#i think lizzie had like wings but i might have lost them in the process

[cloudycloudsminusclouds]

i'd like to think that when mumbo died jimmy's ear wing-feathers became loose.. he gets to keep his back wings because wings are cool but if jimmy continues to manage to not die at some point the wings on his ears might vanish entirely

[neuroprincess]

Bunny Ears and Chocolate - Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Ava Coleman/Female Reader

Summary: When another celebration arrives, you think it's going to be one more blank day, but an unexpected gift and a wonderful girlfriend prove otherwise.

Classification: Slight angst, Fluff

Warnings: Reference to a reader's unhappy childhood, Ava being a romantic baby

Note: I should have posted this at Easter, but you know me, I just found it in my archived writings

Word count: +2200

Unrevised

Growing up in a home that was considered unstructured and not at all affectionate deprived you of many moments that other children had throughout their lives: the tooth fairy didn't even bother to leave 5 cents for each tooth that fell out, Christmas didn't have the same sparkle as the TV commercials and Thanksgiving was always summed up in canned food, maybe a fight between your parents in the kitchen at the end of the night. It was no different with Easter, every now and then you'd get a cheap bar of chocolate at school or from some kind neighbor, you didn't even take part in a neighbourhood egg hunt. The whole process was a gray area between so many celebrations, weekends and holidays spent watching movie marathons with lots of popcorn and a pinch of loneliness by choice. 

It was like that for years, until you met Ava, who never cared about any of this before and you thought it might be a good match when you started dating. However, she had this, her parents were affectionate and gave the best moments that continue to be remembered fondly when each of these dates arrives. You like to hear her describe every toy she got from some distant relative and later exchanged for something more interesting with classmates, the weird casseroles grandma invented for dinner or when she bought the first make-up with the money the fairy, aka her mom, left under the pillow. Between laughs and jokes, she always looks forward to hearing your stories and can't hide disappointment when the subject is suddenly changed, teasing you a little, but giving up so as not to make you uncomfortable. Deep down, you start to care and feel envious of all the lost moments, all the things you can't have, the invisible, dormant childish wounds festering. Wounds set aside, especially when it comes to her work as a teacher at Abbott.

"Miss Y/L/N, how do we know if the butterfly is male or female?" one of the students asks, leaning over the table to get a better look inside the transparent box.

"Don't be silly, Kayla!" another replies, rolling his eyes, and does the same "They're all female."

"Actually, not all of them are female, dear." you stand between them and point to the insect that's emerging from its cocoon, weeks before you found a caterpillar in Barb's flower beds and it collected itself in the cocoon, which coincidentally ended up hatching on the last day of school before holiday "That's a monarch butterfly, if there are dark spots on the hind wings it's a male and if not it's a female."

"But it hasn't opened the wings yet." Kayla observes sadly, for a child minutes can seem like a real eternity "It's taking too long..."

"That's just it, hatching can take from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, each one has their own time."

"Just like the rest of us," she adds with a hearty smile.

"You all see how incredible metamorphosis can be?!"

A little animated chatter starts up as your class waits anxiously to watch it fully emerge from cocoon, most of them debating which names to choose and how they would take care of it, forgetting the little agreement they had made, you decided to let them enjoy the moment before scrapping the hopeful children's plans.

"I don't see any spots!" Carson shouts excitedly "We've got a girl!"

After a while, they agree on a name and end up naming her Lizzy - cute, short and pretty. In third period, your kids gather to release her into the playground, and you take advantage of the moment to explain the relationship between butterflies and Easter and all the meaning behind the beautiful transformation. 

"Miss Y/L/N..." Kayla calls out to you shyly as everyone gets ready for break, most of them already running, the girl puts her hands behind back and blushes approaching the table "I saved this one for you."

She holds up an Easter egg wrapped in fluffy colored paper, a bow adorning it and making the package more attractive. The girl stares at you with her eyes shining in anticipation as you fight back imminent tears, not something you expected to happen when you woke up in the morning. It's your first chocolate Easter egg in all your years of life, a small, innocent gesture from a schoolchild that makes the entire wall built up around commemorative dates and traditions crumble in seconds.

"Thank you so much, dear..." you accept the treat with a little uncertainty, hands trembling as you hold the candy "I..."

"I knew you'd like it, it's very good, I promise." she says cheerfully and leaves the classroom, as if she hadn't just made a grand gesture.

As soon as the girl leaves, the principal comes through the doorway with her usual cheeky grin and full of curiosity about your reaction, asking herself what she could have done to you, none of which comes close to the real thing. Her presence is barely noticed, not even when she closes the door after the room has emptied, your eyes fixed on the adorable wrapping, the colorful patterns and the generic but cute note wishing Happy Easter.

"Kitten..." she calls for the third time, worried "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was over the moon." you try to pull yourself together, compressing lips and bringing fingers to the corners of eyes, wiping your face "Hungry?"

"Just of you." Ava whispers seductively and takes two steps forward, standing inches away to steal a quick kiss "Now tell me what happened or I'll tickle the hell out of you." it's the kind of affectionate threat that doesn't make you laugh this time, it's a difficult topic to talk about, but maybe that's the time.

"Well, there's a reason I never tell holiday stories or have great comments for yours, I..." tears are there again, stronger and warmer, you take the candy to heart in search of comfort, the woman keeps quiet listening attentively "I never had any of that, my parents never gave a damn and I wasn't a demanding child."

"That?"

"Coins from the tooth fairy, nice dinners, Christmas trees, gifts and..." the Easter egg is raised with a certain pride, finally giving in to crying, tears of sadness and happiness mixing together "This! It's my first!" you finally admits, feeling a little childish at the thrill and excitement of something so small for an adult.

"Your first?" she is genuinely confused, staring at the simple candy, which for her has no great significance, then the realization of the fact hits her hard "Really?"

"Yes, one of my students just gave it to me." you whisper, feeling the tears wanting to come back again and a tight feeling in chest "I know, it's silly..."

"No, it's not, it's never silly, especially if it's something important to you." the woman responds quickly, wrapping arms around your trembling body and puts your head against her soft breasts, it's an intimate and comforting act "And if I'd known before, I'd have been the first person to give you a chocolate. And decorated the house last Christmas. Or better, I would have taken you to New York. I guess I just wouldn't have had a solution for the tooth fairy... but there are ideas on how to make up for it."

"God, you're the best girlfriend ever."

"Of course I am." Ava kisses your forehead and takes advantage of the position to slip her fingers under your shirt, lightly tickling the sensitive spots "So much so that I ordered tarts from that new store you mentioned last week."

She holds up the cardboard bag with the pretty logo and half a dozen tarts in various flavors. A delicious dessert for a pleasant shared lunch, which has become routine, a moment of peace to enjoy each other's presence in the busy and chaotic routine that is working in childhood education.

With a bag full of art supplies and a pile of exam papers in hand, you enter the apartment, struggling not to knock everything off the improvised jenga. Usually you would have the help of the tallest one, those long arms look so sexy carrying boxes full of children's books and covered in glitter, but after all that sugar and dough, she had to go home early with an stomach bug. Of course, in her pile there are one or two medicines and tea for her.

"Darling?" home is strangely dark, silent and there's no sign of your partner's vibrant personality "Ava? Are you feeling better?" you ask, starting to get worried, hurrying to turn on the light switches.

When the light turns on, you find yourself with one foot on what looks like a rabbit's footprint glued to the wood floor. Then another next to it, followed by another and another, the bags are abandoned at the entrance and the door closed. Step by step you reach the coat closet, where a chocolate bar is placed next to a card with the words "Our love is sweet as the place we started the day together... or as your coffee." handwritten in impeccable calligraphy. It makes you smile lovingly, she always jokes about the amount of cream you put in the liquid as you get ready for the morning, only to steal some of it with kisses. The fun mugs, perhaps one of the first things you bought when decided to move in together, hold truffles and the next tip. Seven cards later, almost every room explored and your arm full of candies, you finally reach the last place with the tip "No matter where we are, as long as we're together, we've found our home." and it's obvious that it's the master bedroom, where you love each other, talk about your days and plan the future, where you can strip away the burdens of everyday life and forget about the world.

"Do you like it, kitten?" the woman asks, coming up behind as soon as you open the door.

In the middle of the bed, there's a huge Easter basket of chocolates, from simple chocolate bars to decorated boxes of handmade truffles, with colorful wrapping and a giant bow, next to a big stuffed bunny, one of those fluffy ones that are too cute to resist hugging. A Happy Easter banner has been placed above the headboard and when turn around you let out a laugh when notice that the principal is wearing a fuzzy bunny ears, one up and the other down, a cute made-up nose.

"Welcome back, little baby!" she wraps her arms around waist and lifts you into the air, capturing your lips as she spins around.

"You... You did all this for me? Aw, that's so sweet and thoughtful."

"And all yours, I wanted to make your first official Easter something special." Ava puts you down and picks up a second bunny ear from the shelf, carefully placing it on your head "My cutie..."

"I'm literally speechless, all I can think about is how amazing you are."

"I know!" she jokes and leans in to give you another kiss "Sweetheart, you're a wonderful person and I'm sorry you didn't have any of these moments, but know that I'm going to make each of these dates unforgettable and unique, something of ours."

You stare at her in shock and feel your eyes sting, tears gathering at the edges of eyes, it's hard to control. This was the first surprise you've ever received in your life and certainly the best of all, every detail was thought of, planned and made especially for you, as well as the romantic touch she gave to every little and big gift.

"You don't have to do that..." you whisper, voice breaking with emotion, "I... You already do so much for me."

"I haven't even done half of what I want to do for you." your girlfriend smiles tenderly, her hand sliding gently across your cheek "You deserve the world and I'm going to do my best to give it to you."

"I don't even know how to thank you for everything." a feeling of being silly comes over you again, but it's quickly gone when you see the passionate smile on her plump lips "It's more than I could have dreamed of."

"You don't have to be thankful, baby, just enjoy it." she replies, lifting you onto her lap and standing face to face "Or enjoy it while you thank me."

Ava is funny and suggestive, walking slowly over to the bed, sitting there with you on her lap, surrounded by the candies and the cheerful decoration. She brings a hand up to yours, intertwining her fingers with yours. The comfortable silence is broken only by the soft sound of breathing and happy giggles.

"Shall we eat some chocolate and then watch a movie?" the woman asks, squeezing you a little tighter against her "We have the whole weekend to ourselves."

All you can do is nod, leaning in again to give her a kiss, this time slow and passionate, full of tenderness. She moans feeling your fingers tangle in the black strands, pulling her towards you and deepening the contact.

"I love you, baby." you whisper against her lips, knocking into the soft mattress.

"No more than I love you, kitten. You have no idea."

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[siriannatan]

Wings

All the games I play keep updating, and I have had a bit less free time recently so my writing has slowed down a bit :{

And I might have some more ZZZ brain rot I need to let out...

Scott was refusing to look up. Why? He didn't need to see fWhip's stupid triumphant smirks. Didn't need to see the bastard sitting on his brother's throne in the Rivendell palace. Scott was fully aware he'd lost the war. But he had no clue where Xornoth might be. Did he manage to escape? But why? He said he would never run away. Did he really leave Scott alone with their old allies? Allies they betrayed. Well, Scott didn't participate in any discussions or planning. He just followed his brother's orders like a good general should. They didn't seem to harm Rivendell.

"So, your brother ran away," fWhip hummed after a long silence of Scott refusing to look at him. All leaders of Wither Rose Alliance were sat in the room but others were so far mostly silent. Scott could hear others shift and huff occasionally even as he stared at the ground.

His knees were starting to hurt from kneeling on the hard stone tiles. Wounds itching from lack of attention. His wings were long stiff in their bindings. Not like it was needed. He couldn't fly away if he wanted to. His true self forced out.

"According to what I know about elven law," Gem, fWhip's twin sister, Headmistress of Crystal Cliffs Academy, spoke up. A shiver of dread ran down Scott's spine. Did she know… "Xornoth can be considered an exile, meaning Scott is now the king," she did know. Of course, she knew. She figured out Scott was a half-dragon even with all the magic he used to hide it.

fWhip hummed. "Is that so," he chuckled and Scott heard him stand up. Followed by his boots on the tile. Then he could see fWhip's damned combat boots. "Then I might have an idea what we can do with Scott," suddenly a warm even through thick gloves hand grabbed one of Scott's horns and made him look at fWhip. "And maybe even annoy the cod lovers in the process," fWhip's grin was far too wide. He was enjoying his plan far too much for Scott. "You were supposed to marry Jimmy for the sake of alliance with Lizzie, no?" he smirked and suddenly seats were scraping against the floor.

"fWhip you better not say what I think you're about to say," Gem suddenly protested. Likely guessing the same thing Scott was guessing fWhip was about to say.

"Why? Isn't it about time I get married? Might as well use it to piss some people off," fWhip laughed, barely glancing at his sister. Scott glanced in her direction as well. She looked pissed. Fists clenched. Pearl hovering nearby. Sausage was just sitting causally. Likely didn't really care who fWhip married as long as their leader didn't turn on the rest of them. fWhip held the most military power in the whole alliance after all. "Come on Gem, it'll be just for politics. Right, fWhip?" Pearl tried her best to stop the siblings from fighting. "Right?"

fWhip stared at Scott in complete silence for a while. "Yeeah, sure, just politics," he hummed but Scott wasn't convinced the other dragon-hybrid was honest. He definitely had other things on his mind. Very physical things. "Make Rivendell a sovereign state to Grimlands, seal it with a nice little wedding so no one can challenge my claim," he added with a nod and a toothy grin.

He was absolutely planning to consummate the marriage. Would likely have some tradition or law ready as an excuse. To justify it to his sister.

Somehow Gem accepted the excuse and a couple of guards soon dragged Scott away. To a room where he was locked after being told fWhip will come and collect him later. Of course, he wouldn't be left alone in Rivendell. Of course, fWhip would be dragging him along to Grimlands. 

At least he wasn't chained anymore. Even if there was no window. Somehow fWhip found one room with none in the whole castle. Sadly it had to be a certain specific room.

Being half dragon Scott was seen as unstable and dangerous when young. He did have an explosive temper back then, yes. But was it the dragon part or the part told off for any, even the smallest, deviation from what was expected of him? The part who got locked in a room with no windows whenever he wasn't hiding his draconic traits. Whenever he tried flying. 

With a deep, shaking breath Scott curled up on the cot. Hiding in his wings like he did as a child when he failed his lessons on hiding what he was. He could not hate Xornoth for escaping. He didn't hate Scott for what he was. Even if did still had to hide it from the public. Even if he was in fWhip's claws. 

So he sat there, curled up. He wasn't crying. Just fighting the urge to hide his wings and horns and tail and scales. To hide it and pretend it wasn't what he was. To push away any memories of being jealous of fWhip and his freedom to be himself. To not hide anything. And he did feel it many times when younger. When his parents brought him to ruler's parties instead of leaving him at home.

He would see fWhip and Gem being normal siblings allowed to walk around together, without their parents constantly around them. He would see fWhip's horns wings tail and scales out in public. And back at home would ask why fWhip could just walk around like that. His parents would just say it was because he behaved well. So Scott tried his best to behave.

But he never behaved well enough. fWhip became this beacon of what he wanted to be. Or at least who he thought fWhip was.

And then he met fWhip. When Xornoth was discussing alliance matters with him. And the reality was different. Real fWhip was a menace and explosion gremlin far too eager to help blast tunnels through the mountains. Looking down at anyone and everyone but his sister. Speaking casually and dismissively even when he wasn't the one sitting on a throne.

Real fWhip was the exact opposite of what Scott thought he was.

Hearing the door open Scott curled up tighter. He did not want to see fWhip. He knew he had no choice. But he could try to delay it.

"Scott? You having a nap?" fWhip asked, painfully gently petting Scott's wing. His hands were bare. Rough from tinkering. "Come on, I didn't have a good chance to really look at you like this. I was honestly quite shocked Gem was right about you. I never saw someone like me before."

Shaking slightly, just the room and memories of it, nothing to do with fWhip he told himself. And glared at the other half-dragon. That had fWhip grinning widely hands instantly on Scott's face. Petting stray, stress-induced scales. Gently petting the base of his horns.

Scott stayed silent. Biting his lips, clenching his fists to not push fWhip away. He didn't need to provoke him. Or to respond in any way. Maybe once his curiosity was satisfied fWhip would leave. He just had to sit and bear with it. No reacting, no pushing away. No snide remarks. 

"What was this room even for?" fWhip hummed as he inspected Scott's left wing.

"Me," Scott said shortly. No annoying fWhip, he told himself.

"Why?" fWhip's hands froze as his attention focused on Scott's face.

"I was put here if I misbehaved," Scott said plainly, wishing fWhip would just drop it. "Wasn't here in a long while," he shrugged, not really caring anymore. 

"Misbehave how?" fWhip continued asking, annoying Scott further. 

He wants to know. Fine. Scott will tell him. "Talking back. Talking when not asked to. Leaving my room with any dragon parts visible," Scott listed off, keeping his voice as steady and monotone as he possibly could. He was quite proud of how calm he managed to sound. And of the expression on fWhip's face

fWhip looked angry as he suddenly stood up. When did he even get into Scott's lap? Suddenly Scott was being pulled up to his feet and out of the room. fWhip growled out orders in Grimlands language and then pulled away. To a carriage. fWhip was muttering to himself all the way. "In, I can't stand this place, I was planning to stay the night but no more," fWhip rambled as his allies ran out to see what was going on. "I'm leaving, it's damn cold here," he told them as he pushed Scott into the carriage. Slamming the door as soon as he had him in.

Scott sat down. Still shocked by fWhip's reaction. Was he angry for Scott's sake or about the situation in general? Not that Scott cared in particular. With a sigh, he glanced out. It looked like fWhip was arguing with Gem. Pearl was likely trying to calm them down. Sausage was just standing next to his sister, looking tired of it all. With a huff Scott sat back and closed his eyes. Maybe he could try to sleep.

The carriage started moving as soon as fWhip got in. Scott didn't open his eyes. Pretending to sleep sounded like a good way to avoid any more questions. fWhip didn't say anything but Scott felt that he sat next to him. Mostly by his warmth. fWhip was half-fire dragon after all. And Scott always had an affinity for ice.   He almost broke the act when suddenly one of fWhip's hand rested on his. It was really warm. But not unpleasantly. And still bare of gloves. Scott did manage to keep pretending to sleep even when fWhip gently tangled their fingers. It almost felt like a loving gesture. Not that Scott knew much about those. Having spent his whole life closely monitored and controlled.

Just sitting in silence with fWhip holding his hand quickly became too awkward for Scott so he pretended to wake up the moment the carriage shook a bit more.

"*yawn* wha..." Scott mumbled blinking and yawning. fWhip quickly retreated his hand. Interesting. Scott thought. 

"Your damn castle's too cold, we're going home," fWhip announced as if they didn't have that conversation. Quickly wrapping himself in his coat and wings. Scott nodded and yawned again, stretching a bit for good measure. "No hiding them," he warned and Scott nodded.

"Does it bother you that much? What I said in that room?" Scott asked, leaning more into the corner.

fWhip was silently staring ahead for a moment. "I don't like not understanding things, and I don't get how can anyone lock a member of their family in a room like that," he huffed, slumping slightly and looked at Scott. Eyebrows drawn together. Face twisted in something Scott couldn't name. "It just makes no sense to me. Why? Why make you hide and lock you in a room?"

Scott shrugged. He was shocked fWhip was so shocked about his childhood. "No idea, I was just put there after being told I misbehaved, and that I should be more like f...." Scott sighed, to him the whole conversation should have been done when he said exactly what the room was for. And barely caught himself before admitting who he was supposed to be more like. Hoping fWhip missed it in his bewilderment.

He did not. "More like who?" fWhip asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Whoever fit them at the moment," Scott dodged the actual answer. That it was fWhip he had to be more like. That would fry his brain with the contradiction.

fWhip hummed, eyes narrowing. "Weren't you about to say a name?" he poked.

"No," Scott shook his head. "My parents just didn't like that I'm a half-dragon so they did whatever they could to squash that," he sighed. He was really tired of fWhip's obsession with the topic. 

fWhip sighed and sat back. "I can see you don't want to talk about this now, I apologize for pushing that hard," Scott was a bit shocked by the apology. Who what this guy? Where was real fWhip? "I... When my traits manifested my parents got people researching it to make me as comfortable with it as possible. Gem's still constantly looking through Cliff's libraries for more info," he carried on. "What I mean is... I know a lot about who we are and if you want to know anything just ask..."

Scott nodded. Of course, fWhip would be shocked if that's how his family reacted. "What do you think I should know the most?" Scott asked, just to satisfy whatever urged fWhip to offer answers.

"We technically have two genders," fWhip said after a short while, cheeks dusted with pink. Scott blinked. Two? "I'm guessing you have no clue what yours is or had first cycle. With how much they repressed that side of yours," fWhip sighed and slumped against his seat. 

"What cycle?" Scott asked, a bit scared of what he might hear.

"Heat in my case since... since I'm an omega," fWhip said the last part pretty fast and quiet. Scott barely caught it. "If you turn out to be an alpha you'll go into rut."

"And the difference is?" Scott could feel his face heating up. He vaguely understood what that would entail. Being incredibly horny. 

fWhip's face was practically matching his hair as he spoke. "I want to be pushed down and taken and stuff. I suppose alpha would be the opposite... And I think you might be one... Dragon side of my brain likes your scent," he rambled pretty quickly.

"Oh..." Scott managed. His own senses felt so dull at the moment. Was it due to constantly hiding? Possibly. "If my senses are supposed to be sharper than a normal person's then I think concealing messed them up," he said, just to swap the topic. Would fWhip, or some part of him, expect his assistance during his heat? More than likely.

fWhip hummed. "That really sucks," he sighed and... sneezed. "Why is it so cold here," he huffed.

"Might be me, I always ran a bit cold. It got even worse with the whole dragon thing," Scott theorised. But as he looked at fWhip, his brain oh so helpfully supplied the thought that fWhip looked quite cute all bundled up. He did try to make some more distance, pushing himself against the wall of the carriage.

fWhip had none of it and cuddled up to Scott. "Take some damn responsibility then," he huffed before closing his eyes. Scott blinked. Was this guy for real?

With a sigh, he relaxed and soon, with the help of fWhip's soft snoring and warmth, also fell asleep.

When he woke up the carriage was not moving. Did they take a break? Nice, his bones felt stiff. And there was no fWhip inside. So he slowly stepped out.

They have stopped in a small space by the mountain roads. He easily spotted fWhip. Bundled in yet another coat. Chastising some of his staff. Yawning, Scott stretched. His wings were rather awkward after this long without hiding. fWhip quickly was done with his chastising and turned. Quickly approaching Scott. He looked angry. 

"You should have waited inside," he huffed out with a puff of smoke. 

"Don't worry, I can't fly," Scott chuckled, stretching again. For some reason, he still felt damn stiff. 

fWhip sighed. "Stretch your wings too," he said, stretching his own. Scott sighed, if only fWhip let him use his concealment he'd be all fine. But mimicked fWhip's movements. And annoyingly it did feel better.

"Is it really that cold?" Scott asked. He himself was fine with just one coat and his uniform. And just then he remembered he was still in his military uniform and with his wounds not checked. "I think we should check my wounds," he said, a bit awkwardly."

fWhip's eyes went wide and he instantly jumped into getting a healer that accompanied them to look at Scott.

With his wounds fixed, and a bit comfier sitting position the rest of the journey was a bit more bearable. fWhip stayed mostly quiet, either sleeping or looking over papers crows delivered to him. Scott asked a few small questions here and there. Like if scales bothered fWhip. They didn't even if Scott was immensely bothered by his.

Once they crossed the border fWhip slept less, bundled up less, and grew touchy. And Scott grew indifferent to fWhip's bare hands on his arms, caressing random scales. And on what fWhip said was the last full day on the road the topic of their cycles came up again. 

"I've been thinking about something," fWhip hummed. Scott learned that the scary fWhip was a mask he put on to be a more respectable ruler. 'being an omega comes with some insecurities' fWhip said when Scott pointed out how much softer he was when they were alone. "About our cycles..."

Scott stiffened slightly. He didn't expect they'd be talking about this ever again. "What about our cycles?" he asked glancing at fWhip. Despite a slowly blossoming blush, he seemed serious.

"Well, I won't force you or anything like that but I think it would be best if we spend it together... Especially you first. I spent mine alone and it was terrible," fWhip said quickly, snappy, to the point.

"Together as in... like have sex?" Scott asked, part of him was freaking excited.

"Yes," fWhip practically squeaked out. His face was redder than his hair. Scott once more thought it was cute. Wasn't he technically a prisoner? Shouldn't he hate fWhip? But how can he with how cute fWhip was? Especially when rambling about something that interested him. Like when he explained his time-telling device. How it told time went totally above Scott's head but fWhip's face as he explained it was adorable.

Finding fWhip cute was one thing. But sleeping with him? Having sex with him? That was another thing. "I'll think about it?" was the best he could offer.

fWhip nodded. "That's fine, I can have a potion that mellows out the effects of it ready but I'm not sure it's a good idea for a first rut... especially considering your unique circumstances," he said, a bit less stiffly. 

Scott hummed and yawned. It was evening, sometime next morning they'd be arriving at fWhip's manor. So he leaned into his corner, relaxed and decided to try and sleep through as much of the rest of the ride as possible. Something seemed to push fWhip to do something he hadn't done before. The terrifying, explosion-loving, half-dragon Count of Grimlands curled up on the carriage bench and lay his head in Scott's lap. At first, Scott was shocked, but then he relaxed again and even started absently petting fWhip's hair. He was mindful of his horns. Based on his own limited experience the base of horns was a rather sensitive area.

The next morning Scott woke up to fWhip gently shaking him. "We there?" Scott asked, yawning, tempted to hug fWhip.

"Almost, just a couple more hours," fWhip hummed, sitting back. He had his usual heavy coat on. He did look really good in it, Scott thought as he yawned and blinked the last of his sleep away. Breakfast not on the road sounded really nice.

"Breakfast at home?" he asked, rolling his shoulders. Hopefully, Grimlands liked sweet things. 

"Sure," fWhip chuckled. "Anything specific? I'll be sending a message for everything to be readied," he asked with an amused smirk.

"Something sweet," Scott sighed. Might as well say it, he really wanted something sweet after rather bland on-the-road food.

fWhip laughed. Confusing Scott. What was so funny about him wanting sweets? "The scary General Scott of Rivendell wants sweets?" fWhip chuckled as Scott glared. 

"All elves like sweets," Scott huffed out in a poor attempt to defend himself. fWhip didn't comment more, instead turning Scott's attention to the views outside.

They were approaching a settlement. Rolling hills were slowly being replaced by fields and small villages and hamlets. It was all pretty nice and expected. Out of the Wither Rose Alliance, fWhip and Pearl's empires were known for farming. But Grimlands was also known for technology, explosives and mining. He could see something that looked like smoke in the distance as well. Could it be Grimlands capital, Eastvale? Possibly, they were going in vaguely that direction.

Another nice thing about Grimlands was... roads. The ride down the mountain peaks on which Scott's people lived was a shaky and relatively dangerous experience. fWhip was already planning on how to improve it. Pretty impressive actually. In Grimlands the ride was smooth over a paved main road through the whole empire. Yes, whole. Now that was really impressive. It had to take so many resources, manpower and gold to achieve. And yet fWhip was casually planning to make something like that up a mountain.

"It's quite picturesque, isn't it? Not what most people imagine an empire ran by me would look like," fWhip chuckled as Scott looked out wide-eyed. And he was right. Scott expected more mines and explosions and less... potato fields? "Grimlands isn't really known for our potatoes anymore. Just wait until you see the train. Sadly Gem and Pearl are a bit apprehensive about me connecting train tracks to them, they say it's a disaster waiting to happen and..."

Scott half listened to fWhip ramble about the absolute safety of his trains. Should he really be enjoying fWhip's voice and rambling this much? Should it bother him that he does? fWhip seemed to really care about his well-being. Not just his strategies, and skill with a sword. That was a nice change from his life so far. So with the slightest smile he kept looking at the rolling fields and listening to fWhip ramble about trains.

Scott listened to fWhip talk about Grimlands and all that changed since he became the Count. It all made little sense to Scott. All he knew about was warfare after all. Their arrival in Eastvale was also something new for Scott. In Rivendell, no one ever greeted him when he returned from campaigns. Victorious or not. Well, he was in a carriage with fWhip so it was him the citizens were greeting. But it still felt nice to see children run out of the nice houses lining the street. Dressed cleanly, some with messy hair. Followed by their mothers. Waving at the carriage. Throwing flowers.

"I wish they'd just ignore my carriage when I pass through," fWhip sighed, pushing as far back into his seat as he could. Scott chuckled. He could at least to himself admit he found fWhip cute. Saying it out loud was different. 

"Become elven Chief General then," Scott joked, still glancing out the window. Some children caught sight of him and stared with wide eyes.

"Scott... Really? You won their wars and no one even thanked you?" fWhip whined, clearly annoyed.

"I was told I did good, just wasn't greeted by crowds as soon as I returned. There were feasts to celebrate too," Scott shrugged and fell silent. He saw the biggest house in town. He knew fWhip didn't live or even have a castle. But his house was still pretty big. And pretty. Dark roof, light walls with dark shutters on the windows. Surrounded by a wall and flowers. And beyond the gate flowering hedges of black and red roses.

"Home sweet home," fWhip sighed as the gate closed behind them.

He wasted no time leaving the carriage as soon as it stopped. Scott following closely. He could fully understand fWhip's excitement to be done travelling for the time being. The staff were outside ready to greet their Count. His council as well. fWhip quickly jumped into being a responsible ruler and started catching up.

"Marriage? With..." one advisor gasped and Scott gave him a toothy grin. Everyone seemed a bit stiff at his presence. So fWhip didn't send a warning that he'd be bringing a future political husband along.

Scott looked about as fWhip argued with the advisors, clearly threatening them. Adorable. When something that could not be a usual occurrence caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He moved before he even fully processed what it was. Blocking a blade aimed at fWhip's throat with a summoned rune blade. The sound of steel clashing with magical ice had fWhip turn around. Eyes wide. 

"Scott!!!" fWhip's shout grounded Scott's brain. He just casually stopped an assassination attempt. And the only thing stopping him from killing the restrained by the guards would-be assassin was fWhip's arms wrapped around him. With a slow breath, Scott lowered his blade. His eyes remained on the assassin as they were being dragged away. fWhip's fast and snappy orders helped him calm down further. Just what has possessed him? "Where did you even get a sword from?"

"Rune knights can summon their blades at will," Scott shrugged, his heart was still beating so fast. To prove it he dismissed his blade and to gently, without really realising it check fWhip for any wounds.

"Stop it, I'm fine," fWhip huffed slapping Scott's hands away. "How can you just... Magic," fWhip grumbled. "Let's have breakfast, I'm hungry," he decided dragging Scott along.

Scott gladly let himself be dragged. Looking smugly at the advisors. Why? He had no clue, just felt like it. The bigger question was... Was his tail really wagging? He'd think about it later. When he wasn't busy staring at fWhip's hand, sadly back in his gloves, holding his wrist.

So busy he barely registered the interior of the mansion until he was pushed into a comfy chair upholstered with red and gold brocade. NIce contrast to dark woods and deep forest greens of the floors and wallpapers. A golden chandelier hung low over a table set with food. The last few maids set tea on it before retreating and leaving them alone. Scott was more than a bit miffed fWhip sat on the other side of the table. And tempted to move closer.

"What was that out in the courtyard?" fWhip asked with a heavy glare.

"No clue. One moment I was just standing there and the next blocking a blade, aimed at you mind you," Scott hummed looking over the food. It was quite a selection. Pastries, breads, cheeses, fruits, meats. And pancakes. And fruit. "As a rune knight I can't really be separated from my weapons," he added as fWhip continued glaring.

"Grand. Anything else I should know?" he asked, angrily buttering up a slice of bread.

Scott hummed. "I can use ice magic, all elves have some magic though," Scott hummed going instantly for the pancakes, whipped cream and berries. "And we all like sweets, Xor's the weirdo who's different," he added at the amused smirk fWhip's frown turned to.

"If you say so," he mused slowly peeling an egg. "Try the powdered sugar," he pointed to a container with a dainty sieve on top.

fWhip was right. He should have tried powdered sugar ages ago. It was amazing on his pancakes. The rest of the food was good as well. Especially everything sweet. Scott didn't expect Grimlands to have good desserts but fWhip's staff shocked him. Well, he didn't expect farmland as well.

"Is us just sharing a room too..." fWhip hummed and stopped, not sure what to name it.

"It's fine by me," Scott shrugged. He really didn't mind fWhip's company anymore. What wonders being locked in a carriage together for a few days can do? "We're getting married anyway," he half-joked. 

"Fine then, I have some stuff to do but I'll take you there, just rest for now," fWhip hummed, stretching as maids cleaned up the table.

"A bath maybe... Though I don't really have anything, you did decide to leave rather suddenly," Scott hummed. Nap in a proper bed sounded really nice.

"Just borrow my stuff for now," fWhip sighed as he stood up. Would it even fit? Scott wondered but didn't mention how different their statures were. "I'll take you to my tailor once I'm caught up on politics," he added leading Scott out the breakfast room - fWhip himself called it that.

fWhip's room was all nice and comfy, a bath as well. But after three days of not leaving it much Scott was beginning to feel a bit antsy. He was allowed to roam around the manor but not to leave it. And to not go to the basement workshop. Just to be safe and calm the council, fWhip said. Scott really didn't feel like a prisoner. Maids and kitchen staff were more than happy to provide him with cookies and drinks whenever he asked. He read a lot in fWhip's library. 

On the seventh day, Scott woke up feeling a weird warmth in the pit of his stomach. He instantly sat up to look for fWhip. Just to ask if it might be a dragon thing... like his rut.

fWhip was already up, struggling with a robe. Smelling really nice, his brain supplied. "fWhip... come back to the bed," Scott asked, instantly forgetting any and all questions he had. He had the biggest urge to just stay in bed with fWhip. Cuddling.

"Are you sure? I think my heat started, I don't want to force you if you..." fWhip mumbled, he sounded like he was in pain.

"Just come here... I think my rut's started too, I feel weirdly warm and want to cuddle you specifically," Scott confessed. Anything to get fWhip back in the bed. "Like really warm," Scott added, removing his sleep shirt. He was warm and it felt uncomfortable on his damned scales. And there were more of those than normal.

He missed fWhip giving up on the rope and just getting back into the bed. He didn't miss fWhip' hands on him. Gingerly tracing scales as he slowly cradled Scott's face. "Is it okay if I want you to kiss me?" the count asked but was already guiding Scott closer to his face. 

Scott was not in the right place to overthink so he just kissed fWhip. It was messy, rushed and inexperienced. And maybe Scott's first kiss ever. But it was the best first kiss he could ask for. Especially with fWhip instantly clinging to him, hands in his hair. Scott's hands around fWhip's waist.

Their kissing was interrupted by a knock on the door. fWhip whined hearing it, Scott growled. "One moment," fWhip grumbled, giving Scott a small kiss on the cheek and after wrapping himself in a blanket went to request their food is brought to them and that they be otherwise undisturbed for a few days.

 Scott could not tear his eyes off of fWhip. Growing strangely irritated with every second there was no distance between them. With whoever fWhip was talking to taking a whole lot of time to leave Scott left the bed, wrapped himself in a blanket and sneaked up on fWhip. "fWhip..." he whined just slightly as he wrapped himself around the count as well as he could. Glaring at the guard and advisor who dared take up fWhip's time.

His glare was enough to have them apologising and bowing and leaving while assuring everything would be handled while fWhip was indisposed. And Scott finally had fWhip all to himself and a good excuse to touch him a whole lot.

[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol, curse words, angst

CHAPTER 8

Charlie

“How’s your wing today, little buddy?” Aami took a step towards me and started blowing smoke out of his nostrils. “Okay. You’re not little anymore.” I giggled to myself. “You’ll always be a baby to me, Aami.”

I did a motion with my wand which made the dragon’s meal levitate from the ground and towards him.

“Do you think we can try and jump in the air?”

This was my technique to help him fly. Everybody lost hope already. I didn’t and I won’t. His wing might not be as it’s supposed to be but I believe he can do it anyway.

I levitated the steak a few meters above his head. From left to right. He was moving his tail behind him, curiously eyeing his meal.

“That’s it. You just have to want it enough.” I lifted the piece of meat higher. “I promise I won’t call you little anymore if you try and catch it!”

I know he couldn’t understand me but I didn’t care. I talked to all dragons. My teammates were making fun out of me all the time and they imitated me. The last time Theo did it, he almost got scorched by Ogto. We told him that his voice is simply too rough and that he should try a gentler approach. There was nothing more fun than to tease Theodore during work.

“You want it, Aami. I can see it in your emerald eyes, now try and jump. Don’t be afraid.” Sometimes I didn’t even recognize my own voice, how gentle it was when I was talking to him.

I was a sucker for him since he hatched.

“How’s parenthood treating you?” I jumped in the air, hearing the voice behind me.

I lost my concentration and the steak fell straight into the Fireball’s mouth.

“Peter. Now look what you did!” I frowned at him.

“Sorry, Charlie. I thought you heard me coming.” Peter couldn’t suppress his laugh.

“I was too busy concentrating.” I sighed, watching Aami chew on the big piece of meat.

“Still no luck?” Peter came closer.

“No.” I bowed my head. “I’ll keep trying.”

“I admire your determination, Fireball Mother.” He put a hand on my back. “I am certain that one day you two will succeed.”

“Thanks, Peter.” I smiled appreciatively.

They might’ve lost hope but at least they were still supportive.

“Your team needs your help, Charlie. Are you almost done here?” Peter suddenly remembered why he came to see me.

“I think he’s going to be just fine until dinner.” I glanced at the dragon. The steak already gone. “What’s up?”

“Rhylee has reasons to believe that Ren caught a cold.” Peter started to explain. “Theo, of course, went to check it out at once.”

“And let me guess, he got hurt?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Of course, he got hurt! He didn’t listen to Rhylee and Evan that we should wait for you and Ren sneezed right at him.” Peter pinched the bridge of his nose.

I pressed my lips together not to laugh. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. I could see how Ren sneezes and blows Theodore backward.

“Did he forget that he’s a wizard and that he should use a stunning charm before doing something so risky?” I chuckled.

“What else!” Peter said and I followed him to Ren’s enclosure.

“I brought someone with brains!” Peter shouted when we approached the group.

“Andrew helped Theo to the Recovery Center.” John explained.

“Peter, you’ll have to help us.” I turned to him and he nodded.

“Alright!” I clapped my hands together. “Rhylee you distract Ren with a piece of meat. John, make sure he is following your every move. Peter, you help me immobilize him.” They all took their positions.

Rhylee went to Ren’s left side. John was standing right in front of him, while Peter and I slowly sneaked to the right side.

“Ready?” I whispered to Peter and he gave me a thumbs up.

Suddenly, the dragon took a few steps backward and started shaking his head frantically.

“He’s going to blow!” I shouted. “Shit!” John stepped back.

“Protego!” Shouted Rhylee and jumped in front of John right in time for Ren’s sneeze.

Green goo flew everywhere and I crossed my arms in front of my face to not get it in my eyes. We all started laughing when we saw the dragon’s confused face.

“Thanks, Rhylee.” John smiled at her.

“Don’t mention it.” She started getting the green substance off her clothes.

We finally managed to stun Ren and bring the Healers to check on him. They confirmed that he had a cold and gave us some medicine which we should mix into his water for a few days.

This has pretty much been the last few months. Rhylee has been working with us for 5 months now and to say that she was doing great was an understatement. Peter even joked that if I wasn’t so good at my job she would take over my position.

And I couldn’t even argue with him. She was amazing with dragons. I knew she loved them as much as I did but to see her working with them, taking care of them was something else. She was so gentle and careful with them as if they couldn’t swallow her whole. She was agile and always aware of her surroundings. She was basically the perfect Dragonologist.

Which, of course, was hell for me. I appreciated Peter hiring her because we needed someone like her on the team. Not that others weren’t doing a great job but when someone cares as much as she does, it just shows. However, it was torture getting to know her so well.

While we were working we didn’t have a chance to talk much, which was great. But just looking at her, observing her every move, and telling her what to do, has been hard enough. She did everything I told her without thinking twice about it and she did it flawlessly. She grew on me even more which was something I hate to admit because I knew it was wrong.

During the weekends she kept mostly by herself or she helped Tina in the Nursery. She, just like me, didn’t know how to take a day off. She asked for a free day once every 14 days and went back to England.

If all of her amazing work wasn’t enough for my poor heart and me already losing my mind, it was even worse when she joined us for a pint. I found out so many things about her that I wish I didn’t know.

She was a Bellefeuille at Beauxbatons and she was both a Prefect and a Head Girl. We all agreed that she was sorted in the right house as she really was brave and loved nature and she cares strongly for her friends. She proved that to us on several occasions during her time here and the boys loved her.

She has a pet Kneazle named Beau which is currently living with her roommate Lyla, back in England. Her parents insisted that she goes to Beauxbatons even though they lived in Britain. She applied to work in the Peruvian Dragon Sanctuary but her application was denied so she accepted the job at Gringotts.

If I thought she was amazing when I first met her, then I don’t know what the word for her is now. I was falling for her and I was falling hard. I tried not to think about her and to hide my feelings as much as I could. The guys teasing me about it every time she wasn’t around didn’t help my cause.

The only good thing about the whole situation was that we were never alone and if we were, we never talked about anything else than work. I also noticed that we got more relaxed around each other and that awkwardness we had between us the first couple of weeks finally went away. I hate to admit it but we were becoming really good friends and I don’t know how I feel about that.

—

“I just don’t understand why they have to be such pushovers.” John rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to be bossed around I would’ve invited my mother for a visit.” Theo added.

“They’re researchers. They’ll never change.” I calmed them down.

It was the time of the year again. May. The mating season and each year we were losing our minds. Besides the teams that took care of dragons, we also had researchers. Those observed our work and wrote papers about it that were later published in magazines. They always intervened in our business but the mating season was the worst. They were worst to deal with than mother dragons.

“Every year’s the same!” John didn’t stop complaining. “Why don’t you put them in this habitat? Can you put them together! Why did you do it like this?” He imitated them.

“Why don’t they go up the hill and stick something up their arses!” Andrew took a sip of his beer.

“Then who would write reports about that?” They all laughed at my question.

“Charlie?” We all looked up, Rhylee standing in front of us.

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you?” She said, biting her lip.

“Sure.” I took a sip of my Fire Whiskey, ready to listen to what she has to say.

“In private.” I almost bit in my glass at her words.

She looked embarrassed and nervous at the same time.

I could feel the eyes on me, the guys waiting for what I was going to say back to her. I decided to ignore them and just stood up. She grabbed my hand, something I neither expected nor was okay with because my heart went crazy at her touch. She dragged me away, behind a nearby hut and made sure nobody was around.

“I have something to tell you.” She whispered.

“Obviously.” I tried lightening the mood.

Why was she so nervous?

“I…” She pursed her lips together and looked like she was about to cry.

“Hey, hey.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “Rhy, what is it, you’re scaring me.”

“I got a letter today from one of my ex co-workers, Lizzie.” She started to explain. “She told me that Kyan, the Ukranian Ironbelly, failed to protect one of the vaults a few days ago and went berserk. He hurt 3 Bank workers in the process and the people trying to get past him succeeded in breaking inside the vault.” Her lip started trembling.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to hug her and stroke her hair and calm her down but I would cross too many boundaries doing so, so I just tightened the grip on her shoulders.

“They are going to execute him, Charlie.” She burst into tears and buried her head in my shoulder. “The Ministry said that they can’t tolerate such a disobedient dragon and they want to get rid of him.”

My heart sank. I knew how much she loved those dragons. They meant everything to her. They were her family and now one of them is going to be murdered. I hugged her awkwardly. My mind completely blank. What am I supposed to say in this situation? This was terrible. They can’t just execute a dragon without any proof!

“Is there anything we can do?” I asked softly.

“The team I worked with will appeal for a trial. If they succeed they will be able to provide evidence that it wasn’t the dragon's fault.” She sobbed.

“Isn’t that obvious without proof?” She pulled her head back and looked at me.

We were too close for my liking. I could feel her breath on my cheek.

“That’s what I said to myself when I read her letter.” She said, astonished that I thought the same. “You know the Goblins don’t care for the dragons and if this one gets executed they can just get a new one.” Tears started running down her cheeks again.

“What am I supposed to do, Charlie?”

Rhylee, please stop looking at me like that!

Her eyes were big and puffy and hopeful.

“I…” I swallowed hard. I hope she couldn’t feel my heartbeat through my shirt. “We’ll ask around the Sanctuary. Perhaps somebody might be able to help us. Maybe someone here knows the law and can help us build a case.” I tried smiling as much as my muscles allowed me while being as stiff as I was because we were still embraced.

“You would help me build a case?” She finally pulled away.

“Of course. I know how much those dragons mean to you even if you don’t work with them anymore.” I reassured her. “Every creature’s life matters.”

“You’re the best, Charlie!” She jumped in my arms again.

Since when were we hugging so much?

“There’s something else.” She whispered after a few moments of silence.

I only hummed.

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t think straight. The sweet smell of her shampoo filled my nose and I was thinking of any way how I could take a deep breath without her noticing. I felt like suffocating.

We went for a run a few times together over the last month and last week we actually talked about something else than work. It was nice. I was always having a nice time with her even if we were just sitting in silence. I felt us becoming good friends and I’m glad she came to me with this but the hugging was definitely new and I was too deep to handle it properly.

“I did something terrible and probably illegal.” Her words were my chance to pull away from her.

“What?” I chuckled.

I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. What could she possibly have done that it was illegal?

“Come with me.” She grabbed my hand again, making my heart skip a beat and dragged me to her hut.

She unlocked the door and invited me inside.

I was never at her place before. It was definitely neater than mine. I did clean but my stuff was everywhere and I never made my bed. She had flowers everywhere and even though it was dark outside, her place looked way brighter than mine.

My eyes stopped on the big box in the middle of her living room. Is this was she was talking about? She slowly approached the box and kneeled next to it. She gestured for me to come and join her.

“Rhy, what…” She stopped me by putting a finger over my lips.

I froze.

I will lose it if she keeps touching me like this.

“He’s probably sleeping.” She said, her voice barely audible.

“He?” I whispered.

“Do you remember the albino dragon I worked with?” She asked.

“How could I forget.” I replied.

“Lizzie wrote to me a few months back that they got another Swedish Short-Snout.” She started to explain. “They thought that the one already at Gringotts was a boy so they got another boy. It turned out that they were wrong.”

“Dash is a girl?” I put a hand over my mouth as I said that a tad too loudly.

She nodded. I narrowed my eyes at her and looked at the box and back to her.

“Rhy, what’s in the box?” I said slowly.

“Look for yourself.” She squinted.

I turned to the box and slowly opened it. It was a baby albino Swedish Short-Snout. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. It finally happened! My wish to see an albino dragon came true. This was amazing. Merlin’s beard was he a beaute! I was in love!

I shook my head snapping out of it. This was a serious situation.

“What is he doing in the middle of your living room?” I pursed my lips at her.

“Sleeping?” She said with the most innocent grin on her face.

“Rhy. Tell me what you did.”

“They don’t tolerate baby dragons in Gringotts, Charlie.” She bowed her head. “They don’t have a nursery down there like we have here. Lizzie was the one who spotted the eggs and managed to steal one before the Goblins noticed. She wanted to save more of them but there was simply not enough time.” I could see tears gathering in her eyes again.

“I snuck out a few days ago and went to get him. I thought that once he’s here, we could give him a proper home.”

Boy did she know how to melt my heart. Her big eyes, pleading me to do something. To say something encouraging.

“We’ll find Peter first thing in the morning and tell him.” I said.

“What? No! I told you this in confidence!” She stood up and started pacing around the living room.

She was adorable.

“Relax.” I giggled. “Do you really think this is the first time someone smuggled an illegal dragon to the Sanctuary?”

“It’s not?” She stopped.

“When my brother Ron was in his First year my friend Hagrid who works at Hogwarts got himself a dragon egg and Ron wrote to me if we could take him in. We brought him here and Peter dealt with the paperwork. I swear that guy can make anything look legal.” I laughed and stood up.

I walked to her and placed my hands on her shoulders. This was allowed now, right?

“We’ll tell Peter and he’ll deal with the administrative work. We’ll settle the little guy in and that’s it.” I lifted her chin so that her eyes met mine.

That was a bloody mistake. I need to make a mental note to never do that again. Her eyes were so full of emotions. She was on the verge of tears but I think this time, they were happy tears. She looked so thankful, so appreciative. I couldn’t handle it.

“That’s it?” She said in a whisper.

She was blown away at how easy the whole thing was. I nodded and gently pulled away.

I would panic if I wasn’t in a similar situation a few years ago. I went straight to Peter then and I was a nervous wreck when I explained everything. He calmed me down and told me that he’ll take care of everything as long as the dragon gets transported here without anyone seeing it.

“Is the dragon here?” Her curiosity got the better of her.

“He is.” I smiled. “I was sad when he was assigned to another team last year but I go and see him at least once or twice per week. His name is Norbert but the researchers think he might be a girl so we will have to rename him.” I chuckled and looked back at the now opened box.

“You did the right thing, Rhy.” I gazed at her and walked to the box. Her eyes told me that she wanted to meet Norbert. She has been here since September but she didn’t have the pleasure to meet all the dragons yet even though I knew she wanted to. “He’ll do just fine here.” I reassured her.

I didn’t need to stand next to her to feel her body relax. She was so worried about what I would say upon seeing what’s in the box. Perhaps she even thought I would be angry or that she would be fired but we don’t do that here.

You bring a dragon, we give it a home. It’s that simple.

I was happy I was the one who she decided to tell her secret to but at the same time, I started liking her even more because of it. She went through all this trouble to save this baby dragon. She could get fired or even imprisoned by the Ministry if they found out.

But she took the risk. She didn’t care. She just wanted to save one egg and make sure that he gets a home. She didn’t worry about herself. She put dragons first and I admired her for that more than anything. I would’ve done the same. Heck, I would probably fly there on a broom in the middle of the night just to get at least one egg to safety.

I know she felt bad that she couldn’t save more of them. I know if it was up to her, she would’ve saved them all. And I know that deep down, she blamed herself for leaving because perhaps if she was there, things might’ve gone differently. It was insane how similar we were when it came to that and I didn’t need her to tell me these things, I just knew they were in her head.

She waited for me in front of my hut the next morning. We went to find Peter at once and informed him of the situation. He gave Rhylee a similar speech I did and told her that everything was going to be okay. He ordered me to get my team so we could safely transport the little guy to the habitat with other younglings.

John, Theo, and Evan helped Rhylee and me to get him through the door, while Andrew went to get the Healing team and Tina to do a check-up. After we were done, I sent my team to do our usual feeding routine, while I stayed with the little guy. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. If Aami saw me he would’ve scorched me out of jealousy.

I couldn’t believe we had an albino in the Sanctuary and Rhylee and I have been debating names all morning during breakfast. So far we came up with DJ which stands for Dash Junior, Ally, Bean, and Zyon. Of course, I would let her name him because she was the one who brought him here and was going to train with him like I was doing with Aami.

I am not going to lie, I was a bit jealous she would be able to spend all this extra time with him. But I knew it’s better that she does it because I knew I would spend half of the time just staring at him. He looked just as I imagined Dash when Rhylee described him when we first met. White scales with reddish ones on the tip of his tail. He had red eyes and we couldn't wait for him to get older so we could see if his eyes are going to change color as Dash’s did.

—

Rhylee got a letter a few days after she told me about Kyan that they will hold a trial for him. With enough evidence, we could send them an application and apply as custodians meaning Kyan would become a part of the Romanian Sanctuary family of dragons.

We spent the next week asking around if anyone knows anything about creature trials and how to appeal a case to the Ministry. Nobody really knew how to help us and a lot of people recommended a library.

She corresponded with Lizzie regularly, to give her any information that she could about how we can approach this and what papers we would need to fill out to be allowed to do this. The biggest problem was, that there was no evidence that the dragon was attacked or why he didn’t protect the vault but hurt the Bank workers instead and let the attackers escape.

Lizzie told Rhylee that they did a check-up on him and didn’t detect any kind of unusual or recent magic on him that would indicate that the group he let pass enchanted him in any way. All odds were against us but Rhylee didn’t lose hope. I admired her for that.

She reminded me of myself when everyone told me that Aami wasn’t going to make it. That he was too small to survive without a mother. I didn’t give up on him and I believed that he would survive. He still might not be able to fly but he is doing just fine. He is healthy and cheerful and he loves to play even though he’s nearing adulthood now.

[unikornu]

Page 12, The Gals Time, L&L,

The sun was slowly reaching a horizon casting a strong orange shade on the Nuka Town. Lucy and Gage were on the way back from another journey out into the dry desert, their spirits up as nothing seemed to disturb their routine of slowly getting the gangs under control. 

-Boss, are you sure you had nothing to do with that haunted little girl crap story? You seem pretty capable of causing mayhem from what i’ve seen. Gage joked and enjoyed the view in front of him as the boss was swinging her hips to the sides, puffing a smoke of his cigarette in the air. 

-Just because someone had a same name doesn’t mean its me, c'mon we know it was not even real. She kicked open the door to Fizztop and turned towards the elevator. - But i could show you something that is pretty fucking real..upstairs, if you catch my drift. She looked at him, biting her lips and leaned with her back to the wall at the elevator’s door. 

The more time they were spending together without arguing and fighting instead, pushing their plans onward the more deeper she seemed to fall into the rough raider and this post-nuclear lifestyle as it fitted her as well, even better than the one she had before. Gage wasn’t pushing her hidden suggestions away as often as he used to before, approaching her with his usual grin and looking down at her with certain satisfaction in his eye.

-Ohh…I bet you could start even on the way up hm? He punched a button next to her shoulder and as their lips were shortening the distance Gage suddenly stopped and pulled back up. 

- What now…? Lucy pouted and puffed at him, slightly annoyed by breaking the moment. 

- The elevator Boss…it is up, it never is as we leave. Something ain’t right. Someone else used it. They both backed off from the door with their weapons ready as the lift arrived down, its door opened, empty.

  -That someone might still be up there. Use the outside one and i will go from here. And take this, it might be a trap. She threw him a stealth boy and entered the elevator. 

- Ok Boss, just…be careful. They nodded at each other and as the door closed she crouched low and hugged the corner inside. Raider at the same time covered himself invisible and moved up from the outside.

 *ding* The door slide open, Lucy awaiting in the shadows for any sounds of steps from the room. Silence. She stood up and walked silently towards the patio eyeballing for anything suspicious around. Upon approaching the the two winged door she put her ear to the wooden rough structure of it, hearing just Gage arriving up. She opened the door slowly peeking through a small crack seeing just a dark tall silhouette. She gasped loudly and fell back as the bullet ripped through the wood right next to her cheek. - Fuck! He’s at the bar! Take this fucker down!

Gage heard the signal and as he was about to shove some lead into the man’s head his camouflage worn off. The man dodged the bullet, ducking behind the bar, answering the fire with the laser pistol. Using the distraction Lucy rolled towards the middle bar. She noticed the man wearing a long blue coat and a round classic hat, his face covered with a metalic mask and something that looked like a minuteman sign on his sleeve. As the men were exchanging bullets, shuttering everything to a pieces on their way she noticed that the stranger started heading towards the broken window pulling a stealth device from his pocket.

  - Oh no, you ain’t going anywhere sir. She threw her knife swiftly, its blade flying towards the man’s leg as he was about to make a long jump outside, losing his balance in a process and falling straight down to the hard concrete. The sound of body squashing upon the impact almost pulled the disgust on both of their faces but it turned fast into a chuckle. - Lets go see who the hell he was, maybe there is still something…scrapable. She ordered and rode down with the raider.

To their surprise the body was no longer down, vanished, only blood splattered around, her knife and a holotape, undamaged. She picked it up and shoved into the pipboy.

  “After a week her signal disappeared at the station. Next signal appeared almost a month later from the location…called..safari adventure? whatever, one of our bots managed to catch their plot. She wasn’t kidnapped or lost, neither she’s dead. Instead turned on us and the Commonwealth…traitorous bitch. We need to take her down before. When u finish, put the eyebot back on the patrol. I want to know everything so minutemen can prepare…”

-Oh my God…i forgot that Sturges installed that chip…in my pipboy in case of…. Fuck. Her face paled as she look back at Gage, her hands shaking.

-Boss…i will be fucking serious right now. Gage forehead wrinkled heavily as his eyebrows twitched into the anger. - You did not tell the fucking minuteman that you are done with them eh? You did not think for a single second that they might be fucking looking for you?! And that u have a fucking tracking chip in pipboy!  He approached her closer poking her chest with a finger, strong enough to make her lose balance. - You just endangered our whole plan with your stupid impulse thinking! And you know what? You gonna deal with it on your own this time because i will be busy setting up whatever shit i can at gauntlet and all over the Nuka Town to cover our fucking asses from being swarmed by minutemen or whoever was this guy. Good luck Boss. He moved her out of the way like a piece of furniture and stormed off deep into Nuka Town without even waiting to hear her back.

  -Gage wait…eh, shit.  She felt like their relationship resembled a sinusoid, going up and down so often but he was right this time, again…She stood confused thinking about her next move but it was first time she was on her own with a task at hand like that. Gage needed her in different matters but she relied on his advices so long that being now, without him made her feel helpless and unsure. After a moment of pondering it came to her mind that there is still one more person she can trust as much and that won’t judge her foolish actions, Lizzie Wyath.

-----

  Lizzie was spending most of the time in her laboratory, down the stairs under the Parlor where no one would bother her brilliant shy mind. But she was always all ears and mouth when it came to Boss, turning into a chatterbox that seemed to have no end. 

-Boss, what a nice surprise! Came to check in on my latest inventions or…maybe you wanna test some on your own? She approached her excited about the visit holding a vial that was releasing a strong stinky cloud in the air.

- Actually, i was about to ask you out. For a…field trip. You and me. Secret mission. Lucy was waving the hand under her nose to push the smoke away from her nostrils and coughing a bit.

  - Out? No no…you know i hate field missions. I only agreed to come here because Mags promised me my own laboratory and that she will use me only when its reaaaaally necessary. Lizzie turned back to her shelf full of vials but was stopped by the boss grabbing her by the upper arms and turning back at her.

-It is necessary Lizzie. I fucking need you and your brain right now. I fucked up badly and i could really use your help, please? I promise that if u agree i will then sit with you whole evening and test whatever weird ass shit stuff you want. Lucy was desperate shaking her as she started explaining what happened. Lizzie released her arms and raised the palms of her hands towards the boss trying to calm her down.

  -Okay okay cool off, chip, robot, minutemen. I will….help but come on first, lets sit and explain me the plan of ours as i get that chip out of your pipboy.

  Lizzie was the second person that Lucy came clear in terms of trust. She almost didn’t fit to the whole place and raider style but beneath that delicate darker skin and tired eyes the inventions and mental arsenal she could deliver proved very useful and scary at times to the Operators. After all she was also like a family member for Mags and William. The deadly trio since the very teenage times. Her introvertic bobble was poping every time she had a occasion to spend some alone time with boss, filling each other with stories and gossip around the town, bringing back some memories on how it was nice to chatter late night and drink without worrying about the gun pulled to the back of the head.

-Aaaaand there it is, that Sturges seem to know his stuff. Well attached, and it didn’t burn after all that time. Lizzie pulled with tweezers very gently a small square piece of tech out of the pipboy, almost impressed. - So..what do you want to do with it? She asked, putting her tools back at the shelf below.

Lucy took a chip, humming under her nose and spinning it in her fingers. After a short thought process she threw it to the ground and smashed with a heel of her boot. - Well, that! Now grab your stuff and lets go to safari to find that bot before i will join the Gage’s club of having another half the town blame me for some shitty mistakes.

  -Oh boy, right behind you Boss. Lizzie pulled a goggles up and snatched the plasma pistol along with a small bag of tools from the drawer. They headed out in a rush through the back door to avoid Mags and William stopping them to asnwer as to whats going on as Lizzie going out was already a strange evenement.

----

  -Sooooo…..how is he? Hm? Lizzie broke a silence as they were on their way towards the Safari Park, the darkness of the incoming night surrounding them and only flickering lights of a distant buildings being their guide.

-Hm, who? Porter? She looked surprised by a direct question but seeing her relaxed face and corner of her lips raised slightly up she knew its a girl chit chat time. - Well…he’s not the most talkative man on the planet but he definitely recompense it with actions and uhm..looks. 

-Mmmm, what kind of actions? You like that rough bastard don’t ya? Lizzie soft corner smile turned into a grin pushing more personal questions upon her and seeing her blush more and more with each minute and her tongue tangling in words trying to explain that its nothing too serious.

- Oh, dammit Lizzie. I don’t even know if he would like….i mean, he said he cares about me, shit but..maybe in his own way. Fuck i don’t know. Lucy shook her head trying to get rid of the soft emotional thoughts slamming into her and get back on the task.  - We will talk it over once we are done and drunk enough for this crap, okay?

  -Sure thing Boss, lets find that flying can. Where was it last time? Up on a tree eh? Lizzie prepared her plasma gun as they entered the safari. The park belonged to the pack. They passed in silence, through the bushes, passing behind a patrol to avoid any unnecessary attention and discussions. Last thing she wanted is to word to spread out about the whole fuckupery. They managed to pass unnoticed into the labyrinth. On the last turn towards the elevator from behind the corner something or someone big bumped right into them pushing them both on their asses. 

-Boss? Lizzie? Now that is a nice surprise indeed, two lovely birds at the same time. Mason laughed and offered them both of his hands so they can pull themselves up. - So…what these two little birds are looking for around my turf hmm? He brushed and twirled the moustache in his fingers eyeballing them both. 

-Uhg, fuck, fine. We are looking for the eyebot, that was on the treehouse before. We kind of…need it for a special project. Lucy did what she could to sound confident in her half lie but Mason was a hard piece.

-Eyebot eh? U mean…that eyebot? He pulled a pile of scrap from behind and threw it down in front of them, one of pieces landing up on Lizzie’s foot.

  -Ouch, goddamit Mason - she squeaked and pulled her foot away. -Why did u smash it? It was kind of important. For my project. 

-Project ye……it wouldn’t let my boys sleep as it was bipping pretty loud as of late. Also if u excuse me i want to have a private chat with a Boss. Mason shooed Lizzie with a hand and as she disappeared out of view in the labyrinth bushes he turned his eyes to Lucy, with a suspicious glare.  

-So, Boss, what really is going on huh? And where is your golden boy, Porter? He approached her closer, taking a bunch of her hair and letting it slide through his palm. 

-Let’s say that i forgot to…burn some last threads related to some people before i took this job and we are fixing it, separate ways this time tho. There was no point lying to him now as it was also one of few occasions they could talk business alone. She let him play with her hair and simply stood there without moving.

  -Well, that has been taken care of...kind of. You can take whatever is left of that scrap with your lovely operator, to be sure,  but…there is one more matter. He leaned towards her, grabbing her chin and pulling her face up. With Gage around he would probably get punched by this time but they were alone. - The parks seem to be running out and there obviously is too many of us. I can see you go into Mags favor, i can understand it, caps are tops but…what about me hm? How do we stand in your plan Boss? Lucy decided it was the best moment to reveal her future plan to Mason as there wasn’t a chance anyone would eavesdrop on them or see them talking in private. Pure coincidence right on the spot.

- Operators will have three parks, u will keep two…but…i will give you the pleasure of slaughtering and ripping apart the last gang that won’t belong anywhere, the disciples. Mason liked what he just heard and a wide grin grew on his face.

  - I knew you were a smart lady. I swear i could fuck you right here for what u just said. Mason licked his lips but the spiky tip of the knife between his legs gave him a fair warning to back off with his idea. He released her and moved on, chuckling under his nose and sending a wink to Lizzie as he passed her by.

  He seems to have a big....appetite. So…we are okay? Can we go back to my lab now? She approached the boss scanning carefully the pieces of the eyebot, looking for anything unusual and then back at her inpatient.

  -Lizzie, listen. You should know too at this point. I talked a bit with Gage about it but never got to organize any safe meeting. Lucy put the hand on her shoulder and shook it in reassurance. - There will be slaughter, we won’t avoid it. Not now but it will happen eventually. I can feel the tension gathering as we draw closer and closer towards the last park. The disciples will have to go, one way or another. I don’t trust Nisha one bit, hell i don’t even know if i can trust Mason but so far he proved a loyal and more reasonable than i would expect. You i trust Lizzie, okay? Tell Mags about the plan but don’t let it slip before it happens right?

  - Wow Boss, that’s…some freaking good news right there. You have my word, of course. And…you really trust me? Me? In this fucked up world, damn. Does it mean…we are…friends of sort?  Lizzie smiled widely at her as she could not refer to many people out there as friends and barely anyone was visiting her. 

-Yes Lizzie, we are friends now if you want but keep your mouth shut about the plan or i will end up on the spike before i turn around to make any further step. She smiled back as they started gathering the scraps together.

- I will make sure there is no single tracking device left in that junk. Or..i could actually rebuilt it and make some fake signals to discourage the minutemen from taking the actions now. Lizzie was scratching her chin pondering about what she could do with that tech.

-Sounds like a good plan. Lets head back. They packed all the parts into a sack and sneaked away towards the Nuka Town.

------

 It was middle of the night, anything crawling towards them was easily heard and eradicated with a bright splash of green plasma flying from Lizzie pistol. They approached an abandoned farm on their way, loud crunching noises coming from behind the house in the distance that made them both feel a bit uneasy but curiosity was stronger, as they walked closer and closer just to see what’s there. A deathclaw, feasting on the unlucky raider ripping his body parts with its claws. Lizzie froze and dropped by a mistake a sack filled with metal disrupting the silence. Deathclaw raised its head and looked right at them. 

-Great Lizzie, i hope you have good enough condition to run the hell out of here. Lucy was pulling her by the sleeve but to her surprise she stood unshaken and started digging in her bag.  

  -Why run Boss if we have these? And i think you gonna like it, my new invention. She pulled an awkwardly big grenade from her bag almost a size barely fitting into her hand with a long strap attached to it. Dozen of explosives power packed into this one baby….boom. The last word shined a spark in a her eyes. Oh she did love grenades indeed.

- The running part still stays tho, now get it Boss! Lizzie pushed the grenade into her hands and started running as the deathclaw thumped towards them. 

- Shit, you and your damn experiments on a go, ok fuck, lets do it. Lucy was no so far behind giving a good spin with a strap. As they could no longer keep the steady distance from the beast she turned abruptly and forced the grenade out, breaking the lock and letting it fly towards the deathclaw. The structure cracked as it got slashed with a claws, releasing smaller ones out that were tightly packed inside. The explosion was so big that they landed few meters ahead on their faces, getting some small burns in the process.

  -Holy shit, Lizzie. Grenade? Its a fucking nuke. Lucy pulled herself up as she noticed a small fire starting on her dress. She patted it repeatedly blowing air after at her hands to cool them off.  Lizzie was not looking any better, the dirt on her face as she managed to land in the puddle of mud, her hair sticking to a face but she seemed happy of the results. Deathclaw was….everywhere, literally, some of its blood on them aswell.

  - How about a drink Boss, in my lab? To a mission well done? And for our incoming future? I have some special stash waiting to be opened. Lizzie smeared the dirt from her face, smiling proudly at the results of her work.

-Oh yes please…Lucy sighted deeply but smiled softly at the thought that the job is done and future situation has been steered into the direction she wanted. Gage would be probably happy too..and the idea of having a drink, maybe two..or just gulping till the morning was certainly tempting as the stress slowly pumped out of her.

------- Well, on a one side Gage was happy as Lizzie skills managed to dump the remaining signal coming from the eyebot, replacing it with something else. He managed to pull some extra security at the gauntlet on his own and even convinced Mason to let some of his dogs for patrols at Town for any new, suspicious visitors. Lucy did scrape some plan together also informing safely the rest about it and succeeded on a way. What he was not happy is to find both of them at the operator lab, sitting drunk on the floor laughing like a couple of a teenage girls with their hair messed up and clothes too after some serious drinking. 

-Opss, i think…i will leave you with your grumpy man. hm? Porter. Lizzie pulled herself up, swinging to the sides and saluting the Gage as she left upstairs. He saluted her back and turned his eye back to the Lucy.

-Boss, were u drinking your asses the rest of the night? And what did u blow? Nearly whole town heard it, scaring the shit out of traders. He was stoic, with his hands crossed at his chest, awaiting answers. 

- Well…let me start by saying that the plan is now in knowledge of both sides, pack and the operators, without any other ears hearing it. She started to slowly stand up, rolling and putting her clothes back in a proper manner. And… we have the eyebot signal at our advantage now. She was blubbering but not stopping to explain. -Aaaand Mason almost wanted to…fuck me in the bushes aaaand we blew up a deathclaw, literally. Gage eyebrow twitched as he heard the part about Mason. 

-Pardon, fucking what? Mason? Fucking horn ass dick. He whispered and shook his head but decided to leave it without any further comment as nothing actually was established between them other than the plan and some occasional unprofessional incidents. 

-Well, i’m glad we have at least the situation back in goddamn control. You…okay boss or do i have to drag your drunk ass back to Fizztop? The thought of him carrying her in his strong big arms made Lucy dream for a moment but the remaining voice of the reason shook her back up. 

-No…u don’t have to Gage. I will tell Lizzy to get me something to sober me up a bit faster and we can meet at the top, plan onward, together, as we were about last evening. That work for ya, big man? She patted his chest and leaned against the table awaiting him to leave but he didn’t. He just stood and stared at her releasing his arms slowly, letting them fall to the side.

  -Ye…about that last evening. I remember you had something pretty fucking specific on your mind Boss and we got disrupted. Her amber eyes raised up as he approached her, grabbing her by hips and lifting up on the table.

 - And Mason..i don’t know what u think of him but he can shove off his rainbow dick somewhere else for now. Now thats what she liked mostly about him. Putting his actions or words right there when she least expected it with no further discussions and sudden wave of confidence that was leaving her snarky comments aside.

-Ya know what…just shut up and come here before something else ruins that shit we have right now. She pulled him by the belt and moved her legs aside allowing him to be right at her.

Lizzie saw them peeking from behind the corner, seeing the flasks dropping to the floor and breaking as they were caught in a wild kiss on her working station but she decided that ruining this moment was not worth some pieces of glass and the view was pretty good. 

 They were back on the upper line.    

[hope-mikaelson]

Hope conjures her patronus  - an untitled Hizzie drabble

I was writing this as part of a massive AU headcanon/RP plot I wrote with @quinntanas. I just wanted to surprise her because this was in my head and she’s asleep. So some of it might not entirely make sense to all of you but I figured I’d post it here if you wanted something about as close to fluff as I’ll ever write. 

All you really gotta know for background is this follows two years after the Triwizard tournament AU she and I came up with. Lizzie and Hope are out of school now training to be aurors after there was a death eater uprising. 

It’s mostly Hope’s POV cuz when we RP I write Hope and Liz writes Lizzie. 

If she’s said the words once, Hope has said them a thousand times; I’m okay, I’ve moved on, I’ve accepted it. I’m fine. But if there’s one universal truth to magic it’s that it never lies. Maybe she could fool the Hogwarts student body when she was there. Maybe she can fool her friends and the ministry and even Alaric now. Hope has always been a skilled puppet master in that sense. She can fool anyone, sometimes even Lizzie, often even herself. But she can’t fool Magic.

It’s been nearly two and a half years since the Triwizard tournament that changed the course of the modern wizarding world. The same tournament that brought Lizzie Saltzman into her life, furious and intense in harsh, hollow blue heels, fresh off the carriage from Beauxbatons. She still trains too often with Alaric, she still sneaks away from the ministry to quiet rooms with her girlfriend in between, sweaty and frustrated only to return just as sweaty but a little less pent up. 

None of them will let the patronus thing go, especially not Lizzie. And Hope can’t blame her. Once upon a time Lizzie Saltzman had famously rescued her from a pack of dementors and neither of them had forgotten it. For entirely different reasons. Hope always remembers that glowing, winged white horse, Lizzie teary eyed on her knees with Hope’s robes clenched in her fists. Lizzie remembers it different. She still wakes up now and then screaming Hope’s name, shaking Hope awake or simply rousing her with the desperation in her sleeping voice. Which is why Hope has promised, as Lizzie asked, to train until she got it. Because Hope refuses to let Lizzie become an auror without her and Lizzie refuses to let Hope follow her into the ‘political hellfire that is the current state of the wizarding world’ without the shield a patronus provides.

At first, she’d done this with Lizzie, practicing over and over into the morning hours to no avail. Hope would take deep breaths and close her eyes and Lizzie would run her hands over her shoulders, with assurances that ranged anywhere from bossy and coaching to gentle and cautious. It always ended with Hope defeated and even more quiet than usual. Or frustrated an explosive. The kind that could only be solved running in the woods and not in the other ways they’d gotten so used to. 

Now, she’s moved on to practicing with Alaric, afraid of the toll it was putting on things with Lizzie. Hope can’t help but be frustrated. Because it should have worked. Lizzie Saltzman is the safest person she knows. All she has to do is come near her to feel the same ease they’d felt their first night together, their sudden unexpected one night stand, vulnerability and Lizzie’s hungry looking gaze, the satisfied grin on her own face the echo of Lizzie’s frustrated ‘I’m going to be really annoyed at you tomorrow.’ All she has to do is stand in the same room as her to remember watching her dance at the Yule ball, the moment Hope knew it wasn’t friendship or loyalty in her chest but something more. All she has to do is feel Lizzie’s hands on her shoulders to remember each of their exchanged vulnerabilities, all of the ways they were the same underneath it all, the first time they’d held hands under their robes, sweet and real despite the impending terror of the world around them, the pleased, proud smile on Lizzie’s face when she’d busted out an entire collection of research because Hope had mentioned maybe tying each other up for fun... one time.

“Wait -- “ 

Hope stops Alaric mid-lecture. He’s encouraging her to think of a memory, any memory. And stubbornly, for years, Hope had heard those words and begged herself to conjure a memory of her father that made her happy. Truly happy. The ministry’s auror therapist had told her that none of those memories would make her truly happy until she’d come to terms with her grief. And Hope had insisted she had but magic knew -- magic always knew. The happiness wasn’t strong enough. All of Hopes memories, for as long as she has ever had them, had always come with sadness. Until she realizes the one thing she’d forgotten. 

And Hope could kick herself it’s so obvious. 

Alaric stops, looking at her, waiting. He can probably see the odd epiphany on her face but doesn’t want to ask. “It’s not in the past,” Hope mumbles, to herself more than Alaric. He pushes with a what but she doesn’t answer. Instead, Hope sets her feet on the ground, she closes her eyes. She starts again, back at the memory of Lizzie’s hands on her shoulders just three nights before, of the room of requirement when they were kids, of that perfect day at Hogsmeade, of every night since then. Each memory comes out of it easily from there. It warms her chest and fills her with the very thing she’s looking for; happiness, so unfamiliar and so much so that Hope nearly cries. Clearing her throat, she covers the choking sound it makes with the shouted words of the spell she’d been too terrified to embrace for years. “Expecto Patronum!”

She shouts it so loudly, and with so much confidence that Hope is sure they can hear it in every other office in the ministry. The image of Lizzie and her patronus plays over it in her head, the sound of the same words in Lizzie’s proud inflection. And Hope is sure her mind is playing tricks on her when she opens her eyes and sees the white light, an image not entirely unlike the one Lizzie had conjured standing in front of a stunned Alaric. It’s a thestral. Hope would know the figure anywhere. But this one isn’t frightening or chilling. This one is white, glowing, warm. Hope stares at it, wide eyed with her wand extended still until it gallops away and out of sight. 

Without thinking, Hope follows it. Not to chase after it per say, but to find the happiness that brought it again. She doesn’t see the beaming look on Alaric’s face or hear him asking where she’s going. Hope just keeps running, out of his office, through the winding halls of the ministry to where Lizzie is holed up in the library, no doubt searching for a solution to this very problem. Hope doesn’t say anything when she all but pulls her out of the chair by her robes, not entirely unlike the thousand times Lizzie had pinned her or pulled her just the same. Hope kisses her still without speaking, against the books on a towering shelf, burying any questions with the desperate intensity of the gesture and her fingers refusing to let up on their grip. Her chest begins to ache, and it isn’t warmth or happiness this time it’s the sheer lack of oxygen and Hope finally releases the kiss but doesn’t let go of Lizzie. “It was you,” she whispers, breathless and heavy but the smile on her face is light and bewildered. 

“Oh no,” Lizzie stares back, wide eyed “it’s finally happened hasn’t it? You’ve lost it. Or was it my dad? Did you hit your head? Did he hit your head? I’ll stage an intervention if you’re going to start cracking up on me. I might only listen to half the things you say but I’d still like your head in one piece.”

Hope doesn’t stop her. She only shakes her head, her own lower lip tucked between her teeth to keep from grinning too much. “No -- no I did it,” she finally answers. “I finally found the right memory, ones that were really happy, ones that worked. They were of you -- It’s you Lizzie.” 

It takes a minute. No snarky, deadpan retort follows. Lizzie’s eyes change like she’s processing. Confusion to understanding to something glossy eyed and choked up. “Of course it was me. How could you not have tried that sooner?” The words are watery, entirely not serious but she has a go at humor anyway and Hope laughs all the same. Hope kisses her again, finally takes her fingers from their grip on Lizzie’s robes and wraps them in her hair instead, pulling their bodies tighter together. Lizzie kisses her back this time, far less caught off guard but still definitely reeling. 

“What was it?”  It’s Lizzie who finally breaks up their moment. 

“Huh?” 

“Your patronus. You’ve seen mine. What was yours? Wait -- no. I’ll guess. A terrier.”

Hope lightly shoves her shoulder with the palm of her hand. “Hilarious. No. It was -- “ she stops, unsure if somehow this ruins the brilliance of it, if Lizzie has eve even seen a thestral. But Hope’s certain she at least knows what they are. “It was a thestral,” she answers a little less proud. 

“No freaking way.” 

“What? Yours is a literal winged horse, Lizzie.”

“You one-upped me,” Lizzie retorts fast and scoffing. “You even had to one up my patronus.”

She’s laughing, thankfully. For a brief second Hope worries it’s not a joke. But their competitive nature is a part of them now, and Lizzie stopped measuring them against one another a long time ago. This is just a game and Hope is happy to play along. Grinning, she kisses Lizzie again, presses her back just a little harder against the bookshelf on her tip toes and closes her eyes, filing this memory away for the next time. 

[larpwhump]

Saving Bambi

@highheelsinblood​ and I RP a couple of OCs... Here is some canon RP that happened in FB messenger. Its a little choppy to read because it was back and forth while we both worked our day-jobs. This is not a masterpiece written by a single writer. Its an Excerpt from a scene. This deserves a bunch of content warnings but its mostly psychological, emotional and physical abuse/torture.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She goes downstairs towards the kitchen, and James can hear soft, whimpering prayers in a woman's voice, begging for mercy. Lizzy walks in behind the cowering Rover. "Grab her, Noah,” she orders, still using his middle name as his first. He stands there, processing He had already eaten. She's so young and innocent. she’s not running or fighting. . .  just praying. Lizzy side eyes him, lets go of his hand, and leans over to whisper, "If you want that collar off in the next month, you'll grab her." James groans audibly and stiffens a moment in thought. "I’m sorry," he whispers to the young lady as he grabs her firmly by her forearms. He lifts her from her crouched position, holding her firm to try to keep her from struggling too much. She's only crying now, James catches the end of her prayer to the Lord Commander as she's pulled to her feet. Lizzy's got a knife out, and approaches them both. "Chin up, darling,” she coos to the freckled woman. “At least you're not being eaten alive. "Eliz. . . ELizabeth. . . ." he stammers as he catches the end of her prayer. “We . . . I. . .  She’s of my faith." He passes truly pathetic and concerned eyes back and forth between the women. Elizabeth just stares at him. "What do I care?" Her hand twitches, and her knife flies across the woman's throat. The brown-haired woman gasps, leans against James before collapsing to the floor, choking on her own blood for air. "NO!" James howls as he sees the blood. "Please! Elizabeth help her! Please! I’ll wear the collar! I'll bleed for her! Let me bleed for her Elizabeth, please!" He lays the girl down so he can apply pressure to her neck wound. He can first aid her with the collar on, but that is the extent of his capacity while this horrible “tourniquet” cuts him off from his divinity. "Please God. . .  I. . . " She's still alive, choking, blood is bubbling up from her wound, she's grabbing at Dire with tiny, desperate fingers, begging with her big doe eyes for help. She can't be older than Hope. "Would you have cared if she was Darwin? Seasons? Faithless?" Lizzy kicks James in the head, hard. James falls sideways with the hard kick, it knocks him into a slight daze, interrupting the aid he was trying to give the girl. However, he just scrambles back up to try and help her again, shaking. "No. I wouldn’t have. . .  I wouldn’t have cared. But I’m a priest, Elizabeth. And a Nation. She’s my responsibility!" "No, she's not." Lizzy grabs him by the edge of the collar and drags him back away from her, out of reach. She can feel the spikes inside the collar twisting inside the muscles of his neck as she pulls. He howls in emotional agony. He tries to claw back to the Rover. "Elizabeth! Please! I’ll bleed for her! Let me save her!” Lizzy pulls on his collar again, and forces him to look up at her, green eyes to empty ones. "You forget who you belong to, pet. Remind me." James scowls at her. His fear turning to anger. He was mad at her. "Does she DESERVE this, Gatekeeper?” "She might,” she says without flinching at his snarls. “You don't know. But she's a witness." He’s still pissed. "Fix. Her." She's grinning down at him as he tries to make demands of her, hovering within headbutt distance of his face. "Are you bartering?" "No. I’m not. Fix her! Now!" It's a flashback? He hasn’t been demanding in the 50 or so weeks he's been there. He's been so subservient, worried about his own hide and religious experience. Worried about Elizabeth and her well being. . .  but not now. He was obviously ready to be a shit. There’s a moment of silence as Bambi continues to struggle to hang onto her life. ". . .  You'll owe me. Are you ready to accept that?" He doesn’t hesitate. "Yes." Lizzy undoes the pin, and releases the collar off him without mercy for his wounds. "Fix her yourself," she says, letting the spiked collar swing in her red fingers. Removing of the collar used to put him under for minutes. But these days it’s turned more into a blinding head pain. His vision is flooded with white hot searing agony. He screams as he’s freed. Blood spurts in tiny streams down his neck chest and back.  He scrambles to the rover, crawling and nearly blinded in his pain. He had lost track of time. James wasn't sure if he had time for first aid. He needed to call her.  His vision and mind slowly returned. Blood dripped from him and onto the young Fallow. He had a feeling if he called, he may not be allowed to pray afterwards. He hoped it wasn't true. "If it is the Lord’s will, you shall be healed" A floodgate's worth of white static flows out of his hands, over her body, her neck. It stitches closed her skin, returns to the color it was. She starts to hyperventilate from the shock of it all, but she's alive. She clings onto his pant legs, crying, thanking God for him. He pulls her to him. Embracing her as she sobs. "I’m sorry, child. The Lord sees you. The Lord loves you." He only gets a moment before Lizzy speaks again. "Come here, child." Lizzy's voice is cold, even. James doesn't let go. He's scared. The Rover doesn't want to let go, but she does stand up, shaking more than a newborn fawn, holding onto James. "You realize how lucky you are?” Elizabeth coos at her as she shakes. “A Priest of your God was here. He's going to suffer greatly for what he did." The Rover hasn't stopped crying. "Now, go upstairs and clean up. If you run, you'll regret it. If you try to hurt me, you'll regret it. You'll have money each week for doing as I say, without question or comment. Understand, child?" ”. . .  Bambi. "Lizzy cocks her head to the side. "Is that your name? Bambi?" "Yes, mi-miss." "Fine. Bambi, go clean. Say goodbye to your Priest." James hugs the young Fallow almost immediately, trying to shield Bambi from Lizzy’s cold rage. "If you don't cause trouble, Bambi, everything will be okay.” She nods, trying to smile for him; there's still so much blood on her. "Move it," Lizzy snaps at James’ back. Bambi reluctantly leaves, going back upstairs, hugging her blood-soaked clothes. Lizzy watches her go, and then turns to look at James. "There's a bonesaw in this kitchen. Find it." He nods, his air of submission returning. He begins by scanning with his eyes. Making sure it's not just sitting out. Then he moves, opening drawers and cabinets. It's not hiding from him - it's tucked in with a bunch of other kitchen knives. It's seen better days, but the blade is still sharp. He imagined all the harm that could be done with a simple saw. He was tired but he feared he’d earned no rest. James grabs the bonesaw, turns, and returns to his captor. She takes it from him, pushing him back towards the table, where remnants of cake and ice cream still rest. Putting her hand on the back of his head, she smashes him into the wood, knocking the food off the table. "Errrhmgh." He moans as he leans to one side. His wings flap out as his knees threaten to give way. Wobbling from pain, his head felt like it was splitting. She pulls his head back, and clamps the collar back around his neck, forcefully. Spikes slide into the meat of his neck, two large ones pinching against his spine. "I don't want you to fix what I'm about to do to you." Lizzy hisses in his ear, and she slams his head on the table again. His eyes widen with fear and confusion as she locks it on again. The previous holes from the spikes still faintly trickling as the flesh is ripped again. He wails from the pain but only for a moment before his head is slammed a second time. James consciousness fluttered as his upper body rested against the table. His vision blurred and darkness crept in from the corners. Once he settles, Lizzy pulls out the bonesaw, and grabs his wing at the base, yanking on it hard, nails digging in. He moved with her force, clinging to the table edge. He lies tense, his forehead resting against the wood."Honestly, you don't really need these if you're going to act in your best interest over your Gatekeeper's." He speaks between sobs as he feels her manhandling his new appendage. "You, you think that’s what happened?" His head feels like it was crammed full of broken glass. It felt like splitting and cutting when he moved his eyes. His vision still wobbling, threatening to make him motion sick. He slams his eyes shut. Trying to ease his symptoms. "You have a different viewpoint?" She starts to saw into the fragile bones of his wings, feeling them crack and splinter under her fingers. His feet begin flail as gives her short yelps of pain and groaning between long bouts of held breath. He speaks but the tone sounds like begging. "You weren't sure if she deserved it! I wanted to protect us all. Please Elizabeth, I just didn’t want you to kill a Fallow! " More shock and pain floods his voice "You’re doing God’s work!" Elizabeth has nothing to say to James as he screams and hollers. Wings are delicate, and she finally starts to rips one away, pulling flesh and muscle with it as she tears the wing free. Long tendons pull free as she yanks on his wing. It feels like the tendril of white fiber was pulled from deep in his back muscles. Horrific pain had him arching and wincing, But she was only half done. The wing flops onto the floor, where Bambi's blood was starting to dry, and Lizzy leans over James to speak in his ear. James' eyes well. He doesn't know if the severing hurts more, or the intent. She was so upset with him. She thought him undeserving of his blessing. Perhaps he was. Mostly he credited this mess to his behavior in regard to Credence, Bambi’s previous employer. If he had just stopped. . .  there would be no crime. no witness. no corpse in the dining room upstairs. "Consider this the beginning of your penance to me," Elizabeth whispers, showing the bloody saw in her hand. His face crunches up in fear and pain as she comes close to his face, He leans his head away, trying not to sob at her. "I'm sorry I killed Creedence, Gatekeeper! I'm Sorry!" He blubbers "I shall repent. Take penance from my flesh!" His voice is hitched and wet. Elizabeth scoffs at him. "Credence was a dead man as soon as he pulled a gun on me. That's not your sin, James." The saw makes one long, agonizingly slow stroke across his other wing. "You're pathetic." The chatter of the saw's teeth against his hollow bone is so different than how it felt on his other bones. He could feel them splintering. When the blade makes a crack in the bone, he can feel the fracture spread up his wing like breaking glass.The crunching and cutting has him squirming. he can’t hold still for her, and James tries to plea instead. "I don't understand Gatekeeper! Please! She's of my faith, I can't abandon her! It's in my blood!” "Some stranger prays to your God and she's suddenly more important than me,” Elizabeth hisses. “I understand, Dire. I fucking understand." She saws again, and again, ripping serrated blade through flesh and bone, tearing it away from his body. His scream sound more like sobs as he curls up, his second wing ripping away slowly. He doesn't know what to do with his hands so he puts one gently against her without looking. Hes feeling her with tense fingers, occasionally griping at clothes, releasing and moving elsewhere to pat at her. "I'm sorry! I understand! I understand now, Gatekeeper!" His head still wanted to explode, the pain pressing hard inside his skull. His back was soaked in his own blood, warm and slippery. "Allow me to correct this!" He's desperate. He doesn't want to spend more days with her upset at him. It makes everything so hard. She had just stopped starving him, but he suspected she would go right back to it considering the events of the day. "I'll, I’ll kill her! I’ll do it for you!" "No you won't. She's gonna stay here now, and I'll work her, and use her as I see fit." Lizzy pauses her work - she's almost done - to grab James by the chin chains and tug. "She's going to see Hell itself and it'll be your fault." He manages to open his eyes and look at her as she yanked his scruffy beard and chin chains. Hes silent - listening. his brows just furrow pathetically. Once she lets go and moves again, he pipes up, "NO PLEASE! I made a mistake, I see now!" Lizzy isn't listening, but the saw goes through one last time, severing his wing completely. It bleeds profusely, and she tosses it away."How about you just lay there for a bit, pet." There's venom in her voice. James whimpers at her, his crimson painting the kitchen red. it pools and drips in long dark strings. Even with his eyes tightly closed, he can feel the room spinning. He didn’t have any strength to argue another word."Yes, Gatekeeper." He replies weakly, trying to relax his shuddering body. He wished for angels. He prayed, to the only entity with more power than the Gatekeeper, to give him mercy. . .  He knew God Wouldn’t. God was firmly in Elizabeth's camp. Lizzy lights a pair of candles, puts them aside, at the edge of James' vision. "You're not entirely grasping the situation here, are you?" James doesn't say anything. He slightly shakes his head. He never really did grasp anything. He couldn't imagine how she felt, he must be so infuriating. "You decided that your duty as a Priest was more important than my safety. That's the situation." She's holding a knife over the flame, letting James watch. He wanted to argue, to articulate his thoughts but he could feel himself giving up . . . what good was it really? He wanted to just lay there and take it, or die, or whatever he deserved. . .  but, If he did, she might think that's how he saw it. That he didn't care about her safety. It wasn't true and she needed to know it. "Elizabeth. that's not how I saw it. . . " he speaks in barely more than a whisper, "You're strong, and brave, this house has so many locks. I’m here. . .  I’m here to protect you if she had returned. . .  She wouldn’t return Elizabeth. She wasn't going to try to save me, she just wants to go hom--" "You don't know that!" Lizzy slams her fist into a puddle of blood on the table, screaming. "Dead people don't tell secrets, if she had gone home and told somebody, how many more do you think would have come back? How many people do you think want to stick a knife in me?!” "Elizabeth. . .  no one cares about us." He blinks at her with wet eyes. She slams her fist on the table again. And again. The knife is in her hands, and she's standing back over James, pushing his collar into his neck even further with her free hand. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" James feels the spikes digging deep as she pushes. Grinding the collar deep and pushing his head into the table. The knife stabs into his wing holes, hot and burning as she goes, screaming and making more holes in him. He tenses wildly as the knife finds him. over and over. Thoughts are melting away from him, stolen by pain and grief. He grips the edges of the table as she plunges the knife into him. The burning of the blade slows the pace of blood-loss, but the flesh is seared. He feels fluid forming in his left lung and he rattles a cough, letting the blood leak from his lips Lizzy screeches and flings the knife away, letting it bang on the wall of the kitchen, and she lets go of James. "Fuck you! You don't know anything!" "I. . . " He coughs again. It's painful in the collar. He buries his face between his own shoulder and the table, his grip still tight on the table. ". . . care, Elizabeth." He doesn't figure she could hear him, he's not even sure he said it out loud. He wept from pain and exhaustion into the table, traces of blood tasted like bitter copper. She doesn't seem to hear him at first, and slams her fist on the table again. "IF YOU CARED YOU WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT!" James flinches as she bangs around, he doesn't jerk much though, he just doesn't have it in him. He lifts his head a bit when she screams. His head wobbles as he tries to look back over his shoulder at her. "When?" He asks with empathy in his tone. Lizzy's grabbing her hair now, getting his blood on it, and curling up in the corner, sliding against the wall of the kitchen, screaming and sobbing. "You left you left you left!" James comes to a slow realization. He lowers his head back down. She had done this a few times before. He hated that when he bit back at her it sent her into these episodes. He didn't hate it for the reasons others might. . .  he hated it because he was suddenly the reason she suffered. She curls up and stays there on the floor, crying into her arm, holding her tattooed wrist so tight she was losing circulation in her hand. "Come back, come back. . .  please. . .  please, I'm sorry." James rests a moment, then slides off the table, looking more like jelly than a person. He can't quite stay standing so he slowly melts to the floor and crawls to her, his hands and knees slipping around in his own blood. Red palm prints mark his path to her. Once he gets there, he reaches out slowly. Trying to ease her to his touch, he goes lightly for her shoulder. She flinches, slaps his hand away in shock, yelling again. "Fuck off!" James flinches significantly as she swats him, but he doesn't run. "Elizabeth, Please. Let me console you." Even though his sense of self-preservation screamed at him to leave her be, he couldn't help it. The pain in him - the empathy- had him reaching out a second time. She didn't shove him off this time, just cried for Joseph over and over, cutting into her wrist with her nails. James takes the opportunity and slides on his butt next to her. He works hard to keep his back and stumps off the wall, they were burning him up. He half wraps himself around her, half pulls her to him. He’s being firm but not squeezing her. Raising his chin Dire prays to God on her behalf. Lizzy's curling up under his arms and crying, asking why Joseph left her, why she was alone, why she was damned. Her knuckles were bruising and bloody. James kisses the top of her head. Her hair always smelled good. Clean. like expensive soap. "As long as I live, Elizabeth. . .  you will never be alone," he whispers into her scalp as he rocks her slightly. "I'm sorry that Joseph is gone. . .  But I won't leave you." hes slow and patient  with her. He's not in a hurry for her to dry her eyes. James just holds her to him. Lizzy clings onto him, burying her head under his chin as she cries for her missing husband. “I'm a mess, I'm awful, I don't know how. . .  I miss him so much. . .  I just. . .  I can't. . . " He nods against her head. "I know. I know." he whispers, content to stay there as long as she needed.

[thisdaynews]

Trump confuses public on gun control stance, but keeps private discussions alive

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/trump-confuses-public-on-gun-control-stance-but-keeps-private-discussions-alive/

Trump confuses public on gun control stance, but keeps private discussions alive

President Donald Trump is considering the political ramifications of any action on gun control, according to several Republicans. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images

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Trump was expected to receive a formal briefing on Tuesday from his staff about possible options before making any decisions, according to a White House official.

It’s a classic Donald Trump move: Keep Washington in suspense.

While Trump’s recent remarks on gun control legislation have been widely interpreted as a step back from an earlier push to expand background checks during gun sales, White House and congressional aides continue to meet privately to discuss possible congressional and executive actions, according to Republicans and Democrats and advocacy groups on both sides. Yet as White House aides solicit ideas, they are not revealing what, if anything, Trump wants to do.

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Trump received a formal briefing on Tuesday from his staff about possible options, according to a White House official.

Part of the calculus for Trump is the fact that any decision will carry significant political ramifications, according to several Republicans. Moving on a bill — any bill — could help win over moderate suburban voters in 2020 that he has lost over the past two years. But doing so could also anger Trump’s fervent base, another critical voting bloc, in the upcoming election.

“I don’t think the president even knows what he is doing on this,” said Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, which opposes new gun restrictions.

Trump was coy on Tuesday.

“We have very, very strong background checks right now,” he told reporters at the White House. “But we have sort of missing areas and areas that don’t complete the whole circle.”

The White House official said Trump is considering changes to background check laws or pushing for so-called red flag laws, which allow authorities to take guns from individuals a judge deems dangerous. He is also looking at other policies that would address domestic terrorism, violent video games and mental health treatment.

A Republican close to the White House who is involved with the discussions said Trump is looking at these options for when Congress returns from its August recess.

The person said it’s “politically achievable” to pass some legislation, perhaps a scaled-back background checks bill or a red flag measure, if Trump backs them. “If he gets behind something, then Republicans will follow,” the person said. “At some point, the president has to signal to the party what he’s for.”

Still, the odds of serious gun control legislation clearing Congress and being signed into law remain slim, especially as a pair of shootings in Texas and Ohio that left 32 people dead, including the perpetrator in Ohio, fade from public memory.

In recent days, many conversations at the White House and on Capitol Hill have focused on the red flag proposal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is working on legislation that would provide grants to states to implement red flag laws. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also has a red flag bill that would give money to states to enact such laws.

“It is a legitimate political argument to make that our background check system should be more extensive, but I don’t understand why that has become the holy grail of action when that has nothing to do with what caused these shootings,” Rubio said in a recent interview.

Red flag legislation is likely the best bet for the GOP to get something through. But gun rights groups andseveral Republican lawmakers— including Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican, and Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota — have expressed concerns about whether targets of the law would have access to proper due process. Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday he did not support a federal red flag law but could get behind Graham’s bill.

“I don’t anticipate we’re going to pass a federal red flag law,” Johnson said. “I think that all that Chairman Graham is talking about is a grant program … which I think would be the appropriate thing — let states decide.”

Many Democrats are still pushing for a background check bill, which might draw limited GOP support. A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said the office has “had ongoing conversations, at the staff level, with the White House regarding background checks both last week and this week.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he spoke to Trump last week and expressed support for working across the aisle to develop a background check bill that can pass the Senate. “Until I hear directly from him, I’m not willing to concede that history repeated itself and that he has walked away from the commitment he made,” Murphy said Tuesday.

Trump said on Tuesday that “we are in very meaningful discussions with the Democrats.”

Some Republicans have accused the Democrats of overreaching by pushing policies they know will never pass, including a ban on assault weapons. This tactic, these Republicans argued, decreases the chances the two sides will come together to pass anything.

When the Democratic-controlled House returns from its own recess, the Judiciary Committee plans to approve a trio of bills: one that would ban high-capacity magazines, another encouraging states to adopt policies to keep firearms from people deemed “a risk to themselves or others” and another to prohibit people convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from possessing guns.

It’s unlikely the GOP-led Senate would take up any of the measures.

“The Democrats’ overreach destroys any kind of process. They’re unrealistic about what’s going to happen,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, which opposes further gun control legislation. “Initially I thought something was going to happen. I’m not sure anymore.”

At the White House, aides have been meeting with several gun rights groups, which are all hesitant about new legislation. The Committee for the Rights to Keep and Bear Arms came in for a meeting, and followed up with written information, the group said. John Velleco, the executive vice president for Gun Owners of America, is also on the books for a meeting later this week, the group said. White House staffers have also been talking to Democratic congressional aides.

Some Republicans have urged Trump to adopt gun control measures in a bid to bolster support among suburban voters that were instrumental to the president’s 2016 win.

“The reflexive political analyses are too focused on this idea that any action on these measures will alienate ‘base’ Republicans and Second Amendment supporters,” said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who worked for 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney. “The data indicates there is a powerful political coalition of suburban voters, women voters, independents and a majority of Republicans that will support pragmatic measures to combat gun violence. So, for Trump and other Republicans, the opportunity is there to appeal to and have an impact with these voters who are crucial to 2020.”

Trump’s campaign is conducting a poll to gauge interest among Republicans for different actions, according to the Republican close to the White House. And a former adviser who remains close to the campaign cautioned that the president won’t make a move until he sees how Republicans react after the publicity surrounding the latest shootings subsides.

Brown, of the National Association for Gun Rights, said Trump will never get support from those who support additional gun control. “If Donald Trump believes he’s getting the votes of left-wing gun control advocates, he’s not listening to good advice,” he said.

Trump has previously expressed support for implementing more gun restrictions, most notably after the February 2018 mass shooting at high school in Parkland, Fla. Trump initially seemed to endorse strengthened background checks, but then backed down after opposition from the National Rifle Association and fellow Republicans.

But the nation’s politics have shifted since then, argued Robin Lloyd, managing director of Giffords, a group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords after she was shot and gravely wounded. Lloyd noted that several House members, including Democrats Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Andy Krug in Minnesota, won swing elections after campaigning on gun control.

“The exit polling [in 2018] show this is a really important issue to voters,” she said. “If he wants to get re-elected, he needs to do something on gun safety.”

Yet the president has remained a cipher on the subject in recent weeks. While at first he said there was a “great appetite” for tightening background checks, he has more recently stressed the fact that the U.S. already has “very strong background checks” and emphasized the need to address mental health issues. Many have noted that the shifting rhetoric came after Trump spoke several times with NRA President Wayne LaPierre.

Some advocates chalk up the apparent waffling to the president’s tendency to parrot the views of the people he spoke to last.

“I don’t want to overread this,” said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, which opposes new gun restrictions. “He likes to make the person he’s speaking to happy so he says what they want to hear.”

Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine contributed to this report.

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