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asa-do-your-thing · 2 months ago

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your dream will come alive

18+ MINORS DNI Aegon II x F!Reader 2.9 k Warnings: P in V sex, porn w/o plot, smut, mutual masturbation, kind of orgasm denial? soft smut this one goes out to my moots on the kink council <3

As the sun began to set over King's Landing, your maid lit candles throughout your room. The maesters had declared this the final month of summer, and you were determined to make the most of it. You lay beside your open window, relishing the warm breeze that tousled your hair as you sipped wine and waited for his arrival. He always came to you eventually; ever since he had caught you bathing, he made nightly visits.

Through your cousin, who served as Lady-in-Waiting to the Dowager Queen Alicent, you knew that she appreciated that you gave him your attentions instead of him causing trouble in the Streets of Silk. You were clever enough not to give yourself away yet, and you would do everything in your power to resist his advances until he rewarded you for your "service". Fortunately, King Aegon was easily entertained when it came to such activities.

“‘Tis alright, Lyra, you may leave for the night,” you mumbled lazily and gave the young girl an amused smile as she tried to look away from your barely-dressed form. She curtsied quickly and walked off, gently closing the door behind herself.

Now all you could do was wait. What would Aegon wish to do tonight? Have you suck him again? Or watch you slowly taking off your dress on the balcony so that all of King’s Landing could see your nakedness? Inevitably he would ask you to lay with him, yet as always all you’d do would be to sleep next to him, gently stroking his head whilst reassuring him that you’d let him do anything to you, as soon as he could promise a reward for your flower.

As the moon rose high, casting its ethereal glow over the sprawling city, your anticipation grew. The heavy silence of the night was punctured by the distant sounds of laughter and music from some tavern, but your focus remained on the imminent knock on your door signalling his arrival. Your fingers traced the rim of your goblet, the coolness of the silver contrasting with the warmth brought by your anticipation. In many ways, this nightly game had become as routine as breaking your fast or riding your mare, yet every evening it held a new form of thrill.

Abruptly, you heard the castle guards gathering outside your room in a flurry, and an undeniable sense of excitement fluttered within you. The King was here; his penchant for a grand entrance noticeable as always.

The door creaked open without warning, revealing King Aegon. His silver-white curls danced with an air of haughtiness around his shoulders, reflecting in contrast to his deep violet eyes that sparkled with amusement. His presence filled up the room as he sauntered in; a predator entering his den.

“Good evening,” he spoke; his voice resonating rich and deep like sweet Dornish wine.

You gave him a coy smile before responding, “King Aegon.”

He grinned wickedly at you before pouring himself a goblet of wine from the pitcher kept on your bedside table. He drank deeply from it before setting it down, looking at you with an intensity that made your heart flutter.

“Well then,” he finally broke the silence, grinning wickedly as he advanced towards your four-poster bed where you lay sprawled languidly, the wind gently playing with your thin dress, “Who do we have here? A wicked little girl trying to get me to waste my seed once more?”

Smirking, you raised your goblet and drank a few sips. “You’ve never seemed to regret it in the morning, your Grace. You know what I require of you to let you take me properly, my King…”

He mirrored your smirk and slowly undressed, so that he was only left in a loose shirt. He lounged onto the bed, his violet eyes sparkling in the candlelight as he leaned over you. "And I keep telling you, darling," he retorted, the corners of his lips upturned mischievously. "You're asking for a pretty price."

You tilted your head to the side, your eyes meeting his. Your mind was clear, despite the wine flowing through your veins. "A fair price, for a fair lady, wouldn't you agree, my King?"

He chuckled; a low rumble that echoed through the room. His hand cupped your cheek gently, his thumb running across your lower lip. "Oh, certainly fair, but also clever," he murmured softly. "Why should I not enjoy the fruits my garden bears without having to pay a hefty price?"

"Perhaps because this fruit wishes not to be plucked hastily and carelessly," you replied playfully, pushing his hand away and rising from the bed. You strolled across to the window, pulling back the curtains to reveal the moonlit cityscape.

"There is a difference between buying apples in the market and planting an orchard." You turned to face him now; your silhouette framed by the moonlight that streamed in through the window. "I know my worth, Aegon."

King Aegon watched you from where he lay on the bed; his body reclined lazily against its plush pillows. The flickering candlelight threw dancing shadows upon his rounded face; his expression remained unreadable, his violet eyes twinkling dangerously. "Is that so?" He finally spoke after a moment that seemed like eternity.

Instead of responding to him, you slowly took off your dress and tossed it to the side, sitting down on your settee, facing him with coyly crossed legs, while you gently rubbed sweet smelling oils into your long hair. “Just as I know your worth, my King, and I should hope that you know mine as well.”

Aegon regarded you intensely for a moment before a smirk spread slowly across his face. He allowed his eyes to travel languidly over your form, lingering in appreciation before finally meeting your gaze again. "I have been known to underestimate," he said, amusement lacing his words. His fingers traced the stem of his goblet as he spoke in a low voice. "Never had I thought I could be beguiled by such a maiden, cunning and clever."

"Indeed?" You asked, raising an eyebrow at him. You took your sweet time finishing with your hair, and then you rose again, moving back to the window to feel the warm night's breeze against your skin.

You could hear his soft chuckle from behind you. “You do not make it easy to resist," Aegon admitted, almost begrudgingly.

"Yet resist you must," was your simple reply as you turned back to him once more. Your lips were curved into a playful smile, yet there was an undeniable truth in your words.

Aegon let out a half-chuckle, half-sigh and shook his head, running his hand through his silver curls in amusement at your audacity. "Why must I resist when what we both want is in our reach?"

His words echoed in the silence of the room. You walked slowly towards him, the moon casting an ethereal glow on your skin. As you reached the bed where he lay reclined, you leaned down until you were just inches away from his face.

"Because my King," you whispered into his ear, "It's not about what we want now... but what we could have.” With that, you gently kissed him and quickly ran back to the settee before he could hold you down. “Just like you could have me.”

Aegon's eyes were wide, his breath hitched as he watched you make your way back to the settee. He sat up straighter in bed, a wry smile playing on his lips as he finally understood your game. “I see what you’re doing,” he murmured, admiration lighting up his gaze. “The fruit tastes sweeter when it’s been longed for.”

Your heart fluttered at his words, but you kept your face impassive as you looked at him. “Perhaps,” was all you said, leaning back into the plush cushions of the settee. The moonlight filtered in through the window, casting an ethereal glow on the velvet material of the furniture and bouncing off your skin in a soft haze.

Slowly, Aegon rose from the bed and took slow, deliberate steps towards you. His eyes never left yours, and there was something dark and tantalizing about his gaze that had your breath hitching in your throat. “May I?” He asked, stopping at an arm's length away from you.

“May you what?” You replied teasingly, knowing full well what he was asking but wanting to hear him say it. His smirk widened at your reply.

“May I join you?” A soft chuckle left his lips at your audacity; it echoed through the room like music to your ears.

“You may.” Your voice was barely audible over the sound of your heartbeat pounding in your ears as he sat down next to you on the settee.

The room was silent except for the soft rustle of fabric as Aegon adjusted himself on the settee beside you. The tension grew significantly as you lazily lifted your leg onto the arm rest and slowly massaged the residual oil onto it, going ever higher, until your fingertips hovered over your sweet, moist opening, parting your curls so that he had a better view of you.

Aegon cursed under his breath at the sight, his fingers twitching to reach out and touch, but he managed to restrain himself. He was playing a game, and he intended to win it. "Bold," he noted with a smirk, running his eyes appreciatively over your exposed form.

"Only as bold as a Lady should be," you replied nonchalantly, though your heart was pounding against your chest. There was something sinfully delightful about teasing the king like this; about having him so close yet so far.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me," Aegon muttered under his breath, turning his gaze to meet yours. His violet eyes flashed dangerously in the dim light, conveying his desire...and something else.

"Perhaps I do," you said softly, coyly arching an eyebrow at him. You moved closer to him on the settee, not touching him but just close enough for him to feel the heat radiating from your body.

"Is that so?" Aegon asked, his voice low and gravelly. He watched as you moved closer until there was barely any space between the two of you.

"It is," you confirmed, meeting his intense gaze with a teasing smile. Your hand came up to gently trace a line down his chest. "But you should know that Ladies aren't easily won over."

"I am well aware of that," Aegon replied huskily, his gaze trailing down where your hand rested on his chest. His hand came up tentatively to cover yours, not moving it away but just letting it rest there.

"Good," you whispered, letting your hands travel ever further down, until you had his hard length in your hand. You had no choice but to moan as you felt his squeeze his hand tighter around yours, instructing you how he wanted to be held. Following his command, you squeezed him harder and smiled as he bit his lip.

“Touch me, my King, just as I am touching you right now; please me, my King, just as I am pleasing you… Imagine me, bouncing on your large cock, whimpering…”, you whispered into his ear and quickly spat onto your palm before enclosing his hardness in your hand once more, stroking him softly.

Aegon closed his eyes and let out a growl, his grip on your hand tightening further. "You're playing with fire, my lady," he warned, voice low and husky.

"Perhaps I like the heat," you countered, your voice just as low and sultry. You looked at him through lowered lashes; your gaze was filled with desire and mischief. "Perhaps..." Your voice trailed off as you continued to stroke him, feeling him pulse and twitch in your hand.

Aegon watched you under heavy-lidded eyes, teeth gritted as he suppressed a groan. He moved closer to you, his hand leaving yours to trace a path over your body, exploring you as you had done to him earlier. His fingers moved slowly over your skin, dragging across sensitive areas and making you gasp in response.

His fingertips sparked with a mix of intense heat and refreshing chill. Every time he grazed your skin, it was like a scorching sensation followed by a soothing coolness. His moans were like sweet music to your ears, and your couldn't help but want to please him even more. The contrast of sensations kept you on the brink of ecstasy. You yearned for his touch, leaning into him and allowing him to pull you closer with every enticing movement.

As if under some unspoken agreement, both of you maintained eye contact throughout the ordeal; the raw lust evident in Aegon's eyes sent shivers running down your spine and his sweet groans pushing you further and further. There was something liberating about this back-and-forth game of seduction between a king and a lady.

Your hand stilled on Aegon’s hardened length when he unexpectedly found that sweet spot between your legs. He looked surprised for a moment before an understanding smile formed on his face and he applied more pressure there, making you squirm and part your legs even further.

“Ae-Aegon!”, you exlaimed as he slowly circled your nub, blushing at his thick grin. “I… oh… did not know… oh! That you enjoy this…”

His eyes twinkled in the dim moonlight, his grin never fading as he watched you squirm under his touch. "There are many things I enjoy, my lady," Aegon replied, his voice a low purr in your ear. His fingertips continued to tease your delicate flesh, loving the way your lips parted in silent pleasure.

Desperate for more of his intoxicating touch, you bucked your hips against his hand, guiding him further into your folds. He groaned at this new found access, prodding and exploring with careful precision.

A moan tumbled from your lips as he slipped a finger inside you, the sensation sending sparks of pleasure coursing through your body. You gripped his arm for support, pressing yourself further into his touch. "More," you gasped out desperately, moving your hand back to his length and giving it a squeeze.

Aegon's eyes fluttered shut at the dual sensations; he was just as taken aback by the intense pleasure as you were. Mirroring your actions, he inserted another finger into you, letting out a breathy moan as you squeezed him tighter in response.

Becoming bolder, he started moving his fingers inside you rhythmically, each thrust met with an equally fervent stroke from you on his length. The room filled with gasps and moans; the only sounds that mattered in this intimate game of give and take.

Your mind was consumed by pleasure, each touch and kiss pushing you closer and closer to the brink. The anticipation of what was to come had you teetering on the edge, and it seemed Aegon was feeling the same way. His movements became more frenzied, his jaw clenched tight, until he suddenly pulled away and lifted you up so that you were straddling him.

“I don’t care anymore, you’ll be Lady of somewhere, fuck this take any keep you want, I’ll make you Hand of the King for all I care,” he mumbled and gave you a hungry kiss before positioning his cock between your slick folds. “Kiss me, fuck me, just… do something…”, he rambled senselessly and grabbed your chest, squeezing and licking it hungrily.

You grinned and kissed him, before gently letting yourself glide down onto his girthy cock. Finally, finally you got what you wished for - your title, a castle and his cock.

Mutual moans filled the room as you rode him, your hips moving in perfect sync with his. Aegon's hands gripped your hips, guiding you to move faster. "That's it, ride me, my lady," he groaned, his eyes closed and head tilted back in ecstasy.

The sight of him, so lost in pleasure, only spurred you on further. You picked up the pace, your breasts bouncing enticingly with each thrust. "Oh, Aegon," you moaned his name like a prayer as the orgasm built within you.

Aegon’s hands moved up to cup your breasts, squeezing them roughly before finding his way back between your legs, where he started rubbing that delicate button again. "You little whore," he groaned in your ear before biting your neck lightly. “Thinking of nothing but my cock…”

With a loud cry, you came apart in his arms, your inner walls clenching around him as wave after wave of pleasure washed over you. Aegon didn't last long either; with a growl he buried himself deep inside you and let out a strangled moan as he came too - his hot seed filling you up and marking you as his.

After catching your breath, Aegon leaned in and placed a tender kiss on your forehead. His breathing was rough, but he seemed content. "My lady," he whispered. "Do you realize that you will bear a dozen of my bastards for your future husband?"

You shrugged playfully and smiled, pecking the tip of his nose as you wrapped your arms around him. Despite trying not to shudder as your climax subsided, you couldn't resist teasing him. "Of course, Your Grace. My orchard is yours to ravage from here on out."

#asas fics #fanfiction #fire and blood #hotd #hotd fanfic #aegon x reader #aegon ii targaryen #aegon smut #king aegon #house of the dragon #this lay ready in my drafts for such a long time i forgot about it

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lyrakanefanaticwriting · 3 months ago

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Fights and Disagreements - a lyra and grayson fic

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disclaimer: it is VERY long. i wanted it to be shorter but it ended up being long like all of my other fics, even longer actually, and im sorry if you wanted a short read. ill try and make shorter fics from now on but i just love writing long pieces of work im sorry 😭😭

LYRA:

Lyra knew the words to describe Grayson. Patient, sweet, and protective, even if others didn’t see it. But at the moment, none of those things applied to him.

A week ago, Lyra had confronted Grayson about the fact that she thought he worked too much and rarely had time to spend on himself, let alone her, and he took her thoughts into consideration. He told her that he would to try to cut back on hours. Well, days went by with no change except for the excuse that “work was busy at the moment”, and Lyra started to get impatient. She’d confronted him again on the 6th day of no change, except with 0% patience and a disturbing amount of pettiness. Long story short, it had ended in a fight.

Lyra rounded the kitchen table and turned away from Grayson, words flying out of her mouth as she threw her hands up in the air.

“No change! That’s what I got from you Grayson! God, could you not be selfish for one fucking day in your life?!” She screamed, whirling around as she did. A flicker of anger entered Graysons usually calm eyes as he paced over to her, his hair messy from the amount of times he had ran his hands through it.

“I’m being fucking selfish? You haven’t even stopped to consider that maybe I’m working this hard because I’m actually fucking busy!” He shouted back. Lyra was taken aback. She had never heard Grayson shout that loud, let alone barely shout, and he didn’t seem to noticed when her back hit the kitchen island. Instead, he walked closer, his chest heaving. “Work has been stressful enough, Lyra, and I don’t need it fucking up my home life too!” With that last sentence, Grayson threw his hands up in the air, and a breath caught in Lyra’s throat as she did something she never thought she’d ever do in Graysons vicinity. She flinched, throwing her arms over her head. Once she realized she’d done it, her eyes widened and she slowly put her arms back to her side. Looking up, she saw Graysons wide eyes and shocked expression, as he’d stopped yelling.

“Lyra-“ He tried to say, guilt etching his features, before Lyra cut him off.

“Get out.” She said, her voice barely a whisper. She didn’t know where out was, but she just wanted him somewhere away from her right now. And she really didn’t want to cry in front of him, or go to sleep in the same bed as him. Grayson stayed silent for a few moments, before speaking again.

“Lyra, what?” He says, his tone confused. He tries to speak again, before Lyra cuts him off again.

“Get. Out.” She said, her voice quiet again but brimming with intensity. Grayson held her gaze for about 5 seconds, a swarm of emotions stuck on his face, before suddenly stomping off. Lyra wouldn’t let a single tear fall until she heard that door close, and once she did, she slid to the floor, sobs racking her chest. Her eyes caught her phone on the island table, and, without thinking, she pulled herself up, and dialed a number. The line was ringing for about 4 seconds, until the girl on the other end of the line picked up.

“Hello?” Avery said. Lyra swallowed, before speaking.

“I changed my mind. I think I will be able to be apart of your girls hang out night.”

GRAYSON:

The only thing that Grayson had on him as he stormed out of the house that he and Lyra had moved into was his phone and car keys, which could only do so much. Anger almost took hold of him, until he had remembered the way Lyra flinched when he raised his arms, and all that anger had been smothered by drowning guilt. Did she think that he would hurt her? Allow himself to lay even a single finger on her? The truth was, Grayson never would. But still, she thought that in a fit of anger, he would. Grayson was disgusted with himself. He tried to think back to the argument, tried to think back to where it all went wrong, but all he could hear was Lyra calling him “fucking selfish”, and that anger rose again.

Grayson pulled open his car door, sat inside, and slammed it shut, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway without thinking of where he was really going. Maybe he could book a hotel. Or just stay at a cafe/restaurant for a bit and figure things out later. But instead, his hand found his phone, and without thinking, he texted the groupchat with him and his brothers in it. No words, but instead, 3 numbers.

911.

LYRA:

When Lyra knocked on the door of Libby’s little house that she and Nash lived in, she knew how she looked. She could barely see herself in the reflection of some of her glass flower pots, and what she saw was a sniffling girl with red eyes and mascara streaks running down her cheeks. When Libby opened the door with Max and Avery by her side, her grin was smothered.

“Lyra..” Libby said, her voice soft. She looked like she was going to continue as she searched Lyra’s face with concern, but Lyra interrupted, wiping her eyes with her hand as she spoke with the most normality she could muster up.

“So, can we watch that movie you guys were talking about?”

Lyra had been watching some random romcom for 20 minutes, meanwhile her mind had been preoccupied on something else. On the fight. She was going to continue to watch-but-not-watch the movie, when Max stood up and paused it.

“OkayIcan’ttakethisanymore.” She rushed out in one breath as she stood up and turned to Lyra, her hands on her hips. “What the fax happened to you?” Lyra looked down when Avery and Libby looked at her expectantly. She could beat around the bush, but she wasn’t in the mood for it.

“I got in a bad fight with Grayson.” Lyra mumbled, wiping her cheeks that still had some mascara smudged on them. She wanted to leave it at that, but the expectant look on the girls’ faces didn’t falter even once.

“And? What did he do?” Avery asked her. Lyra sighed, before explaining what happened start to finish.

“Cheezits, he sucks. Should I punch him in his cheekbones the next time I see him?” Max immediately asked as soon as she stopped explaining. The question was so sudden and unexpected that Lyra choked out a laugh sob, before speaking.

“No need, Max. It’s not all his fault. I mean, I acted rashly and just went straight to screaming but..” Lyra’s brow furrowed as she recalled the fight. “He barely even tried to hear me out. Does he know that I’ve barely even seen him this past month?” Emotion creeped into Lyra’s voice, before she shook her head and picked at her nails. Libby took her hand in hers and smiled at Lyra softly.

“I know that fights with spouses are hard, but I promise you, you will look back on this moment and see something to learn from, even if you weren’t much in the wrong.” Libby said, gently. Lyra smiled softly at her, but her heart still felt heavy. She loved Grayson. So. Damn. Much. And it felt like stabbing pins in her chest to be away from him for this reason. But maybe some space to clear her head was good.

“I actually don’t really want to talk about this,” Lyra said, smiling softly. “But can we continue watching the movie?” Max barely waited for her to finish her sentence before she took off towards the kitchen.

“Snacks time!” She cheered.

GRAYSON:

By the time Grayson had shown up at the front gates of Hawthorne House, all his brothers were there already. He had heard that Nash was staying there because Libby wanted to have a girls night, but Jameson and Xander had probably came in the time it took for him to drive there. Grayson walked in the front gates with an eerily empty feeling inside him to be away from Lyra. Already he could feel a pit in his stomach, just thinking about going home to a possible empty house. To sleeping alone, without her body wrapped around his. What did it matter that he was angry? He hurt her, and in doing so hurt himself too. His thoughts were interrupted by Xander speeding down the halls and hurling himself at Grayson. Luckily they were on carpeted floor, otherwise Grayson would have gotten some sort of head trauma.

“Thereeee is my darlingggg brothe- oh.” Xander said, starting with a yodeling sing-song voice before returning to his normal tone as he studied Grayson’s face. “You’re looking a little rough there, Gray.” A little rough was an understatement. Not only was Grayson working himself to the bone and getting no sleep, which was why he had such vicious under eyes, but he was also exhausted from his fight with Lyra. His hair was a mess, and Grayson was sure he looked like one too.

“Anyways,” Xander said, shaking off the awkwardness of the moment before with a grin. “The festivities are in the Great Room.”

Grayson successfully managed to wipe off the remaining bit of whipped cream on his shoulder, which was caused by Jameson, who was ruthless with the amount of pies he threw, as he raised a brow at Xander.

“Were the pies really necessary, Xan?” Grayson asked him. Xander grinned before nodding, shoving another spoon in his 3rd pie so far. Grayson felt more at ease than he had hours before, but the fight dawned on him again and suddenly the empty feeling came again. Nash leaned forward, capturing Graysons gaze with his own.

“Now it’s time to tell us what’s goin’ on, Gray. You didn’t call this 911 for no reason. Last time you did, it was because you were hurting,” Nash drawled, flicking a speck of whipped cream off his arm before meeting Graysons eyes again. “You hurting again?” Grayson wanted to say no. Wanted to come up with some fake problem. But then the memory of Lyra throwing her arms up over her head hits him again, and, without meaning to, Grayson placed his hands over his face, covering his eyes. It was a pain he’d never experienced before, that kind of heart break where you wish you could go back in time and change your actions. If he shouted less loudly. If he actually took consideration to her words and took a break, even if his job needed him. If he would finally do the right thing. He wanted nothing more than to melt into Lyra’s skin, to hold her soft hair in his hands, to fall asleep with her in his arms.

But some things were easier said than done.

Suddenly, two hands were prying the ones off his face, and Grayson found himself face to face with Jameson.

“What is it? Something to do with Lyra? Did your poor PI finally break and quit?” Jameson asked him, taunting Grayson for the fact that he tended to have 0 patience when it came to Zabrowski. At the mention of Lyra’s name, Grayson lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent the tears from coming. Luckily, he had been able to turn off his ability to cry since he was little, lest the old man saw him.

“So it is Lyra.” Jameson said again, raising a brow. Grayson opened his eyes, looked back up at Jameson, and that’s when the words started flowing out of his mouth.

Grayson closed his mouth, finally done explaining, and his brothers stayed silent for a few moments. That was, until Jameson decided to speak.

“Maybe we should start a go fund me for Lyra.” He said, narrowing his eyes at Grayson. Nash elbowed him and sent him a warning look, before turning to Grayson.

“I’m not gonna lie Gray, you thoroughly fucked up,” Nash drawled, the words still somehow coming out brotherly. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t make it right. You can stay for a few hours more, or for the night, whatever pleases ya, but you should get back to try and apologize, even if you weren’t fully in the wrong.” Jameson made a face at that last part.

“So, are we lying to him now?” Jameson said. Nash looked like he was about to throttle him, but Grayson just snorted. Honestly, he needed the humour after this depressingly serious night.

“Ooh!” Xander suddenly butted in, a grin on his face. “If you’re staying the night, then that means we can have a movie marathon!” A ghost of a smile touched Graysons face, but he shook his head.

“I’ll stay for maybe another 30 minutes, but afterwards I should be getting back. I’ve been here for long enough, and I think I’m ready to talk things out with Lyra.” He said. He felt almost giddy at the thought of being able to come face to face with her again, even though she’ll probably hate him for hurting her. Nash nodded, before speaking.

“You do that,” He said, with a smile. “And you have to stay and help us clean up the mess we made with the pies anyway.” Grayson smiled back, his heart feeling significantly lighter.

LYRA:

Lyra said goodbye to the girls before getting in her car and driving off. But then she thought about coming home to an empty house and her heart twinged with sadness again. Would Grayson come home some time in the night? Would he sleep on the couch and be gone in the morning? Or would he stay somewhere else for the night? Lyra didn’t know.

She parked in the driveway of her house, before getting out of the car and unlocking her front door. She stepped inside, listening for any movement or sounds, and felt disappointed when she didn’t hear any. Going to her room, well, hers and Graysons room, she stripped off her clothes and put on her pjs, exhaustion slowing her movements. Going to her vanity, she brushed through her hair, and that’s when she heard it. The front door opening.

Lyra’s heart jolted, both with surprise and excitement to see Grayson again tonight, until she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him. She sat down at the vanity and took off all her jewelry, ignoring Graysons pursues around the house for her. When he stepped into the bedroom, Lyra had to hold herself back from turning to face him. She just continued to take off her necklaces, taking longer than she should and setting them on her jewelry holder neatly. Grayson just stared at her from behind, before finally speaking.

“I’m sorry.” He said. That almost broke the floodgates, and Lyra had to hold herself back from jumping into his arms and letting him carry her to bed. She needed him to first recognize what he’d done, and then maybe there would be time for jumping in his arms.

“What for?” Lyra said, pettiness and anger tinging her tone. Grayson came beside her chair and knelt to his knees, and although Lyra knew it was so that he could get to her height, there was still a part of her that thought he was getting on his knees to beg. There was still a part of her that felt giddy at the thought.

“I’m sorry for not taking time off from work when you asked. I’m sorry for ignoring your suggestions when you first came to me about them. I’m sorry for ever letting you think I would hurt you. I will never hurt you Lyra, and I will not ever let today happen again.” He said. Lyra froze. She’d expected an apology, but she hadn’t expected… that. The truth was, she didn’t think that Grayson would actually hurt her on purpose. She thought that in a fit of anger, his thrown-in-the-air arms would hit her and he wouldn’t notice. It was what he said that hurt her more. She still didn’t look at him, but finally spoke.

“So, you’ll change?” She asked him.

“Yes.” The words flying off his tongue. Lyra felt satisfied by how fast the answer came. Finally turning to look at him, she raised a brow at him, a mild look of anger still on her face.

“I hope you at least missed me on your workaholic month.” She said, raising a brow at him to answer. He stood straighter, his pupils growing larger once she met his gaze.

“I did.” This answer came just as quick as the last, almost like he had been waiting, dying to finally talk to her. Then, he picked her up off the chair and hugged her, holding her tight in his arms. “So damn much.” Lyra’s heart fluttered as Grayson wrapped his arms around her lower back and held her close, digging his head into the space between her neck and shoulders. Lyra was quick to return the hug, squeezing her eyes shut as she melted onto him, her feet dangling in the air.

Some moments didn’t require any words. Sometimes, all you could do was hold each other and breathe.

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#lyra x grayson #lyra catalina kane #lyra kane #lyra and grayson #grayson hawthorne #the grandest game #nash hawthorne #jameson hawthorne #xander hawthorne #avery kylie grambs #maxine liu #libby grambs #phone girl #the inheritance games #the brothers hawthorne

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kellycataclysm · 2 months ago

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Take a bite

Quickly following the fluff from my earlier chapter with this piece of pure gratuitous smut spicy content for Kinktober.

This one was inspired by a request, once again by my good friend @nebraskashouse, from the prompt list by @starsandskies.

Gorgeous dividers by @saradika-graphics.

Snippet and link under the cut, my spicy friends.

Lyra moaned breathlessly, leaning her head back against the pillows, her wrists tied to the headboard, the rope warming her skin. He’d bound her so gently, just the way he had on his birthday, weeks ago. As he carefully moved his nimble fingers, tying her in place, he whispered such honeyed words of praise, telling her how exquisite she was, how he couldn’t wait to marry her, how he loved her so much. She melted into his touch, at his words.

Looking down, a shudder rippled through her body to see Harvey kneeling between her thighs, plunging his glistening fingers into her at a steady pace, his thumb circling her clit firmly. She shivered as she met the flash of dark desire in his eyes, to see him fully clothed, erection straining against his slacks, as she lay naked and open before him.

A deep throb of delicious heat sparked within, her arousal coating his fingers as they slid into her, stroking her as her pleasure built. She whimpered, light-headed from the peak he had already beckoned her through just moments ago.

‘Good girl. You’re doing so well for me, Lyra.’ Harvey cooed.

Two new chapters of sugar and spice coming next week. Please do enjoy.

#stardew valley #stardew valley harvey #stardew harvey #sdv harvey #harvey stardew valley #lyra and harvey #stardew lyra #harvey sdv #stardew valley fanfic #stardew valley smut

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icarusignite · 2 years ago

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An Eye for an Eye (part 18)

A/N: Comments and reblogs are appreciated, I love hearing y'alls thoughts <3

Word Count: 2780

All chapters: MASTERLIST

For one suspenseful moment, Daenys felt as though she was suspended. Then gravity came back into effect and she was falling. She tried to hold onto the window sill but the assassin's hulking form lay slumped over the edge and she was unable to latch on. Her fingers scrambled to find the handholds in the stone wall as she dropped and eventually managed to bring herself to a halt about halfway down. Her injured left arm screamed in protest as she clung to the stone, no doubt smearing it with her blood. Her body begged her to leave, to climb down the rest of the way and summon her dragon. She had done her duty to her aunt and her children. She could go home now. But she could hear the sound of Helaena's sobbing from above and she needed to make sure she was alright. She needed to see it for herself. Daenys gritted her teeth and made the climb upward for the second time that night, her eye burning with determination and unshed tears.

Once she had reached the window, she climbed over the man still hanging halfway out and stumbled to where Helaena sat in the middle of the room. She was cradling Jaehaerys in her lap, screaming hysterically. It was then that Daenys's eye fell on the crimson that stained her hands as she tried to stem a wound on the young boy's neck. Daenys hurried over and dropped into a crouch next to them.

"Helaena, Helaena what's wrong? What happened to him?"

Helaena only screamed louder, "My son. They've killed my son! My little boy!"

Daenys gently removed Helaena's trembling hands from her son's neck and examined the wound. It was apparent that he must have gotten injured in his escape from the man that held him captive. Perhaps his sword had slipped and cut him before he dropped it. Blood roared through her ears and panic began to set in. He could not die like this. She would not let him. This would not all be in vain. She tore off a strip from the bottom of Helaena's dress, not wanting to let the blood and grit from her own clothes mix with the young prince's. Carefully wiping the blood from his neck, her hands shaking. She could not tell how deep the wound was, she was no maester, but she prayed that it wasn't enough to kill him. If she could bring a maester to him fast enough, she desperately hoped that he'd make it through the night. He was still conscious, whimpering softly, and although the pain must have been unbearable, Daenys was glad that at least he was awake. Daenys wrapped the cloth around his neck and placed his mother's hand back over it.

"Hold onto this okay? He's going to be alright. I promise he's going to be alright. I won't let anything happen to him."

"No. No, no, no. They've taken away my son. I begged and begged and they took him, from me," Helaena didn't seem to hear anything Daenys said amidst her wailing.

Daenys fled her room. She needed to make herself useful. She needed to at least do what she could. Where would one find a maester at this time of night anyways. She sprinted through the hallways, looking like death herself, frantically trying to find someone who could get her the help she needed. It was a dangerous thing to do, her cloak abandoned somewhere in Helaena's room. If one of the Kingsguard found her, it'd be over for her, but she was willing to take that risk. She finally ran into a maid who was coming upstairs carrying a basket of laundry. As the maid's eye's widened with recognition, Daenys was pleased to find that it was one of her own handmaidens from her time in King's Landing.

"Lyra!" Daenys exclaimed.

"Princess?" Lyra raised her eyebrow in confusion. "You're back?"

"A maester. I need a maester right now."

"Are you hurt, Princess?"

"It is for Prince Jaehaerys. He is hurt. Bring a maester to his chambers immediately. The injury is on his neck. A cut. Please, quick!"

"Yes, Princess."

"And you can't tell anyone I'm here!"

Once she had sent the girl to fetch a maester with the utmost urgency, Daenys made her way back to Helaena. She was exactly where she had left her on the floor. Her other two children cowered in the corner of the room, holding onto each other for dear life. No doubt their mother's pained cries frightened them. Daenys knelt beside Helaena and held her as she keened over her son's body. The maester and the maid entered just then, and Daenys felt Helaena tense up at their arrival.

"Shhhh. It's okay. He's here to help. He's here to fix him so let him help alright?" she rubbed her shoulder soothingly.

Helaena's went silent. Begrudgingly her grip on her son loosened enough for the maester to set about examining the boy. He peeled back the makeshift bandage Daenys had wrapped and gestured the maid to bring in a bowl of warm water to properly clean the wound. Once the wound was clean the maester looked grim.

"What is it? What is wrong with my son?"Helena grew frantic again.

"It is good that I arrived when I did Your Grace. The little prince has lost a lot of blood," the maester responded, smoothing salve over the wound.

"Will he live? Tell me will he live?" she almost screamed again.

"Yes, Your Grace. It is not deep enough to be fatal. He will live, but he will need plenty of rest," the maester finished bandaging the cut and gave the prince milk of the poppy to put him to sleep.

Helaena let out a sob of relief and nearly slumped over but Daenys caught her and held her up by her shoulders.

"See. He's alright. He's going to be alright. I promised you he'd be alright didn't I?" she said, lovingly wiping away Helaena's tears.

The maester gathered his things to leave, eyes avoiding the cooling bodies in the room, and Helaena picked her son up to settle him into his bed. Then she lay beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close to her. Daenys made her way to the other two children who had remained ignored this entire time. They flinched when she approached them and she paused. She didn't exactly look her best and after what they had just been through, it made sense that they would be afraid of her. Maelor had stopped crying and now he sucked his thumb, watching her with large tearful eyes. Jaehaera carried him in her arms but Daenys could tell that her arms were growing strained by the way she constantly shifted them.

She came down to her knees and stretched out a hand, "Would you like me to take him now? Let's go to your mother alright?"

Jaehaera gazed at her for a few moments, but finally, she handed her younger brother to Daenys who hoisted him up in her arms. She led the two back to Helaena and deposited them onto the bed where they curled up next to their mother. Daenys gazed at the scene with a small smile. They were all alright. Traumatized and injured, but still alive and during these times, she was grateful for that miracle alone. She finally spared a thought for herself and it dawned on her how many people could have seen her as she ran amok through the castle hallways. Not to mention that long trek back to the outskirts of the city where she would summon her dragon. Her own exhaustion was catching up to her and her injuries protested every time she moved. Instinctively, she reached for the flask at her hip, only to find it gone. As she turned to leave, slender fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist.

"Please don't leave. Please don't leave me alone," Helaena pleaded.

Daenys melted. How could she deny such a gentle request? She sat down on her knees beside the bed on the side where Helaena lay. She grasped her hand firmly in hers and kissed the back of it.

"I'm here. I'll stay as long as you need me to."

Helaena turned over to face Daenys and her tears resumed, quieter this time. Soft sniffles and watering eyes. Her body was wracked with it and all Daenys could do was hold onto her until she calmed down. She ran her hands through her hair, brushing it back. Perhaps she should have worried about the dried blood on her hands but it didn't cross her mind.

"They wanted me to choose. They wanted me to choose which son to kill!" she wailed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come earlier. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Jaehaerys from getting hurt."

"When I saw you come in, I...I thought you were with them. You just stood there. Doing nothing. I thought you would let them hurt my children and maybe you would have been justified in it. I know my brother has taken from you," Helaena confessed.

"I-"

"No, you don't have to say anything. You don't have to defend yourself. I know now why you waited. We wouldn't have survived if you hadn't."

"I'm still sorry."

"You what the worst part is? I think I would have chosen one of them. They asked me to make a decision and I think I would have cho-"

"Shhh. No. None of that. It does not matter who you would have chosen. What matters is that you didn't. You didn't have to," Daenys gestured to the two boys laying next to her with their eyes closed and chests rising and falling in even breaths. "They are both safe and alive and you did the best you could."

"I'm a bad mother. I would have chosen a son to die!"

Daenys's grip on her hand tightened. She stared into her eyes, trying to convey reassurance in her gaze, "You are not a bad mother! You protected them all. They are all alive because of you."

"No, they're alive because of you."

"What matters is that they're alive isn't it? So no more blaming yourself. Promise me you won't blame yourself anymore Helaena."

"Daenys wait-"

"Promise me Helaena!"

"Alright," her voice came out soft.

"Thank you."

"You left last time. You left without saying goodbye," Helaena said abruptly.

Daenys avoided her eyes, guilt solidifying in her stomach, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to."

"I missed you. So so much."

"I missed you too. You have no idea how much."

"The children missed you too."

"Tell them I miss them too."

Helaena's crying had finally ceased. She stared at her niece for a moment and her eyes fell on the blue sapphire pendant that had fallen out of her tunic.

"You still wear that?" she asked, reaching out to wipe off the speck of blood that marred its surface.

"Oh. This? I...I haven't gotten around to getting rid of it yet," Daenys's excuse sounded foolish even to her ears.

"Mhm. You should keep it," Helaena looked at her knowingly, tucking it securely back out of sight.

Then her hand drifted upward, and traced Daenys's face, making her flinch. She turned her head away but Helaena's gentle touch at her cheek made her meet her eyes again.

"Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes."

"Did my brother do that to you? Is that why you left?"

As much as Daenys wanted to blame her husband for all the pain in her life, she couldn't lie to her dearest friend.

"No."

"No he did not do it or no it's not why you left?"

"Both?"

"I see."

"Would you come back if I asked? Come back to stay I mean."

"Helaena don't," Daenys's voice broke. "Do not ask me for something I can't..."

"Don't worry. I won't ask you to. I was just...wondering," she tenderly brushed her fingers across the ridged skin on Daenys's face.

"Thank you. You know I cannot refuse you."

Helaena's lips turned up the smallest bit, and it was the first expression she had made all evening that wasn't rooted in pain, "You shouldn't tell me that. It gives me power over you."

"You already have power over me."

Aunt and niece shared the silence in the darkened room, in that moment, each of them being able to ignore their realities in each other's presence. They ignored the cooling bodies in the room and the blood that stained their joined hands. The three things that mattered most to them lay sleeping and for a frozen moment in time, things felt bearable.

Just then the door slammed open, and the moment shattered. Daenys startled. When she saw who it was, she groaned. Lady luck truly was a fickle thing today. Aemond Targaryen came storming in with all the subtlety of a raging dragon. His hair was unruly and he looked around the room frantically, looking for his sister and her children. His sharp eye darted to the bodies in the room and when they drifted to the side of the room Helaena occupied, he relaxed a fraction.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Are the children hurt?" he addressed his sister first.

Helaena sat up and nodded, her demeanour growing fearful as she recounted the events of the evening to him. As she spoke about what the assassins had said to her, fresh tears sprang to her eyes and she stopped her tale, right before Daenys's appearance. Aemond took her pause as a sign of completion and he turned to his wife with barely contained fury.

"Is this why you're here then? To exact your divine retribution? An eye for an eye and a son for a son. You came here to take the life of an innocent child?" Aemond raised his voice.

"Oh what, like you did?" Daenys returned, standing up.

"You didn't answer my question. And stay away from my sister. You just tried to have her children killed!"

"It hurts, doesn't it? When you find out that someone you love is hurt. When you think you are too late to save them. Did you feel guilty on your way here, knowing it was your actions that caused this?"

Daenys knew that she shouldn't goad him but the look of anguish on his face was irresistible. She wanted him to hurt. She could almost taste his anxiety, his worry for his family. Oh, how he loved his family. Let him think that she had come back for revenge. That she had orchestrated this scheme. That it was his fault his nephews were in danger. Her eye was lit with malice as she glared at him.

"So you admit it then? This really was all your doing you hypocritical who-!"

Crack.

Aemond took a step back, bringing his hand slowly up to his smarting cheek. She had slapped him. His sister had slapped him. Helaena stood in front of him, chest heaving, eyes angry and wet. Gentle sweet Helaena. He didn't think he'd ever seen her angry or even raise her voice before.

"Not another word. You will not say a single word against her. She risked her life for my children. She nearly died for them. They would have died if not for her. She was there when you were nowhere to be seen so you better not let me hear you say another thing to her!"

Aemond gaped at his sister. He never thought he would see the day she'd speak to anyone like that. Despite her delicate nature, she was still a Targaryen and her tongue was apparently just as sharp. Then Aemond turned his attention to his wife, noticing for the first time how she held her left arm stiffly against her body and favoured her right leg, even when standing. There was also a dark bloody stain on her tunic. She was hurt. If Helaena was right then she had gotten hurt protecting her and Aemond could not imagine why she would ever do that.

"I'm sorry. For throwing out accusations. I suppose I should be thanking you instead..." he told her.

"I do not need your gratitude. I did not do it for you," she snapped.

"No...but why did you? You owe us nothing."

Daenys laughed bitterly, "You really only think in terms of debts and grudges don't you?"

"No that's not what I meant-"

"I did it because I love her!" Daenys exploded, pointing at Helaena. "I did it because no vengeance was worth causing her pain. Because when you love someone, you put them above your own petty desires. When you love someone you don't want to be the cause of their pain and their anguish. You never want to be the reason that they cry themselves to sleep. You never want to be the reason their very existence becomes haunted. When you love someone you cannot bear the thought of them seeing your hands stained with the blood of those they care about. Because that's what it means to love someone!"

_______________

Taglist (comment to be added/removed):

@m1tzifa1ry @blulemonades @bietchz @bugheadskid @applepyesworld @mrswhitethornbelikov @mysingularitybts @caspianobsessed @lotr-got @theekinslayer @vaf24 @feiwelinchen @dangerousbluebirdpoetry @hanabbrmpg @issybee0611 @lyannesworld @moni-cah @akinatrix @carryonmywaywardho @queenofbeingdepressed @cateyesinlove @frozenhuntress67 @bregarc @spicykimchii @stargaryenx @linevondensternen @koobratzy

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blxckdragonfly · 2 years ago

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The Glory and The Scum (Darkness Finds You Universe #6)

(Song: "The Glory and The Scum" by Delain.

Pairing: Chris Motionless & Lycia Winters "Pronunciation-- Lai-shuh" (played by Ana De Armas), featuring Lyra Crowe Büdgen (Lilith Czar-- played by Mothica) and Malakai Black.

Warning: Drama, Mild Fight Scene, Hurt/Comfort.

Synopsis: When Motionless In White are headlining Aftershock and are playing alongside with Falling In Reverse, all hell breaks loose when Ronnie Radke tries to apologize to Lycia for his tweets about her.

Word Count: 4,131

A/N: and we're back, and once again: Fuck Ronnie Radke. Enough said. Enjoy. x Tiger. Co-written with @blackrose-92!

Aftershock Festival– October 7th, 2022: Sacramento, California.

(Lycia’s POV)

I wake up to very loud noises from inside the bus and I groan as I stirred and I woke up– seeing that I’m alone inside of mine and Chris’s bunk. I sigh as I hear what sounds like Call of Duty. I roll my eyes and I change out of my black tee and black satin pajama shorts, and into a strapless black lace corset bodysuit from Boohoo, a dark gray skirt from Disturbia and my “Assimilator” boots from Killstar. I put in a pair of gold hoop earrings to match my wolf necklace and coffin ring, and put on a light amount of makeup.

“Lyra!” I hear both Chris and Malakai yell for Lyra, who’s also on the bus this morning. I sigh as I walk out to the front of the bus, where I see Lyra sitting near the driver’s seat in her black mesh bodysuit with a black tank top underneath, a pair of gray skinny jeans from Nasty Gal and her own Killstar boots, while Chris, Malakai, Justin and Ricky are all playing Call of Duty. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“All right, children,” Lyra mutters. I give her a confused look, raising my eyebrows.

“Does this happen a lot?” I ask and Lyra begrudgingly shakes her head at me, making me chuckle.

Lyra and I both hear Malakai curse in Dutch after both he and Chris are shot and killed in the game. Chris glances over at Lyra with a confused look.

“You don’t wanna know what he just said, alright?” Lyra says as Malakai laughs as Chris sees me and offers me his hand after pausing the game. I smile as I take it and intertwine our fingers together, he pulls me into his lap– making me giggle.

“Good morning, baby,” Chris murmurs as he gives me a small kiss.

“Good morning, my love.” I say as I kiss him on the cheek, making Justin and Ricky gag. I flip them off as Malakai chuckles. I pecked his lips as I got off his lap and got my laptop and camera to start editing the photos from the last Trinity of Terror tour show, the photos I took of not just Chris and Motionless but of Lyra, Black Veil Brides and Ice Nine Kills.

“Your girl edits photos? That seems kind of nerdy, don’t you think?” Malakai replies as Chris glares at him and I grin at my boyfriend defending me.

“Says the one who has Transformers and Gundams in our house,” Lyra mumbles. I hear Chris start snickering.

“Thank you, wife.” Malakai grumbles and a Dutch curse leaves his breath. “For bringing that up.”

“Love you too, husband,” I hear Lyra say in an innocent tone– making me, Chris, Justin and Ricky laugh as I close down my laptop after sending some of my photos to Jeremy. I grab my camera and pull Chris away from the screen, giving him a kiss.

“I’m going to go take photos of Spiritbox,” I say as I slip my photography pass around my neck. Chris nods and gives me another kiss.

“You’ll be back for our set, right?” He asks and I nod, kissing him again before taking off. I step out of the bus when I slip on a pair of Chris’s sunglasses and head out to the Jack Daniel’s stage, where Spiritbox would be playing. I headed into the pit as the show was about to begin.

As I got my camera ready to shoot, I noticed a figure in all black approaching me. He wasn’t just all in black, he was covered completely in black ink. There was something about him that put me on edge. I didn’t know who he was, but he looked very similar to the drug dealer who used me for heroin. I couldn’t hear him fully as the band was playing but I could see that he was mouthing “I’m sorry” to me.

We all live in unforgiving precarious ways

If it bleeds it leads

Is all we seem to hear today

Thorns remain while flowers fade

I had to get out of there. Now. I take a few more photos and slip out amongst the crowd, back into the VIP area and backstage, I look over my shoulder to see him following me. I started to run, trying to find Motionless’s bus.

“Lycia, wait! I wanted to apologize to you for what I said on Twitter.” And then it hit me. It’s Ronnie, the same person who tried to ruin my career with his tweets.

“Stay away from me,” I say as my breath heightens as panic runs through my body. “I don’t want to hear your bullshit apology after you nearly ruined my career. Please leave me alone.”

The minute I see Malakai, Lyra and my boyfriend, I scream at the top of my lungs for Chris. He hears my scream, causing him to panic too as he quickly runs over to my side, he wraps his arm around me firmly and glares at Ronnie.

Monster

Such a noble novelty

Monster

Such a proper prodigy

Monster

It is all enrolled in you and me

“You better give me a good explanation of why I shouldn't go get House of Black right now and let them tear you apart," Chris threatens.

“Oh, look who it is,” Ronnie says. “I was trying to apologize to your girlfriend for what I said on Twitter about her, in exchange for the apology you owe Escape The Fate.”

I hear a sinister laugh from Chris as he moves in front of me, preventing Ronnie from getting any closer to me. “You’re really expecting an apology from me? After your actions in trying to sabotage my girlfriend’s career? Not a chance, asshole.”

__________________________________________________

(Lyra’s POV)

Malakai, Brody, Buddy and I were heading back to Motionless In White’s bus after seeing the end of Spiritbox’s set– when we noticed a small crowd forming near the bus. I raise a brow and I see that it’s Chris, who’s arguing with Ronnie Radke. I let out a deep breath.

“Motherfucker,” I mutter, getting Malakai’s attention. He walks up to me and takes my hand for a second, looking at me with concern as I point in the direction of Chris and Ronnie– who are now getting into each other’s faces as I look over to see Lycia in tears. I walk over to her direction, quietly ushering her away from the scene until Chris can calm her down.

I hear Buddy and Brody curse and Malakai does too in Dutch. They race over to Chris as he’s about to raise his fist and punch Ronnie’s lights out, Malakai and Buddy grabbing him and pulling him back. Brody being bigger so he’s able to physically lift Chris off the ground.

“Don’t think for a second that you’ll get away unscathed, Radke,” Malakai says through his teeth. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re dating Saraya or not. If you approach Lycia, Chris or Lyra again, Brody, Buddy and I will tear you to pieces and leave your remains for Chris to do whatever he wants with. That’s no idle threat: It’s a guarantee. Come for them again and The House will make you pay for it.”

Buddy nods in agreement as Ronnie takes a few steps back, before trying to punch him. Malakai does a knee strike at him, not to hurt him but to scare him, his eyes widening in fear as he flinches. A malicious smile crossed Malakai’s face. “Go on then, Ronnie. I dare you.”

We start walking away to Motionless’s bus as the crowd settles and moves on, Malakai turns around with Brody, Buddy, myself and Chris following. I see Lycia crying uncontrollably.

“Brody, let Chris go. They need to be together,” I hear a warmth in Malakai’s voice as Brody nods, releasing Chris from his grasp, who had been panting with anger toward Ronnie but it subsides after he sees Lycia.

Either wasteland or wonderland

Look at what we've done

Take a step back

Shake your head at what we have become

We're the glory and the scum

____________________________________________

(Lycia’s POV)

Tears fell down my face as I buried my face into my hands, my heart racing with anxiousness. I hear someone take a step toward me, I feel what I thought were hands on me and I flinch in fear.

“Get away from me, Ronnie!” I say and I feel the same touch but it’s gentle, it’s on both of my shoulders and it’s tracing my skin until I hear a familiar but soothing voice. “Lycia. Lycia, it’s me. You’re safe now.”

I opened my eyes and I saw the warm and comforting brown eyes of my boyfriend. Chris. I moved close to him and I clutched him close to me tightly. I nuzzled my head into his chest and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head as we embraced each other. “Shh. What happened?”

“R-Ronnie resembles the drug dealer that used me,” My voice is small as I feel Chris getting tense as he holds me. “Please make him leave. I’m scared that he might hurt me.”

I feel him run a finger along my face with tenderness, wiping away my tears. “Honey. Lyra and House of Black are here for you. They won’t let anyone near you, not even him. Nor will I. That’s my promise to you.”

I look up to meet his gaze as he leans in; our foreheads touch and I feel the warmth of his hands on my lower back. “I’m supposed to be the one to take care of you. But I’m still scared of Ronnie.” I sniff.

“Sh. I understand, baby. Those memories must have come back now. But don’t worry when I’m around, whether it’s Ronnie or the dealer himself, they’ll never hurt you again.” He tucks a fallen strand of my caramel brown hair behind my ear.

I nod and I press my lips to his in a gentle kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck, intertwining my fingers in his black hair as we kiss. When we part, he pulls me closer into an embrace. He gazes into my eyes.

“No one will take you away from me,” He whispers, reassuringly. “I will always take care of you. Always.”

Monster

Sewer of uncertainty

Monster

Creator of entropy

Monster

It is all enrolled in you and me

_________________________________________________

(Lyra’s POV)

I’m still fuming with anger because of seeing Ronnie. Malakai, Brody and Buddy are standing outside of Motionless’s bus, we’re keeping an eye on Chris– who has Lycia in his arms and is holding her while also keeping an extra eye out in case Ronnie comes back for us again. Malakai glances over at the both of them because I know how much he cares, so I know that he’s hating what happened with Lycia. I hated the fact that this motherfucker had to show his ugly head around my friends again.

I feel Malakai take my hand and pull me into a hug, I wrap my arms around him as he pressed his lips to my crimson hair.

“How did this happen, Lyra?” Malakai’s voice is gentle as he looks at me, green eyes shining. I sigh and nestle closer to him.

“Well, everything began when Ronnie took to the internet.” I explained. “Criticizing Chris and his band Motionless In White, he believed that Chris should apologize to him for something he had every right to do. Soon after you told me that his relationship with Lycia had been leaked, news spread about her struggle with heroin. Ronnie made her a target because of it. Chris informed me that she was nearly killed from a drug overdose of heroin.”

I see tears filling up my husband’s eyes. It had been such a long time since he had been around something like heroin but I know he had his past experiences with it. He looks over at Chris, who’s placing a soft kiss on Lycia’s temple as he’s comforting her. I hear him take a deep breath.

“She’s had it rough, hasn’t she?” His voice is soft and kind as I nod. “It breaks my heart.” I see him pause for a moment. “Chris keeps her close to him because she needs him; not just anyone can do what he does for her and take care of her like he can.”

I was shocked as I pulled back and looked up at the man I called my husband. Of course he would pick up on their relationship, he was so observant.

“That hadn’t occurred to me before,” I say. I lean over and place a soft kiss on Malakai’s cheek. “You’re so observant, even though it scares the hell out of me sometimes.”

I hear him laugh softly. “I apologize for scaring you, love. But you should be aware of this by now.” I nod and snuggle into his shoulder.

Suddenly we hear a commotion and not only do my head and Malakai’s snap up, but Chris and Lycia do as well. I see security guards kicking out Ronnie and Falling In Reverse. I breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, thank God. I thought.

“Chris Motionless started this! Not me!” I hear Ronnie yelling at the security guards as he’s being escorted to the gate.

“Shut up, Ronnie. You started it,” Malakai scoffs. “Get the fuck out of here.” We all burst into laughter as the gates closed behind Ronnie and his bandmates. I feel my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my gray skinny jeans and I pull it out to see that Saraya texted me.

Raya: Hey Lyra! I’m letting you know that Ronnie’s coming by Motionless’s bus at Aftershock to apologize to Chris’s girl, Lycia.

Well, fuck. I facepalm and I run my fingers through my crimson hair, Malakai looking at me with concern in his eyes.

“My timing sucks.” I say.

“Babe?” Malakai asks and I sigh as I look at him and Chris.

“Saraya sent Ronnie to come over here to apologize to Lycia for what he said. She just texted me.”

Chris scowls at me, eyes narrowing at me as he takes a deep breath and caresses Lycia’s arms with his fingers, as she’s leaning against him– trying to stay calm. “I don’t give a single fuck if Saraya sent him or not. Look at what happened. Lycia didn’t know who he was and it frightened her so much she almost had a fucking panic attack.”

“Whether he came by to apologize or not,” Lycia says as she’s playing with Chris’s fingers. “I don't ever want to see him. He reminds me of someone I’d rather not think about.”

I get another text message from Saraya and I unlock my phone to respond, telling her that it ended badly, she asked what happened and I told him that Brody had to lift Chris up so he wouldn’t punch Ronnie’s lights out. He got himself and Falling In Reverse kicked off the festival. She responds with a facepalm emoji. I locked my phone and put it back in my pocket.

I then see Chris talking to his tour manager while staying with Lycia and keeping her company. I see a huge smile on his face as his tour manager walks off.

“Well, looks like we’re taking Falling In Reverse’s spot and playing a bit later than we thought.” Chris says. I’m overjoyed as is Lycia, who kisses him softly. They start talking about adding a couple songs to their set list for later on tonight.

When Motionless played later tonight, they played Slaughterhouse with Brody making a guest appearance for the song. Chris and the band played Burned at Both Ends II as well and when he’s singing the song, I feel Malakai tap me on the shoulder and we both look over at Lycia, who’s standing side stage with us, Brody and Buddy and she’s crying. I try to go and check on her but Malakai stops me.

“She’s alright, Lyra,” Malakai says as he puts his arm around my waist. “She just found out that Chris wrote that song about her.”

My eyes widened. “He wrote Burned at Both Ends II for her?” I asked as Malakai nodded. “Aw, that’s so sweet of him.”

_________________________________________________________

(Lycia’s POV)

After Motionless leaves the stage, I see my man walk off too, so I jump into his arms, which catches him off guard. A chuckle accompanies his struggle to regain his balance. I have evident tears in my eyes, which are streaming down my cheeks as he pulls back.

“Whoa, babe. What’s wrong?” He asked.

“You wrote that song for me,” I sniffled as I looked into his warm and loving brown eyes. “You wrote Burned at Both Ends II for me.”

“How’d you know?” He stroked my caramel brown hair with his fingers.

“With a bit of help,” I say as I turn my head toward Malakai and Lyra, who give him a friendly wave. He sighs and shakes his head playfully. He looked at me and he lifted my chin with the palm of his hand.

“I wrote the original Burned at Both Ends about myself ten years ago,” Chris murmurs. “But when I began working on the sequel to it, I realized that it wasn’t about me. It’s about us now. Even though I know you haven’t fully been through the same struggles as I did, your story still matters as much. You are an incredible inspiration, Lycia and I love you.”

I can sense Lyra and Malakai’s eyes on the both of us and they had huge grins on both of their faces, Chris could feel it like a burning on the back of his neck. “Alright, you two. You can go now.”

I realize that he’s talking to both Malakai and Lyra as I look behind him, laughing.

“Say no more. We’re going,” Lyra takes Malakai’s hand and drags him off with Brody and Buddy following behind her. When they’ve gone, I lean in and embrace Chris around the neck. Not caring in the world if he’s sweaty and has gotten off stage.

“I love you too,” I whisper. “I’m so grateful that you wrote a song about me.”

He leans in and places a gentle kiss on my forehead, lips lingering for a moment. “The honor is always mine, honey. You motivate me every day, from when we wake up together to when we go to bed entwined. You're my world, sweetheart. You always will be.”

My heart melts at his sweet statement. I put my hand against his face, tracing his already smeared and sweat soaked makeup before meeting his lips in a tender kiss. As I rest my hands on his chest, my fingers play with the dog tags around his neck as his lips lock with mine. We broke our kiss and the second dog tag caught my eye. I caught it in my fingers.

Winters, Lycia Rose. August 5th, 1988. Soulmate.

“Did you put my name on your dog tag?” I say as my eyes widen in surprise.

“I was hoping you would spot it,” He teases with a playful grin and I raise an eyebrow. “It’s my reminder of you whenever we’re apart, helps me think of you. Always.”

My heart melts and I kiss him passionately before pulling away and taking his hand. “You’re the sweetest. Come on, baby. Let’s just relax together for the rest of the night.”

He nods and we walk back to the bus, when we step inside– Justin, Ricky, Vinny and Ryan have already settled down for the night. In my outfit that I wore to Aftershock today, I changed into one of Chris’s soft black tees, my black satin sleep shorts and removed my makeup last. I head out to our bunk, where Chris is waiting for me– shirtless and wearing his black pajamas.

“Hi, gorgeous,” I heard him as he embraced me in his arms and brought me into the bunk with him. I give a gentle laugh, clutching onto him and he kisses my forehead.

“Hi,” I kiss him on the cheek before I trail off, quietly playing with the rings on his fingers– mainly his coffin ring. I feel the cool metal of the ring against my skin. “I think I’m going to have another nightmare tonight.”

His face lights up with concern as he shifts his hands from mine and cups my cheeks, imploring me to look into his eyes. “What makes you think that?” His voice is gentle, almost a whisper.

"Ronnie approaching me today reminded me of the drug dealer who used me for heroin... I'm scared I won't be able to sleep tonight because his face will haunt my dreams.” My fingers lightly drift over his tattoos as I talk.

Chris pulls me close and wraps his arms around me, offering comfort. “Oh, my love,” He whispers into my hair. “I’ll be here with you all night long to keep your bad dreams at bay. You have nothing to worry about. I won’t leave you.”

As sweet as that statement is, I’m also mad at myself for letting this person get into my head since I’m dealing with the PTSD of losing Marcus in such a tragic way.

“This is just another thing that pushes me towards the edge,” I buried my face into his chest as he gazed fondly down at me.

“Honey, you are not crazy. You aren't.” I released a heavy breath as I moved my face up to look at him.

“I didn't say I was, love. It's just how I feel.” Fresh tears appear in my eyes and he covers my hands with his own, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles.

“You know, Lyra had the same situation.” I look at him, intrigue on my face. “Most nights she'd lay awake in fear because of her ex, Devon. It wasn't until Malakai stepped into her life that she was free from his control. What do you think drew Malakai and Lyra together? He's the only one who managed to keep her here with us.”

“Wait– So Malakai…?”

He nods. “Like you, Lyra was familiar with addiction, but from a different source. That's why she wrote VICES and SPIRAL. She was on the brink of suicide until Malakai stepped in. He reminded her that there are still things worth living for; music, wrestling, friends... For you, I want to be that person. The reason why you should keep going is because of me, as your reminder.”

I realize now that I had a lot more in common with Lyra and Malakai than I thought, which is why I understood how close Malakai was to her.

“I never knew that about her. She must be loved so much by Malakai…” He leans in and gives me a tender kiss.

“I want to love you as much as Malakai loves Lyra, if not more. Do you understand why you mean so much to me? Just like Malakai with Lyra, I want to be someone that you can rely on.” He whispers into my lips. “After you told me that I was the reason why you decided to get sober, when things seemed so dark, that's when I realized what I wanted out of our relationship. Not just the person who helped you through it all, but someone who's there for you whenever you need it, loving you unconditionally. All of it….”

I interrupt him with another tender kiss, our lips meeting in an affectionate manner. I finally pulled away, my forehead lightly touching his. “You are already everything I need and more. Each morning when I wake up, and you're still asleep next to me, it reminds me of how fortunate I am. You love me, support me, and urge me to keep pursuing my dreams every day…”

I continue to kiss him, our lips connecting in the most wonderful way. “Christopher Cerulli, you are the backbone that holds me upright. You are the reason why I keep pushing forward.”

“You are as well, Lycia. I can't even tell you how much I love you..." His warm chocolate eyes brimmed with tears as he embraced me.

I glided my fingers along his tattooed jawline and neck with the softest touch. ��I love you too. Show me how much instead.”

He smiles and leans in to give me a loving kiss as we sink into each other and we hold on to each other before falling asleep.

Monster

Polluter of dignity

Monster

Glory and the scum are we

Monster

Oh the best and worst is all in me…

#darkness finds you #darkness finds you universe #chris motionless x lycia winters #malakai black x lyra crowe #malakai black fanfiction #motionless in white #chris motionless #Spotify #chris motionless fanfiction

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littlemissmentallyunstable · 3 months ago

Text

biggest apology for it taking me a billion years to write this!! I’m so so sorry… but thank you for tagging me!! I hope you enjoy this fic 🤭🤭

title: the dancer and the angel

pairing: grayson hawthorne x (first person) reader

synopsis: lyra kane is getting a little to close to your boyfriend for your liking and it’s really starting to bother you

parts: part 2 part 3 part 4

warnings: CONTAINS SPOILERS TO TGG!!!

a/n: thanks for reading 🤍🤍

tag list: @tornqdowarnings @whatsamongus @wish-i-were-heather @inmyheaddd @never-enough-novels @heartwithsimplenotes @lxvebelle @xoxo-vee @emelia07 @f4iry-bell @zaraaaabear @thoughtdaughter3 @benny1989fredd @elysianwayy77

My dress is the colour of blood, laid out on my bed for me. Avery hadn’t let me see it or given me any clues as to what it might look like. ‘All part of the game’ she’d sing song whenever I’d asked. She has kept me in the dark about this year’s grandest game because I’m with Grayson. It was nothing personal, she and I both knew I couldn’t keep a secret from Grayson even if I wanted to.

The dress is stunning, silky reams of crimson flowed down like melted rubies. It’s so smooth and fluid with a slit running up the left side, that I approximate might end at my upper thigh. Avery has really outdone herself this year. Beside the glorious gown lay a mask of the same colour as an expensive Cabernet Sauvignon, not too extravagantly decorated. There were glistening rubies adorning one side, reaching desperately to the other that was left plain. I’m in love. I then also notice a pair of heals, matching in a patent deep cherry red to tie the look together.

I run my fingers over the material of the dress taking it all in. It’s so soft and delicate yet so bold and daring at the same time. I slip it on. The sizing was concerningly perfect. It’s like every inch of frantic has been tailored completely to my body. The dress beautifully clinging to every curve of my body, accentuating all the right places. The bold red brought out the colour of my eyes and stood out against my skin, making my complexion pop just that little bit more. I could honestly say I’d never felt like more of a princess. It was like that reveal moment in the disney movie that every little girl dreamed would happen, was finally happening.

I leave my hair loose and natural, partly because I can’t be bothered to do anything with it and partly because I think it complimented the dress. Though I still fiddle around with it, debating whether that’s the best idea. Just as I’m adjusting some jewellery on there’s a soft knock at the door.

“Are you ready love?”

Grayson. My Grayson Hawthorne. His voice send a wave of warmth through my body.

“Almost,” I call

“There’s no rush,” he reassures me quickly.

I smile to myself as I slip on the heels, having a Cinderella and Goldilocks moment all in one as they fit just right.

“You can come in,” I say, with a small laugh.

He pushes the door open and stares me. His pupils dilating so his recognisable gray was devoured by a sea of black. He stands there. Frozen almost, his expression hard to read.

“You’re not saying anything,” I blurt out, “is it because it looks bad because-“

“I’m speechless,” he murmurs, “how can someone be this beautiful?”

My cheeks darken, nearly to match the colour of my dress.

“You really think so?” I ask shyly, feeling a little self conscious all of a sudden.

“Of course sweetheart,” he says walking towards me and taking me into his arms, “the only reason I didn’t say anything was because I couldn’t find any word to describe your level of perfection.”

I’m a little taller now with the heels but still not nearly as tall as Grayson.

“You have got to stop doing that?” I smile, my hands cupping his cheeks

“What?” he asks, head tilted to the side.

“That thing with your words, how do you make me feel like that with words, it’s not fair,” I pout, as his arms curl around my waist.

“And how do you make me feel like that by just looking at you,” he says, “I think that’s even more unfair.”

I giggle, “you’re doing it again.”

“And so are you,” he replies seductively, “how do I look?”

“Alright,” I tease, a smile dancing on my lips.

He raised an eyebrow, “Oh?” he asks

“Only joking, you look as gorgeous as usual,” I smile, “is this a new suit?”

“Mhmm,” he hums in response.

“Designer?” I say, adjusting my arms around his neck

He chuckles a little, “do you even know me?”

“Right stupid question, of course,” I laugh, “will it be added to the collection?”

“Once I take it off,” he shrugs

I shoot him a flirty look, “oooo I like the sound of that.”

A slight pink tints his cheeks before he composed himself and murmurs, “patience is the name of the game.”

“Patience is also boring and you know what can kill you?” I say, “…boredom.”

“Later,” he whispers, “I promise.”

“We should make these kinds of promises more often,” I grin, our faces only inches from one another’s.

“I agree,” he says, a smile outlining his lips

“We have to go down and meet the others now,” I groan as he presses his forehead against mine.

“Shame,” he mumbles, “I could just stand here staring at you for the rest of the night.”

I chuckle lightly, trying to conceal the rising heat in my face that he could probably feel. I reach down and pick up the mask tentatively between my two hands.

“Allow me,” he smiles, gently lifting the bejewelled mask to my face.

He brings it up to my eyes and sets it to balance on my nose, before he ties the scarlet ribbon to attach it. I can feel as his fingers brush the back of my neck, tickling me slightly.

“You look gorgeous,” he murmurs, coming back to face me.

“My turn,” I whisper, delicately lifting the plain black mask to his face, adjusting it to fit perfectly

Our noses are almost touching. We’re both beaming, our hands intertwined. He leans in a kisses my lips tenderly. I melt into him and softly kiss back. My heart beats three times faster in my chest and I’m quite sure he can feel it too, as our upper bodies are pressed so tightly together.

“Ready to go,” he asks, as we pull away.

I nod and he extends his arm for me to hold. I take it as we slowly walk down the stairs.

“Don’t let me fall,” I say quietly.

He chuckles.

“No I’m serious,” I reply, eyes wide, “this dress is long, these heals are high and I have horrible balance.”

“I would never let you fall sweetheart,” he says, putting an arm around my waist for extra support.

Butterflies do a gymnastics routine in my stomach. Years as this man’s girlfriend and he still makes me feel the same way I did when I first laid eyes on him.

We arrive down in the Great Room shortly, the transformation incredible. Music is already playing as we approach and we are welcomed into a phenomenal ballroom. The glass chandelier hangs tall and proud, its many intricacies sparkling from above.

“You’re late,” Jameson snaps, eyeing Grayson, as we walk into the room. He’s teasing again, this should be entertaining.

Grayson eyes flick to the very expensive watch on his wrist, “no we’re not.”

“I made you think you were though,” he gives a lopsided smirk.

“You know you’re not funny,” Grayson deadpans, annoyance written all over his face.

Jameson gives a graceful shrug, “I would disagree.”

“You two look great,” Nash compliments me and Gray, probably trying to veer the conversation away from the car-crash that it’s going into.

“Thank you,” I nod with a small smile, “you look lovely too.”

“Hey what about me?” Xander complains.

“And you Xander,” I sigh, trying not to laugh.

“What about-“ Jameson starts.

“No I don’t like you,” I deadpan, then break out into a sudden smile, “kidding you also look very nice.”

“I disagree,” Grayson grumbles underneath his breath.

“Gray,” I hiss, hitting the side of his leg with the back of my hand slightly.

“What? He’s getting on my nerves?” he grits through his teeth

“When does he not?” I mumble, “just try and enjoy yourself tonight, okay?”

“Who says teasing Jamie isn’t me enjoying myself?” he smiles.

I shoot him a look.

“Okay okay okay,” he rolls his eyes.

“So what do we actually do now?” Nash asks, back leant against a wall, reeling us back into conversation.

“We wait for the contestants,” Grayson shrugs, puffin an arm around me.

“We can’t do anything until the heiress gets here,” Jameson explains.

“Where is Avery anyway?” Xander asks.

“Boo!”

Xander yelps as Avery appears out of what seems like thin air. She’s dressed in a deep rich purple gown, embroidered with glistening silver thread. The dress itself is a sight to behold but her matching mask is really quite breathtaking. Her mask was adorned with shimmering black gemstones, with dark purple ones around her eyes. Each and every jewel was delicately pieced together by a blackened golden frame of metalwork, so complex and decadent it took a good few minutes to take it all in.

“Getting quite good at that trick aren’t you heiress,” Jameson grins, kissing her temple gently, arms wrapped around her waist.

“A bit too good, it’s freaking me out,” Xander shudders.

“Sorry Xand,” she winks.

He looks at her incredulously, eyes squinted slightly, “no you’re not.”

“No,” she shrugs, “I’m not.”

“You look beautiful,” I say to her, a sparkle in my eyes.

She wraps her arms around me, pulling me into the worlds’ nicest hug, “so do you,” she beams.

“This dress is…” I trail off, unable to find the right word to describe something so perfect.

“Do you like it? I was worried you might not,” she asks.

“Avery it’s stunning,” I say, “thank you.”

“Oh I’m so glad,” she replies, a broad grin appearing on her face.

Interrupting the conversation Xander asks, “where are the players?”

“They should be arriving soon,” Avery replies.

“Hey,” Grayson murmurs, catching my hand, “I need to go a second, I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” I murmur, “everything alright?”

“Just fine,” he replies, planting a sweet kiss on my lips.

“What was that about?” Jameson asks, after he’s seemingly disappeared.

“I don’t know,” I reply, my voice trailing off, “does anyone know where he’s going?”

There is a murmurings of several no’s and I’m not sure’s from the rest of them, but I shrug it off. He would tell me later, whatever it was. Footsteps approach, we all hear them and reduce our conversations to murmurs. I recognise the first player easily as Knox from his big build and frighteningly sharp eyebrows. He’s been decked out in a tuxedo and patterned mask, which makes him look as equally as uncomfortable as his eyebrows make me feel. The next to enter I notice as Odette. But only due to her black-tipped hair, rather than her face. She’s draped in ebony velvet with gloves that run up to her elbows In contrast, her mask is a bold white, decorated with feathers and there is a single ruby, looking a little like some of mine beside each eye.

To steal the show next is somewhat of an ice queen at first glance. Savannah is dressed in an icy blue gown that dropped right to the floor and trailed slightly after her, like a blanket of glistening snow. She looks almost Scandinavian. Her gray eyes seem colder and more intense against the pale blue and her face is as serious as ever. She’s here to play. No. She’s here to win. Light from the chandelier bounces and reflects off of the teardrop diamonds that hand down from her silvery blue mask, like tears I doubt she ever cried. She looks confident, like she means business, with the metal chain hung from her hips. She gives the effect that she could lure you in with her beauty and then snap your neck two seconds later. I notice her hair has been twisted and pulled into a complicated braid, that’s feels like an illusion of sorts of you stare at it for too long. She’s really quite something.

Brady seems to wander in next, though I don’t get a good look of his mask because he keeps his back towards me most of the time. He looks to be signalling something at Knox but I can’t tell what and whether it’s friendly or not. I decide to ignore it as my favourite almost sister in law walks in. Gigi’s dress was a unique blend of the colours of peacock feather, that tied in perfectly with the three on her mask held together by an aquamarine. Her hair had clearly been styled slightly for the occasion, which makes her look very elegant. As well as that, the tiny pearls and diamonds that swirl around her eyes, shine brightly, showcasing her brighter eyes. But then something catches my eye and stands out, making everyone else seem irrelevant for a moment. Or rather someone…

Wrapped in midnight blue layers of tulle Lyra makes her entrance. The tulle started off as the same almost black type of blue and rippled all the way to white, each inch melting into the next shade. The bodice of the dress is tight and fitting and clings to her perfect figure. She’s a showstopper. Diamonds layers in entrancing swirls, on her mask, framing her bold amber eyes. She is stunning. Breathtakingly stunning. The whole room is captivated when she walks in and I don’t think she even realises.

You can tell she’s one of those girls who’s naturally beautiful, who just radiates an attractive quality by simply just being. A lot like Avery. She moves like a dancer, gracefully to the music playing softly in the background. My eyes can’t seem to break away from her. She’s flawless. The midnight blue is gorgeous against her golden-tan skin.

She hasn’t even done anything wrong to me and I hate her. Fiercely and passionately and I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help myself. I’ve become one of those girls who just hates on other girls because they’re everything that they’re not. And I hate myself further for that. A feeling I don’t recognise I bubbles in the pit of my stomach, an intense feeling.

The way she carries herself bewitching. Her thick dark hair hangs perfectly down, natural and shiny. She looks herself to be taking in the ballroom and her competition. There’s a certain sparkle of wonder in her eyes, making her even more alluring. I’d always known there were prettier people than me in the world but something about her in particular threw me off completely and made me feel self-conscious, made me start questioning my own worth. And I couldn’t work out why… Then I realise that the feeling stirring in the pit of my stomach is envy. I’ve been poisoned by jealousy. And it taste so very bitter.

Finally I notice Rohan, who comes up beside the princess draped in blue. His mask takes me by surprise the most. It was pure silver, shining metal with one side of his face completely covered bar his eye to see out of. But that wasn’t the most intriguing part, it was the asymmetrical deign on the other side of his face. To me, it almost looked as if he were part machine. I wonder if it’s a purposeful metaphor courtesy of our heiress.

“Care to dance with me?” Grayson asks, hand extended towards me.

I smile softly, my cheeks heating up, taking his hand and following him onto the ballroom floor. I hadn’t registered that all of the players were here, despite seeing all of their entrances.

We walk around, circling one another with one arm raised before he spins me around gently. I love this. Dancing in his arms. We don’t do it often but the few times we have I get the same blissful feeling every time. We’re swaying to the low hum of the violin, when I notice his right eye twitches oddly

“Are you okay?” I frown, concerned.

“Mhmm fine,” he nods, flashing a short smile.

There’s something off about it but I drop the matter, putting it to the back of mind to enjoy this dance. Our eyes are tied to each other’s as we just repeat the same moves over and over, but I don’t feel like I can’t get bored because I’m constantly finding a new fleck of colour in my eyes or freckle on his face. It’s only now I notice how the deep plain black of the mask makes his eyes stormy eyes stand out alluringly, captivating nearly all of my attention. The only thing I wish for now is that we were alone, that it were just us dancing in an empty ballroom, but this is a close second to that, so I’ll take it. His musicality is perfection, just like every inch of his being. And I admire that, wholeheartedly. He pulls my body closer to his, hands now on my waist. I revel in this moment, wanting nothing more in the world at this second. It feels perfect.

“My turn,” Nash says, cutting in suddenly.

Grayson goes to open his mouth, presumably to protest.

“I don’t have Lib here with me, so I need at least a dance with someone,” Nash replies quickly, with a wink.

“See you later love,” Gray murmurs, swiftly passing me over to his brother.

“Sorry to steal you,” he tells me, once his brother is out of earshot.

“Don’t be,” I smile, but secretly deep down I’m also sorry. It’s not that I didn’t like Nash’s company, he’s lovely. I just wanted tonight to be about me and Gray having a good time in this beautiful venue. It’s not every day a girl gets to go to a masquerade ball, not even in a life with the Hawthornes. It’s selfish, I know, but I’d just wished for some alone time with Grayson before he was thrown in as the game’s personal watcher.

“Are you excited for this year’s games?” Nash asks me.

I nod, “especially because I know virtually nothing, it makes it all the more fun. Have you planned many of the puzzles?”

“A few,” he shrugs, “I like to add my input here and there but I think they’ve really outdone themselves this time.”

“I look forward to it,” I grin, “hey how is Lib-“

“I’m stealing your partner,” a voice announces.

Nash and I both look left to see familiar a golden masked man stood there. Nash quirks an eyebrow upwards asking him a silent question.

“Gray stole my partner, so I’m stealing yours,” Xander replies bluntly, taking my arm and waist from Nash’s as the music changes.

Nash doesn’t protest and neither do I. I’m too distracted to care. It isn’t Xander’s arms around me that makes me feel weird, it’s the fact that Grayson supposedly stole Xander’s dance partner. But why did he want to ditch me for Xander’s partner? I crane my neck around to see who this mysterious person was only to be met with the midnight blue marvel that is Lyra Kane. He’s dancing with her. Of course.

The way she moved around him is bewitchingly mesmerising and elegant. It made me think back to the weird winking-blinking charade Grayson was pulling. I run through all the possibilities of what the rapid eye movement could mean. And then it hits me. And it hurts me. He must’ve been doing it in morse code to get Nash’s attention to cut into our dance. So he purposely sabotaged our dance, to steal Lyra from Xander… but why? My mind shoots straight to the worst case scenario possible, of course.

I shouldn’t be insecure. I’ve never been a jealous girl, but seeing them so close is getting under my skin for some reason. I catch a glimpse of his hand on the small of her back and all I want to do is run over the and tear it off. Grayson looks so deep in conversation, so fixated on gazing at her, like he’s memorising her every feature. Her gaze is more fierce, but just as immersed in his eyes. Every time I got the opportunity I snuck a subtle look over.

“What do you keep looking at?” Xander asks, interrupting my train of thought.

So the looks weren’t as subtle as I’d thought.

“Nothing,” I say quickly

“I’m not blind,” he states, giving me a bored look.

“It’s not what,” I sigh, “it’s who.”

His mouth makes an ‘o’ shape and I nod in reply.

“You know Gray loves you right?” he asks, as he spins me around.

“Yes,” I reply slowly.

“And he only loves you,” he clarifies, looking me dead in the eye.

I want to say yes and yet the words sort of die slowly in my throat, not making it to my voice box to be heard.

“He doesn’t like her,” Xander sings, sensing my thoughts. He’s annoyingly good at reading people or maybe I’m annoyingly easy to read.

“He’s been talking to her an awful lot,” I mumble, trying to look over at them again. But Xander notices and purposely gets his head in the way to block my eyeliner.

“Well we’re talking,” he says, “does that mean you want to have my babies?”

“What? No!” I exclaim, a mixture of shock and horror a bit too evident on my face.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t get that disgusted over having my babies,” he scoffs, “anyways see, so it’s fine.”

I hesitate, unconvinced, “okay.”

“I haven’t persuaded you,” he analyses, eyes narrowed.

“No you have,” I lie, not meeting his eyes.

“He wouldn’t cheat,” Xander sighs, looking serious, “he’s not that guy,”

“I know that,” I assure him.

“Then why-“

I stop him suddenly, “look at him, dancing with her, talking to her, looking her in the eyes,”

“He does all of that with you,” he shrugs, “all the time.”

“But he’s doing it with her as well,” I insist, “doesn’t that mean something?”

“It means nothing, Grayson is a gentleman and has always been,” Xander shrugs, “he’s dancing with a woman and looking her in the eyes making conversation, so what? He’s just being polite.”

I think he can still tell I look unconvinced.

“Trust me, the guy only has eyes for you,” he says, “he does not stop talking about you, actually gives me with the headache.”

I chuckle a little, smiling at the thought of Grayson talking about me.

“You’re overthinking every little thing,” he says, “if he was doing the same with a man would you judge it so harshly. Talking? Making eye contact?”

“Well… no but…”

“But what?” he groans, exasperated.

“But look at her Xander, she’s drop dead gorgeous, she’s got jewels for eyes and she’s a brilliant dancer,” I hiss, getting my worries off of my chest all of a sudden.

“Has it ever occurred to you that to Grayson you’re also drop dead gorgeous, have jewels for eyes and… well you can dance,” he says.

“Oh stop being nice,” I scrunch up my nose and slap the side of his head with my free arm.

“Fine you’re kind of bad at dancing,” he gives in, “my bruised toes can vouch for that one-“

“Sorry,” I interrupt.

“-but you’re great at lots of other things, just stop comparing yourself and stop overthinking,” Xander tells me.

“It’s harder than it sounds,” I sigh.

“Okay, put it this way,” he explains, “if you danced with Jameson and Avery got herself all worried, how would you react?”

“Well she wouldn’t because Jameson is obviously in love with her,” I roll my eyes.

“Ahem,” he coughs, “are you blind? It’s the same thing with you and Gray and Lyra. You and Gray being Avery and Jameson and Lyra being you.”

I have to think about the explanation for a hit second to understand it, before I tilt my head and ask, “you think?”

“Well if I didn’t would I have spent the last however long trying to explain why I do and sacrificed my perfectly good feet on the process,” he deadpans.

“Have I really stepped on them that much?” I ask sheepishly, my face heating with embarrassment.

“My big toe is numb,” he admits, trying to wiggle it though his show.

“Sorry,” I say, “you could ice it?”

“To make it more numb?” Xander judges, an eyebrow raised.

“I’m not a doctor,” I defend, “I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“Clearly,” he jokes.

We stop dancing and Xander guides me to the front to stand beside the others. Avery’s about to begin her speech and all the players gather around. noting,y, all my eyes can fixate on is how closely Gray is standing to Lyra. I can’t tell from this angle, but it’s entirely possible their arms are touching and it didn’t sit right with me. I try and remember how Xander’s words had made me feel a little better, but suddenly when I try and remember the conversation my mind goes blank, as if we never had it and all I can think about is Grayson and Lyra.

“The seven of you are here because three years ago I went from living in my car to having the world…” Avery begins.

But her voice trails off in my mind and I can’t focus on her words properly because my brain is screaming some very intrusive thoughts very loudly in my ears. Ones that involve hurting a very pretty girl standing near a blonde I particularly like.

Grayson chose to dance with her, to leave our dance to dance with her. That was the thing that was gnawing at me the most. And he didn’t mention it, yet clearly had premeditated plans to do so. I chew my bottom lip, trying to analyse the situation from every angle. He could’ve forgotten to tell me… but Grayson doesn’t forget. He could’ve just happened to want to dance with someone and she was the first person there… but she was dancing with Xander at the time and their conversation seemed too deep for it to be casual. Or, the most likely but the most painful, he could be hiding it from me… because he has a thing for her.

“An hourglass,” Gigi suddenly says, reeling me in from the deep mess of thoughts I’d been trapped by. An hourglass? What was she talking about? I glance to see Xander setting it down on one of the marble tables off to the side.

“Until then…” Avery smiles, a spark in her eyes, “follow us.”

Avery and Jameson begin to lead the way, followed by Nash and Xander and then the contestants. Grayson hangs back a little and so do I. I can’t will myself to move just yet. He begins to follow at the back of the crowd so I rush forwards and grab his hand, pulling his back slightly.

“Hey,” I say, quietly enough so only he can’t hear it, “what was all that about?”

“What?” he asks, his features laced with confusion.

“You left and you didn’t really come back,” I explain.

“I danced with you,” Grayson replies. It hits me hard and I don’t know why. Was it the offish tone? Or the harsh words?

“And then you left again,” I state, keeping my features blank, unemotional.

“Well I’m here now,” he says, a certain calmness in his voice that sounds forced, unnatural, like he’s trying to keep calm.

“Gray, what are you hiding?” I question, folding my arms across my chest.

“I’m not hiding anything,” he says, but I can tell he’s lying. Why is he lying to me?

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice your little morse code bit with Nash?” I scoff, eyebrows raised.

He wants to lie? Fine. I’ll drown him with the truth until he spits it out.

He stand there stunned for a moment, “I didn’t realise you caught on.”

“Yeah, I did and guess what, it sort of hurts,” I say, my voice cracking even though I’d tried to prevent it, “I mean you could’ve just told me you were going to talk to her.”

“I didn’t know how you’d react,” he defends.

“It doesn’t matter,” I press, “we don’t hide things from each other.”

“Well you’re not exactly taking it amazingly so can you see why I was being cautious?” he snaps, the harshness in his tone hitting me harder than just would’ve liked it to.

I blink back tears, I’m not going to cry over this, “well obviously I’m not now, you lied to my face and tried to hide it.”

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t want any drama,” Grayson sighs, running a hand through his hair.

“Drama,” I repeat, each word coming out of his mouth was just hurting me more than the last.

He immediately realises what he’s done, it’s written all over his face, “wrong choice of words,” he says quickly.

“You think?” I exclaim, then sigh exasperated, “I just don’t understand why you weren’t straight up with me.”

“I’m sorry, really I am,” he expresses, “I was dancing with player 4, Lyra Kane.”

“I saw,” I grit through my teeth.

“It’s just I needed to clear something up with her, about an incident that happened,” he attempts to explain, opening a whole new can of worms.

“What kind of incident?” I ask him.

“A phone call we shared,” Grayson replies, not meeting my eyes,

“You spoke with her on the phone,” I say, trying not to let my expression give away my feelings, “when was this?”

“A few years ago,” he shrugs.

We’d been together for more than a few years, so it had almost been certainly been in the time we’d been together. I swallow and take in the information. This lie had lived on for a whole, he’s hidden this from me for years.

“A few years ago?” I ask, my eyes wide, “and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time,” he shrugs.

“Oh so you frequently talk to girls on the phone,” I say, the annoyance and anger taking hold of my tone in a sudden snap.

“Her dad died and his last words had something to do with a Hawthorne and she wanted answers,” Grayson rushes to explain.

“What kind of answers?”

“Ones I couldn’t give her,” he replies, “I hung up on her, several times, until I did some digging.”

“For her?” I ask. It’s petty, but I’m too blinded by my emotions to care.

“And myself,” he says, “and I found her dad’s name on my grandfather’s list of enemies.”

“Doesn’t that make her a threat?” I ask.

“Her dad was a threat to my grandfather, she’s got no reason to pose a threat to me,” he reassures me, or maybe he’s reassuring himself. I don’t know right now.

“So what were you talking about with her now then?” I question him.

“I was explaining what I found out and apologising for being so rude on the phone,” he explains to me, an honest look in his eyes.

“Okay,” I exhale bluntly, now just wanting the conversation to be over. I’m just still wounded he lied and was going to continue if I hadn’t said anything on the matter.

He looks at me, furrowed brows, “are you still angry with me?”

Stupid question. Very stupid question. Extremely stupid question.

“No,” I reply, the answer too quick.

“You’re bad at lying,” he tells me.

“I know,” I sigh.

“Why are you angry?” he asks softly.

“Why would you feel the need to hide talking to another girl from me?” I say, “I just don’t understand, if she means nothing to you, then why hide it?”

“We’ve just been through this, I was worried you’d react badly,” he repeats the excuse.

“Do you think she’s pretty?” I ask, finding the guts to do so who knows where.

He hesitates, “well she is pretty.”

“So you think she’s pretty,” I consolidate.

“Yes,” he replies, not instantly but not massively delayed either.

“Okay,” I say, looking away.

“Are you jealous?” Grayson says,

“No,” I snap.

“You’re jealous,” he replies.

“I’m human,” I bite back, “she’s got the body of a goddess what do you expect?”

“You don’t need to be jealous sweetheart,” he chuckles.

“Don’t laugh at me! You just said you thought she was pretty!” I exclaim.

“And I think you’re beautiful, breathtakingly stunning, gorgeous, irresistible, heavenly, alluring, angelic, the list in never ending,” he says breathlessly, “if there were a dictionary I’d look up every word that correlates with beauty and use it to describe you.”

“Gray I-“

“I don’t want anyone but you,” Grayson says, looking me dead in the eye, meaning behind his words.

“Sorry,” I murmur, suddenly feeling so stupid for ever doubting him, for getting so pathetically petty and jealous, “I don’t want to be one of those possessive girlfriends, oh god, just ignore me, I shouldn’t have even said anything,” I ramble, running my hands over my face and back through my hair.

“No, hey hey, it’s fine,” he comforts me, “it’s normal, you’re not being possessive.”

“No I am and it’s horrible,” I shake my head, getting a little too emotional

“If it were the other way around I would be the same,” he says, “I should’ve told you about Lyra and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hide it.”

I nod, a few tears slipping from under my mask.

“But hey, listen to me, you’re my person, you’ve got the other half of my heart in your chest,” he says, putting his hand over my heart, “and she is never going to change that, no one is. There are millions of pretty girls in the world but none are as gorgeous as you. I promise you, the only reason I went over to her was to get some closure and to apologise. And then I didn’t tell you because I was a coward and I was too afraid I’d hurt you for not telling you anything about her before.”

“Gray?” I sniff, looking up at him.

“Yeah,” he asks.

“Thank you,” I say, wrapping my arms around his and burying myself into his chest, “I’m sorry for getting so uptight.”

“Stop apologising,” he scolds, hugging me tight, “I should be the one apologising.”

“Let’s just forget about this, yeah?” I suggest, pulling away.

“Good idea sweetheart,” he agrees, kissing the tip of my nose.

He puts his arm around me and together we slowly stroll outside, into the cool night’s breeze. I lean my head on his shoulder as we approach the beach. From afar we can see the players suddenly bolt to the rocks, all bar one, who I recognise as Gig who scrambled around in the sand.

“What did you say to them?” I call out as we get closer.

“Just mentioned to leave no stone unturned,” Jameson shrugs.

I grin, “you’re wicked.”

“What can I say,” he smirks, before turning to Avery, “care to dance heiress?”

“What?” she raised her eyebrows, “didn’t get enough of me in there?”

“I don’t think I could ever get enough of you,” he grins.

My heart squeezes watching the two of them. They’re the couple that symbolises perfection. His eyes are pinned on her, like nothing else is here, like she’s the only thing on this earth. And the way she stares at him is the perfect definition of the word ‘love.’

“Come,” Grayson whispers in my ear, taking my hand.

I grip his hand and run with him as he guides me the just beyond the shore. He sits down swiftly on the sand and pulls me down to sit between his legs. I lean my back onto his chest and let him nuzzle his face into my collarbone.

“I love you,” he whispers, kissing my neck, “only you.”

His voice is in my ear and his lips are igniting my skin. A shiver runs down my spine but my face is hot, like I’m spiking a fever. I lean further back into him, and run my hand to through his hair. I angle my face more towards his and bring his face to meet mine.

“I love you,” I murmur, my lips nearly on his mouth, “only you.”

Then suddenly my lips are actually on his mouth. The initial kiss is delicate and soft, we’re playing gently with one another. It’s slow and long and passionate. He take his time with me, as if each movement he’s trying to learn the shape of my lip. One of his hands curves around the small of my back as the kiss deepens. We both realise we want more and there’s a sudden drive, a sudden lust for the taste. The remarkable, addictive, indescribable taste that we have both craved for far too long now. There’s a deeper longing for something for fulfilling until-

“Hate to break this up,” a voice says as we quickly jerk apart. We look up to find Jameson and Avery stood above us, “but Gray you have places to be.”

“I do?” he asks, an eyebrow raised.

It’s quite phenomenal how he can pull himself together so quickly, as I was fairly certain my face was still the same shade as a beetroot at the moment.

“You’re meant to be overseeing the players, remember?” Jameson replies.

“Oh,” Grayson breathes out, standing up, helping me up after him.

“Don’t worry, you guys can get back to this,” he raises an eyebrow, “a little later.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Gray snaps, with a deadly glare.

“Like what?”

“Like how you’re saying it,” he snaps,

Jameson gives an exaggerated eye roll, “that’s just how I say things, geez Gray-“

“Okay okay okay, long story short, Grayson we really need you over there with them,” Avery cuts in, thankfully saving us from world war three.

“See you later,” he says to me with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“See you,” I murmur back, watching as he rushes off towards the house.

I sink back down into the sand as Avery and Jameson retreat. I’m alone now, no kisses to accompany my exposed collarbone or lonely lips, no nest to lean my aching back on, nothing. I close my eyes and listen to the waves, letting them lap my feet gently. I don’t know how long I’m there forever but I don’t care all that much. It’s not until I hear chimes that I’m taken out of this state of relaxation and hurtled back into reality. The chimes, that’s the signal, I’d been told about that. I quickly stand up, wanting to say a quick goodbye to Grayson before he enters the game to watch over the players. I begin to make my way towards the house from the sea edge.

“Where are you going?” Jameson asks quickly as I pass him and Avery.

“I need to say goodbye to Gray,” I explain.

“The doors are already locked,” Avery says.

Jameson glances at her and she glances back. The unspoken conversation lingers in the air.

“What? What haven’t you told me?” I panic.

Avery looks at me and sighs, “Grayson is part of this year’s games.”

“That was never the decision,” I blurt out, more harshly than I intend.

“Last minute change,” Jameson explains, “call it a wild card decision.”

“So he’s trapped in there with everyone else?” I ask, sounding too worried.

Jameson picks up on that and reassures me, “don’t worry, people aren’t going to die in there.”

“Whose team is he on?” I say quickly.

“Odette Morales and Lyra Kane.”

a/n: I don’t know if this is what you wanted but I gave it a go. I really hope you enjoyed it and thank you for tagging me 🤍🤍

the more I read it the more I question its quality, so I might do a rewrite at some point in the future…I was really tying to avoid painting Lyra as the bad guy which was hard, because obviously from the readers’ POV she kind of is. Anyways thanks for reading

also Gigi’s dress is never described (WE WERE ROBBED) only her mask was, so I’m presuming the dress was a similar colour

TIG masterlist

hello all my lovely writers, i am here in the public asking for a jealous reader and or comfort fic with grayson because of lyra.

i post this publicly because i know there are many amazing writers who could take this prompt and turn it into something amazing <3

#bella writes 🤍#grayson hawthorne x you #grayson hawthorne x reader #grayson hawthorne #grayson hawthorne one shot #the inheritance games #tig #lyra kane #lyra catalina kane #the brothers hawthorne #the final gambit #the hawthorne legacy #the grandest game #tgg #tgg spoilers #grayson tgg

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loving-lucissa · 3 years ago

Note

Narcissa is having a nightmare and Lucius comforts her

A story request🌸

A/N: So I realized half way through that I changed the prompt a bit. This is more of a “Narcissa wakes up in a nightmare and Lucius tries to comfort her” type of thing. If this isn’t quite what you wanted to see, please feel free to send this request in again and I can write it as an actual “comfort after a nightmare” fic 😅

Warning: mentions of child loss / stillborn

Narcissa was sitting on the grass out in her flower garden, watching her little boy chase a butterfly. At just over two years old, Draco was such an active child. He wanted to run and play, never stopping, never slowing down for anything. She giggled slightly watching him try to catch the beautiful bug, only to come a little short, but still checking his tiny hands to make sure he hadn’t actually caught something.

He must have heard her laugh, because he was suddenly running towards her, “Mummy did you see? I almost caught it!”

“I did see! You were so very close!” She excitedly answered, loving the way it made him light up with joy. “What would you do with it once you caught it?” She asked, pulling him into her lap.

The little boy seemed to think on it for a moment, before reaching up and threading his chubby fingers through her loose, blonde curls, “I’d put it in your hair!”

“My hair!” She cried, rolling over and laying Draco on the grass, tickling him until he was screaming with laughter, “Bugs don’t belong in my hair!”

“Mummy! Stop!” Draco screamed in between laughs.

“It sounds like you two are having way too much fun out here.”

Narcissa stopped tickling her son and turned to see her husband walking towards them, a tiny newborn baby snuggled into his arms.

“What do you think, Lyra? Do you want to join in on the fun?” Lucius cooed, looking down at the baby with so much love in his eyes.

“Daddy, Lyra’s not big enough for fun! Mummy says we can’t play with her yet!” Draco stated, looking quite proud of himself for remembering what his mother had told him when his sister was born.

Lucius shifted his attention to Draco, flashing a bright smile, “You’re right, dragon, we can’t play with Lyra just yet.” He looked at Narcissa for a moment, raising his eyebrow at her, “We shouldn’t be playing with Mummy yet either, since she went through so much work to have your sister…but Mummy and Lyra can sit out here together while we play.”

Draco looked on excitedly as Lucius carefully passed his sleeping sister to Narcissa, putting his arms up as soon as his father turned back to him. Lucius laughed, scooping up his son and tossing him in the air making him squeal with delight.

Narcissa was mesmerized the moment her daughter was in her arms. Even asleep, the baby girl was beautiful with soft wisps of blonde hair, pouty lips, and the longest eyelashes she had ever seen. Something inside of her was screaming for the baby to wake so she could look at her eyes, but she didn’t want to wake the sleeping angel. In this moment, her heart was filled with so much joy. She looked up briefly to see her smiling husband and son and then flicked back down to her perfect daughter. Everything was perfect…absolutely perfect.

Narcissa blinked a few times, not completely remembering where she was. Looking around, she thought she was in her bedroom, but she could hear voices she didn’t recognize. The room felt very dark, nothing like the bright sunny atmosphere she had just come from. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that were rapidly appearing.

Off to the side of the room, she saw Lucius turned to her, concern written all over him. He whispered a few more things to the women standing next to him before moving to sit on the bed beside her. Curiously, Narcissa watched the women leave, a bundle of something in one of their arms.

“How are you feeling?” Lucius asked in a strained voice, reaching out to place a hand on her forehead, before moving his knuckles down to stroke her cheek.

Narcissa didn’t answer. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t feel right. She tried to bring her hand up to hold his, but her arm started to shake the second she tried to move it.

“Don’t” Lucius whispered, his voice slightly cracking as he brought his hand down to hold hers, “you don’t have your strength back just yet.”

“Where’s my baby?” She croaked out, finding her throat quite raw.

Lucius sighed before cautiously slipping into the bed beside her. As she watched him, she couldn’t remember ever seeing her well, put-together husband this rattled.

“Ciss…she’s gone.”

Suddenly, hearing those words brought everything back in flashes of broken memories.

“Lucius, I think it’s time…”

“What? But we’re supposed to have two more weeks…I’ll send Draco to your sister’s”

“You’re doing great, Lady Malfoy! Just a few more pushes!”

“Our daughter’s almost here, flower…Keep going!”

“Why isn’t she crying? What’s happening?”

“…We’re so sorry, Lady Malfoy…”

“I want to hold her.”

“Narcissa, I don’t think–”

“I need to hold her!”

As she stared at Lucius, all the memories came rushing back. She remembered holding her lifeless daughter, who had looked like a sleeping angel in her arms. She remembered screaming as they tried to take the baby away from her, yelling at the healers not to touch her and at Lucius to stop them from stealing her precious daughter away. She remembered being hysteric as Lucius pried the child out of her arms and the healers held her down and forced potion after potion down her throat.

“Gone…” she repeated, looking at her husband, but no longer seeing him. The pain was consuming her again and suddenly she couldn’t remember how to breathe.

“Hey, shhh, shhh, you’re gonna be okay, Ciss.” Lucius whispered, gently pulling her into an embrace, slightly crushing her fragile body against his. She hadn’t even realized that she was crying until she felt how wet his shirt was getting.

“I’m…I’m going to fix this…I don’t know how…but I’m going to.” She heard him whisper, feeling his tears hit the top of her head. “You’re going to be okay…I’m going to be okay…we’ll get through this.”

Narcissa didn’t have the energy or the heart to respond. She knew she would never be okay again. All she could do was close her eyes and hope that she would fall back to sleep, blissfully unaware. She wished for the garden, for her smiling husband and laughing son, and more than anything, for the breathing baby girl sleeping soundly in her arms.

#Narcissa Malfoy #Lucius Malfoy #lucissa #ship: lucissa #lucius x narcissa #baby draco malfoy #baby Draco #LovingLucissa Misc

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rpmemesbyarat · 4 years ago

Text

Much has been said about how any virtue can be a flaw. Loving too much, being too loyal, being too determined, being too brave, all of these can get your character in trouble or lead them to cause harm to others. But what about the reverse? What about flaws being virtues? A traditionally “bad” trait that could be a good one? Tiffany Aching from “The Wee Free Men” and its sequels by Sir Terry Pratchett and Lyra “SilverTongue” Belacqua from the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, are wonderful examples of this. Tiffany is selfish, and Lyra is a liar. This is not merely my interpreation, this is in the text. The narrative expicitlty refers to them as such. And it is NOT treated as a bad thing, but as a strength. Tiffany’s selfishness is what fuels her to fight and protect her land from The Queen: “ “All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany's Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!” Tiffany is a hero not because it is “the right thing” but because how dare somebody touch HER things, and IT WORKS FANTASTICALLY. It could easily have been framed as love---which it also is---but I love that Pratchett went with having it be explicitly a selfish, possessive love, and TEXTUALLY having it be so. If he had written Tiffany as a selfish possessive brat without REALIZING it, I would have hated it, as I hate protagonists who are presented as good and pure by the narrative when they’re actually selfish assholes, which happens a lot---but when you give me a flawed protagonist with veyr atypical traits for a hero and the narrative is CONSCIOUS of that and EMBRACES it, I adore it! And it makes sense---of course someone who is selfish, especially a child, is going to stand up against Hell itself (or worse, The Queen) if anyone tries to lay a FINGER on THEIR toys. Similarly, Lyra is a liar. She lies. The novel does not sugarcoat this or dress it up by saying oh she just has a fanciful imagination---no, Lyra just straight-up lies like a lot of kids do. At first, she just uses it for the things kids typically will, like getting attention or messing with other kids. But as the novel goes on and Lyra’s life becomes much more dangerous, she turns it into a means of survival, using subterfuge against far more powerful foes in order to best them and escape. Rather than the story teaching her a moral lesson about the value of honesty, it instead puts her in situations where her talent for deception is a positive, and rewards her for it. And again, as with Tiffany, the text is quite aware of this; Lyra is referred to as a liar and even takes pride in it. And it serves her well. And when you really think about it---these aren’t necessarily bad lessons. Some selfishness is good and is healthy, and it is absolutely not only okay but often NECESSARY to lie in order to escape bad situations and people who would do you harm. Any abuse victim can tell you that, and I really like how these stories not only don’t treat these traits as inherently flawed, but show situations where being selfish or being a liar is in fact what is BEST for you---and that’s ESPECIALLY a good message for young girls, who probably won’t ever find themselves in the fantastic situations that Lyra and Tiffany did, but may one day need to be okay with being “selfish” or lying in order to save themselves. On an interesting note, Lyra and Tiffany are both little girls. It’s rare enough to see adult female protagonists who are allowed any sort of real flaw besides a fiery temper and sardonic wit (almost required of the Strong Female Protagonist these days, to the point it’s getting kind of predictable/cliche) but children are typically considered the paragon of purity and goodness, incapable of nasty things like lies or selfishness. . .which I’m sure is gut-bustingly hilarious to anyone who has spent five minutes with a child, but in fiction that’s often treat as the case, and it makes the pair of them doubly refreshing and memorable protagonists for me. So, not only don’t be afraid to give your protagonist truly unflattering flaws--not just “she’s insecure about herself” or “he cares too much” but nasty flaws someone else could actually DISLIKE about them---don’t be afraid to find ways they can work to your character’s advantage either!

#writeblr #writing #writing tips #character tips #oc tips #character flaws #flaws

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thoughtfullyrainynightmare · 3 years ago

Text

This is a collaboration piece I made with Lyra @lyranova in which we follow the nightly adventures of Ezio Roulacase, Alistair Vangeance and Leonidas Vermillion, all 2nd generation magic knights. Yami does pop up as well, and there’s a couple of mentions of other 2nd generation OCs.

Treat is as a spin-off to Lyra’s Chidren of the Future -series, in case you wish to read of course ^_^

Words: 6505

tag list: @eme-eleff

A night out and a mixer

It was a nice warm summer evening in the Clover Kingdom, couples were out shopping and having dinner, children were running around playing. It was a typical evening for most citizens. Except for 3 young Magic Knights, all in their early to mid 20’s, normally they would all be back at their respective bases. But tonight, one of the young men decided it would be a good idea to go to a mixer and ‘meet a few lovely ladies’ as he put it. Ezio Roulacase was a flirt and everyone knew it, he partially did it just to try and get the attention of a beautiful pink haired woman, but he also did it because he enjoyed having fun and socializing.

The other two Magic Knights, Leonidas Vermillion and Alistar Vangeance weren’t quite as ecstatic as Ezio about this whole ‘mixer’.

“ Oh lighten up you two! You’re supposed to be my wingmen just like I’m supposed to be both of your wingman!” Ezio exclaimed as he saw the sour looks on his friends' faces.

Alistair and Leon looked at each other, as if mirroring the expressions on the other's face.

"Remind me again," Leon began. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because..." Alistair sighed with a heavy tone that fell from him as if it was a boulder. "He is our friend."

Leon answered with another sigh, knowing that the friend -card was very much the reason they were there. But still feeling reluctance, much like Alistair.

"You make this sound like a chore," Ezio remarked as they entered the tavern where the mixer was to be held.

The tavern itself was decorated in a minimalistic fashion, but the wooden surfaces and soft lighting made it seem cozy and comforting. And the young men had visited it often times before, because of which they knew it to be one with good food.

As they entered the warm tavern Ezio quickly turned in the doorway and looked at the two with a half stern half pleading look, both Alistar and Leon knew exactly what that look meant; he was about to ask them for a favor.

“ Listen, I know you two like puns. I constantly hear Hikari complain about it all the time. But can you two please not make any tonight? I don’t need you two scaring off any of the girls with your bad jokes!” He said in a low tone of voice. Alistar and Leon shared another glance, of course it would be about the puns.

“ Fine, I swear on my role as Captain, that I will not make any puntastic puns this evening.” Asliatr said with a mock salute, Leon snorted and tried to suppress a chuckle.

“ I swear on my family’s name that I not make any punny puns as well!” Leon said, causing Alistar to snort as well.

“ You’re both unbelievable.” Ezio muttered as he walked inside and towards a table where three young women sat.

“ He does realize we can’t exactly control when we make puns right?” Leon whispered in Alistar’s ear, the white haired boy shook his head.

“ No, I don’t think he realizes that.” Alistar said with a small sigh. “ The thing about it is that it’s spontaneous and in the moment, and if there just so happens to be the right opportunity to make a pun tonight then we will.” Alistar added with a small chuckle as he sat down at the table.

"Indeed," Leon agreed while taking his own seat.

"Oh? What are you talking about?" One of the girls on the opposite side of the table asked, making Ezio glance at them from the corner of his eye.

"We were discussing..." Leon began, pausing for a split second, "how having to demonstrate quick wits while on duty, can reflect onto one's everyday life," he explained.

"Oh?" the girl uttered. "I imagine that is really useful," she continued, making Ezio let out a faint sigh of relief.

"It is," Alistair agreed taking part into the conversation.

"Well isn't the conversation flowing smoothly already?" Ezio smiled with a playful tone in his voice. "How about we make proper introductions, before moving forward? That'll make it easier for us to address each other. I'm Ezio and more than happy to meet every single one of you gorgeous, beautifully brilliant ladies," he began.

The conversation continued by them going around the table, making brief introductions and ordering themselves some food and drinks while making small talk in the process.

Alistar rolled his eyes slightly at Ezio and shook his head, he truly was his fathers son, except better at flirting. He gently took a sip of the water he had ordered as the girls began to speak and make light conversation with them.

“ So what made you two come to this mixer?” The blonde haired girl that sat across from Alistar asked, he frowned as he tried to remember her name, he shrugged internally. It would come back to him eventually. He smiled warmly at her.

“ Ezio.” He half joked, the pink haired man cut him a look as Leon chuckled softly, the vermillion haired man knew he wasn’t quite joking as Ezio was the whole reason they were even here in the first place. Otherwise the two would probably be back at their respective homes. “ But in all honesty, I came out here to support my friend and maybe meet someone in the process.” He added, his charming smile remaining in place.

Leon frowned at his words as he looked over at his white haired friend. Obviously he knew that wasn’t the truth, but he noticed something very odd in his friend's eye; disinterest. He tilted his head curiously, not just anyone would notice that look since it was a very rare look his friend would have, you had to really know Alistar, and know him well, to be able to see it. He placed a hand under his chin. ’ Well this is very interesting.’

“ W-What about you? Why did you come to the mixer?” The dark haired girl in front of Leon asked, she appeared to be very timid, and it almost looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here in this moment, her friends probably dragged her here just like Ezio dragged him.

"Hmm..." Leon hummed out in thought. "Well, unfortunately I must admit that I too am here to support a friend," he gave her an apologetic smile. "Though meeting new people is intriguing, mixers and events such as that can make people feel... forced, by which I mean that there seems to be a given set of expectations, rather than it being about people meeting people and getting to know each other without pressure."

"There's always pressure on a date," the brunette commented with a mumble.

"Hmm.. I suppose you're right," he agreed. "Especially if the parties on the date haven't known for long, because one tries to give the best possible image of oneself. But I think it's best to meet a potential spouse as who you are. Chances are that they'll fall who you really are, rather than the image you're trying to portray."

"M-mmm..." the girl seemed to agree with a blush while averting her gaze.

"So I take it that you're the one 'being supported'," the red-head in front of Ezio commented.

"Well..." Ezio chuckled with a nervous tone, scratching his cheek with his index finger. "I am a romantic at heart," he explained.

"Oh~...." the girl uttered while leaning closer. "So not just a flirt?" She smirked.

"I prefer calling it as a 'language of love'," Ezio continued.

"Mhm. Very much of a sweet-talker," the girl grinned.

Alistar rolled his eyes at Ezio, he was really laying it on thick tonight. He must’ve been rejected by Josslyn again, he sighed internally, everytime she rejected him he always went out and flirted with women. He silently wondered if Ezio went out on these dates when he was rejected to boost his own ego or to try and make Josslyn jealous? Probably a bit of both Alistar concluded with a nod.

“ So Alistar,” the blonde started as she pulled him out of his thoughts. “ I hear you’re into plants.” She added awkwardly, Alistar shrugged.

“ I am yes.” He answered shortly, Leon glanced over at him for a brief moment before looking back at the brunette in front of him.

“ Care to elaborate?” She asked with a small laugh, Alistar bit his tongue as he wanted to respond with a ‘not really’, but he decided to keep quiet. He leaned forward a bit and put on his most charming smile.

“ Well flowers are a lot like people; they need food, water, and sun in order to grow and,” he took her hand in his and rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. “ Some are more beautiful than others.” He added in a soft voice, the girl in front of him looked away but her face told him everything he needed to know; she liked the really cheesy line. He almost sighed, that was the worst pick up line he ever used and she liked it.

Leon rolled his eyes at Alistar and Ezio; Ezio and the red haired girl in front of him might as well be kissing at this point, while Alistar, well, he was genuinely curious about what Alistar was doing. It was as though he were an actor playing a part on stage, his eyes still held that disinterested look and his smile was very forced, and yet he was still somehow ‘whooing’ the woman in front of him.

As Alistar was trying his best to ‘flirt’ with the blonde in front of him he looked up when he saw a flash a pink out of the corner of his eye, at first he thought it was Ezio, but when he saw who it actually was Alistar was shocked.

“ Oh snapdragon, is that Josslyn?”

Ezio's head shot towards Alistair, staring at him with wide-eyes before turning to look to the same direction to see, none other than Josslyn herself. She was wearing a dress that highlighted her features and complimented her hair; her jewelry, though modest enough, made her eyes pop.

Ezio couldn't help but swallow as he stared at her, while everyone else around the table stared at him in turn. Leon quirking an eyebrow, and Alistair letting out a faint sigh.

The red-head tugged her hand away from Ezio's. And it was only then that he realized how hard he had been squeezing it at the sight of Josslyn.

"'A romantic at heart' huh?" The girl scoffed.

"Well I-," he began, trying to collect himself. "I saw a familiar face and I... didn't expect to see her that's all," he tried, without success.

"Riiight... and I suppose you don't really know her either, and you're not here to look for something 'on the side'?" The girl continued while standing up.

Meanwhile all Alistair and Leon could think was "oh no...."

Ezio gaped like a fish out of water, he and Josslyn weren’t dating and yet here he was acting as though he had just gotten caught cheating on his girlfriend. He looked over at Leon and Alistar, who both shook their heads, there was no way they were helping him out of this.

“ N-No it isn’t like that at all! S-She’s honestly just a friend-.” He stammered and the red head’s eyes looked at him with irritation.

“ Riiight, I’m sure you’re ‘just friends’ and if that were true you wouldn’t be staring at her while I’m talking to you!” She said as her voice grew louder and more irritated. Ezio swallowed, he had noticed that. “ I think it’s time we take our leave. C’mon girls, we don’t need these guys.” She added with a huff before standing and walking away, the other two looked apologetically at Alistar and Leon.

“ Sorry, it was nice to meet you!” They both said before leaving the tavern. Ezio jumped up, his eyes wide in disbelief.

“ Excuse me.” He said before walking over to where Josslyn was sitting and grabbed her hand and led her to one of the empty party rooms, the door slammed behind them and Alistar sighed again.

“ Well, that went well.” He chuckled, he suddenly sunk down into his chair as he held his drink in his hand. He was mentally exhausted after the entire exchange with the women and with Ezio as well.

"Yeah..." Leon sighed, taking a sip of his drink. "But then again what did we expect?"

Alistair shrugged as a reply while staring ahead of himself.

"But... um," Leon began. "Tell me."

"Mhm?" Alistair uttered while taking a sip of his drink.

"What-, um," the vermillion haired man hesitated, trying to think of how to formulate his question. "What was going on between you and your date?" He asked while a hooded figure at a nearby table turned their head in an effort to hear better.

"What do you mean?" Alistair asked with a hushed tone. "It's a mixer. Showing interest is... courteous."

"You took her hand and called her beautiful, making her blush," Leon stated. "But ..." he drifted in thought, his voice growing more silent as a result. "You seemed... disinterested in the conversation? So... why go to that extent if you're not interested."

"But the thing is that I am interested," Alistair replied with a clear tone of voice, pausing for a moment. "But the person I'm interested in wouldn't be taken by such cheesy lines," he muttered.

Leon tilted his head curiously at Alistar’s words, so there was someone he was interested in. Leon swirled his drink around in his cup as he contemplated his next question.

“ Who are you interested in?” He asked, he watched the white haired man’s face turn a slight shade of pink, Leon smirked a bit. “ I never thought I’d see the day that Alistar Vangeance blushes over someone he likes.” He teased lightheartedly.

Alistar grumbled before leaning over and grabbing his drink, he really wanted to change the conversation. But sadly it seemed Leon wasn’t going to let this go, not until he got some kind of answer.

“ N-No one.” He tried to lie, Leon cut him a look that said ‘try again’. Alistar sat there for a moment as the wheels spun in his mind.

“ She’s, hm, she’s…” he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, why couldn’t he just come out and say it? It was as though he were afraid to say it out loud to someone else. His eyes softened slightly as he glanced over at his Vermillion haired friend, who sat there and waited patiently.

“ It’s Hikari.” Alistar’s voice was so soft and so quiet he wasn’t sure if anyone heard him other than himself.

Leon's brows shot up and his lips parted in slight shock as, for a split second, he wondered if he had heard correctly. But it was as if, with that admission, it all just clicked. The whole bodyguard -thing, going both ways. The slight, admiring glances, that meant so much more than it might seem.

"I see," Leon chuckled.

Alistair slouched further forward, gripping his mug tighter as the tint over his cheeks grew more intense.

"You should tell her," Leon finally stated, taking a sip from his drink.

"I-," Alistair began. "I can't..." he muttered.

"Why?" Leon shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen? You'd still be you. You'd still be the captain of Golden Dawn, and then you could move on. In better or worse. Either you'd get to build a relationship with her, or then you'd get closure and be able to move on."

"You talk as if you'd know," Alistair replied with a hint of meek amusement.

"Yeah.. True," Leon admitted. "I haven't had feelings like that for anyone, especially not for years, so I can't know just how scary it is."

"I didn't say that it would have been for years," Alistair replied, taking a sip from his drink.

"And yet, you're not exactly denying it either," Leon smirked. "But. You're still right on not having first-hand experience. Most of this is second-hand from listening mom talk with Cyra," he shrugged.

Alistar glanced over at his friend as he continued to slouch over his drink, when he finished speaking, he looked away and just stared into his drink. Sure, his friend had some valid points, and they were almost the same points that Mrs. Sukehiro had made when she found out about his crush on her daughter. So, if two different people were telling him almost the same thing, then what was the harm in telling Hikari about his feelings? If he did, and she rejected him, he could move on with his life, but: “ I don’t want to lose her.” He finally admitted as his eyes moved from the glass and over to his friend. “ I don’t want to lose her, she’s been the only other constant person in my life. Sure, now I have you and the others, but she’s always been there, you know? Yeah, we’re not in the same squad, but still, somehow she’s always there when I need her the most.” He continued softly and with a small smile on his face.

“ I wouldn’t think,” Leon started cautiously. “ that telling her how you feel would change anything between you two. I mean, sure it can, but with as much history as the two of you have together, I would think it would take a lot more than that to cause you both to split apart.” He took a sip of his drink and watched his friend's eyes move back to his glass.

“ I’m not willing to take that chance.” Alistar added softly, he heard Leon sigh in exasperation.

"Then what will you do?" He asked. The very same question he had heard his mom ask Cyra so many times over and over whenever she was pondering about what to do with her feelings; wallowing over if they'd be requited or not.

"Hm?" Alistair hummed while glancing over to his friend. "What will I do when?"

"I mean, will you just keep everything as it is? And keep watching her from the distance?" Leon asked, looking over to the white haired man next to him.

"Yes..." Alistair admitted while averting his gaze again, swirling his drink in his mug.

"Fair enough," Leon commented, catching Alistair off guard.

A brief silence lingered between them as Alistair's gaze shot to his friend, wondering why such a quick change of attitude. "Just like that?"

"Yes, just like that," Leon agreed. "I can't force you to do anything, so if your 'doing something about it' is just watching her from a distance, then... that's what you'll do." He stated looking ahead of him. "But," he continued, "if it was me, and I'd then have to watch, who just might be the love of my life, fall in love with someone else, right before my eyes... I don't know what I'd do." He explained, pausing for a moment. "Or, I mean," he corrected himself, "of course I'd let her go. I'd let her live a life with someone else. Love someone else. But I'd probably keep kicking myself over the chance I didn't take."

Alistair listened, watching into the depths of his drink. He swallowed the lump in his throat that had reformed at his friend's words. He had never considered the possibility of Hikari possibly falling for another person, why hadn’t he thought about that? He swallowed what remained of his drink in one gulp, he noticed Leon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the action.

“ For someone who considers all possibilities, that was the one thing you didn’t think of wasn’t it?” Leon asked in a lighthearted teasing manner, Alistar grumbled a bit and Leon tilted his head. “ So, I ask again; what will you do? Because, in my opinion, you never struck me as the type to just sit back and watch.”

Alistar nodded in agreement, he wasn’t the type to be that way, and even the thought of someone else possibly capturing Hikari’s heart made him feel a pang of hurt and a bit of jealousy in his chest. He poured himself another drink and swallowed that in one gulp as well before slamming it down with new determination.

“ What will I do, you ask?” He finally looked at his vermillion haired friend with a bright smile and a determined look in his eyes. “ Heh, well, I guess I’ll have to tell her how I feel, because I’ll either lose her as both a friend and possible lover, or my confession will make our relationship that much better and, possibly even greater, than it was before.”

“ Finally.” Leon said under his breath as his friend quickly stood from his seat. “ Where are you going?”

“ To get Ezio, we’re leaving. Come on.” He said quickly pulling his vermillion haired friend up as well and dragging him to the back room where Ezio and Josslyn were, when the white haired man opened the door he blinked in surprise.

They were gone?! Alistar sighed, he must’ve taken her back home, which meant they were currently stranded at the tavern.

"It seems that he has left us to our own devices," Leon commented stating the obvious. "But we should first cover our tab. And then we can go... or you can confess and I'll make sure you don't chicken out," he smirked. "Or was your plan to pull back and think of the perfect way to confess?"

Alistair paused to think about it, but only for a moment. 'No', he shook his head, because he knew that if he'd let this newfound determination slip from him, he might indeed end up losing Hikari. And, at that moment, letting his confidence fade from him, was the chance he couldn't take. So, they paid and were on their way, making their way towards the Black Bull's base while Alistair tried to feverishly think of what to say to Hikari. But the more he thought about it, the more his train of thought seemed to flow into 'okay, I'll-, I'll just tell her, yeah, I'll just say it', as if it had always been that easy.

"You okay?" Leon asked after a while of flying, watching as the white haired man's flight patterns had become less streamline.

"Yeah! Never felt-," he paused to hick up, "better."

"How much did you drink?"

"Enough," Alistair replied. "But I'm good, I'm good. Trust me, I can do this," he tried to assure.

"Aha," Leon muttered to himself while quirking an eyebrow, thinking to himself about whether or not he should talk his friend out of the confession, for the evening. But. Hikari knew Alistair, far better and far longer than he had, so there was a good chance that she had seen him in a worse condition. And besides, maybe Alistair would manage to convince himself out of it, if let to sleep it off. Thus, Leon opted to say nothing, and tried to instead keep an eye on his friend.

Alistar frowned, he was fine when he left the tavern, but the more the alcohol started to set in, the less ok he became. Luckily the Black Bulls base wasn’t too far from the city, plus if Alistar happened to crash or anything Leon would be there to help.

The two landed outside and Alistar, half stumbled half walked towards the door. Leon rushed to aid his friend but Alistar shook his head quickly, which he realized was a mistake as the world spun slightly.

“ I’m good. Promise.” He slurred, Leon sighed and shook his head before he watched his drunken white haired friend knock on the door.

Alistar began to ponder what he would say to Hikari when she opened the door. Should he just blurt it out like he normally did? Yes that seemed best, rip it off like a bandage. He closed his eyes tightly as he heard the door open and he inhaled quickly.

“ Hikari, I have something to tell you; I’ve been in love with you since I was 12 years old, and I’ve been too afraid to say it until today because I didn’t want our friendship to change! But now I realized that our friendship is going to change either way, for better or worse I’m not sure yet. But if you don’t feel the same way then I’ll respect it even though it’d break my heart, I’ll respect your feelings. I just thought you should know just how much I love you and how I’d love to spend my life with you!” Alistar blurted out, some of his words came out slurred, but there was still determination in his voice.

When Alistar opened his eyes he instantly paled as he saw the face staring back at him wasn’t Hikari’s, but her fathers, Captain Yami Sukehiro.

Yami stared at him wide-eyed, his gaze piercing through Alistair's form, and still gathering intensity with each passing second. "What...?" Yami only asked with a low, slow, monotone voice that rose as a rumble from deep within his throat.

Alistair, couldn't bring himself to answer. He could feel whatever drunken confidence he might have had, drained into the ground under him. He wanted to answer, but even before he could bring himself to even open his mouth to try mumble out anything, Yami continued:

"Don't. Say. Another. Word. Or else I might actually kill you."

Alistair, remained quiet.

"And you," Yami continued, shifting his attention to Leon who was standing in the background.

"Hi," Leon greeted while giving Yami a slight wave.

"Are you here to confess to my wife?" He asked with a nearly mocking tone in his voice through his groggy state.

"No Sir, I can assure you that I have no such intentions," Leonidas began. "Instead I am here to ... aid a friend to conquer a maiden's heart."

Yami's already raised eyebrow rose even further up. "If you weren't the son of the King-of-hard-noses I'd swear that you're more drunk than this one here," Yami motioned towards Alistair.

The white haired young man opened his mouth to reply, but was shot down by Yami:

"I didn't give you permission to speak up."

Alistair, remained quiet.

‘Why me?’ Alistar thought as he stared into the ground beneath his feet, why couldn’t the other Captain Sukehiro have been the one to answer the door?! Oh wait, no that probably would have been much worse, especially if Captain Yami had only heard part of the conversation. Alistar didn’t even dare glance up, he could feel the taller man’s piercing gaze on him.

Yami studied the young man in front of him, he had known him since he was born and has somewhat watched as he grew up to become the person he was today. He frowned a bit.

“ What makes you think you deserve my daughter? Especially in the sorry state you're in now.” Yami asked harshly, which was what he intended. He was being tested. Whether the young man knew it or not was another question entirely.

Alistar visibly flinched at his words, he was right, what did make Alistar think he was good enough for Hikari. He bit his bottom lip in thought for a moment. “If we’re being honest, I probably don’t deserve your daughter,” He started, not noticing the surprise on Leon’s face or catching the surprise in Yami’s eyes. “ at least not in the drunken state I’m in now. But I do love your daughter Captain Sukehiro, and I believe Hikari should be the one to decide if I’m truly good enough for her.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “ Your opinion means a lot to her sir, and I know she’ll take your thoughts about me into account. So I apologize for showing up here like this and there’s no excuse good enough to explain my drunkenness. But,” Alistar paused for a moment before finally looking up to face Captain Yami. “ haven’t you ever just needed a little help to get through something that completely terrified you? Haven’t you ever been afraid of losing someone so close to you that it almost physically hurts to think about? That’s how it feels when I think about losing Hikari, that’s why I needed some ‘liquid courage’ tonight. It’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation.”

Yami continued to look at the hunched over shadow of a man, or a boy in man's shoes, in front of him. And. He could relate to the white haired suitor. He didn't feel worthy of his wife on most days, and certainly not on their wedding day, or any of their children's birthdays.

"And if I told her about what happened today, would you not talk about it with her?" Yami asked, still pushing, wanting to see how Alistair would react.

"I-," he uttered as his gaze fell to the side. "I... would need to apologize, her finding out that way... so... I would. At least that much," he spoke with a hushed tone.

His ki was sincere, and he meant every word even if he seemed unsure of himself. He was being honest about what he thought he would do.

"This is my daughter we're talking about," Yami still emphasized. "And she'll be more than I ever was, or will be. You're right on her making her own choices. That's all I will say."

Alistair's form slouched further down, as if the guilt of the heaven's above had been placed onto his shoulders. And Yami couldn't help but feel tiny bit sorry for the young man.

Tears started collecting behind Alistair's eyes as rejection and disapproval slapped him in the face. And yet, he glanced up, looking at the stern gaze of a father looking out for his daughter. "I-, understand," he spoke with broken syllables.

A brief pause lingered in the air, but it was ended by the sound of Yami letting out a sigh. "You did do two things right," he stated. "And if you want to make one more thing right today, you'll go home and sleep off your sorry state."

Alistar looked up quickly once again, he had never dreamed of Captain Yami actually saying he did one thing right let alone two, but the tall man didn’t elaborate further on what those things were.

Alistar nodded and muttered a quick ‘yes sir’ and turned toward Leon, who only stood there with a supportive smile, and the white haired man just shook his head. A lot of help Leon was. But as Alistar took one step forward the world began to spin again, he quickly lost his balance and face planted in the dirt. Right in front of Captain Yami and Leon.

Yami sighed as he walked over and grabbed the back of Alistar’s robes, when he pulled him up he noticed the boy was limp and he blinked.

“ He passed out?” Leon asked as he came over and grabbed Alistar’s arm and threw it over his shoulder. “ How can that be, he only had two drinks?!”

“ What tavern did you go to?” Yami asked, as Leon quickly explained Yami sighed, again. “ Yeah that place is known for their exceptionally strong drinks, wait a second, wasn’t Taxi Jr. with you two?” Yami suddenly asked as he looked around, Leon frowned at the nickname when suddenly a portal opened and out walked Ezio.

“ Ah there you are, where have you been?” Yami nearly shouted, causing Alistar to groan and making Ezio jump. The pink haired boy instantly ran over and began to apologize profusely. Leon shook his head, he was just as scared of the Captain as his father was. “ take these two idiots back home would ya?” He added, Ezio quickly nodded and saluted the Captain before rushing over and grabbing Alistar’s other arm.

“ ‘m sorry sir.” Alistar slurred softly, although Yami was able to hear him.

“ Just sleep it off kid, you’ll have one terrible headache in the morning, but you’ll be alright.” Yami said as he walked back towards the base.

"So... What happened?" Ezio asked while opening a portal, glancing over to make sure that Yami was already a small distance away.

"Nothing much," Leo shrugged as they started practically carrying Alistair through the portal and to the Golden Dawn's base.

"You can't expect me to really believe that after I find you to outside of Captain Sukehiro's door, with him," Ezio nodded towards the barely conscious white haired male they were more or less now dragging through the Golden Dawn's base, "looking like he faceplanted into the ground."

"He does like planting alright," Leon replied.

"Not again," Ezio groaned.

"Plantannan...." Alistair tried to mumble, but only let out incoherent grumbles.

"Fiiine," Leon shrugged. "We stayed to chat, and after downing a far too strong drink, Alistair ... found some courage and decided to ... spill something."

"Oh?" Ezio uttered, intrigued. "And what might that 'something' be?"

"I'll let Alistair answer that one," Leon replied with a frank tone, making it clear that he wouldn't say anything else to the matter.

Ezio frowned but he would let it go for now, and he sighed as they half carried half dragged Alistar towards his room. He was a lot heavier than he looked, Ezio knew Leon was carrying most of his weight, and he felt partially bad for that, but Leon didn’t even seem to notice the weight.

“ We need to hurry and get him to his room before someone sees. I’m pretty sure the Captain of the Golden Dawn isn’t supposed to be drunk.” Ezio whispered hurriedly as he looked around, Leon nodded and they quickly made their way to Alistar’s room.

Once there, Ezio shut the bedroom door softly behind them before they walked over to his bed and dropped him gently onto it. Alistar groaned and rolled over so his face was buried into the mattress.

“ ‘m sorry.” Alistar slurred again, this time it was muffled by the mattress, but it also had a hint of sleepiness in it as well. Leon sighed and shook his head, Alistar was something else tonight. He walked over and took off his friends boots, placed them at the foot of the bed, and threw a blanket over the white haired man.

“ Goodnight Alistar.” He said before walking towards Ezio, who already had a portal open and waiting. Alistar muttered an almost incoherent ‘goodnight’.

“ I bet he’s not going to remember any of this tomorrow.” Ezio said with a sigh, Leon shrugged.

“ If not, then one of us will just have to remind him.” Leon chuckled before walking through the portal with Ezio.

"Oh that we will certainly do," Ezio agreed with a smirk which let Leon know that Ezio wouldn't let Alistair live this down easily.

"So," Leon continued while making his way closer to home. "Did you make up with the missus?"

Ezio halted his steps with a blush over his cheeks. "I-, she's-, we aren't together!" He insisted, but the blush hinted of him not minding such a thing to be implied.

"Hmm... You sure seemed confident when you took her by the hand and pulled her to have a private conversation," Leon grinned.

"Well I-, I needed to clear things up... So it was necessary."

"I see," the vermillion haired boy continued with a smirk.

"We really need to get you a girlfriend so that we can tease you about these things," Ezio continued, trying to shift the conversation elsewhere. "We need to take you on more mixers and get you someone to call your own," Ezio started planning. "So, what's your type?"

Leon let out a groan. "That seems like a hassle, more than anything. And besides, if I say that I only like something specific or 'have a type', I would be excluding a lot of wonderful people I'm sure."

"Love is a battlefield and it shouldn't be taken lightly!" Ezio insisted.

Leon groaned at the pink haired man as he seemed to be walking Leon to his room. He could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

“ Hm, well I know quite a few people from all walks of life. So I’ll go through my long list of contacts and old flames and ses if there’s anyone that might pique your interest.” Ezio said with a chuckle, Leon was a good-looking guy so he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t found someone yet.

“ Or are you picky like Alistar is?” He asked, Leon chuckled and shook his head, although Ezio frowned at the sound. It was as though he knew something that Ezio didn’t.

“ Ah no no I’m not ‘picky’ like Alistar, I just don’t want to limit my pool of potential partners that’s all.” Leon answered simply. “ How many ‘old flames’ do you have anyway?” He asked the pink haired man curiously, he watched as a blush crept onto his cheeks.

“ A couple, but none lasted longer than a month.” Ezio answered with a nervous laugh. “ I don’t know why, but for some reason I just can’t seem to stay in a relationship for very long.”

“ Maybe,” Leon started as they reached his bedroom door. “ maybe it’s because none of them are the woman you want.”

Ezio muttered something as a reply, but the words didn't leave his mouth and thus, nothing could be deciphered of it.

"Look..." Leon continued. "I don't know anything about this relationship stuff, or the 'game of it', but... if there's someone you want to have a relationship with, you probably need to get closure on that front."

Ezio stayed silent glancing at Leon as they reached his room's door.

"How? I have no clue. I'm not you, and I don't know anything about it all, and what it's like, but something is keeping you from moving forward."

"It's easy for you to say," Ezio remarked while looking away, hunching over himself slightly.

"True, it is. Because I've only seen Cyra grimace over it," Leon shrugged. "But from what I can tell, she's had her share of broken hearts, she has gotten closure and moved on. Though I'm not sure just how ... attached she was in those cases, but she was hurt, and I get it."

"Mmmm...." Ezio mumbled, still looking away.

"But. It's late and I don't need you tugging me in, I'm not that drunk," Leon joked while opening the door. "Good night," he still wished waving Ezio off.

"Night," the pink haired man replied casting a portal to take him home as well.

#black clover fanfiction #collaboration #I love my mutuals #oc: ezio roulacase #oc: alistair vangeance #oc: leonidas vermillion #only leonidas is mine

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lovesdarkness · 4 years ago

Text

Star Crossed - Chapter 2

Warnings: Nothing for this one. Pretty safe. Maybe a slight bit of angst near the end, but nothing overly big.

If you would like to be added to the tag list to be notified when new chapters are up, feel free to let me know

Word count: 8355

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Chapter Two

Everything was so blurry and distorted that Lyra had to blink as she looked around. Rubbing her eyes didn’t help and it was frustrating. Looking down the hall she thought she could see the faint figures of Sirius and his brother. Were they talking? She couldn’t tell. Everything sounded like it was under water and she couldn’t make out any words they said. She tried walking towards them but for some reason she couldn’t get close. It was like she was stuck walking in place.

“Bloody hell…” she muttered to herself as she gave up trying to approach them. When she turned to head down the hall she blinked and found herself in the Gryffindor common room. Looking around she saw Lily, James, and Remus sitting by the fire talking. Her ability to walk suddenly restored, she approached them, standing next to Remus.

“With everything that’s going on in the world and the war looming over us, I’m worried about the well being of the other students. Especially the young ones,” Lily said as she looked around at them. “I found a fifth year girl in the bathroom crying because she’s so stressed about everything.”

“I overheard some of the younger students in the library too. They’re so scared that it’s affecting their ability to focus on their classes.” Remus said with a frown. “They’re still kids, they shouldn’t be worried about things like war. They should be laughing and having fun with their friends. They should be acting like kids.”

James had remained silent, nodding his agreement. Letting out a sigh he reached up to rub his face. “I feel like as Head Boy and Girl we should be able to help them. But what can we do?” he asked, looking around at them all helplessly.

“What if we provide distractions?” Lyra spoke up, everyone looking at her. “Like try and arrange some activities every week. My Muggle friends have dances for almost everything at their schools. They have a Halloween dance and a Christmas dance before the winter holiday. A Valentine's Day dance. We could do an end of the year talent show. Maybe things like that would help distract all the students and cheer them up.”

“Those are all wonderful ideas Lyra!” Lily exclaimed with a grin. “Maybe Dumbledore should have made you Head Girl instead.”

Her face flushing dark Lyra shook her head. “Oh I don’t know about that. James might get upset.”

Everyone laughed at the comment till they heard the click of the common room door. Looking over they saw Peter scurry in looking rather troubled.

“Hey Pete, what’s up?” James asked.

“Have any of you seen Sirius?” Peter asked as he stopped in front of them. He wrung his hands as he looked among them with anxious eyes. “I heard he got into a horrible row with Regulus earlier, and he hasn’t been seen since. I’ve looked for him everywhere but I can’t find him.”

Everyone shook their heads as they looked around at each other then back to Peter. “No we haven’t seen him,” James said. “Don’t worry though I’m sure he’ll turn up. He might just need some time alone is all.”

“Yeah you know how Sirius gets,” Lily said. “He’s very guarded with his feelings and doesn’t like people seeing when he’s upset or angry. When he’s ready he’ll come to us.”

Lyra nodded as she looked over at Lily. When she turned her head back to Peter the five of them were standing in Dumbledore’s office. They were all lined up in front of his desk while the headmaster looked at them solemnly over his half moon spectacles. Professor McGonagall stood next to him with a somber expression on her face.

“Thank you all for coming as quickly as you did.” came Dumbledore’s soft voice as his eyes fell upon each of them. “I’m afraid the news that I have to break to you is rather...difficult.”

The five of them all looked around at each other with looks of curiosity and confusion before looking back to the headmaster. Something was wrong, they could tell. They could feel it. Why were the looks in both professors eyes so heartbreaking?

“What exactly is going on Professor?” James asked, voicing what they all were thinking. “And where’s Sirius? Why isn’t he here? We haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

They watched as McGonagall sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. Her hand grasped the desk to steady herself and for a moment they thought that she might collapse. “Tell them, Albus.” she said, her voice broken.

“Tell us what?” Remus asked, an anxious tone to his voice. Anxiety that they all were feeling.

“That is why I have called you all here.” Dumbledore answered, sliding his chair back and getting to his feet. “You are all Mr. Black’s closest friends, which is why I called you here so I could tell you personally before it is announced to the rest of the school.”

All of their voices came out in a chorus as they spoke over each other.

“Tell us what?”

“Announce what?”

“What is it?”

“Where’s Sirius?”

“Tell us Professor…”

Feeling her heart start pounding in fear Lyra brought her hands up and clutched them to her chest. She suddenly found it hard to breathe as a terrified feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. There was a reason Sirius wasn’t there, and she didn’t know why but it made her feel sick.

The group fell silent as Dumbledore held his hand up. “I’m afraid there has been...an incident.” The headmaster started, looking to each one of them once more. “It seems that sometime last night Mr. Black took a tumble from the balcony of the Astronomy tower. He...his body was found this morning…”

“Wait WHAT? NO!” James screamed. “No you’re lying...it’s not true!”

All the air seemed to be sucked out of Lyra’s lungs, and she couldn’t pull any in. She dropped to her knees feeling like she was suffocating. The voices of everyone in the room faded away to a deafening silence. Sirius? Dead? He couldn’t be. If he was she wanted to die right along with him. As she looked around everything blurred together and faded till there was nothing but darkness and all she could hear was the rush of blood in her ears. Or was it wind?

Lyra’s eyes snapped open as she let out a strangled gasp.

“Sirius!” she cried out, bolting up in her bed. Clutching her hands to her heart as it raced she gasped and panted for breath. Her eyes darted around in fear and confusion before realizing that she was in her dorm, safe in her bed, and it was the middle of the night. Letting out a sigh of relief she lay back on her pillow and closed her eyes, her hand coming to rest on her forehead.

Another one of those damn dreams. It was so bloody vivid she could have sworn it was real. Letting out a groan she rolled over in her bed and reached for the clock on her nightstand. It was 12:30 in the morning.

“Seriously?” she whined as she flopped back onto her pillow, draping her arm over her eyes. Then like clockwork the ache started. It pressed into the middle of her forehead and quickly spread up to her crown and around to her temples. Just like every other time she had one of those dreams. They’d been happening off and on for the last three years, at first she’d only have one every three or four months. But now they were coming with more frequency, at least 3 a month. And with the increased frequency came the increased intensity of the headaches afterwards. In the beginning she’d get nothing more than a dull ache. Now it felt like her head was splitting open.

“Hey Lils do you have any aspirin?” she called out. “Lils?”

Then she remembered that Lily wasn’t there anymore. She was head girl now, which meant that she was living in the Head Dorm with James. Lyra was crushed when she had learned about the change in sleeping arrangements, as Lily was the only person she shared her room with. They had been the only two girls sorted into Gryffindor their year. Best friends from the start, always together. And now she was alone.

Sitting up in her bed she looked around the room and frowned. The view was depressing. It was so dark and cold without Lily there, and she felt so lonely without anyone to talk to. At that moment it was just too much and she had to get out of there.

“If there’s any house elves floating around, something to get rid of this headache would be wonderful.” she muttered as she climbed out of bed to fetch her pale blue housecoat, pulling it on. Grabbing her wand she slipped it into the pocket before heading out of the room and making her way down the stairs to the common room.

The room was infinitely better than her dark and empty dorm. The lights were off but a fire crackled merrily in the fireplace, casting a warm orange glow around the space. As she walked over to the couch an amused smile crept across her lips as she spotted a blanket folded up at the end of the couch with a potion bottle on top of it and a note from one of the house elves. She took a sniff of the potion before drinking it down and sitting on the couch. Grabbing the blanket she wrapped it around herself as she curled up by the warmth of the fire.

“Guess I’ll sleep down here…” she muttered to herself as she lay back on the couch and rested her head against the pillows. The potion worked quickly to ease the splitting pain in her skull but no matter how hard she tried she could not fall asleep. Her mind was just too noisy. Sitting up she leaned against her knees and raked her fingers through her hair. She didn’t see herself getting to sleep any time soon and needed something to distract herself. And there was only one thing that came to mind.

Reaching for her wand she swished it in the air. “Accio ballet slippers.” she muttered. As she waited for the garments to float down the stairs she turned to the couches and the table. “I’m gonna need some space…” she murmured to herself as she swished her wand again, and with a quick charm the couches and tables all moved to the other side of the room and stacked themselves up against the wall. When she turned around the slippers were sitting in front of the fireplace.

Sitting on the floor she grabbed the slippers and bent them back and forth a little before slipping them onto her feet and fastening the ribbons around her ankles. Pointing her wand to the wireless the sound of classical music started floating faintly around the room. Closing her eyes a smile spread across her lips as she started swaying back and forth, letting the notes consume her as she started stretching and warming up.

When she got to her feet she stretched each leg up above her head before going through the various foot positions. “First position...second position...third position…” she’d murmur to herself as she moved her feet and arms through each position. Once she had gone through the basics she moved on to the more advanced techniques as the music played, pointing her feet and extending her arms. She reached forward and she reached back, going up en pointe a few times. This was the one thing she missed the most when she was away at school. It felt good to put some music on and dance her worries away for a few hours.

A few pieces played as she made up her own steps, pirouetting in the middle of the room. But it was when the main theme for Swan Lake started to play that she felt joy spring into her chest. It was her favourite production, and for some reason she identified with the sad and heartbroken Princess Odette. Closing her eyes she let the music take over her as she danced to it, arms raised as she took graceful pointed steps around the room. She twirled and leapt around, her arms held out gracefully as her feet fluttered across the floor. They seemed to move all of their own accord, arms raising and lowering like feathers as she lost herself to the music.

As the music started to take on a more dramatic pace, and so did her dance. Holding her arms out in a circle in front of her she stepped and twirled across the floor on her toes at a quick pace, her bathrobe fanning out around her. She was still en pointe when she finished her last turn and she leaned forward putting all her weight on one foot, her other leg extending up behind her as she reached an arm forward. When she opened her eyes she was shocked to see Sirius standing in the stairway. Letting out a surprised gasp she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor.

"Ow…" She groaned as she pushed herself up. After choking back a laugh Sirius was instantly at her side.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He whispered. Flashing his wand the furniture all flew back to where it belonged as he easily lifted her up into his arms and walked over to the couch. "Are you ok?" He asked as he set her down on the soft surface, looking her over for any injuries.

"I think I banged up my knee a bit." Lyra said with a wince. Untying her robe she opened it up to inspect her knee and sure enough there was a bruise and a slight bump forming. "It doesn't seem to be too bad though. It hurts but I think I'll live."

Reaching forward to gently take her leg into his hands, Sirius frowned as he brushed his thumb over the discolouration before casting his eyes to her. "I have just the thing to help." He said, giving her a flirty wink before leaning down and pressing his lips to her knee.

Lyra's eyes went wide and she choked back a gasp, her whole body going warm and flushing from the action. She closed her eyes as she felt a tingle where his lips touched. It took everything she had to not reach out and slip her fingers through his hair. "Sirius…" she whispered, her mind racing with questions. Why was he doing this? Was it just his usual tormenting and teasing? He did like to fluster her, he admitted so himself. But now with the knowledge of how she felt, why was he doing it? Was this just meant to be his normal teasing as if nothing had changed? Or despite his claims that he didn’t want to be involved with anyone, was this something more?

Confusion whirled through her mind and her heart as she tried to silence the onslaught of intrusive thoughts. Damn her anxiety for making her over think every single small action. When she opened her eyes again he was looking up at her from where he knelt on the floor, gently cradling her leg in his hands.

“Better?” he asked innocently with wide, hopeful eyes. It was clear then that he was still oblivious to the effect his actions had on her.

Swallowing the nervous lump in her throat Lyra smiled and nodded. “Yes, all better.” she assured him as she pulled her leg from his grasp and covered it with her housecoat again. “What are you doing up?” she asked after clearing her throat, trying to put the oddly intimate moment out of her mind.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Sirius chuckled, moving to take a place next to her on the couch. He draped his arm along the back of the couch as he reached for a stray strand of her hair, twirling it around his fingers. “I woke up a while ago and thought I heard music playing down here. I came to investigate and found you down here twirling about.” He raised his other hand and pointed, twirling it in a circle.

Lyra’s eyes widened slightly and she bit her lip. “How long were you watching?”

“For a while. You were so mesmerizing, I couldn’t tear my eyes away,” Sirius admitted, his voice soft. “Lyra I had no idea you could dance like that, it was so…breathtaking.”

Her face flushing dark at the comment Lyra grinned uncontrollably. “Sirius stop…” she simpered, giggling as she reached up to cover her face.

“Stop hiding Lyra!” Sirius growled in response. Slipping off the couch he moved to kneel in front of her, reaching out to grab her wrists and pull her hands away from her face. He ignored her shocked look as he continued. “Stop hiding yourself. You do it every time I or someone else compliments you. Take the compliment, wear it like a badge of pride. You are unbelievably talented in so many ways. See it in yourself and strut it for all the world to see.”

Lyra stared at him with wide eyes, still shocked at the sudden change of tone he gave her. “O-ok…” she managed to croak out.

Sirius watched her before letting out a sigh. “Lyra, do you love dancing?” he asked, his expression softening. She nodded. “How does dancing make you feel?”

Lowering her head she chewed on her lip as she thought about his question. “Happy. Free,” she answered after a short silence. “For a moment, beautiful.”

“...you don’t think you’re beautiful?” He asked. There was a long silence from her, and when she lowered her face and shook her head his eyebrows rose in surprise before he frowned. “Look at me.” He said. He felt a tightness in his chest when she shook her head again and refused. “Don’t make me go through this again like on the train...look at me.” He felt her arms start to tremble in his grasp as a soft sob reached his ears.

“I’m just plain.” Came a barely audible whimper.

He felt his heart break. Releasing her wrists from his grasp Sirius reached out to place a hand on either side of her head, forcing her tear stained face to look up at him. “Shut up and listen to me, and I’ll repeat it as many times as necessary,” he said slowly, licking his lips as he gathered his thoughts. “You are beautiful, Lyra. You are the most beautiful person in this entire fucking school. Do you hear me? You honestly think those tarts caked in makeup and short skirts are beautiful? No...they’re not. They’re vapid and shallow with ugly hearts and the only thing they’re good for is a shag. And trust me sometimes they’re not even good for that. Your beauty shines far brighter than they could ever wish.”

Lyra sniffed and sucked in a breath as she listened to him, her bottom lip trembling as more tears slipped down her cheeks. Slowly she reached her hands up to cover his, her fingers wrapping around his wrists.

Sirius swallowed as his eyes wandered over her face, his thumbs gently caressing her tears away as he continued. “You are special, and beautiful. Any man would be lucky to…”

“Sirius stop!”

He instantly fell silent, realizing then what he was about to say. How could he be so foolish? Here he was trying so hard to support and encourage her, he’d momentarily forgotten about the feelings she harboured for him. He could see the hurt written across her features plain as day. How could he sit there and tell her that any man would be the luckiest to have her, when the one her heart wanted was sitting right in front of her? And he was completely incapable of loving her the way she deserved.

I really need to be more careful.

He released his hold on her, pulling his hands away and giving her space. “I’m sorry. I’m a huge fucking idiot...I can’t believe I…” he shook his head as he let out a sigh, leaning back on his legs. “I’m just not used to...I sometimes forget that you…”

“It’s ok.” Lyra said, shaking her head. She swallowed as she reached up to wipe her face with the sleeves of her housecoat. He had assured her that he wouldn’t let her feelings make things awkward between them. But more and more over the few short weeks since that day on the train she was starting to wonder if it truly was possible. Once her face was dry of tears she lowered her hands to look at him, he was watching her anxiously. “Really Sirius...I promise it’s ok.” she assured him, reaching down to pat the spot on the couch next to her.

“Alright.” he answered, moving to sit next to her. “I mean it though...I mean all of it. I swear. You’re beautiful and talented. Don’t hide it. Be bold, proudly flaunt it for everyone to see.”

Lyra just shook her head and smiled, leaning over to rest her head against his shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll try. Promise.” As much as her heart hurt at that moment, the one thing that helped ease the ache in her chest was knowing how much he cared.

And that he thought she was beautiful.

Turning his head he gently kissed her crown, checking the time on a nearby clock before reaching an arm around to drape over her shoulder. “It’s nearly three am. You still need to tell me what you are doing up at this hour.”

Lyra let out a groan as she raised her head, reaching up to rub at her forehead. She didn’t want to talk about the headache inducing dreams, especially that new one. It would just worry him more. “I just...can’t sleep,” she said with a shrug, looking over to him. “Lily and I didn’t have any other dorm mates, it was just me and her. And now that she’s gone to the head dorm the room is just...too quiet and empty. It’s depressing. There’s no one to talk to. I’m really lonely up there all by myself.”

Hearing the situation she was in made Sirius frown. “That’s...not good at all,” he said, gently rubbing her arm. “I mean I’d love to go up and keep you company, Remus snores louder than my bike engine and it can be quite annoying. But, boys can’t go up into the girls' dorms.” he said, smiling when Lyra laughed a little.

“Oh so that’s the noise I hear ringing through the stairwell every night?” she asked with a playful grin. “My room is so silent I can hear him perfectly.”

“I’m going to tell him you said that.” he smirked.

“Don’t you dare.”

Sirius just grinned and winked. “You know, you could always come up to our room during the times where you feel a little too lonely,” he continued with the previous train of thought. “With James in the head dorm with Lily, there’s a spare bed now. I’m sure Remus and Peter wouldn’t mind.”

Lyra flushed dark at the suggestion, biting her lip. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that. It’s the boys dorm…” she whispered.

That was something Sirius hadn’t thought about. It was one thing to go up and visit and sit with them, but sleeping in the same room was an entirely different matter. “Well, think about it at least. But in the meantime, did you want me to stay down here with you tonight?” he asked, reaching up to slip his fingers through her hair. “If you don’t want to go back to your lonely room I mean. We could curl up on the couch together, or you could sleep on the couch and I can sleep on the floor. In the morning I’ll wake you up before everyone comes down so you can go get ready for class.”

“There’s two couches you know.” Lyra pointed out.

“Yeah I know. I just thought you might want me to stay close. We did promise to stay close to each other and protect each other after all.”

“We did, didn’t we,” Lyra answered softly, biting her lip. Turning her head she looked along the couch. “Well...I don’t think we both would fit on the couch together.”

“I’m sure we can manage,” Sirius said with a chuckle. Standing up briefly he moved them around a bit so they’d fit on the couch together better. Leaning back against the arm of the couch he reached for the blanket and draped it around her as he situated her between his legs, pulling her forward to lay against his chest. “How’s that? Are you comfy?” he asked, reaching up to stroke the back of her head.

To say Lyra was nervous was an understatement. Her face was flushed dark and her heart raced as she lay her head against his chest. “Yes, this is nice.” she whispered, smiling as she listened to his heart. She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh, cuddling into him as his arms wrapped around her.

“Good,” he whispered back, twirling a strand of her hair around his fingers. Leaning his head forward he kissed the top of her head. “Get some sleep now love.”

No matter how she tried though sleep wouldn’t come. That dream she had was still replaying in her head. Haunting her. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she remembered the pain she’d felt in her chest.

“I had a dream that you died...you were dead…” came her soft whisper a short while later, followed by a sniffle.

Sirius’ eyebrows raised in shock as he looked down at her. “What?”

“Yeah, it felt so real. Dumbledore had called us all to his office...except you weren’t there,” she whispered. “He told us you had died. My chest hurt and I couldn’t breathe. I thought that if you were dead I wanted to die too.”

Sirius closed his eyes as he tightened his arms around her. No wonder she had been down here. If he’d had a dream that one of his friends had died, he wouldn’t have been able to get back to sleep either. Leaning forward he kissed the top of her head once more. “I’m so sorry love,” he whispered, rubbing her back in an effort to comfort her. “It was just a dream. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”

“Promise?” she asked. Her voice was soft and meek, almost like a child's.

He couldn’t help but smile at the question. “Promise,” he assured her, nuzzling into her hair. “Now go to sleep, love. Please? You need to rest.” he insisted.

“Alright. Goodnight Siri.” she said, letting out a sleepy yawn.

Sirius lay there watching the fire, listening to the soft sound of her breathing as she drifted off to sleep. Letting his head fall back against the couch he closed his eyes, reaching a hand up to cradle the back of her head as she lay against his chest. He may not have been able to love her, not in the way she needed anyway. He didn’t know how. But he damn well would do everything in his power he could to keep her safe.

When he opened his eyes again the fire had long gone out. He looked around blearily to see the faint blue of the sky outside the window starting to lighten as morning came. After letting out a yawn he looked down at the girl that was curled up against him fast asleep. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he watched her, reaching up to slip his fingers through her hair as it fanned out over his chest. She looked so peaceful as she slept that he hated the thought of having to wake her, especially when she’d been having such a hard time sleeping.

He gave her a little bit longer to sleep before he felt they were cutting it close. The last thing he wanted was someone coming down and seeing them in this position. He didn’t need rumours floating about that she had slept with him in anything but a purely platonic manner. Reaching his hand up he slipped his fingers through her hair before brushing them down along her cheek. “Lyra,” he whispered, tenderly stroking her cheek before reaching down to squeeze her shoulder. “Come on love it’s time to wake up.”

Lyra let out a soft groan as she shifted in his arms. “Not yet…” she mumbled, pressing her face into his chest. After a brief moment though something clicked in her head. She wasn’t in her room, she wasn’t in her bed. She was with Sirius. Her eyes snapped open and her head shot up as she looked at him with sleep induced confusion. “Huh...what…”

Sirius let out a laugh and shook his head. “Do you not remember anything from last night?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He watched as her brows furrowed together for a moment but saw the moment her memory slowly came back to her and a small smile formed. “Yeah,” he laughed with a nod, his hand reaching up to brush her long messy hair out of her face. “Did you sleep well?”

Moving to pull out of his embrace and sit up Lyra nodded as she stretched her arms over her head. “Yeah I did actually. Better than I have in ages.” She let out a yawn and raked her fingers through her hair. “I should sleep with you more often.” As soon as the words left her lips she froze, face flushing dark as she looked at him with wide eyes. “I mean...I...um…” she sputtered.

Throwing his head back and barking out a laugh Sirius shook his head before sitting up and leaning over to her. “I know what you meant,” he said as he leaned in to kiss the side of her head. “Now get upstairs and go get dressed. I have to go talk to James for a minute, but I’ll see you at breakfast.” She blushed and nodded, giving him a smile before getting to her feet and heading up to the girls dorms. Letting out a sigh he watched her go and headed up to his own room.

Remus was just climbing out of bed as he walked in and his friend gave him a confused look. “What are you doing up already?” he asked with a look of bewilderment. In the mornings it usually took much prodding and poking at Sirius before he would finally get out of bed.

“Long story that I don’t have time to get into right now.” Sirius said with a wave of his hand as he walked over to his trunk to get a fresh uniform and robes. Heading into the bathroom he washed up and got dressed for the day of classes. When he walked back out both Remus and Peter were nearly finished dressing. “Alright, I need to go and talk to James about some Quidditch stuff. I’ll see you guys at breakfast.”

The two of them waved as he grabbed his bag and headed out the door. In truth it wasn’t James he needed to talk to, it was Lily. Walking quickly he made his way through the halls to the head dorm and murmured the password, which James and Lily had instantly given their friends whenever they wanted to visit, to go in. James was standing in the main room when he walked in and looked over with a grin.

“Mornin’ Pads,” he greeted as he pulled his bag over his shoulder. “Are you ready for the Quidditch tryouts after classes are done? There’s some great applicants this year.”

“Yeah that’s great. I’m sure we’ll find some wonderful players.” Sirius responded. Then he went directly to the reason for his visit. “Hey is Lily still here?” he asked, looking around. “I need to talk to her.”

“Oh yeah, she’s just in her room getting ready.” James said, nodding to a door at the other end of the room that had a gold nameplate that read ‘Lily’ across it, next to it was a door that read ‘James’. “I’ll see if she’s nearly done.” he continued, walking over and knocking on the door gently before slipping in.

Sirius looked around the room as he waited, spotting some of Lily’s books on a table and James’ Quidditch gear strewn across the couch. He couldn’t help but think it was almost like a perfect little flat for the two of them. When the click of the door caught his attention he looked back to see James emerging.

“She’s just finishing up, but says you can go in.”

Sirius nodded before walking over and slipping into the room. “Hey,” he said, the door clicking shut behind him.

Lily was standing in front of her mirror brushing her hair as she looked back at him and smiled. “Hey what’s up?” she asked as she effortlessly ran the tool through her fiery locks. “James said you looked kind of intense. Is something wrong?”

“No, not really,” Sirius answered, biting at his lips. “But I need to talk to you about Lyra.”

Her eyebrows knitting together in concern Lily set the brush down on her dresser and walked over to Sirius. Taking his hand she guided him to her bed so they could sit down. “What is it?”

Sirius looked down at his lap, a slight frown forming as he tried to gather his thoughts. “I’m...worried about her. I think she’s having trouble adjusting to you not being there.” He fell silent a moment, biting his lip before casting his eyes to Lily. “I heard music in the common room at an ungodly hour this morning and went down to find her there. She said she hasn’t been able to sleep well since you’ve been gone. Described the room as depressing, and said she’s lonely every night without anyone to talk to.”

Lily closed her eyes and let out a sigh, reaching up to rub her forehead. “I was worried about this.”

“I offered to let her stay with me and Remus and Pete once in a while when she gets overly lonely, now that James isn’t there there’s a spare bed. But I don’t think she’d be very comfortable with that. And I...we’re not able to go up to the girls dorms to keep her company.” Sirius continued, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “I stayed with her in the common room last night and she slept ok, but we can’t just keep sleeping down there. The only thing I can think of is...I mean I know you enjoy being here alone with James, but do you think once in a while you could go spend a night or two with her? I loathe knowing that she’s lonely up there…”

Opening her eyes Lily looked over at Sirius with a small smile. It was nice to see him caring about someone so much. She couldn’t help but feel that Lyra was wrong, that her friend was greatly under estimating Sirius. Somewhere deep down she knew that Lyra was exactly what he needed. And now that he knew how their friend felt about him she hoped he would start to see it as well. It might take time, maybe even an immense amount of time, but she knew he’d find his way there sooner or later.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I should go and stay with her some nights,” she answered with a nod. “And I’ll talk to James about letting her stay here once in a while as well. I hate the thought of her being up there alone too. Why don’t you head down to breakfast now? James and I have a couple quick head duties to take care of and we’ll meet you all in a few minutes.”

Sirius nodded and bid Lily farewell before heading out of her room.

“Everything ok?” James asked as he watched his friend slip out.

“Yeah it should be. See you at breakfast.” Sirius answered with a wave, heading out of the common room.

James looked over at Lily as she walked out of her room with her bag over her shoulder. “So what was all that about.” he asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Smiling as she walked over to her boyfriend Lily leaned up to kiss his cheek. “He’s worried about Lyra.” she answered, making James grin. “And with good reason. Apparently she hasn’t been able to sleep, and she’s depressed being by herself. I knew that me leaving the dorm would be hard for her, but I didn’t think she’d struggle this much. I think I’m going to spend a night or two here and there with her to keep her company. And maybe sometimes she could stay here?”

James smiled and nodded, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “That’s perfectly fine.” he murmured against her skin before pulling away. “So how long do you think it’ll take him to figure out that he’s completely into her?”

"Oh, you think he is?" Lily asked, looking up at him. It amused her to see that James knew his best friends feelings better than his friend did.

“Well yeah. He has been since last year and he’s bloody oblivious to it. Look at the way he is with her,” James said as the two of them headed out of the common room. “She’s the only girl he’s ever been affectionate with. And they’re not even shagging. He hugs her, he holds her hand. He opens up to her in ways that he hasn’t with anyone else. He never acts like that with the girls he’s shagging.”

“And now he knows she has feelings for him. I told her it might work out in her favour but she insists it won’t. She feels that she’s not his type.”

James rolled his eyes as the two of them made their way towards the Great Hall. “They’re both bloody daft. Not much we can do though. We’ll just have to sit back and let this play out.”

Giving a nod of agreement Lily smiled up at him. “They’ll figure it out. I mean, if we could there has to be hope for them.”

“Oi! Are you saying that I’m oblivious as Sirius Black?” James asked her, feigning offense as he looked down at her. He laughed as she rolled her eyes and slung his arm over her shoulder. “I love you.” he said, leaning down to kiss the side of her head.

Lily flushed and smiled as her arm slipped around his waist and she pressed into him. “Love you more.”

“Never.”

She looked up at him with a look of adoration in her green eyes as they entered the Great Hall. Walking over to the Gryffindor table they spotted their friends at their usual seats. As they neared they heard the group burst into laughter at something that Sirius had said. “Hey guys.” they said in unison as Lily took a seat next to Lyra, and James next to Sirius. “What’s so funny?” Lily asked as she reached for the pitcher of orange juice.

“Oh not much, just Sirius acting like an idiot. Nothing out of the ordinary.” Remus said with a smirk, dodging out of the way when Sirius took a swipe at him.

The group all laughed and talked together as they ate their breakfast. When it looked like they’d had their fill the plates all disappeared from the tables and a moment later the first bell rang. Gathering their things they got to their feet and started heading to class. With James rambling some Quidditch nonsense into his ear Sirius looked over to see Lily fall into step with Lyra a few feet away.

“Hey Lyr, I need to talk,” the red head started as her friend looked over at her. “So I realize with all the Head Girl duties I’ve had lately, I’ve been a horrible best friend and have been neglecting you…”

“Oh no Lily...it’s ok…” Lyra started, only to have Lily interrupt her.

“No it’s not ok,” Lily insisted with a shake of her head. "You’re my best friend and you’re stuck up in that dorm every night by yourself. I feel horrible for making you feel so lonely. So I propose that this weekend I go and stay with you, and we’ll have a real girls weekend. We’ll do facials and do our nails and our hair...the whole nine yards.”

Lyra’s face perked up at the suggestion. “Yeah that would be great Lily. I miss having you there, it would be fun.” she said with a grin.

“Well if you ladies are having a girls weekend, then I absolutely MUST join,” Sirius joked as he stepped in between them, draping his arms over their shoulders. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a good facial my skin is absolutely parched. And I’m in dire need of a manicure. At the end of it we’ll all look fabulous.” he finished, reaching up to flick his hair back in an effeminate manner.

Lily and Lyra both burst into giggles and shook their heads. “No boys in the girls dorms, remember Sirius?” Lily said with a smirk as the group headed into their potions class.

Letting out another laugh Lyra sighed and looked up at Sirius. He must have talked to Lily about how she was feeling. She smiled a little, bumping into his side. “Thank you.” she murmured as they walked in.

Sirius just smiled and winked at her as they took their seats and class began.

“Well that was a nightmare,” James grumbled, reaching up to rub his face. “I think there were like...two people in that whole tryout that were actually decent.”

Sirius just shrugged as he closed the chest that housed all of the Quidditch balls. The two of them picked up a handle on either side and made their way across to the Quidditch Pitch towards the locker rooms. “It could have been better. But it also could have been worse,” he said as they reached the coaches office that belonged to Madame Hooch. “I’m sure with some practice most of them would make good players.”

“Maybe,” James said. He let out a grunt as the two of them hefted the chest up onto the desk. “I was just hoping there would be a bit more raw natural talent to work with. It’s going to take time to mould them into a perfect team.”

“Don’t worry James it’ll be fine,” Sirius responded. Leaning back against the desk he tossed his bangs out of his face before raking a hand through his hair. “I know it’s our last year and you want to win the Quidditch cup and go out with a bang. But it’s really not the end of the world. Don’t stress and just have fun. We’ll be under enough stress once we get out of here and have to try and find a place to fight in this bloody war.”

James was silent for a few moments, worrying his lip with his teeth as he thought about what Sirius said. “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’ve decided to go into Auror training after graduation,” he said. Crossing his arms he looked down at his feet. “I haven’t told Lily yet. I’m afraid of what her reaction might be.”

“Can’t imagine it would be a good one. But I like to think she’d understand.”

“I do too,” James shook his head and glanced back up at his friend. “I know we haven’t been together long but I love her more than anything. I can’t stand the thought of losing her over it.” Sucking in a breath he picked at the sleeve of his shirt as he thought of a way to word his next sentence. “If her reaction is...understanding...I think…” he hesitated a moment, his brows furrowing.

“What are you gonna ask her to marry you?” Sirius joked as he cast his friend a wry grin. His smile fell though when James remained silent, his face flushing. “You’re not serious.”

“No that would be you-”

“Fuck off with that James. You’re not actually thinking of proposing to Evans so soon? Are you mad?”

James frowned. This certainly wasn’t the reaction he was expecting from his best friend. “Well...not right this second no. I was thinking of waiting till after we’ve graduated. You know I didn’t think this was how you’d respond.”

“How the bloody hell do you expect me to respond?” Sirius boomed, throwing his hands up into the air. “What about our plans for after graduation. Getting a flat together and playing the field, living the bachelor life and having fun. Enjoying our bloody youth. Can’t do anything when you’re strapped to a bloody ball and chain.” he huffed, shaking his head as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Sirius…” James started, but trailed off. He truly was at a loss for words and didn’t know how to respond. “We...things are different now. Life has thrown us some unexpected curveballs. The world is changing and we have to change with it. I mean we can still do many of those things, some of them don’t have to change. But...we were naïve kids when we made those dreams. I’m sorry but it’s time to grow up a little. To be a little more realistic about what's coming in the future.”

Shaking his head Sirius let out a bitter laugh. “Fuck,” he muttered, turning and kicking the desk. “It seems like everyone has got all their bloody shit figured out. The whole lot of you seem to know where life is taking you, you’ve all got all these bloody plans and hopes for the future and where the hell does that leave me? Left in the fucking dust. Utterly useless and fucked up with no bloody future, no home, no clue where the hell I’m going. Gonna end up fucken left behind and forgotten...abandoned…”

“Oi, no one is going to bloody well abandon you,” James spat at him. Reaching out he grabbed Sirius by the arm and turned his friend to face him. He could see Sirius was fighting back tears as he avoided James’ gaze. “No one is leaving you behind. Ever. You’re my best friend, you’re my brother. Do you honestly think I would do that to you after everything we’ve been through together? You think any of us would do that to you? We all care about you.”

There was a long silence before Sirius closed his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. “I’ve never felt so bloody lost before,” he muttered, shaking his head. “My life has zero direction. I have...no idea what the fuck I’m going to do. Where I’m going. I have no purpose. I feel so bloody empty and alone, I have for ages.”

“Well, you’re not alone,” James insisted, reaching out to place a hand on his best friends shoulder. He gave it a reassuring squeeze before pulling him into a hug. Sirius closed his eyes tight, pressing his face into his friends shoulder. “You’re never alone.” The bespectacled boy continued, tightening his arms around his friend. “You have five friends who love you and care about you. Who will do everything they can to guide you and help you find your way. You have a purpose Sirius. You just have to find what you’re passionate about. Something that makes you happy.”

“I don’t know what that is anymore.”

“And we’ll help you find it.” James assured him. As Sirius pulled away from him he averted his gaze as his friend wiped away the few tears that slipped down his cheeks. “Why don’t you apply to be an Auror with me? I think you’d be brilliant at it. And there’s no one else in the world I’d rather have at my side, who I trust enough to have my back in all of this.”

Sirius fell quiet as he replayed the idea back in his mind. He then looked to James, a small flicker of hope in his eyes. “That...actually sounds like a good idea.” he murmured. After thinking about it a few more moments he nodded. “Yeah.”

James managed a small smile as he reached up to ruffle up Sirius’ hair, making Sirius scowl and swat his hand away. “There see?” he said, slinging his arm around the other boys shoulder as Sirius fixed his hair. “It’ll be ok Sirius. You’ll find your place. I promise.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat Sirius nodded, giving James a weak smile. “We should get back. I have some homework to finish before dinner. Then we have to put the final touches on that prank we’re planning for Filch.”

James laughed and nodded as the two of them headed out of the office. His arm still around Sirius’ shoulders James looked up at the sky as they headed across the field towards the school. He’d had no idea that his friend had been this distraught and suddenly understood then why he’d taken off for days or weeks at a time during the summer. Sirius had been lost and was trying to find himself again. He was upset that he hadn't confided in him, but he understood why. Sirius wasn’t comfortable with talking about his issues, preferring to suffer in silence till he was ready to open up. James just hoped that his friend remembered that he had people to lean on, and he’d never be alone.

#Harry Potter fanfic #Marauders Era #Marauders Era fanfic #James x Lily #James Potter x Lily Evans #Jily #Sirius x OC #Sirius Black x OC #Lily Evans #James Potter #Sirius Black #Remus Lupin #Peter Pettigrew #Moony Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs

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thenightgazer · 4 years ago

Text

Spark of Stardust

Chapter 1 : An Interstellar Quest It's not a date. Vergil insists upon it, even when he doubts himself as he asks Lyra to accompany him to search for a perfect birthday gift for Kyrie. But just like the dying star that sparks its undying stardust; the "date" is just a start for him to get to know more about Lyra, as the librarian reveals her "little, deepest and darkest secrets"

Warning : implied psychological and drug abuse

Part 6 of Tales of Apotelesma

You can also read this fic on AO3

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

~~~

It starts with a soft hand that brushes his face. The fuzzy sensation wakes him up. The lamp on the ceiling is the first thing he sees when he slowly opens his eyes wide awake. His eyes linger to his surroundings— and that shocks him because he’s no longer in his bedroom at Devil May Cry. He’s awakened in someone else’s bedroom. The wall is painted with warm colours and there is a large bookshelf besides the bed. When he turns his head to his left, he spots toys and trinkets which supposedly belong to a little girl, and there sits a young woman who smiles at him.

Where am I?

“How was your sleep?” she asks him. Her soft hand ruffles his hair gently. “You look so peaceful.”

He’s speechless. Not because he doesn’t want to answer, but his mouth won’t cooperate with his head. His survival instincts scream at him to get away from this situation, but all he could feel is numbness.

“I brought you dinner,” the beautiful woman continues. He observes her cautiously; she is approximately in her thirties, with long brunette hair and brown eyes. She looks like the kind of woman who looks absolutely harmless. The way her body moves is delicate. Her voice sounds appealing as she tells him the menu and hopes he will like it. She gives him the same warm impression as his own mother, but this woman seems shady. Her eyes remind him of someone... but he couldn’t remember the person. The same cold, void eyes...

“The nurse said you haven’t eaten since last night. You refused to take your medicines. Why? Don’t you want to get better?” Her voice turns colder. “When I heard that you refused to eat, I couldn’t concentrate on my work. I’m afraid you won’t get better. Now you will eat and take your medicine for me, okay?”

He can’t follow everything she has said just now. Who is this woman? What medicines? What nurse? But his head nods automatically as if his body is controlled by someone else, and that little gesture makes this woman’s warm smile appear on her pretty face again.

“Good. Let’s eat! After that, I’ll read you something exciting. How’s that sound?”

He nods obediently, opening his mouth to eat the porridge. He can’t feel the taste, nor can he sense the texture of the food. But the woman looks at him as if she would blast if he didn’t eat. The sound of friction between the spoon and the bowl drives him crazy. She’s making sure that he swallows the food as she cleans up his mouth. After the bowl is empty, she proceeds to pour something from a bottle—medicine— on a small spoon and look up at him, opening her mouth as a command for him to mimic her gesture. She seems delighted when he swallows the medicine.

“Atta girl.”

What is this nonsense? What is that thing she put inside me?

But he knows he won’t get the answer.

It’s all just a dream, right?

The woman walks to the bookshelf. Her fingers run through the book until she finds the one she desires. She sits back besides him again and opens the book, her fingers scan through the pages.

“You don’t like Cinderella, so I picked up this one,” she shows him the cover of the book. “I guarantee you’ll like it! It’s called The Hobbit, an adventure story. Your favourite, right?”

I do like adventure stories. But it isn’t my favourite. It’s Dante’s…

She starts her storytelling in a clear voice. “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit...”

There’s something in her face when she reads. She seems more relaxed and softer than before, as if she got lost in the story. His suspicion is surprisingly gone while he listens to her and the familiarity strikes him again. She reminds him of his own mother when he was a child, reading him bedtime stories. Cambions in their early childhood needed a lot of sleep just like human children, but Dante and he always refused to sleep early and asked for more stories. There’s something peaceful about this familiarity. It calms him, then he decides to close his eyes again whilst the woman’s voice slowly fades away.

---

The dream shatters as Vergil’s cell phone rings loudly.

The hybrid lays still on his bed. He was sleeping for two hours just because he had no other options left to do aside from sleeping. Yet, even though his body doesn’t particularly need to sleep, he hates it when his slumber is interrupted. His hand reaches to find his phone and immediately pick it when he finds it on the desk beside his bed without seeing who’s calling him because he doesn’t bother to open his sleepy eyes.

“Dad?”

That familiar voice forces Vergil to open his eyes.

“Nero?”

“Yeah. You busy?”

“No,” Vergil throws a blanket from his naked chest as he moves his body to sit and brushes his hair. “What’s wrong, Nero?”

Nero doesn’t reply immediately. Vergil can hear a heavy sigh from his son and that makes him a bit anxious.

“Nothing wrong. Just...” The young devil hunter lets out another sigh. “Today is Kyrie’s birthday. She invites you and the crews for dinner at six. Uh… six as in Fortuna time, which is an hour later from Red Grave time. Just in case you got lost in time again.”

“Of course. We will be attending the dinner. Thank you for the invitation.”

“It’s Kyrie who invites you, not me.”

“...”

“... but having you around here is not so bad. The kids were always whining whenever you and Dante left the house.” Nero’s response is almost excited and eager, much to Vergil’s relief.

The picture of Julio, Carlo and Kyle somehow makes Vergil grins. “You did very well taking care of those little rascals.”

“Thanks,” there’s a pause before Nero continues. “Anyway, I should get going. Nico needs my help to do some crazy shit.”

“I hope all is well for you.”

“You too, I guess...” the young man clears his throat. “And... thank you. For accepting the invitation.”

“It’s the least I could do,” The blue devil smiles, his anxiety is gone as their interaction goes smoothly. “Carry on, son.”

“Y-yeah— bye, then.”

Warmth fills Vergil’s heart as he cleans up his bed and folds the blanket neatly. Never in his life would he have thought that he’d become a father. Even though it was unplanned, having a son does change his life. He has no parental figures to ask advice from and those parenting books are not helping at all, but he learns at his own pace. Two years of effort of atonement is nothing compared to his sins, yet he wants the very best for Nero and is very protective to him.

Then the word stings him.

Birthday, huh?

Ever since he was a little boy, Vergil has never understood the concept of celebrating birthdays. For him, birthday is just another day to pass. If anything, it seems like people love to celebrate the day when their life spans decrease. People are getting old, so what? Why do we celebrate that irony? Is that because of the presents and cake? Little Vergil never found the answer, but he did feel happy whenever he received presents and ate his birthday cake, even if that means he had to share it with his twin, Dante (he had given up the dream of having his own cake, since being twins means sharing almost everything). He didn’t even think about birthdays until Nero reminded him.

I wonder if he knows his birthday...

Vergil walks to the bathroom and washes his face. He looks at the mirror and the man guy in the mirror stares back at him. His reflection somehow reminds him of the strange dream. What was that dream about? It seems visceral, like it was my own memory. His heartbeat gets faster when he has a dreadful negative thought that it could be Mundus’ mind manipulation. If that was Mundus, it’s too pointless. He’d use my own memories to torture me, not with some kind of irrelevant vision.

“Mornin’,” Dante shoves himself besides Vergil and yawns. “I’m hungry.”

“Pleased to meet you, Hungry.”

Dante bursts into laughter. “Since when are you into dad jokes?”

“I’ll take the shower first.” Ignoring Dante’s question, Vergil picks up a dry towel and gets inside the shower cubicle.

Dante takes off his shirt and stretches his muscles. He washes his face and begins to shave his beard. “You said you fought Angelo demons at last week’s gig, right? Heard from Lady the same Angelo demons got sighted at another city. We still don’t have any information on who created and summoned them.”

Vergil wipes the droplets of water from his face. “It seems like those Angelo demons were none like all the artificial demons we have ever seen before. Their form, their abilities, their durability. They looked rather... futuristic, I'd say. I got an impression that the new Angelo was created mostly by advanced science rather than magic.”

“Another thing happened these past weeks. There are three outbursts at restricted medical facilities in different cities.”

“What medical facility?”

“Trish said that the three of them were research laboratories owned by Ravenhill Corporation.”

“Isn’t that the same corporation that won a peace award or something like that?”

“Yeah. The Ravenhills are an influential aristocrat with power over the health and security industry. Most of the health facilities in this world are sponsored and if not, owned by Ravenhill Corporation. They have a branch company here in this city too.”

“And do you think those incidents have a connection with the appearance of Angelo demons?”

“Just a gut feeling, but that’s worth investigating, better safe than sorry, aight?” Dante brushes his hair and flips it back like Vergil. “Hey, I look just like you with this hairstyle! Perhaps I should go with this style from now on.”

“If you’re done talking, get out of the bathroom.”

“This is MY bathroom!”

“And I’m the one who cleans up the mess you’ve created in this house, Dante.”

“Fine~!” Dante chuckles as he cleans up the remaining shaving foam from his jaw. “Have you bought something for Kyrie’s birthday? Got missed calls and a text about the dinner party from Nero.”

“Not yet.”

“I’ve been thinking of giving her a fancy revolver. Heard from Nero that she’s quite good at using guns.”

“... do you really think that women fancy weapons as a gift?”

“Trish and Lady do. But hey! You can go ask our clever librarian!” Dante's face lightens up in exhilaration.

Vergil turns off the shower and wraps a towel around his waist as he opens the cubicle. “What do you mean by ’our’?!”

“Yours, then. She’s a normal civilian woman. Perhaps she can recommend you a perfect gift for Kyrie.”

No, if only you know that she’s not normal! “... you’re probably right.”

A teasing whistle comes from Dante as he takes off his pants and walks inside the cubicle. “As Yoda said, Verge, ‘ do or do not. There is no try ’. Call her and ask her out for a date.”

“I’m not taking any advice from a man who has rotten luck with women. And who is Yoda?”

“Call it what you want it. If you’re not asking her out, I’ll go ask her by myself.”

“Not before I step over your dead body.”

“Ha! Someone’s jealous for realsies~”

Vergil walks away from the bathroom before his inner turmoil tempts him to try to kill Dante… again. His insolent brother might have been teasing him too much, but in a way he’s right. He needs to find someone trusted enough to help him buy the perfect gift for Kyrie.

But she’s on duty today is her work day. I won’t make it right on time to the party if I have to wait for her shift to end.

He’s still thinking about it when he enters his room on the second floor and grabs his phone. Lyra’s contact name is showing up, but he hesitates. It’s still 9 o’clock. The library must have just opened.

After having a quite long internal battle with himself, he decides to call her anyway.

It takes a little bit long for Lyra to finally pick up her phone. Vergil catches the sound of her voice and a man’s laugh who Vergil assumes is Nate. “Bugger off for a minute, will you? — Clayton here.”

“Lyra.”

“Oh, hello Vergil!”

“Am I interrupting?”

“Not at all! Is there anything I can help you with?”

“... yes.”

“Are you okay? You sound like you want to cry.”

“I am certainly not,” Vergil groans at Lyra’s giggle. “Yet, I do believe I need your help.”

“Name it!”

“... it’s about a birthday present.” Vergil clears his throat. “Do you remember Kyrie, my son’s fiancée? She will be celebrating her birthday this evening. She invited Dante and I to her house for dinner.”

“I see.”

“Kyrie has always been there for Nero,” he continues. “She helped guide him to become the person he is now. She took care of him while I wasn’t there for him. She’s an important person to my son. That’s why... at least I have to show her some respect.”

“By giving her a decent birthday present.”

“Yes.”

“I think she will appreciate everything you give to her.”

“She will, certainly. She’s too polite to reject a present, but I don’t want her to think that I’m a careless father-in-law by giving her a gratuitous gift.”

“You’re right. I’d be delighted to accompany you to buy the present, but…I’m on duty right now. I’m afraid I couldn't help you any further.”

“That I know. That’s why I call for your advice.”

“I suggest something small, but meaningful. You told me she love to sing, right? Maybe a vinyl of classical music would — what in the bloody—! Nate! Give me back my phone at once!”

Vergil hears them grumbling and arguing at something. He considers to just hang up the phone given to his hunch that Lyra and Nate are probably having a fight right now, but suddenly he hears Nate’s voice as the young librarian speaks to him.

“Mr. Vergil? It’s Nate!”

This scoundrel's audacity...! “I recognize your voice, Nathaniel. What are you doing with Lyra’s phone?”

“Err... sorry for the interruption, but Lyra forced me to tell you this myself, or else you won’t believe her! I told her that I don’t mind if she wants to go on a date with you! My father won’t be checking on the library today!” Nate lets out a dry chuckle to break the ice, but since Vergil says nothing, Nate continues to speak. “She insisted on at least working today, so I told her to finish the duty earlier so she could spend her time with you. That’s all! Oh yeah, a little advice here; Lyra has a terrible sense of direction, means that you should hold her close— ouch!”

A sound of a book slapped on Nate’s head comes to Vergil’s ear. The next is Lyra’s nervous voice talking to him. “Vergil? You heard Nate. So... we meet at three. How’s that sound?”

“I’ll pick you up at the library.”

“Okay!”

“Then... I’ll see you around.”

“Cheerio!”

Vergil hangs up the phone, unexpectedly feeling the queasiness after he recalls the word ‘date’ as Dante and Nate said earlier. Foolish. We are not dating. We are just going to buy a birthday present. That’s all. Stop this unnecessary disquietude. It’s just Lyra—

“Tell me you’re not gonna go on a date with your boring clothes!”

Vergil hardly glances to his side and sees Patty’s figure standing by his door. The twenty years old girl is wearing an apron and holding a broom in her hand. “At least wear something stylish! You and Dante are all hopeless! No wonder the two of you haven’t gotten married yet!”

“I believe that’s none of your concern, Miss Lowell. And although I lack what humans would consider common sense, the last time I know about human norms and etiquette, that it is rude to trespass on someone's private space and eavesdrop on other people’s conversation.”

“I’m not eavesdropping! I just happened to pass this room while cleaning this house because lately you are not present in this house and Dante is being a lazy bastard as usual! Show some gratitude!”

“Thank you for your help. But as you can see now, I am here and that means I will do the household job while you can go disturb Dante’s peace now.”

“Hey! I heard that!” Dante shouts from the first floor.

“Anyways, let me help you to choose better clothes for you!” Patty insists. “I don’t know who this girl is because Dante won’t tell me, but she seems special to you. You need to dress at your best! Impressing a girl on their first date is a must!”

“I’ll forgive your impudent attitude this time if you kindly close the door, Miss Lowell. I need to put some clothes on.”

Realizing that Vergil wears nothing but a towel wrapped on his waist, Patty flusters as she looks away and grabs the door knob violently. “Fine!”

The blue devil chuckles softly when he hears Patty goes downstairs and screams at Dante for whatever antics that he does right now. He searches through his wardrobe, pondering if Patty was right. And maybe she is. He’s about to blend into society, that means he needs to look less suspicious. He should wear something casual and humane.

Humans and their fashion. Even demons are much simpler.

He picks some clothes with a hope that he won’t look too ridiculous.

---

“Do you think he’s the type of person who brings flowers for a date?” Nate throws paper planes at Lyra’s direction, which she blocks it all with a book.

“Why do you insist that this is a date? We are friends. Friends go hang out sometimes.” Lyra says.

“Dammit, Lyre! You are older than me but I can’t believe you’re so clueless about this. Even idiots could tell that he likes you!”

Lyra groans desperately. “That’s it. That’s the problem of modern society. People nowadays confuse politeness with flirting!”

“Sometimes both work simultaneously! And that’s the case of Mr. Vergil. Sure, he’s polite to everyone even though he always looks like he wanted to kill someone. But he’s different with you; he’s not just polite, but kind. That’s two different things!”

Lyra half-heartedly listens to Nate’s babble; despite she already knows what is inside Nate’s mind. She knows what he means about Vergil being kind only to her, and Nate’s mind interprets how soft Vergil is whenever he’s around her. The thought of those forms of romanticism confuses her. Being a telepath, she has seen and listened into people’s minds for almost her entire life. She’s no stranger to the concept of love according to universal belief, yet she still doubts its existence.

Sometimes, what people think about something isn’t always synchronized with how they feel about it.

And speaking of which, I haven’t heard Nate’s thoughts since fifteen seconds ago...

“He’s here!” Nate declares as he looks up at the window near the front door. “Wait, uh... is it really him?”

“What?”

“He looks... different.” Nate mumbles. “And he didn’t bring flowers. Guess he’s not the flower type of guy.”

“On the contrary, he is.” Lyra takes a brief look at her appearance in the mirror and puts on eyeglasses before giving a wink at Nate. “See you tomorrow!”

“Now who’s excited about the date!?”

She giggles throughout her journey to the front door, only to be surprised when she opens the door and finds Vergil standing in front of her and about to open the door too. But today he looks stunningly different; he is wearing as black shirt beneath a navy-blue casual coat. His dark trousers make him look taller than usual. He changes his footwear into a pair of black chukka boots. Even with his usual warrior clothes, Vergil Sparda is already breathtakingly handsome. His casual look just enhances his majestic stature.

Lyra has never really given any attention to fashion, but now she can’t take her eyes off of him. “What’s with the sudden change in your sense of fashion?”

“You don’t like it?”

“I like it!” she blurts. “You look… so… normal”

“Is it just me or does it sound like an insult?”

“It’s a compliment!”

“... thank you, I suppose,” Vergil reluctantly scratches his nape. “Shall we go now?”

“Let’s!”

Lyra glares at Nate who’s giving her double thumbs up and loudly wishing her good luck before she closes the door.

“So,” the librarian walks side by side with Vergil. “Do you remember I mentioned that I purchased my devil arm at an antique shop?”

“Yes. What’s with that?”

“I think it’s a good place to start our quest. The shop sells antique weapons, jewelries, old books and trinkets. Perfect collection for Kyrie.”

“Very well. Where’s this shop located?”

“Nova Town.”

“It’s too far from here.”

“Lucky for us, you have Yamato.”

“I’m beginning to think that you see me as a mere means tool of transportation.”

“Maybe,” she winks playfully. “But you are too decent to be a mere tool, my dearest friend.”

The hybrid rolls his eyes, “Let’s find an empty alley first.”

---

“That was the first time I saw Lyra smiling like that,” Nate mutters at himself as he taps something on his cell phone. “Good for her! Ever since I saw their chemistry on the murder in the library weeks ago, I know they’re going to form a relationship soon!”

The twenty four years old librarian giggles at his own fantasy while drowning himself further into a mobile game he always plays whenever he has free time. He almost startled himself when the bell rings and a customer comes in. Nate abruptly pauses the game and greets the guest. “Welcome to The Literarium!”

The guest — a tall and ginger-haired man — returns Nate’s greeting with a nod. A suspicion arises in Nate’s head as he observes the man’s eyes that are covered with sunglasses. Why the hell does he wear sunglasses indoors? He continues to follow the man’s movement, which is also suspicious. The man seems detached from reality as he stares at one of the shelves quite long without really doing anything, not even touching the books. He walks slowly to another section, again without any interest in the books. The man seems eager to look for something as he repeatedly tilts his head to look outside the window, but Nate is certain that he’s not here for books. Then why bother coming here if he’s not interested in books? Nate clicks his pen anxiously. Paranoia begins to consume him. What if he wants to rob this place?!

The ginger-haired man approaches the sale section and finally picks a book. He looks at the cover briefly before heading to the counter. Nate fakes a polite smile when he scans the book— Lord of the Flies by William Golding— and forces himself to make a small talk. “Fine day, isn’t it?”

The man nods while giving Nate his money. “I agree.”

“You like allegorical one, huh?”

The man furrows his brow. “Sorry?”

Nate lifts the copy of Lord of the Flies . “You don’t know that Golding wrote one of the best allegorical novels all the time?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I only recognized it as one of the bestseller books,” the man chuckles. His laughter surprisingly sounds very friendly. “I picked it because the synopsis reminds me of the past.”

“Jesus, what a chaotic past you must have back then.” Nate gives him the book and his change.

“Quiet so,” the man flips the page, but Nate can sense he’s focusing on another thing. “By the way, the woman who wears eyeglasses… She came out from this place with a man about five minutes ago. Does she work here?”

Shit, another Lyra’s admirer. That explains my suspicion! “Yeah. You know her?”

“She looks like a person I used to know. Quite different, but I spot some similarities.”

“Maybe they are the same person?”

“The same person?” the man chuckles again as he closes the book. “That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

“She died years ago.”

“Oh, man… I’m so sorry...”

“It’s fine. She wasn’t related to me, just a person I knew. At first glance, your friend looks eerily similar to her,” the man’s face abruptly turns into doubt and anxious. Nate swears he can see his hands tremble. “I was terribly surprised when I saw your friend out there. I thought the woman I knew was alive again. What is the name? Your lady friend, I mean.”

“Louisa.” Nate lightly says his lie as soon as he’s aware of the man’s intention. I’m not doing anything wrong. Lyra told me to fake a name in case some flirty bastards ask me her name.

“Louisa, then. Pretty name,” the man seems pleased at Nate’s answer. “Thank you. Lovely library, anyway. Good day for you.”

“Thank you. Happy reading and have a good day!”

He’s different from any of Lyra’s secret admirers, Nate feels uneasy about the man’s strange attitude even though the man has already taken his leave. He makes a mental note to contact Lyra soon after he closes the library. “That guy looks like he’s about to plan something fishy. But I can’t disturb Lyra and Mr. Vergil right now.”

Nate grabs his cell phone and restarts the game with a hope that nothing bad would happen.

---

She’s strangely quiet today.

Ever since they arrived at Nova Town, Vergil catches something unusual from Lyra. She guides the way to the antique shop without talking to him but carefully watches her surroundings. But at the same time, she seems to lose her focus and sometimes stares blankly at something. They have been walking for almost 30 minutes and they haven’t arrived at the antique shop yet. Also, that’s not the only thing from her that is unusual... “You wear eyeglasses.”

“Huh?” Lyra automatically touches her eyeglasses. “Why? You don’t like a girl with eyeglasses?”

“I don’t dislike it.”

“You have a funny way to compliment others, don’t you?”

“I have never seen you wearing eyeglasses before. I thought I was looking at a completely different person when you opened the door earlier.”

“I always wear eyeglasses whenever I’m out to shop, just for aesthetic purposes. I’ll take it off if that makes you uncomfortable—”

“Please don’t. You look lovely with that.”

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome. Are we getting closer to the shop?”

“… I think so?”

Vergil stops abruptly, “Tell me we are not lost.”

“W-we’re not!” she stutters in panic. “I’m just having a little confusion here, because this town looks different from the last time I came here. It has only been two years and the town is already changing...”

“Are you even certain that we are in the right town?”

“One hundred percent certain!”

“Then tell me,” Vergil curves a devilish grin. “Is Nathaniel right? That you have a terrible sense of direction?”

A light blush blooms on Lyra’s face. “Uh... yeah— but we are in the right town! For real! Just because I have a terrible sense of direction, doesn’t mean I’m an idiot!”

“Yet we are lost, aren’t we?”

“We are not! See that monument over there? It’s the town’s icon. We just have to turn left to that road and the antique shop should be on the right corner.”

Vergil watches the monument that Lyra mentioned before he glances at her again with doubtful looks. “Alright, then. But why don’t you use… what is it again... GPS?”

“Later. I’m practicing my sense of direction by practicing my telepathic ability.”

“Does your telepathic ability have something to do with your sense of direction?”

“Since the murder in the library, I’m practicing to read people’s mind whenever you’re around me because your magical defense blocks my telepathic ability. Normally, all I need to do is just focus on their minds and find out if some of them have knowledge of the place I’m about to go.”

“Why bother? You still can read minds by touching their body parts.”

“That’s impractical! Not everyone wants to be touched. Just imagine if I need to touch a person with haphephobia.”

“I thought you like it when you don’t have to read minds anymore.”

“Just in case of an emergency. Who knows if we would find any strange cases again, or if I’m stuck with Dante and there’s an urgent situation where I’m required to smuggle into someone’s head.”

“Hold on. Your telepathy doesn’t work on Dante too?”

“I guess the power of Sparda includes protection from telepaths.”

“I see. Now I understand,” Vergil scoffs. “The reason why you were awfully quiet since we stepped in this town is that you tried to practice your telepathic ability to find out the antique shop’s direction, so you won’t embarrass yourself in front of me because you have poor sense of direction and you think having to use GPS would make you look unreliable as a guide.”

Lyra hides her hands behind her back and stares at the ground, which to Vergil indicates that everything he said is true and that she’s embarrassed to admit it. To be very honest, he doesn’t think that Lyra does something wrong. He just wants to clarify things behind her unusual behavior, but it unconsciously sounds like he’s scolding her for her little secret.

“Just use the GPS if you need it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. That won’t make me think less of you.”

Lyra seems to hesitate at first, but eventually shrugs and takes her phone out from her bag. Vergil quietly smirks at her surrender.

“Fortunately, we’re on the right track!” She shows Vergil the map. “Thank you for your encouragement, Vergil. That’s the longest advice you ever said to me.”

He shrugs it off. “I guess that’s what friends are for.”

“Still, that means a lot to me.”

“Just forget it. Then how’s your practice going?”

“Still doing my best. The first time I tried to read someone’s mind without touching them whenever you were around me, it was all nothing. But now I can see blurry images and hear buzzing sound!” She smiles at him, her eyes beam as she points at the rustic shop at the corner of the street. “Look! We've arrived!”

When Vergil enters the antique shop, he expects the shopkeeper to greet them with unstoppable pestering offers like all the shopkeepers normally do. That’s why he hates shopping. Thankfully the shopkeeper is sleeping on the counter, like she doesn’t care if someone steals one of the items. The shop itself is quiet and the goods are all unique. The problem is, Vergil doesn’t know where to start searching. There are many items that Vergil puts a certain degree of interest in—necklaces, bracelets, clocks, paintings—but he doesn’t think that it would be useful or meaningful to Kyrie. He starts to think about Dante’s suggestion to give her a weapon for self-protection. It seems easier than this endless searching.

“Do you know the biggest dilemma when it comes to shopping? You expect to find a certain thing, but when you’re in the shop, suddenly you’re not sure what to buy anymore.” Lyra chuckles at Vergil’s confused expression.

“Evidently,” Vergil picks an antique revolver. “I think I want to give her a weapon.”

“Is Kyrie an excellent combatant?”

“She can take care of herself, though she still needs a lot of practice, but she won’t survive a second if she had to fight multiple opponents.”

“Mmmm... okay but... how about something for protection from the demons?”

“That will do. It’s way more practical and useful.”

“Alright. Let’s ask the shopkeeper.”

Vergil points his chin at the counter. “She’s sleeping.”

“I’ll wake her up.” Lyra fixates her focus on the shopkeeper until she slowly raises her head from the counter table and rubs her eyes.

Vergil almost couldn’t hide his amusement. She can wake someone up from slumber? How advanced is her ability actually?

The shopkeeper yawns loudly. “Welcome. How can I help y’all?”

“We’re looking for an item for protection from demons. Do you have anything suitable for that?” Lyra asks.

The shopkeeper looks straight to Lyra’s eyes, then to Vergil’s. She sighs as she walks to the weapon cabinet. “I don’t have much of that, but I have this one. Take a look.” she mumbles, handing Lyra a red music box. The music box looks captivating with a rose pattern carved on the box. When Lyra opens the music box, Vergil recognizes the box is playing Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier.

“Lovely, but I don’t see what’s so special about the music box,” Vergil mutters his doubt.

“Easy, dude. Push the button near the mirror to open the secret room behind it.”

Lyra does the exact instruction until the secret room is opened and reveals a golden bracelet inside.

“What’s that for?” Lyra asks.

“It will glow red whenever there's demons nearby,” the shopkeeper lights her cigarette and walks back to the counter. “When the bracelet glows, you press it and close your eyes, because it will cast a very blinding light. It’ll blind and burn demons and that’s the best time for you to run away.”

Lyra glances at Vergil, who’s examining the music box and the bracelet. She holds her giggle when she notices that the bracelet glows in red when Vergil holds it and abruptly puts it back to the secret room behind the mirror before the shopkeeper notices it.

“I guess the bracelet couldn’t distinguish demons and cambions,” she whispers to him.

“This should be fine,” Vergil forms a satisfied grin. “It has both protection advantage and aesthetical function. Perfect.”

“You take that?!” the shopkeeper shouts eagerly.

“Yes,” Vergil replies. “Is there a money-back guarantee in case the item doesn’t properly work?”

“This is an antique shop, dude. Some items might not working at all—”

“I believe I don’t have to repeat myself.” Vergil insists.

The shopkeeper gulps at Vergil’s unspeakable death threat within his icy eyes, knowing that there’s no use to argue with a man like Vergil. “Dammit, fine! Now can I get my money?”

Lyra howls with laughter, “Blimey, you are a terrifying customer.”

Vergil grins in pride as he heads to the counter.

---

The birthday party will begin in an hour, but Vergil chooses to spend the rest of the time with Lyra at the Sparda Manor. During the day time, they only meet in the library. That makes their little adventure today seem rare... and fun. Lyra buys them ice creams at the end of their journey in Nova Town. She can’t hold her laughter when she catches Vergil’s eyes sparking in childish interest as he holds his ice cream once the magic portal opens its way to the Manor.

“The shopkeeper was different from the one whom I met two years ago. He was nice and helpful,” Lyra murmurs, licking her bubblegum ice cream. “Guess he didn’t work there anymore. We get a sleepyhead instead.”

Vergil says nothing as he examines his blueberry ice cream cone. His memory of V eating cheeseburger hits him. “Why do humans think that creating something messy is a good idea?”

“It’s called innovation, Vergil.”

“Messy innovation.”

“As long as people like it, it is considered as a great innovation.”

He finally gives up and chomps his ice cream. “This is not bad.”

“Tell me this is not your first time eating ice cream.”

“I might be inexperienced in human lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean I never tasted ice cream.”

It’s strange, Vergil recalls the moment when they used to be strangers before Almagest helped them to get closer. Now they stand side by side and talk about stuff like old friends to the point where he could never get enough of her companionship. He lets her wander around his childhood house, even if he barely calls it a house now. He lets out a silent chuckle when she lifts a pile of rocks up to the air just to see what hides behind it, only to find another ruins and she’s slightly disappointed.

“For a second I thought your father was Johann Sebastian Bach.” Lyra looks up at Sparda’s family painting.

“You are not the first person who said that.”

She laughs. “Oh look at you… stoic since you were born. And I already got a picture on Dante being impatient while the painter kept asking him to stand still.”

“Pretty much correct. He complained how itchy his feet were at the end of the session.”

“Your mother was gorgeous,” Lyra admires Eva’s angelic stature. “No wonder Sparda fell for her.”

Vergil forms a wistful smile. “She was.”

“This painting reminds me of The Picture of Dorian Gray .”

“Pray tell, why?”

“Dorian sold his soul to the devil for eternal youth, and it decayed his self-portrait painting every time he did a sin. Of course your family portrait is a different case, but you see, your mother’s face is the only one that didn’t get burned by fire. It’s like a sign that she was the only human in the family…”

“And the rest of the family members were cursed by the evil blood that ran in their veins. That’s why the faces of the three of us were burned. That’s a picturesque perspective.”

“I didn’t say that demon is always evil—”

“I know. Still, it’s a good metaphor. Haven’t thought of it myself.”

“Why don’t you take the painting with you? People keep their family portrait in their house.”

“Dante and I agreed to leave it here as a sign that this mansion once belonged to our family. Besides, I can’t imagine such a painting to be hanged on the shop’s soiled wall. It would be a disgrace for the painting itself.”

“Now that you mentioned it, I think you are right.”

Lyra continues to lift some rocks and put it back carefully once she finds nothing interesting.. “Have you been in there again after you escaped the Underworld with Dante?”

“To collect mementos, yes. Though, as you can see, nothing much was left since Urizen destroyed the whole city. Not to mention almost all parts of the house were destroyed or blocked by pillars and huge stones. We tried to remove them, but it’d cause a domino effect throughout the manor and demolish it completely.” 

“How did it feel to visit your childhood home again?”

Vergil swallows his ice cream at once. He puts a handkerchief out from his coat and wipes his lips. “It felt mostly heartbreaking.”

“I see,” Lyra nods and gives Vergil a light pat on his shoulder. “Not everyone could even come back to the place where their trauma began. Not that it’s necessary. I just found it encouraging.”

“Speaking of memento, what was the most valuable present you had ever received?” Vergil curiously asks.

“Oh, we start to have a small talk now?”

“I thought we agreed to trust each other, don’t we? Then we should start from mundane things.”

“Alright. Make sense. Let me recall it… mmmm… oh right! A lyre!”

“You play lyre? Amazing.”

“I thought you were about to say ironic.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“You know, a lyre plays a lyre.”

Vergil smirks, recalling her remark on their previous little adventure, “You’re right. It’s ironically amazing.”

The librarian rolls her eyes as she bites the ice cream cone. “My mum bought me one for my fifth birthday. It only lasted for two months before I asked her to give me a harp for the next birthday.”

“Did she finally buy you a harp?”

“She didn’t.”

“Why?”

“She died before my next birthday.”

Vergil immediately stared at Lyra’s sullen eyes. “I’m terribly sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay,” she smiles at him, chewing the last part of her cone. “It was a long time ago.”

Lyra has so many things she hides behind her amicable demeanor, and Vergil should’ve feel relieved because after all these months, Lyra finally opens up a little bit about her family, yet he doesn’t feel it at all.

“Were you close with your mother?” Vergil’s tone is full of consideration.

Lyra taps her fingers on her chin. “I guess so. We only had each other.”

“… How did she… die?”

The librarian smirks at him. “If I told you she fell from the tree, would you believe me?”

“Only if that’s the truth.”

She goes silent for a while, seeming unwilling to continue her story. She opens an empty drawer, looking at nothingness for a while. “You might’ve heard about her.”

“Your mother?”

“Uh-uh,” Lyra nods calmly, but Vergil senses a slight hesitation. “Her name was Asteria Crescent.”

Impossible! “The award-winning astronomer?”

“Astrobiologist, yes.”

“I see. That explains your fondness of astronomy.”

The first time Vergil heard about Asteria Crescent was when he was eleven years old, still homeless and constantly moved out from place to place in search of power. Asteria’s groundbreaking research of modern astrobiology broke the news. Her discovery led the scientists to rethink human’s position in this world and question the exact location of the Underworld in the known universe, considering demons as an extraterrestrial creature with its own origin and evolution. Demons and magic are inseparable, but Asteria Crescent was brave to make a further step to explain demonology in a scientific approach. Science and magic are two sides of a coin , Vergil recalls her statements. Science just has yet to understand magic.

“Asteria was a Titan goddess of falling stars and nighttime divinations. That suited her very well,” Lyra chuckles bitterly, swinging her hand to lift a pile of ruins back to its place. “I once wondered why she didn’t name me Hecate, daughter of Asteria and goddess of witchcraft. Maybe at that time, she didn’t have a thought that someday I’ll develop this… psychic ability.”

“The media never reported anything regarding her cause of death. It happened all so sudden, they said.”

“They always spoke highly of her. But when she died, they turned the story into rumors and gossip.”

“So did she fall from the tree?”

“She did fall.”

“But not from the tree.”

Vergil’s demonic eyes catch Lyra’s body slightly flinching, but she maintains her calmness and fakes a smile. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you further about your private life.”

“You entrusted me your biggest secret. I intend to do so. I’m just… not ready to open up, but I know that I want to.”

“When I said that we should try to trust each other, I didn't mean that you should abruptly open yourself to me.”

“Too late. Now you know I’m the daughter of a dead astrobiologist.”

“Why did you change your surname then?”

Lyra stops and gazes at Vergil. She seems anxious while glancing at her surroundings carefully, as if she’s afraid that someone else would hear them. Vergil slightly bows his body when Lyra whispers in his ear.

“I’m being hunted.”

The furrow on Vergil’s brow is going deeper. “By whom?”

“Someone who wants to abuse my power. That’s why I need to change my surname and hang out around wearing eyeglasses, so people won’t find out about my identity.”

For a moment, they stand still there, staring at each other’s eyes to find some clues. It’s logical that Lyra’s unique ability would attract power-seekers, be it humans or demons. Vergil knows it too well; the danger of possessing a greater power. A part of him wants to believe her words…

If only he failed to spot a subtle grin on the corner of her lips.

I would be absolutely fooled by her deception, Vergil grunts discontentedly. "You are lying, aren’t you?”

Lyra’s laughter echoes throughout the lake.

Vergil snarls at her unstoppable giggle. "Quite a jester, I see.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

Vergil doesn’t bother to reply, because he knows it would lead to another bickering. He doesn’t try to hide his amused smile too, even though Lyra teases him about the ‘sly devil smile’. To be honest, he couldn’t care less. He just wants to see her smile, her true smile.

Like the way she’s smiling right now.

“Do you want to have a look at the lake?” Vergil offers, trying to lift the mood. “There’s nothing left to see here.”

“Sure!”

They sit on the cobblestone pier in the lake while admiring the twilight sky. It’s Vergil’s favorite place, ever since he was a child. This place has changed; there are no more Qliphoth roots left and there are several trees and wildflowers growing on the land. The lake no longer contains human blood. It’s mesmerizing how fast time flies and changes the entire city.

“I used to spend my days here, reading and playing with Dante,” Vergil says. “We loved being here more than staying indoors.”

“I can see the reason. It’s bloody beautiful here.” Lyra mutters her admiration. She taps her fingers on the cobblestone playfully, causing a small rift in the lake.

“Dante once pushed me to the lake because we fought over a chocolate bar,” Vergil recalls one of his precious memories. “I pretended to be drowned. He pulled me out of the water and cried, pleaded to me for not leaving him alone and that he’s sorry. Promised me that he won’t disturb me again. Right when he shook my body to wake me up, I pushed him to the lake but he managed to drag me with him.”

Lyra can’t hold her howls of laughter. She chortles until her stomach hurts and her throat gets sore. Vergil swears he never saw her laughing like this. “I’m sorry— I— HAHAHAHAHA!”

“Lower your voice,” Vergil grunts. He starts to regret his decision for rambling about his childhood antics just to get rid of Lyra’s gloomy face. “You might end up choking yourself to death.”

“ Pfffftttt!”

“Will you shut up?!”

“Sorry!” Lyra bites her thumb to hold her cackle but fails. “I just… bwahahaha! It seems that ‘never hold a grudge to the people who wronged you’ is true!”

Vergil pulls her thumb away from her teeth, caressing her reddened thumb. “A little deeper, you would bleed your thumb.”

The careful touch from Vergil distracts Lyra for a while. It’s the first time he holds her without gloves on, and it surprises her how soft his palm is despite the fact that he is a warrior who wields various weapons. Her thumb slips lightly from his palm. “Even if I bleed, I got your Lucy Pevensie’s cordial to heal me.”

Vergil sighs heavily as he removes some strands of Lyra’s hair from her forehead. “I gave it to you for an emergency case only. The cordial was made mostly from demon’s blood, mixed with rare herbs and some complicated spells to make it suitable for human’s bodies. Even the bottle was made from demon’s materials to prevent physical damage. Trish produced only a few bottles of cordial, so use it wisely.”

“I will,” Lyra picks out the cordial bottle from her bag and shows it to Vergil. “See? I haven’t used it since Capulet.”

“Put it back into your bag before it slipped from your hand and fell into the lake.”

“Alright alright! Why do you sound a lot like my mother?” Lyra puts the bottle back into her bag.

“You are clumsy and easily distracted. I have to keep my eyes on you every time. It’s rather distressing.”

“I can take care of myself!” Lyra lays a punch on Vergil’s chest. “Remember, I weakened Phantom last week, so you devil twins could kill that spider easily!”

The cambion smirks disdainfully to her weak strike. He puts something off from the back of his coat and hands it to Lyra. It’s an old book with a black leatherbound with the title engraved in a beautiful golden emboss. “Your payment for escorting me today.”

Lyra observes the front cover with beaming eyes. “The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe...”

“It’s one of the mementos I brought from the Manor. I reckon you would love Poe, given to your fondness of horror and mystery.”

“Then I have to refuse! It’s yours!”

“I believe I made myself clear when I said the book is for you.”

Lyra was about to refuse again, but quickly zip her mouth when Vergil glared at her with his terrifying and undeniable gaze. He won’t take any ‘no’ from her. She flips the pages, and something almost falls from the book before Lyra catches it quickly; an antique necklace with an obsidian pendant. She takes a closer look at the pendant and recognizes the familiar white, shiny dots pattern on it— the Lyra constellation.

“… did you pick this one too from the manor?” Lyra asks carefully.

“… it was from the antique shop.”

“I didn’t see you strolling around the jewelry section.”

“It was displayed on the counter. Nothing special. Just normal jewelry. The pattern just reminded me of you—”

Vergil can’t finish his sentence because Lyra wraps her arms between his waist, locking him in a tight embrace. He can feel the strange, but comfortable warmth fills his body as he returns to hug her without hesitation. Her body is so small and shorter compared to his height that he needs to bow slightly in order to balance the embrace. He loves her scent— a strange mixture of peach, black tea and old roses— and quietly inhales the intoxicating fragrance from her hair. He feels like he could do this all day.

“Thank you,” Lyra’s murmur vibrates his chest. “I’ll cherish this forever.”

“It's just a book and a necklace.”

“These are the best presents since the lyre from my mum!” she chuckles. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually hug people around.”

“Neither do I.”

“So let us hug a bit longer, shall we?”

“It looks like I have no choices but to comply.”

For a moment, they banish their distrusts about each other, breaking the adamant barrier and wishing the time to stop ticking.

---

Yesterday, Lyra dreamt of a boy who wanders around a big house.

She thought it was just a meaningless dream, at least until she realized that she was the boy himself. She looked at her— his — reflection in the mirror; the little boy was handsome with swept back silver hair and a black pajama. His serious and grumpy expression reminded of someone she couldn’t remember yet. She— the boy —wandered off around a big and dark house. It wasn’t her own intention; like her movement was controlled by someone else. She opened a chamber and let herself in. There was a woman who lay unconscious on the bed. Lyra could see traces of tears on the woman’s sullen face. Her body forced her to lift the quilt to cover the woman’s body and tip-toed herself out from the room.

When she was about to go back to her room, she heard a wheezing cry and followed the voice to the main hall. It didn’t take her too long to find out the source of the voice as her hand reached to open a white drawer, where another little boy with the same silver hair cried inside it.

“Vergil…” that little boy stared at her with a turbulent sob coming out from his mouth. “Father… you… you d-d-don’t believe that he died… r-right?”

I am…Vergil?

Does that mean that this crying boy… Dante?

The next thing Lyra remembered was she woke up with tears stream down her face like a waterfall, soaking her pillow. She was sure the sadness she felt in the entire dream wasn’t hers, but Vergil and Dante’s. She was going to tell Vergil about her strange dream when she saw the exact same white drawer in her dream at Sparda Manor, but she thought she was biased. Vergil had told her about how devastated his family was when they heard that Sparda was deceased, and her dream must be just her brain playing a trick to her.

But then she thought, Vergil never told me that he found Dante hiding and crying in that draw…

Tonight, Lyra falls into another strange dream. Even weirder and scarier. A titanic, god-like demon tortured her in the most unimaginably painful way. Her entire body was chained and spiked. The demon was merciless. His face was full of disgust and hatred as he spat her insults and penetrated her head with dreadful illusions she couldn’t even envision. He kept calling her “disgraceful offspring of the traitor Sparda”. It was only then she realized that she wasn’t herself, but Vergil.

Lyra fights herself to wake up, and is barely successful. The dream is too visceral that she almost still can feel the pain all over the body as she opens her eyes. Her back is wet from her own sweat.

Why do I keep dreaming of him? Moreover, I never experienced this kind of pain…

Does it have something to do with our accidental mind link on that day? Strange things have happened since then...

Her wave of thoughts are interrupted by the sudden thirst in her throat. She snaps her fingers and the light from the lamp brightens the bedroom. The door cracks slowly to open its way for Lyra. The librarian walks with leaden steps as she rubs her sleepy eyes. She almost stumbled upon a chair when she entered the kitchen.

“A cuppa sounds delightful to cure nightmares,” Lyra mumbles at herself, swinging her hand to summon a cup from the drawer. The cup flies and lands right in front of her, but she makes no further movement but staring blankly at the cup. Her body is still shivering by the imaginary pain from her nightmare.

“From all the people in the world, why does it have to be Vergil? This mind link is vexing me...”

The harsh cry of a raven causes Lyra to glance over the kitchen’s window. She curves a light smile while opening the window and lets a little raven enter her house. The raven lands on her shoulder for a while before flying around the house and lands on the kitchen counter.

“Where have you been, Corvus? Haven’t seen you for days!” Lyra greets the raven.

The little bird tilts its head and squawks. Lyra giggles as she pats the raven’s head. “Hey look. My friend gave his poem book to me and one of the titles is The Raven. I like it, by the way. And I’ve been thinking about him lately, even dreaming about him. To be honest, it’s disturbing. Do you think I should invite him here and tell him the truth?”

The raven gives her a nod.

“You are right. A cuppa is best served with a friend, don’t you think?”

Corvus flaps its wings eagerly. The black bird flies around Lyra’s head before making its way outside the house.

“Leaving already? You haven’t eaten yet!” Lyra shouts at the raven. “Alright then, send my regard to your girlfriend!”

Corvus squawks something like a curse, causing Lyra to barks in laughter. She heads back to the counter as she turns on the radio to entertain her confusing state of mind, picking the channel telepathically until she finds her favourite channel. She listens to the song while summoning her phone from the bedroom, tapping the screen until Vergil’s contact name pops on the screen.

Down in the willow garden

Where me and my love did meet

As we sat a-courtin'

My love fell off to sleep

I had a bottle of burgundy wine

My love, she did not know

So I poisoned that dear little girl

On the banks below

I drew a saber through her

It was a bloody knife

I threw her in the river

Which was a dreadful sign

“By Jove, that song is sinister,” Lyra chuckles darkly. Her solemn face is turning pale. “As for the poisoned little girl… well…”

She clicks Vergil’s name, waiting for the devil to answer with fingers tangled between the black pendant on her neck, hoping half-heartedly that he wouldn’t pick her call.

~~~

A/N : the song mentioned at the end of the chapter is “Down In The Willow Garden” by The Everly Brothers.

Tagging : @drusoona @harlot-of-oblivion @queenmuzz @shiranyaaww @andieperrie18 @rubixa-seraph @blooddrop-palace (I honestly forgot who to tag, so if you want to be tagged just send you reply or DM me! XD)

Masterlist | AO3

#devil may cry fanfiction #vergil x reader #vergil x oc #vergil x lyra #vergil #dante #nero #lyra #vergil x original character #original character #developing relationship #mystery #tales of apotelesma #spark of stardust #night writes

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