#left on chapter 14 cliffhanger

[the-barefoot-hatter]

"How Can I Love You (Without Breaking Your Heart)" The Struts

for @electricalhuzzah

yeah so your fic put my brain in a chokehold and I heard the perfect song for the drama of the last few chapters (11-14 especially <3) so I hope you like this~!

[morgana-larkin]

Alright, here's the next part of Just Tired and of course it ends on a big cliffhanger. Also I know what you're thinking, did I get distracted by the gif for 5 minutes? The answer is yes. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I posted the first chapter of Worth It exactly a year ago, today and made a little thank you message that you can read here.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 29

Just Tired - Part 28

Warnings: Manipulative Relationship (Mentioned), Smut, cliffhanger

Words: 4.5k

Melissa ends up directing you to a deli where she orders two Italian hoagies for you both where Barb and Gerald also join. You’re all sitting on a picnic bench outside at a park that was near all eating your hoagies.

“So Melissa, now you’re gonna have the house back, getting some money from him and he can’t ever go near you unless he wants to get arrested. How does that feel?” You ask her and she smiles.

“It feels really good. I never thought how fast my life can change in two months but I’ve honestly never been happier. I mean 2 months ago I was in a manipulative relationship, unhappy without knowing why, didn’t know I could be into women, haven’t had much fun, as well as the sex was terrible.” She says and Barb chokes a bit on her drink at the last part.

“Oh come on Barb, don’t tell me you’re a prude.” You tell her.

“I’m not a prude, I’m a woman of god.” Barb tells you proudly.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” You ask and Melissa starts laughing.

“Melissa is religious as well.” Barb points out.

“Melissa doesn’t consider herself a woman of god. Also she’s Sicilian so I don’t think anything phases her anymore.” You counter.

“That’s a good point.” Melissa says and then she continues eating her hoagie.

“How was last night at the karaoke place?” Gerald asks you both.

“Melissa made out with a psycho.” You tell them and Melissa looks at you with an amused expression as she tries not to laugh.

“Well I guess that’s one way to describe it.” Melissa says. 

“That’s the only way to describe it.” You counter and Melissa chuckles.

“I didn’t know she was a psycho until Y/n told me as she got warned by the bartender who you’re also going out with next weekend.” Melissa explains.

“She came onto me after we crushed that ABBA song.” You say. “And yes she warned me about Wendy.”

“So is everyone excited about Halloween tomorrow?” Barb asks and you shake your head.

“I don’t know if I’ll survive Melissa’s costume.” You confess and Melissa is smiling.

“You won’t.” Melissa simply says and takes a proud bite of her hoagie.

“Well I don’t see how anyone would survive a hot redhead dressing up as Mera.” You tell her and Melissa just shrugs.

“You’ll have to see me from across the hall all day.” Melissa teases you and you groan. “And I’ll make sure to keep my door open all day.”

“What if I close my door?”

“Be real, for whatever odd reason you never close your door.”

“I want to be welcoming to anyone.” You say.

“Hon, if people at school don’t already know that then they haven’t been paying attention to you.” Melissa tells you and you shrug.

“Unlike you, most teachers haven’t been paying attention to me and the 20 other newbies that started this year.”

“I normally don’t pay attention to newbies but you just didn’t care and kept trying. How many of you newbies are left anyway?” She asks and you count.

“Well about 8 left already.” You say and she hums.

“Not surprising.” She says.

“Is that why you didn’t want to talk to me? Thought I’d leave?” You ask her and she nods.

“You seem too positive to last here but I could be wrong.” She tells you.

“I’m not as positive as Janine though, she’s more positive than I am.” 

“Thank god you’re not that annoying.” She says and then takes the last bit of her hoagie. “I don’t know how you stand, not just Janine, but Jacob as well.” She tells you as she cleans her hands with a napkin.

“They actually have pretty interesting conversations.” You tell her and she hums.

“If you say so.” She tells you and you roll your eyes before you finish your hoagie.

Half an hour later Barb and Gerald take Melissa home so everyone can get ready for the work week. When you’re getting into bed, your phone gets a notification and you look at it to see Melissa texted you.

Melissa: I really want to thank you as you helped me win 

You: It’s not a problem, I love that you got your freedom

You text her that before you put your head on your pillow and you’re out like a light. 

The next morning Melissa wakes up with a big smile on her face. She’s breaking free from her manipulative husband, she’s getting the house, and money from him and she has you to thank for it. She then frowns when she remembers that she’s fallen for you and she does want to be with you but the idea of being in a relationship already terrifies her.

“Hey everyone.” You say as you walk in the break room. Melissa then walks in the break room and your mouth goes dry. There she is in the green bodysuit and her hair has looser curls then it usually has with the little crown on. She also did her makeup the same way as they did for Amber Heard and your eyes trail up and down her body. 

“Hey hon.” She tells you.

“Wow.” You say and she smiles.

“Shamelessly checking me out, hon?” She whispers to you and you nod. “Check me out all you want.” She tells you and your eyes trail down to her chest where they’re only half covered.

“And you were worried my costume was going to be too sexy.” You tell her and she gives you a wink.

“I like your sexy police uniform, officer. If we were still having sex then I’d definitely act naughty just so you’d tie me up and punish me.” She tells you with a seductive whisper and your mind blanks.

“Ya the timing is unfortunate.” You tell her and she smiles.

“Soak it all up. And I might masturbate with you in my mind tonight.” She says quietly as she passes you and goes to sit down. You go and sit down with Janine and Jacob and they compliment your outfit.

“It was my costume from last year but I didn’t have enough money to get a new one this year, but I’ll definitely get a new one next year.” You tell them.

“Well we didn’t see this was your outfit last year so technically it’s new here.” Jacob tells you and you smile and nod.

“Thanks Jacob.” You tell him and he smiles before you all jump into conversations.

You watch as she greets her students from across the hall and how some of the parents are checking her out, as well as some of the seventh and eighth grade boys. You start the class by going over the homework you assigned to them to do over the weekend and you cast a glance at Melissa who’s bending over slightly to grab some papers at her desk. She catches you checking her out and she smiles at you. At lunch you drop your kids off at the caf and when you walk out, Melissa grabs your hand and drags you to her classroom.

“What are you doing?” You ask her as you reach her classroom and you see she brought both of your lunches with her.

“I want us to have lunch together, just the two of us.” She tells you and you smile. “So you think I look sexy?” She asks you as she takes a seat and you nod. She passes you your lunchbox and you take your lunch out and start eating.

“I mean have you seen yourself? Your tits are practically out and I can’t help but stare at them, especially when I know how they look without anything on them.” You say and she chuckles. “And this tight bodysuit on you is showing off all your curves and green is definitely your colour. Like jesus christ is it ever your colour.” You tell her and she smiles. “Why did you want to have lunch with me, like just me?” You ask her.

“I wanted to thank you for how much you’ve helped me in these past 2 months. And I know it hasn’t been easy for you.” She tells you. You go to speak but she stops you. “And don’t you dare start saying that it hasn’t been easy on me since I’m the one that escaped the bastard.” She says and you immediately close your mouth as that’s exactly what you were gonna say. “I know I’m the one who escaped but you’ve helped me so much and I really appreciate it.” She adds and you smile.

“Well, you’re welcome.” You say. 

“I do have to say that the sexy police skirt is working for you.” She tells you and you blush.

“Are you trying to make it harder to concentrate today?” You ask her and she smirks as she takes a bite of her salad.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” She says innocently.

“It seems like you’re trying to make it as hard for me as possible. It seemed like you were flirting with me this morning and your outfit keeps making my mind go places.” You say and she giggles.

“Well first of all, I was flirting with you this morning, and secondly, what if I want your attention on my body?” She asks you and you stare at her, mind blank. “Also Barb and I are going out to this bar who’s having a Halloween party and wanted to know if you want to tag along. The other 2 youngsters are being invited by Barb right now.” She tells you. 

“Of course I’ll come.” You immediately say and she smiles.

At the end of the day you’re saying goodbye to your kiddos and you see the aunt from the dyslexic kid go up to Melissa and you watch.

“Hi Melissa, I have to say that you look amazing in this costume.” She says to Melissa and Melissa smiles at her.

“Thank you, once I saw Aquaman then I was pretty sure I could pull up being Mera.” Melissa tells her.

“Oh you pull it off better than her. Do you have any plans tonight? I was wondering if you didn’t then maybe we can do something together.” She asks.

“I’m going out with some coworkers and I don’t want to miss it.” Melissa says and you smile.

“Oh, well maybe another time.” The aunt says before taking her niece and leaving.

“You know if you really wanted to go out with her then we’d understand.” You say as you walk up to her after all your students leave.

“I know, but like I told her, I don’t want to miss this.” She says as she goes to grab her things and then locks her door. “I’ll meet you there, we’re meeting for about 6, I’ll send the address. And feel free to ditch the leggings.” She says as she walks off with a smile.

You get home not long after and you immediately take the leggings off. You get something ready to eat and have a meal before you go upstairs and apply some makeup. As you’re applying some mascara, Melissa’s words from lunch hits you, she was purposefully flirting with you this morning and you don’t know why. You then get the toy handcuffs that came with the costume and attach them to the belt. You then get a text from Melissa with the address and you see it’ll take about 20 minutes to get there and you look at the time, 5:20. You then decide to go there now as there might be traffic since it’s Halloween. You arrive about half an hour later and you see it’s starting to pile up in here. 

“Hey Y/n!” You hear and turn around to see Janine and Jacob there.

“Hey guys.” You tell them.

“Isn’t it amazing that Barb and Melissa invited all of us out with them? And to think I thought they didn’t like us, but if you keep trying then-”

“I’ll stop you right there.” You tell Janine and she immediately closes her mouth. “How about we get some drinks?” You suggest and you all make your way to the bar and order some drinks. 

“Hey hon.” You hear and turn to see Melissa and Barb there as they walk towards all of you. 

“Hey Melissa.” You say as you get your drink and thank the bartender before you pay. 

“What drink did you get?” Melissa asks you.

“Just a daiquiri, thought of starting small.” You tell her and she nods before she orders a beer.

Half an hour later you’re all on your second drink and sitting and talking at a table with booths. You and Melissa on one side, while the other 3 are on the other side. You’re following the story that Barb is telling about all the costumes of her students, when you feel a hand touch your leg and you look to see Melissa’s hand there. You glance over at her and she’s looking at Barb and pretending that she’s not touching you. You then feel her hand go further up your leg and you widen your eyes as you wonder if she’s going to do what you think she’s going to do. You then lean in towards her near her ear.

“What are you doing?” You whisper to her and she turns to look at you.

“Do you want me to stop?” She asks.

“We agreed no sex.” You tell her, a little breathlessly.

“Do you want me to stop?” She asks again and you go to take a sip of your drink, giving her permission to keep going. 

Her hand trails up your thigh, closer and closer to your centre. Your breathing deepens as she gets closer and you can hear Janine is telling everyone all the costumes of her students. You then feel her hand right over your centre, hand buried under your skirt. You unconsciously spread your legs to give her more access and you see her smile from the corner of your eye. You feel her hand go up and down your clothed pussy and you let out a gasp and everyone looks at you. You widen your eyes and you’re sure your cheeks are tinged pink with embarrassment. Even with everyone looking at you, Melissa doesn’t stop. In fact she pushes your underwear to the side and trails her index finger up your centre and clit. You let out a big breath and realise everyone is still looking at you.

“Are you alright dear?” Barb asks and you nod.

“Just think…the drinks, the alcohol, is starting to…hit me.” You say through breaths as Melissa is still teasing you. You then notice everyone’s attention is on Melissa and you hear her say something about a Halloween costume and realise they're still talking about their students. 

Melissa is talking about how cute her students are to get the attention off of you and sees you starting to struggle to keep your composure. She realises she can make it harder for you or take pity on you. She immediately decides to make it harder for you and slips her middle finger in your entrance as you’re taking a sip. She’s lucky that you decided to sit near the wall so nobody in the bar suspects anything as her body is blocking it. She begins pumping inside of you and sees you’re doing your best not to give anything away but you keep slipping by keeping your mouth open. She decides right there that you’ll give it away if she continues and she takes her finger out and you let out a tiny whimper that no one hears except her. 

A few seconds after she takes her finger out is when everyone turns their attention onto you and asks your favourite costumes from your students were. Melissa doesn’t make it easier for you though as she keeps trailing her hand up and down your upper thigh and it’s making it hard for you to even think about anything except where her hand is. Melissa decides to take pity and speaks up.

“I think we both need some more drinks.” She says before she grabs your hand and leads you into the crowd. You get confused as you pass right by the bar and she leads you to the other side of the place to the bathrooms. 

“Melissa, why are we-” You get silenced as she leads you into a stall and pushes you up against the door and kisses you.

“I couldn’t wait any longer, all I thought about all day was running my hands up these legs.” She tells you as she trails her hand up your left thigh, underneath your skirt. “And unzipping this shirt and see your amazing tits.” She continues as she unzips your shirt, unclips your bra and pulls it up to see your breasts. “I know we agreed on no sex but would you say no if we have sex one more time?” She asks and it takes a few seconds for your brain to catch up with the situation. Once it does and you think over her question, you put your hand on the back of her head and pull her in for a kiss. Melissa responds immediately and kisses you back as she’s had a hard time staying away from you all week, let alone not being able to touch your body or kiss you all weekend or even today. 

You feel her hands move your skirt up before she goes down on her knees and dives right to your clit. You immediately put your hand over your mouth and bite your lip to keep you from making any noises as she does everything she can to get noises out of you. She then frowns as she would like to hear you and pulls away. You look at her in confusion but help her up.

“This isn’t working, I want to hear you.” She says and you look at her.

“My car is right outside.” You suggest and she smiles before she makes you presentable again and then she grabs your hand and leads you out of the bar and to your car. She opens the passenger side before pushing the seat as far back as it can go before getting you to sit down. You bring the seat down a bit so you’re on a slightly comfortable angle as Melissa gets on the floor and closes the door. 

“Now, don’t conceal your noises.” She tells you and you nod before she bunches up your skirt and goes back to your clit again. You let out a gasp and arch your back as she does a hard suck right away. She then focuses on bringing you as much pleasure as possible as she already knows your body incredibly well. It isn’t long before you feel your orgasm starting to build and that’s when Melissa slips a finger in your centre and you see stars as she knows how to make you feel so good. She slides a second finger in you and you reach behind you and grab the headrest of the seat as she quickly pumps in and out of you. You start squirming as you’re right at your peak and Melissa lets you as she’s enjoying the sight. You then let out a high pitched gasp as you come and Melissa slows down inside of you before carefully removing her fingers and she licks your juices from her fingers. You catch your breath as Melissa watches you with a smile. You then get her to climb up on top of you and you kiss her as you calm down from your orgasm. You then reach behind her and unzip her costume before taking it off of her and leaving it piled at her knees. You then flip the both of you so that she’s underneath you and you unclip her bra and push it up before you slip a nipple in your mouth and she moans. “You’re obsessed with them.” She says breathlessly.

“When you have tits this big? Yes.” You say as you switch to her other nipple and she giggles.

“Oh god, I missed your touch so much.” Melissa moans out as you suck on her nipple while trailing your hands up and down her legs.

“Ya?” You ask as you pull away from her nipple and touch near her centre and clit.

“Yes.” She says before you touch her clit and she gasps. You start circling her clit and she pulls you in for a kiss. She has an arm wrapped around your neck as her other hand is gripping onto the carseat. “Oh god, please I need you inside of me.” She says and you do one last circle on her clit before you do as she asks and insert one finger inside of her and you feel her dig her nails into your back. You a couple pumps inside of her before you insert a second finger and you feel like adding a third finger, so you add a third and she gasps out as she grips the carseat even tighter. “YES! YES! YES!” She says in a pitched voice. “Don’t stop!” She tells you and you pump faster. “Oh god, I’m so close, so close.” She tells you and you feel her clench around your fingers and she arches her back. You kiss her neck seconds before she comes around your fingers. You pull away from her neck right as she comes and rest your forehead against hers. “I love you.” She says softly, the second after she comes and you widen your eyes and pull away from her slightly. 

You’ve heard her admit it before but it was one she was delirious and didn’t know she was talking to you. This time she knows damn well that you’re here with her and she’s not sick. A couple seconds after she says it, it’s like her brain catches up with her mouth and she snaps her eyes open and looks at you with wide eyes. You pull out of her and lick your fingers as she tries to steady her breathing.

“Oh god, I wasn’t- you weren’t… forget I said the last few words.” She tells you and you shake your head.

“I’m not going to pretend that I just didn’t hear you admit it a second time.” You tell her and she furrows her eyebrows.

“Se-second time?” She asks and you nod.

“You might have admitted it to me without knowing it was me when you were delirious when you had a fever.” You admit and she puts a hand on her forehead. “But it’s ok, I know you’re not ready for anything yet and-”

“But that’s the thing Y/n! I was never going to admit it as I don’t know when I’ll be ready and I don’t want to string your feelings along.” She confesses and you look at her. “Yes I love you, I found that out 3 weeks ago but it scares me. The last person I loved was Joe and I’m getting a divorce from him as he manipulated me for 25 years.” She tells you.

“Melissa, I’m not Joe. I know you know that but I think you need to hear it. I have no interest in manipulating you or anyone else as I have actual compassion and empathy. You know I love you and I know I’ll continue dating and being friends with you. If you ever decide you’re ready then just let me know. But until then, I’ll wait willingly for you, however long that takes.” You say to her and you wipe away the tear that falls down her cheek and you smile at her.

“I don’t deserve you.” She says as she looks down.

“You deserve everything you want.” You tell her before you kiss her forehead and she looks up at you with a smile. 

“You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met.” She tells you as she strokes your cheek and you lean into her touch. 

“As much as I’m enjoying this, we should probably go back to everyone before they think we’ve died or something.” You joke and she chuckles before you both get dressed and fix your makeup before you stumble out and walk back into the bar. You head to the bar and order 2 drinks as Melissa goes back to the table. You get the drinks and join back at the table and hand the second drink to Melissa.

“Y/n, I was just saying we ran into a friend of yours.” Melissa tells them and everyone looks at you.

“Yep, talked for a little bit.” You tell them as casually as possible as you sit down. 

You all then talk for an hour before you decide to call it a night as you all have to go to work tomorrow. You say goodbye to everyone and they all walk to their cars as you hug Melissa.

“I meant what I said, I’ll willingly wait for you.” You tell her and she kisses you and smiles.

“I know, and if the situation was reversed, I’d wait for you as well.” She tells you as you grab her hand. “I have to go, Barb is my ride home and I’m pretty excited to get out of this even though I look stunning.” She says and you giggle.

“You always look stunning.” You tell her and she smiles before she lets go of your hand.

“Text me when you get home.” She says and you nod. She then watches as you walk to your car before she hears a honk and sees Barb and Gerald are ready to go. She then walks to their car and gets in.

That night she didn’t receive a text from you but she figured you forgot or fell asleep right away. She sees that it’s 10:03pm and decides to go to sleep as she’s getting up in 7 hours. She then falls asleep with a smile on her face as she thinks of you

*11:06pm*

Melissa opens her eyes as she hears her phone going off and she reaches over and sees you’re calling her. She furrows her eyebrows as she’s wondering why you’re calling her so late. She then picks up and brings it to her ear.

“Y/n, what’s up, hon?” She asks.

“Excuse me, are you Melissa Schemmenti?” A voice asks her and she sits up in bed.

“Depends, who’s this?” She asks them.

“My name is Emily Brown, I’m a doctor at the hospital and you’re listed as the emergency contact on Y/n’s phone.” Emily tells her and her heart sinks.

“Is-is she ok?” Melissa asks.

“I’m afraid there’s been a car accident and I'm going to need you to come right away.”

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

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Let me know if you want to be added!

[333sturns]

strangers to lovers (1)

“HELLO?!”

“matt fucking saw your post aaliyah”

warnings: inappropriate language

a/n: first chapter! hope you guys enjoy.. ! so sorry if it’s disappointing :(

@blogsaaliyahh • • •

♥︎ 244 💬 14 ↗️ 2

liked by itscarolyn003 and others

blogsaaliyahh my week so far (ft my bf) !!

30 minutes ago

js.13.alicia 3m • ♥︎ by author ♥︎

last slide is so real 2

tmplashton 7m • ♥︎ by author ♥︎

absolutely stunning as always 5

view 2 more replies

______________________________________________

you found yourself scrolling immensely through all sorts of social media. trying to cure the boredom that grew throughout your body. you rolled over onto your stomach in defeat, placing your phone down and grabbing your unfinished book.

you figured if you got really into the book, time would pass, and itd be time for bed once you finished. you flipped over to the page you left on and began reading.

as time went by, you found yourself in a whole other position. back against the headboard of your bed and your legs crisscrossed. you had the book almost directly in front of your face. not daring to take your eyes off for even a second.

“what!?” you grumbled, as you turned the page you were met with credits. the book had left you on a cliffhanger. you shut your eyes in frustration while a smile tugged at the corner of your lips.

“now im forced to buy the sequel.”

as the sun began to set, you started looking around for your phone. once you reached over and held it in your grip. you saw over 50 messages from your groupchat. your eyes widened in confusion as your fingers were quick to unlock your phone.

< 21 fairy children 🧚 > 📞

______________________________________________

43 unread 🔼

today, 4:32 pm

ASHTON 👹

LIYA ARE YOU OKAY RIGHT NOW

LIYAAAAAA

carolyn :))

guys she’s probably not breathing

this is not real

ASHTON 👹

girls definitely watching edits

ALI BUG 🫶

dont call her out like that 😭

OK BUT ID BE HYPERVENTILATING TOO

ITS LITERALLY MATT STURNIOLO???!!

what is this tomfoolery ….

why is there like

fifty msgs of ashton yelling

carolyn :))

WELL

YOU MIGHT WANNA CHECK YOUR INSTAGRAM

ASHTON 👹

MATT FUCKING SAW YOUR POST AALIYAH

say sike rn.

youre messing with me

ALI BUG 🫶

not this time 😭😭

today, 5:02 pm

guys immfreaking out eehat the fukc

(+) ( iMessage ) 🎙️

______________________________________________

what. the. fuck.

you quickly sat up from your bed. scrambling your way to open instagram. you closed your eyes and tried keeping your composure. letting out soothing breaths to decrease your incredibly fast heartbeat.

you hesitantly pressed onto your notifications. staring straight at the not one, but the two notifications from matt.

matthewsturniolo, tmplashton, and 20 others liked your post. 21m

matthewsturniolo commented:

Cool hahaha 22m

♡ reply message

the embarrassment quickly grew to your cheeks. making your face flush a light pink. you stared at your screen in awe. trying to quickly process everything before you responded.

your fingers hovered over your keyboard nervously, while you liked his comment, you let out a breath you didnt even realize you were holding. you slowly typed out a response. the excitement building in your stomach.

“HELLO?!”

you threw your phone somewhere along your bed. covering your face with a nearby pillow and muffling your screams and giggles.

“fuckfuckfuckfuck—“

______________________________________________

matthewsturniolo 25m • ♥︎ by author ♥︎

Cool hahaha 14

blogsaaliyahh 2m • author

@mattthewsturniolo HELLO?! ♡

view 7 replies

______________________________________________

half an hour passed and you were now getting ready for bed you. you found yourself smiling to yourself as the only thing running through your mind was his comment.

they have all collectively liked a few of your videos on tiktok. but for it to be on instagram really shocked you to your core. matt wasn’t one to be active on any social platform. he had probably liked atleast 5 videos on your tiktok but that was it.

once you finished organizing your room and getting ready for bed, you went back onto instagram to post a quick story. the story contained a screenshot of his comment, and a text of yours being surprised:

“what tf🙏?!”

@matthewsturniolo

afterwards; you turned off all the lights in your room, connected your phone to the charger, and then tucked yourself into bed. you felt the butterflies in your stomach as you closed your eyes. drifting off to sleep in a matter of seconds.

. . . . . .

matthewsturniolo, paig3doll and others liked your story. 7m

. . . . .

✉️: @zayluvss @toooster @ifwdominicfike @ilusa @faith5drpepper @lvrsturniolo

© 333sturns

[bonesxbows]

Once Upon A Dream - Chapter 11 (Lucifer X Reader) (Alastor X Reader)

My Masterlist

In a sleeping beauty-inspired AU, a curse is placed over you when you strike up a deal with Heaven to protect baby Charlie, causing you to lose your memory. You remember nothing once the curse takes over; not your marriage with Lucifer, not the family you had with the two of them, nothing. So when a strange smiling demon offers you a place to stay when you can't remember where 'home' is, you take him up on his offer. 

(WARNINGS)

Gendered terms used (mom, good girl, wife) but otherwise gender neutral pronouns used

Heavy depressing themes

Loss of a parent (temporary)

(CHAPTER WARNINGS)

Relationship fighting

Descriptions of anxiety/panic

Blood/major injury

I'm so sorry for the delay of update, I've come down with a freaking head cold :( so chapter 12 might be a little delayed as well as I don't have much energy rn. But enjoy the cliffhanger for now!! (not sorry about that lmao)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11 (You are here), Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18

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“I…um…” You stumbled over your words, not sure how to respond without incriminating either yourself or Alastor. Who would he accuse less of the two? “It’s not what it looks like.” You managed to sputter out as his gaze became even more narrowed. Fire burned behind his snake-like eyes. Whom it was aimed at you weren’t entirely sure; though you had an inkling it most likely wasn’t you. 

He scoffed. A harsh sound that grated against your ears. One you found that you hated falling from his lips as an instinctive frown crossed your face. “Really? Because it looks like he was trying to kill you. Or eat you. Or both, knowing him.” The anger fell from his face for a brief moment as he ghosted the tip of his finger over one of the deepest and reddest-looking bite marks Alastor had left earlier, a flash of pseudo-pain making his scowl scrunch up into sadness. 

“What?!” You practically shouted, almost tearing yourself from Lucifer’s grasp at his accusations. But his hold was firm; refusing to let you go now that he believed you were being hurt by another. “That’s not-” 

“You really trust him? After he treats you like this? Despite everything we had, everything we did together? You were a Queen, y/n, and I always treated you like one. And now you let this sinner throw you around like…like some toy?” His words were coming out harsher than he had intended, his anger boiling over into his bottled-up agony. 

Something inside you snapped at his words. You shoved yourself away from him. Forcefully. It hurt your heart to see him go tumbling backwards and almost lose his balance, an instinct inside of you wanted to reach out and help him, but you resisted it and withheld yourself. “Stop talking about him like that.” You told him coldly, sticking your nose up in the air with a confident sniff. “Don’t bring up my memory like you knew me. You’re the goddamn King of Hell. I couldn’t have been that fucking important to you.” You were confused, too many thoughts and feelings rushing through your head at once, but most of all you were angry. Alastor had been there to care for you from the beginning of your affliction, albeit in his own strange way, whereas Lucifer had shown you nothing but coldness from the day you had met him at this hotel, only until recently had he even started to talk to you for more than a minute. How dare he think he had the right to swoop in on his seraphim wings and “save” you from a demon that you hadn’t asked to be saved from. 

You flashed your eyes aggressively at him. “I don’t know who y/n is. My name is Ducki. You know that.” 

A saddened look settled in his eyes, his body frozen with shock as his mind scrambled to process your aggression. But his anger soon flared to match your own. He huffed out an agitated growl. “But that’s not your fucking name! Your name is y/n!” He thrust out a hand to grab yours; to which you pulled back aggressively, twisting out of his reach with an abhorrent look, but he was quicker than you, and honestly becoming tired of this whole game. His fingers locked in between yours, not leaving you an inch of room to pull away from him as he forced your hand to go where it was meant to be. 

A permanent frown was set on his lips as you refused to step closer to him. But he didn’t let your body language stop him from continuing on. He could deal with you being angry with him, forever, if he had to, he could learn to accept that, but he was done pretending like your past no longer existed. Not when he was hurting you. 

He held your hand firmly in his grasp as he fished around in his breast pocket with his other hand. You had hoped his distracted state would’ve aided you in your attempt to pull away from him, but his hold was unyielding. His clawed fingers held on to you with a strong grip; though never tight enough to hurt you like he had. 

As soon as his fingertips touched what they had been searching for, the smooth edges of once glossy paper now worn thin from one too many touches, he immediately showed it to you. The artifact in his hands, the thing looked to be downright *ancient*, chilled your body right down to your bones and halted your incessant squirming. 

An image that had brought him so much heart-aching comfort, his only symbolic light left, was now staring you down in the face, and sending you into a world-shattering shock. 

You felt yourself stop breathing. Your heartbeat urging you to expand your lungs. But your body refused to cooperate as that picture stared back at you. 

A small, barely bigger than Lucifer’s palm, black and white photograph of two people holding on to each other very clearly in love while mid-kiss. The thing was visibly old; weathered from time and handling, smudged with stains and sections of it faded to shades of an odd grey. But the two people were still crisply printed and recognizable. Lucifer on the right, though he looked younger, happier, but it was still undoubtedly him; his hair slicked back and neat, topped with a gleaming kingy crown, and an extravagant regal suit adorning his body as he passionately clutched at the person standing next to him. 

A person who looked strikingly, undeniably, irrefutably like you. 

Kissing Lucifer. Captured forever in a photo. 

“You used to be my Ducky.” You heard him say to you, though you weren’t sure if you ever saw his mouth move; your eyes refused to move off of the picture in front of you. Fuzziness overtook your mind as a certain detail caught your attention within the black and white colors. Front and center of the photo, sitting nestled in between the two of you, brought to life by the flash of the camera, gleamed a set of matching wedding rings securely attached to two clasped hands. 

Your eyes left the photo only for a moment then, to verify that yes, the ring in the picture undoubtedly matched the one that still adorned Lucifer’s hand that clutched onto the cherished photographed memory, a small band of polished gold carved into the shape of two wings snugly set onto his finger. 

Once your eyes flickered back to the stilled image of the two of you holding hands did you notice the other ring, the one that complimented his, the one that sat on your finger. The band of gold shaped into two angel wings, same as his, except yours included the addition of an apple-shaped ruby set into its center. 

The very same piece of jewelry that you had found attached to your finger from the moment you had woken up in that strange bed with no memories. The very same ring that still sat slotted onto your ring finger even now. No matter how many times Alastor had tried to persuade you to take it off. 

The very same ring you had refused to take off, no matter what, even if you couldn’t remember where it had come from, for even the mere thought of removing it caused an aching pain to shoot through your heart. As if you were disgracing a vow you had promised on a long, long time ago. 

Hope shined in his eyes as you began to blink rapidly, processing the puzzle pieces in your mind. You looked down at the wedding ring on your finger. Its blood-red ruby gleamed from the maroon-tinted sunlight pouring in from the nearby window as you fiddled with it within your fingertips. One by one memories seemed to flood back into your mind, the ceaseless fog finally vanishing, revealing the face of the devil standing before you behind it. 

Your fingers twitched to reach out towards him. To touch him. To hold him. An urge you hadn’t felt in months but one that felt like a necessary need now. 

His eyes were locked onto yours as you looked up from your ring to him, even as he tried to blindly put away the photo of the two of you safely back into his pocket. “Luci?” You called out softly, his name barely a whisper as the air stole in from your lips. But he heard it nonetheless. The nickname felt different on your tongue now; now that you remembered. 

A comforting shiver ran down the back of his spine as he absorbed the single word. His name. You remembered the implications of that single word. It held a wholly different feeling in his ears now. He was careful in his movements as he held out his hands towards you. Slow. Steady. Recognizing your fragile state and not wanting to do anything to startle you further. 

His smile was warm. Inviting. Homily familiar. Like a thousand years of pure unadulterated love visibly on display behind those sharp teeth. You crashed into his body before you could stop yourself, your arms constricted around his body in a soul-crushing hug. He let out an audible “oof” from the force, his mind taking a second or two to comprehend that your final decision had been to embrace him. But it wasn’t long before his arms were wrapped around you, holding you to him, right where you belonged, safe in his arms. He buried his nose in your hair, breathing you in. A grin became stuck on his face as he realized your smell hadn’t changed a bit, despite how much time you spent around him. It was something he hadn’t ever forgotten, the warmth of your arms, the comfort of your touch, how he finally felt like he actually belonged when he was with you. He discovered that he never wanted to be apart from that feeling ever again. 

“I’m so sorry.” He heard you whisper into his ear. Barely audible, but his angelic hearing had always been better than most. He immediately pulled you away from his body just enough so he could see your face. Immense sorrow blossomed behind your eyes like untamed weeds. 

He couldn’t help but frown as he grasped your shoulders. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, sweetheart.” 

You heard his words but they barely made it to your mind. “This is all my fault. I started this whole thing. I trusted Alastor. I fled our house. I-” 

Your eyes went wide as a sound cut you off. A soft, but crisp and clear chime. The toll of a bell. It rang once. Only once. And then silence. Perhaps you were hearing things? 

Lucifer called out your name. And that was when you heard it again. Louder this time. A continuous ringing in your ears that seemed to grow more distinct by the second. The intensifying fear on your face was sending Lucifer into a panic. 

“It’s…it’s happening again. Luci!” You clutched onto him, agonizing fright circling in your eyes. “I hear them! The bells!” You cried out in anxious terror. 

“What?!” He was panicked. Angry. Confused. Not sure which emotion he felt more of at that moment. But most of all he was worried. About you. For a brief instant he had gotten you back, all of you, the real you. And now they were threatening to take all of that away from him again. 

“It won’t stop, Hell, it won’t stop! Luci, I’m scared.” The look on your face broke what intact pieces remained of his already fragile heart. 

It was then that he decided. Even if it killed him. Even if they decided to make the trip down here to smite him themselves for his actions. 

He would not stand idly by again. 

He was done letting other people control his life. 

“Ducky, look at me.” He phrased it like a question, though it was meant as more of a demand. You had brought your hands up to your ears, futilely trying to block out the sound of the angelic tolling of the bells in your head, but his powerful voice managed to cut through the ringing. You did as you were told, your eyes focusing on his now red-filled sclera and yellow snake pupils. He wrapped his hands around your waist, pulling you closer to him. A soft smile grew on his face as you melted into his touch despite your turmoil, never once flinching or pulling away from him. “Do you trust me?” He asked. 

You nodded your head quickly without a second thought. Of course you did. You’d trust Lucifer with your life.

And currently you might not have any other choice but to do so. 

The ringing was becoming ear-piercing, on the verge of unbearable as it shrieked in your head. You swore you could feel warm blood trickling down between the fingers pressed against your ears. It seemed the more you resisted the sound the louder it became, your screams of tormented pain practically trying to drown out the chiming of the bells. 

He acted fast, before any more damage could be done; his wings unfurling from behind him in a display of bright golden light that filled the hallway as the six feathered appendages curled around you. A protective shield of equal parts angelic and demonic force. A desperate attempt to protect you from Heaven’s unruly wrath. 

Shimmering spots of gold and red danced in the air around you as you were encased in a dome of feather downing. Lucifer’s hands held steady onto your waist, his fingers a steady grounding force as your skin was set alight underneath his touch. A tingling, comforting warmth seeped into your bones. 

“I won’t let them take you again. I promise. I’ll keep you safe.” He reassured, though neither one of you were sure if he was talking more to you or to himself. 

His voice cut through the bells, an echoing tone that almost demanded you listen. You focused on it, on him, on the safety that you knew was within his presence. His horns and halo had found their way atop his head, a glowing ring of light encircling the snake around his devil’s horns that shone so brightly it almost blinded you. He had closed his eyes, his concentration focused wholly on protecting you. Slowly but surely the ringing seemed to be dissipating, becoming softer in tune as the lights around Lucifer blazed even more intensely. You felt his nails dig into your skin from the pressure of his grasp as you began to hear another sound accompanying the tolling of the bells. 

Soft, melodious, almost angelic-like singing. You couldn’t make out the words over the noise reverberating in your skull, but you could definitely make out the echoing and soothing sound of the voice that cut through the heavenly ringing like a clear hot knife. It worked to drown out the deafening bells until its calming tone was that remained in your ears. 

“And in the end, I won’t lose it all again. 

Now you’re the only thing worth fighting for.

More than anything. 

More than anything. 

I’ll shelter and adore you more than anything.” 

He was singing to you inside of your head. His voice soft and tranquil, a soothing lullaby chasing away the shrieking horrors. His eyes flickered open after a moment, meeting your gaze as everything seemed to return to normal around you. The color of his eyes had returned to their usual pale yellow, his horns and halo had disappeared along with the shimmering lights that had surrounded him. The only thing that remained was the canopy of his wings that covered the two of you. 

Certain that the ringing had completely ceased, you removed your hands from your ears. Bloodstained your hands and the sides of your head but Lucifer didn’t seem to care as his hands automatically found yours, giving your hands a tight squeeze as he held them. 

“You’re okay.” He reassured you. Your shocked expression was becoming worrisome, the way your whole body seemed frozen in his arms. It reminded him a little too much of how you had just ceased existing when the curse had struck the first time…had he failed somehow?  But no, you were looking at him, sort of, you were blinking, breathing. You were still alive. You were still here. With him. “You’re safe, sweetheart. Everything’s okay.” He told you again, giving your hands another squeeze. Still, you gave him no response. No sign of acknowledgment. His brow furrowed as a horrible thought popped into his head. One he realized he had to ask. “...can you…hear me, ducky?”

To be continued in Chapter 12...

Taglist - Let me know if you would like to be added!

@kyo-kyo1 @voxslays @the-enderwolf-princess @fangthesandwing @hayamie @qardasngan @sirens-and-moonflowers @teacherunicorn @torustesseract @diffidentphantom @howlingnia @sleepy-frenchvanilla

[djarins-cyare]

✭ Series Masterlist ✭

Languishing in a dull and lonely existence on the forest moon of Endor after travelling there to help salvage Death Star wreckage, a nearly fatal encounter with a mysterious bounty hunter out in the forest heralds an opportunity to utilise long-forgotten skills and develop something more profound than you ever thought possible.

Second person POV, present tense. Set post-season 2, diverges from Canon events before TBoBF and season 3. This is a novel-length, exceptionally slow burn with an original plot, worldbuilding, and fully-developed characterisation. SWU concepts and lore are accurately researched.

WORDS: 406,700

PAIRING: Din Djarin x Female Reader/You

RATING: Explicit (18+)

CHARACTERS: Din Djarin, Reader/You/Female OC, Original Non-Human Character(s), Original Human Characters, Greef Karga, Cara Dune, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Peli Motto

TAGS: Slow Burn, Slow Build, Romance, Love, Sexual Tension, Eventual Smut, Smut, Sex, Sexual Content, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Relationships, Healthy Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Dark Past, Additional Warnings In Author's Notes, Bounty Hunter Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, Touch-Starved Din Djarin, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Smart Din Djarin, Soft Dominant Din Djarin, Ewok Species, Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a Language, New Razor Crest, Thoroughly Researched, Worldbuilding, No use of y/n.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This took me almost a year to write and four months to edit/proof. Each chapter is prefaced with specific tags and (where necessary) warnings, plus word counts. End notes contain translations and comments… this baby is thoroughly researched, so I’m sharing context where appropriate. I’ve also added definitions of in-universe terms so people less familiar with the franchise won’t be left wondering what the hell certain words or references mean. This is a slow burn (adult themes), and although the explicit content only occurs in the latter half, when it does, it warrants the ‘E’ rating. Basically, the first half is a love story, and the second half gets spicy. I hope you enjoy it!

READ THE COMPLETE STORY ON AO3:

(Chapters containing explicit content marked †)

Chapter 1: The Obstacle

Chapter 2: The Interrogation

Chapter 3: The Covenant

Chapter 4: The Snare

Chapter 5: The Strike

Chapter 6: The Groundwork

Chapter 7: The Genesis

Chapter 8: The Progression

Chapter 9: The Hide

Chapter 10: The Beast

Chapter 11: The Adjustment

Chapter 12: The Storm

Chapter 13: The Broadside

Chapter 14: The Intercourse

Chapter 15: The Village

Chapter 16: The Confession

Chapter 17: The Reprieve

Chapter 18: The Fortification

Chapter 19: The Ambush

Chapter 20: The Meridian

Chapter 21: The Homestretch

Chapter 22: The Union †

Chapter 23: The Overture

Chapter 24: The Crescendo

Chapter 25: The Harmony †

Chapter 26: The Cadence †

Chapter 27: The Ride †

Chapter 28: The Veneration †

Chapter 29: The Spree †

Chapter 30: The Tribute †

Chapter 31: The Courage

Chapter 32: The Feast

Chapter 33: The Exhibition †

Chapter 34: The Reward

Chapter 35: The Binding †

Chapter 36: The Synergy †

Chapter 37: The Match †

Chapter 38: The Flag †

Chapter 39: The Foundling †

Chapter 40: The Future †

Tumblr exclusive bonus scene: The Solace †

Tumblr exclusive NSFW alphabet: The Gratitude †

✨Additional Media✨

@burntheedges has written a spectacular little drabble detailing what Din was up to during the paragraph break near the end of Chapter 1 (*SPOILERS* you don’t find this out until Chapter 27).

@roughdaysandart has sketched a fantastic scene study of the end of Chapter 33, and it’s absolutely perfect (*SPOILERS* cliffhanger ending for the chapter).

@djarin-desires has created some awesome images of a few of the forest scenes using Midjourney.

Here’s a little bonus feature on how I created some of the more complex chapter images: Part 1 and Part 2.

Some anniversary ramblings on my writing journey and editing goals for Be-All, if you’re interested.

I spent a stupid amount of money on the Hot Toys official Din Djarin action figure, simply so I could photograph him in poses from my fic 🤷🏼‍♀️ This is just a taster of what’s to come, but here he is in Chapter 8, offering to help Reader climb onto the speeder.

🧡💚 Thank you for reading! 💚🧡

➤ MAIN MASTERLIST

[birdmitosis]

I suspect that the first season of The Summer Hikaru Died is going to cover just over the first five volumes of the anime. Which sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, but we're practically on pace for it! It seems like each episode is adapting two chapters of the manga plus bringing in a little bit extra from future stuff (Tanaka's earlier involvement being the biggest example). The first five volumes are 26 chapters (plus some extras that, sadly, I imagine are going to get totally left out). Twelve episodes would cover 24 chapters easily, but I also think because of some later stuff being pulled in early, a few of the later episodes may effectively cover three chapters instead of just two.

Specifically, I feel like for the most part, the upcoming episodes will probably go as follows:

Episode 3: Chapters 5-6 Episode 4: Chapters 7-9 Episode 5: Chapters 10-11 Episode 6: Chapters 12-14 Episode 7: Chapters 15-16 Episode 8: Chapters 17-18 Episode 9: Chapters 19-20 Episode 10: Chapters 21-22 (and maybe the beginning of 23?) Episode 11: Chapters 23-25 Episode 12: Chapters 26-27

This seems like it makes the most sense to me, given the pacing of the show so far and what exactly has been pulled from later chapters already. And I may be totally wrong, there's a possibility we'll end Episode 12 on a Chapter 26-related cliffhanger, or even before the beach trip foreshadowed by the ED happens! But honestly, Yoshiki and "Hikaru" noticing the lights in the sky out the train windows would be such a great way to end the season off and teaser for the next(/final?) arc that I can imagine it way too clearly.

[palepinkgoat]

I was asked by someone in the @shamelessdvdcommentary community to share things "behind the scenes" one of my fics. I just think it's the coolest thing so I decided to participate! I hope you enjoy it. <3

Which Fanfic is your DVD commentary about?

Restoration. It's my most "popular" fic by far!

Give us some stats - (when you wrote it, word count, how long it took to finish, is it a one-shot/multi-chapter, etc)

Restoration is a multi chapter fic written in (big gasp!) 2016. It's 14 chapters and took me four months to write. For me that's very fast! But back in that day I was cranking fics out faster. The story is 112,794 words.

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

Well, our air conditioner needed a tune up and we called Bowman HVAC (a real company here, as well as the name I gave the HVAC company in Restoration) and a redheaded technician showed up. The wheels started turning immediately. At the time a lot of houses were being knocked down in the neighborhood (gentrification sucks) so there was a lot of construction happening. I'm sure that helped too.

If the story is written from a character’s POV, why did you choose this character?

I wrote it from Ian's POV. I had only written in his POV one other time. I fell even more in love with him in the process, and exclusively wrote him for years afterward. I can connect to Ian as a bipolar person, and his bipolar features heavily in the story. It seemed like a great opportunity to explore that.

What was your favourite scene to write?

I loved writing the scene with them in the bar bathroom in chapter 3. The first time they kissed . The whole scene felt very alive to me when I wrote it. I also really loved all the scenes with Ian and Sully - they were very fun to write.

How did you come up with the title?

I heard from a neighbor that there were different ways houses could be built, and if you leave any part of the house intact (the neighbor's front porch was left and they built out from that) you can categorize it as a restoration. I liked that. I also really liked the image of rebuilding things metaphorically.

Are there any little moments or references you hope readers will notice?

I'm not sure if this counts but I worked really hard on the construction elements and making them metaphorical to the chapters at the same time!

Was there anything you struggled to write? If so, how did you overcome this?

I don't really remember but I know that a lot of it just flew out of me. I don't remember struggling with any of it, surprisingly!

Favourite line in the story?

I'll pick the end of chapter 4, which includes a scene a lot of readers like. It's the "teaching" scene, wink wink. The last line is "He leans forward and meets Ian's mouth, opening wide and tasting him, them, this."

Did the storyline change in any way as you wrote the story?

I initially thought it would be a lot shorter, but I realized it needed breathing room and a longer timeline. I'm glad I followed that instinct.

If you are writing a particular trope or genre, was it your first time writing this?

I don't think it fits securely in a trope? I'm always a little confused about those.

What are you most proud about in the story? (plot, characterisation, dialogue, twist/cliffhanger, etc)

I'm proud of the bipolar elements to this story, and some of the dialogue. I feel like the dialogue in this was the easiest I've ever written. It was just really nice to write.

Are there any deleted scenes that didn’t make it to the final story?

In the era when I was writing it Amanda was very much in the picture on the show, and I thought her personality would really fit to be one of Ian's "helpers." But I never really got into any scenes with featuring both Lip and Amanda being with Ian at the same time.

Are there any ‘behind the scenes’ info you’d like to share - e.g. what’s going on in a characters head in a certain scene or how you came to write a certain line?

A lot of Ian's med stories and his notebook he keeps for processing episodes and health in general were mine, as well as most of the scenes with the doctor. The office is modeled after that doctor's office and everything. Honestly that doctor and the office were pretty terrible in real life, but I made her better than my doctor was. Now I have a fantastic doctor!

Reading back the story now, is there anything you’d change or add?

I actually did not re-read it for YEARS and re-read it in its entirety for perhaps the first time ever a year or so ago. It probably sounds really vain but I was surprised how cohesive it was and how much I liked it. I'm really proud of it and so glad people like it as much as they do. I don't think I'd change anything really.

Would you ever write a sequel to this story?

I have been asked, but I don't think I could do it! Like I literally think I couldn't write it in the same tone now that it's been so long.

Are there any ‘easter eggs’ in your story - e.g. references to other stories you’ve written, a trope you often use etc?

As far as easter eggs from story to story, I didn't add any of those things to Restoration. I did however reference the Restoration building and street in my recent fic Paragraphs! Another thing to know about me is most of the names I chose for original characters are real names of people I know. For example the developer of the property, Kowalski, is named after one of my besties. Do these people even know I write fanfic? Not really. So it's just for my own amusement. :)

If you’ve chosen your most popular story, are you surprised by the popularity?

I'm amazed at its staying power. I can't believe people are still recommending it and re-reading it. It makes me feel so loved.

Were you nervous or excited to post this story?

Back in that day I didn't feel very nervous. After I wrote this story I felt more nervous because people loved the fic so much and I felt like it was a lot to live up to!

Did you have a beta or a friend who helped you as you wrote?

I did not! Solo act, baby. I have used a beta on Paragraphs and The Ink is a Witness to This though and I think it helps tremendously. Fun fact: it makes me more nervous to share with one person than it does to share with the world which is funny to me.

Ask your followers to pick a snippet (no more than 500 words) and share your thoughts about it.

"Ian nods. Fuck it. He slides off his bed and settles on the floor between Mickey’s legs. “You want to feel it again?” Ha! This is a big reader favorite in this story (and referenced above) and even made into art. I didn't even mean to make it hot. I thought it was just a little scene, no big deal. The response was fun. The gist is Mickey is saying he doesn't know how to give an, uh, below the belt job and Ian kind of "teaches" him by talking him through what he's doing. Thanks to @wehangout for giving me this moment to work with!

Anything else you’d like the readers to know about the story?

I cherish every single reader and all the comments and kudos over the years. Writing this fic completely changed my life. I'm serious. So anyone who likes it or talks about it feeds in to that beautiful change and I'm just so, so grateful. I loved writing it.

[hebuiltfive]

Sooo the prompt thingy I misread and tried to make a prompt - most were kind of romantic which given the pair was a no but then as I cycled through this one came up…

Alan holding Scott's hands when they are shaking.

Which might be rather interesting if it grabs you!?!

Better late than never, right? Sorry it's taken me months to get back to you on this. I'm hoping it's worth the wait. The prompt definitely grabbed me!

Disclaimer to say this is a three chapter story, with no current plans on continuing it, and it does end on a cliffhanger. Also, we don't actually get to the prompt until the last chapter... There was a bit of exposition that needed doing first.

I hope you enjoy it though! 💙 AO3 here

Specter: The Discovery

Ch.1 - The Lunar Expansion And Underground Land Identification Corporation

“Thunderbird Five, do you copy? John, can you… Please, can you hear me?”

He wouldn’t break down into tears, no matter how badly the dams wanted to break. Crying would solve nothing and Alan really, really needed to get this situation solved before it got any worse.

Tapping his comms again, trying not to let his frustration and fear get the better of him, Alan sniffled, faking his best smile. “John, I really could use some of your insanely wise wisdom right about now.”

But the line remained stone cold dead.

14:05

John had relayed the call regarding the four trapped lunar miners at lunchtime.

Alan had launched Thunderbird Three not twenty minutes later, Scott on his left acting as his co-pilot.

There had been nothing in the mission brief to suggest they approach the disaster zone with any more caution than normal. It was, from the information John had received from the ground team, a fairly simple extraction mission. In hindsight, the lack of information that John had been given should have had alarm bells ringing in all their heads.

“What were they even excavating down there?” Scott had asked the valid question once John had given them the very quick lowdown.

“They weren’t clear with me on that.” John replied, the irritation evident in his voice. “All they mentioned was something about a colony.”

Alan had scoffed at that. “On the Moon? Do they not know there’s a successful and vibrant civilisation being built on Mars right now? Who would want to make a new base on the Moon?”

“Uncle Lee still has a fondness for the Moon.” Scott had commented without taking his eyes off the colourful screen of readouts in front of him. He flicked through the various bits of data, his expression growing more and more taut with each swipe. There was not one report that was fully completed, all having various black lines and CLASSIFIED — DO NOT READ signs strewn across the pages. The holograms were a jigsaw of information, no one piece fully complete and legible, and Scott was not happy about it.

“That’s more sentimental.” John pointed out. “Besides, bases and colonies are two very different things. The Moon is a great half-way point to Mars to set up a base, Alan, but that isn’t what they seem to be doing.”

Defeated, Scott had banished the data away from his view with an exasperated sigh. “What did you say the name of this company was again, John?”

“I didn’t. It’s some new start-up, I think. I hadn’t heard about until we got the call. Apparently their business is called ‘The Lunar Expansion and Underground Land Identification Corporation’. If you’re pressed for time, they also go by ‘The Lunar Expansion Co.’ for short.”

Alan hadn’t been impressed with the company’s choice of name and had fought back his urge to eye-roll upon hearing it. Whoever was responsible for creating that mess of a title needed a serious lesson in how to name a company properly. Take their two family businesses — Tracy Industries and International Rescue — they were short, sweet and to the point. Bonus points for their acronyms being easy to remember; TI and IR. They virtually roll off the consumer’s tongue!

LEULIC, however? What kind of an acronym was that? Alan didn’t claim to know much about business, and often left the more complicated matters to his older brothers, but even he knew catchiness was a key selling point when it came to a name! This company’s was too much of a mouthful, and nobody was going to remember LEULIC!

“So, they’re identifying land to expand upon?”

“That’s the idea, Scott, at least from the limited information they’ve given me. No-one on their end has been willing to divulge anything else.”

“Keep talking with them. See if you can get them to open up a bit more. The more we know, the better it’ll be when we get there.”

“F.A.B.”

15:23

Thunderbird Three’s retros fired as they entered the Moon’s orbit.

The sight was one Alan was sure he’d never get used to. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get used to it.

Being International Rescue’s main astronaut, Alan had flown his red rocket to the likes of Mars and Europa, and he had set foot on Haley’s Comet. One day, he dreamed he’d travel to the edge of the solar system in his faithful Thunderbird.

But the Moon?

The Moon meant so much more to him. The Moon was far more special.

Earth’s natural satellite, along with the stars that shared the night-sky, had been the first celestial object that Alan had ever set his eyes upon. With all her swirls and craters, it had been the foundations of all of Alan’s astronaut dreams as a child. Unlike the other planets in the solar system, where one needed a telescope to fully appreciate their beauty, the Moon was almost always visible from Earth with the naked eye. Alan had never mistaken the Moon for a bright star, as he had so often done with the other planets. Even during the light of day, the familiar rock could sometimes be seen, still visible despite the hour.

Always constant, always there.

The Moon.

Beyond that, however, the Moon had been Dad and Uncle Lee’s home for a while. His brothers used to call it ‘Dad’s Office’ and, whenever Alan was missing him, he had taken comfort in the ability to see the rock upon which his Dad had been living and working.

The Moon would never not be special for Alan. He would never tire of visiting it, nor would he ever grow bored of observing it.

As final preparations were made to land and the grey surface spread across Thunderbird Three’s cockpit windows, Alan couldn’t help the small smile that gently formed on his lips.

Three hit the dusty surface with a soft thud.

Scott wasted no time in unbuckling himself from the co-pilot chair. He attached his helmet and checked his wrist unit. A hologram of data emerged, hovering in the air above his arm. Parts were still blocked off, much to Scott’s annoyance, but he swiped through until he found the page he was looking for.

A map that John had managed to wrangle from the Lunar Expansion company.

“We only have two hours until those workers run out of oxygen.”

As Alan followed Scott’s lead, unclipping his helmet from his belt and assessing his own equipment, four blips on the map began to flash; the four trapped miners.

Scott pointed to it. “We’re approximately five miles south of the disaster zone. We’ll take the Explorer Pod and travel north until we meet them. We need to work fast. Time isn’t on our side.”

“Relax, Scott. This is as simple as a mission can be.”

His brother scowled. “You should know better than to use the S word, Alan.”

“Oh, come on! The company with the stupidly long name, trying to create a colony on the Moon?” Alan clicked his helmet into place. The oxygen from his own tank hissed as his suit became airtight. “We’ll be home in time for dinner!”

16:04

The red shell of Three grew smaller and smaller as they travelled across the dusty lunar terrain. Alan tried not to look back. Upon leaving Three’s cockpit, a gnawing sense of doubt over the mission began to rear its head. No matter how much he tried to shake it, the feeling refused to leave him. Glancing back towards his Thunderbird, towards their only ride back home, and watching it shrink in the distance didn’t help matters.

By the time they arrived at the base — if it could even be called such; one lunar rover transporter, two mobile units and a very large drill could hardly be taken seriously as a base! And these people were supposedly trying to build a colony? — Scott and Alan were surprised to see the Lunar team having already begun rescue operations. It was a relief to see that the work done by the Lunar team hadn’t been a complete botch job.

The drill, specially crafted to break apart the lunar surface, had been deployed cautiously in an attempt to burrow a new hole. According to Meg, the leader of the group of miners, the new hole had been excavated beside the first one, but Alan had a hard time figuring out exactly where this initial hole had supposed to have been. Either the team had already done a good job at covering it back over, knowing they wouldn’t be needing it again, or… Alan wasn’t sure what the or was. All he knew was that his rising sense of dread was deepening with each passing second.

The Lunar team had managed to reach the collapsed cavern, where the four trapped miners had been cowering, in less than an hour. Scott had scanned the area briefly, sending his data back to Thunderbird Five. He didn’t bother waiting for John to reply, jumping straight into the action with easy commands and direct instructions for the rest of them, Alan included.

A winch secured. A line tightened. Scott hooked in.

The first two miners were an easy score. Alan had opened comms to inform John that Scott was like the claw in an arcade machine and the miners were the prizes he was winning, only there was no sarcastic retort about how Scott was terrible at the claw machines and that he’d believe it when he saw it.

There was no reply at all. John’s communications were silent.

The situation wasn’t dire, the mission was running smoothly, so why was John so quiet? Alan thought back to the data that Scott had sent him earlier. There had been no response to that message either.

“Hey, Scott…” Alan began as his brother ascended from the hole for the third time, slightly wounded miner under his arm.

“Can’t stop, Allie. The last one’s disappeared.”

Alan ceased his prodding and poking of his wrist unit to glance up at Scott. His brow creased, perplexed. “What do you mean ‘disappeared’? It’s a cave-in. Where else could he have gone?”

Scott rose both his arms up in an exasperated shrug. “All I know is that he was there when I was retrieving Miner Two but he was gone when I went back for this one.”

“Does she not know where he went?”

“Shock.” Scott explained, tugging again on the rope strapped to his waist. “Couldn’t get anything from her.”

The comms situation could wait, Alan decided. He lowered his wrist and began to set up his own winch system.

“No, Alan, you stay here.”

“Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

“Yes, but it’s better if you remain top-side for now.”

“If you’re expecting trouble, it’s probably better if I come down with you.”

“Who said I’m expecting trouble?”

“Your face, your voice, your general ‘must keep Alan out of harm’s way’ schtick.”

Once upon a time, Alan resented his older brothers for trying to keep him out of the loop. Even at the age of ten, when they tried to keep the worst parts of Dad’s explosion from him, Alan had insisted he’d been old enough to deal with it all. Nowadays, he understood, even if he still didn’t always agree with it.

Scott chuckled. “I’m not apologising for it, Alan.”

“I don’t like this, Scott.”

He had dropped his voice down to a whisper so only his brother could hear. Scott strolled over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Despite Alan’s growth spurt a few years prior, he still wasn’t quite at Scott’s height, and so his brother tilted his head down. “Like you said, simple mission, right?”

“I definitely think I spoke too soon.”

“Also like you said,” Scott continued, not allowing Alan the chance to feel guilty for accidentally jinxing their mission, “it’s caved-in. There’s hardly many places he could be. I’ll be out again before you know it, missing miner in tow, alright?”

Alan could feel his goosebumps rising. His cheek twitched.

“Hey?” Scott patted his shoulder before letting go. “Time is running out.”

His brother had tried to reassure him, but Alan felt no more reassured than he did twenty seconds before. He gave Scott his best smile regardless. Scott’s returning smile was doubtful in itself. Alan knew his brother too well for Scott to hide the concern in his eyes.

He watched as his brother lowered himself over the edge of the hole, as the blue and grey of his uniform slowly descended down into the dark abyss, with his gut instincts screaming at him to pull him back up.

Jeff had always taught his boys to never discount their instincts, to always trust what they felt, no matter how ridiculous it might have been. Alan ignored those words of wisdom. He ignored his instincts entirely, opting instead to tend to the shocked miners. His mind, he decided, just needed something else to occupy it until Scott got back.

Only Scott wasn’t coming back, and Alan’s realisation of that came all too late.

[autumnshighlady]

I've Always Liked to Play With Fire (part 23)

NESTA ARCHERON X ERIS VANSERRA X FEMALE!READER

summary: continuation of the last chapter

warnings: nothing but pure angst tbh

word count: 4.8k

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE

a/n: i was debating letting y'all stew on the cliffhanger for a week or so but after killing Lirilla I figured that'd be too mean. So anywho, here's the next part...

part 1 // part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9 / part 10 / part 11 / part 12 / part 13 / part 14 / part 15 / part 16 / part 17 / part 18 / part 19 / part 20

read on ao3

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The world stopped turning as Eris’s screams ripped through the air. Grief tore through Eris’s end of the bond like a current, threatening to spill over and consume you. The Prince fell to his knees, crawling towards his mother’s body. Nesta’s grey eyes were wide with horror, her hand over her mouth as she shrunk back. It wasn’t hard to figure out just how easily this reminded her of her own father’s death.

You were utterly paralyzed with shock, jaw slack as your gaze remained glued on the lifeless body of the Lady of Autumn. Her russet eyes were dull, the warmth that she had gazed at you with as she tried to comfort you was completely gone. Her collarbone jutted out beneath her thin, pale skin. Only then did you notice how small, how frail she truly was. It was as if the life had been sucked from her body long before her husband snapped her neck.

Beron stood over Lirilla’s body, staring down at Eris with disgust. There was no remorse on his face, as if he hadn’t just murdered his wife to spite his eldest son. Eris wept, pale hands trembling as he cradled Lirilla’s face in them. He pressed his forehead into hers, gut-wrenching sobs shredding at your heart as you watched the normally stone-cold male wailing over his mother’s body. It was as if he was a child again, desperately clinging to his mother in search of some feeling of comfort from her lifeless form.

“You’re sick.” Nesta’s voice was a broken whisper, laced with hatred as she met the eyes of the High Lord. There was no sign of those glorious silver flames, as if they, too, had given up all hope. Eris had stopped sobbing, his eyes glassy and numb as he laid over his mother’s body, wrapping his arms around her small form.

Beron only smiled sickly. “I told him countless times, his soft spot for his wench of a mother would be his downfall. I am making him stronger, this way. He will not be burdened by doltish feelings anymore.”

“You’d murder his mother and let his own mate get killed just to prove a point?” Nesta said, looking as if she was going to throw up. You squeezed your eyes shut, forcing yourself to look away as you leaned into Azriel for support. At this point, you weren’t sure if your legs would support you any longer.

That otherworldly High Lord power thrummed from Beron as he spoke. “Precisely. Now here’s what’s going to happen. Eris is the only son I have left who is not a whimpering fool. Despite his scheming, I will not allow myself to be without an heir. It would weaken me and this court, and I will not have that happen. You are to kneel before me and swear fealty to me, in perpetuity. After you serve your punishment, all will be forgiven. This marriage will resume. The other girl will die, and you and my son will wear these for the rest of your lives.”

The dread that rippled through your body at Beron’s promise of your demise was quickly replaced by a newfound horror as the High Lord snapped his fingers, and two objects appeared in his hands. They were golden torques, a sharp arrow at each end poised towards where Nesta and Eris’s throats would be. From the second they appeared, you felt a darkness creep into the room. And by the way Nesta flinched, she could feel it too. There was a sentience to them, as if they were speaking to you in an ancient tongue, each word coming out as a demonic hiss. 

“What the hell are those?” Nesta muttered, her breathing shallow.

“My insurance policy,” Beron smirked. “A way of ensuring you never even think of pulling a stunt like this again.”

Something clicked in your brain as you recognized what the torques were. Fear hit you like an icy wave, and you frantically reached out to Nesta. Don’t let him put those around your neck, You mind-spoke to her. Whatever you do, do not put it on. I’ve read about objects like these. They come from another world and will enslave you to Beron. Your free will would be gone and you will become his puppet with no way out.

You vividly recalled finding the ancient scroll in the House of Wind’s library. It was nearly completely faded, but with Gwyn’s help you managed to make out the text. It spoke of another universe, one infested with demons that used dark objects like rings and collars to enslave and possess people with dark magic, allowing a new host to take over. From the way Beron smirked at Nesta and Eris, it was clear that the objects in his hand possessed the same properties.

How the hell he managed to get his hands on something like this, you didn’t know.

“Now kneel before me, both of you.” Beron continued coldly. “And beg for forgiveness.”

Nesta looked back to you, desperation in her eyes. You only stared back hopelessly, knowing there was nothing either of you could do at this point. You slumped against Azriel, the Illyrian still as a statue, shadows swirling around protectively. His siphons continued to glow, but you knew Beron wouldn’t break a sweat ripping through his shield. 

It was over.

All your planning, everything you’d done to get to this point, was all for nothing. Beron was about to kill you and enslave Nesta and Eris for eternity.

“Leave.” You muttered to Azriel softly. “There’s no use in you dying with me. Get out of here.”

You felt oddly calm in the face of death. Even though you were utterly powerless in this situation, you could at least make sure that Azriel was able to get out. He had helped you enough, you weren’t about to let him be dragged down with you.

But the shadowsinger’s voice was firm as he spoke. “Don’t,” He said sternly. “I will not let you get killed.”

You sighed as his shadows curled around your fingers reassuringly, as if they were trying to provide some form of comfort. You took one last look at Nesta and Eris before closing your eyes.

“No.” Eris’s hoarse voice echoed throughout the chamber, making your eyes snap open.

With one last sorrowful glance at his mother’s body, Eris pushed himself up. Amber eyes steeled with determination as he stared down his father.

“What did you just say to me?” Beron growled.

“I said,” Eris’s voice strengthened. “No.”

The High Lord scoffed. “Wipe those tears off your face before you speak to me, boy. Love is weakness, your mother’s death is on your hands–”

Beron didn’t get to finish his sentence before the ground shook beneath you and angry orange fire erupted from Eris. Pure, unfiltered power filled the room as Eris let out a godly cry, flames rippling off of him in waves. It wrapped around Beron, smothering the High Lord’s every attempt to fight back. 

Beron may have more experience and magic, but it was no match for Eris’s rage. 

The dark cell was lit up in an orange light as Eris was enveloped in his own flames. They swirled around him like a suit of armour, different shades of red yellow and orange blazing furiously. Beron screeches as the waves of fire smothered him, burning his aged skin layer by layer.

You saw Nesta step towards him, silver flame in hand, ready to join the fight.

No, You said to her. Eris needs to do this on his own.

She paused, then nodded, taking a step back. 

Eris’s fire was relentless, surging into his father with all their might. His lip was drawn back in a snarl as he continued to cast his flames into Beron, burning the male alive. He looked like a flaming god, a phoenix of hell sent to remake the world with his fire. You covered  your ears with your hands, trying to block out the sickening screams of Beron. Instead of watching, you buried your face into Azriel’s side. As much as you hated Beron, this was not something that you wanted to bear witness to.

The roar of the fire was thunderous, threatening to overwhelm all your senses. It shook your very bones like an earthquake. Only when you felt it cease, did you finally open your eyes.

There was a pile of ash where Beron Vanserra once stood, the gut-churning smell of burnt flesh potent in the air. Angry scorch marks adorned the walls and floor from where Eris’s flames had been minutes ago as they had relentlessly torn away at the High Lord. Eris was doubled over on the floor, Nesta crouching by his side.

“Eris?” She asked worriedly as the male gasped.

A soft glow emitted from Eris’s skin, and he writhed in agony as new power flowed through him. The power of a High Lord.

You watched in awe as the scent of raw magic filled your senses, its coppery taste in your mouth as you breathed it in. You could see Eris’s veins through his pale skin, shining like gold as his body was encapsulated in magic. After a minute, he stopped moving. You could hear his heartbeat, so slow it made you break out of Azriel’s arms and rush forward.

You called out his name, crouching down beside Nesta and putting a hand on the autumn male’s arm. Immediately, you jerked it back. His skin was burning hotter than anything you had felt. He was utterly still, almost dead looking beside his mother.

As a final resort, you opened up that part of the bond you had tried to seal shut. Eris? You called out to it. A powerful hum pulsed in response, unlike anything you had ever felt before. You could feel Eris on the other end – different than before, but your Eris nonetheless.

You felt Nesta’s presence too, her silver mist of the bond reaching down towards Eris as well. In the distance, through that mental bridge you could see a faint silhouette writhed in orange flame. You extended a hand towards it through the bond, reaching out for Eris. Nesta did the same, and together, you reached down the bond and grasped onto Eris, giving a gentle but firm pull.

Amber eyes shot open and Eris gasped for breath as he woke. 

“Thank the Mother.” You muttered. As much as you were mad at Eris for keeping the bond a secret, you couldn’t imagine what you’d have felt if he didn’t wake up. For him to die thinking you hated him… it was something you couldn’t handle.

With the help of you and Nesta, Eris rose to his feet. A new aura of power surrounded him, the unmistakable magic of a new High Lord.

Beron was dead, and his magic had chosen Eris.

“Are you really…” Nesta asked, grey eyes scanning Eris up and down. “High Lord?”

Eris nodded, unable to speak. But the powerful glow in his eyes faded as his gaze landed on Lirilla’s body, still crumpled on the floor. “It doesn’t matter.” He muttered. “He killed her. With his bare hands.”

Your heart broke even more hearing the defeat in his voice. This was a moment Eris should have been celebrating – it was something he spent years trying to achieve, yet he paid a price for it.

No. You wouldn’t let it end like this.

Carefully, you let go of Eris and walked over to Lirilla’s body. You knelt down beside it, brushing the auburn hair from her pale face. 

“What are you doing?” Nesta asked, confused.

“I want to try something.” You responded. Not bothering to explain, you closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You pictured that clearing in the village, the one in a dream-like state where you first met Estelle.

Please, Estelle, You called out to her. I need you right now.

Truthfully, you had no idea if this would work. Your conversation with the goddess could have been a one time thing. But you couldn’t imagine Eris risking everything to help you, only to lose his mother for good in the process.

After a few minutes of pleading, you felt your eyes open. But you were no longer in the dark dungeons of Autumn. Instead, you were on a bench in your village clearing, a gentle white mist covering the surroundings. You felt light and weightless, all aches and pains of your body having vanished.

“Hello, my child.” Came the familiar voice of Estelle.

You whipped your head to the side as the mists parted, the Mother goddess walking through towards you. Her white robes floated around her, eyes shining with starlight as her gaze landed on you. You bowed your head respectfully, and she laughed.

“There is no need for that.” Estelle said softly as she came to stand in front of you.

“Sorry.” You muttered, straightening your back. “But I really need your help.”

The goddess smiled sadly. “I know what you are going to ask of me. But I cannot bring the Lady Lirilla back.”

“I know,” You continued, taking a deep breath. “But I was wondering if I could. After all, you said that when Hybern attacked my village, I absorbed the life force of everyone that died, and that it became a power I could use to wield.”

Estelle did not say anything. She only stared at you with an unreadable expression.

“Please,” You begged, voice breaking. “She’s Eris’s mother.”

“My child,” Estelle’s voice was gentle but firm. “Lirilla suffered a hard life. Even if she were to be brought back, she would have a lot of trauma to deal with. Letting her rest may be the kinder path.”

“No.” You said sternly. “After everything she went through she deserves a chance. Feyre Archeron was brought back, as were Rhys and Amren during the war. How is it fair that they get to be brought back after death and Lirilla doesn’t?”

“Not everything is meant to be fair.”

You stood up, facing the goddess with a steeled expression. Anger boiled in your gut at her refusal to help. “Look,” You snapped. “I came here asking you for guidance, not permission. I may be an incarnate version of you, but I am not tied to your decisions. This is my power to do with as I please, so I am asking you once again: could I use it to bring her back?”

You half expected Estelle to get angry and send you back to reality, but she just looked at you with a sombre expression. “So young, so determined.” She muttered. “You remind me of myself when I was your age, all those millenia ago. I will not stop you, but it is not simple. In order to bring Lirilla back, you must do a trade – find a soul who died that day in your village who is willing to give up their eternity of peace. While you can bend this power of life to your will, the life forces of those who you absorbed still belong to them.”

“A soul for a soul.” You muttered.

“Yes. That is the only way you can bring her back in a manner that does not utilise dark magic and risk severe consequences.”

“Ok. How do I find a soul then?”

Estelle smiled softly, putting a soft hand on your cheek. “You have been so brave and endured so much.” She murmured. “Good luck, my child. May we meet again.”

“Wait–” Your protest died off as her starry image faded into the mist. You huffed angrily, wringing your hands together. Time was running out – you had no idea how long you would stay here, but you were determined to make the most of it.

Gathering your wits, you stepped through the mist along the path that led to the heart of your village. Your feet made no noise on the ground, as if you were a ghost. Eventually, the mist began to lighten, and you heard lively chatter in the distance.

You broke into a full on sprint, racing towards the noise. As you went through the archway of your village entrance, the sight before you made you stop dead in your tracks.

Children were playing games under the large willow tree, their laughter echoing on the gentle breeze. Elderly couples sat on the benches, content to enjoy the sunshine. Smells of freshly baked bread and rich flowers filled your nostrils, and your eyes watered. Your village was lively again, the faces of those you had seen bloody and dead now filled with life as they once were.

“Hey, bitch!” The familiar husky voice of your best friend Sapphyra sounded in your ear as strong arms wrapped around you.

Nothing could stop the tears that flowed down your cheeks as you felt Sapphyra hug you. Sobs wracked your body as you clung onto her, savouring every inch of her presence. Her dark hair was pulled back in its usual braid, her muscles even leaner than when she was alive.

“It’s you…” You sobbed. “I can’t believe it’s you. Last time I say you–”

“Hush,” She said gently, pulling away and holding you by your shoulders, as if sensing you needed grounding. “We don’t talk about that here. None of us speak of the day we died. It’s not something any of us wants to remember.”

You wiped your tears away. Your heart swelled, seeing her filled with life again.

“I know why you’re here.” Sapphyra said. “You want one of us to trade our souls to bring Eris’s mother back.”

You nodded. “I can’t let her go, Sapphyra.”

“I know. But there’s something you should know. Whoever helps you bring her back will lose their spot in the afterlife. If Lirilla dies, that soul will not return here. They will be gone forever.”

You blanched, guilt prickling your heart. “How am I supposed to ask anyone here to do that for me? It’s not fair to them.”

She smiled. “I don’t think you’ll have to ask. We’ve all been watching you, rooting for you on our end of the universe. There will be somebody who is willing to give up their spot in eternity to help you. I promise.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Now, enough of me. You only have so much time here, so make the most of it.” Sapphyra clapped you on the back, pushing you towards the crowd that had gathered at your arrival.

You spent the next few minutes receiving more hugs than you ever had in your entire life. Fae of all ages holding your hand, wishing you the best and saying how proud they were of you. You did not idle for small talk, knowing Sapphyra was right. You only had so much time.

A familiar male made his way through the crowd, a tender smile on his face. “Hey, kiddo.” He said softly.

Your throat closed up. “Father…”

You leapt into his arms, clinging onto him like a child on their first day of school. He hugged you tightly, your tears staining the pale green tunic he wore as you sobbed into him.

“I am so proud of you.” He murmured, kissing the top of your head. “You have fought so hard. Harder than you should have to.”

“I’m tired, dad.” You said quietly. “I’m so tired.”

“I know. But the hardest part is over. You just have to figure out how to move forward.”

You let go of his embrace, staring up at his green eyes sorrowfully. “I miss you.”

He smiled. “I miss you, too. But there’s someone else who wants to see you, and you don’t have much time. Go to the house. She’s waiting for you.”

Your father patted you on the back, gently steering you in the direction of your family cottage a few feet away. It took everything in you not to turn back for one more glance at him as you made your way up the steps and pushed open the door.

There, in the living room of your cottage, stood your mother. A soft smile on her face, devoid of the blood and gore you had last seen on it as she died. It was the straw that broke you, and you crumpled to the floor in front of her. “Mama…” Was all you could choke out as she wrapped her arms around you.

“It’s okay, honey. I’m here.” She murmured, stroking your hair. “Oh, my sweet girl…”

You didn’t know how long you stayed in her embrace. It felt like forever, but not long enough as she gently pried you off of her.

“There’s so much I want to say, but we don’t have the time.” Your mother said urgently as you leaned into her touch, afraid to let go. “You came here to save another person from losing their mother, did you not?”

You nodded.

“I may not have been able to help stop any of the horrible things that happened to you,” She said sorrowfully. “But I can help you with this. Let me be the soul who will bring the Lady of Autumn back.”

Your heart dropped. “No.” You said firmly. “Sapphyra told me that whoever helps me will lose their spot here in the afterlife. If I die I won’t see you again.”

She smiled, eyes lined with tears. “I know that, my love.”

“But you’re finally at peace.” You sobbed harder.

“Which will be for nothing if I do not use it to help my daughter.” Your mother insisted. “I know what it’s like to lose a mother. And so do you. And so does Nesta. If we can spare Eris that pain too, that is a sacrifice I will gladly make for your mate.”

You took in a shaky breath. “Me, Nesta, and Eris… all being mates. You don’t disapprove or think it’s weird?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “No, I do not. I think you deserve all the love this world has to offer you. I am happy for you, (Y/N). And I want you to live a long and happy life with both your mates at your side.”

As much as you wanted to bring Lirilla back, your heart shattered all over again at the thought of losing your mother twice. “Please…” You cried. “Please don;t leave me again.”

“I will never leave you,” She promised. “By doing this, I will be even closer to you than I am now. I will always be with you.”

“Will she know it’s you?”

“No, she will not know whose soul brought her back. But you will. And you’ll have a piece of me with you down there in Autumn.”

Your head ached from the tears you had been shedding. Your kind, selfless mother was willing to trade a peaceful eternity with her husband and community, all so your mate could have his own mother.

You wanted to say no, to demand somebody else does it. But you remembered Estelle’s words, how a soul had to be given willingly. Your mother offering her own as a trade was your only chance.

“Are you sure?” You asked, cherishing the sight of her kind face for the last time of your immortal life.

Your mother nodded. “A thousand percent.”

You could barely get the words out. “Then tell me what I need to do.”

“In a minute, you will go back to your world. I will fade into a ball of light, summoned into your hands. I want you to press it to Lirilla’s heart, use your magic to push it into her body. I will do the rest. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. It’s time now. Come here.” She pulled you into one last hug, the final embrace your mother would ever be able to give you in her current form, even if you died one day and joined your people here in the afterlife. Her comforting scent of jasmine surrounded you as you clung onto her.

A gentle, white light began to glow from her skin, and you sobbed harder as you felt her slowly begin to slip away.

“I love you.” Were the last words to leave her lips as the light consumed you both, and you tumbled back into darkness.

 *********************

When you opened your eyes again, the stifling smell of the dungeon washed away the blissful memories of the village. Your eyes adjusted to the darkness, and your vision focused finally. Nesta and Eris were crouched across from you on the other side of Lirilla’s body.

“(Y/N)?” Eris asked. “Where did you go just now?”

You didn’t say anything, too tired to even try and explain. You looked down at the Lady of Autumn, laying on her back in front of you. And then you felt it – that warm, jasmine scented presence compacted into a ball of light in your hand. Slowly, you uncurled your fist to reveal it, and its soft light filled the room.

Nesta’s eyes widened. “What is that…”

“My mother…” You choked out, curling your other hand over top of the small bulb of light. “She offered her soul in exchange… it’s to bring your mother back.”

Eris’s jaw went slack. “(Y/N)...”

“Don’t…” You cut him off, not wanting to cry again. “Don’t make this harder. Let me do this for you, please.”

The new High Lord paused for a moment, then nodded, sorrow filling his eyes as he observed your tear stained cheeks. You took a shaking breath, pressing your light-filled hands to Lirilla’s chest, just above her heart.

A soft sound like a dewdrop hitting a puddle echoed throughout the dungeon, and you closed your eyes and willed the light to spread.

And spread it did.

A white glow washed under Lirilla’s skin, expanding from her heart down her arms and legs, before finally coming over her face. The scent of jasmine and starlight filled the air, a bittersweet reminder of what this had cost. A gentle breeze caressed your cheek, its presence unmistakable.

Thank you for letting me do this. It seemed to say.

As the light faded, the Lady of Autumn’s eyes opened as she inhaled a breath of life. You fell back, breath shuddering as the world spun slightly. Your legs were wobbly as you pushed yourself back up. You staggered backwards into Azriel, who helped you regain your balance. You turned to thank him, but his hazel eyes were fixed on the scene before him, utterly shocked.

Eris let out a cry of relief, reaching forward and grabbing his mother’s hands, which now were bright with warmth. “Mother?”

“Eris?” Lirilla croaked, looking around frantically. “Your father…”

“He’s gone.” Eris said through tears. “I killed him. You don’t ever have to be afraid of him again.”

Lirilla’s eyes widened, and she sat up with the help of Eris and Nesta. “I… I was dead, wasn’t I? He killed me. How…”

While Nesta helped the Lady of Autumn stabilise herself, Eris walked over to you. Your throat was dry, your legs so weak you relied on Azriel to help hold you upright. Between the mental exhaustion of your ordeal and the physical toll the magic took, you were utterly spent. But you met his gaze, wanting to say a hundred things to him at once. But nothing came out.

The new High Lord dropped to his knees before you, grabbing your hands and pressing his forehead against them. “I am indebted to you for the rest of our eternal lives, (Y/N).” He said. “There are no words in any tongues I know to properly thank you for what you did. For what you sacrificed to do this for me. I…” His voice trailed off.

You crouched down in front of him, gently removing your hands from his and cupping his face. “You’re my mate, Eris.” You said softly. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

As you wrapped your arms around the sobbing male, you felt the glow of the mating bond in your chest, brighter and stronger than ever. Nesta appeared beside you, pulling both you and Eris into her arms as she let out a sigh of relief. 

You felt the bond between you and her glow, too. Each rope led to the two fae in your arms, all glowing with equal strength and passion. There was no faltering, no weakness of one bond over the other. They were all the same – all pure, unfiltered love.

As Eris pressed his head into your chest, you leaned your own head on Nesta’s shoulder, the presence of your two mates soothing the raw ache in your chest from your mother’s sacrifice.

You did well, child, Came Estelle’s faint voice in your head. Everything will be okay.

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[skywalking-through-life]

cannot believe you would make me wait two more weeks for demigod Andromeda clues 😭😭😭 i EARN for them and for everyone's reaction

Now that were on eleven chapters do you have a more clear view of the chapter count? Do you think you're gonna keep at 13 or youll need 15?

(Also, Hyrax for Andromeda's personal guard is my new vision!)

LOL, so what I'm hearing is that I should try and post this upcoming chapter early? 😉 (As always, no promises, but: we'll see!)

I'm really loving how much you (and the others!) are having fun with all my subtle (and less) subtle Andromeda clues! It's so delightful to see what y'all pick up on, and how you are slowly filling in the picture of who she is. 😉

Great question!! So, I'll try and break down my vision for what's left in this fic: there are 6ish scenes left, half of which are currently written, half of which are not. My usual pattern is to have between 2 and 4 scenes per chapter, depending on what I need to happen in the chapter, whether I want to leave a cliffhanger or not, and how long each scene is. Because a few of the last scenes aren't written yet, I don't know how long they are going to be, which is affecting the way I think through the final few chapters! What I WILL say is that you can absolutely guarantee 2 more chapters, and that it is likely there will be another after that. So 13-14 is probably the likliest final chapter count. But never fear! If you are thinking, 'Sky, you aren't going to be able to wrap all the loose ends up neatly in 2-3 chapters!', you're right. That's what sequels are for. 😉

What a delightful vision for Andromeda! I love it. 😉

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 19

Hey, guys. Sorry it took so long to get this out. The chapter was fighting me and I have had the absolutely worst week. However in slightly happier news, my partner got a new job and that means I should be able to quit mine and go back to writing full time. I'll let you know more when I do, but it's looking more and more likely.

I realized it had been a while since we had an Eddie centric chapter and decided this would be the one. And I left it on a cliffhanger again. But don't worry next chapter will see more than one villain vanquished.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18

***

Eddie was seething. He hadn’t been this mad since he learned Max was moving to New York. Actually. No. He was madder then that. He was pissed.

Gareth grimaced. “They won’t do anything?”

“No,” Eddie growled. “Because he technically hasn’t violated the protection order, according to them.”

“If he can’t get with in five hundred feet,” Brian said, “then how did he find out about Steve.”

Eddie threw up his arms into the air. “That’s what I asked.”

“I’m betting,” Mandy said, “that they didn’t have a good answer?”

“Apparently since Seth showed up at Hopper’s,” Eddie snarled, “and not Steve’s shop, that he was just going around to all the tattoo parlors and threatening everyone.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I bet they didn’t even check with other tattoo shops and just made that shit up.”

“I even talked to Officer Callahan who was in charge of the original case file because he’s not supposed to be out of jail yet,” Eddie said, beginning to pace. “He never went.”

“What?!” came the shocked cry of outrage from everyone.

“Yeah,” Eddie continued. “Apparently he made a deal with the DA and they didn’t tell me. He got two years probation.”

“That’s bullshit!” Mandy hissed. “He was going to kill you.”

“Criminal mischief,” Eddie said. “Domestic abuse down to criminal mischief. $300 fine, two year probation, and forced to take a class about how not to be a violent offender.”

“It’s because you’re a man, isn’t it?” Gareth asked, licking his lips slowly. “These fuckers don’t think a man can be abused.”

Eddie pursed his lips into a line and nodded.

“Hop’s calling in a couple of favors to keep Steve safe,” he said. “But that does jack shit about me. And this isn’t me calling out that shit. That’s Hop’s prerogative but he’s my dumb ass ex, who’s protecting me?”

“We are,” Jeff said. “You don’t go anywhere without one of us. Garth, since you’re the only one without a roommate at the moment, Eddie’s going to stay with you. Brian, talk to Cecil, he’s studying law. See what he can recommend.”

Gareth and Brian both nodded.

Eddie buried his head into his hands. “This is such bullshit.”

Mandy came up and gave him a hug. “We’ll get through this. We did before and we will again. And this time we have more people that would be willing to help. Steve, Robin, Chrissy, hell the whole of the Royal Pain would throw hands for you.”

Eddie chuckled. He knew that too. “Well, maybe not Erica.”

Brian snorted. “That girl would sell her own mother for a cookie.”

“Not even a Girl Scout cookie,” Jeff agreed. “That girl is bound for world domination.”

“No doubt.”

*

“You tell me right now,” Wayne said when Eddie had called that night, “do you need me up there? Because work be damned, boy, I’ll be up there in two shakes of lamb’s tail.”

Eddie chewed on his nail. He felt like that little boy all over again. Being given the choice between being with his uncle or being put in a foster home. He didn’t want to be a bother to anyone, but he knew. He knew that Wayne was someone that wouldn’t care. That he could be as big a bother as he wanted, he would still be loved.

He let out a shuddering breath and like that little boy all those years ago said, “Yes. Please.”

“I’ve got some vacation time coming,” Wayne said as if he didn’t have weeks and weeks of it stored up because he was never sick a day in his life. “I cane be up there for as long as you need me, you hear?”

“I’m staying with Gareth for the time being,” Eddie said solemnly, “because Jeff is worried that Seth will follow me home.”

“Smart man, your Jeff,” Wayne agreed. “I have a friend in Indy I can crash on the sofa of for a couple of days until I can find something a little more permanent.”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “Let me know when you get into town and we’ll meet up for lunch.”

“You can finally take me to that pizza place you’ve been going on about for months.”

Eddie laughed, a knot loosening in his chest. “You’ve got it, old man.”

*

A few days later Steve was waiting for the pizza he had ordered for the shop, playing silly games on his phone when the bell announced new arrivals. He looked up instinctively and grinned.

He waved. “Eddie!”

Eddie lit up with a big smile. “Stevie?” He hopped over, an older man following a little slower behind.

“Hey!” Steve greeted. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Eddie’s smile turned into a grin. “DiMaggio’s is the best pizza place in Indy, not coming here is a crime.”

“If it’s not it certainly should be,” Steve agreed with his own answering grin.

“Steve,” Eddie said, “this is my uncle, Wayne. He’s staying in town for a few days.”

Steve’s mood was dampened a bit, knowing why he was in town. “Nice to meet you. I was planning a trip back down Hawkins at the end of the summer so that Eddie could introduce us, sorry we had meet under lesser than ideal circumstances.”

Wayne blinked at him for a moment before turning to Eddie. “This one is a keeper.”

Eddie blushed, shoving his hair in front of his face, ducking his head to hide his embarrassment.

Steve just smiled fondly at him. “I think that’s up to him.”

Wayne’s eyebrows shot up. “I like him.”

That surprised a laugh out of Eddie causing him to drop the hair. “Me too.”

“Let me just go order our pizzas,” Eddie murmured and darted for the front counter.

“He’s cute,” Steve said, waving his hand to the chair in front of him for Wayne to sit.

Wayne took the seat and smiled. “He certainly is. I’m glad the world didn’t beat the silliness out of him.”

“Me too,” Steve agreed. “I love how earnest and outgoing he is.”

Wayne hummed. “He tell what was going on?”

Steve nodded. “I’m afraid it’s my fault. Seth came after me at a friend’s shop, tried to threaten me into leaving Eddie alone.”

“I don’t think being threatened is the fault of the victim,” he said, his voice a deep comforting rumble.

Steve blushed. “That’s what Jeff and Robin said.”

“Jeff I know,” Wayne said, “Robin I don’t, but it sounds to me like they both have their heads on straight and you should be listening to them and not that voice in the back of your head.” He tapped Steve forehead for emphasis.

The bell above the door rang again and Mike and Will walked in. Steve raised a eyebrow when he spotted them.

“DiMaggio’s is certainly hopping for a random Thursday,” he commented dryly to Will when he lead a slightly reluctant Mike over to their table. Eddie arrived at the table just moments later and there are hugs and greetings all around.

“You caused quite a stir at the latest family dinner,” Will said with a huge grin to Steve.

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, how did that happen?”

“Jonathan is back on Mom’s couch,” he said with a smirk.

Steve reared his head back. “And how did that involve me?”

“Argyle kicked him out of the apartment because him and Nancy lied to him about who’s fault your and her relationship ended.”

“Nancy is furious at them both,” Mike said with a half shrug. “I’m not sure their relationship is going to survive that little revelation.”

Steve winced. “Yeah...that’s on them though. How was I to know that Jonathan hadn’t been honest to Argyle about that.”

Eddie bumped his shoulder. “You weren’t.”

“Oh we are totally on your side,” Will said.

Mike nodded. “Yeah, man. It was straight up bullshit all the lying they did.”

“Mom’s pissed because she really liked you,” Will continued, “and believed Jonathan about how things went down. Like of course she did. He’s her son, but she should have tried to get your side of it.”

“Those eight years are totally on her,” Steve said, holding his hands up in surrender. “You’ve been trying to tell her for years to at least talk to me about it.”

Will and Mike nodded.

Mike chewed on his lip as he played with the loose string on the hem of his t-shirt. “Is it bad I hope Nancy and Jonathan break up?”

The table got silence for a moment.

Wayne lifted his chin. “Why’s that, son?”

“Because I don’t think she wants a relationship. I think she was only with Jonathan and Steve,” he said waving at him with his left hand, “is because that’s what you’re ‘supposed’ to do.”

“Steve!” the counter called.

Steve got up to get his pizza order, he stopped back at the table. “I don’t think it’s a bad you want your sister to learn how to be herself without a partner. I think it shows that you’re more mature then she is. You’re a good man, Mike.”

He clapped Mike’s shoulder and then waved goodbye to everyone. He pulled out his keys and walked out to his car, flipping the key ring around as he thought.

He never intended this to happen when he saw his ex at the grocery store, but honestly? Maybe it was a good thing to get all those wounds brought to light so that they could heal properly.

For all their sakes.

*

Steve was ready for the weekend. His week had been a literal hell. But Eddie had promised that he would have fun. The band had been practicing a couple of new songs and were debuting them Saturday night.

He sat at the curve of the table, sandwiched between Robin, who wouldn’t care, only to tease him mercilessly later, and Mandy who got it, how fucking sexy Eddie and the band was when they were on stage.

Steve wished he could say he was better prepared every time Eddie got on stage, but every week Eddie went out of his way to drive Steve absolutely wild.

“He does this on purpose doesn’t he?” Steve asked after a particularly hot number where Eddie fell to his knees grinding on his guitar.

Mandy laughed. “I would like to put you out of your misery and say yes, but no. When Eddie gets on stage he loses all connection to the audience and just rocks out. His fans love it.”

Steve looked around the dingy bar and had to agree. They were just as turned on as he was. He shifted uncomfortably in his jeans, clearing his throat. “If we...” he cleared his throat again. “I mean if Eddie were to–if we were–”

Mandy took pity on him. “If you two were going out would the fans tear you to pieces for touching what they can’t?”

Steve bit his lip and nodded, looking at his hands that were twisted in lap.

She gave his knee a squeeze. “I honestly don’t know what the fans would do. But Eddie wouldn’t give a damn what they think. He’s been booed before for a song that they didn’t think was metal enough and he didn’t let that stop him. Not once.”

Steve let out a breath. It was always something that worried him. He knew he went against the grain in everything he did, but he didn’t want that with Eddie. He didn’t want to be with Eddie just because it went against the norm of what was expected of either of them.

They arrived at the club and already Robin was on the dance floor. She loved dancing and soon Mandy, Chrissy, Jeff, and Brian were out there with her. Gareth, Eddie, and Steve watched in amusement as their friends let loose on the dance floor, living it up under the rainbow lights and the thumping beat of the music.

Steve turned around and Eddie wasn’t there.

“You seen Eddie?” he shouted at Gareth.

Gareth shot up and looked around. “Shit.”

Somehow during their watching of their friends cutting it up, Eddie had slipped away.

“You check out back to see if he’s gone for a smoke,” Steve said.

Gareth nodded.

“I’m going to check the bar.”

Gareth nodded again.

Across the crowded room, a man in a tailored white suit grinned as he moved to the back of the club where the restrooms were, eyes glittering with want and rage as he scented his prey.

***

Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

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[morgana-larkin]

Chapter 16 of just tired pls pls pls

Ask and receive anon! I honestly got distracted by this Scottish ginger on supernatural, Rowena, and of course stayed up until 3am reading all the Rowena x reader fics on AO3. But here it is and left it on a major cliffhanger, you’re welcome. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26

Just Tired - Part 16

Warnings: Manipulative Relationship (mentioned), fear of intimacy and abandonment (mentioned), Smut

Words: 3.5k

“I don’t understand why you aren’t staying the night.” She tells you as she watches you get dressed.

“Because I don’t have all my stuff with me first of all, and second, we both know if I stay the night then we won’t get much sleep as I’ll keep getting distracted by these.” You tell her as you walk towards her and touch her boobs.

“I still don’t see the problem.” Melissa says as she has her hands on your waist.

“Come on, you don’t want to sleep with someone. You have the freedom to have a whole bed to yourself instead of sharing it with someone.” You say and she looks down. “What is it?”

“I like cuddling but Joe didn’t like it.” She tells you and she looks back up and you look into her eyes.

“Damnit.” You say after a sigh. “I’ll stay. These are two powerful weapons.” You tell her as you point to her eyes.

“They’re just my eyes.” She simply says.

“Yes, they’re very pretty and they shine brighter when you’re happy.” You tell her and she smiles as she rests her head on your stomach.

“Come on, I’ll feed you.” She says as she puts on a robe and you put on a shirt. “You’ll need the fuel with what I have planned for later.” She says and you arch your eyebrows.

You both go downstairs and she gets all the ingredients out to make some food. You watch as she moves around the kitchen with ease. You love how a kitchen is her happy place, how happy she is when she’s in her element. She glances at you every so often and she smiles. You feel a little fuzzy feeling in your stomach every time she smiles at you and you can’t help but smile yourself. You don’t fully understand the power this woman has over you but you don’t mind either, you’ll just go with what you’re feeling.

“So are you talking with anyone yet?” She asks you after a few minutes and you look at her in confusion. “From the dating apps.” She clarifies and you nod.

“A couple girls, nothing much though.” You tell her. “Girls have always been finicky and complex. I’m a girl and I’ve been dating them for like 7 years and I still never understand girls.” You tell her and she chuckles.

“Men are much simpler because you know what they want as they’re very forward about that. With girls, they beat around the bush.” Melissa tells you and you hum. “Take me for example, we’ve known each other for what, 6 weeks?” She asks and you nod. “You still don’t fully understand me.” She says.

“Well you’re not exactly a good example.” You say and she looks at you. “Toxic relationship aside, you’re the most complex person I’ve ever met.” You say and she chuckles.

“Well having 8 younger siblings would do that to ya.” She says and you smile. “By the way, where are you from?” She asks. “I know you’re not from Philly but you’ve never mentioned where you grew up.” She says.

“I’m Canadian.” You tell her and she looks at you. “I’m from this place called Niagara Falls, it’s near Toronto. It’s about a 7 hour drive from here.” You tell her and she hums.

“Never woulda guessed you’re Canadian. Although you’re incredibly nice so I guess not too surprising. I thought Canadians were very accepting of gay people, did you just get the only parents that didn’t?”

“Pretty much.” You tell her.

“You’re quite a way from home. Not only did you travel to a different city, but a different country.” She says and you nod. “Got a question for you, out of all the different schools you could have worked out, why Abbott?” She asks you.

“Well I was looking to move to Philly as they have like the best food ever, and Abbott was the first school to give me a job.” You explain and she nods.

“Philly does have really good food.” She agrees.

“Haven’t had the chance to try any yet.” You say. “Been too broke to get takeout or buy something at a restaurant. But since I got checks coming in, hopefully I can get some soon.”

“You free tomorrow?” She asks and you nod.

“Yes, why?”

“For lunch tomorrow, I’m bringing you to Danny Wok’s. He makes the best chicken in all of Philly.” She tells you.

“I don’t have enough money for that yet. I just have enough for all my essentials and nothing else.” You tell her. “Like if I forget my lunch then I’m fucked.” You say.

“You just got ice cream earlier today.”

“That’s an essential, specially since I’m about to start my period.” You tell her and she snorts.

“I’ll buy something for ya. His chicken is something you have got to try.” She tells you.

“What? I don’t need you buying me anything. I’ll just try it when I have the money, in about 3-5 paychecks.” You tell her and she shakes her head.

“I’m taking you there tomorrow and I’m buying you something.” She tells you sternly.

“How do you even have the money to have a life? I mean you get the same paycheck I do.” You ask her.

“It’s called buying a house with your partner and sharing the bills. Although this month I ain’t giving him any money, but I am giving some to Barb. But that means that I can indulge a bit.” She tells you with a smile. “And don’t even think about saying no cause you know you can’t win against me.” She says and you sigh.

When night comes, she gives you some clothes to use as pjs and gets you to lay close to her in bed.

“Are you in the mood to be the little or big spoon tonight?” You ask her.

“I want to hold you.” She says and you nod as you turn around from her and she brings your body close to hers and wraps an arm around you. A few minutes later she must think you’re asleep as she gives you a gentle kiss on the top of your head and tightens her hold on you. “I don’t think you understand the power you have on me.” She whispers and then sighs. “I hope you have nothing but sweet dreams.” She whispers softly.

The next day, as promised, she brings you to Danny Wok’s at lunchtime.

“What is that amazing smell?” You ask as soon as you step in.

“That is the smell of the best chicken ever.” She tells you and you look at the menu on the wall behind the counter.

“What do you recommend?” You ask her and she thinks about it.

“Get a container of the chicken, you won’t regret it.” She tells you and you nod.

“Maybe we can share then.” You tell her.

“Are you kidding? I’m getting my own.” She says with a smile and walks up to the counter.

She orders for the both of you and then pays. You each get a container a couple minutes later and you thank them before you both walk out. You walk to a park close by and find a picnic table to sit at to eat.

“Try some, I want to see your reaction.” She says and you open the container and look at the chicken. You pick a piece up and take a bite. The flavour really hits your tastebuds and you let out a moan.

“That is amazing chicken, oh my god.” You say and you look at Melissa whose cheeks are red and she’s staring at you. “Something wrong?” You ask as she doesn’t say anything.

“No, just, your moans are distracting.” She tells you and you chuckle.

“You’d think you’d be used to them by now.” You tell her.

“Are you used to it when I moan?” She asks and you shake your head.

“But that’s different, you’re so sexy and your voice is beautiful.” You tell her.

“And what makes you think I don’t think the same thing about you?” She asks before she takes a bite. “The thing about you is you don’t think people mean what they say.” She tells you.

“It’s hard to think people tell the truth when they give you compliments when they end up leaving you.” You say and she looks at you.

“Well here’s the thing, you tried pushing me away but I’m still here, so trust me when I say that you’re very attractive and very distracting.” She says and you smile shyly. “By the way, I was reading up on something called fear of intimacy and it fits you. The reason I came across it was because I asked Google about people who fear getting close to people.” She tells you. “But I think you also have a fear of abandonment there as well.” She adds.

“And what does this have to do with anything?” You ask her.

“Well there is a way to treat it.” She says.

“I’m still not getting the point.”

“If you want an actual connection and relationship with someone instead of pushing them away then there’s a way to do that.” She tells you. “You don’t have to but if you want then I’ll be here if you need anything.” She tells you and you look at her.

“Do you think I should?” You ask her.

“I’m not telling you what to do but I think living with the fear that everyone will leave you is so incredibly lonely. Like even if you’re out with a friend you’re still worried about when they’re going to leave you and not enjoying it to the full extent.” She tells you and you look down.

“And what if I don’t want to change?” You ask her.

“Then you don’t.” She says. “But you‘ve already told me that you want to.” She adds and you hum. “By the way, totally unrelated but can I ask you something?” She asks and you nod.

“Have you ever had a threesome?” She asks you and you raise your eyebrows high. “I matched with this girl and she said she wouldn’t mind having a threesome with me and another girl. I just don’t know what they’re like or what to say.”

“I’ve had one only once.” You tell her. “It was with 2 girls and it was pretty good. Since you’re a switch and trying out different things then you might actually enjoy trying it out.”

“Would you like to do it with me?” She then asks and you widen your eyes.

“You want me to have a threesome with you and this girl?” You ask her and she nods before she gets her phone out and shows you a picture of her. “Oh she’s hot.” You say as she shows you a picture of a ginger who’s 30.

“I want to try but I want at least one person there that I’m already comfortable with, which is you. But only if you want, I wouldn’t force you or anything.” She says and you think about it.

“Sure, I’m down.” You say and she looks taken back.

“Wait, really?” She says and you nod.

“Get to sleep with two hot gingers.” You say and she smiles. You’re pretty sure you only said yes because of the hot ginger in front of you and not because of the other one, I mean how could one say no to Melissa? “What’s the girl’s name?”

“Avery.” She says and you nod.

“Not as beautiful as Melissa.” You say and Melissa does a shy chuckle.

“You think my name is beautiful?” She asks you.

“I know it’s beautiful.” You tell her.

“Thank you.” She tells you and you smile and nod. “So what are you dressing up as for Halloween?”

“I’ll just re-wear last year’s costume, a sexy police officer.” You tell her and you see her eyes go black.

“You can’t wear that to school though.” She tells you.

“I’ll wear leggings and it’ll be fine. It’s not that low in the front, it’s mostly short in length.”

“Alright.”

“What are you dressing up as?” You ask her.

“You know that sexy redhead from Aquaman?” She asks.

“The one Amber Heard played?” You ask and she nods. “You’re going as her?” You ask and she nods again. You just stood there with your mouth open as you contemplate if you’ll survive Halloween if she’s going in that costume.

“Cat got your tongue?” She asks with a smile as she takes in your expression.

“Are you wearing the green outfit and the crown?” You ask and she nods.

“What other outfit of hers would I wear?” She asks with a smirk and you just stare at her.

“I don’t know how I’ll be able to concentrate knowing you’re in that costume and just across the hall.” You tell her and she chuckles.

“Maybe I don’t want you to concentrate.” She says so casually. “Speaking of which…are you up for a little fun tonight?” She asks you as you feel her run her foot up your leg. “Or right now?” She adds after a second.

“Let me just see if my roommate is home.” You say and get your phone out. Melissa wasn’t making it easy for you as she took her heel off and kept moving her foot up and down your leg.

You: U home right now?

Hallie: No, out with friends for the afternoon

You: Ok, just curious

Hallie: Have fun with the redhead

“She’s not home and won’t be for a few hours.” You tell her.

“Ok, let’s go.” She says as she puts her heel back on and stands up. You get up as well and follow her to her car.

She drives to your place and you both run inside as you’re both turned on. You both get to your room and she throws you onto your bed before straddling your lap. She surges forward and kisses your lips and you let out a moan.

“Just a kiss makes you moan?” She asks with a smirk and you shrug before she trails down to your neck. While kissing your neck she unbuttons your blouse and then takes it off before unclipping your bra and ripping it off.

“You’re so impatient.” You tease and she pulls back and winks at you. She then looks at you half naked underneath her and she bites her lip at the sight. “Like what you see?” You ask her and she nods her head with a smile.

“I also like that I can do what I want to you and you don’t seem to ever complain.” She says and you go to the hem of her shirt and she lets you take it off.

You then unclip her bra and take it off before you feel all over her chest and stomach. You take a nipple in your mouth and she throws her head back with a moan. You move your hands all over her back and hips and she’s moaning on your lap and you feel her start to squirm. She then pushes you so you’re on her back and she’s looking at you with lust filled eyes. Before she can do anything, you flip the both of you over so that you’re on top and she lets out a yelp of surprise. You go to bring your hand under her pants and underwear but she flips you both over so she’s back on top. She doesn’t pay attention to her surroundings and you both end up falling off the bed. Melissa opens her eyes and sees that she’s fully on top of you and you’re looking at her with a smile.

“You didn’t have to get us to fall off the bed to stay on top.” You joke and she looks at you confused before she starts laughing.

“You take nothing seriously.” She says and you shake your head. “Hm, I like that about you.” She tells you and then she trails her hand down and goes underneath your pants and underwear. She runs a finger through your folds and you buck your hips. “You’re so wet, do you know how hot that is to me?” She asks as she keeps running a finger through your folds and you can’t pay attention to what she’s telling you. She then takes her finger off of you and you look at her. “I’m going to fuck you until you come, and then I want you to eat me out, got it?” She asks and you nod. “Good.” She says and then sticks a finger in your entrance and you gasp.

She sticks another finger inside of you and it slides in easily and she starts pumping in and out of you. She’s able to angle her hand so her palm is rubbing your clit at the same time and you gasp out at the sensation. It only takes a few seconds until you feel your orgasm start to build and you feel all over her back.

“Melissa, I’m close.” You say and let out a small whimper and dig your nails into her back.

“You’re so hot like this, underneath me and at my mercy, needing me to make you come.” She says and she feels you clench around her fingers and then you come with a gasp. She places kisses all over your neck and chest as you catch your breath and then she pulls out of you. She licks her fingers clean of your juices and she sees that you’re watching her do that and she lets out a moan to spur you on.

“Get on the edge of the bed.” You tell her, and she can tell that was a command, not a request.

She smirks before she gets off of you and sits on the edge of the bed. She then helps you take her pants and underwear off and you look at her completely bare. She spreads her legs for you and you see her soaked pussy before you look up at her face and see mischief in her eyes. You have to admit that the sight makes you wet beyond belief and Melissa can tell.

“Why don’t you take the rest of your clothes off before getting on your knees?” She asks and then she leans back on her forearms and watches as you strip.

You then get on your knees and run a finger through her folds and she lets out a small moan. You lean forward and place a kiss on her clit before you run your tongue through her folds. She lets out a small squeak and you think she sounds adorable. You keep running your tongue up and down her folds and she lets out a groan and you can tell you’ve teased her long enough before you slip your tongue in her entrance. She tilts her head back as it feels good to have something in her entrance and she lets out a moan. You slip your tongue in and out a few times before you move up to her clit and begin sucking and licking it. Your chin and mouth is covered in her juices at this point and you watch as her mouth is open and eyes shut as she feels all the sensations you’re giving her.

You reach up and cup both of her boobs and her eyes snap open and sees you looking at her. You start playing with both of her nipples while also sucking and licking her clit and she falls on her back. She starts letting out the most beautiful sounds and you can’t help but get very wet. You remove your dominant hand from her breast and bring down in between your legs and you start circling your clit. You start letting out moans and gasps and that gets Melissa’s attention and she’s able to lean back on her forearms. She gets a good look at you and sees that one of your hands is not on her.

“Is-is pleasing me…turning you on?” She asks you and you nod. She lets out a chuckle before she shifts her weight on one of her forearms and grabs your hair with the other. “You can come after I do.” She says and you let out a whimper. “Luck-luckily for you, I feel it coming.” She says breathlessly and tightens her hold in your hair.

She lets out a squeak as she’s right at the edge and then she falls back as she comes. You then lick her juices up before you come. You get up on shaky legs and go to get a towel to clean you both up. After you clean both of you, Melissa and you get comfortable on the bed and she wraps her arms around you and strokes your head as you nuzzle her head in her chest. You’re right on the brink of sleep when you mumble something and Melissa looks at you.

“What was that, hon?” She asks softly and freezes as the words you say.

“I love you.”

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[kasdan]

𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑦 {𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 14}

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a/n: i would like to apologize that this chapter has taken so long i have been working mainly on fics on my side blog atm and am trying to juggle this story and the other fics i'm writing so please bear with me 🙏🏼 i hope people still enjoy reading the story and that you enjoy the chapter<3

summary: you have to cut off your power usage and a visitor shows up on the bunker's doorstep

pairing: frank castle x reader

warnings: frank is upsetti spaghetti, mention of blood and dead bodies, reader and frank have another moment ‼️(they were cock blocked again smh), mild language, smidge cliffhanger ending (sorry)

word count: 1.2k

“How the hell did they know where we were?” I hear Frank’s booming voice from the bathroom where I’m washing off all the blood. He doesn’t give me much of a choice when we get back to the bunker, immediately ushering me into the bathroom to get cleaned up, even though he looks to be in worse condition than I am.

He tries to inspect my injuries, but I push the first aid kit into his arms so he can tend to his own wounds and not worry about mine. I’ve been washing off in the sink, watching the red-colored water swirl down the drain. Most of the blood on me isn’t mine; it’s from others that I need to scrub off.

I quickly rinse off the blood and change into the clothes Frank left outside the door before leaving the bathroom. It’s easy to find where the two men are in the bunker, given its size, and also where the loud talking continues.

As soon as Frank sees me walk into the room, he’s in front of me, tilting my chin up to inspect the cut. “Frank, I’m fine.” I try to tilt my head away, but his grip is firm, not letting me move as he examines my chin.

He doesn’t let go until he’s sure I’m not badly hurt, then walks back to where David is sitting at his desk. Wrappers and bandages from the first aid kit are scattered over the desk where Frank hastily patched up his injuries.

“The bracelet she has only prevents large amounts of waves from being sent into the air at one time, making it almost impossible to track—emphasis on almost. They’re apparently very persistent,” David explains, sighing.

“So my best chance is to just not use them?” I ask, uncertain about the situation since many of the men who came are either still bleeding out at the house or dead.

“Right now, I think it’s best if they’re only used when absolutely necessary.” I understand his point, but it makes me uneasy not being able to fully control them or work on them. How can I ensure they’ll work when I really need them?

“You can still practice with them, just not so much at one time,” David says, as if reading my thoughts. I nod slowly, slightly disappointed that I won’t have any more full-on training sessions with Frank anytime soon.

“C’mere,” Frank says, grabbing a couple of papers from the desk and motioning for me to follow him to the back of the bunker.

“Yeah, just leave me with the mess,” David calls out as Frank walks away, not receiving a response.

Frank sits down on the ground, knowing I’m more comfortable there than on the benches or chairs. I’ve told him many times that he doesn’t have to sit on the ground with me if he’d prefer the chairs, but he brushes me off every time.

He places the papers in front of him as I sit down next to him, wondering what this is about. He gives me a reassuring smile and slides the paper closer so I can see it.

There’s a list of words on it, each color-coded. “This is the list of the powers that were put into the system. They were all a different color for some reason, so we wrote them down as listed,” Frank explains. I reach out to pick up the sheet and survey it.

I skim over the list, focusing more on the colors than trying to make sense of it. However, I can't help but notice the word “time” a couple of times. My eyebrows crease as I attempt to figure out what it means. “What is it?” Frank gently asks from next to me.

I show him the two items I’m looking at. “What do these mean?” He leans in to see where I’m pointing.

“Freeze time and reverse time,” he reads from the paper. “Freezin' time is makin' everythin' around you stop and freeze in place. Reversin' it is going back a few seconds or minutes to an earlier event.” I recall the time in the house when Frank repeated the same thing but didn’t seem to realize it. Was I the reason for that? I glance back at the paper. ‘Freeze time’ has an icy blue color next to it, while ‘reverse time’ has a lighter green color.

“You don’t know what the colors mean?” I look up from the paper, surprised to find that we’ve grown closer, our knees touching as I look at him. He meets my gaze and visibly swallows before clearing his throat.

“Uh, no. They were never really explained in the files…” His voice trails off, and I look at him in confusion.

“Are you okay?” I ask, noticing his distraction.“Frank?” I say again when he doesn't say anything, and he lifts his head to look at me.

“I shouldn’t…” he mutters, sounding conflicted.

“Shouldn’t what?” I respond, but there’s no time to think before he tilts my chin up and presses his lips to mine.

It catches me off guard, and a small gasp escapes me as he moves his lips gently against mine. I feel sparks ignite within me once again, and I slowly start to move my mouth along with his.

A groan escapes his lips when he feels me respond, and he grips my hips, pulling me closer. I find myself resting my hands on his shoulders to steady myself as our mouths continue to move together.

My body tingles as sparks shoot through my arms and into my hands, causing Frank to pull back and look at me. I’m breathing heavily and notice my hands glowing dark red again, and I don’t understand what triggered it.

Instead of pulling fully away, Frank ignores the shocks and leans in to press his lips back against mine. I try to pull my hands away to stop hurting him, but his strong hold keeps me in place.

A noise escapes me as he presses his mouth more firmly against mine, forcing me to push back with equal force. He pulls me into his lap, our bodies pressed close, and I can’t help but wrap my arms around his neck and melt into him.

My body feels like it’s in overdrive, new emotions swirling inside me, making me want to stay close forever. However, the universe has other plans when a knock is heard from the front bunker door.

We break apart, panting for air. I stare at him, confused about what’s happening. His grip loosens, allowing me to slide off his lap.

David’s urgent voice comes from the other side of the bunker, calling us over. I glance at Frank one last time before picking myself up and slowly making my way to David. Frank follows, but I catch him glancing down at the paper left on the ground before he does.

“Do either of you know who this is?” David points to the screen of the camera outside the door. A woman stands there in a long dark coat. There’s something familiar about her, but I can’t quite place it.

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[williamoftyred]

The Phoenix of Jerusalem

Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Writer's Note: Instead of 2 chapters per post, I've consolidated chapters that focus on alike topics to avoid unnecessary cliffhangers

Chapter 13: The Woman Who Would Not Remember

Recognition is not always a gift. Sometimes, it is the cruelest mercy.

She had prepared herself.

Or so she thought.

Ten years of wandering. Of silence. Of tending to bodies in faraway lands, memorizing the anatomy of strangers in place of the face she could never forget. She told herself that time would make him unfamiliar. That the boy with the crooked smile and ink-stained fingers would have become someone unrecognizable beneath the weight of crown and illness.

But the moment she stepped into the throne room, and saw him seated—veiled, still, wounded by more than disease—she knew him.

Baldwin.

She knew the slope of his shoulders. The way he tilted his head ever so slightly to the right when listening. The way his fingers curled when they were trying not to tremble.

It was him.

Older. Scarred. Crowned.

But still him.

And he didn't know her.

Not yet.

She forced her breath to stay steady.

She let the guards announce her as Amira of Tiberias. She bowed lower than she ever had. She kept her voice flat. Her eyes downcast. Her answers sharp, clinical, unremarkable.

He questioned her skills, not her identity.

She was grateful for that.

At first.

But then—after she saved the squire's life, after she tended his wounds with hands that still remembered his—

He began to watch her differently.

Quietly. Not with suspicion.

With familiarity.

She noticed it one morning as she unwrapped the bandages from his wrist.

His voice, soft: "You move as though you've done this a thousand times."

"I have."

"For someone so young?"

"I started early."

"And did you grow up in Tiberias?"

She paused. Not long enough for most to notice. But he noticed.

"Yes," she lied. "I don't remember much of anywhere else."

He said nothing. But his eyes narrowed slightly.

She felt the weight of it long after she left his chamber.

Later that week, he asked another question.

"Do you believe the king's disease is divine punishment?"

She looked up sharply. "No."

"Some do."

"Some are fools."

A long pause.

"Do you always speak so plainly to kings?" he asked.

"I speak so plainly to patients."

Another silence.

Then, softly: "You remind me of someone."

She inhaled—too sharply.

He didn't miss it.

That night, she stood in the dark of her chamber, staring at her reflection in the basin's water. Her face was leaner than it once was. Her hair darker. She no longer wore the laughing girl's braids. She was Amira now.

And yet... when he looked at her like that...

She couldn't let him know.

He had lost her once already. He had grieved. He had survived.

To bring her back now as a memory with a new face—it would unmake what little peace he had left.

She was not here for that.

She was here to heal him.

Not haunt him.

The next morning, he asked directly.

"Have we met before?"

She smiled gently, coolly.

"No, Your Grace."

His eyes didn't leave hers.

"I was sure I knew your voice."

"You must be mistaking me for someone else."

And that was how the truth passed between them:

Unspoken. Heavy. Surviving in silence.

Chapter 14: The Voice Beneath the Veil

Some truths do not knock. They wait. Patiently. Until they are invited in.

Baldwin had never known how to explain intuition.

He was a man of logic. Of discipline. His body betrayed him, so his mind had learned not to. He did not place faith in dreams or feelings, or in the hopeful tilt of a voice.

And yet.

She walked into the chamber like a ghost that had learned to wear flesh again.

It began with her hands.

They were not soft, like court ladies' hands. Nor thick-knuckled like a surgeon's. But something in between—capable, quiet, marked by years of tending, mending. The way her fingers hovered a half-inch from his skin before applying pressure. The way she tied linen in a three-part knot, the same way Ysolde used to bind broken toys and bruised falcons.

And the scar. A thin, pale thread across the inside of her wrist.

He remembered that scar. Remembered the fig tree and her tumble, the blood and the silk scarf he gave her to press against the wound.

She had laughed through the pain.

And now Amira bore the same mark.

Her mannerisms betrayed her even more.

When she was deep in thought, she whispered to herself—half in Latin, half in Arabic. Ysolde had done the same, years before either of them knew how rare that fluency would be.

When she was irritated, she lifted her left brow first. Baldwin had spent months teasing that habit out of her as a child. She never could stop.

And then, her silences.

They didn't carry absence. They carried memory. She looked at him like she remembered more than she said. Like she didn't trust her voice not to betray her.

He knew that silence too well. It was the same one he carried.

Why would she lie?

That question gnawed at him.

Was it shame?

Fear?

Or mercy?

He wasn't sure which answer frightened him more.

But if she wouldn't speak the truth, then he would find it for himself.

That evening, under cover of darkness, Baldwin summoned two men:

William of Tyre—his teacher, his witness.

And Jocelyn de Courtenay, his most discreet commander.

He laid the matter before them with care.

"I believe my physician may not be who she claims," Baldwin said, seated with the moonlight casting pale lines across his veil.

Jocelyn frowned. "A threat?"

"No. Not a threat."

He looked to William.

"A memory," Baldwin said softly. "A name I buried long ago."

William's brow furrowed.

"Ysolde bat Nura."

William stilled.

"I thought she—"

"So did I," Baldwin cut in. "But I never saw a body. And sometimes the dead... do not stay buried."

He met Jocelyn's gaze, his voice now firm.

"I want her family traced. Every surviving record. Her father was Nuri ben Raphael. Her mother was Araksi of the Armenian quarter. There was a brother—Daniel, I think. Search the archives. Ask the old apothecaries. Search the outer provinces, the merchant ledgers. Quietly."

"And if we find her?" Jocelyn asked.

"Then I will know whether I'm haunted," Baldwin whispered, "or if she has come back to me after all."

He said nothing else that night.

But long after they left, Baldwin remained seated by the window, watching the fig tree below.

And whispering a name he'd never truly stopped saying.

"Ysolde."

Chapter 15: The Burden of Contradiction

"I am healed in body, yet tormented in soul. Lord, what am I to do with this woman?"

He watched her more closely than any soldier on his walls.

Not with suspicion. Not quite.

With something far more dangerous: hope.

It had been months now since Amira—the woman who might be Ysolde—first stepped into his chamber, white-robed and unshaken, and placed her hands upon the parts of him that had long been surrendered to rot.

Since then, Baldwin had grown stronger. Not miraculously. Not in ways that reversed the illness—but undeniably. His fevers were rarer. The ulcers more manageable. He could rise without trembling. Think without clouding. His pain, once a constant, now flickered like a distant torch instead of a blaze consuming him from the inside.

All because of her.

And yet—she was also the cause of a different kind of torment.

Because he did not know who she was.

Not for certain.

Not even now.

He had kept her close.

Under the guise of necessity, he requested her presence daily. She oversaw not just his treatment, but reviewed the reports from other physicians, advised on campaigns of illness in the outer villages, consulted on sanitation systems in the poorer quarters.

She accepted every task with cool composure and tireless precision.

And Baldwin kept watching.

The way she touched his shoulder when no one else dared.

The way she never turned her back to him fully, nor ever cowered before him.

The way she waited, sometimes, as though expecting something more from him. Or perhaps afraid he might say too much.

She gave nothing away.

And it was killing him.

Jocelyn had returned empty-handed three times.

"There are no surviving records of Ysolde bat Nura," he reported. "No death certificate. No mention in the lists of the Order of Saint Lazarus. No traces in the merchant ledgers from Aleppo, Damascus, or Tiberias. Nothing of her mother. Her father's name appears briefly in a court ledger from ten years ago—but ends mid-sentence, like so much of that year."

"And the brother?" Baldwin asked.

Jocelyn hesitated. "There is a child named Daniel ben Nuri who was taken in by a caravan traveling east after the riots. He would be sixteen now, if alive. But the name vanishes in the sands. I believe... they did not survive."

Baldwin had dismissed him with a nod.

But in truth, the silence of the past screamed louder than answers.

So the question burned: Is she hiding herself on purpose?

Had she come back veiled not just in name, but in intention?

To protect herself?

Or to protect him?

Or worse... had he truly imagined it all?

Was she only Amira of Tiberias?

A healer of uncommon skill and strength who just happened—cruelly, coincidentally—to carry the shape, voice, and soul of a girl he had once loved and buried?

The contradiction hollowed him.

He trusted her.

But did not believe her.

He needed her.

But could not understand her.

He suspected her.

And yet he did not want her to be anyone else.

One night, the frustration swallowed him whole.

He dismissed his guards. Refused wine. Lit no incense.

Instead, he went to the chapel alone.

The stone was cool beneath his feet. The cross above the altar loomed silently in the moonlight. He knelt with difficulty, pressing his bandaged hands together, and bowed his head.

"Lord," he whispered, "I ask not for healing. I gave that prayer to You long ago."

He paused.

"I ask for clarity. For peace. For truth."

Another pause.

He exhaled, slowly. Shakily.

"There is a woman in my halls who might be the girl I once called friend. Who I loved before I knew what love was. She tends my body and quiets my pain. But she lies to me. Or perhaps the lie is mine."

His voice cracked.

"I cannot stop watching her. I cannot stop wondering. I see her in my sleep and in my waking. She makes me feel young again. And I am no longer young."

He clenched his fingers.

"I should send her away."

He looked up at the crucifix.

"But I do not want to."

The flickering candlelight cast shadows like tears across the stone saints beside him.

He closed his eyes.

And whispered, "What am I to do with this woman?"

No answer came.

Only stillness.

But he felt something loosen in his chest.

Not relief.

But readiness.

He rose, slower now, knees aching.

And as he left the chapel, he made a decision:

He would not ask her again.

Not yet.

But he would keep searching.

Not just in ledgers and ledgers and scraps of parchment.

But in her.

In her hands.

Her scars.

Her laughter.

Her silence.

And if she truly was who he feared—and hoped—then one day she would tell him.

Not because he demanded it.

But because she could no longer carry the weight alone.

Chapter 16: Between Secrets and Silence

He would seek the truth not with suspicion—but with kindness. She would serve not just to heal—but to search.

Baldwin

It had been more than a year.

Three hundred and sixty days of her tending his wounds, organizing his medical records, waking him during fevered nights, whispering commands in war camps and prayers over festering sores. Three hundred and sixty days of listening to the sound of her footsteps before she entered, the tone of her breath when she said his name.

He had told himself it was strategy, this nearness.

But even kings could lie to themselves.

In truth, Baldwin had given up pretending she was just a physician.

She was his anchor.

In the chaos of kingship, the worsening years of illness, and the silence of succession battles and whispers of war—Amira had remained.

Calm.

Precise.

Inexplicably steady.

And still—he didn't know who she was.

Not really.

So today, he would try something new.

They sat on the palace veranda that afternoon, overlooking the western wall. The fig tree below was heavy with fruit. She was preparing salves. He was pretending to read.

"How long have you been in Jerusalem?" he asked.

She didn't glance up. "A little over a year."

"And before that?"

"Damascus. And Aleppo."

She didn't elaborate.

He smiled faintly. "You are frustratingly vague."

"I am cautious."

"I'm a leper king. What secrets could possibly be worse than mine?"

She looked up then. And smiled.

"You would be surprised."

He leaned back, resting his wrapped hand on the armrest.

"Are you married?" he asked lightly.

Her hands paused for just a fraction of a second.

"No."

"Have you ever been?"

"No."

"Children?"

She shook her head.

"Family?"

Her expression flickered. "Gone. Long ago."

It was the most direct lie he had ever heard from her. And she said it beautifully.

He nodded slowly. "I see."

"Do you?"

He looked at her more intently than he meant to.

"Not yet. But I intend to."

Amira (Ysolde)

She had lied to him. Again.

And the worst part?

It hurt more each time.

Every time he asked her something real—about marriage, family, origins—her answers came colder than intended. She watched his face after each one, hoping he couldn't read the tension in her shoulders, the way her voice slowed by a breath before she spoke.

But of course he noticed.

He always noticed.

Because he had always known her.

Even if he didn't know why yet.

There had been moments when she almost told him.

In the garden, once, when he had asked her to sit after prayer. In the infirmary, when he clutched her hand during a fevered delirium and murmured her old name.

Ysolde.

She had cried in the corridor afterward. Quietly. Fist to her mouth. Not because he remembered.

But because he forgot again by morning.

And it was easier that way.

She missed him.

Not just the boy he was—the one who drew ridiculous birds in the margins of his textbooks and called her his favorite distraction—but the man he was now.

Wry. Steady. Wounded. Proud.

She loved who he had become.

And hated the way she had to deceive him just to stay close.

But she hadn't come for love.

She had come for Daniel.

Her little brother—torn from her arms during the riots. The only part of her family who might still live.

She had spent years building bridges through the shadows: quiet alliances with court merchants, influential physicians, lords with contacts in caravans and port cities. She traded remedies for whispers. Herbal secrets for passage. She stitched a man's infected leg in exchange for a list of children smuggled out of the Jerusalem quarter.

She played the long game.

And Baldwin—her sweet, aching king—was never her pawn.

But he was her doorway.

There was a plan. There always was.

And when it came to completion, she would leave.

Find Daniel.

Bring him somewhere safe.

And maybe, if the world allowed it, return—not as a shadow or a healer with half a name.

But as herself.

As Ysolde.

And maybe by then...

He would forgive her.

Chapter 17: What We See When We Are Seen

He asked gently. She answered carefully. But truth has a way of bleeding through the smallest wounds.

The king had changed.

Not publicly—there, he was still veiled, restrained, carrying Jerusalem's weight like armor. But in the small hours, in gardens and quiet chambers where incense no longer masked the air between them, Baldwin had begun to ask her questions.

Real ones.

Personal ones.

Not as a king.

But as a man curious about the woman who had tended his pain for over a year and yet remained a mystery.

"Do you like music?" he asked one morning, while she checked the healing of his shoulder wound.

"I like silence more," she said.

He smiled. "That sounds like you."

"How do you know what sounds like me?"

"I don't," he said gently. "But I'm learning."

Each day came with another question. Never urgent. Never demanding.

Just present.

"Do you dream?" "What did you want to be as a child?" "What scares you more—being forgotten, or being remembered wrongly?"

He asked about favorite smells (fig trees and old ink), favorite season (spring, because it hides nothing), and what she would do if she weren't a physician.

"I'd be a mapmaker," she said. "Tracing things others can't see, but somehow always knew were there."

"Like people," he murmured. "Or feelings."

"Exactly."

She knew what he was doing.

It was no longer strategy. It was reaching.

And she feared—no, sensed—that he was beginning to remember. Not fully. Not enough to say her name.

But enough to look at her longer. To tilt his head when she stood just so. To hesitate before addressing her, as if fighting back a name not yet on his tongue.

And she...

She felt it too.

The shape of what they used to be curled beneath every quiet moment.

Then came the campaign.

A dust-slicked, halved-army expedition to reinforce Crusader allies along the eastern frontier. Baldwin was not well, but insisted on going—showing strength, even as the disease robbed him of it by degrees.

And she followed. As always.

She rode beside the wounded, sat among the officers with linen and fire and calm orders. She ate what the soldiers ate. Slept where they slept. Rose before the dawn to stitch closed the flesh of men who would never know her name.

And slowly, the men grew to respect her—not as "the king's woman" or "the veiled healer"—but as the one who stayed.

On the sixth night, after treating three men and a horse, she sat beside the king again, her back aching, sleeves streaked with blood and ash.

"You haven't asked me a question today," she said, almost teasing.

He looked over, the firelight catching his face, shadowed but serene.

"Then it's your turn."

She blinked. "My turn to...?"

"To ask."

She hesitated. Then: "What's the last thing you regret saying?"

He was silent a long time.

Finally: "A cruel thing to a friend. And I never apologized. I thought I'd have time."

She swallowed.

He didn't elaborate. She didn't push.

But her heart was no longer still.

By morning, word came that a band of men from a northern allied town had arrived to reinforce the split troops. Several were injured from a skirmish near the river crossing. She rode out with two aides to tend to them.

She was tired. Distracted.

She worked fast, crouching beside one wounded man, binding his arm. Then another. She moved to a third, a man younger than the others, with thick eyebrows and a deep gash on his thigh.

As she cleaned the wound, he opened his eyes—blurred with pain, but not unfamiliar.

His brow furrowed.

Then, his voice rasped out:

"...Ysolde?"

Her hand froze.

She didn't look up.

But he grabbed her arm.

Stronger this time. Urgent.

"*Ysolde—*is it—?"

Chapter 18: The Warmth Beneath the Steel

He watched her break for only a moment. And for that moment, she was no longer a mystery—only human.

He saw the soldier grab her arm.

He didn't hear what was said—too far, too many voices—but he saw the man's eyes widen, the urgent way his fingers closed around her sleeve.

And more importantly, he saw her.

How her back stiffened. Her jaw tightened—not in anger, but in recognition. Like someone who'd just heard a name they thought was lost to time.

And then, almost as quickly, it was gone.

She composed herself in the space of a breath. Tilted her head, gently removed her arm from the man's grip, and said something calm, something low. Her hands resumed their work. Her shoulders, just a bit higher than before.

No one else noticed.

But Baldwin saw everything.

Later, alone near the edge of camp, he sat beneath the low awning of the command tent, his fingers trembling more than usual. The exertion of travel, the weight of illness—it lingered beneath every movement.

Amira arrived with his salve and linen as expected. She was quieter than usual. More clipped.

He watched her kneel beside him and said nothing for several moments. Let the fire between them crackle. Let the silence stretch.

And then he said softly:

"You can speak plainly with me, Amira. Even when you're tired."

She glanced up. "I always do."

"I mean... without armor."

She paused. Her hands stilled. "I wasn't aware I wore any."

He gave a faint smile. "It's very good armor. Worn carefully. Fitted well."

She looked away. But she was listening now.

He shifted slightly, pain threading through his shoulder. She reached to steady him without needing to be asked. He let her.

"You're the finest physician I've ever known," he said.

That caught her off guard. She blinked.

He continued.

"You treat my body with patience. But you treat the men with steel. You ride without complaint. You eat last. You wake first. You never ask for help. And you never expect praise."

He looked over at her now, fully, his voice low and warm.

"I see it. All of it. And I admire it. Truly."

For a moment, she didn't speak.

Then she exhaled softly, a kind of breath she rarely let him hear—unmeasured.

"I... don't always know how to be soft anymore."

"You don't need to be," he said. "But you don't need to apologize when you are, either."

She smiled, just barely. "Is this your way of asking me to stop snapping at you, Your Grace?"

He chuckled. "It's my way of saying I understand why you do. And I forgive you."

Her smile faltered.

And then her voice—quiet now—almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry. Truly. You've been nothing but... decent to me."

"You've been more than decent to me," he said. "You've kept me alive."

She turned toward him more fully now. Her shoulders no longer so squared. Her voice no longer so sharp.

"And you've given me purpose I didn't know I could still have."

They sat like that for a time—neither veiled, neither guarded. Just two souls at the edge of war, leaning into the warmth of the fire, and the kind of honesty that only comes in the cold.

Baldwin did not press her about the soldier.

But the memory stayed.

The way her name had nearly surfaced. The way she had looked when it did.

He watched her as she leaned forward to stir the fire.

The steel was still there.

But tonight—for the first time in too long—it had softened.

[headraline]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56617540/chapters/168203350

New chapter of my collab universe with @luinen-bluewater is up.

For those who forgot what was happening last time, Chapter 14 ended on a slight cliffhanger -a surprise visit from Sceleritas delivering some rather upsetting news and dropping "I know the Deathbringer is alive" as a closing line for the chapter.

Chapter 15 picks up right where that left off.

As usual, heed the tags & ships & things.

[babyseraphim]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @emryses, thank you for always tagging me in such fun things!!

1. How many works do you have an AO3? 11

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 122,112

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write pretty much exclusively for Dead Boy Detectives, but I have a oneshot for Marvel from 2017, and an unfinished AU for Critical Role that I'll probably never go back to

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

By Lantern's Light

my healing needed more than time

foolish flame

The Case of the Selkie's Skin

Overloaded

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do when I have the time and energy. All my free time is kind of eaten up by writing the fics themselves, so unless the comment is really long or really funny, I usually don't respond. But I appreciate every comment just the same, they are what keep me motivated to write

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I honestly don't really do fics with angsty endings? Because all of my fics are super angsty in general, so I like to end things on a positive note. I guess the closest would be The Case of the Selkie's Skin because there's not really any closure there, they just move onto the next case. But even that one still has a cathartic ending.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

foolish flame for sure. A lot of my fic endings tend to be bittersweet in some way, but this one was a pure fluffy ending

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nah. I don't think I've been regularly posting fics long enough for that.

9. Do you write smut?

I have written smut exactly once, and while it was a really cathartic/rewarding experience, I don't know if I'll ever do it again. It's a little too far out of my comfort zone.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, crossovers aren't really my thing, though I have toyed with the idea of writing a dead boy detectives/pushing daises crossover just for the hell of it. But it probably won't ever make it onto paper.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, and the idea of it kinda scares me lol

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Literally changes day to day. I think kirk/spock is the one that will truly own my heart forever, but payneland really is the perfect ship for me (hence all the fanfiction)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Case of Eros's Arrow, which is sitting with 4 chapters on AO3. I still like the concept of it, and my OCs in it, but my writing has changed so much since I started it and I just don't really feel connected to the work itself anymore. Which is a shame, because I left my readers on a total cliffhanger. Whoops.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I do alright with descriptive prose (or I enjoy writing it, at the very least). I'm also good at worldbuilding and coming up with fun/creative plots.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Transitions between scenes, and general construction of dialogue (though I've gotten better at dialogue over recent months). I can also get a little ramble-y when it comes to introspection, though I'm usually pretty good about cutting it all down by the time the final draft is done.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't have many thoughts on it. I only speak english, and the only language I've ever used in my fics besides english is Latin (for magic purposes).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Supernatural, I think? It was OC fanfiction, I still have it floating around this blog somewhere

20. Favorite fics you've written?

dye it all, rosary I think is my favorite right now. I don't know what the fuck I was on when I wrote that fic, but I wrote chapter 1 in one sitting, and then chapter 2 over the course of a few months. It turned out so much better than I ever could have hoped, and I just truly love it so much.

I also love my healing needed more than time because it has all the stuff that I love in it (magic, lesbians, dogs, kids, and other fun stuff to come). I'm also just really proud that I've managed to stick with it as long as I have; it's the first piece of writing over 14k that I've ever written in my life.

I tag: @many-gay-magpies, @deadtwinksdetectiveagency, @williamvapespeare, and @the-ipre!