#so sorry for the wait!!! chapters should be coming much quicker now. the holidays are almost here and ive filed So Many Leaves for december

[wizardofgoodfortune]

Rating: Mature Chapter: 9/?  Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Slow Burn, Single Parents, POV Alternating, Dream is a sculptor, Grief/Mourning, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Bullying, Descriptions of Violence, Smoking, Drinking

Hob could only laugh in disbelief. “I don’t suppose I have a choice?”

Morpheus’s busy hands stilled. “Of course you do. If you are uncomfortable with the arrangement, we do not have to proceed.”

Hob stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “No, I already agreed to it. It’s just that—I haven’t really…” been naked in front of anyone in a long, long time. I haven’t worked on myself at all. In fact, I’ve let go of myself a lot. And I’m not sure I want you to see that.

“You do not have to be fully naked,” Morpheus offered. “You can keep your underwear on.”

Hob sighed again.

(read on ao3)

[bluerosewritings]

Darling, Just Be Mine | Jamil x Reader

Chapter 2 + 4 spoilers

Warnings: yandere, force, possessiveness, snakes

—

"Now, now, Prefect." Jamil tutted. "No need to scowl."

He traced a finger up from your neck to the tip of your chin. When he felt you squirm against the odd texture of the ink, he grabbed you by the jaw and forcefully pulled your face closer to his. The sudden action made you lose balance, falling to your knees in front of Jamil. Though he kept a hold of your jaw, your face now rested between his knees, forced to look up at his triumphant grin.

His grip loosened on your jaw and he begun to rub circles into your cheek. After a long silence, he tapped your should so you fell backwards on to your butt, hands bound so you were unable to soften the fall. You watched him eye you up and down, admiring the red silk garments he'd had the other dorms members force you into. His eyes locked on to yours, letting out a chuckle when he registered the look you were giving him.

Picking up the dorm leader's staff, Jamil flicked the head of it over his shoulder. As he'd attached the chains of your golden cuffs to it, what he now considered a minor use of strength caused you to be yanked on to his lap, bumping against his chest. Before you had a chance to pull back, he placed his free hand on the small of your back. The snakes that were formerly his hair wound themselves around your legs and arms. The one that didn't tangle itself around you flittered its tongue against your ear.

"I was right," Jamil whispered, looking down at your clothes again. "Red does suit you better than that pathetic green Kalim gave you."

"My eyes are up here." You snap.

Jamil smirks, bringing his eyes up. "Like I said, no need to scowl. Surely you prefer being in the arms of the most powerful man in Night Raven instead of that waste of space Kalim's?"

Your glare intensified. "At least Kalim's better a- mmph!"

Your words were cut off by Jamil slamming your lips into his. As you attempted to pull away, Jamil pulled at your hair, making you yelp in surprise. The noise made Jamil smirk, pushing you closer to him as his chuckles vibrate across your lips. When he finally let you pull away, you found it hard to move your mouth, lips tingling with the fresh memory of the harsh kiss.

Jamil pushes your head down, forcing you to nuzzle into the nape of his neck. "I don't want to hear that fake sultan's name again, understand?"

While you knew he said it with a smile, you also knew it wasn't a question. The snakes wriggling unhappily on your limbs were enough proof.

"...Yes, Jamil." You reluctantly said.

"I'm sorry?"

You took a deep breath and spoke louder. "Yes, my Sultan."

The hand in your hair relaxed. "Good Prefect. Though I suppose you won't be needing that title any longer... how does my little charmer sound instead?"

You felt him pull at a piece of your hair, twirling it around his index and middle finger before giving it a light tug. Seeing it as an order to look up, you took a deep breath before meeting Jamil's eyes, trying to look as submissive as you could. Maybe if you acted like the perfect pet, listening and following his commands, you'd be able to buy yourself enough time for Kalim and the Octavinelle trio to come back, or maybe for Grim to bust out his cage and contact the headmaster... then again, option A seemed much more likely.

Jamil, unaware of your train of thought, was just soaking in your presence. Ah... how he'd waited. While he hadn't taken much notice of you at the entrance ceremony, his interest in you had grown when you were investigating the accidents before the Magift tournament. He'd recognised the sense of duty in your eyes - not a willing one, but one where you'd been instructed and made to act. Just like he had to with Kalim.

Yet you'd still looked at him with empathy. He'd seen the way your eyes had glanced at his cut and noticed the sorrow - not pity, but genuine sadness and regret. Heard the way your voice had softened when speaking to him. You were being forced, yet you'd seen him as his own person. Not some hand or means to an end.

So when he found out you were staying at the school for the winter holidays, he was... well, happy to put it lightly. Not only were you potentially a massive step forward in his plan, but he would be able to just get to know you. See if that empathy continued, if you really saw him as an equal - you listened to him about the dorm's issues (even if they fake), smiled at him in reassurance to encourage him. The time he spent with you felt like he'd wandered into his own Cave of Wonders, happily cherishing every second of it no matter how limited.

Limited because of Kalim. That fake sultan always had to ruin everything. Whenever Jamil has free time outside his plan to be with you, Kalim would be there, practically sitting on your lap as he offered you food or something else he owned. That wasn't the worst of it thought - the worst part is that you humoured him. Gave him that priceless smile, letting him hear your laugh that was sweeter than anything Jamil had ever tasted. And that magic carpet ride! Jamil knew he should've convinced Kalim to leave that blasted thing at home. How close had you gotten? As close as Jamil was to you now? Even closer?

Jamil released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. That didn't matter now, Jamil told himself. Now, that spoilt brat was at the end of the world, far away from you, you who was currently sitting in his lap and giving him the cutest look of obedience. Oh, how he wished he’d overblotted sooner. If he had known about the amount of power he now possessed, he would’ve gladly pushed himself past his limit if only to have you in his arms quicker. Still, he had you now, and that adorable look you had and your smile were all his.

Still blissfully unaware of your thoughts, he cupped your cheek. Cautiously, you leaned into his touch, shivering at the feeling of the ink.

Softer this time, Jamil pulled you in for a second kiss. As much as you wished it wasn’t, you had to admit this one was not just better, but actually a good kiss, period. Jamil had managed to tilt his head just right so the kiss felt completely natural and breathtakingly perfect. You felt the emotion he was pushing into the kiss - the adoration, the relief, the possessiveness, all the repressed emotions you'd sensed in him, what had drawn you to him, bursting forth in this one kiss. And you didn't mind it. You didn't know if you should be ashamed as leaning into the kiss and wrapping your arms around his neck seemed easier than it should have been.

You didn't know how long you kissed him for. Pulling away left you feeling light-headed and craving more. Was this an effect of the overblot?

Jamil, meanwhile, couldn't have been happier. "You learn fast, my little charmer. Where'd all that fight from earlier go?"

You improvised. "I was just... shocked. Scared. I was worried you wouldn't..."

You didn't know how to finish your sentence. Judging by Jamil's chuckle, however, it seemed it didn't matter.

"Don't be." He reassured you, turning you sideways on his lap to hold you better. "Now that you're with me, you won't have to be scared of anything ever again. No one will stop us from getting what we want. I'll make sure of it."

You leaned against his chest. Even with the cold metal pressing against the side of your face, even with the odd feeling of ink from the arms enveloping you, you had to admit it was... nice. The previously threatening snakes had retreated from your limbs, now decorating your shoulders, neck and jawline, tongues ghosting your skin in what you now realised were kisses. The realisation brought a new shade of red to your cheeks. Jamil chuckled at the sight, placing a quick kiss on your forehead as a way to calm you down, though it did the opposite.

Kalim and the others needed to hurry, you thought. If they took any longer, you might not want to be rescued.

[creative-hanyou-girl]

The Witch’s Daughter (Pt.2)

Now with a cover!!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha/Yahahime or any of its characters. All InuYasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise, and Viz media.

Genre: Family/Romance/Angst

Rated: Teen (for some cussing and depictions of violence)

A/N: First off, I want to give a big fat “Thank You” to all of you guys who left likes and reviews and for reblogging the 1st chapter of The Witch’s Daughter! I am so sorry for the long wait. A lot of stuff happened over the holidays and beyond that, and college has kept me pretty busy too. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I’ll try to be quicker with the next one!!!

I should also say that while Touga holds both these titles in the story, in this universe, the title of Emperor is not the same as the title of Inu no Taisho.

Emperor: Ruler over the people, responsible for governing the country; Sesshomaru to be successor.

Inu no Taisho: Commander and General of all armed forces, literally translating to “Great Dog General”; InuYasha to be successor.

(trust me, knowing the difference is important.)

Chapter One 

FF.Net 

With that said, on with Chapter Two!

Chapter Two

Swinging the sword in his grip at a downward angle, Lord and General InuYasha huffed in satisfaction. His sparring partner and friend, Miroku, had his own weapon knocked out of his hands as a result of the half dog-demon’s offensive maneuver, the force of the technique even toppling the human man over to land on his butt.

Scenting the approaching threat from behind, InuYasha whirled around smoothly, his blade clashing thunderously with the sword that was about to come down on him. 

This time facing off against his rival and soldier, a wolf-demon named Kouga, the two demons went at each other fiercely, weapons clashing and clanging loudly and violently at speeds that’d be impossible for a human to achieve no matter how skilled a swordsman they were. Sparks flew as the two sparring men met each other’s attacks with vigour.

Miroku, seeing an opening, grabbed his own sword and went to attack the young dog-eared general. Rushing at his seemingly unsuspecting target, Miroku’s blue eyes widened in alarm when InuYasha ducked, hunching his broad shoulders and back forward to avoid Kouga’s blade coming at him from the side. The human soldier couldn’t stop himself fast enough, resulting in him barreling atop his Lord’s back, only for said Lord to adjust his movements in order to have Miroku’s slightly smaller frame roll over the curve of his spine. 

Kouga had no time to react before his fellow soldier rammed into his stomach, losing his grip on his own sword as both he and Miroku toppled over in a heap not too gently on the marble floor. 

The two soldiers looked up at their General as he aimed his trusty blade, the Tessaiga, to be level with their eyes.

InuYasha smirked triumphantly down at his fallen comrades, his golden amber eyes dancing with victory, before swiftly shelving Tessaiga in its sheath and offering a clawed hand out to Miroku. 

Grinning and shaking his head, the human male accepted, the two friends collapsing hands as the demon lord pulled the dark-haired man up before collapsing his shoulder good-naturedly. 

Kouga grouchily climbed to his own feet once Miroku was off him, crossing his arms as he scowled at his rival, “How the Hell do you always manage to one-up us every time, dog-turd? Call me crazy, but I’d think you were playin’ dirty!”

InuYasha glared right back, “There ain’t no such thing as playing dirty on the battlefield, wolf-boy. You know that as well as I do; when you're out there facing a shit-ton of soldiers tryin’ ta lop your head off, ya don’t got the luxury of playin’ fair!”  

“Yeah well the wolf tribes know to fight with honor, unlike you and your sad excuse of an army, General,” Kouga retorted, emphasizing the word ‘general’ in a demeaning, sarcastic tone.

The aforementioned general growled, shoving his snarling face into Kouga’s, his large, clawed hand cracking as he stretched the tendons in a threatening gesture. 

He and Kouga had never gotten along ever since the wolf-demon was enlisted to serve under the Inu no Taisho’s armed forces, only to be surprised and furious when he found that the Emperor’s youngest son, a half-breed, had already taken charge of many of the imperial forces, as he was set to succeed his father in becoming the next Inu no Taisho. Under that position, he’d serve under the next Emperor, his brother, as the commander of all of their Empire’s armed forces, leading himself and his men into the battlefields while the Emperor governs the rest of the country.   

Kouga was angered to be placed in one of InuYasha’s troops three years ago when he enlisted to be under the command of the current Inu no Taisho and Emperor, Touga.

He made it very clear to InuYasha from the get-go that he was displeased to be bossed around by an ‘honorless half-bred mutt’, though he knew better than to say as such around the Emperor and his family. 

That didn’t stop the wolf-demon from expressing his disdain for his general with his fellow soldiers, many of whom also shared his bias, and to InuYasha himself when the imperial family wasn’t around. 

The feelings were mutual, as InuYasha hated the wolf’s stench and despised his high and mighty attitude. But while the half-demon lord loathed to admit it, as his father had pointed out when the two of them were overseeing recruit training, Kouga was a strong and resilient fighter, quick on his feet and great at tracking scents from miles away.

“Almost as good as you,” his father had commented.

Almost. 

Keh!

At the end of the day, InuYasha knew he’d be a fool not to enlist the canine demon just because Kouga held a prejudice against him.

Didn’t mean he had to like it though.

“Well we ain’t in the wolf tribes now, are we ya scrawny wolf!” InuYasha exclaimed back in the present.

The two canine demons continued to snarl and bark back-and-forth, until a previously forgotten Miroku shoved his way in-between the two feuding men, breaking them up after some struggle as his human body was much weaker compared to those of his demonic comrades.

“I believe it’d be wise to step away from each other for a while. We did just return from a five-month trip in the North, after all. Perhaps now’s the time to relax and take a breather after all our hard work, do you not agree?” the human male reasoned, his tone soothing and placating. 

Kouga continued to glare as he looked between the two human and half-demon men, before huffing haughtily and stomping out of the in-door combat training room.

InuYasha watched him go before snorting and going over where he stashed his red cloak and armor, stepping next to the large water basin to wash his face of the sweat and grime he’d accumulated from the return journey and the sparring match that he had just won. All the while, Miroku walked along with him, washing his face and grabbing his own gear.

As the two friends strapped back on their heavy armor over their under garments, Miroku looked over at his companion.

“You know Kouga says that stuff at this point just to get a rise out of you, right?” he asked, locking the straps for his armor to his right arm.

“Pfft. Whatever, not like it matters,” the general mumbled, clipping on his ragged and torn up cape.

“Just take a break from him and other troops, InuYasha. Use this time to spend with your family for at least a few hours! Nobody will blame you, and who knows when we’ll be sent out to fight more battles again.”

“Ain’t that simple, Miro. I ain’t no ordinary, run-of-the-mill soldier like you; I’m gonna have to become the Inu no Taisho after my father. I have ta be on my toes all. The damn. Time. Add to the fact that I’m a half-demon, and that makes my job ten times more difficult since more and more people are questioning my authority and capability to lead them into battle. I don’t got time for a break, not yet anyways,” InuYasha argued, a hint of bitterness seeping into his tone.

It had become such a sore spot for him, being a half-breed. A mutt. When he was young, while there might’ve been a whisper here and a distrustful glare there, InuYasha had been fortunate to not have had to face too much discrimination for his mixed blood, but he now knew that was due to his status in the royal family. It was only when he snuck out at age thirteen in commoner clothing that he experienced first-hand how half-demons are really treated by the outside world when they have no status of nobility or royalty.

It was horrible; he returned home hiding the bruises and scars under his clothes before they healed by themselves. He never told either of his parents.

The incident still didn’t stop him from sneaking out to explore, though.

And then he was announced to be the next Great Dog General, the Inu no Taisho, after his father when he turned sixteen, and that news shocked and appalled many in the Emperor’s court and beyond that. Everyone had expected, nay, hoped that Touga would’ve named his eldest, pure demon son Sesshomaru as both the future Emperor and Inu no Taisho, seeing as Touga himself held both titles. No one had anticipated that his younger, impure half-bred son would’ve been named as Touga’s successor to anything!

If he was being honest, InuYasha was shocked too, but he didn’t want the role. 

He’d never told his family, since he knew it’d hurt them, but the then teenage InuYasha had always hoped for a life outside of the castle walls. Even after the incident that happened when he was thirteen, the half dog-demon still wanted to go out in the world where nobody knew who he was, and explore with no obligations or responsibilities to anyone. The brief experience with the outside world when he was thirteen had opened his eyes to how fake court-life truly was, and he hated it. 

Still, seeing everybody who didn’t even know him, already doubting and questioning his capabilities in such a rigorous, brutal, and powerful position just on the basis of him being a half-demon motivated him to take up the mantle he had previously tried to avoid. 

He’d prove to them, all of them, that he was the man for the job, and that his mixed blood didn’t matter.

That was his motivation that still drove him even now.

“Enough about that. Whatta ‘bout you? S’not like your working to become General; Why dontcha go see Sango and the kids. Bet they’ve been missing their old man,” Present InuYasha said, intentionally driving the conversation away from himself.

Miroku suddenly grinned dreamily at the mention of his wife and kids, and InuYasha still couldn’t believe this was the same perverted seventeen-year-old soldier he’d met all those years ago.

They’d met when Miroku joined InuYasha when he had taken charge of overseeing his first troop of soldiers. When he wasn’t giving them orders or training them, InuYasha kept his distance from everyone in his troop as much as possible, just as everyone had kept their distance from him. 

That all changed when Miroku approached him one night when they were traveling along the Eastern borders. The human had grinned mischievously, but no less kindly with a jug of sake and had asked to talk with him.

“Just want to get to know our fearless new general, is all,” is what he had said.

From there, their friendship grew, though it took months for InuYasha to start warming up to Miroku. It didn’t help either that the young soldier had the bad habit of rubbing up along any pretty woman’s ass and asking them to “bare his children” for him, whether the woman was human or demon.

And then Miroku met Sango, a female soldier and the only woman who knew how to put him in his place. From that moment on, the perverted soldier only had eyes for the no-nonsense woman, and InuYasha watched as his two only friends grew closer and closer for the next few years, eventually getting married and having a shit-ton of kids.

Now they were awaiting baby number...eleven? Twelve? The half-demon had honestly lost count. All he knew was that they were expecting yet again, and Sango was pissed not being allowed into the troops again until the pup was born.

The kids adored InuYasha, or ‘Uncle Inu’ as the little ones and even the oldest three, Kin’u, Gyokuto, and Hisui, liked to call him, and InuYasha, in turn, adored them all right back.

 An old, but familiar lump settled in his throat. 

 He was happy for his friends. He really was, but InuYasha couldn’t help the feeling of jealousy and longing to swell up to the surface.

He wanted what they had.

He wanted love.

He wanted children.

But he’d never have any of it.

Because he was a half-breed, and half-breeds, royalty or not, never find love, real love, let alone have children.

“My Lord! My Lord InuYasha!!!” cried the familiar, but no less annoying voice of his brother’s servant, Jaken.

 The aforementioned lord sighed in aggravation as both he and Miroku turned at the squawking cry, just in time to see the small imp-demon come barreling in only to trip over himself in his haste.

“Lord InuYasha! It is important, your father needs to speak with you at this very moment! It is urgent!!!” Jaken continued on.

Both half-demon and human arched their brows in confusion, exchanging concerned looks.

“You go on back to your family, Miroku. I’ll deal with this,” InuYasha said.

“You sure?” Miroku asked, still concerned.

InuYasha simply nodded.

With that, the future Inu no Taisho with his armor fully on once more, turned and followed the panicky little demon out of the training room without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making their way through the halls leading to the throne room, InuYasha contemplated the matter Jaken had frantically informed him his father wanted to discuss.

It wasn’t unusual for Jaken to overreact over certain matters, but the half-demon had never seen the servant as panicky as he was at that moment, even during the times he’d displeased Sesshomaru. 

When he first followed after the imp-demon to the throne room where his family was stationed, the young general had briefly feared it was another marriage proposition his father had arranged for him. There had been quite a few of those over the years, all of which didn’t work out as they should have. It wasn’t necessarily that all the women the Emperor picked for him were bad choices (although there were some who were stuck-up bitches who only wanted him for the rise in status and wealth), but none of them ever seemed to...click, with him.

He could never explain it, but being with them just felt wrong.

Like he was betraying someone by doing so.

Someone who haunted him in his dreams the few times he slept, but could never identify by face or scent.

Someone he didn’t know.

Or perhaps….someone he didn’t remember.

As they got closer to their destination however, the less InuYasha began to believe the situation to be about something as trivial as matrimony. Jaken wouldn’t be reacting the way he was if it was simply about him being offered the hand of a noble woman.

The more he thought about it, the more apprehension and dread he felt in the pit of his stomach at the unknown situation that awaited him.

Stopping in front of the sliding doors separating him from the unknown, InuYasha glanced down at Jaken, who bowed in understanding at staying put outside the room. The demon lord and general huffed and slid the doors open, expecting but unprepared for the worst.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s that feel, sweetheart? Is it too tight?” Kagome asked gently, wrapping the young girl’s injured arm in gauze.

Her silent patient nodded hesitantly, staring at the pretty woman treating her wound and glancing at the silent quarter-demon girl who’d saved her.

Kagome finished wrapping her up and patted the child assuringly on her back, “You're going to be just fine, little one. Now why don’t you take one of the beddings we have here and get some rest, hmm? In the morning, Moroha and I will take you back home, okay?”

The little girl hesitated for just a moment.

“...Th-Thank y-you.” she stuttered in a soft voice, averting her brown eyes shyly when the mother and daughter pair blinked in surprise.

The experienced spell-caster smiled pleasantly, nodding her head.

“You are very welcome, my dear. That’s what we’re here for, and I’m glad that you are okay.”

The child blushed, then glanced at the teenage girl still staring at her in shock, before bowing towards the teen in gratitude, which only served to shock the poor quarter-demon even more.

“...And th-thank you, too. F-for rescuing me from th-those big men,” the human girl said, keeping her upper body lowered in a bow of respect.

Moroha was beyond surprised; She was flabbergasted. Never before had anybody who wasn’t her mother thank her, much less genuinely. She was more used to people belittling and repaying her and her mother’s kindness with cruel words and actions. Yet, here this young human child was, wholeheartedly and genuinely showing them, showing her, gratitude for saving and treating her, knowing or at least suspecting very well who they were, what they were. 

The young spell-caster blushed, flustered, “K-Keh! It wasn’t a big deal; I was just passing through!” she explained, defensive.

“Yes...just passing through.”

Moroha froze at the deadly calm tone. Cringing, the teen glanced slowly at her mother, flinching at the angered glare the older woman was shooting her.

Oh crap.

Turning back towards her slightly confused patient, Kagome adapted a cheery smile and clapping her hands together.

“Well, I believe that’s enough for now! Why don’t you go and get some rest, dear, and then we’ll get up bright and early tomorrow to take you home! That sound good?” the woman asked, her tone motherly and upbeat.

The girl nodded, getting up and taking a few steps towards one of the beddings close by. Before she got there though, the young brunette turned her head to look back at her temporary caretakers.

“Miss Pretty Lady, Miss Demon Lady? Really, thank you for saving me. I was really scared,” the child thanked them for the hundredth time, her words more confident and assured.

Moroha’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “Demon Lady?”

“Hey kid! We have names!” the spell-casting quarter-demon exclaimed, aggravated. 

“Moroha!” Kagome scolded, her message clear.

Don’t dig yourself deeper into the hole you're already in, missy.

Understanding the silent threat, said ‘missy’ gulped and shut her mouth, not daring to utter another word that could get her in even more trouble than she already was.

Huffing, Kagome once again smiled kindly towards the younger girl.

“Please excuse her, she can be a bit brash. She’s right though; we haven’t introduced ourselves yet, have we? My name’s Kagome Higurashi, and that troublemaker over there is my daughter, Moroha. What is your name?” she asked.

The girl, again, hesitated. Only for a split second, though, as she soon opened her mouth and answered.

“My name is Rin.”

Kagome nodded, standing up and leading her previously unnamed charge over to the bedding, a gentle hand on the small of the brunette girl’s back.

“Well Rin, it's late, and you must be exhausted, so go to sleep and we’ll get you up in the morning. I’m certain your family misses you terribly and won’t be too pleased if you come back to them dead-on-your-feet tired, now will they?” 

Rin shook her head as Kagome tucked her in. Unsurprisingly, the young girl was out within seconds, the craziness from the day catching up to her.

Once she was sure her charge was fast asleep, the spell-caster turned back to her nervous daughter, arms on her hips as she frowned at the teenager.

“Mama, I-” 

Kagome put a hand up, abruptly cutting off her child’s excuse before it could begin, “Come with me over here. Now.”

Moroha shivered at the serious, deadpanned tone. Her mother only used that tone when she was about to give her a tongue-lashing. No doubt about it, she was in trouble.

Deep trouble.

The mother and daughter pair strode over towards the treeline that surrounded their camp. It was far enough away to where they could talk in private and not disturb their sleeping guest, but close enough so that they could still see and check in on the child if any danger invaded their camp. 

Sighing and rubbing her temples, Kagome started, “Moroha, what were you thinking! I told you to not go any farther than you absolutely had to to deliver that medicine, and then you come back with bruises and scratches, blood on your clothes, and an injured child in your arms, telling me there was a mob riot in the village!? And that you used magic to eviscerate a demon’s arm!? Do you know what kind of danger you put yourself in!?” 

Moroha winced, trying to keep the bruises on her neck hidden from her mother’s sight. When she had burst through the treeline back into their camp, carrying Rin who’s arm wound was still sluggishly bleeding out onto her and her clothes, her mother took one look at the injured child and sprang into action, having to clean and then stitch up the wound before it could get infected. So focused on ensuring the child be taken care of, Kagome had only noticed in passing the light bruises and few scrapes on her own child’s arms and legs, but they were superficial and were already healing, so Kagome and Moroha paid them no mind. Not when they had a much more serious, much more human injury, to be taken care of. 

The demon girl was grateful that Kagome had been more focused on the human child as soon as she saw her. Otherwise, the dark, yellow and purple bruises on her neck from where the demon had a tight hold on her would have instantly been spotted on the older woman’s ‘Mom Radar’, as she liked to call it. 

Moroha hadn’t wanted to cause her mother any more worry, so as soon as she was sure Kagome was too preoccupied with the human child to pay any mind to her, Moroha had taken the scarf she wore around her neck and readjusted it to hide the bruises that were still there. With how tight the demon had clutched onto her, the bruises were quite nasty looking, and would take longer for her demonic healing to get rid of them completely. 

Of course, this act of secrecy equated to not telling her mother exactly why she’d had to eviscerate that demon’s arm with her magic. She still wasn’t so sure telling the truth about that was a good idea, but she had to say something!  

“He gave me no choice, Mama! I had to use magic!” the teen defended, hoping her mother wouldn’t press the issue from there.

“And why was that, Moroha? What did he do to make you blow your cover and the cloaking spell to destroy his arm using magic?” 

And of course, her mother pushed the issue.

“Uh…” was all that came out of her mouth, her mind running double-time to come up with a valid, but less severe explanation than what had actually happened.

Unfortunately, the world seemed to be out to get her that day. While Moroha fumbled, trying to make up a random excuse, Kagome had finally noticed the unusual way her daughter’s red scarf covered the quarter-demon’s neck, and had reached her hands out to remove the scarf.

“Wait! Mama, don’t-” Moroha panicked once she felt her mother’s hands moving the scarf.

“Moroha!!! What on Earth happened to your neck!?”

Too late.

Moroha winced when Kagome gently poked and prodded the darkened, abnormally large fingerprint marks on her neck. They weren’t as sore as they were hours ago, telling the inexperienced spell-caster that the healing process was already underway, but with how dark and severe the bruises were, it’d take longer for the bruises to completely vanish from her skin. 

Prying her mother’s hands away from her injured flesh, Moroha cringed even more at the panicked expression, as well as the unshed tears, that she could see in her eyes and face.

She hated making her mama look like that. 

“These were why I had to use magic; he had me by the neck,” Moroha swallowed, figuring there was no point in lying or trying to come up with another excuse anymore. 

The older magic-user stared at the marks that dared to mar her baby’s lightly tanned skin before pulling the demon girl tightly into her arms, embracing her most precious treasure like a life-line, her anger completely forgotten. 

Surprised at first, Moroha quickly regained her composure and wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist, embracing her just as tightly as the severity and exhaustion from the day finally caught up with her, and she buried her head into her mother’s shoulder as her small frame shook from her emotional turmoil.

For the first time in a long while, Moroha was desperate for her mother’s comfort.

She didn’t cry, but it finally hit Moroha just how much danger she put herself in that day, and how scared the whole ordeal made her, though she’d never admit it out loud.

Even so, the partial-demon couldn’t find it within herself to regret stepping in to help a child in need, and she expressed that sentiment to her mother, her voice muffled slightly from her face still being buried in her mama’s shoulder. 

Kagome sighed and pulled herself and her daughter out of each other’s arms, though she still had a grip on the much more petite girl’s shoulders. Her face was resigned, but understanding as she addressed Moroha.

“I understand, sweetheart, and I would’ve done the exact same thing if I were you. But I’m your mother, and I just worry for you is all. I know you can take care of yourself, and I know you did what you thought was right, but I just can’t help it; I want you to be safe. You’ll understand one day when your a mother,”

Kagome grinned when Moroha blushed at the last part.

Moroha coughed awkwardly, shuffling her feet as she looked away from her mother’s grinning face, and Kagome had to stifle a giggle at just how familiar Moroha’s countenance was.

“She’s truly her father’s daughter, that’s for sure…”

“So, um...are we good?” Moroha asked, nervous despite herself.

Taking pity on her poor child, Kagome smiled and looped an arm around her daughter’s shoulder as they walked back away from the trees and led her to their own beddings for the night.

“Yup, we’re good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You wished to speak with me, Father?” InuYasha asked, bowing respectfully before the Emperor and the rest of his family.

The second he entered the room, InuYasha sensed the tension in the air. His family all had grim expressions upon their faces, save for his mother who had a clearly worried look upon her soft features.

The feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach only intensified when he noticed Sesshomaru and his twin daughters clenching their clawed hands into fists, enough to draw rivlets of blood from all three of them. Sesshomaru’s eyes were also bleeding a light pink, telling InuYasha that whatever the issue was, it was enough to rile up the normally stoic demon lord that he was holding back from transforming.

But the most telling, and ultimately the most concerning, indicator was the absence of his young, cheerful adoptive niece. 

InuYasha’s mouth went dry.

“Where’s Rin?” he asked, fear creeping into his heart.

“Missing,” his father simply stated.

A reverberating growl from the Emperor's eldest son rent the air in the room at the word.

“We need you, Sestuna, and Kouga to go and search for her; try to scent her out,” Touga continued, his tone authoritative and resolute like the leader he was.

InuYasha, stone-faced, kneeled on one knee before his father and family, head bowed as he addressed them.

“I will not rest until she is found and safe, Your Highness.” the half-demon general vowed, determination clear in his voice.

The current Emperor and Inu no Taisho nodded, eyeing his Setsuna imploringly. Catching her grandfather’s gaze, the half-demon princess nodded back and stood up, taking her naginata with her as she stepped off the raised platform to her uncle’s side.

“I have already sent a messenger to retrieve Kouga; he will meet you at the front gate. Now go,” the Emperor commanded firmly, to which both general and princess nodded sagely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “InuYasha!”

InuYasha and Setsuna turned at the call, seeing his half-brother striding up to him with a serious glare.

“Father, what is it?” Setsuna asked, her tone deadpanned like her father’s often was. 

The future Emperor stopped before his daughter and brother, his gaze steady but no less imposing.

“I urge you, little brother, to not be your stupid, impulsive self with this matter. It does, afterall, concern my daughter,”

Normally, such a reminder would cause InuYasha to roll his eyes and respond with a smartass retort.

But this time, InuYasha knew the severity of the situation, and he could easily spot the worry in his half-brother’s golden eyes.

They were the eyes of a father, worried for the whereabouts of his child.

Something InuYasha was sure he was never going to experience.

He nodded, his face grave and resolute.

“You have my word, Sesshomaru, that I will find your daughter and bring her home,” 

The young lord glanced over at Setsuna, his niece catching his gaze.

“Both of them,” InuYasha concluded.

The older demon stared down at his brother, as though assessing the half-demon’s sincerity of his promise, before giving a single nod of acceptance.

With that, the two half-demons turned and made their way to the front gate, set and determined to bring back their loved one.

To be Continued....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it! 

Tagging: @misteria247 @loveanime89 @xfangheartx @keichanz @holi-holy @jgomz92 @lostinfantasyworlds @born-for-eachother @littlestuffstohide @nat-the-cat-123 @cnderpaws @mymidnightnightmare @butterflyhufflepuff @bluehawaiicat @pinkweirdsunsets @sangoslays @disneysooner @blairex @shinidamachu @thisisthebesticando @squeep123 @redflamesofpassion @lavendertwilight89 @sailorbabydoll92

Let me know if I missed anybody or you want to jump on the tag train for any of my InuYasha fanfictions!

[etherealwaifgoddess]

One In A Million - Chpt.8

Summary: The three of you settle into your new lives together as the inevitable draft day draws near. 

Word Count: 1.5k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! This chapter is super short and I’m sorry for that but I really couldn’t make it any longer if I’d tried. It’s a doozy though. Hang on to your hats darlings! XOXO - Ash

Chapter Eight

March is almost over when you finally find a place. It’s a cute little ground floor apartment over in Cobble Hill with big windows and a tiny patch of grass out back for a yard. Just right for the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. Steve dreams of sitting outside to paint and Bucky promises to grill your dinners all summer long. Your commute is longer now that you’re not in Brooklyn Heights but it’s manageable and you don’t mind since it means Bucky’s commute is shorter to the docks over in Red Hook. Steve gives up his job at the grocery store and takes a position at a nearby newspaper helping to draw copies of ads. The pay isn’t as good but he’s happier and between the three of you, you get by just fine. 

April comes and you want to enjoy the warmer weather and settling into your lives together, but Bucky has less than a month left before he’s drafted and you’re heartsick at the thought. You try not to let it get you down, pouring yourself into the little garden patch you’ve started out back instead. You’re tending to your tiny pea vines when Steve gets home with a slam of your screen door. 

You join him in the kitchen, worried when you see his glowering expression. “What’s wrong?” 

Steve slaps his hand down on the counter top, frustrated. “I’m never gonna join the army.” 

“Another 4F?” you guess, “You’re gonna break Bucky’s heart.” 

“Worse.” he grits out, taking another long drink of water from his glass. “They caught me this time. Had all of my files spread out on the Captain’s desk. I could have been arrested, they told me as much. The guy was nice but he doesn’t get it, he can’t. He told me this was my only warning. If I get caught again they’ll lock me up. Said he couldn’t blame me for trying but I needed to accept things for what they were.” 

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry.” you pull him into your arms, letting his anger burn off until the sadness pours from him like waves. You’re still holding him when Bucky comes in quietly behind you. You look up when you smell the familiar scent of saltwater that clings to him after a hard day’s work. He doesn’t ask, he just curls himself around Steve, holding on to comfort his partner. 

“I won’t try again, Buck.” Steve says, finally breaking the silence. “I love you and Rose too much to risk getting locked up. I’m sorry.” 

Bucky turns Steve around to face him, leaving you to rub his narrow shoulders. “Don’t you ever apologize for doing what you believe is right. That’s part of who you are, Stevie, and I love you. I’m glad you’re done trying but I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way you wanted.” 

Steve nods and holds onto Bucky tightly for a minute. 

“Why don’t you two go sit in the living room and I’ll run down the block to get us sandwiches for dinner?” you offer. 

“It was my night to cook.” Bucky frowns. 

“You have something more important to take care of tonight.” you shoot a meaningful glance at Steve and Bucky nods in agreement. “I’ll be back in a few.” 

That night you and Bucky are extra attentive to Steve, helping him work through the sadness and loss he’s dealing with. He tries to brush it off but you know he’s hurting. Giving up is something Steve Rogers never learned how to do and you can’t imagine the toll this is taking on him. You quietly hope that this set back doesn’t prevent him from meeting Erskine when the time comes but you have to have faith that it’ll happen the way it should.

After a few weeks in your new place, Bucky invites his parents and sisters down for Easter. He claims it’s because you and Steve have your heart set on hosting the first holiday in your new home. It’s really because Bucky wants you to meet his family and to show off your new place. You and Winifred Barnes hit it off from the second she walks through your door. You wish you could tell her how much you love her son, what an amazing partner he is to you and Steve. You settle for the friendship version of your affections, just as he and Steve have been doing their whole lives. It’s harder than you expected but you try and focus on being a good host and loving wife to Steve. You only have to slip away once to cry quietly in the bathroom, heartbroken for your boys who can’t live their lives out in the open. It makes you want to say timelines be damned and snatch the pair of them back into the future with you. 

The day of the draft is coming, quicker than any of you would like. Bucky had to re-register when you moved, putting his name back into the lottery you already know he’s going to win. He gets quieter in the days before the announcement, a little more withdrawn. He holds you and Steve tighter at night, tells you he loves you more frequently too. Steve worries by throwing himself into this art. He leaves sketches of you and Bucky all around the apartment for you to find and pack away in a hat box for safe keeping. 

The whole world seems on edge the closer draft day comes. Everyone has someone to worry over it seems. You kiss Bucky just a little longer that morning before he leaves for work. “It’ll be okay no matter what.” you promise him. “We’ll get through it together.” 

“At least I know you and Stevie have each other if I have to go.” he tells you quietly. Your heart aches knowing you won’t. Your jump point is shortly after when he’ll be reporting for basic. The three of you will be separated and all alone, the way history is meant for it to be. 

You can barely sit still at work waiting for the announcement over the radio. You have Bucky’s number written on a scrap of paper in your pocket. The girls in your pool are all worried about their husbands/ boyfriends/ brothers, and you sit huddled together praying when President Roosevelt’s voice comes over the radio. You can’t breathe when he starts calling out numbers, waiting for Bucky’s to be pulled. It’s for the best, it needs to happen, it already has happened technically. And then it’s over. Clara two desks over is wailing, her brother’s number was called. You sit stone still, staring at the piece of paper in your hand that has a number that wasn’t called. 

You convince yourself you wrote it down wrong and fake sick to get sent home early. You race across the bustling city to get to Bucky, needing to comfort him and prove to yourself you did write it down wrong. Because Bucky Barnes was drafted into the US Army. He became a sergeant and was deployed to Azzano where he was taken by HYDRA and given a version of the serum. The same serum that Steve Rogers is given by Dr. Erskine to become Captain America. The history lessons fly through your mind like mantras as you hurry to get to the docks. 

Bucky is standing with a group of men when you find him, his face grim. Relief washes over you that the timeline is intact, followed by the ache that you’ll be losing him to a hard life that no one deserves. Bucky steps away from the group to pull you aside.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” you tell him, tears in your eyes.

“For what?” he asks, confused.

“Your number… It was called. Right?”

“No, darlin’. I’m fine! You must’ve written it down wrong. I lucked out again.”

“But your face, you looked…”

“Tim got called, he’s a good man and a fine worker. I’m okay, Rose. I’m not going anywhere.” 

You’re at a loss for words and Bucky just holds you close, assuming you’re relieved and happy. You want to be happy, you want to go home and celebrate with Steve that your little family gets to stay together. But the world feels like an unfamiliar place now. You look around taking in the sights you know by heart but no longer connect with. It’s a strange new time you’re living in now. A world where Bucky Barnes doesn’t go off to war. Where he doesn’t get captured and almost die. Where he isn’t brainwashed and tortured for seventy years. Possibly where Captain America never exists. 

Oh god, what have you done. 

Tag list! @wolfarrowepz​

[complexgods-backup]

Isn't It Cliché? Chapter 2

Read chapter one here or on Ao3

Pairing: DaiSuga (Haikyuu!!)

Word Count: 2627

Warnings: very brief mention of alcohol and drug consumption, but nothing explicit

A/N: sorry for the late update, I know I said I would update regularly but life got in the way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The university building was huge, way bigger than his old one. Students were chattering away around him, some of them already deep into writing papers, exchanging notes, and sipping coffee. He missed this exact feeling of uni during break. He hadn’t had too many assignments due to his transfer, and the ones he did have were easy tasks, so he had the entire summer to do whatever he wanted, which was odd to him since he was so used to either working or revising during break.

He took out his timetable he thankfully remembered to print a few weeks prior, making his way to the classroom in which his first-class would take place.

“Oh, hi!” He heard a somewhat familiar voice call from behind him. He turned around to see who was talking. He was faced with a man he met on orientation day, whose name he had promptly forgotten. His hair was black and gelled up to the extreme, making him look like a rooster with some bedhead.

“Sugawara, right?” He asked, flashing him a toothy grin. “We met at orientation, I’m Kuroo Tetsurou.” Suga nodded, remembering how he charmed every single person at orientation. He had originally gone to welcome the newcomers since he was a second year, but once Suga said he was transferring and found out that he also studied Japanese Studies, Kuroo happily obliged to answer any questions about the university he might have.

“Ah yeah, apologies for forgetting your name, I won’t forget it again,” Suga said as he shook Kuroo’s hand in greeting.

“That’s absolutely fine, man. I understand it’s not easy to remember everything and everyone when moving into a new city. It’s cool that you’re studying Japanese Studies as well though! If you’re up for it, me and a couple other people are grabbing lunch later and you’re more than welcome to join!” Suga gladly accepted the invitation, feeling oddly reassured that someone as confident as Kuroo basically just took him in like that. He must’ve looked really lost.

The morning passed quite quickly, Suga only got lost once between classes, but everyone at the university was just so helpful and kind that it wasn’t that big of an issue. At lunchtime, he met Kuroo and his three friends at the bottom of the main stairs, smiling nervously at the strangers as Kuroo introduced them. The one whose hair probably had more gel in it than Kuroo was named Bokuto Koutarou, who was more than excited to meet Suga. The other two were calmer at greeting him, the shorter one with dark hair introduced himself as Akaashi Keiji, and the tall blonde quietly introduced himself as Tsukishima Kei. The conversation came almost naturally to them all as they made their way to the cafeteria, and Suga was thankful for how they did their best to include him in their conversations. Suga quickly noticed that Bokuto and Akaashi were closest and were most probably friends since at least middle school with how they spoke to and acted around each other, but everyone seemed to tease Bokuto relentlessly, reminding Suga of his own best friend. He should definitely send Asahi a text after lunch to see how he was holding up.

Suga quickly felt integrated into the friend group, cracking jokes with the rest of them as they ate the somewhat disgusting cafeteria food.

“This university is so fancy and expensive, can’t they at least make decent food?” Kuroo quipped, making the others nod in agreement.

“You’ve been saying that since last year. Besides, it’s better than whatever you can cook, Kuroo.” Tsukishima replied in a drawl, sounding almost bored.

“That’s not very nice of you, Tsukki-poo. I mean you’re not wrong but you shouldn’t say it.” Kuroo answered nonchalantly, ignoring the face of discomfort he made at the nickname.

“So Suga, why did you decide to move to Tokyo?” Akaashi asked, and suddenly everyone fell quiet, watching their new friend with intent.

“I didn’t like my old university, and I always wanted to move to Tokyo, so I figured why not,” Suga answered, trying to seem unfazed.

“Why didn’t you move for your first year then?” Bokuto asked, his eyes big and focussed intensely on Suga.

“Ah, well… My ex wanted me to stay close to our hometown, so I enrolled in our local university. We had a pretty bad breakup though so I was excited to move away.” He consciously left any pronouns out of the conversation, not ready to come out to his newfound friends, just in case. He grimaced at recalling the way he found out his ex-boyfriend was cheating on him and had been for two months before their breakup. After he had found out, he couldn’t get out of his hometown quicker.

“Ah. Makes sense. Oh well, there are lots of people here that we can hook you up with if you want.” Kuroo said in what Suga assumed to be a joke, but he thanked him for the offer anyway.

“Ah it’s fine, I’m not big on dating yet, my ex kinda messed me up, and I don’t know how I feel about one-night stands just yet.” The others nodded, understanding that he was done talking about it.

“Well, we’re all going to Kuroo’s house party he and his roommates are throwing at the end of the week, sort of like a beginning of the semester party. You’re very welcome to join us if you like!” Bokuto chimed in, to which Suga gladly agreed. He needed to check his schedule but getting drunk and/or high at university parties was something he desperately missed during the summer holidays.

After lunch, everyone went their separate ways, and Kuroo promised to text Suga the details of the party the day of. Before his last class of the day started, he sent Asahi a quick text, asking how he was holding up. He got a thumbs-up emoji back, meaning that he was surviving the day. Sugawara smiled as he put his phone back into his pocket and went into the classroom.

…

The day was over a lot quicker than Suga had anticipated, and he sent Asahi a text as he made his way back home.

Home in 20, give me a call if you feel like it!

He threw his coat and bag on the couch as he went into the kitchen to make a coffee. There was nothing Suga loved more than a cup of coffee after a long day. His ex often commented on how bad his caffeine addiction had gotten during his time at uni but he wasn’t in the picture anymore so why should he care? As he was waiting for Asahi to call, he sat by the window in his living room/bedroom, watching civilians pass by as he quietly sipped his coffee. The street he lived in was pretty busy, cars were always driving by and there were always people to observe. Suga loved watching the people crossing the street or running to the subway, were it businessmen, or parents with their children, trying to urge them from one side of the street to the other. Just as he was watching a mother on the phone, trying to get her kid’s attention who was attempting to run across the street when the light was red, his train of thought was interrupted by his phone buzzing.

“Hey Asahi,” he said after he swiped the screen of his phone to accept Asahi’s FaceTime call.

“So? How was your first day?” He asked excitedly, sipping his coffee and leaning against the window.

“It was so cool! The people were really nice and I’m going out for drinks with a few people later tonight!” Asahi sounded a lot more confident than the day before, which made Suga’s heart swell with pride. His best friend was never the best when it came to meeting new people, always worried that people would see him as a threat or too intimidating. His height and broad build were definitely assets to that, but his heart was so pure it was almost impossible not to love the man.

“Did you meet any cool fashionable people then?” Suga asked, which prompted Asahi to tell him all about his day and everyone he had met. Suga listened intently to his best friend’s words, not wanting to miss a single minute of what happened during his first day.

“Ah, I’m rambling again. How was your day?” Asahi asked after speaking for a while, and Suga couldn’t help but smile. Asahi always felt ashamed and somehow shy when he “talked too much,” even though Suga loved nothing more than to listen to whatever Asahi was passionate about. Asahi also knew this to some extent, but he still seemed to feel bad whenever he spoke for more than one minute at a time, thinking it was selfish of him, at least that’s what Asahi had told Suga when he asked his best friend about it.

“Ah no, it’s fine! I like hearing you talk. Besides, it was your first day of uni! That’s exciting! My day was good, I met a few new people and we’re also going to this party on Friday, so I’m looking forward to that!” Suga continued to tell Asahi about his day, in turn, making sure to not leave out any details. He really enjoyed these FaceTime calls with Asahi, something they decided to do more when Asahi was traveling with Nishinoya before he came back home to study and they couldn’t see each other as often as they were used to.

“So yeah, that’s about it from my end. I have work again after class tomorrow afternoon so I’ll probably not be on my phone too much, just so you know!”

“Ok, noted” Asahi answered, before continuing talking about random things.

“Oh by the way, Yuu said he’ll come back home in a few weeks!” Asahi said, his eyes practically shining in excitement. Suga grinned at that, knowing that maybe it might be a little less than that. Noya had wanted to surprise Asahi by coming back from his travels this week, two weeks earlier than planned and only Suga knew about it.

Noya had been traveling Europe for five months now, and although Asahi had joined him in the first month, he had to go home and work in order to afford uni and his apartment, which bummed Asahi out greatly. He and Noya had the most wholesome relationship in Suga’s opinion. Neither could live without the other, so long-distance kinda sucked for the both of them.

Asahi and Nishinoya were the classic “best friends that had feelings for each other since forever but never acted on it” until one day Suga had enough of the bullshit and made them confess to one another. At least that’s how Asahi and Noya put it, Suga thought of it as more of a “not-so-subtly locking them in a room until they confessed” sort of situation. Not his most graceful moment, he must admit, but they had been together for a year now and were completely and utterly in love with each other, it was cute but sickening to watch as a single person. Pushing the thought away, Suga grinned at the camera, nodding enthusiastically.

“I’m excited for you! I might try to come to visit for a weekend once Noya’s back, we can have a movie marathon weekend like we used to in high school,” Suga suggested and Asahi was practically glowing with excitement. The rest of the conversation was about Noya and his adventures in Europe until Asahi had to get ready for his night out with the new people he met at uni.

Suga decided to spend the night in a YouTube deep dive until he passed out, which was always a bad idea but at least he remembered to set an alarm this time.

Just as he had anticipated, he woke up extremely confused to his alarm, not remembering when he fell asleep. His laptop had since turned off due to lack of charging, but he had no time to care about that now, because he wanted to get to uni on time and he needed to remember to take his work clothes with him, so he tried to get out of bed at least half an hour before he had to leave. He was in a bad mood, probably due to his YouTube deep dive last night, and he couldn’t wait to go back to bed the second he had to leave the warm and safe confines of his sheets. He got dressed in a hurry, realising he only had ten minutes before he had to leave.

The morning was rather uneventful, and Suga did his best to seem as chipper as he had been the day before, despite his foul mood. Kuroo had invited him to lunch again, but he declined with a smile and an apology. He knew he would have to go to work at 1 pm and there would be no time for him to eat in the cafeteria. Suga appreciated Kuroo’s kindness and understanding as he turned away to listen to the professor, leaving Suga to his notes. He decided to eat his lunch in the break room at work before his shift started in order to ensure he would be on time.

That day he worked the orders, and since it was a weekday before 4 pm, he was left with one other coworker who was taking orders. He hadn’t met this colleague before but he seemed very intense and focused on his work. He had introduced himself earlier that afternoon as Kageyama Tobio and promptly walked off to start his shift. Suga wasn’t phased though, knowing that he probably had trouble opening up to people, so he decided to not overwhelm him with conversation. They worked surprisingly well together and Suga enjoyed working quietly, listening to the playlist that was playing that day. Sometimes he’d listen in to other people’s fleeting conversations as they waited for their orders, the snippets he caught always entertained him as he wondered what the rest of the conversation was about. He knew that that was probably not appropriate but he was too curious about other people’s lives not to eavesdrop. Right before 4 pm, another coworker joined him and Kageyama, introducing himself as Ennoshita Chikara. He seemed like an effective and good worker, and Suga wished he had more time to get acquainted with him but unfortunately, rush hour had started so they were too busy making orders. He had an inkling that he and Ennoshita would get along pretty well though, so he made sure he would talk to the man more when they had another shift together.

Even though Suga had a 6-hour shift, the afternoon went by in a blur and he didn’t notice how much his back ached from being on his feet non-stop during that time until he arrived at his apartment. He decided to put off homework until he had his bath and some dinner, truly exhausted from his day. He checked his phone as the water poured into the tub, texting Asahi that he was alright and that he would call after his classes the next day, too tired to keep a conversation tonight. He doubted whether or not he would be able to do his homework that night, but he figured he could just do it the next day instead, so he sunk into the hot water wondering what kind of tv show he wanted to watch before bed. He deserved some self-care as well from time to time even if that self-care took the form of eating instant ramen and watching Netflix.

[boogiewrites]

Reports & Repertoire 20: Death & Life

Characters: Eddie Brock x Venom x Candace Miller (OFC)

Summary:  The final chapter. Candy faces the consequences of her actions. Life and Death make things a lot clearer somehow... if you can come out on the other side.

Warnings/Tags: Violence. Death. (BUT FLUFF and a happy ending.) Hope you like it. <3 

Click on my icon then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters.

Candy lives a half-life for a little while. Defeated fully and looking over her shoulder. A break comes when someone else manages to release an article on the spree of Roofies and disappearances in the city and all the possible connections. It wasn’t much, there were no names, no fingers pointed or anyone blamed. But it was something and she’d needed a win, no matter how small it may have been.

Eddie was relieved, and so was Venom to a degree. Although he was still steadfast on being able to protect everyone, he was glad Eddie felt better. It allowed for the extra energy he spent being anxious to no longer be used up and therefore not make Venom as ravenous all the time. Edgier meant more food and Eddie was never in the mood to let Venom take control and have his fun. But now everyone had settled back into a nice pattern. Something… normal. As far as normal for them went.

A week later with the air clear and Venom fed, they go out for the evening. Something fun and light and intimate. It was fall now, a comfort in the upcoming holidays and the jitters of her secretly asking him to meet her parents after telling him something she should have long ago. Venom knew it, but telling Eddie and his bumbling nature had been hard. So Candy planned on telling him exactly how she felt that night. To let it all out and tell him what he meant to her, as a friend, a partner, a lover. To let him know she saw him in her future, and to ask him if he saw her in his.

Any serious discussions no matter how welcome and joyous they might be were far from Eddie's mind. They walked through the carnival like children with sticky mouths and hands full of candy when they weren’t in each other’s grasp. A laugh-filled trip through a haunted house, a stuffed Alpaca Eddie got way too into winning her and spent entirely too much money on goes home with them too. 

They sit at the back patio, Candy's head on his shoulder, arms wrapped around one another and Venom quietly waiting in the wings. Fireworks from downtown we’re going off, a crispness to the air could be felt and in each other’s arms was the only place they wanted to be. 

A ring at the door separates them. “That’ll be dinner! Didn’t take them long. Thought with the traffic from the festival it’d take longer.” She says with a pleasantly surprised look on her face.

“These explosions are aesthetically pleasing. Like the ones in July to celebrate the birth of America.”

“I see you paid attention.” Eddie nods approvingly, kicked back with a beer in his hand.

“I always pay attention.” He retorts. “Eddie.” Venom's tone and sudden stiffness brings a cool rush down Eddie's spine.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie whispers, feeling the tension.

————

Candy trots towards the door in her pajamas, bare feet soaking up the cool wood in the house.

“Candy?” A man asks as she opens the door.

“Yeah, do I need to tip you here or on the app?” She asked, fumbling with her phone. 

“We tried to give you a tip but you didn’t listen.”

Her hair stands on end and her eyes shoot up wide and afraid. And they should’ve been. The man is holding a gun. “What do you want?” She whispers with a serious face and tone. Every muscle in her body was tense. She didn’t even breathe. 

“All you have to do is stop. Just shut the fuck up about it. Stop trying to save the day Nancy Drew, this shit doesn’t fly in the real world. You shut up and it goes away.” he waves the gun around as he speaks.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. What you’re doing is wrong.” There are tears in her eyes for too many reasons to name. She’d had self-defense classes. She could get the gun, yell for Eddie and this would be over. The seconds felt  like hours as they say in life or death moments. 

“I’ll say it again. You shut up. And it goes away. I have to give you your final warning.” He extends his arm, gun pointed down and Candy sees her moment. She tries to get in close and gain control, but the man had an itchy trigger finger. It slipped, him only being a messenger to scare her into silence. But it backfired. For everyone. 

————-

“The door.” Is all Venom says before he encases Eddie. He was faster than Eddie could be and took in the scene in front of him with quicker decision making.

Candy was on the floor and bleeding with multiple gunshots to her torso. A man staring in the doorway in horror at them with a gun in his hand. As Eddie screams inside the cage of goo, Venom eats the attacker without a second thought. Now there was no man.

Candy cries out, back against the wall as she reaches out for them. “Eddie…” She wheezes and holds her chest. 

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” He was never good at hiding his emotions when it came to worry for those he cared about. 

“I... they…”

“Shhh, don’t speak. I’m calling the ambulance.” He fumbles and drops his phone into the rapidly growing pool of blood from underneath her. 

“Eddie.” Venom says, tendrils moving down his hands as they touch Candy's pulse points.

“Eddie I-“  her eyes flutter as he cries and groans in fear, his phone continually slipping from his fingers as she sighs out his name, rapidly losing consciousness.

“Shhh shh we’ve got you baby. Don’t worry. I’ll call- SHIT!”

“Eddie she won’t make it.” Venom calmly states even though it helps nothing. 

“We have to DO something we just can’t. FUCK!” His voice breaks and he holds her face as he cries. 

Her head rests in his hand and she smiles for him, her vision tunneling. “Eddie I l-“ 

“Shhh save your energy Candy. Baby, I’ve got you.”

“Eddie I can help but… we have to separate.”

“What?”

“I can’t bond with her. I can try. To heal her, save her.”

He sees her go limp in his grasp and he sobs, hunched over and shaking. “Do it please just- FUCK!” He screeches and shakes her. “Save her, man!”

A warm embrace she finds herself in. Only the thought of “Eddie, I love you. I’m sorry.” In her mind. It’s all Venom hears as he takes her over, connecting to her every fiber and cell as he heals the wounds.

Eddie is left in his own personal hell as Venom works. He’s alone. Utterly for the first time in what felt like forever. There was no voice in his head but his own, and despite not holding the symbiote, his body had never felt heavier or harder to function. Candy lay lifeless, as  Eddie sobbed and held her, choking out please, feeling helpless in the puddle of blood on the floor. If Venom had brought him back, surely he could help her.

———-

“She’ll live.” Venom says, a sluggish head forming from her shoulder and plopping onto Eddie's head. 

Eddie can’t answer. He’s too busy sobbing into her hair to speak, he only nods and pulls Venom into his embrace.

 “The superficial wounds are closed. I’m working on her heart now. It’ll be slow. Very intricate, human organs. Lots of blood to make.” He says weakly. “Wash her, take her to bed. Get us chocolate. Something. Need. Energy.” He hisses as he sinks back into her. 

Eddie does as he’s told. Stripping them both and showering them off, leaving the bloody clothes on the shower floor. He puts her in bed, shorts and a hoodie of his she knows he likes. He touches her so gently, and she feels it, in a way. Venom tells her Eddie has her, and they’ll make sure everything’s okay. 

Eddie left to deal with keeping the blood hidden as the food arrived. He looked a mess, red-faced and puffy-eyed but luckily the young guy didn’t seem to care. He forgets the food and tosses it in the fridge. Locking everything and now to the task of cleaning up the blood. 

He’s never cleaned up a body’s worth of blood before. Towels were no help and paper was too weak. He gathers it all into a pile, slouching it into a garbage bag. He throws their now soaked and blood-stained clothes in as well and tries to make the place looked decent. He can’t do much for the blood spatter on the light-colored walls but, paint could fix that later right? 

He falls exhausted into the bed next to her. He watches her breathing, color back in her face now that had been a ghastly white. “Is she...in pain?” He asks, feeling the tiredness take over his muscles as he tries to push back her hair and hold her hand. 

“No.” Venom quietly answers. “Not physical.”

“Good.” He nods. “Wait, what does that mean?” He double-takes.

“She is distraught. Emotionally.”

“She DID almost die.”

“Yes. She understands. And wants me to tell you she knows who it was.” 

“WHAT?” His brow furrows and his eyes go wide, his weak and human body ready to defend her anyway. 

“It was a message. The men she was trying to expose. They found out it was her. A snitch she presumes from the tone, she says.”

“Can she hear me?” He asks. 

“No. But I can talk to her for you if you wish. She has many things to say.”

“Like what? About the guys who shot her?”

“No. About you.”

“Me? What about me? What’d I do? What does she need?”

“You. Just you.” Venom’s voice reflects the loving nature of her request. “What she wants to say is that she loves you. What she won’t admit is she wants to marry you. She doesn’t want to leave you as much as she doesn’t want you to leave her. She loves us Eddie. Us.” A weak sigh as he feels it all so intensely in the new body. 

“She… loves us?”

“Very much so. She was going to tell us tonight. Tell you tonight. Wants us in her future. To… meet her parents she says.”

“I’ll do anything she wants.” He laughs and kisses her forehead. “I’ll marry her as soon as she can stand if she would. I love her. Tell her I love her so much. I thought I’d lost her and I’ll never let her get hurt again. I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. You warned her, she says. And you were right.” 

“Are you sure that’s her saying that?” Eddie laughs and kisses her cheek.

“She thought you’d say that.” Venom ripples happily at the love he was being sent. “You should ask her to marry you. After this has passed. I didn’t mention that part to her. She loves us. She will say yes.”

“I need a ring.” He says with rapidly moving eyes. “But we can do that right?”

“Yes we can.” Venom trills happily. 

———

Venom totally healed Candy. Not so much as a bit of bacteria out of place when he leaves her. She awakes in her bed with a gasp and Eddie sitting upright beside her.

“Hey baby, it’s okay. We’re here. You’re good. Take it easy.” He rushes out as he holds her head and chest steady. 

“Eddie I was… I thought I was dead there for a minute.” She speaks softly and takes his hand with wide eyes.

“You were. But Venom fixed you. Good as new. Not a stitch out of place now.” He tells her proudly. 

“Eddie.. I…” She feels exhausted but really good otherwise. Like she’s been hit with a truck but then injected with adrenaline.  She lunges forward and wraps her arms around his neck. “I almost didn’t get to tell you I loved you. And I do. So much.” She whines into his neck and he holds her back just as tightly with a soft smile as he kisses her head. 

“I love you too. The most. So much. You’re not going anywhere Candy. I’ve got you.”

“I don’t think he meant to kill me.” She says with a stark change in tone. “I think it was a warning. He would’ve shot me in the head otherwise.”

“Shhh. We don’t have to talk about it yet.”

“That was…” She lets out a sigh and slumps, letting him direct her against his chest as he leaned back in the bed. 

“You’re okay now. Just rest for a minute.” He shushes her and she accepts it. 

“She is right. Her logic is on point. The angle, the weapon and words… all point to a warning and not a hit.”

“Venom we don’t have to-“

“See?” She mutters into his chest.

“Perhaps if we… lay low. Stop prying…” Venom reluctantly suggests.

“He’s right. I’m so sorry for risking it. For putting us all in danger.”

“S’alright Candy.” Eddie insists with a kiss to her head once again. Her hair soft and fluffy from the bath he’d given her. “If that’s true then… we can rest now, right? Take it easy. Just… us. Not take this for granted?”

“You’re right. We work too hard. I miss you too much. I need you Eddie. All the time.” She says weakly and squeezes his torso as he pouts and returns the affection. “Move in with me. Stay here. I’ll take time off work, so can you. We can hideaway. We can catch up for lost time and just… exist.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I love you and I want you around. I want you to meet my parents. I want you involved in my life, Eddie. I want you here. With me.”

“Then I will. Don’t have to convince me. I’m already sold.” He gives her a soft smile and she kisses him unexpectedly in response. 

“I love you.” She whispers and holds him tight. 

“I love you too. We’ll figure it all out. I’ll move in. We’ll take some time off.”

“I feel like I’ve been away for a year. I feel like I miss you so much and you’re right here.”

“I was here the whole time. Never leaving your side  Candy, don’t ever question it.”

————-

With every bit of confidence they could muster, Candy and Eddie walked into their boss ' offices and said they were taking some time

off. Whenever someone asked, personal reasons was the answer given and due to their contracts, they weren’t left with too much of a choice in the matter.  

A month. An entire month of just them. They huddled up in their little home. Like bunnies, they snuggled, fucked, ate, napped and played. With sight of what was important, everything was lighter, clearer and nothing had ever felt so right. She felt like she'd gotten a second chance, and it was all Venom's doing. She was eternally in debt to him and Eddie. Their long nights and days spent together let her think about what was most important outside of a career. What did she want to leave behind and still do that she had been pushing back in the name of work? It was time to prioritize. 

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

They didn’t leave the house for four whole weeks. They did nothing but enjoy each other in every way they knew how. And with a few nights left of their getaway, Eddie knew exactly how to finalize the best few weeks of his life.

“Keep your eyes closed alright? Just trust me.”

“I do.” She replies happily as she covers them with her hands. He’s taken her downtown and showed her off, fed her the best food money could buy and they got to remember what being around civilized people was like. They much preferred the sanctuary of their home. They laughed a little too loud, kissed a little long for everyone else’s taste. But no one else mattered anymore. 

So as the night moved into early morning, a walk through the architecture of downtown skyscrapers, hand in hand, he stops her at the foot of one. This one being the tallest of them all. And thus having the best view. If you knew how to get there.

She feels an odd whoosh, a rush of air that goes on for a minute but she keeps still, keeps her eyes shut as she feels Venom's embrace. She feels her feet on solid ground again, and she's thankful for it. 

“Okay. Open your eyes but STAY CALM okay? You’re fine. I promise. Venoms wrapped around you, we’re both fine.”

“Are you convincing me or yourself?” She asks with a nervous laugh as she uncovers her eyes but keeps them shut. 

“Uh… a little of both?” His voice breaks and she finds his hand and takes it.

She opens her eyes and her arm reaches for Venom's tight grip around her waist. They were at the base of the needle at the top of the building. Only enough room to stand, she’s left to gawk as she realizes she’s safe. 

“Oh my god.” She whispers, taking in the breathtaking view. Everything seemed so far away, the lights and sounds so concentrated at ground level seemed like faint melodies and twinkling stars up so high. “It’s… this is beautiful.” Her eyes can’t leave the sight as her hand stays firm in his and wrapped in Venom's body. 

“This view was the beginning of me learning to love earth.” Venom adds.

“I can see why.” She shares the sentiment.

“I now know it’s the humans. Like Eddie. Like you. That make it worth staying.”

“You’re very sweet Venom, thank you.” She strokes his happily rippling mass.

“I wanted to give you something no one else could.” Eddie takes her full attention. “I know there’s only so much I can do, and I’m not… we’re not what you planned to be with but, we’re thankful every day that you are.”

She smiles and pouts slightly before Venom brings them chest to chest. “Eddie, baby, you’re more than I could’ve ever hoped for.” She insists with a kiss to his cheek.

“And so are you. You’re, everything to me. Everything I wanna be, everything I’m not. You.. you complete me Candy and I don’t wanna go back to being alone. Not without Venom, not without you. I want you to stay. I wanna make sure you stay.” He insists with hands to her cheeks that surprise her, intensity and fear she wasn’t used to seeing in Eddie. 

Venom swirls up her arm, tiny tendrils taking her hand and holding a ring that shone as bright as the city lights below.

“I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, Candy Miller. Would you do that for me? Would you marry me?” He asks with hopeful eyes that make her chest ache at the thought he might believe even for a second she’d say no.

“I’ll stay with you beyond that.” She promised and kisses him softly. “Of course I’ll marry you.” She laughs against his lips. A warm embrace against the cold winds up so high. A kiss that faded and turned into happy sighs as they caressed each other’s faces in excitement. “You’ve made my life absolutely insane.” She laughs, “But I couldn’t stand it without you now. Without you both.”

“We love you Candy.” Venom almost sings and wraps himself around her head to nuzzle her in the form of a slug-like round head. 

“I love you boys.” She lets out a huge sigh and Eddie beams at her. It went perfectly. She was perfect. It was all so… perfect.

“It will be perfect.” Venom whispers into his head. 

Eddie questions him wordlessly. 

“You’ll see. One more present.” He insists inwardly. “Ready to go home?” He asks Candy. 

“I believe so. I want to cuddle up with my babies.” She teases and kisses Eddie again. 

“And you will. Keep tight. Eyes shut.” He says as they’re sucked together into his darkness and taken in leaps and bounds back to the safety of their bedroom.

“That feels sooo weird.” She laughs stumbling back and sitting on the bed as she’s released.

“You get used to it.” Eddie grins, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to stop for awhile.

“I have one more present.” Venom announces, a more fully formed head to speak to them both. “It is something you both wanted.” 

They both wait with a shared glance as Venom vibrates with excitement. He moves Eddie closer to the bed and stands up Candy as they look at each other with laughter in their eyes he ripples again. 

“Ready?” He asks with a wide smile.

“Yeah, I wanna know why you’re acting so weird.” Eddie playfully jabs him.

“Eddie…” He takes one of his hands. “Candy…” He takes hers and takes a deep breath that was only for show as he didn’t need to physically breathe. He places Eddie's hand to her stomach and places hers on top. “You’re going to have a baby.” He says with tiny tendrils flicking about in celebration. 

“A- What? I’m afraid I can’t be, hun, I’ve got an IUD remember?” She looks at him confused along with Eddie.

“It was destroyed along with your uterus in the shots. I removed it and healed you. I can taste the difference in your sweat. The hormones. They’ve changed.”

She gulps and her hand clenched around Eddies. “Are you… serious?”

“Yes. I repaired you beyond what you were before, you’re a perfectly balanced machine now.”

“We’ve been having sex this whole month and... I…” She feels a little woozy and Eddie braces her back. Careful to read her reactions. 

“Are you serious?” He asks him again. 

“Yes! Why do you keep asking? I wouldn’t have waited to tell you if I hadn’t thought it would make a good present.”

“It… is a good present?” She can hear the break in Eddie's voice. His eyes moving to hers that were still wide in shock.

“I’m… I’m gonna… WE are gonna… OH GOD WILL IT BE AN ALIEN?!” She shouts and Venom rumbles out a laugh.

“No. Sadly not. This is all Eddies work.”

“Eddie.” She squeaks out, His high brows move closer to her own. “I’m pregnant.” She states with disbelief. A pause that makes him nervous then an almost maniacal laugh escapes her. “I’m pregnant.” She speaks again and laughs. “Oh my God Eddie. We’re gonna have a baby. A baby.” She laughs and throws her head into his chest.

“Please tell me these are happy crazy laughs.” He inquires hesitantly and she squeezes him tight.

“After I was shot. I thought about a lot of things. How I spent my time. What I wanted out of life.” She begins without looking at him yet.

“She’s always wanted to be a mother. But never knew when the right time would be.” Venom makes it easier for her, a loving stroke of her hair and pat to her back.

“Exactly. I forget you we’re in my head.” She lets out a sniffle. “My mom's gonna be so happy.” She laughs and it turns to tears. “Eddie we're gonna have a baby.” She starts to sob as he laughs at first at the absurdity of it all. But with the life he’d led, honestly, a baby was about the least crazy thing. A baby was entirely normal in comparison.

“We’re gonna have a baby.” He chokes out before the contagious laughing tears get their hooks into him as well. “We’re getting married and we're having a baby.” He lets out a loud sigh of relief.

“This is crazy.” She laughs as they rest forehead to forehead and wipe away the other’s tears. 

“Is it? Compared to…” He motions to Venom whose big opal eyes were brimming with his version of tears. A sympathetic reaction to his host's emotions. 

They burst out laughing at it all. Because what else could happen that would be more surprising than what they’d already been through? This mantra gave them the outlook they had needed. They would take it all in stride now from experience, they would work through the bad and cherish the good. They kept in mind how absurd it all was, and laughter followed them through it all. Because what could be crazier than what life had already thrown at them?

@hardygal69 @marvelgirl7 @emerald-bijou @brianaisasongbird @vale0413 @izzy-the-ginger​ @chortletortoise @onomatopoetic-aesthetic​ @anrm1 @jademox @nightcraver @venomous-possibiities @tinastarkandco @chipster-21 @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes @queenof-wakanda @s-h-e-w-r-i-t-e-s @peakys-mystic @jaegeeeeer

[brieannakeogh]

Dog Days of Summer- Ch 16 Epilogue

Dog Days of Summer- Chris Evans X plus sized reader. Dog days of summer are usually defined as the hottest of the year, some define it as lazy days. This year ‘hottest’ has nothing to do with the outside temp. You meet Chris and Dodger Evans while taking your own dog to the park.

Previous Chapter / Master List

Chapter 16 Epilogue

A loud metal sound from the knock at the door woke you up. It had only been a nap so the sunlight still came in the window beside the bed. Grunting irritably you reach beside you to push Chris awake, only to find nothing in the bed. Another loud knock came back. “Hold your horses, I’ll be there in a minute!” You groan and find yourself a little dizzy since you sat up too quick. Slipping off the bed you waddle the short few feet to the door of the trailer. The set assistant looks embarrassed to have woken you up. 

“I’m sorry. I just needed to drop off the new script papers for Chris. I didn’t know he wasn’t here.” 

You glance at the clock and it does seem a bit later than he should be back. “He’s probably still doing set work. Sometimes it takes longer.” You shrug and take the papers. “I’ll pass it on when he gets back.” Closing the door, you walk slowly directly across from the door to the couch, sitting yourself and the paperwork down on it. Leaning back, eyes closed while your head is cushioned from back springs. You were still tired, but it wasn’t unusual anymore. It had been over a year since the two of you started dating, and only a few months shy from when you found out how much you loved each other. It brought a smile to your face thinking about the after effects. 

What the two of you had talked about was all supposed to be reasonable. He was going to go back to the set and you were going to keep up at the new job, which of course lasted less than a month. At the time you were extremely worried about how he would react when you asked if you could join him at his last movie set. The “Thank God!” he replied to you, still makes you chuckle. 

Everything the two of you had talked about never came slowly, like you had discussed. It was all quick and spontaneous, exactly like how your relationship started. The move in was hectic. Originally you assumed you would keep the apartment while you were living on the set with him, just in case it didn’t work out, but Chris got movers to get all of your things to his Boston condo within days. All you had to take to his set was clothing. 

The second surprising timing was during his second movie since you had been dating. You had gone with him to stay on set, making friends with some of his co-actors and people who worked behind the scenes. They had hangouts after work, going drinking at the bar near the set. It was always fun, but Chris would drink quicker than you and go to his loud, happy personality most nights, including the one where his stunt double picked on him about how you were living together already. 

“Of course we are!” Chris shouted, throwing an arm around your waist. “It’s not like we aren’t getting married next year.” 

“What?” You choked on the sip you had in your mouth. 

“Yeah…?” His face went from wondering what was wrong with you, to eyes wide in surprise. “Oh! I forgot I hadn’t asked you yet! I was waiting to buy a good ring. Maybe tomorrow we can go get one? I wasn’t 100% sure what you would prefer, so this would be much better, right?” 

“Yeah, perfect idea.” Drinking the rest of glass down to keep your nerves in check. He stuck with it the next morning, which really made you know about his tolerance to alcohol. 

Of course since he surprises you with the proposal, you knew you had to surprise him with the other bit of info before the wedding. You had stuck it in a box, wrapped it with some holiday paper and a bow, even though it wasn’t near the holiday, and set it in his seat at home. He was looking for the third movie and had gone out to his interview with the director, giving you plenty of time to set him up. He knew you were up to something as he unwrapped his ‘present’ but went super excited when he saw what was inside. At least until he dropped the tester and went to wash his hands. “Next time don’t give me the thing you pee onto! Maybe just a doctor’s test showing it.” he shouted from the kitchen sink. 

You giggled holding your pregnancy bump on the couch remembering his expression. Now you just needed to figure out what you were going to do a few years from now when it happens again. It was about this time the door opens and Chris walks in the trailer. “What are you laughing about?” He asks smiling at you. 

“Just thinking about what I should do the next time this happens.” You pat your bump which makes the baby kick in the same spot. It wasn’t much longer and knew he or she would come out to surprise both of you before the movie was done. 

“Well just make sure we have number two after the wedding. I still can’t figure out why you wanted to wait on that.” He sits beside you, moving the paperwork to the side table. 

“It’s simple. I want to be in a sexy corset during the wedding, not a pregnancy dress. Plus if we do it in a couple of years we’ll have a walking baby to bring the rings instead of Dodger.” 

“I still think Dodger is the best prospect.” 

“Fine we’ll do both and we know Popcorn will just be bored in a seat.” 

“Both it is Mrs. Evans.” 

“Now Mr. Evans, you should remember I’ll keep my own name.” 

“Hmf, we’ll see what you do after the wedding.” He whispers close to your own lips, before taking them in to repeat every kiss you can’t get enough of. Who knows what the future holds? 

It’s the end! Hopefully you all enjoyed this. I just had this feeling that if Chris decided to do something time is NOT going to be involved lol. I’ve still got bunch of partially written things that I hadn’t even posted, we’ll see how I do on those. Have a great weekend and an awesome Holiday next month!

@spidey-babe-parker​,  @stevieang​, @albinotigerpython​, @paintballkid711​, @katykyll​, @avengersrulez1536​, @ultrafreespirit​, @wantingtobekorra​,   @i-had-a-life-once​,  @ghostssss​​, @babybeluuga​​, @bodhi-black​​,  @kanupps06​​, @hatterripper31​, @grandloser​, @reniescarlett​, @kjidhzyx​, @normanreedus5150​, @ilovethings-somuch​, @spiderman-2013​, @bloodyvalentine93​, @xx-raven​, @passionghost​, @prettybubblesintheair​, @averyrogers83​,  @ria132love​, @patzammit​, @whom-the-fack​, @pooslie​, @3dsaunt, @kristiedwyer, @janeyboo​, @theonelittleone​, @aslandia726​, @itsmysticalmystery​, @stanclub, @geminimoonbeamx​​, @lookwhatyoumademequeue​, @eyesfixedonthesun22​, @mrsalh32611​, @whatmakesmebeme-tblr​, @isaxhorror​, @kateelyse96​, @hidden-treasures21​, @aubreystilinski, @tnupsweetpie​, @mikaelasingswritesloves​, @webcraft4eveh​, @fanfictionandjunk, @elizabeth-marie-moon​, @linesal​, @cjmyerhaan​, @cevansgirl​, @collinsstanharbour​, @i-was-petmanger, @bononoh, @justlistenlovelife​

[drakewalkerfantasy]

Consequences: Chapter 6

Synopsis: Two people from two different worlds, two complete strangers come together for a night of solace from their moment of anger and hurt. By consequence, they were brought together and their fates intertwined. What will happen when the reality of the one night’s actions filled with lust and anger will hit them both? What will happen with two complete strangers who seem to have nothing in common? Or do they have more in common than they thought?

Words: 2084

Authors notes: Some chapters maybe NSFW or have a mature content.

Beckett x TE MC (Maeve)

**Warnings: no warning for this chapter**

A/N Sorry for so big delay in releasing this chapter. Holiday's and then other little prompts and Asks took my time and I wrote them. I will try be more quicker on updating from now, but it still may take a week or two, sometimes more. Thank you for being with me. I hope you still will keep enjoying this series.

Shreya stood in front of a small cottage waiting for someone to open the door. Knocking one more time impatiently, almost bouncing in place, hoping to get some saucy details from her friend. She noticed how quickly Maeve disappeared from the party the day before, wondering what made her leave, considering that last time she has seen her was with her ex. Her eyes flickered toward a car park, noting that her friend should be home as her car was standing there near to some fancy SUV parked beside hers. She quietly whistled, calculating mentally that this car should be worth tones of money, ones that none of the ordinary students could afford to spend. While she was still lost in her thoughts door flew open, and Maeve appeared on a threshold.

“At last,” Shreya exclaimed, giving Maeve one-armed hug before entering the house without waiting for an invitation. “What took you so long?” she asked, skeptically checking Maeve’s outfit.

“Spoke with my mum,” Maeve lied, leading Shreya to the kitchen area. “And why are you here so late?”

“I was worried. You didn’t return my calls since Friday night and did not answer my texts. And the last time I have seen you, you were arguing with your ex... And I know that this never ends well for you.”

“Tea?” Maeve asked, turning to her friend, trying to avoid the subject, watching her nod in confirmation. The light blush dusted her cheeks, and her teeth lightly dig into her lower lip remembering the events of past view day and the reason why she avoided her friends.

“Okay, my dear spill it,” Shreya squealed, hopping on the stool at the kitchen island, watching Maeve put a kettle for tea. “I know this face,” singsonged Shreya. “You had sex,” stated she, noticing how Maeve almost dropped two mugs that she now was holding in her hands.

“I didn’t...” Maeve said, trying to hide a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

“Ohhhhhh yes, you did,” Shreya giggled. “Common, tell me all the details. Who was he? Was he any good? Where did you do him? Did he have big....”

“Shreya!!!” Maeve exclaimed, feeling how her face started to burn. “Stop it. I didn’t have anything. And even if I had... I would never tell you the details,” she mumbled, watching at her friend with wide-opened eyes.

“Maaaaaaeve, stop being so prude... I know you have done it, so spill. Do I know him? Pleaaaaase, I always tell you everything.”

“Yep, sometimes even more than I need to know,” Maeve mumbled under her breath.

“I heard this,” Shreya giggled. “So he was so terrible you have nothing to tell at all?” Shreya frowned.

“Will you drop it?”

“You know, I will not. So either you tell me or I will continue to guess.”

“Okay,” Maeve sigh reluctantly. “I... I was drunk and upset after the encounter with my ex. And this was a terrible mistake... And to your great disappointment, I don’t remember much...”

“So he was terrible,” Shreya asked with a heavy sigh.

“No... he--- he wasn't bad. I would even say that he was the best I ever had. At least from what I could remember,” Maeve admitted finally, her face blushing from the memory of the most intense orgasm she ever had, not noticing that Beckett entered the kitchen, stopping abruptly at the entrance. His eyes flew wide open, and his breath hitched, catching the end of the conversation. After a moment of hesitation, he cleared his throat, his face flushing slightly, but he kept his composure, not letting it falter. He watched Maeve abruptly turning toward him, the mug slipping from her hands, hitting the floor and breaking into small fragments.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Beckett, moving toward her to help collect scattered pieces. “Sorry, for intrusion, I thought you and your friend heard me approach.”

“It’s... it’s okay,” Maeve stuttered, her face flushing and her heart thundering uncontrollably, hoping that he didn’t hear what she said. Slowly Beckett kneeled in front of her, his hand reaching for the same piece of glass, and their fingers brushed softly, making their hearts skip a beat. The memory of the kiss and the burning of their lips still fresh, and they both could feel the electricity crackled in the air between them ones again.

“I... I’m sorry that I scared you. I hope this wasn’t your favorite mug,” he said quietly, his eyes meeting Maeve’s, watching her smile weakly.

“No. It’s... it’s just a mug,” she shrugged, feeling Beckett’s fingers brushing against hers, lingering there just for a brief moment, while they collected the broken pieces. The innocent touch of his fingers made her pulse quicken. The warmth from his touch spreading through her and her face flushed when the memory of him touching her more fiercely just moments ago emerged in front of her eyes. Her breath hitched, and she jumped to her feet, not realizing that the same memory coursed through Beckett’s mind too, settling his blood aflame instantly, making him rush to his feet.

Maeve could feel how her body collided with his, and she gasped softly in surprise. Her hands grabbing his shoulders to steady herself, ready for the fall, but before that could happen she felt Beckett’s strong arms wrapping around her waist, bringing her closer to his broad frame. He was so close that she could see every single freckle dotting his face, his gaze stormy and conflicting, and his lips just an inches away. Swallowing hard their eyes met, and they both felt how the world froze around them. The time stopped, and the distance between them started to shorten, before Shreya’s voice broke through their bubble, breaking them apart.

Shit, thought Beckett, taking a step back, feeling how a blush rising up to his cheeks. I definitely can not control myself around her for some reason. Why it is so tempting to kiss her? For fucking sake, I need to keep my distance or next time, I will kiss her or even worse.

“I afraid we weren’t introduced yet,” Shreya chirped, placing her hand on Beckett’s forearm, moving closer to him. “I’m Shreya. Shreya Mistry. And you must be Maeve’s roommate.” she exclaimed excitedly, not letting Beckett say even a word. “You are so strong. I thought Maeve will meet the ground, she is so clumsy sometimes, but you caught her. And you have such nice muscles,” Shreya giggled, squeezing his forearm, not noticing a frown forming on Beckett’s face.

Meantime Maeve rolled her eyes, moving back toward the cupboards taking another mug out and starting making tea.

“It is nice to meet you,” Beckett finally could say a word, unsuccessfully trying to get his hand out of Shreya’s grip, giving up to her attempts to lead him to the kitchen island. “I’m Beckett. Beckett Harrington,” he said, throwing a gaze toward Maeve, who was standing with her back turned to them. His eyes lingering on her slim figure, sliding up her long legs toward her ass, only now realizing what she was wearing, he could feel the heat forming on his cheeks.

“Wait... Are you THE Beckett Harrington,” Shreya exclaimed, her hand still on Beckett’s biceps, and she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. She sat him on a stool next to her, her eyes not leaving him.

“What that supposed to mean,” Beckett asked, furrowing his brows.

“Like Beckett Harrington, the only heir for Harrington Industry. The same Harrington Industry who have their businesses all over the country and make billions each year. The same Harrington who made a deal with Mistry Corporation just a few weeks back. Maeve, I told you rumors are true.”

“And I told you that I give no damn to the rumors,” Maeve replied, turning back to face them, her gaze falling to Shreya’s arm still wrapped around Beckett’s, the prick of some unknown feeling coursed through her. The unknown feeling that left a taste of metal in her mouth, making her sick to her bones. She could feel how her blood started to boil, making her even more convinced now that he is no better than any other rich boy she ever met. “Also, you should probably let him go, or you will leave imprints on his forearm,” Maeve said coldly, berating herself for saying that a second later.

“Miss Mistry...,” Beckett started before getting interrupted by the girl next to him.

“Please call me Shreya,” she said, sending him a bright smile. “Also may I say how lucky are you that you won't have to share your fortune with your sister? As there were some rumors that your sister got into bed with some guy who got her pregnant and your parents...”

“Shreya,” Maeve growled, looking at her friend, the memory of previous day’s fight still fresh in her, and she threw a subtle glance in Beckett’s direction. Noticing how he clenched his fists and his eyes became darker. “You never can know what happened behind the closed doors, so you never should assume that someone is lucky. And even if you knew for sure, it’s none of your damn business, and you shouldn’t spread this gossips further.” Maeve breathed heavily, not even fully understanding what came on her, the regret of her own assumptions pricking her, causing a feeling of guilt to become stronger. Hesitantly she looked toward Beckett catching his gaze, which froze on her. The awe and something else hiding behind his deep stormy gaze.

Probably we both made too many assumptions before getting to know each other, thought Beckett nodding slightly to Maeve, catching her soft hesitant smile, returning it a second later before turning back to Shreya.

“Miss Mistry,” Beckett repeated firmly, barely holding back anger he felt, trying to ignore what she said. “I’m not sure what rumors did you heard, although I shouldn’t be surprised--- But let me assure you, that I have nothing to do with my family’s business, and in regards to my sister--- Maeve is right is none of your business,” he said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a second before he spoke again. “And if I may give you and your family advice... if I would be you or your family, I would stay away from making any deals with my mother, otherwise one fine morning my mother will leave you penniless and broken. Unfortunately, I and my sister never had the luxury of a choice. But if I would be you, I really would consider breaking a deal, if this isn’t too late already,” Beckett said, slipping his hand from the weakened grip and quietly exiting the kitchen, leaving two girls in complete silence.

“What was it...,” Shreya’s asked, sharing a confused look with her best friend, before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Shreya, I think he was serious...,” Maeve said hesitantly.

“Maeve, don’t be so silly who in their right mind would give up owning the whole empire just because of some family’s drama. I and my mother have a lot of differences and we not always see things the same way, but I wouldn’t even think of refusing my share in the family’s business, even though I plan to open my own brand. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, right? He cannot be serious. How could he? He probably just tried to scare me off. Although, I’m surprised he even chose to study medicine...”

“You chose it...” Maeve noted.

“Yes, because I want to open my own beauty brand. And why not to study plastic surgery, I could make some money out of it. But for him... He could choose anything, and I know for sure his parents wanted him to study business what would be the smartest choice for him for business inheritance.“

“Shreya, just think about what he said, and please let your mother know. He doesn’t give me an impression of a person who would joke about anything like that. Please?”

“Okay, okay. I will speak with my mum,” Shreya shrugged, taking a steaming cup of tea from Maeve’s hands. “But trust me, he isn’t serious, and he is totally into me. He just doesn’t realize it yet,” she giggled, making Maeve roll her eyes at her before taking a sip of tea, throwing a pensive look toward the direction where moments ago left Beckett, a single thought flying through her mind.

Probably we both made too many assumptions before getting to know each other.

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[alindakb]

How Love Hurts - Chapter 4.5 - by Alinda

Harry looks around the room. Albus and Scorpius are beneath the Christmas tree. Every gift gets lifted, shaken and turned around. Ideas for possible content are discussed. From time to time Lily gives her opinion from her position on the sofa. She’s hanging upside down, her long red hair flowing onto the floor. Harry has no idea how it can be comfortable, but Lily swears it’s the best way to sit on a chair. James sits next to her, his feet pulled up, a book on his knees. He doesn’t interact with the others at all. He’s always like that when he disappears into a book, gone from the world until he finishes it in one night, or until he gets told to go to sleep.

It’s been a good week. They didn’t go out much, just spend a lot of time playing board games and building snowmen in the massive garden. Hermione came by two days ago, with Rose and Hugo. Draco took all the kids out into the garden with the promise to show them a secret hide-out, one Harry will never find. It gave Harry and Hermione some time to talk. She explained the procedure for divorce and urgent Harry to get a decent lawyer. She also said that the family doesn’t want to talk to him right now, but that she’s sure they all still love him. Just give it some time, was her advise. Harry hates it, not being able to join his kids for Christmas dinner tomorrow at the Burrow.

Two hands slide around Harry’s waist and a pointed chin sets down on his shoulder. Harry’s heart skips a beat and a smile forms on his face.

“How’s the guessing going?” Draco asks the room.

“Dad, my gift from you is too small,” Scorpius says while he lays down on his back on the floor. His hands go into the air and start showing how big his gift should be. “For the broom I wanted the gift has to be at least this big, and the skateboard also won’t fit in any of these presents wrapped underneath the tree.”

“Well, maybe I’ve enchanted them to look smaller,” Draco answers Scorpius.

“Why do you want a skateboard?” Lily asks.

“Because they are cool. And I’m cool. It’s the perfect combination.”

Albus laughs. Scorpius pulls a face and Lily nods in agreement. James doesn’t seem to notice the commotion at all, still engrossed in his book. Harry can’t help but smile. It is good to see his kids feel so at home here.

“Did you really enchanted them, dad?” Scorpius asks.

“Only one way to find out,” Draco answers. His hands slip from Harry’s hips and he walks into the room. He sits down in between Lily and James. James looks up from his book, shakes his head and turns back to his page. Draco raises his eyebrows at Harry.

“Don’t worry, he’s always like that when he’s reading,” Albus informs Draco. “He won’t be interested in anything beneath this tree until he’s finished it.”

Albus falls down next to Scorpius, their heads are underneath the tree and they whisper at each other, probably discussing more possibilities for the presents. Lily has pulled her head up and rested in on Draco’s lap. Harry still can’t believe how easy all his kids accepted Draco as part of their new family. Maybe it’s because of all the time they spent with Draco and Scorpius during the summer break? Or maybe they see what Hermione saw when she came by, that Draco makes Harry happy.

“Shall I start on the hot choco?” Harry asks.

Lily starts clapping her hands and Albus screams a loud yes from under the tree. James even looks up from his book. “Do you need any help dad?” he asks.

“No, I’ll be fine. Just stop reading when you finish the chapter your in, no reading during the present ceremony.”

“Fine, dad,” James answers at the same moment Scorpius and Draco both utter the word present ceremony in a questioning way.

“You explain, Lily. I need to make hot choco,” Harry tells them. He turns around while Lily breaks off into an elaborate explanation of the so-called present ceremony.

Harry walks into the kitchen and places a pot with water on the stove. Then he takes out the chocolate bars and starts to cut them into small pieces. Once the water on the stove is boiling, Harry turns down the heat and places a small bowl on top of the pot and throws the chopped chocolate in there to melt. Then he puts a pot on the stove with enough milk to make at least six cups of good hot chocolate.

“You could have warned me there is an entire ritual attached to unpacking presents with Christmas,” Draco says while he walks into the room. He stirs the chocolate in the bowl. “And you know we have the powder stuff in that cabinet, goes a lot quicker.”

Harry places the mixer on the kitchen counter and walks back to the stove. He gives Draco a peck on his lips. “We are not having cheap hot choco with Christmas, Draco.”

“No, of course we’re not. How dare I even suggest it,” Draco jokes.

“Just stir the chocolate until it’s all melted. Gives me the time to whip the cream.”

“Even freshly whipped cream. We really are in for a treat tonight. Maybe you can save some for after Christmas when we have the house to ourselves again.” Draco wiggles his eyebrows and blows a kiss towards Harry.

“Don’t remind me,” Harry says. He turns his head towards the mixer. He measures out the sugar and puts it in with the cream. His eyes become moist and he wipes a hand over them. He won’t cry now, not while the kids are still here.

A warm body leans against Harry’s back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Draco says softly into his ear.

“It’s okay, it’s not that I don’t miss it. You and me, alone, to do whatever we want. And I know I need to get used to not having them around all the time during holidays, but it’s hard.”

“Of course it’s hard, I get it. I already hate that Scorpius wants to spend some time alone with his aunt in Paris, and that is only for two days.”

“How did Daphne take the news that I’ll be joining you all for Christmas?” Harry asks, great for the change to change the subject.

“Don’t know,” Draco says. He walks back to the stove to check the chocolate.

“You did tell her?”

Draco shakes his head. “Fuck Harry, I wanted to. But to tell her over the phone that I’ve already replaced her little sister. I couldn’t do it.”

This time it’s Harry that wraps his arms around Draco to comfort him. “She’s going to figure it out the moment she lays eyes on us. Hermione told me we looked like to high school kids in love.”

“Granger should keep her opinions to herself,” Draco snaps.

“Don’t be angry with her, Draco. She came by to apologise and offer her help. It’s not easy for her either, with the entire Weasley clan out for my blood.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just hate being the reason you’re losing your family. I know what it’s like to hardly have any left. I don’t want that for you, Harry.” Draco looks so earnest, it makes Harry’s heart aitch.

“Draco, I made the decision to leave Ginny. You never asked me to, and I love you for that. So stop blaming yourself for the mess I made of my family life because I don’t. That’s all on me.”

“You’re too good for this world, Harry,” Draco tells him before he kisses him deeply.

“Sir’s, do you need any help?” Mila asks from behind them. Draco breaks the kiss and looks over Harry’s shoulder.

“No, Mila, we’re fine. Just making some hot chocolate. Do you and Toby want some? I can have Scorpius bring up two mugs once it’s ready.”

“Thank you, master Draco, that will be lovely.”

And with that Mila walks out of the kitchen.

“It’s hard for her to have a day off, isn’t it?” Harry asks Draco.

“Yes, she always struggles with it. For a long time she never got any days off, just worked all year long without any compensation. It’s still in her system. But she’ll be busy enough tomorrow to prepare our Christmas meal, she deserves a little break beforehand.”

Harry gives Draco another small kiss and then turns back to the chocolate. It’s fully melted and he pores it into the hot milk, whisking until it’s completely incorporated. Draco brings over the whipped cream and together they fill eight mugs. Harry snaps his fingers and a tray comes whooshing their way. Harry knows it impresses Draco every time he does wandless magic. It’s weird, Harry is so used to doing it, he hardly ever noticed he did it until Draco started telling him how sexy it is.

Together they levitate the mugs of hot chocolate to the living room. Draco tells Scorpius to bring two of the mugs to Mila and Toby and he and Albus disappear up the stairs. Draco sits back down between James and Lily and Harry finds a seat in the chair next to the tree. They all sip their hot choco and wait in silence for Albus and Scorpius to come back. Harry looks at his oldest and youngest, Lily curled up against Draco’s side. Even with all the turmoil around them, Harry knows that this Christmas is going to be one of his favourites for a long time.

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 63

Chapter Summary - Danielle meets Sophie for lunch, then bumps into another friend who decides to give Danielle some assistance, but what will occur if she accidentally meets Tom?

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog​ @jessibelle-nerdy-mum​ @nonsensicalobsessions​ @damalseer​ @hiddlesbitch1​ @winterisakiller​ @fairlightswiftly​ @salempoe​ @lys-syl @youcantcatchafallingstar

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

“Tom?” Danielle knocked on the door of Tom’s study before entering. When she walked in she was welcomed to the sight of him pacing frantically, repeating a line over and over in different tones, trying to find the right timbre to give it the emotion he wished to convey. He did not seem to notice her for a minute but stopped and looked at her as soon as he did. “You need some lunch.”

“I will, at one or half-past.”

“It’s two o’clock, Tom.”

“Shit.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t have time to go down and…”

Danielle left the room for only a moment before returning with a tray that had soup, a salad, two bottles of water, a teapot covered in a tea cosy and a cup with milk. “I know, so I brought it to you, read over lines, add notes and eat.” She ordered.

Tom’s frustration dissipated as he looked at the meal she had prepared for him, his grimace became a smile and he walked over to her and kissed her. “Thank you.”

“I told you, I would help keep you on track when we are both here.”

“I love you so much, Elle,” He kissed her again. “You’re never allowed leave.”

Danielle smiled before laughing. “Are you going to tie me up and forbid me from leaving?”

“That sounds like fun.” Tom grinned back before looking at her clothes. “You got changed, are you going somewhere?”

“I was going to meet Sophie for a while in Camden.”

Tom gave her another kiss. “But what if you are spotted?”

“Well then, when we become public I am sure someone will accuse Sophie of getting me to ensnare you and together we will rule the two boyfriends of the internet, Mwahahahahaha.” Danielle lasted only a moment before she erupted in giggles, Tom joining her immediately after. “But no, Ben’s not there either, he’s spending daddy-son time with Christopher, so no one will care and if they do see us it will be ‘Sophie Hunter and Friend’.”

“In that case, have a wonderful time, we are leaving for Luke’s at eight.”

“I plan on being home to cook a meal before we go.”

“Well, how about I have something ready for six?”

“How about I tell you I love you, but that I know you’ll be too engrossed in this so I will be home at five to cook?” Danielle retorted.

“Meany.”

“You know it’s true.”

“Well hurry along, every minute with me is wasting time you could spend with Sophie, are you driving?”

“I’ll get the Tube, quicker than finding parking. Text me if you need me to pick anything up.”

“Basil.”

“You’ve got it Sweet Cheeks, don’t work too hard.”

“No promises, have fun, Elle.”

*

“Hello, stranger.” Elle hugged Sophie as best she could with a baby belly in the way. “I was bold.”

“Do not tell me those are for my son.” Sophie scolded as she looked at the baby boutique bags in Danielle’s hand.

“No.” There was a sceptical look on Sophie’s face. “Some are for Bubble.”

“Elle!”

“I’m sorry, they were too cute.”

“We don’t know what we’re having.”

“They’re neutral, come on. I have no nieces and nephews, let me spoil your kids.”

“You’re terrible.”

“I know and I’m not even remotely sorry.” Danielle shrugged, earning an eye roll from Sophie. “So, how was Christmas?”

“Tiring. Thankfully Christopher hasn’t grasped it all yet, but he’s teething, so we were up half the night anyway.”

“Ooh, not nice.”

“Ben tried to let me get some sleep, but I can’t get comfortable so I was tossing and waking every time Kit was groaning.”

“There’s no winning, meds aren’t the answer, but they are so small it hurts them so much.” Danielle nodded sympathetically.

“Exactly, you seem to get it more than people with kids, all they keep saying is ‘try this’ and ‘try that’ and getting offended if it doesn’t work.”

“Saying that it worked for them so you either did it wrong, are calling them a liar or saying they don’t know what they are talking about.” Danielle finished.

“THANK YOU!” Sophie caused a few people to jump with her half shout. “Finally, someone who gets it.” She sighed, “I’m sorry, I am just unloading, I am so much stress and hormones some days and Ben is as tired, if not more with work.”

“First of all, you are allowed get annoyed, and secondly, give me learning lines over carrying a human being in my stomach, that shit is never easy.”

Sophie frowned. “How are you getting this more than most parents do, you don’t even have nephews and nieces.”

“Because I am able to see from the outside looking in,” Danielle shrugged. “So, what plans have you for tonight?”

“Dinner, then sleep.”

“Good plan.”

“Tim and Wanda are stealing Christopher for the night, I think Ben called hem to ask them for a night’s peace, I am not complaining. I need one good night’s sleep and I will be back to myself a bit, right now I feel like I am on the verge of erupting from tiredness.”

“So another coconut slice then?” Danielle offered.

“Fuck it.” Sophie turned to get out of the chair.

“Don’t you dare get up, I’ll get it, you cherish your decaf tea,” Danielle ordered going to the counter to retrieve the last slice of the cake for her friend. “There you are.”

“What happened your hand?” Sophie had not realised with the long sleeves that Danielle was sporting a wrist brace.

“Fell off a bike on Christmas Eve.” Danielle dismissed. “Small tiny fracture.”

“Not fun, how did Tom react?”

“Like I was base jumping, no he was scared because my phone was broken in the fall so it took hours for him to be told what happened to me.”

“Poor Tom.”

“Came to the hospital to bust me out, they wanted to keep me in because they thought I might have a concussion, but he demanded I come home, didn’t leave me do anything too strenuous all Christmas.”

“Of course not. So what are your plans for tonight?”

“Going to a party that Luke is insisting on having, though, between you and me, I think that’s his way of having all his clients in one place and not making a show of themselves in public.” Danielle smiled.

“You might not be wrong there. Have you something to wear?”

“Stop, Tom found this thing in my wardrobe I should never have bought and begged me to bring it.”

“Wait, you owned it?”

“Yes, I bought it a few years ago, I have no idea why.”

“Right, sorry, for a second I thought he was forcing you to wear something he got from somewhere, my brain is frazzled.”

“Jesus no, I don’t think Tom would ever do such a thing.”

“Do you want to wear it?”

“It’s very...not me.”

“How so?”

“Well, look at me, I am plaid shirts and jeans, not dresses.”

“So you can’t have both? You never were a girlie girl, were you?”

“We lived in the countryside, I had horses and helped my dad on the holidays with calves and testing and all that, what do you think?” Danielle laughed.

“Zara Phillips works with horses and look at her life.”

“Who?” Danielle stared blankly at Sophie, having no idea who she was talking about.

“Zara Phillips, the Queen’s granddaughter, Princess Anne’s Daughter.” Danielle shook her head to indicate she had no idea who that was. “I forget you guys don’t know anything about our Royal Family.”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Danielle dismissed. “If it doesn’t affect my daily life, not interested. I only have enough energy to look after me and mine, after that, not interested.”

“Good way to be.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Tom and I have this thing planned with Luke, if we get a chance, we are going to release this ourselves, including all about me.”

“A great idea.” Sophie smiled. “Sort of like our engagement announcement.”

“Minus a baby for us.”

“Would you want that some day?”

“What?”

“Marriage, children?”

“Perhaps,” She answered first before smiling. “Yes. Why?”

“Nothing, curious, you were so good with Christopher.” Sophie smiled. “So, the question?”

“How do you prepare for it. I mean, meeting all these people he works with. I know you have your own name, but Theatre and Opera Director sounds so much fancier than me, I mean…”

Sophie put her hand up. “I am going to stop you there.” She declared. “Tom doesn’t care for that, you are enough as you are, you are everything he wants as you are. You were enough when you were a paramedic, something that actually matters. If films stop happening in the morning, if they are banned, who, out of the two of you, hell, the four of us, has an actual profession? You saved how many lives, that is amazing.” Danielle simply dismissed it. “Honestly, you will hold your own, if those people think less of you for your job, then they are just petty pricks, a film cannot go ahead without someone making sure the damn thing is safe, you are the reason we will no doubt have more dragons and battles soon.” There was an expectant grin on her face.

“I am not telling you anything,” Danielle stated. “I had an NDA the size of a small country rammed down my throat, besides, I am more into the books, though I got them signed by Martin, that was pretty cool, he was there one day.”

“Wow, that is something.”

“I may have fangirled slightly.”

“Doesn’t everyone when they meet a particular person?” Sophie smiled. “I needed this.”

“You know where I am.” Danielle smiled. “I am off now until February.”

“I thought you had another job coming up?”

“My hand means no job, I was going to apply for another one but I decided to further myself before starting the next job at the end of February.”

“Anyone that belittles you does it because they are envious of your hard work, your fortitude and strong nature. Be yourself, Danielle, don’t let them beat you down, and remember, Tom wanted a strong fiery woman, show them why you are that woman.” She grinned.

“I will.”

“No better woman for the job.”

*

Danielle smiled to herself as she walked through Camden back to the Tube station. She thought about the shoes she had chosen for the dress Tom had chosen and groaned, she knew it was going to pinch and after a couple hours that was going to be a form of torture, passing one of the shops, she paused and looked at the shoes in the window.

“Danni?” Recognising the voice, she turned around to beam happily at the women walking towards her. “I knew it was you.”

“Nacelle,” She smiled, going to hug the other woman. “How are you?”

“Great, how was your Christmas?”

“Wonderful, how about you?”

“Great,” She turned to the woman next to her, “This is Becky, by the way; my fiance.”

“Fi...ah, you asked?”

“Wait, you planned to ask me?” The other woman asked.

“Yes,” Nacelle admitted.

“Wait, you asked Nacelle?”

“Yes, and she jumped out of the chair.” Becky smiled.

“I am so happy for you both, congratulations.” Danielle gave Nacelle another hug before Becky came in for one too.

“So you and Tommy boy better be free on June 22.”

“I can’t promise Tom, but I will make sure I am.”

“Why? Is everything alright with you and Mr Promotions?” Nacelle asked.

“Yes, it’s just that he sort of has to travel a lot for work so it is hard for him to get to a lot of events, and it is not always pre-booked, so I can’t say if he is free yet or not.” She explained. “I swear, he does exist,” she added laughing.

“I’m getting sceptical,” Nacelle joked. “So what has you in London for New Years?”

“Tom, we are going to a party tonight but I had to meet one of the girls for a late lunch, now I am looking in closed shops cursing the shoes I chose for tonight.”

“Pinchy?” Becky guessed.

“And high, he’s six foot one so I thought, you know, try and not look like a dwarf next to him.” both other women erupted in laughter.

“Wait, what time are you going at?”

“Well, I have to get dinner sorted for six if I ever want to get some way cleaned up.”

“And the party is at what?”

“Nine.”

“Where is it?”

“Some place called The Trinity Club.” the other two women stared at her. “What?”

“The Trinity Club, in Mayfair?”

“I think that’s where it is, why?” Her phone went off, causing her to read the text. “Tom’s cooking dinner.”

“Okay then, come on.” Nacelle half dragged her down the street.

“What, what are you doing?”

“You cannot go to a party at the Fucking Trinity Club looking like a hobo.”

“I don’t look like a hobo.” Danielle looked herself up and down.

“No, but there, if you are not perfect, you will be classed one, that is one of the best spots in London, how the hell did you get dragged into that?”

“It’s to do with Tom’s ‘sort of’ boss.”

“Seriously, is he in charge of Disney or something, because that is seriously cool,” Becky asked as they walked to a small building, before taking out her keys and opening the door.

“Sadly not, if he was, I would live there.” She smiled before looking at the open door.

“Relax, we are not going to steal you, I am going to do your makeup.”

“Nach,” Danielle shook her head. “No, it’s your holidays.”

“Girl, if you are going to the Trinity Club, you are going to be my business card, because these people can pay serious money for makeup.” Nacelle explained.

She was going to argue but seeing as it made sense, she conceded, after all, Nacelle was the best she knew, anything that made her look better for the party was a plus in her opinion. She sat in the chair and did as ordered.

“So, where are you staying?” Nacelle asked as she started the contouring after getting Danielle to wash her face.

“I...I moved in with Tom over Christmas.” the makeup artist stopped working and stared at her, “It was one of my gifts, a key to his place.”

“Didn’t I say you would be giving him the promotion?” Nacelle laughed. “You two will be married, wait and see, and have gorgeous little sassy babies with mummy’s sassy attitude.”

“Or Tom’s gentle nature.”

“He’s quiet?”

“Can be, he has two personas, the introvert at home and the extrovert for work.”

“I see it all the time with actors.” Nacelle agreed. “What colour is this dress by the way?”

“Midnight Blue, silver court-type shoes,” Danielle explained.

“That’ll suit your complexion and dark hair.” Nacelle nodded. “What are you going to do with your hair?”

“Let it down, maybe straighten it,” Danielle stated plainly, but Nacelle stared at her. “What?”

“Becky, love, get your straighteners.” She called to her fiance, who had gone to the bedroom to get changed. “Put it to two hundred.”

“I’ll just straighten it when I get home.” Danielle dismissed.

“Straighten? Danni straight doesn’t work with what I am doing to you. Is the dress sexy?”

“I guess.”

“Okay, sate my curiosity, will you have to attend the likes of this again in the future, business get-togethers and whatnot?”

“Yes.”

“Well, in that case, Becky and I are bringing you shopping next week to sort your wardrobe issues, you clearly need some help, because you are out of your depth.” Nacelle commented.

“I am not.”

“Danni, you have no idea if what you are wearing is sexy, no offence pet, but you are clearly not a girlie girl, and that is fine, not every woman is, but it means for the poshies, you need help.” Danielle bit her lip in embarrassment. “I am not trying to hurt your feelings Danni did your mum…?”

“My mam was sixty when I was a teenager. I was a surprise, so…”

“She was not much help.” Nacelle finished. “Well, that’s where it’s our duty as women to help you through girliness.” Danielle smiled slightly. “Becky.”

“Got it.” Becky came over, changed into her sweatpants and hoodie, smiling as her fiance worked on Danielle’s makeup.

“I thought you were a solicitor?” Danielle frowned, watching the ease that Becky had giving her ghd curls.

“I am, but I also know how to look good.” Becky laughed. “I’ve been on enough sets with Nach, she is close to hair people, they thought me a few tricks.”

“You should go into the caravan more often, they will give you a few tips.”

“Not everyone is as friendly as you,” Danielle commented.

“True,” Nacelle conceded, “Close your eyes.” Danielle obeyed. “But most want to show off how good they are.”

“Your home is so you, by the way,” Danielle commented as the other women worked.

“Aw, thank you.” Nacelle smiled proudly. “Yes, it suits us and Nero.”

“Nero?”

“Our cat,” Becky stated. “He’s asleep on the bed inside and rules the house.”

“They usually do.” Danielle smiled.

“Right, so how far do you have to go after this?”

“Just two stops on the Tube.”

“North or South?” Nacelle eyed her carefully.

“North.”

“Where are you living?”

“Belsize.” Danielle knew what was coming next.

“The Trinity Club, Belsize, Danni, you are living large.”

“Not me, Tom.”

“He asked you to move in with him, didn’t he, so you are part of that society now,” She teased.

Danielle stuck her tongue out. Nacelle never cared who was related to who, associated with who or how much they were worth, she was wealthy enough in her own right, she was highly coveted in her field, and Becky was hard working also, so she had liked Nacelle, and knew that she could actually tell her who exactly Tom was and know the other woman would not care for who he was, but that he cared for her. When she and Becky had finished, they showed Danielle what they had done, “Oh my, God. I don’t look like me.” She stared at her reflection. “Nacelle, you are insanely brilliant.”

“I know, I know.” Nacelle fanned herself.

“What time is it?”

“Ten to six,” Becky answered, looking at her watch.

“Shit, I really need to get home, and get basil.”

“Okay, look.” Nacelle went to the kitchen and grabbed a plant. “There’s the basil and we’ll drive you.”

“You don’t…”

“Girl, I have spent the last forty minutes doing you up, hair and all, so you better believe I am not letting you out of my home to get blustered up on a train,” Nacelle argued.

“I can’t believe you are giving me a plant.”

“Shut up and let me scope out your man’s house,” Nacelle ordered, shooing her to the door.

“Thank you, Nach.”

“June 22nd, don’t pretend I didn’t tell you.” She smiled.

“Oh, that’s a given.” Danielle winked.

It did not take long to get to Tom’s house and Danielle could sense the women looking at the structure from outside the tall gates. “Danni?”

“Yes?”

“He’s not a crime guy, is he?”

Danielle laughed, “He is not in crime, he is just good at what he does and wanted a nice house.”

“Well in that case, if we ever have a dinner date, we are so coming here.”

“How about when you are finished your next big job?”

“Deal, I’ll hold you to it, Danni.”

“Good, you have my number, thank you for everything Nach.” She smiled having gotten out of the car and looking in the window at Nacelle in the passenger seat.

“Anytime, I…” Nacelle ceased talking as the gate was half opened and Tom came out smiling at Danielle. “Wait your Tom is Tom Hiddleston?”

“He is,” Danielle stated nervously.

“Why did you say he was in promotions?” Nacelle seemed half hurt.

“Because he is, sort of. I didn’t want to say he was an actor on set, everyone gets nosy.”

“She’s got a point.” Becky conceded.

Tom was still looking at the car. “He is so confused.” Danielle giggled.

Nacelle opened her door and got out. “Hello, I’m Nacelle.” She stated confidently as she walked over to the actor, her hand extended.

“Nacelle, the makeup artist?” Tom smiled back.

“You told him about me?” Nacelle smiled to Danielle.

“Of course.” She smiled back walking over to Tom who looked at her in awe. “Nacelle found me in the street and demanded to attack me with makeup.”

“You look very beautiful,” Tom smiled honestly. “Nacelle, thank you for everything, she is, of course, beautiful regardless, but you know how Elle is with these things, she is so knowledgeable about the world of information, but her weakness is makeup.”

“She tries, but bless her, she is not good with these things, she had to have one fault.”

Danielle rolled her eyes but nodded in acknowledgement. “I was saying that Nacelle and her fiance should come for dinner sometime.”

“Definitely, whenever suits,” Tom smiled, “Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”

“We better not tonight, you two have places to be. With regards dinner, I am busy with work for a bit, as I guess you guys are, so let me know when you are around and I will let you know when Becky and I are free and we can arrange something.” Nacelle grinned. “Remember, shopping next week.”

“Oh Jesus, I thought you were messing.”

“I'm as serious as a heart attack, I am sexing you up, especially when it involves this man and his industry, I got you covered.”

“As long as I remain covered,” Danielle demanded.

“With your breasts…”

“Becky, get her home, now,” Danielle ordered as Becky, Tom and Nacelle laughed. “I am going in, it is about to start raining and I will puff like a poodle.”

“Go, show my masterpiece to the aristocracy.” Nacelle smiled giving her a hug. “You did good Danni.”

“I beg to differ, I think it was I that struck luck.” Tom smiled looking at her before looking to the plant Becky was passing out to them, smiling from the driver’s seat. “Is that…?”

“You said we needed basil.” Danielle shrugged earning a confused laugh from Tom as he took it.

“We do, we better get inside and start eating, ladies, thank you so kindly for all your beautiful work and for getting Elle home safely; I cannot wait to see you both again so that I can get to know you better.”

“Likewise Mr Hiddleston,” Nacelle smiled. “So long as you don’t mind us stealing her for a day’s shopping?”

“Not at all, I am sure as much as she will grouse about the shopping, Elle will love it.”

“You know, Elle suits you better than Danni,” Becky commented from the car.

“That’s his fault.” Danielle pointed to Tom.

“It suits, guess you’re Elle now.” Nacelle laughed getting into the car, “Enjoy the prosecco and caviar.”

Tom and Danielle waved as the car left. “You came out?”

“Well when you text to say you had a slight change of plan I was concerned, curious and excited.”Tom explained, “When you said you bumped into another friend, I wanted to say hello.”

“What if they couldn’t be trusted?”

“You told me about Nacelle before, so when you texted you were with her, I was going on what you said, and you were right, she is completely unfazed.”

“A unique situation.”

“Very much so, come on, dinner is on the table and then we need to get dressed.” He placed his hand gently at the base of Danielle’s back as they headed back inside.

[fatandnerdy30]

The Little Princess Chapter 6

I am so sorry to keep anyone reading this little fic waiting! Everything has been so hectic here with the holidays with all the running around....

Her nightmare had become even worse. Not only had she been plucked up from the bed against her will, but now Hannah was in the pocket of an angry giant. She panted in fear, trapped in the dark, hot world, the cloth around her muffling the world around her. With each step he took she bumped against his thigh and cringed every time. What was he going to do with her? He didn't seem to believe she was his daughter. 

Would he kill her? No, he'd told Susan before to return her to her family. He was very angry, though, but it seemed it was directed toward Susan for bringing her. Was he going to send her back? She didn't want to go back to her old life. As scary as it was, she was still out of the foster home. And her mind was put at ease knowing Susan really was her aunt. She had found her family, after three years and was loathe to give that up. 

 Being trapped in a pocket, though, was a bit of a problem. If her life got any stranger, she was going to convince herself that this was some weird dream, no matter what it took. Or maybe she actually did die in that car with Susan. She let out a strangled laugh. What was the irony of her losing her mother in a car crash, and she herself probably died in a car, too? 

 Suddenly the fabric around her tightened and she stiffened, her limbs shaking as she was moved around before everything stilled. It was quiet, which she hated as she sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut before her world started rumbling, hearing man's breathing in the quiet fabric world.

'Mom,' she thought, tears running down her face. 'I'm scared. Help me, please.' When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed. She was still in the dark. Hannah pulled her legs up to her chest and began to sob into them. At this moment she wanted to be with Susan again. At least then she was out in the open with her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remondin climbed into the carriage and sighed as he sat. The farther he got from his sister's home, his anger started wearing off. When he relaxed, though, he felt movement from his pocket and heard something like a muffled sob coming from the girl trapped there. Remondin knew he should pull her out, but he wouldn't face her after what he did, at least not yet. She was probably terrified for her life, especially after seeing him rant at Susan like he did. 

Had Michelle had been pregnant with their child when he left her? Had he left her to raise the girl on her own? If it was true, it wouldn't surprise him if Michelle were angry with him in the beyond. He took a deep breath and stiffened when he felt the girl press into his thigh. 

He could have at least found a better spot for her, but he wasn't thinking rationally when he'd grabbed her. And, the girl was protected from prying eyes until he was ready for reveal her. One question kept edging at him, though. If they did share the same blood, then why was she so small? It was obvious she was human sized, but shouldn't she have changed in the portal if not a few hours afterward. 

Remondin didn't know how long she'd been in his world. Maybe the change would come later. He didn't know how anything would affect a human, especially half, since there hadn't been any, in well....ever. She was the first from what he knew of. He would have to look in the archives to see what he could find. Remondin pressed his palm against the slight bulge she made and he felt her stiffen, giving a sobbing gasp. "Dammit," he whispered taking his hand away. 

Would he be able to fix this? Now that Michelle was gone was he going to have to be her parent now? Was he ready? Did he know how to be a father? He'd never even thought of having children, at least not yet. Remondin was hoping to have Michelle with him when they adopted their heir. He never thought they would be able to have a child. But, he would fix this the best he could. 

 For the rest of the ride he was silent, each tiny sob he heard ripping at his heart, but he had to ignore them. It was too dangerous to pull her out in the event she started screaming again. He couldn't have someone come running, or his driver coming to see what the problem was. 

They had to get back to the palace as quickly as possible where he would be behind closed doors and have time alone with her. It then came to him he didn't even know the girl's name. He would ask her when she calmed. For now, he would try and enjoy the ride and think. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After some time the bumps and rumbling stopped and Hannah lifted her head from her knees. What was happening? The sudden movement loosened the fabric around her, causing her to fall with a small yell, gasping when she hit the bottom of the man's pocket. 

Again she was bumped against his thigh with each step he took, but it seemed quicker this time, more bumpy. She gripped the fabric tightly with two hands to keep from being tossed around, afraid she was going to throw up. Her world, which had been so silent was suddenly filled with the noise of voices and movement of people. 

Hannah curled into a ball to become even tinier, afraid of those voices she heard, because that meant more giants. Pressure came from nowhere as the man pressed his hand against her again as he did before, as if to offer comfort. But what comfort was there in this strange new world where she found out her father is a giant? 

Her father...the man she'd always wanted to meet. At that thought her shivering lessened a bit. This man was her only protection and that calmed and terrified her at the same time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remondin was aware of the staff around him, but he didn't have time to greet them as he normally would. And they sensed he was in a bit of a mood from the way they scurried out of his way, pausing their work just to bow. He hated being that way, since he normally had a familial feel with his staff. But possibly his true family lay under his hand, protected in his pocket. 

He felt her move and that made him walk quicker, pressing his hand a little tighter around her. He imagined this wasn't the best position for her with his erratic movements. Remondin made his way toward the stairs and slowed a moment, thinking the best way to tackle them. There was no easy way, and with no way to warn or apologize to her, he simply hurried up, making sure to keep a tight grip on her so she wouldn't be bounced around too much. 

 Finally he made it to his room and all but slammed the doors shut, locking them behind him. He took a moment to catch his breath, leaning against the doors. The girl moved again as if to signal she wanted to be brought out. Remondin had to do it sooner or later. So taking another deep breath, he reached into his pocket.

[a-mad-scientist-approaches]

The Cipher Conspiracy (7)

Phase 1: Collection Phase 2: Construction (this one!)

There's a bit of a time jump in this one, so if you find yourself wondering, "Wait, what's Stan doing here?" then that's your answer. It's only, like, a day, so don't freak out. This will only make sense after you finish reading the chapter, but, when we get to Ford's perspective right at the end, it's like we're going back in time a day to see what happened to him when the bros parted ways. Before that, it’s focused on what happened with the others. Things are going to be slightly out of sync until Chapter 9. :)

Adeline Marks is @hntrgurl13‘s OC, and I love her. So much. Honestly.

The Addiford ship belongs to @scipunk63 (not much of that in this one, sorry!)

Madeline McGucket a fun character from @missinspi.

AO3  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14

Chapter 7: A Dream Come True

Chicago, Illinois (USA)    ∆

No matter what Ford did, he could not seem to move fast enough. It was the ice on the road, the people in the way, the very air in front of him that slowed him down. Something unspeakable was happening to his brother, he could practically feel it, and if Addi was with him . . .

He and Fiddleford burst into the bar, barrelling past the doorman like he was non-existent. They stopped.

Too slow, too slow!

Back room. Ford saw it instantly.

Move!

People blocked his path. Drawing his gun solved that problem.

Faster!

His ears were roaring and he did not think it was all to do with the blood rushing through his veins. The look on his face cleared the crowd quicker than his weapon. Ten steps to the door, five, zero, Fiddleford slammed it open before him, two men, backs exposed, blocking the view beyond, God help them if either of their captives were hurt, strike that, not taking any chances. Or prisoners.

He fired two silent gunshots and he saw the bodies fall to the floor. There was no need to worry about them anymore, so they dissipated. The only important thing was that Stan and Addi were safe now –

On the floor. Shape on the floor. Lying.

Blood on his shoes.

He was too late.

There was already a round little hole in Stan’s head, and his skin was cold, so cold, colder than the outside air. Red trickled down his face, pooled on the floor, lapped against Ford’s knees as he fell, fisting his hands into his brother’s shirt and yelling into his chest while that same muted sensation continued to crash down, muffling everything.

There was another bloodless hand lying next to Stan’s – smaller. Addi’s. The hair splayed underneath her elbow was matted with darkness. He could not bear to look any further and reached out to touch her.

Footsteps. He looked up. Bill stood above him, looking viciously delighted at the shining memory gun in his hand.

“ALRIGHT SIXER, LET’S GET TO WORK!”

Everything flashed yellow.

∆

It was an hour past midnight. Stan really shouldn’t be awake. On the other hand, it wasn’t like he was going to get to sleep anyway, so he might as well do something productive.

The apartment lights cast a soft glow on the scene. He had been rooting carefully through Ford’s bags, looking for some evidence of whatever all these machines and materials were going to be used for. It wasn’t like he could stop Ford: they were at the end of their collaboration, as he would put it. He was just trying to settle his own fears about his brother going back to whatever situation he was in.

“STAN!”

The door on the left side of the entrance hallway banged open, Ford hurtling out in his shirt and boxers, ruffle-haired and wild-eyed, half-asleep. He crashed into the door opposite, knocked frantically for a fraction of a second, then fell through into Stan’s room. There was a moment of silence, then –

“STAN!”

“Whoa, I’m right here bro,” Stan said from the living room, hurriedly shutting a bag full of machinery. He stood and went to see what was wrong.

Ford stumbled out again, letting out a shuddering breath when he saw him.

“Just a dream, just a dream,” he muttered. Stan winced in understanding, patting his brother’s shoulder soothingly. He didn’t think it would be too far out of field to think Russia was no longer part of either of their preferred holiday destinations.

Ford raised both hands to rub his face tiredly. One had a gun in it.

“Okay, whoa, no, let’s get you back to bed.” Stan said, snatching the firearm away as Ford looked at it in bleary confusion. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m not tired,” Ford protested, swaying.

“Load of crap,”

He steered Ford back into his room, the man falling asleep as soon as he flopped on top of the sheets. Good enough, Stan supposed.

His search was getting nowhere. He should head back to his own bed and try to sleep, unlikely as it was to happen. He was turning to go when a shine caught his eye.

That journal of Ford’s was lying on his bedside table, hallway light bouncing off the gold six-fingered hand on the cover. He hesitated before sitting down on the edge of the bed, picking it up, and flipping through. Starting with the most recent entry, he began to translate and read the code inside.

Russia was . . . not ideal. B changed the plans so that S and I would be split up, which was only the start of the problems we would eventually face. Quite apart from anything else, I do not have much time with my brother left before we part ways, and I am feeling now more urgently than ever how every second counts.

I cannot help but feel as though B was wrong to set up the meeting with the Mafia, regardless of how beneficial it was – we did retrieve the filament. Far be it from me to second-guess him, nevertheless, I am unable to say with any sort of confidence that I have complete faith in his wisdom now. On the other hand, I expect that the incident would not have rattled me so badly had I been alone. Alone, I do not stand to lose the people close to me, and nor can anyone be tempted to take them. Perhaps this is why B is so adamant about having solitary operatives.

One of the agents we have encountered on previous missions, F, proved to be a great help in refining the design for the device. Conversely, A and S found themselves in a situation no one should ever have to face. I swear I have never been more scared in my life. I cannot understand why either of them were able to look me in the eye afterwards. After all, I was responsible for what they had to endure. That being said, I am also immensely grateful that they seemed to place not even the slightest blame on me. They deserve a much better friend than myself. Hopefully I will be able to live up to that one day.

The writing continued, detailing the events of the night. Stan didn’t read any further.

“Sixer, you knucklehead . . .” he said softly, shaking his head at Ford’s lightly snoring form.

∆

Chicago DuPage County Airport was busy. An unbelievable amount of people crowded the waiting area.

“Must be winter holidays,” Stan said.

“What?” called Ford.

“I said it must be winter holidays!”

“What?!”

Stan waved a hand, dismissing the comment. They attempted to move further away from the crowds. At this rate, they wouldn’t hear the calls for their flights.

Not flight. Flights. Here was where they parted ways. Stan to California, Ford to Oregon. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen to them after this. Would it be another five years of silence? Longer? Would he never get another postcard in the mail? He could always drive up to Gravity Falls. He knew where Ford lived now. But would Ford want to stay in contact? Would he decide that his work was too important again, or – especially after Russia – would he decide it was too dangerous for anyone else?

A three-tone dial sounded loudly over the speakers. Ford’s flight was boarding.

“I guess this is it,” Ford said, distinctly dispirited.

“Yeah,” Stan said, trying to convince himself that no, his throat was not closing up.

“I’ll, um, have someone get the Stanmobile back to you,”

“Oh yeah! Right.” He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about his car.

A silence bloomed, where neither of them were sure what to say. Ford cleared his throat and frowned at the ground.

“Goodbye, Stan,”

Stan looked at the ceiling. “Seeya rou – I mean, bye, Ford.”

Ford nodded shortly, then spun on his heel and left. Stan sighed. Good one. He looked for somewhere to sit down –

- and Ford crashed into him, hugging him tightly. Stan responded gladly.

“Don’t get too caught up in your work, nerd,” he said thickly.

“I won’t. Would it – would it be okay if I came to see you after it’s finished?”

He did not sniff, he did not just sniff. “Yeah. Yeah that would be – be good,”

With a lot more throat-clearing and gruff pats on the back, they both pulled away and gave each other smiles that were definitely not watery. Then Ford went off to find his plane for real.

Another announcement was made over the speaker.

“-to Sacramento, California has been delayed. Approximate waiting time is thirty hours. The next available flight to Sacramento is in twenty hours. We are not that sorry for the inconvenience. It’s not our flight, after all,”

Unbelievable.

He might as well head back to the hotel, then. Glumly, he realised that this time he’d have to pay for a room himself, since Ford had taken all his money with him. Well, it had only been two flipping weeks without seeing Carla, what was one more day? A damn mess, that’s what.

A jewellery store caught his eye as he passed.

He supposed if he was going to do this, he might as well do it properly.

Manhattan, New York (USA)    ∆

“Agent Marks, come in,”

Addi entered Jheselbraum’s office, still stretching out her muscles after the flight from Atlanta and the drive from LaGuardia. It was very early in the morning, and she was still recovering from the jet lag hanging around after the Russia flight.

“How are you?”

“Happy to be back,” Addi said firmly, approaching the desk and sitting in the chair opposite the director.

Jheselbraum examined her closely. “You don���t look like you slept well,”

From past experience, Addi knew that deflecting the question or outright lying would not do her any favours. Once, Jheselbraum had gone so far as to drive her home herself when she had kept insisting she was fine after a particularly rough mission.

Russia had been a new kind of rough. Things had never gotten that close before. Addi didn’t want to admit it to anyone, even herself, but at the moment fieldwork . . . didn’t seem as fun as it used to. She bet that the most danger the building’s analysts had been in lately was of a stapler fight if someone forgot to unjam the printer.

“We had a couple close calls on this one,” she eventually said, avoiding Jheselbraum’s eyes.

The other woman stood up and walked around to her side, signalling that it wasn’t necessary for Addi to stand. She leaned against the desk and placed her hand lightly on Addi’s shoulder.

“You’re safe now,” she said plainly, “and you’ll have a rest from dangerous missions for a few weeks.”

Her tone brooked no argument, and frankly, Addi wouldn’t have protested anyway.

“Take the rest of the day off,” Jheselbraum added, “have a warm bath, do what you want for a change. Put high-stakes chance games out of your mind.”

Addi started. She hadn’t included Russia in her report or debrief, for the obvious reason that it hadn’t been a sanctioned operation, and the not-so-obvious reason that there were only a few people she was willing to talk about it with – four, to be exact, including the woman in front of her.

“How did you know about that?”

“About what?” Jheselbraum smiled. Then she sat back down behind her desk as Addi took her leave.

San Jose, California (USA)    ∆

“It’s about dang time,” Fiddleford sighed longingly, when he had retrieved his luggage from the baggage claim. He was finally getting to go home. It had been far too long since he’d seen Tate’s drawings stuck on the fridge, heard Madeline singing as she moved around the house, and held them both in his arms as they settled down to watch TV. Just a few more hours, and after that a few more months, and then he wouldn’t have to leave home at all.

His phone rang.

“I sure hope this isn’t Jheselbraum about to tell me Ah can’t go home yet.” He looked at the caller ID. “That ain’t a good sign. Yes ma’am?”

“Agent McGucket, I’m sorry to do this to you, but you can’t go home yet,”

It wasn’t a surprise, but it still chafed. However, it was not like he was going to ignore whatever assignment Jheselbraum had for him; the work they did was important, even if he was tiring of it.

“What is it? And is it at all nearby?”

“Indeed it is. If there was anyone else in the area, I would have asked them, but unfortunately you are the only agent in several organisations who is close,” Jheselbraum said, genuine regret in her voice.

“Aren’t I lucky,”

“Do you recall our FBI contact, Carla McCorkle? I’ve decided it’s time to unite our investigations. I need you to head over there immediately and give her a copy of our findings. She’s at the FBI field office in Sacramento,”

Fiddleford sighed again. Nothing like a few hours driving after a few hours flying.

“You got it,”

“I promise that you’re free to spend a few days off as soon as you’re done. Again, I am so sorry,”

“Thank ya kindly, ma’am,” Fiddleford said with only the barest trace of acerbity, which he simultaneously regretted and did not.

Sacramento, California (USA)    ∆

Carla tried not to feel like she was being watched. It was something she was fighting more and more lately.

There was a spy in the FBI, specifically assigned to her and her work. She couldn’t tell anyone about it, because that would draw their attention. She didn’t know who it was, and she couldn’t investigate, because the spy might find out. Everyone was a suspect. The janitor had surprised her the other day and she’d almost punched him in the face.

When she received a text from Jheselbraum, she breathed more easily than she had in days. With no word from her, no one to confide in, and no one to take her mind off the situation, she’d been feeling extremely cut-off and isolated, not to mention simultaneously anxious and bored. She’d swept her office for bugs four times.

Carla’s fingers were busy tapping a tattoo on the desk until the office phone rang. She scrambled to pick it up.

“Agent McCorkle, there’s someone here to see you. Says his director sent him here for a meeting with you?”

“Send him up!” She tried not to sound too eager.

A minute later, a weary-looking man with glasses and a green suit stepped into her office and closed the door behind him.

“Hi, I’m Senior Special Agent Carla McCorkle,” Carla said, holding out her hand.

“Agent Fiddleford McGucket. Jheselbraum sent me,” Fiddleford said, shaking it.

“Please,” Carla beseeched as they sat, “tell me you have something good. Our case has gone so stale that yesterday Agent Wexler tried to get the Special Agent-in-Charge to tell me to give it up.”

Fiddleford frowned slightly and handed over a thumb drive. “Ah can’t say whether this’ll do ya much good, but it’s worth a try. That there’s everything we’ve managed to collect on the Cipher Wheel,”

Anticipation stirred in her as she took the drive and inserted it into her computer. It contained a single file. Okay, so that’s a little unexpected, but this is the work of an entire agency here. It must be good.

She downloaded the document.

“Symbols?” she said blankly, scrolling through. The document contained pictures of maybe ten symbols, the locations said symbols had been found, and underneath each a detailed report of any unlawful, suspicious or just plain unusual activity in the area at the time it had been discovered.

Fiddleford grimaced. “Yep. Just symbols. Ah expect it doesn’t help much?”

“Oh no, no,” said Carla hurriedly.

“It’s alright if ya say so,”

“No, no, I’m sure it will be . . . of some use . . . maybe. I’ll have to go over what we have again, see if any crop up,”

“Good luck.” Fiddleford said. “We think those symbols are a kind of signature for Cipher Wheel operatives. If they contact someone, this is how they show they’re workin’ for Bill Cipher, or maybe it’s just to show who they are without giving away their names. We’ve only managed to get these from reconstructin’ burned documents. They’re thorough, whoever they are,”

“Tell me about it,” Carla muttered. She ejected the USB and put it safely in a pocket. “I suppose all that’s left now is to-”

The door banged open.

“Hey darl’, guess who’s back!”

Stan practically leapt into the room, motormouth running at full speed. “We are finally in the same place after two weeks and three days, so grab your coat because I’m taking you out-” He spotted Fiddleford and slammed on the figurative brakes, an astonished look on his face. Fiddleford’s mouth dropped open. Carla noticed everything.

Funnily enough, the first question she voiced was not “How do you two know each other?” because something more surprising had occurred to her.

“Did you cut your hair?”

“Uh, yeah,” Stan touched his shortened locks quite vulnerably, looking more like a deer in headlights with every passing moment.

Not only had Stan foregone the mullet, he looked like he was wearing some new clothes, too. He’d really neatened up while he was away.

Wait.

A thrill went through her.

He was back! He was finally back!

“You work for the FBI?” asked Fiddleford finally, looking baffled, but there was a faint grin appearing on his face which showed he was pleased to see Stan. Not enemies then.

“With the FBI,” Carla and Stan corrected at the same time.

“So what were ya doin’ overseas?”

“Actually, I’d quite like to know that as well. And why you two have met,” added Carla.

“Can’t say,” said Stan and Fiddleford quickly.

“Mission secrecy,” elaborated Fiddleford.

Stan addressed the Oracle agent. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s classified,” responded Carla and Fiddleford together. A strange mixture of emotions swirled around inside her. There was irritation and curiosity about what these two had gotten up to overseas, but they were quickly dissipating in an onslaught of sheer joy – she might just refrain from interrogating the men! For a maximum of two hours and thirty minutes!

Fiddleford suppressed a laugh at the way their inquiries were going. “Well, nice ta meet ya, Agent McCorkle, and it was good seein’ ya again, Stan.” He said, getting up to leave. “I doubt this’s the last time, either.”

“At the rate this is going, we’ll probably end up working together,” agreed Stan, shaking Fiddleford’s hand.

The agent went to the door, with a last amazed look in Stan’s direction.

“Oh! Wait!” Carla exclaimed before he could leave, her responsibility to her job shining through despite her excitement to spend some time with Stan. “Don’t you need the FBI’s informa-”

“Lalalala!” said Fiddleford loudly, sticking his fingers in his ears. “NolalalalalaI’mgoin’homelalalalahere’smanumberifyaneeditandonlyifyouneeditmindyoulalala!”

He tossed her a card that was blank except from a phone number in the centre, then hurried away, presumably before anyone could call him back and delay his departure.

“I like him,” Carla decided. Then she vaulted over her desk and flung herself at Stan, wrapping him in her arms and not wanting to let go.

“Whoa!” Stan laughed as he caught her and hugged her tightly. “I’ve missed you,” he mumbled into her hair.

“Missed you too,”

Stan let go. “Do you have work to do?”

Carla’s answer was a frown.

“Well, not anymore! We’re going out!” He grabbed her hand and dragged her out the door, snagging her coat and bag on the way. Carla didn’t complain.

Manhattan, New York (USA)    ∆

Addi could feel tension that she hadn’t even been aware of draining out of her. She was curled up in a blanket, sitting in her pyjamas, watching her favourite movie, and eating snacks. She was free to do what she liked for the first time in a long, long while, and as a result her head was beginning to droop with the peace of it all. She felt completely safe.

The phone seemed to blare into the silence, shocking her out of drowsiness. She tripped over her blanket as she shot off the couch towards the kitchen, stumbling over it and using an athletic manoeuvre to roll when she hit the ground and come up right where the phone was.

“Yes? Hello?” she said through uneven breaths.

“Agent Marks,” said an unfamiliar voice, “these are your superiors,”

Addi was quiet. “You mean . . . as in Jheselbraum’s overseers?”

“Yes,”

“The in-charge people?”

"Yes,”

“The head honchos?”

“Yes,”

“The-”

“Yes. We are contacting you for a very important reason,”

“Why directly? Why not through Jheselbraum? That’s how missions are usually assigned,”

“This is a one-time scenario. Rest assured, it will not happen again. To you, or any of Oracle Division, for that matter. It is for the best that we . . . shake things up. For good,”

Addi decided not to press any of her questions yet. The person on the other end of the line seemed rather preoccupied.

“We are giving you a mission. It is essential that you start immediately,”

The last of Addi’s good mood evaporated. “Understood,” she said, containing her frustration.

“At the FBI field office in Sacramento, an investigation is being undertaken to an unacceptable end. Efforts to derail it have failed.”

“What’s being investigated?”

There was a pause, during which Addi became certain that she was asking questions the other person did not know the answers to. She wondered if the superiors had superiors.

“That is not of your concern,” was the eventual reply. “All you need to know is that drastic action is required. Something that will put all investigations on hold while the case in question is altered to reflect more suitable facts.”

Something was knotting in the pit of Addi’s stomach.

“An assassination,”

“Who?” she managed.

“Start with the Special Agent-in-Charge. The Senior Special Agent leading the investigation may also be necessary if she continues to pursue this. You are expected in Sacramento immediately,”

The only thing able to permeate Addi’s numb mind was the thought that this flight would be a muscle-cramping six hours long. It was only eight in the morning, so plenty of time to get there.

She would be thankful for that, but really it depended on whose perspective it was considered from.

Gravity Falls, Oregon (USA)    ∆

Ford sighed and dumped his bags in his living room. Over two weeks away, and the only thing different about the place was the fine layer of dust covering everything.

Although . . .

Perhaps it was just the strangeness of actually being at home. Yes, it must be. It was bordering on superstitious to think that abiotic surroundings could be imbibed with emotional qualities.

Nevertheless . . .

It did seem to be missing a certain vibrancy he had become accustomed to of late. He surely had not felt this alone when he had left Gravity Falls.

He was torn from his thoughts by the sound of the basement door opening.

“Welcome back, smart guy!” Bill grinned, spreading his arms grandly as he walked into the living room.

“Bill,” Ford greeted, shoving away thoughts about how alike the smile of the man in front of him was to the one he had seen in last night’s dream.

“Got everything we need, I see. Alright Sixer, let’s get to work!”

[upstartpoodle]

The Cornish Way (Chapter 4)

Rating: G

Pairing: George x Elizabeth, Francis x Demelza (background), Caroline x Dwight (background), Verity x Blamey (background)

Summary: The fourth chapter of my coffee shop AU, in which in which Elizabeth takes George to the beach, cream teas are bought and their relationship progresses.

Previous chapter

“Oh very well, you win” Elizabeth sighed at the large oncoming tractor that had been sitting defiantly in the middle of the little lane leading up to Rowantree Farm, waiting for her and the two other cars behind her to give in and back up into the closest passing place so that it could continue on its journey. Though she loved her home county with all her heart, the one thing she had never much liked about it was the inevitable standoffs one always found oneself in should they need to drive along any of the narrow roads that made up a large part of the countryside. She had grown used to it over the years, of course—she had once got stuck behind a fifteen-minute standoff between two overly stubborn tractor drivers, which had been frustrating to say the least—but it didn’t mean that she enjoyed the prospect any more than she had as a nervous young girl learning to drive for the first time. Just that she was better at dealing with it.

She backed carefully into the passing place that she had driven by a little way back, much to the chagrin of the people behind her, who then had to follow suit, and allowed the tractor to trundle slowly past. Even with her own car pressed almost right into the high hedge at the side of the road, it was a tight squeeze, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but wince as it passed by far too close for comfort. Once it was gone, she gingerly manoeuvred the car out of the passing place and back out into the road, hoping that she wouldn’t have to do that again for some time, though she realised all too well that she was being optimistic to the point of wishful thinking on that score. 

She and George had spent a fair amount of the first week of his holiday in each other’s company, having now shared several lunches and pleasant afternoons together. The day before, however, she had suggested that they do something a little different. Now that the summer was here, she was keen to take advantage of the good weather in the time before the kids broke up from school to go down to the beach and paint a few seascapes, and she had asked George if he would like to come with her for the day. He had agreed, and so they had made arrangements for her to pick him up from the farm the next morning.

Well, made arrangements was perhaps not the right phrase, she considered as she turned left into the drive leading up to the farmhouse and cottage, watching in amusement as one of the farm’s sheepdogs came bounding up to the car to greet it. George had protested, not wanting to feel as if he were imposing on her by making her go out of her way to pick him up, but Elizabeth’s greater experience with driving along the narrow lanes of rural Cornwall had effectively settled the matter.

The dog followed her as she pulled into the drive of the holiday cottage beside George’s sleek black car, and as soon as she had stepped out of the door, she was beset by an excitedly barking whirl of hair. She laughed in delight, stroking the collie’s thick, soft fur as its tail wagged frantically and it strained to lick her face.

“Oh I’m sorry, miss! Bessie, down!”

The dog barked in consternation but complied nevertheless, tail still wagging furiously, and Elizabeth glanced up to see a young man who she knew by sight as Jim Carter rushing towards her with an apologetic look on his kind face. He bent down and took hold of the dog, apparently named Bessie, patting her gently on the head.

“Sorry about that, miss,” he said again. “Bessie’s super friendly but she wants to say hello to everyone she meets. She can give some people a bit of a fright.”

“Oh it’s alright—I don’t mind,” laughed Elizabeth. She adored all animals but she loved dogs especially—she had always wanted a dog as a child but her mother hadn’t wanted a puppy messing up her nice clean house. “Can I?”

“Oh, of course” said Jim, and Elizabeth reached out to scratch Bessie behind the ear. She was a lovely dog—all bright blue eyes and fine, soft fur patched with black and white.

“Aren’t you beautiful? Yes, yes you are!”

“Having fun there?”

Elizabeth jumped at the sound of the voice and turned around to see George standing in the open doorway of the cottage, leaning casually against the frame with a soft, affectionate smile on his face. He was looking very handsome, she noticed, dressed in a pair of thin, dark jeans, a crisp white shirt and a tan jacket which nicely complemented his neat blond hair. Her eyes couldn’t help but travel up and down his form, coming to rest on the long line of his throat where it was exposed by the open collar of his shirt, and she blushed slightly.

“Oh yes,” she replied with a teasing grin. “I think I’ll just take Bessie to the beach instead.”

Both George and Jim chuckled at that.

“Usurped by a dog—oof!”

Elizabeth burst out laughing. Bessie, having just spotted George, had chosen that exact moment to turn her enthusiasm on him, and had practically tried to leap into his arms.

They set of awhile afterwards, the car followed all the way down the drive by a disappointed Bessie and a slightly harassed-looking Jim, who managed to catch her just before she left the farm entirely. Luckily, no more tractors appeared to force them back into any passing places, and from there on the journey went fairly smoothly.

“Where exactly did you have in mind?” George asked curiously as thy turned onto a main road, heading south, and it occurred to Elizabeth that, though she had suggested a trip to the beach, she hadn’t specified which one.

“I was thinking Nampara Cove,” she said, tapping out a soft rhythm on the steering wheel as she drove. “Not a lot of people go there since it’s not too easy to get to compared to some of the larger beaches, so it’s always pretty quiet. I thought we could have a picnic.”

“You can go to Nampara Cove now?,” replied George with a slight frown. “I thought it was Poldark land.”

“Oh it was. Ross sold it all when he moved to America so it’s all public access now. People tend to go to Hendrawna for their days out though since it’s bigger.”

“And because it’s easier to get to?,” said George, and she noticed there was a hint of apprehension in his tone as he spoke. “How difficult is Nampara Cove to get down to?”

“Oh not very difficult really,” replied Elizabeth airily, keen to put his worries at rest. “The path down from the cliffs is just a bit steep and rough in some places. It’s not a problem unless you’ve got a pushchair or a wheelchair, but a lot of people don’t want the bother of getting down there and then back up again when they could go to somewhere that’s a bit quicker to get to. And besides, Hendrawna’s closer to the teashop so people tend to gather there in hordes.”

“There’s a teashop?”

“Oh yes. They do cream teas there, and earl grey as well, so that should keep you happy!”

George chuckled. He had confessed to her after lunch in the coffee shop in Truro that he had always been more of a tea drinker himself, at which point she had correctly guessed his favourite blend on the first attempt. She had been insisting that she’d make sure he’d get his cup of earl grey at some point in the holiday ever since.

“I’m sure I shan’t need tea for that” he said with a gentle, sincere smile, and Elizabeth ducked her head slightly to disguise the shy grin that was beginning to creep over her features.

A short while later, they pulled into the little carpark beside the viewing point on the clifftops above Nampara Cove. It was a glorious day, the sun bright, the sky cloudless and the sea below a deep, rich blue. As Elizabeth stepped out of the car, she took in a deep breath of fresh, salty air, the wind whipping through her curls, carrying the calls of seabirds up from the rocks beneath them to the cliff path. George followed suit, glancing around him, eyes squinted against the glare of the sun.

“Could you carry the picnic stuff?,” she called to him, moving to open the boot of her car. “I need to get my equipment.”

“Your equipment?”

“Yes, my climbing equipment,” Elizabeth couldn’t quite resist teasing him as he followed her to the back of the car. “I lied about the path. We’re going to have to abseil down.”

George let out a soft huff of laughter as she pulled the boot open, handing him the hamper and blankets.

“No, I meant my easel and stuff,” she said, taking out the item in question and tucking it under her arm. “It’s not a very big one but it’s a bit awkward to carry when I’ve got a lot of other stuff.”

They headed carefully down the cliff path, Elizabeth leading at the front and George cautiously picking his way over the gritty, rocky ground behind her. Eventually, they reached the beach itself—a long, curved, sheltered strip of land which was, to her surprise, completely abandoned save for themselves. Elizabeth smiled as she stepped onto the soft yellow sand at the beach’s edge, turning back to watch as George joined her. His usually neat hair had been ruffled by the wind on the way down and was sticking up in all directions. His cheeks flushed with a soft pink and his blue eyes bright, she thought the look suited him very well.

At Elizabeth’s direction, he laid out the picnic blanket on a dry patch of sand in the middle of the beach and they both sat down, enjoying the gentle, cool breeze now that they were sheltered by the cliffs and the soft lull of the waves lapping gently against wet sand. Once they were settled, they dived straight into the picnic, enjoying the food that Elizabeth had prepared, laughing and chatting about nothing in particular. Then, once that was finished, Elizabeth set up her easel and paints, taking out a sheet of watercolour paper and sticking it methodically to the board with masking tape, and began to sketch out a rough outline of the view before her.

“You’re very quiet” she commented after a while, just as she was beginning to mix up a soft, light blue for the sky on her palette.

“Oh, I thought you’d want to concentrate on the painting,” she heard George reply from beside her, and she turned to look at him where he was laying on his side, head propped up on his hand and watching her mix her colours with interest. “Do you…?”

“Oh, I do these all the time,” Elizabeth replied with a nonchalant shrug, moving to apply the colour to the paper she had coated with water just moments beforehand. With a long, broad stroke, she watched in satisfaction as the colour bled freely from the brush and across the page. “They’re just quick little things so I’m fine talking and painting at the same time.”

Her practised hand filled in the sky quickly and easily, and she mixed a newer, darker shade on the palette, replacing her large, square-headed brush with a small, thin, pointed one to add some darker highlights to the edges.

“So, do you sell all of these?” George asked, his eyes following the process as she dabbed off some of the excess water with a tissue to create a slight mottling effect.

“Yes, usually,” she replied. “You can actually make a fair bit of money on things like this if you’re smart enough about it. I’ve got an online shop where I sell all my prints so I get money from them there, but there’s a big market for art cards and postcards and all those sorts of things, especially in somewhere like Cornwall during the big tourist seasons, so I can often get them sold in those forms in visitor centres and places like that as souvenirs. Tourists like that—Cornish places painted by Cornish artists and all that. And of course that helps promote my art as well, so it becomes more visible for anyone who might want to request a big commission.”

George nodded thoughtfully, his eyes following her brushstrokes as she moved onto the beach at the bottom of the picture, filling in the space with a soft ochre.

“And do you always use these kinds of paints for them or…?”

“Oh, yes I tend to use watercolours when I’m out and about,” Elizabeth replied, blending in a soft blue grey into the point where the sand met the sea. “You don’t really need a lot of extra stuff like you do with oils and they’re easier to get off than acrylics so they’re quite easy to bring with me to places like this—and they dry pretty quickly as well so that’s a bonus. They’re my favourite medium to take about with me if I want a colour picture. I mean, I suppose you can get stuff like watercolour pencils and markers and everything now and they’re very easy to carry around with you but I’ve tried them and they’re just not the same.”

“Really? How come?”

She paused to think about how to word her answer, her brush now picking out patterns as she drew long, undulating strokes along the paper, filling in the shimmering blue of the waves. The paint bled, leaving feathery little lines in the white of the blank spaces, but she did nothing to stop them, allowing them to create the effect of the frothing white heads of the waves as they rolled in over the sand.

“I think it’s to do with how you apply them on the canvas,” she said pensively, adding a darker blue to the edges of the shapes created by the larger brush, highlighting the white. “You usually add the water afterwards with pencils or markers, but even if you put the water on first and then draw over it, you’ve still got more control over the shapes you’re making. When you paint with watercolours rather than draw with them, you need a lot of water to get the right colours and consistency so they really flow and spread and blend on the page, and because of that they sort of create patterns and shapes on their own. You really have to work alongside the paints rather than just using them, if you see what I mean, and, well, I guess that some artists don’t like that so much but it’s always been something that appeals to me.”

She cut herself off, her cheeks reddening slightly as she realised just how much she was yammering on about something he probably wasn’t very interested in. When she turned to look at him, however, he was wearing an expression of open fascination on his face, his bright blue eyes alert and curious. All of a sudden, her attention was pulled away from the painting entirely, and all she could focus on was him—the soft look in his eyes, the way the light played across his skin, the stray lock of hair that had fallen across his brow, unsettled by the wind. Before she could stop herself, she had reached out and brushed it away from his face, fingertips ghosting over the soft strands and trailing down over the arch of his cheekbone. He stilled at the touch, his eyes wide, but he did not pull away.

“Your painting will dry out” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse.

“It’s nothing I can’t fix” murmured Elizabeth, and with that, she leaned down and kissed him.

His lips were soft as they parted underneath her own in a quiet gasp. It didn’t take long for him to respond, however, the hand that wasn’t propping himself up coming up to cup the back of her neck. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt his fingertips stroke gently along the sensitive skin below her hairline, and she shifted closer to him, eyelids fluttering closed. Her own hand moved to cradle his cheek, her thumb stroking a soothing rhythm over the smooth skin, and he sighed into her mouth as she slipped her fingers into his soft hair, titling his head back and pressing herself flush against him.

Eventually, they both had to come up for air, and they broke apart, breathing heavily. George glanced up at her through his long lashes, lips parted, suddenly shy. His cheeks were dusted with pink, gaze soft and a little dazed and, with an affectionate smile creeping over her face, she couldn’t help but lean down and kiss him again, all else forgotten in favour of the feel of his silky hair and soft skin and his lips moving gently against hers.

As it turned out, George had been quite correct in predicting that her painting would dry out—not that that surprised her. It was hardly a disaster, however, and she managed to complete it well enough, filling in the highlights and shadows and details, and finally painting in two little dark blue figures along the shoreline in the distance once the rest of it had finished drying. Turning back to George as she peeled the masking tape from the edges of the paper and pulled it away from the easel, she noticed that she noticed that the fascination on his face had returned, coupled by a look which could only be described as admiration.

“I don’t understand how you can do that,” he confessed upon seeing her questioning look. “How you can go from nothing to something like that in such a short space of time.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but beam at the praise. It was always nice to hear her work complimented, of course, but coming from him it just sounded so sincere and genuine that she couldn’t be anything but delighted by it.

“Would you like to have a go?”

George huffed in amusement, raising an incredulous eyebrow at her.

“Well, if you want me to waste your paper,” he said wryly. “I’m afraid I’ve never had much of an artistic touch.”

Elizabeth tutted.

“I’m sure you underestimate yourself,” she replied, moving over to allow him to sit in front of the easel. “And besides, it’s never too late to learn. Here, I’ll show you.”

It turned out that, though it was clear that fine art didn’t come particularly naturally to him, George was not nearly as bad as artist as he thought himself to be. He had a good eye for detail and colour, even if he lacked the knowledge and experience to express them on paper. He did struggle a little with the blending and the larger, broader strokes, although she suspected tat had something to do with the arm she had wound around his waist, pressing close against his back as she reached over to gently guide his hand over the page. Both their efforts began to deteriorate from there, distracted from the painting in favour of pressing soft little kisses to each other’s lips, nestled close against one another, and were abandoned entirely when, with Elizabeth laughing into the skin of his neck, George threw up his hands and painted two large stickmen over the half-finished image.

“Well I’m not sure how successful that was” he chuckled, leaning back against her as she tightened her arms around him.

“Oh I don’t know,” said Elizabeth with a grin, pressing a soft, whispering kiss to his temple. “I thought it worked out quite well for both of us.”

“Well now for the moment of truth. Will it be jam first or cream?”

“I would never commit such Devonian heresy.”

Elizabeth laughed into her teacup at George’s wry reply, watching as he very pointedly spread a neat layer of jam over each half of his scone, followed by the cream. After a little while spent curled up on the beach, enjoying the sun and the sand and the feel of their bodies pressed against one another, they had decided to walk up to the teashop along from Hendrawna Beach and buy some cream teas. George had insisted that he pay, pointing out that it was only fair as she had both driven them there and provided the picnic and, unable to come up with a suitable argument to contradict him, she had given in and let him. Now they were sat at one of the small wooden tables in the outside seating area, under the shade of a large parasol, with two large, fruity scones each and a pot of earl grey shared between them, a cool breeze from the sea carrying the chatter of sunbathers up from the beach.

“Well that’s a good job,” she said with a soft chuckle. “You might have been dragged right back over the Tamar if you’d been spotted doing things the Devon way.”

“Heaven forbid.”

Elizabeth grinned at him, applying the jam and cream to her own scones in suitably Cornish fashion and watching as he poured himself some tea, adding a dash of milk to the cup and swirling it into the mix with his spoon. He suddenly looked a little shy, she couldn’t help but notice, and she wondered why.

“Thank you for today,” he said quietly. “I had a lovely time and…well…I don’t think I would have enjoyed this holiday nearly so much if we hadn’t met.”

Elizabeth felt a pleasant warmth in her chest at his words, her smile soft and gentle as she reached out and took his hand in hers, her thumb stroking rhythmically over his knuckles.

“I’m glad that we met too.”

He ducked his head shyly, a smile of his own curving on his lips. She couldn’t help but find the action rather endearing, and she squeezed his hand affectionately before she withdrew, picking up her teacup and lifting it into the air.

“To the Cornish way” she said with a glint of mischief in her eye.

George laughed lightly, lifting up his own cup so that its rim touched hers with a soft clink.

“The Cornish way.”

Next chapter: Elizabeth visits the holiday cottage for dinner, and she and George take the next stage in their relationship.

[avalindin]

Tales of the Naughty Sugarplums

Tale 7: Home

_____

Previous Chapters: Hiddleston | McAvoy | Adam | Bruce | Fassbender | Hardy

_____

“Careful that’s hot!”

Your hands add to the many that fly across the kitchen to bring dinner together. With all the excitement and Steve coming back from mission, the house was filled to the brim with more Christmas spirit than you could stand, not that you minded.

Last year was the year that Steve first met the family and now that he was practically one of the real family, this year was going to be a breeze.

“Alright everyone! The turkey is out!”

“Thanks, Daddy. Half hour?”

“Enough time to get the pies in.”

“Ew. Open it first and let it air out. Mommy?”

“I’ll round up the kids.”

Your mom is able to get the kids to the bathroom to wash up before the big dinner. You want to look at your phone when it chimes, thinking Steve will be late but you need to make sure. All the kids behaved the entire evening just to see him.

Where are the kids?

The downstairs bathroom, you text.

Fifteen seconds. Merry Christmas.

You ran to the other side of the house.

“Guys! Everyone, quiet!”

You shut off the water and smile at the instant gleam in the small sea of young eyes as a thump is heard on the roof.

“Santa,” asked the youngest.

“Better,” you smile, “It’s Steve.”

All the children are about to scream when a knock came from the back door. You dad opens it as Steve stands in his uniform for the kids to see. They all scream and run with little arms open as Steve puts his hands out.

“Wait! Wait! Are we all cleaned up?”

The kids turn and thunder back for the small bathroom and Steve quickly disappears up the back steps. Your dad shuts the cold away and laughs.

“Looks like it’s gonna be another good year, sweetie. Maybe more.”

“Stop pressing, Daddy. Just get everyone rounded up.”

You take your time going up the back way to upstairs and to the guest room of your parent’s home. You were more than glad knowing that Steve make it for dinner.

“Steve?”

You are able to open the door part of the way as his hand pulls you in from the hall and your feet and into his clean bare arms. You yelp as he catches you and presses you against the wall. His lips cut you off before you can call his name again.

“Steve! You’re wet!”

You break away from him as he runs his fingers through his blond hair with a grin to his unmarked face.

“Sorry. I just missed you.”

He grabs your belt and pulls you forward to him as he is over you again.

“Steve,” you giggle as his beard chin tickles your neck, “What has gotten into you?”

He stops and presses you to the wall again, this time everything he does, he does slower.

He presses himself into you, his hips to yours. His fingers grab at your bottom and play with the hem of your dress. He deepens his kisses, knowing he is so close to ripping your clothes off. You wrap your finger around his chin and force him to look you in the eye.

“You changed your mind?”

“You could say that.”

He takes your hand and presses a kiss to your palm. He leads it down to the front of his towel and molds your whole hand to what is waiting.

At the beginning of your relationship with Steve, you were both honest about everything. Whatever happened, you both knew it wasn’t to be black and white. You were thankful that he came back at all, especially to you. You respected he wasn’t exactly as carnal as you and in return, you promised to wait until he was ready.

Now with him slowly humping at your hand and his teeth grazing your neck, you weren’t sure if your were ready. Odds are you would but you didn’t want to keep your family down stairs waiting.

“No!”

You dash into the safety of the hallway where you hear everyone down stairs.

“Shit. I’m sorry...”

“I don’t mean that. I mean get dressed and get downstairs before you have a heart attack, old man.”

He braces the bedroom door.

“Can I at least have a kiss?”

“And spur you more? No, thank you.”

“Tease.”

“Prude.”

“Hey,” he whispers, “I love you.”

He grabs your hand and leaves a kiss.

“I know.”

He lets you go and you make it down stairs just in time to see the turkey be set on the table.

“Everyone ready?”

“I know I am.”

Everyone turn and smiles at Steve dressed and downstairs in record time. He kisses your cheek and greets all the kids that had been waiting all night to see him. You turn to let him greet the rest of the family but there is a familiar tug at your wrist.

“Where are you going?”

“Dinner,” you nod as the delicious smell of the turkey starts to annoy you.

“It’ll still be there.”

“And you won’t?”

“Not if you don’t want me too.”

You are stunned in place as he reaches into his pocket and slowly gets down on his knee.

“Marry me?”

“Oh, shit.”

You cover your mouth in a hurry but surely the excited laughter from your parents was able to shield it from the little ones. Your heart feels like it is about to burst from your chest.

“Yes.”

You are too happy to cry as Steve slides the engagement ring on your finger. Your arms wrap around him before he can get up from the carpet but he lifts the both of you anyway. When you are on your feet, you breakaway from him and swat at his shoulder.

“Proposing on Christmas is a dick move, Steve.”

He shields himself and laughs.

“I have another assignment and I wanted to try and make it special for you.”

You hide your blushing face and everyone shuffles to the table for the hot holiday meal waiting.

-

You shake off the snow on your boots.

“Holy shit, it’s cold.”

“I’ve been in colder.”

Steve pushes the door shut and follows you up the stairs. You are the first in the apartment and crank up the heat. You figure the quicker you move the fast you’ll heat up and the more time you’ll have before Steve pounces on your but really, it was your own wicked fault.

There was so much excitement around the dining room table. The food that delicious. Your whole family was together and happy for you and Steve. You were too happy but Steve was a little bit more than you.

Out the corner of your eye, you kept getting the same eye from him like when he had you against the wall upstairs. A little into dinner with everyone’s eyes busy, you reach under the table and slowly grabbed the front of Steve’s legs. Your eye was able to catch the stiffenedness of his figners arouns his fork.

He only cleared his throat and widened his leg for you to continue. You only gave him a firmer squeeze and carried on with your own dinner.

“Really,” he whispered only for you to hear.

You smiled and know you were gonna regret it.

No, you weren’t.

You stuff the leftovers from dinner into the fridge and work your way out of your coat. You expect Steve to be there but you can hear him in your bedroom shuffling around.

“Steve?”

“Busy!”

You are concerned as you walk the hall for your room and see Steve leave from the bathroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Come see.”

“I’m gonna slap you if I see a sex swing.”

You stop as he see Steve in the middle of the room with several drawers open as well as your closet.

“Ta-da!”

“I don’t get it.”

“Look closer.”

“I don...”

When your do look closer, you see Steve’s thing next to yours; clothes, some shoes and other things crammed in the dresser.

“I will be busy but I will make sure I have time for you.”

“You could have just moved in yourself. I didn’t need a spectacle.”

“Well,” he hooked his finger into your belt as he did earlier, “We don’t have to do a wedding so quickly.”

“We don’t.”

“And I’ve looked into a few places but nothing is ready for the next few months. So between jobs and everything else, we’ll just have each other.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“I knew you would. Come here.”

Steve pulls you to him and doesn’t kiss you not at first. He holds you, something he hasn’t done in a long time. Your arms wrap around his waist and you try not to ruin the moment. You turn your head just to tease him a little. You leave a kiss to his neck and you can feel the small chuckle from his throat.

His hand slowly moves down your back to rest on your rear. He grabs you, only to feel you. He takes his time to hold that part of you.

“Are you really ready, Steve? Don’t say it because you can’t get yourself down.”

“I could if I was but I want this. Do you?”

“Yeah. I just want to make sure your comfortable.”

He takes your hand to the front of his pants again and you swear that it was harder than it was eariler. He slips your fingers into his pocket, feeling the foiled edge of a condom.

“I am.”

He pulls you to the bed and sits on the edge, just waiting for you. You climb his lap and nearly lose it. You accidentally lunge forward and attack his lips but he is more than ready. You grind into him and are surprised to feel your fingers jerking at his clothes.

“Sorry,” you whisper as you fingers rip the foil.

“Don’t be. Come here.”

He places his hand at your back and keeps you in place as his hips grind in between your legs. His lips kiss at your neck, his teeth digging in just below your jaw, a place he knew could make you melt. His other hand reached for the back zip of your dress and pulled it down in one try. You didn’t notice the straps he pulled down your shoulder because of the look on his face at how quickly his lips stopped, gasping from the grip of your fingers to him.

“Shit...”

“You know you should really watch your language, Captain.”

With the flick of your wrist, you let go and pulled down the zipper to his pants. Steve braced the bed behind him. You nearly crash into him as he steadies himself under you.

“How can I when I’m in such good hands?”

“I may need to let you go for just a second.”

“I’m not sure if I can control myself if you do.”

“Trust me.”

You slowly let go and back away a few inches to see the redness of lust in his face. He watches you as you collect the hem of your dress in your fingers and pull it up your body. He does the same with his own shirt. The both of your kick off your shoes. You are able to stop his hand before he reaches his pants.

“Like I said, Captain. Trust me.”

With the tips of your fingers, you push the pants down his hips and keep your eyes locked to his to keep him from looking down.

Steve grins.

“I always will.”

He leaves kisses to the edge of your skin. His hand wanders between your legs and the firm press to your sex nearly makes your knees buckle. Nerves strike you as his fingers hook into the sides of your panties. The feel of the fabric down your legs leaves them cold as you two are finally naked in front of one another for the first time.

His hands grab hold of you and pull you back to his naked lap. A peek down to see how hard he is for you and you can feel the nerves vanish at the chuckle in his throat. One of your hands hold him up and the other rolls the condom on in one try.

Your lips press to his.

“We’re gonna take this slow.”

“Why,” he moans.

You don’t answer. You only take your time and watch the look on his face as you slowly sink down on his lap. His fingers curl into your skin. You spread your legs further on his lap. Steve reclines to the bed, experiencing each small shift of your hips and you know if you weren’t as used to sex as you already were, you’d be reacting the same as he was.

You are slow to lean over him, your lips just touching the shell of his ear.

“Because I want to give you what you’ve wanted,” you whisper, “Merry Christmas, Steve.”

You brace his chest and grind slowly, to give Steve some fighting chance to feel you. His hands form at your hips and his legs shift behind you. He plants his feet into the mattress. As he begins to works his hips up into you, you feel a wonderful stretch from him. Each shift, each grip of his fingers, you know he’s all yours.

In a moment you almost don’t realize, Steve holds you to him and puts you in his place on the bed. The movement surprises you as Steve smiles down to you.

“After all this time, I think I should give you what you’ve wanted,” he grins with a wank.

He shifts his hips into you and the moans falling from your lips make you want so much more. The feel of him on top of you, fucking you into the mattress makes you feel so close. Your nails dig into him a bit harder because his skin won’t break so easily. You gasp, giving in as your legs drift further apart.

You can feel his hips grinding into you, pressing to your clit as the sensation leaves chills. He presses his thumb to you and you feel your whole body stiffen. You hold onto Steve and let yourself go.

“Fuck...”

He groans into your ear and the hand at your hip hurts you. You dig your teeth into your lips a little. Steve stops, panting as his breath coats the side of your neck. You smile into his shoulder as enough time goes by.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” you giggle, “I didn’t want to overwhelm you for your first time.”

“How did I do?”

“Really? You did very good.”

“I don’t think I like those results. I want to try again.”

“Hold on, Cowboy. Just take it slow.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

He only pulls his hips back and peels off the condom, able to aim for the trash bin near the wall without look.

“Show-off.”

Steve pulls the blanket from the foot of the bed to the both of your waists.

“I know. That’s why you love me.”

“I knew there was a reason why.”

He kisses your hand, so close to the engagement ring. He brings it to his waist and wraps his arms around you, holding you as you squeeze him as tightly as you can. You close your eyes and hold him, taking in everything and every moment that you can hold onto.

[buzzedbabe]

Before I Dive... Chapter 15

Hello lovelies. Yes, I’m finally updating. I have been writing for future chapters so hopefully things will move along a bit quicker. I would like to thank @mrsharington​ for help with the Spanish in this chapter and upcoming chapters. 

*****ALERT***** More smut in this chapter. Still no sex but we’re upping the ante a bit more in Amy and Richard’s relationship. 

“Rich. Rich! Richard!”

Richard sighed as he turned around, seeing Amy about 100 yards behind him. He started back towards her.

“Would you slow down?” she asked when they met up. “I can’t keep up.”

“I’m moving at a perfectly normal pace,” he grumbled.

“You also have a good 8 inches on me, probably all in your legs. I thought we were supposed to be doing this together,” Amy said, digging in her bag while they were stopped.

“I just feel like I’m going to get recognized,” he whispered, scratching his cheek as he glanced around.

Amy smiled gently at him, pulling off her Cubs hat and plunking it on his head. She took off his sunglasses and switched them for hers. He laughed when she slid his aviators on her face, the lenses going halfway down her cheeks. She pulled what looked like a small deodorant stick out of her bag and took off the cap, bringing it to his face.

“What is that?” he asked, pulling back.

Her hand grabbed his chin to hold him still.

“It’s a sunscreen stick, silly. I don’t want your pretty cheeks getting sunburned,” she said, rubbing the stick on his newly bared face before massaging it in with her fingers. She then put sunscreen on her face before sticking it back in her bag. He reached up to rub her face, taking back his sunglasses and replacing hers. She adjusted her ponytail before taking his hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just wanted to show this place to you, and I’d hate to be recognized right now.”

“It’s okay. I’m just more concerned about keeping up with you,” Amy said as they started their hike again. “I’ll just have to keep a hold on you.”

He smiled down at her, reaching up to adjust the baseball hat.

“So where are we again?” she asked, pulling down the hem of her green cargo shorts.

“The Storr,” he explained. “Part of Trotternish ridge. We’re going up to see the Old Man.”

“There’s an old man up there? Like a guru or something?”

Richard chuckled. “It’s a rock formation called the Old Man of Storr. Not an actual old man. Though there might be old men up there, seeing as we’re not the only tourists. I might be one of them if we don't get moving.”

“Do you have a phone book that you could read me?” she sighed dreamily, leaning her head on his arm, making him laugh. “The longer we’re here, the better your accent gets.”

“Is that all I’m here for?” he teased.

“Well, it is nice to have someone tall around…Richard!” she giggled before he slung her over his shoulder. “Put me down, you brute!”

“Nope. We’ll make it to the top much quicker this way,” he said, starting along the path. He had to stop when she started kicking her legs. “Okay, stop kicking. I’ll put you down.”

Amy’s legs came to a stop, so he bent over, placing her feet on the ground. She smacked his chest playfully before pulling down her shirt. She turned and started walking away, so Richard took two steps to catch up with her, taking her hand in his.

They made their way to the top in comfortable silence, Richard keeping Amy’s pace instead of setting his own. He’d tried to time it so they’d reach the top just as the sun was beginning to set.

“There is nothing like this in Illinois,” Amy said as she looked around as they ascended, even turning around every so often. “Absolutely nothing. It’s flat, only corn and beans for miles.

“But I’m sure that even has its own kind of beauty,” Richard said, knowing they were getting close to the top.

“It does. But it doesn’t even come close to...Oh. My.”

(credit: melvinnicholsonphotography)

Amy had turned around as they reached the top, taking in the setting sun reflecting off the water, dying the landscape dark blues and pinks. He smiled as she stared, slack-jawed, reaching up to push her sunglasses to the top of her head. When she sat down suddenly, he crouched down in front of her, whipping off his sunglasses.

“Are you okay?” he asked, cupping her chin. He brushed away the tears rolling down her cheeks. “What's wrong? Amy, talk to me.”

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. “Oh, Richard.”

She grabbed his arm, pulling him into a sitting position next to her. He turned, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her into his lap. He felt her relax against him, her head resting on his shoulder. He rested his cheek against the side of her head.

“I think I changed my mind about moving here,” she whispered, making him chuckle. “I could very easily make this home.”

“Illinois can’t be that bad,” he said, kissing her head.

“It’s like comparing kid's finger painting to a Monet,” she said. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”

He laughed again, squeezing her. She glanced up at him, the light playing off the angles of his face. His eyes flicked down at her for a second.

“Do I have something on my face?” he asked.

“No, just enjoying all of the Scottish beauty,” she giggled, turning back to the sunset.

They sat watching the sunset for a few more moments before Amy felt Richard move. She turned to look at him.

“We best start down. Otherwise, we’ll be using our phones for flashlights,” he said, helping her stand.

She held out her hand to give him balance as he stood up. They turned and looked out over the water again for a moment and he felt Amy’s arms wrap around his waist.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“So did I change your mind about hiking being romantic?”

“Hiking, no. Sunsets in Scotland, yes.”

Amy squealed as she took off running from Richard after he tried to tickle her.

A few days later, Amy moaned, drawing the blankets over her head when Richard opened the drapes. She felt the bed sink next to her, gentle fingers peeling back the quilt. She smacked at the hands invading her darkness, hearing Richard chuckle. He finally won out, exposing her upper body.

“We need to get moving,” he whispered, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

“Coffee,” she muttered, keeping her eyes closed.

“No good morning kiss?” he teased.

She shoved his face away, trying to reach for the blankets.

“Coffee,” she whined when he pulled the blankets to the end of the bed.

She rolled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom when she heard him messing with the coffeemaker. He shook his head, chuckling.

“Is the whiskey not agreeing with you? Do you have a hangover?” he asked when she came out dressed. He handed her a cup of coffee and watched as she plopped in a chair by the window. He sat down next to her, rubbing her knee. “So our flight leaves at…”

Amy reached over, touching a finger to Richard's lips as she took her first sip. She pulled back, eyes closing.

“At 2. I left enough…”

She placed her finger to his lips again. Slowly she pulled back, taking another sip.

“Time so we could…”

Her whole hand covered his mouth. She glared over at him. She removed her hand, leaving it hovering over his mouth.

“To do a little more…”

Amy stood up, making her way to the door. Richard turned, confused.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“The terrace, for 5 minutes of quiet while I drink my coffee and wake up,” she said before the door closed.

Richard chuckled, standing up to finish packing their things so they could head out after breakfast. He gave Amy 10 minutes before heading out to join her. He laughed seeing her exasperated expression as she talked on her phone.

“I know I haven't called, Mom. We’re on holiday. Yes. He brought me to Scotland. The Isle of Skye. The He-brides, yes.”

“Hebrides,” he whispered in her ear before sitting down across from her.

“Yes, that was Richard. Yes, he corrected me too.” She sat and listened a moment. “Mom, I just woke up,” she whined. “Not even halfway gone. Okay, hold on.”

She held out her phone, gesturing for Richard to take it. He held the phone to his ear while Amy slouched back, taking a long drink of coffee.

“Hello? Yes. No, mum. I'm finding that out this morning,” Richard laughed. “She's been up before me every other day. Yes mum. Today. Yes, I'll make sure of it. Yes, my accent does get stronger when I'm home. Yes mum.”

He handed the phone back to Amy with a smile. He motioned to a waiter and placed an order while Amy finished talking to her mom. He laughed when she flipped the phone to the table.

“Give me two more minutes to wake up,” she pleaded.

He nodded, thanking the waiter when he set down a carafe and another mug.

“Refill?” he asked, holding up the carafe.

“God, I love you,” she said, holding out her cup.

He waited for it to hit her. It took less than 30 seconds before her cheeks started blooming. She laid her head on the table as he laughed.

“I didn't mean it that way,” she muttered.

“I know,” he laughed, fixing his own cup of coffee. “You'd probably say that to the waiter if he had coffee.”

“I would and have before,” she said, sitting up. “So what did my mom want with you?”

“To tell me you're a bear without coffee and to give you time to wake up before talking your ear off,” he chuckled.

“Good ol’ Mom,” she said, toasting her.

“And to make sure I get you to call her, even if we're on holiday.”

She rolled her eyes, taking another drink. “And when we get home today too, I bet. I go two days without talking to her, she thinks I'm lying somewhere dead.”

Her eyes widened when the waiter set down a plate of eggs, toast, fruit, and bacon in front of her and Richard.

“I took the liberty of ordering. You probably need to eat after all the whiskey last night,” he said, unwrapping his silverware. “Maybe we should have skipped the tasting.”

“I was fine with the whiskey, once I figured out how I could drink it,” she said, making him chuckle. “I should’ve realized I needed to drink it just like bourbon.”

“I just wish I'd taken a few pictures of your face,” he said squeezing her hand. “I could use them for reference.”

“Keep up the teasing, Scotland Amy will stay here,” she muttered, sprinkling her eggs with salt and pepper.

“Then I shall stop teasing, because I like Scottish Amy very much.”

“So what happens when we get back?” she asked, starting to eat.

“I'm home for about a week, then in Florence for 2 or 3 weeks,” he said.

“God, you live such a hard life,” Amy sassed.

“I will be working when I’m there. It’s not all fun and games,” Richard laughed.

“But you’re in Florence. Has to make waking up to go to work a lot easier.”

“Touche,” he said, taking a bite of toast.

Amy sat thinking a moment, chewing on a piece of melon. “Damn, that means I start school just as you get home.”

“School. You still have not filled me in on all of that,” he said, spearing a grape.

Amy blushed, picking at her fruit. “Well, it was kind of a... I don’t want to call it a backup plan. I was very hopeful that all of this would work out. You and me.”

She looked up and smiled when he reached over and squeezed her hand. He nodded to encourage her to continue.

“It was more of a contingency plan. There was a part of me I had to satisfy that I was not moving to London just because of this guy.” She laughed when his eyebrow rose. He went to speak, but she continued before he could. “This fantastic, wonderful, beautiful guy who I was pretty sure thought I was just as great, but something deep inside me begged me to also find something for myself in London,” she said, turning her hand over to hold his. “To not be just Richard Madden’s girlfriend.”

“You are so much more than that,” he whispered.

“So I started looking at schools,” she said, smiling to acknowledge his comment. “And I’ve been accepted to City in their Master’s program.”

“And what will ‘not just my girlfriend’ be studying?” he asked, making her chuckle.

She blushed again. “Creative writing,” she finally whispered.

“Is that what you’ve been doing these past few mornings?” he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise when Amy nodded. “Writing?”

“What did you think I was doing?” she asked, beginning to pick at her breakfast again.

“Playing games or something, I guess. Sending e-mails. I wasn’t awake enough to ask you,” he chuckled.

“I wanted to add a few things to my portfolio before classes begin,” she said.

“And when will I get to read some?”

She shook her head as she took a bite of bacon, blushing again. “Uh uh.”

“What do you mean, uh uh?” he asked. “You get to see what I do. It would only be fair if you do the same.”

“What I get to see is your finished product,” she said, pointing her fork at him. “And what I am working on are still drafts. Permanent drafts.”

“Okay,” he agreed, still somewhat skeptical.

“And besides, I've only seen Cinderella, so it's not like I could technically show you more than one thing,” she chuckled.

He held his hand to his chest. “You wound me! How have you not watched my work?”

He looked confused when she blushed. She pushed a piece of egg around her plate.

“When I was home, I could have,” she whispered. “But I decided it would just make me miss you more. And I didn't want to do that to myself.”

He smiled, reaching over to take her hand. “Have I told you how freaking adorable you are?”

Her blush intensified, but a shy smile crept on her face. He kissed her knuckles. She slowly pulled her hand out of his. He smiled, taking a drink from his coffee.

“I suppose I should watch things so I can see what the fuss is all about,” she whispered.

“All the fuss?” he choked, trying not to spit out his coffee. “I’ll have you know…”

He stopped when he heard her giggling. He smirked at her, taking a bite of eggs.

“Maybe you could show me,” she suggested. “We could watch a few things together?”

“We could do that. But Thrones is going to take you some time. There are 6 seasons after all,” he said. “Not that I’m in all of them. But Kit is. And it’s a good show.”

“I can probably do that one on my own,” Amy said, nodding. “Are you ready to go home?”

“Not necessarily to go home,” he said. “But I’m ready to see how we fair in the real world.”

“How we fair?” she asked, putting her napkin on her plate.

“Aye, in day to day things. Me being gone for work. You starting school. How we fair,” he explained.

She stood up, coming around the table to sit in his lap. “We were apart for 7 months. I think we’re going to fair just fine.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling his nose into her neck. “And you know, we can make some progress on what Scottish Amy started.”

He knew she was turning pink as he kissed just below her ear. She gently pulled his head back, trying to glare at him while smiling. He pecked her lips before she stood up.

“You know, Scottish Amy wouldn’t have blushed at that,” he said to her as they walked back to the room.

“Well Chicago Amy did,” she said. “She’s not gone entirely.”

“No?” he said. “We’ll just have to introduce the two of them, seeing as I plan on making both of them very happy.”

She hugged him tightly, surprising him. “You already do.”

Richard sighed as he opened the door to his flat, dragging his suitcase in behind him. He left it by the door after he locked it, shrugging off his black jacket and draping it over his luggage. He sighed, pulling off his t-shirt as he entered the apartment, glad to finally be home. The production staff had kept him in Florence for an extra week and a half, and all he wanted was his own bed. His shoes came off as he made his way towards the bathroom to relieve himself, not bothering to turn on the light. His pants remained on the floor as he trudged to the bedroom.

His eyes focused in the darkness to see a small form curled up under the blankets on his side of the bed. He smiled, remembering he’d given Amy a key so she could bring in his mail and have a respite from Lily should she needed it. He crept over to the bed, pulling back the blankets so he could climb in.

Amy turned when she felt the bed shift behind her. She felt Richard’s weight settle in behind her, his arm draping over her waist, his lips kissing her exposed neck. Her hands drifted down to rest on top of his arm, drawing it around her more.

“Did I wake you?” he whispered.

“S’okay. Glad to know you’re home,” she whispered back.

He nuzzled her neck as he rested his head next to hers on his pillow. He listened as her breathing deepened again, her arms firmly wrapped around his.

“I’m glad my home is here,” he whispered.

Richard somehow awoke first, drawing Amy in with his arms, enjoying the feel of her fitting perfectly into the curve of his body. Her deep breathing indicated she was still asleep. He didn’t want to disturb her, so he gingerly climbed out of bed. After going to the bathroom, he wandered into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he smiled. Apparently Amy had stocked his refrigerator for when he came home. Pulling a few things out, a smile grew on his face as an idea formed in his head.

Amy slowly woke up, stretching out and turning when she didn’t feel Richard next to her. She could have sworn he’d made it home the night before. She glanced over when the bedroom door opened and Richard came into the room.

“Morning,” he said, coming and sitting next to her on the bed.

“Morning,” she said, reaching over and wrapping her arms around his middle.

She gently pulled, trying to get him to lay down. He laughed, flexing his stomach so he stayed put.

“Doesn’t someone have class today?” he asked, patting her hands.

Her fingers started exploring his flexed stomach, tickling him. He laughed, grabbing her hands and pulling her up into a sitting position.

“You mean I can’t play hooky?” she pouted. “You just got home.”

“Now, now, young lady. We can’t have you starting with these bad habits so early in the school year,” he said, kissing her. “And I’m not scheduled to travel now for another 3 months. So no, you may not play hooky.”

(BEGIN SMUT)

She pouted again, leaning her chin on his shoulder. He turned, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap. She wrapped her legs around his waist, leaning in to kiss him. His fingers tugged on her t-shirt, finding her skin. Her fingers dove into his hair, massaging his scalp. She pulled back after a moment, breathless.

“I can’t do anything to convince you to let me skip class?” she asked before leaning in to kiss his neck.

Richard’s head fell back and she took her chance to lick his Adam’s apple. He moaned, his hands prying her t-shirt off and finding her breasts. She glanced down, taking her nipples in between her fingers, catching Richard’s eyes as she rolled them back and forth. He leaned forward, capturing a nipple in his teeth making her gasp. She rolled her hips, making him groan loudly.

“Absolutely nothing?” she whispered in his ear.

“You still have a few hours before you need to leave,” he said, laying her back on the bed. “But you still have to go to class.”

He pulled her shorts down, kissing his way down her stomach. She lifted her hips to shimmy the rest of the way out of her shorts, flinging them off the bed with a foot. She took her foot and then pushed at the waistband of his boxers.

“No,” he whispered, taking her foot and moving it. “Not yet.”

She started to say something but was cut off when his hand brushed over her mound. His fingers probed the smooth skin, looking up at her with a wolfish smile.

“It wasn’t the wax I reacted to,” she said, glancing down at him. “It was the soothing lotion they put on after. Not so soothing apparently.”

She strangled out a moan when he kissed the smooth skin. He gently opened her thighs a bit wider, draping one of her legs over his shoulder. He looked up at her, so pliant and open, so different from the shy girl he’d first met.

“May I kiss you?” he whispered.

She started to ask him why he felt he needed to ask but gasped when she felt his lips made contact with her down there. “Oh. Shhhhit.”

He chuckled, feeling her squirm against his lips. He eased off to the side, kissing her inner thigh. He felt her relax so he brought his lips back over and kissed her lower lips again. She remained still this time but he loved the string of curse words flowing from her mouth. His tongue slowly came out, teasing and testing the smooth skin.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she moaned, her hands bunching in the sheets as her hips bucked involuntarily. “More.”

He smiled when he heard the last word out of her mouth. He reached up with his hand and spread her lips, slowly dragging the tip of his tongue from her vagina up to her clit.

“Oh,” she shuddered out. “Fffuck.”

Her heel nudged into his shoulder, pushing him closer to her and he took that as his cue to continue. He flattened his tongue and licked again, tasting the salty juices already flowing from her. He flicked his tongue against her clit, loving the gasps he elicited from Amy. He gently sucked on her clit, feeling her hips buck up. He fluttered his tongue again, followed by quick short sucks. He brought his hand up and slowly inserted a finger into her vagina.

“Fuck!” she moaned, her hips twisting back and forth as she tried to get comfortable with his finger inside her.

He continued sucking on her clit, occasionally flicking his tongue out at it. He started pumping his finger in and out of her as she relaxed around him. He heard her say something and stopped, looking up at her.

“Flutter,” she said a little louder, her hands coming up to tease her nipples.

He resumed fluttering his tongue against her clit. Slowly he added a second finger to her, feeling her squirm again. He curled the tips of his fingers and her hips bucked up against him. He stilled for a second, inching his fingers just a bit further and froze.

“Oh babe, move,” she whispered, trying to move against him.

“I think I just felt your virginity,” he whispered, a bit awed.

He extended his finger again, this time seeing Amy grimace a little.

“Yeah,” she breathed out. “That’s it.” She felt him take a deep breath, and she squirmed again, whimpering. “Babe, please?” she whined.

He curled his fingers inside her as he resumed sucking her clit, adding more fluttering of his tongue. As he switched from sucking to fluttering, he thrust his fingers into her. She started squirming more, at one point almost sitting up. Slowing his finger thrusting, he slowly inserted his fingers and curled them as he fluttered faster.

“Oh, shit,” she gasped as she felt him add a third finger. “Oh Richard.”

He felt her contract around his fingers as a shudder ripped through her body. He slowly lapped at her as she continued shuddering before gently pulling his fingers out. He scooted up so he could gently rest his chin on her stomach. She glanced down at him, watching him lick his fingers clean.

“I don’t know what I like more,” she gasped, trying to catch her breath.

“What’s that?” he asked, fingers brushing over her thighs.

“Your fingers or your tongue,” she giggled.

He kissed her stomach as she took a few deep breaths. Her fingers laced into his hair, gently tugging. He looked up at her and she motioned to him with her finger. He slowly pulled himself up towards the head of the bed, kissing his way along her chest until he reached her lips. He slowly kissed her, resting his weight on top of her.

“I thought I was supposed to be welcoming you home,” she whispered against his lips.

“This was a nice welcome,” he chuckled, grazing his fingers over her bare mound.

“But you did all the work,” she said, brushing his cheek.

“The best kind,” he said, kissing her again.

“Still won’t let me play hooky?” she asked, pouting.

He shook his head no. She trailed her hands down his chest, followed by her lips. She hooked her leg through his, trying to shift his weight so he lay on the bed. He smirked at her, chuckling until she took one of his nipples in her mouth. Distracted, he flopped over onto his back when she rolled them. His hands brushed over her hips as she explored his stomach with her mouth.

“Are you sure?”

She looked up at him, grinning as she slid her fingers under the waistband of his underwear. She slid them down his legs, pulling them up and over his member, and removed them. She then giggled as she had an idea. She stood up off the bed and shimmied into his boxers, bending to grab her t-shirt from the floor.

“Don’t,” he moaned seeing her move to put the shirt on. “You’ve such beautiful breasts. Don’t hide them from me.”

She dropped her shirt as she crawled back on the bed, grazing her breasts over his penis.

“You think they're beautiful?” she whispered, leaning back on her knees and cupping them.

Richard sat up and buried his face in them, licking and nipping at the tender skin.

Amy let her head drop back as Richard's hands replaced hers. After a moment, she reached down and started slowly stroking his penis. She smiled when he moaned. She turned her hand, trying to get a feel for what she was doing.

When her thumb dragged across the ridge on the underside of his penis, he cursed, head dropping back to the bed. Amy smiled, slowly dragging her thumb along the ridge again. She then ran her thumb over his tip, dragging precum down his shaft. She turned for a better angle, switching hands on his cock as she moved to cup his balls.

“Am...shit,” he sighed, eyes fluttering closed.

She could see him reach out to help, then pull his hand back, then reach out again. She took his hand, wrapping it around his cock.

“Show me what you like,” she said, playing with his balls.

“That for one thing,” he moaned, slowly starting to stroke himself.

Amy wrapped her hand around his, taking in his movements as he started jerking himself off, fast, slow, then speeding up again. She moved her hand to rest above his, moving as he moved. She leaned up and nibbled his earlobe.

“Shit. Don't do that or I'll embarrass myself,” he moaned, moving to cover her hand with his. “Squeeze a little...more...that's it.”

Amy watched his eyes flutter close as they worked to pleasure him. She felt his hand moving hers faster, squeezing a bit tighter. She used her other hand to fondle his scrotum. He groaned deeply. She felt him start to tighten like a spring, knowing he was getting close. She leaned up to whisper in his ear.

“I can’t wait until you’re doing this inside me,” she said before biting his earlobe again.

Richard lost it then, groaning as he started to cum over both their hands and his stomach. Amy helped him finish stroking through before resting her hand on his stomach. She nuzzled his neck as he caught his breath, his cheek rubbing the top of her head.

“Welcome home,” she giggled.

“I think I need to go away more often,” he said, kissing her head.

“Please don’t,” she said, kissing his neck, her fingers rubbing slow circles on his stomach. “It was much harder this time around.”

“That it was,” he sighed sleepily.

After a few minutes, Amy realized Richard’s breathing had deepened. She glanced up to see him asleep. She slipped out of his arms, covering him with the blankets before heading to shower.

(END SMUT)

“Well, you look like a kitten who got a whole bowl of cream to herself.”

Amy giggled as she looked up as a brunette woman with caramel-colored skin sat down at her table, pulling Amy's laptop away from her and closing it.

“Hello to you too, Rocio,” Amy said. “I don't think I look any different today.”

The two women had met the first day of classes and become quick friends, meeting at a cafe during their breaks.

“Bullshit,” Rocio said. “You're practically glowing.” She squealed, grabbing Amy's hands as Amy smiled and blushed, ducking her head. . “Oh my gosh. I forgot! He's home! Tu novio!”

“Si,” Amy said. “Mi novio.”

“Amiga! No wonder you look so happy,” she grinned, winking.

“Well he has been gone a month,” Amy whispered.

“What does he do again? That he’s gone from you for a month?” Rocio questioned.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone?” Amy asked quietly.

Rocio frowned, reaching for Amy’s hand. “He’s not… Vende drogas? Es un asesino a sueldo?”

“What?” Amy asked. “Ro, you know my Spanish is minimal. But what you said doesn’t sound good.”

“Is he a hit man? Or sell drugs?”

Amy burst out laughing, making Rocio frown. “No! God, no! Where do you come up with these ideas? I can tell why you’re in the creative writing program!”

“Amy, he makes enough money to work only every once and awhile. You’re being very secretive about him, not telling me his name or what he does. Where I come from, those don’t equal good things,” her friend explained.

“Ro,” Amy said, leaning in closer to her, “he’s a celebrity. Not in the mafia.”

Rocio’s eyes widened. “You’re dating a celebrity? Who? Do I know him?” She smiled when Amy nodded, practically bouncing out of her chair with excitement. “So, who is it?”

“You promise not to tell? We haven’t exactly gone public yet,” she whispered. “Pinky promise?” Rocio nodded and Amy took a deep breath. “Richard Madden.”

Rocio’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “Que? Me estas jodiendo! Y no me dijiste nada? No lo puedo creer. Ay mi Dios! Estas saliendo con Robb Stark! Tu novio es Robb Stark, Rey en el norte!”

Amy chuckled, understanding enough of what Rocio was saying. “Yes. Robb Stark. Could you keep it down?” she asked.

“I cannot believe you never told me!” Rocio whispered harshly. “I thought we were friends!”

“I’ve hardly told anyone except my family. You should feel privileged,” Amy said. She looked down as her phone vibrated on the table. She smiled as she read the text message. “Speak of the devil.”

“That’s him?” Rocio said excitedly. “Really?”

“No, I’m just saying that,” Amy huffed. “Yes, it’s him. He was asleep when I left to come to class. Although he did pack me a lunch. Said he felt bad he missed my first day of school.”  

She blushed as she typed her response.  

“What’s he saying?” Rocio asked, giggling.

Amy shook her head no. Rocio laughed, trying to grab Amy’s phone.

“I’m not sharing that information. That's private,” Amy said, snatching it out of her friend's reach. She looked down as her phone buzzed again. “Do you want to go out tonight?”

“Wait, what?” Rocio asked, freezing. “With Richard?”

“Yes, he’ll be there,” Amy said, smirking. “He forgot to tell me Big Driis is spinning tonight and he promised to be there. Shall I have him put us on the list?”

“Big Driis?”

“A friend of Richard’s,” Amy explained.

“Sure, I mean, hang out with Robb Stark for the night?” Rocio said. “Who could say no?”

“Thanks, because I’m not going to be there or anything,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll have him put our names on the list. Crap, I’m going to have to figure out what to wear.”

“Ooo, amiga! You can come over. You can help me pick out what to wear to impress Robb Stark!”

Amy rolled her eyes again. “Alright. And you can help me pick out something to keep mi novio’s eyes focused on me,” she said, making Rocio laugh.

[andinewton]

Second Chances - Avengers Redemption Series - Part One Chapter 75

Characters:  Loki, Maia Tomson (OFC), Sigyn, pretty much everyone from the MCU appears at some point, including some special appearances by members of the X-Men!

Pairings: Loki x Maia Tomson, Loki x Sigyn,

Warnings:  Smut, so much smut, violence, swearing; listen, it’s NSFW and 18+, just bear that in mind!

Word Count: 179105

Summary: Loki has been handed over to The Avengers to pay penance for his past crimes, underpowered and underwhelmed by his post he is assigned a new ‘guide to Midgard’ by his superiors and is more than a little surprised when a petite freckled, redhead is waiting in the conference room, not at all like the previous handlers he has been assigned, who quit after a very short time with the snarky god. Maia Tomson is a trained literature teacher and counsellor, maybe not someone you would have picked out to be a guide to the God of Mischief but her mentor, Charles Xavier, knows she likes a challenge, and when The Avengers ask him to recommend someone she is top of his list. Surprised by the assignment, Maia takes it on, promising to do her best, but was not counting on a mutual attraction with her charge.

Join Loki on a journey to discover that his heart is not as frozen as he believes it to be, an adventure spanning almost a millennia of love gained and lost and rediscovered in the most unlikely of places…

Master List

Chapter 75 - Epilogue 3

Summary:  Sigyn does a late night store run...and it goes from there.

Sigyn lay awake in the room she and Loki shared at the tower. He had long since fallen asleep, his breathing coming slow and steady, both of them spent and marked with both nail and teeth marks, but Sigyn had more on her mind than how she ached in some sensitive places only he could reach. Like a niggling suspicion something was different. She slipped from the bed and quietly dressed; black jeans and a t-shirt with a dark burgundy hoodie and her Stark Phone in the pocket of her puffa coat, the snow outside meaning she would need the extra warmth. With two pairs of socks and warm boots she was soon stepping out of their bedroom door and into the hallway leading to the communal areas. She fitted her headphones as she walked, heading to the elevator. ‘FRIDAY, if Loki wakes up let him know I’ll be half an hour, max, and I’m only on the end of the phone if he panics.’

‘Will do, Lady Sigyn.’ She rolled her eyes. Loki had managed to convince, read that as somehow hack, into FRIDAY’s programming to make the AI call her Lady Sigyn, and no amount of fiddling by Tony seemed to fix it. She suspected he was actually in on it too. Speaking of the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, he came out of the elevator as Sigyn approached. ‘You’re out late, Cherry.’ He commented as they passed one another. ‘Just running to the store.’ She quirked him a sideways smile. ‘Run out of lube?’ He smirked as she blushed, pulling up her hood. ‘Shut up.’ She hit the button for the lobby as he laughed. She turned on her music and hummed along on the ride down, then stepped out into the lobby…to find Stark standing by the doors beside one of his suits in sentry mode. ‘Did you just jump out of the window in a suit to beat me down here?’ She asked as she pulled one of her earbuds out. ‘Maybe. I need to go to the store too.’ He said as he zipped up his own coat. ‘You could have called me to wait, or have gone on your own.’ Or left me in peace, she thought, knowing she didn’t want him watching over her shoulder. ‘This was quicker.’ He offered her his arm, a bad habit he had picked up from the Asgardians, and with a shake of her head she took it. ‘So, where’s the store?’ He asked, letting her lead him down the street. ‘On the corner.’ She pulled a face at him. ‘Surely you know where the store is?’ ‘I thought maybe you weren’t really shopping and were doing something else.’ ‘Like what?’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I have no idea, but a store run in the middle of the night seems kind of suspicious.’ ‘That’s why it’s a convenience store, genius. It’s open when it’s convenient.’ ‘Sigyn of Sassgard.’ He nudged her. ‘Mr Stark.’ ‘Don’t go back to that again.’ He laughed. ‘So, my annual holiday party is only a day away. I assume you and Trixie have something planned?’ ‘I have no idea what you mean.’ She gave him an innocent look. ‘Yeah, just like you don’t know who was responsible for the near code green at the Halloween party?’ ‘That was an accident.’ She said defensively. ‘I still say it’s your fault for asking for Loki’s help with illusions to spooky the place up!’ ‘Illusions aren’t supposed to jump out and grab you!’ ‘You said scary!’ ‘I didn’t mean turn Banner green scary!’ She laughed and he joined her. It had certainly made for an interesting night, Nat in her Morticia Addams outfit trying to give Bruce a preemptive lullaby while Wanda sent him calming vibes while dressed as a creepy doll. ‘So, what do you need at the store?’ Tony asked as they reached the door, the bell ringing to announce their entry. ‘Uh, girl stuff.’ She said quickly, hoping he would leave her alone for a little while. ‘Okay, enough said. I’m just grabbing some, I’m just going to leave you to it.’ He stalked down the snack aisle while Sigyn sighed with relief. She didn’t want an audience for this. She darted down the relevant aisle, grabbed what she needed and paid in record time, getting her item bagged before Tony joined her, but keeping the chocolate bar she had also purchased in her hand. ‘Midnight snacks.’ He commented as he paid for his bag of jerky. ‘Apparently.’ ‘Thought you wanted girl things.’ He said as they stepped out into the fresh flurry of snow. ‘Chocolate is a girl thing.’ She smiled before indicating to the bag under her arm. ‘They go hand in hand.’ ‘Happy hormones, got ya.’ He opened the jerky and offered her some, but she refused, the thought of it turning her stomach. ‘I’m good, thanks.’ She said, biting into the chocolate. ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sure I do.’ They walked silently for a little while when Stark’s phone gave off a text tone and he pulled it out of his pocket, nudging Sigyn in the process and knocking the bag out of her hand. ‘Sorry, Red.’ He said as he crouched for it the same time as she did. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it.’ She grabbed for it but it was too late, he had already seen her purchase. He looked up at her in surprise. ‘A pregnancy test?’ ‘Yes, and it’s yours.’ His eyes went wide in panic for a moment. ‘Of course it’s not yours, you idiot, and you need to keep your mouth shut because I don’t even know for sure.’ ‘Hence the test.’ He said as they got to their feet. ‘You really think you are?’ ‘Statistically it’s possible.’ She shrugged. ‘Physiologically it’s possible. But Loki and I tried before for three centuries, so the likelihood is small.’ ‘That was in your old body though. This one’s different. And if you are, is it a bad thing?’ ‘Really not a bad thing.’ She smiled. ‘But that’s a serious if.’ ‘Wait,’ he stopped her, ‘are you trying?’ ‘We’re not not trying.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘That is we’ve talked about it and don’t use protection, but…’ ‘I’m gonna be an uncle.’ He grinned. ‘First Avengers Tower baby. Kid’s going to be spoilt rotten, you know that, right?’ ‘Tony, we don’t know for sure!’ ‘No, but you will in,’ he pulled the packet out of her hand again and read the box, ‘one minute to develop, plus peeing time, walk back to the tower, maybe five more minutes, say ten minutes? You have to tell me after Mischief.’ She pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Oh God, Tony, please can I have a chance to take the test and get my head around it first?’ ‘You think you are.’ He made it a statement, not a question. ‘Two missed periods is a pretty big red flag.’ She sighed. ‘No pun intended.’ ‘Please do this now. I mean not right now, but as soon as you get back.’ He said excitedly. ‘And film Comet’s reaction because it’s going to be gold.’ ‘It might not be positive.’ ‘Keep telling yourself that, kid.’ Tony walked her all the way back to her room. ‘You are not to stand outside this door and wait. I’ll text you.’ She waved a finger at him. ‘I promise.’ ‘I can see your fingers are crossed, Stark.’ He shrugged. ‘Just go pee.’ ‘Shut it.’ She said, opening the bedroom door and closing it on his grinning face. Why did he have to have found her out? If not she could have put this off until the morning, or decided if she really wanted to do the test. It had been so hard for them to fall pregnant before she didn’t want to get her hopes up, but…she had to know. Longest minute of her life. She sat on the side of the tub, trying to ignore the stick on the sink while she checked Darcy’s latest vines, knowing that should kill a little time. She had caught Thor dancing to Happy by Pharrell Williams while doing the dishes and promised to have it up today, not to mention the argument between Nat and Clint about the most humane way to kill a chicken, and before she knew it her minute timer went off. Coming through from the bathroom in just her t-shirt and underwear she looked at Loki, now lying on his side but apparently none the wiser for her having left. Had he had the message from FRIDAY he would have called, he did worry about her, which was why he had stipulated their missions were always together. She climbed up on the large bed by his knees and poked him in the thigh through the sheets, but he barely stirred, brushing his hand over his flesh to get rid of the sensation. She tried again but all she succeeded in doing was making him roll over onto his back. This wasn’t getting her anywhere. She sighed and straddled his thighs, laying down on top of him. ‘Mayhem, wake up.’ She said quietly and he began to stir, opening one eye first to look at her, then the clock. ‘Love, it’s two, you can’t possibly be ready for another round.’ He grumbled, throwing his arm over his eyes. She knew he was only cranky because he had had an early start for training and a busy day of meetings, but she couldn’t wait until morning. ‘No, but I need to tell you something.’ She whispered. ‘I love you too, now, sleep.’ He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him as he snuggled his head back into the pillows and she giggled. ‘Lo, you aren’t listening.’ She argued, wriggling her way up his body so she could put her lips by his ear. ‘You’re going to be a daddy.’ ‘That’s nice.’ He murmured. ‘I’m just going to let that sink in.’ She said in a normal tone and waited. ‘What’s sinking?’ She rolled her eyes. This wasn’t working either. So she jabbed him in the ribs with her fingers. That worked. He flinched, jumping physically as a small groan left his lips. ‘Gods, Sig, will you let me sleep?’ He complained. ‘Not tonight. Well, not right now.’ She leant her arms on his chest and rested her chin on them. ‘I’m trying to tell you something important.’ ‘So important it can’t wait until morning?’ ‘So important it can’t wait until morning.’ She repeated. He finally opened both eyes and looked up at her with a sigh. ‘It’s not going to be like the time you woke me to ask about whether there is still the little bookshop on Asgard we used to frequent, is it?’ ‘Better.’ She smiled. ‘Better than a bookshop? Do I have to guess, sunbeam, because we have to be back in the training room at six?’ ‘If you’d listened the first time you’d know by now.’ He frowned. ‘You’ll have to tell me again.’ ‘You’re rubbish.’ She shook her head before leaning so close to him their noses touched. ‘We are going to have a baby.’ ‘That would be lovely, but do you really want more practice now? You need sleep as much as I do.’ She growled in frustration. ‘No, stupid, we are going to have one, sooner rather than later.’ He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Sig?’ ‘Good grief! I. Am. Pregnant!’ She shouted in his face with a grin. ‘Called it!’ Stark’s voice came from behind the door as Loki’s eyes went wide. ‘You’re…you’re pregnant?’ He breathed and she nodded. ‘Really?’ ‘Really really.’ ‘Love, that’s amazing!’ His face broke into a grin as he cupped her face in his hands and peppered her with kisses. ‘When did you find out? How far are you? Why are you laying on your stomach?’ He flipped her over onto her side. ‘I just found out minutes ago. The digital test says I’m eight weeks, and I don’t think laying on my stomach at this point is a problem considering what you were laying on my stomach just hours ago.’ ‘Gods, we need to be careful.’ He kissed her again. ‘I think you’re overreacting.’ She mumbled into his mouth. ‘Not at all.’ He leant back again. ‘Do you realise just how happy you have made me, my beautiful girl?’ ‘Maybe a little?’ 'So much more than that.' He leant in for another kiss then stopped with a frown. 'How did Stark know?'

Tony was sworn to secrecy but the entire team realised something was going on, although they assumed it was something to do with the upcoming gift exchange. Tony was humming happily and looking far too smug, while the ever attentive Loki seemed to be hanging on his wife’s every word and move more than ever. Darcy noticed something else was up first, sitting at the bar of the common area and filming the decorations being finished off for the party that night for her holiday blog, Sigyn and Loki came out of the corridor to the kitchen, him walking backwards and holding one of her hands as he spoke excitedly, Sigyn laughing at whatever he was saying. She had finally succeeded in getting him to wear something more casual, although the blacker than black jeans were more smart than casual, but the warm green knitted sweater over a black collared shirt fell somewhere between the two. His other arm held both their coats, showing they were going out, and if that hadn’t been a giveaway then Sigyn’s deep blue bobble hat and gloves with her white snowflake jumper and blue jeans would have. ‘Where you heading, Mr & Mrs Mischief?’ Darcy called and they stopped talking, having not realised she was there. ‘A little romantic stroll around festive New York.’ Sigyn said, as Loki led her over to the bar. ‘This close to Christmas? That won’t be romantic.’ Darcy pulled a face. ‘The place will be full of bat shit crazy shoppers.’ ‘Ah but if we erect a magical barrier to deter anyone from coming near us we will have a protective little bubble of solitude none can penetrate.’ Loki smiled knowingly and Darcy turned the camera around to herself. ‘You hear that, internet? We got the sass master to say penetrate. That will be going on a loop pretty soon!’ ‘Darcy! You cannot keep using my husbands use of certain words to “porn it up”, as you put it!’ ‘Mrs Freckles is mad at me.’ She turned the camera back again briefly before putting it back on the couple. ‘What is your plan for today though, besides a walk? Because Stark is walking around the place with a grin on his face like the Cheshire Cat and it’s making me nervous.’ They shared a look and Darcy narrowed her eyes. There was a lot in that look that she didn’t understand but really wanted to. While Loki was a shining example of what a good woman could do for a man, looking at her with nothing but love for every single day they had been together, now there was something more, his gaze softer, looking at her almost in wonder, and Sigyn blushed faintly as she smiled up at her husband. They were planning on dropping into the medical unit on their way downstairs just because they needed it on record as to why Sigyn would have to stand down from active duty on any upcoming missions, and no doubt as soon as that word got around the team would find out, but for now it was just theirs. And Tony’s. ‘What? What did I miss?’ ‘Miss, Miss Lewis?’ Loki asked innocently. ‘We have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, if you’ll excuse us.’ He wrapped his arm around Sigyn and led her to the elevator but not before she shrugged at Darcy. ‘Fine! Don’t tell me!’ She called after them. ‘Because me and Sherlock are going to figure it out!’ She looked at her key fob of the famed detective on the bar beside her. ‘Right, Holmes?’ ‘We will not hear the end of that until we tell her.’ Loki commented as the elevator doors began to close. ‘I feel kind of bad that Tony knows and she doesn’t. Darcy’s been a good friend and she did ask specifically to know about this.’ ‘If she promises not to post the news online until we are ready she can be told when we tell Thor and Jane.’ ‘Thank you.’ She pulled him down for a kiss. ‘It’s not like we’ll be able to keep it a secret anyway once I start missing missions.’ ‘Unfortunately not, but for today, at least, this is ours.’ His hand came up and caressed her cheek softly. ‘Have I told you today how much I love you, kitten?’ ‘Only four or five times, you’re slipping, it’s almost ten.’ She pointed to her wrist where her watch was hidden under layers of clothes. ‘I shall endeavour to make it up to you.’ He promised as his lips brushed hers. They managed to get a brief appointment with one of the tower’s doctors who made a note on her file and made sure she was exempt from any active duty for upcoming missions before congratulating them and inviting them to make another appointment on the way out. There was blood work to be done and a few other things to clarify. Finally they got down to street level and started their walk, bundled up in their coats with gloves, scarves and one another to keep themselves warm. They started with a walk to the Rockefeller Centre to see the Christmas tree and Loki bought them both hot chocolates and pastries while they watched the skaters, promising next year they would participate. Next they caught the subway to Brooklyn and joined all the tourists at the Captain America statue on Atlantic Avenue. They took some selfies with it and sent them to both Steve and Darcy; Darcy thought it was hilarious and had the pictures posted before they even returned to the tower two hours later, rosy cheeked and smiling. There was an early dinner before the party, during which Darcy watched the couple suspiciously, noting Loki barely left her alone but rather than the heavily sexual looks he normally gave her the softness from earlier remained, looking at her with something close to awe and kissing her hand often. When everyone began to filter away to get changed Sigyn caught Darcy and asked her to hang back as Loki spoke with Thor and Jane. ‘You’re acting really weird.’ Darcy pointed out. ‘Even for you.’ ‘Your camera is off, right?’ Sigyn looked at her pointedly. ‘Should it be on?’ She asked with a smile. ‘God, no. Just this once, this is for Darcy only, not the Darcy fandom.’ ‘What can we aid you with, brother?’ Thor asked as Loki led he and Jane to the back of the room where Sigyn had waited with Darcy. ‘It is more what we can do for you.’ He looked between them as he went and took Sigyn’s hand. ‘We wanted you to be amongst the first to know that, we are expecting a baby.’ ‘Oh my God!’ Jane smiled as Darcy screamed so loud that Steve and Sam appeared at the door, having set off at a run from the kitchen. ‘Sorry, I’m fine!’ She promised and they turned and left again in confusion as Darcy grabbed Sigyn’s other hand. ‘Shit, really? A baby?’ ‘A baby.’ Sigyn nodded. ‘But it’s still early days. We wanted you to be the first to know.’ Thor pulled Loki away from Sigyn and hugged him tightly as Jane embraced Sigyn. ‘Congratulations!’ Thor said heartily. ‘When are we expecting the blessing?’ ‘July.’ Sigyn confirmed. ‘I’ve got to get knitting.’ Darcy hugged her. ‘Tell me everything, how you found out, how you told him, everything. In fact, Jane, grab your stuff, we’re all changing in my room. Girl talk and stuff.’ ‘Can we just do that tomorrow instead?’ Sigyn pleaded, not wanting to drag all her things to Darcy’s room. ‘But I wanna know now.’ Darcy pouted. ‘She crept out to the convenience store in the middle of the night while I slept then woke me to inform me of the news.’ Loki informed them. ‘No wonder you two have been acting all lovey dovey again! I mean, you’re nauseating at the best of times, in a romantic kind of way, but super touchy feely. This is amazing news. So happy for you both.’ ‘Me too.’ Jane even hugged Loki, briefly but still. ‘You’ll make great parents.’ ‘And look, you didn’t even have to adopt!’ Darcy punched Loki in the arm playfully as he gave her a raised eyebrow. ‘Really, Darcy?’ Loki asked as Thor laughed. ‘Sure! But the way you two go at it it’s a wonder you haven’t got pregnant before now.’ Sigyn blushed. She knew they were very, very physical but she had hoped they had been at least a little subtle, perhaps not though. ‘When will you tell the rest of the team?’ Thor asked, his smile not slipping from the out and out grin he wore at the news. ‘Soon enough. Sigyn has to stand down from active duty and that will raise suspicions.’ ‘What if you go into labour when they’re on a mission?’ Darcy asked with a sudden gasp. ‘Oh, can I be your standby birthing partner, please?’ ‘My what?’ Sigyn looked at her in surprise. ‘If Loki can’t be there, can I stand in? I’ll rub your back, let you swear at me, bring you ice chips.’ ‘I hadn’t even considered that.’ She glanced at Loki, realising his duty was to the team and that might mean he was away at important times. ‘As we draw nearer to the impending arrival I shall request not to be sent too far away so I can be here for you. I’m sorry, Darcy, but I will not miss this for anything in the nine realms.’ ‘Good answer.’ Jane nodded. ‘But for now, if we could try and keep this amongst ourselves, the only other people who know are the doctor and Anthony.’ ‘Stark knew before me?’ Darcy asked indignantly. ‘He found out by accident.’ Sigyn explained. ‘He came to the store with me, found out what I’d bought then stood outside our bedroom door waiting for his answer.’ ‘That’s, um,’ Jane started. ‘A little weird, but I just couldn’t get rid of him.’ She shrugged. ‘Okay, so just Tony and the doc know?’ Darcy checked. ‘Just those and us.’ ‘This is so exciting.’ Her grin was back. ‘Are you going to find out what you’re having?’ ‘We haven’t discussed it.’ She laughed. ‘Really, Darce, we’re still getting used to the idea. As soon as anything changes or we have anything to report we’ll let you know.’ ‘Before Tony.’ ‘Before Tony.’ She confirmed. ‘Awesome.’ She hugged her again. She was so delighted for her friends she could have cried.

The party was a black tie event but Sigyn had convinced Loki that that didn’t mean she needed a full length dress. The one she had chosen was black and fell to just below her knee with a cowl neckline at the front, a cut away back and full skirt. With her high heeled black shoes and the top of her hair caught back on each side with emerald and gold slides Loki thought she looked the true embodiment of a modern day goddess. She rarely removed the necklace and bracelet he gave her, unless it was for cleaning, and they contrast beautifully with the entire outfit, small teardrop emerald earrings hanging from her lobes. For a change she was ready first, and she couldn't be sure it wasn’t because Loki had kept being distracted by her getting ready, just stopping what he was doing to watch her doing something incredibly mundane like primping her hair or applying her lipstick. She now sat in one of the armchairs watching him instead as he fixed his bow tie in front of the mirror on the wardrobe. ‘You’re thinking.’ He said simply without looking over at her. ‘Of course I am.’ She replied as his fingers deftly made the bow. ‘You’re thinking about me.’ ‘I’m always thinking about you.’ She didn’t know how he always seemed to be able to tell, but he knew when she was having serious thoughts to go with looking at him. ‘You were very specifically thinking about me. So much I could feel it.’ ‘Okay, I admit it.’ She got to her feet and walked across the room, picking up his jacket from where it hung on the way past. ‘But I do have a good reason. Several in fact.’ ‘And what might they be, princess?’ ‘Firstly, you’re the hottest thing in the room. Just being there makes me want to stare at you.’ She held the jacket out and he slipped his arms into it, letting her ease it over his shoulders. ‘Correction, you are the hottest thing in the room.’ He buttoned the jacket then turned to her. ‘I don’t know, we’re going on what’s happening in my head which makes you hottest, so humour me.’ She brushed his lapels down as she checked him over from the contrasting black buttons to his neatly slicked back black hair. ‘Firstly, you’re hot, I like to look at you, and I still can’t believe that you’re all mine.’ ‘All yours.’ He wrapped his arms around her waist with a dark smile. ‘Is that lipstick set yet?’ She pressed her lips together. ‘I think so.’ ‘Good.’ He dipped his head and very lightly caressed her lips with his own. ‘What else were you thinking?’ ‘How lucky we are, on so many levels.’ ‘We do seem to have had a very good streak of it.’ He agreed, his thumbs massaging the muscles in her lower back. ‘We have. We found each other again, now we’re married, having a baby; we have amazing friends, jobs we love. It’s like a dream come true.’ ‘You are my dream come true. Without you none of the rest would have been possible.’ He reminded her. ‘This is going to get very mushy, isn’t it?’ She asked, knowing he liked to tell her how much he loved her and why regularly. ‘Perhaps. Would you rather go see if the party has begun?’ ‘I think we should, because if I start to tell you how many ways I love you we’ll be here all night.’ He put his hand on her back to guide her to the door, looking over her freckled skin, quite clear of any marks. She had given him an ultimatum with the party coming up; either heal her if he marked her back or leave it alone. He had chosen the former and even now all he could think of was placing his lips against the perfect flesh and making his mark yet again. ‘Don’t even think about it.’ She said firmly as she reached for the door handle. ‘Think, love? I don’t know what you mean.’ He said innocently. ‘God of Lies.’ She replied. ‘And you’re not the only one who can tell what the other is thinking. Eyes off my blank canvas until later.’ ‘Alright, sweet, I promise.’ He trailed his fingers up her spine instead, making her shiver. The party was remarkably civilised, for the first few hours. Tony had made sure mimosas were served so Sigyn could drink orange juice and not look conspicuous, which she was grateful for. There was plenty of dancing, laughing, and Loki seemed to have the innate ability to find mistletoe about every five paces. Everyone looked amazing in their finery and there was such an air of calm and happiness it buoyed the proceedings, until there was an emergency call. The team met at the elevators as Stark brought up a display of where they were needed and what to expect. ‘Not far, two hour flight. Hostiles, small hostage situation. Should be a breeze…what are you doing here?’ He glared at Sigyn. ‘I can man the comms.’ She shrugged. ‘But I’m staying in touch.’ ‘You man the comms here.’ Tony said pointedly. ‘Wait, she’s not coming?’ Steve looked between them. Sigyn’s input with Loki had been instrumental in ending a few situations quickly thanks to the magic they could call on. ‘Medical discharge.’ She glanced at him. ‘Nothing active but I can do comms.’ ‘We didn’t discuss this.’ Loki said pointedly. ‘No, but I can stay with Bruce in the Quinjet and advise in case of a code green, be eyes and ears on the area from a safe distance.’ ‘No.’ Loki and Tony said at once. ‘Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here, sister.’ Thor rested his hand on her shoulder and she glared up at him so hard he actually flinched. ‘I’m not hiding away, I can still be useful.’ ‘Not in the field.’ Tony said. ‘Dammit.’ She rolled her head back. ‘Seriously, if we were back on Asgard what would happen?’ Thor and Loki shared a look, knowing full well that pregnancy would not stop their women being useful. ‘Exactly! Stop being such misogynistic bastards and let me help!’ ‘Ohhhh.’ Nat said under her breath. ‘Wait, are you…’ Steve let the sentence trail off as she turned her glare on him, but everyone else looked at her. ‘Uh…sorry?’ ‘Still doesn’t make me useless.’ ‘It may be better if you stayed here.’ The elevator doors opened and she knew it would be a crush because of the sheer number of Avengers heading out but she growled in frustration and stepped into the elevator ahead of them followed by Nat and Wanda. ‘Get in, boys, or don’t.’ Nat commanded. ‘Because I’m voting Sig gets to stay on the jet with Bruce.’ ‘Me too.’ Wanda added. ‘Don’t I get a say in this?’ Loki frowned as he stepped onto the elevator, closely followed by the others. ‘No.’ The girls chorused. The elevator doors closed and everyone was silent for several floors before Steve finally spoke. ‘Congratulations.’ He glanced down at her with a small smile. ‘Thanks, Steve.’ She replied and that broke the quiet, with both Wanda and Nat asking questions, even Scott joined in, as he had a daughter of his own he was keen to offer Loki advice on keeping a pregnant partner happy, knowing what he had done wrong and right, and Clint sort of smiled smugly, knowing how much trouble Loki was in. If he thought he knew love now he had one hell of a shock coming. Half an hour later two Quinjets were in the air on their way to their destination, Loki was still pouting over his wife’s insistence on coming along and Sigyn wasn’t talking to him because he was pouting. It was going to be a long two hour flight in an enclosed space with them not able to get their argument out in the open but Nat decided to get things moving and maybe even divert it from a fight. ‘So, how far along are you?’ ‘Not far enough we wanted everyone to know yet.’ Sigyn muttered as Loki answered; ‘Eight weeks.’ ‘Still early.’ She nodded. ‘At least you know the team will keep your secret and this way it’s less awkward, no need to make excuses any more. You can’t have known long, we only had a mission last week.’ She was seated on Sigyn’s left, Loki was opposite, staring at his wife as she avoided his eye. She had deliberately taken the end seat so no one could sit on her other side, specifically Loki, as Nat had already claimed the seat beside her. ‘Not long. Not even two days.’ Loki answered again as Sigyn didn’t seem to want to engage at all. ‘Really happy for you both.’ ‘Thank you, Natasha.’ ‘Will you tell your folks? When you go for Christmas Day?’ She looked specifically at Sigyn who was tapping her teeth with her thumbnail. ‘Don’t do that, love.’ Loki said and she finally looked at him, deliberately drawing her lip up and tapping a few more times. ‘You have nothing to feel nervous of.’ ‘I’m not nervous.’ She unbuckled her belt and went to the cockpit of the craft where Tony was seated with Clint. ‘One of you mind swapping for a bit?’ Clint was on his feet in an instant and leant in to her ear. ‘Keep your eyes on the horizon, it’ll help with motion sickness.’ ‘Thanks, Clint.’ She smiled, wishing that was why she really wanted to sit up front. Thor leant into his brother as Clint came back from the cockpit, taking the seat next to Nat. ‘I have not seen her this mad since you returned from a night with us battered and bruised from that scuffle on Vanaheim.’ ‘Well, not all of our arguments were as public as that one.’ Loki remarked. ‘If you’ll excuse me?’ He got up from his seat and went to the cockpit, looking at Tony. ‘Pardon me, Anthony, we will meet you at the rendezvous point at the scheduled time.’ And he rested his hand on Sigyn’s shoulder before teleporting them both from the Quinjet and reappearing on the upper most open air level of the Eiffel Tower, the early morning wind bitterly cold and biting and as Loki released her he created a large deep green velvet cloak which he wrapped around her shoulders, knowing even in her now standard custom armour she would be cold. ‘What the actual Hel?’ She turned and glared at him, once she realised what he had done. ‘We need privacy to discuss this, sunbeam, and we weren’t about to get that for several hours. I will not have you worrying for so long.’ ‘We’re on our way to a mission!’ She yelled. ‘And we will meet the team there, as I promised, but I wished…’ ‘You wished to try and talk me round.’ She spat. ‘I won’t stay away from missions entirely just because I’m pregnant. I agree to not being involved directly in the fight but I cannot stay behind and monitor what’s going on remotely as half the time we go radio silent and I’ll be none the wiser! At least this way I can…’ He didn’t let her finish, instead he grabbed her by the upper arms and kissed her forcefully, even as she argued and pushed at his shoulders. When he did finally release her lips he leant back just far enough he could see her clearly. ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘And don’t think you can…what?’ She had been starting to argue again but his apology took her by surprise. ‘I said I am sorry. I do not wish to make you feel any less valuable, even though you are worth more to me than anything in this world or any other. I believe we both had different ideas as to what “active duty” means and I should have addressed the matter with you fully before assuming. Forgive me?’ ‘You’re…you’re apologising?’ She said uncertainly. ‘Of course. I do not wish to upset you, and you are a valuable member of the team. We need you, even if it is in a support role, and it was wrong of me to try and prevent that.’ He slowly let go of her arms, sure now she wouldn’t pull away. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘So, you’ll let me still come on missions while I can, and you’re happy for me to stay on the jet?’ ‘I am never happy to be taking you into a fight, but this is a good halfway point for us to meet at. Aid Dr Banner, and aid the team with your presence. Often your non military common sense prevails where we on the ground fail and I for one will continue to welcome your input, petal.’ She let out a sharp breath through her nose that frosted on the air. ‘Okay, fine. Apology accepted, now can we get back?’ ‘The team won’t reach the destination for almost another hour, sweet.’ He wrapped his arm around her and walked her round the tower to the other side, where the sky was beginning to lighten with the impending dawn. ‘We have time for this.’ He turned his hand and created a hot chocolate in a mug and passed it to her before creating one of his own. ‘Chocolate and sunrise in Paris. All part of my apology.’ ‘You’re an asshole.’ ‘Your asshole.’ He reminded her as she snuggled up against him, cupping the mug in both hands. ‘I’m not saying I will be going on missions as Hulk sitter and comms for the whole pregnancy, just while I still feel I can.’ She said quietly. ‘I know, sweet.’ He leant down and kissed her hair. ‘And when you feel unable, if you wish, I will leave a duplicate with you for company who can also relay to you what is happening without the need for comms.’ ‘You could be doing that when we’re on radio silence to keep base up to date.’ She pointed out. ‘Yes, but they will ask questions whereas you will not distract me any more than you already do.’ ‘I’m smart like that.’ She blew across the steam on her drink. ‘If our child is even half like you it will be the most beautiful and talented being in the nine realms, second only to its mother.’ ‘Silvertongue.’ She replied quietly and for the next hour they sat on the observation deck, completely unnoticed by the authorities, watching the sunrise over Paris, wrapped in one another’s arms.

Chapter 76