#imagine your queen gets kidnapped and none of the other royals even realize it

[hana-bobo-finch]

i know this probably isn’t what it means but this is what I think of whenever I read this lore book

[kittydemon9000]

SO MERLOPIAN KAI PART 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

So, with Kalmaar, he ofc immediately goes to his parents about his feeling, slightly placing his revenge on hold. They are...dubious about it, but Maya raises the point of how there has never been a human/merlopian hybrid before, and from what Ray has told them about having two EM parents it’s possible for Kai to have some water abilities himself, which could be what gave Kalmaar his feeling. So, they agree to look into it.

Moving on..... Uh. Kai doesn’t have a fun time in S6, as briefly as he’s there. You see, Nahdakahn knows exactly what buttons to press and is able to get Kai into a panicked state where he, on the verge of a panic attack and mental breakdown, just says “I wish that I could just be normal! I wish I could just go home! I wish I could be with dad and mom and father and Kal and Bentho and Nya!!!”

The “normal” comment comes from how they weren’t able to completely hide Kai’s heritage since yeah, there were other people on the boat who saw him. That and he also tried a lot less to keep it hidden. And because some humans are assholes, he has to deal with that.

So ofc, Nahdakahn interprets it in the worst ways and as two wishes. Kai is now a full human yes….but was also sent to where the fish fam currently were……which just so happened to be at the bottom of the ocean.

So yeah, double trauma for both groups. Kai got to experience what drowning felt like, and his fam was essentially forced to watch him die since there was nothing they could do. They were too far under to take him to the surface and too far from the palace to take him there.

But dw, it gets even worse.

You see, the whole reason Nahdakahn is being this malicious about Kai’s wishes is because he learned that Kai was the reason the Preeminent was destroyed, thereby destroying Djinjago.

Nahdakahn is then able to do a “oh? Is this not what you wanted? I thought you wished to be normal.” Which ofc sounds really bad since it’s in front of his family. “But, I understand. You grow tired of the stares in the street, how they whisper behind you back about what you are. Not human, not merlopian, not normal. Just a freak masquerading as one of them.”

This ofc supremely pisses off the fam. Like, weapons drawn ready to commit murder.

But then Nahdakahn stop them with a “ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. After all, I am the only way your son has a chance at living. So go ahead. Make a wish.”

Trimaar ends up being the one to do it, and is smart enough to know this uh will twist it in anyway he can so says. “I wish for Kai to be sent safely to the surface without harm done upon him.”

Blah blah blah, your wish is yours to keep, Trimaar realizing “wait there’s a lot that could be interpreted” but too late BAM now Kai’s kinda stuck on the Misfortune’s Keep.

And he....generally has a pretty bad time. Think Jay but this time it’s personal.

However, Kai’s appearance had Trimaar get the Merlopian army and start heading to the surface. The remaining ninja have a brief moment of “are you kidding me two enemies at once” before learning that this is Kai’s lost family and they’re here to help.

So now the ninja have a whole ass fish army to help them, plus a very protective, very angry fish family.

But for the rest of canon, the only difference is that when they’re leaving Tiger Widow Island, Nya gets snatched along with Jay(who was taken because he hadn’t used his wish yet) and they aren’t stuck on the island, and then later that Kai gets sucked into the sword when the ninja launch their rescue mission.

But yeah, it gets all Un-Happened by Jay’s wish(which at seeing Kai physically hurt and being emotionally torn apart at his baby sister dying, wished that none of this ever happened and that Nahdakahn was never found), only like canon Nya and Jay still remember what happens.

Nya is now firmly on team Kai Is Alive and tells her parents everything about what happened and the wish Jay made, and more importantly where Kai is.

Unfortunately, they need to take some time and prepare. Trimaar and Maya have been doing their best over the years to open the populace possibly making bonds with the humans, but now it’s finally happening. They can’t just go up there out of no where, since from what Nya has told them 1) most humans don’t even know they exist and 2) in the past few years they have been subject of many attacks, mostly from non-humans, so they need to make sure the humans understand they don’t mean any harm.

So DotD happens, then the beginnings of S7 :)

Right out, Kai never liked the museum curator. Up to that point he’d only ever caught fleeting glimpse of him but something about him Kai just despised. As a result, he also visited the museum as scarcely as possible, and thus didn’t notice a very interesting painting containing a two very strange figures.

When he learns his name was Dr.Saunders.....things don’t go well.

It happened when Kai brought the helmet with his dad’s symbol on it. As much as he disliked the curator, he was the most likely to be able to recognize what kind of helmet it was.

Then in his anger he gets himself captured.

He’s taken to a special cell lined with vengestone and has guards around the clock, and Krux takes extra care to make sure Kai doesn’t know where Ray is.

ofc it’s around this time that the Merlopians arrive and express their wishes for a possible alliance between their two races. Unfortunately they showed up at literally the worst time, and double unfortunately the people in charge of diplomacy decide to bring some of the ninja in as an extra precaution because of the villains have been running around.

So the people who join the meeting are Lloyd and Jay from the ninja(they would’ve brought Kai but he hasn’t returned from his missions yet and isn’t answering their calls) as well as some police officers and from the Merlopians is the whole royal family plus a few guards.

Both Jay and Nya have a silent moment of staring at each other since “I know and I’m not sure you know but I think you know but I don’t want to say anything since you might not”

And just as they’re about to start, The Time Twins attack. Because why the hell not.

They’re actually able to hold them off for a while, but unfortunately there are too many Vermillion. Then Kalmaar whips out his Water Powers which causes him to get kidnapped since they need both Fire and Water masters for the blade.

While they’re recovering, Lloyd then gets a panicked call from Zane saying that he checked the museum footage and Kai has been captured. The gets overheard by the royal family, and then Lloyd asks why they looked so upset at which they learn(sans Jay since wish) that Kai is royalty. The eldest son actually, and thus first in line for the throne, as well as being presumed dead for the past five years.

So basically Krux has kidnapped the King and Queen’s husband, the crown prince, and the second in line prince(if anyone knows a more fancy term for this please let me know)

Maya, Trimaar, Nya and Benthomaar are not happy. Not with the Ninjagian people, no they’re fine, but they’re bout ready to murder Krux, and they don’t even know about Ray yet.

So they offer any help they can.

Zap back to how Kai and Kalmaar are doing.

Kalmaar is….kind feral tbh. Like, he’s biting, clawing, trying to strangle them with his tentacles, and before they got vengestone cuffs on him was trying very hard to drown anyone.

Ofc, this does little to the Vermillion and soon Kalmaar finds himself in the cell right next to Kai’s. He’s overjoyed to see his brother again, albeit upset that this is why.

They both reluctantly come to the conclusion that there isn’t much they can do at the moment, and there are many Vermillion guards right outside their cells, so they decide to start catching up.

And for pretty much the rest of the season canon is pretty much the same, just shuffle around the characters a bit and add a protective Fish Fam. 

Though their little trip back in time is quite sight for the Past EMs, especially because of how Kalmaar is using his powers, which leaves Kai mostly stuck in his Fish Form. This time they don’t even bother trying to explain, just give instructions on how to defeat the Vermillion and jumping into the battle. 

And I mean just imagine that from the EMs perspective. An enemy you thought you defeated just returned with a giant metal creature and an army of snake things that don’t look like any kind of Serpentine they’d ever seen. Then a shark person and squid person??? show up and not only do they know how to fight the snake things but they also seem to be Elemental Masters???? Despite the fact Ray is very much alive and they didn’t even know there was a Water EM. Then the two not only summon dragons but they also fuse their dragons into an even bigger one with two heads.

And then all of them disappear into the sky without a trace.

W i l d

But yeah, after that it calms down quite a bit. Kai spends the time skip before S8 reconnecting with his family and his dad, and through some tech courtesy of Borg they're able to bring Ray with them :D

And Kai actually goes to meet the Jade Royal Family since y’know. He’s the crown prince. He’s kinda important and legitimately forgot about it. Luckily Kalmaar is able to help coach Kai through it, but is also a bit smug about how he finally has something to teach to his older brother. Kai was actually the one who suggested asking the ninja for help protecting the mask.....but we know how that inevitably ends.

Bentho, Kal and Nya were actually on the ship for this particular adventure, and then Nya and Bentho were dragged along when they got sent to the First Realm. Bentho, despite being the youngest sibling and to the surprise of literally everyone, was actually really good with kids and spent the most time with Little Wu, right behind Cole.

But yeah S9......Nya and Bentho have a really bad time in the First Realm beause of the heat, but at least they don’t get captured. Kai on the other hand....

Yeah at some point he gets accidentally splashed with water and well.....it definitely doesn’t help with the Oni accusations. The Dragon Hunters decide to burn him along with the Wind Dragon, which moves up their Build Our Own Dragon time table.

After they escape Faith is actually pretty chill about the whole fish thing, but she does ask a lot of questions. 

And then S10..... kinda the same. They end up dropping off as many people as they can with the Merlopians since the smoke can’t reach them.

I might make a Part 3 for the rest of the seasons, but yeah. this is where we’re at.

[tchallasbabymama]

Make it Better

Heyyy y’all! Here’s Ch 8 of Playlist. Check out my masterlist HERE to catch up and read my other stories. This is a long one....

Check out the actual Playlist HERE

Word count: ~10k

CW: Smut

“What?!” K’Hari yelled at his only child as she cried at the kitchen table. Tamala had sat both of her parents down to tell them the news and so far her father was not taking it well. “Say that one more time so I know I understood you. You’re what now?”

“I’m calling off the wedding,” she said through her tears.

“What happened, busi?” her mama asked softly as her baba continued to seethe next to her.

“What happened doesn't matter, Aja. What matters is your daughter has lost her fucking mind if she thinks-”

“Baba, he loves someone else!” Tamala yelled as K’Hari’s eyes rolled in exasperation. “He’s always loved someone else.” She hung her head and berated herself for not seeing it sooner when her mother’s hand reached out to tip her chin upwards to meet her gaze.

“Sithandwa, he could learn to love you,” Aja said softly while using her other hand to wipe the tears from her daughter’s eyes.

Tamala moved away from her mother and looked at her in horror. 

“I thought you would be on my side! He doesn't love me, mama, and he never will. He said so himself...he only loves her.”

“Who is this elusive love of his?” K’Hari’s voice took on a sinister tone.

“H-her name is Ashanti, she's from the Merchant Tribe-”

“Owns an art store?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Y-yes, how did you know?”

K’Hari sighed and his head fell back. He should have known all along.

“She’s the girl that got herself kidnapped by Princess Zenzi, but the king never said why she was the target. Demethi!” He struck the table, shocking Aja and Tamala. “Does he still see her?”

“No,” Tamala sniffled, “I put the fear of Bast in her and told her I would have her exiled if she contacted him again. It must have worked, I’ve never seen T’Challa so angry before.”

“Did he hurt you?” 

“No, mama, not physically anyway. He told me...he told me I would be his queen but she would always have his heart and that this was just an arrangement. What does that even mean?!” Tamala broke down crying as her parents gave each other a look.

K’Hari and Aja Obu had wanted nothing more than for their daughter to marry well, so when the opportunity to have her marry the king presented itself they took it. In council meetings K’Hari and several of the other elders voiced their concerns about the king not being married. He would always brush it off until K’Hari had the idea to align himself with the Border tribe and not allow his immigration proposal to pass. He knew the king would want to speak with him one-on-one about it, and during their meeting he insinuated that his vote could be bought if the king would marry his daughter. Three birds, one stone. They didn’t expect the king to be so cruel and tell Tamala about their deal though. 

There was a long silence as K’Hari shook his head frantically at his wife, knowing she was on the verge of telling Tamala everything.

“Busi-”

“Aja, no-”

“Thula! This was all your idea anyway,” she snapped and K’Hari shrunk into himself. Aja wiped Tamala’s tears and held both of her hands. “Honey, your father made a deal with the king-”

“What kind of deal?” she asked through her stuffy nose and freefalling tears.

“My dear, I-” he cut himself off with a sigh. He never imagined his plan going south, so he had hoped that he would be able to get away with not telling her what he did, but all of that got thrown out the window the minute she showed up at their house in tears. “I made a deal with the king. He wants to open Wakanda even further to the Lost Tribe and allow them to immigrate here. It is a good proposal, but I split the vote and convinced Hodari of the Border Tribe to follow my lead. The king came to speak with me about it and well, uh, long story short I promised him my and Hodari’s votes if he would take you as queen. I knew how important his proposal was to him, and how the rest of the council had been pushing him to find a wife. It was the perfect plan.”

“No it wasn’t! You used me! And mama, you knew about it!” She snatched her hands away from her mother and stood from the table.

“Busi, we-”

“No! You basically sold me to the king! Actually, nevermind, because in order to sell something the buyer has to actually want it! You pushed me onto him and you thought that was ok? You thought I wouldnt eventually find out?!” She quickly gathered her things and ignored her parents’ protests as she stormed out of their home.

Tamala had nowhere she could go and be alone away from everybody, so she retreated to her temporary quarters in the palace. She stayed in there for a week, only letting kitchen staff in and out, but she was upset even more by the fact that nobody came to check on her wellbeing. She already knew she wasn’t wanted by the king, but it wasn’t until then that she realized how much the rest of the royal family never seemed to like her either. She knew she could be abrasive at times, but for them to be so cold? Then it dawned on her that they must have all thought she was involved in her father’s schemes.

“I wouldn’t like me either.” she mused to herself and decided she would go set the record straight at breakfast. 

The next morning Tamala was so anxious that she almost couldn’t make it in time, but she was able to pull herself together at the last minute. She emerged from her room and made the long walk to the elevators that would take her down to the dining area. The butterflies in her stomach flew faster and faster the closer she got, and she was sure other people could hear her heart beating out her chest. By the time she reached the door she had forced herself to calm down again, knowing that what she had to do required a clear head and an unwavering disposition. 

The palace guards opened the doors for her and when she saw them she immediately lost all of the confidence she had worked so hard to build. She had expected to just see the four of them there, but for the first time since she moved into the palace a month ago they had several guests at the table as well. 

M’Baku and his chieftess Shani were seated next to each other across from Queen Mother and Shuri. N’Jadaka sat next to his little cousin with Okoye to his left. It was her off day so they had invited her to join them for breakfast. Her ex-husband W’Kabi was nowhere to be seen, but instead there were two colonizers at the table next to M’Baku. One that looked like a human version of a golden retriever and the other seemed to be part robot. The empty seat at the foot of the table was her only option, so she sat down and tried to drum up the courage to make her announcement.

“Tamala, we have barely seen you this week,” Ramonda remarked, without looking up from her food, only partially interested in her response.

Tamala cleared her throat and when everyone reluctantly turned to look at her she locked eyes with the king. She could still feel how cold and detached he was towards her, which only solidified her decision.

“I needed some time to myself, to think. I have decided to...to call off the wedding.” Everyone was shocked. They all knew of the arrangement since they had each cornered T’Challa at some point to try to talk sense into him. None of them liked Tamala. She was rude, she was entitled, and she had a jealous streak that rubbed them all the wrong way. Worst of all, they thought she was only with T’Challa because she wanted the throne. “I didn’t know about my father’s plan, but I do now and I can’t go through with it. I can’t spend my life with someone who doesn’t love me.”

She kept her eyes on T’Challa and saw his face fall when he found out she was unaware of her father’s plan. He immediately felt bad for what he said to her when he realized her feelings for him were real.

“Tamala, I-”

“I know. You thought I was after the title. I wasn’t, but my father was.”

“That still doesn’t excuse what I said to you.”

“No, it doesn't, but I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes.”

A silence fell over them and she looked around at the guilty faces surrounding the table.

“Did all of you know?”

Everyone nodded or grumbled their response and she felt even more embarrassed knowing that everyone knew it was a lie but her. She sat back in her chair in disbelief.

“If it helps, that’s not the only reason we didn’t like you,” N’Jadaka stage whispered to her from across the table. Shuri and M'Baku snickered as Ramonda reached behind Shuri’s chair to hit her nephew upside his head. 

“That does help, thank you N’Jadaka,” Tamala said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. 

“Could someone fill me in on what just happened?” the blonde colonizer, Steve, asked of his friends after another silence filled the table.

“I got you, man. So basically T’s been trying to make it so Black people can move to Wakanda, but her daddy is head of the Mining tribe and won’t let it go through unless he marries her.”

“What happens to the proposal now? Will he still block it from going through?” Okoye asked.

They all turned to look at Tamala.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Have you told your father about your decision?” Shani added.

“Yes, a week ago.”

“So you decided to wait until the wedding was damn near upon us to let us know?” Queen Mother was getting a headache. “Come with me after you finish eating, we have to call the press and cancel all the vendors and-”

“Mama, I will handle whatever needs to be done. Tamala has been through enough in regards to the wedding.” Ramonda wanted to argue with her son, but she knew he was doing the right thing.

“Very well then,” she gave in.

“So what are you gonna do now?” Bucky asked Tamala and everyone’s ears perked up in curiosity. 

“I’m not sure, but I definitely can’t go back to my parents’ after this.”

“That is understandable. You are welcome to stay as long as you need to.” T’Challa said across the table.

“Thank you, T’Challa.”

“It is the least I can do.”

-------

With three weeks left until the wedding, Ashanti was finally leaving for her month-long trip to New Orleans. She had purchased a cell phone and linked her beads to the archaic device so she wouldn’t have to use them in public. She had done her research on the city and even though her itinerary mostly involved just letting her creative juices flow, there were a few things she knew she had to see and do before she left.

When Chidi and Bisa dropped her off at Wakanda International they were still a little uneasy about Ashanti’s plan. She had never left Wakanda before, but here she was flying across the globe by herself to a city where she doesn’t have any friends or even extended family to look out for her, but they were supportive because they knew it was her dream. When she was young she always wanted to explore the world, but Wakanda was still closed to the outside so she let the idea slip away. She thought the only way she’d get to see it is if she became a War Dog, but Ashanti never had any interest in being a spy. Now her dream was finally coming true, and despite the anxiety twisting her stomach she couldn’t be more excited. 

Her flight only took about 7 hours on the Wakandan jet, and when she touched down and stepped out of the airport she was met with the wet heat of the southern United States. The temperature wasn’t too different from what she was used to, but the humidity made her feel like she was under water. She summoned a Lyft and people-watched as she waited for it to arrive.

She was relieved when it finally pulled up, looking forward to what she hoped would be an air conditioned ride.

“How’s it going ma’am?”

“Hi, uh, it’s good. André, right? How are you?”

“Yes ma’am. Here picking up,” he looked at his phone for confirmation, “Ashanti, but uh, I’ve had better days. Where you from? I hear your accent.”

“Do you hear yours?” she asked playfully as she slid into the back seat while he put her bags in the trunk. He laughed and the warmth of it brought a smile to her face. “I’m from Wakanda.”

“Ohhhhh, Wakanda huh? What made you leave paradise?” He asked as he plopped into the driver seat and closed the door.

“It’s not a paradise.”

“For those of us out here it is.” He looked at her through the rear view mirror for just a second. Her face fell, forgetting how privileged she was to grow up where she did. She had been so focused on getting away from the king that she forgot just how beautiful her homeland could be. “You should be careful out here, I’m sure it’s pretty different than what you’re used to. Crazy folks out here...you going down to Bourbon at any point?”

“Most likely, I’ll be here a while.”

“Hm. Well if you do please, please be careful chère. People get real stupid when they drink.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind. Are you from here?”

“Born and raised. I moved up to Memphis for a while, but came right back. Always on the Mississippi though. What brought you here? You don't seem like the partying type and judging by all that luggage you’re planning to stay for a while.”

She sighed, not sure if she should get into it with her driver, but decided there was no harm in talking to him. 

“My ex is getting married and I just needed to get away for a while.”

“Still love him?” he looked at her through the mirror again and she looked back at him before nodding.

“Yeah I do, it’s complicated…”

“Sounds like it. I been there though. My babymama moved on a couple years ago and I still ain't over it. He’s a nice guy though so I can’t be too mad about it. As long as my girls are taken care of, that’s what matters.”

Ashanti listened and nodded along, watching the city pass by as they drove down the interstate to her new temporary neighborhood. She knew they had arrived when he turned off the exit and she saw a mural painted along a wall that read “Tremé” in colorful letters. They drove a few more blocks before André stopped the car in front of a house with a colorful, plant filled fenced-in courtyard. There was a fat tabby cat lounging in the walkway by an adorable little iron bistro set. Before getting out of the car she used her iphone to review the instructions the host sent her, then she swung the door open, ready to see her living space in person. André grabbed her bags out of the trunk and placed them on the sidewalk for her.

“Could you help me carry them in?” she asked of her Lyft driver who turned to look at her like she was crazy.

“Ma’am, you sure are trusting. I’ll help you, but you can’t be out here just letting people in your place like that.”

Ashanti blushed, she hadn’t even thought of the danger she was putting herself in and she was thankful that André seemed like a good man. He brought her bags into the living room and took a look around, whistling at the sight. 

“I’ve never actually gotten a look inside one of these new Air Bnb’s, these are niiiice. Ruining the neighborhood though, but what can you do?”

“How is it ruining the neighborhood?”

André chuckled a little at her naivety before concern crept up on him, too. This girl had let him into her home, alone, and he wondered what other stupid things she might get into.

“You know, how about I show you around. I’ll be your personal chauffeur while you’re here. For a fee, of course.”

“Of course. That sounds like a good idea...ok lets do it.” 

“Great, did you want to settle in or go out now? I can run some quick errands while you rest up”

“I’ll be hungry in about a couple hours. Come back then?”

“You got it miss lady, see you later,” he turned to leave the house but turned back with a serious look on his face. “Make sure you keep these doors locked, you seem like the type to just keep them open.” 

“I will.”

He squinted at her, not believing a word she said.

“I said I will, Bast!”

“You better,” he pointed at her as he closed the door behind him.

She plopped on the couch and she was thankful to have the space all to herself, but the vibe was quickly ruined by him yelling at her from outside.

“Lock the door Ashanti!”

She scrambled from her spot and locked the door.

“Happy now?” she shouted at him.

“Thank you!” she heard him say right before the car door closed and he drove off. 

She was finally alone and could really feel the energy of the place. It would be perfect for her little artist getaway. The south facing windows let in so much natural light that she wouldn't even need to turn the lights on during the day. She had already scoped out where she would set up her easel, and she made a mental note to ask André about art supply stores since she could only bring so much on the plane.

She made her way to the bedroom and plopped down on the bed, testing its softness. Once she was satisfied she rolled off and went to the bathroom to set up her toiletries. When she opened the door she was thrown back in time to when T’Challa first invited her to his quarters after their first date. The monstera in the corner and the ivy draping down the walls reminded her of what she always called his “jungle chic bathroom”, but she quickly shook the thought out of her head. She stripped down and stared at herself in the mirror as the water heated up, but ran back to her suitcase to grab her kimoyo beads. They were synched to her phone, but she thought the sound quality was better on the beads.. 

“Hey Kim, play music.”

How do you mend when you worlds apart?

Ooh, carry on

Ooh, from the start

Somehow, we fell in love, then fell right out of touch

And ooh, that was hard

But ooh, here we are

And it's easier to walk away

Than to look for what would make you stay

“Next song please.” she grumbled, not in the mood for a love song. Thankfully the next song was anything but. 

“There’s some whores in this house, there’s some whores in this house…,” she sang along loudly while scrubbing down.

When she was finished she got out and did her usual routine before laying down to take a nap until André came back. When he did, she was excited to see that he brought gumbo. 

“I wasn’t sure if you were too tired to go out or not. Either way, this’ll heat up pretty good tomorrow. I made a big pot yesterday, figured you’d like some authentic ‘Nawlins’ cuisine.”

Her eyes lit up and she dug right in, obviously hungrier than either of them thought she would be.

“Mmm, this is amazing. You made this?” she asked, having yet another flashback to her first date with T’Challa. 

“Sho did, my daddy’s recipe.”

“Well tell your daddy I said thank you.”

“Tell him yourself. We having a fish fry this weekend, you should swing by. His place is just a few blocks from here.”

“I’ll be there! It’s not like I have any real plans or anything.”

“Yeah, what you gonna do while you're here?”

“Walk around, explore, paint, take in some sights, do some touristy things.”

“Let me guess, voodoo museum and cemetery tour?”

“That’s on the list, yeah.”

“Nah, my granny can probably tell you all that better than some tourist trap.”

“Will she be there this weekend?”

“Oh she never missed a fish fry in all her 79 years.”

Ashanti laughed

“Good. So about our chauffeur situation, how about $2,000 a week?”

He stared at her in disbelief.

“What? I’m sorry, is that too low? I’m not good with the conversion rate-”

“No that’s way more than I been making, you got yourself a deal. Hell I’ll be your protection detail too if you need it.”

She giggled a little bit and finally felt her shoulders relax. As much as she knew she needed this trip, it scared her to be so alone so far from home, but André’s warm aura made her feel safe in his presence. As far as she could tell, he was a Bast-send.

The two stayed in for the night, talking and getting to know each other until André left around 9. Ashanti locked up behind him and carried herself up to bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

-------

The king chose to take the day to himself, and he decided to spend it the same way he spent his favorite off-day, with Ashanti at her shop. She had to have seen the news by now and known the wedding was off, but she was still not answering his calls. He grew concerned and decided to use his day off to try to make things right. 

As he walked through the market with his Dora, waving at the occasional excited passerby and stopping to talk to the children that wanted his attention, he felt lighter than he had in a while. He was finally free of Tamala and once her father’s scheming was revealed to the council, he and Hodari were replaced by their second in command. The proposal to open Wakanda to the Lost Tribe had passed and now they could start prepping for the day when their doors would truly open to the world. His plan had gone through, he wasn’t being forced into marriage, and the council had even backed off of their incessant need to marry him off. All he needed now was his lady.

Chidi was the first to see him round the corner and he waved the king over, saluting him to keep up appearances in public. 

“What are you doing here, my boy?”

“I wanted to see Ashanti, do you know if she’s in?”

“She’s been gone for about three weeks now, she needed to get away from all the wedding coverage. She’ll be back next week unless her plans have changed. She barely calls us so I have no idea. Can you believe it, my only daughter goes halfway around the world and can't even call me to say she’s alive! Don’t have kids, T’Challa, they’ll rip your heart out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Where did she run off to?”

“New Orleans.”

“That fits her,” T’Challa smiled fondly while picturing her painting on an old balcony with jazz musicians playing down below or eating beignets and sipping coffee at Cafe Du Monde. 

“Not enough to forget about her parents, it doesn’t!” Chidi fussed, causing Bisa to stick her head out from the back. Her face lit up when she saw the king.

“Oh hi T’Challa dear.” She came out from the kitchen and gave him a hug, surprising the few customers  Zana Cafe had during the after lunch lull. 

“Bisa, a pleasure as always.”

“I’m sure he told you Ashanti is off galavanting around the world avoiding your wedding. By the way, congratulations on being single again. I could tell you hated every moment of being with that woman, she seemed too clingy for you.”

“Thank you, it is good to be single again.”

“Not for too long, I hope,” Chidi’s eyebrow raised as he stared up at the king.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good.” Chidi clapped him on the back and the king said goodbye to who he hoped would be his future in-laws.

As he crossed the street to Taj’s his nerves picked back up.

“She’s not even here man, chill out.” He spoke to himself softly and took a couple deep breaths before entering the store.

The doorway chimed every time a customer passed through, so when Zina heard it chime and  looked up she nearly dropped the beads she was sorting.

“M-my king!” She saluted him as Jafari came from the back room to see what all the commotion was about, before stopping and saluting him as well.

“Please, no need for that.”

“What can we do for you, your highness?” Jafari asked since Zina seemed to be stuck in a trance staring at the handsome king. 

“I was hoping to place a custom order.”

“The jewelry artist is out of town currently, but we can still take your order. It probably won’t be ready for another month or so. She doesn’t allow special orders to skip the line.”

“That is fine, I can wa- is your friend ok?”

Zina was still glued to the spot, staring at the king.

“Z, why don't you finish the beads in the back, I’ll handle up here.”

“Yeah. Ok, yeah, sorry, heh.” She shook herself out of it and rushed towards the back to get away from the king so she didn't embarrass herself further. 

The two men shared a knowing look and the king chuckled, used to that reaction by now. He had, after all, been fine as hell his whole life.

“So, what would you like?”

“First, I would like it to be anonymous.”

After about 30 or so minutes of finalizing the design, the king left the shop still feeling light, but now with a tinge of anxiety. He wasn’t sure how she would feel seeing him again, but the one big obstacle keeping them apart had finally been removed and he hoped she saw it that way, too. 

-------

Ashanti’s time in the Crescent City was coming to an end, and she didn’t want to say goodbye to André and the rest of the François family. She invited them to come visit her in Wakanda and she was sure at least a couple of them would actually take her up on her offer. Saying goodbye to everybody had been rough, but she was more than ready to go back home. She even said goodbye to the fat cat that laid around in her courtyard most mornings. When André dropped her off at the airport they were both misty-eyed. They had become the best of friends and he was already planning to come visit Wakanda during the summer with his daughter Désirée, who simply adored Ashanti. They hugged and kissed each other's cheeks before he sent her on her way through security.

The flight back seemed to take a whole lot longer than the flight there, but she still made it in about the same amount of time thanks to the jets being infused with Wakandan tech. As they got closer to the border, she could feel the tattoo on her inner lip start to tingle, and when they landed it finally subsided. She nearly ran off the plane when she saw her parents and roommates waiting for her at the gate, and she attacked all four of them with a giant hug.

“I missed you all so much!”

“Chile no you didn't, you barely texted me.” Kwame joked as she hit his arm.

“And you barely called us. Must have been some trip!” Chidi added.

“It was! I have tons of pictures. I met this guy who-”

“A guy?” her mother interjected, concern written on her face. Ashanti misinterpreted it as concern for her safety but she was actually concerned about the state of her and T’Challa’s possible relationship. 

“Yes, mama, a guy. He was my driver and we became friends and his family sort of took me in for the month. It was great!”

The five of them made their way to  Zana Cafe and were met with Zina and Jafari, who were both ecstatic to have their boss back.

“Bosslady! You look well-rested.” Jafari pulled her in for a hug before Zina could do the same.

“That’s because I am. I need to do the whole vacation thing more often. Travelling is so cheap thanks to the conversion rate. Did you know our money is worth five times as much as American money?”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. Why don’t you go ahead and start telling stories and I’ll bring the food out?”Chidi suggested.

Ashanti had them hanging on her every word all night long. She told them about everything, from the cemeteries to the swamps to Bourbon street to the history of Marie Laveau. She told them about the jazz musicians and what she learned about the effects of hurricane Katrina and gentrification. She told them about the François family and the kindness they showed her, and even pulled up some pictures of her work on her beads to show them.

“I’m definitely going back at some point.”

“Don't you want to go somewhere else instead?” Zina asked, stuffing her face full of food.

“I want both,” Ashanti said with a laugh. She had missed her friends and family, but wouldn't trade the last month of her life for the world.

It started getting late so Zina and Binta left to go be with their respective significant others, while the others cleaned up the table. Jafari was the next to go, and after he left the remaining three descended upon Ashanti too quickly for her comfort.

“Do you know already?” Kwame asked her suspiciously.

“Know what? You’re freaking me out.”

“About the king.”

“Why would you- I left to get away from him, I don’t want to think-”

“Intyatyambo, they called it off weeks ago,” Bisa added.

Her whole world stopped, but she was too tired to process the information they had just given her.

“I-I don't...why?”

“Nobody knows, but the king came down here looking for you the other day.” said Chidi.

“He did?!” Ashanti asked, looking to her mother for confirmation.

“He did.”

“Well, um- that’s cool I guess. I-I need to get some rest, it’s late and my brain hurts.”

“Get home safe sithandwa,” Chidi ordered.

“I will baba, bye. Bye mama.'' She hugged them both before she and Kwame drove home in his new hover car.

“So this André guy?”

“Just a friend, Kwame.”

“Ok but is he cute?”

“You know that American show you like to watch? Oh, what’s it called...Insecure! He looks like the light skinned guy on there.”

“Nathan?! Girrrrl and you didn’t hit that?”

“No, ew, he felt more like a brother.”

“Mmmhm, so you didn’t go get your groove back?”

“Meaning…?”

“Did you get that back blown out in Nola or no?”

“No.”

“Girl I swear, the wrong one of us is doing all the travelling.”

The two laughed as they entered their home and said good night before going their separate ways.

As comfortable as her bed back in New Orleans was, it pales in comparison to her bed at home. She knew not to even sit down until she was ready to pass out. She quickly showered and threw on a big t-shirt before hopping in her bed and drifting away to dreamland.

Mmm, Ashanti.

Come sit on your throne, kitten. 

Ride me just like that.

Bounce on it.

Cum on my dick.

Nah-uh, don’t fucking move, I’m cumming in this pussy. My pussy. 

“Your pussy, baby,” Ashanti whimpered in her sleep just moments before her eyes flew open. She hadn’t had a dream like that in months, now all of a sudden her body was acting crazy just because she heard he was single again. As far as she knew, the council could have another wife lined up for him so there was no need to even get excited. Apparently, nobody told her pussy that. 

She looked at the clock and was surprised it was well after 10am, until she remembered she probably had jet lag. Her thoughts were interrupted by a light knock at the door.

“Oh good you’re up, I was just checking to make sure you were breathing,” Binta joked as Ashanti threw a pillow at her from the bed. 

“I’m alive, just jetlagged. I don't think I’ve ever slept this late in my entire life.”

“Yeah girl that's why I came up here to make sure you were ok!”

“I guess it’s something I’ll have to get used to if I’m going to be travelling a lot.”

Binta sat on the end of the bed.

“You really did love it huh?”

“I did, and there are so many places to see!”

Binta laughed and was about to say something when her beads rang.

“Oop, gotta go. Mrs. Obi is going into labor, but her doula came down with a stomach bug this morning so I get to step in.”

“Good luck!” Ashanti shouted at Binta as she frantically ran down the steps to grab her work bag and go.

Ashanti sat up in bed and stretched her arms out wide before swinging her legs over the side and standing up, stretching even further. She padded her way to the bathroom and checked herself out in the mirror while brushing her teeth. She decided to shower again since last night was more of a quick rinse, so she cut the water back on and got naked. 

“Hey Kim, play music.”

How do you mend when you worlds apart?

Ooh, carry on

Ooh, from the start

Somehow, we fell in love, then fell right out of touch

And ooh, that was hard

But ooh, here we are

And it's easier to walk away

Than to look for what would make you stay

This time she was in the mood for the love song, so she allowed it to play all the way through.

Remember when we first met?

We were having so much fun

So, now, how can we both forget

Telling each other, "We're the one"?

We would make love (We would make love)

At the drop of a hat

Remember that?

(Yeah)

I remember you and me (You and me)

Close as any two can be (Two can be)

Now we're strangers in the night (Strangers)

Awkward in the tight

Oh baby, do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

Hey, if you do

Then let's please

Make some new

Memories

The song was cut off by her beads ringing. She finished rinsing off and hopped back out the shower to see who was calling her. She threw on a robe, then answered the call. She was surprised to see Zina on the other end.

“Hey Z, how’s it going?”

“Hey Shanti, so um the shop is really busy and Jafari got that stomach bug that’s going around and-”

“I’ll be there in 30, no worries. Breathe Zina.”

She took a deep breath and was able to destress a little bit.

“Sorry, I just get a little tense sometimes.”

“I understand. If it's too busy for you to handle, just close the doors and we can reopen when I get there. See you soon.”

She ended the call and searched for something to wear. She threw on a white t-shirt and colorful joggers with sneakers before grabbing her bags and heading out the door. 

When she arrived at Taj’s the customers had died down so she was able to work in the back and look through her commissions. There was one that stood out to her, it was an anonymous client who wanted a very simple necklace. They could have bought one like it at the front of the shop, but she guessed this person wanted it made just for them. Looking at her calendar and other commissions she guessed it would be ready in a  month or so, but with it being such a simple design she decided to go ahead and make it to get it out of the way.

-------

The king was surprised when Jafari called him to come pick up his order. It was way earlier than he had expected, but he would never complain about getting to see Ashanti sooner rather than later. T’Challa decided to take the day off again, and he knew his sister wouldn’t take too kindly to it so he decided to make her favorite breakfast for her. When his mother and sister rolled into their en suite kitchen, following the delicious smells wafting through the royal wing of the palace, Shuri immediately knew something was up. 

“Unyana, shouldn’t you be working?”

“Oh no. Is this a bribe?” Shuri asked, eyes scanning over the American-style breakfast and mouth watering at the fluffy golden pancakes. She wanted to stand her ground, but they called to her. T’Challa knew what he was doing. 

“Don’t think of it as a bribe, think of it as a thank you in advance,” he said with a sly smirk on his face.

“Let me go clear my schedule-” she sighed.

“No need. Already done,” he smiled at her as he shovelled scrambled eggs onto her plate.

“You’re the worst. This better be for a good reason.”

“It is.”

“Are you going to tell us what it is?” Queen Mother inquired. 

“No, not yet.” T’Challa didn’t want his family to get too excited.

“Ugh, I deserve to know since you're making me queen for a day.”

He stared at her, deciding between telling her and keeping it to himself. His decision was cut short when his kimoyo beads rang and he answered to see Nakia looking very excited.

“N’Jadaka told me everything! How did it go?”

“Oh so you told him but won’t tell us?! Your own mother and sister? Your own flesh and blood? How rude.” Shuri said, crossing her arms and giving him a look of disapproval, making him roll his eyes at her dramatics.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to start anything, I was just so excited. You know the prince can’t hold water, I don’t know why you ever tell him anything.”

“You are right as usual, umhlobo wam.”

“Well, I’ll let you go since you obviously have some explaining to do,” she looked behind T’Challa at the princess and Queen Mother who had looks of displeasure on their faces. “Call me after!” And with that she ended the call and her hologram disappeared from his hand. He took a deep breath and turned to face his family.

“So?” Ramonda asked impatiently, Shuri nodding along.

“So...I am going to see Ashanti.” He paused as their faces lit up and he couldn't help but smile, too. “I went to see her on my off day a couple weeks ago, but she was out of town. Apparently she left to avoid the wedding coverage...but she’s back now, so I took the day off to go see her.”

Their smiles were up to their ears despite the silence that followed T’Challa’s explanation.

“I haven’t seen you look this happy in a long time, unyana wam.”

“Thank you mama, I’m hoping all goes well.”

“Bast be with you, dear.”

“Ugh, I guess I’ll do your job for you. Tell my sister I said hi and I miss her!”

Ramonda smirked at her daughter’s choice of words, and T’Challa fought to keep a smile off his face.

“I’ll do just that.”

“Well, go ahead and eat so you can get out of here,”  Ramonda encouraged her son.

T’Challa chuckled at his mother’s insistence, but did what she said. He tried his best to not rush through the meal, but his excitement took over and he inhaled his breakfast before kissing Shuri and Ramonda on their foreheads and running out the door.

As soon as he left the kitchen his nerves kicked in and he decided to smoke a little something on his balcony before heading out. The royal grower had left him a nice hybrid strain, and after a couple of hits he felt calm enough to do what he needed to do. He ashed his blunt before making his way down the palace elevators and out the front entrance. 

He strolled through the city with Okoye and three other Dora, standing tall and smiling at the few other pedestrians when they caught his eye.

“You’re in a good mood today. Is it the weed or our destination?” Okoye teased him.

“Yes.” he responded and chuckled as she gave him a knowing glance. She hadn’t seen her king this happy in...well it’s been a while.

They stopped just around the corner from Taj’s and T’Challa took a deep breath before walking forward. Thankfully it was still early and the market hadn’t livened up yet, so Taj’s would most likely be empty or at the very least not busy. 

The Doras stood watch at the open doors and he stepped in, causing the chimes to ring out once again. He was met with the same smiling faces as before and he immediately deflated since he had been hoping he would get to see Ashanti.

“My king.” Zina and Jafari said in unison, saluting him in the process. 

“Hello, I received a message that my order is ready. I would love to speak with the artist if she is in.”

“Sure, I’ll go grab her. She’s just in the back working on another order, I’ll be right back,” Zina said before hopping off her stool and disappearing behind a multicolored curtain that had been dyed by children in one of their art classes.

By the time Zina reached Ashanti’s workstation, she was overflowing with excitement.

“The-anonymous-client-is-here-and-they-want-to-meet-you!” she rushed out.

“Zina, breathe. One more time, please.” Ashanti looked up from measuring the pair of pendulums that would become pearl drop earrings when she was through with them.

“Just come out front and see for yourself.”

Ashanti sighed and set down her tools, brushing off her clothes as she stood and following Zina out to the front. She figured the anonymous order was either from someone she knew or from someone of nobility from one of the tribes, but nothing had prepared her to see T’Challa standing in her shop just like he did almost two years ago. She froze on the spot when she saw him and her two employees snickered at what they assumed was her “starstruck” face, not knowing it was anything but.

“Hi.” he said softly with a smile.

“Hi. So you’re my anonymous client?” her voice softened as she took in his form. T’Challa was many things, but he was not someone who repeated outfits, yet here he was in her shop wearing the exact same clothes as the day they met.

Zina and Jafari’s jaws fell to the floor as they both realized that Ashanti knew the king.

“That I am. I hope you don’t mind, I needed a way to see you. I didn’t want to just pop up at your home, but you blocked me, so...I understand though-”

“Holy shit-” Jafari said under his breath but much louder than he anticipated, causing Zina to elbow him in his side.

“W-we’ll just be in the back,” she stuttered as she pushed Jafari into the back room to give them privacy.

There was a tense silence for a moment before T’Challa spoke.

“I heard about New Orleans. How was it?”

“It, uh, was great. I was there about a month and met some really great people. Got a lot of painting done-”

“Hm” T’challa nodded with a warm smile on his face.

“What?”

“When Chidi told me you were in New Orleans that’s exactly what I pictured you doing. You, on a balcony, painting, with Jazz musicians playing on the street below.”

“So you pictured me, huh?” she teased.

T’Challa laughed. “Yes, quite often I’m afraid,” he took a step forward. “And you? Do you still think about me?” he asked her while moving closer so that the only thing between them was the counter.

Ashanti’s heart beat faster and her palms got sweatier with every step he took.

“All the time.”

“Do you have someone special in your life?”

“No. Any more arranged marriages on your end?”

He chuckled and shook his head, “No.”

“Good.”

“Good?” 

“Mhm.”

“Ashanti,” he took a deep breath. “I really am sorry.”

“For what?”

“I should have never let you go-”

“I needed to go, T’Challa. If you had chased me I just would’ve run further away.”

“Ok,” he nodded. “However, I know that if I had to see you with another man it would tear my heart to pieces, so I am sorry from the bottom of my heart that you had to experience that pain.” His big brown eyes twinkled with sincerity and her nerves simply melted away.

“Eh, I’ve had worse,” she joked, shrugging and holding up her pinky.

The two of them stared at each other in silence with small smiles plastered on their faces.

“Ashanti,” he began as he grabbed her hand and kissed it, feeling the cold metal of her robotic pinky beneath his lips, “I know it’s been a rollercoaster, to say the least, but my heart will always be yours.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and one escaped, prompting his thumb to reach out and swipe it away.

“Please don’t cry, kitten.” he said as tears threatened to escape his eyes, too.

“I’m sorry, I just-”

“Don’t be sorry, my love.”

She looked at him in that moment and took in his face that she missed more than her heart could bear. She missed his deep dark eyes, his broad nose, his bushy yet tamed eyebrows, and that lopsided gap toothed smile. She missed scratching his beard when they kissed and oiling his scalp with him seated between her legs. She missed the little things about him and their time spent together, and she was tired of running. She was tired of letting her fear dictate her happiness. She was tired of other people standing in their way, but now there was nothing in their way but a wooden countertop.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered. 

He quickly rounded the counter and pulled her body in close, planting his lips on hers. She melted into him as they both finally let their tears fall. They stayed in that embrace for Bast knows how long, taking in the moment and reacquainting themselves with the feel of each other. 

T’Challa had missed the smell of her perfume and the pomegranate leave-in conditioner she used in her hair even more than he realized. Her soft body conformed to his and it took all of his willpower to not explore her body more, so he leaned back to untangle himself from her momentarily only to be pulled back into her embrace. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the comforting sound of his heartbeat.

“Not yet,” she whimpered as she pulled him in tighter. He chuckled and rested his chin on top of her head after placing a light kiss on her crown. He saw the curtain ruffle slightly and knew her employees were eavesdropping.

“I think we have an audience.”

“I figured.” She refused to let go. “Can we go somewhere else?”

“Anywhere you want.”

The wheels in her head turned and turned. She didn’t want to be bothered by either of their loved ones, but she wanted privacy.

“Take me back to the lake.”

“Anything for you.”

She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. This time it was true, he really would and could do anything for her. There was no fiancee or council standing in his way. 

“Zina, Jafari, you two can come out now,” she said as she pulled only halfway out of the king’s embrace, his arm still around her waist. Her two employees tripped over themselves from behind the curtain and emerged with guilty looks on their faces.

“I’ll be gone the rest of the day. If it gets too crazy I trust you two to handle it on your own.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Of course, bosslady.”

She momentarily left T’Challa’s warmth to grab her bag from the back before they sauntered out of Taj’s hand in hand.

-------

When you take somebody for your own

It can't survive on history alone

Meet me at the hotel, motel

Though we got a room at home

Go to a place that we don't know so well

It be nice, add a little spice

Try some new seduction

Show each other how

Give each other new instructions

On what makes us

Feel good

Now

I just wanna make you feel good now

Do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

And it's easier to run away

Than to look for what would make you stay

The music played in the background as they swayed back and forth. Her ear was planted directly over his heart again, listening as it beat in time with her own. His right hand intertwined with her left as he held her close and his chin found its home on the top of her head once more. They were both too full of emotion to speak, so they let the music do the talking for them. 

Do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

If you do

Then let's please

Make some new

Memories

Do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

If you do

Then let's please

Make some new

Memories

Do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

If you do

Then let's please

Make some new

Memories

Do you want to make it better?

Do you want to stay together?

Eventually the two of them tired of dancing and laid back in the grass talking about their time apart. When she spoke of New Orleans her face lit up, and he made a mental note to take her around the globe. The conversation turned serious about halfway through and T’Challa told her the whole truth about what happened with Tamala, even telling her of his behavior towards her.

“That poor girl.”

“I know. Had I known she was serious I wouldn’t have been so crass with her, but in my mind she was just another obstacle blocking me from you. We’ve since made up and are on good terms, but I still feel like shit about it.”

“Challa, you hold on to too much. You apologized, she accepted, and you two made up. Let it go, don’t let it eat you up inside.” She cupped his face in her hands.

He nodded in understanding and kissed her wrist, sending chills down her spine.

“How is the sobriety going?”

“It’ll be six months next week.”

“I’m proud of you, you know that?” 

“For becoming an alcoholic?” he joked.

She pinched his arm.

“No, silly. For getting a handle on it. My umalume was an alcoholic and I saw what it did to him. I’m happy you were able to get better.”

“I am too.”

They sat in another comfortable silence staring at each other until Ashanti got an idea. 

“Want to go for a swim?”

A smile slowly crept up the king’s face before he bolted up, already pulling his shirt over his head.

“I’ll take that for a yes,” Ashanti laughed. “Help me with my zipper?” She stood up and turned around, moving her beaded cornrows out of his way.

“Of course,” he said as he came up behind her and pulled her zipper all the way down, revealing a lavender lace bra and the top of what he assumed to be matching panties. “Still into lingerie, I see.”

“Oh please, like you aren’t into it too.” She looked at him over her shoulder and smirked.

“You’ve got me there’” he said with a chuckle that rumbled from deep within his chiseled chest and made her weak in her knees. Ashanti turned around and her dress dropped to the ground, revealing her almost naked body. She undid her bra and let it fall next, freeing her breasts that he loved oh so much. Last to go was her underwear, which she slowly slid down her legs before standing back up and looking him in his eyes as if to challenge him. “You’re next” her eyes said to him. 

T’Challa undid his belt buckle before unzipping his pants and pushing them to the ground. He had nothing underneath and Ashanti’s eyes were immediately drawn down to his thick, beautiful dick. She moved closer to him and placed a light kiss on his lips before taking his hand in hers and leading him to the water. The waded in to where Ashanti’s feet could still just barely touch the ground and she finally let his hand go and turned around to face him.

“I want us to start over. Like you said, we have a rocky history and I don’t want to carry that baggage with us anymore. We deserve a fresh start,” she brought her hands up to his shoulders, “You know, my umakhulu used to always tell us to take our problems to the river. He said freshwater had healing properties and could wash away your sorrows...well, it’s not the river, but I imagine this could work about the same way.”

A smirk fell on T’Challa’s face as he listened to her speak. “I never told you the name of this lake, did I?”

“I don’t think so, why?” Her big brown eyes stared up at him curiously.

“This is the Ichibi Lokuphilisa, blessed by Bast herself.”

“Oh...damn, I’m good.” she said as they both busted out laughing. Her bringing them to the Lake of Healing must have been a sign from Bast. Just like the dreams she had before meeting T’Challa and the ones she continues to have to this day. 

“You brought us here for a reason, what will you have me do now, my love?”

“Do you mean that? Do you love me?”

His hand splashed up out the water and cupped her face while his other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her into him.

“I’ve loved you since our first date. Before I even met you I had these dreams-” 

Ashanti’s eyes widened in shock.

“I saw you, too! I mean, it was blurry, but I saw you come into the shop and then I’ve had like a million sex dreams about you. Those haven’t gone away, either.”

“Neither have mine. My dream was blurry too, but I kissed you in your shop and then when we met and you dropped that broom, I felt sparks when our hands touched. I knew then you had to be the woman from my dream. Ashanti, my soul loved you before I even knew who you were.”

He wiped away the tears that were steadily falling from her eyes before kissing her forehead, her nose, then her lips. 

“I love you too,” she whispered against the king’s lips while they stood there forehead to forehead, looking deep into each other’s souls. “And I don’t want to be without you again. I know I’m the one that left-“ she was cut off by him pressing his lips to hers.

“None of that matters now. Fresh start, right?”

She looked up at him and nodded.

“Fresh start.” 

He leaned back in for a kiss and the two of them got lost in each other’s mouths, lips suckling and tongues swirling. Her hands found their way to his curls and his travelled down to her ass before giving it a squeeze, making her melt into him even more. Her legs came up and wrapped around his waist and he growled into the kiss, deepening it and holding her tighter. His dick rested between her cheeks as she rocked her hips back and forth along his length, grinding her clit into his pelvis as she let out a soft moan. She had missed how he felt inside her and couldn’t wait any longer, so she lifted herself up to place him at her entrance, and he rolled his hips forward to enter her slowly.

Ashanti hadn’t had sex with anyone since Zane, but her body immediately opened up for T’Challa, allowing him to slide into her with ease until they were connected pelvis to pelvis. Neither one of them realized the tears that fell from their eyes as they kissed and rocked into each other, letting the water hold them steady.

“Ndiyakuthanda” he whispered over and over in her ear, imprinting himself on her body once more as he nibbled on her earlobe.

Ashanti couldn’t open her mouth to form words, only moans of pleasure. She wanted to return the sentiment and tell him she loved him too, but the feeling of him inside her overwhelmed her senses. Tears continued to  stream down her face as the pain of being apart from him  the last year and a half washed away. Her body felt tingly all over and everywhere he touched her a searing heat followed, warming her skin from the inside out. 

It took most of T’Challa’s strength to keep his knees from buckling from the pleasure he was feeling , but the lake waters kept him upright. He felt at home inside her and he couldn’t help the words of praise and adoration falling from his lips.

“You’re so beautiful.”

“I missed you so much.”

“Mmm you feel so good around me.”

“I’m yours, Ashanti.”

The tension inside her rose with each whisper, and when she was finally able to find the strength to speak she pulled back to look at him, taking in the tears that had made their way down his beautiful face. 

“Ndiyakuthanda, T’Challa. With all my heart.”

Their lips smashed together and he lifted her higher, allowing the water to cushion her fall back down on him as he went impossibly deep inside her. His thrusts got rougher and she saw stars.

“Come with me, kitten.”

That was all Ashanti needed. She had missed so many things about T’Challa, but hearing him call her by her favorite nickname of his sent her over the edge.

Every time their hips met she grinded further into him and the tension rose in both of their bodies. His toes dug into the sediment as she wrapped her legs even tighter around him, both preparing for their orgasms. Ashanti was the first to break, his thrusts sending her over the edge. She called out his name as she released all over his dick, making his thrusts falter. Her walls contracted around him, locking him in place as he came deep inside her.

Neither could bear the thought of not touching the other, so they stayed just like that, trading light kisses and declarations of love as the waters around them stilled.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @maddeningmayhem, @theblulife, @ljstraightnochaser @determinednot2fall

[akizumy]

Guilt

Sooo- I hadn’t planned to write anything for Halloween, but then I got this idea and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I know I’m a day late (typical me), but since it is done I might as well post it, right ? This One Shot is part of the Varitas AU (basically an evil Varian ahah), and I fear I got inspired by the rp blogs : @royal-engineer-of-corona and @v-a-r-i-t-a-s TW !! Amber, knife, death (there is no graphic description except a mention of blood)- if there is anything else that you think I should tag, don’t hesitate to yell at me in the comments. Takes place between Be very Afraid and Cassandra's revenge !

If most people had to describe Varian, they would use the word 'dangerous' because of what the kid could do, and what he had already done. Although the alchemist had saved Corona and been forgiven by the royal family, everyone still saw him as the criminal who kidnapped their queen, who attacked the kingdom with automatons and a mutant raccoon. Everyone still saw him as the threat he used to be and could still be, even Varian himself : if the alchemist couldn't forgive himself, why would others act any differently ? But Eugene saw things differently. Unlike the rest of the Coronans, the former thief spend most of his days with the young alchemist ever since the latter got out of jail; he had of course been wary of him at first, the memory of Varian attacking Rapunzel and the kingdom still painfully fresh in his memory like in everyone else's. But day after day, he had soon come to accept that the kid was very different from this idea that everyone had of him. Everything about him, whether it was his actions or his words, illustrated his regrets about his past actions; and Eugene could see how hard the kid was trying to make amends. That was why the word he associated with Varian was not 'dangerous', but 'guilt'. It was both an observation of the alchemist's behavior, his doubts and culpability, and also a protection against others' judgment. Varian had regrets. Varian had changed. Varian was no longer dangerous. He wanted nothing more than for everyone, the kid included, to see that and to be able to move on; for people to realize all the good Varian could make, and for Varian to see that as well- that it wasn't too late for him to be who he wanted to be. That he could still be happy. Such a shame that he had to be proved wrong. It had all happened really fast : the automatons, attacking the island one morning. They were numerous, and more just kept coming in an endless flow; even though they had no idea what was happening or why, Rapunzel had focused on going and protecting the Coronans first, getting answers after that. That was the plan. Pretty easy, hard to mess up- or, it should have been. Because now as the cold, metal hand of the automaton was firmly holding Eugene prisoner, the latter having no choice but to face the woman he loved encased in amber and surrounded by two other automatons, the former thief was left wondering how could things have possibly gone this wrong. "Well, it looks like Corona no longer has her beloved leader- if she could even be called that in the first place." And of course, how could he possibly forget the one whose satisfied tone was awakening in Eugene a deep hatred, one like he had never felt before. Varian was standing in front of the statue, looking absolutely triumphant, and how could he not be after taking over Corona and defeating their princess, their Sundrop ? The broken wall of the throne room, the latter being only a remnant of what it used to be, only added to his glorious victory, offering an heartbreaking view on the completely destroyed kingdom. His eyes were shining with an eerie joy, and a wide grin appeared on his lips as he admired the consequences of his actions; encased in amber, Rapunzel's painful and horrified expression was a terrible contrast with the alchemist's ominous one. "Don't worry, Eugene," the alchemist said after some time, finally looking away from the amber to the former thief, trapped in an other kind of prison, "She's not dead. She doesn't deserve such a fate." The alchemist confidently walked up to him, leaning against the metal hand. "No, she deserves a sentence far worse than that." The alchemist's voice was dangerously low as he stared at Eugene, watching his every reaction. The former thief didn't look away in return, instead glaring at the kid who had taken so much from him and went as far as to laugh about it too. He just- Eugene simply couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. Varian- Varian had made amends. He had apologized, and they'd forgiven him. He had been working ever since to help Corona, to fix his mistakes and stop Cassandra. Varian had changed- he had. Hadn't he ? But then, why would he go back on that ? Why did he all of a sudden attack Corona with these- these automatons, destroying the island, trapping Rapunzel in that same amber that destroyed his life once before ? Why would he do that to his friends, to Team Awesome ? Was it all just a wicked scheme to fool them ? Eugene stared at the kid in front of him. He was exactly like Varian- same outfit, same black hair with this odd blue stripe, same blue eyes. No, not the same. Varian's eyes weren't merciless, mocking and cold, so cold. Varian's eyes were warm, friendly and guilty. "Who..." Eugene hissed, glaring all the more. "Who are you ? What have you done to Varian ?" Varian wouldn't do something like that, Eugene was sure of it. The other half of Team Awesome, the kid who liked ham sandwiches and often forgot to take care of himself when working was not the same as the one who encased Rapunzel in amber. The alchemist who fought his fears in order to save Corona, that kid would never do something like that. Still, he didn't expect... him, to simply smirk, that same threatening smirk he thought -he hoped- he'd never see again on this face. "You know, I never thought you were right when you said that people don't give you enough credit. You are clever, aren't you ?" "What does that mean ?" He was just done talking when the door of the throne room opened with noise. Eugene tried to look behind him to see the source of the noise, in vain : the robot's grip was keeping him from making any movement. However, he had a really good view of Varian raising his head in surprise, before cautiously taking a few steps back, furious eyes staring at... whoever just came in, Eugene guessed. Said person walked closer, as Eugene could tell from the footsteps sounds, before stopping right beside him; turning his head to the side, Eugene saw... Varian. It took his mind a minute to process the information. "Wait wait wait," Eugene narrowed his eyes, "Am I seeing 2 Varians ? Is that- is that some sort of evil twin story, or...?" Varian number 2 didn't react, but Varian number 1's smirk only widened. "I guess you could say that." He did a mocking bow in front of the other two, "I am Varitas, 'the mean one'- because someone has to take the blame, and who's better to replace Varian at it than Varian himself ? You Coronians aren't really creative, you know : get yourself someone else to blame, or even better, an actual justice system." It took all of Eugene's might not to give in and harshly tell him that he was absolutely guilty for what he had done to everyone; he barely restrained himself from doing so, realization hitting him hard. That was what that Varitas guy wanted. He had been provoking him since the beginning, trying to push him to his limits; and although Eugene wasn't really one to give in to anger, what could that kind of behavior do to someone who would, someone whose guilt would make them an easy prey ? For example, someone who definitely would be the target of his own double... Oh no. "I'm so-sorry..." Varian whispered, his voice cracking. His glassy eyes were filled with tears that streamed down his cheeks, highlighting how unusually pale he was, or how dark and big the bags under his eyes were in contrast. "It's all my fault..." "Kid-no. This is not your fault, none of it is." Eugene insisted. Varian clearly seemed exhausted, on the verge of breaking down, and with all of that accumulated guilt ready to burst free, he was basically an emotional time bomb. A really, really unstable emotional time bomb that could possibly become a problem if nothing was done to calm him down before. When did that start ? Why hadn’t he noticed before, why hadn’t he done anything to protect Varian ? Varian didn’t react, clearly not believing him; it broke Eugene’s heart to see him in such a state. Of course, that's the moment Varitas chose to speak up. "You're right, Eugene : it's not his fault nor is it mine, but it is actually yours, it has always been. I know how talented you are all in the field of lies and deceit and breaking promises, but you have to be incredibly good to make him believe that you actually care about him and are his friends without him ever questioning it. Again." Varian shivered, looking down at the ground, and Eugene could only imagine the thoughts going through his head; anger and guilt and feeling of betrayal and self-loathing, all of them feeding a dangerous hatred that was definitely what Varitas was planning to use. Oh, how much Eugene hated that Varitas kid. He hated him for taking Rapunzel away, for torturing Varian; he hated how powerless he felt. "If you know us as well as you say you do, then you should also know these are not lies." Eugene growled, but Varian once again didn’t react. Varitas only rolled his eyes, fully aware that he was in control of the situation. "Oh, you are good- but thank you for proving my point." He then turned to Varian, and Eugene tensed up. Whatever he had planned, Eugene feared the kid wasn't in a good enough state to fight against. "I'm sorry I started without you," Varitas smiled, something almost warm, outstretching his hand towards Varian, "but you can still join me and serve justice, like we wanted to." Unlike his kind words, his tone was very clear : obey, or face the consequences. Varian stared at Varitas' hand for a moment, before his glassy eyes moved to the hole in the wall and the destruction beyond, then to the amber and finally, to Eugene. Eugene's heart ached as he met Varian's eyes. The raging storm of the kid's emotions was frightening, and Varian seemed completely lost. Eugene wanted to reassure him, to tell him that these were all lies, that none of it was true, that they did care about him- but he also wasn’t stupid. “Please, kid... Don’t...” Was all Eugene said, because he saw in these eyes that Varian... Varian would not believe him, or anything else he’d say. That Varitas's poisoned words, playing with Varian's deepest fears and guilt, had already had their effect on the kid. Where was he when Varian needed him ? Why was he stuck, unable to help when the kid needed him the most ? Varitas was right- just like before, he couldn't give Varian the help he so desperately needed. Varian stared at him for a while longer, before looking back at Varitas. Extending his hand, he took the other's in his own. Then, harshly pulling Varitas forward, he threw in the latter's face a green ball that exploded in a flash of blinding light. Varitas immediately shoved Varian away, rubbing his eyes with his hands; his hiss of pain morphed into a low chuckle. "Alright, looks like you've made your choice..." Eugene felt his heart drop as the two other automatons -the ones not currently holding Eugene- walked toward the alchemist, responding to Varitas's order. He knew his friend hardly stood a chance; above all, he knew Varian was fighting a losing battle, because he himself didn’t even know what he was fighting for, or if he wanted to. It was clear as day that Varian was fighting back like a wounded animal, with the energy of despair, and that this would end very badly. Eugene tried once again to free himself, even if he knew there was no way he could get out. Varian acted quickly, trapping the first automaton's feet in goo, effectively stopping him. Varitas threw at him a green ball that Varian barely managed to avoid; not fast enough to recover, the alchemist couldn't dodge a hit from the second automaton that made him fall to the ground. Not wasting any time, Varian sent a pink ball on the second automaton, trapping him the same way; he however didn't see the third ennemy attacking him from behind. "Watch out !!" Eugene stopped struggling a moment to yell in alarm. Varian startled and turned around just in time to catch Varitas's wrists, keeping him from using his knife- because yes, he had a knife, a real one. "Why are you fighting for them ?!" Varitas shouted, furious. "They are responsible for Dad being encased, for all of our woes- you should want to serve justice ! You used to want that, so why would you believe their lies again ?!" Varian didn't answer, simply staring at the knife held right between the two of them. "It was the price to pay to become their friend again, wasn't it ? Ha- you're pathetic. They will betray you just like they already did, and the worst of all is that they'll be right : you'll have no one to blame but yourself, for being stupid enough to trust them again." Varitas's eyes were filled with disgust, sadness. No answer. Varian's grip loosened a bit, his face reflecting some hesitation. “Varian, no- don’t listen to him ! He’s trying to get in your head !!” The alchemist no longer seemed to be able to hear him, his attention entirely focused on Varitas. Eugene’s voice was only a quiet noise, drowned out by Varitas’s own voice and Varian’s thoughts. "I hope you're happy. I hope you'll believe their lies that make you think that this is what's best for you, this is what you have always wanted. You won : enjoy your golden cage, Varian." "Kid !!" Eugene shouted, alarmed, and that finally snapped Varian out of it. Kicking his opponent, the alchemist made Varitas fall backwards; the latter harshly hit the ground, his grip loosening on the knife. Eugene watched with horror as the alchemist quickly took the knife from Varitas and held it at the other's throat. "Don’t do that Varian ! You are angry- we all are kid, but killing him isn't the solution !" "He's right," Varitas added, "You can go ahead and kill me, but that won't change anything. You know that I'm right, and getting rid of me won't change the truth." Varian gritted his teeth, his grip getting just the tiniest bit firmer on the knife, and Varitas let a vicious smile appear on his lips. "You and me, we're just good for destruction, hurting others, taking the blame. I know it, they know it : that's why they let you down, and will let you down again. There's no denying it anymore, Varian. If you don't kill me, I will just keep destroying everything, and you'll be to blame for not stopping me when you had the chance : but if you do stop me, that you dare kill me if you’re even able to, then you will become the villain, the murderer, the mean one, because neither of us are part of the people whose faults are all forgiven. No matter what you choose, you will lose, just like I kept telling you." Varian stared at Varitas as he was talking, unable to stop listening to him. He knew he shouldn't listen or even consider his words, but something in them struck a chord within him, reaching doubts he tried to muffle, thoughts he tried to get rid of and amplifying them to the point that he could no longer ignore them or bury them again; and even though he thought he could hear Eugene's voice, he couldn't actually hear his words. Varitas smirked, knowing that despite the appearances, he had the upper hand. Reaching in his pocket, he got out a purple ball. "It's over, Varian." The alchemist's eyes widened in realization as the ball hit the ground, exploding and covering the whole room in a cloud of purple smoke. Eugene felt his blood froze in his veins as he heard fighting noises, the sound of metal clashing against skin and a cry of pain, then a body hitting the ground; and after that, nothing. In the heavy silence that followed, the cloud slowly escaped the room through the hole in the wall, joining its peers in the sky. Eugene then saw with horror a body lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Standing next to him, its double was panting, holding without trembling the knife stained with blood. At that single moment, a terrible truth dawned on Eugene who felt his heart come to a stop. Even if it was impossible to distinguish the twins, one thing remained certain : one of them was now dead, killed by the other. And therefore, it didn't matter which one came out a winner in this battle, because the result was the same either way. Varitas had won, and their Varian was gone.

[hapinessandlove123]

King and Queen

This story is inspired by @hollandroos and also the life of Marie Antoinette. Tom Holland is our mobster in this story. 

Word Count: 1.5k 

Warnings: none 

Your family, Y/N/L, was the second most famous and richest mob family in London. Being part of this clan meant you were bound for greatness. One thing about being part of your family clan? Going to every important event in the social calendar in London. Your dad’s family had been mobsters since the 1900’s. They’ve had a long history. You could say “old money” and blue blood were part of your pedigree. Some say that your dad’s family has been a part of it since the 1800’s. Your mom’s side of the family? They’ve been aristocrats since King Henry the 8th reign. Because of this, your mom made a successful business in a clothing brand, called The Row. Your mother being a successful fashion designer, your dad’s business was hidden under the rug. Everyone in London knew your dad’s work, but as they say, “see everything, speak of nothing.” The perks of being an aristocrat? You had constant invitations to fashion shows and dinner parties where you rubbed elbows with Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld. 

You are part of the social scene in London, this meant your dad gave you at least 5 men, to be with you at all times. Not even a if’s or but’s when it came to dates. You seemed to be living a fairytale lifestyle. You had just turned 18, which meant you were ready to start living your life. This meant moving out and gallivanting around Europe with your friends. Your parents on the other hand, had other plans.

Your betrothed? Him and his family, the Hollands, are the most powerful and richest mob family in London. They are ruthless when it comes to business. Not even a second thought, and they kill their objective. Not only are they well known in London, but also in Europe. Their reputation perceives them. One thing about the Hollands, is their enormous mansion. It is rumored that the land where their enormous mansion is located, was given to them by the late King of England back in the 1800’s. They also have roots that date to the aristocratic times in France. Some say that the Dauphin Louis Charles, did escape the temple and ended up in England, and with time, his family became the Hollands, changing the original name of his family, the Bourbon family. This one is just a rumor, that is quite popular in London. One thing the Holland’s have done since they started their business as mobsters, is to call their next heir, as the future son to reign in the family, dauphin.

They were, after all French.

With this in mind, it’s time to start our story kiddos.

As you woke up in your silky sheets, you were woken up by 4 of your ladies maids coming in and out of your walk-in closet. There were 10 of your trunk sized luggage scattered all over your room. Each of the trunks were in different colors and sizes. By the pace they were all going, it meant that this was urgent. You got up from your bed, not giving a second thought to ask them why or who gave them permission to touch your stuff without permission. You walked through the double doors that were your room and headed out to the dining room in the first floor. You walked downstairs in the overly priced staircase made of marble. As you made your way downstairs, pictures of family members were hung in the wall. Each picture more extravagant than the last.

You reached the large dining room. In front of you was the large dining room table made of mahogany that could sit 12 people easily. In the left size of you were the large four windows and with them, draped the large, silky curtains, a light blue color, two curtains in each window. To give it the full “this is where aristocrats live, also mobsters, but who’s really thinking that when the room looks straight out of a Town and Country picture.” To your right was the large fire place that was on, and on top of the fireplace sat a priceless painting by Picasso. You made your way to the dining table.

You sat in your usual chair, to your surprise, your breakfast, already was in front of you. One egg white and two slices of bacon on the side with fresh fruit. You made a confused face to all the abnormal things that you had seen.

Your mother who sat on the right side of the table looked at you with a stern face. Your mother went on to prepare her smoked salmon bagels. You brushed it off and decided to enjoy your breakfast. As you were half way through your breakfast, your dad comes to the dining room to join you and your mother.

“When your finished eating, you should get dressed, we’re going out.” Your dad said this while stuffing his mouth with salmon. You got up from your seat and proceeded to get dressed. Your meal half way eaten. You weren’t sure why this day felt weird.

“Do you think she’s ready for this responsibility, Louis?” Your mother asked your father, worried about the response she’ll get from him. She loved you to much to let this deal go through, but with everything that had happened with your dad and that awful almost kidnap scare, this was the most reasonable thing to do.

“She is, and she’ll be with the greatest mob next to her.” Your father said this to your mother while enjoying his breakfast. Your father said this in a confident voice, but to the food that was going inside his mouth, your mother couldn’t hear the fear in his voice. Once you’re there, he would want you to not only be safe, but for you to forgive them, once you’re at the Hollands.

As you made your way to your room, you decided to change to some dark blue jeans and a white simple sweater. You wore your nude pumps and saw that all your clothes had been put in your luggage. And by all clothes, I meant all your clothes and shoes. Not to mention your bags and every little accessory you wore. You were confused by all of this, but because your dad was part of the mob, you didn’t question it, because what if you needed to leave the country for some reason? You proceeded to say goodbye to one of your maids and headed out to the car that was waiting for you. 

After a 30-minute ride, you were greeted by a man in a uniform who asked for your hand. You gladly gave it to him to step off the Mercedes Benz car. You looked around only to be in front of an extremely large white mansion. Your eyes were mesmerized by such a beautiful house. You were confused as to why you were in front of the house. Why your parents made your maids pack up your wardrobe and instead of traveling, to your dismay you were taken to an English house that you bet costed millions upon millions. Your father signaled you to follow him. 

As you entered the large door, you saw how the house was. There were paintings in the walls where the double staircase was at. It seemed that the paintings were of people who were from war, and others of royal decent. Some were bigger than the others. It reminded you of your family pictures that hung on your staircase. Your attention was stolen by a man who dressed in overly priced suit and who handed you his hand to greet.

“Y/n, so nice to finally meet you.” This man said as he shook your hand.

You looked at your dad confused as to who this man who knew your name was. As you both shook hands a man who seemed to work for this man came into the foyer and presented himself by one of the entrances and spoke loudly.

“The Dauphin, Tom” This man said loudly and for a brown colored hair, young man to come from the right side of the staircase and made his way downstairs to you. He had rolled his eyes as the man who spoke of his presence. You couldn’t stop to check the young man out. He was attractive to say the least. His eyes were brown as his hair and he looked anywhere, but your direction. His jawline looked like it could cut someone.

Your dad and the older man looked at each other, the older man nodding to your dad. Just as you looked back at the young man who was referred to as “the Dauphin”, you realized whose house this was. Suddenly unease creeped out at you, being at your dad’s rival mob’s house, the older man looks at you.

“Y/n, there has been an agreement. Not only are you going to be a part of this family, but you are now the Dauphine.” The older man said, now you come to know his name was Dom, but also the king of the mob.

“Hello fiancé” Tom spoke to you smirking and handing out his hand. 

You smiled to him and shook his hand only to feel an electricity feel through both of your hands, and for you to be completely not okay with this decision. 

So, hopefully you guys enjoyed this story. I am writing this story to better my writing. As the story goes, hopefully my writing will progress. Let me know if you want me to write an imagine. 

[01littleunicorn]

Can’t remember what two things I asked for but Takumi/Corrine 😅

OMG thank you so much for sending it back!Do not worry, I had noted it down so I remember ^^So sorry for all the mix up, let’s just say I learned a hard lesson today ^^’’

So here you go and I hope you’ll love it!! Thank you again for sending a request ^^

7. Don’t worry about it.

O. Fever

Pairings: Takumi/F. Corrin

No warnings

If you liked it and want me to write you something, requests are still open for a while so send one my way!

It’s been raining allday.

They knew it wascoming ever since their troops stepped into Nohrian territory. And it was notjust the usual trickling droplets that would fall during the Hoshidan springseason. No, we’re talking about a gigantic downpour, with the clouds turningdark as night and the wind howling against the windows. The kind of weather thatdefinitely doesn’t make you want to step outside.

Takumi sighed loudly,clearly disappointed. That storm was really ruining his plans, since he had meantto go to the archery range and get some training done. Every battle was gettingmore and more challenging so he needed to be in top shape for he would bedoomed before he’d let himself fall to a Nohrian soldier. Not after what thatdamned country had done to his family.

Another gush of windbrought his thoughts back to his current preoccupations. It looked like hewould have to forgo training for today. He could always use one of the interiortraining grounds but, nothing could beat feeling the wind on your face and the earthunder your feet whilst carefully aiming and shooting at your target.

While he was gettingready to settle for a cup of tea and a game of shogi with Hinata and Oboro, thearcher heard someone approaching. He quickly turned around to see his oldersister running in his direction, coming to an abrupt stop as she reached him.Before Takumi could ask her about what was going on, Hinoka grabbed hisshoulders, almost shaking him.

- Have you seenCorrin anywhere?!

Her voice was harshand her eyes filled with worry, pressing him for an answer. Takumi did notunderstand what the fuss was all about and simply answered with a disinterestedtone.

- No, I actuallyhaven’t seen her at all today…

As Hinoka let go ofhis shoulders, seeming even more worried, he added questioningly.

- Why does it matteranyway? She’s probably just in her quarters, away from the rain…

Before he couldfinish, his sister interrupted him, almost screaming.

- No, she’s not! Wesearched the whole castle and she’s nowhere to be seen! What if somethinghappened? What if some Nohrian scum managed to get here and harm her?!

Hinoka was borderlinepanicking and Takumi knew why it scared her so much. Ever since Corrin’sreturn, they all had been worried of her disappearing again. If they lost heronce what prevented them from losing her again?

The archer hardlybelieved that enemy forces could have followed them back in the astral plane, thoughit didn’t stop the worry from creeping on his mind. What if something didhappen?

- We thought you hada chance to know since you two were together all the time these past few days…So, if you have no idea, then I can’t help imagine the worst…

Takumi slightlyblushed at his sister’s comment, averting his gaze. It’s true that Corrin andhe had been training together a lot recently, yet it’s not like they weresuddenly attached at the hips. He was about to retort something when Hinoka abruptlygrabbed his arm and dragged him along with her.

- Ryoma is alreadyout there looking for her. We warned Sakura to be prepared in case somethinghappened…

- Wait, Ryoma wentoutside? In this weather?

What was his brotherthinking? With the rain falling like it was, he would most surely get sick ifhe stayed out too long.

- Obviously! IfCorrin is nowhere inside then she has to be somewhere outside… Now you and Iare going to go and find her before she gets hurt…or worse!

Takumi grumbled, as hewas not fond of getting soaked in the rain, but his concern for his sibling wayexceeded his annoyance.

Tthey stepped out ofthe castle and Hinoka quickly gestured to the west side of the astral plane.

- You go this way.I’ll take the other side and we meet up here when we’re done. Be sure to checkeverywhere!

Takumi rolled hiseyes but nodded, watching her storm off in the other direction. The rain waspouring even more than he initially thought and was freezing him to the bone. God!where could that foolish woman have ventured to? Takumi just wanted to find heras fast as possible and return inside, to the comfort of the fireplace.

He thought back towhat Hinoka had said before. How the both of them had been spending a lot oftime together lately. What if she…

No, she couldn’t havebeen stupid enough to go practice her archery in the rain… right? But themore Takumi thought about it, the more it sounded exactly like something Corrinwould do. With a grunt and a scoff, he rapidly made his way to the archeryrange.

Upon arriving, heinstantly realised that his speculations were true. Sure enough, the Hoshidanprincess was standing there, bow in hands and shooting at the target in frontof her.

While tempted to justrush and grab her, before bringing her back to the castle, Takumi stopped amoment to observe the woman in front of him.

Her form was far fromperfect and she was pulling too hard on the string, yet he was impressed at howevery shot managed to hit the target. The multiple arrows on the ground made itclear that she had not achieved this feat from the beginning, still Takumi was veryproud of how quickly she managed to improve herself. She was far from hitting bull’s-eyeor a moving target, but there was a start to everything and he knew his sistercould make it.

Sister…

The word now felt likea bitter poison coursing through his heart and mind.

Although he knew thatwas how he was supposed to see her, that couldn’t have been farther from histrue feelings.

He remembered caringfor her like that back when they were children. He used to look up to her andadmire how confident and bright she was. Then their father was killed, Corrin waskidnapped and everything changed…

The first years wereawful. They had to mourn their father, cowardly murdered by King Garon, whiledesperately trying to get their lost sibling back. Ryoma inherited Raijinto andthe burden of the hopes and expectations of all their people, while Hinokastarted training day and night, pushing herself to the brink of danger.Everyone came together to protect Sakura, but no one could shelter her from herown feelings, as she cried herself to sleep every night.

Takumi also took totraining intensely, attempting to forget about his pain. And, while he missedhis sister dearly, life kept moving forward and so would he. Being chosen bythe Fujin Yumi gave him a lot of power, as well as a lot of pressure and, thoughhe was trying so hard to keep up with Ryoma and Hinoka, he never seemed to beable to compare to his two remarkable siblings.

And, over the years,his feelings started to change. Time passed, and yet all the attention of hisfamily was still only centered on Corrin. No matter how much he worked andtrain and fought, he would always go unnoticed. While he understood the desireto find her again, he wished his family would focus more on what they still had,instead of what they lost. And with that, slowly came the resentment for thesister who wasn’t even there.

The day Corrinfinally returned to them, Takumi couldn’t help but feel ashamed since he wasthe only one in the family who had given up on ever finding her again. Thatshame didn’t stop him however, from greeting her with suspicion. After havingbeen raised in Nohr, who could swear that her allegiance had not switched overthe years…

When Mother fell, killedby the cursed sword Corrin had brought with her in their Kingdom, he was quickto brand her as a traitor. But, when faced with the Nohrian scum she calledfamily, she unexpectedly chose to confront them, deciding to stand and fightwith Hoshido instead. And when, by some dark and mysterious magic, he ended upturning against his own allies, she stood by him and believed in him, makingTakumi realize just how much he had misjudged her. This was the day he decidedhe would follow her until the end.

Not that he wouldever have told her so! Years of feeling neglected and left out had made him distrustfuland hardened to almost everyone. Besides, he had no interest of letting her closeto him again.

Corrin would havenone of that though. Every day, she strived to talk to him and, no matter howmuch he tried to push her away, she would not stop coming back, again andagain. Takumi finally gave up and the more time they spent together, the morehis feeling started to change. Her smile, her laugh, her perseverance anddetermination were all traits he came to love about her and, soon enough, shehad warmed her way into the depth of his heart. Day and night, she was all hecould think about and the love he felt for her was starting to consume him.

He should have feltshameful. He should’ve tried to kill these feelings before they even started. Then,one thing changed it all. A letter, left by the late Queen Mikoto, informinghim of the reality behind her daughter’s lineage. It turned out that Corrin wasnever Sumeragi’s daughter, meaning that she shared no blood tie with any of theHoshidan royals.

It was shocking atfirst, then it relieved Takumi of a great pressure. His feelings were neitherforbidden nor repulsive and he was now free to embrace them. The only shadow onthe horizon was the woman he so desperately loved.

Corrin didn’t knowabout the content of the letter. She was still certain to be a part of theirfamily and had chosen to stand by them because she thought they were her birthfamily. How would she react if she were to learn the truth? Should Takumi even tellher?

Such dilemmas had beenconstantly pounding in his head for the last few days and the archer wascertain he would go crazy thinking about it.

He was abruptlybrought back to the present when he heard a long whimper, before seeing Corrinstumble and collapse to the ground.

In a second, he foundhimself sprinting to her side. She was lying on the damp ground, drenched andshivering violently. Her skin was pale and her lips were turning a worryingshade of blue. She needed help and she needed it fast.

Quickly, Takumi pickedher up to carry her to the castle. It was a good thing that Sakura had beeninstructed to be prepared for anything, as Corrin would need immediate care. Whilehe walked towards the castle, he kept her body close to him, trying to warm herup even slightly. He was tempted to run to save time, however, with the groundso slippery, this was a plan to make both of them fall on their faces.

While she felt coldat first because of her soaked clothes, her whole body now radiated a burningheat since she was clearly overcome with fever. He could feel her crazedheartbeat as she was trembling against him and he couldn’t help but mumble witha contained anger.

- Gods! what were youthinking?! Sometimes, I wonder if you even take the time to think before doinganything…

She often seemed tojust be rushing into things, as if her instinct and some kind of divine luckwere a good enough failsafe. Though, maybe, that naive confidence anddetermination was a part of what Takumi found so attractive about her. While heoften reacted impulsively, he was more of a pessimist and her blind optimismwas a nice change.

She shivered a bitmore, her body now pressing harder on his chest. His anger automatically meltedand he looked at her with fondness and worry.

- I swear… you’regoing to be the death of me.

- I’m… sorry…

It was only a whisperbut he still heard it over the pouring rain, while looking at her tremblinglips. He was honestly surprised, since he didn’t think she was conscious, yet alsoconcerned believing she should not be speaking right now.

- Corrin, you shouldn’t…

Her hand shakily grabbedhis shirt as she interrupted him.

- I’m sorry Takumi…I just wanted to train hard…like you… you… you said I had to bedi-diligent…

He blinked for asecond, trying to process what she just said.

- Wait… that’s whyyou spent the day outside while it’s pouring like hell?

She slightly nodded andwrinkled her brow, probably from the pain of the fever.

- I just… wanted tomake you proud…

Takumi felt himselfspeechless, as Corrin added with a raspy sigh.

- But I messed up…like always… And then… then you always have to take care of me…

He was about toprotest when she continued.

- I’m really wastingyour time… aren’t I?

She faintly scoffedbefore erupting in a coughing fit.

For a few seconds, hesimply held her. She wasn’t a bother. If he had felt that way at first, thatundeniably wasn’t the case anymore. He would follow her to the end of the earthand right through hell if she asked it of him. He was ready to stand at herside, to support and help her, until the end. But he didn’t know how to tellher without revealing his true feelings. Yet, he didn’t want her to feel likeshe was a burden, because she definitely wasn’t. After a long moment ofsilence, he finally settled on something.

- Just… Don’t worryabout it…

Short and simple.Maybe too simple though…

- Why… why do youalways come for me?

Because I love you. It really was that simple. And hecouldn’t tell her. Not right here, not like that.

He reflected on itfor a moment while he continued walking in silence, approaching the castle.Fumbling with his words, he finally answered something.

- I just… youknow… care about you…

He hoped she couldn’tsee the blush that was slowly starting on his cheeks. While his emotions wereclear as day, he was never able to express them quite like he would have liked.Hiding behind a rude and closed off mask prevented him from getting hurt, butalso kept people at bay. And even with people he actually wanted to keep close,it was hard to let go of his long-time perfected facade.

He was brought out ofhis thoughts by a soft, though wet hand that shakily stroked his cheek. Corrinwas smiling softly, her eyes half-lidded, while she whispered to him.

- I know… You actall tough yet you’re actually really sweet.

Well, now the blushhad definitely settled on his face. When he tried to object, she continued, leaningon him with her head on his shoulder.

- You really are amazingTakumi…

Her voice wasslightly slurring and her gip on his shirt loosened. Takumi first worried herstate was worsening and was ready to run, before realizing that she wasprobably just falling asleep.

- And I hope youknow…how much I… I love…

Thewords were really indistinct and the last part was truly inaudible. A fewseconds later, her breathing became heavier, showing that she was deep inslumber.

Takumiwas currently battling his own heart. Since the end of her sentence got lost,he couldn’t know what she truly meant. But now, where a hopeless dilemma oncestood, was a bloom of hope. Maybe, there was a chance his feelings could bereturned…

Almostat the castle’s gates, Takumi looked at the sleeping woman in his arms, finallyletting go of his mask, his gaze filled with fondness and love.

-If you only knew how much I love you…

Ashe whispered the words he knew she couldn’t hear, he slowly kissed her foreheadwith a rather unusual tenderness.

Soonafter, he was intercepted by Hinoka and the two of them quickly brought Corrinto the infirmary, where Sakura was waiting. He explained the situation to hissiblings while his little sister made sure to care for Corrin’s condition.

Inthe next few hours, she was all healed, warmed up and tucked in bed. And, throughit all, Takumi stayed by her side, waiting for her to wake up. He didn’t knowwhat their future would hold but he knew that, next time they would talk, hewould have the courage to tell her the truth.

Afterall, you never know if you never try…

[singingpuppies]

rp with sanders-sides-rp-blog-12

Who: Patton and Roman.

Part: One.

General Notes: When Patton woke up this morning, he was a regular guy. Now he's come to find out that he was kidnapped as a baby and he's actually a Prince, who's set up in an arranged marriage with another Prince named Roman. How will Patton react to so much changing in his life all at once? Especially when neither of the young princes want to marry someone they've just met?

Warnings: None just lots of cute.

PATTON

Patton had grown up like any other kid... well, in the fact that he was just sort of average. His family had an average amount of money, he was homeschooled, lived an ordinary life. But he wished he was more like the other kids his age in the fact that they all had close relationships with their families. He didn’t have a mother, and his father was never around. He was always off working, saying he had to earn the money they needed to live where they did. He didn’t like Patton leaving the house, so Patton was constantly home alone, watching as other kids played outside together and wishing he could take part. It pained him that he wasn’t allowed to make friends. He wanted so badly to have someone to talk to, to spend time with.

Around his eighteenth birthday, he decided he was going to beg his dad to let him go out. He had it all planned out, what he would say, the reasons he would give, it was going to work, it just had to. Hearing the door open, he expected it to be his dad, but was surprised when it wasn’t. Instead he was met with a group of men that looked like royal guards. When he questioned what was going on, they told him that he was actually the lost prince of a far off Kingdom he’d never even heard of, that he’d been kidnapped as a baby and they’d spent his whole life trying to find him. To say all this information was a lot to take in was... an understatement.

But there was a part of him that was really happy. Not about being royalty, but because this meant that maybe he was getting the family he always wanted, parents that wanted him around, that would be around for him. They must’ve cared about him if they spent all these years trying to find him, right? As he traveled with the guards, he asked more questions about his real family, nervous and excited to meet them. He found out that his Kingdom wasn’t doing very well, they didn’t have much money. They’d been struggling for quite some time now. He just hoped he’d have enough time to learn what it actually meant to be a Prince so that maybe he could figure out a way to help.

Just as he arrived at the castle, he overheard one of the guards mention that Prince Roman and his family had arrived, confused by their arguing about how Patton wasn’t ready to meet Prince Roman yet, he needed to get changed into something more regal, they had to prepare him for what he was suppose to say and do. He didn’t even know who Prince Roman was or why it mattered what he looked like or what he said. “Um... who’s Prince Roman?” he couldn’t help but ask. “He’s to be your husband.” one of the guards replied, Patton’s eyes widened. “My what?” he questioned. “The marriage was arranged before the two of you were even born. Prince Roman’s kingdom is very well off, and a merger between Kingdoms would save ours.” the guard explained.

Seeing the doors swing open and a family who was clearly royal walk through the door, Patton swallowed nervously. So much for them wanting him to improve his appearance and tell him what to say or do before Roman arrived.

ROMAN

Roman was miserable. He had lived most of his life in the palace, only sometimes getting to go to neighboring kingdoms, and then one day, right as he's planning on trying to get away, try and ask his parents if he can leave to study art somewhere, he's told that he had to get married!? Roman had just turned nineteen, barely a month ago- surely that was way too young for marriage?! He's sure that this Patton, whoever he was, was nice, but as he walked through the halls of the neighboring kingdom's palace, he can't help but be upset. He doesn't want this! One would think being a prince would give you freedom. Now Roman can't even choose who he marries. As Roman's parents lead him into another castle, he spots the boy who he's supposed to be marrying, and Patton looks even younger than Roman does, and he's dressed as a commoner as well, and he also doesn't look too happy. "Go say hello." Roman's mother encouraged. Roman takes a small step forwards, giving an awkward wave. "Greetings." he says stiffly.

PATTON

Patton was so incredibly overwhelmed. This morning he was just a regular guy living an ordinary life, now he was a Prince who was set to marry a man he'd never even met before. He was dizzy just thinking about it. He hadn't even gotten to meet his real parents yet, and here he was meeting a stranger who was suppose to become his husband. This didn't sound crazy to anyone else here? Really? Judging by the look on Roman's face, maybe one other person did realize how crazy this all sounded. "Greetings..." he awkwardly repeated, he wasn't sure he'd ever used that word to greet anyone before but he figured since Roman did it, it was the best thing to do. Glancing around, he let out a small, nervous breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. How did all these people expect him and Roman to even attempt to get to know one another with everyone just standing around and watching them like this? It was so uncomfortable.

ROMAN

Roman gives a stiff nods, before moving back to his parents, who just pushed him forwards again. Roman's father stepped forwards, addressing Patton's guards. "Is he ready? We're taking him back to our kingdom before the ceremony." he says. There were two carriages waiting outside, one for Roman and Patton, the other for the kind and queen. Roman shifts on his feet, but he saw that Patton wasn't exactly thrilled about this either. Maybe he could somehow convince his parets to call this off?

PATTON

Patton could feel anxiety bubbling up inside of him. Wait, was it happening today? Didn't they get at least a little bit of time to get to talk and know each other first? They'd said one word to each other, Patton had just arrived at the place he should've grown up, and Patton was suppose to leave now? Did this mean he wouldn't even get to meet his real parents before the ceremony? "We were going to have him change into something more... presentable first, but I suppose that can wait until after he arrives at your kingdom." one of the guards replied.

Incredibly overwhelmed he let his emotions get the better of him and he took a few steps back, away from Roman. "I... I need a minute. I'm sorry." he said, looking back and forth between the guards and Roman's parents before looking back at Roman. "I'm sorry." he said again before running as fast as he could possibly manage. He hadn't really thought through that he had no idea how to navigate this castle, it seemed like every way he turned led to a dead end. He felt tears in his eyes, stopping as he looked around and tried to figure out which way to go.

ROMAN

Roman was confused, but he didn't completely blame Patton for trying to run away from his problems. Roman didn't know the ceremony would be so soon. Hell, Roman wanted to do that as well. But Roman couldn't, he knew better. He didn't even know where Patton was trying to go. Some of Patton's guards followed after him, trying to find where the prince had gone. After a while, they find him in a corner. "Prince Patton, you need to go back. You can't simply run off like that." one of them says.

PATTON

Patton winced when he heard the guard behind him refer to him as a Prince. It didn't sound right. "Well, I can't go... I just got here... I haven't even met my parents yet, I don't even know him." he said. He didn't even know himself anymore, who was he? How could he live a life where he didn't even know himself and no one was giving him any time to figure out who he was, or who Roman was. "I don't even get a little bit of time to get to know Roman?" he asked quietly.

ROMAN

“We know you’re confused. You’ll meet your parents soon, don’t worry. They’ll be there at the ceremony. And it’s in three days, so you can get to know Prince Roman whilst you’re there. Now we really must get going, we don’t want to keep them waiting long.” The guard says to Patton. Roman fidgets while he waits. He doesn’t know what to do, this is just very uncomfortable for him. Imagine your parents choosing the person you had to marry. He knows that he had to do this to unite the kingdoms, but why couldn’t Remus do it! For once, Roman hated being the older twin.

PATTON

Patton sighed, three days wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, he supposed. It was more time than he thought he had, so he guessed he should've been grateful for it. "Okay..." he said softly, following the guards. He still wasn't entirely sure of what Roman had been told. Had he always known that he was suppose to marry Patton? Did he know Patton had been missing for 18 years? Was there a part of him that wished Patton hadn't been found so that the two of them wouldn't be forced to do this? Patton wouldn't have blamed him if he did feel that way...

ROMAN

Roman was already in one of the carriages, sitting and looking out of the window. He doesn't want to be here. He'd much rather be in his room at home, drawing, but he's not even supposed to be going back there, he's supposed to be in a new room with Patton now. Roman doesn't hope that Patton had never been found... he just wished that someone else would have married him instead. The guards lead Patton to the carriage, ushering him in.

PATTON

Patton stepped into the carriage, taking a moment to look around. He'd never been in a carriage like this before. Catching sight of Roman, he glanced down and fiddled with his hands awkwardly. He'd wanted so badly to have a moment to actually get to know Roman if this marriage really was happening, now here he was, having that moment alone with Roman and he had no idea what to say. Shifting slightly he kept his gaze down on his feet.

ROMAN

Roman gives Patton a small smile, waving a bit awkwardly. "Hi... I wish we were meeting under different circumstances. You do seem nice." he says to Patton, wanting to try and make conversation to at least learn a little bit about his future husband if this whole thing really was unavoidable.

PATTON

Patton looked up when he heard Roman's voice, giving a small smile. "Hi... yeah... me too." he said before biting his lip. "You seem really nice too." he added. After a moment of silence he looked down again. "Sorry for sort of... running off earlier... I've never exactly been a Prince before, well, I guess technically I've always been a Prince? But... I didn't know about it, and this whole thing is really overwhelming and..." his voice trailed off as he realized he was rambling, his face going a bit red before he looked up awkwardly.

ROMAN

"Don't worry about it. I've been prince my whole life- well, known about it- and sometimes I still want to run away from everything." he says to Patton. If he had to be forced to marry anyone... Patton seems like the best candidate. Nice enough, and probably would fit in well with the castle. And Patton also didn't seem to like the current situation.

PATTON

Patton pursed his lips together. "I didn't realize Prince's had so little say in what they were and weren't allowed to do. I guess it's not that different from how I grew up." he said softly. "I don't know the first thing about being a Prince..." he said, sure, Roman probably already knew that, but he still felt like he should warn him that he really had no clue what he was doing. He was so afraid he was going to mess this up. Do something wrong and upset his parents, disappoint them, or disappoint Roman.

ROMAN

Roman holds back a laugh. "Wanna know a secret?" he asks. "Neither do I! Everyone just assumes that I know what I'm doing because I'm just barely smart enough to bullshit my way through life, but I have no clue what I'm doing in the /slightest/. So you're not alone on that count." he says.

PATTON

Patton blinks in surprise, a tiny laugh escaping him that he couldn't hold back because the irony of it all was just too funny. "Really?" he said softly before smiling a bit. It did make him feel a little better to know that in a way, he and Roman were in the same boat. "So, they're telling us we have to get married so that we can... be clueless and have no idea what we're doing together?" he asked, his nose scrunching up a bit as he smiled. It wasn't exactly the best plan for the Kingdom in his opinion. "So... what would you rather be doing?" he asked curiously.

ROMAN

Roman nods, a small smile on his face. "It definitely is the best choice." he says sarcastically. Two idiot teenagers who would rather be anywhere else running a kingdom. What could go wrong? "I wanted to go to art school." Roman admits. "I was actually looking at somewhere up north, I was going to speak to my parents tomorrow... but then I was informed of this. What about you?"

PATTON

Patton let out a small laugh at the other's sarcasm. He smiled a bit more as he listened to Roman talk about art school, giving a shy little shrug when the question was returned to him. "I hadn't really figured it out yet. I wasn't ever allowed to leave my house, and I was always there all alone. I guess I should've been spending that time trying to figure out what I liked but mostly it just made me realize how much I wanted to make friends and just... be around other people." he admitted. "As for skills... uh... I'm pretty good at baking... I could be a baker, I guess." he said, he liked baking a lot, but he didn't know that he wanted to make a career out of it. "Mostly, I just kind of always wanted to find friends and meet someone and fall in love and get married and have a family so I could be a better father than mine was... or who I thought mine was..." he said before looking back at Roman. "Not right now though, like... in the future, when I'm older." he clarified, though he was pretty sure Roman already knew that.

ROMAN

Roman nods, listening to Patton talk. "Well, we have a pretty good kitchen in the palace. I'm sure that you'll be able to bake there." he considers what Patton says next. "Well... I'll be your friend then. I don't exactly have that many." he remarks. Being in the palace all the time with only your brother and parents adn the occasional foreign ambassador and their child for company most of the time did not make for good opportunities to find people your age you enjoyed spending time with.

PATTON

Patton smiled a bit when Roman said that he was sure that he'd be allowed to use their kitchen to bake. That was good to hear, baking had always calmed him down. His smile grew at what Roman said next. Maybe this wasn't exactly what he pictured when he imagined making his first friend, but it was still really nice to finally have one, especially one as nice as Roman. "I'd like that a lot." he said happily. He wondered if the two of them were going to get any say in this wedding. Did they even get to decide where it was, or what they got to wear, or even something as simple as what kind of flowers they wanted there? Did this control go past the wedding? Would the two of them ever get a say in what they wanted from their own lives?

ROMAN

"So since you're my friend... let's think about it this way. I heard that sometimes commoners marry their friends for the tax breaks, so we can just... pretend that it's that?" he suggests to Patton. Roman had been asked a few questions, and had gotten to choose what he would wear out of pre-approved clothing. and he had minimal control over anything.

PATTON

Patton tilted his head thoughtfully. "I suppose that works... although, I did sort of think that if I ever got married I'd have some say on the wedding planning." he admitted with a small shrug. Patton didn't really ever want a big fancy wedding, but there were certain colors and flowers and things he liked to have there so the wedding actually felt like his... things that his future husband liked that represented him, make the whole thing feel like a representation of who they were as individuals, and who they were as a couple. But Patton didn't even know what Roman liked and would want. "You'd think if they were forcing us to do this, they'd at least let us pick a color scheme." he joked, scrunching his nose again before letting out a small laugh.

ROMAN

Roman laughs as well. "They let me choose the food, and I managed to sway them away from anything gross, so at least there's that. And they let me pick what I'd wear, too." This probably won't be as bad as he thought it would be, but it still would be pretty miserable. He'd have a friend, sure, but he was being forced to get married, and give up art school! And he didn't have control of his life anymore... not that he had had it to begin with.

PATTON

Patton smiled a bit. Well, at least Roman had gotten some say, that was good. "That's good to hear because the food is the most important part." Patton was pretty food driven. He wondered if there was anything left to decide on that maybe he could give his input on, just so the wedding felt more personal to him. He really was enjoying Roman's company, he just wished it was under different circumstances. Part of him almost wanted to suggest running away, the two of them disappearing and escaping it all so they could just live their lives, but maybe something like that was more something you just day dreamed about.

ROMAN

"But of course! We could have the wedding in a swamp as long as the food is good." Roman joked with a smile. Soon, they arrived at Roman's kingdom, and the carriages stopped, and the two were escorted out, and into a castle grander than the last had been. The two were led into a room, where some of Roman's things had been moved. It was huge, definitely enough space for the two of them... but only one bed. The woman who had led them there spoke quickly. "There are clothes in the wardrobe for you, Prince Patton, and if you need anything, simply find one of the palace staff." she says, before leaving.

PATTON

Patton laughed a bit. "Don't knock it 'til you try it... for all we know a swamp wedding could be the most romantic of weddings." he joked back. Upon arrival, Patton climbed out of the carriage, following Roman. He still couldn't get use to how big these castles were, how big just this one room was. Noticing it only had one bed, he chewed his lip, starting to set down the small bag of belongings he had but then stopping incase he wasn't suppose to leave them here. He supposed it wasn't a problem, technically, this was his new room right? But it still felt weird. "Thank you." he said shyly, walking over to the wardrobe and opening it, looking the clothes over. None of this really looked like... him.

ROMAN

Roman looked outside, to the darkening sky, and he grabs pillow and one of the many blankets off of the bed, setting up a place fore himself on a chaise across the room. "You can take the bed." he says to Patton, watching as the other looked in the wardrobe. "Those clothes are all really formal, it gets a bit tiring wearing them after a while. I have a few casual items that I could lend you?" he offers.

PATTON

Patton looked back when Roman offered him the bed. "No, that's okay, you can have it, the chaise is nicer than... anything I've ever slept on so I don't mind taking it." he said before looking back at the wardrobe. "Yeah... and the colors are... different than what I'm use to." they were all such deep shades of reds and greens and purples. Patton loved blues, and colors and shades that were a little more bright and happy. They certainly looked royal, but not like Patton. "Really? Thank you." he said at Roman's offer to borrow something a little more casual.

ROMAN

"No, it's fine, I'll take the chaise. Hold on, I'm just going to run down to my old room real quick and grab something." he says, before dashing out of the room. A few minutes later, he comes back with some grey pants, and a soft blue sweater. Still formal... but comfortable as well. "Here. They'll probably be a little big on you though."

PATTON

Patton nodded, looking back at the wardrobe when Roman left the room. Finally working up the courage to set down his small bag of belongings, he looked back at the door when Roman returned, his face lighting up at his outfit choice. Now that felt like something Patton would wear. "Thank you!" he said happily as he took the clothes, spotting a screen he could go behind to change. Once he'd changed his clothes he looked down at himself. Like Roman said, they were a little big, but that just made them more comfortable. Stepping out from behind the screen he looked around again. He still couldn't really believe he lived here now.

ROMAN

"Your welcome." Roman says, happy that what he had brought made Patton happy. "I'm going to go to bed for the night. I always get tired form travelling." Roman says. He flops down onto the chaise, tossing the blanket over himself. "Goodnight Patton. Sleep well."

PATTON

Patton nodded a bit when Roman said he was going to bed. "Goodnight." he said before going over to the bed. It was huge, he didn't think he'd ever even seen a bed this big before. Climbing into it, he laid there for a while, waiting until he assumed enough time had passed that Roman realistically could've fallen asleep before climbing out of the bed and heading over to his bag. He dug through it, grabbing a stuffed animal and a book from the bag before heading back over to the bed. Setting the stuffed animal in his lap, he sat down on the bed again, doing his best to read despite the fact that the room kept getting darker and darker.

Patton was afraid of three things. Spiders, the dark, and being alone. This made being alone his whole life pretty difficult, and he actually did find comfort in knowing Roman was in the room right now. However, he tended to always make sure there was some sort of light when he slept, and he hadn't brought it up because he didn't know if a bit of light would make it impossible for Roman to sleep. So he figured he'd just sit there and read until it just got too dark to keep going anymore, and by the time that happened he'd surely be so tired that he'd just... fall asleep himself, right?

ROMAN

If Roman knew that Patton had been scared, he surely would have found some sort of light, and he would have been angry with himself for not figuring it out, and for Patton having been scared. But he slept soundly, unaware of Patton's fear. His dreams were weird, nonsensical- but who could blame him? Today had been.... absolutely crazy.

PATTON

Patton set the book down when it finally just got too dark for him to read anymore. Any little sound he heard, or thought he heard, he'd flinch, finally pulling the covers over himself completely in an attempt to hide from... whatever it was that he thought was waiting for him in the dark. He squeezed his eyes shut, just begging himself to fall asleep. He just had to sleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd laid there for. A few hours? He was fairly sure he'd drifted in and out of sleep during that time but he just couldn't peacefully fall asleep the way Roman had. He just had to get enough sleep to be a functioning human being in the morning. That was all he asked. When the sun finally came up, shedding some light in through the window, he let out a small breath of relief and attempted to get more comfortable, finally managing to fall asleep, he knew he only had a few hours, but it was better than no sleep at all.

ROMAN

The next morning, Roman awoke a few hours after sunrise, sitting up on the chaise, and realizing that he wasn't in his room anymore. So this wasn't just a bad dream. It was... actually happening. He sits up, rubbing his eyes, and glances over at Patton. He gets up while the other is still asleep, getting dressed behind the screen, before going to sit back down, grabbing a sketchbook and a pencil from the things that had been brought here, and begins idly doodling.

PATTON

Patton slept pretty soundly now that it wasn't dark anymore, he'd always been a fairly heavy sleeper once he actually managed to fall asleep. He only woke up when he heard knocking on their door. He groaned a bit, not even bothering to open his eyes as he pulled the pillow over his head. Whoever it was, he prayed that they had the wrong room, or maybe Roman was awake and they were here for him. Then Patton could just fall right back asleep. He needed a few more hours. "Prince Patton? Sorry to wake you but we need you to come get fitted and decide on your outfit for the wedding." Nooooo sleep now, wedding later. "Prince Patton?" Yeah, he definitely wasn't going to get to sleep. Pulling the pillow off his face he struggled to find his glasses. "Okay, I'll be there in a second." he said as he felt around, squinting his eyes a bit. "We'll give you a moment." they replied before shutting the door, Patton feeling his stuffed animal and the book and shoving them under the covers, hopefully before Roman could see, before returning his attention to finding his glasses.

ROMAN

Roman looks up from his drawing, and sees Patton looking around for something, before spotting the glasses on his bedside table. Roman stands, grabbing the glasses and giving them to Patton. "Were you looking for these?" he asks with a smile, noticing that Patton looked really tired. Roman wonders if he had slept at all last night. Roman couldn't blame him if he hadn't- Roman didn't sleep well in new places either.

PATTON

Patton rubbed his eyes a moment before Roman handed him his glasses, smiling a bit as he took them. "Thank you." he said as he slid them on his face. Holding back a yawn, he climbed out of the bed, running his hand through his hair to make sure it wasn't too messy before grabbing his stuffed animal and book and shoving them back in his bag when he was almost positive that Roman wasn't looking. "Have you been up long?" he asked curiously, trying not to sound as tired as he felt.

ROMAN

Emphasis on the /almost/. Roman sees the stuffed animal, and makes a mental note of it, but doesn't comment. He figured that Patton needed the object for comfort. They were both still basically kids anyway. "A few hours. I was just doing some doodling. Did you sleep okay?" he asks, seeing as Patton looked tired.

PATTON

Patton smiled a bit when Roman said he'd just been doodling. He remembered Roman commenting the other day on how he wanted to go to art school, he was happy that despite everything going on, Roman was still making time for the things that brought him joy. He shrugged a bit awkwardly at the question. "I slept okay for me... there's sort of a lot of... steps to me falling asleep, so sleep isn't always easy to come by." he said, a bit embarrassed before looking back at Roman. "Did you sleep okay? Was the chaise comfortable?"

ROMAN

Roman listens. "Steps? Well if it's ever difficult to fall asleep, do let me know if there's anything that I or the staff can do? The entire castle is practically at your beck and call, I'm sure there's something to help you sleep?" he says. "I was fine on the chaise, don't worry about me. I've been on battlefields before, I've slept on dirt in a tent, don't worry."

PATTON

Patton raised his shoulders a bit. "Well, you know... it can't be too dark, or quiet... cause, you know, if it's quiet that means I'm alone in the dark and that's not pleasant to think about." he sort of rambled. "Although I was kind of okay with the quiet last night because I knew you were in the room so... that helped." he added a bit shyly. Hearing that Roman had been on battlefields before, he blinked. He hadn't really given any thought to that aspect of being a Prince, and he couldn't help but wonder how many times Roman had done that... and if being in dangerous and heroic situations was something that Roman did often. "Prince Patton, are you ready yet?" he heard from outside the door and suddenly remembered why he'd woken up in the first place. "I guess I have to go." he said to Roman before heading out of the room, not really sure what to expect when it came to picking an outfit for the wedding.

ROMAN

"Well I'm sure we can find a candle that'll burn overnight, if that would help you?" Roman offers. He was glad to hear that his presence in the room helped. He doesn't want Patton to be scared here. He looks over at the door when someone speaks, giving Patton a small wave. "I'll see you later then." he says with a small smile.

PATTON

Patton couldn't help but be incredibly relieved when Roman not only didn't judge him, but offered to help him through the night as well. "Yeah, that... that'd be really great." he said with a smile. Kicking his bag under the bed on his way out, he followed to where he was suppose to go. The fitting went... alright, he guessed. The outfit was far fancier than anything he'd ever worn before, but at least it was blue. To be honest, he hadn't really wanted to take off the clothes Roman loaned him to even do the fitting. He liked those clothes. He was thrilled when it was all over and he could put them back on.

Patton had to admit, he may not have wanted this wedding to happen, but now that he was actually having his first real moment away from Roman since he got here, he found himself realizing he was much more comfortable in this place when Roman was around. The combination of lack of sleep and nerves was all but destroying him when he realized it was finally time to meet his parents. This was it. He was meeting his real parents for the first time. He was left alone at a large set of doors, told they were on the other side. Standing there, alone, he hesitated. What if they were as uncaring about him as the man who raised him was? What if the only reason they'd worked so hard to find him was so he could marry Roman and save the kingdom? What if he was just some huge disappointment?

ROMAN

When Roman was alone that day, he found himself missing Patton. He liked having his friend there, having someone to talk to. They didn't need him for anything today, so he was stuck in the room, drawing. He had found some pens, and was doodling things he saw out the window of the balcony. Patton's parents stood at the other side of the door. Patton's mother was overjoyed to see her son again. His father? He was just happy that his son could save his kingdom- the wedding had been his idea.

PATTON

Patton had been forced into an outfit more formal to meet his parents for the first time, but he'd made them promise they'd return the clothes he'd borrowed from Roman to his room. He would've been much more comfortable wearing that right now, but he supposed this outfit was more the first impression everyone wanted him to give off when meeting his parents. He wished Roman were here, he wondered what he was doing. Maybe he was still in their room, just drawing and enjoying a moment to do what he loved. Maybe he was in this room with Patton's parents. Finally gaining the courage to push open the door, he stepped inside, too nervous to say anything just yet. His parents looked... so much more like he did than he'd expected.

ROMAN

When Patton pushed open the door, his mother drew in a breath. He was... all grown up. She hadn't known what she had expected. Tears sprang to her eyes as she quickly moved forwards, wrapping Patton in a soft hug. She was definitely where he had gotten his softness and kindness from. His father remained still, not moving yet, simply watching Patton. He had never wanted a child in the first place, but he supposes the child was helping his kingdom now, so he couldn't hate him completely.

PATTON

Patton immediately hugged his mother back, a few tears coming to his own eyes. He'd never had a mother before, growing up it had just been him and his dad, or... the man he'd thought was his dad up until now. All Patton could think about now that she was hugging him was whether or not she was okay... the last time she saw him, he was a baby, this had to be a lot. Glancing at his dad, he broke his gaze rather quickly. He was a lot more... intimidating, that was for sure. For now he'd just focus on his mom. "Sorry..." he said after a moment, not really sure what it was he was apologizing for, it wasn't his fault someone kidnapped him. Patton had gone from too nervous to say anything to having a million questions for his mom. "I have so many things I wanna ask you..." he said quietly.

ROMAN

Patton's mother holds him, silent tears leaking out of her eyes- and even crying she looks regal- like a queen should. She wipes her eyes, holding Patton's shoulders and taking a step back to look at his face. "You're so grown up..." she says quietly. She had missed everything- his first words, first steps- all the birthdays. She barely recognized him. "Of course ask whatever questions you have." she says. Patton's father watches on, not saying anything.

PATTON

It was odd, hearing his mother say how grown up he was. He knew that in comparison to when she last saw him, yeah, he was definitely grown up. But Patton didn't actually feel like was all that grown up yet. He still slept with a stuffed animal that he'd had since he was a baby, he was afraid of ridiculous things like spiders and the dark and being alone... compare that to Roman who was around his age and had already been on the battlefield while Patton had barely ever been outside it just made him feel even less grown up. He had no idea what he was doing half the time... he didn't even know what he wanted to do with his life. He was still figuring it all out, and now he was suppose to get married? He didn't feel grown up enough for that either. He wanted to ask his mother if they really had to go through with this? Or at the very least, if they did, if it really all had to happen so fast... Roman had dreams of going to art school.

Patton wanted to spend time getting to know his mother. He didn't know the first thing about being a Prince, ruling a kingdom. Didn't he get any time to spend with her and learn from her at all? He was too scared to ask with his dad looking at him like that, he'd settle for something a little less intense and hope for a moment alone with his mom where he could bring all that up. "I have this stuffed frog, my... the guy who raised me always said I "came with it" and I just thought it was some sort of joke but now that I know he wasn't actually my dad... did I actually come with it, like, was that stuffed animal from you?" he asked. "Am I still allowed to bake? Roman said he thought it would be fine, but I'm still not completely sure of what I can and can't do... when will I get to spend time with you? Because I really want to get to know you and find out what your hobbies are and your favorite color, and your favorite foods..." he was full on rambling by this point, nearly having to remind himself to breathe. He just never thought he'd actually have a mother to talk to.

ROMAN

His mother listened, her hands leaving his shoulders to gently clasp his hands, listening to his questions. "You still have the frog?" she asks, surprised- but a small part of her was comforted, that a piece of her had been with Patton when he grew up. "Baking? Yes, I think you can- you're going to be a king soon, Patton, I think you can bake. I want to get to know you too. I- I never thought I'd see you again." she says quietly. "We can spend time together, don't worry." she says. She wouldn't let Patton get taken away again. Patton's father steps forwards, walking over to the two of them. "Welcome back." he says simply, but his voice is a bit distant, as if he had better things to be doing.

PATTON

Patton's smile grew at the confirmation that the frog had, indeed, been something that he'd gotten from his mother. That frog had been used as a threat quite a few times in his childhood, his kidnapper telling him if he went outside or tried to leave that his frog would be taken, which worked fairly well to keep Patton in line. He loved that frog. The longer he stood next to his mom, the more he realized that the amazing way that stuffed animal smelled that always brought him comfort smelled an awful lot like her perfume. The scent had basically left the frog by this point, but he still remembered it well enough to recognize it now.

He wanted to say something about how he'd been unsure of what he was and wasn't allowed to do, like baking, because he had no say in this marriage despite almost being King, but decided against it. It would probably just sound rude, and he didn't want to be rude to her, she was so nice. When his father stepped forward, he looked up at him, biting his lip nervously. "Thank you." he said quietly. "I understand if you have a lot to do and places that you need to be, we can talk later." he said, picking up on his father's energy and figuring he'd give him an out, he wanted a moment alone with his mom anyway. He kept his hold on her hands, hoping that if his dad did take this opportunity to leave, that she'd stay, even if it was just for a few more minutes. He really wanted to talk to her about the wedding without his father there... looking at him like that.

ROMAN

Patton's father nods, leaving the room, going somewhere to go speak with Roman's father. Paton's mother watches him go, but she doesn't leave. She doesn't want to leave Patton again. "I know he might seem a bit... cold, but he'll warm up don't worry." she says quietly after he was out of earshot.

PATTON

Patton relaxed a little when his father left the room. "It's okay, I'm sure it'll take some time, to get use to me being here." he said softly. "So... this whole marriage thing, I understand why it's happening... but does it have to happen so fast? I don't even know how to be a Prince yet. How will I know what to do when it's time for me to be King if I never even learned how to be a Prince?" he asked nervously. "If the marriage has to happen now, then maybe we could take a little time after the wedding for ourselves.”

“I mean, just because we're married doesn't mean we have to spend every second together... I'm sure Roman has some dreams he wanted to pursue..." he didn't mention that he knew what those dreams were, it didn't feel like his place to share that. "and then I could spend my time with you and we can get to know each other and you can teach me how to be a Prince and then when Roman and I come back together I'll actually feel prepared to be a Prince and a husband." he tried.

ROMAN

Patton's mother frowns. She doesn't like that she's putting her son through this, but it's needed. "Patton I- I'm not exactly sure." she admits. "You'd need to ask your father, and Roman's parents as well, they're the ones coordinating this. But you're right. Even if you both stay here, you're right, you don't need to spend every second together. I want to get to know you, Patton, we're making up for a lot of lost time." she says sadly.

PATTON

Patton nodded slowly. "Okay... yeah. As long as I get to spend time with you." he said before giving her a small smile. He could tell just from the few moments he spent with his father that convincing him to put the wedding off was probably not going to happen. But maybe he could convince him that he and Roman could take some time for themselves... maybe in that time Roman could attend an art school, or maybe they could even find one closer to here so that Roman wasn't gone completely. That was a fair compromise, right?

When Roman was there, Patton could spend time with his mom. "I just... I don't feel ready, I don't feel good enough for Roman. I barely know him but he's been nothing but kind to me from the second I met him and he's done all these incredible... princely things and I haven't done anything. I've just sat in a room all my life. I want to be worthy of someone like him." Even if this wedding was being forced on them, he still wanted to make the most of it, be a husband that Roman deserved.

ROMAN

Patton's mother gently squeezed his hands. "I'm sure there's nothing for you to be worried about. You'll do... princely things soon. You weren't able to before- you didn't even know you were a prince. Yes, Prince Roman seems like a good man, but you, Patton? We've been speaking for a few minutes, and I- I know I had no part in this, but I'm sure that you deserve him. You seem sweet, kind, caring- you are worthy." she reassures.

PATTON

Patton still didn't know everything that being a Prince included, but he doubted he'd be any good on a battlefield like Roman was. Would he even be a good leader? He wasn't entirely sure. He smiled though, when his mother pointed out some of his better qualities, stating that she thought he was worthy of Roman. "Thank you." he said softly. He really hoped she was right.

ROMAN

"There's no need to thank me Patton." she says with a smile. "I know you might be hesitant- but this could be a good thing." she says, smiling at him. "Did you pick what you're wearing yet? For the ceremony?" she asks.

PATTON

Patton nodded when she questioned if he'd picked out his outfit for the ceremony. "Yeah, I just did. It's blue, which I like a lot." he said, the color being the only thing about that outfit that felt like him. He really hoped that he got comfortable with all these fancy outfits soon, he figured he'd better get use to wearing things like that. He still missed wearing the outfit Roman had loaned to him.

ROMAN

She smiles. "Patton- can we speak again later? I have too go and find your father." she says. She's unwilling to leave Patton, but she had to go.

PATTON

Patton nodded a bit. "Of course." he said, understanding but not wanting to let go of her just yet, so he decided on giving her one more hug before letting her go off to find his dad. Once she had done that, Patton wandered off on his own quest to find Roman. He wasn't really sure where he should go to find him, and this castle was pretty easy to get lost in, but Patton figured if he wandered around long enough he'd stumble across him eventually.

ROMAN

Roman was actually on his way down to the gardens. He had been up in the room all day, so he wanted to leave, go down and sketch some of the flowers. He brought his sketchbook, and some colored pencils, and he happened to run into Patton on the way. "Oh hello Patton!" he greets with a smile.

PATTON

Patton smiled when he saw Roman, hurrying over to him. He knew if he kept wandering around he'd find him eventually, plus he'd gotten to see some really nice parts of the castle, so that was an added bonus. "Hi." he said, noticing the sketchbook and pencils. "Where are you off to?" he asked curiously, wondering if Roman was going to look for inspiration to sketch out something specific or if he just wanted a change of scenery after completing a sketch.

ROMAN

"I'm going into one of the gardens- I'm thinking of drawing some of the flowers?" he says. "Do you want to come with me?" he offers to the other. He wanted to spend time with Patton- his friend.

PATTON

"There's a garden?" Patton asked with a smile, missing the one of... Patton had never actually been in a garden before, he'd barely ever been outside, but he'd seen pictures of garden's in books growing up and they always looked so pretty. When Roman offered for Patton to come with him, he nodded, smiling a bit more. "Yeah, okay." he said happily, excited to actually see this garden for himself and to get to spend some more time with Roman.

ROMAN

Roman smiles. "C'mon then!" he says, before heading down a few flights of steps, knowing how not to get lost, and walking through until he exited into a huge garden- full of flowers, trees, any type of fruit tree imaginable. He leads Patton through to the center, where there's a bench. He sits down, opening his sketchbook.

PATTON

Patton followed Roman, in awe when they actually arrived at the garden. It was even more beautiful than he could've ever imagined. He hadn't been prepared for how pretty it all actually was. "Wow." he breathed out after a moment, looking around and trying to take in every little thing he could before looking back at Roman. He couldn't believe a place like this existed, and that Roman could come here and sketch whenever he wanted.

ROMAN

"It's nice, isn't it?" Roman asks with a smile, glancing at Patton's awestruck face. He flips open the book to a blank page, grabbing a pencil. Thinking about it... he's drawn all of these flowers before. He had a much more interesting subject now. He doesn't draw the roses for the millionth time, instead, glancing up at Patton and begging to draw the outline of his face.

PATTON

Patton gave a small nod, going back and forth between looking at Roman and looking around, just trying to take it all in. "I've never seen anything like it before." he admitted before looking back at Roman, not noticing what he was drawing. He sat himself down on the ground, knowing full well that he probably could've sat on the bench with Roman but he couldn't even remember the last time he'd been outside and he just wanted to enjoy nature, sit on the ground by the grass and the stones and the flowers and just take it all in. "So, I was thinking..." he said after a moment.

"I've never actually been to a wedding before, and now I'm about to have one, and I don't really know what actually happens at weddings other than the whole... getting married part." he said. That couldn't be all there was to it, and he didn't really know what to expect. He'd read enough books to know that there was an aisle, and they both had to say I do, and that a lot of people Patton didn't even know would be there. Something about a reception afterwards, and Patton didn't even know what a reception was let alone what happened at one, and having no idea what to expect other than a blurry, fuzzy undetailed explanation wasn't very much to go off of.

ROMAN

Roman chuckles when Patton just sits down on the ground, his pencil drawing the gentle curve of Patton's smile. When Patton asks his questions, he thinks. "Well one of us will have to walk down the aisle, and then a priest reads from a book for a while, that part is pretty boring, and then we're supposed to kiss, and then we go to the reception, which is basically just a fancy dinner and a party." he explains, before going back to his drawing.

PATTON

"How do we decide which one of us walks down the aisle?" he asked before blinking when he realized what Roman said next. "Wait, we have to kiss in front of all those people?" he asked, clearly more nervous about the in front of all those people part than the actual kiss itself. He'd never kissed anyone before, he hadn't really expected his first kiss to happen in front of an audience. When Roman explained the reception, he pursed his lips in thought.

ROMAN

"I'm not sure, the people arranging the wedding control that." Roman admits. "Uh- yeah. I do admit it's a bit weird, but we're not like... making out or anything." he says. His drawing of Patton was mostly done at this point, just filling in his details.

PATTON

Patton thought about it for a moment. "Well, we could..." his voice trailed off, deciding against finishing that thought. It was a stupid idea. Roman would probably laugh or think Patton was crazy if he suggested it. Looking back at the flowers for a moment he raised his eyebrows as another thought came to him. "So, are we going to have to dance together at this reception thing? Because I have no idea how to dance and I feel like I need to apologize in advance for like... accidentally stepping on your feet." he said with a small laugh, a bit embarrassed at the thought of him actually doing that, but hopefully his dancing wouldn't actually be that bad, allowing himself to fall back so he was laying in the grass.

ROMAN

Roman wonders what the question was, but he banishes it from his mind. Not his place to pry. He laughs when Patton says that he can't dance. "Can't dance? Nonsense! Everyone can dance! Although if you really can't, I could teach you?" he says, looking up from his drawing.

PATTON

Part of Patton wondered if he should bring up his idea after all, but he was scared to. What if Roman judged him? Giving a small shrug from his spot on the ground, he tilted his head from his position laying on the ground to look at Roman better. "I've never danced before... I mean, I've danced around to music by myself when I was just feeling happy or silly, but I've never danced with another person... you know, a person with feet I can step on." he laughed. When Roman offered to teach him, he smiled a bit. "Yeah? That'd be... probably a good idea for your safety." he teased before smiling, his nose scrunching up a bit as he held back another laugh.

ROMAN

Roman smiled, finishing his drawing, before setting down his sketchbook and going over to where Patton was laying down, offering a hand. "Come on, I'll show you how to waltz!" he says with a smile. "It's simple enough."

PATTON

Patton took his hand, standing himself up. He'd heard about waltzing, it seemed easy enough, or at least in the pictures he'd seen of people waltzing they made it look easy, that didn't mean it actually was, still, he figured that would be a good starting place.

ROMAN

Roman pulls Patton up, keeping his hold on that hand and gently placing his other hand on Patton's waist. "I'll lead, you just follow. The steps are in a triangle pattern, with a small spin on the last one. So just count 1-2-3 in your head." Roman explains. "I'll start off slowly." he says, before taking the first few steps with Patton, seeing if he'd pick it up quickly.

PATTON

Patton focused on the instructions he was given, putting his other hand on Roman's shoulder. He could probably manage that. "Okay." he said with a small nod. He followed Roman's lead, actually dancing pretty well if you ignored the fact that he was mostly looking down at his feet instead of up like he should've, but he couldn't help but be pretty proud of himself for not messing up even if it wasn't perfect.

ROMAN

"You're doing well!" Roman says with a smile, adding in a small spin, lifting Patton up a little bit and giggling. He liked dancing with Patton, and the other learned quite quickly.

PATTON

Patton smiled a bit, glancing back up at Roman when he commented that he was doing well. "Yeah?" he questioned with a smile, glad to hear he wasn't making a total fool of himself. He laughed a bit when Roman spun him and lifted him up a bit, surprised to find that dancing with another person was a lot more fun than dancing by yourself. "Okay, okay, that is kind of fun..." he started as he stopped them, letting his other hand come down from Roman's shoulder. "But you know what's a lot more fun than the whole formal, royal, kinda dancing? Just dancing however you want because it just makes you feel happy!" he said as he bounced on the balls of his feet before taking Roman's other hand so he was holding both of them, dancing the way he usually did, which was mostly just Patton bouncing up and down and bopping his head, swinging his hands back and forth so that Roman's hands swung with them as he let out a small laugh, trying to get Roman to dance and bounce around with him. "You gotta do it, I can't look silly all by myself!" he said with a giggle as he scrunched his nose again.

ROMAN

"Just... dancing?" he asks. He giggles as he watches Patton bop around, and wiggle. "You look ridiculous." he says with a smile. "But lucky for you, looking ridiculous is my favorite pastime!" he says with a bright smile, bouncing up and down as well, smiling and giggling and just... enjoying himself.

PATTON

"Yep!" Patton said happily. Patton stuck his tongue out at Roman playfully when he commented that he looked ridiculous before laughing more at his final comment, watching as Roman joined in. "This should definitely be the way we dance at the reception." he half joked, knowing they probably weren't allowed to but honestly if Roman said screw it all and went for it Patton would 100% join in. He continued to bop his head and bounce around before stumbling a bit, managing to catch himself before he could actually fall before letting out another laugh as he stopped. "It's a lot harder than it looks, I clearly need more rehearsal." he joked.

ROMAN

"Oh no definitely! I assign you... 200 wiggles by tomorrow morning!" Roman says seriously, trying to hide his smiles. He stops his bounces when Patton does, holding in giggles. He can't remmeber the last time that he had done something silly or had that much fun....

PATTON

Patton really tried to hold back a laugh at Roman's comment, trying to look as serious he Roman was attempting to, but failed miserably. "Good, so I've got time then, I can start on it later." he said before laughing and sitting back down on the grass, tugging on Roman's hand a bit to gesture that he wanted Roman to sit next to him. "So out of all the flowers in this garden, which one's your favorite?" he asked curiously, taking a moment to catch his breath after all that bouncing and dancing around.

ROMAN

Roman smiles, sitting down next to Patton on the grass. "My favorite? I like the roses. I know it's cliché, but I love everything that they symbolize. And the roses- they're hard work. They wilt easily. You have to get to know them well before you can care for them. And despite how pretty they are- they're got thorns. I feel like that describes me." he says. "What about you?"

PATTON

Patton smiled as he listened to Roman talk about the roses. He remembered reading that different color roses had different meanings, and he remembered finding that incredibly fascinating. "I've never actually seen them in real life before, but I like coreopsis because they're said to symbolize always feeling cheerful and happy, which I like... the ones I've seen in photos are always yellow, but I heard that there are blue ones too, so they'd probably be my favorite." he said before laying back down in the grass again. Thinking about what Roman had said, he tilted his head a bit, really focusing on one of the things Roman had said about the roses, and how that described him. "So how do I get to know you so that I can care for you?" he asked curiously. He was about to be Roman's husband after all. It was something he'd need to know.

ROMAN

"I don't think we have any of those..." Roman says, sad that he couldn't find Patton's favorite flower. He made a mental note to see if he could find any- perhaps a impromptu wedding gift? Roman looks at Patton, surprised that the other was interested in finding out. "Uh- I've never been asked that before. But I'd say you're currently doing a pretty good job. You don't need to care for me though."

PATTON

Patton gave a small shrug. "That's okay. there's a ton of other really pretty flowers and trees around here to look at. I've never actually been in a garden before, so I'm just happy to be here no matter what kinds of plants there are... they're all beautiful." he admitted. Patton smiled more when Roman stated that he was doing a pretty good job. "That's good to hear." he said before raising his shoulders a bit. "Okay. But if you ever do need me to, I'll be here." he said before looking up at the sky for a moment. "So... I did have a thought... but it might be a really stupid idea, and you have to promise not to like... judge me or think I'm crazy for suggesting it." he said before looking back at Roman.

ROMAN

Roman smiles. "Thanks Patton." he says with a smile. Roman looks up as well, but then looks back at Patton when he spoke. "Don't worry. I'd never judge you, or think you were crazy." he reassures with a smile.

PATTON

Patton sat back up, a hint of red reaching his cheeks. Was he really going to suggest this out loud where Roman could hear him? "Well, I was thinking about what you said... about how at the wedding we have to kiss in front of everyone, so I was thinking maybe it would make more sense if we kissed once before the wedding, when it's just us, you know... because our first kiss should be for just us and not a bunch of other people." he said shyly. It just felt like none of this wedding was really theirs. They were being forced to marry when neither of them felt ready and they barely knew each other, and they barely had any say in anything to do with the wedding anyway. They'd even been robbed of one of them getting to propose to the other. Maybe if they kissed before the wedding so that their first kiss and when and where and how it happened was their decision instead of anyone else's it'd be like reclaiming something in a mess of things being taken from both of them. Feeling his face go completely red he awkwardly shifted where he was sitting and hugged his knees to his chest. "It's a stupid idea, we don't have to if you don't want to, of course, we can just... forget I even brought it up." he said quickly as he fiddled nervously with a blade of grass in his fingers. He was sure Roman didn't even want to kiss him to begin with, it was probably silly to suggest adding more kisses that weren't even being asked of them.

ROMAN

Roman is... surprised. But he's thinking along the same line as Patton is, now that the other had brought it up. "Well- actually now that you say that- you're making sense." Roman places a hand on Patton's arm. "Don't worry, it's not stupid." he assures, giving Patton a soft smile. Roman looks at Patton, before realizing what he had been missing. He grabs his sketchbook, quickly adding something before showing the drawing to Patton. "I forgot you had a dimple!" he says to the other.

PATTON

Patton was surprised to hear that Roman agreed with him, surprised, but relieved. He blinked, a bit confused when Roman suddenly grabbed his sketchbook and started adding something to whatever it was he was working on earlier. When Roman actually showed the drawing to him, however, Patton was shocked. Both because he couldn't get over how talented Roman was and because he couldn't believe Roman had actually wanted to draw him. "Woah..." he breathed out after a second. He'd always liked drawing, but he'd never really been any good at it... he couldn't believe he actually knew someone who could draw like this. "This is amazing." he said softly. "I can't believe you'd wanna draw me." he said quietly before finally managing to break his gaze off the drawing, looking back up at Roman. "You're really talented." No wonder Roman had wanted to go to art school, he had such a gift.

ROMAN

Roman blushed a bit when Patton complimented his art. "Thanks Patton. Well why wouldn't I draw you? You're supposed to be my husband or whatever, it'd be weird if I didn't." he says with a laugh. "Thanks- but it's just a quick sketch- and you have... you have so much life in your eyes that it's hard to capture."

PATTON

Patton's blush had almost disappeared from bringing up them kissing earlier, only to have it come back at Roman's next comment about his eyes. He knew it wasn't really his fault, it wasn't like he was the one forcing this wedding on Roman, but it did make him feel bad that he was the one keeping him from his dream, because he really was talented. "It's incredible. I don't know how you did it. I mean, I can draw a pretty great stick figure... not to brag or make you jealous or anything." he teased before laughing a bit.

ROMAN

Roman bursts into a fit of cackles at that, nodding. "Yes, this will never compare to you illustrious stick figures, famed far and wide for their stick-iness!" he giggles, before carefully tearing the page out of the sketchbook and giving it to Patton. "Here. You take it."

PATTON

Patton smiled when he was able to make Roman laugh. "That was my claim to fame." he joked before looking down at the sketch again when Roman handed it to him. "Really?" he said before smiling a bit more. He took a moment to look at Roman's artwork before looking back at Roman himself. "So, to feed off of my kiss before the wedding idea, maybe we should come up with some other things we've always wanted to do to try and do before the wedding... I don't think I'll be able to get you a full art school education before then but we could come up with simple and fun stuff like... figure out how to do a cartwheel, or build the world's largest pillow fort, or eat more ice cream than we've ever eaten before in one sitting!" he squeaked the last one a bit too excitedly before falling back again. "You know, a guy's gotta have goals and ambitions and stuff."

ROMAN

Roman laughs, listening to Patton talk about all that. "I'm not sure? I've never really thought about that. Well- one thing- it's really silly- but one thing I've always wanted to do was laugh until I snorted something out of my nose, but the opportunity never arose. What about you?" he asks Patton with a smile.

TO BE CONTINUED

[iamartemisday]

Jane Foster Week Day Seven

.07 Free Day

Jane was on another planet. She knew it because the sky was orange and the sea was red. The mountains appeared to be upside down, balanced perfectly on the tips because physics here was broken. A bird flew overhead, or at least what Jane assumed was a bird. It looked more like a flying rat. It landed on a purple tree and squawked before licking the bottom side of its leg.

A crowd of humanoids surrounded Jane. They had already been there when Jane stepped through the hole in spacetime her bridge created, at least fifty by her count. They varied in height but stayed within normal human parameters. Their skin was pale like the aliens in that Star Trek parody movie Darcy made her watch, but instead of plain black, they sported multiple hair colors like they had dunked their heads in paint cans. They had no extra eyes or appendages growing out of their backs. No antennae or tentacles, at least as far as she could see. They didn’t sprout fangs or devour her and they didn’t care her away to jail for trespassing on their planet. For now and unless proven otherwise, Jane assumed they were friendly.

“Hi there,” she said, nervously waving. “I’m Jane Foster. Nice to meet you.”

They smiled at her. Literally all of them at the same time. The effect was creepy, but not overly so. One man stepped out of the crowd and took her by the hand. He felt warm enough despite his skin’s deathly pallor.

“Hello, Jane Foster. You may call me Jenzen” he said, kissing her hand. “We are so glad you’re here. We’ve waited ages for you to arrive.”

Jane stared at him. Was he confusing her for someone else? “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to reach your planet. I’m a scientist and I was testing something called a-”

“Einstein-Rosen Bridge.” Jenzen’s smile widened, as did those of his compatriots. “Yes, we were told you would arrive in such a fashion.”

“....by who?”

“Our former king before his death,” a woman piped in as she stood beside Jenzen. They wore identical pendants around their necks which Jane assumed was their societies version of wedding rings. “He died without an heir, and so he looked into the future and declared our new ruler would come to us on a bridge like a rainbow, and she’d call it an Einstein Rosen bridge.”

“New ruler…” Jane had heard pretty much nothing after those two words. “Did you say new ruler… as in the person who rules you guys?”

“We have spent the last ten years preparing for this day,” said the woman. She had tears in her eyes as she and her husband knelt before Jane. “We cannot tell you how overjoyed we are that you’ve come to us, at last, my Queen.”

Okay, they definitely had her confused with someone else. Someone important who would probably kill Jane for stealing their crown whenever they got back. The rest of the crowd fell to their knees until she couldn’t see a single face in the crowd. Their heads bowed, they were like a swath of colorful polka dots drawn by a child on a murky brown landscape.

“Foster is a wonderful name,” said Jenzen to the woman. “How about Fostera for the planet’s new name?”

“It’s perfect!” The woman exclaimed, clapping her hands. “The best name I’ve ever heard.”

“You’re renaming your planet after me?” Jane screamed.

“Of course we are. Our world must reflect our leader in every conceivable way.” Jenzen then cleared his throat and addressed the crowd in a voice magnified ten times. “Fosterians! Our time of waiting has ended, for our new queen has finally come to us at last! All hail Queen Jane of Fostera!”

“ALL HAIL QUEEN JANE OF FOSTERA! ALL HAIL QUEEN JANE OF FOSTERA!”

They chanted for the longest time, celebrating the joy of having a new monarch. Said queen was decidedly unregal today with her buckling knees and unhinged jaw, but they didn’t seem to notice.

**

Jane was shown to her royal suite in the Fosterian (she cringed when they said it) royal palace. Loki was waiting on the loveseat when she arrived, a book in his lap that looked older than he was.

“Good evening, my Queen,” he said, a wide grin on his face showing all his teeth. “Isn’t this an amusing predicament you’re in.”

“You know, I would be freaking out right now that you’re alive and in my room,” Jane said, “but I just don’t have the energy.”

Jane walked passed him to the bed and sunk into the mattress. She buried her head in some pillows and dug them even further in her ear when Loki chuckled. Such an annoying sound it made Darcy’s snoring sound like classical music in comparison.

“Now Jane, a true queen never lays down on the job.”

“I’m not a queen. These people have the wrong idea, and tomorrow I’m setting the record straight and going home.”

“And how do you intend to do that, dare I ask?”

“None of your business.” Jane picked up another pillow to throw at him. Since she hadn’t looked up it went in the wrong direction and crashed into what sounded like a lamp. Loki clicked his tongue.

“Such childish anger, my dear. It’s not befitting the ruler of a kingdom.”

“Says the guy who invaded earth because you found out you were adopted.” Jane beat the pillow harder into her ear to block him out. “Now go away before I have you kicked out.”

“Do you believe that would work or do you want to know how I got in here undetected.”

Jane read once that deep breathing exercises helped calm you down. She went through every single one she knew, and she still wanted to strangle him when she was done. “Okay.” She sat up in bed. “I give. What do you want?”

He feigned bewilderment. “Want? Why on earth would I want anything? I only wished to visit my dear friend.”

Jane raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, perhaps I was going to offer my assistance in your new responsibilities,” he rose to his feet and stood over her. “As a queen, you are entitled to as many consorts as you wish, though your first should be one adept at matters of ruling, should he not?”

They stared at each other for a good long time. Long enough that Jane was pretty sure the polar ice caps would melt between his finishing his sentence and her breaking out into a massive smile. “You know what? I just realized what’s going on here. It’s so obvious! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

She took Loki’s hand and dragged him to the window, laughing the entire way. “You wanna be king of Fostera, you got it, jack.” She threw open the window. A crowd of Fosterians was already waiting for her because of course. “Citizens of Fostera, as your Queen, I would like to make my first official proclamation.”

“Speak, my queen,” someone in the audience shouted.

“We will abide by your every word,” another screamed.

“Ah, you guys are the best,” Jane giggled. “Okay, so this is Loki, he’s a prince of Asgard. As of right now, I officially declare him my husband and King of Fostera. That is something I can do because I said so. So everyone hail King Loki.”

“ALL HAIL KING LOKI!” They obediently shouted. “ALL HAIL QUEEN JANE! ALL HAIL KING LOKI!”

“Awesome. I will be back with more royal decrees later.” Jane gave them a thumbs up and shut the curtains.

“That was an excellent proclamation,” Loki said. “I’m honored you’ve chosen me to be your king.”

“Don’t get used to it, buddy,” Jane said, crawling back into bed. “As soon I wake up, I’ll be back in my lab and you’ll be dead again because this is all just a vivid dream.  I’m not really ruling a planet. I didn’t just declare us married. It’s all in my imagination.”

Loki nodded thoughtfully. “I see… though on the slim chance this is real, were there any other official decrees you were considering?”

Jane snorted. “Sure, why not? Uh… make every third Saturday ‘World Science Day’ where people come up with a new inventions or experiments and present them in a monthly Expo. Let’s also rename those mountains the Darcy Lewis Range. She’d love that. Also, why don’t you go to earth and get a bunch of hot guys for that consort harem you were talking about?”

“Any candidates in mind?”

“Bucky Barnes for one,” Jane said, ticking names off on her fingers. “He’s a friend of Steve Rogers and he’s beyond gorgeous. You should see him work out. In fact, let’s also get Steve himself and that other friend of his, Sam Wilson. Clint Barton is good too, but please don’t mind control him again. And if there’s anyone else you think I’d like, by all means, bring them along.”

“Noted,” Loki said, practically skipping out the door. “Rest well my Queen. On my honor, your orders will be carried out before you wake.”

“Uh-huh, sounds great.” Jane rolled over and closed her eyes. “Nighty night, dream Loki.”

She was asleep in seconds, as Loki slowly closed the door with an evil smirk. “Goodnight, Jane…”

**

Jane opened her eyes the next morning expecting to see the slate gray walls of her lab and to be in a sleeping bag with an unfinished mug of coffee and some cereal next to her.

Instead, she was in her royal bedroom with a plate full of delicacies being held before her eyes by Loki.”Good morning. Hungry?”

Jane screamed. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???”

“Offering you breakfast,” Loki said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m glad you’re awake. I have the last bit of paperwork you need to officially establish World Science Day and you’ll be pleased to know Darcy Lewis Range has just been christened.”

“But- but- but- but-”

“Also, your consort harem is waiting in the drawing room downstairs. I was able to round up all of your selections. I believe Mr. Barnes might have feelings for you. When I said I was bringing him to you, he assumed I had kidnapped you and attempted to strangle me.” Loki rubbed his neck, which sported a pair of hand shaped bruises on either side. “He does pack quite a punch.”

“Ah… guh... buh…”

“I found Rogers mid-battle. His foe was quite adamant that I wouldn’t end their fight or take the Captain with me. Some foolishness about being the only one allowed to defeat him. It was nonsense, but he seemed similar to the type you were asking for, so I brought him along as well. I believe Rogers called him ‘Rumlow’. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“Haaaah....”

“Well, no matter. You will meet him and the others soon enough. Fortunately, the rest were easy to take, though I had to wait for Barton to fall asleep to avoid an altercation.”

Loki led her along in her zombified state, down a hall which had been designed with her favorite colors and refurbished with a planets and stars motif. A life-sized statue of her had been erected on top of the stairwell. Everyone they passed bowed before their ruler, a loving whisper of ‘my queen’ on their lips.

Eventually, they reached a room with wide windows, through which Jane saw five men tied up on the couches, none of whom looked particularly happy to be there.

“Forgive me, dearest, it was the only way to prevent an escape attempt,” said Loki. “Not that it would matter. As it turns out, this planet is all the way on the other side of the galaxy from Earth. I suppose your young friend is right, only Jane Foster would find herself in this situation.”

He laughed and pressed a button on the wall, releasing the lock and allowing the door to slid open. With nothing else to do and a brain just now fully rebooted, Jane Foster of the planet Fostera stepped inside and faced the music.

[sophisticated-angel]

The Littlest Winchester - Royals

Characters: Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury

Warning: None

Word Count: 1,143

Request:  Will u do a littlest Winchester imagine where in like season 8 Charlie is the queen of the learping thing and so the little girl hears about Charlie being a queen and sometime later dean calls her princess and she's like daddy I'm no princess I'm a queen

Story

   Lately, Dean’s four-year-old daughter has really been getting into anything and everything Medieval and Renaissance. Queens, kings, knights, and dragons occupy her thoughts and are the subject of much of what comes out of her mouth. Dean spoils her with book of Arthurian legend and fairytales, reads stories at bedtime and edits out the bloody parts. He’s been an evil knight, a fire-breathing dragon, a handmaiden, a court jester, a horse, and the knight in shining armor who rescues the fair damsel from the clutches of the evil Sorcerer Samuel – his identity has never been so confused.

   When he takes her to see Charlie, his motives are personal – he needs a hard drive hacked – but he’s completely aware that she’s in the middle of LARP season playing a queen and will be on the premises of her ‘kingdom’. And it’s possibly for the little girl to stay with Cass or Sam, but Dean decided to take her because he wants to spend more time with her. He should admit that he wants her to have a true medieval experience already.

   All the four-year-old knows is that Daddy needs to go somewhere for work and asked her to come with him. Without being asked, she donner her princess dress and grabbed her fairy wand (today, apparently, she’s a fairy princess). It takes her a second to realize that everyone at this gathering is wholeheartedly portraying characters from her favorite time period, but once she does she about explodes from fangirl excitement, and her devotion to playing her character is permeated by fits of glee. No one else breaks character, not even the evil witches and man-eating trolls who are bopped by her wand to repel them with magic. She’s most excited, however, when they enter the Queen’s tent.

   “Charlie!” she squeals, bouncing on her heels.

   Charlie, restraining obvious delight, maintains her royal façade long enough to give and receive a curtsy and then sweeps up the little girl, exclaiming, “C’mere and gimme a hug, Buggaboo!”

   “Nice of you to notice me,” Dean comments sarcastically.

   “You’re here on business. That’s boring.”

   “Yeah, boring,” echoes the toddler.

   “And you didn’t dress appropriately.” Charlie sets the little girl down and points at a chest on the other side of the tent. “See that? There’s some costume stuff in there. Go ahead and start putting something together for your dad, okay?”

   She requires no prodding. While his daughter is occupied, Dean takes the hard drive out of his pocket. “Belonged to Tucker Orvis, guy who owns all those theaters I mentioned. Sam swiped it, but it’s encrypted past his skill level. Can you crack it?”

   “Yes and no.”

   “What does that mean?”

   “It means I can hack it, but not right now. I have a court meeting in five minutes, and I can’t miss this one because I missed the last two and now there’s talk of diverting the Queen’s power to the advisers so I really have to do my job.”

   “Uh huh. Why exactly did you miss the last two?”

   “The maid in the next tent is super hot.”

   “Ah. You know, people are dying because of what old Tucker’s hiding on this thing, right?”

   “I’ve got a plan. Go to the tech tent and look for a dark fairy, LARP name Diaspor Catspring, real name Elena Kabul. She’s real good at this.”

   “Is she a hunter?”

   “She’s got limited morals, no respect for authority, and a mega crush on yours truly. Just don’t let her actually read what’s on the thing.”

   “Got it.” Dean starts for the door.

   “Um, costume?” Charlie gestures to the mess of clothes surrounding the chest. Beneath a cape, something squirms. “Also, can I borrow your kid?”

*    *    *    *    *

   Truly, Dean gets a kick out of LARPing. Though he gripes about the dress, he changes into the outfit chosen for him, papier mâché sword and all, and heads across the site to find the tech tent. Diaspor Catspring is exactly where Charlie said she’d be and as lacking in morals. She’s more than willing to hack the stolen hard drive once Dean promises to put in a good word for her with the Queen, but he sacrifices speed when he turns down the invitation to her tent later. He gets what he wants, and the moment he does he snatches the hard drive away from Diaspor’s curious hands and leaves the tent.

   He finds his daughter punishing a troll.

   “You have been accused of intent to dethrone the Queen,” a man in wizard guard is saying to the accused being held by two guards. “Such offenses shall not go unpunished.” The wizard turns to face the Queen expectantly.

   There’s some whispering from the advisors near the throne. Charlie listens and eyes the troll thoughtfully, but as she opens her mouth, the toddler princess by her side speaks up.

   “Off with his head!” she cries, head held high and wand pointed damningly.

   Charlie backs her up. “Off with his head!”

   Spouting curses, the troll is dragged off to the dungeons. Dean approaches the throne cautiously.

   Charlie nods to her advisors. “A moment.” She steps down from her throne and follows him out the back entrance. “Did you get it?”

   “Yeah. Oh, and I don’t remember exactly what she told me to say, but I’m supposed to put in a good word with you, so this is me . . . doing that.”

   “Daddy, guess what!” The four-year-old vies for her father’s attention. “I put people in stocks and made them get their heads cut off!”

   “Don’t forget we knighted somebody, and you turned that one witch into a toad,” Charlie adds.

   “Sounds like an interesting day.”

   “Hey, Buggaboo, wanna knight your dad?”

   “He is one already ‘cause he fights monsters like one,” the toddler explains. “Sometimes Uncle Sammy is a wizard who kidnaps me, and Daddy is a knight who rescues me. Uncle Cass was a dragon one time.”

   “Almost burned down the motel because he was trying to be “authentic”.”

   “I made a dragon mask with a paper bag so he can wear it.”

   Charlie laughs. “That sounds very cool.”

   “We have our fun.” Dean ruffles the toddler’s hair. “We gotta get going, baby girl.”

   “Noooo, Daddy!”

   “Your uncle’s been alone all day, and I’ve got work I gotta do.”

   “But there’s a battle and Charlie said I can watch it with her!”

   Sighing, Dean crouches in front of the little girl. “How about this: after I finish working, I will call Charlie, ask her when the next battle is, and we can come back for that one. Sound good?”

   Consoled but still deflated, the four-year-old mutters, “Yeah.”

   “Good girl. Now, Princess, would you escort me back to the changing rooms so I might don my peasant’s garb?”

   “I’m not a princess,” she argues, brightening, “I’m a queen!”

@pureawesomeness001 @27bmm @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes @super-not-naturall @gabriel-themightysugaraddict @mogaruke @mrswhozeewhatsis @hexparker @kdfrqqg @little-castiel13 @18crazybutcutealsopsycho @angie1djonasgg @wolfshifter4life @queenkelseyjackson @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @alexandriajanae4