#nikolai lantsov // house of dragon au

[mirrcr]

out of all the foolish things the lantsov heir has done in his life, being in her presence before he marries someone else, might be the most dangerous.

he’s soared the skies in a machine he built with his own two hands. changed his face, his name and every little thing which marked him as the spare to the throne in order to make a difference when the shackles of royalty would have him acting as a shadow to his brother; and he successfully helped a revolution which changed the very fabric of his country, without losing one inch of power.

no. he left the ravkan civil war a conqueror. with more power and influence than any lantsov before him, without even needing to admit, save to alina in a moment of weakness ( or was that manipulation? ), that he was a bastard.

which is why he needs to go through with this wedding. elisabeta's family was as nearly as old as the lantsovs; her grand-aunt was a princess, and she came with more money than he knew what to do with. it guaranteed his reign, his kingdom's prosperity and peace within the old families. he should be inside, allowing his valet to finish doing the buttons of his coat, not resting his head on her shoulder to avoid her gaze, heart spinning with selfish desires.

❛⠀ ⠀a brilliant lady? someone her people can depend on? ⠀ ❜ ⠀ he asks, squeezing her fingers, voice a soft whisper against her neck. ⠀ ❛⠀ ⠀as i could not have my first pick, or my second, i'm pleased my third one is pretty enough to look at. i'll made do, my lady, don't worry about me. i could make much more foolish mistakes than marrying a quiet, country girl with a dowry rich enough to buy a kingdom.⠀ ⠀❜ ⠀

continued from here ( @forgaeven )

[mirrcr]

if anyone put two and two together, there would be hell to pay.

a foreign king should not be able to roam the hallways of a foreigner lady's home with such familiarity. it does not matter that they were childhood friends, that besides one stolen kiss, gifted to him under a sunlit day which marked the end of his childhood, they were as innocent as only children can be. the power of suggestion is too strong, and the rumor would be potent enough to destroy both of their carefully built lives.

he is careful as always. attentive to his surroundings, blending into the background with expert ease. his past is not so far removed from him that he’s forgotten how to move like someone else. it is not sturmhond he summons, even if that persona it is the easiest for him to inhabit; the pirate does not understand the concept of subtlety. no, he surrounds himself with a simple sort of man, imagining what a knight of the castle would think about, a man bound to this shores and to it’s lady, and from that familiar view point, he shrinks into an invisible figure.

away from her all-seeing eyes, those brown hues that bade him to tell the truth, he can examine how time has treated her when he approaches, an appreciative smile biding its way to his lips. she is not the same girl he chased around the countryside; time has made her figure fuller, and her posture — so serious for a child, now fits the regal curve of her neck.

❛⠀⠀⠀ are you finally taking me to your people today? ⠀ ⠀ ❜ ⠀ ⠀ he asks, voice dancing as he appears behind her, moonlight sharpening his aquiline features, transforming him into every bit the predator he was just a year ago in its translucent shine.

i'm at your command, lady rhea — it should not have stung. she had it coming, after all. always the noble lady of the vale, always the honourable; trying so desperately to uphold to a standard she had assumed everyone had needed her to. and look where they've got her, she thinks of it now bitterly. husbandless, and someone she had held dear have stripped her off of the childhood nickname she'd long endeared, my wildling lady, when it was once such a name she wishes he rids.

she is simply lady rhea now it seems, and oh, what ruin.

still — the king of ravka agrees. for a moment, rhea's brown eyes remain on him. he is ... similar, but different all the same. grown, is perhaps the word. handsome, as all the ladies around the villagers would have giggled about when he'd walked pass. still, rhea would like to think she could recognise some differences: the way the mirth in his eyes didn't envelop his features fully as it once did, as if it is holding something more now, as if it has lost something even he cannot rebuild right back. and his smile, while extremely charming, has its brand of sharpness lingering.

what had he encountered for him to learn to defend himself in such a way ? what had he seen in his war that there seems to be shadows looming over her old friend ?

it is a question for later, she decides, breaking the eye-contact and excusing herself away.

soon, night falls. rhea waits — she had passed a squire boy to give him a cloak, and instructions on a piece of paper. he should be able to decipher how he had ought to disguise himself, and how, from her neat handwriting, to find his ways through the halls during the peak hour where the staff were exchanging duties, or escaping for breaks. the site she is waiting is at the archway of the west tower, the closest to the path normally taken by the common folk to get to town. it is a dirt road, with poor lighting ( or barely, in fact ) , but it is good enough.

from here, rhea knows where to lead him.

[cwritesforfun]

TV Show Masterlist

Main Masterlist - find movies here!

Comment, submit an anon ask, or fill in a form for any imagines you want:-) pls don’t steal my work :)

Request an imagine/you can comment it on an existing imagine as well - https://forms.gle/z9R6x9TyykXNjyhK7 

Comment to join a tag list. Just let me know which one to add you too.

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader: Lunch Date

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader: Post-Undercover Case

Spencer Reid AU x Fem!Reader: Royalty

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader: One Bed One Heart

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader: Trick or Mistletoe?

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader: You're cute

Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader: Surprising Him

Derek Morgan x Fem!Reader: Get Your Groove Thing On!

Derek Morgan AU x Princess!Reader: Bodyguard

Emily Prentiss x Fem!Reader: Garcia’s BFF 

Daisy Jones & The Six

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader: LOVE

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader: Introverts & Parties Don't Mix Well

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader: Dating the Dunne Sister

Karen Sirko x Fem!Reader: I Love You, I'm Sorry

Gilmore Girls

Logan Huntzberger x Fem!Reader: Eras Tour

Logan Huntzberger x Fem!Reader: Love Languages (Request)

House Of The Dragon

Aemond Targaryen x  Dorne!Fem!Reader: Arranged Marriage

Emma D'Arcy x Fem!Reader: Co-Workers or Something More? Part Two

Emma D'Arcy x Fem!Reader: Fake Dating (Request)

Olivia Cooke x Fem!Reader: I Like You (Request)

Olivia Cooke x Fem!Reader: Mistletoe (Request)

Outer Banks

Kiara Carrera x Fem!Reader: New Waitress

Sarah Cameron x Fem!Reader: Girl Crush

Sarah Cameron x Fem!Reader: In Love

Sarah Cameron x Fem!Reader: Club Night

JJ x Fem!Reader: KISS

JJ x Fem!Reader: I’m Madly In Love With You

JJ x Fem!Reader: Romeo, Save Me

JJ x Fem!Reader: Secret Relationship Gone Public

JJ x Fem!Reader: It Feels Right

Rafe x KookFem!Reader: Party Boy

Rafe x Fem!Reader: Alternate Ending to Season 1

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: Hurt

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: Friends don’t look at friends that way

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: Fake Wedding Date

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: Things I Love About You

SERIES:

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: I still want you part one.    

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: I still want you part two

SERIES WITH ALTERNATE ENDINGS: Sarah Cameron x Fem!Reader: I’m Done With The Secrets - and the different endings - 

Rafe Cameron x Fem!Reader: Pining 

Kiara Carrera x Fem!Reader: Get The Girl

Scandal

Jake Ballard x Fem!Reader: Stay Forever?

Jake Ballard x Fem!Reader: Secret

Shadow and Bone

Nikolai Lantsov x Fem!Reader: Fake Marriage, Real Feelings

Stranger Things

Eddie Munson x Henderson!Sister: Promise not to leave me?

Eddie Munson x Henderson!Sister: English Help

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader: Soulmates

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader: Stay With Me For The Holidays

Robin x Fem!Reader: Crush

Robin x Fem!Reader: Date?

Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader: I might love you

Steve Harringon x Fem!Reader: Soulmates

SERIES:

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader: Only One Bed

Only One Bed - Part Two

Suits

Harvey Specter x Fem!Reader: Initial Judgements & Honesty

Mike Ross x Fem!Reader: Rivals

Ted Lasso

Jaime Tartt x Fem!Reader: Neighbors

The Bear

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Business Dinner

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Your Dad's Biggest Fan (Request)

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Home For The Holidays

SERIES:

Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Crush Crush Part Two

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Anxiety Attacks & Rude Customers Part Two: You’re the light in the dark Part Three: The Walk

The Summer I Turned Pretty:

Conrad Fisher x Fem!Reader: this is me trying

Conrad Fisher x Fem!Reader: Confessions

Conrad Fisher x Fem!Reader: Only You (Request)

Conrad Fisher x Fem!Reader: I like you

Jeremiah Fisher x Fem!Reader: I Like You

[esssteee]

Fics Masterpost

GRISHAVERSE

PORTFOLIO M ― WIP, E, Aleksander/Nikolai, Book/TV series Modern AU.

Summer 1999. Promised freedom, change and exploration. The house to himself and the world finally his―and plenty of time to work on a brand new project―Nikolai finds himself suddenly burdened by the arrival of a complete stranger, invited to stay over for the estival session.

we are the wild youth chasing visions of our future ― WIP, E, Aleksander/Alina, Book/TV series post-S01 Canon AU.

What started in dreams and tethered connections could very well lead to something grander than anyone has ever imagined. Though the road ahead may be paved with good wishes and desires, no future can ever be secure on a journey fraught with doubt and shame. Or where one last attempt at communication reaches an ultimate promise and other unimaginable conclusions.

do not deny ― E, Aleksander/Juris, Book Pre-Canon, 13k.

Aleksander learns how good human contact can be. Juris just gorges himself like the dragon that he is.

fugue ― E, Fedyor/Nikolai, TV series Post-Canon, 4k.

Two wounded men, at the end of their rope, coming together for meshed moments of hurried peace and relief. A parallel, to both their peoples, after battle and war have already cost too high a price.

rage against the dying of the light ― T, Aleksander/Luda, TV series Pre-Canon, 3k.

One fateful encounter between two strangers, both fleeing the threat of widespreaded hate and violence. From this meeting will create a new path, a new future―and a ripple, unbeknownst to those at its heart, leading to the heresy which shall leave its indelible mark upon the world.

of monsters and men series ― E, Aleksander/Nikolai, Book/TV series Canon AU, 100k.

A series about what could have been if one Lantsov prince and one Darkling had developed a personal history before the canonical events of the Grishaverse storyline.

winding and unwinding ― E, Aleksander/Nikolai, Book/TV series Post-Canon AU, 10k.

A mistake brings unexpected consequences when Aleksander starts to suffer from strange side effects after a routine check-up on the Little Palace's latest experiments. Shenanigans (and a not so negligible amount of self-discovery) inevitably ensue. Too bad the first symptoms happen to befall him when he is right in the middle of a council meeting.

Me and the Devil ― E, Aleksander/Alina, Book/TV series Post-Canon, 5k.

Thirty years after the Border War and the Fold’s destruction, forgotten by all, Alina lives on. But on the dead hour of a winter night, the past remembers her.

underneath the skies we are still humans ― T, Aleksander/Alina, Book/TV series Post-Canon AU, 3k.

A short moment in time where Aleksander Morozova reflects on life and lets himself flow along its current, leading him beyond the golden fields.

Entering the Fold, Once Again ― T, Gen, Book Canon AU, 3k.

When it is time again for Alina to come home, there is one logical place for her to go. Despite its barren nature, the Fold may have more to offer than what the eyes can first perceive.

CASTLEVANIA

all i know of love is hunger ― E, Mizrak/Olrox, TV Series Canon, 10k.

Let’s do this again, somewhere more comfortable. And Mizrak can only obey, hounding the shadow that has befallen him, peeling one excuse after another until there is nothing left but the damning truth.

[waywardsummoner46]

Character List~

Finally! It is here. Hopefully this helps you all with any confusion or just in general.

What I’ll write: 

Polyamorous relationships (character x reader x character)

Plain old character x reader

sibling!character or parent!character x reader

Absolutely any AU at all, I’ll list a few ideas down the list

Any version of a character (yandere, dark, etc.)

Literally anything I guess, if it bothers me I’ll let you know!

For certain characters the requests will be strictly platonic however I’m still willing to write dark stuff for them too.

There’s also definitely some I’ve missed so if you don’t see a character or fandom you’re interested in, don’t be afraid to ask!

I’ll put a star next to the characters I’m most interested in writing just in case your struggling to choose!

So here’s the list itself (it’s a bit messy I’m afraid oops):

Supernatural

·        Dean Winchester (most versions of) *

·        Sam Winchester (most versions of) *

·        Castiel (most versions of) *

·        Gabriel *

·        Charlie Bradbury

·        Jack Kline (platonic)

·        Bobby Singer (platonic)

·        Rowena Macleod

·        Crowley

Grishaverse

·        Kaz Brekker

·        Inej Ghafa

·        Nina Zenik

·        Matthias Helvar

·        Jesper Fahey

·        Wylan van Eck

·        Aleksander Morozova *

·        Nikolai Lantsov *

·        Alina Starkov

·        Zoya Nazyalenski

·        Genya Safin

MCU

·        Peter Parker (all versions) *

·        Loki *

·        Doctor Strange *

·        Natasha Romanoff

·        Yelena Belova

·        Steve Rogers

·        Druig * 

·        Milo/Lucien

X-Men

·        Charles Xavier

·        Peter Maximoff

·        Jean Grey

·        Logan

Guardians of the Galaxy

·        Gamora

·        Nebula

Defenders

·        Matt Murdock

·        Jessica Jones

·        Kilgrave

·        Billy Russo*

Sherlock

·        Benedict Cumberbatch *

·        Henry Cavill

DC~

·        Joker (Barry Keoghan or Heath Ledger)

·        The Riddler (Paul Dano)

·        Superman

·        Poison Ivy

·        Harley Quinn

·        Dick Grayson (any version of) *

·        Jason Todd (any version of)

·        Tim Drake

·        Damian Wayne (platonic unless aged-up)

·        Wonder Woman

·       John Constantine (Keanu Reeves)

·       Anarky

Gotham

·      Jerome Valeska

·      Jeremiah Valeska *

·      Edward Nygma

The Witcher

·        Geralt of Rivia

·        Jaskier

Dune

·        Paul Atreides *

·        Channi

Twilight~

·        Jasper Hale - Major Whitlock (the fan concept of a different, more dominant personality for him interests me a lot so...) *

·        Alice Cullen

·        Aro

Doctor Who

·        Ten

·        Eleven

The Boys

·        Soldier Boy

Divergent

·        Tobias Eaton

·        Tris Prior

Harry Potter

·        Tom Riddle *

·        Marauders Era!Remus Lupin *

·        Marauders Era!Sirius Black

·        Newt Scamander

Scream

·         Billy Loomis

·         Stu Macher

The Maze Runner

·         Thomas

·         Newt - Crank!Newt

Once Upon A Time

·         Peter Pan *

Star Wars

·         Kylo Ren

·         Anakin Skywalker

·         Luke Skywalker

·         Leia Organa

Star Trek

·         Khan Noonien Singh

Throne of Glass (please for the love of god request for this!!!! If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it!)

·        Rowan Whitethorn *

·        Aelin Galathynius *

·        Aedion Ashryver

·       Dorian Havilliard (with or without collar) *

·       Manon Blackbeak *

·       Ansel of Briarcliff

·       Asterin Blackbeak

·       Elide Lochan

·       Lorcan Salvaterre

·       Fenrys Moonbeam

·       Lysandra

·       Nesryn Faliq

·       Sam Cortland

The Cruel Prince

·       Cardan Greenbriar *

·        Jude Duarte

Percy Jackson and Related

·        Piper McLean

·        Hazel Levesque

·        Nico di Angelo

·        Leo Valdez *

The Mortal Instruments

·       Jace Herondale

American Horror Story

·       James Patrick March *

·       Tate Langdon

·       Kai Anderson

Teen Wolf

·       Stiles Stilinski - Nogitsune *

Caraval

·       Legend *

·       Jacks, The Prince of Hearts *

·       Donatella Dragna

·       Scarlett Dragna

Walker

·       Cordell Walker

My Bloody Valentine

·       Tom Hanniger

Cry Wolf 2005

·       Tommy Jordan

Peaky Blinders

·       Tommy Shelby

Gilmore Girls

·        Dean Forester

Good Omens

·        Crowley (Nanny Ashtoreth)*

·        Aziraphale*

Little Women

·       Theodore “Laurie” Laurence

The Matrix

·       Neo *

·       Trinity

Brooklyn Nine Nine

·       Rosa Diaz

·       Jake Peralta

·       Gina Linetti

Kingdom of the Wicked

·       Emilia di Carlo

·       Wrath

·       Lust

A Court of Thorns and Roses (still reading, will add more characters as I go on)

·    Rhysand

·    Feyre

·    Lucien

·    Nesta

·    Mor

·    Azriel

·    Cassian

·    Amren

House of the Dragon

·    Daemon Targaryen

·    Rhaenyra Targaryen

[asmileyoucouldbottle]

Cloud 9

Here’s my entry for the Grishaverse Mini Bang, hosted by @grishaversebigbang​ - gang 4. Check out the increidble visual pieces made based on this by @mosskrow,  @xan-drei, and @cczernys​. They’re insanely good. 

Wesper Hogwarts AU-  Jesper’s been crushing on Wylan for who-knows-how-long, and in the after-game high of the semi-finals, his emotions run away from him. 

~*~

“Hey, you,” Jesper whispered out of the side of his mouth, keeping his eyes on the cauldron in front of him. Wylan didn’t turn his head, so Jesper figured he'd have to specify a little more. 

“You with cute freckles,” Jesper muttered a little louder. Still no response, and his cauldron was starting to smell like dragon eggs. 

“You with the cute freckles and big brain, help.” The murmur was urgent, and Wylan turned his head at the tone.

“Finally, can you give me a hand?” Jesper guestured widely at his cauldron, which was bubbling and reeking of old egg salad. 

“You were calling me?” The ginger Slytherin queried. Jesper raised an eyebrow. “Do you see any other smart ‘yous’ with cute freckles around?”

Wylan pinked, and looked down at the potions. “A simple Wylan would’ve worked,” He mumbled through a smile. Jesper grinned.

“Maybe, but where’s the fun in that?”

Wylan opened his mouth to reply, but immediately clamped it shut as the smell of rotten snaked towards him. Working swiftly, the Slytherin chopped up aquatic mandrake root with precision, and swept them into the pot. Stirring with one hand, he poured essence of juniper with the other. In under a minute, the potion turned to the light lavender it was supposed to be.

The gryffindor peered into it. Jesper was highly impressed. “Thanks Wy.”

The blushing red-head smiled, leaning over to Jesper’s desk. His hair brushed Jespers chin, and a tingling sensation ran down his neck. Wylan merely swept the small bits and pieces they didn't need into the trash, and Jesper felt a rush of disappointment.

The bell rang, and Jesper sighed sadly. He wouldn’t see Wylan until the quidditch game later, since this was his last class of the day with him. His classes with the Slytherin, potions, DADA, and Transfiguration had quickly become his favorites in the day. Now he was off to charms, and wasn’t the least bit excited.

“See you at the quidditch game?” Jesper asked, grabbing his books.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” The ginger waved on his way out of the classroom, and Jesper found himself more excited for a quidditch game than ever before.

~*~

“Okay team, listen up-” Inej gathered them all around in a huddle. Jesper ducked to avoid Tamar’s broom, and ended up knocking Nadia with his own. The chaser glared at him, before turning around to focus on Inej again. She was repeating her usual inspiring pep talk. It’s the semifinals, you’re great, we don’t need luck, we have practice… Jesper practically had everything she was saying memorized. He began tapping his foot, filling with anticipated energy. He cast a glance into the crowds, looking for one particular slytherin. 

A hand raised and began to wave, and Jesper traced the arm to a grinning ginger. Wylan was sitting next to an annoyed looking Kaz . The two were surprisingly good friends, and Wylan had admitted to Jesper once that he’d asked the sorting hat to place him in Slytherin because he looked up to Kaz. Even so, Jesper knew that he almost never came to the quidditch games unless it was to gamble under the stands.  Though recently he’d been showing up at the Gryffindor ones, and Jesper had a small suspicion it had something to do with his team captain. 

Jesper waved back at Wylan, filled with renewed excitement for the game. Inej redirected his attention toward her.

“Alright. Jesper, Nadia, and Ruby, I want you chasers to spread out over the field. I’m going to do what I always do, though Mal is good at sniffing out the snitch, so I think I’m going to wait behind him. Hopefully I’ll be faster.”

They put their hands in the middle and did their Gryffindor pep cheer.

“Everybody places.” Slytherin Head Boy, Nikolai Lantsov, was at the announcer mic. Jesper straddled his broom.

“Ready, set-” The horn sounded, and Jesper took off. 

The quaffle was thrown in the sky, and Nadia grabbed it in a flash. She zoomed towards the hoops, Ruby flying right beside her. Matthias Helvar, a Hufflepuff beater, sent a black ball streaking in her direction. Nadia threw the red ball to Ruby and dodged. Jesper flattened himself to the broom as he raced up beside his fellow Chaser. Ruby passed it off to him, in the same moment Jesper threw it into the middle hoop. It soared right through, and the red crowd stood up in a screaming hoard. Jesper gave a quick glance, adrenaline pulsing, and caught a glimpse of one Slytherin standing up and cheering as well.

The game continued as quidditch games do. Tolya, the other Hufflepuff beater, knocked Jesper off his broom once and apologized no less than five times. Mal found and started chasing the snitch, but Adrik and Tamar, the Gryffindor beaters, collaboratively knocked him away. Jesper continued to chase the quaffle, knocking it in multiple times. 

It was all a blur of cheers and screams, taking the Quaffle, avoiding bludgers, and surges of adrenaline. He glanced up, checking on Inej and Mal. Inej was renowned for her speed and agility, though Mal had a special knack for finding the snitch. The two were evenly matched, but Jesper had confidence.

He cast a glimpse to the Slytherin section. Wylan was on his feet, holding a bright red sign above  his head with a golden lion. Kaz’s friends, Pim and Anika, were sneering up at him and trying to avoid the distasteful looks of others. Jesper felt a warm feeling spread throughout him.

"Pay attention!” Tamar shouted at him, and he saw a black ball coming his way. She leapt in front of him and knocked it away, before turning to glare.

“Quit daydreaming, this is the semi-finals!” 

The words fueled Jesper, and he flew on his broom towards the Quaffle. Flying made him feel free, gave him the adrenaline rush he craved.

He saw a flash of red fabric, and turned to see Inej whipping up, Mal at her heels. Mal seemed to be gaining, and Jesper knew he had a better broom.

The whole area was screaming, yet the air was tense. Mal and Inej were neck and neck, reaching for the snitch-

Then Inej leapt off her broom.

Precise and graceful, she jumped and reached, grabbing the snitch firmly in one hand. With the other, she reached up to grab her broom, and flipped over so she was back on top of it. 

The arena cheered, and Jesper whooped loudly. The whole Gryffindor team flew to Inej, and tackled her in a screaming mass of bodies.

Nikolai was remarking loudly into the microphone, verbally replaying the last minute, but nobody listened. The yelps and cheers overwhelmed the arena. 

“You did it!”

The Gryffindors flew to the ground to greet the rest of their house and friends. Tolya flew to clap his sister on the back. Jesper saw Nina run to give Inej a barreling hug, and a kiss for Matthias so he’d feel better. Nadia and Tamar were interchangeably cheering and kissing, and Alina was comforting Mal.

Wylan caught his attention as he ran over, Kaz at his heels. Wylan was whooping, arms raised.

The adrenaline of the game and excitement of his win was running through him, and Jesper flew to Wylan. The ginger’s eyes were sparkling, and Jesper’s heart kicked. Impulsively, he leaned forward, and pressed his lips to the other boy’s.

Merlin and all his saints, this is happening. Jesper broke away for air, and was met by even more cheers from the spectators, especially the Gryffindors and Slytherins. 

“Saints, that romantic tension was killing me.” Nikolai nudged Zoya’s soldier, and she nodded.

Grinning, Jesper looked at a furiously blushing Wylan, whose arms were still around his neck. Feeling the need to immortalize the moment, Jesper pulled Wylan onto his broom. The ginger wrapped his arms around Jesper’s waist, hanging on for dear life. They soared up into the clouds, the chilly air doing nothing to cool Jesper’s flushed face. 

Turning to beam at him, Jesper leaned in for another kiss. With the boy of his dreams in his arms and the bright blue sky all around him, Jesper was truly on Cloud 9. 

[mirrcr]

he forgot himself.

for a moment, looking at her dear, familiar brown eyes, the cleverness and emotion framed by dark lashes, he forgot years had passed since last they saw each other. he was once again a boy of fifteen, young and virtuous in only a way a boy who has never done anything can be. someone who dreamed of impossible things for the pleasure of it, never a thought of war. not one which scratched his experience, anyway.

and that boy never had to think twice before touching her. young, unexperienced, free from watchful eyes, his unblemished hands had the right to touch her skin.

not anymore. he doesn't dare. even now, lost in his memories, his hands clench in the air between them, not daring to close the space. nikolai waits, hands outstretched, listening to her plan with what once would have been a smile, but his sharp fox-like features now twist into a smirk.

❛⠀ ⠀you don't believe the rumors, then? pity, i worked so hard on them. ⠀ ❜ ⠀ clicking his tongue, he heeds her hidden warning, nodding in acceptance as he straightens up, hands falling back to his sides. ⠀ ❛⠀ ⠀there are many places i've missed... do you suppose your people might spare you for an afternoon to indulge an old friend? ⠀ ❜ ⠀

he speaks in riddles now, it seems.

i'm the son of no king, when the truth is evident. if he is no son of any king, he would not have worn the crown. rhea would not have met him again in such a manner that they had met, which was terrifyingly official and dripped in the expected decorum one expected when one meets those of the royal blood. you bow at certain cues, you hold your tongue, you pretend you're enjoying the conversation. she would have known - that was not the first time she'd to face, or be granted an audience, with a king before.

don't misunderstand me, he quickly follows the first statement, i wouldn't wish to be the son of a sailor, and rhea's impatience had nearly gotten to her. for a moment there, she nearly frees her thought; nearly wants to bite out, what is so wrong with being the son of a sailor, even though such an argument is fruitless given the revelation that's unfolded between them. after all, her first defensive argument would have been that she'd known a son of sailor once, and he had taught her freedom no one else had cared to.

still — rhea bears no ill thought towards those of modest birth. she has dealt with many folks of many classes and from many backgrounds, given her role. none have offended her as much as her own husband's house, and they were the top of the social class. no, there was nothing wrong with being the son of a sailor - which was something klaus had been to her for a long, long time. a statement which stood to further prove how much exactly she knows nothing of him; and with that, how much of her belief that she'd built from knowing him now is crumbling apart.

he comes forward, reaching out —

and rhea's brown eyes, for a moment, flickers to his hands; recognising the action. her breath follows. in that few seconds that he had moved, she holds her breath, as if anticipating ( as if daring ) for what would have easily happened years and years ago. that is, him grasping onto her. and her, welcoming him right in. they'd twirl and twirl, wouldn't they ? in another life, she might have even smiled; told him, welcome back. in this life, he wore gloves. rhea's first thought is: why would he wear gloves ?

❝ ... if i were to propose a new place for us to meet — ❞ and oh, what a way to ignite a scandalous rumour if word were to ever get out, yet rhea persists. she is brave. in her expression, there is nothing to frighten the lady of runestone. ❝ — one where i am sure there would be no ears nor eyes to trail after us... ❞ her brown eyes flicker to his face. ❝ will you say yes ? will you tell me what happened ? ❞

[mirrcr]

no, lady rhea was far too sensible and just to indulge in such pastimes. rumors were the hobby of the weak-minded, and pirates. but was it so wrong of him to hope he was the exception to her finely crafted rules?

the boy-king has always found a loophole to every law. a hidden passage just big enough to slip through — the bastard who created a mechanical dragon to soar the skies, sitting on one of the oldest thrones of the known world, nikolai has always been found a way to be the exception of every rule he came across.

and she’s been his. the one person he could trust one hundred percent.

it just seemed she lost sight of that. rhea was looking at him now, with those same familiar brown eyes that he took with across the sea, and she was looking right past him so she could cling to a mirage he accidentally left behind.

❛⠀⠀⠀i’m at your command, lady rhea.⠀⠀ ❜⠀⠀ his reputation, his position was not at stake here. it was her standing to lose. nikolai bows, perfectly courteous, the refinement he had to learn to hide from her now apparent in every movement, however small.⠀⠀❛⠀⠀⠀just don’t keep me waiting long.⠀⠀ ❜

❛⠀if you were truly the boy i've spent summers with — ❜ if you were truly the boy i've loved, whose laughter i still chased in my quietest, most cherished dreams, are what she does not continue it with, the reminder now serving more as a heartache than the usual amount of grief that came with memories long lost, ❛⠀you would know then, your grace, that i do not indulge easily in rumours. ❜

they are the devil's tongue! one of her governess then had told her before, although that seems like such a long time ago. she was so young then. she thought she'd known plenty. it was almost a mock to recall now how naive she'd been. and now, how hypocritical.

rumours are not entirely to be trusted, no, but - they do have their weight. ( for example, how many times had she had to dodge or deal with any rumours surrounding her lord husband's own affairs ? surely the gratuitous amount some people claimed the rogue prince had partook in are just that: gratuitous. though one could not deny he was not virtuous in his marriage, no ? hence, weight. )

at present, his suggestion for an afternoon escape is amusing. if only it were that simple, she thought. had he lack the crown, perhaps they could've escaped unnoticed. no. she could not afford alerting his kingsguard, if they are even called that. or perhaps he had preferred to have his knights around. after all, what king would not ?

❛⠀i'd suggest much later - though again, i would understand if your grace might have some objections. ❜

[mirrcr]

if only that were true.

nikolai doesn’t believe she is lying. his rhea is far too honest to deceive anyone, a simple, honest country-girl underneath the trappings of nobility. her touch is fleeting, a ghost of a caress against his jaw that he feels everywhere, his entire body coming alive to respond. this moment is diametrically opposite to their last kiss, they were kids then. there is no frenzied press of mouths as his hands tighten around her waist to bring her closer, bodies molding together in an intimate embrace. there is no desperation as tilts his head upward, nose trailing a line next to hers until his lips brush against her chin, a tantalizing millimeter away from the one place in the world he could not explore.

and if only it were that simple.

his lips hover over hers, hazel eyes watching something he only pictured in his dreams come to reality. rhea, in his arms, in his hand, wanting him. and the reality was... a dream within a nightmare. finally he had everything he ever desired; the crown, peace, and rhea within his grasp, and to hold on to one, he’d need to let go of another. there was no rhea and the crown. no lasting peace without his marriage to elisabeta, and no rhea if he went through with this.

❛⠀ as you are mine, ⠀ ❜ ⠀ from the moment he stepped onto the shore of westeros more than a decade ago, the brown-eyed girl who grabbed his hand when no one was looking to show him her new bow, had been his. even after he left, even after another man claimed her as his wife. for the first time, their bodies reflected their souls — he couldn’t tell where he started, and where she ended, he’d always selfishly carried a part of her back with him to ravka. with each trip, he took a little bit more, greedy beneath his dazzling facade.

which is why there is no other option but to kiss her now. there was never another ending to this story. from the moment her ship appeared on the horizon and she spoke his name, he knew there was no other way this could end but with her in his arms, his lips caressing hers as he greedily plotted how to keep everything he needed, and everything he loved.

you are so careful, you know ? and she knows.

and it is deliberate. only in her mind had she ever still refer to him as klaus, and even then, she had been quick to reprimand herself. klaus was the boy she loved, and this— this was a man she had to be reintroduced to, wearing the shape of an old memory which had long fallen out of her grasp. she has to know him again like a sculptor would of its creation when the plaster slowly forms a face, when the build of it slowly reveals to her the man she had ought to know, the one she must dutifully respect : the king he has become.

after a while, it is not so torturous - this effort to distinguish between the two, even the few vulnerable moments rhea had allowed herself to link the two distant personalities in her mind and finally collide them as one. he still smiles the same, after all. his voice still carries in it the same humorous but kind lilt that she's thankful war hasn't robbed him off. for just those few precious moments, he would be the boy she loved who grew, just as much as she must be the girl he cherished who meets adulthood.

in those few endearing moments, there was no tragic separation which transpired between them. there was no awful marriages. there was no harrowing silent as the sea seems to stretch wider and wider than rhea thought possible upon his absence. simply old friends being that again - friends. good ones as well, where rhea casts no doubt on this alliance, where her faith was never tested as he gives her no reason to. only time of pleasant. and even when it wasn't, she knows he would not have abandoned her to face it alone.

he would make a fine husband, she thinks sharply, like a knife striking her through her ribs. it is usually a statement announced proudly, yet the realisation seems to drown her further in this building sorrow. rhea blinks, forcing her tears to not fall. she long has learnt that crying would serve her nothing, though she holds him tight, tighter if it were possible, as if she fears even a small release of this effort might have him slipped away from her again.

❛ you - ❜ her voice breaks ( pathetic ) before rhea tries again, blinking hard when she tries to push the words out. ( traitorous. if any of the lords back home would hear her, they would deem her salacious and unlawful. they would stripe away all her credibility. it matters not if her husband had taken with him many ladies to his bed. she would be the villain in his story. she would be, always, the imperfect bride. ) ❛ you always have. ❜

rhea moves. she breathes, slow, an inhale, before her lips ghost over - it mouths at his jaw, then another, a kiss where his pulse begins.

❛ stay with me. ❜

[mirrcr]

he's been alone his entire life. why should marriage be any different?

he's never been lonely, not truly. far too entertained by his own wandering thoughts, the creations he spins into existence, and the worlds he found in his library. in the latter, he found solace when the castle seemed uninterested in the existence of the small blonde spare; there was never any judgement, any expectations from those carefully bound worlds. it became a second life for him. a place for him to go when his own seemed lacking. to learn the skills he would one day need to restructure the world around him in his own image.

when the world didn't accept him, he found another one. just like he'd found her in a distant shore. a place he should never have been in, perhaps. a dangerous continent, filled with petty thievery between what were supposed to be noble houses, and right in the middle, concealed by his own expertise, was one of the princes of ravka, playing pirates with his wildling lady.

just like the worlds in those books, she beckoned him. the memories of their adventures curling around him when the castle grew cold, reminding him that happiness was not something which just existed in storybooks. it was real, palpable and fit into the palm of his hand.

❛⠀ that is santka alina, for you. ⠀ ❜ ⠀ reproach is mild, quiet, lacking his usual humor. alina's rejection cutting him deeper than he'd ever admit. if she was his queen, it would be simple. he would have the security elisabeta's family promised his reign, with the love he felt for rhea. a perfect storybook queen: warrior princess, saint, and most importantly, lovely.

of course she wasn't his. never belonged to him, even when she wore his ring on her finger. no. she was far away, in a countryside cottage with her tracker, where loneliness or unhappiness would never touch her again.

hazel eyes lift to meet hers, bare of any mask in her hands.

❛⠀ you haven't called me that since you arrived. you are so careful, you know? i thought i'd never hear you say it again. ⠀ ❜ ⠀ nikolai muses, leaning into her touch, stirred by her plea, but still determined to go through it.

there was no other option. after all, she could touch him now, hid from the world, but rhea might as well be in that happy cottage he pictured so often. she wasn't his to keep.

❛⠀ am i yours? at this moment, tell me. do i belong to you? ⠀ ❜

❛ and utterly, miserably lonely. ❜

there it was, wasn't it ? peel off the hard shells of the armour she has had to build in the face of her lord husband's anger, the injustice of a marriage unfulfilled by a royal family who could not care any less, that was the truth of the matter, wasn't it ? most of the things in her life had a chance of moving on, of finding its places, of intermingling with time. runestone prospered, the seven kingdoms unrelentingly age, and even its king, at the wake of his wife's death, finds himself a second wife.

rhea seems to have always stuck in the same damned place. aye, she keeps herself busy. she ascended her father's seat. she tend to matters of her townsfolk day after day, a hard work she relishes and thrives in, though it still would not erase the quiet of her chamber, hauntingly empty of a spouse, sometimes feeling as though she was reliving the very first night when he had ought to grace their marriage bed, but he did not. she had still waited. and waited. and, in some ways, is still waiting.

though she would imagine klaus — nikolai, some part of her corrects, always the proper type, though another part chides : had it mattered ? whatever name he might bore, is it not the same warmth that he carries ? is it not the same companionship she'd been slowly seeking out, quite greedily, since she has arrived here ? — would not as cruel. surely he would not leave his attended so alone. surely, any lady in his presence would not bear such neglect, would not dare to inflict upon him misery.

not all marriages are funerals, not all marriages are like hers. he is a good man. perhaps he will find happiness in this. he is an inventor. maybe even joy is not out of the realm of his crafting possibility. and yet —

❛ alina starkov was a fool, ❜ she protests, voice hard and protective despite the affection she knows he holds for her, but she could not help it. rhea noses into his hair, an intimate act she, still by all means married, should not have divulged — but for once, she heeds tradition no mind. in ravka, at least, she has no need to uphold some family's legacy or reputation. she falls for the brush of his lips against the skin of her neck; she freely shivers. and then, in an abrupt act of reckless, she takes his face. she holds it between her two pale hands. ❛ please. please, klaus. ❜

her voice breaks; her lips wobble.

❛ you are king, you— please. i've only just gotten you back. properly. must the world have you again so soon ? ❜

stay with me. stay. @mirrcr