#listen i like marcellus (sometimes)

[friedwizardwhispers]

The more I think about it, the more I wish Sarah went full-on mama bear mode on Marcellus for kidnapping her 11 year old son (who was already kidnapped for almost his entire life) and being responsible for her second youngest son being in the past in the first place and being missing for months.

I think he would deserve at least that and also Marcia and her teaming up in their anger against him would just make my day.

[girl-named-matty]

Hogwarts Legacy next generation - The Gaunts

As my last post goes, this is the basic lore of the Gaunt children! (that being, Ominis Gaunts children). For context, a lot of you know Matty but I haven't talked about Esme Greenwood a lot on here. She's Ominis love interest in my lore.

So, let's get right into it!

Lorenzo Gaunt:

This is Lorenzo Gaunt and his birth was actually quite surprising. Although Ominis and Esme had been married since they were nineteen, they were childless for a couple years into their marriage (much to both of their families dismay since they're all stupid pureblood supremacists). Ominis was hesitant about having children and carrying on the Gaunt bloodline and he didn't know what his family would do to the children if he had them. So needless to say, he avoided it for quite a long time.

But once their close friends, Matty and Sebastian were pregnant with their first child, Ominis' perspective on having children changed. He saw how much joy the two of them had at the mere idea of bringing a new life into the world. So, then Ominis and Esme decided to have a child and that leads us to Lorenzo's birth.

He was born a couple months after, Eleazar Sallow, whom he grew up with. When he was born, he didn't open his eyes for quite a while, and when he would, it would be just barely enough to see the color of his eyes. He was born with very pale blue eyes, initially leading his parents to think he was blind. But soon after they found out that he wasn't, much to their relief. Although, later in life he did have vision problems and sometimes wears glasses to help with that.

His black hair is a trait he inherited from his fathers side of the family (three of Ominis' siblings and his mother in my lore have dark black hair). So he definitely looks a lot like his father side of the family. But he didn't inherit their nasty attitudes.

He is half French and lives in France but regardless of this, Esme, having gone to both Beauxbatons and Hogwarts, was insistent to Ominis that their children go to Hogwarts instead. Especially so they could be around the friends that they already knew.

Growing up, he was really close to Eleazar Sallow, as their families were close. But later when he attended school, naturally, being in different houses, they hung out less. They were still very good friends but Lorenzo found his best friend to be Eleazar's younger brother, Marcellus.

Just as their fathers friendship went, Lorenzo was often Marcel's voice of reason. Now whether Marcel listened or not was a completely different thing. However Lorenzo used the excuse that he was three years older than Marcel and so obviously, he was more mature and knew better.

As handsome and charming as the Slytherin girls thought he was, Enzo was often too busy for relationships. Or his focus was simply elsewhere so he didn't date anyone in school. He had a couple of relationships after but nothing that turned into marriage or a long lasting relationship.

Noctua Gaunt II:

Noctua II is named after her dear, great-Aunt Noctua Gaunt. She inherited her looks from both of her parents but more so leans towards her mothers appearance.

She is very well put together, well spoken, and has good manners. She is a lot like her mother in many ways. She's fluent in French, just like her siblings, and speaks it whenever she can. Most of the time at school, she has to use English since she attends Hogwarts but if she finds out someone speaks French, more than likely she's going to start a conversation with them in French.

Caroline Sallow has been her best friend since childhood and they continued to be best friends throughout the rest of their lives. However, she ended up harboring a little crush on Caroline's older brother, Eleazar II when they were young. That ended up forming into a massive crush that lead to their marriage.

She has zero to no tolerance for her fathers side of the family. She hardly has tolerance for her mothers side either, but she prefers them over her fathers side any day. Both she and Caroline were born the same years her cousin, Morfin Gaunt, who also (unsurprisingly) landed himself into Slytherin. This caused Noctua to have to be around him almost constantly and she had to try her best to keep her cousin out of trouble. Obviously, this didn't work and Morfin continued to be troublesome.

He was also very insistent on plaguing Caroline and Noctua. Trying to play tricks on them and many other things. But thanks to Noctua knowing him so well, Caroline's intelligence, and Morfin's plans that weren't very well thought out, he hardly ever pulled any off. This also made her harbor an even bigger hatred for her Uncle Marvolo, whom she already severely disliked for his mistreatment of her father in their childhood. Since after all, Marvolo was allowing and encouraging all of this.

Noctua II severely disappointed both sides of her family when she married Eleazar Sallow, who was a half-blood. But she was perfectly fine with this and in fact, really wanted it to be that way just to piss them off. She loved who she wanted to love and she wasn't going to apologize for it.

Once she was married, she decided she wanted to stay home and keep up the house. Which Eleazar, being the husband he was, was happy to take care of all the expenses by working. She is spoiled endlessly by him and he treats her like an absolute queen. (yas get that queen treatment girlie)

The two of them have one son together, Gideon, and he is loved dearly by the both of them.

Lilian Gaunt:

Unfortunately, regardless of Lilian being one of the sweetest beings on earth, her birth stirred up quite the drama on both sides of her family. After seeing how Esme was refusing to raise her two older children in biased pureblood ideals, the Gaunts were looking to get some flack on her name. Unfortunately, Lilian's birth was how they decided to do it.

Lilian was born with brown hair, unlike either of her parents or her extended family. She also did not speak parseltongue nor did she hold the family's natural talent for legilimency. Ominis' mother, Belladonna, accused Esme of having an affair with a different man, thus leading to Lilian's conception. Belladonna used everything she could to back this accusation, even down to Lilian's own hair color to "prove her point."

Immediately, Ominis denied these ridiculous allegations, knowing Esme would never do something like that to him. He knew for a fact that Lilian was his child, his daughter and he loved her. And that's exactly how she was raised, in a very loving family.

When she was younger, Esme would address her with "Lily, darling" anytime she'd try to get her daughters attention (she did this with her other children as well) but Lilian's ended up sticking as a nickname. So pretty much all the time, her parents and siblings call her Lily Darling. (darling pretty much replaced her real middle name).

Lilian enjoyed the outdoors and definitely proved she was a Gaunt via her love for snakes. Although she herself couldn't talk to them, she'd get her siblings to carry on conversations with them whenever she found one. Unfortunately, Esme had to tell her quite a few times that she couldn't keep snakes in the house. (big sad lol.)

Unfortunately, the drama around her birth resurfaced when she turned eleven and was sorted into Hufflepuff house instead of Slytherin. Ominis quickly re-shut down any of the rumors and any last of his patience with his family began to wear thin. Within the following two years they cut all the contact they could with his family.

Lilian grew up and studied Magizoology but she never pursued it as her career, opting to do things herself casually rather than to work with or for someone. She married a muggleborn man named Peter Moore and had two children, Elise and Bradley.

[augustus-hater]

An essay on why Octavius from NATM is NOT Augustus

It is evident that I hate Augustus. However, hating Augustus does not mean I should support misinformation about Augustus. There are many characteristics that Octavius from NATM has that do not match up with Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Here's why I believe they are completely different people:

1-Appearance

First of all, let's compare their physical appearances. Augustus has been described by Suetonius as pale, dirty blonde and blue/grey eyed. He was quite skinny and short, most likely due to his asthma preventing him from going out in his childhood and teenage years. While Octavius from NATM has dark hair, dark eyes and is well built. They don't look alike at all. I see no reason as to why the creators of NATM changed his appearance other than because 1. They are different people. or 2. NATM Octavius is a made-up ancient Roman. Of course, there may be other reasons such as Octavius' appearance not being important enough for them to do research on it but I insist that if he really were Augustus, he would not be a general at all.

2-Personality

Second of all, they have different personalities. NATM Octavius is stubborn, brave, a leader. Just your average roman general. Augustus, on the other hand, is not a man to be put on the battlefield. Augustus is said to have been completely disinterested by all things military and often fled the battlefield due to an affliction (sometimes stomach aches, sometimes asthma attacks). An example of this could be the battle of Philippi, when he fled into the marsh because he was feeling ill. He left his battles for his best friend Marcus Agrippa, who handled them with his outstanding military mind. NATM Octavius seems to have no problem with leading an army and fighting during the first movie. Another distinction between their personalities is their composure. Augustus is said to be strangely calm, no matter how bad the situation is while Octavius seems to get pretty hostile sometimes, like he did with Jedediah in the first movie.

3-Name

Third of all, their names don't exactly match. This is a very important thing, because there are many romans named "Octavius" and NATM Octavius could have been any other Octavius. Augustus' birth name was Gaius Octavius Thurinus, but he eventually changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, after finding out that Julius Caesar had adopted him and named him as his heir. Since then, this Roman politician has been referred to as "Julius Caesar". You may think that they called him Octavius to differentiate him with Julius Caesar but that is also wrong, because if they did change his name, they would change it to "Octavian", the name that historians used to call him before he was Augustus. They could've also used Augustus. There is nothing that really indicates that NATM Octavius is Octavian before Actium.

4-Agrippa

Because I love Agrippa, I will give him his own paragraph. NATM Octavius can do what Octavian/Augustus could not do : excel in the military domain. However, that is what Agrippa is for. Let's say Octavian learned strategies and logistics and becomes a good general. What the hell happened to Marcus Agrippa? Did he die from some illness? Perhaps gout? Did he betray Octavian? Where is he then? Is he safe? Is he alright? This paragraph is about Agrippa but Agrippa isn't Octavian's only companion. There is Taurus, another of Octavian generals. Maybe he wasn't important enough to be shown. But what about Livia? Octavian's wife? Where is she? At home? They don't really have one. Does she approve of his affair with Jedediah.? Maybe she listens to the album Be the Cowboy by Mitski because she is so sad that her husband is going on adventures and sleeping with a cowboy. What about Maecenas? What about the poets? What about Octavia? Marcellus?

The fandom doesn't acknowledge those people. However, you know which roman they remembered? Julia the elder. I was so mad when I found out you people draw them together, doing wholesome things. Augustus would never. Your fanfiction is super cute but it doesn't change what happened to Julia (TL ; DR for people who don't want to search it up : she got exiled because of Augustus' misogynistic policies against adultery (cheating on the 70 year old man you were forced to marry)). NATM fans who mention what really happened to Julia, I like you and thank you.

Though this may be subjective, I believe that NATM Octavius is not Augustus because he does not have those essential allies that Augustus had.

Conclusion

NATM Octavius is not Augustus because he does not have the same physical appearance, qualities, names & titles, and friends as him. I don't understand why people believe that Octavius is Augustus when they only share a nationality and birth nomen (not even his real name). I'm not saying this because I want to hate on Augustus without hating on Octavius because I hate Octavius too.

[georgiaheartsdilfs]

Marcel Gerad please reader is a friend of the Mikaelson and he takes a liking to her and she feels the same way lots of flirting.

Mutuals of the Mikaelson | Marcel Gerard x Reader

my masterlist ↪M A S T E R L I S T

The Mikaelsons aren't the best of people, sure, you can't say that they are perfect but they are more gentler towards you once you get in their inner circle that was after family.

I was in that inner circle, as was Klaus' "son" or so Klaus likes to call him.

Marcel Gerard, though he dislikes the Mikaelsons for what they stand for despite being raised by him. He was different to the Mikaelsons.

He shared their dashing good looks, as well as their charming personalities but he was far different to them in many ways.

"Ah, Y/n!" Klaus interrupts my trance, I had been quite obviously staring at Marcel for a while if Klaus had paused his 'life-changing' to call me out for staring.

"Niklaus" I look up annoyed at the fact he ruined my trance, "Why don't you share your thoughts?" he asks raising an eyebrow only for me to sigh "If you want the words to come out of my mouth, Niklaus, it isn't happening besides I wasn't listening." I shrug.

This meeting was for his friends, or 'friends of his siblings that he uses as minions' group of people. The only person he truly liked in here was Camille, which let Me, Marcel, Davina, Keelin and sometimes Hayley when she felt like it. But we all had one thing in common, one mutual thing and it was the Mikaelsons. We were Mutuals of the Mikaelsons.

"leave y/n alone, carry on with your amazing story." Marcel nods to me causing Klaus to give him an odd stare but nods agreeing to continue his story.

I continue to stare at Marcel, not listening to a single word that came out of Klaus's mouth.

Eventually, Klaus's voice had faded. No words were being spoken and before I knew it everyone was leaving the room, I suppose this whole thing was done for the night.

"You're quite the observer, y/n" Marcel walks up beside me "you have to be when you work with Klaus" I shrug as we walk down the stairs side by side.

"I see you eyeing me up like dessert, y/n hunny" he laughs to me "come on now, you liked every piece that you saw." he says "don't get too cocky, Marcellus." I say using his real name against him to lower his ego.

"but yes, as a matter of fact, I was staring at you. In fact I was imagining you naked." I say causing him to raise an eyebrow "children, please, Marcellus please flirt with Y/n outside of this household. It makes me weak in the stomach." Kol stumbles into the courtyard and I roll my eyes "Bugger off Kol." I say.

I had been thinking of Marcel alot recently, maybe my crush on him had something to do with it. Maybe not. But the way his walked around town with not a care in the world was a supporting factor, not a needed one but a very good one nonetheless.

"you know, you and I could overthrow him." Marcel winks to me and I punch his chest "No, we cannot." I give him a stern look. "Why not, you're a witch, and a powerful one. I'm from Klaus's sire line." Marcel shrugs.

"And if he dies, you die." i poke his chest "are you suggesting you dont want me to die?" he questions me "exactly, then who else am I suppose to flirt with. Everyone else here is dating." I narrow my eyes at him.

Marcel laughs, going in to hug me and I stand there shocked at his sudden gesture "you're amazing, you know that." he lets go.

Eventually he checks his watch before backing away from me "I'll catch you later tonight, at dinner. 8pm?" he says and I nod "sure" and he waves goodbye.

Like a love struck teenager I spin around, skipping around the Mikaelson courtyard. "Y/n if you please, you and Marcellus have been stood there for an hour or two and I'd like to enjoy complete and utter silence." Elijah chimes in from above "right, bye." I clear my throat before tucking my hair behind my ear and leaving.

I guess being Mutuals of the Mikaelsons wasn't as bad as I thought.

[jadenightthewriter]

OH YEAH NO they don't trick her into thinking it was her idea they just come home with a lizard one day and refuse to listen to her when she tries to argue abt it afnjffnfn <33 this is a marcia who's had a little brother for like most of her life she's used to compromise by now 😔😔 this does mean she sometimes makes spicy food that septimus and marcellus can't eat just to spite them tho

sorry my bad you're absolutely correct <3

my little sister has a really shitty spice tolerance (on a similar topic, as an older sister i can now project even more onto marcia than normal)

[septimus-heap]

Marcia and silas,, being friends,,,,

Still bitching at each other bc they're just Like That 😌

Except now they actually sometimes sit down to (shocker) have a civil conversation abt things

Mutual hatred of marcellus

Silas steals and tries on marcias shoes as a joke and immediately breaks his ankle

He spends the next several weeks asking how the fuck she walks in those

She never tells him :)

Marcia realising that a lot of silas' self esteem issues are actually her fault and doing her best to fix that

She's not very good at people and she's also not very subtle but she is down to yell at ppl who insult her friends 😌

Sometimes they sit at cafes and insult the outfits of people who walk past

Well marcia does. Silas doesn't know shit abt fashion so he just agrees and hopes she doesn't ask his opinion

She doesnt

Just because they're friends doesn't mean marcia has to acknowledge his opinions on clothes

Silas who had to adapt a lot of spells to be simpler so he can actually do them and marcia who insists that they must be done The Right Way

Silas convincing marcia to try the spells his way and she's like. Shit. This is so much easier wtf

This doesn't stop her from making him learn the right way as well

They still argue but its like. Friend arguments

Just gonna promote my fic which is where their friendship started off 😌😌

Well kind of

There's some kind of Other moment where they're both nearly at a breaking point and end up running into each other and ranting a lot

And when they both leave they're like. Wtf why did I say any of that that's that fucker and I hate them???

But after that they can't hate each other as much and they're still arguing sometimes but it's mostly for appearances and they don't really Mean It

Septimus ends up making them actually talk because ffs this is weird

They end up agreeing that yeah, they can't just pretend they didn't share their problems with each other but they also. Don't want to talk abt it still

So they just agree to stop arguing and leave each other alone and it works for a bit but marcia cant stop noticing people randomly insulting silas and he can't stop noticing when she gets jumpy when it's storming

And it's not like they sit down one day and decide to be friends but they're back to mocking each other only in a nicer way and doing their best to help each other without Actually showing that's what they're doing

And silas is the one to call marcia his friend first (because marcia probably preplans every sentence let's be real), to someone else but definitely within her hearing

And they're both like. Oh shit

Because they are friends except now they're not trying to pretend they're not

Anyway back to hcs ahsudbduebeubr

Marcia showing up at the heaps room and at the palace just randomly when shes stressed out

Because the tower is great but being there also means that she's available for conversation at all times which isn't. Great

Silas showing up at the tower when there's a thunderstorm bc he knows marcias too proud to actually ask him to come but she's also too scared of thunder to be able to sleep

Silas seeing marcia drinking her 4th cup of coffee and just. Knocking it off the table. Oops :) guess she's going to have to sleep instead of relying on caffeine :)

Silas becomes another person who listens to marcias rants abt long dead magykal theorists

Unlike everyone else though, he also has ridiculously strong opinions on random people from centuries ago

It turns out that marcia actually can get silas to Do Things when she's not either yelling or ignoring him

It also turns out that a silas heap with self confidence can be scary enough to get ppl to leave marcia the hell alone

After a while silas is like "why did I ever think u were an emotionless asshole ur literally barely even functional"

This is after she's like. Tripped over a radish on the pavement or smth

That's all for now 😌😌 also @ananas-pineapple-thing here is some hcs 👀👀👀👀

[shiftingshiftingshifting]

my dr playlists

not in any particular order

all of these are completely outdated as of 2023

the chaos squad - modern!game of thrones dr. the playlist my main friend group there listens to. that friend group consists of me, renly, loras, and margaery. song example: Jesus Don’t Like That I’m Gay but Satans Cool With It by LilBoodang

oh how i wish you were mine - sansa stark’s yearning playlist in my modern!game of thrones dr. song example: Wish You Were Gay by Claud

the king’s fosterling - OG game of thrones dr playlist, i still listen to the playlist sometimes but the dr has kind of fallen out with me. i would like to shift to something like it, just without all the baby shifter stuff. song example: Elastic Heart by Sia

a mockingbird at night - love this playlist. it was for the OG game of thrones dr, but once it had evolved and i made it near the end. it was based on a few months/episodes in s7 that were pretty messy, and ended in an execution. song example: Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers

historical longing - this playlist is for my ever after high dr in which i am sappho’s daughter. my cousin is the son of achilles, and my main friend group includes marcellus(my cousin), cupid, briar, ashlynn, and apple. song example: Greek Tragedy by The Wombats

зайка | the curse - my mcu dr playlist. i made this dr right after i watched black widow because i was thinking about making one for a while, it’s pretty basic, and the dr is only fleshed out a bit.(similar drself to my xmen dr, but that dr holds more weight to me now, despite this one being the original) song example: The Adults Are Talking by The Strokes

marjorie aberdeen zaytseva trask - my xmen playlist. meeting my friend tia and scripting each other into our xmen drs might’ve been the best thing to happen to me this summer. in this dr im dating jean grey and rooming with her at xavier’s school for gifted youngsters in the revised timeline. tia and i have a discord server in this reality for us to keep track of everything in our drs, including our changes to the timeline.(theyre very similar but have slight changes that heavily impact the world, like she has modern tech and i dont) song example: The Girl by Hellberg, Cozi Zuehlsdorff

the phoenix and the curse. - jean and i’s playlist(in the form of cassettes) in my xmen dr. my alias is the curse and hers is the phoenix, hence the name. this dr is HEAVILY fleshed out and i have so much info on it that i would absolutely love to share if anyone asked.(also i scripted we have modern music but it’s all 60s/70s/80s themed) song example: fever dream by mxmtoon

for peter & tia - a cassette i gave to my friend tia(tia dorothea victoria xavier, charles xavier’s niece) and her boyfriend peter(peter maximoff) for christmas the year after she returns from essex corp. and milbury hospital. song example: 11:59 by Blondie

liar. - a playlist for my newest dr, a mainly a song of ice and fire soulmate au. in which two people who are soulmates cannot lie to each other, which causes some problems in the ever treacherous king’s landing. especially when those two soulmates have ever so much to hide. song example: To Be Loved by Askjell, AURORA

a playlist for tya for tya farman and pietr the servant boy - a playlist i made for my newest dr(the soulmate one) detailing the relationship between my friend tia(tya) and pietr(based off of peter maximoff) in my dr. over the course of their relationship they go through the initial discovery and butterflies, to star-crossed lovers, to tya’s betrothal to someone fit for a lady of her stature, to finally running away to pentos the night of the wedding and getting a happy ending. (don’t shuffle!!) song example: If This Was A Movie by Taylor Swift

the crow and the raven - a playlist about me and my childhood friend allyster morrigen, who ends up falling for me despite us not being destined, and me not returning his feelings. it was expected that we would marry, as it is common for second sons and daughters of houses morrigen and tarth to marry. childhood best friends to unrequited lovers to strangers. song example: exile (feat. Bon Iver) by Taylor Swift

[lovelyisadora]

ANYWAY canon is bullshit uhh after magyk silas has a lot more respect for marcia bc before Everything happened he'd kind of assumed she forgot what the Real World™ was like but after he's like. Oh yeah she was trying to keep the castle from Actually Falling Apart that makes sense. And zelda kind of hints that maybe he should ask her how she's doing or smth. And after they've kind of settled back into their lives he Does he shows up at her door one time because back at zeldas he hadn't rlly noticed how off she was acting bc he had Family to worry about but now he's paying attention he sees it. And he's like "so wtf is up with you you're acting weird" and she's like ???????? bc this sounds like a joke but he seems fairly serious about it. Anyway he ends up threatening to get sarah if she doesn't at least tell him what's happening and at best go do smth about it. So she does and at first it's bc she Really does not want sarah to cause a Scene again but it turns out silas is a rlly good listener and has decent advice. And when septimus comes back from marcellus' time silas is like so r u going to tell me why you went insane the last couple days and also why does septimus have super long hair now what happened. And she goes AHAHA WELL U SEE and explains and then they bitch about marcellus for hours and when he actually Shows Up and is young they're both like. >:( and immediately start Noticing things he does so they can tell each other about it later. And at the same time they're both suddenly like >:O because they Just realised they actually like it when they meet up to talk about stuff and this is the worst thing ever they can't be FRIENDS but they are now. Very grudgingly and neither of them will admit it. And years down the line silas can actually notice when marcia's having a bad time bc if he doesn't notice the only other person who will is dead and he's got nothing against alther but. He's not the best with this kind of thing especially now he's dead. So sometimes silas shows up at the top of the wizard tower and makes himself coffee without asking and sits in marcia's favourite chair and goes "so. Wtf is up with you?" and then they rant for hours and sometimes he tells her she's being stupid and sometimes he doesn't and uh. Yeah <3 and it's not just marcia telling silas stuff he says stuff back and it takes like a month before both of them realise "oh okay we both have had a shit time in the last 10 years. Congrats to u on not failing I guess" and literally no one understands what their relationship is but them. They r friends but they also get on each others nerves and make snarky comments constantly but if anyone else tries it they go >:( and get mad on each others behalf. Everyone thinks they're insane and sally thinks she's insane for ever thinking they could be any form of romantic

sally thinking they were running off together is so fucking funny to me still because really?? like, they didnt even like each other. and literally no one can understand their relationship and truly they don't either but they like it that way. they are ride or die, and shit talk with and about each other constantly

[dlfbjtr]

"i can't believe i trusted you."

credit goes to @screnwriter in her angsty trust starters!

wc: 1.6k, format: scene, genre: angst, characters: kalen spinster / lancia bythe (mentioned: marcellus sallow, armani baxter, hart chamberlaine, catalina farona)

To be honest, Kalen didn't know why he was there. It felt too stuffy in the department building, with no whistle that used to follow him around the halls. Even when he went into the living area, there was always a faint melody that brushed by his ear that made him shiver.

So here he was.

It was anti-climatic. Weirdly, he had imagined ghosts and creepy whispers that made his skin crawled.

Cemeteries were over dramatised, he thought distantly as he made his way through the area. There was a small stump that he tripped over, but thankfully, there was no one there to see him make the small mistake.

Although he had never been here, it wasn't hard to find Marcellus. Even in death, he stood out to Kalen's eye.

"I didn't want to come empty-handed," Kalen felt stupid for talking to stone, "so here." He pulled a small candle out of his pocket, and a pocket lighter that felt comfortable in his hands.

He crouched down to light the candle, setting it before the gravestone. There was a soft click, and a crackle, before he fell into an awkward silence because he didn't know what to say.

What did one say to dead people? People they've only met for not even three years, but they made such an impact that it's like they've known them for the entirety of their life. There was a soft chill breeze that ruffled Kalen's dark hair, but he didn't feel it; his concentration was put into him trying to mentally trace the large letters of MARCELLUS KEATON SALLOW on the gravestone.

There was a rather strong gust of wind and the candle blew out.

Kalen stared at it for a moment. Then he sighed, reaching forwards with his lighter again, saying, "you know I don't like doing things twice. You're just doing this to spite me, Marce."

And as if he wasn't dead, Kalen heard his laugh dancing by his ears.

The candle was lit, and he leaned back, pulling his legs out so he could settle on the dirt ground without straining his legs. There was a soft smell of jasmine that filled the crisp morning air, filling the silence once again.

There was a brief pause, before Kalen looked at the lighter in his hand. He flicked it open, then close, then open again, listening to the clicks and flips while his eyes unfocused.

"Did you know," he murmured, "that I almost started smoking? It's weird, but since you gave this to me, I wanted to use it as much as possible."

He didn't even know who he was talking to. Maybe, if ghosts existed, he could be talking to the remnant of his late friend.

"Well, luckily for me, Lancia has common sense and managed to move me out of that direction. Move is pretty mild. She sat me down — you know how she is, once she gets her mind on something she'll keep going until she gets her way. It's a good thing, at times, I think. It helped me."

Like any cemetery, there was no response. But Kalen felt a tiny bit better, because if he could say it aloud, then he wasn't afraid to face it.

He wasn't proud of his depressed phases. But as long as he can address them, and deal with them accordingly, it was better than doing nothing.

"Sometimes the two of us wonder why you left without warning." Kalen shifted on the ground, shuffling closer to the gravestone. He turned his head, locking his eyesight on the flickering candle.

He narrowed his eyes. "Armani took it the worst, I think. He...he's not like himself. Although he's been baking more. I think he stole your cookie recipe, because every time I walk kitchen I remember you."

The words 'remember you' startled Kalen, as if he wasn't the ones who spoke it. His eyes shot wide open, and there was this lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow.

His eyes stung like there was an open cut over them.

"I can't believe I trusted you," he said quietly. "I can't believe I thought you would really survive — I thought after we lost Hart then you'd be fine but you — you broke your promise and died, Marcellus. You left us."

The words flowed out like a dam had broke.

"Lancia cried for days — and you know she doesn't cry. She cried and cried and cried, but even then, she took care of me. She made me breakfast, she reminded me to shower, she washed my fucking hair for me because I couldn't move my fucking body. I — I was even more useless that when I used to drink — fucking Armani took over the paperwork for the department because I can't spell my own name correctly. Armani. Who hates signing papers with a passion.

"Catalina took over as head of the department because...because Hart's gone. She was also dealing with his death while organising details for your funeral — when Lancia spoke her elegy that day she was so close to crying I was scared she was going to break. Break, Marcellus. Lancia."

Kalen took a deep breath, and he felt like he had bawled a whole lake when he didn't even shed a single tear. His throat was coarse even though he was almost whispering; his eyes felt so raw they didn't even feel like his eyes.

"I was going to break, Marce."

When he inhaled, his body shuddered like it couldn't take the amount of air he was trying to force into his lungs.

"I didn't want to. I've been there. I couldn't lose you too, Marce. Not when H-Hart, the one who introduced me to you, was gone, and you were so sick that you couldn't even speak my name I—"

He choked. He coughed so hard he didn't know if it was his salty tears or saliva that stuck to his face. The candle felt hot on his skin, even though it was a solid distance away. The smell of jasmine and fresh dirt mingled together and he—

He screamed.

Kalen screamed like he had no one left, because Marcellus had been, at one stage, his only life line. He had Lancia, who he could rely on to save his life and whisper good morning every day, but she's different to how Marcellus would poke fun at his brooding and how he would make cookies every week and make some sort of stupid excuse like it was his dog's birthday and how he would try so hard to coach Kalen's uncoordinated hands to play Halo and Call of Duty but then yell in annoyance whenever he got a puzzle wrong in Tomb Raider-

And by the time he stopped screaming, he was sobbing and he didn't know if it was raining or if it was his tears or if it was both. He didn't know anything and if he did, then it would be better to know how to cure cancer because Marcellus was gone from that fucking thing and he would never be back.

"I trusted you! YOU SAID YOU WOULD BE FINE AND YOU WOULD COME BACK! YOU NEVER CAME BACK—"

With a dangerous crack, Kalen brought down a closed fist onto the smooth stone, and pain shot up his whole arm like he had been electrocuted.

It was nothing compared to the anguish that flooded his whole body, stemming from his heart.

"Fuck you, Marce. Fuck you so much for making this hurt so much," Kalen touched his forehead to the cool stone, closing both hands into strong fists.

He sobbed a little more, choked a little more. Lancia's calm voice echoed in his mind — in, out, in, out — but he couldn't breathe properly and everything was out of time. He couldn't get himself to breathe evenly, always needing more air before he finished exhaling.

"I hate me." Kalen sniffled. He hadn't done that since he threw a tantrum when he was nine. "I hate myself for hating you for dying. It's so fucking irrational I'm going to cry."

"You're already crying," was Marcellus' reply, and the tears now came in floods rather than streams.

Everything was blurred together and he couldn't see shit but all he could feel was this hole that stretched from his chest to his shoulders, engulfing his neck and arms, reaching for his head—

A cool pair of hands caressed his shoulders, filling the hole. Kalen didn't look up; he didn't need to. The hands squeezed gently, showing their support.

"You can't die on me," Kalen said, but his voice was muffled against the smooth stone.

Lancia hummed, rubbing soothing circles into his tense shoulders. "I'll try not to."

"Promise me. Don't be Marce."

"You know I can't do that."

"Do it."

There was a sigh, and Lancia slid her hands off his shoulders to hook her elbows around him in a hug from the back. "I can only promise," she muttered quietly behind him, "to be there for you when I can. I can't promise to cheat death, but I won't toss around my life like it's something that can be taken."

Kalen inhaled, and for the first time since he got here, it was a clean breath of air without blockage.

"Okay." He reached for her hand. "Thank you."

Lancia hummed again, squeezing him tight in her embrace. The two of them sat there, before a grave, providing the support they needed, and grieved. They grieved by celebrating his birthday when he wasn't there, by talking to him when he wasn't there, and by visiting his body when he wasn't really there. That's all they could do.

And by the time they left, the candle was still burning, leaving the peaceful scent of jasmine lingering in the air.

[pellucidity-is-me]

James Potter and Latin

Summary: Part three, but can work as a one-shot! Working through each Marauders’ relationship with the Latin language. This is James Potter. Also on Ao3 and FFN (I’m also writing a very long fic following the Marauders in school. Link on my blog description!).

Wordcount: 2790

On the day that James Potter turns nine, his parents throw him the most excellent birthday party that James has ever seen.

Streamers float in the air, just low enough for James to yank on their curly tails if he wants to. Confetti swirls at James' feet, perpetually suspended a few inches above the ground—it's like wading through multicolored water. Balloons bob against the ceiling, and they're all red and gold (James' favorite colors).

James' favorite part, though, is the pile of shiny presents in the sitting room, resting securely on the table directly underneath the chandelier. James will never tell his parents, but he's already slid a thumbnail under the largest one and lifted the wrapping just enough to see what it is. He did it in the dead of night so that his parents would never know, and he was so perfectly sneaky that he knows they'll never find out.

The present seemed to be a broomstick. James already has one, but he just knows that it's a bigger, faster model. He can't wait to take it for a spin and see what model it actually is (he couldn't really see enough through the wrappings)... but first, he's going to enjoy his party.

His friends arrive around noon, and James' mother, ever the gracious hostess, lets them in. James can be a gracious host, too, when he wants to—he never wants to, of course, but he figures he'll try it today. "Welcome, Madam Pattinson," he says sagely, sweeping into a graceful bow.

Pattinson places a hand over her heart and smiles. "Oh! Such good manners. You've raised a good boy, Euphemia."

"I know I have," says James' mother. She kisses the top of James' head, and James grins. "Why don't you run along and play with Janice until the rest of your friends arrive, Jamesy?"

"Right-o, Mum!" says James. Janice is standing behind Pattinson's skirts, sucking her thumb. James cringes. Janice is such a baby.

"Go on and play with James, dear," says Pattinson to Janice. Janice closes her eyes, seemingly drawing up the courage from a place deep within, and then dashes inside the house to play with James.

James entertains Janice for the next twenty minutes—there's really no other word for it; it's not as if Janice is entertaining James. He doesn't know why Pattinson arrives everywhere thirty minutes early. He might understand it if Janice wasn't a snivelling brat, but she is, so James doesn't understand it. He suspects it's because Pattinson is tired of playing with her tiresome child and wants a babysitter.

James sighs. He should be paid for his time, at least.

Marcellus arrives around half noon, and James is much more glad for the fact. Marcellus is loads of fun. He has a pet parrot that he carries around on his shoulder. The parrot knows dirty words, and James always gets a kick out of hearing them. James' mother doesn't approve of this, of course, but Marcellus always tells her that "it can't be helped", seeing as the parrot doesn't understand what it's saying. James' mother accepts this, and then Marcellus always leans over and winks at James. Little does James' mother know that James and Marcellus taught the parrot those words themselves on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

James can't wait to show Marcellus his broomstick. Perhaps he'll let Marcellus ride on the back—if they fly far enough, then they might be able to ditch Janice without getting in trouble. If James' mother asks, James will just say that they "only meant to be gone for a second, but then they got lost". It's not very believable—James has a great sense of direction—but James' mother always believes any excuse that comes out of James' mouth. She's a good mum like that.

It isn't until twelve-forty-five when the party really starts. James has ten good friends, and all of them arrive within five minutes of each other, carrying presents and wearing comfortable dress robes. James' robes are red and adorned with patterns of Snitches—his parents bought them for him exactly one year prior. James is growing out of them now, but he plans to throw a massive tantrum if his parents buy him anything but Quidditch-themed dress robes in the future. He loves these robes.

James and his friends play all the regular games—pin the tail on the house-elf, Ring-Around-the-Gillyweed, and Duck Duck Snidget. James wins every one. He'll never admit it, but he practices these games for hours—what's the point of having a birthday party if someone else wins the games?

James' favorite part of the party is opening his presents. His parents did indeed get him Quidditch-themed robes—these are red, too, but they have tiny, moving golden Quidditch players on broomsticks flying up and down the sleeves and across the chest. They're even better than James' current dress robes. He hugs his parents and changes into his new robes straightaway.

His new broomstick is a grown-up broomstick—it's not a model with safety features, and it's not even made for kids! It's a real-life broomstick made for real-life adults. James is smiling ear-to-ear for the rest of the day. The rest of the presents can't measure up, and James' parents have to remind him to be polite and thankful—but James is trying his best. He's just so excited to go outside and play with his new broomstick.

He normally loves it when his friends visit, but today he plays with them a bit impatiently while he waits for the party to end. He's ecstatic when they finally leave. "Can I play with my new broomstick now?" he squeals, not even waiting a second after the front door shuts behind the last of his friends.

James' mum smiles adoringly at James and ruffles his hair. "Of course, but Daddy needs to supervise. And go slowly!"

"Sure!" yells James, already removing the new broomstick from its box.

"James, you have to change out of those robes. They were very expensive, and I don't want them to get soiled."

James needs only pout for fourteen seconds before his mother begrudgingly agrees to let him fly the broomstick in his new robes. That's a new record.

James' father supervises while James rides over treetops, past smoking chimneys, and above the Potter mansion. He can go so much higher than he's ever gone before, and it's such a thrill to look down and see his legs dangling so far above the ground. At this height, his shoe is bigger than an entire house.

"You're going too high, James!" says James' father, and James reluctantly lowers his broomstick ten feet. He gazes at the sparkling emerald pond and then dives hard and fast, pulling up just in time to skim his shoes across the water. His father yells at him for that, but James isn't going to fall. He feels more comfortable operating a broomstick than he does walking, even. And James is a good walker. He hardly ever bumps into things.

Now, from the outside, James looks like a spoilt brat. Some people say that he is. He's never set much stock in rules; after all, he always seems to escape with nary a scratch. Perhaps James is lucky. Perhaps he's clever enough to get out of a scrape. Perhaps his family is so coddling and adoring that James has never really been in danger to begin with. Either way, James looks like a spoilt brat from the outside looking in.

But James knows that he isn't all bad. He does follow rules—sometimes—and he does listen to his parents—sometimes—and he doesn't complain—well, not always. His parents treat him well and love him so because he is a good child, don't they? James would be in a lot more trouble if he never listened and always did the opposite of what he was told. He'd never be allowed to ride such a dangerous broom, so high above the treetops, if he weren't at least a little bit responsible. James' parents trust him.

And because he's been so good recently, he decides that he can break a rule here or there. He climbs higher—even higher than he'd been before—and ignores his father's shouts of annoyance. Then he dives. The wind whistles past his ears. The houses and trees are blurs below him. There's a delicious swooping feeling in the pit of his stomach. James—who is responsible, at least a little!—watches the water carefully as he draws nearer—and then he pulls up at exactly the right time, expecting his shoes to skim against the water again and perhaps even spray his father and earn him a laugh—

But James forgets to take into account that the broomstick on which he is riding is not the one that he's been riding for the past year. The velocity, speed, and feel are all very different from what James is used to. The broomstick isn't as light and responsive to his touch, so he pulls up a bit too late. The bristles of the broom are caught in the water, and James feels the broomstick sag underneath him—he tries to pull up, but there's not enough time and not enough strength—James is submerged in the water. When he resurfaces, paddling and gasping and laughing, there's water in his nose and it burns.

"James!" cries his father, rushing towards him. "Are you all right?"

James is lifted out of the water, and his nods his head. "Fine, Daddy," he says. He's still laughing. He keeps laughing until he notices that his leg hurts a lot.

When he looks down, his leg is covered in blood. "Oh, ow," he says. Now that he's seen the wound, it starts to hurt ten times as much. James' eyes fill up with tears.

"Oh, dear," comments James' father. "Let's get you inside to your mother." He carries James, bridal-style, and James tries not to think about the burning in his nose and on his leg. He clutches his broom to his chest, and he cries harder when he notices that some of the bristles have broken off. He cries still harder when he realizes that there's a gash in his new robes.

James' mother coos over him as soon as he enters the house. "No harm done, Mia," says James' father. "He only scratched his leg on a rock at the bottom of a pond—it's much worse than it looks. I'll mend it in a second."

"But my broom!" sobs James.

"We'll take it to the shop and get it repaired, son. Don't you worry." He turns to James' mother again. "Everyone gets hurt on their first adult broomstick, Mia. The thrill of it is just too enticing. Not to worry—I was there to slow him down."

James wonders if he crashed because his father slowed him down, and his crosses his arms over his chest. "Wish you hadn't," he mutters darkly.

"Do you want to be fish food?" says James' father, and James giggles. He's feeling a bit better now. "That said, you really should have obeyed me. I know you think that you're invincible on a broom—and don't get me wrong: you're a thumping good flyer and you'll be on the Quidditch team before your third year—but there are certain rules that you have to obey in order to be safe. And since I now know that you're not as responsible as I thought you were, I'll have to supervise you every time you fly from here on out until you can prove yourself."

James sobs a little at that, knowing that he won't be able to have any fun with his father around. But it's fair, he knows. James cares about fair.

His mother mends his wounds, helps him out of his wet clothes, and summons a house-elf to draw James a bath (with more bubbles than water; just as James likes it). James hates the concerned look on his mother's face. Things aren't perfect anymore. Things are messed-up, and James wants to fix them. He has to. He feels so bad for her—she hasn't done anything wrong—and he wants to make her happy again. "I'm sorry, Mummy," James says. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to get hurt... or ruin my robes... or break my broom. It was just so fun."

"It's all right, darling," says James' mother. She kisses his forehead and rumples his hair. "You made a mistake, but now you can learn. Carpe diem."

James has what his parents call a photographic memory. He can recite long strings of numbers and words. His vocabulary (though he never chooses to use big words) is advanced. He can read faster than both his parents combined, and remember more, too. He has some vague memories of himself as a baby, before he could even walk. If James hears it, then he remembers it—which is why he's so certain that he's never heard that word before. "What's carpe diem?" he asks.

The annoying thing about being so bright and so young is that adults tend to laugh James off. He doesn't get an answer—he only gets another rumple of his hair and a "such a clever boy". James is disgruntled now.

He decides that, if no one will tell him, then he's going to find out for himself. He knows where the library is. And riding to the library safely on a broomstick all by himself will certainly prove to his parents that he can be safe and responsible, won't it? So, under cover of night, that's exactly what James does. It's a good job he's magical enough to unlock the shed by himself.

The library is closed, which isn't what James anticipated. So he sits on a bench outside the library for a bit, hoping to wait until the library opens and he can go in. He doesn't know what he's looking for, but he suspects that the foreign phrase will be in the foreign languages section.

James nearly falls asleep on the bench, but he's interrupted by a kindly-looking lady with soft brown eyes and floofy grey hair. "You're the Potter lad," she says, and James nods. "It's midnight, my boy. What are you doing out so late?"

"Technically early," says James, who knows how the twenty-four-hour time system works. "I'm waiting for the library to open."

"Why?"

"So that I can find out what carpe diem means. Mummy won't tell me."

"Oh," the lady says, laughing. If she knows what it means, she doesn't tell James. "Did you fly here all by yourself?"

"Yes," says James. "The broom's bristles are a bit broken because I fell into a pond—yesterday, not recently—so it's a bit wobbly. But I stayed close to the ground. I even stayed behind the trees in case there were any Muggles around, but I know there aren't any Muggles in this wizarding neighborhood. I was ever so careful."

"I believe you." The lady looks vaguely impressed, and James puffs his chest out with pride. "Carpe diem is Latin for seize the day. Now, why don't I Apparate you back home?"

"No, thank you," says James. "I have to get home on the broomstick so that my parents trust me to fly alone." He swoops away before the lady can say 'no', and he's home in less than ten minutes.

His parents are still sleeping; they never even found out that he left. James can't wait to tell them.

The next morning, he announces over breakfast: "Carpe diem is Latin for seize the day."

"It sure is," says James' mother. She's used to James' knowing random information by now, James is pretty sure. She doesn't look impressed at all. "James, the shed was unlocked. Did you remove your broom to look at it last night?"

"No," says James. "I actually—"

His mother interrupts before he can finish telling his mother that he'd actually flown it. "Good. I knew that I'd made it clear that you were not to fly your broomstick alone under any circumstances. Daddy said that I wasn't blunt enough, but you understand, don't you?" She smiles at him and finishes her tea.

James slowly shuts his mouth and then leans back in his chair. "Yep, crystal-clear," he says.

He never tells his mother nor father about his midnight excursion. But even if he had gotten in trouble for it, it would have been worth it.

Carpe diem. James decides then and there that he'll live his life by that phrase. After all, what's the point of life but to have fun?

[schattenjagd]

Lost without you (2/2)

A/N : And here it is. I really have nothing much to say about this part but I hope you’ll enjoy it :-) Ah, and this part got inspired by Freya Riding’s Piano Session of “Lost without you”. This is also the video that inspired this whole fanfic and from which I got the idea.

Word Count : 3.9K

Warnings : None, maybe some angst ?

Pairing : Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Five years later, Elijah tapped impatiently on the dashboard of the dark SUV. How long had he been driving across the country with Niklaus ? Ten hours, maybe more ? He hadn't expected that when his brother had dragged him out of Hayley's house and into the car in the early morning. Elijah had no idea where his brother was going to kidnap him to, nor did he know if he wanted to know.

He closed his eyes. He was tired. After a four-year coma sleep, one would think that he had slept enough, but even his exhausted original vampire body seemed to disagree.

"I am lost without you."

He briefly closed his eyes at the sound of her voice haunting his thoughts. In Freya's Chambre de Chase, everything had been easier. His thoughts had been simpler. Sometimes he had been able to suppress the memories of her, he and his siblings had been isolated from everything, but now, here in the world of the living, every little detail seemed to remind him of her. It was exactly the same like two days ago.

***

The plan had been simple.

Hayley and Freya would sneaked into the vault below the estate to free Niklaus. Elijah's only job was to distract Marcellus as long as possible and to give women time; Time his sister would need to break certain spells.

Elijah had spent enough years of his long life in this house, he knew its entrances and exits better than the back of his hand. But something prevented him from disappearing into the little alley next to the estate, from where he would get to the side door.

At first, he didn't notice her. She had turned her back on him. The knee-length, red dress blew lightly in the warm summer wind and played around her delicate legs. She had put back the Y/H/C hair he'd loved to let his fingers run through into a simple bun.

Elijah inhaled sharply and just looked at her. He swallowed hard and was barely able to look away as he watched her continue walking down the street. A brief flash shot through his head, a flash that carried her last memory together; her farewell on the platform.

She stopped and Elijah was still tied up. If his vampire body were not smarter than him at that moment, he would have suffocated, if breathing would not be an unconscious activity.

And then she turned to face him as she crossed the street, looking for cars to come.

It wasn’t her.

Elijah blinked several times and tried to suppress this painful feeling in his chest, as if a fist has closed around his heart and slowly but surely crushed it.

It wasn't her and she never would be it again.

She wouldn’t come back. She didn't know he existed.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. He had made her forget, sent her away and compelled to forget him. And so it was better, better for her. In any case, that was what he told himself, year after year. Year after year when her birthday was celebrated, or their anniversary together. It was terrible. And yet Elijah couldn't bring herself to forget her. How could he ?

In the meantime, Y/N's doppelgänger had disappeared and Elijah swallowed hard again. No, he had a slightly higher priority than his own grief now - his family. He had to be there for them now, as he always was. His grief had no place.

Determined, he pushed the side door open and disappeared into the property.

***

7 years ago

“It’s on the house."

Elijah had just taken a seat at the bar, and was now watching Niklaus from a safe distance how he was talking to his very own therapist, who seemed anything but pleased with his appearance. He looked up in surprise at the friendly voice and the glass of bourbon that had been put in front of his nose.

He briefly held his breath without realizing it. He knew her. He knew her, of course, but he was surprised that he actually remembered the young, pretty woman from Jackson Square. Now she looked different, wearing a short black apron over dark blue jeans and a simple black top. The Y/H/C hair had been tied back to a simple ponytail. Her Y/E/C eyes literally sparkled a little when she kindly looked at hin.

"I think I know you," she thoughtfully said, gesturing absently at him with the bourbon bottle she was still holding. It was almost as if she had read his mind. "You were the one who gave me the $50 bill."

The corners of Elijah's mouth went up a little, there was nothing he could do about it. He shrugged and gratefully sipped his drink. "What makes you so sure ?"

She just shrugged. “Well, mysterious guy shows up, looks at me. Mysterious guy disappears, $50 appear in my mason jar”. she gestured again with the bottle head in his direction and cocked her head a little. "I still don't know how you did it, but I'll find out."

Now Elijah actually had to grin a little as she put the bourbon bottle back on the shelf. She came back to him and braced herself on the bar with her forearms.

"It could just as well have been someone else," Elijah added after another sip, whereupon she only raised her eyebrows.

“Nobody was near me. “

"Neither was I."

She narrowed her eyes a little, thoughtfully. "Are ya a wizard or something?"

Elijah had for the first time in his life a hard time not to laugh. Oh, if he were a sorcerer, Niklaus would probably have murdered him several times. Still, there was nothing he could do about it when the corners of his mouth went up again."No," he replied with a smile. "I'm not a wizard."

"Why did you do that ?"

Now, he questioningly raised his eyebrows a little and looked up at her. But she had pursed her lips and looked at him, waiting.

"Why did I do what ?"

“The $ 50. Do you know how long I have to stand here to earn this ? I mean, it's probably not a lot of money for you.” Her eyes fell briefly on his expensive suit. “But still. I'm curious."

He shrugged again that evening, something unusual for him. “You have a beautiful voice. I'm certainly not the first to fall for it. ”

When he looked back at her, she had bitten her lower lip and appraisingly. looked at him  She was probably judging whether his answer was realistic or complete nonsense.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or embarrassed, Mister …"

"Elijah," he interrupted quickly. "Elijah Mikaelson."

She smiled. It was the same smile as at Jackson Square and he had to swallow again. But then she held out her hand to him.

“Well, Elijah Mikaelson. I am Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N. Nice to meet you."

He took her hand and a warm feeling flowed through him.,,The pleasure is mine."

***

Elijah was taken out of his thoughts when Niklaus suddenly stopped the car. He looked up and around, but only large wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

"What the hell are we doing in Chigaco, Niklaus ?" His voice was calm, yet Elijah was upset.

Niklaus had stopped the car on the roadside, but Elijah could still see the distinctive skyline with the Willis Tower from a distance. He rubbed his face and sighed. They had more important things to do than a road trip across America. Especially if they had missed four years in this world.

“Apparently Freya’s dream world has hit you a lot, brother. Such words from the mouth of the noble Elijah Mikaelson ”, Klaus only amused himself and his brother gave him a scowl as the blonde got out of the car and looked briefly around.

Elijah did the same. They were in the middle of downtown and it was almost a miracle that Niklaus had found a parking space by the roadside.

The streets were busy and crowded, and there was an oppressive heat in the big city that they weren't even used to in New Orleans.

But Elijah barely had time to get an overview of the situation, when his brother was already booted and headed purposefully towards a subway station.

"What is it that you're up to, Niklaus ?" He finally asked when he had caught up with his brother. He frowned as they descended the steps to the subway station.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Elijah bit his lower lip acidified and instead looked around the narrow corridor with too many people. It was late afternoon and most of them were coming from their work. No wonder that you could hardly walk in the subway station.

Elijah irritably pushed through the crowd behind his brother and was relieved when the crowds finally decreased. The big subway station was a maze and he involuntarily wondered how to find your way down here as a stranger.

He stopped abruptly.

Piano music.

Behind him, a woman quietly cursed when she almost ran into him and now avoided the original vampire, but not without glowing at him. Most of the other people did the same and now avoided Elijah.

Klaus, who had heard the same thing and noticed how his brother had suddenly frozen, stopped and sirked. Yes, exactly as he’d expected.

Slowly, he turned and watched his brother listen intently. He could literally see Elijah slowly assembling the puzzle pieces in his head and swallowing hard.

Klaus said nothing, absolutely nothing. He just turned and started moving again. And he knew that his brother would follow him.

Suddenly the crowds grew bigger and the music louder. As Klaus turned around the next corner, he could see Elijah hesitantly following him. A staircase led down to another level. You could perfectly look into the small hall below from there and Klaus stopped after a few steps and his grin only widened.

His eyes fell on Elijah. He could see how every muscle in his body had tensed as he went down the few steps as if in a trance and stopped next to him.

Klaus watched his brother slide his eyes over the crowd that had formed around the black piano. It was so crowded that it was hard to find anyone in this crowd, but Elijah made it.

He inhaled sharply when he saw her.

Of course she was sitting in front of the grand piano, how could it be otherwise ?

She was wearing a short, airy summer dress and had her Y/H/C hair tied back in a loose bun. Her fingers, dancing over the piano keys, slowed slowly until the music stopped completely.

The crowd applauded and he heard her voice.

"Thanks !" She called. ,,Thank you very much !"

Elijah couldn't take his eyes off her. After all these years, she still looked like he remembered. Nothing had changed; she was still beautiful and again this woman had cast a spell over him - no, he had always been addicted to her.

"Before I went to Marcel 4 years ago, I asked Hayley for a favor. After we returned the night before yesterday, I redeemed it. "

She started to play again and the notes echoed up to the two brothers. Eljiah carefully watched her and Klaus could see him hold his breath with her first tones.

“Standing on the platform, watching you go. It's like no other pain, I've ever known. To love someone so much, you have no control."

Klaus' corners of his mouth went up a little when he saw his brother narrow his eyes as she sang and looked at her in disbelief.

"You told me she can't remember anything," Klaus went on now and let his gaze wander between Y/N and Elijah. “And she can't either, you compelled her. Still, her love for you was strong enough that a part of her subconscious still remembers. "

“I think I'm lost without you. I just feel crushed without you. I've been strong for long but I never thought how much I needed you. "

Elijah swallowed hard and Klaus could see his hands cling to the railing until his knuckles protruded white. Klaus could see it, could see the love and grief in his brother's eyes and the pain. But then all of that disappeared and was replaced by anger. He gritted his teeth and looked away from her in pain.

"Why am I here, Niklaus ?"

Klaus laughed softly. "Because this woman down there has still fallen for you, Elijah."

“She is safe here. We have only put her in danger with our presence. We have probably already brought our enemies here.”

Klaus became more serious. “Stop with these excuses and prevarications. This woman down there, she still loves you, despite of your self-sufficient behavior. "

"Self-sufficient ?”" Elijah hissed. ,, Our father pierced her with a stake. I'm sorry if you forgot that, but I still have the picture clearly in mind."

The blonde irritably rolled his eyes and gave Y/N a quick, thoughtful look. Elijah next to him snorted irritably.

"Rebekah told me how you felt in Freya’s Chambre de Chase."

Elijah grew calmer, more serious. He fixated Y/N and swallowed hard.

“Our sister worries in vain. I am fine."

"Elijah," Klaus began to persuade his brother. "Since you sent this woman away, you are no longer my brother, no longer the Elijah who would have given anything for love."

The addressee acidified wiped his lips.  "I willingly sacrificed everything for this family, Niklaus. Don't let that be in vain. "

Klaus only laughed softly at his threat and leaned against the railing with his forearms now. "That was exactly your mistake."

He could see Elijah's glance in his direction, but he deliberately ignored him.

“When you sent this woman down there away, part of you went with her and don't dare to say that is a lie. Admittedly, maybe she was safer without you, without the knowledge of this world, but she was part of this family. And so far we have sacrificed everything for this family, everything for our Always and Forever.”

Klaus could see how his words seemed to move something in his brother. In the end, however, they only ensured that he decidedly pushed himself off the railing.

"I'm waiting for you by the car, brother."

The blonde derisively snorted as he watched from the corner of his eye how his brother was about to leave. No, he wouldn't allow that. He still had an ace up his sleeve.

"She is one of us now."

A confident smile crept onto Klaus' full lips when he saw from the corner of his eye how his brother stopped abruptly.

“Strangers rushing past, just tryna get home. You were the only save haven that I've known. Hits me at full speed, feel like I can't breath. And nobody knows this pain inside me, my world is trembling. I should've never let you go. "

Simultaneously with her voice, a small choir began to sing in the background, which caught Elijah's attention for a split second before his eyes went back to his brother, whose corner of his mouth had only risen more. He slowly climbed the stairs again until he was in the same place as before.

"I mean, of course she still can't remember anything. She was compelled by an original,” Klaus added quickly, but now he had the undivided attention of his brother, he was sure of that.

Elijah did the same now and supported himself with his forearms on the railing, watching Y/N closely.

"How ?" Was the only thing he asked.

"Your loved one ended up in Mystic Falls some time ago."

Elijah thoughtfully narrowed his eyes. The compelling really hadn't worked as well as it was had been supposed to. He didn't know if that should scare and please him. Y/N had loved him so much that her subconscious had fought it - and a small part seemed to have won the fight.

,,What happened ?"

Klaus cocked his head a little and let his eyes slide over the small gospel choir. “A certain Julian has contested the city from our dear Salvatore brothers. And your loved one didn't think it was necessary to observe a dozen warning signs and twenty thousand barrier tapes.”

Devotedly, Elijah closed his eyes and just listened to her voice for a moment.

"Fortunately, I still have friends in Mystic Falls."

Elijah glanced half-closed at his brother. "Let me guess: Caroline Forbes?"

Klaus' smug grin was enough for his brother as an answer, so that he ran his hand over his face.

Klaus shrugged. "Hayley made sure that her school got a substantial contribution."

Elijah thoughtfully chewed on his lower lip. Y/N's voice and those of the gospel choir still echoed through the corridors of the station and clouded his mind a little. But that she was now one of them did not change the fact that she would always be in danger as long as she was by his side. Loving any of them was a death sentence, Elijah knew this from personal experience. He couldn't risk her life again, not again. The pain was severe, but he could stand it as long as he knew she was out there somewhere, alive and well and not dead because of him.

"Our sister also told me about the dreams."

Elijah listened to his brother but didn't look at him as he said it. Rebekah had apparently chatted out of the sewing box, wonderful. He briefly winced when he felt his brother's hand on his shoulder.

“You are Elijah Mikaelson. The noble, selfless and honorable one of us. Rebekah once said something that manifested in my memory throughout the years that I succumbed to the agony of the dagger. He dedicates himself to everyone, but himself. Be selfish for once, brother. Do what is right for you. But I want you to know one thing: if you go down there, she is going to be a part of this family. A part of our Always and Forever. And none of us will ever let anyone harm her. ”

Elijah looked his brother in the eye and there he could see the truth in his words. Klaus nodded one last time until he disappeared.

“Standing on the platform, watching you go. You said 'I wanna see the world' and I said ... go. "

Y/N had just played the last notes when the applause broke out. Slowly, she opened her eyes and brushed a few tears from the corners of them. She didn't know how or why, but this very song always made her feel something. It was like memorabilia from another life pattering down onto her. But no pictures, feelings. She could feel the pain as if she had experienced it herself. She could feel the disappointment as if she had experienced it herself. And she could feel this strong love as if she had experienced it herself. These feelings had grown stronger after her transition and yet could not be assigned. It was like missing the one important piece of the puzzle that would complete the picture.

"Thanks," she said instead, forcing herself to smile as people continued to applaud. ,,Thank you."

She briefly chatted with the gospel choir who had approached her before the song and asked to be allowed to accompany her, and thanked them as the crowd around them slowly dissolved. People started to head back to their daily plans.

By the time she finished talking to the choir, nobody stood around her to watch her. She sighed and instead started to take the sheet music of the last song from the filing and sort it.

But this one, little breeze made her pause.

She was in a subway station. There were no breezes down here.

She looked up, confused. But before she could look around, she noticed her mason jar, which was in its usual place and filled with some pennies, with the only difference that it now contained a $ 50 bill.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she felt like she was having a deja-vu. She questioningly looked up and around for the one who would give her so much money.

And then she spotted him.

He was standing a few meters away from her, people just ran past him. And he just looked at her.

And when she looked at him, she knew it again. She knew everything again. She felt the pain and the disappointment and the love again. And she suddenly knew what the missing piece of the puzzle was all about.

He was standing straight, but he looked uncertain, almost hesitant. Especially when he noticed that she had spotted him. He shifted his weight restlessly from one leg to the other and swallowed.

Y/N could just look at him for a moment, she couldn't do anything else. Absentmindedly, she put the stack of music sheets to the side without taking her eyes off him.

And then her legs went back to work, taking slow steps towards him. Until she was right in front of him.

She eyed Elijah closely, just as he did to her. Her heart was pounding when all these memories finally became clear and the fog in her head slowly cleared and disappeared.

She lovingly looked at him, felt the urge to touch the now longer hair, but held back. She could hardly describe the relief she was experiencing. But then another feeling came up, which prevailed for a brief moment.

She swung out and a second later Elijah's cheek was adorned with a red handprint. Perplexed, his head had fallen to one side and he blinked several times in surprise at the strength of the single slap in the face. He tensed his jaw muscles to suppress the uncomfortable tingling and burning sensation and rubbed his dry lips. He slowly looked at her.

"Don’t you ever do that again," she irritably hissed and Elijah inhaled sharply. To be honest, her action shouldn't surprise him either. Her temperament had always been unpredictable.

He just looked at her. He didn't really know what to say to the slap in the face. But he could see her facial features softening and the suppressed tears still squeezing into the corners of her eyes.

"Okay, I can be angry with you afterwards."

At the same moment she pulled him down and pressed her lips to his.

The feeling was intoxicating, Elijah couldn't deny that. He immediately closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her so tightly to him that no sheet of paper would fit between the two. He could taste her tears on his lips and for a moment he wasn't sure if it was his own little one that had escaped one of his eyes.

He could feel her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingertips buried in the short hair there. Y/N's lips felt so soft and good that he prayed that this moment would never be over. He just wanted to stand there and hold and feel and taste her. He didn't want to let her go.

It was hard to tell what was missing until you found it. It had been that way so many years ago, and the last five years she hadn't been with him had been hell for him. He didn't like to admit it, but Niklaus had been right. A part of him had boarded this train with her back then; his heart.

Breathless, she pulled away from him and pressed her forehead against his. He gently ran his thumb along her cheek, brushing away the traces of tears. He could feel her breath on his skin and he looked at her lovingly.

"Never go away again."

Elijah nodded as she tightened her arms around his neck and buried her face in it. He closed his eyes and hugged her even tighter. “I promise."

Elijah didn't see his brother, didn't know he was watching them.

Klaus stood a little apart, out of his brother's line of sight, and smiled contentedly - one of the few honest smiles known from the hybrid. "Always and forever, brother," he said softly. "Always and forever."

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

A King Needs His Queen - The Originals (Chapter 3)

“True love is like playing chess the King may be the most important piece on the board however the Queen is the most powerful and dangerous as she performs more moves then than any other. The Queen will always protect her King.” Word Count: 4042 Warnings: None

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

I left the house as Nik was putting Elijah in his coffin, I headed straight into the Quarter looking for Marcel. I was no longer going to sit back and watch Nik destroy this family once again. He will thank for me my efforts in due time. As I walked into the city I saw these posters littered everywhere and people which I were presuming who were vampires handing out flyers to the humans that littered the streets. New Orleans was known as the life of the party guess that was still the case even now as tourists were everywhere. I snatched one of the posters that was stuck on a nearby wall.

M ABATTOIR WHERE THE PARTY NEVER ENDS

I knew this was the best place to start looking for answers and if it meant going behind Nik's back to do so then so be it. I wont let anyone else get hurt, I strolled in the party was which was in full swing music blared out and humans and vampires alike danced, drank and had fun.

I spotted Marcel on the balcony over-seeing the party, I took the stairs and made my way over to him, only to have two of his vampire bodyguards try to stop me.

"Now unless you boys wish to have your hearts broken and ripped out I suggest you move" I say sweetly but loud enough for them to hear. I smile at the pair and barged my way past them since they didn't get the hint. Marcel is leaning against the railing, with a large smile on his face.

"Marcellus glad to see you wasn't turned into ash" I say sarcastically.

"Elizabeth, glad you could come and see my empire!" He boasts.

"Now, now Marcel flattery gets you no where" I reply to him.

"So do tell me how do you keep your little minions well fed?" I ask him.

"People of all stripes and flavors from all over the country to come here to party on our streets. Some are just looking for fun and others well their looking for something more, a little darker. So we invite them into my home..." Marcel started.

"Your home? You mean the Mikaelson home? Please now dear boy don't forget where your from" I interrupt him.

"Please forgive my wife, she can be a bit territorial" Nik says as he emerges from the shadows walking over to us he gives Marcel a pat on the back and myself a kiss.

"Then, at the stroke of midnight, everything changes and it's time to feed." Marcel finishes as if he was never interrupted. He looks down to see his vampires ravenously feed on the unsuspecting humans there blood curling screams fill the air along with the scent of their blood, which was making me every so hungry. I just wanted a little bite to eat, I sped down the stairs and and indulged in a few of the scraps of humans begging for there lives. These newbie vampires had no idea how to really feed, just making a mess.

I had plans to disrupt Marcel's ideals and this would be the perfect start to throw a spanner in the works, so I snapped the necks of the humans I had fed from. I returned to my husband satisfied with my meal, using my fingers to wipe any stray bits of blood round my lips to which Marcel says to us both. "That is how I keep my guys happy, the occasional all-you-can-eat buffet. But my night-walkers love it, their working hard to earn one of these daylight rings, so they deserve to blow off a little steam. My trusted few day-walkers they just like the party." He says happily with himself.

"It's quite the operation, tell me what about the victims? Seems like a lot of graves to dig." Nik asks.

"Well, we can't kill them, if too many folk go missing tourism drops. So we heal them with vampire blood, erase their memory, send them on there way. No mess, no fuss. Usually..." Marcel says looking at me he was clearly not happy with my actions of just now and I just stood there and smiled at him.

"Well I'm impressed what about you love?" Nik asks me.

"Of course, the little warrior has proved he can look after himself and a handful of others." I reply with a smirk.

"Nothing I didn't learn for you pair back in the day" Marcel says. It was then the vampire that Nik had bitten had approached us, Thierry I believe his name was.

"Marcel" the vampire says.

"Sup, Thierry?" Marcel reply's. I shift in my stance to make myself more comfortable, Nik's arm slides around my back keeping me close.

"Six of our guys were killed in a bar outside of the Quarter, night-walkers. No one saw who." Thierry says to him. As Marcel takes the news in, we made our leave and myself and Nik headed back to the house.

"Was the deaths of those vampires anything to do with you love?" Nik asks me. I shake my head.

"Not me, I was going to ask you the same question. If it wasn't either of us then who could it be?" I reply.

"I may have a inkling who" Nik says and nothing more is exchanged until we arrive back at the house.

We entered a sitting room and Nik pours himself and me a drink from the small selection of liquor and hands me one of the glasses. He downs his glass in one and then proceeds to refill it. We relished in the peace and quite drinks in hand till we both drifted off into a sleep, leaning on one other for support.

"KLAUS! GET OUT HERE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE DONE WITH OUR BROTHER, YOU NARCISSISTIC, BACK-STABBING WANKER!!" The familiar voice rang through-out the house awakening us both, to which Nik gets up and opens the pair of  doors that adjoin to another room in the house.

"Enough with the shouting, little sister." Nik starts and with that I get up from my seat and make my way over to where all the noise was coming from. Rebekah clocks me and runs past her brother and tightly wraps me into a hug.

"Lizzie!" She says.

"I missed you too" I say to her. I was happy that she was back, maybe now Nik might be on his best behavior.

"I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?" I ask her chuckling.

"They were very rude." She says to us.

"Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter, so I impaled them with a pool cue. So sorry were they friends of yours? Oh that's right you don't have any friends." She says to her brother with a wicked smile on her face.

"Bekah... Please" I warned. She flashes me one of her smiles and I roll my eyes at her.

"I do have friends. I have Elizabeth and Marcel" Nik starts. "Elizabeth doesn't count she is married to you, she has to play nice" Rebekah teased.

"You remember Marcel right Bekah? He fancies himself as King of the Quarter now lets change that shall we? But he also has this rule about killing vampires, I wonder what punishment he comes up with for you." I tease back crossing my arms.

"I don't care for Marcel or his rules Lizzie, Elijah doesn't welch on his deals, what did you do to him Nik?" Rebekah snaps at her brother.

"Perhaps he's on holiday... or taking a long autumn nap upstairs, you remember this house as well as any of us" Nik says. I elbow him in the side to only get a glare sent my way. And I stand there look him in the eyes and smirk at him. Rebekah leaves the room but turns back to us

"I remember everything." and with that she walks away exploring the house we once lived in before. I recall the parties we used to attend as guests of the governor and they were so fun.

1820 The party was a busy and lively one, people were dressed in their finest clothes, music played in the background which was drowned out by the sound of laughter and chatter. I had my arm around Rebekah's as we passed person after person, some nodded others just exchanged glances. The governor was a greedy and drunken fool really so my family was able to bribe him with gold to keep the vampires a secret from the rest of the town. With all the money we had given him, the parties he threw only seemed to get more exciting and wild. We walk up to where the rest of our family were and only to see Nik with his teeth sunken in a young lady who I had my eyes set on earlier.

"Nik! I told you she was mine" I whined at him. I let out a huff and walked off outside to only find myself with the worst person ever... The drunken Governor.

"Mrs Mikaelson!" He slurred. Great I thought, just what I really need.

"Afternoon Governor, what a lovely get together you have organised." I say sweetly forcing a smile. I flutter my eyelashes at him, and use my fan to start pretending to cool myself down.

"Y..you..are...a pre..tty...little..thi..ng" He attempts to say, trying to reach out to stroke my cheek.

"Why you are too kind" I tell him taking a small step backwards. I was seriously out of my comfort zone and I  needed to get away from him, before he tries something else. Luckily I was able to get away, and briskly walked back to my family to see Rebekah clinging to the arm of another.  

"Dearest Elijah. You've only ever wished happiness for me. Emil and I are in love. Please, let me turn him." Rebekah asks. Oh dear here we go I thought, my dear sister has found another one, best let her down gently, I thought to myself.

"Rebekah love, the Governor keeps our secrets, but turning his only son wouldn't bode the family well." I tell her.

"Elizabeth is right, sister if anything listen to her" Elijah adds.

"Please for me..." She pleads.

"There is nothing we can do, Bekah. Emil will have to age without you. I hate to stand in front of your desires but this wish myself or Elijah cannot fulfill." I sigh.

"It's not going to happen, sister. If we turned every man you dropped your knickers for, then human beings would cease to exist and we'd have no bloody food." Nik interrupts.

I quickly turned my head and glared at my husband, I throw my hands in the air. "NIKLAUS!  There was no need to humiliate your sister like that, really sometimes your unbelievable and I wondered why I married you in the first place" I snap at him.

"How dare you, sir! You would do well to treat..." Emil started. Nik then rushed over and grabbed Emil by his throat. Carrying him with ease down the hallway. I stood there in horror watching the scene unfold, surely Nik wouldn't cause a scene. But how very wrong was I, in the background I heard both Rebekah and Elijah try and get Nik to stop and think about what he was doing, when I quickly rushed over. "Nik, please let him go" I ask him, reaching out Emil hoping to grab his hand.

"Very well love" He replies. And throws Emil off over the balcony, Rebekah shrieks and all we saw was Emil land hard over the other side. The force and height he was thrown from would have killed him instantly. I turn away from Nik and walk away, Elijah held a emotional Rebekah as she sobs in his arms. After a few moments alone my husband finally catches up with me and stops me walking any further.

"Come now, love" he starts.

"Excellent work Nik...Why kill him? There was no need" I snap sarcastically.

"He wasn't good enough for her, she deserves better" He tells me.

"Nik, nobody will ever be good enough for her. I understand that she is your baby sister, but it is important to let her spread her wings. Let her make her own mistakes if he wasn't the right person for her Bekah could have dealt with Emil herself. But because you took matters into your own hands we will never known and Rebekah will never learn." I tell him softly reaching out for his cheek, and giving it a soft kiss, his stubble tickled my lips.

"Please, don't kill the next one" I whisper in his ear.        

My thoughts were interrupted by Nik and Rebekah in the middle of a quarrel. When his phone starts to vibrate, he glances at it and the begins to leave.

"And where are you going?" Rebekah asks.

"It appears that the night isn't quite over. I'm off for another drink with Marcel, don't wait up." He replies sarcastically. He starts to walk away when Rebekah pipes up.

"Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving the two of you drink New Orleans dry together."

"Yes why are going for a drink with Marcel?" I ask my husband.

"Rebekah I know you don't have many friends but what some friends do is drink when they get together, and when they drink they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the witches in the Quarter and my aim is to uncover the how so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't quite make my to-do list" Nik responds. He continues to head for the front door to where he turns around once more.

"Elizabeth love are you coming? And welcome home little sister." Nik says to us both

"I have some catching up to do with my sister, besides I don't quite fancy peeling you from the bar when you've had too much to drink." I say to him, walking over and kissed him.

"I love you" He tells me planting a gentle kiss on my forehead.

And with that he leaves and shuts the door behind him. Rebekah standing there in a silence she is probably thinking about what was said, when I see Hayley on the landing. Rebekah snaps out of her gaze. "You, wolf girl. I'm going to search this place inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done with my good one and you're helping" she says.

"No need to tear this place apart Bekah,  I know exactly where he his." I say with a sigh. I start making my way through the house which lead us to a spiral staircase, Rebekah behind me and Hayley following behind.

"You knew where he was and didn't think to help him?" Rebekah asks.

"If I did, I would have risked everything. Elijah freed me from my slumber to try and get Nik to see reason about everything including Hayley and baby. I can't do that if I'm inside of a box. Can I?" I tell her sternly.

"When we lived here the Governor had lots of secret rooms, I'll show you his favorite." Rebekah says changing the subject. As we carried on walking down the stairs we arrived in a dusty and cobwebbed cellar.

"Down here are a number of coffins, with Elijah's currently occupied only my own and Rebekah's lay vacant." I say.

"You think Klaus has killed him?" Hayley asks us.

"Nik, Elijah and Rebekah are original vampires they can't be killed, I on the other hand was made stronger to match there strength by a witch, I will tell you more another time." I tell her.

"But it doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of mystical silver daggers. One to the heart sends us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box, until he decides to pull the dagger out. That's what he has done with Elijah." Rebekah adds.

As we enter the cellar the coffins come into view. "This one here is mine and Rebekah's is other there." I inform Hayley. Hayley stops and takes a gulp.

"He keeps your coffin on standby?" She asks.

"Well my husband likes to be prepared for when his family disappoint him, wait a minute Elijah isn't here... He must of known I would help you when you got back and hid him somewhere else." I say with a large sigh. When Nik had placed Elijah in the coffin it was down here I was certain, maybe when I had fallen asleep shortly after he moved him, but where?

"I feel sick... And it's not my hormones" Hayley says covering her mouth.

"Well welcome to the family sweetheart, you should have run the second Elijah was gone" Rebekah says.

"Now Bekah, no need to be harsh on the poor girl." I tell her. I offer Hayley a small smile, and we started to head back upstairs.

"Yeah well the witches have put some sort of hex on me, and as long as I'm carrying this baby I can't leave New Orleans. If I do they kill me." Hayley tells us.

"Well knowing Klaus, he's planning a box for you the second you give birth to whatever is cooking In your tum. I'm leaving as soon as I find Elijah. Being daggered in a box for decades sucks trust me, Lizzie will agree with me there. Your best bet is to find a way to break that hex and run." She adds.

And with that Rebekah walks away continuing to search the house for her brother, leaving Hayley with me. "Don't worry, no harm will come to you" I tell her and make my way to find my sister.

I find her in the study. "Bekah I'm sorry that I couldn't stop Nik from hurting Elijah, I really am but as I said Elijah was able to break the spell that had me confined to a coffin, I couldn't risk being put back in so soon after getting out. I will speak with Nik when he comes home to find out where he has Elijah. And I will remove the dagger myself." I tell her. Rebekah paces around the study and then takes a seat on the large leather chair that is seated behind a oak desk, books and papers scatter the top.

"I'm not angry that you didn't stop Nik, you tried that's all that matters, what are you going to do when Elijah is free? Are you coming with us?" She asks me.

"As much as I want to, I need to make my marriage work both me and Nik have been without each other for too long. Yes he has some serious making up to do for having me put in the box in the first place and I think deep down his way of making it up to me is getting New Orleans back and under his control like it once was. Why not stay Bekah? We could all be a family again here." I tell her.

"You are really like a female version of Elijah, things would be very different if you had married him instead." She chuckles at me and proceeds to get up and bring me into a tight squeeze.

"I think I might take Nik's offer and join him for a drink" I say with a smile and leave the study to grab a coat and left to head into town.

"I would have thought you and Marcel would have drunk the place dry by now and yet you haven't even started" I tease at my husband before he walks into the bar.

"Well I thought I would do a little more sight seeing get a feel for the place." He tells me.

"Nice of you to join me though love, do tell me what brings you here?" He asks me. I pretend to look hurt. "Am I not allowed to go and have a drink with my husband and his friend, do tell Niklaus your not ashamed of me are you?" I tease.

"Not in the slightest love, I have my Queen by my side" he tells me pressing a kiss to my temple and with that we make our way inside the bar to see Marcel drinking alone.

"Well this is a far cry from last night's party" Nik says as we approach him and sit down. Nik let's me take the seat closest to the window. I also happen to notice that Marcel keeps glancing over to a young woman with blonde hair she was writing in a notebook.

"In pursuit of a young blonde your type hasn't changed Marcel." I tell him smiling.

"I do believe that is the bartender from Rousseau's" Nik adds.

"She is a work in progress" Marcel tells us with a smile.

"And yet here you are pining over her when you should be eating her for lunch. Oh she must be special." Nik says to him. I lean back into my chair a little trying to get comfy to find Nik arm around my shoulders pulling me in closer towards him his own unique scent goes up my nostrils this was nice and this is what home smelled like.

"Business first. The coroner called. He's got my number in case any dead tourists show up." He says.

"Hmmm and let me guess along with the two bodies I gave to you as a housewarming present you have more?" I say sarcastically.

"Dead tourists with a stamp on their hands and vampire blood in their veins am I right?" Nik adds to my statement. Marcel taps on the table in a slow rhythm.

"It happens. Someone takes a drunken turn off a balcony or in the Mississippi... And today I got two of them to deal with. So that makes four extra problems I have had to deal with." Marcel says.

"Oh don't be so prude Marcel, enlighten me though why the bartender?" I ask him. But before Marcel answers my question Nik had gotten up and made his way over to where the blonde girl was sat, she had started to pack her things away. She seemed to be on guard more now that Nik had walked over to her.

"Excuse me love, what's that you're studying?" He asks the girl.

"Abnormal psychology." She replies a slight bluntness in her tone of voice. Nik let's out a chuckle.

"Abnormal psychology? Well perhaps you could diagnose my friend over here. He's been a little bit depressed can't keep his mind of a girl. He tells me she's a queen fit for a king. I think he should cut his losses and move on. What's your professional opinion?"

I just generally look around the bar while he is having a conversation and see the sparkle of a very familiar  wedding band on the hand of my husband, which made me smile no end and I leave my seat to join him. "Any advice really, I mean the poor dear is in tatters" I say sweetly.

Marcel then gets up and speak to the bartender. "Be a nice guy, and maybe the opportunity will present itself some day." She tells him. I reach out to grab Niks hand giving it a tight squeeze.

"How about tonight, nine o'clock? I'll meet you right here?" He asks her. She looks at him with a sly smile.

"I'll take it under consideration" She tells him and with that she leaves the bar, just leaving us three with each others company.

"Ouch..." I say with a smile, walking back over to the table we were sat at to take a sip of the glass left unattended.

"Hmm, that was harsh" Marcel says to us. "I dare say I've lost my touch or you have lost yours." Nik says to his friend.

"I hope you better have lost your touch with the ladies Mr Mikaelson or your going to be in a heap of trouble" I tease him.

[hamletandthegang]

Cheering up Marc: Part 4, Hamlet

Marc lay stretched out across the couch in his apartment, listening to the music flooding in from his headphones. It was so loud it took him a minute to realize that someone was knocking on the door. He grabbed for his phone, hit the pause button, and slid the headphones around his neck. “It’s open!” he shouted.

It was Hamlet who entered, hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.” Marc sat up, swinging his legs down to the floor. He gestured to the spot on the couch next to him, and Hamlet sat down. “What’s up?”

“Just came by to pass along the message that we’re all going out to eat tonight. Phelia voted for that little Italian place down the road.”

“The one with noodles the consistency of rubber?” Marc asked, squinting.

“The very same.” Hamlet chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “But hey, you can pick next time.” He glanced over at Marc. “So, you down?”

“Uh.” In truth, Marc had no desire to leave his apartment that night, or even to get off of the couch. He had his sweatshirt and fleecy pajama pants and a blanket and his music and that was all he really needed, right? In fact, he had almost fallen asleep, despite it only being about four o’clock in the afternoon. “I’ll...think about it. I might have other things to do.”

There was a pause, and Hamlet got a strange look on his face. Marc fidgeted with his headphones, waiting for him to respond. Hamlet bit his lip, looking like he was trying to decide whether or not to say something, and eventually cleared his throat.

“Do you do a lot of other things, while we’re all in class? Go out, talk to other people, stuff like that?” The question was innocent enough, but Hamlet’s tone was a little crafty.

Marc shifted uncomfortably. He knew where Hamlet was going with this. “Yeah. Yeah, sometimes.”

Hamlet smiled sweetly at him. “You goddamn liar.”

Marc let out a breath and leaned back against the couch, surprised to find a wry smile on his face. “You got me there, I guess.” Hamlet was quiet, waiting for him to continue. He swallowed. “I just haven't felt up to doing...well, anything, lately. No energy whatsoever.”

Hamlet nodded, staring ahead. “You feel all numb, right? ‘Cause you’re scared what will happen if you actually let yourself feel the full brunt of all your shitty emotions. You’re hiding from yourself, and you’re hiding from everyone else too because they all just want you to be happy. And happy’s not something you know how to do anymore.”

Marc hesitated, cheeks a little red. “How did you-”

“My dad died last year.” Hamlet turned to him, his expression intense and serious.

“Oh.” Of course, Marc thought, mentally slapping his forehead. How did I forget that? He didn’t know what else to say.

Hamlet sighed and shook his head, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re not the only one who’s lost someone, Marc. If you pooled together the histories of everyone in our little band, you’d find some seriously fucked up stuff.” His voice softened. “You’re not alone on this one.”

Marc was silent. He swallowed, trying to articulate his thoughts. “I…” He coughed. “I just. I have trouble motivating myself. To get up, to deviate from my routine, to do anything. I feel like I’m being crushed under the weight of some big terrible thing, and I shouldn’t try to struggle because nothing matters anyway.” He laughed at himself, a little. “Sorry. I was so not expecting a sentimental pep talk from you, of all people. It’s throwing me off my rhythm.”

Hamlet snickered. “No problem. I’m full of surprises.”

Marc took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. Quietly, he asked, “So. How...do I move on?” It seemed like what he was supposed to do, but he saw Ben everytime he closed his eyes and he had no idea how to deal with the mountain of guilt and grief that threatened to fall on top of him every day.

Hamlet shrugged. “You don’t move on, not really. You just have to learn how to find the balance between ignoring it and dwelling on it. You wake up in the morning and say ‘Hey there, Ben. I miss you a lot but I’m going to go out and live my life today because it’s what you would have wanted.’ You learn to live with all of your shitty feelings until they’re just another part of who you are.”

Marc had no idea how to respond to that, either. But it resonated with something inside of him. It helped. He closed his eyes. “Damn.”

“Damn indeed,” Hamlet replied. “So, Mr. Marcellus. Will you be joining us for rubbery noodles tonight?”

Marc smiled. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

[marcdamour]

{ FRANÇOIS ARNAUD. THIRTY-SIX. CISMALE. HE/HIM } i was out wrestlin’ gators when i saw MARCELLUS “Marc” DAMOUR. you know they have been in town for THIRTY YEARS now? they currently work as a DEPUTY SHERIFF. i love having them around, they're FAITHFUL & INTUITIVE, but sometimes they can be STUBBORN & IRASCIBLE. well, hope to see them ‘round more!

it’s lisa again, with bby #2. he’s can be a bit prickly at times but overall he’s a pretty chill dude. i absolutely love to plot so lemme know if there’s anything you’d be interested in with him. ( or amara ) literally, give me all the angst. sorry this isn’t too detailed but i will be adding more later!

[ Triggers: 9/11 mention & cheating  ]

BACKGROUND.

originally from quebec, canada, the damour family moved to marais when marc was only six. he is fluent in french, english, and ASL. he also has dual citizenship. his family is comprised of a father, mother, an older brother, and two younger sisters.

marc has always been a bit of a hothead, now much more mature, he would even gladly take the fall for most of the fights that had occurred when he and his siblings were children. it was as a young teenager that he learned to keep his temperament in check and became a master of self-control with the help of some anger management courses. how he mastered his anger however is his shameful little secret that he doesn’t like to talk about. 

growing up, there was nobody he looked up to more than his parents. they were his own versions of superheroes. he always felt as though his parents were pillars in their small community and marc aspired to be the same one day. it was one of the driving forces upon going into public service. the other driving force behind becoming a police officer was the 9/11 attack. 

he joined the police academy directly after graduating high school and took several classes at le savoir college of louisiana in the following years where he majored in criminal justice and psychology. he’d never been the greatest when it came to school, but he never stopped trying or meeting with tutors until he finally got it. 

when he first moved out on his own, marc discovered his love for cooking and for food itself. he’s spent mindless hours scrolling through social media looking up recipes and has a pinterest board of things to try. ( he’d be like an ideal candidate for those amateur cooking shows. ) his mad cooking skills have also impressed many tinder dates.

though his dedication to marais and her citizens and the pride he has in his work has always been clear. which helped him get appointed as a deputy at twenty-nine. i’d like to think he’s very well known around town and his overall reputation as a law enforcement officer is stern but fair. and he’s definitely more known than the other officers for letting folks go with just a warning when the offense isn’t serious.

he has a good heart and wants nothing more than to help those in need and do what’s right. but if it comes down to doing what’s right or protecting someone he cares about, it’s ALWAYS going to be the latter.  

he is a lowkey stoner, which was something he started sometime in high school. he’s taken extended breaks from it various times over the years but nothing chills him out more than sitting outside with a fat one and listening to the calming bayou crickets. 

relationships of the long term variety have never seemed to be in the cards for marc, no matter how much effort he puts in. the one long term relationship he did have left him a broken man and he’s only just managed to put himself back together after she cheated on him. he’s come to terms with the fact “no strings” relationships are just what he needs. 

it’s been two years since the relationship ended and in that time, marc’s control over his emotions and his temper has diminished. something that is easy to see for those who are close to him as he’s more likely to get into with those around him over things that normally would have rolled off his back. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

long term ex-girlfriend ( will submit a wc soon )

past hookups

current hookups

ride or die

friends

rivals

coworkers

hoodlums to bust lol 

[unpack-my-heart]

Unpack My Heart With Words - Updated

New chapter of my Hamlet/Theatre Reddie AU.

It’s on AO3 HERE or I’ve posted it under the cut. 

preview:

‘Are you kidding me – YOU’RE my Hamlet? She’s sent me YOU? I swear to God – Right. Well. Get inside – no, not THAT door, the door where – just follow me’.

Richie waits for a beat, watching Eddie march away with his scarf trailing behind him, gauzy fabric reaching out to Richie with invisible arms. Eventually, Richie’s feet co-operate with the signals screaming in his brain to go! go! go!, and he follows Eddie, who had disappeared through a small side-door marked ‘private’. Richie takes a deep breath, before he pushes the door open and steps inside, breaching the dark underbelly of the RSC.

@violetreddie @constantreaderfool @xandertheundead

‘Are you kidding me – YOU’RE my Hamlet? She’s sent me YOU? I swear to God – Right. Well. Get inside – no, not THAT door, the door where – just follow me’.

Richie waits for a beat, watching Eddie march away with his scarf trailing behind him, gauzy fabric reaching out to Richie with invisible arms. Eventually, Richie’s feet co-operate with the signals screaming in his brain to go! go! go!, and he follows Eddie, who had disappeared through a small side-door marked ‘private’. Richie takes a deep breath, before he pushes the door open and steps inside, breaching the dark underbelly of the RSC.

Richie follows Eddie through a series of corridors, winding this way and that, past small dressing rooms, large open spaces with chairs strewn haphazardly around. People pass them, nodding at Eddie and staring at Richie with blank, expressionless looks. Richie keeps his gaze trained to the shocking white of Eddie’s sneakers, a stark contrast against the deep, velvety black of the rest of his outfit. Eddie is talking on the phone, the tinny voice of the other person filtering out into the air, but not loud enough that Richie can hear what they’re saying. He tries not to listen to what Eddie is saying, feeling invasive, but he can’t persuade his ears to disengage.

“No, I had no idea you’d cast him … I suppose he was always very good when we were at RADA together … I told you that! You knew I went to RADA with him … Well you know now … Yes, he’s that Richie … I have no idea … I have to go, thank you again for this simply marvellous surprise”

Eddie eventually pushes his way through a set of large double doors, and Richie follows him through into a large classroom. One of the walls is mirrored, and there are nine other people staring over at him. He instantly recognises one of them.

Watching Eddie march over to the desk, and start typing furiously, Richie makes a beeline for where Stan is standing.

“Stanley the Manley!”

“Oh Jesus Christ, it’s you”

Richie smacks Stan’s arm lightly.

“That’s hardly an appropriate greeting for your best friend now, is it”

“Richie, I haven’t seen you since we graduated”

“Semantics, semantics” Richie dismisses, with a wave of his hand.

It was true. He hasn’t seen Stan since he graduated fourteen years ago. Even then, Richie had grown more and more distant from everyone after Eddie had left. He put his head down, poured his heart and soul into everything he did, graduated, and never looked back. His RADA years were simultaneously the best and worst years of his life thus far, and it exhausted Richie to think about them. It had, however, meant that he’d lost touch with Stan. Stan had tried, send him texts and emails and even rang him once a month for two years, but that, like all things, eventually stopped. Seeing Stan now, stood in front of him, with fine lines around his eyes and flecks of grey mottling his ashy blonde hair, tugged painfully at Richie’s heart.

“I’m sorry, you know”

“I know you are, Rich. I get it, I was just collateral damage” Stan dead-panned, the monotone voice contrasted happily with the smile in his eyes.

Before Richie could reply, he was interrupted by the clapping of hands.

“So now that the lead has so kindly deigned us all with his presence, we can begin. You should have got the email with the cast list, so perhaps some of you are familiar with each other. My name is Edward Kaspbrak and I’m directing this production, as you all well know. You can call me Eddie, though. We’ll start by reading through act one scenes four and five, the first interaction between Hamlet and the ghost of Old King Hamlet, so those of you who aren’t needed can excuse yourselves to one of the other rehearsal rooms to read through act one scene one to three together. Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus, over here” Eddie instructed, pointing to a door which presumably lead to another rehearsal space, before beckoning to Richie, Stan and an attractive, blonde-haired man steps forward, presumably this production’s Marcellus.

Everyone else filters out of the room in near total silence, leaving Richie, Stan and the man playing Marcellus staring dumbly at each other, unsure of what to do.

“Hang on, who’s playing the ghost?” Richie called out, causing Eddie’s head to snap up from where it was buried in an old beaten up copy of Hamlet, his hands leafing impatiently through the yellowing pages.

“Pardon?”

“The Ghost, who is playing him?”

Eddie blinks.

“It hasn’t been cast yet”

“How the hell are we supposed to block this, then? Am I supposed to talk to the air? Act as if the air is talking to me? C’mon, Eddie, that’s a bit ridiculous” Richie asks, gesticulating wildly.

“I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice talking to yourself”

As soon as he says it, Eddie’s face shifts, the perfectly schooled apathy replaced by something that looks almost pained, something that almost resembles regret, before its chased away, and the apathy returns.

“Can we at least call one of the others in and have them read it for now?” Richie tries, trying to ensure that his voice doesn’t betray his frustration and start to waver.

“I’ll read it, I suppose, if you’re going to make such a fuss about it”

With that, Eddie throws the book onto a nearby chair, where it lands closed with a slapping sound. Richie sends a sideways glance at Stan, who is staring at both of them with wide, amused eyes.

Marcellus is standing on the other side of the room, looking equal parts confused and terrified.

Watching Eddie unwind his scarf and set it neatly on the nearest table, Richie is thrown backwards in time, as the Eddie standing before him, dressed in black dress pants and a black shirt, morphs into the Eddie he had seen for the first time in rehearsal room 3. His Lear.

They start reading through Act I Scene IV, which goes fairly well. Eddie only shouts at Richie once, when he gets a line wrong.

“Ministers of grace and Angels –“

“Wrong!”

“Pardon?”

“It’s ‘Angels and Ministers of Grace –“

“Oh for fucks sake” Richie mutters under his breath.

Surprisingly, he’s not frustrated at Eddie. In all fairness, he did get the line wrong. What surprises him is the embarrassment that claws at his stomach. He’s embarrassed. He’s standing in front of the love of his life – the boy that twisted him up and turned his whole life upside down nearly fifteen years ago – and he’s getting lines wrong, and he’s embarrassed.

“Try it again” comes Eddie’s reply, and Richie looks up at him tentatively, expecting to be met with glares and scorn, but Eddie’s face is blank. He’s just looking at Richie, prompting him, willing him to continue. No malice, but no soothing smile, either. Richie tries to remember what Eddie looked like when he smiled, when he was tucked under Richie’s armpit when they were watching movies in Richie’s shitty old flat.

Richie tried again, and got it right.

They finish act one scene four, and move straight onto act one scene five. The ghost speaks to Hamlet in this scene, which means Eddie will be speaking to Richie, pleading with him to ‘remember me!’.

Richie never forgot him.

“Where wilt thou lead me? Speak; I’ll go no further” Richie starts.

“Mark me”

“I will”

“My hour is almost come, when I to sulphurous and tormenting flames, must render up myself”

As they progress through the scene, Richie is stunned to realise that Eddie is awful. His delivery is wooden, his voice is monotone, emotionless, as if he doesn’t care, as if he’d rather be anywhere else, totally apathetic to Richie’s need for a good performance to respond to, to bounce off of.

“Adieu, Adieu Hamlet, Remember – –“

“Have you forgotten how to do it, Eds?” Richie interrupts, and it spills out of his mouth with more venom than he’d intended.

“We didn’t all have the luxury of finishing our acting degrees, Richard” Eddie snaps, the apathy on his face gone entirely.

He looks hurt, the same expression he’d been wearing when he’d told Richie he loved him for the very last time at the dining table, before he’d walked out of the door, and out of Richie’s life, nearly fifteen years ago.

Richie doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything. They finish reading through the scene. Eddie’s performance doesn’t improve, if anything, it gets worse. Every ‘Swear it!’ delivered with indifference. Tiny verbal bullets that sting every time they hit Richie’s ears. Richie can’t help but recall Eddie’s Lear, powerful and commanding, a harsh juxtaposition to this damp squib of an old King Hamlet.

Almost immediately after Richie had uttered the last line of the scene, Eddie marches over to the door that the other cast members had left through, and disappears. He returns seconds later, accompanied by the rest of the cast.

“We’ll start looking over act one scene two, now. We’ll go back to act one when the whole cast is here, which will be sometime next week. I want to think about staging for scene two, and how we’ll have Claudius and Gertrude situated in relation to Hamlet, I think I’d like you, Ben, over here, and Bill if you can – –“

“Don’t you think we should all introduce ourselves?” Richie interrupts, for a second time.

Eddie just stares at him, eyebrow raised. A challenge. Continue, if you dare.

“I just think we should get to know each other, you know, so we all know where we’ve come from, who we are, what our backgrounds are. I’ll start, so, uh, sup, my dudes, the name’s Richie, and I’ve just come off tour with – –“

“I hardly think that’s relevant” Eddie scoffs, “If you want to spend the precious time we have together making friends, by all means, be my guest, but you’ll be doing it outside of my rehearsal space”

“I just thought it might help improve the chemistry between our characters”

“Do you really think a friendly atmosphere is appropriate for the play in question, Richard?”

“… I mean, I just –“

Richie meets Eddie’s eyes.

“I guess not”

The rest of the rehearsal goes okay. Richie tries not to let it sting too much when Eddie places his hands on Ben’s stomach, above his diaphragm, to help him project his voice, and when he laughs at Mike twirling around the stage In the first mock-up of his Ophelia costume. Richie tries his best to draw Eddie out of his shell, to draw Eddie back to him, repeating jokes that he knows Eddie would have laughed at – did laugh at in the past– but he doesn’t. Their interactions remain cold, clinical and professional.

At the end of the day, the main cast are knackered, but they decide to go to the pub to decompress and get to know each other a bit better. The only members of the cast that make their excuses are the actors playing Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Shrugging on his coat, Ben shouts out an invitation to Eddie to join them.

“Hey, Eddie! We’re all going to the pub. D’ya fancy it?”

“Uh…”, Eddie replies, eyes flicking over each of the people stood in front of him, before his gaze lands on Richie. Their eyes meet, and do not waver.

“No thanks” Eddie delivers straight to Richie, words that bore straight into the pit of Richie’s stomach. Eddie looks away from Richie, and his tone shifts to something light hearted, the voice Richie had grown to love all those years ago. “I’ve got a lot of preparation to do for tomorrow, we’ve still got a lot to do before we can move onto scene three. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

With that, Eddie leaves the door with a small wave.

“Ah, yes, now we can get to know each other ‘outside of the rehearsal space’. I mean, what the hell was that all about?” Mike asks, holding onto Stan’s shoulder as he tries to escape the folds of fabric keeping him hostage.

“I know” Stan replies, simply, a wicked glint in his eye.

“Don’t!” Richie shouts before he can stop himself.

Everyone looks at him expectantly.

“Uh… I just need to get my coat” Richie mumbles, before slinking into the back cupboard. He smacks his forehead against the wall with a thump, closes his eyes, and breathes.

They decide to go to the pub with the garden with the outdoor heaters, at Richie’s insistence, so that he might indulge his nicotine habit. He’s been gasping for a cigarette all day, but he hadn’t dared ask Eddie if he could slip out for a few minutes.

They squish onto a small picnic table together, and Bill ends up sat comfortably on Ben’s lap, an attempt at navigating the lack of space. Ben’s hands loop comfortably around Bill’s waist, and Richie sends a quirked eyebrow his way, receiving a confused but genuine smile in response.

Richie offers to buy the first round, ‘lead buys first’, and pulls Bill off of Ben’s lap to help him carry the drinks back to the table.

“Is something going on there, Billiam?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific, Rich” Bill replies, leaning on the bar and tapping his fingers rhythmically on the polished wood.

“Between you and our dear King. Bit of method acting, if you will?” Richie replies, waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m still lost”

“Oh my sweet summer child. Are you, our beloved Queen Gertrude, boning the usurper in chief, King Claudius?”

“You mean – am I fucking Ben?” Bill laughs.

“Yes!”

“I’m pretty sure Beverly would stab me with her knitting needles if I even tried it, mate”

“Ah, you got a lady friend then?”

“Nope. Ben does. Bev is the costume designer for this production. She’s been with Ben for years and this is the first production they’ve worked on together since they got together years ago. It’s super sweet and also super gross because I’ve walked in one them … doing things … what feels like so times and we’ve only been rehearsing for a day!”

Richie threw his head back and laughed, a proper belly laugh that shook his entire body and soul. Bill laughed too, a high-pitched croaky laugh that just made Richie laugh even more. Wiping some stray tears from his eyes, Richie was sure he saw a familiar figure disappear into the toilet, a figure wearing all black and a gauzy scarf.

“I thought Eddie wasn’t coming with us?”

“Huh? He’s not?” Bill replied, confused.

“I swear I just saw him disappear into the toilet” Richie said, still staring at the toilet door, lest he miss the person he was sure was Eddie reappear in the main bar area.

“I need a piss anyway so I’ll go check!”

Bill disappeared into the bathroom, and by the time he’d returned Richie was in the middle of ordering.

“Hey mate, can I get four pints of Somersby and two Punk IPA’s please? – – oh, any luck?”

“Nah, It wasn’t Eddie”

Richie hummed, not entirely convinced.

As they waited for their drinks, Bill started pressuring Richie about the weirdness he’d witnessed between him and Eddie.

“I’ve gotta ask, dude, what was all that about with Eddie? I saw that weird look you shared”

Richie tried to remain as flippant, and disaffected as it was possible to be, given the circumstances.

“Ah, I dunno, man. You know how he is”

“I’ve known him a day, Rich, and judging by the tension between you two that you could cut with a knife, I’m guessing you can’t say the same”

They arrived back at the table, much to Richie’s delight, and he passed out the drinks, hoping that the conversation between him and Bill would get buried by whatever everyone else was talking about.

He was not so lucky.

“Hey Stan, what did you mean when you said that you know why Eddie was being all weird about us getting to know each other?”

“I meant what I said, I know the reason. But I can’t tell you if Richie doesn’t want me to. It’s not my story to tell, I just wanted you all to know that I know”

Bill, who was sitting back on Ben’s lap, just rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Rich, I command thee to tell your mother why the air is most foul between you and master Kaspbrak”

“Do you want the long story or the short story?”

Bill rubbed his chin in faux thought.

“Short, then long if it’s juicy enough”

“We met at school, we fell in love, he broke my heart”

Richie was met with a round of sympathetic hisses and whistles, and a comforting hand on his thigh from Mike.

“Sorry, Kid. We all thought it was something to do with you being late, or something.”

“I mean, that probably didn’t help” Richie tried to laugh, but the words came out strangled.

“What was Eddie like at school?” Ben asked, swatting at Bill who kept trying to put leaves in his beer.

“Um. I dunno – he was, uh, he was brilliant, I guess”

“Wait, hang on” Adrian, who was playing Laertes, interrupted. “Didn’t Eddie go to school in Scotland? And you met Stan at RADA? How… I’m lost. How does that work?”

“Eddie went to RADA for a year before he transferred” Stan supplied, after Richie sent him a panicked look. “Eddie left in the Spring term of first year. He met Richie and I there, and then he left for Edinburgh”

“Why’d he transfer?”

“Ask him yourself, because I still don’t have a fucking clue” Richie replied, bitterly, before draining his pint in one go.

[saigebeaumont]

- ̗̀ * ( robert sheehan + cismale + he/him ) have you seen ( benjamin ‘benjy’ magwitch ) walking around campus ? they are a ( twenty-three ) year old, studying ( political science ). we hear they are in ( rho pi rho ), and can be ( magnetic & irresponsible ), maybe it’s because they are a ( leo ). they sort of remind us of ( shiny red apples, walking on ledges, kaleidoscopes ), maybe we can find out more ! ( james + 19 + est + they/she ) *  ̖́-  + theatre/track

hi hello as u may have seen my name is james and this is my baby, benjy. i dont know how long this is going to get so pls bare with me

tw; fire? 

gen. info

full name: benjamin ‘benjy’ henry magwitch / joshua hollowood but u will never catch him actually using his real name tbqh

nickname(s): think of a random name. any century, any gender, any amount of letters or lack thereof. that’s it that’s his nickname. previous aliases that he has claimed to be are - thaddeus, balthazar, dante, romulus, etc., etc.

b.o.d. - july 31st, age 23

label(s): the icarian, the blackhole, the insouciant, etc. etc.

height: tall

hometown: ???

sexuality: chaotically bisexual

bio. info

let’s try and make this short n sweet

so like. y’know when a faerie steals a human baby and replaces it with it’s own, weaker, inferior baby? benjy is the human baby in this case

except they weren’t faeries

dorothea and fawley were two...somewhat, in love, folks--who had really wanted to have a child of their own. when they did, finally, have their child--he was very sickly and small and neither of them wanted their child to be weak goddammit

so they did a switcharoo, like...switched at birth except i’ve never ever seen switched at birth, and ran off with this extremely rich family’s newborn baby instead!

dorothea and fawley were part of a circus, and thus, lil benjy was raised in a circus !! how cute.

needless to say he was raised in a very nontraditional setting, like, homeboy was homeschooled bc they were literally always travelling, around the country and once or twice out of country.

despite that, he never doubted that his circus family didn’t love him or anything like ?? yeah he never called his ‘parents’ mom or dad, but that’s bc it was like...everyone was his parent.

dorothea and fawley told benjy that his name will never define him, and he could be anyone or anything he wants to be.

this caused a tiny benjy to be CONSTANTLY changing his name. like, almost everyday he’d just declare a new name and everybody in the circus would call him that specific name. even when he did acts, he’d go by a different name every single time

this carried onto adulthood and benjy still doesn’t tell people his real name very often. sometimes they’re sort of normal names n other times they’re fucking bizarre.

when he was seven he declared his name was ‘sock’ for an entire month.

grew up doing a buncha odd lil jobs and roles in the circus, from being a lil handyman like fawley to being a magician’s assistant like dorothea. t’was a lil tiny animal tamer (before the circus stopped using animals in their acts because we don’t stan circuses like that no we do NOT) at some point but reeeaaally liked tightrope walking and things as such

also tried his hand at fire-throwing/etc. etc. but the like eighteen (minor!) burn scars across his body will tell u that it was not for him and he gave it up to pursue knife throwing tricks and juggling

wasn’t rly ever around ppl his own age, also never had a smartphone before he was like eighteen or so--he’s not old fashioned but he can definitely be behind on the times

also grew up listening to primarily older rock/folk music/whatever the fuck music his family created/his own music

that being said benjy is good w a guitar but bitch cannot sing. he sounds like a dying frog.

he also did a bunch of petty theft but that’s bc some of the other folk in the circus did it and he was like huh. looks like fun. bc benjy is thoroughly an idiot but more on that later. so he got some shit on his record but he got them sealed when he turned 18, like, asap

but. benjy is a dumbass. he committed ANOTHER petty crime, because the boy has addictive qualities, and he left some dna evidence bc boy’s got some mf hair

surprisingly, it wasn’t through his records that they found him via his dna  but, rather, his real parents who did a whole ass dna kit thing for fun one day

this came as a shock to everybody involved, honestly, though tbh ? benjy didn’t care that much that he had parents who weren’t the circus, but that’s bc of his entire upbringing.

either way his birth parents wanted to like. y’know. meet their delinquent biological son and when they did they were like ‘woah woah woah wtf ur in a circus’ and he was like haha yeah

n that was...sort of it, for a while. benjy was 18, had his GED, n wasn’t planning on going to college at all.

the circus was still traveling, the world was all right, etc. etc, benjy maintained contact with his bio parents bc it was Polite to do

and then the circus burned down! somebody did a flaming knife trick when they weren’t supposed to and, long story short--the entire circus went up in flames. there were no victims, no worries, but their entire livelihood was gone and they were all effectively displaced.

when his Rich Biological Parents found out about benjy’s newfound predicament that he 100% was not responsible for whatsoever, they were like . . . . listen. we’ve got a Reputation to uphold, but we’ll send you to college.

he’s been here since he was like, 21, so he’s a junior i think ??

he’s majoring in political science but it’s like technically his first year as the major bc his freshmen yr he wanted to do anthropology and then he switched to mathematics and homeboy was nvr satisfied but now he thinks he wants to do smth w social welfare so he’s doing political science w theatre and public affairs as minors

personality

he’s got. a big personality

he’s got this sort of energy that attracts others but they don’t really know why bc holy shit benjy can be annoying

he’s just super intense ?? like the boy does not know how to calm down, he’s constantly moving around and being dramatic and sometimes whiny

pouts more than a person should averagely pouts

i wouldn’t call him a liar because he can be, very very blunt, and doesn’t know how to beat around the bush, but he likes telling half-truths simply to either confuse others or to just b a lil bitch tbh

he’s got big dumbass energy like okay he’s smart he just doesn’t apply himself very often and he just. does dumb things

gets into fights bc he’s a dumbass. like. he will purposely provoke ppl he doesn’t like, n when he’s drunk he’ll do it to literally anybody esp ppl he likes

also just. doesn’t know when to stop talking. can find ways to ramble about nothing, asks questions w the intent of being annoying, etc. etc.

his ~parents~ didn’t rly believe in modern medicine n they were just like ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away!’ so he’s got this obsession w apples. literally is always chewing on an apple or a toothpick or anything he can get his hands on. he’s like a teething toddler, essentially

probably the dumbass who plays wonderwall at a party tbh

okay but fun fact! he’s super nimble and just. cat-like, from all his yrs of practicing n performing tightrope walking. if he falls over it’s because he wants to fall over and if he falls over it’s bc he wants ATTENTION

he loves. being the center of attention? but he’s also content with being in the background if it makes sense. he just wants to be doing something, anything

anyways he doesn’t take shit seriously at all like, i don’t think he’s ever had a serious conversation in his life ?

big slut for parties. he loves partying, he nvr knew he loved partying until he went to ucla but he loves it

he’s got an addictive personality so like okay. he’s not Addicted Addicted to anything specific (besides nicotine) but he definitely has no problem with drinking n doing drugs Often.

i mean he’s reckless too he never knows when to stop, feels like he’s tryn to be the Superior boy but he’s not and he’s probably overcompensating nowadays to deal w the guilt of accidentally burning down his entire life

drives cars too fast, drinks too much, has no problem getting into heavier drugs

also okay on a lighter note the boy used to be addicted to cigarettes bc he started fairly young but hoo boy he’s now on that juul game

literally he always has a juul on him. spends all his money on juuls

he works as a florist n a gardener for extra cash even tho his bio parents send him money, just bc its one of the only things that really calm him down tbh ??

also i meant it when i said he doesnt tell ppl his real name, like, ever. at least his first name bc he loves his last name but ? u probably dont know him as benjamin or even benjy, just smth stupid like marcellus the magnificent or booboo the fool hahahsdfgh

did i mention he casually juggles bc i genuinely cannot remember lmao

uuuhh there’s more i’m sure but !! i have a really bad memory!

i also dunno if im keeping his fc but we will SEE

he’s basically like....still a five yr old child

OH okay so i remembered smth else

he’s essentially a nomad which means he hates being rooted to ucla so he’s usually off drivin’ around the coast bc he’s bored goddammit but he always comes back bc he’s a loyal dog

speaking of loyal dogs. he’s got commitment issues. but not commitment issues? it’s sort of like. he gets really interested in things/people, kind of focuses all his energy on that thing or person, and then one day wakes up and is just. terribly bored. tends to drop ppl like that, esp relationships, and he doesn’t think much of it bc it’s Normal for him

but believe it or not, if u call him in the middle of the night he WILL show up, or if u wrong him instead of him wronging u, he’ll still b endlessly loyal

like he’s shitty but he’s got a heart ?

also like i said. he is chaotically bi. both chaotic and bisexual and also the two combined.

he’s chaotic neutral in general

wanted connections ?? possibly ??

frat bros - [hulk hogan voice] brother. he needs them

general friends ! - if u dont hate him then u just. love him, man. no inbetween

exes - he’s probably got...a few of these, because his attention span lasts like a max of two weeks

hookups - they also dont tend to last very long just bc of how he is as a person, but y’know. they good while they last

ex-hookups, specifically

ex-friends - bc he’s an idiot

if u really want to u can bring in a circus pal but firstly idk how they’d afford school but honestly. we can work smth out. hmu [kissy face]

roommate - do they hate each other ?? who knows

bad influence - they only egg on benjy’s dumbass behavior

good influence - probably forces him to study for once, or take care of his dumb ass

idk what to call it but like. ppl who HE eggs on to be bad, is generally toxic to the other person

anything else u want [another kissy face]