic effect, in perfect Chuck Bass fashion, and you roll your eyes, grinning. Jack smirks. "But you're welcome to stick around a while and help yourself to the amenities All on my tab, of course. Good to see you again, Jack." Then he pockets his phone and heads toward the door. The second Bass of the day leaves the building.

"Bye, nephew!" Jack waives as the elevator doors close behind Chuck then swiftly turns around back to you, to which you raise your eyebrows. "So, what do we do now?"

"I dunno." Shrugging you grin and turn your stool to angle your legs towards Jack. "When Chuck says those magical words 'All on my tab'," Those words, oh; You speak them with just as much raw, breathy sexual arousal as the man himself would. As the words demand. 'All on my tab'. Good lord, sex if they were words. "I tend to take advantage."

"An easy girl to please; That's what I like to see." Your cheeks flame up at those words out of Jack's mouth as he turns to look down at the room service menu. Yes, Jack Bass has toed the line, between platonic and flirtatious since the very moment you met the man... but that seemed a little bit more then toeing the line.

And you get a far different reaction to him doing it then you do the other Bass brother.

You don't even really mind the implications of his words.

"You're staying back with me?" You ask, feeling hopeful at the idea.

"Yeah well, I cant in, uh, good conscience," He makes a bit of a show to you, of pressing his hand to his chest totally earnestly as those words 'good conscience' come out of his mouth. "leave you here unguarded in case Bart comes back, can I? Besides, the way you said 'All on my tab'- man, you could sell moonshine at an AA meeting with that voice."

"Ha," You laugh, rolling your eyes and shaking your head. "Well, thanks."

"Oh. Don't thank me. You're just using what uh, your mama gave you. I actually encourage you totally, to do that more often- "

"No!" You exclaim, sighing in exasperation; But there is still a smile on your face you cant seem to shake. "For not leaving, today. When you walked in. It would've sucked if you had, not that I would've blamed you at all."

"Hey, just call me your knight in shining armour." He doesn't look up from the menu, flicking through it. Then turns to you with one of those beach boy/politician, toothless grins of his. "Besides you were automatically, my favourite person in the apartment. I mean, anyone with... uhhh- different, appendages to what I have, instantly gets a one-way ticket access to my rare bouts of chivalry. Now come over here, pick out what you want off here."

You just gape at him and that comment, making him stifle a laugh and return to the menu himself.

Bass's.

[knight-of-skyloft]

"Tumi was sent to scope out Mraize and bonded Rlain instead," now with quotes!

From I-2:

I will go, Mother, he said. To the tower, to this man Mraize, as you have promised.

Odium will see you, she replied. Odium will try to unmake you.

I know. But Odium must be distracted from you, as we discussed. I must find my own way, my own bond.

Go then, she said. But do not bond this human because of what I said. I merely promised to send a child to investigate options. There are other possibilities. Choose for yourself, not because I desire it.

So we have Sja-anat sending an enlightened mistspren to Urithiru for the express purpose of checking Mraize out. (This is clearly Tumi, although his name is not mentioned here.) Sja-anat makes it clear that he is not required to bond Mraize, and that he should make his own choice.

One could argue that this is typical Sja-anat double-talk, that she's basically saying "wink wink nudge nudge, bond Rlain instead" but 1. Renarin and Glys' conversation about needing more enlightened Truthwatchers hasn't happened yet, and 2. Sja-anat can't be lying for Odium's benefit, since Odium isn't supposed to know that Tumi is in Urithiru at all:

Once he'd found her windspren, and unmade them to lose their minds and memories, he would hopefully be content-- and not see the other child she'd sent.

Renarin and Glys talk about expanding their ranks in chapter 54, and the very next time we see Rlain-- chapter 60, when Venli speaks to him in prison-- Venli notices the "Voidspren" watching him.

When Tumi finally shows himself to Rlain in chapter 111, he says "I was sent to you by my mother, at the request of Renarin, Son of Thorns" but frankly if I was introducing myself to my new symbiotic partner I wouldn't immediately mention they weren't my first choice.

So the timeline of events seems to be:

-Sja-anat sends Tumi to Urithiru to investigate Mraize.

-Glys asks Renarin who he thinks would be a good enlightened Truthwatcher. Renarin puts Rlain's name forward. At some point his suggestion is passed on to Sja-anat, who then passes it on to Tumi, as an alternate option.

-Tumi begins watching Rlain.

-Tumi decides Mraize kinda sucks (because he has good taste) and approached Rlain for the bond instead (because he has EXCELLENT taste.)

[the-tiniest-one]

Parenting Rock Lee with Might Guy :)

Note:@xemaliahrssx here ya go! I hope it tastes just like you dreamed it would!

Sitting at the kitchen table, watching Guy and Lee devour the dinner you made, had you feeling nostalgic... You watched with your head rested on your hand. It was the little family moments that you appreciated more than anything else these days. "Yeah! and then I caught him in a cross block!" Lee said, describing their latest mission, his mouth full of food.

"Haha yes yes (y/n) you should have been there, our Rock Lee is becoming a real force to be reckoned with, much like his handsome sensei" Guy said with a wink in your direction.

"Handsome indeed" you said with a grin.

Thinking back to the days when you were a little more of a workaholic made you laugh. If you told your younger-self all those years ago that you would be Konoha's worst helicopter parent in just a few years, you'd have never believed it. Guy was a perfect match for you in that regard. You two were a well oiled machine when it came to parenting.

While Lee could do no wrong in your eyes, Guy was a bit heavy handed in his discipline of Lee's skills as a shinobi. You kissed every bruise and scrape, while Guy was teaching him how to prevent them in the first place.

Rock Lee has had more than his fair share of the short-end-of-the- shit-stick his entire life. BUT One could be forgiven for not recognizing the true level of hardship the boy has overcome in his short tenure as a shinobi. Lee is a true underdog.

Lucky for him, you've always been a bit of a sucker for an underdog.

You thought back to those early days......

Even before Lee evolved to a mini version of your childhood crush, you felt the need to protect him. Watching him fumble and practice jutsu in vain day after day.....early in the morning and into the night. You would watch him from a distance while training your own team. One early morning, you decided to check in on the boy with long black hair. He kicked at a post, counting off as you looked on...10....11.....12.....his kicks were weak even for his young age. As he got closer to 50 he fell back, overwhelmed by the pain of repetitively beating his shins into the wood without chakra to safeguard his bones.

Clearly angry at his situation, the thought occurred to you that maybe he wasn't using chakra because he couldn't....the boy had tears streaming from his eyes. It broke your heart to watch a kid who couldn't be more than 10, cursing his life.

"A kid working that hard shouldn't have to feel that defeated..." you said to yourself.

You felt conflicted. Torn between wanting to step in and takeover his training...but feeling the weight of responsibility that would come with encouraging a child to chase a pipedream that would only lead to disappointment. You knew all too well what happens to weak ninja. The reality was that it would be cruel to encourage the boy to peruse a life as dangerous as that of a shinobi. You were no slouch when it came to taijutsu but ninjas are able to compete with one another because of the advantages that come with developing kakai genki.

Could a boy with no use of chakra stand a chance against the generations of those families of ninja who use fearsome jutsu and tactics like lightning...wind....wood or even hereditary gifts like the dreaded sharingan or byakugen? The real answer was sad and harsh. No. He couldn't.

You wouldn't be so irresponsible as to tell the boy he could be anything but a failure.

If he perused that path, he would die young.

So you stood back, restraining the desire to comfort and nurture the little boy out of what you told yourself was mercy. Day after day, week after week....you watched on....until it became too much. You couldn't sleep anymore, couldn't function on missions the same way. Always thinking back to him still out at those training grounds.....always struggling.

....

One morning it was pouring rain. You called off training that day for your team and headed out to the place you knew he would be. He was there of course. He was doing his best to catch a cold while practicing hand signs to no avail. After watching him for a few minutes you finally asked, "What's your name kid?" speaking loud to project over the rain. Startled he looked up to where you stood, perched on a post a few feat away. "I...Im Rock Lee" he said timidly. You laughed at his shy but sweet face, "Im y/n" you said.

"Your kicks look like they could use some work", holding your palm about chest high, to show him where his blow should be landing. The boy grimaced...clearly angry with his lack of direction in training. You laughed and the both of you worked on his kicks for the duration of the morning.

"I think you'll be a splendid ninja someday" you said as you offered him a bit of lunch you packed. The boy looked up at you with the most heartbreaking fear in his eyes, "I can't use chakra" Lee said barley above a whisper, clearly ashamed to tell you the truth.

You ruffled his hair. "Look kid, life is shitty sometimes. But I can tell you are someone who will never quit. No matter the odds, and that is something worth more than all the talent in the world." He instantly smiled up at you, melting your heart for what would be the first of a million times. Laughing and showing you also first time you saw that shiny smile that you would come to love more that anything on earth.

From then on he was your responsibility. Your chest burned with pride in his concrete determination. Feeling instantly the protective burn and feral instinct to insulate him from anything that would hurt him.

....

It was about a year later when things evolved. You and Lee had become close. He, being an orphan as you found out he was, had taken your invitation to live in your spare bedroom. It wasn't long before you were nagging him to be sure and eat breakfast before class, take baths every night. You were often hearing your mothers voice echo in your own as you guided the child to a structure he lacked.

You even went to his parent meetings at the Academy, much to the surprise of Iruka (because he himself was 2 years older than you and had known you since you were smol) laughed when you asked to see Lee's reports.

----

Then one hot summer day you got the order... your team was dispatched on your first extended mission with your new genin. 3 months on a C rank mission to Suna. Your heart sank as you remembered Lee's graduation exam was in just a few days. Before you left, you kissed his forehead and promised a tearful Lee who had become just as attached as you over the last year, that would bring him back a graduation present.

You just knew he would finally pass.

....

Returning to the village near midnight you couldn't wait to see Lee. After giving report to Lord Third, you quickly made your way home. Quietly cracking the door to his bedroom, you peaked in to see his sweet little face. The snoring boy looked peaceful.

"He cut his hair?" you thought puzzled..."he must have done it himself, it looks a little odd." You laughed at the thought of him using a bowl to cut his hair.

Then your eyes traveled to the headband still around his forehead, "He passed!!!" you quietly celebrated, careful not to wake him up. You placed the promised gift on his dresser, a brand-new set of num-chuks you'd had made in Suna.

The next morning you were up before sunrise making a celebratory breakfast when an extreme round of knocking came from the apartment's front door.

You quickly answered, immediately flustered when on the other side was none other than Might Guy....the same Guy you'd had the hots for over a decade.

"Y/N!, I must have the wrong address! I was looking for one of my students!" Guy said in his familiar boisterous cadence. Laughing nervously you started to respond, when behind you Lee pushed his way through the doorframe. Your eyes widened at the sight.

The haircut made sense now, Lee stood side by side with his sensei. He was wearing Guy's jumpsuit... they could have been father and son.

Looking at the two of them standing side by side in front of you for the first time gave you the most jarring sense of dejavu.

"Guy sensei! Look what Y/N brought me from her most dangerous mission!" Lee brandished the weapon, beaming up at his teacher who laughed and winked in your direction. "Ah, a great choice! Only the most skilled ninja know how to use such a fine weapon! We must enlighten you at once Lee my boy!" With that the handsome jonin and your sweet Rock Lee were off to train.

You had known Guy since he was still struggling to gain entrance to the Academy, you knew that the man who radiated confidence today, only earned that ability through blood, sweat, and tears.

You apprehensively accepted that Might Guy was a good match to be Lee's sensei.

"Be careful!" you called, more than a little apprehensive at the thought of your sweet baby boy training with such an admittedly impulsive man. Feeling a small tug of sadness as you watched the two of them disappear down the street.

"Lee's getting tall..." you though as you closed the door.

....

Over the next few years Lee had grown into a strong young man. You felt such extreme pride in everything he did. Even though you being in your mid-twenties were not nearly old enough to be Lee's mother, he had taken to occasionally calling you mom.

Lee was never embarrassed of you as he grew into a teen like some of the other kids his age. He was always just as willing to give you a hug before a mission as the day you met him.

It would be a lie to say that the relationship you and Guy shared hadn't also matured along the way. Although you weren't Lee's biological parents, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that you were. Everything you had admired about Guy, his hot-bloodedness, his devotion to youthful perseverance, his love of his village had been passed down to your surrogate son.

It was only natural that you and Guy would become a team in raising Rock Lee. Over time after a few years of dinners, training sessions, birthdays, holidays etc...Guy decided to propose to you.

It was a literal dream come true. You couldn't say yes fast enough. But as required when two shinobi become married, when you went to sign the paperwork to make your marriage official, requesting a stamp of approval from Lady Tsunade....she extended to you a folder with a second set of forms.

Guy beamed as you read the contents. Adoption papers with Lee's name printed at the top in bold.

"He will always be our son. Since we are making it official... why not add one more?" Guy said with a laugh. The tears began welling in your eyes. "He's 17" you laughed, "I love you" is all you could think to say in response to the most kind gesture you have ever witnessed.

Guy held his trademark thumbs up high as he replied, "Lee will always need his mom, no matter how big he gets!" His words like music to your heart...

You'd never felt so complete as you walked hand in hand with Guy, on your way home to surprise your sweet son with the news.

Upon telling Lee what the two of you had done, he looked from the papers back to you. Confusion spread across the sweet ravenette's features. "But I do not understand" Lee said with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you not always been my mom?"

The innocent look in his eye and profound sincerity in his voice made tears well in your eyes for what felt like the tenth time that day. You laughed and swept he and Guy into a hug that didn't last long enough. "What's for dinner?" the two men asked in unison and in that moment you knew you were the luckiest person in the world.

[2manyfandoms2count]

The Black Cat Watering Can Affair

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Here's the first chapter of a Christmas-themed fic I started writing a while ago; as the title suggests, it was inspired by a black cat-shaped watering can (inspiration can strike in the unlikeliest places). I hope you'll enjoy it!

Read on AO3

---

Chapter 1: Chance is in the air

Marinette smiled happily as she walked beside Alya, the thin layer of snow creasing under her winter boots. There wasn’t much of it, and it would probably be gone by the next morning, but she made the most of it while it lasted. She looked up at the dark, clouded sky and watched the already scarce snowflakes gently descend.

She turned towards Alya, ready to gush about the incoming Christmas season. Her best friend’s sly grin as she typed away on her phone made her reconsider.

“What are you up to?” she asked, standing on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the screen.

“Nothing.” Her friend pocketed her phone with an angelic smile and hooked her arm through hers. “What a wonderful evening, don’t you think?”

“It is lovely.” Marinette’s eyes squinted in suspicion.

Alya was a little too excited about their window-shopping expedition. Not to mention, a little too glued to her phone, when her companion was right there .

She was about to shake the feeling that something else was going on when Alya let go of her arm and waved frantically at two male figures in the crowd in front of them.

“Oh, hey guys!” she exclaimed joyfully as Nino and Adrien walked towards them. “How crazy is it that we’re running into each other here, of all places?”

Marinette rolled her eyes at the poorly concealed wink Alya gave Nino as she quickly pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

“It’s such a great coincidence!” Adrien beamed as he kissed Marinette on both cheeks, oblivious to how clearly staged the encounter was, and to Marinette’s blushing. “We were about to go and check out the Christmas lights on the Champs Elysées, do you want to join us?”

“That sounds like an absolutely splendid idea.” Alya jabbed Marinette in the ribs, jolting her to nod. “Do you mind if we look around the shops for a bit first? I don’t have all of my gifts sorted yet, Marinette was going to help me pick some.”

“Yeah, no problem!” Adrien eyed Marinette. He was actually grateful for the opportunity to hang out with her, specifically. She was his giftee for the class secret Santa this year, but he drew a blank when it came to ideas. He wanted to give her something truly great, or at least something she needed. Maybe this little excursion could enlighten him.

Alya and Nino gave each other a knowing smile before walking ahead, giving their friends some privacy. Marinette buried her hands in her pockets and started to follow them, giving Adrien a small smile from behind her thick scarf.

“So…” she trailed off, trying to find a topic to fill the silence. “How are you enjoying the snow?”

“Oh, it’s great, I love the aesthetic of it.” He sighed happily, looking at the sky. “I think there’ll probably be enough of it in the garden to make a snowman.”

“Lucky you.” Her eyes twinkled. It was cute to see him so excited; she decided not to burst his bubble by telling him that the snow would most likely not last.

“I could ask my father if you can come and build one with me. I know it seems silly but-”

“It’s not silly at all!” she interrupted him. “I'd love to make a snowman with you.” She smiled warmly, meeting his eyes.

“Then it’s settled.” He grinned as he continued walking, a warm feeling spreading inside his chest at the thought of playing with Marinette in the snow.

He turned towards her, ready to ask if maybe they should invite Nino and Alya so they could have a snowball fight, when he realised his friend was no longer by his side. His smile melted into a worried frown, and he looked around to see where she’d disappeared.

He spotted her standing in front of a warmly lit shop, eyeing something in the window. He could tell she was repressing an excited smile as he retraced his steps to join her.

“Marinette?” He cleared his throat. She jumped, glancing briefly in his direction. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes!” She blushed a little, and he took in what she was eyeing so intently.

A black cat-shaped watering can.

It was perfect. Actually, purr-fect, as her partner would say. She’d been looking for something nice to get for Chat Noir for their not-so-secret Santa gift exchange (since it was just Ladybug and him), and here it was, centre stage of a shop window. He’d love it, she was sure.

“That’s a nice watering can.” Adrien prompted again, not daring to hope that maybe, purr-haps, she was thinking about Chat Noir.

“It is, isn’t it?” Marinette beamed. Adrien’s heart skipped a beat at her wide smile.

“Are you mentally adding it to your Christmas list?” he nudged her with his shoulder.

Marinette tensed up for a second, carefully weighing her options. On the one hand, she could go along with Adrien’s theory, which was truly handed on a silver platter. On the other hand, she could admit that it reminded her of someone and risk Adrien thinking that she was involved with Chat Noir.

She went with the safer bet.

“Yes. I know it’s not exactly the season, but I’ve actually been looking for a new watering can for my plants. This one looks very… special.”

She imagined Chat’s smile when he’d open her packet and realise that she’d seen something that had made her think of him.

“Maybe Santa will hear you.” He winked, and Marinette flushed a little.

“Oi, are you guys coming or what?” Alya’s voice sounded from further down the street.

“Shall we?” Adrien looked at Marinette, offering her his arm.

She gave the shop one last glance, quickly taking in its name, in case she couldn’t find her way back later.

“Let’s go.” She hooked her arm through his, trying not to think about how, from an outsider’s point of view, they probably looked like a couple.

[nerdzzone]

Only For A Moment: September

Summary: A series of shorter one shots from Chris and Whitney’s life together throughout the pandemic. Some happy times, some harder times, some fluff and some things a little more sexy - they work through it all as they try to get settled in their new and blossoming relationship.

Chris Evans x OFC

Part of the Once Bitten/More Hearts series

Only For A Moment: August

Note: I really liked writing this part so please let me know your thoughts!

-----

September 2020

Before the pandemic hit, we'd planned to send Grayson to preschool in the fall after he turned three. However, with the state of the world when the time arrived, it became a more complicated decision. We knew the benefits - we knew it would give him the opportunity to make friends and jumpstart his learning - but after many long, anxiety filled discussions, we decided to keep him home for another year. We didn't need it for childcare as neither of us had any work on the horizon and he still had another year before kindergarten so he wouldn't be missing out on preschool education completely. The risks just seemed to outweigh the benefits at that point in time given the case numbers in our area.

But not everyone had such an easy choice to make. People with older children had to educate them somehow - whether that be in person or online. In person classes had a much higher risk of exposure to the virus, but online classes were harder for children to focus on and required much more participation from the parents.

Carly had made the difficult choice to keep her kids at home and continue their online education, but it was proving to be harder than she'd anticipated. The kids were tired of learning through a computer and they missed their friends. Despite the risk of in person learning, they wanted to go back to school and were dragging their heels when it came to doing their work at home.

They started in August and by the middle of September, Carly was quickly losing her patience with all three of her children and, after a tearful phone call from his sister, Chris and I agreed to take them for an afternoon. They had some homework that we had to make sure they did, but Chris' goal was more related to sending them home with a renewed appreciation for their parents and a promise to keep working hard.

He'd picked them up just after lunch and given them a stern - but understanding - talking to on the way over to our place, but once they arrived he was back to being fun Uncle Chris and started their afternoon of school with gym class in the form of a soccer game. He ran them around the yard for over an hour before they wrapped up the game and came in for a snack. Then, the real school work started.

"So," Chris clapped. "What homework does everyone have?"

"Math..."

Ethan wrinkled his nose in disgust as he answered and his siblings nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, it's your lucky day!" Chris grinned. "Whitney happens to be a math whiz! She went to university to be an accountant."

It was hard not to laugh at the disgust on their faces and I was tempted to inform them of the fact that I had dropped out just to retain my status as their uncle's 'cool' girlfriend. I thought that information might not help inspire them to work though so I kept it to myself.

"Why did you do that?" Miles questioned. "That's so boring!"

"It doesn't have to be," I insisted. "Chris, why don't you take Gray to do a puzzle or something and we'll get this work out of the way?"

"Sure," Chris nodded, plucking Grayson off the stool he was sitting on and throwing the giggling child over his shoulder. "And remember, the faster the homework gets done, the faster we can get back to doing fun stuff!"

I waited until Chris had left the room before shooting a smile at the little students that I was left with.

"Okay, now that he's gone, I can show you the secret to making math fun," I told them, stretching up to grab a big jar of jelly beans from the top shelf of a cupboard. It was Chris' secret stash, but I was sure he wouldn't be too mad if I borrowed it. "You just need to find some motivation."

The kid's eyes went wide.

"Are those Uncle Chris'?" Ethan asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"Yep," I smiled. "So, let's hurry and get to work before he comes back and catches us."

I shot them a wink and they all scurried off to get their notebooks.

-

It was easier to incorporate the candy into Miles and Stella's math homework as in the younger grades, they were mostly doing addition and subtraction. I helped them use the jelly beans as counters and let them eat them after every few questions. For Ethan, it was a bit trickier. In sixth grade, he was getting more into the start of algebra and some harder level fractions which jelly beans were less useful in. Instead, we used them as motivation and he got to eat a couple of jelly beans for every row of questions he finished.

We almost got away with our jelly bean thievery, but just as the kids were packing up their books, I heard a gasp come from the doorway.

"Are those my jelly beans?!"

The kids all burst out laughing as I shot Chris a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry. They needed some encouragement..."

Chris shook his head, but the smile on his face told me that he wasn't really that upset.

"I trusted you," he scolded me. "Now I'll have to find a new hiding spot and you won't be informed of its whereabouts."

I pouted at that as Grayson scrambled up onto the stool beside me to get his hands in the candy before it was moved.

"You could just be nice and share," I pointed out. "Making them forbidden just makes them more tempting."

"Yeah, Uncle Chris," Ethan nodded in agreement. "Plus, you're always telling us that we have to share stuff."

"You're getting too smart, kid," Chris smiled at him. "But unfortunately for you, I'm still in charge which means you have to do as I say, not as I do."

Ethan rolled his eyes at that as Stella frowned.

"That's not fair!"

"That's life," Chris shrugged. "Now, who's going to help me make some dinner?"

Grayson and Stella threw their hands up in the air as I popped another jelly bean into my mouth.

"What are we having?"

"Pasketti!" Grayson enthusiastically informed me, earning a laugh from Chris as he ruffled his hair.

"Spaghetti," he clarified. "With Ma's recipe for the sauce."

"Ooh, yum!"

I stole one last jelly bean before putting the lid back on the jar. The kids all whined in protest, but if Chris was making dinner then I knew it was time for me to stop stuffing them with sugar.

We all stayed in the kitchen as Chris started getting things ready, giving the kids simple jobs to do like opening jars and the occasional stirring. Dinner was about halfway ready when Miles got a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Uncle Chris?" He questioned, getting Chris' attention. "Aren't you going to sing the spaghetti song?"

That piqued my interest and I raised an eyebrow at Chris whose cheeks were slightly pinker than they'd been moments before.

"What's the spaghetti song?"

"On Top of Spaghetti," Chris informed me as if I should know what he was talking about. I didn't and my face must have shown him that. "C'mon! You have to know it!"

"I can't say that I do," I shrugged. "You'll have to enlighten me."

"Daddy sings it every time we have pasketti!" Grayson informed me, still mispronouncing the word.

"Well, I think I need to learn it then," I smiled. "Go on, Chris. Let's hear it."

The kids all agreed with me, hassling him to start the song.

"Alright, alright," he agreed after a moment of resistance. His cheeks were still looking a little rosy with embarrassment as he took a deep breath and then began. "On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese. I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed..."

I watched - filled with an almost overwhelming sense of affection for him - as he sang through all the verses of the song. The kids joined in where they could and all of them were giggling by the time he was done.

"Again, again!"

Grayson started the chant, but they all joined in and with a smirk, I did too.

"Yes, Chris! Again, again!" I teased. "So I can film it for Instagram!"

"Ha-ha," Chris laughed sarcastically. "You're so funny, Whitney. There will be no filming of this performance."

"But just think how much your fans would love it," I smiled. "You'd melt the hearts of women all over the world."

Chris let out a laugh at that comment, but didn't have time to respond before the kids took over again, demanding another performance. Once he was sure that my phone was safely out of reach, he launched into another round of song.

-

By the time dinner was done and the kids were all settled in front of the TV watching a movie, my heart was feeling rather full. Seeing Chris with all the children and enjoying the afternoon of a house full of their joy and laughter had me feeling things I hadn't been entirely sure I was ready to contemplate yet.

As I sat at the island in the kitchen, sipping my second glass of wine as Chris finished loading the dishwasher, I broached the subject.

"Today has been really nice," I told him, my voice catching his attention in the quiet room. "Having a house full of kids."

That thought clearly gripped his interest as he spun around to face me, still drying his hands.

"Yeah?" The excitement in his voice was palpable. "We haven't talked about that, have we? Do you want more kids?"

"I do," I smiled at his overzealous reaction. "At least one more. I'd like Grayson to have a sibling. It seems lonely to make him grow up all alone."

"It does," he agreed. "I can't imagine growing up without siblings."

"What about you?" I asked. "I mean, I know you've mentioned in interviews that you want a big family, but is that real? Or just for the family man image that your fans love so much?"

Chris chuckled and shrugged, but there was something sheepish about the way he was looking at me.

"Honestly?" He paused as if waiting for a response, but it seemed unnecessary. We both knew I wouldn't want anything other than the truth in a moment like this. "I want at least two more, maybe even three. Hell, I'd have another one right now if you were willing."

I almost choked on the wine I was sipping as those words left his mouth, but as I placed my glass safely back on the counter, the coughing shifted into laughter.

"We can't have another one now," I protested. "We've only been together for like four months!"

"Five," he corrected with a soft smile. "And we were only together for one night before we had Gray and I think he's turned out alright."

He was right about that and I would have been lying if I said that the thought of another little baby didn't stir something inside me, but the more rational side of me came through.

"We can't just rush into another baby," I insisted. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but that's a big decision."

"I know it is," Chris assured me. "I'm half-kidding. I know it's not something we can rush into, but another part of me thinks it would be nice to have one now while we've got nothing else going on."

"That's true, but this pandemic won't last forever," I pointed out. "Even if you got me pregnant right now, you'll hopefully be working again before it would even be born. I'm not sure I could deal with Grayson and a newborn all by myself."

"Yeah, but some experts think this mess is gonna last for a few years still which would make this the perfect time to have a baby."

I shot him a look and he shrugged with a smirk.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I warned him. "Let's just see how this whole pandemic situation goes for a bit longer before we make any massive life plans."

"Alright, alright," Chris chuckled, coming around to my side of the island. He rested his chin on my shoulder and slid his arms around my waist, placing his hands on my stomach. "It would be nice though, wouldn't it? Having another little baby around. Another little mix of the two of us."

I could feel his breath on my neck as his voice was low in my ear and I had to admit that he was right. I was one of the lucky women who actually loved being pregnant and, despite how exhausting and stressful the newborn phase was, I did miss having a little baby around.

But my worries about our ability to co-parent if we split up were still lingering in my mind. They'd been eased slightly by how solid our relationship had been so far, but if it all fell apart, I was still worried about how we would cope. Adding another baby to that so soon seemed like a foolish thing to do.

"It would be nice," I agreed, letting my hands rest on top of his. "It will be nice, one day."

"Well, whenever you're ready," Chris paused to place a kiss on my neck. "Just let me know."

I smiled at his eagerness and turned my head to kiss his cheek.

"I will," I assured him. "And maybe, once the kids have gone home and Grayson's in bed, we could practice. Just so we know what we're doing when the time comes..."

"Oh, I know what I'm doing," Chris practically growled, his grip tightening around me to pull me closer against him. "Don't you worry about that."

I giggled at his confidence before wiggling out of his grasp and standing up from the stool I'd been sitting on.

"I'm not worried, but practice makes perfect, right?"

With a wink, I grabbed my wine and turned to leave the room and check on the kids. Our conversation had given me plenty to think about, but it was comforting as well. I had no doubts that one day I wanted to expand our little family and even if I wasn't quite ready yet, it was nice to know that Chris was on board.

The man was born to be a father, he excelled in every aspect of parenting, and I was grateful that I was the one who got to help him find that role and that I got to share the experience with him.

-

October + November [part one]

Tags:  @maggotzombie @moonlacebeam @mizzzpink @zaylaugh @flowery-mess @flowerjewels @njrronaldo7 @hockeychick10 @partypoison00 @theladybiers @sidepieces @firoozehmoon @patzammit @sparkledfirecracker @mytbel0st @chvntelle-99

[internalsealpanic]

Love Through the Ages (Jason Todd)

Summary:  Love like baggage needs to be declared.

a/n: This is part three of a series that is a fic rec list disguised as a fic. For these fics, most of the characters will be speaking different languages, so unless specified otherwise assume that the characters are speaking in the first language I mention. They’re all vampires with centuries under their belt. Why wouldn’t I make them all polyglots.  Also, thank you to the proof reading gang for putting up with my shenanigans.  I will have links to the fics I recommend in the fic itself. ALSO, y'all can thank @littleredwing89 for the poem that comes up.

Warnings: Everyone is dramatic.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist.

You tap at your phone screen, planting seeds in a satisfyingly hypnotic rhythm, the sounds of the train vacillating in and out of your periphery. It was soothing having your own compartment, a little world you can isolate yourself in while you anxiously await for the inevitable. 

It wasn’t a secret that you found Gotham stressful. It was about as much a secret as Tony Stark’s civilian identity. You pulled your knees up to your chest at the thought. Big cities were stressful but Gotham was a different beast entirely. It was a writhing monster of steel and smoke. You wrinkle your nose deciding to sweep the thought away. 

Instead, you concentrate on your plants and your farm. You wince looking at your journal. It looks like you’d forgotten another quest. Pursing your lips, you decide to turn your phone off for a bit and pretend the NPCs can sort it out on their own as you look out the window. 

You lean against the wall, pressing your cheek to the cool window. You can’t help but smile to yourself thinking of a sea of black curly hair interrupted by a shock of white, sea green eye perpetually alight with mischief or intelligence (9 times out of 10, you really couldn’t tell which it was.), freckles like star map, and a mouth permanently set in a cocky grin. It’s hard not to smile like an idiot when thinking of Jason Todd.  

   Your skirt flutters in the wind as you dance your way through the crowd, bobbing up and down on your tiptoes over the sea of humans. Sometimes the smell of them still makes your mouth water but not now, not when the smell of Gotham is so pungent in the air. 

You see a gloved hand wave at you on the other side of the crowd. You pin your sunhat against your head as you rush through the crowd, your luggage dragging behind you.

Jason waves a two fingered salute at  you in front of a motorcycle, his foot clearly stomping a cigarette. You toss your hat to him. It flutters over the crowd. Jason catches it easily, putting it on his own head. 

"Hey Princess, welcome back." Jason greets, the syllables of your native French gliding off of his tongue so easily. Fighting down a blush, you swallow your own greeting. Jason would have been a great ambassador in a different life were he not inclined to murder someone with a desert spoon for being a jackass.

He offers his hat back to you, but you shake your head. "You might freckle too much in Gotham's sunny weather." He gives you a hearty chuckle keeping the hat on. 

"Missed you too, princess."

You roll your eyes. Pinching your nose, you look around. "You forgot to tell me to bring a gas mask."

"Every city smells like this."

"Darling, you've been in Gotham for too long."

"And you've been in your French villa for too long." Jason says, putting his sunglasses on you. You glare at him through them.

"First of all, it's a cottage."

Jason snorts, "As if that makes a difference. It's still in the idyllic French countryside, isn't it?"

"I-" 

"I rest my case."

You cross your arms. "You're welcome to visit, you know?" It was a hopeful suggestion at best. 

"We both know the quiet will drive me crazy."

"I said visit," you say, "besides, I think the train ride alone would drive you up the wall." You remember how Jason is with tight spaces.

"Not with you there." Jason winks.

Your heart presses a bruise into your throat and you hate Jason Peter Todd all over again. 

"Ah yes, you plan on driving me mad. Evil. Truly evil of you." You say, grinning back at him. 

"Here's a wild idea, how bout we just not listen to Roy? How does that sound?" Jason gently suggests, handing you your offensively pink cup of caffeinated goop. Jason can smell the sickening amount of sweeteners added. He might gag. 

"Nope," you say, smiling at him as you slurp your ooze. Jason's stomach rolls. Alfred would have an aneurysm. "He was even nice enough to get us both tickets." You hand him one, fingers brushing against his. They felt calloused as they always did. Jason suppresses any oncoming reaction.

He instead turns his attention to the ticket in his hands. Love Through the Ages: Gotham Museum Exhibition on expressions of love. Jason runs through the numbers. "These are $59 each."

"So sweet of him, isn't it?" You chirp adorably.

Jason makes a mental note to kill both of you. "You're only going along with this cus you want to watch me suffer." Jason says, slumping his chair. His foot kicks out to tap your foot. 

"I'm doing it affectionately," you say, tapping his foot with yours. "Besides, it's a universal pass time at this point." You swirl your drink and grin at him. It was your real grin, all bright and eager and stupidly sweet. Something in Jason's chest twists. It's always hard to breathe when you smile at him but really Jason would rather all the oxygen in the atmosphere be burned up than see your smile disappear. 

He sounds dramatic and he knows that but still he knows it's true.

"C'mon Jay, it'll be fun."

Shoulders slouched, Jason smiles at you indulgently. "Fun for who?"

"Mainly me but you can have fun too."

"You are so lucky you're adorable when you're being evil."

Your smile brightens and with a tap of his foot against yours, he thinks he'll survive whatever Roy has in store for him.

You and Jason have been walking around the museum for quite a bit with Jason's arm wrapped tightly around your shoulders and homicide radiating off of him every time someone even looks at you funny. He'd said that the arm slung around your shoulder was so that you wouldn't get lost. As for the homicide,  he elected to ignore the question entirely. 

You flush as Jason quotes another line from 'Master Valentine' back to you. You definitely regret letting him house sit. You regret even more not hiding your books. You squirm as Jason whispers the quote in your ear in a husky drawl. The erotica in the book is amazing and you're normally comfortable with talking to Jason about everything, but this- this was just cruel and unusual punishment. It's what you get for trying to make him suffer.

All the pet names he murmured in your ear crawled up your spine. You shove his face away hiding your own in your sleeve. He laughs into your hand enjoying your sudden bout of shyness.

Jason mumbles a half-hearted apology into your hand, pressing a soft kiss into your palm. You lower your head. You're still clearly avoiding his gaze but you let him press you to his side. Jason Todd is an asshole.

You point to a pair of ice skates so well worn and well loved that you almost miss the little penguins stitched on the side. "Love on the ice? That's so cute!"

Jason glances at them with mild interest. "Sounds like hypothermia." He says, shrugging. 

Swatting at his chest, you pout at him. He rolls his eyes nudging your shoulder with his. You scowl at him and stick your tongue out. Jason leans down, unable to stop the urge to press a kiss to your brow. You scowl even harder. 

"Admit it, doll. The whole exhibition is just Dickie's favorite fanfiction tropes."

"Professor Todd, be a dear and enlighten my troglodyte ass."

He snorts, "Princess, if I was a professor we both know I'd have the highest attendance rate."

"And the highest failure rate." You say cocking a brow. 

"Probably."

"You're terribly humble today."

"I just know I look good."

No, you don't, you think. You shake your head. "That explains the leather jacket."

"You love my leather jacket."

"Well, Biscuit certainly loved your previous one."

Jason wrinkled his nose thinking of the yellow disaster. "That dog was a menace."

"She is the sweetest creature on earth."

"She destroyed my jacket and ate my wallet AND phone."

"I never said she was smart... wait, we're getting off topic."

Jason narrows his eyes at you then points to a crown. It was an intricate lattice of silvers and golds with diamonds that glittered like starlight. "Royal AU," he says simply, "go on read the description."

"A prince and a princess from rival nations are bound by a marriage of convenience. Through a series of missteps. They fell for each other.... that one was pretty easy. Do it again."

He points to a blue feather. "Mythology AU."

You arch a brow at him. He waves at it, urging you to read. "A god descended to earth to be with his mortal lover only for him to lose his memories of her." The feather's glow is incandescent. You can feel the power radiating off of it, a sure sign of divinity.

Once, you would have brushed it off as mere story. You've spent more than twice your lifetime now dipped into the world of myths. You glance at Jason.  Simple divinity no longer fazes you.

"See?"

"I- Nope."

"You're just being stubborn."

"Would you have been my friend if I wasn't?" Would you have saved me if I wasn't?

You think Jason hears your unspoken question when he frowns. Instead, he turns on his heel to face the other direction. He points to a bouquet of wilted roses tied together by a green ribbon. They still smell of blood and something you couldn't identify.  Your eyes drift down curious. Your eyes trace over the words feeling your stomach tumble.

"Gruesome." Jason vocalizes inanely. He hooks his head on the crown of your head, neatly slotting your body under his. You're safe, surrounded by walls of muscle. The crease in your brow softens. You would think that Jason would be less protective after you'd turned but now that you were a vampire, he was somehow even more protective. Roy always joked you only got Biscuit and your other dogs as lap dogs because you already had Jason. He may not have been too off on his guess.

"This should be in a horror exhibit," you say leaning into Jason's chest, "kind of reminds me of you though." You tilt your head up grinning at him. 

"If you make a joke about me being jack the ripper again, I swear I'll-"

"-Bury me alive 6 feet under concrete with a recording of Roy singing Auld Lang Syne in a terrible British accent. Got it. What I meant was... you're just as protective as the man in the story." You say, smiling at him. 

For good reason, Jason thinks. 

Jason buries half of his face in your hair, hiding his answering smile. You smell like sugar and cinnamon. It's a familiar combination of smells that puts him at ease despite the atrocious amount of people in the museum.

You point to another artifact, afraid that you'd accidentally picked at an old wound. 

"Star-crossed lovers." He mumbles into your hair. 

"Bullshit!"

"Read it and weep, doll."

You read the plaque and the words 'meet' and 'different world' assault your eyes. You scowl at him. "Fuck you."

The grin on Jason's face is genuine. It makes something in your veins sing knowing how much fun he's having. 

Your face softens. "You really love this romance stuff, huh?"

Jason narrows his eyes at you.

"You were the one bawling your eyes out when we binged Spaces Between Us. Who the hell cries during erotica?"

"IT'S TRUE LOVE AND YOU KNOW IT IN YOUR SOUL," you protest, pounding your fist against his chest,"besides, you're the one who was crying nonstop when we watched the IDHY duology."

"I was crying because they were accurate book adaptations."

You blink at him confused. "There's a book?"

"Yes, you illiterate heathen."

"You sound like a conquistador."

“....”

"At least they got their happy ending." You say, changing the subject.  

"That's true."

"Still better than Titanic."

He furrows his brow at you. "What's wrong with the Titanic?"

"First of all," You pitch your shoulders like you're about to give him a lecture, "That was 3 hours of my life wasted on a shitty movie. It wasn't even that accurate."

"Princess, not everyone can survive the Arctic."

"And second, the most romantic scene in that romantic movie was the old couple staying together as they sank."

Jason laughs, a deep rumbling sound. It scrambles your brain, almost dissolving your annoyance until he opens his mouth again. "You sound like Damian."

"Jason Peter Todd, take that back." You screech, swiping at him. 

He jumps back, his laughter still echoing. "Stop sounding like the demon brat first."

You run after him, telegraphing your murderous intent. Jason walks away faster, sticking his tongue out at you. Your growl and claw at the air. You screech obscenities as Jason continues to evade you. He is having way too much fun with this. 

You chase Jason around the exhibition for a solid half hour before you come to a skittering halt.

Your eyes land on a vermillion book, leather bound and carefully crafted by skilled hands. You step closer to admire the swirling, arabesque patterns lining the leather. No title is embossed on the front.  It's thick. You would wager it was at least 400 pages.

Your eyes drift down even further, finding a  familiar scrawl. Below the book were photocopies of some of the pages. Pablo Neruda's 'If You Forget me', Beethoven's 'Immortal beloved', Ibn Hazm's 'My Heart', and a bunch of other poets you didn't know but recognized as ...

"Jason these are your favorites."

"What?" He says, walking over to you cautiously.

You look back down at the pages and your eyes catch on the one in the middle. From the numbering, it was the last.

Love is such a hard thing to define,

I don’t know if I could ever find,

The words to truly express the complexity of such an emotion.

It is an emotion felt in the heart,

Long before it makes sense to the mind,

illusive and uncertain until suddenly it just clicks.

Like so many things in this world,

we tend to know it when we see it in others,

even if we can’t be sure of it ourselves.

I think I’ve always known how much I love you,

When I look at you, 

I see everything I’ve ever wanted.

When I look at you,

I see nothing else but your perfect beauty.

Inside and out.

I'm not a poet, (Y/n), but I will tell you anyway I can how much I love you.

-Jason Peter Todd

Jason is a stone next to you.

His mouth is filled with sand as he looks at the far too familiar handwriting. He knew. He knew the moment he saw the red book what it was. Hell, the moment you told Jason it was Roy who told you to go to the museum, he knew what it was. God, why can't he just turn to ash. 

Jason can't make himself turn to you. He can't bear to see what ever disgusted expression you make. He just can't. 

He feels a tug on his sleeve. He doesn't move. He  feels another tug, this time harder. When he doesn't respond the second time, you lace your fingers in his and spin him around. 

You squish his cheeks in your hands. "Jason, you actual sap." You say. You look like you're glowing. You beam at him, all toothy and scrunched faced. Jason's lungs stop working again. His mind can't process what you're saying. All Jason knows is that something warm is crowding his chest, pushing everything else out.

"Wha?"

"Jason, you absolute dork!" You repeat, unfazed by his temporary bout of insanity.

Jason is blushing, looking like a strawberry with his freckles. Jason is more adorable than anyone has any right to be. But that's ok. That's perfectly ok cus he's yours.

In a moment of uncontained affection, you pull Jason to you, pressing a kiss against his lips. It's soft and earnest and exciting. It was a kiss Jason spent lifetimes dreaming about. It was you and completely you.

"Jay, they're beautiful." You say in a breathless laugh. 

Jason looked down at his feet. "I-" was never planning on giving it to you, he thinks. Because, why would you ever love someone like Jason? Especially, after what he'd done to you. 

As if reading his mind, you press your forehead against his. "I love you too, Jay, and you can't argue me out of it. Sorry bud, you're stuck with me."

Jason can't help the smile as it curls on his lips.

He's happy. He's so stupidly happy and he blames you.

"Plus, I already knew."

"Why didn't you say it first?" He asks, his fingers brushing against his tingling lips. 

"Cus," you say, pirouetting away from him, "you wouldn't believe me if I did."

"How-"

You put your hand up. "Trust me, Jay. I've tried before." You tilt your head back looking up at the sky light. The curtain of light fell on you like a spotlight highlighting everything ethereal about you. "Remember in Milan? When I told you I cared about you and you told me I didn't."

Jason remembered that. He was angrier back then. He snarled that to you like some wild animal and threatened to throw you out on your ass if you ever so much as spoke a word of that nonsense again. It was the first time he'd seen you look hurt. You face was wide open with shock.  Jason felt something in his chest tear at that look. He stormed off, leaving you in that room. 

When he came back, you offered him warm tea and a smile. You were quiet, inconsolably quiet.

It didn't…

He didn't…

It didn't occur to him that look in your eyes was heartbreak.

Jason curses under his breath.

You chortle at him, the mirth in your eyes incandescent.

"Yeah. Exactly." You say, clasping your hands behind your back. Jason would like to be buried six feet under with the only words carved into his gravestone 'I am so sorry (Y/n)'.

You snick seeing the look in his eyes. "Or that time in Paris. The one in the little patisserie when I told you in perfect Catalan that you meant more to me than anything else and do you remember what you told me?"

"I told you you were possessed." Jason's shoulders slump. "Please tell me you don't have a third example."

You smile at him pityingly. "I don't-"

"OH THANK FU-"

"I have 50. Well, 51 but the last one didn't count since I was joking that time."

In Jason's mind, his jaw hits the obsidian floor with an audible 'plop'. It would be loud enough that the entire museum would hear it were it real. He blinks at you. "You tried more than 10 times?"

"I was encouraged." You say shrugging.

"Of course, you were," he grumbles and you laugh. Jason's heart skips a beat but he pushes past the feeling in favor of pleading with you. "Please don't list them."

"Oh, I'm not." You hum. 

Jason sighs with relief. 

"I'm gonna leave that to Roy."

"Son of a- He knows?"

You look over your shoulder. "Yeah. Who do you think I complain to?"

"Who else knows?" He asks, trailing behind you as you walk to .... Jason doesn't know at this point and he doubts you do too. 

"Oh just your family."

"I'm surprised they haven't given me shit about it."

"Oh I bullied them into not doing it."

"Impressive." He whistles and you preen. 

"Always," you say smugly. You begin to walk a bit faster, craning your neck. "Now, let's go find out if Dickie installed that bakery I asked for." 

"That's what you're after?" Jason laughs.

"It's a noble goal." You protest. 

"You don't even need to feed."

"I need to feed my inner sweets monster. She's very fussy and is demanding crepes specifically."

Jason smiles softly at you, amused that of all the human traits you could have retained after being turned was a sweet tooth.

"Sorry to tell you doll face, Dickie still hasn't done it."

You look aghast like he'd slapped you in the face with a large baguette. 

"What?!"

"He hasn't put in your suggestion from 10 years ago."

"Where am I supposed to get my fix?"

"Are we still talking about sweets or have you moved on to cocaine?"

"Dunno, have you tried snorting sugar?"

"No. Why- Have you?"

"...my lawyer advised against answering this question."

Jason cackles. "How am I the stupid one?"

"I-" Your scowl turns sickeningly sweet. "Yanno, the third time I tried was when-"

"OK. Stop." Jason's face lights up again. "I give." 

"Pfff." You smile, looking far too pleased with yourself.

Jason straightens up, something sly passing through his eyes. You stop. The look in his eyes makes you nervous. 

"I think I know where you can get something sweet."

You swallow nervously.

Jason leans in. He’s so close to you. You can feel his breath brush against your lips. Nothing else around you seems to exist at the moment. 

You lean in to kiss him but you freeze when you register his voice. 

“I’m taking you downtown. There’s a new bakery there and I heard the crepes were to die for.” He chuckles, turning to walk towards the exit. 

“What the hell?!” You call out falling into step with him. 

He grins down at you, arms folded behind his head. “Something wrong, princess?”

Heat rises in your cheeks and elbow him in the side. 

“I want to take you on a proper date and I sure as hell am not starting here.” He says, rubbing his side and conspicuously not looking at you.  There’s a dust of peach on his face. Your anger fades away. It gives way to a fluttering in your chest. 

“Where?”

He looks at you then, brow furrowed. 

“Why don’t I take you to the fair, princess? There’s plenty of sweet treats there that’ll tickle your fancy.”

Your mouth waters when you think about all the cotton candy they have. 

“I heard there’s a kissing booth too, so if you’re lucky,” Jason continues, winking at you. Predictably, you blanch at him. You knock your knuckles against his chest. Jason chuckles, rubbing his chest. “Sorry princess, I mean if I’m lucky enough to get a kiss from you.”

The temerity. 

The gall. 

“As long as you get me something sweet.” You huff, exiting the building. 

Jason stops on the steps, turning to you with a sly smile. Crossing your arms, you pause bracing for whatever trick is up his sleeve. Jason tilts his head. He says something but the little noises of the city make the words hard to discern. You lean closer to hear him better. Jason steps closer to close the distance, his lips warm against yours. You’re stunned. Your entire body divided on how to react, some parts stiffen while others turn to jelly. 

He pulls away, wolfish grin unwavering. "That sweet enough for you sweetheart?"

@batarella​, @anothertimdrakestan​, @lucy-roo​, @multifandomgirl-us​, @bungunz​, @birdy-bat-writes​,  @boosyboo9206​, @americasmarauders​ , @l-inkage​, @arestorationofbalance​ , @cloudie-skay​, @wunderstell​   @hyp-oh-critical​ @glorified-red​

[blitheringmcgonagall]

My Gallant Lad - Part 2

A wonderful anon told me this is their favourite Lily Rescues James fic, it’s part of my canon marauders fic  We Can Be Heroes. But it works as a stand alone, so I’m posting it in four parts here. I hope you like it (Lily is very BAMF here but James here is the bravest I have ever seen as well as very clever so I think they are both fantastic), set during First Wizarding War during an Order mission gone wrong...

Read part 1 here : 

TW: Lots of angst and violence...

Part 2...

Previously...

“Leave it to me,” he whispered.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and locked eyes with Severus Snape.

“Fuck you, Severus Snape! You absolute bastard! Stay the fuck away from my wife, do you hear? Don’t you dare go near her, you fucking piece of shit! I despise you, Snivellus! You fucking coward! Bastard cursed Death Eater! Stay the fuck away from her or I’ll kill you with my bare hands!” James screamed.

Voldemort had now reached them and was looking between Snape and James in confusion, and with not a small amount of displeasure.

“What do we have here then?” he said, turning to Severus Snape and smiling thinly. “Someone who is not a fan of yours, Severus? How very interesting. These two Dumbledore followers are clearly not aware whose presence they are in, or they would shut up and keep their heads low unless spoken to!”

Lily made a disbelieving noise at Voldemort. What the hell did that bastard think he was playing at, pretending never to have met them before, she thought.

James elbowed her sharply just as she was about to speak.

“Silencio!” hissed Voldemort, his face contorted with rage as two spells shot at lightning speed towards them. “I am the Dark Lord and I do not recall giving you permission to speak!”

Voldemort looked up at Mulciber, still wrathful, his wand pointed towards the Death Eaters in the room.

“My Lord,” Mulciber said immediately. “They clearly have no idea who they have been captured by.”

Voldemort’s face darkened.

“I am most displeased,” he hissed, so quietly that they had to strain to hear him.  Who are these two?”

“I have never seen them before in battle, my Lord,” Mulciber answered quickly. “But I do recall seeing them in Hogwarts, both in Gryffindor, I believe they were Head Boy and Head Girl, graduated in ’78, James Potter and Lily Evans, blood traitor and mudblood.”

Mulciber was obviously lying, Lily thought, in order not to embarrass Voldemort. It was as though Voldemort had rewritten history, their previous capture and escape wiped out of their collective memories. Perhaps he had. 

“I see,” Voldemort turned towards Snape, with a bored expression. “Lily Evans? Was that not the name of the mudblood you coveted, before you realised the error of your ways? Still do desire, somewhat, as far as I can recall?”

Snape’s face remained impenetrable, but he nodded his head minimally. James’ face blazed with fury.

“Oh dear, I think that the mudblood’s friend is upset by this fact, Severus, am I correct?” Voldemort smiled at James and Severus in turn.

“Potter has always detested me, my Lord,” Severus said, keeping his voice steady.

“They are married now, my Lord,” said Wilkes, interrupting the conversation.

Severus’ eyes widened for a split second. Long enough for Voldemort to notice. Voldemort’s smile grew.

“Oh Severus, how delightful!” he said, laughing lightly, and turning to look at James again. “I suggest you spend some time showing your friend, Mr. Potter, what happens to those who join Dumbledore’s side and fight against us? And afterwards, if you would be so kind as to visit Mrs. Potter in her cell, and do likewise, I’m sure she would love to see you?”

James looked like he was about to explode.

“Wonderful!” Voldemort said, pocketing his wand and giving Severus a forced smile. “I’m exceptionally pleased, Severus, I do hope you arrange an entertaining evening for us! We are sadly very bored at the moment, and your mudblood has provided us with a lively diversion! Don’t disappoint me, Severus!”

“I will strive to live up to your high expectations, my Lord,” Severus said, bowing low.

“Excellent,” Voldemort’s eyes gleamed as they rested on Lily’s white face. “Wilkes, Villiers – take the mudblood and lock her into one of the holding cells, they are currently empty. Mulciber, Rosier – escort Mr. Potter to the oubliette.”

Lily looked at James in confusion and terror, as Wilkes and Villiers began dragging her away.

“I fear the mudblood does not yet know what an oubliette is, Mulciber. Would you care to enlighten her?” Voldemort said, with a wide smile. “I have other more interesting and pressing matters to attend to.”

All the Death Eaters bowed low in front of him, and Voldemort strolled out of the room.

“Certainly, my Lord,” Mulciber’s eyes glimmered cruelly. “It is a dungeon that has only one escape route — through a trap door in its ceiling. Escape is of course pretty much impossible. In this castle it also doubles up as our torture chamber.”

Lily’s wide eyes flew to James’ face, both still unable to speak. What if this was the last time she saw him alive? She had never gotten the chance to say she was sorry about their stupid row, to tell him how much she loved him, she couldn’t lose him now, they couldn’t hurt him, anything but that. She felt unable to breathe. A single tear tracked down her cheek. James looked back, a determined look on his face, she knew that look.

I’ve got this, I have a plan, his face said.

His eyes were burning, burning through to her very soul.

I need you, beautiful, I need you safe, she thought, her own eyes heavy with dread and fear.

James closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he looked at her again, they were shining brightly, a warm smile, and almost imperceptible wink. She knew that smile.

Alright, Evans…

She tried to smile back.

I trust you, she thought, I trust you, James.

Then Mulciber and Rosier jerked James backwards, and her captors pulled her in the opposite direction, and their eyes remained locked until James reached the stairs leading into the dungeons, and Mulciber lifted his booted leg and pushed James down the stairs, hard.

“Stop it!” Lily screamed, unsure how she had overcome the spell so quickly, pulling so hard that she was momentarily free from the Death Eaters holding her.

They grabbed her again, looking stunned.

“A fall like that down stone stairs could kill him! If anything happens to him, God forgive me, I’ll come after whoever is responsible and-“ Lily was still screaming.

“How the fuck is she able to talk?” stammered Wilkes.

“No idea,” Villiers said, concentrating on trying to hold onto Lily, who was twisting violently in his grasp.

“James!” shouted Lily.

As they dragged her kicking and screaming into the holding cell, she heard the creak of something metal opening and after a few seconds, the sound of a sickening thud as something heavy hit the floor.

“Welcome to the oubliette, Mr. Potter!”

She could hear the cruelty in Mulciber’s voice.

“Wake up, Potter, stop being a drama queen, as usual.”

Snape’s nasal tones, filled with contempt, floated into his consciousness as soon as he awoke. He opened his eyes slowly, intense pain racking his body, making him wish he could sink back into oblivion. As his eyes accommodated to the dark, he noted he was chained to a freezing cold, damp wall, arms outstretched and unable to bear any weight on his feet, he guessed correctly that he must have fractured both his ankles when he was thrown down feet first. He was slumped forwards as a result. It was painful to breath, probably due to a few broken ribs. The difficulty in breathing appeared to be also due to the effort he had to make to lift his ribcage against his own weight. His shoulders were killing him, he wondered vaguely had they been dislocated. His glasses must have fallen off and he could feel bits of glass sticking into his face. There were torches in the corners of the room. And it was freezing cold, his jacket and muggle clothing gone, his teeth were chattering and his body shaking. Mulciber and Rosier were standing behind Snape, looking bored, leaning against the wall. Snape was standing next to a small table, wand in his hand, with a mask-like facial expression, revealing nothing. He concentrated on trying to breathe for a moment. He knew immediately that they had already used the Cruciatus on him a number of times, although he couldn’t remember much, if anything.

“The Dark Lord wants to know what you and Lily Evans were doing here today, Potter,” Snape said, curling his lip as he spat out his surname.

“My wife and I were going for a walk, before we were rudely interrupted by your friends, Snivellus,” said James, smirking openly as he saw Snape’s eyes darken at the mention of wife. 

“Hardly credible, Potter,” Snape said, looking livid as he gripped his wand tightly.

“What Mr. and Mrs. Potter do in their spare time is frankly none of your business,” James laughed, his breathing laboured as he shot Snape a condescending look.

Snape’s nostrils flared.

“Sniv, you should keep your abnormally large nose out of this. Try to remember that Lily Evans hates your guts and that she never once returned your affections. You disgust her,” James said.

Snape appeared speechless momentarily. James saw his fists curl as he stepped closer to him.

“Do I need to remind you who’s in charge here, Potter?” Snape murmured through his teeth.

“You can’t make me tell you anything, Sniv,” James’ teeth were chattering so hard he could barely get the words out, but the utter contempt was clear.

“I can do what I want to you!” Snape’s voice was full of rage as his wand tip touched James’ right shoulder. “Crucio!”

The pain flashed through his sinews and his chest and ribs, stopping his breathing. All remaining colour drained from his face. He couldn’t even cry out with the pain, until Snape moved his wand lower and James heard himself scream in agony as he gasped for air, the pain in his legs intensifying dramatically. He couldn’t breathe and scream at the same time and he began to feel panicked, his pupils dilating.

“What were you saying, Potter?” Snape laughed to himself, glancing back at the two men who were now looking mildly entertained.

As the spell wore off, James looked up at Snape through the hair that had fallen over his eyes, dripping sweat and melting frost, every inhaled breath a struggle.

“I said… you can’t read my mind, I won’t tell you… anything,” he gasped, with a derisive eye-roll.

Snape’s face lit up.

“Wrong, Potter, I suggest you do your research a bit better the next time you say that to a Legilimens, but then you were always infinitely arrogant and stupid,” Snape was wearing the biggest smile as he plunged his wand into the base of James’ neck and intoned the spell.

The unpleasant tingling sensation behind James’ forehead, painful so closely following on from the Cruciatus, confirmed the spell was working.

Took you long enough, James thought, glaring at Snape.

Snape narrowed his eyes, his expression somewhat unsure. He could now read James’ mind completely.

Oh for Merlin’s sake, man, I’ve been hinting you use that spell for bloody ages. I need to talk to you, alone. It’s about Lily.

Snape’s mouth shut tightly as he listened to James’ thoughts, his wand now pushing against James’ Adam’s apple.

“Why would you possibly think I would be interested in doing that?” he said quietly.

Because you’re interested… in Lily’s fate? Because you don’t… want her to die?

Snape watched as James’ breathing became more difficult, as the man pursed his lips together tightly while exhaling through his mouth and inhaling through the nose with his mouth closed.

“Of course not!” Snape said, dread and fear making his fingers shake as he grabbed hold of James’ hair and lifted him upwards roughly.

James gasped a lungful of air as he watched Snape, knowing the other men wouldn’t know what he was thinking.

Please, talk to me… alone… for a few minutes, that’s all I ask… you can bring them back in… any time you want…

Snape let go of James and watched as his body slid downwards, groaning in pain, his weight hanging from his shoulders, his neck hanging down. Snape looked back at the two Death-Eaters, regarding him with mild interest.

“What did you find out, Snape?” Mulciber asked, stifling a wide yawn.

“Not enough,” Snape demurred.

He looked back at James, unsure.

“I need to question him, alone,” he said eventually, sounding displeased. “Leave this room, I shall call you if I need anything.”

“Are you sure?” Mulciber asked.

He sounded disappointed.

“Yes, for now. Stand guard above the trapdoor,” he said, his wand still pressed to James’ neck. “You shall be needed again shortly.”

James’ breathing seemed shallower once more.

Please hurry… we don’t have much time…

“You have very little time and talking to me will do nothing to change that!” Snape snapped back, as soon as he heard the trap door swing shut.

“Talk!” he ordered, removing the wand from the other man’s neck but keeping it levelled at him.

“Of course it won’t change that,” James’ voice was barely a whisper. “We both know I’ll be dead soon.”

“Obviously,” Snape said coldly.

“And if you don’t do something, Lily will die later today too,” James said, lifting his head with difficulty and looking straight at Snape.

Snape’s mouth went dry. He had been trying to avoid thinking about that possibility, probability, but it was true. And it terrified him.

“I…” he said.

Fuck you, Snape, if she dies, I will hold you entirely responsible!

James was making a strange noise as he breathed in, Snape could see that talking was too difficult for the other man.

“I won’t be the one killing her!” Snape whispered, his dark eyes molten. “You killed her, allowing her to be part of your futile resistance group! What kind of husband were you? Did you want her to die? Were you sick of her already?”

“Pah!” James made a dismissive sound in his throat and spat out some blood. “If she dies… it will be… because you failed… to rescue her!”

Snape looked at him furiously, his heart racing, feeling unwell. He didn’t want to hear any more, wanted no part in this entire awful scenario involving the love of his life. Wanted this to be a nightmare that he could wake up from. Most of all, he wanted James Potter to shut up and stop appealing to his conscience.

“I’m going to have to Crucio you again,” Snape said, placing the wand back onto James’ chest.

“Are you now? How astonishing,” James rasped, looking vaguely bored.

“It will appear suspicious otherwise. Wouldn’t want the others to guess what you’re trying to do, would you?” Snape said.

James’ face immediately changed, and he nodded.

“Do it,” he ordered.

Snape hated being told what to do, by Potter, as though he was Head Boy again, in this situation – how was that even possible?

Snape’s Crucio was excruciating and longer than the previous spell. By the time it wore off, James was flitting in and out of consciousness and shaking like a leaf.

Please…

Snape stared back at him.

Please…

“Please what?” he whispered irritably.

I’m going to tell you how you save Lily.

“I cannot ask Voldemort to spare her! Not now, not in these circumstances!” Snape hissed, swallowing hard.

Not the plan…

He could see James was wilting rapidly, his mind becoming progressively emptier.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake!” he said, throwing a powerful healing charm at James. “What are you talking about?”

James opened his eyes and took a few deeper breaths.

“I want you to go directly from here to Lily. Tell her I’m dead. Tell her you’ve had a change of heart and want to leave Voldemort’s forces. Tell her you’re going to save her, that you’re doing it because you love her. She has a portkey on her. Bring her to whatever part of the castle is accessible by portkey and get both of you out of here. You can decide on longer term plans after that. If you approach the others with Lily, looking for help, they will accept you. Lily will never agree to join Voldemort. Ever,” James whispered.

James was wrong, Severus was sure of it, if there was no option, Lily would cave and join Voldemort. But having Lily Evans at last? He was willing to risk everything.

“And you?” Snape said. “You know I can’t-“

James looked at him blankly.

What do you mean?

“You stay here,” Snape said.

“Obviously,” James said, mimicking Snape’s earlier statement and tone.

“Which means you-“ Snape said, narrowing his eyes.

Yes, I’m quite aware, Snape.

James lips had turned a bluish colour.

“Will she agree to… you know?” Snape said after a pause.

I can’t mind read, elaborate…

Snape tossed his head.

“You know exactly what I mean, Potter!” he whispered irritably. “Do I… have I any chance with her?”

He could see James struggling to think, his eyes closed.

“Maybe, yes,” he gasped. “But tell her… tell her you tried to save me… that I convinced you… to swap sides… she needs to believe that…”

Snape’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t imagine himself saying that to Lily.

“Snape!” James’ voice was fading but urgent. “You have to…”

She won’t go with you unless she thinks… you have… please…

The man’s thoughts weren’t even making sense now.

“If I do this, I shall be risking my life. If Voldemort finds out, I’m a dead man,” Snape’s words were clipped, anxious.

I know… but it’s Lily… your only hope… with her…

Snape stayed quiet.

If he finds… Blame me… Occlumens…

Snape vacillated. He was an excellent Occlumens. He could blame Potter, a trick he had fallen for, and then an opportunity to play Dumbledore? The fact that Voldemort knew about his past infatuation made it more credible, but also more dangerous.

She’s dead otherwise, Snape, dead!

Snape nodded slowly.

“Do you have anything I can say to her if she doesn’t believe that we discussed this? Any secret code or words?” Snape said, leaning down.

James’ whisper was barely audible.

“Graham’s number.”

Disbelief written all over his face, Snape turned to leave.

Snape!

He turned back.

Be good to her. Please.

His dark eyes widening slightly.

Get her out of here, Severus, I’m depending on you…

It was ridiculous and stupid and laughable. What would he have done, in the same position? Would he have sacrificed himself to save Lily if it meant Potter won in the end? She was better off without Potter. Lily would see that, she’d come around, she would come to love him, he knew it deep down, especially if she thought he had tried to save her husband. Potter was right.

Would he have done the same, though?

He shivered, impatient to rid himself of these thoughts. Get her out of here, Severus, always telling him what to do! Still, there was no denying the man was brave, braver than he had expected, if you valued that. He found himself compelled to look at James Potter one last time – shaking violently with the cold, his lips blue, his body covered in the pinprick rash of the Cruciatus, his breathing ragged, his face grey, unable to stand. Potter’s eyes made his stomach twist uncomfortably – there was pain there, and that glazed look that prisoners got. But there was fire still in his eyes, desperate light, and he knew why they burned.

“For Lily,” he said to Potter, nodding his head.

For Lily… Thank you.

Potter was unable to talk now. Without answering, Snape aimed his ebony wand at the trapdoor and intoned a spell to pull himself upwards, holding onto the rope ladder.

“Get Hugo Avery,” he said brusquely to Rosier and Mulciber. “Tell him he can have Potter. You can help him, of course.”

Mulciber looked mutinous.

“The Dark Lord’s wishes,” Snape said.

Mulciber stormed off, cursing under his breath.

Snape flew down the corridor towards the holding cells, his heart racing furiously, wand out. He had thrown a silencing spell at the oubliette. He hadn’t forgotten anything. This was a dangerous game. But he loved Lily Po- Evans, Lily Evans, with all his heart. It was worth it, if it meant he got to be with her for the rest of his life. He stood in front of the door to her cell, taking deep breaths and flicked some dandruff off his dark robes, before entering the room.

                                                  ***

Severus pushed the heavy door slowly, almost reluctantly, now that it came to it. He looked uncharacteristically agitated, his waxy cheeks flushed. Relief swept over him as he looked at Lily. She looked upset but safe. She was shackled to the wall, her hands above her head, tied together. She was trembling and pale. There was no sign of the Cruciatus, or other dark magic.

“Are you alright, Lily?” He said, hurriedly throwing a potent heating charm at her. “What are you doing here?” Lily’s husky voice surprised him, he hadn’t heard her screaming.

“What happened? Did they hurt you?” Severus said, moving closer to Lily and regarding her anxiously. “They hurt me by hurting him,” she whispered.

Tears tracked down her cheek, and Severus wiped it with his thumb. “I’m so sorry, Lily,” he said, his voice trembling – he was slightly scared of her, and then there was unexpected guilt - guilt about lying, guilt about how James was going to die. “I tried to... I tried...”

He stopped and took a few breaths, looking at the ground.

“I tried to save him, I tried some healing charms and... and I sent the others away. I wasn’t sure what to do, Lily, but then I was called away and Avery had... I was too late, Lily, I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t look at her.

“No, Sev, please, not James, please,” Lily’s broken whisper made Severus’ heart ache.

“I’m so sorry, I’m... you don’t know how sorry I am,” Severus whispered back. “I’m desperately sorry.”

Lily didn’t say anything, silent tears streaming down her face.

“He... James and I, he spoke to me, he thanked me for trying to save him, before he... he asked me to save you, to get you out of here. I promised him I’d do it. Do you understand Lily?” She was looking at him blankly, through her tears, her mind far away in some distant time or place. “Lily!” Severus whispered urgently. “Lily, he wanted you to be safe! He insisted I save you! He told me a code word - I’ve no idea what he meant, but he said to tell you - Graham’s Number.“ “Graham’s Number,” Lily repeated quietly, as though dazed. “James.” “Yes, James,” Severus said, trying not to sound impatient. “We have to leave now, I promised him I’d get you out of here! Do you understand?”

Lily nodded, still crying.

“My beautiful,” she said. “My gallant lad.”

“Yes, yes,” Severus said, eying the door of the cell. “We need to leave! Now! If Voldemort finds us, we’re both dead!”

Lily stared at him intently. After a few seconds she smiled vaguely.

“I’m so sorry Sev, let’s go, I just... it’s so much to take in, you know? I can never thank you enough, for trying to save him, for being such a noble person?”

Severus squirmed.

“It means everything to me,” she said, her red-rimmed eyes looking into his soul.

“It’s nothing,” he said firmly, refusing to hold eye contact and pointing his wand at the chains. “Frangit!”

The chains broke, and Lily collapsed into Severus’ arms.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Can you help me? I don’t think I can walk?”

                                                 ***

He heard the trapdoor groan, one at a time he heard the light footfall of young men jump down the rope ladder. He wouldn’t let himself think of her. She was safe. Lily - the kindest, bravest, truest person he had ever met. Their baby was safe. He had managed to keep Snape’s Legilimency away from those thoughts. Voldemort’s reaction to his rant, his own interaction with Snape - both had played out exactly as James had predicted, practically word for word. In another world, another future - he could see Lily and their two children, all four of them, standing in that field surrounded by wildflowers and joy. It was not to be. Not in this lifetime.

He looked up at Avery, ready. “Fancy meeting you here? I knew we’d get you in the end, Potter!” Avery laughed. “Looks like today is my lucky day!” He was rubbing his hands together with glee, his laughter loud and erratic, his eyes wide. He had changed drastically since James had last seen him in King’s Cross Station all those years ago. There was no trace of boyishness left in him, despite his laughter - his eyes were cold, lifeless, bitter.  “What a pitiful way to die! This is how traitors die, Potter! How your friends will mourn! When I’m finished with you here, I’ll move on and kill your little mudblood. It will be reassuring for you to know what sort of death awaits her, won’t it?” Avery’s shrill laughter echoed around the dungeon. Please, if there is a God, let her be safe, he asked, closing his eyes. “Scribo per Ignem!” Avery cried, as a dark, liquid, ink-like substance poured out of his wand and floated in front of James, suspended in the air, shimmering as though molten. “Proditor!” Avery said, with a slash of his wand.

The liquid rearranged itself into the word “traitor”, that seared into the skin of James’ chest, sizzling as it burned, unbearable. “Crucio!” said Avery, placing the tip of his wand inside the burnt flesh.

James blacked out with the pain. He flirted in and out of consciousness, each time the pain overwhelmed him and he felt everything fade into blessed darkness, one of the three men threw a powerful healing charm at him, which kept him awake long enough for another Crucio. Mulciber and Rosier joined in, Sectumsempra one of the many spells they used.

He could feel his body weakening with the blood loss. Lily would have their child, a boy, Harry. Thinking about Lily would only endanger her safety, in case she felt his presence. His parents would be proud of him for saving Lily, and they would have a beloved grandchild. Sirius and the Marauders would make the most excellent uncles. Nobody was a loser. For a moment he thought of Sirius losing his blood brother, then losing him too. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his brother, ignoring the pain. I’m fine, Sirius old chap, this is how it ends. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m too weak to cope with losing any of you. You deserve a long life with Moony, the best man we have ever known.

He opened his eyes again and saw Mr and Mrs Evans standing beside him, smiling.

“I kept my promise, Sir,” he tried to say.

When he blinked, they were gone. He fought it, yet as he sank into darkness, all he could think about was Lily.

Lily, Lily, Lily…