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a-book-of-creatures · 4 months ago

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The Deinotherium from Paris Avant les Hommes. Why does it look like a giant mole? Well, turns out this is reasoned out within the text, and since at least one person wanted to know it here it is (any translation errors are mine). @glarnboudin hope this answers all your questions!

...

"Since we are on the chapter of singular animals, I shall let you see another one from the quaternary epoch, whose history is no less strange. It shall serve as an introduction to antediluvian mammals, although it belongs, I believe, to the molasse which, according to Beudant, succeeded the Parisian chalk wherever it is missing. Look, there it is showing up; but it disappeared behind that hillock. Let's see, let us sit beneath this tree and it might come back. In the meantime, let us chat".

"Parbleu, I recognized it perfectly: it is the dinotherium giganteum. I had seen in the Rue Vivienne, its bones shown to the public for a bit of money, for scientists have to be industrious, one way or another, to avoid dying of hunger. Whatever the case, they showed me an enormous fossil head, 1.30 meters long and 1 meter wide, that is to say bigger than the biggest Indian elephants. It had two tusks located, against all analogy of what we know of animals alive or fossil, not in the upper jaw, but in the lower; not in the place of the canines, but in the place of the incisors; not pointing skyward, but lowered towards the ground; not sticking out of the mouth, but emerging from two holes that had to have been in the lower lip. Truly, I said to myself, this is enough to embarrass a wiser man than I, and, after many contradictory thoughts for half an hour, I finally took a side. Well, I said to myself, the die is cast: despite all my misgivings, one must have to make of this dinotherium giganteum a walrus or a seal, like Mr. Buckland said; or an elephant, as presumed Mr. de Blainville; a tapir or a pangolin, as G. Cuvier wrote; or a whale, as some German paleontologists think, and yet these animals have no analogy among them. Let's see, let's decide, I said to myself: this shall be…"

"A mole", said the genie in a small, acerbic, and mocking voice, and accompanied these words with a long peal of laughter that disconcerted me.

"A mole! But good sir, a mole hasn't the least connection, the least resemblance with a tapir, a whale, an elephant; and what would the authors I just cited say of this?"

"Your authors can say what they want; but I shall insist that the carcass that you had seen was that of a mole".

"That's impossible! See, here are the engravings they gave me at the door, judge for yourself".

The devil put his walking stick between his legs, put his glasses on his nose, took my images with his thumb and the other fingers of his left hand; then, running the index finger of his right hand on the figure representing the animal's head, he said:

"And first of all, my dear scholar, you will see that this head is 1 meter 60 centimeters at its greatest length, and 92 centimeters wide; so therefore it could not be less than 1.32 m long and 1 meter wide when it was covered with muscle and skin. But the average size of the head of a mammalian quadruped is at least a quarter of the length of its body. The dinotherium therefore was at least 5 to 6 meters long, which equals the size of the largest elephants. I am being conservative in choosing those dimensions; and I suppose that this carcass found on the banks of the Rhine by Professor Klipstein is not the biggest dinotherium the species provided, which is more than probable, since we have a few other fragments that are proportionally larger, and which suggest that the animal keeping us busy must have been longer than 6 meters".

"And you conclude from there that it should have been a mole?"

"One moment! Notice the enormous cavity destined to receive the bones of the nose".

"Yes, of the trunk".

"Who said anything about a trunk? Where do you see a trunk?"

"Scientists..."

"Why do you want to see a trunk instead of a nose? Take the skeleton of a pig or that of a mole, you will find at the same place enormous muscle impressions. Would you then conclude that the pig or the mole has a trunk? So the dinotherium has a nose, but a long nose, mobile, thick, powerful, good for searching in the earth; in short, a mole's nose. Do you deny that? Is it more unrealistic that an animal has a nose like any other animal's, than to have an anomaly instead?"

"It is true that by coldly calculating probability, one must believe more easily in analogies than anomalies, this seems more logical; but a mole!"

"Notice, my dear, that the orbits or holes of the eyes are extremely small in comparison to those of all known animals, and that they do not close in the posterior part; and, in fact, why would the dinotherium have eyes proportionally larger than those of a mole since, having to live in the darkness of a subterranean home, these organs would have been no more use to it than to the mole. As animals who are forced to push soil in front of them and by digging with their head, the frontal bones are short, but strong and very thick; the face of the occiput, of great dimension, forms with them a 130-140 degree angle, which you only see in whales. The prodigious muscles that move this colossal head gave it crushing strength. The chrysochlore, or Cape golden mole (talpa asiatica, L.) alone can offer you some analogy with the dinotherium in this aspect. You conceive that an animal forced to fray itself an underground passage, three or four meters in diameter, will need that prodigious strength in the neck muscles, strength that can conly compare, as I said, with that of a whale. And despite that it must have often encountered obstacles, stones, tree roots, despite living in the soft and deep soils, and the earth that the rivers, such as the Rhine, and the great flows of water carry and accumulate with the centuries in the basins that they run through and inundate every year. It would have been stopped dead in its tracks if nature had not given it a pickaxe to tear out those obstacles. This pickaxe, there it is: these are the tusks emerging from the lower jaw and directed earthward. They resemble, my word, those forked hoes that vineyard-keepers use in rocky or freshly cleared earth. There, look, they must have had terrifying strength, if we can judge by the deep depressions carved in the temporal bones to lodge the muscles that moved and directed the lower jaw. Besides, these tusks or teeth offered, relative to their shape, and especially in the place that they occupy, an example of a structure unique in all creation”.

“As for its other teeth”, added the demon, pointing his finger at the figure depicting them, “you will see that they are five in number. The first is cutting at its anterior part, the third has three hills, and the other two; from that one must conclude that the animal lived on roots, rhizomes, and tubers that lived underground. But, I ask you, what good would a trunk be for it? It would have certainly been a hindrance, and that is all”.

“I concede that this head is very good for digging in the ground, but that does not prove that the animal lived underground”.

“Let us examine the other fragments”, said the genie. “The scapula is long, narrow, and looks entirely like that of a mole. Observation has proven that all animals who have it in this shape use their forelegs in constant, painstaking motions, requiring great muscular strength. Thus this form of scapula, rare in mammals, is very common in birds, because the latter need great wing strength to remain aloft.

Now on to the second phalange of the front foot. You will notice that the articular facet of this bone is completely different from that of other animals. As an indispensable result of this very superficial articulation, the dinotherion could not walk on the tips of its fingers, and it would have to drag itself on the exterior edges of the hand, like the mole. This last animal is still is still the only one that presents in this phalange an analogy of form with our fossil monster”.

But here is an even more conclusive fragment; it is the first phalange, or inguinal phalange of this same front foot. Look how it is deeply notched in its anterior part. This incision exists in mammals only in three kinds of animals, all three of which dig in the ground and live in burrows; it gives their claws the prodigious strength that they need. The pangolin, the chrysochloris or Cape mole, and the common mole are the only living animals that have the same conformation, and, remarkably in the mole, the character is less pronounced than in the dinotherion.

And so, my dear, what must we conclude of all this? It is that, as naturalists have sworn, the dinotherion has no analogy with any animals other than those I have cited and, having the head of a mole, the scapula of a mole, and the hands of a mole, must, it seems to me, resemble a mole more than a whale. It is true that the great anatomist Cuvier made of it a giant pangolin, but he hadn’t seen the head”.

“I admit, lord demon, that most analogies are in favor of your opinion, and yet, here are teeth that…”

“That look nothing like a mole’s, I agree, because the jaws of the dinotherion lack incisors and canines, but they are no less suited for grinding roots and even mollusks and insects that it could find in its excavations. Besides, my dear, this anomaly, if it is one, has many examples in living animals. For example, if you ever go to New Holland, you will find a large family of marsupial mammals whose species have so many analogies that it is difficult to separate one from the group it forms, and who differ as much as possible by their dental system. Among these heterogeneously-toothed species, the opossum (the only genus not from Australia) represents insectivorous carnivores, like tenrecs and moles; the rat-kangaroo has teeth adapted for a frugivorous diet, like the hedgehog; the giant kangaroo lives on vegetation, lacks the upper canines that characterize the preceding and only has canines that are transverse to its jaws, which bring it closer to our herbivorous pachyderms; finally, the wombat is, like the hare, a veritable rodent by the teeth and by the intestines. And yet no naturalist has tried to separate these marsupials to put them in the great divisions where their teeth would have rigorously classified them. I intend therefore to make of the dinotherion, if it is not a mole, at least a related genus that I would place with the desmans, the moles, the chrysochlores and the tenrecs, all subterranean animals like it. And besides, if you aren’t content, you can place it elsewhere, but in this case you would have to, according to your principles, create not a genus, a family, or even an order, but a separate class that it would occupy by itself, and this necessity would be the bloodiest critique that you could make of the so-called natural method of your scientists”.

Despite the high opinion I had of my irascible demon’s merit, he had so filled my head with pangolins, seals, tapirs, whales, and elephants, that I could not in any way accept his mole, and a small smile of vanity and disapprobation came over my lips. He noticed, and cried out!

“Ah! Ah! Mister Incredulous! Have I not employed to convince you the same analogic arguments that your sagest paleontology professors use every day; but it will take more than reason to convince you, from what I see. Well then, morbleu! I will convince you with your own eyes or I shall lose my devilry”. He pounced upon me and seized me by the arm, which took away my desire to laugh; he threw me behind him astride his crutch, like a witch heading to the Sabbath on a broomstick, and together we flew into the air, we took off like a crossbow bolt. The speed of our voyage dizzied me so, that I cannot positively say how much time we took to make our way, nor where we passed to find ourselves on the borders of the Rhine, but what is certain is that we were traveling faster than on a train or on a steamboat.

When I came to, I was laid out on a bed of moss shaded by a tree at least thirty to thirty-five meters tall. I asked the genie which country we were in.

“We are”, he told me, “in this country that will be named, in a few thousand years, the Rhenish province of the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. This great lake that you see there in the East will dry out, and on of the most beautiful rivers of Europe, the Rhine, will cross its ancient bed in its entire length. The place where we are now will be the burg of Eppelsheim and further the city of Alzéi. If you remember the first voyages we made during the other periods, you will notice how much the vegetation has changed, and you will recognize the tree under which we are as a walnut tree quite similar to the common walnut tree, but with more angular nuts that end in a sharp point”.

Suddenly a low but horrible roar made me shiver to the very bone. I looked around in fear, but saw nothing. This horrible cry resonated in my ears a second time and I felt the earth shake under my feet. The idea of underground noises that you hear before an earthquake or rather before mountain upheaval, following Élie de Beaumont, or the sinking of a province according to Beudant, brought terror to my heart, and I thought for a moment that I would be lifted up at the top of a new chain of Alps raising from the depths of the Earth, or sinking into the central fire of the globe in a collapse. I got up quickly and started to run as fast as I was able. But I hadn’t made two hundred paces before my demon grabbed me by my arm, sat me down on a fragment of rock, and, with his finger, indicated the place under the tree where I had been where the most extraordinary scene unfolded.

The earth shook convulsively, and its movement was communicated by the shaking foliage of the walnut tree, which shook and balanced in the air as if a whirlwind had gone into its thousand branches. The tree bent over and straightened several times, then finally, it fell over with a crash, and the earth rose in a great cone seven meters high, opening up at the top of this singular molehill.

“Parbleu”, I told the genie, “I could swear you’re showing me the formation of the new Pyrenees in miniature”.

“In miniature!” he answered, “by my word, that’s quite the miniature! There, there it comes out of its hole”.

Indeed, I saw, coming out of the hole that had opened at the top of the cone like a volcanic crater, a monstrous head three times bigger than a barrel, then an even thicker neck; then a massive body, about three meters in diameter, that is to say as big as the biggest elephant; and finally, a strange animal, five to six meters long, with a terrifying appearance, and dragging itself clumsily on four very short, very thick legs. Its whole body was covered in long, silky hairs, green and shifting in hue from copper to bronze, offering, like the Cape chrysochlore, beautiful metallic reflections. Its very large nose, about sixty centimeters long, ended in a sort of mobile snout, bristling all over with sharp and keratinous tubercles, suitable for opening up the inside of the earth. Under this nose was an enormous lower jaw, prolonged anteriorly in a long chin pointing downwards. At the end of this chin, two tusks almost touching at the base, more than two feet long, emerged through the skin of the lip and directed their points perpendicularly earthwards, yet with a light curvature towards the forelegs. I saw that this monster was using them to help it crawl, by stretching its head out, sinking them into the soil, and pulling its body forward. Its eyes were so small that you would not have seen them through the long hairs surrounding them, if they did not gleam with a dark and red fire like two sparks. Its ears were very small and the concha was barely apparent. Its hindlegs were rather short and armed with very strong claws, but its forelegs ended in two enormous hands absolutely similar to those of a mole, and they were used to push the earth to the right or left as it used its nose to dig an underground tunnel.

The formidable animal descended from atop the monticule it had created; with a lot of agility, it crawled a few meters, then made a cry so sharp, so noisy, so extraordinary that I cannot compare it to anything that human ears have ever heard. The demon saw me shudder and reassured me, telling me that it was calling another animal of its species, and it would move away from us if it heard a response. It continued to make a sharp cry from time to time, moving to the edge of a great forest covering the flanks of a hill, and where I saw a few monticules similar to its own. Meanwhile, I observed a few of those animals a bit smaller in size, and I pointed them out to the genie.

“You are not mistaken”, he told me, “for the paleontologists know in fact, under the name dinotherium bavaricum, another species of this kind, but a bit smaller. What is most unusual in the history of these two dinotherions is that the scientist, G. Cuvier, took the bones of the great dinotherion to be those of a giant tapir, equal in size to the greatest Indian elephant”.

#deinotherium #paris avant les hommes #paleoblr #paleontology #groundbreaking reconstructions

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arkiwii · 4 months ago

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ARKNIGHTS Rhine Lab AU - Role Swap

A Role Swap AU is an Alternative Universe were the characters roles are swapped! It can be just swapping the roles around, or two characters roles with each other, while keeping their personalities. In the case of this AU, I did the second, finding it way more interesting in the context of Rhine Lab. So I'll present the characters swapped, and what they became!

Saria <--> Silence

Saria now takes the role of the new and basic researcher of the Structural Department. She is now Infected - which does not have much relevance outside of the fact that her Arts are much stronger -, and joined Rhine Lab with the goal to seek a cure for Oripathy. A born leader who seeks to help and protect the weaks, she is much more colder as she has spent the most of her life alone.

[Gameplay] Saria would be a 6* Dualist Defender, with a move pool moreso based on healing and buffing herself, as well as debuffing the enemies.

_____________

On her side, Silence became the co-funder of Rhine Lab, as well as the Director of the Structural Department. She is very appreciated by the company for her optimistic behavior and love of science, although she may appear naive. Uninfected, she is more lively, and possesses strong Arts that she uses with the mean of her drones.

[Gameplay] Silence would be a 5* Mech-Accord Caster, with the unique ability of being able to heal with the drones she unleashes during her skills.

Ifrit <--> Rosmontis

Ifrit has became the subject of Williams Loken's experiment, with the goal to recreate a Diablo with the shard of their remains. It caused the Loken Watertank incident, where Ifrit destroyed the laboratory and was found by the Maylander Foundation. Sent to Rhodes Island for treatment, she became an Elite Operator for her dangerous fire Arts, as well as a very close friend of Amiya and Blaze with her strong personality.

[Gameplay] Ifrit is now a 6* Phalanx Caster, with the talent to lower the resistance of all enemies in her range when off-skill, and to cause destructive Arts damage when using her skills.

_____________

Rosmontis is now the child of Parvis' experiment, with the goal to create a Chimera. The experiment gone horribly wrong, Rosmontis has destroyed the Haydn Laboratory, and was found by the Columbian Military, before being sent to Rhine Lab where she will be under the care of Saria and Silence. Amnesiac, Rosmontis's strong post traumatic stress disorder has caused her to lock her emotions and to show little to no emotional responses, unless when stressed, where her destructive powers show up.

[Gameplay] Rosmontis is now a 6* Arts Guard, her playstyle taking a lot of inspiration from Saria, her powers allows her to debuff and deal enormous amount of damage to enemies.

Magallan <--> Mayer

The member of the Engineering Section Magallan is a simple researcher with the dream to explore the world, but the unfortunate fate of being constantly busy. Her most prided creations are drones taking inspiration on the fauna from places she has dreamed to visit when she was younger, with quite some freedom in their appearence.

[Gameplay] A 5* Summoner Supporter, Magallan can summon drones that will debuff and give invisibility periodically to nearby units, making her a really good support.

_____________

Mayer is considered a mystery by most employees of Rhine Lab, and it's mostly due to her weird explorations to Iberia and its surroundings... Very praised explored, Mayer specializes in submarine explorations, and studies the Seaborns as well as their biology very closely, feeding particularly interesting data to Rhine Lab. She posseses robots, courtesy of Magallan, her close friend, who are more opted for battle and protecting her against the Seaborns.

[Gameplay] 6* Summoner Supporter, Mayer possesses melee summons who can deal significant damages, especially against Seaborns type of enemies, as well with their auto destruct when defeated.

Ho'olheyak <--> Muelsyse

The last member of the Kul'kuk'an has joined Rhine Lab with the hope to find the answers behind her race and achieve truth. Throughout the extensive knowledge of her ancestors, particularly on the subject of stars and constellations, she became a very close assistant of Kristen and a strong asset for her to achieve her dream. Director of the History of Sciences Section, she learns about the story of Terra as a whole to gain knowledge.

[Gameplay] Ho'olheyak became a 6* Mystic Caster, who can apply weightless and Levitation based on the amount of stored attacks, with skills that emplified these abilities.

_____________

Muelsyse was one, if maybe not the only friend Saria had during college. An Elf with a cheerful attitude, her search of her race as well as engagement for children's protection, herself an orphan, as led her to meet and be recruited for the Maylander Foundation. Her ability to sneak around, spy, create clones and harvest previous information make her an extremely good asset, and she has been able to help many cases, as well as discovering the projects Rhine Lab has been hiding.

[Gameplay] Muelsyse is now a 6* Ambusher, with the fun ability of being able to place a clone of herself on the battlefield, with skills tuned to this one.

Astesia <--> Astgenne

Opposite to her sister, Astesia decided to follow the paths of science to discover the truth behind the stars and most of all, behind the false sky. She is a calm, elegant woman who joined the Originium Arts section under Dorothy Franks, with who she became a close friend. However, her unprompted Infection after a failed experiment had caused Astesia to lose faith in her researches, and she had become more reserved, but thankful for her sister and her friend for supporting her no matter what. Astesia left her family after these ones rejected her views, and has found her new place at Rhine Lab.

[Gameplay] Astesia is a 5* Splash Caster, using her Arts to attack the enemies. Her attacks have a light chance on stunning the opponents, and her skills will cause great crowd control AOE damages.

_____________

Astgenne followed the path of her family's heritage by learning their traditional sword techniques with the usage of the astro globe. Energetic, full of promises, she has an optimistic faith and belief in the stars and astrology, as opposite to her sister with who she might often debate. But both cares a lot about each other, and after Astesia got infected, which infected Astgenne as well due to their nature of twins, Astgenne has gave a lot of support to her sister, and places her hopes in her, believing that the stars will save them. She currently manage an occult society around the stars, in collaboration with Rhine Lab.

[Gameplay] A 5* Lord Guard, Astgenne will use her Arts to launch ranged attacks at the opponents. Her melee attacks turn into Arts damage upon the activation of her skill, and will stun everyone in her range the moment her skill is activated, her damage emplified on stunned enemies.

Robin <--> Kafka

Desesperate after her dad's company, BlackCloud Trade, went bankrupt from a competition against Simon Co., Robin seeked for help everywhere to make money and pay the medical bills for her father. When the situation seemed lost and Robin was close to give up, she met with Saria, who were able to bring her back on the tracks and give her a reason to fight. When Saria found out about the involvement she had with Simon Co., she proposed a deal with Robin; to help her infiltrate Mansfield's Jail and save Anthony Simon, the man Robin despise the most, so Robin can see if he's a good person who deserves to be forgiven, or someone who should be guilty for his family's actions.

[Gameplay] Robin is a 5* Agent Vanguard, able to use ranged attacks with her throwing knives. One of her skills will boost her attack on deployment, while the second will place mines around her, dealing damages while generating a good amount of DP upon explosion.

_____________

An orphan from Columbia, Kafka always had lived in criminality and gang battles. While she is not entirely found of this life, she made herself a reputation in the grey zone of Columbia, despite her claims to be a simple gardener. When Anthony Simon's head was given a price, many criminals went to try and kill him, unsuccessful. Kafka would had not paid interest if Jesselton did not employed her to help him kill Anthony. Kafka accepted, the price of his request being a non neglectible one, but had no actual intentions on killing Anthony on her own, but rather try to pocket the promised money with no harm involved.

[Gameplay] After joining Rhodes Island, Kafka applied to become a 5* Dreadnought Guard, with the talent to become invisible when unblocking enemies for enough time. Her skill causes Arts damages, hitting everyone in range with her large shredders.

Unchanged roles

Kristen remains the founder of Rhine Lab, and still pursue her dream to carry on her parents' goal, with the strong support of Silence. Both have lost contact with their time at Rhine Lab, but they keep good terms... Until Silence finds out the horrifying projects she agreed on, that is.

Ptilopsis is still a subject of Dellareed's experiment, which has failed, but without any care from the Structural Department, she has been deeply conditioned to behave and act close to an artificial intelligence. While Silence deeply wishes to give her proper care, her busy schedule rarely allows her to, and it's as an assistant of Parvis that Ptilopsis found her role, under the trust of Silence. Thankfully for her, Saria disagreed deeply with the views Parvis had on his "assistant", and brought her to Rhodes Island for help. Silence feels deeply guilty for not having noticed it sooner.

Dorothy remains the Director of the Originium Arts section. Daughter of two pioneers who lost their lives in a Catastrophe, Dorothy strives to create an ideal world where everyone can live in equality, and where she can protect the pioneers. Helped by Astesia, she gives value to her assistance, and hope to help her as well with a dreamed world where infection would not exist anymore.

Parvis is now a simple assistant of Silence at the Structural Department, who acts more as an executive assistant than anything. Silence being horribly busy, she entrusts him for most cases, which turned being a horrible idea when Parvis saw this as an opportunity to carry his researches on the chimera project. He took on the role of Director when Silence left.

Jara, Nasti, Ferdinand, Justin Jr., Loken, Tin Man, Jesselton, Domma and Mountain have no noticeable change in their characters.

Summary of the timeline

At the young age of 10, Kristen Wright learned the horrible news of her parents' death in a flight incident, which led to the dishonor of her family to the scientific community. Helped by Jara, she continued her education and met the young Olivia Silence during high school. The two young women had originally nothing in common, but their love of science and search for the truth. It did not took long for the two of them to become best friends, and for Olivia to turn into an important person for Kristen; dreaming of achieving what her parents had failed to achieve back then, she found hope to continue to go forward with Olivia's optimistic nature and support.

After both graduated and finished their studies at Trimounts' Institute of Technology, they decided to found Rhine Lab together, a promising future for the two rising stars of the scientific community. While the first year was rough between the struggles against concurrence and the little financial help they had, they got nonetheless joined by bright minds like Ferdinand Clooney, Ho'olheyak and Dorothy Franks.

As time went on, Rhine Lab has became one, if not the biggest scientific company in the span of ten years. However, Silence, who became the Director of the Structural Department, and Kristen, as the CEO, both fell apart of each other with their busy schedule. It's until Silence got to hear about an incident happening at a nearby laboratory, and got the sole survivor transfered to Rhine Lab with the help of the DOD, that things got a turn. The young surviving girl, named Narcissa, has been deeply infected and bear heavy traumas, and with the help of Saria, a Rhine Lab researcher who agreed to help her, she gradually unpacked her locked memories. Silence, trying her hardest to be there for the girl, also insisted on investigating the truth behind the event, with the help of Ho'olheyak.

She soon disvovers the horrible reality, and how Narcissa happened to be the subject of a human experiment, and that Ho'olheyak was sent with her to make sure none of the secrets would be undiscovered. Silence fought her way out of it, with the help of the Maylander Foundation, and tried to warn Saria about it. However, she arrives too late, and Narcissa lost control in yet another treatment phase. Saria manages to calm her down, but blames Silence, herself having learned the truth and realizing that Silence has been part of it, maybe even hiding it from Saria to continue the experiment, and she leaves Rhine Lab with Narcissa.

Silence tried to face Kristen, and swear to stop her, leaving Rhine Lab. She finally joins Rhodes Island, to seek help from them, but soon meets with Saria and Narcissa, now codenamed Rosmontis. Saria, scared that Silence followed them, refuses to have her approach her or Rosmontis, firmly keeping her distances. Silence struggles to hide her fear, and is left alone to fix her own mistakes.

I couuulld say more but, hey, I am cooking! All the events that follow, so Mansfield's Break, Dorothy's Vision, Lone Trail, they will greatly change and I could give a quick summary, but hey, surprise!! (I'm lazy)

I will eventually make designs of the swapped versions, but I'd love to explore the characters' new dynamics. Like how Saria's hard nature ends up having a negative effect on Rosmontis, how Silence tries to help her and bring Saria to realize what she's doing, while also struggling with her own powerlessness. Or about Ptilopsis, how this one is struggling more deeply with her issues, but tries to help Saria and take care of Rosmontis a lot, both relating to each other. I could also talk about Ifrit, now an Elite Operator, with all the shenanigans she has with Blaze and how cool she is, but also how she will try to help Rosmontis later! Or even this absolutely cool Mayer who would be an amazing character for IS3, cause hell yea deep sea horrors!!

Anywayyy, it's a lot lot, I sometimes think about this new timeline and I think there can be something really cool to be done with it, maybe a series of fics, who knows! It's just a project for fun, simply playing around with the characters, there might be a lot of flaws and things missing, I'll try my best to make everything make sense.

So hum, yay! feel free to give me opinions, for fun :]

#arknights #long post #alternative universe #just rambling about some concept #im insane

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blurredcolour · 1 year ago

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You Arms Pull Me In Like The Tide Pulls Me Under | Part Four

Your Arms Pull Me In Like The Tide Pulls Me Under Masterlist

Dick Winters x Female SOE Agent!Reader

Reunited in Austria, at last, it does not take Dick long to see the burdens you continue to bear.

Warnings: Discussion of Nazi Atrocities, PTSD, Scars, Permanent Injury/Disability, Insomnia, Inevitable Historical and Military Inaccuracies, Language, Mature/Explicit Themes [Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Condoms, Multiple Orgasms, Oral Sex, Cum Play, Tiny Uniform/Rank Kink?] - 18+ ONLY.

Note: This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal of Dick Winters by Damian Lewis. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within. Non-English is denoted in italics.

Word Count: 6355

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

Zell Am See – July 16, 1945

Standing suddenly alone in the third-floor hallway of a requisitioned hotel in Zell Am See, you were seized by a unexpected nervousness at the prospect of seeing Dick Winters after seven months apart. Taking a fortifying breath, you raised your hand to knock when the door suddenly swung inwards to reveal the face of the very same medic who had taken care of you in Normandy. He tilted his head in vague recognition.

“Ma’am.” He nodded before excusing himself, slipping past you into the hall.

The sound of Dick breathing your name in surprise drew your attention back into the room and your lips stretched into a tremulous smile as you watched him cover the distance from the balcony to the door in three long strides.

“Dick.” You sighed as he slid his arm around your waist and pulled you across the threshold, closing the door firmly behind you before kissing you deeply in greeting.

Dropping your cap and shoulder bag, you grasped his biceps, clutching at the fabric of his uniform. You were unaware of the tears stealing down your cheeks until he pulled back to gently swipe them away with his fingertips.

“Fuck it’s good to see you…” You exhaled thickly, tear drops still clinging to your lashes, before your eyes shot wide with the realization that you’d just sworn for the first time in months. You opened your mouth to apologize but Dick replied before you could speak.

“My sentiments exactly.” He murmured warmly, lips descending on yours once more to resume an even more thorough kiss than the first.

Your hands slid up to the back of his head, fingers messing up his perfectly styled hair as they twined into his short ginger strands. Surrendering to the inconvenient need for oxygen, you pulled your lips back from his to take a shuddering breath, smiling at the way his forehead pressed against yours, eliminating the last bit of space between your bodies.

“How long do I get to keep you?” His lips brushed against yours as he spoke.

“Forev–” You quickly cut yourself off as your mouth almost ran away with you again. “Ehm, uh…” Turning your head, you glanced down at the watch on your wrist. “For another sixty-eight hours? I have to be back at my desk at 1000 on Thursday. But I might have to start walking tomorrow if I can’t confirm a ride.”

You looked back to his face to see his sage green eyes watching you intensely, making you wet your lips reflexively at the way your pulse picked up under that gaze.

“I’ll make sure you get back safely, honey.” He spoke eventually, lips delving beneath your hair to press against the much-less-noticeable scar on your forehead.

Your eyelids began to flutter shut at the tender point of reconnection, but you fought the impulse, hands shifting to cup his face, wanting very much to drink in every feature of him as though to confirm he had truly made it out the other side of that forsaken forest, across the Rhine, all the way through Bavaria, and now to this Alpine paradise. He stood patiently as your thumbs smoothed along his eyebrows before your fingertips swept out along his cheekbones, your lower lip trembling traitorously. At a loss to express the torrent of emotions beneath your breastbone, you pressed your face against his neck and clung to him wordlessly, trying your best not to fall apart.

Dick held you close, pressing soft kisses to your neck as he carefully shuffled the pair of you across the floor towards the settee. As he sank into the cushions, he gathered you onto his lap, holding you close to his chest as he fished a handkerchief from his pocket, offering it you. The civility and normalcy of the gesture after the lives you had led, the conditions you had suffered under, made a giggle bubble up from your throat unexpectedly as you took it. As you dabbed carefully at your eyes and cheeks, he laughed once.

“A far cry from Bastogne, I know. It’s all cotton sheets, handkerchiefs, and hot meals up here.” He muttered, hand squeezing your arm reassuringly before he shifted to peer at your rank badge.

“Company 47’s Sergeant Major at your service, sir.” You laughed wryly. “Where my company is, I’m not rightly sure…Paris, still, I think?” Your lips twisted a little as you remembered how you’d abandoned them with no more than a hastily scrawled note.

“You feel guilty about this.” He commented softly, tugging at your sleeve gently and you looked to him quickly, astonished by the way he could read you.

“It is frightening how you can see right through me. I am so glad I never had to hide anything from you.”

His lips quirked into a smile before he looked to you with a quiet earnestness. “Please don’t.”

Sighing deeply, you nodded. “Of course I feel guilty about it. They went out of their way to recommend me for a promotion to a rank that is focused on managing company talent, just because I made sure they didn’t get lost in a new city, and then I up and left in the middle of the workday. Didn’t even say a farewell to any of their faces.”

“Because you were ordered to move out.” He prompted gently, fingers threading through yours, drawing a begrudging nod from you. “So you could use your valuable skills here in Germany.”

Huffing in feigned annoyance you glanced at him. “Just because you are right does not make me feel any less like I abandoned them.”

“To me it says you earned that rank, honey.”

“You infuriatingly wonderful man.” You muttered and pecked his lips warmly as his chest rumbled with laughter against you.

Settling against him easily, you soaked in the warmth of his body, listening to his measured breaths, basking in his signs of life before he gently broke the silence. “You didn’t bring a lot of luggage.”

“I really didn’t have a lot of notice.” You laughed before sitting up to face him with a frown. “I’m sorry about that, didn’t even call you…”

He cupped your cheeks. “Everything is perfect. Come on, let me find you a room.”

You nodded, hiding your disappointment that you couldn’t just stay with him, but of course that would be wildly inappropriate in a building full of his men. Sliding from his lap carefully you retrieved your abandoned belongings from the floor as he flipped through a notepad, making a call down to the front desk.

“Thank you, Corporal.” He finished his call and hung up. “As I remembered, there’s a room on the fifth floor, recently vacated. Corporal Jenkins will meet us up there with the key.”

“Thank you very much for accommodating me unannounced.” You reiterated, following him up the stairs.

“Least I could seeing as you did the same for me in Paris.” He smirked playfully, reviving your old tally of debts. He led you down the hall where a puffing, fresh-faced Corporal was waiting, obviously having run the entire way up from the lobby.

Pressing your lips together to maintain propriety you happily accepted the key from Dick once he’d received it from the boy, stepping into the simpler room but it was still adorned with clean bedding and a bathroom.

“This will suffice?”

“It will do fantastically, thank you.” You sighed warmly, pecking his cheek.

“Perfect.” He smiled softly and paused a moment, seeming reluctant to part. “I should let you freshen up before dinner.”

You reached out to squeeze his hand gently. “I should do that, yes.” You murmured your agreement.

“I’ll be back at 1730?” He raised an eyebrow and you nodded, cupping his cheeks to pull him in for one more kiss before he turned to step out.

You quickly dumped out your shoulder bag to assess what you had to work with, hanging your uniform shirt and jacket to air out in the bathroom doorway before attacking your hair with your small comb. Mercifully you had several inches of fragrance remaining in your vial of eau de toilette and half a tube of lipstick both of which you judiciously applied. By the time Dick returned, one minute earlier than agreed upon, you were practically a new woman. The warm grin on his face when you answered his knock only served to boost your confidence in your handiwork.

“You look lovely, honey.”

“Thank you, Dick.” You smiled softly and grabbed your cap and bag, not really certain what dinner entailed.

“I didn’t really have time to…would you mind terribly if we ate here tonight?” He tilted his head, and you shook your head.

“Mind? I came to see you, I don’t care where we eat.” You assured him, taking his hands in yours.

His thumbs stroked along your fingers softly and he nodded before leading you down to the dining room. You were relieved to see that you were not the only woman there – plenty of the other soldiers were entertaining female guests, but it did not lessen the amount of attention directed toward the pair of you. The atmosphere was much different to that in your office back in Nuremberg. Everyone was carefree, jovial, talking about the future even as the threat of the Pacific loomed. You felt wildly out of place, as though you’d just snuck into occupied France all over again.

Pulling out your chair, you smiled fondly as Dick made a point of sitting on your left. You were unsurprised when Captain Nixon quickly joined your table, followed by a man you did not recognize but thankfully Dick introduced to you as Lieutenant Harry Welsh.

“So how did you two meet?” He smiled as you all tucked into your plates of mostly potatoes, and you were grateful you were already facing him as you spoke as he was seated to your right.

You felt Dick tense beside you as Captain Nixon barely contained his lopsided grin while filling a glass of wine.

“I quite literally ran into Dick in a train station in Paris.” You replied easily, repeating the lie you’d told the girls back in your apartment.

“No way, you met her on your leave in December?!” Lieutenant Welsh blinked at Dick, and he shrugged softly in response. “Goddamn you play it close to the vest.”

Captain Nixon laughed brightly before kindly filling you in. “Harry here has been talking about nothing but his girl Kitty since we started training back in Georgia.”

Grinning warmly as he turned a bright shade of red, you tilted your head. “I bet she’s quite the woman.”

“See, someone gets it.” He shot Captain Nixon an admonishing glare before proceeding to tell you all about her.

Turning your body toward him more, you listened indulgently until Captain Nixon declared he was sick of the topic and redirected the conversation. As everyone finished eating, some of the enlisted men started making excuses to drop by the table and introduce themselves. You did your best to laugh and smile as tales were told and antics unfurled, but all the while in the back of your mind was the image of row on row of boxes filled with paper awaiting translation in a cavernous warehouse. There was so much do to, so much horror to uncover, so many victims in need of justice…why were you wasting your time on such a selfish, frivolous–

The feeling of Dick’s hand gently settling onto your knee made you jump slightly, returning you to the present. You glanced at him quickly, now acutely aware of how tense your shoulders were, how tight your grip on the glass in your hand had become. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m more tired than I realized.” You laughed ruefully and set your glass down. “I should really turn in.”

“I’ll walk you up.” His voice was calm and soothing amongst the continued chaos of the dining room, and you were grateful for it as you said your goodnights to everyone at the table before making your way upstairs.

Unlocking the door to your room, you turned to look up at him softly. “Thank you for a lovely evening.” You smiled softly, leaning in to kiss him gently as you slipped the key into his pocket, his lips curling against yours as he felt the weight of it land inside his jacket.

“Sleep well, honey.”

“You too, Dick.”

Knowing he would have to wait until later to sneak back into your room, you took advantage of the bathtub to wash your underwear and shirt, hanging them to dry before running a bath for yourself, sinking into the water to soak with a sigh. Hoping to melt the knots of tension you’d unknowingly created at dinner. Or more accurately had been methodically knitting into your body for at least the past three years.

You were admittedly surprised to hear Dick’s key scraping in the lock just as you were towelling off on the bathmat, freshly clean. Not more than an hour could have passed. Wrapping the towel around your body, you tucked the end in on itself underneath your armpit and stepped out into the bedroom to find him sitting on the end of the bed, unlacing his boots.

Climbing onto the mattress, you knelt behind him, pressing against his back to murmur in his ear. “You’re back sooner than I expected.” You kept your voice low, uncertain of how thin the walls were.

Dick sighed softly, leaning back against you, your chin coming to rest on his shoulder. “Everyone got remarkably drunk and all I could think about was you.”

Reaching around to untuck his tie before beginning to work your fingers into the knot, you licked your lips as his hands cupped the bare skin of your arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in the wake up his touch. You turned your head to brush your lips against his jaw as you tossed his tie to the floor, working a few buttons of his shirt loose before you mapped the newly exposed skin with open-mouthed kisses.

“We don’t have to…I know you’re tired…” The muscles of his throat worked against your lips as he swallowed thickly, his fingers gripping your elbows. “I could just hold you.” He exhaled thickly as your fingers opened the last button holding his shirt together.

You considered his offer a moment, a sweet gesture against the backdrop of the way his touch seared against your skin and turned your lower abdomen to molten metal. Shaking your head, you began to peel his shirt from his shoulders. “I want you.”

The sharp rigidity that seized his spine in response to your statement had you concerned that you had overstepped, but Dick only allowed you a few moments of worry before his arm seized you about the waist. Pulling you around his torso, you barely managed to seal you lips against your cry of surprise before you were draped across his lap, his mouth capturing yours in a fiery kiss as he cradled you against him. You cupped his cheek, desperately trying to match the pace of his lips, his tongue, but it was nearly impossible to equal his fervor and so you simply surrendered to it, clinging to him until you absolutely had to pull back to suck in a life-giving breath of air.

Dick’s fingers trailed down your throat to your sternum, making your eyes flutter open at the realization that your towel had not survived the sudden change in position nearly as well as the rest of you. Your eyes flicked to his face, wetting your lips at the way he was drinking in your body as he tossed the loose ends aside, unwrapping you like a gift. His lips were parted slightly, brows furrowed in wonder, making your heart swell almost painfully. You were at serious risk of developing an ego under that gaze. His warm palm splayed out across your side, briefly pressing into your scar before sliding up to cup your breast. Pressing eagerly into his touch you gnawed on your lower lip to swallow your sounds of delight, gripping the collar of the shirt you’d failed to remove from his body.

The position he had you in did not really afford the opportunity for pleasing him in kind, so as he bowed his head to seal his lips around the tender peak of your nipple you had to settle for undulating your hips against the growing stiffness of his cock pressing against your ass. He grunted against your skin in response, thankfully taking the hint, pivoting to lay you properly on the mattress. With both hands now at your disposal, you reached forward to begin working at his pants, fingers greedily delving past the waistline of his boxers to find and tease his length.

It was remarkable how impatient you were this time – whether it was the abject terror you had felt during your separation, or the fact that you now knew what you had been missing, you found you had no patience for the long strokes of his fingers inside you, not matter how delicious they felt. They were quite simply not enough.

“I want you.” You repeated against his lips, squeezing his cock in your fist meaningfully.

You quickly pressed your lips to his to swallow his throaty moan, feeling him nod into the kiss before pulling back to grab a condom from his pants pocket. Shedding the last of his clothes onto the floor, he climbed back onto the bed with you, your eager fingers seizing the protective latex. The instant you had rolled it onto his length you were practically dragging him into your body, drawing an affectionate smile from the man.

“Easy honey, I’ve got you.” He soothed, settling over you carefully before sinking into your desperate warmth with a choked off moan, face pressed into your left shoulder.

Thighs immediately beginning to shake, you thought you might cum in that moment. Tilting your head back you whimpered against lips pinched between your teeth, legs threading around his hips to pull him as close to you as possible. The slight burn against the intrusive stretch of him only served to heighten your pleasure, which Dick appeared keen to capitalize on as his thumb immediately settled on your clit, drawing maddening circles as he kissed along your collarbone, breath fanning against your skin from his nostrils.

“Like paradise, honey.” He breathed, lips brushing against your left ear. A violent shudder rolled through you, and you dug your fingers into his shoulders, suddenly afraid you might get washed away.

It took only three, perhaps four, thrusts for you to shatter in his arms the first time. Your anguished cry nearly flew out of your mouth, the rapidity of your release surprising you both, but you managed to smother the majority of it behind your palm. Bleary eyes fluttering open to meet Dick’s staring down at you in pure wonder, you saw his eyelids trembling slightly each time you clenched around him.

“Did you want me to–” He began to ask, voice roughened by desire.

“Don’t stop…” You whispered, cutting him off, and hooked your finger into his dog tags, hauling him down to kiss him soundly as he resumed his thrusts into your already sensitive body.

His fingers sought your wrist before sliding to interlock with yours, pinning your hand against the pillow as he returned his other thumb to your sensitive bundle of nerves. While you were not entirely convinced you had another orgasm in you, Dick was a determined man, muscles of his jaw bunching where his cheek pressed tightly against yours, hips snapping into you until your heels began to dig into his lower back.

“Oh fuck…” You whimpered as the realization dawned within you that you were going to cum again.

“Go on, honey.” He groaned and solicitously pressed his lips to yours to allow you to be as loud as you desired.

Your hips rocked sharply into his as your nails carelessly dug into the flesh of his back, your cry intermingling with his, sealed within your kiss as he finally allowed himself to cum after your second orgasm. You slumped back against the bed, chest heaving, free hand stroking through his hair before he carefully rolled to the side, fingers still loosely entwined with those of your other hand.

Insisting you stay in bed this time, Dick took care of the clean-up before gently tucking you in, promising to stay with you for a little while. Sighing deeply at the languid weight of your limbs as you nuzzled into his chest, you were filled with the hope that perhaps you could hold onto sleep tonight.

Awaking sometime in the infuriatingly familiar hours between midnight and dawn, your heart racing for as yet indiscernible reasons, you tried to slow your rapid breathing and take stock of where you were. The comforting weight of Dick’s arm around your waist, the brush of his chest against your back with his rhythmic breaths helped quell the immediate need for fight or flight, but the bedding covering your bodies took on a claustrophobic feel and you need to get out now. Extracting yourself carefully from his grip, you tried sitting up against the headboard on top of the blankets, tried to focus on the serenity of his sleeping face, but he seemed subconsciously aware of your gaze and began to stir.

Afraid you might wake him, you stealthily slid from the bed and grabbed a piece of clothing from the floor, his shirt as it turned out, sliding your arms into it before cracking open the door to the balcony with well-trained silence. You inhaled the fresh breeze from the lake deeply, noting the scent of impending rain on the air. In the distance you saw the flash of lightning – now that the war was over that was all it could be, though the sound of thunder was too far off to hear just yet.

Sinking down to sit on the threshold to the balcony, you hugged your knees to your chest, watching through the railing as the wind pick up ripples across the surface of the lake, the storm beginning to close in. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d slept the whole night through. Falling asleep was not the problem, never had been, even when you were surrounded by Nazis in hostile France, exhaustion had always won. Yet as of late, sleep had become difficult to hold onto, always slipping through your fingers like fine grains of sand after a few hours of rest, leaving you alone in the dark to deal with some latent demon.

Your company tonight was the same uninvited guest that had joined you at dinner. The incessant drumming in the back of your skull, thundering away ‘Got to get done. Got to get done. Got to get done.’ Clenching your eyes shut against it, you pressed your face to the wood of the second balcony door, still latched and bracing your leaning body. The jangle of Dick’s dog tags had your head snapping guiltily over your shoulder, frowning to see him stepping into his boxers before padding over to sit beside you.

“Shit, I was trying not to wake you…” You sighed but did not resist as his arm slid around your shoulders, pulling you into his side as his other hand tugged at the edges of his shirt to ensure your modesty was protected – not that anyone could see you five stories up in the dark.

“This happen a lot?” He asked softly, hand coming to rest on your shin once he’d stopped fussing.

You sighed heavily, before nodded slowly. “It’s been a long six years.”

“Six?” He whispered, briefly confused.

Your lips twitched fondly, and you reached up to tap his nose. “The war started for most of us in 1939…” You chided gently, kissing his cheek when he murmured his apologies. “It’s times like these I am envious of those who smoke.” You muttered, turning back to the lake when a roll of thunder echoed across it. “They have something to do when they can’t sleep.”

“What do you usually do?”

“Give up? There’s always someone who will escort me into the office. I just work.” You gulped roughly. “I’m so tired, but I just can’t stay asleep…I’m sure I look like hell.” You sniffled a little, laughing at your childish moment of vanity.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

You turned to look up at him incredulously only to see his lips twitch into a smirk as a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the room.

“You are secretly devious, Dick Winters.” You murmured fondly, nestling back against his side as the resulting thunder rumbled through the building.

“I will admit to being worried about you though, honey. Working more can’t be the answer, you have to find time to rest, especially after six years of this.”

“But there’s still so much to be done…” You whispered softly.

“And you are just one person, there is no way you can do it all alone, so please stop trying.” He muttered firmly, turning to grasp your face in his hands. “You’re too important to me to lose to paperwork. Not after what you’ve managed to survive ‘till now.”

Your eyes scanned across his face, soaking in the earnest way he spoke, and it was as if something inside of you finally fell into place. “I love you.” You exhaled.

Your ability to surprise Dick Winters seemed unrivalled as he stared at you a moment, cheeks darkening with a blush before he sighed your name tenderly. “I love you, too.” His fingers curled into your skin gently as he pulled your lips to his, kissing you warmly.

The sound of the rain lashing against the windows gave you only a split-second warning before heavy, warm droplets began to pelt the pair of you through the open door as the clouds burst. Gasping, you quickly pushed back across the floor as Dick jumped to his feet, swinging it shut against the intruding damp. You giggled up at him from where you were sprawled on the floor, his shirt still covering your arms but not much else. Bending down he offered his hand to help you to your feet, his hands coming to rest on your hips once you stood before him.

“May I try something to help you sleep?” He asked softly and you nodded, swallowing at the look of intense focus that had overtaken his features.

Maneuvering you to sit on the edge of the bed, your eyes widened as he sunk to his knees before you, gripping your thighs to gently spread them apart and shoulder his way between them. As he pressed a gentle kiss to your inner thigh, you moved to shrug out of his shirt, but his eyes flashed to yours.

“Leave it on.” He licked his lips.

You grinned slowly. “Richard Davis Wint–” You gasped teasingly but your jibe was cut short by the feeling of his tongue lapping against your folds. Your fingers delved into his hair like a ship seeking anchor in a hurricane, viciously biting back whimpers as the man set about dismantling your sanity with his mouth. Tugging your hips closer to the edge of the bed, a loud gasp escaped your lips as he tossed your legs over his shoulders to allow him to press closer to you. One arm shot out behind you, planting on the mattress to keep you upright so that you might continue to stare down in wonder at the man before you.

Mother nature, it seemed, was on your side as the cacophony of rain and thunder picked up outside. The timing could not have been more fortuitous as Dick decided to add two skillful digits to the mix, curling them into your dripping warmth insistently as you moaned helplessly. Locking your ankles against his shoulder blades, you clung to him like a creeping vine, fighting the urge to clench your eyes shut against the onslaught of pleasure he was raining down upon you.

“Dick…” You whined, the band of pleasure in your lower abdomen stretching impossibly tight.

He hummed against you encouragingly, your eyes shooting wide as the sound vibrated through your body, your hips bucking sharply as the band snapped. Your ragged, unmasked shout signalled your release before you melted back into the blankets, all ability to remain upright seeping from your bones. He crawled up your body, wiping a hand across his lips and chin to reveal a self-satisfied smile.

“How’re you feeling?” He asked gently, smoothing your hair.

You nodded drowsily, hauling him in for a kiss, hand fumbling along his hip to return the favor.

“Don’t worry about me honey, let’s get you to bed.” He smiled gently and helped you out of his shirt.

Being the stubborn woman you were, you persisted in your mission, snaking a hand into his boxers, blinking as you found the slick of his cum there. He huffed sheepishly.

“Your pleasure is my pleasure, I enjoyed myself.” He kissed your temple, settling you against the pillows.

Looking up at him with exhausted adoration, you brought your fingers to your lips to swipe them clean with your tongue, shivering at the taste of him. He buried his face against your neck, breathing heavily. “Honey. Please…don’t…do that or neither of us will get any sleep.” He panted and you gnawed on your lip, rubbing his back apologetically.

Kissing your lips once he recovered his breath, he took a moment to clean up before rejoining you in bed, pulling you into his arms to fall asleep once more to the sound of the rain and his heartbeat.

You were honestly startled and disoriented when he woke you up much later that morning, the sun high in the sky, the clock on the bedside table reading near 1000. You scrubbed a hand down your face in bewilderment as he grinned at you fondly, dressed in a fresh uniform with a tray of breakfast on the bedside table and his small travel bag beside him on the bed.

“Good morning, honey. I see you finally got a good amount of sleep.”

You nodded silently, hugging the sheet to your chest as you pushed up to sit against the headboard.

“I got you some things.” He patted the bag, your eyes following the motion curiously before leaning forward to meet his lips in a kiss in gratitude. “Eat, get dressed. I’d like to take you somewhere.”

You smiled warmly with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Just come find me in my room when you’re ready? I attracted a lot of attention on my way up here.” He kissed your cheek and set the room key on the edge of the tray before leaving you to it.

Following the guidance of your stomach, you immediately dug into breakfast first, polishing off the food before turning your attention to the bag. Your curiosity was only heightened as you found several brown paper packages tied up with twine. Setting them on the blankets, you unwrapped the smallest first, jaw dropping to find several pairs of lacy underwear contained within. You could only imagine the particular shade of red Dick must have turned whilst procuring them – a sight you were honestly sorry to have missed out on. The second largest was revealed to be a nightgown of lace and rayon which you immediately pulled over your head, sighing at the feel of it against your bare skin.

Filled with a mixture of trepidation and wonder, you reached for the largest and final package, shaking your head in awe at the colourful summer dress with floral accents and ruched details. It had been years since you’d worn something so fine, all your clothing pre-dating the start of the war; patched and repurposed endlessly. Your cover stories in France had not afforded you such luxuries either, working your brief stint as a factory girl in Lyon or the much longer time you had spent on a farm in Normandy.

Sliding from the bed, you quickly grabbed a hanger from the closet to hang the dress in the bathroom doorway, hoping to smooth any wrinkles it may have accumulated in its package. Sliding on a pair of the new underwear, you went about getting ready for the day, putting the dress on last. Dick seemed to be a man of many talents as it fit you remarkably well – though in his defence he had spent a lot of time studying your body as of late. Sliding into your uniform shoes, which thankfully were not abysmal, and slinging your bag over your shoulder, you locked the door to your room behind you before heading down to the third floor.

Dick answered his door after only one knock, making it quite clear he had been waiting impatiently for you, and you shook your head.

“I honestly don’t know how you did it.” You murmured.

“You look incredible.” He breathed at the same time, making you bite your lip.

“You have excellent taste, and a very accurate sense of sizing.” You smirked broadly at the scarlet flush that blazed across his cheeks up to his ears.

“I’m pleased you like it.” He mustered before offering his arm as he stepped out into the hall, locking his door behind him. “Shall we?”

Sliding your arm through his with a nod, he led you down to the terrace, taking the staircase to the lakeshore. The verdant green of the water was all the more brilliant in the sunshine as you walked along the treelined path. “This place is stunning.” You sighed with envy as a soft breeze stirred the leaves overhead, the water gently lapping at the shore.

“It’s been a real adjustment, a nice one, but still taken some getting used to. I’m just thankful I was able to share it with you even for a few days.”

Smiling up at him fondly, you squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry that I wasted so much of this morning…”

“You did no such thing.” His steps came to a halt, and he shook his head. “You got the rest you needed, and I am so thankful you did. Besides, it allowed me some time to run my errand anyway.” His lips quirked into a smile, and you laughed warmly. “But tomorrow I promise to wake you earlier, we have to be on the road by 1000.”

Your eyes widened. “We…What do you mean, we…”

“I said I would make sure you got back to Nuremberg safely, didn’t I?” His eyes glinted with mirth. “I got permission this morning to drive you so long as I make it back by 2100.”

“Apparently I should sleep in more often.” You replied, stunned, as Dick laughed softly.

His arm slid around your waist as he turned to guide you out onto a rocky pier jutting out into the water. You shaded your eyes against the diamonds glinting off the lake’s surface, leaning into his side warmly as you came to a stop at the end of it. “Captain Nixon said you go swimming every morning…is the water cold?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Bracing.” He replied and you laughed.

“So, cold.” You turned to look at him, blinking at how serious his face had suddenly become.

“Have you had much time to think about what you’ll do after all this?” His adam’s apple bobbed sharply as he swallowed.

You furrowed your brows pensively as you’d had fleeting moments of dreams or desires, but never really taken the time to put it into a cohesive thought since war had been declared. “Whenever this is over…I’m done with Europe. I’d like to see my family again, probably still want to make myself useful somehow? Maybe I’ll be a teacher…People in North America” you chose the location carefully, “will want to learn French, I’m sure. That had been the idea once, I think.” The hopes and dreams of your younger self upon entering Oxford in 1938 seemed utterly foreign to you now.

“North America.” He murmured thoughtfully, eyes roaming over your face as he spoke.

“Canada…America…I’d be happy in either I think.” You nodded, though even you doubted the truth of it, your heart holding a very strong desire to be wherever he was.

“What about a place called Nixon, New Jersey?” There was a hopeful vulnerability to his tone that made your breath hitch in your throat.

“That’s awfully specific, Dick, what’s there?” You bit your lip.

“Me. I’d get a house, a car. I’m sure they have a school or two. Lew made it sound awfully picturesque.”

Your hands came to rest on his cheeks as your stomach tied itself in knots. “Are you sure you don’t want some sweet girl back home who isn’t quite so beat up by all this?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, the rational part of your brain ruthlessly putting your feelings aside for one moment to allow Dick a chance to find real peace.

His eyebrows shot nearly to his hairline, and he shook his head firmly to refute the absurdity of your question. “I want you.” He replied, jaw clenched in determination. “Exactly as you are. I want to marry you, honey, and spend the rest of my life with you.”

You gave him a watery smile in return, tears pooling at the corners of your eyes. “I would like that very much.” You managed to voice, barely getting the words out before he was kissing you fiercely, pulling you against him so not even a hairsbreadth of distance separated you.

Pulling back to give you both a chance to catch your breath, Dick pressed his forehead to yours. “I don’t have ring yet, but I will get you one, I promise.”

Sniffling you kissed his cheek softly. “You’re a man of your word, Dick Winters. You say you’ll do something, and I know it’s as good as done.”

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Read the Epilogue

Your Arms Pull Me In Like The Tide Pulls Me Under Masterlist

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