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artists-ally · 10 months ago

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{Confess Your Lust} Reader x Azriel

You all can thank @riddlesb1tch for this. I have no regrets. It's just pure filth, but I know my whores like this 🥰 Rose this is all for you so you're the only one I care about liking it. Hope you all enjoy, title is from this song. highly suggest listening to while reading btw

Word Count: 4,682

Warnings: SMUT. Minor Dom/Sub concepts, bondage, degrading, teasing, orgasm delay/denial, overstimulation, Az is your pretty little good boy and you're gonna let him know ;)

Tagging: @riddlesb1tch @thelov3lybookworm @librafairy @needylilgal022 @bubybubsters @harrystylesfan2686 @justdreamstars @cyrygher @berryzxx @thehighladywrites @xaithings

Summary: Azriel requested a very special birthday present. And who were you to tell him no.

~~~~~~~

“Cassian, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve gotten me a dagger for my birthday.”

“Yup,” he grins.

“You know it’ll never suffice to Truth Teller, right?”

“An Illyrian can hope,” Cassian sighs, a relaxed smile on his face. “I know they all go in a drawer at the bottom of your dresser.”

Azriel rolls his eyes, but thanks his brother anyway. He appreciates them, but they hold no candle to the pretty piece of steel sat on his thigh.

Mor had gifted him a new pair of boots and a matching belt to go with them. They were of sleek leather, polished so well he could see his distorted reflection in the curve of the toe. He might have to set them aside for a special occasion so he doesn’t ruin them with training and missions.

Rhys and Feyre gifted him a custom made weapons display case. It had racks and shelves for all his favorites, as well as drawers for the ones Cassian constantly gifted. It was complete with a throwing pad on the side to practice different strikes as well as a sharpening stone. He’d never admit to anyone but himself, but it made the back of his throat string.

Amren promised him a night out at Rita’s, and coming from her it was quite generous.

Buy my gift… it was something to be shared between my mate and no one else. They didn’t need to know the secret behind the look in my eye. It was waiting at our newly constructed home, just like I promised. Just like he had asked.

“That’s it from us, I don’t see another one here,” Cassian looked around the rubble of discarded bags and decorative paper, not finding any other boxes. “Did Yn already give you hers?”

“No,” I said, sipping my glass of wine. “It’s back at the house. But he already knows what it is.”

“He does?”

“He does?” Azriel furrowed his brows, clearly not remembering the conversation the two of us had several months ago.

Azriel sauntered into the dining hall, hands fisted at his sides, wings tucked in close. “Can I talk to you?”

The sudden spring of worry in his eyes made me put down my book, following him to a nearby couch to sit on.

“What’s up, my love?” I asked tenderly, locking a piece of hair behind his ear.

“If I asked you to do something for me- to me… would you?”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Az,” I cocked my head to the side, getting a better look at his eyes. Those wicked shadows blocked some of his tan skin, so I gently nudged them out of the way.

“I umm- I was thinking that we might change some things up. I’ve had a lot of thoughts about these things and I want them. And I want to see if you could want them too.”

“Okay,” I nodded, waiting for a response.

“I want to try using some toys. On me.”

Well, that is not where I thought this was going to go at all. Utterly shocked, but not opposed to the idea, I asked him to elaborate. And by the Cauldron did he. He went into detail of what he wanted, why he wanted it, how he wanted it… it sounded like a dream come true.

“I’m so happy you told me about this. Yes, I’d be more than happy to fulfill these fantasies with you,” I smiled eagerly. “I promise I’ll make it special for you. Just like you did for me.”

Azriel still didn’t seem to get it, so I flashed a mental image down the bond, watching his brows unfurrow and raise up his face. It was almost ridiculous how far they went up. Nobody else said anything as they watched the interaction.

“Oh.”

“Oh… what? What did she get you?” Rhys prodded his brother, Azriel not breaking our eye contact. I just smirked, winking in his direction before turning back to the wine. Mor spared me a curious glance, but I gave away no details. The others didn’t need to know what happened behind those closed doors.

“Just something to play with later,” Azriel swallowed, throat working down and then back up. Only I would be able to note the change in his scent. “Time for pastries?”

I giggled as he deflected the question and moved onto another topic. It was another hour or so before anyone made a move to leave, but as soon as Cassian rolled out, his hands were all over me.

“Are you being serious?” His hands were cupping my cheeks, a desperate plea to his voice.

“Of course, my shadow. Go on up, get yourself ready. I’ll be up in a little bit, okay? Send word when you’re ready,” I instruct, moving out of his reach to begin cleaning up some of the mess left behind from the small party.

“Won’t you come do it for me?” His strong arms wrapped around me, the soft scent of his wings wafting in the air. “I could really use your help.”

“I thought you wanted me to take control?”

“I do, that’s why I-”

“Didn’t I give you an order?”

“Y-Yes, I just wanted-”

“Then go. Don’t make me ask again, Azriel.”

“Yes my lady,” he obediently replied. I watched him go up the stairs, shadows lingering behind before darting after him. Once I heard the door click softly shut, I continued my work around the living area and the kitchen. I didn’t have any desire to be cleaning, I just needed to build up some tension. For this to work as he wanted to, I needed to do the unpredictable. Which would be really fucking difficult since he is basically progammed to know every turn and corner.

I threw out trash, packed dishes in the sink, scrubbed them clean and put them away. About five minutes ago he sent a shadow curling my way, enticing me up towards the play room. I ignored the urgency of the call, deciding I’ll go when I want to. And he’s just going to have to wait.

Azriel isn’t the most patient creature in this world, that’s for damn sure.

Making him wait this long would be torture.

Precisely how I wanted it to be.

Finally, after another ten-ish minutes of stalling, I make my way upstairs. Purposefully being as loud as I can without stomping up the stairs. My heels click gently across the hard stone. As I near the door, I am hit with a wave of arousal coming from the room. It’s thick and tastes devine on the back of my tongue.

The sight of him sitting in the chair, wings facing me, arms ready and waiting behind his back is a marvelous sight. I can’t help but smile. He looks so pretty.

“I thought you forgot about me,” Azriel said, a smirk in his tone. “Is it time for my present yet?”

“So impatient, all of you Illyrians,” I snorted, rolling my eyes as I made my way to the wall in front of him. Hung up, there were various toys and playthings. All could be used for pleasure or pain, depending on the mood. “You’ll get it when I say you do. Give me your wrists.”

I held the bundle of rope between my palms, stalking back over to Azriel in his chair. As I pass around to where his hands are locked behind his back, I make sure to tell him he’s allowed to safeword if and whenever he needs to.

“I know, my love, thank you. I know you’ll take care of me,” he smiles gently, offering his lips.

“You asked to be overwhelmed, so I’m not going to stop unless you give me the word. I want you begging me to stop, remember? You’ll sound so pathetic and pretty when you whimper,” I smiled sickly sweet, pecking his lips with my own. “Ready?”

He gave a firm nod, hazel eyes locking on my body as I pulled away.

Back at the wall, I open the drawer in the chest, finding those two boxes I hid away weeks ago. How he never found them, I’ll never know, but I’m so glad. One was a vibrating cuff. The other was a dildo.

After taking them out of the box and sanitizing them, I left them there for Az to see, but not to use yet. No, I wanted the anticipation to do the work for me. Rather than giving him what he wanted, I made my way over to him and trailed my fingers around his frame.

Every flick of my finger sent goosebumps slithering across his skin. Up his neck… down his arms. That sensitive place between his wings twitched as I trailed through it, delicately applying pressure on the muscle.

“Fuck, baby you… you can’t tease me like that.”

“I think I can do whatever I want,” I replied. “You are tied up at my mercy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Good boy,” I smiled, threading my fingers through his thick hair, latching onto his scalp. I pulled to the side, watching his body move with the force. His chest rose and fell, I could feel his heartbeat down the bond. Wicked. Powerful. Anticipating my next move.

I slid into his lap, feeling just how much he needed me through his pants. I leaned just far enough away that he couldn't capture my mouth with his. He tried twice to kiss me, but each time I leaned away, a sick smile on my lips.

Azriel scoffed, “I just wanted a kiss.”

“I know you do, but I didn’t give you permission, did I?” I mocked, leaning in closer and closer. “Your pleasure belongs to me tonight. I decide when you get what you’ve earned. And all you’ve done so far is complain that I haven’t given you anything. That’s not how good boys behave is it?”

I can see the fire in his eyes, those two sides of his personality fighting each other head on. This desire inside him to be taken care of, to be set free by my control versus that blistering need to be in control of everything.

I’ll break him free with my bare hands if I have to.

“Don’t be shy, my shadow. You can say it, it’s okay. No one can hear you besides me. Unless you want everyone to know just how much you need me.”

“I’ll behave,” he recites quickly. “Please.”

“Look at you, begging for it already,” I smirked, standing up from my place in his lap. He groans, cock clearly straining against the fabric covering his legs.

I circle him. Like a predator to its prey. “You look so pretty tied up, my shadow.”

“When I asked you to play with me, I didn’t expect to be tortured.”

“Tortured?” I spun around to see his hazy eyes. “Oh, my sweet love, I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already begging? Don’t be so pathetic, Azriel. You can take more, can’t you?” I nodded his head for him, fingers fisted in his hair. “Yes you can, good boy.”

I quickly walked around to see his pink cheeks, heated with humiliation. I had no intention of going easy on him the first time.

In a swift motion, I sheathed the blade at his thigh, cutting away his pants, leaving him just in his undershorts. He gasped, eyes going wide as roughly pulled them down his hips. “Y-Yn what are you-”

“Quiet,” I demanded.

Azriel shut his mouth, panting heavily as I fisted his cock in my hand. His head tipped back in pleasure, and I almost let myself enjoy it for a second before I ripped my hand away. Those fierce hazel eyes were back on mine in an instant, silently begging for more. He made a wounded sound when I walked away, grabbing the vibrating cuff from the dresser.

“Let’s play a game, okay? I put this on, and you aren’t going to cum. If you take it like the good boy I know you are, then I’ll give you something else to play with. If you cum… well, you’re just not going to stop.”

Azriel looks genuinely afraid. Like I might break him if I go through with this. I’ve never wanted to break something so badly just to put it back together again.

I kneel in front of him, spreading his knees apart. I can see the generous amount of gel he’s used to work himself open for later. His body is glowing, vibrating with tension. I spit on his dick, enjoying the sight of him flinching as it hits his hot skin.

Being extra agonizing, I blow some cool air on his tip to really watch him jump. I giggle, sliding the cuff over his length. The pale blue color is a stark contrast to his bright red skin. There is a button near the bass to turn it on and to switch the intensity. The gentle purr of the toy comes to life with a quick tap, and Azriel damn near falls out of the chair.

“Relax,” I say, forcing his knees down. I looked up at him, chest unmoving as he held his breath. “Breath Azriel.”

“I- I can-can’t,” he chokes. “Fuck Yn, it’s too much.”

“It’s only on the first setting, you’ll get used to it. In thirty seconds I’m going to put it on the next setting,” I warn, watching the way his body quivers slightly.

My mates eyes are slammed shut, teeth clenched together. His cock gently pulses with the vibe, slick trickling down his shaft in a steady stream. To be a little extra mean, I run my tongue up the length.

“Oh gods Yn…” he pleads, head tossed back. His chest is on display, perfectly cut muscles constricting with every breath.

“You’re being so good, Azriel,” I praise, relishing in the way his body relaxes into the words. “Just a little longer.”

I stand, walking to the corner of the room to the closet. I quietly wheel out the next part of his surprise, setting them aside for when I need them. When I come back, I notice the sheen of sweat lining his chest and torso. It glimmers in the low light, catching at all the right angles.

I stroke my hands up and down his shoulders, working the tense muscles. He relaxes into my body and I travel further. Over his chest, over his abs, down his thighs. When I reach his cock, I press the next button and turn up the intensity.

Az growls. In a way I’ve never heard him before. He curls in on himself, kicking his feet against the floor.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, Azriel. I know you want to be my good boy and take your birthday present so well. You’re gonna take it until I tell you you’ve had enough.”

“It feels so good,” he moans. His thighs are shaking, his cock flushed almost purple. “M-More.”

“And now you’re begging for it? Gods, Az you are so easy for me. I’m sure if you'd found this before tonight, I would’ve caught you with it, huh? So fucking desperate.” I can’t help but tease him, he makes it so easy. And he is being so good for me, why not give him what he wants? “You asked for more, Azriel.”

I click it up another notch, watching the way it sends shock waves through the muscles in his thighs and abs. He’s open-mouth panting now, unable to take a breath without whining. He starts shaking his head back and forth, eyes blinking rapidly.

“You’re not allowed to cum, Azriel. I didn’t give you permission.”

My reminder makes him sob. “Please, please Yn. Fucking please let me cum. Fuck I-I can’t- Yn I can’t-”

“You’re going to,” I demand, pushing the hair out of his face. “Because I told you to. You wanna make me happy, right? I won’t be happy if you cum. You don’t wanna disappoint me, do you?”

He shakes his head no rapidly, sweat dripping down his face.

“Then don’t cum. It’s not that hard.”

Azriel cries out, the noise coming deep within his chest. He tries to cross his legs to relieve the pressure, but I force them to stay open. He shakes and writhes, wings slanted behind his back in a mess of shadows. He cannot sit still, but I don’t reprimand him for it.

The room is filled with the sound of his harsh breathing and the hum of the vibrator. It’s filled with the scent of his sweat and breath.

“Yn- Yn turn it off.”

“No.”

He curses, a colorful menagerie falling from his wet lips. “Please please please please please please.”

The sound of him begging, truly begging, makes me grin in a sinister way. This is exactly how I wanted him. A whimpering, desperate mess for me to play with.

I turn it off.

Azriel blows out a breath, body still writhing. His cock stands tall, a deep shade of maroon. I know one flick of my tongue would send him over the edge. And having that kind of power over him feels incredible.

After letting him rest for a second, I decide it’s time for some real fun. I pluck the dildo off the dresser and stand in front of Azriel, waiting for him to look up at me. When those hazel eyes meet mine, they’re glassy and full of pleasure. Almost too much. He looks drunk with his cheeks so rosy and ears flaming red. He looks so adorable all fucked out like this.

“Stand,” I commanded, watching the words register on his face.

His knees tremble, but he manages, stretching his taught legs. The sight of him shaking so vividly would normally scare me. But right now it's… it's beautiful. I made him this way, and this ache between my legs couldn't be stronger.

The cup on the end suctions to the metal chair when I place the dildo down. “Sit.”

“Yn-”

“Sit,” I snapped, eyes hardening. Azriel swallowed, looking from me to the chair and back. “Don’t make me ask again. I told you to sit. So sit down. Now.”

He turned back around, standing above the chair. Slowly, incredibly slowly, he lowered himself to the chair. His arms were bulging against the ropes, veins running along his biceps throbbing with his pulse. But he sits. All the way down.

With a proud smile, I drink in the way he sits. It's so rigid. His chest barely moves with his quick breaths. His eyes are screwed shut.

“Azriel,” I taunt, my voice sickly sweet. “What's got you breathing so hard, hmm? Are you in too much pleasure? Does it feel too good?”

His mouth gapes open, but he doesn’t say anything.

“You’re at a loss for words with how good you feel. So fucking pathetic, completely fucked out the first time you’re taking a toy?” I click on the vibrator again, starting at level two. He thrashes, then grunts, tossing his head back. “You can take it. You’ve been such a good boy. You’ve been pleasing me so much, Azriel, did you know that? You’re making me so happy. Keep being a good boy and I’ll let you cum.”

“Yn…” he breathed, head falling back to meet my eyes.

“What do you need, my shadow? More? You want more?” He shakes his head no, but remains silent. “You can do better than a pitiful shake of your head. Tell me what you want, Azriel.”

“Yn… Yn…” he chants, my name a plea of desperation. It's airy and full of need.

“That’s it, baby. Tell me what you need, I promise I’ll give it to you.”

With bleary eyes, he looks at me. “Please let me cum.”

The words are broken and a little slurred, but he told me what he needed. So I’ll give it to him.

“Such a good boy, Azriel. Telling me how much you need to cum. I’ll make sure you do, baby. Just keep taking it for me. You’re doing soooo good.”

I kept talking to him, praising him for how good he’s taking everything I’ve given him. Azriel is babbling and pleading like a total whore. While he drones on and on, I wheel out the surprise I set in the corner. Three long, vertical mirrors are set around him so he can see every angle of his perfect body.

So he can watch himself come undone without me even touching him.

“Azriel, look at me baby,” I commanded. He settles his gaze on me, then the mirrors. “Don’t you think you look so pretty?”

The way his body slumps in the chair sent chills down my spine. He spread his legs, admitting the cuff constricting his cock. Azriel pushes on his toes lightly, bobbing up and down on the dildo. “Fuck I- Yn I look so…so-”

“I want you to keep your eyes locked on the mirror. Don’t look at anything but yourself. This is all for you, take it all in, my shadow. Enjoy watching yourself fall apart for me.”

Azriel nodded.

I circled him slowly, amused at how… delicate he looked despite the harsh reality of his current fate. He was tied up, more vulnerable than ever. And yet he looked so sweet and simple. And devastatingly ruined.

At the first touch to the leathery material of his wings, Azriel jumped. He shouted and swore.

“Relax, Azriel.”

“I can’t handle it when you touch my wings, Yn. I’m not gonna be able to hold on,” Az pleads. I touch him again in the same spot. He shudders and grits his teeth. “Yn please.”

“Eyes on yourself, Azriel.”

With a deep, controlled breath, he pulls his eyes back to the mirrors. As I touch and explore the most sensitive parts of him, he twitches in every direction, effectively screwing himself further on the dildo. I take the curve of my nail and trace a vein running in his wing. Fibers in his muscles seize.

In the mirror, I can see the cuff working nicely. His chest is coated in sweat and it takes all my strength to not run my tongue from the tip of his cock to the base of his throat. Instead, I continue to tease his wings.

Azriel has this one specific spot right at the base of his wing that drives him insane. The moment I begin to move my hand, he begins to moan uncontrollably. He begs and whines and begs again for me to make him come.

“Are you watching yourself, baby?” I ask, locking eyes with him in the mirror. When he nods, eyes cast down at his body, I stroke his wing. Twice. And tears spill down his face.

“F-Fuck Yn I need to cum. I need to cum, fuck PLEASE let me cum please please please,” Azriel chants like I’m a long forgotten god. As if I would be able to grant all his wishes and desires. And it fills me with a fire I’ve never felt before.

“You’ve been such a good boy, Azriel. Go ahead. You can cum, let go.”

The second I gave him permission, he came. His whole body convulsed with the force. His legs and torso shivered, ecstasy pouring out of him with every whine and curse.

“Fuuuucccckkkkk,” he mewls, watching his cum slide down his cock, spreading over his thighs. The cuff keeps vibrating, drawing out his pleasure. “Turn it off turn it off turn it off-”

“Don’t you wanna see how far you can go? You look so pretty when you cum, I could keep watching you forever, my dear. Why don’t you do it again, okay? You’ve earned it, go ahead and cum for me, just once more.”

His whole body is flush, the same beautiful color as his aching cock. He strains against the ropes and for a minute I think he’s going to break free. But he falls slack, a steady wave of whimpers as the cuff continues to drain him. The flow of it never stops.

After a few more seconds to enjoy the show for myself, I turn off the vibrator. I gently slide it off, the majority of his seed landing on my fingers. I make a bog show of licking it off for him.

Azriel is lost in his mind somewhere when I begin to undo the ropes. I massage his shoulders, working blood back into his extremities.

“You did such an amazing job, my love. I am so proud of you, I hope you had as good of a time as I did.”

Azriel stayed quiet, but he nodded his head, gulping down air. He was shaking, but judging by the way the bond felt, he felt nothing but euphoria. I had done exactly what I was asked, and he loved it.

While I kneaded his shoulders, kissing up and down his back, he recovered. While I was strong, I wasn’t strong enough to lift a fully grown Illyrian warrior and carry him to the bathroom. Currently, he’s in no condition to move under his own volition, so we’ll take our time until his strength is restored.

“I love you so much, Az. My beautiful, strong mate. You did such a good job, such a good boy for me.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, a lazy smile on his lips. “Love being your good boy.”

“You are, you did so fucking good Azriel. It was so hot watching you cum like that,” I smiled, kissing his forehead, then his lips when he pursed them to me. “Feeling good enough to get to the bathroom? The tub is waiting, ready for you.”

My mate nodded, “Only if you’ll come in with me.”

Giggling, I slung his arm over my shoulder. “Of course I will. Stand up slowly, take your time. I’ve got you.”

With a few hisses as he stood up off the chair, wings splaying out to help him keep his balance, I guided him to the bathroom. He could stand just… not super well. We stumbled, but made it to the tub in one piece. I left him to climb in as I stripped, adding some salts to the bath.

“I don’t care about that, just get in, my love.”

Illyrians, not known for their extended patience, but they are known for their incredible brutality and bravery.

As well as their wingspans.

Before he could yank me in with my clothes on, I swept them away with a flick of my hand and climbed in. Azriel guided me to sit in his lap, face to face. His warm, scar-flecked hands caressed my body. It wasn’t in a particularly sexual manner, but I was far too turned on to not let a whimper slip. But he didn’t smirk or crack a teasing joke, he just continued to roam my body.

It seemed to calm him, the edges of ecstasy fading away from the bond one strand at a time. His heart rate slowed and that glaze over his eyes faded away.

“Feeling okay?” I asked, stroking my hands up and around the tattoos on his shoulders and chest.

“Mhmm,” he nodded. “Just… wow. My body feels so tingly.”

“Now you know how I feel when you make me cum multiple times.”

Azriel smiled, sending my heart tumbling in my chest. “Guess I should be a bit more gracious with you, shouldn’t I? Considering now you have what you need to retaliate.”

“I think you’d like it if I retaliated,” I grin. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Good time? I’ve never felt so satisfied in my whole life. Thank you for giving me that experience.”

I smiled so wide it hurt. “Of course, my shadow. But the next time you want to have a ‘new experience’, don’t hesitate to wait so long to tell me.”

“I promise,” Azriel whispers, cupping both sides of my face with his hands. Our foreheads lean in together. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

#acotar #acotar fanfiction #azriel #acotar fanfic #azriel shadowsinger #azriel fanfic #azriel x reader #azriel imagine #azriel acotar #azriel x you #smut #acotar smut #azriel smut

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spyridonya · 2 years ago

Note

"Happy Valentine's Day, Kadee, Lann, and Daeran!

I hope this letter finds the three of you well, it's been some time since I've seen everyone! Meaning, I hope Lann and Dae haven't gotten to each other's throats too much, but I trust you've been keeping them in line.

I heard Lann went on a short trip out to sea for a bit but he is home now? He must have missed you dearly - he always spoke about how if he went out to be a pirate as he dreamed of he would never return. Hearing he came back tells me all I need to know about how smitten he is with you and Dae.

Which... you have a kid now! The thought of Daeran being a father shook me to be totally honest, but I think with you everything will be quite alright. I've sent along a few things for the baby. I know Dae is king and all but please accept these gifts? They may not be fit for royalty but they are fit for a friend.

I've also sent along some things for just the three of you to have a nice date night: some amaretto and wine from Westcrown as well as some cheeses from the surrounding areas. I know you and Lann appreciate nature and such, and Lann has always been quite the hunter - you should come visit us at Citadel Darvhage sometime! We're right next to the Barrowood. I'd be happy to clear out a room for you all to spend a few days with of is possible, you just need to stomach hanging out with us stuffy Hellknights for a little while.

Enjoy the Valentine's night! -Minovae"

Dear Minovae, I absolutely extend the same well wishes towards you and and Regill despite time's delay! I trust that your husband has treated the day accordingly and with proper reverence for tradition. I expect no less from him! (If he hasn't, let me know!)

It's that very rumor that keeps the two boys from strangling each other. Though Daeran and I joined Lann for the first few trips to port cities, we separated and expected Lann to return to us within three years. The news of the baby brought him back far sooner than he planned... or he feared he might 'age' on Daeran and I. He's a delightful tan and grown out his hair, but Lann looks no older than any man his age.

Silaevus Cayden Arendae is now five months old and it's been established that he has the most perfect blue green eyes. Having a child would have been a eventuality for Daeran, we hadn't planned it so soon. Never tell him I told you this, but Daeran was deeply worried despite informing him he had one of the best examples of parenthood with his late mother - whom Sil is named after.

The gifts are absolutely fit for a prince! Silaevus is enchanted by the stuffed dragon and he sleeps under the blanket every night. Neither Daeran nor Lann have objected with the toys, so I think the toys might be played with by another siblings.

(Oh, who am I kidding? Sil won't ever let go of that dragon.)

We had to sneak the wine past the Inquisitors that still have a concept of a far more united Cheliax than what you have brought to my attention. I don't think they could do much more than note it to allies, but they can take a look of how I've handled Andoran and Cheliax's unfortunate current governance. The cheese was delightful with berries and the first loaves of bread that Mendev has baked from it's own in near a decade! (I've so much to say about that pilot program.)

However, the berries I've sent with this letter should be ripe and delicious regardless how long it takes. I promise. While we are taking steps in recovering farmland and growing out own, I'm afraid we don't have much that's of extraordinary quality - yet. I've sent on two cloaks with my latest attempt at beaten jewelry. Always feel free to use the excuse the Order doesn't permit such things if you don't feel the need to wear it!

Daeran might have misgivings to such a trip, but Lann expressed interest after he catches his breath. I've enough teleportation spells and tuning forks to arrange a visit. I dare say growing infant may add a little more purple to your husband's hair.

Enjoy and well wishes! We threaten to bring a infant soon and a rematch to your door when Silaevus can sleep through the night.

- Kadira Arendae

#answered ask #silversiren1101 #character: knight commander kadira #character: knight commander mino

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hijirichigo · 27 days ago

Text

Prologue: Chapter 10

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belong to +ONE by Ikemen Series and KansaiTV. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

(Sui-kun’s address was impressive.)

The scale of this event couldn't compare to that of a graduation ceremony, but the big hall was still filled with people.

Sui-kun looked so dignified giving his speech at the party in place of the graduation ceremony we never had.

Kuga: Sui’s a really capable person.

Kakihara: I’m so touched! Sui-cchi is acting proper like a human!

Shina: … In order to guarantee that you’ll still wake up to see the sun tomorrow, I’m going to pretend I didn't hear that. You’re both done for if Sui hears it.

I somehow found myself surrounded by these three while helping myself to the buffet.

I glanced around the venue but couldn’t spot Kamiya-san or Miyamoto-san.

(They must be busy…)

I wondered when was a good time to see myself out of the party while watching the noisy preparations in a corner.

(Next up must be Lit’s performance.)

Shina: Oh! Sui, you're back!

Sui: … Yeah.

Koto: Your speech was amazing! You were so dignified.

Kakihara: You spoke so smoothly even without a script~

Kuga: There’s definitely power in Sui’s voice. Feels like it just flows into your ears.

Sui: It’s nothing.

Sui-kun spoke while shoving a commemorative gift into Shina-san’s hands.

Sui: My job here is done. I’m leaving.

Shina: … Sui.

(Shina-san too… he knows someone’s coming on stage. Maybe it’s Lit…)

— Just then.

The lights suddenly dimmed and the spotlight was on…

Go Miyamoto: … This is Miyamoto from the 100th batch of graduates. I am a member of the entertainment industry and manage an agency…

(Ah, it’s Miyamoto-san… he’s here.)

Miyamoto-san continued his speech in a polished manner, it was almost as impressive as Sui-kun’s.

He introduced Lit, the group of promising new artists whose debut was delayed due to the catastrophic event that shook the world that spring.

Miyamoto: And now, we present to you a preview of their new song which will be released next month.

At Miyamoto-san’s signal, Lit began their performance on the simple stage setup.

Shina: Wow. Lit’s gotten really good.

Sui: …

Kakihara: Hmm, hm. The guy playing the drums isn't bad.

Kuga: I like the lower tone.

(The song has a nice flow and Kei-kun’s voice sounds more refined than before. I wonder if he’s been taking vocal lessons?)

Although their new song sounded hard, it had a rhythmic tempo and a melody that was easy to remember…

Simply put, they sounded like professionals. Still, I felt like something was missing.

(Feels like Lit’s true potential isn’t being displayed fully… I wonder what’s wrong…)

At that very moment.

(Ugh… ah… argh…!?)

A headache struck me with an intensity I had never experienced before, and images started flashing in my mind.

They were blurry and hard to make out, but were something terrifying.

Then came a ringing sound so loud it hurt my eardrums…

(Nn… ugh…)

All eyes were focused on the stage, no one noticed my face turning pale.

(If this goes on… I’ll collapse…)

My mind was oddly calm, I could picture page 56 of the manual titled “How To Manage An Acutely Ill Person”.

But my palms were dripping with sweat and a chill ran down my spine.

The images kept flashing before my eyes over and over again…

(What… what’s going to happen next…!?)

#mobius chord #ikemen series #cybird ikemen #cybird otome #otome #+one by ikemen series #mebiko prologue

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heyyitslindsay · 11 months ago

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This snippet pretty much sums it all up.

You were the ride past midnight that I never knew I needed.

1st.

It was the 26th of November and it was my brother's birthday. I was at home alone. Your flight's tomorrow and by the time you entered my life, I had already made a rule that I would no longer linger in the talking stage. So there we were! Haha. I never really made an effort to date before you since I was exhausted from my previous rel. But the connection we had that night was real. :) We ate and laughed and enjoyed the night. You drove me home safely, as you promised. You asked for a hug, but hahaha! As you told me on our 3rd, I just made weird hand gestures. You asked me out again and you had already been planning our next.

2nd.

Coldplay.

The only concert I've ever attended—if you could even call it that—was the Disciple Conference we had for Central Luzon. It was when I realized that being a Christian ain't boring. We can party and jump around to worship songs too! ✨

I never really thought of attending any other concert. But your ticket seemed to be really intended for me lol. You kept on asking me to come. And even said that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. So... Yep.

I eventually attended. And dude, it was magical. 🥺✨ it's one of the best things I've ever experienced in my life so far.

I still thank the Lord everytime I remember. ☺️

It was so fun. And you lead me. I held on to you shirt always lest I be lost.

After the concert, you tried holding my hand but I thwarted your attempt 😆 and you laughed.

It was so fun though. I was bitchin' earlier that day because I was so uncomfortable of your touches. Just around my arms, yes, not sexual. But I still felt uncomfortable. There were tens of thousands of people and my only way out of that crowd was you. 😆

But you're really fun to be with. You fed me and took care of me. ☺️

As Chris Martin said, traffic in the PH is the worst in the globe. So we were able to drop your friend in her house past midnight.

You asked me whether I wanted to go to your place first but I automatically said NO.

We stopped by to grab some food and I bought you coffee. The name I had for that cup was "men." And you smiled ear to ear after seeing it. We even joked you'd have it framed 😆

It was such a small gesture after being treated to a concert, fed, and driven home. But you appreciated it. ☺️

3rd.

Your flight actually got delayed so you were still in the PH but you'll be off tomorrow.

I wasn't at peace. I always assess how I feel after every interaction with a person and with yours... I was feeling that something was off. That the Lord was telling me that you aren't the one and I needed to communicate this as early as possible since you'll be back mooonths after and I couldn't really wait. I can't feed on the happy moments we had on our first and second dates.

It was sudden. And good thing, the voice note I left you made you want to see me. ☺️ HAHA. I just said I wanted to see you. I wanted to meet in the middle since I just want to break the news that this ain't going any further. But you insisted to drive me home, still.

I was so afraid since someone told me that you might react violently. I was so afraid I called a friend to pray for me. 😆

And that's when I prayed "Lord, pauwiin mo lang ako ng safe, di na po muna ako makikipagdate." 😆😆😆

You were actually harmless 😆 I was worried because you grew up in domestic abuse. But yeah... a lot of people whose fathers were abusive can still end up as kind human beings.

I treated you to dinner and you were against it but could do nothing about it. We played sungka w/ the traditional rules and just made other rules up along the way 😆

We parked where I usually parked...

We talked until around 3am. Gosh! And that's when God revealed to me why you aren't really the one and why I needed to stand by the very reason I wanted to meet.

So... yep. It wasn't meant to be.

Though that served as a great lesson and caution. I'm grateful that I had that intuition. It was really God's leading & protection! ☺️🤍

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naresnani · 2 years ago

Text

Lamb stew

Fandom: Ikemen Prince | Nokto Klein / Adam Kain (OC) | Words: 1k

Tags: christmas fic, crack

Notes: This is for @xxsycamore 's' 𝗧𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 event except uh, I don't really know what Christmas is like. teeheehee

Prompt is 'Warming up together after a snowball fight'

"You know, Prince Nokto. I knew nothing about Christmas," Adam said as he unnecessarily tried to peel open the wrapping of his gift without ruining the coloured paper. "So you should have told me to bring something more, err…special. And definitely, non consumable."

Nokto is sitting beside him in the palace garden. On his lap, being hugged by him, wrapped tightly in cloth, is a steaming hot spicy lamb stew.

"What are you talking about. I can't get this from anyone else in the world." This is the definition of special. He's enjoying it enough as a warmer.

"Well to be frank you can always ask my sister to- WHOAH, this is! "

Adam pulls out the content of his gift. A winter coat, fur and all lining up the hood.

“This is. This is warm.” He had put it on in the split second he got it!

“You always say that it’s colder here closer to the mountains, so I thought you'd appreciate it."

"And I can fit you in it."

The front of the coat could indeed cover Nokto enough if he sticks himself close in front of Adam.

“Uhh… maybe it is a little bit big, huh.”

"No. Nokto, this, this is too much. This isn't comparable to a lamb stew. No… I cannot live with this…not at all…."

There’s nothing more humiliating to a Yashpari than not being able to bring comparable gifts. They live to 'out-gift' each other. He might as well say, 'well Prince Nokto, this is it. I'm going to die in shame in front of you, right now.'

“Adam. Seriously. It's all good. And it's not about the gift itself you know."

He sobbed into the snow on the ground. "I could have given you anything in the world…and it's a damn lamb stew."

"Hey I know this takes hours to prepare and cook. And it's something you eat on your eid, right? I like you sharing that with me."

Adam rolls into a fetal position on the ground. Still wearing the fluffy coat. Face still as stoic as usual.

"Adam?"

"I'm going to go back home."

"You're not going anywhere."

"No, I can't face your family."

"Adaam."

Nokto tries to roll Adam to his back so he could pull him up to sit. Adam just rolls away again, facing his back towards Nokto.

"I can't go."

Nokto shook his shoulder. "You promised me to go for the dinner, come on."

Sob. "I'm going to be such an embarrassment."

Alright. Nokto is annoyed now. He dipped his hand into the snow and scooped some up. He quickly balled it with his other hand and threw it at Adam.

A delayed reaction.

"Aaahh! Not the face!"

"Get up or there's more where that comes from."

Adam rolls a couple metres away, so quickly Nokto worries that he has done this too often. He rises up on one knee and quickly dips his fingers down to arm himself.

His snowball throw is quick but without structure. It's powders by the time it hits Nokto.

"Amateur."

Tsk. Adam starts balling them up properly. "You don't pick long distance fights with me, I'm a better aim than you."

"Ok. Then go aim this." Nokto kicks up some snow towards him, and in that split second of surprise, he hits Adam's face again, point blank.

Adam stumbles backwards. He falls, creating an Adam shaped dent in the snow.

"Hah! That's 2-0 baby! Who's aiming better now?"

His boyfriend, he bullies him way too much.

Adam rises from his grave. Scooping up snow like a madman. Nokto sees that fucking bloodlust and tries running away. Not able to go far at all, he is hit by two big snowballs back to back on his back. He fell on his face.

"Augh, wait…" Nokto pushes his snow-covered face up.

Behind him, he sees Adam running like a train.

"Wait, oh no… he is-"

Too late, Adam jumps and dives towards him. Nokto couldn't even scream before Adam fell on him flat on the ground. "Got you."

Nokto immediately starts biting.

"Waah! No, don't eat the gloves, Prince Nokto!"

"Kain." He growls. He grins like an animal. "You fool. Were you trying to run away or catch me?"

Before he could answer, Adam realises his bad decision when Nokto flips around and SLAP! Sandwiched Adam's face with handfuls of snow.

That profound pain resonates into the sky.

With his face squeezed, and cold, Adam said, "... I yield."

Nokto let his hands fall from his face. The remaining snow sticks to the fur of Adam's coat gift. He stares down at Nokto with a pensive expression. They're both contemplating their life decisions now.

Nokto starts biting again.

"Waah, wait, I yielded!"

"I'm not letting you go before you agree to come."

"Alright, alright. I'll eat at the palace. I'll eat dinner. I'll bring the lamb stew over. Don't bite me."

Nokto sighs and lets his head and arms fall to the ground again. Adam, too, deflates onto the ground, still on top of him. His breath is on his neck. His face is now reddish from the cold and exertion. Honestly if he could, Nokto wants to start pushing him and wrestling him away again, but that just reminds him of a way better, different kind of activity they could be doing instead.

Too bad dicks don't work that well in the cold. On the other hand,

"... This coat works too well." Adam mumbles. He's right. Nokto now sees being uncomfortably pinned down like this as an absolute win.

"Do you think. If we stopped by my room first, the stew is gonna get cold?" Nokto said.

"What are you talking about. You can always heat it up again."

"Great. Fantastic."

Adam got up from the ground. With Nokto on the inside of his coat. They are now two guys in a trench coat.

Nokto holds the pot of stew up front. "Alright. This way we are a team, and there's no gift-competing going on. And we look like one very large dude."

"Ugh. If you say so…."

"Man. This is an excellent way to sneak your boyfriend into family dinner."

#ikepri fic #ikepri adam

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fairytaehl · 2 years ago

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The best thing I ever did was that I met you

happy mileven week day 4! i skipped day 3 bc it was au and ummmm just promoting my own au here for the enemies to lovers one i have (Piece(s) of Me) hehe. enjoy! also on ao3 under WubADubDub.

Summary:

"Thank you, Mike," she murmured, pressing their foreheads together as she typically did.

Mike let out an airy chuckle. "Yeah. Yeah of course. Merry Christmas El."

"Merry Christmas, Mike."

He gave her forehead a soft kiss before resuming the prior position, staring into her eyes. Though he was still afraid to say it aloud, he loved her, and he would forever promise to be by her side.

Mike nervously tapped his foot on the ground at the gate exit while he awaited for El and the other's (but mostly hers, truly) arrival. They were flying back to Hawkins for Christmas and he knew El was a little anxious since it was only her third flight ever (not as though he had many to recount himself), though thrilled, to be coming here to see him and their friends again.

It was rather cold currently and he made sure to warn her of such, especially since California was so warm all year round. His only comfort that she was going to be dressed properly was that he had given her one of his sweaters through the mail not long ago in preparation for this chilly holiday season, of course, with snow present.

Truthfully, he didn't know how planes could fly so well in the snow and it did freak him out at first to even consider such a thing once he saw the weather report on the TV, so it made sense that he had to do his research extensively (perhaps too extensively, according to his friends) in the library. He was unable to help himself, he had to ensure she and the others would be okay during the long flight, even requesting Nancy to drive to the airport a little earlier than originally planned to monitor the flight in live time.

So when the people came piling out and he was easily able to pick out his girlfriend's pretty brown hair, nervous smile and wide eyes and all, being followed by the Byers, he was elated.

Sure, Hawkins was home. Sure, he had a house he lived at and slept at and ate at day in and day out that he called home. But when he held El in his arms at the airport, at that moment, he really felt that he understood when people referred to their loved ones as their home.

The days went by swiftly leading up to Christmas, and Mike could feel his anxiety rising each night he went to sleep, knowing when he woke up it would be one day closer to when he would hand El the most important gift he had saved up to purchase for her.

On the morning of there were no flurries to be seen, but the days prior had left them a bit snowed in and there still laid undisturbed snow right outside of their house. They delayed getting up, though the excitement was always about seeing what your family had purchased for you, simply to enjoy each others warmth and for Mike to prolong the embarrassing speech he had prepared. Once El wanted to get up, though, he couldn't stop them, and she bounded down the stairs to grab a hot chocolate for them both and requested they stand outside momentarily to cherish the snow. She had told him before that when Hopper had found her she had already lived days amongst the white flakes and grown to be used to them, though she didn't feel like she was able to appreciate them then and certainly not the year after when she had to close the gate and spent time recovering and relishing in their newfound relationship. As they stood overly near each other with her head leaning on his shoulder holding her halfway done mug, she said that she wanted to appreciate these small things for as long as she could, and he made a silent promise to her that he would make sure that was not only possible, but will be nowhere close to short-lived.

When the time for gift-giving came, they were called in by his mom and he felt like he could puke and turn that pure white into a gross olive green from his nerves. He could barely even tell her he loved her, how the hell was he going to do this?

But he didn't exactly have a choice since he wasn't giving himself one. Once all the presents were handed to each other and they enjoyed a Christmas TV special, his mom went to finish preparing dinner and he asked El to come to his room with him to grab something. She looked confused, no surprise there, but followed along as he tugged her hand and closed his door behind them and sat her on his bed.

Mike could tell she was eyeing him with suspicion while he fetched the small box stored away deep within his closet, so he turned around and decided to rip the band-aid off as quickly as possible.

He squeezed his eyes closed and sighed, opening them and looking at her. She looked concerned. Shit. Well, no time for cold feet now (even if it was a little chilly in his room.)

"El," he started, "I wanted to give you this," he slowly held out the red box with a small bow on it, "it's not anything crazy, y-you know, it's just, um," he scratched the back of his neck after she grabbed it to inspect it, "you mean a lot to me. You're like, the best person to ever come into my life, and I want you to always remember that even though we're really far away from each other now."

El didn't say anything for a moment as she opened the box and took out the ring, squinting and turning it around and taking it in. She glanced up at him and smiled softly. "So, this is...?"

"Uh, a promise ring! Like, meaning that we're, ugh," he groaned, this was gonna sound dumb probably, "you know, devoted to each other and stuff. I know that sounds like something adults would say so I understand—"

"No, Mike," she stood up and reached out and grabbed one of his hands, "I love it. Thank you," she said, then looked down at the ring and back up at him. "Put it on me?"

Wow, she was seriously too amazing, too sweet and too pretty to be real sometimes. But she was.

Mike nodded with surely one of his dorky smiles and grabbed the ring, leaning down and in as he was putting it on her right pointer finger after she splayed out the digits. When he backed up, they silently admired the ring together and before he knew it El had her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Thank you, Mike," she murmured, pressing their foreheads together as she typically did.

Mike let out an airy chuckle. "Yeah. Yeah of course. Merry Christmas El."

"Merry Christmas, Mike."

He gave her forehead a soft kiss before resuming the prior position, staring into her eyes. Though he was still afraid to say it aloud, he loved her, and he would forever promise to be by her side.

#mileven #mileven fanfic #mileven fic #mileven au #mike x el #mike x eleven #el x mike #eleven x mike #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #mileven week #milevenweek #milevenweek2022 #milevenweek 2022 #mileven week 2022 #mi escrito

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 years ago

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Hello Ms. Raven 😁 May I requests headcanons of Ace and Deuce on how would they react when their s/o has a habit of giving them food that they don’t like or can’t finish?

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Ace has a habit of bragging about your food and rubbing it in others’ faces. It comes off as proud, but in a bratty sense. “What, you made me some food again? Sweet! Heh, I’ll bet all the guys in Basketball Club are jealous that I get home cooked meals every practice. Sucks to be them!”

Ace has no concept of delayed gratification. He’s going to eat everything right away, beginning with his favorite foods first--and he’ll leave whatever he doesn’t like as leftovers.

If you try to make him eat those raw oysters, he’s not going down without a fight. Ace will whine and make a big fuss about it about it, just like a little kid refusing to eat their peas and carrots. “You can’t expect me to eat something so nasty! It literally feels like eating slime. Are you seriously going to make your cute boyfriend eat SLIME?!”

He doesn’t have the maturity to gracefully turn down your food. You can try all you like to spoon feed him those oysters, but all you’ll get is a stubborn pout as he wrenches his face away.

At some point, Ace realizes you won’t let up anytime soon and, wising up, he changes his strategy. Ace takes the oysters from you and swears that he’ll save them for later (“I’m not hungry right now, since I just ate a ton! You made way too much for one person.”).

... Then as soon as you’re out of sight, he palms the oysters off into the feed for the hedgehogs and flamingos kept at Heartslabyul. Ace doesn’t even know if those animals can digest oysters, but he’d still rather someone else take the fall for his stomach.

Ace justifies his actions by telling himself ‘what they don’t know won’t hurt’m’. This way, everyone’s happy—he doesn’t have to eat food that he hates, and you walk away still thinking that Ace happily ate his least favorite food for you. (... Now he just has to repeat his strategy every time you cook for him.)

Deuce is always appreciative when you bring him food, but he worries that it’s an inconvenience. He makes sure to earnestly show his gratitude upon accepting the gift. “This is for me? Wow, you really shouldn’t have...! I know it takes a lot of time, skill, and money to wake up early and make me meals so... Thank you very much! I’ll be sure to enjoy every last bite!”

If you made too much, that’s okay! Deuce won’t wolf everything down in one sitting. He can have the leftovers for a second meal later, or as a post-track meet snack. After all, he wouldn’t want to waste any food, or your efforts!

Deuce is sometimes so excited to chow down that he totally forgets about your habit of sprinkling in bell peppers into your dishes until he bites down on some. Bell peppers in fried rice, bell peppers in salad, bell peppers in omelettes (blasphemous, according to Deuce)...

He picks through his food as best as he can, trying to remove the bell peppers from the rest of his meal. It’s then that he remembers his words from before: “I’ll be sure to enjoy every last bite!”

“Grrrgh...! I said I’d eat everything, and I’m a man of my word! I won’t break my promise!! Just watch me...!! I’ll overcome this challenge even if it kills me!!” Deuce immediately dumps the bell peppers he had picked out back into his meal and, taking a deep breath, starts slamming down the food.

In between bites, he chugs entire cartons of chocolate milk (to drown out the taste of bell pepper). Deuce also does his absolute best to chew and swallow as fast as he can, just to be rid of that bad taste quickly. (He eats his leftovers like this too, which gets him weird stares from his classmates and club members).

In the end, Deuce manages to steel his nerves and consume your meals, bell peppers and all, at the cost of some stomachache and nausea. He’s still proud of himself for manning up and proving his courage to you, though! “Did you see that?! I did it...! Just like I said I would! You can always count on me to stick to my word!”

#twst x reader #Ace Trappola #Deuce Spade #twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland headcanons #Ace Trappola x Reader #Deuce Spade x Reader #disney twisted wonderland #Reader #self insert #curiouser and curiouser

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bellasprettywords · 3 years ago

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Hi! Can I request one of draco and reader where it’s the Christmas holidays and Draco decided to stay with reader and his friends stayed as well. Before Christmas began y/n was nervous on what to get Draco since he always goes all out and spoils here and reader isn’t as rich as him. They open their Christmas presents in the common room and Draco has given her a lot of expensive jewelry while she gave him some of his favorite snacks and some other things and crabbe or someone in his friend group makes fun of her for it saying it’s not that great or whatever which makes the reader feel sad but Draco defends her and they leave to his dorm to spend the rest of the day together. 💕 thanks!

a/n: I want to apologize for the delay, my love, but school has been crazy as midterms are approaching. Tbh, this hits really close to home because every year since high school I spend cozy-pre-Christmas with my friends (we are now in college), and we organize a dinner/baking party and🥺💕 so thank you very much for this wholesome request and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

PS: This is quite long and I took a couple of liberties, so take it as my Christmas special hahaha

PS 2: Idk if the dynamic for giving the gifts is a little confusing, but it’s the one me and my friends use, so I hope you understand 😊

y/n – your name

y/h – your house

Warnings: fluff and Crabbe being an ass (oh, the use of the word ass)

Word count: 4,680

Masterlist

Reblogs and comments are always appreciated!

The air had the sweet smell of pine tree, you could feel the chilly breeze on your checks and the snow was covering the castle making it look magical… or even more magical than it usually was. Without a doubt, Christmas time was just… perfect at Hogwarts. This year, you and your friends decided to spend the holidays at school, as it was your last year at the castle and you wanted to spend Christmas with your found family one last time before parting ways.

“Hey, y/n!! Are you ready to go to Hogsmeade?” you heard your best friend Harry from behind you, taking you out of your thoughts

“Helloooo pretty boy! Yes yes, ready for a day of magical shopping” you said turning and flashing your friend a smile

“Great! Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna are waiting for us” he said putting an arm around your shoulders

“Do you know if Draco and the Slytherin kids are ready as well?” you questioned, and he scoffed

“I still can’t see why you want to spend our last Christmas at school with them” Harry added

“Because I love Draco, he loves his friends, and you guys love me” you said with an angelical smile and your best friend rolled his eyes

“This won’t be any fun!! They’ll be complaining the whole time about Christmas not being fancy, or expensive enough for them” Harry said

“Come on!! You promised you’d try, even Ron is on board with this, besides, Draco already talked to Pansy and Crabbe about our cuddly Christmas theme” you said smiling excited

“As your best friend, I love you, and I support you and your idea, but I swear if anyone tries to mess with you, or our cozy Christmas, heads are going to roll” Harry said chuckling

“Do not be an ass!! Besides, the only one I see complaining right now is you, Potter” you said laughing and giving him a gentle push as you reached your friends

“Is everyone ready to go?” Hermione asked and started counting us, because of course she was the mind behind our shopping trip -and the planning of our last Christmas together-

“Yes, we are all set, love” Ron said looking with at Hermione with love eyes

“Great, then I’ll set you up in pairs and I’ll hand each pair a list with the stuff you need to buy, each one has different items that we need to make this Christmas perfect, so please don’t mess it up, and if you want to spend the day gift-shopping, make sure you finish with your list before” she added and you turned to Draco’s friends and caught Crabbe rolling his eyes. You walked up to them while Mione paired your friends up

“Hello, guys! Ready for a Christmas-a-la-cozy?” you asked Pansy and Crabbe while Draco adjusted his arm around our waist and set a kiss on your cheek. You’ve been dating for a couple of years now, but your friends and his haven’t exactly gotten along, so you wanted this Christmas to be the perfect opportunity for them to bond

“I can’t believe I missed a trip to Aspen for this” Crabbe said crossing his arms around his chest and Draco glared at him his cold eyes

“Come on!! It’s going to be fun!!” you added maybe a little too excited “It’s two days before Christmas and the magic is about to begin; today Christmas shopping, tomorrow cooking dinner and baking cookies and sweets and on Christmas morning, our traditional gift exchange!!” you said smiling widely and Draco set a kiss on your head

“Yes Crabbe, I am with y/n on this one, we’ve known her friends for so long, but we haven’t really spent time together, maybe hanging with them will be fun” Pansy said making you smile hopefully

“y/n, you’ll go with Draco, Pansy you go with Luna, and Crabbe you go with Neville” Hermione added coming closer and handing out our lists “Please no exchanging partners, as the whole point of this trip is to get to know each other among houses” Hermione starred at Crabbe and Pansy. Crabbe scoffed, Pansy smiled and walked up to a smiling Luna

“Thanks for organizing all of this Mione!! I love you for trying to make me happy” you said hugging your friend

“Anything for you, doll” she said laughing and you chuckled. Even if she didn’t admit it, she was making an effort for your friends to get along with Draco’s friends and you were eternally grateful for her trying, and that was your Christmas miracle: the people you loved the most spending Christmas time together. Who needed fancy gifts and trips when you had all this love surrounding you?

“We got cookies” Draco said looking at the list Hermione had given her and getting you out of your thoughts

“Greaaaat!! Shopping for the ingredients is always fun, and we can get whatever we want to decorate them” you said with starry eyes, without a doubt, this was going to be the best Christmas

You arrived to Hogsmeade, and you could see your friends drifting apart in pairs. Harry was walking lacing hands with Ginny -such a cute couple-, Ron was walking behind Hermione who was pretty much running to get the ingredients for the Christmas dinner -because of course she wanted the very best-, Pansy and Luna were linking arms and laughing -which made your heart warm- and Neville and Crabbe were now talking and walking into a store to get some drinks. You smiled looking at your friends walking, laughing and once more, felt like the luckiest girl alive. Draco held out his hand for you to take it, and you did-

“Is everything alright, darling?” he asked starring at your eyes with concern

“It is, love, everything is just perfect” you said starring at those icy eyes you so much loved “By the way, I wanted to thank you, for everything” you added

“What do you mean, my sweet?” he asked rising an eyebrow, but you knew the truth, Draco not only missed his holiday with this family to stay with you and make you happy, but he also told Hermione he’d pay for everything we needed for dinner and to make your cozy-Christmas happen

“You should know by now Hermione, and I don’t keep secrets” you said chuckling and his unbothered expression changed, as if he’d gotten caught

“Look, you know the money is not an issue for me, and I wanted everything to be perfect for my queen�� he quickly said trying to excuse himself

“I really appreciate it, and I wanted to let you know this is the best gift you’ve given me” you said kissing your boyfriend. You knew giving gifts was Draco’s love language, he may have some trouble when it came to speak from the heart, but with little acts, and him trying to go the extra mile for you, you could see how much the Prince of Slytherin truly loved you

“Umm love, this is not your gift, there is actually something else I have prepared for you” Draco said grinning victorious, and you gulped nervously. Of course, Draco had something else in store, he always got you over the top expensive gifts. Anytime you’d said or even implied you liked something; he’d buy it for you without even asking. Oh, for Merlin! What’s he going to think when he sees your gift? Would he be disappointed? Would he like it? Oh no, oh no, oh no. you felt your palms sweaty, and Draco must’ve noticed “Hey, y/n, is everything okay? Your hands got all clammy, why are you anxious?” he added

“Oh, it’s nothing, Dray, let’s go ingredient shopping” you said letting go of his hand and walking towards the store

“Hey! y/n! come here!! Why did you let go of my hand?” Draco called a little hurt. Just like you knew his love language was giving gifts, he knew yours was physical touch, that’s why even when it was hard for him at first, he always made sure at least a part of him was brushing against your body.

“Come on!! We don’t have that much time!!” you said still not facing your confused boyfriend; yes, you knew this wasn’t your best moment, but you couldn’t think straight. You entered the store and saw Ron in the sweet’s aisle, of course, while Hermione was getting everything ready for dinner, he was looking for candy. “Weasley! Just the person I needed” you said standing next to him

“I swear I’m helping Hermione” Ron said blushing and laughing

“Of course, you are!! Not getting in the way is really helpful” you said teasing your ginger friend and feeling instantly relaxed

“Where’s your dark prince?” Ron asked noticing Draco wasn’t standing close to you, as he always did

“That’s what I gotta talk to you. He… apparently this whole thing is not my Christmas gift” you said lowering your voice in case he entered the store

“So, he’s getting you something else?” Ron raised an eyebrow

“He is!! What if he gets me…? I don’t know, something over the top?” you said glaring at the door looking for him “What if he thinks my gift is stupid? Or not good enough?” you said lowering your voice and your gaze

“For Merlin y/n!! there is no way he’d think that!! I swear you could give that guy a Weasley hand me down and he’d wear it happily” Ron said making you laugh “Look, I know about your gift, hell, I helped with that gift and I’m sure he’ll love it, and if he doesn’t, I’ll happily take it” he added winking and stroking your hair

“You really think he’ll like it?” you asked your friend and he smiled warmly

“You know what my mum says, the best gift isn’t the most expensive one, it’s the one you put your heart and soul into” he said hugging you “You should go with him, he looks like quite lost without you, I bet he’s never gone grocery shopping” Ron added looking at Draco who seemed disoriented in the store

“Shut up!!!” You said laughing and walking towards Draco, who did seem out of place at the store, which made you wonder if he’d even gone grocery shopping, probably not, as a Malfoy there were many mundane things he’d never done

“There you are darling!! What’s going on? Are you alright love?” he scanned you with his eyes and a concerned expression

“I’m alright, honey… I just want all of this to be perfect, after all, it’s our first Christmas together” you said smiling at your handsome boyfriend

“Y/n do not worry, it will be perfect because we are together, and if anything happens, we always have a lifetime of Christmases to make up for this one” Draco said making you laugh

“A lifetime of Christmases, hu?” you repeated, and Draco blushed

“As long as you’ll have me, love” Draco said and placed a sweet kiss on your lips. The kiss said I love you; I want you and I’m never letting you go, which made all your insecurity about the gift drift away. You felt like the luckiest girl alive, and Ron was right, Draco didn’t care about the gift, he cared about being with you and making you happy.

“y/n? Draco? Where is your cart? Why don’t you have any of the ingredients for the cookies?” you heard Hermione from behind you and you couldn’t help but laugh

“We are getting to it” you said, held Draco’s hand walked to the baking section of the store. You and Draco got everything the list said you needed, so you spent the rest of the afternoon gift shopping for your friends. Walking through the stores holding hands and listening to Christmas carols you finished getting what you needed, and Draco also got you some sweets, coffee with butterbeer ice cream, a cute scarf and matching beanie you starred at for a little too long, and he offered to treat your friends by buying them dinner. Sometimes Draco could come off as… a little entitled, but you knew he was really trying to spoil you and your friends, this was his way of saying I want you all to have a great time.

The way back to the castle was actually pretty amazing!! You laughed, you told stories and you even Crabbe seemed to be having a good time. It was finally happening; your found family was merging with Draco’s friends, and you couldn’t be happier. You arrived at the castle and left all the things you bought at the kitchen, placing them ready for what was coming: cooking dinner during the 24th. Luna offered her dorm for a girl’s night sleepover, and you could swear the laughs could be heard all the way to the Slytherin dorms.

The day before Christmas you woke up with messy hair and a huge smile. You could see your friends sleeping peacefully, so you got up quietly and walked out of the dorm. You were headed to the kitchen with the intention of cooking breakfast for your friends, when you saw Draco, Harry, and Ron walking to your direction, each with two plates of pancakes each.

“Good morning, sunshine” Draco said with a huge smile and placing a kiss on your forehead

“Good morning, handsome, and handsome two and three” you said also greeting your friends

“We made pancakes” Ron said holding his plates of perfectly decorated pancakes in front of him

“We figured you’d be too tired from the sleepover” Harry added smiling proudly

“That’s so sweet of you guys” you said wrapping your arms around Ron and Harry

“It was actually my idea, here, these are yours” Draco said holding his plate. The pancakes looked amazing, they had wild berries, chocolate chips and a little whipped cream

“Thank you so much, love!” you added taking a berry from the plate “The girls must be sleeping, but I guess you can go in and wake them, but I’m taking this one” you said holding Draco´s hand and waving your friends goodbye.

“You must be cold” Draco said taking off his coat and putting it over your shoulders “Let’s get you out of this chilly weather” he added, and you couldn’t help but smile at how cute le looked concerned.

You reached your dorm and put the kettle to make some cinnamon tea. Your dorm was warm and cozy, and having Draco there made it feel even more like home. You had breakfast and tea with your boyfriend, and spent the morning cuddling, until a knock on your door, followed by Hermione’s voice saying “it’s time to cook” made the two of you leave your little piece of heaven on earth.

“What on earth are you doing?!” Hermione squeaked at Ron and Harry, who were supposed to be making stuffing

“Uhh… stuffing?” Ron asked unsure

“Somewhere along the way we got lost and started mixing ingredients” Harry said trying to amend the fact that the stuffing looked like soup

“No need to panic, I’ll fix this, or make another one” you said coming in between Hermione and the boys and looking at the ghoulish mixture they were working on. Pansy, Luna and Neville were working on the Christmas cookies, Draco and Crabbe were working on the eggnog and punch, Hermione was already done with the tomato soup and the spaghetti, and you had just finished the mashed potatoes and the preparation of the turkey. Everything was going quite well -everything but the stuffing at least- and Hermione inspected that everyone was working and following the instructions to make sure our Christmas dinner was perfect.

Around 8, everything was finally ready to be served, but now you had to go clean up and change, because oh Merlin, all of you needed it.

“We’ll meet in y/h’s common room at 10 sharp, be ready and remember the dress code is strictly Christmas ugly sweaters” Hermione emphasized before letting everyone go shower and change.

Draco helped you move the food from the kitchen to your common room in exchange for kissed, and then left to go get ready and you did the same. After your shower and putting your Santa-riding-a-unicorn-on-a-starry-sky sweater and a skirt, you placed your friend’s gift under the Christmas three and finished setting the table. Draco was the first one to arrive, as he wanted some time alone under the mistletoe before everyone got to the dinner. He was wearing a sweater with grumpy cats on Santa Claus’ hats, of course, a gift from you. One by one, your friends arrived at your common room, until you were all reunited around the table. In that moment, you felt extremely lucky and almost couldn’t hold back the tears when it was your turn to make a toast. Christmas dinner was magical, you ate, you danced you laughed and around 3 am, everyone decided to call it a night and go to sleep, not before agreeing on opening your gifts tomorrow morning after breakfast-most likely lunch-.

You and Draco were beaten after the day of cooking, laughing and drinking, so he stayed in your dorm and the two of you went to bed cuddling, you placed your head on his chest and pretty much, fell asleep instantly smelling his cologne and feeling his warm embrace. Without a doubt, this was the perfect Christmas.

“Wake up, princess, it’s Christmas morning, well, day I guess” you heard Draco’s voice in your ear, and you felt him placing gentle kisses on your back

“It’s too early” you complained not opening your eyes

“It’s already 1 pm, love” he said chuckling “Your friends have come over at least three times already” he added, and you heard a knock in the door

“Wake up, y/n!! We want to eat breakfast and fruit doesn’t do the trick anymore” you heard Ron say from behind the door. You slowly opened your eyes and saw Draco laughing at the situation

“I already told you, have breakfast without us” Draco said chuckling

“I. Can. Not!! Tradition says we eat leftovers for breakfast TOGETHER” Ron said making you realize this wasn’t the first time Draco suggested him to have breakfast alone “No man is left behind, and in this house, we don’t break tradition” Weasley added

“I’m coming” you said sitting up and turning to your boyfriend “Merry Christmas, my love” you added placing a kiss on Draco’s lips

“Merry Christmas, love of my life” he replied with a smile. You got up from the bed and walked to the door “Wait, aren’t you going to change? You are wearing pajamas” Draco pointed

“It’s tradition, Malfoy, and in this house, we don’t break tradition” you said chuckling and opening the door.

All your friends were already there, wearing pajamas and getting the table ready to have breakfast, Draco followed you and all of you sat on the table to eat together. After the food, all of you sat on the floor next to the Christmas tree and the exchange of presents began. The rules were simple, the gifts were placed under the tree so you’d take one, you’d describe the person who that gift was addressed to and that person would open the gift, and tried to guess who it was from, after guessing then that person had to pick a gift to keep the dynamic going.

“This gift is for a really special person, who is incredibly sweet and I’m proud to call my best friend, because although she’s stubborn and she oversleeps, she has a huge heart and it’s thanks to her we are all together here, we got to meet new people and we got to have one of the most memorable Christmases” Harry said starring at you.

You stood up from where you were sitting and took the big box from his hands. It was black and it had a silver ribbon, and a tag with silver letters that read “y/n”. You sat in your place next to Draco and opened it delicately, inside the box there were ten other velvet boxes, you opened the first one and there was a gorgeous diamond and ruby necklace, you gasped a little and showed it to your friends. Of course, that was Draco’s gift, but you confirmed it when you opened a second box and a gold charm shaped like a D was lying there, you kept opening the boxes and each one had a different piece of jewelry: bracelets, rings, a locket, earrings and even a tiara.

“Draco” you said turning to him, and guessing the giver’s name

“Only the best for my princess” he said taking the D and putting it around your neck

“Oh, wow, thank you, honey… it’s all… breathtaking” you stutter a little. If you were no longer worried about your gift being too little, now, the creeping feeling came back, rapidly you looked for Ron’s eyes and he gave you a small reassuring smile. You stood up and took a box that read Pansy

“This gift is for someone who at the beginning I had a rocky relationship with, but as I got to know her, I realized she’s sweet, loyal, caring and an incredible friend; also, I want to tell her that I’m glad we can now be friends, and that if she ever need a sister, I’ll be here for her” you said smiling and Pansy slowly got up and hugged you

“I’m really happy we are friends, and I can’t wait to have more Christmases together” she said taking the box from your hands and opening it. It was a book, but not just a regular book, it was a rare first edition on Zygmunt Budge’s Book of Potions and she gasped excited quickly covering her mouth “This is… this…I can’t… I… who?” she could contain her emotion

“You gotta take a wild guess” Ron said amused by her expression

“I… Hermione?” she said a little afraid to be mistaken

“You got that right” Hermione said standing from her spot and hugging Pansy “We didn’t know each other that well, but I’ve always been impressed by your dedication in potions, and I thought you’d like this little gift” she added smiling and Pansy’s eyes teared up a little. Hermione took a box, actually, one of your boxes, it was your box that contained Draco’s gift and you couldn’t decide if you wanted his to see your present, or if you wanted to go to your dorm and never step outside again

“So, this gift is for someone I was not so sure to like, until he proved me wrong. Even although he puts this façade of cold and mysterious, as I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve realized he’s sweet, caring, considerate and a great boyfriend for my best friend. Thanks to that person, I’ve seen y/n glowing and smiling more than ever, and I, well, all of us who love y/n have to thank you for this” she said sincerely starring at Draco, who stood up quietly, took the present and sat next to you

Once again, your palms were sweaty, and you wanted this to be over. Draco carefully took the ribbon from the box and took out a scented candle with the name Christmas bliss, then he took out a mug that read best boyfriend ever, and he couldn’t help but smile cutely, he took out a painting that you made where the two of you were hugging and lastly, he took out a pink box from the bottom of the present. Draco opened the pink box and teared up a little.

“It cannot be” he whispered starring at the content of the pink box “It... I… I can’t believe it” he said placing the box open on the floor

“So… he got her jewelry and she got him a cake?” Crabbe asked “Now that’s mediocre” he added laughing

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not much, but I…” you replied with teary eyes. You worst fear was becoming a reality: your gift was not good enough for your boyfriend. Without thinking, you got up and walked into your dorm with Ron following closely behind you. You sat on your bed, and you felt Ron’s warm embrace around you, a couple of tears streamed down your cheeks, and he made sure to dry them. Ron didn’t say anything, he was just there, holding you and silently letting you know you were not alone. After a couple of minutes, you heard something crashing and a commotion outside the room.

“Get the hell out of here!! I do not want to see you around, asshole!” you heard Draco angrily shout on the other side of the door. Crap, crap, crap, crap, please don’t let to be Harry who he’s fighting with you were half thinking, half praying

“I told y/n it was a stupid idea to invite you, moron, to our celebration” you heard Harry scream. Oh no, oh no, oh no your fear was confirmed by that

“Guys!! Please stop it!!” now it was Ginny “Crabbe, just take your stupid things and leave!!” she added. Wait… Crabbe?

“Oh no, he’s not leaving, he has to apologize to y/n” Pansy added, and things started to make sense to you. Draco, Harry and Ginny wanted Crabbe to leave, does that mean Draco liked your gift? Or did he just pity you? You turned to Ron, and he was already starring at you with a smile

“Wanna go out there and see what the fuzz is all about?” he asked

“Yeah, but, before we leave, thank you, for comforting me and well… for everything” you said hugging your friend and leaving standing from your bed

It was just like you suspected, but worst: Crabbe was on the floor and Draco and Harry were on top of him, Ginny and Pansy were… trying to fight him? Who knows, but they seemed upset and wanted him out of your common room, and Luna and Hermione were trying to stop the fight.

“The odds look pretty unfair for Crabbe” you said, and everyone starred silently at you. Draco immediately stood up and ran towards you, letting you see a black eyed and nose bleeding Crabbe

“I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry, my love” Draco said in your ear caressing your hair

“You don’t have to be sorry… you didn’t give a mediocre gift” you said, and your eyes teared up a little

“Are you insane? A chocolate frog cake? That’s my favorite dessert in the whole world, Merlin, my mum used to make them and send them to me weekly on my first year!!” Draco said planting a kiss on your head “I couldn’t be happier with my gift” he said holding you closer

“Did you… did you like it?” you said looking shyly into his grey eyes

“I loved it, it’s the perfect gift from my perfect girlfriend” Draco said kissing you once more

“I... I asked your mom for the recipe” you added shyly, and you could see the love filling Draco’s eyes

“y/n, Crabbe has something to say before he leaves” Pansy interrupted your hug

“I’m sorry, y/n, I really am, I didn’t know the cake was that important for Draco” he said with regret in his voice

“It’s okay, I forgive you, after all, Christmas is the time for forgiveness and family” you said with a warm smile

You finished with the gift exchange, and Crabbe made sure to not comment something stupid on the gifts, as Draco kept sending him deadly stares. Maybe it was a little messy, and you had some differences, but you couldn’t be happier with your found family; and of course, with your loving boyfriend who repeatedly proved to be in love with you and your acts of kindness. You spent the day watching Christmas movies with your friends, and when nighttime came, you cuddled with the boy you loved, ready for a lifetime of Christmases next to him.

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lululawrence · 3 years ago

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Can u please be nicer on ao3? Maybe you should try answering people's comments

when i read the first line i was honestly flabbergasted and wracking my brain trying to figure out when in the world i wasn't nice on ao3 ever. because i honestly truly try to be nice to everyone always, even when i'm angry or frustrated or people are going after those i love and want to protect. if there was a time i WASN'T nice on ao3, i wondered if it was maybe because my comment had been misunderstood or someone saw me razzing an author i'm good friends with and they didn't get that we are close and i said what i did with so much love and appreciation, you know? like what??? did i do???

but then i read your second line. and please forgive me if i come off as rude in my response to this, because honestly i'm in a pretty bad spot mentally and emotionally in general right now, but PARTICULARLY today, and this ask triggered an anxiety response in me. so. i'm trying really hard to word this in a way to educate without being condescending or mean, but i might not succeed.

firstly, thank you for your comments i'm assuming you've left. i'm also assuming they were nice comments, in which case extra thanks. i'm sure i'll send you effusive responses on ao3 when the time comes.

secondly, please understand that sending an ask like this, on anonymous no less, is incredibly entitled. writing is not my profession, i receive no compensation for my works that i post for free online, and as a part of that it is not required of me to respond. i do my very best to reply to every comment i receive, but it is not always in a timely manner, because i have other priorities in my life. all of which leads us to my third point, which is:

writers do not owe you a reply to your comments. end of. there are no other qualifications or quantifying modifiers to be added to the statement. is it nice to be acknowledged and know your comment was seen? sure. but do they OWE you one? hell no.

in fact, i'd like to offer you a suggestion. a way of tweaking your thinking about the comments you leave on fics. instead of looking at comments you leave as being something that deserves a reply from the author, think of your comments as your way of paying the author for the gift of their time and talents that they have shared with you by posting their fic. that's how i think of the comments i leave for authors. i'm giving them my thanks for the words they've shared! i want to help THEM feel as amazing as they have made ME feel when i read their fic. in fact, my hope isn't necessarily a response from them, but instead my hope is THE GIFT OF THEM SHARING MORE FIC WITH ME. i'm a selfish bitch in that way and i always want all the fic to read. i never want that well to go dry. one way i can ensure that doesn't happen is by supporting authors and being kind to them and spreading all the love and excitement i can about their writing in the hopes that my words will inspire them to share more.

because whether they reply or not, i GUARANTEE they are seeing your comments. i PROMISE they are. and for all you know, your comment might be the one that keeps them writing even when their words aren't coming easily or when they are tempted to give up.

but, again, please remember that no matter what, these authors (including me) don't actually owe you anything.

the rest of this is going under a cut, because honestly my reply is already far too long and i have a LOT more to say now that you've gotten me started.

now, all of this in mind, i'll explain to you why i'm not great with keeping up with comments made on my fics the last couple of years. i don't owe you this explanation any more than i owe you a response to your comments, and i'm honestly not sure you deserve this explanation either, but i'll still offer it anyway. it'll help me feel better knowing i at least put this out there, whether you care or not, mainly because if i don't do that it will cause me greater anxiety having you possibly think i am not responding to people because i feel all high and mighty or that i think i'm better than the comments or whatever the fuck kind of motivation you're attributing to me to see my lack of a response as something "not nice" towards the commenters.

i'm not sure if you've noticed, but i put out a lot of fic. like a lot. a lot of words and shit. i love writing, it's often my therapy and a way for me to help keep my anxiety and depression and ptsd at bay.

now, more personal shit for you, i've got three kids ages 9 and under. the oldest has adhd which we have yet to find a med for that helps to the extent she needs without side effects that aren't healthy for her to continue with, she also has anxiety, AND she's extremely gifted and starting a new program at a new school, all in the midst of a pandemic. and all of those situations exacerbate her anxiety! huzzah! she's also dealing with the beginning of her tween growing up shit, which is great fun because it means where she used to be pretty damn understanding of her younger brother, she is finding it much more difficult to. because the second oldest? he's autistic with some pretty significant gross motor, speech, and socialization delays that have only been exacerbated because of the previously mentioned pandemic. PLUS he transitioned from his special needs preschool to a fully integrated elementary school for kindergarten last year and then had to deal with all the ups and downs of the switch from e-learning to hybrid to all in schooling when everything in him screams for a normal schedule he can rely on to keep his own anxieties and fears and struggles at their minimum. and that youngest child? he was born in january of last year. he STILL barely leaves the house and has only met other children in close range a couple of times because, once again, pandemic!

add onto all of this my own mental health issues, the fact that my husband ALSO battles major clinical depression, adhd, and anxiety, AND we live with my parents who have their own health issues, both mental and physical. i run the home for our house of seven. i keep this place functioning, fed, clothed, clean, and everywhere we need to be for all of our five million appointments every. fucking. day. there is a REASON i've been borderline burnt out for the last fucking year and a half.

now, for fun, i have fandom shit. i love it here, even if it is a dumpster fire on the best of days, and getting to be a part of the writing community is so very lovely. i adore it. honestly, it's because of those friendships i've built with other writers that i have been able to keep writing and have found just how helpful it can be for my mental health. but i'm REALLY. INCREDIBLY. BUSY. i hardly have time to get on tumblr for just a quick swipe through my dash most days. i put off asks so long i forget i have them. i don't have the mental and emotional capacity to talk to people on here or interact fully a lot of the time. but i do my best to do so and be kind while i'm at it even when i don't want to be.

then, on top of that? i also run fic fests like @wordplayfics and help friends run their own. because not only am i a writer, i'm a reader. i LOVE fic. fic has saved me soooooo many times over the past seven years that i've been here. i want to do what i can to support other writers the best way i can, which is to provide a space for them to create their works that welcomes and helps promote them, but also by doing my monthly fic lists and pocast highlighting what i've been able to read, reblogging their fic posts, and then commenting and kudosing their fics too.

sometimes i get really fucking down on myself because i'm so behind on replying to comments, but my brain is very much a "if you start this, you have to finish it" kind of a brain, and i feel even WORSE sometimes if i reply to comments on some fics and not all of them. but i do my best and reply when i can. i was actually really fucking proud of myself because i had a couple days to myself in june, and i spent hours replying to comments on 20 of my fics. when you have almost 150 fics (i think? i don't even know how many fics i've posted by now), that is only scratching the surface. but i tried and i was so so happy i did that many fics at once. it's exhausting, though, and takes a lot of spoons for me to reply to them in mass like that plus time consuming. so i tried to be happy with those 20 fics and the comments i responded to there and told myself that when i ha a moment to breathe, i'd go and work on replying to some more.

but see, that again causes anxiety and guilt. because i haven't replied to all of them. and that anxiety and guilt can cause me to put it off further OR to put off important things like feeding my children or getting sleep in order to finish it, so i have to make myself put things into perspective and ensure i'm doing the important things, like taking care of myself and my family, first.

and then, i have a moment where i CAN go ahead and reply to comments... but i also have MANY fics that are on deadline and i actually have a schedule. a SCHEDULE. for when i'm going to focus on which fics. i can spell it out for you if you really want. i made it back in APRIL to make sure i didn't sign up for too many fic fests because there are so many going on right now that i want to participate in, but i know i can't do all of them so i had to pick and choose. and when you are SO overscheduled and busy that back in APRIL you had to figure out what fics you would focus on at what time to ensure you got everything written when you wanted to through THE END OF THE YEAR, more choices have to be made.

for example. my writing time and time for myself came down to only one evening a week for ALL fandom things i'm doing and a part of right now once the kids were out of school for the summer. it quickly became apparent that for my own self care i needed more time, so i worked with my husband to find two other days i could carve out at least 30-60 minutes to myself to write every week. and i did. but if i'm already only getting that much time and have committed to those fics and fests and things that you're running etc, you have to choose am i going to use this time to try to squeeze in some comment replies? or am i going to write? and i choose to write. simple as that.

so yeah. see it as selfish if you want. see it as mean. you can honestly see it as whatever the fuck you want, but for me? i know that as soon as i possibly can and i can breathe freely for once and not feel like i am constantly drowning in my day to day life and am doing pretty well when it comes to my fic deadlines and getting started on those christmas cards i'm once again going to be making by hand for everyone on tumblr who chooses to sign up for one this year out of the KINDNESS of my heart and the love i really do feel for so many of you, then i promise i'll be on ao3 catching up and commenting. my friends laugh and make fun of me for it sometimes, because they will sometimes get 10-12 replies to their comments in a single day. they know that's how i work. i WILL reply to every single comment i get, no matter how old it is. but for the love of all that is holy, do NOT add to the anxiety and guilt i already feel over it. the only place that will get you is the ask/comment getting deleted if it's a good day, a fucking long rant like this one if it's not, and a block if it's a REALLY bad day.

if you're asking me to be nice on ao3, then i ask in return that you also be nice by not demanding things of people that they are not in any way obligated to give.

#long post #rant #i almost deleted this #but you sent it on just the right day and instead i let loose #this is unedited and unbetaed lmao but ENJOY #or don't #whatever #writing stuff #i should tag it #writing SHIT #but that's not really a tag i keep cause who wants to keep track of the negatives #not me

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cocosstories · 3 years ago

Text

Tom Holland One Shot

Prompt:

Hi! So I was thinking, what about dad!tom holland, where they have a little girl, named merida (like the disney princess) because she has the same hair color as her? Also like little Merida adoring archery and calls Tessa Angus as a joke? Thanks!

She was born with bright red hair. The second you saw her, you knew what her name had to be.

"Merida."

You told your husband Tom as you held your newborn daughter in your arms.

"Like the Disney princess?"

He raises his eyebrow with a questioning glace before you nod and look back down at the now sleeping baby.

"Yes. Our little Princess Merida."

Five years later and Merida was very much so living up to her namesake. Her hair, still the same bright red, had become thick and curly and bounced around beautifully as she ran around playing 'Brave' with Tessa.

Ever since she had seen the movie, she had been obsessed with being just like Princess Merida.

"She looks just like me mommy! She has my name too!"

You couldn't do anything but smile as the realization set on your daughters little face that she was named after this Princess.

Deciding it was finally time, you tell her the story of the night she was born and how you and Tom decided on her name.

"Your daddy and I couldn't agree on a name. There wasn't one name that he liked that I did or the other way around. But when you were born and the doctor handed you up to me, I saw this little fluff of red hair and your beautiful porcelain face and I just knew."

You sit her on your lap as you tell the story, reminiscing on the nerves from both you and Tom during that time.

"Knew what mommy?"

Merida looks at you with her sweet blue eyes.

"I knew you were my sweet little Princess Merida."

You kiss her head and she cuddles up close.

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby?"

"I miss daddy."

"Me too sweetheart but he will be home tomorrow."

You tell her as you tuck her into bed.

Tom had been away doing a movie for the last four months and it had taken its toll on Merida. She missed him so much and while she thought it was cool that she could brag to all of her friends at school that her daddy was Spider-Man, she really wished he could be home with her all the time.

Getting Merida up and off to school was a chore the next morning, she fought the whole way, trying to convince you it was best for her to stay home and with for Tom. You promise her that the second she gets out of school, she will see him but she had to go to school. Finally, she gave up and went off to school not exactly happy about it but excited for the day to get over with.

Three hours later, Tom comes through the front door and you jump into his arms, kissing him deeply.

"I thought you would be home hours ago! Did your plane get delayed?"

You ask as he sets you down and leads you into the living room.

"No, it was on time. I just had a few stops to make. Is Merida at school?"

He asks looking around for any signs of your daughter.

"It wasn't an easy task but I finally did get her there yes."

You laugh and shake your head.

"Good. I have some things to do before she gets home."

Tom gives a mischievous smile before walking back out to the car.

"What are you up to Mr. Holland?"

You follow him out to the car.

"Now why would I be up to something Mrs. Holland?"

He laughs as he opens the trunk, revealing what you can only guess in the whole Scottish kingdom that will be set up in your house.

As you help him bring in the pieces of the 'castle' you notice a bag with costumes and peak through it. You pull out Merida's dress, Queen Elinor's dress, King Fergus' costume and even a black horse costume for Tessa.

"She is going to lose her mind when she gets home."

"Well, every time we talked while I was gone, she made me promise that when I got home we would play Brave. I figured we could go all out and then we could move the castle into her playroom after tonight."

The time had come to pick Merida up from school and everything was ready for her at the house. You took her costume with you, placing it on her booster seat and heading off to the school.

"Where's daddy?"

She asked as she climbed in the backseat of the car, nearly crying as she saw Tom wasn't with you.

"He's at home with Tessa but he sent you a surprise. He wants you to change into it before we get home ok?"

You smile at your daughter as she finally notices the dress sitting in her spot. She puts it on before you take off towards the house and the whole ride home tells you every little detail about it.

The car was barely stopped before Merida was out of it and into the house searching for Tom. You walk in just as she finds him sitting in the middle of the 'castle' fully dressed as King Fergus, Tessa or Angus at his side.

"Daddy!"

She screams happily, running into his arms and hugging him tightly.

"Daddy, did you do all of this? Its beautiful!"

She stares in wonderment at the newly built 'castle' in your living room.

"You said you wanted to play 'Brave' when I got home and since I've been gone for so long, I figured we better go big."

He laughs and then reaches behind his 'throne' bringing out a present and handing it to her.

"What is it?"

"You'll have to open it to see."

Merida stares at the gift for a split second before ripping into the paper to reveal a bow and foam arrows and plastic quiver.

Her face lights up and she giggles with excitement as she hugs Tom.

"Thank you daddy! I lobe them so much!"

Merida notices you, standing in the entryway in your costume and calls you over.

"Mommy, are you going to play too?"

You nod with a smile and she claps happily.

The three of you spend the night acting out the entirety of the movie, running around the house and taking turns shooting the bow, only stopping to eat some 'royal pizza'.

As the night came to an end, you and Tom are tucking Merida, who has refused to take off her new dress, into bed.

"That was so much fun! Thank you daddy! I'm so glad you're home. I missed you so much!"

"Anything for my princess."

He says as you both kiss her goodnight and head towards the door.

"You know mommy and daddy, in the movie, Merida has little brothers."

She says just as you shut off the light.

You and Tom stand in the doorway, not knowing what to say back, thankful she was worn out enough to not push the subject and fall right to sleep.

Feedback is always welcomed and greatly appreciated

#dad! tom holland #tom holland one shot #tom holland x reader #tom holland

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melzula · 4 years ago

Text

A New Battle Begins

pairing: Zuko x Princess!reader

notes: requested by anon

summary: Now that the war is over, Zuko and the Princess can finally live a life of peace together. Or so they think...

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

“Careful now, you don’t want to hurt yourself,” you chide gently as you help guide Zuko’s arms through the sleeves of his robe before neatly tying the sash around his waist. His wound is still tender from Azula’s lightning strike and limits most of his movements, so he’s grateful for your help in his preparation for the coronation. You work precisely and gracefully with no error and no faltering despite the hindrance of your freshly bandaged hands, and though the room is quiet a sense of calm and peacefulness washes over Zuko at your mere comforting presence. Today he will be crowned Fire Lord, and you will be right by his side just like you have been since you were children— Zuko couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

“Thank you for your help,” he says with a grateful smile. “I can’t imagine doing this without you.”

“We’ve come a long way,” you note thoughtfully, “and there’s no place I’d rather be than right here with you in this very moment.”

With the final piece of his wardrobe secured to his body, Zuko takes it upon himself to tie his top knot— you still haven’t quite mastered the hairstyle yet— and complete his Fire Lord ensemble. You smile fondly at the sight of him, leaning forward to grace his lips with a sweet kiss.

“You make a handsome Fire Lord.”

“And one day you’ll make a beautiful Fire Lady,” Zuko counters with a small smirk, one that sends you into an embarrassed fit of giggles.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, mister,” you say with a laugh. “I’m going to join the others out in the courtyard. I’ll see you shortly.”

You bid your love goodbye with a chaste kiss to the cheek before excusing yourself from his presence and making your way back outside. The palace is empty other than the few guards that line the hallways, and you have to remind yourself that they aren’t your enemies any longer. With Zuko on the throne and your status as his girlfriend no one will lay a single finger on you while you are here, especially not with your title as Princess of the Southern Water Tribe. It will take some time to break your habit of immediately going on the defensive in the presence of Fire Nation soldiers, but you have faith that Zuko and Aang will be able to restore balance to the world.

Your path to the outside is suddenly blocked by a woman who stands at the very end of the hall and gazes thoughtfully out the grand window before her. Her hair is graying but the lines that worry her face are kind and familiar. Seemingly sensing your presence, she turns to you with a tired smile, one you recognize immediately despite the many years you’ve spent away from home.

“Mother,” you murmur quietly, eyes welling with tears and breath catching in your throat at the sight of her.

“You’ve grown so much I almost didn’t recognize you,” she replies with a teasing tone. Her arms open to you then, warm and inviting, and with a small sob you gather the skirt of your dress before sprinting towards her.

“Mother!” You cry, melting into her bone crushing embrace as you weep into the fabric of her coat. “I can’t believe it’s you! How- What are you doing here?”

“The Fire Prince sent a messenger hawk to tell me of your bravery and requested my presence in the Fire Nation immediately,” she explains before carefully taking your hands in her own and assessing the bandages wrapped neatly around your wrists and extending all the way to your fingertips. It’s only one layer and it’s mostly just for protection, but it’s obvious that extensive damage has been done to your skin. “Does it hurt?”

“No. The healing took away the pain, but the scars will stay forever.”

“My brave girl,” your mother coos with a tearful smile, hand resting upon your cheek and cupping your face. “Your father would be so proud.”

“Thank you, mom,” you reply. A single tear slides down your cheek but you’re quick to brush it away before it can ruin your ceremonial makeup. “But if I’m being honest, I thought you’d be angry with me... I was afraid when I came back home you’d want nothing to do with me.”

“I was heartbroken when you left,” she admits thoughtfully, “you were my only child and I feared for your safety. I thought of you every day, and when I heard the news of your father’s death I worried that one day I might get the same news about you.”

You look closely at your mother as she explains, appreciating the details of her face and the change of her features. She wasn’t very old, but your absence and your father’s passing weighed heavily upon her through the lines on her skin. She was strong, but she’d also been through a lot these last couple of years, managing her grief while trying to run an entire tribe on her own. You could only hope to be as great of a leader as she was.

“But instead I received news of your bravery, your compassion, and your courage. I couldn’t be more proud to call you my daughter, y/n, and I can’t wait to see what you do next.”

She pulls you into yet another embrace before joining you out in the courtyard to meet your friends, and for the first time in a long time all is right in the world.

~~~

Zuko’s coronation goes off without a hitch, and after successfully establishing the plans for the Harmony Restoration Movement with King Kuei you and your friends decide to visit the Jasmine Dragon to celebrate before the announcement. It’s your last night away from home, and though you’re reluctant to say goodbye to Zuko and your friends you know you’re needed back in the south. You’ve been away for too long, and the Southern Water Tribe is in desperate need of a ruler. With your father gone and your mother growing older it will only be a matter of time before the tribe is left in your hands, so there’s no better time than now to start leaning how to lead.

“Your tsungi horn playing is beautiful as always, Uncle,” you compliment Iroh as Zuko sets your tea before you. He gifts you a chaste kiss to the cheek in passing, an act that has you shyly hiding your smile behind your cup and taking a drink of the jasmine taste you’ve missed so dearly. The last time you’d been in Ba Sing Se you were living under a false identity, settling down into your new life with a reluctant Zuko and trying to start anew. There had been obstacles of course, from the encounters with your midnight stranger to Zuko’s inevitable betrayal down in the crystal caves, but you don’t wish to take any of it back for a second. Because otherwise you wouldn’t be here now, surrounded by your friends as you critique Sokka’s drawing.

“You know the burns are only on my hands and not the rest of me, right?” You ask, pointing out the scars that weave around your arms like vines in the drawing.

“Yeah, but this makes you look cooler!” Sokka defends.

“Well I think you all look perfect,” Toph compliments enthusiastically, and you can’t help but laugh at yet another one of her blind jokes. You’ll miss those once you get back home.

The celebration will be starting soon, and so you join your friends on the back of Appa to fly through the skies and enjoy your time together before the night can end. You sit in the back with Suki who carefully adjusts the flowers in your hair and distracts you from the serious conversation Zuko holds with Aang.

“Are you excited to go back home?”

“Very, but I am going to miss you guys. I’ve spent a whole year with you all, it’ll be so strange being without you.”

“I’m sure we can visit you,” Suki suggests. “And don’t you have that tunnel thing with Zuko?”

“Yeah, we have a tunnel thing,” you nod, a faint smile playing upon your lips. A part of you is excited to see the tunnel again just because it’s been so long, and really it was probably the pivotal force on which your journey began. “I hope my people will be happy to see me.”

“They will. You are the Princess, after all.”

You don’t get to talk any further about the subject before brilliant bursts of fireworks begin to explode in the sky. They’re breathtaking, and by the looks of the crowd down below the Earth King has just announced the harmony restoration movement. Huddling close to Suki, you stare up at the display in awe and with a bittersweet sense of joy. Someone clears their throat from beside you, and both you and Suki turn to see Zuko smiling sheepishly at your pair.

“Mind if I steal my girlfriend away from you for a bit?”

“Not at all,” Suki smiles knowingly before scooting over and allowing you and Zuko some space to yourselves. His arm easily wraps around your frame and pulls you into his side, and already you can feel his warmth beginning to encompass you as you rest your head upon his shoulder.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” You murmur in quiet appreciation for the fireworks.

“It is,” Zuko agrees with a faint smile. You’re too engrossed to notice the uneasiness in his tone, but he doesn’t want you to anyway. If you were to find out about the promise Aang had sworn to you’d surely delay your return home just to try and talk him out of it, and Zuko couldn’t have the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe missing on his behalf.

(At least not again.)

Besides, he’d made up his mind and he didn’t plan on changing it any time soon.

He hopes it’ll never come down to that, so for now Zuko is simply content with holding you close and enjoying your last peaceful night together in Ba Sing Se.

Spirits know it will be quite some time before you ever share a night like this again.

~~~

It’s strange being back home. Everything is so... different. Your tribe had dwindled significantly in number what with the casualties of the war, and the smaller villages that resided outside of the palace walls had been reduced to practically nothing. You could feel everyone’s eyes on you as you walked off the ship alongside your mother, could hear their gossiping whispers about how much you’d changed and if you were back for good this time, and it made you anxious. You reach for a hand that isn’t there and have to remind yourself that you’re on your own now. Sokka, Zuko, and Suki are no longer around to provide you comfort, so you’ll have to rely on your own inner strength to make it through the day.

“Princess,” a snide voice you’re all too familiar with calls from front steps of the palace. “It is so wonderful to have you home again.”

“Thank you, Advisor Koa,” you reply calmly, bowing in respect to the man but never once pulling your gaze from him. The smirk that plays upon his lips has you fuming but you keep your emotions at bay and remain cordial.

Koa was your father’s most trusted advisor, but you yourself never found him to be very trust worthy. His eyes were always shifty and there was something in the way he carried himself that made it seem as if he had a big secret to hide. The way he talked to your father always came off aggressive and scheming, yet the chief said nothing. As unbearable as Koa could be, he had a bright mind and skillful war tactics, so he stayed in his position of power beneath the royal family. You were meant to marry his son Kai but had ran off with Zuko before the marriage could take place, and you were sure Koa must be bitter about the fact that he hadn’t managed to marry his way into your family.

“Did you enjoy your time galavanting with the Fire Prince while the rest of your tribe was left to fend for themselves in the result of your absence?”

“I helped the Avatar bring balance to the world which is more than you can say, Koa. Need I remind you you were the only man who chose to say behind during the war?” You snap back harshly, holding back a triumphant smirk at the man’s obvious annoyance with your insult. Two can play at that game.

“Always a joy,” he mutters with an insincere grin.

“Now if you’ll excuse me I have a tribe to run,” you say, but before you can even take a step towards the palace Koa is blocking your path.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. You see, the Southern Water Tribe already has a leader: me.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” You retort harshly, features falling at the guilty look that forms on your mother’s face. “What is he talking about?”

“I couldn’t run an entire tribe by myself,” she admits desperately, pleading for you to understand. “With you and your father gone I had no choice but to accept Koa’s offer to stand in as Chief until one of you returned.”

“Well I have returned, and as the rightful heir of this tribe I am ordering you to step down!” You demand pointedly, blood boiling at the laugh that leaves Koa in response.

“You’re absolutely adorable,” he coos condescendingly, pinching your cheek before you harshly yank yourself away from his grasp. “Do you really think a little girl is capable of ruling?”

“I’m a water bending master and I helped the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord and end the war! I am not a little girl!”

“You were selfish and ran away from your duties. You left your people in their time of need. You’re lucky you were even allowed back here considering the treachery you’ve partaken in against the Southern Water Tribe.”

“Koa,” your mother interrupts timidly. “I may have put you in charge but I will not allow you to speak to my daughter that way.”

“My apologies, your highness,” Koa utters respectfully before returning his attention to you. A snide smile rests upon his lips. “It really was so lovely to see you again, Princess y/n.”

“Mother, you can’t-“

“Not now,” she consoles quietly, watching his triumphantly retreating form disappear behind the palace doors before glancing around at the small crowd that had gathered to observe the dispute. “If you want to get the throne back you can’t act irrationally.”

Your once hardened features slowly soften as you let out a defeated sigh, collapsing into the comforting embrace of your mother.

Restoring balance to the world hadn’t been enough to save face with your people, and now you found yourself entangled in a whole new fight. With your friends gone and your father unable to help you win the crown what were you to do?

So much for home sweet home...

| tags: @rainteslerrrr @oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @coldlilheart @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @zukh03s @taeeemin @titaniafire @dekahg @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @lozzybowe @izzieserra @melacholy @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 @brown-eyed-thang @djskfkdkkf @xapham @yeetletzgetitjae @misnmatchedsox @chewymoustachio @that-bucket-hat-gal |

#had to repost bc of tech issues #oopsie #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #zuko and the princess #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla x reader #atla imagine #fire lilies

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shiversdownyerspine · 3 years ago

Text

15. Confession

Ladies and gentlemen we have The Kiss.

The raunchiness is going to Ramp Up.

18+

The passing of time finds you curled up in bed with a little journal, carefully perusing the information you've gathered on this new side of you. The scowl on your face won't go away.

You stare down at the top of the page, at the two little words that are the source of your ire.

Heat Cycle.

Isn't it just fantastic. As if you needed another weird little condition in your life. Well, it probably isn't right to consider this unusual. So far your cycle lasts six days total, with the first three days being the absolute worst. You can definitely believe that this is something you were meant to experience ages ago, but staying away from people severely delayed it. No, this is supposed to be natural for you.

You can't bring yourself to appreciate the irony of it all. Natural. What a joke.

Well, maybe if you just give it time it'll become like second nature to you. Your eyes fall once more to the pages.

You'd bet that the attraction you feel towards the Swedes is the catalyst for triggering your cycle; when the men returned from their first mission, your fluctuating emotions probably set it off. Who knows, maybe because your attraction isn't singular but multiple, it's affecting the severity of your symptoms. Ohhh the symptoms. You dearly hope they get better with time.

The handful of experiments you've done to see what would offer relief have yielded poor results; hot water helps you relax, so showers and baths are good. Cold water is too much for your skin. For the first couple of days you had tried masturbation to gentle your 'flow', but that didn't really make a difference. You wouldn't even consider fingering, you're too wary of the sudden sensitivity to penetration, and strangely enough, you feel on an almost instinctual level that it wouldn't work.

There is some comfort in the fact that you could tell when your cycle was starting, the tingling and prickling caught your notice pretty quick. With the reliable timing, making yourself scarce won't be too difficult. Theoretically. But you're fairly certain the Swedes will eventually notice your missing presence.

It was a miracle you didn't have to explain your disappearance that first night to Otto. He'd been on the verge of sleep when you got up and luckily you hadn't really disturbed him, he just sank right back into slumber. Maybe the mission had tired them all out. Maybe time travel had its own sort of jet lag. Maybe both? Whatever it is, thank goodness.

A month later the Swedes are out on their second mission when your cycle returns with no sign of gentling. Your desperation leads you to throw caution to the wind and try penetration. In the bath your sex was fairly successful with tolerating light strokes and caresses. Carefully rubbing your clit, you breathe and push a finger in deep. Keeping it still and just letting the stimulation to your clit do the work, you push yourself to the edge of orgasm. Feeling a little more confident you let your hand move, slipping that finger in and out. By the third stroke you had slapped a hand over your mouth to smother your loud noises. By the tenth there were tears in your eyes, hips jumping and jerking almost uncontrollably as you came. Unfortunately, nothing changed for the better.

In fact, you were utterly crestfallen when you discovered your attentions had actually made things worse for you; late into the night you could still feel the phantom sensation of a finger inside, your walls weakly pulsing like a heartbeat as you ooze continuously into the gusset of your panties. You continuously drifted in and out, and in the wee hours of the morning with restless nerves taut enough to snap, you listened to instinct and headed to the dryer where Otto's shirt still lay folded and waiting. Retrieving the article of clothing, you curled up in bed with it clutched to your chest and promise you'd make an effort to remember to put his clothing back where you found it. But at the moment you didn't really give a damn about the possible consequences.

The effects of your cycle lessened as the lingering scent soothed you, and though you had to fight this bizarre urge to collect...like some kind of Magpie...eventually you were able to fall asleep.

After that cycle ended, you seriously considered stashing the shirt away. You're just...borrowing it. They'll never know.

The Swedes returned from their second mission after a handful of days out in the field. This time you were in the living room when they came trudging through your door.

Oscar was in a huff, cheeks a bit puffed with frustration. "Jävla hala jävel."

Mildly concerned you watched as he headed to their guestroom, presumably to drop off his pack, before you turned your attention to his older brothers. Otto appeared to be untouched, if a little miffed. Axel on the other hand looked roughed up, hair out of place with light bruising and a couple of scrapes about his face.

The two men give a curt nod to you as you rise from the sofa to join them as they make their way into the kitchen. The first aid you had relocated to a cabinet under the kitchen sink, which Otto knowingly retrieves for you. "So...I'm guessing there's been some complications?"

"The target escaped." Axel solves the mystery for you, eyeing the kit in your hands before raising a brow at his quiet brother. Otto ignores him in favor of removing his pack and tossing it to Oscar as he joins the rest of you. The youngest catches it before giving Otto an annoyed look, seriously considering just dumping it on the floor for its rightful owner to take care of, before compromising and leaning the hefty bag against the wall. Oscar jerks his chin up in stubborn defiance, leaning back against the wall as well. Allowing it, Otto folds his arms and watches you make your way to their older brother.

"And took a couple swings at you on the way out?"

Sitting at the kitchen table with a slight scowl, Axel touches a finger to a small abrasion at the corner of his eyebrow to examine a bit of blood.

Their target was a stocky man who had managed to break free of Otto's hold, had even cracked their older brother's head back into a wall with a wild adrenaline-fueled swing before tearing towards the exit like a bat out of hell. Of course Oscar had left him a parting gift, namely a wickedly sharp serrated knife buried in the meat of the unlucky man's upper leg. They had thought he wouldn't have gotten far with that wound impeding him, but he was nowhere to be seen. However as they began searching, Otto had surprised them by insisting on returning to you.

Taking the initiative you reach forward, brushing the loose strands of Axel's hair back off his forehead for a closer inspection of his face.

"Well...you don't look like you're on death's door, but how do you feel? Headache? Nausea? Blurry vision?"

Otto answers immediately, "Unsteady."

Indeed, as the brothers started tracking, Otto had noticed Axel stumbling a little every now and then, his steadfast gait not quite the way it was supposed to be. After a moment of consideration, the largest Swede had intervened, concerned about a concussion. Oscar had hesitated but once he saw his brother sway after coming to a complete stop, he too was on board with the change of plans.

"Concussions can get worse, you should take it easy for a bit. Let me see..." Before Axel can denounce any concerns, your hand is on his shoulder while the other is cupping his chin and tilting his face up to see how his pupils adjust to the light. Your touch is soft as your fingers slide over his skin, encouraging him with careful pressure to follow your direction. His hands twitch as his gaze follows a curl of hair sweeping down to your collarbone.

He breathes in slow when you once again push your fingers through the pale strands atop his head, your lips quirking fondly. "I think there's a little plaster in your hair."

Oscar's eyes flit between you and his eldest brother before he slips to Otto and elbows him, jerking his head towards the hallway to indicate that they should make themselves scarce. Otto walks to his pack and hefts it up with ease as an excuse of 'putting things where they belong' justifies their absences.

As you tend to the rough marks left behind on Axel's skin, you remember the mark he himself had left on your knife. You had meant to ask about it earlier but you've been rather distracted lately. The man shares his knowledge of the Algiz rune and some of the other Elder Futhark runes; the one on your knife handle represents an elk, a symbol of protection, defense, and guardianship.

"I'd love to hear about what other runes you know, but I don't want to keep you up all night...alright that should do it." You trail your fingers gently over his cheek, fascinated by the texture of his scar.

Axel hums, catching your wrist and holding your hand still. He turns his face into your palm and presses his lips to the skin. Pink dusts your cheeks at the gesture of appreciation, your eyes flicking from your hand to him as his mouth leaves your palm. With his grasp loose on your wrist you gather your nerve and slip your fingers lightly under his jaw, thumb dangerously close to the corner of his lips.

Brow creased with faux concern you lean in a little, eyeing his cheek. "Wait..."

Before he has the chance to react you lean in the rest of the way and press a lingering kiss to his cheek, right on his old scar. After pulling in a heavy breath, he goes very still.

You pull away with a soft smile, trying not to blush at the way his gaze is very focused on you. Chalking his stare up to confusion you murmur, "You've all been giving me so many and..I...I really wanted to give a kiss back. To thank you for the rune carving."

A strange look crosses the eldest Swede's face as his eyes flick down to your lips and then back up to your eyes, your wrist still in his grasp. He makes a decision.

The chair scoots across the floor as he rises from his seat and crowds you against the kitchen table, hand on your side guiding you back. He releases your arm as he dips to lift you up to the surface to sit, your wide-eyed stare and softly parted lips urging him to slip between your thighs. He needs answers. You've been driving him and his brothers crazy, and he has plenty of reason to believe the pining is mututal.

"You like us?"

"...? Of course I like you three, what..!" Your breath catches when he leans in, his fists resting on the tabletop to the left and right of you. Caged in, you're rendered silent as he stares intently at you.

"Do you want us?"

Mind blank and cheeks hot as your brain catches up with the meaning behind his words, your eyes dart over his handsome face. You know you're meant to respond, to say something but there is nothing, not a peep from you. This frustrating silence of yours, unintended as it is, does nothing to deter Axel. If anything it's an incentive to be a little more specific, a little more direct.

His head dips, lips lightly sliding against your cheek for a moment as he moves forward. Your ear tingles as his breath warms the sensitive skin before he questions you, voice lulling and suggestive as it rumbles from his throat.

"Do you like us touching you? Teasing you? Kissing you?"

One of his hands moves to yours, gliding up your arm and shoulder to sweep up the side of your neck. He rubs his thumb lightly over your bottom lip as his mouth presses minutely to the soft skin under your ear. At the sound of your whimper, his lips leave you as he draws back to peer heavy-lidded at your dazed visage.

"Red cheeks, squeezing thighs, pretty sounds..."

He cradles the side of your neck, thumb stroking along the curve of your jaw as he nonchalantly lists some of the reactions to him and his brothers that he's noticed. That they've all noticed. Your lips drag a shallow shaky inhale into your throat at his words, nearly breathless at how sweetly cruel he is to lay your attraction out so neatly before you. Axel's mouth hovers a hair's breadth away, his lips lightly parted as if hoping to catch the slightest taste of you on your exhale. The scent of pine and something heady floods your senses, pulling you under.

Vague recollections flutter in the abyss of your mind, specific memories of the younger brothers floating in the dark just out of reach. One was smothered with the comforting smell of laundry while another one dripped with zesty ginger, both slipping through your fingers. In their place earthy tones engulf you instead, entangling you in the present situation, in him.

This awareness does nothing but remind you with overwhelming intensity that you are helpless to the whims of the man who is tenderly interrogating you, pulling piece after piece away and leaving you bare before him.

When you finally give a verbal response, he's delighted to hear his name uttered so soft and sweet; begging for him to spare you yet also tempting him to give in and sink his mouth against yours and taste.

But...you haven't answered his question yet.

The hand cradling your neck slips back to cup your nape, tilting your head to expose your throat. He dips to the offering, leaving kiss after kiss as your hands shakily grasp his shirt, fingers curling in the fabric as he peppers your skin with lazy affection.

Your breath comes quick in light puffs and quivery gasps, stuttering with a weak moan when warm lips softly suck at your pulse. Emboldened by the results of his attentions, Axel strokes the feathers that tickle his fingers at the base of your skull.

Electrifying sensations entwine, spiraling into a cutting clarity and desperation that demands you reveal the truth. "I..I want..."

The gentle wet sound of his mouth releasing your skin distracts you for a second. He allows you a moment to collect yourself but has no qualms with encouraging you to continue should you hesitate too long.

"I want more."

Your greedy admission is rewarded with contemplative silence as he savors your words. The quiet lingers a moment longer before slow ticklish kisses trail back up your neck, your cheek, and finally to your ear. A shudder ripples through your body as the man softly nips your earlobe with a hum. "And?"

With the lull in teasing you discover the fog in your brain has receded a little, at least enough for coherent speech to return. You accept defeat.

"I want all of you. I do."

It feels good to recognize what you've been hiding inside of you for so long, to acknowledge that you wanted this with them. Axel plants one last lingering kiss under your ear before resting his forehead against yours, "Are you scared?"

You take the opportunity to catch your breath; the revelation that there had been more behind their attention, that they want you just as much, was as invigorating as it was nerve-wracking. But you know how you feel and you trust the three men.

"Maybe a little...overwhelmed? This is new."

The brush of his lips against yours is featherlight, the sensation potent enough to send a shiver through you. You marvel at how badly you want him to do it again as he murmurs, "Not all new. Some new, some different. We will still touch and kiss but more."

The final word in his sentence he chooses to punctuate with another kiss, warm and firm as it demonstrates his point perfectly and steals your breath for the frustratingly short amount of time it lasts. His words sink in. More. And not with just one, but all three of the men you so adore. Delight warring with shyness, you bury your red face in Axel's neck as his hands slip down your sides.

"We will go slow, give and take, share. Would you like that?" The heat in his voice is both reverential hunger and alluring promise. You press a kiss under his jaw, receiving a squeeze to your hips in turn.

Yes, you would most certainly like that.

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Jävla hala jävel. - Fucking slippery bastard.

#tua the swedes #axel x reader #otto x reader #oscar x reader #ikea mafia #the swedes #tua swedes #the swedes x reader #umbrella academy swedes #tua axel #tua otto #tua oscar #the Swedes are kinky and we are going to get DIRTY

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trekscribbles · 3 years ago

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Triple Threat: A Stone Triplets Fic (Chapter 2)

Fandoms: Leverage/Leverage Redemption, Librarians, and Almost Paradise

Cross-Posted: Ao3 and FF

Summary: Eliot and Jake are both in the Philippines for separate jobs that turn out to be related. Kai takes the existence of Alex's brothers as a personal attack on her mental health. Ernesto happily goes along for the ride.

Read Chapter 1 here.

Chapter 2: Double Trouble

The last time Eliot saw Alex was when they were 16 years old. Alex had been living with Uncle Danny for 6 years at that point, so the brothers didn't have much of a relationship even then, and the reunion had been awkward and tense. Jake was the one who tried to keep them together, who talked their father into hosting Christmas that year. He was the one who'd called Alex and begged him to come home for a week. Just a week.

They'd lasted three days.

At the time Eliot had blamed Alex—immature, bull-headed Alex, whose verbal and then physical fights with their father had led to his living with Uncle Danny in the first place. If he could have just learned to keep his mouth shut, most of the fights wouldn't have happened. Eliot and Jake had learned that lesson—why couldn't Alex? He always had to have the last word, no matter what the cost.

That last visit was what finally convinced Eliot to leave home. He thought about college, but eventually decided to enlist as soon as he turned 18 (without telling their father). Jake was supposed to go with him, but he'd wanted to see Alex one more time before they left. When months went by and Alex didn't come back, Eliot left both his brothers behind.

Age had given Eliot perspective, but by the time he was ready to apologize, Jake wouldn't take his calls. Alex had already joined the DEA, and a series of undercover assignments for both of them made it impossible for Eliot to reach out. And then he got involved with Moreau, and getting in touch was no longer an option. It would have put them in too much danger, and that was one thing Eliot would never do. But after a while, even that became an excuse. After he escaped Moreau, after Nate created a team and a family for him, he let the silence continue. He'd made that choice on his own.

And now apparently Alex was in the Philippines. Permanently, according to the detective who introduced herself as Kai Mendoza. That was all she would tell him (through gritted teeth, as though Eliot had committed some unforgivable sin by asking). "We have to take care of this mess," she'd grumbled. "Then we'll take you to see Alex."

She hadn't asked if Eliot wanted to see Alex, and part of him was glad for that. If he'd been given the option, he wasn't sure he'd have said yes. It would have been easy to say that he was too busy, that he couldn't stay, that it was better for them not to meet. But now that the offer was there, Eliot couldn't turn it down. One way or another, he was going to see his brother today.

Kai and her partner Ernesto drove him and the two men they'd arrested to the police station, where Eliot was firmly told to stay in the car. Kai paused after giving the order as if waiting for him to argue, even after he nodded and promised to stay put. Apparently Alex hadn't changed much since they were kids.

While the others were inside, Eliot took a few minutes to call Hardison and update him on the job. It was just the two of them on this one, with Hardison pulling the strings from somewhere in Vietnam while Eliot worked on the ground in Cebu.

Hardison picked up on the first ring. "All done? I booked you a flight back to New Orleans on—"

"I ran into a little snag," Eliot interrupted.

"What kind of snag?"

Eliot explained most of his encounter with Kai and Ernesto, but he couldn't bring himself to include the fact that he'd been mistaken for one of his long-lost triplet brothers. Hardison knew he had siblings, but Eliot hadn't ever gone into details about them. He wasn't sure what he'd say now, and he knew Hardison would have questions. Best to leave it be. He'd give Hardison a more in-depth explanation later.

"So now what?" Hardison asked.

"Now we wait and see if they can salvage the sting. If they arrest Flores, our work is done."

"And if they don't?"

"I'll let you know."

There was a pause, as if Hardison was trying to decide whether or not to voice his next thought. "Is there something else?"

Eliot sighed. He tried not to lie to Hardison or Parker, but he didn't want to have this conversation now. "Not about the job," he answered. "I'll explain later."

To his credit, Hardison didn't argue, even though he had to be burning with curiosity. "Okay. Call back when you have more to share."

"Yeah."

It was another twenty minutes before Kai and Ernesto emerged from the police station, both wearing grim expressions. They were talking as they approached the car, and Eliot caught the tail end of their conversation through the open windows.

"I didn't want to bring him in on this," Kai was saying.

Ernesto shrugged. "We don't really have a choice anymore."

"Things get messy when his family is involved. It'll only complicate things."

Interesting. Which of his relatives had already come to the island? Evidently Eliot's family had a knack for disrupting the locals.

"Ocampo's orders," Ernesto said. He opened the passenger door and slid into the car, turning to look over his shoulder at Eliot. "We'll take you to see Alex, but you're going to have to come back to the station and explain what you were doing with Flores."

Eliot crossed his arms. "Figured you'd want to know that first."

"We do," Kai said, with a frown at her partner. "You owe the delay to Alex. He's helped us out in the past, and Ernesto thinks we should tell him you're here before he finds out from someone else."

"The surprise could kill him," Ernesto said mildly.

"You just want to see his face when we show up with his doppelganger."

"Don't you?" Ernesto asked. Kai huffed and dropped into the driver's seat.

They lapsed into silence during the drive, which Eliot appreciated. His stomach had begun an uneasy churn, though he told himself it was just because of the heat. There was nothing to be nervous about. Sure Eliot hadn't reached out, but neither had Alex. Neither had Jake, for that matter. Eliot had gone home once, just after he got out of the service, and found Jake had taken over the oil company. Their neighbors said that Jake was turning things around, digging out of debt and even managing a profit, and Eliot accepted the blessing and drove out of town without stopping by the house. It was enough that Jake was happy. He didn't need Eliot coming back and ruining things for him.

Kai pulled into the parking lot of another hotel, dodging groups of brightly dressed tourists as she went. "He owns the gift shop here at the resort," Ernesto explained, flashing a friendly smile over his shoulder. Kai didn't look at him as she got out of the car, but Eliot was happy to keep his silence. He trailed behind her as she led the way through the resort, winding around pools and umbrella-covered tables, slowing every few moments so Ernesto could greet someone. Apparently the friendliness wasn't an act—or else it was a very good one. But something about the man felt genuine, as if he couldn't be bothered to put up a front.

Kai, on the other hand... she was harder to read. Especially now that she wasn't giving Eliot anything to work with except the occasional glare.

Before long the bustle of the resort faded as concrete transitioned to sand beneath their feet. A small building rose ahead of them, still against the backdrop of gentle waves and lazy clouds. A soft breeze ruffled Eliot's hair, filling his lungs with salt and sunshine. He wanted to stop, to look out at the water and breathe in the sea spray and the silence, but the others kept walking.

No wonder Alex had picked this spot. If retirement was in Eliot's future, he could see himself in a place like this.

Ernesto reached the door, and Eliot took one last windswept breath to brace himself.

"You look nervous," Kai murmured.

No he didn't. He knew he didn't, because the only emotions he gave away were the ones he wanted people to see. And he was most definitely not nervous. But her eyes lingered on his, and something softened in her expression.

"Don't worry," she said, giving him a small, hesitant smile. "It'll be fine."

"Alex," Ernesto called, and Eliot's stomach gave another roll. This was a mistake. He shouldn't have come. He tried to back away, but Kai put her hand on his arm and cut off his retreat, guiding him inside.

The gift shop was empty besides one man restocking a rack of post cards. He stood with his back to them, but it was impossible to mistake him for anyone else. He had the same build as Eliot, the same brown hair he'd have to fight to keep straight in this humidity, the same scarred hands from years of work and fighting.

"Hey!" Alex said without turning around. "Check it out, I got new cards."

Ernesto started across the room, gesturing for Eliot to follow. "How come you didn't tell us you had a twin?"

Alex looked at him. "A twin? I don't have a tw—"

His eyes fell on Eliot, and his words died. Eliot could feel Kai watching them, waiting for a reaction, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Hey, how've you been the last 30 years? Oh, me? Well, first I was an international assassin, and now I work with a group of thieves who steal from the rich and give to the poor. I still punch people for a living though. How about you?

Something started beeping. Eliot started—no, not started, just looked around for the source—but Alex slapped his hand to his wrist and the sound stopped.

"Everything okay?" Ernesto asked. Alex made a noncommittal sound, glancing at him before returning his attention to Eliot. His eyes seemed bluer than Eliot remembered. It was probably just the lighting, but since it was the only thought that didn't spiral out of control, it was the one Eliot clung to. Blue eyes like their mother's, like the pond water in the back yard. Blue eyes that had been red with anger and hurt the last time he'd seen them.

"Which one are you?" Alex asked.

Behind him, Kai made a choking sound. Ernesto shushed her.

"But—" she sputtered. "Are there more of them?"

Eliot refocused on his brother. "You don't recognize me?"

"You both look the same," Alex deadpanned.

"Well, we're in the Philippines and I'm speaking English."

For a long moment Alex simply stared at him as if trying to read the details of their separation in his face. Then he reached out, and Eliot braced himself for the punch. He wouldn't fight back—not at first, not unless things got out of hand. He could take a hit or two, let Alex burn off some of his anger, and then try talking. They weren't 16 anymore. They could handle this like adults.

But Alex didn't hit him. His arms flashed out past Eliot's head, wrapping around his shoulders, pulling him tight. "Eliot," he murmured, crushing him in a hug that drove the breath from Eliot's lungs. He didn't care. He grabbed two fistfuls of Alex's shirt and squeezed, pressing everything he couldn't voice into the embrace.

"It's good to see you," Alex said at last, gruffly. He pulled away without taking his hands from Eliot's shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh... work."

Alex frowned at the hesitation. "What kind of work?"

Eliot sent a look over his shoulder, where Kai and Ernesto still waited. They clearly had some kind of relationship with Alex, but how far did that extend? Likely not far enough to keep from arresting Eliot for the half-dozen laws he'd broken to secure his meeting with Flores. "I'll tell you later."

"Now's as good a time as any," Kai said. "You can tell us now or at the station, whichever you prefer."

"We can give them a little longer," Ernesto argued.

"Flores is still out there. The longer we wait, the more time he has to act."

"Who's Flores?" Alex asked. He let his hands slide from Eliot's shoulders, a frown settling over his face.

Kai gave him a pointed look. "I'll tell you later."

"I think you should tell me now."

"I don't care what—"

Ernesto held his hands up, putting himself between the two of them. "Kai, we can give them a few more minutes to catch up. We'll be outside, Alex. Ten minutes." He looked at Eliot. "Then you come to the station with us. Understand?"

"Fine," Alex said. "Ten minutes. I got it."

Though Kai looked like she wanted to argue, she allowed Ernesto to guide her toward the door. "Nice friends you've got," Eliot muttered.

He'd meant it as a joke, but Alex gave a serious nod. "Yeah. They are. They're closer than some of my family."

Apparently they were going to fight after all. "I didn't know how to contact you," Eliot said.

"You're smart. You couldn't figure something out?"

"Couldn't you?" Eliot countered. "The last I heard you were undercover. Reaching out would have put you in danger."

"I'm retired now," Alex said.

"So I hear."

Alex crossed his arms over his chest. "I did try to find you. There was a rumor going around that you'd died."

"I didn't. Well, I did once, but it didn't stick."

"How long ago was that?"

"While you were still undercover."

Alex gave a frustrated growl. "Fine. We both could have done more, alright? Just... fill me in on the case."

The case was a safe topic, so Eliot embraced the change without complaint. He gave his brother the basics as he knew them: Robert Flores was looking to set up a base to smuggle drugs to the United States. Hardison had been tracking him throughout Asia, but when business kept him in Vietnam he'd contacted Eliot about finishing the job. "Should have been simple enough," Eliot said. "Set up a meeting, figure out his weakness, take him down."

"But you weren't the only one after him," Alex said. He heaved a sigh. "How mad was Kai when you showed up?"

An involuntary smile pulled at Eliot's lips. "She thought I was you. I think she wanted to kill me more than Flores's men did."

Alex chuckled, sobering a moment later. "So this is what you do? You go after international criminals?"

"More or less."

"With who? I mean—CIA? Interpol?"

"It's kind of a freelance operation."

Alex shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It's a lot to explain," Eliot said. "And I will, I promise. Soon as we have the time."

"Right." Alex gave him another long look, and a small grin appeared on his face. "It's good to see you, man. It's been too long."

Eliot didn't try to stop his answering grin. "You go by Walker now?"

"You'd already taken Mom's name. Didn't leave me with much of a choice."

"Yeah, but... Walker? As in Texas Ranger?"

Alex hissed and shot a look toward the door. "Don't say it out loud, man. I've got a reputation to keep up here."

Eliot laughed, but Ernesto chose that moment to knock and peek into the gift shop, effectively ending the conversation. "You two finished?" he called.

"For now," Alex answered. "Where's Kai?"

"She went to get some coffee. She'll be back any minute."

Alex nodded. "Good. I wanna be back before the afternoon rush."

"You're not coming," Ernesto said. "I don't think Kai can handle two of you."

Eliot folded his arms. "For the record, I'm not Alex's double. If anything he's my double. I'm older."

"By eight minutes," Alex snapped.

"That's older."

Alex huffed a wordless reply, and Eliot felt a glow of something familiar in his chest. This was an argument they'd had hundreds of times—Eliot, being the oldest, started it most often when they were kids. Jake had come next, and then Alex—Baby Alex, they called him, whenever he was being annoying. Eliot was pleased to find the joke still funny.

Even better, Alex seemed to still find it annoying. Eliot couldn't say why that felt so comforting. Maybe it was just that he was thankful to see a glimpse of the old Alex, the one he'd known before they let their father and their pride get in the way of their relationship. Maybe it was the fact that Alex was relaxed enough to have this conversation in front of Ernesto. Maybe Alex had found a team the way Eliot had.

Maybe it was a good thing he'd come here after all.

#fanfic #leverage redemption #leverage #almost paradise #librarians #eliot spencer #jacob stone #alex walker #stone triplets #the terrible triplets #eliot jake and alex are triplets

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phykios · 4 years ago

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volcano kiss scene but make it medieval, for @perseannabeth 💙 note that this is little more than a fancy rewrite, but... marble king verse is too good to be done with completely

***🌊***🌊***🌊***

June, 1446

As Percy led his little band of adventurers through the tunnels of the Labyrinth, himself, his questing partner Ana Zabeta, his childhood companion Aegidius, and his half-brother, the cyclops Tison, following a marvelously clever creation of the god of fire, he allowed himself, for a brief moment, to feel a small sense of pride. They had finally located a deity who not only did not appear to have any negative designs on their characters, but had also promised them his help--after they had performed him a small favor, of course.

Hephaestus had fashioned for them a little spider made of metal, who moved about as though it had a beating heart, darting this way and that, nearly invisible, were it not for their torchlight flickering off its shiny, shiny legs. Though he would never speak it aloud, Percy felt a particular kind of pride on Annabeth’s behalf, as she followed the eight-legged creature with neither complaint nor fear. He knew full well just how totally she detested the beasts, her eternal and forsworn enemies, just as their mother had been an enemy of Athena.

They rounded a corner, moving from a passageway lined with a strange, shiny substance which felt cool to the touch to one of crudely-cut stone, when he spotted a tunnel off to the side, dug from raw earth, wrapped in thick roots which pried their way through the holes in the stones. Aegidius had noticed it as well, slowing his pace until he stopped entirely in front of the dark, gaping maw in the wall. “Aegidius,” Percy said, stopping as well. “What is it?”

It was as if he had not heard him. The satyr merely gazed into the black tunnel, his curly hair rustling in an impossible breeze.

“We cannot delay!” said Annabeth. “We must keep moving!”

“This is the way,” Aegidius muttered, hushed and reverent. “It is here.”

He couldn’t possibly mean… “The way to Pan?”

But Aegidius ignored him, turning instead to Tison, the creature whose very nature often rendered him speechless with fear. “Do you not smell it, too?”

“Yes,” said Tison. “Earth. The forest.”

Before them, the spider skittered further down the stone corridor. If they delayed any further, the trail would be lost to them.

“Once we have finished our errand for Hephaestus,” said Annabeth, “then we can return for Pan, I swear it.”

“The tunnel will have gone by then,” said Aegidius, with a confidence Percy had rarely seen before. “A door such as this will not remain open for long--and I must enter it.”

“But,” she said, desperate, “the forges!”

He looked at her sadly, but firmly. “I cannot go with you this time, Annabeth.”

Percy had forgotten--Aegidius was not only his companion. He had been Annabeth’s as well. He had been responsible for seeing her safely over the magical boundary in Sigeion. But the spider was nearly out of sight, and they could not tarry any longer before the gateway to the god. “We will continue to the forges,” he decided. “Aegidius, you go on to seek Pan.”

“No!” she gasped. “It is far too dangerous. If we part ways, we might never find each other again! And I cannot let you go alone.”

It was then that Tison, gentle creature he was, put his hand on Aegidius’ shoulder. As much fear as satyrs held for cyclops, Tison, for some odd reason, held just as much, if not more, for the satyrs. They had made an amusing pair at times, two of the sweetest, kindest people Percy had ever known, cowering in fear at the other. But Tison showed no fear now. Now, he was brave. “I shall go with him.”

Percy could not believe his ears. “You will?”

He nodded. “The satyr needs help. We shall find the god of the wild--together.”

Aegidius took a deep, steadying breath. “I wish I could see this through to the end with you, but--”

“I understand,” said Percy. The search for Pan was his life’s goal, the final prize in a quest which had taken his father, his father’s father, and so many searchers before him. If he did not succeed on this journey, the Council of Cloven Elders would never give him another chance. “I pray that you are right.”

Shoulders square, suddenly possessed of a confidence Percy had rarely ever seen from him, save for when he deliberated on how keftedes paled in comparison to spanakopita, he grinned. “I know that I am.”

Percy took a heartbeat to gaze on him one last time, imprinting him in his memory--just in case. “Be careful,” he told him. Then, he looked towards Tison, and opened his arms to his half-brother, who went into them willingly, squeezing Percy so strongly his eyes just about burst from his sockets.

Tison and Aegidius then disappeared into the darkness of the tree roots, lost to the wild.

“This was a mistake,” said Annabeth, her voice trembling. “We should not have let them go.”

“We will see them again,” Percy replied, attempting to summon Aegidius’ confidence. “Now, come on. The spider will not wait for us any longer.”

“Do not remind me,” she said, shuddering.

Before very long, the tunnel grew warmer, the stone walls red and glowing. The air felt as though they were walking through a giant oven, as though they had been transported into one of the forges beneath the villa for Hephaestus’ children, and he supposed, in a way, that they had. The tunnel sloped down, deeper into the earth, the spider nearly tripping over itself to reach the bottom, Annabeth right behind it.

Percy jogged to catch up. “Annabeth!” he called. “A moment?”

She glanced back at him, but did not cease her quick pace, forcing Percy to match her. “Yes?”

“I have a… question,” he panted, “regarding what Hephaestus… said, about your mother.”

“She swore never to marry,” Annabeth said, easily. Curses, Annabeth did not appear to be even remotely out of breath. He felt like such a fool compared to her, always. “She is one of the maiden goddesses, alongside Artemis and Hestia.”

Percy frowned. He had not recalled that detail about the war goddess--though, he was rather infamous for nodding off during lessons. Perhaps he had simply slept through that particular lesson. “But, if she is a maiden goddess, then--”

“How is it she came to have demigod children?”

Blushing, he nodded.

Now, this was not at all appropriate conversation, he knew. Young boys and girls were not meant to discuss such things with each other--not yet anyway. But Percy was nearly a man, and besides, he had spent enough time with Carlos and the older boys at the agoge to pick up a few pieces of knowledge here or there. Hopefully, Annabeth would think the flush on his cheeks was due to the heat of the cavern.

“Do you know how Athena was born?” she asked him.

“She was born from… the head of Zeus? In armor?”

“Precisely. She was literally born from his thoughts--and thus, her children are born the same way. When Athena falls in love with a mortal partner, it is a purely intellectual affair, just as it was with Odysseus in the epic tales. Our mother says that it is the truest kind of love.”

“So,” said Percy, frowning. “Your father and Athena… you were not--”

“I was born from their minds,” she interrupted, quickly. “Sprung from the divine thoughts of my mother and the mortal ingenuity of my father. Her children are gifts, blessings on the mortals she favors.”

“But--”

She turned to him, exasperated. “Percy, the spider has nearly vanished. Do you really wish for me to explain the precise details of my birth?”

Flushing even harder, he snapped his jaw shut.

Victorious again, she smirked. “I thought not.”

Running ahead to catch their guide, Percy followed, very neatly put in his place, and not certain he would ever be able to look at his friend the same way ever again. Some things, he decided, were perhaps better left as mysteries.

After another few minutes or so, they emerged into a cavern, larger than any stadium Percy had ever seen. It felt to be five times the size of the mighty Colosseum. There was no floor, just miles of bubbling lava beneath their feet. Standing on a rock ride which encircled the cavern, Percy saw a complex, overlapping network of metal bridges spanning the width of it, meeting on a huge platform in the center which housed the largest anvil he had ever seen, a block of iron the size of a villa. Dark, strange shapes moved about them, like formless shadows, too far away to discern what manner of creature they might be.

“We cannot sneak up on them,” said Percy, noting the distinct lack of places to hide with some despair.

With a slight grimace, Annabeth picked up their metal guide, its form having changed to a small ball, and slipped it into a fold in her dress. “I can. Wait here.”

“Hang on--” But Percy was too late, as Annabeth put on her magical cap, a gift from her mother, and vanished from his sight.

Percy cursed. He did not dare call after her, not willing to draw attention to her tactics, but nor did he appreciate the idea of her approaching the forge on her own. If those creatures could repel the likes of Hephaestus, what hope did Annabeth have? It was not safe. She was their leader--they could not risk her life. Percy would not risk her life.

Alas, he could never sit still for very long. Creeping along the outer rim of the lake of molten rock, he darted from stalagmite to stalagmite as best he could, hoping to find a better vantage point. Really, Annabeth should have known better.

The heat was horrendous, heavy and oppressive. Drenched in sweat, and eyes stinging with smoke, he moved along, staying as far from the edge as was physically possible, until he found his way stopped by a large metal box, fitted on wheels. Peering inside, he saw it was full scrapped metal, bits and bobs of broken swords and lumpy shields, piled on top of one another. Nothing he could reasonably use for an extra weapon, or even some kind of defense. Making to squeeze himself around it, he suddenly heard from up ahead a voice, rough and grating, speaking an ancient language which no man alive had heard for a thousand years.

Monsters, he knew.

There was no time to run away, no place to hide… except for the box. Leaping inside, covering himself with a dented aspis, he curled his fingers around his father’s sword, that blade Anaklusmos, hissing as the sharp metal of his bed cut between the soft parts of his armor, biting his tongue so no curse could escape.

With any luck, the monsters would pass him by, and he could continue along unmolested.

That was when, of course, that the box lurched forward, pushed along by the monsters, carrying Percy along with it. Malaka! Was he about to be tipped into a smelting pot?

All around him, he heard the chatter of terrible beasts. He was not so skilled in the ancient tongue as Annabeth, but even he could recognize a few words here or there, “weapon” and “cyclopes” and “furnace,” and some names as well: Zena, hissed with scorn, Posidaota, spat with bile, and, most chillingly of all, Kronos, spoken with reverence and awe.

Percy blinked against the sudden light as his cover was removed from his person, revealing himself to the monster, who was so taken aback by his presence, that it blinked back at him in return. For a few moments, neither of them moved, so shocked were they by the other’s sudden appearance. Then, springing into action, Percy slashed upwards, dissolving the beast in a cloud of golden smoke. Snatching up another shield and leaping from his bed of spikes, he saw with his preternatural vision a small army of at least twenty monsters, black like dogs, but with sleek, shiny skin, and legs which looked to be more suited for swimming than scrambling around the rocks of Aitne.

With a hearty battle-cry and another wide swipe, he repelled the front row of these creatures, carving himself some space to jump, sprinting for the mouth of the tunnel. The monsters followed after him, baying and growling as a pack of ravenous wolves, and they would have caught him, tearing him to pieces, had they been but a little bit faster. Thinking quickly, at the top of the tunnel, Percy hurled his shield into a column, the rocks crumbling upon impact, burying the monsters and blocking off the path with a great, noisy cave-in.

He doubted it would keep them trapped for very long. Not only that, he very much doubted that they had been the only monsters in the cavern. Percy had just announced his presence to anyone who might have been listening, destroying their chance for any sort of subtle reconnaissance.

And Annabeth was still out there, somewhere, invisible.

“Annabeth!” He yelled, running towards the platform at the center of the ocean of lava. “Annabe--!”

An invisible hand clamped over his mouth, wrestling him down behind a large, bronze cauldron. “Silence! Do you mean to have us killed?”

Arms flailing, he managed to locate her head, slipping off her cap of invisibility. She shimmered into view as an island emerging from the mist, scowling and covered in ash and grime. “It’s far too late for that,” he said, grimly. “I came upon a group of monsters, and brought the roof crashing down on them.”

Hissing curses, her hands clenched, as though she meant to strangle him, before she visibly managed to control her temper. “You said there were monsters?”

He nodded. “I know not what kind. I had thought they may have been dogs, were it not for their flippered feet and human hands, adorned with claws. They spoke of furnaces and weapons, making arms for the first Titanomachy.”

“Telkhines,” she gasped, eyes wide. “Of course! I should have known. I had wondered when I saw… well, look.”

Together they peered over the lip of the cauldron. In the center of the platform stood four of these demons, larger than any Percy had seen before, standing at least the size of a fully grown man. Their black, scaly skin glistened in the light of the fire as they labored, sparks flying between mighty hammer strikes on a long piece of glowing, hot metal, hissing to each other in the ancient language. “What are they saying?” he whispered to her. If he could not understand them, Annabeth surely would.

“They are talking of fusing metals,” she said, frowning. “Other than that, I--I cannot say.”

“Is that bad?”

She stared at him, incredulous. “The telkhines betrayed the gods,” she said, “for practicing dark magics. For their transgressions, Zeus banished them to Tartaros.”

“Alongside Kronos.”

She nodded. “We must return to Hephaestus at once--”

But no sooner had she spoken than a sharp, clawed hand pierced its way through the rubble of Percy’s cave-in, pushing aside the rocks which blocked its path, followed closely by its snout, teeth long and sharp and dripping with saliva. “You must return to the god,” Percy said, moving into a crouch. “Leave me here.”

“What?” she shrieked. “No! I will not leave you!”

At any other time, he would have praised her for her courage, but not now. “You must! Let me distract the monsters, and perhaps the spider can lead you back through the Labyrinth. You are the leader of this quest--you must take the message back to Hephaestus.”

“But you’ll be killed!”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, turning to face her. “As well, there is no other choice.”

She glared at him, her lips pulled back almost in a snarl worthy of one of the monsters. He knew this look of hers well--it was the one she wore whenever she considered hitting him for his foolishness.

But rather than hit him, she did something which shocked him even more.

She grasped the collar of his tunic, pulled him close, and kissed him. “Be careful, phykios,” she murmured against his lips, breath hot. Then she put on her cap, and vanished.

Percy couldn’t breathe, and not for the smoke. Had it not been for the lava, the monsters, the weapon, the quest, he would have been quite content to sit there all day, thinking of nothing but the softness of her mouth and the way her eyes sparkled in the firelight, unable to even recall his own name.

A sea demon screamed, jolting him back into reality.

The horde of monsters, freed from their prison, charged across the bridge towards him. Percy scrambled up from the ground, running for the middle of the platform, startling the large monsters so thoroughly that they dropped the red-hot blade over which they labored. It was as long as they were tall, curved like a crescent moon, its shape burning into his vision, sending shivers down his spine.

Unfortunately for Percy, the monsters recovered quickly from their shock. Every which way he turned, his exit was blocked by a small army, surrounding him. Cutting him off.

Raising Anaklusmos, he prayed that they could not see the blade shaking.

“Son of Poseidon,” rasped a demon, speaking Percy’s own language now. “We are honored by your visit, fish-blood.”

He spread his senses, casting about for an escape, but there was none. He was trapped.

“Will you strike us down, half-blood?” asked another one. “An you try, the rest of us shall tear you to shreds.” Licking its lips, it advanced on him, claws glinting in the glow of the forge. “Perhaps we shall deliver you to your father in pieces--an omen of the horror we shall visit upon him, and all the rest of the twelve, for their betrayal.”

Annabeth would not have allowed herself to be cornered this way, but Percy was no strategist. If the gods favored him at all, they would have seen to Annabeth’s escape, leaving him to his doom.

Was this to be his doom, he wondered? Trapped in the heart of a volcano, overrun by monsters which would use his bones to pick their teeth?

The tallest of the demons plunged its hand into the furnace, scooping a handful of molten rock. “Let us see the might of Olympus,” it said, grinning. “Let us see how long it takes him to burn!” And it threw the lava at Percy.

Dropping his sword, he swatted at his clothes which had been set alight, as though he had merely had an unfortunate run-in with the lava trap at the agoge, but it was not nearly enough, the fire engulfing him with each passing second. At first, oddly, it had only felt warm, though it grew hotter and hotter with every heartbeat.

“Your father’s nature protects you,” one monster sneered. “Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, fish-blood. Not impossible.”

Later, Percy would struggle to remember the particulars. He would recall only the fire, and the pain. He would not remember how he crumpled to the floor in deepest agony, the sea demons howling in delight at his terror.

Nor would he remember the voice of the naiad at the farm of the giant Geryon. The water is within me, she had said.

Between waves of torment, there was a tugging sensation in his gut, calling vainly for water where there was none: not a river, nor a stream, nor even a petrified seashell. Percy called for the sea, the towering waves which could wash away villages, the currents which could destroy ships in a single blow, the endless power of the ocean, and he called for these things inside of himself, letting it loose in one terrible, horrible scream.

Fire and water collided, a typhoon of unearthly power shooting him up from the beating heart of Aitne on wings of superheated steam, peeling his skin away, another piece of flotsam flung from the earth by the force of the blast. Higher and higher he flew, further than Icarus, than Bellerophon, than Zeus himself, so high that the lord of the heavens would not be able to reach him--and then he fell, a shooting star, hurtling towards the sea which would not save him. Not this time.

#aegidius = grover btw #the marble king #perseannabeth #my fic #darkmagyk #pjo #percabeth #the rivalry ends here #marble timestamps

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besanii · 4 years ago

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Thank you for all of your hard work! For SM, I'd like to see the wedding please =D

Shattered Mirrors #62

“Furen! The palanquin is here!”

Wei Wuxian looks up at the maid’s cry of excitement, the thin brush in his hand clattering to the table. His lips part softly in surprise and he’s half out of his seat before he even realises he’s moving, only to be stopped by firm hands on his shoulders pressing him back down.

“Sit down, you’re not done yet,” Ouyang Shuzhen admonishes him, barely able to conceal the smile pulling at her lips. “Honestly, it’s like you’re so desperate to get married you’ll rush into the palanquin with only one eyebrow drawn. If Hanguang-wang sees you like this he’ll think we’ve turned you feral.”

“Shuzhen…” he laughs weakly, settling down in front of the dressing table bronze again as she fusses over him. “Does Yan-ge know you to be so forceful?”

She snorts, one eyebrow quirking upwards.

“I am the daughter of a general, descended from one of the most prominent military families in Yunmeng,” she says, picking up the brush he’d dropped and holding it to his brow. “Of course my husband is aware. It’s why he married me.”

She puts the finishing touches on his makeup deftly and with practised ease, then stands back to look him over with a critical eye. The maids are hovering at the doors and windows, peeking through the cracks at the commotion outside and giggling amongst themselves; one word from their mistress sends them scattering back to their posts. Wei Wuxian turns in his seat, palms sweaty and heart lodged in his throat. Ouyang Shuzhen shakes her head and clicks her tongue.

“Look at the lot of you,” she says fondly. “The wedding party hasn’t even reached the door yet and your hearts have already flown out of the room.”

Wei Wuxian ducks his head and laughs sheepishly just as a knock sounds from the door. The maids muffle shrieks of delight despite the sharp, silent rebuke this earns them from their mistress on her way past. Wei Wuxian gets to his feet as she opens the door to allow Lan Guoyan to enter. He steps over the threshold and pauses, eyes wide and soft, taking in the sight of Wei Wuxian in his wedding robes.

“Xiao Wei,” he says, suddenly serious. “It’s not too late to change your mind, you know. I can have the guards hold him off while you make your escape.”

His wife swats him on the shoulder with a good-natured scowl.

“Don’t speak such nonsense,” she scolds him. “The auspicious hour is almost upon us. If you delay the bridal retinue any further, I won’t stop Hanguang-wang from tearing you limb from limb.”

“Zhen-er, ah, Zhen-er, are you not my wife?” Lan Guoyan asks her dramatically. “Why would you stand with Ji-xiong against me?”

“I wouldn’t if you could be serious for even a moment,” she replies with a sniff. She turns back to Wei Wuxian and holds out a hand; one of the maids comes over with a tray, upon which sits a folded piece of red silk. “Are you ready, Wei Wuxian?”

He looks between the two of them with a smile, and nods. She picks up the silk, letting it ripple and unfold between her fingers; the maids gasp when it is fully unfolded and the embroidery is on display—a phoenix, with its wings outstretched, and a dragon winding around it protectively, both in fine gold thread and tiny, intricate stitches. His throat tightens as he bows his head to allow them to drape it over his hair.

“Thank you,” he says, glad for the veil hiding his face from view. “Thank you both for everything.”

Lan Guoyan snorts, sounding more like a sniffle, and then clears his throat. He and Ouyang Shuzhen each take one of his arms and help him to his feet. With the weight of the coronet on his head and the veil obscuring his vision, the three of them make their way slowly to the door, where the maids offer their congratulations in a chorus as it opens.

He can’t see what’s happening up ahead, but he doesn’t need to—the moment he steps into the main hall, he knows Lan Wangji is already there, waiting for him. A familiar hand slides into his, long fingers curling around his in a firm, reassuring grip despite the slight tremor he feels when their skin comes into contact. He sees the embroidered edge of a dark red sleeve and the jade pendant hanging from the black belt lined with gold, and smiles.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji’s voice is barely more than a whisper, but he hears it as clearly as though he were speaking directly into his ear. “You look beautiful.”

“You haven’t even seen his face yet, Ji-xiong,” his cousin teases.

“I don’t need to,” Lan Wangji replies without hesitation. “Wei Ying always looks beautiful.”

“Aiya, please, I don’t think I can stand listening to you say such nauseating things.” A hand claps Wei Wuxian on the shoulder. “Xiao Wei, if he ever bullies you, you come directly to me and I’ll break his legs for you.”

Wei Wuxian laughs, eyes hot and wet. He mustn’t cry, lest the makeup Ouyang Shuzhen painstakingly applied for him is ruined.

“The sentiment is appreciated, Yan-ge,” he says. “But wholly unnecessary. Besides, if it were a fight between you and Lan Zhan, I know where I would place my bets.”

He squeezes the hand holding his playfully and feels Lan Wangji squeeze back. Ouyang Shuzhen interrupts their banter before her husband can get too riled up, with a reminder that the auspicious hour is upon them and they really must hurry if they are to reach Hanguang Manor in time.

“Quickly, then, come on! We still have to perform the tea ceremony!” Lan Guoyan says, ushering them both to the centre of the room where two cushions have been placed in front of the chairs usually reserved for the masters of the house. Wei Wuxian balks.

“Wait, Yan-ge, I don’t—”

—don’t have any parents for the tea ceremony, he doesn’t say. He’s long since made his peace with it, but the sudden reminder still sends a pang through his chest as he lets Lan Wangji guide him to kneel on the cushions. He stares down at the floor, throat tight.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji murmurs close to his ear, his breath tickling against the veil. “Have a look.”

Ordinarily, the wedding veil is not lifted until they are in the wedding chamber at the end of the night, but given the circumstances—and the fact that they, in fact, are not strangers in an arranged marriage—Wei Wuxian subtly lifts one corner of the veil. He follows the line of Lan Wangji’s finger to the table before them and freezes.

Two memorial tablets stand side by side, the wood old but well-polished, the gold paint on the names still bright and gleaming like new. The breath leaves his lungs in a rush and he sits back on his heels, all strength gone from his limbs; he doesn’t realise he’s trembling until Lan Wangji steadies him with an arm around his back.

“We recovered them at Lotus Pier after the war,” Lan Wangji tells him quietly over the sound of his own breaths dragging from his lungs. “They were restored, along with the ancestral hall. I thought…you would want them here with you. If you would like, they will have a place in the ancestral shrine back home, so you may visit them often.”

“Lan Zhan…” he whispers hoarsely. “I don’t know how to thank you—”

“Shagua,” Lan Wangji teases him, voice gentle and full of warmth. “I thought we agreed there is no need for such words between us.”

They bow to his parents. Lan Wangji takes the cups of tea that Ouyang Shuzhen has prepared for this occasion and pours them in a line on the floor—first to his father, and then to his mother—and bows again.

“Yuefu, Yuemu,” he addresses the tablets, his fingers clasped before him in a formal greeting. “Thank you for bringing Wei Ying into this world. I promise I will do everything in my power to bring him happiness in this lifetime, and in every lifetime after. So please be at ease and entrust Wei Ying to me.”

The sound of quiet sniffling is heard from more than one person in the room as he sinks into another, deeper bow, touching his forehead to the floor. Wei Wuxian takes a deep, shuddering breath to steady himself, and clasps his fingers before him.

“Die, Niang,” he says. “Wei Ying has been unfilial. I haven’t been able to take care of you all these years.” He presses his forehead to the floor briefly, and then rises again. “Die, Niang. Please allow Wei Ying to fulfil my filial duties to you from now on.”

He touches his forehead to the floor one more time. Die, Niang, he says silently. Wei Ying has found happiness. Lan Zhan will take good care of me. You don’t need to worry about Wei Ying anymore.

There is a palanquin waiting outside Jing Manor, along with an entire parade of musicians and servants carrying trunks laden with gifts—courtesy of the Emperor and Empress, despite Wei Wuxian’s protests. The grandiose display is deliberate, Lan Wangji had explained to him beforehand. The grander the wedding, the more people will realise that this union—that Wei Wuxian himself—has the blessing and support of the Imperial Family. A muzzle on the mouths of any dissenters.

He’s safely in the palanquin when the firecrackers are lit, so the din is muffled. Still, his body tenses involuntarily at the sound, his fingers twisting the fabric of his robes; it thankfully does not last long, and he steadies himself against the side of the palanquin as it is lifted from the ground.

The procession circles the city twice, before making its way to Hanguang Manor. The wedding of a member of the Imperial Family is a rare sight, especially from the historically small direct line, so people flood into the streets to watch the palanquin go by, and to admire the spectacle of it. The palanquin is small, only enough to fit one person, and stuffy, so when they come to a stop and it is set down on the ground again, Wei Wuxian breathes a sigh of relief.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur.

He can hear the crowd of people gathered in the courtyard—officials, nobles, representatives of all the major families in Gusu—before he is led into the main hall and directed to kneel once more.

They bow once, to the Heaven and Earth.

Twice, to the elders.

And then finally, to each other.

He is dimly aware of people clapping and cheering, offering congratulations to the two of them as they rise to their feet and walk out of the hall together as a married couple, but he registers none of it. The only solid, certain thing he knows is the feeling of Lan Wangji’s hand in his.

Notes:

Shagua (傻瓜) - silly, fool, commonly used as an endearment

Yuefu (岳父) - father-in-law (wife’s father)

Yuemu (岳母) - mother-in-law (wife’s mother)

(Okay so I’m working on the premise that, in this scenario, WWX 嫁给 LWJ. So he’s the ‘bride’ in the ceremony. Because traditional Chinese customs.)

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