#i’m like really tired and i have a headache from crying but i’m also restless?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

birthdayplant · 4 months ago

Text

Educating people on PMDD because i’m tired of it being perceived as just really bad PMS. I wrote this for my partner, but I think it’s helpful to those with the condition and those with loved ones who struggle with PMDD.

It is unclear what totally causes PMDD, but most say it’s a sensitivity to fluctuating hormones during the luteal phase. When estrogen dips and progesterone rises, it fucks with your serotonin levels. PMDD can also caused by hormonal imbalances. There is also a history of having trauma or CPTSD when one has this illness. The condition is also known to worsen over time until you reach menopause.

You know how some people drink alcohol and become happy while others become angry and depressed? That’s how you can perceive how one reacts to their progesterone levels with this disorder; like a negative manifestation of alcohol consumption. It’s almost as if you have an allergic reaction to your hormones when they drastically fluctuate.

“Hormones not only control your body and everything you do and feel, they are everything you do and feel. A Hormone makes you feel happy or sad, accomplished or motivated, affectionate, horny, competitive, hungry or full. We’re a walking sack of chemical reactions that appears to be sentient.”

There are 3 phases of the menstrual cycle: the follicular phase, ovulatory phase, and luteal phase. The luteal phase (last phase) of the menstrual cycle is usually 12–14 days long, but can also be longer lasting up to 17 days. The luteal phase of your menstrual cycle occurs right after ovulation and ends when you get your period. During the luteal phase, serotonin levels drop changing the brain’s neurocircuit that affects emotional and cognitive functioning.

Everyone gets PMS right before their period. I understand why people believe PMDD to be a “more intensive” PMS, but the major difference is PMDD is a long-term Chronic illness; it’s disabling.

PMDD affects your ability to normally function in your relationships, at work and in your home. PMDD completely alters your ability to function as you normally would outside of this cycle.

The symptoms usually occur in the week prior to menstruation, but for me personally, I experience these symptoms for at least 10-12 days; practically during my entire luteal phase. PMDD symptoms are the worst when your progesterone levels are the highest.

Here is a very long list of symptoms that can manifest in someone who struggles with PMDD

Common physical symptoms:

-Abdominal bloating

-Breast tenderness or swelling

-Headaches

-Nausea

-Feeling weak

-Abdominal cramps and pain

-Weight gain

-Clumsiness

-Body discomfort

-Being more jittery/restless

-Binge eating

-Sleep dysregulation

-Swelling of the hands or feet

-Joint or muscle pain

-Tension and soreness in body

Common emotional/mental symptoms:

-Angry outbursts/feelings of intense hatred

-Anxiety

-Confusion

-Depression

-Dysphoria

-Feeling overwhelmed/out of control

-Libidinal (sex drive) changes

-Mood swings

-Decreased concentration

-Irritability

-Appetite changes

-Restlessness

-Lack of interest in usual activities

-Feelings of hopelessness

-Social withdrawal

-Overthinking

-Paranoia

-Stress

-Crying spells

-Repetitive suicidal thoughts/suicidal ideation

-Panic attacks

-Lashing out on people/objects

-Lack of concentration

-Insomnia

-Shameful feelings

-Reactivity (feeling more sensitive than usual and taking things more personally)

-Thoughts that everyone hates you or wants you dead

-Brain fog

-Thoughts of ending things/impaired decision making (relationships, life, jobs, etc.)

Prevalence rates for lifetime suicidal ideation in people with PMDD were 45.8% and 37.4%, compared with 17.3% and 13.3% for people without PMDD. Many have attempted suicide or had a plan to get away from the debilitating illness.

How can I help a loved one who struggles with PMDD?

PMDD not only affects the person with the condition, but it also affects the people around them, especially their loved ones. One of the worst parts about PMDD is the sense of shame that’s felt when one realizes that they were short/rude to a loved one who didn’t deserve it. Many people don’t feel like themselves during their PMDD episodes as it can bring out the worst parts of yourself.

-If a loved one is going through an episode and does something you don’t like, talk compassionately to them about what hurt you and set a boundary: It’s very common for those with this condition to act unconsciously, have outbursts and disagreements during an episode. If you point your finger at them with frustration, they’ll either get angry and lash out even more or feel awful and internalize what you said due to the lack of awareness. Hold the person accountable, but remember that they aren’t intentionally meaning to frustrate you.

-Remind yourself AND your loved one that they’re having an episode: It can feel like your loved one is creating tension in the relationship as they may frequently express negative feelings. You may internalize this thinking that you’ve done something and take it personally, but most likely you haven’t and they’re just incredibly sensitive and vulnerable at this time. When one is going through an episode, their serotonin levels are quite literally at their lowest during their luteal phase. By reminding yourself that this is just an episode and having understanding that your partner is not doing this out of ill-intent makes you less hard on yourself and by reminding your partner that they’re experiencing an episode helps them be less hard on themselves and makes them more mindful as to how they may be functioning within the relationship.

-Take care of your loved one: Offer things that may ease their symptoms.

-Show your loved one some extra tender love and care: During this time your loved one’s view of themself will be at their lowest. Show them you love them and reassure them that they’re a good person and deserve to be loved.

-Help them reframe their mind and give them different perspectives: Sometimes it’s very hard for people with PMDD to see things differently. When they’re having a rough day during their episode they may not know how of pull themselves out of negative feelings/a negative mindset. They can also deal with false/negative beliefs, so it’s very helpful to offer different perspectives for them to cope better.

-Do things to make their lives easier during this time (ex. Cleaning apartment, doing dishes, doing small things you yourself can do (like grabbing the remote, putting something away, closing the door, etc.) rather than asking them to).

-Practice patience

-If you are dating someone with PMDD it’s very helpful to come up with a plan for the duration of your partner’s episode.

-If a loved one threatens to kill themselves or is acting off, please take it seriously.

If anyone who struggles with PMDD feel free to message me! You’re not overreacting or being too much; you’re living with an incredibly debilitating condition that alters your ability to self-regulate. I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions :)

#pmdd #premenstrual dysphoric disorder

6 notes · View notes

writersblog20 · 3 years ago

Text

Teamwork

Chris Evans x reader

Summary: Once you catch a nasty cold, Chris surprise you with coming home only to get sick as well. FLUFF

Warnings: mention of covid, having a cold, mention of slight panic, painkillers and a whole bunch of fluff

Words: 2,8k

A/N: so I wrote a lot of sick fics but now I have a cold and I found out I haven't wrote a sick story where Chris takes care of the reader and that’s just all I want right now….

Teamwork

It started on Sunday with your throat and the coughing. You didn’t think much of it until the next day when your voice was almost gone and raspy and the coughing started more. You quickly took 2 covid tests but both came out negative but the symptoms got worse. You had a cold and the reason it was this bad was because you haven’t had a cold in over two years thanks to covid and staying in.

Chris was filming for his new movie Ghosted and was gone for over two months now and you missed him like crazy. He called you awake since you had no energy left to do anything. You picked up the phone and he was facetiming you. “Ah shit, not now.” you knew you looked like shit but picked up anyway.

“Hey baby girl!” Chris sounded exciting and full of energy, making you jealous at the moment but it stopped as soon as he saw you. “Sweetheart? What’s wrong?” he asked you worried. “Just a bad cold. I’ll survive.” You told him with your raspy voice. Talking felt like shit. Forget the thorns in your throat and make it sandpaper that scrapes on the sides of your throat every time you swallowed or talked.

“Sweetheart why didn’t you tell me?” He asked you softly, his faced laced with sympathy. “I wanted to, really but I’m so tired and kept falling asleep.” You told him. “But don’t worry, it’s not covid, took two tests and both came out negative.” You told him and you saw a little bit of relief wash over him. You both talked a little before you hang up to get some sleep. The words of you telling Chris how much you miss him got stuck in his head. He wanted nothing more than to come home right now and take care of you. He walked over to the producers to rearrange something.

You placed your phone next to you again and thought about taking a quick shower but the feeling of your aching muscles made you think twice. You got out anyway but merely for the painkillers and jumped very, very, quickly underneath the shower and got back into bed. You checked your temperature and you had a fever as well. You sniffed your nose but to no avail. You turned on the tv and watched some movies but fell asleep again.

You woke up after a while, completely unaware of the time feeling utterly confused because of the fever. You looked on your phone, only to realize that it was the middle of the night and you only slept for about two hours so you decided on another movie.

One movie turned into another and before you knew it, the sun came up already. You felt very frustrated about your inability of falling asleep this night. You got restless as well, tossing and turning in the bed out of utter frustration but also unable to get out of bed.

After a while of more frustration, you decided to go downstairs and make some tea for yourself. You walked through Chris’s house and it felt just very empty without him here. You got the honey along with some lemon tea and tissues and walked upstairs again.

Now there was a headache because of so much slime in your head and every step or movement you made, made you cringe in pain. You knew this was only the beginning but at least hoped on some sleep. You were also aware of the fact that you probably had to go to the store today and the thought alone made you already cry in misery. You drank your tea and surprisingly fell asleep. Not that it was a peaceful sleep. You were indeed sleeping but also half awake but also had nightmares, if that makes sense. You felt utterly confused when you woke up from some sounds, coming from the steps.

You couldn’t comprehend what was happening and even your sight was blurry at this point. You saw someone come in and even though your confusion, you could recognize Chris from anywhere. “Chris?” You tried to ask but your voice was almost entirely gone. The only thing you could do was whisper. “Hey honey, it’s okay. I’m here now to take care of you.” he told you softly as he sat on the edge of the bed next to you. He brushed some hairs from your face and felt how hot your forehead felt.

“When was the last time you had some painkillers sweetheart?” you looked around, still a little confused. “ehh I think last night. But how are you here? Aren’t you suppose to…” Chris shushed you. “Yes but I rearranged something. I wanted to be with you sweetheart.” You smiled softly “Thank you. I love you.” Chris smiled warmly at you “I love you too honey. Now let’s get you better yeah?” you nodded but cringed again at the shooting pain from your brain.

“Have you eaten anything yet?” he asked you “No, not yet. It hurts too much.” Chris nodded “Okay sweetheart, I’ll be right back stay here.” He told you and kissed your forehead before going downstairs. Chris came back fast upstairs or time was just going a little too fast for you at the moment, you couldn’t decide. He held a cup of tea, you presumed and some fresh fruit in a bowl with some other stuff.

You smiled at the font memory that your mom always got you a bowl of fresh fruit as well when you were sick. Chris sat down on the bed again as he previously did. “I went to the store before I got home.” He told you as he placed the vaporub on the bed side next to you and some other things for your throat and new painkillers. You pricked the fresh fruit and started to eat it even though you couldn’t taste anything at the moment because your nose was closed off.

Chris checked your fever and nodded with a frown. Your fever was pretty high right now and he had to keep a close eye on it. “Why don’t you take a shower after this and I’ll clean the bed so it’s nicer to lay in.” he suggested and you agreed. You felt yourself becoming emotional at how soft and gentle he was. But it was mostly because you felt so miserable right now.

After you drank your tea, ate the fruit and took the painkillers, Chris helped you stand up but that movement caused a shooting pain in your head again and you held your head with your hand. Chris carefully pulled you against him and softly rubbed over your head, placing kisses on it as well. “I’m sorry baby” he apologized.

He helped you in the bathroom with undressing because everything just ached too much right now. Chris put the shower on so it would be at the right temperature when you would get in.

You stepped underneath the shower and Chris quickly changed the sheets on the bed and helped you get out of the shower. He got the vaporub wit him and put some on your chest, throat, head and temples before placing a big shirt over your head that was from Chris. “let’s get you back into bed sweetheart.” He told you softly.

You crawled back into bed before you went into a fit of coughs. Chris rubbed your back before getting some candy for your throat after your fit had calmed down. “Here take this is good for your throat” he told you as you popped a couple in your mouth. “I’ll make some new tea, get comfy. The painkillers should work anytime now.” He told you as he kissed the top of your head.

Chris tucked you more into the covers before walking downstairs. You started to feel more sleepy because of the painkillers so you closed your eyes for a moment until Chris came back with the tea.

You heard Chris coming back so you opened your eyes and sat up straight. He placed the tea on your bedside and got out of his own clothes before stopping into the bed next to you. He gave you the tv remote and opened his arms for you to lay in. You chose something and rested your head on his chest and closed your eyes again. You finally felt safe again, back into Chris’s arms. He softly played with your hair and massaged your head with his fingertips which relaxed you to the core and fell asleep.

~time skip~

You woke up after a while once again confused. You looked around but didn’t see Chris and you started to panic that you might’ve dreamed all of it and Chris never really got home. You sat up straight and looked panicky around, tears willing up in your eyes as the empty feeling got to you.

You missed Chris more than you’ve ever had. It was a feeling of homesickness but in this case for a person. Before you could cry you heard someone coming up the stairs and saw Chris. He was holding a tray and smiled at you but as soon as he saw your expression, he quickly put the tray down. “Hey sweetheart, what’s going on?” He asked you, wiping your tears softly away with his thumb. “I thought that I dreamed it all and you weren’t really here.” He looked at you sadly.

“I’m here, I’m here now honey. I’m not going anywhere, I promise you.” He told you and placed a kiss on your lips but you quickly got away, making him frown. “What I can’t kiss my own girl right now?” he asked you a bit jokingly. You chuckled “No! Not now. You’ll be sick too!” this time it was Chris’s turn to chuckle. “I'll survive, but what I won’t survive is not kissing my own girl!” he told you playfully as he laid down to make it more dramatic with a hand over his heart. You laughed, which made Chris smile proudly.

You stared into his eyes as he smiled warmly and lovingly at you. “I've really missed you a lot.” You told him. He placed his hand over your cheek and pulled you down for a proper kiss “I’ve really missed you too baby girl.” He told you after the kiss.

He got up and picked up the tray and took a seat next to you. “I made you some chicken soup.” You smiled at him “thank you.” You both ate while watching another movie.

Once you finished the soup, you got another coughing fit. Chris softly rubbed your back and waited for it to be over. Once you calmed down, Chris got the tray and took it downstairs and came back with ice cream for your throat and some new medication.

After the ice cream you took the meds and another candy before lading down again. Your head resting on his chest while his fingers softly went over your back, calming you a bit. Your legs over his while he wrapped you tightly in his arms. You fell asleep again, this time more peaceful.

~time skip~

You woke up from the sun shining through the curtains. You blinked a couple of times before turning around towards Chris. You still felt extremely horrible but at least Chris was with you. Chris noticed your sudden movements and tossed a little before opening his eyes, followed by a cough. “ah shit” he told you with a raspy voice, familiar to yours.

“I told you not to kiss me” you chuckled as he groaned “yeah, yeah I know.” He chuckled as well. He turned his face towards you and smiled lovingly “good morning sweetheart, feeling a bit better?” He asked you. “Not yet really but at least I’ve got you.” You smiled softly. “you’ve always got me sweetheart” he softly placed his lips on yours.

After he pulled back you both got out of bed for a minute to freshen up and get some tea for you and coffee for Chris. You both stood in the kitchen when Chris started coughing. He started to look pale as well with a slight blush on his cheek. You frowned and walked over to him and softly placed your hand on his forehead. He leaned into your touch. He was burning up as well. “I think you’re going to be just as sick as me baby.” You told him apologetic. He smiled tiredly at you “At least we have each other.” He told you, making you smile sympathetically “we’ll always have each other babe.” He kissed you in response. “At least I can kiss you more now.” You chuckled “yeah let’s go back to bed Romeo”

You walked back upstairs while Chris’s condition worsened just as fast as it did with you. You crawled into bed and was glad you both took some medication and fruit before you went back to bed. Chris crawled in next to you and sniffed his nose as well. You put some Disney movie on and this time Chris laid down on your chest while you went with your hands through his hair and softly played with it, relaxing him.

“I’m glad I came home yesterday. If you felt the way I do, I can’t imagine being alone.” You chuckled softly “yeah, I’m glad you did. I felt miserable, still do though but at least we’re together.” He snuggled more against you and held tightly onto you.

That whole week exited of you and Chris in bed, mostly sleeping or snuggling and comforting each other while the other had a coughing fit. Or both having a fit at the same time. It was teamwork really. First you would get some soup then he would. It was really taking turns at this point. Even asked Scott to get you both groceries for you.

Once Scott walked into the bedroom to check up on you guys. He stared at the two of you and had to hold back a chuckle. Not because he found it funny but more at how you both looked, sitting next to each other in utter misery.

“yeah you keep on laughing Scott.” Chris spat at him. “I’m sorry guys, I didn’t mean to but it was just the expression you both had. You both look like shit.” Chris rolled his eyes “yeah feel like it too. Thank you though for getting us groceries.” Scott waved it off. “Alright you two, let’s get you out of bed and I’ll refresh the bed for the two of you. Oh and take a shower!”

You both groaned as you got up. “Just keep some distance from me. I don’t want to feel like an 80 year old when I get out of my bed” he waved you out of the bedroom “Thank you Scott” you told him gratefully and he smiled “You’re welcome sweetie, that’s what family is for and your my favorite” he told you the last part whispering, making you chuckle. Normally Chris would have a comeback but he was too tired to do so.

You both got out of your clothes and stepped underneath the shower. You both took turns to stand directly underneath the shower head but at one point you got too tired and rested your body against Chris while he wrapped his arms around you.

After the shower you both felt extremely tired and out of energy. Luckily Scott was already done with the sheets and you both crawled in again with some clean shirts. Scott looked sympathetically at the two of you. “I’ll make some tea for the two of you, get some painkillers and then you both need to get some sleep again.” He told the two of you. “thank you Scott, I really appreciate it!” Chris told him. “nah don’t mention it but you’re welcome”

Scott came back with the tea in no time. “Call me if you need anything okay? I don’t live far and I don’t mind” he told the two of you. “I’ll give you a hug when I’m better” you told him, making him chuckle “that’s alright. Get better soon you two okay?”

you waved Scott out and laid back down again, staring at each other lovingly. “we really are a team.” You smiled “yeah we are. I love you” Chris smiled as well “I love you too sweetheart” he gave you a quick kiss and pulled you closer, tucking your head underneath your chin and held you closely to his body before you both fell asleep.

You both still weren’t better but at least you had each other for comfort and that was all you could’ve asked for.

Taglist: @rogersdrysdalebarber @patzammit

285 notes · View notes

mehbzz · 4 years ago

Text

This is an attempt at some A/B/O fanfic for the chocobros, highly completely inspired by @weebsinstash They have an isekai reader dropped into A/B/O Insomnia AU that is just amazing and I love it. Actually I love all their thirst ideas! If you like yandere/abo/any other darkcontent stuff, I highly recommend their blog. Their Hazbin Hotel Valentino stuff recently has been gold. I’m not a very good writer, but this fantasy has been stuck in my brain for weeks, so I had a go! It’s at a point where the bros have gone for gently pushing over reader’s boundaries to pretty much trampling all over them. It ends abruptly because I suck at endings! Female reader, 3some, A/B/O, smutty, control issues, dubcon (reader is going into like a pre-heat) and yandere/possessive vibes.

You had been starving for the past 2 days. Despite Ignis giving you extra portions at dinner you still felt like you hadn’t eaten. The hunger pains and the occasional cramps had you more irritable than normal, snapping at the boys more often than not. The secret conversations and the glances when they thought you weren’t looking along with their smothering attention was also not helping your mood. Their attention was overwhelming at the best of times but the past few weeks had almost been unbearable. You still didn’t fully understand the implications and physical changes you were going through now that your status as an omega had been discovered, you just knew you hated it. Ignis was doing his best to explain things to you, he had spent more time talking with the doctor than you had, it had been a relief when he stepped in and offered to be your proxy when the explanations and questions had started getting too much.

The way the boys were treating you had changed, subtly at first but lately it was like living with babysitters 24/7. The constant physical contact had been hard to get used to, but now was even worse. Although to Noctis’ and Prompto’s credit they had backed off a little recently. All in all you were having a miserable few days. You knew deep down they were trying to help you, that this was, as they kept telling you, normal for them, but you were tired, hungry and frustrated. It was hard to think straight, and you wanted. That was the most frustrating thing, a deep gnawing want in your gut that you didn’t understand. You didn’t know what you wanted. Just that the fact you didn’t have it made you feel like crying.

You needed to sleep. You sighed; closing your eyes, as soon as you did you regretted it. With your eyes closed your senses focused on the scents swirling and mixing around your head, threatening to give you a headache. You had learnt to tell them apart, Noctis a lemony and sweet scent that reminded you of soda, and Prompto a soft floral scent. Ignis and Gladio seemed to fluctuate and mould together, a heady mix of lime, lilies and wood smoke, it was harder to distinguish them beyond the fact that they smelled really good. Ignis had retired to the tent a while ago and Noctis and Prompto were obviously going to be up for a while longer with the way they were still animatedly bickering over some handheld game Noct was playing. You could feel Gladio watching you intently from his chair on the opposite side of the small bonfire as you stood and made your way to the tent.

The t-shirt Gladio had lent you reached almost to your knees, and made a good nightshirt. Clothes were another thing that had made your list of irritations recently. Ignis had explained to you before that finding clothes to fit you while they were out was difficult and that all 4 of them were happy to lend you things until you returned to Insomnia, and you were grateful for that. However it was just another thing that you couldn’t choose for yourself, another thing the boys had somehow gained control of.

You curl up behind Ignis and are not surprised when Gladio joins you not long after. You hear him remove his jacket and lay down behind you. “You ok?” His question doesn’t shock you, despite your annoyance with the situation, you couldn’t deny the fact that Gladio and Ignis tried very hard to make sure you were looked after and comfortable even if the way they did it was overbearing at times. The urge to cry returns and you shake your head, not trusting yourself to speak. He sighs and scoots closer wrapping his arm lightly around your waist. “You’ll be ok” he whispers and despite your whirling emotions, you believe him, relaxing into his hold. “I got you”

It’s cosy, with Gladio wrapped around you and Ignis napping in front of you, their scents invading your lungs, lulling you into a calm contented mood. Even the low distant chatter from Noctis and Prompto is helping sooth you. For a while you just lay there, snug in Gladio’s arms, not quite dozing as his thumb strokes softly along the inside of your wrist. You can’t quite remember why you were so irritated before, although the unnamed want is still there, fizzing in your veins with every swirl of Gladio’s thumb, making you feel restless.

The warmth of his bare chest seeps through your thin nightshirt, it’s comforting and against your better judgement you feel yourself arching backwards slightly in to his touch. “You smell good” you murmur head tilting backward to run your nose lightly against his jaw. Gladio tenses and you think you have done something wrong, crossed one of those alpha/omega lines that they are always trying to teach you about, before he relaxes around you, arm curling tighter around your waist. “So do you baby” he nuzzles into the side of your neck. Your head lolls back; turning your face towards him you take a deep breath, inhaling his scent. He rumbles in response, a low deep vibration that sends a surprising shiver of arousal through you. He liked that. For some reason you like that, and without thinking you run your nails gently up his forearm as you inhale again.

He shifts closer and lets you nuzzle against his cheek. Another low rumble of approval and you realize with a start that you can feel his cock hard and heavy against the back of your thigh. He doesn’t give you chance to move before he is tilting your head further to the side so he can run his tongue runs across your neck inhaling you in return as he does. You squirm, trying to resist the urge to grind back against him; a sudden rush of panic that this was suddenly escalating way too fast. You open your mouth to protest but he shushes you, another calming rumble from deep in his chest, his hand spreading under your shirt across your ribs to tug you flush against him “Relax Omega,” he presses soft fluttery kisses over the shell of your ear “Let your alpha take care of you”. You hate that, hate it when they call you Omega instead of your name but this time, with Gladio pressed against you, his voice low and gravelly in your ear, it has you biting back a moan and your pussy clenching hard around nothing. “You like that? Being my omega?” You surprise yourself with the annoyed growl that escapes your throat at the title again but it quickly dissolves into a whimper when Gladio nips hard at the lobe of your ear in retaliation. “Behave”. The command tugs at something in your chest but all it does it make you press your thighs together, desperately trying to find some relief to the growing ache in your core. You are rapidly losing control of your thoughts, the part of you that had been wilfully pushing back against their attentions succumbing to the pheromones and desire filling the tent. You’re embarrassingly wet; you can feel it soaking through your panties to trickle down your thighs. Gladio’s next inhale has his breath hitching and a low growl escaping the back of his throat, sending another wave of desire through you and another trickle of wetness down your thighs. “Knew it,” he mutters against your neck “knew it was your heat”. You’re not sure what he means but you don’t care, you just need him to touch you. His hand rests against your abdomen, stroking the band of your panties but going no further despite the pleas falling from your lips. Gladio is moving slowly, grinding his cock gently against you. His breathing is fast and shallow against your neck and his kisses are more teeth, scraping gently over the crook of your neck. You moan quietly, trying your hardest to be quiet, to not disturb Ignis sleeping in front of you. “Say it baby, ask you alpha to touch you” “please” you say it immediately, a desperate whine but he doesn’t move. “Please, Alpha” he repeats, finger dipping ever so slowly beneath the waistband.

“Gladio” you respond, this time your growl is louder and the irritation in your tone obvious, your frustration getting the better of you He chuckles at your attempt at dominance, “I knew you’d be a brat” he nips hard again on your ear “going to enjoy working that out of you later” he hums as he slides his hand under the waistband of your panties to stroke gently over your clit. “I’ll be lenient this time” The needy whine that escapes you when he touches you is embarrassingly loud, and you barely register the way Ignis’ shoulders tense at the sound, his scent growing stronger around you, mixing with Gladio’s until you feel like you are drowning in them. “We should stop, I don’t…” your words are breathless, brain feeling sluggish but he doesn’t stop. “Ig…” your words cut off with a hiss as Gladio presses hard against your clit, “He won’t mind baby, he likes to watch”

“Fuck,” he hisses, “you’re so wet for me” Letting his fingers swirl down teasing your entrance before sliding out of your panties completely to tug them further down your thighs. “Off” it’s another command, more a growl than a word and you comply instantly, only just kicking them off round your ankle before he is hooking your leg over his calf and his fingers are back against your clit. His teeth rake across the sensitive skin of your neck and the sudden desire to have him closer has you tilting your head further to the side, giving him more access. The sharp edges of his teeth press harder at your skin and you can’t stop the plea for more that escapes you. You’re not even sure what it is you are asking for, only that you want it so badly it hurts.

“Gladiolus” The tone is sharp, reprimanding and you shrink a little at hearing it, even though you know it’s not directed at you. Gladio huffs but moves away from your neck with a petulant “what?” Ignis scent is strong, his eyes almost completely black as his gaze follows the line of Gladio’s arm down to where it rests between your thighs. You shiver in response, nipples hardening and peaking through your t-shirt, your body responding to the alpha in front of you. “She’s going into heat,” Gladio says, his fingers not stopping the soft little circles around your clit. “She needs us” Ignis’ eyes slide up over your face before his gaze returns between your legs. He takes a long inhale, breathing in your scent as he watches Gladio stroke you.

Ignis shifts closer, his warm hand reaching out to rest on your hip before sliding up under your t-shirt to cup your breast, his thumb gently caressing over your nipple. “Is that right darling? You need us? You want your alphas to take care of you?” His hand slowly sliding back down your body to join Gladio’s between your thighs and inhales again “You smell divine, darling. So wet and desperate for us.” His finger follows Gladio’s as they both swirl gently around your clit before he strokes through your folds to gently push inside you. The groan that escapes him has you clenching hard around him “So tight darling, you would take our cocks so well”. Your moan is eclipsed by Gladio’s as his hips start to rock against you again. “Would you like that?” Ignis continues, “Letting us knot you darling? Letting us fill you with our cum?” He sighs “Letting us breed you?” Gladio moans loud against your ear at that and grinds his hips harder against you. You see Ignis’ lips twitch slightly in a barely concealed smile and you wonder briefly if the dirty talk is aimed at you or Gladio before Ignis slips another finger inside you and you momentarily forget how to breathe. Between Ignis’ and Gladio’s expert touches you feel yourself racing quickly towards your peak. Ignis’ gaze keeps flicking between watching your face and back down between your legs, the clear approval on his face as you fuck yourself on his fingers makes you feel incredibly proud. “Will you cum for us?” he breathes out, sliding closer to brush his lips over yours as he speaks. You open your mouth to reply but instead Ignis kisses you hard, his tongue slipping into your mouth as his fingers flex and stroke inside you. You’re so close. Everything about them is overwhelming, sandwiched between them their presence smothers every thought except the desperate need to cum. Ignis’ fingers press deep, coaxing you towards orgasm in perfect time with Gladio’s rough caress across your clit. You feel drunk on their pheromones, you know full well Noctis and Prompto can hear everything perfectly with their enhanced hearing, from the way you are shamelessly grinding back against Gladio’s cock to the lurid wet sounds between your legs as you fuck yourself on Ignis’ fingers, but you don’t care. “Cum for us omega” Ignis repeats, sounding breathless but otherwise his usual calm collected self. He curls a third finger inside you, and it's almost too much, but the painful stretch pushes you closer to orgasm. Gladio’s moans and growls against your ear are almost as loud as yours. He’s rutting against you now, forcing Ignis’ fingers deeper with each rough thrust against your ass. “Cum for your alphas baby” The command in his voice is undeniable, so you do. Back arching, your orgasm flooding through you so hard you see stars. Clenching and convulsing hard around Ignis fingers you clutch at his shoulders, a desperate need to anchor yourself as his fingers fuck you through the aftershocks. You want him closer, you need him closer. Burying your face into the side of his neck, the guttural moan that escapes him as you dig your teeth into his shoulder almost pushing you over the edge again. Gladio’s hand leaves your clit to grip harshly over your breast, a grip you know is going to leave bruises, and you distantly think it would hurt if you weren’t so lost in your post orgasm haze. He ruts against you hard once before he growls loud, hips stuttering as he cums in his pants, body flush against yours, mumbled praises of good girl, good omega whispered into your hair as he slowly comes down from his high. Ignis brushes his lips over yours in a gentle kiss before he slides his fingers from your pussy with a quiet groan. “Lemme taste” Gladio’s voice is strained, his words slightly slurred, and you feel a fresh wave of arousal as you watch Gladio suck Ignis’ fingers in to his mouth with a greedy moan. You feel the shudder from Ignis as Gladio swirls his tongue around Ignis’ slick coated fingers. “You taste so good baby,” he groans as your taste floods across his tongue, “can’t wait to taste you properly”

The whine that escapes your throat as Gladio finally pulls away has him grinning, “Relax baby, I’ll be right back. Need to grab something to clean up.” He pushes you forward towards Ignis before standing and slipping out of the tent.

“It’s ok darling, I’ve got you.” coos Ignis. He looks at you and gently brushes a lock of hair away from your face, a soft smile forming on his lips. “You did so well,” he presses a kiss to your forehead, “Such a good little omega for us.” You can’t find it in yourself to be annoyed by the title this time. You feel exhausted and the praise feels good. You snuggle closer, a happy purr involuntarily slipping out of your chest that has Ignis responding to in kind. He kisses your shoulder, lips trailing up over your neck before he shifts to lie back down on the sleeping bag, pulling you to rest against his chest. The whispered and murmured praises of how proud he is of you, and how they will look after you when your heat properly hits sift lazily through your mind, the word ‘claim’ makes something in your chest leap a little with a mixture of dread and excitement, but you’re too lost in your hazy exhausted state to really understand what Ignis is saying. You feel good, deliciously sore, your breast still aching slightly from Gladio’s grip but you feel happy. “Is she purring??” You can hear the surprise in Gladio’s voice when he returns, but you can’t find the energy to respond. Already half asleep the effort needed to correct him is too much. People don’t purr, you can’t purr. However the warmth radiating of Gladio as he sits back down behind you coaxes a sleepy happy little chirp from you and you feel rather than hear Ignis’ slight chuckle. “Where’d she bite?” Gladio’s voice is quiet, you struggle to hear it and although you feel Ignis chest rumble with his reply you can’t make out the words. Did you hurt him? “pity, would’ve been easier,” he pauses, “she won’t be happy about this tomorrow, y’ know” Gladio’s voice is a quiet, odd mixture of guilty and happy but Ignis doesn’t reply beyond a low hum of acknowledgment and the slow beat of his heart as he falls asleep lulls you gently into a doze. That annoying little purr slips from your chest again in satisfaction. “You’re cute when you purr omega” Gladio’s voice is smug in your ear and your sleepy annoyed growl in response only makes him laugh quietly. “Brat” He whispers, pressing a gentle kiss to your ear before he finally settles down behind you, arm sliding back around your waist.

#nsft #chocobros #ffxv ignis #gladiolus amicitia #ignis x reader #gladiolus x reader #gladio #ffxv gladio #abo au #a/b/o universe #alpha #omega #Female reader #yandere #weebsinstash

199 notes · View notes

2-cute-4-school · 4 years ago

Text

NCT Dream reaction to you getting your wisdom teeth removed

Mark

babysitting the dreamies is part of his daily job so he thinks ‘how hard can it be to take care of you for a few hours pffft’

he’s never regretted underestimating you so bad in his entire life ◑.◑

you’re not just a nightmare

you’re THE ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE

he was so embarrassed when he had to gently drag you out of the dentist’s office while you were crying cuz

“mY TOOTH!! mark, i lost my tooth, what am i gonna do?!?! i should have put a leash on it, i knew it!!!! now it’s gone and it’s all my fault!!!!” (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )

*ugly sobbing* *mark awkwardly patting your back while pulling you away from the scrutinizing glares of a few karens in the waiting room*

“mark. i didn’t even get to name it!!!”

poor bby cheetah mark is SO lost

“baby, hey, don’t cry! we’ll uh…. i’ll get you a new one!” ヾ(ﾟДﾟ;ヾ)

you look up with your glassy eyes and your right cheek chubbier than your left from the cotton lodged where your tooth used to be, your bottom lip trembling oh so cutely

and mark just…stops functioning for a moment because

‘HOW CAN ANYONE BE SO CUTE BUT SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS AT THE SAME TIME IT’S NOT FAIR !!??!?!?’

“ rweally? would you really do that for me, markie?” (◞‸◟；)

“ASFKSFRDACGCS YES LOML ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING JUST SAY THE WORD AND I’LL BRING THE MOON TO YOUR FEET YOU PRECIOUS LIL BABY” ⊂（♡⌂♡）⊃

and he still insists he’s not 120% whipped for you can you believe it

he ends up piggybacking you all the way back home because your giggles were just too cute for him to resist so he can’t even get tired with how happy he is to witness you so carefree and joyful

and his heart just melts when you leave a huuuge kith with the loudest *MWAH* ever on his cheek and you nuzzle your nose in the crook of his neck that’s like the fatal combination of cute acts ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)

in conclusion : this man just adores you with every bit of his heart :((((

Renjun

probably asked kun to pick you both up from the dentist

you’re just too much for him smh

you’re cute and all but renjun is a tired uncle

so you’re both in the backseat with kun as your driver and it’s silent

renjun just knows something is wrong there’s no way you’re so calm

but you’re just staring at him like ◎_◎

“uh..babe, you alright?”

silence and then *GASP*

renjun just knows he’s about to facepalm himself into another dimension when you grip his cheeks in both hands

“you’re a fAIRY!!!!!!!” (*ﾟﾛﾟ)

*sigh* *muffled words* “y/n let’s calm down and just-”

he doesn’t get another word out before you shove his face in your lap and literally raise his shirt up to the nape of his neck

damn beach you know what you want huh go off

“where are they???!!?!?! where are you hiding them you impostor??!!!?”

and then you start slapping his back

“ow ow OW, Y/N WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?? STOP !!”

“YOUR WINGS!!! WHERE ARE YOUR FRICKIN’ WINGS ?!?!?” (╬ Ò ‸ Ó)

renjun is this 👌 close to knocking you out for good with a karate chop

so he just pushes you off and straps you to your seat with a second safety belt as he huffs under his breath

“i can’t guarantee you’ll live to see next week” (⊙_◎)

kun watching in the rear mirror like （͡°͜ʖ͡°）

“you know what? i’d really eat some chicken wings right now!! jun, let’s go get chicken wings!!!” ⊂((・▽・))⊃

he’s surprised you even remember his name

but you eventually exhaust yourself and pass out in the backseat of the car so renjun and kun drag you to bed

and renjun just tucks you in like the soft loving boyfriend that he is

and he just stares at you fondly and smooches you all over your face cuz

“how tf can you be so cute, you lil overexcited evil? you’re like the cutest thing in the world and it just!!!not!!!fair!!!!!” (♡ ‸ ♡ )

so even though he complains about you a lot, he’d sell his kidney just to see his lil cute bub happy i’m so soft :((((

Lee Jeno

“let’s go to the playground!!”

“y/n, no, let’s go home and put some ice on that cheek”

“but baaaabe i wanna go one the swing” ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )

“then we’ll have to ice both cheeks”

“what did ya say???!!?!”

so jeno’s headache only worsened once you both arrived home with no prior stop to the playground

and as much as he loves you he also wants to bang his head against a wall and end his suffering yay o((*^▽^*))o

“just stay still for a second please, i’m really trying to tie this thing properly around your head”

you’re just so restless and jeno is just so done

“does it hurt?”

“ywes, my heart hurts because my own boyfriend doesn’t love me!!!”

“y/n, we already had this conversation, now just-”

“i just wanted a swing!!!” *bursts into tears* *jeno sighs half of his soul out* ଽ (৺ੋ ௦ ৺ੋ )৴

so jeno sits down beside you and pulls you into his lap gently, rocking you back and forth in an attempt to soothe your sobs jeno best boyfriend no cap

“there there, baby, we can’t go out-” *sobs intensify* “BUT i promise i’ll get you a swing right here if you let me take care of you first”

you leech yourself onto jeno’s sleeve and wipe your tears on his shirt but he doesn’t seem to mind the wet patch left on the material as he watches you with that soft look of his (´-ω-`)

so you let him patch you up after his reassurance and after he just pats your head affectionately and motions for you to stand up

and this man just flexes his arms and nudges you to latch on

that’s how jeno ends up with a squealing you as you swing back and forth with your fingers gripping his arm ╰(✧∇✧��)

Lee Haechan

you want to pretty him up

because “since my left cheek looks like it’s stuffed with a tennis ball, i can’t carry the visuals in this relationship for a while, so i need to hand the responsibility over to you”

“who even said you’re the one carrying the visuals” ℃ↂ_ↂ

“oh honey you’re only now realizing?”

(╬☉д⊙)⊰⊹ฺ

he blames the anesthesia for your severe accusations

but the only way to shut you up is give in to your wishes

so that’s how he found himself seated down on the carpet of your home with your legs draped over his and your totally professional make up applied over his face

“i look like a clown”

“not even make up can cover your true identity, hyuck”

deep breaths, donghyuck, in and out, take it easy (◎ω◎*)

“any preferences for the nail polish color?”

“to match my soul”

“so hot pink” o(≧∇≦o)

*poker face* “you know i could obliviate you if i wanted to clown you”

*pout that hurts hyuck’s lil heart* “but you wouldn’t do that to your hurting baby, would you” *blinks rapidly with puppy eyes*

“you bet i would” (no he wouldn’t you’re just too cute and he loves you too much) *totally not whipped (♥ω♥*)*

painting his nails is the hugest struggle in your entire life

“WHY TF ARE THEY SO SHORT, ARE THEY TAKING AFTER YOU”

on second thought, mercy is no longer available for you

“hyuck, you should tape your fingers so you won’t bite your nails like a preschooler anymore”

“i’ll tape your mouth shut, that’s what i’ll tape” *_*

“hUH???!?!!?” (*ﾟﾛﾟ)

Na Jaemin

“okay jisung is an easy task compared to you right now”

even though this man is used to being the mom of the group

he’s still most likely in disbelief watching his otherwise angel flap around like a headless chicken

but you’re even cutter with your swollen cheek so he forgives you (︶▽︶)

“hey, jaem, did you know i’m closely related to snails??”

“entertain me” (∩_∩)

“they can sleep for years at once. that’s like my main talent.”

“it would be great for me if you’d put this talent of yours to work now”

jaemin ends up sprawled over the couch and watching dramas like a tired mom of 3 hyperactive children with you curled up at his side playing games on his phone

*hiccup*

jaemin’s brain before he even registered the sound : something’s wrong

“y/n baby?” (｡•́︿•̀｡)

*hiccup* *sniffle* *hiccup*

jaemin’s overprotective instincts kicked in ಠ╭╮ಠ

he knocks the phone out of the way and swings your legs over his lap to cradle you against his chest and hush you with the gentlest coos while rubbing your back up and down softly

“what happened, my love? does it hurt? tell nana what’s wrong and he’ll get rid in a second of what dared hurt his precious baby” just imagine this man this would be like the peak of my life 🥺

so in between your boyfriend’s comforting whispers and your harsh breaths of air you managed to let out a few words

“e-elephants, nana”

he already knows the biggest facepalm is coming his way -_-

“tHEy CAn’T jUmP, tHE poOR ELephANTs”

(ノ-_-)ノ~┻━┻

he just sighs and continues rocking you in his arms until you doze off, slumped on his chest, your head cushioned by his shoulder

he softly shakes his head at you and lays a butterfly kiss on your forehead

“i would make elephants jump just for you, my cute big baby” ♡♡(￫ε￩*)

Zhong Chenle

he halfway panics at the way you act

you’re usually the one who takes care of him so your childish act that surfaced because of the anesthesia took him by surprise

“dude they brainwashed y/n” (ﾉ｀□´)ﾉ

once you start babbling to him about the end of the rainbow and the elf that awaits there with a pot full of golden coins he knew you lost it

calls renjun

“hyung i’m sorry for saying you’re batshit crazy with your conspiracies, but aliens kidnapped y/n”

*muffled voices on the other side*

“NO, I’M NOT DRUNK!! they brainwashed y/n or even worse… returned a cheap copy of them”

renjun probably just tells him to put you to sleep and advises chenle to do the same with himself -_-

so chenle just approaches you very carefully, his voice barely above a whisper

“hey, babe, aren’t you tired?”

“actually no, how about a walk in the park???”

“idk y/n, it doesn’t seem like the best idea”

“PLEASE” 🥺

“THIS IS THE BEST IDEA OF THE YEAR BABY!!!11!!”

this man is royally whipped for you so he takes you to the nearest park and keeps a careful watch on you as you bend down to pet every dog that passes by ⊂((・▽・))⊃

while he would do anything for you, he’s very panicky about your safety so he has to hold your hand the entire time and you’re not allowed to leave his side for even a second overprotective boyfriend check

mid walk you take a break on a bench and you lean your head on cheble’s shoulder before muttering sleepily

“lele, i’m tired, imma take a nap”

“are you serious rn” (ಠ_ಠ)

but you’re already a goner and chenle is left fuming by himself

despite his annoyance he still adjusts you so he can piggyback you home and hums songs softly every time you stir (灬♥ω♥灬)

you’ll have to baby him an entire week to pay him back

Park Jisung

this boy is actually quite pleased

because for once he can take care of you and not the other way around without any complaints coming from you

so you both end up curled into each other under a blanket while watching the Frozen movies :((((((((

and for once he ends up watching you more than he watches the movie because you’re so cute reciting all of Olaf’s lines ꒰˘̩̩̩⌣˘̩̩̩๑꒱

but the fun can only last for so long

and when your mouth starts feeling ‘funny’ jisung’s mind goes haywire

“sung, i’m gonna die”

panic panic PANIC (ｼ;ﾟДﾟ)ｼ

“they poisoned you didn’t they??? i knew it!! i knew dentists are evil, how am i gonna explain i let crazy doctors perform dark magic on you???!!?!?” no offense to dentists y’all are life savers

so you have at least 2 ice packs and a bag of frozen peas clutched against your cheek and you swear you’re about to die from frostbite rather than the weird feeling coming from your teeth

and then jisung wraps you in a mountain of blankets cuz ‘we can’t have you catching a cold now too’ as if sweating your ass off is gonna fight off the numbing cold on your face ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

but babie is confused a tad lot bit scared for both his and your life

and you’re kinda very dazed so comforting him isn’t really in your agenda

he probably worries within an inch of his life ヾ( ๑´д`๑)ﾂ

too afraid to let you fall asleep just in case

so every time you doz off sweet cutie jisung just kithes you (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡

and you wake up just to kiss back your cute boyfriend

and he just chuckles and blows raspberries on your neck man jisung would be such a cute whipped boyfriend

but he ends up asleep next to you with his face buried in your hair and arms tightly wrapped around you cocooning you close to himself ah i’m getting soft again ♡(㋭ ਊ ㋲)♡

882 notes · View notes

manonblaqkbeak · 4 years ago

Text

A New Journey Part 2

I swear I have a life and that I don’t spend all my time writting Rowaelin fanfic lol.

In this fic, Aelin gives birth (which I hope my depiction is decent, as I’ve never given birth and don’t know much about the actual event).

It’s also just more fluff, since that’s all I can think of to write when it comes to these two lol

2641 words

Aelin had been staring at the canopy above her bed for over three hours, unable to go back to sleep. Her daughter couldn't seem to get comfortable, kicking Aelin awake by moving what felt like every five minutes.

Aelin usually loved it when she could feel her and Rowan's child moving within her, but she had a wicked headache the night before that was still lingering behind her eyes.

Rowan, however, was sleeping peacefully, his snoring muffled by his pillow. It was irrational, she knew, but it annoyed her that he was sleeping just fine. And with that annoyance, she moved onto her side (not as fast as she'd like), and poked him right in between his tattoo.

He was awake instantly, his head snapping to the side and assessed her with sleepy dark green eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked, voice scratchy. “Is the baby okay?”

“She's fine,” Aelin answered, “I'm not, however.”

Her mate gave her a sleepy half-smile. “Did she keep you up again?”

Aelin huffed. “Yes.”

Rowan shuffled over, gently kissing her cheek. “I think she just likes reminding you that she's there.”

Aelin huffed again, this time blowing Rowan's hair out of his eyes. “I've been pregnant for ten months, and she's a week late, I'm aware she's there.”

Rowan kissed her cheek again and lowered himself to plant a kiss on her gigantic belly, whispering a good morning to their daughter (not that they actually knew yet whether she was a girl, but Rowan was adamant in his assessment all those months ago, so Aelin grew used to referring to their child as a girl).

“How about I make you some tea?” Rowan asked.

“How about you convince our baby to come into this world?”

Rowan chuckled. “I have a feeling she's going to be as stubborn as you, so I doubt that'll work.”

“I'm not stubborn,” Aelin said, stubbornly. “But I would like some tea, ginger if there's any left.”

Kissing her belly once more, Rowan left the bed, going over to where the kettle rested atop the fire mantle, wherein the water stayed hot all night due to Aelin's fire. The Fae Queen often found herself up in the middle of the night and drinking tea when she was feeling restless.

Sitting up straight, Aelin fixed the blankets and sheets and watched Rowan from across the room. There truly wasn't anyone else in this world that Aelin would prefer to have by her side this entire pregnancy. Rowan was beyond helpful and excited. He took on her duties when she couldn't, and easily ran Terrasen when she was stuck in bed, too sick to leave, whether that sickness was from from a lack of sleep or anything else pregnancy related, Rowan was taking on all her duties on top of his own.

Even when he drove her mad with all his fussing, she was glad that he was there for her every step of the way, even when her emotions got the best of her and she would go from yelling to crying within minutes, he was there. And at the end of the day, he would rub her swollen feet with a soothing salve, listening to whatever she was talking about, or he would tell her stories from his life before Maeve or during his years in Maeve's service (although, she much preferred the stories before he was enslaved to the Valg queen, but she always listened with rapt attention).

Coming over on silent feet, Rowan handed her the tea, the scent inviting. “You drink that and I'll get Yrene.”

Nodding, Rowan left her to her tea, quickly dressing before he disappeared. Aelin was close to falling asleep when Yrene and Rowan came in, the young Healer looking as bright as the sun as she greeted Aelin.

Aelin grumbled at Yrene's cheeriness, although she knew that was irrational as well.

Yrene sat on the bed, inspecting Aelin with watchful eyes, Rowan doing the same behind her. “Apparently my niece is giving you trouble?” Aelin smiled at that, temporarily letting go of her grouchiness; at least her and Rowan's child was going to have a big family, the kind that Aelin always wanted when she was growing up.

“That she did,” Aelin said. “She's probably getting too big for my womb if she can't sit still for five minutes.”

“She'll be here soon,” Yrene promised her. Aelin knew that if Yrene wasn't worried, then Aelin shouldn't be, but Aelin was just simply growing impatient, she wanted to hold her daughter, to finally see her after carrying her for ten months.

“You said that yesterday. And the day before that.”

“And she will be here soon,” Yrene said. “Are you finished with that tea?” Aelin nodded and put the cup down, her eyes going down to Yrene's hands, watching as they filled with golden light and came to rest on Aelin's protruding stomach. The Healer's brows furrowed in concentration and Aelin held her breath, a part of her always worried that Yrene was going to tell her that something was wrong. Minutes passed, and Yrene gave her a small smile. Aelin let go of her breath, instantly at ease at that smile. Behind her, Rowan smiled too, he worried as well.

“She's perfectly healthy and comfortable, still. But if she isn't here by the end of the week, I can give you a tonic that helps to induce labour. It tastes dreadful, but hopefully it won't come to that.”

Aelin nodded and thanked Yrene for her time, the Healer helping her out of bed, grunting slightly at the Queen's added weight.

Yrene had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the sharp glare Aelin shot her way.

Waddling to the bathroom (and Gods, Aelin couldn't believe that she was actually waddling), Aelin washed her face with hot water, deciding on having a bath after breakfast, with Rowan inviting Yrene to join them for breakfast, because while Yrene was there for the birth, Aelin was happy to have her friend around and opted to spend as much time with her as she could.

Despite being tired, Aelin was happy as she ate breakfast with her mate and friend, thinking over the light duties she had to attend too for the day.

X X X X X

Aelin was dozing during the meeting that apparently had no end in sight.

And that's when Aelin felt it, the tight, uncomfortable sensation in her belly. Grunting as her first contraction started, Aelin's pants grew wet as her waters broke.

Fenrys was instantly there, having been by her side the entire meeting. “This is certainly an interesting way to get out of a meeting.”

Aelin rolled her eyes, too shocked to laugh, because after all this time, the moment was finally here. “Just get me to my room.”

The Lords and Ladies dispersed, rushing to alert Yrene and Rowan of the development. She was halfway to her chambers when Rowan appeared, wild eyed and scanning her from head to toe. He came by her side, kissing her temple as he thanked Fenrys for his help and swooped Aelin into his arms.

“I can still walk,” Aelin said, grunting as another contraction came and went. It was only her third or forth one, but Gods, it was uncomfortable.

“I know,” was all her said, easily taking the stairs as if he wasn't carrying his heavily pregnant wife. Fenrys stayed by her side, a nervous energy surrounding him—he was worried for Aelin, despite knowing that she would be perfectly fine in Yrene's capable hands, since she was more than his Queen, Aelin was his best friend and Fenrys hated to see her in pain.

Yrene, Aelin's personal Healer Magnolia, and three young apprentice mid-wives where in the royal chambers when the three of them arrived. Rowan carefully sat Aelin on the edge of the bed, taking off her shoes and socks. He started to reach for her soaked pants when his head snapped over to Fenrys, the message clear in the King of Terrasen's eyes.

Fenrys nodded and wished his friends luck and left the room, but stayed in the hallway and made himself comfortable as he waited for his niece or nephew to be born.

X X X X X

Ten hours later and she wasn't even close to being done with this birth—she hadn't really even started; the contractions wrecked her and she hadn't even started pushing yet, not even completely dilated, much to her disbelief. She knew that it wasn't going to be a quick birth, Rowan told her months ago that his mother had been labour with him for thirty rutting hours. All Fae births were long, Aelin knew, but Gods, ten hours simply wanting to be dilated was...she didn't even have the words for it.

Rowan was at her back, his wind holding her legs, her feet planted firmly on the bed, his hands laced with hers. Aelin was perched at the end of the bed utterly naked as even her simply cotton shift got in her way, Yrene sitting on short stool, keeping track of the birth with her magic. It was ten at night, but it was clear that no one was getting any rest tonight, although the poor young midwives looked ready for bed. The room was bright with the roaring fire in the hearth.

Loose strands of golden hair clung to Aelin's face with sweat, her face feeling hot even with Rowan's ice magic cooling her down every now and then. She could hear Fenrys pacing outside. Aelin wished she had the focus to ask him to use the Wyrdmark portals to have her friends come to the castle, but all her focus was entirely placed on this moment—and there'd be no point in asking Rowan to do that, as there was no way that he was going to leave her side even for a moment.

Yrene perked up. “You've completely dilated, Aelin, so on the next contraction, I want you to push.”

Oh Gods, the moment was finally here and Aelin felt utterly unprepared. Surely this was all mistake and she wasn't ten months along, maybe this was a strange dream and Aelin would wake up with months left to go.

She wasn't ready, even with all her frustration this last week, her excitement of meeting her child, she wasn't ready.

What if she was a terrible mother? What if she said or did the wrong thing and her daughter hated her forever? What if—

Rowan squeezed her hands reassuringly and placed a butterfly soft kiss on her sweaty cheek. “You can do this Aelin, and when you're done, we'll finally meet our baby. I believe in you.”

Tears in her eyes, Aelin nodded and Rowan kissed her cheek again. Sitting up straighter and taking a deep breath, Aelin pushed with everything she had when her contraction arrived.

And pushed and pushed for hours and hours, squeezing Rowan's hands, and she could have sworn she heard his bones creak from the pressure, but Rowan didn't complain, just ran smoothing patterns on her hands with his thumbs, kissing her cheek and now and then, his ice kissing her, too.

The sun started to rise when the baby's head came through and Aelin pushed forward to see, Rowan doing the same and with a new sense of determination, Aelin continued pushing, pushing and pushing.

It was mid-morning when Aelin pushed one last time, Yrene wrapping their child in a warm towel, when their baby wailed, the sound echoing throughout the room. Aelin sobbed at the sound, more than ready to have her baby in her arms.

“Congratulations,” Yrene said, a wide smile on her tired face, “you have a girl.” Tears fell from Aelin and Rowan's eyes at the words as they watched Yrene inspected her with magic, confirming that again, she was healthy. Yrene cleaned her up and with gentle movements, placed the baby on Aelin's chest, Aelin's arms instantly cradling her daughter to her.

The entire world faded away as Aelin beheld her daughter and her heart threatened to escape her chest when after a few minutes, she opened her eyes—her father's eyes.

“Rowan,” Aelin breathed, eyes tearing up again, “Rowan, she has your eyes.” it took all her remaining strength to take her eyes off her daughter to look at Rowan, who's eyes were misty with tears as well. Aelin leaned forward and captured his lips with hers, pouring everything she felt at the moment into the kiss. Rowan's hand came to her cheek, wiping her tears away with a thumb.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely, kissing her over and over. “I love you, I love you both so much.”

“As we love you,” she replied, kissing him back and returned her gaze to her daughter.

Rowan's arms held her closely as he rested his chin on her shoulder, his right hand coming up and lightly running the tip of his index finger down her soft cheek.

“Do you two have a name?” Yrene asked softly.

Aelin nodded, not taking her eyes off her baby. It was far too surreal to believe that she was here after ten long months.

“We do,” Aelin said after a few minutes, “Elentiya-Fenrys.” The name came to her months ago. Elentiya, of course, in honour of Nehemia, who Aelin wished above everything else that her friend was here. And Fenrys for all that he risked all those years ago and for being one of her dearest friends.

“That's beautiful,” Yrene said. “But in a few minutes you'll need to start pushing again, to remove the placenta, so I'm going to have Magnolia take her, but just for a few minutes, okay?”

Aelin nodded, although she didn't want to hand her over, with Rowan stiffening behind her. It was certainly going to be an adjustment period for her husband, with Rowan explaining how the first few months were the most dangerous time for a new Fae father, that they had to assess everyone they saw to see if they were a potential threat. Aelin patted his knee in comfort and he relaxed slightly, taking her hands again as the time to push for the after-birth arrived (which wasn't as painful, but still hurt).

When Elentiya was returned to her, it was time for her first feed, with Yrene and company leaving her and Rowan alone for this moment—the sensation was the strangest one Aelin ever experienced.

Afterwards, when Aelin gently wiped her mouth, Rowan asked, “May I hold her?”

Her heart fluttered again. “Of course Rowan, you don't ever have to ask that.” Wincing as she turned, Aelin placed their daughter in his awaiting arms, Elentiya looking tiny against him.

For the umpteenth time, Aelin's eyes filled with tears, the sight so beautiful that she wished she knew how to paint to have this moment captured for eternity.

Rowan kissed their daughter with soft kisses, breathing her in as he held her tightly. Aelin wished she could live in this moment forever.

A family, she had a family. Aelin couldn't believe that she was lucky enough to have one. She wouldn't want a family with anyone else.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and leaned forward to kiss Rowan. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her closer as they watched their daughter doze off when Aelin finally noticed the tiny patch of golden hair on her head.

Rowan was right after all; they had their golden-hair, green-eyed girl. And Aelin wondered what the rest of their children would look like.

“I love you,” she said to her husband, her friend, her carranam, her King and mate. “To whatever end.”

“I love you, too, to whatever end, Fireheart.” Aelin kissed him again and snuggled in closer, content.

#rowaelin #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin fanfic

67 notes · View notes

franeridart · 4 years ago

Text

Anon said: [Spoilers for non-manga readers] opinion on Baku's hero name?

Very Bakugou, honestly don’t mind it at all! Mostly just surprised it’s, like, legal in the bnha universe for heroes to call themselves stuff like explodo-kills (and also that there isn’t a character limit for hero names??) but that Bakugou would stick with it is pretty damn in character for him so I like it xD still, I’ll probably just call him Dynamight if I’ll ever need to use his hero name lmao

Anon said: not to be the most romantic sap but uh just a kiss by lady a is killin me

Nothing sappy about letting romantic songs get to you!!!! I say, as I’m constantly crying over romantic songs so this mindset benefits me as well lol

Anon said: i may or may not have stumbled across some of your older kiribaku art, the stuff with akane, and she's the best child oc tbh. i actually like her and i tend to not be a fan of child ocs but she's just the cutest darn thing 🥰

I’m so glad you like her!!!!! She was a lot of fun, what a good gremlin ;;;

Anon said: uve heard of dragon!kiri w his hair spikes up, now get ready for dragon!kiri w his hair dowm lookin like the softest boy

AW HECK I think I’ve drawn him in the past, actually!!!! Spike-haired Kiri will forever be my fav Kiri, but there’s just something about hair down Kiri isn’t it!! What a cute boy ;;;; all sharp edges and soft curves, what a lovely sight

Anon said: can i just say your itafushi art is so cute? these two already make me feel and then your art just (つω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

THANK YOU SO MUCH I really need to draw them more, don’t I! goge kinda monopolized my attention there, but the way itafushi makes me feel..........boy the way they make me feel ;;;;

Anon said: good day, poké au thought: 12 y/o bakugo somehow catches a dreepy as like his 2nd pokemon and never questions it

WHY NOT WHY NOT I have a whole team in my mind for the boy tbh but dreepy is so cute ;;;; and anyway, I like my poke!bakugou with as many dragon types as he could possibly get his hands on hahaha

Anon said: Please know that, amongst other factors, you were one of the maon reasons I stsrted Jujutsu Kaisen two days ago and there isnothing more to say except thank you and I'm absolutely in debt with you for that, thank you so much 😍

I’m so so SO glad you’re liking it!!!!!! It can get kinda heavy but it’s such a great story.... honestly I’d been wanting to start it since I saw the first pv for the anime all the way back last year but I was like, you know it’s a mappa anime! so I wanted to watch the anime as a new thing, cause I love mappa, but three episodes in I couldn’t hold back and just binged it. It’s kind of story that just makes you wanna drink it all in one go, isn’t it? so good so good

Anon said: makeup artist kirishima and model bakugo or makeup artist bakugo and model kirishima? :0c

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm can’t say I see either of them much into fashion tbh, but if I had to pick probably model Kiri and artist Baku? I just don’t think Baku would be able to stay still enough to get photographed, and he wouldn’t like the photographer bossing him around anyway, and catwalks would be impossible for him to stomach imho, he’s too restless for it! At least it’s the way I see it haha

Anon said: fdgdhdkfhdafs i had a thought, what if bakugo prefers dogs and kirishima prefers cats and when they meet each other and become friends it's like, "oh." because they have some striking similarities to their fave animals

That’s been my headcanon for a while now, actually!! I think for me it came from two characters in a manga I like that are a lot like a dog and a cat but have inverted fav animals and when I read about that I was like “oh, right, makes sense since they like each other” and then my brain turned it krbk because when does it not lmao

Anon said: your art is the soothing balm to my soul recently, thank you for posting so much beautiful content. i hope you have a lovely week. ♡

sob thank you so much, I’m glad my doodling can help you feel better ;; <3

Anon said: Friendly reminder anon from last time: that post I left last time I had only eaten 7 gingersnaps that day and hadn’t drank any water. So that encouraged me to actually self care. Thank you.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well I hope you’re taking care of yourself today too! And as fair trade, I’ll do the same myself! <3

Anon said: Hi! I'm an artist and I'm thinking of making a sideblog for my art. Do you have any tips?

Ah man, I’m sorry but I’m not the best person to ask this to! I started this sideblog cause I had too many followers on my main and I didn’t want my stuff to be seen by that many people at first, so whatever I did probably isn’t what you’re looking for :( but really there isn’t much to it, just post whatever you like to draw, tag it as best as you can (but remember that only the first five tags appear in the search page) and be patient, since whatever you do at first you won’t get much attention anyway - the only real advice I can give is to draw something that makes you happy and that you’d draw anyway even if no one were to see it, it’ll make keep posting despite a possible lack of activity a lot easier!

Anon said: Your goge art🥺🥺

I just love them so much ( TT’’’TT)9

Anon said: how the fuck have i not been following you? I remember seeing your bakushima art in the bnha tag and always thinking it's so cute. Now you're into JJK too??? and the satosugu art??? fuckin, diabetes incarnate. I love it. I love you. Your art 10/10. I'm tired lmao.

WELL thank you for the follow!! And for thinking my stuff is cute!!!!! I do my best with that, I want all the soft things for my favs 😌

Anon said: Are you gonna draw Gojou/Getou comic?? 👉🏻👈🏻 WOULD LOVE TO READ IT

you mean an actual doujin? I don’t think I will, sorry! I’m really no good at long projects orz but thank you so much for wishing to read something like that from me!!! ;A;

Anon said: Hello! YOUR ART IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUSSSS!!! I love them so much!! If I may ask you one question. Between Getou amd Gojou, who do you see as top/bottom? Just curious

THANK YOU!!!!! And I honestly don’t care as long as they’re happy and together!!! please let them be happy and together 🙏🙏🙏

Anon said: i want you to know!!! i followed you for your kiribaku art but!!! i love your art so much that idc what you post because it's all just!!!! incredible and wonderful and stunning!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! this means a lot to me so seriously thank you so much!!!!

Anon said: d'you think bakugo has like headaches or migraines after training or battles because of how loud his quirk is? like, i listen to music slightly too loud and my head is sending me to hell. (unless you go with the hoh hc which is also 👌)

I like to think Baku’s body is attuned enough to his own quirk that he wouldn’t get drawbacks of the kind tbh, though that wouldn’t be a bad thought for when he just starts to increase the output/width and strength of his explosions............ well, I myself suffer from chronic headaches and migraines so I’m always up for projecting on my favs ngl lmao

Anon said: so like... dragon kirishima's eyes glow right? like, if we equate his dragon-ness to unbreakable his eyes glow? they also glow when he's half shifted? honestly i just live glowing eyes

Oh hell yeah I’m all for that, definitely definitely, I love glowing eyes with my whole heart and Kiri’s eyes in unbreakable are just so!!!!!! NGH *chef kiss* the more of unbreakable there is in his dragon form the happier I am ( TT^TT)9

Anon said: me, scrolling through your blog: ah shit guess im gonna have to start watching jjk

!!!!! hope it won’t hurt you too much, anon!!

Anon said: dragon!kiri and bakugo having a tug-of-war match over a piece of meat. both have it in their mouths. both are determined to win.

Kiri is turned into his dragon form and Baku still wins, hell yeah

Anon said: your satosugu is top tier!! it's hard to find stuff for them that isn't straight up angst so your art has been super cool and also very very cute!! (tho if you went with angst, it wouldn't be a bad thing obviously)

AH I’m so happy to hear you like them!!!! but also happy you wouldn’t mind angst, as I do like them the best happy and soft but my brain, my brain has been throwing sads my way for a while now 👀 I got some ideas

Anon said: What program/device do you use??

Easy Paint Tool SAI and a wacom intuos!! Though I got myself an ipad+procreate just yesterday and I’ve been messing around with it, let’s see how that one goes!

Anon said: *inahles* i am simping for mohawk man please tell me everything about your ocs immediately or i will detonate

THANK YOU FOR LIKING HIM HE’S CALLED DAVIDE Dav for short, he’s a cat of a man and a music instrument enthusiast (mostly string ones, but he’s very good with the piano as well) - he works in a music instruments store, and he’s a uni student majoring in philosphy! He doesn’t like bothersome things, he isn’t very good at taking anything seriously or putting effort in stuff, but he’s very chill to spend time with and generally a nice chat both if you want mindless thoughts or deep conversations (he’s a philosophy major after all). He can’t sing for shit, he’s got two cats (tago and schelly!), and he just wants a quiet life to laze around but all his friends are hurricanes in human bodies, but then again, he picked them himself so he can’t complain. He’s a good boy!! I’m planning a comic for him and his boy Ross >:]

#fran answers #SORRY FOR THE DELAY #i wish i could say i was busy but actually i just got distracted #ah also #jjk spoilers #cause my sis has a habit of readin my asks and she can't know about the otp just yet #lol #is the readmore for this showing? this is pretty damn long....#long post #just to be sure

146 notes · View notes

queenof-literature · 4 years ago

Text

A Sick Wild Child - Chapter 9

Here it is! Thank you all so much for being so supportive during and after my break from writing. As many of you know, I’m struggling a lot with everything going on and it means the world to me that y’all are so sweet and supportive. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

Chapter 9 - The Eye in the Storm

Time didn’t just dread injuries because he grew worried. Of course he worried when one of the boys was injured, it was always terrible to see one of his companions in pain. But he also dreaded it because there was one emotion he truly feared for both himself and the others… boredom.

Staying in one place for an extended period of time got all the Links restless in different ways. The only bright side of this situation was he didn’t have to worry about Wild fist fighting a bear for fun. He did however, have to worry about the others. He had to worry about Four and Legend disappearing and returning covered in flora and fauna they wanted to observe. He had to worry about Hyrule and Warriors getting a hold of fire weapons. He had to worry about Sky and Twilight going cliff diving if they were around an ocean. The same went for Wind if he got his hands on a raft, they might not see him for hours. He also had to worry about himself, the part of him that never disappeared after years of Termina and stasis and countless travels through time, itching to run away and become a child of the forest again, even if just for a day. Time worked hard to push those thoughts down.

Sky had managed to throw together something that night after their small fight over what they should have. They had managed without Wild’s skills and slate before, they could do it again. However, it was obvious the antsy group missed their cook. Said boy was still curled in Warriors’ bed roll, cold clothes placed upon both his forehead and neck after his last bout of delirium. Delirium that Time truly wished he could forget.

Based on what the terrified boy had murmured, Twilight and Time, two of the eight people he should be able to trust most, practically tortured him. Time going as far to burn him with a torch. And Din above was that a knife to the heart. Time knows, he knows that fever dreams didn’t make sense, but weren’t all dreams from the subconscious? Did Wild think that would happen? Was he scared deep down that his allies would become his enemies? Time wanted to say no, but he was never one to lie to himself. After all Wild had gone through, parts of him would never be unscathed. The same went for every Link, after all they had been through. Time was more worried about what the boy’s Hyrule had done to him. Forced into battle before he was even a teenager, betrayed and murdered by the Guardians he was supposed to trust, constantly on the lookout for traitors sworn to Ganon, it was no wonder the boy was paranoid. And these fears were constantly in his nightmares. The fever dreams must have been Hell.

Twilight wasn’t taking it well either. He seemed to have calmed down a bit after his conversation with Warriors, but Time could tell this was all getting to him. The lengths Twilight would go to help his friends was admirable, if not terrifying sometimes. But no amount of healing, potions, and worrying would fix this, and that was starting to sink in for everyone. No matter how much Twilight did, all he could was try and make it better. Twilight didn’t cope well with not being able to help, none of them did, especially with Wild.

Speaking of, Wild had been dead silent since he had passed out in Legend’s arms. Besides the small rasps coming from his mouth and the weak stutters of his chest, the boy was completely still. After some debate they decided to put Twilight’s pelt over him again. It had always been comforting to him, and who knows if he would even remember his panic over what Dream Twilight did to him. Hylia, Time hoped not. Time hoped Wild’s silence meant he was having a good enough dream, or maybe not dreaming at all.

The chatter around the campfire was scarce that night, no one having the energy to talk outside the small conversations they had with those near them. Legend seemed perfectly fine with shoving a groggy Hyrule back to bed as soon as he finished dinner. Hyrule certainly didn’t put up much of a fight, clearly tired from healing Wild throughout the day. It wasn’t the worst they had seen him after healing, but there was no reason for him to not sleep it off. As much as Time didn’t want to admit it, they may need Hyrule’s abilities later. Nothing else seemed to be helping. Time didn’t want to make Hyrule feel like they were exploiting him, but Wild needed water and the only time he was able to keep it down was when Hyrule healed him. Time wasn’t willing to believe that was a coincidence, they needed to get Wild to hold down any water they could. But Time truly wanted anything else than to wake up their exhausted sorcerer. It was quite a conundrum.

“I could hear you thinking from across camp.” Sky stated softly, settling beside Time.

“I don’t want to wake Hyrule, but Wild needs water.” Time said bluntly, not having the desire to beat around the bush.

“Hmm. Well.” Sky pondered for a moment. “Wild can go the night right? When I was little, I was really stubborn when I was sick. Sun tried to get me to eat, drink, or do anything really and I just wouldn’t.” Sky put his hand on Time’s shoulder. “ I know it’s not the same thing, but let’s give Wild the night, and as long as his condition doesn’t change, we’ll let Hyrule rest for a while. Now that we’re staying here for the time being, we can let Hyrule rest and help Wild a bit until he can keep things down. I know it’s not the best solution, but we all know you’re not trying to force Hyrule into exhausting himself.” Sky radiated comfort, and Time felt bad for subtly soaking it up. It wasn’t fair, he shouldn’t force decisions on the other Links. But Hylia, he was just so tired.

“Sounds like a good plan.” Time’s lips turned up slightly, and Sky knew that was a thank you. A thank you for taking some weight off of Time’s shoulders, even if it was a laughably small amount. But it was the least Sky could do.

Wild was pretty sure he was stone. There was no other reason for his limbs to be so heavy. The only thing he could really feel was pain. He couldn’t be sure where it was the worst, he was floating. He just knew he was cold. So, so cold. Wild didn’t like being cold, not when after he learned there were ways to be truly warm. Another feeling reached him, weight on top of him that he appreciated, and the fluttering of eyelashes he struggled to recognize as his own.

“...think- waking up.” Voices drifted in and out of his mind.

“-nother… -mare?” These voices sounded weird.

“-ild?” These were outside of his body.

Opening his eyes took more strength than anything he had ever done, but he needed to see where the voices were coming from. Slowly his eyes pried open.

Everything was blurry, but he could see shadows moving around him. If they were enemies, he couldn’t bring himself to care. It wasn’t like he could move anyway.

“Wild?” A voice filtered into his head, more clear than before. Colors swirled as he pried open his eyes, and Wild struggled to push down the nausea that rose, determined to find out where the voices were coming from.

“Wild? Can you hear us?” The fog cleared slightly, the first thing he saw being a colorful tunic. He knew that voice… right?

The swirling subsided a little more, now resting on the edges of his vision. The shadows that previously surrounded him were replaced by figures he recognized. He tried so hard to remember their names, and why he suddenly felt like crying. He didn’t know anything in that moment other than the figures surrounding him being warm, and Wild was still so cold.

“C-c-ld” Wild croaked out pathetically, frustration creeping up to replace confusion. Something cold and wet was surrounding him, soaking his skin. He tried to move his head in a weak attempt to get rid of the cold, but all he got was vertigo.

“Sor-... -an’t. Fever i-” Ringing filled Wild’s ears.

“I think he’s waking up.” Four rushed out, bringing the idle chatter around the fire to an abrupt halt. Lo and behold, the boy’s eyes fluttered, eyes flickering beneath.

“Do you think it’s another nightmare?” Wind called out hesitantly.

“I can’t tell. Wild?” Four called softly, placing his hands on his shoulder. Blurry eyes opened, revealing a sickly haze. But they weren’t frantic, just exhausted.

“I don’t think he is. He isn’t panicked. Wild?” Four asked again as the others gathered closer around him. Legend, Sky and Warriors gathered behind Four, while Time and Twilight stayed back, clearly uncomfortable with potentially sending him into another panic. Wind stayed back with them and held onto Twilight’s hand, squeezing when he noticed how much not being able to help hurt Twilight. The older squeezed back in thanks.

“Wild?” Sky asked. “Can you hear us?” The sick boy’s half lucid eyes flickered in their direction, and they could have thrown a goddess damned party over such a simple action. Legend almost went over and woke Hyrule to celebrate. Wild hadn’t been this coherent since he got smacked into that tree, not without being in a hallucination. His eyes were fogged and consciousness was barely there, but it was still the most awake he had been since this whole thing started.

“C-c-ld.” Wild croaked out, shaking his head slowly. Four reached out and gently stopped the movement, worried for the headache Wild was probably sporting.

“I’m so sorry, Wild but we can’t. Your fever is too high, we’ve done everything we can.” Sky tried to reassure, but he doubted Wild understood any of it. He looked to Four to confirm Wild’s fever still hadn’t broken. Four solemnly shook his head. Wild’s eyes continued to look around, seeming to search for something, but the others didn’t know for what.

“W-lf.” Wild choked out, his weak right hand reached out, only making it an inch before tumbling back down against his chest, clutching weakly at the furs laid on top of him.

“Wolf? Are you trying to say wolf?” Legend asked, glancing back at Twilight.

“W-” Wild was cut off by a rough cough. Four was ready to roll him over for choking that never came. Time could see the relief the other Links had that Wild seemed to be better, if not slightly. He wanted to remind them that this was just an eye in the storm, that sometimes with illnesses it got better before it got worse… but he didn’t have the strength to crush their hope. Deep down they all knew this wasn’t the beginning of the downhill, it was just a lull. But they deserved to have a little joy after all they had seen Wild go through.

“He’s the most coherent he’s been in awhile. We should give him water.” Warriors pulled a water pouch from seemingly nowhere.

“W-w-lf.” Wild insisted.

“Get over there! You heard him!” Wind whisper-shouted, shoving Twilight forward with a small snicker. Twilight hesitantly made his way over to Wild, eyes burned into him, watching to see what Wild’s reaction would be. He knew the other Links didn’t mean to freak him out, but they certainly weren’t helping.

Twilight gently kneeled on one knee next to Wild on the other side of Four, ready to back track if Wild showed any sign of discomfort at Twilight being there.

“Hey Cub.” Wild’s eyes stopped for a moment, and the entire world halted, everyone waited with bated breath. Slowly eyes flickered over to Twilight, and eyes that had been dull for so long finally lit up, if only just by a little spark.

“W-ol-T-Twi.” Wild gasped, and the others could have sworn Wild’s lips twitched upwards.

“Yeah, Cub.” Twilight’s shoulders relaxed, dropping completely to both knees as the other Links smiled. Legend thought about teasing the cheesy sight before him but thought better of it. Hyrule would love to see Wild doing better. Aw shit, Hyrule slept through this. Hyrule was gonna kill him-

“See if you can get him to drink some water. He doesn’t seem as nauseous” Warriors insisted, handing Twilight the water pouch.

“What if he throws it up?” Sky questioned.

“He can’t keep going like this.” Legend nodded to Twilight to try.

“Alright, Cub. This might hurt for a moment.” Twilight soothed, before lifting Wild’s back gently into his lap, the cub’s head resting against his lower chest. With only a small gasp of pain, Wild was situated well enough.

“Small sips.” Twilight directed, carefully pouring some water into Wild’s mouth. The boy coughed a little, but soon strained to get more cool water into his sore throat. “Slow down.” Twilight soothed, placing his hand on Wild’s forehead to stop his squirming. Wild managed to drink half the small pouch before obviously having his fill.

“Thank Hylia.” Sky breathed.

“Don’t thank her yet.” Legend huffed. “He could still heave it back up.”

“Maybe stop talking about it around him and he won’t.” Warriors hissed.

“How ya feeling Wild?” Four asked, deciding now would be a good time for a change of subject.

“Ngh.” Came the eloquent response. It was better than Four expected in all honesty. Twilight snorted a little at that.

“That good huh?” Twilight chuckled. He went to put Wild down and let the boy get the sleep he obviously needed. But the cub reached up and grabbed Twilight’s hand where it had come to rest on the boy's chest. Twilight could have easily shaken off the weak hand if he wished, but Hylia hadn’t Wild gone through enough already?

Wild’s eyes flickered up once more, resting on Twilight’s face. The cub’s hand squeezed so light Twilight could barely feel it, and the man quickly covered their hands with his other one. Wild’s hands were cold and pale.

“S-stay.” Wild pleaded.

“Okay, Cub. I’ll stay.”

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu #legend of zelda #loz #wild #twilight #time #warriors #four #legend #hyrule #sky #wind #soft legend #A Sick Wild Child #queenof-literature #queenof-literature story #QoL Story

86 notes · View notes

nimsajlove · 3 years ago

Text

Found you (II/?)

This is really hard to come up with and I don’t know why! You know, I love Dogma. But I think I don’t love writing him...

Ao3 Brothers-AU Part I

*~*

For a long time they just sat there, Dogma trembled every now and then and finally, Ahsoka slipped off her robe and wrapped it around his shoulders. The men checked on them a few times, but held themselves in the background. Dogma didn't seem to notice. „Kamino?“, he finally asked quietly, his voice small and lost. „Has nothing to say about any clone anymore.“, Ahsoka assured him and he nodded against her shoulder. „Krell?“, he asked after a few minutes of silence. Damn it, for Dogma this had only happened recently, while Ahsoka had long buried Krell deep in her memories. „Wasn't a Jedi anymore, you are okay.“, she muttered and Dogma nodded again, he seemed to collect his thoughts. „Tup?“, the question was even quieter than the last two, it almost ripped Ahsoka's heart out. „No, I'm sorry Dogma.“, she replied softly and felt Dogma just dully nod again. He looked numb. They wouldn't get anywhere like that... „How about we go and look for your bunk?“, suggested Ahsoka softly and Dogma winced violently, she hastily put her scarred hand on the back of his head and let his face rest on her shoulder again. „It's okay, I'll stay right here.“, she quickly rowed back and waited.

Her back became stiff from sitting for a long time, her neck ached and there was a hint of a headache that began high in her Montrals. The last few days had been... long. She wasn't really tired, just empty. Drained. Curling up on the floor in her study with the others sounded very tempting. „I'm sorry.“, Dogma suddenly mumbled quietly and as if by reflex Ahsoka ran her fingers over his short hair. „You don't have to feel sorry for anything. I'm sorry that we didn't get you earlier.“, she replied quietly and when the clone started to get up she released him from her embrace and moved away slightly, giving him room to straighten himself. His eyes were red and slightly puffy. But he seemed calmer. „You were looking for me?“, he asked softly and rubbed his arms under her robe, shivering. Ahsoka nodded hastily, she had a lot to make up for! „Of course. I'm sorry that I couldn't be a better sister to you before.“, she apologized again and Dogma winced, but this time he managed a small smile. „I would be fine, if we could become friends. Sir.“, he muttered and it conjured a real smile on Ahsoka's face. This time she would do it right! And she would not lose this friend, because the war was over. Carefully she offered him her hand. „Friends?“, she took up his suggestion and when he clasped her fingers his hands were cold, but his grip was gentle. „Friends.“

Her comlink blinked at her demanding and Dogma watched her throw the thing a restless look. „I'm holding you back, am I?“, he muttered and Ahsoka shot him a sharp look. „Say that never again. I'll take as much time for my men, as each one needs.“ Taking a deep breath, she paused. „But I would really like to take a look at the others. Would it be okay if I call Kix?“, she asked and although Dogma's shoulders tensed, he nodded curtly. She didn't want to stress him any more than necessary, but her brothers would certainly do their best to care for Dogma. She notified Kix. „Grab Thud and check on Dogma a little bit, okay? I'll go out and assign each men a medic.“, she murmured, Thud would certainly get along wonderfully with Dogma. The young clone was quiet and reserved. And he would take Dogma with him to Hug, who was perfectly gentle. „Good, now that we have the capacity. Give me a few seconds.“, Kix answered tinny and cut the connection.

Ahsoka slowly turned to Dogma, he watched her. His eyes shone tiredly, but he no longer flinched with every move she made. „I called Thud too, he will help you find a bunk. Is that okay, or should I call someone else?“ Dogma shrugged. „You are the general.“, he muttered and Ahsoka sighed, she shook her head. This would be some hard work. „And you have the right to say no.“, she countered and this time he actually smiled gratefully. „I know. Thanks sir.“ Footsteps sounded and Kix entered, carefully followed by Thud. Neither of them wore helmets. Ahsoka rose. „If you need anything, let me know.", she informed everyone and with a gentle smile she disappeared out into the corridor.

Dogma wasn't sure what to do with the situation. Tup, his batchmate, was gone. The world he had returned to seemed to be different from the one he had left. And Comm- General Tano was so much older! And calmer. And looking at Kix now was like looking into a different face than back then. The Medic had lost the hard pull on his mouth, instead fine lines had dug themselves around his eyes. They made him look tired and sad. It was all strange, but the hair was even stranger! Kix had ALWAYS found time to maintain his hairstyle. Why did he stop doing that? And he wasn't wearing blue, his armor was now adorned in bronze. „Dogma.“, the medic suddenly greeted and his soft voice tore Dogma from his thoughts. Had Kix always sounded so calm? He didn't know, had only spent time with him on the battlefield. „Sir...“, Dogma answered uncertainly and watched as Kix put down his backpack and came a little closer. „May I?“, he asked, Dogma couldn't remember the medics ever asking for his permission! He shrugged his shoulders a little and Kix sat down next to him on the uncomfortable cot, who had covered it with blankets?

Kix pulled his backpack towards him and opened it, rummaging around a little. When he looked up they both paused. No, these couldn't be tears. Medics didn't cry, Dogma was 100% sure of that. Right? And yet Kix's eyes shimmered suspiciously... „Kriff.“, Dogma muttered and hastily pressed his lips together again. Strictly speaking, Kix was ranked far above him. He had no right to speak so freely in front of him, that was wrong. But it had also been wrong to practically cling to his new general. Kix laughed dryly, ah. There was the trooper Dogma knew. „I'm so sorry.“, the medic sighed and rubbed his face with one hand before he called up the most important vitals of his patient with a small scanner. Dogma eyed him critically, he had never heard these words from Kix. Or even just thought that he would ever apologize for something...

Dogma did not find the capacity to do anything with this excuse. So he was silent and observed, before he had never taken the time for something like that. Just watch his brothers without a list of rules in the back of his mind. It was more interesting than had Dogma expected. Kix moved slowly but purposefully. Whenever he noted something on his datapad, he relaxed his jaw a little and every time he touched Dogma, he gritted his teeth. Dogma's gaze wandered aimlessly upwards, what was he actually doing here? Back then, just a few hours ago, so THEN... he had left the shuttle and accepted his death. And now he was sitting here!? „I think we got you back with no permanent damage... Maybe a little malnourished.“, Kix grumbled and Dogma nodded without really listening. „I'll see that he gets something nice.“, the other clone announced quietly, but Dogma winced violently nontheless. General Tano had brought two men here, but he had completely forgotten about the other clone next to Kix. „Dogma, this is Thud. Is it okay if he shows you your bunk?“, Kix asked carefully and Dogma took a few deep breaths, okay. Maybe a new face was good? He eyed Thud briefly, fine bronze stripes ran across his breastplate. The color of General Tano? Then he studied Thud's face and Dogma was surprised at how young he looked. Without the fine lines of worry and the shadows under his eyes, he looked years younger than Kix. His eyes seemed kind.

Dogma nodded and Kix seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, Thud smiled. When he reached out his hand to Dogma, he took it and let himself be carefully pulled to his feet. The world turned around him for a moment, then he caught himself and followed Thud out into the hallway. The cell block seemed unchanged, that was something at least. However, there was a lot more going on in the corridor than he expected. A few steps further he could see General Tano, she was standing close together with a soldier who Dogma did not know. But his ARC equipment and the blue handprint on a bronze background made it impossible, to oversee him. Ahsoka gave Dogma an encouraging look and the ARC next to her eyed him curiously, before he smiled encouragingly too. Dogma stared at her briefly and hesitated before nodding uncertainly in response. How else would you react when someone smiled at you like that? Except Tup, nobody had done that in a while. When Tano just kept watching him, Dogma turned and followed Thud.

On the way to the quarters, Dogma rarely let his gaze wander, most of the time he concentrated on Thud's back. That was easier, than to meet the eyes that followed him. So the hand came out of nowhere on his shoulder, he looked up frantically. Thud stopped and watched Appo take off his helmet with one hand and he grinned like a complete idiot.

Dogma just stood there, hands hanging uselessly, staring at Appo. He had never exchanged more than a few words with the other clone. What should he do now? „It's good to have you back.“, Appo smiled, squeezed his shoulder and then disappeared again with great strides. He turned the next corner. Appo was happy to see him again? Dogma blinked once, then twice. Had the others lost their minds? Nobody had ever been happy to see him again! Confused, he gave Thud a look, the younger clone smirked and then motioned for Dogma to follow him on. „Come on, Commander Rex has chosen a nice spot for you.“, he said in his soft voice and Dogma almost tripped over his own feet. The commander? Rex? Okay ... that was ... good. He remembered Rex as very headstrong but faithful. The rank of commander suited him, kind of.

He had just finished thinking when Thud stopped and opened the door to one of the quarters. Dogma looked up and met several smiling faces. He recognized one of them. „Welcome home.“, Burnes smiled and the corners of Dogma's mouth twitched up into a small smile, even as he lowered his eyes. Home huh? Even with Tup, it had been hard to feel at home anywhere. But when Thud grabbed his wrist and carefully pulled him into the room, he thought he could at least give this a chance.

#star wars #the clone wars #brothers-au #rescuing dogma #ahsoka tano #clone trooper dogma #clone trooper kix #clone oc thud #my ocs #I love dogma #but I think he doesn't feels the same #this is so difficult #no order 66

7 notes · View notes

bloody-bee-tea · 4 years ago

Text

Just listen for once

For my first commission exocara requested some major feelings for Jiang Cheng, who falls into a magical coma and has to endure some heart-to-hearts with his loved ones. It’s over 5.5k so you can also read it here on AO3.

Jiang Cheng knows his day will take a turn for the worse when instead of being greeted by his disciples with an estimated arrival time for Lan Xichen they simply hand him a letter.

‘I’ll be late,’ it says. ‘Don’t know if I can make it at all today,’ it goes on, and Jiang Cheng crumbles it in his hand.

He would really prefer if Lan Xichen just came out and say that he doesn’t want to spend his day in Lotus Pier instead of these vague excuses, but he guesses he can’t have everything.

Jiang Cheng should count himself lucky that Lan Xichen spares him enough time to strike up a rather somewhat regular correspondence. It’s probably more than Jiang Cheng deserves.

He mentally calculates what day it is today, and he realizes it must be close to Jin Guangyao’s birthday. Of course Lan Xichen wouldn’t find the time for him then, Jiang Cheng thinks bitterly and throws the letter into the fire.

He always knew that Lan Xichen is still hung up on Jin Guangyao, no matter that he was a vile bastard, and since the Lan’s only love once, Jiang Cheng doesn’t see Lan Xichen getting over that any time soon.

Jiang Cheng works his jaw, mentally berating himself for being so goddamn stupid as to fall in love with Lan Xichen and even flirting with him when he really should remember that there is no place for him in Lan Xichen’s heart. The burnt letter is just another reminder of that.

He really needs to get it together.

So Jiang Cheng goes to breakfast, pretending that nothing at all happened and that he can’t see his disciples sharing looks among themselves.

Of course they know that Lan Xichen was supposed to drop by today. He had them prepare some special food for Lan Xichen and even dust off the guest bedroom all in the hopes that Lan Xichen might enjoy his time at Lotus Pier enough to decide to stay.

And of course his hasty decision comes back to bite him in the ass, because now every single one of his disciples knows that he was stood up.

How pathetic he must seem in their eyes.

Jiang Cheng decides not to dwell too much on it, but it’s hard when he can feel the glances and hear the whispers behind his back.

He really has a bunch of gossiping disciples and it’s time he took them to work. Let’s see if they still have enough breath left to gossip and talk behind his back after he is through with them.

The first batch of disciples begs for mercy not even an hour into training.

“How are you so weak,” Jiang Cheng hisses when more and more pleas for a break reach him and while most of his disciples have the good grace to force themselves into a position that at least resembles a fighting stance, his second in command doesn’t join them.

“How are you so cruel today?” Chen Xun shoots back, still panting heavily and Jiang Cheng can feel something twist in his gut, especially when some disciples nod in agreement.

“Oh, I see,” Jiang Cheng presses out and Chen Xun frowns at his tone. “So this is what you think,” he goes on, and really, he shouldn’t even be surprised.

He knows he’s too harsh on his people, not even only today but simply in general, and sooner or later their resentment will be too much to keep in check, meaning two possible outcomes. Either they will get rid of him permanently though he doesn’t really think anyone would quite dare to take him on personally, or they will simply walk away to find a better Sect.

Jiang Cheng is kind of surprised it hasn’t happened yet, if he’s being honest, but so far his people have prevailed against his foul moods.

They are all attempting the impossible much better than he ever could and the knowledge eats him alive on his bad days. And today is certainly not a good day.

“Sect Leader,” Cheng Xun starts, but Jiang Cheng has heard enough already.

He knows what they really think of him. He doesn’t need them to spell it out even more.

“Don’t bother,” he tells them and turns around abruptly. “You’re dismissed.”

There’s a beat of silence behind him, before he hears his disciples rushing off. They are running away like the old disciples used to run away from his mother and that thought stings more than Jiang Cheng would like to admit.

“Just perfect,” Jiang Cheng mutters and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Sect Leader, are you alright?” Chen Xun suddenly asks and Jiang Cheng startles at his voice.

He thought his right hand men left as well.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he snaps out but he doesn’t turn around to look at Chen Xun.

“Because you’re not yourself today,” Chen Xun says and Jiang Cheng scoffs at the notion that he can be something other than cruel.

“Make sure they don’t slack off,” Jiang Cheng orders him, his back still to him, but he hears Chen Xun falling into the appropriate bow, even though it takes him longer than it usually does.

Maybe he’s finally getting fed up with Jiang Cheng’s attitude as well.

Jiang Cheng tries not to dwell on it for too long, and instead marches over to his study to tackle the paperwork that accumulated during the morning.

He will never understand how it only takes a few hours for all these letters to appear and he understands the need for half of them even less.

If the harvest isn’t good this year, that’s hardly his fault. He doesn’t control the weather after all.

Still, Jiang Cheng answers in the most polite way he can muster today, only to scrap half the letters again when he realizes they come off as overly sarcastic and biting. Thinking of a more polite way to phrase things leave him with a headache, though, so he eventually pushes all of them away.

He’s going to deal with them tomorrow. The harvest is already bad. One day more or less won’t make a difference.

When Jiang Cheng steps out of his office again, he realizes that he must have skipped lunch, because the sun indicates it’s already late afternoon.

Maybe that’s where his headache comes from as well.

Jiang Cheng wonders why Chen Xun didn’t come bother him during lunchtime, but then he remembers how training went this morning and Jiang Cheng thinks he can count himself lucky if Chen Xun didn’t quit on the spot.

Before Jiang Cheng can take off to find out if he still has a right hand man, Jin Ling comes storming up to him.

Jiang Cheng fights the instinctual urge to smile when he sees his nephew, but then he sees the scowl on his face and the determination in his shoulders and of course Jin Ling is here for a fight. This is just how this day is going, after all.

“Jiujiu,” Jin Ling greets him, but he’s barely meeting his eyes and Jiang Cheng knows no matter what comes next, he can never steel himself against it.

“What?” he roughly asks and Jin Ling holds his chin high when he answers.

“I’m going on a night hunt with Wei Wuxian tonight,” Jin Ling states and Jiang Cheng knows what’s coming next. “I don’t need you to follow me around all the damn time.”

Jiang Cheng isn’t sure his voice will hold, so he simply nods. Of course Jin Ling is tired of being supervised on every night hunt.

It had to happen sooner or later. He’s an adult and Sect Leader now, after all, but what really grates on Jiang Cheng is that Wei Wuxian is allowed to come.

“If you don’t need me to follow you around any longer, then you should do it without supervision. Now you’re just relaying on Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng snaps out, too hurt that Jin Ling would prefer him on a night hunt.

“At least he let’s me do my own stuff and doesn’t threaten to break my legs every few seconds,” Jin Ling shoots back and Jiang Cheng works his jaw.

“If you wouldn’t make stupid decisions I wouldn’t have to threaten you,” Jiang Cheng presses out, and Jin Ling levels him with a look.

“At least Uncle Wei let’s me make stupid decisions. He says it’s a good learning experience.”

Oh, Jiang Cheng didn’t know hearing Jin Ling refer to Wei Wuxian in that way would hurt so much but he really should have seen it coming.

Of course Jin Ling would rather spend time with Wei Wuxian, who is fun and carefree, and probably teaches all the interesting—and dangerous—things. Unlike Jiang Cheng who is strict and mean and doesn’t know how to tell Jin Ling that he’s proud of him. Who doesn’t know how to show emotions, period.

“I see,” Jiang Cheng whispers and then levels Jin Ling with a hard look. “Don’t come crying to me when you get hurt,” he bites out and he can tell that the stubborn clench to Jin Ling’s jaw is entirely his own influence.

He really should have taught Jin Ling more than just how to be angry and prideful.

“No worries,” Jin Ling shoots back and marches right back off to where he came from.

Probably to go on a dangerous night hunt without Jiang Cheng to watch his back.

Jiang Cheng starts to feel restless as soon as Jin Ling is out of his sight. Wei Wuxian would never deliberately let any harm come to Jin Ling, but he loves being cocky and he’s always too sure of himself and Jiang Cheng can see a million possibilities how that can lead to Jin Ling being hurt.

“Are we following him, Sect Leader?” Chen Xun asks suddenly from behind Jiang Cheng and he doesn’t seem at all surprised when Jiang Cheng nods.

“Of course we are,” he decides, because he might trust that Wei Wuxian doesn’t mean any harm, but Jiang Cheng trusts no one but himself with Jin Ling’s safety.

“A hunting party is ready,” Chen Xun gives back and before Jiang Cheng can cut whatever number he gathered into half he adds “I only ordered four people to go with us.”

Chen Xun has always been too good for Jiang Cheng.

“Let’s go then,” Jiang Cheng says and marches off to follow Jin Ling.

When he sees who Chen Xun gathered, Jiang Cheng briefly stiffens, because those are disciples he yelled at this morning and most of them seem uncomfortable in his presence.

Well, Jiang Cheng doesn’t need them to be comfortable around him, he reminds himself. He just needs them to keep Jin Ling save. That’s all he’s asking of them, after all.

“We keep out of sight and only interfere when Jin Ling is in danger,” he instructs them without looking at any of them directly, but he sees them nod from the corner of his eyes.

He doesn’t order them to follow him on their swords, his disciples are better trained than to need verbal orders, and they all keep quiet when they rise into the air after him.

Jiang Cheng can still feel their looks on his back, but he pushes it out of his mind. He doesn’t have time to cater to their no doubt hurt egos. He has Jin Ling to protect today.

They find Jin Ling rather quickly, though there’s no sight of Wei Wuxian anywhere. Jiang Cheng guesses he’s keeping out of sight too well for even them to see him, and he just hopes that Wei Wuxian is not so far away as to lose track of Jin Ling.

Jiang Cheng is going to skin Wei Wuxian alive if he gets Jin Ling hurt for a stupid lesson.

Jin Ling seems to be hunting a mid-level spirit, and Jiang Cheng just hopes the boy did his homework on this, because even from this far behind Jin Ling he can tell that the spirit is brimming with magical energy.

“Spread out,” he orders his people, who obey him with minimal hesitation, though he can still feel their concerned looks.

They probably think him too emotional for following Jin Ling like this, but Jiang Cheng shoves the hurt feeling that wells up in him at that far down. He doesn’t have time to deal with this now. He has a nephew to keep safe.

It doesn’t take long for them to realize that Jin Ling did not do his homework properly because he starts to swear almost as soon as the spirit starts throwing curses at him.

And he’s not quick enough to dodge, either, Jiang Cheng realizes with horror when the spirit dances around Jin Ling, throwing one curse after another.

He reacts on instinct, Wei Wuxian being around and keeping hidden be damned, and he reaches Jin Ling just in time to push him out of the way of a sparkling black curse.

It hits him right in the chest, but before Jiang Cheng can figure out just how bad that will be for him, a vicious corpse comes out of the woods, no doubts being summoned by the magical energy from the spirit.

Jiang Cheng manages to get Sandu unsheathed but before he can assume a good stance, the corpse crashes into him, forcing Sandu to bite deep into Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. Jiang Cheng yells when pain radiates through his body, but he pushes himself forward, trying to make the corpse stumble back and Sandu comes out of his shoulder with a wet sound.

The pain must have activated the curse he was hit with earlier, because the last thing Jiang Cheng remembers is Jin Ling screaming out for him in fear, and then everything goes black.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng wakes up to a painful throbbing in his shoulder. He tries to groan, but no sound comes out of his throat and when he tries to open his eyes to chase the darkness away, nothing happens.

To say that it makes him panic is an understatement.

Jiang Cheng tries to calm himself down, tries to take a few deep breaths, and it’s only then that he realizes that his body didn’t even react to his panic.

His heart is not beating any quicker than it did before and his breath isn’t coming faster either.

It’s enough to make him panic even more, not that his body would reflect that in any way.

Jiang Cheng finds that he can’t move a single muscle and he doesn’t even try to fight the urge to scream, because nothing is happening anyway.

It seems he is trapped inside his body.

Jiang Cheng tries to strain his ears, tries to find out if at least that sense did not fail him and to his immense relief he hears the soft murmur of water.

So he must be back in Lotus Pier.

It takes Jiang Cheng only a short moment to remember what happened, to remember how Jin Ling almost got run over by that ferocious corpse and how Jiang Cheng didn’t even think about his own safety.

He guesses that is where the pain in his shoulder is coming from. If only he could open his eyes and turn his head to check the severity of the wound.

Jiang Cheng startles badly—not that his body would show it—when he hears someone enter his room.

Jiang Cheng wonders who possesses the audacity to simply walk into his personal quarters—and he really hopes he is in his own room instead of the infirmary, because then he has to kill someone as soon as he regains control over his body—but when he hears the voice Jiang Cheng isn’t even surprised.

Of course Wei Wuxian would dare.

“And how long do you say he’s been like this?” he asks and Jiang Cheng wants to scream because if he accompanied Jin Ling on his night hunt like he promised, Wei Wuxian would know exactly since when Jiang Cheng has been like this.

“Last night,” Jin Ling gives back and his voice sound choked up in a way that makes the immediate need to threaten whoever made him cry rise in Jiang Cheng.

“He got hit by a spell?” Wei Wuxian inquires next and Jiang Cheng wants to shake him so badly he aches with the need.

“A curse more likely,” Jin Ling softly says and Jiang Cheng’s mind goes blank when he feels Jin Ling’s fingers softly card through his hair. “He hasn’t moved a single bit since he was hit, but his vital functions are all good. His core is still working as well, going by how fast his wound is healing.”

“How did he get this wound?” Wei Wuxian asks and Jiang Cheng wants so badly to grit his teeth when Wei Wuxian picks up his arm and gently moves it around.

It hurts, but less than Jiang Cheng expected it to. His core must really be working overtime to heal the injury.

“There was a ferocious corpse,” Jin Ling whispers, and Jiang Cheng can feel how his fingers shake in his hair. “I didn’t see it, and jiu-jiu took the hit.”

“Where were the disciples you took with you?” Wei Wuxian wants to know, voice much closer now so Jiang Cheng suspects he’s leaning over him to get a better look at the wound.

“I didn’t take any,” Jin Ling admits and Jiang Cheng can practically feel the surprise radiate off Wei Wuxian.

“Why not?”

Jiang Cheng wants to scream and yell at him that Wei Wuxian was supposed to keep their nephew save, but no matter how hard he tries, no sound comes out of his mouth.

“Because I told him I was going with you,” Jin Ling says and if Jiang Cheng was able to move, he would have frozen at that.

“But you didn’t,” Wei Wuxian says, his confusion clear in his voice and Jiang Cheng hears how Jin Ling shakes his head.

“No, I didn’t,” he chokes out and Jiang Cheng aches to brush the tears away that are no doubt rolling down Jin Ling’s face. “I lied to him, because I wanted to prove that I can go on night hunts on my own, that I don’t need his constant supervision.”

“Jin Ling,” Wei Wuxian breathes out and Jiang Cheng doesn’t want to hear this, doesn’t want to know how Jin Ling would rather put himself into mortal danger than to let Jiang Cheng help.

“I just want him to be proud of me,” Jin Ling goes on, and despite his inability to move, Jiang Cheng can almost feel his breath freeze up in his lungs as his heart constricts painfully. “I wanted to show him that I can handle a night hunt on my own.”

“Jin Ling, he is always proud of you,” Wei Wuxian says and Jiang Cheng can’t believe he’s even thinking this but Wei Wuxian is definitely right.

There hasn’t been a moment since Jin Ling came into Jiang Cheng’s life that he hasn’t been proud of him.

“And night hunts are not about doing them on your own. You don’t see Jiang Cheng going on night hunts by himself, do you? You always take at least one person who has your back,” Wei Wuxian explains and despite how uncomfortable Jiang Cheng is with this whole situation, he’s glad Wei Wuxian is the one to explain it to Jin Ling.

Jiang Cheng is sure he would have never found the right words.

“So the next time you go on a night hunt, just remember to at least take someone, okay?”

“Okay,” Jin Ling agrees and starts to card his fingers through Jiang Cheng’s hair again. “I won’t go off on my own anymore.”

“Good,” Wei Wuxian softly says and then stands up, going by the rustling of his clothes. “I’m going to talk to the healer for a bit, will you stay by his side?”

“Yes,” Jin Ling immediately agrees and Jiang Cheng would prefer it if he left, because after that emotional display he might need an hour—or even better, a whole day—to himself, but since Jiang Cheng can’t snap that out at Jin Ling, he stays right where he is.

Jiang Cheng hopes that Jin Ling will be tired of talking now, hopes that he’ll just sit quietly at his bedside, but when Jin Ling takes Jiang Cheng’s hand into his, he knows he won’t get that lucky.

“I’m really sorry, jiu-jiu,” Jin Ling whispers and presses Jiang Cheng’s hand against his chest. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

Jiang Cheng feels the intense need to roll his eyes, because of course Jin Ling didn’t mean for that to happen, but he is still paralyzed.

And still, too Jiang Cheng’s acute horror, Jin Ling doesn’t seem to be done talking.

“I love you, jiu-jiu. I just wanted to prove that I’m able and that you can be proud of me.”

Jiang Cheng is uncomfortable down to his bones, but there is nothing he can do to make Jin Ling stop talking and so he just has to keep listening to what Jin Ling is saying.

“I always want to make you proud. And I know that you are, mostly, at least I think you are, but I wanted to show you that you can live your life again now and that I don’t need constant supervision. I just want to see you happy, too, you know.”

Gods, Jiang Cheng knows he would be furiously blushing if only he could move a damn muscle and he wants to tell Jin Ling that caring for him and having him in his life has made him happier than he ever hoped to be.

Jiang Cheng wants to cuff Jin Ling over the head and pull him close to tell him exactly that and reassure him that Jiang Cheng doesn’t even regret a second with Jin Ling, but before he can make his body move out of pure stubbornness and sheer determination, Wei Wuxian comes back.

“Aww, are you having a heart-to-heart?” he immediately teases Jin Ling, who—going by the sounds of it—is furiously scrubbing a hand over his face.

“Shut up,” Jin Ling snaps and Jiang Cheng would laugh if he could, because that is so much like Jin Ling.

“Alright, no teasing, I get it,” Wei Wuxian immediately says and then thankfully gets serious.

“It’s a low-level curse and Jiang Cheng’s core will take care of it, once it’s done with healing his shoulder. There’s no need to worry.”

“You promise?” Jin Ling asks and his voice sounds so small and scared Jiang Cheng wants to hit Wei Wuxian.

It’s an irrational urge, but it’s better than admitting he wants to do nothing more than hug Jin Ling at that moment.

“I promise,” Wei Wuxian solemnly says and Jiang Cheng can practically imagine his stupid face as he says it, too. “Now go get some rest, I won’t leave him alone,” Wei Wuxian tells Jin Ling and Jin Ling is anything but happy with that, going by the long silence that follows before he moves away from Jiang Cheng, putting his hand carefully back onto the bed.

“Don’t leave him alone,” Jin Ling whispers right before he goes and Wei Wuxian shouts an affirmative after him.

“So it’s just you and me now, shidi,” Wei Wuxian says and Jiang Cheng wonders if he wishes for it hard enough, if he imagines it vividly enough, he’ll be able to catapult himself out of the next window.

No such luck of course.

“I know we’re not on the best of terms, and I’m really sorry for that, but I’d like to change that eventually, you know,” Wei Wuxian starts and Jiang Cheng bitingly wonders when the hell Wei Wuxian got this sentimental.

“I know you didn’t get any dogs, even after I died, and today I got into Lotus Pier without problem even though most of your disciples saw me, so I guess there is no ‘keep him out at all costs’ order,” Wei Wuxian goes on and Jiang Cheng internally groans because he knew, he just knew he should have made that order.

“I guess there is still hope in mending our relationship,” Wei Wuxian whispers and Jiang Cheng gets all choked up when he realizes he has rarely heard Wei Wuxian be this quiet and contemplating. “I would love that,” Wei Wuxian admits and Jiang Cheng would have jerked if he could when Wei Wuxian takes his hand. “I miss you, shidi,” Wei Wuxian confesses and Jiang Cheng wants to rage at him to stop, but of course no sound leaves his mouth.

It might be better anyway, because Jiang Cheng isn’t sure just what exactly would have come out of his mouth. Either a ‘It’s all too late, best stay as polite strangers’ or a ‘I miss you, please come home, at least once in a while’.

Jiang Cheng is not sure he could have lived through the mortification of uttering the last one out loud.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t mimic Jin Ling by carding his fingers through his hair, for which Jiang Cheng is grateful, but instead he puts his hand on his chest, right over his heart and somehow that almost feels worse. More intimate somehow.

Jiang Cheng knows that if he could move he would be snapping at Wei Wuxian to get his hand off him right this instant or he’s going to break it clean in two, but now that he’s being forced to endure this contact, he has to admit that it does feel kind of nice.

Before Jiang Cheng can freak out too much about that admission, the door opens again.

“Wei-gongzi,” Chen Xun says and Jiang Cheng curses his bad luck.

Can’t he catch a break? He doesn’t need to hear how happy his people are for a short reprieve of his temper and harsh orders.

He damn well knows that all by himself.

“Chen Xun,” Wei Wuxian greets him and gets up. “I guess you want some time with him alone, too?” Wei Wuxian asks and there’s the by now so familiar mischief in his voice.

“If it wouldn’t be too much of a bother,” Chen Xun replies, no doubt bowing, all prim and proper, like he’s bound to do and Wei Wuxian laughs, bright and loud.

“Of course not,” he says and pats Jiang Cheng on the chest. “I’ll be here when you wake up, but don’t make it too long, I’m missing my husband,” he mutters and Jiang Cheng wants to snarl at him.

Still, no luck though.

There’s a brief silence again when Wei Wuxian leaves and Chen Xun takes his place at Jiang Cheng’s bedside and it gives him time to prepare for what Chen Xun will have to say to him.

“Sect Leader,” Chen Xun starts and then tries again. “Jiang Cheng. You must wake up soon, we all miss you,” he says and Jiang Cheng feels like channelling his inner Lan Qiren and yelling ‘No lying in Lotus Pier’ at him. “There’s no one around to pester us about our forms or pretend to be annoyed when we don’t get something on the first try. Especially the young ones miss you and it’s only been a day. Don’t leave them waiting too long,” Chen Xun says and Jiang Cheng is having a complete breakdown over the thought that his people might actually like him.

“The Sect is running smoothly, so you don’t have to worry about that, you did train me very well after all, but it’s only half as fun when I can’t banter with you,” Chen Xun admits and Jiang Cheng is floored to find that his second in command actually understood his teasing.

Jiang Cheng often gets misunderstood, mostly because he doesn’t know how to make his voice sound like he’s only teasing, but knowing that Chen Xun has known all along makes a very warm feeling rise up in him.

There’s a new knock at the door, right on time to save Jiang Cheng from being swallowed by that feeling whole, and Jiang Cheng feels Chen Xun lean closer over him.

“Actually, I’m mostly here to inform you that you have a guest,” Chen Xun whispers and then honest to god fixes Jiang Cheng’s hair.

Jiang Cheng has half a mind firing him from his position simply for that, but when Lan Xichen’s voice says “Can I come in?” he loses that train of thought.

Lan Xichen shouldn’t be here. He said he didn’t have time. He should not be here.

“Yes,” Chen Xun says, and Jiang Cheng wants to yell an enthusiastic ‘No’ at that, but his body is still failing him.

Chen Xun leaves without parting words, and soon enough Lan Xichen takes his place at Jiang Cheng’s side.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday,” Lan Xichen starts with, and Jiang Cheng wants to scoff and tell him that it doesn’t matter, it’s not like he explicitly promised Jiang Cheng to come by, but he’s still unable to do anything.

“I was—,” Lan Xichen starts and then has to clear his throat before he can continue. “I was actually waiting for a gift to be finished. I—had a jade token made for you,” Lan Xichen lowly says and Jiang Cheng’s mind blanks when something cold and smooth is being put into his hand.

“I had it carved into a Lotus flower,” Lan Xichen admits and moves Jiang Cheng’s fingers over the carving.

It already feels beautiful and Jiang Cheng can’t wait to see it.

“I wanted this to be the first courting gift,” Lan Xichen confesses and Jiang Cheng swears his heart stops. “But I almost hesitated too long and nearly lost the possibility to court you at all.”

‘Weren’t you in love with Jin Guangyao?’ Jiang Cheng wants to ask, because he remembers that Lan’s are true romantics, that there is one fated person for them and then that’s it.

Lan Xichen’s words can’t be true.

“I gave Meng Yao a generic one, you know,” Lan Xichen whispers and his voice shakes.

Jiang Cheng wants to reach out and cup his face, tell him it’s okay, that there’s no need to explain, but he’s forced to only listen.

“I never wanted to give him my forehead ribbon,” Lan Xichen goes on. “But I want you to have it, to hold it, and to never let it go, and I almost lost the chance to say all of that to you. I’m sorry I have been a coward.”

Jiang Cheng wants to shake him and tell him that they were both cowards, because Jiang Cheng didn’t make a move either, but he has to content himself with the feeling of Lan Xichen’s hand over his for now.

“I’m in love with you, Wanyin,” Lan Xichen whispers and now Jiang Cheng is glad that he can’t move a muscle.

Otherwise he would have furiously blushed and probably pretended he didn’t hear. There’s no chance of doing that now.

“And I need you to wake up so I can say it again and again.”

Jiang Cheng wants to tell him not to worry, that he will definitely wake up to hear it again but mostly just so that he can say it back to Lan Xichen but Lan Xichen is already getting up again.

“Keep the token,” Lan Xichen whispers and has the audacity to press a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s forehead.

How is Jiang Cheng supposed to deal with that?

“Let it guide you home,” Lan Xichen mumbles, his lips brushing Jiang Cheng’s skin and a shudder runs down Jiang Cheng’s whole body.

He guesses it’s a good sign, despite the need to hide his face and sink into the floor.

Jiang Cheng hopes that Wei Wuxian was right with his guess and the curse gets lifted soon because Jiang Cheng has to yell at a handful of people about unnecessary displays of emotion when he can’t do anything about it and he’s honestly almost looking forward to it.

Sadly enough, there is no one around to see the small smile on his face, right before he drifts off to sleep.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng wakes up to warm, golden sunlight in his room. He takes a moment to relish in the fact that he can actually see it, before he remembers the token Lan Xichen put into his hand yesterday and to his absolute delight he finds that he can raise his arm.

The token is just as beautiful as Jiang Cheng imagined it to be.

There’s a rustling sound to his left and when Jiang Cheng turns his head—because he can now, finally—he finds Jin Ling asleep at his side, head pillowed on the arm he has free. The other one is clutching at Jiang Cheng’s robes and Jiang Cheng can feel how his face goes soft at the sight.

When Jiang Cheng lets his eyes roam through the room, he finds Lan Xichen leaning against a wall, clearly asleep as well and before Jiang Cheng has any chance to process that, the door opens to let Wei Wuxian and Chen Xun in.

They are bickering over something—probably about how to best embarrass Jiang Cheng and themselves further—when Wei Wuxian notices that he’s awake.

“Jiang Cheng,” he shouts, only to be immediately elbowed into the gut by Chen Xun, who glares at Wei Wuxian and then meaningfully looks at the still sleeping Jin Ling and Lan Xichen.

“You’re awake,” Wei Wuxian says much quieter and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes, because that much should be obvious.

He’s just about to take a deep breath to yell at all of them, when he notices how relieved Wei Wuxian seems, how Chen Xun’s stance melts the tiniest bit, how Lan Xichen still has Liebing in his hands and how Jin Ling unconsciously clutches his clothes harder and the breath he was just about to take catches in his throat.

Maybe Jiang Cheng can stand to not yell at them immediately for a few more hours.

{Buy me a kofi}

#bt writes #commissions #the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #xicheng #wei wuxian #jin ling #oc #family feels #all of them #hurt/comfort #a magical coma #that makes it so that jc learns he is so very loved

122 notes · View notes

gandalfs-mommy-milkers · 4 years ago

Text

my health.

k so to run it down: basically around five months ago i started experiencing a lot of fatigue and daytime sleepiness without any lifestyle changes. at first i chalked it up to stress, possibly spurred by my family member going through chemo, but it was too abnormal to just be from stress.

i started waking up every day with a headache and was struggling a lot more to sleep. i have always snored, since i was a kid, and i used to always wake up at least once during the night to use the bathroom, but that started becoming more frequent. i started waking up feeling so tired and exhausted, every single day. and i would go through the whole day like that. i'm still going through most of my day like that.

fast forward about 2 months and i finally was able to bring up these recent issues to my psychiatrist and my primary doctor. both of them suggested bloodwork to test for different vitamin deficiencies. before i could have the bloodwork done, i experienced cataplexy for the first time. it was terrifying.

cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone and is most commonly associated with type 1 narcolepsy. it can be just one part of the body (your face going slack, for example) or it can affect your entire body at once (which is what happened to me). i was laying in my bed watching tv, feeling very sad and anxious, my arms struggling to type on my computer, when i lifted my arm up and promptly had it fall on my face. i tried to move my arms, and couldn't. i tried to move my legs and couldn't. i tried and tried to move everything, anything, and couldn't. the only thing i could move was my face, and i didn't even really have control over that. i was just laying there, arms covering my head, stuck, and crying uncontrollably. i couldn't even call for help. all i could do was cry and feel. it was probably 3 or 4 full minutes before i felt my abdominal muscles twinging, and suddenly i could move again. i was so relieved, but also terrified.

i just so happened to have a video intake appointment the following morning with a nurse practitioner at the sleep clinic. we talked about what had happened, as well as my history of snoring and my family history of sleep apnea. she notes that it doesn't sound like narcolepsy because i've never experienced this before, but also says that cataplexy can be associated with and caused by other things, although it is rare. she believes that what is most likely happening is that my body and brain are so tired from consistent poor sleep caused by possible sleep apnea, that it is beginning to cause other issues (such as the cataplexy).

i take the home sleep test on a friday night. i have to watch a youtube tutorial on how to hook it up correctly. my adhd is so thankful for the very specific instructions. i bring it to the clinic the following monday morning. i am diagnosed with sleep apnea and sleep paralysis, only one of which is a bit of a surprise. honestly, idk how i didn't realize i have sleep paralysis. though i don't think i've ever hallucinated (save for maybe once when i was a kid), i regularly find that my brain is awake and aware during the night, but that i can't move my body. really, i thought this was normal and something everyone experienced. i just thought like, in that alpha sleep, your brain was awake but your body was still. i didn't realize that being unable to move even when you wanted to was sleep paralysis.

anyway. moving on. i get a CPAP machine. ohhhhh my cpap. how i love love love my cpap. sure it makes me break out around my nose a little more, and sure sometimes the straps bother the tops of my ears where they meet the skin on my skull, but dammit if that bitch doesn't help me sleep. cpap machine my beloved, thank you for helping me to get oxygen throughout the night. thank you for allowing me to dream again. i don't think i've dreamed consistently in years.

however. the cpap is only helping so much. i've been using it all night every night for almost 3 weeks and only some of my problems have started to improve. yes, i'm sleeping through the night most nights, and i'm waking up without those awful headaches, and i'm sleeping deeply enough to dream again, and i'm waking up with a bit more energy. but i'm still so tired. i know it can take 6-8 weeks to fully feel all the positive effects but. i'm so so tired. I've stopped experiencing cataplexy but my legs feel so weak every day, and my arms often do too. my legs are constantly experiencing that crawling feeling that i've come to know so well with restless leg syndrome, but now its happening all afternoon and evening, even when i'm not trying to sleep. my legs have started to tic now, twitching and jerking upward toward my abdomen. it happens most often in the evening, and used to only happen sometimes when i was very very tired but has since started happening every day. i'm just so discouraged and anxious and sad. i'm sad that this is happening and i'm sad that i don't know why. this pandemic and my family member's cancer have already been so detrimental to my mental health, my depression has gotten so bad again, and my anxiety has worsened. and now, this. i'm just. i'm so tired.

anyway, that's it pretty much. i just wanted to spell it all out and like. ask for help? offer validation?? idk. if you're going through or have gone through anything like this, let me know. let me know what worked for you, let me know if this post helped you feel more valid, let me know anything you want to let me know. i think asks are open.

#fin's health journey #sleep apnea #cpap #health #mental health #physical health #rls #restless leg syndrome #sleep paralysis #fatigue #cataplexy #tics

14 notes · View notes

cdyssey · 4 years ago

Text

Headaches

Summary: Four weeks in London later, both Lyra and Mrs. Coulter have full heads.

AO3 Link

—

One quiet night, four weeks in London later, Lyra sits on the couch, pretending to read some history book that Mrs. Coulter insisted upon, while Mrs. Coulter herself is curled up in the chair opposite, scrawling notes in the margins of a thick book. Her loopy handwriting is pretty and small and illegible to Lyra, who never learned how to do cursive. (She ducked out of those particular lessons by feigning chicken pox; Roger obligingly dotted her with berry juice, snickering a little as he poked her right between the eyes.)

Mrs. Coulter always looks pretty, but Lyra reckons she’s the prettiest when she’s got her hair all down, and she’s not dressed to kill a man. Like tonight, for instance, she’s got on a silky robe, lavender and luxurious, its hem pooling like liquid on the floor. She seems ethereal, like a fairy almost, fragile and elegant and light, and it’s with a fond smile that Lyra remembers the conversation that they had at the beginning of all this, when they established what it means that she’s comfortable enough to wear pajamas around Lyra...

Pantalaimon, in his favorite ermine form, urgently nudges her hand, calling her back to her senses.

But think about it—that was weeks ago, Lyra, he whispers into her mind. Shouldn’t we be focusing on Roger? Shouldn’t she...? She promised...

She said to trust her, Pan... maybe she’s working on it right now, readin’ that big, fancy book of hers…?

I highly doubt Roger’s going to be found in a book, he returns crossly, turning into a wasp hovering next to her face. The buzzing of his wings catches the golden monkey’s attention; he’d been heretofore slinking up and down the stretch of floor next to Mrs. Coulter’s chair, looking strangely restless.

Surprised, Pan promptly pops back into his ermine skin again, landing on top of her chest with a neat thud.

Real smooth, she snaps, glaring at him over the top of her book.

I can’t help it!

“Lyra, dear?” Both Lyra and Pan look up to see that Mrs. Coulter’s attention has also been snagged from across the room. Indeed, she and the monkey both have directed their undivided attention towards them now, and their dual intensity is enough to force Pan to turn into a kitten, pressing his gray paws clumsily against the fabric of her shirt. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Lyra mumbles immediately, her cheeks feeling hot, “just thinking about a lotta stuff, you know?”

“The kind of stuff that makes your head feel full, huh?” Mrs. Coulter’s brow bends sympathetically as the monkey resumes his methodical pacing, back and forth and back again, his tiny hands clicking against the sleek wood. Pan watches him, a little discomfited, a little mesmerized, wondering why he’s so cagey tonight.

“Exactly!” Lyra exclaims. “That’s it. My head’s just a lil full.”

“Ah,” Mrs. Coulter sighs, the gesture less sound than susurrus, “I know the feeling.”

And she raises the thick book she’s reading, allowing Lyra to get a good glimpse at the text for the first time. To her surprise, her guardian’s elegant handwriting isn’t the only part of it that’s entirely incomprehensible to her. Indeed, the tome seems to be written in an entirely different language.

Or, more accurately still, it looks like English would if someone completely didn’t know English and was just making excellent educated guesses.

“Latin,” Mrs. Coulter supplies, correctly interpreting the confusion in Lyra’s face. “The liturgical language. I began to learn it when I was around your age.”

It’s an impressive statement, communicative of just how intelligent Mrs. Coulter is, but frankly, Lyra isn’t all too surprised anymore.

This lady seems to know everything, answering every question that the twelve-year old has with patience, kindness, and poise.

Even the little things.

The stupid ones.

Like how anbaric lights work.

Or why the sky is blue.

She won’t give you a straight answer about Roger, though, Pan reminds her stubbornly, kneading her pajama shirt with his claws.

Lyra works hard to ignore him.

“Looks fancy,” she replies, “and hard.”

“It’s most certainly both,” Mrs. Coulter shakes her head, replacing the book on her lap. “I used to be able to read it so fluently when I was in college, declining nouns like a Roman conqueror... but now, out of practice, out of touch...”

“—your head feels all full,” Lyra finishes, tilting her head sympathetically.

“Precisely, darling.”

And for the first time in a long time—perhaps since the very first week of their acquaintance—she studies her guardian's face, deconstructing it like one of the math problems the Librarian used to keep setting in front of her. And her findings prove thus, the variables all clear—beneath the mask of her gentle smile, there’s an exhaustion about Mrs. Coulter.

Slight.

Subtle.

Tinged with the indefinable manic energy of someone who works and works and works.

Staring at the faint lines beneath her arctic blue eyes, Lyra suddenly thinks of Lord Asriel for some reason. As driven as he is, as cold and as fierce and as clever, sometimes, on his rare visits to Jordan College, she’s noticed that he looks a little exhausted, too.

“If your head feels all full,” Lyra asks, “why don’t you stop for awhile? Try again in the morning?”

The monkey briefly pauses in his tracks, staring at Lyra with open curiosity—tender, probing, mild—before continuing onwards, a dutiful soldier committed to his guard.

“Believe me,” Mrs. Coulter sighs, “I’ve asked myself the same question, but my employers... they’re always expecting me to produce innovative material, even when my project is more ambitious than their wildest dreams.”

Her voices raises a little at the end, and the golden monkey, his face turned away, growls lightly, his beautiful tail stiffly coiled.

Pan transforms into a monkey, too, empathetically trying the emotion on for himself—the pent-up frustration of never feeling like he can do enough.

The form’s a little strange, but it kinda fits, too.

Because Lyra thinks about Roger again.

About how there’s so much more she can be doing to help him.

“Stick it to ‘em, Mrs. Coulter,” she says, sudden fierceness in her voice, flooding passion. Pan is a wildcat on her lap, black hackles raised. “Seriously. If you know you’re better, forget all the toerags that don’t get it.”

Mrs. Coulter’s eyes widen in quiet surprise, mouth slightly parted, before she suddenly breaks out into a laugh—sudden, sincere, and musical—the faint lines in her face creasing pleasantly. Even though he continues to pace, the monkey’s expression softens incrementally when he comes back around.

“My, my,” she chuckles, “what coarse language... but thank you, Lyra. I appreciate it. Sincerely.”

And she gives Lyra another one of those radiant smiles again, the one that she loves so much, that makes the girl feel like she’s maybe, very possibly loved.

And Pan, feral though he appears, brushes against her cheek, purring.

“But, since we’re trading secrets now,” Mrs. Coulter continues, her brow furrowing above her eyes, “why is your own head full, dear? Feeling tired? Is it bedtime for you?”

Lyra’s nose automatically wrinkles in disdain. In London, she’s had a strict bedtime every night, which is a far cry from how her caretakers at Jordan College handled her nightly routine.

(Which is to say that at Jordan College, she didn’t really have a nightly routine. Someone would just yell at her to go to bed, and then she’d maybe do it or maybe not depending on her mood.)

“No,” she shakes her head defiantly, but then, a little more gently, a little more politely, “no... I’m just... I’m thinkin’ about Roger again, Mrs. Coulter. He’s gotta be so scared and lonely and confused…”

Pantalaimon, now an ermine again, watches the golden monkey, far bigger than him and far more graceful and far better at keeping a neutral face.

But as soon as Lyra mentions Roger, the golden monkey’s nose twists unpleasantly, as though he’s smelling something awful, and Pan lurches, instinctively recognizing the emotion for what it is.

Disgust.

Mrs. Coulter smiles sadly, her slender face perfectly free of her dæmon, and the monkey turns away again.

“I imagine so,” she murmurs, “but all my best people are doing their best to look for him, Lyra. Haven’t I told you this before?”

And even Lyra can hear the warning note in her voice this time, the implicit insistence that she shouldn’t push.

Push anyway, Pan encourages, pressing his black nose gently against her neck. For Roger, Lyra. He needs you.

“I... I know,” Lyra mumbles, “but I just thought we could help look for him, too, you know? All hands on deck.”

The monkey makes some sort of impatient sound that registers as such in the empty air, but still, Mrs. Coulter’s expression remains perfectly pleasant.

Soft.

Compassionate even.

Lyra’s heart thuds with its own confusion.

“If all else fails,” Mrs. Coulter promises, straightening her silk-enclosed shoulders, “we will, sweet girl. I wouldn’t lie to you—ever.”

Pantalaimon isn’t so sure about that, but Lyra half-heartedly brushes him off again.

Because she likes Mrs. Coulter.

She really does.

We can like someone and not believe them, Lyra, he reminds her gently.

That’s scary to think about, Pan.

I know.

Mrs. Coulter’s smile is so kind… so warm… so inviting…

Someone can like us and still not tell us the truth, Pan warns, watching the monkey’s vaguely cross expression.

That’s even scarier somehow.

I know.

#marisa coulter #lyra silvertongue #his dark materials #f: his dark materials #reginianwrites #last one for this weekend i swear lmao

19 notes · View notes

ddarker-dreams · 5 years ago

Note

Hi so after reading tons of angst my heart needs a little fluff. May I please request some Overhaul x reader fluff? Like really domestic stuff please?

a/n: well, i will do my best for fluff but this is a yandere blog so i can only get so fluffy ^ ^ ;

“Was there something you wanted?”

Kai’s voice pierces through silence, unwavering. Currently, he sat behind a desk directly in front of you. His eyes had been scanning numerous emails and sending out responses, surely consisting of dubious legality.

It wasn’t uncommon for him to stay up this late for the sake of his plans. He never divulged information to you, but you didn’t need him to. You know him for being hard working, as he procured you with similar methods.

But that was a long time ago. The bitterness you felt for him had all but faded, instead replaced with complacency.

Noticing him not sleeping next to you, hours of sleep began to slip away. No longer wanting to deal with restlessness, you opted on sitting in Kai’s presence until it was fully morning.

Not wanting to bother him, you didn’t interrupt by speaking. Instead, you just curled yourself up in a blanket wordlessly. The chairs in front of his desk were comfortable, often used to accommodate for guests when Kai was doing his “business”.

It had to have been at least half an hour since you invited yourself in. Why Kai decided to bring the issue up now, you were unsure. Silently, you deliberate over how you should answer. If you mention insomnia to him, Kai would worry to an irritating degree. You almost got a headache thinking of all the medicine and doctors he’d have to come look at you.

“I missed you.”

It wasn’t the true reason, but in your tired state you hope the lie is passable. Otherwise it would be more trouble than it was worth. To your delight, Kai doesn’t seem suspicious at your oddly affectionate confession. He sits back in his leather chair, unfolding his crossed legs.

“You haven’t been sleeping well lately,” Kai surmises, his visage unchanging from before. You feel a pang of anxiety shoot through you, cursing yourself for being unable to hide it. “I’ll see to it that gets fixed.”

Chewing on your lip, your mind scrambles for a way to refute him. But when it came to you, Kai picks up on every little detail. At times, you wonder if he knows you better than you know yourself. His eyes remind you of eagles, perceptive and capable of spotting weakness.

“Ah…” you trail off, clearing your throat. Kai patiently waits for you to finish, steepling his hands together. Breath caught in the back of your throat, you decide to further entangle yourself in a web of lies.

“I think I’d sleep better if you were next to me.” you murmur, a genuine warmth spreading on your face. For a moment, you manage to finally procure a physical reaction. Kai’s eyes widened for a split second, but it’s gone fast enough to make you wonder if you had imagined it.

“Is that so?” he inquires in a low rumble. You nod sheepishly, smiling gently for further effect.

Kai had seen every side of you these past few months. He had seen you heartbroken, crying and begging him for freedom. He had witnessed your pitiful bouts of rage, as you attempted to fight him and curse him. He had also seen you go days without speaking, eyes devoid of any life. But seeing any fondness from you towards him…

That was new.

Without a word, he gets up from his chair. Your mouth opens for a moment, eyebrows furrowing. Now it is your turn to be confused, as he makes his way over to your huddled form.

When he had first taken you away from your life, Kai made one thing clear to you. He didn’t see the point in touching you until you were ready. He said it would be “counterproductive” in a fashion that simply couldn’t have been human. At the time, you screamed at him, saying he was still a monster.

The memory resurfaces, hurting like a deep wound reopening. But you have no time to ponder the past as Kai towers over you, unreadable eyes looking down. You blink, long eyelashes tickling your face.

Was he going to do something?

“Your health will deteriorate if this continues. I won’t have that,” Kai explains to you. He then bends down, reaching an arm beneath your legs; and then placing his hand on your back. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Before you can even ask what he’s doing, he gently picks you up from the chair. You squeak at the contact, body automatically struggling in fear of being dropped. Kai clicks his tongue at your resistance, and presses you against his chest to secure you.

“K-Kai?” you stutter, the sound high pitched and squeaky. You’ve hardly ever been this close to him, your head resting against his heart. Every muscle in your body is stiff, but you stop struggling as he holds you firmly.

“I’m not going to drop you.” he states in a matter of fact tone. To anyone else, the words might sound borderline teasing, but you know he’s being dead serious. Inhaling shakily for a moment, you decide you’re too tired to care. Much to your own embarrassment, you began to enjoy the scent of his cologne and warmth from his closeness.

Subtly, you lean your head against his chest. You’re sure he notices, but he decides not to comment on it. Without any delay, he begins to walk towards your shared bedroom, occasionally looking down towards your flushed form.

“Now you won’t have any more excuses.”

#overhaul #overhaul x reader #yandere overhaul #yandere bnha #overhaul imagine #yandere #yandere x you #yandere x reader #yandere imagines #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #kai chisaki x reader #kai chisaki imagine #answered #my stuff

1K notes · View notes

themuffinbee · 4 years ago

Text

Lore Olympus Novelized, Chapter 1

Hey all! I’ve moved my non-official fan adaption of Lore Olympus from Ao3 to Tumblr for anybody that might wish to read it. Hope you guys enjoy!

The plot and dialogue belong to the incredible Rachel Smythe.

----------------------------------------------------

Raindrops pelted the windshield as the slick streets of the Underworld glowed with fluorescent blue and electrified neon. A beautiful sight if anyone cared to notice, though few ever did.

Hades didn’t, not anymore. He hadn't for a very long time.

At the present moment, like most moments, he had other things on his mind much more important than kaleidoscopic puddles of dirty city water. Important things like how it was only 9:15 and the night was already turning to shit.

Said shit-turning was mostly due to the absence of a particular river nymph, whose sultry silhouette should be right there, waiting under the awning of her apartment building. That was what she had agreed to with a little wink and a smirk only six hours ago, anyway. There was no way she had forgotten about it either. Not after the way she had gleefully crowed about receiving one of Hera’s coveted invitations to the night’s festivities. She had the damned thing pinned to her refrigerator, for crying out loud.

That left only one real question: what had he done to piss her off this time? He hadn’t even seen her since before the end of the workday. Then again, that had never managed to stave off her ire before.

Eyes scanning for a streak of blood-red among all of the mirrored blue, Hades drove yet another circuit around the building, tapped out yet another text message, made yet another call. The phone rang once, twice, three times—

“Hey!” Minthe answered, voice low and relaxed. Carefree.

“You’re late, where are you?” Hades tried his best to keep any impatience out of his tone. Minthe didn't like it when he got impatient.

He heard the sound of sloshing water in the background as she asked, “Did you get me that purse I wanted?”

“Um, yeah…” he began, “I did, but—”

“Oh, great!”

Another splash sent his heart sinking in his chest. Surely she wasn’t in the bathtub. She knew he had all but begged Hera for that damn invitation, there was no way she was taking a bath right now. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “You’re coming to the Panathenaea with me, right?”

The other end of the line went silent, and he found himself holding his breath despite knowing her answer.

“Hmm…” She drew out her simpering hum long enough to sound playful. At least, it would have, if he hadn't known better. “...I don’t think so.”

Hades bit inside of his cheek and counted backward from ten in his mind. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that I don’t particularly feel like being seen in public with you today.”

Oh, screw this.

"Real classy, Minthe," he said, anger finally leaking into his voice. He glanced at the clock again and felt some of that anger turn into nervousness.

9:19.

There was a large difference between late, fashionably late, and late. Hera, of course, had worked out how to tell which was which down to an exacting science. He really didn't feel like getting pinned under that calculating gaze or chastened by that arched I told you so eyebrow. Or, even worse, being the beneficiary of her well-meaning but oh-so-condescending pity.

"Come on, stop messing around," he said, sounding pathetic to his own ears. "I can't go to my brother's party by myself."

Not again.

Minthe sighed, then explained as though she were speaking to a particularly dense toddler, "I don't feel like being seen with you in general."

It wasn't the first time she'd said something like this, but the words still hit him like a slap in the face. Normally, there would at least be a reason for her to say these things. Maybe one of their infamous knock-down, drag-out fights, or even a careless word on his part. Something. But this...this was completely unprovoked. Things had been...good...between them recently. No fights in almost a month, she seemed happy most of the time, and the two of them had settled into a comfortable routine between work and after work. It had been nice. Normal. Or, at least, as normal as the two of them were capable of being.

He opened his mouth to ask what the hell had gotten into her, what he had done to make her so angry, but Minthe’s voice halted the words in his throat

"Hades…" she said, tone as languid as a string of cigarette smoke, "all the fine suits in the world won't change the fact that you stink of death."

That...that was a new one.

His teeth ground against one another as he tried to think of some kind of coherent response, willing himself not to give in to the outrage and panic that threatened to fill his mouth with poison. When no ingenious plan or even the will to salvage this whole mess appeared, Hades did the most sensible thing he could: he ended the call.

His limbs and head felt heavy as he sank his forehead onto the steering wheel, but not nearly as heavy as the weight that felt like it could tear a hole in his jacket pocket.

Ha. He had really thought she would consider...

Gods, what an idiot he was.

----------------------------------------------------

Even two blocks away from the party, Hades could tell the night’s festivities would very much resemble his youngest brother himself: loud, flashy, and obnoxious. Thunderous bass beats reverberated his car windows in place and splashes of light reflected off of the clouds like multi-colored lightning. The music only grew louder as he entered the building, now joined by the sounds of drunken party-goers.

As if he didn’t have enough of a headache already.

If all went well, he could make a few strategic appearances here and there, suffer through a five-minute conversation with his brothers, and be home with a bottle of his favorite scotch in under an hour. Most important of all, he needed to avoid—

“Hey! Hey! HEY!”

...Hera.

He turned around to see the golden Queen of the Gods, dripping with jewels and looking as resplendent as ever. Also, drunk. From the gentle sway of her walk and tilt of her stance, she had to be at least on her third drink of the night.

“Where is your date, Blue Boy?” She cocked her head with a grin.

“Gone,” he answered, unable to keep from averting his eyes. There wasn’t much point in trying to lie to her, there never was. Being married to a pathological philanderer for two thousand years had given her the ability to smell bullshit a mile away. “I need a drink.”

She studied him for only a moment before her face melted from a cheerful smile to tired annoyance. “Well, I, for one, am grateful! I don’t have to spend the evening with that nymph trash.”

Ah. So she was drunk enough to be honest. Fourth drink, then.

...Nymph trash, huh? It wasn’t that all nymphs were trash. After all, Amphitrite, Queen of the Sea and bride of his least annoying brother, was technically a nymph herself. Hera wouldn’t ever speak of any of the Nereids like that, not if she didn’t want saltwater running through her taps for a month. No, his nymph was the one who was trash.

Hades began twisting a scrap of paper from his pocket between his fingers at the thought of his sister-in-law. “Did Poseidon bring his wife?”

Hera glanced down at his restless hands, then back up to his face, wearing that dreaded look of pity as she answered, “...Yes.”

Anger and anxiety had been battling it out in his brain the whole night through, and anger finally seemed to gain the upper hand.

“Great!” He threw his arm out to the side. “So I’m the only one alone?”

With her most self-assured smile, the kind that could convince almost anyone to throw themselves off of a cliff, Hera said, “Relax, no one will notice.”

Hades glared at her out of the corner of his eye. “You did.”

“Hera!” An unfortunately familiar voice boomed across the hall as the host of the night’s event, the purple pain in the ass, strode into view. Zeus, looking every bit the smug asshole he was with his white suit and diamond laurel, grabbed his wife about the waist and spun her around. “Hera, I’ve been looking for you everywhere! You look beautiful tonight!”

“Oh stop! You’re embarrassing me!” she cooed.

Zeus leaned in close, their noses almost touching as he whispered, “How ‘bout we get outta here?”

Oh Gaia, he wasn’t about to start making out with her, was he?

Hera wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, words covered in honey. “You big silly! You can’t leave your own party!”

Zeus began nibbling on his wife’s ear and she giggled like a teenager with her first boyfriend.

Hades sighed. Yes. Yes, they were about to start making out in the middle of the hall. Now that he thought about it, he had walked in on the two of them making rather inventive use of one of their couches a few years back at a party much like this one. That was more of his brother than he had ever wanted to see.

Hades tugged at his cuff links and cleared his throat.

Zeus looked up with an empty smile as he finally met eyes with his brother. “Ooooh! Hello, Hades. I didn’t see you there.”

Sure you didn’t.

Then the King of the Gods and idiot extraordinaire glanced around. “Hey, where’s your date?”

Hera groaned, “Zeus, I wish you knew when to shut up.”

This was going to be a long night.

----------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Artemis! What do you think?”

Persephone stuck her hands out to the sides and tilted her hips, hoping that if she struck a pose like she had seen on the cover of one of her cousin’s magazines she might look a little more...mature? Stylish? Less like a bumpkin straight from the country that had only spent a total of forty-eight hours on Mount Olympus?

Something like that.

Artemis looked her up and down with her dark eyes, then frowned. “Persephone...you can’t wear that. You look like a relic.”

Darn it. She had been afraid of that. The fashions on Mount Olympus were so different from those in the Mortal Realm. Like, way different. Her gauzy, loose tunics and chitons and shifts weren’t going to cut it up here, especially not at one of Zeus’ swanky parties. At least Artemis wasn’t the type to soften her opinion and hem and haw, dancing around the problem without actually saying there was a problem. Persephone rather liked that about her.

But that still meant there was a problem. A big one. Persephone’s pose wilted, hands coming up to her cheeks as if she could hide her embarrassment behind them. “But this is the only dress I have right now…”

“I’ve got something you can borrow!” Artemis smiled, still a little pitying, but Persephone had already accepted that she would be encountering a lot of that in the next few weeks. It was inevitable, really.

Either way, her cousin’s words brought a flood of relief. Persephone bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together. “Thanks! You’re a real lifesaver!”

Artemis may have been one of the three sacred virgins, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to turn a head. The Moon Goddess’ dress sparkled with sequins like stars in the sky and paired perfectly with her indigo skin, which was very visible with those high slits up the side of her thighs. Oh yes, Persephone would be in good hands on the fashion front.

She smiled. Maybe the night wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Chapter 2

#my fics #Lore Olympus #Lore Olympus Novelized #Persephone #Hades

12 notes · View notes

eclare-draws · 5 years ago

Text

Hold Me Close and Hold Me Fast

I haven’t written fanfiction in so long, but I couldn’t sleep last night and wanted to write myself some fluffy comfort. So here, have some Adrienette/Marichat fluff:

AO3

Marinette stared at the ceiling above her bed. The sleeping pills weren’t kicking in. The lavender oil on her wrists was giving her a headache more than it was calming her. The chamomile tea she drank earlier in the night had settled in her stomach without much effect. She sighed and rolled onto her side, the heavy comforter on top of her twisting uncomfortably around her body. She pressed the button on her phone to glance at the time. 2:37AM. She’d gotten into bed five hours ago, deciding to turn in early after a long and unreasonably emotional day. Her body was aching from the cold, her mind taking the toll of the seasonal changes more than she would have liked, and she’d started crying at least six times throughout the day over the silliest things.

Thoughts of childhood flooded into her brain for some reason, and she felt the hot tears of melancholy flooding down her face before she realized they had welled up in her eyes. She unlocked her phone to see if there was a white noise playlist on spotify that she could try. Usually they kept her up, but there was no harm in at least trying to listen to calming noises. She scrolled through the recommended playlists and settled with one she’d listened to before on another night like this: “Cat Purring Sounds.” She pressed play, set a sleep timer, and placed the phone under her pillow. It couldn’t replace the warmth of the real thing, but it did help her calm down at least a little bit. She buried her face into the pillow as she twisted onto her stomach. She considered texting her boyfriend to come over and provide his warmth, but she didn’t want to bother him with her restlessness.

Then the tears were back. She didn’t know what it was this time. Not bothering to turn off the phone as it continued purring, she sat up and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, grabbed a notebook, and climbed through the skylight and into the cold night air. She turned on the fairy lights that wrapped around the railing and snuggled herself into the lounge chair, tucking her feet under her legs and wrapping the blanket even closer. Her nose, cheeks, and ears were instantly chilled from the gentle breeze that hit her face, but she felt warm where it mattered. She had meant to write or draw something, but quickly realized her hands would get too cold. Maybe it was better to just sit in her blanket and watch the distant lights of the city and the stars. While it was cold out, the night was clear, and she could make out a few constellations despite the light pollution that leaked up from her city. She could also make out… a shadowy figure hopping between buildings? No. It must be her imagination. She shook her head and closed her eyes. He couldn’t be out at this time of night, he was supposed to be sticking to a strict sleep schedule unless there was an emergency.

She went back to looking up at the stars until she heard a distinct thud no more than a few feet from her. She’d kind of expected it, but was still surprised when she looked up and saw the slim, muscular figure of Paris’ own Chat Noir crouched in front of her.

“Hey kitty,” she said barely above a whisper.

“Hey princess,” he responded at the same volume before dropping his transformation. Adrien pushed back his wind-stirred hair and sat down in front of Marinette, propping his arms on the seat by her knees. She reached a hand from below her blanket and tucked it into his soft locks, gently stroking them back into place.

“What happened to your model sleep schedule?” she mused, not hiding the amusement in her voice.

“My bug senses were tingling and I couldn’t just ignore a damsel in distress,” he replied, a gentle and tired smile forming on his lips.

“Mhmm, sure,” she responded with a giggle as he wormed his arms under the blanket. He was in his pajamas, which were made up of a t-shirt, plaid pants, and bare feet. “What was it, really?”

“I’m guessing the same as you? I just…” he looked up at her, green eyes shining with tears despite his smile, “I couldn’t sleep. My mind won’t let me. And I missed you. I… I meant to just go out to clear my mind, but I saw your lights were on so I thought...” he trailed off.

Marinette gave him a soft smile and gently cupped his cheek with the arm that rested outside of the blanket. He smiled and closed his eyes, letting his head rest more firmly against her palm after twisting to kiss it.

“You thought you could just show up on my balcony and we’d cuddle all night?” Marinette teased as she let her thumb rub small circles on his soft skin.

“Didn’t think,” he looked up at her with a grin, “I knew. Remember? Bug senses.”

She laughed quietly, moving her hand to poke his nose, which made his grin grow even wider. Shaking her head, she stood up as he moved to fully open the skylight. He gave her a slight bow, raising his head to look at her with the cocky grin still planted on his face, “After you, m’lady.”

Marinette climbed down before Adrien plopped beside her on the bed, closing the skylight behind him. She nestled herself between the covers, not realizing just how cold she’d been on the balcony until she was wrapped in their warmth. Adrien climbed in beside her, getting comfortable on his back before Marinette twisted to have her head on his chest and stretched her arm across his stomach. As soon as they were settled in, Marinette heard it.

She had left her phone on. The quiet rumbling of artificial cat purrs came up from below the pillow that Adrien’s head was propped on. He must have heard it, because as she went to grab her phone from under him, he looked down at her with a dumb smile on his face.

“Looks like someone was missing me,” he said slyly as he sat up a little so she could better reach her phone. She turned it off, a blush seeping onto her cheeks and the tips of her ears.

“God forbid I miss my boyfriend when I can’t sleep,” Marinette pouted as she returned to her previous position on his chest. Adrien shifted his hand from under her so that he could stroke her hair.

“Why didn’t you text me? I would’ve come over if you’d asked,” he mumbled.

“I didn’t want to risk waking you up. You need your sleep just as much as I do. Plus, your bug senses figured it out, right?” she shifted her position so that she could look at him, chin resting on top of her hand on his chest. She felt the chuckle low in his chest more than she heard it.

Adrien carefully moved his arms around her and pulled her body up slightly so that her face was closer to his, “I guess they did. But you know you’re worth dark circles at a photoshoot, right?”

Marinette couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her lips even if she wanted to. Adrien returned the smile as he moved to kiss her nose, which was so perfectly perched in front of him. His lips then trailed over to her cheek, up to her eyelid, then her forehead, then retraced their steps until they met her lips. The kiss was gentle and lazy. Adrien could feel the chapped skin beneath his own. As she parted her lips against his, he could taste the peppermint toothpaste and chamomile tea. The smell of lavender was suddenly overpowering him as an arm shifted to be between his head and the pillow. They separated as gently as they had come together, faces remaining close as they shared sleepy smiles.

Adrien gave a contented sigh as Marinette returned to her previous position on his chest. Somewhere within it was the soft rumbling of a purr. She placed an ear against his chest and let the sound envelop her as she gently stroked circles on his chest. His hand tucked itself into her hair as he returned the touches. He listened as Marinette’s breathing slowed and became a slight snore that accompanied his purring. At some point in watching her sleeping form, the exhaustion that filled his body overcame him and he joined her in a dreamless sleep, tangled up and warm in her embrace.

#ml fanfiction #fluff #cuddling #marichat #adrienette #post reveal #ml #fanfic #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #cat noir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #my writing #2019

200 notes · View notes

cynicalrainbows · 5 years ago

Text

The Next Best Thing Chapter 11

Sleepover fun! Credit for all the good ideas goes to @afretfulporpentine, like they’re literally all down to her!

Anne takes her into the playroom which is all decorated with balloons and streamers- it’s just them, because Anne’s dad is at work and Anne’s Mum is Busy and Mary has gone to her Group with baby Catherine.

Group, according to Anne, is where you have to go if you have a baby so you can talk to other people who have had babies- or, in her case, if your big sister has had a baby and Jane isn’t there to look after you because she has to go to her job, which is sometimes stacking boxes on shelves in Sainsburys and sometimes listening to people shout because their parcel wasn’t delivered on time.

(Jane does not like her job much.)

All the people at Group are young (like Mary) and they all look a bit tired (also like Mary), and their babies all look more or less like Baby Catherine too, except that Baby Catherine has nicer clothes and newer toys that make the other girls look at her and Mary out of the corners of their eyes in a not-very-nice way.

At Group- says Anne- sometimes you sit in a circle and take turns crying and other times, you sit in a circle and lie about whether or not your baby can sit up yet or not and how much sleep you’re getting, unless you’re Anne, which means sitting on the floor at the side and playing Candy Crush on Mary’s phone.

Anne says it’s all very boring but that Mary brought her a McFlurry on the way home the first time so it was mostly worth it.

(The second time, Anne pointed out that Baby Catherine wasn’t really sitting up by herself ‘just that morning’. She didn’t get a McFlurry that time.)

It’s nice, not having to have Anne’s Mum and Dad there, because it means Cathy doesn’t have to talk to them about how school is going or worry about Manners or be scared she’s going to do something Wrong, like when she was invited for lunch and it had been a proper lunch at the table and Anne’s Dad kept looking at her while she was eating and shaking his head and Anne’s Mum kept twitching like there was a fly on her and she was a restless horse.

It had made her so nervous that she’d barely been able to taste her food because she couldn’t work out what she’d done wrong- her elbows definitely weren’t on the table and she couldn’t possibly be talking with her mouth full because she wasn’t saying anything because Anne’s Dad likes to hear himself think.

The whole thing was so tense that it was almost a relief when Anne’s Mum eventually turned to her, frowning like she had a headache.

‘We like to use our knife and fork properly in this house, Cathy.’

She hadn’t understood what she meant until Anne nudged her and she realised that everyone else was holding their fork in their left rather than their right hands.

(She hadn’t known it was wrong until then.)

Her face had gone all hot and she’d quickly switched hands and done her best to eat the rest of her food like that, but eating with her left hand made her clumsy and when Anne’s Mum winced when she accidentally spilled a forkful of couscous into her lap, she’d nearly cried.

She hadn’t been allowed to go over to play at Anne’s house for weeks after she’d told her Mum and Dad about it, so she’d stopped telling them anything much about Anne’s house at all.

(She wonders if she’ll need to be careful what she tells Catalina.)

Once they’re in the playroom, she drops her rucksack on the floor and thrusts her parcel into Anne’s hands.

‘Open it!’

‘What is it? No wait, I want to guess!’

‘You'll never guess!’ (She knows Anne won’t be able to guess.)

‘Bet I will!’

Anne immediately starts shaking it, listening to see if it rattles and it makes Cathy very relieved that she and Catalina packed it all so carefully.

‘I picked all of it out myself, and I picked the wrapping paper and ribbon too- Catalina helped with some of it but it was my idea!’

Anne examines the outside, pokes the dinosaurs, giggling, and then strokes the green ribbon lovingly.

‘This is so cool- I’m going to save it and have Jane tie it onto my ponytail when she next does my hair...’

This is an excellent idea and Cathy is just wondering if Catalina could be persuaded to stop by the craft shop one more time so that she can see if they have any blue ribbon for her own ponytail- when Anne puts down the parcel unopened.

She feels a little sting- is Anne bored of it before she’s even seen what it is?

‘Aren’t you going to open it?’

‘When Anna’s here.’ Anne starts sorting through the pile on unwrapped presents in the corner, hunting for something.

‘Oh no, Anne, open it now-’

‘I will when Anna’s here, I said!’

‘Please-’

It’s the magic word but it isn’t always very magic and now is one of those times because Anne just shakes her head.

‘No, I want to wait for Anna!’ Anne picks up the parcel again and hugs stubbornly it to her chest. ‘And it’s my birthday so I’m going to open it when I want and I want to wait.’

She can’t argue with that. The ‘It’s My Birthday’ rule is inviolable, she knows, which is annoying because she’d quite like to be able to argue.

She isn’t sure if she really likes the idea of Anna seeing the present she got for Anne.

It had seemed like such a good idea when Catalina suggested it.

(She knows that telling Anne she came up with it was a tiny untruth but Catalina had just laughed when she’d anxiously asked if Anne would mind it not being her idea.

‘It doesn’t really matter, mija. It’s an excellent present, no matter who came up with it.’

‘But-’

‘If it bothers you, you can tell her it was your idea if you like.’

Cathy eyed her suspiciously.

‘Will you really, really not mind?’

Catalina kissed the top of her head.

‘I really, really won’t mind.’)

The shopping trip to find Anne a present had been long- they’d spent the whole morning looking through shop after shop until Cathy’s feet felt ready to fall off and she’d been sure she was going to drop to the floor in exhaustion.

Just as she was ready to despair, Catalina had said that they should take a break and led the way to a Starbucks, a welcome bit of quiet after the noise and bustle of town.

‘Let's try to plan a bit before we brave the masses again.’ Catalina stirred her hazelnut latte while Cathy worked on spooning every last bit of froth from the top of her hot chocolate. ‘What does Anne like?’

‘Lots of things. But she has it all already.’

Cathy knew she wasn’t being unhelpful but she didn’t feel like being helpful, she was too tired to be helpful.

‘She can’t have everything, mija.’

‘Well, she does.’ She rolled the marshmallow around between her fingers, enjoying the sponginess, until Catalina raised an eyebrow and she reluctantly let it drop into her mug.

‘What sort of games do you play together? Maybe we could get her something to go with one of your games?’

Cathy had started to explain that they didn’t do expansion packs or accessory kits for the games she and Anne liked to play- and Catalina had just shrugged.

‘Why not?’

She hadn’t been able to answer.

The second part of the shopping trip was much more fun.

They’d made a list on the back of a paper napkin of all the things that one should put in an accessory kit for Inca Princess Burial and then made a thorough search of all the little poky second hand shops to find just the right things.

The embalming sheets and the embalming lotion just came from Asda, which was boring, but the wax grape ‘offerings’ and the candles that worked with batteries and the bright silky Priestess robe came from little shops that smelt of dust and old books.

The flowers came from the big stack of plastic flowers in the Poundshop- Catalina explained they’d last better than real flowers- and that night, she and Catalina had woven them into a beautiful big flower crown that was surely worthy of any princess, Inca or otherwise.

She’s sure Anne will love it but she isn’t sure she wants Anna to see it: what if Anna thinks it’s silly?

After all, to explain it, they’ll have to explain Inca Princess Burial, and what if Anna thinks the whole game sounds babyish and stupid?

She had hoped that Anne would be able to open her present, just the two of them (and that maybe they’d even have time for a quick game before Anna even arrived) but Anne isn’t budging and it IS her birthday, so she pushes the worry away as much as she can and lets Anne show her the birthday card that George sent.

When Anne pulls it out from its hiding place, she thinks it doesn’t exactly count as a birthday card because it’s not a ‘birthday’ birthday card.

It doesn’t say Happy Birthday anywhere on it, there isn’t a badge with Anne’s age on, there’s no glitter or really anything birthdayish about it at all.

Really, it’s only a card because it’s a postcard, with a picture that’s of some funny looking figures carved in stone wearing beads and headdresses and not very much else at all and as funny as that is, it isn’t really a birthday sort of picture.

The card also wasn’t even sent to Anne, it was sent to her parents, so it’s not for Anne’s birthday really, it just happened to arrive on the right day.

Anne says she rescued it from the bin when her Mum wasn’t looking and that she’s not going to show this one to Jane to read to her- she’s going to read it herself because now she’s eight and that’s too old to be read to and besides, Jane leaves bits out, which is ok when it’s just changing the end of Kitty’s old copy of Millions of Cats so that the cats in the story run away rather than eating each other, but most definitely not ok when it’s something important like a real postcard.

(Cathy wonders if Catalina knows that eight is too old to be read to. She hopes that they at least finish Little Women before her birthday.)

She doesn’t say any of this to Anne though.

She keeps the unbirthdayishness of the card to herself, and when Anne shows her the important bit- the bit at the bottom that’s written more clearly than the rest, the bit that says ‘Rock on, little sis. Peace and love from your big bro in London’- she agrees with Anne that that bit at least was worth saving the card for.

They pass the card back and forth, trying to decipher the rest of George’s scrawly writing.

Anne’s so far made out ‘Francis’- Jane calls him George’s special friend and Anne’s Dad calls him ‘that one who got him into this bloody ridiculousness in the first place’- and Cathy has made out ‘understand’ and ‘busy’- when the doorbell rings, and they both jump up and run to let Anna in.

She can’t help but feel excited as she races Anne to the door because- although she still isn’t sure that she’s glad Anna was invited too, having her arrive also makes everything feel more special.

Now it feels like the birthday party part of things has actually begun and now rather than it just being her and Anne playing together like usual, it’s a proper sleepover party.

Anna arrives with her present in one hand (a shiny red gift bag with little string handles) and her overnight bag (smart blue duffle bag) in the other.

‘Happy birthday Anne!’

‘You came!’

Anna’s Mum gives her a kiss and tells Anne Happy Birthday in her funny accent and then she looks past Anne and Cathy like she’s expecting to see someone else.

‘Your mother, she is at home, yes?’

Anne nods.

‘She’s busy.’

‘Ah-’

Anna’s Mum hesitates. ‘I was hoping I might say hello to her-’

Anne looks uncertain. ‘I could- go and get her-’

Cathy wonders what’s going to happen- Anne’s Mum always gets cross when they interrupt her, even when it was because the man at the door needed her to sign something so that he could leave her parcel- and there are some rooms Anne isn’t even meant to knock on the door of and what if she’s in one of those rooms…..?

But luckily Anna interrupts things.

‘Mutti, I’ll be fine!’ She huffs a bit as she says it, stretching out the last word into two syllables like it’s chewing gum. ‘Please! You don’t need to say hello!’

Anna’s Mum looks into the (empty) hall and then back at her daughter.

‘Well…. Is she very busy? I suppose I wouldn’t like to disturb her….’

‘Yes! Yes!’ Anna looks ready to push her Mum out of the door. ‘She’s very, very, very busy! Busier than Vati!’

Anna’s Mum laughs. ‘Alright then, liebling. You have the new telephone number?’

‘Ja! Yes!’

‘Ok. Be a good girl. Do everything Anne’s Mutti tells you.’

She says the last bit a little uncertainly, like she is only now just wondering if Anne’s Mutti will be there to tell them anything at all- but at last she goes, and Anne tugs Anna into the house and towards the playroom.

Anna’s looking all around her as they go up to put her bag in Anne’s playroom and Cathy wonders why before she remembers that Anna hasn’t seen Anne’s house before so she isn’t used to how it has more rooms than most houses and how everything is extra shiney or extra fragile or both.

As they walk up the stairs, Anna asks Anne where her Mutti is, and if she’s really at home, and Anne looks like she’s surprised Anna is asking.

‘She’s here. Somewhere around.’

‘Don’t you know?’

‘She’s busy’ Anne shrugs. ‘It’s better if she is, it means she won’t make us be quiet or do a jigsaw-’

(Cathy has experienced Anne’s Mums jigsaws before. It’s always the same one, with a stupid picture of a rabbit and a kitten in a basket, and she makes them do it whenever they’re being too loud or playing something she doesn’t like. She always says it was her favourite as a little girl and it makes Cathy wonder just how boring Little-Girls-Anne’s-Mum was.)

Anna just blinks back, all confused by the absence of parental figures and Cathy thinks that she’ll get used to it soon enough.

In the playroom, Anne wants first of all to show them her best present.

It’s a bit awkward when she pulls them out from the pile of gifts at first because they just look like a pair of trainers.

Anne says that Jane found them in the British Heart Foundation shop, and Cathy thinks she’d be able to tell even if Anne hadn’t said anything because the green suede is a bit worn-shiney, and even though they’ve obviously been cleaned up and scrubbed to look new, the insides are still a long way for the snowy-white of proper new shoes.

The glittery rainbow laces threaded through them are new (paid for by Jane but picked out by Kitty as her contribution to Anne’s present) and they’re even quite pretty, but still, it’s not a very exciting gift.

Cathy thinks it’s a shame that a boring pair of shoes is Anne’s best present, and she’s very glad that she got her something more fun to make up for it.

She’s just trying to think up all the nice things that Catalina would know to say about Anne’s birthday present shoes so that she won’t feel sad about them when Anne sighs like she and Anna are missing something obvious, then turns them over and shows them both the little wheels in the soles and suddenly they go from being just boring old trainers to being very exciting and cool, especially when they take turns trying them on and gliding across the playroom floor.

They’re even better than roller skates Cathy thinks- because really you can only wear roller skates to the park or in the street, unfortunately.

(She knows this because Catalina has made her feelings about wearing roller skates inside the flat very clear and plain, even though she didn’t break a single thing when she tried out her skates in the hall. When she pointed this out, Catalina just shook her head firmly and said she had no interest in tempting fate, whatever that means, and from now on, skates are only to be worn outside. It’s a very boring rule.)

Anne’s wheelie shoes though look just like normal shoes which means she could wear them anywhere and the possibilities makes her breathless.

Anna says that if they were in Germany, Anne could wear them to school because they don’t have to wear uniforms- and Cathy barely even has time to be annoyed at Anna for bringing up Germany yet again because the idea of Anne wearing the shoes to school on a mufti day is brilliant.

Anne agrees and then they all try to remember if they have a mufti day coming up or not.

Annoyingly, they don’t (at least, none of their parents have done the sigh-groan-that- school-always-asking-for-money moan that accompanies most mufti days), so they make a Plan that on Monday, they’ll all suggest to their teacher that perhaps it would be nice to raise money for the poor sick children or the poor sick puppies or the poor sick old people or the poor sick hedgehogs or the poor sick something else.

The sneaky part is that they’ll all make sure to make it look as if it’s something they’ve only just thought of themselves, and surely their teacher will be so surprised that all the children are wanting to raise money at the same time that she’ll say yes to a mufti day at once.

(It is an excellent Plan.)

They glide around on the shoes until they’re dizzy (and a little bit bruised from attempts at rolling on just one foot) and then Anna asks Anne what her parents got her.

Cathy is excited to hear what it is, because Anne’s presents from her parents are usually very exciting….but when Anne shows it to them, it’s just a doll.

Not that there’s anything wrong with dolls per se.

Actually, Cathy thinks that Anne’s doll is rather nice- it looks like the sort of doll from a story about a little Victorian girl, the sort of doll that’s almost too pretty to touch.

It has long, perfect curls of blonde hair and tiny leather shoes with little pearl buttons and cream stockings and a cream silk dress and a cloak trimmed with real white fur.

It’s beautiful, beautiful, and she opens her mouth to ask Anne if she can hold her...but before she’s even asked, she changes her mind.

The doll is far too pretty to be held after all, and she’d hate to mess her up somehow, especially seeing as it’s Anne’s birthday present.

Anna is a bit braver, but even she holds the doll awkwardly when Anne hads her over, as if she’s scared of dropping her, the way Anne looked when she was allowed to hold Baby Catherine once, and soon she hands it back to Anne, who lies it down very carefully indeed.

‘She’s- pretty…..’

‘Yeah.’ Anne sounds distinctly unenthusiastic.

‘She looks really expensive.’

‘Yeah.’ Anne sounds even more disconsolate. ‘Mummy keeps on telling her that she was and she says I have to be really careful with her because she can break very easily.’

They all eye the doll, as if she might crack under their very gaze but she stays reassuringly whole, for the moment anyway.

‘She says I’ll be in big trouble if I break her so I have to be really really careful because she’s fragile.’

‘Can you play with her?’ Anna asks and Anne shrugs. ‘Mummy says yes and that Daddy will be really sad if I don’t because he picked her out but I don’t know how I can. She’s too…..fancy.’

Anna and Cathy and Anne devote the next few minutes to trying to think of a way for Anne to play with her present but it’s difficult: normal games for dolls like Victorian Orphanage won’t work, and games like Witches definitely won’t work.

Her clothes won’t come off, even her hair can’t be brushed because of her ringlets, and her dress is so clean and pristine that it’s obvious immediately that it will show up every speck of dust or dirt.

She is, overall, quite a disappointment of a doll, and it makes Cathy glad that her own dolls are reassuringly sturdy and well up to being dropped, thrown and smeared with pretend red-smartie blood, as the game might require.

It’s all very tricky…..and eventually Anne says they can think about it later and that she wants to open Cathy’s present.

She does….and there’s a silence as Anne picks out and unshells the little individually wrapped parcels.

Anne looks at them.

Anna looks at them.

Cathy looks at her knees.

She thinks about the lotion, the robe, the candles in their box- and about how, helping Catalina wrap them in tissue paper last night, they looked beautiful- but now, lying on the carpet, they look….just normal.

Even a bit tatty- suddenly she can see the loose threads from the cut up sheet, she can see where the robe has gone bobbly from being washed.

She wants to sweep the things up and hide them back in the box before Anne or Anna can laugh at them (she wonders if she should pretend that it was a mistake, to say that of course these aren’t Anne’s REAL presents) but she can’t. She can’t move or say anything or do anything other than sit there and burn with embarrassment and wish with all her might that she’d just got the colourful felt pens Catalina had suggested in the first shop.

Tentatively, Anne leans over to examine the bottle of lotion. She holds it close to her eyes and brightens.

‘It’s glittery!’

Cathy nods (it’s what finally convinced her to get the lotion to be embalming oils rather than the multi-pack of lip balms that actually HAD balm in the title).

‘It….it smells of strawberries too….’

Her voice trails off- she can’t say anything else without crying but Anne doesn’t notice, she’s trying to sound out the words on the label Catalina carefully hand lettered and stuck to the bottle the night before.

‘Em- ball- Em- Balling… Lotion-’ Suddenly her face clears of confusion and she beams.

‘Cathy! It’s embalming lotion!’

She looks so happy and excited that Cathy can only nod.

‘And-’ Anne sifts through the box with new interest. ‘Bandages- and candles! And-’

She picks up the wax grapes.

‘Offerings!’ They say together, and now she knows it’s alright, Anne does like it, and everything is ok and she hasn’t ruined the sleepover- and she’s so relieved she’s almost forgotten Anna is there too until Anna asks what offerings are.

Anne rolls her eyes like it’s a silly question- which is really a bit unfair because they didn’t know what offerings were until they learnt about the Inca Princesses last year and maybe Anna hasn’t had anyone to tell her yet.

‘They’re what you bury with the princess so she doesn’t curse you!’

‘Princess?’ Anna looks confused and Cathy can tell she’s thinking of other princesses, of Rapunzel and Cinderella and Belle with their big dresses and pink-lipped smiles, who couldn’t rain down a curse if their life depended on it.

‘Not those princesses!’ She explains. ‘Inca princesses- from-’ She tries to say it properly, since it’s easy to twist her tongue over the word. ‘The Incan Empire.’

Anna still looks a bit confused so she and Anne do their best to explain about offerings and sacrifices and people living hundreds of years ago in a place called Peru.

‘Oh!’ Anna looks like she understands and Cathy sort of hopes it will stop there but then- ‘So how do you play Inca Princess?’

She sounds like she actually wants to know so Cathy lets Anne explain.

‘-and then she gets embalmed and entombed and then you make offerings to her to appease her angry spirit…..it was Cathy’s idea!’ Anne finishes and she wonders if Anne is saying that so that Anna will only judge her for playing baby games and not Anne- but instead Anna looks at her with a smile that is definitely not a smirk and her eyes open wide.

‘Cathy! That sounds like a fantastich game!’

It feels funny to have Anna looking at her like she’s so clever- funny but also nice but also a bit embarrassing too.

‘Anne came up with the idea of removing her brain through her nose like the Egyptians’ is all she can say, and Anne sends her a grateful look when Anna gasps like that’s the best thing she’s ever heard of.

‘Do you think it would work with three people?’

Anne shakes her head. ‘We tried to make Kitty play with us and she ruined it-’

‘She wasn’t any good-’

(It had been a real disappointment, Cathy thinks, because Kitty is usually quite willing to take whatever part of the game they need her for, as long as Pink Kitty is allowed to accompany her.

She has been a Dead Body in Business Woman Detective, and a Vampire Bat in Vampire Barbie- a black cocktail napkin had served well as Pink Kitty’s wings, but when they tried making Kitty help entomb Anne, she just wailed that she didn’t want Anne to be buried like a dead person, and when they tried to show her that entombing really didn’t hurt at all, she cried until Jane heard and came to investigate.

The game ended with the un-entombed Inca Princess sniffling in Jane’s lap and being soothed with an illicit Jammy Dodger, while the tragically biscuitless Inca Priestesses were told quite firmly to be more gentle in the future and to find something else to play, which was not a satisfactory end to the game at all.)

‘Oh.’ Anna droops and then Cathy realises what she meant.

She opens her mouth, just as Anne is already speculating that while the game didn’t work with three people when the third person was Kitty, maybe it would just fine if the third person was someone else….

It turns out not only does Anna NOT think that Inca Princess Burial is babyish at all, it’s a game she really wants to try for herself and they’re well into setting up the burial ground, having settled the argument over who should wear the robe first (Anne because it’s her birthday, Cathy because she brought it all or Anna because this is her first time ever even getting to play) when Anne’s Mum pokes her head into the playroom to check on them.

‘Alright in here, girls?’

‘Yes thank you Mummy.’

‘Yes thank you Mrs Bullen-’

‘It’s Boleyn now, Cathy dear!’ Anne’s Mum reminds her with a tight smile, and Cathy wishes she could explain that it’s actually really very tricky to learn a whole new name for someone when they’ve been Anne Bullen since Reception and that no matter how many angry letters Anne’s Mum sends to the school about teachers getting it wrong, it’s hard to make her mouth say Boleyn when her mind says Bullen.

Instead, she settles for a meek ‘Sorry, Mrs Boleyn’ and is rewarded with a little nod of forgiveness.

‘Are you having a nice time?’

‘Yes thank you Mummy.’

Anne smiles beatifically from beneath her flower crown but Anne’s Mum frowns.

‘What on earth are you all up to?’

‘Just...playing. Aren’t we?’

Cathy and Anna nod and try to look well behaved.

‘What’s all this rubbish everywhere?’

Cathy wonders what she means- and then Anne’s Mum picks up the offerings with a dainty thumb and forefinger and then she realises and it feels horrible.

Anne’s Mum thinks her present is rubbish.

Anne fidgets a bit. ‘Just part of the game, Mummy. We’ll clear it up before we go to bed, won’t we?’

Cathy and Anna nod again and Anne’s Mum purses her lips.

‘Alright. Although I don’t see why you’re not playing with your birthday present…. Your father worked very hard to be able to afford it, you know, and he’d be very sad if he heard you weren’t grateful…’

Anne’s looking so sad and uncomfortable that Cathy can hardly bear it- she knows that in Anne’s house, the crime of being ungrateful sometimes leads to lots of unpleasant things like early bedtime and no dessert and how can you go to bed early and have no dessert at a birthday sleepover?

She isn’t sure whether to stay quiet or to speak up and say she’s sorry for getting Anne a present that’s gotten her into trouble- but before she can even decide one way or the other, Anna interrupts with a big beaming smile, like everything is fine and nothing is wrong at all and no one is nearly crying.

‘Oh we were playing with her, Mrs Boleyn! She is such a lovely doll, Anne is so lucky- we just put her down to keep her safe for this bit of the game. So she wouldn’t get broken or hurt.’

Anna is looking like one of the choir children at Catalina’s church, all sweet and good and perfect, and miraculously, Anne’s Mum actually smiles back.

‘She is lovely- and I suppose it’s sensible to put her to the side if you’re playing something more boisterous…. Just make sure you’re careful!’

‘Oh we will be!’

‘Good good…..’

Anne’s Mum waves a hand at them and goes back out and it’s as if the whole room lets out a breath.

Cathy wonders how Anna knew to do quick thinking like that, how she knew what to say- even Anne doesn’t know how to say the right thing to make her Mum smile like that at her….but Anna doesn’t seem like she was having to make an effort, like knowing the right thing to say to make things better comes to her naturally, like how reading is easy for Cathy and French is easy for Anne.

And things are better- sort of.

Anne doesn’t seem to be in trouble any more at least, which is good.

Still, there’s a moment after the door closes when everything feels a bit flat- like the game is a balloon and the word ‘rubbish’ is a pin and now all the fun and special feeling is leaking away….

But then Anna mutters darkly that the Inca Princess will surely rise up to rain curses upon any silly person who dares to insult her offerings, and they have such fun coming up with curses and acting them out that they forget all about everything that isn’t toads raining from the sky and food that turns mouldy before you can take even one bite.

Then Anna wonders if maybe the Inca Princess would be angry enough that she might even rise up from the grave to wreck revenge and it’s such a good idea that Cathy doesn’t have time to even think about whether or not her present was a good idea because she’s too busy trying to help Anna subdue the wrathful Inca princess.

(She can’t help but think the game really is better with three.)

#six #six the musical #six the musical fanfiction #sixfic #six fanfiction #the next best thing

23 notes · View notes