#if i’m really brave i’ll cut my hair even shorter again

[reflectionsofgalaxies]

.

[imagine-nation20]

Just Like This

Summary: Capture the flag isn’t always your least favorite camp activity, but sometimes it is.

Requested by: Anon

Request:Hey if your still doing Percy Jackson fics/headcannons can I request Connor stoll x shy daughter of Hecate reader pls

A/N: I started writing this as headcanons, and then I got really carried away and decided to write this, oops. I’m just glad someone requested Connor. Even if I forgot about this request and stumbled upon it very late. Also, not so sure this turned out as a shy reader, since I am bad at writing shy characters.

~~~

Hecate’s cabin was the exact opposite of what you had expected when you first arrived at the camp. Instead of the dark, dreary color palette you had imagined based on the other camper’s cabins, it was surprisingly bright. White walls, with a mix of pale and dark purples. There were various decorations around, only one bed, and different magic bits and bobbles. One wall was taken up entirely by a bookshelf. Most of the books looked far from normal though, and you had only been brave enough to open the most plain looking ones as of yet.

It felt safe. It felt like home.

Still, you couldn't remain inside all day. Someone would notice, come looking for you, maybe make you do their chores. A knock at the door confirmed this thought, and you stood from your bed, moving over to the door.

It swung open to reveal the youngest Stoll brother, Connor, who looked to be in his usual state of disarray. Dark hair looking unbrushed, his camp shirt wrinkled, jeans rolled up to his calves, and his sneakers properly drenched and getting water all over the front steps of the cabin.

You raised a brow, “Do I want to know?”

Connor looked down to his shoes, “Probably not,” he admitted, looking up at you with a toothy grin.

You leaned against the doorway of the cabin, smiling down at Connor who was much shorter than you from his placement down the steps. “And I guess knocking on my door was more important than changing out of your drenched sneakers for some reason?”

“Annabeth ordered me to remind you not to miss capture the flag again,” He shrugged.

You narrowed your eyes, “Ordered? Aren’t you supposed to be some hotshot counselor? When did you start taking orders?”

Connor leaned on one of the pillars, exaggerating a ‘smooth’ aura. “Since those orders allowed me to visit my favorite demigod.”

“Me?” You asked, faking sweetness.

A meow came from behind you, and Connor’s facade shifted into a smile, “No, Mordred.”

Your cat ran out to him from between your legs, jumping right into his arms. You glared at the cat, crossing your arms. “Traitor.”

“We should be going, if we don’t want Annabeth to cut us into little pieces for being late.”

“Do you think we could take her?”

“Ha, no.”

Capture the flag wasn’t entirely horrid. Especially since Hecate and Hermes cabins were both sided with Athena that time. That means that all Connor and you had to do was lounge around where the flag was, and make sure no stray Ares kids got a little too big for their britches. So far, they had no trouble.

“Oh, oh, I spy with my little eye, something green.”

“Connor, I swear to god, if its a leaf again-”

“This is so boring,” Connor groaned, cutting you off. “Maybe one of these days, the Athena kids should get the boring job. Let Anabeth sit as a rock for an hour with nothing to do.”

The small clearing was quiet. You and Connor shared a look. There was nothing innocent in the mischievous glint of his eyes. You began to shake your head, silently telling your friend a blanket no for whatever he was thinking.

“Connor, do-” An arrow whizzed through the trees, catching you in the shoulder. You shouted out in both surprise and the sudden pain that came from the tip embedding itself into your skin. It had cut through the leather armor like butter.

“(Y/N)!” Connor shouted.

The sound of a heavy scuffle met your ears, your eyes staring up at the canopy of trees above. Footsteps, echoing beneath you through the packed dirt. Your eyes drifted over to your shoulder, seeing the arrow shaft sticking up from your shoulder. With a bit to your lip, and a deep breath, you reached over to feel the back side.

The tip of the arrow was poking out from the leather armor. Knowing that pulling it back would just cause more damage, you reached to the shaft, snapping the wooden stick off. This would give more access to movement, and you wouldn’t have to worry about knocking into it and causing more pain.

Slowly, you stood. The sword on your belt was easily drawn with a ‘shink’, drawing the attention of the Ares boy making his way towards the flag. Connor was busy with another, their sword clashing. The Ares kid smirked at you, charging with a hearty yell.

You ducked the blow, kicking out at his shin. The boy toppled forward, groaning. You hit the back of his head with the pommel of the sword, halting his movements. He would have a terrible headache when he woke up, but at least you hadn’t the stomach to repay him for the arrow wound.

“Hey, you good?” Connor’s hand was on your good shoulder, he eyes peering closely into your own. You must have been staring at the knocked out camper for too long.

“Yeah,” you lied, feeling the pain ripple through your shoulder. “I think I should go see Chiron.”

Connor nodded, reaching down to his belt for the emergency horn there. After a few events of campers in danger with no way to call, Chiron had proposed special war horns for the counselors to call for help.

“I think something is wrong,” You mumbled, looking down at the wound. It was festering a dark purple. “That’s not good.”

The horn blew, and you blacked out.

~~~

When you came too again, you were in the Apollo tent. A few other campers were held up in cots, but it was mostly empty. Outside, cricket could be heard. You must’ve been asleep for a good few hours. Your stomach rumbled at the thought of missing dinner.

Every little movement hurt, even tilting your head to look around the tent. Something cloth rustled on your head, and you went to lift your right hand. However, you found yourself unable, as your hand was pinned to the bed by a much larger, warmer hand.

Connor’s head rested on the cot beside you, his dark, curly hair spilling across the linen sheets. Soft breathes escaped his mouth, which hung open. Soft cheeks dampened by puffiness and dark purple circles beneath the lids of his eyes.

“He’s been there the whole time,” A quiet voice whispered. “Will couldn’t get him to leave.”

You looked over, spotting an injured and annoyed looking Nyssa. She looked like she had been hit by a train, and knowing the Hephaestus cabin, she probably had.

“Did he miss dinner?” You whispered back.

Nyssa gave you a weird look, “Yeah, three of them. Will had to shove a plate into his hands and force feed him.”

Your eyes widened, “Wait, three?”

“Yeah, you’ve been out for two whole days,” Nyssa looked out the flap longingly, “At least you didn’t have to be awake for it though. Harley set off an explosion in the workshop, threw me into a wall. Everyone was still scrambling around you when I got here.”

A shift beside you, and you looked down. Connors dark lashes were fluttering, his eyes slowly peeling open. The bright blue looked dulled, like it had lost its shine. They trailed up your arm, seeing you sat up slightly, eyes peering back.

He let out a shaky breath, “(Y/N),” sitting bolt straight, he gripped your hand. “Are you okay?”

“What happened, Con?”

He looked almost annoyed, though not at you, “That stupid Ares kid accidentally loaded his quiver with poisoned arrows. Don’t worry though, I accidentally laced his food with laxatives, and his bed with roaches.”

You couldn’t help the smile that stretched out over your face, “And here I would have thought you wouldn’t have had time, being here twenty-four-seven and all,” you gave him a look.

“Yeah yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Listen-”

“Oh for gods’ sake, just kiss and get it over with. If I have to sit through one more awkward conversation where you two dance around each other I’ll poison you both,” Nyssa growled out, looking only mildly annoyed in reality.

You shared a look with Connor, both of you holding back smiles, “Should I tell her?”

“What? That we’ve been dating for the last two years?”

You both turned to look at her simultaneously. Nyssa looked almost horrified at the realization. Her mouth hung open, the hello kitty Band-Aid on her cheek scrunched as her face did.

“Oh Zeus’ beard, you two are just like this? May the god’s have mercy…” She muttered under her breath, laying down in bed. She moved her pillow over her head to block you out.

You and Connor shared a laugh, and with both of you stuck inside the tent after curfew, you saw no problem in letting him climb into the cot with you. It was a more comfortable and peaceful sleep for you both.

[amphxtrite]

cedric diggory x fem!reader

warnings: swearing

summary: Y/n begins to harbor feelings for a certain hufflepuff and the twins try to take it into their hands to try and get you together.

word count: 2.7k

enjoy <3

___________________________________

Astronomy was always one of your favourite classes. Spending hours looking up at the midnight sky and learning about the glittering stars that lit up the night always amazed you, whether you were at home lying in the grass or glancing into a telescope on the astronomy tower. Taking another look into your telescope you chart the last few planets for your project and take a deep breath of the clear, autumn air. Looking over to your right, you see a handsome boy with a mop of brown hair gazing at you. When the brunette sees you looking back at him his face goes a light pink and he quickly turns his attention back to his star chart.

Cute. You think to yourself, smiling slightly.

“Hey Fred, George?” you ask the red-headed twins by your side as you walk through the halls to breakfast. “What’s up, little star?” Fred questions. Little star was the nickname the twins had come up for you when they first found your love for astronomy and pairing it up with the fact you were much shorter than them, they thought it was perfect.

“Who was that brunette in our astronomy class? He was in Hufflepuff I think.” You started. “Ooh, does someone have a crush?” George teases. You can feel the tip of your ears go bright red at this. “what?! Oh, no, no” you stumbled quietly, taking a seat at the gryffindor table, the twins sitting across from you. “I just saw him looking at me in class and I was wondering who it was.” you finished quickly, starting to butter a piece of toast.

“Well my dear y/n,” Fred starts of dramaticly. “That was Cedric Diggory.” George finishes for him. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him before, he’s pretty popular.” He continues. “Cedric Diggory...” you test the name in your mouth, “Rings a bell, but i’m not quite sure, he plays quidditch doesn’t he?”

“Right you are y/n!” Fred smiles, shoveling a spoon of cereal into his mouth. Fred seems to take a glance behind you and his eyes widen as he breaks into a smile. “Speak of the devil, the bloke’s lookin’ at you right now!” he laughs and starts to wiggle his eyebrows at you. Rolling you eyes you slowly turn around and sure enough you’re met with a pair of beautiful grey eyes. You quickly swivel back around again and bury your pink face into your arms. “Blimey Georgie seems as though our little star’s got a big, fat, crush.” Fred jokes as he notices you embarrassment. “Can it Weasley, I haven’t even talked to him before.” you mutter. This seems to only send the twins into even more hysterics. Deciding to try your luck again, you turn around and look at the table filled with yellow and black ties, eventually again meeting the eyes of Cedric Diggory, this time feeling brave you offer him a smile and a wave. He grins back at you, and you decide you were going to try and talk to the adorable hufflepuff.

“shit, shit, shit.” you mutter to yourself running as fast as you could between crowds of confused students, you had spent too much time planning a new prank with the twins that now you were going to be late. You silently curse them under your breath. What made it worse was you had potions first thing in the morning and you knew Snape would bring hell down on you if you were late. Bursting into the classroom you made your way to the last open seat and hurriedly got out your parchment, quills and text book. “Nice of you to finally join us L/n.” Snape sneered at you. “you’re lucky this time, being right on time, but don’t think I won’t hesitate to take away house points next time, understood?” If looks could kill you’d be dead where you sat.

“Yes sir.” You say quietly, still slightly out of breath, you look up and suddenly the wind is getting knocked out of your lungs again, because sitting there is the boy himself, Cedric Diggory, you catch yourself staring and offer him a small smile before turning back to your papers, you didn’t need Snape lashing out at you again, he was being very generous already. As Snape continued to drone on and on about the importance of cutting your ingredients properly, after another gryffindor had botched his potion, a small piece of parchment is pushed your way.

Hey, how are you today?

reading the note, you grab your quill and scribble something back.

Bloody tired how bout you?

you slide the note to the brunette and await his response.

Bored, don’t understand how snape can go on and on for this long at a time, ridiculous really, no one cares.

you giggle silently and the note is ripped from you hands. Glancing up terrified, Snape is glowering at the two of you. “Writing notes in this class is strictly prohibited you two, 10 points from hufflepuff and gryffindor!” He shouts. You sigh and lay your head on your arms, wishing you were up in the astronomy tower with Professor Sinistra gazing at the constellations, you had always been one of her favourites.

When Snape finally dismisses class you stuff your parchment back into your bag and set off for transfiguration, turning out of the class you feel a warm hand gently grab your wrist, you turn around and meet those beautiful grey eyes, Godric you could stare at them foreve- “I’m sorry about that.” he apologizes, his head hanging motioning towards the classroom. You give him an understanding smile. “It’s alright, if anything im upset at Snape, that prat’s always getting in others business.” you say with a light laugh. Cedric seems to smile at this. “Guess we kind of got started on the wrong foot, I’m Cedric, Cedric Diggory.” He smiles, stretching out his hand. “y/n l/n” you say, taking his large hand into yours and shaking it. “Where are you headed y/n?” he asks. “Oh i’m on my way to transfiguration.” you reply back, “I’ve got herbology, but I was wondering if I could walk you to class?” You can almost see a light pink hue on his cheeks. You smile and agree making your way down the halls and corridors, making small talk with the hufflepuff, you don’t want it to end, the ways his eyes light up reminds you of the stars. “Well this is my stop.” you sigh sadly and look back at Cedric, thanks again for walking me.” you smile sweetly at him. “Anytime y/n, you’ve got astronomy later tonight, right?” he asks hopefully. “yup, I’ll see you there?” you wave at him. “see you then.” He agrees turning and heading to the green houses. You can barely focus on Professor Mcgonagall’s lesson, your mind constantly drifting back to those stunning grey eyes and soft brown curls, sighing in contentment you find yourself looking forward for astronomy even more than usual.

Fred and George immediately notice the look of love on your face and they silently began forming a plan to get the two together.

“Well hello there little star.” George says casually, sliding in beside you at lunch time with a wicked grin playing on his lips.“Why are you looking at me like that?” you ask suspiciously. “What? Little ol’ me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” putting emphasis on the no. Fred chooses then to appear on you other side as you bring a spoonful of soup to your lips. “It’s just we couldn’t help, but notice you and little Diggory walking together, and you looked quite happy during class today.” Fred nudges you with his elbow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, me and Cedric were just talking.” you state turning your attention back to your lunch. “Really?” George asks “because your blush seems to beg to differ.” he continues teasing you. You mentally curse your red cheeks, and continue to sip on your soup.

As midnight rolls around you all but jump and run out the portrait door to get to the astronomy tower almost running over the twins in your path. “Woah, slow down there y/n what’s got you in such a rush?” you sigh and try to push past them, “I’ve got to get to the astronomy tower you nitwits.” unsuccessfully pushing them over. “Alright, alright little star.” let’s get going, don’t want to keep your little prince charming waiting.” he says in a sing-song voice, referencing a muggle fairy tale you enjoyed. “Oh shut it you twat.” you roll your eyes at him.

Finally climbing up the tower, the sight of the scene in front of you never ceases to take you breath away, the beautiful carved stone of the castle and the midnight sky, littered with thousands of twinkling lights. You take a second to appreciate the sight in front of you until George pushes you out of the way.“Christ y/n you realize there are more people in the class right?” you scoff lightly at him before turning to see Cedric climbing up the stairs, his bookbag on his shoulders. “Hey y/n” he says when his eyes land on you, “hey Ced, you say sweetly, walking over to greet him. Fred scoffs at you “you’ve never greeted us like that now have you little star.” you give him a warning look feeling the tip of your ears heat up again before making your way towards Cedric.

“Beautiful night isn’t it love?” He says turning towards the dark sky, your knees start to weaken at the nickname, but you stay strong. “Sure is, did you get the paper done for today?” you continue on.

George nudges Fred, “let operation get Ceddy and y/n together begin.” he says with a smirk. Professor Sinistra soon begins today’s lesson, “alright everyone, grab a partner and head to your stations, make sure you have your. star charts and a quill” she announces. You immediately turn to Fred and George, you had the habit of working in a group of three and Profeser Sinistra never minded. The two red-heads must’ve had other plans though because they began to turn and walk away from you and your usual spot. Frowning slightly you turn around and run into what feels like a wall... There isn’t a wall here... Looking up you blush and begin to stutter out an apology, for you had run straight into Cedrics chest. He seems almost baffled, but soon regains his train of thought. “H-hey, um- y/n, would you like to be my partner? I-I noticed the twins already left so...” he asks quietly, you have the urge to just lean up and kiss him, but instead you take a second just to admire the adorable boy before you, his pink cheeks, the way his gaze seemed to wander, never landing on you, and how he figeted with his wand, twirling it around in between his fingers. “Of course Ced, let’s get started.” you smile at him and you see his usual happy personality return. Sinistra begins to explain the assignment in depth. “I would like you to locate and chart these stars for me...” she began to call out a list of stars and planets and you and Cedric began to jot them down. “Do you want to alternate looking into the telescope?” you ask, turning to the brunette again. “It’s alright little star, I know how much you love Astronomy.” Your breath catches in your throat. “you know about that nickname?” you laugh nervously. “Of course y/n, I always hear Fred and Geoge calling you it.” Was it just you or did he sound... Jelous? you didn’t get to finish your thought as Fred called across the tower. “Oi, Diggory! Get your own nickname for her, that ones ours!”

“Mr. Weasley!” Profeser Sinistra snaps, “turn back to your telescope and focus!” You laugh again and turn back to Cedric. “Well you heard him, you’re going to have to find a new nickname.” Cedric starts to think this over. “I’ll think of one soon, let’s get started.” You nod and clasp your hands around the telescope, pulling it closer as you peak into it. you begin to search for the different points, but instead get lost in all the beautiful sights. Without noticing you begin to trace the constellations and stare in awe at the faraway planets. You eventually start to call out coordinates to Cedric, but he doesn’t answer, turning to look at him, confused, he seems to be lost in thought, pondering a great question or rethinking a happy memory as he’s got a small grin on his face. You snap him out of his trance by waving a hand int front of his eyes. “Cedric? You in there?” you say jokingly, poking his nose. “hm- oh yeah! sorry about that where was Sirius again?” you roll your eyes and smile, repeating the coordinates again. This little exchange doesn’t go unnoticed by the red-headed pranksters, who feel the edges of their lips perk up. “Hey George, I guess they didn’t really need our help after all, they seem to be all over eachother already!” Fred sighs to his twin. “Maybe we can give them one last push later?” George suggests. “What did you have in mind?” the eldest twin grins mischievously.

“And done!” you clap your hands together and start to tuck your parchment back into your bag. “Thanks for writing those down for me Cedric, it gets kinda hard when i’m always looking at things off topic.” you giggle softly. “Anytime y/n I had fun.” he grins back at you, smiling fondly at the memory of you gazing into the stars, permanently engraving it in his mind. Handing over your star chart to Profeser Sinistra, the two of you begin to make you way back down the astronomy tower, joking and laughing all the way down. As you reach the bottom you feel a shoulder bump into yours and you stagger, tripping over the last step. You brace for impact, but instead you feel two strong arms embrace you and a distant voice saying, “can’t go wrong with the classics.” and a loud high-five. You were going to kill the twins. Looking back up at the hufflepuff boy, you begin to mutter out an apology for what felt like the millionth time today and begin to back away, the arms around you only tighten, you glance back up and meet again with those piercing grey eyes and melt. “It’s alright love, glad I was here to catch you.” If possible you can feel your check heat up even more trying, but again failing to look away. You’re about to open your mouth when Cedric speaks again. “I think I found a good nickname for you. Of course, if you like it.” he begins. “Oh? Do enlighten me Ced.” you tease. You can feel Cedric lean in slightly closer to your ear and with a soft voice he whispers.

“My star.” he says simply. “what do you think?” he’s smiling hopefully at you now. You changed your mind, the twins were now your favourite people in the whole wide world, well second maybe... “I quite like it.” you finally say finally, finding your voice again. “But, I’m not exactly yours yet am I?” you’re surprised at your own confidence. “Well, I suppose we’re going to need to change that huh? How’s Friday, 7 o’clock by Black Lake?” He says his smile growing wider. “You’ve got yourself a date Diggory.” you wrap your arms around the boy in front of you and feel him spin you around in circles, the both of you laughing happily. You and Cedric walk hand-in-hand back towards the gryffindor common room. “Thanks for walking me back Cedric, I’ll see you tomorrow.” giving him one last hug you turn back around and walk towards the portrait, whispering the password before walking in. “Soo?” George begins. “Are we the best or are we the best?” Fred finishes smugly. You wrap both of them into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” you whisper into their shoulders, grinning like a madman, Fred and George were congratulating you and patting your back. Little did you know, down in the hufflepuff common room Cedric was smiling into his pillow as he drifted off into dreams, picturing the perfect date the two of you would share. He decided, maybe Astronomy was his favourite subject too.

[wandsandwheezes]

Till You Make It | F.W | CH10

Fake It | The Masterlist

Warnings // 3.4k // SMUT 18+, Hufflepuff!Reader, yelling, fighting, trauma, mentions of blood, mentions of blood purity, mentions of a shitty past relationship.

A/N // I can’t believe that this is the end of Fake It Till You Make It. I’d like to thank the angel that is @starlightweasley​ for being my co-writer and for coming along for the ride that is this series with me. I’d also like to thank every single person who has been reading along, I am so grateful for your support beyond belief.

Fred had done everything he could to make you comfortable. The second you had collapsed at the door, he was pulling you into his arms and laying you on the sofa, fetching a blanket and a drink for when you inevitably woke again, wanting to be there at your side the second your eyes opened. His hand was brushing over your hair as he felt your breathing pick up, realising that soon enough you would be awake again. You were lucky that the first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was Fred, smiling and sitting you up comfortably. “Here, it’s just some water but It’ll do you good.”

“Thank you, Freddie.” You half-cracked a smile at him as you took the glass from his hands, taking a sip, you didn't realise just how dry your throat was until the water had coated your throat and you were able to breathe without a feeling of hoarseness scratching at every word. 

"I'm scared Fred… Wh-What if he hurts you trying to get to me" You choke out, a tear rolling down your cheek as Fred takes the glass from your shaking hands again, placing it back on the coffee table before taking both of your hands in his. 

"Baby, you don't need to be scared of him, not now, not ever. You are so brave and so strong you don't even need me." He tilted your chin up to look into your eyes, his thumb wiping away the tears that spilled down your cheeks. You nodded, pushing away from the sofa to press your lips against his, happy that you had Fred here to console you and make you feel better. 

"Let's get you showered, patched up and into bed shall we?" He offered, standing up and offering out his hand for you to take at your own pace. This was what you loved about Fred, he made sure that you never felt pressured to make any decisions and treated you like your own person. You took his hand, letting him pull you up and towards your bathroom and on the way you saw Lady sound asleep in her bed, finally able to relax. He helped you shower, washing your hair and brushing it out gently for you before sitting you up on the counter to clean up your cuts and bleeding wounds. You watched as he went to put the clothing you had worn in the bin, but quickly and without thought you blurted out. "Burn them." 

He looked at you, seeing the panic in your eyes as he set the clothing in the bathtub, pulling out his wand and watching the clothes burn to a crisp with the simple incantation. You were at his side, finding a sense of relief at the way the material was reduced to dust before walking away to slip into one of Fred's t-shirts. It hurt your boyfriend to see the quick bruises that had formed on your skin in the shapes of fingerprints and ovals, vowing to never let it happen again, to never let anyone lay a hand on you so long as he lived. He helped you relax under the warmth of the duvet, pressing a kiss to your forehead as he brought the quilt down over your body. 

“Where are you going?” You whispered quietly, the fear of being alone hitting you suddenly and all at once. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking over his shoulder to see the tears that pooled in your eyes and he didn’t want to leave you, not ever if you felt safe with him there. He slipped off his shoes, knowing that he didn’t have to run the second someone knew where you were because you were home. Soon he was sliding in beside you and letting you curl into his side. You slept soundly in his arms, knowing that when Joe came, Fred was there to protect you. 

Fred couldn’t sleep a wink, he couldn’t even fathom the thought of the monster of your nightmares coming and taking you away in the night so he waited. He knew what you’d said and he wouldn’t leave you unprotected for even a second. That’s why he heard the locks being broken, the scuffling in the kitchen and the hushed breathing that echoed around the silent flat. Fred’s arms instinctively wrapped around your waist tighter, pulling you to his chest while pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

Fred gently slipped out from under the sheets, pushing his wand in his back pocket as he walked to the corner of the room, waiting for the inevitable, ready to confront the squib man for the first time. He held his breath as he watched the coward emerge from the doorway and Fred took note of the black eye he sported, his eyes fixated on you as he watched him take a deep breath. 

Joe’s gaze was transfixed upon your sleeping, vulnerable figure that he didn’t even notice the brown eyes gazing at him from across the room. You had left quite the mark on his face, not as many as he had littered on your own body but it was definitely something he hadn’t even anticipated from you. “My daisy…” He whispered, his voice filled with desperation and longing. 

“She’s not your daisy, you tosser.” Fred’s booming voice filled the silence, it was so loud that it made Joe jump, turning around only to be met with the shadow of darkness that filled the corners of each room. With each step forward, the dim light from the window unveiled every inch of his body as he emerged from the shadows, cracking his knuckles as he eyed up the shorter man like a predator watching its prey. “You have some nerve coming back to my home.”

“Think of yourself as a protector?” Joe sneers, rolling his eyes as he runs a hand through his hair, taking a step closer to Fred before looking over his shoulder to see you still sound asleep, curled up under the sheets.

“I damn well do a better job of protecting her than you ever could… The second you laid a hand on her you made it that way.” Fred returned, the anger that bubbled inside of him couldn’t be suppressed and he knew that it wouldn’t take much until he was pushed over the edge.

Joe scoffed, turning his head to the side ever so slightly and the moonlight that shone through the window illuminated his bruise and the bags under his eyes. Looking back towards the wizard, his eyes narrowed and a darkness swept across his features, “Obviously you’re not that good at protecting Y/N… slipped right into my hands she did, it was easy.” A grin spread itself across his features and a shiver ran down Fred’s spine making him swallow thickly. Part of your lover wondered if this is how you must have felt the first time Joe was this way with you. 

Cocking his head to the slight angle, he looked Fred up and down slowly before that grin turned into a menacing smirk and he continued: “Had to bribe the butler, of course. It’s amazing how someone can stay so silent when you hand them over a cheque, you see… I have everything sorted out for us both. I’ll take her now, we’ll go and you’ll never see any of us either again. It’s not that hard, mate. You’ll find another girl and you won’t be bothered ever again, I see what the papers wrote about you… ‘womanizer’, ‘bachelor’ it’s all quite interesting, really.” Joe clicked his tongue, the memory of seeing the paper in his parents’ living room had been a fateful day. Licking his lips, he glanced back towards the girl who was now stirring from the voices in the room, the bedsheets dragging along with her.

“Shut up.” Fred scowled as his face contorted with rage, getting increasingly more irritated as the bastard continued to speak and taunt him. 

“Fred, isn’t it?” Joe asked but he knew. “You don’t know how it felt when I got my hands on my daisy after so long… her supple skin, the rosiness in her cheeks and her soft hair.” Inhaling, he smiled genuinely to himself. “Of course… her unmarked body is a different matter, it was as if she had been waiting for me when I took off her–”

Fred had heard enough of Joe, unsure of how he managed to keep his cool long enough. He had his suspicions as to what had happened to you in his presence and the way Joe spoke so openly about how you felt to touch was enough to solidify the disgusting thoughts, the fact that he had the balls to touch you with any respect made all sane actions fly out the window. 

The ginger man didn’t even realise that his fists were raised until they were colliding over and over against Joe’s chiselled cheekbones. Whatever feeble punches made contact with Fred’s body seemed not to bother him, continuing his relentless assault on the man that quite simply had the nerve to hurt you and your boyfriend was ready to put him through every ounce of pain he had ever inflicted on you. The commotion in the room had caused your puppy to run into the room, the scent of the man who had left her petrified and stolen her mum caused her to bark angrily, growling as her teeth sunk into Joe’s shoulder. 

The echoes of grunts and yells that filled the room and the increasing barks from Lady roused you from your sleep, reaching out you realised that Fred was no longer in bed with you and that Lady was growling too which caused you to quickly pull out your wand and rub at your eyes. As they focused, you saw your boyfriend holding Joe down against the ground, blood flowing from his nose and mouth with every punch to his jaw. The scene in front of you caused you to swing your legs off the bed, running over to the two men, hands wrapping around Fred’s waist to try and pull him away, but his strength overpowered you, causing you to start yelling from the top of your lungs as you begged him to stop. “Freddie please,”

He eased at your pleading voice, pushing himself off the man whose face was covered in blood and as soon as he was standing you pushed the taller man behind you, pointing your wand at Joe for the second time, this time all the more determined in what you would do if it came to it. He was breathing heavily, wiping the blood from his mouth as he sat up, looking up at you through hooded eyes he laughed. “What a couple; Fred and Y/N… both too weak to stop the muggle man from his fury and anger.” 

“Tell me one reason I shouldn't kill you now.” You shouted, pushing away the fear that rose the second you remembered that Fred was there with you, swallowing thickly as you pondered it, the thought of killing him and being free from his never ending tirade.

“All I ever wanted to do was love you,” He whispered, his throat contracting due to the tears illuminating against his cheeks and his eyes that were once filled with life but also crashing waves now depicted the darkest seas, no hope beneath the void visible. “–and I wanted you to love me too.” 

You squeezed your eyes shut in response, head tilting to the left to look away from his direction as you pressed your lips together and tasted the saltiness from your own tears.

“My father would never associate with anything dirty, non-magical… or real.” He whispered, looking down at his lap where you laid your head, gazing up at him with widened eyes. “Imagine being a squib…– born into a pure-blood family,” He cocked his head slightly as he let out a small laugh and glanced out the window with tears in his eyes and sorrow lacing his voice, “I guess, yes, I’ve always had some envy towards those with magical abilities… not because I wanted it for myself but because I wanted to actually be liked by own father. I should stop talking, I’m prattling on about useless things–”

“No–” You quickly sat up, hair cascading down your back as you straightened and looked at him with slightly furrowed brows filled with sympathy and concern, your hand reaching to grasp his and the small act of kindness caused him to finally turn back to look at you. His gaze softened, taking your perplexed expression into consideration as he squeezed your hand delicately and nodded, listening to you intently: “Joe… your father, he wasn’t acting like a dad when he said those things.” 

“But why be with a squib–”

“Because I love you for who you are, not because of your blood or your abilities or your name… I love you for your kind and genuine and loving heart.” And with that, you placed your free hand on his heart, feeling it beat in rhythm with your own and you shared a kind smile with the man who you had grown to fall for throughout these months. 

It was then that you felt Fred’s comforting hand rest on your back and you knew you would be okay, you are brave. 

“I know you did.” You whispered, “But what we felt for each other, it wasn’t the right type of love, it was hurtful and perverse. I will never love you again, Joe, not when I know what real love feels like.” You realised that it was the first time that Fred was hearing those words, something you had never said to each other, but you knew he loved you in his caring actions and longing glances you felt love with Fred like it was the most natural feeling in the world. 

“I’m sorry, Joe.” You knew what you had to do, swallowing thickly you raised your wand, breathing out the incantation like it was part of your inhale and exhale. The spell altered his memory of you, knowing you as nothing more than a friend, erasing any and every memory of your relationship; every kiss, touch, date and lingering moment. You wondered why you hadn’t done it sooner and you felt a sigh of relief course through you as you felt a weight lift off of your shoulders. Part of you wished you could obliviate every mark and memory that was imprinted on your body and another part of you wished he could live with the knowledge that you had stood up to him. But when you glanced back at Fred, who was standing there with a bleeding lip and bruises yet to form, your mind went back to how carefree you felt back at Hogwarts watching him fly through the air and earn bruises that matched a winner’s smile and you felt comforted by the knowledge that you were going to be okay.

You watched as Joe’s face softened and his breathing regulated as blood dripped down his upper lip from his nose, falling against his shirt. You turned around to Fred wrapping your arms around him as you buried yourself into his chest and let out every tear inside of your body, listening to your faint sobs ricochet against his torso as his arms wrapped around you protectively, whispering softly for you to hear. “Let me call Lee, petal, we’ll get him taken to the ministry.” 

You nodded, letting him leave you to grab his phone and make the call he needed, leaving you alone with a man who was confused beyond belief and rubbing at his shoulder where Lady had bit him earlier. You knelt down beside him, fingertips brushing your hair out of your face as you sighed. “You’re going home now, Joe,” 

“Y/N, I– I don’t know what I’ve done, why am I here?” He looked up at you, seeing the tears in your eyes and recognising the fear that was packed into every look. He rested his hand on yours and for a moment you recognised the man that you had once loved, seeing past the monster that he had become and you sighed, placing your other hand over his to give it a gentle squeeze. 

“It was all a terrible accident, Joe… But Lee is coming, he’s going to take you home.” He nodded, taking a deep breath but wincing at the pain he felt in his ribs. You helped him up to his feet and out to the living area, where you were met with Lee and Fred. Lee’s eyes widened at the sight of Joe before looking back at Fred with a furrowed brow and a shake of his head, whisking away the bleeding man leaving you and Fred alone in the flat, the sounds of your breathing being the only thing between you. You reach out your hand to him, guiding him towards the bathroom, sitting him on the counter for you to clear up.

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N, we can just go to bed and–”  He spoke up through gravelly vocal chords, but you just shook your head, taking his hand to clear up the cuts with an alcohol-soaked cloth, using gentle movements to clear up the blood as he winced at the feeling. You cleaned his wounds in a comfortable silence, pulling off his bloodied shirt to see his torso littered with slowly forming bruises, your fingertips tracing over every single one as you looked into his eyes, your lip quivering at the thoughts that ran through your head. 

“I love you, Fred, I meant it when I said that being with you is what real love feels like. I’m not scared anymore, not afraid to admit that I love you and now that I’ve said it I never want to stop, Freddie, I love y–” 

“I love you.” He admitted, joining you in the last time you said the three words that he had been waiting to hear, his hand coming up to bring your foreheads together, smoothing your hair down as he gauged your reaction, a smile falling over his lips when he saw your soft smile. 

“Is now a good time to tell you I bought the cottage?” He laughed, pulling your waist gently so that you could be as close to him as possible, his heart skipping a beat when he watched your face light up for the first time in days.

“Fred Weasley, what did I do to deserve you?” You pulled him down to finally press your lips together, the flame of a thousand tiny fires building inside of you and you finally felt at peace. Fred gave you everything you could have ever needed to have a happy life and now you were free to take it with both hands, letting yourself finally fall in love with someone who deserved happiness just as much as you did.

After that night you and Fred were truly free to begin your life together, packing up the flat in less than a week, ready to move to a home that you had always dreamed of, away from the city and away from the madness that Joe had left you to suffer with. You were lucky you had an amazing group of friends ready to help in moving the countless boxes into the brand new home all ready for the two of you, who were yet to take your first steps inside. 

“I’m not sure I feel ready.” You admitted, staring at the doors to your new home, side by side with the man you loved as your hand held tightly onto his, fingers laced together as his thumb stroked the back of your hand. 

“I don’t think we ever will be, after all this is the home of our dreams.” 

“Not just that Freddie, I’m… free.” The last word you breathed out, turning to look at the man next to you, not expecting to meet his eyes so quickly but welcoming his gaze as you smiled up at him, but his hand was quickly on your cheek, pulling your lips to meet his in a soft and delicate kiss. 

“Let's do this properly then shall we?” he hummed, bending down to swoop you up bridal style before pushing open the door with his foot, carrying you across the threshold into your new home. The sounds of your laughs as they echoed through the hall made him truly realise how in love with you he was. Fred Weasley tried his best to show you how much he loved you every day he woke up and breathed for you, made you feel worthy and you slowly but surely grew to believe him. Together, you made it and that is the greatest feeling of all. 

taglist // @starlightweasley​​​ @theweasleysredhair​​ @pansydaisy​​ @vivianweasley​​ @feetoffthetablee​​ @darthwheezely​​ @thisismynerdyself​​ @witch-and-a-half​​ @loony-loopy-lupinn​​ @rip-us​​ @hopemalfoyweasley​​ @softlyqoos​​ @colorfulprofessornickelangel​​​ @fandomscombine​​ @satellitespidey​​ @rip-us​​ @starkidpotty​​​ @mollydarling-hphm​​ @amwithers2001​​ @asthmax​​ @just-here-to-escape-from-reality​​ @whizboingies​​ @rosietoesy​

[lyranova]

Children of the Future:

Chapter 10: Finding Maelie

Hi guys! Sorry i haven’t been active here lately, I’m hoping that’ll change soon and i’ll be able to post more for you guys this weekend 🥰! Here’s chapter 10 and I hope you all enjoy! Also if I forgot to tag anyone please let me know!

Taglist: @eme-eleff @crazyclownthanos @jovialnoise @talpup @simpingforthisonedeer @melissa-novachrono @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @bowandcurtsey (i couldn’t remember if you wanted to be tagged or not Aine 😅) @ckjwnnbc

Word Count: 3,216

Warnings: None

———

“ Where was the last place you saw your sister?” Gauche asked as he, Grey, Yami, and Aloys stood outside of the Castle. They had all agreed to help him look for his sister and, of course, it had to be now that he wanted to look for her. The dark haired boy frowned in thought as he tried to remember.

“ Back home. Right as we entered the Time Gate, she was right next to me, but when I woke up she was gone.” He muttered the last part softly as he looked away. Grey walked over and placed a gentle hand onto his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

“ It’s ok, we’ll find her I promise!” She told the boy confidently, Gauche tilted his head slightly, Grey was much more confident and comfortable around Aloy’s then anyone else. Maybe because he was a little timid like her? Or was it because he was her, no, their son?

“ Ok, that gives us almost nothing to go on.” Gauche said with a sigh and the boy glared icily at him.

“ ‘Almost nothing’ is better than completely nothing, y'know.” He grumbled, Yami quickly cut between the two before Gauche could retort.

“ Look, if you two are gonna squabble and bicker I’m going to send you both home. Together. Where you have no option but to speak and spend time together, understand?” Yami threatened, the two nodded but continued to glare at each other. He turned to Aloys.

“ Where did you wake up?” He asked, the boy looked around for a moment.

“ Somewhere deep in the woods. I came through the east side of the Capitol so I’m assuming the East Woods.” He said with a shrug, he wasn’t the best at directions so he easily could have been mistaken, but it was his best guess at the moment.

“ Alright then, let’s start there.” Yami said as he stepped onto his broom. Gauche and Grey did the same and Aloys sat behind Grey on her broom. The four quickly took off into the air and headed towards the East Woods.

“ Captain,” Gauche called as he flew up next to him. “ You know it’s a long shot we’re going to find anything there right? Even if we happen to find the exact spot where the kid woke up.” Gauche pointed out, Yami looked over at him and nodded.

“ I know, but it’s the only lead we’ve got.” Yami countered. Gauche looked away, he knew the Captain was right, even though he didn’t want to admit it. He fell back a few feet and flew a little behind him. Yami shook his head and let a small sigh escape his lips.

So much for getting back home early.

——-

Charlotte looked around the house with a confused frown; where was everyone? She seemed to be the only Captain to have arrived so far, and the kids were nowhere to be seen. She looked down the halls before placing a hand on her hip, where could they be? She looked up as she saw a flash of pink outside the kitchen window. She tilted her head before walking out the side door and heading to what one would consider a backyard. She quickly dodged as a spell went flying past her head.

“ Be careful Josslyn you could’ve gotten someone killed if you don’t learn to watch where you’re aiming!” Hikari shouted, Charlotte frowned as she approached the two girls, were they training?

“ Geez, tone it down Hikari, it’s not like anyone got hurt. Oh hi Captain Suke-, I mean, Captain Roselei.” Josslyn said as she suddenly noticed the blonde Captain approaching them, Hikari turned around and smiled at her ‘mother’.

“ Josslyn, Hikari,” Charlotte nodded at the two before standing in front of them with her arms crossed.” What are you two doing?”

“ Training.” They answered in unison, both girls looked at each other before laughing a bit, they did have the tendency to answer at the same time. Charlotte smiled softly before nodding.

“ I saw, you’re both pretty good. But,” she turned to Josslyn. “ Hikari’s right, you have to make sure your spells are perfectly aimed and well timef, otherwise an innocent might get caught in the crossfire.” Charlotte lightly reprimanded the pink haired girl, who looked away and muttered under her breath before walking away.

“ I’m gonna train on my own for a while.” She threw over her shoulder to the mother and daughter, Hikari went to open her mouth but Josslyn cut her off. “ I’ll be right over there so you can see me, I promise I won’t run off.” She added, Hikari closed her mouth and nodded before turning to Charlotte.

“ Where are the boys?” The blonde asked, Hikari looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on them.

“ They’re over there, by the looks of it Alistar is teaching Ace about what kind of plant that is.” She chuckled and Charlotte laughed a bit as well.

“ He really loves plants doesn’t he?” She asked, she had only known him for less then a day but considering he told her about what all plants the spices in the kitchen had come from and their origins, that was the little information she was able to gather from the white haired boy. Hikari nodded.

“ He does, it’s one of his many quirks. But he doesn’t go on and on about plants all the time, only when he sees one that he feels like telling you a bit about.” She chuckled again, Charlotte tilted her head a bit.

“ He seems like a very nice young man.” She tried to sound casual, but she was digging for information on the two, but only just a little. She quickly shook her head, ‘What are you doing Charlotte?! Their love life isn’t any of your business! You’re starting to sound like one of your girls!’ She scolded herself but she saw the dark haired girl nod in agreement.

“ He is. He’s probably one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but there’s a little more to him than just that. He’s smart, brave, kind of quiet, and despite all the challenges life has dealt him, he always tries to smile.” She told Charlotte fondly before shrugging a bit. “ He has the second biggest fanclub in the Golden Dawn, right behind his dad, and I tried to get him to go out on a date with a couple of girls from his fan club. But he wouldn’t do it.” She added with a small sigh and shake of her head, Charlotte looked from Hikari to Alistar curiously.

“ Is there someone who has his heart already?” Hikari frowned in thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“ I don’t think so, I’m his best friend, so I would think he would tell me if there’s someone he likes already.” Hikari said, he would tell her right? I mean, after all they’ve been through and all the things they knew about each other, he was bound to tell her if he had a crush on someone? Right? Hikari shook her head quickly before changing the subject.

“ Why aren’t you and my dad together already?” She watched her ‘mother’s’ face turn a bright shade of read and she began to stammer nervously, apparently she wasn’t expecting the question.

“ B-Because,” Charlotte looked away. “ Because I’m not strong enough yet, Yami deserve’s to have a strong capable woman by his side. One that can protect him just like he protects everyone, one that can stand on her own and be his equal in every way. I’m not there yet I’m afraid. But,” she smiled softly before looking at her ‘daughter’. “ I think I’ll get there eventually, it’s just going to take some time and, as Yami put’s it, I’ll need to surpass my limits.”

Hikari smiled, she was proof her mother was right that she would eventually get there. But there was also worry in her smile. She was worried about how her, and her friends, appearance here would affect the timeline. Would her parents still get together like how they did originally? Or would she somehow influence it? She didn’t know, and that made her nervous.

———

Gauche couldn’t help but wonder why him, why did he have to get stuck with Aloys?! The boy seemed to be closer to Grey so why didn’t the Captain send him with her? He couldn’t help but glare as the Captain divided the four of them up when they had arrived at the East Woods, if he didn’t put Grey and Aloys together because they had the same magic type then why didn’t he send Grey to go looking for the girl with Gauche? There was only one logical answer:

He was being punished for earlier, he had to be.

But now that the two were alone he could actually look at the boy. He seemed to be 16, his hair was a dark brown-ish blue shade, he had a similar body type to Gauche but shorter, if Aloy’s was anything like him he’d probably hit his growth spurt soon, he also seemed to be much more quiet now then he was earlier. From what he had seen back at the Castle, Aloys seemed to be nearly identical to Gauche, but now that he had settled down, he seemed to be more like Grey.

“ Stop staring at me old man, you’re making me nervous.” Aloys muttered as he glanced at his ‘father’, Gauche rolled his eyes and looked away.

“ Stop calling me an old man! I’m only 4 years older than you!” Gauche argued, Aloys smirked.

“ Still older.” Gauche growled.

“ The Captain should’ve sent you with Grey, she’s better at dealing with you.” He told Aloys, who nodded.

“ I wish he would have too, that way I wouldn’t have to deal with you old man.” Gauche quickly whipped around to glare at his ‘son’.

“ Momma’s boy!” Aloys turned to look at his ‘dad’.

“ Sister lover!”

“ What did you just-?” Gauche growled dangerously low when Aloys suddenly gasped and took off running past him. “ Hey kid, wait!” He quickly followed after him.

“ This was it!” Aloys shouted as he stood in a small circle of trees, he looked around wildly. “ This is where I woke up! Maelie! Maelie are you here?” He shouted as he walked into the center of the circle. Gauche pulled out the communication device and quickly gave Yami their coordinates.

———

“ You’re sure this was it?” Yami asked as he looked around, they were almost dead center in the East Woods, why had he been dropped here of all places? Hell, how did the kid not get lost in these woods? He watched as the umber haired boy continued to look around the area.

“ Yeah I’m sure, because I thought it was strange that all these trees were in a circle. It’s kind of ominous.” Aloys said with a shrug, suddenly a flock of birds came flying out one of the tree’s and Grey let out a shriek before hiding behind Gauche, who sighed and shook his head.

“ It’s just bird's Grey, and will you please stop clinging to my shirt?” He asked, honestly he didn’t actually mind her clinging to him, but he wasn’t about to let anyone know that. Grey only seemed to cling tighter to his shirt.

“ I-I’m sorry Gauche, b-but this place is just so t-terrifying!” Grey stammered, her eyes shut tightly and her face as red as a tomato. She wanted to go home. This place was much too scary and she didn’t like it at all, but she was somewhat comforted by Gauche’s presence. He always seemed to make her feel safer, even braver at times. Aloys tilted his head slightly as he watched his ‘parents’ but he didn’t comment.

“ It doesn’t look like anyone else was dropped here except you,” Yami said as he crouched down at the ground. “ are you sure you two walked through this ‘time gate’ together?” Aloys snorted.

“ Of course I am, I was holding her hand the entire time.” He explained, the other three frowned, if he was holding her hand, then how did they get seperated? Yami looked at the sky for a moment; it was beginning to get dark, they either had to find the girl quickly or call it a day.

“ It’s getting dark,” Gauche said as he also looked at the sky. “ we’ll have to call it a day for now and search again tomorrow.” Aloys began to quickly shake his head at his ‘father’s’ words.

“ No, No way! We have to find her! She’s only 9 years old, in a new and unfamiliar place! She could be hungry and scared or someone could grab her and take off with her!” Aloys shouted.

“ Yeah, she could be all those things. But she could also be anywhere in this city, or even anywhere in this country! How are you going to be able to find and look for your sister if you can’t see where you’re going because it’s too dark?!” Gauche shouted back, Aloys clenched his teeth and looked away; he knew Gauche was right, they wouldn’t be able to see much of anything in the dark, but she was his little sister, he had to find her. He promised.

“ W-What if it was Marie?” Grey asked softly as she opened her eyes and looked up at the brown haired man, he turned a small shade of pink and looked away. “ If it were her that were missing, wouldn’t you keep searching all the way until morning and beyond if you had to?” She heard him make a small noise in the back of his throat, he knew she was right, if Marie were missing there would be no stopping him until he found her.

Gauche looked at Aloys and saw a familiar, determined look. One he had on his face many times, especially when it came to something, or someone, important to him. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“ Fine, we’ll keep looking for the girl. But if we don’t find her by morning then we’ll stop and regroup. Got it?” He asked Aloys, who smiled and nodded in agreement. Gauche looked at Yami. “ Captain, if you need to, you can head back. We can handle this.”

Yami stared at Gauche and Grey for a moment before a smirk made its way across his face. He walked past them and towards where his broom was leaning on a tree.

“ Alright, if you need me you still have the communication device I gave you. So use it if you’re in trouble.” Yami instructed before he stepped onto his broom and lifted himself into the air and flew off into the direction of the shared house.

Though, he had a feeling they wouldn’t need to call for help.

———

Yami landed outside the house with a soft ‘thud’, it was already dark out, a small piece of him hoped that they found the girl and were on their way back. But considering she could be anywhere made him doubt they would be able to find her in one day. He opened the door and, just like this morning, everyone was seated around the dining table getting ready to eat.

“ Oh, welcome back Captain Sukehiro!” Alistar greeted warmly and with a cheerful smile, Yami nodded at the white haired boy before walking towards the other. Hikari turned to face her ‘father’ and she also smiled, Yami blinked a bit, he almost forgot her smile was the exact same as Charlotte’s. He gave her a small smile before he sat next to her.

“ Rough day?” Hikari asked before putting a piece of food into her mouth, Yami looked around the table and noticed everyone was either eating or had just finished and were cleaning up the kitchen. He shrugged.

“ Not too bad I guess. I had to inform everyone about being on the lookout for other kids, and lo and behold, I was called to Julius’s office again for another kid.” He muttered as he poured himself a small glass of wine and took a sip.

“ Zora already told us that,” Charlotte said as she walked in from the kitchen. “ Who was it this time?”

“ Grey and Gauche, their son Aloys attacked the Magic Knights guarding the Castle and of course Julius had to step in. He’s a chip off the old block when he’s pissed.” Yami said with a small smirk, it was amusing that when the boy was angry he acted just like Gauche, but otherwise he was more like Grey. He silently wondered if their daughter was the same way, or if she was the opposite? Hikari quickly put down her fork and looked at him.

“ Aloys is here? Is Maelie here too?” She asked as she turned in her seat, Yami let out a small sigh before shaking his head.

“ She’s lost apparently, Gauche, Grey, and Aloys are still out searching for her.” Yami explained before she suddenly got up and headed straight for the door, with Alistar right behind her. “ Where are you going?”

“ To help them look for her! I can’t believe you left them out there to search on their own!” She said angrily, her father was never this way, he never abandoned someone who needed help!

“ Now wait a minute-.” Charlotte started but was cut off.

“ No I won’t! Why did you leave them to look for her on their own, why didn’t you stay and help them?!” She asked Yami, he stood up and looked at her.

“ Because I trust them.” He answered simply. “ I know they’ll find her and they won’t stop until they do, I gave them a communication device in case they needed me. But I don’t think they’ll need to use it.” Hikari glared at him before turning around and grabbed the door knob.

“ Trusting them isn’t a good enough reason.” She muttered before pulling the door open and being greeted with a purple shirt, one she recognized.

“ Gauche?”

As the dark haired girl’s gaze traveled higher she noticed Gauche was carrying a small girl in his arms, one with dark blue-ish brown hair and wearing a blue and white dress.

He was holding Maelie.

“ See? I told you.” Yami smirked, even from a distance he could see Hikari’s cheeks tinted with pink. Alistar chuckled slightly before patting her on the shoulder.

“ It’s ok, everyones wrong sometimes.” He tried to comfort, but in a teasing way since it was very rare for Hikari to be wrong. She quickly muttered something under her breath as she moved to allow the Adlai family inside. Grey closed the door softly behind them before following after Gauche and Aloys.

“ Where can we put her?” He asked the Captain’s, Yami jerked his thumb to the left.

“ There’s a room where the girls are staying, she can sleep in there for now.” He said with a shrug, Josslyn sighed and stood up from the table.

“ C’mon I’ll show you.” The pink haired girl quickly led them down the hall, Aloys turned around to face everyone.

“ We’ll explain later.” He laughed, he seemed to be much more relaxed and at ease now that they had found his little sister. He turned back around and followed the others down the hall.

———

Sorry the ending isn’t the best, I couldn’t think of how to end it 😅. I might have a small scene where they find maelie in the next chapter but i’m not sure yet 😅. Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[robininthelabyrinth]

Lotus Pier was always loyal, aware in the way that objects only are after hundreds of years, and she expected to disappear after she was destroyed. Instead she wakes up, rebuilt in both place and spirit, stronger than ever, at the hands of a grieving Jiang Cheng.

The Lotus Pier always loved the bright spirits of the world, the free and unrestrained; she held them cupped in her hand like birds, ready to fly away, to go where their whim takes them, to return because they loved her. Her cultivators reflected that, shining bright, standing against the world and attempting the impossible.

But they were only humans, their lives short and too easily cut shorter; when the invading armies came to the Pier, she tried her best to help her people – help them fight, help them flee – but the enemy was already invited inside her gates.

There was nothing she could do.

Her walls were thrown open, her treasures taken, her children killed – her very core, layer upon layer of arrays painted by all the Jiang sect disciples through all the years, violated.

The Wens sought to make her their own, in their blunt, stupid, grasping way. They didn’t know what she was, of course. No one knew. Only the Sect Leader – each one learning about her from their predecessor at the moment of their accession, the secret as well as a set of vows, an oath of mutual loyalty, and those who refused the oath were killed at the very moment of their supposed triumph.

Her children were good to her. In return, she was good to them.

When the Wens tried to seize control of her, to make her nothing more than a fortress, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to disappear – to die, destroyed in both body and soul, rather than allow herself to be used by those who killed her children.

She did not expect that anyone would be able to reawaken her.

Who could? It was impossible. Only the Sect Leader knew her secrets – and he was dead, dead long before he could pass along his knowledge to his heir, and of course it wasn’t written down anywhere.

Awakening, therefore, came as a surprise.

It was even more of a surprise to realize that she was still herself, still the Lotus Pier of old; she had half-expected the Wen sect to have cracked open her arrays and found a way to make her obedient.

But no.

It was not the Wens.

It was a single man, little more than a half-grown boy, kneeling in the center of an array painted in his own heart’s blood, his chest still wet as the bandages slowly soaked through.

He was wearing her purple, embroidered with her lotuses.

“My name is Jiang Cheng,” he said, and her heart thrilled: of course he was a Jiang. Only her children would be brave enough to attempt something as insane as this. “Great Spirit, I come to you as a supplicant. I need your power to help me protect my home.”

He did not know who she was.

It amused her not to tell him – meaning only to hide it for a little, only at first, of course. He was a Jiang, and Sect Leader; they were bound together, the two of them, like the Nies and their sabers.

It was fun at first.

Jiang Cheng was rebuilding her body, each plank and each joint fitting together, the wood from the best of trees, the arrays hidden within the walls. He spoke to her about it, sometimes – it took him a while to get used to her dwelling inside of him, her presence at the back of his head, but in time he got used to it.

It didn’t seem as if he had anyone else to talk to.

He loved her, dearly. She could see it in the way his hands were soft over her, the way he worried over small details, the way he insisted everything had to be perfect.

He did not think she loved him.

She didn’t find that out until some time in: he was proud, her little Jiang, full of pride, but his shoulders were weighed down with grief and responsibility. He was not spontaneous, preferring rules that he could understand and implement – he had been a disappointment to someone once, and it had sunk into his bones. With a rule he could do the right thing and hope to please; without, he was on his own, and he had no faith in himself. He knew himself to be no genius, knew that all he had to offer was his hard work – and oh, he worked so hard. He tried, so hard.

And he thought that it meant nothing.

“Wei Wuxian knew the motto better than me,” he said once. “The impossible was easy for him, a snap of his fingers…impulsive, reckless, free. A proper Jiang. He always said he had a mother and a father, that all the rumors about my father being his were false, but how would he know? Was he there when he was conceived? Or maybe it’s just easy enough to understand, so easy that someone else’s son can do it, and only I fail to even grasp it.”

The Lotus Pier did not pay much attention to the bright sparks that drifted above her, certainly didn’t know them by name; she did not know who Wei Wuxian was. Still, her heart hurt to hear her Jiang speak about himself like that.

You did the impossible, she reminded him. You survived. You revived. You returned. You summoned me.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I only did it because I’m the only one left. Anyone else would have done a better job than me, but there was only ever me.”

She argued with him, confused as to how the Jiang sect motto had been so perverted – it didn’t matter if he was stiff and stern, if he liked rules, if he liked winning, if he was grumpy and rude and prone to yelling, expressing affection through his scolding rather than warmth; it didn’t matter if his first thought each morning was of his obligations and what he needed to do, rather than what he wanted, that he put his sect first in his heart over all other matters; it didn’t matter that he needed to think about what was right and what was wrong rather than simply knowing immediately in his heart what he should do.

That was who he was, the boy he was born and the man he’d become. That was fine.

All she’d ever cared about was that they be resolute and determined, brave enough to do what must be done without flinching.

Her little Jiang Cheng – he did the impossible every day, all alone, and he never once realized it.

Eventually, she told him who she was.

He did not take it especially well. But then, she’d expected that – he was most sensitive to matters of deception, tender in only the way a boy who had been a little too trusting could be. She regretted that she’d hurt him, that she hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t enjoy her teasing the way some of his ancestors did – but in the end he had bound himself to her, body and soul, so it wasn’t as though all his storming around could really have an impact.

He did leave, for a while. When he came back, he had a small child asleep in his arms and a beatific expression of sheer joy.

“My sister’s child,” he explained, having apparently completely forgotten how she’d hurt him. He’d remember later, of course, in the dark of the night when he counted all his grievances, but right now he needed to tell someone and she was, very sadly, the only person he knew. “Jin Ling. When he’s older, I’ll introduce him to you.”

She reminded him that her presence was usually a secret kept to the Sect Leader.

“What good does that do? If I get killed, won’t you just disappear again? Besides, he deserves to meet you. He deserves everything I can give him, and more.”

It turned out the sister was dead, too. Dead, like his parents, like Wei Wuxian – he’d had an old grandmother who’d come to help for a while, but she hadn’t long survived burying her black-haired daughter.

He only had the child – and her.

Time passed quickly enough, and the Lotus Pier flourished under Jiang Cheng’s control. He indulged her just as he indulged his nephew, building her more bridges, more buildings, another pier or two; she was pleased by it, spoiled by it.

Used to it.

And then something came and nearly destroyed it all. Someone.

She wasn’t aware all the time, spending much of her time simply being the Pier, and so she only saw a small part of it – Jiang Cheng screaming (not new), sobbing (not especially new), and then running around like a maniac, begging for people to try to draw a sword from its sheath (new and a little disturbing).

He retreated to the room that held her core and collapsed on the array.

“It’s not mine,” he said, his face covered. “It’s all been him. Everything I’ve done – all his. Same as always. I’m always second to him –”

He said more than that, too. Not very intelligently, or coherently, but in time the story came out.

He gave you nothing but power. You did the rest. You were the one who build me back up from nothing, alone; not him, you. He left. You stayed.

“Just wait,” he said. “Just wait. He’ll come back, one day, and then you’ll see – he’s just like what you like best. Better than me. Everyone likes him better. Even Jin Ling – you’ll see.”

The Lotus Pier did not keep people by force: she let her birds fly free, following their hearts. She did not consider herself abandoned when people left, no matter how good or bad the reason. And yet…

“He loves him,” Jin Ling told her, curled up in his room. “Uncle loves Senior Wei so much. He gave up everything for him. Did he tell you?”

I live in his mind. I know.

“I don’t know why he won’t make up with him!”

Wei Wuxian followed his heart. Jiang Cheng followed his. Their paths conflicted; their hearts broke. Who is to say the path chosen by one, trying his best, is better than the other’s attempt to do the same?  

“But they’ll both be happier if they make up. Senior Wei is – I don’t know. I like him. It’d make Uncle happy to have him back. Even if only sometimes, if only for a little. I wish there was something I could do!”

Your uncle is competitive. Remind him that you love him best. It will help calm him.

It wasn’t clear to her what exactly Jin Ling did – it wasn’t at the Pier – but somehow Wei Wuxian came to visit, his husband in tow, a wary but hopeful expression on his face. They had dinner together, all of them. It was awkward and awful, Jiang Cheng alternating between snapping and biting his tongue, Wei Wuxian making light of things he shouldn’t and dismissing past pain, Lan Wangji looking as though he would rather be dead and Jin Ling with his head in his hands more often than not.

Bring him to see me.

“Absolutely not!” Jiang Cheng blurted out.

Wei Wuxian, who had been in the middle of complaining about eating nothing but vegetables at family feasts, stared.

“He wasn’t talking to you,” Jin Ling clarified, but that didn’t help; if anything, Wei Wuxian looked even more concerned.

He won’t understand. Bring him to me.

Jiang Cheng swallowed, his fingers clenching in fear; she has told him time and time again that she would never abandon him, couldn’t, but he still didn’t believe her.

Still – he loved her. He loved her best.

He stood up.

“Come with me,” he said.

“Where?” Lan Wangji asked, suspicious.

“The ancestral hall.”

“I thought you said I wasn’t allowed there,” Wei Wuxian said with a nervous laugh.

“I need to show you something,” Jiang Cheng said. “Just you. There’s – someone I want you to meet.”

[krisdreaming]

hi ^^ I really like your writing so I'd like a request with bokuto. I'd like the reader to be a female with long hair. The reader is a manager and she's friends with kuroo. She's pinning after bokuto and wants to know what his ideal type is. So she ask's kuroo and as a joke he said "short haired girls." Believing it the next day she came in with her hair cut into a bob. bokuto notices that day and keeps staring. When asked about it by reader he confesses. Thanks so much ♡

Ayy, you sure can! Reader is Nekoma’s manager, btw. Fem reader! I had so much FUN writing this! ^^ That’s probably why it got so long, so I put it under a read more! This symbol is right under the read more: ➳♥

WC: 2k | My only warning is that it’s kind of crack-y

-

“Kuroo-kun?” He turns to look at you, and it’s officially too late to back down now. You hug your clipboard to your chest. You’d been going back and forth on whether this was even a good idea, and now that he’s looking at you with that too-knowing stare, you’re swinging back to “no”.

“What’s up?” He asks, cocking his head to the side and propping a hand on his hip. “Everything good getting ready for the training camp?”

You take a breath to steady yourself, then nod. “Yeah, great!” You manage a smile. “I just, well, I had a question for you. I was hoping you could, uh, help me out with something.” You really had been trying to look him in the eye, but by now your focus is on a flyaway strand of hair sticking out from his head.

“Yeah, sure. Shoot,” he prompts.

“Well, I was wondering…” You look down at your clipboard as if the best words to say will materialize there. They don’t. “Your friend Bokuto-san. Does he have a certain type that he likes?” It rushes out all at once. “Of girls?” You add, as if it wasn’t already obvious.

A grin slowly spreads across the captain’s face, and you chew nervously on your lip as he crosses his arms. “So, it’s Bokuto, is it? I figured you had a crush on somebody.”He laughs. “A type, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll help you out.” He seems to be enjoying this a little too much. “Anything for our precious manager.”

“Yeah?” You say weakly, huffing out a breath of relief now that you’d finally manged to say what you’d set out to.

“Here’s the thing. Bokuto really likes girls with short hair.” Oh. You can feel your smile begin to fade off of your face. “I mean, you know, it’s not make-or-break, but yup.” He nods sagely. “Short hair, I’m afraid.” 

You subconsciously toy with the ends of your hair, wondering if it might be time for a change. It’s not as though you hadn’t ever considered it, and your friends always told you a shorter style would look good on you. So, maybe…

“Oh, but hey!” Kuroo is still talking. “That’s not the only thing. He also likes girls who smile a lot, girls with a sense of humor, girls who give him lots of encouragement…” He ticks them off on his fingers, “And girls that are dedicated. Sounds like somebody I know.” He grins, socking you lightly on the shoulder. You nod slowly, pasting on a smile in return. “You want me to put in a good word?” He asks.

“N-no!” You sputter, “That’s not necessary. I’ll just - thanks, Kuroo-kun.” You don’t want to imagine what sort of things he might think up to say to Bokuto about you. “You’ve helped plenty. Not a word about this, please?” You plead, clasping your hands in front of yourself.

He slides his fingers across his lips and makes a locking motion. “My lips are sealed.” He says solemnly, and gives you a genuine smile that says he’s telling the truth. “But if you change your mind, let me know!” He calls after you as you turn to go. You lift your hand in a quick thumbs up, knowing hell would freeze over before then.

➳♥

The next day, you arrive at the training camp bright and early to help the other managers get everything set up. You’re immediately greeted with a chorus of screeches and exclamations.

“Y/N-chan!” Kaori grabs your hands, “You cut your hair! It’s so adorable!” She giggles. 

“Ah, thanks.” You nervously fiddle with the ends of your hair, now falling just above your shoulders. You’d loved it, then hated it, then loved it, and right now, you’re not quite sure what you think of your new style, but the encouragement is definitely pushing you back towards loving it again. You have to admit, it is much easier to style this way, and much cooler to deal with the summer heat of training camp week. 

“So, is there someone special you’re trying to impress?” Yukie asks coyly, and you feel your cheeks heating up.

“Ah, well…”

“It’s Bokuto, isn’t it?” She interrupts before you can say another word. “Don’t lie! I see you stealing glances when you think no one is looking.”

You laugh weakly. “Um, well, yeah.” You don’t have much of a choice but to admit it. “Kuroo told me that he likes girls with short hair, so…” You don’t catch the look shared between Kaori and Yukie, the former of which gives her head a slight shake. There isn’t much time for the conversation to continue, because across the gym, you hear a cackle that can only belong to one person.

“That, right there, is dedication!” Kuroo wheezes as he approaches you, and you narrow your eyes, self-consciously reaching for your hair again. “You look great.” He assures you, laughter still hanging on his voice. “Adorable.” He gives your hair a slight ruffle before you duck away. Kenma casts him a suspicious glance before looking back your way.

“Y/N, your hair looks nice.” He assures you with a small smile, and as the morning progresses, the rest of the team says the same, in one form or another. Their opinions aren’t really the ones you’re concerned about, though.

When the rest of Fukurodani finally arrives an hour later, you try to act cool while also attempting to steal glances at their captain. It seems every single time you glance his way, his eyes are already on you. It makes your face feel hot even though you aren’t entirely sure what his expression means.

“Y/N!” When he calls out to you, it takes a few moments to register that he’d actually said your name. You turn to him and remember at the last second to smile, because Kuroo said he likes girls that smile a lot. It sounds like he changes what he wants to say at the last second, because after an awkward pause he blurts out, “Are you keeping Kuroo in line?”

“Totally!” You say, giving him a thumbs up, “It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.” You laugh, and he laughs, too, a warm sound that makes your heart leap in your chest.

“Well, you do a great job!” He says, beaming at you. “So, Y/N…” He steps a little closer to you, and your breath catches in your throat.

“Bokuto-san!” He whips his head around at the sound of Akaashi’s voice, standing with his arms crossed on the neighboring court along with the rest of the team.

“Oh,” He says, sheepishly reaching for the back of his neck, “Guess our first match is starting. We’ll catch up later, yeah?” He asks, looking so earnest and sincere that you don’t have to think about the easy smile that comes to your face.

“Definitely,” You agree, watching as he jogs back over to his team. You stand rooted to the spot until you feel an elbow jab into your side.

“Y/N, our match is starting,” Kuroo prompts, and it’s only when you turn your gaze to him that you realize how closely you’d been watching Bokuto. The grin on his face is insufferable. “I know you’d much rather stand here and admire the view, but we kinda need our manager right now,” He chuckles.

“You’re- You’re-” You mutter, unable to figure out just what he is.

“A great captain and wonderful friend? I know.” He laughs, jogging away before you can land a hit. You have no choice but to follow after him. 

The rest of the day is filled with practice matches and between working with the other managers to prepare lunch and running back and forth to fill water bottles in addition to filling out your paperwork for each match, you have very little time to even think about Bokuto. It isn’t until the evening as you wash the water bottles for tomorrow that you let your mind wander.

Does he like your haircut? Does he like you? Was his special attention really special, or is he just that friendly of a guy? Does he see you as anything other than Nekoma’s manager? You’d been scrubbing the same poor water bottle for three minutes when a voice interrupts your train of thought.

“Oh, Y/N!” You turn, and there, standing in the hallway behind you, is the person who’d taken over your thoughts. “Hey,” He says with a grin.

“Hey, Bokuto-san, how were your matches today?” You’ve been smiling since the moment you heard his voice.

“They were great, but, Y/N! You cut your hair!” He gestures to your head, and you run your fingers through the ends of your hair yet again.

“Oh, you noticed?” You duck your head as you feel the tips of your ears grow hot. “I just though, you know, time for a change and all that. So you like it?” You ask, shocked at your own boldness.

“Yeah! Yeah, I really do. It looks good on you.” He’s fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, cheeks starting to flush just the slightest bit. 

“Good,” You murmur, “I’m glad you like it short,” You admit bravely as he takes a step closer to you. The water bottles and dissolving soap suds in the sink behind you are completely forgotten.

“Short hair, long hair, I don’t really care as long as it’s your hair!” He blurts out, and he must realize exactly what he said the moment the words leave his mouth, because his face instantly turns two shades redder. “B-because I think you’re really cool,” he continues, more subdued, gaze flickering between your face and somewhere past your shoulder. You can’t even formulate a response, so you keep watching him, wide-eyed.

“Bokuto-san?” You finally say, when the silence stretches too long. 

“Don’t call me that, it makes me think about Akaashi, and I don’t want to think about Akaashi right now.” He chuckles nervously. “Just call me Bokuto.”

“Okay,” You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “Bokuto?” You can’t believe this is happening.

“I really like you, Y/N! You’re really cute, and fun, and you always make me smile. If you want, I thought maybe, some day when the matches end early, we could get ice cream or something.” He says it so fast, in one breath, that it takes you a few seconds to process everything, and a few more to realize what just happened.

“Wow,” You breathe. His expression is frozen, waiting. “Bokuto, I - I really like you, too. I think - I’d love to go out with you,” You finish with a breathy giggle, still not quite sure this is actually happening.

“Really?” He laughs, grabbing your hands before you can react. “That’s - that’s great! Perfect!” His hands are warm and envelop yours completely. 

“Good,” You say softly, giving his hands a squeeze as warmth continues to bubble up in your middle. Something he’d said earlier is still niggling in the back of your mind. “Bokuto? Can I - can I ask you a stupid question?”

He cocks his head. “It won’t be stupid, but go for it!” He says, nodding encouragingly.

“Do you - do you prefer short haired girls?” You ask, cringing at the strange nature of your question.

“Well, I dunno, I guess I never really thought too much about it,” He scratches his chin. “But I like it on you!” He adds quickly. “Really, it looks great! Your long hair was great too, though. Um, is that what you wanted to know?” 

You shake your head in disbelief. “Yeah, sorry.” You lean in closer, focusing on his smile and the way his eyes are completely fixed on you. Kuroo is very, very lucky that, right now, you’re entirely too happy to think about kicking his ass.

(”Are you okay, Kuroo-senpai?” Lev pauses from receiving practice to ask. He notices the strange look that crosses Kuroo’s face.

“Yeah, fine,” Kuroo assures him. “I felt a weird shiver just now. It was probably nothing.”)

[omgrachwrites]

Tell a Tale of You and Me - Chapter Five

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: You knew that  making a bet with Sirius Black was like making a deal with the devil  but you just couldn’t help yourself. You had never been a heavenly  woman.

Warnings: fluff, soft angst, denial of feelings, pining

Words: 2189

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this part! Also, I’ve literally just realised that I’ve passed 300 followers so thank you guys so so much! Let me know what you think and let me know if you would like to be tagged! I love you all xxx

Chapter Five

You rolled your eyes at Lily with a lazy smirk as the both of you waited for the boys to stop stuffing their faces in The Great Hall. Right about now they would most likely be stuffing their pockets full of snacks to have in Transfiguration that afternoon, they’d probably get detention for eating their snacks. Again. Finally, the boys came traipsing out of The Great Hall as if they had all the time in the world. Sirius was scoffing a vanilla cupcake.

“Bloody finally guys,” you giggled as you and your friends walked down the crowded corridors, “Merlin, how many snacks have you got in there?” you asked, gesturing at their bulging robes.

“Want one Y/N?” Sirius asked innocently around a mouthful of cake, you smirked at him before gathering up some vanilla buttercream on your finger before sucking it off, keeping your eyes on Sirius the whole time. He watched, his cheeks deepening to a bright red flush and he made a funny strangled noise in the back of his throat.

Giggling, you punched him in the arm and hung back, fully intending on speaking to Lily. However, before you could get a word out you found yourself face to face with a group of Slytherin girls who were all staring at you.

“Good morning ladies,” Sirius smirked as he walked past them while Remus looked back with a faint blush on his scarred face.

“Run along, Evans, we need to talk to Y/L/N alone,” the tallest one sneered.

Lily looked at you, chewing her lip, she had a worried expression on her face, “I’ll be fine Lil, really can you just tell McGonagall that I’m hung up?” you asked with a brave smile, though you really did feel nervous. Lily nodded before reluctantly walking down the corridor.

You turned back to the Slytherins, your hand gripping the wand in your pocket in case you needed it. You noticed that all of the girls were very pretty. Though, one girl was at the back of the group, she looked very bored to be here.

“You think you’re pretty smart don’t you Y/L/N?” the tallest one snarled again, she was presumably the leader, “you’ve ruined our last year at Hogwarts.”

“Excuse me?” you laughed as you tightened your grip on your wand, “I honestly have got no idea what you’re going on about.”

“This stupid bet that you’ve got going on with Sirius is what we’re on about,” another girl piped up, her brown eyes flashing menacingly, “you want him all to yourself don’t you?”

You seriously couldn’t believe that you were having this conversation right now, if you weren’t so confused it would actually be really amusing, “oh no, you see,” you giggled, “you’ve got the wrong end of the stick entirely. This whole bet thing is just a bit of fun,” and it was but you knew that Sirius was stubborn and he couldn’t resist a challenge.

“Still, I tried to come onto him the other day and he rejected me, he’s never done that before,” the leader said with a note of hurt in her voice, “there’s only one reason why he would do that and it’s not because of some stupid bet. He’s in love with you, haven’t you seen the way he looks at you when he thinks that no one else sees?”

That had to be the funniest thing that you’d heard all year. Surely you would know if one of your best friends was in love with you, wouldn’t you? You sighed as you rolled your eyes, you shouldn’t have had to explain yourself but you did anyway.

“Sirius is not in love with me, I don’t even know if he can love anybody, we’re just friends. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to class,” you shook your head, feeling completely bewildered at the conversation.

“You’d better watch your back Y/L/N, especially at the Quidditch match tomorrow,” one of them called after you.

Thankfully, you arrived at Transfiguration only a couple of minutes late, McGonagall looked at you sternly, her thin lips were pursed but she didn’t say anything. Sirius smirked at you as you sat down next to Lily. McGonagall announced that they were going to be starting human transfiguration, beginning with changing their hair colour. The class murmured with great interest as McGonagall taught them the incantation and the correct wand movement.

Your spirits were not dampened despite the fact that you – and the rest of the class – were only able to change the length of your hair, rather than the colour. You giggled as Lily’s hair was now a pixie cut, “hey, that really suits you.”

“Thanks Rapunzel,” she grinned at you. Your hair now reached the floor, you didn’t know what to do with so much hair but you kind of liked it.

Just as you were about to get to work on changing your hair back to its original state, you heard a couple of girlish giggles a few desks over from you. You gazed over to the other side of the classroom to see what all the commotion was about and your breath got stuck in your throat. Sirius was cockily smirking at his reflection in the hand mirror that he was holding and he was running his fingers through his hair. It was quite a lot shorter and it was more tousled than it usually was.

The surrounding gaggle of girls were all gazing at him adoringly, causing you to roll your eyes, he never missed a chance to show off. Almost as if he could feel your eyes on him, he turned to face you and winked, it was stupidly unfair how he looked even more handsome with the short fluffy hair he was currently sporting.

“Like what you see Y/N? Are you finally ready to admit that you fancy me?” he smirked, resting his hand on his chin as he stared at you.

“Mr Black,” McGonagall began in a warning voice.

You ignored McGonagall, scoffing at Sirius’ words, “pur-lease, me have a crush on you? No way.”

At your words, the group of girls gasped, Remus and Peter snorted while James just looked uncomfortable. Sirius laughed it off and if you hadn’t turned away you would have seen the pained look that flashed across his face. McGonagall sighed as she looked at you both, unbeknownst to you and Sirius; she had an ongoing bet with Slughorn on when you would finally get together. They’d first made the bet in your 5th year.

Later on that evening, you and Lily were sitting in front of the roaring common room fire as you told her about the Slytherin girl’s ambushing you.

“So, let me get this straight, they had a problem with you because they think that Sirius has a thing for you?” she recited and you nodded.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of it.”

Lily’s emerald eyes scanned your face, “well, maybe they have a point Y/N,” she held up her hands in mock defence as you glared at her, you couldn’t believe that she was taking their side, “just hear me out, okay? He’s been pouting all afternoon because of what you said in Transfiguration,” her voice lowered as the boys came to join you; she smiled as James kissed her.

Sirius sat in the armchair opposite you, it was true enough that he’d been in a mood all afternoon but it wasn’t your fault, not when he could have any girl he wanted.

“Lighten up Sirius, are you seriously in a mood because I told you that I don’t have a crush on you?” you wanted to make light of the situation, it would certainly make you feel better, “I thought your ego needed a bit of deflating,” you giggled.

“This has got nothing to do with my ego,” he muttered, staring into the fire, “but don’t worry, I’m just being silly,” he shot you a smile that didn’t quite reach those pretty eyes.

You sighed as guilt swirled around in your stomach.

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

The following day, the morning of the first Quidditch game, Sirius was walking down to breakfast on his own, he had woken up late to find that his friends had gone down to breakfast without him. He didn’t realise that he had fake friends. Sirius was so hungry; he was craving something with chocolate or an extremely sugary cereal.

On the way down to breakfast, he ran into something twice as sweet, Y/N. He felt a funny fluttering feeling in his stomach as she smiled at him prettily, though he blamed it on the fact that he was so hungry.

“Hi Y/N,” he grinned and noticed that she was carrying a covered tray, “how are you feeling?”

She grimaced, it didn’t look like she was feeling too good, “nervous, I’ve been up for hours,” she laughed weakly as she chewed on her lip, “these are for you by the way,” she blushed as she uncovered the tray to reveal the most delicious looking chocolate brownies that Sirius had ever seen, “I made them this morning to say thank you for helping me get onto the team.”

Sirius chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair as he took the tray from her, “you really didn’t need to do that but thank you so much,” he blushed, it was an incredibly sweet gesture, “and hey, you were an absolute pleasure to teach,” he smirked. She rolled her eyes but still leaned up to plant a kiss on his warm red cheek anyway.

At breakfast, Sirius helped Lily and Remus finish off the banner that they had created for the match; Remus had drawn a picture of a lion devouring a snake. Remus also stole Sirius’ brownies, pretending not to notice the way that Sirius was glaring at him.

“I’m not hungry James, please I know you mean well but can you stop it? It feels like I’m going to be sick,” Y/N mumbled with her head in her hands. James sighed sympathetically as he rubbed her back. Even though Sirius knew that Y/N couldn’t see him, he smiled at her. No matter what the score came out as, he knew that she would be great.

It seemed like all too soon for before they were walking down to the pitch, Y/N had a sickly tinge to her skin and she wasn’t talking to anybody. Sirius smiled at her before going to sit in the stands with the others, “don’t worry, Y/N. You’re gonna be so great, I know it,” she smiled weakly at him, giving him a quick hug before she followed James into the changing rooms.

“Oh, could you get any more obvious? It’s revolting,” Regulus smirked as he stalked past his older brother. Sirius scoffed, he didn’t know what Regulus was talking about because it was Regulus who had a schoolboy crush on Y/N. He pulled a tongue at the back of Regulus’ head before running to catch up with Remus, Lily and Peter.

The atmosphere was electric as the long awaited Quidditch players finally flew onto the pitch, there were far more cheers than boos. Everybody, well almost everybody wanted to see Gryffindor win the first match of the season, a win would give Sirius and his friends another reason to celebrate at the Halloween feast and Hogsmeade the following day.

Sirius couldn’t see Y/N properly but he could tell that she was smiling; he imagined that her eyes were alight with excitement. He knew that she was completely comfortable now she was up in the air. The game was very exciting, even to begin with, in the first few minutes James scored an amazing goal.

Lily was so happy as she screamed, “that’s my boyfriend!” Sirius just knew that she would be rewarding James for that later on.

Halfway through the game, the crowd gasped in shock as a Slytherin beater aimed a bludger at a Gryffindor chaser, causing him to drop the Quaffle. The Gryffindor’s nose exploded but he soldiered on, refusing to let James call time out. Y/N was certainly pulling out the impressive moves as she looped and swerved, in search of the snitch. Sirius hated to think it but Y/N had her work cut out for her, Regulus was also an excellent seeker.

The young man gasped his heart in his mouth as Regulus and Y/N very nearly collided in the air, he shouted out his admiration, feeling extremely proud when Y/N expertly swerved to avoid Regulus. It was a very close match, Slytherin was leading by fifty points, Sirius was silently praying for Y/N to catch the snitch soon.

After ten more extremely tense minutes, Y/N’s nimble fingers closed around the tiny struggling ball. Sirius whooped and cheered along with Remus and Peter when he realised that Gryffindor had won while Lily sobbed on his shoulder. He looked up and grinned when he saw James and Y/N celebrating with their team, Y/N looked so young and beautiful as she hugged James. Sirius knew that she would always stay that way, for as long as she lived.

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

@approved-by-dentists @thefuturelawyer @a-miserable-hufflepunk @firelordmillie @seriouslysiriuss @sleep-i-ness @play-morezeppelin​ @pregnant-piggy @sleepingalaska @smiithys @blisfvll​ @rexorangecouny​

[ahatintimestorybook]

A Royal Problem Epilogue

Here it is! The last chapter!!!

Enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the years passed, Subcon started to slowly thrive as a living village again. Houses were back up, and some people or birds have been living in the newly developed town. The snow leading to the manor has melted and flowers and grass have started to grow. However, due to their past with the manor, Snatcher and Vanessa decided it was best not to live in the manor. Instead living in a new home, which was Snatcher’s tree now made to be more livelier and bigger for the two of them to live.

As for the manor, it turned into the home for Mu. Hat Kid decided to park her ship next to the manor and turned it into her own house, but she did travel with it when her planet needed her. Though as the years went on, Hat Kid started to come to Subcon less and less; she had missions to do, a boyfriend, who she soon married, and started to have a family of her own.

It has now been 15 years and Snatcher and Vanessa went over to the manor to see Mu before she left on her own journey. “Hello.” Snatcher spoke up. Mu paused in packing and smiled to see Snatcher and Vanessa outside her door.

Mu looked different the past 15 years, her hair was shorter, she still kept her mustache and wore a red dress with gold and purple patterns on it.

“Hey.” Mu replied.

Snatcher and Vanessa came in, and the two were wearing the capes Mu gave them during their visit to Mafia Town. “Could we come in?” Snatcher asked. Mu nodded and the two ghosts came in to see a backpack filled with important stuff for her journey. “You seemed prepared.” He chuckled.

Mu chuckled back. “Yeah.” She replied. The mustached lady looked down as she rubbed her arm.

“Are you okay?” Vanessa asked.

The mustached lady looked up at the ghost, giving them a tearful smile before giving them a hug. “Thank you! For everything.” She tearfully said.

Snatcher and Vanessa were surprised and hugged the young lady back. “Mu, you and Hat did so much for us.” Vanessa started. “We should be thanking you for helping us rebuild Subcon.”

“And, for taking care of us during the whole Time Piece thing.” Snatcher added.

Mu chuckled as she let go of the ghost, and wiped the tears from her face. “Gosh,” She sniffled. “I shouldn’t be crying over this.” Snatcher and Vanessa chuckled over it. Once Mu wiped the tears off her face she smiled and grabbed her bag ready to go on her journey.

“You're not going to leave without saying goodbye to me. Aren’t ya Mu?” A voice asked. Mu, Vanessa and Snatcher looked up and saw it was Hat Kid, well, Hat Adult standing outside of the room.

Hat Adult wore a purple wool blazer with gold buttons and replaced her cape with a yellow scarf. She wore a more fancy purple hat rather than her purple top hat she always wore, and like Mu’s her hair was much shorter and tied into a ponytail.

Mu giggled and ran to her best friend giving her a hug. “You know I wasn’t.” Mu replied. The two girls shared a laugh as the two hugged each other for a while.

“What about us, Auntie Mu?” A young girl, Hat Adult’s daughter asked.

Mu let go of the hug and saw two young kids next to Hat Kid. The girl looked to be 5 years old and had long black hair, styled almost like Hat Adult’s when she was a child. Had Hat Adult’s bright blue eyes and wore a purple blouse with a dark purple skirt, neon yellow socks and black boots.

The other child was a 3-year old boy, who surprisingly looked like Snatcher when he was a Prince, only his hair was the same color as Hat Adult’s, had his mother’s blue eyes, and wore a red T-shirt with a star on it, brown shorts, and brown boots like his mother wore when she was a child.

During those 15 years, Hat Adult found love and got married and had two children. Her daughter was named Nessie, and her son was named Luka.

Mu giggled and hugged the two kids tight, which made them giggle. “You know I wouldn’t forget you two, kiddos.” She told them. Mu let go of the two kiddos and grabbed her bag ready to go on her trip. “Take good care of your mom, Snatcher and Vanessa, okay?”

“Promise!” Nessie replied with a beaming smile. Mu smiled and ruffled the young girl’s head. “Hey!” She laughed.

Mu smirked, before chuckling herself. She then kneeled down to Luka, who looked nervous, and gave him a warm smile. “You’ll come back. Wight?” Luka asked, scared he wouldn’t see his favorite auntie again.

Mu ruffled his head gently. “I promise I will. In fact I’ll get you guys gifts when I’ll be back.” She promised. Hat Adult’s two kid’s eyes widen in amazement knowing they’ll be getting gifts soon.

Hat Adult looked at her best friend. “Just don’t go overboard like you did for Nessie’s birthday.” She begged.

“I won’t.” Mu told her, though the wink she gave to the kids was enough to tell them she’ll be giving them a ton of gifts, but not too much. The kids giggled, as Hat Adult rolled her eyes knowing Mu hasn’t changed even as an adult. Mu gave a soft chuckle before grabbing her bag and, giving one more look at her friends before leaving the manor to go on her trip.

Once she was gone, the Adult was able to sigh and look at her ghostly BFF’s. “I hope she doesn’t put herself into trouble like before.”

Snatcher and Vanessa laughed, agreeing with her. “Relax, kiddo.” Snatcher replied, still calling Hat that nickname even though she’s no longer a kid. “She’s grown up just enough that she’ll never fall back on her old habits.”

Hat Adult gave another sigh and smiled knowing Snatcher was right. Soon Hat Adult heard a beep coming from her phone. She answered, “hello?” She then smiled hearing who it was on the other end. “Hi Bow!” No one could hear what Bow was telling Hat on the other end of the phone, but seeing Hat’s disappointed expression knew that it wasn’t good. “Right now? Okay.” Then she hung up and was silent for a bit.

Snatcher and Vanessa looked at one another before looking at Hat Adult. Before they could ask what’s wrong. Hat Adult spoke up. “It looks like I’ll be traveling myself.”

“What?!” Nessie shouted. “Why?” She asked, sounding disappointed at her mother.

“My best friend Bow, another aunt of yours, has gotten into some trouble on the planet herself with her student.” She explained. Hat Adult then chuckled, “it’s a bit of deja vu if you ask me.”

Snatcher chuckled seeing that a friend of Hat got themselves into the same situation as her as a kid. “Well, good luck kiddo.” He told her.

“Thanks.” Hat Adult replied. She then saw her daughter, mad and disappointed that her mother was leaving on a trip. “Oh Nessie, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be back as soon as possible.” She promised, but Nessie wasn’t having any of it. Then with her signature smug on her face, she told her daughter something that would cheer her daughter up. “You know, Snatcher and Vanessa will take care of you and your brother.”

Nessie, Vanessa and Snatcher’s eyes widened when Hat Adult said those words. “Really!?” Nessie asked, a smile appearing on her face.

“Really?” Vanessa and Snatcher repeated, knowing Hat Adult was dropping this on them out of the blue.

Hat Adult nodded. “Really.” She told her. “Plus I won’t be long like Mu, it will be just a few weeks.”

“If your mother decides not to put herself in danger again.” Snatcher whispered to Hat Adult’s kids, which made them giggle.

“Snatcher! I know mommy went on many adventures, and that was brave and kicked a-” Nessie was cut off when Snatcher covered her mouth not wanting her to say a bad word in front of her mother. Hat Adult replied with a glare towards Snatcher knowing it was him or Mu who taught her daughter to speak that fowl language. Snatcher gave a nervous chuckle, which earned him an eye roll from Vanessa and Hat Adult.

Hat Adult then felt her son hug her leg tightly and heard him let out a sniffle. “Mommy, could I come with you?” Luka asked, his eyes being big as saucers as tears flowed like waterfalls.

Hat Adult sighed as she picked up her son, “Sorry Luka, remember when you and your sister are 9-years old you can go on journeys with me.” She told him. Luka sniffled and started to cry as he hugged his mother tight. Hat Adult soothed her son as she rubbed his back, hoping to calm him down. Luka cried, and showed no signs of stopping.

Vanessa went over to the two and got close to Luka. The young boy paused his crying as he watched Vanessa use her ice powers and made Luka a small snow figure just for him. Wiping away the tears from his eyes he held onto the small ice figure, which calmed him down.

“I promise I’d make you an ice figure like I made for Nessie.” Vanessa told him. Luka slowly started to smile, and looked at his mother. Hat Adult nodded and slowly put her son down.

Nessie put a hand on her little brother’s shoulder, and Hat Adult faced Nessie again. “Take care of your little brother, okay?”

“I will.” Nessie replied. Hat Adult smiled and hugged her daughter.

“Promise me you two can keep them safe?” Hat Adult begged as she looked up at Snatcher and Vanessa.

Snatcher gave a soft smile, and put his hands on Hat Adult’s shoulders. “Kiddo, you took care of us,” He started, “and we took care of you and Mu. We can handle taking care of your kids.”

Hat Adult smiled and hugged Snatcher and Vanessa tight. “Thank you.” She replied. “I know in your care, they’ll be okay.” Snatcher and Vanessa let go of Hat Adult as she stepped away from her kids and friends. “Well, see ya! And good luck!”

With that, Hat Adult teleported to her ship and went off.

Thank you guys so much for this journey of A Royal Problem!!

If you guys are going to stick around for the alternate endings, that’s great!! I’ll be seeing you again soon once I get it up. If you guys aren’t that’s fine too, I’m just glad you guys enjoyed ARP!!!

I’ll be now shifting focus to Eclipse, Ebb and Flow, and Cat-Tastrophe for the time being. However, I got tons of ideas for more AHIT fanfics coming your way! One being a bit “magical” and the other an “new adventure”! So stay tuned for that!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day ^^

[chocolatemillkk]

Party (JS)

I put the final bottle of champagne behind the mini bar and adjust the cocktail bowl slightly to the left. I look around the living room, the grand Christmas tree was still up as it usually was until after New Year’s. The whole place was covered in string lights, outlining the furniture and hanging from the ceiling. This was the famous New Year’s Eve party my parents have been throwing since before I was even born and this year was the last one I’d be attending for a while, I realise sadly. This time next year I would be living in LA, in my first year of university and my parents planned to come down for Christmas and be back here for New Year’s. I wouldn’t come along. I always looked forward to this, guess I’d have to savour it the best I could.

Both my mom and dad were only children which meant growing up they made a lot of friends along the way and each year our parties got a little bit bigger, more and more families coming together for their New Year’s eve party. I always looked forward to two though, the Michaels and the Suggs.

“Are you done daydreaming?” My sister comes up from behind me. “Because there should be appetizers that need rearranging or something according to mom.”

“I’m on it,” I say mock-seriously. My mom really went all out with the food and my sister and I always teased her about it. My sister, Liz, had started uni this year but luckily she was only in London. A lot of our friends her age weren’t though, so we were missing a lot of people this year. But at least Joe would be around, I think. And Zoe.

“Put these near the piano,” my mom hands me a plate as I make my way to the kitchen. “Don’t drop them!” I pretend to struggle under the tray which earns me a stern look. “You should get ready,” my mom reminds me. “There’s only an hour before guests start coming!”

I run up to my room after gently placing the tray where my mom wanted it and put on the dress I had bought for the occasion. It was deep green satin with a plunging neckline and a leg slit that went up to my hips—a shorter skirt lay underneath so I wasn’t flashing the whole party. I usually wasn’t this risky but I figured the occasion called for it. The sleeves are almost bell-like, and I do a twirl before the mirror, excited to see how people liked it.

Who was I kidding, I wanted Joe to see me in it.

It was silly, there was half a year before I was leaving this place, but more than half my life that I’d been crushing on Joe Sugg. Sometimes, I thought he knew how I felt, I thought I was quite obvious as a kid. For a second, I thought maybe the feeling was mutual. But after truth or dare in the seventh grade, I’d tried my hardest to hide whatever feelings I had for him. I wondered if he’d noticed.

“Truth or Dare,” Olivia asks my sister, Olivia Michaels was our neighbour growing up and the one who introduced my sister and I to the world of beer and rock and roll. My sister and I were good friends with her and her younger brother Felix.

My sister choses dare and Olivia has her eat one of the gross drink concoctions we made earlier. A few rounds later, my sisters asks me.

“Dare,” I say, feeling brave.

“I dare you to kiss either Joe or Felix,” my sister says smugly.

“What? I-“

“It’s a dare!” Zoe laughs and I look at Felix, he was a couple years younger than me-he was a child...and Joe was my huge crush. There was no way I was going to have my first kiss with him like this; with popcorn in my teeth and my lips stained with popsicles.

“Unless you’d like to kiss them both,” my sister teases.

Not wanting any more pressure, I lean over and peck Felix on the lips. I can’t help but sneak a glance at Joe as I go back to my seat and everyone laughs at Felix’s flushing cheeks. But he looks uninterested.

A few rounds later, Felix asks Joe and Joe picks Truth.

“Who would you date from this circle?” Felix asks. My heart plummets into my stomach. Joe looks around, avoiding my eyes and that makes my heart race faster. He had to know how much I would die to date him. To call him anything more than my best friend.

“Liz,” Joe says my sister’s name and I felt sick. Of course he liked her better than me, she was smarter and prettier than me. I was just his best friend.

“Aw you’re cute,” my sister pinches Joe’s cheeks and his sister joins in. I excuse myself but I didn’t think anyone even noticed.

A knock at my door reminds me there was a party about to go down, or already going down, I realise as I hear voices already. “How long are you going to take? Mom wants you downstairs to greet everyone!” Liz calls through the door.

“I’ll be a minute!” I say. I take my new christmas present-an eyeshadow kit my mom had given, and the lipstick my sister gave after I used most of hers, and put on my makeup, feeling like a grown up already. So much was changing and I was buzzing with excitement.

I skip downstairs and greet everyone the way I usually did every year. This year everyone asks about school, I tell them my LA plan and they wish me luck. Over and over. Until Joe walks in with a bottle of something in his hand and I run to him, nearly knocking him down as I throw my arms around him. He smelled like the cologne he reserved for special occasions, and the soap he always used. I could never tire of it, of him.

He was as handsome as ever, a clean white button up tucked into black trousers. He’d cut his hair recently but I sort of liked the way he styled it, the soft layers looked bouncy.

“You look handsome! Where’s Zoe?” I ask.

“Food poisoning,” he hands me the bottle and I take it from him, stepping a bit back so he could see my outfit but he continues on without comment. “Mum’s stayed home with her, the bottle’s from her.”

“Duh, as if you could afford this,” I tease, pretending like my heart wasn’t just stabbed by his nonchalance. He follows me in as I sneak the bottle past my mom and hide it in the kitchen, it was a tradition for us kids to get drunk on our own stash we steal throughout the night.

“Where’s everyone else?” Joe asks. “Your sister?”

I ignore the ache I get in my chest, “Oh doing her rounds probably. Pretending she’s an intellectual because she’s done one semester at uni.”

Joe laughs and I love the sound, especially when he laughs at a joke I make.

“You-“

“Y/N! There you are!” Felix and Olivia pop in, interrupting Joe, and I give them both hugs. Olivia had brought her boyfriend this year so we get introductions and a quick catch-up before Olivia goes to find Liz and I’m left with Felix and Joe. Felix had grown to be surprisingly handsome, in a nerd chic sort of way. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was younger than me, I could have even considered dating him.

“So Y/N you look really amazing tonight,” Felix says.

“Aw thank you,” I say. “You look quite chic tonight too, is that suspenders you’re wearing under your jacket?” I tease Felix until he’s pink in the face before I turn to Joe who looks bored. I loop my arm through his, “Want to get something to eat? I’m craving some shortbread cookies.”

“Yeah. If we’re having our own party later on we don’t want a repeat of ‘09,” Joe jokes. That was the first year we had all snuck a bottle of wine from the party and drank it on an empty stomach. None of us had a good time.

“Don’t remind me,” I shudder before I call behind me. “Felix you coming?”

Joe stiffens beside me but we walk on.

•••

After a dozen devilled eggs and shrimp cocktails, I lose everyone to the crowd and find myself alone near the stairs. I watch the crowd and bask in the togetherness the holidays brought on, I would miss this a lot. I almost didn’t want to go when I was in moments like these, but I knew what I wanted from life and I knew I couldn’t stay in dreary UK for it.

As I look around with the room so full of lights, the corners of my vision suddenly warp and distort into a blurry mass. I blink a few times but it remains. This was so not happening.

I sit myself on the step and close my eyes, placing my head on my knees but as I do that, the nause creeps in. This was getting serious. Perfect.

I go up to my bedroom quickly and close the blinds, shutting the room in darkness. I unzip the side of my dress to give my room to breathe and lay down.

Of course I had to get a migraine the day of new year’s eve. My last party for a while. I groan and turn to the side, blindly groping for any pill bottle, not wanting to risk turning on my phone light.

I lay in the dark, I don’t know how long. Time passed slowly in the dark, the only thing I could hear is the muffled sound of the party downstairs. My phone vibrates a few times but I don’t dare look at it. I wanted to nip this migraine before it could come full force. I couldn’t believe this was how my year was going to end, I think. And without meaning to, the tears leak out from my eyes. Stupid migraines and stupid Joe Sugg! He hadn’t even noticed what I was wearing, he didn’t even care. He fancied Liz more than I and I was still crushing on him like an idiot. I wasted my high school years waiting for him. And now I was going to graduate soon, with no history of a relationship and no...

A soft knock interrupts my pity party. I wait again as the knock sounds, just to make sure I wasn’t hearing it.

“Y/N,” it was Joe.

I swipe at my face, pulling my blanket over my face. “I’m here,” I say. “You can come in.”

I hear the door creak open, the noise from downstairs flooding through before the closed door muffles it again.

“Migraine?” Joe asks. We’d been friends long enough that he knew exactly what was going down. I sense him standing at the edge of my bed, the room still in darkness.

“Yeah,” I inch the blanket off my face. It’s not like he could see my makeup streaks in the dark. “Great timing right?”

“Can I do anything?” Joe asks. God, I scoff, I thought I could just turn my feelings off for him but him just asking that brings them back full force. “Maybe some water...”

“I’ve got water,” I say. I sense him shifting around the room.

“Didn’t you used to have those ice packs?” Joe knows his way around my room, he often came over when we did homework, or in the summer before we would go out with our other friends. He locates where I kept the freeze packs and he cracks them, walking towards my bed and sitting on my sheets. “Here.”

He places one on my neck and I flinch at the cold.

“Sorry,” he mumbles before putting it back on.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, the cold already numbing the throbbing in my neck. “Thanks Joe.”

“It’s nothing,” Joe whispers back. I take the pack from where his hands hold it and hold it myself as I gently turn in bed, the little light streaming in outlines his sitting figure.

“You don’t have to stay here,” I let him know. “Go back to the party.”

“It’s no fun if you’re not there,” Joe says. He slowly inches himself down beside me and the smell of him invades my nose. Oh no.

“Joe your cologne-“ I say and he quickly gets up.

“Oh shit right,” Joe stands and I see the shape of him pace away from the bed. “Uh, I can go home and change-“

“Oh my god,” I let out a laugh and cut it short as my head throbs. “You’ve left so many shirts here when we go swimming in the summer. Just put one on if you want to stay here so bad.”

“I’m just here to avoid everyone asking what my plans after school are,” he jokes. “Are they in the bottom drawer?”

“Yeah,” I respond. “Tell them you’re still figuring it out.”

“Everyone here has kids who are doctors or some shit,” I can hear the Joe changing and I try to keep the inappropriate thoughts at bay. “That’s not an acceptable answer.”

“Who cares what they think though,” I say. Joe joins me back in bed, laying down to stare at the ceiling as I look at his profile, barely illuminated by the light peaking through my blinds.

“Sometimes I do,” he says quietly.

I find his hand and squeeze it. He squeezes back and then turns to me. “So are you going to tell me why you were crying before I came in?”

“I was not crying,” I lie.

“You so were.”

“Was not.”

“Was too,” fingers graze my jaw and I’m busted. “Your face is still wet.”

“Fine,” I sigh. “I was just upset I was missing the party.”

“And?”

“I dunno, it’s my last party for a while!”

“Oh yeah,” Joe quiets down. A moment passes. Then another. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“We still have like 7 months together, don’t cry for me just yet.”

“You’re the one that was crying,” Joe shoots back.

“Shut up!” I joke. “Can’t you let me win? I have a migraine!”

“How is it?” Concern creeps back into his voice.

“The usual, I just have to tone down my senses. It’ll get better.”

Joe’s hand moves up to my face and cups it, my heart fluttering, the blood rushing to my face and joining the dance my migraine was putting on in my head.

His hand creeps up into my hair and suddenly his hand is plucking out the pins from my hair, and putting it on my bedside. Of course he was just being helpful while I was getting all bothered. “Do you want to get into something more comfortable?” He asks. I try to ignore the way I felt with his body hovering over mine in the dark but my mind blanks for a moment. “Y/N?”

“Oh I have every intention to go back to the party later,” I say. “This dress stays on.”

“It’s a great dress,” Joe says.

“It is isn’t it,” I say, noticing how uncomfortable Joe was getting. He actually noticed. Why didn’t he say anything earlier?

“I mean,” he clears his throat. “You looked...beautiful.”

I pause, pure joy rushing through me. Joe noticed me, he said I was beautiful. And oh god, all these things happening in my body were not helping my migraine. But I wasn’t about to tell Joe that.

“Thank you,” I say softly, too afraid to break the moment.

“It’s nothing new though,” he says just as softly. “You always look beautiful.”

I look at him, squint in the dark to try to read his face but it’s hard to. Was he saying this because I was having a shitty time or did he actually mean it?

“Not as beautiful as Liz though,” I deflect, deciding he was just taking pity on me. “She’s the one with the looks in the family.”

There’s a deafening silence around us, I can hear my heart beating in it. He wasn’t denying it, I want to cry.

“She is...beautiful sure, but you’re something different Y/N. You bloody take my breath away every time I see you.”

I want to cry for other reasons now. Was this really happening?

“Sorry,” Joe interprets my silence as rejection and begins sitting up to go. “The dark’s just made me stupid, I said way too much and-

“Joe,” I try to cut through.

“You obviously just, you need to rest and I’m-“

“Joe Sugg,” I say again and grab his hand. “Lay back down you big idiot, your blabbering is making my head pulse.”

“Right,” Joe lays back down but I can hear his quick breathing. I was glad to know he was just as nervous. I still have hold of his hand and I place it around my waist, inching closer to him.

“When?” I have to ask.

“Do you remember when we had our second friendiversary?” He asks. I did. We met when we were both 7 after our parents had set up a play date and we got along so well we knew we would be friends instantly. We’d spit on our hands and shaken them, declaring that day our friend anniversary, and we’d celebrated most years since. “You had your parents drop you off on your way home from your nana’s because it was our friendiversary and we didn’t see each other all summer. And your nana gave you cookies for the ride home, and you saved me the peanut butter ones? I don’t know, when you came in that day I just took a look at you and I had butterflies in my stomach. You were there ever since school let out and I’d missed playing with you for so long. I think I realised I missed you more than just a friend that summer. And when I saw you-“

“I actually remember.” I join. “Because you had just stared at me with your mouth open. And I just put the cookies in your open mouth. I was angry I thought you were looking at me like that because Liz had put gum in my hair a week before and my nana had to cut a lot off.”

“Yeah,” Joe chuckles. “I remember that too.”

“And since then?”

“Yeah,” Joe’s hand curls around my waist.

“What about the seventh grade? Truth or dare?”

“You bloody kissed Felix!” Joe exclaims.

“I...you picked my sister because I kissed Felix? He was like 10!”

“I was stupid.”

“Was? If I was feeling better I would be slapping you right now.”

“Good thing you’re not,” Joe tugs me closer. Our faces are inches apart, and I want to lean over and just kiss him so bad.

“What’s taken you so long,” I whisper, my fingers resting on his face.

“Scared I would ruin our friendship. You’re so much better than me, I thought you would laugh if I told you.”

“You are so ridic-“

“Shh,” Joe shushes me. “Do you hear that?”

I quiet down and listen as the party downstairs begins counting down to New Year’s. Suddenly my hands are clammy, this was it. I was going to kiss Joe Sugg once and for all.

“5...4...3...” Joe whispers between us.

“2...” I get out before Joe closes the space and kisses me, his lips so soft, my head feeling like it would explode. And not just because of the migraine.

“Wow-“ Joe gets out before I go in for a second kiss, the cheering downstairs drowns out as I pull Joe closer to me, closer, finally the love of my life was in my arms.

We’re moving too quickly, a wave of nausea hits me and I pull away.

“Sorry was that too quick?” Joe panics.

“Head,” I say as I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Shit,” I feel him sitting up and hovering over me, probably looking for the ice pack because soon the cold feeling returns to my temples.

“Thank you,” I whisper. He places a kiss on my lips as I stay still, trying to ease my nause. I feel a kiss on my jaw, then my neck. “Do you have to go home?” I ask.

“Nope,” Joe shifts beside me, I feel him get under the blanket, and he pulls me close to him. He lays his hand gently over me and I settle in beside him. What a New Year’s.

•••

“Y/N!” My sister’s voice wakes me and my eyes fly open. She stands in my doorway with her jaw open and I realise she’s staring at the weight on my right side. Joe.

“What?” Joe mumbles, awakened by my sister barging in.

“Oh my god!” My sister squeals. “It’s happening!” She runs out my door. “It’s happening!” She yells out to whoever was awake. And if they weren’t awake, her commotion sure woke them.

“She’s crazy,” I mumble before turning to Joe, the evening rushing to catch me up. He’s still only half asleep. When I call his name, he only groans and pulls me closer to him, hiding his face into my neck. My heart flutters, it felt like we’d always been together like this.

I allow myself the small pleasure of running my hands up into his hair and he groans into my neck, lifting his face up to look at me. Suddenly he starts laughing.

“Way to make a girl feel confident,” I’m suddenly self conscious as I get up.

“You do realise you’re in yesterday’s outfit? Including your makeup?” Joe asks, his voice hoarse.

“Shit!” I run to my mirror and laugh at what I see. “I’ll be back!”

I grab a spare shirt and move to the bathroom where I clean up and brush my teeth. My skin looked awful having slept in makeup but the glow I felt from waking up next to Joe kills any issue I might have had with it.

When I get back to my room he’s already up, the bed is made, and he’s folding his clothes from yesterday.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” I say as I walk to him. Immediately he catches my hand and pulls me in.

“Your head?” He asks.

“Great. Yours?”

“Clear as day. Glad it listened to my heart this one time.”

A smile creeps onto my face as the realisation of what he said settles in but pulls me in and kisses it off.

“Happy new year Joe,” I whisper when we part, pulling him in for a tight hug.

“Happy new year Y/N,” Joe whispers back. “I think it’s going to be the best one yet.”

[bapydemonprincess]

Picrew used: https://picrew.me/image_maker/43383

A brief story below the cut that I was inspired to make up after making this! 

Amy only gave the young reaper Adam a big, welcoming smile for about.. two seconds, before his.. different appearance truly crashed through her basic senses, as well as his deeply upset and wavering mental state, that seemed so overwhelming at this point, the young demon was surprised he’d made it to her at all without.. collapsing in some way somewhere.

“Adam- Adam, what the hell happened??” Amy immediately demanded, rushing up closer and reaching out.

The young man’s hands shot up as well, but instead of using them to take her reaching hands, his pushed at hers, and them fumbled to pull up his soft sweater further as it carelessly kept slipping down one drooped shoulder.

The black sweater as well as his other black suit jacket were always a bit big on his slightly below average form, but he normally was capable of keeping them up, as his shoulders never really had drooped this far down before.

“It’s nothin’, it’s nothin’, luv. I- I’m-... I’ll get over it, awright? It’s-”

“What’re you saying?! Clearly it’s not nothing, Adam! You look like you’d just gotten caught in a storm and tossed about and--” 

Amy cut herself off, as once again her young demonic gaze finally noticed something.

Something very different!

“Your hair! You- It’s- Why’s that bit on the right missing, did you cut it or--”

“IT DON’ MATTER, AMY, I CAN’T BRING IT BACK, AWRIGHT?!”

The demon’s pupils shrank and her arms folded in, hands balled up tight up to her chin.

Amy hadn’t been yelled at like that in ages! Certainly not since about three years ago, when she’d been much more of a youngling than she was now, and irritating the hell out of her older sibling!

But.. to have Adam yell at her like this..

...While still that frustration and sadness grew within him.. his soul a whirlpool of negativity...

Amy Michaelis scowled then, and dove forward to grab up the young man’s face, in both hands, and glare with those livid pink eyes of hers.

“Clearly, Mr. Borders, it does matter if you’re physically broken by its absence at present.”

“Wha- N-No I’m no-” Adam tried to start, eyebrows scrunched up, but Amy’s little black nails pinched his skin firmly, shutting him up.

“You shut screamed in my face a second ago, did you not? Do you really think you can get away with that and have me let it go, huh??” Amy growled, a bit of fang showing as she spoke this time...

A hint of.. fear started to seep in through the boy’s other emotions, and he drooped once again, this time ignoring the sweater sleeve falling off his arm.

“Come on, let’s sit.” The president of Hell insisted, and still while gripping Adam’s jaw in one hand, turned slightly to start walking towards an awaiting bench in the garden of Phantomhive manor.

Once she sat, and the reaper sat at the same time, ( but carefully with his face still in her grip..) Amy released him and brushed off her black skirts firmly and briskly.

“Now, tell me what happened before you managed to make it here.” She demanded.

Adam.. slouched, but a hand reached up in a familiar way.. and ran up through.. shorter bangs and back through the rest of his hair.

“Some other young reapers I know, uh, all currently studying too and all that... ganged up on me...”

Amu blinked and her eyebrows went down.

“Ganged up on you? I.. beg your pardon?” There were still English phrases she.. still did not know. How fascinating... But she did assume what he meant was something bad, most likely.

“Yeah.. it-it’s a bit o’ a new thing. It means uh, they surrounded me and started well..” He untwined his fingers to spread them as he shrugged a little while still hunched in, elbows on his thighs.

“Bullyin’ me, I guess.”

“And they brought something to cut your hair with from the start..?” Amy interjected.

“Nah, not right away. They were goin’ on on how manly I wanted t’be but uh.. um.... how.. girly.. my.. hair looked. Accordin’ to them.”

Amy’s face had gone stone solid serious, her mouth not even twitching to a scowl or a smile.

“I do not understand..”

Adam sighed and his head drooped, but nodded with understanding.

“Yeah, I mean I figured a demon wouldn’t--”

“Why the hell is one hair style more one gendered than another?? Why does your hair’s appearance dictate a certain.. label??”

Adam groaned and covered his face.

The sadness and gloom was disappearing and.. overhearing Amy’s opinion on these common human things that Adam and others simply.. had known since.. forever was very.. 

It..

It was refreshing.

“I know. It.. it’s utter bollocks, really. I know it is. And- like- hair does grow back eventually so-”

“But the fact that they forced such a thing upon you, on your body, your hair. Things that you own, not them...”

Adam blinked, at hearing an inhuman growl rumble from the girl beside him, and quickly straightened, grabbing his slipping sweater sleeves on both sides, and pulled them up, and shot closer to her, hands up, in a way of instinctively trying to calm or soothe or.. something!

“It- it- It’s over now, Amy!! An’ that’s all they did really, they jus’ cut that bit an’ did nothin’ else!! C’mon!!”

Amy made a grunt, which certainly was a bit worrying, as it wasn’t just a typical noise of annoyance with air rushing out from her mouth or nostrils.

Smoke rushed out. Literally. From that tiny round nose on her face. And once again her lip curled to bare fangs..

“If only there was a safe way for me to cross over.. For me to appear before your fellow young reapers.. and show them how wrong it is to... TO TREAT ANOTHER FELLOW HUMAN AS IF THEY OWN YOUR BODY, NOT YOU!!! IT IS UTTERLY.. SELFISH!!”

Her clenched fists ignited into black flames at her shriek, and Adam had to pull back even if he didn’t want to..

“K.. Kindaaa glad you can’t, if’m bein’ honest, luv..” He hesitantly admitted.

Amy blinked, and then noticed her current predicament...

“HMPH,” The young demoness huffed, and the flamed vanished just as she’d crossed her arms.

“You may understand where they wronged you, but you are too soft, Adam.. Really, they deserve a punishment! Even other reapers could likely see that!”

“Ohh, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Adam agreed. Especially someone like.. Miss Sutcliff.. IF she ever finds out.. I mean she will see my hair an’ how it is right now and she might--

“Adam, what are you ruminating on now?” Amy prompted, lifting a brow.

“Oh, jus’ that.. I know one too many dangerous ladies..”

He smirked a bit though, this time, and actually.. felt it.

“Wh-what does that mean, Adam?? You- are you calling me dangerous?” 

She had a lilt to her voice, clearly showing she sensed too that the mood had turned, and possibly for good.

“Hmm, maybe. I said ladies, after all. As in more than one.”

The boy grinned.

“WHA- YOU- ADAM!!”

Adam cracked up, and quickly jumped off the bench, to run off in a random direction.

“Oh no, oh no, the demon’s gone awol!! I gotta get outta here~!” He cried in fake alarm to no one.

Amy cried out again in a mockery of outrage, standing up to promptly run after him.

“You are such a rude human, Mr. Borders! Honestly, I thought that reaper academy would at least teach you some manners by now!!”

“Pffft, what, manners towards demons? As if..”

“Well, then I’ll have to teach those sorts of things myself then, won’t I?! GET OVER HERE!!” The young President of Hell commanded, and continued to playful chase.

And yet relief flooded her thoroughly, at the change in her reaper boy’s mood.

Despite the current new and drastic appearance of his hair, and how it had been forced upon him, he was clearly going to survive..

And Amy would make certain to help keep his mind from it as long as she needed to, if that seemed to be the way to help.

Until it would grow back again.

Despite the small tragedy that it had been, it had still meant to be a way of weakening the former mortal boy.

But humans could survive so many things.. small and large...

It amazed Amy how brave her human, and others like him, could be.

[yikesharringrove]

I love your trans Stevie au so much! I was wondering were Stevie and billy already together when she came out or did they get together after?

I’m gonna write the big fic I have planned for mtf stevie, so I decided to explore something different than what my plan is for that one

modern

Under the cut for some very brief transphobia and a mention of self harm/vague intonations of suicide, Billy talks about his dad (nothing is graphic, but still thought I’d warn)

-

Billy figured he would be the talk of the damn town he stomped out the Camaro and into the school like he owned the place.

He thought everyone would stare at the vintage muscle car, thought girls would whisper behind their hands as he walked down the hall.

And as he looked across the parking lot, he got a taste of what he wanted, saw a few curious glances to his California plates.

But then a sleek black BMW pulled into the space next to his, a beautiful brunette girl getting out of the driver’s seat.

It was like a hush fell over the lot.

Everyone stared at her as she walked into the school, head held high, shoulders back.

Billy followed her into the school, watching her closely.

Her hands trembled as she opened her locker, carefully placing textbooks inside.

He wanted to know what her deal was.

He leaned against her locker.

“You new here, too?” She looked over at him, smiling weakly.

“In a way.” He held out his hand.

“Billy Hargrove.”

“Stevie Harrington.” He took her hand in his, made sure to smirk just so.

“You think you could help me find my first period? I just moved here, and didn’t manage to get a tour before the first day.” She flushed a little.

“Um, can I see your schedule?” She scanned over it.

“Oh man, you’ve got Andrews for English. She was a nightmare. I had her two years ago.” Billy furrowed his brows.

“I thought you were new-”

“Harrington’s a fucking tranny!” Stevie’s reaction was immediate.

The second the shout came from down the hall, she slammed her locker shut, shoving Billy’s schedule at him.

“Have a good first day.” She practically ran down the hall.

Billy looked back at the group of rowdy guys, all laughing as Stevie darted down the hall.

“Hey! What the fuck?” Billy stomped up to them, shoving the one that yelled against the lockers. “Don’t fucking say that!”

“Dude, that’s fucking Alex Harrington. He like, disappeared last year. He’s a fucking tra-”

Billy didn’t let him finish the sentence.

Punched him square in the nose.

“Don’t ever fucking using that word. You’re fucking disgusting.” He glared at each of the guys in turn. “If I fucking see, or hear, or get any kinda wind of y’all fucking with her, I’m gonna break all ‘a your noses.”

He smirked as they fucking cowered.

Yeah. Bow to your new fucking King.

-

He found Stevie back at her locker a few minutes into the lunch period.

He leaned on the lockers next to hers again.

“This place fucking sucks.” She gave him an odd look. “Apparently y’all have to eat in the cafeteria. At my old school, I used to eat out on the football field.”

“Yeah, we don’t really have a football field.” She closed her locker quietly. She was fidgeting with her hands.

“You don’t got a lucnh?”

“I, uh, I usually buy it. But I don’t really wanna, wanna face everyone in there.” Her voice was small, and she was avoiding eye contact.

“I could bring you something. Or stand in line with you, or something.” She looked up at him, biting the inside of her cheek.

“Is this a joke?”

“No?”

“Or like, like a prank?”

“No. I’m really offering.” He tried to keep his face open, wanted her to trust him.

“Um, I guess it would be okay if you stood with me.” They set off down the hall. “But you don’t have to sit with me, or anything.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” She huffed a laugh.

“Did you hear what Tommy yelled this morning?”

“Yeah, I did. Punched him out for it.” Stevie stopped in her tracks, whirling around to look incredulously at Billy.

“You what?”

“He shouldn’t’ve said that.”

“Billy, he wasn’t lying-”

“That’s not what I meant. He shouldn’t have used that specific word, and he shouldn’t’ve fucking outed you. It’s your choice if you want to be out or not.” Her eyes were even fucking bigger than usual as she looked at him.

“I mean, I don’t really have a choice in a town this size. Especially because, because everyone knew me before.”

“Still, it was fucked up. And that wasn’t okay.” They began walking again.

“Um, thank you, Billy. I was wondering who busted Tommy’s face. He’s gotta big mouth. Gets punched a lot.” Billy laughed, and was delighted to see Stevie give him a little half smile. 

The smile was gone when they reached the cafeteria.

But Billy stayed in line next to Stevie. She insisted on buying him a cookie, but he split it in half when they found a table in the back corner of the cafeteria, nudging part of it over to her.

She was tense all through lunch, waiting for something to happen.

Billy reached across the table, taking her hand.

“You’re really brave. You know that, right?” She bit her lip.

“I’m so fucking scared.”

“I know you are. And honestly, it makes sense you’re scared. But I’m here for you, and if anyone gets fresh, they can fucking catch these hands.” She laughed softly.

“Thank you. I really don’t think I could’ve made it today without you.” She took a shaky breath. “You know, I came out to my parents a few years ago. They were, it was bad. And I had to, you know stay in the closet. And at the end of last year, in like, Novemner I, I went through some stuff, and I just, I snapped. I tried to hurt myself. And I think it really opened my mom’s eyes that, that I wasn’t faking. So she talked my dad into letting me transition.” She was playing with her napkin.

“Thank you for telling me.” Billy squeezed her hand. “We moved here because my dad got arrested. And he wanted to come start fresh.”

“Do you, can I ask why he got arrested?”

“He broke my collarbone. Pushed me down the porch stairs. Our neighbors saw.”

“Billy, oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not really, but I just wanted you to know. I get the shitty parent thing.” She smiled at him.

“Would you, would you want to come over? After school?” Her cheeks were a little flushed.

“I’d love to.”

-

Stevie had neglected to tell him that she lived in a fucking mansion.

Billy stared at it as he parked behind her.

“When the fuck were you gonna tell me you were loaded?” She blushed.

“Um, I kinda forget you’re not from here. That you don’t already know all my business.”

She led him upstairs to her bedroom. It was immaculately clean, but so very plain.

“My mom was real serious about designing our whole house. She’s in the process of redoing my room right now. I mean, I didn’t really mind, but I think she’s trying to make amends, really show me she accepts me.” Billy sat down at her desk as she made a home for herself on the bed.

“That’s pretty cool of her.”

“Yeah. She’s trying. My dad still calls me Alex most days, though.”

“Do you mind if I ask you why you picked Stevie?”

“Um, Stevie Nicks, actually. I just really respect her and I always liked the name.”

“God, my mom loved Fleetwood Mac. She had all their albums on vinyl, and we’d listen to Tusk, and just like, scream it.”

“Your mom sounds nice.” Billy smiled tightly at her.

“She was.” Stevie’s eyes went wide.

“I’m sorry.” Billy shrugged.

“My stepmom’s not too bad. And my little sister’s a hoot. She’s such a little spitfire, you two would so get along.” He sat back in the desk chair, looking at the things on her desk.

There was a jar she had written on with gold sharpie. It had a few bills and was about half full of change. Curling handwriting spelled Pussy Fund. Billy snorted when he saw it. He held it up to her.

“Pussy Fund?” She laughed.

“I was gonna call it the Coochie Collection but that felt a little crass.”

“That felt crass?” She laughed again.

“My dad’s insurance covers hormones, but nothing else, really, so I’m saving up for confirmation surgery.” Billy dug through his pocket, found three wadded bills, slapping them through the little opening in the top of the jar. “Billy, wait, you don’t have to-”

“Oh, come on. It’s three bucks. You’re my only friend in this damn town. Gonna support the garbage outta you.” She beamed at him.

He phone chimed.

“Oh, hell yeah. It’s hormone o’clock.” She pulled a black bag out of her backpack. She rifled through it, loading a syringe. “Okay, I’ll be back.” She closed the bathroom door softly behind her.

He peaked at the contents of the back. She had a few pills, needles in sterile packaging, antiseptic wipes, sanitizer and latex gloves. Billy stood up to look at the little bottle of clear liquid, estrogen.

She smiled brightly when she came out of the bathroom.

“How long have you been on hormones?” She cleaned up her little bag.

“Um, since January 6th. So just about nine months now. I was just on blockers for a while, and then they introduced the estrogen. And I though giving myself shots was gonna be a big nightmare, but I actually kinda like it.”

“I think that makes sense. It’s helping you.”

“Well, and I feel like everything changed so fast, like looking at pictures from before, I look so different. It’s like my body was just waiting to catch up to my brain.”

“I think it was. Just needed a push in the right direction.”

“Plus, I was always kind of a pretty boy. Like, once I figured out how to do my makeup, how to soften some of the edges, it was pretty easy to really feminize my face.” She stood in front of him, showing her a picture on her phone. “That was from like, last October.”

It was a nice selfie, and she looked quite similar. In the image, Stevie’s hair was shorter, but still closer to her shoulders.

But Billy thinks there was a huge difference between the Stevie in the picture, and the Stevie right in front of him.

Her cheeks were fuller now, her eyes brighter. Her hair was long, bu it was also way thicker.

She just looked so much fucking happier.

“You look a lot happier, now.”

“I am. A lot happier.” She was quiet, swiping through a few more old photos.

“I’m happy for you.” Billy reached out for her, touching her waist softly. “Would you, would you want to go on a date sometime?”

She took a step back.

“Look, you can say no, and I’ll still happily be your friend, I just, I like you a lot, Stevie.

“I um, I don’t know.” She sat heavily on her bed. “Last year, I was dating this girl. We had been together for like, a few months, and I really, I really loved her. So I came out to her, and she, she called me a freak, and disgusting, and stuff.” She was hugging herself, looking the floor.

“Is that one of the things that made you snap?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. We don’t have to date, that’s okay, Stevie. Focus on yourself. I’m still your friend.”

“I think, I think I do want to date you. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, and I mean, you already know all my baggage. And I’ve known you for like, ten hours.”

“Don’t pressure yourself into something if you’re not ready to date.”

“It’s been almost a year, Billy. And I’ve spent a lot of time in therapy in that year.” She looked up at him, her eyes bright. “Yeah, I wanna go on a date with you.”

And then she did the cutest little wiggle, moving her hips like she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Friday night? Pick you up at eight?”

“Better make it seven. Things close early around here.”

“You honestly might be the only good thing about this fucking town.”

[vore-scientist]

An Honest Mistake

[Safe/soft GT vore, male pred & female prey + female observer. Fearplay with especially brave prey. Fantasy setting]

A Tale of the Mystic Woods

Proper Title: In Which a Young Knight Takes on a Quest That Was Not Meant For Her and Has Tea With an Old Friend

Content Warnings: Yonah gets a cut on his hand and uses it for intimidation purposes + interesting fearplay aspects since the prey is a proper noble knight and willing to “sacrifice” herself (obviously she lives. it just get a bit intense for her). To go into details here would be spoilers. Do not hesitate to privately message me if you feel you need me to elaborate! 

All characters are my OCs and they are all adults! 

[Special thanks to @nommy-thoughts for beta-reading!]

---

Nothing much had changed since she last set foot in the City of Luster but five years does make some difference. Everything seemed bigger and grander, but also a bit smaller. For Zelda had grown a lot, she almost was as tall as the horse she was leading; she could look it in the eyes at least, if she stood on her tiptoes. Most girls stop gaining height at around 16, but not her. She kept right on growing, up and out. Now she was 18 and finally slowing down. Height and brawn were good things, considering the reason she left home was to become a knight. 

Now she was back and had a lot of catching up to do. Knight School is one of those things that takes many years, and you’re not allowed much contact with the outside world. Knights are above gossip after all. All she knew was that Princess Ilana was going to be married in about two months. 

That was the main reason she was even Luster and not off adventuring. It was going to be a big party. And she had almost missed it. Or missed the RSVP date, since the Grand Master Knights kept the mail from the apprentices for 1 month unless it was an emergency. Again, the gossip thing. No distractions allowed. Thankfully, she made it to Journeyer and was given access to her mail a week early.

 The first thing Zelda opened was the most fancy and official of envelopes. Turned out to be a wedding invitation.

 Journeyer Knights got to go on Journeys and take on their first quests! And there were always minor quests being posted about in Luster, it was a veritable hub of job listings, quests, and fairytales. Zelda was sure to find one in no time. And perhaps involving someone else she knew. For she had grown up friends with the royals of Orr. Who knows what they’ve gotten up to in the last five years.

 Especially the Princess Sophia. That twerp of a Princess was always getting into some sort of trouble. Not scandal worthy, most of the time.

 As her thoughts turned to Sophia, the Knight passed by a particular bakery. The Taste of Victory. A popular spot among leaving and returning questers. A memory burst into her mind, and she tied up her horse on a lamppost and headed inside.

 It smelled exactly like how she remembered. Like honey, spices, and heaven. It was nearing noon and the savory scents of meat filled pastries came from the back, though the sweet cakes and confections that surrounded the walls were much stronger. The two, sweet and savory, did not conflict, rather they danced into her nose.

 “Now there’s a face I haven’t seen in a long time. All grown up! I barely recognized you! Unless you’re not Zelda Barzilay.”

 The Journeyer Baker hadn’t changed a bit; they barely looked older. The same long blonde hair and green-grey eyes, a pudgy face and body to go with it. Though… they must be a Master by now.

 “Or is it Sir Zelda now?”

 Zelda ran her hands through her thick but two inch long hair as she walked up to the counter, “It is indeed, hence the hair. All trainees must keep it short. However, I’m growing it out again. I expect you are now Master Aloni?”

 Aloni beamed, “I’m running the whole shebang now! I have my own Apprentice, but they’re out on deliveries. I don’t miss that job but I do miss the people.”

 “Do you have any koftashen?”

 “Now, that’s also a name I haven’t heard in a while,” Aloni sounded sorry, but there was a hint of cheekiness in their voice.

 Zelda’s face fell. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it would have been a nice surprise.

 “But that doesn’t mean I can’t make one! It’s not like we don’t have the pastry dough. Just that particular combo was never that popular, it was just-”

 “Sophia and I’s favorite.”

 “Sophia was pretty much the only reason we stocked it. Not wise to discontinue a Royal’s favorite, even if her preference didn’t start a trend.” Unlike some items, like the special maamoul that became Prince Daniel’s favorite. Daniel was a trendsetter and they couldn't stock the product fast enough. 

Many knights are airheads, just minor nobles or lucky commoners who got picked to train as heroes. So most didn’t think about much beyond honor and fighting. Puzzle solving was for clever folk like wizards. Zelda wasn’t exactly a genius, but she started to connect the dots, and worry filled her stomach.

 “Wait- Did something happen to Sophia?”

 Aloni looked a bit surprised then recovered, “Right, you wouldn't have heard, though it wasn’t exactly huge news. Kinda weird now that I think about it. There was no big hullabaloo or anything! Just kinda got around. I only heard by eavesdropping on, - uh, thanks to gossiping customers. Glad I did; I had to throw out a lot of stale kofts. I mean, It would have been nice to get a heads up-”

 “What happened!”

 “Calm down, she was just kidnapped!- Hey watch it!”

CRASH

Zelda had slammed a fist on the counter and a glass container of cookies fell to the floor.

 “Just kidnapped!”

 “Yeah, by an evil witch or something.”

 “What!? When did this happen?”

 “I- I don’t know, a while ago?”

 “And she’s not been rescued!?”

 Aloni’s placidity made Zelda furious. And as they shook their head, Zelda grew worried. An unknown number of months and no rescue. Why had no one told her? Gossip or not, the kidnapping of her childhood friend was a big deal. There was no telling what state she was in now.

 “Hey why don’t you give it a go!”

 Zelda stopped fuming. “Wha-”

 “She probably hasn’t been rescued because the right person hasn’t made the attempt! You two were great friends, so maybe it’s your fate!”

 A random person had walked into the store but slowly backed out, hanging around outside. Best not to get involved with knights. You tend to get roped into adventures where anyone but the knight is expendable. After centuries of this, the populace had managed to catch on. Though there are still those reckless enough and foolish enough to get caught up in the excitement.

 “I-” Zelda brightened, “It must be! Of course! My friend: kidnapped while I was in school! And then it’s the first thing I learn of when I return home to visit her. If that’s not the start of my first fairytale I don’t know what is.”

 Then she paused.

 “Uh, you don’t happen to know where Sophia was kidnapped to, do you?”

 Aloni held out their hands, “Sorry Zelda, I’m not even sure she was kidnapped by a witch. But, I can whip up some koftashen to take with you!”

 “That would be great, and uh-” Zelda looked at the glass and cookies by her feet. “I’ll pay for this…”

 ---

 Since Zelda had paid for them she munched on the least messed up cookies that had not touched the floor and had no glass pieces in them as she continued towards the castle on the other side of town. Surely someone must know more details about Sophia’s kidnapping.

 “Sophia… the royal one? No, don't know a thing.”

 “Kidnapped you say?”

 “Good, it will keep her out of trouble.”

 “Sorry, I remember hearing about it maybe a year ago, but not who told me.”

 Seemed like either people didn’t know or knew as much as Aloni. Or that the troublemaker was finally being dealt with. People knew Sophia. The princess with an unfortunate reputation. Not that she had caused any undue damage in the city, but people talked about how much of a pain in the ass she was for her father. Not the best reputation. At least no one outright hated her.

 The common folk were clearly the wrong people to be asking. Someone closer to the inner workings of the kingdom. Ah, there was a Mage Guard.

 “Hey, you, Ranger fellow!” The ranger, who had been leaving a textile’s shop holding a lot of cloth didn’t startle (too well trained), but he raised a brow and nodded.

 “Yes, Sir?” as if he was not sure if what he was seeing was a Knight.

 “Sir Zelda Barzilay! A pleasant afternoon to you,” she gave him a shallow, respectful bow.

 The ranger sighed, adjusting his hold on his fabrics, “If we must talk, can we at least walk?”

 “Oh,” Zelda’s face grew hot, guess she was interrupting official business, “I can help you. Why don't you let my horse carry that?”

 The ranger’s attitude improved at the suggestion, though Nechesh’s suffered. She was already carrying all of Zelda’s stuff and was not a pack animal! But as a Knight’s Steed she was also steadfast and hardworking. She could handle a few pounds of fabric.

 “I am Master Ranger Nimrod, What did you want to talk about, Sir Zelda?”

 A Master Ranger? What was a Master Ranger doing errands for? Nevermind that, not her business.

 “I heard The Princess Sophia was kidnapped recently, and I hoped you might know something.”

 Ranger Nimrod stopped and looked Zelda up and down. He was shorter than her by a few inches, though his magical aura gave him a large presence. Rangers were known for being clever and perceptive. Was he sizing her up? Was that concern in his eyes? Could he tell she had only just become a journeyer, having earned the right to be called Sir only a few months ago? Would he refuse to tell her based on her inexperience?

 “I'm guessing you want to rescue her;  a bold task for such a fresh knight.”

 “She’s my friend!”

 That got her a shocked look.

 “Really now! That’s a bit different. The Princess Sophia was kidnapped by a mage and taken to his tower in the Mystic Woods.”

 Zelda stopped. And laughed.

 Of Course! Why hadn’t she thought of that. Stupid! Of course Ben would have hired a mage who lives in the Mystic Woods. That way he could be sure she was safe. Zelda didn’t know much about how being King of the Mystic Woods worked, but she knew he had some freaky connection, like he was part of the forest or it was part of him? Something like that. Magical bullshit wasn’t her speciality.

 And of COURSE she was in a tower. Sophia never cut her damn hair in all the years Zelda knew her. That was practically begging to be stuck in a tower.

 Finally she composed herself.

 “Then I, Sir Zelda Barzilay child of Sarai Barzilay, Knight Of Orr, shall rescue her!”

 She turned to the ranger, “Thank you!”

 A hand caught the back of her armor as she started to lead Nechesh away.

 “Not so fast, Young Knight. You said you would help me. Complete one quest first.”

 Right. Her cheeks red, she turned around, and followed the ranger.

 TO THE CASTLE!

 No no. She couldn’t go inside. Telling anyone else about her plans would make the expectations too high and she would fuck up somehow. But the ranger insisted she see this through. They left Nechesh in the front stable, each taking half the rolls of fabric. Trying to be inconspicuous, she passed into the main entrance.

 Where they were greeted by Princess Sasha.

 And Zelda nearly dropped her cargo.

 The princess’s loose wavy dark brown hair was practically glittering around their light brown face. And to wrap it all up, their honey brown eyes shone brightly. Their plump cheeks were almost flawless, though make-up was playing a part, and they were dressed in stunning greens and yellows.

 Had Sasha always been this lovely? 

 Certainly they had always been cute, but the last time Zelda has seen them was when they were both 13. They had been in the same year for their Transitionary Classes. Royals didn’t attend commoner school except for certain special classes between the ages of 12 and 14, when everyone in the kingdom undertakes their first apprenticeship and also a deep dive into their country’s history and culture. Immersing themselves in language and arts and dedicating themselves to an assigned task. And at the end was thrown a big celebration; for those who have now taken their first steps towards adulthood.

 Some people, like Zelda and Sasha, manage to finish their training in a year. Others took two or even three, but it doesn’t matter how long. 

There are parties held for those who complete their work at the end of the year. And when that included a royal, well, those begame legendary. For the capital city’s 13 year olds at least. Sasha’s party had been the most memorable night for Zelda’s 13 years of life. The princess had even danced with her.

 That’s when she resolved to save Sasha’s sister. She could not let this family down.

 “Ohmygods is that Zelda you’re so tall!” The princess rushed up and hugged Zelda as the knight’s thoughts and feelings processed. The princess, though her equal in age, came up to her chest. It couldn’t have been comfortable, she had armor on!

 “It is an honor to see you again Your Highness.”

 Sasha laughed, “I bet it is. That must be the materials for our dresses. Thank you Master Nimrod, I hope such a task wasn’t too easy for you.”

 It was a kind of silly mission for a high ranking ranger.

 “I guarded the fabric with my life, Highness.”

 He gave a small bow before leaving his load with a servant. Leaving Zelda alone with Sasha. And the servant.

 “Uh, I must be going too, I uh, have a quest.”

 There was a flash of disappointment in Sasha’s face.

 “But? You just got here,” they said. “You are still welcome in the castle you know! Don’t you need to rest up before your quest?”

 Spending a night at the castle was extremely tempting. But she had stayed at an inn outside town before gathering the courage to enter. Both she and Nechesh were well rested. However.

 “I could use a few supplies. A ration pack, if your rangers can spare one. My quest is taking me into the Mystic woods.”

 Sasha nodded.

 “And when I’m done I’m coming right back here! I promise. And! I’m going to the wedding. Carrying all this fabric has made me realize I don’t have an outfit!”

 Sasha took Zelda’s hand, “Please, I would hate myself if you didn’t use the royal seamstresses. You’ve been a friend to so many of us. And I’ll see you get that pack.”

 There was no way Zelda could just leave. Not now.

 “I, suppose I could stay for an hour or two, I only had cookies for lunch.”

 The princess beamed, “I haven’t even eaten yet! Come on.”

 And she was led away, after another servant took the rest of the fabric.

 —-

 Staying for the next hour had been a mistake. Now she didn’t want to leave, catching up with Sasha had been so much fun and she only wanted to keep talking. But she knew she had to. No one else could rescue the Princess Sophia. If no one had done so in several months, that must mean she was meant to do it. One of the princess’s best friends!

 Sasha saw her out of the castle, and Zelda put on her helmet before mounting Nechesh and setting her off at a slow trot back out of the city in the direction of the Mystic Woods.

 ---

 There was no point in asking where the tower was, at least not until in the forest, as unless the information is fresh, it’s not worth anything. The only person who could tell where anything is with any accuracy would be the King. But even if she could have asked King Ben before heading out, the location could shift before she made it to the border.

 So she just went straight in with no plan at all other than to question anyone she came across if they seemed friendly.

 While she didn’t regret taking extra time in the city it did mean she arrived in the forest as the sun was going down. Not really safe to sleep out in the open and thus priority changed from finding Sophia’s prison to finding a place to camp for the night. Anywhere would do.

 It would be a pity for the koftashen to go stale.

 As if the Mystic Woods shared her agency with regards to delivering fresh baked goods, the Knight and her Horse suddenly left the cover of the trees and found themselves on the edge of a clearing. A clearing filled with an orchard, a garden, and.

 A tower.

 But was it The Tower? Sleeping in one of the trees outside would be better than sleeping in some random evil mage’s tower.

 Zelda had to at least check it out.

 “Shhh” she dismounted and quieted Nechesh at the edge of the garden. Surely that wouldn’t shift away from the tower! And she crept forward.

 The proper thing to do would be to wait for the morning, or just any daytime hour. Wait for the mage to leave and then call out for Sophia to lower her hair.

 However, Zelda was not patient, and judging by the height of the tower, even Sophia’s hair couldn’t serve as a rope. Plus the pastries.

 “AHHHHHHGGH” the scream of a young woman broke the silence, accompanied by a terrible laughter.

 From a scream like that, Zelda was a bit surprised how sure she was that it was definitely Sophia. It was hard to tell the scream had been agony, or Terror, or excitement. Had she come at just the right moment!? What kind of torture was she enduring? Zelda couldn’t even imagine what a mage could invent.

 She ran to the tower intending to climb but to her dismay the thick and sturdy vines were full of thorns. This could only be scaled with care. As she climbed, the voices faded, but it didn’t sound like anyone had died. Just the sound had retreated as if Sophia and her captor had left the room at the top of the tower.

 At least Zelda hoped that was the case. 

Fuck! Climbing with armor on sucked a lot! At least it protected her from the thorns; she couldn’t feel them at all! She just had to watch out for her hands, which were unfortunately only adorned in leather.

 It took awhile but she made it up, and looked into a dimly lit workshop that definitely belonged to a mage. Staring into it hurt her brain, her eyes strained and a smidgen of nausea hit.

 She had to sit down and gain her strength back anyways. Good thing she did, for as she sat the perspective shifted. Her nausea went away but her heart sank and her blood went cold.

 For the workshop, which had been completely normal, was now over three times its original size. The drop from the windowsill to the floor? From 4 feet to 15. Impossible to jump down through making a lot of noise.

 And in her armor she would make a terrible racket. Not a good thing when dealing with a giant. For if the mage fit the workshop, he had to be massive. What was he? An overgrown troll? Giants she had seen, they were massive and combating them required special training and tools. Which she didn’t have. But this space wasn’t large enough for a proper giant.

 Not important. Sophia was here! She needed to be rescued.

 Carefully and silently, as the massive candle on the massive desk slowly melted, she took off her armor. Taking off armor doesn’t take as long as donning it, but it still took several minutes to do so without making a sound. Soon she was in under armor silks, though she kept her sword and helmet. And the satchel of koftashen.

 Without her clanking boots, she landed with a soft THUMP on the floor, and she ran for the trapdoor she had seen. There had to be a way to open it. There just had to! But there wasn’t. Why would a giant mage make it easy for his princess to run away by giving her a convenient door?

She circled it many times, searching for something. Anything. 

Aha! 

 A small crack. Actually a large one, but small for a giant door. A natural hole in the wood that had been rounded and sanded. She lowered herself cautiously. Holding onto the edge with her hands, she dangled above nothing, the drop farther than her feet could reach. It would be on faith that the drop was not a fatal distance.

 She let go.

 It was still a shock, but the fall was only a few feet. The first step on a giant staircase. The steps were each about 4ft in height, not fun to climb down but not dangerous.

 At the first landing, she had to stop. Holy hell, she was getting tired. If she didn’t find Sophia on this level, she would hide and sleep.

 It was quaint and peaceful. A picture perfect living room with a big armchair with a futon and matching couch. A full bookshelf with books both human and giant sized. A coffee table with a goblet of wine that had to have been left out hours ago. And a brick fireplace.

 Even though there were no windows on the outside of the tower, there were on the inside. And as the last embers of a fire merrily crackled, star and moon light shown in through what had to be magic windows.

 That armchair, even though it must have thick rough fabric, called to her to climb up and curl into a corner to sleep. No! She would search this floor and if she didn’t find the princess then she would find a real hiding spot, not pass out someplace in the open.

 Keeping to the walls that were cast in shadows because it was now officially night probably would have been the best course of action. Yet something inside her made her scurry between the furniture, crawl under the couch. Oh hey! A gold piece. Peek out from the feet of the armchair, and even climb up to get a sip of the long forgotten wine. Much of the alcohol had evaporated. It was also very very sweet.

 Get back to it!! Her brain screamed, and she scrambled back down.

 The living room led into two hallways, so she picked the left one. It seemed just as good as the right. Now she stayed close to the wall, and stepped with care. Slow going but safe.

 Was that a light up ahead? She flattened herself against the wall and held her breath. Footsteps soon reached her ears. Soft ones.

 Five years had not changed Sophia very much. Not like they had for Zelda. There was a big difference between 13 to 18 and 16 to 21. Sophia was exactly the same height as before, only her body’s proportions adjusted to her age, and her hair was even longer. The princess was holding a dim light in her hands, dressed in a nightgown, and was walking towards her! 

As she neared, Zelda saw the sleepiness in her face; the princess walked right by her, even as the light shone on Zelda’s person as she passed. Then, after walking a few more paces she froze. And walked backwards.

 Sophia’s sleepy visage was replaced by shock and then, joy? But not the joy of seeing an old friend. This was the face Sophia always wore when she was about to get into big trouble, and have fun doing it. Sophia opened her mouth.

 NO!

 Zelda pounced, putting the princess into a one armed hold, her other hand she pressed to Sophia’s mouth to keep her quiet. She did not want to deal with a giant mage if she didn’t have to. Sophia’s eyes got wide with fear and anger, and fought against the embrace.

 She was stronger than Zelda anticipated, and managed to move the hand, just enough to-

 YIPE!

 Sophia bit down hard, but Zelda only let out a small cry. Knights know how to remain steadfast under assault, though she was surprised. Plus she still had on leather gloves.

 “Let go of me!” Sophia hissed. She would not be rescued.

 “Sophia, it’s me!” Zelda stepped away and raised her visor, and Sophia held up the magelight.

 “No way, Zelda!?” Could it really be her friend? It had been so long. And she was so big now!

 “Shhhh!” Was Sophia crazy? They could not be found out.

 Sophia’s expression darkened even as the light grew brighter. This was her friend after all.

 “What are you doing here!?” she demanded, her voice mercifully low.

 Was she serious? Sophia was a captive princess, and Zelda was a knight! What else would she be doing?

 “Rescuing you, dummy!” Zelda whispered. Then remembered that Sophia was out and about. Perhaps whatever terror she just endured has inspired her? “Wait, are you escaping?”

 Sophia, who had taken a rather professional defensive stance, relaxed and stood up. Not that it made much difference. She looked a bit annoyed and disappointed.

 “No. Zelda, I don't want to be rescued.” She made sure her tone was low and serious; she had no patience for those who disrespect her wishes. And even if Zelda was her friend, things change, and going off to knight school could have turned her foolish.

 Zelda regretted showing her face, for it was surely as red as a tomato. She had not considered Sophia might be here by choice. That was known to happen. But even most royals who elect to be kidnapped did so just to get rescued. It was rare that they wanted to stay. Given that Sophia’s kidnapping hadn’t been a big deal back in Orr, it now made sense that it was because rescue was never the plan.

 “You’re sure? You’re not enchanted to say that?” Which was another possibility.

 Sophia rolled her eyes. She wished people would just believe her. “If I was, the spell wouldn’t let me tell you.”

 No. Such spells never did. It was very irritating. But she couldn’t leave now! She just got here and she wanted to talk to her friend. So she took the satchel and presented it to the princess. Sophia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 “I hope you’re not trying to trick me or-”

 “No! It’s-”

 Sophia held up a hand, “Actually, let’s continue talking somewhere else. Plus, I still need to pee.”

 Zelda gave her a questioning look.

 “I was heading to the bathroom, Zelda,” Sophia sneered, and continued walking. Zelda ran to catch up when she finished processing and returned the satchel to her back. Matching pace with the princess they walked side by side. Sophia was walking rather fast.

 “You’re not locked in a cage?”

 “Not locked up, no.”

 “So how long have you been here? No one back home could agree, some said a year, some said only a few months.”

 Hmmm. Sophia considered, “I think it’s almost 8 months now!” She had a smile on her face, “Time really flies huh! How long ago did you go off to be a knight?”

 “Five years- and I am a knight now!”

 “Congrats!” Sophia was very sincere. She was proud of her friend!

 They stopped talking when they made it to the stairs.

 “You have to climb?”

 “I used to, but recent installations have made it easier.” She didn’t go into detail. But a few months ago, when it was clear Sophia was here to stay, Yonah had installed accommodations befitting a human resident.

 Sophia walked to the right hand side of the staircase, with intent to go further down. As she stepped down a new staircase appeared! A small one, for smallfolk. That ran alongside the giant. Why hadn’t Zelda seen that before? Now that she thought about it, that had definitely not been there.

 It was only about a flight’s worth down of the small stairs that a massive door appeared on the dark stone wall. Again, out of nowhere. It was unlocked and slightly ajar, and they both slipped in.

 “How about you wait outside.” The bathroom was large but she still wanted privacy.

 “Right.” She returned to the hallway, but leaned on the door, worried it would vanish otherwise.

 What a long trek just to use the bathroom at night! What if it had been some sort of emergency? Zelda was inclined to ask once Sophia was finished but also felt like that was a kind of awkward question. Also she was curious about what the bathroom looked like. It must be big. Was there a tiny toilet for Sophia? Again, she decided not to ask, not right away.

 It did take a little while for Sophia to return, but she did.

 “Since I’m already up, how about some tea?”

 Tea would go great with the koftashen! So Zelda agreed.

 They continued down the stairs into a kitchen.

 A big kitchen.

 Sophia led her to the counter, and as Sophia reached up and touched something, a ladder appeared! They both climbed up and walked over to the large stove. There was a kettle, large and metal and well loved. But how was Sophia going to use it?

 From behind a jar Sophia dragged out a smaller stove! And a smaller tea kettle. This one was shiny and new.

 Sophia went to the large sink on the other side of the counter and pushed the faucet handle with all her strength. The water was too far to reach so she hopped into the sink and held the kettle underneath. She returned with very wet feet and the edge of her nightgown dripping.

 The water now heating up, Sophia climbed up to the cabinets. Zelda followed, and found before her boxes and jars of dried leaves and fruits and spices. The smells almost made her pass out. She pulled her shirt over her face, but her eyes still stung.

 “You sure you know-” Zelda knew that Sophia didn’t know how to cook. None of the royals except maybe Daniel and Rosalind, could cook.

 “I can manage.” She looked a bit worried, and sniffed each item carefully before choosing what was clearly a pre-made blend, and a few extras. Hopefully it was all tea.

 From one of the corners she retrieved a teapot. She blew the dust off of it and sneezed.

 “Do you even know how to use that?” Because the amount of dust made Zelda wonder if it had ever been used.

 “I- do…” Sophia didn’t say anything else and climbed back down to the countertop.

 The water was ready and Sophia put her mysterious tea mixture into the pot then added the hot water. It had to steep so she went to find some teacups. That’s when they both heard it.

 Footsteps. And Zelda knew they could only belong to one who was properly sized for the tower.

 “It had to be now?!” She looked at Zelda with a sympathetic face. Maybe she could spare Zelda the humiliation. At the very least she could try. But Yonah was usually in the mood for a treat, and was a major asshole.

 The footsteps grew louder and Zelda stood up, putting on her helmet and unsheathing her sword.

 “Now what’s going on here?” the grumbling voice came a few seconds before it’s owner.

 Not in a nightgown, but in his full regalia, the half-giant wizard filled the entrance, in the dim kitchen his eyes were like torches. Then he snapped his fingers and the room filled with light. The two women blinked their vision back to clarity as he approached. He had not done his hair, so it billowed behind him, making him look even larger. He had not shaved, so he looked more wild. His massive rectangular nerd glasses did nothing to make him look less intimidating.

 “A knight” Yonah growled, “Trying to make your escape, princess?”

 Zelda recovered her stance but Sophia just crossed her arms.

 “No, Yonah. Just making tea.”

 “A likely story!” He slammed a hand down on the counter and they both backed up to the wall. Sophia didn’t think he’d hurt them, but fuck he was really scary. Zelda moved in front of her. “What did this knight do to convince you?”

 “Stay away from her, you monster!”

 “No- Zelda don’t”

 Zelda probably didn’t know that Yonah was just playing. That behind that snarling face was a half-giant having way too much fun. Sophia knew it.

 “It doesn’t really matter,” Yonah withdrew his hand and crossed his arms. “She knows the punishment for escaping.”

 He was so quick that even Zelda couldn’t react in time. Yonah had each human in a fist. Sophia continued to glare at him. Zelda struggled.

 “Let us go you idiot,” Sophia yelled. “Zelda wasn’t rescuing me!”

 Yonah faltered for only a moment, breaking character. She knew the knight's name! That was different. And the room did smell of tea, though it was a bit off. Sophia normally called for him if a knight showed up, she didn’t string them along. Unless this was a new tactic so that he could get extra treats! No. Her face was hard. He came to the conclusion that she didn't want him to eat this one. 

Well, that wasn’t up to her.

 “You really shouldn’t have come, foolish knight.” He eyed Zelda with a look of horrible gratitude. “I told her, if she tried to run,” he looked back at Sophia with accusation in his eyes and licked his lips, “I would eat her.”

 Sophia knew the glare was because she wasn’t playing along. Well, it was clear he’d made up his mind. If she continued to spoil the moment he might really punish her. Extra chores or exercises. Ugh. He’d definitely eat her too. She didn’t mind that so much anymore, and even enjoyed it sometimes, but it was still annoying. Fine. She’d play. A little.

 She screamed.

 /Fuck!/ Zelda thought. /Is this why she refused to be rescued? Her captor was a person-eating monster who would hunt them down?/ And Sophia had somehow thought that having tea would be safe. That it wouldn’t look suspicious?/

 The giant brought Sophia closer to his mouth.

 “NO!” Zelda bellowed. 

 Somehow she’d managed to swing her arms at the proper angle to slash her sword across the back of Yonah’s hand. He yelled, waving his hand and letting go, Sophia yelped as he squeezed her. Zelda was flung onto the counter, but she rolled and was uninjured.

 “Release her! Or I’ll-”

 “Do what, fight me?” Yonah backed away, not out of fear. He looked like he wanted her to try.

 Zelda couldn’t leap at him from the counter anymore.

 “I don’t need two morsels tonight, you might be able to slip away before I’m finished with the princess,” he taunted, his eyes glowing. “If you’re fast enough”

 Sophia knew exactly what he was going for. He couldn’t activate her curse while being watched, it was super obvious, and he didn’t like to eat her without it. Also he had done this play before. Not exactly like this, but the same threat, the same promise, which was just bait. Either they took it or fled, and Yonah would eat her and then be a complete dumbass and eat the knight too, giving himself a stomach ache. Would Zelda run or?-

 “Save yourself Zelda, I’ll make sure it takes a while to choke me down!” she said, a little flatly. 

 Yonah gave her a sly smile. Sophia felt a bit bad for her friend. Not that bad however, messing with people was fun. So she struggled in Yonah’s grasp and spit at his face, which only hit his glasses.

 “Never!” Zelda yelled with practiced ferocity. “If you’re fine with one morsel, then why not me instead!”

 Yonah laughed, “I was planning to eat you both earlier, and I could easily catch you! Or did you fail to realize that I am not a mere half-giant, but a great and powerful wizard!?”

 Zelda panicked. She had of course realized, she knew he was a mage before knowing he was a half-giant. But wizard? She was fucked. He never planned to let her go in the first place, he was just playing with his food.

 “If you eat her, then the knights will stop coming!”

 “So?” Yonah huffed, “I don’t like knights,” he held up his bleeding hand, and then licked the blood. That was a jerk move even for him, it would make being eaten even more unpleasant! However, it did make him look much more menacing.

 “But, she attracts them, and-”

 The giant’s laughter cut her off, “You’d rather offer yourself up, and let other knights meet the same fate, than let her die?”

 “No!” Zelda growled, “Someone will rescue her, but that won’t happen if she’s dead!”

 There was a long moment of silence. It was really just like 5 seconds but to Zelda it was an eternity, as time slowed down. The giant could just eat them both and get on with his life unburdened. Then things sped up as the giant laughed.

 “Very well then.” He smiled wide, his teeth glistening with his own blood.

 “Drop the princess,” Zelda ordered, but the giant still smiled.

 “You drop your sword first.”

 “Yonah don’t you dare drop me!” Sophia hissed, but couldn’t know if he heard her.

 Zelda waivered, but then relaxed her stance. Hanging her head, she let go and the sword clattered next to her. When she looked up the wizard still held her friend.

 “Well!”

 “Im not stupid, young knight, you need to drop all your weapons, I can’t have you damaging my poor stomach, not when it’s so excited to meet you!”

 And indeed as he pat his generous middle it let out a low rumble. Zelda paled. She was going to meet her end inside this giant, and there was nothing she could do about it. She would be gone and it would be a long time before anyone figured out what had happened to her.

 She removed the short sword from her back and the knives on her calves. And also her satchel of pastries. Soohia would find them later, a final gift. When she looked up again everything was distorted. Great. Her first quest and she would go down not fighting but crying. Maybe she didn’t deserve to be a knight.

 “Very good.”

 The giant took a step forward and released Sophia, who ran to hug the now trembling Zelda.

 Sophia wanted to tell her it would be alright, but explaining would just be putting off the inevitable. Zelda probably wouldn’t even believe her. And she still wasn’t sure if Yonah would punish her for it. Maybe by eating Zelda for real. Just because Yonah couldn’t kill her, didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to kill knights. He was in fact very much allowed to kill knights who tried to rescue her.

 So as Zelda cried into her shoulders, Sophia cried too. Fake tears but very convincing.

 No words were exchanged. Yonah placed his hand palm up and Zelda, head high, stepped on to it. She fell on her butt as he lifted her up, but her expression did not change. She would show no fear. Not of him. Not of death.

 “I want your word, promise Sophia will not be punished, and not be harmed!”

 The giant nodded, “I swear by the mountain gods of my kin.”

 At least most of the blood was gone, as he smiled wider and wider as she drew nearer his mouth. The fangs still had a red tinge to them and the smell lingered. It being from his own blood, that she had drawn, didn’t make it better. She nearly gagged as her torso was shoved into the maw.

 His tongue was so slimy, and it licked at her greedily. She didn’t know if it was a blessing that he hadn’t bit down on her. It was probably a worse death down in his stomach. Her heart beat faster and faster as she anticipated being swallowed down. The worst part was the giant was taking his damn time tasting her.

 Until one moment gravity shifted and she slid back, as the jaw widened so slightly so the tongue could help draw her back, though most of the work was from the giant's hands as he held her torso and pushed her gently.

 Sophia could barely watch as her childhood friend was swallowed down by her newest friend. It had taken a while but she did consider Yonah her friend. Unless he killed Zelda, then whatever connection that had would be destroyed forever. Thus she supervised as Yonah happily gulped down the rest of the knight, feet disappearing into his mouth and with a mighty swallow the weird swelling of his neck receded down, disappearing into his collar.

 He hiccuped, which looked painful and made Sophia smile. He smiled too.

 “I like a knight who doesn’t wear much armor! Much easier to get down, and tastier too!” He rubbed at his belly which was now full and happy.

 “Ok, you had your fun Yonah,” Sophia said, as he reached for her.

 The princess didn’t resist and let him hold her as he sat down at the kitchen table. He placed her on his shoulder and leaned back, undeservingly proud of himself. He’d done nothing. He was barely hurt! And he was acting like he defeated a proper enemy in battle.

 Sophia hopped off to his thigh and onto the table. Turning around, she crossed her arms. Yonah didn’t seem to care.

 “I mean it, you need to spit her out.”

 Yonah opened his eyes and looked up wistfully.

 “She’s not even struggling.”

 “Why would she? She’s accepted her death!”

 “Ah, well, I’m sure she’ll give me a good performance once my stomach acids start to go to work. They always do.”

 That got him a scream and a scramble but then.

 “I’ll never give you any such satisfaction!”

 Yonah sighed and patted his stomach. “Sure sure, whatever you say my little snack! You were delicious. Not as good as some other knights, but I’m not complaining.”

 This knight, Zelda, had actually been supremely tasty. And delightfully filling, so big and bulky, a challenge to swallow but so worth it. He wished he could keep her there longer. Ah well, he could always eat Sophia later if he felt peckish!

 Speaking of! The princess was back on his thigh, glaring at him with her warm brown eyes. Except they were so cold.

 “No, you’ll spit her out before she’s hurt at all!”

 Yonah sat up and held his hands with his palms forward.

 “Okay okay, Just give me a minute.”

 Sophia nodded, she knew Yonah had to catch his breath, or he might not be able to spit up her friend.

 “The blood was a little much,” Sophia critiqued, smirking.

 “Really? I thought it made me very savage looking.” He licked his lips again.

 “It did but it was gross!”

   Zelda didn’t think to do anything but curl up and cry, wait for the inevitable. It was humid and rank and dark. So completely dark. The slimy walls pushed at her, played with her. At least Sophia wasn’t in here.

 There was a lot of movement and talk from the giant, he was talking to Sophia! From the tone of his voice he barely cared that she was in his stomach, guess she was just food to him now. Wait. 

Were?

They talking about her?

 “I’m letting her out /mumble/ you owe me!”

 “Owe YOU- mumble- fucker!”

 “Cranky because I’m going to eat you?”

 The next shout from Sophia was incoherent as Zelda’s pulse roared in her ears. She’d let herself get eaten for nothing! Wait, no. The giant said let her out. Sophia had somehow convinced the giant to let them switch places! Well that wasn’t going to happen.

 A sharp movement at her shoulder told her the giant was poking at her.

 “I’m spitting you up now.”

 “THE HELL YOU ARE!”

 Sophia and Yonah stared at each other with disbelief.

 “You don’t really want to die do you?” Yonah poked his stomach again, a little warily.

 “Of course not! But I heard you. You’re going to eat Sophia!”

 The chuckles made her bounce.

 “I was going to regardless!”

 “Yonah” Sophia hissed lowly, “You’re not helping!”

 “You motherfucker! You lied!”

 Yonah stood up and walked over to the sink, which was still running. He plugged it and leaned over.

 And started hacking.

 The lump in his stomach didn’t move. He pressed a hand to his middle. Trying again. Blood rushed to his head and he wheezed. Nothing!

 Zelda spread out her arms and legs, bracing herself against the walls. It constricted, but was not strong enough.

 “You promised! You promised if you ate me you wouldn’t hurt Sophia!”

 A binding word like that was powerful and should he break it, there would be consequences. But if she didn’t die then that word meant nothing! And he could do what he wanted to Sophia.

 Yonah sat on the floor, trembling. Sophia ran up to him, her eyes almost alight with fire. She stood on his thigh and pounded on his stomach.

 “Zelda, don’t be a fool! He’s not going to hurt me! Don’t die for nothing!”

 Sophia looked up at Yonah with eyes full of hot tears. Yonah looked stricken, he didn’t want to kill Zelda either. He breathed. And spoke.

 “Z-Zelda was it? I really don’t want to kill you, and I could never hurt Sophia! I’ve got to spit you up.”

 “LIES!” She cried.

 Dammit Yonah! There was really no time to explain.

 “Zelda you have to trust me, Yonah’s my friend.” She glared at him, and he knew their friendship could end tonight.

 Yonah also knew that Zelda would pass out before his stomach did too much damage and he could spit her up then, just not unharmed. It was a last resort move.

 “Please, Zelda, I'm begging you.”

 Then she leaned her palms on the wizard, pressed into his stomach.

 “If you don’t let Yonah spit you up, I’ll go in and push you out!”

 “WHAT!” No. She wouldn’t dare. 

The air and flesh grew hotter around her and her skin was starting to sting.

 With a grunt Yonah stood up again. He wasn’t fully recovered, but he was going to make another attempt.

 “Last chance to make the return journey an easy one, I suggest you take it.” His voice rumbled. Then he made his voice soft as he rubbed his stomach. “I never intended to kill you, and definitely not Sophia.”

 Sophia had held onto his robes and scrambled up them, then leapt to the sink.

 Ok. Ok. As Zelda felt another twinge of pain her mind cleared for a second. It heard the pleading sorrowful tones.

 “Well!” The desperate voice of the giant flooded her chamber.

 “Ok!”

 She untensed, and as the stomach constricted, she held her hands in front of her and pushed off the bottom with her feet. Then, realizing she forgot to take a breath before the air was crushed out of her, she panicked. Her lungs burned, and even as her hands left the fleshy tunnel and touched air, she passed out.

 Yonah choked and felt the body of the human enter his chest, renewing him with strength. Filled fresh with resolve to get this human out of him alive, he doubled his efforts, and soon enough a body was sliding out his mouth.

 Sophia had anticipated this and was in the sink. She grabbed Zelda’s wrists and pulled. The larger woman fell on top of her in a heap. Sophia pulled off her helmet. Zelda’s  eyes were closed but she was breathing.

 A few seconds later she gasped back to consciousness. Sophia hugged her.

 “You’re so stupid!” Sophia was crying, “So so stupid!”

 Zelda laughed and then cowered as the shadow of Yonah’s head and shoulders loomed over them. His face was very red and his eyes a bit bloodshot and bleary from forcing himself to vomit. But he was smiling, even if he was wheezing.

 “You wouldn’t really have come after me, would you?”

 Sophia dropped Zelda with a splash and put her arms on her hips.

 “I sure would have!”

 She helped Zelda stand and led her to the faucet, which Yonah turned back on. Zelda took a cold and welcome shower, in her clothes which were quite possibly ruined. And Sophia finally explained everything. Especially about her curse. It took a lot of repeated statements about the half formed nature of the enchantment and the state of being glass, and saying over and over again that yes, it made her safe to be eaten.

 Once clean but still in shock, wrapped in a warm towel and given a cup of tea that Yonah brewed, which smelled much better than whatever Sophia had made. That batch had been left to steep too long anyway. They moved to the living room, Yonah in his armchair, Sophia in his lap, and Zelda on the coffee table.

 It wasn’t the most comfortable of midnight tea times, but Zelda noted how calm Sophia was as the half-giant played with her braided hair and stroked her back and arm. Almost like one would with a cat, only Sophia was a person. In fact she was a person Yonah was charged with protecting and teaching.

 Sophia had made her promise she would not tell anyone about the glass curse, for if that information made it to her father… Zelda agreed, Ben might just kill Yonah, but at the very least Sophia would be taken away, and her place was here. All her life she had wanted to learn magic, and now she had a teacher and a friend.

 Zelda was extended an invitation to spend the night, and she accepted without hesitation. As her adrenaline wore off, she was on the verge of falling asleep, and Sophia already nodded off a few times. In fact she startled away when Yonah stood up, but stayed in his hand as he carried her and Zelda to the bedroom.

 They were placed on the nightstand as he changed back into pajamas, and left to brush his teeth. Zelda walked over to examine the large golden birdcage. Through the bars she could see a suspended bed as well as a vanity and a few ornate chests and drawers.

 “So you are kept in a cage!” she said.

 “Not a locked one,” Sophia pointed out. “Yonah figured he’d uphold at least some of the traditions of evil giants. Though… I only use it about a two thirds of the time.”

 Zelda was about to ask why when Yonah sat on his bed and Sophia took a running jump and landed on his pillow.

 “You can sleep in my bed if you like, but if I were to make a suggestion-” She looked up at Yonah, who carefully lay down- “Yonah makes for a better one!”

 Having just taken a trip into the giant's stomach Zelda was not inclined to get so close to him. Sure, she let him pick her up, but being held and sleeping either on top of him or in his embrace were different things. Even if Sophia was looking at her with a hint of excitement, like they were kids again and this was a sleepover. It wasn’t. It was a botched fairytale.

 “I’ll take the cage,” she said, bowing her head a bit, “Goodnight Sophia. and you too, Yonah.”

 Of course the bed in the cage was luxurious, with the softest blankets and comfiest pillows. It swayed gently and Zelda started to question Sophia’s statement that Yonah was somehow a better bed, but fell asleep before the thoughts fully formed.

 ---

 She woke up dazed and confused, wondering where she was and how she had ended up in a cage! Alarm pulsed through her, chasing away her grogginess away and pulling along the memories of the previous day. The attempt at rescue, finding out Sophia was just fine. Being… eaten… and then spat up! That had all happened.

 Normally she started her mornings with exercises and stretches, so why should that change? The cage was roomy enough and the bars were perfect for doing things like pull-ups.

 “What are you doing?”

 Looking up, Zelda saw Sophia on the nightstand. Zelda had her legs hooked on the bars and was doing crunches. She did one more, then held herself up, one hand around a bar.

 “Knights don’t stay strong by slacking off,” Zelda said, and continued her reps.

 “I’ve been telling Sophia that she should work out in the mornings,” Yonah came to stand next to Sophia. Sophia whipped her head around.

 “But I don’t need to!” She cried.

 “It would be good if you could get around here without my carrying you,” he pointed out.

 “I do that just fine!”

 “You could do better, I don’t want you falling off things while I’m not here!”

 Zelda decided to tune them out. This didn’t concern her. Until.

 “Fine!” and Sophia climbed onto the cage and to the door. Yonah disappeared out of the room.

 “Zelda, could you show me some exercises that might make me a better climber?”

 Zelda dropped to the floor. “I certainly could!”

 “I’ve never known Her Royal Highness to be so easily convinced to do something she didn’t want to do,” Zelda pointed out as she showed Sophia how to use the bars of her cage to build up her arm strength.

 “Yeah well, I only agreed to after he agreed to do so with me.”

 Yonah returned about ten minutes later, freshly shaved. Out of a dresser, he fished a pair of overalls and thick plaid shirt, and from a wardrobe on top took out a smaller outfit, which he handed off to Sophia. Zelda felt suddenly self conscious in her undersilks, which weren’t exactly fresh and clean, nor proper clothes.

 Turns out Yonah had a set of clothes for her as well. Or at least the magic wardrobe did. Nothing fancy, but Sophia wasn’t wearing normal royal apparel. In fact she had on overalls. Except for her long intricate braid and sparkling golden tiara, she looked like a commoner. A farmer.

 The wizard did too, though with his bulky figure and hairy arms he looked more like a lumberjack who wouldn’t be out of place living in a cabin in the woods, not a grand magic tower. Zelda was still the odd one out but at least she wasn’t in what were essentially underwear.

 “Are you going to stay for breakfast?” Sophia asked.

 Oh she absolutely was. There was no way she wanted to make the trek back to the city on an empty stomach. SHIT. 

 “The pastries!” she wailed with despair.

 Yonah and Sophia looked at each other in confusion.

  Back in the kitchen, Zelda retrieved the satchel, which was right where she had dropped it last night. Miserably she showed Sophia, who understood her sorrow immediately.

 “You brought me koftashen?” she looked at Yonah, “These were my favorite from back home! But they do taste the best when fresh.”

 Yonah had been watching curiously and one corner of his mouth turned up.

 “How long ago were these baked?” he asked.

 “About a day,” Zelda said, “almost exactly a day.”

 “Perfect,” he held out his hand expectantly.

 Zelda took back the koftashen protectively. What if he just ate them! They could still be decent, even if they spent the night in the sack. They wouldn’t even be a proper bite for the wizard; he couldn’t appreciate them!

 “Oh! Do give them to him, Zelda,” Sophia didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

 She hesitated but trusted her friend.

 With the pastries in his palm his cupped them in his hands. Yonah’s eyes began to glow and he brought his hands to his mouth. Zelda was about to protest when Yonah blew into his hands and light flashed between his fingers. When he opened them up the savory smells spread out in a wave.

 “My friend Shoshana is a baker, she invented this spell,” he said, “As long as it’s only been a day or two, it can make most baked goods nearly fresh again. It doesn’t work on everything, but I had to try!”

 Sophia had gotten out a small plate and took the hot koftashen from Yonah’s hand. Small for Yonah that is, since it was a serving platter. “Smells like it worked!” she declared.

 Yonah worked quickly to set up before the goods cooled down. First he placed the princess and knight on the kitchen table, which had on top of it a smaller human sized table. It had only one chair, and no plates or utensils. Then He got the additional arrangements and to Zelda’s surprise, two more human sized chairs. 

 She watched with fascination as the half-giant took a pouch from his overall’s pocket and took out a small pinch of powder which he dabbed onto his tongue. Then he placed his hands on the table and said a spell in a language she recognized as giant but could not understand the words (Knights learn some giant, but mostly phrases needed to challenge them to battle). There was a puff of grey smoke and the wizard was hanging off the edge of the table but hauled himself up. Again Zelda was impressed, this time by his strength.

 He was still very large, probably a foot and half taller than herself, but should he claim to be human Zelda would believe it. Even with his very giant-folk fangs. There were plenty of humans with strange anatomical features, usually a manifestation of fey blood. Fairies certainly loved to fuck with humans in every way possible.

 It was definitely weird for all of them to be sitting at the human table. Yonah might look convincingly human, but he was meant to be a half-giant. Also, she and Sophia watched in anticipation as Yonah took a bite out of a koftashen. There was a palpable expectation for him to like Sophia’s favorite local confection.

 Inside the soft dough was a mixture of beef and lamb, and there was a crunch of collard greens. He recognized a lot of the spices as the flavor spread across his tongue, though there were aspects to the flavor he could not identify. He couldn’t call it a new favorite of his, but

 “This is very delicious!” he declared and Sophia beamed, finally taking a bite of her own, Zelda following suit.

 Yonah finished his rather quickly and got up to make himself the rest of his breakfast while the humans managed to fill up on koftashen. He also got himself a cup of coffee. Sophia didn’t drink it, but he asked Zelda, and she did.

 “I’m sorry this quest was a dud,” Sophia said, and Zelda stiffened.

 Should she talk about her failure so soon?

 “It’s not your fault, I should have done more research,” Zelda said, “I got a little ahead of myself at the prospect of rescuing a friend.”

 Sophia took a second pastry.

 “I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t eventually rescue someone royal.” She said it with her mouth full, and Zelda tried not to laugh, “Just not me. If I had to guess” she tapped the koft against her chin, “Probably Sasha!”

 “S-Sasha?”

 The wizard returned but didn’t interrupt the conversation, and tucked into his breakfast of buckwheat and fish.

 “They’re 18 now, and I know they want to have a fairytale.” Sophia took another bite before continuing, and Zelda was way too flustered to respond in the meantime, “And I know you have a crush on them.”

 Yonah almost choked, and Zelda nearly fainted.

 “Oh come on, I saw how you two danced at The Party.”

 Zelda remembered that very clearly, but it was 5 years ago and Sophia still remembered it too. How many other people knew?

 “And how you both hugged and cried the day you left for knight school.”

 It was embarrassing having her feelings exposed in front of what was essentially a stranger, even if he was Sophia’s friend. But Sophia’s words filled her with hope. How could she have been so stupid! Of course she was meant to complete a tale with Sasha. Everything made perfect sense, now that she thought about it.

 Finally it was time to leave. They all went up to the workshop and Zelda put on her armor. Yonah had moved it into a workbench drawer last night, though Zelda couldn’t think when he could have done that.

 “Shiny things left out tend to be stolen by the giant crows,” Yonah said, “They don’t bother people much, but you have to be careful with your stuff.”

 Nechesh was waiting in the orchard, overstuffed on magic apples but able to travel. Though she wouldn’t let Zelda mount her until she convinced Yonah to give them a bushel of apples to travel with. While Yonah gathered the apples, Sophia and Sasha said their farewells.

 “Guess I’ll see you at the wedding!” Zelda said. 2 months was much shorter than 5 years but it still felt like a long time before seeing her friend again.

 “Make sure you dance with Sasha,” Sophia advised, and Zelda nodded.

 Yonah finished fascening the basket to Nechesh and Zelda climbed on her back.

 Spurring her horse to a trot, she took one look back to wave goodbye. The little princess and her guardian wizard waving from the garden looked picture perfect.

 “I’ll save one dance for you,” Zelda said before out of earshot.  

 “I’ll hold you to that!”

 [FIN] if you liked PLEASE REBLOG!

REBLOGS HELP SPREAD MY WORK! I also love knowing that people read my stories! My askbox and DMs are OPEN!!! let me know!!!

[Thanks for reading! please reblog! Or message me telling me what you think! I crave feedback! For more mystic woods go to vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/mystic+woods+story or search ‘mystic woods story’]

[alyssawritesssfics]

Hounded [6] 6. His Sister’s Keeper

Pairings: Bellamy x OC // Kane x daughter!OC

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: violence, mentions of blood, character deaths (canon), series spoilers

Summary: Athena joins Bellamy, Finn, Jasper, and a few others in a search for Octavia, leaving them weaker than ever before.

Author’s Note: Hii, here is chapter/episode six! I’m sorry if this one is a little weaker, I really struggled with this episode as it’s one of my least favourite. I hope you enjoy it anyways! Please remember to note and reblog! It really helps me see interest and therefore update the story more often. Thank you!

Tag List: @topazy​ (DM or send an ask to be added)

previous chapter // series masterlist

Later that night, I found myself in my new tent that I would be sharing with Octavia. With all the chaos of getting the flares together, I was surprised anyone had found time to put more tents together. All I could think about was getting to rest my head on my own bed for the first time since we’d landed; to finally get a proper night's sleep, not having watch duty tonight.

As I was about to undress for the evening, I heard footsteps approach my tent. Within seconds, Bellamy’s voice came through.

“Octavia? Are you in there?”

I remained silent, figuring he’d opt to leave on his own.

“Octavia?”

Letting out a huff, I headed over to the flap of the tent, pulling it to the side. “She’s not here.” I dropped my hand from the tent flap, letting it close. Before it could, Bellamy slipped his hand inside, stopping it.

“Do you know where she is?” He asked, his voice shaking.

I raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen her since you told us to wait until sunrise to go after the pod.”

“You’re sure that’s the last time you saw her?”

“What’s going on, Bellamy?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

Bellamy looked around before entering the tent. “Octavia followed me this morning. We got into a fight and I thought she came back to camp.”

“Nobody else has seen her?”

He shook his head. “I’ve looked everywhere. She’s gone.”

“Okay. I’ll help you look.” I said, grabbing my knife from where it sat next to my cot. “Let’s check again. You go to the dropship, I’ll check the rest of the tents.”

Bellamy nodded. “Thank you, Athena.”

I nodded. “Octavia was all I had in Skybox. I owe her.”

Exiting the tent, I turned back one more time, giving Bellamy a nod before heading off to search the rest of the tents.

…

“Hey, everybody, gather around and grab a weapon!” Bellamy called out. “My sister's been out there alone for 12 hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her.”

I had spent the last hour searching the rest of the tents, never finding Octavia. Nobody had seen her since this morning.

Clarke placed her hand on Jasper’s shoulder. “Hey, you don’t have to do this. You haven’t left camp since we brought you back.”

Jasper shook his head. “Clarke, I need to do this.”

“We need all the people we can get. We need a tracker.” Bellamy then shouted, “Finn, get out here!”

We waited a few moments before Finn, now with his hair shorter, came out of his tent he shared with Raven. “You guys ready to go?” He asked, Raven stepping out behind him.

“As ready as we’re going to be,” I sighed.

Our little group made its way across camp, one of the delinquents stopping just outside of the gate. “Guys, look!”

“What is that? It’s so bright.”

“It’s beautiful.”

I followed their gaze, spotting what looked to be hundreds of shooting stars falling from the sky.

“They didn’t work.” Raven mumbled, before raising her voice. “They didn’t see our flares.”

Bellamy eyed her for a moment. “A meteor shower tells you that?”

“It’s not a meteor shower, it’s a funeral.” Clarke responded. “Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from the ark. This is what it looks like from the other side.”

Raven spun around, moving closer to Bellamy. “This is all because of you!”

“I helped you find the radio.”

“Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!”

“Yeah, he knows.” Clarke spoke. “And now he has to live with it.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have time for this. Octavia is out there, alone or with grounders to keep her company. We have to find her, now. We can worry about the Ark later.”

Bellamy’s eyes landed on me for a moment, a slight smile forming across his mouth. His face soon shifted back to his normal frown as he turned back to Finn. “Are you coming, or what?”

Finn nodded.

“What are we waiting for?” Bellamy asked. “Move out!”

…

While Raven and Clarke instead headed off to find a new transmitter for the radio, the rest of us carried on with our search for Octavia. It wasn’t too long before John Mbege found something.

“Look, over here!”

Bellamy rushed over. “What is it?”

John pointed. “Isn’t that Octavia’s?”

We all looked down the hill, squinting our eyes. Finally, Bellamy shook his head. “Give me the rope.” Finn handed the rope over and Bellamy tied one end to a tree.

“What are you doing?” Finn asked.

“We need the rope to get back up,” Bellamy responded, tossing the other end of the rope down the hill. “Flashlight?”

John handed him the flashlight and Bellamy made his way down the hill. Bellamy shined his flashlight on a branch, and I instantly recognized what used to be a seatbelt on the dropship. Octavia had been using it as a belt, wanting to spice up her jumpsuit from Skybox.

“It’s hers.” Bellamy confirmed. “I’m going all the way down.”

Jasper took a deep breath, handing his torch to Finn before beginning to climb down behind Bellamy. I went next, clumsily staggering down the hill. As I neared the bottom, Bellamy extended his hand. Letting my right hand fall from the rope, I grabbed Bellamy’s, allowing him to guide me down the last few steps.

“Bellamy,” Jasper spoke, grabbing our attention.

Bellamy pushed through the brush surrounding us, kneeling down next to Jasper. I watched as he ran his finger along a rock, lifting it to reveal a small puddle of blood. Finn soon joined us, inspecting the blood and the area around it, including a larger set of footprints.

“Someone else was here,” Bellamy said.

Finn nodded. “The prints are deeper going that way. He was carrying her.”

“If they took her, she’s alive.” Jasper’s large smile soon faded. “Like when they took me.”

Bellamy shook his head, standing back up before rushing in the direction the footprints were headed. We spent what felt like an eternity following the footprints, going up and down smaller hills than the last. The sun had come up when we finally came to a clearing, right in the middle of Grounder territory.

“What the hell is that?”

I followed Roma’s gaze, chills running down my spine as I saw it. “Are those-”

“Skeletons?” Jasper finished, swallowing hard.

They were tied to trees, some only partially decomposed. I wondered if they’d been left there after death, simply to scare enemies away. Or, had they been strung up and left there to die as punishment for breaking whatever rules they lived by?

“I don’t speak Grounder, but I’m pretty sure this means keep out.” Finn said.

“Let’s get out of here.” One of the other delinquents spoke up.

A few others mumbled in agreement, following each other back the way we came.

Bellamy shook his head, his jaw tensing. “You guys can go back too, if you want. My sister, my responsibility.”

“I’d walk into hell to find her.” Jasper spoke bravely.

Finn sighed. “I think we just did.”

John, Roma and Diggs all agreed to continue the search as well.

Bellamy nodded, his eyes soon landing on me. “How about you, Athena?”

My eyes drifted back to the slowly disappearing silhouettes of the other delinquents, thinking about how much better off they’d all be for heading back. Finally, I took a deep breath. “I’m with you.”

Smiling, Bellamy nodded. “Let’s get moving.”

…

As we headed deeper into the forest, Finn stopped abruptly, kneeling down to inspect the soil. He was silent for a while, Bellamy finally kneeling down next to him.

“What’s the problem?”

“I’ve got nothing,” Finn admitted. “We lost the trail.”

Bellamy stood up, folding his arms across his chest. “Well, keep looking.”

Finn stood up. “Wandering around aimlessly isn’t the way to find your sister. We should backtrack.”

“I’m not going back.”

I shook my head. “Bellamy, if we keep going like this, we’ll never find her. Finn is right, we should go back a little bit, see if we can find other footprints to follow.”

“I already said, I’m not going back.” Bellamy spoke firmly. “I know this is the right way, alright?”

As I went to protest, Roma’s voice stopped me.

“Hey, where’s John?”

I turned around, noticing John had vanished.

“I saw him just a second ago,” Jasper said.

We all looked to Bellamy, who shook his head. “Spread out, he couldn’t have gone that far.”

Just as the words left his mouth, a body fell from the trees above us, landing in the middle of all of us. My eyes quickly shifted up the body, landing on the face. John’s face. His throat had been cut, the blood already having stopped flowing from the wound.

“They use the trees,” Finn mumbled, looking up.

I stepped away from John’s body, my own beginning to shake.

“We shouldn’t have crossed the boundary.” Diggs mumbled.

“Now can we go back?” Roma asked.

Jasper jumped slightly. “There! Right there.”

We all followed his gaze, spotting a Grounder off in the distance, a long knife in his hand.

“Another one!” Diggs called out.

My eyes shifted around the forest, spotting more and more of them surrounding us. “They’re everywhere.” I whispered.

“We should run.”

Bellamy was the first to move, the rest of us following after him. I could feel my legs growing weaker with each step I took, my body still shaking from the sight of John’s body. As soon as we thought we’d gotten far enough away from the Grounders, one would pop up ahead of us, forcing us to change directions.

“Let’s go!” Diggs called out, running ahead of everyone else.

“What are we going to do?” Jasper asked. “They keep cutting us off.”

“Just keep running!” Finn said.

“I can’t run much longer.”

“I’m not stopping for him!” Diggs called out, continuing on.

Bellamy stopped. “I’m sick of running anyways.”

The rest of us stopped, looking to Bellamy for instructions.

“What are you doing?” Finn asked.

“They know where she is.”

Roma shook her head, running off. “Diggs, where are you?”

“Roma!”

Finn spun around, running off after them. “Roma, wait!”

We followed Finn, hearing Roma scream in the distance. It wasn’t long before we came across Diggs, who had been impaled on a spike.

“They were leading us here.” Jasper mumbled. “It’s the only direction we could run in.”

Finn looked around, noticing the newfound silence. “Where’d they go?”

“After Roma.”

Finn looked around, spotting more footprints. “She went this way.”

We followed the footprints, trying our best to remain quiet, hoping to not grab the attention of any more Grounders. Eventually I spotted Roma’s jacket off in the distance, most of her body tucked behind a tree.

“There she is,” I spoke, smiling. “Roma!”

As we moved closer, my smile faded. Jasper and Finn stopped, while Bellamy and I made our way over to the tree. Roma had been pinned to the tree with a spear, just inches closer to the heart than Jasper’s had been.

“They’re playing with us.” Finn whispered.

I watched on as Bellamy used his fingers to close Roma’s eyes. “She only came because of me.”

Finn shook his head. “They can kill us whenever they want.”

Jasper looked around, raising his voice. “Then they should just get it over with!”

“Jasper, stop it!” I yelled.

“Come on, we know you’re out there!” Jasper continued. “You want to kill us? Get it over with already!”

We all watched on as Grounders rose from the bushes around us, weapons in hand, before beginning to run towards us.

“What do we do?” I asked, looking at Bellamy.

Standing back-to-back, we all remained still, unsure of what to do. There were no openings. Everywhere we looked, there was a Grounder, ready to kill us as soon as they got close enough. 

Just as hope had left me, the sound of a horn filled the air. The Grounders stopped almost instantly, looking around before running away.

“They’re leaving.” Bellamy mumbled.

“That horn,” Jasper spoke. “What does it mean?”

“Acid fog.”

“We have to run.” I said.

“There’s no time.” Finn pulled out a parachute from his pack, spreading it out. “Everyone, get under, now!”

…

We remained under the parachute for a while, all of us holding down the edges as best as we could.

“How long are we supposed to wait?” Jasper asked.

“Will this even work?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Finn mumbled.

Bellamy shook his head. “No we won't,” He then lifted his side of the parachute, poking his head out. “There’s no fog.”

We all pulled the parachute off of us, looking around the forest.

“Maybe it was a false alarm?”

“They’re coming back,” Bellamy noted, pointing.

Jasper shook his head. “I think he’s alone.”

“Can we get moving?” I asked. “I don’t want to be here when the rest realize the fog isn’t coming.”

“He doesn’t see us,” Bellamy said, standing up. “I’m going to follow him.”

“And what? Kill him?” Finn asked.

Bellamy shook his head. “No. Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is. Then I’ll kill him.”

As Bellamy ran off, Jasper sighed. “How do we know he’s not leading us into another trap?”

Finn shook his head. “We don’t.”

…

We finally caught up to Bellamy just outside of a cave. Bellamy was crouched down just a few paces from the entrance, hiding behind a rock.

“He went in there,” Bellamy said, looking back at us.

I shook my head. “We don’t know how many there are in there.”

“Keep your eyes open, your weapons drawn.”

Bellamy stood up, heading towards the cave’s entrance. We all followed close behind, doing just as he said. The cave was quiet and dark, no torches on the walls. I was almost certain that as soon as we reached an open area, Grounders would jump out and kill us all.

The open area soon came, Bellamy poking his head around the corner.

“Octavia?”

“Bellamy!”

All of us rushed around the corner, Bellamy reaching Octavia’s side while the rest of us watched the Grounder who laid passed out on the floor. Bellamy removed the chains that were around Octavia’s hands, the two wrapping their arms around each other as soon as she was free.

“It’s okay,” Bellamy whispered. “You’re okay.”

Octavia soon pulled away. “How did you find me?”

“We followed him.” Bellamy spoke, nodding towards the Grounder.

“We should go now, before he wakes up.”

Bellamy shook his head, grabbing a spear that sat off to the side. “He’s not going to wake up.”

Octavia jumped in front of him. “Bellamy, stop! He didn’t hurt me. Let’s just go.”

“They started this.” Bellamy argued. “Finn, move.”

Finn didn’t move, instead inspecting the horn attached to the Grounder’s gear. Before Finn could speak, the Grounder moved, grabbing the knife from his pocket and stabbing Finn in the chest before standing up.

Octavia and I rushed to Finn’s side, while Bellamy swung at the Grounder. The Grounder grabbed the spear from Bellamy, pinning him to the ground. I watched on as Bellamy struggled against the spear, which was now aimed at his throat.

“Stop!” Octavia yelled. “That’s my brother.”

Just as I thought Bellamy was about to meet his end, Jasper came up behind the grounder, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. Bellamy gasped for air, moving away from the Grounder.

“Finn?” I asked, noticing he’d now lost consciousness. “Finn!”

“We have to get him back to Clarke, now!” Bellamy commanded.

We once again retrieved the parachute, laying it out and placing Finn on it.

“Everyone on three.” Bellamy said. “One. Two. Three.”

We lifted the parachute in unison, rushing out of the cave and leaving the Grounder behind.

…

“Clarke!” Jaspered called out. “Where’s Clarke?”

We had just entered the gates of the camp, our tired arms struggling to keep the parachute containing Finn off the ground.

“I’m here, what’s going on?” Suddenly, Clarke’s eyes landed on Finn. “Finn? Oh, my god.”

Raven soon came to her side. “Oh, my god.”

Clarke placed her fingers against the side of Finn’s neck. “He’s alive!”

“Bellamy wouldn’t let me take the knife out.” Jasper spoke up.

“No, that was a good call.” Clarke nodded. “Get him to the dropship.”

A few other delinquents who had stayed behind at camp grabbed Finn, carrying him to the dropship.

“Can you save him?” Raven asked.

“No, not me.” Clarke whispered. “I need my mother. I need to talk to her.”

“There’s still no radio.”

“Fix it, then!” Clarke snapped. “Go!”

Raven eyed her for a moment, before running off towards the dropship. Clarke then turned to Octavia, examining her. “Are you okay?”

Octavia nodded. “I’m okay. Just worry about Finn.”

Clarke nodded, running off.

As Octavia marched towards the gate, Bellamy ran after her. “Hey, why were you defending him?”

Octavia stopped, turning around. “Because he saved my life. That spear that hit Roma was actually meant-”

“No.” Bellamy cut her off. “I saved your life. For all you know he was keeping you alive to use you as bait for one of their traps.”

“No. I don’t think so.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes, raising his voice. “You don’t think, O! That’s the problem. They killed three of our people today. If you would’ve let me kill him when I had the chance, Finn wouldn’t be in there dying right now too!”

Octavia’s fists balled up, her face turning red. “Stop it! Stop blaming me for your mistakes! What happened to Finn is not my fault. I wanted to leave, so if Finn dies in there, that’s on you! Everything that’s gone wrong is because of you.”

“Octavia-” I spoke, to no avail.

“You got me locked up on the Ark. You wanted me to go to that stupid dance! You got mom killed!”

Bellamy flinched, Octavia’s words hitting him like he’d never felt before. I watched his eyes swell up, tears forming in them but failing to fall. He wouldn’t let them. Finally, he spoke, his voice breaking. “Me?”

Octavia nodded.

“Mom was floated for having you. She’s dead because you’re alive. That was her choice. I didn’t have a choice.” Bellamy shook his head. “My life ended the day you were born.”

Octavia flinched as well, Bellamy’s words hitting her just as hers had hit him. She attempted to turn away, moving towards the gate, Bellamy instead grabbing her arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Octavia yanked her arm away. “You can’t keep me locked up in here forever.”

With that, Octavia ran off towards the dropship. 

“Octavia, wait!” I called out, but she didn’t listen.

I then turned to Bellamy, his face pale as his eyes lingered on his sister. He finally turned to me, his eyes quickly falling to the floor. I couldn’t help but shake my head, feeling angry for Octavia. 

Before I could tell Bellamy off, I noticed a boy lingering outside of the gate. “Get inside, now!” I hissed.

The boy ran inside as I approached the gate, staring up at the sky.

“A storm’s coming.” Bellamy mumbled from behind me.

“We’re so screwed.” I nodded, closing the gate.

~

next chapter

[siebenschoen]

there’s reason to believe

fandom: the wayhaven chronicles

pairing: (m!detective x Ava)

warnings: angst and almost love confessions; part of a February Prompt list: day 3 - snowfall

it was fun to explore Janosch’s character and his relationship with Ava a bit more, but I'm also glad it's done now and I don't have to stare at my screen any longer.

summary: It’s cold outside when Janosch decides that he deserves to know.

It’s cold in his office. Almost freezing. Janosch pulls the zipper of his jacket up and kicks the heater. It doesn’t really help. He sighs and thinks about doing it again - more for momentary satisfaction than a real result. He’s worked here long enough to know that the town’s limited funds barely cover maintenance of the station, let alone repairs. The police are not the top priority here, Wayhaven is too small, too quiet for that. Or well, at least it was.

He stops himself from cursing, when he sees Ava walking through the front door. She has pulled her coat up high and the scarf she’s carefully tucked into it, almost covers her chin. But the tips of her ears and nose are still bright red from the cold. It’s cute. He opens the door before she can knock. “Agent!” He smiles to see that she goes even redder at this enthusiastic greeting. “It’s good to see you - I could need a distraction right now.”

“Detective”, she nods, then frowns, “You shouldn’t let yourself get distracted from work.”

He shakes his head, still smiling. “Don’t worry about it, there’s not much to do at the moment.” Absentmindedly his fingers brush over the left side of his neck, feeling the small rise of the barely visible scar. A habit he picked up after… after Murphy. “It’s been quiet lately.”

He can see Ava’s frown deepen from the corner of his eyes. She takes a step towards him, but stops when he turns to look at her, stuffing her hands deep into the pockets of her coat. “So”, he says, the brightness of his tone sounding more forced than he intended to. “What brings you here? Besides the pleasure of my company.” He adds, throwing a wink her way for good measure.

Ava clears her throat. “Agent Greene would like you to join the meeting today.”

Janosch is not an idiot. If Rebecca wants him to join a meeting, she could just call. And so could Ava, if it would have been deemed necessary in order to not stress Rebecca’s and his weird mother-son relationship even more. But he decides not to mention it, to let her have this one. It’s cold, he can barely feel his feet and he is not in the mood to argue with Ava about whether or not she has feelings for him. Besides, with her, standing in his office, clearly waiting for him to get ready - it still feels like a win.

“Sure”, he gives her a smile, “Just give me a sec.” He can feel Ava’s eyes on him as he walks back to his desk to turn off his computer. And if that knowledge makes him lean forward just a little bit more deliberate than strictly necessary, then so be it. He’s trying his best here. 

Janosch grabs his backpack and eyes the papers on the edge of the desk, debating how quickly they need to be taken care of, before he stuffs them in a folder and throws that into his bag - just in case. He shrugs on his coat, wraps his scarf around his neck and pulls the knitted hat over his ears. He opens the door and grins at Ava. “After you, Agent.” Ava’s cheeks are still slightly red, but she doesn’t say anything, just begins to lead the way through the station. He follows close behind, noticing the way some of her shorter hair strands have escaped Ava’s strict bun and slightly curl around her pale neck. He might have a problem, Janosch thinks, not for the first time.

It’s snowing outside. Only light, little flakes, only able to slightly dust the ground white. Maybe later that’ll change. It’s supposed to get colder still, he remembers. Verda had mentioned it, the girls were looking forward to it. He supposes that he’s happy for them - it snows so rarely in Wayhaven - even though he himself doesn’t much like the cold.

Ava waits quietly next to him, while he fishes around in his pockets looking for the car key. She would be faster on her own, but it’s been a while since they’ve done that. Lately she seems to have gotten used to his slower, mortal ways. Not that he minds that. If only he could find his keys now, so they don’t have to stand in the cold much longer. He doesn’t enjoy it and he would be surprised if Ava would, vampiric senses and all. 

His hair continues to fall into his eyes and he’s starting to get annoyed with it. He hasn’t had time to go and get it cut and he’s not used to having longer hair anymore. The knitted hat doesn’t help, only pushing his curls further down-

There’s fingers on his forehead, gently pushing away the disturbing hair. Ava’s fingers, he realises belatedly, once it clicks into place that the feet he sees - slightly bent forward, with his head turned down on his quest for the key - are in fact hers. His head snaps up at the realisation.

He’s not exactly a tall man and Ava isn’t a small woman, but this is the first time he has had to look up to her and- his breath catches in his throat. She’s beautiful. There’s snowflakes collecting in her hair - almost like a crown - and her pale lashes shine like a halo in the muted winter light. And, god, her eyes are so, so green. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen eyes this green before, will ever see eyes like this again. Breathe! He has to breathe, he remembers and drags in a rough breath, as her hand slips down to his cheek.

She’s looking at him and he doesn’t think anyone has ever looked at him like this - so intense, so completely, right to his very core - and even if, it’s not like he could remember right now. All he sees, all he thinks is Ava. He wants to touch her. Hold her head between his hands and kiss her. He wants it, desperately so. But he doesn’t move, not one inch, while her hand still rests against his cheek, while she’s still looking at him.

He’s scared, he realises, even though it’s hard to think with Ava’s eyes still on him. Scared that this moment will break, because they all do between them. Scared because for all he jokes and flirts he can feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest and she must hear, she must know. 

You deserve to know, too, the thought sticks to the edge of his mind. You deserve to know, it whispers with a voice that sounds suspiciously like Tina.

“Ava”, he says softly, still scared, but trying to be brave. Her eyes widen when she hears him and her hand falls from his face as if she woke from a trance. She clears her throat and steps away, but his hand reaches out and catches the sleeve of her coat. “Ava”, he says again, “You know, don’t you?” She goes slightly red at his words, the beginning of a frown tugging on her features.

“I-”, he starts and stops. His heart is hammering wildly in his chest. He takes a deep breath, trying to steady himself, without looking away from her. “I understand, if this is too much, if you need time. I understand”, his voice wavers, “if you don’t feel the same.” His eyes lock with hers and he let’s go of her sleeve, carefully, slowly. “But, please, don’t lie to me.”

“I… I’m not...”, she clenches her fist and frowns. For a moment he thinks she’ll say something, but then she just looks away. Janosch’s throat suddenly feels very dry. “It’s okay.”, he says quickly, before his voice has time to shake. He laughs. A small, nervous thing. “I’m a big boy, I’ll be alright.” The words fall from his mouth - spoken too fast to be true - and land between them on the cold, grey pavement.

He doesn’t look at her. He can’t. Not with the snow still clinging to her blonde hair, not when her eyes are still so green. His fingers tighten around his scarf. He has to leave. Now. She’ll worry enough as it is. She doesn’t need to see- He really doesn’t want her to. Not now. “You go ahead, I think I forgot my keys inside.”, he mumbles and turns around. His eyes sting as he walks through the door of the police station without looking back. 

He flees. Like a coward.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Horror Villains Drabble #1

Plot: The Horror Villain in your lives S/O(Who you were also very close to) has just died, and you’re there to watch them crumple. 

Includes: Jason Voorhees, Mayor Buckman and Sheriff Hoyt 

Warnings: Angst 

Hah, I think these just get shorter and shorter, which is funny because this is not the order I wrote them in. 

~~~

Jason Voorhees:

Today, I’m going to visit Jason. Who I guess a normal person would my… brother-in-law? Stepbrother-in-law, because his girl was my stepsister. Not that that matters now, she died in a car crash 3 weeks ago. Which is why I’m checking on him, bearing a new tablecloth to lighten up his creepy little cabin and ginger ale. She said once that he liked that stuff, and the tablecloth was my idea. I didn’t know what else to bring him in this situation, since I only met him once! But I thought I should, bring something.

The time I met him was because she wanted someone to know about him, that she trusts. In case something bad happened. Which, evidently, it did. How she knew it would happen? Well, there’s an ongoing news segment dedicated to the investigation they distastefully opened the day of her funeral, when the coroner that checked her out mentioned a gang tattoo hidden on the top of her thigh. Jason doesn’t need to know that part though.

From what I gathered about him when she introduced us and I stuck around with them the day we met and what I remind myself of quickly in my head as I leave the Ford Fiesta I got for my 18th birthday 3 years ago, is that mostly he’s a delicate soul. At least, when it has to do with her, or his mother. Her name’s Pamela, but I hope that doesn’t come up because their relationship scares me and I don’t want much to do with it. I especially don’t want to bring her up to him. 

I start walking towards his cabin, recalling other things about him I could mention or just that I should remember. His favourite colour’s green, like oak leaves and definitely not moss. He drowned because some councillors who were supposed to be watching him were getting jiggy with it in the forest, and because of that he has an ingrained hatred and need to eradicate all premarital sex havers.

Pft, that’ll be fine then. My lame ass is still a virgin. Not that I’m bitter about it or that I’m going to mention that, at all.

Finally, I reach the Voorhees’ cabin, which is clearly what is seeing as I can smell the stench of Mum’s rotted head wafting from inside that still haunts my dreams from last time. I put down the bag with his new, green tablecloth, ginger ale and my Christmas cookies -because I need them to get eaten and its been a month and they’re still sitting in my cupboard, and this seemed like a good a time as any. Maybe Jason’ll appreciate the patters I painstakingly iced on them. He supposedly has the brain of a child,- on the ground and stan dup straighter, biting the inside of my lips.  

Taking a cautious step forward, wondering whether I should knock even though the door’s open, I call carefully. “Jason? Hey, it’s Y/N. (Your Stepsisters Name)’s, sister? We met, and I just wanted to check on you. She asked me to.”

When in doubt, make sure he knows who I am and my connection to her. She’s his soft spot.

No answer.

I shuffle to the side, seeing if I can get a glimpse inside the house and see if he’s actually in there, without overstepping and walking on in. “I brought ginger ale- “

Suddenly heavy footsteps come up behind me and stop close by. I whip around, and suddenly I feel like a fly in comparison to the giant that is Jason Voorhees. I soften my expression and pick up the bag, offering it to him. “Did you hear all that?”

He nods.

“Is it okay that I’m here?”

Again, he nods. I let my muscles relax, and go to sit down on the moulding, termite ravished porch. Before I start taking things out of the bag, I peer up at him, and make sure this is okay. “Is it okay that I sit here? I’ll get up if its not, its okay.”

No nod this time, I guess he got tired of it which is understandable- I would too if that was my only mode of communication. Instead, he walks over, movement weirdly purposeful, and sits down beside me. The wood moves worryingly under his weight, but stays sturdy thank god.

I flash him a kind smile, and start showing him what’s in the bag. Once I’m finished, I decide to cut straight to the chase, because he is not responding to any of this. Not even the snowman cookie awakened a reaction, and that one is freaken masterful. I turn to him, as he holds gently onto the ginger ale between his knees but doesn’t open it, and drop my forearms onto my knees. “So, Jason. Sweetheart, you gotta tell me o-or… Morse code to me, or whatever if you’re okay or not. Because that’s what I’m here for. For her, and therefore you are too. You get me?” I peer up at him, hoping he understands. Because I’m already getting emotional, and I don’t want to start crying again. I will, if we have to go through this painstakingly slowly.

Again, he doesn’t nod. But he does turn his head to look ahead of him and away from me, which I take as him understanding, but avoiding the conversation.

But hey! At least he isn’t walking off or stabbing me. Swallowing, and taking a deep breath, because we have to do this and theirs a tiny part of me that wants to for him and not for her, although the brunt of it is for her, I carry my pointer finger up and ever so gently pat the bottom of his mask. He turns slightly to look at me, and I look softly, empathetically at him. “I, for one, feel terrible.”

His shoulders relax the tiniest bit, so I go on. “I-I mean… I didn’t know her my whole life. Our parents got married when she was already 12. But I was 8, and she was my big sister after that. And, she was… the better one of us! Its true! I mean, you fell for her! And, from what I can tell you have trust issues. Rightly so, but still. She broke through that because she was so good. I can’t… “I let out a heavy breath, but not looking away because I’m brave. “Help, but think that… it should’ve been me, and not her. Okay?” Ohhh god. That sure doesn’t become easier the more times you say it… More a moment, I allow myself to pause. Worry my lip, look away. Then I push back my hair behind my ears and look back at hum, refreshed. Surprising me, when I look back, he’s looking at me. I whisper. “Is that how you feel?”

A moment of meaning passes, before slowly he nods. A more meaningful significant, and consequential then the other nods -other movements, -, simply because its slower. It feels like he’s seriously agreeing with me, like he’s saying ‘Yes, yes. That’s how I feel, I agree. You aren’t alone’.

Its honestly the most understood that I’ve felt since she died. Even her mother wouldn’t look up from the funeral pamphlet and I haven’t seen her since. But Jason, feels like me. Just another flavour, and another face.

Taking a deep breath, with tears filling my eyes now, I nod and take his hand. “Yeah… yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“One day it’ll get better.”

Mayor Buckman:

I cross my arms and lean back on the house, watching the townspeople as the go about their day. One in particular, troubles me who I don’t let up my disappointed gaze on for minutes, as he bobs through town with an obnoxious smile on his face. All week, I’ve watched Buckman to make sure he’s okay after the funeral, and he’s failed every single test.

She entrusted me with his wellbeing and health, and I’m going to take it seriously. Because, although I don’t have as high a appreciation for his existence as she did due to him… well, trying to kill me and feed me to his crazy people, I acknowledge how he changed, for her. While she was here, the death toll in Pleasant Valley went down to all time low from the last century. Because, he had something to continue for, I guess.

But now he’s desperate to go, and although that makes sense, and I can accept it, even if it meant my last connection to her would be lost, he’s going too fast. He hasn’t even given himself time to mourn. She died, and he’s acting like she just left and he’s going to be seeing her real soon. Which, of course, may be true… But she died. Its going to tear him apart if he doesn’t sit down a second and stop grinning so crazy wide.

It’s a bit scary, actually. How full on he is right now.

As a couple new victims -teenagers, on spring break. Nothing new, - who’ve agreed to stay the night go to the room’s they’ll be staying in, our revered Mayor disappears into his home, uncharacteristically. Curious, I push off the wall and follow. “Buckman?”

“Oh,” Is the only response at first, which I take as ‘Please, come in!’, and do. It’s a very wonky ‘Oh’, coming out twisted around every which way, like you were feeling one way and tried to sound a different way. Chewing the inside my cheek, I creep across loud ass floorboards to the livingroom. There, he’s standing by the window with the blinds closed. He looks tired as hell, somehow. I don’t know how a ghost can look so exhausted, but he does. And it’s a weird thing to see on the usually vibrant southerner. “I was just looking for my good handkerchief, this one’s got the wrong pattern- doesn’t match.”

“Oh, stop it.” I walk on in and sit myself down on the couch, patting the spot beside me for him, bossily. “Why don’t you just mourn?”

He gives me a forced smile, not at all in it, and pointedly refuses to sit with me. Oh, boy. “One doesn’t mourn, when you know you’ll see them again soon.”

Okay, ignoring the fact that neither of us know exactly what happens after you really die and he could just disappear into nothingness rather then see her again because we don’t want to make him mad… Changing tact, I turn to him inquisitively. “Buckman, what are you gonna do when you see her again? What do you wanna do?”

“Ah, well, first I’ll intend to hug the stuffing out a’ her, but after that I believe it’s become a bit personal, and we don’t have that relationship my dear.”

“Okay.” Let’s move past that, because the last thing I want in my head is this man and my sisters bedroom activities. My face darkens determinedly, causing Buckman to squint suspiciously at what I’m about to throw at him. “Well, if you don’t sit down and be sad for more then the 2 seconds it takes for you to meaninglessly switch handkerchiefs, you won’t have the energy to do that. You’ll probably faint, if you can even do that in heaven or… wherever you’re going, and then there will be no hugging.” His face darkens, because he knows I’m right. I lean forward towards him, and reiterate. “No hugging. Zip!”

“Okay!” He raises his hands, begging me to stop causing a self-satisfied smile to come to my face. For a moment more, he thinks -I’m sure, - about leaving and avoiding this again like he has bene since she died, but catches my eye and that does it. He gives a defeated sigh, and sits down beside me. I change my expression to sympathetic, because I know how he feels. She was my sister. I loved her, too.

Awkwardly, I drop a couple pats on his back, as he sits doubled over with his face in his hands. Then even ore awkwardly, I cough into my shoulder. “Tea?”

“Ahhh, yes please.”

Sheriff Hoyt / Charlie Hewitt: 

I grip my spoon so tightly that my knuckles go completely white, but I let him go. Hoyt leaves the room, and the house, and I manage not to scream at him to come back and face me, because Luda Mae asked me to. That’s the only reason I didn’t throw the spoon at him.

… But, he’s crossed a line.

So, I push out of the seat and stomp past Thomas in his breakfast seat and Luda Mae pouring him water and out the door after him. “Oh, Charlie!!”

“Who the fuck- “He turns around, as he was heading for his car and his eyes land on me. Immediately they darken from being irritated, to mad and promptly, sticks up his middle finger at me. I grit my teeth, reach him and snatch it out of the air, throwing his hand back to his side. “What do you want, I’m a busy man.”

“You’re fucking unemployed, shut your trap.” I point with my thumb back into the house, and incredulously at him. “What the hell was that?? I haven’t seen a face like that on Luda Mae… e-ever. Ever. I have never seen her that hurt. What the fuck??”

The look Luda’s face appears in the forefront of my mind again, that appeared on her delicate features right after Hoyt told her to ‘shut the fuck up’. He has never used language like that at her before. God, her face. It was a horrible mix of shocked, and destroyed. She thought, we all thought, that if Hoyt still cared and respected anyone in this family then it was her. Evidently, we were wrong.   The fire in my eyes intensify, thinking about the flagrant disrespect. To her! Of all people! That sweet woman! Since I came here, with (Your Friend Who Was With Hoyt’s Name), she has been the kindest.

Hoyt, the least kind. So, I feel zero guilt in tearing him a new one out here.

Oh, you go ahead and flare those nostrils at me Hoyt, I’m not moving. “It’s a family matter, you can stick your nose out of it.”

“Oh,” I say, clutching my heart. “I’m wounded!” He doesn’t think I’ve heard that one before? Well, he’s more of a moron then I thought. “Bottom line, Hoyt, I haven’t seen you be that awful, since you fell in love with- “

“Don’t you dare say her name.” He warns, opening the car door and plopping himself in the front seat. He tries to slam the door shut, but I plant myself between him the door, and hold it open making him deeply sigh. Seeing I wasn’t about to leave, he promptly picks up his gun and a rag and starts cleaning it.

“The person you became with her is worth being. She would never forgive you if you crumpled now. I, would never forgive you.” I point to the house again. “She’s turning in her grave!!”

Hoyt scoffs, a cough of a laugh nearly, and continues to wipe his gun off- of what? I have no idea. He’s just cleaning his gun. Which looks perfectly clean to me. “Well she ain’t here, is she?” He looks up at me next, and the look in his eyes is cold, but not cold enough to force me to back down. “And I don’t remember us ever being friends.”

“Hah, we weren’t.” We will never be. “But guess what? I’m here and I’m here to stay. I won’t let you spiral into a crotchety mess, or even more of a disgusting mess then you’ve always been even with her. And I won’t exactly like it, but I’ll live with it. Because- “

“I don’t need any of your help, honey- “

“Because,” I continue, through grit teeth. His eyes flash at getting cut off, and of course, I revel in it. “I loved her too. I won’t let you become something she would hate. She loved you. Far be it me to understand why, but she did. You could see it in her face, and the way she talked to you. And it hurts so bad, imagining what she might be thinking, watching you now. If she could see you, if she’s seeing you, whatever your stance on religion, she would be heartbroken.”

He looks up, and this time squints at me. “You think I care what she would feel?”

At that little remark, I slam the door in his face, and lean close to the window. “Yes.”