#originally I had the room closed off but the sunrise colors drew me in ..... i couldn't resist......

[artiquar]

my dear penelope, we've twenty lost years of love to make up for.

[jjmaybud]

sunrise | drew starkey

summary: you get a job writing for outer banks and get close to the cast, one more than the others.

pairing(s): drew starkey x fem!reader, fem!reader x platonic!outer banks cast, fem!reader x little!brother

word count: 3.36k

warning(s): fluff, swearing, alcohol use.

author’s note: I had the cutest idea when I was taking a power nap. this is my first time writing an imagine as well as my first time posting something like it on tumblr. I hope you like it. (Y/B/N=your brother’s name.)

It was your first day on the set of Outer Banks. You had already got through the hard part of working with the original writers on the script for the new season. You were quite young compared to the other writers, being in your early to mid-twenties, and the only woman. You were pretty stunned that you had gotten a call about their wanting your creative insights.

You had already met the cast and loved every single one of them. Since you were now a writer, you were present during their script reading and offered help when it was needed. Each member treated you with love and respect, and you loved that you were able to fit right in. Madison Bailey made sure to come up to congratulate you on landing the job because “we needed a female perspective too, fuck the patriarchy.” The both of you high fived because, hell yeah, girl power.

You intently watched as each actor read through their script. The chemistry between each of them was magical, and you couldn’t believe you were able to witness it first hand. As your eyes scanned the room, you’d make the occasional eye contact with Drew Starkey, the actor who played Rafe Cameron. A shared, polite smile came from the both of you each time you noticed your eyes locked.

Drew proved easily that he was nothing like his character, not that you thought he was, by coming up to you directly after the reading was over to introduce himself.

He held out his hand and stated his name. You took his hand in yours, giving him a firm handshake and noticing how warm his hand was without the sweat or claminess.

“Y/N,” you introduced yourself in turn, even though he already knew who you were from the beginning of the meeting when they introduced you. “I’ve seen a few of your other works, too. I think you are a perfect cast for Rafe.”

A modest blush appeared on his cheeks as he grinned. The conversation went on a few more moments, but there were a couple other cast members who wanted to get a few words in with you.

Now, you were standing on set, watching Rudy and Madison shoot a particularly serious scene that you had a good hand in writing. Rudy’s character, JJ, was talking about the reality of being a Pogue. That you were born poor and eventually died poor. That the gold was his chance to not die living the same life he’s always had. The sun was setting, and it would add to the dramatic effect of his words cinematically. JJ’s monologue hit close to home, as it did when you wrote it, and you had to walk away to have a moment.

Drew’s scene had just wrapped, and he was done for the day. He found you walking past where the scene had taken place and watched you step up on a sandbank to get on higher ground, making sure you weren’t in anyone’s way. As the day’s final rays of sunshine slowly disappeared, he saw your left hand in the air to hold onto it for as long as you could before it was gone and it was left lighting up the rest of the sky in an orange hue. Your hand fell and both of them placed themselves on your jean cladded hip. He didn’t know how you were handling the heat in jeans even though they had large rips in the front. The peach colored tank top was the only thing that made sense. Your head fell back with your eyes closed, and he could hear the sigh from where he was standing.

It dawned on him that he was staring at you.

To make it less awkward, he made his way up the sandbank to stand next to you. He noticed the sweat and realized you actually weren’t handling the heat as well as he thought. When he noticed the tear in the corner of your eye, he looked out towards the horizon respectfully. He watched as boats were sailing back to shore from their day’s worth of fun in the ocean and as lights flickered on along the boardwalks.

You knew someone was standing beside you as you had your moment. Their arm brushed your elbow in the humid air when they first came up to you. You could smell their cologne and deduced that it was Drew. Somehow, from the first time you had met, you stored the way he smelt in the back of your mind. It was quiet as a small breeze picked up, blowing the hairs that had escaped from your ponytail and the sand stuck to your exposed legs. It did little to cool the two of you down.

You knew he was waiting for you to speak, not wanting to intrude on your moment of solitude.

“I grew up poor in a small, middle-class town in the middle of corn fields,” you began, not opening your eyes or lifting your head. You could feel Drew’s eyes on the side of your face as you confessed your change of mood. You were ecstatic to be where you were, working alongside great writers, directors, and actors, and had the same energy all throughout the day. No matter what was thrown at you—a scene didn’t work the way you thought, a scene needed to be added to smooth out some awkward cuts between other scenes, an actor needed help getting to the frame of mind the scene needed—you took it in strides and was up for the challenge. “Dreaming is the only way to get out of there. And I did. I dreamed of all the ways I could get out of that stupid town. Picked something I was good at. Stuck with it. Stayed angry until I made it. And today—”

You opened your eyes and turned to look into Drew’s. You managed to keep eye contact for a few moments before you got too shy and turned to look at the cast and crew milling about.

“Watching Rudy do his scene made me realize—”

“You made it,” Drew interrupted, making you turn back to him. Tears gathered in your eyes, and his facial expressions softened.

You nod, “And I don’t have to be angry anymore.”

You started to laugh and wiped the tears away as best as you could, but the gates had opened. Drew aw’d and pulled you into his chest while wrapping his arms around your shoulders despite the heat.

“Group hug?” You heard Rudy yell. The sound of his feet scraping against pavement before silence as he trudged up the sandbank and wrapped his arms around you and Drew. “Group hug, everybody!”

You turned your head in time to see Chase, Madelyn, Madison, and JD racing towards the three of you—the other cast members were either already in their trailers or gone for the day. You felt Rudy lay his head between the top of yours and Drew’s chest, humming in satisfaction. Madelyn beat the other three, and she found the perfect spot on your other side, laying her head on Drew’s arm and looking down at you with a smile. You smiled back at her but was blocked from seeing where everyone else had ended up.

After enough seconds passed where you were sweating worse than before, JD asked from behind you, “Why are we group hugging?”

“I have no idea. I saw Drew and Y/N start it,” Rudy answered.

You catch Madelyn wiggling her eyebrows causing you to laugh.

Drew cleared up the confusion and said, “She had the moment.”

A chorus of “ah’s” erupted through the group, and you sunk deeper into Drew’s chest. Heat swam from your neck up into your cheeks, and it wasn’t because of the weather.

“Don’t worry,” Chase said from somewhere behind Rudy. “We all had that moment at some point.”

A few more seconds passed of you being sandwiched between everyone’s sweaty bodies before you couldn’t take it anymore.

“Alright, alright. I can’t do it. I’m going to sweat my skin off if we keep touching each other,” you announced. Everyone was thankful for your outburst as they quickly pulled away and tried to air themselves out. Your hands went to your chest as you tried to wipe away the excess sweat build up. You saw Drew tugging his shirt open and close to air out his chest, and that’s when you noticed the cleavage shaped sweat spot on his shirt. “Oh, shit. You don’t have any more scenes today, do you?”

You started to quietly laugh as you grabbed his shirt to inspect the mark you made. Your eyes turned up to look him in the face and found a smile on his face as he looked down on you. You felt your cheeks heat up once again.

“Nope, you got lucky. You would’ve had to explain to wardrobe why I had to change my shirt.”

You tried to shove him away, but he only budged a little and that was just because of the unstable sand beneath the two of you.

∴∵∴∵∴∵∴

“Okay, what are the rules?” You asked your little brother as you prepared to host the cast at your apartment. It was one of the few weekends where the cast and the crew had a few days off to recuperate. Your teenage brother had been begging to come down to meet the cast and see how his favorite show was being made since he found out you would not only be writing for the new season but on set of filming.

“Don’t be weird, and don’t hit on the girls.”

“Good.” You grabbed an oven mitt and reached into the oven to pull out the pig-in-a-blanket you’d made for the get together. As you were doing this, there was a knock on the door. “Y/B/N, could you get that?”

You put the pan on the stove as your brother opened the door. You heard your friends before you saw them. Cheers erupted from them as they saw your brother and a mixture of handshaking and hugging went around as they shuffled in.

Drew was one of the first inside your apartment. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and jeans in the cool, air conditioned apartment complex. In his hand was a six pack of beer, and he looked around for the kitchen before laying his eyes on you. A smile broke out on both of your faces as your eyes met.

Over the month of shooting, the two of you had been getting closer. You had exchanged numbers with most of the cast, but he was the only one you had been texting every day. Most of it was what you considered harmless flirting as you sent cheesy pickup lines, memes, and song suggestions, but you didn’t really know where your relationship with him was heading. You wanted to keep it professional, but you couldn’t deny what your heart was telling you.

The both of you stepped towards each other.

“Hey, Y/N. Thought you said your little brother was coming to town?” Drew teased, pointing out the fact that your little brother was, in fact, closer to Drew’s size than your own.

You stood up straighter and stood on the tips of your toes as you flexed your exposed arms to seem bigger.

“What do you mean? Can’t you tell I’m bigger?” You kept this up until you were able to chest bump him. It hurt you more than it did him. The sound of your laughs rumbled through each other’s chest as you hugged. It didn’t slip your mind how much closer your lips were when you stood on your tiptoes.

The night went on, more drinks went around, games were played—including a game of monopoly split up so it was girls vs pogues vs kooks where they were trying to see who was actually better at handling money. The girls won. You sat near Drew, and there were enough “accidental” touches that your little brother, who was sitting diagonal from you by Deion and Madelyn, was picking up on the vibe that he had not been aware of beforehand.

It was going on four in the morning before you noticed that your little brother was slumped into the chair he was sitting on, his head bobbed with sleep. The group lost Deion, Austin, and Madison, but everyone else was still going pretty hard. Drew’s participation in the group’s discussion got quieter, but you could tell it was because his eyes were getting heavier as he sunk further into the couch. You finished the rest of your beer before standing up to convince your brother to move to your bedroom. It wouldn’t hurt for you to sleep on the couch or the floor.

When you came back, the energy of the group died down as they realized just how tired they were as well.

“Damn, four in the morning. You know how to throw a party, Y/L/N,” Chase said as he pulled Madelyn up off the floor. JD was at the door trying to pull on his shoes while standing up but kept losing his balance. Eventually, he just gave up. Rudy was passed out in between the couch and the coffee table with half of his body under the table. Drew’s eyes were closed, his hands clasped on his stomach, and his feet planted on the floor with Rudy’s legs under him.

“And we didn’t even have to leave the building,” you laughed. You hugged the three friends as they were the only ones prepared to leave—with the exception of JD who decided to just carry his shoes. Once they left your apartment, you stumbled in your slightly intoxicated state to the coffee table and picked up all the empty beer bottles. As quietly as you could, you dumped the trash in the garbage can before getting into the fridge to grab yourself another beer.

You walked over to the door leading to your balcony. The beer in your hand almost slipped out of your grip when you heard Drew’s voice from behind you.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice soft but still too loud in the quiet room.

“I’m gonna drink one more out on the balcony. Wanna come?”

It took him a second, but he eventually nodded his head and prepared to lift himself without waking Rudy. When he was finally on his feet, he stumbled slightly making you laugh quietly. A tired smile played on his lips at the sound. You held the door open for him before sitting down on the bench pressed against the window on your small balcony. Drew sat down next to you and allowed you to rest your legs over his lap. His hands found your bare calves, and he rubbed his thumbs on the exposed skin. You opened your beer and sipped it as you stared out to the dark sky. It was a comfortable silence until Drew noticed the little chill tremors shooting through your body.

“Cold?” You nodded which prompted him to pull off his grey sweatshirt to give to you.

“You don’t—” Your words stop in your throat as he holds the sweatshirt out to you. You sit up and hand him your beer to hold as you pull the sweatshirt over your head. It was a great deal larger than you, and your hands swam in the sleeves, but you loved the way his cologne engulfed you.

After you were situated back with your drink, Drew said, “Your brother’s cool.”

You smiled, “Yeah?” He nodded. “I told him not to be weird. He’s a big fan of the show.”

Drew smiled a dopey smile and teased, “Turns out he ain’t the only one.” Your brows furrowed in confusion which only made him smile bigger. “You were quoting Outer Banks the entire night.”

Your eyes widened, “I didn’t!”

He laughed out loud and nodded his head, “You did. No one really noticed because we do it too sometimes.”

There’s a pause before you deadpan, “I must’ve been under duress.”

He threw his head back this time as he laughed and you giggled watching him. The banter went back and forth effortlessly as time went on, and Drew’s hand had made its way up to your knee. You noticed the sky was lighting up from the pitch black it had been.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual sunrise,” you admitted, taking the last sip of your bottle and placed it on the ground.

“How is that?”

You shrugged, “I mean technically I’ve never seen it rise from the horizon. I always had too many trees in the way.”

It was quiet for a few minutes as you watched the sky become brighter and brighter. You really wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise from here either. Your apartment faced the wrong way.

“The beach is just down the street,” Drew pointed out. “We could get there before sunrise.”

“Really?” Drew nodded.

The next thing you knew, the two of you were racing down the street in order to beat the sun. The two of you giggling as you more so than Drew stumbled down the street. Laughs filled the air as you launched yourself over a bench to land on the sandy beach. The sky was much brighter, and there was only a few minutes left before the sun would be peeking over the Atlantic Ocean. The breeze was cooler in the morning, and you turned into Drew’s side to keep yourself warm, holding his arm close to your body.

The first rays of sun poked through and all thoughts of your warmth washed away from your mind. Stepping closer to the rolling waves, you raised your left hand to the sky. Similar to what you’d done the first day on set during sunset. Drew had asked you why you did it, and you told him it was because you wanted to be the last one to say goodbye before it came back tomorrow.

Unbeknownst to you, Drew held his hand up to the sky with you. He wanted to know why it was important to you. What went through you that made this simple gesture needed? The sun finally peaked up from behind the horizon. You looked up to see the sun caressing your hand as if to say good morning to you. Your eyes fell back to the sunrise as a smile spread across you lips.

You felt someone’s fingers intertwined with yours, and you turned to see Drew with his hand held up to hold yours. You glanced at your hands as the sun danced down your arms and enveloped his face in its rays. Your breath hitched in your throat as you brought your hands down next to you. The two of you turned your bodies so they were facing each other and watched the sun lighten up your features.

His blue eyes were soft in the sunlight, and his lips looked softer. His clear skin radiated as the sun flickered over it. The breeze blew his ungelled hair in slow tugs, and you couldn’t fight the feeling spreading through your chest as the sunrise warmed it.

“I think I like the sunrise on your face better,” you whispered.

The hand that wasn’t holding yours placed itself on the side of your neck. Drew’s eyes glanced at your lips before they closed and his lips were on yours instead. The kiss was slow and affectionate. The warmth of the sun couldn’t compare to the warmth that erupted from his touch. You wanted to bask in him for as long as you could and even then, you wanted to face the night with him.

After a long moment, you regrettably pulled away and met his forehead with yours. His eyes were still closed and a content smile replaced your lips. Your face mirrors his as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

There in the quiet, with the threat of a hangover in your future, you and Drew stood in the sunrise.

[n1ght5h4d3-24]

A Semi-Apple Pie Life (Chapter 5)

A/N: 8 months later and I’m back! Who missed this story? Well here’s a new chapter and it’s lengthy. 12 DAYS UNTIL SEASON 2 DROPS!!! 

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Winchester!OC 

Summary

[Previous Chapter]

Warning: Foul langauge

Skylar woke up early the next morning, her internal clock still set on just getting four hours of sleep. She didn't see Samandriel anywhere in the room and figured he was still out. She knew he'd show up eventually, he was her best friend. The young huntress pulled herself out of bed and her sock cladded feet carried her to the window in her motel room. She pulled the blinds open to see that it was still a bit dark out but, the sun was starting to rise which was starting to change the color of the sky. Instead of watching the sunrise from the window, Skylar decided to step out of the room and leaned against the railing that was across from her room.

Her amber eyes watched as the sky went from a midnight blue to red-orange as the sun came up. It was a pretty sight, especially with it reflecting off the water. But, it was early and she was supposed to be living a normal life so she reentered her room, closed the door behind her and laid back down on the bed. It took a few minutes until she fell back asleep. Hours later, a blaring siren caused Skylar to jolt awake. She was alert immediately, getting up from the bed and looking out the window as she had left the blind open that faced outward to motel parking lot. The young huntress could see trees bending in the wind, at the same time she heard the familiar sound of angel wings coming from behind her.

"Skylar!" Samandriel called her name in a worried tone.

She turned around, looking at the angel in confusion.

"Samandriel? What's wrong?" she asked him.

He walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her and drew her into his chest.

"Have to get you out of here now!" he says before teleporting her out of the motel.

They reappeared back at the bunker in Lebanon, Kansas, in Skylar's room. Samandriel let go of the girl then, taking a step back from her.

"What's the matter Samandriel? Why did you bring me back to the bunker?" the youngest Winchester asked him.

"There was hurricane approaching Kildare Island, it won't be safe to return there until tomorrow. That motel wasn't a safe place to be when the hurricane hits." he explains.

Skylar nods in understanding.

"Alright, we'll spend the day here in the bunker and then return to the motel in the morning." she tells him.

The two of them spent the rest of the day in the bunker together, luckily it seemed like the brothers were out on a hunt so they were able to roam around the bunker without having to explain why they were there. For the rest of the day, they hung out in Dean's Man Cave, watching Netflix on the plasma screen and Sky snacked on junk food. When nighttime rolled around, the youngest Winchester vacated the Man Cave in favor of heading into the kitchen to make herself something for dinner. Samandriel walked in behind her, keeping an eye on her as she cooked. She made herself a grilled cheese sandwich as well as heating up a can of tomato soup. Once her dinner was ready, she ate it and the angel joined her at the table. The angel watched as the young huntress dipped one half of her grilled cheese sandwich into the bowl of tomato soup before eating it. Samandriel never got to experience tasting food as an angel he could only taste the molecules. Skylar finished up her food and stuck her dishes in the sink before heading for her room, ready for bed after a lazy day. Dressed in her pajamas, she laid down in bed and eventually fell asleep.

The next afternoon, the brunette with blonde highlights found herself back in her motel room. She and Samandriel were getting ready to move the mattress outside when they heard voices outside, knocking on the door of the room next to them.

"Housekeeping!" Skylar heard one of the voices say in a high-pitched voice.

She giggled slightly at the ridiculous tone before moving to the window to peek out the blinds. She saw two familiar boys that she had seen at the Wreck the other day that were standing outside the room next door before they entered the room.

"Uh, a little help?" Samandriel spoke up, holding one end of the mattress.

Skylar turned away from the window and picked up the other side of the mattress to carry it outside. They set it up against the railing so it could dry out and the huntress took a moment to look at the door to the next room, she could hear the boys moving around the room before hearing frantic voices from below. She walked to the end of upper floor to see Kie and a friend of hers climbing off a boat before racing to stand under a window. She looked around to figure out what was causing them to panic and spotted a pair of police officers coming up the stairs. Putting two and two together, figuring the boys were up to no good in the neighboring room and that the cops were headed to the same room. She needed to buy a few seconds while Kie and her friend did what they could to alert the boys in the room.

"Want a free mattress?" she overheard one cop asked.

She noticed it was a male and female duo.

"How about a free lamp?" the guy asked his partner.

"Good day officers." the young huntress greeted the two.

"G'day," the female officer greeted the girl.

The male just nodded his head in a greeting.

"Checking in on the residents of the motel?" Skylar asked them as they walked by her.

The male froze and his partner stopped beside him. The male cop turned around to face the youngest Winchester.

"Umm…yes, that is exactly what we're doing. How are you?" he asks her.

Skylar observed the man, he was lying straight through his teeth. They weren't here to check on whoever was staying at the motel, they were visiting for something else. But she knows it best not to say anything about it.

"I'm good. Glad the hurricane didn't do too much severe damage around here." she says.

The officers nodded their heads and carried on their way. Skylar watched as the they approached the room next door and she could only hope the boys inside had been warned. She ran towards the end of the outer hallway and could see Kie and her other friend back on the boat. She heard something clatter on the ground before watching as Kie's friend that was on the boat with her spin around and started a conversation with Kie. Skylar figured that one of the cops were looking out the window in that moment and they were trying to seem non-suspicious. She then leaned over the railing just a bit and looked around to see if she could spot what fell to the ground when she turned her head to the left, she saw the two boys that had gone into the room were now standing on a slanted roof piece outside the window. The blond with hazel eyes locked eyes with her amber ones and he gave her a cocky smirk. She rolled her eyes at his behavior before she was pulled backwards. Samandriel had pulled her back into their room just before the cops came out of the room next door. She watched as the two cops walked by her room, the male holding a duffel bag.

"That, was close. Thanks Samandriel." Skylar said to the angel.

"Of course. You are supposed to be keeping a low profile while you're here." he reminds her.

"Right, and being on some dirty cops' police radar wouldn't exactly be laying low." Skylar says.

Samandriel nodded in his head in agreement, "Exactly."

He thought for a moment, "Wait, dirty cops?" he asks, confused.

"A corrupted cop who part takes in illegal activities or abuses their authority. Those cops walked out with a duffel bag and something tells me there's more going on then collecting someone's belongings." she tells him.

The youngest Winchester then poked her head out of the room and looked around before stepping out of the room. She makes her way to the room next door and tries the handle, surprised to discover that the door was unlocked. She opened the door and walked into the room. Samandriel trailed in behind her and watched as she looked around the room. The brunette with blonde highlights haired female searched the room for any clues. Her amber eyes fell on a black safe that lied within a cabinet, which had been left open. She approached the safe and squatted down to get a better look at it.

"Wait! Don't touch it." Samandriel spoke up from the doorway.

Skylar turned her head to look at her best friend, "Don't worry, I'm not going to touch it." she assures him.

She pulls out a pair of latex hand gloves from her back pocket that she had shoved in there and put them on before opening the safe and taking a peek inside of it.

"I knew it, there is something more going on here." she says as she looks at what's inside the safe.

She then pulls out her pocket flashlight and shone the light inside, scanning the safe. She hummed thoughtfully as she looks around the safe before turning the light off and putting her flashlight away. She carefully closed the safe door before standing up and peeled the gloves off. She walks out of the motel room and Samandriel follows her back into their room.

"Just as I suspected. Those cops are dirty. There was a nine and a half by twelve and a half envelope missing out of the safe, as well as a gun and three small stacks of money. I'm assuming that one of the two boys took the gun and a stack of money while the cops indulged themselves in a stack of money each and removed the envelope due to whatever was inside it." she tells the angel.

The brunet looked at her in surprise, "How'd you know that?" he wonders.

"Whoever was staying in that room didn't touch what they had placed in the safe, after the original placing. Dust collected overtime as the safe hadn't been opened. So there was an outline of where the envelope had been sitting and there was a clean area surrounded by lots of dust as if something had been lying there which prevented dust to getting in that area. I also remember hearing a clattering sound when we were moving the mattress out of the room, I know what the sound of a falling hand gun sounds like as I've had my own gun get thrown out of my hand on hunts. Plus, I counted the money and that's how I know three stacks of it were gone too." Skylar informs him.

Samandriel nodded his head in understanding, her reasoning made sense to him. He heard a loud rumbling sound then, turning his attention back to his friend.

"Did you eat breakfast?" He inquires.

The youngest Winchester smiles sheepishly before shaking her head.

"Skylar Winchester! You humans need to be eating at least 3 meals a day." Samandriel tells her.

"I know, I know. I just forgot to have breakfast today, was busy doing something else."

He sighs, "Come on then. Let's get you some food."

Skylar nodded her head and the two of them left the motel. They headed to the Wreck and the youngest Winchester took notice that Kiara wasn't in. She order food and ate once it was brought to her table. Samandriel took to people watching while Skylar ate, he noticed that there seemed to be differences with the people and how they acted. When Skylar had finished eating and paid along with tipping, the two of them decided to take a walk around the island, exploring.

"Huh, the island seems to be split by class." Skylar observed.

"What do you mean?" Samandriel asked in confusion.

"Well, the motel we're staying at. It was run down but, still in decent condition. These houses around here are in better condition than the motel was. I noticed the change awhile back." she tells him.

Samandriel nodded his head in understanding.

The two continued their exploration until night fell. As they made their way back to their motel, Skylar could hear voices coming from a nearby beach. She changed her direction and headed for the beach instead, Samandriel followed behind her. When they got to the beach, Skylar was surprised to see so many people gathered in one place.

"Hey, Skylar!" a voice called out.

The girl looked around for who called her name. She didn't have to look hard as Kiara walked right up to her.

"Oh, hey Kie." the brunette with blonde highlights greeted.

"I'm glad you're here. Would you like a drink?" Kiara asks.

"I uh...sure, why not." Skylar said.

Kiara took Skylar's hand and pulled her further onto the beach. The two girls stopped in front of a keg and Kiara filled up a red Solo cup for the girl before handing it off to her. Skylar took a look inside the cup before downing all of it contents. She couldn't help but, make a face at the alcohol burning her throat.

"First time drinking?" Kiara wondered.

Skylar nodded her head, "Yeah."

Kiara takes the cup from her and fills it up again before giving it back to her. Skylar drinks it all and then Kiara takes her hand again.

"Come on, let's party."

Skylar followed Kiara's lead and enjoyed the party with her, drinking more as the night progressed. At some point, the girls calmed down and just spoke with one another. Their attention was drawn to loud voices near the ocean. A fight broke out between two boys and they made their way to the front of the group.

"Guys? Guys!" Kiara called out.

There was nothing they could do, having to be witnessess to the brawl. Around them, the others were chanting for the two boys to fight.

"Stop! John B!" Kiara called out again, pleading for her friend to stop.

The fight was taken into the water as the boys attacked one another and one boy began to hold the other boys head in the water.

"Topper! Topper, stop! No!" Another girl cried out.

"No!" a boy standing beside Kiara shouted.

Skylar felt helpless as she was frozen by the scene playing out in front of her. The boy then turned to Kiara.

"He's drowning him." he tells her.

"I know." she responded.

"Topper!" the same girl from before shouted.

Then a blond boy intervined and put a gun to the back of Topper's head. Topper froze when he realized what it was.

"Yeah, you know what that is. Your move broski." the boy said.

"Come on. Chill, dude!" someone shouted.

"JJ!" the girl cried out.

"Chill!" the boy that had been standing beside Kiara shouted.

"JJ! Stop!" Kiara shouted.

"JJ! Put the gun down." a female voice said.

"Did you say something, Princess?" JJ asked her, gun still pressed against the back of Topper's head.

"We're good. We're good." Topper tells him, putting his hands up. "Alright? Come on, man!"

JJ shoved Topper down into the water and turned around.

"Kie! Can you check your psycho friend, please?" the same girl from before said to Kiara.

When JJ pulled the gun out, Skylar had reached for the back waistband of her jeans as she had her own gun stashed there. Samandriel came up beside her, guarding her.

"Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!" JJ shouted pointing the gun into the air and fired two rounds.

"Are you crazy?! You idiot!" a boy shouts at JJ. "Why would you do that?!"

"It's not worth it!" Kiara shouted.

"I was saving his life!" JJ shouted back, shoving the one boy back.

"Stupid! You're gonna jeopardize everything!" the boy shouted.

Skylar took notice of John B. passing out in the ocean. She makes her way over to him and Samandriel follows behind her. He kneels down beside John B. and holds his hand over him before Skylar stops him.

"Don't. You'll expose yourself. These kids don't know anything about what's out there." she whispered to him.

Samandriel nodded his head and put his hand down. Kiara and the two boys came up behind the two of them.

"We're going to take him home," Kiara tells her.

"Let me help you guys." Skylar says.

"No its okay. This is our mess."

"I want to help."

Kiara looked to the two boys with her and they gave her shrugs.

"Okay, you can help."

The five of them picked up John B. out of the water and they brought him to a beat up mini van.

"Place him inside and then we can take it from there." Kiara tells Skylar.

The girl nodded her head and got the van's side door opened before helping the trio get John B. inside. The five of them set him down carefully before Kiara, JJ and the other boy turned to Skylar and her friend.

"Thank you for this. I'm sorry my idiot friends ruined our night." Kiara tells Skylar.

"They didn't ruin the night. It was pretty interesting for my first party." Skylar said.

"Well, I hope we get to see you more often." JJ flirted.

Kiara elbowed him in the side and Skylar laughed.

"You guys are definitely an interesting bunch.

"Sky, we better be getting back." Samandriel tells her.

"I apologize but, my friend has a point. We'll see y'all around." Skylar tells them.

Kiara, JJ and the other boy gave her a nod before giving waves. Skylar and Samandriel gave the trio waves of their own before turning around and heading back to their motel. They returned to their room and Skylar retired for the night.

The next morning, Skylar woke up with a pounding headache and the sunlight shining into the motel room wasn't helping. Samandriel approached her bedside, checking on her wellbeing.

"Ugh, I don't know how Dean drinks all the time. My head is killing me." she groans.

"That's because your brother started drinking when he was around your age and is now an alcoholic. He also drinks every so often during the day and not all at once like you just did last night. Unless he goes to a bar." Samandriel tells her.

"Never again, I feel like shit."

Samandriel places two fingers against Skylar's forehead and his eyes became a blueish-silvery color as his grace ran through the youngest Winchester's body. She let out a sigh of relief as his grace healed her. When he was done, Samandriel took his fingers off her forehead and he looked down at her.

"Mmm...much better. Thank you Samandriel." she tells him.

"You're welcome." he responds.

Skylar then hummed thoughtfully, "I would like to check up on John B. That fight was pretty rough last night and he was nearly drowned."

"That sounds like a good idea." Samandriel agrees.

She nods and then climbs out of bed to get ready for the day. Samandriel stepped out to give her privacy to change. Once she was ready, Skylar joined the angel outside. The two headed out, and Skylar decided they should head to the Wreck first to ask Kiara where John B. lived. The two journied to the place and entered the diner when they arrived. Skylar looked around for Kiara and found her behind the counter.

"Hey Kie, good morning." she greets the girl.

"Oh, hey Skylar. Morning to you as well. What can I do for you?" Kiara wonders.

"I was wondering if you would mind telling me where John B. lives. I just want to check up on him after last night."

"That'd actually be great. Pope and I haven't had the chance to check on him because we both have to work this morning and JJ is most likely still out cold at his home."

Kiara gave Skylar directions to John B's house and the girl gave her farewells before leaving, Samandriel following out behind her. The two of them began the walk to John B's house. When they eventually arrived, they could hear voices inside.

"You're skimmin' above the surface, John B. Now down here is foster car, juvie. Pretty big drop for a smart kid like you. Up here is you and your little friends doing whatever you want. Outer Banks...or foster care on the mainland." a female voice said.

Skylar started patting herself before finding what she was looking for and walked up to John B's house. Samandriel hung back.

"John B? You home?" she asked, knocking on the screen door.

Inside she could see John B. and a police officer, both who turned their heads to see who was there. John B. had a look of confusion on his face and the police officer seemed a little irritated. Skylar opens the screen door and steps into the house.

"Ma'am, is there a problem?" she asks the officer.

"Who are you?" the officer asked instead.

"Agent Wilson with NOV-8," Skylar tells her before pulling out her badge to show the officer.

"NOV-8? Never heard of it and you look a little young to be an agent." the officer said.

"We're an elite international organization of women operatives from all over the world. They keep an eye on exceptionally, intelligent females, like myself, and hire them once they believe they are ready no matter the age." Skylar explained, putting her badge away.

"Now, is there a problem here?" she repeats her question.

"Just questioning John B. here and letting him know that he will have to go into foster care as he isn't old enough to be on his own." the officer tells her.

"I'm sorry but, that can't happen. John B. here is my charge. NOV-8 is an only a female organization but, we send our agents out into the field every now and again to work with our counterparts that we have on radar. John B. happens to be one of those men." Skylar explained.

"I see..." the officer says.

She then turns back to John B. "Are you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure." John B. answers.

"It's better if you didn't, understand? I'm gonna look the other way, as long as you stay out of the marsh." the officer tells him.

She moves past John B. and Skylar to walk out the door.

"I got dogs livin' better than this, John B. You might wanna think about cleaning up." she remarks before walking out of John B.'s house.

Said boy turns to look at Skylar when the officer was gone.

"Agent Wilson?" he asked in confusion.

"What? Oh, no. My name is Skylar Winchester. That was just an elaborate lie I came up with. It's kinda what I do..." the brunette with blonde highlights explained.

"Wow. That was a really impressive lie. I actually believed you." John B. tells her.

Skylar shrugged, "Like I said, it's kind of what I do. Now, are you alright? I actually came here to check up on you after last night."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm good. Not the first brawl I've gotten into." he says.

She steps closer to him, and carefully raises her hands to place them on his cheeks. John B. allows her to do so and watches her.

"That black eye doesn't look so good." she notes.

"I don't know, I think it makes me look tuff." John B. comments.

"John B! You inside?" a voice called from outside.

Skylar quickly pulled her hands away from John B's face and stepped back from the curly haired boy. The blond boy entered the home, minutes later.

"Oh, hey Skylar. I wasn't expecting to see you here." JJ says.

"Hey JJ," she gives him a smile. "I was just checking up on your friend here after last night."

"It is not the first brawl we've ever gotten into. Pogues vs Kooks is a daily occurance." JJ explains.

"John B. was just telling me." she says.

"Well, I better be getting going." she mentions.

"No!" both boys exclaimed.

"You can stay here, we don't mind." John B. tells her.

"Hey wait a minute, where's your shadow?" JJ wonders.

"My friend Alfie? He's around." she says.

"Oh, alright. Kiara and Pope should be here soon." JJ tells her.

The trio hung around John B's house, the boys getting to know Skylar until Pope and Kiara showed up. Everyone moved outside to hang out on the porch.

"I almost wanted to call this whole thing off. Peterkin told me that she'd help me with DCS if we stayed out of the marsh but then, Skylar here showed up and told such a believable lie that even Peterkin believed her and left me alone." John B. tells the others.

"Woah, how did you pull that off?" JJ wonders.

"It's just something I do. You just need to believe in the lie you're telling and tell it with confidence." Skylar tells him.

"Would you mind demonstrating?" he asks.

The others turned to her, curious and she shrugs.

"Sure, I guess. Umm...my name is Skylar Winchester, I'm a huntress but, not the kind you usually think of. I hunt the monsters that are out there, the monsters you only read about in books. My friend Alfie is actually named Samandriel and he's an angel. I'm also friend's with the king of Hell."

The Pogues shared looks with each other before looking back at her.

"Wow, you're right John B. I actually believed her." JJ says.

"That's a very impressive lie." Pope comments.

"What do you do that requires you to lie elaboratly?" Kiara inquires.

Skylar only gave them a smile, one that told them that she had secrets that she intended to keep hidden.

"John B, listen to me. I have a plan." JJ says, changing the subject.

"You've got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?"

"No," John B tries to dismiss the blond's idea.

"There's scuba gear. We borrow that and go down to the wreck this afternoon, that will save you for certain. You don't see rich kids in foster care." JJ says.

John B looked at his friend blankly before sighing.

"Alright, fine. I'll meet you guys once I've got the equipment." he says.

Everyone parts ways and Skylar reunites with Samandriel and the two of them head down to the beach.

"So, tell me about your new friends." Samandriel says as he walks alongside Skylar.

"They're not my friends, Samandriel. I just saved John B. from being taken into foster care and his friends are grateful."

"But, didn't they just invite you to hang out with them?"

"I mean...I guess."

"Then they'll be your friends soon enough, as long as you give them a chance."

Skylar sighs, "I'll try my best. But it won't be easy. They clearly don't know what's out there."

"Maybe so but, you aren't supposed to be a huntress here. You're supposed to be a normal teen girl."

"Samandriel, I can't just stop being a huntress. It's a part of me. But, you're right. Sam and Dean sent me away so I can try to be normal while they deal with Amara..."

Before Samandriel could say anything more, JJ approached the duo.

"Hey Skylar. John B's got the gear. We're meeting at the dock and I'm here to bring you there."

"Right, okay. Oh, JJ this is my friend Alfie." Skylar introduces the blond to the brunet standing beside her.

"Nice to meet you, man. You coming with?" JJ wonders.

"No, no. I have my own things to do." Samandriel tells him.

"Alright well, you ready?" JJ asks, turning to look at Skylar.

The girl looks at Samandriel, who gave her a subtle nod, before she looked back at JJ.

"Yeah, lead the way."

The duo walk away from the beach, heading in the direction of John B's house.

"So what brings you to the Outer Banks?" JJ wonders.

"Vacation." Skylar answered.

"Ah, so you're a Touron then."

"I uh...I guess so."

"So is it just you and your friend then?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. My brothers...they're busy with some family business and sent me here with my best friend to relax."

"I see. And are the two of you...?"

"What? Oh! No, no. We're just friends, really good friends. And no, to answer your next question, there's no one back home either. It's just me and my brothers. It's been that way since I was eleven."

When the last sentence came out of her mouth, Skylar had a flashback to when her mother had been possessed by a Leviathan who had attempted to kill her before Dean sliced her head clean off with his machete.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't..."

"It's alright. You didn't know and I've had time to grieve."

An awkward silence fell over the two of them until JJ cleared his throat.

"Um...the dock is right down there. C'mon."

He heads down and Skylar follows after him. The others were there, on the boat, waiting on them. When the duo boarded the HMS Pogue, John B. drove the boat out into the marsh. When they got to where, Skylar assumed the sunken boat was, John B. parked the boat and dropped the anchor while Kie starts to check the oxygen levels of the tanks that John B. had stolen.

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" she questioned.

"I-" John B. takes a seat beside her.

Kie checks another tank, "Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope comments.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie asks.

The boys looks at each other.

"Anybody?"

"It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ says.

"I...read about it." Pope says quietly.

"Great, Pope's read about it. So someone's gonna die." Kie says.

"Look, y-you put the thingie in your mouth and breathe. How hard can it be?" JJ wonders.

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets in your bloods and you get the bends." Pope informs him.

"The bends?" JJ asked in confusion. "Like bend over?" he bends forward slightly.

"The bends will kill you." Pope tells him.

"Right." JJ says, pretending he knew that.

"I can...I can dive." John B. pipes up.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ agrees.

"Since when can you dive?" Kie asks him.

"I'll do it. It's fine." John B. assures her.

"Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope tells him.

He reaches for the pencil and paper on the dashboard of the boat.

"That boat's about 30 feet down."

"Okay," John B said, listening to his friend.

"So, it'll take about 25 minutes at that depth."

"Twenty-five," John B repeats.

“Which means you need to make your safety stop at about...ten feet. All right? For two minutes.” Pope tells him. 

“Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it.” John B agrees. 

Kiara suddenly jumps into the water after taking her shirt off. 

“What was that all about?” Pope asks. 

“I don’t know but, I liked it. A lot.” JJ answers. 

Skylar rolls her eyes, typical teenage boy behavior. 

“Uh so...” John B says. 

“Yeah. Uh, when you...uh, when you’re down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?” JJ says, handing an odd shaped key to his friend. 

“Stick in, twist, pull.” John B repeats. 

“Yeah. My dad moved weight back in the day.” JJ says. 

John B starts to gear up. 

“Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It’s where you need to do your safety stop.” Kie calls out. 

“Cool,” John B says. 

“Keep an eye on this,” Pope says, pointing at the oxygen meter. “You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress.” 

“Okay, how much do I need?” John B asks. 

“Unclear. Breathe as little as possible.” 

“Zen. Think Zen, you know.” JJ tells him. 

“Yeah, got it.” 

Kiara climbs back onto the boat. 

“Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we’re basically screwed so...better get a move on.” Pope says. 

“Copy that.” 

Kie approaches John B and places a kiss on his cheek. He stares at her for a moment, clearly surprised by her action. 

“Diver down?” 

“Diver down.” 

John B pulls the scuba mask over his face before getting into the water. The squad watches as John B swims down. They watch his descend until a siren whoops being them. Pope looks over. 

“Shit, JJ.” 

JJ turns around, “Guys that’s the police.” 

“Oh you gotta be kidding me.” 

Skylar looks between the police boat and the spot where John B had gone down before she kicked her shoes off and jumped into the water. JJ, Pope and Kie look over when they heard the splash but, then looked back at the police boat. 

“Yep, that’s the police.” JJ comments. 

“Just act frickin’ normal.” Kie tells the boys. 

As the trio on the boat deal with the officers, Skylar swims down to John B. She notices him searching the boat, so she helps him. He notices her before continuing his search. It wasn’t long until he found the cargo hold. He inserts the key, twist and pulls, removing the lid. Skylar swims closer to him and helps him pull out a backpack that was inside the cargo hold. Then the duo makes their way to the anchor line and start to head back up. They both stop at Kie’s tied T-shirt and when John B looks up, he notices another boat beside his own. So they wait for the boat to leave. Then they see someone’s silhouette just above the water and they’re still waiting. By the time the other boat finally leaves, John B had run out of air. 

“He’s definitely out of air.” Pope says. 

“And so is Skylar. She jumped in without an oxygen tank and has been down there the whole time.” Kie adds. 

Suddenly, both John B and Skylar’s heads break through the surface.

“There they are!” JJ exclaims. 

“Oh God! Jesus Christ! Don’t scare us like that!” Pope says.

“How’d it go down there?” JJ wonders. 

John B makes an okay sign with his hand before he swims around to the back of the boat, Skylar following behind him. JJ heads to the back of the boat as well. 

“Did you find anything?” he asks. 

“Did I find anything?” John B repeated before lifting the backpack above the water. 

“Yeah, there we go! That’s my boy!” JJ cheered, taking the bag from his friend. 

“Y’all okay?” Kie asks. 

“Yeah, I ran out of air.” John B answered. 

“Doing alright,” Skylar responded. 

“You scared the shit out of me.” Kie tells them. 

“Yeah, the cops were up here, but uh...took care of ‘em.” Pope tells John B. 

John B and Skylar climb up onto the boat. 

“My bad,” John B apologizes. 

“You’re all good.” Pope tells him. 

“Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother.” JJ says. 

Kiara looks over her shoulder, as John B takes off the oxygen tank, and notices something. 

“Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o’clock.” she states. 

“What?” JJ asked. 

Everyone else turns around and looks at the approaching boat. 

“Do you recognize that boat?” Pope asks. 

“I’ve never seen it.” Kie says. “What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed.” 

“Let’s not stick around and find out.” JJ says. 

“JJ, get the bowline.” John B tells his friend.

“Yeah,” he agrees. 

He moves to the front of the boat and gets to work on pulling up the anchor. 

“Should we wait on ‘em?” Pope wonders. 

“No, we’re not.” John B tells him. 

“Are you joking?” Kie asks. 

“Go get the stern. Go!” John B. tells Pope. 

“JJ, hurry up.” Kie tells the blond. 

Skylar kept her eyes on the boat, an unsettling feeling blooming in her gut.

“Guys, don’t wait for me. Go.” JJ says, still pulling up the anchor. 

“Pull out the stern.” Pope says. 

JJ moved a bit further back into the boat after the anchor was up. John B. started up the boat and began to drive. 

“I don’t like this.” he comments. 

“Are they coming for us?” Pope wonders. 

“Maybe they’re out fishing.” John B. suggests.

“Go, go, go, go!” JJ says when he notices the boat still heading in their direction. 

“Go into the marsh,” Pope directs. 

“Let’s go!” Kie says. 

“I’m going,” John B. steers the boat into another part of the marsh. 

“Act natural. Act natural.” Pope tells the others. 

Skylar and Kiara noticed that the mystery boat was following behind them. They share a look before Kiara turns to the boys. 

“Hey guys, they’re following us.” she alerts them. 

“Oh, this can’t be good.” Pope comments. 

“Shit,” John B. mutters under his breath. 

“Dude, you gotta go faster.” JJ tells his friend. 

“I’m going!” 

“Gun it!” 

It became a boat chase, John B. attempted to get away from the strangers but, they continued to pursue the Pogues. John B. would turn around a bend and the other boat would turn not too far behind. Skylar’s eyes went wide as she saw one of the guys pick up a rifle and aimed it in their direction. The man missed but, the Pogues ducked down when they heard the gunshot. 

“What the...” Pope said. 

“Holy shit!” Kiara exclaimed. 

“John B, get down.” JJ tells his friend. 

John B. does his best to continue to steer the boat while crouched down to avoid being shot at. Another shot goes off and luckily misses the teens again. 

“Oh my God, we’re going to die.” Pope cried. 

Skylar stands up and pulls out her handgun from out of the back waistband of her jeans. She takes aim before firing a shot back. 

“What the-” JJ looks up to see the girl standing upright. 

“Keep driving, John B.” Skylar tells the curly haired brunet. 

She fires off another shot just as another one goes off from the guy. She takes the hit in her left side.

“Oh my God!” Kie exclaimed. 

“What? What is it?” John B. asks, looking over his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry about it, keep driving.” Skylar tells him, not faltering as blood poured from her side. 

Kie gets up, “Shit! Pope, move.” 

She moves past him, heading for the front of the boat. She gathers up a net when another gunshot goes off. 

“Get down, Kie!” John B. tells her. 

Skylar fires back but, missed, hearing the bullet clang against the hull of the other boat. Kie walked to the back of the boat and tosses the net into the water and everyone watches as the other boat runs straight over the net before coming to a stop as the net most likely got tied in the rudder of the boat. Another gunshot goes off but, the teens made it away safely. 

“Oh my God! Whoo!” JJ cheered. 

“Whew!” Kie sighed in relief. 

Skylar lowers her arm before she stumbles back, which John B. notices. 

“Boo-yeah! Pogue God, man!” JJ exclaims. 

“Skylar, are you alright?” John B. asks the girl. 

She turns around and offers him a reassuring smile before she collapses to the boat floor. 

“Oh my God!” Kiara exclaimed. 

She makes her way over to the other girl and opens up the girl’s flannel shirt before lifting up the shirt underneath. The first thing she notices is a large scar that ran down from the center of Skylar’s chest to her right hip, she takes note that the scar resembled a claw mark...a very large claw mark. Then she notices the bullet wound on Skylar’s left side. 

“She’s been hit and is bleeding out.” Kiara informed the boys. 

She places her hands on the girl’s wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding. John B. steered the boat back to his dock. When they reached the dock, John B. and JJ tied the boat up before JJ and Pope picked up the unconscious girl and carried her up onto the dock before gently setting her down. Kiara resumed applying pressure to the wound. 

“What do we do?” Kie asks. 

“I...I don’t know.” John B. stuttered. 

“We don’t have what we need to patch her up.” Pope says. 

JJ thinks for a moment before getting an idea. 

“Alfie? Alfie!” he calls out, hoping that the girl’s friend was nearby by chance. 

The Pogues heard a strange noise before turning around, jumping back in surprise at the sudden appearance of Alfie. 

“What happened?” he asks. 

“We...we were being shot at and she took a hit while defending us.” Kiara explained. 

Alfie waks over to Skylar’s unconscious form before crouching beside her. He places a hand over the wound once Kiara moved her hands out of the way. The Pogues watched as some kind of light seemed to emit from Alfie’s hand before watching as the wound heals itself. 

“What in the...” Pope mutters. 

When the gunshot wound was healed, Alfie moved his hand away from the girl and Skylar woke up moments later. 

“Sky! Are you alright?” Kie asks in concern. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m alright. Not the first time I’ve been shot.” she tells her. 

“What just happened?” Pope wonders. 

Skylar looks at Samandriel before looking at the Pogues. 

“So, what’s in the bag?” she asks, changing the subject. 

The Pogues all look at each other before John B. grabs the discarded bag and starts to go through it. 

“What do you think it is?” Kiara wonders. 

“Gotta be money, right?” John B. says, rifling through the wet bag. 

“That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to-mid-mils!” JJ says cheerily. 

“Can we please just open the bag?” Pope asks in exasperation. 

“Wow, Pope. That’s a rare outburst of emotion.” John B. says. 

“You guys are literally killing me with anticipation.” Pope tells him. 

John B. continues to rifle through the bag before pulling out a smaller bag. He opens it up and pulls out a metal, cylinder canister. Skylar gets up with the help of Samandriel and makes her way over to the others, watching in anticipation. John B. opens the canister and turns it over. Out slides a compass into his hand. 

“Oh wow. Yup. That’s about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass.” Pope says. 

JJ takes of his hat and Skylar notices John B’s intense gaze on the compass. JJ turns back, looking at his friend. 

“Dude, what? It’s not worth anything.” He tells his friend. 

“This was my father’s.” John B. shares. 

Kie, Pope and JJ all share a look with each other while Skylar looks at Samandriel. Something told her that something big was about to happen with this group and she had a feeling that she was about to be dragged into it with them. This semi-apple pie life of hers was about to get interesting and she planned on looking after her new friends, and try to keep, what just happened, out of the minds of the Pogues. 

[Next Chapter]

Taglist: 

@obx-spn-twd-tw

@kissmefree​

@danielle-yeah​

[vikingknight90]

(Had to reupload this as something went wrong previously.)

How did Moroha get her ribbon? Inspired by a lovely fanart I had to put this into words. If this isn’t close to how she actually got it, I’ll be rather disappointed with Sunrise, haha.

I hope you enjoy ~

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   Kagome finished putting the laundry over a rope tied between two aspen trees rustling in the early spring wind. She closed her eyes and drew the wonderful scent of washed fabric blended with the fragrance of newly sprouted poppies and bluebells by her feet, greeting her before they did anyone else on that humid day where the sun’s rays had been gently caressing them for an hour or so. The miko straightened the last, honey colored sheet in her hands to rid it of wrinkles and was about to bend down for her basket when the sound of soft crying reached her ears. Moroha?! Kagome nearly stumbled over her basket at the noise and hurried towards her and Inuyasha’s hut where the sound seemed to originate from somewhere behind it. Moroha had eagerly wandered out to play along with Kagome heading out with the laundry, and she had let her. Kagome’s heart swelled at the little bundle of energy Moroha already were at barely four years old, and figured there was no stopping her heading out around their hut to explore and be a child, what would be the harm. But now she cursed herself. Moroha had gotten hurt. She must have fell, hurt her knee, bumped her head or been bitten by some big feudal era bug or something. What if she was bleeding? Kagome’s steps hastened as the sniffling becoming louder, and prepared herself for the worst when she rounded the corner to where her daughter’s distress was coming from. The sight that met Kagome, however, confused her so much she almost forgot to feel relieved.

Moroha didn’t seem to be hurt. Not physically anyway. She was sitting on the ground, her back towards Kagome, and holding something in her hands Kagome soon realized was a mirror. She stood still for a moment and observed as Moroha plucked at her hair that mirrored her own dark color, pulling chunks in the air, then patting them down again, with a body language Kagome saw was clearly upset. Another quiet sob from her daughter’s mouth snapped her out of her staring bewilderment.  

“Moroha?”

The young girl jolted and nearly dropped the mirror as she turned towards her mom. Her dark brown eyes that also mirrored Kagome’s had tears in their corners. Her chubby cheeks were red and puffed, giving away how she’d wiped and rubbed them. Kagome felt as if her heart would burst at how sad Moroha looked right then, but simultaneously the cutest she had seen with her daughter’s big round eyes clearly looking to her for comfort.

“Moroha! Darling, what’s the matter?” Kagome hurried over and picked Moroha up, snuggled her face against hers and used the sleeve of her miko dress to wipe another tear rolling from the young child’s eyes.

“Mommy, I’m…” Moroha sniveled and responded to the comforting embrace by leaning against her mother’s chest and clutching at her dress. “Shhh, my baby. Just tell me what it is.” Kagome leaned her cheek against Moroha’s head and used her fingers to tuck some ebony strains behind her ears. “Mommy… how come… how come I don’t have ears like daddy?” “What??” Kagome wasn’t sure she had just heard right. She shifted Moroha in her arms to look her in the eyes, a smile she couldn’t help appeared on her face, though by the look in Moroha’s face, it wasn’t the reaction she wanted. “What did you just say, sweetie?” Kagome had to hear it again, she couldn’t quite believe it.

Moroha pouted and avoided her mother’s bewildered gaze. “Daddy has such cool ears… why don’t I have them? I have really dumb ears.” “Moroha...” Kagome couldn’t help that a laugh escaped her lips at the end of her name, and she hugged her daughter tightly at the revelation of her so-called distress. She suddenly realized why Moroha had been pulling her hair in apparent triangular shapes in front of the mirror. Had she been trying to make her hair look like Inuyasha’s ears?

“My sweet little girl, is that why you’ve been crying?” Kagome giggled into her daughter’s hair and Moroha squirmed in her hold.

“It’s not funny, mommy!”

Kagome heard her daughter’s still tear-ridden voice and suppressed her laugh, realizing this really was serious for Moroha.

Of all the things I worried my daughter would cry about, this was not one of them.

Kagome sighed and kissed Moroha’s forehead before she put her down and leaned on her knees in front of her, meeting Moroha’s eyes that were still shining from tears and an adorable annoyed look on her face. “Sweetie, your ears aren’t dumb. You have the same ears as me, didn’t you know? You have your mother’s ears.” Kagome smiled and tucked her hair behind her right ear to show Moroha, wondering if her daughter somehow hadn’t realized that before.

But Moroha only pouted further and stared at the ground.

“I don’t care. I want daddy’s ears.”

Kagome saw Moroha’s expression grow more defiant, and she sighed and leaned her head in her hand, wondering how long this would be a thing.

What do I tell her? There isn’t really a nice way to say that it’s impossible for her to have ears like Inuyasha, not when she wasn’t born with them. 

A thought struck Kagome that had her mind temporarily be distracted from her daughter. If she were to have… more children with Inuyasha, would one of them eventually be born with his ears? She tried to picture a baby in her lap with adorable little dog ears peeking out of his or her hair, and giggled fondly at the mental image.  

She was brought back to the present however when Moroha saw her humored face, made an angry turn and uttered: “I’m going to my room!” almost too fast for Kagome to reach out and grab her, but she just made it.

“Now hang on, Moroha. Come with mommy instead.” Another idea hit her, and Kagome’s face lit up.

“I might not be able to give you your father’s ears, but I can give you the next best thing.”

“The next… best thing…?” Moroha sniffed and let her mom take her hand and gently lead her into their hut. Kagome sat Moroha at a straw chair and picked up a bigger mirror she’d also brought from her world that she sat in front of her.

“Now just sit here for a minute while mommy goes to get something.”

Kagome bopped Moroha’s nose with her finger at the request and saw that the little girl still was teary eyed, but intrigued. Her eyes shone with wonder now at what her mother meant by this “next best thing”.  

Kagome was hoping. She really liked this idea herself, but she had no idea if Moroha would. She just had to give it a try.

   Pushing apart the straw door to the part of the hut where she and Inuyasha slept, Kagome went to the corner were some boxes of various contents were stocked, many with more stuff and remnants from her own world that she had periodically brought over in her time travels. The miko pulled out one at the bottom, the layer of dust covering the lid revealing how it was probably years since it was last opened.

She drew a deep breath and pulled the lid off, and a rush of nostalgia engulfed and warmed her as she looked down at her old school uniform. The white and green fabric complimented by a red ribbon by the neck piece brought back memories of her family, her old home, and she had to swallow some tears building in her throat while she gently stroked her hand over the outfit she had once worn every day to this era, and now it had been years since. She was older now, and a mother. Kagome wondered if she could even fit into the old teenage outfit anymore if she wanted to. A solemn laugh escaped her lips at the thought.

Mom. Grandpa. Sota. Buyo. I hope you’re all doing alright.

Kagome ended up staring at the uniform longer than she had intended when she heard Moroha shifting in the chair in the other room and a half curios-half annoyed “Moommmy” reaching her.

“Be right there.”

Kagome’s eyes went to the ribbon, still a bright red after all these years, exposure to the elements and wear and tear. She reached down and untied it, pulled it out and examined its length and form.

Good, it should do.

  Kagome was nervous when she returned to Moroha, holding the ribbon behind her back. Moroha clearly saw her arms hiding something and a smile finally emerged on the young girl’s face, revealing a tiny fang by the corner of her lips.

“What have you got there, mommy? Show me!”

“Just a minute, Moroha. Turn around and look in the mirror first.”

“Okay!”

Moroha excitedly shouted and turned around, her little arms and legs fidgeting in anticipation as her mom came up behind her with an equally excited smile.

“I’ll be doing something to your hair, okay? Now you close your eyes, and don’t open them until I say so. You got that?” Kagome inquired while still keeping her arms behind her, giving Moroha a mock-stern expression in the mirror.

“Aww, really mommy? How long do I have to close them?”

“Till I’m done with what I’m gonna do. It’ll only take a minute, two tops. I promise.”

Moroha’s face became a pout again, but then she saw her mother’s expression become a playfully pleading one in the mirror. It made Moroha realize she wanted to be a good girl right then and listen to her mom. So she closed her eyes and barely contained a squeal when Kagome’s hands gently pulled at her hair and did something that Moroha couldn’t figure out. It involved tying her hair up, she found that out soon enough, but how would that give her her father’s ears? Moroha’s heart dropped a little. What if mommy couldn’t keep what she had told her?

About two minutes passed of her mom pulling and twirling her hair before she finally said the words. “Alright, open your eyes!”

Moroha opened one eye first, nervous for what she would see. Her other eye flew open a second later. Her jaw dropped. Kagome put her fingers to her lips as she smiled in anticipation for what Moroha would think. She didn’t have to wait long as a giant smile soon spread on Moroha’s face, revealing both her fangs. Her eyes sparkled and she leaned towards the mirror while her hands reached up and petted the red ribbon sticking out of her hair, emulating two distinct triangular shapes.

“Mommy… ! I look… I look like daddy!”

Moroha squealed and jumped to her feet on the chair, nearly toppling over so Kagome reached out in case she’d fall, but Moroha didn’t even notice. Her attention was entirely elsewhere.

“Ears! Ears like daddy’s! I have ears like daddy’s!”

She squealed again and finally turned around, jumping into her mother’s arms who barely got to brace herself and caught her with a groan followed by a laugh.

“You like it, sweetie? Your daddy’s ears are made from a ribbon your mommy used to wear all the time while I was younger. So you take good care of it, okay?”

“I will!” Moroha sang in Kagome’s arms and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and cuddled against her neck while she let out an adorably, bubbly laugh that made Kagome’s heart swell and she embraced her daughter back, planting kisses on her dark locks and feeling the ribbon tickling her cheeks as Moroha kept giggling and nuzzling her collarbone.

  A sound of rustling and footsteps from the outside reached Kagome’s ears, and she let out a playful gasp against Moroha’s head, before she whispered “Did you hear that? Sounds like daddy’s home.”

Moroha could barely be contained anymore as her face lit up like the sun and she wriggled in Kagome’s arms to be put down. Her little feet took off towards the straw door as soon they touched the ground and Kagome followed. She had to see this. 

“Daddy!”

“Moroha?”

Inuyasha hadn’t expected to see his daughter come running towards him at such a speed and bent down to open his arms for her, not really noticing the ribbon at first but the ecstatic expression on his little girl’s face.

“What have got you so excited?” Inuyasha couldn’t help a tiny chuckle as Moroha reached him and jumped to his arms, a blush on her face from the joy of seeing her dad again and be lifted in the air by him, and she giggled and snuggled into his robe like she had just done her mom. Inuyasha fussed a little at the sudden display of affection that Moroha hadn’t really expressed to this extent before, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t warm his heart to look down at his daughter cuddled into his arms, an adorable smile on her face while she rubbed against his robe. He just now noticed the red ribbon in her hair, and a quick sniff made him realize it was the ribbon of Kagome’s old uniform. Why was Moroha wearing this all of a sudden? The shape it created was initially lost on him.

“What a nice ribbon you got, Moroha. ‘Your mom give it to you?”

Inuyasha looked over at Kagome now who stood by their hut’s entrance and was going to give her a greeting smile, but his face fell into confusion when he saw his wife looking on them with a humored expression. What was up with her?

Moroha jolted at her dad’s question as if she’d almost forgot what had made her so excited. Before Inuyasha got to ask Kagome what was up with the face, Moroha shifted in his arms and beamed up at him.

“I did, daddy. Look!” she reached her chubby arms up and rubbed at the ribbon, her smile once again revealing two tiny fangs.

“I look like daddy now! I have daddy’s ears!”

“Ehh? … you… what??”

Kagome knew it was coming and had tried to suppress it, but her laugh erupted now at the sight of Inuyasha’s utterly dumbfounded face. The hanyo’s jaw dropped as he stared down at his daughter, and only now realized how her ribbon indeed had the same shape and placement as his ears. Before he realized it, a blush was spreading across the dog demon’s face. He made some indistinguishable noises of embarrassment and bent to put Moroha down, but remained on her eye level.

“S… silly girl..!” he sputtered, only to be met by Moroha still tugging at her ribbon and sporting the proudest smile he’d ever seen.

“What’s up with that, Moroha? Why do you want a ribbon to look like my ears?”

Just like Kagome earlier, Inuyasha couldn’t believe he had heard right.

“Why? Because daddy’s ears are the coolest!” Moroha exclaimed while gesturing to the objects in question that started twitching as Inuyasha’s embarrassment grew further. Moroha saw this and laughed heartily and tugged at her ribbon “ears” again to mimic the movement.

“I found her crying earlier, Inuyasha.” Kagome caught his attention as she’d finished laughing and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“She was crying, wishing she had your ears. I had to think of something.”

She smiled empathetically at him to wordlessly communicate how adorable their daughter was, but also hoping he’d take the signal to say something nice to her.

Inuyasha still couldn’t contain his blush, but he sighed at Kagome’s hint and reached out his hands to feel at his daughter’s “dog ears”, making Moroha giggle further, a blush returning on her face as well.

“What a silly girl… you already have cute ears, Moroha. But you’re right, they do look like mine.” Inuyasha saw Moroha’s eyes beam with joy at his words and a silent adoration for him, and he cleared his throat and averted his gaze. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but a part of him did feel touched that his daughter wanted to look like the demon part of him to the point she had imitated his ears like this. Not to mention, the ribbon fit Moroha really well too. It only amplified his daughter’s cuteness, even Inuyasha could see that.

  The dog demon peeked over at his wife again to see Kagome giving him a knowing look, as if she knew how touched he felt. He cleared his throat again and shook his head as if it’d rid him of the embarrassment, then lifted Moroha up into his arms again, another squeal from her mouth as he did so.

“Right, my little… “dog eared” girl. How about we go see Miroku and Sango and their kids? They told me they were taking them fishing by the lake today. You might be a little small…” Inuyasha said and lightly tickled Moroha’s belly which resulted in another giggle fit of the small girl, and she grabbed his hand to make him stop and playfully nibbled on it with her fangs.

“… but you like to spend time with Hisui, Kin’u and Gyokuto, don’t you?”

“I do, daddy. We gonna go see them now?” Moroha paused her nibbling at his fingers to ask.

“Well, if you and your mom want to.”

“Sure we do.” Kagome smiled from where she stood and watched as Moroha’s eyes glinted with excitement before she went back to test her fangs on her dad’s hand which finally caused an “Ow!” from Inuyasha and a mock-scolding, a humored smile on his face as he did so that Moroha answered with her own mischievous smile.

    Kagome took in the moment of watching Inuyasha and their daughter embracing and teasing each other, an unspoken and endless love in their eyes for the other, and felt as if her heart would burst. Almost without realizing, she had folded her hands in front of her mouth, her eyes watering at the immense love and gratitude she was feeling at this very moment.   Hands still folded and an almost melancholy feeling hitting her that Kagome tried to ignore, she prayed to whatever God existed that nothing would ever happen to take this happiness away from them.

[numbah34]

Heart’s Desire- 3

Author’s note: Wow, I’m so glad there’s been interest in this story! I am loving reading the occasional comments and tags. I originally set myself a goal of posting the whole thing before season 7 came out, but that was apparently a little ambitious. On the plus side, the entire story is now outlined! And, since it’s not really all that reliant on what happens in canon, I don’t have any worries about not finishing it. So, provided I survive the hurricane of adrenaline and emotions we are all expecting from season 7′s release, you can *probably* look for the next chapter some time next week! Thanks for reading! ^_^

Other chapters: Ch1 / Ch2 / Ch4

Chapter 3

“…How could you possibly know?”

*************************************

Pidge and Lance both gasped as they saw the princess topple over the side of the boat. As she hit the water, Lance reacted, diving under the waves and swimming as fast as he could toward her sinking body.

Pidge was right behind him. “It doesn’t look like she’s trying to swim; the impact must have knocked her unconscious! We have to hurry, humans can’t breathe underwater!”

Lance drove himself ever faster. Reaching Allura, he scooped her up and made for the surface. The rapid change of direction pushed something out of Allura’s loosened grip. Lance glimpsed the rapidly sinking object; the princess’ sword! Remembering her joy at receiving the sword for her birthday, he knew they couldn't let it become lost at sea.

“Pidge!" he exclaimed, “The sword!”

Without hesitation, Pidge took off after the sinking sword, while Lance continued to swim upward. Moments later, he broke through the surface. He caught sight of the shoreline and began swimming toward it, careful to keep the princess’ head above the water. He felt her torso contract just before she let out a loud series of coughs, and then went slack in his arms again.

Coming up to the shore, Lance carefully laid Allura face up on the sand. As he took a minute to consider how he was going to move her further out of the surf, he was rejoined by Pidge, scabbard strap hanging from her mouth. She inched her way up onto the dryer part of the sand and dropped the sword. “Ugh.” She worked her jaw for a moment. “That was heavier than I was expecting.”

She made her way back to Lance, who had managed to wriggle his way further onto the shore. Together, they slowly pulled Allura’s unconscious form onto the beach.

Pidge assured Lance that Allura was, in fact, breathing. They took a moment to rest and catch their own breath. Lance gazed at the princess’ face, mesmerized. He had never seen anyone quite like her. Long lashes framed her closed eyes as she slept. Eyes that, from his vantage point on the ship, had been a curious shade of blue that he found difficult to describe; almost like they couldn’t decide between blue and violet and took it in turns to shift color in the lights. Her slender face held an expression of contented peace. Lance reached his hand to gently brush granules of sand from her cheeks, and move wisps of her silky, white hair from her face. She let out a quiet sigh at the contact.

“She’s… so beautiful,” he whispered. “I think she might be the prettiest human I’ve ever seen.”

“To be fair, you haven’t seen that many humans…” Pidge muttered. Her brows knit together as she felt an odd sensation forming in the pit of her stomach; an almost… hollow… feeling. She idly wondered if she needed to eat something. “Hey, are you hungry?”

“Yeah…” Lance replied quietly.

“Should we go find something to eat?”

“Yeah… in a moment, Pidge.” Lance answered, almost dreamily. “I think I might sit with her for a while longer, make sure she’s okay.”

“Well, okay,” said Pidge. The weird feeling in her stomach twisted ever-so-slightly. “I think I’m going to see what I can find.”

“Alright.” Lance responded, still not taking his eyes off the sleeping princess.

Pidge scooted herself back to the shoreline, then cast one more glance toward her oblivious friend before diving into the water.

A short while later, Pidge returned to the beach, finding Lance in the same spot she had left him. She had felt a little better after a few fish, and thought she should come back to check on him. She made her way over to him.

“Hey! Hyanssh!” she nudged his arm. Lance jumped a little in surprise, then grinned and held his hand out. Pidge deposited the fish she had caught for him into his outstretched palm. “Thought you might still be hungry.” She smiled back at him.

“Aw, thanks, Pidge!” he said gratefully. “I guess I must have lost track of time. Thanks for bringing me dinner!”

She snorted. “Dinner? I think you mean breakfast.” She gestured eastward with a flipper, where a sliver of a sunrise could be seen coloring the waves.

Lance looked shocked. “Have we really been out all night?!”

“Yes, and I think it might be a good idea to head back to deeper water. The princess will be safe enough in the daylight, and there are sure to be people searching for her. If a ‘mysterious-golden-seal’ and a ‘merman-who-is-not-supposed-to-be’ want to keep their existence secret, then we need to go before the search party finds us, as well.”

Pidge had no sooner uttered these words than her ears perked to the sound of someone shouting “Allura!”

She and Lance looked at each other in alarm, and then quickly headed for the water’s edge. As they dove beneath the waves, Lance couldn’t resist one more look. He peeked out of the sea, watching their recently decamped spot. Allura was beginning to stir as the person shouting drew closer.

Lance saw the knight from the ship- Keith?- come into sight. He noticed Allura and his quick steps turned into a run.

“Allura!” Keith exclaimed, dropping to his knees in the sand next to her. He carefully lifted her head and cradled her in his arms. “You’re alive…”

“Keith,” Allura softly responded, now fully awake. “You found me…” She put a hand to her head. “I think I’ve just had the strangest dream.”

Before Lance could observe any more, he felt a tugging on his fin. He ducked back under the water to find Pidge pulling on his tail.

She glared at him. “You’ve got to be careful! Just because they haven’t noticed a face watching them from the waves doesn’t mean they won’t!” She turned and began swimming away.

Lance cast one more longing glance in the direction of the coast, then turned to follow. “Pidge, come on. You know I’m always careful!” He caught up with her and smiled as she rolled her eyes.

Later that day, Lance sat up in his bed, stretching. Shortly after arriving back at the submerged city, he and Pidge had parted ways to get some rest; she swam back to her little home on a beach nearby, and he had gone back to his room in the palace residences.

Upon completion of the castle hundreds of years ago, it had been the belief of the kings and queens of the merpeople that they should take care of their community; the palace and its many rooms were far too many for just the royal family, so they had invited the citizens to live there as well. The royal family stayed in their own wing close to the center of the palace, while the common merfolk, such as Lance, had their own rooms in the general residence wings. Everyone was expected to work together to keep their home in good condition, and the merpeople generally followed this rule without exception.

Lance was grateful to have his own room, though he did find himself occasionally lonely. When he was younger, his family had been part of an official exploration team. Lance had not yet been old enough to join them on their missions, but he always looked forward to hearing their stories of what they had seen and found when they returned. Queen Luxia, the current ruler of the merpeople and a good friend of his parents’, would often watch after him while they were gone.

It was on one such mission many years previous that his family had disappeared without a trace. Many speculations were tossed about as to what could have happened to them and the rest of their team, but no evidence was ever found. The queen, fearing what this might mean, had become even more cautious in the years since.

Lance felt like the queen was a bit too cautious at times, especially regarding him. As he had been in her care at the time of his family’s disappearance, he had all but become a ward of the queen, who felt responsible for continuing to take care of her friends’ son. Even now, when he was no longer a minor, he felt like she continued to be overprotective of him.

This was why he was not really surprised to find Plaxum, one of the queen’s attendants, knocking on his door. Her face bore a slight worried expression.

“Oh, hey, Plaxum,” said Lance. “What’s going on?” He did his best to keep his own expression neutral, as though he had not been part of a daring rescue of a human princess who had fallen off a ship he wasn’t even supposed to get close to only the previous night. He put on his best nonchalant smile.

“Hello, Lance,” Plaxum said. She returned his smile, looking somewhat apologetic. “The queen noticed you weren’t at dinner last night…”

“Oh! Yeah, I was hanging out with Pidge and just… uh… lost track of time?” he shrugged in what he hoped was a convincing way.

Plaxum raised her eyebrows. “Hmm… I’m not sure I would mention that part to her. You know how she feels about the surface world.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know, but seals barely spend time on land anyway, I don’t see what her problem is with… wait.” He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘mention that part to her’?”

“Oh! Yes! That’s the whole reason I’m here. Queen Luxia has called you for an audience with her.”

“Oh… um… sure, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I will let her know!” Lance shut his door as Plaxum swam away. He frowned. Why would the queen want to see him so urgently that she sent an attendant to fetch him? This was definitely not the first time he had missed a meal at the palace. Or come back home later than usual, for that matter. What was so important?

He quickly took a moment to compose himself and come up with an alibi, then left for the throne room. Plaxum was right about one thing. The queen would not be pleased if she knew what he had really been up to the previous evening.

Lance soon found himself in the throne room, floating in front of Queen Luxia. She regarded him kindly, with concern in her eyes.

“Lance, we missed you at dinner last night.” she stated.

“So I heard,” he replied, nodding towards Plaxum.

The queen continued. “I wondered where you might have been instead. Perhaps you can enlighten me?” She looked at him expectantly.

Lance blinked. “I was just spending time with… a friend. We lost track of time. That’s all.”

“Ah.” said the queen. Her expression had turned cool, and perhaps a little disappointed? “Spending time with a friend. What friend had you so preoccupied?”

“Um.” Lance didn’t see any way around this. All the usual merfolk he might have named would have surely been at the palace. “I was with… Pidge.”

“The seal with the strange-colored fur.” It was a statement more than a question.

“Yes, that’s her,” he replied. Of all the truths that he could share from last night, this one would surely get him in the least amount of trouble. He was fairly sure most everyone knew of their friendship. “I don’t really see what the big deal is, either. So she spends a little bit of her time every day on land, so what? She’s my friend.”

“The big deal, Lance, is that you’re lying to me.”

“What? No, I’m not! She is my-”

“Not about the seal, although she may well be part of the problem.” Queen Luxia gave him a hard look. “You’re not telling me the whole truth about where you were last night.”

Lance gulped. All he could do was stare back at the queen. What did she know? And how did she know?

She sighed. “Lance, I know about the boat.”

He looked at her with wide eyes. “Um… which boat?”

“Which-? Was there more than one?” she demanded. “No, actually, that’s not important right now. Lance, you could have been seen.”

Oh. Not the shipwrecked boat, then. “There might have been a ship out on the water… but it was so dark, there’s no way they would have noticed us!”

“That is not what I was told, Lance.” She gave him a pointed look. “A swordfish spotted you and your seal friend swimming right next to the boat. You know my rule about boats, Lance. And you know my rule about humans.”

Curse those nosy swordfish! “But-! We didn’t-!”

“Tell me about the storm.” She folded her hands in her lap and simply looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Lance knew it was over. There was no getting around the truth; it was best to just come clean. He took a deep breath, and then told the queen the whole story; the shipwreck, the shark, getting Pidge to the surface so she could breathe, noticing the fireworks, swimming for a closer look…

Queen Luxia listened patiently, and waited for him to finish his tale before she said anything. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he got to the part about saving the princess, though.

“…and then we watched over the princess until sunrise. And then we came back.” he finished.

Her voice was quiet when she responded. “Lance, you have a good heart. It speaks very well of your character that you wanted to help.” She paused, and looked him right in the eye. “But even so, it would have been better if you had let well enough alone.”

“She would have drowned!” Lance exclaimed, horrified at the queen’s statement. “She would be dead if I hadn’t done anything! How would that be better?!”

“Our people have remained secret for so long that our existence has passed into the realm of myth and legend. We are far safer if no one knows we exist. If she had awoken for a moment and discovered an actual merman-”

“But she didn’t! And, even if she did, she wouldn’t have tried to hurt me! She’s… she’s just different!” he cut the queen off, and continued, softer. “She’s kind… she’s brave… she’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. And I think I might be… in love with her.”

Queen Luxia’s expression became stony. “You do not even know her. You’ve never spoken to her. You have a silly infatuation at best, based off a few hours of observation.”

“But I could-”

“No.” She cut him off. “You are forbidden from visiting or even going near the surface again. It has become painfully obvious that, at least right now, I cannot trust your judgment.” She silenced his angry exclamation. “Additionally, since you seem to also exhibit poor judgment around your seal friend, I think you need to disassociate from her.” Noting Lance’s expression suddenly changing from angry to crestfallen, she softened her tone. “At least for a while.”

Lance floated silently in his spot, unsure of what to say, or if there was indeed anything he could say that might change the queen’s mind. Queen Luxia, deciding herself that their conversation was at an end, dismissed him.

Lance swam quickly from the throne room. He left the palace, unsure of exactly where he was heading, but just needing to get away. He felt tears stinging at the backs of his eyes as feelings of anger, frustration, and despair clung to him. This was not the first time Lance had been summoned for an audience with the queen; as his daily adventures were often viewed as foolhardy or dangerous, he found himself frequently conversing with her about his activities. In all those other conversations, however, he had never seen her this irate. And he had never received a punishment such as this!

Never going to the surface, or even near the surface; never getting a chance to see the princess again; never getting to learn more about her; and… Pidge… His heart sank at the thought of not being with his friend.

Lance was pulled out of his thoughts by catching a glimpse of colorful sea plants in his periphery. So distracted was he, he had not noticed how far he had swum. Stopping, he took a moment to look around and get his bearings. He found himself in a small clearing surrounded by tall vegetation. Rocks of different sizes littered the sandy floor, and smaller anemones and other plants in vibrant hues ringed the misshapen circle.

The garden.

Lance had been here before; this spot was actually a favorite of his and Pidge’s, not too far from the entrance of the garden, and not so deep in that they could get lost, or run into anything… unexpected. He felt a little uneasy being here by himself, but in his current mood, he didn’t really care. He sat down on one of the larger rocks, planted his hands behind him, and turned his face upward.

He was going to have to tell Pidge. The thought made him ache; she was his closest friend. He had other friends, sure, but no one else seemed to understand him the way she did. Who would he make laugh with his terrible jokes? Who would patiently entertain and try to answer even his wildest questions? Who would go with him on adventures? Assuming he ever got to go on another adventure again…

This latest one had been nothing short of amazing. To not only see a working ship, but also people! Real people! And the princess… He sighed as he turned over and laid on his stomach, resting his chin on his crossed arms.

Allura… He wondered to himself how she was doing. He was glad he had seen one of her guards find her. How he wished he could have been the one to wake her up and return her to the palace. He swished his tail discontentedly and thought how his lack of legs was really cramping his continued heroism. What would have happened if he had been the one she had awoken to on that beach…? Would it really be too much to believe that a princess could fall in love with him?

He closed his eyes. “I wish I could see the princess again…” he murmured.

“Is that what your heart truly desires?”

[artificialqueens]

Mrs. Needles, Thank You 3/? (Shalaska) - Josie

AN: another chapter!! once chapter 5 comes out on ao3 i’m going to submit them both and they’ll go up at the rate they’re originally posted.

“Laassskyyyyy, I don’t want you to go to woooork…” Sharon whined. Alaska crawled out of bed for the morning, and the very start of the sunrise was showing through the windows, shining on Alaska’s bare back as she combed her fingers through her hair. Sharon was barely awake. Normally she wouldn’t fight her drooping eyelids but today was the day. Today was special. She forced herself up and dragged herself out of the warm comfort of her bed to follow Alaska to the kitchen, so she couldn’t ignore her whines. “La-” “Baby, I have to. Today is an important day for the office.” “But, whyyy? Why do you have to be there? Can’t you stay home and love me? Please? I promise I won’t make you watch any horror movies!” Sharon begged, grabbing onto Alaska’s hand. Alaska laughed at the last comment, her raspy morning breath starting to warm up by now. She pulled Sharon into the kitchen with her and kissed her up against the wall, both still completely naked from sleeping. “I have to work, but I will take a shower with you.” “Agh, fine. But I’m going to visit you at work whether you like it or not.” Instead of making breakfast, Sharon pulled Alaska to the other end of the hallway to the bathroom and started the shower up. Their shower was spacious, enough for two or three people, comfortably. There was a jacuzzi bath in the other corner. The rainfall shower was tan marble with one large black tile at the bottom and a glass screen door. Alaska threw a fit to get at least a cover for privacy in it, which they hadn’t used much, but Alaska drew it over the door anyways this time and pushed Sharon up against the wall again. Sharon gasped at the cold marble against her as Alaska ran her fingers up and down her sides. She obviously had a thing for morning sex. “Sharon, you need to wake up with me more.” “No, you wake up too early. This is a one-time thing. Priorities, bitch.” Alaska kissed her neck this time before getting on her knees and moving Sharon’s thigh so that her foot was on the ledge with some of the fancy soaps she splurged on. “That’s okay. You need more sleep anyway.” Alaska flicked her tongue over Sharon’s clit and she gasped as Alaska ate her until she came, pinching her nipple with one hand and her other hand on the inside of her thigh. The steaming water was hot on Alaska’s skin as she lovingly ate her wife out. Sharon pulled her up and gave her a kiss before washing her hair and body, and spanking her ass as she walked out of the shower. She was glad to see Alaska happy like she was.

“Laska, I’m here!” Sharon squealed, walking into the door of her office. Alaska didn’t bother to look up from her computer, and instead just nodded in reply. Sharon frowned and walked over to her wife, who was still looking at the screen and typing, and tapped her on the shoulder. “…Laska, helllooooo?” “Sharon. I need to work. Do you wanna sit down?” Alaska finally looked up from her computer screen and offered her lap to Sharon, who was standing there impatiently. There weren’t any other seats in the room, which Sharon was silently thankful for as she sat down on the blonde’s lap. Her legs were both placed in between Alaska’s, and her blonde hair and head was settled softly on Alaska’s shoulder. Small breaths were soft on Alaska’s neck as her wife typed quickly into the computer, occasionally deleting a sentence or two, and going back to her home email screen to respond to yet another upset or angry client. The calm, dominant feeling Alaska had was hot to Sharon, who squirmed on her lap, feet fidgeting with the hem of Alaska’s black pants. Sharon started getting restless, moving her hands from the right side of Alaska’s waist to the left and then dropping it into her own lap, and pressing small kisses to Alaska’s collarbone and neck. Her lipstick was leaving small, barely visible marks on Alaska’s clear skin. Her hands moved up to her wife’s jaw and pushed her blonde hair aside to uncover her ear. “Laskyy…” Sharon whispered. She felt Alaska tense up a bit under her. Alaska hummed a small ‘no’ as she sent another email, the small confirmation sound ringing in the office, the only other sound besides the rubbing of fabric from Sharon’s fidgeting. Her hands were still on Alaska’s jaw, caressing it as she slowly kissed her neck. Alaska looked disinterested. Her knee started bouncing under Sharon, making her giggle. “Baby, you only do that when I’ve won. You know that.” “Well, you haven’t. I need to do my work. And if you don’t shut up, you’re going to get in trouble.” She replied plainly. Sharon’s stomach twisted at the words ‘shut up’ and she smiled. “Maybe I want to be punished.” “Good luck, baby. I have to work.” Another small swoosh sound rang out. Alaska’s knee was still bouncing, and Sharon adjusted herself, airily moaning as it came in contact with her clit as it bounced up again. Once Alaska saw what she’d done, she started bouncing her other knee, giving her wife the side eye and a small but firm pat on the cheek. “If you don’t stop, Sharon…” Alaska’s voice trailed off, and she was sucked back into typing as her wife frowned at her. “Mommy…” Sharon whispered into her ear again. “Sharon. Don’t.” Alaska was still holding onto her calm manner, and Sharon was getting all sorts of turned on by it. “Please, mama, I’ve been waiting allll dayyyy, and those emails cannot be that interesting.” Alaska finally squirmed. “What am I gonna do with you, Sharon? Honestly, you can’t even leave Mommy alone to work? She has things to do. You’re such a pretty girl. I don’t want to punish you.” Sharon kissed Alaska’s neck full on, and Alaska’s gut wrenched as she felt her panties get soaked. The combination of the dirty talk and the feeling of Sharon’s plush lips on her was too much. Way, way too much. She took her hands away from the keyboard to push Sharon off of her lap, and went to the ladies room in the building, slamming the door on Sharon who knew better than to follow her. Sharon’s hands were shaking as she undid her blouse and tight pencil skirt, getting into nothing except her (carefully put together) black lace panty/bra ensemble underneath and sitting on top of Alaska’s glass desk. She stared at herself in the small body mirror on the back of the wall across from her, admiring her small waist and perky tits in the lingerie set. Her thighs were splayed out on the glass table, not to mention her ass, which looked huge. She looked good and she knew it. Her blonde hair was tumbling across her shoulders and her plum lipstick was slightly smudged from kissing Alaska, giving off a pink hue around her lips. Alaska walked back in the room after another two minutes. Her hair bounced when she walked and her cleavage was a little more visible than before, showing off the fact she’d undone another button on her shirt. She saw Sharon and immediately closed the door, before walking over and laying Sharon down on the desk. Her hair was pushed out slightly under her, the bouncy curls losing volume in the back from the hard glass. Goosebumps came up, decorating her skin as her nipples got harder from how turned on she was, plainly visible through the bralette she was wearing. Alaska pulled rose-colored panties from her pocket and pulled Sharon’s jaw open, first putting three fingers in and then shoving the panties in once she was satisfied with the thick saliva coating on her fingers. She sat down on the desk and started typing again. “Sharon, get up, lean over the desk. You failed to leave me alone. You got Mommy all hot and bothered while she was trying to work and now you’re going to get punished for it.” Sharon got up quickly with a whine from the absence of the cool glass on her ass. She kicked off the heels she was wearing and bent over the desk like Alaska told her to, bracing herself for what came next. Alaska sat down at her desk next to where Sharon was standing and started typing at her computer again before another woosh sounded and she stood up. There was a tie in her small drawer by the desk, and she grabbed it, admiring how the blue and black stripes matched Sharon’s lingerie. Sharon felt Alaska’s presence behind her, her hips against her ass before she felt the tie being used as a blindfold and being tied behind her head. The world went dark for her, and the goosebumps came back. She didn’t dare spit the panties out of her mouth but instead savored the taste of them from Alaska’s juices, letting out little moans as she did so. Soon enough, she heard the muffled click of Alaska’s heels and then the clicking of the keyboard again. She couldn’t see her wife but she knew she was sitting at her computer like normal, working again, completely unimpressed with Sharon’s inability to control her sex drive. Sharon started whimpering again until she heard Alaska’s voice. “Bet you enjoy the taste of Mommy’s panties in your mouth, huh? I’m glad it shut you up. Look at you, whining and desperate in my office, with my panties shoved in between those sweet lips. If you shut up maybe I’ll touch you. Give you what you want.” Sharon moaned audibly and was met with a hard smack on her ass that more than likely was going to show up as a bruise the next day. “No, baby. Don’t be bad.” Sharon couldn’t help herself. She wanted to be touched, no, needed to be touched, and Alaska was just sitting there and doing work like usual. It was killing her. She moaned again in an attempt to get Alaska’s attention and spit the panties out of her mouth. Alaska didn’t notice until she spoke. “Lasky, please, I need you,” She said breathlessly. Alaska had also tied her hands behind her back when she came into the office earlier, and Sharon could barely move. “Sharon, I told you to shut up, and you disobeyed my orders. Stand up, now.” Alaska was pissed and quickly untied the blindfold from Sharon’s head. She opened the drawer roughly and pulled out a black ball gag, adorned with small spikes on the front. Sharon looked at the device with want, disobeying her inner instincts with a familiar rush to her pussy and immediate warmth. She needed it. Alaska stood her up and fastened the gag around her mouth tightly, before leaning Sharon back down onto the desk where she was before. She spanked her again, pinching the reddening area as Sharon started to drool on the glass and her eyes started watering as she squeaked from the pain. She felt her panties being pulled down by Alaska, her short nails grazing along the sides of her thighs. She pulled them down just enough to see how wet Sharon was. “You’re so wet, baby. You got Mommy all hot and bothered too while she was trying to work. It’s like you’re asking to be punished. But that wouldn’t be surprising, either, I guess, because of how much of a slut you’ve proved yourself to be.” Sharon made a noise deep in her throat and her drool piled up on the glass, lipstick officially smearing on her chin. “Look at you. All pathetic. So pretty and spread out for Mommy.” Cold air hit her clit and Sharon’s hips bucked from the unexpected action. Alaska laughed a little, and Sharon started to hear typing noises again, but slower and more robotic, more controlled. She heard a small pop and felt wet fingers lightly poking at her entrance and she spread herself wider, giving Alaska more access. She pushed three fingers in all at once and tears started forming in Sharon’s eyes from the pain, usually, two would be a stretch for her. Alaska didn’t make a sound and kept typing as she pumped her fingers in and out of her wife. Sharon was full on crying now from being stretched so much, but deep moans were coming from her at the same time. Alaska crooked her fingers a little bit inside of her, hitting her g-spot once and then straightening them back out, making Sharon whine. Another woosh accompanied Sharon’s moans in the small office. Alaska had her pants unbuttoned and she pulled her fingers out of Sharon to pull them down before sticking two of the three fingers back in. Sharon sobbed again, louder this time, at the sudden contact with her g-spot that Alaska was now hitting every time. She felt a small spank on her ass and Alaska turned slightly to watch her wife’s movements in the mirror behind them, watching her fingers pumping in and out and Sharon’s juices spilling down her thighs. Sharon started shaking and tensing up, clenching Alaska’s fingers. “Cum, babydoll. Cum all over Mommy’s fingers.” Alaska’s fingers hit her g-spot one final time before Sharon was shaking and sweating, tears and drool both hitting the glass table underneath her. Her cum ran down her thighs and calves as she shook, Alaska still pushing her fingers in her, deep. Sharon kept shaking even after she came and Alaska’s other hand moved to her clit, that was still soaked. She was shaking and her eyes were practically rolling back into her head as she moaned so loud that it completely filled the room. Another orgasm started to build and Sharon was ready to collapse, if it weren’t for the glass desk holding her up she would’ve by now. Her toes started to curl and her tears started running again as she let out strangled sobs. “It’s okay baby, it’s okay, after this I’m gonna stop punishing you. You’re being a good girl, and doing so well to make up for Mommy. I almost forgive you, doll. Just cum again and let Mommy taste, please. You can do it.” Alaska reassured Sharon in a soft voice, her thumb still rubbing her clit. She kneeled between Sharon’s thighs as she started tensing again and replaced her thumb with her tongue, licking and nipping at her clit slowly, just like she liked it. Sharon had gone completely silent, spasming, completely out of breath as she came again. Alaska pulled her fingers out and moved her tongue up, tongue fucking her wife slightly and tasting her as she came even harder than the first time. Once Alaska thought Sharon was done she pulled away only for Sharon to release even more, cum dripping onto the floor with small pitter patters, followed by a short stream of it. The floor beneath her was completely soaked, and Alaska was smiling, proud of her, watching some milkier liquid pool but not drip out. She used her thumb to pick it up and taste it. Sharon’s knees buckled. “Good job, baby. Bet you’re ready to get out of those handcuffs? And that gag must be hurting you by now. You did so good. I’m so proud of you.” Alaska could feel her own wetness spreading onto her thighs from the lack of underwear and untied Sharon’s hands from behind her back. She noticed red imprints from the pink rope she’d used to do it and rubbed them softly to lighten the color. Sharon warily moved her hands out of Alaska’s and pushed herself up off the desk and gesturing for Alaska to untie the ball gag she had on. Her fingers and arms were cramped up, as well as her legs. Alaska lovingly undid the ball gag and placed it to the side before Sharon managed to attack her with kisses, kissing her neck and mouth rough. There were maroon stains all over Alaska’s mouth and neck by now. “Babe, baby, c’mon. Hey. Stop.” Sharon knew better than to keep going after that tone of voice. Alaska pushed her pants down, revealing her bare ass, thighs, and pussy, all gleaming from where her wetness had spread. “Get under the desk. Hurry.” Sharon ducked under the desk immediately, not saying a word, and Alaska sat on the edge of her chair with her legs spread. She motioned for Sharon to move closer to her, and Sharon immediately started kissing the inside of her thighs, and Alaska sounded small moans from where she was typing at her computer. Sharon kept teasing her, kissing her everywhere except where Alaska needed it, earning a small smack on the cheek from her. She chuckled before going straight to Alaska’s clit and licking hard. Alaska let out a deep groan. “Fuck, Sharon,” Sharon moaned at the mention of her name into Alaska and Alaska grabbed her hair. Both of them heard the footsteps, even with the clicking keys and small moans coming from both of them. They weren’t surprised to hear the door open, Alaska keeping her thighs over Sharon’s shoulder as she looked at the familiar blond coworker. He blushed deeply, seeing the movement under the desk, before rushing out a jumbled sentence. “Alas-Alaska, meeting in thirty with a new client,” He stood there, just staring at Alaska’s stern face even after she responded a stern ‘okay’. “Um, Russell. You should leave. My wife is here.” She said with a wink. Russell left quickly and Alaska moaned louder than before. “Fuck, that was hot. Baby, he saw you,” She whispered. Sharon shoved her head deeper into Alaska and pushed her tongue into her, letting Alaska move two of her fingers down to rub herself. Sharon was touching herself now, too, jolting occasionally from the overstimulation, and putting a finger in Alaska to accompany her tongue. She pumped her finger in and out slowly, bending her finger up and rubbing Alaska’s g-spot so she’d moan. Alaska’s pink nub was becoming more pronounced by the second, and she was still rubbing it when Sharon flicked her tongue over it. She entered another finger into her and fucked her harder, making Alaska shake and convulse around her two fingers. Sharon moved her mouth away from her wife completely and bit her thigh hard enough to leave a mark, and Alaska finally came with a groan, Sharon following, coming for the third time. She crawled out from under the desk and onto Alaska’s lap, kissing her, with both hands on her cheeks. Alaska was feeling Sharon’s tits through her bra when she pulled away and lightly pulled Sharon off of her lap. Sharon was still struggling to stand and used the desk to balance herself as she watched Alaska pull her pants over her ass. “Keep the panties. They’re ruined, I don’t want to put them back on. Let me pack up and we’ll leave, okay?” “Alaska. You have a meeting. You have to stay.” “Do you honestly think I’m going to that? Russell’s a big boy, he can manage. Plus they aren’t my clients. I’m fine.” Alaska said, and rolled her eyes. Sharon smiled a little, and Alaska used her thumb to clean off the smudged lipstick. Sharon sucked her thumb into her mouth and bit it lightly to make Alaska giggle. “No. I’m too tired.” “You think you’re tired? Bitch.” Sharon laughed, giving Alaska a quick kiss on the lips, before gathering some papers and helping her pack. She grabbed her laptop and scrunched her nose at it. Alaska admired the post-sex glow she’d gotten from earlier, and how vibrant it made her. She looked breathtaking, even with smudged makeup. “‘Kay, let’s go. I’m done here.” Alaska grabbed Sharon’s freshly manicured hand and walked out of the office with her, making sure to wink at Russell when she went.

The drive home was short, about ten minutes one way. She spotted the small cupcake stand she’d previously bought cupcakes from and smirked thinking about it while driving past. Sharon was holding her hand over the middle console and squeezed it. She was happy. Really happy. They pulled up to the driveway as the sun was starting to set, it was October, and the days kept getting shorter and colder. Alaska unlocked the front door of the modern house she’d bought for the both of them and saw the cat on the other side of the entryway. Sharon was completely silent, looking somewhat defeated. “I’m gonna go change into a t-shirt. I’ll bring one out for you.” Alaska whispered in her ear as she took out her bobby pins, letting the rest of her hair down out of the two buns, and walked towards the bedroom. She got in the bedroom with a small sigh and closed the door behind her before padding her way over to the brown wooden dresser and opening her underwear drawer. Her hands pulled a few pieces of underwear out of the way and she let out another sigh, relieved this time, as she retrieved the small, witch-hat shaped box of chocolates and movie from underneath them. Along with the two gifts, there was a small card with a necklace in a small box underneath it, tied with a black ribbon. She pulled her work clothes over her head and undid her bra, grabbing boy short underwear from the dresser and one of Sharon’s old, ripped Pink Floyd t-shirts, and put them on. She walked out into the hallway again with pajamas for Sharon, too, plus the gifts. “Sharon…” She climbed on the couch where the blonde was sitting, still looking pouty. “I have gifts, baby.” Sharon’s eyes lit up. “You remembered!?” A grin spread across Sharon’s face, her completely fucked makeup making it look even more endearing. “Of course I remembered, dork. Did you think I’d forget?” “I mean, you didn’t mention it all day.” “It was a surprise, you idiot.” Sharon smiled and laughed, and Alaska pecked her on the cheek before bringing out the gifts she’d gotten her. “Oh my god, Alaska. You didn’t need to. I didn’t buy anything,” Sharon said, feeling a pang of guilt in her gut. “Today was enough. Open the box, baby!” Sharon grabbed the box, and ignored the card, as usual. She opened the blue box to reveal a gold necklace with a dark brown chocolate diamond in the middle and let out an audible gasp. “Happy anniversary, doll. I love you so much. This has been the best year, well, five years of my life. I’m so lucky. You make me happier than anyone else. So does your ass, too.” She finished her small speech with a poke at Sharon’s butt, but Sharon was practically crying. Alaska put her necklace on gently and kissed her bare neck on the way back. “Happy one year. I can’t wait to have so many more.”