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justagirlwholikesadam · 10 months ago

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Realm's Delight

Summary: You were the twin of the dark haired child Cersei had with Robert. While fever took your twin, you survived. You are known throughout the seven kingdom as the realm's delight. The years has passed and your younger brother Joffrey wants something you have. Sandor Clegane x Baratheon! Reader

A/n: Don't hate me. Enjoy -L

Warning: Death, murder, Joffrey is Joffrey, the angst is real af, suicide

Word Count: 12.8k

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Chapter 3

Losing Sandor felt like you were drowning in an abyss of loneliness, you felt like you were being stabbed in the chest multiple times with each breath you took. The servants grew worried when you locked yourself in your chambers. They knocked and asked if you needed something. You just shouted you needed to be alone. You were in bed, under the blankets with your face under the pillow when you heard one of the servants mention Sandor’s name.

“He will get her.”

“You didn’t hear. He’s Joffrey’s guard now.” The servants grew quiet and you heard them walk away from the door. You begin to ponder on what you have done to upset Sandor so much for him to leave you. Everything was going great, plans were set and you were ready to leave this wretched place. You let out a sob at the thought of your mother. She had told you men only wanted one thing from a women but Sandor was never like that. You were the first to touch him. You were the first to kiss him and you were the first to tell him that you loved him.

You had to leave your room the next day. The servants had told you that your father requested your presence for breakfast. The servants glanced at one another as you kept quiet while they helped you dress for the day and comb your hair. You felt one of them behind you finishing a braid and placed her hands on your shoulders.

“Look at you, princess. You look beautiful.” She told you. You look ahead at the mirror and look at yourself. She gave you a smile but you kept the same stoic expression. She had braided your hair and left a few strands to frame your face. They had picked out a light blue dress with white lace on the hem of the dress. You remained silent as you walked out of the room to meet your father. Entering the hall you came to a halt when you saw Joffrey sitting next to your father already eating. Your father sat at the head of the table, Robert’s dark eyes widened at the sight of you. Waving for you to come, you walked inside. You glance back at Joffrey and feel your heart drop at the sight of Sandor standing by the wall behind him. Sandor kept looking forward with a straight face.

You quickly walked to your father, leaning down to kiss his pudgy cheek. Thanking one of the male servants who pulled your chair for you, you sat on the right side of your father.

“I didn’t see you yesterday, dear.” Robert said as your plate was being served and Robert’s cup was being filled with more wine.

“Forgive me, father. I was tired from walking around King’s Landing. I mostly slept and needed much rest. I apologize for troubling you especially during these times.” You had come up with the lie yesterday and knew if you apologized enough he would brush this over.

“This war.” Robert said before taking a drank from his wine.

“This war is the last thing on my mind. You are what matters.” You tried to ignore Joffrey’s face. Joffrey’s eyes grew hard and his thin lips turned into a frown at Robert’s word.

“What’s the matter?” Robert asked when he saw how down you looked. Sandor watched the servants glancing at one another waiting for your response. Robert kept his eyes on you when you didn't respond right away. “I think I'm coming down with something. Don’t feel well.”

“Someone bring a maester.” Robert yelled at the servants. “Eat. The maids told me you haven't left your chambers yesterday.” His words were soft and you nodded looking down at the plate.

“Probably caught something from feeding those peasants. That's what you get for being so close to those animals.” Joffrey said, stabbing his fork into his food.

Before Robert could speak you answered your brother. “They are not animals. They are humans just like us.”

“You have spent so much time with them. You have gone mad. Perhaps from being very close to one.” Joffrey said with a smirk. Sandor for the first time in his life, prayed. He prayed to whatever the fuck was up in the heavens to listen to him. He hoped King Robert didn’t think there was any meaning behind Joffrey’s words. The servants and knights watched as Joffrey and you glared at each other.

“ENOUGH.” Robert shouted at Joffrey. You remained quiet thinking what he meant. Looking at Joffrey, your eyes glance up at Sandor. You wanted to cry all over again, he had his usual scowl and his eyes were hard. He couldn't even look at you. He didn't want to, he knew he would break character. He would rather be punished than have you think he didn’t love you but he couldn't have you get hurt.

“Is there a reason why you have Sandor as your guard now?” Sandor’s heart dropped to the floor at Robert’s question. “I’m sure my sister would like to answer that.” Joffrey said, trying his best to hide his smile.

You wanted to throw the plate of food at your brother’s face. You didn't know what to say. How can you tell your father that Sandor had broken your heart after being together for years. You didn't want Sandor to be punished or worse, executed for being with you. Sandor had hurt badly but you still loved him. Clearing your throat, you look over at your father. You told the lie you came up with. A lie that would change your life forever.

“I think it’s time for me to get married.” Joffrey and Robert frowned.

“I won't be able to do that. Like mother said, that d-man is always behind me.” You had refused to call Sandor a dog. You wouldn't do it even if you were angry at him for leaving you. Joffrey leans back against his chair and gives you a glare.

“I see.” Robert said looking unsure. You had to make sure your father believed you. For Sandor’s sake and yours. If Sandor didn't want you then you would leave King’s Landing.

“I will write to my betrothed in Dorne and ask if he still wants our houses to be joined.” Robert gave you a look still not believing since you fought so hard to not be married.

“This will be a good thing. Dorne's army had risen as well their weapons. Houses are sliding with your brother, father. We need the manpower. I know Dorne will keep me safe. You have done so much for me, father. Let me help you in the only way I can. I must marry.” You finished with a nod looking at Robert seriously. Joffrey was angry when Robert yelled at him but the look Robert gave you infuriated Joffrey. Robert looked proud at you.

“Spoken well, my dear. Dorne is fortunate to have a true, strong Baratheon.” Robert gave you a smile and quickly rose up saying he will write to Drone himself about this matter.

“Dog, let’s go.” Joffrey shouted, throwing his fork on the table after Robert left in a hurry to write the letter. Force of habit, you were about to yell at Joffrey for calling Sandor a dog but you remembered he wasn’t your guard anymore. Sandor isn’t your lover or your guard or your friend anymore. You look over when Sandor begins to walk behind Joffrey. Blinking the unshed tears away, you took a deep breath. You were alone at the table. You can feel the eyes of the servants behind you, waiting for your next move.

“May I have wine, please?” You asked and quickly a cup was placed in front of you. A servant came beside you and leaned forward to fill your cup.

“Thank you.” Your voice was soft as you grabbed the cup. Staring at the red liquid inside of it, you wondered why Cersei drank so much. Is this why your father drank so heavily? Both of them were unhappy with their life so they drank. No one said a word when you drank the cup completely, drank it in a hurry that it spilled from the corner of your mouth and dripped down to your dress, staining it. When you were done, you asked for another and another. They kept their silence when you stood up without touching your plate, disregarding the maester that came in. With the cup in your hand, you began to walk out of the room to your bed chambers.

Your days were spent like that. Waking up and asking for a pitcher of wine. You stayed in your room for hours, with no human contact, just your books and wines. At night, you cried yourself to sleep. Dreams of being with Sandor and nightmares of him screaming that he never did love you woke you up.

“Lord Baelish.” You greeted him when you opened the door of your chambers after you heard a knock. He stood outside your door with a smile and his hands clasped behind him.

“Princess, I haven’t seen you in days. How are you doing?”

“I’m alright.” He gives you a nod before stepping close to you.

“We should walk in the garden, princess. I have some news.” Your eyes widened and you nodded at him. Lord Baelish waited outside with the new guard appointed to you by your father. The guard was a young man, not tall as Sandor but he had a kind face. Walking side by side with Lord Baelish and the guard a few feet behind. Lord Baelish filled you in with the war. The last battle wasn’t going well for your father, he was losing men and Dorne hasn't responded yet with his letter.

“You wanted to know if the Hound was doing alright, correct?” Lord Baelish asked, looking over at you as you stopped in front of a bench.

“That is right, I care for all the servants.” You said getting close to him, you didn't want him to grow suspicious on why you were so interested in Sandor. Lord Baelish froze when you placed a hand on his chest. Playing with the buttons of his shirt, you grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit with you on the bench.

“I care for all my friends as well.” You said as you pulled Lord Baelish’s hand on your lap. His hand were so different from Sandor. Lord Baelish hands were soft and small with no evidence that he has done manual labor in his entire life. Running your fingers over his knuckles, you wished it was Sandor. Sandor’s hands were a gift from the Seven. His hands are large, fingers are thick and rough. He had scars and calluses on his hands from working and fighting. You pressed your thighs together when you remember how big they felt inside of you. The way you drooled on them when Sandor was making love to you.

“Good princess, keep sucking on them.” You let out a deep breath and let Lord Baelish’s hand go.

“You’re far too kind, Princess. You amaze me everyday.” You look over at him with a smile. You felt bile coming up your throat at the look he gave you.

“Sandor is doing well. Joffrey and him visited the brothel last week. Sandor fucked a whore bloodily. He has become quite the beast since he started to guard your brother.”

You felt an arrow being shot in your chest by his words. Sandor was at a brothel. Sandor was sleeping with another woman who wasn't you. You wanted to cry all over again. You began to wonder if Sandor had been with anyone else when he was with you. The nights you shared your bed with him, was he sharing his with another? Did those lips you love so much were on someone else's lips?

“Lord Baelish, do forgive me. I have forgotten that my mother asked to see me before dinner. I must see her. She said it was rather important.” You rambled as you got up from the bench.

“Farewell, my dear friend.” Lord Baelish was starstruck when you placed a kiss on his chin before walking away without waiting for his response. He kept his gaze on you, watching you walk away.

“Princess, if he has done something. Tell me right now.” Your guard said when saw you in tears. He had taken his helmet off and kneel in front of you when you barged into your chambers in tears.

“I swear it. I will kill him.” You look at your guard who held a concerned look on his young face. When he was about to rise up to leave the room. You held on to his shoulder, you quickly removed your hand.

“Please don’t. Lord Baelish hasn’t done anything. He just brought me sad news.” The guard nodded before looking down at the ground.

“I’m sorry, princess. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll help you.” Wiping your tears with the back of your hand. You glance at the guard who kept his gaze on the ground below you.

“Thank you. What’s your name?” The guard looks up. “It’s Felix, princess.” You nodded at him.

“Well Felix, would you like to join me for some tea?” You asked since he was so kind to you. He rose a brow at you in shock by your invite. “Or you can have some wine or ale. Whatever your choice is, it's yours.” You added just realizing now how ridiculous it is, that a knight will drink some tea.

“Are you always this nice?” His question caught you by surprise. You noticed he was staring at you. His eyes had a pretty shade of blue, his nose and lips were thin.

“I try to be but now I’m thinking I should change that.” Felix saw how your eyes dropped down to the ground. “You shouldn’t. There’s not enough nice people in the seven kingdoms. I’m happy that I am guarding one of them.” You smiled at his words.

“Tea does sound good but I would prefer ale.” He told you as he rose up from the ground.

“Then you shall have ale, Ser Felix.”

The days went on and Ser Felix made it manageable. The servants seemed to be happy that you were talking again but once in a while they would find you staring off in the distance. Word of Sandor’s vicious attitude has gotten around the castle. Joffrey has grown to be more aggressive to the servants and to the people around him. You had refused to look at Joffrey and Sandor. It has been a few weeks and you haven’t spoken to either of them. Whenever you walked down the hallway, you kept your gaze ahead and if you happened to meet Sandor and Joffrey, you passed them like they didn’t exist. You ignored Joffrey as he taunted you while making your way with Ser Felix behind you.

Sandor kept staring at the new guard, Ser Felix was strapping a saddle on a horse. Sandor was behind a pillar as the servants came up to Ser Felix and handed him a large satchel. Sandor knew you were going to walk again, giving food out. He felt ridiculous for being jealous that you were going with the new guard instead of him. He always went with you when doing that. Sandor thought he could handle being Joffrey’s guard. He couldn't, it took all the strength in him to not strangle the prince. He had gotten used to sitting down with you and eating meals with you but Joffrey didn’t care if he ate or rested. Joffrey would call him a dog or worse snap his fingers at him and because of it. His attitude changed more, he was more angry.

He was furious that he was taken away from you. Furious that the new guard you had, is so close to you. Sandor had watched you and Ser Felix walking in the garden. You drank tea, while your guard drank a cup of ale. He kept updates on you, your servants were kind enough to fill him in. He felt horrible when they told him you barely ate and you weren't yourself but you were getting better now with Ser Felix. News of the prince of Drone arriving at King’s Landing had broken him. He was drinking in his new chambers that Joffrey provided him. It was half of a room now and the bed was uncomfortable. Sandor knows the prince will wed you and will take you away from here. Away from him. Joffrey had taken him to a whorehouse to celebrate the prince coming to take you away. Joffrey did it to hurt him and it did. “Go find yourself a new bitch, dog.”

Sandor obeyed him and grabbed the nearest girl from her wrist. He didn’t look at her or asked her for her name. Sandor ignored the girl who was sitting on the bed waiting for him but he sat by the corner of the room with a cup of ale. The girl grew worried when Sandor didn’t move from his spot, he just kept staring at the ground as he drank. After an hour had passed and the girl flinched when Sandor finally rose up from his chair. The pitcher near him was empty and the sun was setting. He walked towards the bed and threw two silver coins near her.

“If they ask you, tell them I fucked you bloody. You hear me, girl? If you don’t say that. I’ll fucking kill you.” Sandor snapped at her and she nodded at him.

There was a relieved look on her face when she realized Sandor was really not going to do anything to her. He was about to walk out the room when he froze and grabbed a dragger from his belt. The girl let out a whimper when Sandor raised the dragger. She saw Sandor slicing the bottom edge of his palm, just enough for him to bleed. She flinched when Sandor walked towards her and yelped when he pushed her back and lifted her skirt. She felt him wipe his blood on inner thighs. She pushed herself up when Sandor left the room without saying another word. Sandor walked out of the whorehouse and saw Joffrey had waited for him outside the establishment, in a carriage. He brought the window down and had a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Sandor wanted to roll his eyes. Joffrey still hadn’t gotten used to the smell of the shit city.

“How was your new bitch?” Joffrey asked as Sandor walked closer to him. “Tight.” Sandor answered as he signaled Stranger to come forward. He just wanted to go back to his room and be alone. He wanted to sleep because at least he’s with you in his dreams.

Sandor watched as the new guard gave you a smile as you walked towards him, you were ready for the day. You had a light brown dress on. He left when you began to walk with the new guard. Trying to ignore the horrible gut feeling in his stomach. Few hours later he stood behind Joffrey as the prince was with his father in a council meeting. Robert was in the middle of talking when the door opened with a bang. One of the king's guards came running inside. Robert was about to yell at the guard when the guard announced something that turned Sandor’s blood cold.

“There was a riot, your grace. The princess was giving them food when it broke out. We found her guard, he’s been killed. Ripped limb from limb. We can’t find the princess.”

Robert rose from his seat and began to yell for every knight to search the city. “I want every house, every building searched.” He screamed as Marcella and Tommen were being comforted by Cersei.

“Stay here, dog.” Joffrey commanded him after Robert said every available knight must go. “My pri-“ “Stay put!” Joffrey yelled at Sandor cutting hm off as he looked out the balcony.

Sandor could hear the screams of the people as the knights barged into their homes. Flipping it inside out then leaving for the next spot. He knew the feeling in his gut was right, something bad did happened. His eyes widened when he saw Jamie Lannister and his group walking up the hill. Jamie was carrying you. You laid unconscious in his arms. Jamie had found you after an older woman and her daughter saved you and hid you in their house. Sandor stared at the woman and her daughter as they were brought into question. They stood in the middle of the court and explained Robert what had happened. Sandor looked down to see the daughter’s feet. She wore your shoes that you had gifted her.

“It’s the war, your grace. With barely enough food going around, they became crazy. Everything was going well. The princess was handling food when the people from flea bottom started to cut the line.”

The woman started to tear up as she continued. “She tried her best to calm them. She didn’t want the children to get hurt. They ignored her and took her guard. She tried to help him.”

“She cried out to them to stop as they began to beat him and started to pull his limbs.” The woman let out a deep breath. Her daughter rubbed her back for comfort.

“That’s when the riot broke out. The city split into two. Many tried to protect her, we love her, your grace” Robert stared at the woman below him as she confessed their love for you.

“We love the Princess. Is she alright? We are all worried for her.” The woman began to cry loudly as she fell on her knees in front of the court.

Sandor snuck into your bed chamber in the middle of the night when you haven’t woken up in two days. Robert usually left at night after spending his morning and afternoon in your room. Something changed in the drunken king after the incident with you. Robert punished the flea bottom for it, he gave rewards to anyone who knew who started the riot. Sandor shuts the door behind him carefully making his way towards you. He can hear your soft breathing. He freezes at the sight of you. You’re laying on your bed with your hands resting top on your stomach. He can see bruising on the right side of your face, they have washed you and clothed you in a nightgown. He couldn’t get rid of the sight of the light brown dress you had on earlier that day you left. It was bloody and caked with shit and dirt from the streets when they found you.

Sandor whispers your name. He knew he shouldn’t be in your room. He shouldn’t have come here but it was killing him not seeing you. Even if you weren’t speaking to him, he at least got to see you but now since you've been hurt. He hadn’t seen you at all. Sandor touches your hand, he brings one of your hands up to his lips. Kissing it and nuzzling into your palm as he leans down. He starts to breathe heavily as he cups his face with your hand.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers as he stares down at you. Your hand falls limp and he brings it back to his face, using his other hand to keep your hand in place. Knowing the maesters should be making their rounds soon. He leans down, close to your face. The bed dips under his weight. He says your name once more and kisses you on the lips. Sandor whines as he kisses you once more. Savoring it, since it will be the last time. He hoped you would wake up in time to get healed before the prince from Dorne arrived.

“I love you.” He whispered against your lips. Pouring everything he had left to give, he kissed you for the last time. He blinked the tears away and walked away from the bed. He gives you one last look over his shoulder before he leaves and continues to pretend that he doesn't love you. You woke up the next day and found your father sitting next to you. He had hugged you and kissed your forehead calling the maesters to come and check up on you. Your servants stood outside your chambers when Robert told you about the news of Ser Felix.

They cover their mouth with their hands to stop themselves from crying when they hear your cries. You let out a sob after learning what happened to him. You cried in your father’s arms at the horrible news of Ser Felix's death. Robert had you tell him everything from your point of view. He was happy when your story matched the same one from the woman. Robert had forbidden you to go back to the city, he had grown close to you as the days passed and it only made Joffrey more angry to the point that Sandor had witnessed Joffrey being the true monster he is. Sandor stood outside of the prince's chambers as the prince laughed loudly while he shot a whore in the leg with his bow and arrow. Sandor disposed of the body the next day and pretended nothing happened just like Joffrey did. Sandor only saw you when the family sat together eating dinner. It was the only time when Robert wanted to be seated together. Cersei and Joffrey had gotten annoyed at the fact that Robert wanted you close to him. Sandor watched as you barely ate but you drank more and more each day. You never looked up from your plate only when your father spoke to you. He can see the fake smile you gave everyone including the servants.

You gave the same fake smile when you were told the prince is making his way up to King’s landing.

The castle was going crazy the following day for the arrival of the Prince from Dorne. All morning your servants waited on you, they washed you, clothed you into one of the finest dresses you were gifted. You allowed them to place a diamond necklace around your neck as they rubbed oil on your arms and legs, you tried your best to be excited like they were but you just couldn't. You tried your best to be in a good mood but nothing was working. You had nightmares every night since you woke up. Your dreams would be flooded with the sight of Ser Felix being ripped apart, you started to imagine his screams and the sound of his flesh being torn. You can still recall the pushes and the slaps you received when you tried to break the riot apart. You had called out for Sandor, you screamed his name as the riot broke out. Thinking about it now, you felt ridiculous for shouting his name.

You felt nothing even when the prince walked towards you when you entered the great hall. It was dinner and he was the first to rise up from his seat. He was tall, had brown curls on top of his head and his eyes matched his hair color. His skin was tan and it went well with the yellow mustard robe he wore. You gave him a smile as he introduced himself, while grabbing a hold of your hand. He leans down to kiss your knuckles and you glanced behind him.

Catching Sandor’s gaze across the room, he quickly looked away and you did the same. The prince's name was Lewyn, second of his name. He sat across from you and you had to admit. He was very handsome. Speaking with Lewyn had eased your worry of not liking your husband to be. He was kind and respectful. You were surprised when he gave you his condolences about your guard, Ser Felix. Walking around the garden, he told you that he knew about the incident that had occurred. You immediately thought, he wouldn't want to join houses because of it. Your mother had screamed up a storm, telling you to stop with this excessive idea of helping the poor.

“To be honest, I thought the stories about you were lies.” He said and you froze next to him. He turned to face you.

“The most kind and beautiful princess to have ever lived.” You blushed hard at his words. “The stories are true and I'm happy because of it. I need a good and kind woman by my side.” For a moment you had forgotten all about what happened the last few months as he leaned down to kiss your cheek. His lips were soft and he smelled like the sun and spices.

A celebration was in order according to Robert, House Baratheon and House Martell will be joining together. Robert had deemed that the celebration of your engagement will be the largest celebration the Seven Kingdoms will ever witness. The days passed and everyone was preparing for the celebration. The castle was being cleaned and decorated. Everyone who your father invited was coming to King's Landing. You greeted the Starks, Arryn, Greyjoy, Mormont, Tarly, Tyrell, Glover and more as they came to the celebration. Everything was overwhelming but you were grateful for Lewyn. As the days passed you grew closer to him, he never left you unattended. Walks around the gardens and eating meals together. He showed you books he had brought you about his home. The time you had a moment for yourself was at night. You stayed up staring at the ceiling as you thought about Sandor.

You haven't seen Sandor as Joffrey was doing god knows what. You touched your lips as you remembered the dream you had. You had dreamt that Sandor had come to your room in the middle of the night and kissed you. The dream felt so real, he kissed you and told you he had loved you. Shutting your eyes you traced your lips with your fingers as you placed the other hand on your chest. You can recall his smell and his warmth. You imagine Sandor between your legs. You cupped your breasts, imagining it was Sandor’s large hands. You let out a whine as you pulled your nipple over your nightgown as you remembered the last time you were intimate with him. Your cunt clenched around the nothingness as you remembered his cock going in and out of you. Taking your hand from your lips, you bring it under the covers and under your nightgown. You moaned when you touched your clit, you whispered his name as you remembered how good his fingers felt, how good his tongue felt on your cunt.

“Sandor!” You cry out as you slip your finger inside of you.

The night ended and the sun rose, it was the morning of the celebration. The official announcement of your engagement. Robert wanted you to have this since your wedding will be held in Drone. Lewyn wished for you to be married in his home and you accepted it. You knew you couldn’t get married in the same room with Sandor. You were woken a bit later by your servants who came inside your chambers to get you ready. The morning seems like a blur to you, you allowed them to fawn over you. While they dressed you one of the servants gave you a note from Prince Lewyn. His words made you smile but you felt nothing. He wished you a good morrow and he will count the seconds until he gets to see you again.

“This seems a bit too much.” You said as you stood in front of the door of the great hall while looking at the decorations hanging by the door. You were unaware of your uncles behind you. Jamie who stood with Tyrion just smiled at you.

“Is that so?” Tyrion said as he stepped near you. He was dressed in red and golden robe while Jamie wore his golden armor. Giving a warm smile to your uncles, he asked you to kneel down. You tried your best with the dress you had on.

“You’re not like us, child.” You frowned and he continued. “I'm so happy you aren't. You're different and I pray that you will live a happy life in Drone.”

“You think I will live a happy life?” You asked him and he nodded. You don't believe him as you stood up with the help of Jamie who lent you his arm.

“Your husband-to-be, shall be standing near your father. Just walk towards the throne.” Jamie said as the servants came in to fix the train of your dress. Jamie kissed you on the cheek and wished you good fortune.

They handed you a bouquet of flowers as you heard the music start to play. The guards opened the doors and you looked ahead. Everyone's eyes were on you as you walked to the throne. Your hands shook but you continued on. You can see Eddard Stark along with his wife standing. They gave you a nod as the guards announced your name. Lewyn stood below the steps of the throne where your father sat. He smiled when you made eye contact with him. He was dressed in beautiful silver and white dress robes. It matched with your dress. He gives you his arm and helps you walk up the steps.

“You're absolutely breathtaking.” He whispered to you as both of you stood in front of your father.

Sandor watched with a heavy heart as you walked to your husband-to-be. The gown trailed behind you and the diamond necklace around your neck shined with every step you took. The guards and servants whispered amongst themselves about your appearance, calling you an angel. Robert made a speech about the houses joining together, you tried to look at the prince but your eyes wanted to look over at your family side, for you hoped to see Sandor. Lewyn leaned towards you to whisper in your ear after Robert’s speech.

“Your father mentioned to me that you are close with the people of King’s Landing. He didn't want you walking around anymore. I was able to do something since this will be their last chance to see you.” Lewyn said as he held your hand and walked with you down the hall.

Walking to the front doors of the castle, he gently squeezed your hand as he waved the guards to open the doors of the castle. The moment the doors opened you can hear cheering and your name being shout. You let go of his hand as you walked forward seeing the people of King’s Landing standing out of the castle. Knights were lined up as a wall, keeping the large crowd back. The people in King's Landing grew silent when you stepped closer to them. They haven’t seen you in weeks after the riot, they stood staring at you in complete awe by the way you’re dressed. A smile appeared on your face and you chuckled in shock at the amount of people who showed up. You waved at them and the silence disappear, they cheered loudly as you waved at them. They shouted the word princess over and over again as they waved their hands and arms. They threw flowers at your feet. Robert stood behind you as he watched in disbelief by how much the people loved you but that's why you were called the Realm's Delight.

It soon changed when the crowd started to push the knights back trying to get closer to you. There was a shout and the knights a few feet in front of you fell back, the crowd pushed forward. Robert yelled at the knights to keep formation.

“PRINCESS!” You gasped when people started to run towards you. Robert pushed you behind as Jamie started to run towards the crowd. One man had managed to go under the knights and threw himself at your feet. Leywen gathered you in his arms pulling you back, you almost tripped on the train of your dress. The man was about to touch your dress when there was a rough growl and a tall frame came between you and the man.

You watched as Sandor grabbed the man from the back of his shirt. Growling at his face, Sandor gave him a glare. “You dare to touch her.” Sandor snapped as he grabbed a hold of the man’s neck, pulling him up. The servants and the Lords and ladies gasped.

“Sandor! Please! Stop it. Don’t hurt him.” You shouted, pushing yourself away from Leywen, reaching for Sandor’s arm. Sandor drops the man when he feels you grab a hold of his arm. He looks at you and takes a step back. The man is gasping for air on the floor.

“Y/n!” Cersei shouted pushing the ladies out of her way when she saw you leaning over the gasping man.

“Are you alright?” You asked as you helped the man who still on his knees. You ignored the muttering behind you from the lords and ladies when you offered your hand to him, a commoner.

“Get away from him.” Cersei forcefully pulled you back making you wince from her gripped.

“Throw him away!” Cersei shouted at Sandor. He glances over at you for a second, taking in your facial expression. He looked away when Leywen walked in front of you. The prince looked over at you, taking your face in his hands.

It was two days after the celebration when Sandor was told of the news of the war. Robert’s brother was going to attack soon again. One of Lord Varys’ spies had found out and Robert was getting ready. Sandor stood behind Joffrey when he received the news that Joffrey will be joining them as well. The blonde looked shocked by it.

‘What do you mean?” Joffrey asked as Robert grabbed his sword.

“You're heir to the throne and you haven't fought once in battle. Do you want to sit this out and add more fuel to what the people are saying?” Joffrey glared at his father.

“I don't care what they have to say about me. I am heir to the iron throne and I can send men in my place.” Robert walked close to him and signaled Sandor to leave the room. He bowed and obeyed, he stood behind the door as Robert yelled at Joffrey.

The rumors after your celebration had spread throughout the entire kingdom. A rumor that had the council worry. Sandor decided to walk to the armory of the castle. Knowing since Joffrey was going to go, he will have too as well. Sandor isn't afraid of war, he has been in them since he was kid. He looked at the swords and the shields hanging on the walls.

“Sandor.” He turns when he hears you behind him. You were standing by the entrance. He looks away from you. “Have I angered you so much that you won't even look at me?” Sandor doesn't know what to say.

“I'm truly sorry for whatever I have done. I'm sorry.” He made no response because you were going to leave soon. The prince from Drone had gone back home to start preparing for your arrival and the wedding. You looked happy with the prince, he couldn't take that away from you. Not after he broke you, he tells himself.

“At least look at me before I leave. I wish to see you one more time.” Sandor shuts his eyes when he feels your hand on his arm. He turns to you and looks down at you. He won't say anything but he will look at you, giving you your last wish before you leave.

“I want to hate you.” Sandor’s eyes shot open at your words. You gave him a face and repeated it again.

“I want to hate you. I should hate you.” You cried out slapping his chest with all your might.

“Hate me then.” Sandor said, grabbing a hold of your wrists and holding them.

“You’re a fucking coward, you know that.” You hissed at him trying to pull away from him but he kept his grip on you tight. Sandor laughs at your face, “Coward, you say.”

“The coward is your fucking brother.” Sandor said, making you shake your head.

“He isn't my brother. He's my half brother. I'm nothing like him.” You snapped at him and Sandor pushed you against the wall. He released your wrists and caged you with his arms.

“You aren't.” Sandor whispered as he stared at you. You don't flinch when he brings his hand to touch your cheek.

“You ain't nothing like them. Not like your mother who fucks her brother. Not like your devil of a brother. You're kind. You're good, so good.” You held on to his arms as he touched your cheek, you missed his touch.

“You bring that good to Drone, you hear me. Don’t fucking change.” Sandor tells you softly, making you frown. “I don't want to go to Drone. I want to stay here with you. You made me do this. You made me do it. I did it for you so you wouldn't get punished.” Sandor steps away from you and you quickly go to the entrance, blocking his path.

“I did it for you because I love you, Sandor Clegane. We still have a chance. We can still run away.” Sandor looks at you with hope for a second.

“I have to get ready for the battle. I'm going with your brother.” You looked so distraught by this news.

“Leave with me, please. Right now.” Sandor shook his head at you. “If I leave before the battle, they will know. They will look for me. Joffrey will have my head.”

“Joffrey has never gone to any battle before. I don't even think he knows how to swing a sword. Why is he even going?” You asked and Sandor looks at you with furrowed brows.

“You don't know?” He asked you. “I would have thought Little Finger would have told you already.”

“Told me what?” Sandor stared at you. “The people want you to be their queen. Not your bastard brother.” You stared at him shocked.

“I don't understand. The realm will never accept a woman on the throne.” You told him, making him shake his head.

“That was before, now they would rather have you on it. They want you. They have started calling you the rightful heir to the throne. You have done more than Joffrey. Your father is taking him tomorrow to the battle so the people in the realm can see him.” Sandor told you.

“That day..” Sandor stops in mid and grabs your hand with his. “You should have seen them. Robert saw they loved you but he didn't realize how much. Then you gave your hand out to that man, to help him. A princess helping a commoner. The street started to shout your name and they called you the true heir. The rumor that Cersei and Jamie tried so hard to cover has exploded. The people started to shout bastard at the sight of Joffrey.”

“My father doesn't believe them, though?” You asked. “ I don't know. The council suggested for him to take Joffrey. He has to do this because half of the army is on your side now.” You frowned.

“They will serve for the true heir of the throne. A true Baratheon.”

Sandor felt you grasp his hand and pull him closer to you. “After the battle then? I thought I could go to Drone without you but I can't. My heart refuses to leave you behind.”

“I won’t watch you marry him.” Sandor said, making you chuckle. “I'm not marrying him. The moment I'm on the road I'm escaping.”

Sandor frowned as you told him your plan to escape. “You're crazy. You won't survive by yourself.”

“I only need to survive until I make it 100 miles from Winterfell. Eddard Stark has granted me safe haven until I figure out where to go.”

“You believe him?” Sandor shouts in disbelief. “He knows of us.” Sandor is left speechless.

“After the celebration, I was walking in the gardens. I never felt more alone that day. He found me crying, we spoke about what happened with the crowd and it just slipped out. He swore to me he wouldn't say a word. All I have to do is send a raven and he has promised to meet me halfway to escort me back to Winterfell.”

‘If it's a trap?” Sandor asked angrily. “I don't care. As long as I'm with you.” You answered him.

“I’ll leave you now. My offer still stands. You will make me the happiest woman if you do come with me, I’ll wait after the battle. I don't know what I have done to you. What I have said but I'm sorry and I love you. I will always love you, Sandor. If this was all just a ruse so you can get your dick wet then enjoy your whore and farewell.”

Sandor screamed at himself as he watched you walk away. He wanted to run after you. His feet remained glued to the floor. ‘Whore?’ he asked himself. ‘What whore?’ You were the last person he's been with, your lips were the last he has kissed. Sandor manages to break free and begins to walk out of the room and down the hallway. He looks both ways in hope to see you. He's about to walk to your chambers when he hears Joffrey behind him, coming to a halt he turns to see the prince.

“Father, has lost his mind, Dog! He wants us to go tonight. Says I need the experience.” Sandor watches as Joffrey walks towards him with a frown.

“All because of my bitch sister!” Joffrey yelled. Sandor’s jaw clenched. “This is all because of her. I hate her.”

“The realm wants a whore who fucks second born sons sitting on the throne.” Joffrey spawned out with hatred.

Sandor's body has been acting on its own. First holding his feet froze as you left and now his hand is resting on the hilt of his sword. He stared at Joffrey as he tightened his grip on it while Joffrey kept calling you a whore. With one swing, he can kill Joffrey and go to your room. Both of you could run away, go to Winterfell then go to Braavos. He will be free and tell you everything. He will tell you everything and he will be happy.

Sandor wants to be happy with you.

“Prince Joffrey!” Sandor drops his hand when Jamie comes walking towards them. “Your horse is ready. We leave now. Your father is waiting for you.” Jamie told him.

“Very well.” Joffrey answers and signals Sandor to come with him.

You were looking out the window when you saw your father walking to the stable. You frown when you see the knights do the same. You thought they would leaving tomorrow. You ran out of your chambers and searched for your servants. You found her looking out the balcony outside of your chambers.

“What's happening?” You asked her and she told you Robert decided to get to the field early so they can have an advantage.

“The rest of the army will join them at morrow.” She said before walking you back to your chambers. You drank tea that night, trying to ease the unwell feeling in your stomach. You paid no mind to it, you had to get ready to leave. You couldn't sleep that night, the thought of Sandor on the field with your half-brother. Knowing Joffrey, he would make Sandor protect him while he hides away. Packing a light bag the next morning, you grabbed the letter to Eddard Stark. Quickly walking out, you noticed your servants and the guards down the hallway were gone. How strange, it was.

Out of breath from running, you watched as the raven flew with the letter attached to its leg. You prayed it would make it in time. Walking out of the room, you heard yelling. Making your way to the kitchen, you saw the cooks huddle together as they looked out the door.

“What's going on?” You asked and they yelped in surprise. They greeted you with a small bow.

“Tell me at once, what's happening?” You asked worriedly.

“It's the other knights princess. They don't want to go! They refuse to fight with your bastard brother.” One of the cooks gasped when she let out the word bastard.

“Forgive me, pri-” You cut her off by shaking your head. “I know, I know all about it.” You told them, making their eyes widen.

“It's true.” You said with a nod. “But my father still needs them to win this war.” You said pushing the cooks out of the way with the small bag over your shoulder.

You can hear them shouting for you to come back. Making your way to the stable, you saw the stable boy. You begged him to prepare a horse for you, you were in dire need to get to the rest of the knights who were refusing to go and fight. The stable boy and the cooks watched as you began to ride to the front gates of King’s Landing.

You saw the golden armor of the King’s guard, it was Jamie second in command. He was arguing with one of the knights as they stayed still. The moment they saw you, they froze. “Princess,” the second in command bowed.

“Why haven't they moved? The battle can be happening now and my father and Sa-” You stopped yourself, you were going to say Sandor’s name. They couldn't know why you were doing this.

“We won't fight with that bastard Joffrey.'' One of the knights yelled and the rest cheered. “How dare you call the heir to the throne a bastard!” Jamie’s second in command yelled.

“He’s right.” You said and he looked over at you, shocked by what you said. You would have to tell them the truth. It was the only way to help Sandor and your father. Without them, you fear the war will be lost. Gripping the reins of the horse tightly, you took a deep breath and looked over at the knights ahead of you.

“You are all right!” You yelled with all your might.

“Joffrey is a bastard. His father is Jaime Lannister. You won’t fight for him but I beg you to fight for me. Fight for me!” You cried out.

“And when we win this war against Stannis, I will speak with my father. If what you say is true, you want me to be your queen. I’ll do it! I’ll be your queen and I'll rule the seven kingdoms with fairness and with just. You will no longer be hungry, no longer shall you worry about how to survive because I will be your queen. A true Baratheon will sit on the Iron Throne. Will you fight this war for me?!”

You let out a deep breath when they shouted amongst themselves.

“FOR THE FUTURE QUEEN!! FOR THE FUTURE QUEEN!”

Jamie’s second in command was astounded as the knights began to get on their horses. “Will you stand by my side as we bring them to my father?” You asked him with hope he will accept.

He nodded at you. “For our future Queen.”

Sandor felt like he was sinking under water and his head was ringing. He didn’t see that knight coming at him. Too busy keeping Joffrey safe. His helmet was long gone, he used it to break someone's jaw when he dropped his sword.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Robert’s army should’ve been here. Stannies had decided to attack the moment they saw Robert’s army coming at dawn. Sandor felt Joffrey behind him. Jamie had shouted for the rest of the remaining king’s guard to hold their post.

“Dog!” Joffrey’s voice echoed in his mind.

He felt Joffrey hitting Sandor’s on the back. Sandor looked over his shoulder and grabbed Joffrey’s Valyrian steel sword from his hand and swung it across the man near him. Joffrey's mouth dropped open when Sandor completely decapitated the man’s head in one single blow.

“JOFFREY!” Jamie yelled. Sandor watched his back as Jamie yelled at Joffrey to go back to base. They had to retreat, they were losing men by the minute.

“Where’s your father?” Sandor growled as he looked ahead, ready for anyone to get near with Joffrey’s sword in his hand. “I don’t know. You keep this.” Jamie said, handling Joffrey a dagger.

“I’m not going back.” Joffrey hissed at his uncle. Jamie frowned, “There are not enough men. We have to retreat.”

“Take him with you.” Sandor snapped at Jamie as a group of men started to head towards them. Jamie grabbed Joffrey by the neck ignoring his shouts to release him.

Sandor can hear the galloping behind him. Sandor let out a deep breath as he relaxed his nervousness. Sandor Clegane was nervous, he didn’t think he would survive this time. The cut on his arm hurts like a bitch. His head is ringing, he could have sworn he saw a glimpse of you on a horse, the horse is standing on the far edge of a cliff across the field.

Sandor was so busy looking at you, he didn’t see the man coming at him. Before he could see the man, a horse passed him, taking the man down. The rider had stabbed the man in the head.

“Clegane.” Robert shouted as he rode towards him. Robert had just saved him.

Before he could answer, there was a horn that caused them to stop for a second. Robert had sweat dripping down his forehead, blood of his enemies was dripping down his armor. He looks across the field and his dark eyes widened when he saw the other half of his army riding in. There was hope that they would win this war. In the corner of his eyes, he saw two horses standing by the cliff. He saw it was the second in command of the King’s guard and you. You’re on a white horse, staring down at the field. A smile appeared on his tired face, you, his daughter had brought his knights to him.

They won the war because of you. Robert and his men rode back to base. He frowned when he saw Joffrey's horse standing by the King's tent.

“Where’s my son?!” He shouted. Robert noticed the angry look on the knights' faces when Joffrey walked out of the tent. Joffrey stood still when he saw Robert getting off his horse and walking towards him.

“Where were you? You hid?” Robert shouted. Joffrey glared about to say something when they heard the rest coming. Joffrey was seething when he saw you riding first into base with the second in command. The army you brought rode behind you.

Robert watched as you rode near him. Without a single thought, Robert helped you get down off of your horse. The knights around you stood up from their seats.

“I had to do it. It was the only way for them to come.” You whispered to Robert, looking at Joffrey by the tent.

“Do what?” Robert asked, cupping your face.

“They came here because they fought for me, father. I must tell you something and you have to believe me. Please, let’s go inside.” You said grabbing your father’s hand and tugging him to the tent.

“What are you doing here?” Joffrey yelled as he walked towards you. “This has nothing to do with you.” You said taking a step back when you saw the craziness in his eyes.

“Father-.” “Pleas-.”

Robert hushed both of you as the knights began to shout amongst themselves. “Go inside. I’ll be back to discuss this matter.” Robert tells you before walking to the group of knights.

You passed Joffrey and walked into the tent. “You just had to be here.”

You ignored Joffrey and stood at the far end of the tent. “Just because you brought the rest of the army, you think you’re better than me?” Joffrey asked as he came to the table where the maps were laid out.

“You’re nothing, sister. I count the days where you leave for Drone. I pray to the gods you get sick on your travels and die.” You look at Joffrey.

“Fuck you.” You spat at him and there was a look of pure anger in his eyes. It scared you because you never saw him like this.

“He’s dead, you know.” Joffrey said, walking around the table trying to get closer to you.

“What?” Joffrey nods at you with a smile. “I saw that fucking dog you love so much go down. The sword was rammed in his chest.” You felt your chest tighten by Joffrey’s words. You shook your head, not believing it. Sandor was a good fighter, one of the best swordsmen in the seven kingdoms.

“You’re lying!” You yelled and walked further away from Joffrey.

“Then go out to the field and see him for yourself. He’s dead. He did his job to protect me. You can have him back now. I have no use for him anymore.” Joffrey lied to get that reaction he’s been craving. He smiled when he saw you crying.

“No!” You cried as you covered your mouth. You’re about to walk out of the tent to see it for yourself. “You aren’t going anywhere.” Joffrey screamed and grabbed a hold of your arm, pulling you back inside.

He pushed you against the table and you let out a whimper when you felt the cold steel of his dagger under your chin.

“Tell me the truth? Is he really dead?” Joffrey just sighs at you as he pushes the tip of the dagger under your chin making you wince. He smiles when he sees he cut your skin, a trail of blood starts to run down the blade of his dagger.

“He is dead. You want to know what his last words were?” Joffrey asked with a smile as tears ran down your face.

“He said. Fuck the whore princess.” Joffrey laughed at you. Joffrey's smile disappeared when you slapped him across the face making him cry out.

“Fuck you! You fucking bastard.” You yelled at him. Joffrey growled and you let out a gasp when you felt Joffrey’s hand hold your shoulder.

Looking at Joffrey’s face, you felt frozen for a moment. The anger on his face washed away and a look of panic came across his face. He took a step back and looked down at your chest. Following his gaze, you looked down and saw the hilt of the dagger. Taking a breath, the pain came rushing through you. He stabbed you in the chest with the dagger. Joffrey shook his head as he looked at you.

“Joffrey.” You cry out and fall down on your knees as you cry out in pain. Joffrey ran out of the tent leaving you behind. You were left alone, you looked down to see blood start to stain the front of your dress. You can feel the blood flowing down your body, you let out a moan of pain with each breath you took.

You didn’t even hear the commotion outside of the tent as you fell to the ground on your back. You stared at the ceiling of the tent as you cried. Your vision grew blurry, you didn’t hear someone coming in. You didn’t hear the shouts and the sound of someone walking inside. Blinking the tears, you were met with your father’s face. You see his lips moving but no words are coming out.

You feel so cold now. You let out a groan when you felt someone grabbing a hold of you. Robert started to cry as he held you in his arms.

Robert shook his head when he saw you were trying to speak but blood started to come out of the corner of your mouth. He flinched when you started to cough up blood. The only thing you can do is stare up at him. You were dying and it brought tears to your eyes. You were dying and he wouldn’t know what happened. Robert felt your hand on his cheek as you used all the strength you had left in you.

“Joff- ery.” Robert frowned when you spoke. "Joffrey."

“Jof-fery did it. H-he is a-a bastard.” You cried as your vision grew dark. “He is a bastard.” Robert felt you go limp in his arms after you said those words.

He calls out your name as he picks your head up. Something broke Robert in half and he relived the day he was told that Lyanna Stark was murdered. A scream came from inside the tent that made Robert’s army freeze. They all saw how the prince came running out bumping into his father. Robert had commanded Joffrey to stay put and that he will have a word with him after he spoke with you. Jamie yelled at Joffrey to come back when he saw Joffrey mounting the nearest horse. Joffrey rode out as Sandor came walking with a group, he had retrieved his sword and walked back to the base. He stopped when he saw Joffrey riding away and looked ahead when he heard a scream.

Sandor quickly walked to the white horse he saw you on. He began to breathe quickly when he saw you weren’t on it. He looked around and flinched when he heard Robert’s scream once more. Everyone looked at the tent, all frozen because they never heard Robert scream like this. Sandor shouted your name, not caring what people would think or say. He had to find you. He shouted once more before walking inside of the tent passing Jamie.

Sandor froze when he entered. He took a step back bumping into Jamie. The King Slayer gasped when he saw the sight of Robert holding your dead body in his arm. Robert sobbed against your neck. Sandor watched how your body trembled with each sob Robert made. Your eyes were open and staring at ceiling. Arms flared out, blood started to pool on the ground and cover Robert’s armor but he didn’t care. Your father held you in his arms.

Jamie saw the dagger in your chest when Robert pulled away from you to move your hair out of your face.

“Where is he?” Robert hissed. Sandor and Jamie remained silent. “Where is that blonde bastard?” The look of absolute fear appeared on Jamie’s face.

The knights outside quickly hushed down when they saw Sandor walk out of the tent. He dragged his sword on the ground as he walked to the nearest tree. Dropping the sword completely he ignored the questions thrown at him. They all looked at themselves when they saw The Hound with tears rolling down from his face. Sandor was in complete shock. His bottom lip trembled as he cried.

“Where is he?” Robert shouted in the tent and Jamie came out walking backwards. Robert had his sword aimed at him.

“This is a mistake. Joffrey wouldn’t do this.” Jamie explained but the look in Robert’s eyes. Jamie knew it was no use, Robert wanted revenge.

“Arrest him.” Robert yelled looking at his men. “Wait-this has nothing to do with me.” Jamie yelled as they tackled him down to the ground. Sandor looked over his shoulder when he heard Robert.

“The person who brings me Joffrey Lannister will be rewarded.” Robert's words rang out and the sound of Jamie screaming no was all that Robert needed. You told him the truth. A few knights had begun to ride back to King’s Landing.

Joffrey was indeed a bastard.

Sandor felt like an empty shell as he rode back to King's Landing. The cut on his arm was numbed, the banging in his head was nothing compared to the emptiness he felt in his heart. His blood shot eyes were glued to the wagon a few feet in front of him. Robert rode his horse as he led another with a wagon attached to it. He laid you there when they started to get ready to ride back. The knights that stayed bowed their heads when Robert came out of the tent with you in his arms. Robert covered you with a blanket, his hands shook as he checked you were strapped in.

Sandor can see the outline of your body, your body moved whenever there was a bump in the road. He had shut his eyes when he saw the blood seeping through the blanket. Robert decided to ride through the gates of the back of the castle. The servants and stable boys were all waiting to tend the wounded and the horses. Robert got off his horse and saw Cersei walking towards him with a frown when she noticed Jamie was chained.

“What is the meaning of this? Joffrey has barricaded himself in his room. He won’t open the door. My brother has been arrested.” Cersei yelled at him. She was met with a slap across her face that made her fall to the ground.

“Is Joffrey mine?” Robert asked, looking down at her. Cersei’s eyes widened in surprise but she hid it with a look of anger.

“Don’t you fucking lie to me.” Cersei flinched under his gaze and looked away. She looked ahead at his horse and noticed a wagon with a body on it.

“That bastard killed my daughter.” Robert yelled, grabbing Cersei by the hair and dragged her to the wagon. Cersei yelled in pain as he dragged her over. Robert ripped the blanket off of your body and pushed Cersei down on her knees in front of you. All she did was stare as the servants behind her scream in terror at the sight of you. Your servants began to cry and fell on their knees from shock.

Cersei just stared in shock, Robert grew angry when she didn't show any emotions. Cersei yelped when Robert grabbed a hold of her blonde hair again. Jamie screamed across from, screaming at Robert to let her go.

“Your grace, what's the meaning of this?” Jon Arryn, the hand of the King said as he walked along with the maester to Robert.

Jon Arryn froze when he saw you. He looked at Robert and at Cersei on the floor. Robert kept staring at her as Jon started to yell at everyone to leave. The stable boys grabbed the horses and brought them to the stables while the servants tried to cover their cries.

“Chain her with her brother.” Robert told Jon Arryn. The news of your death was not announced until two days later. Those two days seemed to be a nightmare to most. Robert had caused a rampage in the castle. Jamie and Cersei Lannister were arrested. Robert had the doors of Joffrey’s chambers broken down and the knights grabbed a hold of the blonde boy. They found him hiding under his bed. He screamed with all his might as they dragged him down the hall. Tommen and Marcella were kept guarded in the Red Keep, they had Jon Arryn to thank for. Robert had become ruthless and wanted every Lannister executed including the children.

Sandor stayed in his room those two days. He locked himself. He ignored the shouts and the screams from Joffrey who was being dragged to the dungeons. He ignored the knocks from your servants. He didn’t want to see anyone. He didn’t want to speak to anyone. He laid on his bed, covering his face with his pillow as he sobbed. He screams into the pillow trying to cover the sound. He cried until he fell asleep and woke up to do it all over again.

He shouted at the person to fuck off when he heard a knock on the third day. His throat was sore from the screams.

“It’s me, Sandor. It’s Ned Stark.” Sandor froze as Ned knocked once more. “I need to speak with you.” Sandor rose up from his bed and walked to the door.

Sandor notices Ned has been crying as well. His eyes were red and he let the lord walk inside. Ned walked in, looking at the room before looking back at Sandor.

“Did she tell you-.” Sandor cuts Ned off with a nod as he shuts the door.

“Very well then. I’m sure she didn’t tell you but she wanted me to tell you in case the plan fell through. She wanted me to give you a place in Winterfell, if you want too. Since Joffrey is still kept in the dungeon, you can come back with us after the funeral. I will arrange for some of my men to escort you to Winterfell unseen.” Sandor frowned.

“She asked you?” Ned nodded with a small smile. “She knows you've been treated unfairly by Joffrey. She wrote to me before her death, in case something happened to please have a place for you. She loved you, I didn’t understand it at first but the way she spoke about you. She called you a good man, a man with honor.”

Sandor shook his head. “I’m not a good man. I broke her heart because Joffrey threatened to have us exposed. He threatened to have her executed for being with me. For being with a dog, a second born son. It’s my fault she died. It’s all my fault.” Ned watched in silence as Sandor sat down on his bed and covered his face with his hands.

“You didn’t kill her. Joffrey did. It’s not your fault. In the end, I know for a fact she knew you still loved her. She had to know because why would she send me a letter asking for safe haven for you if she couldn’t make it.”

“The Lannister's trial will start soon. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see their faces. Robert's decision is final on them.” Ned told him and left the room leaving Sandor in his thoughts.

The trial ended with Jamie and Tyrion sent to the wall for their remaining days, it was thanks to their father, Tywin Lannister. He had rode to King’s landing demanding for his children's freedom but at the end. Tywin had begged for his sons to not be executed.

“Kill all the bastards, for all I care.” Tywin said, ignoring Cersei's cries. “And your whore daughter?”

Tywin looked at Robert and picked a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life. “Do what you like, your grace. This is the last time she will tarnish the Lannister's name.”

Before the trial ended, Robert called out for Tywin. “Take your sons to the wall, Lord Lannister and stay there with them.” Tywin’s face fell, all the Lannister's were punished for Joffrey’s doing.

For the first time, the people in King’s Landing didn’t push and shove to see you or touch you. They stood in silence, some cried and others just watched as the knights carried your body in an open carriage. You laid on a bed of flowers, you wore a black and golden color dress as a tribute to your House. Your hands laid on top of your stomach as you laid there peacefully.

Making it to the Red Keep, the knights carried you inside where the realm can give you their last goodbye to you. Everyone had gone home when Sandor visited you. He dropped his shoulders and he felt the tears well up in his eyes at the sight of you laying so still in the middle of the keep. Lit candles surrounded you and you had golden coins laid on top your eyes. He removed his sword and wineskin from his belt, placing it by the wall as he walked towards you.

His hands shook as he tried to reach for your hand. He flinched when he felt how cold you were and stiffed. He grabbed it, ignoring it and bringing it up to his lips.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles against your knuckles. “I’m sorry, Princess.” He cries out. After a few minutes, Sandor clears his throat after saying his goodbyes to you. “I’m not going to Winterfell. We were supposed to go together.” He gently puts your hand back in place.

Before Sandor leaves, he looks down at you once more. “I love you. I will always love you.”

Grabbing his sword and wineskin, he shuts the doors behind and walks down the steps of the Red Keep, he ignores the two bodies stung up across from him. He had no need to see Joffrey and Cersei again. He walked to the stable to find Ned and his men. Sandor walked to Stanger, giving his head a rub before looking at Ned.

“Are you sure?” The Lord of Winterfell asked him. Sandor nodded at him.

“He just needs some time when it comes to new people. He’s a war horse, fast and strong.” Ned nodded before reaching his hand out for Stranger to smell it.

“We will take good care of him. Rob, my oldest needs a good horse. I swear Stranger will be well taken care of.” Sandor gives Ned the reins of Stranger and pats him once more as goodbye. Sandor watches as Ned and his men begin to travel back to the North. He wasn't worry about giving Stranger away, Sandor knew Ned will be true to his word. Stranger will be taken care of by his new owner.

Sandor doesn't tell anyone where he’s going off too. He walks out of King's Landing and walks through the forest to the edge of the cliff where he saw the sun was setting. Removing his sword and wineskin, he sits down and leans back against the tree as he remembers the sound of your laughter. This is the place, the place where you kissed him for the first time. You had managed to convince him to take you out after being cooped up in the castle. He was sitting on a rock as you gave him a wineskin out of your bag. It was out of nowhere but you had walked towards him catching him by surprise and you were at the perfect height to kiss him.

Sandor grabs the wineskin he brought and brings it up to his nose to smell it. He looks ahead at the scenery with a smile. Maybe it was the gods showing him a vision, or perhaps it was all in his head but he can see himself with you at the same spot on the rock where you kissed him. He had returned those kisses, gathering you up in his arms and both of you stayed there for a while. He forced himself to drink the wine as he stared ahead watching the sunset. He wanted to be with you. Throwing the empty wineskin, he looks down at his hands. His eyesight blurred and he looked up to find himself back in your room.

“Your hands are huge, Sandor.” He looks to his right to see you under the covers, naked. He notices the look on your face, the love bites on your chest were fresh. He lets you grab a hold of hand and compares it with yours.

“My hands aren’t not huge. You're just small.” Sandor comments as you raise his hand with your up in the air as the sunlight of the morning shined through the window of your chambers. Sandor had grabbed your hand and rolled over on top of you making you laugh as he kissed your neck.

Ser Gregor stood next to Sandor’s body. They finally found him after four days later when he received news of Sandor's disappearance. His men found him, found his body laying against a tree, with the sun beaming down on him. One of his men brought the wineskin near Sandor's body to Ser Gregor. Bringing it up to his nose, Ser Gregor makes a face when he smells the poison.

“Let’s take him back home.” Ser Gregor said, looking down at his younger brother one more time. It's the first time he had seen his brother so at peace. Sandor had died with a smile on his face.

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

<- Chapter 2

Taglist: @federalclassroom @snixx2088 @just-a-burning-memory @darknight3904 @watercolorskyy @@nothing2113 @thyjinji @norakbubbles @mrs-marvel-addict @ellesmythe

#sandor clegane #sandor clegane x reader #games of thrones #sandor the hound clegane #sandor clegane fanfic #games of thrones x reader #games of thrones fanfiction #rory mccann #angst #sandor clegane angst #sad #sadgirl #death #tw death

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jeonginsleftcheek · 1 month ago

Text

The sun to me

Chapter IX. Blossom.

pairing: hwang hyunjin x afab!reader

word count: 6.8k

chapter summary: as the storm finally pours down, the doubts and fears get washed away for a moment, allowing the deepest of feelings to emerge to the surface.

warnings: lots of kissing and making out, a few angsty thoughts

~ Masterlist for the series

~ next part

🌷Tulip - deep, unconditional love

Your legs took you up the hill, right in front of Isaac's big wooden door, the one you knocked on a second ago.

Your body is buzzing with excitement as you swing back and forth slightly, you feel as if your heart is beating in your stomach, chest and throat all at the same time.

The door is swung open and you're met with Isaac's slightly surprised but delighted smile.

"Oh, y/n!"- he gives you a warm hug. "Come in, come in."- he moves aside to let you in.

"Hi, Isaac."- you greet as you smile at him.

"I am going to presume you are here to see Hyunjin?"- the man chuckles and your face gets instantly red, answering his question even before you say anything.

"Oh... I mean yes, both of you. Just wanted to visit."- you stumble on your words as Isaac smiles knowingly.

"Hyunjin ran out this morning, he isn't back yet. But, you're welcome to join me for tea while we wait for him."- Isaac suggests and you nod.

"Did he say where he was going?"- you ask, your chest constricting a little.

"Nope, he just said that he has to take care of something."

You sit with your lips pursed as Isaac brings you a cup of tea.

"You look worried."- he notices as he sits down too, both of you turned towards the window and watching the wind picking up, making the sea wild, a reflection of your soul in the water.

"It's just, I have to tell him something."- you swallow.

"Oh... Oh."- Isaac nods in understanding. "I think he also has something to say to you. But I won't interfere too much, it's really not my place. I'm just gonna wish you both good luck."

"T-thank you."- you giggle at Isaac's words.

"Let me show you something, though."- he says suddenly as he stands up.

You're confused but you follow him to his studio.

The wood creaks as Isaac opens the door slowly and immediately you're hit with the familiar smell of wood and varnish.

Looking around, you see Isaac's sculptures and furniture but as your head turns left, towards the big windows, you see a few canvases leaned against them.

You come closer, your heart beating faster.

There, leaning on the glass are a few paintings... of you.

You gasp, the paintings make you look so beautiful, so ethereal and you wonder if this is how Hyunjin sees you.

"He spends a lot of time working on his paintings now. He couldn't even hold a pen when he arrived. You really brought it out of him again, inspired him. I know he's only been here for barely two months but I came to care for him as if he's my own son. Especially because he reminds me of Leo a lot, and of me when I was younger. And I've known you since you were a little girl. I know your kind heart. You two really deserve to be happy and you deserve each other. You should go home y/n, I'm pretty sure he went to see you, so maybe he's waiting now. Go, before the storm rolls in."- Isaac ushers you out and you whip around quickly, tears filling up your eyes from the turmoil of emotions raging inside you.

"Thank you so much Isaac!"- you call out as you start running down the hill like a crazy person, your hair and dress flying around you as the wind rages, the clouds gather closer, distant thunder rumbling through the darkened sky.

Hyunjin has ran from the pier to your door, knocking repeatedly on it only to realize you aren't home. Panicked, he makes his way to your shop.

He knows you don't open on the weekend but maybe you went there for some reason and he rushes there, almost slipping in the process.

His heart sinks when he sees that the shop is locked and the lights are off. Where have you gone?

Hyunjin briefly thinks that maybe you went to get breakfast at the restaurant so he hurries to his next stop in an attempt to find you, only to again run into a locked door and a sign that says 'closed due to storm!'.

Hyunjin visibly deflates, slowly turning around and deciding to make his way back to Isaac's house.

Distant rumble of thunder comes in closer and he jolts for a moment, lifting his head up towards the sky. The dark clouds are closing in on him now and he decides to hurry, taking long strides to arrive home quickly.

Just as you run to Hyunjin, you feel a drop of rain hit your cheek, sliding down like a tear. Your heart skips a beat when you see him in the distance, his hands in his pockets and his head down as he walks up the street.

A few more drops hit Hyunjin's head and he keeps looking down to shield his face. You're about to yell his name but before you can utter one syllable the rain comes down on both of you like a shower, cold and big water drops getting you wet instantly.

Hyunjin looks up only to stop in his tracks, as he sees you just a few feet before him.

"Y/n?"- at this point he thinks he's dreaming, as he was looking for you, maybe he had manifested you from his mind to reality.

"Hyunjin!"- you chuckle despite the rain and both of you take hurried steps towards each other like you're two magnets pulled by some unknown force.

"I was looking for you."- he breathes out as he gets closer.

"Me too."- you say and the rain becomes heavier, the thunder louder.

"Shit! Come on, my house is the closest!"- you yell over the sound of rain, unconsciously you take hold of Hyunjin's hand as you pull him back towards your house, both of your feet splashing the puddles that have already formed on the street.

Hyunjin shivers, not from the cold rain or wind, but from your somehow still warm hand in his and he lets his fingers slot between yours so perfectly like that is exactly where they belonged.

Both of your hearts are beating hard and there is no going back now as the two of you start laughing like two idiots in the rain, running towards shelter.

You manage to unlock your door after some fumbling as the two of you stumble inside, giggles spilling from both your lips.

The door is closed with a click and the sound of rain and thunder becomes a little muffled, as the two of you drip on the floor.

"I-"

"Y/n-"

You both talk at the same time, shutting up before laughing again.

You shiver visibly and Hyunjin's hands lift up to land on your arms as he steps closer to you. You freeze as you look up at him.

"Are you cold?"- he asks gently and you nod.

"We should shower and get rid of these clothes or we'll get sick."- you say quietly, proud of yourself that you didn't stutter as he runs his hands up and down your biceps gently.

"Yeah, you go first."- he smiles.

"But what if-"

"No, it's fine, I'll wait. I can make some tea?"- he suggests and you nod.

As you stand in your bathroom and peel away the wet clothes, there are fireworks exploding inside you. Nothing has happened yet but his eyes have already told you enough.

It was on the tip of your tongues, a confession filled with gentleness, on the tips of his fingers against your skin, burning his imprints on the surface as well as deep inside your heart.

You step under the warm shower, exhilirated and nervous, thinking how Hyunjin is just one room away from you.

Hyunjin waits for the tea, shivering a little as his head turns towards the sound of the shower running. He gulps, the realization of you being in there naked dawning on him, and he becomes jealous even of the water that caresses your beautiful body.

He shakes his head fast, there are still things that need to be said first. And Hyunjin can't wait to tell you that his heart burns with love and passion just for you.

"I'm done."- you appear in the kitchen, like that day he barged in, in an oversized shirt and sweats, your hair wet as you dry it with a towel.

"Oh, good, the tea is done too."- he nods, butterflies dancing around in his stomach.

"I don't know if they'll be okay for you but um- I have some oversized clothes you could maybe fit in."- you smile shyly.

"Thanks but is it really okay if I take a shower here? I mean, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."- Hyunjin says and you quickly shake your head.

"No, it's completely fine, I'm not uncomfortable at all. I'll make some instant ramen while you shower, how's that sound?"

"Perfect."- Hyunjin smiles before he makes his way to the bathroom where you had set down some clean clothes and towels.

The warm shower is welcoming, as Hyunjin drowns in the sweet smell of your shampoo.

His body is electrified and he dares to grab the bottle and use your shampoo to wash his hair with it.

Everything around him and on him smells like you, the clothes you gave him, his hair and his skin and a feeling of warmth and comfort lights up his heart and settles in his bones.

He makes his way to the kitchen and sees you standing as you hold your cup of tea and look outside into your garden.

"The flowers are safe, right?"- Hyunjin asks as the storm becomes even wilder outside, everything is clattering and waving around in the wind.

"Yeah."- you chuckle a little as you turn around.

Seeing Hyunjin in your clothes stirs something inside you and you feel your face becoming warmer.

Hyunjin's stomach grumbles embarassingly and he laughs awkwardly.

"Let's eat."- you say and the two of you sit down to eat the instant ramen you prepared.

You eat without talking, both of you hungry and concentrated on the food.

A particularly loud sound of thunder spreads across the sky and the lights flicker for a moment, making you lift your head up.

"Electricity might go out. That happens a lot here."- you say. "But, don't worry, I have lots of candles."

"Okay, I- um, I don't like being in complete darkness."- Hyunjin swallows.

"You won't be, I promise."- you smile at him sweetly, his heart at ease immediately.

As soon as you're done eating, you suggest moving to the living room where it's cozier and Hyunjin helps you set up all the candles in case electricity gets turned off. You grab two blankets, bringing them to the couch, as Hyunjin brings your tea cups and places them on the coffee table.

"Thanks."- Hyunjin smiles, draping the blanket over his legs as you sit close to him, covering yourself up with your blanket.

Your knees touch and you look at him.

"Y/n... I was looking for you because there's something I want to tell you."- Hyunjin gulps visibly.

"I have something I wanna tell you too, but you go first."- you smile.

Hyunjin is so nervous, even though to any outsider looking in it's clear that you feel the same about each other, in his scared heart, Hyunjin can see the possibility of you turning away from him. He can't bear the thought of not having you in his life, even if you had only just arrived, he intends to keep you forever.

"Okay, well... Here goes. I'm just gonna say it."- he nods to himself and you let out a small giggle at his nervousness, reaching your hand towards his.

As soon as you touch him, he jolts and looks at you, then visibly melts as your fingers entwine together, palms pressed against each other.

"I know I've only been here for barely two months but I feel like I was searching for you my whole life. In every painting I ever made, in every love song I ever listened to, in every flower I ever stopped to admire, in every other embrace that felt distant and cold, I was looking for your kindness and warmth. I know you said you don't really believe in destiny, but I firmly believe that I was supposed to be here and that every decision I ever made and every step I ever took, lead me to you. Maybe this is too much or too dramatic but I already can't imagine my life without you."- Hyunjin talks, his voice shaky, his hand squeezing yours for support and comfort, and you run your thumb on his skin in an attempt to soothe him.

Your eyes water with happy tears the more he talks, his eyes now on you as he gets encouraged.

"What I'm rambling about is that I'm in love with you and I had to tell you that or I would burst into pieces."- he exhales and you giggle, a tear rolling down your cheek as you smile wide at him.

Hyunjin's free hand lifts up automatically to wipe away your tear.

"I hope that was a happy tear."- he says quietly and you chuckle.

"Hyunjin, I was coming to tell you the same thing actually. All my life, I got used to being alone and doing everything by myself, but then you came along and the more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to have you next to me. You brought a spark to my life, one I can say I've never felt before but it ignited something so tender inside me. And, yes I said I don't always believe in destiny but at this moment I believe that we were meant to find each other. I really... can't imagine my life without you either."- your eyes become teary again.

"I'm in love with you."- you finish, your soul bursting with fireworks.

Hyunjin had longed to hear those words, especially from you and he feels as if his heart had blossomed completely into a beautiful flower, touched by your sun and your love, saved from the withering state it was enveloped in.

"Can I kiss you?"- he asks gently, gazing at you longingly as you squeeze his hand.

"Please."- you almost beg as relief washes over your body.

Hyunjin is freaking out in the inside, his heart palpitates as he leans in slowly, his free hand cups your cheek, and you lean into it immediately as he rubs his thumb gently under your eye.

You lean in closer, so close that you can feel his warmth radiate off of him, you are enveloped by the smell of you on him, and the familiar sweet scent of Hyunjin under all of it.

His breath hits your lips and your eyes flutter closed, waiting for his lips to claim yours.

Boom!

The thunder crashes loudly, making the windows clatter and the electricity turn off, scaring the both of you as you clutch at each other.

"Fuck!"- Hyunjin squeaks and you're quick to get up and light a few candles.

There's still some light coming from the outside but the dark clouds make it look like it's evening and not the middle of the day.

"You okay?"- you ask him and he blinks up at you.

"I will be, when you come back here."- he pats the spot you were sitting on the couch just a few moments before.

You chuckle, cheeks heating up as your heart skips a beat and you make your way to him.

Hyunjin takes your hand and gently pulls you down.

"Now... I don't wanna be interrupted again even if the house falls apart around us."- he says and you let out a giggle as he cups your face and leans in again.

You scoot closer to him, your hand on his knee and Hyunjin's eyes close as he finally presses his lips to yours.

They're soft and sweet, even better than you had fantasized as he moves them carefully against yours, treating you gently like a delicate flower.

You savor his taste as you kiss him slowly, his lip falling between yours as you gently suck on it, one of his hands runs down to your waist and the other holds the back of your head. You lift your free hand up, tangling your fingers in his soft hair.

Hyunjin lets out a breath as your lips continue dancing gently together and you now understand those descriptions of kisses between soulmates cause that is what this moment feels like.

Not just butterflies, not even fireworks but it's the whole universe. It is every star that ever shined, every galaxy that ever formed, every rain drop that ever fell down to the earth, every 'i love you' that has ever been uttered poured into one single kiss.

It's not just physical, it's like you have reached into each other's souls and they're now kissing.

Your head is dizzy as he presses his lips harder against you, his fingertips gently scratching your head, holding himself back not to scare you away immediately even though a fire of burning passion runs through Hyunjin's body. He chases your taste, the sweet love dripping from your lips, one he longed for his entire existence.

Your whole body reacts to him, tingles running everywhere from the top of your head all the way to your toes, and you clutch onto his shirt, your other hand finding purchase on the back of his neck as you bite on his lower lip gently.

Hyunjin lets out a noise and his tongue swipes your lips and they part immediately, letting him in to taste each other, an addicting feeling overwhelming the both of you as your tongues crash together in a passionate dance.

Your heart beats fast, your eyes fill with tears, your core throbs and it's too much.

You whimper and jolt away, making Hyunjin stop immediately as he leans back and looks at you, his lips swollen and parted, even more red than usually. He's panting and looking at you with a mix of lust, endearment and confusion.

"Sorry- it's just- wow."- you say breathlessly and Hyunjin lets out a laugh of relief.

"I know."- he nods, closer to you again, his hands coming up to tuck your hair behind your ear and gently caress your face.

"What happens when you have to leave?"- you ask, thoughts are suddenly swirling in your mind.

"Hey, don't worry about that now."- Hyunjin quickly shakes his head. "Even if we were torn apart by space and time I would always find you and come back to you."- he says and you chuckle.

"Are you sure you're not a poet?"- you ask, as he pulls you closer to him.

"Isn't every man in love a poet of sorts?"

"And a philosopher, it seems."- you smirk and he chuckles with a timid smile.

"Come here."- he beckons you to find a home in his arms.

You lean your head on his chest, listen to his erratic heartbeat as his warmth embraces you.

"Hold me."- he whispers in your hair and you wrap your arms around his waist timidly as he wraps his around you, bringing you closer so that your legs touch. You hold him tighter, as the two of you melt into each other.

Hyunjin feels as if he could cry rivers in this moment, the love he craved for ever since he was a child radiating off of you and touching every part of his being.

"Don't you worry about anything right now."- he whispers as he gently caresses your head, his fingers running through your hair.

"Everything is gonna be okay."- he says like he knows those are the words you longed to hear forever. You squeeze him tighter, getting impossibly closer to him, the two of you becoming one person in your little bubble as the storm rages outside, the thunder loud and dangerous.

But, in each other's arms you feel safe from any harm.

Somehow, you managed to fall asleep in Hyunjin's arms, waking up with a little jolt as the thunder booms loudly again.

"Hey."- you hear his gentle voice before you look up at him.

"Hey, how long was I asleep?"- you ask, your voice a little groggy.

"About an hour."- Hyunjin says as he reaches for your tea cup so he can give it to you.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!"- you apologize, cheeks instantly burning in embarassment.

"No, it's okay. Don't apologize."- he shakes his head as he gives you the drink.

You sip on it as he keeps looking at you like you're something so fascinating.

"What?"- you giggle, setting the cup down.

"I need to kiss you again."- he says lowly and a wave runs through you as he leans in.

You fall into him, your arms around his waist again, caressing his back as he holds your head and kisses you lovingly and passionately, his lips smooth against yours.

Being like this with someone is something you haven't experienced in a long time, besides you have never felt a feeling this intense with anyone but Hyunjin.

Usually scared to give in, you give into his kisses and caresses easily, melting in his arms as he keeps pouring his affection from his lips to yours.

The kiss gets heated again but you let it this time, even though your heart is beating hard and you clutch onto his shirt as his tongue savors the taste of you, swallowing every little noise you make.

His fingers tangle in your hair, his other hand gently runs down on your waist to your hip as he gently touches you.

You can't help yourself as you bite on his lip again and he lets out a little noise, leaning into you as he squeezes the flesh on your thigh.

Your body feels as if it's on fire and your core throbs with want and need again.

You part for air, both gasping and Hyunjin looks at your eyes, clouded with lust, your lips swollen and hair disheveled and he thinks you've never looked more beautiful than right now.

He leans in to leave kisses on your cheeks, gentle and slow like his lips are worshipping every part of your skin. No one had kissed you like that before, his lips on your eyelids, letting you know how precious every part of you is to him.

He leaves little kisses on your jawline, all the way towards your ear, kissing the spot beneath it gently, lingering there for a moment as you suck in a shaky breath.

"I saw your paintings."- you remember and Hyunjin leans back, his cheeks rosy as he looks at you with an innocent and surprised look on his face.

"W-what?"- he stutters a little and you chuckle.

"I went to look for you at Isaac's house. And he showed me the paintings you made."- you say as he keeps looking at you like a lost child, your hand lifts up to touch his face gently.

Hyunjin melts into you, pushing his cheek in your palm almost like a kitten.

He had no idea how touch deprived he was, how much he needed your kind hands to show him that the world isn't as cold as he thought it was.

You see how your touch influences him so you put your other hand on his face too, caressing him as he blinks at you, his lips pouty and kissable as you stare at them.

"Did you like them?"- he asks quietly.

"I love them. You made me look so beautiful."- you giggle.

"You are beautiful. I just paint what I see."- he says and you chuckle, your heart picking up speed again. Hyunjin's hands rest on your waist as he scoots closer to you.

"I was gonna show them to you soon, I swear. I was just scared you'll think I'm some kind of creep, painting you over and over again."- he says.

"No, I'm honored, really. I'm glad I inspired you."

"You really did. For the longest time, I painted only for money, for my exhibitions. I painted what I knew people want to see. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, taking something so beautiful and delicate and turning it into currency. They always look for meanings in those paintings but they're fucking meaningless. You gave meaning to my art again, y/n. My muse."- he whispers the last part, gravitating towards your lips again as you run your hands through his hair.

"H-Hyunjin."- you whisper before he presses his lips on yours again.

The storm reaches its culmination outside as you keep exchanging kisses and words of affection, your hands on each other, sweet and slow, mapping each other out, somehow new yet familiar, like you were in love in all your previous lives, like your hands have already touched, like you know exactly how to love Hyunjin.

You entangle from each other only when you realize you're hungry.

"Ugh, we can't really cook anything since there's no electricity."- you purse your lips.

"Maybe some sandwiches?"- Hyunjin shrugs and you nod, the two of you making your way to the kitchen, Hyunjin holding your hand as you lead him there.

You light up a few candles and try to find anything in your fridge just to make an edible sandwich.

"This is kinda romantic, don't you think?"- Hyunjin asks as you look out the window to see that the thunder has subsided a little, but the rain is still going strong.

"A real candle lit dinner."- you say and he chuckles.

"I think the storm is calming down. We might get the electricity back soon."- you say.

"I hope so. I don't really want to walk to Isaac's in complete darkness."- Hyunjin says.

"You don't have to walk to Isaac's at all. I was kinda hoping you'd stay the night."- you say shyly and Hyunjin's eyes are wide, his cheeks red.

"Really? Would that be okay? I don't want to intrude."- he says and you laugh.

"You had your tongue in my mouth for the last hour or so, I think we're way past intruding."- you smirk.

"Oh, for sure."- he chuckles, his heart skipping a beat. "Well, in that case, I'd love to stay the night."

"Good, I'm gonna go prepare the bed."- you stand up and leave Hyunjin in the kitchen.

He looks out at the pouring rain, wondering if he's in some kind of dream. He's been longing for you since he first saw you in your flower shop, so sweet and beautiful, surrounded by the pretty flowers, no paintbrush could ever capture the beauty of you, not even if Hyunjin sat and painted you his whole life, you would still be more beautiful than anything his hands could create.

Moreover, he has wished to be loved his whole life. He felt as if his own mother has thrown him away, his college girlfriends dated him for his looks, the girls he slept with after he got famous were only after his money and fame, only infatuated with Hyunjin, the celebrity. It was all meaningless.

He was thrown into the sharp teeth of a beast, controlled by his manager and the media, what the people want comes first, never his own wishes, only to someday be chewed up and spit out when he's no longer young, beautiful, interesting, fruitful, trendy.

Hyunjin craved a deeper connection, one that transcends the superficial barriers, one that feels genuine and simple, natural and nurturing, someone to grow him to the sky, someone he can help grow to the sky too, to touch the clouds together.

And between all the darkness that enveloped his heart and mind, you are like a beacon of shining light as you appear before him with a smile that makes even the most mundane things in life look stunning.

"I found a spare toothbrush for you."- you lean on the doorway.

"Great, thanks."- he smiles back as you nod.

"I'll wait for you in my room."- you say and Hyunjin goes to the bathroom to get ready for bed, placing his necklace and rings neatly to the side.

He makes his way to your room and upon seeing you all cuddled up in your blankets, his heart swells with love.

"Come, join me."- you beckon and he doesn't need to be told twice, as he makes his way to you and gets comfortable under your sheets.

You lay close, turned towards each other and your hand is on his cheek again, gently touching his soft skin as he lays his hand on your waist and pulls you closer, his fingers caressing your lower back.

For a few moments, all you can hear is the sound of falling rain through your half opened window, as you let your hand explore Hyunjin's skin.

Your fingertips dance on his jawline, then slowly make their way to his neck. Hyunjin's breath gets stuck in his throat as you touch his sensitive skin, he leans his head back a little to give you more space to move. You scoot closer to him, your bodies heating up together as you trace your finger on his collarbone.

Hyunjin forgets everything in that moment, his hand is steady on your lower back, nails digging into your skin occasionally but just slightly, not enough to hurt you.

You lay your palm on his chest, over his heart as you feel it beating fast.

Hyunjin realizes he has never felt seen, cared for or safe as he did with you which was funny considering you haven't known each other for too long, but it seemed as if you understood him better than some other people who 'knew' him for a longer time.

"Do you believe in soulmates?"- Hyunjin asks, almost cringing at how vunerable his voice sounds in that moment.

His hand slides up and down your back soothingly as you snap out of your trance and crack a smile at him.

"I always wished they'd exist."- you confess, your voice audible enough only for him to hear.

"Do you think that's us?"- he asks, his brows lifted and lips parted and you can't resist touching his lip with your thumb.

Hyunjin inhales sharply, pulling you even closer to his body, your legs entangling together.

"I do."- you whisper and he smiles at you, his eyes sparkly and loving.

"Really? You do?"- he beams at you and you chuckle.

"There's no other way to explain what I feel when I'm with you."- you say.

"Ever since I first saw you I knew you were going to be important to me. They say there's an invisible thread connecting two souls and I feel like I saw it the moment I laid my eyes on you in your flower shop."- he says.

"Hyunjin..."- your eyes water again.

"Please, don't cry."- he pouts at you, his hand wiping your tears immediately. "If you keep crying, I'll start crying too."

You chuckle at his words, holding him tighter.

"It's just happy tears. I've never felt like this before and I'm really scared."- you confess.

"I've never felt like this either. And of course I'm scared too but we will figure it out together, hm?"

"Okay."- you smile and he leans in to kiss you for the nth time that day, never getting enough of your lips, addicted to your taste, to the feeling of pure love your kisses bring to him.

You kiss lazily and sloppily until you're half asleep and Hyunjin tucks his head in the crook of your neck as you hold him tightly.

The rain had stopped, but Hyunjin's eyes water at the feeling of being comforted in your arms, near your heartbeat as you keep him safe from the evil world.

You fall asleep, your nose buried in his hair, inhaling the familiar sweet scent of Hyunjin mixed with your floral shampoo.

Hyunjin's nose is buried in your skin and his arms hold you tight like he never wants to let you go, he falls asleep to the sound of your steady breathing.

They say soulmates have an invisible thread between them, they say that soulmates recognize each other from past lives, that they have loved each other for centuries and that they will always find each other no matter how far apart they are.

And now, you wholeheartedly believe that.

Hyunjin wakes up with the sound of birds chirping outside and in his half-asleep state, he forgets where he is for a moment.

His eyes are still closed, but he can smell you all around him and realization dawns on him. He had spent the night in your embrace.

A blissful smile spreads on his face as he reaches his arm in front of him, only for it to land on an empty spot.

A muffled whine escapes his lips as he keeps searching for you. He cracks one eye open and sees that indeed you have gotten up already, leaving him to wake up alone.

Hyunjin pouts a little, stretching his whole body, he hasn't slept this well... ever.

He sits up, it looks like it's still cloudy outside and the fresh air feels good on his skin, the smell of petrichor filling up his nose and tickling his brain just the right way.

Hyunjin makes his way to the bathroom first before he comes to find you, spotting you sitting outside in your garden.

He smiles fondly, pouring the coffee you made in a cup before he joins you.

You had woken up earlier, almost getting jumpscared when you saw Hyunjin right in front of your face.

You had forgotten he was there, but seeing his sweet sleeping face first thing in the morning made you melt.

Through sleep laced movements you had smoothed out his hair and caressed his cheek, he hummed in his sleep, chasing your touch but he didn't wake up.

You leaned in and pressed your lips gently on his forehead before you quietly untangled yourself from Hyunjin, tucking him in after you got up.

You assessed the damage in your garden, which was really nonexistent, the drainage system was made well, first by your mother and then you did all the upkeeping and made sure that the garden stays safe during storms like this.

You made some coffee for the both of you and found some fruit and cookies to serve as a little coffee snack before actual breakfast or brunch.

"Morning."- Hyunjin's voice brings you out from your thoughts.

"Hey, morning."- you smile as he sets his cup down on the table and rounds it to stand in front of you.

You're about to ask what he's doing but his hand cups your chin, tilting your head back a little as he leans in with a smirk and presses his lips on yours.

"Need my morning kiss."- he mumbles against your lips as he kisses you sweetly.

You smile into the kiss as he takes your breath away.

Hyunjin leans back and kisses your cheek once before sitting down on the other side of the table.

"Did you sleep well?"- you ask.

"Like a baby. Best sleep ever."- Hyunjin smiles, picking up a slice of orange.

"Me too. I actually didn't wake up during the night for once."- you nod.

"Mhm. But you left me this morning."- he pouts.

"Don't be dramatic."- you chuckle.

"I'll try not to."- he winks. "Nothing happened to the garden, right?"- he adds.

"No, the flowers just got a little more water than usually but they'll be fine."- you answer, taking another sip of your coffee. "You wanna take a walk? I always love taking walks after a storm."

"Oh, for sure."

You decide to grab a hoodie and his cardigan that was still in your closet.

"Here, it'll be a bit chilly probably."- you reach the cardigan to him but Hyunjin smirks and grabs your oversized hoodie.

"I think this goes better with my outfit."- he says and you chuckle as your cheeks become rosy.

"But I wanted to return it to you."- you motion with the cardigan.

"Keep it, it looks better on you anyways."- he says and you put it on, the smell of him still lingers, woven into the material.

Hyunjin can't help his urge to kiss you all the time and now that he's sure you reciprocate his feelings, he can't hold back anymore, especially when he sees you in his clothes.

His hands come down on your waist and you squeak a little in surprise as your body falls into his and your arms wrap around his shoulders.

With blissful smiles painted on your faces you kiss and kiss.

"We kinda have to get to the door and actually leave if we wanna take a walk."- you smile in between soft kisses.

"Mhm. In a minute."- Hyunjin keeps kissing you, your head tilted back as you both stumble and you almost his the wall behind you but Hyunjin's hand on the back of your head cushions you, preventing you from hitting the hard surface.

"Jinnie..."- you mumble and he chuckles happily at the nickname before leaning back.

"I'm sorry, I can't get enough of you."- his hands slide up and down your waist to your hipbone.

"We have all day."

"Not enough."- he shakes his head with a smile as you roll your eyes playfully, leading him out and holding his hand.

The two of you stroll in the rain covered streets, your fingers and hearts entwined.

Everything is clean and fresh, each dirty deed, dark thought and bad feeling have been washed away, leaving behind a clean slate, something to begin anew, a blank canvas to be painted by two lovers.

If someone had told Hyunjin a few months ago, that he will be hiding out on a little island and meeting the love of his life there, he'd laugh and say they're crazy.

You never expected either to meet someone you fell so hard for in such a short amount of time, but everything feels perfect, like it was made from your dreams.

Still, there's a nagging feeling at the back of your head and Hyunjin's heart, knowing life is never that easy.

The two of you look at each other, squeezing your hands together as you smile.

The black clouds are gone, but now something new stirs, preparing to rain down.

The next few days pass by in a rosy haze.

Hyunjin and you spend almost every waking hour together, your cheeks actually hurt from smiling so much but your lips never tire of kissing his.

Your hands constantly search for each other, relief in your souls when they entwine.

Of course, the whole island knows and they've expressed nothing but happiness, Isaac went as far as to hug Hyunjin so tightly that the breath from his lungs got squeezed out for a second.

Hyunjin has never felt this much genuine love for the person he is, not for his things or art.

His soul is lifting up to the sky, taking yours together with it as they dance among the stars.

But yours is a heavy heart and as Hyunjin spends another night in your bed, sleeping soundly after the two of you had a laugh together, sharing some funny stories from school days, as the laughter subsided and the dust settled, you start thinking.

Your thoughts swirl like colors on a pallette, bleeding into each other, not letting you close your eyes and sleep peacefully like Hyunjin does.

You're scared that he'll leave, go back to the city that has so much to offer and when he does he will forget about you, who has nothing but your flowers. You wonder what he even fancies about you, you're nothing special, just a lonely flower girl on a small island, doing the same thing every single day.

You think Hyunjin is beatiful inside and out, he is like a work of art, carved out by the very hands of gods, his soul radiating more than yours, you fall back into his shadow and you think he can do better than you.

Your mind starts picking everything apart like it always does, convincing you that it's too good to be true and something bad must happen because there is no way you deserve to be this happy, this easily.

Your tears slide quickly down your cheeks, a choked sob held back in your throat and you're afraid that if you sniffle or make any noises, you'll wake Hyunjin up and disturb him with your nonsense.

You get up as slowly and quietly as you can, making your way to your bathroom where you break down and cry silently, sitting in your shower and hugging your knees to your chest.

How do you tell him all of that without sounding so weak and desperate?

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mentallyisekaid · 4 months ago

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「 ✦ Fatui Harbingers x Signora's Sister! Reader, PART 3.5✦ 」

---

Part 1 Part 2 Part 2.5 Part 3 [Part 3.5]

It's highly recommended to read the parts in order, otherwise few things will make sense!

A/N ~ I ACTUALLY GOT A CHAPTER OUT. Anyway, the next one might take... another while. I've got other stuff going on and life can be kinda chaotic sometimes. Hope you enjoy this one, though :')

Warnings: I'm not sure what to list here; slightly angsty stuff maybe, I also feel like Dottore & Pantalone are a warning of their own

Word count: 2.9k

---

More often than not, family wasn't the manifestation of perfect, unconditional love that you could foolishly rely on. Something... that would never harm you. Because this was, in the end, just what humans were like - so easily blinded by things like greed, anger and envy that they were bound to end up hurting those around them.

You'd learned this yourself a long time ago, and witnessing it again hardly should have swayed you anymore. But what it did was bring up memories; a hurtful echo that even time couldn't drown.

And this mission only served to remind you of what a 'lovely' thing blood relations could be...

"Who are they?" you finally asked, breaking the pointless silence.

Inside the cabin Dottore and Pantalone had led you into, you'd faced a young mother and her two children. Judging by how they looked, the three were undoubtedly victims of unjust fate, yet somehow unfazed even as Harbingers waltzed into their home. A certain dignity in their eyes never faded...

Then again, this was just what Snezhnayans were like.

"Well, these people here are yours to handle, miss 12th. If you please." The Doctor's words were somehow vague, and Pantalone's expression, too, implied that such a roundabout answer was probably not the entire truth.

Since it wasn't clear what anyone expected you to do, you could only test the waters.

With a somewhat polite smile on your lips, you addressed the residents. "Hello, ma'am. Hello, little ones~"

No response. Somehow unsurprising, seeing as you were a Harbinger; one half of Snezhnaya feared you, the other despised you.

And yet, they went and got involved with the Fatui anyway. How stupid!

You glanced at Pantalone. The Banker seemed oddly delighted about the situation, hence, it likely had something to do with Mora. Then again, this man always did seem like he was enjoying himself thoroughly.

As for Dottore, he was the silently measuring these people with his gaze, a sinful smile on his lips. You decided not to decipher what his thoughts on the matter were, or what, pray tell, was this corrupt heretic even doing on a field mission...

Their questionable work ethics were beyond your remit anyway.

"Now then," you sighed, "what are we sensible people dealing with here, and why won't anyone tell me?"

The woman gave a derisive scoff, finally speaking.

"Ha, it looks like Pantalone and company brought along yet another recruit this time - but she's just a little girl!~ How amusing."

"Careful there, I'm definitely old enough... And, by title, a full-fledged Harbinger. So," your smile was innocent yet subtly menacing, "...let's not get too uncivil now; we wouldn't want to upset your children."

Or maybe you don't actually care about them at all?

The young siblings stood firmly by their mother's side, observing you with lilac eyes as cold yet fragile as hoarfrost.

They're so brave. But perhaps brave for the wrong person, much like I once was. In that sense, I probably shouldn't be the one to meddle in whatever it is that's going on here... I want my paycheck, though.

Pantalone and Dottore had watched your interaction with amused curiosity while lingering near the doorway, wanting to see just how their little Harbinger would behave on her first mission.

But one slightly vexed look from you, and they deemed it best to give the situation a little push forward.

As the two men walked forward, stopping on each of your sides, both of them placed a praiseful hand on your shoulder. You hadn't actually done anything yet, but welcomed this with a content smile regardless~ These affectionate gestures hardly went unnoticed by anyone in the room, yet only a fool would have dared to make a comment about it!

"Now then, Dominika," Pantalone addressed the woman with a complacent smile. "It's high time to pay off your debt, don't you think?

A debt?

"Oh, I'm certain she agrees." Dottore commented. "Of course, there are alternative means of paying back. I could offer plenty."

You sighed. Pity those who had to do business with these two!

But this 'Dominika' woman seemed unbothered...

"Then, Lord Regrator," the lady commented, her voice as sharp as ice. "I ask that you show at least some decency. I don't have the whole sum gathered yet, so do wait for a month longer, as I'm certain that someone like you is not so short on Mora that you should have the heart to harass me like this."

Well, at least she had backbone? Though, it seemed to cover up something utterly immoral.

Pantalone entwined his fingers, the numerous silver rings decorating them clinking presumptuously.

"But, my friend, surely you realize that what you owe the Northland Bank is at least three times the amount I'm now here to collect. You've had plenty of time to pay back, too. Moreover, I surmise you have quite a profitable job? After all, when taking such monumental loans from us - 3 million Mora, to be exact - you must have been well prepared to return it. With interest, naturally~"

Ah, so that was it.

Yet, it made you frown. 3 million Mora? Something fishy was going on here!

You chuckled, patting his shoulder. "But, dear Pantalone..."

The log cabin - not even a house - was thoroughly ramshackle, it was freezing cold inside and there was an unpleasant, moldy smell in the air. And those two children looked so malnourished and sickly that it was hard to believe they'd had a proper meal or felt the warmth of a home in years, if ever.

...so then, where had all that money gone?

You gazed at the siblings, a sister and a brother, who stood by their mother's side, clearly not entirely oblivious despite of their young age yet devoted to shield their parent's crimes.

And you of all people had no right to condemn them for that.

The two Harbingers were observing you keenly, shrewd smiles on their faces, almost as if expecting you to do something unfavorable for the Fatui.

I swear, Pierro and his infinite need to test anyone and everyone!

Well, this certainly wasn't the time to question anyone's loyalties. You wanted to disclose this particular matter anyway...

"You don't have the money, then?" you questioned Dominika, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, and you don't even need it, so you damn cretins better leave us alone," she spat with such disrespect and malice that even the Balladeer would have been impressed.

"There's no need for such a violent tone-"

"Violent?" Dominika chuckled darkly. "The Fatui are the only true violence Snezhnaya has ever seen."

"Tut-tut," you scolded her. "The Fatui do NOT wish to harm the people, nor will they do so without a reason. If one of us has harmed you just for the sake of being cruel, I shall see myself that they are punished tenfold..."

"However," you looked at the kids, then at back their mother, "ma'am herself is not so innocent either, it seems?"

She threw you a nasty look. "You dare accuse me-"

"Then, does Dominika suggest the money just vanished into thin air?"

"I-I know! I can tell you," the little boy, no older than six, suddenly exclaimed. For their sake, it was better that at least somebody was smart enough to talk.

Guilt flashed in the mother's eyes before she raised her hand in a hasty attempt to silence her child. But before she could, Pantalone had moved swiftly to grab her arm, an ominous smile on his lips.

"Now, now, Dominika..."

Yet, someone was quick to follow their mother's lead. The girl was surely only eleven or so, but the look in her eyes was fierce as she slapped the back of her brother's head.

"Don't forget our promise, Lazár," she reprimanded the boy. "No tattletaling."

"I'm sorry, Liliya..."

You fixed 'Liliya' a warning look, though it quickly softened - the brave yet somehow lost look in her eyes reminded you a bit of yourself. But she desperately needed a reality check. No child should feel the need to cover up their parents' sins...

The girl didn't flinch as you cupped her cheek with your cold hand. This made you smile a bit.

"Liliya, was it? You don't have to protect your mother, you know. What has she done to deserve such devotion?"

"..."

Sighing, you turned to her brother.

"Does your mommy have... a lot of Mora?"

"Maybe..."

"And she uses that Mora to take care of you and your sister? To buy you food, warm clothes and... toys?"

Lazár tilted his head. "Mama gets us bread from the city."

"And what else does she buy?" Dottore asked with a subtle smirk on his lips, clearly in the know of everything relevant but insistent on letting you figure it out yourself.

The boy frowned as he searched for the right words (or wondered whether he should've kept his mouth shut after all).

"...Golden cans! There's nothing inside, though. You have to pay a lot of Mora to get them... Then the misters come, and take those. Liliya says they smell like foreigners - spices and the ocean. Mama gets big bags of Mora from them. But we're not supposed to know, so we don't really... know," he finally finished.

Canned knowledge? All the way in Snezhnaya?

You glanced at the Doctor, but he only gave you an amused look and shook his head, implying that he wasn't involved in this - not this time, at least.

Something still felt off, though.

"Even so, Dominika... your debt equals millions of Mora. It's clear that loan hasn't been used to take care of your family. I'm not judging you for smuggling foreign goods, per se. But then, on my travels I've also become quite familiar with Sumeru's market, and even canned knowledge isn't that expensive."

You sighed, "Well, forbidden knowledge, perhaps. Do enlighten me?"

Dottore broke his. "Marvellous, it seem Y/N truly is as knowledgeable in this particular matter as the Director claimed. I wonder why that is, hm?"

Another story, another time.

"But for what reason does she smuggle, if not to get money to feed her children?" Pantalone smiled.

Liliya had been quiet since earlier. She shrugged and spoke in an emotionless tone, "Mama has different family in a different land. They're important people. Dangerous people. I don't know. That's probably where the Mora goes, too."

"Ah, is that so?" You smiled darkly. What a disloyal woman.

The girl hesitated. "For them, she... runs all kinds of errands. But that money, too, just goes... poof."

Pantalone nodded. "Yes, Dominika here is quite the magician~"

Dottore clicked his tongue. "I suppose you would know."

"Let's try to behave ourselves..."

But really, the issue at hand was practically clear by now.

Smiling at the kids, you patted their heads and gave them two apples from under your cloak.

"Here, have some snacks as a 'thank you'... Liliya, take your brother to play outside for a bit, okay?"

Liliya just shrugged nonchalantly, taking Lazár's hand and leading him out of the cabin.

It was quiet for a while.

You stared at Dominika with a frown.

Dottore and Pantalone smiled ominously.

"You're a Snezhnayan," you pointed out, "yet your own kin is worth this little to you?"

The woman shrugged. "I do what I know I have the right to. There's nothing unholy about that."

"What about your children?"

"I never asked for them. Their father was a wretch. Hasn't my world, my Snezhnaya, already been cruel enough to me? And only a fool would to go out of their way to selflessly take care of children that life is going to treat unkindly regardless." She smiled darkly. "Plenty of people in this cold land have been on their own since childhood. I know I was, yet here I am, because I learned to survive."

Again, you could only judge a person so far.

You nodded. "I see. I'm not a saint, either. I... was not loved by my parents, either. I'm not sure if I can love like that, either."

"However," you paused for a bit, gazing out of the window at Liliya and Lazár who were busy building a snowman, "as someone who serves the Archon of Love, there is one sin I cannot overlook... a parent forsaking their child."

A wistful smile curved your lips, "For as much as Liliya and Lazár are your children, they are the Tsaritsa's children as well. And she loves all her children fiercely~"

Dominika was silent. Perhaps because she did not care. Perhaps because she did.

Regardless, the time of her retribution was nigh. And, in the end, it was also for a reason much simpler than the 'crime' of being an unloving mother...

She didn't have Pantalone's money, and that was that.

The Banker walked to stand by your side, softly brushing your cheek with the back of his gloved hand. The rings felt cold, yet the touch was somehow... incredibly warm.

"What does Y/N wish to do with those children, then?"

You smiled.

"The House of the Hearth is no heaven... but it's better for Liliya and Lazár there than out on the streets by themselves. And despite what ignorant people say, Arlecchino is not a monster - I'll personally ask her to look after these two."

And I will look out for them as well, so that they will never have to make the same mistakes I did.

Sudden anger flashed in Dominika's lifeless eyes. She took a quick step forward with her hand raised threateningly. "You witch-"

...I dare you.

But Dottore had already pulled you back a bit, a few centimeters behind him.

You smiled.

"I'm quite capable of protecting myself, Doctor~"

"Quite, but it's her I was shielding. That's a scary gaze you have there, Y/N, and as much as I'd enjoy observing just how violent you can be, Pierro specifically asked us to fetch this woman with all her limbs still attached."

You pouted. " I wasn't going to-" Not too much, at least!

Zandik chuckled, patting your head. "Yes, yes, I believe you~"

The woman didn't speak another word nor struggle when a couple of Fatui agents came in and restrained her - who knows if this was proof of the dignity of a Snezhnayan, or the lack thereof.

Dottore injected her with something that dimmed the last flicker of a flame still glowing in those dull eyes.

You frowned at this.

"Just a mild sedative, don't worry," said the Doctor and you dared not question it further - though you probably should have...

---

After Dominika was gone, and Liliya and Lazár had been sent on their way to the House of the Hearth, Snezhnaya's sun had reached its zenith.

You stood outside in the snow, a hand shielding your eyes from the cold, pale yellow rays.

Pantalone had since remained inside the cabin with his subordinates, likely discussing the distraint of the property - not that it was worth much anything.

Celestia knows where Dottore had gone...

A hollow ache was left in your chest.

Was it resentment, melancholy, indifference, all of the above, or perhaps something else that you just couldn't admit to feeling - regardless, it was there.

But who would you have shed a tear for? It would've just frozen in this frigid weather anyway.

"Shall we head back, dear?" Pantalone's soft voice came from next to you. Dottore had disappeared and then appeared again, now standing on your other side, humming to himself while resting a hand on your shoulder.

Back...

"I think I'll stay behind for a bit. I've got an errand to run nearby." Your voice was devoid of any emotion, faltering ever so slightly.

It wasn't a lie, but at most, a half-truth. You really just wanted some time to clear your head - just a little more to pull yourself together, so that your Harbingers wouldn't discover too big of a crack in your defences.

Being vulnerable was quite scary.

"No, no, that won't do at all." Pantalone looked down at you sternly yet gently. "I couldn't possibly agree to leave our little Y/N here in such a state."

"I'm fine."

"Y/N is very strong, after all."

He leaned closed, his breath fanning across your cheek.

"But I do find there is a certain irresistible charm about strong people who think they need to be tough all the time. It makes their broken parts appear all the more beautiful~"

You frowned. "Um... I-I see. Is that so, huh..."

Dottore sighed, wrapping his outer cloak around yours.

"In any case, Pierro would be quite displeased if we were to tell him that we diligently finished the job, but lost our precious little Harbinger somewhere in Snezhnaya..."

His comment actually made you chuckle a bit, along with the fact that this impossible duo seemed more than ready to (gently) drag you back to the Headquarters if you really tried to stay.

"Heh~"

The Doctor suddenly leaned closer, lifting his mask to plant a soft kiss on your forehead. Uncharacteristic, and a bit weird? Well, not really, since it appeared this really was one of his "gentler" segments. What instead stole your attention were those strikingly red eyes...

It was the first time you'd seen his face fully uncovered.

You didn't know how to feel about that. You didn't know how too feel about a lot things these days.

And, maybe... that was okay.

"Shall we go home, then?" The Doctor held your hand.

"Little Harbinger?~" Pantalone also held your hand.

You smiled. 'Home' was perhaps not the right term. Not yet, at least. But in that moment, it didn't really matter. Sometimes just trusting someone, even if not completely, was enough.

And so...

"Mm, let's go home~"

#genshin impact x reader #platonic genshin x reader #signora's sister #platonic pantalone x reader #platonic dottore x reader #fatui harbingers x signora's sister #fatui harbingers x reader #platonic fatui harbingers x reader #pantalone #dottore #fatui harbingers #pantalone x reader #dottore x reader #genshin impact

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baronessvonglitter · 4 months ago

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Cherry, Cherry 🍒 Chapter 9 🍒

"First Time for Everything"

pre-outbreak! AU!Joel Miller x f!Reader

Word count: 3,251

Summary: a continuance from Chapter 8 - pizza, movies, and.. dessert

WARNINGS: 18+ Only! Mature and Explicit, adult language, age gap (reader is 18, Joel is 35), takes place in summer 2003, fluff, idiots in love, secret relationship, underage drinking (reader drinks a beer), horny!Joel, bit of an innocence kink, fingering, oral sex (m & f receiving), reader has some experience w/oral), open conversation about sex & experience, daddy kink, use of nicknames (daddy, babygirl, cumslut), come eating, softDom!Joel, reader's race not mentioned but described as tomboyish, reader has hair long enough for Joel to grab, no use of y/n (if I missed any tags lemme know!)

Author's Note: more smut. but, like, romantic smut. I know there's been a few mentions of underage drinking, I'm just going by my own experiences at that age. If you want to drink, wait until you're 21!

Series Masterlist

It's late when the rain stops and even then you and Joel are oblivious to it, lost in each other, sweaty, satiated though all you've done is touch and kiss. You could do more, but the park is closing and so you clean up as best you can and get dressed to head back to your car.

On the drive back, you hold hands. Your skin is warm, your heart is singing. You're in love for the first time in your life. No longer shy, you can't help admiring Joel, watching him as he drives, your body humming pleasantly each time he looks at you and gives you that damn smirk. You love him and he loves you. It's too wondrous a possibility to wrap your mind around.

Your car is the only one in the Starbucks parking lot. "You oughta start parkin' underneath the light poles, you'll be safer that way," Joel tells you, his finger stroking your bare thigh.

"But I like parking near the front," you tell him, even as you delight in this little intimate gesture of his.

"Don't be stubborn." His voice holds a hint of authority. You playfully grumble and kiss his cheek. He walks you to your car, holding your hand, ever your knight in t-shirt and jeans. "Is that a Toyota Tercel? You know they stopped makin' these five years ago," he teases you.

"It was my dad's," you say with more solemnity than you realize. He puts his arm around you and you lean into him where it's warm and safe. "I'm surprised no one's broken into it yet. It doesn't lock."

Joel laughs, a deep grumble that always brings a smile to your face. "Jesus, girl. You are a mess."

"Yeah, but you love me."

He kisses you softly on the mouth. "Bet your ass I do. We still on for tonight?"

"Absolutely. And thanks for the ride."

"Which one?"

You give him a confused look until you see him break into a playful grin. Laughing, you hit his arm. "I'll see you at the house in a bit. I'm sure we both need to shower after that ride."

He nods a little sheepishly. "I'll follow you home to make sure you get there safe."

And even though you only live ten minutes away from the cafe, you are moved by his protectiveness.

You and Joel have agreed to keep your feelings for each other private from Sarah, at least for now, while it's still new for both of you. You have to act normal around him and it feels unnatural because what is natural is wrapping your arms around him and pressing your lips to his neck where you can feel his pulse beneath your kiss.

After pizza, the three of you settle down to watch a movie. You like the feeling of being with family, even if it's not necessarily your own. "What did y'all decide on?"

"I want to watch a horror movie," Sarah answers you with confidence.

"You'll get nightmares," Joel warns her. "Why don't we let our guest choose?"

"I'm a huge horror fan, so I'm sure I'll love whatever you have in mind," you tell Sarah.

"'Nightmare on Elm Street,'" she replies right away and you can see Joel rolling his eyes behind her.

You stifle a smirk. "A classic. Let's get started."

On the sofa, you and Sarah sit on either side of Joel. Sarah leans her head on her dad's shoulder and you take hold of his hand, hiding it between your laps. With the lights down and the movie playing on the TV you have the urge to cuddle up with him, hoping for a moment soon when you can do exactly that.

A particularly scary jump scene startles you and you hide your face in Joel's shoulder before you even realize what you're doing. "Sorry," you whisper, straightening up. Joel give you a soft smile and Sarah giggles at you from the other side of him. Every now and then she takes a glimpse at you and at Joel, unbeknownst to you.

"Well, I'm not going to sleep anytime soon," you announce when the credits start rolling. "Wanna take a stretch and then watch another?"

Sarah's half-asleep on Joel's shoulder. "I'm ready for a break, Dad.." she mumbles.

You smile. "I can't blame her. We did get a late start on the evening. You think maybe we should call it a night?" But the truth is you're not ready to go home.

Joel laughs. "I swear, this girl loves to try to keep me awake till 2 in the mornin' watchin' movies most of the time. I think I better get her to bed."

You smile. "Of course. I'll be here." With a pang of jealousy you watch as Joel carries Sarah upstairs to her room. When was the last time your father did that for you? You open a couple bottles of beer and hand one to Joel when he comes back downstairs. "You're so good to her.. you're a good dad."

He sits back on the couch with you, taking a swig of beer. "Yeah.. I try my best for her. She's my whole world and I would do anything for her."

"That's how it should be. I wish my own dad had stuck around." You rest your head on Joel's shoulder, which you wish you'd done earlier.

He frowns. "I'm sorry your dad didn't stick around. But I'm here, sweetheart, and I'm not goin' anywhere."

You return his gaze, absorbing the significance of his words. "I know," you tell him, and lean in to kiss him. He holds you close and you taste the beer on his tongue as he explores your mouth. His fingers run through your hair and you moan as quietly as possible, wrapping your arms around him.

Softly breaking the kiss you ask, "What do you think? Should we start another movie?"

He smirks and sets you on his lap crosswise. "Not if it means I have to keep my hands off ya. Let's just.. get comfortable."

"Mm. How comfortable?" You nuzzle his neck, taking in his scent, wanting to extend this pure moment for as long as you can.

He answers you with a kiss, sweeping your hair away from your face before his hand drops down to trace across the top of your breast. You bring his hand beneath your top. "No bra? You naughty thing," he murmurs against your lips.

"You should see what else I'm missing.."

He practically salivates as he delicately reaches past the waistband of your bottoms. "No panties either." His voice is guttural, utterly primal. "Girl, what are you doin' to me?"

You press his hand further down and watch the change of expression on his face: his eyes close and his jaw tightens. The next moment he's tugging off your bottoms for better access to you.

"Wait!" you whisper, halting his progress. "Not with Sarah in the house!"

"She's a deep sleeper," he says quickly, eager to continue, licking his lips.

"Joel" you scold.

"Third step from the top has a creak. We'll hear her if she comes down."

"I mean it!" you insist. "Let's go to my place. It's empty tonight."

The speed with which you both race next door is impressive. In your room, the lights dim, Joel asks you, "Are we doin' this?"

You hesitate. In truth you were just going on pure impulse. "I just want to explore you. And I want you to explore me."

Your admission makes him growl. "Little girl, you have no idea how much I want that. I've been thinkin' about our moment in the truck all night. I barely paid attention to the movie. I was wonderin' what else you would allow me to do to you."

"Joel," you moan, and pull him on top of you on your bed. "I want your hands on me. I want you to make me come again."

It's all he can do to not rip your clothes right off you. He forces himself to go slow, starting with your shirt, pulling it off to reveal those breasts he loves to lavish attention on. He palms each one in his large hands, nibbling and swirling his tongue around your nipples, sending ripples of pleasure straight to your cunt. You're already wet for him, which he discovers when he pulls down your bottoms, revealing yourself to him once more. "Such a pretty little virgin pussy, and it's all for me," he rumbles.

There's something intimidating about being laid bare this way. The hungry look in his eyes is reminiscent of a lion stalking its prey. It's the gentle touch of his fingers at your entrance that snap you out of your apprehension. Crazy to think this man would ever hurt you. One finger presses in, testing your resistance. You give a sharp intake of breath and close your eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

You nod. "More."

He grins. "Patience." He strokes that one finger inside you, exploring. You make a little sighing sound and the look on Joel's face is obvious that he's trying like hell to hold back.

Slowly he inserts another finger. It's slightly uncomfortable but you're growing more wet with each pump of his hand. He swipes the pad of his thumb across your clit and you clench around his digits, eliciting a small gasp and praise from Joel. "Atta girl. Just like that. No need to rush. Oh you're so fuckin' tight.." He dips down to kiss you, his tongue invading your mouth once more as he fingers you. "Do you want to try three?" he rasps into your ear, lightly kissing your neck.

"Yes," you say as your heart jumps and once again you clench around his fingers. You feel that third digit stretching you out. He pumps his hand slowly, treating you with the utmost care. "See? You can take it. And soon you'll be able to take all of me." He presses a kiss to your neck, your collarbone, your chest, both breasts, and down to your stomach. Anticipation surges in your veins. You've had so little experience and Joel keeps surprising you. Each kiss upon your skin is like a lick of fire.

"Sweetheart," he murmurs as his lips move lower. You timidly part your legs and he raises your knees. "You're glistening like ripe fuckin' fruit, baby. And I wanna taste ya." He takes your impatient moan as a green light and dips his head to your cunt using his broad tongue to lick a slow stripe upwards, smiling when your legs shake. His tongue laps across your folds, teasing each little crevice before finally delving inside you. Your fingers find their way through his hair, your senses consumed with desire. "Joel.. yes!" And all other thoughts vacate your brain. Joel gives a muffled groan that vibrates against your cunt. "Oh, sweetheart, you taste so good."

You pick up your head, resting back on your elbows, and your eyes lock with his for a few sweet, burning moments. "Damn, Joel.." This image is going to be something you'll think about years from now, the sight of Joel Miller feasting on your pussy like it's his last fucking meal. His arms are wrapped around your thighs, his biceps protruding as he keeps you where he wants you. His tongue makes small circles against your clit. You whimper something completely unintelligible, grabbing his hair as you lift your hips to give him access to every part of you. Your back arches and you give a deep groan, followed by several staccato, high-pitched gasps. "Joel.. I'm gonna come!" Your nails dig into his shoulders.

"Yes, babygirl, come for me," he growls and suctions his lips around your clit. You cry out as your orgasm uncoils in the pit of your stomach. It grows and grows, radiating outward to your limbs and claims you as you give a long low moan and you press yourself to his eager mouth.

"Jesus, baby, you're makin' a mess on me," he chuckles, and you feel him lick up every last drop. "You're so fuckin' delicious. I want more."

Your mind is a sweet blank nothingness, your body completely satisfied. "I've never ever felt like that before," you whisper, meeting his gaze again. The lovingly playful look in his eyes is like an arrow to your heart. "More? I think if I have any more I'll have a heart attack." But his tongue is back, carefully avoiding your sensitive clit, lapping at each fold and planting kisses on your inner thighs until you beg for release again. Then he's sucking your clit with three fingers inside you, less gentle this time. Joel wrenches another, stronger, sweeter release from you and it's a good thing you're alone because you've never been so loud in your life.

"Damn, babygirl.. I could do this all night.."

You lose track of how long he eats you out and how many times you come, but eventually you need a respite from the onslaught of pleasure he gives you. Trying to catch your breath, Joel rests his head on your belly as you stroke his hair. The glow of the fairy lights on your headboard adds to the dreaminess of your post-orgasm tranquility. "I think I love you even more now," you whisper, and excitement builds up when he moves over you to kiss you. You taste yourself on his mouth, sharing your essence. And you can feel him through his jeans, hard against your thigh. You've been the only one receiving pleasure and you find that unfair. "I want to go down on you," you tell him.

His brows raise and you feel him grow even harder at your thigh. "Really?" He's holding back his excitement. "Only if you want to."

"I do. I like it.. that's as far as I ever went with my ex, Trevor. He wouldn't do me but I'd do him. I'm confident in my ability," you give a saucy grin.

He doesn't even blink when you mention your ex. "What an idiot to pass up on this sweet little pussy," he rumbles. His hand wanders down to the V of your legs and you smirk and remove his hand.

"I said, it's your turn. I want to make you come, and this will suffice until I'm ready for the real thing." You move onto your side, comfortable now with your nakedness because from his eyes you see you have him in thrall. "You're wearing too many clothes."

You laugh when you see just how quickly he sheds his shirt and jeans, as eager as a boy your own age. His erection juts out, tenting his boxers. Biting your lip you pull down the waistband. You commit this moment to memory, as if seeing it in slow motion. You watch in awe as his cock springs to life. "Oh my god," you whisper.

Joel smiles at your reaction. His arms are crossed behind his head. "Let me guess: I'm givin' you more to work with than he ever did?" You wordlessly nod and he puts a hand on your thigh. "Do you want it, babygirl?"

Thick. Long. Your brain can only construct basic descriptions. The base of his cock springs up from a neat nest of short, curly brown hair. A vein bulges out alongside the top, and you follow with your eyes then your hands the slight curve towards the end, the way the top half is almost a rosy pink color, and the large head that is already moist with precum. You swipe your thumb over the top and Joel hisses in pleasure. It's heavy in your hand. You give his cock a few trial pumps, feeling him flex beneath your touch. Fuck, I'm lucky. Mouth watering, you dip your head to taste him. You swirl your tongue around his very sensitive head, holding the base with your hand. Joel gives another intake of breath and you smile. Relaxing your throat you breathe through your nose as you take in the first few inches in your mouth, using your hand on his base to stroke. There's no way you'd be able to take the entirety of him down your throat, but you love the thought of trying. You bring as much of him as you can until you begin to gag, then stroke him with your saliva. As Joel watches you you can see the darkness of his gaze, the expression changing from one of powerfulness to longing to submission. And it's because of you. "I love the way you look, all laid out comfortable for me.. it's so hot." He groans again and gathers your hair back into a makeshift ponytail, gently guiding you up and down as you suck.

Your hair is tousled, eyes shining bright, lips swollen and wet. "I think you're so close, Joel.. let me help you."

"You look so fuckin' beautiful like that. Just tell me where you want it, babygirl. I might not last much longer."

You pause only a moment, wondering what he means. In the past, your ex would typically finish in a Kleenex, so you've never had a guy come in your mouth before. But where else would it go?

"Come wherever you want, daddy.." you tell him.

He stops you mid-suck. His eyes have a look you've never seen before. "What.. what did you call me?"

You realize it too late. "Daddy," you say, caught up in the moment. "Where does daddy want his babygirl to have his cum?"

It's as if you've released the Devil himself. "Down your fuckin' throat. I want to watch my babygirl swallow every drop like a good little cumslut."

You've never talked dirty to someone before, but this first time has you worked up like never before. "Cum in my mouth, daddy, give me my little reward.."

With a groan Joel tenses up, hips bucking up to thrust into your mouth. You feel his cock begin to swell and then it twitches as several jets of his warm jizz hit the back of your throat and tongue. It's thick and salty, but not unpleasant. The hottest thing about it is the way he looks at you as you take in every last drop.

You're laying side by side, breathing hard, both riding a euphoric high. The intensity of your intimacy has brought you closer together, and if you're honest, your love for him has deepened.

"You were amazing, sweetheart.. guess I didn't mean to sound so harsh to you in those last few moments. I apologize," he says.

"Not at all.. I thought it was pretty hot. It made everything more intense between us. I kinda felt like.. I don't know, like a porn star or something."

"Careful, you're gonna get me going again," he warned in a semi-playful manner. "That might've been the best I ever had." He scoffs and rubs his hands over his eyes. "Did I just say that out loud?"

"You did," you snuggle against him, your nakedness against his. "Isn't that a cliche? Don't you tell that to all your women?" you tease him.

"It's never been like this with anyone else," he says, looking into your eyes and kissing your forehead.

You touch his cheek. The roughness of his beard tickles your hand and you're pink between your thighs where his beard scratched you just moments ago. "I guess there's a first time for everything.."

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#pedro pascal #joel miller #ao3 fanfic #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfic #joel smut #joel miller tlou #joel miller au #joel miller age gap #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x female reader #pedro boys #pedro pascal character smut #pedro pascal characters fanfiction #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal cinematic universe

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suugarbabe · 1 year ago

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Forget Me Not (4)

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Word Count: 3k

Warning: fluff

an: not proofread; this is the LAST chapter, it's been fun writing this mini series as it started as just a prompt for a one shot, hope you've all enjoyed :)

Throughout breakfast you and Fred kept peeking at each other like teenagers with a secret. Hermione tried to engage you in some conversation but you found yourself increasingly distracted as Fred’s hand found solace on the inside of your thigh, rubbing soothing paths over your skin with his thumb.

Once Molly allowed everyone to be finished eating, Fred grabbed your hand, leading you outside and toward the garden. The motion caused a few eyebrow raises at the table, then eyes to land on George. Without looking up from his plate George simply stated, “They made out this morning.” Ron nearly choking on his breakfast sausage.

Once in the garden, Fred led you to the old iron bench, fit with handmade cushions by Molly. When you both approached the bench Fred picked you up bridal style, making you squeal. Fred turned you both around before sitting down on the bench, your legs bent over his lap.

You couldn’t contain the smile that spread over your face and Fred took notice, “Is that how this usually goes, have we talked here before?” You nodded, looking away towards the flowers, “You…used to…” you trailed off. Fred cupped your cheek, turning you to face him, “I know, darling. I…when we came out here, I just…knew that I used to do it, that it would bring that smile to your face.”

You couldn’t help yourself, too overcome with emotion, with love, that you did it before you could stop yourself, leaned in and…kissed him. To your delight there was no hesitation from Fred, his lips instantly responding to yours, seemingly melding together like they’ve done on countless occasions.

It was slow, like Fred was trying to memorize you all over again, or remember you. When your lungs were screaming at you, you finally pulled away, “Sorry, Freddie, I just-” Fred cut you off with a shake of his head, “S’okay, love. Trust me,” he gave you another quick peck on the lips, “I don’t mind one bit. Now tell me the story of how we met, when we started dating, would love to hear your perspective.”

You smiled, “Do you wanna hear how we met or when I first noticed you?” Fred quirked an eyebrow, “Are they two separate occasions, love?” You bit your lip, nodding. Fred smiled, pulling your bottom lip from your teeth, “Then tell me both, beautiful.”

Fred smiled at how animated you spoke, how you talked about seeing him first in charms class, how he and George tried to confuse professor Flitwick by pretending to be each other. How you thought he was just so funny and you wanted so desperately to be friends with him.

He was shocked that it took you another year before you finally approached him, as bold and confident as you seemed to him now. When you told the story about how you finally approached him, describing watching him and George trying to prank Filch he could recall what you were describing. He could remember leaning around the pillar, waiting on Filch’s reaction, and he could remember when it didn’t go as planned, the exploding potion not exploding.

“So, after you and George horribly failed-”

Fred cut you off without thinking, eyes staring straight ahead like he was seeing it all over again in his head, “You came skipping down the hall, brilliant smile on your face. You told us that we obviously added the sneezewort too late, ‘if we remembered at all’. I was highly impressed, then asked you your name.”

Your mouth hung open in shock, “Freddie, how did you…” Fred shook his head, laughing as he spoke, “Dunno just, you started talking about it and it all came rushing back. Merlin you were a little cutie back then weren’t you?” He teased you, poking your side.

You grabbed his wrist, “Fred Gideon, do not.” Fred’s smile widened at your giggles, “Godric, I love that sound, don’t know how I ever forgot it. Now tell me how we started dating, maybe it’ll come back to me like the other story did. I’d really love to see how red your cheeks got when I finally made it official.” Fred planted a wet, sloppy kiss to your cheek, and you were a laughing mess again.

“Okay, okay,” you laughed again, wiping his remaining spit from your cheek. “We were at the black lake,” when you started your story Fred closed his eyes. He wanted to try to picture the narrative you told, see if he was able to see what you were describing or if it was all a blur like every other time he tried to remember you alone.

As you started speaking Fred saw the lake, could see the ripples in the water, could feel his arms wrapped around you and the weight of you against his chest, he smiled to himself. “We had been sitting out there for a few hours, you and George had somehow convinced a few first years that if they got close enough that the squid would try and pick them up and swing them around.”

Fred smiled to himself, remembering telling a set of first years those exact words, then waiting to see if any of them would listen. As you spoke he started seeing it all, you scolding him and George for trying to trick them, you telling George to go tell the first years they were kidding.

Then you started to describe how Fred started to actually ask you out, how nervous you felt when he said he wanted to ask you something, that you were hoping he would ask you to officially be his girlfriend but that you didn’t want to assume anything. Which looking back, Fred thought was just silly. From what he was starting to remember, he’s always been head over heels for you, always chasing you, wanting to be near you.

When you started to recall the exact words Fred used, he cut you off, “I made you turn around so that you were facing me, so that I could look into your eyes when I asked. I still held your hands, because I felt like if we weren’t touching you were somehow going to disappear because there was no way I was that lucky for someone like you to even remotely feel the same towards me.

“I was so nervous that once I’d ask you’d say no, tell me I was crazy or something,” he opened his eyes to look at you, seeing tears brimming on yours, “but now I don’t know how I was ever crazy enough to forget. I looked at you, just like this, and I said, ‘Y/n, I don’t want to be your friend anymore, I don’t want to cuddle on the couches with you after class or watch you get hit on by other guys or contemplate going to Hogsmead with someone else. I want you to be mine, and only mine, so Y/n, would you please do me the honor of allowing me to call you my girlfriend.”

You laughed, not believing he was able to recall his exact words, “and then you hit me, like really hard, y/n. Pretty sure you bruised my arm for a week.” You rolled your eyes at him, “Yeah well who starts that whole thing with ‘I don’t want to be your friend anymore’? I thought you were about to tell me you hated me!”

It was Fred’s turn to laugh, “Oh, darling, I could never hate you. I can’t think of any feeling I have for you but love.” You rolled your eyes again, “Okay cheeseball.” Fred cupped your face, smirking, “I am a cheeseball, so give me a cheesy kiss.” And so you did, grabbing hold of the back of his neck and crashing your lips to his, breathing him in like he was oxygen and you’ve been deprived for months, because essentially you had.

You knew you and Fred were getting carried away when you heard Ron coming up behind you, “Oi! If you two can stop snogging for ten minutes, mum has tea ready!” You pulled away, an unwavering smile plastered on your face.

When you and Fred joined the others in the kitchen, he immediately started telling everyone what he remembered, how much better he felt and that he felt like he was going to be able to remember everything without much issues soon.

And he was nearly right, except for one thing. Which is what led to the frustrating conversation he was having with George in their room while you took a nap on the couch.

“Georgie, you’re absolutely sure I never told you how I was going to ask her?” Fred was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and tugging on his hair.

George just shook his head, “No, mate, m’sorry. Every time I asked you said that I was going to get too excited and tell her before you were ready.”

Fred let out a frustrated sigh, “Well can you help me plan it this time then? I want it to be absolutely perfect, something neither of us could forget, no matter what happens.”

His brother smiled, nodding his head, “Sure, Freddie. Anything.”

—--------

Two weeks later, you’re giggling while holding Fred’s hands that were covering your eyes as you tried not to trip while he guided you to wherever you were going. “Almost, there, darling, promise. Just a little further,” Fred’s voice was gentle against the shell of your ear, but you could still hear the smile breaking out on his face, “and…we’re here.”

When Fred finally removed his hands, all the breath left your lungs. The sight in front of you was one made for a muggle movie. Fred had enchanted fairy lights to hang around the garden, the flowers in it seemingly bloomed ten fold over night and now included your favorite flowers.

In front of the bench you two usually shared together was a blanket, the one you had made him for your first Christmas together. During fall holiday you had asked Molly to teach you how to knit and she was more than happy to oblige. You had worked the next two months on making the blanket for him. You thought it had turned out shit, but Fred slept with it every night since the moment you gave it to him.

Spread out on the blanket was an assortment of biscuits and a tea set in the middle. You turned towards Fred, lacing your fingers in his, “Did you bring me here for a tea party, Freddie?” You bit your lip to suppress your smirk from spreading.

Fred lifted his hand that wasn’t in yours, pulling your bottom lip from your teeth before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, “Thought we’d have a romantic evening cuppa, whadya think, lovie?” You nod, smiling, tugging Fred along with you toward the blanket before pulling him down with you as you sit.

As you sit you both talk about your days, Fred telling you about new products he and George are thinking about developing for the joke shop. He’s eager to get your input, the last two weeks since your discussion in this very spot bringing back most of his memories.

He couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face as you spoke, memories of you helping him and George when they first had ideas for their products back in school, you helping them market different ones to the girls versus the boys, always being strategic. He hoped that your observant manner didn’t ruin what he had actually planned for this little evening picnic.

You told him you were thinking about applying to St. Mungo’s and Fred made a joke saying it would be perfect for you given how well you mended him after the battle. You pushed his shoulder, not being able to help joking that you “might have missed a few screws in his brain”.

As you finished your tea, you could see Fred start to get nervous, start fidgeting with his hands and grabbing at his pocket. You sat up a little straighter, tucking your feet under you, “Y’alright, Freddie?” It wasn’t rare to see him like this since the battle, but they had become more scarce since he started remembering things. You were hoping you didn’t make him nervous with your plans, hoped that he knew you would always be with him no matter where life took the both of you.

Fred nodded in answer to your question, “M’alright, lovie, just…I’ve been wanting to say something to you for a while now, s’just…I had forgotten because well… you know.” Fred let out a nervous laugh and you smiled, nodding for him to continue. “S’just, I’m a little nervous so bare with me, ‘kay?”

Fred reached out to grab your hand and you gladly let him, giving his hand a light squeeze for encouragement. “I love you so much, darling. And…I’ll never forgive myself for ever forgetting how important you are to me. And I know it wasn’t technically my fault,” Fred held his hand up, smiling as he silently cut off what he was sure was going to be protests from you, which he was right, “but forgetting you and the love we shared was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through.”

“I don’t want you to ever have to go through something like that again, to ever have to doubt if I love you, if I want you in my life or if we’re going to be together because if I have my way, we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”

You smiled, trying to hide the tears that were brimming, “Oh, Freddie, I love you so much, I’m not going anywhere, you know that don’t you?”

Fred nodded, “I know, darling. I know,” he lifted your hand that was in his, kissing your knuckles, “I just want to make it official if that’s alright with you.” Confusion was clearly written on your face for a moment, before it turned into pure shock as Fred got up to one knee, digging in his pocket.

Fred couldn’t help the slight smirk that appeared on his face as your reaction, as it was exactly what he was hoping for. As he opened the box from his pocket, displaying the most beautiful Ruby ring wrapped in gold accents, he had your full attention.

“My darling love, Y/n. I have loved you since I’ve first known you, since that moment in the halls when you corrected me. I knew then, even at the age of twelve, that without you there’d always be something missing. You are meant for me, and I you; so much so that not even the darkest of curses can keep us from finding our love for one another again. I didn’t say your last name at the start because if you would do me the honors, nothing would make me a happier man than to get to call you Mrs. Weasley. So, Y/n, will you, erm, Merlin I’m so nervous,” he let out a small laugh, “Y/n will you marry me?”

You couldn’t help but launch yourself into Fred’s lap, smashing your lips onto his with so much heated passion that his only immediate reaction was to giggle against your lips. You pulled back, kissing his lips over and over, “Yes,” kiss, “Yes, Freddie,” kiss, “a thousand million trillion times yes.”

You leaned back enough for Fred to take the ring from the box and slide it on to your left hand. You couldn’t help the giddy giggle that left your lips as he did so. He held your face in his hands, thumbs tracing over your cheek bones as he spoke, “I love you so much.”

At that moment fireworks started to explode above you, catching your attention. Beautiful colors of hearts and flowers along with yours and Fred’s initials and a cheesy “together forever” in fiery colors. Soon you weren’t alone, as George and Ron came barreling over the hedge toward the both of you.

“We assumed the kissing meant she said yes,” Ron was grinning, eyebrows raised. You laughed out loud, “Yes, Ronald, you’re stuck with me forever.” You spoke as you held your left hand up and wiggled your fingers.

George lifted you off his twin, engulfing you in a bone-crushing hug, “More like you’re stuck with me forever, Ducky. I’m so happy for you two.” “Thank you, Georgie. For everything.” You felt George nod, not needing to say anything more.

The rest of the family came out, Harry and Hermione included, giving you both congratulations. As you spoke with Hermione and Ginny, the former spouting all the different ways she could start helping you plan, you peaked over their shoulders at Fred.

Fred held up a finger to his brothers, excusing himself before coming up to you, “Sorry, Gin, Mione, mind if I steal my Fiancee from you both for a moment?” They both smiled giddily, nodding their heads.

“Fiancee, I’m definitely going to have to get used to that,” you spoke with a grin. Fred nodded along with you, dragging you back towards the burrow. “Where we going now, Freddie?” you asked curiously. Fred had a mischievous grin on his face, “Just going back to my room, thought maybe we could…celebrate?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

You smacked his shoulder, “Fred Gideon, you dirty minded man.” Fred couldn’t help but laugh, “C’mon now, lovie. Let’s go christen our new titles, hmm?”

taglist: @Words-are-cheap @l0ulistens @reallysparklychaos @df841 @rhahghbs @delfonicstheme-blog @marvelsbitchh @slytherclaw @football1921 @marvelpotter

#forget me not series #forget me not final chapter #fred weasley #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley fic

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dumbbitchenergy17 · 1 year ago

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Clan of Three - Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Clan of Three

Plot: A Mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers and a heavy role to bear. Now reunited their journeys across the galaxy are just beginning to complete their final mission.

Word Count: 7.3K

Pairing: Father Figure!Din Djarin x Platonic!Teen!Reader

Warnings: fighting/violence, massive injuries, some wholesome moments, sad as fuck father-daughter moments, massive angst, PTSD

------

“We shall be rid of the Mandalorians once and for all,” Gideon turns around looking at his fellow warlords, “Long Live the Empire!”

“It is time to retake our home world….I need volunteers from both tribes.”

“I will go.” “I will go.” “I will go.” “I will go.”

“Is that the voice of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze?”

“We knew you would not forsake us, Lady Bo-Katan. We have failed you, but our blasters remain in your service.” They lower their heads slightly bringing a hand to rest over their hearts.

“I will only wear a dress on Naboo. I was told that it’s the most beautiful planet in the galaxy. And there are lakes and waterfalls and fields of flowers and planets as far as the eyes can see. So if you want me to wear a dress it has to be on Naboo.”

“With the uncomfortable shoes?” He asks and you smirk, “We’ll see.” The two of you stare at each other a silence falling over you two its two magnetics coming together. His hand covers your eyes the other pulling off his helmet then his lips meet yours.

“Look, I have no idea what that boy’s intentions are, but…I do know that he would be lucky to have you.” Din says and you lift your head up looking at the older man, “Really?” You ask and he nods and it grows silent once more before you speak up.

“Do you feel like everything is going right that it’s meant to go wrong?” You voice your fear for only him to know, “Every time we get close to winning something horrible goes wrong,” Your tone gets slightly frantic all the possibilities making you more nervous.

Din grabs your shoulders making you look at him, “I promised you I was never leaving you and I’m not. Ever.” He reassures and you nod before he pulls you into his arms just holding you there. His chin rests on the top of your head nothing is said between the two of you but you could tell he meant every single one of his words.

“I love you, dad…” You say and he freezes slightly before his arms squeeze you tighter to him, “Love you too, kid.”

“Those aren’t Mandalorians.” You call out as they immediately take fire, ambushing you all, “They’re Imperials! Take cover.” All the Mandalorians take cover firing at them.

“It’s an ambush!”

“Thank you for gathering the Mandalorians into one place,” He says, and you are unmoving. Moff Gideon was back. He finds delight in seeing the horror and pure terror in your expression as the Mandalorians behind the blast door has no choice but to watch. “Thanks to your planet’s rich resources, I have created the next-generation Dark Trooper suit forged from beskar alloy,”

“Why don’t we take your fleet off the board while we still have the element of surprise? Activate the interceptors and bombers.” He orders and Bo-Katan slams her fist against the glass.

“No!” the Klaxon alarm blares as the Interceptors and Bombers are activating, “In but a few moments, the Purge of Mandalore will be complete.”

“Kaz, get up. Kaz, kriffing get up and fight. Please stop! Please don’t do this…I’ll do anything please don’t I beg you!” You shout as he takes in your features one last time though tear-filled and bloody you still look beautiful in his eyes, “Kaz, please get up!”

“I love y-” The blade cleaves through his body as a scream of anguish rips through your throat.

“None of this would have occurred if you had accepted. He’s dead because of your actions, princess.” Gideon mocks you as you’re sent into a spiral sobs racking your body and hyperventilating from the shock that has taken over.

You didn’t deserve happiness…you would never love again. You had nothing left in you to love. Your happiness, your love, and yourself had died right alongside him held in his arms with dead promises to visit the far-off planets you dreamed of.

You were in a daze as the commandos practically dragged you through the halls, and you didn’t hear Din’s shouts, didn’t hear anything it was a blur until you were brought into a room and you’re dropped to your knees and chained to the floor. It repeated in your head like a broken melody, his face…his beautiful face draining of life.

“I love y-” Drain of tears as you felt no emotion, you didn’t feel sadness, loss, anger, sorrow, anything. It was empty. The doors before you open up but you barely acknowledge it glance up and seeing Gideon enter removing the beskar helmet and holding it to his side a malicious grin on his face.

“Where’s the fight, dear princess? That fire….that rage… not going to get your revenge?” He taunts standing before you and you gaze up at him, your eyes red and puffy your throat strained and dry from your sobs and screams.

“Just kill me already…I have no use for you.” Your voice is dead and flat and he chuckles his hand grabbing your chin your lifeless eyes are forced to look up at his wicked gaze, “Oh but that would make things so much easier for you wouldn’t it? Be reunited with your Mandalorian..” He rises dropping your chin and your head drops down.

“Get comfortable you’ll have front-row seats to witness the purge of your people and end the Mandalorians once and for all.” He says and your empty heart feels a twinge of worry for your family scattered across this base.

Din’s mind was running wild since the ambush seeing Moff Gideon had escaped the New Republic, seeing Kaz die and you getting taken away. Your screams and cries burned into his mind. You were fallen down a rabbit hole he barely got you out of the first time this worst. The two commandos force him down a hall and he shoves against one of them and then kicks his foot against the wall having them all stumble away from him. Breaking free from one of them flipping the other as he grabs the vibroblade cutting his bonds at his feet and quickly stabs the commando closest to him. Dodging the blaster fire that hits his beskar armor sudden heat against him from the flamethrower as he grabs their wrist slamming it to the ground. Pulling him into a chokehold and snapping his neck as a cable wraps around Din’s neck pulling him back he struggles as he sees the blaster in the commando's hand. It’s suddenly grabbed and destroyed,

“No. No. No. No. No.” Grogu presses the vocal button and Din stabs the commando with the blade the two hitting the ground. Gasping for air as Grogu sprays a bacta spray in his face as he tries waving him off coughing with his tied hands, “I'm okay. I'm okay…help me up,” Grogu pulls Din to his feet before holding his wrist out, “Will you cut me loose?’

Pressing the button gives a ‘yes’ and frees him from his restraints and he rubs his wrist, “Thank you for your help. Grogu, I'm going to need you to be brave for me, okay?” The small child babbles, “We can't keep running. If we don't take out Moff Gideon, this will never end. We have to find your sister as well. You with me?” A yes comes from IG-12 and the two make their way through the base to find and finish off Moff Gideon and save you.

In the cave system escaping from the following commandos, a transmission comes through Bo-Katan’s comms, “Bo-Katan, come in.” “Received. Where are you?” She sighs in relief glad to hear him alright.

“We're safe. I escaped. I've got the kid,” He says and her worry picks up slightly only hearing one kid with him, “And Y/n where is she?”

“I don’t know, I’m looking for her…I'm going after Moff Gideon. Do you have a location?” Din explains and Bo-Katan sighs leading her people through the caves, “No. We are under attack. I have to get the troops to safety.”

“Understood,” Din says moving through the halls followed by Grogu,

“Stay safe.” Bo-Katan responds their contact broken as the Captain calls out to them, “If we escape to the surface, I know where we can hole up.” He explains and they all take off to the surface. Bo-Katan worries for the people around her, her small family in Gideon’s base, and prays Woves gets to the ship before the Imperials do.

You hear the doors open behind you as Gideon stands before a large hologram map, “Sir, the fighters and bombers have launched,” A commando says, “Their capital ship will soon be destroyed.”

Gideon is silent before speaking up, “But the Mandalorian has escaped.” Your heavy head perks up slightly upon hearing the news. Din had escaped. He was moving through this base. The whirring of Gideon’s armor as the Commando looks at him waiting for orders,

“Shall we engage?” The helmet is put on Gideon and you hear his modulated “No, I'll take care of him myself.” A hoarse chuckle comes fills the room and the commando stiffens Gideon is silent as it starts soft until it’s the only thing he can hear seeing your head shake. You look up at him the blood mouth and chin dried the hollow look in your eyes having a spark of malice.

“You’re dead…he’s gonna kill you.” You rasp a huff of laughter in your tone and you hear the whirring of his armor as it curls into a fist, “You won’t even last a minut-” A beskar-infused punch across your face sends you on your side. Stars fill your vision as you try to calm the queasiness that fills you. Glancing back up at him seeing double him. Gideon looks seeing the indifference despite the split brow and the quickly forming bruise on your eye.

“Gar oyay cuyir jaon Gideon..” (Your life is over) You whisper venom in your voice and he uncurls his fist before stepping back, “Prepare her for the Mandalorian’s arrival.” Gideon orders and you see the doors before you slide open and out step three guards dressed in red armor each holding intimidating weapons. Gideon backs away as one of the guards pulls over a chair. Creating slack in the chain on the ground before shoving you to the seat. You don’t get time to adjust a fist knocking the wind out of you with a punch to the gut. You curl inward but your hair is grabbed pulling you back up as a fist bashes into your face blood spills to the floor.

“You’re….you’re all..going…to die..” You wheeze out your head hanging a river of red coming from your nose and mouth, your body crying out in pain but you weren’t going to let them see. You feel one of the guards behind you seize one of your arms and you feel the strain as it’s forced to bend unnaturally, “No…no…no no!” A snap fills the air producing a scream from you as your elbow snaps and you lean forward heaving in pain. Tears and blood blur your vision, fire runs through your body as the broken limb is let go of. Gideon turns away leaving the room the sounds of your screams and begging as the torture begins rings through his head. You were going to be a great present for your Mandalorian.

Din moves through the halls skillfully followed by IG-12 controlled by Grogu, “R5. Come in, R5,” Din calls through his comms and a beeping response comes through from the surface, “I need you, buddy. You're gonna have to scomp into the base and get me the location of Moff Gideon's command center.” Hesitant beeping makes Din sigh as he peeks around a corner, “I'm sorry, I don't speak Binary. I'm counting on you.” Moving throughout the base avoiding commandos he calls back out to the droid, “R5, how are those schematics coming?” A schematic of the base appears, “Got it. Good job, buddy. That's the command center. The communications log says that's where he operates from. That's where we're goin'.” Din points at the blinking dot representing the command center on the hologram map.

“Ready?” He looks over at Grogu who coos, “Stay close. Let's go.” With only his skills Din moves through the halls before reaching the hall leading to the command center with barrier shields stopping any from entering, “The command center is down there. I don't have any weapons so this might get messy. R5. There are some barrier shields. I'm gonna need you to deactivate them one at a time.” The droid beeps understanding his assignment, “On my command. Got it?”

Din peeks around the corner seeing the multiple rows of guards he would have to take one, “Deactivate the first shield.” The red shield comes and Din rushes forward throwing a swing at the guard closest to him sending him to the ground and kicking his leg out hitting the other one. Grabbing the guard getting up barely dodging a blaster fire that kills the one in front of him. Spinning him to deflect the attack with the dead guard’s shield he pulls the knife from his belt while throwing it. It lodges into the other's neck and Din rushes forward to grab the blaster but the guard falls back into a drop disappearing.

“R5, next shield.” Din calls out as the second barrier opens controlled by the droid his two enemies armed with electro-riot batons and shields. Rushing forward kneeing on in the face sending him crashing into the barrier and quickly deflecting the attack from the guard behind him bringing him to the ground. Grabbing the baton jamming into the space between armor from the guard in front of him then spin kicks the other off the ledge. Picking up the shield now with a weapon and defense steps forward to the two awaiting guards behind the shield.

“R5, next shield.”

Slamming the shield against one guard against their blaster fire, jamming the electric baton into the knee of one guard brings him down shielding himself. Attacking his chest as the guard grunts hitting the ground and Din stabs the baton in his helmet electrocuting the guard to death. Grabbing the blaster firing at the guard and getting to his feet, the two fire and shield against one another, “R5, next shield,” Din calls out firing but no response comes through, “R5, next shield! R5!” Din yells into his comm blocking another blow as the smoke from the blasters fills the area.

“R5, next shield.” The last barrier opens and slides through the smoke tripping one of the guards grabbing the blaster. Spinning around to stand firing at the guard that fires but it hits Din’s beskar armor. Killing the guard before moving towards the unarmed one trying to rise up but he quickly pulls the trigger. The air is fresh with gun residue the adrenaline in the bounty hunter’s blood fading with the trail of bodies. Grogu peeks around the corner seeing the aftermath and Din motions him to come over. “R5, good job, buddy.” Din compliments the droid as he hears beeps coming from the droid.

Opening the door reveals a long hallway covered in tanks that line the walls. Din and Grogu slowly creep through the halls before Din holds his hand out stopping the child, “Wait here.” He moves to a control table trying to figure out the information. He hears a whimper from the child as he looks frightened by the clones, “That's not Gideon. Those are his clones.” The small child looks at the tank holding a sleeping clone of his former captor. Its eyes snap open producing a cry as Grogu stumbles back while handling the droid. Din presses certain buttons tampering with the controls as the console begins beeping and powering down,

“Let's go.” The two rush escaping the room as an alarm goes off the tanks exploding water spilling out as the doors close behind them. Din turns away from the doors and Grogu and the air leaves Din’s body as his legs become stone. The room lay bare no Gideon in sight but a chair and a familiar figure hunched over blood surrounding the person. His body rushes forward whipping around the chair and his heart drops but also rage fills his body as he stares at the young girl. You were covered in blood, your injuries he couldn’t tell where they started or where they ended. One of your arms hung limply at your side still restrained but he saw the odd angle and cringed. His hands shake slightly as he cups your face and you seem to react to the touch as you murmur your eyes blinking up trying to see, one of your eyes was quickly turning black and blue.

“Kaz…” Your voice is hoarse and weak and his chest burns at the thought in your state of pain and exhaustion you thought he was someone who was long gone.

“Kid…it’s me,” He tries to keep his voice calm pushing back the blood-soaked hair away from you, “I’m gonna get you out of here.” A sudden blaster fire barely misses you both and Din is forced to pull away both him and Grogu hide behind some walls. The mechanical footsteps clank against the ground as Din holds the blaster between his hands.

“My clones were finally going to be perfect,” Gideon’s rage-filled voice surrounds the room, “The best parts of me but improved by adding the one thing I never had. The Force. I was isolating the potential to wield the Force, and incorporating it into an unstoppable army. And you smothered them before they could draw their first breath” He hisses and Din could feel the fury coming from him. A hitch of breath as a mechanical whirring fills the air and a choked gasp fills the air.

“So I’ll take the breath from who you care for,” Gideon growls tightening his strong grip around your throat. Din whips around firing at Gideon but the blaster bolts bounce off his beskar armor does make Gideon release you your head dropping as Gideon fires a missile at Din. Dodging the attack he charges at him with his jetpack the two being pushed into the hangar entering combat. Gideon hurls Din aside as he collides with a large crate quickly receiving beskar-fueled punches in the gut and the face rattling the bounty hunter. Grabbing the Mandalorian by the chestplate hurling off to the floor before launching another attack on him. Din rolls out of the way right as Gideon slams a fist into the ground denting the metal floors.

The sounds of battle from the hangar rage on and in the air as Mandalorians fight against the imperials for their homeworld. Everything was painful just breathing hurt, you wanted it to all fade away praying it would all just stop. A metal hand gently pulls up your face and you felt a cooling sensation across your face as you slowly force your eyes to open seeing the arm of a droid and the small green child. Grogu coos as the healing medicine sprays across your face and he pulls away and you wince feeling something jab into your leg a small burning sensation.

“Grogu…” You whisper and you hear the ‘yes’ come from the child as it moves away from you and you hear the whirring sound and sparks coming off you. Whatever healing spray had made your face grow numb but whatever was put into your leg, you felt your heart rate beating faster and the surge of energy in your limbs. You hear a crack of metal and something falling off as you slump forward falling off the chair unable to hold or catch yourself. You hit the ground with a groan and you hear the loud cry from Din as you see through blurry vision him on the ground the same red armorer guards around him. You hear footsteps pass by you as your heartbeat becomes the only thing you can hear as you force yourself onto your back.

Din groans in pain as the blade is brought deeper into his armor when a voice comes through, “No, no, no.” Din sees Grogu’s angry expression as he slams his fist on the voice button. The three Praetorian Guards pull away now a new target as they force the child back into the command center.

“No!” Din cries out the fear of seeing another one of his children hurt as he scrambles to his feet. A missile hits him directly at his back sending him to the ground but he back on his feet with the urgency to save them when a fibercord whip wraps around his neck dragging him right back to Gideon as the doors close putting the Imperial Guards with both his defenseless children.

You hear the fighting that had entered the room and the cries coming from Grogu as you see flashes of fighting but too weak to stand up. Get up. They are going to kill him if you don’t fight. He’s going to die because of you. You roll over to your side a loud groan coming from you drawing the attention of one of the guards as they come over to you. Your limbs shake with pain as you push yourself with one arm up to be on your hands and knees. A sharp kick to your ribs knocks you back down with a cry as you gasp for air. Don’t stop…stand up. Pushing yourself a strained grunt comes as you return to your knees another kick knocks you back down landing on your back as you try to get air. You can’t do it…you’re too weak.

“I’m sorry…” You whisper tears falling into your hair as the guard stands above you the spear in his grasp.

“Get up…” A voice calls out a whisper the feeling of home flooding your veins, “Come on mesh’la you have to fight.” His voice is like a medicine that heals all wounds. You feel the gentle touch on your skin a caress down your face as he leans down a kiss placed on your forehead. You see the guard raise up his spear to deliver the killing blow it all happening in slow motion.

“Get up.”

The weapon swings down stopping just before your chest a mere hair away when a force stops him. The guard tries pushing down more but is unable to move his body frozen in place. A choking fills the air as he grabs his neck releasing the staff before a large crack fills the air. Din enters the command center having left Bo-Katan to fight against Gideon to see one of the guards collapse to the ground and you laying on the ground beside the body. The others are about to attack Grogu with Din fires his blaster at one of them. The two quickly dispose of the guards together with Din’s combat and Grogu’s force abilities. Din checks over the child when he hears a groan coming from the other side of the room. His head snaps over seeing you on your feet though shakily and Din rushes over his arm wrapping around your waist and holding you up.

“Kid! I’m sorry…maker this is all my fault..” He whispers as you barely register his words looking towards the hangar and seeing Bo-Katan and Gideon fighting. “You stay here. I’ll be back.” You groan in protest before he forces you back to the ground against a wall to sit.

“Gideon…he has to-” “I know…I know you can’t be moving alright.” He says before your left in that room once again but the second he’s gone your hand is clawing at the wall to bring yourself to your feet. This was your fight just as much as theirs and you were going to make sure Gideon was dead.

Bo-Katan spins the Darksaber disarming the electrostaff from Gideon’s grasp but he sends a mighty punch sending her sliding across the ground. Bo-Katan pushes herself to her feet as Gideon pulls off a weapon from his belt and a howl fills the air as a brilliant orange glow reflects on the black beskar. “Hand over the Darksaber and I will give you a warrior's death.” The warlord demands. Rushing towards him with a yell sabers crash against one another as Bo-Katan launches a renewed attack striking him in spots but it has no effect on the beskar armor. However, Gideon is an indomitable force grabbing Bo-Katan’s hand midswing the two holding the Darksaber. With a crush from his gauntlet, he destroys the ancient weapon bringing the female to her knees. The broken hilt lies on the ground as he rips her helmet off kicking Bo-Katan to the ground as she slides toward the edge.

“The Darksaber is gone. You've lost everything,” Stalking towards her taunting the failed Mandalorian, “Mandalorians are weak once they lose their trinkets.”

Bo-Katan rises to her knees a smirk on her face, “Mandalorians are stronger together.” A sudden blaster bolt strikes Gideon from behind and he quickly turns seeing the Mandalorian firing at him. Exchanging fire as Gideon is drawn towards the edge blocking the attacks with the saber. Firing from his wrist Gideon strikes down Din multiple times though shielded by the beskar still stuns him. Bo-Katan slides protecting him using her shield. The hangar shakes sparks flying in the air as the hurtling imperial cruiser descends on the base. Bo-Katan rushes forward with a warrior cry as Gideon raises the saber when he’s thrown back and smacks into the ground. The deactivated saber is released from his hand and Gideon tries to grab it when it’s pulled past him into a person’s grasp. Gideon looks towards where the weapon went the true fear that runs through him. Blood soaks her dirty clothes the broken arm limp at her side, how she was standing after the beating she received he wouldn’t know, in her working hand, the deadly weapon ignites producing a brilliant orange glow.

Gideon raises his blaster firing it at you but with quick reflexes, they deflect hitting him back as he stumbles back towards the edge. You keep trudging forward blocking his attacks as he grows closer and closer to the ledge. He rushes forward to attack you when a blade goes straight through the gap in his chest plate and stomach. A hitch in his breath as the blade digs deep staring into your gaze the haunting look in your eyes.

“This is the non-diplomatic option.” You grunt ripping the saber out as debris rains down the ship crashing into the hangar. Arms wrap around you pulling you to the ground as you are shielded from the inferno hearing Gideon’s screams. You expected the heat from the flames to incinerate you opening your eyes and seeing the barrier all around you the flames and destruction not touching you. Din and Bo-Katan lower their arms from shielding themselves as the three of you look at the small child before you protecting you all. Lowering the Force bubble the flames go from around you as Grogu plops down exhausted from the use as the three of you stand up viewing the destruction. The base is in shambles the flames and smoke from the attack, your gaze moves to where Gideon stands nothing there burnt to ashes. It was a lightweight feeling knowing he was truly dead the battle finally over. With so many lost and many that never saw the end of the journey there were necessary but heartbreaking so you could win.

A cave once left abandoned the light from natural fluorescents the torches empty now lit. The banging of drums fills the tunnels only growing louder reaching the mouth of the cave. Banners of clan signets as clan heads line the path a pathway of torches leading to the steps of water. “I swear on my name and the names of the ancestors..” The Armorer speaks to the small boy a shallow bowl in her grasp, “I swear on my name and the names of the ancestors..”

“That I shall walk the Way of the Mand'alor…” "That I shall walk the Way of the Mand'alor…”

“And the words of the Creed shall be forever forged in my heart.” The crowd watches as the boy recites the creed. It had been months since his first try at joining the Creed and now he stands in the water speaking those words heavy in his heart with the loss of his father, “And the words of the Creed shall be forever forged in my heart.”

The Armorer kneels down scooping up some of the living waters pouring on the beskar helmet as he rises to stand, “This is the Way.”

Ragnar nods repeating the words, “This is the Way.” The crowd of Mandalorians from the Children of the Watch repeat the words. Ragnar steps away rejoining his clan as a Mandalorian in silver beskar armor holding a small infant reaches the steps. Placing the child on the step before the water and the man entering the water slightly.

“Grogu is my apprentice.” The once-bounty hunter gestures to the small child, “He is no longer a foundling. Add him to the Song.”

“He is too young to speak so he is too young to take the Creed.” The Armorer shakes her head as the child babbles proving her point, “He must remain a foundling.”

Din is silent looking at the child that looks sad at the news, “If his parent gave permission, couldn't he then become a Mandalorian apprentice?” The Armorer is silent before nodding, “Yes, but his parents are far from here…if they are even alive.” Her words hinted at some underlying solution. The man looks at the child before speaking,

“Then I will adopt him as my own.” The small child looks up in surprise at the news and the Armorer accepts this decision, “This is the Way.” She says and the man repeats the words.

The female Mandalorian turns to face the crowd of Mandalorians, “Let it be written in Song that Din Djarin is accepting this foundling as his son,” She turns looking at the child now adopted by the man, “You are now Din Grogu, Mandalorian apprentice.”

“This is the Way.” The Mandalorians chant and she holds her hand up silencing them, “You must leave Mandalore and take your apprentice on his journeys, just as your teacher did for you.” The Armorer explains and Din nods, “This is the Way.”

The child now legally under the watch of Din babbles cheerfully and in the depths of the waters before them, a creature stirs almost sensing the change. Din grabs Grogu bidding farewell to the Armorer and other members of the tribe. From the corner of his eye, Din sees the flutter of a cloak as they disappear from the living waters. A lone girl viewing the spectacle many troubling thoughts running through her.

Hidden in the shadows watching as the Armorer and Bo-Katan stand before the Great Forge with the Mandalorians from both fractions watching their leader. The Armorer produces a torch passing it to the woman who moves holding it over the forge. The flame ignites the gas the Forge of their people relit after years of remaining dormant. The clanking of the vambraces creates a synchronized rhythm as Woves starts a chant, “For Mandalore!” “For Mandalore!” “For Mandalore!” The fractions brought together their planet back with the rightful owners as they chanted for their victory but also for those they had lost and their sacrifice would not be in vain. Bo-Katan looks over the crowd a wide smile on her face seeing her people together once again but she catches the gaze of a lone figure not in Mandalorian armor. The cloak and mask hid the still healing injuries but she could see the tired eyes that watch the excitement of the people around her but she lacks any. Bo-Katan could see the defeat in them none of this was a victory in their eyes too much loss and the pain was too great to think of the positive. Their eyes meet and she could tell the look in their eyes and what it meant. No words needed to be spoken as the figure disappears in the crowd that she couldn’t keep up. Bo-Katan tries to keep a smile for her people but it cracks just slightly with the information she knew.

Returned to Nevarro where this whole journey began Greef claps his hand on Din's shoulder, “The people of Nevarro appreciate all you've done, Mando.” Pulling a small chip and holding it out for him, “I want to give you this deed to a cabin just outside of town where you can lay low with your new family if you choose so. Between adventures.”

Din accepts this gracious gift nodding in thanks, “Thank you.” Greef chuckles kneeling down to the small child on the steps, “And that goes for you too, Din Grogu.” Greef stands up noticing the third person apart of their group missing, “And where is the other one? I was certain she would stay with you all unless she’s with that Mandalorian of hers. I certainly like him as a partner.”

Din sighs shaking his head, “She’s here just…going through a lot. I’m giving her some space.” Din looks around the city. This was their new home to reside in while Din works as a personal contractor for the New Republic. “The boy…Kaz, he didn’t make it.”

Greef’s expression drops, “My condolences…well be sure to send her my apologizes for her loss.” The air was tense and it seemed to remain that when they had left Mandalore, even going to the Adelphi base, to even here. He was giving you the time you needed, you were still healing from your injuries refusing any medicine that would require you to be unconscious. With no choice but to respect your decision giving you the best he could get but just time would heal all wounds. While the physical wounds may leave scars that would soon fade the ones on your mind and heart would never.

“And I have a gift for you as well.” Din breaks the tension and appears from the crowd the newly reconstructed IG-11, “Greetings, citizens. I am IG-11, your new Marshal. Your new Marshal of Nevarro.” The crowd cheers as their new Marshal greets them all.

“I am here to serve and protect the citizenry. I am at your disposal and serve at your pleasure.” Greef laughs seeing the familiar droid, “There we go.”

Days on Nevarro settled into your new home a place for Din to relax for now before the New Republic called for him. During these times spent making the cabin home, Grogu enters school and gets to grow up. It all seemed well in this home the other missing piece was yourself. Din felt like you were a ghost, your injuries had healed up but you were hesitant with this place he had reassured multiple times was yours. A room that was strictly yours, getting you new clothing, having home-cooked meals, and even trying to get you to go out into the city and have fun and be young again. It was the opposite though he felt like he was pulling teeth and you would only do these to soothe his worries but he still saw the hollowness in your expression, the mask you put up, and weak smiles. He saw your body thin from the lack of food, rushing into your room hearing your screams at night from the memories that plagued you, the dark circles under your eyes from forcing yourself to stay awake to avoid being trapped inside your mind. Give her time he kept telling himself but time wasn’t helping and it all seemed to build up until the thinning string finally snapped.

The sun was beginning to set and Grogu was playing with the small ball of his in the living room as Din finished up dinner placing it off to the side to cool off. “Come on kid,” Coming over scooping his son up, “Let’s get your sister.” Grogu babbles still playing with the ball as they move to the front of the house where a small pond lies. Din had set up a small chair beside the door that he normally kicks back and watches Grogu play. By the pond resting against a tree right by the water there you sit knees tucked under your chin, your focus on the rippling water as frogs and small fishes swim around.

“Kid!” He calls out and you slowly look away meeting his gaze as he stands by the threshold of the house, “Dinner come.” He says and he sees the hesitation on your face as you turn looking back at the water. Din sighs coming towards the tree to get you to come his pace slows to a stop when he notices a bag beside you that looks fully packed.

“Kid…” He calls out hesitant about where this conversation could possibly be going. You were dressed in the clothes that you hadn’t worn since the battle on Mandalore, the cloak wraps around you as you continue staring at the waters. Din waits for the words he fears seeing the expression on your face the pieces coming together.

“I can’t stay here.”

And the air goes thin as his fear becomes a reality. His grip tightens on Grogu slightly as he looks down on you as you start up again, “I can’t just live here happy while he is seen as nothing but a sacrifice for that planet.” Din knew who you were talking about as your voice tighten up and you look up blinking away those tears.

“I know you’re hurting you just need time…I know it hurts now-” Din tries reassuring you but when you looked at him he felt his chest twist as he stops speaking. You had already made your decision and it was just more painful than you saying the words.

“I don’t sleep. I don’t eat. I’m…I’m not like you or the kid…I don’t know what to do anymore…I tried and I tried so damn hard. But I can’t close my eyes without seeing him…” You hold back a cry as you swipe at your sniffling nose, “I’m not telling you to give up this place you deserve a home to settle and be happy but I…I have lost everything all my life…everyone I have loved has either died or left me. Everyone except for you…” You say looking at Din and you feel the anguish coming from him and the glassy look in Gorgu’s eyes.

“I’m so scared of being alone and I don’t want to lose you but sitting here I’m reminded about how I’ve failed all of them.” You say with a shaky breath before looking away from him whispering your fear. “How I might fail you.” It’s a painful silence that is filled with distress and sorrow as Din is told the troubles you’ve been dealing with all this time, even before Mandalore, since your childhood.

“Please don’t try to stop me.” You beg him and it’s so quiet you thought he left but when you look up at him he’s still there. This would have to be the hardest thing to go through and experience. You were so used to people leaving you or the small chance at happiness…love being ripped away from you. It was worst being the one to leave when you knew how much they cared for you…loved you.

“Can…” His voice cracks slightly, “Can you at least stay for dinner?” He speaks in a mere whisper and you hear the sadness in his voice. If he wasn’t wearing that helmet you would see the tears streaming down his face. The tears you tried keeping in start sliding down your face as you hold a fist to your mouth holding back choked sobs. Taking a shaky inhale as your throat is thick with tears,

“If I stay I’ll never leave…” This breaks both of you as you swipe at your tears standing up, “i’m sorry..” Grabbing the pack and slinging it over your shoulder not before grabbing an item from it and holding it out to him in his freehand that isn’t holding Grogu grabs the small object seeing the cloaked binary beacon.

“If you ever need me…no matter where in the galaxy,” You clear your throat pulling up your sleeve and showing the matching one of your wrist, “I’ll find you.” It’s a promise that while you may be lightyears and planets apart you would always find your way home. Back to him… Din curls his hand around the object as he looks at you...his daughter. It’s silent as you step forward rubbing your fingers between Grogu’s ear as he gives a coo and you lean forward pressing a kiss on his forehead. Looking up at the beskar helmet that does nothing to hide his emotion and he raises a hand swiping away the stray tears before pulling you into his chest. You feel the shake of his chest as he cries and you bit your lip to stop yourself from breaking. Held in his arms until you had no choice but to pull away for your sake if not you would never leave.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum…ad” (I love you…daughter)

He memorizes everything about you, from your hair to your nose, your mouth, the crease between your eyebrows, the weariness in your tear-filled eyes, every detail. For a moment he was back on Arvala-7 looking down at the bright-eyed girl as she held his knife demanding answers. How times had changed? You weren’t a quarry or some cargo, you were his daughter from the beginning even if he didn’t realize it. Though blood is not shared you were his daughter and he was your father and nothing would change it.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum…buir” (I love you…dad)

The words repeated back before you turn away and walk towards the ship. Tears flow like rivers down your face as you grow further and further from Din and Grogu. You hear the small cry from Grogu that makes you bite your lip to hold back your sobs as you reach your X-Wing. You throw the bag into the cargo compartment as R4 beeps sadly from his droid port. Pulling yourself onto the wing entering the cockpit as the canopy closes and you start up the ship. Your eyes betray you glancing at Din who still stands by the pond holding his son as he watches you. Your gaze holds for a second before you are the one that breaks contact as the ship powers up and dust kicks up as the ship begins to take off.

Din stands there watching the ship depart staring until you are a dot in the sky and even after you’re long gone probably in hyperspace he stands there. It wasn’t until Grogu made a noise of sadness but also needed to be fed that he looks away. His limbs are shaky but filled with carbonite as he forces himself to enter the home not before looking at the beacon in his hand that beeps showing the connection between the two were still active. Din turns back looking up at the sky and the large galaxy that lies before himself. He wasn’t sure how long it would be until he sees you again but you three would be reunited again.

As a Clan of Three.

A/N: It's over. OH MY GOD! I started writing this series in January of 2021 and it is now August of 2023. I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has read this series and enjoyed it. I'm so proud of all the time and work put into it and the plenty of tears shed writing this. Literally, this series wouldn't exist without the support of you guys and the amazing story that is The Mandalorian. You all are incredible and thank you so much for reading and sticking for the ride.

#star wars #star wars fanfiction #the mandalorian #clan of three #clan of three series #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin x teen!reader #din djarin x jedi!reader #din x reader #din djarin x y/n #mando x reader

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blackhairedjjun · 2 years ago

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flowers of every color | 2. yellow roses

overall summary: when your father is assigned as the new head gardener to the royal family, you are also tasked with helping him maintain the castle's many gardens and extensive floral arrangements. by chance you find yourself crossing paths with the "ice-cold" crown prince, choi yeonjun... who turns out to be not as ice-cold as everyone says he is.

chapter summary: while you and yeonjun are both busy with your respective schedules, you find a way to talk to each other using the bouquets that you leave in his room.

word count: 2.4k

warnings: minor description of verbal abuse

author’s note: we're getting to the "friends" part of "strangers to friends to lovers" here! :D

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you hum to yourself in the greenhouse while arranging another grand bouquet for the castle dining hall. as you add a touch of baby’s breath to the bouquet, you step back to admire the work that you’ve done; the hues of purple, blue and white coming together to produce an elegant sight.

while your father tends to the grasses and flowerbeds of the gardens, you have been put in charge of the floral arrangements within the castle itself. it’s work that you enjoy, and it lets you explore your creative spirit a bit more. you’ve seen servants and officials smile as they pass by your bouquets in the castle’s many hallways, and it brings you satisfaction that your arrangements have made them happy, even just for a little bit.

your thoughts are interrupted by someone throwing the greenhouse door open and running in. you look up from your work and see a man in a plain navy blue uniform panting heavily, and you recognize him as one of the head servants. he is clutching the vase of violets that you prepared for yeonjun’s room.

“what’s wrong?” you ask. “did his majesty not like the flowers?”

“ah, y/n, thank goodness you’re here!” the servant says in between pants. “his majesty sent me 一 says he wants you to bring the flowers 一”

“me?!”

“he said 一 he wants you to deliver his flowers personally to him from now on.”

“...but why?”

“didn’t say.” he reaches out the vase to you. “now go!”

you grab the vase and hurry out of the greenhouse and into the castle, navigating its maze of staircases and hallways into the prince’s room. you have no idea why the person delivering the flowers would make such a difference to yeonjun 一 surely that one day in his room did not make that much of an impression...

...unless it did.

you arrive at the door to his room, breathless from climbing up so many flights of stairs, your arms sagging from carrying the flower vase. the violets are surprisingly hardy, and aren’t too shaken by your hurried journey. you knock on the door.

“your majesty? it’s me, y/n. you called?”

the door opens, and yeonjun greets you with a huge smile on his face. he looks adorable, you think, and you can’t help but compare him to a big happy cat. “you came!”

“... yes, i did. i brought the flowers, too. did you need me for anything?”

you enter the room and he trails behind you. “oh, nothing. just wanted to see you.”

“excuse me?”

he laughs, and your confusion breaks at the utter delight that resonates from his laughter. “i wanted to talk to you, y/n. is that such a bad thing?”

“well, i suppose not.”

you still aren’t sure why he wants to talk to you, of all people, but for now you push the thought aside and head towards the ledge where the flowers are normally set. yeonjun is still following you and he leans forward to get a good look at the violets, hands clasped behind his back like a schoolboy trying to behave. “what kind of flowers are those?”

he notices the way your eyes light up when he asks the question.

“they’re violets,” you say, holding them out for him to get a better look. “aren’t they pretty? there are white ones too, but i think the blue ones look nicer. in the language of flowers, they mean watchfulness and faithfulness.”

“watchfulness and faithfulness, huh? is this your way of saying you’ll always be watching over me?”

he gives you a cheeky grin and you nearly drop the vase. “uh, well, we all watch over you and your family here, your majesty,” you say as you set them down on the ledge.

“but that means you too, right?”

you chuckle to yourself. “i suppose. but that’s not really why i chose these flowers.”

“oh? why the violets then?”

“i just think they look beautiful,” you say, running a finger over one of the violets’ delicate petals. “they’re vibrant, but not too showy. they’d go well in your room and add a bit of life here, your majesty. huh 一 maybe i am watching over you after all, in my own way. i’m making sure that you have nice flowers that suit your room well.”

you look up at yeonjun. his smile has become softer, less catlike. he takes a finger to brush over one of the violets, the same one that you just touched.

“they are beautiful,” he says. “thank you. for the flowers, and for watching over me.”

though you know that you have simply done your job, you can’t help but feel warm at his words of gratitude.

一

a few weeks later, you return to yeonjun’s room to replace the now-wilted violets with a fresh bouquet of flowers. this time, you’ve picked the new set specifically for their meaning, and you can’t wait to share them with yeonjun. perhaps he, too, would enjoy hearing about them.

but when you enter his room, you find that he isn’t there. his bed is messy again, strewn with old maps and papers and a book about the history of diplomacy. you shake your head and sigh; you can’t even imagine how busy the life of royalty must be. when yeonjun isn’t shaking hands with officials from faraway lands, he’s up to his neck in all sorts of studies.

still, it somehow feels a bit rude to just leave the flowers there and go, especially since yeonjun seems to seek your company; but you don’t have time to stay when the rest of the castle needs flowers too. thinking quickly, you take a piece of scrap paper out of your pocket, borrow one of the pens from his writing desk (surely he won’t mind), and scribble a short message for him.

dearest your majesty, i brought you a bouquet of white carnations today. they’re white and puffy and they remind me of the dress shirt you wore the other day. white carnations mean innocence and pure love, but they also mean good luck. i wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.

you tuck the message in between the flowers before you leave.

when you return to his room a week later to replace the now-wilted carnations, you find a new message tucked in between the brown stems. as you pluck it out, you notice that the message is written in neat handwriting on fine card stock, with the insignia of the house of choi embossed on the corner:

dear y/n, sorry i wasn’t around to see you bring the flowers, i was busy that day with lots of lessons. but thank you so much for the pretty carnations and for the good luck. i got grilled by my tutors pretty badly that day, but the good luck from you helped me survive their tests. p.s. i see you liked my dress shirt! p.p.s. did you know that the house of choi formed its first trade alliance 104 years ago? i still remember that from our lesson back then!

you can’t help but laugh at his message. you imagine yeonjun sitting in the castle library with his tutors, scrunching up his face as he tries to remember all sorts of dates in the kingdom’s history, eventually sighing and giving up. the mental image of it is utterly adorable.

you tuck the card into your pocket, clear out the wilted carnations, and set the new flowers on the vase. then you once again take a piece of scrap paper, borrow a pen from the writing desk, and jot down a new message. you make a mental note that you really need to do this in advance.

soon it becomes a routine. with both of you constantly out and about with schedules 一 yeonjun with princely duties, you with errands for every inch of the castle gardens 一 it becomes a dependable way to communicate. you come into yeonjun’s room to leave him a new vase of flowers; you tuck a message for him into the bouquet, explaining what the flowers mean and a few of your thoughts; and when you come back to replace them, you find a reply from yeonjun talking about his day or just telling you a silly joke. you keep his cards in the drawer of your bedside table, rereading them before you fall asleep or when you need comfort. and though yeonjun never tells you, he does the same with yours.

one day, as you pass by the equestrian grounds on your way to the southern gardens, you spot him in the middle of his lessons on horseback riding. his horse that day is temperamental 一 it runs erratically, and more than once does it try to shake him off. yeonjun is knocked about as holds on to the reins desperately, using up every ounce of his strength, and when the ordeal is over he hobbles off looking shaken.

it’s a little early to be replacing his flowers, but you head to his room that day to do so anyway. you place a vase of white heather there and tuck a message in between the long stalks of blooms. these are for protection. i hope you didn’t get hurt too badly from your horse. please take care of yourself always.

when he sees the flowers and your message later that night, the ache in his muscles feel a little less sore.

on another day, you make a mistake and fail to notice that the pink tulips you previously planted by the front entrance are diseased. they wither quickly, and when the chamberlain notices he marches straight to you for a scolding. in the middle of the western gardens he yells at you to stop being so careless, and that your mistake has embarrassed the royal family. it takes all your willpower to hold back your tears until you’ve returned to your quarters.

when you fetch the wilted flowers from yeonjun’s room the next day, you find his usual reply card wedged between the faded stems. i heard about what happened yesterday. don’t worry too much about making mistakes, i know how thoughtful you are when it comes to flowers. and i know you’re strong and clever enough to bounce back from it. i’m here for you.

you choke back a sob as you read his card, but the tears are ones of comfort, not shame.

on and on the routine goes. you take delight not only in choosing the right flowers to bring joy to yeonjun’s day, but also in the exchange of messages the two of you have continued. it feels like a cherished secret, like a coded language, something that only the truest of friends understand.

the truest of friends, you muse. could you call yeonjun your friend? you talk to each other and support each other, the way friends do. on the other hand, a crown prince and the gardener’s child are nowhere near the same rank. it feels presumptuous to call the two of you friends.

but what else would you call the growing pile of cards in your bedside drawer? what else would you call the bouquets you meticulously prepare for his room, more so than for any other part of the castle?

eventually your feelings win out. you feel bold when you arrange your latest bouquet for yeonjun’s room, choosing a flower that you never considered before. that boldness only grows as you climb up the steps to his door; the way there is familar now. it feels like home.

you don’t expect yeonjun to be in his room when you enter.

his face lights up at the sight of you, and you realize just how much you missed seeing him. somehow, he seems to have gotten even more handsome in the weeks that passed.

“y/n! did you bring those for me?”

“yes, your majesty, i came to replace your old flowers.”

“those were thyme, right? for courage and strength? they were really cute.”

“they were, but i think you’ll like these more...”

his gaze follows the new bouquet as you step into his room and place them in his vase. he glances at them then up at you with soft eyes, and as you look up to meet him, you feel your initial boldness starting to drain from you.

what if you got it all wrong? would he really consider you his friend?

“yellow roses!” he says. “oh, they’re gorgeous! and they’re different from the usual red and pink and white ones. so, what do they mean?”

he gives you an expectant look, and you muster all the boldness you have left in you.

“yes, yellow roses, they... they mean... friendship.”

for a moment yeonjun says nothing. within you creeps the fear that you misjudged the situation horribly. you swallow hard, expecting a royal telling-off.

you begin to stammer. “that is, would you consider me your friend? forgive me if i assume too much, your majesty, i can always make you a different bouquet...”

then he steps closer to you, eyes shining, and places his hands on your shoulders.

“can i hug you?”

you stare at him in shock and nod.

he starts laughing and pulls you towards him, swaying back and forth as he embraces you. your mind doesn’t consciously register his hug, but every sensation around you is replaced by his warmth.

“of course 一 of course you’re my friend,” he says. his voice is laced with giddiness, but you hear a crack in between his words as happy tears start to fall. “then i’m your friend too, okay?”

you lean into him and wrap your own arms around him, burying your face in his chest. you smell his perfume and the fresh-cut grass from the grounds where he had been walking, and you feel his arms holding you tight.

“yes,” you say, and he feels you smiling against him. “you’re my friend too.”

choi yeonjun, the so-called ice-cold prince, is your friend. and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

#txt x reader #yeonjun x reader #txt x you #yeonjun x you #choi yeonjun x reader #kpop x reader #txt imagines #kpop imagines #yeonjun imagines #txt angst #txt fluff #yeonjun angst #yeonjun fluff #fic:flowers of every color #bhj: violet's works

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pamgkrthwrites · 1 year ago

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Touched : Chapter 2 : Waiting

Warning, the following content is for an 18+ audience. If you are under the age of 18 do not read the content below. The following content has themes such as; Angst, Sexual Harassment if you squint, and others. The character(s) depicted within this post are over the age of 20. (This list may get updated with each new Chapter Update)

Support me on Ko-Fi | Sign Up to the Tag List | Masterlist | AO3 Listing

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Bakugou x F!Reader

Themes: Soulmates, Porn with Plot (This list may get updated with each new chapter update)

Summary: Bakugou loves being close to you.

Word Count: 3503

Tag List: @tjmaxx556 @cosmicbreathe @lavender99 @optimisticprime3

A/N: Thank you again to my beta readers "Huntress" and "Ribbon". And thank you Huntress for "approving" this chapter LMFAO

“Good morning, L/N.”

“Good morning, sir.” You smiled weakly at Best Jeanist, trying to ignore the soreness you still felt between your thighs from the night before.

You came to the conclusion that their session last night was more passionate or eager than usual. You didn’t know why or what triggered it, but it must’ve been someone amazing if they broke their side of the unspoken agreement.

Which though saddened by it, you understood it was going to happen.

“You have everything ready?” Hakamada asked, slightly leaning down to better look into your eyes.

You nodded. “I made a PowerPoint last night so you can properly visualise what I mean.”

“Sounds good.” He nods. “Bakugou should be here any moment. He had to deal with some villains on the way here.”

“That’s fine.” You brushed the issue aside. “We can get started when you are both ready, I really don’t mind.”

Best Jeanist looked at your face, thinking deeply. “I think you will be able to handle him if you are able to be patient with him, but I do wonder if you’ll be able to deal with his emotional outbursts.”

You silently cringed, remembering reading a few articles where he yelled at a certain journalist. No one knew the reason why as the guy seemed to keep his mouth shut about it, but the image of Bakugou looming over the reporter and pointing a finger in the guy’s face wasn’t something people were going to forget easily.

Maybe that was something you could bring up too…

“I’m sure I’ll figure him out, Hakamada.”You reassured him. “I won’t be leaving his job anytime soon.”

Best Jeanist watched you, clearly thinking. “You’re not one of those Dynamight fans, are you?”

You let out a short laugh. “No no. I just decided to make the move here because of some personal reasons.”

“Ah.” Is all Best Jeanist would reply with, understanding to drop the topic.

It wasn’t long until Bakugou did finally stepped onto the floor level out of the elevator. His hero mask was pushed up above his hairline, showing his forehead. His eyes almost immediately landed on you, as if searching for something on your face.

When he couldn’t find the answer, he turned to Best Jeanist. “Has the meeting happened yet?” Bakugou asked, his deep voice sending a shiver down your spine.

“No, Bakugou. We were waiting for you.” Best Jeanist answered.

Bakugou stiffened. Did he try to skip this meeting on purpose?

“I’ll do my best to make it as quick as possible.” You reassured Bakugou.

Bakugou gave you a look, it wasn’t one of anger or happiness. You couldn’t really read what was on his face, but you knew it wasn’t anger or delight. Whatever it was, it was something that was haunting him.

“Let’s get started then.” Best Jeanist noted as he walked you two into his office where his main secretary was waiting.

The three of them got comfortable in chairs as you pulled up your PowerPoint. You took one last deep breath in to get any lasting nerves out of your system before you began.

“First, I think it would be best if we limit how much access Bakugou has to the Dynamight social media.”

Bakugou froze before quickly his eyebrow started twitching. “What?”

“The Dynamight Twitter is known for ‘going off’ at random people or on topics, so I think it would be a wise choice if I were at least approve of his tweets before he sent them out.”

Bakugou’s eye twitched. “You kidding, right? I ain’t getting my stuff approved.”

“Then we can limit your access altogether and have it as only a brand account.” You counted him, tilting your head slightly.

Bakugou’s eye twitched some more and he started to form an angered expression.

“I think that is a good idea.” Best Jeanist said which resulted in Bakugou snapping his head to him.

“So what? I’m expected to pass by every single post by her?” Bakugou barked out, grinding his teeth.

“Yes.” You answered him.

Bakugou glared at you, his eye twitching. It seemed as if he was expecting this meeting to go one way and not what you were suggesting.

He turned to Best Jeanist’s assistant to see what their opinion was, but they also seemed to have agreed.

Three against one.

Bakugou turned back to you, staring into your eyes with an angry expression as if he was searching for something. He couldn’t find his answer, making him grumble and sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“Fine, I’ll get my posts approved.”

“Thank you.” You said, startling him again. You moved on to the next slide. “We should limit the interviews Bakugou has.”

Bakugou slammed his fist on the table, making a loud bang sound that echoed throughout the room. “What?!”

“Bakugou, calm down.” Best Jeanist sighed. “Could you please explain your logic, L/N?”

“Certainly.” You then clicked on the slide that ended up showing a few graphs. “This graph represents the public’s reaction to Dynamight’s interviews, this one represents Dynamight’s overall fans' reactions, while this final one shows his fan girls' reactions all to interviews that are considered positive. The graphs below them are the same but how do those people react to considered negative interviews.”

Bakugou’s eyes stared at the graphs before sighing and sitting back in his chair, the anger leaving his body.

It was clear from the graphs that he was able to hold and gain fans with the ‘positive’ interviews than the negative ones. The positive ones were interviews replanned and ones he didn’t storm out of.

“If we cater the interviews for Bakugou so he has very few interviews, I think it would lower his chances of outbursts in his interviews and would allow him to have more control over the interviews and fanbase.” You ended that point off, feeling quite confident considering Bakugou’s body language being more relaxed now.

Though it was clear he didn’t like the idea, but given the amount of research you put into this point was proving to him that your point wasn’t baseless. He wasn’t going to change himself for interviews, that much was obvious. So instead of Bakugou changing the interview, you would have to change the interview.

Bakugou had been in different types of interviews, and though some caused more of his temper-raged reactions than others, it was still the interview itself causing the issue. Therefore, the only solution was to remove interviews from the equation. The problem with that is now fans won’t be able to see their favourite hero, that’s what interviews were good for.

So, limit the amount of interviews he goes to which will lower the chances of how many outbursts he gets from said interviews. Instead of three bad interviews that happened after he took down a villain out of twelve in one week, he could have one bad interview after only having twelve in one year.

The main thing though that tipped Bakugou over to agree was just the sassy little know-it-all tone you had in your voice. The way you were holding yourself up and standing as if you owned the office. Bakugou was trying his damn hardest not to stare at your hips or thighs cause holy fucking shit he wanted to so bad be in between those-

“The last thing I want to suggest is more photoshoots.” Your voice broke Bakugou's train of thought.

You saw Bakugou’s blonde eyebrow narrow and scrunch. “No.” Bakugou said with a slight growl.

“It would help hold your fan girls-”

“I said no.”

You let out a silent sigh. Bakugou wasn’t going to budge and you could feel it with the tension that was filling the room. Maybe in the future, you could try to have him agree to have photoshoots for the Dynamight merch. You tried to imagine him in some Dynamight merch and come up with an idea, but the image of Bakugou in baggy jeans and a tight compressed black shirt sends a wave of lust down to your core.

Bakugou takes a sudden and noticeable sharp breath in before raising an eyebrow at you, as if he could tell you just had a fantasy wash into your mind. It left you confused admittedly.

Regardless, you quickly shut down that image within your head. “Alright, we won’t do that.” You said, closing that option for Bakugou.

Best Jeanist tapped a finger on his knee. “Is that all, L/N?” He asked.

“Yes, those were my ideas to at least help with the Dynamight PR.” You answered him.

Your job was going mostly answering emails, helping with paperwork, answering phone calls, and making sure Bakugou got to appointments on time. Yeah sure you were going to have to manage him and you now having access to your social media to make sure his PR stays in check will be helpful, but that wasn’t what assistants or secretaries do.

The only reason why you needed to ‘prove’ yourself and have these ideas at the ready was not just to prove you were capital at your job, but also to show you could think on the spot. Because everyone knew how hard it was to work with Bakugou, and if you couldn’t adapt then you weren’t going to get along easily with him.

At least his looks made him easy to look at.

At least to you.

You may not know the reason why Bakugou didn’t want to do photoshoots, but you tell by how Best Jeanist merely glanced at Bakugou and seemed to brush off Bakugou’s reaction told you that he knew. If Best Jeanist knew then it was safe to say it was safe to just leave the topic there, even if you thought the idea would work out.

Best Jeanist stood up, making his assistant and Bakugou stand up in follow. “Then let’s leave it there. You know how to get around everything, right?”

“Of course.” You answered him, quickly gathering up your belongings.

“Good, just dive right in then.” He said before opening the door, encouraging you and Bakugou to leave his office.

You and Bakugou stood outside of Best Jeanist office and the man closed the door. You started walking towards where your two’s office was, making Bakugou quickly follow behind you with a slight thump to his step. He grumbled, with his upper lip twitching as he followed.

“I don’t like being the one following.” He barked.

“Then hurry up.” You sassed back at him with a slight smile.

Bakugou grumbled, fastening up his pace. “Don’t be sassy with me, L/N. You’ll regret it later.”

“Is that a threat?” You raised your eyebrow at him as you two reached your office door.

Once you open it and walk, Bakugou leans on the door frame, looking down at you with a look that sends a shiver down your spine and warmth rushing to your core. Your reaction makes Bakugou chuckle, and something about his chuckle makes a wet puddle start to form in your panties.

“You're really having that sort of reaction while we are at work?” He asks with a smirk.

“What are you talking about?” You ask him, sounding a bit frustrated not just because of the growing sexual tension on your end, but also because he wasn’t making any sense of anything.

He leaned closer to your face, where you could now feel his hot breath on the skin of your neck. You bit the inside of your mouth, trying to hold in your desire, but you could feel your soulmate’s desire rising too.

“You really don’t know?” He asked.

“Know what?” You barked back, trying to keep on top of your sexual desires right now.

“Hm.” Bakugou let out before walking into your office, closing and locking the door behind him.

You stepped back until you reached your desk. You thought that you would be flooded with fear but no. Instead, the feeling of lust and desire seemed to have been rushing throughout your entire body.

The way Bakugou stalked closer to you, the way his hero suit gripped his body to give you an outline of your abs and chest, the way his biceps seemed to pulse as he caged you to your desk. Your lungs were filled with lust for Bakugou at this very moment, making you look up at him weakly through your lashes.

What made your sexual want- no… Your sexual need for Bakugou so much harder was that you could feel your soulmate’s lust in return, sexual urge and need for something you had no way of knowing. You could feel it was driving them insane, and you could feel your soulmate’s boner through the soulmate bond.

Then you felt Bakugou’s boner on your thigh.

You also felt through the soulmate bond that your’s soulmate’s cock was touching someone’s thigh.

Bakugou was…

Bakugou was your soulmate.

Bakugou must’ve seen something in your face that gave it away to him, because now he had a knowing grin on his face as he leaned closer. Your noses almost touching and his hot breath on your lips.

“You figured it out now, Y/N?” He asked.

Your name felt so right coming off his tongue, it felt like sweet honey dripping into your ears. Your body felt the desire to touch him, kiss him, hold him, be under him.

You gulped, trying to hold back your natural desire for him while you were still at work at the very least.

“When did you figure it out?” You asked him weakly.

“When you were leaving work.” He answered truthfully. “I’ve never had a physical attraction for anyone before and yet when I saw you it was instant luring. It only hit me when you were talking away, my attention all on your ass.”

You breathe in sharply and deeply as Bakugou’s head lowers to your neck. Another spark of arousal as he starts to softly kiss your neck. You know he’s holding back because of the soulmate bond, and you know he can feel your enjoyment through the soulmate bond.

You softly pushed your hands onto his chest to push him off. Bakugou regretfully obeys your wishes, pulling away from you.

He looks down at you with eyes you cannot read. He scoffs and looks away. “Right, I forgot for a second there.”

Without giving you a chance to explain yourself, you watch him turn around and leave your office, closing the door harshly behind himself.

Your heart felt as if it was squeezing and every drop of blood from your heart was leaking throughout yout body. It genuinely felt worse then when you broke up with your ex or found out he was cheating on you. You weren’t rejected by your soulmate, but more it felt awful that you hurt him somehow.

Probably because of not waiting for him and having not just a relationship before you met him, but you had sex with that person before you met him.

You felt gross. You felt disgusted with yourself.

You took a deep breath in and then out again. There wasn’t anything you could do about the situation. You can’t try to find a new job so quickly after getting this one, plus you need the money until you are properly settled.

Shit how were you going to tell your parents?

You took a deep breath in, held it, and then let go.

You can deal with that when you get home.

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

You groaned slightly as you left your office with your bag on your shoulder. You made your way to lift, though you could hear his footsteps approaching you at a fast pace.

“Sneaking off, are we?” Through his angry grumbled tone, Bakugou's voice felt cold in your ears.

You felt your heart ping, silently wincing as you pressed the lift button. “It’s just time for me to head home is all.”

You didn’t see his face but you could feel his glare at the back of your head. “...Right.”

You walked into the lift, and so did Bakugou. You tried to keep your eyes off of him but knew that even if his body was also facing towards the door his eyes were glued onto you.

After the doors closed and after the lift started moving, you heard the tapping of his foot. You quickly glanced at him, which seemed to give him permission to speak.

“Who is the bastard then?” He asked.

You blinked. “Pardon?”

“5 and a third inches you’ve fucked for 2 years. Who is he?”

You felt blood rush to your cheeks. You quickly looked away as your hands fiddled with your bag.

Bakugou didn’t seem to like that reaction, scoffing.

“... I broke up with him once I got the job here…” You finally answered Bakugou with a weak voice.

Bakugou seemed to be less tense from that answer, though he still clearly wasn’t happy. “Couldn’t do long distance or was he a distraction?”

You bit the inside of your mouth, taking a breath in before answering him. “He cheated on me.”

Bakugou fell silcent. You expect him to say something rude or hurtful, but instead, he was just silent. He turned away and crossed his arms, one of his fingers tapping on one of his biceps.

“That must’ve been difficult.” Is all he said.

He wasn’t being rude or hurtful or pushing you down. He didn’t say ‘That’s what you get for not waiting’. Though, he clearly wasn’t thrilled about it either. Even if he had been angry you had slept with someone else, you were still his soulmate. He may not be able to feel your emotions or write to you on his skin, but there was still some connection between you two.

“...It’s actually why I moved here.” You broke the silence. “I didn’t want anyone or him to know I found out, so I found a job far away from him and used that as an excuse.”

Bakugou’s tapping stop, thinking. “...Guess there is one thing to be grateful I guess.” Bakugou mumbled quietly to himself.

Though selfish, Bakugou was happy you weren’t going to sleep with someone else anymore. He hated how it felt, how it felt feeling someone else thrust into you. It was the most disgusting feeling he had ever felt. You enjoying someone else’s cock and he had to feel it, the whole way through.

But looking down at you and seeing the sadness in your eyes?

He didn’t know you, all he knew was the bond that made you two connect. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. He might not have liked the situation but you were still his soulmate. You two were tied together by the fates themselves, and if there was going to be anyone to see you naked again it was going to be him.

“...I’ll walk you home.” Bakugou stated.

You looked up at him with a surprised look. “What? No you don’t have to-”

“I said I’ll walk you home.” Bakugou’s sounded deep and husky, making you quiet your voice.

Bakugou wasn’t asking, you could tell by how his back was straight, his voice booming against the elevator walls and how his eyes looked at you.

You self small - and submissive - under his eyes.

Under his glare.

You looked away and forced yourself not to get horny again, thinking about something that happened to you as a kid that still makes you angry. When you got aroused in the past, you knew your soulmate could feel it but you didn’t know their reactions. They were just a faceless person who you’d maybe meet one day.

But now you knew who it was, it was Bakugou. Practically your boss, had a known temper, and was standing right next to you.

And fuck it he looked hot too!

You took a deep breath in and kept your eyes on the elevator door, trying to keep yourself distracted from his cologne. His presence was becoming overwhelming. You couldn’t help but wonder if this reaction was because you now knew, because of your soulmate bond, or you genuinely found him attractive.

You felt warm breath on your ear, making you shiver. You look up at Bakugou, seeing his face so close to yours now. Your eyes went to the right side of his face where the explosion scar was imprinted on his beautiful face.

“I know because of the nature of our soul bond, we will have a hard time holding back our desires for each other.” Bakugou whispered into your ear while trailing a hand up your back. “But, if you can hold it in until we get to your place, I’ll reward your patience.”

You felt your face grow out and a pool of wetness form in your panties. Your mind couldn’t help but wonder what this reward would be. Bakugou - as if he could read your mind - chuckles.

“I told you to be patient.”

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #soulmate #soulmate au #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #x reader

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classifiedasf · 7 months ago

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Miguel x Rogue Spider-Woman

Summary: (haven’t come up with a clever way to sum up what I’m working on but it’s basically a Miguel x Villain story)

Word count: 1.2k

Chapter 2

Peter B. Parker came back with a nice and big pizza slice for Rogue and handed it to her. He was about to start talking to her but Miguel ordered him to leave because he was gonna interrogate her. After Peter left the room Miguel turned towards Rogue to see her eating the pizza. He was thinking that she would have to deactivate the mask to eat it but instead she only deactivated the mask around her mouth and only when she opened her mouth to take another bite.

“So, when's the interrogation gonna start?” She asked with a mouthful of pizza as she sat down on the floor with her legs crisscrossed.

“Why'd you leave?” Miguel asked with his hands on his hips as he stared down at her.

“You know why.” Rogue said almost coldly as she took another bite of the pizza, not looking at him. Miguel sighed softly and looked down for a moment before looking back at her.

“Where have you been hiding?” Miguel asked, moving around the glass cell to get closer to where she sat.

“I haven't been hiding” she took another bite of the pizza and savored its taste.

“What have you been doing all this time?” Miguel crouched down near where she was sitting and looked into the eyes in her mask.

“Gathering intel” she said nonchalantly which kind of caught Miguel off guard. He didn't think she would just admit to what she was doing.

“Intel for what?”

“For something big” she took the last bite of the pizza slice and looked right at him.

“And that is..?” Miguel leaned his head to the side slightly as they both stared at each other.

“Why do you sleep in this room?” Rogue asked as she mimicked him, leaning her head to the side.

“That's irrelevant”

“So you do sleep here” she tilted her head to the other side, watching Miguel's face for microexpressions.

“What are you gathering intel for?”

“Why don't you go home?” Rogue closed the space between them, sitting on her legs and bringing her face close to the glass, close to his face.

“Answer the question” Rogue watched as Miguel's jaw clenched in annoyance.

“Do you have a home?”

Miguel's patience wore out and his quick temper got the best of him. He slammed his hand on the glass and the loud sound echoed through the room. Rogue however did not flinch in the slightest. She stared at him in silence with a dead expression for a few seconds before she spoke up again.

“Was that supposed to scare me or..?” Rogue said calmly, making Miguel groan in frustration as he stood up and turned away from the cell as he placed his hands on his hips again. Rogue slowly stood up, watching Miguel's shoulders rise an fall as he was breathing a little hard from the frustration he felt.

“I had to… I'm sorry…” Miguel quickly turned around to see Rogue standing up and looking down at the ground as she spoke softly, “...it was the only way…” Miguel was about to speak but she beat him to it.

“The only way to put this dick in your mouth” Rogue said in a funny voice as she pointed to her lap with both her hands as she looked up at him, watching the pure anger fill his face while she filled with delight.

Miguel, absolutely filled with rage, stormed out of the room without saying a word while he heard Rogue giggling behind him. He locked down the room she's in and stood on the platform in his office, clenching his fists because of what she said as it slowly arose. He just stood there as the questions replayed in his head.

“Why'd you leave?”

“You know why.”

Miguel felt a slight pang of guilt as he thought about why it was that she left in the first place. Rogue came up with an idea to catch one of the most notorious villains they have faced in a long time but Miguel dismissed it. Actually he didn't just dismiss it, he told Rogue that it was a stupid idea that would never work. He told her that her way of thinking was backwards and idiotic. He told her that if she wanted to remain in the spider society she couldn't be bringing up ridiculous ideas. He told her that if she wanted to stay in the society she would need to be better.

That, along with his treatment of her for the next few weeks after that incident was most likely why she left. Miguel dismissed her more and ignored her. Any new idea she came up with, anything she did to try and improve to please him, he absolutely ignored without giving it a second thought. Miguel thought for a second that perhaps he might have made her feel like she wasn't enough, like she was unwanted, unseen, unappreciated, unheard, and heavily judged no matter what she did.

After Rogue had fled the spider society Miguel was informed that throughout her time at the society she was doing a good amount of reading. She learned a lot about the society. She learned about the people, their earths, their personal lives. She also learned about the structure of the building. She had memorized every inch of that building. And the tech… all the tech Miguel was working on, she learned about it. Learned how to build it, and how to tweak it. Miguel thinks that she was somehow able to adapt the watch's technology into her suit to be able to travel through dimensions. It's the only possible explanation because he had taken her watch privileges away before she disappeared.

“What have you been doing all this time?”

“Gathering intel”

“Intel for what?”

“For something big”

‘What could she mean by that?’ Miguel thought as he searched for any piece of information they had about her. He didn't want to admit it but it was scary, not knowing anything about her while she knew everything about everyone there. Usually they have a good bit of intel about the villains they fought and captured, but there was no information about her. They only had the basics and half of them are guesses. She's a female, somewhere around her 20's it seems, she's agile, smart, strong, but no one knew where she came from. No one knew what dimension she belonged to. Miguel's first guess was that they belonged to the same dimension as him but upon further inspection that wasn't the case. Rogue was somehow able to adapt and survive in any dimension without needing a watch. She didn't glitch without one. On top of all that, her powers were unknown. The only thing Miguel knew was that she had more than the typical Spider-Man powers.

If only he hadn't ignored her. If only he looked into her more, investigated her instead of pushing her away. If only he studied her and her abilities more. Miguel knew she was a hell of a lot faster than most. Shit, much faster than him. So then…

Miguel fought with himself. He thought that maybe she let herself get caught on purpose, but he didn't want to admit that the only reason he had her right now was because she wanted it. No… there was no way. There's no reason for her to want to be caught… Right?

A/N: if you guys have any suggestions for the story don't be shy and lmk cause honestly I'm pulling all this out my ass right now. Still though I hope you're enjoying it. Cheers.

#miguel o'hara #miguel spiderman #miguel spiderverse #miguel 2099 #spiderman 2099 #miguel o'hara smut #spiderman #miguel o'hara fanfiction

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alwritey-aphrodite · 2 years ago

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epilogue

Chapter 11 of I’ll Be Back Again To Stay

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Pairing: Santiago Garcia x single mom!reader

Warnings: none :)

Word Count: 2.2k

Author’s Note: here it is!! The end of the story!! First, I want to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, reblogged, and enjoyed this <3 you all deserve the world. Second, if anybody’s interested, I am always open to writing little fics or headcannons about these two idiots and the in-between moments <3

Santiago makes good on his promise to visit. He comes for the first time in February, and swears up and down that he didn’t even realize Valentine’s Day fell during his visit. He only stays for a few days, but it’s wonderful just to spend time with him, to take Inez out somewhere during the day and then spend the evenings together.

It’s perfect, and you get a little bit heartbroken when he has to leave. You loved all of the time you were able to spend with Santi, just the two of you, but you might have loved watching him and Inez bond even more. You’re never going to forget how big she smiled when the two of you came to pick her up from school, and how she never wanted to be away from him during his visit.

For someone who claims he could never be a father, it seems like the most natural thing to him.

You see him again in March, when you and Inez fly out to spend her spring break in North Carolina. This time, you drive out to the beach and get ice cream and get a rental car. You stay with Santiago, and even though Syd had pouted when you told her, you could tell she was secretly very happy that all her meddling and not-so-subtle pushes had worked.

Santi ends up flying out to see you about once a month, even though you text and call and FaceTime almost every day. Once, Inez had begged for him to bring Toby, so he drove the 23 hours, just so your daughter could see his dog.

It’s over the summer that you finally make the decision to move out to join all of your friends. There wasn’t anything keeping you in Denver, there was no reason for you to stay, and Inez seemed delighted at the idea of getting to see her best friend every day.

You’d complained to Santi about not being able to find a house near everyone, late one night during one of his visits.

“Just stay with me,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious idea on the planet.

“What?”

“At least until you find a place,” he’s backtracking, taking your surprise for repulsion, when really, you just weren’t sure that was something he had wanted.

The two of you never really made it clear what you were to each other. You knew you both cared about each other, that you wanted to spend time together and be near each other, but labels had seemed so unimportant. This was a big step, but it was one you felt ready to take.

“You sure? A six year old and a dog?” You ask, smiling as Santi rolls his eyes at you.

“They can occupy each other,” and you laugh, rough patch and hurt feelings carefully avoided. There were always a few moments when things felt like they could take a rocky turn, like you and Santiago really weren’t meant to be together, but you always navigated them carefully, side by side until things turned around.

All of your friends come out to help you pack and move - thank god for the Miller brothers. Santi has the whole operation under wraps; all you had to do was tell him what you wanted done, and he and the boys would do it with military precision.

Everything was running so smoothly you barely did anything, spending most of the days they spent packing up furniture and placing boxes in trucks showing Sofia and Maria around town with Inez, staying out of the guys’ way while they did all the hard work.

Benny had volunteered to drive the moving truck to your new home while you, Santi, and Inez drove in your car with some of the smaller boxes and suitcases full of what you’d need immediately, like toiletries and spare clothes and pajamas. You were just as excited as Inez, though you weren’t bouncing up and down the entire car trip.

It takes some time to get settled in, to create a new routine with Santi and Inez and Toby, but everything fit together perfectly once you get the hang of it. You loved watching Santiago with your daughter, how wonderful he was with her, the way he’d sling her pink, sparkly backpack across his shoulders whenever he’d come with you to pick her up from school and walk her safely through the parking lot.

Winter arrives, and Christmas comes with it, and you’re happier than you’ve ever been.

This year, you get to kiss Santi whenever you see him, sit next to him and hold his hand or cuddle into his side when he slings an arm around your shoulder. Santi’s a sap, and even though the guys don’t say anything because he’s happier than he’s ever been, they can’t help but roll their eyes and smile whenever his eyes track you across the room with a reverent look.

Over the past few months, Inez has taken to calling Santi ‘dad’, and you’d been terrified the first time it happened, but Santiago didn’t do anything but smile wider than you’ve ever seen him and answer the question she was asking. Now, she calls for her dad as often as she can. It’s a novel word for both of them, and his eyes light up every single time.

Christmas Eve is spent at the Morales’s again - Sofia is pregnant with their second baby and decided that she didn’t want to leave the house. Maria is over the moon about being a big sister, and keeps telling everyone who will listen about all of the fun things she’s going to do with her little sibling.

Everything seems so much brighter than last Christmas. You and Santi are finally together, Sofia is having another baby, and Will and Sydney finally got engaged. It seems as if everything yet nothing has changed, as if this is the way it was always meant to be.

The evening passes in similar fashion to last year, with dinner and gifts and restless children, except now, Santiago helps you haul Inez’s gifts to the car and drives you all home. He helps Inez set up cookies for Santa and the three of you cuddle on the couch until your daughter passes out, curled up between the two of you.

As expected, Inez comes bounding into your room at the crack of dawn, jumping onto the bed to wake you and Santi. It takes a few minutes to gather your senses, but soon enough you’re all downstairs, watching as Inez tears at the gifts under the tree.

“Did you like all the presents from Santa?” You ask her as she climbs onto your lap while Santiago starts breakfast.

“Yeah, except I didn’t get a little sister, but that’s okay because toys are probably better.”

She moves on pretty quickly, hopping off the couch and back onto the floor to play with her toys. She doesn’t bring up wanting to be a big sister until March, when Luna Morales is born and Maria becomes a big sister. Both of the girls are obsessed with the baby, spending hours just sitting and watching her, interspersed with begging Sofia to know when she’ll be big enough to play with.

It seems like with the new addition to the group, everyone gets baby fever. Sydney had mentioned to you that she’s ready to start trying, because watching Inez grow up and meeting little Luna has only increased her desire to be a mom, even after Luna spit up on her. If Benny’s around, he’s got Luna in his arms more often than not, even though he’s perfectly content with staying as Uncle Benny for a little while longer.

You’ve never seen Santiago look at something with as much longing as he looks at sweet baby Luna. He’d been terrified to hold her, just as Sofia told you he was scared to hold Maria, but he always cradles her in the softest of ways, looks down and cooes at the big brown eyes she’d inherited from his best friend. He’d mentioned it a few times in passing, how maybe he wouldn’t be an awful father to a baby, but he’s yet to outright ask if you wanted to start trying.

The spring is spent with lots of play dates at the Morales house, so Inez can keep Maria busy and you can watch over Luna while Sofia showers and naps and does whatever she needs to do. And, if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ve gotten a little bit of baby fever too.

You love Inez more than words can say, and you wouldn’t change a single thing about her, not even raising her alone, but it would be nice to have someone by your side throughout the whole pregnancy, someone to be there for all the milestones. Sure, the first time you had Syd, and you’re eternally grateful for her, but you can’t imagine how different it would be to go through all that with the other person who’s going to raise your baby.

You want to have a baby with Santiago.

Before you broach that topic with him, though, the two of you get married, going down to the courthouse in late June with your friends as witnesses. And, while you’re there, Santi officially adopts Inez, and you don’t think you’ve ever been happier.

The reception is in your backyard, with food from a local restaurant and drinks spread out in coolers along the back porch. The kids run around with Toby while the adults take turns holding Luna so her parents can eat and have a few minutes to relax. It’s casual and simple and absolutely perfect.

You and Santiago finally have a talk about having children together, and by next Christmas, you’re the one pulling the pregnant card and making everyone come to your house. Inez is absolutely over the moon, chattering on and on about how she’ll finally have someone besides Toby to play with.

It seems like your happiness is only growing, with every Christmas somehow better than the last. There’s no fighting, no drama, no snarky comments, just genuine love and appreciation for the people you’re surrounded with. There’s not a day that goes by where you aren’t beyond grateful for the family you’ve made and for the bigger family you’ve found.

And, in March, the newest member of that family arrived.

The group had been divided over whether it would be a boy or a girl, even though it hadn’t mattered to you as long as they were happy. Still, Benny had to slip Will a twenty dollar bill when you revealed that you’d be having a baby girl.

Little Augustine Elena Garcia is born, with her father’s eyes and your smile, the same one inherited by Inez. You’d been worried, terrified, that she would feel replaced when the baby arrived, but it seems like every second she’s home, Inez is with Augustine, even if she just sits next to you or Santi as you hold her.

If you thought it was wonderful to see Santi with Inez, you’re blown away by the sight of him cradling your baby girl. He's amazing, the most supportive partner you could ever ask for. He does whatever you need him too, and still makes sure to spend special time with Inez, like playing with stuffies together or going to get ice cream, so she remembers that he always loves her.

As Augustine gets a little older, Santi takes to wearing her on his chest as he moves around the house, folding laundry or doing the dishes, sometimes strapping her to his chest while he takes Toby for a walk so he doesn’t need to worry about dealing with the stroller.

He just loves to be close to her. You can’t even count the times you’ve walked into the living room and seen Auggie asleep on his chest, Santiago passed out beneath her.

You host Christmas again, and Santiago spends most of the day with Augustine strapped to his chest. She’s a total daddy’s girl, and you’d feel a little jealous if it weren’t so adorable. Both of your girls love to be with Santi, and he loves spending time with them just as much.

As you sit around, waiting for everyone to open their gifts with Auggie in your arms and Inez nestled between you and Santiago, you can’t help but think about how much everything has changed in the last four Christmases.

You’d met everyone as a single mom to a kindergartener, feeling like you’d never meet someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Now, Inez is eight years old, you have another daughter, and you’re married to your favorite person in the world.

This was never the life you grew up dreaming about; the husband and dog and white picket fence, two and a half kids and a nine-to-five, the whole suburban dream. You were never aching for a husband, and you hadn’t thought much about kids until you had Inez.

You did things a little differently, a little unconventionally, but you wouldn’t change a thing. Even if this wasn’t the life you grew up dreaming about, you’d never been happier and you don’t think it’s possible for you to become any happier.

Everything always works out the way it should, and the universe works in mysterious ways. Still, you wouldn’t change a goddamn thing about your life, not when you’re surrounded by your favorite people, by your daughters, by the love of your life.

You feel complete, and nothing could ever top that.

Tags: @zoriis @andr0medafallen @campingwiththecharmings @itspdameronthings @stevenngrant @loonymagizoologist @welcometostayingawake @outmodead @pakhiya @wand-erer5

#santiago garcia #santiago garcia x reader #santiago garcia x you #santiago pope garcia #santiago pope garica x reader #triple frontier #triple fontier fanfic #i’ll be back again to stay

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iknowwhythecagedbird · 4 months ago

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Looking for Alaska by John Green: The Teenager's Grueling Search for Meaning in Life

Naturally, this book saw itself into my life as an extremely fitting one. At the time of my reading it, I was spending my summer days on the college turf John Green once walked on — Kenyon College — immersed in the writing and reading scene. This, paired with my being just a teenage girl, made this read that much more enjoyable and impactful.

Note: beyond the overview, spoilers, mentions of death, suicide, and mental illness lurk.

Overview

Looking for Alaska follows the lanky, awkward Miles "Pudge" Halter and his adjustment to new life at his boarding school in Alabama. He meets a number of troublemakers — one of which he falls in love with, Alaska Young. Despite getting set up on a date with another girl, Pudge tries not to get himself into too much trouble with her or his other cigarette-pack-smoking friends.

One feature I particularly enjoy about this book is the number of days listed at the beginning of each chapter. During the novel, the days count down from '136 days before' until they get to a certain event, and then they count upwards until they get to '136 days after.' Some of the days count down consecutively. Other times, a week or so skips by. I think this is so reflective of life, because time is just as Einstein said — relative. Some days, I'll exist, and the days will just speed by. As someone who goes to camp every summer, and who has had the privilege to attend two two-week sessions of camp this year, camp was just a set of dates on a calendar. Then I blinked. Then it was over. When I woke up each morning at Sewanee and Kenyon, I felt guilty that I hadn't spent my time sleeping to appreciate the college campuses. Each day was so interesting and fun that time just sprung up and sprinted away.

Of course, in the case of this novel, I interpreted the larger time skips as weeks where nothing particularly interesting happened. However, this makes the select days even more valuable — it takes the fun days, which usually move awfully quickly, and it documents them, slowing them down for the readers and serving as a countermeasure to what would usually be a day that just slipped under the characters' noses. Then, it took the slower days and sped them up, to show that not every event in Pudge's life is as riveting as the ones documented. He's a normal human with a normal life, just like all of us, with a few fun days out of a lifetime that stand out from the rest. In terms of the larger theme of existence in this novel, the lapses in time pose an interesting question: why live life if not everyday brings something new?

That leads me to my next point: the question of existence coupled with the teenaged perspective is highly effective. In my formative years, I have often found myself wondering, both prompted and unprompted, what it is I am doing here, and what it is I want to get out of this life. When it's prompted, it's in the form of an application where I'm staring at my blank, white laptop screen at the question of "Why _____ ?" and I'm trying to dive deep enough into myself to find the answer. Existing is hard. It's a funny world— how we use this question of "why?" as a marker, as a hand dangling meaning over our heads, taunting us to see how high our developing brains can jump up to reach it. Because, in actuality, the question of "why?" we as humans do certain things is something we have less control over than we think. That is why the religions of the world also try to grasp at it. They are examples of the human tendency to go searching for meaning, for purpose, and an answer to this existential, faraway question.

The novel proposes the question of the meaning of life as per Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The General in His Labyrinth, and as per Simon Bolivar's supposed last words: "How will I ever escape this labyrinth?" Watching this question develop into more questions and answers in the minds of the characters was a true delight. As someone constantly seeking answers to life, I'd say this novel provided a sound answer to the question.

This novel takes this complex philosophical question of existentialism and places it into context of teenagers. It is essentially a Philosophy for Dummies book with a captivating plot and complex characters that are all the more human.

Birdsong (Quotes)

I decided to dedicate a section to different quotes that really stood out to me.

"Sarah slammed the door so hard that a sizable biography of Leo Tolstoy (last words: 'The truth is, I care a great deal what they…') fell off my bookshelf and landed with a thud on our checkered floor like an echo of the slamming of the slamming door."

Pudge's 'last words' quirk works so effectively and beautifully here in several ways. First, there appears to be an irony in the way that the book is falling to its death and is, in effect, dying like Leo Tolstoy and saying its last words. Second, in context, this last word musing serves as an effective tactic to share a bit about the subtext or the reaction of Chip towards Sarah in the conversation they just had. Tolstoy’s last words are Chip’s words left unsaid, and so they come crashing down on him and hurting him as badly as Sarah slamming the door hurts him. This juxtaposition was just so captivating. And now, onto the Alaska highlights.

"'Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia ... imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.'”

This is one of the many reasons why I love Alaska Young. Here, she's talking about using the future as a crutch to cope with the suffering in the present, in the labyrinth of life. This quote presents an alarming awareness of the tendency to rely on time to heal our wounds and quell our suffering. Looking back, this quote does err on the side of suicidal. I interpret it as her saying, "it does in fact, never get better, even though we promise ourselves it will." It's a good seed-planting tactic on Green's part, and a deep thought to resonate with.

"'They just don't make sex look fun for women. The girl is just an object. Look! Look at that! ...This is what can happen to women, Pudge. That woman is someone's daughter. This is what you make us do for money.”

This might just turn into an essay on why I love Alaska Young because here is the second exhibit. Alaska says this during one of the more controversial parts of the novel where she highlights the objectification of women as she watches pornography with Pudge. To just take this scene as "kids watching porn" and not highlight the clear commentary that is being made about women in the films, in my opinion, is missing the point of the scene entirely. Green couldn't be more obvious in his messaging on women and the patriarchy than through Alaska's claims in this quote. This scene and similar scenes in literature addressing the misogyny and sexism in pornography are valuable because without scenes like these, teens may just encounter pornography one day, receive the subliminal—and sometimes overt—objectification of women, and go on in life thinking that this kind of behavior is okay, when it's not.

“'You don't even care about her!'” he shouted. "'All that matters is you and your precious fucking fantasy that you and Alaska had this goddamned secret love affair and she was going to leave Jake for you and you'd live happily ever after. But she kissed a lot of guys, Pudge. And if she were here, we both know that she would still be Jake's girlfriend and that there'd be nothing but drama between the two of you—not love, not sex, just you pining after her and her like, 'You're cute, Pudge, but I love Jake.' If she loved you so much, why did she leave you that night? And if you loved her so much, why'd you help her go? I was drunk. What's your excuse?'”

My jaw literally hit the floor. The conflict that bloomed between Pudge and The Colonel when Alaska died was just so well executed. This monologue hit HARD. I don't really have any analysis to say about this one, just that it evoked such an insane reaction out of me. Maybe that's the point of this quote—to demonstrate the duality this book has: artful prose worth analyzing and also moments like these that just left me absolutely stunned. I'm not sure how Pudge came back from this. Especially the last two lines. Absolutely crazy.

"It was not enough to be the last guy she kissed. I wanted to be the last one she loved. And I knew I wasn't. "

Painful.

Discussion

I'll start with the most pressing concern about this book in the literary community. And I will start by saying that the scene with Lara and Pudge did in fact have a literary purpose, and that was to add to the gallery of teenagehood the entire rest of the story had been painting. It specifically harped on the part of being a teenager that is experimentation and learning what one enjoys and what one does not enjoy. Wisdom comes from experience, and sometimes we only learn by living through a thing. Sometimes things happen, and we're stuck because we've never encountered it before, and the only way we learn is by doing. And for most, the teenage years are for that learning. It's what the novel calls The Great Perhaps, and there will come a time in all of our lives when we have to explore it.

I knew Alaska was going to die when I saw the countdown and the I knew that Pudge loved her. I had seen it in The Fault In Our Stars and I thought I was ready. But I ended up getting emotionally attached to her anyway, and so I felt the grief just as much as Pudge did. There is something beautiful in that, how my mind overrode the thought of death so quickly, as if it was trying to force its way out of my brain, how the writing took her away too soon. Maybe it had to do with the first person perspective of the novel. Only John Green could make the same move twice and have it hurt just as hard both times.

The death scene makes an interesting callback to what I wrote earlier before the days began counting upwards; some days are less interesting than others. When you lose someone, you sometimes wish you could remember all of the days, both the interesting and the boring. You wish you could somehow go back to the boring ones and find something interesting about them, but it was just another day that went by when that person was alive and you took it for granted. Life moves too quickly to not feel the urge to enjoy it while you have it.

This book gave me a newfound joy for life. It made me eternally grateful for the fact that I am, indeed, a teenager, right now in this moment, and that I am, in fact, indestructible. It infused a newfound sense of hope and courage into me. I can do anything.

#books & libraries #art #nonprofit #education #banned books #looking for alaska #book review #literature #young adult #coming of age #john green

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strawberrywritersguild · 1 year ago

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♡ The Little Things: Chapter 2 - Cuisine and Company ♡

Pairing: Julian Bashir x gn!reader Word Count: 3519 words Summary: The historian invites Julian for dinner in their quarters as thanks for taking care of them. They introduce him to several historic cuisines, one of which has strange side-effects.

It'd been three days since you arrived on to Deep Space 9. After the disaster that was your first day aboard, you'd gotten rather comfortably situated in your quarters and work-space, and all your medical files were finally delivered to doctor Bashir. Now, all that was really left to do was to get acquainted with people.

And who better for that task than the pretty doctor who'd gone and looked after you during your vulnerable time. If he would be amenable of course, which you weren't certain of. It's like he'd been avoiding you.

And there he went again, spotting you on your way to the infirmary and turning back around.

"Good doctor!" you call, jogging to catch up to him. Julian's face instantly flushes, his eyes looking around for an escape route. There is none. "Would you, perhaps, join me on the promenade for a quick bite to eat? As a thank you, for taking such good care of me."

"I, uh, I- I would be most glad to, but- I have-" Julian stammers, not entirely certain if he's trying to refuse or accept. Oh, he'd love nothing more than to spend some time with you, but he couldn't help but keep staring at your lips, and that smirk, and remember how soft they were-

"Good doctor, I happen to be very aware that it's your lunch hour. So, would you prefer terran food, or something more exciting?" You ask, turning the both of you around smoothly. Julian doesn't even fully realize that it's happened and just goes along with it. You smirk. He's so cute.

You lead the two of you over to the promenade, silently watching Julian's face change as he comes to the realization of what's happening. Usually you'd be chatting people's ears off, but you really don't want to scare any potential friends you might make on the station.

"I've not yet become fully acquainted with your food situation, so if you have any recommendations give them now." You startle Julian, who turns to you with wide eyes. "If you don't, we could always go to Quark's-"

"No, no!" Julian immediately stops you, horrified at the idea. "There's plenty of other good establishments to enjoy-"

Just then, a huge bang echoes from ahead of you, near the food court. The two of you halt, look at each other, then ahead.

"…Would you…" you turn to Julian and take his hands into yours. "Would you rather come to my quarters, I could make something for us there?"

"It's fine, I'm sure that was nothi-" Another bang, followed by a crash. Julian winces, and smiles awkwardly. "On the other hand, I would love to see what you could come up with."

"I hope I'll be able to impress." You say, bringing his hands to an almost kiss, before dragging him off towards the crew quarters.

"And this is a lovely Vulcan salad, from about six centuries in the past. I learned to make it during a trip to Vulcan about sixty years ago." You set down a bowl of fresh blues, Julian eyeing the strange colours. "It's made with a type of salad that's since gone extinct."

"Delightful. Thank you." Julian nods, taking some of the salad onto his plate. It's already pretty full of strange looking food, at least to him.

"I'll think up some interesting dessert while we eat." You sit down, taking some of the Trill arbon soup onto your plate. You smile placatingly, watching Julian poke at his food.

"So, uh… how are you settling in?" Julian asks, clearly trying to stall having to test your food.

"Very well, good doctor. I've found this station to be… interesting." you smirk, taking a bite out of your meal. Julian, observing it, dares to take a small bite.

"Mm!" Julian perks up, slamming his fingers on his mouth. You look to him with concern, wondering if you'd fucked up the Gandorik mousunt meat. Then, he starts smiling. "This is the best thing I've ever had!"

You give a sigh of relief, relaxing into your seat. "Oh, thank goodness. The last time I made anything Gandorik was my last host."

"No, no, this is truly some of the best food I've ever had." Julian assures you, testing the soup. "Your last host, who was he?"

"Asquil (MC), my twentieth host. He was a brilliant man, documented the entirety of Trill history into a book. He was the one who started on our work to actually document everything." You explain, gesturing with your fork. Julian seems invested, which encourages you to continue. "He was one of my longest living hosts, spent the last few years of his life opposing the destruction of the Klorian historical archives, to the misfortune of the current ruling party. He managed it, considered his life work to be done, and I came to take his place."

"How old are you exactly? You said Asquil was your twentieth host, you must be rather old then." Julian asks.

You sigh, thinking back on the years and years of living in your head. "I'm almost 2000 years old. Which is rather old for a joined symbiote, but I'm… special."

"Special? In what way?" Julian asks, wondering if it's a medical or mental thing.

"I'm… smaller, than all the other symbionts. I've always been, always will be. By all predictions, I'll still be viable for joining for another thousand years."

"Is it a hormonal thing?" Julian wonders, almost wanting to get his medical tricorder to check.

"Yes, I have growth hormone deficiency. I don't really mind, it allows me to be humanoid a lot longer." You mutter, poking at your food.

"But it's still something you find embarrassing." Julian observes, noting your sudden lack of confidence.

"It's like being the shortest in class, despite being the oldest. None of the others dare make fun of me anymore, but they sure did back when I was young. So it's a bit of a sensitive topic, even now." You explain, biting your Ooluvian shick bread, mostly so that you don't have to talk anymore.

"But now you're older than any of the others, and wiser, because of it." Julian notes.

"Well…" you purse your lips, not looking up from your meal. "I guess."

You don't say anything further, and Julian doesn't really know what to say either. The two of you eat in silence for a moment before Julian decides to just change the topic.

"So, was it Asquil who first got you into food history?" He asks. You laugh, finally looking up at him.

"Absolutely not, Asquil was the worst cook anyone's ever met. It was Hosor, my seventh host, who first started looking into food cultures. These are all from his recipe book." You explain, looking excited to be talking again. Julian's relieved to see that. He's decided that you don't look right without a smile.

"Recipe book?"

"Yes!" You lean closer towards Julian, your voice climbing up. "Back then, we didn't have replicators, so it was vital that every step be recorded. And even after we got access to replicators, I personally liked making my own food."

"You can cook?" Julian raises one of his brows, not sure why he's so surprised.

"Yes, though not as well as I used to. Asquil was such a clutch in the kitchen that all knowledge in the world about cooking couldn't have helped him. I haven't actually cooked since." You explain.

"Well, I'd love to see you try." Julian teases.

"I might have to some day. Maybe I'll even teach you how to. Teaching someone can be very… intimate." You giggle, waving your fork at him. Julian blushes, suddenly the one having to look away. You stand up and head for the replicator. "That reminds me, dessert is in order."

"What… what exactly are we having?" Julian asks, suddenly realizing that you've both finished your meals.

"Songean chocolate lake." you answer, bringing over a bowl of something clearly made of chocolate. At least this one doesn't look to strange, by Julian's standards anyways.

"I love chocolate." Julian says.

"I'd predicted so." You say while sitting down. Julian goes to take some to his dessert bowl, before you intercept his hands. "Let me." You smile, holding his hands on the bowl while you ladle him some.

"T-thank you, professor." Julian says, bringing his bowl towards himself once you're done. Your smile turns into a smirk while you take your portion.

"You're welcome." You wink. Julian quickly looks down at his own bowl and spoons some into his mouth. It's the best damn thing he's ever tasted.

It doesn't take long until conversation starts sailing again, though the eating takes a while. Good conversation can really distract the company.

After you're finally finished, you escort Julian to your quarter's door. You're a bit reluctant to let him go, but it's getting late and you're still trying to adjust to the rhythm aboard the station.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay, good doctor." you say, still holding onto his hand as he stands on the other side of the door.

"It was absolutely terrifying." He answers, smiling.

"…" Your eyes widen. "What?"

"I was scared to come here, mostly because you're really attractive and I don't really know what to do with that." Julian continues, before pausing. He comes to some sort of realization causing his smile to fade. "…I didn't mean to say that."

"Good doctor, I think it's best we stop by the infirmary, don't you think?" You take a hold of his other hand, guiding him towards the infirmary.

"I think it's for the best as well, but I would very much like to stay in your quarters much more." Julian says, before once again realizing he talked too much.

"Very flattering, good doctor, but maybe some other time." you smile placatingly, before looking ahead with a panicked look. You have no idea what's happening, and you don't like it.

"So you're saying that he can't tell anything but the truth?" Jadzia asks, looking between you and Julian, who's sitting on one of the med beds. You'd called for her the instant you arrived in the infirmary and realized that a science officer might be of more use than a nurse.

"Yes, it started the moment he left my quarters." You explain.

"And what were you doing before that?" Jadzia asks, raising one of her brows. You have a feeling she's had that same look around you before.

"I'd invited Julian for dinner, mostly just to tease him because I realized he's attracted to me." You prattle, before pausing. "I…"

"Didn't mean to say that?" Jadzia asks, her brow raising higher.

"Yes…"

"It seems you've been affected as well." Jadzia laughs.

"It seems so, yes." You sit down next to Julian, feeling a bit faint. Julian sets a hand on your shoulder, which you pat.

"Well, I'll look into it." Jadzia promises. "Meanwhile, how about you two look into this as well."

"Sure, sure." You wave as she leaves, still chuckling about the whole thing. You glare after her. "Dax did always like to get on my nerves, no matter the host."

"That something you wanted to say, or something you had to say?" Julian asks.

"Both." You grumble. You pat the bed harshly and stand up. "Well, time to get into my files to see if I can find anything."

"I'll do the same then." Julian stands up as well, and both of you find places to work in the room. You probably already know what's wrong, but your memory is so long, and your mind so tiny, that sometimes you forget. That's why you're trying to get everything documented.

The two of you work in silence for a long while before the door chimes suddenly again. You look up and see a cardassian walking in. No one seems alarmed, so this must be the Garak you've heard about.

"Well well, dear doctor, I heard you'd had a little incident during lunch." Garak smiles, to which Julian looks both a little alarmed and defeated.

"Yes. One could say that." Julian shuts his mouth as quickly as he can. Garak smiles endearingly at that.

"Dear doctor, you're much less talkative than usual. Something you don't want to say?" he chuckles, leaning closer to Julian who's looking more and more annoyed.

Julian bites his cheek, doing anything he can to not start talking. You watch amused as Garak keeps trying to provoke the good doctor. You leave the two of them to it, going back to your files.

"Really, dear doctor, it's nothing to be embarrassed abou-" Garak's teasing is interrupted by your shout.

"Found it!" you jump up from your seat, clutching your pad. You look to the two confused friends. "I found what caused it!"

"Really?!" Julian shouts back, getting up from his seat to stand behind you.

"Yes, I'm afraid I forgot about the side effects of the main ingredient in Songean chocolate lake. Kayron roots have a truth-serum like effect. It's why it's no longer made anywhere." You explain, going further into the files. "It seems an antidote does exist, on Songe. I just don't have on file what it is, so we won't be able to replicate it."

"Seems your only option is going to Songe yourself and getting it." Garak points out, to which you groan.

"Songe is a highly isolationist planet. They're not going to take well to a visit." You mutter, setting your pad aside.

"Well, maybe it's better you stay this way then." Garak suggests, to which both you and Julian groan. Garak chuckles, moving towards the door. "Have fun, you two!"

"I don't understand why you like him." you mutter to Julian.

"Sometimes, I don't either." he answers back. You snort, laughing slightly. Julian looks highly offended, which makes you laugh harder.

You, Julian and Jadzia are aboard the USS Ganges, getting ready to leave for Songe. You still think this is going to be a waste of time, but you don't exactly have any other options. You don't fancy being under the effects of the Kayron root for the rest of your life, no matter how amusing it is.

"It'll take us about six hours to reach Songe, so get comfortable in the meanwhile." Jadzia informs you, to which both you and Julian nod to. You've both become remarkable quiet lately, something which only Jadzia is able to fully enjoy. No one else aboard the station has been subjected to just how much you can run your mouth yet.

"So, which of your hosts are we to blame for this one?" Julian asks, and Jadzia can't help giving a deep sigh once you open your mouth. So much for peace and quiet.

After six hours of torture (if you asked Jadzia anyways) you reach the star system Songe resides in. You give a deep sigh, as the conclusion you've come to is that you'll have to negotiate with the Songean people. Something you're not looking forward to.

"I thought one of your previous hosts was an ambassador. I'm sure this'll be a peace of cake for you." Jadzia reminds you, though you're certain it's more Dax than her.

"Yes, Thedius. He was good, an excellent one in fact. But that was over a thousand years ago, the rules have changed, so to speak." you mutter, biting your nails. As soon as you notice, you stop. You hate doing that.

"No one after that has been an ambassador?" Julian asks.

"No, it was soon after that that we became permanently just 'the professor'. Sure, I've had talks every once in a while, but nothing serious."

"And yet you're the favorite Trill of many a planet." Jadzia mentions, smiling secretively. Julian wonders what that's about, but decides not to ask. He knows you couldn't help answering even if it was a secret of some kind.

You look not too thrilled by her insinuation. You can sense Julian's curious stare and turn to him. "I'll tell you about it later." Julian nods, confident in your promise.

"I'll try and initiate communication with them now." Jadzia announces, prompting you to get in front of the communications screen. A few screen taps and a tense moment of silence later, a blue feathered alien appears on screen.

"This is President Fulkaid of the Songe Communion Circle. What is your business here?" The alien greets you, giving you a strange salute. You nod back in greeting.

"I am Loriaz (MC), a historian from the planet Trill. We're very sorry to disturb you, I understand you aren't too keen on it. But we have a bit of a problem only you could help with." You say back, not even attempting to give the salute back. You have a feeling they wouldn't take likely to you botching it, or even attempting it.

"What might your problem be?" President Fulkaid asks, looking mildly interested.

"Me and a colleague of mine were affected by the Kayron root. If my notes are correct, the only antidote exists on your planet." you explain, getting a few nods from the president.

"I understand, but to make sure that you are in fact telling the truth, we'd like to ask some questions from you. And you cannot step foot on the planet, it'd be against our laws."

"I understand." you say. The president nods, getting a pad from someone out of view. Their feathers ruffle a bit.

"Are you here with honourable intentions?"

"Yes."

"Where are you coming from?"

"Deep Space 9, a Bajoran space station."

"What species are you?"

"A joined Trill."

The president looks interested again, and looks to a screen out of view again. A few seconds pass by.

"Are you the trill symbiote known as (MC)?"

"Yes. I was Hosor (MC) the last time I visited Songe." you explain. The president nods.

"I see. Then, could I ask you a rather personal question, to make sure?"

You bite your tongue, having a feeling about what he's about to ask. "…Sure."

"I appreciate it. Now, are you the progenitor of the Kal-family?"

You lean your head against your hand, taking a deep breath. "Yes… I am the progenitor of the Kal-family."

Julian and Jadzia exchange eye contact, wondering what's happening. They'll be sure to ask before you take the antidote.

"…That's all, dear ancestor." The president says, just before cutting communication. You groan, hiding your face on the back of Jadzia's seat.

"I should've remembered that one." you mutter, to the absolute laughter of Jadzia and Julian.

"Ancestor! You're his ancestor!" Jadzia gaggles, to your annoyance. You lift your head up just to glare at her.

"Like Dax doesn't have any descendants somewhere in the universe."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect it from you! I can't wait to tell Pixie about this!"

"You absolutely will not!" you screech, getting into a bit of a struggle with Jadzia who's still laughing. Julian takes a step back, not wanting to get caught in whatever you're doing.

There's that name again. Now at least Julian knows that it's a person, someone you seem to care about. Or at least their opinion.

Only half an hour later president Fulkaid gets in touch again, beaming a few bottles of the antidote aboard. You take a bottle of it for study, but the other two you and Julian take.

"Ugh." Julian gags, the taste the antithesis to what caused this whole mess. You silently agree, coughing. You and Julian look to each other, looking over each other for any oddness.

"Lie to me about something." You say to Julian.

"Umm, I'm not a doctor." Julian answers, sighing in relief afterwards. The feeling of being able to lie again is strangely dizzying. Though it might just be from not getting to talk as much for the past day.

"Well, it seems like this adventure is over." You say, nodding to both Julian and Jadzia. Jadzia nods back, while Julian's too relieved to acknowledge it.

"I'll… I think I'll go take a nap. This has been surprisingly exhausting." Julian says, heading to the back of the runabout.

"Good idea, have a good nights rest, good doctor." you say to him.

"Thank you, professor." he says back, just before the doors close.

"Well, this has just been something." Jadzia says, sitting down to get ready to pilot you back home. You sit down yourself with a deep sigh.

"I hate to say it, but yes. This has been something." you situate yourself into the chair better, feeling tired yourself. Jadzia smiles at you, feeling some sympathy for you.

"I heard Julian told you he found you attractive." Jadzia says. You open your eyes, looking unimpressed. "Any mutuality to that?"

"Yes, Julian is very attractive." You say, before you pause. You and Jadzia look to each other, both thinking the same thing. You glare at her, before settling down again. "No mention of this to anyone."

"If you say so." Jadzia smirks, setting a course back to DS9. She can't wait to see where the two of you are going.

#The Little Things #Julian Bashir x reader #Star Trek #gender-neutral reader

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i-was-bored-so-this-happened · 5 months ago

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It Will Come Back Chapter Three: The Third

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3 Wordcount: 2.7k Warnings: Torture, dental torture, injury, threats, sexual content implied, blood and violence [the dark urge]

The Grand Design is accelerating, as is the speed at which Dana and Gortash are losing their grip on their perfectly professional alliance Torture under the cut

Read on AO3 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Writing Masterpost

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“Comfortable, are we?” Gortash asks, shifting his weight onto one foot and leaning more heavily on the fist pushing into the thin table that holds Dana’s tools. The necromancer looks up at him with venom curdling in her eyes from delight. In a pair of forceps, she holds a bloody tooth. A string of spit still connects the tooth to its previous owner. Dana straddles his middle, pinning him to the embalming table and holding his jaw open so she can hear the groans that start to gurgle, “Don’t let him choke on his own blood.” Gortash warns.

Disappointment glances over Dana’s features. She’s been difficult to reach today, having one of her episodes. When she isn’t quite herself. When she goes too far. They’ve worked out tricks to overcome the urge, as she calls it, when it isn’t practical. They usually work. Eyes fixed on her ally, she does manage to shake it off. She wriggles back just enough to let the man sit up and spit the blood out of his mouth, but the moment he stops coughing he’s pushed back down onto the embalming table. A mage hand brings her a shallow metal bowl she drops the tooth in, visibly relishing the sound of it. She pokes her fingers into the bowl and starts to talk,

“That was your maxillary lateral incisor. Now, I was nice to you. I got rid of these first,” Dana shows him the teeth in question, “Mandibular bicuspids from each side, then that nasty little rotten bugger.” She counts all four teeth aloud, letting them clink back into the bowl as she names them. It really is a wonder to watch her work.

“I came to you for help.” The man can still talk, somehow, though his words are gummy and wailing.

“You wanted a tooth removed, yes,” Dana confirms, “It’s not my fault you didn’t specify which one. Nor is it my fault that you were too tight-fisted to go to an actual surgeon.” She swings her leg over him to hop down from the table, the ruffles of her baby blue skirt now streaked with blood and saliva. It’s not like he’s going to run away, not with his feet manacled to the table and his hands bound in his lap. Dana is drawn to Gortash’s side, her fingers fluttering over her instruments while he talks. He’s good at talking.

“We know you have the money for a surgeon,” with a simple gesture, Gortash silences the man’s babbling offers of bribery and continues as though never interrupted, “We don’t want your money-”

“What do you wan-” the shriek is cut off when Dana flings a hand in his direction and spits a spell,

“Let him finish.” She orders as all sound is sucked from the poor man’s vocal cords. Gortash nods his thanks, and then continues,

“What I want is your position. Dana here just needs to let off some steam.”

“My little sister is driving me up the walls. Do your sisters irritate you, Benedict? What are their names again?” Their eyes slide to meet each other like magnets, their side profiles cast in unsettling shadows. This back-and-forth is well practised by now but the excitement never fades. It burns bright in Dana’s eyes, bringing out that reddish demonic shine, and in turn glints in Gortash’s beetle-black pupils.

“Amanda and Florence,” a smile stretches between them. They have two different modes they switch between. Gortash is better at the former, flattery putting people at ease, opening pursestrings and petticoats. Dana excels at the latter, making people uncomfortable without making a sound, all little glances and tiny changes in body language, “Florence just had a baby, didn’t she? Named him after you. We don’t have to bother them if you cooperate.” Gortash explains. With a gesture, he indicates for Dana to take over. She selects an instrument and moves back to the embalming table.

“You see this, Benedict? Nod. Good boy. They call this the pear of anguish. I can put it in your mouth or I can shove it up your arse, then turn this little knob here and open it up until it pops your jaw or rips your rectum,” Dana holds up a second, similar tool. It’s a slightly different shape, more cylindrical, and it is lined with spikes, “This one closes tighter and tighter and tighter and-” Gortash clears his throat, effectively snapping her from the reverent repetition, “Take a wild guess as to where it goes.”

“Tell the nice wizard what I want to know and she’ll let you keep your cock.”

“But that’s the best part!” Dana protests, eyes turning back to her ally even as she runs a single finger up the man’s leg until she reaches the button of his britches. A few too many of her too-sharp teeth are bared. Some people find it off-putting. Most people don’t even notice. Benedict has noticed.

“I’ll get you another one.” Gortash replies. Dana’s eyes tick very deliberately downwards, then back up.

“Promise?” Oh? It’s happened once. Twice. Five times. Eighteen times in the last couple of years. The first had been after the Mephistopheles heist, bodies flying high on pure adrenaline - so they’d said. It wouldn’t happen again, they said. It did. Fuelled most often by pure, simple need that is never discussed or explained afterwards.

“Promise.” Chosen of Bane and Bhaal are often doomed to loneliness. There’s nothing wrong with taking measures to avoid isolation-induced insanity when they’ve lucked out of getting their kicks elsewhere. Plus, it’s a non-extreme method that has proved effective for curbing Dana’s urge to destroy and maim and pulverize. Nothing more.

It only takes another forty-five minutes to get the necessary information out of the man. Perhaps twenty or so of those minutes are superfluous but they keep to their promises, Benedict’s dick is still intact. He won’t get much use out of it, being dead, but Gortash’s word is his bond.

“Excellent work, as always, slayer.”

“Why, thank you, lordling.” Dana’s tongue flicks out to find a trail of Benedict’s blood that is dribbling into the corner of her mouth.

“In a matter of months, it will be lord,” Gortash, spotless, scans the blood that covers his ally. It’s far more effective than any of the powders and pastes patriars use to try and make themselves prettier. He gives in to temptation and hooks a finger into Dana’s belt buckle to pull her a single step forward so that the ruffles of her skirt fluff out around his knees and blood smudges onto his good trousers, “You have just put me in the Vanthampur’s pocket.”

“I used my initiative,” Dana tells him, “And Benedict couldn’t hold his tongue.”

“On the Council of Four’s belt.” Gortash goes on. He wants to hear her train of thought. Bhaalspawn are more than mindless murder. Dana has a mind, a good one. Between them, they’ll have the city in a chokehold in no time. Her head tips to the side and their chests rise and fall in rhythm.

“Portyr’s far too easily swayed, there’s no way to guarantee his loyalty. His niece, on the other hand, she has a good head on her shoulders. Stelmane’s on the outs and Ravengard's sway over the Fist is more use to us while he’s alive.”

“A pity his son left the city. I’d let you cut off his balls.”

“I’d love the opportunity. Thalamra Vanthampur wants power, and she has her own deals with the hells. Problem is, her advisor’s gone missing. She doesn’t know that yet, of course, but when the tenday mark hits…you are in the perfect position to take over.” There are additional perks to whispering in the ear of the Master of Drains and Underways. Gortash will be able to turn her head away from the sewers and the Undercity, and Dana in turn won’t have to guard her temple and her subjects quite so fiercely. She can start on her expansion, the development of the morphic pools for the elder brain.

“You truly would be a terrifying adversary if you weren’t on my side.” Gortash admits. His shoulders are relaxed but the fingers drumming against the wood of the table beside them promise such wicked mischief. He’s done something to her, the Banite. She can’t be sure if he’s broken something or fixed it, but she wants him to do it again and again-

“Our side,” Dana corrects, wearing a smile that is often mistaken as a threat but is genuine, “Lucky for you that I am.” She’s covered in blood. Her eyes still promise violence. There’s a dead body two feet away. The room is full of torture instruments and severed limbs, and yet he’d take her there on the floor, on her table, against the wall. If he didn’t have other plans. She’s done something to him, the Bhaalspawn. Is it a gift from Bhaal or a curse on the Banite?

“Can you finish cutting him up later, there’s something I want to show you in the workshop.”

“Of course.” Dana nods and follows him out of the room. She turns her hands over and over to make her wrists crackle. Her bones have started doing that in the last few years, creaking and cracking in odd places. Sceleritas Fel has assured her it’s nothing out of the ordinary, simply her father preparing her. Preparing her for what, she doesn’t know, but she doesn’t want to think about her father right now. There are more pressing subjects at hand. The flip of her stomach as shadows move over the exaggerated shoulders of Gortash’s coat, for example. Anticipation is a delicious starter.

She steps out of the room and seals the door behind her. It’s an offshoot of the cellar, an extra room Gortash had allowed her to convert into a laboratory of sorts several years ago. No one can be heard screaming through the thick door, nor can the various smells of rot and decay and death punch through. The rest of the cellar is still his workshop, littered with scraps of metal and half-finished projects that she understands because he sits and talks about them for hours on end if he’s the right side of tipsy, but over time the safe house has morphed into being as much hers as his. She’s upgraded from the chaise to an actual bed in what had been the storage room upstairs. There’s a consistent stock of cherries, even when they’re out of season. There are clear lines of territory drawn, lines that are not crossed. Except for…approximately eighteen exceptions. About to become nineteen.

“Here.” He’s holding out a dagger. Reverently, in both hands. Dana handles it with the same care. The hilt is a perfect replication of the hilt of the dagger she wields most often in her left hand, the one named Bloodthirst, formed of the blood of Bhaal’s first victim. Bhaal’s symbol is wrought in the circular part of the grip where the netherstone is set in her other weapon. Where Bloodthirst’s red blade forms a single curve this dagger’s blade twists back and forth, designed to nick the flesh as many times as possible in a single cut. More, the wiggling blade is deep green in colour, with a line of red carving through its centre to the tip that hums ever so slightly with magic.

“It’s beautiful. Where on Toril did you find a smith with the skill and patience to create such a thing?” Dana passes it from hand to hand. It is perfectly balanced, perfectly weighted for her weaker right hand. The crafting of such a weapon must have taken months if not over a year. She looks back to Gortash to ask a secondary question of how someone could possibly know how to weight it for her and finds that the slightest colour has come to his face. She can hear it in his ears, in his cheeks…elsewhere. He made it. “Enver, your abilities continue to surpass my expectations,” his first name slips out without her permission, emotions she doesn’t think she has ever felt and cannot name welling behind her eyes and pulling a spring tight in the pit of her stomach, “What have you named it?”

“Stillmaker.”

“Explain it to me.” She demands. The work that has gone into this weapon, the effort. She can’t name the feeling most prominent in her brain. It’s not quite lust or desire or simple want, though those are mixed in to a lesser degree. She doesn’t know and it might just drive her mad and it gets worse the more he talks,

“The red line, it’s a chamber that holds a paralytic. Enough to render a dragonborn motionless. If my calculations and spellwork are correct, once used it should refill at the stroke of midnight.”

“I have no doubt that your work is perfect,” Dana tells him. He’s never failed her. She can’t help the next words, a question, “For me?” she doesn’t think anyone’s ever given her something so beautiful before. Useful. Personal.

“Bhaal’s symbol, Bane’s colour. A gift from one to the other. A mark of our alliance,” he hesitates over that last word just a hair too long, “From me. For you.” Dana sets the dagger back down in the velvet-lined box he’d picked it up from. Presented like the finest of jewels. They are at a stalemate. Dana cannot understand the tidal wave of emotion. Gortash cannot gauge it from her expression. This gift is out of the norm. Outside of their alliance. Not suggested or endorsed by their gods. It is them. Purely them. It is an irreparable blurring of the line that he had proposed and she had accepted. They’re too far gone now. Dana does the only thing she can think of.

When they have sex, when they give in, there are rules. Rules that have been strictly followed the other eighteen times. They do not kiss. They do not talk. They bite and curse and suck bruises onto legs and necks. They do not entertain the idea of complicating a perfectly good alliance, of risking their gods’ favour. Dana dares. She moves. She kisses him. The rules crash and burn. There is no moment of shock, only reaction. Gortash catches them before they can fall from the momentum of Dana’s push, hand reaching and tightening around her and pushing back to the point of almost overcorrecting. Despite their separate experiences this kiss is open-mouthed, it’s messy, it’s wet. It’s imperfect. It’s everything. Blood-stained fingers dig into his shoulders and gauntleted hands lose themselves in the ruffles of her skirt with no real goal but to touch. They crush and crash like waves onto the shore and something rattles when they turn together and Gortash’s back bumps into a set of shelves.

“Dana. Dana,” She’s never heard this tone in his voice before. Never. She could get drunk on it. Her nose slides along his, her cheek pushing into his, marking him with blood that doesn’t belong to either of them. The taste of the Wyvern whisky he’d been drinking when she’d brought Benedict to the house still lingers on his tongue, “Dana.” The gold filigree of the gauntlet is cold against the soft skin of her neck as fingers trail up to her jaw, the claw-like ends leaving a sting that only leaves her craving that little bit more.

“Enver-” the second utterance of his name proves to be too much for him to handle, the heel of his hand pushing into Dana’s lower back and he kisses her in return until she bites his bottom lip, digs her teeth in until the skin begins to rip and a single drop of blood leaks into her mouth. She had never actually tasted his blood before this. It’s as good as the whisky. Her fist is balled up against his chest. The line isn’t entirely gone yet. They can erase it or they can redraw it. “Show me how you talked Lady Jannath out of her inheritance.”

#rae's writing #it will come back #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 fic #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #bg3 oc #dana [durge]#enver gortash #durgetash #the dark urge

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eywaseclipse · 1 year ago

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Written in the Stars Chapter 7: Eywa's Blessing

Characters: Na’vi oc reader Tani, Jake, Lo’ak, Neteyam, Tuk, Kiri, Mo’at.

Synopsis: The night of your wedding Mo’at tells you and Jake you must mate before Eywa in order to complete your union

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2k

You look to your people smiling at you and Jake, happy yips and cheers fill your ears with delight. You turn your head to Jake, eyes meeting. You can’t help but smile at the blessing of your Great Mother, seeking balance within your clan. “It is time for a celebration!” Mo’at cheers to the crowd. The eclipse now at its peak, the people celebrate your union. Food has been laid out, fermented Kava juice, fruits, rice, smoked meat. All prepared for you and your husband; Husband. How strange, you think to yourself. You’re now a wife.

Torches have been set up around the clearing of one of the largest trees enveloping you with light and warmth among the darkened night sky. You and Jake were asked to change out of your ceremony clothes and into the celebration material that was laid out for you in your tents. Now with more comfortable clothing you can feel more like yourself. You both sit on the handwoven chairs while your clan members bestow gifts from crafted knifes, necklaces, clothes, food and more. A tradition your clan has done for generations.

One by one, they bow their heads paying respect to you and Jake, placing the gifts at your feet, you nod awkwardly in thanks. You weren’t sure you could ever get used to such customs as now royalty among your people. With the feast now in full swing you see people dancing to the beat of the drums and instruments around the fire lit forest. You and Jake make your way through the crowd holding hands as you must take the first dance as a couple according to tradition. Speaking so few words throughout the day, you quietly gaze into each other’s eyes preparing for the song of drums to lead the way.

You bring your hands to each other, not quite touching. As you peer into each other’s eyes, a wave of anxiety bubbles in your stomach with all eyes watching you two complete the ritual. The music flowing into your ears, allowing your body to find the rhythm of the melody with Jake following suit. Your bodies circle each other, hips swaying in which you have been taught, tails flicking with adrenaline.

You complete the dance now with your chests heaving from exertion, the crowd cheers and closes in on the two of you. You feel your hand being tugged by Tuk, as you look down to her immediately smiling at her toothy grin. You lift her up and spin her as you and Jake share a laugh. “Tani, have some kava juice with me!” Kiri happily shouts. Jake sends her a knowing look, “What? it’s a wedding dad? Come on just let it slide!”

She rolls her eyes playfully. You chuckle at the sassy teen, “Yeah Jake, lighten up.” You say with a wink. His eyes widen in shock that you’d send such a daring action his way, although he certainly doesn’t hate it. He also doesn’t hate the way your hips sway walking towards the table with Kiri. His eyes begin to trail the rest of your body in the fire lit lighting. Your slender figure accentuated by your beaded festival attire. He suddenly feels his own throat become dry, as he hears Mo’at interrupt his lewd thoughts. “Jake, she is your wife now, you need not burn holes into the back of her head. You two must seal your union tonight before Eywa.” His ears perk up to her words. Oh.

He knew at some point you’d have to mate in order to continue a new bloodline ensuring the Toruk Makto lineage would thrive and leading the people together. His cheeks suddenly go red with embarrassment. “I have already spoken to Tani today about your union, she is aware of the duties you must fulfill together. She said she would wait for you, letting decide how this night would go.” As she lightly pushes him into your direction, he can’t help but appreciate you taking his feelings into account despite being forced to not only bury your good friend, but get married all in one day.

You bring the bowl to your lips quenching the thirst, with food now in your belly. Kiri and Lo’ak now on their second, while you and Neteyam cheers your bowls together with a clink. “Why can’t I have any!?” Tuk whines up to you. You laugh, “Oh Tuk Tuk, this is grown up juice, you wouldn’t like it. In fact, I even heard it sometimes stops Na’vi from growing that’s why you don’t see any kids drinking it.” Her eyes widen with horror, as you and Neteyam share a mischievous look. “AH!” She squeaks with her friends standing close by.

They all giggle and skip away. You and Neteyam look at each other sipping your alcohol, with him interrupting the awkward silence, “So how does it feel to be married to the mighty Toruk Makto?” He asks awkwardly. Rolling your eyes you give him a playful shove, “I certainly never expected to be joining union this way, but it is what our Great Mother wants. Who would dare question her?” Your sad eyes gazing into Neteyam’s.

Jake sips his own fermented drink from across the clearing, watching as you and Neteyam talk animatedly. With excitement and fear boiling inside, Jake walks up to you, grabbing your hand, “Come on, I want to show you something.” Your shocked eyes lighting up with curiosity. Jake leads the way out of the clearing and into the depths of the forest, lit by the starry night. Both of you having consumed copious amounts of alcohol happily stride among the grassy forest floor.

“Where are we going Jake?” You inquire. “Just wait, you’ll see.” He turns his head to reply. You chuckle at his stubbornness, as you see the spirit tree come into your line of sight. The purple hue of the tree cascading its glow to everything around it. You’ll never fail to be in awe of its glory. You walk the trail leading to the root of the tree, lightly brushing your hands on its tendrils. “I figured we could come here to say hi to someone.” He looks to you. You nod, understanding that by being at the spirit tree you may visit your ancestors. “I miss her so much Jake.” You whisper to him, “Maybe, we will find peace in knowing that Neytiri is with our Great Mother.” He smiles to you, cupping your face, “I was dreading this moment all day, I knew at some point I’d have to come here and see her again, I want it to be with you, so both of us can see her together.” Your eyes begin to water with love, all you could manage to say is “Thank you.” Both of you bring your kurus to the tree, slowly closing your eyes as you feel the bond coursing through your veins. A flash of light invades your eyes, then you hear running water. You’re at a lake, the sun bright with a high afternoon.

You see a figure at the edge of the lake as you and Jake walk close. She turns out with a smile; Neytiri. You gasp, and run into her arms immediately enveloped with a warm embrace. Tears now free flowing you bring your face to hers, your hands cupping her face softly. “It is good to see you, Tsmuke sister.” She says with a smile. “Oh Neytiri! Please forgive me.” You sob. She clicks her tongue with concern, now wiping your tears away. “What for Tani?” You look to Jake standing beside you, then back to Neytiri hanging your head in shame. “We have been married.” You say quietly.

Neytiri just laughs, and shakes her head. “Silly girl, I know.” Jakes eyes widen with confusion. “What do you mean?” He inquires. “Eywa, visited me as I lay dying, she told me that my death would not be in vain, your union is a gift Tani. I tried to give you my blessing, but.” Her voice trailed off. Oh, you thought yourself. Your eyes expand with the realization that she meant to give you her blessing but she had passed before she could do so. Your eyes tear up all over again, bringing your hand to your mouth.

You feel Jake’s hand around your neck comforting you. “Ma’Jake.” Neytiri brings her arms around him in a hug. They quietly embrace each other as you stare at them with endearment. “I don’t know how to do this without you, the kids, I- I need you Neytiri.” Jake’s eyes begin to tear. “Jake I am not gone, I live within Eywa now. You have strong heart.” She brings her hand to his chest. You sniffle lightly. “You and Tani were chosen, our Great Mother does not make mistakes. I give you my blessing as she has. It will be alright.” Jake nods his head slowly.

Neytiri brings his hand and yours together. “Bring the children, only when they are ready. You must lead the people beside Jake now Tani, unite together.” Your gaze meeting hers, you bow your head in agreement. She waves her hands in front of you, “Now go, you must unify this bond together.” She looks to you both. Your cheeks suddenly hot, you nod one last time. “Goodbye Neytiri.” You speak softly. Until next time. You think to yourself.

Your eyes still closed, the light now fading, you open them slowly, to find Jake gazing at you. Your breath slows, absorbing the words Neytiri had shared with the two of you. “Thank you for taking me here to see her, Jake.” He brings his hand to caress your cheek. “We both needed that closure. Come on, let’s go for a swim.” He brings his hands to interlace with yours as the weight on your chest slowly lifts. The purple glow of the tree caressing you with a stunning hue, Jake swears you’re an angel from heaven itself. You walk together in comfortable silence until the private lake comes into view. You breathe in the scent of the natural water, closing your eyes with bliss. The weight of the day slowly easing up. You begin to untie your loincloth, as you hear Jake awkwardly cough. “What’re doing?” He looks to you. “Well, neither of us have anything to dry ourselves with Jake, what else am I suppose to do? Are you alright if I undress Muntxatan husband?” The last word rolling off your tongue like honey.

His cheeks flush with sudden desire. He’s at a loss for words, as you take his silence as a yes. Your loincloth dropping to the lush grass, you make your way to the beaded top. Your hands struggle to unclasp the back, awkwardly shuffling. Jake chuckles, as he walks behind you, replacing your hands with his. The top freely falls to the ground, turning to him “Thank you. Are you joining me?” He just nods awkwardly, as you playfully tug his own loincloth. God this woman was going to be the death of him, he thinks to himself.

He removes his loincloth, now completely bare to one another. You can’t help but bring your eyes to scan his gorgeous figure. The width of his strong chest, his soft but built tummy, his v-line, and then his bare cock. Flaccid but still very much impressive. Your cheeks heat up with lust, never having seen a naked man before. Jake’s own gaze devouring your figure as well. His eyes bore into your breasts, your nipples harden with the night air brushing against them, his eyes look to your toned stomach, to where your waist cinches in then dips back to where your hips are, and then to your bare pussy.

His mouth now dry, you catch him staring at you “Jake, we are now husband and wife you don’t have to feel shy about staring at me.” His tail swishes with excitement as you grab his hand to descend into the crystal clear water. The bioluminescence on your skin making you both look as if a galaxy has kissed you individually. You laugh and splash him, snapping him out of the trance. He playfully growls at you, launching his larger body at you. A squeal escapes you, as he hoists you up and over his shoulder.

The two of you playing like children, your laughter fills the night air. Both of you come back down, and breath heavy, as your hooded eyes with lust gaze into his soul. “Oel ngati kameie I see you, Jake.” You whisper to him. A slight gasp escapes his lips, as he bores into your soul. The energy between the two of you has now shifted, both receiving the blessing from Eywa and Neytiri, you no longer fear your future with the man in front of you. “I see you Tani.” He says back to you.

Slowly closing the space between your bodies, he wraps his hand to the back of your neck pulling you to him. Your breath now hot on each other’s skin, staring at his lips, you steadily bring your face to his. A wave of electricity shooting through your body as your lips make contact. You melt into each other, in compete bliss. He cautiously pokes his tongue into your mouth, causing a delicious moan to escape you. A surge of confidence takes over as he pushes it further. Breaking the kiss, you bring your foreheads to touch now breathing heavy. You smile to your Jake, tears brimming in your eyes. “I am no longer afraid Jake.” He smiles to you, knowing that you’re ready to join union before Eywa.

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warriors-fallen · 6 days ago

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CHAPTER 1 [Nightkit]

The sun shone down onto a complex, carefully weaved canopy of vegetation suspended above a dug out hollow, casting dappled green-tinted sunlight onto the cats sunbathing and playing below. The smooth dirt walls of the hollow were dotted with the dark entrances to tunnels, where a pleasant greenleaf breeze whistled through into the camp. At one end of the camp was a large, cracked boulder the size of two full-grown cats; atop this boulder was a speckled brown tom with a white tail. His half-lidded gaze fondly watched the young cats running and playing around the camp, a small amused smile on his face.

In the shade next to one of the tunnel entrances, three cats lay beside each other, quietly chatting and keeping an eye on the rambunctious antics of the younger cats. A few strides from them, three other cats were sunbathing in the dappled sunlight, stretching and occasionally huffing with amusement as a kit nearly missed stepping on their tails.

A little black kitten sped by the sunning elders, squealing as she ran towards a brown tom stomping and laughing as he gave chase to two other kittens squeaking with delight.

The kit, Nightkit, ducked under Peatpaw’s belly, the brown tom laughing menacingly and stomping his paws. She giggled as he tried to swat her with a paw, unsuccessful in his endeavor as she easily wormed away from him. She ran past Quickkit, who’s pale grey fur was ruffled and already covered in a layer of dust. He giggled and bounced away as Peatpaw came after him next.

“Arrghh! Get back here, you rabbit-heart!”

Nightkit crouched while Peatpaw’s attention was elsewhere and crawled into the dark tunnel entrance that led to the warriors’ burrow. She went just far enough to conceal her black pelt in shadow, craning her neck to keep an eye on everything. Quickkit was ducking around Peatpaw while Foxkit had her teeth clamped around his tail, growling softly up at the apprentice as he twisted back and forth to try to bat her with a paw while also trying to trip up Quickkit. Tunnelstar was laughing lightly to himself atop the Fissurestone, his gaze following the jumps and leaps of the kits.

It’s almost time to attack! Nightkit wiggled excitedly, gleefully remembering the plan she had come up with and shared with Quickkit and Foxkit. We’ll stop this invasion!

The plan was simple: she would yell and give her signal and all three of them would stop running to all pounce on Peatpaw at the same time! He wouldn’t see it coming, and with three whole kits on him he would surely go down! The Clan counted on it!

“Are you three rabbit-hearts the only thing stopping my invasion?” Peatpaw had boomed after the kits begged him to play. “BurrowClan must be the weakest Clan ever! I’ll invade, and take all your prey and burrows! You rabbit-cats don’t stand a chance!”

“Never!” Nightkit hissed bravely, kinked tail lashing behind her as she glared defiantly up at the spotted brown tom.

“Oh yeah?” Peatpaw chuckled disbelievingly at her, puffing out his chest and standing tall. “How are you going to stop me?”

Nightkit bared her teeth and beckoned for Quickkit and Foxkit, who hurried to her side as Peatpaw watched them closely.

“I have a plan!” Nightkit hissed softly, ducking her head low to keep her words out of earshot.

“What’s the plan?” Quickkit was practically bouncing on his paws, radiating excitement. “Do we attack? Do we get him? We could totally bring him down right now!”

Foxkit eyed her brother doubtfully.

“No, no,” Nightkit shook her head, leaning even closer to her friends. “We wear him out first! We run and get him to chase us!”

“And then we attack!” Quickkit’s tail thumped rapidly behind him. Foxkit watched it move intently, looking very tempted to pounce on it.

Nightkit nodded, shooting a glance at Peatpaw. The tom had let his menacing display fall, but when he saw her looking he quickly put his glare and confident grin back on.

“When I yowl and move my tail, that means it’s time to attack!” Nightkit flicked her kinked tail in demonstration. “Got it? Ready?”

“Mhm!” Quickkit looked about ready to burst as he eagerly looked back to Peatpaw. Foxkit blinked, dragging her focus from his still rapidly lashing tail. She nodded, too, paws kneading the earth in anticipation.

Nightkit watched as Foxkit let go of Peatpaw’s tail to skitter away, almost tripping when Quickkit darted past her. She could see her mother and Poolfang watching from the other side of camp where they laid against each other, enjoying the cool shade and breeze coming down the nearby tunnel. Beside the she-cats was Rockpatch, the grey tabby tom sitting with his tail curled over his paws. They all had warm smiles on their faces as they watched the antics of the young cats. Rockpatch caught Peatpaw’s eye and grinned at him, and Peatpaw was so distracted with returning his mentor’s grin he nearly ran right into Quickkit as he ran around him in circles.

Nightkit slowly slid out of the shadows, shoulders tensing.

He’s gotta be tired by now!

The little black kit sucked in a deep breath and yowled, jumping away from the tunnel and lashing her kinked tail behind her. Foxkit and Quickkit immediately stopped to look at her, getting into crouches as she ran over to join them.

Peatpaw only had a moment to pause and look at them quizzically before all three kits leaped at him, little paws outstretched. He let out a loud ‘oof!’ at the sudden weight of three fierce kits, staggering heavily to one side, just barely keeping himself on his paws. Foxkit clung to his back, her ginger-pointed brown tabby fur all puffed up, her eyes narrowed in determination. Quickkit was hanging off the apprentice’s side, clinging with all his might with his front paws. Nightkit tightened her hold on his neck with her front paws, using her back paws to kick at his chest.

Peatpaw was only able to hold the weight for a few more moments before he dramatically cried out and fell to his side, immediately being swarmed by all three kits who pinned him down with yowls of triumph. Nightkit lightly chomped down on Peatpaw’s ear for good measure, and the apprentice groaned in faux anguish.

“Arggh! No! How could you rabbit-cats defeat me?!” Peatpaw twitched hopelessly, visibly stifling a giggle as Foxkit bared her teeth at him and pressed down harder on his haunches. “This is impossible!”

“You shouldn’t have doubted BurrowClan’s best warriors!” Nightkit panted and lifted her chin proudly, pleased with the cheers the cats in her mother’s corner were giving. She glanced over at the three warriors, purring happily at the fond look in Warrenstalk’s eyes. A moment later, the elders joined in from where they were still peacefully sunning, cheering lazily.

“The kits have saved us!” Tunnelstar called from his place on the Fissurestone, eyes brimming with amusement. “Thank StarClan we have such brave warriors!”

“Yeah! We’re the best!” Quickkit stepped off of Peatpaw, pacing in place back and forth, tail raised high. Foxkit stayed put, staring intensely down at Peatpaw in her unique ‘Foxkit is celebrating’ way. Nightkit felt her chest warm with extra pride at her leader’s praise.

“Alright, alright,” Rockpatch chuckled as he got to his paws, padding over to the kits and his poor, defeated apprentice. “Thank you for defending our Clan so bravely, warriors. I can take this from here.”

Nightkit nodded seriously and she and Foxkit obediently stepped off the apprentice. The brown tom’s darker brown spots were turned a little paler with the dust all over his pelt from the play fighting, and a whole cloud of it came free as he got to his paws and shook out his pelt.

“Go get a drink.” Rockpatch purred, nudging his apprentice affectionately with one shoulder. “They really wore you out.”

Peatpaw looked at him gratefully, mewling an exhausted sounding goodbye to the kits before he bounded across camp and down one of the tunnels Nightkit knew led outside. By now, Poolfang and Warrenstalk had gotten to their paws as well and made their way over to the kits and Rockpatch. Nightkit bounced happily over to her mother, practically throwing herself into her soft, warm chest. Quickkit and Foxkit trailed behind her.

“Did you see, mama?” Nightkit peered up at the golden brown tabby, giggling as her mother laughed softly and dipped her head down to lick between her ears. “We beat him!”

“You did, sweet thing!” Warrenstalk’s soft purr was rumbling gently in her chest, and Nightkit pressed her face further into it, relaxed by the soothing sound like always. She faintly heard Rockpatch excuse himself and slink away. “You were all so fierce, I worried Peatpaw may be in real trouble!”

“Nothing stands a chance against us!” Quickkit boasted, now pacing in circles and practically bouncing on his paws. Foxkit slowly reached out a paw to bat at his tail every time it circled around and got close to her.

“Mhm!” Nightkit agreed happily. We’re going to be the best warriors EVER. I’ll dig the BEST tunnels, and anything that tries getting through will meet my claws!

“BurrowClan is much safer with you three around,” Poolfang purred gruffly. The black furred she-cat stretched, arching her back and gaping open her jaws in a wide yawn. After she relaxed, she shook out of her fur and nudged Warrenstalk. “Roottail’s patrol should be back soon. I’m going to go wait outside for her.”

“Aww,” Warrenstalk playfully nudged her. “You love-bun.”

“Oh, hush.” Poolfang nudged her right back, turning to pad away. She called over her shoulder, grinning. “You’re the same way! Darkfrost should be back soon, too.”

Dad! Nightkit thought eagerly. He had been gone all day working on another tunnel that would lead outside, further into the territory. She missed him!

Warrenstalk perked up at the mention and stuck her tongue out at the retreating she-cat before looking back down at the kits, grinning in amusement. “What kind of trouble are you three going to get into next?”

“I wanna go outside! I wanna run!” Quickkit immediately meowed, still pacing, oblivious to his sister now trying to catch his tail in her teeth. Nightkit had no idea how he never seemed tired even after playing and bouncing around. “Can we go outside? Please?”

“Outside? Blegh!” Nightkit protested, shivering. She didn’t like having to constantly look up to watch out for hawks. She didn’t like feeling so exposed. She didn’t like all the crazy smells and sounds. She didn’t like how it was so different from being underground.

Warrenstalk licked Nightkit’s cheek, and she squealed and batted her mom’s nose with one paw. “Let’s go ask your mother; but remember to be quiet! Ravenhaze is probably trying to sleep.”

Quickkit stopped pacing, eyes going wide. He nodded seriously, and Foxkit put on her most serious face, which didn’t look too much different from her normal face.

Ravenhaze, nooo! Nightkit really didn’t like being in the nursery recently; Ravenhaze was so close to having her kits so she was in there all the time, now. And she got sooo grumpy if anyone made any noise! Just that morning she and Quickkit and Foxkit had to leave because their playing woke her up and she got really grumpy!

Warrenstalk must have seen her making a face, because she sympathetically drew her closer. “It’ll only be a moment, sweet thing. You can stay right by me.”

Nightkit nodded, pressing close enough to brush pelts with her mother. The she-cat herded Foxkit and Quickkit toward the tunnel that led into the nursery, draping her tail along Nightkit’s back to lead her. They all slipped into the darkness and Nightkit felt the light brush of the tunnel wall against her other flank.

The warm walls of the surrounding earth thrummed softly at her sides, relaxing muscles Nightkit didn’t even know she had tensed. She always felt so relaxed and safe in the familiar tunnels and burrows of BurrowClan’s territory; she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. When she had first learned the other Clans didn’t live underground, she had been so shocked! The outside could be scary and overwhelming; she didn’t know how other cats were happy without the comforting darkness and hugging tunnels of the underground. She didn’t even have to look where she was going to get around; her paws knew where she was, and she was hidden from anything that might want to hurt her. She hoped she didn’t have to go with if everyone else went outside to play. She could just chase spiders or hang out with her dad when he got back instead.

After a few more pawsteps, light began to show ahead, lighting up the pale grey tips of Quickkit’s ears. He hurried forward, and Nightkit picked up the pace as well, drawing ahead of her mother. The nursery was quiet from what she could already hear; she only really heard the soft breathing of Ravenhaze sleeping and a quiet shuffling.

As she emerged into the light of the nursery with her mother close behind, she heard Quickkit immediately forget to be quiet as he squealed and ran over to his mother, who was turning in her nest to better groom her belly. The pale grey tabby looked up in surprise, her one flopped ear bouncing lightly with the movement. Foxkit didn’t squeal, but she did race over to her mother all the same, purring quietly as she rubbed against her front legs.

Warrenstalk sighed heavily, immediately glancing over to the far end of the nursery where Ravenhaze slept in shadow. The black and brown she-cat slowly opened her eyes, a scowl already on her face. Her swollen belly heaved as she shifted in her mossy nest.

“Great StarClan, can’t I get any sleep?” She hissed, unbothered by the looks Warrenstalk and Rabbitear were now giving her.

“Sorry, Ravenhaze.” Rabbitear murmured, shushing Quickkit. He looked down at his paws sheepishly.

“Mm.” Ravenhaze grunted, closing her eyes again.

So mean! Nightkit puffed quietly. It’s our nursery too!

Warrenstalk left her side to join up with Rabbitear, lowering her head and muttering something to her. Rabbitear nodded along as she tried to groom the dust off of Quickkit’s pelt, though she had to keep using a paw to drag him closer because he kept wiggling. Nightkit didn’t pay attention much longer as she instead looked around the nursery, cast in the same green-tinted sunlight as the camp.

The nursery had been dug out wide to leave plenty of room for queens and kits. Nightkit knew, from what she had seen, that it was almost as big as the warriors’ burrow! It never felt cramped to her, even with four queens currently staying in it. If Nightkit focused, she could see where Wildrunner’s nest was close to Ravenhaze’s. Wildrunner had only recently started to plump up, so she didn’t stay in the nursery very much. Up above was the same canopy as in the camp and medicine cat den; Nightkit remembered her father explaining to her that it let light in while also keeping out most rain. Instead of getting flooded, the camp and nursery and medicine cat den would just get wet and a little muddy. The burrow supporters maintained it, constantly adding to it and replacing anything that got too dead and brittle. She had watched her aunt Earthheart weave some sort of vines together to add to the camp canopy, and it looked really hard but also really cool!

Nightkit turned her gaze to the nearest wall where her and her mom’s nest was. While the nest was in the shadows, a little bit of light pierced through and shone faintly on the wall. Dark, little pawprints were clustered all along it. Nightkit peered a little bit away from the wall, even closer to the nest, where one little pawprint was. That one was hers! All the queens had their kits leave a muddy, clay paw mark on the wall, from what her mother had told her. She had wanted to better tell where hers was, though, so her mother let her put it away from the other marks. Her mother had proclaimed it as ‘Night’s Corner’. Nightkit felt warm thinking about it. She had made her mark when she was three moons old, and now she was four moons old! Her paws had grown a bit since then. If she lifted her paw up, she could tell the difference better.

One day my paws will be so big, you won’t even see my mark next to them!

Nightkit purred quietly at the thought. She was going to be a burrower just like her dad and uncle, with big strong paws! She couldn’t wait! She would dig the best tunnels ever, and be so strong she could defeat anything that came her way!

“Nightkit, you coming with us?” Rabbitear called quietly to her, and Nightkit snapped back into focus. She turned to the queen, who was now standing and smiling softly at her. Quickkit and Foxkit were by her side, Quickkit looking like he might burst from trying to stay still. He looked a little less dusty.

Nightkit winced, looking to her own mother.

“You don’t have to,” Warrenstalk stepped over to her and touched her nose to her head. “Your father should be back soon, you two can spend time together instead. But no running around and causing trouble!”

Her tone was light and teasing, and Nightkit giggled, reaching up to lick her shoulder. “I know, mama!”

Rabbitear ushered her kits back down the tunnel, Quickkit immediately yowling his excitement as soon as he was out of the nursery. Ravenhaze opened one eye to glare furiously in the tunnel’s direction before hissing quietly to herself and shutting her eyes again, bringing her front paws closer to burrow her head against.

“I don’t think he’s growing out of that,” Rabbitear meowed in exasperation, though Nightkit guessed it was said fondly from the smile on her face. “StarClan help his mentor!”

Warrenstalk laughed lightly, mewling a soft goodbye to Nightkit as the two queens disappeared down the tunnel after the kits. She watched them go, paused to look warily back at Ravenhaze, then trailed after them.

When she slid into the light of the camp, Rabbitear was already on her way to one of the tunnels that led outside, Foxkit staying close to her while Quickkit waited at the tunnel entrance, fidgeting restlessly. Nightkit blinked, looking around camp.

Where’d mom go?

Badgerclaw and Siltdrop were the only two elders still sunning, and Tunnelstar had disappeared from the Fissurestone. Wildrunner was sitting near the fresh-kill pile, her white coat and grey splotches especially mudstained from a life of burrowing. Her belly was lightly swollen, and she bent her head down to lick it. Sandburr was sitting next to her, her rough sandy-brown fur sticking up just enough to make her look a little sharp. Her coat was crusted with mud and clay…and if she was in camp…

The burrowers must be back! Nightkit swung her head around, scanning the rest of the cats she could see. Roottail, Poolfang, Dustsneeze, Digspeckle…Darkfrost! It seemed her mother had split off from Rabbitear and the kits to talk to her mate.

“Dad!” Nightkit squealed as she hurried over to where the other burrowers were chatting amongst themselves, all covered in varying levels of clay and mud and soil like Sandburr. Her father perked up, muddied white ears swiveling in her direction. A goofy smile instantly spread onto his face and he cheered, spreading out his front paws to catch his kit as she sprang into him, right against his black belly and chest.

“Little miracle!” He purred happily, pulling her nice and close with his paws. Nightkit nuzzled into his warmth, purring fiercely. He smelled even more like clay than usual, which made sense. She could feel the wet coolness of said clay and mud getting onto her pelt, but she didn’t care! She would be covered in it once she was a burrower, anyway!

“Woah!” Warrenstalk laughed. She curled her tail in the air and leaned closer to Darkfrost, touching her nose to his. “That’s my sign to catch up with Rabbitear. Be good, you two.”

“You know it!” Darkfrost purred, watching her go for a moment before turning his attention back to Nightkit.

“Dad! You’ve been gone all day!” Nightkit peered up at him, kinked tail swishing behind her. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too!” Darkfrost rumbled, touching his nose to her cheek. “We had a lot of work to do today!”

Digspeckle popped into view, his white face and speckles turned brown from soil. “What about your favorite uncle? You miss me?”

Nightkit giggled, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at him. “Hm…maybe, maybe not!”

Digspeckle gasped, putting a muddy paw on his chest in mock offense. Dustsneeze laughed from behind him, her brown tabby fur slathered in mud and dust. She paused abruptly, sneezed, then snorted, distracted for a moment as she irritably rubbed her nose with a paw, grumbling as she smeared mud on her face.

“I get all the love today,” Darkfrost teased, eyes narrowed mischievously at his brother. “None for you.”

“Unfair!” Digspeckle turned his nose up, putting on the most dramatically anguished voice Nightkit had ever heard. “My own niece…so uncaring …even after I brought her the tastiest field mouse in the whole world yesterday…”

“It was tasty,” Nightkit agreed, nodding thoughtfully. She paused for a moment, before pulling away from her father to wiggle over to Digspeckle. He beamed triumphantly, pulling her into a hug. Nightkit only got a glimpse of her father’s playfully offended face before black fur swamped her vision. She let out a muffled squeal as Digspeckle hugged her tight against his chest. She pushed at him and wiggled, and he chuckled innocently.

“What a nice hug!” He hummed, casually squeezing Nightkit closer, ignoring her muffled ‘noooo!’.

After some more squirming, he let her go, and Nightkit glared half-heartedly up at him before rushing back to her father and nuzzling back up against his chest. The toms shared a laugh, and Darkfrost leaned down to nuzzle her ear.

“Is the tunnel almost done?” Nightkit asked after a moment of smoothing down her chest fur with a few swift licks.

“Almost! Should be done by leaf-fall.” Darkfrost curled his tail around her. “We’ve been working on trying to make half of it smaller. It’ll be another good tunnel to go down if foxes start to chase the patrols again; it’ll be too small for them to follow in the middle.”

Foxes! Nightkit shuddered. She had never seen one, but a lot of the tunnels were tight in some spots to prevent fox problems. She hoped she never had to see one!

“Yuckk.” Digspeckle chimed in, face screwed up in disgust from where he had tried to groom a clump of mud from his pelt. He spat at the ground, groaning. “I always think it won’t be as bad as the other times, and then it is. Argghhh.”

“I would have given up on trying after the first moon,” Dustsneeze huffed, rolling her eyes in a very amused sort of way. “You were still doing it when I was an apprentice. It’s never going to taste any better.”

“It might! Maybe next time.”

Dustsneeze proceeded to whack him upside the head with one hefty paw, and he yelped, wincing and pouting at her.

“Guess that means it’s time to clean off.” Darkfrost stood up, and Nightkit whined in protest. “You’re coming too, silly. I got you all dirty.”

“Yay!” Nightkit cheered. She liked splashing around in the little stream…which…she groaned. It was outside, where she was trying to not go! The stream was fun but only if she felt like it!

“I know,” Darkfrost chuckled, watching as Digspeckle and Dustsneeze padded away, calling for Sandburr. The she-cat said her goodbyes to Wildrunner and hurried to join them. “But I always make sure you’re safe, don’t I? I would never, ever let anything hurt you.”

“I knowww,” Nightkit pouted, hanging her head as he started leading her after the others, tail resting gently on her spine. “But I didn’t wanna go outside! Foxkit and Quickkit and mom and Rabbitear went without me ‘cause I said no…and I gotta go anyways!”

“Aww, I’m sorry, little miracle,” Darkfrost meowed sympathetically as they filed into one of the tunnels that led outside. Nightkit at least enjoyed the light breeze that whistled through her whiskers. “We’ll come right back after.”

Nightkit nodded silently, shuffling after her father as they padded through the darkness. Nightkit focused on the comforting warmth and thrum of the tunnel, the feeling of safety it gave. She enjoyed it up until she saw light eventually appear ahead after a bit of walking. She steeled her nerves as best she could.

Warriors are brave!

Nightkit paused at the very edge of the tunnel, watching her father follow Digspeckle and Dustsneeze out into the bright sunlight. She squinted her eyes against the harshness, trying to get her eyes to adjust. She was used to the low light from the canopies; direct sunlight was a lot brighter.

Darkfrost patiently waited for her in the lush green grass, smiling encouragingly. Nightkit took a deep breath and slid out into the light, squinting nervously up at the blue sky. A few white, fluffy wisps of clouds trailed in the sky, and the only birds she could see were small and definitely not hawks. She pressed up against her father’s side, keeping close to him as they walked down the slight incline they had emerged onto.

Lush green grass spread all around them, some of it taller than her. The treelines of BranchClan’s and DeerClan’s territories could be seen in the distance, a clumpy line of all kinds of greens. She was never to go there, her parents had said. The other Clans weren’t very nice, and none of them got along. If they scented even a tiny bit of BurrowClan scent on their borders, they might try to start a fight. And if they came on BurrowClan territory looking for a fight, they might find the tunnels, and that was bad because the camp and burrows were a secret despite their Clan name, and if they were found they might be invaded. Nightkit felt nervous just looking at the trees, feeling very conscious of her pawsteps even if they were far away.

Pretty blue and purple and yellow and white and pink flowers dotted the meadow and hills of their territory. Nightkit did like flowers; they were a good part of aboveground.

She started to hear the very quiet gurgle of the stream ahead and excitedly tried to peer around the tall grass they were wading through now to see it. Just a few strides later, and it came into view. It was small and full of pretty pebbles that gleamed as the clear water ran over them, and at one point it widened into a very shallow pool that was about as deep as her paw. She broke away from her father’s side to jump into the shallow water of the pool, squealing with delight as she splashed about in the water. She felt the gazes of the three warriors on her, very soft and fond.

“She’s so cute,” Sandburr gushed, working clay from her rough pelt with a wet paw. “Lizardweb hated water when he was a kit. Never could get him near it.”

The other burrowers chuckled, and Nightkit beamed, feeling warm and fluttery at the compliment. Though she also felt a little prickly, uncomfortably aware of how open everything was. She glanced at the sky again, before trying to focus on splashing around instead.

Digspeckle was at one end of the pool, scooping water with his paws onto his pelt. He rubbed the clay and mud and soil and dust from his pelt, the water streaming off of him leaving little foggy brown streaks in the water. The dirtied water slowly flowed away downstream.

Dustsneeze was doing the same, and soon Darkfrost followed suit. Nightkit paused and used her paws to splash water along her flanks, rubbing where she could reach. Luckily, she wasn’t nearly as dirty as the burrowers. She felt clean within a few moments, shaking out her wet fur and splattering little droplets around her.

“Oh! Dad!” Nightkit meowed as she was struck with a memory. “Guess what?”

“Hm?” Darkfrost looked over to her, pausing in rubbing some crusty clay from his shoulder.

“Me and Foxkit and Quickkit beat Peatpaw today! He was pretending to invade, and we ran and ran to make him tired, and then I gave a signal and we all attacked!” Nightkit puffed out her chest in pride. “We took him down! Tunnelstar said we were brave!”

“Wow!” Darkfrost gasped, eyes glittering with pride. “That’s awesome! I don’t think he ever stood a chance. You’re all so strong!”

“Yeah!” Nightkit purred happily, warm bursts of pride moving through her pelt as Digspeckle, Dustsneeze, and Sandburr ooo’d, looking very impressed, if Nightkit had to say so!

After everyone was clean, they all gave a good stretch and groomed their wet fur. By the time the sun was starting to inch a bit closer to the horizon, they were all done and made their way back to the tunnels. Nightkit kept her eye on the sky, keeping close to her father. She instantly felt relieved once she was back underground, and she ran ahead of the burrowers into camp. By now, most of the Clan seemed to be milling about, disappearing down tunnels or hanging around in camp. She caught sight of the tortoiseshell pelt of her aunt Hollowcry as she padded into the hollow, tail-tip twitching behind her like usual.

Nightkit was still a little damp, and she twisted to lap at her flank to help dry it off a little. Dustsneeze trotted over to her son Peatpaw, who still looked a little worn out. He touched noses with his mother, who rubbed her chin against the top of his head. Sandburr and Digspeckle padded over to Spidernose, greeting the black tom. Spidernose’s red nose twitched in amusement as they started telling him something funny.

“Well, I’m pretty hungry.” Darkfrost drew his tongue along his muzzle, eyeing the fresh-kill pile, which was looking a little fuller from the day’s hunting patrols. “Have you eaten yet, little miracle?”

“Nope!” Nightkit hadn’t even noticed her stomach rumbling until now. “Not since this morning, when Rabbitear brought us all a rabbit to share.”

“Well, let’s go pick us out something!” Darkfrost padded over to the pile, and Nightkit trailed after him, kinked tail held high. Prey sounded very good right now.

When she caught up to her father, he was nudging a plump cardinal with bright red feathers. He looked at her, tilting his head towards it.

“How about some cardinal? We can pluck the feathers for your nest!”

“Oooh!” Nightkit gasped. Mama would love that, too! It’d be so pretty! Ravenhaze might be a little jealous, though…Mudrunner hasn’t brought her any feathers yet. “Yes!”

Darkfrost obligingly picked up the bird, turning to pad to a quieter part of the camp clearing. He dropped it with a light thunk and laid down next to it, tucking his front paws under his chest. He licked his lips and grabbed a feather between his teeth, yanking his head to pluck it free. Nightkit settled down next to him, grabbing a feather, too, and pulling with all her might. It came free, and she spat it out next to them as it tried sticking to her mouth.

After plucking most of the big feathers, Darkfrost bit into the bird, tearing away a mouthful and pushing it closer to Nightkit. She tucked in herself, enjoying the burst of savory flavor as she chewed. She usually liked rabbits or field mice the best, but birds were really tasty, too!

As she ate, she watched the activity of the camp. Badgerclaw and Siltdrop had disappeared, no longer sunning. Poolfang and Roottail were curled up together at one end of the camp, grooming each other and murmuring to each other between licks. Roottail’s cream pelt and brown face and tail looked very bright compared to Poolfang’s black pelt.

Mudrunner was laid at the foot of the Fissurestone, head on his front paws. The dark brown tom had one eye cracked open, gaze slowly following his Clanmates’ movements when they got close to him. Burrowpelt had joined his little family, settling between Dustsneeze and Peatpaw. His brown tabby pelt smelled so strongly of herbs Nightkit caught a little whiff all the way from where she was.

The white and black speckled coat of Lighteye caught Nightkit’s attention as the she-cat emerged from the warriors’ burrow tunnel, her cloudy blind gaze unfocused as she padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Nightkit had always thought it was super cool how she got around like everyone else did even though she was blind. Lighteye had helped watch her and Foxkit and Quickkit a few times, and she was really nice.

After a while of silently eating, the bird was finished and only the small bones and some bits of feather fluff were left. Darkfrost helped groom her face and whiskers free of stubborn bits of fuzz.

With a full belly, Nightkit started to feel sleepy. She yawned, jaws stretched wide and little teeth on full display. She smacked her jaws and leaned against her father, who purred softly in her ear and started grooming her between the ears. She relaxed into the warmth and comfort, eyes fluttering closed.

She hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep until she felt a nudge and slowly opened her eyes, blinking blearily and yawning. It looked like the sun was starting to set outside, because the light filtering through the canopy was dimmer. She lifted a paw to rub her eyes.

“Hi, sweet thing,” Warrenstalk’s soft voice rumbled, and Nightkit looked up at her mother, mewling softly in greeting. “Did you have fun with dad?”

“Mhm!” Nightkit nuzzled against the warmth of her father; he was still laid beside her, his gaze very soft and affectionate and warm as he gazed down at her. “Had to go outside to wash. Grr.”

Warrenstalk laughed quietly, nuzzling Darkfrost and licking his cheek as he craned his head up to meet her affections. “Poor thing.”

“Where’s Foxkit and Quickkit? Rabbitear?” Nightkit peered around at the much emptier camp. She could see Tunnelstar and Mudrunner talking quietly by the Fissurestone, and Rockpatch grooming himself outside the warriors’ burrow tunnel, but other than that it looked like everyone else had headed to sleep early or went to finish what they wanted to while there was still sunlight.

“They’re still outside,” Warrenstalk shook her head, sighing good-naturedly. “Quickkit is half-asleep on his paws but he kept begging to stay outside. Poor Foxkit was dead asleep when I left. Rabbitear’s going to bring them in soon.”

I’d never wanna be outside that long! Nightkit screwed up her face in disapproval.

“Sounds like him.” Darkfrost chuckled. “We’re very lucky our little miracle doesn’t need to run around all day.”

“Right!” Warrenstalk nudged him, touching her nose to his. “How about we get you to bed, Nightkit?”

“The moon’s not even shining!” Nightkit protested, even though she was very much still sleepy. “It’s still sunset!”

“I know,” Her mother soothed. “But you look very sleepy and you’ve had a long day defending the Clan.”

Nightkit groaned, but didn’t protest again as she got to her paws. Her father got up as well, stretching each leg in turn before rubbing against Warrenstalk and purring softly. They both led her to the nursery tunnel, and Nightkit did her best to keep her eyes open as the darkness fell over her.

She was very quiet as they shuffled into the nursery, though it looked like Ravenhaze had left for a drink or something since her nest was empty. Nightkit yawned again and staggered her way to her nest, surprised to see the cardinal feathers already tucked into the moss. She guessed her father had gotten up to do that or her mother had come by and done it before waking her up. She climbed into the nest and curled up into it, yawning again and feeling instantly a lot sleepier just by laying in the cozy nest.

Darkfrost climbed in with her, curling around her and warming her back as she squirmed closer to his belly. He didn’t always sleep in the nursery, but she was always happy when he did.

“I’m going to go help Rabbitear get Quickkit inside,” Warrenstalk whispered. “I’ll be back soon, you two. Love you.”

“Love you,” Nightkit murmured quietly at the same time as her father. She heard her mother quietly make her way back to the tunnel, and it was only moments later that Nightkit drifted into sleep, surrounded by the warmth and soothing purrs of her father.

#chapter #warrior cats fanfiction #fanfiction #warrior cats #warrior cats oc #warriors #nightkit

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