#did NOT sleep much last night. took forever to fall asleep and just could not stay asleep for more than like an hour at a time

[ectonurites]

bro im so slepby

[marvelwitchergilmore]

Sleeping, Dancing and Mistletoe

Summary: Logan x Fe!Reader -> Times when people found evidence that you and Logan were possibly a couple, and the one time you both finally confirmed it.

Disclaimer: Mostly fluff, mentions/illusions to sex, Logan checking you out. Couple of swear words here and there. This has been unfinished in my drafts for at least a week so...yeah. This is finished. little Christmas at the end. Not Proof Read.

For what felt like the thirtieth time in the hour, you turned over with a huff and pressed your pillow to your ears, trying to muffle the sounds coming from next door. 

And just as it finally died down, you sighed and was just about to thank some ancient being for hearing your prayers when…it started again. 

“That’s it.”

Changing out of your longer pyjama bottoms and into some sleep shorts, you made your way out of your room, keeping your footsteps as quiet as you could until the noises faded away and you started to reach your intended room. 

Opening up the door, you found exactly what you were looking for. 

Shaking his shoulder as he lay on his stomach, you whispered his name, hoping he’d hear you. 

“Logan.” You shook him for a third time. “Logan.” 

Nothing. 

With another sigh, you slapped his face gently and said his name once more, a little louder and firmer. 

“Logan.”

Finally, he groaned. “What?” 

His voice was muffled by his pillow but you could hear him just well enough. Or maybe you were just used to his grunts that they were starting to become their own language you could understand. 

“Move over. I’m sleeping here tonight.”

“What’s wrong with your bed?”

“Nothing.”

“Then go and sleep there.” Logan turned his head away from you and scrunched up his pillow beneath his head.

“I can’t. My neighbours have decided tonight is Valentine’s Day 2.0.”

You pushed half of his body with your hands until he finally got the cue to turn over. 

“Too much information.”

You shook your head, “Too much information is what I’ve been hearing for the last hour.”

Finally, Logan rolled onto his back, his covers covering his bottom half, and groaned. “Fine.”

“Thank you.”

Logan straightened himself in his bed, giving you room to get in beside him. And the minute you touched his covers, you were glad you had changed into shorts. 

Logan was like a furnace. Just constant heat radiating from his body and for as much as it, at times, got too hot to stand near him, he was also, in your opinion, the best person to fall asleep beside. 

“Just shut up and go to sleep.”

Laying on your side, it wasn’t long until you closed your eyes, thankful that you could hear nothing other than Logan’s steady breathing and the distant clock down the hall that was forever ticking. 

However, just before you fully drifted off, you felt Logan’s hand take hold of yours and you smiled. 

He could be gruff all he liked, but when it came to you, he could be a softie. 

By the time morning rolled around, Storm was in search of both yourself and Logan. So, when she found your bed empty and cold, she figured Logan would know where you were. 

But he was asleep. 

Right beside you. 

Storm leaned against the door frame for a while, taking in the picture in front of her. 

Logan was fast asleep, something that was a miracle in itself, with you right beside him, your head turned towards the windows in his room, his own looking towards you, all the while, his arm slung over your midsection and one of your own hands, holding his. 

“Storm- what are you- Oh.”

Jean looked inside. 

“Looks like someone had a good night.” She smiled before looking back at Storm. “Do you think we can finally ask if they’re together?”

“I’d say this is confirmation enough.”

You shifted in your sleep as did Logan, and the two girls hid behind the corner for a moment. 

You turned your head and the rest of your body towards Logan, all the while his arm held you in a stronger grip and pulled you towards him. 

It took you a moment but you finally opened your eyes, adjusting to the light before your vision finally cleared on a sleeping Logan. 

For a moment, you allowed the hand between you both to reach up and brush the stray hairs from his eyes. It was rare you ever got to see Logan this…calm. 

Serene. 

Rested. 

Unknowingly, you started to run your left thumb over Logan’s arm that still held onto you. 

Then his fingers twitched, running over the exposed skin at the bottom of your back. 

“Are you watching me sleep?” His voice was rough, the first words in the morning. 

“Not anymore,” you smiled, brushing the final parts of his hair out of his face. 

“Thanks for letting me stay.”

Then a cough came from the door. 

Logan groaned. “Is this a new hobby; watching people sleep?”

Jean and Storm laughed from the door. “You two look cosy.”

You lifted your head and glared at Jean. “There is one reason I’m here. Maybe I think it’s time you make an investment in soundproof walls.”

Jean turned a little red and Storm laughed. 

“Look, we’ve got a busy day. You can kiss your boyfriend later.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you called out just as Logan called; “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Storm and Jean nodded and just as Jean snapped a picture, she sent it to both yourself and Logan as they walked away. 

“Sure.”

Leaning up, Logan reached for his phone to see the notification pop up before he placed it back down and you climbed out of bed. 

“They’re got a point.”

“About us being a couple?”

You threw a t-shirt at Logan. “Having a busy day.”

Logan laughed a little, scrubbing his face as he watched you leave his room before he reached behind him and took hold of his phone once more. 

Jean and Storm were right. 

From the picture…they did look like a couple. 

A couple of days passed and you were sitting in the quiet living room, the fires on both sides roaring. 

All classes had been finished for two days and some kids had returned home for the holidays, which meant you had some free time on your hands. 

And for you, that meant finally reading. 

Until you sensed someone stood behind you. 

“If you want to know what happens, you could just ask me.”

Logan plucked the book from your hands and circled around the sofa before coming to sit down beside you. 

“Logan! Give it back.”

“I want to see what it’s about.”

You sighed and sat up, “It’s a romance, Logan.”

“A romance?” Logan had a hint of a smirk on his face. “Like the…trashy kind?”

“Like the romantic kind.”

Logan looked at you and smiled. “The trashy kind.”

You rolled your eyes and took the book back from him, leaving him to fix the blanket so it rested over both of you. He placed his arm over the back of the sofa, allowing you to lean into him, whether you noticed you were doing so or not. 

“Just because you might not believe in romance, doesn’t mean the rest of us are the same.”

“I believe in romance.” 

“Yeah, right.”

Logan couldn’t help but smile. “What?”

“The Wolverine,” you said with a deep voice. “Believes in romance?”

Logan nodded. “Occasionally.”

“Occasionally?”

“Do you just like repeating everything I say?”

You nodded and smiled. “Occasionally.”

Logan rolled his eyes and took the book back from you and read a line out loud. 

“People really talk like this?”

You leaned into Logan. “No, but in a book it’s not so bad. Go on, read some more.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

You nodded. “You’re like my own personal audiobook.”

Logan gave a short smile before getting a little cosier and continued reading out loud. 

It wasn’t long before Logan found you asleep against him and he shifted in order to avoid you getting a crick in your neck. 

“Keep reading.”

“I thought you were asleep.” 

“Now I’m awake.” 

“Fine, just be quiet.”

You gave a fake salute. “Yes, sir.”

Holding his arm around your body that was pressed between himself and the sofa, Logan quickly kissed the top of your head and went back to reading. 

And ten minutes later, you were asleep. 

And so was he. 

An hour passed before someone found either of you, but this time, it was Scott and Bobby. 

“They might be in- oh. What do we have here?”

“Oh my god, Rouge has to see this. I told her they were together.”

Bobby rushed off and soon returned, pulling Rouge with him. 

“What is it?” Then she gasped. 

“Believe me now?”

And what Rouge saw made her smile. 

On the slightly too small sofa for Logan, you lay both between him and the sofa, as well as partly on him with your hand a little over his heart. His head was turned towards you. The blanket had fallen a little, so she reached over and pulled it up both of you before turning around and throwing a log onto the fire. 

“Come on, let's leave them.”

“But-”

“No, you are not going to disturb them. Come on.”

Rouge dragged the pair out and closed the door behind her. 

The third time people suspected you and Logan were an item was one late evening in October. 

Half of the kids were playing outside with all the freshly fallen leaves, whilst some of the older kids helped them find different critters and point them out, and build them habitats. The rest of the kids were either in their rooms or studying. 

Save for two. 

Bobby and Rouge were hiding outside of the kitchen watching yourself and Logan cook. 

“I didn’t even know he knew how to…chop. Let alone cook.”

“You should have more faith in him.”

“Come on, Rouge. You can’t tell me you weren't thinking it, too.”

And she couldn’t. Because she was. 

Meanwhile inside the kitchen, Logan was watching you from the kitchen island as he continued chopping the veg. 

There was something different about you. From the way you practically danced around the kitchen finding the different items for the recipe, to just…you. Whilst he was (semi) shirtless, just having his zipper hoodie on, along with his jeans and socks. He would have been fully dressed, except you had come and ambushed him in his room – even though you denied the word “ambushed” – to get him to help. 

And you were just simply in your pyjamas (of sorts) along with one of his zipper hoodies. 

“Bub,”

Logan laid down his knife and walked over to you as you stood by the stove, standing a little higher to see how much water was left in the pot at the back. 

You hummed a questioned response, but was met with a question…you didn’t expect. 

“Dance with me?”

“What?”

Logan smiled lightly as he pulled the wooden spoon from your hand and pulled you closer to him, despite him walking backwards. 

“Come on,” his voice in a light whisper. “Dance with me.”

“Didn’t take you for a dancer.”

Outside the door, Bobby and Rouge mouthed to each other; “They’re dancing.”

And you both were. 

Gently swaying to the music for a while, you allowed Logan to lead you around a small space in the centre of the kitchen. 

“We’re gonna burn the sauce.”

Logan gave a slight smile at you as he spun you out and back in, “We’re not gonna burn the sauce.”

“Logan.”

“Can’t you ever just enjoy a moment?”

“When that moment doesn’t include burning the house down, yes.”

“Bit of a jump, don’t you think, from burning the sauce.”

“Ha, so you agree. We’re gonna burn the sauce.”

Moving over, Logan turned down the heat on one of the pans before taking your hand back into his. “Now we won’t.”

Bobby and Rouge watched, in shock, the rest. 

For one, Logan knew how to dance? Since when? And since when did he…cook and dance in the kitchen? Unless…

Then Logan did something even you didn’t expect. 

He dipped you. 

You hand tightened its grip on Logan’s arm as you let out a small, if a little nervous, laugh. 

Logan had been full of surprises recently. From the impromptu audiobook session in which you woke up in his arms, to him not only dropping off a cup of coffee during your break from teaching but also a freshly baked muffin. 

And now he was dancing with you in the kitchen. 

And dipping you. 

When you had rushed him out of his room to help you cook, you hadn’t expected him to know the recipe for the sauce from the top of his head. Something he just happened to rattle off whilst you were looking for the cooking notebook that should have been in the cupboard beside the oven. Let alone be the one to ask to dance in the kitchen, and dip you. 

Bring you back up, both of you gave a slight chuckle as you turned around, the music slowly fading away in the background. 

“Logan…”

Looking at him, you forgot what you were going to say. 

Had his eyes always had so much green in them? 

Logan’s palm became warm against your back as it pressed further into you. Or maybe you pressed further into him and he just held you tighter. 

Slowly, your hand left his bicep and trailed towards his chest all the while your eyes studied his face. You’d known him for years and seen him a thousand times or more. 

So why did now feel like you were seeing him for the first time? Noticing him? Noticing each particle he was made up of that allowed him to sway with you in the kitchen to the music that had changed on the radio?

Only, before the space between yourself and Logan became any more closer, a noise came from outside the door. 

A sneeze. 

A sneeze that shocked you and Logan back into reality. 

Still holding you, Logan looked towards the door and gave a hint of a smile when he saw the flash of white disappear behind the beam. 

Realising what was happening, you lowered yourself back to the ground and slowly stepped out of Logan’s arms. “We should finish up.”

Logan nodded in agreement, however did look back at you when you got back to the stove, not noticing you do the same a few moments later, watching him pick up the rest of the veg and toss it into the collider to be washed. 

Time passed and after more music, more conversation - including a burnt tongue from when you had shoved a wooden spoon with fresh sauce on, into Logan’s mouth for him to try - and a lot of scrubbing later, you found Logan sitting inside the library and collapsed next to him. 

“Good news, the kids loved the food,” you told Logan. “Double good news; Jean and Scott are on cooking duty tomorrow.”

“Thank fuck.”

“Thank you for helping me.” Turning to look at Logan, you found him already looking. 

“You did ambush me.”

“I didn’t ambush you.”

“I wasn’t dressed.” Logan examined himself. “Technically, I’m still not.”

You rolled your eyes with a slight smile. “Fine. Maybe it was a mini, tiny, miniscule ambush.” 

You made a small space between your fingers. “Like this big of an ambush.”

Logan looked at you, at your fingers and then back to you in slight disgust before moving your fingers wider with his own. 

“That big of an ambush.”

You rolled your eyes and dropped your hand. “And they say us women are dramatic.”

It was Logan’s turn to roll his eyes. However, as he did so, his arm wrapped around you, and pulled you back into him and the sofa. 

“Just shut the fuck up for a minute and listen.”

You did so. 

“I don’t hear anything.”

“That’s the point.” Logan’s eyes were shut as his head rested on the back of the sofa. 

Eventually you gave a shrug and joined him. 

An hour later, Storm found you both fast asleep beside one another so with a knowing smile, she found a blanket, covered you both up and closed the door behind her. But not before reminding herself she needed to get verbal confirmation from you both. 

She wasn’t handing over any money to Jean and Xavier until she had verbal confirmation of what exactly was going on between you two. 

And she didn’t have to wait long…at least in the long run, she didn’t have to wait long. 

Until then, there were plenty more incidents of falling asleep next to each other, bringing each other coffee, dancing to music in the kitchen, smiling and laughing – all before she finally got verbal confirmation that the inevitable had finally happened. 

Finally, it was acceptable to decorate for Christmas. 

Two days prior, Rogue, Logan and Storm had been helping you find all the old decorations in the attic and bring them down. Storm did try then to bribe something out of Rogue, but she apparently was just in the dark as the rest of them. 

But the smile she gave when she looked over at Logan, who was placing down another box from the back of the pile for you to take a look at, told Storm something different. 

“I can’t believe you leave it this late to decorate.”

Logan looked at you. “We’re still in November.”

“So?” 

Taking hold of the garland, you started to climb the ladder. Logan held onto the bottom just to be safe. 

“If you had it your way, the decorations would be up all year round.”

“Hey, no.”

“Hey, yes.”

“I’d take them down for…” you tried to think. “Halloween. You’d have a little break.”

Logan didn’t look entirely thrilled. “Halloween is one day.”

“Technically, it’s a month.”

“To you, it’s a month. To the rest of us, it’s a day.”

You looked back at him. “To you it’s a day, to the rest of us it’s a month.”

Then you looked back at the garland. “How does that look?”

“Great from where I’m standing.”

You looked a little confused for a second before quickly looking over your shoulder, realising where Logan was, in fact, looking. 

Not at the garland, but at your ass. 

You smiled and started to step down the ladder, hitting his shoulder on the way down. 

“I meant the garland.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Logan looked up. “Looks great.”

You laughed. “You didn’t even look.”

With a smile as you finally stepped back into his arm, he looked to the side and up. “It looks great.”

“Good. Now,” Logan turned back to look at you and you kissed him quickly. “We have to put up five more.”

“I get to watch you put up five more.”

You smiled. “This is why you’re my favourite person.”

Logan smiled. He could help you with everything else, but when it came to the garland, you had full control on where it went. Which, he didn’t mind. So long as he got to watch you put it up. 

You quickly kissed him once more, only to be pulled back when you tried to walk away. 

Then Logan gave you a real kiss. 

A little dizzy, you smiled and placed a hand on his chest and closed your eyes. “Wow.”

He gave you a quicker, lighter kiss. “You better get going before Rogue comes back with another box of lights.”

“Light?” Then it hit you. “Oh, yeah.”

Logan smirked a little as he watched you walk away and down the hallway. 

It was a couple of hours before everyone was in the same room, making the final touches all the while most of the other kids were either playing outside in the snow, were taking naps or decorating their own rooms. 

And the others had been watching you and Logan all day. 

The stolen glances, the stolen touches, the slightly knowing smiles from both Rogue and Bobby. And then, as Logan was helping you down from the ladder, his hand on your thigh, Bobby went to make the final hammer to hang up the mistletoe. 

“Wait, no. Not there.”

“Where then?”

Storm looked around. “I know. Y/n, hang this just above there. We don’t need a remake of Mistletoe Central 1997.”

Logan looked at Storm. “Do I wanna know?”

Storm shook her head. “Here.”

She handed you the mistletoe before Logan passed you the hammer back from his belt. 

Three knocks and the nail was set in and the mistletoe was above you on a corner beam, just a little to the side of the christmas tree. 

At least this way, those looking for it, would find it. 

"Oh, no, wait.” Jean said, looking at you. “Have to kiss someone. It’s tradition. You’re under the mistletoe.”

There was no one else apart from Logan.

Logan looked around at the others. He wondered how long it would take. 

Coming up behind you on the ladder, you moved over for him to stand beside you. His palm on your back held you steady and, leaning his other arm on the ledge of the ladder, his hand cupped your face and he kissed you. 

Lasting a little longer than the others had expected, you soon heard Rogue giving a little cheer, as well as a couple of whistles from the others. 

“Okay, I think they get it.” You whispered to Logan as he finally pulled away, a smile very noticeable on both of your faces. 

“Happy now?” Logan asked, turning towards where Jean and Scott were standing. 

“That was some kiss.”

You felt yourself blush at the comment. As did Logan. 

He helped you back down the ladder before you both turned and really saw the other's expression. As well as the exchanging of money between people. 

“Sooo…how long has this been going on?”

You were leaning into Logan, his hand around your back and on your hip. 

You looked at Logan, “A couple of months. We’re…what? November now so that would…”

“That would…” Logan counted back in his head. “May…June, July…six months.”

You looked back to the others. “Six months.”

A chorus of shocked faces and loud voices sounded out; “SIX MONTHS?!”

All before a small call from Rogue was made, which made both yourself and Logan smile. 

“I knew it!”

[anathemaspeaks]

pas de deux

character(s): toji fushiguro synopsis: [ˌpɑː də ˈdəː] a dance for two people, typically a man and a woman. word count: 1k warning(s): none (so much fluff i promise it's worth the read) a/n: i'm SO down bad for him HELP

check out my prompt list and request stuff!

likes, reblogs, and follows are appreciated <3

toji was not a romantic. the very idea made him scoff. the thought of getting soaked in the rain to meet someone was just absurd. what idiot would voluntarily fall sick for something as irrelevant as that. it baffled him, truly.

…

until he found himself standing at your door at four in the morning.

drenched to the bone, a strong arm raised to knock at your door. it took three tries, and you finally opened the door, hair tousled, eyes wide, and mouth agape.

you immediately ushered him inside, fretting over him. you gave him one of your largest hoodies (which still clung to his frame like a compression shirt), and a pair of loose shorts. you turned up the heater and gave him a blanket, forcing him to relax while you handed him a cup of hot coffee.

"toji, what are you doing here? aren't you supposed to be asleep?" you inquired, worry etched onto your beautiful face and surprise evident in your voice.

"ya ain't getting rid of me that easy, doll" he replied while smirking, clearly trying to underplay his current state. he was still shivering from the cold, his wet hair clinging to his forehead.

you sat next to him on the sofa, moving closer and snaking your arms around his muscular torso, your warmth seeping into his cold body. you leaned in, placing a soft kiss on his jaw before snuggling closer, nestling into his broad chest.

he couldn't say he wasn't loving the attention, but that wasn't what he came here for.

you both were texting when you'd confessed that you weren't getting any sleep, and you were really stressed out as of late. you also revealed that the last time you had a comfortable sleep was with toji.

that was a whole week ago.

after that, he said he was going to sleep, ending the conversation with a 'goodnight doll, love ya.' you smiled at your phone before closing the message app, opting to scroll through instagram to keep your restless mind occupied - sleep was out of the question.

but of course toji was worried about his girl.

the concern gnawed at him. he couldn't stand the thought of you so helpless and distressed.

of course he couldn't - especially now that he knew he could help. he would rather die than see you in any kind of pain. and that's how he found himself soaked in the pouring rain, with only one goal in mind: to help you.

and now here he was, in your home, his strong arms finally wrapped around you.

"baby, i'm not complaining, but how come you're here?" you spoke, voice muffled because your face was squished against his body.

"y'said you only got sleep 'round me" he stated, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. your heart lurched at his words. he ran for ten minutes through a rainstorm...all for your sleep?

"toji, i-…thank you" you choked, getting emotional. the night did that to you sometimes. but you just loved him so much. toji sensed it and let out a chuckle, the sound reverberating in your chest.

you could listen to that dumb laugh forever.

"you're getting soft, old man" you teased, a playful smile on your face. you didn't have that much of an age gap, but you never passed up the chance to bring it up.

he tutted. "y'want me to stay or not, brat?"

you giggled at his tone, burrowing deeper in the comfort of his presence, letting out a content sigh. from over his shoulder, you could see the sky clearing up, the rain slowly stopping. you saw it getting lighter, soft, golden rays striking toji's dangerously gorgeous face.

you looked at his lips, a content smile gracing his features, scar only emphasizing his already perfect looks. you trailed up to his eyes, warm, and filled with so much love and devotion it took your breath away. you could drown in them.

he couldn't stop staring at you, not when you looked this angelic. it was like the sunlight formed a literal halo over you - he was convinced you couldn't be real.

he looked into your eyes. the gears in your head were turning - he could see it.

"toji..."

"yeah, pretty girl?" he smiled, one that was so radiant it could put even the most magnificent sunrise to shame. your breath caught in your throat. he was so pretty.

...

"dance with me" you sighed, already pushing yourself up.

"it's 5 a.m., babe" he chuckled softly at your antics. you were always up to something.

"and? dance with me!" you demanded, taking both of his large hands into your own, trying to pull him up (and failing, miserably).

but he could never resist you. he wouldn't. you were his world. all you had to was ask, and toji would do it in a heartbeat. so he got up, buff arms enveloping you into his warmth once more.

"mmph- toji, needa play the music!" you said, voice obscured by his chest.

"we don't need music to dance, doll"

and so you stayed in his arms, his body gently rocking yours, moving to a beat only the both of you could hear. occasionally, he'd twirl you around, dipping you down to kiss you right after, just so he could hear your sweet laughs.

you don't know how long both of you danced for. you don't remember it, but you fell asleep in that very position - in his arms, while standing. you didn't even realize how exhausted you were.

you woke up in the comfort of your bed, still trapped in his arms, light snores escaping him. he must've carried you here. he was definitely going to fall sick, but honestly? he couldn't bring himself to care.

he might catch a cold, but in that moment, all that mattered was the gentle rise and fall of your chest, and the content smile gracing your gorgeous features.

toji was not a romantic. but for you, he would get soaked in the rain a million times. for you, he would do anything to put a smile on your stunning face. for you, he would do anything.

i love him i love him i love him i love him

[greenwitchfromthewoods]

hi! I'd like to make a request from that prompt list: "it's as if my entire life i have been sinking in a storm and you came and pulled me out." + with General Marcus Acacius, with him being the one to say that sentence, if that's alright. thank you anyway :)

The last few days have been hard for me, mentally, but I hope I managed to fulfill your request. Thank you, sweetie. ❤️ i'm sorry for all mistakes

warnings : a little bit of smut, unprotected sex (don't do that!), mentioning war, mentioning gods, fluff

prompts list here

No victory, no treasures, no victory parades, no favors showered on him by the Emperor's hands were comparable to what your gaze gave him. He searched for it in chambers full of men and women, who, drinking wine, admired everything he and his troops had brought back from another expedition.

No, these were just empty moments. Meaningless to Marcus, because he didn't want that. He only wanted to see the face he loved again.

And finally he saw you. Among other women, wives of senators and high-ranking officials. You looked at him with love and reverence, the glow of candles reflected in your eyes. Even more beautiful than when he left Rome.

You raised your glass of wine towards him, and he did the same. The gods were kind to him, he came home...

"What is troubling you, Marcus?"

Your delicate hand on his shoulder, then gently slid down as you moved closer to him. You rested your chin on his shoulder, snuggling up to his bare back. The warmth of his body always delighted you. You knew the tiny freckles on his body better than the constellations of stars in the night sky. 

My Marcus...

There was no answer. Only his hand rested on your knee, stroking it gently, and his eyes closed at the tender kisses placed on his neck.

"You're never able to fall asleep when you come home." You said quietly "Should I ask for a tent to be set up for you in the garden? You'll still be able to feel like you're among your legionnaires."

A small smile crept onto his lips. "And I would give up the sweetness of your body, love? Never." He turned his face to brush his lips against your temple "I'm sorry, this silence... It always makes me anxious. I can't sleep. I keep hearing all this..."

"War?"

Your fingers slid into his curly hair, so pleasantly soft. Marcus nodded.

"War, the screams of people, the sound of fighting... There's so much of it in my head."

"I wish I could take this burden off your shoulders, Marcus."

"You already do, my love. Just one look from you is enough to make me feel free."

He needed you, you could feel it. Wrapped in a sheet, you crept onto his lap. The cool night air seeped in through the open windows, but you didn't feel it. Soft and warm light filled the chamber, the scent of jasmine enveloped you both, and you stared into the face of your beloved man.

He had a few more wrinkles, a few new scars that you had already managed to kiss between intoxicating moments in the sheets, a few more gray hairs, but his eyes - they were still your Marcus's eyes.

General Marcus Acacius could command the entire army of the Roman Empire, but next to you he was your Marcus. He was the man you gave yourself to and wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

"I hate it when you're so far away from me." he mumbled, his eyes hungry for your sight, moving lazily over your face. "It's not fair."

"I don't like it either. I'd rather have you here, by my side, under me, inside me..."

Brown gentle eyes quivered slightly. Strong hands gripped your buttocks and pulled you closer, so that you felt his half-hard cock between your thighs.

"The Emperor should be sated by now. How much more of the world can you lay at his feet? Even maps have their limits."

"You deserve all of this..." you frowned in surprise. "You deserve the whole world, all the gold... I would lay this world at your feet, my love."

"I wouldn't accept that. I only want you. I want you to be mine, forever."

You took his face in your hands and came closer, kissing his soft lips tenderly. His manhood twitched noticeably near your entrance. 

So many months of abstinence meant that the first few days together were spent mostly in bed. If you had to go somewhere, Marcus always made sure you felt his seed flowing lazily down your thigh. Knowing that he had possessed you just before his meetings with high-ranking Romans gave him a sense of even greater power.

Marcus couldn't get enough of you, if he could he would spend the rest of his life not on the battlefield, but between your thighs with his cock buried deep inside you.

You rested your forehead against his, closing your eyes, your hand resting on his chest. You felt his heart beating hard under your fingers.

"So much rests on your shoulders, Marcus. I wish I had the power to take it away from you..." you whispered.

"You already do, my love. The fact that I hold you in my arms instead of holding my sword is a grace of the gods."

"The gods wouldn't make you fight. The gods wouldn't take you away from me for so long. The gods wouldn't risk your life." you replied defiantly. You risked the wrath of the gods, you loved him so much.

"They were the ones who allowed us to meet and be together. And they are the ones who will give us everything we need." Marcus' voice was soothing, flowing over you like sweet honey. "Oh, sweet creature... If only you knew..."

"What Marcus?"

"How much you mean to me, how you save me every day... It's as if my entire life I have been sinking in a storm and you came and pulled me out. Thanks to you I feel like I'm truly alive..."

Tears sparkled in your eyes and you blinked them away quickly. You couldn't have expected a greater gift from fate than this man.

When you spoke, your voice was trembling, "So let me save you once more. Let me take all the hardships off of you."

You slid your hand between your bodies. His cock was already hard enough that you guided it towards your center. You lifted yourself up slightly, your entrance still slippery from the last time you made love, and then you lowered yourself onto him. The wonderful feeling of his cock stretching you out took your breath away for a moment.

"Oh, gods..." Marcus moaned quietly, "You are everything, love. Everything."

You let him lose himself in you. You allowed him to find relief and solace. And when it was all over, Marcus fell asleep peacefully. You were his goddess, the only one he worshiped. The only one he lived for.

[mschievousx]

now and then | b.b.

pairing: benedict bridgerton x ofc

summary: loraine silva always knew she was not normal. she loves unusual things. she loves her father's guns, horses, boxing, climbing a tree, falling from a tree, engineering, astronomy... oh, and a man eleven years older.

series masterlist

xii. twelve: let it go

benedict bridgerton has not left his room for days now. he laid down with his agony, curled on his sheets. his pillow wet in the tears that served as witness of this torment.

most people grieve for those who don't know what they have until it is gone. but, what about those who do know? those who tried their hardest to hold on, yet could only look on helplessly while they lost the thing they loved the most. isn't it so much worse for them?

how many sleepless nights now, he does not know. when they were together, he avoided sleep so he could have more time with her. and now that she is gone, he wishes to sleep more so he might know fewer hours of her absence, and perhaps, spend longer in dreams with her.

it took him days to even talk, forgetting his own voice as he got so familiar with his cries. he wanted to be happy but found it painfully hard as her love was his happiness.

yet, what if love is not here to make us happy? perhaps, it exists to show us how much we can endure.

but benedict did not want to endure anymore.

for the first time in a long while, he was terrified. oh, how terrifying to face the future without the one you planned it with. how can you wake up from a nightmare if you are not asleep?

someone knocked on his door, one that he has recognised as anthony's knuckles by the firmness of the sound. he did not want to stay on his bed forever, so he desperately pushed himself out, trying to see what has been of the others. he neared to open the door slightly ajar before sitting down on a couch defeatedly, his brother surprised by the turning of the knob.

he stepped in, noting the desolateness of the room. he wanted to be there for him, but losing a loved one you were never able to fully love was a different kind of pain—one that anthony was not familiar with at all.

so, he did the only task he was left with. he walked to him, giving the pad he has been holding unto to his younger brother.

"her journal," he maintained his voice in a serene one, seemingly afraid that anything higher would trigger something from the other.

benedict turned to him at that with shock. he did not know she writes. he often thought the girl preferred saying her thought out loud than put it to paper. he opened it, reading from entry to entry, word by word.

a small snicker left his lips when the most he could read about was how the young little silva had fun infuriating him. it was clear on her handwriting—the curve of the letters, the stretch of its end. she was full of excitement when she was writing this. it was written in her point of view. he turned the twelfth page over, only to find that no entry follows anymore.

"why did she stopped writing when she was eight?" he turned to the older, eyes still with traces of redness. it was around the time armand had snitched his daughter to benedict, saying that the girl likes him.

"she said there was no longer a need to write what she felt because she can say it to you directly." anthony offered him a small smile, leaning down to turn the pages to the last, "she wrote on the day she left for the parliament."

the viscount watched as his brother traced each word with his fingers, afraid that it would be lost before he even realises it. noticeably, this one is written in the way her words talked to him directly. anthony placed a hand on his shoulder before stepping back again.

"i guess she knew she could no longer say it to you again."

my artsy,

i think i have loved you since i met you. i just mistook it for curiosity.

there are so many forms of love, and although it may have begun unromantically, i knew you were someone special to me. i would like to apologize—for coming into your life just to break your heart to pieces and leave you in the night.

i really would have loved to be able to attend the astronomical convention with you. we spent a night talking about it. if i knew i will not even get to go, i would have rathered spent the time with my lips in yours.

and so, if regrettably, the gods had it planned that this life of mine will never be enough to show you all my love, i promise—i will find you in another. and hopefully then, i still wouldn't run out of love and continue to pester you on to the next, and next, and for eternity.

because my love, we were never a match made in heaven. i am afraid afraid we are made in both far ends of the farthest cosmos.

and i will search every star, every galaxy, every universe, and every timeline until i find you.

know that i love you, down to my last word.

until we meet again,

forever your loraine

he pushed the pad farther from his eyes, afraid that the ink would smudge and her words can no longer be read. he held his head down, anthony going to his side at once and offered an arm at him.

benedict leaned weakly to him. he had told her before, and now it became his reality. the young lady was a fire—his fire—and he does not find himself worrying even if she will burn him. despite her absence, she still set him ablazed. he longs for nothing but her. how many life does he have to burn before he lives with her? and he could almost hear a whisper.

a hundred more. just a hundred more.

and he almsot felt relieved at that. a hundred more would be nothing. he was even prepared to burn thousands. that was how bewitched he was.

she was lovely—extremely, completely, entirely.

yet, even if it is full of love, all a ghost can do is haunt.

━━━ ✦ ❘ ☽ 【❖】 ☾ ❘ ✦ ━━━

the following day, lady bridgerton could not hold it anymore. her son was spiralling away. she missed him. so, she ascended their stairs, aiming for the room of the said son.

anthony has told her that he was, at the very least, responsive. she did not want her son to be reduced as someone thankfully responsive. benedict has always been full of colors.

he was an art himself.

she knocked, turning the knob and was surprised it was not locked. violet entered slowly, seeing the figure behind a canvas.

she called out to him, "my son, come with us."

there was no response, continuing to walk towards the man. entering the room fully, she could see random sketches of the young silva.

picking up a paper, his mother commented, "she was beautiful."

violet could hear a small hum from her son, still not tearing his gaze away from the art he is currently working on, "she will forever be."

she warmly smiled at that. the son who has repeatedly told her before that what she and edmund had was rare, now utterly taken beyond mortal relations.

she placed an arm around his shoulders for comfort as she took a look at the painting, "you love her so much."

he added a detail on her features, "if i could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."

her heart broke for his son she almost felt like it was her fault. maybe, that was why the two met each other and loved each other when they were still too young. they were not meant to grow older together.

she placed a peck on top of his head, "will you come out with us soon?"

benedict placed down his brush, exhaling defeatedly. nonetheless, he turned to his mother with a weak smile, "after i finish this."

violet nodded at that before giving him back his solitude. it took quite the days before he completed the artwork. the sun rose and set, yet the stars only dimmed.

on the night he finally finished the painting, the dead of night was clear and the stars began to find their shine once again. a hopeful thought graced his mind.

perhaps, someday, somewhere, at a less miserable time, they will see each other again.

he turned to his table, scrambling to get a paper and pen. he will not let the night go on as if it was just any other night. this darkness shined a light, one he only recognised when the girl was present. and maybe, you can call it a pathetic attempt of hope, it was the young silva watching him as his hand gripped the pen.

my loraine,

i will remember you longer than i knew you, and i will never come to terms with that.

thus, i will find you when you return, even if you are a thousand years late.

give me your permission and i will continue to love you in another. believe that i will run amock across the universe until i find you.

and so, when you see the world ending in the newspapers, trust that it is my work because i still have not met you again.

let us make us happen, some other time.

until we meet again,

forever your artsy

perhaps, they were right in putting love into books and poems—perhaps, it could not live anywhere else. they did say that everything will be fine in the end. and if it isn't, then it is not the end yet.

he has learned that grief is not accepting that she died. it is acknowledging that she is still alive in everything that he does.

and so he hopes—he hopes that all this grief stays with him because it is all the unexpressed love that he did not get to tell her. he will never let this go.

indeed, what is grief if not love persevering.

the pain will remind them of each other. when they meet later, if there is a later, they will recognise each other by it.

and just because this life is painful, it does not mean the next one will be.

taglist: @aadu2173 @imgondeletedis @pumkiinpasties @rebleforkicks @perseny @everavenclaw @datingbtr @peetahpahkah @myo11 @idek-what-to-put @aysamuka

[chiefdirector]

Promising | Tim Bradford | The Rookie

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven

Tim had experienced many awful things in his life but none would be considered worse than this. The moment he had found his wife again, she had been snatched from his grasp leaving him helpless to aid her once more. If he had believed in a god he would have thought that he was being punished for some past sin. 

But he wasn’t. 

No matter how much he blamed himself at this moment there was nothing he could do but wait. The paramedic in the back of the ambulance told him that she would most likely be fine, that on first inspection there seemed like there would be minimal damages. Tim had wanted to believe them, but with every hour that (Y/N)’s surgery  dragged on Tim believed them less and less. 

The idea that he had come so close to getting her back almost killed him, and had he not had the chance that she may return to him, he felt like he would've died then and there. He had waited this long, he could wait for her for these last few hours, no matter how torturous they felt. She would return to him soon enough, he had enough hope to believe in that. 

-----

Professionalism was normally one of Sargent Grey’s areas of expertise. The man had decades of experience with the public and felons alike who pushed the lines of crime and morality alike. But as he stood across from Regina Diaz he could not help that every fibre of his being wanted to bring down every article of the law on this woman, and he was determined that she would never breathe a lick of fresh air again. 

He was furious as to what she had done to the department, and to his officers. The damage she had caused was unfixable, and the Bradfords, as well as everyone in the Mid-Wilshire Division would be forever changed because of her. And yet, she sat tall and arrogant despite the cuffs keeping her attached to the table. The maroon scrubs she wore did not seem to deter her confidence at all. Grey clenched his jaw, before taking a seat opposite the woman who had caused so much grief.

“So where should we begin?”  Grey flipped the file he held open and thumbed through the pages, trying to not show any weakness for Diaz to exploit. “The very apparent drug operation that me and my officers caught you in, red-handed may I add? Or how about the contant threatening of my officer’s well being for the last two years? Or how about the assault with a deadly weapon charge for that same officer you have been threatening?”

Regina smiled, “Hmmm… They're all good options, but maybe we should start within your department instead. After all, I couldn’t do all this without a little help.”

-----

It had been a while since Tim had watched his wife sleep. In the early days of their marriage, when work took a mental toll on him, he would stay awake far into the early hours of the morning, watching her chest rise and fall as the room was gently lit from the rising sun peaking through the curtains. It had relieved some of his anxieties, knowing that she was there and she was alive, and now, even after all this time and torment, he found the same comfort yet again. 

He used to spend hours just watching her peaceful face, wondering what she was dreaming of. Could it be hot beaches with white sand, maybe it was a winter’s night at home, or could she be possibly dreaming about him, about the two of them together. 

It felt oddly comforting to watch her sleep again, even if it was from the most uncomfortable hospital chair ever made. If Tim ignored the tube coming out of her arms and the incessant beeping from the machines by her side, he could pretend for a moment that they were back home and she had fallen asleep in their own bed. If he closed his eyes for a moment, he could pretend that none of this ever happened at all.

But Tim didn’t want to ignore all of the hospital equipment, no matter how daunting it was to see, as it meant that his wife had returned to him. And he didn't want to pretend it didn't happen at all, because even though he had lost and grieved her, he had her back now, and he knew just how much she completed him. No matter how much Tim had loved her before, it had only grown tenfold since he saw her again. Despite the blood and the medical equipment attached to her, she was safe, she was almost home, and most importantly she was alive.

-----

“And why would I believe you?”

“Because, Sargent, it doesn’t make sense otherwise, does it now.” Regina said, not letting her smile waver once. She could tell she was getting under Grey’s skin, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. But she couldn’t toy with him forever, as fun as she may find it, she needed to be on the court’s good side, and that includes cooperating with the authorities. “How did two detectives fall off the face of the earth and their case worker didn’t know where they were all day? Riddle me that.”

“I can’t, but I'm sure you already know the answer, don't you Ms. Diaz?”

“I think it’s time we brought in my lawyer, if we are going to negotiate that is.”

-----

(Y/N) shifted slightly in the bed as she tried to shake off the familiar feeling of sleep mixed with some form of medical cocktail. She had woken up in a hospital numerous times during her career with the LAPD, but none ever felt as disorientating as this. Her body felt slow and her chest felt heavy. Gently, as not to cause any more damage to herself, (Y/N) moved her head to assess her injury. From the sharp pains from the movement and the vague memory she had from before she lost consciousness, she could tell that her shoulder was thoroughly messed up. But as she went to look at it, her eyes wandered down to her chest, where the weight was radiating from. The pressure came from her husband’s head resting on top of her. He looked so peaceful asleep, as if nothing could have ever burdened him. She could vaguely remember seeing him at the Diaz house, but now she had the time to take him in fully. He had a new scar on his hairline, it was pale and faded, he must have gained it not long after she had left on her assignment. His shoulders were still hunched over, even in his sleep he carried his stress there. His arms had gained more definition, and so had his hands. All of these changes were to be expected, (Y/N) knew how much this would have hurt him, exercise was always an escape for him. 

What she didn’t expect though was to find his left hand bare of any jewellery. He had taken off his wedding band, and a good while ago too. He bore no tan line or indentation to indicate he had worn the ring recently. She understood why he would have done that, she knew that she couldn’t have expected him to wait for her all this time but it didn’t cause her heart to sting any less.

She wanted to let him rest, but if the roles were reversed, and it was Tim in this bed, she would have wanted to be awakened immediately, even if he had moved on with his life. Slowly, as not to scare him awake, (Y/N) lifted her good arm and positioned herself to run her fingers through Tim’s head. 

He roused quickly, clearly a trait he had never gotten over since (Y/N) had last seen him. Groggily, he looked around the room to find what caused him to awaken, although the realisation came to him quickly as he snapped his eyes to meet (Y/N)’s. “You’re awake,” he stated, as if it wasn’t obvious, but (Y/N) chose not to comment.

“Yeah, I uh… woke up a few minutes ago. I thought that you would… you would want to know I'm awake, so you don't need to worry anymore.”

“What? Why wouldn’t I worry? (Y/N) you mean everything to-”

(Y/N) smiled sadly, “You don’t have to lie to save feelings, Tim. You’re not wearing your ring.”

“Oh.” Tim said, trying, and failing, to suppress a soft laugh, only stopping completely when he saw (Y/N)’s saddened expression. Quickly, he reached down his shirt to pull the chain he wore over his neck and unclasped it, letting the band fall into the palm of his hand. “I wore it on a chain. It… hurt to see it every day but not to see you. But I couldn't live without it, hence the chain. That way, even though I couldn't keep you, I could keep it close to me, close to my heart.”

(Y/N) watched as the gold band slipped back into its rightful place. She didn’t know what to say, there was a thousand and one things that needed to be said, yet not a word spilled from her lips. Tim watched as her eyes darted to one side, he knew it was one of her tells. “Shh, it’s okay baby, you don’t need to say anything right now, we can talk later. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you. Not now, not ever.”

“Promise?”

“As long as you promise you won’t leave me again. I don’t think I would survive that, losing you another time.”

“I promise.”

Part Seven | Part Nine

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

Tags: @xceafh @kmc1989 @buba424 @salty0cracker

Tags are open :)

A/N: Have a merry christmas if you celebrate, and if you dont i hope you have a great festive season. Enjoy this extra long chapter, i couldn't help myself lol.

[oneverydelululemon]

SXF MANGA SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Hi! It's me again!

I want to thank all of you wonderful people who have read the first fic I did, The Conversation. I love and appreciate every single one of you! <3

Since that post gained a bit of traction, I decided to write down the prequel, aka how Damian even realised Anya can read minds. (Un)fortunately, this fic got a bit long so I'll be posting the first part for now. I hope you enjoy!

The Revelation - part 1

Damian was sitting on his bed in the dorms, his legs crossed. He had spent almost the entire day studying in the library, his nose in the books until Ewen and Emile dragged him out. After forcing Damian into the dorm, the boys went to get something to eat. Since Damian wasn't hungry, he chose to go to their room instead and have some well deserved rest. However, once he snuggled into his bed, he couldn't fall asleep.

Damian had been struggling with insomnia for a while, and the causes of his lack of sleep were always one of two things. If he wasn't stressing about his academic status, his mind liked to drive him crazy with all the memories he has about that shimp-haired commoner. The latter frustrated Damian to no end. He hated his own mind for toying with his heart in such a manner, for having chosen to give so much of its precious attention to someone so undeserving of it. If he'd paid as much attention to his studies as he did to Forger, he'd have already become an Imperial Scholar. A part of him wished he would come to his senses, but a small part of him hoped it could be like this forever.

So Damian did what he always does when he needs to relax and stop thinking about that girl - he took one of the many "The Serpent's Orb" comics he owns and began rereading it.

"The Serpent's Orb". Oh, how he adored that comic. He started reading it during the Dark Preschool Ages. He would read it whenever the halls of his mansion felt too empty and the rooms too big. Damian cringed thinking about the time he spent reading and reenacting the story to Jeeves. He cringed even harder when he remembered he would sometimes tell the same story to his old plushie whenever he'd be too scared to sleep at night, believing there were monsters in his closet. By the time he moved into the boys' dorm at Eden, he already knew every line in all the volumes, every episode of the show. Damian was ecstatic to hear Ewen and Emile were fans of the show like him, but they were never as enthusiastic about it as he was. He never blamed them for not loving it as much, though. For them it was just another cool show, but for Damian, "The Serpent's Orb" was a lifeline.

He took one of his favorite volumes from underneath his bed and began reading the first page. He usually reads through an entire volume in the matter of minutes, but he found it hard to concentrate during school break. His mind had been too occupied reliving the last time he saw that peanut-obsessed stalker. He did his best to call the night of the gala anything but magical, even if he did spend a good portion of it arguing with her.

Damian rubbed his eyes in hopes of erasing images of Anya dancing with him. He reread the page he stopped on. The main character read the mind of his best friend to find out what happened on the planet he visited. Damian hadn't really found this scene as interesting as many other fighting scenes up until that moment.

Mind reading, huh? - he pondered. It reminded him of the joke that dummy made at the gala. Damian knew better than to believe such an ability exists. This is the real world, not some cartoon or a comic.

I mean, imagine what life would look like if telepathy was real. You would know exactly what the other person thinks. If i could read minds, I'd have perfect grades! I would win every game of Old Maid and excel in every quiz! There's no one I wouldn't beat in every single football match! Bazooka Bill would fear me!

He kept daydreaming, chuckling to himself.

Until it hit him. He felt his stomach sink.

Didn't Anya make Bill cry when she dodged his every single throw, as if she knew what he was about to do? Didn't she know about some of the most embarrasing moments in Damian's life, like when Max pushed him into a pond on accident? Wasn't it Anya who won the first round of Old Maid, before she agreed to play another round because it seemed like she cheated? Didn't she somehow find out the bombs around their necks were fake in that damned bus, despite nobody ever hearing any of the terrorists say it?

Damian's mind was racing, going over every single interaction he's ever had with Forger. He stared wide-eyed at the pages in his lap, his face turning paler by the second. He dropped the comic from his hands as they were too shaky to hold it anymore.

In that moment, he was rethinking his entire existence. Is this life real? Is Anya real? Is he real? Is this all just a bad dream or some sort of a fictional simulation? Does he live in an actual cartoon?!

Damian didn't sleep that night. He barely managed to sleep every other night after that, counting the days before the beginning of the second semester.

He had some investigating to do.

And that's it for this one! I heard somewhere Damian imagined he's on a planet in Dragon Ball Z when he was "training" for the dodgeball match, so I took that fun fact and ran with it. That being said, I've never watched the anime or read the manga, I just searched up if it involves any telepathy. It's why I tried to keep it vague. I hope I didn't get anything wrong but let me know if I did!

I'll make a part two that will revolve around Anya finding out he knows.

Let me know what you think! Any feedback is appreciated! And thank you once again for reading my delulu little stories! Love you to the moon and back!

Byeeee <3

[rafesbabygirl]

Eres mia/You’re mine

Rafe Cameron x Latina!Reader

Summary: No matter how hard you try to move on and forget him, he will always find a way to come back into your life.

Word Count: 727

You can feel his eyes on you from across the room, watching you in your little dress dancing with your friends. You act like you can’t see him but you can feel him, you know he’s never taking his eyes off you.

He sees your fiancé walk up to you with a drink in hand. He watches as he puts his hands on your waist. He has to fight the urge to just walk up to him and cut his fucking hands off just for touching what’s his.

He took advantage of the fact that he knew you wouldn’t last another minute in the heels you were wearing to know you’d be heading home soon. He knew what he had to do to get his girl back.

He watches as you head to the bathroom and your fiancé head to the bar to pay for the tab. He knows that nows the chance to break you guys up.

Walking up to the bar he pats your boyfriends arm making him turn around. “Hey man your Y/n’s fiancé right?”

Your fiancé looks up at Rafe confused on why he’s talking to him. But he answers anyway. “Yeah who the hell are you?”

Rafe’s lip curls up knowing what he’s about to say will result in him getting what’s his back.

“You know she’ll always be mine right, she only got with you to take her mind off me. Only it didn’t work because she was sounding real pretty last night while I was fucking her.”

Your fiancé tenses up not knowing what to say back. He could only walk away knowing he couldn’t stand a chance with Rafe.

Rafe watches as he walks away and can’t help but laugh, downing what was left of his whiskey making his was outside and on his way to your house.

Meanwhile you’re left confused as you walk out the bathroom seeing your fiancé nowhere in sight. Trying to call him with no answer you decide to just leave it and head home.

Unlocking your door and heading to your room to get ready for bed, you fail to notice rafes truck parked up front.

Exhausted from your night out you immediately change out of your clothes deciding to just sleep in your bra and panties.

I’m the middle of falling asleep you hear rustling outside your window. You jolt up and see a shadow staring right at you. You see whoever it is raise up their hand and open your window making their way inside.

You sit there in shock but immediately realize who it is.

Rafe

“What the hell are you doing here Rafe?”

“Aw come on baby don’t be like that. You know you missed me.”

You then remember in what state you’re in, half naked in front of your ex boyfriend. You jolt out of bed grabbing the first shirt you see.

“Get out Rafe I don’t want to see you.”

Rafe makes his way closer to you as you back up until he has you with nowhere else to go with your back against the wall.

“I missed you so much Y/n, you have no idea.”

He raises his hand up and strokes your cheek and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“You can’t be here. I have a fiancé, I don’t want you here.”

He lets out a little chuckle.

“Oh baby I took care of that already. You see I already know what I had to do to have what’s mine. Rightfully mine.”

You feel your heart drop at his words. You feel tears well up, half of the reason is because you’re scared. And the other half is because you know what he’s capable of.

“What did you do Rafe?” You ask in almost a whisper.

“ I did what I had to do so you can remember that you’ll always be mine. You know I always want what’s best for you. And what’s best, is me.”

All you could do is stare at him. Realizing just how crazy he is. You can’t help but secretly love it, knowing he’ll do whatever it takes to have you.

He embraces you in his arms and whispers in your ear.

“You know your heart is mine, and you’ll love me forever.”

All you can do is accept that it’s true. You will always be his.

[dsireland86]

Hi, I was just wondering if i could request a Song inspired fic with Jolly x fem reader? And i was thinking the song Faithfully by Journey?

I absolutely love Journey and this song! Thank you for this!!!

Faithfully

TAGS: @philomenie @supersquirrel1996 @foliosgirl @angelmarie89 @fadingintothegrey @theanarchymuse95 @thisbicc @lma1986 @dominuslunae @shayzillaaaa @fadingintothegrey @an0mallly @alwaysfightforwhoyouare @mrsnoahsebastian @flowery-mess @iloveyoutodeathbutimdrowning @stardustsirenmelody

"Highway run into the midnight sun Wheels go 'round and 'round, you're on my mind Restless hearts sleep alone tonight Sendin' all my love along the wire"

He missed her. More than he would say. Jolly laid in his bunk, hearing the hum of the bus's engine and feeling its vibration. He was lonely for her, even though he and the band had much to do for the next few weeks.   

Tossing and turning, his heart was restless. He couldn't sleep, not without her body curled up into him. Grabbing his phone, he opened his picture folder and searched through the countless ones he had of her smiling as he did so. Then he stopped. That was it. That was the one he was looking for. It was a simple picture, one of her in her pj's sitting on the couch with her feet curled up into her like always. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun with loose strands falling out. She was looking at him with a small smile on her face because she hated having her picture taken, even though Jolly took many of her. She looked beautiful. She was beautiful. Inside and out. And she was his. Totally, one hundred percent his. He missed her terribly

"Good morning, beautiful," Jolly answered, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Have a rough night?"

Jolly nodded, still half asleep.

"Awe. Why? What's wrong?" 

"I don't have you here. That's what's wrong. I miss you more than I thought I would"

"Awe Jolly, baby," she sighed. "I know how you feel. I slept like shit last night, too. I miss you so badly that I had to sleep in one of your shirts. I think I'm going to have to until you come home.

"Which shirt," Jolly grinned.

Y/N stood up, revealing Jolly's Swedish flag shirt.

"Hmm, my favorite one," he smiled.

"Exactly," she smiled back, returning to her seat.

"I Iove you."

"I love you too."

"I'm forever yours."

"Faithfully. I've got to go. Gotta get ready for this really important meeting I have in three hours," she said, kissing her fingers and laying them on the screen of her phone.

"Okay, babe. Good luck."

"Thanks. You too. I know you'll crush it tonight. You and the boys always do, and yes I mean Matt, too."

Jolly laughed, loving how she remembered not to single Matt out after the comment he made over Christmas last year.

"Say hey to everyone for me."

"Will do. Bye."

Jolly ended the call and threw the blankets off, getting up to start the day.

"They say that the road ain't no place to start a family Right down the line it's been you and me And lovin' a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be Oh, girl you stand by me, I'm forever yours, faithfully"

Seven shows in, three more left. Jolly and the boys were whooped. Before the show, he video called y/n, but immediately she knew something was wrong. She said his face didn't hold that normal glow. She was worried about him and asked if she needed to take time off from work and fly out to the next show.

"No, babe, I'm good. Really. I'm just tired. You have enough on your plate. You don't need to worry about me. Only two more shows after tonight, then I'll be home and between your legs, deep inside you, showing you just how much I missed you."

"Oh, baby, you're making my panties wet just thinking about it," Y/N laughed lightly.

"Shut up and stop being such a tease."

"Okay, well, you keep telling yourself that you're okay, Karlsson, but I know you better than you know yourself."

Jolly chuckled.

"I know this isn't easy."

"What?"

"Being with me, loving me while I'm always on the road. I know it's not what you signed up for."

Y/N sighed.

"Jolly, baby, listen, I know I didn't sign up for this. People change, and situations and plans change. But my love for you, that has never changed. You're my person. You'll always be my person, and I'm forever yours,"

"Faithfully," Jolly continued. "I love you, too."

"Good. Now, go out there, kick tonight in the ass so you can finish this tour and come home to me."

"Yes, ma'am." 

"And bein' apart ain't easy on this love affair Two strangers learn to fall in love again. I get the joy of rediscovering you. Oh girl, you stand by me, I'm forever yours, faithfully". 

It's the last night of the tour, then he goes home tomorrow. Jolly was hyped, full of excitement, to be going home to his woman. The guys noticed this and were happy to finally have him back with them, mentally.

The show started and Jolly played just like every night before, but with a little more spirit, except this time when he looked over at the side of the stage, Y/N was standing there, watching him with the biggest smile on her face.

His heart skipped a beat, and the happiness that overtook him was overwhelming. He smiled back at her, absolutely stunned that she really did give up her time to come out and be with him.

"What are you doing here!"

Y/N didn't even bother to answer Jolly, just gathered him up in her arms and kissed him all over his face. Jolly was sweaty, and his hair was damp and sticking somewhat to his face, but she didn't care. He was back in her arms and that was all that mattered.

"You needed me, so I came. I just couldn't get the time off until today."

Jolly was shocked and the look on his face said it.

"I'm going to assume the look on your face right now is a happy shock and not an unhappy shock," she laughed, cupping Jolly's face and kissing him.

His hands found Y/N's lower back as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, smiling as she did. Jolly leaned in, bending her back a little, and kissed her back, smiling too. Her arms snaked around his neck as Jolly's lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, laughing as he spun her around.

"You bet your ass it's a happy shock. I love you," he muttered softly, planting a soft kiss on the end of her nose.

"I love you too, " she whispered.

"And I'm forever yours,"

"Faithfully." 

[prettyyoungandbored]

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Charlie Dalton

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x Fem!Reader

Sequel to The Night Before

WARNINGS: Very brief nudity. Read at your own risk.

Author’s Note: I probably should have clarified this in the story before but Charlie and the reader are in their 20s.

NOT MY GIF

There was something peaceful about the early morning hours. There was a blue haze in the sky. Night was leaving, and the sun was beginning to brace for its shift in the sky.

While New York was the city that never slept, Y/N and Charlie’s brownstone was in a fairly quiet neighborhood, fairly being the key word. But for this particular morning, everything felt still.

Y/N couldn’t believe it. She wondered if she woke up from her dream and into another one. Maybe the city knew she needed some quiet before the craziness that came before a wedding.

Either way, she was grateful.

She lay in the bed, her naked body tangled in the thin, white sheets. She turned over to see Charlie lay beside her, deep in sleep.

Her hand carded through his hair as she smiled. She wasn’t sure what she had done in a past life that allowed her be loved by him. There was never a dull moment that passed when she was with him.

Sure, Charlie could be a little shit, but it never crossed the line. He made her laugh until her stomach hurt and made her feel loved and supported.

Charlie’s face scrunched as he stirred awake.

“What’re you doing up?” he yawned.

“I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep,” she whispered.

He hummed and fell onto his back. His fingers motioned her to him.

She scoot her body toward him until he wrapped an arm around her as her head nestled in between his chest and shoulder.

His finger drew lazy circles on her forearm. “Can’t have my bride yawning at the alter. What would everyone think?”

She chuckled. “Gotta have some drama at the wedding. Keep everyone on their toes.”

“I like the way you think.” He kissed the top of her head. “And here I thought I was going to have to bribe one of the boys to speak up during the ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ bit.”

“And which boy were you thinking of?”

“Not Knox because Izzie would kill me. Maybe Meeks.”

She giggled. “That would’ve been hysterical.”

“But alas,” he sighed, “looks like we’ll have to go through a boring ceremony.”

“Poor us.”

“A tragedy.”

He kissed the top of her head, wrapping his other arm around her. “But I’d go through worse if it meant I’d get to be with you forever.”

She pouted, her heart exploding. “Oh Charlie, you already did. You had to ask my dad for my hand in marriage.”

He snickered at the memory. “That took a week of planning and practicing.”

“Knox told me you even practiced on him.”

He grimaced. Knox had it easy because he knew how to charm parents. “Don’t remind me.”

She looked up at him. “It was worth it though.”

He smiled adoringly. “Without question.”

Just as their lips went to meet, the phone rang in the kitchen. Charlie let go of Y/N and padded toward the kitchen.

“Hello….Knox, what’re you…ok…ok…ok, I’ll let her know.”

Y/N sat up in bed, pulling the sheets close to her chest. Charlie returned and crawled back under the covers.

“So apparently your mother was about to come over and get you but Izzie and Knox heard her and Izzie offered to come get you. She’s on her way now.”

Y/N laid back, groaning. Charlie smiled, rubbing her bare leg with his hand.

“I’m not ready to leave,” she sighed. “Can’t I stay here with you a little longer?”

“As much as I would love that, unfortunately we have to keep up appearances one last time. After that, we can do whatever we like.”

The thought of having more mornings like this completely uninterrupted would make it worth it.

“Did you tell Izzie you were coming here last night?” he asked.

She nodded. “She was gonna tell my mom I was sick.”

Charlie hummed. “And what illness were we going to go with?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I figured you could come up with something for me. You must’ve had experience.”

“Loads. C’mon, we’ll figure it out while we get you dressed.”

====================================

A half an hour later…

“Thanks for covering for me,” Y/N said, turning her head to Izzie as the two women sat in the back of the cab.

“You got it. Your mother was on a war path so I figured it was best to stop her before she walked in on you and Charlie.” Izzie turned her head to Y/N. “Also what illness are we going with?”

“Period.”

“That works. That should keep her quiet for awhile.”

Silence fell between the two women. Then Izzie spoke up.

“You won’t hear the end of it.”

“Not at all.”

[undreaming-fanfiction]

My personal sun

A belated entry for the third day of @steddieangstyaugust, prompt 3 - "The sunset looks lovely, don't you think?"

"The sunset looks lovely, don't you think?"

They hadn't seen one of those in a while. The constant stormy sky of the Upside Down bled over to their world too, and everything turned dark and red.

But not now. El closed the gate and the clouds had dissipated just in time to grant them a gorgeous view of the setting sun. Its gentle embrace made it seem like in the end, everything would be okay.

Well, almost eveything.

Steve took one last wistful look at the setting sun and closed the curtains. No matter how much he wanted to reach out to that newly reclaimed shred of normalcy, Eddie needed him more.

Eddie shook his head. "Steve, don't be stupid. Go outside, enjoy it. It's not like I can go anywhere and disappear on you."

"That "don't be stupid" belongs to you, Munson. How is your face?"

Scowling, Eddie tried to turn away, but Steve was faster. He gently turned Eddie's head towards him and swept away the hair covering the right side of his face. The burn was nasty, full of blisters and peeling skin, but it was starting to heal. At least this part of Eddie's condition was good.

As if he could read Steve's mind, Eddie flinched away. "Yeah, it's still there. Just like the fangs, those fucking sharp nails...let's face it, Steve. I'm going to be this way forever. The Upside Down is gone from everywhere except me. And now that we've won, I can't even go outside." I can't go outside with you.

Steve took a deep breath. "Eddie..."

But as if a dam had burst, Eddie interrupted him and just kept going. "Do you understand what it means, Steve? I'm the only monster that survived the gate closing. It's over for everyone except me. I can't go outside. I can't be in the sun unless I want to boil alive in my skin. I can't eat normal food, I can't...I can't be normal." He spoke fast and through gritted teeth, but even then he couldn't keep in the sob that tore its way from his throat. "How long is it going to take until you understand that I'm holding you back, huh? Things can never go back to what they used to be when I'm around. Why don't we just call it quits now? Because Steve, even though you are an amazing guy, you will regret me. Everyone does in the end. And now? Shit. Even I regret me."

He curled in on himself, refusing to meet Steve's eye. A clean cut would be for the best. A clean cut, a chance to heal, if that was even possible. After all, it was only a few months that they were together. Wayne didn't know Eddie was alive yet. He could just disappear and not cause his loved ones even more pain and disappointment. Yep. A good plan, if he said so himself.

It was quiet for a moment, and then - gentle hands on his clenched ones.

"Well, I don't."

Eddie blinked through his tear filled eyes. "You don't what?"

"Regret you. I never could and I never will." Just like moments ago, Steve's calloused hand made its way to Eddie's cheek and forced him to look up, to have the conversation they so desperately needed.

It was ridiculous. Didn't Steve understand that this was all for him?!

"How do you know?" whispered Eddie. "You can't know that Steve."

But that stubborn man with a heart of gold that had enough room for everyone, even this new twisted  and broken Eddie Munson, just smiled at him. "I know. Because you're wrong on so many levels, Eddie, which is saying something because normally you're so smart. Things will never go to normal. Not like they used to be. We've lost so much. So many. We know things we shouldn't. And as for me being normal..." he laughed, and did Eddie detect a hint of bitterness? "I'm one head injury away from permanent damage to god knows what. I triple check all the locks, blinds, windows, and I still can't get a good night's sleep. I can't even fall asleep without having my bat nearby. My nightmares are so real I'm afraid of hurting someone if I can't recognize I'm not fully awake."

He grasped Eddie's hands tighter, with more urgency. "This is my new normal, Eddie. A life in a destroyed town I'm too stubborn to leave. I want to rebuild. I want to learn how to live in my new reality. And I want you to be a part of it. If you're willing."

Eddie bit his lip, nearly avoiding puncturing it with his fang. "I don't know..."

But Steve wasn't deterred. "Besides. The gremlins are growing up. Dustin is crazy smart, and the government owes us big time. You're not broken, Eddie, but I wouldn't give up on seeing the sun again just yet. After all, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out. But even if you can't ever go back, it won't change anything."

"And the sun?" That way the most important thing. Eddie knew that Steve wasn't repulsed by his new body, but having a partner who could never walk outside with him during daytime? Eddie couldn't do that to him.

"Triggers my migraines, did you forget?" After seeing Eddie's annoyed frown, Steve quickly continued. "It's not everything, Eddie. There are overcast days. Beautiful evenings and nights, with some quiet we both need. The forest has a lot of shade to hide in. And, if I ever miss the sun...I will go, enjoy it for a while, and then come back to you. Just as you will always come back to me. How does that sound?"

Despite his weakening resolve, Eddie could picture it. He could see the days when he'd stay asleep in a well covered room, catch up on the newest books, and Steve would come from outside, curl up next to him, and the sun's warmth would transfer from his skin to Eddie's. Like his own personal sun.

He was still crippled by fear, but if the last months taught him something, it was that he could be brave. It was worth it.

Eddie pulled one of Steve's hands to his mouth and kissed it.

"It sounds wonderful," he said, and when he saw Steve's grin, he thought - huh. Maybe sun is overrated.

[noopienoopiernoopiest]

Logan Tremblay - #10 - Doux-amer (Bitter-sweet)

For Day 10 of Fic-O-Ween (much thanks to @noots-fic-fests and, always, @lumosinlove).

Pairing: The Cubs Rating: T - sexual situations vaguely referenced.

CW: Food

Description: Logan's first night and last night at the Dumais's as their billet.

---FIRST---

There was a hum coming from somewhere.

Logan had tried to ignore it, but as the night crawled on, it felt as though it was drilling itself right into his head.

He rolled again, flattening pillows that still smelled like maman’s favorite lavender laundry soap. How long before the scent faded? Based on prior experience, Logan put it at around a week, maybe two if he was lucky.

He wanted to sleep, usually never had a problem falling asleep, but most days weren’t like today.

Today had been…

A lot. Today had been a lot. Mostly good, somewhat bad, all of it confusing. Seeing Finn after so much time apart had been almost everything he’d dreaded, almost everything he’d hoped for.

Finn had pushed for everything Logan couldn’t give him. Finn asked for everything Logan refused. And then, Finn gave. He always gave and gave and gave, and Logan took. Logan was always taking and taking and taking. They fell into it again like old dance partners, hating their marks and hitting them anyway.

How long could either of them bear it? How was it going to be? Logan and Finn—friends, never talking about any of it? Logan at Finn’s wedding, staring at the back of his head over Alex’s shoulder as he married someone else, trying to remember to smile so the photos weren’t ruined? Years of interviews asking about their “special chemistry” on the ice and having to laugh and deflect forever? Would Logan settle down with some girl with auburn hair or brown eyes and make comparisons, unfair for everyone involved, hoping one day with a sufficient lack of oxygen it would die (and praying silently in the depths of the night that it never did?)

Finn still had the ability to make Logan feel more things in the space of one evening than he’d felt in a year. He somehow managed to make Logan’s world burst at the seams and narrow down to a pin prick at the same time. The world felt wider when Logan was with him, exuberant and curious and open.

All of it more, and Logan was helpless to do anything other than watch him. With Finn, the world gave him its best show—brighter colors, gorgeous days, the whole world ecstatic at his existence—but all of it sidelined and passed over because what was the rest of it when there was Finn?

And the thrum of it, still singing in Logan’s veins, made sleep elusive.  

He got up, finally so overheated by his overwarm sheets and pillows he couldn’t bear to try any longer. Maybe if he got out of bed, he could leave his racing thoughts to linger behind as well.

The house was quiet and dark as he made his way down the hallway to the kitchen.

He’d just finished a sandwich when he heard it.

There was rustling from the living room. He wandered down the hallway and saw the Dumais’s youngest daughter (Karley? Kelly?) reaching for the TV. Her dark hair was up in pigtails, and she had a soft-looking pink blanket in her hand.

“I wanna watch McStuffins,” she said imperiously. She’d been shy at dinner, ducking behind her mother’s arm and only at the very end of the night had flashed Logan a small smile.

“Uh?” Logan said. Always so eloquent, Lo, an unwelcome voice said in his head. It sounded like late night study sessions and a little like a city Logan had never been to.  So much for his escape plan.

“McStuffins!” she said again, snapping him back to reality.

Thank God for early childhood technology exposure. Logan managed to get the television on and, with some fairly impatient instructions from his helper, turned it to the right show. She made an enthusiastic noise and clapped before settling down and watching, Logan essentially forgotten. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do next. He hesitated for a moment before making his way upstairs. One of the bedroom’s doors was open—a spare, and another had unicorns and ponies plastered all over it. He figured maybe the one at the end of the hall was right.

He knocked softly and waited for a long, awkward moment. He was almost ready to turn around, when a bleary looking Dumo opened the door.

“Logan?”

“Désolé, sorry to wake you,” he said quietly in French. “But your daughter…”

Dumo frowned for a moment before he sighed. “Is Katie up again?” He asked. Katie.

Logan nodded.

Dumo looked over his shoulder and closed the door near silently behind him. “Come on, then.”

Logan followed him back downstairs and found Katie, thankfully, still watching her show.

“Papa!” She said, jumping into Pascal’s waiting arms. 

“Mon chou, we have talked about this.”

“I know Papa, but it was scary in there,” she said, frowning at him. Dumo kissed her forehead and gave Logan a smirk over her head.

“Ouais. Well, alright then. Come. Let’s watch.”

She settled back down on the floor, and Logan wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

“Right, I’ll just—”

“You’re welcome to stay, Logan.” Logan didn’t want to go back to the near silence of the room or the screaming in his head.

They stay like that for a while, neither of them talking in the partially dark room.

“It’s difficult to adjust sometimes. Sirius, well…Sirius struggled with sleep for some time,” Dumo eventually said. There was more to the story than that, it was obvious. Equally obvious that Pascal wasn’t going to talk about it.

“I’ve been sleeping away from home for a long time,” Logan said. Even college hadn’t phased him. Some of the guys got homesick, but not Logan. He missed his family, sure, but he’d been living apart from them for years already. It didn’t seem to bother him. Not like Finn, who’d more than once begged to sleep in Logan’s bed, just to be close to someone. At first, Logan hadn’t had the heart to refuse him. Eventually, he hadn’t had the heart to refuse himself.

“What is it then? You went to see Harzy. The two of you are close, yes? He’s been talking about it nonstop for weeks.”

“Yeah, best friends,” he said weakly. The words felt like bile, the rest of it trying to climb out of his throat. The fucking love of my life. The center of my whole world.

“It’s been a while since you’ve gotten to see one another, I imagine.”

“Yeah. Busy.” Busy ignoring emails until they stop coming, phone calls until it stops ringing, text messages until they sounded like strangers again. Cold turkey.

“A lot to catch up on, then. No wonder you’re still excited.”

Logan hummed in response, replaying the day over and over again. They’d agreed. Friends was better than nothing. Losing all of him was too much to contemplate. He was afraid having half of him may hurt twice as much.

Your fault! Yourfaultyourfaultyourfaultyourfault.

“But, it can sometimes be complicated. Good things aren’t always all good. Sometimes doux-amer?” Pascal continued.

That sounded right for them. Bitter, bitter Logan. Impossibly sweet Finn.

“Yeah, doux-amer,” he said, throat tight.

Pascal didn’t say anything else and eventually, Katie came over and climbed, surprisingly, into Logan’s lap and fell almost immediately to sleep.

“Finally. She does that. Full steam ahead and then she hits the boards,” Pascal said.

“Should we?”

“Non. Goodness. If you wake her up, she’ll never go to sleep again. I’ll stay with you. Let her sleep.”

Logan rested his head on the back of the couch and synched his breathing up with her deep, steady breaths. Before he knew it, the calm quiet of the room and Katie’s weight had him nodding off himself.

“Sleep, Logan. It’s okay. I’m right here.”

---LAST---

Logan’s life started again almost overnight.

In the space of a week:

Sirius Black had been outed.

Remus Lupin had been outed.

Sirius had almost ruined his relationship with Remus Lupin, and therefore, a considerable portion of the team.

He’d sobbed. Cried his heart out like he hadn’t since he was a little boy.

He’d gone to the fucking All-Star game. Played in the fucking All-Star game.

He’d knocked sense into Sirius’s head, a man he idolized like a hero, loved hard like a brother.

He’d come out to him.

Oh, and Finn and Leo loved him.

Leo and Finn loved him and sent him heart emojis almost as often as they sent devastating videos of themselves doing things to one another that made him desperately wish they’d had better timing with all of this.

Things that had seemed impossible only days ago now were past him, had transformed from possibilities to history. Something fundamental loosened in his chest, and Logan felt like he was taking full breaths for the first time…possibly since the day he’d walked into Harvard’s rink on the very first day of Freshman year and met his fate.

He’d been home for two days from the All-Star game and they’d talked about what life was going to look like now. It was hard for Logan to process any of it over the glowing, startling sunglow that seemed to pour out of the two of them. He’d thought he’d loved Finn before. Had, surely. Nothing hurt that bad if you didn’t love it first. But he knew now that it was only a fraction of what it was to have him, to know that Logan belonged to them, that his place was with them. It was heady.

He'd almost forgotten his things until the clothing in his suitcase had run out.

“Dumo,” he said, after practice. Dumo had looked up at him with steady eyes even as Logan hesitated.

“What is it, mon fils?”

“I’m-well, merde. I’m moving out.”

Dumo didn’t seem surprised. “Finn?”

Logan wasn’t sure exactly sure how he meant that.

“Ouais,” was the answer either way.

“That’s wonderful, Logan. You’ll be much more settled there, non?”

---

Logan had come the next day to get his things. Celeste was in the kitchen with an excited Katie making brownies from the smell of it.

“Lolo!!!” She shouted, leaping into his arms.

“Hi, Katie-dee, what are we making?” He asked, rolling up his sleeves.

He’d meant to have dinner and go home, but as the evening slipped by—Adele and Marc arguing over whose turn it was to wash the dishes; Celeste humming to herself as she packed up food and grinning when Dumo came up behind her and pressed against her back before he sneakily grabbed another roll and ran off snickering at the swatting of her dish towel—he couldn’t bring himself to go.

Change of plans. I want to stay the night. Just one last time.

Both of them respond almost immediately in support. And as soon as he was done, he powered off his phone.

“Now then, Katie-dee, we weren’t nearly finished with our story.”

Story was a loose word for it. It had been going for weeks now. It involved Barbie dolls and a giant pink and purple castle and at least half of the available stuffed animals in her room all dragged down into the living room.

“Alright. We were fighting the scary dragon,” Katie reminded him. Logan nodded dutifully. “And we’re trying to save the prince in the tower.”

“Ouais, I remember now.”

He spent the evening with her pretending to be knights fighting off the scary dragon…and the pit of snakes no one had seen…and the evil wizard behind it all…and finally rescued the prince.

“Papa said you’re moving out like Siri did.”

Logan nodded. He’d been dreading this part the most.

“But he said you’ll still be around, right?” Katie looked nervous, fiddling with one of other Barbie’s plastic blond hair. “Just like Siri?”

“Of course, Katie-dee. I promise.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to live with Finn and Leo.”

Katie considered this for a minute and nodded. “I like Finn.”

“Yeah? Me too,” Logan admitted. It felt nice to say it out loud even in this innocent context.

“And Leo is the tall one, right? With the hair?” she held up the Barbie she’d been fidgeting with earlier, the one with bright blond hair.

Logan laughed. “That’s right.”

“Hmm. Okay, then,” she said, nodding again. “They look like they could use your help.”

“Oh yeah? You think so?”  

“Ouais. You never know who might need saving, Lolo. Maybe you can be a knight for them, too,” she shrugged. Logan hadn’t been much of one in the last few years, but maybe she was right. Some things were absolutely worth fighting for.

“Could be.”

Katie gave a big yawn. “I’m tired.”

“Want to watch Bluey?” He asked.

Katie nodded, holding her arms out for him to pick her up.

He’d just got her settled into the couch beside him when Dumo flung himself down beside them. They made it through one episode before Katie was asleep.

“You’re a smart man for escaping, Logan. Too much chaos.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Please. Like you’d have it any other way.”

“C’est vrai,” Dumo said, “Still you’ll have so much peace and quiet.”

“Are you kidding me? Harzy’s like a giant kid. He makes at least four times as much mess.”

“Please. Like you’d have it any other way,” Dumo said, tossing his words back at him. He wasn’t saying anything that absolutely confirmed it, but Logan could tell he knew exactly why it was that Logan was moving in with them mid-season.

“Ouais. C’est vrai.”

“I’m happy for you, mon fils.”

“Me too, it’s just…”

“Doux-amer?”

Logan laughed, remembering.

Katie snored softly from his shoulder.

“Non, not this time. I think it’ll just be sweet.”

Pascal grinned at him. “You know? I think so, too.”

And it really was.

[wormstacheangel]

Dean and Cas in Motel6

The sun was shining through the motel window. Its glowing rays danced across Dean’s freckled back. A sight he never thought he would be privileged enough to see.

Dean asleep—drooling on the pillow even—naked and tangled up in motel sheets. Which was not the new part. No. The new and most amazing sight was that Cas was laying almost the same way. Except for the drooling since he did not sleep. And in this moment he thanked his lucky stars he didn’t. 

He couldn’t imagine missing even a second of Dean’s peaceful breathing. 

Oh, but he wanted to touch. His hands kept reaching over wanting to rake his fingers in soft brown hair or glide his hand down soft warm skin. His body ached to just be close to his best friend but he was still so hesitant. Dropping his hand between them but continued admiring the most beautiful man. 

His lover.

Cas almost chuckled but didn’t want to shake the bed. Dean would have cringed at that.

But wasn’t that true now? After this night, shouldn’t Cas be able to call Dean his?

“Stay.” Dean had begged last night. 

Cas remembered every detail, from the way Dean’s hands gripped to the way Dean panted his name. Even calling him Castiel once at some point. But he especially remembered Dean’s words.

“Fuck. I love you so much. Stay. Stay. Stay.”

Since being reunited they haven’t talked about his dying words or “The truth” as Sam likes to put it. Cas was brought back to resume business as usual. Except no Chuck and Jack was now the all-knowing. Which meant Cas was gone all the time with his son. 

He has not had a second of alone time with Dean, but he got a phone call last night. It wasn't a drunk call that made him drop everything and leave heaven behind. No, this was Dean's prayer.

“Come get me.”

It was all a strange whirlwind after that. 

He arrived at a motel, knocking once before being pulled in. He remembers the hesitant touching but the kissing was desperate for them both. Closing the gap between them so easily before falling into bed. 

And now it’s the morning and here they both are. 

He worried what Dean would say when he awoke. If this was all one big mistake. He wanted to prepare his heart for another goodbye and, even if this is all he gets, this wonderful night with Dean, then he will cherish it forever. 

He will pretend it never happened for Dean’s sake. For their family’s sake. 

But he knew he could never forget the warmth he felt finally being with the man he loves. 

Maybe he should leave before Dean wakes up. Save them both the trouble of an awkward conversation. 

He carefully scooted out of bed. Sitting at the edge of it, watching his bare feet on the filthy old carpet, debating whether or not to savor one last look at Dean before he left. 

“Unless you’re getting up to get me some damn breakfast,” Cas's back straightened as he heard the raspy voice. “You better get back in bed, Sweetheart."

Cas turned his head to see Dean lift up the sheets just enough to let him scoot in but not let the cold creep in. He smiled his sleepy grin and motioned with his chin to come close. Cas couldn't help but let the worries melt away as he slipped into the bed. Their bodies were close, it was almost electric as they kept an eye on each other. Looking for answers neither wanted to ask the questions too.

“Beautiful.” Cas thought at the same time as Dean said the word out loud. Only a whisper but still so confidently said. 

They both smiled as the tension faded. Their hands slowly crept between them before their pinkies hooked together.

Cas looked at their hands as he confessed. “I've been wanting this with you for so long. I…I never thought it was possible.” I never want to let go.

“Sorry it took me so long to get my head out of my ass.” He joked but his small smile was so sincere as he continued. “I was missing you like crazy. And I was trying to be patient and let you settle in with your whole new role as God's Dad and all but,” Dean slides his hand up Cas’s arm and gently places it on his cheek. Looking into his eyes, Cas saw no sadness. “I'm tired of wasting my time not being with you. You can…you have me, Cas. Always did.”

His eyes watered but he wouldn’t dare look away from the pretty face. He took Dean's hand and placed a kiss on his palm. He made sure Dean was listening to him before he let out a heavy breath. “I love you.”

He heard Dean's heart race and his breath hitched before he relaxed. Closing the space between them with a kiss. Long, sweet, and wonderful kiss. 

“After we make up for so much damn time,” Dean pulled Cas almost on top of him. “Maybe we can get that breakfast we were talking about earlier.”

“I wasn't talking about breakfast.” Cas chuckled, bending down to let his lips trace warm freckled skin. “But I do love the idea.”

“Great.” Dean pulled Cas’s face away from his throat and let their eyes lock. “You know I love you too, right?”

Cas couldn't respond but he felt like the Grinch and his grace grew two sizes that moment—though he knew it wasn’t possible, he just felt so happy. His eyes finally shed those tears he was holding in while he tucked his face into Dean’s chest. Feeling big, strong, and—best of all— gentle hands rub mindless circles into his back. 

Cas knew he was important. He knew he was wanted to some degree. But finally hearing those words, from someone he truly loves, felt healing in some way. How has he lived so long without being loved?

The motel room filled with a golden light of morning sun and soft humming from the man he loves. You could see every tear in the wallpaper, mold on the ceiling, and even how the carpet had different color stains but at this moment, it was the most beautiful place in the world. 

In this moment, he was truly in heaven.

[white-wolf-buckaroo]

Chapter 3: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

Third chapter of my daughter of Ares fic! Back at age 12 here. I got a bit carried away with this... this episode of the show was actually really good so I wanted to make it justice. Hope you enjoy!

Word count: 12300 ish words (oops)

Warnings: none I can think of <3

Fic masterlist here!

Emily threw her dagger against a panel of wood, angry. She retrieved it, walked back to where she had been sitting, and threw it again. Annabeth sat beside her on a fallen tree trunk, watching her let out her anger with the knife.

“You can’t be mad at me forever” she told Emily, arms crossed over her chest “I already told you that I’m sorry. And I told Chiron that you had nothing to do with it”

“He still thinks that I helped you shove Percy in the lake. And that I let Clarisse almost kill him” she huffed, picking up her dagger again. She traced the Greek letters engraved in the metal with her fingers, trying to calm down “And I would have if you hadn’t stopped me!”

“He survived, that’s what matters. And thanks to all of what happened, he has been claimed. It’s a win-win situation, if you ask me”

“I don’t see where there is the win for me. Chiron has never been mad at me… well, except that one time I accidentally started a fire inside my cabin, but that was on accident! Now he probably thinks that I’m bullying Percy or something, and that I’m becoming just like Clarisse”

“He doesn’t think that”

“If he doesn’t why did he ask us last night to meet him first thing in the morning in the big house” Emily put the dagger back in its stealth, frowning “He’s going to make us clean the stables for a week or… clean the kitchens for the rest of the summer!”

“Chiron’s not going to do that”

“How do you know? He did punish the Stolls once making them repaint the whole outside of the Hephaestus cabin”

“After they covered it in bright pink paint at the beginning of the summer, that’s an important detail”

Emily was about to reply, but the door to the big house opened, revealing Chiron and Mr. D; they both walked out to the porch, Mr. D looking pretty displeased at having to be awake this early. He had a diet coke in his hand, taking regular sips from it so to not fall asleep.

“Annabeth, Emily” Chiron trot over to them, both girls standing up out of respect “Thank you for coming”

“Let’s make this quick, I want to go back to sleep” complained Mr. D, taking off his sunglasses. He sighted, signalling at the two kids “Annie bell, Ellie, did you two push the water boy into the lake?”

“I did it” spoke Annabeth, taking the lead before her friend could; she knew that Emily wasn’t pleased at her or her actions, but she would definitely take the blame on her as well if she let her, so that Annabeth wouldn’t be punished that much “Emily wanted to stop me, she has nothing to do with it”

“But me not stopping her makes me just as guilty” Annabeth looked at Emily sideways, doing a face of ‘what are you doing!’, although she couldn’t hold her back anymore “We’re both deeply sorry”

“It was me who did it, though”

“True, but I let you do it”

“It’s cute, your loyalty to one another” Mr. D took a sip from his diet coke, chuckling to himself “I guess as camp director I’m the one who has to set out the terms of your punishment… but you know what? What you did was hilarious. Do it again. That’s your punishment. Aye, let’s go back to bed”

“I’m afraid we still have other matters at hand, Mr. D” Chiron looked down at him, the god sighting again “The rest of the selected heroes will arrive soon to the pavilion. We have to go meet them”

“I hate this place… gods, I need a drink” mumbled Mr. D, shaking his head. He really only wanted to go back to bed “Just another terrible day at camp half-blood”

He walked away heading to the pavilion, leaving Annabeth and Emily alone with the centaur.

The fact that Mr. D had decided to not punish them was a relief, true, but who they were really scared of disappointing was Chiron: he had been practically raising them since they started living at camp, and the prospect of letting him down seemed terrible.

“What other heroes?” Annabeth frowned “What is happening, Chiron?”

“It’s about our newest camper, Percy. He’s inside the big house now… in the attic”

“He went to see the Oracle?” Emily piped up, her eyes widening “He’s going on a quest!”

No one ever left to go on a quest before visiting the Oracle and hearing what she had to say about it – a quest wasn’t a quest if she didn’t say so. Emily had never seen the old lady, but she had heard things from her about Luke, who had been on his own quest not so long ago: her form looked kind of like an old Halloween decoration, creepy and dusty, but her spirit residing inside was as wise as in ancient days.

“It’s happening, isn’t it?” both Emily and Chiron could sense Annabeth’s hope radiating off of her; she was convinced that this was going to be her chance “This is the quest you promised me”

“Percy will have to choose two fellow demigods to accompany him on his journey. If the fates think that this is your destiny, he will choose you” Chiron put a hand on her shoulder, smiling fondly at the girl “And I’m glad to say that if it’s the case, you are more than ready to embark on a journey like that. I know my opinion as camps’ activities director doesn’t count much… but I’m proud of you, dear Annabeth”

“Thank you, Chiron. It matters, really”

“Now go, girls. Mr. D will surely already be at the pavilion. Wait there for me an Percy to arrive, and we’ll start the selection ceremony”

“Wait, both of us?” confused, Emily raised her eyes up to meet Chiron’s “Me too?”

“You are one of camp’s most formidable warriors, Emily. Of course. I’ve selected the best of the best, and you couldn’t be missed among that group”

“But I haven’t been alone outside of camp in years. I wouldn’t know how to get anywhere, or move around, or help, or…”

“Those are fears you shouldn’t face until the right moment, Emily, not beforehand. If Percy chooses you to go with him, I’m sure you will be an excellent companion”

“You sure?” the centaur nodded “Thanks, Chiron” he had a soothing aura around him that always helped to calm her insecurities. He was the best “Hold on… Percy’s quest, what is it even about?”

“I’m afraid to tell you that… troubling times are ahead. Zeus’ master bolt has been stolen. If it isn’t returned before the summer solstice, in one week, there will be war”

“But what does Percy have to do with that?”

“Well, for starters, he is a forbidden child. Considering who his father is, and that he has been claimed just now, when the tension between Poseidon and Zeus is growing more and more every passing day… The suspicions about who is the thief fall all upon him”

“I thought he has only just found out that he is a half-blood. He can’t be the thief, it’s ridiculous”

“Until proven otherwise, he is the most probable candidate. That’s why he has to go retrieve the bolt, and return it to its rightful owner”

“But who could have the bolt? Who would be interested in a war?”

“Well, both our parents are the deities of war” Annabeth grimaced, shrugging “Although… If I had to pick between Ares and Athena, I think it would most probably be Ares. No offense”

“None taken. I… I don’t know, like… who knows what he’s up to” Emily huffed, playing with a rock on the floor tossing it around with her foot “And why a war between Zeus and Poseidon? I get it, they aren’t the best of friends… but they have other siblings who could have stolen the bolt”

“Hades” muttered Annabeth “He’s always been put behind his other siblings, and he’d be stronger than Zeus and Poseidon if he had the bolt”

“That’s true” Chiron seemed stressed, but he was good at not showing it. Emily and Annabeth were better at seeing the signs, because they had known him for half of their lives now “Percy will have to head to Los Angeles and enter the underworld to get the master bolt back, before the lord of the dead starts a war”

“I’m sure some gods would like it if he failed to do so” Emily made a face, huffing.

“The Gods may have their flaws, child, but also their virtues. They are powerful beings who have been around for ages, yes, but every living being that roams earth never stops learning, including them. All of us can fail, do wrong, but also learn valuable lessons, and become stronger thanks to it” now he put a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly “And you, my dear Emily, have your father’s strength and resilience. Not because you were born with it, but because you’ve fought hard all your life, just like him. Never forget that although our steps can falter, the journey does not end there”

The selection ceremony started soon after.

All selected demigods for Percy to choose stood in the pavilion. Apart from Annabeth and Emily, there was also Luke, his brother Chris, Clarisse, and other half-bloods known in camp for being the strongest or smartest fighters.

Clarisse stood on Emily’s left side, and on Annabeth’s right, between the girls; when Chiron announced that two demigods had to be chosen to join Percy on the quest, Emily wished that if Annabeth was truly chosen in the end, she wouldn’t have to deal with her sister.

She doubted she’d have to, though. Percy didn’t like Clarisse. She had been nothing but mean to him, so it was pretty obvious that she’d stay in camp. Percy would probably choose Luke as well – they had mingled well over the past few days.

“Time is short” warned Chiron to Percy, turning then to the rest of the Demigods “I have selected our most compelling half-blood candidates, from which you will choose two to join you on this quest, and ensure that we succeed-“

“Annabeth”

Percy made his first choice even before Chiron could end his speech, or even start presenting each of the candidates; customarily one waits to at least hear a name or two before choosing, but not Percy.

“This thing, Zeus’s master bolt… we need to get it back, right?” the centaur nodded to Percy’s words ”And it’s gonna be hard to get, right?”

“Extraordinarily”

“And if the mission required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed… you’d want someone who won’t hesitate when they do it”

Emily looked over at her friend, eyebrow raised; the whole ‘shoving Percy into the water’ incident had left a mark on the boy.

“Then it’s set” Chiron looked over at the daughter of Athena, announcing the final resolution “The first quest-mate shall be Annabeth Chase”

Her dream had come true.

What they didn’t expect, was Percy’s second choice.

Before Chiron could introduce him to the other candidates, he interrupted him again:

“I’m only going on this quest if Grover can come too”

The centaur looked baffled, alongside Mr. D, who stood to his left.

“Satyrs don’t go on quests, Johnson” said the god of wine, looking at the boy “You’re supposed to choose two demigods, not one demigod and a satyr”

“He’s been my protector for the last months, so I want him to come with me” he insisted, firm in his decision “I’m not going if he’s staying”

Mr. D looked at Chiron, and after a few seconds the centaur turned back to Percy, grimacing:

“Percy, a quest is undertaken by demigods. Satyrs are loyal creatures, and I understand your reasoning, but we would be much more comfortable if you chose two demigods to join you instead of just one”

“But I’m not only choosing Annabeth” he replied, looking then at the girl from the Ares cabin who had defended him every time since meeting each other “I choose Emily as well”

Everyone’s gaze turned to her, making Emily feel a bit uncomfortable, but she brushed those feelings away quickly, standing proud on her spot while Chiron announced her as the second quest-mate.

They allowed Grover to come as well in the end. Percy wanted someone he could completely trust, and both Annabeth and Emily could comprehend the boy – in this crazy world he had been thrown in, Grover was the only one somewhat ‘familiar’ to Percy. Both girls were also thrilled to be going together on the quest, so they understood why Percy wanted his own friend to go on the quest with him as well. He trusted the satyr.

Besides, Grover would definitely pack the best snacks.

The rest of the day went by in a haze, preparing for the upcoming trip. Emily filled her backpack with her essentials (some spare clothes, weapons… the usual), and she even went over to the Hermes cabin to ask Luke to take care of her beloved Teddy bear while she was out of camp.

“Are you sure you want to leave it here?” the bear was more of a relic from the first years Emily had spent at camp, from a time where she was younger, but she couldn’t give it away. It was the last thing she had left from her mom, after all “You know how my siblings can get”

“I also know you won’t let anyone do anything to it… and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it in my cabin without me there to protect it from Clarisse”

“Fair enough”

Emily also met up with Grover and Annabeth during the afternoon, to plan how they would start their journey – they wanted to include Percy in the planning as well, but he was somewhere in the woods doing some last minute sword-fighting training with Luke.

“So, who will take the lead?”

“We could vote” suggested Emily “Who votes for Percy?”

“It’s not like I don’t want him to lead” Grover bit his lip nervously after raising his hand on impulse, but then pulling it back down “You guys are more experienced than him”

“I agree”

“Then we girls lead” added Annabeth, looking at Emily for confirmation “Together”

“I’m surprised you’re sharing the team captain title with me, Annie”

“Let’s say you’re my second in command”

“See? There it is. I knew it”

The next morning, right before leaving for the quest, Emily and Annabeth met up in front of the big house, where Percy and Grover would also join them to get one final talk to Chiron before leaving. However, before any of the boys showed up, Luke made his way towards them, smiling fondly.

“You didn’t think you were leaving without saying goodbye properly, weren’t you?”

He engulfed both of them in a bear hug, taking time for each of his girls; they were the closest thing to real siblings they had. Sure, each of them had a bunch of brothers and sisters in their cabins… but their bond was stronger.

“You both take care of each other out there, you hear me?” he had a hand on one of Emily’s shoulder’s the other on one of Annabeth’s, looking alternatively between their faces “You are the strongest girls I know. You can do this”

“We’ll miss you” pouted Emily.

“I’ll miss you too” he ruffled her hair softly, and gave her another side hug.

“I wish you could come with us”

“Me too, Annabeth” Luke grimaced sadly at the girl, but he pinched then one of her cheeks, trying to get her to smile again “But I’m glad that you will at least have each other. I know you will be fine”

After one last hug to each of them, Luke went back to his cabin, and soon after both Percy and Grover appeared with their backpacks, ready to go.

Percy had received a visit from Luke before leaving as well, to say goodbye, and to give him a last farewell gift: a pair of flying shoes Luke had originally received from his dad. They came to life after saying the word ‘Maia’, growing feather wings from the strings of the sneakers – they resembled Hermes’ own flying shoes, able to lift up whoever was wearing them.

Saying goodbye to Mr. D was easy, not so much to Chiron, but the worst was definitely saying goodbye to Thalia.

Annabeth had it the hardest: Emily let her stand by the tree the time she needed, telling both Percy and Grover that they still had to wait for a moment until the girl was ready. Grover immediately understood, but Percy… not so much.

“She’s really gonna miss that tree, huh?”

“When Annabeth first arrived here with Thalia and Luke, they were being chased by monsters” explained Grover “Agents of Hades. Sisters. Furies”

“Mrs. Dotts?”

“Who is Mrs. Dotts?” Emily didn’t know who they were talking about.

“She was our Algebra teacher at Yancy school. Yes, that was Alecto. Back then… Thalia turned back to fight to buy her friends some time. Her Satyr protector tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen. So, at the last moment… Zeus intervened to save her life, and changed her form”

Emily remembered that day clearly. It had been a terrible night, filled with insecurities and uncertainness because of what had happened to Thalia.

“The most powerful being in the universe’ best idea to safe his daughter’s life… was to turn her into a tree?”

“She was the bravest demigod I ever knew” Annabeth had walked back to them, catching the last bits of their talk “She fought valiantly to safe us all”

“And she met a hero’s fate” added Emily, solemnly.

“She met a pinecone’s fate”

He had not just said that.

“Dude…” muttered the Ares’ girl, eyes growing big “Chill”

“Forbidden children are always in danger, even the strongest ones. Even Thalia” it was obvious that Annabeth felt personally victimized by Percy’s comment, and let’s be honest, she had all the right to do so “And you are not Thalia. Do exactly as I say, and maybe you survive this. Are we clear?”

She didn’t give him any time to answer, as she turned her back to Percy and started walking past the limit of the pine tree.

“You should probably apologize sometime about that comment of Thalia’s tree” Emily patted Percy’s shoulder, awkwardly “I… uh… I’ll go with her”

Emily caught up with Annabeth, as the boys lingered behind a few more seconds:

“Does she think she is in charge?” Percy referred to Annabeth, frowning.

“Technically, they both are. Who did you think would be?”

“I guess I assumed we’d do a show of hands or something… you know, democracy”

Hero’s quests are world-defining events. They have made and broken empires, altered the course of human civilization, changed the balance of power on Olympus… it’s a sacred thing, and to be charged with one is to be in conversation with the gods themselves.

It wasn’t like burning offerings, or praying to them. The gods handed out the missions for them to complete, because they were the only ones able to do so. It as an honour, and a privilege.

Although after being sat in an old uncomfortable bus for half an hour in the backseats right beside the toilet (the worst seats ever), and a huge guy using the restroom for most of that time, Percy thought that there was no way that scared smelled as bad like that.

“We’re soldiers on a mission. It’s not a vacation”

“Thank you for clearing that up”

After leaving camp, the three demigods, plus the satyr, had made their way to New York city to grab a bus that would take them through the country. Chiron had given them their bus tickets, albeit Percy hadn’t expected this kind of ride if the matter was so important.

“If this is so important, why didn’t Chiron spring for plane tickets? Or good smelling seats at least? This seems kind of… low priority, doesn’t it?”

“The smell hides us from the monsters” explained Emily. She was seated with Annabeth, in the window seat, while Grover was by Percy “It makes it more difficult to track us”

“And it isn’t just the monsters who are gonna be trying to stop us” Grover thought someone would have told Percy this, but apparently not “You’re a forbidden child. Zeus might decide to take a shot at you himself. The sky is his domain”

“We’d basically be serving you up on a silver platter to try to travel through it”

“That would’ve been a good piece of advice someone could have mentioned before leaving camp… but yeah, no one did” Percy sighted. He stayed silent for a few seconds, while his eyebrows slowly furrowed “If me travelling through the country is so dangerous because I’m a forbidden child, why did they sent me in the first place?”

“To exonerate you. Everyone thinks you stole the master bolt, so the best way for you to prove Zeus otherwise, is to return the bolt to him yourself”

“That sounds like a lame excuse to me” he huffed, grimacing “You both are much more skilled than me” it was true; both Annabeth and Emily were far more trained than Percy “It would’ve been just as good if you guys went to L.A. to get the bolt and then back to New York to return it. You could even take a plane if I wasn’t there to go faster”

“I may not be a forbidden child like you, but I don’t think Zeus is all that fond of me either” replied Emily “He doesn’t like Ares’ children. I’m by far not Zeus’ favourite grandchild, so I also wouldn’t be safe in the sky. Annabeth would have a shot, though, only because her mom is Zeus’ favourite kid”

“I still wouldn’t risk it” commented the girl, looking out the window.

“Let’s just say Zeus won’t get a ‘world’s best grandpa’ or ‘best uncle’ mug anytime soon”

The bus made it out of New York and stopped in New Jersey at a tank station; most of the passengers stood up to go stretch their legs, buy goodies or use the bathroom, leaving Percy, Annabeth, Emily and Grover sitting in the backseats.

“I’m gonna go get us some snacks” announced Annabeth, unbuckling her seatbelt. Percy wanted to tag along, but the told him no “You’ll stay right there”

“But it smells terrible back here. You’re not the only one who wants to escape this”

“Remember, the monsters won’t smell you here” Emily raised up from her seat as well, joining Annabeth “That’s where we want you”

“I wanna vote” Percy looked at Grover for support “Who thinks that we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?”

“There’s no voting”

“Chips and sodas okay for you guys?”

“I don’t think you should just get to decide we don’t vote” Percy ignored Emily’s question, going back at Annabeth.

“I’m sorry to hear that”

“Okay… Then I wanna vote on whether you get to decide we don’t vote”

“Grover, please, can you help your…” but Grover interrupted Annabeth before she could finish her demand, clapping slowly “… friend?”

“I really don’t wanna be a tiebreaker” said the satyr, still clapping “I have a better idea”

“Oh, gods, please not this” muttered Emily, but it was too late. Grover started to sing:

“Oh, golly, the road’s gettin’ bumpy ‘cause I got me some friends who just can’t along! Oh, dear! When the team’s gettin’ grumpy the trick to gettin’ through it is singin’ this song-“

Percy cut him off before he could go any further.

“Dude, what are you doing?” he shook his head, trying to make Grover take the hint that he should stop.

“It’s the consensus song. Verse two encourages us to say nice things about each other! You get a few rounds in and you’d be amazed at how disagreements just kind of… fade away”

Emily looked at him unimpressed, slowly shaking her head as well; in all of her years in camp she had grown to love many things there, but the consensus song? Maybe it was her rebellious, aggressive Ares side, but she hated that song. If someone sang it to her at camp to try to solve a disagreement, she would end up punching said someone in the face before they could even start the second verse.

For once, even Annabeth and Percy agreed, looking at Grover just as unimpressed as Emily did. An uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

“Chips and sodas okay then?”

The boys muttered ‘yes please and ‘whatever’, and with that both Annabeth and Emily exited the bus. Emily heard Percy muttering defeated that the voting system was broken, and she almost laughed.

The store at the tank station was huge, or at least, that’s what Emily thought when they entered it. She hadn’t been in any kind of store in years, and she didn’t really remember much of how they were when she was little. Now, at twelve years old, she marvelled at the different aisles, and especially, the candy section.

“Which one do you think Percy and Grover will like the most?”

“Would it be too obvious if we got Percy blue candy?” Emily grabbed some blue chewing gum, showing it to Annabeth “You know… for Poseidon”

“I got it” Annabeth rolled her eyes, but there was a little smile on her face “Do you thing the blue ones taste different than the orange ones?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had candy since I was six, except that one time the Stolls brought some at the beginning of the summer, and it was yucky”

It was a tough choice to make. Both of them hadn’t tried most of the candies and chocolates they saw in that aisle, and if they had, they didn’t really remember what they were like or what they tasted like like.

“We can grab blue candy for Percy... Green ones for Grover, and red ones for you” Annabeth handed Emily some reddish gummy bears, and the girl thanked her “And some white ones for me. Then we can share and try them all”

Did they end up leaving that aisle with their hands full of too many sweets? Absolutely. Did they think it was too much, or that they could have grabbed less? No, not really. Chiron probably wouldn’t have let them get so much candy, but the wasn’t there to lecture them.

They also grabbed the chips and sodas, of course – it was what they had went to grab originally anyways. The cashier looked them up and down, staring wide eyed at the mountain of candy, chips, chocolates and sodas they left on the counter.

“Oh, Annie, I want a slushie”

“You aren’t five years old, you don’t need one”

“You don’t buy slushies because you need them” she looked at her friend making a face that represented the word ‘duh’ “Hey, you grabbed those chocolate-marshmallow bars even though I didn’t want to. Let me have my own treat”

She did get a slushie, a red one which supposedly tasted like strawberries; having been living at a strawberry farm for six years, Emily could tell that this was definitely not what strawberries tasted like. But it was full of sugar, so she was drank it anyways.

While Annabeth was paying, a woman walked behind the girls, and both of them tensed up.

Just as monsters could sense demigods, trained half-bloods learned to recognize the aura of a monster. Not literally, of course, but Emily and Annabeth had strong intuitive feelings, and even though it could not look like it, they were extremely aware of their surroundings. They knew that if they weren’t, they would be much easier to kill.

The mysterious woman stopped in front of a shelve to their right, and their suspicions grew stronger when she slowly turned her face to them, smirking.

It’s true that monsters are most likely to sense a more powerful demigod, like forbidden children, but it isn’t power exactly, that draws them. It’s more complicated than that. It’s kind of like how bees smell one’s fear: what a monster senses depends on the monster. Some sense inadequacy, the need for glory, shame… if a demigod has to confront one, the monster will attack wherever their armor is the weakest. Nothing will stop them, not even death.

Emily walked a few steps behind Annabeth, slushie in hand; if things got tough, she could easily access her bracelet and use her throwing knife; whereas she was completely visible, Annabeth had her Yankees hat on, hiding in plain sight. The bus was starting to get packed again with all of the passengers making their way back, and as Emily passed by the front row seats, she got that feeling of uneasiness again – especially when she walked by a woman holding a newspaper.

The key to not get surprised by a monster, was to spot them first.

“If you guys were better at your job, we might not have noticed you here so easily”

The woman folded her newspaper together upon hearing Emily’s words, holding a serious look on her face. The girl was still taking sips of her slushie, eyes focused on the woman.

“If Thalia were better at hers there might not be a family of squirrels making her their home”

“That’s a low blow, even for a monster”

“Is that why Hades sent you here?” Annabeth’s voice joined the conversation after hearing Thalia’s name, although she was still wearing her hat. The woman, the monster, couldn’t see her, alas she didn’t know where she was, even if she could sense her “To gloat over a job you almost did right once?”

“How things have changed… You’re not the frightened little girl I came for all those years ago” she looked back at Emily, expression unreadable “And you don’t seem so tough as I had expected at all”

“Don’t kid yourself. I wasn’t that frightened”

“And I can still kick your ass back to the underworld if you decide to make the wrong move”

The monster chuckled, amused.

“Maybe so, maybe so… Either way, now it would seem that you’re both exactly what they say you are. The pride of Athena’s offspring, and Ares’ most treasured child. Perhaps the most formidable demigods children alive”

“You won’t get to us by trying to manipulate us using our parents” Emily scoffed, definitely not buying it – and also not letting her face show how she had felt after the woman said that she was known as Ares’ most treasured kid “What do you want? If you were here to kill us you would already have tried”

“I’m here to collect your friend” she looked back through the gap between the seats, to where Percy sat unaware of what was happening.

“Collect him? For what?”

 “Oh, I don’t question orders. ‘Bring him in, quick and quiet’. That is what I was told” she turned back to Emily, as she couldn’t see Annabeth, but her next message was for the both of them “Lure him off this bus where I can take him quietly away from so many eyes, and your quest goes on unimpeded an unburdened. You and I know he isn’t gonna be of any help to you, and maybe even a hindrance”

“We’re not going to do that” said Emily, firmly.

“Are you not?” the woman raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl’s side and then back to her “Where did your invisible friend go then?”

Emily tried to feel Annabeth by her side, but the hallway seemed empty. There was no body heat beside her like a few seconds ago, and she frankly couldn’t tell where the girl had went.

“Some children must learn the hard way” muttered the woman, sighting “It was a pleasure to meet you, daughter of Ares”

The monster began to transform before her eyes, her clothes and hair mutating into her true form: her once grey updo turned red and feathery, and her black coat along her red shirt grew feathers as well, covering her whole body up until her hands, where there were now long and sharp claws. Out of her bag two wings emerged, like big bat wings, hitting the top of the bus as they unfolded fully.

It was a fury. And where was one, there were always other two.

They had to leave now.

“Percy!” Emily shrieked, starting to get away from the creature “Run!”

In order to get the fury to back off, Emily threw her slushie at her, still full of ice and red liquid, hitting her in the face.

Both Percy and Grover perked up from their seats, and upon seeing what had made Emily scream, they both shot up, aiming for the emergency window behind them to try and open it. When they finally succeeded, the glass fell off of the bus shattering against the ground, and a security alarm went off. The driver ordered through the megaphone that everyone should exit the bus, and everyone started to stand up, slowing down Emily, but also the fury that was making her way to her.

“Emily let’s go!”

She turned to Percy, still looking for Annabeth – where was she?! She couldn’t have really considered the fury’s proposition, couldn’t she? No, her friend wasn’t like that. Emily would never accept, and neither would Annabeth… right?

A shriek coming from outside pierced through the air. Flying in the direction of the bus was another fury – she flew straight through the open window, almost hitting Percy and Grover, causing them fall to the ground.

“Hey!”

Annabeth appeared out of nowhere, and she threw a knife at the monster, who screeched when the metal hit her in the chest. The fury vanished, transformed into dust, and the knife fell on the ground.

“We’re done here, let’s go!”

She grabbed Emily’s arm, yanking her to the open window. Leaving their bags and the snacks behind, all four of them climbed out of the bus – Percy had grabbed the box with Luke’s shoes before leaving, though, and he was now holding it against his chest while they ran. The fury on the bus had been stopped temporarily by all the passengers that were making their way out of the vehicle to the front exit, and the other one who had attacked them was gone.

However, there weren’t just two furies – they were three sisters.

The third one attacked when they were all outside, screeching above them. She flew downward in Percy’s direction with her arms stretched out, terrible claws aiming for his face. He didn’t have enough time to react, turning around to see her almost catching him, when a throwing knife hit her in the middle of the back between her wings.

Emily had been the last one to climb out of the bus, so she had been behind Percy when the third fury had tried to snatch him. He had already started running, so he was a few meters away (alas, the fury wasn’t close as well), so she grabbed her bracelet, and it transformed into her magical weapon. She threw the knife hitting the monster right where she aimed to, and the next thing that happened was that the fury crumbled to dust.

“Come on!” she screamed, picking up her weapon, back to running again “We have to go!”

Ears pumping with the beats of their rushing hearts, they ran to the woods, hiding from the monster left behind. They didn’t stop until they were far enough to not see the tank station, or any building at all, deep inside the forest.

They had no food, or water. Their bags, left behind. They had nothing, except Luke’s shoes, and what they already had on or carried with them.

“This sucks” mumbled Emily, trying to regain her breathe.

As they were now at a ‘safe distance’ they stopped running and switched to walking, trying to recompose themselves but still keep going.

“Somewhere up ahead this turns into a Satyr path” Grover looked far ahead, as if trying to see it.

“What’s a Satyr path?”

There was so much that Percy didn’t know… it was starting to become concerning.

“It’s a road through the wilderness. Satyr explorers use them. Harder to track us”

“That’s… great” Percy still seemed uncertain “But if we stay in the wilderness, how are we gonna find a phone?”

“Why do you want a phone?”

“So we can call camp” it was pretty obvious to him “T-to get help. You know… because we’re lost?”

“We don’t need help. We’re fine” replied Annabeth.

“We’re still alive” added Emily, shrugging “That’s what matters”

“But we haven’t even gotten to Trenton! And we’re wandering through a forest. I didn’t even know they had forests in New Jersey, but we’ve found one!”

“It’s literally called ‘The Garden State’” Emily looked back at him, frowning “What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, but… I would say we’re the opposite of fine”

“We were sent on a quest by the Oracle… by the gods” said Annabeth “What’d you think, it would be easy? It’s supposed to be hard. That’s why only certain people are chosen. If we call camp, we’re basically saying it was a mistake to choose us”

“I’m… completely comfortable with that” Emily knew that Percy’s comment would only make Annabeth more mad. As her best friend, she knew that under that tough leader exterior, was the girl who had dreamed to go on a quest for years. Calling camp, was telling Chiron wrong, and with that, he would be disappointed in them. They couldn’t let that happen “Everyone makes mistakes”

“Why are you so afraid of who you are?”

Annabeth stopped walking, and she turned to Percy, scowling.

“What?”

Grover and Emily looked at each other, quickly picking up the tension rising between their friends.

“You know what’s interesting about this particular satyr path?”

“What so interesting about it, Grover?” Emily’s voice sounded nervous, because she was. If they started fighting again, it would only slow them down.

“It’s actually the one my Uncle Ferdinand took when he set out on his own quest”

“That’s such a cool fact, Grover!”

But Percy and Annabeth ignored them completely:

“What was that supposed to mean, ‘afraid of who I am’? I’m not afraid”

“Yes, you are. You aren’t just a kid. “Just a kid” doesn’t do what you did to Clarisse back at camp. “Just a kid” doesn’t have Hades sending top lieutenants to retrieve them. You know, you are part of something so much bigger than we can understand right now. We have to move forward, whether you like it or not. Whether you want to or not”

“If you don’t want to call camp, fine. Then, at least… let’s call your mom”

“Excuse me?”

If they thought things were gonna get rough, now they definitely were.

“Athena? Your mother. I’d call my father, but we aren’t exactly on speaking terms, because of the lifelong neglect, you know. Or we could call Emily’s dad. You both seem close to your parents. Why don’t we ask them for help?”

“Grover, will you explain to your friend that he needs to pull himself together?” Annabeth was tense. Very much so. Emily knew that she wouldn’t be able to collect herself much longer.

Percy looked at Annabeth, studying her face… and then he realized something.

“You can’t ask her, can you?” he had hit a button. He could see it “When was the last time she talked to you?”

“Grover” Annabeth insisted, but the satyr couldn’t stop him.

“I don’t know why you keep pulling him into this” Percy stood closer to Grover “He’s on my side, just as Emily’s on yours”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because he’s my protector, it’s his job, and she’s your best friend!”

“He was my protector first!”

“First?” he muttered, confused “… What do you mean, ‘first’?”

They both looked at Grover, who looked at Emily, out of words, and then back to their two friends:

“It’s very exciting… getting to walk in Uncle Ferdinand’s footsteps” he completely avoided the confrontation. Typical for satyrs “Next best thing to getting to talk to him again”

There was a frown on Percy’s forehead… he looked at the ground, thinking, and then he spoke up again:

“Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth had a satyr Protector” his eyes locked on Grover, almost accusatively “That was you” Grover couldn’t hold his gaze, which was enough conformation “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Do you guys smell that?”

That was not the answer they had expected. Grover seemed absent, starting to look around, sniffling. Emily did too, although she didn’t have the senses of a satyr – if he had caught the scent of a monster, they would need to be ready.

It wasn’t a monster what he had smelt, though.

“Grover, I’m not kidding-“

“No, neither am I. Just shush…” he continued to sniffle, concentrated “Hamburgers”

“What?”

He took the lead, walking ahead following the satyr path. He was still using his heightened sense of smell to find the way, and Percy, Annabeth and Emily could only follow him.

“Grover, what are you doing?” asked Annabeth, confused.

“Somebody’s making hamburgers, in the middle of nowhere, on a satyr path. Whoever it is… they’re from our world”

They reached a clearing, only it wasn’t a clearing, but a road. It led to a building surrounded by dozens of statues. It wasn’t gnomes or frogs, though, as in other gardens with statues – these were monsters made out of stone.

“Oh, come on”

Emily frowned at Annabeth’s comment, but then she saw the huge sign on a pole that said ‘Aunty Em’s Gnome Emporium”.

Dear gods this was bad.

“What is it?” asked Percy.

“Aunty ‘Em’ has a garden full of petrified stone folks. Yeah… this is someone from our world, all right. Anyone wanna guess what ‘Em’ is short for?”

Her nervousness was justified – no daughter of Athena would want to be in the presence of that specific monster. There wasn’t time to play guess, though. Before they could leave and run for their lives (again), a fury landed a few feet behind them: it was the only surviving one of the three sisters, Alecto.

Percy handed the box with shoes over to Grover, taking out a pen from his pocket. Emily saw it transform into a huge celestial bronze sword, the same one she had seen him fighting with before, once he took the tap off. She also unsheathed her own weapon, this time her dagger, just as Annabeth did with hers.

“You should have accepted my offer when you had the chance” said the fury, staring at the two girls.

“Offer? What offer?”

Percy looked at both Annabeth and Emily, but they didn’t move their eyes from Alecto, watching her every move.

“Not today, friends” the voice of another woman joined them. It came from the house, now behind them, and upon hearing it, the fury immediately looked away, covering herself with the help of her arms and her wings “Not on my doorstep”

Footsteps approached the group slowly, and while Percy looked behind him to locate the mysterious woman, Annabeth, Grover and Emily quickly looked away as well, closing their eyes just to be sure. He did too when he realized, although not completely understanding what was happening.

“If you have something to resolve, why not come inside and I’ll help?” she kept on talking, now closer to them “Alecto! Will you be joining us?” the fury only closed her eyes tighter, turning her head even more, as if the sole sight of the woman’s eyes could harm her “No… well I wouldn’t think you would” She turned her attention back to the children, who also weren’t looking at her “She won’t bother you as long as you’re with me. But it isn’t as though she’ll leave either, not if it means reporting that she failed to retrieve the son of Poseidon”

“How do you-“ said boy squinted his eyes open, too intrigued to refrain his impulses.

“Percy, no!” whispered Emily, grabbing his arm.

“A forbidden child has been claimed, how long did you think that secret would keep?” the woman’s voice was calm, almost soothing, but Emily knew that it was only a trick to lure them to her, to confuse them, and trap them “It’s a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon…” their skin crawled, and fear embarked them as she spoke “I’m Medusa”

Oh no this was definitely bad.

“Percy don’t!” warned Annabeth “She’s a monster”

“We all choose who we make our monsters” commented Medusa “But right now, that one ahead of you wants to tear you limb from limb, whereas I am offering you lunch. The choice is yours”

They heard how she walked away, and soon after the door to the house opening and closing again. They were safe, sort of, for now.

“I think we can trust her” blurted Percy, suddenly. A chorus of ‘what?’, ‘dude!’ and ‘no!’ were heard as a response, but he stood firm to his opinion “I can’t explain it, I just… My mom used to tell me her story. And the point was always that she isn’t what people think. And I definitely trust my mom”

Emily remembered her own mother, and the almost vanished feeling after so long of trusting someone blindly as much as she did with her. It made her sad, but she could also understand Percy better.

“I’m going in” he said, serious “You guys do what you want”

He took the first step, and after looking at the house and back at the fury, Grover followed him.

“What are you-“

“Annie, we should go with them”

“Are you crazy? You know I can’t go in there! She’ll kill me!”

“And if we stay out here, that fury will eat us!” she glanced at the monster, who only huffed at her comment “Come on, trust Percy for once. I’m doing it”

“You’re trusting him more than me?”

“I’m not saying that” she replied “I just don’t want to die, and right now, we have more chances to live going inside than staying here. We won’t let anything happen to you. I promise”

Medusa’s house was decorated in an old fashioned way, in a style from a few decades ago. There was a huge dining room, with a big table set for many people to eat. There were plenty of sweets, desserts and other sugary dishes, and it looked almost as if they had entered the candy house of the bad witch from Hansel and Gretel’s tale.

“Thanks for coming” said Percy, after they joined him and Grover inside.

“This isn’t the same for me as it is for you” Annabeth felt nervous, and it was showing. Emily grabbed her hand in hopes of comforting her, but it was rather difficult, especially when Medusa came out of the kitchen to the dining room again.

“You’re concerned I would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of Athena?” she sounded almost hurt, not offended, but genuinely concerned about Annabeth’s thought on her. Emily had to remind herself that she couldn’t trust what Medusa tried to pretend to be, but what her gut told her about who and how the monster was “You shouldn’t be. We’re not our parents, after all. And you and I might have more in common than you think”

None of them were looking at her, too petrified of catching a glance of her eyes even under the veil of her cream coloured hat. She was wearing a matching dress, that looked like it was from a different decade, like the rest of the house.

“Please, sit and eat” she insisted, signalling to the table.

The boys sat down, but Annabeth didn’t dare to move, and Emily remained loyally by her side.

“So if you’re not a monster what are you then?”

“A survivor”

“You must be a little more than that” Percy served himself some food, and Grover was already munching on something “There’s a Fury out there that seems terrified of you”

“Because she knows what I think of her” Medusa sat down on a stool by another table, crossing her legs elegantly “I don’t like bullies. When one shows up on my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time there than they planned for… I know you can understand me. None of you like bullies. Isn’t that right, Emily?”

“How do you know my name?” she blurted out the question impulsively before she could refrain her tongue. Thinking before talking wasn’t a skill she had mastered yet.

“A demigod child like you draws attention easily. Not many of you are brought to camp half-blood by their godly parents themselves, let alone if said parent is the God of War. He isn’t particularly known for taking care of his offsprings… not like he cared for you”

“You know nothing about my dad”

“Maybe not, but I’ve been around for some time now… and I’ve heard many stories about your father. He has a reputation he seems to be very proud of” she smiled softly at the child “I’m sure you want to make him proud, don’t you?”

“Of course” she answered, firmly.

“And has he ever shown that sentiment to you? For any of your achievements? For you going on this quest?”

Emily remained quiet, her jaw tense and her eyes on anything but the woman before her.

“He’s… busy” she mumbled.

“I’m sure he is… You know, I’ve had a few experiences myself regarding the gods… and I’ve even had the pleasure to receive a gift from them, which is a privilege not many of their adepts have had” she smiled sweetly, almost humanly “The gift the gods gave me is that I cannot be bullied anymore”

“What my mother did to you wasn’t a gift” replied Annabeth, with her arms now crossed “It was a curse”

“You are loyal to your mother”

“Yes”

“You stand by her?”

“Always” Annabeth shrugged, as if it was obvious.

“You love her?”

“Of course I do!”

“And so did I” Medusa’s tone was nostalgic, still sweet, but also with a hint of sadness “Do you know the story of how I came to be this way?”

“I do!”

All of them looked at Grover, who had answered between bites to his food. He looked up from his plate when he noticed how everyone had turned quiet, blushing slightly.

“Do you?”

“Do I?” he answered back, uncertain.

The bell inside a clock started tolling as Medusa told her tale:

“Athena was everything to me… I worshiped her. I prayed to her. I made offerings… She never answered. Not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love… I wasn’t like you, sweetheart. I was you”

Medusa’s worship to the gods and the demigod’s worship to them were terrifyingly similar. What made them different from her, a monster? Fact is, she wasn’t a monster in the past. She became one… because of the same gods she adored.

“I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime… in silence” she continued, her tone still somber “But then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence” she turned her head to Percy, smiling again “Your father. The Sea God told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before… But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and I needed to be punished. Not him. Me”

Her voice, full of sadness, narrated how Athena had decided that Medusa should never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale.

“That isn’t what happened” Annabeth fought back, although she already knew Medusa’s story, and also that what the woman had told them was exactly what had happened. The loyalty to her mom, though, made her retort “My mother is just. Always”

“The gods want you to believe that. That they are infallible. But they only want what all bullies want: they want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings”

“That is not what happened. And you are a liar”

Percy, Grover and Emily looked at Annabeth in disbelief, not giving credit to her words: how could she so blatantly talk back to a monster nonetheless, if they didn’t have any way of escaping after releasing her wrath? What was she thinking? The consequences would be horrible! Deadly!

Medusa’s red lips tensed up, just like the rest of her body. Emily watched her discretely, scared of looking too much but also scared of watching too little, and saw her look back to the kitchen, shaking her head.

“Something’s… burning” she sighted, standing up. Her indifference to Annabeth’s words was just as horrid as if she had screamed and lashed out on them “Would you give me a hand in the kitchen, Percy? I think lunch is ready”

The boy looked at his friends, who were all shaking their heads ‘no’, but after Annabeth’s outburst, Percy wasn’t in the mood to listening to her, so he stood up, and followed the woman inside the kitchen.

“Grover” Annabeth called him, stopping her mid bite” Get ready to run”

“What was that what you just did?!” Emily forcefully turned Annabeth to her grabbing her shoulder, signalling frantically to the door that led to the kitchen “Are you really that keen on dying young?!”

“She was insulting my mother” she defended herself, angry.

“And she could also have turned us into stone!” Emily’s heart raced nervously “First the fury, now this…”

“What about the fury?”

“On the bus. Alecto’s offer. You considered it”

“What if I did?” she shrugged, looking away from Emily. She was ashamed of that she had really thought of accepting the fury’s proposition.

“You aren’t like this!” Emily shot back, frustrated “Stop letting your insecurities get to you! I know you want to complete this quest at all costs, but we have to trust each other! And that includes not selling your quest-mates to the first monster that offers to take them away just because they get a bit on your nerves!”

“But I didn’t, right?” Annabeth huffed “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Just… don’t do stuff like that again. And I’m not only referring to almost giving Percy away to Alecto, but also talking back to a monster who could literally kill us with only looking at us”

“Okay, okay…” she sighted, grimacing “I’m sorry, Emi”

“Apologies accepted” Emily hugged her friend, but a cough from Grover made them separate “What is it?”

“Percy’s been in there for too long, hasn’t he?”

They all looked to the kitchen entrance warily, and right a second after they heard small footsteps making their way towards their direction, and the squeak of the door’s hinges as it started to open. All three of them looked to the ground, stealing glances to the door, seeing a hand ever so slowly perking out… and then they recognized Percy’s green flannel shirt, and they let out a sigh of relief.

“We have to leave, like now” he said, whispering so that Medusa wouldn’t hear him. He grabbed the box that held Luke’s shoes, which he had left on the dining table, and he made his way to the entrance when Emily’s hushed voice stopped him.

“Alecto is still outside, we’re trapped!”

There was another option though: the door that led to the basement. Annabeth had located it after entering the house, already forming an escape plan in case things got tough (which was to be expected). They could hide there, and look for another exit – maybe a window, or another door. Anything was better than waiting there for their deaths.

“Grover, grab those shoes and leave the box, carrying things will only slow us down” Annabeth instructed, and the boy did just as she said. She led the way to the basement, and they made their way down the stairs quickly, away from Medusa.

In the dark, they waited – it wouldn’t be possible to hide forever, but they had at least gained a little time.

“Put the shoes on” Emily suggested to Grover “Come on, I’ll tie the laces tight so they don’t fall off”

“You know the word to activate them?” the satyr nodded, groaning when Emily pulled the cords too tight. She mumbled ‘sorry’, before Annabeth shushed them “Quiet… she’s upstairs”

They could all hear her. Medusa’s steps resonated over them as she walked around the dining room, surely looking for them. A sense of dread invaded the heroes when they heard how the monster’s steps approached the entrance to the basement, and how she opened the door – it creaked like the ones in horror movies, creepy, horrifying.

As Medusa started to make her way downstairs, fire erupted along the staircase, travelling all the way down to them, and following ahead. It lighted the basement, revealing the cream coloured stone walls, and a terrifying sculpture that made Percy scream when he saw it.

It was the statue of a woman, captured mid-scream, fear in her features. She wasn’t the only one, though: the fire began to lit up dozens, if not hundreds of torches, illuminating an enormous ancient cavern full of Medusa’s victims.

Not wasting any time, they ran. Away from the monster, ahead into the cave.

“There’s four of us and only one of her” said Grover, panting “If we split up she can’t be watching us all at once”

“I don’t think it’d be that simple”

“It could be” he insisted, stopping them; they were standing behind some huge wooden transport boxes, partially hiding for now “Here’s the plan: I’ll get in the air, I’ll draw her attention. As soon as you hear me say “Maia” you guys start to-“ he hadn’t thought it through, obviously, because once he said the magic word, the shoes listened and grew feathers, starting to fly. In a matter of two seconds, Grover was high up in the air, flying far into the darkness above them “Oh boy! Okay! Um- off! Down!”

None of it worked. And he was gone.

“Great” muttered Emily, looking at where Grover had disappeared to “We’re screwed!”

“We’re in need of a new plan, but not screwed” they kind of were, though.

They didn’t have time to think of one, though, as Medusa’s voice reached their ears. They ducked as fast as they could, listening how she moved forward to their position:

“We are not our parents, until we choose to be. And you three, have chosen” her footsteps echoed against the walls, her feet dragging against the dust on the ground “A daughter of a self-righteous mother, who chose self-righteousness for herself” Annabeth squinted her eyes, trying to find an escape, finding none “A daughter of a selfish man who lives herself out to please him, pushing herself to limits only for his approval” Emily crawled behind a wooden box, trying to be as quiet as possible “And you…” Percy sat on the ground, legs bend to his chest, listening to the monster “You could have shown your father what it means to stand up for someone you love. You could have chosen to save your mother instead of doing your father’s bidding… If none of you will help teach these lessons, then perhaps you should be the lessons”

Medusa’s voice wasn’t sweet and caring as it had sounded before, no. Now it was cold, still smooth, but also carrying a sizzle typical from… snakes. It gave them chills, especially with her now being this close.

“When I ship your statues to Olympus… maybe that will get my point across even better”

They had to move fast, or they’d be dead in seconds. Annabeth nudged Emily’s leg, and when she got her attention she signalled to her invisibility cap. The girl nodded, and she watched her friend disappear before her eyes.

Emily turned to where Percy was, but he was starting at the opposite site to hers. She threw a little rock at him, hitting him on the leg silently, and he looked over – she mimicked Annabeth putting on her invisibility cap, and him taking out his magic pen-sword keeping while keeping his eyes closed, all of that quickly before Medusa reached their position.

Percy nodded, obviously nervous, and she watched him close his eyes like she had instructed, reaching for his pen. The soft golden glow of the weapon grazed his scared features, but he held the sword tightly, firmly, brave as he was.

“Stand up” commanded Medusa, walking straight to Percy. The glow of the celestial bronze had also given away his position, revealing himself to the monster “Let’s have a look at you”

Gathering all the courage he could master in that second, Percy shot back to his feet, whimpering and trembling in fear, feeling Medusa right by his side. She started to caress his cheek and his hair gently, terrifyingly close to him, when a cry above them startled her.

It was Grover! The flying shoes… they were still flying, and he was still not controlling them.

“I didn’t really think this through!”

He blindly dive-bombed into a wooden box, shattering it completely, practically at Medusa’s feet. A rock hit her from behind then before Grover could accidentally catch her eyes, followed by others coming from the darkness, and Emily ducked before Medusa could spot her, having distracted her enough though: Annabeth took off her hat, standing by Percy’s side, and she put in on Medusa’s head, making her invisible!

“Now!”

Without thinking, Percy raised his sword up to where he knew the monster’s neck was, and he sliced through it completely, decapitating her. The head, still invisible, fell off the body, making a ‘thump’ noise as it hit the ground. It rolled a few feet away, leaving a mark on the gravel… and then it stopped, and it was all over.

“Are you okay?”

Percy didn’t answer. Instead he walked forward slowly, moving his foot around… until he hit Medusa’s head. He scoffed in disgust, and picked it up, while at the same time Emily helped Grover to get back up – he was still a bit foggy from his fall, but he would be fine.

“Aw, man” complained the son of Poseidon, groaning.

“That’s gross” muttered Emily; Percy had the head in his hands, still invisible “Wait, guys… We can use the head to get rid of the fury”

“Kill the monster using the head of a gorgon?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be the first Perseus to do so” said Annabeth “Come on, I’ll go with you”

While Emily remained by Grover’s side, helping him recover, both Annabeth and Percy made their way up to the dining room again, which seemed oddly human and quiet now having been under the house in the huge cavern full of statues.

“You want me to take it from here?”

“Non, no. I got it”

Percy and Annabeth stood in front of the entrance, looking for Alecto – as expected, she was still outside, waiting for them to come out if they managed to escape Medusa.

“Just make sure it’s pointing in the right direction before you take my hat off”

“Good tip” he nodded, and she muttered ‘okay’ in response. Percy looked at the door then, and back to the girl, signalling it to her with a shake of his head “My hands are kinda full with the head so…”

“Of course, sorry”

Annabeth opened the door for him, and taking a deep breath in, Percy walked outside. Annabeth watched him as he slowly approached the fury, who spread her wings now that it was evident that Medusa wasn’t around.

Alecto screeched flying up in the air, claws reaching out for Percy, when the boy took the Yankees cap off of the gorgon’s head, raising it up high into the air. The fury had no time to close her eyes or to escape, and with just a glance, she turned into stone; her statue fell to the ground, breaking into pieces as it hit the asphalt.

Percy stared at the petrified monster’s face, putting the hat quickly back on Medusa’s head. Breathing heavily he turned back to Annabeth, and smiled softly.

While they took care of the fury, downstairs, in the cavern, Emily had managed to fetch some water for Grover, and he was feeling much better now.

“This place is huge” the satyr said, looking around “And the ceiling too. I didn’t even reach it”

“This whole place is probably enchanted” she bit her lip, feeling curious, turning back to Grover “Do you want to explore a bit?”

“It can be dangerous”

“Yeah, and fun” she giggled, starting to wander around “Come on! The gorgon’s gone, let’s look at this place”

There were thousands of statues scattered around the cavern, may of them humans, but also mythical creatures, and even other monsters – although it seemed as if Medusa had kept the most terrifying looking ones outside in her yard. They found a table packed with papers, ink, pens and packing material, and a register book for orders; it seemed like Medusa had even been making money out of her condition.

Emily regretted a bit dragging Grover with her around the cave when she found him looking at the statue of a satyr. Percy and Annabeth descended the stairs back to the basement then, and they found them at the same spot, Grover still looking at the statue.

“Uncle Ferdinand” he muttered.

Oh, no.

“Grover, I’m so sorry” Emily put a hand on his shoulder, eyes looking sad.

“This is as far as he got on his quest… We aren’t even to Trenton” he sighted, defeated “But look at him” Grover chuckled softly, even smiling a bit “He’s not like the others, he… he doesn’t look afraid”

Emily squeezed his shoulder, and he smiled in her way. Clearing his throat, Grover asked Percy and Annabeth if they had gotten rid of Alecto using Medusa’s head, and they confirmed it.

“Uh, we probably should get going. It’ll be dark soon”

“But what are we gonna do with the head?” asked Percy “I just took down a Fury with it, and I wasn’t even trying. We can’t just leave it for someone to find”

“You want to take the head with us?”

“No, no. Leave the hat on, and bury it here, in the basement. That ought to keep it safe”

Both Grover and Emily looked at Annabeth in concern, but after looking at the ground for a few seconds, she just nodded, accepting.

“But your hat…”

“It’s alright, Emily” she shrugged, looking back at Percy then “Now, can we talk about the bigger issue here?”

“What bigger issue?”

“Medusa telling you ‘You could have saved your mother’? Like you had discussed it already?”

“Wait, Percy, is your mom still alive?” Emily thought she had died the night the minotaur attacked, this didn’t make sense.

“She’s with Hades. I appreciate your concern, but-“

“Guys, just please…” Grover interrupted them, shaking his head “Stop”

“Oh, I’m concerned” followed Annabeth, ignoring Grover’s ask “What are you actually doing on this quest? And why did I have to hear about this from Medusa?”

“Okay, while we’re at it” shot back, Percy “Alecto saying ‘You should have accepted my offer’? What’s that about do you think?” he accused not only Annabeth, but also Emily “And why did we have to hear it from the Fury?”

“Enough!”

All three demigods looked at the satyr, who really had had enough of their bickering.

“The hat was a gift from her mother. It’s the only thing she’s ever possessed that connects them. That ought to matter to you” he told Percy, solemnly “And Emily never even thought about accepting Alecto’s offer”

“Okay, but how are we gonna make sure this thing is safe?” Percy held the invisible head up, frowning

“I don’t know yet! And you” he turned to Annabeth, who seemed surprise to get a lecture from him, but she would have to go through it anyways “His mom’s alive. Can you imagine how confusing that must be for him? Feeling like he may have to choose between the fate of the world and the fate of the only person who’s ever cared about him?”

“Why are you talking like this?” asked Annabeth, voice small.

“Because all day Emily and I have been trying to keep this quest on track without upsetting either of you! But maybe… Maybe things need to get a little upsetting before they move forward”

“Grover’s right” added Emily, arms now crossed “You guys can’t keep fighting all day. We’re a team! We need to get along to complete this quest!”

“Annabeth asked you a question back in the woods and you never really answered” Grover looked at Percy again, who’s features had turned hard at his words “What are you so afraid of?”

“I don’t know”

“I think you do. You’ve been fighting with us all day-“

“Because the Oracle said one of you would betray me, okay?” silence fell upon them at the revelation “She said… ‘You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, and you shall fail to save what matters most in the end’. That’s the rest of what she said to me. And that’s because I chose Annabeth… because I couldn’t imagine we’d ever be friends. I chose Emily, because she is loyal to Annabeth, and I never thought she would choose my side before hers, so we would also never become friends. And I chose you” he looked into Grover’s eyes with intensity “Because I thought if I can count on anyone to be on my side, no matter what, it was you. And now, I’m feeling so… alone! I don’t know what to think or who to trust. I’m just… a kid”

The silence felt heavy after his words. Hearing what Percy thought of them, his real reasons to choose them to accompany him on this quest… it was a tough bone.

“I didn’t mean it that way”

“It’s okay” commented Emily, almost shyly “I… I’m loyal to Annabeth, yes, but I also stand to what’s right for me. And I trust you, Percy. I’d never betray you”

“Alecto offered to help our quest if we gave you up to her” explained Annabeth.

“What did you say?” asked Percy, curious.

“We killed her sisters”

“Medusa… she offered to help me save my mom if I turned on the three of you”

“And what’d you say?”

“Well… I cut off her head”

They chuckled, feeling the tension dissolving and the air getting lighter.

“None of you chose to be demigods” said Grover “We didn’t choose this quest. But we can decide that as long as the four of us are together, none of us are gonna be alone. And if we can’t do that, we might as well just head back to camp right now”

“I’m not doing that” replied Emily instantly “Not until completing this quest. I can’t go back and have Clarisse mocking me all day” she complained “Please guys, don’t let that happen”

“We won’t” assured Percy, smiling at her “I think I’ve got a better idea for what to do with the head”

He guided them to Medusa’s work table, and he began looking over her register book:

“Hermes express!” he exclaimed “Medusa ship’s these things all over. Some of it even goes to Olympus”

“Percy” began Annabeth, wariness in her voice “You can’t ship Medusa’s head to Olympus!”

“Why not?”

“Because the gods won’t like it”

“At all. Like, ‘at all’ at all”

“Guys, that’s what you do with dangerous stuff. Like batteries, you just send’em back where they came from”

“This is a bad idea. They will see this as impertinent”

“I am impertinent” he replied smugly, starting to put the invisible head inside a carton box, while Annabeth muttered ‘but we’re not!’. He ignored her “Look, Medusa tried to derail our quest. She’s got serious beef with your mom” he pointed to Annabeth “When you look at it that way, this seems kinda like tribute or something, doesn’t it?”

“That’s taken like from really far, Percy”

“Yeah, but… this way, at least-“ he reached inside the box, grabbing the Yankees hat while quickly closing the package “This way, part of your mom is still with us”

He handed the hat over the table back to Annabeth, and after considering it, she accepted it back, thanking him.

“Here, let me help” Emily walked around the table, and aided Percy with the tape to secure the flaps of the box.

“This isn’t exactly what I meant by choosing each other” said Grover nervously “There are actual dangers involved here that cannot be…”

He didn’t finish his sentence though, as Percy interrupted him by starting to clap his hands in a rhythm they recognized a few seconds into the melody.

“You’re gonna sing the song, aren’t you?”

Not this again, thought Emily.

“Oh golly, the road’s getting’ bumpy-“

“Whatever”

“Please stop”

“Consensus!” Percy sang, not remembering the lyrics but making it up.

“Let’s make a pack, please” Emily perked up, having finished closing the box “Never come back to Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium… and never sing that song ever again”

A chorus’ of ‘deal’ resonated inside the cavern, and soon after they were all giggling and chuckling. The quest could go on.

----

Taglist: @strawberryys-stuff @ladysybilchronicles @kyuupidwrites @nhloversblog @beansficreblogs @priyajoyyy @zeeader @lightsgore @gengen64

[bucketsofmonsters]

Where the Light Enters - Part 6

cw: unreliable narrator, hurt/comfort, slow burn, eventual sex, enemies to lovers, past childhood sexual assault, past sex trafficking, referenced noncon, past nonconsensual body modification, happy ending, the tags look scary but this is mainly a story about recovery

Cole/Female Inquisitor

word count: 3k

ao3 link

Masterlist

She hated that she still had nightmares. She could tamp down every other emotion she’d ever had, but in the throes of unconsciousness there was nothing to be done. 

She never even had nightmares about anything interesting, nothing particularly unique or horrifying. 

It was usually just days. Random days from her past that she hardly remembered, completely and entirely unimportant. 

She wished there were elaborate, horrific nightmares. At least then she’d have an excuse for why she bolted awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. 

This time, when she woke, she was pinned under Iron Bull’s arm. 

Of all the partners she’d ever had, he was by far the most irritating to sneak away from. 

He always clung to her in his sleep, like he was a child and she was his favorite toy. He had massive arms and even if he hadn’t been holding onto her for dear life, it would have been hard to sneak off. As it stood, it was near impossible to get out of his grip. 

She’d developed a system, over the past months, as he insisted she fall asleep in his bed more and more often. She’d wiggle and wiggle as much as she could, slowly slipping a pillow into his grip alongside her. And then she’d slide out against the pillow, leaving it in his grasp.

It took forever, and by the time she had managed it most of the panic from her nightmare had settled into her usual numbness, but she figured as long as she was out she might as well get some air. 

And then there was the matter of leaving his room. 

Bull’s door was incessantly squeaky. He said he’d chosen this room for that reason specifically, so no one could sneak up on him. It made her feel like she was in prison. 

So, the first time she’d been set on escaping, she’d done the only thing she could think to do. She climbed out the window. 

It was a room on such a high level that she would never risk climbing down, she wasn’t nearly graceful enough for that. 

But the roof was fairly flat and he was on the top floor, so sometimes she scrambled up there, kicking her feet against the wall to help her with the pull up she needed to do that her arms couldn’t quite manage on their own, when she couldn’t stomach being in his room all night. 

Tonight was one of those nights. She jumped up, grabbing the ledge and kicking off the wall until she managed to heave herself onto the roof. 

And as she crawled the last bit of the way up, looking for some peace, she found something else. She found Cole. 

She wasn’t even surprised to see Cole sitting up there, waiting for her. 

“You couldn’t have helped me up?” she asked with a huff, embarrassed that she was a little out of breath from her climb.

“It’s good for you. If you want to be an archer you need strong arms.”

“Be careful with that,” she warned him playfully. “If I get too strong, maybe I’ll stop missing.”

He shook his head. “I can move faster than you can think to shoot.”

“Just have to stop thinking then,” she said, settling down beside him as they talked. No matter how irritating he was, this was better than being down there with Bull. 

The view from the roof was beautiful. They could see mountains sprawling around them, miles and miles of rock. She knew below them lay a river but it was out of sight, blocked by the walls that kept them safe. 

More importantly than that, they could see the stars. 

She laid back as Cole stared down at her, catching his curious face out of the corner of her eye. 

“What?” she asked. “You don’t like the stars?”

“I don’t think about them. You don’t like the stars,” he informed her, as if she didn’t already know. 

“I don’t, but they’re something to look at. Better than nothing.”

He did not move to join her, content to just stare down at her as she looked up. 

She didn’t chastise him for it. She’d complained enough about his staring and he could see in her mind, he knew it was off putting. If he was doing it still, he had decided to do it regardless of what she thought.

“I don’t understand why it’s bad to look at you,” he said.

“It’s not bad to look, it’s just bad to stare.”

“Whenever I look, people think I’m staring. I don’t know how to stop.”

“It’s those big owl eyes you’ve got,” she said, widening her own eyes for purely demonstrational purposes. “It makes you scary.”

“I don’t want to be scary.”

She shrugged. “Should’ve reconsidered being a spirit then. What’re you doing out here anyways? Don’t you have important spirit duties to attend to? Have you drugged all the people you needed to drug for the night?”

He ignored her teasing, as he often did. She supposed it lost some of its bite when you could see right into someone’s head and pluck out the idea that they didn’t really mean it. “You dream loud,” he said. “I don’t like watching you hurt but you need to sleep.”

“How long have you been up here?”

“Since it started. Just in case.”

“How considerate,” she said, half meaning it. 

“Do you remember what Vivienne said?” he blurted out. “About me?”

She nodded. “I think she’s wrong about you, just for the record. Not that it matters.”

He pushed past everything she’d said, instead announcing, “I did that.”

“What, hurt mages? That’s fine, you know me, that’s not something I care about. I’m sure you meant well. I don’t think you know how not to mean well.”

“No, put people down. Like she wanted to do to me.”

Rosemary sat up with a jolt. “What?”

“I didn’t know the hurt could stop. I thought I was helping. And then I knew better but I killed people who hurt others. Now I know you and I think maybe I was wrong again.”

“You weren’t,” she insisted. “Nothing wrong with hurting people who hurt people. I mean, not me of course, but others.”

“But you hurt people and you’re a person,” he insisted. “Sometimes you help but mostly you just are. I don’t know if it’s your fault and I think I don’t care. I didn’t know I could do that.”

“I think I’m confusing you,” she said quietly. “I think once you get away from me for a while, you’ll be right back to your weird little spirit ways.”

“I don’t want to go back,” he insisted. “I remember things now, I care instead of just do. Sometimes I hurt. I thought only they could do that but I feel it in me and I don’t want to stop feeling it because then I can’t understand it right anymore.”

She wanted to understand him, she realized. She was trying to puzzle the words together, to figure out what emotion he could possibly be feeling. 

Maybe they were both becoming used to caring. 

He nodded, whether to himself or at her thought, she wasn’t sure. And then he asked, “Can you say something honest?”

She froze up. “No,” she said, and she hated the bit of regret that sat inside her as she said it. “I won’t.”

He nodded and dropped the topic, looking off at the mountain range. 

She hated how the way he didn’t push calmed her and tried to fight the way she relaxed into his company so easily after. 

“You want to kiss me,” he said, still looking out at the mountains as he spoke. “It’s very distracting.”

She reeled back. “No I don’t.”

She considered his words. Did she? He wasn’t one to lie, especially about things he saw in people’s heads, but surely this wasn’t true. She would know if she wanted to kiss someone. 

She’d imagined it, of course. But she’d imagined kissing a lot of people. She’d never actually wanted to do it before. 

She imagined it for practical reasons. She imagined how people would want to be kissed, what they wanted from her. It was all to prepare herself, not out of any desire. 

But then, kissing Cole wouldn’t get her anything. He couldn’t be tricked like that. She’d known that as long as she’d known him. So why did she imagine kissing him? 

And then she thought about it even more, turning the thought over in her mind. 

With other people, it was about what they wanted. She’d never thought that far with Cole, never imagined what kind of performance he’d enjoy. 

All she’d considered had been how it might feel, how awkward and stumbling he would be, how his lips would probably be chapped, how he wouldn’t know where to put his hands, how even without words he’d be able to understand her the whole way through. 

Oh god, maybe she did want to kiss Cole. She’d never actually wanted to kiss anyone before. 

It was out of some sick curiosity about the spirit, she was sure, but want was want.

“Do I?” she asked, desperately attempting to puzzle it out.

“You do.” He stated it so matter of factly and she believed him. 

“Sorry I’ve been distracting you.”

“It’s fine. No one’s ever wanted to kiss me before. I keep wondering what it’s like.”

It certainly wasn’t an expression of real romantic interest, but then again, neither was her desire. Maybe their wants were rooted in the same thing, in a mutual vague curiosity. There was nothing wrong with that. 

“We could try,” she said, trying desperately to sound casual. 

He nodded and moved towards her, not one to sit and discuss when a decision had been made. 

His lips were softer than she thought they’d be. She’d been convinced they’d be chapped. 

And he was warmer than he had been, she realized, remembering how inhumanly cool his skin had felt when they’d first met. It was a warm night, maybe he was like a lizard, changing his body temperature with the days.

And as they kissed, he stayed absolutely still. 

It was like kissing a statue, he was completely frozen against her. 

She pulled back, taking him in, the way he seemed completely frozen. “You alright?” she asked, poking his cheek and half expecting him to topple over as she did. 

That seemed to shake him out of it. “I didn’t do good.” 

She laughed. “You did fine, relax.”

“I want to try again,” he insisted. “I thought something in me would take over like in Varric’s books but it didn’t. I have to do things on purpose or I don’t do anything.”

“You’ve read Varric’s books?”

He shook his head. “He thinks loud when he writes.” And then, a little softer, he added, “He thinks we should kiss.”

“Who, Varric?”

Cole nodded and they were still so close that the brim of his had tapped her on the head as he did. “Yes. He thought it before you did.” 

She considered taking the hat off before they kissed again but it felt wrong, like taking one of his limbs.

“So we are kissing again?” Cole asked, perking up.

“If you’d like to.”

He leaned a little closer, as if about to kiss her, before pulling back again and asking. “Should I close my eyes?” 

She giggled at that, at the thought that he’d been staring at her with those big eyes, even while they kissed. There really was no escaping them. 

“Yeah,” she admitted, as funny as she found the idea. “You probably should.”

This time, when their lips pressed together, he melted into the kiss, leaning into her as his lips opened slightly to welcome her own. 

He kissed her back in what she was sure was an imitation of all her half-forgotten memories of kissing. He stumbled his way through it, like he had trouble translating the memories to his own body. He got bolder the longer it went on, exploring a little as she kissed him, soft and slow. 

And then he stiffened and pulled back, eyes wide. 

“You’re with the Iron Bull,” he said, like he’d somehow forgotten. “You hate it but he doesn’t and he doesn’t know. You’ve made me hurt him too.”

She scrunched up her nose. “I didn’t make you do anything. Besides, I don’t think he’d even care much. He doesn’t seem one for committed long-term relationships.”

“I don’t like secrets. I need to tell him.”

“If you tell him, I will never forgive you,” she said, and she meant every word of it. 

He stared at her, and for the first time in a long time, she squirmed under his gaze. 

Finally, he asked, “Are we friends?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I’m not sure I’d be able to tell.”

He nodded. “You wouldn’t. And you told me something honest. I won’t tell him.”

“Thank you,” she said, reaching over and giving his hand a squeeze. 

“I liked kissing you,” he said

“That’s good. Maybe you should try kissing someone you won’t feel horribly guilty about kissing next time,” she suggested. 

He shook his head. “I don’t think I want to if it’s not you.”

She tried not to think about that, about what that could mean. 

Because to be honest, it felt dangerously close to her typical relationships with men, leveraging the affection she’d tricked them into to keep her safe. She’d thought Cole was different, that he was the one person she could not pull into that trap. But if he wanted to kiss her…

“Not like that,” he said, something almost akin to panic washing over his face. “Never like that. I’d never let it be like that.”

And she knew that. She’d figured it out, it wasn’t an instinct borne of pure emotion. She wouldn’t trust it if it was. 

Cole, factually, wasn’t like that. For better or for worse. 

And she’d kissed him anyway. 

“I need to go back in,” she said, knowing Cole was reading her disappointment off her and hating him for it. “Bull’s going to wake up soon.”

He nodded. “He sleeps light, the Qun makes sure of it. Sneaking in the night, the sound of a floorboard, sword unsheathing. Another attack, always another attack. No sleep over enemy lines.”

“Yeah, that.” She looked down at the balcony forlornly. No matter how gently she tried to let herself down, she always hurt her ankle. 

“Could you lend me a hand?” she asked as she turned back to Cole, but instead found an empty roof behind her, the spirit gone once more. 

She rolled her eyes and dropped down, holding on to the ledge for several seconds before working up the nerve to drop that last little bit. 

Her knees buckled as she fell, a familiar soreness blooming in her ankle. 

She tucked herself in bed beside Bull and he pulled her towards him again, none the wiser to her little escapade. 

She waited, unable to sleep, until he woke behind her. 

She pretended to be asleep, as she always did in the mornings, waiting for him to wake her. 

He didn’t for a while, instead just staring down at her, observing quietly. 

She was good at pretending to be asleep, had gotten a lot of practice in it over the years. There was nothing that displayed vulnerability better to people, nothing that fostered protectiveness more than the peaceful face of a sleeping girl. 

Eventually, Bull did wake her, poking her gently in the side. 

“Can’t sleep all day,” he said, his voice low and rumbly. 

She pretended to ease herself awake, arching into him with a little stretch. “I really wish I could. I can’t believe I have to head out a little past sunrise to go close some stupid rifts." She had no idea what time it actually was but took a best guess, trying to get herself out of there as quickly as she could. 

Bull froze next to her and she cheered internally. He had an absurdly good sense of time and she assumed she was right on the mark. “You should have told me. You’re running late.”

She jolted out of bed. “Am I? Oh my god.”

She gave Bull a kiss and got ready in a flurry, bolting down the stairs with a lightness in her step. 

She almost ran square into Cole as she did, him appearing right in front of her.

“Are we leaving?” he asked, and she nodded excitedly. 

“We are, go find someone to take with us and let’s get out of here. Preferably someone who doesn’t like Bull.”

He nodded and then faded out of existence once more. 

She ran off to grab Dorian, figuring he was a safe bet. Dorian wouldn’t tell Bull because he hates Qunari. He pretended sometimes that he didn’t but it was flimsy at best. She could see the disgust painted across his face when they spoke.

She wasn’t sure who Cole would bring, her bets being on Varric or Solas. Honestly, anyone would be fine, so long as they weren’t someone who would go tattling to Bull if her and Cole were a little closer than they should be on this mission. 

Inexplicably, Cole returned with a furious Vivienne in tow. “I have someone,” he announced. “Can we leave?”

She buried her head in her hands. “Why would you do this?”

“Inquisitor,” Vivienne said, a thinly veiled anger present under the fake niceness dripping from her voice. “Why is your spirit stealing me away from my work saying you need me for something?”

Dorian laughed a good natured laugh. “I think the Inquisitor expected him to return with a companion less virulently opposed to him.”

Her smile failed to hide a grimace. “The spirit has taken a liking to me then. Oh, joy.”

Vivienne wasn’t technically a bad choice, she supposed. She wouldn’t say anything to Bull because she knew well enough to keep secrets to herself unless pushed, and Rosemary would never push her. She might tell the chantry that she was befriending a demon but Rosemary suspected she’d already told them that and nothing had happened so far. 

It would be a long trip, but it would be a long trip without Bull. “Alright,” she said. “I guess you’re coming with us. And who knows, Madame de Fer, maybe you’ll take a liking to him. He has a way of surprising people.”

[lostinwoso]

Loser (Alexia x Reader)

Song - 3.1k words

Oh, I'm such a loser, how'd I ever lose her? Oh, maybe I must have been out of my mind Now, I'm a loser, why'd I have to lose her? I'll never recover, I'll never be fine 'cause I

Alexia is lying in bed, the conversation between the both of you just a few hours ago keeps on replaying in her mind over and over again. This isn’t her first break-up, but for some reason this one with you cuts deeper than any other she had to go through. 

The way you brokenly whispered “I can’t do this anymore.”, while desperately trying to keep your tears at bay, brings tears to her own eyes. Just like you earlier, she tries to avoid them from running down her face, but as her mind repeats the scene of you pulling away when she tried to touch you and instead whispered a small, “Sorry.”, before turning around to leave her behind, is enough to make the tears fall.  

“¡Estúpida Alexia!”, the Spanish woman harshly whispers to herself while rather aggressively wiping the tears away, but no matter how often she does it, there always seem more and more tears to make their way down her face. 

Eventually the heart-broken woman gives up, just letting the tears run down her face since it’s not like they would stop anytime soon when the scene keeps on replaying over and over again, not even giving her the chance to calm down any time soon. Even as she falls asleep from exhaustion a few hours later, your face and words are still present in her mind.

I just might get a little too drunk, so I won't think about us (Uh) I don't think about what (Uh) we could have been And I stay up like three or four nights, so I won't dream about us (Uh) I wake up with no luck (No), I just can't win

No matter how much Alexia tries to keep you off her mind, it doesn’t work. If it isn’t you breaking up with her on her mind than its other moments shared between the two of you. All the times she made you laugh, the movies and shows you watched and the little trips you took together.

What was new though were the thoughts and dreams about the what if’s? What if you two didn’t break up? Would you two be together on one of the trips you two wanted to go on? Walking together through the streets of Athens together? Or maybe rather decided to go to Paris together? Snapping the most usual tourist pictures ever with the Eiffel Tower? 

But it isn't just the short-term what if's that occupy her. What if it’s just a small up and down along the way? Weren’t you two meant to last forever, as she first thought you two would be? Weren’t you both meant to marry each other at some point in the future? Weren’t you supposed to wear her last name ‘Putellas’ proudly? Shouldn’t you have been the one she starts a family with? 

All those questions run through her mind at high speed. And if distracting herself doesn’t work, then a little alcohol should do the magic, right? So here she sits at home on her couch, second bottle of wine already halfway chugged down, watching some random show on the TV. And to be fair it did help a little, but only until she finally called it a night and went to bed, that’s when she is confronted with your face again, clearly visible in her mind. Sometimes it’s just you alone, but sometimes she can see herself next to you, doing all the what if’s her mind won’t shut up about.

And the only thing that can help prevent that from happening? Staying awake. So instead of drinking herself to sleep, she drinks just enough to make her mind a bit quieter but not too much for her to feel sleepy, so she can stay awake as long as possible. One night without sleep turns into two, then three, and eventually four. She even tried to push for a fifth night but there is only so much her body can take without sleep, so despite her wanting to fall asleep, she does. Once again dreaming of you two together just to wake up all alone, but still with you present in her mind.

I should've seen it all along (Ah-ah) She was one in a million (Ah-ah) It hurts whenever someone says her name

Alexia tried her hardest to not look at you during training, pretending as if you weren’t there. And that was honestly working out quite well so far for her, mostly thanks to the separated group drills you were in, but football in general has always been Alexia’s escape when things in life were difficult. 

She is completely focused on the drill at hand, until a loud shriek breaks her focus away from the ball.

“Y/N!”.

Pain. A small stab feeling like pain hits the woman’s chest, as her throat closes up a little. She raises her hand up to her chest to rub the spot where the stabbing-like pain comes from, but it refuses to leave. She knows she shouldn’t look over right now, if that is the reaction of simply hearing your name, she doesn’t want to know how worse the pain could get from seeing you. But it's as if she has no control over her own eyes anymore, and before she knows it, she is looking at you. 

There you are laughing at Jana who tries to wipe her face dry with her training top after you just splashed some of your water on her face. Alexia forgets to breathe for a moment, tears gathering in her eyes, the pain in her chest getting worse, but she couldn’t look away. Her eyes focus on your face, the face you make while laughing always managed to bring a smile to her face, but not now. All it does now is bring her another wave of pain while reminding the woman of what should have seen long before.

You are the only one for her. 

Oh, I'm such a loser, how'd I ever lose her? Oh, maybe I must have been out of my mind Now, I'm a loser, why'd I have to lose her? I'll never recover, I'll never be fine 'cause I

It’s been almost two weeks since you broke things off with a Catalonian woman, Alexia thought it would be better by now, that her heart wouldn’t ache anymore every time she sees or hears you in training but no. The pain is still there, every. single. time. 

The what ifs are still there. During the day in her thoughts or at night in her dreams. Her family noticed the change in the woman, usually she would call or text every day, but now it’s only every now and then, when her mind actually allows having another thought for a moment before you would take your place there again. 

Her mother and sister asked questions, they went through every possible thing that could lead to their loved one to be so distant and distracted all the time. But the answer was always the same, “No, it’s not that.”. That’s until they ask if something happened between the two of you, she doesn't answer immediately. Should she admit that you left her in the dust? Did you leave her for good? What would they say? Would they be disappointed, upset for losing you, when they love you almost as much as she loves you?

With those thoughts in mind, she softly shakes her head, whispering a weak, “No”, that she herself can’t even really buy sincerely off. Her mother and sister make eye contact for a moment, not believing the woman in front of them, but instead of questioning further, they just decide to hold her a little closer.

Uh, I just might been a little too gone When she needed somebody (Uh) Up against her body (Woah) at 2 AM

In the third week, Alexia tried to think about what the breaking point of your relationship could have been. The obviousness in the answer pains Alexia, she is an asked woman, so as one of the most popular women in the football industry she often has many events to attend. 

Those events often go until the early mornings, with alcohol flowing easily throughout the entire night. Chatting with strangers and investors that don’t even really care about her as a person, only caring about her as the brand and face she has become for women football all over the world. Is that why she lost you? Because she rather wasted her time away with people who don’t even care about her as a person? 

As Alexia tries to recount the amount of times she didn’t make it home until the early mornings, she lets out a sigh. Why didn’t she try harder to be there for you? Why did she stay there for so long when all the important stuff was always finished way earlier? 

She can’t imagine how you must have felt all the times where you had to go to bed alone and having to wake up alone at times, or having to spend mornings alone because the alcohol the woman consumed left her dead asleep until early noon. 

How much does she wish she would have done things different, wishing that time machines are real, and she could simply go back in time and do things the right way for you. Being there right next to you while going to sleep, holding you close to her all throughout the night until you both would have to get up together. Spending all the mornings together making breakfast or just staying in a little longer. 

But that’s not how things work in life. There is no time machine she can use to get back in time, no. She is here in the present, alone, without you by her side.

Yeah, and now I keep lying to myself When she's just joking probably (She's joking probably) She'll probably call me and we'll be us again

Denial. That was up next, after the first two weeks of only grief, which is still present, and questioning the possible reason of you calling quits on her is now the time for denial.

Every relationship has its ups and downs, so maybe this is yours? Maybe you didn’t mean a complete break-up but rather a small break apart from one another?  

Deep down Alexia knows that this isn’t the case, this wasn’t just a down in your relationship, after all there is no relationship to have ups and downs in anymore. You felt her, completely, with no intention of coming back. But lying to herself is much easier than accepting the truth. 

So she checks her phone almost every 30 minutes, has her ringtone on full volume, waiting for you to send her a text or call her to tell her you didn’t mean what you said. You were joking or just having a bad day when all this disaster happened.  So it’s just a matter of time until you reach out to her, it could happen any minute, or maybe you would rather have this walk in person and will approach her at the next training session?  

It will eventually happen, that’s what Alexia repeats in her head over and over again, if not in the next hour, then the day and if not the next day then the days after this one, but it will happen. You will reach out and tell her that everything is okay between the two of you, you still have a chance to experience all those scenarios her mind plays on the daily. This is not the end between the two of you, it can’t be. 

But the text or call never comes in, and you don’t even spend moments longer close to her in training than you have to. She knew from the beginning that the thought was ridiculous, she knows that you didn’t just joke about breaking up, but damn does she wish you did. So no matter how much she knew how stupid and unrealistic the thought was, she hoped there was at least some possibility of it becoming reality. 

Wanting nothing more than to have you back by her side.

I should've seen it all along (Ah-ah) She was one in a million (Ah-ah) Now she's in love, and I'm in second place (Damn)

The denial phase ended rather quickly, but the ultimate end to it was put when you posted a picture of Ana and you on Instagram. The both of you smiling brightly at one another with the Swiss woman having her arm thrown around your shoulder, pulling you into her, way closer than normal friends would be. 

That’s just a normal picture of two friends, right? There is no way you moved on from her while she is still hung up on you, right? 

But the simple heart you used as caption is enough to let her know that this is not just a simple picture between two friends, and the comment from Ana with a heart and the heart-eyes emoji doesn’t help her suspicion either. 

She did notice that the two of you spend more time together. You were always right next to each other in training, doing all the pair drills together or just chatting and joking away during drink breaks. At first, she didn’t think much of it, you two did all the partner drills together, so of course you would do them with someone else after your break-up, but this picture, the way you almost became inseparable during training and the conversations she overheard during training, which she purposely tried to ban out of her head, lets her know that whatever there is, isn’t just a friendship anymore. 

The conversations she tried to ban from her mind were mostly between the two of you making plans to hang out or talk about how much fun hanging out together the day prior was, how excited you both were to go and try out the new place around the corner or how great the movie was you watched the other night at Ana’s place. 

But the most important once she wished she never witnesses was one which you weren’t even part of. During one of the strength sessions, Aitana approached the Swiss woman, asking her how the ‘date’ you and her were on, the day prior, went. Alexia listened to any word Ana said, how amazing it went, how much fun you both had, how she can’t wait for the next one that will just be a few days later, how amazing you are and how much she likes you and hopes for it to go somewhere. 

So if Alexia was honest to herself, she knew long before you posted the picture that you were moving on. But it was simpler to deny it, much, much easier to ignore everything she heard and label the conversation between Ana and Aitana as a misunderstanding, that you two didn’t go on a romantically motivated date, no, it was a simple hang-out between friends accidentally labeled as a date. 

But she can’t deny it any longer, there was now proof, not just for her to see but for everyone in the world too. You moved on without her. You are in love with someone else while she is stuck here in second place, still having a hard time to get over the break-up.

Tell me God is real Do you think about me still Or am I livin' for nothin'? Don't know where it went Wrong but I'll just take the hint It's gonna take some adjusting

Alexia knows she has no chance but to move on. But she still struggles with adjusting to seeing you and Ana together all the time. She knows you try to keep it as low-key as possible when she is around, she can tell in the way you glimpse at her when Ana was standing a bit closer to you when she was around, trying to keep a certain distance to your new girlfriend in respect of her.

But this also made her wonder, is there still a chance you think of her like she thinks of you? Or are you simply trying not to make things awkward between you? Is that the only time you think of her? 

But she never asks you, because once again Alexia knows the answer to her own question,  because the way you look at Ana and Ana at you is the answer, there is no chance of you still harboring the same feelings towards her the way she does for you.

Having to accept this hurts, almost as much as the first day of the break-up itself, but she will move on, she will leave you alone. You are happy, you deserve happiness even if it's not with her, she has to accept it. And she will move on, but not because she wants to, no way does she want to give you up, no. She does it because she loves you, and you deserve the happiness Ana gives you, so she will let you go. 

Oh, I'm such a loser, how'd I ever lose her? Oh, maybe I must have been out of my mind Now, I'm a loser (Oh), why'd I have to lose her? (I'll never) I'll never recover, I'll never be fine (Oh, baby, I) 'Cause I'm a loser

Lying once more in bed, she stares at the ceiling, it’s been a good three months now since your break-up. You were thriving with Ana, everyone could tell how great you are together, how happy and healthy the relationship is. Alexia on the other hand can’t say the same. The woman tried so hard to move on, but every time she tries to get to know someone she compares them to you, and to her, no one could ever compare to you. You were the one in a million for her, and she lost you.

You are happily moving on with your life, while she is stuck in the same place you left her. Alexia feels lost, defeated. Even with all these trophies in her apartment, proving how successful the woman is, she can’t help but feel like a loser. How did she manage to win so many trophies but lost the person that was made for her? 

“¿Por qué soy un perdedor?”, Alexia asks herself, tears once again making their way down her face.