#series: eleanor's kitchen

[lizzybeth1986]

Eleanor's Kitchen

Books: The Royal Romance/Heir, Rules of Engagement

Pairing: Queen Eleanor & Prince Leo + Liam (mother-sons/siblings), Leo x Damien (mentioned in RoE) (romantic), Liam & Jason (OC) (platonic).

Rating: PG

Summary: Liam notices Leo's friendship with Damien, their gardener's eldest son, becoming stronger.

Series: Eleanor's Kitchen

Note: Damien (not Nazario from PM!) has been mentioned in this scene in Rules of Engagement, Book 2. I played fast and loose with the timelines for this backstory, and have given Damien a younger brother who was Liam's age.

This chapter takes place almost a year following Ch 3. Liam is now 8 years old, Leo is 14.

Word Count: 3, 718 words

Tagging @kingliamappreciationweek for KLAW Day 4: Childhood, @aprilchallenge for the prompt "just want to be with you", @choicesholidays for National Sibling Appreciation Day (April 10th) and @choicesficwriterscreations for FoTW.

Chapter 4: Garídes Saganáki

(Photo from this recipe)

Liam greets the salt air that briefly kisses his face, and the sand that pools around his toes at the beach, with a sense of homecoming. This beach has felt as much like his home as the palace he was born in, suffused with memories of sandcastles and uniquely-shaped seashells and the rush of excitement that came every time a wave crashed against the shore.

And most of all, it feels like home for the moments long past. For the rare times both he and Leo did things together, back when Leo actually liked taking him along for things. When his talk was actually more talk and less eyerolling and "oh you're too young to understand". The love is still there, and so is the need to protect each other (especially against Father's acid remarks, usually aimed at Leo) - just...the companionship isn't, any longer.

The sad, sinking feeling that used to emerge from realizing that is, thankfully, rare now - Liam much prefers the company of his own friends - but when he was four and hanging on to his big brother's every word, it had stung.

"Every big brother does that," his newest friend, Jason, shrugged. Jason is the palace gardner Giorgos Vasilakis' youngest son, accompanying his father since last year on visits to the Queen to discuss the plans surrounding her dream project: the palace hedge maze, that was to echo the one in Château de Villandry in France. Jason's older brother Damien had always been the one at Kýrios Vasilakis' side before that, but of late Liam has begun to associate his presence more with his own elder brother.

Jason is lonely. Unlike Liam, who has managed to bring together his own motley band of merry playmates, Jason has only the one older brother and has never gotten the chance to venture beyond the palace and his father's cottage. Liam has experienced only a fraction of that kind of loneliness and it had felt like hell. He and Jason may not know each other well, but he'll be damned if he let the other boy he has no one. And so he brings Jason along to meet all his friends.

Both Liam's and Jason's older brothers accompany the group of exhilarated children to the beach, but slip away in another direction before the group can notice. Liam notes the direction Leo and Damien are headed - their heads leaning towards each other as they walk - but says nothing. More friends, Liam reminds himself of his purpose here, first make sure we give Jason more friends.

Liam isn't disappointed. Before long, Jason's name has been shortened to Jase, his shorts and shirt have been drenched from jumping over the crashing waves with Maxwell, and he's snacking happily over pine nuts with Drake and Olivia. He even enjoys collecting seashells with Tariq, even if he did find him a little odd at first.

"I can understand not wanting to get your shoes wet but why would he want to keep them 30 feet away from the sea??"

Liam giggles a little. "They're not just shoes! They're...uh... Salvatore Ferra-somethings!" he says, already forgetting the Italian names that slip so easily from Tariq's tongue when he's talking about a shoe brand. Liam would too, if his father spoke his ears off about shoes as much as Tariq's did.

"If you say so," Jason replies doubtfully. What a funny bunch of people these nobles and royals are, he must be thinking, "but what if they get stolen?"

"Then Tariq will sniff and say he hopes they were stolen by someone who truly understands the value and beauty of Italian shoes."

Just before they leave, the children build a sandcastle. Liam and Jason deem themselves the architects of the main structure, Drake and Olivia choose to build a fortress. Maxwell ropes in a skeptical Tariq to help him construct a fantastic "Tower of Fun and Parties" right next to the castle itself. They are almost done when Jason stands up, declares the castle incomplete without a good garden, and pokes dots into the sand to form imaginary flowers.

For a moment all they can hear is the shriek of the gulls and the buffeting crash of the waves. They are all silent, and smiling, and very, very proud of themselves.

This structure is the biggest sandcastle the children have ever built themselves thus far, and by the time Leo and Damien return (hair damp, skin glistening, breathing hard as if they'd jumped down the steep cliffs of the Forgotten Falls and climbed back up, hands very close but not really touching) they are all convinced it is the biggest castle they ever will conceive of building. Even if it is one built in sand, soon to be a victim to the crashing waves.

--

Liam puts on his baking gloves, balancing himself on the balls of his feet as he waits to take his freshly-baked bread out of the oven. It's a moment he likes to gear himself up for - there's just something, some magic, about that first, comforting, soul-filling whiff. He'd experienced that feeling the first time he actually watched Chef Anais bake, and he's felt it ever since.

His version of Greek village-style bread is perfect today - the crust a lovely brown with little cracks and ridges to show off how crisp its outside is, and he is certain the inside will be soft and a light shade of yellow from the semolina he added to it. The aroma is good enough to make his mother stop in the middle of her own cooking just to breathe it in.

Her face covered in a fine sheen of sweat today from the heat in the kitchen, her hair bunched into a wrap and her hands waving away steam and smoke from her face. Liam can't quite tell whether it is excitement he sees on her face or exhaustion. But from the corner of his eye as he carries the bread to the table to rest, he can tell it is more of the former.

There are two pots boiling away at once on the stove: one a creamy, garlicy, peppery fish broth; the other a beautifully silky tomato-based sauce that he knows from experience will become even silkier and creamier when Mum adds a sinfully liberal amount of feta chesse to it.

He almost reaches out for it with a spoon when his mother stops him.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Mum says, playfully wagging her finger, "Not yours, thisavré mou. This is for your brother and his friend only. That's why I'm making something with your favourite Stone Bass fish as well. For you and your friend."

Liam frowns. "But I've had shrimp saganaki before. You know I like it too. Why couldn't you just make a bigger batch?"

Mum lets out a sigh suffused with embarrassed laughter. Her hand inadvertently motions itself towards a bottle of alcohol on the table titled Ouzo. "This one is... different. Not for children."

Liam pouts in petulance. Of late reminders that he is still a child and his brother isn't have begun to annoy him. There is something so mythical about teenagehood, Liam is beginning to realise, something he wants to know more about but is too out of his reach to even begin to understand.

Don't be so eager to let go of your childhood, pet, then you'll spend the rest of your life wanting it back, Mum would often tell him. All that phrase does now is make him even more impatient.

The smell of ripened crushed tomatoes, mixing in with the garlic, onions, and chilis, makes for a heady combination. He secretly thanks Uncle Franci for sending them yet another carton of San Marzanos - Mum said he'd written in his last letter that his wife, Aunt Pari, would be making a trip down to her home province of Bethulia soon for the Navroze festival, and was hoping Mum would come celebrate it with her this year.

There is another aroma in the sauce Liam has never smelled before, and has a hard time identifying - it's slightly pungent and makes his eyes water a little. It must be from the bottle of Ouzo.

Mum tosses the feta into the small, two-handled heavy-bottomed frying pan at will - she has never really been one for measurements - and quickly places the pan beneath the broiler to melt the cheese. Liam watches in fascination as her hands crumble extra feta; there is no rubric for how much, she just stops when she feels like it. Just throw! she will tell him anytime he asks her for a measuring cup. Cooking for Mum has always been just a play of hands; trust your hands and give them their time with the ingredients - and the results may not always be consistent but over time they will be forever delicious.

Liam has timed his baking closely enough that by the time both his and Leo's dishes are ready, his bread will have rested long enough, and is ready to serve as a side.

They find Leo talking to Jason's brother at one of the more intimate drawing rooms of the palace, their heads so close they're almost touching. Both their hands are jammed into their pockets, as if they'd hurriedly put them there from whatever their original position was. Their eyes dart everywhere and both seem to turn a little pink. A curl from Damien's dark hair rests carelessnessly on his forehead, and Liam catches his brother looking at it at least twice.

Jason skips to Liam's side. "Where is everyone else?" he whispers.

"Drake and his sister have gone to Texas to stay with their aunt, Olivia's with one of the Elders in Lythikos, Maxwell and Tariq are back home. It's just me, I'm afraid." Liam shuffles his feet in uncharacteristic awkwardness. He knows that a lot of the things he likes to talk about can either bore or confuse his own friends.

"Good enough for me," Jason says, grinning. "Her Majesty says she's got us fish stew."

"Bianco. And shrimp saganaki for Leo and Damien." Liam lowers his voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't tell your dad - Mum made those herself. Father built her her own kitchen two and a half years ago. Not many besides some of the kitchen staff know."

Jason's eyes widen at the bowl that's just arrived, and then brightens. Imagine that, being treated to the cooking of an actual queen!

Mum had wisely decided to seat the pairs of brothers in different areas, confident that they would be bored stiff if they were made to eat together. It's a lot better this way, Liam thinks, as Jason talks animatedly of the new toys his dad got him with the increase in his salary from last month onwards. Leo and Damien would perhaps find their chats rather silly, and a lot of the things they say fly like seagulls over Liam and Jason's heads.

The Bianco is as good as Liam and Jason had hoped: the sauce smooth and creamy, the fish mildly sweet and with flesh so soft it crumbles a little on the tongue. Liam can't help but puff his chest in pride as he and Jason use the bread he made to sop up the rest of the sauce, the heat from the pepper and garlic and the delightful tang from the lemon warming them all down to their toes. Jason tells Liam to tell Her Majesty to forgive his lack of manners but he is this close to licking his plate.

Normally, Liam would be ecstatic about getting to eat a Stone Bass, especially here where the catch is always today's, wild and fresh and soul-stirringly tasty..."not that garbage you get from the fish farms" as Grandmother used to say.

But his thoughts keep crawling back to the meal his and Jason's older brothers got. The dish that has been so familiar to him all these years, yet seems so alien now. All because of an added mysterious... thing that seems all the more exciting because he isn't allowed to touch it.

Liam goes and sneaks a look at where their brothers sit, enjoying their shrimp. Leo looks over to his friend's plate, notices his bread is over, breaks his own loaf apart and offers it to Damien, looking straight into his eyes as he dips it into his sauce and eats it. Damien's fingers lightly brush his as he takes the bread.

"You know who made that bread?" Leo's voice for some reason sounds different, warmer and deeper and a little more serious. Liam turns pink with forgotten filial pleasure at the note of pride in his words. "Liam. My baby brother."

Damien grins. "There's sauce near your lip."

Leo makes a great show of pretending not to know where. "Where?"

Damien looks left and right - and satisfied that they cannot be seen (Liam heaves a sigh of relief as he emerges from behind a corner Leo and Damien cannot clearly see) takes his napkin and dabs softly at the corner of his mouth. The two boys suddenly cannot look each other in the eye, and their smiles hold secrets that make Liam feel like an intruder on this little moment, for perhaps no reason. Damien's only cleaning Leo's face.

But when he returns and tells Jason what he saw, the other boy stays silent for a few minutes.

"Babás almost saw Prince Leo at our home once," Jason says quietly, "Mamá had to hide him in a cupboard."

"But why?" Liam asks back, puzzled, "I thought Kýrios Vasilakis liked him. Ever since he started attending his lessons regularly and actually -"

"I know. I thought so too. I'm not sure why Leo and Damien and Mamá look so scared these days. No one ever tells me." Jason finishes with a nonchalant shrug that belies his petulant frustration at not being told things he cannot fully understand.

Liam sighs, all thoughts of their brothers forgotten. "No one thinks I'm old enough to understand anything either."

As Liam watches Jason's older brother reluctantly take leave of his own, their gazes lingering more than their touches ever could...and realises how childishly enthusiastic their own goodbyes are, Liam goes to bed wondering what Leo's shrimp saganaki tastes like. Is it pungent? Is it sweet? Does it leave a bitter aftertaste?

That night, Liam lies in bed in his silk unicorn-and-rainbow pajamas, burningly aware of how like a child he looks in it. How unlike his older brother - in his leather jackets and carelessly tousled hair. He begins counting the months before his mother can properly deem him "of age", and falls asleep before he can even reach his pre-teen years.

--

Days later, Leo takes a walk around the Wishing Well with his mother.

It's amazing how much things have changed in the years Eleanor has been married to Constantine, and therefore into the Royal Family. His little son had only been four then, and he'd hidden behind his father the first few times she tried to come near. Constantine and his mother had fumed over this in the beginning, wanting to help ease him into trusting her but neither having a whole lot of patience - so it had been up to her to reassure him that they would only set his relationship with her at his pace.

And it had paid off. Little Leo had once seen the "new mother" outside, trying to stargaze, and sat beside her in silence, listening for half an hour as she pointed out constellations. She'd known he loved stargazing and knew he needed a companion of sorts The first ever times they talked were all about stars...until five months later when he lost interest and Eleanor found out whatever it was that captured his fancy next.

Still, because that night was the night they tentatively began to consider themselves mother and son, she often brings back memories of it by calling him astéri mou.

"Your tutors have been very pleased with you this year," Eleanor says, suppressing a little smile, "they've been seeing how hard you've been working at your studies lately." There's a mischievous glow in her eyes. "Any more efforts and you'll soon be surpassing Liam, they say."

Leo snorts. He knows, no matter how hard he tries, that he can never reach his kid brother's level in either interest or acumen for politics. That is a quality unique to just him and he's more than happy to let him bask in it, but ever since Damien....

A quick, intense memory of him flashes. Dark curls, full lips, skin smooth beneath Leo's fingertips. It had amazed him how they'd been playmates one minute, pretending to be pirates and running around the palace gardens, and he'd never in all that time noticed that kind of gut-capturing beauty. His voice deep and passionate at the Forgotten Falls two weeks ago, as Damien whispered into his hair, "Let me hold you for a bit. We don't have to talk...we don't have to do anything. I just want to be with you."

He knows becoming a good King will be a hundred times harder for him than it was for his father, than (he is beginning to realize) it could be for his brother. He had made his peace with that at some point this year. But being around Damien...knowing that in his future position a relationship like theirs could be both legally permitted and morally viewed as sheer irresponsibility (and this is in only the kindest of parallel universes) and still knowing it is a relationship he cannot ever conceive of giving up...

If he could just prove himself capable in every other area of his life, just please his father and bring pride to his mother in other ways, maybe both his father and Damien's may just not force what they could have together, to die.

Mamá sighs. "Leo...astèri mou. You don't understand. I am already proud of you."

Oh no. Had he just said the words aloud?

He responds to her answer with another question. "How did you find out about us, Mamá?"

She shakes her head. "Kyría Vasilikou." Damien's mother, who hid Leo in a cupboard that one time Kyríe Vasilikos almost caught them. She had been extraordinarily kind and very contrite - sending Leo with a box of melomakarona and begging him never to come to this house again for fear of what Damien's father may do to him next.

He remembers Mamá's words from that evening.

"Damien's father - and his father before him - are extraordinarily dedicated to the King. It was His father that ensured their family would be set for many, many years to come...and his gratitude towards them can make him blind to what could make his own son happy."

The mother who had birthed him, the one he had often called Mummy, is at best a faded memory now. He called Eleanor Mamá almost a year after she'd married his father, because he finally felt ready and because it suited her. That evening, he understood his Mamá's underlying message.

I will always support you. But until we can figure out a way, you must be careful.

And so he will be. Both Damien and he will try their darnedest not to be too obvious about their love for each other...and Leo will continue to work harder on his lessons.

Smiling, Mamá changes the subject. "Liam's very upset we won't let him have shrimp saganaki."

Leo bursts out laughing. "He's had it so many times already!"

She shrugs. "Oh no, not that way. He's demanding the "Leo and Damien special". Ouzo and all. I suspect the baby of our family wants to be seen as a baby no more."

He rolls his eyes. "He's going to be really disappointed. It's not going to be that different from regular saganaki. Just makes it taste a little bit more like anise."

If that isn't a fitting symbol of what adolescence feels like when you come out of your big impractical dreams of what adolescence might be, Eleanor doesn't know what is. It is a lesson they all learned the hard way, only to see their children struggle with it too. They can only sit back, knowing that nothing they can say will change the kids' minds.

Leo at age 14 is already bored of his teenage years and raising his eyes towards the glamour of adulthood. Liam at age 8 has a far too rosy picture of adolescence, and envies his brother for being the whole-body-manifestation of everything he now wants but knows he needs to wait to have.

And while Eleanor will be forever grateful Liam has inherited her vast capacity for patience and not his father's, she is also aware that that patience is beginning to wear thin.

Leo may be too focused on his feelings for Damien to see it, but a time will come when the brother he has always considered a kid will grow before his eyes, and he will be too surprised by the change to understand, or know how to communicate. She can only hope they'll find their little ways, as they once did before.

Sighing, she passes her eldest a coin, and takes a second in her own hand.

"Ready to make a wish?"

Leo nods. Eleanor smiles. She knows already what he's going to ask.

Eleanor tosses hers into the well, watching as it makes its rapid descent down.

Whatever else changes, just make sure these two never forget how much they need each other.

Eleanor returns to the palace with her son, smiling. Between the Wishing Well and the official gardens, there are bits and pieces of a plan taking shape, a plan for a garden maze. Around it, she can see her youngest playing tag with his friends: one of whom is the youngest of their gardener, a little boy Liam seems to have taken under his wing.

Leo and his mother stop by to watch the children. Both sigh, and both realize it's for the same reason.

Liam will be thrust into his adolescent years before he even knows it. But at least they both can enjoy this sight of him enjoying his childhood completely, wholeheartedly, for what it is. If only for today.

--

Recipes:

Shrimp Saganaki

Corfoit Bianco

Horiatiko Psomi

A/N2: For Sibling Day I really wanted to do a fic that explored the dynamics of a sibling pair with a significant age gap. There is some amount of awe at older people - esp older kids- at their age, as well as a little envy and a desire to become them.

Meanings:

Kyríos/Kyría: Greek for Mr and Mrs usually.

Thisavré mou - my treasure

Ouzo - Ouzo is an anise-flavored liquor produced from grape must (the remnants of wine-making). It can only be made in Greece and Cyprus

Feta cheese - A brined, white cheese with a soft and creamy texture, often made from sheep's milk.

Navroze - Festival for Parsi New Year, often celebrated with Iranians around the world as well as other Zoroastrian communities.

Babás/Mamá - Greek for Dad and Mum.

Astéri mou - my star

[sublimeinal-messages]

Any five x oc fanfic recs? I just read your entire series in 2 days and I crave more

OMG hi sorry I didn't see your ask until now! Personally, I found myself frustrated with a lot of Five fics out there because they were very romance-focused and didn't give the rest of the family the care that was needed, but the fic Definitely Maybe I Will Live To Love by my friend Seeing_Blue (@i-dropped-the-chief !) who not only made me realize Oh! there are actually good oc fanfics that can exist, and also involve a well-written Five. And I consumed the entire series of fics that exist that they wrote, as well as the AU spinoff fic.... and then all of their other works outside the Umbrella Academy fandom. Seeing-Blue is just a fantastic writer all around and I cannot hype up their works more, go check them out!!

[bluedelliquanti]

Before I go on vacation, I present my list of my top books for 2024.

COMICS:

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki

Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert

Ukazu and Rupert are a powerhouse team, and as an art school adjunct, this already funny GN is even funnier (albeit in a way that necessitates a skull emoji in the educator groupchat)

Tiffany’s Griffon by Magnolia Porter Siddell & Maddi Gonzalez

Phobos and Deimos by J Dalton

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui

It's a tough task to reach a satisfying conclusion to a series that was as strong as Dungeon, but I think Kui accomplished it!

Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda

King in Limbo by Ai Tanaka

Over the last year I've been drawn towards comic series that work with a retro, fixed-width inking style, and King especially informed some recent experiments of mine.

PROSE:

Twins by Bari Wood & Jack Geasland

When I learned Wood was responsible for the book that became Dead Ringers, I knew I had to try it. This is the one that wins my "Oh, shit! Wow!! Okay!!!" award for the year (distinctions previously awarded to Cyteen and Manhunt).

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow

DS9: A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson

Those of you who read my journal comic from last August might recall that I met Robinson at a Trek convention! I'd learned from reading these books that Stitch was considered a white whale among collectors, and now I absolutely understand why. If you're a DS9 fan and you want to try any book from the original run of novels, try this one. By which I mean, try the far easier-to-find audiobook version.

Translation State by Ann Leckie

A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason

Fellow SBCF participant Erin Roseberry had shared this title as an inspiration for their comic, The Maker of Grave-Goods, and I was especially interested in trying a book by a Twin Cities author. What a serendipitous find!

Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell

For the third year in a row, a book nominated for the Le Guin Prize makes the list.

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin

This is another book I always told myself I'd try someday, and was it ever worth it! I spent some time talking about my experience with this story (and its accompanying materials that fill out the world) in my talk with Evan Dahm on his show.

See you in the new year! I've packed some thick books for a long flight, so I'm starting my 2025 reading pile right away!

Reruns of my previous two lists, 2023, and 2022, below the cut.

2023

COMICS:

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano

Out of Style by Devi Putri Megwati

Skip and Loafer by Misaki Takamatsu

The Harrowing of Hell by Evan Dahm

The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu

Esteban by Matthieu Bonhomme

I covered my ShortBox reccs back in October, but since then I also picked up Pearl Hunting by Hana Chatani when it came to itch.io and adored it.

PROSE: 

So yes, maybe I'm cheating by including Moby Dick since I'm not all the way finished, but Whale Weekly really did end up being a great tool for getting me to crack open my gorgeous Evan Dahm-illustrated copy I've had for a while.

My favorite book of the year is Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky. I genuinely did read it the first week of January, but after having it recommended to me for years, I'm thrilled it didn't disappoint. Maybe I am someone who likes Russian novels after all???

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Such Nice People by Sandra Scoppettone

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh (I jokingly placed these three in the "READ 👏 FEMALE 👏 AUTHORS 👏" category because they don't have anything in common other than describing some of the most upsetting/bizarre scenarios I've read this year. Cyteen especially! Wowee!!!)

Brother Alive by Zain Khalid

Glory by Vladimir Nabokov

A Different Trek by David K. Seitz, which I mentioned as my vacation book for the Star Trek convention, but it's given me some great suggestions for more books, both fiction and otherwise. Also, I read... 11 more DS9 books this year. 

2022

COMICS:

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

Vattu by Evan Dahm

The Well by Choo and Jake Wyatt

Wash Day Diaries by Robyn Smith and Jamila Rowser

Some ShortBox Comics Fair entries that are graphic novella length and are really good include Food School by Jade Armstrong and The God of Arepo by Reimena Yee et al.

PROSE:

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente

edit: oh my god I can't believe I forgot Perfume by Patrick Süskind

Honorable mentions from the pile of DS9 novelizations include Revenant by Alex White (for successfully pulling off a Sara Paretsky-style mystery in space) and Dominion War: Call to Arms by Diane Carey (for absolutely unhinged adjective choices).

[tessa-liam]

Royal Adventures 

Season’s Scrambles

Chapter 2 

Books: Choices, The Royal Romance Finale, Choices, The Royal Holiday 

A Smoke & Mirrors Series Alternate Universe 

Main Pairing: Liam Rys x F! MC Riley Brooks-Rys

Series Inspiration: Royal Misadventures, Smoke & Mirrors series 1-shot 

Series Premise: 12-year-old Crown Princess Eleanor Rys of Cordonia has officially started her Royal education. Tutors that had been personally selected by His Majesty King Liam Rys and Queen Riley Rys were set to begin her royal lessons, and her days were packed full. The young princess was a natural leader, and the King and Queen could not be prouder.   

Royal Adventures Masterlist 

Smoke and Mirrors Masterlist 

Rating:  M, not Beta'd-please excuse all errors    

Category: On-going series, fluff 

Warnings: swearing, drinking, sexual innuendo 

Most Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios 

Chapter Inspiration: National Lampoon’s ‘Christmas Vacation’ 

Katie Campbell – Theme Song 1989 

Royal Adventures 

Season’s Scrambles, chapter 2 

Chapter Summary: Olivia invites the Royal Family, Leo & Amalas, Drake & Delaney, Alex Cossoy, Hana and Maxwell to the Dukedom of Lythikos to enjoy the winter season for the holidays.  Ellie, along with Drake, Leo and Maxwell decide to have a sledding competition. In secret. Olivia and Ellie conspire to grease Maxwell's sled with a super slippery substance where his sled flies down the hill at an extremely fast speed. 

A/N: My submission for King Liam Appreciation Week 2024, Day 1 - Baklava 

A/N2: My submission for @choicesholidays, @angelascribbles -Week 5- Prompt: New Traditions 

A/N3: My submission for Choices December 2024 Challenge, Prompts: 4-Traditions/5-Baking/8-Spices/21-Tree/26-Hot Chocolate/10-Snow,      All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey) 

@lilyoffandoms 

Words: 2445

 Lythokis Keep, Lythokis, Cordonia 

Carefully laying out the phyllo dough, Riley hummed a Christmas tune as she started to layer the ingredients for Baklava for Liam. The sweet honey drizzle and cinnamon made her mouth water. The smell of his favorite dessert would draw him into the kitchens quickly. Luckily, he was off to fell a talon tree with Leo, Drake and Alex, having left at the crack of dawn, not expected to return until later in the afternoon. 

"Baklava?" 12-year-old Ellie asked, as she watched her mother gleefully preparing her father’s favorite sweet treat. Sitting on the stool next to her mother, Ellie sighed, “I love Baklava,” looking longingly at the sweet confection. 

"Of course you do," Riley chuckled, nudging her shoulder. "I'll try to save you some," as Riley continued to sprinkle chopped pistachios onto the dish. 

"Thanks, Mom!" 

"I want to lick the bowl." Stefan said, jumping up and down. 

"No way!" William cried. "You always get to lick the bowl, Steffie." 

"Stefan, you can't eat it all," Riley said, looking down at her youngest. "This is your dad's and he's going to be hungry after felling that tree." 

"But I love baklava," Stefan pouted, his eyes tearing up. 

Riley looked over at him, seeing the tears in his eyes. She knew that look anywhere. 

"Stefan, no..." she warned. 

"Please?" He begged. 

She shook her head, chuckling. 

"Go ahead." 

"Yessss!" Stefan cheered, leaping into the air. 

Riley grinned and finished placing the top layer. She took the pan and placed it into the oven. 

"So," she said, turning to look at her children. "What's on the agenda for today?" 

"Auntie Livie invited Micaela and I to go sledding," Ellie said.  

"Oh really? Okay, before you go, please help your brothers with their skates.” 

"Sure, Mom," Ellie nodded agreeably.  

Riley took a sip of her coffee and walked away to get herself dressed for the winter chill, leaving the kids to their own devices. 

"Alright, boys," Ellie said, walking over to them. 

"We wanna go sledding!" William whined. 

"I'll help you get your skates on," she said. "Then you can go sledding." 

"Promise?" 

“Yes, I promise." 

❄️❄️❄️ 

"Alright, boys," Maxwell said, standing in the middle of the ice rink with Hana and Amalas, holding his nephews' hands. "Are you ready to learn how to skate?" 

"Yes!" Stefan yelled. 

"No!" William cried. "It's cold out here." 

"You won't even notice once you get started," Hana said, kneeling next to him. 

"Really?" 

"Trust me." 

"Alright," William said, nodding. 

"Come on, you two," Riley said, taking their hands. 

"Mom," Ellie said, grabbing Riley's hand. 

"Hmm?" 

"When is Daddy coming back?" 

"In a few hours, sweetie," she replied, rubbing her arm. "He should be done by lunch time." 

"Ok." 

"Now," Riley said, standing on the ice and taking the twins' hands. "Let's go." 

"Wait," Stefan said, stopping. 

"What's wrong?" 

"How do we stay up?" 

"Don't worry," Hana said, sliding next to him and taking his hand. "We've got you." 

"I'm scared." 

"Just relax and don't think about it," Maxwell said. 

"Just like when you're walking," Riley said. 

"Just don't fall," Stefan nodded. 

"Stefan," William groaned, rolling his eyes. "Don't say that." 

"Why not?" 

"You'll jinx us." 

"How would I-" 

"Hey," Maxwell said, crouching in front of them. "Look at me. Do you know who I am?" 

"You're Uncle Maxwell," Stefan nodded. 

"Do you know that I'm not going to let you get hurt? Or your mom or your Aunt Hana?" 

"No." 

"And you trust me, right?" 

"Yeah." 

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Maxwell said, winking at him. 

"Okay." 

"Good." 

"I want to go with you, Auntie Hana!" Stefan said. 

"Me too!" William cried. 

"Ok, ok," Hana chuckled. 

As the twins began to glde with Hana, Riley looked up at Maxwell and smirked. 

"Race you." 

"Oh, you're on, queen Riles," Maxwell said, smirking back. 

They sped off across the ice, the kids squealing as they picked up speed. Amalas slid next to Hana, smirking. 

"How much did you bet on this?" 

"1000 euro," Hana smirked. 

"Excellent." 

Riley and Maxwell were neck and neck, their kids cheering from the sidelines. 

"Last lap, Beaumont," Riley breathily laughed. 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ri," he responded cheekily. 

Riley laughed and sped up. She passed him and he tried to speed up as well but instead lost his balance and fell on his face. Riley burst into giggles, falling onto the ice as well. The twins cheered, hugging their aunt tightly. 

"You beat Uncle Maxwell!" 

"I told you, Mom's the best!" 

"Thank you, thank you," Riley chuckled, bowing. 

...Meanwhile, Olivia was preparing Maxwell's sled as Ellie watched closely.

"So, it's a secret sled?" Ellie asked.  "What are you spraying on the bottom of the disk? 

"This," Olivia said, holding up a can. 

"What's that?" 

"Graphite oil spray. It's not even for sale in the Capital. It's just something I had on hand." 

"Nice," Ellie grinned. 

"Now, we just spray it on the sled and voila." 

"It's not gonna look too obvious, right?" 

"Don't worry," Olivia said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He won't know until he's already halfway down the hill.... and by then, it will be too late." 

"Perfect," Ellie said, clapping her hands together. 

"Now, we go over the plan again." 

"Exactly, good thinking." Olivia nodded. 

"And if it works, we get to win the bet with uncle Leo and uncle Drake? And they will have to be our personal butlers for a week?

"Yup." 

"But Uncle Drake and Uncle Leo will hate us forever." 

"Oh ... not forever," Olivia chuckled. "Just until the next competition. And they won't win that either. They will not be pleased." 

"This is mean." 

"It's a bit mean," Olivia cackled. 

"But I still think it's a great idea." 

"Good. Now, let's go over the plan again." 

❄️❄️❄️

As Liam, Leo and Alex was returning to the keep, the sun was setting and snow was falling gently from the sky. Riley and the kids were standing on the balcony of the grand suite, waiting for their arrival. 

"Look, boys," Riley said, pointing down the path. "There they are." 

"Where?" Stefan asked. 

"Right there." 

"Daddy!" William yelled. 

Liam looked up, waving to them. Riley and the kids waved back, the kids jumping up and down. 

"Daddy, Daddy!" They shouted. 

Liam walked noticeably faster, the other adults quickening their pace to keep up. He made it to the stairs, climbing them two steps at a time. Once he reached the top, the boys ran and leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly. 

"Hi, Daddy," Stefan said. 

"Hi, boys," Liam chuckled. "Have you been good?" 

"Uh-huh." 

"Yeah, Daddy." 

"I'm so glad." 

"Did you have fun, Dad?" Riley asked, leaning against the rail. 

"I did," he said, nodding. "Leo almost fell off a tree, but other than that, we had a lot of fun." 

"Uncle Leo almost fell?" 

"Yeah." 

"That's hilarious!" 

"You're telling me." 

"Come on, boys," Riley said. "Let's give your father a break and get him some hot chocolate." 

"Hot chocolate!" They yelled, running down the hall. 

"Ahhhh ... there is my beautiful bride." Liam placed a sweet kiss on her cheek as Riley wrapped her arms around his neck. 

"I can't believe this will be our first year spending the holidays here since after our wedding ... and that was our first holiday as a married couple." 

"What special traditions will you make this year, love." Liam wrapped his arms around her waist. 

"I'm ready to make some new traditions with you." 

"Oh yeah, I can't wait, love. So, what did you and the twins do while we were gone?" Liam asked. 

"Went ice skating." Riley grinned.

"Oh really?" 

"Maxwell taught the boys how to skate," Riley said. "He kept them occupied while Amalas, Hana and I had some girl time." 

"Sounds like fun." 

"It was. How was your time with the other men?" 

"It was interesting," Liam chuckled. "Alex and Leo tried to make a tree fort, but Alex fell through the roof." 

"Wow." 

"Yeah." 

"So," she said, stepping closer to him. "Did you bring home the prize?" 

"We did," he nodded. "A 20 foot talon tree." 

"Excellent." 

"Mm-hm," he murmured, leaning forward and kissing her. 

"Come on," Riley said, taking his hand and pulling him to the hall. "Let's get you warmed up. I have a surprise for you." 

"Ooh, what is it?" 

"If I tell you, it's not a surprise, your Majesty." 

"Fair point," Liam chuckled, following her down the grand staircase. 

Once they were in the kitchen, Liam's eyes landed on the counter. 

"Is that...?" 

"Baklava," Riley said matter of factly. 

"Really?" 

"Really," she nodded and smiled coyly. "Made it this morning. Our new holiday tradition: freshly baked, homemade baklava." 

"Oh, baby, you are the best," Liam sighed. 

"I know," Riley giggled. 

"Mom!" 

Riley turned and saw her sons walking into the room. 

"Daddy, do you want to come sledding with us?" William asked. 

"Can't," Liam said, picking up a slice of baklava. "I've got business to take care of." 

"Oh, please," Riley said, looking up at him. "Come play with us." 

"You don't have to convince me," he chuckled, popping another bite into his mouth. 

"Yay! Come on, Daddy!" 

"Ok, ok," Liam laughed. 

They put their jackets and boots on and walked outside. 

Olivia, Ellie, Micaela and Alex were standing on top of a snow hill planning the race, surrounded by lots of freshly fallen snow. Drake, Maxwell, Hana Delaney, were chatting and drinking Lythikos nog. Leo and Amalas met Liam, Riley, William and Stefan to take them to watch the race.

"Are you ready?" Olivia called, looking down the hill. 

"Bring it!" Drake yelled. 

"Oh, you're gonna get it!" Ellie shouted. 

"Alright, let's start this," Maxwell said, clapping his hands. 

"Who's racing?" Maxwell asked. 

"Me, you, Auntie Laney, and Uncle Drake," Ellie said, hopping up and down. 

"Oh," Maxwell said. "Then it's three against one." 

"Yeah," Olivia smirked. "I'm rooting for my niece." 

"Same here," Amalas chuckled. 

"Oh, boy," Maxwell groaned. 

"You've got this, Ellie!" Micaela cheered. 

"We'll win this," Delaney said. 

"Suurre, you will," Drake said. 

"Oh, we will," Ellie countered, nodding. 

Alex placed the circular discs in a line, 10 feet apart for Ellie, Maxwell, Drake, and Delaney.

Olivia and Ellie looked at each other, smirking. 

"On your mark," Alex said, "Get set. Goooooo!" 

They pushed their sleds down the hill, the cold air hitting their faces. Olivia looked over and saw Maxwell's sled was flying down the hill, far ahead of the others. She and Ellie looked at each other, laughing. 

"He's gonna crash," Ellie said. 

"He's not gonna stop," Olivia chuckled. 

"You're right," she sighed. "He's gonna wipe out." 

"Hopefully he'll learn his lesson." 

"What lesson?" 

"Never bet against us," Olivia smirked. 

"Yeah," Ellie chuckled. 

As they neared the bottom of the hill, Olivia saw Maxwell's sled skid off the side, sending him flying into the air.

Maxwell was having a blast, the speed at which he was barreling down the hill was exhilarating.

"Woo-hoo!" He yelled. "I'm flying!" 

"Not for long!" Ellie laughed. 

"Huh?" 

Suddenly, Maxwell's sled flew off the side, sending him tumbling into a snowbank. 

"Maxwell!" Riley cried out, running to him. 

"Ouch," he groaned. 

"What happened?" Liam asked. 

"I don't know. My sled just shot off the hill." 

"He's fine," Riley said. "I'm sure it's not the end of the world." 

"Yeah," Maxwell nodded. 

"Oh, man," Ellie chuckled, nudging Olivia. "Good thing they can't prove anything." 

"I agree," Olivia whispered. 

"You are a bad influence, Liv" Riley said, noticing their devious expressions 

"Maybe." 

"Alright," Drake said, stepping next to the snowbank. "Who wants a turn?" 

"I do!" Ellie cried, leaping into the snow. 

Liam stepped up and stopped his daughter from lifting the fast disc.

"Ellie, hold on a second," Liam said calmly. 

"Why, Daddy?" 

"Because that's not a toy, and it's dangerous." 

"I can handle it," Ellie said. 

"You need to be careful." 

"I will be." 

"No, Ellie. Just use the slower sled." 

"But-" 

"I won't tell you again." 

"Fiiinne," Ellie groaned, trudging over to the slower sled. 

"You know, Li, you never used to be so strict," Leo said, stepping next to him. 

"Well, times have changed." 

"True." 

"I can't risk her getting hurt." 

"Of course not," Leo nodded. "But she's your daughter. She's gonna want to try new things and get out of her comfort zone." 

"I'm aware." 

"So maybe let her have a little more freedom. It's not going to kill her." 

"I'll think about it." 

"Good. But remember, we did a lot of stuff we shouldn't have when we were kids." 

"Exactly.” 

@choicesficwriterscreations @choicescommunityevents @kingliamappreciationweek @choicesholidays @choicesmonthlychallenge @choicesdecember2024 @choicesprompts

📌tags in the comments

[eadanga]

Royal Love Part 21

Summary: Now 18 Eleanor heads to her first year of college and falls for a handsome musician. Can she keep her royal secret be with her true love?

A/N: This series is for @kingliam2019 one of my 500 followers giveaway winners

Eleanor came back from the party and laid on her bed she cried into her pillow I can’t believe this. A knock came at the door “Elle you left the party in tears what happened can I come in?”

“Yeah sure”

She opens the door and sits down beside her “Did you tell him about?”

“Yeah I did”

“What happened?”

“He said he needs to think about it you know what that means”

“It means give him time”

“Forget it it’s over you should have seen his face”

“No you can’t think like that”

Eleanor sighs “Can I get a moment please?”

Marissa nods “You know where to find me” She leaves the room

Eleanor clutches her pillow as she feels an ache in her chest taking a deep breath she dials her dad

“Hi my princess what’s?”

“Dad I…” She takes a deep breath “I told Cole everything”

Liam pauses before he answers “How did he take it?”

“Said he needed to think about it but the look he had on his face I don’t know dad it…may be over”

Liam pauses again then speaks “I’m flying over”

“Dad you don’t”

“Please I need to be there for you it breaks my heart to know you’re in pain and I’m not there to help you”

Eleanor gives a small smile “Ok dad”

“I’ll be over tomorrow princess”

****

Eleanor awakens the next day to smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon What is she walks out her room and sees her dad and Marissa in the kitchen

“Wow the king can make some food? Don’t you have servants for that though?”

Liam chuckles as he sets the kettle to boil “I may be king but I’m a regular guy like everyone else”

“That is true”

“Dad how’d you get in here?”

“I’m a master a disguise”

Marissa giggles “He means I helped him”

Liam chuckles “She did indeed”

Eleanor giggles then goes to hug Liam “I’m glad you’re here”

Liam tightens his arms around her “Me too now hurry and eat and get dressed”

“Why? Where are we going?”

“You’ll see” He hands her a plate “Eat up I’ll be waiting by the car”

Eleanor smiles as she digs into her breakfast then heads to get dressed She heads out and sees Liam waving next to a black tinted car. He holds the door open for her “Shall we?”

Eleanor grins then heads to the car and they drive in a comfortable silence before Eleanor breaks it “Where are we going dad?”

“To a very special place” The car stops and Eleanor looks in confusion

“Dad what is this place?”

“It’s where I met your mother”

“You met mom here?”

Liam nods “Yup your uncle Drake took me out for a little party because it was the social season and soon I was to pick a bride I wasn’t having fun cause all I could think about was how I had to be engage to someone by the end of year someone I wasn’t gonna love I was dreading heading back home”

“What happened?”

“We stopped by this bar and I went to take a call but when I came back I saw the most beautiful woman”

Eleanor grins “Mom?”

“Oh yes even in her waitress uniform her beauty outshined everything”

Eleanor giggles “Then what happened?”

“You’re about to find out” He takes her hand and guides her down the street to a club “This is where she took us next so we could have some fun and we talked then she something spontaneous for me” He takes her hand and guides her to a bridge

Eleanor grins “Is that the Statue of Liberty?”

Liam nods “She called in a favor and had a boat ride around it and speaking of here comes our boat now”

Eleanor grins “Dad you didn’t have to do all this”

“That smile on your face is worth it my princess now let’s board” They head on the boat and get close to the statue “And this is where I asked her to marry me imagine my joy when she said yes”

“You’re love story is so sweet”

“It is and so will yours”

Eleanor sighs “But what if he rejects me?”

“Then that’s his loss forget doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you”

Eleanor smiles “I know I just starting to fall for him and I can’t help”

Liam places a hand on her shoulder “I know you can’t just turn off your feelings but like I told you before if he truly loves you he’ll accept you as you are”

“Like how you fell for mom?”

“I know she had a difficult time during the social season but I didn’t care where she came from I love her all the same”

Eleanor grins “Thanks dad you’re the best”

“Anytime my princess now shall we get some lunch?”

“Did you make it?”

“I was thinking we can go to a restaurant”

Eleanor grins “No I want you to make it”

Liam chuckles “Ok let’s head to the store and decide what to make”

Tags: @choicesgodfanatic @indiacater @the-soot-sprite @princess-geek @iaminlovewithtrr @gkittylove99 @twinkleallnight @kingliam2019

[copinghex]

Fool's gold

Summary: Eleanor welcomes Tommy back home, but the man who returns isn't the same who left.

A/N: For Christmas, I decided to gift myself bringing Eleanor back :) Is this a series? I'd rather say no. It is shaped like one, but it's totally up to my brain if it's continued or not and we know how it's like. Anyway, I hope you like it!!

Chapter 1: Lots of love, Thomas Shelby.

Eleanor woke up in a bedroom that wasn't hers. Looking superficially, anyone would guess the room belonged to a woman, her hygiene products, make-up and clothes occupied the room while her thin body rested on the bed.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and heavily sighing. That day, the bedroom's owner would return, the coldness of his last letter haunted her. If he couldn’t say he missed her, he surely wouldn't want her in his house.

Walking to the small mirror in the wall, she ran a hand through her messy hair, usually she made a braid before sleep, moisturizing with cream borrowed from Polly so the curls would look nice in the morning. Last night she didn't have a mind for it.

All she thought about were the things she wanted to do to him, kiss him, hold him, cook for him, talk to him or just watch him from close. After so long apart, she yearned to feel his warmth again.

Peeking at the bed table, at an old picture they took together, Eleanor gulped, his signature was simple yet tender. Lots of love, Thomas Shelby, she feared the Thomas to return wouldn't hold such fondness of her.

Changing off her nightgown, she grouped all her belongings into a corner to make it less obvious that she took over his room. The bed was perfectly made and she sprinkled some of his cologne at the mattress so it'd smell like him, although mostly smelled like alcohol.

Before she entered the kitchen, incessant talking was heard, Katie, Maria, George and Pearl chattered over every single aspect of their young lives. Sat still, Ada sipped on her tea, ignoring John's horde of children.

“Morning,” Eleanor watched today's newspaper burning in the fireplace, “where's Polly?”

“Praying,” Ada filled her mouth with bread, “and Finn isn't up yet,”

Eleanor quietly huffed, in the first months of war she accompanied Polly in her morning prayers, as time went by and the radio announced ten thousand men died per day, she lost faith God would actually help those poor souls, seeing old colleagues wearing all black in the streets didn't help either.

The scent of herbal tea traveled to her nostrils as she poured herself a cup. She missed the coffee Tommy made when she stayed for the night, she slept almost on top of him, using his chest to support a book. Tommy enjoyed Wuthering heights, Pride and prejudice not so much.

In the next minute, she stood next to Polly in the living room, in respectful silence until the prayers were done, “You shouldn't have stopped, you used to smile more,”

Eleanor blinked, she wasn't an atheist, their prayers weren't insignificant poems told to the walls, she believed they were purposely ignored, “What will we do today?”

“The whole Small Heath will be at the station, so will we,”

“I thought, maybe we should make a special dinner, or get something expensive from the Garrison,”

Polly's eyes drifted away while she considered the idea, lately she spent so long at the betting shop she almost forgot how to welcome men home. Her days as bookmaker were counted and warming up to chores again wouldn’t do harm, even if she’d never be fully a housewife.

“They’ll be back around three, if I clean, can you cook?”

With agreeable nods, they went to the kitchen. Six hours later, the house was spotless and the table set. Each woman was in a bedroom, making themselves presentable.

Some colognes were overpriced even if destined for the working class, Eleanor had one of these, eight crochet coats had to be sold until she had enough money to buy it, her hands nearly fell off during crafting, but it was worthy, because she got a compliment every time she wore it.

In her best dress, shoes and hat, she didn’t feel alright, she wasn’t going to a party or a fancy social occasion, she’d meet Tommy and his brothers. Biting her lip in anxiety, she changed into a white dress and red wool coat matching her shoes. She felt better looking clean and proper, not a beauty queen from a magazine.

The walk to the train station was fast and silent, the children had to be held tightly by the hand so they wouldn’t run ahead. Many families still waited for their soldiers, all benches were full and Ada’s feet hurt from standing in such high heels.

The first to show up was John, he didn’t have time to approach the family since his children found him first, shouting and running through the crowd to catch him in a big hug. Arthur and Tommy showed up together, walking slowly in their worn out uniforms.

Arthur got his aunt and sister on each arm, leaving Eleanor to Tommy. There he stood, his once warm eyes looked hollow, combative even, his freckled face covered by a layer of sweat and his hair slighly disheveled, although combed with gel.

Breathing heavily, her body froze, shook and threw itself at him. Both arms wrapped around his neck, Tommy’s hands rested on the small of her back, he held her like she was the last floater in a shipwreck, an essential survival item, she held him like a porcelain vase, a fragile ornament she feared to break.

Tears from her eyes were immediately reprimanded, she breathed in and out at slow pace, brushing her face on his shoulder, it was a happy occasion, she’d hate to ruin it with pointless crying. Her hands ran up and down his back, some of the ribs that could previously be felt were replaced by strong muscle and when she finally lifted her head, Tommy's eyes held something she couldn't quite point out.

Eleanor cupped his face, tracing his cheekbones and the wrinkles around his eyes, he looked exhausted and yet, still dashingly handsome, a weak smile got to her face as she felt her increasing heartbeat, after all this time, being face to face with him still gave her butterflies.

At last, she gently pecked his lips, Tommy barely moved, closing his eyes and letting himself be kissed. His hands hadn't moved from her back yet and only did when John called for them, “Oi! Lovebirds! Keep it until we're home, yeah?”

Turning around, Eleanor bit her bottom lip to suppress a big smile, “And how is my favorite corporal going?”

It was hard to hug John with a kid still holding onto his leg, but it didn't stop him from lifting her up. Laughing, she didn't notice Tommy squinting his eyes, John quickly put her back down, awkwardly squeezing her shoulder.

“And you?” she asked Arthur, “No hug for me?”

“Yeah, how are you, sister?” Arthur's chin rested on top of her head while his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

“Alright,” Polly said, her eye make-up smudged, “let's go home now,”

Eleanor ran to hold Tommy's hand. Walking behind the rest, tension formed between them, as if they had nothing left to say, there were no words for the hole in her chest that only his presence filled, nor for the piece of his brain the war had rotten.

“Tommy!” someone called, the whole family looked back and Ada ran ahead to Freddie Thorne's arms.

Tommy stopped, dropping Eleanor's hand and waiting until Freddie approached with Ada on his arm, “Didn't see you in the train,”

“Got into a distant wagon,”

“Yeah,” he eyed Eleanor, “I remember you, it's- Hm-”

“Eleanor, I'm glad to see you're alright,”

“You should have dinner with us, I'm sure there's enough for everyone,” Ada suggested to Freddie.

“Oh, there are some comrades waiting for me at the Black Swan, we'll drink a last one all together,” he dismissed, “join us, Tommy?”

“Yeah, of course,”

Freddie affectionately patted Ada's head before walking away, Tommy didn't bother looking back. There Eleanor stood, trembling lips and watery eyes.

He didn't come back to dinner and she only saw him again the next morning.

[thewidowsghost]

Happy Holidays (Kate Bishop x Romanoff!Reader) - Chapter 18

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

"Well, there's uh . . ." Kate begins from the back of the cab, "one more thing we should worry about."

"Yeah? What's that?" Clint asks.

"Um . . . Do you remember the girl from last night, the one in the mask?" Kate asks.

"Uh huh," Clint says, looking across (Y/n) and at Kate.

"Um, we spoke to her," Kate goes on, and she and (Y/n) exchange a look. "She said she's Natasha's sister."

"Yelena?" Clint mutters.

"Yeah," Kate says.

"I – okay," Clint says, looking forward in the cab and looking out the front window.

The car stops and all three exit the car.

"Okay," Clint says again.

"You all right?" (Y/n) asks, focusing on where Clint is holding his shoulder.

"Yeah," he replies.

. . .

Kate's phone buzzes on the kitchen table, where the four are eating the breakfast Grills the Firefighter had prepared, Bolt's head resting affectionately on the young archer's knee.

"Kate," (Y/n) looks over at her companion. "What's wrong?"

"Kate Bishop, I found out who hired me," Kate reads off her phone. "E-eleanor Bishop. Thought you deserved to know."

Kate's breathing stutters, and (Y/n) places a hand on Kate's thigh. Kate, honey, you gotta breathe," (Y/n) murmurs.

"Look at this," Kate tosses her phone on the table and slides it towards Clint. "Who's that with my mom?"

"Well," Clint glances uncomfortably at Kate, "that's the guy I've been worried about this whole time. Kingpin."

Kate grabs the phone and taps on the screen. "In the spirit of the holidays, I'm gonna give you a minute to think about what you're starting right now," Wilson Fisk / Kingpin's voice comes from the phone.

"I don't need a minute," Eleanor Bishop replies.

"Who sent this?" Clint asks, and (Y/n) shakes her hand on Kate's thigh gently, pulling Kate out of her thoughts.

"Yelena," Kate replies, almost in a daze. "Apparently my mom is the one who hired her to kill you."

"Oh wow," Clint breathes.

"It doesn't make any sense," Kate says, bringing her unoccupied hand to her head. "My mom doesn't even, she doesn't even jaywalk. And now she's working with the mob? She killed Armand?" she whispers in disbelief. "My God," Kate stands up, throwing (Y/n)'s hand off her thigh in her anxiousness to get up from the table, "I need to talk to her."

"Kate, wait," (Y/n) gets up, stepping over to Kate and resting a hand gently on her arm. "You gotta calm down, okay?"

"Let's talk this out," Clint agrees.

Kate, who had already dialed her mother's number, listens to the answering machine, "This is Eleanor. I can't answer the phone right now . . ."

"She didn't answer," Kate starts pacing the kitchen, trying the number again.

"(Y/n)'s right. Just take a breath, okay?" Clint advises. "But your mom needs our help."

Kate's breathing stutters in her chest again, and she meets (Y/n)'s gaze, who had followed her pacing with her eyes and stepped forward. "Kate," she cups the girl's face in effort to keep the archer from beginning to pace the floor again, "that video, it's not good. The Kingpin will not take this lightly. He is going to react," Kate looks deep into (Y/n)'s eyes, and nods, her face still cupped in (Y/n)'s hands, "and he's gonna do it in a big way."

"(Y/n)," Kate pulls away, and (Y/n)'s arms drop uselessly to her side, "this is my mess to clean up. You," she glances at Clint, "both of you, should go home. You should be with your family. You can still make it in time for Christmas –"

"Kate, you're my partner," Clint interrupts her. Kate pulls her gaze from (Y/n)'s to look at Clint.

"And I'm not going to leave you behind," (Y/n) says fiercely, taking a step forward. "We're not going anywhere until this is finished."

Kate breathes out, and a sob escapes her lips.

(Y/n)'s expression softens and she wraps Kate in a hug.

"I'm not leaving you," (Y/n) murmurs, drawing patterns on Kate's back with her fingers. "You hear me?"

Another sob leaves Kate's mouth and she buries her face into (Y/n)'s neck.

. . .

"Kate," Clint says, and the young archer turns to him, "I'm really sorry how this has all turned out for you."

Kate looks out the window as the subway zips along underground.

"Well," Kate looks at Clint. "Can't think about it right now. We've gotta focus on tonight."

Clint exhales. "You're right," he says simply. "We need a ton of gear. Like a whole batch of way-too-dangerous trick arrows."

Kate's eyes widen with a child-like excitement. "You can make more?"

The Avenger shakes his head with amusement.

. . .

Bolt and Lucky push through the door to Kate's aunt's apartment, sniffing the couch and then jumping up. They curl up together on the couch, Bolt's head resting on Lucky's back.

"Hey, Kate," Clint calls from the workroom, welding some parts to an arrow shaft, "you seen that pepper spray?"

"Yeah, I've got it here," she enters the workroom, a can of pepper spray in hand.

"All right," Clint mutters.

. . .

"So, this, uh, this holiday party tonight," Clint says, (Y/n) in the other room changing her clothes, "is it a fancy thing?"

"Yeah. Formal," Kate replies.

"You know, you don't have to do this," Clint says. "(Y/n) and I can handle it ourselves. It's part of the job. It's always inconvenient. It's," he pauses, "lonely. You will get hurt. Heroes have to make some tough decisions. So, if you're gonna do this . . . I just wanna know you're ready."

"When I was younger, aliens invaded," Kate replies. "And I was alone. And I was terrified. But then I saw you, fighting aliens with a string and a stick. I saw you jump from that building even though you can't fly, even though you don't have superpowers. And I thought, 'If he could do that, then I didn't have to be scared.' You showed me that being a hero isn't just for people who can fly or shoot lasers out of their hands, it's for anyone. Anyone who's brave enough to do what's right, no matter the cost." Clint exhales, sharply. "I'm ready," Kate promises.

"Natasha is going to love you," Clint says, smiling slightly.

"I'd hope so," (Y/n) jokes, walking into the workroom clad in a plum purple suit, with a white buttoned shirt and a lighter, lavender colored tie.

Kate stares at (Y/n), her eyes wide. "You look -" Kate falters. "I mean -"

Clint chuckles, patting (Y/n) affectionately on the shoulder before exiting the room, leaving the two young women alone.

"You -" Kate tries again, her mouth hanging open.

(Y/n), amused, reaches over and closes Kate's mouth with her hand.

"Great," Kate finishes, tilting her head so that (Y/n)'s hand now cups her cheek.

"Smooth, Bishop," (Y/n) teases, but she allows her thumb to brush across a cut on Kate's cheek.

"Willyoubemygirlfriend?" Kate says.

"Excuse me?" (Y/n) looks bewildered.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Kate says slower.

(Y/n) pauses, her gaze twinkling mischievously. "I think that can be arranged."

"Aww, screw you, Romanoff," Kate says, smacking (Y/n)'s arm gently.

"You'd want to do that, huh?" (Y/n) replies,and Kate's cheeks flush.

"S-s-shut up!" Kate splutters and (Y/n) laughs.

. . .

(Y/n), Kate, and Clint walk towards the entrance of the massive building to join Eleanor Bishop's Christmas Gala.

Clint separates from the two young women, leaving the two girlfriends to themselves to scout around.

"No sign of my mom yet," Kate says to (Y/n), pretending to fix (Y/n)'s collar.

"Okay, tell me what you do see," (Y/n) replies. "What are our assets, what are our threats?"

"Mmm," Kate hums, scanning the scene before her. "Threats? That guy. That's Gary. He fired me from one of the only jobs I ever had."

(Y/n) glances over her shoulder at the man, and she snorts – recognizing him. "Don't know if you could call that a job, sweetheart."

Kate flushes, but continues, "Assets? Well, we have those all over the party." She gestures around to some of the LARPers from the park.

"Chip. So good to see you," Kate looks around at the sound of Jack's voice.

"Wow, Jack's out of jail already. Nothing phases that guy," Kate voices.

"So Jack, wielding a sword, just out of jail for allegedly murdering somebody with one," Clint comments quietly into the COMMs.

"Maybe it's his way of proving he really is innocent?" (Y/n) says, hiding it behind a sip of vodka.

"Weird flex, but okay," Clint says, and (Y/n) almost chokes on her alcohol. "You see her yet?"

"I haven't seen her yet," Kate replies from (Y/n)'s side.

. . .

"Found her," (Y/n) catches sight of Eleanor as she walks through the main door. "Wait," (Y/n) laces her arm with Kate's as her girlfriend tries to move.

"Kate, (Y/n), hi . . ." Eleanor moves over.

"Mom, come with us," Kate says, and (Y/n) unlaces her arm with Kate's.

"Farther," (Y/n) says, glancing over her shoulder at the window. "Good."

Kate leads the way through the party, to a concealed room with no windows.

"What're you two doing?" Eleanor asks her daughter.

"We're saving your life," Kate replies.

"Your business partner wants you dead," (Y/n) adds.

"What're you talking about?" Eleanor splutters.

Kate scoffs. She pulls her phone out of the pocket of her suit jacket. ". . . which is why I'm a little confused where you're headed with this." Kate plays the video.

"How could you do this?" Kate asks softly.

"I handed Armand like you asked," the video continues.

"All these years," Kate hisses.

"You don't understand," Eleanor says, looking at (Y/n) and her furrowed brown.

"Then explain," (Y/n) replies.

"When your father died, I was blindsided," Eleanor turns back to her daughter. "He owed that monster money."

"There you are!" Jack enters the room. "Sorry to interrupt, darling –" (Y/n) slides her hand into her pocket, closing it around the handle of her switchblade, "but I really need to have a word with you . . ."

"Jack, not now," Eleanor says, taking a step away from her fiance. She turns back to her daughter. "Sweetheart, Kate, don't worry, I have everything under control."

Suddenly, (Y/n) hears the sound of gunshots.

"What the hell was that?" Kate asks.

"Shots fired. We're workin' on gettin' these people outta here," Clint says in to the COMMs.

"Kate, take her and go," (Y/n) says.

"Fuck no," Kate says. "Mom and Jack, stay here."

"Kate, do not go out there, it's too dangerous," Eleanor orders her daughter.

"You're the reason it's dangerous out there, Mom," Kate says. "Just stay put and stay out of this."

"Damn, babe," (Y/n) mutters following Kate out of the room. "That was hot."

"Not the time," Kate says, though her cheeks darken.

"Oh, God. Clint, who's shooting?" Kate asks.

"I have no idea," Clint replies. "I'm gonna head downstairs, draw the fire away."

"Going position two, guys. Missy, Kenney, cut the lights," Grills says.

The lights go off, the only source of light coming from the battery powered Christmas lights.

"Oh shit," Kate sees Yelena run after Clint.

Kate runs after Yelena, (Y/n) close behind. "So, I know you're chummy with my mom, I just didn't think you'd make the cut for the Christmas party."

(Y/n) snorts.

"Kate Bishop. Random person. I'm not here to ruin anything. I'm just going to kill Barton, have some appetizers, and then I'll go."

"I hope you enjoy the bruschetta, 'cause it looks like you already lost him," Kate says.

"He's in the elevator," Yelena deadpans.

"Yeah, what, out of sixty-five floors, you think you're just gonna magically guess which one he's on?" Kate asks.

"Twelfth floor," Yelena replies, looking over to see the opposite elevator's floor number displayed in bright red.

"Damn it," Kate mutters.

"Enjoy the party," Yelena says, and the elevator doors in front of her open. Yelena and Kate try to enter the elevator at the same time. "No, no, Kate, stay."

Yelena steps into the elevator, and as the doors slide shut, both (Y/n) and Kate slide into the elevator next to Yelena.

"Ahh," Yelena complains.

The doors slide shut.

Kate looks over at the button panel. She reaches out to press one of the buttons, but Yelena smacks her hand away. "No," Yelena deadpans.

(Y/n) behind the two, holding back a laugh.

Kate reaches over again to press the buttons, and Yelena grabs the back of her dress, spinning her around, and shoving her back in her space.

Kate frowns and (Y/n) swallows back a laugh. The raven haired girl tries once again, and Yelena judo-flips Kate onto the floor.

Kate stands up and does the first thing she can think of – smacking Yelena in the face.

"Fuck," (Y/n) breathes, her eyes wide.

"What was that?" Yelena asks, looking bewildered.

"I don't know," Kate swallows thickly. She looks over at (Y/n). "I –"

"No! No. No, no, no!" Yelena protests. She grabs Kate's sleeve, pulling off the dress, revealing Kate in a purple archer's suit with black and silver accents. "Did you plan that?" Yelena asks, looking over at (Y/n), who'd dawned her own suit, a lot like her mother's white suit, but purple, with pink and gray trim.

"Yes," Kate says. Yelena stares at her. "No, no, I . . ." she turns around and presses all of the elevator buttons.

"Oh, no, no no!" Yelena says. "Come on, that is so annoying. Suka," she mutters in Russian, untying her green trench coat and revealing her own suit. She forces the coat into Kate's hands, and steps out of the elevator on the next floor.

Kate and (Y/n) look at each other for a moment, before Kate throws the coat to the floor and the two charge after Yelena.

Yelena rolls over a table, dodging one of Kate's punches and (Y/n) tackles her, forcing the former assassin to her feet.

The two trained Widows trade blows, but Yelena dodges one of (Y/n)'s and slams the pad of her palm into (Y/n)'s nose.

Yelena runs towards the door frame where she finds Kate standing in the way.

"What're we doin'?" Kate asks. "I mean, it's Christmas Eve. Let's grab a drink, huh?"

"Authentic Russian vodka, on me?" (Y/n) offers, shaking her head to clear it.

"Okay, yeah, sure," Yelena replies.

"Cool," Kate sighs, forcing a smile.

"After I kill Barton," Yelena adds.

"No, no that's not what . . ." Kate complains. "Come on. You don't need to . . ."

Yelena kicks Kate in the stomach to push her through the door frame, and the archer cries out in pain.

She grabs Kate by the arm, and smushes her face against the glass walls.

"Kate, (Y/n), where are you?" Clint asks.

"Yep, give us a minute."

"Everyone here at 107.6 Lite FM," a radio hums to life as Yelena body throws (Y/n) into a desk.

Kate grabs a rope with balls on the top and throws it at Yelena's hand, knocking her red Widow's baton from her hand and shattering the window.

"Oww!" Yelena complains, shaking her hand. "That really hurts!"

"Yeah, yeah, well, so did the kick to the ribs," Kate replies, breathless.

"And the body throw into the desk," (Y/n) deadpans.

"Oh, yeah, that was a good one," Yelena says cheerfully. "That was good form. But you did the really cool trading blows thing," she looks at (Y/n). "And you did the really good throw."

"Yeah? Thank you," Kate says. "Thank you."

"Yeah," Yelena replies.

Then the slight grin slides off Kate's face. "Stop making me like you," she whines.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. That was really fun," Yelena comments and a laugh escapes (Y/n)'s lips. "But bye." She shoots a grapple at the floor and jumps out the window.

Kate and (Y/n) stick their heads out the window to watch as (Y/n)'s aunt runs down the side of the building.

"Clint!" Kate yells, warning the man.

"Was that you?" the old archer asks, watching the flash of shadow pass across his window.

"It's Yelena! Watch out!" Kate says, and as she says so, Yelena passes the window where Clint is standing, shooting at him with her handgun.

"Careful," (Y/n) warns her girlfriend. As she grabs a rope and wraps it around Yelena's grapple rope.

"It's supposed to be scary, it's supposed to be scary. Okay," Kate murmurs to herself before she jumps down the side of the building, screaming all the way down. She lands on a knee, Yelena having disappeared into the crowd.

"Holy shit, Kate, you okay?" (Y/n) asks quickly, readying her own rope to join her girlfriend at the bottom of the building.

"Fine!" Kate replies, breathless. "But the Tracksuits are here."

(Y/n) descends the building, slower – but safer – than Kate had.

"Gotcha, babe," (Y/n) replies from beside her girlfriend once she'd safely reached the ground.

"Look, it's Kate Bishop," one of the Tracksuits comments.

"And the Widow's brat," another adds.

"Offensive," (Y/n) mutters.

The Tracksuits attack the young women, and they attack right back, Kate firing arrows to help (Y/n) as she attacks with her Widow's batons.

Kate, deciding she'd used enough arrows for the moment, turns and grabs one of the Tracksuits by the wrist, forcing his handgun to point towards the ground.

"I know it's not the best moment right now," Tomas says, facing the purple dressed archer, "but I want to thank you, you know. For your advice, how I should speak to my girlfriend." Kate glances at (Y/n), who was whalloping Tracksuits in the back of the heads with her batons, sending them sprawling, dazed, onto the ground.

"Did it work?" Kate asks Tomas, still putting pressure on his wrist.

"It worked, bro," Tomas replies, "we went to Maroon 5 instead."

"Valid, honestly," (Y/n) comments.

"That's so great," Kate says, swallowing back a laugh at (Y/n)'s words. "So, what's with the gun?"

"I'm sorry, but . . . I wanted to thank you," Tomas says. She kicks him in the private area, and he collapses to the ground.

"Harsh," (Y/n) comments, sending two more Tracksuits to the ground. "And hot."

"Hehe, got you now, bro," a Tracksuit points a handgun at Kate.

Before she can do anything, Jack kicks the man out of the way, sending the man's handgun flying out his hand with a quick flick of his sword.

"Jack!" Kate exclaims.

"Hello, dears," Jack says. "I'm glad you two are doing well."

"That's actually so sweet," (Y/n) says, punching a Tracksuit in the face, sending him stumbling back, clutching at his now broken nose.

"Behind you!" Kate warns as another Tracksuit advances on her mother's fiance. He turns calmly, and slices at him with his sword.

"Jack. Jack, I am, I am so sorry my mom got you put in jail. Are you okay?" Kate asks.

"Never been better," Jack answers, smiling slightly. He defeats about four more Tracksuits calmly. "But I'm afraid I've lost track of your mother."

"Yeah. You and us both," Kate replies.

. . .

"Clint!" Kate says, she, Jack, and (Y/n) still battling the hordes of Tracksuits. "Where are you?

"Right here!" Clint replies.

"Where's here, Clint?" Kate rolls her eyes.

"In the tree," the Avenger replies.

"What tree?" (Y/n) asks, not bothering to look up at the massive Christmas tree she and her companions were fighting under.

"THE tree!" Clint replies.

Kate turns to look up at the massive tree. "What're you doing up there?" she asks, amused.

"I'm just hanging out, what do you think?" Clint asks.

. . .

"Clint, I need you to hang on tight," Kate orders, keeping an eye on (Y/n) and Jack battling Tracksuits back to back below her.

"Yeah, you think?" Clint asks.

"No time for sarcasm," (Y/n) comments.

"You know, dear," Jack says to (Y/n) over his shoulder. "I like you for my Kate. Should've told you that before."

"That's really sweet," (Y/n) says, whacking a Tracksuit in the head, and another in the groin. "You're a good stepdad."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Clint asks.

"I'm gonna get you out of that tree," Kate replies.

"No, no, don't do anything. Kate? Kate!" Clint yells into the COMMs.

"Yo, Uncle Clint, you're gonna blow our eardrums if you keep yelling into the COMMs," (Y/n) says and Kate laughs.

The purple archer fires two arrows, and the massive tree falls, spilling the Avenger into the ice rink below.

"Nice, Kat," (Y/n) comments as she and Kate join Clint in the ice rink.

"Oh my god, you wore it!" Kate looks delighted as Clint removes his dress shirt to reveal the suit Kate had designed for him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Clint grumbles, but he smiles at the delighted look on the younger archer's face.

"Oh, my god, it looks so good. I told you," Kate starts to fangirl.

"Yeah," Clint replies. "Okay. Listen to me. We need to get off this ice, okay? The only way off this ice is up those stairs."

"Great," Kate deadpans. "There's only about a thousand of them, and three of us."

"Here, take these," Clint grabs a handful of special arrows and puts them into Kate's quiver.

"No way," Kate exclaims. "Is it time?"

"It's time," Clint tells his protege. "All right," he knocks an arrow. "Let's give 'em hell."

"Yo, what's going on here," a figure in blue and red spandex drops out of the sky, webbing up a few of the Tracksuits.

"A battle before Christmas," (Y/n) replies, turning to the Spider-Man. "Yo man, good to see you again."

"Back at you, Widow," Spider-Man replies.

The four heroes charge at the Tracksuits, Kate and Clint, and (Y/n) and the Spider-Man.

"It's so cool that there's another archer Avenger," Spider-Man comments as he and (Y/n) knock about two dozen Tracksuits.

"Proves anyone can be a hero," (Y/n) replies. "Ain't that right, Spidey."

Spider-Man chuckles, and (Y/n) estimates he's probably about eighteen, just from the sound of his voice.

After a few short minutes, all the remaining tracksuits lie on the ground, either with webbing, arrow, or bruising wounds.

"Kate, your mom just walked out of a side door," Grills says.

"Copy," Clint replies.

"I have to go find her," Kate says.

"I'm coming," (Y/n) demands, and from the look on her face, Kate knows there is no point in trying to argue. (Y/n) turns to Spider-Man, "See you 'round, dude." They fist bump, and Spider-Man uses two of his webs and slingshots himself through the New York skyline.

"What's with you and spider-themed people?" Kate voices, turning to Clint, who simply shrugs. "Let's go," Kate turns to her girlfriend. She sighs heavily.

. . .

A figure tackles Clint, and he sprawls on the ice, Yelena Belova standing over him.

"Before I kill you," Yelena towers over the injured archer, "I need to ask you one question."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Yelena," Clint says, opening his eyes and facing Natasha's sister for the first time.

"I need to know what happened," she says, looking down at the archer, who'd gotten to his knees.

"Look, Yelena," Clint mutters, "if I told you what really happened, you'd never believe me. But what you need to know is that Natasha sacrificed herself. She saved the world. I-" his voice cracks. "I'm sorry."

"You're lying," Yelena replies.

"What?" Clint asks in disbelief.

"You're pathetic. You're so pathetic," Yelena steps forward. "She wouldn't sacrifice herself for you. You murdered my sister."

"That's right," Clint murmurs. "It wasn't just for me. She wanted to bring back her friends, her family, you. Keep her kid safe."

Yelena narrows her eyes. "Kid?"

"You met her," Clint rasps. "Earlier tonight. Purple suit, pink and black accents. Green eyes like hers."

"Shut up!" Yelena's voice rips from her throat. "You pathetic" punch "little" another punch "liar!" she kicks Clint in the ribs, and he skids backwards on the ice.

. . .

The door is ripped off Eleanor Bishop's car, and she shrieks.

The massive figure of Wilson Fisk leans over the woman in the car. "Don't leave, Eleanor," he rasps. "Come here, let's talk."

"Get away from my mom," Kate screams.

Fisk moves away from the car, to watch Kate, her bow pointed at his chest, and (Y/n) beside her, leveling her handgun at Fisk's face. "What are you going to do with those?"

Kate lets her arrow fly, and it sinks into his chest, but he simply just removes the arrow calmly.

"What?" Kate splutters. She shoots a grapple arrow, but Fisk simply grabs it, pulls Kate to him, and pouches her square in the ribs.

Fury burns in (Y/n)'s emerald green eyes. And she runs at Fisk, wielding both of her Widow's batons.

He strikes her in the face, and she flies backwards into the brick wall, collapsing onto the ground next to her injured girlfriend.

Fisk moves towards the two injured warriors, but a car careens into Fisk, sending him into the toy store.

Fisk turns towards the car, Eleanor Bishop at the wheel, but both Kate and (Y/n) get to their feet, sliding over the hood.

"Where you goin', big guy?" Kate rasps.

She attacks first, but Fisk grabs her bow, spinning her around, and sinking his massive fist into her stomach. Pain washes through Kate, but she fires an arrow behind (Y/n), and a web of electric webs spread across it, keeping the mob-boss from attacking her mother.

(Y/n) attacks, but Fisk grabs her by the neck. "You're in over your head!" he roars, slamming (Y/n) Romanoff into the ground.

She writhes, pain radiating through her entire back and into her arms and legs.

Fisk towers over (Y/n), and panic ripples through Kate, she staggers to her feet and charges at Fisk again, but he grabs her by her quiver, throwing her into one of the cement walls of the toy store. He grabs a handful of arrows and raises them over Kate's chest.

A pained sob escapes (Y/n)'s mouth as she gets uneasily to her feet.

. . .

"You should have fought harder!" Yelena snarls, striking Clint across the face.

She discards her baton, pulling out her handgun. A soft whistle escapes from Clint's mouth – Natasha and Yelena's whistle.

A pained gasp escapes from Yelena's throat as she lowers her handgun. "How do you know that?" Yelena asks.

"Your secret whistle with Nat," Clint gets to his knees again. "She talked about you all the time, Yelena."

"She did?" Yelena whispers, broken. "What did she say?"

Before Clint can answer, a familiar voice replies. "That I loved you more than life itself," Natasha emerges from the stairs. "Sorry I'm late, I couldn't catch an earlier flight."

A sob escapes Yelena's throat, she runs for her sister, tackling her in a desperate hug, and grasping at the back of Natasha's jacket.

. . .

(Y/n) staggers towards Fisk and Kate, pain radiating all throughout her body.

"Please, not her," (Y/n) rasps, putting herself between Kate and Fisk.

"Kill the little Widow," Fisk says thoughtfully. "Sounds good to me."

And he strikes.

Word Count: 4583 words

A cliffhanger hehe

[kingliamappreciationweek]

KLAW 2024 - Masterlist

KLAW 2022 | KLAW 2023 Part 1, 2, 3

DAY 1 - BAKLAVA/THROWBACK

Baklava

Art

Baklava by @sazanes

Fanfic

Baklava by @madamealien

Ways to A King's Heart by @lorirwritesfanfic

Bedtime Baklava by @lizzybeth1986

Throwback

Fanfic

Chapter 14: Make You Mine from Turning the Page by @tessa-liam (ft. art commission by artbyainna)

Part 1 of Rainy Days by @missameliep

Family Addition by @lorirwritesfanfic

Chapter 1: The Statues of Legacies by @lizzybeth1986

Chapter 4: Garídes Saganáki from Eleanor's Kitchen by @lizzybeth1986

Estranged by @twinkleallnight

The Start of Forever by @liaromancewriter

Three Princes Walk Into A Bar by @thosehallowedhalls

Undone by @dcbbw

Backstory: The Briefcase by @dcbbw

Video Edit

Once Upon A Time... by @ao719 (recommended by @kristinamae093)

DAY 2: VANILLA/CHARACTER APPRECIATION

Character Appreciation

Art

King "Liam" x Iara by @lilyoffandoms

Commissions

King Liam by @bayleedraws-sometimesx (commissioned for @angelasscribbles "Dark Elf" series)

Fencing by @sazanes

Fanfic

O Bom Nom do Rei de Cordonia by @madamealien

Chapter 9: Acts of Defiance from Forevermore by @khoicesbyk

Part 1 & Part 2 of Heartstopper by @katedrakeohd

Headcanon

Character Profile: Liam Rys by @lorirwritesfanfic

Vanilla

Fanfic

Part 5 of Estranged by @twinkleallnight

Commissions

Shower (🍋) by @pilitella (commisioned by @tessa-liam)

DAY 3: ROSES/MONUMENTS

Roses

Art

The Royal Wedding by @lilyoffandoms

Juliet Rose by @sazanes

Edit

Liam with a Bouquet of Roses by @angelasscribbles

Fanfic

Rosas de Aniversário by @madamealien

Fallen Petals by @lorirwritesfanfic

Video Edit

When Liam Sings for You by @twinkleallnight

Monuments

Art

Commissions

Pont des Arts, "Lovelock Bridge", Paris, France by artbyainna, for Chapter 15: Bridge of Dreams of Turning the Page by @tessa-liam

Moodboard

The Cordonian Royal Palace by @angelasscribbles

Applewood by @angelasscribbles

DAY 4: RELATIONSHIPS/COFFEE

Relationships

Art

King "Liam" x Iara by @lilyoffandoms

King "Liam" x Iara: Wedding by @lilyoffandoms

Edit

Riley and Liam's Wedding by @aussiegurl1234 (recommended by @angelasscribbles)

Fanfic

To Catch A Killer from The Defiant King by @angelasscribbles

Chapter 2: The Dark Lord from The Dark Kingdom by @angelasscribbles

Chapter 10: Dèja Vu from Forevermore by @khoicesbyk

Break - Part I by @lorirwritesfanfic

Estranged - Part 3 by @twinkleallnight

Coffee

Fanfic

Água de Lava-Louças by @madamealien

Pause for Coffee by @lorirwritesfanfic

Moodboard

Liam, Coffee and Coasters by @lizzybeth1986

DAY 5: HEALING

Fanfic

Lírio e Mogno by @madamealien

Brothers-in-Arms (WIP) by @tessa-liam (ft. commissioned artwork by artbyainna)

Part 3 of Estranged by @twinkleallnight

--

This is an amazing masterlist of pieces, with incredible variety, and we can guarantee you will enjoy each of these pieces!

As always, this masterlist will be open to entries all the way into the next KLAW event! Be sure to send in stuff whenever you'd like (and here are the themes!)

[choicesficwriterscreations]

November Creator of the Month: Lizzybeth1986

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @lizzybeth1986 We hope you will enjoy learning more about them and their work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog: Blog Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr?

Lizzy, absolutely 😁

*Center art by @sazanes

More below...

When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played?

I started playing mid 2017, I think. I played the flagship books (TF, TCaTF, MW), and def preferred TF at the time.

When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the Tumblr fandom in 2017, around the time of the TRR finale. Mostly because the Liam hate at the time was intense and I wanted to write metas about why Liam was, in fact, not “a dick who betrayed the MC” 😂

I did have a Tumblr account before that (made it in 2015 to follow Bollywood film posts), but never actually used it.

How did you pick your blog name?

I was lazy af so it was my middle name plus my birth year haha

Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it! 

I started out with a couple reblogs, but my first actual post was about the romance points mechanism in TRR1. There was a point in the middle of the book where one nice word to Drake would give you an automatic romance point, and I was like, “Huh??? Either treat him like shit or risk him catching feels for me? Is that how it is???”. Thankfully, that stopped after two chapters. After that, I did an essay series analyzing Liam’s actions in the finale called “The Crown, The King and The Flame.” Romance Points Post The Crown and the Flame

How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Almost 6 years now! I started doing Liam fics around the beginning of TRR2.

What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to write about?

I’m the most invested in TRR and PM, but between the two I’d probably say PM is my fave book overall. But yeah, my favourite book to write about would be TRR, because Liam, Hana and Kiara are such fantastic characters to write about! (Hayden and Sloane, too, but I’m still in the process of getting comfortable writing them).

Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were writing it today?

It was Keychains, my two part fic series featuring my MC and Liam. It was set around the time the MC was waiting in the airport in TRR2, just before Maxwell and Bertrand intervene. It had a follow up with Liam’s PoV too.

I really like it. It included some really good hc’s I made at the time, like Esther buying an apple keychain to represent Cordonia at the same time, and Liam calling her his wife in Greek and Esther not realizing what the phrase meant. I thought the pathos and slight humour was quite well-done. I can’t think of much I would want to change in the story.

Keychains 1 Keychains 2

What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

As a series – Eleanor’s Kitchen! It’s ongoing, and it’s a joy to write. I love exploring food from a cultural lens, and since Cordonia was a fictional country, I could explore a variety of ethnicities and food cultures. Liam had a literal diamond scene that explored gastrodiplomacy, and I wanted to explore his childhood and Eleanor’s friendships too.

Individually – I would say my Kiara fic “An Ear to the Ground”. Kiara is a delightful character and exploring the social season through her eyes was a real journey! I also love “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” which explores the early days of the Sloane & Hayden friendship. I used asterisms and constellations to symbolize moments in their friendship.

Eleanor's Kitchen An Ear to the Ground The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but found could use a little more love?

Cordonian Waltz was definitely a surprise in terms of reception!! It was written in the style of headcanons I was seeing at the time, and I wrote it in second person. It became my most widely-read fanfic very fast, and every once in a while it would experience a major surge in readership. I enjoyed writing it and thought it was a lovely, romantic piece, but I really wasn’t expecting it to finally have 250+ reblogs out of it, and people coming and telling me this was the fic that got them into Liam x MC in the first place. I find that deeply gratifying 😍

There’s a lot of fics that I feel need more engagement and appreciation, but I can understand that those characters also don’t exactly get much of an audience. My entire PM set comes under this category; they typically get low readership. I think my Hana and Kiara fics too could do with more of an audience.

@twinkleallnight once told me that when she reads my stuff, she usually takes a long time just to ruminate on the story, and I like to believe that often, that’s why the engagement isn’t always immediate. Which I like too!! I like that some of my stuff can make people stop and think, and I like to believe that over time, the work will have its own impact.

Cordonian Waltz PM Set

If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Probably fluff but with a lot of observation and sometimes somber reflections. I’m not that great with angst…and I’ve never actually tried smut? But maybe one day 😄

Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Yes! Some of my MCs are v different from me but I always incorporate something from my life experiences in them. Like Esther taking photos of the sunset or Basil not being science oriented but still having an interest in space.

Character wise I find I put a lot of myself into a lot of the characters I write. Notably, Liam, Hana, Kiara, certain Haydens and Sloane. Liam’s love for learning, different aspects of Hana and Kiara’s experiences as queer women, Sloane’s experiences as a neurodivergent woman, and especially my Scholar!Hayden’s (Iris) observations. I tend to incorporate a lot of my feelings and experiences more into certain canonical characters than in MCs.

What element of writing do you struggle with most?

Dialogue, I think. Especially when it’s a character I don’t relate to that much. But also sometimes when it’s a character I love but am only starting to write because then I really overthink it!

Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Hmm…probably neglected wouldn’t be the word I’d use…I just take a very long time to kickstart them 😂

But yeah, definitely my Petals and Thornes series? That’s the fic series I’m doing for Hana x Kiara, that is supposed to explore TRR2 and 3 from their PoV (with significant changes). So far I’ve only been able to do some one-shots and hcs in that universe, but I do want to start the actual series soon!

I have some essay series’ I’d love to work on too! My Hana essay series which has two essays left, The Hayden Young Project, and a possible series on the alternative Lis of TRR!

Petals and Thornes Hana Lee: A Study in Erasure

If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Hmm. A few people have asked me, actually, and while I’m not fully opposed to showing them I’ll probably take some time before I do show my work. I’ll probably overthink how much will be understandable to a reader who doesn’t have the context of the source, and what they may not understand.

What to show them first? I’m not sure! Maybe the smaller ones first, like Cordonian Waltz. Or my RCD fic Snowstorms, because it doesn’t have more than 2-3 canon characters featuring and I do talk a little about being a closeted queer teen figuring out their sexuality through cinema, which is an overall relatable experience to some! Snowstorms

Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

In my early years I used to emulate Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s style. Much of her work that I read as a teen was pretty flowery, sometimes bordering on purple prose, and I really loved that style and tried to go that way. But now I think a variety of writers from different genres inform my writing. In terms of published authors, Jhumpa Lahiri, Helen Hoang, and non-fiction ones like Rukmini Pande, Ruby Hammad and Mikki Kendall.

In Choices fic, @callmetippytumbles for sure – a lot of the questions she was tackling with her MC in her Home series served as inspiration for some of the ideas I’ve been having in mind for Petals and Thornes. @thefirstcourtesan is a great writing buddy to have, too, and she has a knack for saying a lot in very few words! There’s also my amazing group of friends (shoutout to @cassiopeiacorvus, @thecapturedafrique, @mand-delemonde, and @beyonceswigs, as well as @twinkleallnight , @dcbbw @mariemarieohcontrary , @choicesfrog, @grapecaseschoices and @ohsnapitzlovehacker…the discussions are so good and leave some much to think about afterward 💖💖). All these discussions ALWAYS fuel my ideas and make me think out of the box.

I’ve also recently started writing polyamorous characters and relationships, and @angelasscribbles stories and resources have been such a great help in navigating that!

Home

@angelasscribbles Poly Resources

Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

Haha! I’ve not even started the proper series yet but I think Petals and Thornes? But besides that maybe Eleanor’s Kitchen may work as a series idk 😄

Do you write original fiction?

I do try! I’ve done a few short stories but before I started fanfic, I did a lot of spoken word poetry and that was fun.

What other hobbies do you have?

Reading, watching video essays, spending months on hyperfixations 😂 and a little cooking. My kid’s gotten into craft recently and has succeeded in taking me down that rabbit hole too haha.

I used to be into making fruit wines but have gotten inconsistent with that over the years.

What’s your favorite emoji?

Because I have a huuuge thing for nerds – this one: 🤓

BONUS – tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

A story my mum often tells about how I got into writing, began with some good old-fashioned sibling rivalry. Apparently as a child I was notorious for writing things on the walls of our house. One day my older brother got a hardbound royal-blue covered notebook to write in, with gold lettering on the cover…and I got instantly jealous that I didn’t get one (I was 6 or 7 and already fond of telling stories). When I complained my mum made me a deal – she would get me the same notebook…IF I stopped writing on the walls and began writing in that instead 😂 It worked. My mother is a smart woman.

I love spoilers!! I will read the end of a novel I’m reading and then go back and read the rest. Sometimes I even read books all the way backwards lol.

I love romance, and my favorite tropes include second-chance romance and mutual pining while believing the other person will never love you back! Because, at heart, I’m a dramatic bitch.

[love-little-lotte]

A Look Into My New Guilty Pleasure: Poldark (2015 Series)

My biggest weakness is period dramas — especially period dramas with a talented cast, sweeping romance, terrific scenes (preferably set in some kind of country/provincial side), and lots and lots and lots of just sitting around and talking.

That's probably why Poldark has captured my heart. As a big fan of Outlander, it's no surprise that I fell in love with this show. Outlander and Poldark have so many similarities that I may make a lengthy post about it, but for today, let me just rant about my new guilty pleasure. I'm so obsessed with this show that I actually finished watching the entire five seasons in one week!

Poldark is based on Winston Graham's novels and adapted by Debbie Horsfield. I was so excited to start this show, with a male protagonist originally written by a man, created and written for a series by a woman. I haven't read Graham's novels (I'm going to one of these days, I swear!), so I'm not sure how well Debbie's adaption worked. I've read many Reddit threads, though, and some fans of the novel are not that impressed with how she omitted and added details to the show (will get back to this once I've read the books or at least the seven ones that were used in the show). The show has also been adapted in the 70s, so this was not the first time Graham's novels were seen onscreen!

Despite not having read the books, I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the cast! The show follows Ross Poldark returning to Cornwall after fighting in the American War in the 1780s. He looks forward to marrying his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth but, believing him to be dead, is now engaged to his cousin Francis. He then tries to resurrect his family's mining business and hires a young girl Demelza to be his kitchen maid (whom he eventually marries) while also crossing paths with the villain George Warleggan, a corrupted banker who stops at nothing to ruin Ross's prospects and personal life. As the show progresses, we also meet other characters, including Prudie and Jud, Ross's servants, Verity, Ross's cousin and Francis's sister; Ross's friend Dr. Dwight Enys and his love interest Caroline Penvenen; Sam and Drake Carne, Demelza's brothers, and Morwenna Chynoweth, Drake's love interest.

Yes, this show has a large ensemble cast, and trust me, there always comes a point when you hate or love them. Especially our protagonist Ross Poldark. Ross... is an interesting character. He's terribly, terribly flawed and many times times, I'm so infuriated with him to the point that I want him to suffer. I swear, you cannot go through this series without screaming at Ross. (When that moment came up in Season 2, I swear I had my middle finger ready every time Ross showed up on my screen from then on.)

But my favorite character in the show is Demelza, Ross's wife who started as his kitchen maid. She's the heart of the show, the voice of reason, and even though she makes questionable decisions along the way, you can't help but get on her side no matter what. She's the perfect fiery yet gentle match to Ross's stubbornness. He treats her like shit many times in this show, which makes me angry to no end, but they eventually grow to be understanding, loving partners.

And it also helps that Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson have one of the best romantic chemistries I've ever seen. They're terrific actors as well and they bring the characters to life so effortlessly. They just seem like they have the best time shooting this show. I kind of want to rewatch Loving Vincent now just because they're in that movie, even just in supporting roles.

Poldark is a roller coaster, with so many ups and downs (mostly downs, to be honest, please give Demelza a break!) My favorite season has got to be Season 1. Season 1 had the best Ross and I loved the early stages of his relationship with Demelza. It also has my favorite episode: Season 1, Episode 8. That episode broke me so much, thanks to Aidan and Eleanor's perfect performances. It's the only time I ever cried watching this show. I usually cry in period dramas (I've cried countless times in Outlander and Downton Abbey), but for some reason, I only cried once in Poldark. Most of the time, I'm annoyed and infuriated (hahaha but I still love it!)

The romance in Poldark is also quite unique, something I haven't seen before. Ross and Demelza emotionally hurt each other many times in this show, and they don't have the best communication. It's not an ideal marriage, but that's what makes it so raw and real. It hurts when Ross sleeps with his first love Elizabeth or when Demelza falls for the much-sensitive Hugh Armitage, but these are challenges people face all the time, and it's interesting to view it in characters and circumstances through 18th-century lenses. Plus, it can be very tiring to see perfect couples onscreen all the time. So watching Ross and Demelza's relationship thrive, suffer, and reconcile is very refreshing to me.

Nevertheless, Ross and Demelza are still able to work together. Seasons 2 and 3 showcase the worst moments of their marriage, from infidelities to insecurity, but the love between them still perseveres and they learn to forgive. In the end, they realize that they belong together.

And despite the unconventional marriage, Poldark is not a stranger to grand romantic gestures. Two of my favorite Ross and Demelza moments occur in Season 2:

A real funny, old-married-couple type of bicker in The Beach Scene:

And of course, showing all intimacy in The Stocking Scene:

(Let's just not talk about what happened 2 episodes after this!)

The romance in Poldark not only ends with Ross and Demelza. We also got two really good couples in the series: Dwight and Caroline and Drake and Morwenna.

And these love stories don't just happen! They're fleshed-out characters with proper backgrounds and their own problems, especially Drake and Morwenna's relationship. Morwenna is one of my favorite characters, and she doesn't deserve all the shit thrown at her. The last season of Poldark is not the best (bordering on bad, actually, especially the last two episodes), but watching Drake and Morwenna get their happy ending is worth it.

Finishing all five seasons is bittersweet. I enjoyed most of the story and fell in love with different characters. I kind of regret watching everything in one week haha. But what can I say? As soon as I finish each episode, I'm so tempted to start another episode. I think the last time I stayed up until 5 AM the next morning to watch TV shows was Yellowjackets. Poldark's just too good to binge! It's one of my favorite TV shows now. Maybe I'll watch Sanditon next...

I want to write more about Poldark soon, maybe a comparison with Outlander or maybe just a post about each character. I realized I hadn't talked much about Elizabeth, Francis, and George in this post; I was too preoccupied with the love story aspects and Ross and Demelza. We'll see!

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Had you played TV cliché bingo while watching The Couple Next Door, I do believe sparks would have been flying from your dabber. I’m almost in awe that so many were crammed in before the first ad break alone. Barely seven minutes in, Becka (Jessica De Gouw) and Danny (Sam Heughan) were pulling each other’s clothes off and having sex at their living room window, curtains open, in a way that no married couple whose small child has just left the room ever do. Except in TV La-La land.

It was a bonus, though, for Alan the Pervert (Hugh Dennis), who has a telescope trained on their house and dark circles under his eyes that suggest he does a lot of squinting while hunched over his computer (and I don’t mean at Wordle).

I suppose at least this drama owns its clichés. What am I saying? It revels in them. It opened with the classic taster of horror to come, Eleanor Tomlinson as Evie running in what we shall call TV’s “sexy terrified” way. That is, frightened but looking hot, hot, hot in a short silk nightie as she ran barefoot through a forest. We then flipped back in time to Evie and Pete (Alfred Enoch) happily arriving at their new suburban idyll to start their family, which was a sort of sunny Wisteria Lane and not at all like the Leeds I remember from when I lived there.

It told us everything was too smug to be true by having laughing children playing with water guns, lawns being mowed, cars being washed. Uh-oh. We know that can’t last. And it didn’t. Evie miscarried her baby (conceived with a donor because Pete has “puny sperm”) by minute 16. I have a terrible feeling that the koi carp in the garden are some sort of “swimmers” metaphor.

Sometimes the dialogue was so stilted, I wondered if it was a spoof. “You guys will get through this,” Danny said to Pete, who should really have responded by asking if he was a chatbot. It soon transpired that Danny and Becka were swingers (it’s based on a Dutch series called, yes, The Swingers) and they promptly had “that couple we met in Marbella” round for some wife swapping as Pete watched from his window. Has anyone in this street ever considered closing a blind? And, actually, aren’t they “the couple opposite”, not “next door”?

There’s a dull subplot about Danny being a dodgy copper, which ties in to a dull investigation that local journalist Pete wants to look into, but his editor wants him to cover the opening of a new city library. A new library? Pull the other one. The UK has closed about 800 of them in the past decade.

At least Evie cheered up when she got Danny’s powerful beast between her legs. Oh, I mean his motorbike, though it’s obvious it won’t be long before the other beast comes into play. I feared we might get to the end of the episode without it committing the top TV cliché on the bingo card, namely spontaneous sex on a kitchen worktop. But, no. Evie and Pete gave us a full house by doing exactly that — and during a storm for added cheesiness.

These couples are as wooden as Dutch clogs, but I am enjoying Dennis’s greasy performance as the disgusting stalker who pretends to like yoga so he can be near Becka. I must warn you that later in the series it’s traumatic to see the man who played the nice dad in Outnumbered masturbating. I must also warn you that episode two contains some of the worst cringey couple dancing you are likely to witness in your lifetime. I think the moral of this silly but entertainingly corny tale is going to be: “Don’t shag the neighbours.”

thetimes.co.uk

Carol Midgley joined The Times in 1996 and is a former Feature Writer of the Year winner. Find her column in Times 2 each Wednesday and her TV reviews on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

————————————————————————

Indeed I saw all the reviews after the streaming view, including all episodes. The Times’ review concretes many things about The Couple Next Door 💁‍♀️

[lizzybeth1986]

So while I'm still working on my Day 3 entry for KLAW (I'm just going to call it "The Bread Fic" for now), I thought I'd introduce 2 OCs that I've created specifically for this fic.

It's a mini fic in the "Eleanor's Kitchen" series, that follows Liam and his mum and their friends through many culinary adventures!!

The mini-fic (which I'm still writing haha) will focus on Liam's bond with the two head palace chefs, Chef Anais Martí and Pastry Chef Hitoshi Luno. I hope to get that fic out soon but in the meantime, here are some HCs!!

Chef Anais Martí

(FC: Concha Buika)

• Head Chef of the Royal Palace of Cordonia

• Runs her kitchen like a well-oiled machine

• I mean seriously, kings and queens may come and go in the throne room, but the Palace Kitchens are her kingdom and she will never let you forget that!! Especially if you're royalty!

• She hails from Emeric, a county in the Foundries that houses a substantial Catalan-Spanish population who migrated there in the 1700s. It is said that the Foundaries overall are the one place in Cordonia that have mastered molecular gastronomy, but Emeric has chefs that do both that and some rustic homestyle cooking too.

• Anais is very good at molecular gastronomy. She just won't do it.

• A lot of her signature dishes have an Afro-Catalan influence.

• She worked as a line cook in one of the Capitol's premier restaurants when she was very young, and worked her way up. Word of her incredible chef skills and versatility made her a favourite choice to head the palace kitchens when the former Head Chef had to retire. Prince Constantine was in his late teens then.

• She has very few memories of Queen Agnes, Leo's mother, because she seemed uncomfortable with anyone in the palace in the brief time she was there. Queen Eleanor and Queen Regina are perfect contrasts to that in different ways - Eleanor was very involved and would chat often with Anais - in fact the suggestion for a private kitchen came from Anais because honestly - she could see the passion in Eleanor for cooking and released she needed her own space. Queen Regina she values because she gets involved the way you would expect a queen to be involved, and also trusts Anais' judgement.

• Undoubtedly she has the softest soft spot for Prince Liam, since the moment he stole a slice of wedding cake to give to his brother during a punishment.

Pastry Chef Hitoshi Luno

• Compared to Anais, Hitoshi is a more recent addition to the Palace Kitchens.

• He hails from the Fire Tribes. They have a strong connection to different cultures - Japanese, Romani and at a later stage, Ethiopian. The first and the last also have connections to volcanoes which helped them assimilate into the Fire Tribes better.

• An ancestor of his IS Anton Luno.

• And like this ancestor - he is dumbfounded by the greasiness of some of the food from the Capitol, but has to admit it is addictive.

• His Japanese origins do show a lot in his baking!

• No one crazier for red bean paste in Cordonia than Hitoshi Luno! Surprisingly, his preparations have gotten Constantine to love it and to demand delicacies made from it every day.

• The Fire Tribes were well known for their hunting and cooking with game meat. But there is a section of people who have developed cuisines and culinary knowledge from the people who have migrated there in the latter centuries. Ethiopian honey wine, for instance, took a while to gain any popularity in the province because the inhabitants deemed it too sweet, but they grew to love it. Hitoshi's mother brews some every Christmas.

• When he found out about Lady Hana's love for tea - and knowing she was just (symbolically) disowned from her home - he sent across a sumptuous green tea and honey ice cream "with compliments from the chef". He knows via secondhand information that the teas she has tried are mostly Chinese, but she did like some of the matcha themed stuff the kitchen put out!

• Anais mothered him literally from the minute they were introduced, and it has stayed that way ever since. Hitoshi has caught himself complaining "Maaa! Not in front of the staff!!" several times.

[crazyunsexycool]

My little love

Chapter 4

pairing: Bucky Barnes x enhanced!reader

word count: 4.1k

Warnings: mentions of gunshot wounds, blood, shrapnel embedded in someone’s side, Bucky and Angel having quality daddy/daughter time, nightmares, child crying, Steve being cute

A/N: It’s here!!!! There is not a lot of reader in this chapter I wanted to focus more on Bucky and Angel. What name does Bucky choose??? I went back and forth a lot with the name because I honestly don’t think Bucky would choose a more modern name but I think it’s a good choice. Tell me what you think! Also I was very excited for you to see Bucky being a first time dad….

Series masterlist

Ch. 3

“Why are you so loud?” You asked from the entryway to the living room. Hands on your hips and a scowl on your face as you glared at one of the two super soldiers that didn’t know what whispering meant. 

“We are talking names.” 

“Talking or yelling?” 

“I made coffee.” Bucky says as he stands in front of you, trying to change the subject. “Do you want some?” 

You were about to respond when giggles interrupted you. The sweet little giggles of none other than Angel. Leaning to the side to look behind Bucky you find Steve sitting on the floor, holding her hands as she stands in front of him. She was trying to find her balance but anytime Steve let go of her hands she’d fall down. She laughed again when her bottom hit the soft area rug in your living room. 

“Well now you’re just being silly.” Steve told her as he picked the giggling toddler up and had her stand looking in your direction. “Who’s that sweetheart?”

Her eyes lit up when she saw you and she immediately stretched her arms out so that you would pick her up.

“Good morning cutie, how are you doing today?” 

“I’m great, how are you?” Steve responded as you picked Angel up. You rolled your eyes before kissing her temple. Angel lays her head on your shoulder. 

“I’m not dealing with you until I’ve had my coffee, Rogers.” 

“Wow, you really are a grump in the mornings. Anyways, let me make breakfast now that you’re up.” 

You narrow your eyes at him and Bucky does the same from behind you. Steve gives you an awkward smile as he walks past. Both you and Bucky follow him to the kitchen.

“You rarely make me any food. What’s going on?” 

“Yeah punk, What’s up with you?” 

“I tried to keep you out as long as I could but I need you for a mission Y/N. Two days tops.” He says after turning to look at you. 

You frown slightly before looking between Bucky and Angel, your hold tightening slightly on the latter. 

“I’ll go.” Bucky offers.

“Sorry Buck but we need her abilities.”

“It’s ok, It’s my job.” You say as you turn to him and smile. “Who else is going?”

“Nat, Sam and Clint.” 

“Good, you can both watch this sweet girl.” You say you pull back and look at her. Your voice gets higher when you talk to her. “Are you going to have so much fun with Steve and daddy?”

Bucky stiffened slightly at being called dad.  You look up at him slightly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean-“

“No it’s ok, I’ll get used to it.” He says in a small voice.

“She can call you something else.” 

“No it’s ok really. She can call me dad if she wants to.” 

“And what do we call her? You said you were talking about names.”

Steve turns back around and starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge and cabinets. 

“Well let’s see,” Bucky says as he pulls a small notebook out of his sweatpants pocket. “I have Beatrice, Eleanor, Josephine, Lydia, Frances and Vivian. What do you think?” 

“You know you only have to pick one, maybe two.”

“You don’t like any of them?”

You gave him an awkward smile as you moved to set Angel down in her booster seat.  

“Well, she is your daughter so you get to choose. They’re lovely names, she just doesn’t look like those names.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Steve asked from the stove.

“It means you look like a Steve, Bucky looks like a Bucky and I look like a Y/N. The name has to fit her.”

Bucky hummed and then frowned slightly. He never thought a name could be so complicated.

“Is there a name you like?” 

“Not any of those.” You mutter under your breath. 

“I heard that.” 

“Oops.” You said with a smile. 

“Agent Y/LN, your presence is being requested in conference room 302.” Friday announced. 

“Is it urgent Friday?” 

“Yes, your mission has been moved up, you’re needed in order to start the briefing.” 

“Please let them know I’ll be down in 10 minutes.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

You kiss Angel’s forehead and head to your room to change out of your pajamas. 

“Ok , hopefully I’ll see you before I leave. Sorry I can’t have breakfast Steve.” 

“I’ll make you some when you get back from the mission.” He smiles at you. 

“I’ll hold you to it.” You head toward the living room with Bucky following close behind. 

“If you have to leave right after please be careful.” 

“I will,” you kiss his cheek. “If you need help with Angel, Jenna and Ivy in the medical wing can help.” You say before you head out. 

The jet was ready to go. The team of four had packed up everything they would need for the two day trip and set it by the ramp of said jet. While Clint and Sam did some preflight checks Nat stood by you as you said goodbye to sweet Baby Barnes as she clung to you unaware that she wouldn’t see you for at least two days. Her little fingers played with the straps of your Kevlar vest and she pursed her lips as she concentrated with the task at hand. Bucky and Steve walked your way as you and Nat discussed something about the mission. 

“Did you pick a name yet?” Is the first question you asked once Bucky stood in front of you.

“No,” he shook his head slightly as he looked at the small notebook in his hand. “This is a big deal, I can’t name her something stupid.” 

“Samantha is a good name.” Sam calls out as he picks up your bags.

“Again, I said nothing stupid.” 

“Wow, you talk like that in front of your daughter? You’re lucky she’ll learn her manners from Y/N.” 

Nat and you chuckled at the banter but Steve pinched the bridge of his nose already exasperated with the back and forth. 

“Come on You’re not even close to picking a name yet? What if I leave and never come back?” You meant it as a joke but the mood shifted quickly.

 Steve took Angel from you after you placed a quick kiss on her forehead. Nat said her own quick goodbye before getting on the jet leaving you alone with Bucky. His expression was unreadable as he looked toward his daughter. 

“Don’t say things like that.” 

“It was just a joke, Buck.” 

“Well it wasn’t funny.” He finally looked at you, finding you looking away. “I’m sorry I just- the thought of losing you is unbearable. Besides, I need you.” 

Your eyes snapped up meeting his. 

“And so does Joann.” You grimace at the name. “Yeah, I didn't think so either.” He scratches the name off the list with a pen. “I’ll have a name by the time you get back ok?” 

“Ok, take care of yourself while I’m gone.” You say as you wrap your arms around his waist. 

“What about Angel?” 

“If you take care of her the way you take care of me I know she’ll be fine. Just don’t forget her-“

“Pink bear, I know. And I already spoke with Jenna and Ivy although I’m gonna do as much as I can on my own.” Bucky finishes your sentence as he wraps an arm around your shoulder. He places a kiss in your hair. “Please be careful.”

“I will. See you in two days.”  

You walk up the ramp with a final wave to the three of them. Clint hits the button to close the jet as you begin to hear Angel cry. Clint stands besides you as you look through one of the windows at Steve trying to calm her down. 

“Trust me kid, it doesn’t get easier.” He pats your back before turning to the cockpit. 

“It’s ok sweetheart, mama will be back soon.” Steve cooed softly as if his words were meant for her ears only. It didn’t work though and Angel held her arms out and made grabby hands in hopes that you would appear before her and take her into your arms, where she was safe. When that didn’t work she turned to Bucky. 

”Don’t cry,” Bucky tells her as he takes her from Steve. “I’m scared too. But you know what? We’re going to be just fine.” 

He heads back into the living section of the compound and up to your apartment where you left everything set up for him. Steve followed closely behind making silly faces at the crying child in hopes of calming her down. The only thing that worked was actually being back in your apartment. It was familiar to her and she was safe. It didn’t take long for her to start yawning and rubbing her eyes, a clear sign it was time for her nap. Steve was gone and it was up to Bucky to get the tired toddler down for said nap. He walked to the room you’d chosen for her and pulled out his phone to play some music in hope it would help Angel fall asleep.

 A slow song from the 40s fills the room and Bucky hums along as he sways from side to side. Angel slowly but surely rested her head against his shoulder. 

“What about Loretta?” He peaks down at the child in his arms but she’s still fighting sleep. “No, not that one. Hhmm, Norma? Nah, I don’t like that one.” Bucky continued to list names and sway around the room until Angel finally fell asleep. He laid her down in the crib and covered her with the pink blanket before heading back out into the living room. 

He plopped down on your couch and as he looked around the room, Bucky couldn’t help but think of what it would be like if you and him were in a relationship. He practically lived in your apartment anyway and now so did his daughter. Up until this point you had stepped up to help care for her. It’s something you didn’t need to do and yet all the conversations he’d had with Steve about you having feelings for him came back. Bucky didn’t doubt that you would offer help to anyone, especially a child that needed it but he couldn’t deny that the way you took care of his daughter was different. It was as if she was your own and that warmed his heart, because Angel trusted you more than anyone. 

So with thoughts of you and his daughter Bucky relaxed into the couch and soon enough he fell asleep too.

Bucky sat up panting and disoriented. He hadn’t had a nightmare yet he could hear crying. It was the most bloodcurdling scream he’d ever heard. He looked around to realize he was in your apartment and at the sight of a doll on your couch he remembered he had put his daughter down for a nap. It was her cries that woke him up and he ran toward her room thinking someone was hurting her. He was somewhat correct. She was being hurt but only by her nightmares. She laid in the crib tossing and turning and crying bloody murder. Bucky panicked, unsure of what to do. He kept muttering to himself what would you do in this situation, if it were you here instead of him. Then he thought back to all the times he’d shown up to your place after a nightmare. He was always comforted by your touch, maybe he could provide the same for her.

Bucky bent over the railing of the crib and as gently as he could he grabbed Angel and laid her against his chest. His heart stopped when he watched her flinch at his touch but he knew it was just because of the nightmare. 

“You’re ok, doll. I’m right here. I’ll keep you safe.” He cooed softly as he walked out to the living room again. 

Her eyes didn’t open but her cries died down a bit. Still a small whimper here and there, a little tremble of her chin and lower lip kept him on edge. 

“C’mon doll you gotta wake up for me.” He used his left hand to wipe away the tears, hoping the cool metal would maybe soothe the crying toddler. Bucky kept his eyes on her face the entire time. He studied every movement and twitch until Angel’s eyes started to flutter and finally she looked at him. She hides her face in his chest and Bucky can feel the fresh tears being soaked up by his shirt. As long as she’s awake Bucky doesn’t mind one bit. He just holds her close while he rubs soothing circles on her back and finally allows himself to calm his own heart, it’s a miracle it didn’t pop out of his chest. 

When Bucky finally moves her away from his chest to get a good look at her his heart drops. She’s almost frozen in place. Angel’s gaze is unfocused and it’s as if she’s reliving something traumatic. His little girl starts to cry again and it would be several hours before he gets her to calm down.

Fresh air and sunshine. Bucky had decided that his daughter hadn’t had enough of it. So once he managed to feed her and change her diaper, with the help of Jenna, he decided to go on a walk. It was supposed to be simple. Take the stroller and sit Angel down. Except he couldn’t get the stupid stroller opened, he didn’t even know that was a thing. So he stood by Steve’s office with a closed stroller, a toddler and a bag with some extras in it, in hopes that his best friend could help him out. 

Steve couldn’t. 

It wasn’t until another agent walked by with some documents meant for Steve that they learned how to unfold the damned thing. He quickly showed them how to open and close the stroller before walking back the way he came. 

With Angel strapped in, Bucky moved through the halls of the compound until he was finally outside. Bucky could see Angel’s head move from side to side as she took in everything around her. It was nothing special but he was sure she had never been outside in her short life. So trees and flowers and grass seemed like the most amazing things in the eyes of the three year old. Bucky pushed the stroller around for a while until he found a nice shady tree to sit under. He pulled out a blanket he had brought with him and laid it out before unbuckling his daughter and setting her down. 

“Ok doll, C’mere.” After he settled down he opened the backpack he had packed and pulled out a book. He sat her down in his lap and flipped the book open and he began to read out loud. 

You had left little post-it notes here and there to help Bucky. A list of favorite snacks on the fridge, her nap times and favorite toys in her room. In the bathroom mirror there was a post-it of what temperature the water should be and what products he should use when it was bath time. Anytime he found one he reminded himself to do something special as a thank you when you got back. 

After giving his daughter a bath Bucky had grabbed her towel and wrapped her up before heading to her room. He opened the drawer you had mentioned that was full of pajamas and grabbed the first onesie and pajama pants he found. 

“Ok doll, let’s get you nice and dry and ready for bed.” Bucky said as he laid his sweet Angel down, dried her properly and put on a diaper.

 He reached over and grabbed the onesie and unfolded it, laughing once he realized what it said. A big you can do it dad sat in the middle in bold black letters while arrows labeled arms, head, legs and snap  surrounded it. Once he was done dressing her he took his phone out and managed to get a picture of her smiling to show you later. He had done that a lot during the day, taking pictures of her. Bucky justified it by saying they were for your benefit. Surely you’d miss her and would want to know what she was up to for two days. 

This routine would happen for not two days but four. And everyday Bucky got more anxious at the fact that you weren’t back yet. 

Everyone had been on high alert at the end of the second day of your mission. There should have been communication that the mission had been completed and you were on your way back. Instead they were met with radio silence. Tony tried to locate all four phones but nothing. The jet couldn’t be located either. 

It wasn’t until the early morning of the fifth day when a commotion at the gated entrance of the compound that the rest of the team knew something went horribly wrong. Tony, Bruce, Wanda, Vision, Steve and Bucky, along with medical staff were all waiting once the ambulance was allowed in. Clint hopped out of the driver's side and rushed to the back to open the doors. It wasn’t a surprise to see him battered and bruised. The medical team rushed after him and took over whatever was happening. Bucky’s heart all but stopped once he saw Clint, Sam and Nat walk around the ambulance and towards the rest of the group. They all looked bad but they could walk. 

“Nat?” Bucky called out her name but she refused to look up at him. She felt guilty, he was sure of that. “Nat, what’s going-“ the words died on his tongue as the stretcher was finally pulled out. 

You were unconscious as they wheeled you by. There was blood not only on your uniform but on the stretcher, it was too much blood. Bucky could see the gunshot wounds and the cuts and scrapes before noticing the piece of shrapnel sticking out from your side. He didn’t realize he had started following you until he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the other three. He was furious, why were you the only one on the verge of death while the three of them seemed completely fine by comparison. Steve stepped between Bucky and the rest of the team that had gone on the mission. It was clear to see that Bucky was ready to rip their heads off.

“Walk it off, and go get your daughter.” 

“But-“

“No buts, we don’t know what happened and they need to be checked out too. Once I talk to them I’ll let you know, now go.” Steve was stern and unmoving even Bucky tried to look around him. With a huff Bucky turned back in the direction of the building and disappeared inside. 

“Steve, it all happened so fast.” Sam offered but Steve put his hand up. 

“Go get checked out and cleaned up, we'll talk later.” 

Sam’s shoulders sag as he started walking away. It was obvious that whatever happened was difficult for everyone and the last thing they needed was to get yelled at. Steve and the others knew it would be a long day and they decided to keep them company or wait to hear news about you. 

Bucky sat in the waiting room with Angel in his lap for hours. He wouldn’t move until he knew you were at least ok. That you would live to see another day but the doctors were taking forever. The rest of the team had been in and out waiting to hear anything but Bucky’s mood kept them at bay. After a while Steve finally showed up and silently took the toddler from Bucky. 

“So what happened?” 

“It was a setup from the beginning. The minute they got into enemy airspace the jet was under attack.” 

“Why didn’t they call for backup or turn around and come back?” 

“They were being attacked from all sides, signals were jammed. The jet was lost, the only reason any of them are still alive was because Y/N managed to slow down the descent of the plane.” Steve said as he bounced Angel on his leg. 

Bucky stood and began pacing. All he wanted was for you to be ok and then to find the assholes that did this. 

“There’s more,” Steve said, causing Bucky to stop and turn to him, he waited silently for the rest. “It seems like hydra planned this hoping to capture whoever had been sent on the mission with the intention of trading them.” 

“Trading them? For what?” 

Steve didn’t say anything, instead his hold tightened a little around the toddler on his lap and his eyes shifted from Bucky to Angel. The sound of whirling plates could be heard in the otherwise quiet room as Bucky clenched his fist. 

“Over my dead body.” Bucky said through gritted teeth. 

“Apparently over Y/N’s too.” Steve sighed. “Listen, from what Sam, Nat and Clint said there was nothing they could do. They fought as hard as they could and they even had to steal a plane to get back. It was Y/N that saved them and in the process she got hurt. But she’s here now and in the cradle, I’m sure she’ll be fine.” 

“I hope so.” 

A few minutes later Dr. Cho appears in the waiting room with news that you’re out of the cradle. Dr. Cho had said that you would be fine, after being in the cradle for that long you were sure to recover in no time but she wasn’t going to clear you for missions for a while. 

 She leads Bucky and Steve to your room and gives them some privacy. Bucky holds his daughter in one hand and opens the door slowly with the other. He was surprised to see you alert although it seemed you were moving slowly. Most likely due to the pain medication they had given you. Before anyone was able to say anything, Angel’s gaze fell on you. Bucky could tell something was wrong immediately due to how her body tensed and shortly after she began to cry. It was an intense, deafening type of cry that left them rooted in place. Steve quickly grabbed her and muttered that he’d stay outside to calm her down. You frowned, concerned at what could have happened.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’ll be ok.” Bucky said as he moved to sit next to you. “It’s the second time I’ve heard her cry like that though.” 

“You should go check on her, I’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Of course.” 

“Ok.” He got up and kissed your forehead before walking back out. Even in the state you were in whatever was going on with Angel had you worried. You tried to fight off the need to sleep but whatever you had been given was stronger.

It must have been very late when you did finally wake up but you weren’t surprised to find Bucky sitting in the chair beside you. A book in his hand as he patiently waited for you.

“Buck.” You called out with a slightly gravelly voice. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” You huffed out as you tried to sit up. Bucky moved to help you get more comfortable in the bed. “How’s Angel?” 

“She’s better now. I’m not sure what’s going on but Bruce said he’d run some tests.”

“Ok, good.” You frown slightly at the thought of her being hurt in some way or her being afraid of you.

“I have pictures of what we did these last few days. Wanna see them?” He asked in the hopes of distracting you for a while.

You nodded as Bucky pulled out his phone. The frown disappears from your face instantly as you scroll through the pictures. Bucky had taken pictures of her outside sitting on a blanket, multiple pictures of her sleeping soundly or with food all over her face. There were videos of her just giggling as she stood on her own and videos of her with Steve while he danced and sang along with Disney movies. It warmed your heart to see her so content and safe in the arms of her father. 

“Told you you’d do a good job.” 

“I know, but she missed you too. She kept pointing at your room almost silently asking for me to go get you.” 

“Sweet baby, I hope she’ll let me hold her once I’m out.”

“I’m sure she will.” He smiles at you.

“So…”

“So what?” He gave you a confused look.

“What is her name? Please tell me you picked something.” 

He smiles again and nods. “I did.”

“Ok and what is it?” You ask excitedly and he smiles.

“Charlotte Elise Barnes.” 

Ch. 5

permanent taglist: @kunaikunari @rebekahdawkins @cjand10 @nalny5  @sturchling @angywritesstuff @seitmai @writing-for-marvel @goldylions @darkhairedmenrule @little--baby--bear @almosttoopizza @littleseasiren @teambarnes72

series tag list: @buckystevelove @vicmc624 @just-someone11

[springdandelixn]

Against the Tide  - Part I

Summary: Your life takes an unexpected turn as the leader of the biker gang that took over your town sets his eyes on you.

Warnings: unwanted touching, power imbalance, abusive undertones, more to be added as the series progresses.

Characters: Dark!Biker!James Conrad x F!Reader, Michael from Legion and Billy Lee from Bad Times at the El Royale (biker au)

A/N: I have taken a dive into newer territory and it’s such a thrilling experience. It’s a first I’m writing for James Conrad so please be gentle. I do dedicate this piece to one of my babies, @michelleleewise​ 💙 Belated Happy Birthday, dear. Also a belated happy birthday to @coldnique​!!

As always, your feedback is highly appreciated and reblogs would be amazing. And of course, I hope you guys enjoy! 💙

Against the Tide Masterlist

You turn your head to face the back of the bar when you hear the commotion coming from the kitchen, the din of Melody’s angry voice mixing in with the clack of the pool balls from the other side of the bar and the music playing from the speakers. Luis, the new hire, must have messed up another customer’s order, probably burning the burger patties like he did last night. 

You feel your phone buzz from your back pocket and pull off the simple black apron tied around your waist. Turning off your alarm, you peek from the kitchen window and tap your hand against the metal surface, a chuckle leaving your lips as you see Melody’s fuming face. 

“What?!” She snarls and you only roll your eyes playfully at her rage.

“I’m taking my break.” You tell her, holding out your hand after. “Cigs.” 

She pulls a pack from the back of her pocket and slaps it on your hand, giving her a playful wave with your fingers before looking at Luis and laughing at the way he frowns when Melody goes back to scolding him. 

The summer night breeze is a welcome sensation when you step out of the bar and walk over to the side of the building where the cars and motorcycles of the patrons are parked. Tapping the pack against your palm you take the nicotine stick that slides free and tuck it between your lips. 

Shaking the lighter, you flick your thumb against the small metal gear, watching the flame come to life and lighting the tip of the cigarette. You take a long drag, watching the embers eat at the roll of tobacco before huffing the smoke up into the air. A small sigh leaves your lips as you can’t help but contemplate what your life has become while watching the smoke form clouds around the full moon that shines in contrast to the dark sky. 

All your life you’ve only been in Westmoor, never once venturing away from the small town, even if it’s just to visit the next one over. You once had plans of leaving the place you call home when you were a teenager, to abandon the miserable and abusive life you’ve come to know since you were born—your alcoholic father seeing you as a burden and your mother too afraid to fight back once he cracks his hand against your cheek. 

You were free once your mother died from illness, running away from home and finding solace at Ol’ Sammy’s place. The old man treated you like you were his own, his wife, Eleanor, showering you with the love and affection you’ve never known. They’d even ward off your deadbeat father when he would storm up to their porch, demanding money you owed him for raising you. 

You felt like you had a family in their presence but even so, your desire to leave just drew stronger. For there was truly nothing but hardship in this town. Yet no matter how hard you tried, saving every penny you can from years of working at Nick’s, leaving just seemed impossible. 

Especially now with the gang of bikers that have seemingly taken over just about a year ago. Coming into town and claiming it as their own, with every resident scared for their lives as they shamelessly flaunt their power. They made it their job to make their presence known, terrorizing businesses and taking money for protection that isn’t needed. For no one comes to Westmoor to cause havoc, the only visitors being passersby and hunters during the fall. 

The roar of a motorcycle pulls you from your thoughts and you stand rigid against the wall when you see the gang parking their bikes in front of you. You feel a chill run up your spine at their sudden appearance. It’s Wednesday and you know they’re not supposed to be here, Nick telling everyone at the bar when they’re scheduled to collect.

“Hey there, sugar,” Billy calls as soon as their engines die, the burly man getting off his bike and casually striding over to where you stand. 

You do your best to keep your guard up, you know better than to face them alone. Rolling your eyes at Billy’s greeting, you drop your cigarette to the ground and stomp your foot on it to kill the embers before walking away. But a yelp of surprise leaves your lips when your pulled back, the air punching out of your lungs when your back hits the wall, eyes growing wide as Billy presses his hand against the concrete surface, trapping you. 

“Leaving so soon?” He teases, the hair sitting over his lip moving in waves as he juts out his lips. “We just got here.” 

“I’m done my break.” You say in annoyance, pressing your fists against his chest, trying to push him away. “Melody will be furious if I’m late.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you taking a couple more minutes if she knew you were with me.” His breath already reeks of alcohol, making your stomach turn as he leans closer to your face.

“That’s enough, Billy.” 

Your spine tingles in fear when you hear James’ voice, Billy giving you another smirk, turning your head away when his fingers rub against your cheek when he pulls away from the wall.

Out of all the bikers, James is the one people fear the most. His calm demeanor is nothing but a front to his hidden rage. You’ve witnessed first hand when Richard, one of the bar patrons, beat him in a game of pool, the man never coming back to Nick’s after he was bedridden for almost a month. 

He’s stopped drinking, his wife, Ingrid, said when you went over to their place to drop off a pie Eleanor made. But the brace around his neck and the bruises you saw decorating his face when Ingrid opened the door a little too wide said otherwise.

“You got a light?” James asks as he stands in front of you. You reach into your pocket and hold out the lighter, keeping your expression stoic when he cups your hand with both his, flicking the flame to life before lighting his nicotine stick. 

You pull your hand back when he finishes, tucking the lighter back in your pocket and standing still as he takes a drag and huffs out the smoke, his blue eyes never leaving you. 

“What are you doing out here all alone, dove?” He asks, his gaze lingering down your body before he meets your eyes again. 

“I was on break.” You respond in a monotone voice. “Was just about to head back.”

“Is Nick in?”

“He called out. Said his wife is sick.” 

“Is that so?” He chuckles, taking another puff of the cigarette, cringing when he blows the smoke at your chest. “I guess we came here for nothing, boys. Unless you can make it worth my while?” He asks and you quickly slip away when he leans in closer, your heart pounding hard against your chest when he grabs you all of a sudden. “And who gave you permission to leave?” You shiver at his tone, hushed yet menacing.

“I have to go back to work.” You reason, wincing as he tightens his hold on your wrist when you try to pull away. “You guys come in and have a drink, so your trip isn’t wasted.” You say in a rush, your voice shaking as you speak. “On the house, as much as you want. I’m sure Nick won’t mind.” 

“C’mon, boss.” Billy interjects, his voice sounding like an excited little kid about to get a ice cream from the shop. “I also want to challenge Mikey to a game of pool.” 

A grunt echoes at the side and you see James’ right hand man, Michael, standing and watching you impassively at the side. His tattoo-covered arms are crossed over his chest, his finger leisurely rubbing the base of the gun that hangs on his holster as if waiting for the opportunity to use it.

“Very well.” James groans and drops the half finished cigarette on the ground, releasing your hand all the same. “But you’ll be the one to serve us. No one else. Understood?” He demands. 

You nod and quickly scurry away from him, your annoyance instantly flaring when Billy slaps his hand against your ass when you pass him. 

The stuffy atmosphere is a welcome distraction as you walk back into the building. Melody stands behind the bar, the anger from earlier replaced with a smile. But as soon as she sees you, her lips slant and you know that she knows something isn’t right. 

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

“Conrad and his minions are here.” You quickly tell Melody as you make your way at the back of the bar, the smile on her face quickly fading at your announcement. 

“What are they doing here?” She whispers, turning her back when the boys enter the bar, helping you grab their drinks from the fridge. 

“They’re looking for Nick.”

“Did you tell them he isn’t here?” 

“I did but they won’t leave me alone.” You bite back, popping the caps of the bottles before setting them atop a round tray. “I told them they can have drinks, on the house.”

“What?! Are you stupid? Nick will be—”

“He’ll be happy that we kept them happy. You know how Conrad is.” You hiss, taking the tray. “And the last thing we need is for him to burn down the bar.”

“Fine.” She says in defeat. “I’ll try to call Nick, maybe he can make them go away.” 

You don’t say anything. You already know as well as she and the whole town of Westmoor that it’s impossible to get rid of James and his men. 

[scifrey]

Videos to Watch if You Enjoyed "Cling Fast"

How Much Booze Did Medieval People Really Drink? - Dr. Eleanor Janega teaches us how to booze it up, White Horse-style.

Could You Make a Living in Medieval London? - Another great Eleanor Janega video about occupations, scandals, and the every day lives of every day folks in Medieval cities.

What Was Life Really Like For A Medieval Peasant? - the last of the Eleanor Janega videos about what kind of life Hob Gadling would have lived before he met his Stranger.

A Tudor Feast - domestic historians and archeologists Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands, Peter "Fonz" Ginn and Hugh Beamish - under the supervision of Marc Meltonville of Hampton Court Palace's Tudor kitchens - prepare and serve a tudor banquet at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

Who Do You Think You Are: Danny Dyer Learns Tudor Etiquette - A segment from the Ancestry.com series following actor Danny Dyer as he explores his royal roots.

Who Would Be King of England Today According to Henry VIII's Will? - chartmaker Matt Baker takes us through the royal family tree from Henry the Eighth to the present day, if his edict that the next monarch in the event that his three children (Mary, Edward, and Elizabeth) produced no heirs, then the crown should next fall to the children of his youngest sister. And not, as actually happened, go to James of Scotland.

Royal Myths: Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada - Dr. Lucy Worsley talks us through the propaganda and fibs that have sprung up around Good Queen Bess, and whether or not she really did declare that she had the stomach of a king.

Dancing Cheek to Cheek: The Devil's Work - Another great series by Dr. Lucy Worsley, chief curator of Royal Historic Palaces, but this time she's joined by Strictly Come Dancing's Len Goodman. They trace the history of dance in Britain, and this episode features some rowdy Medieval and Elizabethan numbers.

Turn Back Time: Tudor Monastery Farm - This series sees Ruth, Alex, and Peter return to the Elizabethan age, this time spending a year on a farm worked by peasants and serfs in service to the church.

The Tudors' Bizarre 12 Days Of Christmas Ritual - The Tudor Monastery Farm Christmas special.

Hardwick Hall: A window onto the Elizabethan world - Sheffield Hallam University gives a great look at Hardwick Hall (more glass than wall), the estate home of the wealthiest woman in Britain at the time, and the kind of place Hob would have aspired to build.

Tudor Food & Etiquette Explained in 14 Minutes - Quick and dirty explanation of where your napkin goes and who the 'chairman of the board' was.

Tudor Houses Explained in 10 Minutes - Not particularly engagingly presented, but a video chock full of visual examples of different kinds of Tudor houses and buildings.

Modern History: The Knight - Jason Kingsley introduces us to the concept behind Modern History and in particular their first series, “The Knight”. Jason has been fascinated by history his whole life, in particular the medieval period and the life of knights. (This is the first video of a playlist).

Royal Armouries - Elizabethan Swordsmanship - a demonstration by weaponsmasters at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. (I recommend turning on closed captioning for this one, as the sound was recorded live with no mics.)

Getting Dressed - Tudor Royal Household - a nice, even-paced and well produced video showing what it was like to get dressed in queen Katherine Parr's household.

Dressing Up a Tudor Man - my personal heroes at Prior Attire show us what the blokes were wearing at the time. Keep in mind that this is 40 years too early for Hob and Dream's disastrous Shakespeare-ruined feast. (I recommend turning on closed captioning for this one, as the sound was recorded live with no mics.)

And just for the fun of it:

Medieval Pickup Lines from the folks behind (I believe?) Whores of Yore, and Top Tudor Historian Rates Famous Movie Scenes, wherein Dr Nicola Tallis, British historian and author of three books on the Tudors, rates scenes from five blockbuster movies set in the Tudor period. (I love how scandalized she gets.)

If you want more, I really recommend anything at all featuring Doctors Lucy Worsley, Eleanor Janega, and Ruth Goodman (search their names on YouTube and you'll find a wealth of clips, full episodes, and even playlists.)

[angelasscribbles]

Friendship

Series: None, this is a one-shot and you can find those here.

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Constantine x Eleanor, Jackson x Bianca, but really it's about the beginning of Liam and Drake's friendship.

Rating: G

Warnings for this chapter: None

Word Count: 1,894

A/N: I had written the first couple of paragraphs over a year ago then put it away with no real idea where it was going. Then @kingliamappreciationweek happened and I decided to dust this off and finish it for childhood/family and friendships/relationships. I'm late, but here it is.

My other stuff: Master List.

Liam was a serious child. Even as a toddler, people would remark about his solemn expression. It wasn’t that he never smiled, he did. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy, he was. There had just always been an aura of thoughtfulness surrounding him. The portrait his mother had commissioned of him for his second birthday showed a somber child. He sat in an elaborate Baroque throne chair with dark red crushed velvet upholstery and a gold leaf finish. He was dressed in a toddler suit with short pants, showing his legs, still chubby with baby fat, his ebony hair brushed back from his face as he gazed solemnly out at the photographer.

Despite that, he was a friendly child who learned by the age of four that being charming got him whatever he wanted from the nannies and the kitchen staff.

A heartfelt, “Please?” netted him cookies, cakes, candies, and plenty of baklava. No one could withstand the cuteness of the little prince. Especially his mother.

His first smiles, at three months old, were for Eleanor. As he grew into a toddler and preschooler, she remained his favorite person, that somber expression turning into a wide faced grin at the sound of her voice or the sight of her face.

She read to him, she played with him, she took him on walks in the garden. She was the antidote to his father’s seriousness.

By the age of six, Liam had learned that his father’s affections were less frequent and harder earned. The bulk of Constantine’s attention went to Liam’s older brother, because Leo was going to be king, and Liam was not. He was only the spare.

Liam never resented Leo for it. He loved him. Leo was his second favorite person in the world, after Eleanor. He started toddling along behind him as soon as he could walk. Leo was older, cooler, and knew all the best games.

Leo was also a frequent rule breaker, while Liam was not. On this particular day, Leo and Olivia had decided to sneak away from the nannies and play in the woods behind the palace.

Leo had read to him until he bored of it. Pushing the stack of books away he exclaimed, “I can’t stand being inside for another moment! Let’s go out to play!”

“Finally!” Olivia cast the copy of Little Women she’d been reading to the side as she jumped up from the oversized beanbag in the corner of the library.

“I want to come too!” Liam scrambled quickly to his feet. He had learned the hard way that if he didn’t keep up with the older kids, he’d be left behind.

 “Sure,” Leo shrugged, “but you have to be quiet until we get past the hedge maze.”

“Past the hedge maze?” Liam asked in alarm, “We aren’t supposed to go past the hedge maze! Father said-“

“Father doesn’t have to know, does he?”

“Maybe you should stay here, Liam,” Olivia said sagely, “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Liam thought for a moment, taking in Leo’s amusement and Olivia’s smug sureness that he would stay behind. He drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders, “No. I’ll go!”

“Are you sure, Li?” Leo asked with a laugh, “Last time you got caught breaking the rules, you cried.”

Liam flushed with embarrassment. Father had been so angry. He didn’t like to make anyone angry, “I didn’t mean to break the vase.”

“Hey,” the amusement disappeared from Leo’s face, replaced with sympathy, “It’s okay! It wasn’t even your fault, I’m the one that talked you into playing football in the great room!”

“It’s okay, Liam,” Olivia placed a hand on his shoulder as she leaned down, “but I heard there’s fresh baklava in the kitchen. You should go get some!”

“Yeah…okay….” He agreed half-heartedly.

He picked up an illustrated copy of Where the Wild Things Are with a sigh as he watched Leo and Olivia sneak giggling down the hallway toward the garden doors.

Thirty minutes later he was perched on a stool at one of the marble counters in the place kitchen, shoving baklava into his mouth as he turned the pages of his book when he heard unfamiliar voices.

He turned away from his book in interest as the head of the King’s Guard entered the room with a man and a woman Liam had never seen before. Trailing behind the adults were two children.

Liam’s eyes widened as he took in the new arrivals. A little girl with dark curls and wide eyes took in everything around her in wonder. A boy that looked to be about the same age as himself kept his gaze trained on the floor indifferently, a shock of chestnut hair falling into his eyes; hands stuffed into his pockets.

Liam twisted back and forth on the stool in excitement, nearly tumbling out of it as he did.

“Careful there young master!” The pastry chef caught him before he could fall.

“Sorry!” Liam exclaimed as he twisted out of her grasp, his head spinning to keep track of the children, “Who are they? I want to go say hi! Can I?”

“Certainly!” She laughed as she released him and watched as he sprinted across the travertine tile.

The group had moved into the formal dining room when Liam caught up with them, skidding around a corner and colliding directly with the head of the King’s Guard. “Ooof! Sorry!”

“It’s alright,” Captain Sullivan helped him to his feet, “What’s the big hurry?”

“I wanted to meet the kids!” Liam ducked his head, suddenly a little shy, “Who are they? What are they doing here?”

“Okay, okay, slow down!” The captain laughed, “I’ll introduce you! Your Highness, this is the newest member of the guard, Jackson Walker, his wife Bianca and their children, Drake and Savannah. Everyone, this is Prince Liam.”

Liam sucked in a breath of surprise; he knew that some members of the guard lived at the palace. He felt like he was about to explode with excitement. Please let them live here, he prayed furiously. Out loud he said, “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“And we’re very pleased to meet you,” Jackson shook his hand.

The girl shoved her way in front of her parents, a look of awe on her face, “Are you an honest to God, real life prince?”

“I am.” Liam grinned at her.

“It’s nice to meet you Liam,” Bianca told him before pushing the boy forward, “Isn’t it Drake? Can you say hi to the prince?”

Drake shuffled forward awkwardly, lifted his eyes to Liam’s face for a moment then dropped them as he mumbled, “Hi.”

“Can they come play with me?” Liam directed the question to the adults, lacing the fingers of both hands through each other as he pleaded, “Pleeeeease?”

“Oh, yes!” Savannah squealed, clapping her hands as she jumped up and down, adding her pleas to his, “Can we please?”

“I think that would be okay,” Jackson replied, “What you think, son? Would you like to go play with Liam?”

The sullen faced little boy lifted his copper and gold flecked eyes again and found Liam’s face. Drake’s determination to hate everything about this new place faltered a little as saw the genuine excitement bubbling over in the other child. “I guess that would be okay. What do you want to do?”

“Yes!” Liam jumped up into the air with joy, “We can play whatever you want! Hide and seek, or tag in the gardens, we have board games, video games, we could ride bicycles if we get the nannies to supervise us or we could play sword fighting-“

“You have swords?” Drake’s eyes widened with interest.

“Wooden ones but-“

“Can I dad?” Drake turned to Jackson hopefully.

“Yes, go on. We’ll come find you later.” Jackson squeezed Bianca’s hand as they watched their children scurry down the hall with the prince. Relief flooded his wife’s features, mirroring his own. Drake had been the child they had been most worried about adjusting to the move, but he seemed to be warming to the place already.

“What’s it like being a prince and living in a palace?” Savannah asked as she hurried to keep up with the older boys.

“Boring,” came the instant reply.

“Really?” Savannah sounded disappointed.

Drake laughed and Liam’s smile broadened at the sound as he elaborated, “The other kids in the palace are all older than me and no one ever wants to play.”

He was lonely.

“Drake comes up with all the best games,” Savannah told him.

“Is that right?”

“That’s right,” Drake agreed, “Where is this playroom you’re taking us to?”

“Fifth door on the left,” Liam pointed down a long hallway.

“Race you,” Drake grinned at him, “Winner gets to pick his sword first!”

“Okay-“ Liam started to agree but Drake was already sprinting down the hall. It only took a second for Liam to realize what was happening and tear off after him.

The three children tumbled through the playroom door panting and shrieking with laughter.

Drake collapsed onto the floor in purposeful exaggeration as he gasped, “I’m dying….but I won!”

“You cheated you mean!” Liam laughed as he dropped onto the ground next to him.

“It wasn’t cheating,” Drake corrected him, “It’s called gaining a tactical advantage!”

Liam was used to other children being awkward around him, letting him win games or actively trying to avoid playing with him, because of his status. The young prince was absolutely delighted by this new playmate’s utter lack of concern about his title.

Drake had been convinced that the princes would be stuffy, stuck up and boorish. He was thrilled to be proven wrong. He hadn’t wanted to move, yet again. He hadn’t wanted to give up his friends, yet again. His father had promised that this duty station was more permanent. He had been determined not to get attached to anything or anyone, but as they staged epic battles with the wooden swords, of which Liam had let him claim the best one, he found the heaviness that had sat in his chest since his parent’s had announced this move starting to loosen.

The boys quickly became inseparable.

In the weeks and months that followed, Liam became less somber, at least around Drake. He was still a serious, thoughtful child, but he had a quicker smile as Drake drew out his playful side. Drake became less guarded, at least around Liam. He was still a slow to warm up child, but he turned outward a little more as Liam gained his trust.

“Drake seems to be adjusting well,” Eleanor remarked as a maid set the tea service in front of her.

“He is!” Bianca agreed happily, “It’s been four months and he seems completely back to normal! I think it’s because of Liam, honestly.”

Eleanor nodded with a smile on her lips as she blew on her tea to cool it, “Liam is so happy to have a playmate of his own. He’s a different child now. I think this friendship is good for both of them.”

The two women turned to watch as the boys raced through the gardens, shouts and laughter filtering through the late morning air. It was a beautiful day, the children were happy and for the moment, all was well in Cordonia.